Equal yet Unequal

The underlying principle of the United States has been the principle of equality.  We have fought to bring equal rights to all citizens of this great country.  While we have made progress in this endeavor it remains true that we are still far away from the equal utopia that many people envision.  Perhaps part of the reason for this is because people are not equal, and there is no legislation or education that can change this reality.

Consider what Ludwig von Mises wrote:

“What is imperishable in man—his spirit—is undoubtedly the same in rich and poor, noble and commoner, white and colored.

“Nothing, however, is as ill-founded as the assertion of the alleged equality of all members of the human race.  Men are altogether unequal.  Even between brothers there exist the most marked differences in physical and mental attributes” (Liberalism: The Classical Tradition, p. 9).

I think it is important to remember a couple of truths when it comes to talking about equality.  First, there are certain rights that everyone has, as the Declaration of Independence points out.  These rights are the rights to life, liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness.  If we look at this from the angle of salvation we see that everyone is in the same boat and in need of salvation.  None of us can achieve salvation, but we must depend on Christ Jesus to rescue us.  In other words salvation is a gift given to us no matter who we are or what we have done. 

The second thing we need to remember is that just because things are unequal doesn’t suggest superiority and inferiority.  The apostle Paul uses the image of a body to make this very point.  In 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Paul writes:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (ESV).

Each person has the ability to contribute something to society, just as each disciple of Christ is able to contribute to the health and growth of the Church.  You are talented in areas that I am not talented in, just as I am gifted differently than you are, and neither one of us are inferior, but we are different.  It are these differences that enable a society to have a division of labor which makes that society productive and prosperous. 

Equality is a myth.  When God created us He did not create us equally, rather He created us uniquely, and this is a very good thing because it forces us learn to work together and to depend on one another for what we need.  Yet, when it is all said and done what matters most is not a person’s talents or achievements but their character.  People of good moral character are the people who are able to do the most good in this world, not the most gifted.  May we strive to be people of character.

Just a Few More Days

This last week I have been busy (and having a good time) with family.  Last weekend we celebrated my Grandma Steele's 90th birthday and we made a big weekend of it with many of my extended family in town.  This week has been mostly spent at my parents' house with my brother and sister and their families.  Now we are getting ready to head to Burlington, Kansas for a family reunion with my mom's side of the family.  More than likely I won't have a chance to post anything until Tuesday of next week, so I hope that you have great weekend and make sure that you stop back next week for more ponderings.

Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30:19

Giver of Life, I come before You today and thank You for the blessing of life. My existence I owe to You, and so I thank You for choosing life for me.

Lord, You have also given me the responsibility of caring for this life. That is why I plead to You for wisdom and a discerning heart so I am able to make the choice that preserves my life and keeps me connected to my source of life: Christ Jesus.

I want to choose life Father, but I need Your wisdom, guidance, and strength to do it. Put me on the path of life and guide my steps. I declare today that I choose life! I will follow Jesus!

It is in the name of Christ Jesus I pray, amen.

Sunday Quote: Taking God's Place

In fact, the sin of pride is the oldest one in the Book. The writer of Genesis states that it was through pride that the serpent tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” And we have all, in our own way, been trying to take God’s place ever since. ~ John Ortberg; The Life You've Always Wanted; p. 109

We have been Rescued

We live in a world gone wrong.  While the news confirms this reality we also feel it intensely in our guts: things are not what they should be.  Christianity doesn't candy coat this reality, but it explains the reason why, and that reason is because this world is under the influence of Satan.  We are trapped in a great cosmic war.

With that in mind consider what N. T. Wright wrote;

Jesus exploded into the life of ancient Israel--the life of the whole world in fact--not as a teacher of timeless truths, nor as a great moral example, but as the one through whose life, death, and resurrection God's rescue operation was put into effect, and the cosmos turned its its great corner at last, and the cosmos turned its great corner at last.  All worldviews are challenged to the core by this claim (Simply Christian, p. 140).

This world, and our very lives, are not what they should be, but in Christ Jesus we have the promise of better things to come.  Why do we have the promise of better days?  The apostle Paul wrote; For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins (Colossians 1:13-14; NLT).  We have been rescued, now what are we going to do?

