Calling -VI

There are several tools God has given to help determine the calling God has given us. The first is our life history, our life story. 

Let's pretend for a moment that there is an infinite, personal God, who made man-kind, designed them to have a relationship with him, and designed everything about individual people ... including what will enable them to live to their greatest potential. And since he is an infinite, personal God, he can give each of his children moment by moment attention. He can tailor a detailed program of training for each child, so they fill that spot that we have given the term "calling:" fulfilling their potential, acting in the most effective and efficient way to complete God's purpose and mission, maximizing joy and giving love in an individual and unique way. 

If there was such a God, and he had such a purpose for his children, we should be able to see his hand in their lives. There should be lessons, themes and patterns. There should be experiences that unlock doors to unseen, unknown vistas. There should be principles that are etched indelibly on hearts. 

Now let's pretend there is an enemy. One who want to detract from God's glory, thwart his purposes, disrupt his mission and generate as much misery as possible. And since God's glory, purposes and mission are bound up in people, (people choosing to align themselves with God in a new allegiance, to live in a new life that points others to God and to partner with God in restoring his kingdom) the place the enemy will attack is people ... especially his children. He will try to disrupt their training, distract them filling their place, confuse their identity, and interfere with their relationship with the Father.

If a person charted his life, there would be a number of ups and downs. And a number of these ups and downs would affect decisions, changing the direction of life. Some decisions would be based on fear. Some on faith, love or any of a number of practical considerations. By charting these transitions, a person could begin (repeat: begin) to see themes and patterns. One might also see places of disruption. To see the place of calling, one needs a panoramic view. There are motivations, and contexts. So, a person's life story is a view from one mountain top.

Calling - V

We discussed how each Jesus follower has a common core identity or common primary fuel. There is also a common purpose. This is simply to live a life that honors God. How do we do that? What does that look like?

• We love, obey, serve and follow God.
• We are serious about knowing and understanding what he says.
• We make his purposes, our purposes.
• We make his heart, our heart.
• We make his values, our values.
• We make his priorities, our priorities.
• We live a life of love.

Or, to quote David Putnam, "We live like Jesus. We love like Jesus. We leave what Jesus left behind."

The first one is vital. It is what our heart should be focused on. It is the bull's eye of our life. The second is very important, because too many do not understand the rest of the list. For example, for many Christians (sincere, serious, genuine followers of Jesus), it is essential the the life of God's family is centered in a special building. (Please understand me. A special building is NOT evil. I am NOT advocating the all-out abandonment and destruction of special buildings.) However, if one looked at the family of God in the US, one would assume that one cannot follow God if one did not have a special building.

If one looked at the practices of certain subsets of God's family, one would assume that God considers certain cultural practices to be evil. And that might not necessarily be so. That does NOT mean that if something is accepted by the culture, it ought to be accepted by the family of God. More ... because something is right and proper in God's eyes to practice in one city, it does NOT mean it is right and proper to practice in another city. We need to understand what God says. Walk in understanding, wisdom and love, so he gains glory in ALL settings. That is our purpose.

Calling - IV

The writer of this book uses the term "core identity" to describe the basic, foundational truth of who people in general were created to be. We have discussed it here also, using a slightly different metaphor. We talk about the primary fuel. A person comes to a turning point. He needs to make a decision. Many different things motivate that decision.

• They recognize their moral failure.
• They conclude there is an over-riding truth.
• They need something that gives them value or significance.
• They need a cause.
• They need something to belong to.

In all these cases, the solution to the issue they are facing is to choose a change of allegiance. They choose to connect that allegiance to God. Now:

• They have a relationship with God.
• They are judged to be pardoned from their moral failures.
• They can live by the Truth ... with a capital T.
• They are valued, important and significant.
• They have a place, a role, a purpose and a cause.
• They belong to the family of God.
• What is broke in their lives, their hearts and their relationships can now be fixed.

This is who we all are. This is what we were designed to be from the beginning. We are unique in that we have different pasts, different roles and different destinies. But our foundations are the same. What we stand on, what we build from, is the same for everyone ... whether we choose to follow God or not.

Calling - III

One of the problems with this area of calling is that there is no passage of Scripture that says "This is you special niche in my kingdom. If you make sure to complete this work, you will gloify my name, experience great joy and bear much fruit." There is not even a verse that says "Make sure you fulfill your calling."

There are indications that one of mankind "fuels" is purpose. There is Scripture where it seems like Paul helped Timothy find his niche. And there is Scripture that says when we choose to follow Jesus, we become part of his family. And one of the metaphors use to describe his family is the human body. The human body is a group of different pieces hooked together to cooperate with one another. Each part performs its function and contributes to the growth and well-being of the whole.

But suppose you are a hand in his body. You could hold a hammer, a pencil or a knife. And if you are holding a knife, what are you cutting with it? Vegetables in a kitchen? Or performing surgury in a hospital?

As members of Jesus' family, we all are given the job of glorifying God by proclaiming and demonstrating his love to everyone, all over the world. This should result in a proclamation and demonstration of truth, and other people choosing to follow Jesus. But how do we take the function God has given us, and complete the task God has given us?

• Become a professional leader.
• Bake apple pies for the neighborhood.
• Coach soccer to eight year olds.
• Stand on a busy stret and publicly proclaim the gospel.
• Become a nurse and care for the sick.

The fact that there are a number of gifts and a multitude of areas to express these gifts only serves to confuse those looking for somewhere to plug in. (And there is a vast spectrum of life as God's family to consider ... and we only used one part as an example.)

As I have said before, I write what I am thinking about. And sometimes something I have seen or heard oar read somewhere else starts me thinking. And this area of calling started with a book.

