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Christian Living

My Independent, Private, Personal Faith

burst pipeWhen you have a burst pipe under the house… you call in the expert – a plumber.
When your car won’t start… you call in the expert – a mechanic.
When someone sues you… you call in the expert – a lawyer.
When you have a major health concern… you call in the expert – a doctor.

And when you have a theological crisis… you call in the expert…no… wait… nevermind… instead you begin thinking: “I don’t need someone to tell me about belief… I don’t need someone to instruct me about faith… I might not like their take on it… I am more than sufficient to make my own decision… I am the expert.”

It is funny how in so much of life we know that we need help by those who have been trained in areas of specific expertise, but when it comes to the matter of faith, we decide that we are always sufficient and do not need anyone else’s help.

Now don’t get me wrong, you have the same Holy Spirit available to you as Mr. Distinguished Theology Professor at the Super-Duper Preacher School (sidenote – I was unable to get accepted into that school). But while we do have the Holy Spirit available, the truth is that discipleship does not occur in a vacuum. We need others to aid us in spiritual growth. But that ain’t the American way.

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We are so very independent. We don’t want anyone telling us what to do. That is why there is usually a bunch of trash piled up under the signs that say “No Dumping.” We think, “Who are you to tell me I can’t put my trash here? I’ll show you!” (Dump.)

And in the same way, we don’t want anyone telling us how to live out our faith. That is one of the problems with calling it a “Personal relationship with Jesus.” It is personal, in that Jesus saves us individually. But again, discipleship does not occur in a vacuum. The disciples were trained by Jesus. The early church was discipled by the apostles. The people in the churches were to be discipled by the pastors and elders. In the same way that “iron sharpens iron” or a metal file sharpens an axe, we are to sharpen one another. We are told to hold each other accountable for godly behavior.

The phrase “‘Personal relationship with Jesus Christ…’ could give the impression that the Christian faith is private—‘just between you and God.’ For while our faith is indeed very personal, it is definitely not private. Private Christian faith is an oxymoron.” (from ‘Creature of the Word’ by Matt Chandler)

We each want to create a system of belief and faith that is easy and palatable to us. The problem is… that just isn’t Jesus’ plan. His plan costs your life and is to be lived out in community under accountability to the rest of the faith family.

So when you consider your own personal faith, just make sure your “Personal relationship with Jesus Christ” leads you into the accountability of a Faith Family that holds you accountable to deeper and deeper levels of God-honoring thought, speech, and behavior.

Categories
Relationships

Being Sick, But Acting Healthy

Apologies all around to those who expect to see a post from me at least once a week!
In fact, I like to post something at least a couple of times a week, but this is my first post in exactly two weeks. No excuses other than just got too busy!

Who goes to the hospital? Those who know they are not well. Those who are sick. a stethoscope symbolizing the idea of being sick Other than the medical staff, other employees, and visitors, the healthy folk generally try to avoid hospitals. Jesus said that He did not come for the healthy, but for those who knew they were unhealthy and needed help.

That leads me to think that churches should be very open to those who know they are spiritually unhealthy. So why is it that we often find church to be a place where it is not okay to be anything less than perfect?

“The Church must be a place where it is okay not to be okay. The culture of the Church needs to be a safe place for the weary, weak, and wobbly. Of all places, we should welcome those who are honest about their burdens, frustrations, and pitfalls. Our people cannot be honest about their shortcomings in the marketplace. The Church provides the release valve of grace that we all desperately need, leadership included.

“It is far too common for the church to expend precious energies masquerading and upholding images rather than walking in transparency and authenticity. Ministry is messy because life is messy, and nobody is excluded from the mess. If it is not okay not to be okay in a church, then what are we doing? Where is the gospel? The hope we have in Christ is that it is okay not to be okay, but that He is leading us to greater levels of health and maturity.”
(‘Creature of the Word’ by Matt Chandler)

We are all… not okay.
We are all… not healthy.
We are all… in need of a Great Physician.

And yet… we try to hide this truth from one another so often… even at church.
Let us always remember that “The church…is a hospital in which nobody is completely well, and anyone can relapse at any time” (J.I. Packer).

Let us have grace for one another in our sickness, longing for the day of wholeness from the touch of God’s healing hand.

Categories
Christian Living

Follow Me.

Jesus called and Matthew followed.

I think that most of the time as we read the Gospels, we think of the disciples as a bunch of young, single men who didn’t give up much to follow Jesus. We think something along the lines of… “Well these young guys didn’t have a problem giving up their regular lives to follow Jesus around for three years, because they didn’t have much better to do. My life is much more difficult & busy.”

This is far from the truth. The disciples’ lives were difficult and busy too. We know that at least one had a wife, two had a fishing business with their dad that was large enough to have hired hands, and Matthew had a lucrative job as a tax collector.

Matthew… a tax collector. He gave up his business to follow Jesus… and he didn’t know how long he was going to be following. Can you imagine the questions his former coworkers asked when they saw him…
“Hey Matt, why did you quit your job? I heard you just walked away without giving a two-week notice or anything. What happened? Why haven’t you been coming to the company picnics?”
“Oh, because I’m following this traveling preacher around.”
Dumbfounded looks, glassy stares, jaws hitting the floor. “You’re doing what!?”

