Living By the Spirit

"But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." 

Romans 8:13  

In this chapter of Romans, Paul is telling us how to live by the Spirit of God.  He wants us to know that because we are "in Christ" we are able to live by the Spirit.  What does this mean?  What is Paul trying to say?

For most of us, we have seen few examples of someone who lives "by the Spirit."  We have known people who claim to have the Spirit in full and great ways.  Yet, they do not put to death the misdeeds of the body.  Often they are marked by these misdeeds!  We have known those who claim intimacy with God and "victory" over sin.  Yet, they are often filled with arrogance, pride, and judgment of others.  In fact, many of us want to follow God and learn to love others.  Yet, we struggle and often find the misdeeds of the body (and heart!) keep coming back.  What does this mean?  Let's answer this question by first figuring out what Paul doesn't mean.

First, Paul does not mean that life in the Spirit will entail sinless perfectionism.  At least if it does, Paul the super-apostle does not live it!  In context, chapter 8 follows chapter 7.  There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (8:1), because Jesus is the one who rescues us from our body of sin and death.  As Paul details his struggles in chapter 7, he affirms that like most of us he knows the good he ought to do.  He just cannot seem to do it!  He concludes, "For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (7:18)  For Paul, our sin nature/flesh remains with us until death.  At the end of his life, he claims "I am the chief/worst of all sinners." (1 Tim 1:16)  

In other words, maturity in Christ does not lead to sinlessness, but a deeper recognition of our sin.  Such  recognition then leads to a deeper dependance upon Jesus for grace and mercy.

Second, Paul does not mean that the Christian life is without struggle.  Some Christians twist Paul's thought to argue that they do not need to grow in increasing personal holiness because God forgives them anyway.  I have met many who recognize their sinfulness- they might even be able to tell you great details of their understanding of their sin- yet they do not grow in love for God or others.  In this passage, Paul argues that because of Christ, "we have an obligation- but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it."  Paul knows the struggle (see Romans 7), but he encourages us to grow!  Thus, growth in personal holiness is possible and necessary, "if the Spirit of God lives in you."

Finally, Paul is not embracing a weird gnostic spirituality.  There is not a "higher way" that transcends life in the body and life in the world.  In his mind, Christian growth takes place in this world.  It is here that we "share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." vs. 17  It is here that we learn how to grow "in the Spirit," so that we might bear fruit for God's glory.  Paul recognizes that our body and our world are our laboratories for growing in grace.

So, how do we "live by the Spirit."  What does Paul say positively about this life?  

First, be sure you are lead by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14).  Do you know that you have the full rights of sons?  This is not a sexist term, but a declaration that all of us, men and women, have a full inheritance from the Father.  We have a declaration of justification over us (Romans 3:21-chapter 4).  We are at peace with God and have Christ's righteousness imputed to us (Romans 5).  We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us pointing out our sin so that we can repent and come to Christ for mercy and grace (Romans 6).

Do you realize your need for a savior?  Do you believe that Jesus is that savior who loves you desperately?  If not, repent and believe!  The gospel is here for you.  God has done the work that we passively receive by faith.

I know that you might not have heard this message or believed it fully.  Why put it off any longer?  Paul tells us, "You have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear."  Does fear and anger mark your life?  I know many professing believers like this!  In fact, I have been that believer at different times in my life.  

Instead of fear, believe!  Believe what?  "You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba Father!"  Call out to God in humble prayer.  Stop pretending you have it all together and ask Him to order your disordered life!

In other words, confess your need for God.  Believe in Jesus as God's answer.  Allow the Spirit to lead you into deeper repentance and faith.  You have not arrived, but you are a work in process.  In the midst of the process, there is no condemnation.  There is a Spirit that drives us to cry out to God saying, "Abba Father!"

May the Lord work mightily in your life this day and this weekend.  May His grace draw you into deeper repentance, dependence, and His life-transforming power!

Keeping God in the Present

"'Do you believe in life after death?'  What can one say as a Christian?  Of course I do.  I believe that Jesus died and rose for us and in him we have eternal life.  But I felt there was a danger of putting off to some future date what should be ours now- life, and life in all its fullness.  Too many sad folks project their own desires to a future world when they should be living by faith in this world.  I believe in life after death but I also believe in life before death.  We need to make sure we are living now." 

Adam, The Road of Life, 122.

If we do not live out the gospel, we are always in danger of projecting true life somewhere else other than to our current experience.  Some project true life back "in the day" when they felt alive and free.  They often forget that at the time they were likely projecting forward looking forward to true life in the future!

Others, particularly those who lived or are living through times of struggle, project true life into the future.  My family on my dad's side often lived this way.  They projected into heaven all of their desires for life, and they complained about their physical ailments and difficulties in the present.  For these good hearted folks, the present was something to be endured and not really enjoyed.  They are models for a brand of Christian spirituality that many live.

The gospel compels us to live in the present.  God is with us right here and now.  His presence is around us, in us, and near us.  We can meet with Him in repentance and faith.  He promises us life right now- at work, at home, at play, or in difficulty.  His lightest touch can make even the most difficult tasks enjoyable.  So why do we project His presence backward or forward in time when His life changing power is here and now?