The author assumes a calling, a special niche given to each one in God's family. The value of the book is that he provides several ways of trying to define a calling. Like looking from several mountain vistas at the valley below, we can get different perspectives and different, but complementary, understandings of this niche we are looking for, that will help us obey God's purposes in ways that glorify God and match who we are designed to be.

My intention is to describe each "vista" so maybe I can understand them better. Maybe I can find a better place to focus my energies. And maybe anyone who reads this can do the same.

NOTE: But there will be a brief hiatus. My brother and I are going camping for a few days. We will hike, eat and burn wood. Maybe attend the Annual Fall Festival and listen to blue grass.

Calling - II

First, to recap a couple of ideas discussed here before …

God created the world and designed it to function perfectly. Man sinned, introducing a polluting effect into the world, and “breaking” the world. Things do not function as they were designed to do. But, there are still many things that follow their created nature. Man is still designed for a relationship with God. To live completely and fully, man needs many fuels. The God-man relationship is the primary fuel. Purpose is also a necessary fuel.

God is everywhere and understand everything. He is also immanent; which means he is totally present with all who seek him. All this means God can give his total attention and his total focus on people with enough to eat, radiation pollution in Japan, church planting movements across the world and individuals praying … in the US, in China, in Finland, in Chile, or anywhere else Jesus’ family is found.

So, since God can be completely present with all his children, and he has designed them for abundant living, for giving abundant glory to God, and for his family to full many different roles in a cohesive unity, we can see it is completely possible for God to five each one of his children their own totally unique niche in his family and in his purposes.

Calling

I am reading a book that begins with the basic assumption that God has created us, designed us, and given us a specific purpose in life. The writer uses an old fashioned word to describe this specific purpose. He uses the word "calling."

Each person in Christ is given a specific call in life. If we receive it, we can complete God's vision for our life, achieve greater fulfillment in life, and give God greater glory through our lives. 

There was a time that a call on a person's life was discussed a lot in Christian circles. It fell out of favor, simply because many people would feel a call to this or that, and it never happened. Did people stop thinking about it because it wasn't true? Or because no one really understood the theology of the call? Or because we did not understand or were unwilling to walk through the process of receiving our call?

God needs to position us so that we are able to receive and act on our call. This could involve refining character, learning skills, or undergoing inner healing. It could also involve an unfolding of the call.

A call exists on several levels. There is a purpose, or reason, for what we are doing. There is a vision, or a direction and result. And there is a strategy, or steps of action.

And there is a core identity. It is God who defines who we are. But we have allowed all sorts of things to define us. And so we believe a lie. It is this core identity, God's definition, that is the foundation of any call.

Prayer?

Last week, I read a passage of Scripture that has got me wondering. When we look at Scripture, we see a number of places where God speaks to subsets of people: slaves, masters, parents, the rich and rulers. There are places where Scripture address just men and just women.

Some people read the passages and believe that God designed a hierarchy among men and women. If there is a hierarchy among the sexes, it was created when sin entered the world; it is part of the world being broke.

God created culture. Different peoples gather, view life through different lenses nad develop different expressions and solutions to life. God is glorified as these different people seek to follow Jesus from their contexts.

Men and women also have different lenses. And God is glorified as they seek to follow Jesus from their contexts. The all-prevailing attitude and action that must be present in all interactions -- whether they are between cultures or genders -- is love.

But, getting back to my Scripture ...

In the midst of a passage where the writer is encouraging specific practices to men and women, he encourages all men to pray. Since, in the context, he immediately goes on to encourage a different, separate practice to women, this exhortation to prayer is specifically to men.

Why?

There were some possibilities that I considered.

(1) Something special happens when men pray. (If this sounds sexist, please, make sure to read items 2 and 3.) Anyone praying is important, and God pays attention to it. But men praying has more potency somehow, so he encourages it more.

(2) This is not about praying or not praying. This is about how prayer should be given. More specifically, this is how men are praying wrong ... and what they need to do to pray correctly.

(3) Women are such natural and effective pray-ers that they don't need instruction in it, or encouragement to do it. Men, on the other hand, ...

Most likely, it is some variant of #2. Perhaps ... given a man's apparent, inherent tendency when faced with a problem to take action to fix  the problem, God is encouraging a posture of prayer for certain issues (social, political or spiritual) undertaken with certain attitudes.

Attitudes like:

• a heart given to God.
• A heart focused on completing God's purposes.
• A heart intent on God's solutions and God's way ... and not his own.

Seven Churches (7)

In the letter to the seventh (and last) church, Jesus claims authority as the final confirming word. He is the most faithful witness, most honest and reliable. He is the first person restored by God to his original design. The first and only one living as he was truly meant to live.

Jesus is aware of the actions and lifestyle of this church. They do things that mark them as Jesus-followers, but only the least disruptive of their lives. They will go to Sunday meetings. But they will not reach out in love or service to those outside the church. They will not proclaim their allegiance to Jesus to others. They are not really against Jesus. They are not really for Jesus.

They have decided they are rich. Jesus says not only are they not rich, but they are poor, blind and naked. Moreover, Jesus is not even present among them. He tells them he is trying to get in. If they let him in, he will accept them and bless them as he does all his children. And they will have what they need. They will understand living with Jesus as they should. And they will have a right relationship with him.

Those who turn around and establish a clear relationship with him and a clear allegiance to him, will be with him always. He will treat them as his Father has treated him ... with love, honor and respect.

Seven Churches (6)

In the letter to the sixth church, Jesus declares that he is holy (set apart, different and special) and true (genuine and faithful). He declares that he has the key of David. David was a king. He had a heart for God unlink any of Israel's other kings. And, as he was king, he had the authority to make sure something happened ... by opening up a way with his "key." Or he he had the authority to make sure something did not happened ... by closing a way with his "key."

