stories: Living the love of God
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
A friend of mine moved into a new neighborhood almost two years ago. He bought a house that was in need of many repairs, and, in fact, he’s still working on the house now. In less than two years, he has met most of his neighbors, inviting them to dinner at his house. He has started friendships with several neighbors, some of whom are Christians and some of whom are atheists. Although he doesn’t necessarily enjoy fishing, he has been fishing with one neighbor a few times. He has also helped several of his neighbors work on their houses. Spending all of this time with his neighbors has meant that the work on his house has taken alot longer than expected. But, he thinks that spending time with his neighbors is important.
Another friend moved from the United States to another country a few years ago. She spends most of her time with local college students teaching them English. Some students come for one or two lessons, other students come back several times. One or two students have been attending her English classes for over a year. She is building relationships with these students as she is able, even inviting them into her home and spending time in their homes. It is very difficult for her to live in a strange culture, to learn a new language, to break old habits, to leave behind family and friends and comforts and familiar things. But, she thinks that it is important for her to travel around the world and spend time with these college students.
Another friend and his family spend their Saturday mornings at the community center of a local government housing project. For the most part, they spend hours playing with boys and girls. They play on the playground equipment, ride boys and girls on their shoulders, play football with the older children, and even provide lunch. They have spent so much time with the boys and girls that they have gotten to know many of them – and some of the stories will break your heart… stories of broken families, abuse, neglect, missing parents, drugs, alcohol, prostitution. But, they think it is important to insert their lives into the broken lives of these boys and girls.
Another friend spends much of her time helping people with nutritional, health, and lifestyle issues. She spends hours every week talking to people, praying with them, encouraging them, and helping them recognize the importance of living a healthy life. She shows them alternatives to over-medicating and teaches them how to thrive in spite of constant pain. Although it is stressful to deal with hurting people all of the time, and although she doesn’t get paid for these services, she feels that it is important for her help people live physically and spiritually healthy lives.
Another friend and his family have “adopted” a couple of people who are struggling both physically and financially. Several times this family has found money, or furniture, or food that someone needs. They have given people rides to the hospital or the doctor’s office, even if the trip lasts several hours. This family takes care of people together, with the entire family getting involved. Perhaps some would think that this type of service would take too much away from “family time”, but they think that it is important for them to care for those who need help.
There are many other friends that I could mention – brothers and sisters who consider it important to give up something of their own lives in order to serve others – both those who are part of God’s family and those who are not in God’s family. I could mention the brother and sister who moved their family to an urban area to demonstrate God’s love in a desperate situation. I could mention a brother who gives up nights and weekends to work on people’s cars without charge. I could mention many brothers and sisters who cook dinners for those who have been sick or need a break for other reasons.
Which of my friends are living missionally? I think all of them are. They are living the love of God as he has provided opportunity and means and passion. And, they are all inserting their lives into the lives of other people. Their lives have been changed by God through the good news of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and they desire to demonstrate God’s love and proclaim that same good news to others in tangible ways.
There are dangers in describing the lives of some of my friends in the way that I have above. First, I definitely left out some people and some examples. God has surrounded me with many, many friends who are attempting to live the love of God in their lives. I could not mention all of them. Second, it is possible that someone could read my description of their own life and become proud. Knowing the people that I described above, that will probably not happen. Most will be embarrassed that I mentioned them, saying that they are not doing anything special. Third, there is a danger that someone will read my descriptions above and assume that those are the only ways that God works through his people into the lives of others. I would like to finish this article on this point.
Missional living means living the love of God in a way that impacts other people. As Paul said, we have been reconciled to God, and we are now to serve others with the goal of seeing them reconciled as well. This reconciliation affects all aspects of our lives, beginning with our relationship with God, but also affecting our relationship with other people.