Shun Evil

Consider what Gregory Boyd wrote:

"If love is the goal, it could not be otherwise. God chose to create a world in which evil was possible only in the sense that he chose to create a world in which love was possible. The possibility of evil is not a second decision God makes; it is implies in the single decision to have a world in which love is possible. It is, in effect, the metaphysical price God must pay if he wants to arrive at a bride who says yes to his triune love" (Satan and the Problem of Evil; p. 55)

The nature of love implies a choice. Since there is a choice being made means that there is a possibility of rejection as well. Evil is the result of God's creation rejecting His love.

One of the ways we can fight evil is to make the choice to love: to love God and to love His creation. That choice is played out as we worship, serve the needy, listen to the lonely, or clean up a polluted planet. We need to chose love and shun evil.

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It is God’s Initiative

We can never find God on our own.  Our finite minds could never grasp the infinite God through our normal means of study.  Elias Dantas, in an essay published in Christ the One and Only, wrote;

God takes the initiative in approaching us, in disclosing to us that he wants us to know him.  God reveals himself to human beings, and by revealing himself, discloses his love for us, and his desire to enter into a relationship with us” (p. 15).

The reality that God desires to have a relationship with us is so mind blowing that we could never grasp it without God taking the initiative to reveal the truth to us.  We may able to deduce something of God’s power and intelligence by looking at the design of nature, but His love for us would always allude us.  For a relationship to exist with God He has to be the one to take the initiative to make it happen.

Think About the Consequences

Western civilization has become very short sighted. In part this is due to the fact that technology keeps things changing at a pace never known in the world before.  Part of it is due to the fact that we, as a culture, can be whipped into a frenzy at the drop of a heart and begin to demand that someone must do something about the crisis that has befallen us.

I think a couple of great examples of this are the Patriot Act and the so called War on Terror, both of which came as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  Both of these national policies come from the fact that government played on people's fears about another terrorist attack, and as a nation we didn't want to feel vulnerable, regardless of reality.

Rather than simply trying to placate people's immediate fears we should consider the long term effects of the policies that are being introduced and promoted.  If we truly cared about liberty the first thing we would think about would be the long term consequences of the actions the government takes.

In his book on classical Liberalism, which is embodied in such men as Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, Ludwig von Mises wrote:

When the liberal advises against certain popular measures because he expects harmful consequences from them, he is censured as an enemy of the people, and praise is heaped on the demagogues who, without consideration of the harm that will follow, recommend what seems to be expedient for the moment (Liberalism: The Classical Tradition; p. xxiii).

The current administration's perspective to "never waste a crisis" is the type of mentality that is dangerous to the cause of liberty, and so we need people who will be voices "crying in the wilderness," pointing out a different road to take.  We need people who will stand for liberty.

War Against Evil

Is God at war? Gregory Boyd seems to think so.  He writes:

Evil is not simply something that happens within the (otherwise pristine) cosmos; it is rather is a force that corrupts the cosmos itself!  There is something hostile to God that has affected creation to the core, and God must fight it” (Satan and the Problem of Evil; p. 48)

I want to suggest that as citizens of God’s kingdom we are to join God in this fight, which is much bigger than “soul winning”, against the evil that infects the world.  How can we start pushing back against the consequences of sin in this world?  Let’s join God in bringing restoration, healing, and redemption into the world.

Make the Right Choice

The goal of faith in Christ Jesus is not heaven but Christlikeness.  Heaven, which is being in the presence of the Triune God, is the result of our commitment to be like Christ Jesus.  The apostle John reminds us that; Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did (1 John 2:6; NLT).  We can’t be with God if we are not on the road towards Christlikeness.

In the same line of thinking the apostle Paul wrote:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8; ESV).

Jesus could have clung to His rights as God and remained in heaven, instead He laid aside those rights and obediently served humankind out of the love He has for the Father and the love He has for His creation.  It is this attitude of humility that Paul insists that we should imitate.

How do we imitate this attitude of humility?  I think it begins by recognizing that we have certain rights.  I have the right to pursue a self-centered life, that doesn’t mean that is the correct option, but God has given me that choice.  The nature of freedom is that there is more than one option open to us.  While I have the right to pursue a self-centered lifestyle I also have the right to put others ahead of myself.  For example, in the evening I have the right to sit on the couch and “unwind” while watching television.  Couch sitting and television watching is an option open to me if I want to do it.  Yet, another option is to take my dog Barkley for a walk since he has been in his kennel all day long.  I much rather “unwind,” but Barkley need to be walked, and I am free to choose to go for walk and not live a life that is totally about me.

