Hebrews 5:11b-6:1a

“We have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation.” (NRSV)

How much do I want to grow, to mature in the Lord?

In listening to the litanies of thankfulness this past month from friends—from both believers and non—I have not heard once that someone was thankful for their pastor. I have heard thanks for family and friends, for colleagues and students, for homes and children. But not once have I heard someone be thankful for their pastor.

Now part of that might be because many folks either only attend church irregularly and see their pastor as simply part of the environment of that social situation. Some of it might be that they attend such a large church that they really have no relationship with their pastor except as a Sunday morning speaker. For the vast majority (perhaps for all?), certainly our pastors are no longer our rabbis with us as talmid. These pastors are no longer the ones who personally disciple us, who check on our spiritual growth, who hold our feet to a certain standard of living, who challenge us to be better than we want to be. Many pastors have become spaghetti throwers, throwing some spiritual rhetoric at the wall and seeing if anything sticks, rather than being deliberate, strategic spiritual leaders who demand that we “grow up.” If they made such demands, if our pastors became those who were intimately involved in our lives, pushing us kicking and screaming to the next spiritual level, I think they would be high on the list of those for whom we are grateful.

The author of Hebrews writes: We have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. This word actually means more than uninteresting or stupid. It means lazy, languid, slothful (Strong’s G3576). Thus, it is not about ability, but rather about motivation, choice. There is a real sense of becoming dull through a lack of use or participation. The writer goes on to compare this state of dullness with those who are not dulled: those whose faculties have been trained by practice. “Trained by practice.” Spiritual maturity is about exercise, repetition, strategic and deliberate attempts to grow more mature in the Lord.

The other day, I was working on a short medley with one of my more advanced singing groups. These girls, who work with me for more than two hours a week, simply couldn’t get a very brisk part of the medley. Every time we sang it, the majority of them glossed over the words. It was both pathetic and scary as we were facing a major concert in two weeks. When I asked how many actually knew that part only about one third raised their hands. So, in an effort to teach the others, I had the girls who didn’t know the words to align themselves in small groups with a girl who did. Around the room were a number of small circular groups, two or three girls standing very close to one other girl. I then picked up my mic (so everyone could hear) and began to sing the selection a capella. At first I sang it slowly so that all of the girls could more easily follow along with the printed music. But as we repeated that portion of the song over and over, I increased the tempo. We must have sung that selection at least thirty times if not more. Every three or four times, I would stop and ask if any needed more practice. If a hand went up, we sang it again. At the end of about 15 minutes of practice, every girl had the song down.

What principles did I use to move these girls from unskilled to proficient?
● I encouraged them to find someone else who was already proficient and align themselves with that person.
● I provided structured practice at a pace that allowed for learning.
● I increased the pace until they had all reached the required tempo for performance.
● I made them check their own proficiency level, to self-monitor their own progress.
● I didn’t allow them to stop until they “got it.”

Why did these principles work?
● I set a goal and refused to be satisfied until every participant had achieved the goal.
● I required the community (of, in this case, singers) to become responsible for the growth of all members.
● I outlined the reason for the growth so that everyone had buy in to the process.

When we finished with this part of the rehearsal, I brought the girls back together as a larger group and said, “That is how you practice.” For most of them, their idea of practice was to do something once or twice and go onto something else. To really practice was new to many; it was a revelation.

