We Are Insignificant

We are insignificant.

Atheists even like to say that we are insignificant.

Gandhi once said, "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."

But this truth isn't just a harsh truth without a positive answer. We aren't left with the pessimism and disillusionment of the early chapters that one may read in Ecclesiastes without hope. The author wallows in the meaninglessness of it all, but that book doesn't just end there. We aren't atheists without a God. God's message doesn't just leave us without hope.

I want to add a big "but" to the statement that we are insignificant because, like Sir Mix A Lot I like big "buts."Without adding to the statement "we are insignificant," that phrase is only a half truth - almost a lie.
 

You see, we are insignificant BUT if we are doing the things of God, then we are not doing something insignificant. We are doing something that will last. When we acknowledge our insignificance and begin to live for the significant One, then we vicariously become significant. God is trying to wake us up to Him. From our slumber of selfishness into the consciousness of Him. He wants us to realize that pursuing our own dreams and desires is insignificant, but living for His dreams and desire is significant.

We look up into the deep expanse of the night sky. We look out on the neverending ocean. We stare in the face of the death. We are surrounded by things that should constantly remind us about our own insignificance. But then the world gives us all this self-help mumbo jumbo that pulls us away from the precipice of truth that God created for us to peer into. Instead, we begin to think that we are great, that we are really someone special. We imagine that we are irreplaceable. We think that God loves us for who we are rather than Him loving us despite who we are. We think we are God's gift to humanity. We let pride sink in and are swallowed up by pride's mistress, selfishness.  We begin to think we are significant, forgetting that we are insignificant, which prevents us from truly living for God.

For at the core of becoming a Christian is dying to ourselves and giving our own life up for the life God has for us. Dying to our kingdom and our ways and beginning to live for His Kingdom and His ways. But we won't do that if we think our life is the special life, a significant life that isn't worth giving up.

So the harsh truth is that we are insignificant. You. Me. All insignificant.

However, we find significance in living for the glory of God.

Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV).

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. (Colossians 3:17 ESV).

Or the ending of Ecclesiastes. 

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesisates 12:13-14 ESV). 

We are insignificant, but we find significance in God.

Sand the floors. Paint the fence. Wax On. Wax off.

When God asks you if you are ready to follow him and you reply that you are, don’t be surprised if it means that you are then lining fields for soccer, sweeping roads, moving furniture, giving cookies, writing encouraging notes, and doing other, what seems to be, menial jobs.

Sand the floors. Paint the fence. Wax On. Wax off.

In the classic 80s version of the Karate Kid – the one where they used karate rather than kung fu – Mr. Miyagi used little tasks to train Daniel to be the Karate Kid. Likewise, we must realize that God, even in our littlest tasks, is at work. He’s shaping us into who He wants us to be.

We might get frustrated at times. “God, I’ve given away kid’s clothes. God, I’ve worked to mend the broken relationship. God, I’ve sent encouraging letters. Where God? Where, oh where is the meaning in all of this?”

But we must remain focused even when it seems pointless. God is at work, shaping us and those around us into who He wants us to be. Becoming our destined self cannot be realized until we live faithfully today in all of the little things that God calls us to do. We must stay focused on the mission that God has placed on our hearts and realize the truth that Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel-san, “Not everything is as seems.”

When Hernan Cortes came to what is now Mexico to conquer the New World, he burnt the ships that he and his army came on. This stranded his expedition at Mexico and brought us the phrase “burn your ships.” The idea is that you make your success essential. There is no escape. There is no retreat. Success is the only option.

Cortes placed his soldiers in a place where there would be no going back quickly. They would either win or die. They had to remain focused on the task at hand or there would be no future for them.

When Lot’s wife was being rescued from Sodom, she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. When she longed for the life she once had and lost focus on God’s plan, she faced a terrible punishment.

When it comes to the mission of the Lord, are we more like Cortes, focused on God’s mission no matter what the cost, or are we more like Lot’s wife, longing for the life we have left behind? Those who do not remain focused on God and refuse to do all of the tasks he prompts our hearts to do will not receive the blessing of actualizing our calling.