I know this is hard to live out.  Here is an example from our life.  Currently, we are looking forward to a new ministry in Seattle.  I think about the house and possessions to sell, the packing needed, and all the plans I hope to see come to fruition.  On the other hand, as I meet with my friends in Maine I am also looking backward at my great times here.  I feel caught between what will happen and what has happened!

I have also found this to be true after difficult situations and times.  My mind constantly pulls me back to what I should have said or done.  In many ways when I think this way, I forget the present and live in the past.

So what do I do?  What should we do?  How about bring my God into the living of the present?  Repent of the thoughts from the past that sometimes flood my mind.  Repent and believe that God was at work and He used it all for my good!

When I get caught up in thinking about the future, I need to talk with God about it.  Pray and ask for His wisdom and guidance as I move toward that future.  I need to ask Him to redeem and work greatly in the present.  I ask Him to give me eyes to see His labor and task for me today.

May the Lord dwell in your present this day.  May your thoughts and prayers turn to inviting Him to redeem the past, bless the future, and meet with you in the present!

Leadership, Expectations, and Ministry

I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ-

I who am humble when face to face with you,

 but bold toward you when I am away!

2 Cor. 10:1

The Corinthian church was a problem church.  As a church, it had more spiritual gifts than any other (or at least longer lists of gifts than Paul gives to other churches).  They had wealth due to their sea port.  They had the power and presence of an Apostolic pastor.  Yet, they fought all the time and tolerated incredible immorality in their midst.

This is not all.  Probably their greatest sin is the way they listened to the Word of God.  Ancient evidence suggests that Corinth was ruled by those who were the best speakers.  Thus, Paul declares that his speech was not with "lofty speech or wisdom" (1 Cor. 2:1).  Instead, he came having "decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Cor. 2:2)

I do get tired of this passage and the entire Corinthian correspondence being used by anti-intellectual believers as a means of justifying their foolishness.  Paul is not discrediting being educated or knowledgable!  Instead his writing and ministry to Corinth illustrates his persistent attack on the Corinthian expectation of what real ministry should look like.

What do I mean?  Expectations shape one's perspective.  

The Corinthians would only listen to a great orator.  Their town was full of great orators.  Paul did not measure up.  Thus, they were constantly persuaded to reject Paul's message for the "wisdom" found in their great speakers.  Such worldly wisdom was not founded on the Word of God, but the wisdom of a decadent and failing Greek society.  

An honest reading of the Corinthian correspondence reveals that Paul constantly dealt with the expectations of the Corinthians.  He came in the power of the Spirit.  His writing was much stronger and more persuasive than his speaking.  He warned them, cling to Christ and to faith!  Do not be led astray by the false but persuasive teaching of the great orators.  

Following up on Paul's work in the Corinthian church; at this past weekend's Leadership retreat, we followed up a discussion of my strengths and how I approach the world with a discussion of expectations.  What people expect from a leader or a pastor shapes how they measure the effectiveness of the leader or pastor.  So often these expectations are shaped by either the size of the church or the individual's preference for the size of a church.  

Let me give an example from a fine book by Gene Wood called Leading Turnaround Churches.  Wood inserted in the book a handout he gave to those who joined his church dealing with expectations.  He also said it was OK to copy it for your leadership to discuss.  So discuss we did!

Wood begins with a look at what the bible says a pastor does.  As he defines it, a pastor must feed his people the Word of God, must protect them from false teaching, must model the Christian life, and must equip others for ministry.  What is most interesting is how a pastor performs these duties changes according to the size and expectations of the church!

What does this look like?  Wood begins with the description of a small church pastor.  Those who pastor church of less than 100 people spend much of their time being everyone's friend.  They are expected to always be the one who opens the doors and the last one to leave every event.  They know everyone in the church, they know their children, they know their out of town relatives, and they know the name of everyone's dog.  In addition, this pastor spends much time doing church maintenance and office administration.

So what happens if you are not a complete people person who is built to maintain and establish relationships?  People who are used to this size church will think you are a bad pastor!  You might be a great speaker and vision caster.  You might be able to see multiple futures for the church and you might know how to get there.  Let me say, if you don't do it all yourself and quickly grow the church, these gifts do not matter.  Why?  The expectations of a church this size and the people who like this size church do not match your gifts.

I know several of my greatest detractors in ministry have been people who liked this size church and found that I did not match their expectations.  I was told that "I don't love the people enough."  I was told that "I was not friendly enough."  For those who know me, these charges may sound strange.  Yet, they arose from unmet expectations.  Interestingly both of these folks said I was the best preacher they had ever heard, but they were more than ready for me to "leave their church alone!"

Similarly, Wood describes the expectations of several other size churches.  For example he gives a church that ranges in size from 400 to 800 people.  In this church, the pastor has better be able to speak well.  As he states, "His people will forgive him for anything but preaching poorly." (80)  This pastor does not socialize with many of the people in the church.  Why?  Because he does not care?  No, because there are way to many people.  Instead he spends his time training leaders, managing the office, counseling in assigned times, working in outside ministries, and in study.  This pastor often does not do hospital visits unless it is for a key church leader or something serious.  Instead others within the church do the visitation and caring ministries of the church.  In fact, those gifted in these areas of ministry do them!