If we are going to be like Jesus requires that we don’t focus simply on what we are free to do, but that we seek to discover what is right.  Adam and Eve were free to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but that wasn’t the right choice.  God told the couple not to eat from the tree, the right choice was to use the other fruit trees as food.

Ananias and Sapphira were free to use their land, and the money, anyway they wanted to, but giving only part of the money and lying about it wasn’t the right choice.  Freedom is a dangerous responsibility because people have the ability to choose the wrong thing.  If we are going to be like Christ Jesus we need to discover the right choice and then commit our lives to doing it.

The apostle Paul said that Jesus chose to obey the Father.  How do we know what the right option is?  The right choice is what lines up with God’s will.  If we just base this choice off of feelings we will often choose wrong because more often than not our feelings are contrary to God’s will, and therefore we will end up living a life of disobedience rather than a life of obedience.

We make the best use of our freedom, not through indulging every little desire that we have, but by choosing to serve people.  When we demand that people acknowledge our rights rights we push people away from us, but when we choose to love we open up an opportunity for people to see God.  Christ chose to serve His followers first and we must make the same choice.

Obey or Refuse

George MacDonald in commenting on the rich young ruler wrote: "A time comes to every man when he must obey or make such refusal--and know it" (The Best of George MacDonald; p. 87).

There are moments as we follow Jesus when His will for our lives are crystal clear. In those moments the only proper response is obedience. If we are struggling with obedience that means we have problems at the very heart of our relationship with God.

Exposing Our Hearts

In their book Hearing God's Voice Henry and Richard Blackaby wrote;"Whenever God speaks, what we do next exposes the condition of our hearts." One of the great truths about life is that how we live and what we do say more about what we believe about God than what we say about God. It is relatively easy to say something, but it is another thing altogether to demonstrate that belief.

Jesus told this parable; "But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' The son answered, 'No, I won't go,' but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, 'You go,' and he said, 'Yes, sir, I will.' But he didn't go. Which of the two was obeying his father?" (Matthew 21:28-31; NLT).

Each son heard the father's request, and it was through their actions that the love for their father is seen rather than the words they spoke. It is very important for us to respond in obedience when we receive a word from God, for this reveals the love we have for God.

Our obedience declares the love and trust we have in God, for it shows that we trust that God has our best interest at heart. I think we have made it pretty simple to be a Christian and our expectations for members are pretty low. We are pleased if they come to church a couple times a month and put a little bit into the offering plate. We don't challenge them to serve or even change the way they live.

God expects so much more from us than what we expect from other Christians. I don't want to make this sound like we have to live under law, because we don't, but remind us that our lives are to be transformed. We are to live differently, not because we have a list of regulations to follow, but because we trust God.

When we are not willing obey God it shows us that our hearts are not in the right place. According to Jesus our love is seen through our obedience. God expects us to love Him, and that means obeying everything He has given to us.

When God reveals a need to us, our responsibility is to find way to meet that need. When God puts a project on our heart, our responsibility is to get involved. When God shows us service which needs to be done, our responsibility is to serve. We will if our hearts are in the right place.

Remember what the apostle John wrote; So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the Devil. Anyone who does not obey God's commands and does not love other Christians does not belong to God (1 John 3:10; NLT).

Sunday Quote: Learn about God

"Worship is at the very center of all Christian living.  One of the main reasons that theology (trying to think straight about who God is) matters is that we are called to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.  It matters that we learn more about who God is so that we can praise him more appropriately." ~ N. T. Wright, Simply Christian, pp. 148-49

Loving Jesus

{Revelation 2:2-4; NLT}

I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first.

The church at Ephesus was a church that had taken a stand. They did not tolerate evil and they made sure truth was taught. These Christians suffered for the name of Jesus. I believe that if this church were around today we would look at it as a model. A true Bible believing truth-telling church!

For all the good things this church was doing they had missed the point. Yes, they valued truth and morality, but they forgot the most important thing: LOVE. Jesus wants us to understand that the most important thing we can have in our church families and in our lives is love. Without love everything we do is meaningless. The first 3 verses of 1 Corinthians 13 stresses this point: but if I didn't love others, it would be of no value whatsoever (vs. 3; NLT). Love is essential to what we do for God.

