Replay: Does acceptance of others make our beliefs illegitimate?
Three year ago, I wrote a post called “Does acceptance make our beliefs illegitimate?” Among many Christians today (and for the last several hundred to two thousand years) there is a huge problem when it comes to unity. The problem is that we assume that accepting someone as a brother or sister in Christ means that we must set aside all of our beliefs and convictions. It means we must agree with everything that they other person believes. (Well, to be honest, most separate “doctrines” into different groups with each group allowing different levels of agreement.) I think this practice is a huge slap in the face to our unity in Christ.
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Does acceptance make our beliefs illegitimate?
Recently, when reading about the Jewish influence on the early church, I came across this interesting paragraph:
For the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, however, the issue [of circumcision of Gentiles] was not so clear. The inferences were obvious to them; the ramifications were potentially damaging to the Jewish traditions. That God had poured out his Spirit on the Gentiles was amazing in its own right; but the subsequent inference that the Jewish believers would be required to accept (and even have table-fellowship) with the Gentile Christians without the latter having to undergo circumcision or to observe the law brought into question the legitimacy of the Torah. (Brad Blue, “The Influence of Jewish Worship on Luke’s Presentation of the Early Church,” in Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts (ed. I. Howard Marshall and David Peterson; Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 1998) , p. 492)
An amazing thing happened in those early years after Pentecost (as recorded by Luke in Acts). God’s Spirit began to indwell people… and not just Jews, but Gentiles as well.
Before, Jews would only interact with Gentiles when required to (for instance, the Roman army or government officials) or when the Gentiles agreed to be circumcised and keep the law. In other words, if it were up to the Jews, they would only spend time with people who were like them and who believed like them.
But, now, the Holy Spirit was indwelling uncircumcised, law-breaking Gentiles, and the ramifications of this indwelling was about to turn the Jewish-Christian’s view of the world upside down. They knew that they were required (by their common relationship to God and by the common indwelling of the Spirit) to not only spend time with these new Gentile Christians, but to treat them as brothers and sisters!
Outrageous! And, many of those Jewish Christians refused, fought, argued, kicked-and-screamed against this type of behavior. They knew exactly what this kind of acceptance meant. If the Jewish Christians accepted the Gentile Christians as brothers and sisters, then the Jewish Christians would have to admit that neither circumcision nor keeping the law were necessary for God’s acceptance.
Thousands of years of traditions and belief were about to be thrown out the window because God was accepting, saving, and indwelling Gentiles.
Now… today… what are we going to do when we recognize that God is accepting, saving, and indwelling people from different traditions and with different beliefs? Are we going to accept them? Or, are we going to refuse, fight, argue, kick-and-scream against the work that God is doing?
Can we admit that God can accept, save, and indwell people who do not have the same traditions, practices, and beliefs as us? Are we willing to admit that our traditions, practices, and beliefs are not necessary for God to accept, save, and indwell someone?
Do you really care about people?
Do you really care about people? You remember when Jesus said something about loving others (and then Paul, Peter, James, John, and others picked up on that theme in their writings)? Well, it seems kinda obvious, but you can’t love others if you don’t care about them.
A few days ago, Randy at “Bible Study Geek” (his subtitle ‘Nerd Groks Word’ always makes me smile) published a post called “People.” Although his post is about relationship problems, it really comes down to caring about people.
He wrote (in part):
You get close enough to someone and eventually you will disappoint him and he will disappoint you. The disappointment can be handled in several ways, but it will always be there and it will never go away. It will affect your relationship.
I have disappointed my wife so often that I’m embarrassed to still be alive. She–a woman of great grace–has forgiven me and she loves me with a hunka burning love. But in certain situations, she doesn’t quite trust me because I have proven that I am not totally trustworthy. Even if my record is good for the last several years, there is a certain level of distrust remaining. That’s my fault, not hers.
That’s just one example.
I have a long string of victims in my wake. Like a Palm Sunday tornado, I’ve left strong trees toppled along my path of destruction. I wish I could stand those trees back up, but I don’t know how.
Like Randy, we all have “left strong treest toppled along [our] path of destruction.” It’s true… all of us. And, of course, we’ve all been hurt as well. For some, the hurt goes deeper than others, but everyone has been hurt by someone else.
And, like I said, the hurt often (if not always) begins because we really don’t care about other people – or, at least, we care about them less than we care about ourselves.