However, the common grace of God and our common reconciliation with God does not mean that we all serve others in the same way. God has gifted us differently. He has given us different talents. We all have different opportunities. God has given us different passions and interests. Thus, we will serve others in different ways. There is a danger, especially among leaders, in thinking that every Christian will serve in the same way that I (or the leader) serves. This is not the way that God works.
Thus, missional living will look different for different people. However, in all instances, a life that mirrors the mission of God will live the love of God in the lives of others in order to reconcile them to God and to one another.
Living doctrine at the campsite
This weekend, we went camping with the church. Friday evening, several families camped near Falls Lake. A couple of families joined us around the campfire Friday night. The next day, one family had to leave, but two more families camped with us. Several people joined us during the day on Saturday to spend time together at the campsite.
Sunday morning, many people who did not camp came to the campsite to meet together. We sat around the campfire (well, the remains of the campfire), and talked and sang and prayed. We talked about several different topics, but at one point, the discussion turned to Acts 2:42:
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42 ESV)
According to this passage, the early church in Jerusalem devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching (or doctrine). We talked about how the church often interprets this phrase as “they spent time listening to the apostles teach”. But, as many people pointed out, this simply sentence goes far beyond listening to someone teach.
Yes, the early church continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, but they did not do this with their ears only; they continued in their lives. They lived what the apostles were teaching them.
As I was listening to my friends sitting around the campfire helping one another understand what it means to live out the doctrine of the apostles, I couldn’t help but remember the previous 48 hours that I had spend with many of my brothers and sisters in Christ. You see, I heard what they were saying Sunday morning, but Friday night and all day Saturday, I SAW them continuing steadfastly in the teachings of the apostles.
It’s one thing to hear someone encourage others to confess their sins, but it’s another thing altogether to have a brother confess his sins to you. It’s one thing to hear an exhortation to love one another, but it’s another thing altogether to see brothers and sisters who want to spend time with one another, who share their food with one another, who help one another around the campsite, who SHOW their love for one another.
As I sat around that campfire Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but praise God for the blessing of community – not community in name only, but true community – a family who loves one and cares for one another. We’re not perfect, and we’re continually seeking to grow closer to God and to one another, but we are a community.
It’s easy to see now why Luke connected “the apostles’ teaching” and “fellowship”. I don’t think you can have one without the other.
(If you’re interested, I’ve posted pictures from our camping weekend on our family blog and in a facebook photo album.)
Loving and Giving
We spent the day yesterday driving to Columbia, SC to spend with our friend whose father recently died. The funeral was held yesterday, although he won’t be buried for several weeks because he’s being buried at Arlington. I’m glad we had the opportunity to love and serve and give to our friend.
Here are a couple of bloggers who are thinking about loving and giving:
Jonathan at “Missio Dei” reminds us that first impressions are not always correct, and we often listen to the wrong voice, in a post called “Loving My Neighbor“.
Jason at “Spend and Be Spent” asks a question about giving in a post called “Helping the Poor or Enabling Laziness?“. A good discussion follows in the comments.
stories: I thought she was rude
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
We met “Sheila” (or rather, one of her children) the first day we met people in the Neighborhood (our name for a local government assisted housing project). I thought she was rude.
After our friend Cathy introduced us to several of her neighbors, she had to return home. We still had one bag of produce left. So, we knock on the next door. A young boy (around 11-12) answered the door. He said his mother was on the phone and couldn’t come to the door. (I thought that was rude.) I gave him the bag of fruits and vegetables and told him we were friends of their neighbor Cathy. He said, “Okay,” then took the produce and closed the door.
The next week, when we returned to the neighborhood, we had a great time visiting the neighbors that we had met the previous week… well, except for Sheila’s family. Once again, when we knocked on her door, one of her children answered – I think it was her 8 year old daughter this time, with the toddler not far behind. Once again, she said her mother was on the phone and couldn’t come to the door. I gave her the bag of produce and left.
On the way home, I talked to Margaret (my wife) about how rude it was for this lady to send her children to the door. I mean, she was only talking on the phone. She could always call back. There was only one word to describe it – RUDE!
