Posts Tagged ‘Faith’

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Not For The Purpose of Quarreling Over Opinions

September 17, 2015

Yesterday I pondered what kind of church, indeed what kind of society, we’d have if we could incorporate Paul’s 29 definitions of love from Romans 12.

Then I glanced over a page and saw Romans 14: “Welcome those who are weak in the faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.”

We live in a society of people filled to overflowing with emotional opinions that are shallow and not thought out. Just check the majority of Facebook posts. Or check the comments to blogs over the past 10 years.

Andy Stanley recently taught a series called “Christian” where he voiced general society’s view of Christians as a quarrelsome lot. He nailed it.

I long ago gave up on the idea of having an intelligent conversation based on well-thought-out ideas among people willing to listen to reason. Actually, I have had a few business dinners where that sort of good conversation broke out. But it rarely happens among Christians.

What if? What if those of us who identify as Christ-followers, those seeking to live a with-God life, what if we chose not to quarrel with those weak in the faith over opinions? What if we asked questions out of the depths of love? And then listened to their stories with the depths of love? And what if we could quietly share just what great things happen personally when we live a life with God?

John Lennon sang, “You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.”

I’d love to see more than a few of us. How about you?

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You Have To Use It

August 17, 2015

“What good is it if he never used it?” Oxford student to his professor regarding Nietzsche on Inspector Lewis on PBS Masterpiece Mystery.

Nietzsche was most likely insane from syphillis during much of his life. Like some insane or “sub-threshhold” people, he could see into the human soul. He looked deeply into the 19th Century European soul and found darkness.

He also wrote about Das Übermensch, translated into English most literally as the Overman but popularly as Superman. He talked about the Will to Power. But he, himself, was not very powerful. He was sickly. 

Hence the comment by the student.

How many people do you know that know a lot but do little with it. I didn’t finish a formal engineering degree, but I used to work alongside many who did. Having enough knowledge to finish a degree did not make some of them an engineer. 

There are people with Masters degrees or Doctors degrees in various disciplines whose heads are filled with stuff. They go to leadership meetings and seminars. They can quote leadership stories. Tell leadership anecdotes. They couldn’t lead a group of children to a candy store.

There are people who can quote Scriptures for every circumstance. Do their lives reflect that they are disciples (by the way, my tradition and belief system is a follower of Jesus, but I observe the same problem with followers of Islam and Judaism)? It’s a human problem.

I am going through another cycle of studying the Proverbs. There are so many about accepting wise counsel. But also I read today that you can even tell a child’s character by what he does.

What good is it to say you’re a Christian and memorize reams of Scripture, and then your actions betray you as not a follower of Jesus?

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Victim Attitude Is Unbecoming Of A Disciple

August 13, 2015

Donald Miller wrote some good novels before he turned into a marketing guru. Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years,  Searching For God Knows What, Through Painted Deserts are all worth a read.

He just posted an article on his blog talking about how some Christians like to play the victim card.

I have thought often about people I know (quite a few) who identify themselves as Christian, but they always are looking through a lens of being underdogs, underappreciated, misunderstood, persecuted, or something. And this is all in the USA!

Miller used the word victim to identify this syndrome. 

He starts looking into people who like to be a victim as an outlook on life. He may stretch it by saying it gives them power, but in a way it does give them some leverage over some people.

Read his post. Think about it. I just spent quite a bit of time today contemplating his thoughts.

I relate to when I was a little kid at the height of the Cold War. All I heard from the old farmers around town was how the Soviets were going to overrun the country (so they all had their .22 rifles and 12 ga shotguns and were going to stand up to the Russian tanks that were coming). 

Even at 7 or 8 years old, I thought that was a ridiculous picture. For two reasons. First even as a youngster, I seemed to realize about firepower. But secondly, I kept wondering why these upstanding patriots had so little confidence in our armed forces that it was a sure bet that we’d be overrun.

And the same thing with Christians. (100% of the people I grew up with identified as Christian.) They always talked about how Communist Atheists would put an end to Chrisianity. 

I guess it was just pure naiveté of someone not yet 10 who thought that if God is so powerful, why should we think that some group would put him out of business.

Even so today. I have confidence in God. I also know (learning from the New Testament) that society at large is composed of many different types of people. It is foolish to think that everyone around us in society is exactly like us. 

What we learn from Revalation aside from all the over-thinkers looking for all manner of fortune telling, is that the game is over. God wins. Jesus leads the world to God.

So, why do we (some of us) go around acting like victims. In America, we don’t have a clue. Why not try living with our brothers and sisters in Iran, Iraq and many other places. They are fighting for their very lives even as I write this. But here? We have money. We have comfortable lives. No one shoots at us as we go to church. No one arrests us simply for our faith in God.