This is a small church without much influence. and they are in a place where they are being opposed by Satan.

Even though they are small and without much influence,  they are obedient. And God recognizes their work. So, he uses his "key" to open a door for them. They have a special opportunity available to the, and no one will be able to stop them. Those who oppose this fmall part of God's family will be forced to admit that God loves them and works on their behalf. And, as they have prepared their hearts to patiently endure oppression against them, God will protect them against the coming persecution.

And if these children continue to live with this mind-set of obedience and faithfulness, God will bless them with a special relationship. They will always be in his presence. They will be marked in a special way as citizens of his kingdom, and members of his family. And they will have a new identity.

Seven Churches (5)

In the letter to the fifth church, Jesus reminds them he has authority over all of these specific churches. He has the Spirit of God, and the angels over these churches. The angels could be actual angels sent to watch over the churches. Or they could be messengers sent to the churches. In either case, he has the authority and he gives the message to them.

This was a very active church. They were involved in a great many things. And they had a reputation for being alive. People looked at all the activity, and thought they were really something. In reality, it was all smoke and mirrors. There was no life in the church. Just empty motion.

Jesus urges them to wake up, and work hard at the true, God-fearing, obedient things they do remember. Jesus urged them to repent. All this activity that they were involved in amounted to idolatry and godlessness. They need to get back to what's real.

There were some who did not get involved in what was evil. (Does this mean that Jesus was calling what the rest of the church was involved in -- evil?) They are worthy to be in God's presence. They will wear white and have their names in God's Book of Life. (Does this mean that Jesus is calling what the rest of the church was involved in evidence that they really did not know God?) Jesus will make these his; and proclaim to all that they are his.

Seven Churches (4)

In the letter to the fourth church, Jesus reminds them that he is the final arbiter of all things. He can see deep into the hearts of people. He can test motives, ignorance and intentions. He can them proclaim judgment with total fairness and justice.

Jesus commends them for the practice, faithfulness and growth in many different and important areas:love, faith, service and perseverance.

But like the third church, they are allowing people who are not following Jesus to have influence among them. In particular, he identifies a woman, who he calls "Jezebel." Jezebel was a queen in Israel, who introduced practices to the people of Israel that honored other gods, and pulled them away from the one and true God. And this "Jezebel" was doing the same thing.

She proclaimed to everyone that she is a prophet, taking a position of authority, of one who speaks for God. And using this postion, she has encouraged practices that dishonor God.

God will challenge her to repent. But if she does not, she and any who follow her will be judged.

For those who are not following her, they should persevere and be faithful in what they know is right and how to do. To those who persevere, he will give them a position and authority like that which the Father gave to Jesus. They will see hearts, motives and intentions. They will judge with complete fairness and justice.

It also says he will give them the "morning star." There is a lot of confusion of what this could be a symbol of. Some say it is Jesus himself. He is identified as the "morning star" in other parts of Scripture. So, this could refer to a new, vital relationship with Jesus. Some say it refers to the actual morning star, and acts as an indicator that a new day is coming. So, it could refer to the person witnessing the restoration of God's kingdom. Or both.

If I had to make a decision right now, I would have to say it is the first, because Scripture calls Jesus the "Morning Star," so the promise is for a new relationship with Jesus.

Seven Churches (2)

In the letter to the second church, Jesus reminds them that this letter is from the eternal God. He was there in the beginning, so he know what the world was supposed to be like. He will be there at the end, so he already knows how the story will end. And he has already experienced death; and he has already experienced a resurrection from the dead. This is something we are all going to experience. He has gone ahead of us, this time to assure us it's going to be OK.

And that's important to this church especially. They are not in a good place. First, they are poor. We all realize life is hard when people have insufficient resources to cope. And there is a lot of research about how poverty affect people: physically, psychologically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. People get beaten in all these areas. But also, the society at large was against them, because they choose to follow Jesus. Society was following the ways of the enemy, excluding God's family from community resources, sending them to prison -- increasing the difficulty of life on the family -- and even killing some.

Jesus does not warn this church about any wrong doing. And he praises them for being true and faithful in the midst of their oppressive circumstances. He reminds them of all the good things they will have, because they have a relationship with him. He encourages them to persevere, because they will share in the reward of real life -- life as they are designed to live. And they will share in the reward of an eternal relationship with him.

Seven Churches (3)

In the letter to the third church, Jesus reminds them that when he speaks, it is the word of God. It is the final word. It breathed life into the world. It is the standard by which everything is judged. It can be trusted beyond all else.

He reminds them of these facts, because they live in a place that is very hostile to the family of God. He calls it the throne of Satan. He doesn't say why specifically. Certainly, because of its oppression. (One of the church's leaders was executed in a particularly nasty way.) But he does commend them for being faithful in the face of the oppression.

But he does warn them about an area they are failing in. They are allowing disrupting influences to remain in their midst. They are allowing a group of people who do not hold to God's standards to influence them. They have not broken away from the sins of the people. Scripture specifically mentions eating meat sacrificed to idols, and committing immorality. They are not honoring God with their lives.

NOTE: It occurs to me that these people may not have fully given their allegiance to Jesus. Part of worship of idols at that time was participating in feast honoring a particular God, and visiting the temple prostitutes. We have people with one foot in one camp, and one in the other. So, the influence God wishes his children to have in the city has been polluted.

The second group who are influencing God's family wrongly are identified as the Nicolaitans. There is no certain definition of how these people were polluting the family of God. Some hold that these were followers of an early disciple of Jesus, who chose to follow the Gnostic philosophy. (Which held that only the spiritual world was true. The physical world was more or less illusion, so it did not matter at all what one did in it.) Others held that these were people oppressors. Possibly leaders in the church who did not walk in the love and service that Jesus commanded leaders to follow.

