No greater promotion
For those following Jesus Christ, there is not greater promotion above brother/sister and servant. (see Hebrews 2:11, Matthew 12:48-50, Matthew 20:26, Matthew 23:11)
Righteous deeds: dirty rags or sacrifice of praise?
When Paul was writing to the Philippians, he said that he counts everything as “rubbish” or “dirty rags” (for the full contexts see Philippians 3:1-11):
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ … (Philippians 3:7-8 ESV)
The author of Hebrews presents another view of our righteous acts:
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:15-16 ESV)
So, are our righteous deeds dirty rags or sacrifices of praise that are pleasing to God?
Among you and for your sakes
This is from Dave Black’s blog this morning (Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 6:45 am):
In Greek 4 we’re going through 1 Thessalonians. The last line on this page of my Greek New Testament is 1 Thess. 1:5, where Paul says “You know what kind of people we were among you for your sakes.”
These two brief prepositional phrases pack a wallop: “Among you,” “for your sakes.” What a vast area of thought that opens up! This was Paul’s missionary method and motivation. He did everything “among the people,” not from the outside (or from above). He did everything on their behalf, not for his own benefit. I must learn from Paul. I must live among the people when I am in Ethiopia — not above them or beyond them. And I must make sure that they know I am there to serve them, not myself.
Yes, yes. “Among you” and “for your sakes”… but not just for the people in Ethiopia, or other people “over there.”
What about the people you work with everyday? What about your neighbors? What about the people that you meet with every week? Do they know what kind of person (i.e., a child of God) you are because they way you act when you are “among them” is “for their sakes” – i.e., to serve them and for their benefit?
For better or for worse (but not about marriage)
Individual believers and churches demonstrate their love or lack of love by the way that they treat (for better or for worse) people who are different from them.
Individual believers and churches demonstrate their sevant’s heart or lack thereof by the way that they serve (for better or for worse) others when they are at their neediest.
Individual believers and churches demonstrate their fellowship or lack of fellowship by the way they share with one another (for better or for worse) when people are hurting and their lives are messy.
Individual believers and churches demonstrate their hospitality or lack of hospitality by how they share their possessions and time (for better or for worse) when they have very little to share.
Individual believers and churches demonstrate their unity or lack of unity by how they accept others (for better or for worse) when they are not accepted themselves.
Lunch Partner
My wife and I had lunch with another couple. After lunch, one of our lunch partners said something like this:
It doesn’t matter how much we study the trinity, we will never understand it. And, continuing to study the trinity isn’t going to help the young girl on the corner to stop selling herself to get drug money.
Lionel wants to follow someone’s example
Lionel at “A Better Covenant” has written a great post full of thought-provoking ideas called “You Need A Leader And God Has Called Me To Be Yours.” The entire post is about a desire to follow a leader’s example (his life) and not following because of his position.
This is Lionel’s conclusion:
Everyone wants someone to submit to them, but nobody wants to serve. Everyone is called (I am not saying this calling is true only affirming the common mindset) to be a leader and says you should submit to them but again leadership begins with service. Leadership begins with reputation, practice, living it out amongst a group of believers. We love leadership here in America because it costs you nothing yet gains you everything. Man want to eat the fruit of being apostles but are [not] living like them. So you can miss (miss means to bypass in the urban vernacular) Lionel Woods. I don’t believe in submitting to positions in the body of Christ. I believe in submitting to people who have lived a life worthy of imitating. Self-recognized men who call themselves leaders and then require others to submit to them based off of some wrong biblical interpretation won’t work. I will submit to all believers as I see the work of the Lord Jesus in their lives and as the Spirit speaks through them. All that other stuff, is just stuff and titles and positions and at the end of the day it looks more like a Franchise than a family!
I wonder how many more people would be willing to follow a Christ-honoring, serving example. I wonder how many “leaders” would be willing to step down off the platform and start serving people on their hands and knees.
Relationships and Ministry
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “Relationships and Ministry.” I think this post goes well with my focus on edification this week. By the way, the young man in my story below did find a group of believers to spend more time with, and we also managed to maintain contact and fellowship with him. He moved out of state not too long ago, and we still keep up with him and see him from time to time.
