A contrite heart and a life of good works
The title of this post comes from a quote by John Sailhamer concerning Isaiah 58. I found the quote in the very good post by Mark from “unlikely christians” called “Talk is Cheap.” This is the full quote from Sailhamer:
The kind of repentance God required of his people is a contrite heart and a life of good works. There was little value in fasting if one’s life did not reflect compassion and obedience to the will of God.
Then, Mark replied with this:
What good is singing a song (hymn? chorus? psalm?), attending church, praying, fasting, or (even) reading my Bible if my actions and attitudes do not legitimate these practices. Thank God for grace to try again, for a holy dissatisfaction regarding my unholy life, and disdain at my hypocrisy.
I can remember recognizing my own hypocrisy. I remember clearly recognizing that I could sing a great song, attend church meetings regularly, pray for hours, fast, and read my Bible consistently… but my life was not filled with good works. Why? Because I had been taught (and I had bought into the teaching) that these things were the good works that God wants. These things are good, but they are only the beginning of living a life demonstrating the love of God. (By the way, I’m not saying that I’ve arrived. God continues to show me my own hypocrisy.)
What if they thought of the church?
Two years ago, before our family started spending time in “The Neighborhood“, I wrote a post called “What if they thought of the church?” The post was about some of the people that we already knew who lived in that government assisted housing development. I wondered out loud what would happen if the people in that neighborhood thought that the church cared enough to help them…
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What if they thought of the church?
Last week, I published a short post called “Missional Christians in 360 AD“, commenting on the how Emperor Julian recognized that Christians took care of the poor and needy, even the poor and needy who were not Christians. Last Sunday evening, as I met together with some brothers and sisters to pray and discuss service opportunities, I thought about Emperor Julian again.
One of the ladies who meets with us on Sunday morning lives in government housing in our town. When we first met her, a man was living with her because he needed medical attention. He had been in the hospital, and when he was released, no one would take care of him, so she took him in. As I’ve gotten to know here, I’ve found that she is one of the most giving and caring persons that I know – even in the very difficult situation in which she finds herself.
A few weeks ago, another unit opened up in the government housing facility. They allowed the man to move out of her apartment, into the open apartment. However, he had nothing for his apartment – no furniture, no kitchen utensils, no dishes, etc. Nothing. Our friend asked her brothers and sisters in Christ for help. They responded by providing everything he needed plus more.
As we were discussing possible ministry opportunities last Sunday evening, I thought about this lady and her friend. What would happen if other people in the government housing facility heard about the generosity of the church? What would happen if they began to think about the church when they were in need? What would happen if they asked our friend if we would be willing to help them as well?
This may sound like a never-ending cycle of giving and giving and giving… perhaps to some people who would take advantage of our generosity.
But, would it not be amazing for people to begin turning to the church again when they were in need? I hope the church would be willing to trust God to provide for those needs.
I do not think it means what you think it means
I love the movie Princess Bride. I love to quote that movie, especially the wedding scene. I don’t think anyone will ever ask me to marry them.
But, I also like the scenes where Vizzini exclaims, “Inconceivable!” Of course, what he considers to inconceivable actually happens. This leads Inigo Montoya to postulate, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Lately, I’ve been paying attention to the way that Christians use words like “minister” and “ministry.” I have to agree with Inigo that I do not think these words mean what many people think they mean. You see, in Scripture, the “minister” means “servant” – yes, as in the menial, get your hands dirty, lowest rung of the ladder sense. And, the term “ministry” means “service” – yes, as in the work that a servant does.
But, when I’ve listened to various conversations, I’ve noticed that you can’t always substitute the word “servant” for “minister” or “service” for “ministry”. For example, consider these 100% true statements that I’ve heard or read recently:
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“Are you an ordained minister?”
Substitute the word “servant”:
“Are you an ordained servant?”
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“Has God called you into the ministry?”
Now substitute the word “service”:
“Has God called you into service?”
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“Before you do that, you should get permission from the minister.”
Again, substitute the word “servant”:
“Before you do that, you should get permission from the servant.”
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Again, I do not think these words mean what many people think they mean.
Is that a problem? Well, no, not if people admit that they’re using the words in a completely unscriptural manner.
But, it is a big problem when we start reading these mis-definitions back into Scripture.
Church Life #3
This series is about our life with the church as we attempt to live together as brothers and sisters. (For a more detailed description of this series, see my post “Church Life – A New Series.”)