Around the same time that I was thinking about this, a friend of mine left the following on Facebook:
About two weeks ago I determined to do the following: Be more present, interested, and attentive to others – and – to look at people as having a sign hung around their neck that says: Please listen to me and value me. I am already seeing this bear fruit in my life and believe me it does not just benefit the people with whom I interact with—it has benefitted me more than you can imagine. Can you think of the benefits that would come from interacting in such a way with people you come in contact with? How does it benefit others… how would it benefit you?
Do you see what he’s doing? He’s reminding himself that others are important. If we remember that other people are important, then we’ll begin to care about them.
Do you listen to people? Do you value them? How do you show it?
I think these are good questions to ask ourselves. But, for now, I’ll close with the questions that my friend asked on Facebook:
If you started looking at people as having a sign around their neck that says, “Please listen to me and value me,” what benefits would come from interacting with people in that way? How would it benefit other people? How would it benefit you?
Living as one who is sent by God… wherever you are
Typically, when we gather together on Sunday mornings with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we have a plan to study through a certain section of Scripture together. We usually discuss an entire book together; so each week we know which chapter we’ll be studying that week. (When we gather together at other times during the week, we rarely have that same kind of plan.)
For the last few weeks, we’ve decided not to study through a book. We’re not setting that aside completely, because it has been very valuable for us. (In fact, we plan to start studying another book of Scripture together in a couple of weeks.) But, for now, we’re not discussing a particular passage of Scripture together.
However, when we came together last Sunday, God definitely had an agenda for us… but not an agenda that any of us planned. It turned out that as we asked for prayer for people whom God had brought into our lives over the last few weeks, a pattern emerged. We were all asking for prayer for people at different places in their walk with Christ – some of them were not following Jesus at all – and God was using us in different ways in the lives of these people.
We began to talk about how God was showing us how important it was for us to live intentionally as those he had sent into the world. Yes, it’s very important that we gather together and build each other up (the point of this blog, by the way). But, the “gathering up” suggests dispersal, and the “building up” suggests that we’re being prepared for something. In fact, we’re seeing more and more that God is sending us out to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to help others follow him with us. (When I say, “With us,” I don’t necessarily mean meeting with us on Sundays or at other times. I mean we are helping others follow Jesus as we follow him also.)
Someone mentioned a neighbor. Someone else talked about a coworker. Someone met a person in the grocery store. There were different people at different points in their lives and at different locations.
At one point while we were talking, one of our sisters described how God had brought a young man across her path. She was with some friends when this guy made a comment about God. She started talking with him, and eventually the young man started asking her questions. This happened over the course of several weeks. After not seeing each other for a few weeks, the next time she saw him, the young man continued the conversation by asking questions about what they had talked about previously.
Our sister asked the church some questions about talking with him. She wanted wisdom for how to answer his questions, and how to approach him with the gospel. She expressed her desire to see him walk with Jesus, and at the same time expressed her frustration with not being able to make him understand. It was a great time of building up our sister and praying for her and the young man.
By the way, this young lady is 13 years old, and these conversations have taken place in a public school.
Like I said, I’m excited about what God is doing in our group of brothers and sisters in Christ, and I’m excited about what God is doing through us as well… from the oldest to the youngest. I’m also glad that our young sister felt comfortable enough to ask questions and seek wisdom from the church as we gathered together.
She was a great example and a great reminder that we are to live as those who are sent by God wherever we are and whatever we do.
Digging deeper into mutual service among the church
Last week and the beginning of this week, I wrote a series called “To equip the saints for the work of ministry.” The point of that series was to consider how variously gifted individuals might prepare Jesus’ followers to do the hard work of serving others. But, this entire series was based on an important premise.
That premise is that God works through all of his children in various ways to build them all up in unity, faith, and maturity (edification). In other words, without mutual service, the equipping that Paul mentioned in Ephesians 4:12 is impossible. Without mutual service, the church will not be built up in unity, faith, and maturity the the level that we could be.
I’ve been excited recently to read several other posts (and series even) that are focused on this same topic and related topics.
For example, Jim at “Crossroad Junction” wrote a series on the topic of “Ekklesia and Diverse Gifts,” and he touched on the importance of mutuality in his post “The Imperative of Participation.” Here’s an excerpt from his great post:
Time and again Scripture exhorts us to avoid passivity. As such, God intends for our meetings to be incubators where we identify, develop and learn to use our gifts for our mutual growth and edification.
