This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from our campus pastors’ sermons on I Peter 5:6-11 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday December 17-18, 2011.
Peter is writing to Christians who have chosen to leave their homes and homeland over renouncing their faith. Living in another country as foreigners has resulted in many forms of suffering: persecution from authority figures (2:13-25), marriages in shambles (3:1-7), doubt about whether the sacrifice was worth it (3:8-22), and many temptations to sin as form of self-medicating / mentally escaping their suffering (4:1-5).
As Peter concludes his letter, he knows these dear friends must be afraid and multiplying their fear would be a creeping, growing doubt of God’s love (5:7). Whenever we face fear and doubt rooted in suffering, one of our most basic instincts is to turn to self-reliance. We think (sometimes not out loud), “Life isn’t playing by the rules. Bad things are happening to me for reasons I have not caused. God must have failed. I’m going to have to figure this out on my own.”
Peter sees this subtle, desperate pride that suffering causes to seem so “logical.” He has just encouraged these Christian to entrust themselves to God even when they suffer unjustly (4:12-19) and he knows what it will take fulfill this instruction – humility (5:6).
Notice how Peter speaks to the suffering-based anxiety of his readers (we should remember that both the message and tone of Scripture is divinely inspired). Peter calls them to humility with a promise of God’s blessing (“so at the proper time he may exalt you”), a timely application (“casting all your anxieties upon him”), and reminder of God’s love (“because he cares for you”).
Peter’s tone with suffering-based anxiety is different than Paul’s tone with sin-based anxiety (Phil. 4:1-9). In this context Paul is rebuking two ladies (Euodia and Syntyche) who are feuding. Based upon the flow of the passage their feud is causing a disgruntled fear and a persistent focus on what is wrong, bad, incomplete, unjust, or not according to their preference.
Paul is more direct (“do not be anxious”) and emphatic (“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice”). Yet even in confronting this sin-based anxiety, Paul still holds out the promises of God (“the peace of God… will guard your hearts and your minds”) and affirms God’s love (“the God of peace will be with you”).
We see in this that the solution for anxiety is the same – trust in the faithful promises of God accompanied by a belief that God truly cares for you – but that the tone of conversation that leads into these conversations changes based upon whether the anxiety emanates from a source of sin or suffering. For sin-based anxiety, the call is to repent and believe. For suffering-based anxiety the call is to trust and believe.
I think Paul would agree with this distinction and even wrote about this difference in tone in I Thessalonians 5:14, “And we urge you brothers, admonish the idle [disorderly or undisciplined], encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” Different heart-dispositions call for different pastoral/counseling tones—if we only ask, “What does the Bible say about [blank]?” we miss, or at least forget to look for, this.
I think Peter would say that whether anxiety is suffering-based or sin-based that Satan intends to use it for the same purpose—namely to devour our lives. Satan does not care what he uses to destroy our lives: the selfishness of sin or the despair of suffering. As long as he gets our eyes off of Christ and causes a doubt in God that causes us to turn in on ourselves, Satan is delighted.
What is the point? Why does this matter? When we see the situation-specific ways that God spoke to similar life struggles it allows us to see Him as more wise and more caring. The call to trust God as compassionate, which is at the core for both Paul and Peter, becomes more believable.
When we see God this way, it changes the way that we speak to one another on God’s behalf. We ask more questions and learn how to speak the gospel to the same issue (in this case anxiety) in different circumstances (both sin and suffering). We become more complete and accurate ambassadors of God’s heart for His children and the world.
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago at 12:24 pm. 3 comments
Case Study: If there was a word that Amy hated it was “politics.” She wasn’t good at it and didn’t want to be. Falsely she hoped that by never running for public office, she would be able to avoid it. But unfortunately politics is not the exclusive domain of professionals.
Two other women in her office knew what was “best” for the business. They were not the owners, or even the manager, but these women “had the boss’s ear.” Amy didn’t even realize she was setting off an office bomb when she offered to take on a new responsibility in order to gain some extra pay. But later she learned the significance of “by-passing” the “powers that be.”
Her two co-workers, who were peers by position title, were offended that Amy would try to show them up and cheat them out of money. Amy thought everyone knew her husband was a construction worker and that they were facing hard times during the down economy. Their husbands had stable salaried jobs.
