Five bucks is five bucks…
If you haven’t read it yet, you should read Bryan’s (from “Charis Shalom“) post called “It’s Story Time“. In this post, Bryan recalls how God led him to give $5 (okay, actually it was ₤5, but that’s beside the point), and how he struggled with God over giving such a small amount. Please, read his story, and be reminded that God owns everything, including every penny that is in our pocket. This is how Bryan ends this story:
In that moment, God said this to me… even in the little things listen for my voice and follow my direction. Never underestimate the power of faith and obedience. I laugh thinking of the whole scenario. Me, begrudgingly obeying, having to be humbled to even approach the situation; this young man, desperate for a book with little value, finally humbling himself to ask God for help. None of it seems worthy of honoring by the King of all kings, but He provided nonetheless for both of us.
Are you willing to use and give every pound (dollar) as God directs? Does God really care about $5?
Spiderman 3…
Last night, my wife and I went to see Spiderman 3. I had read all the hype and the critics’ reviews. I had heard that Spiderman 3 made the Spiderman trilogy the best superhero trilogy ever (which is not saying much – remember Superman 3?). I had also read that without the special effects Spiderman 3 would still be an excellent movie.
So, what did I think? I think everything that I had heard and read was correct. The movie is wonderful! But, the reason that I liked the movie had little to do with what I had read.
I liked Spiderman 3 because the most powerful line in the movie was, “I forgive you”.
Matthew 18 and Discipline…
Yesterday, in response to my blog post “Local church again…“, a couple of people brought up the question of church discipline as it relates to structure and leadership. As I was thinking through this issue, and as I was reading through several passages about discipline, I found something new – at least, new to me. Now, I am not supposing that this is new to everyone, but since it is new to me, I thought I would post it here in case it was helpful to anyone else.
Here is the Scripture passage:
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17 ESV)
So, here is the interesting part… there are several commands given in this passage, and they are all given to the same person… that is, the person who is sinned against! (Now, before you ask about this, yes, I know that Jesus also says you should go to your brother if he has something against you.) Let’s step through this…
Brother A sins against brother B. Who is responsible for going to whom? Brother B is responsible for seeking reconciliation – that is, the one who is sinned against. In fact, brother B is commanded to go to brother A alone. (The commands that Jesus gives are 2nd person singular imperatives – “go and tell” – thus, they are given to the individual – brother B.)
If brother A does not repent, then who is responsible for taking two or three others? Again, brother B is responsible, and again Jesus commands brother B to carry out this step. (The command that Jesus gives is a 2nd person singular imperative – “take”.)
If brother A still does not repent, then who is responsible for telling the church? Once again, the command is given only to brother B, so the same brother who was sinned against is responsible for telling the church. (The command that Jesus gives is a 2nd person singular imperative – “tell”.)
Finally, if brother A does not repent when brother B tells the church, then who is responsible for treating him “as a Gentile and a tax collector”? Once again, it is brother B. Interestingly, Jesus does not say anything at all about how the two or three witnesses or the church should treat the unrepentant brother. Instead, the brother who is sinned against (that is, brother B) is once again given responsibility for how to treat brother A. (Jesus’ command is given to “you” as a 2nd person singular pronoun – “let him be to you”.) This is perhaps the most interesting point to me.
What does all of this tell me? It tells me that relationships with my brothers and sisters are MY responsibility. They are not the responsibility of other believers. If my brother or sister sins against me, it is MY responsibility (and no one else’s responsibility) to reconcile with my brother or sister. I would even extrapolate this to say that if my brother or sister feels that I have sinned against him or her, then it is MY responsibility (assuming the brother or sister does not approach me first) to reconcile with my brother or sister.
It would seem, if we take Jesus’ words at face value, that church discipline depends upon each believer – that is, discipline is all of our responsibility. Furthermore, neither structure, nor organization, nor leadership are necessary for effective church discipline, at least, not according to this passage. Perhaps, church discipline is not effective because I have not been upholding my responsibilities.
Sabado, el Cinco de Mayo
Last night, several friends once again joined us at our home. We’ve been meeting together with different friends on Saturday evenings to share a meal and to encourage one another and build one another up toward maturity in Christ. (If you are interested, here are a few posts that describe some of our other Saturday evening get-togethers: “Fellowship of Faith…“, “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night…“, “Another Saturday Night…“, “Saturday Night’s Alright for … Friends“, and “Saturday Night…“)
After eating and several very good conversations between small groups and individuals, we sang a few songs that some of the children suggested: “In Christ Alone” was first. Then, in honor of Cinco de Mayo, we sang a few songs in Spanish. Then, a four year old led us in singing the chorus of “ABC” by the Jackson Five. That was a great moment!