We each have a mission under God. One, we need to pursue with as much passion as those who once literally burnt their ships. One we must allow to permeate even the little things we do in life.

And it begins with Christ.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-3 (ESV)

Corrie Ten Boom  wrote, “Look … Look around and be distressed. Look inside and be depressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest.”

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Oh, how the earth tries to grab our attention. We know people who die. Boom. We despair.  We have pains in our body. Boom. Like an explosion, we’re focused on it. We face terrible situations. Boom. We’re distressed. Our money doesn’t stretch as far as we would like. Boom. We’re depressed.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

How does our relationship with Jesus impact our reading habits? Our internet habits? Our movie watching habits? The time we spend with friends? Our work habits? Our family life? Our dreams? Our hopes? Our parenting? Our grandparenting? If it does not change every area of our life, then we need to convert to following Jesus. No lip service, no confession, no baptism, nor any amount of  church attendance can compensate for a heart unwilling to change. God is not fooled.

Unfortunately, the way we relate to Him when we compartmentalize Him is skewed. In that setting, He is not our Lord. He’s not Savior. He’s not King. He’s just a celebrity that we like. He’s just a book writer who entertains. He’s just an entertainer who makes us think. But when His teachings get difficult, we just shove Him back into the compartment we have for Him. We’ll let him out when we want him again. But for the meanwhile, we’ll lock Him away so that He can’t meddle with our life.

Sand the floors. Paint the fence. Wax On. Wax off.

We have a Lord to serve.

May we each have the courage, strength, and grace to follow Christ completely.

A Christmas Story - Oh, I Hate the Smell of Tapioca

There is this scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie and his brother were visiting Santa at a department store. The Santa is a terrible Santa. He seems to enjoy terrifying the children, is ready to get off the clock, and doesn’t care about spreading any joy. For him, being Santa is just another paycheck.

Ralphie is excited to tell Santa that he wants an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot range model air rifle. He gets nervous, stumbles, and agrees to a football being the gift he wants. But that just isn’t the case, so Ralphie climbs back up the slide to tell Santa what he really wants. Santa replies, “You’ll shoot your eye out kid. Merry Christmas. Hoooo. Hoooo. Hoooo.”

Have you ever been disappointed? Have you ever looked forward to a certain item or trip only for it to be less than you expected? Have you ever been so excited to meet someone and then they just turned out to be a jerk? I would love to hear your story.

Unfortunately, Christians have often been more of a disappointment to the world rather than the blessing they were called to be. Many people hate Christians, and rightfully so. Not because of the message we share but because of the non-Christlike life we live. We have often behaved in ways that aren’t the most loving. And I’m not innocent of being an embarrassment to Jesus at times. We might be too judgmental of others. We may talk about how people that don’t believe in our pet doctrine are going to hell. But the biggest, and a source of the two previous symptoms, problem is that we don’t really love people.

This is sad because John wrote, “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19-21 ESV).

So the scary news is this. If you aren’t a loving person, then you aren’t right with God. Oh, you could claim that you are. You could know all the right religious things to say. You could go to church every week. You could even read your Bible and pray every day, but for some reason you aren’t growing. It’s like the Santa Claus in A Christmas Story. He had the costume, but he wasn’t spreading any joy.

All too often, Christians – those who should help people see God’s great gift to the world – get in the way and prevent people from seeing Jesus. It’s true that not everyone will respond to the message of the kingdom, but we, as followers of Jesus, are to be people that reflect His glory to everyone around us whether they respond positively or not. When the world is in shambles, we keep a positive, godly perspective. When ends don’t seem like they will meet, we keep up hope. When someone is in need, we search for a way to help. When darkness creeps in, we help shine the light.

Jesus came into this world, as we remember every year at Christmas time, to help renew us from our fallen state into the image of God (Colossians 3:10). It is the greatest gift God could give us. And because of His great, immeasurable love for us, we should respond by passing that love along to others. Christmas is the season of giving, but it shouldn’t just stop there. As Christians, every season should be just that. We are to make a difference in our homes, workplaces, and communities.

