It seemed like a long time since I had written in this space. That was confirmed when I logged in and saw the previous post was written over two months ago. The interesting thing about that is there has not been much complaint from people who have read this blog in the past. I may be over-analyzing things, but that would lead me to believe either, no one is reading it anymore, or the readers are simply not being vocal about my recent lack of writing anything in this space. I believe I will go with the latter concept and feel better about myself.
Lately I have not been feeling so good about myself. I started a new, part-time job, working with people who have run afoul of the law for driving under the influence of one intoxicating substance or another, usually alcohol. That has solved any financial stress, but I am once again into a situation in which people are forced to come see me. I always prefer it when people want to see me. Maybe I am simply hoping for too much.
In any event, it is sometime shortly after 5:00 AM on a Sunday morning, when most, sane people should be asleep and I am watching words appear on my computer screen in hopes that I can later publish them for someone who cares. I know it's a God thing because even I do not do this, at this time, by choice. I do not even do this blog by choice. Not really. If I did, I probably would have taken it down a couple years ago when it became a point of contention between the elders in the church I was attending and me. My only guess there is that it was time for me to leave that church and they figured it out before I did. I still do not understand it, but, if you are reading this, you likely think this blog is more important than what men might say about it. I will only partially, grudgingly agree. There was a time when I thought I might have written the last post. It crossed my mind at the time that the blog might morph into something more of a teaching kind of thing than a lonely voice in the wilderness, as it were. It now begins to look as though that is not the case.
All that is to say, I have been a little distracted with some of the affairs of life that I thought might have been sorted out by now. There are still some that seem to be unresolved, but perhaps this post serves to get things going in the right direction again. I noticed at log in that there have been 5900 odd page views over the whole time this blog has existed. I know most of them are not mine so thank you if you continue to read what is posted here. I now expect to be writing a little more often, whatever that means. Then next post should have more substantive content, but we shall see about that. In the meantime, pray for me if I come to mind. God bless!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Outside Influences
I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but sometimes I do realize when things happen in such a way that only God could have been behind them. In those situations, I am always reminded of a definition of "coincidence" I saw many years ago. Coincidence is when God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous.
Yesterday two different emails came into my in-box from unrelated, but high-profile men of God. (Well, the emails came from the same person, but the articles they contained were from those two men.) They had the common thread of being from men who love The Church, the body of Christ, but who are also objective enough to see that the manifestation of the The Church in 2013 is not a perfect Church, "...not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing..." (Ephesians 5:27) Of course these men were speaking to The Church generally, but we must see their words as applicable to the smaller part of the body here.
Os Hillman writes, "In the early church there was an emphasis on developing a heart toward God. This was the Hebraic way...Loss of intimacy with God has been...a result of the influence of the Greek spirit. The primary focus has been teaching and discipleship instead of the development of a personal and intimate relationship with God. This has resulted in a form of religion, but one without power."
Jack Hayford writes, "We're within frightening reach of being able to grow bigger churches while failing to grow bigger people. We are increasingly tooled and trained in technology and management techniques, better resourced with music and media effects, and better housed and staged for added consumer appeal...Amid our heavyweight enterprises at refining style, we are growing weak in substance."
Thankfully it does not take a genius to see these two mighty men of God are asking questions about how The Church is and how it should be. Do they recognize what they are describing are observable affects of religious spirits at work within The Church? Of course, we cannot answer for them, but knowing one of them personally and the other through his writings I feel comfortable saying they both know the truth of Ephesians 6:12, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." If you are not willing to take my word for it, perhaps you can take their word for it. We are locked in spiritual battle that will likely affect The Church until Jesus returns. At present it is not perfect, but we can make a difference once we recognize the real enemy and fight it wherever we find it. God bless!
Yesterday two different emails came into my in-box from unrelated, but high-profile men of God. (Well, the emails came from the same person, but the articles they contained were from those two men.) They had the common thread of being from men who love The Church, the body of Christ, but who are also objective enough to see that the manifestation of the The Church in 2013 is not a perfect Church, "...not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing..." (Ephesians 5:27) Of course these men were speaking to The Church generally, but we must see their words as applicable to the smaller part of the body here.
