For all of you faithful followers, I apologize for the lack of posts lately. It'll be about another week of hiatus, and then I'll be back, full steam. Just a lot going on right now.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Expectations: What did you expect?
Last night, I watched my favorite basketball team go down in defeat as they battled for a championship. I have loved my team since I was a really little boy, even before they started to get good. And so, watching the last few minutes of their last game of the season, I was somewhat disappointed. But I say somewhat because I recognize that I hadn't really expected them to make it as far as they did. Sure, I knew they were a good team, but to be battling for a championship into the last seconds of the last game of the season was more than I had expected at the beginning of the season. For that reason, I can also say that I have a great deal of pride for my team and what they accomplished, which somewhat offsets the disappointment.
The thoughts and feelings I experienced in the above paragraph arose in me because of my expectations. Expectations have a funny way of getting into our lives. We're often wrecked when our expectations are not met. Or, if our expectations were much lower than what happened, we're overjoyed that things turned out much better. If our expectations happened to be pretty much on par with what happened, we tend to think that we had a pretty good read on the situation.
In life, it is inevitable that others will fail to live up to our expectations. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that most of us don't actually always know what we expect in given situations. Far too infrequently do we take the time to think about what we expect from a person, or a situation, or a context in our lives. And even more infrequently do we express those expectations to others. That is, until they fail to meet our expectations.
Have you ever been on the receiving end when you didn't fulfill someone else's expectations? Maybe it was the outburst of anger, or the words of bitter disappointment in you that came to light. Or perhaps it even led to the ending of a relationship. Their expectation was such that your failure to live up to it meant that they would move on to another. (By the way, I honestly believe this is the biggest reason people leave particular churches, because the church doesn't live up to their expectation, often without the people of the congregation even knowing what was expected of them.) Rather than dealing with you and their unmet expectations, they turn to another in hopes that the other will live up to their expectations.
Sadly, this sense of expectation often gets turned toward God, as well. How many people have left God because He didn't live up to their expectations? I would also argue that many of them didn't even know what they were expecting of God, much less if their expectation was realistic or not. We can expect things of God that we may not even be aware of, but we realize them when God fails to live up to the standards that we create for Him.
The thing that we take great joy in as Christians is that God has completely realistic expectations when it comes to us humans. He expects that we will be sinful, fallen, faulty human beings. He knows us. He also expects that we will have difficult hearing the word of forgiveness and restoration, since it's completely out of our hands. And yet, by His Spirit, God continues to whisper these into our lives and ears and hearts. God's expectation is that He will give what we need, and that His Spirit will continue to work on our sometimes deaf ears.
Our hope, as Christians, is that our expectations fall more and more into line with what God would have us expect. Yes, we'll fight with the sinful nature that wants more or other things than what might be realistic. But we also have the new creation in us, given through the water of baptism. That new creation wants to live by God's expectations, and to have God's eyes when we look at what we expect of others. So may God's Spirit continue to create and open those eyes within us!
The thoughts and feelings I experienced in the above paragraph arose in me because of my expectations. Expectations have a funny way of getting into our lives. We're often wrecked when our expectations are not met. Or, if our expectations were much lower than what happened, we're overjoyed that things turned out much better. If our expectations happened to be pretty much on par with what happened, we tend to think that we had a pretty good read on the situation.
In life, it is inevitable that others will fail to live up to our expectations. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that most of us don't actually always know what we expect in given situations. Far too infrequently do we take the time to think about what we expect from a person, or a situation, or a context in our lives. And even more infrequently do we express those expectations to others. That is, until they fail to meet our expectations.
Have you ever been on the receiving end when you didn't fulfill someone else's expectations? Maybe it was the outburst of anger, or the words of bitter disappointment in you that came to light. Or perhaps it even led to the ending of a relationship. Their expectation was such that your failure to live up to it meant that they would move on to another. (By the way, I honestly believe this is the biggest reason people leave particular churches, because the church doesn't live up to their expectation, often without the people of the congregation even knowing what was expected of them.) Rather than dealing with you and their unmet expectations, they turn to another in hopes that the other will live up to their expectations.
Sadly, this sense of expectation often gets turned toward God, as well. How many people have left God because He didn't live up to their expectations? I would also argue that many of them didn't even know what they were expecting of God, much less if their expectation was realistic or not. We can expect things of God that we may not even be aware of, but we realize them when God fails to live up to the standards that we create for Him.
