Culture

Some time ago, while reflecting on the idea of social cultures, I began thinking of a different kind of culture: the microbial kind. In a microbial culture, agents of infection (like bacteria) are allowed to reproduce. If they are present in a particular sample and left to sit under the right conditions—even in small amounts—microbes can grow and multiply.

Something similar happens in human cultures. Under the right conditions, bad ideas and behaviors tend to grow and spread until a flaming infection results. Yeast also can cause an infection. And we know that a little yeast, whether of the good (Luke 13:21) or the bad kind (Matthew 16:6-12) can be mixed all through the dough (or person or culture). This is why Jesus tells us to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).

Tuzluca Salt Mine

Perform an online search of “salt kills bacteria” or “light kills bacteria” and you’ll find some of the science behind Jesus’s salt and light analogy.

The use of salt and light as a means of killing germs isn’t new. Salt was used in ancient times as a preservative for food and as an antiseptic in various medical treatments. In the 1800s, light, too, was discovered to have antimicrobial properties.

Both salt and light can kill disease- and decay-causing microbes. For this reason, both salt and light can act as preservatives—not just for food, but also for both the physical and spiritual aspects of human life.

As believers in Christ, we are to be in the world but not of it—to integrate with and go with the flow of God’s Kingdom-Culture, not society’s culture. We are therefore urged to keep in step with the Spirit, not the flesh. This presents a challenge because, while our renewed spirits are indeed willing to follow and obey Christ, our flesh is weak—capable of decay.

As I said before, the conditions under which a culture remains will determine the kind of life that grows there, for better or worse. This is first applicable to the individual, for cultures are indeed made up of individuals. For the Christian individual, our purification or sanitation is either helped along—or potentially hindered—by the conditions to which we are most exposed. On this matter, I think of John 3:19-21, which says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Have you ever experienced the discomfort of sitting within the circle of God’s spotlight? It reveals the hidden “microbes” which, if left alone, would breed in darkness—and overtake our souls. Exposure to God’s light doesn’t always feel good, but those who long to be pure have learned to embrace the work His radiance can accomplish.

But what does it mean to remain in His light?

Psalm 119:105 says to God, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Compare this with Revelation 21:23, which says, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” (See also John 8:12.) To complete our circle of understanding, we can meditate on John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

His word is a light. He is a light. He is the Word.

With that in mind, consider John 15, especially verse 7: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We are to spend time exposing ourselves to who He is: to His words, His light. In this place of being a branch on the Vine, connected to Him, letting His sap reach deep, we are transformed and our minds renewed. The more we are exposed to Him, the more like Him we become. And that exposure shows to others just as surely as Moses’ face grew radiant from His time alone with the LORD (Exodus 34:29-35 and 2 Corinthians 3:7-18).

So, when our self-improvement efforts fail to bring the desired results—or when we fall again to sin habits we can’t seem to shake—let us turn to the One with the power to help us overcome, and let’s spend time dwelling in His presence.

Heavenly Father, please make us more aware of the things we dwell on the longest. Help us to dwell on Your thoughts longer than we dwell on our own thoughts. To meditate on Your words more than we rehearse the words we’ve heard others speak. Rather than being more attentive to the nightly news, turn our attention to the Good News and, in it, Your power to redeem even the most “offensive” lives. And when we find ourselves grumbling about others, give us grace and Holy Spirit empowerment to turn our grumbling into prayers of blessing from above and petitions for Your work in their hearts to bring about Your desired change and purpose in their lives.

Lord, do all this, and help us to be aware of those times we’ve emulated the culture’s ways: when we’ve repaid meanness with meanness, impatience with impatience, and so forth. Forgive us and help us to be transformed from the inside out. When necessary, guide us in reconciling with those we’ve hurt as best as we’re able (Matthew 5:23-24). And lead us to a deeper intimacy with You, that we might sit in Your light, dwell on Your word, and fellowship with Your Spirit as You purify the culture of our hearts. In Jesus’s name, amen.

God of Formulas: Not a Formulaic God, 3

PART 3: Blind Submission or Willing Persuasion

In the last two blog posts, we began an exploration of the problems that we can run into whenever we try to turn the great Christian adventure into a formula rather than embracing a relationship of dependence on God. In the first part, we talked about how Jesus’s ministry wasn’t one-size-fits-all. Instead, it was just as unpredictable as we would expect the Spirit of God to be (John 3:8, 1 Corinthians 2:14-16).

In the second part, we talked about the problem of applying Scriptures as formulas, especially when obedience to certain commands can be a matter of timing (consider Ecclesiastes 3 and Matthew 28:19 in contrast to Acts 1:4-5). If we really want to cooperate with God, we need to lean on Him for help in discerning the right time to act. In addition, there is the deeper issue of the heart. Though we—without actively leaning on God—might be able to obey many of the biblical commands in terms of our outward visible actions, our heart attitudes often fail to comply (compare Matthew 5:21 with verses 22-24, for example). And we know from Scripture that God’s desire isn’t mere outward compliance, but a genuine heart-level change (consider Matthew 23:26 and Ezekiel 36:26). The more we come to grips with this, the more we realize the truth of John 15:5: Apart from Him we can do nothing.

Today, we continue with another example of a Scriptural command that can easily throw us off balance: submission to authority.

