But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. RSV
Unfortunately, there are times within the Church when divisions, disagreements, are necessary. When false doctrine and sinful practices become the norm, when they are accepted rather than ferreted out as the evil they are, then there will be divisions.
Several months ago I was involved in an online discussion where several believers were berating me and others because we weren’t actively involved in a church (of their choice). And while I don’t encourage Christians to avoid gathering together for fellowship and edification, there are situations (and unfortunately the situations are growing) were mature, serious believers can’t find a local church worth attending. It’s a sad commentary, but true.
Several years ago, David Wilkerson released some of his sermons on video. His initial purpose was to stimulate family Bible study, but it soon became clear to him that families were using the videos as a replacement for face-to-face church attendance. Why? Because, in their communities, there were no serious Bible-believing churches. Oh, there were congregations that purported to be such, but in fact, weren’t.
Paul describes such a situation in Corinth: “when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.” What a sad commentary on a church. The Jewish New Testament translates it thus: “when you meet together it does more harm than good!” I truly believe that this is the case in more and more churches in America. As believers, we are called to be the salt and light of our society. And yet, rather than influencing our society for good, we excuse our own lusts and simply dig into the muck with our unsaved neighbors. When we come together as a “church” (regardless of what the formal structure looks like), our purpose is supposed to be to edify each other.
Now that word is interesting: edify. It means to “instruct and improve.” In other words, when we leave a church service, we should leave as better Christians than when we came in. Can we truly say that? Can we say that we are better Christians today than yesterday? This year than last year? This decade than last decade? Is our Christian growth, maturity, measurable and observable?
As sad as it is, maybe we are at a point in American Christianity where we need to start making some divisions within the Church so that there might be at least some (a remnant) who are genuine among us.
Musing
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
2 Corinthians 1:3-9
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God’s comfort.
I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. NLT
What do we expect out of life? I think that our expectations mold us, control our responses to our circumstances, determine what we find valuable. We probably should ask ourselves what we expect . . . from relationships, from circumstances, from life itself. I think that the answer might be extremely revealing.
I think that, as American Christians, one of the things we expect is happiness. Our very nation was founded upon the idea that one of the purposes of mankind is to be happy:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I think, though, as Christians that we need to ask ourselves (1) if this is truly Biblical as it relates to the purpose of creation; and (2) if this is true for Christians themselves. Is the goal of our lives to pursue happiness, perhaps at all cost? Has God given us that right? Because, if it is a God-given right, then we can pursue it with a free conscience.
(I want to add a note here. I believe that the United States is a wonderful country and that democracy is the best of all possible choices for government when people refuse to submit to a theocracy under the Almighty God. This isn’t a commentary against the United States, but rather an exploration of the mindset of us as Americans.)
Paul obviously didn’t think that God was going to somehow “fix” life and take out the suffering. In fact, Paul tells us two very important things about suffering in this passage:
(1) God doesn’t create suffering, and
(2) God provides comfort when we do suffer.
“God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights.” (James 1:12-17a NLT)
And, to be honest, I think that a great deal of our suffering—the suffering we have as Americans—comes as a result of our own actions, but even more, as a result of our own expectations. What do we expect should happen in certain situations?
We live in a society that insulates itself against suffering. That’s why insurance and lawsuits were designed . . . to lessen the hardship impact of circumstances that caused loss in our lives. It used to be that people expected life to be hard and simply picked themselves up and began again when bad things happened to them. Now, we struggle with the idea that bad things might happen to “good” people and try to make sense of it.
The fact is, bad things happen to good people (and to bad people) simply because we live in a sinful world. That was a fact accepted by Paul and the other apostles. They never questioned why God didn’t intervene; rather, they accepted suffering as part of the lot of life and rather depended upon God to make such a life doable by providing comfort.
“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT)
We know that, even as Christians, we sin. Others around us who aren’t Christians sin even more. Even the very planet we live upon is affected by sin and groans to be released back into a state of perfection (reconciliation with God). Even if God could (or would) prevent us from suffering from every act of another sinful human being, the only way He could protect us from the results of living on this planet which itself is groaning would be to remove us from this earth.
There is no escape from suffering in this life.
