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Devotion.al

Tag: grow

  • Gospel Politics

    John 8:31–59, Acts 13:46–52 (read online ⧉)

    One of the biggest struggles we—as Christians in America—continue to face, and will face even more deeply, is the hardness of heart to the Gospel. This will include people who identify themselves as Christians. As it becomes harder to be a cultural Christian, the pressure to not be a Christian at all will continue to grow. Yes, it is sad. We became complacent and comfortable, which rarely produces a life-giving Gospel. We ought to really read the Gospel accounts, and even Acts and the Epistles where we are the Jews (including Pharisees and Sadducees) and the Judaizers.

    Currently, Jesus’ family is growing most quickly in places where Christianity is often opposed or co-opted by the government (becoming a false Gospel and church in the process). People not part of “the West” are the Gentiles of which we read. We, “the West”, have become what we thought we overcame. You might immediately protest this. It’s not bad to protest this. However, as we look at how the church family has been split between 2 political parties, we can see that our understanding of following Jesus Christ has become twisted.

    Most politicians are practical with their politics. They will commit (or at least pretend) to what will get them votes. Theirs is not, by practice, a Gospel of love. There are “planks” in both political parties that Christians should support. However, if it were an all-or-none supporting the entirety of a political party’s platform (and this would even include those outside the normal two), all Christians would probably—if they remained true to the teachings of Jesus Christ—have to stop voting. This isn’t solely an American thing either. This is the reality in most democracies/republics. No one political party will agree with all the teachings of Jesus. Yet, we have people focusing on political parties and politicians, and not on Jesus Christ.

    We are the Jews. We have become partners with the State. We have even gone so far as to demonize others that call themselves Christians as if our own house is clean, as if we are God, being able to judge (more like condemn) the heart of another person.

    John tells us that the Jews, not being able to stand against Jesus, called him a Samaritan (in other words, he wasn’t a “real” Jew) and demon-possessed! Wow! What chuztpah! We are hearing that from Christians that person is not a “real” American, “real” Christian, “evil”, “deluded”, and so on. THE WORLD JUDGES US BY THE WORDS WE USE. Look at the words we are using against each other. These are the same tongues that sing, “blessed be the name of the Lord!”

    As Western “civilization” walks and runs away from Christianity, there are still plenty of people waiting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Many of them are far away. Many of them are right next door.

    1) What ways can you think of to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world? Look at each of those ways. Will the world actually listen to them? Why or why not?

    2) One of the tendencies of the Jewish leaders was to say, “come to us.” In what ways do modern Christians do the same? In what ways are modern Christians different?

    3) Politics is a very sore and volatile subject these days. How can we still use politics to share the hope and grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

  • The Sky Is Falling, Right?

    Psalm 27:1–6, Acts 9:1–22 (read online ⧉)

    The psalm may have stirred up a hymn or worship song in your mind. If wired a certain way, maybe you started singing. This psalm is from a person who is very weary. The psalmist feels as if there are neverending battles needing to be fought. The psalmist perceives that as long as God is there it’s okay. Now that doesn’t mean from a human perspective that everything will work out fine, just that as God is there it’s okay.

    The psalmist resorts to being in the house of God and seeing God in the temple. God is worth it, so thinks the psalmist. Is there hope and assurance that everything will ultimately work out? Yes. However, trusting God often means not trusting ones’ own plans.

    American Christians, with some justification, are perceiving more and more that the culture (and maybe even the world) is turning against the faith. There has always been some opposition to the faith. It’s not a new thing. Perhaps what we are seeing is a return to true balance, meaning that those that deceived themselves that they were Christians or misunderstood themselves as being Christians have begun to be free of those particular shackles. This in no way implies that Christianity is bad (just to clarify), but that many people misunderstood (and still do) what it means to be a Christian. Instead of mourning or getting defensive or getting angry about all the changes (including in our families) perhaps we ought to look to the psalmist for guidance. We are not called to win on our own, but to work on God’s plan and timetable (honestly, the hardest part). That of course, doesn’t mean we don’t have a part to play. Quite the contrary we each have a part to play.