This pastor still feeds, protects, models, and equips the members of the church to grow the Kingdom, but  now the ministries are often done by other people.  Ironically for those who believe the pastor should do everything, many times people in this size church feel better taken care of because the variety of ministries and care is far greater than in a smaller church.

So what does all this mean?  Leaders must lead from their strengths (see yesterday's post).  They must know them and work from them to perform their ministry.  They must also know their weakness that come from these strengths.  Humility comes from knowing how God can work through our strengths in spite of our weaknesses!

Furthermore, a leader's effectiveness is also determined by the expectations of their ministry.  A perfectly good leader will be undone if placed in the wrong situation with the wrong expectations!  I think both the leader and those being led must be aware of these expectations.

Leadership and a Long Trip

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb,

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Ps 139: 13-14

I have been neglecting this blog recently!  I apologize for the delay in posting.  I left Maine on Thursday for a weekend leadership retreat at my soon to be new church in Seattle.  After a complete day of travel, I arrived safe and sound in Seattle.  I probably should have written on Friday morning, but I did not.  Then the weekend really got busy.  Monday I spent the whole day flying back home.  Yesterday I did not know if I was going or coming.  Now it has been a week since I last wrote.  Again, sorry faithful readers!

This weekend I discussed the topic of leadership.  I began my life in a new church by using the Strength-Finder's material to describe who God has made me.  I recommend this material to anyone who wishes to discover their natural strengths.  

Strength-Finder 2.0 can be accessed by purchasing one of their books.  There is a code in back, which allows you to take the on-line test.  Through a series of questions, the on-line resource helps access your top five strengths.  Someone was telling me you can get the order of all 34 strengths for only a nominal fee of $500 or so.  Personally, I will stick with the top five!

I do recommend this test.  I have taken many personality tests and such.  I find often these tests demonstrate more how I felt on a certain day than who I am.  In fact, I have taken some tests multiple times, and I have found the tests pointing in opposite directions depending upon when I took them!

In terms of the Strength-Finder's test, I have taken it two times.  The first time I did it to help a fellow pastor who was going through the training.  He needed another test taker immediately.  I really did not have time to do it, but I agreed to help him out.  

I took the test in a hurry.  It asks questions of which you prefer on a scale of 1 to 7.  For the first 100 questions, I answered each question in 2 seconds or less with either a 1 or 7.  At that point, I knew the program would think I was insane and impulsive.  I finished the test, but took it with a grain of salt.  

Then I got the results.  I found it helpful that it listed what each strength meant for how I approached the world.  I also found it very accurate as to how each strength also has possible weakness.  In 20 years of ministry, I had found these weakness to true in my life.  As I talked with my pastor friend/Strength-Finder trainer and several other friends about the test, all affirmed they thought it was an accurate picture of my greatest strengths.

I was skeptical.  It ends up that one of my greatest strengths is strategy, and I figured I could throw the test if I wanted to.  I also figured that it ended up with the published results (like saying I have the gift of self-confidence) because of the way I took the test.

I really did not pay the test much attention for the next year.  Then, Borders went out of business.  As it was closing, I purchased several leadership books at a huge discount.  One of these books was Strength-finders for Leadership. 

I decided to re-take the test.  I would do it under a new name, so my past time taking the test would not shade my results.  This time I took the test being careful to answer each question with thought and less impulsiveness.  I honestly and painstakingly went through the test.  Then I got the results.

To my amazement, I had the same top five strengths.  The order was slightly different, but the same five were there.  I believe this illustrates an accurate and helpful test.

At the Leadership retreat, I began by sharing my strengths as illustrated by the test.  I also shared that my strengths also mean some will misinterpret who I am.  For example, my number one strength is context.  I want to know about everyone's past.  I want to know about a ministry's or church's past.  I want to know context!  Why?  So I can use my second strength, which is strategy.  I use context to determine how to relate and move forward in the present and future.

What does this mean?  I ask a lot of questions.  I ask these questions of individuals and I ask them in a group setting.  Why?  Not because I wish to be a pain, but because I want to know why and how you think.  To some this can be very disconcerting!  I tried to share that I do not wish to make someone feel on the spot, but I do wish to know them.

Another one of my top five strengths is self-assurance.  This gift means I have an inherit confidence in my abilities and in what I do.  Personally, I think it means that if I feel like God is leading, I will move forward without question or doubt.  This is a helpful strength for leadership as it does help give confidence to others.

Yet, it also can be seen as arrogance.  This is particularly true if someone does not have that same sense of confidence!  So I tried to share that I need folks to give me the benefit of the doubt when I am confident in what I can or cannot do.  I truly do not mean it as arrogance!  In fact, I am more than willing to confess my weaknesses!  I want to be approachable and I want to know people. 

One thing I have learned in my years of ministry is that all of us cannot help but lead from our strengths.  This is because we should be who Go made us to be!  It is really no good "faking it until we make it."  God can and does use all of us and He does use every personality type and strength mix in building His Kingdom.  He can use you!  (Another of my strengths is activator.  It means I naturally seek to encourage others to do what God is calling them to do.  Ironic isn't it!)

