Finding a good church…

After moving many times and attending many churches, humanly speaking I liked best the congregations that made me feel welcome. All about me. Yet in deeper reflection, those that increased my knowledge and love for God were those that glorified Him the most. 

Feel good churches can be all about me. Glorifying God is far more important. Reading 1 Corinthians clarifies why this is important. A church that puts the emphasis on God will praise Him for a good message instead of boasting they have a pastor who is a good speaker. They will not compete with one another, nor will they boast.

Paul wrote to this church at Corinth to admonish them for their fleshy behavior. They were gifted by God yet boasted in themselves as if they were the source of these gifts. They argued about who was the best leader and teacher. Their focus was on human qualities rather than the glory of God. His words to them through Paul were sharp, yet given to put their focus where it should be;

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

When I hear someone critical of the church they attend, I want to say “Find a better one” because they do exist. Yet I hear of those who quit attending any church thinking they are all the same. How sad. Is it better to leave? Or to do what Paul did and remind them of the One that has given them new life and wants them to live accordingly?

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. . . . Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. . . . And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. . . . The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:1–16)

These words are both humbling and uplifting. They kick my pride and restore my thinking to the One who saved me from wanting to be “the best” to being glad that He is merciful. Our granddaughter, broken from a fall and covered in bruises, said, “I’m the dumbest smart person that I know” and that reflects a biblical truth. The Christians at Corinth had Christ and His mind, but they put the wisdom of God aside to boast about themselves. To this, Paul adds:

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:18–23)

PRAY: Just because I figured this out does not make me wise — instead it shows that You are my wisdom. I cannot know truth from You unless You reveal it to me. Pride in myself is a huge barricade to living for You and glorifying You. And it is one thing to know this — but the challenge is doing it — giving You the glory for all that You are and do. Rebuke me whenever I take credit instead of putting it where it belongs.

Blind to the wonder of God?

Numbers 19:1–20:13, 1 Corinthians 2:1–16, Psalm 18:13–30

The work my husband does brings us into contact with people who have lived in many places. Some of them do well, mostly because they adapt quickly to a new location and culture. Others struggle, maybe less able to adapt to change, often have expectations that work against them, and their memories are short.

The OT Israel seem more like the second group. They forgot what their bondage in Egypt had been like. The nomad lifestyle wasn’t what they were expecting, and they didn’t like their change in diet. Would I have reacted the same way to those challenges? After many severe rebukes from God, would I still moan and groan and not get it?

The reading today describes their next incident, this time involving water; they didn’t have any. In a desert, this is a serious matter . . . “And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.’”

Moses and Aaron went from them to their place of worship and fell on their faces. The glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses . . .  

“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”

Moses did as God commanded. He and Aaron gathered the people together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” (Numbers 20:2–13)

Moses was told to speak to the rock, and he struck it twice. This might seem like a small thing, but the OT speaks of Christ (see Luke 24:27). Moses’ action was supposed to illustrate a spiritual reality about the Rock of Ages, but hitting the rock did not fit the plan. Because of it, this man was not able to enter the Promised Land. One disobedience changed the course of his life.

And yes, the people were short-sighted and dissatisfied. He probably felt like hitting them, not the rock. They were worse than children whining, “Are we there yet?” and dug in their heels, not quick to trust God about anything, even though He had done many miracles on their behalf. It seemed they were blind to His goodness and only able to think about their “I wants.”

When reading the next passage, God impresses me that the key to seeing farther than today’s thirst is being able to think His thoughts for my tomorrows, but the only way to get inside the head of God and think His thoughts is to let Him live inside my head. . .

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

The Israelites did not have the mind of Christ, nor did they have much faith. Yet I cannot boast. Any faith I have for obedience, or for waiting on Him is not in me either — it comes from Him. If I want to know His will for my future, I need to be in line with what He has shown me today. Continual obedience means continual instruction and guidance from Him. How I think and act, my receptivity and attitude always have a bearing on how He reveals Himself to me . . .

“With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.” (Psalm 18:25–27)

At first, I wondered if this verse also suggests: If I am silent, He will not speak. If I am slow to obey His commands, He is slow to answer my requests . . . ? Thankfully, not.  

I cannot earn the favor of God. If I act like a jerk, it should be no surprise if He rebukes me for it and if I want Him to lead me, I must follow, not tell Him where I want to go. Yet because of Christ, He keeps blessing me with mercy and great patience.