    Paul (formerly Saul) had a part to play. He was one of those who was slandering and attacking Christians to purify the Jews of this sect. His name became feared. His arrival meant nothing good. Except that God had a plan. It certainly, from the outset, didn’t seem like a great plan. Let’s have this guy harass and even endorse the killing of Christians. Let’s have him go from synagogue-to-synagogue and even town-to-town and cleanse the faith. All seemed lost or at least losing. Until Saul had a fateful encounter with Jesus. The event was so profound that Saul chose to go by Paul, meaning that he set aside the old and became new. Remember, he was “the enemy.” Now, his writings are an essential part of the Bible.

    1) Politicians often use fear to motivate. Fear of “losing” Christianity is starting to grow. What should be the proper motivation regarding working for or expanding the Kingdom?

    2) If love is the reason for our faith, then why are we allowing fear to drive our decisions regarding our faith?

    Action: Pray the psalm, asking God for insight as to what it means for your faith and your world.

  • To Flourish

    Psalm 52, Colossians 1:3–14, 2 Peter 1:3–15 (read online ⧉)

    “But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God…” Psalm 52:8 (CSB)

    Being and becoming a flourishing olive tree should be our goal. We, of course, are not trees. We are, however, treasured creations of God that God helps to nurture into Christ-like human beings. There is that tension, though, about what God to us. The Wesleyan tradition holds that God does not force us, yet without the Holy Spirit working in us, we are doomed to be the same. How it works is a mystery. The theologians of many traditions (not just the Wesleyan) continue to robustly discuss this. This is not bad. It is often distracting though.

    The tree…

    …is in the house of God.
    …quests for water
    …strains against the wind, and grows stronger.
    …reaches for the sun.
    …produces fruit.

    It seems obvious what the house of God is. It’s church. Except that is an incomplete understanding. We often think of house as a building. בַּיִת [bayith /bah·yith/] is also used to describe household, home, family, within, descendants. What if instead of “flourishing in the house of God” we were to read it as “flourishing in the family of God?” If we were to do so, that would mean praying together, life groups, worship, and other related activities that we do together are covered, as long as that draws us closer to God.

    Water is always life (especially from a wilderness and livestock point of view). With Jesus referring to himself as the Water of Life it takes on an important change, and it is one that we should take very seriously. Pursuing the Water of Life means that we follow Jesus, and do our best to cast off the world to become more like Jesus, and less like the world. Pursuing the Living Water (another title) would also cover reading the Scriptures and praying.

    The wind aspect is a little different. The wind is both the world trying to knock us down and the Holy Spirit. We couldn’t escape some tension here. That would be too easy. The storms (the wind) of the world seek to uproot us from the solid ground that is God. The Holy Spirit pushes and shapes us to be stronger so that we can stand firmer against the world.

    Reaching for the sun would seem to be automatically related to the Son, yet the sun provides warmth (like love) and nourishment (trees need the sun to breathe and produce energy). The sun and its attributes can be found in things like families and friends.

    Lastly, though, the tree produces fruit which can take many forms (the list is far too long).

    All of this falls under the huge umbrella of spiritual growth. The two passages from Paul’s letter to the Colossians and the second letter Peter are deeply concerned about spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is not optional. In fact, to be a Christ-follower, we are (by definition) seeking to spiritually grow to be closer and closer to Christ. If you are not pursuing spiritual growth the question of being a Christ-followers rears its head.

    1) Looking at the list in Colossians 1:9–12 of spiritual growth, what pops out for you? Which area are you growing in? Which one are you weakest in?

    2) 2 Peter 1:5–7 is a list often used as a list of spiritual fruit. Where do you fall within the list? Do you think the list is exhaustive? Why do you think Peter ties the “fruit” together?

    3) How important do you view your spiritual growth? How about the spiritual growth of others? Why is that your view?

  • Anticipatory Expectation

    Romans 8:18–25, Revelation 5:1–10 (read online ⧉)

    What are we expecting? What are we anticipating? Expectation and anticipation are not always positive, as we often “wait” for the other shoe to drop. It is in this mindset that anxiety can step in and take over us.

    Creation is personified in Paul’s text. This anthropomorphic thinking of Creation puts a different spin on things. We could then get in line with those that say things link, “Mother Nature is angry at humanity.” Almost. Environmental degradation was not a strong concern in Paul’s era. However, people did experience hurricanes, cyclones, severe storms, ice, hail, volcanoes, earthquakes, etcetera. When we think of these severe events, we can sympathize with Paul’s thinking.