Jesus simply commands the church to repent, or he will bring judgment on the church. He encourages them to persevere and choose obedience. If they persevere, he will first give them a special food. He uses the word "manna" which identifies the food God miraculously provided in the wilderness, sustaining Israel for 40 years.

And he will give them a new identity. The symbol was a white stone with a new name. Only the person receiving the stone will understand what the name means. There will be a new identity and a new relationship with God, special and unique for each person.

Seven Churches (1)

In the letter to the first church, Jesus introduces himself as one who is present , active and ruling all his churches. He hasn't forsaken or given up on anyone. He continues to foster the growth and success of any church, of anyone who seeks to follow him. And he reminds us who is the boss. Most churches have a senior/leading pastor. Most member believe, as far as the church is concerned, that pastor is calling the shots. Not true. The head of the body of Christ, the family of Jesus, is still Jesus. And he still expects us to do things his way.

The church was "good" at following his standards. The bible does draw lines, and it would be good to stay on the right side of those lines. This church excelled at recognizing where the lines fell, how to stay within them, who went outside them, and what to do about that.

The church was "good" at morality; the church was "bad" at love.

Some people look at the "bad" as failing to keep their "first love." And some look at it as failing to love as "at the first." So, one says the relationship with Jesus was not right. The other say they became so focused on discerning calling out evil, that they forgot God's #1 priority -- love! 

The first two and most important commands, according to Jesus, are to love God, and to love people. No matter which way you look at it, this church had its priorities messed up.

I sometimes think that one feeds the other. If your relationship with God grows the way it should, you take on the qualities of God -- the first big one being love. And if you love people, you develop the heart and mind-set of God.So, your understanding of God and your relationship with God grows.

If they did not get their priorities with God straight, the church would die. If they did not follow the priorities of God, the Spirit of God would cease to flow through them. The relationship would dry up. The things that give any church life would cease to exist. So, the church would diminish until it was gone.

If they turned around and got it straightened out, they would eat from the "tree of life." God planted a tree in the first garden before the world broke. The tree provided life and healing. This new tree would do the same, but it will also be planted before the throne of God. So, they will have life, healing and continual availability to the presence of God. The relationship will grow more real in a way it has never been with anyone, except Jesus.

Seven Churches

There is a section of Scripture, where Jesus dictates some letters to one of his disciples. The letters are short, and intended for seven local churches -- ie. churches in a specific city.

The letters follow a basic pattern. Not all the letters follow this pattern fully. 

• From: An identification of who wrote the letter. Which was Jesus. But the "from" highlights a particular trait or truth about Jesus.
• Good: The church had strengths, something they did well. Jesus praises them and encourages them.
• Bad: The church had weaknesses, something they were failing in. Jesus warns and corrects them.
• Promise: Jesus wanted them to press forward, to keep striving. If the church did so, he gave them a promise.
• Warning: In a number of cases, Jesus warns them of consequences of continuing in the bad behavior.

NOTE: If you haven't figured it out, I have been looking at this particular section of scripture, and I have some thoughts about the seven churches. 

Be the Church (Love) - XVI

"Always perseveres" is the last quality of love. (We could discuss "never fails," which I have not planned to. And we could discuss the possibility that the last four qualities form some sort of unit.) One might be tempted to put this quality in the same bucket with "patient" and "not provoked." I think those two deal with relationships and this one deals with circumstances.

Walking with someone through some type of trouble is different than walking through you own troubles, or walking through circumstances where another person has developed some type of animosity towards you.

There is a quote about Mother Theresa. Many people have gone into the slum of Calcutta to help people there. But, after a while, they went home. Mother Theresa went into the slums ... and stayed.

Just like God doesn't give up on us, but stays the course until the end, we need to stay the course.

I don't think this always means getting involved with something or someone, and never moving onto something new. But there is a tendency among many people to move on when the next glittery thing appears, or problems reach a certain threshhold.

It is staying until things work out, or improve, or until the parameters indicate one's part in the job is done, that shows love. Jesus had a purpose. It was to accomplish particular things. He did not need to walk for a long time, in terms of years. But he did have to walk along a very difficult road. And he stayed on that road until the end.

Be the Church (Love) - XV

"Always hopes" is the next quality of love. Hope seems to be the same things across all languages and cultures. It is a positive expectation of the future. In some cases, it can be more like wishful thinking. Like hoping to get rich by winning the lottery.

We can have positive expectations of the future that are based on whimsy. And we can have expectations that are based on the character of our Father. If our hopes are based on a chance happening with the odds of 175 million to one, we are going to be disappointed most of the time. If our hopes are based on someone who loves us, wants our best, has planned a good ending for us, and has the power and authority to complete it, we can be pretty confident it will happen.

There is another aspect of having a positive expectation of the future. It is how we look at people.

Often, when people look at other people, they see their lacks, failures, sins and everywhere else they are not meeting up. When God looks at people, especially children in his family, what does he see? He sees Jesus.

God is committed to transforming each and every one of his children into the image of Jesus. Eventually, if you are his child, you will be like Jesus. Your character will be forged. There will be no lacks, no failures, no sins and completion in everything. God has this picture of what someone will be like whenever he interacts with anyone, whenever he thinks about anyone.

This is a trait which probably is impossible for us to complete, because of physical limits. But this is a trait of love. We ought to approach each person -- saved, unsaved, ourselves -- with Jesus' vision of who that person is ultimately in mind.

