Once Upon A Blog

Wow, I have realized yet again how hectic the end of Lent and the beginning of the Easter season really is.  And then, throw in a trip to visit family before we have to pay for an airline ticket for our little one, and one thing that it means is that blogging takes a back seat.

Once upon a blog, I was pretty regular in posting things here.  I've often tried to post deep, thought-provoking material with which I have been wrestling.  That typically means that it takes a bit of effort to blog effectively.  However, I'm announcing a bit of a change going forward.

You will still get many deep, thought-provoking posts on here.  But I'm also going to take time to just post random things, things such as thoughts that strike me, or questions that I want to see your thoughts on.  There will also be humor and a little more light-hearted content, and maybe even just some plain funny things from time to time.

So keep tuning in.  You might even find that I start doing multiple posts regularly, which could be a good thing, too.  And, as always, I welcome your feedback.  Keep me accountable as well.

Many thanks in Jesus,
Scott

Those Darn Kids

"And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself  like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"  Jesus, in Matthew 18:2-4

Walking around my house is a little bit like walking through a minefield.  You never know when my little girl has left some small surprise in the strangest of places, often right in the spot you want to walk.  She may take great joy in pulling all the pegs out of her peg board and jumping on them with her bare feet, but I can tell you that my much older feet don't appreciate such surprises, especially when it's dark in the house.

Yet, one thing I have seen in my little girl is the simple joy that she has when doing things, like playing with her pegs.  She wants to feel and sense the world around her, and therefore, she pulls all the pegs off the board and walks on them.  She jumps up and down on them in joy, laughing the whole time.  And more than once, my wife and I have simply marveled at the joy of life that she shows us time and time again.

As adults, life can easily become dreary.  We get used to demands and pressures, and so we lose the joy of the life that God has given to us.  And then, one of the sad things that can happen is that we start to look at those younger than us, and instead of seeing people "trying on" life to see what works, we see "those darn kids."  We see them getting into trouble, and we wonder what they are thinking.  We see them make a mess, and we focus on the mess rather than on the world of discovery that they are seeing through awe-filled eyes.

But even all of this isn't necessarily the point Jesus made in the story referenced above.  In the day and age and culture of the time of Jesus, children were not "valued" as people value children in our day and age.  A child didn't really "become" anyone of significance until they were grown.  While still children of God's promise, until they reached adulthood, they just simply were not "anybody". 

So when Jesus told His disciples that the one who humbles himself like a child would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, He was speaking of one who would make himself nothing in the eyes of the world.  He would become like a child, a person with no authority, no social standing, no voice.  In becoming humble in such a way, that person would do what was best for others regardless of how others looked upon him.

Jesus Himself was the one who became like this.  Jesus humbled Himself to be one who had no voice, no authority, no social standing.  He became our sin, all to serve us quietly and humbly.  And for that reason, He is now the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, because of what He has done for us.

So the next time you catch yourself looking at what "those darn kids" are doing, just remember, Jesus came to be like them, so that you could become someone in the kingdom of heaven.  And as you remember that, maybe it's a good idea to go and see if you can become a little more childlike, especially in relating to "those darn kids."

Dealing with the Less Gifted

"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."  Romans 12:6-8

"I really wish I could do ____________ like so-and-so does."  Ever caught yourself saying or thinking such a thought?  You see another person, especially a brother or sister in Christ, and you see how they seem to have a gift for something in particular that you seem to be lacking, and you really wish you could do the same thing.

There are many times where we want to be like someone that we perceive as having a greater "quantity" of some spiritual gift that we ourselves seem to be lacking.  And I could spend a whole post on that subject, and perhaps will in the future.  But perhaps you've also been on the other end of this spectrum.  It's the one that looks something like that.

"Why can't so-and-so just ________________ like I do?"  Let's say, for example, that you find it really pretty easy to be generous with your time, money, and possessions.  And then, you look around at many of your fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus, and you wonder why they just cannot seem to do like you find it so easy to do.  They seem to hold on tight-fisted to the things that God has given them, and you wonder why they can't see that freely and generously giving is actually a great blessing.

Could it be that God disperses even these kinds of gifts in different "quantities?"  St. Paul, in the quotation from Romans above, seems to indicate so.  And that presents a challenge to those who have received greater proportions of the gifts. 

Do you look down on others who aren't able to manifest these gifts as easily or well as you are able to?  If so, that's a misuse of the gift that God has given you.  He has given you such a gift to build up the body of Christ, not to look upon yourself as one who is exalted because you received a greater proportion of the gift.  Sure, it's acceptable to serve as an example, but remember, an example is one that demonstrates to others how to be built up in the gift, not to exalt one's self for having the greater proportion.

If you discover that you have been given a greater proportion of a spiritual gift than others, rejoice and be thankful to God.  He has given you a great gift.  At the same time, remember that humility is the best road to follow as you interact with others who have received a lesser proportion of the gift.  Humility strives to teach them, to raise them up, and to see them grow in the gift, rather than exalting yourself at their expense. 

Does God Want Some To Be Poor?