How is our love for Jesus seen? Ultimately it is not seen in the stands we take or the truth we proclaim. Our love for Jesus is seen in our obedience to His commands. "If you love me, obey my commandments," (John 14:15; NLT). Don't limit obedience to the do nots of scripture. Obedience isn't just about morality, but it is also about completing our responsibility.

Our love Jesus comes out in our commitment to the Great Commission. In other words it is about reaching out and making disciples, not just proclaiming the truth. Making disciples involves more than just sharing the truth with people, it is also about showing God's goodness to the world.

When we love Jesus not only will we proclaim the truth, but we will also show compassion. It is easy to stand up and tell people the truth God has revealed in the Bible, but it is something entirely different to love people indiscriminately.

The Ephesian Church had no trouble with the truth, but they did have trouble with love. First they lost the love they had for Jesus and that flowed into a lack of love for people. To be the church God wants us to be we have to love Jesus first, and allow that love to affect every other relationship we have.

Our love for Jesus is best seen in our love for people. We can be right all we want, but if we don't show compassion to others we will be ignored. If we love Jesus we will try to love people the way He did.

My Hope

Psalm 43:5
Lord God,
You are worthy of my worship and praise. As I examine my life I am overwhelmed with the blessings and help You have given me. I am reminded, once again, that You have not given up on me.

Heavenly Father, You are aware of how depression and the trials of life rob me of hope and joy. I ask to be rescued from this dark pit, put Your light in my heart so I am able to align my heart with Your love and Your promises. Remind me that hope is discovered in my intentional worship of You. Help me to focus on Jesus so that my faith will be strengthened and my worship be truly heartfelt. In Christ's name I pray, amen.

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Being a Pharisee

{Luke 11:37-45; NLT}

As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the ceremonial washing required by Jewish custom. 39Then the Lord said to him, "You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are still filthy--full of greed and wickedness! 40Fools! Didn't God make the inside as well as the outside? 41So give to the needy what you greedily possess, and you will be clean all over. 42"But how terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things. 43"How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For how you love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the respectful greetings from everyone as you walk through the markets! 44Yes, how terrible it will be for you. For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on." 45"Teacher," said an expert in religious law, "you have insulted us, too, in what you just said."

In this passage we see a confrontation that Jesus had with some of the Religious leaders of the day. These confrontations were not uncommon for Jesus because He didn't live by their rules and regulations. Jesus also critized these men because they did not provide spiritual leadership for people, and instead they heaped little laws upon them which concerned every aspect of their lives.

Donn Leach in What the Bible Says about Jesus made a comment that got me thinking: "Jesus is not so much trying to 'tell them off' as to lament over their lost state" (pg. 133). Jesus was not only bothered by the Pharisees and the Scribes spiritual leadership (or lack thereof), but also their lost condition. The plain truth is that they led the way they did because they didn't know there was a better way. They were just following the ways that they had been taught, and while these leaders had access to God's Word, they were unable to discover the truth that it contained.

It would seem then that the reason Jesus spoke harshly to these people was to help them understand what was at stake. This wasn't just about a difference of opinion or philosophy; this was a matter of life and death. As long as the Pharisees and their companions were the leaders they would lead the people to death, for they were lost themselves. Yet, these spiritual leaders, rather than admit that they were lost, continued to focus on rules in order to give the appearance that they knew where they were going.

Rather than condemning the Pharisees as fools I think it is important for us to think about what their example can teach us. Regardless of whether or not you see yourself as a leader as a Christian you are a leader. We are God's "Holy Priesthood" and each one of us has the responsibility of helping others come to God through Jesus Christ.

To be a good leader the first thing we have to consider is the condition of our hearts. The Pharisees put great emphasis on appearance, but inwardly they were guided by impure motives. If we are simply religious, that is following a bunch of rules and traditions, but lack the love and compassion that God desires that we show others, then we are still lost. Being a Christ Follower isn't about keeping rules and regulations but it is about living a life of faith. It isn't about the right appearance but about the right relationship.

To be a leader, one of God's priests, requires us to consider the stakes. The Pharisees emphasized the Law. The problem with the Law is that it brings with it Death. The Law cannot bring life, and that was not its purpose. The purpose of the Law was to show us how we have failed. No amount of Law keeping could undo our Law breaking. The way of repentance, the way to Life (even in the Old Testament), is tobsurrender to God and accept His gift of love. The stakes are not only life and death, but they are also eternal.