Os Hillman writes, "In the early church there was an emphasis on developing a heart toward God. This was the Hebraic way...Loss of intimacy with God has been...a result of the influence of the Greek spirit. The primary focus has been teaching and discipleship instead of the development of a personal and intimate relationship with God. This has resulted in a form of religion, but one without power."
Jack Hayford writes, "We're within frightening reach of being able to grow bigger churches while failing to grow bigger people. We are increasingly tooled and trained in technology and management techniques, better resourced with music and media effects, and better housed and staged for added consumer appeal...Amid our heavyweight enterprises at refining style, we are growing weak in substance."
Thankfully it does not take a genius to see these two mighty men of God are asking questions about how The Church is and how it should be. Do they recognize what they are describing are observable affects of religious spirits at work within The Church? Of course, we cannot answer for them, but knowing one of them personally and the other through his writings I feel comfortable saying they both know the truth of Ephesians 6:12, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." If you are not willing to take my word for it, perhaps you can take their word for it. We are locked in spiritual battle that will likely affect The Church until Jesus returns. At present it is not perfect, but we can make a difference once we recognize the real enemy and fight it wherever we find it. God bless!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Who I Am
Author's note: It was eleven months ago, more or less, that I started this post. The balance just would not seem to come. I am leaving it as it was and finishing it. As a result, since it is not in chronological order, it may seem a little disjointed at least at the beginning. Thankfully, all you faithful readers of this blog are also intelligent enough to re-order as necessary and fill in the blanks.
As I wrote at the end of the previous post, it might have been awhile until there was another one. I just have to get on the same page with the Holy Spirit--and sooner would be better.
It is not difficult to imagine people reading many of the posts to this blog, especially the last two and asking themselves, "Who does he think he is?" It seems like it might be a good idea to answer that question. I know the answer to the question and many of my friends do as well. Here it is for the rest of you.
I am pretty sure they would not mind, as long as I give them credit, so I am going to let the recording group, Casting Crowns begin to help answer the question at hand.
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are
I am Yours. Whom shall I fear, 'cause I am Yours.
I am nobody really. Then again I am somebody because somebody had to call our attention to the workings of a religious spirit--whether we listened or not. Now God is on record and we are responsible. Somebody had to do it and nobody else did. I will admit to possibly having delusions of granduer thinking that some of this blog could be turned into a book someday. Judging by the numbers of people reading the posts such a book might well sell twenty copies. Okay so it was not my best idea ever.
With that said, the blog is turning a corner (subject to change of course) to becoming more of...hmmm. It looks as though the blog is going to take a more practical turn. We will be doing a little more teaching, but our focus will be on countering the religious spirit through our actions. (I have no idea what I am writing about now, so I guess we will all find out together.) What I can tell you is, that at my age, one would think I should know a lot more than I do. What can I say? When I know it, you will know it because God has given us, "...this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7) Some of us are just older dirt than others, and those who are have a responsibility to pass along what we have learned. I am taking that responsibility perhaps just a little more seriously and personally now. God bless!
As I wrote at the end of the previous post, it might have been awhile until there was another one. I just have to get on the same page with the Holy Spirit--and sooner would be better.
It is not difficult to imagine people reading many of the posts to this blog, especially the last two and asking themselves, "Who does he think he is?" It seems like it might be a good idea to answer that question. I know the answer to the question and many of my friends do as well. Here it is for the rest of you.
I am pretty sure they would not mind, as long as I give them credit, so I am going to let the recording group, Casting Crowns begin to help answer the question at hand.
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are
I am Yours. Whom shall I fear, 'cause I am Yours.
I am nobody really. Then again I am somebody because somebody had to call our attention to the workings of a religious spirit--whether we listened or not. Now God is on record and we are responsible. Somebody had to do it and nobody else did. I will admit to possibly having delusions of granduer thinking that some of this blog could be turned into a book someday. Judging by the numbers of people reading the posts such a book might well sell twenty copies. Okay so it was not my best idea ever.