As believers, we can take these same principles—which are alluded to in Hebrews—and use them in our own lives, in our families, and in our churches to push us on to greater maturity in the Lord. Why don’t we? I think that many pastors don’t push their churches because they truly believe that their congregations either aren’t ready for greater spiritual maturity or aren’t interested in growing. Few in their congregations—if any—encourage them as pastors to push ahead into the uncharted areas of the harder things of God, to encourage us as believers to become more sacrificial in our living, more dedicated to the things of God, more committed to reaching past ourselves to minister to a dying world. The writer of Hebrews writes: We have much to say. Therefore, let us go on toward perfection. I’m convinced that these words are not about the perfection that comes in death, in heaven, when we see the Lord face to face, but the perfection about which John Wesley writes:

“The one thus born again not only does not commit sin, while he thus keeps himself, he cannot sin. By sin I here understand outward sin, according to the plain, common acceptation of the word: an actual, voluntary transgression of the law of God—the revealed, written law of God. Sin is the breaking of any commandment of God acknowledged to be such at the time it is transgressed. So long as he believes in God through Christ, and loves Him, and is pouring out his heart before Him, he cannot voluntarily transgress any command of God. Yet if he does not ‘keep himself,’ he may commit all manner of sin with greediness.”

Wesley was convinced that it was possible for believers to so keep themselves in the love and presence of God as to be able to not choose sin. Unfortunately, I think we have so little practice of keeping ourselves in the presence of God—of loving Him as we ought—that we find ourselves full of sin that we don’t even want to admit or face. So we live “as best we can” and refuse to go on toward perfection. We refuse to practice distinguishing good from evil and continually allow our teachers and pastors to re-lay the basic foundations of the faith, being content to stay as little children. If we want to grow up, we need to not only begin to take responsibility for our own faith, we need to encourage our pastors to become challenging teachers who push us further than we thought we could go. We need to give our pastors permission to dig into our lives, to hold us accountable for our actions, to become the Pauls, Peters, and Timothys that we so desperately need to lead us from babyhood to adulthood for the glory of God.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Colossians 3:12-17

Colossians 3:12-17

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (NRSV)

November, traditionally in America, is the month where we turn our thoughts toward being thankful. One of the things I’ve been enjoying on Facebook are the many who are daily listing the things for which they are thankful. In a cynical world, thankfulness silences the critics and raises one’s spirit.

Part of being thankful is being mindful of the blessings that God has given us. Sometimes, particularly in the midst of trials, that can be a very difficult task. But I’m coming to believe that thankfulness is the root of many other characteristics of believers, because when we become truly thankful it becomes easier to trust. And when it is easier to trust God, it becomes easier to allow His Holy Spirit to rule our hearts and minds.

We have the choice to focus on one of two things: we can focus on God and all that He has done and is doing for us, or we can focus on what we want (or think we want) and yet don’t have. James says:

“Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.” (4:1-4 NRSV).

• You want something and do not have it.
• You covet something and cannot obtain it.
• You do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend on your lusts (or pleasures)

That is the description of looking at life with the glass half empty. That is, in essence, refusing to be thankful (or mindful of blessings). We want, we covet, we ask and do not receive. We often get frustrated or disgruntled and, in essence, become angry with God for ignoring us! And yet, at every turn, He has been providing, giving us His best. At what point did His best become what we didn’t want?

In Colossians, Paul sums up this passage with the words: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (v. 17). Thankfulness should begin and end everything we do. And if we are thankful, what should our lives look like?

• We should be clothed (in essence, to put on, to sink into) with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Compassion: sympathy, pity, and mercy for others
Kindness: consideration and generosity toward others
Humility: thinking of others as better than ourselves, tending to their needs first
Meekness: being quiet, gentle, and submissive
Patience: tolerating trouble or suffering without becoming angry or upset

All of these characteristics are the opposite of anger and frustration. These characteristics also give no room for despair or withdrawal. When we are compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient, we must also be actively engaged in the lives of others, concerned about them and ministering to them. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4 NRSV).

• We are to bear with one another and forgive each other.

The fact is, as people, we are often simply awful toward each other. We get tired, self-centered, or angry and we ignore, lash out, and make demands upon others. We want what we want when we want and we can feel that if we don’t demand that others submit to our wishes, we will suffer an irreparable loss. Father God knew that we would stumble and fall—often—which is why He commands us to forgive each other. Even as we are forgiven, we must forgive. And this is part of being thankful. If we are thankful for God’s forgiveness, we will willingly forgive others.