The thing that we take great joy in as Christians is that God has completely realistic expectations when it comes to us humans. He expects that we will be sinful, fallen, faulty human beings. He knows us. He also expects that we will have difficult hearing the word of forgiveness and restoration, since it's completely out of our hands. And yet, by His Spirit, God continues to whisper these into our lives and ears and hearts. God's expectation is that He will give what we need, and that His Spirit will continue to work on our sometimes deaf ears.
Our hope, as Christians, is that our expectations fall more and more into line with what God would have us expect. Yes, we'll fight with the sinful nature that wants more or other things than what might be realistic. But we also have the new creation in us, given through the water of baptism. That new creation wants to live by God's expectations, and to have God's eyes when we look at what we expect of others. So may God's Spirit continue to create and open those eyes within us!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
"We've always done it that way."
We are creatures of habit and routine. It gets challenging to do things in a different way than what we normally do. A few years ago, I was reading a book on change, and it had an interesting challenge in it. Most of us have a pretty set routine when we bathe ourselves. So the challenge that this book presented was, at the next shower/bath, do everything in the reverse order that you typically follow. So, say you wash your hair first, and then your body, the challenge would be to wash your body first, and then your hair.
I was surprised at how difficult I found that simple challenge. For one thing, it made me think about how I normally do things. I hadn't realized how easily I had fallen into a habit, and mostly didn't even have to think about what I was doing. Even something as simple as changing the order of my routine proved to be more difficult than I thought it would. I also found that it took quite a bit longer than normal, because I had to think about so many things.
Change is not easy, especially when it comes to something that we have been doing the same way for a long time. We slip into the comfort of the routine, and hardly even have to think about what we are doing. This goes for many areas of life, but also includes our faith life. Think about how challenging it is to attempt something different than what you have been doing. Maybe you want to add a family prayer time or devotion time. It's not normal, and it's different, and so the family struggles to get it as part of the routine. There's even an element of active dislike toward it. It takes the place of other things, and those other things are more preferable, in some instances, simply because we are familiar with them. It may not be so much the prayer or devotion that is disliked, but the change in routine, and that we have to think differently now.
When it comes to our faith life, there is comfort in the familiar. But should the familiar begin to become routine and rote, where we aren't thinking about the meaning and intent behind it, we start to fall into the danger of doing something just for the sake of doing it. I don't have a connection with God in which He has revealed this directly to me, but it seems that God would much rather have us engaged and thinking about what we are doing with our faith life rather than simply going through the motions of our routine and habit.
Routine is good. It gives structure to life. The danger is when we fail to be properly engaged in the routine, and simply want it to stay the same because we've always done it that way.
I was surprised at how difficult I found that simple challenge. For one thing, it made me think about how I normally do things. I hadn't realized how easily I had fallen into a habit, and mostly didn't even have to think about what I was doing. Even something as simple as changing the order of my routine proved to be more difficult than I thought it would. I also found that it took quite a bit longer than normal, because I had to think about so many things.
Change is not easy, especially when it comes to something that we have been doing the same way for a long time. We slip into the comfort of the routine, and hardly even have to think about what we are doing. This goes for many areas of life, but also includes our faith life. Think about how challenging it is to attempt something different than what you have been doing. Maybe you want to add a family prayer time or devotion time. It's not normal, and it's different, and so the family struggles to get it as part of the routine. There's even an element of active dislike toward it. It takes the place of other things, and those other things are more preferable, in some instances, simply because we are familiar with them. It may not be so much the prayer or devotion that is disliked, but the change in routine, and that we have to think differently now.
When it comes to our faith life, there is comfort in the familiar. But should the familiar begin to become routine and rote, where we aren't thinking about the meaning and intent behind it, we start to fall into the danger of doing something just for the sake of doing it. I don't have a connection with God in which He has revealed this directly to me, but it seems that God would much rather have us engaged and thinking about what we are doing with our faith life rather than simply going through the motions of our routine and habit.
Routine is good. It gives structure to life. The danger is when we fail to be properly engaged in the routine, and simply want it to stay the same because we've always done it that way.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Renewing the spirit, the mind, and the body
From Acts 3:19-20, "Repent therefore and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,..."