That needs to be our expectation. And rather than wasting our time, efforts, and resources trying to escape suffering, we should instead be embracing the comfort of God which is promised to us. Rather than deluding ourselves into believing that we can somehow make life wonderful and devoid of pain, we should be instead be looking forward to that wonderful time when we are absent from this corrupt, pained body and present with the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:50).
Rather than asking ourselves how we can avoid pain and suffering, we should be instead focusing upon learning to lean upon God as He walks us through the shadow of (even) death and yet we don’t fear the evil around us, because He is with us (Psalm 23).
I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. NLT
What do we expect out of life? I think that our expectations mold us, control our responses to our circumstances, determine what we find valuable. We probably should ask ourselves what we expect . . . from relationships, from circumstances, from life itself. I think that the answer might be extremely revealing.
I think that, as American Christians, one of the things we expect is happiness. Our very nation was founded upon the idea that one of the purposes of mankind is to be happy:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I think, though, as Christians that we need to ask ourselves (1) if this is truly Biblical as it relates to the purpose of creation; and (2) if this is true for Christians themselves. Is the goal of our lives to pursue happiness, perhaps at all cost? Has God given us that right? Because, if it is a God-given right, then we can pursue it with a free conscience.
(I want to add a note here. I believe that the United States is a wonderful country and that democracy is the best of all possible choices for government when people refuse to submit to a theocracy under the Almighty God. This isn’t a commentary against the United States, but rather an exploration of the mindset of us as Americans.)
Paul obviously didn’t think that God was going to somehow “fix” life and take out the suffering. In fact, Paul tells us two very important things about suffering in this passage:
(1) God doesn’t create suffering, and
(2) God provides comfort when we do suffer.
“God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights.” (James 1:12-17a NLT)
And, to be honest, I think that a great deal of our suffering—the suffering we have as Americans—comes as a result of our own actions, but even more, as a result of our own expectations. What do we expect should happen in certain situations?
We live in a society that insulates itself against suffering. That’s why insurance and lawsuits were designed . . . to lessen the hardship impact of circumstances that caused loss in our lives. It used to be that people expected life to be hard and simply picked themselves up and began again when bad things happened to them. Now, we struggle with the idea that bad things might happen to “good” people and try to make sense of it.
The fact is, bad things happen to good people (and to bad people) simply because we live in a sinful world. That was a fact accepted by Paul and the other apostles. They never questioned why God didn’t intervene; rather, they accepted suffering as part of the lot of life and rather depended upon God to make such a life doable by providing comfort.
“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT)
We know that, even as Christians, we sin. Others around us who aren’t Christians sin even more. Even the very planet we live upon is affected by sin and groans to be released back into a state of perfection (reconciliation with God). Even if God could (or would) prevent us from suffering from every act of another sinful human being, the only way He could protect us from the results of living on this planet which itself is groaning would be to remove us from this earth.
There is no escape from suffering in this life.
That needs to be our expectation. And rather than wasting our time, efforts, and resources trying to escape suffering, we should instead be embracing the comfort of God which is promised to us. Rather than deluding ourselves into believing that we can somehow make life wonderful and devoid of pain, we should be instead be looking forward to that wonderful time when we are absent from this corrupt, pained body and present with the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:50).
Rather than asking ourselves how we can avoid pain and suffering, we should be instead focusing upon learning to lean upon God as He walks us through the shadow of (even) death and yet we don’t fear the evil around us, because He is with us (Psalm 23).
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
James 4:1-3
What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. RSV
Verses 3-4 NLT: And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
We just recently returned from a week’s trip to visit our Army son who had, a few months ago, returned from a tour in Iraq. We asked a friend (a very new Christian) to housesit our five poodles for us. As we were returning home from the airport, he called us to tell us that our oldest (and smallest) poodle was missing. (Very likely, she was taken by one of the hunting owls in our area.)
To understand fully, this little poodle was very special, extremely smart with a unique personality. Also, she had been with us for a number of years and through many difficult circumstances with us. In other words, we loved her very much.
Now we heard that she is “gone.” We were devastated.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned over the past three days. We need to understand why we pray for the things we pray for; we need to learn to see life through God’s perspectives to understand why there are times when our prayers aren’t answered.