The spin was ferocious. Soon Amy was a silent, distant, money-grabbing, power-player who wasn’t interested in the team atmosphere of the office. It was as if the other two women were professional character developers for a sitcom writer. Amy soon had a type-cast role that reinterpreted her every response. Whenever Amy finally spoke up, the other women were indignant that Amy would accuse them of slander “after all Amy had done.” This only made matters worse.
Amy’s first response was fear and her second response was hurt. She woke up at night thinking about losing her job. Then she thought about how miserable it would be to stay at her job now. Her 13 years at the office seemed like they had been thrown away in one innocent request for extra work for extra pay to supplement her family income. For weeks she cried frequently while eating, sleeping, or talking infrequently.
One day she started looking for words for her experience in the Bible (she didn’t know where else to look). She began in the Psalms and didn’t make it to the second page before she reached Psalm 4 and read her story written before she lived it. She returned to this Psalm often and even personalized it in her own words.
Pre-Questions: This case study is meant to challenge you to think biblically about the real struggles of life. These questions will not be answered completely in the sections below. But they do represent the kind of struggles that are being wrestled with in Psalm 4. Use the question to both stir application and to give you new insight into the psalm.
- What is the hardest part of being blind-sided by consequences that don’t naturally flow from your actions?
- How does a lie create an “alternative narrative” for your life that reinterprets your every action?
- How should Amy find the strength and courage to persevere in her difficult work environment?
- How should Amy respond to the fear and hurt she feels?
Read Psalm 4 in your preferred Bible translation. The “rewrite” of Psalm 4 below is an attempt to capture the words that God would give Amy to pray (Romans 8:26-27). This would be something Amy would need to pray many times as she struggled with insecurity.
A re-write of Psalm 4
1. Lord, I need you now. Please here me when I pray. I was trying to follow You even when this mess got started. You are bigger than this crisis and You offer more peace than a paycheck but I sometimes don’t see that. Be patient with me as I pray through this same thing many times.
2. How long will these two women spin my attempt to work hard as if it was an under-handed action? How long will they enjoy creating scenarios to reframe my words and seek for ways to substantiate their revisionist history?
3. Lord, I know You have saved me and set me apart for Yourself. That is why I can pray to You with confidence. I am Your child long before and long after I am their co-worker. You define me. I am not sure they even know me.
4. Lord, Cause them to be angry for the right reason (at deceit or laziness, not willingness to work hard). If they were angry at the right things they wouldn’t sin like this. Cause them to ponder integrity night and day and with each waking thought.
5. Show them their actions are not right. Show them the type of work and relationships You bless. Cause them to put their trust in You rather than their “pull” within the office.
6. Lord, I am sure they would say, “We think we are doing the right thing. Show us where we are wrong. If God can be against what we are for, we must not know God.” I can’t break through that kind of thinking. Lord, only You can. I give them to You.
7. Lord, I have more joy in You than they do in all their power and clout. I don’t want what they have and they can’t take what You give. When I remember this, I can avoid being drawn into a competition I don’t want to win.
8. This gives me a rest that I haven’t known in weeks. Lord, only You can allow a person to rest well in uncertain times. Keep this perspective impressed in my thoughts as I sleep, when I wake, as I go to work, and when I return home. Safety is neither a place or a dollar amount; it is being with You. Thank You for being ever-present.
Passages for Further Study: Psalm 55:19-23; Proverbs 26:4-5, 23-28; Jeremiah 9:7-9; Matthew 5:2-12; Mark 7:14-23
Post Questions: Now that you have read Psalm 4, examined how Amy might rewrite it for her situation, and studied several other passages, consider the following questions:
- In what ways does the action of being lied about tempt Amy to take her focus off of God? How does this affect the things she thinks about and what she feels?
- How does the “effectiveness” of lying shape the way we define “success” in life?
- How would your answers to the “pre-questions” have changed as a result of reflecting on Psalm 4?
- For what instances of being lied about or relational betrayal do you need to re-write your own version of Psalm 4?
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 2:14 pm. 1 comment
Effective Biblical Counseling can never be reduced to the question, “What does the Bible say about [topic]?” Both life and counseling require more than having the right answer to a question. Counseling (or Christian friendship that seeks to embody the “one another” commands of the New Testament) is when one person joins another on his/her journey to cultivate more of the fruit of the Spirit in his/her life by overcoming some life struggle.