We just need to help those who are. It is not becoming to act like a victim. It is becoming to be strong in our faith.

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They Made Their Own Rules

August 11, 2015

Ever play games with children?

They are always making up rules. Often they change the rules arbitrarily. They change the rules to put themselves at an advantage.

Thoughts of this behaviour came to mind as I was meditating on Romans 10. “For being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.”

At the time Paul wrote this, Jewish religious leaders and teachers had managed to take ten commandments of God and turn them into an incredibly complex set of rules designed to put them at an advantage. They could then condemn others for not following all the rules.

Jesus blasted that idea. He taught that what is most important is what’s in your heart. If your heart is in a right relationship with God, you’ll do what’s right. Trying to live by following a rigid set of rules leads to a life of slavery or hopelessness. It also leads to a life of comparison. It breeds the “I’m better than you, and you’re going to hell” <snicker>. 

Andy Stanley’s current Your Move series is titled Christian. The premise is that since “Christian” is not defined in the Bible, you can make it whatever you wish. But the word Jesus used, disciple, is a word easily defined.

Beyond that, Stanley has been asking, “Do you know any angry, judgemental Christians who seem to derive pleasure by thinking you’re going to hell”?

Of course, the answer is Yes.

The Roman Catholic church has tons of rules. Each protestant denomination seems to have its own set of rules different, of course, from anyone else’s set of rules. Everyone make up rules.

Even today.

Even while saying they are following the guy who said to worry about the condition of your heart first.

Back to Paul. They made their own set of rules, just like children do. And they lost.

It’s not rules, it’s relationship.

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Not The Old Yeast of Malice

August 10, 2015

Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerety and truth. 2 Corinthinians 5:8

A friend posted a limerick full of hatred and malice on his Facebook page with a comment about the racism and hatred contained in the poem.

By the time I got to it, several people had posted comments attacking my friend (he’s used to it, by the way) and supporting the thoughts as either truthful or protected free speech.

The US Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the Constitution) are really what sets us apart in our governance. It limits the rights of the government to trample on the rights of citizens.

Many Americans today, however, in this rebellious and individualist time, confuse freedom with irresponsibility. Many have adopted a lifestyle and opinion that the world revolves around them and that therefore they can talk and act with impunity.

With freedom comes responsibility. No responsibility by the people means eventually no freedom.

Paul wrote a whole letter about freedom. The letter to the Galatians is packed with advice about freedom and what it means. We are free in Jesus, but not free to run around and do anything we choose or say anything we wish.

But I’ll stick with the Corinthians quote.

Many people posted that they knew the truth of the incident (this discussion revolves around the incident in Ferguson, MO).

I beg to differ. From the comments I gather that none had been there as an eyewitness to the events. Even had they been eyewitnesses, all criminal attorneys and police know that eyewitness accounts are the most unreliable versions of the facts of the matter.

It was a truism in a politics class I took in the late 60s and remains true today–almost everyone reads the source of news that most agrees with their predisposed opinions.

If all your knowledge comes from newspaper, TV, and Web news, then you know nothing. You know not one true fact of an incident. Well, maybe one or two, such as the names of the people involved.

Beyond that, when you take up opinions and voice them publicly, then you should beware lest you are partaking of the yeast of malice and evil instead of the unleavened bread of sincerety and truth. I believe that means acting and speaking responsibly.

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You Can’t Manage Change

August 6, 2015

Getting Things Done–it’s a book by David Allen and a method of organizing your thoughts, to-do lists, projects, plans. I am a GTDer.

He discusses a perennial hot topic in management circles and sometimes in personal development circles–management of change.

We are taught to “manage change.” Allen says in his recent monthly newsletter to subscribers that he always avoided that thought because he never really came to grips with it. Then he discovered his uncertainty with the concept. You can’t really manage change.

Change happens. Often you can’t anticipate it. Stuff comes at you suddenly from seemingly out of nowhere. You’re just cruising along and then something happens. The world is changing.

What we know is that we can manage albeit sometimes with great difficulty how we manage ourselves and our teams or family through the change.

This is especially important to recognize in our spiritual formation. We aren’t “unspiritual” just because change hits us. But working through change has the power to strengthen our spiritual life. There may be times when it doesn’t seem like it. But it does.

I have changed so much in my life that looking back it seems unreal. But each step was a growth. I removed myself–or got removed–from several situations that were either going nowhere or actually detrimental to my health.

Don’t get frustrated by trying to manage change. Manage yourself through the changes.

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Save Yourself

August 3, 2015

My dad used to have a phrase, “It’s like the blind leading the blind.”

Did you ever follow a leader who had no clue?

OK, you can quit laughing–or cringing.

Did you ever seek help from someone only to discover that they needed more help than you? It’s worse when they offer advice. Then you realize they need to live the advice first.