    What is more interesting is the implication of Paul’s words. You see, it is not just about us. We finite creations are not all that are affected by sin. All of creation was affected. The Fall of humanity was not just about humanity, but the consequence that was then delivered to all of creation. In the carol, Joy to the World, we sing:
       No more let sins and sorrows grow,
         Nor thorns infest the ground;
    He comes to make his blessings flow
    Far as the curse is found.

    The infestation of thorns (and weeds), plus the sweat now required of humanity to farm, and even the fact that creatures eat one another, are all signs of fallen creation. All of Creation waits to be restored, too.

    That restoration is at the core of John’s vision of Heaven. The Seven-Sealed Scroll was the fulfillment of all hope from Heaven to Earth. We can understand that in John’s vision, the scroll not being opened meant that God’s plan wouldn’t/couldn’t be fulfilled for just the brief moment. That brief moment is all that it takes to get that “drop in the stomach” feeling of loss. If all were truly based on a scroll, then hope would be pointless. True hope relies not on the scroll, but on Jesus. Heaven and Earth rejoice, indeed.

    1) Are you constantly waiting for the “other shoe to drop”? If no, how do you plan for and thrive beyond things to go bad? If yes, how do you move forward under all that emotional weight?

    2) Do you think it is important that Creation is waiting, too? Why or why not?

  • To Be Called

    Psalm 34, Isaiah 49:1-6, 1 Corinthians 4:1-16 (read online ⧉)

    What does it mean to be called? That is a question many people ask themselves at various points in their lives. When we were children, the question could be, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Granted, in family businesses there could be an assumption of “call” which presents its own dangers. As we enter the teenage years, identity beings to become a focus (“Who am I?”). This will often take shape and be shaped by activities and friends. In the last decade, or so, we’ve seen a new trend, and that is “calling” children to more and more activities or to multiple seasonal versions of the same activity (often sports). Young teenagers are now being pushed to decide career paths while figuring out who they are, as certain decisions (such as the fantastic programs of Running Start, College in the Classroom, and AP courses) affect college decisions, and potentially financial-aid decisions, too. As the average lifespan increases, we are beginning to compress the childhoods that many of us treasured to resemble earlier eras. Also, as lifespans increase, career changes (not just jobs) are becoming increasingly common. That is one of the interesting pieces, as our jobs are increasingly less of our identity.

    Isaiah did not have a question of his identity to a great degree. Since he felt that he was called before he was born, it was likely that he followed seers or prophets or sages. He was probably often following priests and scribes, too. It was his identity. It was his calling. It certainly wasn’t an easy one. It might have given him resilience during his prophetic ministry, and it certainly isolated him from others. Paul describes himself as a “manager” of the mysteries of God. It is a strange calling, but it was his.

    Do not judge yourself, or your calling, by Isaiah, Paul, or any others in the Scriptures. Evaluate your call against them for insight and wisdom. Each person in the Scriptures was unique and uniquely called, just like you.

    N.T. Wright (former bishop now educator and researcher) recently said, “…I think a lot of people feel guilty that there are some things which maybe when they were called…they thought they would be doing. And they either didn’t seem to be very good at it or they didn’t get the opportunity to do it. And I really want to say that we all have our particular gifts. And we shouldn’t be ashamed of the fact that there are some gifts that we might have thought we were going to be given in ministry or whatever, which we don’t have…I think of extreme examples of people who served God with everything that they’ve got, in a very what looks like to most of us a very bleak and obscure way. I think of Alexander Cruden, who did the great concordance couple hundred years ago. And, and he was, we would today say he was really far out on a spectrum. He was quite an unbalanced individual. But he needed to be like that for the very odd job that God had for him, which was producing—by hand—a concordance which served the church amazingly well for a very long time. And I possess my grandfather’s copy of cretins, concordance, and it was a great help before all the modern computerized stuff can So I really want to say if somebody has an academic bent or a bent for lexicography, or… if somebody has the real pastoral ability to spend hours working with, say, Children in Need or at risk or families that are in trouble, …that’s fine. God needs those gifts.”

    Sometimes we are blind to our gifts and/or our calling. Other times people will ask for our help and we realize that it isn’t our call, but something connected is. The question isn’t, “are you called?” The question is, “What are you doing with your calling?”

    1) Do you know what your calling is? If not, who are some mature Christians you know that could help you figure it out? If you do, how did you come to that conclusion?