What you find below should be considered the “map” for this journey. God’s Word helps us see both where we are (stuck in sin and/or suffering) and where we want to be. The Summit counseling ministry hopes you find both direction and encouragement for your journey in these passages.
This list is updated periodically.
It is not God’s design for us to live in fear and anxiety.
Philippians 4:5-9, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
A characteristic mark of growing in Christian maturity is peace.
Galatians 5:22-26, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
The most important question during anxiety is, “Where will I turn for peace?”
Psalm 56:3-4, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”
Daily responsibilities bring anxiety and we battle to focus on the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35, “I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”
Our concern for others produces anxieties that are rooted in compassion.
2 Corinthians 11:28-29, “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?”
Anxiety can be physically exhausting.
Proverbs 12:25, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”
God is concerned about and wants to hear what troubles our souls.
1 Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
Worry does not change life and is of no benefit.
Psalm 127:2, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”
Anxiety ultimately expresses unbelief in God’s willingness or ability to care for us.
Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Other Passages to Study: Proverbs 3:24-26; Isaiah 9:6, 12:12, 26:3; John 14:1-6, 25-29, 16:33; Romans 8:6; Ephesians 2:14-22; Colossians 3:14-17, 2 Thessalonians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:6-7
Other Topics to Consider: Character, Change Process, Codependency, Contentment, Decision Making, Emotions (General), Self-Esteem
Posted 1 year ago at 1:35 pm. 1 comment
Case Study: Alan has always been a little up tight. While he has never had a panic attack or called in sick to work because of his anxiety, Alan doesn’t really know what peace is. The things that really eat at Alan’s thought life are financial stability and social rejection.
Alan has a modest to above average job and his wife works. They chose to only have two children because Alan was fearful about providing for more than two (his wife was fine with that). His family lives well within their means, avoids debt, and saves aggressively for retirement. But Alan still has this nagging doubt about whether they are doing “enough.”
His wife only gets upset when Alan questions her after a shopping trip and when he resists planning family vacations. She knows he is sincerely fearful about money, but it does begin to feel controlling after a while. She keeps reminding him not to live so much for the future that he misses the present.
Alan’s friends are slightly less understanding. They have a good time with Alan’s fears. There are perpetual jabs about all the things he does to “save a dime.” It is obvious how much he wants to be accepted and the way this magnifies the impact of their jokes is obvious to everyone.
While no emergency has popped us, Alan is beginning to feel emotionally exhausted. His wife and doctor have brought up depression several times, but Alan knows he is just mentally spent from wrestling with his anxiety. Over the last several months Alan has become increasingly aware of how his fear of rejection has caused him to isolate himself and his fear regarding money has sapped any joy in generosity (even gifts to his family).
Alan doesn’t enjoy life right now. He feels like he is doing everything “by the book” in managing his life and living to please everyone else, but he is growing jealous of the world. As he sits alone at the computer checking the financial accounts after his family goes to sleep, Alan prays to God for help.
Pre-Questions: This case study is meant to challenge you to think biblically about the real struggles of life. These questions will not be answered completely in the sections below. But they do represent the kind of struggles that are being wrestled with in Psalm 112. Use the question to both stir application and to give you new insight into the psalm.
- How would you answer Alan’s frustration as he explained he was just trying to do things the right way and please those he cared about?
- What would you say in response to Alan’s wife’s and doctor’s concern regarding depression?
- How should Alan and his wife address their differences in financial philosophy?
- How would you advise Alan to cultivate and find greater joy in being generous?
Read Psalm 112 in your preferred Bible translation. The “rewrite” of Psalm 112 below is an attempt to capture the words that God would give Alan to pray (Romans 8:26-27). This would be something Alan would need to pray many times as he struggled to surrender his anxiety to the Lord.
A re-write of Psalm 112
1. The Lord be praised… I know that’s how I should start a prayer. It’s true but… The people who really do fear the Lord (more than rejection or retirement) really are blessed. Living simply to please the Lord in daily decisions and enjoying it, would be a dream life. Why do I make it harder than that for myself?
2. My kids would benefit immensely if we made the decision to please the Lord more than as a reaction to my fears. Lord, I hear my kids bounce between echoing my fears and mocking them. Neither response is training them in the “fear and instruction of You.” I could give them the whole world but if I help them forfeit their soul to security and acceptance, I will have destroyed them.