Now, I realize that submission to authority can be a touchy subject. More than that, I understand that many have suffered greatly under all kinds of evil authority figures. I’m not trying to make a case for women to remain in abusive relationships—or to minimize the plight of the persecuted church. However, for the rest of us—those who are blessed with some measure of freedom in our country, our religion, and our relationships—I think we, on the matter of submission to authority, often tend to be too tight or too loose.

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV) says “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

The question is: Is this a rule for all time—for every situation no matter its complexity? Blindly obey? Blindly submit? Even of the religious leaders of His day, Jesus said, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Matthew 23:1-3).

As we can see from Jesus’s statement above, respect for authority is clearly important to God, “for there is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1). That being said, there are biblical examples of godly people who didn’t obey human leaders and yet still seemed to be walking in God’s will. For example, consider the apostles’ reaction to the High Priest’s command not to teach anymore in Jesus’s name (Acts 5:27-29). To this command, Peter boldly replied, “We must obey God rather than human beings!”

Next consider Ephesians 5:22: “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Again, is God’s Word telling wives here to blindly obey every command their husbands give? To be like robots—like Ella Enchanted, who was forced to obey every command anyone bid her to do?

Image from IMDB.com

I don’t think so.

In the Old Testament, we find two examples of women who failed to submit to their husbands’ wishes: Abigail, who—in hopes of appeasing David’s anger against their household—offered gifts her husband had first refused to give him (1 Samuel 25). And Jael, who killed Sisera—commander of the Canaanite army—even though her husband had an alliance with his master, King Jabin (Judges 4:17-22). These women knew their husbands would’ve had them take different courses of action than the ones they chose to take. Clearly, however, in spite of their lack of submission to their husbands’ wishes, they were acting in ways God approved (Consider 1 Samuel 25:3,17,32-34 and Judges 4:9,14,23).

On the flip side, we can find biblical examples of when a husband could’ve taken charge of a situation to prevent great harm: Though Adam wasn’t officially ruling over Eve before the fall (Genesis 3:16), he nevertheless watched his wife take and eat the fruit when he could’ve spoken up for her good. Likewise, Abraham might’ve spared much heartache and bloodshed if only he hadn’t gone along with his wife Sarah’s wishes for him to gain a son through Hagar (Genesis 16).

Biblical authority is meant to be a help and a blessing, a way of keeping God’s order. Furthermore, it paints a picture of God’s loving care for His people, His Church (Ephesians 5:25-33). The authorities God has placed over us are meant to work for our good, just as He does. They’re also meant to love those under their care just as Christ loves the Church. But sometimes they don’t.

So, how are we meant to understand how to apply these concepts to our lives?

One way we might fall short in our understanding of passages about authority, like Hebrews 13:17, can be found in the meaning of the Greek word translated “obey.” As we can see at biblehub.com, this word has at its core the idea of persuasion. In our respect for authority we don’t give up our responsibility before God to seek His will. We don’t ignore our consciences. Nor do we spit in the face of authorities with stubborn rebellion.

It’s not wrong to seek understanding when we have questions. Gabriel didn’t rebuke mother Mary when she asked how God could bring His Son through a virgin (Luke 1:26-38) because her heart was submissive to God. If we aren’t persuaded by authorities to obey their commands—if our conscience and convictions lead us in a different direction from the one they want us to take—we can turn the tables and try to persuade them. Perhaps, in some cases, we even have a responsibility to speak up. So long as both parties are willing, we can learn from one another. And if they can convince us that our proposed path is in error, then we humbly—not blindly—submit.

How else can we reasonably understand the broad picture the Bible paints regarding authority? We should do what our leaders ask unless it goes against God. And in this, too, we need discernment.

So, just as we saw in part 2 of this series, we need a balanced approach to Scripture that considers all sides of a situation—every angle and nuance. We need to consider the big picture: the times in the Bible God approves certain actions that we—in our limited understanding—might have thought to condemn. We need to remember not only our limitations, but also the very heart of this great adventure we call the Christian walk, which is relationship with God. Clinging to Him. Depending on Him. Leaning on Him for life and breath and everything, including our understanding of simple things like how we should apply a single command from the Holy Book. If any formula can be found within the pages of the Bible, that’s it: we need Him, desperately. So let’s not take for granted that He’s there for whomever is prepared to earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). And let’s not assume we already have all the answers we need in His book. Let’s seek God for His perfect understanding of Scripture and its proper application. And let’s resist that human tendency to rigidly embrace strict formulas and rules, and instead embrace God.

Now it’s your turn: Besides prayer, witnessing, and submission to authority, what other religious works might we tend to make formulaic? What rules tend to turn us into legalists?

God of Formulas: Not a Formulaic God, 2

PART 2: Scripture as Revelation, Not Code

In the last blog post, we talked about how God created the formulas that bring order to the physical universe. In spite of this, the way our God behaves—and the way He expects His children to behave toward Him—is anything but formulaic. Jesus doesn’t want followers who blindly obey a rigid set of rules, like robots acting out their programming. Instead, He wants hearts surrendered to Him in a personal relationship of love and trust.

Because we love God, we want to obey His Word. And why shouldn’t we? Unfortunately, in our desire to be obedient and faithful toward God, we can end up using certain Scriptures as formulaic rules instead of looking to God for specific guidance.

