When I was in high school (yes, I can actually remember back that far, although my memories of that time are all in black and white), there were a few teachers that some of us loved to torment. One of our “terror tactics” was to wait until the teacher was writing on the board and then launch a paper airplane in his direction. The plan was to see how close to the teacher we could come without actually hitting him. When the irate teacher spun around to find out who had joined the ranks of al-Qaeda, all he saw were thirty cherubic students dutifully writing in their notebooks. The unspoken war cry among the fledgling terrorists was, at that moment, “Mission accomplished!
A paper airplane can easily be made using a standard 8 ½” x 11” piece of paper. A few quick folds and the terror tool is ready to launch. About the only thing you have to be sure to do is make the folds sharp and remember that the wings must be equal and bent approximately at the same angle. If one wing is missing, the plane will not fly—it will spiral to the ground like a broken helicopter. If one wing is elevated above the other, the plane will fly in circles, although flying in circles is fine if you don’t have a destination in mind. So we are forced by necessity to make sure the wings of the plane are good or we really don’t have an airplane, we have a crash landing just waiting to happen.
A few months ago I wrote a devotional entitled “Learning to Fly.” I used Isaiah 40:31—“They shall mount up with wings like eagles”—as a launch point. You might want to read that post along with this one. It’s stored at June 21, 2008, in the Archive Section on the right side of this page.
An eagle with one wing will never fly. It may take the leap out of the nest but unless both wings are in place and strong enough, it will not fly. At best, the eagle will helicopter to the ground.
The beautiful Old Testament imagery of an eagle soaring high above the countryside is one of my favorite pictures of the successful Christian life. On its powerful wings an eagle is lifted above the stresses, battles and mundanity of life and learns to soar and follow the winds of the Spirit. Powerful imagery, powerful word picture.
Using the imagery of the eagle as a type/example of the New Testament believer, we must then ask, What, exactly, are the wings? What makes up these magnificent wings that help empower the believer and need to be in harmony so that the believer’s life is one of purposeful movement?
So what are the wings?
“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” (James 2:17-22).
One wing is faith and the other is action!
Like the wings of an eagle, faith and works cooperate with each other. There is a practical harmony between the vertical faith in God and the horizontal works or reaching out to a needy world. When the wings are out of synch, that is, when they are not working together, the eagle’s flight is hampered, if not completely ruined. When the wings are in harmony, the result is a thing of beauty. If faith without works is dead, then faith with works brings life!
When James said “…faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead,” he could just as easily have said, “If an eagle does not have two wings, it cannot fly.”
Faith and its companion, action, do not breed death; quite the opposite, they speak of and invoke life.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
CLOSE TO THE HEART
Do you ever have the feeling that life may have passed you by; that somehow you’ve gotten lost in God’s great plan; that you have been put on a shelf and are no longer useful in the Kingdom; that the great dreams and promises of yesterday must have died because they just aren’t coming to pass?
Am I the only one who from time to time struggles to understand where my life is going? I’m not talking about the ultimate destination. That I’m very sure of! No, I’m talking about the fulfillment of this journey of life, the “three score and ten” that we have all been allotted.
When those moments of uncertainty come, and they will, at least if you’re human, here is a wonderful verse to reflect on:
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:11 NIV)
“He tends his flock like a shepherd.”
We, of course, are his flock and God watches over us like a shepherd. The imagery presented here is of the complete care that a shepherd has for his sheep. The shepherd guards his sheep, he guides them, feeds them, defends them, cares for them in all ways. God is in charge whether we understand what He is doing or not—He tends his flock!
“He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.”
This is God’s care for us when we are at a point of being vulnerable; when we are feeling lost and alone or hurt, He will gather us in His arms. The picture here is of the lamb in the parable of The Lost Sheep (Mt. 18:12-14, Luke15:3-7). The shepherd had ninety-nine others and so why would he care about one? Well, this shepherd did and our Shepherd still does! The shepherd was not content with losing one. His attitude was not, “You can’t win them all!” No, the shepherd went after the one that lost its way! His commitment to us is, “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing” (John 6:39). When he found the lamb, it was exhausted and frightened and the shepherd gently picked it up. Using his strength, he carried the lamb back to safety.