This is really foreign thinking. Human beings see faults and failures so well, it is very difficult to imagine how viewing people's present condition from the perspective of their potential will affect current relationships. How will this affect words and actions toward other people? (Looks like more thought is required.) But I am convinced Jesus looked at people this way. God still looks at people this way. It was part of how Jesus impacted lives. Knowing that it is an expression of love, that Jesus followed this quality and that combination shook the world, that should be enough for any Jesus follower to seek to understand and practice it.
 

Be the Church (Love) - XIV

"Always trusts" is the next quality of love. It is another quality stated differently in different versions. "Always trusts", "believes all things" and "never loses faith" are some examples.

The original word is usually translated in some form of "I believe" in the Bible, and it is used for all variations of that.

• I believe you -- meaning I think you are telling the truth.
• I believe in you -- meaning I am confident of your abilities.
• I believe in you -- meaning I trust you ... with my life, to do the right thing, with my money.
• I believe in you -- meaning I am behind you, I support you, I am committed to you.

I tend to view this as the last definition mentioned: to stand with, to be  committed to other people.

If a person gets married, it doesn't take too long for he\she to realize that there are habits, traits and tendencies that they don't like in their partner. That person could follow the trend of modern society and divorce their partner for not being perfect. It is love that motivates people to choose to be committed in spite of failures.

The family of Jesus should be an inclusive group. Everyone is welcome. Young/old. Rich/poor. Male/female. Black/white/yellow/green/purple. Allegiance to Jesus should be given from every single type of background. (There is a place in the Bible describing heaven. Every nation, tribe, and language was represented as standing in God's presence.)

If everyone is welcome, there will be different foods, different manners, and different jokes. There will be people whose sense of modesty, morality and work ethic will be different. Those entering Jesus' family will naturally see their habits, practices, preferences and cultural norms as being jsut as valued as the family they are joining.

It is this commitment to one another that begins the unity, builds trust and facilitates God's transforming work in people's lives. It is certainly this willingness to embrace and endure differences in people -- cultural and lifestyle -- that will demonstrate God's love and his family's love.

NOTE: I am beginning to wonder if the last four qualities are intended to stand together. Four qualities that affect the way Jesus' family should view, interact and deal with people who are different, who do not fully embrace the Jesus-lifestyle, but who are God's children.

Be the Church (Love) - XIII

"Always protects" is the next quality of love. It is another quality that is worded in different ways. "Always protects", "bears all things" and "never gives up" are some examples. A number of people seem to think it connotes covering up something -- as in hiding or burying.

So, is it:
  * Putting up with the faullts of others?
  * Covering up the faults of others?
        (Not in the sense of abetting a crime or sin, but protecting reputations from unnecessary damage.)
  * Carrying people's burdens, as in helping to solve problems, or easing their effects?

Maybe, it is a panorama of response to the trials and troubles of others. Especially trouble they bring on themselves because of inexperience, a character flaw, or some chronic condition created by mistakes the person made. The three responses I gave above are all responses to the failures of people. Given someone's failure\wrong doing, love seeks to limit the ripple effects that erupt from the person's actions. It minimizes the damage done to the person, and to anyone else involved. It is one way Jesus followers fulfill their role as peace makers.

Any individual Jesus follower may not have an impact on the global stage. But dampening discord in families, neighborhoods and churches will decrease the overall "noise level." And who knows who will notice.    

Be the Church (Love) - XII

“Does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth” is the next quality of love. (I suppose we could separate this into two, bust like boasting and arrogance, they seem to form a unit.)

Love is not just serving, and being gentle and ice. It there is a parent, who feeds his children only candy and coke, the would be some truth the assertion that this parent does not love his children. The children may be happy and enjoying life, but we all know a strict diet of candy and coke is not good for anybody. To grow and be healthy, a person needs protein, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.

We have discussed “fuels” here in the past. Like the body, the human spirit needs a diet of certain things, like: love, beauty, peace and security. And the primary spirit fuel is a relationship with God and Jesus. (Remember the example of a water/gas mixture in a car.) So, sometimes love needs an edge. Sometimes love needs to challenge someone to change what their heart is focused on, and establish a new allegiance with the Father and with Jesus. I am not saying we should behave like totals jerks when we are doing it. But it is a serious and important thing, and we need to treat it as such.

And this will definitely set Jesus followers apart, because it is a time when people are claiming there are multiple truths to live by, and we ought to let people do so. And while I believe that there is not just one way to follow Jesus, there is only one Jesus … and everyone’s heart ought to be focused in allegiance to him.

Be the Church (Love) - XI

"Keeps no record of wrongs" is the next quality of love. A lot of the qualities are concerned with dealing with another person's offensive behavior. This is another one.

I have heard about people who have held onto a grudge for 30 years. It takes continued, sustained, hard work to nurse a grudge for that long. It obviously is not good for the relationship. It is not good for the individual either. Energy that could be used to grow, produce, or create is being used (possibly a low level state) of animosity. Any state of animosity consumes a person from inside.

Jesus talked about the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness is vital for people on so many levels.

• The individual's heart health. (I am stressing the spiritual health here, but it could be argued that physical health is involved also.)
• Relationship with the offender.
• Often relationships connected to that relationship.
• The Bible says that it affects a person's relationship with God.

The Bible says that when we choose to follow God, and move into a relationship with him, he erases our sins and he does not remember them. Now, does the all-powerful, all-knowing God of the universe delete some of his own brain cells? Or does he choose to treat us (in thought, word and deed) like we never sinned? It is not that we become like we never sinned. It is that he chooses to treat us differently now that we belong to his family.

The Bible also says we are to follow his example. We should forgive wrongs done to us. And, as well as we can, treat the people who wronged us as if it never happened. Depending on the pain we experience, and the damage done to us, it may take quite some time.

