Man of Your Word

Resolving paradox and addressing conflict remains two of the most difficult skills to master.  I continue to see evidence that issues with these areas trip us up more than any other.

An example of resolving paradox is how we respond to the workings of our faith and the conviction of our beliefs on our lives.  All around we see injustice and arrogance, self-centered expressions of free will and rebellion.  To walk with faith we must daily reconcile this with a conviction of faith.  How do we go forth boldly then when so little around us seems fair, just, or honorable?  How do we keep from overlooking our failures in the light of irresistable grace?

You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"
- Romans 9:19,20

There are appropriate ways to submit our lives to His will, and proper ways to express our questioning and to voice our lack of faith to our Savior, even as we walk.

Consider in Luke 1 when Gabriel comes to the Mary and says, "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus."  Talk about addressing conflict and resolving paradox!  Rightly taken back and bewildered, Mary could have been dismissive or disbelieving.  Instead she asked clearly, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?". The important thing is notice that she didn't say or even imply that it couldn't happen. She wanted simply to know the "How?"

Compare this with another visit from the might Gabriel upon Zechariah who was to be the father of John the Baptist. When Gabriel says, "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John", Zechariah responded with skepticism and a challenge "How shall I know this?" How will you prove it to me is a much different answer which Gabriel did not like. The angel responds , "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time".

From this we must conclude that humble questioning and a teachable attitude will be well received. Wanting to understand about the how and the why God does what He does is acceptable. After all, the same angel responded to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you". Just because it wasn't the answer you expected, doesn't mean it won't be the answer you need.

Labels: learning

Late last night I had an opportunity to fellowship with one of my mentors.  Some struggles with schedules, work, and focus had been cluttering my mind lately and I relished the objective conversation.

During our time, I was repeatedly pointed back to Scripture, 1 Timothy specifically.  As I let hot water consume me this morning, the song Guard The Trust by Steve Camp came up on my IPod.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
-- 1 Timothy 1:12-14

Sometimes, the truth you need is the truth you know.  I have referenced Timothy for other people so frequently that perhaps it just became rote.  Does that ever happen to you?  You find yourself singing the words because you know them, not because you mean them?  You say the prayer because of the habit not the heart?

In this case, stepping back to re-read the book instead of skipping to the pointed passages removed the scales from my eyes.  This little shot of encouragement was all that was needed to reset my foundation and give me the clarity to address reality.  Sort of like when I skip work-outs over a weekend and I feel tired on Monday.  My first thought is I need to catch up on sleep.  If I do that, invariably I find myself off to a slow start the next morning.  But if I jump into a workout, the endorphins kick in and I perk right up and move strongly into the week.

Once again my bumbling has proven that if you are truly seeking, the truth will find you no matter how lost you've become.

Labels: learning

We've all heard (or been a part of) the story about the believer with and unsaved friend. The believer prays for the friend every day, year in and year out, for many years. Finally, just when the believer is ready to give up, the friend has an experience and comes into the fold. Now hearing a soul saved makes my joy resound like it would for any Believer. My take-away from`the story, however, I find to be greatly differing from many. At least my hubris tells me this.

You see, for myself, the story is not a particularly great testament to perserverance or commitment or the power of prayer or any of the traditional bells rung from this tale. For me, it serves a clear counter-point to the not-by-works infestation of laziness and relativism that pervades modern Christianity.

It seems so often to me that the Church compromises the hard back-bone right out of our faith. If you aren't impacting the world around you, it could be that you aren't working at it. If you are constantly besieged by the trials of adultery, greed, or some such, then simply saying "Oops! Good thing I'm saved!" isn't an acceptable answer. Sure, the occasional mistep, the infrequent lapse in character is to be expected. Our failures are part and parcel of our humanity. They don't diminish the person we are or our Salvation in the least.  It is when we fail to keep striving, fail to remember that following Christ IS work, that is when we are defeated. Then our fruit will cease to bear, our actions become meaningless, and our hearts will harden.