When we do this, we inevitably miss the big picture because we end up fixating on just a few Scriptures, while forgetting others that would guide us in a more balanced application of God’s Word. For example, we might be trying to “let [our] light shine before others, that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16), but maybe we’re doing it in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) and strength (1 Peter 4:11), not really loving the people we’re serving (1 Corinthians 16:14) but instead working to fill this inner need we feel to be keeping busy for God—to be faithful. We want to serve and obey God, and of course we should as best we can, but we mustn’t forget what Jesus said in John 15:5: “…apart from Me you can do nothing.” So we need a bird’s-eye view of Scripture—seeing not just one verse at a time but all of them together, in perfect balance—and the only person with that perfect vision is our perfect God (Father, Son, and Spirit).

Therefore, we must abide in Him (John 15) and also lean on the Spirit for a revelation to guide our application of Scripture (the when and the how). Otherwise, we can easily fall into formula worship by implementing certain Scriptures as legalistic rules.

The Proper Prayer: Not Rote but Relational

As an example of how we might turn Scriptures into formulas for success, consider this: In Matthew 6:9, Jesus says, “This, then, is how you should pray…” And He goes on to give His disciples what has come to be known as the Lord’s Prayer. In many modern-day churches, Christians are taught to recite the Lord’s Prayer. And surely there’s nothing wrong with remembering and meditating on the words of our Lord. But sometimes, perhaps too often, the effect is that we turn the Lord’s Prayer into a formula—a rote religious act as mindless as the babbling Jesus warned against in the verses preceding His famous prayer (Matthew 6:7). Rather than giving us a mindless formula to rehearse word-for-word, Jesus gave us a pattern to follow. Not “this exactly,” but “like this.” We are to get to the heart of His words—and follow that. Not a rigid (sometimes out-of-context, missing-the-forest-for-the-trees) rendering of His words by our human understanding—but a Spirit-enlightened rendering that accounts for all sides of an issue, including the heart condition of the people involved.

God’s Timing, Not Ours

If we really seek a “Spirit-enlightened rendering [of Scripture] that accounts for all sides of an issue,” then we must be cautious about applying Scriptures meant for a specific time, season, or context. Ecclesiastes 3 suggests there are different times for different—even opposing—courses of action, and we need discernment to know which course to take and when.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells us to “go and make disciples of all nations…” But in Acts 1:4-5, He says, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” There was a time to wait on God and a time to go and make disciples. Even today we must discern when to wait and when to act. It’s the same dilemma Mary and Martha faced, and I dare say, anytime we feel God is near to minister to us—to equip and empower us to do His will—we should wait to receive it, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). We receive freely from God in order to freely give what we’ve received (Matthew 10:8, 1 John 4:19). So, it’s not a rule that we must always at every moment tell everyone we see about Jesus. Sometimes we must develop a relationship with someone in order to gain trust. Sometimes we must plant seeds of kindness. Sometimes we need to wait for God to mature us in Him and purify the motives of our hearts. We are not to be legalists, blindly following formulas or rules. We are to be His. Living sacrifices, ready to set aside our own plans to do whatever He bids… which may be to wait, or to go, or to spit in someone’s face in order to heal their eyes.

Consider Jesus’s advice to the 72, when they were going out, to “be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). In his book, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard writes about this verse: “What is the wisdom of the snake? It is to be watchful and observant until the time is right to act. It is timeliness. One rarely sees a snake chasing its prey or thrashing about in an effort to impress it. But when it acts, it acts quickly and decisively. And as for the dove, it does not contrive. It is incapable of intrigue. Guile is totally beyond it. There is nothing indirect about this gentle creature. It is in this sense ‘harmless.’ … These are qualities we must have to walk in the kingdom with others, instead of trying to drive them to change their ways and attitudes and even who they are. These qualities are in turn founded in still deeper qualities, such as patience, confidence, hopefulness, truthfulness, and genuine respect for the freedom and individuality of others.”

I see so much wisdom in Willard’s words, and I’ve also learned them from experience. Some time ago, because of the emphasis I had heard being placed on Matthew 28:19 as an “always” rule, I felt I had to force an opportunity to witness. I was listening to people rather than seeking God’s specific will for me. So I wrote letters to the mother of an old childhood friend. They weren’t inspired by God but by my human understanding and a rationalistic approach to Scripture. What I didn’t know—and only later learned from this dear woman’s daughter—was that my timing was very bad. Unbeknownst to me, she was going through difficulties made worse by my insensitive approach to witnessing. In order to open a door for further conversation, I could’ve reached out in love and asked how she was doing. Instead, I unintentionally burned a bridge because of the pressure I felt from others to get busy witnessing. But, friends, we’re not meant to pressure others… neither to pressure them to witness, nor nag them to change, nor push them to believe. We are simply to do what we believe God wants us to do, to present truth simply and without pressure (when we are called to speak), and sometimes to demonstrate truth by our quiet lives and good deeds (1 Peter 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).

From my post “His Yoke: personal reflections on Christian growth”

Dallas Willard also speaks to this issue of pressuring others when he says, “we are always to respect other people as spiritual beings who are responsible before God alone for the course they choose to take of their own free will. God has paid an awful price to arrange for human self-determination. He obviously places great value on it. It is, after all, the only way he can get the kind of personal beings he desires for his eternal purposes. And just as we are not to try to manipulate others with impressive language of any kind (Matt. 5:37), so we are not to harass them into rightness and goodness with our condemnings and our ‘pearls’ or holy things.”