The problem is that so many of us take too much time focusing on our weakness instead of our strengths.  We seek to build up that which is weak or not natural and neglect working within our God-given strengths.  Such labor will lead to burnout, stress, and great frustration.  

In other words, know your strengths and work within them!

That being said, it is true that all of our strengths also have potentially negative relationship and directional issues built into them.  Why?  Not everyone is like us!  Furthermore we live in a fallen world and we are fallen people.  We must be aware of our potential weakness and confess them.  If we hurt others, we need to repent and be open to correction.  Christian Leadership means true humility.

This post is getting long, so I will end here.  Hopefully tomorrow I will share more thoughts concerning leadership.

Calling and the Open Door

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

Helen Keller

This morning I am traveling across the country and my plane leaves at 6 AM.  Since this week we are on the topic of calling, I am reposting a blog post from last month.  I believe it applies well to our subject matter for this week.

I will share two different posts/quotes I have been given this week.  I find it interesting that when the Lord is trying to tell you something He often repeats it.  At least I have such deaf ears that I need His repeating!

Both of these selections concern the topics of vocation, calling, determining God's will, and joyful living.  I completely agree with Keller that so often I stare at closed doors instead of having the faith to look for what God is opening.  How about you?

The second selection is from Dan Miller's website, www.48days.com from the February 22 post.  This selection is a story I have heard often.  I will let it speak for itself.  I will say that I believe it overlaps perfectly with the Keller quotation because so often as the door is shutting, we keep banging our heads against it demand that it open as we wish.  Where does God fit into such actions?

Here is Miller's post.

Last Sunday night, after speaking at a church, a lady approached me with her question. She was obviously very discouraged with low self-esteem, poor eye contact and overall weak personal presentation.  But her question was – “Why should I keep trying when God keeps closing the door on my calling?”  Wow – now there’s a question designed to stump even a theologian – which I am not.  If God “calls” us to something, wouldn’t He open the doors to make that happen?  Is this like asking if God can make a rock so big He can’t move it?

Frankly, I don’t think her question is that complicated.  I think she needs to take a fresh look at her “calling.”  She said she’s always wanted to be a counselor.  She got a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and then was rejected from entering graduate school in counseling.  So she spent three years and went deeply in debt to get her Masters of Divinity (MDiv) degree, thinking that would open the door.  She then applied for the graduate counseling program again but was rejected once more.  She took an entry level job with a community counseling agency but was let go after a couple of months.  She told me she has never married, lives alone and has few friends.  I asked her if people were coming to her for her advice and opinion now.  To which she replied – No – that’s why she needed the degrees in counseling.

I think this is a mis-interpretation of “calling.”  If God’s calls us to something there will be affirmation of that in many ways.  If God is calling you to be a musician you will likely already have shown talent in that area and have lots of people telling you to move in that direction.  If God is calling you to counsel or coach, I’m confident people are already telling you their problems and you are surprised by the wisdom you are frequently able to offer.

Yes I do think it requires work and struggle to be effective even in our “calling.”  But I don’t think God “calls” us to something that does not line up with our passions, talents, personality traits and dreams.

– Thomas Merton said:

 “A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying Him….  The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like Him….” 

Don’t try to be a rose bush (as good as that may be) if you’re a tree.  Be a great tree.

Calling, Career, and a Job

The call of God for each of us is personal and intimate.  Such a calling is what provides guidance and direction with all of life.  It is the key to experiencing a fulfilling life.

Yet, it is often so hard to discover!  Why?  Because we live in a fallen world, and we are part of that fallen creation.  We are sinners in need of grace.  Part of our sin tendency is that we are alienated from our true self.  We were created to know God perfectly, know others without walls or barriers, and to know ourselves including our truest inclinations and calling.  This is the honor of being created in the image of God!

The problem is that sin has entered the picture causing distortion in all these areas.  For some of us, the distortion in is greater than others.  Thus, our ability to hear "the call" can be suppressed, and so we lose our way.

Understanding our calling means having the ability to listen to someone else.  It implies attuning our attention to the voice of another.  In the ultimate case, it means attuning our ears, mind, and heart so we can hear what God is saying.  In my experience, most people take years to finally hear God's leading and call.  Even if they are given solid counsel from parents, friends, co-workers, and life, many move forward in life through willfulness or self-effort instead of in a posture of listening, prayer, and relationship with God that guides our relationship with others and ourself.

So what does this mean?  Many have not settled on their calling, but instead they have embraced a career. The word Career comes from the Latin word for "cart" and later from the Middle French word for "racetrack." (Dan Miller, 48 Days to the Work You Love, 39)  As Miller describes it,

Webster's dictionary defines career as "to run or move at full speed, rush wildly,"  In other words, you can go really fast for a long time but never get anywhere.  That is why in today's work environment, even physicians, attorneys, CPAs, dentists, and engineers may choose to get off the expected track and choose another career.  A career is a line of work, but not the only way to fulfill your calling.

Miller, 39.

