Another Word on the Word
Jon (from “Jon’s Journey“) has finished (I think?) his study on the use of the phrases “word of God,” “word of the Lord,” and “the word.”
He concludes – correctly, I think – that we should not equate “Scripture” or “Bible” with “the word of God” (or one of the related phrases). Note that this does not mean that God does not reveal himself to us through Scripture, only that the two cannot be equated.
Jon ends his study with this “question/concern”:
Is there a potential problem when we call the Bible the Word of God, or use language like “you need to spend more time in the Word.”? Or when studying the Word of God means studying the Bible?
Is there a chance we miss focusing on the Word that lives in us? Learning to seek Him first and listen to His voice.
I do believe God speaks to us as we read the Scriptures with a listening heart. But He also speaks to us at other times. I think the Word of God is simply whenever God speaks to us. Jesus is also called the Word. He was and is God’s message to us. Is that the Word we are listening to?
What do you think?
Any opportunity to ‘one another’
Three years ago, I wrote this post called “Any opportunity to ‘one another’.” The encouragement here is to find any opportunity to care for, teach, build up, disciple one another.
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Any opportunity to ‘one another’
A couple of weeks ago, we were able to spend time on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with other believers. We love to get together with one another to share meals, to talk, to serve… really, any “excuse” to spend time with one another.
Last week, Margaret, my wife, was sick for a couple of days. Then, I caught the bug from her and was sick for a few more days. During that week, we didn’t spend much time with other believers. (Actually, Margaret was able to attend our regular Sunday meeting, and she was also able to have lunch with another couple on Sunday. But, that was all of the interaction that we had with other believers that week.)
So, when Monday rolled around – and we were both finally feeling better – we jumped at the chance to have dinner with some friends of ours. This time, we went to a restaurant, and not just any restaurant, one of our favorites! On the ride to the restaurant, during dinner, and on the way home we had a great conversation about many different topics – from spending time at the beach, to their influence in the lives of our children, to hearing and knowing and following the will of God, and many other topics that flowed naturally (supernaturally?) from our relationships with one another and from our mutual relationships with God.
Occasionally, when we think of church, it is easy to get stuck on the big things: big groups, big meetings, big projects, big results, big presentations, big themes, big sermons… But, if we continue in our life stuck on the idea that “church” is only in the big things, then we may miss some of the most important things that God has for us, those things that can only be found in the intimate relationships that God is building between us and other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sometimes, God teaches us more from a few words from a friend than from a 30 minute sermon. Sometimes, God uses us more in a simple hug than in an afternoon of working hard with a large group. Sometimes, God reveals himself more in the tears of a friend that we’re consoling than in a large group of people that we do not know as well.
I like the big things. I like to gather with a large group of believers and hear about the many ways that God is working and changing and moving and teaching. I like singing with a large group of believers. I like the big things.
But, God is also – and at times even more – in the small things too. I hope this encourages you to take any opportunity to “one another”. Even “small” opportunities… you might just find God there.
Lifting and Strengthening
Here is an important and powerful passage from Hebrews, written to those who are struggling and suffering about those who are struggling and suffering:
Therefore lift up drooping hands and strengthen weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord, seeing to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled… (Hebrews 12:12-15)
Who are you lifting up and strengthening today? To whom do your paths run so that you can help them heal? With whom are you striving for peace? Whose life are you examining so that you can help them obtain God’s grace?
All in the Family
Last week, my friend Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” wrote a very good post last week called “It Doesn’t Take a Village… It Takes a Family.” Eric was responding to Hillary Clinton’s statement that it takes a village to raise a child. Instead, Eric said that it actually takes a family – specifically, a church, which is the family of God.
In his post, Eric talks about the church as family. He says:
The church should be a family. Because of this, everyone in the family ought to know everyone else. They should be familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, interests, talents, hopes, struggles, etc. In this setting, adults have a tremendous opportunity to positively influence children. This happens through both word and deed. Parents may be wise, but they don’t hold all the wisdom in the world. They need help and can benefit a great deal from the wisdom of their brothers and sisters in Christ. An encouraging and/or challenging word from an adult can edify a child a great deal.
Unfortunately, for many groups of believers, they are family in name only. They call each other brother and sister, but usually live separate lives, only seeing one another during official church meetings.
Over the last few years, we have tried to learn to live as family. True, we are not biological family. But, there are times when our relationship with on another (because of our mutual relationship with God as Father) makes us closer than biological family. We have learned and continue to learn how to share our lives with one another, both in big things and in small things.
