In a large family!

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:1–7)

Yesterday after our church service, I sat on the edge of the platform and watched people visiting and praying together after the chairs were stacked. Every color. Every sort of clothing. Several languages. The sense of family is strong here. We had two years of heritage days where members of various cultures set up booths with food and info about their home country, most wearing what they would if they were back there. Our leadership consists of varying ethnic groups too, but all of these people love and follow Jesus.

This year, the numbers grew. Next week we return to two services as the church building cannot hold all who come. Instead of heritage days, we had a morning where the service began with a scene that I will never forget. As the music played, people representing their home culture came in carrying large flags from those countries and alternately crossed at the front before going up on the platform. 

The number was countable in this place, yet astonishing, and the sense of unity and joy that filled the room still fills my heart. Someone referred to this passage from the NT, and God gave us a little glimpse of what heaven will be like:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9–10)

Yesterday I chatted with several people. Two from two African countries, another from Pakistan, and three from Canada who are familiar with the heritage of their parents and grandparents. Of course we feed them all and of course those assigned to that serving task need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom. This is what God wants. No one serves Him in their own strength and when that kind of love is shown, He blesses us with an increase. 

Jesus, I am blessed today with the joy of remembering these events and Your goodness, and the faces of many who are learning English and learning about You in a place where they feel just as much a part of your large uncountable family as I do. Thank You. Thank You. 

Defining ‘second-best’

Today’s focus is “the peril of second best” yet different people have different ideas of what that is. From three passages, the author of my devotional concludes that prayer, studying and preaching the Word of God take first place. His conclusion is that everything else comes second. But does it?

The first passage cited happened very soon after the formation of the church. Both Jews and Gentiles were coming to faith. The church was taking care of their widows and some of the non-Jewish believers felt that their widows were being neglected. To solve this problem, “the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’”

This pleased everyone, they choose seven men and the apostles prayed and laid their hands on them. Then the Bible says that “the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:1–7)

The devotional author attributes this growth to the apostles who choose to do what they did best. I’m sure that was important, but that growth also may have been because those godly seven men stepped up and did what they could do. If Christians only prayed and studied Scripture all day, preaching or teaching whenever possible, who would make meals and care for their families? Isn’t there more to being a Christian than those important spiritual disciplines? God does ask me to sit at His feet, but He also asks me to do other things.

A well-known example is the second passage. Jesus went to Martha’s house. She “had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:38–42)

Those Christians whose gifts are in serving usually miss seeing that Jesus was gently rebuking Martha, but not for serving. Note that she was distracted and anxious about it. This attitude is not the first-best that Jesus gives His people.

I’ve been like Mary. Sitting at the feet of Jesus is far more interesting than making lunch, but lunch has to be made and Jesus often calls me to the kitchen. For Martha, it was not the serving that Jesus rebuked, but that Martha was serving with a sinful attitude. She may have wanted to be where Mary was, which was good, but she also resented Mary for being there. She even began giving the Lord of Lords a rebuke when all she needed was a few moments with Him to make serving others a joy and not a troublesome task.

Serving Jesus and His disciples lunch is not second-best, but serving with resentment, or doing anything without putting Jesus as the cornerstone of my heart, is. Jesus calls me to serve Him with all my heart, to do whatever I do (even eating and drinking) as unto Him, and by His grace and in His strength. If I do things for myself, half-heartedly, and in my own strength, and resent others who are not doing the hard work that I am doing . . . then I’ve stepped into the realm of second-best. Tasks done for the Lord are not graded by what the tasks are, but by the attitude in which I do them.

Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules . . . .” (2 Timothy 2:1–7)

Whatever I do can only be pleasing to God when they are done “as unto the Lord” – rather than for sinful reasons and motivations. Otherwise they are an entanglement. An athlete cannot be victorious if he ignores the rules of his sport just as a Christian must not ignore God’s guidance for our work.

Besides, with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, there is no ‘secular’ work. The sovereign power of God is able to use all things to benefit and build His kingdom. Second-best happens only when I leave Him out of it.

No lumps under the rug

This two-month focus on the church uses key verses that express unity and solidarity . . .  

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:19–21)

Sometimes people in the church attempt to create the atmosphere of spirituality or super-niceness by avoiding problems rather than dealing with them. Issues get swept them under the carpet out of a strong aversion against confrontation or fear of rejection. They might tell themselves to “mind my own business” rather than doing the unpleasant.

In the beginning of the church, the first recorded problem was Greek Christians protesting that their widows were not in on the daily care given to the Hebrew Christians. The twelve apostles held a general meeting and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

That pleased everyone and they found the seven men. At that, “the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:1–7)

Dealing with strife is difficult, but what stirs it up in the first place? In that case, it seemed to be a reaction to unfair treatment. The book of Proverbs offers several verses that add a few more motivations. None of them are very noble . . .

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12) “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” (Proverbs 15:18) “A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.” (Proverbs 16:28) “A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.” (Proverbs 28:25) “A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.” (Proverbs 29:22)

From this, I can see the following issues: hate, inability to deal with anger, dishonesty, gossip, greed, failure to trust God, and vengefulness, but I can think of others. I’ve sometimes felt like picking a fight over being insulted, misunderstood, neglected (like those widows), or simply not heard or respected. It is almost always about the sins of the other guy (as if I have none of my own).

God is gracious. He knows that I can be the cause of the problem, but not always. He gives instruction for how to handle situations like that . . .

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15–17)

This is called “church discipline” and it is not a popular topic or a common practice in most churches today. However, if ignored, that lump under the carpet can grow large and begin tripping people before a congregation does anything. Sadly, some never do and the injured people as well as those causing the problem find no resolution. This creates coldness that lasts for years, or even causes church splits.

If someone sins against me, I’m to talk to that person. If I don’t, I’m more likely to talk to someone else and soon create rifts by wanting people to take up my side of the problem.

Otherwise, I might talk to God in my frustration, but He passes the ball back to me. I’m to go to the one who offended me and get it settled, not letting the sun go down on any anger. And if I cannot do that, then I’m supposed to get over it. Forgiveness isn’t easy, but infighting has ruined relationships and destroyed the power and testimony of many congregations.

At this moment, I cannot think of anyone on my “this person hurt me” list, but people being people, it can and will happen. If I’m the cause of it, I need to deal with my sin. If someone else sins, I need grace to respond the right way, and not create any lumps under the rug.