This passage in James talks about why we often pray and God doesn’t answer. Unfortunately, in American churches, we are often taught that God will fix our problems, make our life easier, bring us happiness. Nothing is further from the truth. God doesn’t make life wonderful; He makes life doable.
We live in a sinful world. Paul tells us: “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT).
We “groan to be released from pain and suffering.” Paul acknowledged that this life was, simply put, awful! Our hope isn’t in that God will remove us from suffering in this life, but that we have heaven awaiting for us:
“By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (1 Peter 1:3b-4).
The fact is, our focus is often wrong. We turn to God when we are faced with pain and suffering, with our prayers being that He will remove the pain and suffering. What we don’t understand is that our prayers should be focused on the salvation of those around us: “not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33b RSV).
When we initially heard about our dear poodle, our prayers were—as James described—about our own desires, our own pleasure. This dog gave us a great deal of happiness with her winning ways. We failed to understand that our prayers needed to be about how this loss would affect the man who had housesit for us and his own relationship with the Lord. How we would respond to him was far more important than the loss we were feeling.
Everything in this life is temporary; nothing is going to last. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1a RSV). Everything here, in this life, is going to be gone someday (when the Lord Jesus makes all things new) and our focus needs to be not on hanging onto the things here that make life easier, but rather upon the eternal souls around us who are facing an eternity in hell.
Why don’t our prayers get answered? Because we interpret God loving us as His fixing all the stuff that hurts us. The fact is, we live in a sinful world where suffering happens. God isn’t going to mitigate that for us . . . now, but rather has provided a Hope for us in heaven. When we focus upon trying to avoid pain now—rather than upon the Hope of the future—we are focusing upon our own desires, our own passions, our own lusts. And our prayers won’t be answered. It isn’t because God loves us any less, but because we love ourselves more. If we want our prayers to be answered, we need to start praying differently.
Verses 3-4 NLT: And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
We just recently returned from a week’s trip to visit our Army son who had, a few months ago, returned from a tour in Iraq. We asked a friend (a very new Christian) to housesit our five poodles for us. As we were returning home from the airport, he called us to tell us that our oldest (and smallest) poodle was missing. (Very likely, she was taken by one of the hunting owls in our area.)
To understand fully, this little poodle was very special, extremely smart with a unique personality. Also, she had been with us for a number of years and through many difficult circumstances with us. In other words, we loved her very much.
Now we heard that she is “gone.” We were devastated.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned over the past three days. We need to understand why we pray for the things we pray for; we need to learn to see life through God’s perspectives to understand why there are times when our prayers aren’t answered.
This passage in James talks about why we often pray and God doesn’t answer. Unfortunately, in American churches, we are often taught that God will fix our problems, make our life easier, bring us happiness. Nothing is further from the truth. God doesn’t make life wonderful; He makes life doable.
We live in a sinful world. Paul tells us: “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT).
We “groan to be released from pain and suffering.” Paul acknowledged that this life was, simply put, awful! Our hope isn’t in that God will remove us from suffering in this life, but that we have heaven awaiting for us:
“By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (1 Peter 1:3b-4).
The fact is, our focus is often wrong. We turn to God when we are faced with pain and suffering, with our prayers being that He will remove the pain and suffering. What we don’t understand is that our prayers should be focused on the salvation of those around us: “not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33b RSV).
When we initially heard about our dear poodle, our prayers were—as James described—about our own desires, our own pleasure. This dog gave us a great deal of happiness with her winning ways. We failed to understand that our prayers needed to be about how this loss would affect the man who had housesit for us and his own relationship with the Lord. How we would respond to him was far more important than the loss we were feeling.
Everything in this life is temporary; nothing is going to last. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1a RSV). Everything here, in this life, is going to be gone someday (when the Lord Jesus makes all things new) and our focus needs to be not on hanging onto the things here that make life easier, but rather upon the eternal souls around us who are facing an eternity in hell.