3. Lord, you are my security. I know that even when I ignore it. Everything minus you is nothing and I always feel like I have nothing because I am always focused on everything. You have provided for us and yet I feel the need to control, hence doubt eats my peace. The only wealth that lasts is a godly character; that is the currency of eternity.
4. I have always felt dark because of where I have been putting my trust. Lord you are gracious, merciful, and righteous. Those are the qualities of trustworthiness. Money is void character because it has no life. Why was I trying to trust something dead? Can death give life?
5. Now generosity makes more sense. Generosity is imitation not an investment. I always doubted whether You would really give me my money back if I were generous. When I am generous You give me more of Yourself; I become more like You. That could give me the peace I have so desperately been longing for.
6. That would give me the emotional stability I have lacked. I wanted security and acceptance and got nothing. No one paid attention to anything I said, because they knew it would change with the ebb and flow of my most recent fears. If someone was upset with my frugality, I would commit to their desire. Once it came time to follow through, I would grow fearful and back out. My words weren’t worth remembering.
7. I remember how I hated the words, “Guess what?” I assumed the worst and read the worst into whatever I heard. Living only to please you would strengthen my heart. You are a fair and just God. You can be pleased in good times and bad, unlike financial markets and people.
8. I have not felt this way in years… if ever! By fearing You, my temporal fears have become irrelevant and I like it. I used to replay my friend’s taunts in my mind and feel my soul shrivel. When I know I am loved by You and embrace You as my security, I can replay their words and nothing happens. Nothing, I don’t even need a clever come back!
9. This is more blessing than I can stand. I must share something or I will burst. I laugh as I hear myself say those words. That is not me talking. That is You talking in me. You, Lord, are causing springs of Your character to erupt in my heart as I find my security in You. That is a source of peace and strength that can be sustained. Lord, help me not look to another source of security again.
10. My friends won’t know what to do with me. Now that their entertainment at my expense is gone, they’ll be angry. They’ll give me a hard time for ruining their fun. Lord, do with their desire for entertainment through derogatory humor what You did with my desire for security through money and acceptance. Liberate them from their wicked desires as You have liberated me!
Passages for Further Study: Proverbs 29:25; Matthew 6:19-34, 18:21-35
Post Questions: Now that you have read Psalm 112, examined how Alan might rewrite it for his situation, and studied several other passages, consider the following questions:
- How does the source of someone’s sense of security impact their level of anxiety?
- How did a change in perspective on his struggles change Alan’s perspective on his family and friends?
- How would your answers to the “pre-questions” have changed as a result of reflecting on Psalm 112?
- For what instances of anxiety do you need to re-write your own version of Psalm 112?
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 1:41 pm. Add a comment
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
Let me start by acknowledging how much I dislike this post. I frequently say that I wish patience was a spiritual gift instead of a fruit of the Spirit so I could say, “I didn’t get that one.” Waiting and patience are not my thing (apart from God’s grace and the surrender of my will).
But let’s start by considering how exhausting it is when we fail to wait upon the Lord. Even if God did nothing to reward our waiting upon Him, we would feel renewed from the absence of worrying, fretting, what if-ing, fear-based planning, and other control-rooted behaviors in our life.
In this case, obedience could truly be its own reward and be a steal of a deal. We would rid ourselves of things that ate away at our life (with no short-term, pleasurable reward like other sins) and get peace in return. That is a trade we should be looking to make all day long.
Yet I think we can take this verse much further. When we wait upon the Lord we are expecting God to be present in the process not just the outcome. Too often we look at the end product of a decision or situation and grade God exclusively upon that. If we like the outcome, then God was good, for us, or listening. If we do not like the outcome, then God was unfair, against us, or silent.
When this is the case, then the whole time we are “waiting” (different connotation to the word) we are trying to figure out if God cares. We are feeding the belief system that Scripture might not be true. We know what the Bible says, but life could invalidate it at any moment. This is like living in the crunch-time moment of your favorite sporting event all the time – it’s exhausting.
When we truly wait upon the Lord, we expect God to be active the process of our decision or situation. We recognize that God is constantly shaping our character (and appreciate His kindness in doing so). Our expectation is that each moment of life should draw us to trust Him more and that is the outcome we desire most in every situation.