Here’s the scene:
The lamb was bewildered and lost. Just a few minutes ago everything had been going so great. Filled with youthful energy, the lamb could hardly contain himself and just couldn’t stay with the rest of the sheep. The relentless quest for discovery pulled the lamb farther and farther away from the rest of the sheep as he explored and experienced everything new. Slowly it dawned on the little one that the rest of the sheep and the shepherd were nowhere in sight; he didn’t know where they were, and he was alone and lost. His restless energy kept him moving but he couldn’t find his family or his friends. Being alone and in strange new territory began to bring anxiety and fear. Overhead he noticed that birds were gathering, birds he had been warned about, predators that preyed on small animals, and his anxiety level went up a notch. In the brush and woods around him were noises he had never heard before, noises that to him seemed unfriendly, and his fear level went up again. With the oncoming darkness, the lamb began to feel not just lost but completely helpless, and despair began to overtake him.
Suddenly his shepherd appeared and scooped the lamb up into his arms. The shepherd cradled the lamb in his arms and held him close to him, close to his heart, to quieten and reassure the frightened little one. He held the lamb close as a sign to predators that the lamb was his, they were as one, and in order to get to the lamb, the predators would have to go through the shepherd. The two made their way back home to the rest of the family with the lamb cradled close to the heart of the shepherd.
“Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for thou are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
He holds you close to His heart!
Am I the only one who from time to time struggles to understand where my life is going? I’m not talking about the ultimate destination. That I’m very sure of! No, I’m talking about the fulfillment of this journey of life, the “three score and ten” that we have all been allotted.
When those moments of uncertainty come, and they will, at least if you’re human, here is a wonderful verse to reflect on:
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:11 NIV)
“He tends his flock like a shepherd.”
We, of course, are his flock and God watches over us like a shepherd. The imagery presented here is of the complete care that a shepherd has for his sheep. The shepherd guards his sheep, he guides them, feeds them, defends them, cares for them in all ways. God is in charge whether we understand what He is doing or not—He tends his flock!
“He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.”
This is God’s care for us when we are at a point of being vulnerable; when we are feeling lost and alone or hurt, He will gather us in His arms. The picture here is of the lamb in the parable of The Lost Sheep (Mt. 18:12-14, Luke15:3-7). The shepherd had ninety-nine others and so why would he care about one? Well, this shepherd did and our Shepherd still does! The shepherd was not content with losing one. His attitude was not, “You can’t win them all!” No, the shepherd went after the one that lost its way! His commitment to us is, “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing” (John 6:39). When he found the lamb, it was exhausted and frightened and the shepherd gently picked it up. Using his strength, he carried the lamb back to safety.
Here’s the scene:
The lamb was bewildered and lost. Just a few minutes ago everything had been going so great. Filled with youthful energy, the lamb could hardly contain himself and just couldn’t stay with the rest of the sheep. The relentless quest for discovery pulled the lamb farther and farther away from the rest of the sheep as he explored and experienced everything new. Slowly it dawned on the little one that the rest of the sheep and the shepherd were nowhere in sight; he didn’t know where they were, and he was alone and lost. His restless energy kept him moving but he couldn’t find his family or his friends. Being alone and in strange new territory began to bring anxiety and fear. Overhead he noticed that birds were gathering, birds he had been warned about, predators that preyed on small animals, and his anxiety level went up a notch. In the brush and woods around him were noises he had never heard before, noises that to him seemed unfriendly, and his fear level went up again. With the oncoming darkness, the lamb began to feel not just lost but completely helpless, and despair began to overtake him.
Suddenly his shepherd appeared and scooped the lamb up into his arms. The shepherd cradled the lamb in his arms and held him close to him, close to his heart, to quieten and reassure the frightened little one. He held the lamb close as a sign to predators that the lamb was his, they were as one, and in order to get to the lamb, the predators would have to go through the shepherd. The two made their way back home to the rest of the family with the lamb cradled close to the heart of the shepherd.
“Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for thou are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
He holds you close to His heart!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
PAUL'S THORN
Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” has been the subject of speculation for centuries and I don’t want to add to the debate of what “it” was. I was a little disgusted one morning while watching a teaching program on TV. The speaker commented that if Paul’s knowledge of faith had been as complete as ours is today, he would not have had to suffer with a thorn. My mom would have described the speaker’s assertion as “ignorance wrapped up in arrogance.” What the speaker was saying reflects not just on Paul but on God, who in the speaker’s mind would not or could not give Paul a full revelation on faith.
To get sidetracked into the culvert of “What was Paul’s thorn?” is to diminish the incredible truth that follows: “And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a, NKJV).
