a contract with God

Forgive me the liberties I’ve taken with the text (I aspire to be the next Eugene Peterson, only without the trite and cheesy* colloquialisms):

Don’t fool yourselves or turn up your noses at God’s contract.  It’s a simple kingdom truth that wages are determined by performance.   If a man works selfishly and for his own good, he’ll receive death.  But if he works in order to please God, his salary will be true life — and he’ll enjoy that life forever.

So don’t entertain thoughts of starting your own private businesses.  And don’t give up doing good and working for God.  Because God’s salary and benefits package is far better than anything you could arrange for yourselves.  [His retirement plan's not bad, either.]  Take advantage of every opportunity that arises; if you’re able to assist someone, do.  And you should especially lend a hand to other employees in God’s kingdom.

— Galatians 6:7-10 (my own very loose translation)

judged by our works

A lot of Christianity frowns on talk of good works being rewarded. “Eternal life is a free gift, and you can’t earn it,” they say.  I’m not suggesting salvation can be earned.  But we can’t deny that the Bible says a great deal concerning our being judged by works and reaping what we sow. This is a kingdom principle. The truth of the matter is that a true Christian shouldn’t be concerned by this, as faith manifests itself in love for God and love for others.  And these are necessarily demonstrated by good works.

the fruits of selfishness

While living selfishly seems to bring us great pleasure, Paul is clear that, in reality, it results only in death.  We would do well to consider the future implications of our behavior today.  Pray that God will help us to see well in advance the fruits of those things we do in the present.

transformed thinking necessary

“As we have opportunity, let us do good…”  Pray that God will help us to notice the opportunities we have to do good. I’m afraid I often miss these occasions — not because of a reluctance to help others, but rather because of a failure to be conscious of their needs.  This seems to be at the root of the problem. If my thinking is selfish, then my actions will necessarily be so. In order to take advantage of opportunities to help others, I must be thinking of others. A self-centered attitude yields service to self.  While an others-based view of the world produces compassion and kindness.

responsibility to help other christians first

Christians are called first to help one another.  We often ignore this principle (which is found throughout scripture) because we think of it as selfish.  We prefer to give to the poor in rural Tanzania or to the homeless in New Orleans because (my guess) it makes us feel good.  But proper kingdom giving begins with giving IN the kingdom. It may not be as sexy as feeding the poor in Haiti or providing water for a village in Sudan, but it’s a kingdom principle.

We’re meant to demonstrate to the world how the family of God functions.  [You could call it a missionary principle.] I’d argue this is God’s form of attractional ministry: that Christians love one another and take care of one another. [Not that we have a great praise band and let visitors park near our front doors.]  For a little more on the subject, see giving: the seventh year and debts.

**********

May God empower us to take every opportunity to do good works.  May he make us a less selfish people, and may he be glorified in our willingness to serve others.

 

* You know, it’s sad that the word “cheesy” is in and of itself cheesy.  I generally don’t use it, but the irony struck me as humorous today.  It is, however, slightly better than “corny.”

missionary predicament: purchasing musical instruments

image courtesy of synthtopia.com

The letter was addressed to “the Father and Mother of this house” (that’s Christie and I).  It was delivered to our gate while I was in town.  Christie received the letter and assured the messenger she’d pass it on to me.  [Despite being addressed to "Father AND Mother," letters are meant to be read, and decisions made, by "Father" -- and independent of "Mother."]  When I got home I put the letter on the desk, saying I’d have a look another day; it was no doubt another request for moneys or funding.

[This post is one installment of a somewhat (okay, extremely) irregular feature of my blog called Missionary Predicaments.  Occasionally I attempt to explain some recent (or ongoing) dilemma having to do with being a missionary and development worker in Tanzania.  And then I ask what you think the proper Christian missionary response would be.  Then I do whatever you said.  Well… maybe not.  But I do welcome all advice — especially if you’re over 50 years old and have grey hair.  In the case of this particular "predicament," I realize I've probably not given you enough background and culture to make a firm decision; rather I've simply asked some questions of the situation -- which I intend to answer as best as I can in coming days.]