I believe the misunderstanding of career and calling is one of the primary causes of mid-life crisis and the modern tendency to live for the weekend or for vacation.  So many people settle into the comfortable career track.  It is comfortable because it provides money, which provides security.  Yet, if it does not fulfill your calling, it will make you miserable.  

Finally, we come to a job.  A job is your daily activities that produce income.  In today's world, people change jobs every 3.2 years.  That means most people will have 14-16 jobs in a lifetime.  I know that I had about 10 different jobs before I ever heard of the idea of calling.  Now I can see how God used these experiences in my life, but at the time I had several jobs that just killed my soul.

How can this be?  If you are in a job that does not help you fulfill your calling, you will most likely hate it!  In the long-term, no job is worth the money if it does not fulfill your calling.  To make a job your career path without thought of how God made you will drive you to an early grave.

That being said, we still need to work!  Without work, we become self-absorbed.  Also, it is much easier to find a new job if you currently have a job.  So off to work at our job we go!

So what does this look like?  I will give two examples.  The first is from the fine book 48 Days to the Work You Love.  

Imagine three line workers at the Nissan plant here in middle Tennessee.  Each is asked, "What are you doing?"  The first responds, "I'm a welder- that's what they pay me for each Friday" (Job).  The second says, "I'm making a beautiful car today" (Career).  The third worker is thoughtful for a moment and then responds, "I'm helping to create innovative and responsible transportation for individuals, families, and companies" (Vocation).  These three workers, all doing the same work, define job, career, and vocation because of their different perspectives.  If you approach the understanding of your vocation first, you will find tremendous freedom in recognizing how many jobs can fulfill that vocation.

Miller, 41-42.

The second example is my own life.  I have come to discover that I am called to proclaim and live the glorious grace of God in Christ (the gospel).  He has not only called me to Himself, but He has set me apart to proclaim, explain, and live this truth.  This is my vocation or calling.  It took me thirty years to understand it and embrace it, but there it is!

So, I currently work as a pastor.  This is my career path.  It grants me a platform to proclaim, explain, and live the truth of the gospel.  It also provides me with income to support my family.  In the past, I also briefly followed the career path of teaching.  I found this career very fulfilling because it granted me a platform for fulfilling my calling.

While following these career paths, I also write, teach, and preach at conferences.  These are all extra jobs that help fulfill my calling, and they provide extra income to support my family.  

In the past couple of years, I have also worked as a landscaper, an organic meat farmer and salesman.  I can honestly say these jobs are not "fulfilling."  I enjoy parts of them, but from other parts I quickly grow tired and bored.  Yet, these jobs have fulfilled an important task in my calling.  They have provided extra and needed income.  For this I am thankful!    

I ask that you take some time today to think through the distinctions between jobs, careers, and calling (vocation).  Pray for grace to hear the voice of God so you get these different ideas in correct order!

Calling and Purpose

Deep in our hearts, we all want to find and fulfill a purpose bigger than ourselves.  Only such a larger purpose can inspire us to heights we know we could never reach on our own.  For each of us the real purpose is personal and passionate: to know what we are here to do and why.  Kierkegaard wrote in his Journal: "The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wants me to do; the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die.

Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, 3.

Today I wish to change direction a bit in this blog.  I have encountered many people in the last year who just "do not know what they want to be when they grow up."  Unfortunately, many of these folks are in the 30s, 40s, and 50s!  I also have met some in the 60s and 70s who wish to live life over because they feel they missed their calling.

What is calling?  Guinness defines it as "the greatest good (summum bonum), the ultimate end, the meaning of life, or whatever you choose." (2)  I would say it is the nagging understanding that all of us are made for a special purpose.  I believe deep down all of us feel this nagging understanding.  All of us know we are made for some purpose. 

Unfortunately, most of us have no idea what that purpose should be!

So we search and try different things.  Some just fall into a fulfilling occupation and life.  Others settle into a job or occupation but live for the weekends when they can escape their job.  Others drift along through life fearful of missing their calling if they settle into any job of occupation.  

Some give up.  In fact, the folks who despair of finding something bigger are a growing segment of American society.  How can you recognize them?  Guinness comments about these folks using an analogy from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

"For the secret of man's being is not only to live... but to live for something definite.  Without a firm notion of what he is living for, man will not accept life and will rather destroy himself than remain on earth." (2)

Folks that believe their current life is all there is destroy themselves through their behavior and beliefs.  They live for the moment, for their pleasure, and without purpose.  Others despair and fall into great depression and anxiety.

Let's not be these folks!  We were called to so much more!

Calling is beyond our job or occupation.  Hopefully our current job or occupation help us fulfill our call, but sometimes they do not.  In fact, I have had tons of jobs.  Many I could not wait to quit.  Yet, they all helped me fulfill my calling by providing money and experience.

Calling is the key to living a fulfilling life.  It goes beyond "success" as described by our world system.  It is holy and beautiful.  It is the special shape or leading of God to each of us.

Lord willing I will have the time, energy and focus in the next couple of weeks to write about this topic!

Gifting, Calling, and your place in the Kingdom of God

"For the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power."