I was able to witness a small part of this last weekend when one of my young brothers turned thirteen. His birthday party including people his age, people younger than him, and (predominantly) people older than him. We talked about how it takes the entire family – both biological and also spiritual – to raise a young man as a disciple of Christ. (By the way, the picture today is from his party.)
As a father to two children, this means that I must not only allow but also encourage my children to build deep spiritual relationships with other mature followers of Jesus Christ. I should also encourage other believers to develop relationships with my children.
Regardless of how good of a father I am, my children need more than me. Regardless of how good Margaret and I are as parents, our children need more than us. They need familial relationships with their brothers and sisters in Christ. They need relationships with more mature followers of Jesus who can help them in their walk. They also need relationships with less mature believers who they can help in their walk.
Eric is right. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child. It takes God’s family to raise a disciple.
Carpentry and Discipleship
My friend Danny from “learning…” has written about “Teaching/Discipling Jesus’ Way.” His thoughts are similar to my thoughts in my post this morning… probably because we talk about this very often. In fact, I’ve learned alot about discipleship by listening to Danny talk about learning carpentry from his father.
In his post, Danny talks a little about carpentry:
Why is it that this concept of teaching is so clear in some categories like carpentry or music but becomes a blur in categories like raising children or disciplining younger believers? For instance, a carpenter will tell his apprentice what a hammer is and what its use is. He will also use it in front of his apprentice. Eventually the apprentice will have an opportunity to use the hammer for himself. The carpenter will affirm his abilities and correct any improper use. Over time with practice the apprentice will become very proficient at the art of hammer swinging. He must then begin to teach another would be carpenter. This is quite common in the carpentry industry. The boss tells “joe carpenter†to train the new guy.
Read Danny’s post, and think about discipleship… How do we apprentice people to Jesus Christ?
Whole Teaching
Today, when we talk about teaching, we tend to mean “share information in such a way that the other person learns the information.”
Sharing information and exchanging information is an important aspect of teaching, but it is not teaching… at least, it is not teaching in the sense that we read in Scripture.
You see, the view of teaching as “sharing information” also views the content of teaching to be a set of proposition that can be memorized or cognitively understood. The problem is that for the follower of Jesus, the content of teaching is the life of following Jesus. The goal of teaching according to Scripture is not learning information, but living in a way that honors God. Thus, our understanding of teaching must take this into account.
So, while teaching should include sharing information, it must also include a demonstration of how that information impacts the life of follower of Jesus Christ. Similarly, it must include helping another live in a manner that honors God. It should also include exhortation for the learner to begin teaching the same concepts and life examples.
There is a belief – an invalid belief, I think – that it is possible to teaching someone how to live by sharing an example or telling a story. These are very powerful teaching methods, but they still only share information, even if that information is more easily understood because of the methods. Whole teaching must go beyond simply telling in order to include showing and helping.
The easiest example that I can think of is what Jesus called the greatest commandment: “Love God and love neighbor.” I can tell someone, “Love God and love neighbor.” I can make them memorize, “Love God and love neighbor.” I can explain to them what “Love God and love neighbor” means. I can even give them example of how I or other people have practiced the concept “Love God and love neighbor.” But, all of this is simply the beginning of teaching. It is sharing information.
If the person repeats the phrase, “Love God and love neighbor,” the person has not necessarily learned it. Even if the person has the phrase memorized and can repeat it every day of her life, she has not necessarily learned it. The person might even be able to repeat my explanations and illustrations and perhaps offer his own illustrations, but this does not mean that the person has learned “Love God and love neighbor.”
Instead, teaching requires that I move beyond the stage of telling him or her about “Love God and love neighbor” until I am demonstrating “Love God and love neighbor” to them. Then, teaching must continue to the point where I am helping the other person to live out the concept “Love God and love neighbor.” Finally, teaching includes the responsibility to exhort the other person to begin teaching “Love God and love neighbor” to someone else.
Yes, we must share information. But, we cannot stop at sharing information. Teaching requires that we share much more than information. Teaching requires that we share our whole lives.
Discipleship and a lawn mower
I wrote the post “Discipleship and a lawn mower” four years ago when I had first started my blog and when we had first moved out of seminary housing into a real house. I think I’ve learned a lot about discipleship in those last four years, but I still agree with what I wrote in this post. I should also tell you that I hate to cut grass.