A couple of days passed, and I’d not yet reviewed the letter (we were busy trying to get work done before heading to Mwanza for Baylor to receive another vaccination).  The pastor of a local church “hodied” at our gate,* and I went out to receive him.  He asked if “mama” had given me his letter, and I answered in the affirmative, though I told him I’d not yet been able to read it.  I could tell he wanted to discuss the matter there at that time (which kind of defeats the purpose of writing a letter), but we had visitors.  So after he told me the letter was a request for funding to allow his church to buy several musical instruments, I told him I’d read the letter soon and get back to him.  He was not satisfied with that answer, but it is the answer I gave.  [Little did he know that the less time I was given to consider his request, the less likely I would be to grant it.]  The pastor walked away, expressing that he was looking forward to my answer (he was very optimistic, I might add).

Two or three days passed again, and we (and several others) ran out of water at our house.  The pastor visited our home again on that day (while Carson and I were in the middle of our 7-hour water-procuring party) and spoke with Christie.  He very indirectly and politely (as much as is possible) called my wife a liar when she told him she had indeed given me the letter.  He continued suggesting to her that it would be better if she would give me the request, so that I could consider it (and answer in the positive).  She continued telling him that I had already received the request and that it was sitting in a stack of papers to be reviewed on my desk.  Eventually, tired of trying to persuade Christie to ‘fess up to her wicked dealings, the pastor left, again to await my answer.

I have now answered the pastor in written form, but have not yet received his response to my response.  But I thought I’d share with you a bit of his letter, which was handwritten in English.  I have not altered it in any way:

“…we are requesting a great assistance from your family so as you can enable us to purchase Church’s music instrumental which will be used to preach the Gospel of the Lord.  By doing that from your heart God will bless you indeed.  For more vivid evidence, read MALACHI 3:10.  From this book of the Bible God promised to bless all people who will up raise his work from their money and properties.  We give thanks before and we are looking forward to be helped from your family.  Amen.”

This letter raises a lot of questions for me:

• What does it mean to “preach the Gospel of the Lord,” and will musical instruments help in that process?
• Should I have any say in how a local Tanzanian church spends their money?  What about how they spend my money?
• If I disagree with how (and why) they spend their money, should I decline to help them?  Should I offer an explanation of my disagreement, or simply decline?
• Does Malachi 3:10 really address me helping a local church by purchasing musical instruments?
• Perhaps most importantly, what does this letter and the entire process of its delivery teach me about the beliefs and worldview of this local church (and probably others in the area)?

Any thoughts?

* Hodi = Swahili word that announces the presence of a visitor at a door or gate.  I’m guessing this practice developed over the knock because of the general lack of doors on which one could knock.  And a single “hodi” will not, under any circumstance, suffice.  The visitor is required to “hodi” constantly until the door is opened or (in some cases) someone from inside answers with “nakuja,” a familiar way of saying, “I’m coming.”  However, one must continue yelling “nakuja” until one has actually opened the door, lest the “hodi”ing begin again.  It seems the general rule is that there can be no time of quiet, however brief, between the arrival of a visitor and the actual opening of the door.  I’ve on several occasions thought about doing the same sort of thing while waiting for my food at a restaurant or while waiting to be helped at the hardware store — constantly repeating my order until I actually have the item in my hand.  It truly is sad that a word announcing a guest (something which is quite an honor in this context) can come to mean about the same thing as nails screeching on a chalkboard.

nyerere on development and money

A few quotes from Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania.  He was a simple man, referred to by many as Mwalimu — the Swahili word teacher.  I think he had some great ideas that were mingled in with some that were not so great.  Anyway, here are a few of his thoughts on development and foreign aid:

It is stupid to rely on money as the major instrument of development when we know only too well that our country is poor.  It is equally stupid, indeed it is even more stupid, for us to imagine that we shall rid ourselves of our poverty through financial assistance rather than through our own financial resources.

Independence means self-reliance.  Independence cannot be real if a nation depends on gifts and loans from another for its development.  How can we depend upon foreign governments and companies for the major part of our development without giving to those governments and countries a great part of our freedom to act as we please?  The truth is we cannot.

What are your initial thoughts?