This went on for several weeks. I would knock on the door. One of the children would open the door and explain that their mother was on the phone. The child would take the fruits and vegetables, and that would be the end of it. We knew very little about this family except that there were at least three children and the mother was rude.
One week, some friends decided to join us. So, we went through the neighborhood in two different groups – one group with me, and one group with Margaret. Our group had a great time talking to the neighbors. We were able to spend more time with each person, and (since our friends bought produce, too) we were also able to meet a few new neighbors.
Being the kind gentleman that I am, I left Margaret with the responsibility of stopping by Sheila’s house. When we met up again, Margaret was excited to tell me what happened. This time, when Margaret knocked on the door, Sheila answered. She talked to Margaret for a long, long time. Apparently, Sheila works on Saturday mornings, and when she was “on the phone”, she was actually working. (wow… imagine that… Not only did I misunderstand her, I was the one being rude by interrupting her work.)
Margaret and Sheila hit it off immediately. She told Margaret that she was divorced, and actually had four children. The daughter that we had not met was away at college. Over the next few weeks, Margaret always went to Sheila’s house, and she always talked to Sheila. If she was working, then she would ask Margaret to come back by. When Margaret came back, Sheila would be on the porch waiting for her. The thing that Margaret noticed first about Sheila was how much she appreciated the produce that we brought, and how much she appreciated that time that Margaret spent with her.
We also found out that besides working to support her family, Sheila also attended community college. She would finish her classes soon, and then would do an internship. She wanted to find a better job in order to support her family better.
Sheila has had a rough life. I’m surprised that she ever started talking to us in the first place. I imagine that it is very difficult for her to trust people, especially men. But, I will have to tell more of Sheila’s story another time.
Local and Itinerant
In my previous post, I mentioned that I was going to cover two different aspects of the ways in which God uses people to serve the church. I covered the first aspect in yesterday’s post “Speaking and Serving“. Today, I am covering the second aspect “Local and Itinerant”.
It seems, as we study Scripture, that believers offered two types of service to churches: itinerant service and local service.
When I say “itinerant service”, I’m talking about service offered by those believers who travel from place to place, sometimes staying in one place for an extended period, but never with the intention of remaining in one place. Paul and Barnabas would be included in this group (following the events of Acts 13:1-3. Similarly, many of their travelling companions would be included in this group (i.e. John Mark, Silas, Timothy, Titus, Luke).
“Itinerant service” included many types of giftings, and it would be difficult to distinguish some giftings as only itinerant. However, it seems that the apostolic gift was intended as an itinerant gift. Even as an apostle and even with the desire to go where there was no gospel witness and no church, Paul did return to the same areas many times in order to strengthen the churches there. So, “itinerant service” is not limited to travelling to areas where there are no churches.
Several passages of Scripture refer to this type of “itinerant service” to the church. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 9:1-6, Paul seems to point to a group of people who are travelling from place to place. Similarly, we see that Paul did not intend for Timothy and Titus to remain in Ephesus and Crete, respectively. Finally, John commends Gaius for taking care of those brothers who were travelling through his area.
Besides “itinerant service”, there seems to be another type of service offered to the church as well: “local service”. In this case, I’m using the word “local” as an antonym for “itinerant”. Those who offer “local service” intend to remain in one place, serving the church in that place. In fact, this would probably be the predominant type of service recognized in Scripture.
Before Acts 13:1-3, it seems that both Paul and Barnabas intended to remain in whatever place they were in, serving the church there. Similarly, Paul intended for the elders in Ephesus to remain in Ephesus caring for the people there (Acts 20:28). When John writes his third letter, he distinguishes between those brothers who are travelling, and Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius, who apparently remained in the same location.
However, just because someone offers “local service”, this doesn’t mean that that person never travels to another location. However, it does mean that the person intends to return to their home location. For example, Epaphroditus brought a gift to Paul from the church in Phillipi, but intended to return. Those who travelled for a short time (to help Paul, for instance) would often serve alongside Paul while with him, but they still intended to return to their home location.