After Paul had sought the Lord three times and received no healing and no deliverance, God spoke to him: “And He said to me.” God spoke directly to Paul with the message that was one of the most profound truths of the New Testament: “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Grace is His unmerited favor. We can’t earn it but we can receive it as a gift. Salvation is an explicit example of God’s grace. We didn’t deserve salvation but He provided it for us anyway. “For by grace are you saved” (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Healing, provision, deliverance, comfort, safety, guidance (the list here is large) are all manifestations of His grace. We can’t earn them, we don’t deserve them, but we can receive them. That’s grace!
Grace does not begin and end at salvation. The power that began to work in us at salvation continues through our entire life. The power of God in grace continues to work in us and when the storms of life arise, His grace continues to provide for us. It is more than sufficient for whatever we might be facing. Grace is readily available; it is free and like every gift, if it is not received, then it does not work for us.
One of the sadder moments in my life was when I observed a friend who, as he went through a disastrous personal problem, made a conscious choice not to receive God’s grace. Instead of trusting God’s sufficiency, my friend retreated into the familiar territory of his personal desires. In a confrontational conversation about God’s grace, my friend said, “I’m not going to do that. I know what I want and that’s what I’ll do”.
Embracing grace is a step of faith, a step into the unknown. How will God provide His sufficiency for us? We don’t know, but we are given a clue in what the apostle says next.
“For My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
God promised Paul that in the midst of his inability to deal with the weakness that his thorn produced, he would find God’s power. Paul understood that when he harbored illusions about his own strength, that reliance on personal strength diluted the power of God’s working in his life. This is why Paul could say in the very next verse, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).
The continuance of the thorn in Paul’s life is a mystery to us; it provided ammunition to Paul’s enemies to question his apostolic authority and it overwhelmed Paul with a feeling of weakness. However, Paul came to understand that the thorn kept him humble and reliant on the grace and mercy of God, which in turn released the power of God to sustain and to use him.
Paul finishes verse 9: “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Paul was not pushing a doctrine of false humility, nor was he suggesting that we somehow “get high” on difficulties or persecution. He was affirming that his reliance on his own strength short-circuited God’s power but when he acknowledged his weakness (and the thorn helped him do that) then the power of God rested on him and was released through him.
“For when I am weak, then I am strong!” (2 Corinthians 12:10b).
So, regardless of the circumstances we face—the stress of a faltering economy, the pain of living or working in an uncomfortable environment, the uncertainty of world events, the discouragement over unfulfilled dreams—He says to us,” My grace is sufficient!”
When your strength begins to fade and you realize how pitifully ineffectual it is in the light of life, always remember He is there with you and His strength is just getting warmed up!
Maybe thorns aren’t so bad after all!
To get sidetracked into the culvert of “What was Paul’s thorn?” is to diminish the incredible truth that follows: “And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a, NKJV).
After Paul had sought the Lord three times and received no healing and no deliverance, God spoke to him: “And He said to me.” God spoke directly to Paul with the message that was one of the most profound truths of the New Testament: “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Grace is His unmerited favor. We can’t earn it but we can receive it as a gift. Salvation is an explicit example of God’s grace. We didn’t deserve salvation but He provided it for us anyway. “For by grace are you saved” (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Healing, provision, deliverance, comfort, safety, guidance (the list here is large) are all manifestations of His grace. We can’t earn them, we don’t deserve them, but we can receive them. That’s grace!
Grace does not begin and end at salvation. The power that began to work in us at salvation continues through our entire life. The power of God in grace continues to work in us and when the storms of life arise, His grace continues to provide for us. It is more than sufficient for whatever we might be facing. Grace is readily available; it is free and like every gift, if it is not received, then it does not work for us.
One of the sadder moments in my life was when I observed a friend who, as he went through a disastrous personal problem, made a conscious choice not to receive God’s grace. Instead of trusting God’s sufficiency, my friend retreated into the familiar territory of his personal desires. In a confrontational conversation about God’s grace, my friend said, “I’m not going to do that. I know what I want and that’s what I’ll do”.
Embracing grace is a step of faith, a step into the unknown. How will God provide His sufficiency for us? We don’t know, but we are given a clue in what the apostle says next.
“For My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
God promised Paul that in the midst of his inability to deal with the weakness that his thorn produced, he would find God’s power. Paul understood that when he harbored illusions about his own strength, that reliance on personal strength diluted the power of God’s working in his life. This is why Paul could say in the very next verse, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).