I think we have allowed a little too much Phariseeism into our relationship with God. Too often the "spiritual" guidance we offer to people is Law. "Don't do this or do this," we say. We want them to have the appearance of righteousness, but we are not concerned enough about hearts. Don't get me wrong, God does have standards, but those standards do not give life. Life is only found in the blood of Jesus Christ, and by trying to hold people to the standards of God before coming to Jesus we might prevent them from discovering the life found in Jesus. The most important thing we can do is not to shout to the world what we consider God's standards to be, but to become a bridge for people to travel so they might discover Jesus.

The Gift of Freedom

When we were children we always thought it would be great to have more freedom.  We always looked forward to the life we would be able to the life we would be able to enjoy: to drive, to spend our money on what we want, to live without our parents’ advice.  Now that we are grown, most of us see that that type of freedom was nothing but an illusion.  There are always rules or responsibilities in our lives that makes it impossible to live a life that is lived totally for ourselves.

Imagine if we were able to live a life of “absolute” freedom.  Wouldn’t that be a world of chaos? Furthermore, wouldn’t it be a world of dictatorships since the people who were stronger would be able to impose their will on those who are weaker?

I would suggest that when we use our “freedom” to please our selfish desires we will soon find ourselves in bondage.  We will be in bondage to drugs, to sex, to status, to money, or to power.  Choices we made freely often lead us into bondage and that is part of the reason sin is so evil.  Sin promises us a life of ultimate freedom, but it lies and instead it leads us into a life of complete bondage.

Jesus came to deliver us from the bondage of sin in order to bring to the place where our free choices are always the right choice.  In Uprising Erwin McManus wrote, “Your liberation will require you to see beyond that illusion of freedom—free acts that lead to bondage.  Our freedom must never be about us and us alone.  Freedom is the gift of serving others out of love” (p. 12).

Freedom is a wonderful gift from God, but like many of God’s gifts it is also dangerous.  You see there is always the danger that we will use the gift incorrectly, but the fact that it is dangerous doesn’t keep it from being good.  For us to use freedom to its fullest potential requires that we understand why God has given us the gift of freedom.  The apostle Paul wrote; For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13; ESV).

God did not give us freedom so we could seek to satisfy our fleshly desires, those desires that are focused in our bodies and in this world.  That way leads to heartache and bondage.  If you continue to read in Galatians 5 you will read about the “works of the flesh,” that is the type of life that is developed when we believe of freedom is the means to please ourselves.

Paul makes it clear that our freedom is to be used in love and service.  You see, we could demand our rights and refuse to help people, but that way takes us away from God.  In Jesus we discover that God’s way is not the way of demanding our rights, but the way of laying those rights aside in order to serve people.  If we are to become more like Jesus we need to acknowledge that we do have the right to do what we want to do, but we also have the right to put others ahead of ourselves and serve those who need help.

This world would be changed overnight if we, people who follow Jesus, would stop demanding the people recognize our rights and start serving people out of love.  I think Jesus died for more than to give us the freedom to watch rated R movies, drink alcohol, smoke cigars, and dance.  In fact, He died so we wouldn't be enslaved to such things, so we could be free to love and serve.

There is no greater force for good in this world than God’s people freely choosing to serve, to help, and to love people.  God has given us a great gift in freedom, and it is a gift that we should cherish.  We cherish it by using it properly.  How are you using your freedom?

Sunday Quote: Be Available

Sometimes in our work we must be interruptible for tasks that are not on our agenda,  Sometimes we must live with the “latch off the door.”  Sometimes we need to be available to talk or pray with troubled people—people whom  we will not be able to “cure” and who can’t contribute to our career success. ~ John Ortberg, The Life You've Always Wanted, p. 120

A Cry For Help

Psalm 20

Father God hear my cry for help. Fear and depression threaten to over take me and consume my life. Provide me with courage as I face life's challenges and guide my steps as I walk through life's trials. Set my focus on Christ Jesus, not only as my example, but more importantly as my hope.

Teach me not to boast about my accomplishments or my strength, but teach me to boast about Jesus and His death and resurrection. Make me sensitive to the work of the Spirit in my life as I seek to overcome the work of the flesh in my life.

Thank You Father for not giving up on me. Fill my with a knowledge of Your will and with spiritual wisdom and understanding so I am able to live a life worthy of Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior. In His name I pray, amen.

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Be a Good Example

{2 Timothy 3:10; ESV}
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness...