I often listen to “Coffee House” on Sirius XM when I’m driving. The channel features acoustic music. Since I play folk guitar (when I get it out), the channel is appealing.

There’s a song that keeps repeating in my head:

You’ve got to save yourself…so you can find a way to save…someone else.

This wisdom is ancient. Yet, we still need to discover it daily. When I’m tempted to open my mouth and interject in a conversation, there is a pause. In that pause, I reflect on how much I resemble just what I’m about to contribute.

Sure, you can learn a lot by reflecting upon failures. But I wouldn’t listen very long to business advice from someone who has taken multiple businesses into bankruptcy.

Similarly, I respect people who may not have it all together, but they have been living out the struggle for years. They know how hard life change is. Yet, you can see the change in their lives. I listen to them. And meditate on their words. And reflect on their lives. And contemplate how that change would look in my life.

These may be Celtic saints from my current reading in the Celtic Daily Prayer book. They may be people I’ve met over the past few years, months, days.

Don’t go theological on me. Just consider the practice: If you are seeking, seek those who have “saved themselves”. If you are “saved yourself”, then you need to “find a way to save someone else.”

Jesus put it, “Go into all the world making disciples….”

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Fear Keeps Us From Ourselves

July 30, 2015

The story of David and Goliath. We know it. Thanks to Malcolm Gladwell’s interesting but somewhat inaccurate book, many more know it.

Little boy (probably not that little) kills giant warrior while the entire army of Israel cowers in fear.

Out alone watching the family flock of sheep, David learned to deal with his fear while protecting the flock from wild animals.

Is fear holding you back?

Sometimes we are not as successful at what we wish to do as we could be due to an underlying sense of fear that prevents us from going all out for achievement.

I was that way. There were people who encouraged me. They actually thought I was intelligent and could do the work. But I held back–for years. Insecurity, fear. Then one day it was gone.

There is someone now in my life who has all the trappings of success–spiritual background, faith, degrees (plural), position. Yet, something holds this person back from being everything God has laid out in the path of life.

Self-help gurus latched on to a little psychology research and preached this message since the beginning of self-help guru movements. Even so, it’s true.

How did David overcome the fear? Every day making the little acts that added up to larger acts that led to killing the mighty warrior of his enemy.

It’s not that he didn’t know fear. Read the rest of his story. But he could overcome his fears and become a great leader.

Is fear holding you back?

Take those little steps in faith to live out your spiritual gifts. Start today. Do one thing that moves you forward. One practice. One conversation. One gift given.

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Live In Unity

July 28, 2015

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! Psalm 133

Of course, that was originally written for physical descendants of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

However, many of us look at our congregations of believers and sigh that same refrain. If only…

Dallas Willard writes in The Spirit of the Disciplines, “Personalities united can contain mor of God and sustain the force of his greater persence much better than scattered individuals.”

I’ve been devoting several hours of service working with other members of my congregations, and I have to leave in 10 minutes for another four hours this morning.

Just reflecting for a few minutes that serving together on a common project is so much better than just sitting around and criticizing one another, or making up untruths about others, or gossiping about others.

How pleasant indeed it is when we can get together and serve in unity.

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Perseverence Is A Key Leadership Trait

July 24, 2015

A couple of guys meeting regularly felt a call to start a coffee shop. Not just a coffee shop, but one with a mission. 

The mission was brought to them through a conference in Thailand where the plight of coffee farmers was brought to awareness. As is often the case with commodities, large corporations buy up all the coffee paying the lowest possible price.

Farmers cannot make a living, often being forced to sell daughters into the sex trade. Evidently men have such great physical need along with a lot of money to make selling sex a lucrative business.

Smaller roasters buying directly from the farmer can pay a fair price for the product and still bring the coffee back to sell at a reasonable price to the retail customer. In the case of a farmer in Thailand, he was able to make a profit and at the same time pay his laborers a fair wage such that 50 young women were brought back home rescued from their horrible life.

The thought of the coffee shop based on Direct Trade coffee grew. Plans were laid. Investors sought. Contractors interviewed until one came forward with a workable plan within budget.

Just when they thought they could go no further, a new investor or donor came forward. Work could proceed. Even at the last minute when a sign needed to be purchased and installed and working capital obtained, new investors came forward.

Two years is a long time to work on a dream. Today, the High Grounds Cafe opens. I changed my “office” from the local Starbucks which is at a grocery store and Tim Hortons this week. I’m an investor and I’ve witnessed the perseverence that led the investors, contractors, employees to this stage.

I’ll never forget a poster I saw about 30 years ago showing a heron swallowing a frog. But the frogs front legs (“arms”) were free and it was strangling the heron. The caption–Never Give Up.

Certainly perseverance is a necessary leadership trait. Now–what can I learn from that. Congratulations Chuck and Chris.

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