You haven't heard from me for a few days. In part, this is because I have been undertaking a bit of a time of refreshing. So often in life, we find that our particular careers and vocations make us hit the ground running, and I have experienced some of that over the past several months. It isn't that we dislike our work, or that we find it burdensome, but rather, we discover that you can be doing something you love, but as you give your best and your all to it, every once in a while you need to have some time to just sit back and take a brief break from it.
My break is in the form of a class that I am taking. But more than that, it's a time away from the hustle and bustle that comes with my chosen vocation (or maybe I should say the vocation chosen for me). Time away doesn't mean that I'm uninvolved, but rather, that I take the opportunity for a bit of renewal of the mind, the spirit, and the body. In fact, a couple of days ago, I found it very refreshing to simply sit in a church building for a time of prayer and of Bible reading. In a way, it truly seemed as though the Spirit was doing some measure of cleansing of my mind and my spirit, which truly did cause my body to feel refreshed as well. I hope to do that a few more times.
God's Spirit refreshes our spirits. But more than that, I also believe that He does the same thing to our minds and our bodies. Sometimes we need to feel the burdens of our vocations lifted for a time, to be re-invigorated for what God prepares ahead for us. That refreshing then allows us to re-discover the joy of our vocation, as well as a greater focus. For me, the academic portion of it also serves to sharpen my mind, which provides endless benefits when it comes to ministry.
You haven't heard from me for a few days. In part, this is because I have been undertaking a bit of a time of refreshing. So often in life, we find that our particular careers and vocations make us hit the ground running, and I have experienced some of that over the past several months. It isn't that we dislike our work, or that we find it burdensome, but rather, we discover that you can be doing something you love, but as you give your best and your all to it, every once in a while you need to have some time to just sit back and take a brief break from it.
My break is in the form of a class that I am taking. But more than that, it's a time away from the hustle and bustle that comes with my chosen vocation (or maybe I should say the vocation chosen for me). Time away doesn't mean that I'm uninvolved, but rather, that I take the opportunity for a bit of renewal of the mind, the spirit, and the body. In fact, a couple of days ago, I found it very refreshing to simply sit in a church building for a time of prayer and of Bible reading. In a way, it truly seemed as though the Spirit was doing some measure of cleansing of my mind and my spirit, which truly did cause my body to feel refreshed as well. I hope to do that a few more times.
God's Spirit refreshes our spirits. But more than that, I also believe that He does the same thing to our minds and our bodies. Sometimes we need to feel the burdens of our vocations lifted for a time, to be re-invigorated for what God prepares ahead for us. That refreshing then allows us to re-discover the joy of our vocation, as well as a greater focus. For me, the academic portion of it also serves to sharpen my mind, which provides endless benefits when it comes to ministry.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
A Grammarian's Dilemma
Some of you may know or suspect that I am a grammarian. In fact, there are times when I can be a bit of a grammar Nazi. Part of this springs up from having learned a few different languages along the way, and having realized that how we speak or construct our thoughts actually is pretty important. Another part has been stretched and challenged in doctoral level studies and work, which calls for much clarity of thought and precision of wording.
Anyway, to get to the point. There's a common phrase nowadays that says something along the lines of, "I accepted Jesus." This phrase always raises a bit of struggle in me. Mostly, it comes from a theological basis. From my reading of the Bible, we don't truly accept Jesus as we would accept an award or a prize. Instead, it's God who does the choosing of us, and who does the working within us to make us His own. Now, we may come to a realization of what God has done, and at that moment or time have our eyes opened, and in some form or fashion we could call that "acceptance", but in that regard, it's more of an acceptance of an accomplished fact than anything else.
Part of the struggle I have with this phrase comes from my desire to be precise with wording. I want people to think about what they are saying and meaning when they say such a phrase. But often, I find myself asking, "Is this really the time or the place to engage in THAT discussion?" After all, the moment of "acceptance" can be a truly meaningful moment for the person. To hear that I'm writing off their moment simply because I don't like the word that they use can seem rather unforgiving. And so, I find this struggle going on. Do I say something in the interest of precise, accurate wording, or do I consider that this may be a battle for another day?
To be honest, part of the reason I'm writing about this is because I don't have an answer. It seems that we should always be striving to be as precise in our language as possible, and at the same time, we should strive to be caring toward others and sometimes overlook their minor sins of imprecise language. Which one does the situation call for? That's where I put my hope in Jesus' ability to forgive me for making the wrong choice when I have, and where I put my trust in the Spirit's guidance when I have gone the proper direction according to His prompting. May I grow in that as I continue to share Christ Jesus in my life and ministry!
