When God makes plans…
We made such good plans for Saturday. But, God had better plans. You see, a friend of ours had asked if we would host her birthday party Saturday evening. Her family and friends were coming into town, and her apartment would not hold them all. So, we gladly offered our home for her party. We were happy to be part of her birthday celebration.
So, we made such good plans for Saturday morning and afternoon. I planned to mow the grass Saturday morning. Then, on Saturday afternoon, we would all clean the house and prepare for the party. We were looking forward to being able to show hospitality to our friend and her family and friends. We were excited that God had given us this opportunity to serve them. We made such good plans.
Friday evening, a good friend of ours surprised us by asking if she could keep our children Friday night. She has children the same age as our children, and our children were thrilled with the opportunity to spend then night with them. So, while we were thinking about serving someone else, God provided someone to serve me and my wife. We were able to spend all of Friday evening alone. What a great God we serve!
We made such good plans for Saturday. As I was preparing to mow the grass on Saturday morning, another friend called. Her oldest son had been hurt and she needed to take him to the doctor’s office. Could we watch her other three boys? We were very happy to watch her boys. It turns out that the oldest son needed to go to the hospital for x-rays, but they returned home by early afternoon. So, again, God provided us a way to serve someone in need – even while we were being served! What a great God we serve!
As my wife kept the three boys, I began to mow the grass. While I was mowing the grass, I received a phone call from another friend. He was grieving because he had just found out that a close friend of his died the night before. I stopped mowing the grass for a while so I could go to his house and spend time comforting this brother. I think that God is going to use him to comfort the family of the man who died. But, for now, this brother just needed to grieve. Again, God used me in a way that I did not expect – and mainly all I did was listen. What a great God we serve!
We made such good plans for Saturday. I finished mowing the lawn. We finished cleaning the house and preparing for the birthday party. Our friend arrived with her family and friends. We had a great time celebrating with them.
We made such good plans for Saturday. But, as I look back over this day, I realize that the plans that God made for us were much better than the plans that we made. God is teaching us look to him – to look for the plans that he’s made – and not to schedule his plans out of our lives. Yes, mowing the grass and cleaning the house were important. But, our plans were not as important as the plans that God made. When God makes plans, we should be ready.
Listening, learning, serving…
I’ve had an ongoing conversation over the last few days with my wife, Margaret, and a good friend of ours (Theron from “Sharing in the Life“). Actually, for me, the conversation started a couple of days before that when another friend of ours made a comment about some ladies that we have not seen lately, whom we have tried to serve, but for some reason, we have failed to serve them. This comment led to our continuing conversation about service – particularly about serving people who are different from us: people from different cultures, different ages (generations), different beliefs, etc.
Theron and I began talking about serving people from foreign cultures: specifically, how would we serve people if we lived in a foreign culture? I realize that many people who read this blog deal with this question (and similar questions) every day of their life. Theron suggested that before we could serve someone, we would have to know how to serve them. In other words, in different cultures service may be different (and probably is) than service in our own culture. Thus, it would be necessary to listen to people and to know them before we could truly serve them in ways that matter to them – in ways that impact their lives. Certainly, this does not mean that we should sit around doing nothing, but there is a learning process before serving becomes as effective as it could be. Also, I would never remove the important role of the Holy Spirit in this. The Spirit certainly leads us to serve people in ways that we may not understand, but in ways that may be extremely important to the ones being served.
The necessity of the process of learning to serve others is fairly obvious when serving people in foreign cultures. But, what about people in our own culture that may be from a different generation or have a different set of beliefs or even from a different background. Could it be that we miss opportunities to serve – and at others times offend people when we attempt to serve them – because we do not listen and learn about them before we begin to serve? We have attempted to serve some people who are older than us recently, without much success. Why? Because I don’t think we knew them enough to know how to serve them. Why didn’t we know them? We didn’t begin by listening to them.
