Devotion.al

Tag: holy

  • No Face Value

    Genesis 20:1–18, 1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 21:2, Romans 1: 18–25

    When you look at someone, can you tell they are a Christian? If you can, there are a few reasons why: (1) Pride…yours for God knows and weighs the ; (2) Their and spirit show ; (3) is there a 3rd one?

    In the , we are cautioned to not assume that a person is right with God. Abraham made that mistake and almost caused a man to commit adultery who was innocent. Abraham assumed Abimelech did not fear God. Abraham may have been right when it came to the surface. However, Abimelech listened to God.

    As a , Christians have taken affirmations of at face value, for the very reason that we do not know the heart. Paul does note in 1 Corinthians 12:3, that no one can say that Jesus is Lord without it being of the Spirit. However, in Romans 10:9, Paul also says that we are only saved if we believe in our hearts. One is an outward statement, and the goes before all. The other is an inward statement that can only be between a person and God.

    There is a lot of finger-pointing in the world, and some of it involves avowed Christians (i.e., people who say they are Christians and/or follow Jesus Christ) pointing at other avowed Christians, and accusing them of apostasy (i.e., false teaching and/or walking away from the faith) or not being Christian. If we take the Scriptures seriously, then accusing another of not being a Christian because they don’t agree with us on certain issues (especially non- issues) is not in line with what the Scriptures say becomes a very dangerous road to walk.

    1) Have you ever accused (whether out loud or in your mind) another person of not being a Christian, when they state they are one?

    2) What are some good ways to engage other Christians regarding important topics on which we ?

    3) When should disagreements be brought up, and when should they be left alone?

  • The Duty to Pass On

    1 Timothy 4:13–16, Romans 12:3–8, Acts 20:22–32

    Teaching is a core function of passing on the faith. There have been plenty of stories (and continue to be) of people coming to without being taught about Jesus. The Spirit moves as God wills. By and large, though, people need to be taught about Jesus.

    Teachers of the , as some like to say, are very important to the passing on of the faith. They are not parents (in this context), they are not spiritual mentors (again, in this context). They teach the parents and the spiritual mentors in their faith so that they will pass it on. Preaching and teaching are the primary modes of this teaching.

    What also was tied into teaching, was care. In today’s , we call it being a pastor (or pastoring). It is not just the domain of Pastors, it is also the responsibility of elders (wisdom and duration, not age) in the faith. The reason this is part of it is in hopes to prevent people from introducing false beliefs and pulling people away from the faith.

    The reason all of this is important is that there really is a call in scripture for there to be pastors, leaders, and elders. The purpose is for any to lord over other and authority, but to help prevent people from adding and taking away pieces of the faith.

    Many Christians now look at the church as an ancient tie that needs to be tossed away. Scripture does not give us that , nor does nature. In Robert Robinson’s hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, he writes, “…Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee…” It is nature of fallen humanity to wander away from God. Without to something greater to ourselves, we will wander away. It may be with good intentions, but those intentions need to be tempered.

    1) Whether teacher, pastor, “shepherd”, elder, parent, mentor, how is your passing on of the faith held accountable? If it is not, what can you do bring such accountability into your ?

    2) What are some bad reasons, do you think, that people want to throw “church” into the trash bin? What are some good reasons?

    3) What do you find beneficial in regards to church? What can you do to build that up with ?

  • Too Direct?

    John 17:9–19

    prayed for the disciples, a lot. There is something quite interesting here. He didn’t pray for the world (that he died for). He prayed instead for his disciples. Why? Why his disciples?

    Jesus prayed for his disciples. Jesus prayed for his friends. Jesus prayed for their protection.

    He prayed for them…for us.

    Without the disciples, we would not know Jesus. Without Jesus’ protection, we would not have the disciples. Jesus did pray for the world…just indirectly.

    All too often, we want to see direct effects. We want to know that the of God is active in our lives. We want to know that God loves the world…and even us.

    Ultimately, with Jesus’ , the came to dwell in the 11 remaining disciples, along with all those who were with them in the upper room. From those 11, the was born. The church despite its brokenness. The church despite all the hurt that its imperfect people caused and suffered.

    We sometimes if our prayers are effective. Perhaps it’s not our prayers that we should be thinking about, but the prayers of those who are praying for us.

    1) Have you ever had the experience of learning that someone was praying for you, and it came to be? What was your response?

    2) Have you ever prayed for someone else (especially not ), and watched it come true? What was your response?

    3) should be the most uniting thing we as a church do. How can you be more with your church in prayer?

  • Guarding Wrong Things

    Psalm 51:1–13, Luke 15:1–10, 1 Timothy 1:12–17

    “Be gracious to me…Against…you alone…have I sinned…Purify me…Turn your face…from my sins…create a clean for me…Do not banish me…sustain me…sinners will return to you.”

    The (very) abbreviated Psalm 51:1–13 above probably resonates with you. The Psalms are often flowery poems, and when we strip much of that away it hits even deeper. As you read the full and abbreviated Psalm, did you feel gratitude toward God and his grace given to you? If not, I urge you to re-read both again.