This gives us the vitalizing sense of God’s presence and care even before we know the outcome. We are now renewed, so that even if the outcome is not what we desire we have the strength and confidence by God’s grace to persevere. When we fail to wait on the Lord we are so depleted by the time we get to the outcome, that if the outcome is bad we despair.
I must confess I should like this post more. I see the truth in it. It makes sense to me. But it calls me to surrender control (which I don’t really have) in order to get peace (which I really want). I think if I can remember this it will make the moments in life that I like least, some of the most precious and valuable to me. That would be a powerful act of God’s redemptive grace in my sinful heart.
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago at 1:32 pm. Add a comment
Stewardship of God’s Grace (3:2)
Usually when we talk about stewardship in the church it either means we are talking about money (because we are behind budget) or time (because we need nursery workers). Before you click off this blog, in this case we are talking about neither. We are talking about God’s grace, the Gospel. We are not merely partakers of God’s grace and we are not owners of it. We are stewards – it has been entrusted to us by the Owner that we would carry out His will with it.
One key component of being a good steward is to frequently examine your use of the object. If you leave someone to steward (watch out and care for as you would) your child, pet, or home, you would expect that they regularly had their eyes on it and thought about it frequently. Paul obviously did this with the Gospel. He was overcome by what he had been given to take to the world and could not get his mind off of it.
Application: Get an object that reminds you of the Gospel and keep it in your pocket (something like a small cross or a wooden “G”). As you load your pockets in the morning, as you reach for your keys or change throughout the day, and as you unload your pockets at night, ask yourself, “How did I do at being a steward of God’s grace?” Reflect on the day for opportunities you may have missed and what you could have said or done to be a better steward. This makes for great conversation at the family dinner table.
Confidence Through Our Faith in Christ
(BCH_Eph3A_handout for Printable PDF Handout)
It is almost hard to think of confidence without the prefix “self” attached to it. But Scripture speaks much more of faith-confidence than self-confidence. We find that again in Ephesians 3:12, “with confidence through our faith in him [Christ].”
Ironically, we only need faith when we have come to the end of our “self.” Until we come to the end of our self we only need determination, education, training, or opportunity. Once we come to the end of our self, we need faith; it is the only hope we have left.
Consider the following questions to help you assess whether your confidence (which is a good attribute for a Christian to cultivate) is in self or Christ by faith.
- When you are fearful or anxious do you first plan harder or pray?
- Are you able to face a challenge with a restful heart?
- Do you see God as the source of your talents and abilities?
- Do you see God as the source of your opportunities and good breaks?
- When you give advice do you mention relying on God?
- Do you succumb to self-abasement after a failure?
- Do you succumb to self-pity after a bad break?
- Is your prayer life marked by gratitude?
- Do you succumb to a fear of failure to avoid embarrassment?
- Are you willing to confess your sins to God and others?
- Are you able to attempt great things for God while maintaining humility?
Faith-confidence is a work in progress for every one of us. The goal is to consistently have an honest self-assessment of where we are between pride/self-love and shame/self-hatred. As long as “self” is our primary pre-fix, our life is not God-dependent.
Do Not Lose Heart in Suffering (3:13)
It is comforting to notice how many times Scripture connects suffering with the temptation to lose heart. God know us. If Scripture only spoke of how suffering is turned to good or how it shapes our character, I would be discouraged. Not because I disagree with either of those statements. But because, I would think the Bible had someone much stronger than me in mind for its audience.
But what are we to make of Paul saying his suffering was the Ephesians glory? When we suffer for someone we are demonstrating that we love them. Jesus suffering on our behalf on the cross demonstrates His love for us. True love (here not used in the romantic sense, but love that is in keeping with God’s character) changes things for the better. Paul is saying, “If you see Christ in what I am doing on your behalf, rejoice in it. God will use my actions and example to transform (sanctify) you more like him.” For a similar statement see Ephesians 5:26.
Reflection: Suffering often seems very meaningless and makes us feel quite alone. Suffering tends to reduce our world to the size of our pain or oppression. It is good for us to ask, who can I love or serve in the midst of my suffering? Who can I be an example for? What lessons am I learning that could be passed on to another who will suffer after me? As we see in Ephesians 3:13, not only was Paul’s suffering the glory of the Ephesians Christians, but the growth of the maturation of the Ephesians Christians was the meaning and fuel to persevere for Paul in his suffering.