1 Corinthians 4:20

I love meeting Church planters and Church re-vitalizers!   I believe that in every generation, God raises up folks with a passion and calling to "bring about the Kingdom" through the Church.  I think of these church planters and church re-vitalizers (I am one of these) are the "special-forces" of the kingdom.  These are the folks that God has gifted and called to bring people to faith, to grow churches and ministries, and advance the Kingdom of God.  They often have vision and purpose that is both contagious and invigorating. 

How do these folks achieve these purposes?  God has granted them both the natural personality and temperament for leadership, as well as the spiritual gifts needed for the task.  He them calls them to a specific place where they use these gifts to build the Kingdom.

God does not give these gifts or callings to all people.  Why not?  I have no idea.  I do know that when God gives the call to a specific ministry, He also gifts us for the task.

So what does this mean?  Even as I thoroughly enjoy working with these special forces of the Kingdom, I am completely aware that all types of people are needed to pastor and to lead the Church and other ministries.  In fact, the special forces would have no chance of survival if there was not a complete support system behind their operations.  All types of people are needed in the process of building the Kingdom!  

Even though it is not my primary gifting and calling, I also thoroughly enjoy and appreciate those who have the calling and gifting to lovingly nurture and grow God's people.  Some of these folks do not have the gifting and calling to see people come to faith through their stirring preaching or bold leadership, but they are vitally needed in the Kingdom!   

In other words, when called to a ministry you need to know who you are and what the ministry opportunity needs in a leader or participant so you can determine with wisdom if you are good fit!  As Paul describes,

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

1 Cor. 12: 4-7

For today's post, I want to focus on the phrase in the middle of Paul's statement on spiritual gifts, "There are varieties of service and activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all."  In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul writes to a church where jealousy, envy, and ignorance have brought about division within the body.  It appears that this church has a variety of gifted folks.  In fact, Paul describes more and different types of gifts in writing the Corinthian church than he mentions in writing to any other church in the NT.

The problem is that this church wants to see some gifts and callings as greater than others.  From the context, we can see Paul argues such thinking is ridiculous!  Everyone and every gifting/skill set is needed!  All the different types of gifts are needed in ministry, and in the varieties of service in which we find ourselves.  The key is to serve where we are gifted and called while also affirming and encouraging others to service in different areas according to their gifting and calling.

So how do I know my gifting and calling?  How do I know when I fit into a certain ministry?  First and foremost, we need to know who God has made us to be.  We need to understand how we relate with people.  We need to understand how we process and view the world.  We need to be self-aware!

The problem is that too many of us have no idea how to answer these questions!  Instead, we wish we could be like (...whoever...) because we love how they do what they do.  We admire them, so we wish to be like them.

I had a good friend in seminary who came to school from North Carolina with his wife who was studying to be a psychologist.  He had loved his pastor in college and he wanted to be like him.  He wanted so much to be a pastor who could impact people's lives like he had witnessed.

He began in the M.Div. program, which is a degree to train for ordained ministry.  After a year, he was miserable!  His grades were very good, because he was bright.  Yet, he had no peace and joy in the work.  Before coming to seminary, he was an accountant.  After months of forcing himself to study theology, Greek, and such, he found himself nightly in the library studying tax law.  He found it fascinating (I cannot even imagine!).  Finally, he called his old firm and asked if they had a position in Boston.  He shared that he needed to get back to work in something he loved.  That was a Thursday afternoon.  The next Monday, he began to work at the Boston office of his accounting firm for $80,000 a year (remember this was the mid 1990s)!

What can we learn from this?  First, it pays to be an accountant!  Second, he was trying to force his way into a life and ministry to which he was not called and gifted.  The result was misery and a lack of success.  When he finally came to his senses, the Lord opened other doors and blessed his work.  In fact, he later applied for law school, did extremely well, passed the bar, and became a tax lawyer.  Last I heard, he was also working toward a political career.

If you are not good at understanding yourself, I encourage you to find a trusted friend, pastor, or counselor to help you gain some self-understanding.  Take some personality tests.  Take some tests to help you discover your spiritual gifts.  Get out in a variety of ministries and environments to see what brings you life, joy, and success.  

God is the one who prepares us for life and ministry.  His Spirit leads us to fruitful fields of labor.  We should strive to discover where and how God is leading us while at the same time be encouraging and acknowledging that others are called to different tasks.  

May the Lord lead us and guide us to use our gifts and personality to pursue His calling for us!

Gospel-Centered Living

“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. 6:5

So how do we grow in grace?  We know that the scriptures do not teach that growing in grace implies sinless perfectionism, having a life without struggle or some weird gnostic spirituality that does not take place in the confines of this fallen world and our fallen self.  So, what does authentic spirituality and gospel-living look like?

First, walking in grace by the power of the Spirit presupposes a right understanding of both God and ourselves.  In the first section of The Institutes, John Calvin argues there is an inter-relationship between knowing God and knowing ourselves.  He maintains that we cannot really know ourselves until we know the Holy God in such a way that our sin becomes so grievous to us that we cannot rest until we “put on Christ” in the fullest way possible.  Such knowledge can only come by an awakening of our souls by the Holy Spirit.  When awakened to our need, we cling to Christ and find mercy and grace.