"For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me."  Jesus, recorded in Matthew 26:11

Imagine walking up to a poor person in some large metro downtown and bringing them this message.  "God wanted you to be poor."  Just throw a guess out there as to how well that message would be received.  That doesn't sound like a loving, caring God, right?  Why would God want anyone to be poor? We might not have any difficulty giving thanks to God that He provides far more than we need in life, but we'd probably have a tough time giving thanks to God that He made us poor, if He happened to do so.

Let me toss a question out here for us to think about.  What if God, working in this sinful world, actually does find it helpful to have poor people among us?  What if God wants the people of this world to recognize that they have been given much, and therefore, much is expected to be given from them, and so He provides the poor as the means by which His people develop and grow in generosity?  I know, that seems strange to our way of thinking, but it actually does seem to fit somehow with how God often works in this world.

In Old Testament times, God gave the command to His people that they weren't to harvest their fields all the way to the edges, but were to leave the edges for the poor of the community.  Likewise, they weren't to go back into their fields to see if they missed any of the harvest for the same reason.  God created His people to work in such a way that those who had plenty would intentionally provide for those who had less.  And, as we see in the words of Jesus above, it's as though God knows and expects that we will always have the poor among us, for us to show care and compassion toward.

Does God want some to be poor?  In a sense, I think we often forget that, absent God's grace, we all begin at the level of poor.  God, in His grace, gives to us, and how much He gives is up to Him.  So we shouldn't think of it that God wants some to be poor, but that God does indeed give extravagantly to some, but always with the expectation that they are looking out for those to whom He hasn't given quite as much.  That truly does seem to be a godly thing.

Created To Interact

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ..."  Ephesians 4:11

Over my last couple of posts, I've been writing about how God doesn't create people equally, at least in the respect that we all have the same gifts, same talents, and same aptitudes in this world.  For the most part, we really do get this.  We understand that some people are born with great athletic talent, others with great intellectual talent, others with great social talent, still others with great leadership talent, and so forth.  Often, we find ourselves wishing that we could have some of those talents that we see in others.

During our lives in this world, we face an interesting situation.  We desperately want to fit in with others, and yet, we also want to be unique.  I have seen these competing desires play themselves out in many different ways in the lives of people.  (As a side note, we don't outgrow this as we grow up.  We might think it's a teenage thing, but it really does still touch us all.)  As people, we struggle to be unique, and yet to fit in with others.

The thing is, as God would design it, we can actually celebrate both our uniqueness and how we are designed to fit in with each other.  It's actually not about looking the same, or having the same gifts, talents, and abilities.  It's much more about discovering how we "fit together" as God's people.  And that's where the verse quoted above actually sheds a lot of light on this for us.

God gave different people different gifts, talents, and roles.  St. Paul realized that, and wrote about how those are all to work together to build up the body.  They aren't to each argue that they are more important than the others.  They aren't to be held up as one being greater than another.  Rather, they are meant to be complementary.  In fact, I would even be so bold as to suggest that, if one of these is missing, then the body is suffering from a lack.

God created us to interact with each other in our uniqueness.  But the thrilling thing to discover is that God fits us together, much in the same way a puzzle fits together.  God provides the pieces, and no two look alike.  Yet, they are all needed for the picture to look correct. 

What do we take away from this?  God created you different from others, but He did so with the intent that you interact with others to build up the body of Christ.  You are a necessary part of it, just as are the other members and parts.  Each is to be celebrated, embraced, and interacted with.

More To Some, Less To Others

I know that most people don't enjoy reading through some parts of the Bible.  In particular, the book we call Leviticus tends not to be one of the more favorite books.  Part of the reason for this is that the different sacrifices are explained in great detail, what they are, how they are to be offered, and other matters like that.  Since there is relatively little action, such mundane matters often get overlooked for the more exciting stories.

However, if you read through the book, there's one thing that really stands out.  God intentionally doesn't give to an entire tribe of His people.  He doesn't give land to them, and that means that God seems to also be depriving them of the opportunity to plant crops and raise animals to sustain themselves.  The tribe of the Levites basically gets left out of the inheritance of the land, and at God's express command.

Why is this?  Well, one significant part of it is that God had set aside the Levites to oversee the rituals and practices of the sacrifices on behalf of God's people.  They were to dedicate themselves to this.  And so, God seems to have set up a way in which they could focus completely on such a task, and not have to worry about things like farming and husbandry.  It is as though God said, "Concentrate on your task, and I'll make sure you get fed and taken care of."

That leads almost directly to what I see as a second, and maybe equally as important, reason for setting up this system.  One thing we often hear God saying is that His people are to love their neighbor as themselves.  God gives much to some, and it almost seems as though He gives that abundance to them just so they can share with those who have less than they do.  In the context of the setting up of the Promised Land, God gave much to the other tribes, and then left the Levites to rely upon their provision, simply so that the people would have to practice charity and generosity in caring for their priests.

We often get taken by the idea of equality, especially in the country I live in.  But what if God gives more to some and less to others, not because it's a statement about their relative worth, but because God truly wants to see to it that His people practice charity and generosity.  What if God gives more to some and less to others specifically with the purpose of showing the importance of loving our neighbor as ourselves?