With that said, the blog is turning a corner (subject to change of course) to becoming more of...hmmm. It looks as though the blog is going to take a more practical turn. We will be doing a little more teaching, but our focus will be on countering the religious spirit through our actions. (I have no idea what I am writing about now, so I guess we will all find out together.) What I can tell you is, that at my age, one would think I should know a lot more than I do. What can I say? When I know it, you will know it because God has given us, "...this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7) Some of us are just older dirt than others, and those who are have a responsibility to pass along what we have learned. I am taking that responsibility perhaps just a little more seriously and personally now. God bless!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Still More on the Religious Spirit--Part 2
I am feeling a little provoked by a comment to this blog this morning. That is not a bad thing. Maybe it gets me back to something I should have done--in fact thought I would have done--several weeks ago. If you read the last post, it likely seemed incomplete. It seemed the same to me as well. I had thought there would be a follow-up and explanation sooner than this. Today I moderated a comment, which you can read, asking whether the next installment were coming soon. It is.
Did you take any time at all to meditate on the verses from James? They were chapter 3 verses 13 through 18 if you want to take a second look. To rehearse just a bit, the phrases "meekness of wisdom" and "bitter envy and self-seeking" from verses 13 and 14 are set in juxtaposition with one another meaning one or the other is our state. This applies to each and every one of us and to everything we do. To be as simple and straightforward as possible, we do everything from one of those two motivations. We are either acting in wisdom, which meekness tells us is not our own, but is from above, or our motivation is self-seeking. James even strengthens self-seeking by telling us that comes from bitter envy. If that does not initiate an "ouch" in your spirit, well, you might want to spend a little more time thinking about it.
I am fairly confident that I have never actually met a person who does absolutely everything in meekness of wisdom. I will give something like a shout out to the late Rev. Dale Holford. He is a great man and I still miss him being here on earth for me to talk with on occasion. He was in his late seventies when we had several conversations about people who acted out of self-seeking. He gave me some eternal perspective, which I, of course, did not fully appreciate at the time. The thing about a person who operates in the meekness of wisdom is that he or she is meek enough to understand the wisdom does not come from them and also too meek to tell you that. (Were this a Psalm, there would be a "Selah" there.) It is hard to find people like that.
In juxtaposition, finding people who are self-seeking is not difficult at all. They are literally everywhere. Of course I have to be very careful with my examples lest I become convicted myself. However, since this blog is really about the religious spirit, it might be best to take our examples from it's activities. (Whew, I was afraid I was writing myself into a corner there.) Okay, I am just going to tell you how I was first affected by a religious spirit, before I had any idea what it was. It was a lot of years ago and is going to be new information to most of you. Give me a little grace please.
Eugene Ryan was my speech teacher at Hancock College in the early 1970s. I really did not like the man at first. In fact I tried to change teachers, but was not able to do so. Today, I credit "Old Man Ryan" as he once referred to himself, for whatever ability I have to teach, preach, and speak as well as I do. He was a stickler for proper grammar, pronunciation, enunciation, and even posture during our classroom speeches. He taught me a lot and I found out during the two classes I had with him that I was more at ease doing public speaking than many of the other students were. That translated well to Bible college and homiletics classes. By and by I found that I really enjoyed people telling me how good I was at it. I mean I enjoyed it to the point that receiving the accolades became more important than teaching people how to live better lives--which, after all, is the point of sermonizing. I trust I have said enough that you understand the point? If not, then let me say, it was more important to me to be thought well of than to have lives changed by what I was doing.
This is getting a little longer than it probably should be so to sum up as briefly as possible, when we do things because they make us feel good, we are in danger of participating in what James called, "earthly, sensual, demonic" wisdom. (Think religious spirit.) We may be able to revisit this concept in the future, but if you can handle one more counter-intuitive thought, operating in the "meekness of wisdom" will make you feel good. That good feeling will come from the spirit rather than the soul. When we get to that point, literally everything in our lives will ascend on a heavenly trajectory. God bless!