Why don’t our prayers get answered? Because we interpret God loving us as His fixing all the stuff that hurts us. The fact is, we live in a sinful world where suffering happens. God isn’t going to mitigate that for us . . . now, but rather has provided a Hope for us in heaven. When we focus upon trying to avoid pain now—rather than upon the Hope of the future—we are focusing upon our own desires, our own passions, our own lusts. And our prayers won’t be answered. It isn’t because God loves us any less, but because we love ourselves more. If we want our prayers to be answered, we need to start praying differently.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
1 Corinthians 11:2-16
I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head—it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her wear a veil. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.) That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. (Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.) Judge for yourselves; is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her pride? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If any one is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God. RSV
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
We live in a society where one’s rights are paramount. Everyday there are accounts in the news of lawsuits or protests in favor of the rights of some oppressed person or group, demanding their rights as human beings, as citizens, as protected minorities. Unfortunately, this kind of this-is-my-right attitude has permeated the church as well. All kinds of people are pressing for changes (some good, many bad) within the various American denominations with the idea of protecting “human rights.” The question is . . . is this the Christian way?
“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 RSV
I think that sometimes we are so worried about our own rights, our own feelings, position, ambitions, that we fail to understand that—in the broad scheme of things (that being eternity)—what we gain or lose here in this life is very little compared to what we can gain or lose forever. The Lord Jesus taught this:
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?” Mark 8:34-37 RSV
Look at these words: “deny himself.” To be honest, as American Christians, I don’t think we’re very good at denying ourselves at all. In fact, we want what we want when we want it. Even those things we do “for others” is often actually done for ourselves, to make ourselves feel good, to pat ourselves on the back. We choose to whom we will minister, to whom we will submit. And that isn’t really denying ourselves at all.
I think it goes back to the last verse in chapter 10: “just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” What is our motivation? If we are to, as Paul says in 11:1, imitate him as he imitates Christ, then our sole motivation is so that others will be saved. Pure and simple. Does that sometimes mean backing away from “fights for rights” (or “fights for righteousness”)? Yes. I believe it does. Because our motivation isn’t to make things right in this life, but rather that all people might be saved. Do we have that motivation? Are we concerned about the salvation of that “awful” person or do we simply want to change them so that our life is better? While we may be, as Christians, obligated to try to perpetuate a moral situation in our community, our nation, our world, ultimately the more important question stands: What are we doing that others might be saved? This world and everything in it is going to burn; only what’s done for Christ in reaching out to the unsaved will be what is ultimately important.
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
We live in a society where one’s rights are paramount. Everyday there are accounts in the news of lawsuits or protests in favor of the rights of some oppressed person or group, demanding their rights as human beings, as citizens, as protected minorities. Unfortunately, this kind of this-is-my-right attitude has permeated the church as well. All kinds of people are pressing for changes (some good, many bad) within the various American denominations with the idea of protecting “human rights.” The question is . . . is this the Christian way?
“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 RSV
I think that sometimes we are so worried about our own rights, our own feelings, position, ambitions, that we fail to understand that—in the broad scheme of things (that being eternity)—what we gain or lose here in this life is very little compared to what we can gain or lose forever. The Lord Jesus taught this:
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?” Mark 8:34-37 RSV
Look at these words: “deny himself.” To be honest, as American Christians, I don’t think we’re very good at denying ourselves at all. In fact, we want what we want when we want it. Even those things we do “for others” is often actually done for ourselves, to make ourselves feel good, to pat ourselves on the back. We choose to whom we will minister, to whom we will submit. And that isn’t really denying ourselves at all.
I think it goes back to the last verse in chapter 10: “just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” What is our motivation? If we are to, as Paul says in 11:1, imitate him as he imitates Christ, then our sole motivation is so that others will be saved. Pure and simple. Does that sometimes mean backing away from “fights for rights” (or “fights for righteousness”)? Yes. I believe it does. Because our motivation isn’t to make things right in this life, but rather that all people might be saved. Do we have that motivation? Are we concerned about the salvation of that “awful” person or do we simply want to change them so that our life is better? While we may be, as Christians, obligated to try to perpetuate a moral situation in our community, our nation, our world, ultimately the more important question stands: What are we doing that others might be saved? This world and everything in it is going to burn; only what’s done for Christ in reaching out to the unsaved will be what is ultimately important.
1 Corinthians 11:1
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. RSV
Could you say this to another, younger Christian? Could you have a Christian live with you, observe you, watch you, and then trust, if they imitated you, that they would be imitating Christ?
I think that, initially, all of us want to say “yes,” but if we think about this much, if we really meditate on this, wouldn’t we more likely back off? Do we really live our lives in such a way that others can imitate us and know that, in doing so, they would be pursuing the narrow path?