• We must put on and sink into love, a love which strives for harmony not only with God but with those around us.

Love in the Western world has become in a distortion of the kind of love to which God calls us. This distorted love demands that perpetrators are victims, that emotions guide decisions, that sin be ignored in favor of personal choice. The love to which we are called as believers is far different for it is defined by God’s character and evidenced only through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 4-7 NRSV).

When we love through the power of the Spirit, we love first and foremost God. We give Him our desires, our passions, our dreams, our wishes, our expectations—laying them at the foot of the Throne—and insist that He reformat our hearts so that we are in unison with His desires, His will, His plans. The perfect harmony must come first between us and Him for without it no harmony exists at all. Then, because we love God, we turn and love those around us: other believers, our neighbors, and the unsaved throughout the earth. We see them as God sees them, through the lense of the Cross, understanding that if Father God was willing to give His only begotten Son for them, there is nothing too great that we also cannot sacrifice if it brings them to accept the gospel message. If the Lord Jesus was willing to be tortured and unjustly executed because of His love for us, then we should be willing to endure what Paul calls “light afflictions” (2 Corinthians 4:17) in order to minister to those around us.

Matthew Henry eloquently writes:

“[Love] can endure evil, injury, and provocation, without being filled with resentment, indignation, or revenge. It makes the mind firm, gives it power over the angry passions, and furnishes it with a persevering patience, that shall rather wait and wish for the reformation of a brother than fly out in resentment of his conduct. It will put up with many slights and neglects from the person it loves, and wait long to see the kindly effects of such patience on him” (Henry, M. 1996, c1991. Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (1 Co 13:4). Hendrickson: Peabody).

• We are to allow the peace of Christ rule our hearts. We are called to this peace. It is our purpose in life.

Peace, to the Jew, had nothing to do with the absence of conflict, but was focused solely on the relationship between him and God. The peace of which Paul talks here is the same concept: it is the peace that comes between us and Father God when we accept salvation and understand that now nothing can take us from His hand.

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29 NRSV).

But the impact of that peace on our lives needs to go further than this. If we are kept forever in His hands and He is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28) then what is there to be angry or fearful or fretful about? Surrendering all of our daily worries, concerns, pains, and losses to Him, allowing Him to take care of us and sort it all out is what allowing the peace of Christ to rule our hearts is all about. Our heart attitudes—desires, passions, values, and expectations—determine how we face life. If those attitudes are ruled by the peace of Christ, then the Spirit is solely in control; our only responsibility is to minister to those around us through His leading. He will take care of everything else.

• We are to let God’s Word live in us in abundance so that we are able not only to live according to His will, but also to teach and admonish one another in His wisdom.

Unfortunately, most of us sin. John Wesley believed that it was possible for the believer to live and not sin. Sadly that kind of Christian living isn’t taught these days from our modern pulpits. Consequently, we sin. We expose our minds and thoughts to a myriad of sinful behaviors through television, movies, books, and the Internet. And those behaviors creep into (or are welcomed into) our lives. We are tempted and we succumb. And because we sin, rather than deal with our sin in a biblical manner, we tend to compare ourselves to each other, believing that because our sin isn’t the same in quantity or intensity as another’s, that we are somehow better or better off. The fact is, just as Daniel took responsibility for the sin of his nation (Daniel 9:3-5) and prayed for forgiveness, we need to begin to take responsibility for each other’s sin in the manner in which we are commanded by scripture:

“My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2 NRSV).