Wives, Submit to your Husbands or How to Have a Healthy Family

A study was released in July that described three types of families.  One happy, termed cohesive.  Two unhappy, termed disengaged and enmeshed.

“Typically cohesive families are characterized by harmonious interactions, emotional warmth, and firm but flexible roles for parents and children. "Think the Cosby family," says Sturge-Apple, offering an example from the popular TV series about the affable Huxtable family.

Enmeshed families, by contrast, appears to be emotionally involved and display modest amounts of warmth, but they struggle with high levels of hostility, destructive meddling, and a limited sense of the family as a team. Sturge-Apple points to the emotionally messy Barone family in the family sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond as a good example of an enmeshed family.

Finally, disengaged families, as the name implies, are marked by cold, controlling, and withdrawn relationships. The seemingly pleasant suburban family in the movie Ordinary People provides a classic illustration of a disengaged family, as per the authors. Reacting to the death of their oldest son, the parents in the film retreat emotionally, creating a barren home environment in which feelings cannot be discussed.”

The authors of the study are clear in saying that family life isn’t the only factor that results in troubled children.

Another article describing the same study wrote:

The research found that children from disengaged homes began their education with higher levels of aggressive and disruptive behavior and more difficulty focusing on learning and cooperating with the classroom rules. These destructive behaviors grew worse as the child progressed through school.

By contrast, children from enmeshed home environments entered school with no more disciplinary problems or depression and withdrawal than their peers from cohesive families. But as children from both enmeshed and disengaged homes continued in school they began to suffer higher levels of anxiety and feelings of loneliness and alienation from peers and teachers.

The authors conclude that “children in the early school years may be especially vulnerable to the destructive relationship patterns of enmeshed families.”

Paul, in writing Colossians, wrapped up telling us about the new self with what almost seems to be a sidetrack into the household.  The old self is lying, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk while the new self is compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, thankfulness, forgiveness, and love.

What we see in Paul's passage on the household in Colossians on how to have the family God desires is similar to what the scientists in the studies mentioned earlier would describe as a cohesive family.

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.  Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Colossians 3:18-4:1 (ESV).

Now, let’s deal with the elephant in the room first.  I would prefer not to deal with the elephant in the room because in dealing with it we risk missing the forest for the tree.  But if I don’t deal with it, I doubt we will get to see the forest because of that tree.  The big, hot button issue is that first sentence.  "Wives, submit to your husbands."  Let's be careful though; we can major on a minor and still have a dysfunctional family.

An exercise that is useful in discovering the meaning of a word is to to examine what it meant in the original language through a Greek word study.  One of the biggest mistakes typically done is to just look the word up in an English dictionary and call it good from there.  The problem with our understanding "hupotasso" is that we don't use the word "submit" much in our normal conversations.  The only places I hear it is in wrestling/mma and in a classroom environment where a student submits a paper to their teacher.  In doing a word study, we can see how the word was used in other sections of Scripture.  So let's look at some of those verses.

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive (hupotasso) to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.  Luke 2:51 (ESV)

Jesus was hupotasso to his parents.

Let every person be subject (hupotasso) to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.  Romans 13:1 (ESV).

We need to hupotasso governing authorities.

Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints—be subject (hupotasso) to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 1 Corinthians 16:15-16 (ESV).

We need to hupotasso to every fellow worker and laborer like those of the housefhold of Stephanas.

Submit (hupotasso) yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:7 (ESV).

We need to hupotasso to God.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting (hupotasso) to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Eph 5:18-21 (ESV).

We need to hupotasso to one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus.

We could get a grand and deeply authoritarian view of submission from the verses that teach us to submit to governing authorities and God, but there are uses of "submit" that throw a kink into that definition.  We see that submitting to one another is something that we are all called to do as believers. 