There are so many things about our lives that are wrong. Our society, our very personalities, have been formed by the influences—the very strong influences—of our culture, of the media. What we think is right we find, surprisingly, might actually be wrong . . . when we truly study the Word. (Thank God for His mercy and forgiveness!)
Paul was so sure of his walk with the Lord that he was able to say (several times, in scripture, actually) “imitate me.” To truly understand the impact of this, we need to understand the idea of talmid (disciple) and rabbi (teacher), because that was the model to which Paul referred. David Stern explains it like this:
“The English word “disciple” fails to convey the richness of the relationship between a rabbi and his talmidim in the first century c.e. Teachers, both itinerant like Yeshua and settled ones, attracted followers who wholeheartedly gave themselves over to their teachers (though not in a mindless way, as happens today in some cults). The essence of the relationship was one of trust in every area of living, and its goal was to make the talmid like his rabbi in knowledge, wisdom and ethical behavior”
There is much more to “imitating” than listening to what someone says. It is about living our life just like they live their life, making the same decisions, living with the same choices.
How much exists in the secret corners of our lives that we wish even the Lord didn’t know about, no less our friends, those around us? Are we willing to have those around us imitate us, even when we’re alone?
Paul imitated Christ. He was truly the talmid of the rabbi Jesus. Can we say the same? Are our lives such that we can encourage others to imitate us?
Could you say this to another, younger Christian? Could you have a Christian live with you, observe you, watch you, and then trust, if they imitated you, that they would be imitating Christ?
I think that, initially, all of us want to say “yes,” but if we think about this much, if we really meditate on this, wouldn’t we more likely back off? Do we really live our lives in such a way that others can imitate us and know that, in doing so, they would be pursuing the narrow path?
There are so many things about our lives that are wrong. Our society, our very personalities, have been formed by the influences—the very strong influences—of our culture, of the media. What we think is right we find, surprisingly, might actually be wrong . . . when we truly study the Word. (Thank God for His mercy and forgiveness!)
Paul was so sure of his walk with the Lord that he was able to say (several times, in scripture, actually) “imitate me.” To truly understand the impact of this, we need to understand the idea of talmid (disciple) and rabbi (teacher), because that was the model to which Paul referred. David Stern explains it like this:
“The English word “disciple” fails to convey the richness of the relationship between a rabbi and his talmidim in the first century c.e. Teachers, both itinerant like Yeshua and settled ones, attracted followers who wholeheartedly gave themselves over to their teachers (though not in a mindless way, as happens today in some cults). The essence of the relationship was one of trust in every area of living, and its goal was to make the talmid like his rabbi in knowledge, wisdom and ethical behavior”
There is much more to “imitating” than listening to what someone says. It is about living our life just like they live their life, making the same decisions, living with the same choices.
How much exists in the secret corners of our lives that we wish even the Lord didn’t know about, no less our friends, those around us? Are we willing to have those around us imitate us, even when we’re alone?
Paul imitated Christ. He was truly the talmid of the rabbi Jesus. Can we say the same? Are our lives such that we can encourage others to imitate us?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
1 Corinthians 10:31-33
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. RSV
Why do we do things?
That seems like such a simple question, but it really cuts to the heart of who we are. “Why do we do things?” The reality is, motivation in the Christian life is everything!
Paul describes his own behavior:
• What I do, I do to the glory of God
• I give no offense to Jews, Greeks (Gentiles), or the church of God
• I try to please all men in everything I do
• I seek not my own advantage
Now, taken individually, these could be used to justify a number of doctrines and attitudes, some of them obviously not Christian. I mean, if you want to, you could say (from this) that Paul was a people-pleaser, that he did whatever made people around him happy (“I try to please all men in everything I do”).
In some ways, this passage has been used to justify the seeker-service mentality of many megachurches. And yet, as Bill Hybels of Willow Creek just discovered, such an approach can backfire. (They have recently discovered that their church format hasn’t resulted in any increased spiritual growth for their congregation).
In some ways, this passage has been used to justify the legalists within the Christian community (“I do all to the glory of God”). Many things can be justify as doing them to the glory of God and then, when those things aren’t done (certain styles of dress, styles of behavior, etc.), one can criticize those around them.