Our responsibility isn’t to criticize, gossip about, or condemn, but rather to restore in a spirit of gentleness. If God’s word is living in us in abundance, we are equipped to teach and admonish and to restore in the manner in which the Lord Jesus Himself would. When the woman was brought to Him, found in an adulterous relationship, the Lord Jesus rescued her from stoning, but also admonished her to stop her sinning (John 8:11). Whether she was a lonely wife caught up in an adulterous affair or a single woman, trying to make a living through prostitution, the Lord Jesus was telling her that there was a better way, a life without sin by trusting Father God to care for her, physically and emotionally. As we begin to fill our minds and hearts with the Word of God (rather than the trash of this world), we will become equipped to reach out to the hurting sinners around us with the good news that God is willing to forgive them. We can learn how the Spirit wants us to minister so that we restore in gentleness and thus bear their burdens.

• Learning to live a life fully leaning on the Lord creates in us such a spirit of thanksgiving that we will sing constantly to and about Him. We will find ourselves focused solely on Him because in His light everything else fades to darkness.

There are two ways to live. One is to try to become firmly planted in this life. When one lives this way, the things of this life become all important, including success, rewards, comfort, recreation, and happiness. The other way to live is to understand that the only purpose of this life is to prepare us (and others) for eternity. When we live this way, we understand that to live is Christ and to die is gain, that it is better for others if we stay only because we are actively ministering to them to teach them about Christ.

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:21-24 NKJV).

Do we truly desire to be in Heaven with our Savior? If so, then we will be willing to stay here only as long as He determines, to do His way and to be His ambassadors. We will understand that our relationship with Him is all that matters and be so thankful that He died in order to give us that relationship.

As we begin to think about being thankful, we have many, many blessings. But the blessing that is far above all other blessings is the gift of the Savior for without it all other blessings disappear. Without it we cannot even begin to understand what blessings are. Without it, we really have nothing to be thankful for.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Job 42:7

“After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.’” (NRSV)

Job was a righteous man, a man who loved and served God with all his heart and might. He was a man who had prospered in an earthly sense, owning many flocks and having twelve children. He also was a man blessed with good health. All of this God allowed Satan to take from Job. Job’s life went, in a matter of days, from being comfortable and happy to being alone and miserable.

There is a saying: Bad things happen to good people.

To be honest, I don’t like that saying because it implies that there are things we should try to avoid, things that happen to us outside of God’s plan for our lives. Romans 8:28 promises believers that all things work together for our good. So while not everything is good, it becomes good for us because God is working in it. I think rather than saying “Bad things happen to good people,” I would more accurately say, “Painful things happen to good people.” That is certainly true.

When painful things happen to those around us, we often react with advice. Our advice can even be clothed as condolences or sympathy that our friend is going through this trial, but it is still advice. And why do we do that? I think for two reasons: (1) we are trying to make sense of what seems to be senseless: suffering, pain, loss; and (2) we are scared that a similar situation could happen to us. We want to justify our own fear and anger that there is pain and suffering in the world, pain and suffering that might come into our own lives someday.

When a friend loses a loved one (a spouse or a child), we realize that our own family could be taken. When a friend is taken desperately ill, we realize that our own health is fragile. When a friend loses their home or job, we realize that we are one step away from poverty. All of those things scare us because it means that our lives as we know them, that we are capable of having to suffer pain and loss that we cannot control.

So when painful things happen to our friends, we sometimes react with advice. And if not advice for our friends, then advice for those around them.

Job, after suffering his loss, sat with three friends who—with all seeming good intentions—began to offer him advice about his situation. They were, in fact, trying themselves to make sense out of what seemed senseless, to explain away what they feared might happen in their own lives. Job had been an example of them of a godly man, but if he perhaps could be shown not to be quite so godly, then that might explain the tragedies in his life. And if the tragedies could be explain, then they might be avoided. All this advice in, I think, an effort to try to control and to possibly avoid such pain in their own lives.

Sometimes we would do better to pray and not talk than to talk without praying. And if we prayed, we would probably know better not to talk!

The Psalms open with two verses about advice:

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, . . . But they delight in doing everything the Lord wants; day and night they think about His law” (Psalm 1:1a, 2 NRSV).