The continuance of the thorn in Paul’s life is a mystery to us; it provided ammunition to Paul’s enemies to question his apostolic authority and it overwhelmed Paul with a feeling of weakness. However, Paul came to understand that the thorn kept him humble and reliant on the grace and mercy of God, which in turn released the power of God to sustain and to use him.
Paul finishes verse 9: “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Paul was not pushing a doctrine of false humility, nor was he suggesting that we somehow “get high” on difficulties or persecution. He was affirming that his reliance on his own strength short-circuited God’s power but when he acknowledged his weakness (and the thorn helped him do that) then the power of God rested on him and was released through him.
“For when I am weak, then I am strong!” (2 Corinthians 12:10b).
So, regardless of the circumstances we face—the stress of a faltering economy, the pain of living or working in an uncomfortable environment, the uncertainty of world events, the discouragement over unfulfilled dreams—He says to us,” My grace is sufficient!”
When your strength begins to fade and you realize how pitifully ineffectual it is in the light of life, always remember He is there with you and His strength is just getting warmed up!
Maybe thorns aren’t so bad after all!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
ALL DECKED OUT FOR GOD!
We don’t know very much about Paul’s mission to the island of Crete; in fact, no records exist of when he was actually there, we just know he was. Paul’s letter to Titus was meant to assist this faithful young man as he put things in order and set the new believers into churches in Crete. Paul shares very practical advice on what specific groups to address and what to talk to them about. In Titus 2:9-10, Paul focuses on what today would be the large middle-income working class. Bondservants of Paul’s day were the blue-collar workers, the office workers, the laborers that made the country run. Many of these had come to faith in Christ during Paul’s visit to Crete.
“Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” (Titus 2:9-10, NKJV).
Here is a brief synopsis of Paul’s teaching for them:
1. Be obedient to their bosses. They were to submit to the leadership of their work environment.
2. They were to be “well pleasing in all things.” This meant they were to do their work with excellence, with an eye for detail.
3. They were to handle conflict with grace, and use wisdom and courtesy by not answering back.
4. They were not to pilfer. That means no stealing. If that pen in your pocket belongs to the company, why is it on its way to your desk at home? Pilfering does not show integrity!
5. Good workers are loyal and dependable. Paul emphasizes this when he says, “Show all good fidelity.”
This is practical advice for believers living in a corrupt and immoral society, which is exactly what Crete was known to be (and how about the U.S. and Canada today?).
Not only is this good advice for daily living but Paul brings it into sharp focus when he says, “That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”
How can we adorn or make attractive the teaching which is about our Savior?
First, let’s talk about the word “adorn.” Paul may have been engaging in a little wordplay here. Crete was known as a center for the manufacture of jewelry; we could say it was “the bling capital of the first century.” So Paul, who was no slouch with words, may have been using this to capture the attention of Titus and the Cretans.
The word adorn means to show something forth in a way that makes what it is attached to more attractive, like an ornament on a tree, or jewelry on a pretty lady. The second way this word is commonly used in the New Testament is to trim, as in “trimming the lamp.” Why were lamps “trimmed”? Because after a while the wick would burn down, ash would accumulate on the wick, and the light from the lamp would dim considerably. A trimmed lamp had the ash removed and the wick slightly elevated so that the amount of light that went forth increased noticeably.
To “adorn the doctrine of God” does not mean to add to the gospel…not at all. The heart of what Paul is saying here is that when we truly embrace and live the truth of the gospel, we attractively show the message to unbelievers. There is nothing more persuasive to the unbeliever than the life of someone living in the grace and mercy of the Lord—it is compelling to them! Don’t worry about what they say or how they may insult or ridicule; the life of a believer fully committed to Him brings the presence of the Holy Spirit with it and that brings conviction and a drawing to Christ.
Paul is saying to the Cretans, “When you live like a believer, you show forth the qualities of obedience, excellence, grace, integrity and loyalty! The amount and quality of the light you show to the world is greatly enhanced and they will see God’s life in you much more clearly!”
What does it mean if, instead of showing forth these qualities as believers, we show forth the opposite? What does that do to the beauty of the message? Ouch!
The message is then, “We can adorn the doctrine of God by the life we live.”
One hundred years ago in Japan, businessmen would seek out and hire Christians, just a tiny minority of the population, to work in the financial areas of their businesses. Why would they look for Christians? Because Christians in Japan were known to be people of exceptional integrity. Is that a great testimony or what?