In other words, their decisions shouldn’t come as a result of our pressure but as a result of our plain presentation of truth (2 Corinthians 4:2)—in love (Ephesians 4:15)—and God’s work in their hearts (John 6:44), in His timing.

Now it’s your turn: Describe a time when you were trying to obey God’s Word, but your timing or methodology was wrong.

In the next post, we conclude our three-part series with a discussion of how to apply passages dealing with submission to authority. Again, with the goal of finding God’s perfect balance between seemingly contradictory Scriptures (e.g., Hebrews 13:17 and Acts 5:27-29).

God of Formulas: Not a Formulaic God, 1

PART 1: Jesus & the Unpredictable Spirit of Christ

Dr Jason Lisle—at answers in Genesis dot org—states, “The universe obeys certain rules—laws to which all things must adhere. These laws are precise, and many of them are mathematical in nature.” Rules, laws, equations, formulas…

Perhaps you’ve seen the shirts that say:

Buy it here: link for attribution and / or shopping

These formulas, called Maxwell’s equations, describe how electric and magnetic fields are produced and how they interact. They describe not just the spectrum of light we see, but the entire electromagnetic spectrum (visible and invisible) and all other electromagnetic phenomena, too.

Well, Maxwell may have discovered these equations, but he certainly didn’t create the reality that follows these rules—God did. And as a God of order, He created a universe bound by orderly equations and laws.

And yet…

While it’s true that our great God wrote the scientific formulas that govern our physical existence, it was never His intent that our spiritual existence should be governed by rigid formulas blindly obeyed. Though I imagine many Christians wish it were so, there is, in fact, no one formula for success in every situation. Even if some situations look identical from the outside, they are different on a deeper level, as we can infer from the example of our perfect Lord.

Jesus: Our Perfect Example

In Jesus’s earthly ministry, we see Him respond to different people in different ways—without blind adherence to some magical formula for success… That’s because He wasn’t relying on formulas; He was relying on the Father through His unity with the Spirit.

Consider His approach to the various blind people he healed. Even though they all shared the same outward problem (blindness), His method of healing wasn’t the same in each case. In one instance, He simply touched the blind men’s eyes and, according to their faith, they were healed (Matthew 9:28-30). On another occasion, in Bethsaida, the people were begging Jesus to touch a certain blind man—but that’s not how the man was healed. Instead, Jesus took him outside the village, spat on his eyes, and asked him, “Do you see anything?” The man looked up and then answered, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” After that, Jesus laid hands on the man’s eyes once more and “Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly” (Mark 8:22-25). In yet another instance, Jesus spat into the dirt to make mud, rubbed it on the man’s eyes, and then instructed him to go “wash in the Pool of Siloam” as a means of receiving his sight (John 9:6-7).

Do we know if the man who saw trees had both a visual and a neurological condition that needed to be healed? Or if the mud on the man’s eyes was placed there for a length of time to draw out toxins from his body? These are physical explanations we might be able to make sense of if we knew they were the cause… but what of the spiritual problems (e.g., Matthew 17:18, consider also Luke 4:39, and Mark 4:39 and 8:33)?

We don’t know why Jesus healed each person in the way He did, but from these few examples, we can clearly see Jesus’s method of healing wasn’t one size fits all.

Now contrast Jesus’s response to two different disabled men: first, the man at the Bethesda pool (John 5:14 and context). To this man Jesus said, “Do you want to get well?” and then—after He’d healed him—added, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The tone of His words suggests that there is something in this man’s heart requiring censure. Compare this to the paralytic man whose friends lowered him through a roof (Matthew 9:2-7). To this second man, Jesus speaks more gently: “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” And then to prove it, he heals the man’s legs.

Though we know Jesus would never be lacking in His willingness to forgive whomever He meets, He must’ve known that the first man needed a firmer approach. Perhaps this man didn’t struggle with guilt but with a corrupt conscience. Whatever his struggle, we see that Jesus’s response in these examples is different because the men’s hearts are in different conditions, something He can recognize because He doesn’t see them only with physical eyes (Mark 2:8, John 2:25).

He doesn’t follow a formula—He is in step with the Spirit.

In John 3:8 we read, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” The one following the Spirit, rather than following set formulas, can—and probably will—be unpredictable to the human mind. This is essentially what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. In verses 14-16, we read, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

In our flesh we may judge it as foolishness to spit on someone’s eyes to heal them (Mark 8:23). (Can anyone say, “Awkward”?) But if Jesus did it, it must’ve been the Father’s will. Likewise, the Pharisees’ understanding of the law, and their resulting traditions (read “formulas”), led many of them to judge certain actions of Jesus’s as sinful—even blasphemous (Matthew 9:2-3, 9:10-13, 12:1-14, 15:1-6, etc). And yet, with the gift of God’s Spirit, we can clearly see where the error lay: not with Jesus’s actions but with the Pharisees’ spiritual blindness (John 9:39).

Now it’s your turn: What Scripture leaves you scratching your head about why God (or Jesus) did what He did? Can you think of a biblical story in which God asked someone to do something that made no sense to them (e.g., Genesis 22:2 or Acts 10:9-15)? Has God ever led you to do something that you didn’t understand until later?