Introduction to the “Living Our Faith” series.
TOOL: “Using Prayer Time to Cultivate Ministry”
BLOG POST: “Teachers Equipping Ministers Through Prayer Time“
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 12:24 pm. Add a comment
Healthy Remembering (2:11-13)
Have you ever been told you should forget your life (i.e., sins) before your conversion? After all, if God has forgiven you, what point is there in remembering your “old life”? Well, Paul gives very different advice to the believers at Ephesus. Paul not only asks the Ephesians to remember, he reminds them of who they were. In this passage we can glean several aspects of “healthy remembering.”
Healthy remembering protects against pride. The Ephesians church was Gentile and there was competition with the Jewish church. Wherever there are “teams” there is pride. Paul calls on remembering as a tool to combat pride.- Healthy remembering highlights God’s power (not our depravity). Being “saved” only makes sense if we were saved “from” something. Unless we remember our previous condition we will diminish the work of God. But notice (and seek to emulate) how Paul highlights what God is doing instead of denigrating what God had to work with.
- Healthy remembering allows us to be a whole person with one story. We spend too much time explaining away our sin by saying, “That really wasn’t me who did/said that.” Our testimony does not need to make it worse. When we fail to remember we begin to speak as if we lived (past tense) and live (present tense) two separate lives and our sin becomes “not me,” so repentance becomes a form of denial.
- Healthy remembering allows God’s church to be one body. Humility is essential to unity. “There but for the grace of God go/went I,” is the thread that binds the unity of the church. Unless we remember our whole story, we will grade, rank, and classify ourselves as Christians and divide what God has brought together.
Christ Himself Is Our Peace
(BCH_Eph2B_handout for Printable PDF Handout)
Too often we think of peace as an emotion or a commodity; either something we feel or something we have. Yet Scripture is consistently calling us to know the Prince of Peace as a person. Ephesians 2:14 begins, “For [Christ] himself is our peace.”
Notice the guiding hand of Paul in Philippians 4 coaxing the church to grasp this as they wrestle with anxiety. In verse 7 he begins where they are (thinking of peace as a commodity), “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” But by verse 9 he is pointing them to a person, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Consider the following differences that emerge when we grasp that “peace” is a person.
- You muster an emotion. You find an object. You get to know a person.
- Emotions are fleeting. You have to protect an object. A person can protect you.
- Emotions are subjective. Objects are without meaning. A person can make himself known.
- Emotions are volatile. Objects are lifeless. A person shares life.
- A person has emotions and presence but (ultimately) is not defined by either.
As you search for peace and reflect on these comparisons, consider the call of Jesus, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).”
Being Built Together (2:22)
Read Ephesians 2:11-22 (especially verse 16), “and [Christ] might reconcile us both [Jew and Gentile] to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility,” in light of Matthew 19:6, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” If there is any relevance to this connection of us not destroying what God brings together, then we should take church unity as seriously as the sanctity of marriage.
Are we as grieved by church strife as we are by domestic violence or divorce? Do we view violence against Christ’s bride as seriously as we view violence against man’s bride? Maybe more to the point, do we see a rise in the frequency of divorce because we have forgotten what it means to enter into a covenant with God and His church? Has the consumerism and selfishness with which we often think of church life bled into our marriages?
Reflection: How seriously do you take your church membership? Have you ever read your church covenant? What are the differences in the “grounds for divorce” with a church as opposed to a marriage (i.e, moving to new city, changing doctrinal beliefs, etc…)? How should we answer if someone says, “This church doesn’t satisfy me anymore. I think God would want me to go somewhere else.”?
Introduction to the “Living Our Faith” series.
TOOL: “Using Prayer Time to Cultivate Ministry”
BLOG POST: “Teachers Equipping Ministers Through Prayer Time“
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 12:33 pm. Add a comment
Such a Short Time (15:22; 16:1)
You pull out of the drive way on a family vacation and the kids ask, “Are we there yet? How much longer? I’d rather play with the neighbor. I forgot my favorite hat (crying).” That is a small taste of what Moses experienced. Three days into their journey of freedom and Israel was grumbling. 45 days into the journey and they were saying they’d have rather died in Egypt.