Did you take any time at all to meditate on the verses from James? They were chapter 3 verses 13 through 18 if you want to take a second look. To rehearse just a bit, the phrases "meekness of wisdom" and "bitter envy and self-seeking" from verses 13 and 14 are set in juxtaposition with one another meaning one or the other is our state. This applies to each and every one of us and to everything we do. To be as simple and straightforward as possible, we do everything from one of those two motivations. We are either acting in wisdom, which meekness tells us is not our own, but is from above, or our motivation is self-seeking. James even strengthens self-seeking by telling us that comes from bitter envy. If that does not initiate an "ouch" in your spirit, well, you might want to spend a little more time thinking about it.
I am fairly confident that I have never actually met a person who does absolutely everything in meekness of wisdom. I will give something like a shout out to the late Rev. Dale Holford. He is a great man and I still miss him being here on earth for me to talk with on occasion. He was in his late seventies when we had several conversations about people who acted out of self-seeking. He gave me some eternal perspective, which I, of course, did not fully appreciate at the time. The thing about a person who operates in the meekness of wisdom is that he or she is meek enough to understand the wisdom does not come from them and also too meek to tell you that. (Were this a Psalm, there would be a "Selah" there.) It is hard to find people like that.
In juxtaposition, finding people who are self-seeking is not difficult at all. They are literally everywhere. Of course I have to be very careful with my examples lest I become convicted myself. However, since this blog is really about the religious spirit, it might be best to take our examples from it's activities. (Whew, I was afraid I was writing myself into a corner there.) Okay, I am just going to tell you how I was first affected by a religious spirit, before I had any idea what it was. It was a lot of years ago and is going to be new information to most of you. Give me a little grace please.
Eugene Ryan was my speech teacher at Hancock College in the early 1970s. I really did not like the man at first. In fact I tried to change teachers, but was not able to do so. Today, I credit "Old Man Ryan" as he once referred to himself, for whatever ability I have to teach, preach, and speak as well as I do. He was a stickler for proper grammar, pronunciation, enunciation, and even posture during our classroom speeches. He taught me a lot and I found out during the two classes I had with him that I was more at ease doing public speaking than many of the other students were. That translated well to Bible college and homiletics classes. By and by I found that I really enjoyed people telling me how good I was at it. I mean I enjoyed it to the point that receiving the accolades became more important than teaching people how to live better lives--which, after all, is the point of sermonizing. I trust I have said enough that you understand the point? If not, then let me say, it was more important to me to be thought well of than to have lives changed by what I was doing.
This is getting a little longer than it probably should be so to sum up as briefly as possible, when we do things because they make us feel good, we are in danger of participating in what James called, "earthly, sensual, demonic" wisdom. (Think religious spirit.) We may be able to revisit this concept in the future, but if you can handle one more counter-intuitive thought, operating in the "meekness of wisdom" will make you feel good. That good feeling will come from the spirit rather than the soul. When we get to that point, literally everything in our lives will ascend on a heavenly trajectory. God bless!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Still More on the Religious Spirit
I have a few fans, probably not enough to have to take off my shoes to count them. That is unless one counts persons related to me by blood or marriage. Most of them seem to be more or less on my side most of the time. Then we get into some impressive numbers. I tell you that because a couple of those few fans refuse to let me go to seed. They insist I continue doing some of the things I used to do before I became distracted with the things of life. That said, I have no idea where we were in this blog and without re-reading major portions of it, I may very well repeat myself, just so you know. However, speaking of repeating myself, that might do us all some good.
If you are like me, you rarely find much to disagree with in these writings. To be sure, you may be challenged or perhaps even offended. At my age, I am fairly confident that I am not the one doing the offending. If you do not understand that concept, you are likely also affected with the Laodicean spirit (Revelation 3:14-22, but especially see verse 17). Hey, I am not writing this to make friends. As I said, I already have a handful. My disclaimer, of course is, if the shoe fits you can always throw a fit before accepting the fact that your feet need the extra support. (If anyone understands that, please leave a comment. It is intentionally oblique--I think.) Seriously folks, I have a good imagination, but some of this stuff surprises me when I read it.