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Last week, we moved from seminary housing to an actual house. We had lived in the seminary duplex for 3 1/2 years. Don’t misunderstand me, the duplex was a good place to live. But our family had outgrown it long ago. Once we decided to stay at Southeastern for a few more years, we also decided to begin looking for houses.
Yesterday, I mowed the lawn at the new house – the first time I had done yard work in 3 1/2 years because the seminary pays a company to cut the grass… occasionally. (Now, it is true that some residents keep a lawn mower in order to cut the grass when it gets too high. We just waited out the grass cutters.) Yesterday was another first for our family as well. Jeremy (my 12 year old son – UPDATE: he’s now 16 years old) used a lawn mower for the first time. He was too young to use a lawn mower before we moved to North Carolina. And, as I stated above, he had no reason to use one until we moved into this house.
I taught him how to start the mower with the pull cord and how to overlap a little so he didn’t miss anything. I taught him how to turn corners with a mower that preferred to go straight. I taught him how to watch for rocks and sticks and other things that don’t mix well with lawn mowers.
As I was watching him push the mower, I began to think about discipleship. Today, discipleship is often thought of as a class or book. But, discipleship should be more like learning to cut grass. I had to show Jeremy how to do it, I couldn’t just talk to him about it. Also, I could not teach him from a distance – it took face-to-face communication and a relationship. It also takes patience and perseverance and endurance. Jeremy only cut about a quarter of our grass yesterday. Next time, I’ll watch him again, give him more pointers, show him a few others things, and perhaps ask him to cut a larger section of the yard. Eventually, he will be mowing the lawn by himself, but only after much help and practice. This is discipleship.
Actually, even mowing the lawn is discipleship. I’m teaching Jeremy how to care for his house and family once he is married. Somehow, mowing the lawn didn’t seem as tedious as the last time.
Nations and Neighbors
Perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve found that when I think about “the nations,” I tend to push the responsibility of making disciples onto others.
But, when I think about “neighbors,” it is much more difficult to push the responsibility of making disciples onto others.
It’s interesting… when a “missionary” moves to another location, “the nations” become his or her “neighbors.” And, when someone from another country moves into my neighborhood, “the nations” become my “neighbors.”
Perhaps, if I focus on discipling my neighbors, then I can only worry about moving to the location where God tells me to move – or not move if God doesn’t direct me to move.
Unless, of course, I can hire someone else to carry my responsibility of discipling both the nations and my neighbors.
A Balanced Meal
According to dietitians and nutritionists, a balanced meal consists of a mix of meats, vegetables, fruit, grains, and dairy. They may disagree on the exact mix that makes up a balanced meal, but they generally agree that a person should consume something for all of the different groups. Now, we know that vegetarians don’t eat meat, but they replace the proteins in others ways.
Naturally, a person may eat more of one group at one meal, and more of another food group at another meal. That would be okay, as long as the total is generally balanced.
If a person does not eat from each of the food groups, then the person will not receive all of the nutrients necessary for healthy living.
For example, if a person decided to only eat grains, that person would miss some of the nutrients needed for growth and health. The same if the person only ate meat or vegetables. A mix is important.
Then, there are the foods that have zero (or even negative) nutritional value. When these foods or drinks are consumed, they do not help the person’s growth or health, even though the act of consuming may be similar and even though the calories in the food may make the person feel that he or she is getting something.
I think the church today is alot like people who are eating an imbalanced diet and are often filling themselves with foods that have zero nutritional value. In fact, I think it is all of our responsibility to recognize what a brother or sister is “eating” (consuming) and to suggest a more balanced meal.
In fact, according to Scripture, it is only when the entire church serves their own food group to one another that the church partakes of a balanced meal. This is when the church grows and is healthy (edified).
However, today, it seems that people are not as interested in the nutritional items mentioned in Scripture, and prefer activities and items not mentioned in Scripture that probably have zero nutritional value.
What do you think? Is the modern church partaking in a unbalanced meal?
Does Jesus still send us out “Luke 10” style?
I recently wrote about getting together with some of my brothers in Christ… no, not last Sunday (“Gathering with the Church“), but last Friday (“Missionary Me and Missionary You“). I didn’t give many details about our discussion, but I was hoping that a couple of guys who were there would write about it.
And, now, Danny (who was there) who blogs at “learning…” wrote about our get together Friday night in a post called “Guy Day #2 (Missions/Church Planting).”
It was a very encouraging time, mainly because it was interesting to see several people talking about the same issue from their own perspective. It was obvious that many of us have been thinking about this.
So, read Danny’s post, and let him know what you think.