So the word "submit" is often misunderstood. This teaching of womanly submission has tragically been abused by the patriarchal society of the past and is still being abused in sexist settings.  I have heard of tragic stories of abuse in which a woman has been told to submit to her husband and remain in that abusive relationship.  That is not what this verse in Colossians is implying.

Submit (hupotasso) is voluntarily placing ourselves under someone in order to support them and help them achieve the dreams they have.  When Paul wrote that a wife should submit to her husband he was stating that a wife needs to be a person who is voluntarily supportive of their husband, but that is nothing more than what Paul said we need to be to one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus. It is nothing more than the husband should also be to the wife.

Submitting does not mean that we don’t speak up, that we don’t ever disobey.  It does not mean that we endure torture or abuse under another. It means that we know the dreams of the other person, we put ourselves voluntarily under them to help them achieve those dreams. We become a support to lift them up and help them achieve their goals. 

Each time that the Bible commands the wife to submit to her husband, it joins that with a command for the husband to love and take care of his wife.  Paul even goes so far in the letter to the Ephesians to say that the husband must love his wife like Jesus loves the church.  

 

A domineering man might then ask, "What does authority matter if it does not mean blind obedience by those under authority?"  It’s mean Christian authority.  If you are over someone in Christ, then you are their servant leader.  Jesus does not force His will to be done through taking away free will.  He leads out of submission and love.  We are to do likewise.

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matt 20:25-28 (ESV).

Jesus also taught that leadership in the church and in Christian relationships is upside-down.  

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  Matt 23:11-12 (ESV).

Servant leadership is what Christian leadership is all about.  As a pastor, I think about my role a lot and what I am to do.  I am in this position to serve the people in the church I minister at, the community around here, and world abroad.  It is not about me getting special treatment; it's about me serving people through calling on them, meeting their needs, and studying the Scriptures for what I think God wants us to hear.  The other leaders in a church are there to do likewise.  If you are living out the life of Jesus in your workplace, then you should be about serving them.  Government, if it is doing it’s job, is here to serve us.  Christian leadership, whether it is the role of a husband in the house, parents to their children, a teacher to their students, a law enforcement officer to the citizens, is one of sacrifice and service.

We all know in the core of our being what good leadership is.  What kind of cowardly father would flee if his family was endangered?  I know this one is a stretch, but what kind of corrupt politician would seek to gain personally from their position as a representative of the people?  What kind of shameful law enforcement officer would abandon people in need of help?  We all know, in the core of our being, what good leadership is.  And that is what Paul is laying out here because, so often, men can create a destructive family environment from their unhealthy leadership.  The leadership trap for a husband, as Paul warns, is to become harsh with their wives and provoke and discourage their children.     

But a healthy family is not one of selfish and personal ambition.  It’s one of  compassion, patience, love, humility, forgiveness, and love.  It is the new self lived out in unison one with another.  A healthy family is the most basic example of the love of Jesus lived in community.

It is dangerous for someone to get into a relationship with an unbeliever because the believer, if living the way Jesus would have them live, would be walked on by the other. The new self can only truly be lived without being abused when both people are living in the new self.  The family is designed to be a place where people are encouraged and built up to be who Jesus wants them to be rather than a place of manipulation and selfish ambition.
 
In the healthy family, telling a wife that she is to submit to her husband is also proclaiming that the husband must serve his wife.  We must never separate a wife submitting with the love of the husband that is always connected with that command to submit.

The main crux of the argument, as Paul described the way the household should function is that the man should no longer abuse his position.  At the time this letter was written to church in Colossae, the man was very domineering over the family. Paul gave three warnings to the man. One, he is not to be harsh with his wife. Two, he is not to provoke and discourage their children. And three, he is to treat his slaves justly and fairly.  This was a radical teaching that would be liberating to wives, children, and slaves at that time.

The Roman society was patriarchal and vicious.  The babies would be presented to the father after birth at which he could decide to let the baby not enter the family forcing the baby to die from exposure.  No property was allowed to be owned in a Roman family except for the father; this even included grown men.  All children were to be under the authority of their father until his passing.