Monday: I was able to have lunch with Jonathan today. Jonathan and I had lunch together several times during the summer. But, with his new work schedule and school schedule, we’ve had a hard time getting together. I think we’ll both be available on Mondays now! We talked about school and work and games and elders and Bible studies and missions and many, many other things.
Tuesday: My new friend Jeremiah had to take his van to the shop. So, he called and asked if I could pick up him and give him a ride home. I was able to spend a few minutes talking with him and one of his daughters. Once we got to his house, I think we talked longer than either of us intended… lots of good topics though.
Wednesday: After work, we went over to the Henry’s house. They had mentioned that they were painting their house that night, so we wanted to help them. They fed us some very delicious chili before we started painting! We were able to get the first coat on their living room and hallway before going home.
Thursday: A friend of mine (not a “member” of Messiah Baptist Church) was dealing with depression. He told me over the phone, so he and I got together for a few minutes to talk about his situation.
Thursday afternoon, a young man asked if he could meet with me. He had met with us one Sunday and had questions about the church. We talked for a while about elders and ministry (service) and other things. Usually, when I talk to someone like this, I end up saying “Well, we do things a little differently” several times.
Friday: Margaret and I went to New Bern, NC for the weekend to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary was actually back in January, but Margaret’s dad had heart surgery then and she spent a month with him to take care of him. Some friends stayed at our house and took care of Jeremy and Miranda while we were out of town.
Saturday: Our good friends Kevin and Misty moved to the New Bern area last year. So, Saturday night we got together with them for dinner. Kevin is a football coach at a local public high school, and I am so excited about what God is doing through them there!
Sunday: Since we were out of town, we did not intend to meet with the church Sunday morning. However, it turns out that downtown New Bern closes Sunday morning. So, we ate breakfast and drove back home. We go to the meeting place around 1:00, and the church was still meeting. This was a very encouraging meeting because four men who had been nominated to be elders by the church were leading a discussion. The church was asking them questions as the church prepares to recognize some or all of them as elders.
Sunday night, Jeremy and I and Jeremy’s friend Jason went to Jeremiah and Kerri’s home for a bonfire. We had a great time getting to know them better and eating s’mores!
Attendees or Ministers?
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post called “Attendees or Ministers?” There is problem in the contemporary church (although the problem is not a recent church). In general, we consider some to be ministers while others are not considered ministers. Minister simply means servant. The two words are completely interchangeable. It is interesting reading through the NT and seeing where the translators decided to use “minister” and where they decided to use “servant.” This decision says more about our contemporary mis-understanding of “ministry” than it says about the underlying text.
Are you a child of God? If you are, then you are a minister.
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Recently, a friend of Jeremy’s (my son) used a word that I had not heard before: Chreaster. Apparently, a Chreaster is someone who attends church meetings on special holidays like Christmas and Easter, thus “Chreaster”. In a recent article about Chreasters, a reporter comments:
The usual response of church leaders is, “Oh, well, at least they get it right twice a year.”
I understand his comment, and I agree that this is probably the usual response of many church leaders. Many are excited to have extra attendees on special holidays, and most would admit that its better for people to attend twice a year than never attend at all.
However, I think this response reveals a mistaken understanding of the church meeting – assigning a sacramental value to merely attending a church meeting. In fact, I would suggest that there is very little value in merely attending any and every church meeting, even if someone attending every church meeting held during the year.
Yes, I realize that this is a broad and general statement. But, if our goal is for people to merely gather together, to listen and sing along to some songs and to listen to a sermon, then Chreasters and even regular attendees meet our goal.
But, if our purpose in meeting together is edification, then attendance at a meeting does not accomplish that goal. Instead of attenders, we should desire to see our meetings filled with servants (ministers) who use their spiritual gifts in order to build up one another and help one another grow in maturity toward Jesus Christ – whether there are two servants present or more. Attendance is not our purpose. Edification must be our purpose. (See my post “But I have perfect attendance…“.)