One of the fundamental truths of my life is; "how we live our lives reflect what we truly believe." That is why faith is more than what we confess with our lips, but is what we do with our hands. Abraham, the great example of faith, was credited with righteousness because his belief and trust in God was made real in how he lived. We can say we believe in God, but if that belief isn’t manifested in action then we really don’t have faith. The simple definition of faith that I have shared with my church family is "life influenced by belief."

What this means is that faith requires that we apply what we believe to the way we live. That is why James writes: "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead" (James 2:26; ESV). Belief is the root system of faith, but our works (the way we live) is the actual plant of faith.

If faith is a life that is influenced by belief then technically a person who is faithfully following Jesus provides an example for others to follow. The apostle Paul’s life, primarily the way he loved and obeyed God, gave Timothy an example which Timothy could follow. I imagine that Paul was very aware of the reality that he was an example of what it meant to be a follower of Christ Jesus, and he did his best to provide a good example for people to follow.

In the Gospels we discover a group of people who did not share Paul’s effort.  Rather than being good examples this group of people wanted to make a good impression.  As you probably could guess this group of people were the Pharisees. The Pharisees interpreted Scripture for people and taught them how it applied to their lives. Yet the Pharisees missed a key component in their teaching—they didn’t live the teaching out in their lives. People were impressed by their “religious” piety and many people were discouraged because they knew they didn’t have the discipline to achieve the religious level of the Pharisees.  What the people didn’t know was that for all their religious piety the Pharisees lacked true faith.  They were able to put up a religious front that hid an unbelieving heart. It was at this point that Jesus confronts the Pharisees.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
"The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger" (Matthew 23:1-4; ESV)

The underlying theology that the Pharisees taught was not the issue. What was the issue was the fact that the Pharisees kept burdening the people with laws upon laws instead of providing the people with examples of what faithful living actually looked like. Jesus told the crowd that the Pharisees had bad faith, not that they had bad theology. So Jesus urged the crowd to listen to the Pharisees teaching, but discouraged them from following their example.

We need to keep in mind that there are two parts to effective teaching.  The first part is about explaining ideas and the second part is living out those ideas or truth in life. When our lives do not reflect the Truth of the Gospel people will naturally wonder whether or not the Gospel is really the truth.

I happen to believe that the best evidence for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the faithful lives lived by His followers. When we live faithful lives we make the teachings of Jesus real and accessible to the people around us. Without our example Jesus’ teachings remain simply a philosophy rather than a way of life.

Having the truth doesn’t do us, or anybody else for that matter, any good if we don’t apply that truth to our lives. The life of faith is the life that is lived based on the truth that we know. Faith happens when we live our lives in the light of what we believe. A life that is lived by faith becomes a life that is an example for others to follow.

To Serve

  {Mark 10:35-45; NLT}

 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do us a favor." 36"What is it?" he asked. 37"In your glorious Kingdom, we want to sit in places of honor next to you," they said, "one at your right and the other at your left." 38But Jesus answered, "You don't know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?" 39"Oh yes," they said, "we are able!" And Jesus said, "You will indeed drink from my cup and be baptized with my baptism, 40but I have no right to say who will sit on the thrones next to mine. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen." 41When the ten other disciples discovered what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. 43But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. 45For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many."

In this passage we discover an amazing political statement of Jesus. Whether or not we want to admit it Jesus was a political individual. Yet we miss out on the politics of Jesus because they are so different than the way we do things. Too often when Christians, and thus the Church, gets involved in politics we tend to follow the way of the world. Our politics too often resemble the world around us rather than our King. 

The politics of this world are about power and manipulation. In our democratic language we might use the words of majority and "spin", but they are still there. Jesus makes it clear that we are not to follow the politics of this world. We are to be different. Rather than trying to gain power and force people to follow our laws we are to serve people and give our lives.

The politics of the Church aren't about getting the right laws passed or making sure our rights are protected. The politics Jesus wants His people to follow are about serving others. Thus Christians are not to be political to preserve a certain way of life, but help those who are in need of help.

Part of the problem that we run into in a country like the United States is that we have a voice in the government where as in the day of Jesus, and for most people, they do not. For us we need to find the balance between doing our civic duty and serving others. We also have to remember what is important is not the future of our country, but the expansion of God's Kingdom.