Imagine the different this would cause in numerous situations: divorces, church splits, Northern Ireland. This alone ought to proclaim how important right relationships, with God and with people, are to God ... and should be to his family.

Be the Church (Love) - X

The next quality of love is also stated many different ways: "not irritable", "not provoked", "not easily angered", etc.

This sounds very similar to patience. (Short fuse/long fuse.) I think that the effect is the same in the two qualities (a lack of getting back, revenge or retribution), but they come from different perspectives.

Imagine an acquaintance getting into your face, screaming at you and accusing you of something that is totally false. The normal, initial reaction would be to sense the falsehood, feel the injustice, and yell back. Maybe even getting physical somehow.

Patience would feel the offense, but hold onto the reaction. It would not explode, even though it would want to. Does it see the explosion as not being positive? Does it see the explosion as not helping the other person? Both?

Not being provoked would take a mental step backwards. It would recognize the falsehood. It might also recognize the pain it is feeling. But it might also recognize the pain behind the person screaming. If it did, it would try to cross the boundary between the two people, and try to understand what was going on. It might say things like "if someone said/did something like that to me, I would be angry too" or ask "how do you know I said/did this?"

Two different attitudes and responses to adverse circumstances. Both fly in the face of the natural, expected reaction. It is this counter-cultural response that stands out. It is this sort of non-natural, non-normal reaction that demonstrates the power of Jesus' love, and Jesus' love in us.

Be the Church (Love) - IX

"Does not seek its own" is the next quality of love. If we understand Jesus' work on the cross, this is probably the easiest to understand. It is a statement of love's willingness to sacrifice.

Love is always looking outside of itself. Love looks to serve, to give. It is generous. During new testament times, there was a region with a famine. Food was scare and expensive. A poor church collected money that they could not afford to give, but did, sending the money to help churches in the famine stricken region. In our economically difficult times, image churches in Africa sending money to help churches in the US, Canada and Europe. People living on $400 a year, sending some of that to people in more affluent countries to ease their burdens.

It is that willingness to sacrifice, and choosing to sacrifice, to help others is the essence of love. And in an age of "me first," that aspect of love stands out like a beacon in the dark.

Be the Church (Love) - VIII

The next quality of love is stated differently in different versions: "not rude", "not act unbecomingly" and "does not dishonor" are some examples. It speaks to behaving in inappropriate or unsuitable ways.

Each culture has developed ways to allow people to interact with one another, ways that are considered appropriate or suitable by the culture. The English term given to such behavior is "common courtesy." Courtesy demonstrates respect, acceptance and recognition of other people. "Civility" is another term that has been thrown around recently describing this type of behavior.

Courtesy communicates acceptance and respect. It recognizes the basic humanity and rights of other people. It recognizes the worth of a person in spite of tremendous differences.

In American politics, courtesy has been strongly tested, because there are wide and varied views of the landscape. People have different priorities, different opinions about problems and solutions, and different assumptions of what is good, what is bad, what the end result should look like, and how best to get there. This gets people thinking that since others don't see what they see (which is as plain as the nose on their face), you are either stupid, don't care, or are just plain evil.

What the followers of Jesus need to see is someone that Jesus loves, bled and died for. We need to see that Jesus values those people and have the same heart Jesus did ... and the same attitudes and actions. We need to be willing to pray for and bless those Democrats, those Republicans, the Tea Party, homosexuals, drug dealers, George Zimmerman, Ariel Castro, and Muslim extremists, because Jesus died for each and every one of them. And acting with courtesy should display the heart of Jesus. And if we have the heart of Jesus, we will stand out like Jesus stood out.

Be the Church (Love) - VII

"Not boasting"and "not arrogant" are the next two qualities of love; and are different sides of the same coin. "Boasting" is the over-emphasis of a person's accomplishments or possessions. "Arrogance" is an attitude of superiority, usually displayed in an offensive manner. 

In the Bible, boasting is the same; trying to make one's self appear bigger, better, and more important than one really is. Arrogant is a word that comes from "to puff up" or "to inflate." Again, it is acting bigger, better and more important. The end result seems to me to be the same, but the point of view is slightly different. One looks up at the self; one looks down on others. Both put people in lower positions. These are certainly attitudes that would cause a person to stand out, but certainly not in a good way. As a representative of Jesus, we want to stand out, but only in ways that approach the ideal of what a good person is.

We are to take on God's love, which was displayed when Jesus died on the cross -- a death reserved for criminals, deserted by his followers and his Father. His whole life was associated with the humble, lowly and outcasts. Born in a poor family. Born in a barn. Eating and spending time with tax collectors, prostitutes, the poor and other undesirables. Rejected by the country's leaders. Regarded as a mad man and a threat.

Although, he could have done the opposite, he consistently put himself on the same level as those around him. He did not live their lifestyle, but he treated them as equals, as people. When people are on the same level, it is easier to cross the boundaries into others lives. It is easier to connect with them. It is easier to serve them. 

Love accepts people where they are. Acceptance is thwarted when we are too into and too focused on ourselves.

Be the Church (Love) - VI

"Not jealous" is the next quality of love; and it is the first of several qualities that are attitudes toward other people that characterize love. Normally, we think of jealousy as being fearful or resentful towards someone because we are losing someone -- possibly, position or affection.

In the Bible, the word translated jealous can mean zeal or an ardent desire for or against someone. It can be good or bad. Since, the Bible says it is not jealous, it is intended to be the bad desire.