Anyway, to get to the point. There's a common phrase nowadays that says something along the lines of, "I accepted Jesus." This phrase always raises a bit of struggle in me. Mostly, it comes from a theological basis. From my reading of the Bible, we don't truly accept Jesus as we would accept an award or a prize. Instead, it's God who does the choosing of us, and who does the working within us to make us His own. Now, we may come to a realization of what God has done, and at that moment or time have our eyes opened, and in some form or fashion we could call that "acceptance", but in that regard, it's more of an acceptance of an accomplished fact than anything else.
Part of the struggle I have with this phrase comes from my desire to be precise with wording. I want people to think about what they are saying and meaning when they say such a phrase. But often, I find myself asking, "Is this really the time or the place to engage in THAT discussion?" After all, the moment of "acceptance" can be a truly meaningful moment for the person. To hear that I'm writing off their moment simply because I don't like the word that they use can seem rather unforgiving. And so, I find this struggle going on. Do I say something in the interest of precise, accurate wording, or do I consider that this may be a battle for another day?
To be honest, part of the reason I'm writing about this is because I don't have an answer. It seems that we should always be striving to be as precise in our language as possible, and at the same time, we should strive to be caring toward others and sometimes overlook their minor sins of imprecise language. Which one does the situation call for? That's where I put my hope in Jesus' ability to forgive me for making the wrong choice when I have, and where I put my trust in the Spirit's guidance when I have gone the proper direction according to His prompting. May I grow in that as I continue to share Christ Jesus in my life and ministry!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Why Do You Study The Bible?
On my twitter feed this morning, I saw a link to a blog that caught my attention for a moment. I read several missional blogs and follow several missional leaders on twitter, and this one happened to say something that I hadn't really thought of before. In sum, the caption said something like, "missional communities study the Bible, but Bible study isn't why they gather."
That got me to thinking. What is the "point" of Bible study? Of course, we want to be growing in God's Word. God's Spirit works in us as we are engaged in the Word. It brings life as it reveals our God and His grace. It also shows us God's design for life in this world, as well as our shortcomings and sin in that same regard. Our study is also to help us see how God has acted in the past so that we have an eye to seeing how He continues His work in this world.
And yet, there's something to our study of the Word when we have specific things that we'd like to grow in or understand better. And I think that this might be the point of the blog link that I saw this morning. When God works it in our hearts to take seriously His desire that we take His message of His Son to the world, we're wise to see what the Bible says about how God wants us to do that. It involves looking to the Bible for a specific purpose or reason. We identify an area that we want to focus on, and then we see what all God has to say about that.
Come to think of it, that's often how we approach the Bible. If we want to know about God's gifts of grace, say in the sacraments, we look at the parts of the Bible that speak to those. If we want to know about the sacrifice of Jesus, we look up the parts of the Bible which speak about that. And so, it makes sense, that if we want to see what the Bible says about how we share the message of forgiveness in Jesus, we would look to the Bible to see what it has to say about that topic.
I guess, in summary, I both agree with the link that I saw, and I disagree. I think there's more to the Bible than just looking for practical wisdom when you have a question about something, but I also think that the Bible gives us much practical wisdom. However, God also does more than just convey practical wisdom. He delivers life through His Word, especially as His Word guides us to what Jesus has done for us.
That got me to thinking. What is the "point" of Bible study? Of course, we want to be growing in God's Word. God's Spirit works in us as we are engaged in the Word. It brings life as it reveals our God and His grace. It also shows us God's design for life in this world, as well as our shortcomings and sin in that same regard. Our study is also to help us see how God has acted in the past so that we have an eye to seeing how He continues His work in this world.
And yet, there's something to our study of the Word when we have specific things that we'd like to grow in or understand better. And I think that this might be the point of the blog link that I saw this morning. When God works it in our hearts to take seriously His desire that we take His message of His Son to the world, we're wise to see what the Bible says about how God wants us to do that. It involves looking to the Bible for a specific purpose or reason. We identify an area that we want to focus on, and then we see what all God has to say about that.