As I was thinking about the difference between attendance and mutual ministry, I remembered this passage from Peter O’Brien’s commentary The Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series. In this passage, O’Brien is discussing Ephesians 4:7-16, specifically vs 12-13, and the difference between the “special ministers” of 4:11 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers) and other “ministers”:
[T]he letter as a whole has emphasized Christ’s riches being received by all the saints (1:3; 3:20), while the immediate context of vv. 7-16 is framed by an insistence at the beginning of the paragraph that each believer was given ‘grace’ (v. 7), and at its conclusion that the whole body is growing from the head as each part (v. 16) does its work. If it is only the leaders of v. 11 who perfect the saints, do the work of ministry, and edify the body of Christ, then this is a departure from Paul’s usual insistence that every member is equipped for ministry. It is better, therefore, to regard those enumerated in v. 11 as helping and directing other members of the church so that all may carry out their several ministries for the good of the whole. (pg. 301, emphasis in original)
Thus, we can have as many attenders as we like, but they do nothing to edify the body. What we need, instead, are those who are willing to spend the time, energy, and preparation necessary to know others, to serve others, to help others, to teach others, to guide others, to speak to others, etc.
There are certainly times when I gather with the church in which I have nothing to say and nothing to do to serve others. This happens occasionally. There are times when God brings me together with other believers because I need to be served. However, if this happens week after week, month after month, year after year… there is something wrong. God brings me together with other believers to benefit them, not only for my own benefit and certainly not to simply attend a meeting.
Helping Chreasters become regular attenders may be good, but it is not the goal. Instead, we should help all believers use their gifts and give all believers opportunity to use their gifts to build up others during the meeting of the church. God does not call together attendees; he calls together ministers.
Put your money (and possessions) where your mouth is
Last week, in a post called “The Good Samaritan meets Health Care Reform,” I said the following concerning the early church:
They would take care of the poor, the orphans, the widows, those in prison, etc. And, they wouldn’t simply throw money at some program to care for “the poor,†they would take care of poor people.
The Roman world first noticed Christianity because of the way that Christians cared for other people.
If the church still acted in this way, there would be no reason for “health care reform.†In fact, if the church still acted in this way – the way that Jesus prescribed – we could do away with all of our “evangelism programs†as well.
It is easy to say that the church should take care of people. It is much more difficult to actually put this into action. Here are two recent examples of how the church is “putting its money (and possessions) where its mouth is.”
Last week, a brother in North Carolina found out that a coworker in Pennsylvania was having car problems. When our brother talked to his coworker, he found out that it would be very expensive to fix the car. Our brother decided that he was going to drive his car Pennsylvania and leave it for this coworker to use as long as necessary. It turns out that some other coworkers checked the car out and found out that there was a simple, inexpensive problem. But, even though my brother did not give his car to someone else, he was willing to and ready to.
A few weeks ago, a young man was injured doing martial arts. Several of us know him, and he has helped many of our children work on their Tae Kwon Do skills. In fact, he was helping Jeremy (my son) when he was hurt. At the emergency room, we found out that his injury was not as serious as we thought, but as with all ER visits, there was still a substantial bill. This young man does not have health insurance.
I told the church about this need, and several people volunteered to help this young man pay his medical bill. He is not a “member” of Messiah Baptist Church. But, we know him, he is our brother, and we know of his need. So, we are responsible to help meet this need. More than knowing that we are responsible, we are acting on that responsibility.
While I write often about ecclesiology (the study of the church), I also like to move things out of the realm of theory and into reality. It is possible for the church to actually help people who are in need.
When “one another” means me
For me, it is often (almost always) more difficult to be on the receiving end of service than the giving end. A couple of years ago, I published a post called “When ‘one another’ means me” to offer examples of how others in the body of Christ had been “one another-ing” me. Instead of denying people an opportunity to serve me, I should accept their service and praise God for what He is doing in their lives and in my life.
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I’ve written before about how every follower of Jesus Christ (including me) is responsible for carrying out the “one anothers” of Scripture. But, that is not the point of this blog post. I’ve also written previously about how our family tries to live daily in community with other brothers and sisters in Christ (see especially “Church meetings” and “A Week in the Life of the Church“). But, in this post, I want to highlight something a little different.
On Monday, in a comment to my post “The unhypocritical church – Part 3“, David said this concerning living in community: “But this kind of life doesn’t get much press time. I mean, who wants to read about someone living that kind of life? No glamour.” I understand exactly what David means. But, Paul recognized this kind of life, and with gratitude toward God, he praised those who were living that way.
And, in this post, I hope to do exactly the same thing. There are many people that I know who are taking the “one anothers” of Scripture seriously. In the last few days, many of these people have impacted my life and the life of my family. So, I want to take this time to thank God for these precious brothers and sisters.
1. Serve one another (Gal 5:13; 1 Pet 4:10)
Our van is having problems. One of our dear friends took our van to his house and is working on it – at his own expense. He will not even allow us to pay for the parts.
