Let the posting resume

Hi all!

Did you miss me?  I sure missed all of you.  I apologize for the lack of posts over the past three weeks, but I was on a mission trip to Russia, and had very limited internet access.  But expect to see the posts begin again tomorrow, and to tell you a little bit about what God is doing in Russia, and how the history of the Christian faith there is so much deeper than we can imagine, and yet, is very much starting from scratch since the fall of the Soviet Union.  I look forward to sharing stories and thoughts with you.

It's good to be back, but I am a much better person for seeing God's work in another venue and culture.  

To live: Christ; to die: gain

Since I posted yesterday morning, I have learned that two people who are associated with the congregation in which I worship have left this life to inherit their eternal life.  These are two people that I have spent a number of years knowing, and have developed some deep relationships with them both, as well as their families.  So that made yesterday a day of sadness.

Yet, in the midst of such sadness, I was reminded of the verse which Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain".  (Philippians 1:21)  As I have thought about that verse over the past 24 hours, the meaning of it just continues to almost leap off the page for me.

To live is Christ.  All that we do as we live our lives in this world points to our need for Christ.  When we find ourselves acting sinful (which is often, according to our nature), we point to our need for Christ Jesus.  We need someone to rescue us from this sinful existence.  As Paul says in another place, "who will rescue me from this body of death?"

To die is gain: When our time in this world is done, we pass through the doorway of death.  To many, that doorway seems like a place of great loss.  Loss of life.  Loss of individuality.  Loss of wealth and possessions.  Loss of control.  Yet, one of the unique and endlessly fascinating things about Christians is that the doorway of death is actually to gain, not to lose.  We gain the entrance to our eternal life.  We gain the fact that we can now enter God's presence fully in all His glory, having left the sinful flesh behind.  We gain entrance into a kingdom where there is no such thing as hate, disease, illness, injury, or fault.  We gain a kingdom filled with love, joy, peace, patience, etc. 

Death still stings, especially to those of us who are left behind in this world.  Our veil of tears has not yet been lifted, and so we focus mostly on our loss rather than on our loved one's gain.  And yet, that promise still stands clear.  To live is Christ.  To die is gain!

Christian, or American?

Over the years, I've been exposed to a few different Christian congregations.  I'm one of the fortunate ones in that I have really only had four congregations that I could really claim as my "home" congregation, and two of those were such because of my training to become a pastor.  Most people in this day and age seem to go through that many in the matter of a couple of months.

This means that I have relatively limited exposure to the various ways that congregations are run.  Yet, I would imagine that there is a great deal of common ground in most congregations in America.  There are probably those who constitute a council or ruling body of some sort, who are tasked with making financial and business-type decisions.  They are probably those who have oversight of things of a spiritual nature.  And then, there is probably some form in place of running things by the people (members) of the congregation in order to get their approval.

Yet, I often find myself wondering if we don't set up our Christian congregations in North America more along the lines of our background as Americans rather than our background as Christians.  For example, where in the Bible does it say that the majority who speak up in a Voter's Meeting or Member's Meeting are speaking as God would direct.  Majority rule is more an American thing than a Christian thing.  Or, when major decisions need to be made, how often are those choices made by looking at budgets and schedules rather than the study of God's Word and prayer?  Christian, or American?

I ask this question in all sincerity.  I do believe that we have a difficult challenge in distinguishing between how we are raised as Americans and how we are raised as Christians, to the extent that we cannot tell the difference between the two.  I also believe, sadly, that many pastors (myself included) have chosen to go along with the American way rather than the Christian way because it would just be too difficult to show the difference and lead people in that way.

If you were posed with this question regarding different parts of your life together as one of God's congregations, how would you approach the question to determine if the body of believers is acting more American or Christian?  I'd really like to know!

"And who is my neighbor?"

This is a question that was posed to Jesus by a man at one time.  You can read about it in Luke 10:25-37.  The man, an expert in God's law (called a lawyer), wanted to make sure that he had done everything necessary to inherit eternal life.  Jesus responded by telling him to do what the commandments say, which the man had summarized as love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

The lawyer didn't seem to like that answer, though.  After all, loving God and neighbor may seem to be a bit vague.  How do you know when you've done that?  So, he further asked Jesus.  "And who is my neighbor?"  He seems to have wanted Jesus to tell him how well he was doing, and that he had his eternal life in the bag.  And yet, Jesus rarely lets us get away with patting ourselves on the back.

Jesus' answer to this question was to tell a story.  Many people now know that story as the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  The man gets robbed and beaten, two "holy men" pass by him without helping, until a Samaritan (viewed by the Jews as inferior people) stopped to help him.  This man acted like a neighbor, which is the conclusion to which Jesus led the lawyer.  The essence of Jesus' answer is not to tell who the man's neighbor is, but rather, how to be a good neighbor, without any boundaries on who fits that description.