    2) Do you think your calling has or will ever change?

  • Humble Knowledge

    1 Samuel 2:1–10, Job 36:1–4, 2 Peter 1:3–8 (read online)

    Knowledge is power, so it is said. One of the great gifts of the Enlightenment was indeed the removal of knowledge from the monopoly of the church. Knowledge, when freed from the shackles of human power and control, can grow.

    Knowledge, by the way, does not mean wisdom. Wisdom is something completely different (though it often looks similar). Societally, we value knowledge. We lift those up with lots of education. We often put them on a pedestal as if they are of greater value than we are. The problem truly comes when one views the knowledge they have as giving some authority, insight, and/or power that is not theirs.

    Hannah’s prayer covers that to some degree as she talks about not boasting, or speaking arrogantly. She notes that God has all the knowledge. As God has all the knowledge, God is able to weigh everyone’s actions. No matter how much knowledge we have, or anyone has, we will never have all the knowledge of God even with all the technology we have now, and will have. Only God has the knowledge of all people and all situations.

    As Elihu speaks, we should all be cringing. How could anyone be so arrogant they have complete knowledge? Sadly, this is exactly how many people speak and act. In fact, such speakers are given accolades. Lest you forget, that is exactly what we are getting in our politics these days, and it will probably be worse next year. That is unless we take a stand. This is not the stand of my way is THE right way, but the stand of I may not be right and should be open to others. This doesn’t mean we will all agree, all of a sudden. Often if we are willing to listen, the heart of our approach may change hearts. However, even if opinions aren’t changed, bridges can still be built instead of walls.

    For Christians, it should be a deepening knowledge of God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit that we should seek, both in ourselves and in others. Peter reminds us that this is how we deepen our faith. If we keep increasing our knowledge of God…we won’t be useless. That means if we do keep increasing in our knowledge we are useful to God. Sounds pretty good.

    1) Do you find yourself overly respecting those with knowledge?

    2) How are you deepening your knowledge of God? Is it with purpose, or is it aimless?

    3) How can we gently correct those full of knowledge, who are full of themselves?

  • Fields of God

    Matthew 9:35–38, John 4:34–38, 1 Corinthians 3:5–11

    For a culture that is generally separated from the people and land that provide its food, the imagery of harvest can be hard to grasp. Many of us drive by hay, alfalfa, and cornfields. We have no idea when the crop is ready, but the farmers do. One thing that could be a similar situation would be investments.

    Through our retirement plans or other investments (such as homes), we “grow” our money. However, in reality, the growth of those investments largely relies on the work of others. Homes can be the only exception, yet the value of the home is often deeply affected by the surrounding area (location, location, location). So, even with all the remodels, you are reliant on others.

    All the money managers are outweighed by the number of their customers. In other words, there are few working to grow the investments that many of our retirement and dreams for our children (and grandchildren) are based. The laborers are few. The interesting part of this is that many (with reason) perceive that these money managers are not actually “earning” value, yet we all yet still look to them to grow what we have entrusted them with.

    The underlying reality is that God is constantly seeding the world with the Word. God uses people to do so. Relatively, there are very few that know Jesus and the Word. In other words, not much has changed. Even in the “great” American-Christian Era, those that truly know Jesus were outnumbered. The harvest (the world) is huge, and there are relatively few workers.

    We are all called to labor in the harvest. We may gather little, for where we have gathered few have sown. Or we may gather much because where we are was well-tended by those before us. We truly do not know who was before us, or what they did to labor for God. We are to do our best. The harvest was happening before we were born, is happening now, and will continue to happen after we are gone (depending on when Jesus returns, of course).

    We are both workers and the harvest. This is the symmetry of the reproduction of faith.

    1) Who are you working within their faith journey? Who is working with you?

    2) Why is the discussion regarding Apollos and Paul important? What are your takeaways?

    3) Jesus says we know when to harvest. Have you ever harvested too early? What happened?

  • Right Things

    Isaiah 1:10–31, Habakkuk 1:2–4, Luke 17:5–10

    In many courtrooms, there is an image or a statue of Lady Justice. Lady Justice is the supposed personification of the ideal judicial system: blind (no favoritism), sword (swift and cutting decision), scales (balance of “good” and “evil”), toga (justice as a philosophy). Most of us recognize that this is the ideal. Every human justice system is exactly that…human.