    After almost 2 millennia of digging in and seeking God’s truth and , it has almost become the default setting that is God (though often still hard to fully grasp). Why is that important? Well, if Jesus is God, then Jesus would display God’s nature and . That being the case, we ought to look at the Gospels as insights into God.

    In Luke 15:1–10, we often focus on the parables, which are great. Yet, the whole reason for the parables was to explain, “…[Jesus] welcomes sinners and eats with them.” God WELCOMES sinners and eats WITH them. Pardon the philosophical wanderings things brings to mind, but are we the —the so-called of Jesus—doing that?
    Is the church so concerned about purity—and apparent —that it (they, we) doesn’t welcome sinners and eat with them? This is not a new struggle. In the early years of the church, there was a barrier to entry for the literal safety of the church. With Augustine’s official recognition of the church (and its sad becoming a place of worldly power), the barrier became toeing the party line (in both Western and Eastern ).

    Perhaps instead of looking at the last few decades as the way things ought to be, perhaps we ought to look to the founding of the Church of the Nazarene. Phineas Bresee—viewed by many as the primary (but not only) founder of the Church of the Nazarene—had his church in (what came to be called) Skid Row. The alcoholics, prostitutes, drug addicts (opium) were all there. They didn’t have it all together. Do you?

    Yet the church puts litmus tests on a lot of things. It’s so much easier to say here is the line you must cross. Jesus died while we were yet (and to be) sinners. Jesus crossed the line! Jesus just crossed it the “wrong” direction. Thanks be to God!

    A parable: There was a company whose workers were on strike. The strikers’ singular complaint was that the company kept trying to bring in the “wrong” people. Those people were dirty, smelly, believed the wrong things. How DARE the company try to bring them in! They—the striking workers—were the ONLY ones who knew who belonged. A person trying to answer employment ad tried to get in, but the strikers wouldn’t allow it. The company president saw the person being spat on, yelled at, and even struck. The president then went to the person, crossing the picket line. The president grabbed the person’s hand and brought the person in. The person said to the president, “your workers are bad people! Look what they did!” The president responded, sadly, “You see, they think they are on the inside protecting the company, but really, by their actions, they are now on the outside.”

    1) Are we excluding the people that the is bringing to us? If so, how and why?
    2) What is the difference between purity and holiness?

    3) Which is more inviting? Telling a person how wrong they are, or telling a person how they are? And, then, how do you show either one?

  • Deceptive Holiness

    1 Timothy 4:6–16, Colossians 2:1–23

    : usually a traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.

    Myths are powerful. Often the struggle of myths is their competition with one another. Focusing on “…explain a practice, belief…”, we all know that there are plenty of practices and beliefs in church that people have. Many of these have been built up to such a point that the seems to lose to “the way things must be.” The Church of the Nazarene is no different (we’ll try to be careful walking on eggshells). The first Church of the Nazarene was “born” on the streets of Los Angeles’ Skid Row (or its equivalent). There was a huge problem with alcoholism and alcohol in general. So, one of the principles was no drinking, and it makes perfect sense. The Christian life was held up as an example to live up to, and one of the ways to escape the path of destruction was to stop drinking. Having a religious and social “contract” created a place of restoration and health.

    However (you knew this was coming), the rationale became a litmus test for . If you consumed, sold, or make alcohol, you were obviously not holy. This sounds a little over the top, doesn’t it? Does that mean generations of Christians (including ‘s successor, Timothy) were not holy? Of course not! There is an argument (questioned by many) regarding the alcohol content difference between Biblical wine and today’s wine, but that really isn’t the issue. If we took things to the extreme, we would only be holy if we were monks or nuns (or the Protestant equivalent). That seems pretty silly, too.

    Let’s be clear. We can look around us and see alcohol (and many other things) are a significant problem. Alcohol (and those other things) can easily lead one away from family, church, and God. On the other hand, many of these things should not be presumed to do this. Do many of the troublesome things lead us away from ? Absolutely! God is full of grace and mercy, and still constantly calls us to him, and away from those things we find tempting.

    Alcohol is an easy one. What about the ? The internet has enabled the destruction of many families and churches. There are many people addicted to the internet (or something on it). The church isn’t calling for the banishment of the internet (okay, there are probably local churches that are). In fact, the internet may be the greatest evangelism tool we’ve had since the printing press. Alcohol, the internet, food, money all have the potential to destroy humanity.

    With that being said, then, what are we to do? Holiness isn’t just personal. John Wesley noted that holiness is only truly found in social holiness. That means we are all to be holy to/with/for each other. The rules of holiness, just like the rules of the Jews, are shadows of things to come. We are called to walk with each other toward Jesus. We are to study together, pray together, weep together, praise together, together. We are called to live as . Rules are easier than holiness. Rules are a checkbox to complete. Sadly, often when we complete the checkboxes we think we’re done. Until we’ve gone through the veil of death, we are never done walking the road of holiness toward Jesus.

    1) Have you ever accused or thought of someone not being “holy” or the “Christian Life”? Why? Was it a “rule”, or was it Scriptural?

    2) Who are you walking with on the road of holiness? Are you actually talking to them about your holiness journey and theirs?