Renata from “Nurturing Notes” asked the group a question she had asked on her blog: “How do you define ‘a good mother’?” I’ve always appreciated Renata’s honesty and openness as she shares her struggles as a mother of three young children. I gave my answer to her question: any person’s goodness is directly related to how they reflect God (see a more extensive answer in this comment on her blog). Leah, from “Our Payneful Memories“, shared some things that she learned while visiting Walt Disney World: some things about herself, and some things about other parents.
Another brother shared a teaching from Hebrews. I really appreciated this teaching. I could tell that he was teaching something that God was teaching him. He didn’t have all the answers, but he was asking questions, and God was answering him. For the most part, the teaching dealt with obedience. This turned out to be the theme for the remainder of the evening as we all talked about obedience from many different perspectives.
Toward the end of the evening, after some people had left (we don’t have an ending time), some of us continued talking… this time, we talked about grace. Specifically, do we truly understand grace? I know, for me, I often act externally in ways that are contrary to the way I feel internally. Sometimes I “fake” Christ-likeness in order to make other people think I am more mature that I really am. All the while, I know that this is not what I am truly like on the inside. Yes, I am maturing, but perhaps not as much as my “behavior” suggests. Am I the only one that does this? Well, according to my friends, I am not. Why do we do this? Perhaps we are afraid that others will not accept us as we really are, because we know that we would not accept someone who acted that way. Thus, we do not understand grace. Grace says that God accepts us as we are – and, he knows the truth, not the “fake behavior” that we show to other people. No, God does not leave us as we are, but He does meet us there. So, I need to understand grace more. I need to understand both the grace that God shows me, and the grace that I should show to others.
Preach the word…
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul exhorted his young associate to “Preach the word” or “proclaim the message”. Especially since the reformation, this command has taken center stage during the meeting of the church. But, what does it mean to preach the word? When Paul commanded this to Timothy, did he have in mind what we see today? Perhaps… but, what if Paul meant something different… something simpler…
This is what Dave Black said on his blog today (5/5/2007) at 8:10 a.m.:
On this Cinco de Mayo I’m sitting here thinking about my Sunday message and saying to myself, Where in the New Testament is there the “well-crafted homily”? Where is the excellency of speech that is so highly sought-after in preachers today? Does not the beauty of New Testament preaching lie in a completely different direction? Should not our preaching be like that of our Lord and His great apostle? Jesus spoke in the very simplest language with mundane illustrations. Paul eschewed the excellence of human oratory. I want my public speaking to be powerful (in the Spirit) and passionate (in the spirit) but I also want to be understood by the commonest man from the workaday world. May God forgive me for the times I’ve sought to dress up the simple Word in the gaudy garments of worldly wisdom.
Fancy sermons that focus on rhetoric as much as content inadvertantly teach people that they cannot preach the word. But, I think Jesus expected all believers to teach and proclaim his message. Let’s model this for other believers.
That’s not my responsibility…
Monday afternoon, my good friend Theron (from “Sharing in the Life“) posted a blog called “Unstructured (Fluid? Spirit Led?) Gatherings – My Responsibility“. This post was a response to meeting with a group of believers in my home last Saturday evening (see “Saturday Night…“). In the post, Theron concludes that it is his responsibility (and, by extension, the responsibility of every believer) to be prepared to encourage other believers when they gather together. Now, there will certainly be times when God keeps us silent in order to listen to others, or “dry” times when we have nothing to share. We should expect these to be exceptions, not the rule. But, if we are honest with ourselves, we would admit that most of the time we have nothing to say to other believers simply (as Theron says) because we have not spent time listening to God ourselves, or, perhaps even more likely, because we do not think it is our responsibility to bring a teaching or word or encouragement to other believers.
In his post, Theron also suggests that we may not be concerned about encouraging others because we do not believe this is our responsibility. Instead, Theron says that we hide behind structures that place that responsibility on other’s shoulders:
Second, I realized that it is real easy to hide behind structure. A common example of this might be having one teacher who teaches the entire time a group gathers. Since the responsibility to speak, share, or teach is placed on only one person. The others who are there can either study up beforehand and listen actively or they can just show up and not really listen. It is very difficult to tell the difference between the two since there is no interaction during the gathering.
In a previous post (“Representative Obedience?“), I dealt briefly with this concept by asking a few questions. Who is responsible for teaching? Who is responsible for admonishing? Who is responsible for discipling? Who is responsible for edifying the church?
I believe the numerous “one another” statements of Scripture show us that all of us bear the responsibility for teaching, admonishing, discipling, edifying, etc. each other. This responsibility cannot be abdicated nor can it be delegated. “Religion” always teaches vicarious obedience: i.e., the normal person is “obedient” when the priest makes a sacrifice in his or her place. However, we must never assume that Christianity is a religion, nor that we can obey God vicariously through others.