St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel always and, when necessary, use words.”
“Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” (Titus 2:9-10, NKJV).
Here is a brief synopsis of Paul’s teaching for them:
1. Be obedient to their bosses. They were to submit to the leadership of their work environment.
2. They were to be “well pleasing in all things.” This meant they were to do their work with excellence, with an eye for detail.
3. They were to handle conflict with grace, and use wisdom and courtesy by not answering back.
4. They were not to pilfer. That means no stealing. If that pen in your pocket belongs to the company, why is it on its way to your desk at home? Pilfering does not show integrity!
5. Good workers are loyal and dependable. Paul emphasizes this when he says, “Show all good fidelity.”
This is practical advice for believers living in a corrupt and immoral society, which is exactly what Crete was known to be (and how about the U.S. and Canada today?).
Not only is this good advice for daily living but Paul brings it into sharp focus when he says, “That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”
How can we adorn or make attractive the teaching which is about our Savior?
First, let’s talk about the word “adorn.” Paul may have been engaging in a little wordplay here. Crete was known as a center for the manufacture of jewelry; we could say it was “the bling capital of the first century.” So Paul, who was no slouch with words, may have been using this to capture the attention of Titus and the Cretans.
The word adorn means to show something forth in a way that makes what it is attached to more attractive, like an ornament on a tree, or jewelry on a pretty lady. The second way this word is commonly used in the New Testament is to trim, as in “trimming the lamp.” Why were lamps “trimmed”? Because after a while the wick would burn down, ash would accumulate on the wick, and the light from the lamp would dim considerably. A trimmed lamp had the ash removed and the wick slightly elevated so that the amount of light that went forth increased noticeably.
To “adorn the doctrine of God” does not mean to add to the gospel…not at all. The heart of what Paul is saying here is that when we truly embrace and live the truth of the gospel, we attractively show the message to unbelievers. There is nothing more persuasive to the unbeliever than the life of someone living in the grace and mercy of the Lord—it is compelling to them! Don’t worry about what they say or how they may insult or ridicule; the life of a believer fully committed to Him brings the presence of the Holy Spirit with it and that brings conviction and a drawing to Christ.
Paul is saying to the Cretans, “When you live like a believer, you show forth the qualities of obedience, excellence, grace, integrity and loyalty! The amount and quality of the light you show to the world is greatly enhanced and they will see God’s life in you much more clearly!”
What does it mean if, instead of showing forth these qualities as believers, we show forth the opposite? What does that do to the beauty of the message? Ouch!
The message is then, “We can adorn the doctrine of God by the life we live.”
One hundred years ago in Japan, businessmen would seek out and hire Christians, just a tiny minority of the population, to work in the financial areas of their businesses. Why would they look for Christians? Because Christians in Japan were known to be people of exceptional integrity. Is that a great testimony or what?
St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel always and, when necessary, use words.”
Saturday, January 3, 2009
STUMBLING FORWARD
Under the best of circumstances, spiritual growth is an inexact science. The Bible gives us models to study, principles to understand, and the Holy Spirit to guide us—but no benchmarks to tell us when we’ve finally arrived. I believe my great interest in spiritual growth stems from the fact that I have struggled with it all my life and haven’t always done as well as I would have liked. Beneath my exterior is a man who frequently says, “Why did I do that? I know better than that. Will I ever grow up?”
Spiritual growth is often a set of paradoxical steps. We go several steps ahead and then we take a step or two back. Because there is a map that gets blurred as we try to view it through our humanity, we sometimes take the wrong road and then have to run around and find the right one. I have gained a new appreciation for the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:14-15: “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul seemed to understand that his humanity often got in the way of his desire to grow in God.
I recently reread the Book of Acts. One of my troublesome personal traits is that I read passages of Scripture with an eye to understand as much of the minutia as I can: “Why did the writer say that? What was the problem he was dealing with? What did the original language say there?” Most of the time that is good but sometimes it is refreshing to take what I call the panoramic view. The panoramic view is to just read the passages or the book and see what jumps out at you. Don’t go hunting—instead, let the truth fly to you.
When you approach the reading of the Book of Acts as the story of the early church rather than trying to mine gold from every verse, you begin to see the story of a church fumbling its way forward.