Margaret reminded me that a few years ago, when we lived in another state, we were able to successfully serve some older ladies. We would spend time with them in their homes, listening to their stories, sharing tea and snacks. When she reminded me of this, I immediately thought, “That’s not serving! That’s just hanging out!” Of course, this is exactly the point of my post. To me, spending time talking with these ladies was just hanging out, but to them, it was serving them. We demonstrated our love for them by spending time with them. I viewed service differently than they did. They viewed service differently than me.
If I spent all of my time, energy, and resources serving them in the way that I wanted to be served, then I would have wasted much of that time, energy, and resources. Why? Because they were served by us being with them, not by us doing things for them.
I began to think about my son and daughter. In a few years, they will be living on their own. I wonder, what will they consider service? How will they serve others and how will others their age want to be served? What about the men and women who are several years younger than me today? What do they consider service?
Similarly, many times we try to serve people the way other Christians want to be served. But, what if our neighbors are not followers of Christ? What if our coworkers are not Christians? Do we serve them in the same way that we would serve Christians that we know? Or, should we actually spend time listening to them and getting to know them, so that we will know how to serve them?
I realize that this is obvious to many people. However, for those of us who are learning what it means to serve people who are different than us, then this may be something that we need to consider and contemplate. I know that my family is learning to serve others – especially those outside the body of Christ. We are thinking about what it means to serve and love those who are of a different ethnicity or cultural background, those from a different economic class, or even those with different beliefs. We want to provide a cup of cold water in a way that benefits them the most – not in ways that benefit us the most.
So, as we serve others, we must begin by listening to them and learning from them. We must get to know them. Then, we can serve them as God leads us and strengthens us – we can serve them in a way that brings God glory.
Saturday Night, Grace, and Death…
The last family just left our home after another great Saturday evening. For the last few months, several families have been meeting in our home to eat and fellowship and encourage one another in the Lord. Tonight, besides the normal times of sharing and laughter and tears and kids, two brothers taught us from what God has been teaching them.
First, one brother shared from Galatians 1. I talked with him after most people had left, and he told me that he started reading Galatians because he wanted to learn more about walking in the Spirit. He started reading from the beginning, all the while looking forward to the “good stuff” about walking in the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit that comes in the later chapters. Instead, God had another lesson to teach him, and for him to share with others. He talked about God’s grace and gospel and living life from the gospel. He talked about the gospel as the “good news” that God has done everything necessary for us to know him and to live life in him. Anything that says that we have to do something to please God, or we have to do something to earn God’s love, or we have to do something to earn salvation, is not really the gospel – it’s not really good news at all. It was very encouraging hearing people talk about living in God’s grace.
Another brother taught from Matthew 16. Specifically he talked about the end of the chapter where Jesus rebuked Peter when Peter denied Jesus’ statement about his upcoming death. Then, Jesus said that those who want to follow him should deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. Jesus then spoke about giving up your life. Death should not discourage a believer. One who follows Christ knows that death is not the end, and the threat of death is not a deterrent. (I wonder if this is what Jesus meant when he said that the gates of Hades will not prevail against – or overcome – the church.) This brother has been thinking about death lately, and we all talked about death. Perhaps this sounds like a strange subject, but it was quite encouraging. My brother asked, “Do you wake up every morning prepared for that day to be your last day?” This reminded us again of walking in God’s grace.
On one other note, I’ve been greatly encouraged and challenged over the last two days by two families. Each of them feel that God may be calling them to do something that, on their own, they don’t want to do. But, both families told me that if they believe it is God’s will, then they will do it. This is how I want to live my life. I want to trust God and live in his grace in such a way that I do whatever he wants of me – whether I want to or not.
God loves you…
I have a message for all brothers and sisters in Christ…
To those who did not want to paste a fake smile on your face and act like everything is fine… God loves you!
To those who did not sign up to help in the new “ministry program” even though you felt pressured and made to feel less spiritual… God loves you!