Come to think of it, that's often how we approach the Bible. If we want to know about God's gifts of grace, say in the sacraments, we look at the parts of the Bible that speak to those. If we want to know about the sacrifice of Jesus, we look up the parts of the Bible which speak about that. And so, it makes sense, that if we want to see what the Bible says about how we share the message of forgiveness in Jesus, we would look to the Bible to see what it has to say about that topic.
I guess, in summary, I both agree with the link that I saw, and I disagree. I think there's more to the Bible than just looking for practical wisdom when you have a question about something, but I also think that the Bible gives us much practical wisdom. However, God also does more than just convey practical wisdom. He delivers life through His Word, especially as His Word guides us to what Jesus has done for us.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Faith in Action
From James 2:18, "But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your
faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
This morning I had some yogurt as part of my breakfast. This particular yogurt is supposed to have some good living things in it that are good for your insides. You consume them, and they are supposed to help bring a good, healthy balance to the things that live inside of us. As they do their work, good health and better digestion are supposed to follow.
There is a part of me that has long been fascinated by the interplay of our faith and the good that we do in life. The order of these two things has been recognized as important by the Christian church for centuries. Indeed, what I say today is nothing new at all. God does His good work in us by planting faith within us. He does this either through the water of baptism or through the hearing of His Word. Either way, faith simply cannot come into being within us if God is not the first and acting agent.
As God does that good and gracious work, something incredible happens. We become a new creation. Where formerly there was only a sinful person, now there is a new creation also within the person. And that new creation recognizes its creator, and desires nothing more than to live as the Creator designs and desires. To put it another way, the new creation desires to do the good that God calls for in our lives.
This process simply cannot go in any other order. To say that we have to do good in order for God to make us into a new creation is like saying that our insides need to be healthy before the bacteria can be introduced that does that. The good bacteria cause the good health to follow. Good health doesn't precede the bacteria of my yogurt. One takes place first, and the other happens in response.
The good we do is the work of the new creation that God creates within us. It does that work because it recognizes God as the good and gracious giver of all things. May our new creation strive to do even more as it sees God and strives to live according to His design and desires.
This morning I had some yogurt as part of my breakfast. This particular yogurt is supposed to have some good living things in it that are good for your insides. You consume them, and they are supposed to help bring a good, healthy balance to the things that live inside of us. As they do their work, good health and better digestion are supposed to follow.
There is a part of me that has long been fascinated by the interplay of our faith and the good that we do in life. The order of these two things has been recognized as important by the Christian church for centuries. Indeed, what I say today is nothing new at all. God does His good work in us by planting faith within us. He does this either through the water of baptism or through the hearing of His Word. Either way, faith simply cannot come into being within us if God is not the first and acting agent.
As God does that good and gracious work, something incredible happens. We become a new creation. Where formerly there was only a sinful person, now there is a new creation also within the person. And that new creation recognizes its creator, and desires nothing more than to live as the Creator designs and desires. To put it another way, the new creation desires to do the good that God calls for in our lives.
This process simply cannot go in any other order. To say that we have to do good in order for God to make us into a new creation is like saying that our insides need to be healthy before the bacteria can be introduced that does that. The good bacteria cause the good health to follow. Good health doesn't precede the bacteria of my yogurt. One takes place first, and the other happens in response.
The good we do is the work of the new creation that God creates within us. It does that work because it recognizes God as the good and gracious giver of all things. May our new creation strive to do even more as it sees God and strives to live according to His design and desires.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
History's Influence
Okay, it's time to face a fact that we don't often want to admit, but the sentiment tends to be there nevertheless. There are parts of the Bible that are more fun to read than others. I've talked to several people who decided to start reading the Bible from front cover to the end. They usually get through Genesis and the early parts of Exodus before getting bogged down. And by the time they hit Leviticus, well, let's just say that they start looking forward to stories rather than lists of "do's" and "don't's".
I can also remember a brief skit I did a number of years ago. It was poking a little fun at how we maintain our interest in our times of worship. One of the characters in the skit was a lady who had a tendency to fall asleep. The evidence? She was discovered with her Bible open to the book of 1 Chronicles! Yes, that really exciting book about the lists of kings. Who wouldn't want to read that with a great deal of fascination, right?
Yes, there are some aspects of history that are less, shall we say, enjoyable than others. And yes, that seems to go for the Bible as well. It also goes for our own personal and corporate lives of faith. There are parts of our faith lives that we'd rather ignore or forget about. And then, there are those times that really stand out to us. We live to retell them. We love to share those stories.