So, more about the religious spirit. Occasionally I have a flash of revelation and sometimes my mind is still sharp enough to grasp it. For those of you who think there is no longer revelation given, get over it. We do not have time for a Greek lesson here, but there are two words translated, "knowledge" in the New Testament. One of them means things we have learned, or experiential knowledge. The other is things we simply know. The latter speaks of things given directly by the Holy Spirit. To be clear, if you did not learn a thing, but you know it, it came to you by revelation. Hopefully your revelation comes from the Holy Spirit and not from what Yoda would call, "The dark side of the force."
James 3:13-18 are often, incorrectly lumped together with the previous verses in the chapter. However, if one looks closely, the thought changes so the end of the chapter stands alone.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
A pastor friend once told me that he felt impressed to preach from the book of James in his Sunday morning service. The message just would not seem to come. By Saturday he was almost in a panic because he still was not sure how to formulate his sermon for the following day. He walked onto the platform Sunday morning and suddenly realized all he was supposed to do was read the text as his sermon. He explained that he knew preaching from James would offend people because they would be convicted about their thoughts, actions, and lifestyles. He had no desire to offend anyone.
A wonderful thing about the Word of God is that it does not need any help to convict people. In fact Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is a sword that separates spirit and soul. Depending on one's perspective, it is either very freeing to have the spirit liberated from the soul or very painful to have soul trying to function without the spirit. That is to say, I am not going to give any further commentary on the passage from James above, at least not now. Meditate it if you dare. Pay careful attention to the phrases, "meekness of wisdom" and "bitter envy and self-seeking." Those are either or propositions. We all fall into one of those categories. Put on the shoe that fits and determine if you need a new pair. God willing, the next installment will not be so long in coming. God bless!
If you are like me, you rarely find much to disagree with in these writings. To be sure, you may be challenged or perhaps even offended. At my age, I am fairly confident that I am not the one doing the offending. If you do not understand that concept, you are likely also affected with the Laodicean spirit (Revelation 3:14-22, but especially see verse 17). Hey, I am not writing this to make friends. As I said, I already have a handful. My disclaimer, of course is, if the shoe fits you can always throw a fit before accepting the fact that your feet need the extra support. (If anyone understands that, please leave a comment. It is intentionally oblique--I think.) Seriously folks, I have a good imagination, but some of this stuff surprises me when I read it.
So, more about the religious spirit. Occasionally I have a flash of revelation and sometimes my mind is still sharp enough to grasp it. For those of you who think there is no longer revelation given, get over it. We do not have time for a Greek lesson here, but there are two words translated, "knowledge" in the New Testament. One of them means things we have learned, or experiential knowledge. The other is things we simply know. The latter speaks of things given directly by the Holy Spirit. To be clear, if you did not learn a thing, but you know it, it came to you by revelation. Hopefully your revelation comes from the Holy Spirit and not from what Yoda would call, "The dark side of the force."
James 3:13-18 are often, incorrectly lumped together with the previous verses in the chapter. However, if one looks closely, the thought changes so the end of the chapter stands alone.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
A pastor friend once told me that he felt impressed to preach from the book of James in his Sunday morning service. The message just would not seem to come. By Saturday he was almost in a panic because he still was not sure how to formulate his sermon for the following day. He walked onto the platform Sunday morning and suddenly realized all he was supposed to do was read the text as his sermon. He explained that he knew preaching from James would offend people because they would be convicted about their thoughts, actions, and lifestyles. He had no desire to offend anyone.