In the next post, we’ll continue our discussion with a focus on Scriptural application and common errors we make when we try to be too formulaic.

Equal Concern in the Body of Christ: A Few Thoughts on Leadership, Listening, and Unity in the Spirit

The God who created the world and everything in it, including the human body, inspired the apostle Paul to write these stunning words: “in Christ we, though many, form one Body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:5).

Many parts, one body – all working together for proper functioning

The picture God’s Word paints to help us understand the proper functioning of His Church is the human body. In our relationship to Him, we are His Bride—married to Him, following His lead, the two becoming one—inseparable. But in our relationships with one another, we are like a body. We all belong to Him—are connected to Him, the head (or the Vine)—and therefore are connected and belong to one another. Inseparable. 

We also know that “God has put the Body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the Body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Corinthians 12:24-26).

“No division” is another way of saying “inseparable.” And the lack of division mentioned in this verse appears to be linked to this qualifying phrase: “that [each part of the Body] should have equal concern for each other.”

In the Body of Christ, there are many ways we can show equal concern for one another. In this post, I focus on one narrow (but serious) problem that sometimes occurs in the Body of Christ—a breakdown in the Body’s nervous system, in the transmission of information about how each Body part is feeling. 

Nerve Cells

There is a disorder called “congenital insensitivity to pain” (or CIP), which results in an individual’s inability to feel pain. It seems like this would be a wonderful condition to have, and yet this BBC article paints a different picture of what it’s like for those who live their lives without pain.

Pain is the body’s warning system, without which individuals are more likely to experience serious physical injury and premature death. In fact, Geoff Woods, a pain researcher at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, shares this: “Of the CIP patients I’ve worked with in the UK, so many of the males have killed themselves by their late 20s by doing ridiculously dangerous things, not restrained by pain. Or they have such damaged joints that they are wheelchair-bound and end up committing suicide because they have no quality of life” (BBC article).

Consider the example of a stubbed toe. What if the toe feels that the Body rammed it into a rock (intentionally or not). The toe is hurting, maybe broken—but no one else really feels it because… we’re not a literal body. The toe can tell the leaders, “we’re on the wrong track—this course of action is going to hurt us.” Maybe the toe is right and maybe it’s wrong. But even if the toe is wrong in his or her conclusions, the Body parts moving things forward end up hurting the Body-at-large when they cut short the toe’s need for understanding.

Not to feel the toe’s pain puts the Body of Christ at risk of CIP.

As the Body of Christ, we want results. We want to see people saved and help the poor and needy. We want people to be equipped to serve in certain capacities. And we want to care for our own. The difficulty is, again, that we aren’t a literal body. We’re a corporate body with 50, 100, however-many brains, all with their own experiences, perspectives, and ideas. And more than that, the one brain whose ideas really matter isn’t yours or mine—it’s Christ’s. So, yes, we all want results—but finding our way from beginning to end without isolating or severing a few parts of the Body in the process is quite a challenge. How do we all move forward together—giving equal consideration to all—when we don’t all agree? How do we move forward without inflicting injury upon the whole to which we all belong? 

Some time ago, I came across a video series on Right Now Media devoted to the topic of listening in leadership. In the series, Dr Henry Cloud sits down with a friend of his (Marten Hoekstra) “who is CEO of a division of one of the largest banks in the world [with] billions in revenues [and] thousands of employees” for the purpose of hearing this man’s “experience of how listening drives results.”

We could draw many lessons from this series about good listening and why it matters. For example, listening well isn’t listening until we find the space to talk, or with the preexisting goal of negating those who disagree with our stance—as if we’re solid rock that can’t be moved. We listen for the sake of humility: to learn, to understand, to empathize, to build trust, to perhaps earn the right to speak into someone’s life, and so that they’re motivated to listen to us when the time seems right. We listen to show care and equal concern to our brothers and sisters: By digging down to the root of what brought them to our ears in the first place. By seeking to understand their reasoning—and even the emotions tied up in those reasons. After all, as CEO Martin and Dr Cloud concurred, “We don’t understand somebody when we understand. We understand somebody when they understand [that] we understand.”

Do you understand?

Feeling understood diffuses the emotions that breed divisions in the Body. So no matter how right we believe we may be on some point, if we can step outside ourselves, hear the other side out, and even ask neutral, open-ended questions that might help us understand their point better, the more likely they are to feel heard—and in turn to try and understand whatever position we believe to be right and true. And also, we can and should carry all these considerations to God in prayer. Ultimately, we need to make up our minds not to make up our minds until we’ve really heard (and considered) every side—especially God’s.

This is an important practice for everyone in the Body, but it’s especially important for those in positions of influence who hold the reins of control. Those responsible for coming up with plans, making decisions, and taking action. (Don’t you ever wonder how many institutions become broken because those in charge don’t listen to those they lead?) Leaders can be frustrated when people don’t follow their plans, but if that’s the case, it’s highly likely that people aren’t feeling heard or understood. The lines of communication and listening have been broken.

Conversely, leaders may find themselves elated when the crowd is ready to follow their ideas. But what about the big toe—the minority voice? Should the rest of the Body ignore that voice, however small? 

We can think about the answer to this question from an emotional standpoint: Think about how good it feels to be on the winning side. Now consider how it feels to be that minority voice, especially if no one really takes the time to understand their position—if they feel dismissed. If we are to do unto others as we would have them likewise do, we have to admit that we would appreciate others taking the time and effort to understand our concerns.