Like modern sitcoms jokingly show the faults in the American family, Roman theater did the same for their audience.  And we can see in the family comedies of Plautus and Terrence that the Roman family could devolve into manipulation and greed.  With such a patriarchal structure, the wife, children, and slaves would all try to manipulate the father to get their will done.  Paul's writings were a direct assault on the Roman family structure and would have transformed a Roman family that lived selfishly into one that would be a witness for Jesus.

If the man is the head of the house, it is not a domineering head. Christian leadership is the exact opposite of being domineering. If anyone is the head of anything, then that person is to be the servant of those he is the head of.  True Christian leadership is serving, not domineering. It is an authority to serve rather than an authority to boss around and be obeyed.

Submit does not mean that someone should be silent, obedient at all times, or a slave. Actually, if submit means to support someone to achieve their dreams, then speaking up and telling the other person where they need to improve would be needed at times. So submit, in Paul's command for a wife to submit to her husband, just means that the woman will help the man achieve the dreams he is trying to achieve.  She will be his support. From other verses, we see that a man should be just as supportive of his wife.

Living in the New Self - The Story of Heartsong Church and Their Muslim Neighbors

Steve Stone, the pastor at Heartsong Church in Cordova, Tennessee learned that the lot next to him had been purchased by the Memphis Islamic Center.  Unlike the well-intentioned yet misguided Christians who have taken to protesting against Muslims, Stone placed a sign out where the lots meet that said, "Heartsong Church Welcomes Memphis Islamic Center to the Neighborhood."  Stone’s church even invited the Muslims over to the church to share a meal. In a touching moment, the Muslim women brought flowers for their Christians hostesses.  

Instead of protesting against the Muslims, Heartsong Church lived out the life of Christ and started the process of reaching the unreached. Because of this approach, relationships are being built, bridges that Jesus can walk over rather than walls that would obscure the view of Jesus.  

Somewhere along the road to where we are, many churches have become confused and started to think that being filled with slander, wrath, malice, and anger – characteristics of the old self (Colossians 3:8) – is how we should respond to those different than us.  In many circles it has become improper to even dialogue with those that disagree with you because you wouldn't want to appear accepting of them; that might cause people to think that you are like those you disagree with.  We don’t just do this with other religions, we do it with other denominations and even churches within our own brotherhood.  And on a personal level, we do it with other people. 

But the new self is different than that old, hostile self.  Gone is the slander, wrath, malice, and anger.  The new self opens doors rather than closes them.  When we live in the new self, we will be used to build a better world rather than quickening the deterioration of the world around us.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on 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 one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts 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.  Col 3:12-17 (ESV)

The key is love, a love that leads to a compassionate heart that is kind, humble, meek and patient.  This love will cause us to not count wrongs but to forgive.  This love will cause us to live differently than the grudge holders around us.  Instead of breaking the lines of communication when things get difficult, as much as it depends on us, we will keep the dialogue going.  I have experienced people who no longer want to talk with me because of things I have done to try and further the kingdom, but I need to always leave the door open to further communicating with them.  The same is true in every situation, as much as it depends on us, we live in peace with everyone.  It takes two to have a healthy conversation, but we should never be the person to stop it.  

The story of Heartsong Church didn’t just end with a church being Jesus in their community, welcoming their unreached neighbors into the neighborhood.  Across the world in Kashmir, the contested and violent religion between India and Pakistan, the story of Heartsong welcoming the Islamic Center was covered on the news. 

Jim Wallis shared the following story:

Stone also told me that he got a call from a group of Muslims in a small town in Kashmir. They said they had been watching CNN when the segment on Heartsong Church aired. Afterward, one of the community's leaders said to those who were gathered, "God just spoke to us through this man." Another said, "How can we kill these people?" A third man went straight to the local Christian church and proceeded to clean it, inside and out.

Stone says he is just trying to love his neighbors, as he says Jesus instructs him to do. For their part, the residents of that small town in Kashmir told him: "We are now trying to be good neighbors, too. Tell your congregation we do not hate them, we love them, and for the rest of our lives we are going to take care of that little church."