Do you think it is legitimate to distinguish between itinerant service and local service? Do you this distinction is helpful? Why or why not?
Church Service
Our weekend was filled with church service. No, not that kind of church service. In fact, we did not attend our church’s weekly meeting yesterday. And, while we missed seeing and spending time with everyone, there are some things that are more important than meeting.
Saturday morning we helped a family move (actually, other friends finished packing the truck before we got there, so we just spent some time with everyone before they had to leave). After that, we spend some time in the neighborhood and in the nursing home. After that, we helped some other friends work on their house. (I have a great story about this. I hope to share it later this week.)
Sunday morning, as we were getting ready to meet with the church, Margaret got a phone call from one of our closest friends. Her father is dying of brain cancer, and she had had a rough night. We decided to drive down to South Carolina where he is in the hospital and spend some time with them.
So… alot of church service this weekend… and alot of meeting with the church at various homes and even in a hospital… but we didn’t attend the “church meeting”.
Oh… and today is my birthday.
Speaking and Serving
Last week, I had several very good conversations with people concerning various ways in which God uses people to serve the church. Some of these discussion were triggered by the “Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology” seminar from several days ago. So, if you talked with me last week, you may see bits and pieces of our conversation here.
I’m going to cover these discussions in two different posts. The first – this post – will cover two fundamental categories of how God uses his people – through speaking and through serving. The next post – tomorrow – will cover how God uses some people in one locality or community, while he uses others across different localities or communities.
Friday night before the seminar, part of our discussion centered around the topic of spiritual gifts. As we know, there are several spiritual gift lists in Scripture (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 4:11). As Dave Black pointed out, though, while some are supernaturally gifted to do certain things (i.e. teaching), all followers of Jesus are responsible for doing these same things (i.e. teaching).
Thus, all are responsible for giving, while the Spirit uses some people’s giving in supernatural ways. All are responsible for helping, while the Spirit uses some people’s helping in supernatural ways. All are responsible for teaching, while the Spirit uses some people’s teaching in supernatural ways. Those whom the Spirit normally supernaturally gifts for teaching (for example), we can call “teachers” (or “prophets” or “shepherds” or “encouragers” or “givers” etc). But, this doesn’t remove the responsibility of all to teach (or prophesy or shepherd or encourage or give etc).
Thus, when I think about gifting and serving other people, I like to use the broad categories that we find in 1 Peter 4:10-11:
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV)
In this passage, Peter takes the emphasis off of the individual gifts, and divides all types of work among people into two different categories: speaking and serving. (In this case, since we know that “speaking” is a way to serve, we can understand “serving” as “non-speaking”.) Furthermore, Peter indicates that when we speak or serve from love (4:8-9), as directed and enabled by God, then we bring glory to God.
The reason that I like these broad categories is that I do not have to be concerned about which particular gift I am exercising. In fact, when I speak, I am not supposed to be concerned about which gift I am exercising, because I do not know how the Spirit is going to use my words. Similarly, when I serve someone, I do not know how the Spirit is going to use that either.
My focus should simply be on speaking to or serving one another and allowing the Spirit to choose how to use my words or actions. In this way, we take the focus off of the one doing the speaking or serving and we even take the focus off of the specific “gift” being exercised as if we could choose which “gift” to exercise. No, our focus is on speaking and/or serving as directed by God and allowing the Spirit to use our speaking and/or service as he chooses.
Also, these broad categories remind us that both speaking and serving remain the responsibility to ALL followers of Jesus Christ. If the Spirit normally uses my speaking as teaching, this does not remove my responsibility to serve. If the Spirit normally uses my serving as giving, this does not remove my responsibility to speak.