So, who is my neighbor?  The person next door, the person down the street, the person at work, the person that lives in another country.  The businessman, the grocery store clerk, the kid dressed all in black with tattoos and piercings.  In other words, it is the same for us as for that man.  There is no boundary on who fits the description as our neighbor.  Every person that we come across is our neighbor.

As such, that also means that each person we come across is someone for whom Jesus died, someone whose forgiveness has been bought by Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection.  To not show love to any of these is to fail where this young lawyer failed.  When we pick and choose who we want to love, who we want to define as our neighbor, we fail the test of the commandments.  Since all of us do this, we are constantly driven back to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and on the gift of God's grace, that undeserved love and favor which is ours through Jesus.

So, who can you be a neighbor toward today?  Chances are, the opportunities are limitless!

A Thought on Forgiveness

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."  Ephesians 4:32

What is the benefit of holding on to a grudge?  Who does it help out?  For the person who has the grudge against another, every time you think about that person, guess what is probably going to come to mind.  And then, think about what thoughts, feelings, and emotions arise.  Another way of asking this is, how does carrying a grudge improve your life or the situation that you find yourself in?  What happens when you have to have interactions with that person against whom you have a grudge?  Doesn't it take a lot of effort and energy to hold on to that anger?

And then, think of it from the side of the person against whom you have the grudge.  Perhaps they know what they did, and perhaps not.  If they don't know what they did that has angered you, then they are likely confused as to why you seem distant and cold toward them.  If they do know what you did, they may wonder why you can't seem to get past something that happened in the past.  If the grudge persists long enough, they may even decide that your inability to get over it isn't worth continued interaction with you, and they may start to avoid you.

How does any of this bring a benefit to life?  The reality is, it doesn't.  Remembering how someone hurt you in the past, carrying that anger, never getting over their past actions, all of this destroys relationships rather than improving relationships.  And there is, in reality, no way that someone who carries a grudge can be said to be loving to their neighbor, as God has said we are to be to another.

What's the answer?  It's God's best answer to all of our human dilemmas.  It's forgiveness.  When the sin and guilt are forgiven and moved past, relationships are restored.  When two people work through the troubles and difficulties they have, they have a foundation from which to work, a foundation built on forgiveness and on care toward each other.

In Jesus, God has done this fully and completely for us.  Jesus has forgiven every single thing, no matter how large or small, that God could hold as a grudge against us.  We live constantly in that restored relationship.  And what better way is there to show that we have that forgiveness from God than to be forgiving people ourselves?

Is this easy?  No.  There are some hurts and scars that run deep and have left lasting marks.  And yet, as I asked before, what is the benefit to holding on to that hurt?  Is that person likely to change simply because you are angry at them, or because you have chosen not to forgive?  It's no guarantee that they will change if you do forgive them, but perhaps that's where we find that forgiveness may actually be more for our sake than for theirs.  It is not only the way God approaches us, but it can help clear our heads and minds of those things that distract us and draw us away from God and others. 

How big of a role does forgiveness play in your life?  How much do you share it with others around you?

A few thoughts on personal growth

"Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold."  Proverbs 3:13-14

As I look back on my life to this point, I realize that I truly love to learn.  Many of you may know that I love to read.  I devour books like some people devour television shows or sports events.  If there is one thing that I probably have too much of, it is books. 

And yet, I don't read merely for the fun of it.  I read to learn.  But then, I even find myself taking the next step.  I try out the things that I read.  For example, I'm currently reading a book about communicating and connecting with people.  For me, it's not enough to just know those things, but I actually take one or two points and try them out.  Learning something new is fun.  Learning something, and then seeing it in practice, is even greater.

This, to me, is the difference between knowledge and wisdom.  Knowledge is a matter of simply knowing something.  Wisdom is taking that knowledge, putting it to use, and learning how it applies.  Sadly, I see many people who stop at the learning part.  They are really smart people, but what they know stays locked up in their heads.  They know lots of facts and probably would do well on an exam, but don't put it to practice in life to actually see what it looks like, or how it works.

All of this is not to pat myself on the back for taking the next step.  In fact, the way I see it, knowledge almost seems to demand the next step.  But it also doesn't stop there.  You learn, you try it out and put it into practice, and then you start to learn how it affects situations, or how it applies to different people, or how it works in one situation, but not in another.  That's when wisdom starts to grow.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that the development of wisdom is not an easy process.  It takes learning, practicing, and then learning from the practice all over again.  I'm starting to learn more about these last two steps in my life, and what I have found is that it makes life a truly exciting experience.

Ah, July!

Hi Friends,

This is a programming note about the blog concerning the month of July.  You will notice that postings will be rather sporadic throughout the month.  This is partly due to travel, partly to some work related things that will be demanding some extra attention and time.  I will try to keep something interesting up every once in a while, but I do beg for your patience during this time.  Thanks for being so understanding!

Scott