2. Be kind to one another (Eph 4:32)
This week, some friends showed up at our house unexpectedly with breakfast for our family.
3. Encourage one another (1 Thess 5:11; Heb 3:13)
A brother spoke very encouraging words to me during a time that could have greatly discouraged me.
4. Teaching and admonishing one another (Rom 15:14; Col 3:16)
At a time when we were focusing on distractions, a brother taught and admonished us that it was actually our sin that was hindering our relationship with God.
5. Care for one another (1 Cor 12:25; 2 Cor 13:11)
While our vehicle is being repaired, another family has graciously allowed us to use one of their vehicles.
6. Bear with one another (Eph 4:2; Col 3:13)
When I became defensive (or offensive) toward a brother, he patiently allowed me my rant, then did not hold it against me.
7. Love one another (John 13:34-35, 15:12, 15:17; Rom 12:10, 13:8; 1 Thess 3:12, 4:9; 1 Pet 1:22, 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 3:23, 4:7, 4:11-12; 2 John 1:5)
Do you want to know how our brothers and sisters have demonstrated their love for God and their love for us? Look at #1-#6 above. This is just a sampling.
Love for God and love for others is real, tangible, giving, serving, costly. This is the love that the Spirit produces in the lives of his children. This is one of the evidences that we are children of God: “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:10-11 ESV)
These brothers and sisters continually demonstrate the evidence that they are children of God – that they are indwelled by the present and powerful Holy Spirit – that they are submitting to his will in their lives. They are not doing this so that they will get recognition or credit. In fact, they will be embarrassed when they read this and recognize themselves in my words. They do these things because the love of God compels them. They do these things because God is more than a theological idea – He is a real, living, active, powerful, and ever present Father in their lives. It is evident that they are children of God because they practice righteousness and love their brothers and sisters.
I praise God for the way that He has loved me through these dear brothers and sisters.
Would you like to praise God for the brothers and sisters that he is using in your life?
Is there evidence in your life to indicate that you are a child of God?
The Good Samaritan meets Health Care Reform
Joe (JR) at “More Than Cake” has written a post that excellently exposes our hypocrisy. The post is called “A Parable of Political Compassion,” and it presents the parable of the Good Samaritan in a updated, and timely, fashion.
Here is Joe’s post:
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As our nation bickers over the right political solution to the problems facing the American healthcare system, I think ww are loosing sight of the real meaning of compassion. The following parable illustrates this well.
A Crowd gathered around the broken form of a Young Man who was lying motionless on the roadside Moments before the Young Man was riding his bike down the street, when suddenly struck by a car. Dazed and confused, the Crowd looked around for someone to offer direction on what they should do.
A Doctor came to the scene. He quickly ran to the Young Man’s side, bent down and began searching through his pockets. When the Doctor could not find an insurance card, he quietly moved away and said, “I cannot help this man.â€
As the crowd became angry, a successful trial Lawyer came to the scene. Upon seeing the man bleeding to death, and hearing the story of the Doctor who refused to help, the Lawyer became angry. She decried this great injustice saying, “no one in America shouod be refused medical care just because he cannot pay.†The Lawyer quickly bent down beside the Young Man bleeding on the ground. She put her business card in the man’s pocket and said, “when you get well, come and see me. I will be sure to represent you in a big-money lawsuit against that Doctor, the Hospital, and the Insurance companies.â€
Growing more angry, the Crowd began to grumble and complain, “what is wrong with this country!?â€
A wealthy US Senator whose office was close to the scene came into the crowd. Seeing the Young Man bleeding to death on the ground, he cried out, “why has no one helped this man?!†The crowd reported the story of the Doctor and the Lawyer. The Senator knew something must be done quickly to save this man’s life. He jumped into action. He climbed onto a nearby soapbox and gave an impassioned speech to the enraged Crowd. â€We need change! We must pass a law to help this man who does not have healthcare! There are many Rich People in this country who have enough money to help this man get care. Come with me and we will pass a Law that will force these Rich People and Big Companies to pay for this man’s healthcare!â€
The crowds loved the words of compassion spoken by the wealthy-Senator, made signs in support of his speech and followed after him to help pass a Law.
Before the Crowds could leave, a well-known Pastor jumped into the middle of the ruckus and decried to the immorality of the Senator’s proposed Law. The Pastor used his great influence and spoke passionately from the Bible to rally a counter-protest against the Senator and his Law.