Matthew and the other disciples gave up some of their friends. They gave up their comfort and their routine. They gave up their businesses and money to wander from town to town with Jesus. Safety nets were totally eliminated. These disciples had to give up a lot to follow Jesus.

What are we willing to give up?
Are we willing to give up…
        Allowing our eyes to linger in places they shouldn’t?
        Gossiping about others?
        Anger, resentment, & unforgiveness?
        Relationships that we know are unhealthy?
        Entertainment choices…movies, books, video games, music…that don’t honor God?

When Jesus says to you, “Come, Follow Me,” are you willing to follow completely?
Are you giving up all the things that are hindrances to your spiritual growth?

Or do you find yourself like me, willing to follow “to a point” but no further?
I seem to be willing to give the easy things up, but there are too many things that I know aren’t good for me that I want to hang on to. I wonder what blessings we would get if we gave it all over to Him… If we truly said “Yes” to everything God asked us to do each & every time He asked us?

Categories
Christian Living

To Be or To Do – Is Character Important?

Being or Doing?
What is better in God’s eyes?

I believe that His statement: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” answers the question.

I remember one trip when I was a youth minister where the adult leaders were asked: “What are the things that have most excited you about youth ministry this past year?”

One after another, people stood up and shared: We went on a mission trip. We did a service project. We performed a special choir musical for our church. We did this, or We did that.

As I listened, I thought, “I’m not sure these are the things that we ought to be “most” excited about.”
There was no mention of life change, salvation, or deeper discipleship.
It seems most of us were excited about the things we were doing.
Not about the things our students were “being.”
A tragedy.

What we ought to be most excited about are the changes we see in the people around us as they spend more time developing the character traits of Jesus.

In our “busy” society, we seem to believe that the more we “do” for someone, the better. That leads us to think that the more we “do” for the church, the more God appreciates it.

But is that truly the case?
Or can we be in the habit of “doing” in such a way that it is not an honor to God?

God doesn’t want you doing Christian things, without embracing His character traits.
He desires mercy, because He is a merciful God.
He desires love, because He is love.
He desires patience, because He is the most patient.
He desires purity, because He is a God of holiness.

There are many verses where God indicates His frustration with His people for how much they were “doing for Him” without “being” the people He had called them to be.

(here are some of those passages, if you care to read any of them:
1 Samuel 15:22; Ps 40:6-8; Ps 50:7-15; Ps 51:15-17; Isaiah 1:11-16a; Hos 6:6; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8)

What does God want from you?
Does He desire that you do things for His kingdom?
Sure, but not if you refuse to develop His character.

Let’s make sure our “being” matches us with our “doing.”

Categories
Relationships

How Far Does Your Compassion Go?

How Long Has It Been Since You…
     Took the time to go see someone who lives alone?
     Wrote a letter to someone who crossed your mind?
     Read to someone who was unable to read for themselves?
     Encouraged someone who was having a hard time in life?

Every one of us can do something compassionate to encourage someone else.
But how far will our compassion go?

One of my favorite stories is the one where four friends pick up their paralyzed friend to get him to the One they heard is a healer. They’ve heard of this miracle worker and probably even knew someone else He has healed. So they go to their friend, tell him the plan, and start making their way to the house where the miracle man is supposed to be. They weren’t going to let anything stop them, because they knew that this Healer could change their friend’s life.

But when they arrived they couldn’t get in the door.
So they ripped through the roof.

What?
Seriously?
They tore up another person’s home to get their friend to this healer?
They must have truly believed this was going to work to be willing to go to that extreme.

What would have happened if I was holding one corner of the mat? Or if you were?
Would we have told our friend that we’d try to bring him to Jesus another day?
When our other friend said – “Hey, let’s go get some rope and some tools and we’ll rip through the roof and lower him down to the Healer!”, Would you have said – “No way, we can’t destroy this guy’s house. We’ll have to fix it or pay to have it repaired. Let’s just come back another day.”?

Or would you have been the first one to grab an axe to start busting a hole in the roof?

I think it all depends on how much we believe that this Healer, Jesus, can change lives.
If we truly believe Jesus can change the life of our friend, then we are much more likely to go to any cost to get them to Jesus. Even if it means destroying someone’s physical property to get our friend the healing that he needs.

But it might be that we examine our own lives and realize that we don’t seem changed that much, so is it really that important to get others to Jesus? We can do it later, and even if we don’t… then what does it really matter? If we have not been radically changed by the Healer… if we have not become new creatures because of what Jesus has done in our lives… then we will not be very passionate about getting others to Jesus.

We are passionate about music, we are passionate about the vehicles we drive, we are passionate about sports, we are passionate about politics, we are passionate about making money. When are we going to get passionate about the only treasure that we can take with us when we die… other people?

When will we become compassionate about those for whom God is passionate and wants to heal?
When will we believe that God really can (and does) change lives?

What do you think… How can someone get and keep the type of compassion the four friends had?