A wonderful thing about the Word of God is that it does not need any help to convict people. In fact Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is a sword that separates spirit and soul. Depending on one's perspective, it is either very freeing to have the spirit liberated from the soul or very painful to have soul trying to function without the spirit. That is to say, I am not going to give any further commentary on the passage from James above, at least not now. Meditate it if you dare. Pay careful attention to the phrases, "meekness of wisdom" and "bitter envy and self-seeking." Those are either or propositions. We all fall into one of those categories. Put on the shoe that fits and determine if you need a new pair. God willing, the next installment will not be so long in coming. God bless!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Let Me Build My Kindgom First, Part 3
"So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods." (Luke 12:18)
What is wrong with this picture? This man seems to be making a good business decision given that God had blessed him with such abundance he had no place to store it. The problem is, nothing in the teachings of Jesus indicate we are ever to store things on earth. In fact, to the contrary, we are told, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth..." (Matthew 6:19) This is why the only scriptural mentions of a storehouse are in the Old Testament--well, except when Jesus teaches the birds do not have one. (Luke 12:24) The whole concept of the storehouse is largely misunderstood to be a place where things are brought and stored for sometime in the future. The storehouse of Malachi is actually the pantry for the people who have need of the things stored there, first for the full-time ministers, the Priests and Levites. By God's word the Isrealites were to care for each other as, and also strangers among them as needs arose. Note that the storehouse received "things", the offerings of food and goods that were used in worship. The monetary offerings were taken to the treasury rather than the storehouse. This is just another scriptural teaching that has become polluted and diluted down through the Church age.
If the previous concept has not caused enough of a rub in your theology, consider Ephesians 4:12 which tells us succinctly what the job of the "professional clergy" is. Their sole responsibility is, "...equipping the saints for the work of the ministry." What is the salary these professional clergy men and women are to receive? (No answer is forthcoming here. Since this is Easter week, if you go on a search and find the answer let us know.) God's intention is that every Christian be working full-time in the ministry regardless of his or her occupation. To be sure, the workman is worthy of his wages. (1 Timothy 5:18) Would it not be better to, "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches."?
Although we would be loathe to admit it, we usually consider kingdom building here on earth to consist of lands and buildings supported by hundreds and thousands of people who bring their freewill offerings to those buildings on the appointed days to be used primarily for the maintenance of those buildings and to pay the salaries and benefits of those who work there full-time. Before you argue with that statement ask yourself who was the last person you heard say it is about people, not buildings, from a small building. We do buildings like almost any earthly business does. Do we not? (This is getting ugly.)
Admittedly, much of what is being done in and by churches needs to be done to fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Church buildings do provide places for the necessary services to congregations and communities such as facilitating worship, fellowship, and teaching. They can be used as bases for sending ministers out to do their work, feeding the poor, housing the homeless, and providing emergency relief. Even in that partial listing we see that most churches do not do all those things.
In his 1986 book, Biblical Eldership, Alexander Strauch suggests a church with minimal paid staff--and no professional clergy. Shortly after the book was published, a pastor friend confided in me that he wanted to throw the book across the room when he first read it. In contrast, about the same time, I also met a man who attended a church which decided Mr. Strauch was onto something and was staffed by volunteer clergymen. To each his own, as the saying goes.
The nagging and uncomfortable question remains as to whether we, as The Church, are building the kingdom of God or building something for ourselves? We could go on and on and on and... We will not, knowing that some will chew on these concepts and some will discard them out of hand. Some will wonder as to our intention in pointing them out. That is the intention--to point them out. Period. God bless.
What is wrong with this picture? This man seems to be making a good business decision given that God had blessed him with such abundance he had no place to store it. The problem is, nothing in the teachings of Jesus indicate we are ever to store things on earth. In fact, to the contrary, we are told, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth..." (Matthew 6:19) This is why the only scriptural mentions of a storehouse are in the Old Testament--well, except when Jesus teaches the birds do not have one. (Luke 12:24) The whole concept of the storehouse is largely misunderstood to be a place where things are brought and stored for sometime in the future. The storehouse of Malachi is actually the pantry for the people who have need of the things stored there, first for the full-time ministers, the Priests and Levites. By God's word the Isrealites were to care for each other as, and also strangers among them as needs arose. Note that the storehouse received "things", the offerings of food and goods that were used in worship. The monetary offerings were taken to the treasury rather than the storehouse. This is just another scriptural teaching that has become polluted and diluted down through the Church age.