Thinking through my posts for this week, I recognize that God is teaching me about my responsibility in obedience. Showing hospitality (“Hospitality – vacancy or no vacancy?“) toward other believers and strangers is my responsibility to God. I do not obey when others in my group or others within an organization show hospitality, but I do not. Similarly, examining my life to see what God is doing is my responsibility (“What is God doing in your life?“). Others can help me understand what God is teaching me, or how God is using me, or even where God is using me; but, it is my responsibility to listen to God myself. I am not being obedient just because others in my Christian group are spending time with and listening to God. It is also my responsibility to encourage other believers (“Hebrews and Encouragement…“). I am not being obedient to encourage other believers when I sit with a group of people and only listen to someone else teach. Finally, it is also my responsibility “to show vigilant concern” for other believers (“What does a non-bishop oversee?“). I am not obedient when I leave this to others (even leaders) to carry out.
To put this in more concrete terms, I am not obeying God in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ simply because a church organization has an evangelism program. I am not obeying God in fellowshiping and encouraging other believers simply because I am attending a planned event – even if that event happens on a Sunday morning. I am not obeying God in loving others simply because I give money to a missions organization. I am not obeying God in caring for those in need simply because I put money in an offering plate. I am personally responsible for obeying God in each of these areas, and many, many more.
So, whether we are hiding behind structures (as Theron suggests), or we are hiding behind leaders, or we are hiding by Christian celebrities, or… whatever we are hiding behind… we should understand that God holds each of us responsible for obeying him. And, just as Adam and Eve were not able to hide their disobedience behind fig leaves, our excuses will not hide our disobedience from God.
You are my responsibility, and I am your responsibility. The poor and the lost are my responsibility. The widows and orphans are my responsibility. The immature are my responsibility. The hurting and grieving are my responsibility. The haughty and arrogant are my responsibility. I cannot handle all of these responsibilities – in fact, I cannot handle any of these responsibilities. However, God can miraculously work through me by the guidance and empowerment of His Spirit. Will he find a willing vessel? Or, will I once again tell God, “That’s not my responsibility?”
Just Do It!
A famous shoe company used the phrase “Just Do It!” as their slogan a few years ago. I thought about this slogan earlier today when I read Dave Black’s essay “Ride That Horse!” Dave says that constantly discussing Christianity without putting it into practice is like reading a book about horses, but never riding a horse. Consider this paragraph:
This is a day when we are so incredibly busy discussing and disagreeing and interpreting and debating that we never do anything for the kingdom. It’s so easy to spend all our time listening to lectures or reading books on the Christian life – homeschooling versus government education, elder-led versus elder-rule polity, age-integrated versus age-segregated church – that we never do any real service for the Lord. Discussing has become a substitute for doing and we have failed to do those good works that God planned for us to do before the creation of the world.
I confess that I have fallen into this trap before. I love to discuss theology, especially ecclesiology. I love to discuss Scripture. But, recently I have been convicted of exactly what Dave is talking about here. While it is good to discuss and learn, we must be put into practice what we learn!
One of the things that I have specifically attempted to do in the last few months is to truly live what I believe about the church. I have noticed many times recently that people have disagreed with my view of the church, and have argued with me in order to convince me that their view is correct, but, all the while, they were not living out their own view of the church. Perhaps my view is faulty in places (and, I’m sure it is), but by God’s power and grace I am trying to live what I believe.
For example, I now put much more emphasis on people instead of an organization. I also spend much more time discipling people than I spend making organizational decisions. I also try to encourage other believers when I’m with them, and I try to give them an opportunity to encourage me and others.
What about you? Are you riding the horse, or only reading the book? Are you only discussing the church, or are you also living as the church?
Hebrews and Encouragement…
The author of the Book of Hebrews encourages (exhorts) his readers to encourage (exhort) each other several times. For example, consider these passages:
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13 ESV)
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:17-18 ESV)
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV)
I appeal to [encourage, exhort] you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. (Hebrews 13:22 ESV)
Encouragement and exhortation are translations of the same Greek words: the verb παÏακαλÎω (parakaleo) and the noun παÏάκλησις (paraklÄ“sis). Encouragement/exhortation is very important to the author of Hebrews. In fact, he recognizes his own writing as “my word of exhortation” (13:22). He also recognizes that each believer should serve other believers through exhortation and encouragement.