All of this in Kashmir because a church in Tennessee put on the new self.

Now, if you're like me, chances of a mosque being built in your neighborhood isn't all that likely.  The way we treat Muslims is just a mental exercise that influences the way we converse about world issues.  However, we have people around us who we want to give up on.  People who behave in such a way that we want to put on the old self of malice, anger, and slander.  We know a friend who drinks to much, and we want to give up on her.  We know someone who is lazy causing him to lose job after job, and we want to give up on him.  We know another who just makes bad decision after bad decision, and we want to give up on her.  But if we are living in the new self, we will be compassionate, forgiving, kind, and filled with love.  If we keep them at a difference while we live in the old self, we will never be of any help.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  We need to be about His work.  It might not have an impact like Heartsong had.  In the end, the Christian life is not about effectiveness; it's about faithfulness.  And without a phone call from Kashmir, Steve Stone would not have known what his living in the new self did to impact the world.  And often, we will not see what living in the new self has done to help improve the world around us.  But that's not the point, being faithful, no matter what the cost, is what following Jesus is all about.  Compasssion.  Kindness.  Humility.  Meekness.  Patience.  Forgiveness.  Love.  Thankfulness.   The New Self.  A new life.  Our life.

Getting Past the Right Answers - Becoming Honest with Ourselves

People who have been churchgoers for a while know the right answers to say so that we can look like we are totally committed to Jesus, but when it comes to actually living out the right answers, we fail more often than not.

For instance, we say that we believe in the power of prayer, but when was the last time that we spent thirty minutes in prayer?

We say that we believe that the Scriptures are the inspired word of God, but when was the last time we seriously studied them?

We say that we believe that following Jesus is the best life that anyone could possibly live, but when was the last time that we shared the gospel with someone?

We say that we value living life together in Christian community, but when was the last time that we sacrificed, whether financially or with our time, for our community?

We say that we trust God, but when was the last time we despaired and doubted?

What we do shows what we really believe.  The right answers are easy.  Too easy.  But living out the radical call of the gospel in our lives is difficult.

Paul wrote in his letter to Colossae, "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:9-10 (ESV)

I heard Craig Groeschel give a sermon the other week where he said, "I'm guessing that some of you know someone who has told a lie so many times that they start to believe the lie is true."  Then he went on to ask, "How many of you would honestly say, that for you that battling with self-deception is a significant problem?  You're really, really deceived about a lot of things?"  Only a few people raised their hands.  Then he asked, "How many of you know someone else who is really self-deceived?"  The hands then raised from nearly everyone.  He told them to look around and ask, "Do we have a statistical problem?"  The problem is that we can notice the self-deception in other people while we consider the self-deception in ourselves justified.

Why is it so hard to be honest with ourselves?  Do we not like who really are?  Are we embarrassed about our failures?  Paul said to not lie to one another, but I think we really need to stop lying to ourselves.  We need to put on that new self, allow the knowledge that we become enlightened with to transform us, but we can never do that if we keep telling ourselves that the old, out-of-style clothes that we are still wearing are still in.

We have developed an immunity due to familiarity with the Gospel that should transform us.  As churchgoers, we have developed, what I consider, sermon immunity.  It means that we can listen to a sermon, think it is great or awful, and go home and not do a thing about.  We have learned how to listen to a message and remain immune to any change.

This has become easier because we have become more and more inundated with knowledge.  Wikileaks just leaked 251,287 State Department documents.  It was said back in 1989 that a weekday edition of The New York Times contains more information than the average person in 17th-century England was likely to come across in a lifetime (Information Anxiety).  Around 1,000 books are published internationally every day and the total of all printed knowledge doubles every 5 years.  More information is estimated to have been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000 (The Reuters Guide to Good Information).  Information is everywhere.  If we have any question about any historical event, we can just Google it and have the answer.  But allowing the right knowledge to transform us is more important than just knowing some information, being able to wow your friends with trivia, or passing a test.