Knowing our history can indeed be a powerful thing. One of the things that God told His people after He had freed them from Egypt was to teach the story of the history of the exodus to each generation. They were take the dedicated time each year and retell the story. Their history defined much about who they were as God's people. They were not to forget what God had done for them through their ancestors.
Now, I could easily cause us to feel guilty about the lack of our knowledge of the history of our faith, and that's not what I'm driving at. Instead, I'd rather point out that there is a great benefit to making an intentional effort to know our history. It tells us about what God has done for us. It helps us see how God has chosen to work in the past, and may give us some guidance into where He continues to lead us. And it can help us understand some of the relationships that exist between us and others of God's people, and how they came to be what they are.
History influences us, often in ways we don't fully know or understand. That's part of the reason why I think it's important for us to know about our history. When we see where we have been, it can give us reassurance in our faith. It can give us clues as to where God's Spirit is guiding us. And it can remind us of God's faithfulness to us at all times. All great things, if you ask me.
I can also remember a brief skit I did a number of years ago. It was poking a little fun at how we maintain our interest in our times of worship. One of the characters in the skit was a lady who had a tendency to fall asleep. The evidence? She was discovered with her Bible open to the book of 1 Chronicles! Yes, that really exciting book about the lists of kings. Who wouldn't want to read that with a great deal of fascination, right?
Yes, there are some aspects of history that are less, shall we say, enjoyable than others. And yes, that seems to go for the Bible as well. It also goes for our own personal and corporate lives of faith. There are parts of our faith lives that we'd rather ignore or forget about. And then, there are those times that really stand out to us. We live to retell them. We love to share those stories.
Knowing our history can indeed be a powerful thing. One of the things that God told His people after He had freed them from Egypt was to teach the story of the history of the exodus to each generation. They were take the dedicated time each year and retell the story. Their history defined much about who they were as God's people. They were not to forget what God had done for them through their ancestors.
Now, I could easily cause us to feel guilty about the lack of our knowledge of the history of our faith, and that's not what I'm driving at. Instead, I'd rather point out that there is a great benefit to making an intentional effort to know our history. It tells us about what God has done for us. It helps us see how God has chosen to work in the past, and may give us some guidance into where He continues to lead us. And it can help us understand some of the relationships that exist between us and others of God's people, and how they came to be what they are.
History influences us, often in ways we don't fully know or understand. That's part of the reason why I think it's important for us to know about our history. When we see where we have been, it can give us reassurance in our faith. It can give us clues as to where God's Spirit is guiding us. And it can remind us of God's faithfulness to us at all times. All great things, if you ask me.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Let the children sing!
One tradition of many congregations is to hold an annual Vacation Bible School in the summer months. Currently, our congregation is holding ours, with the theme "Go tell it on the Mountain." We're currently on the third day of this adventure, climbing different biblical mountains, and hearing what God did upon each of those.
One of the greatest joys I always experience is hearing the kids sing the songs that they learn. You can always tell a favorite by how loud they sing. Right now, I would say that their favorite is a slight variation on the Christmas song, "Go Tell It On The Mountain." That song always seems to get kids exciting and singing very loudly, and for our VBS, it is no different.
Biblically speaking, the image of a child is one that we do not take lightly. Some of the greatest words from Scripture talk about children, from Jesus telling the disciples to let the children come to Him, all the way to the prophecy in Isaiah that " a little child shall lead them." Jesus even once took a child in the midst of the disciples, when they were arguing about who was the greatest disciple, and told them that the kingdom was found in those who were as the child.
A child-like faith is one that completely trusts without doubt or wavering. Sadly, we tend to lose this as we grow older. I often find myself skeptical about things in this world, from how we are governed to the impact that the Christian Church has on society, and our willingness to adapt how we share the message of Good News to impact the lives of the people of society. There are days when I dearly long for that innocent, untarnished child-like faith.
That's why it means so much to me to hear the children sing. They will all too quickly grow up and lose that untarnished characteristic of their faith. So, while they can take great joy in it, let the children sing!
One of the greatest joys I always experience is hearing the kids sing the songs that they learn. You can always tell a favorite by how loud they sing. Right now, I would say that their favorite is a slight variation on the Christmas song, "Go Tell It On The Mountain." That song always seems to get kids exciting and singing very loudly, and for our VBS, it is no different.