In this passage in Isaiah, we see the prophet encountering the Holy God.  He is undone before Him.  He has seen God and he knows he needs grace!  Fortunately in the next verse, a seraph took a live coal from the alter and touched Isaiah’s mouth declaring, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (vs. 8)  As Isaiah met God, he became aware of his need, and he called out for grace.  God answered his need by sending grace.

In my experience, such experiences of grace cannot come often enough.  They often lead to rapid advances in Christian maturity and understanding that work out in increased love for God and others.  Such life-changing times of growth often occur at conversion, but they should also continue at different times throughout our Christian life.  Why?  As we grow to know the Holy God better, we should see our need for grace more since we see our sin more.  This is also the prime mark of authentic revival!

So why do we not see this often as a mark of Christian faith and practice?  Why do we lack such awakenings, which lead to true revival?

There are many factors.  First, we have not been taught this form of spirituality as the norm.  An emphasis on humility and brokenness runs counter to the American spirit of individualism and self-effort. 

Second, this spirituality runs counter to the workings of our fallen soul.  It does not sound nearly as good to us as “self-improvement” through works on the one hand or free and easy grace and forgiveness that doesn’t involve brokenness and humility on the other.  The truth is that many of us would rather keep a holy God at arms length.  Unfortunately, there are always religious peddlers who will wittingly or unwittingly give us what our hearts want by minimizing God’s holiness and our need. 

The result is a watered-down spirituality that lacks vitality.  Thus, we do not have true awakening and revival.  This is particularly true among those profess Christ for years.  New believers often have a glimpse of their need and God’s grace; but as they continue in the Christian faith, they lose their vitality.

Why?  Instead of growing in their understanding of God's holiness, which would lead to deeper repentance and an understanding of our need for Christ, many believers never grow from their initial understanding of God's holiness and their need.  In His mercy, God allows us through life to see our need, but we cover it up with denial or blaming others.  The result is shallowness and fakery!  Instead, we should embrace a deeper repentance, live a life of authentic confession, and find God's incredible mercy in Christ is increasing real for us.

Where are you today?  Do you have a spirit of revival and awakening in your life?  Do you have a vital, living faith?  Do you want such a life?  If so, come before the Holy God and pray for mercy to see both your need for Christ and Christ’s love for you!  True revival awaits.

Journaling God's Faithfulness

But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, "You are my servant,

I have chosen you and not cast you off";

fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41: 8-10

While I am always grateful for the time change to Daylight Savings time, I must admit that it makes me tired for an entire week.  It is amazing how regulated our bodies are.  Changing sleep patterns by just one hour can make such a difference.  Last night I fell asleep at 9:15 and woke up at 5.  Hopefully, this signals I am past the time change fatigue!

Getting up early in my household gives me an hour of complete quiet.  I so enjoy these times to read the Word of God, meet with the Lord in prayer, and have time to quiet myself before the Living God.  Today I was thinking of the untold billions who do not know how to do this.  I believe deep within me that their souls long for such times, but they do not know what it means to meet with the One True God.

I also believe this is the plight of many believers.  It only makes sense that most do not know how to meet with God in intimate prayer and fellowship.  Without models of how to do this, most live either in the land of little prayer or in the land of doing devotions because it is their duty.  Of these two extremes, doing one's duty is better than no prayer at all!

I must confess that I did devotions out of duty for years.  I gained much knowledge of the Bible, but I often did not find a life changing meeting with God during these times.  I think the primary reason why had to do with my approach to these devotions.  I did much talking to God in prayer, but I did not know it was possible or that is should be encouraged to take time to listen to God in the Word and prayer.  In fact, my religious tradition looked upon people who "listened to God's voice" as crazy folks.  What a shame!

How do we listen to the voice of God?  How do we see His hand at work?

One of the best ways to see the leading of God and to hear His voice is the process of journaling.  Yesterday I had the privilege of looking back over the past year to see how my thoughts, emotions, and confusion illustrated God's hand in my life.  How?  I read over my journal.

I write my journal occasionally.  The more confused I am about life, the more I write.  The more I need clarity in seeing God's hand, the more I write.  I write with the Word of God and my mind open to applying what I read to my life circumstances.  As thoughts come into my mind, I write and pray about them.  Generally, I then completely forget about it!

This is why journaling is so important.  I forget that the Lord is my help and shield.  I forget that He has seen me through so many questions, dangers, and difficulties.  When I write it down in my journal, I have a record of what God has done.

Yesterday, I could prayerfully see that the Lord has strengthened me, helped me, and upheld me with His righteous right hand.  Through the questions, fears, and doubts, God was at work.  What an encouragement!  If God helped me then, He will help me now.

If I had not written it down, I would have forgotten.  I would have remembered generalities, but nothing specific.  Having looked back, I can now tell my children how God has rescued me from my enemies.  How He protected me in my struggles.  How He loved me through my sin and doubt.  (Thus fulfilling God's call to fathers in Deuteronomy 6)

I challenge you to listen for the voice of the Lord.  I encourage you that even not faithful journaling can be an avenue into hearing His still small voice!

My Old, Old Story

Today is the first day in almost a month where I do not have to go someplace or take my daughter to school.  Since she hurt her knee, we have been taking her to school so she can avoid the bumps and bangs of riding the bus.  Today she is at the end of our driveway waiting to be picked up.  I love public transportation!  She is not happy about it, but it does give me time and a quiet space to write.

