Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Archives for May 2013

Putting first things first

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When David was giving final instructions to his son Solomon he said this:

“Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord.” (1 Chronicles 22:19, ESV)

First Things FirstNotice the order of the commands. Prior to building the temple, Solomon is instructed to set his mind and heart to seek God. More specifically, he is instructed to seek the Lord God. The ESV, along with most other translations, follows the Jewish tradition of using the word Lord in place of the covenant name of God which is Yahweh or Jehovah. Solomon is not enjoined to pursue spirituality, he is encouraged to seek a relationship with the God of the Bible.

It is out of the relationship with God that the service to God is to flow.

Many churches, with their emphasis upon service, have unknowingly pushed people toward getting this backward. I have been in churches where the pastor, from the pulpit, would verbally reprimand those who were not “about the Lord’s work.” The danger in this is that people serve out a sense of obligation or guilt.

Instead, we are called to be in relationship with Jesus. That relationship should shape the activities we pursue and change our desires. This change will result in the desire to serve God. Service with this motivation is a far different thing than service out of obligation or guilt.

God does not need my service to accomplish his will, nor does he need yours. In his grace, he allows us to participate with him in the accomplishment of his will.

Do not allow a church leader or anyone else manipulate you into service out of a sense of guilt or obligation. Chances are that the ministry for which the pastor is begging people to serve is not one that God thinks important. I have seen too many “ministries” that are put on life support that should have been allowed to die. Resist the urge to keep an outdated ministry alive.

Relationship then service. Keep the first thing first.

Death, life and the love of God

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“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, ESV)

HeartbeatThis verse is straight forward. It presents no interpretational difficulties. Why then do I struggle to live in the comfort that these verses should provide?

Part of the problem of living in that comfort is that I often feel as though I need to earn God’s love. Yes, I know that this is silly. My theology is sound enough to know that God loves me unconditionally as proved by Jesus offering himself on my behalf. This is not a knowledge issue, it is a heart issue.

It is interesting to me that the Apostle Paul goes into such a detailed list of things that cannot separate us from God’s love. When I look at the list, I see things that cause me to loose perspective.

Death is unnerving. We don’t talk about it much, but all of us will eventually experience it. Perhaps we don’t talk about it because we’re a little afraid of it. We know that Christ defeated death but yet the uncertainty about dying remains.

Life can get very complicated and overwhelming. Just reading the newspaper can cause uncertainty about life and the future. News of a friend’s sickness or financial troubles is unnerving. The words government and corruption are too often used in the same sentence.

Angels scare the bejeebers out of everyone who encounters one. Demons are just as scary and truly intend harm for us.

The list continues and you get the point. The point is that there are many things that get thrown at us that can cause us to lose sight of the fact that God loves us. Or perhaps it is only me that struggles with this, but I doubt it is only me.

I am glad that Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, penned these words of encouragement. No matter how bad I feel that I’m messing up, I can take comfort that there is nothing inside or outside of me that can take away God’s love for me. I cannot make God stop loving me.

There is an extravagance here that staggers the imagination. God’s love is so extreme that he will love me know matter what I do or what is done to me.

I don’t have to earn God’s love, I simply need to bask in it. To help us in that endeavor, here are the verses again:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, ESV)

Up or down – Elevation or False Humility

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“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3, ESV)

Elevation or False Humility

There are two ways of seeking to fulfill the proscription in this verse. We can either elevate others or put ourselves below others in an effort to produce humility.

The first way is to think of others as having more value, of elevating them above us.

The image of God that Jesus presented in Luke 15, the loving father waiting for the son to return, should cause me to think of myself as valuable in God’s eyes. The fact that Jesus came to save me is another datum that indicates my value.

Therefore the second option, the devaluing of my self, is not the better choice. I should not think of myself as having less value than God thinks me to have.

I have heard humility defined as “seeing myself as God sees me.” In spite of my many flaws and failures, God thinks me valuable. So any move that I make to make me appear less valuable in an effort to appear humble would then become false humility.

We can agree that the second option is not valid, but then comes the struggle.

There are some that we do not want to elevate to greater significance. We sometimes pick certain sins as disqualification for this elevation. We too often hold on to grievances or past failures and refuse to count others as more significant. Too often the church is more focused on who is in and who is out and refuses to elevate those who are deemed as outsiders.

Jesus did not have a problem with elevating others. He was always gentle with the very people upon which the church has historically looked down. He let a prostitute kiss his feet. He dined with tax collectors. He took a bunch of fisherman and social outcasts and turned them into a world changing force.

Jesus elevated everyone around him to be better. There was no false humility in Jesus, he understood exactly who he is and what he came to do. Yet, he dignified the people around him in his interactions.

Can we stop with the false humility and follow Jesus in understanding our value and elevating the people around us to help them know their value?

What would the church look like if we did this well?

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