What if, in the end, God isn't so much concerned with equality, as He is with keeping His will and design for life, which includes charity, generosity, and also the humility to accept graciously what others have been given to provide?  And if that is the case, where do you happen to find yourself standing in that equation?

Equality and God

In Luke 16:19-31, we have a rather interesting story from Jesus.  From the outset, I should say that I take Jesus at His word, so if He tells this story as though it actually happened, I'm going to go on the assumption that it actually did happen.  I'd encourage you to read through it briefly before you continue on with this post.  (You should be able to move your cursor over the Bible reference and have it pop up for you.)

Over the past few years, I have become very intrigued at how God has made us human beings.  We have a dual nature, or perhaps it would be better to say, we have two natures that exist together.  We have a physical nature, evidenced by the body we inhabit.  We also have a spiritual nature, evidenced by our mind and soul, those things that simply cannot be described or explained.  (As a sidenote, I've never heard a scientist come up with a reasonable response to how a "soul" or "spirit" came into being.) 

The reason I bring this up is because we live those two natures out at the same time.  Understanding them helps to bring some sense to some of the things God says in the Bible, including the topic of equality.  So, with no further ado, the question for the day.  Does God see us all as equal?

In one sense, yes, He does.  We are all His beloved creation.  God made every single one of us special, according to His own will and design.  Taking that a step further, because we have all inherited a nature from our first father and mother, that of sin, we also are all equal in that we are sinful in the eyes of the righteous God.  That one isn't such good news for us, but it does remind us that we are equal in some respects in God's eyes.

However, God does not dole out His gifts in this world on an equal basis.  Look at the story I referenced above.  It seems pretty clear that God gave good to the rich man, and God didn't give that much good to Lazarus.  We also see this in several other places, in regard to things such as spiritual gifts, where we are told that God gives His gifts according to His design, not according to equality.  Some were given much, and much was expected.  Others were given little, so that those given much might share with them and truly show neighborly love.

We'll dive a bit further into this, but let's just say that God does see us as equal, and yet, at the same time, God doesn't see us as equal.  We'll look at this a bit more in future posts.

The Message, and the Messenger

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us..."  St. Paul, recorded in 2 Corinthians 5:20a.

It's something that probably has caught us all at one time or another.  We start to think about some aspect of God's work that we are engaged in, and we start to take an approach to it along the lines of, "Whatever it takes to get the job done."  In one respect, that's a commendable approach.  Truly, God desires to see His people give sacrificially of their own selves when it comes to benefiting His eternal reign.  Our goal is something bigger than this world, than ourselves.

At the same time, there is also a troubling aspect that this approach can present.  We may think, "Whatever it takes to get the job done," but what if it comes at the expense of other things that God has also directed us toward in our lives?  Perhaps the best way to think about this is to give an example.

There are many who have felt compelled to leave behind family and home to serve God in one way or another.  Honestly, there are those that God calls to such a task.  However, even as we think that God may call some to such a task, the thing that God makes clear is that we are not to abandon our God-given responsibilities to others simply to "get the job done." 

In some ways, this strikes home to me as a pastor in some very real ways.  I could easily tie up 7 evenings a week with the work of ministry.  Some would see that kind of a sacrifice and say, "Wow, there is really someone who will do whatever it takes to get the job done."  They might even commend me for such action.  It seems to demonstrate that the work of God is above all other things.

However, what if such an approach comes at the expense of my family?  Here's where I think that we can too often get this wrong.  In my life, the first responsibility that God has given is to the family.  We are to show sacrificial love for those that God has given in our families.  Throughout the pages of Scripture, a man's first directive continues to be to love his wife, and to care for her.  As God provides children, his care expands to include them.

Here's the meat of this post.  If I take the approach that, "Whatever it takes to get the job done", but it comes at the expense of that which God has first and foremost called me to, I am actually working contrary to God's will and design.  If I am willing to lay aside what Scripture teaches about my responsibility to my family because I'm more concerned about some "big picture" aspect of ministry, then I am sinning against my family.  The very foundation of society, and life in this world, begins with the family.  Outside of my faithfulness to God, my family is my primary responsibility in the world.

Of course, the family has to understand that there are times when other needs demand extra time.  However, that should not become the pattern for life.  The message and the messenger need to be in alignment.  If I am tossing aside part of God's design and will for my life to serve other parts, then it basically amounts to me picking and choosing what is important to God, and what isn't.  And that's an improper approach to the will and design of God.

Instead, as God's people, we seek to demonstrate God's will and design in all that we are and do.  And that begins with the care and devotion that our family deserves.  Yes, at times, my family has to make a sacrifice, such as when a meeting comes up on an evening, and I have to be absent from them.  However, I also demonstrate that primary responsibility when I occasionally will bypass on a meeting or ministry opportunity because I need the time with my family.  That's when the message and the messenger are in alignment with God's will and design.

God makes His appeal through us.  As we live our lives, I hope and pray that we strive to show faithfulness to our families and to the ministries we are involved with, and that we find a way to show that both are in line with God's will and design.