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A young man who is a part of our fellowship recently told me that he was having trouble building relationships. He lives about 30 minutes away from others in our fellowship. Several of us suggested that he look for a group of believers who live closer to him.
Why would we do that? Do we want to break fellowship with him? Absolutely not! And, we are not breaking fellowship with him at all. Don’t we care about growing the church? Certainly! But, we recognize that we will not grow the church. Only Christ will grow the church. Why would we suggest that someone meet with other believers?
First, we recognize that the Christian life is designed by God to be lived in fellowship with other believers. This cannot happen for this young man if he only meets with his Christian brothers and sisters for a couple of hours on Sunday. This is not fellowship… this is attendance. There is a difference. We desire more for this young man and for all brothers and sisters in Christ. We desire to see all believers developing real relationships (maturing relationships) with other believers.
So, I saw this young man a couple of days ago. He has had a great time getting to know some Christian men who live near him. Besides spending time with them, he has also started ministering to his community with them. They are playing basketball at a local partk, getting to know some of the other young men there, and sharing Scripture with them.
What a joy to see real ministry (both to the church and to those outside the church) growing out of fellowship with other believers!
Submission and Service
I am convinced that if a person is submitted to God, then that person will live his or her life in service to others. I don’t mean the kind of service where we do what we want to do for people. I mean the kind of service that people need, the kind of service that produces dirty hands and skinned knees, the kind of service that isn’t always pretty, the kind of service that doesn’t make anyone a star or a celebrity. A person who is submitted to God will not only willingly serve others in this manner, but will find joy in that service. If a person’s life does not demonstrate that kind of service, then that person is probably not submitted to God, regardless of what else they spend their time doing.
Why Ethiopia?
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve been invited to go to Ethiopia this summer with Dave and BeckyLynn Black. Three other brothers from Messiah Baptist Church have been invited as well. We would be working with some of the churches in a certain region of the country.
Recently, someone asked me, “Why do you want to go to Ethiopia?”
This is a very good question, and I thought I would take time to answer this question here.
First, I’ve been learning from Dave Black for a few years now. He’s currently my PhD mentor, and I’ve enjoyed studying various aspects of Greek, New Testament, Biblical theology, and the church with him. But, this has all been classroom or discussion type learning. I have never had the chance to learn from his example while he is serving others. As I’ve been learning and writing about lately, I think this (example) is a huge part of learning and discipleship. So, I’m interested in serving others with Dave and BeckyLynn Black in order to learn even more from them.
Second, I think I can learn alot from the Ethiopian believers that I’ll be working with. A few years ago, my family went to Nicaragua. That trip changed the way that I viewed the importance of relationships versus events. Going to Nicaragua showed me just how much the church in the US (especially, but perhaps in other places as well) is more concerned with events than with people – in spite of what we might say. In a similar way, I think I can learn alot from my Ethiopian brothers and sisters. What would I learn? I don’t know… that’s make it very exciting!
Finally, according to the Blacks, we can help the Ethiopian churches grow as well. Apparently, then need help learning to read and interpret and apply Scripture. Over the last few years, we have been learning how to study Scripture as a community and to help one another apply and implement what we’re studying. We’re learning how to make discipleship and interpretation less of a mental exercise and more of a complete life exercise.
Of course, there are other obstacles that must be overcome in order for us to go to Ethiopia. Please pray for us, that we would make wise, God-honoring decisions. Pray for our families. Pray for finances to be in place.
If you are interested in helping us in other ways, please send me an email at aknox [at] sebts [dot] edu.
New Years Eve Worship Service
Today, a friend of mine asked if I could help him install a dishwasher for another family. So Jeremy and I joined our friend and his son. Actually, we mainly provided “muscle power” – carrying the dishwasher and loosening/tightening where he told us to.
But, serving someone else really was a great way to end the year. I’m trying to remember and learn from what Jesus said, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7; Hosea 6:6)
I think that would be a good lesson to carry over into the new year.