One occasionally hears someone say "I wish so-and-so were dead" or even, "I wish I was dead." It is pretty obvious from the Bible, that if a person says something, they mean it from their heart. It is possible that they may only mean it during the time they say it. But the Bible also recognizes that if something exists in a person's heart, it is as real as someone who has physically acted out that desire. The inner life is just as real to God as outer actions.

So, I am wondering if the real thrust of this quality is our attitudes toward people. Jealousy is not just resentment toward someone who is getting what I want. (Although, in the sense I am trying to describe, it certainly can be.) "Jealousy" is any attitude that is against another person. Wishing someone dies, fails or suffers some other type of misfortune is not having an attitude of love in your heart. Conversely, love is holding a positive desire in your heart for someone. Wishing health, success or good fortune for someone.

The Bible says that what we hold in our heart tends to show in our actions. So, if we hold a desire for good for someone in our heart, we tend to act for good for that someone.

Be the Church (Love) - V

"Kindness" is the next quality of love. Kindness to many people has taken a very nebulous meaning. Most people understand it as being nice, or not being harsh.

Kindness in the Bible is taking action that benefits someone else. People in current times fill the schedules with all sorts of activity. They barely can maintain their own lives, let alone reach out in a way to benefit others. The church follows right along with this frantic pace of life. Meetings upon meetings are held: conferences, retreats, worship, planning and policy decisions. (Because when millions are spent constructing a building, it is a waste not to use it.)

I know of some churches who are beginning to realize the power of kindness. They are stepping away from normal meetings and doing yard work for the neighbors, cleaning bathroom for local businesses, and hosting camps of one sort or another for children in the community. Of course, to do something like this requires setting up another meeting, posting it in the annoucements for several weeks in advance. Churches need to do this because kindness is not really on people's heart ... and therefore, love is not really on people's hearts.

There are a number of reasons why this is true. Mostly, it is because we are still influenced greatly by sin. Love cuts across our sin-impacted tendencies.

We can see the countering tendency of love. Patience is part of forgiveness. When we are offended, the initial impulse is to want pay-back. Patience holds that tendency in check. We see it in kindness, which surrenders time, energy, and resources that we could use elsewhere. It is much more fun to go water skiing, or golfing, than to help a neighbor clean up after a storm ... especially without him asking.

We understand love because Jesus gave his life. Now, we love by giving to someone in scarifice.

Be the Church (Love)- IV

"Patience" is the first quality of love. We generally define patience as perseverance when confronted by a delay or adverse circumstances.

Patience in the Bible is usually seen in the context of personal interactions. And interacting with people does not always go smoothly. There are some people, when they encounter a problem, who has what is described as a "short fuse." A person runs into a problem, the fuse is ignited and an explosion soon follows.

A short fuse is the opposite of patience. Patience is a long fuse. Patience is tying more fuze, onto the original fuse once it is lit, so it takes longer to explode.

Eventually, anger becomes an appropriate response to cruelty, dishonesty, or injustice. Patience keeps anger in check, or in control. We all know of, or have experienced, instances where uncontrolled anger has caused damage, perhaps disproportionate damage.

Patience demonstrates God's nature, because God treats us with patience. We have all broken God's law. God is completely justified with condemning us ... now. God could judge us right now. But he has a long fuse, because he expects, and works toward, people choosing to establish an allegiance with him. He expects something good to happen.

What if we approach people, expecting something good to happen, when the only thing in evidence is something bad? What if we gave people room to change? What if we invited God to work, and then waited for it to happen?

Maybe that is the fundamental reason for patience. We can have a positive response to people, because we know God is in control ... and we can wait for him to act.

Be the Church (Love) - III

We have seen how love demonstrates that a person follows Jesus, that a person belongs to the family of God, and that God is walking with that person in relationship, in transformation.

There is a list in the Bible of the traits of love. Traits that should answer the question: "what should love look like?"

I have looked at the list in the past. Mostly, I have wanted to define them, or to describe what they should look like. The last couple of days, I have been wondering what is about these traits that cause a person (or a group of people) to stand out in a positive way.

Obviously, a group of people displaying the same behavior together, good or bad, draws attention to the group and what they stand for. Jesus was one person. And he lived his life in love. And since he was perfect, he exhibited perfect love. So he exhibited these traits perfectly. And people noticed. We are not perfect, so we need God's family. We are God's representatives, so getting people's attention to his message (and their understanding, and their obedience) is our job. Our primary tool to that end is loving people like Jesus loved.

NOTE: Obviously, I did not take time here to describe any of these traits and how they might draw attention positively to Jesus. I wouldn't be surprised if several posts are dedicated to that purpose. I will still be thinking about them for the next couple days.

Be the Church (Love) - II

The Bible says that we know what love is, because we know who Jesus is, and what he did. 

Love is a human condition. All humans need to give and receive love. It is one of the basic fuels that the human spirit was built to run on.

But there is a difference in the love of Jesus and his followers. That love somehow stands out. It is different from the love of "normal" human beings. It demonstrates the reality of Jesus being in a person's life and not being in a person's life. John says that we can recognize the reality of Jesus in a person's life by recognizing the reality of love in a person's life.

Be the Church (Love)

How we treat wrong doing in our lives and the lives others is important. But, as God's family, how we deal with sin is not the only thing. It could be argued that it is not the most important thing.

Scripture argues simply that love is the greatest component of life. It is greater than hope. It is greater than faith. It is greater than spiritual gifts: prophecy, healing, miracles, supernatural understanding/speaking of other languages, etc. The greatest event in history was Jesus' sacrifice of love. The only thing that gives meaning to life is love. This is what Scripture teaches. This is what Jesus lived.

Scripture says that judgment will come into the world. God will punish evil. He will set right everything that is wrong. There is even a passage that seems to indicate that God's family will participate with God in this judgment. But that's in the future. Right now, God's family is supposed to represent Jesus and his invitation to share with his family in God's love. Right now, love is his priority.