It is not just gravity that makes it a short trip from mountain top to valley. Depravity and frail humanity also contribute. After Israel’s first grumbling, God revealed himself as “the Lord, your healer (Exodus 15:26).” Yet hunger shriveled their trust almost as quickly as thirst (not that I am writing with “stone-casting” tone).
Reflection: It is passages like these that make I Corinthians 10:12 come to light (“Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”) and approach I Corinthians 10:13 with humility (“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”). Knowing our nature (sinful flesh and frail, finite humanity) let us give thanks for the God who patiently walked with Israel after the Exodus.
That I May Test Them (16:4)
[Side Note: Is it a sign of the times that I initially typed, “That I may text them”?]
This phrase of God testing Israel shows up several times in the book of Exodus (15:25; 16:4; 20:20). We know that God does not tempt (James 1:13). So what are we to make of this and how/when might God relate to us in a similar way?
It is worth noting that each of these “testings” has to do with the expression of faith not the committing of sin (i.e., would they only gather a days portion of manna vs. would they steal food from their neighbor). God was putting Israel in a position to reveal their level of trust and commitment to the Lord. We must take omitted righteousness and missed opportunities to share/express faith as seriously as we do moral violations.
Reflection: Another question is, “Who was the test for? Who needed to see the results?” With a bit of reflection we can easily see it was not the omniscient God who needed to see the results. It was Israel. After each deliverance they surely thought, “We won’t doubt God again.” As you begin to take opportunities for faith as seriously as sin, do not regard them as a pass fail test, but as a thermometer to gain an accurate self-assessment of your current temperature with God.
The Manna Lesson
(BCH_Exodus_16_handout for Printable PDF Handout)
What was the most challenging part of gathering manna? It wasn’t rare like truffles; it didn’t have briars like blackberries; it wasn’t heavy like a watermelon, it wasn’t fragile like a tomato, and there were look-alike poisonous varieties like mushrooms. Gathering manna was hard because it required daily faith in God’s provision.
God provided manna not merely to address hunger, but also grumbling that emerged from a lack of trust in God to provide. Manna not only fed Israel physically, it was intended to grow them spiritually. The spiritual growth was not an effect of being heaven’s bread, but because it required daily dependence without an alternative.
We still live by manna today – God’s daily provision. We just don’t see it as clearly. As you read the manna narrative, consider your greatest fear or insecurity. Is it a matter of survival or fulfillment? If it is only a matter of fulfillment, give thanks… but also learn to apply the manna lesson.
- How has God worked to supply this need or alleviate this fear?
- How do you try to brace against “God not coming through next time”?
- What “gathering manna” responsibilities do you have with this issue?
- Who are you surrounded by with similar needs (Israel was a community)?
- Do your conversations encourage faith or feed doubt and pessimism?
- When are you tempted to complain about God’s method of providing?
- What tangible reminders of God’s faithfulness can you keep before you (Exodus 16:31-34)?
Faith is scary because it is by definition out of our control. As you reflect on the lesson God was teaching Israel with manna in light of your own situation, rest in the fact that “out of your control” is not the same thing as “out of control.”
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 6:30 pm. Add a comment
Have you noticed our culture’s infatuation with entertaining itself with fear? There are countless books, movies, thrill rides, bungee jumps, and for some people their regular driving habits. This post is not going to condemn those with an appetite for fear as violating Philippians 4:6’s command to be anxious for nothing. Rather, instead of seeking to reduce fear this post will seek to increase fear.
There is a general axiom in Christian circles that the more spiritually mature one becomes the more sinful one will realize they are. Or stated differently, the more you get to know God the more you realize how far your character is from His. When Isaiah saw God he responded, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty (Isa 6:6).”
I would advocate that those who seek a thrill, seek the biggest thrill of all – getting to know God for who He really is. This would beat tightrope walking the Grand Canyon without a net. It is living life in light of this fear that is the very beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). When you view all of life in light of the majesty of God, foolishness does not just seem dumb; it also seems tame (boring).
Consider one other passage in light of this reflection: Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” What an amazing contrast between the words “throne of grace” and “approach with confidence.”
At a throne of grace from which we hope (with certainty) to receive mercy, we have no right to be there. If we are wrong about our invitation as children of the King, we would be killed immediately for our audacity to enter such a regal (holy) place. It is this realization (fear) that makes the grace we receive all the sweeter and prevents it from becoming a matter of pride, entitlement, or boredom.