If the previous concept has not caused enough of a rub in your theology, consider Ephesians 4:12 which tells us succinctly what the job of the "professional clergy" is. Their sole responsibility is, "...equipping the saints for the work of the ministry." What is the salary these professional clergy men and women are to receive? (No answer is forthcoming here. Since this is Easter week, if you go on a search and find the answer let us know.) God's intention is that every Christian be working full-time in the ministry regardless of his or her occupation. To be sure, the workman is worthy of his wages. (1 Timothy 5:18) Would it not be better to, "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches."?
Although we would be loathe to admit it, we usually consider kingdom building here on earth to consist of lands and buildings supported by hundreds and thousands of people who bring their freewill offerings to those buildings on the appointed days to be used primarily for the maintenance of those buildings and to pay the salaries and benefits of those who work there full-time. Before you argue with that statement ask yourself who was the last person you heard say it is about people, not buildings, from a small building. We do buildings like almost any earthly business does. Do we not? (This is getting ugly.)
Admittedly, much of what is being done in and by churches needs to be done to fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Church buildings do provide places for the necessary services to congregations and communities such as facilitating worship, fellowship, and teaching. They can be used as bases for sending ministers out to do their work, feeding the poor, housing the homeless, and providing emergency relief. Even in that partial listing we see that most churches do not do all those things.
In his 1986 book, Biblical Eldership, Alexander Strauch suggests a church with minimal paid staff--and no professional clergy. Shortly after the book was published, a pastor friend confided in me that he wanted to throw the book across the room when he first read it. In contrast, about the same time, I also met a man who attended a church which decided Mr. Strauch was onto something and was staffed by volunteer clergymen. To each his own, as the saying goes.
The nagging and uncomfortable question remains as to whether we, as The Church, are building the kingdom of God or building something for ourselves? We could go on and on and on and... We will not, knowing that some will chew on these concepts and some will discard them out of hand. Some will wonder as to our intention in pointing them out. That is the intention--to point them out. Period. God bless.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Let Me Build My Kingdom First, Part 2
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) It seems like such a simple concept, which is probably why most of us do not give it a lot of thought. After all, does that not just mean to put God first when we make our decisions? In some sense perhaps it does. We do have to decide what we are going to do. However, if you read my last few sentences carefully, you noticed the phrase, "we make our decisions." In order to do that properly we would have to understand the entire plan of God for our lives. How would that even be possible? In fact, we are not to be making our decisions. If you have had as many of your decisions go wrong as I have you may have come to realize there is a lot of responsibility in doing so. Have you ever thought, "I just wish someone else would tell me what to do?" If that is you, I have some great news for you!
So what does it mean to seek God's kingdom first? Simply put, it means that His business is more important than our business. Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing. (John 5:19) Jesus understood that He had to put God's kingdom above and before anything else--including Himself and His desires. He was God in human flesh. He came to be our example of how to live and by extension, how to seek the kingdom of God first. We cannot do any less if we expect to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
Possibly the best example we see in the Bible, outside Jesus Himself, of seeking the kingdom of God first is recorded in the Old Testament. It is an excellent example of the rewards of putting God's business above one's own business. In 1 Kings 3, we have a record of a conversation between God and King Solomon. You can read the account in 1 Kings 3:5-14 if you need the refresher, but space does not allow us to reprint the whole passage here.
God appeared to Solomon in a dream. Do not let that be a problem to you. Remember, the Holy Spirit had very limited ministry during that period of history. God told Solomon to ask Him for whatever he wanted. Whatever he wanted? Read it for yourself. There are no limits in God's instruction. God almost seemed surprised--and definitely pleased--when Solomon asked for an understanding heart and discernment to judge the people rather than asking anything for himself. God said he gave Solomon what he asked and because he had not asked for anything for himself, He also gave him riches and honor. In fact, the passage is very clear that God made Solomon the wisest, most discerning, and the wealthiest man in the world. Solomon put God's business first and everything else he could have wanted was added to him as well. If it worked in the Old Testament, it will work for us now even better. So how do we do that?