Biblically speaking, the image of a child is one that we do not take lightly. Some of the greatest words from Scripture talk about children, from Jesus telling the disciples to let the children come to Him, all the way to the prophecy in Isaiah that " a little child shall lead them." Jesus even once took a child in the midst of the disciples, when they were arguing about who was the greatest disciple, and told them that the kingdom was found in those who were as the child.
A child-like faith is one that completely trusts without doubt or wavering. Sadly, we tend to lose this as we grow older. I often find myself skeptical about things in this world, from how we are governed to the impact that the Christian Church has on society, and our willingness to adapt how we share the message of Good News to impact the lives of the people of society. There are days when I dearly long for that innocent, untarnished child-like faith.
That's why it means so much to me to hear the children sing. They will all too quickly grow up and lose that untarnished characteristic of their faith. So, while they can take great joy in it, let the children sing!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Dealing with Expectations
I've become convinced in the course of my ministry that one of the greatest challenges comes in the area of expectations. To be very blunt about it, everyone has them, but they aren't often expressed very directly. Usually, you only discover what someone else's expectation is when you have failed to live up to it, and that's when you face the consequences. The difficult thing is, it's really hard to live up to expectations when you don't really know what is expected of you.
Individuals have expectations, and in congregational life together, congregations have expectations. If you listen closely, you can sometimes figure out what those expectations are. For example, if you go to a church, and they talk about how great their particular style of worship is, you can probably read into that kind of statement that changes to their worship aren't going to be easily undertaken. The expectation is that they like what they are doing, and that it will remain as it is.
Now, as a minister, I would dearly love it if everyone had a true Gospel expectation to everything that we do as Christians. But I also know human nature enough to know that the sinful nature is also at work when it comes to our expectations. Sure, we may try to make it sound all nice and godly, but quite often, what we expect is guided by our sinful nature. And then, when that expectation isn't met, we often convey that fact in rather ungodly ways, especially if we choose to berate the person who broke our expectation, or if we choose to tarnish their reputation without actually talking to them about it.
The thing is, I've also come to another conclusion. A lot of us don't really even know what our expectations really are. In a sense, we don't know ourselves well enough to know what it is that we are actually looking for. And that creates a dangerous mix. If we don't know what our own expectations are, we really can't expect others to know them, and then, if others happen to break our expectations (that we aren't fully aware of in the first place), we more often than not resort to sinful expressions of our anger.
As a minister, I frequently remind myself that I am dealing with sinful people on a daily basis. I also remind myself that God has dealt with far worse expectations than what anyone will every expect of me. That's why I'm so thankful that God can forgive in such great ways, and am thankful for the new creation that He is constantly working in me (and all Christians) on a daily basis in our baptism. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus.
Individuals have expectations, and in congregational life together, congregations have expectations. If you listen closely, you can sometimes figure out what those expectations are. For example, if you go to a church, and they talk about how great their particular style of worship is, you can probably read into that kind of statement that changes to their worship aren't going to be easily undertaken. The expectation is that they like what they are doing, and that it will remain as it is.
Now, as a minister, I would dearly love it if everyone had a true Gospel expectation to everything that we do as Christians. But I also know human nature enough to know that the sinful nature is also at work when it comes to our expectations. Sure, we may try to make it sound all nice and godly, but quite often, what we expect is guided by our sinful nature. And then, when that expectation isn't met, we often convey that fact in rather ungodly ways, especially if we choose to berate the person who broke our expectation, or if we choose to tarnish their reputation without actually talking to them about it.
The thing is, I've also come to another conclusion. A lot of us don't really even know what our expectations really are. In a sense, we don't know ourselves well enough to know what it is that we are actually looking for. And that creates a dangerous mix. If we don't know what our own expectations are, we really can't expect others to know them, and then, if others happen to break our expectations (that we aren't fully aware of in the first place), we more often than not resort to sinful expressions of our anger.
As a minister, I frequently remind myself that I am dealing with sinful people on a daily basis. I also remind myself that God has dealt with far worse expectations than what anyone will every expect of me. That's why I'm so thankful that God can forgive in such great ways, and am thankful for the new creation that He is constantly working in me (and all Christians) on a daily basis in our baptism. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus.
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