That’s because God’s gifts are not given for purely personal or individualistic purposes. Rather, when we meet we should be ministering to each other, each according to our unique gifts. Using our gifts within the church, in turn, allows us to become a gift – to each other, the world and, most importantly, to Jesus.
As Jim explains, mutual service and participation in each other’s life (even and especially when we gather together) is an imperative (command) and works against a natural tendency toward passivity.
Similarly, Eric from “A Pilgrim’s Progress” deals with this issue in his post “Priesthood and Reciprocity.” But, Eric looks at mutual service from a different (but just as necessary) perspective. Here’s a snippet from his post:
There is a tendency (and I’m not sure why this exists) among some Christians to be always serving but not receiving it. If you ask them if they need help, they almost always say no. I think they do this because they don’t want to cause any work for anyone else; therefore, their motives seem pure. However, in doing this they actually stunt the growth of their brothers and sisters. This is because they are keeping them from serving.
The one-anothers have a reciprocal nature. We all grow up together in Christ as we serve one another. We help others grow by one anothering together. This involves both giving and receiving. If we only focus on the giving, we end up inadvertently hurting both ourselves and others.
Eric’s is absolutely right… Mutual service means that we must be active (not passive) in serving others, and it also means that we must be willing to receive (even welcome) the service of others.
But, if we are serving one another, another question pops up…
But, don’t worry… Miguel at “God Directed Deviations” as asked the question for us. If we are serving one another, then “What Do We Need Church Leaders For?”
I think that leaders are important to the body of Christ, but not for the reasons that are usually presented. I’ll leave my answer to Miguel’s question for later, but for now, I’ll leave this post with this question for you…
What are some issues that keep the brothers and sisters in Christ who you know from mutually serving one another?
un-loving one another
Believe it or not, the “one another” chain blog is still going strong – although it has slowed down slightly.
The “one another” chain blog started over two months ago with my post “Chain blog: One Another.” Since then, 17 bloggers have written 21 posts on the topic of “one another.”
If you’re interested, I’ve linked to and provided a short blurb for each “link” in the chain in my post called “Blog with One Another: A Chain Blog Update.” (I keep that post updated as new links are added to the chain blog.)
The posts in the chain blog have covered many different aspects of the various “one another” passages in Scripture. Some of them have been more theoretical and some have been more practical. Of course, all of them are practical, because living for “one another” is extremely practical.
I want to highlight the last two posts in the chain, because they focus on “un-loving one another” or choosing who to love.
First, there’s Dan’s post “love: a ‘one another’ comic.” As the title indicates, Dan’s post is actually a comic. Who do we love? Do we get to choose who to love? If so, then “love one another” is quite doable. But, if we don’t get to choose who to love, then “love one another” becomes absolutely impossible… at lest it’s humanly impossible.
Then, there’s the latest post in the chain blog. It was written by Rob, and it’s called “I Can Only Love You If…” After asking us to consider who we love, Rob says:
You might be thinking, “Shucks, that’s a high standard! Only God can be like that!” Exactly, the unconditional love for one another in the body of Christ and for people in the world can only come from God. It’s the fruit of the Spirit.
Yes, that’s the point, isn’t it!
If you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll read the various posts in the chain blog. Like I said, there are some really good posts there.
And, while you’re at it, why not write the next link post in the chain? Just jump over the last post and leave a comment saying that you’re going to write another post in the chain.
But, aren’t the kids a distraction when the church gathers?
Last week, Gavin at “Simple Church Alliance” wrote a great post called “What About The Kids?” Whenever people think about more organice or simple types of church gatherings, they often (eventually) ask the question, “But what do you do with the children?”
The assumption, of course, is that we gather as the church in order to sing together and to listen to someone preach a sermon. If this is the case, then a loud child or a crying baby can be a distraction. If a toddler next to me is moving around, then I may not be paying attention to the words that are being sung. If a baby near me cries, then I may not be able to hear the speaker.
Gavin suggests that children should not be seen as a distraction, but should instead be involved in the church gathering. He provides several suggestions that he’s seen practiced over the last several years, including:
Pray & Prepare
Get A Sitter
Music
Skits
Listening To God
One Anothers
Dance
Kids Focus
Please click over to Gavin’s post for a longer list, and for a description of each item in his list.