It is this eternal peaceful thrill that will stimulate, satisfy, and calm our hearts for all eternity. Therefore, let us seek the greatest of thrills. Let us rightly entertain ourselves with the most intense of fears, but not for the sake of self-indulgence or trivial story-telling but to honor the Lord Almighty and to more accurately share his glory with a world longing to be thrilled!
Posted 2 years ago at 3:43 am. Add a comment
Reverse Uncontamination (v. 29)
The entire mindset of the Jewish culture was to avoid contamination. You had to know what was clean versus unclean so that the unclean things could be avoided. Life was much more like dodge ball than freeze tag (the variety I played as a child everyone who was not it could “unfreeze” the frozen by touching them – I acknowledge the legitimacy of the dozens of other varieties of freeze tag).
Recognizing the world-view of those surrounding Jesus makes this event all the more amazing. It is not “just” that Jesus healed her. Jesus made her clean rather than her making him unclean. That is the equivalent of dropping an apple up.
Jesus has this tendency of breaking the rules – not the moral ones; but the rules of expectation, nature, social structure, and sin. This is the incarnation. Jesus enters the “rules” of our world and frees us from them. No longer are we bound to food regulations, ceremonial cleanness, racial divides, superstition, rituals, or sacred occasions.
Reflection Question: What fears or cautions immediately come to mind as you read these thoughts? What appropriate limitations need to be put on these statements? How have statements like these been abused? Transition: How would your life be different if you properly applied these statements? What non-moral laws do you live by that limit your ability to serve God? What traditions (your personal history) were those non-moral laws built on? How does the life and teaching of Christ “reverse uncontaminated” those non-moral laws?
Amazing Honesty
(Click Here for Printable PDF Handout)
I believe we often miss something about this unnamed woman – she was honest. She had broken several major social rules. She was being called out in the midst of an overwhelming crowd. She had suffered long and was just tasting relief. And Jesus shocks everyone by saying “Who touched me (v. 31)?”
In the midst of this, although she was trembling with fear, she “told him the whole truth (v. 33).” Wow! Amazing faith! In the face of a guilty conscience, public pressure/embarrassment, and justifiable reasons for her actions, she chose honesty over silence and complete truth over selective-revised history. Let us all be humbled.
Consider the following statements as you seek to be a person of total truth.
- It is wrong to say you can protect someone from the truth.
- Lying is playing God, because you are trying to write (or rewrite) history.
- Lies cast shadows upon your true statements so all communication is defiled.
- Lying means that we believe something is more valuable than Christ-likeness.
- We are only free (emotionally and relationally) when we are honest.
- Redemption cannot occur where sin is not confessed.
- To lie is to live in fear and become addicted to the power of lying.
- When we lie we know we are false and have a hard time receiving the love of others.
- Secrets perpetuate our sinful patterns.
- Secrets create a climate in which vulnerability seems foolish.
- Hiding sin is a violation of James 5:16.
Closing Thought: “God is not limited by our weakness and failure. God is limited by our dishonesty.” May we glorify God with our honesty like this unnamed woman in Mark 5.
Don’t Be Afraid; Just Believe (v. 36)
Can we all agree that Jesus is not telling this father who just received the news that his daughter was dead to be unmoved? This is not Jesus advocating that faith in God will make any unpleasant emotion unnecessary or wrong.
I do believe we can find an important distinction between sinful and sacred fear in this passage. The difference is not the emotional sensation (i.e., increased heart rate, rapid paced thinking, tears, sporadic questioning pattern, intense desire to find refuge, etc…). The distinction is the presence or absence of hope.
Jesus is not saying be calm, chill out, or relax. Jesus is saying maintain hope, don’t lose sight of me, and remember I am still active in your life.
As we weigh our emotions, this criterion of hope is one of the primary measures we should use to determine the virtue of sinfulness of an emotion (pleasant or unpleasant). If an emotion actively hopes in God it is good and plays a significant role in our sanctification. If an emotions ignores, attacks, or flees from God, then it is to be taken captive (2 Cor 9:3-6).
Introduction to the “Living Our Faith” series.
TOOL: “Using Prayer Time to Cultivate Ministry”
BLOG: “Teachers Equipping Ministers Through Prayer Time“
Posted 2 years, 1 month ago at 3:42 am. Add a comment