I appreciate what Craig Koester said about this in his commentary on Hebrews for the Anchor Bible:
To “exhort†(parakalein) and to give “exhortation†(paraklÄ“sis) is integral to Hebrews. Through his “word of exhortation†(13:22), the author does in written form what he wants listeners to do for each other. He is concerned about individuals (i.e., “any one of youâ€,†3:12), but gives members of the community responsibility to exhort “one another†against sin. Later, exhortation will mean “strong encouragement†(6:18) to hold fast to the promise (cf. 12:5). Exhortation to pursue virtue and to avoid vice was part of Greco-Roman philosophical tradition. Although exhortation could be sharp, its goal was to benefit the hearer. The author of Hebrews models the kind of exhortation that listeners might use with each other, coupling blunt admonitions and warnings with more comforting and encouraging words (e.g., 5:11-14; 6:4-12). The aim of such exhortation is to promote perseverance in faith and to guard against sin.
According to Koester, the author of Hebrews recognizes that his letter will help believers persevere in faith and guard against sin. However, he also recognizes that his letter is not enough. The believers need to encourage/exhort one another to persevere in faith and guard against sin.
Notice in the Scriptures above the amount of interaction that is necessary between believers for them to be capable of encouraging one another. We should know if someone has an evil or unbelieving heart, or if someone is being hardened by sin (3:12-13). We should know if a brother or sister is “holding fast to the hope” that only comes from a relationship with God (6:18). We should be able to stir up or provoke one another toward actions that demonstrate our love for God and one another (10:24). In other words, in order to encourage one another, we must know one another. We cannot encourage one another (at least, not the way that is necessary) if we are only acquainted with one another.
We must be willing to ask difficult questions, and not accept pat or canned answers. We must be able to recognize when a brother or sister is hurting or in need, and we must then be willing to respond to that hurt or need. We must live alongside brothers and sisters and remind them, “Yes, I am my brother’s or sister’s keeper.”
It is wrong for us to refuse to speak words of encouragment to our brothers and sisters. However, it is just as wrong to refuse to spend time getting to know brothers and sisters; because without knowing them, we cannot encourage them as we should.
What is God doing in your life?
Last Saturday evening, as several friends gathered in our home (see “Saturday Night…“), Maël (from “The Adventures of Maël & Cindy“) asked the question, “What is God doing in your life?” He told the group that he had recently been asking brothers and sisters this question. Over the last several weeks, he said he had even asked a ten year old believer this question several times.
I love this question. It reminds me that God is alive and that God is working. It reminds me that the Spirit that indwells me and other believers does not leave us as we are, but He works in us to mature us toward Christ-likeness. The theological name for this is sanctification – the Spirit makes us more holy, that is, more different from the world and more like Christ. I know that God is working, but do I always ask myself and others, “What is God doing in your life?” No. As a matter of fact, while my wife and I talk about this occasionally, I had never asked my children what God was doing in their lives.
My wife’s birthday is soon… very, very soon. So, last Monday evening, I took my son and daughter shopping. Since we were in the van for a long time, I knew this was a perfect opportunity to continue our “discipleship program” (See “A Van-based discipleship program…“). At one point in our conversation, I asked them, “What is God doing in your life?” I was very excited about how they both recognized God working in their lives.
Just as an example, my son said that God had been leading him to love and care more for people in need. I asked him what he meant. He explained that last summer we had several opportunities to help people move – and my son took part in this. However, since then, he said he had not had as many opportunities to help people. We talked about some opportunities that God had provided for us to help people, and how we could take better advantage of these opportunities.
Similarly, I talked about how God was teaching me about hospitality through Scripture, as well as through examples in my life and through several comments to my post “Hospitality – vacancy or no vacancy?” I was surprised at how much they understood hospitality, especially the cost involved with showing hospitality. I don’t know why I am always so surprised what my son and daughter are learning. And, I don’t know why I am surprised that they can recognize God working in their lives.
Still, it is good to remind ourselves and others to look for ways that God is working in our lives. God may be teaching us, or He may be convicting us. He may be comforting us, or He may stretching us. He can use Scripture, prayer, other believers, circumstances and situations, and, certainly, His presence.
Perhaps asking questions like, “What is God doing in your life?” is part of the process of “considering how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24). Perhaps this is one way that we can encourage, admonish, and teach one another. Perhaps, when someone asks us what God is doing in our lives, it is one thing that God uses to keep our eyes off of distractions and fixed on Jesus, “the author and perfector of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Perhaps, questions like this remind us that we are not our own, but that we have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23).
So, I ask you: What is God doing in your life?
Will doing that make me godly?
Gary at “Meditations on Metaphysics” has now posted his entire paper in a four-part series called “Outward Signs of Inward Godliness”. He asks the question, “Does doing certain activities make someone godly?” This is a very good study, and one that some people disagree with strongly. Gary has really challenged me to think about godliness. Here is the series in order:
I hope you will take the time to read this and interact with Gary. Gary’s premise is that doing certain activities cannot (on their own) make someone godly. I tend to agree with Gary.