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.

To Live is Christ — it is not about me

When I was in grade nine, the most popular girl in school passed me a note that said something like this: “I really envy you and your sister. Your parents discipline you and have rules. Mine don’t. Because of that, I do not feel like they love me.”

This note changed my attitude about love, popularity and discipline. Love means someone cares enough to correct me if I am doing something wrong. Few “friends” will do that, and perhaps that is why I am drawn to this verse that Solomon wrote, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6).

The Bible reminds me over and over that the love of God includes correction. God is a faithful friend. He says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”  (Revelation 3:19)

Even though I know these things, a rebuke sometimes hurts deeply. When done for reasons other than love and concern for my well being, I generally defend myself. Yet when God does it, His way is usually so gentle and so thoughtful, that I feel hugged and booted at the same time. I know I’m safe in bringing my concerns about my own life to Him. He will tell me the truth and reminds me often to remember His faithfulness and not get upset when He corrects me.

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5–11)

God never corrects because I am an embarrassment to Him. His rebuke is for my sake that I might be more like Jesus.

Last weekend I went to a writer’s workshop. The main speaker said much about the tendency to hesitate when we hit rough spots. If our work isn’t going well, we feel like quitting. If our manuscripts are rejected, we feel like quitting. If someone says anything negative or critical of our writing, we feel like quitting. However, he rebuked that attitude in much the same way as the author of The Purpose Driven Life began his book — It isn’t about me.

Writing is for others. God demonstrates that in His own communication. He speaks to us through a book, actually sixty-six books. His Son became a man to tell us what He is like. Jesus is called the Living Word. Christian writers have a message of hope and grace that can be conveyed in story, parables, Bible studies and a host of other written methods of communication. So what if some do not respond or some are critical of the message? It isn’t about me.

This was a rebuke from God. I sit on lots of manuscripts. They take up space on my computer when they could be out there. God could use them — but He cannot use idleness or blank pages. My devotional verses tell me to repent, to turn from my fears and negativity to obedience. God isn’t saying this to make my life miserable. He says it that I might yield fruit, not for me but for Him and for those whom He speaks to through my writing.

To live is Christ means changing my schedule, dropping useless and time-wasting activities, and doing what He gives me to do without any concerns. If He gives me something to say, He will also find ears to hear it. As the speaker said, I will be criticized if I write, and criticized if I do not write. Rather than be concerned about the critics, I need to listen to Him and give Him whatever I can. It is not about me. God can use (or not use) my words to make a difference in the world — but only if I produce them.

When I grow up

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” A young seminary student (compared to my ‘old’) asked me this question about 12 years ago. It was his polite attempt at finding out why I, a grandmother, was in the seminary.

He brought back the memory of a high school teacher who suggested that I consider my goals. I could be a person who “knew a little bit about everything, and not much about one thing” or “an expert in one thing and didn’t know much about everything else.”

My interest is easily moved from this to that, likely a symptom of some attention-deficit issues. Most people would not see me as someone who struggles with a focus or staying on track, but I do. I still don’t know what I want to be when (or if) I grow up.

Maybe I’m too old to consider this question, and Titus 2:11-13 tell me that worrying about it might be a waste of time. It says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men (meaning humanity), teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

No career mentioned. No life goals or directions about exactly what to do, no specifics about jobs. Instead this passage, and others like it, talks about who I am, how I behave, the avoidance of sin and lawlessness, and having godly attitudes. The Bible seems to leave the choice of what I should do up to me, and says God is far more concerned with how I do it.

I go through this struggle periodically, particularly when I’m bogged down by too much on my to-do list and at the same time tempted by some new venture. I know I cannot add without subtracting, and the older I get, the more I realize that I need to subtract just a little more than I add. To make matters more complicated, I’ve never found a really good criterion to tell me how to do the math. How do I know if I should start something new, or what items can safely go before adding anything else?

John MacArthur preached a sermon in the early ‘80's about choices like this. He said that there are a few things that are clearly the will of God. They include such things as salvation, sanctification, saying thanks, even suffering for Jesus’ sake, and he gave the Scripture to support each point. Then he said if a person is doing all of them, they are free to follow the desires of their heart. He used Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

This verse could be misinterpreted if the first phrase is skipped. God is not about to give me whatever I want. The idea is that if I find my pleasure in Him, what I want will be the same things He wants for me. That is, the desires in my heart are desires He gives me.

I’ve been pondering this. Can I evaluate my to-do list by the desires of my heart? God is my delight. Nothing else much matters. Does that mean I can do whatever I feel like doing and God will bless it?

The next verses say, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday.”

If I put all this together, God seems to indicate that I can do what my heart wants as long as I give it my spiritual best—good attitude, integrity, quality workmanship and so on. Then as I am doing it, He will make it work out so Christlike qualities will show up and Jesus will be glorified. So, through the fog of this, I’m beginning to see that what I do isn’t about me anyway. It is about whatever will glorify the Lord.

Far from ordinary . . .

Today I’ve a loaf of bread in the oven, need to prepare a meal for guests tonight, have a meeting at noon and another from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., have two projects to finish, and the house could be tidier. This is about ordinary life, hardly anything spectacular or special (except the guests), yet today isn’t about me.

In fact, nothing is. The Bible reminds again this morning that it is all about Jesus Christ. Paul writes eleven chapters to the Romans that describe the incredible salvation plan of God, then has to stop and comment as if overwhelmed by what he has just written:

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?’
‘Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?’
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33-36).

Amen indeed! Everything that happens is according to God’s design. His plan and His goal in all of it is that Jesus Christ is glorified. He works all things together for our good, but that good is that we reflect the image of Christ. His decisions and His judgments honor His Son. Eventually, we will see that all of history is His story; it is about Him.

If there is anything in this passage that is about me, it is God telling me that He knows my penchant to get caught up in the ordinary, to be busy with my to-do list, to simply forget about Him. Oh, if I’m feeling needy, I cry out. Or if someone comes to mind, I often pray for them, but making pie and weeding the yard can consume my minutes and my mind. Ordinary things can become that which I think about the most, not the depth of the riches of His wisdom and knowledge, as Paul calls me to ponder.

Yet my ordinary chores can be a spring board to loftier thoughts. While I’m occupied with today list, I can think how God made the grain that becomes wheat that is grind into flour for my bread. I can reflect on how He spoke into being the ingredients for my salad and supplied the filling that goes into my pie. God gave me the ability to do those things on my list, supplied those places to go and the wherewithal to get there. He also gave us friends to enjoy.

At the very least, my mind can be occupied with gratitude for all of this. At the most, I can be filled with adoration, praise and a sense of awe because this unsearchable God chose to robe Himself in human flesh and reveal who He is—to me, and because ordinary folks having an ordinary day can still worship an extraordinary God.