Now do this for me:  Think about smaller scale development work and projects being brought into the country by non-profits organizations and the like.  Think about missionaries coming to present the gospel in hopes of growing the kingdom.  Think about a beggar asking for food or money.  A young kid asking for help to pay for his mother’s hospital bills.

Now what are your thoughts?  What role should outside moneys play in development, missions, and life in general?  How can we be responsible with our giving?

you can have my… leftovers

image courtesy of photobucket.com

From (The Customer is) Not Always Right:

GROCERY STORE | DALTON, GA, USA

(A woman comes up to me while I’m taking down the dried out, bad corn from the display.)

Customer: “You just throw those away?”

Me: “Yep, we have to throw out the bad ones.”

Customer: “You mean they don’t donate it to the poor or anything?”

Me: “Well, no. Our store does donate to the unfortunate, but it’s usually money or fresh product.”

Customer: “But poor people are used to eating bad food! They eat out of the trash all the time! You don’t have to give them good food!”

Although an extreme example, I believe this is representative of how we often operate when giving to the poor.  I suppose it stems from combining egocentrism and the dominant worldview of scarcity.  It’s not that this lady wanted the old corn for herself, or even that she wanted new corn that would now be unavailable — it’s that she didn’t want the good corn “wasted” on the poor.  We desire to preserve what’s valuable, while giving away what’s not.  We aspire to sacrifice, yet are unwilling for it to cost us more than that with which we were already willing to part.  And we donate our leftovers, but only so we not be seen as wasteful.

God, help us to share willingly.  Make us cheerful givers.  Empower us to to bless others from our hearts — and not only from our surplus.

to combat individualism — practical advice

This is a series (of sorts) in which I’m seeking to address a few harmful tendencies in the American church.  Past posts in the series are here:

Tendencies of an American Church

Practical Advice for Incarnational Ministry — Part Moja

Practical Advice for Incarnational Ministry — Part Mbili

We’re a Bunch of Scheming Swindlers

Americans, in general, place a great deal of value on the notion of the individual.  We worship independence, glory in self-reliance, and concern ourselves chiefly with our own personal profit and pleasure. Following are just a few practical suggestions towards combatting our culture of individualism:

• When making decisions, try to think about others involved or affected.  You’re not the only one with feelings; nor are you an island.  An ability to grasp what others might be feeling is enough to begin the process of becoming a less selfish person.  If it’s difficult in the beginning, start with this phrase or one like it: “What do you think?” In time, you might need to ask less often.
• Don’t always insist on your way — actually, rarely insist on your way.  Going out to dinner?  Is it your birthday or a celebration of your retirement?  Choose the restaurant.  If not, take pleasure in letting others have what they want.  If you get into one of those situations where no one will say, don’t hesitate to give your opinion — but that’s a far cry from pushing your own desires.  The key, I think, is finding pleasure in others getting what they want.
• Think about how much time and money you spend making yourself comfortable.  Match even a percentage of that in making others comfortable — namely the poor in your community.  You spend $25 going out to dinner?  Automatically put $5 (20%) in a fund to buy food for the homeless.  You dropped $40 for your family to go to a movie?  $8 goes into an envelope to take someone else’s kids to a ball game — kids who don’t get to go to ballgames, that is.  [I hear people say things like, "If you don't have enough money to tip the waitstaff, you don't have enough money to eat out."  And I agree.  But I wish we would say, "If you don't have enough money to tip the waitstaff and give an additional 20% of the total bill to a homeless shelter or a poor family, you don't have enough money to eat out."]
• Do the same with your time.  You spend 8 hours one day mowing your lawn, carefully manicuring your yard, or putting up Christmas decorations?  Spend one hour trimming a neighbor’s hedges, or planting flowers at a housing project in town.  You allot an hour per night for watching TV?  Spend 10 minutes talking to an employee at Wal-mart who is often overlooked and rarely spoken to.
• Share with others that which brings you pleasure.  If you go fishing every Saturday in your bass boat, take a father and son with you that wouldn’t have the chance otherwise — and pay for their fishing licenses.  Running relaxes you and keeps you healthy?  Offer to train a couple of neighbors for their first 5k, and then pay their entry fees.
• Pledging to spend on others a fraction of the time and money we spend on pleasuring ourselves will make us ever mindful of just how many of our resources are used in the name of “relaxing” or “entertainment.”  Because now it will cost something; not that it doesn’t already cost something, but we’ll start to take notice of just what it costs.  We’ll begin to understand how much good is not being done because we enjoy our movies, nice clothes, bass boats, and manicured lawns.
• Do without something, just to know what it’s like. Give up sleeping in a bed for week.  Go without hot water for two.  Don’t turn on your television this month.  Walk, ride a bike, or take a bus everywhere you go for a couple of days.  You going without will not in itself help others.  But you learning empathy will.  When you understand the difficulties others have, you’ll desire more to help.
• Think about church in terms of 1) what you can give to other Christians and 2) what your church can do for the community.  Don’t choose a church by how it makes you feel, or what you “get from it.”
• Choose a church by the community in which you live.  Your church should be an outreach to your community. Does it make sense for me to drive 45 minutes to be a part of a group that is supposed to exist in order to reach those in its community?  Do I live or work in that community?  Can I realistically help in expanding the kingdom in that area of town?  Is it the wisest use of my membership?
• When choosing a church, consider how you can use the gifts the Spirit has given you to build up the body of Christ in that location.  You were given your gifts in order to bring the church to maturity — so that it can accomplish God’s goals in the community. Go somewhere you can contribute to church unity and maturity.
• I don’t think it’s practical to ask people not to buy new clothes.  But we could commit to give away one of whatever we buy new.  If you buy a pair of shoes, give away an old pair.  If you buy a new jacket, your old one goes to Goodwill.  This may not prevent us from spending money to keep up with fashion, but it will ensure we’re not hoarding more than we can (or do) use.
• Turn all the coat hangers in your closet backwards.  After you wear an article, return it to the closet with the hanger facing the right way.  At the end of a year, give away every item on a backwards-facing hanger.
• Ask others for help. Yes, maybe you can do it yourself.  But there’s a lot to be said for learning not to be self-reliant.  Don’t take pride in your own power and resources — or your own ability to meet your needs.  People need one another, and we ought to practice asking for help.
• Reject that which you hear in church which is predominantly self-help and only such.  There’s nothing wrong with getting out of debt or having children who make good grades.  But the gospel is so much more than that.  I’m afraid many of us are missing out on God’s mission because we’re too busy trying to live socially well-adjusted, stress-free, and not-addicted-to-nicotine lives.
• Think about all you do in terms of God’s glory. My life is not a thing in and of itself.  Rather it is a tool through which God can be glorified.  And my life is not my own, but is merely a member of a larger life — the body of Christ.  My actions reflect on more than me, and they affect more than me.
• Above all, pray that God will make you a selfless person. Pray that he will bless you with an ability to think of others’ needs — and an ability to meet those needs.  Pray that God will grant you joy in giving to others, and contentment in what you already have.
• Oh, and take care of your baby daughter so Chri — eh, your wife — can get some sleep.

3 lines, 5 guys, 17 syllables, and a billion diapers

Occasionally I like to write haiku… or haikus… or is it haiki?  Anyway, here’s my life in a few 17-syllable poems:

one of those mornings
a crying baby.
i make coffee in my sleep.
is it nap time yet?

reciprocity?
love of a baby.
baylor has a gift for me…
oh — just poop and pee.

a source of all kinds of comfort
i appreciate:
lights, fans, fridges, water pumps, and…
electricity.

brevity
spilling from my head,
words pour forth. so much to say.
just short one sylla–

bacon, beef, and cheese
dreaming of five guys’ –
i’d really like a burger
with some cajun fries.

what i’m praying about
giving to others –
am i blessed or just selfish?
struggling with my faith.

Feel free to post your own haiku in the comments.  [Ted, I know you've got at least one for me.]

don’t worry. share.