I am coming to understand how God wants me to put His kingdom first. First, He wants me to ask Him what I should be doing before I make decisions. We are not going to bother God by asking what His will is in any given situation. Secondly, it means listening for the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit all the time. These are things we should be doing intentionally, but often sort of back into. Even when we get it wrong--or do not get it at all--God causes all things to work together for our good. (Romans 8:28) I got a little lesson about that just hours before I sat down to write this. I was walking to the store. About a block from home, I had to turn back. Trust me. I had to, but it would be in bad taste to tell you why. When I finished at home the thought came that I was delayed for a reason. When I got to the store, a friend I have seen only a couple times in the past several years was there. He had forgotten his wallet and needed $1.00. I was able to give him one. We also exchanged some information that might be important. Had I not been delayed, I would not have seen him.
The things above are a few of the things I have come to understand about putting God's kingdom first. I trust and believe that as I get better at that, there will be many, many things added to me as well. I have no idea what that means exactly, but it is going to be good. What I cannot tell you is what you should be doing to put God's kingdom first. I am quite certain none of us thinks I am the Holy Spirit. Seek God and follow His directions. If you just do not hear anything, open the manual (Bible). His whole will is revealed right there. God bless!
So what does it mean to seek God's kingdom first? Simply put, it means that His business is more important than our business. Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing. (John 5:19) Jesus understood that He had to put God's kingdom above and before anything else--including Himself and His desires. He was God in human flesh. He came to be our example of how to live and by extension, how to seek the kingdom of God first. We cannot do any less if we expect to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
Possibly the best example we see in the Bible, outside Jesus Himself, of seeking the kingdom of God first is recorded in the Old Testament. It is an excellent example of the rewards of putting God's business above one's own business. In 1 Kings 3, we have a record of a conversation between God and King Solomon. You can read the account in 1 Kings 3:5-14 if you need the refresher, but space does not allow us to reprint the whole passage here.
God appeared to Solomon in a dream. Do not let that be a problem to you. Remember, the Holy Spirit had very limited ministry during that period of history. God told Solomon to ask Him for whatever he wanted. Whatever he wanted? Read it for yourself. There are no limits in God's instruction. God almost seemed surprised--and definitely pleased--when Solomon asked for an understanding heart and discernment to judge the people rather than asking anything for himself. God said he gave Solomon what he asked and because he had not asked for anything for himself, He also gave him riches and honor. In fact, the passage is very clear that God made Solomon the wisest, most discerning, and the wealthiest man in the world. Solomon put God's business first and everything else he could have wanted was added to him as well. If it worked in the Old Testament, it will work for us now even better. So how do we do that?
I am coming to understand how God wants me to put His kingdom first. First, He wants me to ask Him what I should be doing before I make decisions. We are not going to bother God by asking what His will is in any given situation. Secondly, it means listening for the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit all the time. These are things we should be doing intentionally, but often sort of back into. Even when we get it wrong--or do not get it at all--God causes all things to work together for our good. (Romans 8:28) I got a little lesson about that just hours before I sat down to write this. I was walking to the store. About a block from home, I had to turn back. Trust me. I had to, but it would be in bad taste to tell you why. When I finished at home the thought came that I was delayed for a reason. When I got to the store, a friend I have seen only a couple times in the past several years was there. He had forgotten his wallet and needed $1.00. I was able to give him one. We also exchanged some information that might be important. Had I not been delayed, I would not have seen him.
The things above are a few of the things I have come to understand about putting God's kingdom first. I trust and believe that as I get better at that, there will be many, many things added to me as well. I have no idea what that means exactly, but it is going to be good. What I cannot tell you is what you should be doing to put God's kingdom first. I am quite certain none of us thinks I am the Holy Spirit. Seek God and follow His directions. If you just do not hear anything, open the manual (Bible). His whole will is revealed right there. God bless!
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