  • Fruitful Unboxing

    Galatians 5:22–26, 2 Peter 1:5–11, 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, Romans 12:9–21

    We are all familiar with the list of the Fruits of the in Galatians. Hopefully, you even have them memorized (If not, there’s your challenge of the week). It is an impressive list. If we are honest with ourselves, were we to be full of these, as friends and would be wonderful.

    We are often less familiar with Peter’s list, as it just doesn’t have the pull that Paul’s has. While Paul has his list as a result of the Spirit indwelling (being inside of us), Peter has us adding them to our very . Paul and Peter are similar but different. They also have a different emphasis. Paul’s list seems more focused on the evidence of a life. Peter seems more concerned that followers of Jesus aren’t “useless” or “unfruitful”.

    The problem (yes, problem) with Paul’s list is that many people few it as exhaustive (i.e., those are all the fruit). Paul, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be as concerned with how the works. While in 1 Corinthians Paul is more concerned about “gifts”, rather than fruit, his opening point is that there are different gifts and they are all gifts from the Holy Spirit. Who says, then, that the “fruit” in Galatians or in 2 Peter are it?

    It has been amazing over the years to heated and -felt conversations regarding the Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit. It becomes amazing how people see these lists as the only way of things when the Holy Spirit is someone you put in a box. Paul certainly didn’t. The sad part then becomes that people are so focused on the Fruits and Gifts they forget about the why.

    Life together is hard. We all have different stories. We all have different points. Some have experienced significant life events that we cannot ever fully understand. We may have something that another cannot fully understand. That’s okay. The Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit ultimately are to not only a progressively increasing Christian life on our own. It is also to be for life together as framily.

    The last piece is the framework that we are to operate from as framily. A lot of times the wording that is used for those outside of the framily (persecution, for example) often feel as if they come from within. Live at .

    1) What other “Fruit” of the Spirit might there be? Why do you say that?

    2) What are some other Gifts of the Spirit that you can think of? Where do you see them being lived out in the framily?

    3) How do you see the Fruit and Gifts of the Spirit working out in and building up the church body (the framily) in light of the framework of Romans?

  • Attending Well

    Deuteronomy 30:15–20, Acts 4:5–22

    If someone were to give us a about being given the way to or , there would likely be an automatic naysayer . This is the case when the “way” is exercise, healthy eating (including the latest fads), life philosophy. In the context, we understand the Jesus is that “way”. To many of us who have heard and believed, this is obvious.

    Yet, there are many in the church and the world that when they something along the lines of, “See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity,” they turn off. You, too, might have that exact same response. It’s an understandable response because we see the saying it, and we know humans. They don’t really understand the “way”. How can they, they’re only human.

    The way of life and prosperity is empowered by the faithful attention to the Spirit. Man cannot do it alone. Man needs to be in humble partnership with God, letting God lead. The importance of humility cannot be overstated. If we were to take, for example. prosperity to its extreme, we all understand that it is an issue. Really, the promise that was given was that Israel would have enough.

    Yet, to have even enough, they would have to walk in harmony with God. That is often the hard part. The leaders of the Jews were so strongly focused on the right checkboxes that they could no longer see the way. With the disciples, we also see a transformation of the promise. The prosperity was not of this world (except, one hopes, in framily).

    The other darker transformation of the promise is that the way often leads to adversity and death. The disciples experienced both, as do many Christians around the world today.

    1) What do you think about the promise changing? Do you agree, or disagree? Why?

    2) Financial prosperity has often been used to judge God’s and a person’s . What is your take on that?

  • Faithfully Blind Together

    Leviticus 21:16–24, Matthew 20:29–34, 1 Corinthians 1:26–29

    Even today people struggle with blindness. Granted, today those who are blind have legal protections, braille, technology, and acceptance that wasn’t part of other cultures. In the New Testament era, the only “job” the blind could get was begging. Doesn’t sound very fulfilling or enjoyable.

    Our story in Matthew takes place on Jesus’ last journey to Jerusalem. Whether the large crowd was only because of Jesus or also because of the approaching Days is somewhat up for discussion. Regardless, though, the blind men were probably looking forward to having a more successful attempt at begging, due to the emotional high that people would have had, and the affiliation of almsgiving with Holy Days.

    Instead, they hear Jesus is coming. They probably had already heard the stories of the miracles he performed. That Jesus would be near them would be exciting and would be hope-filled. They cried out, but the crowd tried to silence them. Some commentators take a symbolic view of this. The crowd is the world (and Satan) trying to drown out the coming of Jesus. The blind men, like Christians, have to the world to Jesus. It might be taking a few too many liberties, but the reality is these men overcame the crowd.

    In all likelihood, this was not behavior for them. They would generally be meek so as to not be bullied. Yet, they went for it. They took the risk. Opposed the crowd. They could now see.

    The weak. desires. The despised. Yet, Jesus heard their cries and healed them. notes that the world has a different form of evaluation and valuing people than the of God.

    1) What have your thoughts been (whether now or in the past) of people who were not fully as capable ( or mental) as you?

    2) People are quick to value people based upon their physical bodies. Why do you think that is?

    3) Why do you think Paul concludes with, “…so that no one may boast in his …”?