    Our sense of justice, our philosophy of justice, should be based upon and informed by the Scriptures. Israel and the Jews would have agreed with that statement in concept. Sadly, just like today, concept and reality are not in line. This is God’s point through Isaiah. All the rites are being followed, but the heart of God is not. By not fulfilling and following the heart of God, the Jews were spoiling (as in making rotten) their sacrifices to God. Who wants rotten meat?

    There are many cries for justice, and many are good calls. Far too many appear aligned more for political gain than actual justice. And this is also rotten. Yes, the right thing is being done…for the wrong reason. Or, the right thing is being done but is contaminated by the wrong thing also being done by the same people.

    Habbakuk’s cry out for help sounds like so many people. Really, though, it goes along the line of a person talking to God, “There is so much injustice, cruelty, and pain in the world. Why aren’t you doing something about it?” Then God responds, “funny, I was going to ask you the same question.”

    It’s Jesus’ words, though, that may shine the real light on the issue. Pride. Jesus points out that servants should not be seeking praise for fulfilling their duties. Yet, there seems a pervading current of recognition that fills the church.

    1) If we do the right things to grow the church, are they really the right thing?

    2) If we do the right things to build the Kingdom, are they really the right thing?

    3) If we do the right things because they are what God called us to do, but they don’t build the church, don’t build the kingdom, are they still the right thing?

  • Lamb Expectations

    Numbers 27:15–17, John 10:1–16, Luke 10:1–12

    Shepherds have long held a presence in the story of Israel. Sheep were part of Abraham’s, Isaac’s, and Jacob’s, and the 12 patriarchs’ lives. Moses, too, was a shepherd. Therefore, it is not a surprise that he talks about the people of Israel needing a shepherd. And, after being “bitten” by them numerous times, he probably thought they acted like sheep. Moses even goes and uses shepherding language (go and come back) to describe his successor.

    Goes and comes back terminology is used by Jesus, too, as he calls himself the shepherd. Jesus goes further and says that his sheep will know his voice, and run from the voice of a stranger. What’s really interesting is that John then makes an aside and calls it a figure of speech. As John was writing much later, one can safely assume that John saw many “running” away from Jesus, who had once proclaimed to follow Jesus. Thus he saw Jesus’ words more figural because the sheep sure didn’t seem to be listening.

    When taking all the sheep and shepherding imagery together, it becomes a little more obvious that when Jesus sends out the 72, his expectations are not high. He calls them lambs. This means that they are innocent. In many respects, lambs are innocent even of what it means to be a sheep. The innocent lamb being sent out has no protection in the herd, meaning that the threat of wolves is even more significant. This lamb has no protection (money, food, clothing, weapon).

    The other part of being called lambs, especially in the light of the shepherd, is that they are his little lambs of his little flock. Someday, they grow up to be big sheep. As big sheep, they will lead, guide, and teach the new lambs what it means to be sheep, and who the shepherd is, who the shepherd isn’t, all while the shepherd isn’t present.

    1) Who are the lambs in the church (don’t jump to just the easy answers!)?

    2) Who are the “big sheep” in the church (again, don’t jump to just the easy answers!)?

    3) How do you, we, the church teach who the shepherd is? Can you think of new ways? What about old ways no longer used?

  • Who Are You?

    Exodus 3:1–15, 1 Samuel 18:15–28, 2 Samuel 7:11–21, 1 Chronicles 29:10–19

    There is one question spoken in each of these passages, who am I?

    When we are born, we have no concept of self. Eventually, we look in the mirror and say, “that’s me.” As a child, we grow and change. The “who am I” question may fade for a time but then come back full-force during the teenage years. Sociologists have noticed that the “who am I” period is lasting longer. We have many options of what we can be, and what we can do. Sociologists are also starting to wonder if we have too many choices of what we can be, and what we can do.

    Yet, the problem is that we can do and what we can be often are not the answer to, “who am I.” Many of you reading this may think to yourself, “I know who I am.” Are you sure?

    This is not a rhetorical question. This is a salvation question.

    Who are you?

    Notice that the question was asked in the context of a major encounter with God. God took a person who viewed himself as unworthy and insignificant. God did not.

    No matter how small or insignificant you think you are, your life or impact is, God knows you and does not view you as insignificant.

    We look at the heroes of the bible, and say, who am I.

    God says, you are my child.