I was thinking today of how often believers in Christ do not present a compelling story of God's powerful work in their lives.  I know that years ago, 1988 to be exact, God entered into my life in dramatic and powerful ways.  He transformed me by His grace.  He brought me to faith, and I could not help but declare His presence and truth to all who would listen.

At that time, people could easily see God's work in my life and my story was compelling.  Many came to faith and many more were open to listening to the gospel because of my story.  I praise God for remembering these wonderful times!

Yet, as time went on my story grew more stale and less compelling.  Telling freshman in college my experience of three years ago did not have the weightiness that it did before.  Why?  I was a different person and my story of the past lost its luster.  I was sharing a history lesson instead of a present reality.

After leaving college, my personal witness for Christ remained fairly lame for years.  I did see some come to faith, but I also lost confidence in witnessing because it seemed no one really cared about my old, and growing older, story of God's work.  The incredible fruitfulness of my first love of Christ slowly died away.

How about you?  Does my story match your experience?

It took time, but I finally learned how to escape my barren witnessing.  How?  I learned that the gospel of Christ's love and grace is new every morning.  I learned that people were still interested in what God is doing even as they were skeptical and bored with that God had done decades ago.

I know that many believers in Christ have not been encouraged to think in these terms.  I offer the advice that if you wish your life and witness to count in the building of the Kingdom, you need to think in these terms.  The gospel story of grace given to sinners applies to each of us daily!

Where in your life are you struggling with sin?  Please understand that these struggles are not about your lack of will-power.  You lack will-power because your heart or soul is not right.  In other words, your daily struggle with sin is due to your lack faith or trust in Christ to meet your needs and give you life.  Instead of resting in Christ's love, we look to other sources for life, peace, acceptance, and joy.

The prophet Jeremiah describes this very human condition well.  He declares from the Lord,

My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2:13

Friends, this is the heart of sin and rebellion from God.  It also matches the reality of all fallen humans!  It sure matches my life.  What can be done about it?  I can try to ignore the truth.  I can attempt to diminish its reality.  I can compare myself to others and assure myself I am better than they are.  I have tried all of these and they surely do not change me.  All I get from these attempts is self-delusion and self-righteousness.

I offer that there is another answer.  I should repent of my sin and believe in Jesus as my only hope.  I should ask for and receive His love and grace.  I should allow this grace to transform my heart.  This is not merely the road to conversion, but also the less taken path to transforming daily grace.

When I walk in repentance and faith, I have a new story to tell.  A new story of repentance and faith from today.  A fresh tale of God's redemptive work in my life.  A compelling story that matches the experience of all.

May the Lord lead us to repentance and faith today so we have a living and active witness to God's grace!

A Fourth Counterfeit: The Quietist Gospel

Last week we investigated Trevin Wax's book Counterfeit Gospels.  It was a week where I traveled much.  Thankfully the travel is done for a couple of weeks!  Now we return to Wax's argument.

Wax sees the gospel as a three legged stool.  Each leg is vital for the stool to stand and function.  The first two counterfeits we investigated reject key elements of the first leg of the stool, which is the gospel story.   These counterfeits include the therapeutic gospel and the judgmentless gospel.  The next two counterfeits reject the second leg of the stool.  They include the moralistic gospel and today's counterfeit, the quietist gospel.

The quietist-gospel counterfeit "strikes at the heart of the gospel as a public announcement and turns the good news into a message that is only personal.  The counterfeit says that the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ no longer address the world, but only the individual." (131)

Honestly, most of the circle in which I run do not believe we struggle with this counterfeit.  If anything, we think we struggle with the opposite extreme and make works of mercy and social engagement part of the gospel equation.  We will look at this counterfeiting tendency in the future.  We will also see that the quietist-gospel counterfeit is much more subtle than we thought.  In fact, all of us have a tendency to make our faith all about us.

To help illustrate how these folks can miss the bus, I will retell a story Wax recounts from Erwin Lutzer (nothing better than third person accounts!).  I find this story both challenging and sad!  It is a first-person account of a man who lived in Germany during WWII.

I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust.  I considered myself a Christian.  We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because, what could anyone do to stop it?

A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks.  We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by.  We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!

Week after week the whistle would blow.  We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews in route to a death camp.  Their screams tormented us.

We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns.  By the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices.  If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.

Years have passed and no one talks about it anymore.  But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep.  God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians yet did  nothing to intervene.

(Wax, 129-130)

I told you it was a powerful story!  It testifies to what happens when we make the most powerful narrative of all- the true Gospel of God- merely a personal story.  I am afraid that all of us struggle with such tendencies in our culture of "self."  We forget that people our perishing without Christ, and we make our faith and our communities about serving our needs; or even worse, as instruments to protect us from the evil outside world.

What is the cure?  The gospel has implications for all of life.  Yes, political agendas can co-opt the real gospel.  We should guard against such foolishness!  That must not keep us from realizing that the true gospel will impact all of life.  The real gospel message is not merely true to me.  It is True Truth!