Considering the same question from a logical standpoint, we can recognize that the majority doesn’t always have the truth. God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are often beyond us. And if we look to Jeremiah, whose words from God were dismissed by the “prophets” of the day, we see a biblical example of how the agreement of many doesn’t prove a correct course. Consider also the unity of purpose shared by the people working together to build the Tower of Babel. Human agreement isn’t the unity God wants for His church. Only the unity of the Spirit matters, which means—first—that even if we’ve chosen a correct course, if we hurt our brother or sister by the methods employed as we move forward, then we have bridges of listening and love to rebuild; and—second—if one person disagrees with the chosen path, it’s to everyone’s benefit to probe into the reasons for that disagreement, which may very well help us discern the will of God. In either case, listening is love and it promotes true unity because no one feels they’re being left out.

As an aside, I was unknowingly a Guinea Pig in an experiment on listening and unity. When I served on the call committee at our church under the chairman’s leadership, I learned firsthand what true listening and unity is like. And it felt so, so good. Anyone else on the committee would say the same. Even when several people all agreed on some point, our chairman invited and encouraged the minority voice, knowing it could be from God. He encouraged us to speak—to be heard. And we followed his lead. We loved each other. Had equal concern for each person, each voice. We listened well. We all moved forward together, even when we didn’t agree on every point—because we knew we had been heard. 

From that experience, I now equate good listening with good leadership. Furthermore, because this skill has implications for counseling, ministry, parenting, marriage, witnessing, and more, most people would benefit from efforts to learn what good listening really is. (Trust me—it doesn’t come naturally!) If that sounds like a worthwhile endeavor to you, I recommend the Right Now Media series mentioned above along with this article from Desiring God.

With a little extra effort, we can avoid hidden problems that keep the Body from healthy growth and progress. We don’t have to be a Body diagnosed with CIP. When one part suffers, we can choose the path of listening love to restore the Body’s health. This is one critical way we can show equal concern for each member.

A View to Restoration:

How the church can cultivate an atmosphere of forgiveness and unity

What follows is a lenten message I presented at my local church. The message draws from the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32), which you can read here. I pray God speaks through the message shared below.

I. The Father Vs. The Younger Son

This evening, as we reflect on the parable of the lost son, I want to emphasize how the father’s attitude differs from that of his two sons.

First we compare the father and the younger son—the son who demanded his inheritance and set off from home. The son who was “lost” to his family, and perhaps considered (by them) as good as dead.

We could spend some time talking about how this son’s attitude changed over the course of his journey from home and back, but I especially want to focus on his return: When he finally returns home, what is the father’s perspective, and how does it compare to this young man’s point of view?

For the father, however he may have felt when his son took the inheritance and left home, his son’s return doesn’t provoke the reaction of punishment (or rejection) we might have expected. Instead, the father looks at his long lost son with a view to restoration.

In the father’s actions, we clearly discern his generous intentions toward his returning son. Actions which suggest that—even from the moment this son went astray and left home—it was always the father’s hope and intention to have him completely restored. Not to his former state, but to his former position.

You see, his former state was one of independence and rebellion, with an attitude that said, “I don’t want to live under your authority, dad. I want to do my own thing, to live for myself, to make a name for myself, to be free of your influence.”

The father didn’t want to return his younger son to that state—to the state of a son who acted like an orphan with an inheritance. Rather, the Father wanted a relationship—wanted to impart his wisdom—wanted to love his son and show him a better way. Truly, if the father had anything to say about it, this young man would live as his son once more. He had in mind his son’s complete restoration.

But what of this young man’s perspective? We see that he returned, but not with full restoration in mind. Upon his return, he confessed (rightly), “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” And he was planning to plead, “make me like one of your hired servants.” His plan wasn’t restoration but subjugation—forever living under the weight and shadow of his former sins.

But this is not the Father’s will. After confession and repentance—for this son, a literal turning from his former lifestyle—the father approaches with absolution and restoration in mind.

II. The Father Vs. The Older Son

Now—to compare the Father with his older son—we consider the state of the Father’s heart. He didn’t ONLY look at his younger son’s return with a view to restoration, but also, when he saw his son approaching, he had compassion on him.

Compassion in The Complete Word Study Bible comes from a Greek word for “bowels” and means “To feel deeply or viscerally, to yearn, have compassion, pity.” The synonyms listed include words meaning “to suffer with another; … to have mercy, to alleviate the consequences of sin or suffering in the lives of others;” and “…to moderate one’s anger, treat with mildness, [and] gentleness.”

By way of contrast, the antonyms include words that mean “to render stubborn…; …to petrify, harden; [and] to show little regard for.”

While the father’s heart was soft with compassion, the older son’s heart was hard as flint. Not just toward his brother, but toward his father, as well. Rather than showing compassion, the older son fixated on his brother’s sin and took it as a personal offense that his father would welcome his brother back with gifts that he himself felt he’d been denied.

He heard his father’s voice inviting him in to celebrate the restoration of his younger brother, but, instead of going in, he turned away from his father with a hardened heart.

The Danger of a Hardened Heart

Hebrews 3 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” And “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

The lesson here is that we—each one of us—can be hardened by the personal sins we allow in our lives. And not only that, but we can also be hardened by another person’s sin as well. It happens when a sin outside us provokes a sinful response within. A sinful response…like that of the older son.