What Paul wants us to do is really believe in the depths of our being.  To allow our beliefs to wash through our body and come out in the way we live.  For a belief that is kept in the head and not expressed in the hands and feet is not a true belief.  It's just us deceiving ourselves.  And if we won't be the hands and feet of Jesus' head, who will be? 

James wrote:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  James 1:22-27 (ESV).

Let's stop lying.  We have places to go and new clothes to put on to get us there.

Legalism brings about Division, Love Knits Us Together in Unity

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4 ESV).

This part of the letter from Paul to the church at Colossae came immediately after Paul dealt with two attacks on the church there.  The first attack was one on the nature of who Jesus was.  The second attack was legalism in the form of philosophies, Judaism, angel worship, and asceticism.  Paul's remedy to legalism and losing focusing on Jesus was to seek Christ in the things that are above rather than the things of this world.  This echoes Jesus' teaching during the Sermon on the Mount: 

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt 6:33 ESV).

When I was a kid and would play hide and go seek, I always liked to hide with someone.  Although less effective, it made the game all that much more enjoyable.  Earlier (in Colossians 2:3), Paul wrote that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus.  Paul (in Colossians 3:3) is saying that we are hidden with Christ in God.  Unlike when I played hide and seek, hiding with Jesus is still enjoyable yet more effective for our life.  For us who are in Christ, the secrets that are hidden and do not make sense to the world are revealed.  If we live in that same mystery, our lives shouldn't make sense to the world around us.

We're supposed to set our mind on the things that are above, we're supposed to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and we're assured by Jesus that if we seek we will find (Luke 11:9-10).  What if what is above is actually all around us?  What if His kingdom is here in our midst, yet we fail to see it?  What if finding Him is much easier than we thought?

**

Dr. Karl Menninger was a psychiatrist who was revolutionary for his time and his thoughts are still challenging to the psychiatric field today.  Before World War II, when mental asylums were overcrowded, conditions were terrible, and the mentally ill had a stigma with society, Menninger opened up a clinic that actually loved patients and cured them of their problems rather than just isolating them from society or medicating them like they do now.  

"Love cures people-both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it."

"Love is a medicine for the sickness of the world; a prescription often given, too rarely taken."

"Love is the touchstone of psychiatric treatment ... to our patient who cannot love, we must say by our actions that we do love him" (1).

When Menninger was asked, "If you knew for a certainty that you were going to have a nervous breakdown, what would you do?"

He replied, "I would close my house; I would move over onto the other side of the tracks; I would knock on doors until I had an opportunity to meet somebody who had more problems than I did; and then I'd spend my time helping them solve those problems" (2).

Meninger knew that loving others is the best cure for the problems we face.

**

Jesus taught:

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,   I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,  you did it to me' (Matt 25:34-40 ESV).

It seems that I have taken a tangent from the idea that legalism brings division while love knits us together in unity, but Jesus' teaching that we love Him by loving the less fortunate isn't a tangent.  It's the cure to legalism.  Loving others, especially those who society deems unlovable, is exactly how we "seek the things that are above."  We can get hung up all sorts of crap when we are the church together.  We can get hung up on what music style we us, what songs we sing, whether we sit on pews or pew chairs, whether we have the lights dim or brighter, what programs we should or should not do, or one of the hundreds of other inane subjects.  But the real heart of our life together is love.  Love for one another and love for those around us.  When we let the other issues get in the way of us loving each other and loving those around us, we have become legalists.

A healthy family is not a family who always agree with one another.  A healthy family is one who works through their problems and disagreements because they love one another.  They don't give up on one another when times get tough or family decisions do not go their way.  "Hatred stirs up strife,  but love covers all offenses" (Prov 10:12 (ESV).  Hatred toward one another causes a family to disintegrate while love frees them to disagree.  The same is true of a healthy church.  We need to love one another through thick and thin because we have been knitted together in Christ.

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Col 2:6-7 ESV).  This walk in him does not come through self-centeredness that manifests itself in us warping Jesus into who we want Him to be or morphing our walk into a series of legalistic obstacles that we expect others to traverse.  This comes from living a transformed life, a life that is focused on loving others no matter what others might think of us.  For we have been "knit together in love" and hold "fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God" (Col 2:2, 2:19 ESV).  