In the first ten chapters of Acts, the church was made up primarily of Jewish converts. Most of the Jews went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and then worshipped with their “believer” friends on Sunday. The early church held on to the Jewish law as they attempted to “fumble their way forward” in this new life they had found in the Messiah.
It was not until Peter had his roof-top encounter with God over what is clean and what is not (Acts 10) that the church began to break out of the idea that this new life through Jesus was not exclusively for the Jews. Suddenly the church began to fumble its way out of the past into the future and into becoming the worldwide entity that it now is. But the forward movement was a struggle and it wasn’t until years later that Paul and Barnabus (Acts 15) went to Jerusalem and confronted the pharisaical idea that Gentiles had to become Jews in order to become Christians. It was a stumbling forward progress by very human people just like all of us.
Back to the panoramic view of the Book of Acts for a moment. Acts tell us that Paul took at least four missionary journeys. His first trip took him into modern day Turkey, roughly 500 miles from Jerusalem. The second and third trips took him about 900 miles from home and his fourth and final trip about 1500 miles from home. Paul’s journeys can be described as a series of expanding circles. As his faith and experience grew, so did the scope of his ministry.
Like our journey of faith through this life, some of Paul’s trips were marked with immediate success; sometimes he didn’t know exactly where to go; sometimes the Spirit of the Lord wouldn’t let him go where he wanted; and sometimes the growth came only through great struggle. Paul’s second and third journeys were virtually over the same territory. More than once he had to revisit areas where the truth didn’t seem to take a good hold the first time and additional attention was needed for growth to happen. (Wow! This sounds just like my journey of faith.) But Paul kept stumbling his way forward and his journey is a great model upon which we can base our spiritual life and growth.
Paul’s tenacious desire to grow made him into the champion of the faith that he became.
“Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit.” (Dr. Edwin Louis Cole)
Spiritual growth is often a set of paradoxical steps. We go several steps ahead and then we take a step or two back. Because there is a map that gets blurred as we try to view it through our humanity, we sometimes take the wrong road and then have to run around and find the right one. I have gained a new appreciation for the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:14-15: “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul seemed to understand that his humanity often got in the way of his desire to grow in God.
I recently reread the Book of Acts. One of my troublesome personal traits is that I read passages of Scripture with an eye to understand as much of the minutia as I can: “Why did the writer say that? What was the problem he was dealing with? What did the original language say there?” Most of the time that is good but sometimes it is refreshing to take what I call the panoramic view. The panoramic view is to just read the passages or the book and see what jumps out at you. Don’t go hunting—instead, let the truth fly to you.
When you approach the reading of the Book of Acts as the story of the early church rather than trying to mine gold from every verse, you begin to see the story of a church fumbling its way forward.
In the first ten chapters of Acts, the church was made up primarily of Jewish converts. Most of the Jews went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and then worshipped with their “believer” friends on Sunday. The early church held on to the Jewish law as they attempted to “fumble their way forward” in this new life they had found in the Messiah.
It was not until Peter had his roof-top encounter with God over what is clean and what is not (Acts 10) that the church began to break out of the idea that this new life through Jesus was not exclusively for the Jews. Suddenly the church began to fumble its way out of the past into the future and into becoming the worldwide entity that it now is. But the forward movement was a struggle and it wasn’t until years later that Paul and Barnabus (Acts 15) went to Jerusalem and confronted the pharisaical idea that Gentiles had to become Jews in order to become Christians. It was a stumbling forward progress by very human people just like all of us.
Back to the panoramic view of the Book of Acts for a moment. Acts tell us that Paul took at least four missionary journeys. His first trip took him into modern day Turkey, roughly 500 miles from Jerusalem. The second and third trips took him about 900 miles from home and his fourth and final trip about 1500 miles from home. Paul’s journeys can be described as a series of expanding circles. As his faith and experience grew, so did the scope of his ministry.
Like our journey of faith through this life, some of Paul’s trips were marked with immediate success; sometimes he didn’t know exactly where to go; sometimes the Spirit of the Lord wouldn’t let him go where he wanted; and sometimes the growth came only through great struggle. Paul’s second and third journeys were virtually over the same territory. More than once he had to revisit areas where the truth didn’t seem to take a good hold the first time and additional attention was needed for growth to happen. (Wow! This sounds just like my journey of faith.) But Paul kept stumbling his way forward and his journey is a great model upon which we can base our spiritual life and growth.
Paul’s tenacious desire to grow made him into the champion of the faith that he became.
“Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit.” (Dr. Edwin Louis Cole)
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