We find this hardhearted persona pronounced in many of the Pharisees of Jesus’s day. These men considered their outward adherence to the law proof of their justification before God—and completely missed the point of the law, which was always meant to show us our sins and to reveal our deep need for a Savior (Romans 3:20). More than that, in their sense of self-righteousness, these men condemned others—something even Jesus (who truly was righteous) didn’t come to do (John 3:17).

I think of the story in the gospel of John about the woman caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisees and teachers of the law dragged this woman before a crowd to present her to Jesus. And they tried to trap Him with a question: “In the Law,” they said, “Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” The crowd picked up their stones, ready to hurl them at the woman.

Many of them saw—in this woman—sin personified, but that’s not what Jesus saw. Instead, He saw a sinful person in need of restoration. Toward this woman, the crowd spoke the truth and acted in hate, whereas Jesus spoke the truth in love. Both hated the sin, but only Jesus loved the woman caught in it.

That’s the danger we face in staring too long at the sins of others, forgetting that we ourselves are capable of being caught in sin. Maybe the Pharisees in this story would never think of committing adultery, but they certainly weren’t immune from judgment, hatred, and pride.

This is a caution for us all—for all of us will continue our struggle with sin as long as we remain this side of heaven. And the caution is this: Judgment is a trap. In Luke 6:37, Jesus says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

The apostle Paul models a healthy view of judgment in 1 Corinthians 4:3-5, where he says this: “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”

I hope this passage restores a healthy measure of godly fear to everyone who hears it. None of us sees perfectly. We don’t see others well enough to render accurate judgment, nor do we see ourselves well enough. That’s why I pray frequently for God to search me “and know my heart; [to] test me and know my anxious thoughts. [To see] if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). And I ask Him to convict me quickly when I sin, so I can also be quick to confess, repent, and be restored to Him again.

After all, my responsibility before God is not to convict others of their sins, but to look to God, to repent of my own sins, and to look at those caught in sin with a heart of compassion and a view to their restoration. We can do this by practicing the wisdom of Colossians 3:12-14: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Father God, help us each to do just that. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Depending on God Bible Study, Part 3

In this study, we reflect on: (1) the independence of God, (2) the dependability of God, (3) how mankind remains dependent on God, (4) impediments to our total dependence on God, (5) how God heightens awareness of our helplessness apart from depending on Him, (6) Jesus’ example: dependence on Father God, and (7) the mystery of Immanuel: Jesus as “the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” Part 1 of this study covered the first 3 points. The last four points began in Part 2 and conclude in Part 3 below.

Part 3 Slides:

2023-02-10_god-dependence-slides-part3Download

Part 3 Notes (Slides modified):

2023-02-12_god-dependence-notes_from_slides-part3Download

Part 3 Handout:

Look at the second page of the handout from Part 2.

Depending on God Bible Study, Part 2

In this study, we reflect on: (1) the independence of God, (2) the dependability of God, (3) how mankind remains dependent on God, (4) impediments to our total dependence on God, (5) how God heightens awareness of our helplessness apart from depending on Him, (6) Jesus’ example: dependence on Father God, and (7) the mystery of Immanuel: Jesus as “the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” Part 1 of this study covered the first 3 points. The last four points begin in the documents below and finish in Part 3 of this study.

Part 2 Slides:

2023-02-12_God-Dependence-Slides-part2Download

Part 2 & 3 Handout:

2023-01-31_god-dependence2-handoutDownload

Part 2 Notes:

(including some older notes for Part 3):

2023-02-04_god-dependence-notes-part2Download

Depending on God Bible Study, Part 1

In this study, we reflect on: (1) the independence of God, (2) the dependability of God, (3) how mankind remains dependent on God, (4) impediments to our total dependence on God, (5) how God heightens awareness of our helplessness apart from depending on Him, (6) Jesus’ example: dependence on Father God, and (7) the mystery of Immanuel: Jesus as “the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” Part 1 of this study covers the first 3 points. The last four points can be found in the posts for Part 2 and Part 3.

Part 1 Slides:

2023-01-08_God-Dependence-Slides-part1Download

Part 1 Handout:

2023-01-08_god-dependence-handout-part1Download

Part 1 Notes:

2023-01-08_God-Dependence-Notes-part1Download

The Bulk of the Iceberg

Friends, have you ever had something burning within you that desperately needed an outlet? I’m talking about the kind of outlet that shoots sparks even when nothing is plugged in. I think maybe I feel a bit like Jeremiah did when he penned chapter 20 verse 9: “But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

A message is burning in my heart. And I know the theme of the message with absolutely certainty: Prayer. I’m praying more because the need for prayer is burning inside me—but it’s not enough. I see or read about struggles within the church locally and at large, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: Individual prayer is important. Corporate prayer is critical. 

The Importance of Prayer

Consider the huge difference between Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:4-5. In the first Scripture, Jesus’s command to His disciples was to “go.” In the second, His command was to “wait.” Acts 1:14 describes how they waited: “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

How often did they pray? Constantly. Who were they with when they prayed? All.

So why does Jesus tell them to go but then to wait? As a church, the great commission is our calling. We should be going, right? Yes—but not in our own wisdom or strength. The calling Jesus gave us as the church is so beyond us that it can only succeed when we are vessels through which the Holy Spirit works. 