Often when we are presented with pain and suffering (either our own or that of others), we are tempted to try to control, to try to avoid, rather than focusing solely and only on God. Our pain and confusion can crowd out all other thoughts, consuming us. The psalmist tells us to rather think day and night on God and His Word. Only with God can we find peace and comfort.

Even the Lord Jesus rejected advice that was given outside of God’s will.

“Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things’” (Mark 8:31-33 NRSV).

“From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things’” (Matthew 16:21-23 NRSV).

The Lord Jesus was clearly embracing the pain, rejection, and suffering that was ahead of Him. He understood that God works all things for good, even for Him as God’s Son. He willingly set His mind to embrace the seeming tragedy that was the cross, the tragedy that was actually victory. Peter responded as he thought was appropriate for a friend and disciple; he immediately came to the defense of his friend, stating that God couldn’t possibly want this for Jesus. But the Lord immediately rebukes him by saying you are setting your mind on human things, not on divine things.

When we give advice, we are often setting our mind on human rather than divine things. And we need to be so careful! S. D. Gordon once wrote: “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray before you have prayed.” If we are tempted to give advice, to respond, to control, to try to justify, we need to first pray and very likely pray long. Otherwise we may be like Job’s two friends and kindle God’s anger against us or be like Peter and be rebuked by the Lord for failing to think of things from God’s perspective. God loves us so much that He is willing to take the long view of our lives, working all things for our good! When the waters rise and the darkness falls, we need to trust Him to work everything out. We need to pray. And often, we may need to close our mouths so that we learn rather than try to control.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Psalm 86:11

dedicated to Pastor Keith Abolnik who has gone Home
November 6, 2011

“Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere Your name.” (NRSV)

What is the condition of my heart?

A dear friend of ours went Home to be with the Lord yesterday. He was younger than I and his illness was short and unexpectedness. The miracle of the Internet has allowed me to walk with his family and friends as he went (in July) from not feeling good to a diagnosis of cancer (in August) to going home (in November). It has been an interesting study of human nature as I have read the various reactions and actions of those surrounding him, reactions that varied from committing prayer to commanding friends to rise up in some kind of protest.

We all deal with the unexpected in different ways. The question is, should we? If we are truly born again, what does God’s truth say? And what does it mean to have an “undivided” heart?

When I read this verse yesterday, I read it in the NKJV. The version says, “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” But it doesn’t say unite with what. The NRSV is clearer: “give me an undivided heart.” The NAB says “single-hearted.”

James speaks about the double-minded in both chapters 1 and 4. In chapter 4, he writes:

“Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that He has made to dwell in us’? But He gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (v. 1-8 NRSV).

James equates double-mindedness—or having a divided heart—with being a friend of the world. What does it mean to be a friend? To be a friend means to have a commitment to, to be loyal to, to give time and resources to. The Lord Jesus clearly said that we are His friends if we do what He has commanded us to do (John 15:14). Thus, when James calls us double-minded, he is stating that we claim to be Christians, but fail to obey the Lord. We have one foot in the world, cemented there by our desires and passions, and hope that we have one foot in heaven. Our loyalties are divided.

One of the posters for my friend who is gone said that he was gone too soon. Really? He is gone in the Lord’s time. And if he truly is my friend, what better outcome would I wish for him then to be in the presence of our Savior? How can any of us go Home too soon? Paul was anxious to go Home to see the Lord Jesus. He writes in Philippians:

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (1:21-24 NKJV).

How many of us desire to be in heaven with Christ? I know that I do, but I also find myself caught up in the things of this world. I find myself being double-minded, being of a divided heart. How can I truly love the Lord if my heart is divided between those things which are at odds with Him and His commandments?

Lord, I ask You today to teach me Your way that I might walk in Your truth. I confess my divided heart and ask that You make my heart undivided so that I can reverence You, that my only desire would be to please You and to be with You. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let it be so.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.