The TV cameras soon arrived to film the scene. The nicely-dressed Anchorwoman knelt gently beside the injured man. She held a microphone to the injured man’s mouth and asked for a statement decrying the evils of the American healthcare system. Unable to speak or sign a press release, the Anchorwoman moved on to interview the Senator, the Doctor, the Pastor and people in the Crowd.
The Crowds passed by chanting their support for their chosen cause. The cameras followed. The young man was left alone, bleeding to death on the roadside.
An Elderly Man came to the scene. He bent down, and forced his aging fingers to bandage the wounds. The Elderly Man had no money of his own so he sold his car to help pay for the young man’s medical care.
Which of these people; the Doctor, the Lawyer, the Senator, the Pastor, the Crowds or the Elderly-Man reflect true compassion?
Which of these people offered a real solution to the dying man?
Which of these people are you?
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As you consider the implications of Joe’s post, consider this as well. In the first 200-300 years of the church, the church was known for one thing in particular: taking care of people. The pagans who wrote against the church and Christianity always wrote about how Christians would pay their own money to take care of each other and even to take care of people who were not believers.
They would take care of the poor, the orphans, the widows, those in prison, etc. And, they wouldn’t simply throw money at some program to care for “the poor,” they would take care of poor people.
The Roman world first noticed Christianity because of the way that Christians cared for other people.
If the church still acted in this way, there would be no reason for “health care reform.” In fact, if the church still acted in this way – the way that Jesus prescribed – we could do away with all of our “evangelism programs” as well.
The unhypocritcal church
A couple of years ago, I published three posts called “The unhypocritical church” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). The posts were based on a study of, meditation on, and comparison to Romans 12 (especially verses 9-21). Here are the three posts together:
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Most theologians comment about how “theological” the book of Romans is. This simply means that Paul speaks in terms that most closely resemble how modern theologians speak. Of course, Romans is far from a “systematic theology”. But Romans does include a good deal of theology – that is, Paul tells us what he things about God and people and salvation.
In fact, Chapters 1 through 11 are filled with theology. We learn that all people are sinful – all people are separated from God – all people deserve eternal separation from God. We also learn that the remedy is found in the person of Jesus Christ – his death, burial, and resurrection – and that the remedy is administered through the person and presence and power of the Holy Spirit. But, Paul doesn’t stop there.
In Chapter 12, Paul begins to show how his “theology” should work itself out in the lives of all followers of Jesus Christ. He begins by showing that a life sacrificed to God will lead to a life that is tranformed – changed – into a life that is acceptable to God. This life will demonstrate the gifts of the Spirit because it will be controlled by the Spirit. The Spirit will manifest himself differently in different people, but the manifestation of the Spirit’s gifts will always be for the same purpose. But, Paul doesn’t stop there.
In Romans 12:9-21, Paul lays down specific characteristics of the life that is led by the Spirit. This is what he says:
Let love be genuine (unhypocritical). Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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 12:9-21 ESV)
Notice how the genuine (unhypocritical) love of Spirit-indwelled, Spirit-led believers is described:
- holding fast to good
- loving one another
- honoring one another
- serving the Lord fervently
- rejoicing
- patient
- praying
- giving to needy believers
- being hospitable (loving strangers)
- blessing
- living in harmony
- humble
- doing what is honorable
- living in peace with all
This is how the church of God should live. This is how the church of God should be described. In fact, the “theology” of the previous 11 chapters means little if the lives of believers are not being transformed by the indwelled Spirit.
So, where do you stop? Do you stop at discussing theology? Or, do you see the power of the Spirit at work in your life? How does a description of your life match up to Paul’s description of the Spirit-led, transformed life?
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“The unhypocritcal church – Part 2”
When I wrote the post “The unhypocritical church“, I did not plan for it to continue into a second part. However, as I have been meditating on Romans 12 for the last few days, there are a few more thoughts that I want to share.
Sunday morning, we gathered with the church like we do every week. After the formal part of our meeting concluded, people hung around talking for about an hour. At one point, my daughter and another girl her age stood by the door and, like good stewardesses, greeted those who left by saying, “Buh-bye. See you next week.” This was funny at first. Then I realized exactly what they were saying. They recognized that we would not see many of these people for seven days.
