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.