Often, children gather with us on Sundays – not to mention the times we get together throughout the week. There are newborns, toddlers, younger children, older children, teenagers… almost every age group.
Guess what? Children are often loud, talkative, fussy, etc. And, I’m talking about well-behaved children. That’s the way children are.
So, what do we do when children “disrupt” our gathering or are a “distraction”? Well, first, we recognize that the children are not a disruption and they are not a distraction. They are children, and they are part of our families. They are welcomed in our gathering – talking, crying, fussing, and all.
That attitude alone solves most of the problems. If we’re honest with ourselves, children are seen as a disruption or a distraction because WE are not able to do what WE want to do because of them. In other words, WE can’t hear, or WE can’t sing, or WE can’t pay attention. In other words, we’re centered on ourselves and our desires. When those desires are not met because of talkative or crying children, we see them as a distraction.
But, think about what would happen if, instead of focusing on us and our desires, we focused on others – including the children (and their parents)?
There are so many different options when a child becomes “disruptive”… play with them… walk with them… color with them… Yes, we love coloring books, stickers, blocks, puzzle. And, yes, we sit right there in the floor with them in the middle of everyone else (or off to the side if there’s room).
Not only do the children understand that they are important, but the parents also understand how much we love them.
I’ve found many times that my worship in a church gathering consisted of sitting in the floor and putting stickers on a piece of paper with a few children. In doing that, I was obeying what God was calling me to do, and I was loving others. What could be better?
The church as a team of player-coaches
As I was thinking about my post yesterday (see “How specialization harms the church“), I also thought about how my understanding of the church had changed over the last few years.
I remember when I once saw the church as a team with a coach (or coaches). The coach(es) trained the players, helped them learn their roles, then sent them out to play. Of course, in this view, the leaders among the church are the coaches while everyone one else is a player.
Later, my view changed slightly. I began to realize that among the church the coaches were also players. They still played an important role, but they were not just coaches; they were player-coaches. Of course, in this view, there was still a distinction between leaders (who were now player-coaches, not just coaches) and everyone else (who were still players).
Now, though, I see the church in an even different light. All are players and all are coaches. Yes, there are certainly different specializations (to use the coach/team analogy) and different levels of experience/ability. But, this doesn’t change the fact that all have the ability to coach others, and all are responsible for playing.
When we see the church as a team of player-coaches, it emphasizes several important aspects of our life in Christ that we share together.
1) We’re all equal in Christ; all are important; all are necessary.
2) At any point in time, any follower of Jesus could be a coach (leader).
3) At any point in time, any follower of Jesus could need a coach (leader).
4) Leading (coaching) is not about position or even function (since there can be leadership in different aspects of life).
5) Leading (coaching) is about helping others follow Jesus (in whatever aspect of life that is needed).
6) We all play the same game (which is not a game, but is life in Christ).
7) We all play for the same team.
8) We all play for the same owner.
9) We all take our directions (plays) from the same owner.
Obviously, every analogy fails at some point. But, what do you think of my analogy of the church as a team of player-coaches? Or do you prefer one of the other analogies that I mentioned (players with coaches or players with player-coaches)?
The secondary concern with imitation in Scripture
As I mentioned in my post “Lessons in Imitation,” the idea of imitation is very important to the authors of the New Testament. This is especially true of Paul, but John (at least) also exhorts his readers toward imitation. In that post, I listed several of the passages in Scripture in which people were exhorted toward imitation. Those instructions included the imitation of God as well as the imitation of other followers of Jesus (both the authors and others).
When we read through those passages, we can see that the primary concern of the authors is for the readers to consider who they are imitating. In this post, I want to consider another concern about imitation that can only be inferred from those passages, and so is a secondary concern.
What concern is that? While the primary concern of the scriptural authors is for the readers to think carefully about who they are imitating, a secondary concern is for the readers to think about the kind of life they are living and that others are imitating.
Now, before I begin, I need to make something clear. We do not live a certain way because other people are watching us (noticing how we live and following our example, either good or bad). Instead, we live a certain way in obedience to Jesus Christ and in order to glorify God. However, while other people ARE watching us, and they ARE following our example whether we realize it or not. And, being a good example (of a follower of Jesus Christ and child of God) is part of obeying Jesus and glorifying God.
But, even before talking about what it means to live in a way that honors Jesus, there’s another step that we need to consider – a step that I think many among the church are setting aside. What step is that? Actually sharing life with others so that they are able to see your life and you are able to see their life.