Sunday afternoon, as I published the post called “The unhypocritical church” and thought about the episode with my daughter and her friend, I realized that it would be impossible to carry out the teachings of Romans 12:9-21 if we only see one another once a week in a formal setting. Look at this list again:
- holding fast to good
- loving one another
- honoring one another
- serving the Lord fervently
- rejoicing
- patient
- praying
- giving to needy
- believers
- being hospitable (loving strangers)
- blessing
- living in harmony
- humble
- doing what is honorable
- living in peace with all
Sure, some of these we could probably do once a week, and pretend to have carried out Paul’s intention. But, can we have patience with one another if we only see each other once every seven days? Can we live in harmony with one another if we only see each other once every seven days? Similarly, we are to help one another live according to these descriptions. Can we help one another be hospitable toward strangers if we only see one another on Sunday?
This passage (Romans 12:9-21) is about community. Paul does not state, “Live as a community with your brothers and sisters in Christ”. However, he describes believers living together in such a way that they must recognize themselves as a Spirit-indwelled, Spirit-led community in order to see these descriptions carried out in their lives. There is no way to understand “church” as a once or twice a week event and have these characteristics. No, Paul is not describing an event, or a location, or an organization. Paul is describing a way-of-life for people who are following their Master together.
Among the church where God has placed me, I recognize these characteristics in many of my brothers and sisters. On Sunday, I heard that several people are spending their Labor Day Monday helping some friends work on their houses. I heard about other friends who are donating furniture and delivering it to someone that they do not know, but who is in need of furniture. Other friends are spending their day off by working on cars for their brothers and sisters. In activities such as these (and probably many others that I do not know about), the love of Christ is manifest and proclaimed both to believers and to unbelievers alike.
A community… a kingdom community, ruled by the King, looking out for one another, serving one another and the world, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, and warmly welcoming those who accept his grace and mercy. This is the kind of church that Paul is describing. This is the church of unypocritical love. This is how I want to live my life.
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“The unhypocritical church – Part 3”
I think this will be my last post on Romans 12:9-21 for now. As a reminder, this is what Paul writes:
Let love be genuine (unhypocritical). Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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 12:9-21 ESV)
Once again, notice how the genuine (unhypocritical) love of Spirit-indwelled, Spirit-led believers is described:
- holding fast to good
- loving one another
- honoring one another
- serving the Lord fervently
- rejoicing
- patient
- praying
- giving to needy believers
- being hospitable (loving strangers)
- blessing
- living in harmony
- humble
- doing what is honorable
- living in peace with all
This is how the church of God should live. This description should characterize each believer and each group of beleivers.
Over the last few days, I have been asking myself which of these characteristics are evident in my life and which characteristics are absent. I can look back over the last few years and see where God has grown me and changed me. But, I can also see where I am not living as God intends. Specifically, God is still teaching me how to show hospitality (that is, love for strangers as opposed to love for those who I already know and love) and how to give to those who are in need. Perhaps, most of all, this is showing me areas in my life where I am not submitting to the presence of God.
As Joel pointed out in a recent post, we must begin with a proper understanind of who we are in Christ. I would also add that we should also recognize the awesome power and presence of the Holy Spirit who indwells us and changes us from the inside out.
Beginning with this understanding, I am going to ask you the same question that I have been asking myself: Meditating on the description of the unhypocritical (genuine) love of Romans 12:9-21, where is God still working in your life? In what ways are you not submitting to God’s presence in your life?
Exercising authority without exercising authority?
According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus taught that his followers should not exercise authority over one another. Instead, they are to serve one another:
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28 ESV)
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45 ESV)
And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.” (Luke 22:25-26 ESV)
In these passages, it seems that Jesus not only prohibited his followers from exercising authority over one another (even the apostles), but he also told us who we should follow (who are our leaders), that is, those who serve.
Today, however, there are many people who conclude that elders (or other leaders in the church) CAN exercise authority over other followers of Jesus. They can make decisions. They can decided what is to be done when the church meets. They can exercise church discipline. They can judge between doctrines.
This raises a question for me: How can we exercise authority without exercising authority? In other words, how can elders exercise authority over other followers of Jesus while living according to Jesus’ teaching in this area?
Is it possible to have it both ways? Can I make decisions for someone without exercising authority over that person? Was Jesus only prohibiting certain kinds of authority, but allowing other kinds of authority? Maybe Jesus was allowing good authority, but prohibiting bad authority? If so, how do we decide which authority is good and which authority is bad?
These are honest questions. I don’t understand. I’ve read the books and studied the arguments. I don’t understand how someone is supposed to exercise authority while following Jesus’ instructions in these passages.