Sure things are not what we would like them to be. We are concerned with the immorality that has become so open around us and that drives us to want to make and enforce laws so that people would act more like we want them to act. A change in behavior means nothing without a change of heart. Isn't that the point Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, "You have heard it said‚ but I say"? The goal of Jesus' politics is not to get people to behave in a certain manner, but to change their hearts.

This is best done by serving others out of compassion. People will follow leaders whom they perceive care for them. When Christians give their lives over to service for others, when we realize that our greatest influence comes out of love, we will seek to meet people where they are hurting rather than bickering back in forth in the halls of the government about what is the best way to handle things. The power of the Church is not found in the elections booths or in government positions, but in the serving of the least important citizens.

Here is my great concern: that the Church in the United States is too entangled in the politics of this world and not interested enough in serving others. The Church will do more for this country, for this world, by serving the least important citizens. That is the way the Church will have a lasting impact on the morality of this nation. Are you willing to serve?

Illuminating Conduct

One of the ways the Church can be a light in this dark world is the way individual Christians treat one another. I am firmly convinced one of the reason the Church in the first century grew like it did was because of the unique love that existed between her members. The world is a tough place and loving relationships in which we can feel safe and secure are hard to find. The Church can be different because of the love we show to one another.

In chapters 2 and 3 of 1 Peter that apostle Peter outlines how a Christian is to live.  He begins with some corporate thoughts for the entire Church (2:1-17), moves to some words to slaves (2:18-25), then some advice to wives (3:1-6), and then a word to husbands (3:7).  To wrap up his thoughts on Christian behavior Peter writes:

 Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it (1 Peter 3:8-9; NLT).

Peter wants followers of Christ Jesus, those men and women who make up the Church, to live different from the rest of the world.  Our lives are to be as different from the way the world lives as light is different from darkness.  The Church should be the light in the world.  In order to do this there are for actions we need to commit to doing.

First, Peter says that we need to be of one mind. This is not any easy thing to do because it seems like if there are 10 people there are 12 different opinions.  To “be of one mind” almost sounds like an impossible task. Bruce Oberst wrote; “Few of us always agree on how to carry out the thousand details of everyday life. But we should strive to have the same basic goals, purposes and motives, that provide the very foundations of Christianity” (Letters from Peter; pg. 81). This isn’t so much about doctrine (though that is vitally important and there are doctrines that we have to agree on) as it is about having the same purpose and working towards the same goal.  A successful football team is guided by the same goals of winning games and ultimately winning a championship. Though the different players may go about achieving these goals in different ways having the same goals provides a unity and vision which is essential to achieving success on the football field. The church needs to have a firm grasp of its goal. Generically that goal is to make disciples of all nations, but how local congregations and individual Christians accomplish that commission varies, but the unity of purpose should bring us together in one mind.

Second, Peter says we need to show sympathy to one another. None of us will live a leave of ease, which means that each one of us will eventually go through some tough times.  Not only are there hardships and tragedies to deal with, but there are also temptations and sins which plague our lives.  It is in this context of struggling that shows us the need for us to be sympathetic towards one another.  We can’t make it through this life on our own, and the Church is God’s agreement of that reality.  We need each other.  You need me for comfort, encouragement, and strength, and I need you for those same things.  We shouldn’t pass judgment on another persons weakness, rather we should extend our hand and do what we can do to help him out.

Third, Peter says we need to love one another. Here Peter reminds us that the church is like a family. We are to love and care for one another in a similar manner of what we would expect to happen in a family. To me this emphasizes the fact that we need to bear each other burdens, that we need to put up with those foibles that annoy us, and we need to sacrifice in order to help on another out. If we can depend on no one else we should, at least, always be able to depend on other Christians. In a selfish world the sacrificial love of Christians should provide people with a hope and draw them closer to God.

Fourth, Peter makes it clear that we are not to retaliate against those who have wronged us. To repay a wrong with a wrong is the way of the world. That means if we are going to be different then we have to make a different choice like turning the other cheek and praying for those who persecute us.  Not the easy way to live, but it is the way of Jesus.  We also need to remember that  when we love people, regardless of what they have done to us or said about us, we show the world that there is a different and better way to live. In this way we provide evidence that the way of God is not only different but superior to the way of the world. When we retaliate we darken the light of love and compassion that should characterize the church. We can only be lights if we are different from everyone else.

Peter tells us that we should live differently from the world, and that includes the way we treat other Christians. Living in this manner allows us to be lights in a dark world as we show them that there is a better way to live.