Both groups—and everyone else—misses Paul’s point completely! Paul’s motivation for what he does is the very last phrase in the passage: that they might be saved. That’s the measure that Paul uses for his behavior. If people are being saved, then what he is doing is the right thing; if people aren’t being saved, then he adjusts his behavior accordingly.
His motivation is that people get saved!
What’s ours?
Why do we do things?
That seems like such a simple question, but it really cuts to the heart of who we are. “Why do we do things?” The reality is, motivation in the Christian life is everything!
Paul describes his own behavior:
• What I do, I do to the glory of God
• I give no offense to Jews, Greeks (Gentiles), or the church of God
• I try to please all men in everything I do
• I seek not my own advantage
Now, taken individually, these could be used to justify a number of doctrines and attitudes, some of them obviously not Christian. I mean, if you want to, you could say (from this) that Paul was a people-pleaser, that he did whatever made people around him happy (“I try to please all men in everything I do”).
In some ways, this passage has been used to justify the seeker-service mentality of many megachurches. And yet, as Bill Hybels of Willow Creek just discovered, such an approach can backfire. (They have recently discovered that their church format hasn’t resulted in any increased spiritual growth for their congregation).
In some ways, this passage has been used to justify the legalists within the Christian community (“I do all to the glory of God”). Many things can be justify as doing them to the glory of God and then, when those things aren’t done (certain styles of dress, styles of behavior, etc.), one can criticize those around them.
Both groups—and everyone else—misses Paul’s point completely! Paul’s motivation for what he does is the very last phrase in the passage: that they might be saved. That’s the measure that Paul uses for his behavior. If people are being saved, then what he is doing is the right thing; if people aren’t being saved, then he adjusts his behavior accordingly.
His motivation is that people get saved!
What’s ours?
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. RSV
From the Associated Press (Garland, Texas):An essay that won a 6-year-old girl four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert began with the powerful line: “My daddy died this year in Iraq.” While gripping, it wasn’t true — and now the girl may lose her tickets after her mom acknowledged to contest organizers it was all a lie.
The mother had told company officials that the girl’s father died April 17 in a roadside bombing in Iraq, company spokeswoman Robyn Caulfield said. “We did the essay and that’s what we did to win,” Priscilla Ceballos, the mother, said in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW. “We did whatever we could do to win.” (c. 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
All of us are beginning to recover from the recent Christmas celebrations. We’re throwing out mounds of crumpled and used wrapping paper, freezing leftovers, packing away decorations, and helping our children gram their new toys in with their already closets-full of older toys. Yes, in the scheme of things, the ones that come out the “winners” of the present-fest are usually our kids (grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc.).
I was thinking about that last night when I saw again this report from the AP about a mother who was justifying her lie so that her daughter could win Hannah Montana concert tickets. I was thinking about it when a friend of mine said, casually as dinner, “Well, if you have children, then you have this (product) in your home.” I was thinking about it as I watched neighbor kids ride their new ATV’s on private property (without permission).
“We did whatever we could to win.”
Is that really what our children need? Do they so need the stuff, the happiness, the rush that we are willing to sacrifice anything (including our own morals) to give it to them?
I think that as a Church, we have become so entrenched with our society that we have failed to learn to ask: “Is this what’s best for our children?”
What’s interesting about Proverbs 22:6 is that the word translated into English as “train up” literally means “to narrow.” A related Hebrew word means “to strangle” (as to strangle someone in an attempt to kill them). Wow! Those words are extreme and yet, perhaps, God wants us to use extreme measures to help our children learn self-discipline and self-sacrifice. Certainly the mom who wrote the essay for the Hannah Montana tickets wasn’t “strangling” her own desires. She saw something that she wanted (for herself, for her daughter) and she did whatever was necessary to get it.
She admitted that.
Is that what we do? Do we so want our children to be happy, successful, popular, _________ (fill in the blank), that we are willing to do whatever it takes, including forfeiting their spiritual upbringing?
Now, I seriously doubt that most Christian parents would lie or cheat for their children.
Or would they?
When I was teaching third grade (many years ago), I had a proclaimed Christian father write an essay for his son (in my class) so that his son would win the essay context. Obviously even Christian parents aren’t excluded from such devious behavior.