Because we are saved, doesn't mean we stop reaching. The sweeping grace that gives us immeasurable freedom in no way removes from us the responsibility to perservere, to struggle, to attempt.

Salvation demands Faith.
Faith inspires the Walk.
The Walk requires Work.
Work succeeds by Faith.
Faith allows Salvation.

It's not quite the circle of life, but it's my immature way of expressing how these things are connected.

Labels: learning

They say that work is hard and that's why they call it work. But for me, faith is much harder than works. Did someone goof it up? Or is this just another case of runaway semantics causing grief.

Don Richardson in his wonderful book Eternity in Their Hearts wrote what would be my most favorite, and often used quotes:


Simple, elegant, correct. This is the profound kind of wisdom that I can mimic and pretend understand. I flail about with words like these as if I were capable of the finesse and subtlety required to truly wield them well. In giving last minute advice to friends I may not see for some time, I bludgeon him with truths until finally he objects no more. Such lousy counsel I. But he walks in faith, or at least I've seen it's shadow in his life. So circumspectly I grant myself leave to trust him and thrust at him my tools and truths. Only afterward running down the thought that says "too much!" and "leave off, fool!".

Perhaps it is just flattery on my part. Give them unabashed assistance and let them sort out what they may. Sink, swim, or sail it truly is their own way. Let their dynamism run and then I resign myself to fuel and fire only. My experiences vast are simple fodder for their feast. I can live with this I think. But that's only because I am lazy and inept. Were I skilled and suited I would surely surpass this stopping point. My own internals would combust and drive me onwards still towards my own conclusion, not this silly stopping point.

So which is Forgiveness? Is it the hardest work, or the hardest faith? Or perhaps it is a work of faith?

Labels: accountability, learning

This last round of vacations left me with several notes about busy-ness. Everyone I knew seemed to be in a race against the clock. Most of the time, this was more at a subconscious or even unconscious level than deliberate, hurrying up. For myself, as an example, it was a morning when I became faintly aware of the alarm clock's grating buzz. Unfortunatley, I was utterly unable to respond to it. Finally coming awake and into full consciousness, I felt a momentary grip of panic as I realized how late it was and how much I still had to do.

Mornings like that one can be disconcerting and disturbing, because of what inevitably happens. My attention gets fixated on the activities and the doing, rather than the moments that precede it. I stop enjoying the experience of dining and conversation, I don't actually relish the smiles of those around me. I don't remember why I'm running around in the first place. The danger perceived in these moments is that I have somehow lost time. As I pondered, this I was reminded of the theologian Donald Nicholl who stated it simply: "You don't notice the small things if you are moving fast. Suppose the person you most love is in a railroad station and you are looking for one another. If she stands still and you pass through the station at 100 miles per hour, you will not find each other."

When I find myself moving too quickly, I miss the subtle moments of surprise and grace that are always present. These are the moments that often go unnoticed. I don't want my days off to become hurried times where I ungraciously attempt to snatch a quick glance at a newspaper before launching into the seemingly endless errands and responsibilities of daily life that have been put on hold the rest of the year. Time is one of the most challenging aspects of becoming simple because we are so helpless to change time itself. Invariably we move in only two directions. Either we move quickly trying to make more of the time we do have, or we limit what we will do to savor the time and make it last. Both are distortions of the truth. Neither approach will make our lives more meaningful. Doing more and quickly means we cease to live fully with deliberate attention. Doing less and slowly means we become so focused on time that we miss out on life and legacy.

So how do I school myself to live in the present? It starts with the following questions:

• If you had a day all to yourself, with no responsibilities, how would you spend it?
• If you had an unlimited amount of time, with whom would you spend it?
• If you were put into a magical time machine, and when you stepped out time would stop for one year, what would you do with that extra year of life?
• When you see God face to face, what will you want to say about how you spent the time you were given?

Of course, that's just me. And after all, I lead a semi-charmed life.