To those who did not feel like sitting through another mini-concert and lecture that did not apply to you… God loves you!
To those who struggle with sins that are not the kinds of sins other believers accept… God loves you!
To those who have been called uncommitted because they do not attend every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, and special event… God loves you!
To those who have struggled with their relationship with God and have been instructed that the answer is to get more involved with programs… God loves you!
To those whose children do not memorize all their Bible verses or cannot find every book of the Bible within 2.7 seconds… God loves you!
To those who do not work in the nursery, even after being guilted and given dirty looks… God loves you!
To those who choose not to bow your head and close your eyes… God loves you!
To those who feel they can never be good enough, can never do enough, can never look good enough, can never say the right things… God loves you!
To those who have had their questions, struggles, and pains all too easily brushed aside or fixed… God loves you!
To those who can’t live up to the obligations and expectations that others have placed on them… God loves you!
Can you imagine living in that kind of love every day, instead of the guilt and shame which we usually allow others and ourselves to subject us to?
Can you imagine offering that kind of love to everyone, instead of the conditional approval that we usually offer people?
God loves you.
The faithfulness of God…
Sunday morning, my friend Lew (over at “The Pursuit“) preached from Hebrews 10:19-25. Since Lew is a good friend of ours and since this is one of my favorite passages of Scripture, we decided to go hear Lew preach.
I think Lew explained the text very well. He explained how this Scripture describes two benefits we have as followers of Jesus: confidence to enter the presence of God and a high priest to make intercession for us. He then explained how we should respond to these benefits by 1) drawing near to God, 2) holding fast to our hope, and 3) considering one another. For each part of the teaching, Lew showed how these thoughts are woven throughout the book of Hebrews.
For the second response point, Lew pointed out that the author of Hebrews says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23, ESV) The basis for our hope is not our own confession, but the faithfulness of God. But, where in the book of Hebrews do we find the author explaining the faithfulness of God? Lew pointed out that he does just this in Chapter 11 – often called the “Hall of Faith”.
Hebrews chapter 11 talks about the the faith of Abel, the faith of Enoch, the faith of Noah, faith of Abraham, the faith of Sarah, the faith of Isaac, the faith of Jacob, the faith of Joseph, the faith of Moses, the faith of the people, the faith of Rahab… right? right? No. Through all of these episodes, the author is not highlighting the faithfulness of these individuals, but the faithfulness of God.
Anything that we do against the will of God (sin) is our natural response to this world. Anything that we do within the will of God is not a demonstration of our own faithfulness as much as it is a demonstration of the faithfulness of God.
God is faithful. Because He is faithful, we can trust him.
It’s just a thing…
I should be writing about the Saturday evening meeting with other believers at our house. I may write about that later, but for now, I’m thinking about a discussion that I had with my wife Saturday morning.
We talked about how easy it is to “play” being a Christian, even among friends like those who would come to our house in just a few hours. We talked about some of our struggles with our relationship with God. We talked about wanting to hide those struggles so that others will not know about them (we are supposed to be a pastor and a pastor’s wife, after all). We talked about how difficult it is sometimes to study Scripture. We talked about times when our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling.
Then, my wife, Margaret, said something very powerful for me. She said (paraphrasing), “Sometimes, I get tired of talking about the church. Sometimes, I need to talk about God – who He is and what He’s done – so that I can understand Him. I need to know God more before I think about what He wants to do with the church.”
She thought that I was going to be upset about this, because she knows how much I love the church and how much I love to study the church. Of course, my love and concern for the church derives from my love and understanding of God, but that is beside the point.
She was surprised when I agreed with her. Our understanding and relationship with God must come before our understanding of the church.
I think it was at this point that I realized something very important. My wife and I have been involved with organized local churches for many, many years. When have been involved with children and youth ministries, Sunday school classes, men and women’s ministries, Sunday morning activities, Sunday night activities, prayer meetings, evangelism programs, service programs, preaching, teaching, singing, planning, organizing, fund raising… almost every (perhaps every) aspect of organizing and running a local church.