However, let’s get closer to home. Will we go into debt for our children? Will we put their own lusts ahead of our own good judgment? Will we buy them the latest “whatever” so that we look like better parents in our community?
What are we willing to do . . . and is whatever that is based on wanting to raise our children rightly under God or based on our desire for them to be happy?
Scripture promises that our children won’t depart from the truth of scripture IF they are trained up, if, as children, their way is narrowed. Scripture doesn’t promise that children won’t depart from the truth if they are raised in a Christian home by Christian parents or if they attend church growing up or if they graduate from a Christian school. The fact is that raising children is our God-given responsibility and that way of raising them is to narrow their path while they are young so that, as adults, they will seek the narrow path when they are old. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that our Lord Jesus talks about the Christian path as also being narrow:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14 RSV)
The question is, are we really narrowing the path for our children? Or are we living out our “lost childhood” through their lives? Which would benefit them more?
From the Associated Press (Garland, Texas):An essay that won a 6-year-old girl four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert began with the powerful line: “My daddy died this year in Iraq.” While gripping, it wasn’t true — and now the girl may lose her tickets after her mom acknowledged to contest organizers it was all a lie.
The mother had told company officials that the girl’s father died April 17 in a roadside bombing in Iraq, company spokeswoman Robyn Caulfield said. “We did the essay and that’s what we did to win,” Priscilla Ceballos, the mother, said in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW. “We did whatever we could do to win.” (c. 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
All of us are beginning to recover from the recent Christmas celebrations. We’re throwing out mounds of crumpled and used wrapping paper, freezing leftovers, packing away decorations, and helping our children gram their new toys in with their already closets-full of older toys. Yes, in the scheme of things, the ones that come out the “winners” of the present-fest are usually our kids (grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc.).
I was thinking about that last night when I saw again this report from the AP about a mother who was justifying her lie so that her daughter could win Hannah Montana concert tickets. I was thinking about it when a friend of mine said, casually as dinner, “Well, if you have children, then you have this (product) in your home.” I was thinking about it as I watched neighbor kids ride their new ATV’s on private property (without permission).
“We did whatever we could to win.”
Is that really what our children need? Do they so need the stuff, the happiness, the rush that we are willing to sacrifice anything (including our own morals) to give it to them?
I think that as a Church, we have become so entrenched with our society that we have failed to learn to ask: “Is this what’s best for our children?”
What’s interesting about Proverbs 22:6 is that the word translated into English as “train up” literally means “to narrow.” A related Hebrew word means “to strangle” (as to strangle someone in an attempt to kill them). Wow! Those words are extreme and yet, perhaps, God wants us to use extreme measures to help our children learn self-discipline and self-sacrifice. Certainly the mom who wrote the essay for the Hannah Montana tickets wasn’t “strangling” her own desires. She saw something that she wanted (for herself, for her daughter) and she did whatever was necessary to get it.
She admitted that.
Is that what we do? Do we so want our children to be happy, successful, popular, _________ (fill in the blank), that we are willing to do whatever it takes, including forfeiting their spiritual upbringing?
Now, I seriously doubt that most Christian parents would lie or cheat for their children.
Or would they?
When I was teaching third grade (many years ago), I had a proclaimed Christian father write an essay for his son (in my class) so that his son would win the essay context. Obviously even Christian parents aren’t excluded from such devious behavior.
However, let’s get closer to home. Will we go into debt for our children? Will we put their own lusts ahead of our own good judgment? Will we buy them the latest “whatever” so that we look like better parents in our community?
What are we willing to do . . . and is whatever that is based on wanting to raise our children rightly under God or based on our desire for them to be happy?
Scripture promises that our children won’t depart from the truth of scripture IF they are trained up, if, as children, their way is narrowed. Scripture doesn’t promise that children won’t depart from the truth if they are raised in a Christian home by Christian parents or if they attend church growing up or if they graduate from a Christian school. The fact is that raising children is our God-given responsibility and that way of raising them is to narrow their path while they are young so that, as adults, they will seek the narrow path when they are old. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that our Lord Jesus talks about the Christian path as also being narrow:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14 RSV)
The question is, are we really narrowing the path for our children? Or are we living out our “lost childhood” through their lives? Which would benefit them more?
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