Think about it… How can you imitate someone if you do not know how that person lives? How can someone imitate your way of life if they do not know how you live? For too long, the church has relied almost completely on words (either spoken or written) as the primary method of teaching and discipleship. This is not sufficient.
We must begin sharing our lives with one another – every aspect of our lives – yes, even the parts that you wish were not there. Why? Because that’s how real discipleship, teaching, and fellowship takes place. Anything else is a farce – a fake – not reality.
Of course, the church today does not accept this kind of messiness… because life is messy. Instead, we prefer to have things polished, practiced, excellent. And, I think, this is stunting the growth of many Christians.
So, start sharing your life with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Let them see the good and the bad. It’s okay, even if they reject you. And some will.
But, others will accept you as you are, and you will be able to accept them as they are. And, together, you will learn to imitate good and stay away from evil, and together you will grow in maturity in Jesus Christ.
The primary concern with imitation in Scripture
As I mentioned in my post “Lessons in Imitation,” the idea of imitation is very important to the authors of the New Testament. This is especially true of Paul, but John (at least) also exhorts his readers toward imitation. In that post, I listed several of the passages in Scripture in which people were exhorted toward imitation. Those instructions included the imitation of God as well as the imitation of other followers of Jesus (both the authors and others).
When we read through those passages, we can see that the primary concern of the authors is for the readers to consider who they are imitating. They are not to accept just anyone as someone to be imitated. And, in fact, there are no indications that they should accept someone else to imitate simply because others are imitating that person.
While the authors do not always specify reasons to imitate someone else, a few do. Perhaps John write the most general exhortation when he writes, “Do not imitate evil but imitate good.” (3 John 11 ESV) If you read that passage in context, you’ll see that John is actually comparing two different examples that could be imitated: Diotrephes or Demetrius.
Similarly, we see Paul exhorted others to follow him “as he follows Christ,” to follow others in suffering, and to follow others in hard work. The author of Hebrews says to follow someone’s “faith” only after considering “the outcome of their way of life.” (Hebrews 13:7 ESV)
Finally, think again about this passage that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:
I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. (1 Corinthians 4:16-17 ESV)
So, not only did Paul encourage the Christians in Corinth to imitate him, but he sent Timothy to them as another example to be imitated. This tells us something important about imitation: we should only imitate people we know and spend time with. “Imitation” in Scripture is about following the example of someone else’s way of life, not simply “following” what the person says.
So, in these passages, the authors are exhorting their readers not only to imitate others, but to carefully consider who they are imitating. And, what is to be considered? The way these people live… what they do… how they respond in difficult situation… are they loving, joyful, peace-filled, etc. even when most people are not?
It is only those who are truly following Jesus consistently that should be imitated. This is the primary concern of the authors of Scripture when they tell their readers to imitate others.
Lessons in Imitation
As I’ve mentioned several times lately, we’re studying through Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus (Ephesians) when we gather together with the church on Sundays. Of course, our discussions usually spill over into times of conversation and encouragement during the week as we see each other in homes, restaurants, parks, wherever.
This last week, we were scheduled to study the first half of chapter 5 together. As I continued studying through the letter and as I focused on chapter 5 last week, I was intrigued by the first few verses of that chapter.
It starts like this:
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV)
I realized when I read this that I had been pretty jaded. Do you understand how shocking it is to be told to “imitate God”? It truly is jarring when you think about it. Of course, Paul followed that up with “walk in love,” and not just any kind of love, but the same love that Jesus Christ demonstrated when he gave up his life for us.
But, going back to that idea of being imitators… there are many instances in Scripture in which the authors exhort the readers to be “imitators.” I started reading through these difference passages, and I was reminded how important imitation is for followers of Jesus Christ.
Here are a few of the passages:
I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. (1 Corinthians 4:16-17 ESEV)
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV)
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 ESV)
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews… (1 Thessalonians 2:14 ESV)
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 ESV)
And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:11-12 ESV)
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7 ESV)
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 ESV)
While most of these examples are from Paul’s letters, at least one is from a different author. (Perhaps two are fum a different author, if Hebrews was not written by Paul.) In fact, the most general exhortation is from John when he writes, “Do not imitate evil, but imitate good.”
So, why do you think imitation was so important to these early followers of Jesus?