However, recognizing these broad categories and the responsibility of all believers to speak or to serve does not change the fact that the Spirit does choose to use some people more in one manner than in another manner. Thus, we can recognize “teachers” and “prophets” and “givers” and “helpers” etc. Also, recognizing how God generally chooses to use our own speaking and serving can help us understand how he wishes us to work among the church. Certainly, there can be times that the Spirit chooses to work in different ways, and we should also be ready for that as well.
In this view, we can see how the authors of Scripture recognize that all believers are responsible for teaching, exhorting, serving, giving, prophecy, etc., while they also recognize that some are teachers, some are exhorters, some are givers, some are prophets, etc. While it can be beneficial to both ourselves and the church to know how the Spirit generally uses our speaking/serving, it is also beneficial to recognize that we are all responsible to speak/serve.
How should we study the church?
Last weekend, during our seminar, I made the statement that we should study the church by beginning with Scripture, not by beginning with our current beliefs and practices. This is still an important distinction for me, just as it was three years ago when I started this blog. Here are two posts that I wrote during my first month of blogging that deal with this issue.
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How should we study the church?
This is one definition of ecclesology: the branch of theology concerned with the nature and the constitution and the functions of a church.
How should someone begin studying the nature, constitution, and functions of a church? I have found two distinct paths toward developing a biblical ecclesiology.
The first path begins with the contemporary church along with its nature and practices. The theologian then uses Scripture to justify the various roles, functions, and practices of the contemporary church. This method allows various theologians to justify different and divergent practices.
The second path begins with Scripture. The theologian examines the nature and practices of the NT church as recorded in the Bible. These “descriptions” are then used as “prescriptions” for comparisons to the contemporary church.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul encourages the church in Corinth to compare their practices to the practices of other churches (1 Cor 7:17; 11:16; 14:33-34; 16:1). We should compare our practices to those of the NT churches as well. We should not begin with our practices, then justify them with Scripture. We must begin with Scripture when we are developing our ecclesiology.
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Called into full-time ministry…
Yesterday, in discussing ecclesiology, I made the following statement:
We should not begin with our practices, then justify them with Scripture. We must begin with Scripture when we are developing our ecclesiology.
Today, someone mentioned being “called into full-time ministry.” From the context, I know that he did not mean that God has called him to serve others (minister) full-time, just as God has called all believers to serve and not to be served. Instead, he meant that God had called him to find a vocational position in a local church (probably other than his own local church) in order to earn a living. This is a normal understanding of what it means to be a preacher / pastor / minister – at least among the people that I know.
Did this understanding come from Scripture? Will reading Scripture lead someone to understand that God specially calls some people to stop working a “secular” job in order to be part of a paid staff at a local church? Does Scripture describe the pastor as someone hired from outside the body?
If this idea does not come from Scripture, then from where does it come? And, more importantly, why is this the “normal” practice in our churches today?
stories: The Neighborhood
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
Not too long ago, we met a lady named Cathy. Cathy began meeting with the church on Sundays, and we were able to get to know her a little more. There are many stories that I could tell about Cathy, but this story is about her neighborhood.
Cathy lives in a government assisted housing development – a project. Every Sunday, she would ask for prayer or for help for her neighbors. We would pray for them and help them as we could. We furnished her next door neighbor’s apartment when he moved.
As Cathy continued to talk about her neighbors, I realized that God was giving me an opportunity to get to know some people who were very different from me in many ways. I talked with Cathy and told her that I would like to meet her neighbors. She was excited about it and said that she would introduce me.
I was glad that Cathy was going to introduce me, because I wouldn’t be going in as a stranger. But, I also wanted some other way to demonstrate Christ’s love to the people in the neighborhood. After talking with a few people, I decided to take small bags of fresh produce with me to give to Cathy’s neighbors. I knew that some charities took food to this neighborhood, but they usually took old cakes and cookies or old food that the grocery stores couldn’t sell. Since our family had recently started eating healthier, I decided to bring fresh produce to encourage healthy eating habits.