But, for the first time in our lives, we have had to ask ourselves what God wants from us. Before, we have always been told what God wants from us, and we have been challenged, encouraged, urged, influenced, and cajoled into being involved and committed with local church ministries, all the while being promised that this is what God wants from us and commands us to do. The people who were telling us this believed with all their hear that this is what God wanted from them and from us. We did not have time to stop and ask if this is truly what God wants from us, because we were so busy doing things.
We were so busy doing things…
And, that’s just what they were… things. This is what I realized this morning while I was talking with my wife. We had been so busy doing things for so long that we had almost forgotten that God is not interesting in things. God is interested in us and other people… relationships.
Don’t misunderstand me… I don’t think these things were designed as things. But, they became things. Things to do. Things to prepare. Things to instruct. Things to follow. Things to believe. Things to support. Things to finance. Things…
We should teach other believers… but teaching can become a thing. We should preach the gospel… but preaching can become a thing. We should meet with other believers… but Sunday morning events (and Saturday evenings spent with friends) can become a thing.
Even quiet times… devotional times… prayer times… can become things. And things are not God.
A church that meets in a building near us was having a fund raiser. We had brunswick stew there for lunch. The people were raising money to pay for chairs and tables for their new fellowship hall. Several times they pointed out to us how nice their new fellowship hall was. My wife and I looked around the fellowship hall, and then looked at one another. “It’s just a thing.”
Which did the will of his father?
Since my post called “The church meets here…“, I’ve been thinking about serving others. One of the passages of Scripture that keeps coming to mind is the following:
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” (Matthew 21:28-31 ESV)
I’ve been meditating on this Scripture in the context of several commands that Jesus gave us that would parallel with the command in this parable: “Go and work in the vineyard”.
Consider the following texts:
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (Zechariah 7:9-10 ESV)
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 ESV)
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-13:1 ESV)
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 and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:26-27 26 ESV)
So, why did I list all of these passages? Because I don’t like what happens when I think of these commands in the context of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 21:28-31. When I think about this commands, I think I am more like the son who says he will obey, but then never does.
Meanwhile, I see unbelievers who are actually doing what Jesus said to do.
Was Jesus serious when he said, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you”? Could it apply to those of us who are religious today? Or does it only apply to the chief priests and elders to whom Jesus originally spoke the parable?
Before we dismiss how applicable this may be to us, remember that the chief priests and elders thought that they were orthodox as well. They had all the right answers.
Confession and Repentance…
A few days ago, a friend of mine said something very interesting. He had been reading Scripture, and was convicted about something in his life. He recognized that in this area (and the specific area is not important for this blog post), his life did not align with God’s will. He confessed that to God, then paused. He recognized that the next step was repentance. He should repent of his sin and turn back toward God. This means, of course, that his life should change and should begin to align with God’s will. But, and here’s the issue, my friend was not ready for his life to change.
Yes, he knew there was a problem. Yes, he knew his life was not aligning with God’s will and he knew that this was sin. Yes, he freely admitted that this was sin. But, in his heart, he knew he was not really repentant, because he was not ready to see his life changed by God.
First, I want to say that I appreciate my friend’s honesty, not only with God but with his friends. Certainly, my friend could have said that he repented without any real change. But instead, he desired to be real – authentic – both with God and with his brothers and sisters.
His honesty and openness led to a very special time for those of us who were there. I could tell that each person was examining his or her own heart, remembering times when they had also been convicted of sin, but struggled with the desire to change. Several people mentioned their own struggles. So, his confession (public confession, nonetheless) led to further confession.