Labels: learning

Back to Philemon...

Good works can't be forced.  They can't be an obligation or come from pressure.  For it to count as righteousness, it must be an act of personal conscious choice.  This is why Paul relinquishes Onesimus to Philemon.  He does so explaining that this once worthless slave, is no so valued (through salvation) that Paul would have like to keep him on to help with the work of the gospel.

So far, Paul has entreated to his relationship with Philemon, appealed to his sense of responsibility as a believer, and pointed out the change in relationship that now exists between master and slave.  He then goes on to address the more pragmatic aspects of the rift.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self.

What clever and direct way to lay out his expectations and cleanly deal with the practical side of this reconciliation.

This letter from Paul summarizes so precisely our relationship with our Savior, so cleanly our position in Salvation, so richly our value even as slaves.  It takes faith to see so clearly, faith to walk so purely.

"For we are all His Onesimi, to my thinking."
-- Martin Luther

Labels: learning

In Paul's letter to Philemon there is a lesson in tact and elegance.  He uses great carefulness and wisdom, articulating a diplomacy which is not the same as policy and worldly shrewdness.  Not a human normality, this consideration and sympathy springs from a genuine love. It is important to note that he does not at any other time use flattery, or act with double motives (2 Cor. 1:12; 1 Thess. 1:3-5).  Because his walk was clean, so all the courtesy and skill displayed in this letter are shown to be the sincere and unstudied expression of a heart that is sensitive and wise in love, which is the fruit of the Spirit.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved and fellow-worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the church in thy house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

After setting the stage by reiterating the relationships they shared he further introduces his awareness of their situations, shared struggles, and progress.  He does this in a forward-looking way preparing him for the entreaties which follow.  It has been well said that "We may never go back, but there is a point from which we will never go onward." The non-obvious failure that becomes possible here is mightily insidious because it can leave the heart unaware and complacent. When Paul heard how the gospel had taken hold in a church or in a Christian and was bearing good fruit, he turned to intercession on their behalf right away.  When someone starts making the right steps, you stop praying for them to get moving and start praying that they keep moving.  (Eph. 1:15-19; 3:14-19).

But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good — no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.

We are previously reminded that Paul could have commanded obedience by virtue of authority, but that would not have the full benefit.  Through these words we see that he is just as concerned with the growth of the master as the life of the slave.

Isn't a small gift better than a large tax?  So much of true affection is the offerings we submit to each other.  When we serve each other from obligation or expectation, it is a sliding slope which leads quickly to resentment.

My own tunnel-vision became apparent here as I realized how far-reaching our vision must be when taking into account the length of forever.  It is one thing to consider your relationships here on earth, but far greater to remember them in perspective to that one day when we gather together to praise Him in the ever-after.

We're not done with Philemon yet...

Labels: learning

My recent quiet time included some study on the book of Philemon.  A short, often overlooked epistle because it's scope appears at first read less volumunious than others.  In reality, it is a mirror reflecting the whole of the Christian walk within a small interaction amongst a few men.

At the heart of the issue driving the letter is that Onesimus, a slave, has run away from his master, Philemon, who is a Christian. Onesimus, the slave, arrives in Rome and there somehow comes into contact with Paul who at the time was a prisoner. Through his contact with Paul he becomes a Believer.  Paul's commentary lays out first and foremost that Onesimus must return to his master.

This straight-forward direction is laden with this meaning and context.  For a slave to be a fugitive was one of the worst offenses possible at the time. It was considered normal and in fact expected that a runaway slaves once caught were to be crucified out of hand.  A simple beating until he was bloody and unconscious would be too light a punishment demanded by the culture and custom.  In light of this, it must be clearly understood that Paul in the writing, Philemon in the reading, and Onesimus in the hearing were all profoundly aware of the specific sacrifices demanded of each.

How can Paul so cleanly apply the gospel to this situation?  How does one deliver such a message?  I'll add more thoughts on this in the next several posts.

Labels: learning