The next Saturday morning, I stopped by the roadside produce stand and bought some vegetables and fruit for five small grocery bags – potatoes, beans, squash, apples, oranges, onions, tomatoes… probably only about $5 worth in each bag. Then, I drove to Cathy’s apartment. I gave Cathy the first bag of produce and talked with her for a few minutes. Then, she introduced me to two of her neighbors and told me about a few other neighbors.
As she introduced me to her neighbors, she simply said, “This is my friend, Alan. He wanted to meet you.”
I would then explain that I had some fresh vegetables and fruit for them, then start talking with them. It was easy to get to know them with Cathy there, because they trusted her. Eventually, they would start to trust me as well. But, at this point, I just wanted to get to know them… to listen to their stories… to learn from them.
Eventually, Cathy had to return to her apartment. I still had one bag of produce left, because some of the people she wanted to introduce me to were not at home. So, I knocked on someone’s door – someone that Cathy had not introduced me to. A child opened the door, and I told him that I was a friend of their neighbor’s (Cathy), and I wanted to give them some fresh produce. (This neighborhood is used to getting handouts, so this would not be surprising to him.) I asked if his mother or father was at home, and he told me his mother was on the phone. Each week that I came back to that house, the mother was on the phone. The children would thank me for the vegetables and fruit, then shut the door. I thought it was rude… but eventually we became very close to this family… but that’s another story.
The next Saturday, my family joined me. We knocked on the doors of the people that I had met the previous week. Most of them remembered me, and were happy to meet my family. Again, when we had talked to everyone we knew who was at home, there was an extra bag, so we knocked on another door, and met someone new.
We’ve been visiting the people in Cathy’s neighborhood for almost a year now. Over the months, another family and a few other friends started going with us. We were able to spend more time talking with the neighbors and buy more produce than when I started. But, we always made sure that people remained the most important. If someone was outside their apartment, we would stop and talk to them, even if we did not have produce. If the people wanted to talk, we would talk. If they did not want to talk, we wouldn’t talk. But, we made ourselves available.
We’ve had opportunities to drive some of the neighbors to doctor’s appointments, or pick them up when they were released from the hospital. We’ve had opportunities to tutor some of the neighbors and provide toys at Christmas. We invited friends to help us rake leaves last fall and sing Christmas carols in December. We’ve laughed and cried and listened and talked and prayed and encouraged and admonished and lived with these wonderful people for almost a year.
Through this time, we’ve seen God change some of the neighbors, and we’ve seen God change us. I have many, many more stories to tell from the time that we spend in the neighborhood. But, I will have to tell those stories another day.
It is difficult to be served
Have you ever noticed that it is often difficult to allow someone else to serve you? I’ve found this true in my own life, and I saw it someone else’s life last week.
A elderly lady who lives in the government assisted housing project where we spend time each week has skin cancer on her ear. My wife found out last week that she needs a special pillow so that she can sleep without pain, but she can’t afford the pillow. I talked to the lady, found out how much the pillow cost, and we decided that we could afford to buy the pillow for her.
When I told her that we wanted to buy the pillow for her, she protested. She didn’t want us to spend our money on her pillow. I asked her, “Have you ever bought anything for someone else? Have you ever had the opportunity to serve someone else?”
She replied, “Oh, yes! Many times, especially when I was younger and in better health. It was a blessing from God to be able to serve other people.” (Seriously, I’m not making this up.)
I said, “Then, why would you deny us the opportunity to serve you?”
Of course, I’ve seen this same response in myself as well. I love to do things for other people, but I don’t often like it when other people do things for me. Why? Well, in my own life, I would have to say that it’s pride. Yep. I’m proud. And, by the way, that’s sin.
I like to think that I’m independent… which is a complete lie. In reality, I am dependent on God. And, since God often works through his children, we are interdependent upon one another. But, we’re so proud that we often refuse the help that God provides us. In fact, we often even refuse to admit that we need help.
Pride. We should just admit it. It’s sin, and it’s hurting our relationship with God and with one another.