Second, I admit that I have been in the same position as my friend. There have been times when I recognize sin in my life, and I admit that this is sin, but I honestly don’t want to see my life change. Thus, I want to confess, but not repent. I’m also learning to be real with God and with others. This has not been an easy lesson for me – it is still not an easy lesson for me. I think it has been hardest for me to be honest with my family.
Here is the question for me. Do we allow God to convict us, then push ourselves to change? Or, do we allow God to convict us and also allow God to give us the desire to change? If we wait for God to give us the desire to change, then should we be honest about this, as my friend was?
Has anyone else struggled with this desire to confess, but not repent? Has there been a time when God has changed your heart and desires?
I wanna go deeper…
(My apologies to delirious for stealing their lyric…) Last week, Tim from “The View from the Hill” published a throught-provoking post called “Are We Going Deep Into the Truth or Drowning in Minutia?” He began with this excellent quote from Ed Stetzer and David Putman’s book Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community:
The irony is that most people crying for “meat” are really crying for minutia. They want to learn the deeper truths about the times of the rapture rather than how to live the Christian life. True meat teaches people how to be transformed by the renewing of their minds so that they will live like Christ, love like Christ, and leave what Jesus left behind. But believers in church-focused ministries often think it is more important to teach about controversial subjects rather than transformational truths. [p. 80]
He concluded his post with this statement:
It cannot be emphasized enough that no matter how deep one digs into Scripture, Bible study is ultimately worthless if it does not help us to grow to become more like Christ in what we think, say, and do. God is less interested in how much we know than He is in how we live and how we love Him and others. We must go deep into the Word to discover and understand what God is telling us and how this message affects our lives, but we must not allow knowledge and understanding of the text become ends unto themselves.
Being part of a seminary environment, I have witnessed and even taken part in conversations that centered more on the minute details than on a deeper walk with the Lord. In fact, I think it might be beneficial if I start asking myself (and others) the following question: How does this discussion help someone become more Christ-like? If we decide on one position over another position on this issue, how will it affect the way we live our life for Christ?
I’m afraid that if I ask myself these questions, then my discussions may become less frequent. I enjoy discussing different issues. But, I wonder if these discussions can become a distraction to what is truly important.
Now, there are some discussions that followers of Christ need to take part in. There are issues that do affect our walk with the Lord. These issues we should discuss and work together to understand how to live in a way that brings glory to God and how to encourage other believers and how to be salt and light among unbelievers. Some discussions… not all discussions.
So, I think I’m going to start asking myself and others, how does this discussion help me and others in our walk with the Lord? I’m not sure what kind of response I will get. I’m open to people explaining how a discussion is beneficial. What would you say if you were discussing your favorite topic of theology and someone asked you, “How will this discussion help me in my walk with the Lord? If we choose one position over another, how will that benefit us as we live for God?”
Listening…
I am learning to listen. Yes, I am forty years old, but I am just now understanding what it means to listen. As I was growing up, I thought I knew what it meant to listen. I could listen to my parents in order to stay out of trouble. I could listen to my teachers in order to pass tests. But, I’m just now learning to truly listen.
What I mean is this: I am finally learning what it means to listen to someone in order to understand them. This is different (I am learning) from listening to someone in order to refute them or argue with them. Instead, I am learning to listen to what someone is saying so that I can better understand and know that person.
A news article that has helped me in this is one that I read on Yahoo called “Christians and atheists start a calmer dialogue” (don’t stop at the first few paragraphs – you must read past those first paragraphs to get to the real story). Consider this paragraph toward the end of the article:
Pastor Wyman has been reaching out to non-Christians in Salem, and particularly to the large neopagan community here (attracted, no doubt, by Salem’s identification with witchcraft in Colonial times). His stereotypes about witches were often wrong, he says. Having formed respectful relationships, he’s now being asked to come to pagan events to speak about Christian perspectives.
Notice that Phil Wyman has developed “respectful relationships” with unbelievers, and now those same unbelievers are asked him to speak at their conferences. It sounds like Mr. Wyman has learned to listen.