I think maybe we’d like to think this happens automatically upon conversion, or once for all time, but that’s not what Scripture suggests. Not when Paul admits that he’s always fighting to do the right thing (Romans 7:14-25)—when he speaks of the lifelong progression of resisting worldly ways while renewing our minds so that we can know God’s will (Romans 12:2)—when he reminds us of our constant need to say “no” to the passions and desires of the flesh and to crucify them in order for us to keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:24-25).

As individuals, our journey of faithfulness with God is moment by moment, step by step—prayer by prayer? It’s the same for the church, too—except our prayers can’t remain only ever in private. To see God work in the church, we need to pray as a church.

Consider the simplicity with which the early church gathered (as described in Acts 2:42): “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

We need to meet God in our prayer closets, but we also need to meet Him in prayer together. When the problems we face are interpersonal and church-wide, we especially need to pray interpersonally—as a church. 

A Picture of Prayer

I believe God gave me a picture the other day—a picture of an iceberg. Maybe you already know that a greater volume of ice floats beneath the water’s surface than above it. I’ll let the reader look up the exact statistics on that, but the point is this: in order for a certain volume of visible church activity to be successful, it needs to be supported by a greater volume of prayer.

More prayer for greater productivity—not less. 

It seems counterproductive when there’s so much work to be done. But consider what Chuck Lawless wrote in his book, The Potential and Power of Prayer: How to Unleash the Praying Church: “When Jesus went away to pray, there were still people who wanted to hear his teachings. Sick people still needed healing. Demoniacs were still under Satan’s control. Nonbelievers were still destined for hell. His disciples surely still needed teaching. With so much yet to do, Jesus nevertheless walked away from all the busyness to rest, be quiet, and pray.”

There’s an incredible amount of work to be done… But whose work is it anyway? “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Do you understand? The kind of work we can do apart from Him amounts to nothing.

In Mark Batterson’s 40-day “Draw the Circle” prayer challenge book, he writes this: “You don’t need to seek opportunity. All you have to do is seek God. And if you seek God, opportunity will seek you.”

Chuck’s book also says this: “When prayer becomes part of the DNA of a church, God’s power is released.” Let’s think about that. DNA is integral to our identity as individuals. Physically, we are nothing without our DNA. It tells our cells how to reproduce. Our DNA holds the blueprint that tells our body how to work together for the common good.

Does that sound like prayer to you? God’s blueprint for how our diverse Christian body can reproduce and work together for the common good?

What it Means to be a Praying Church

To be sure, the Church today faces many challenges. So what do we do? We can hire consultants, form committees, and host meetings to discuss—even argue—about what should be done, but we can’t neglect the greater portion: sitting at Jesus’s feet and seeking His will for our unique congregations. 

I think for most of us, however, that’s not our first instinct. “In my years as a church consultant,” Chuck Lawless writes, “I’ve been surprised by the number of churches seeking outside assistance who have not made it a priority to pray about their needs.”

Most of us do pray, of course. But do we pray as a church? Do we prioritize prayer as absolutely essential to success in ministry? To me, having prayer in our church’s DNA doesn’t mean we simply pray at the beginning of each business meeting. It means our primary business is prayer: devoting ourselves to God, seeking His will for everything, and asking Him to do what only He can do, both in us and through us. 

God’s good plan for the church is that we behave as a body, each part doing its work, no part irrelevant or disconnected. This kind of unity is hard—without God, it’s impossible.

However, one thing is certain: We will almost never find unity in business meetings—in discussing opinions and plans made through human reasoning—because we don’t all think the same way. Yet the same group of people—in spite of their great diversity of thought, if they genuinely love God—can always come together and find agreement in prayer. 

Why? Because we all want what God wants. 

The iceberg and the titanic

Let’s go back to that picture of the iceberg. In many congregations around the country, perhaps even the world, that tip of the iceberg is sinking—even shrinking. Churches are sinking, and they’ll keep on sinking as long as the prayer root to support them isn’t there. So, I pray…

Lord, please ignite within Your church a greater desire to pray as You would have us pray. Show us what You can do with a congregation who leads on their knees in the knowledge that their power comes from You. Empower Your church to be exactly what You designed it to be. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Final Thoughts

I want to finish with a few thoughts. Why is private prayer not enough? I think because the enemy wants to divide and conquer. He wants us to pray selfish prayers with wrong motives, or to bring debilitating discouragement that dries up our private prayers. Together however, we gain new perspective from one another, and the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ grow our faith, which encourages us and reinvigorates our private prayer life. Public prayer also carries the power of agreement, which in turn—over time—can heal even longtime divisions in the church. 

A few practical thoughts: In my own church we’ve had corporate prayer meetings from time to time. These are great, but there’s a limit to how often we can sustain this practice as a church. We’ve also held 24-hour prayer vigils in which different members would sign up for a different hour-long slot around the clock. Also wonderful—but not sustainable week to week. A Christian mentor of mine recently suggested the idea of small group prayer. What if many small groups in every church around the country were to meet at least once a month to seek God’s presence, His power, His provision, and His purpose for each of their unique congregations? Can you imagine the impact that might have? 

I don’t know about you, but I’m not just planning on imagining. I’m praying right now that God would awaken in His people a burning desire to seek Him in prayer like never before.