Legalism brings about division, but love knits us together in unity.


**

1. Quoted in "Menninger's long history began with a small idea."  Menininger Institute. Web. 27 Nov. 2010.

2. Quoted from Clarke's personal file in Clarke, J. Richard. "The Royal Road to Happiness."  Brigham Young University. 30 October 1979. Web. 27 Nov. 2010.

Discerning God's Will - Part Four - Go After His Will No Matter What!

So let’s say that you know what God wants you to do; you have discovered His will.  That’s just the beginning.  From that point, you need to go after it.   Most of the time, what God calls us to does not seem possible.  That’s typical of what happens when God interacts and leads us in an irrational direction. 

Jesus taught, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26 (ESV) .

In the immediate context, Jesus was talking about eternal life, but the biblical principle holds up in all situations.  What appears impossible to man can be possible with God.  We so often see the task ahead of us and don’t realize it is attainable one step at a time.  I was listening to someone talk about how to run a marathon.  You have to view it as one mile at a time rather than the whole 26.2 miles.  If you’re five miles in and think of how much you have left, you’ll never accomplish it.  But if you just view it as one mile at a time it is attainable.

I’m more of a writer than I am a runner, but the principle is the same.  If I told you to write over 1000 blog posts, it would seem insurmountable.  But if you do it just one post at a time like I have been doing over the last six years, it can be done. 

So when God calls and the task seems too big to get done, you are just responsible for taking the next step, followed by the next step, and the next thousands steps after that.  After being faithful in a thousand little steps, one step at a time, you will be living the impossible right where God destined for you to be. 

Jesus told the story:

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.  So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.  For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’  Matt 25:14-30 (ESV)

If you are faithful in a little, you will be given more.

Don’t let anything stop you once you know that you have been called.  Keep heading in the direction God has called you to even if you feel like it is insurmountable.  God might have called you to something that needs a miracle.  One step at a time.  Eventually, we will have achieved far more than we ever thought possible.  Things will fall into place that we did not even foresee.  Because the same God that called us in a specific direction works our path out for us.

Paul didn’t let shipwrecks, beatings, getting lost, robbers, persecution, hunger, thirst, or exposure to the elements stop Him (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).  We also should not let anything stop us. 

Mark Evanier shares the following story:

There's a famous story they used to tell around the Marvel offices about the great New York blackout of 1965 when power was off everywhere for about twelve hours one evening. Most everyone showed up at the Marvel office the next morning without their homework, figuring they couldn't be expected to write or draw by candlelight. Stan Lee, however, came in with all his pages done, having labored by candlelight. And the point of the story was that Stan was amazed that everyone else hadn't done that. It had simply not occurred to him not to write even though he had a perfect excuse. Which is one of the reasons he's Stan Lee and you and I are not.

We need to not let any obstacles stop us from doing what we know God wants us to do, one step at a time, and we need to never forget to enjoy God on the journey.  Sometimes we get so hung up on where we are going and what we are doing that we forget to enjoy the presence of God in the now.  Being a Christian is not about the destination; it’s about experiencing God day in and day out on the journey.  Part of the greatest experience is being used by Him to bring about His will in the here and now.

Paul wrote:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts 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.  Col 3:12-17 (ESV)

One thing we can be certain of is that His general will is the same for each of us:  He wants each one of us to surrender our lives to Him through accepting Jesus as our Lord and to allow Him to use us to bring about His will in the world.  But when it comes to specifics for your life, He’s not telling me.  I can’t give you a formula or a practical answer.  That is something that has to be discovered through your relationship with God.  It is my prayer that some of you reading this will be prompted concerning what His will is for you.  Go after it no matter what the cost or how insurmountable it appears.  May we be people whose eyes are open to see the direction God wants us to go.  May we be courageous to go after it no matter what the cost or how great the challenge.  And may we learn to enjoy God  more along the way.