Where is the Holy Spirit?

I was reading another blog this morning ( here ) and the writer was describing a situation where some people began to attend a different church, and wondered where the Holy Spirit was in this church. The writer asked the questions: Was the Holy Spirit really not at that church? Or were the expectations about how one experiences the Spirit, leading these people to not see the Spirit there? (I have phrased the questions here slightly differently than he did. And I appreciated his two points in response. Well worth reading and thinking about what he wrote.)

It reminds me of attending a concert with my wife and another couple. The concert was by a Christian singer. Which meant obviously the songs would be about God's nature and work. One particular song was approaching a crescendo. And as it did so, it was moving me to focus my heart on God, his presence and his work. It was apparent that it was affecting most of the audience that way also. Now, I find that when I do this, my tendency is to become more quiet and contemplative. But the crowd around us erupted in a shout of joy and enthusiasm. The man we were with -- who was evidently built more like I was -- spoke softly, almost to himself, "No guys. This is a time for worship."

A shout of joy can't be worship?

I do not want to appear to be condemning the man or the crowd. The man had a definite idea of what worship was, and was not angry with the crowd, but seemed more disappointed that they did not read the moment like he did, and respond appropriately to the moment. I think the man responded appropriately to the Spirit moving in his heart; and I think the crowd responded appropriately to the Spirit moving in their hearts.

Maybe I am playing with semantics, but it seems to me that it depends on how we define worship and what our expectations are. It is like the other blog's questions about the Spirit. One person I know expects, that if the Spirit is present, people will receive physical healing. Another person I know expects, that if the Spirit is present, people will decide to follow Jesus. Scripture testifies to both. What if there is only one? What if there is none?

Scripture does define what should be apparent if the Spirit is present. Scripture does define what can be present in worship. We need to be true to the Scripture. We need to remember that God is very big, and can encompass all of human experience. We need to give God room to be God. And we need to give people room to respond as the Spirit speaks to them, and as they are built ... with the purpose of giving God glory.

Be The Church (Sin)- VI

And if God still works, how I regard and deal with sin is important.

Does someone celebrate his past sin? Does he remember how cool or fun some past "adventure"was? Do they hang onto "stuff" that leave them open to temptation? Do they expose themselves to opportunities for sin?

Sin and failures from the past are not small things. We build our presents and our futures from our pasts. But more important is how we make choices in the present and establish practices going into the future/ We can choose disciplines that strengthen current right practices or prepare us to make right decisions. For example, we can immerse our thinking in what God thinks. We can read, meditate or memorize the scripture. We can read biographies, commentaries or other books espousing kingdom values and ways. We can regularly and consistently spend time with other followers. And there is prayer in all its different expressions.

What is first ... how we set our hearts toward God and toward living a positive Christ-like life, and not being consumed by what we should not be doing.

Be The Church (Sin) - V

Another reason what we do is important is because God has entered our heart and changed our spiritual DNA. If God is in our DNA, then there should be a ripple effect through out our lives.

A change in DNA means a change in how the process of the body functions, a change in the body's programs, if you will. This change demonstrates the reality of our choice to follow God.

One of the main areas of change is in our "want-to." Our motivations change. The things we want to be involved in change.So, if we do not care about our lifestyle (how it agrees with Jesus' teaching and example) then there is reason to consider that we have never chosen to follow Jesus.

There are people, who in the midst of emotional excitement or trauma, say they follow Jesus. Sometimes it is genuine. Sometimes, this is an attempt to bargain with God. "I'll do what you want, God, if you do what I want." A change of allegiance must recognize God's role and nature in the universe. That is, he is King and Ruler. We are choosing to submit to him.

We will never live this life we have chosen fully or completely. There will be slips, stumbles and falls. And, although no one else can see my motivations, it encourages me to realize that even my frustration with my failures indicates I am still motivated to seek, strive and follow Jesus as best I can. Which means he is still working in my heart. The steady process of re-creating my spiritual DNA still continues. If he still works, I am not rejected, I am accepted by him.

Be The Church (Sin) - IV

We know sin contradicts the ways of God. We know sin agrees with the spirit of the anti-Christ. And we know it is a fact of life, like gravity, death and taxes.

When man chose to turn from following God, and live out his own ways, sins was injected into the DNA of the human spirit. We are powerless to change our life, because we cannot touch our spiritual DNA.

That's why, when a person does choose to follow God, God injects his Spirit deep into our hearts, changing our DNA and re-creating us from the "molecular", "cellular" level out.

So, if our practices cannot ultimately affect our spiritual state, or complete change in our lives, why do we bother? Why be concerned with sin at all? Why try to understand the Bible and live a particular lifestyle?

Although, we cannot reach down to our spiritual DNA, our conduct does have an effect. First, how can live gives God room to touch our DNA. We can extend an invitation for God to work in our hearts. Or we can block him. He has given a gift ... the ability to cooperate with him in our growth and restoration.

Second, we have a renuine relationship with him. It is in our thoughts, words and actions that we live out this relationship. Our lifestyle imp[roves or hinders this relationship. And the way we conduct our relationship affects how God connects with our hearts.

Lastly, we are invited by God to participate in his mission. we represent him. We can have an eternal impact on the world, and the lives of people we know. It is the conduct of God's family that can have the greatest impact. Testimonies of new members of God's family demonstrate that it is the genuineness, or the radical change in someone they knew, that motives a choice to follow Jesus. And testimonies of ones not in Jesus' family demonstrate that Christians living contrary to the teachings of Jesus is a primary factor in their choice not to follow Jesus.