“This is why I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”

How many sermons have been preached from this text which offered as its primary meaning that we shouldn’t worry — and then went on to list all the situations in which we, middle-class America, tend to worry?  I honestly don’t know what “we” worry about, but I bet at least half the list can be summed up like this:

• Money to pay off our many debts, most of which came from making ourselves comfortable and ensuring we wear clothes, drive cars, and sleep in houses that are at the same level as those around us.
• If not money to pay off debts, we worry about money to set aside for our futures, to guarantee we can always live at [at least] the same level we currently enjoy.

I’m sure there are some deeper matters with which we’re concerned, but it seems money usually both tops the list and contributes to much of what is on the list.

But I think we’ve misunderstood this passage… on several levels:

The “do not worry” text immediately follows Jesus’ words not to store up treasures on earth, but rather in heaven.  He’s just explained the impossible nature of serving two masters — God and money.  Only after this teaching does he offer these words:  ”THIS is why I tell you, do not worry….”  Our passage about not worrying can only be properly understood in light of the passage about not storing up wealth and serving money as god. But we seem intent on using Jesus’ words “do not worry” to excuse our storing up of wealth — saying we simply shouldn’t be anxious about it, because God is going to take care of those things.  But Jesus isn’t promising in this text to send our kids to college, and he’s for sure not promising to help us pay off our expensive wardrobes and addictions to Starbucks.

Jesus is speaking here to the necessities of life:  whether or not we’ll have food to eat, water to drink, and clothes to wear.  First, I think he’s promising God will take care of the Christian’s most basic needs (and that God knows these needs better than we do).  And secondly, he’s saying it’s not our responsibility to store away in barns for our futures.  The point of the text is that we shouldn’t bank away wealth for our futures or be anxious about our fundamental needs.

When’s the last time your anxieties were about whether or not you’d starve?  What about whether or not you’d have to go naked?  We’re not talking about if you’d have the cash to eat at your favorite restaurant (mine… Conestoga in Dothan, AL) or whether your favorite jeans (mine… used Levi’s from the clothing market in Geita) would be clean in time to wear them to church on Wednesday night.

Here’s what I know for sure from this text:

I’m not supposed to store up wealth for my future.  And I’m not supposed to worry about my basic needs, because God will take care of them.

And this is what I’m not positive about, but am leaning towards:

Should those of us who are never hungry or thirsty be reading this text differently? As a part of the body of Christ who doesn’t worry about basic needs, should I be reading this text as someone called to meet these needs for others?  Instead of trying to understand this text as a call not to worry about my own life, should I be understanding it as an opportunity to allow God to keep his promises to others through me? Should I, as a member of God’s family, be making sure those who are seeking his kingdom and righteousness don’t have to be concerned about food and clothing?  Rather than stashing my money away in a bank or a barn, should I be using it to feed the hungry and clothe the naked?

I think that’s how middle-class America is supposed to read this text.

giving: blow the trumpets and give me my reward

[Where I live, lots of people ask me for money.  This post is one of several in search of a biblical view of giving to the poor. I believe the process of finding a biblical stance is at least as important as the conclusions to which I've come.  For this reason, I intend to post portions of several 3-column studies that have helped me arrive where I have on these issues.  For the sake of brevity (not one of my gifts), I'm not including all I've discovered in these studies, but rather only those realizations which have pointed me toward my current stance on giving.  For a better understanding of what a 3-column study is and why it's important, see these instructions.  Also, I'm saving all "I will" statements to print at the end of the series.]

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Giving and Generosity

giving: the pot-smoking beggar

giving: the righteous man

giving: the farmer and his harvest

giving: the seventh year and debts

giving: enemies and self-preservation

giving: love means action

giving: blow the trumpets and give me my reward (you are here)

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Matthew 6:1-4

Rather than post column 1, I will direct you to Matthew 6:1-4.  Below is a summary and restatement in my own words:

Make sure you don’t put on performances in order to prove your righteousness to others.  If that’s what you’re doing, God has no plans to reward you.

So when you’re giving to the poor, don’t put up banners while humming your own personal “I’m-a-spiritual-man” theme song.  That’s what “Christian” entrepreneurs and televangelists do to get more business and bigger donations — and to be respected by their peers.  But listen, I’m telling you the truth when I say they’ve already gotten all the reward they’re going to get.  If you give in order to be seen as spiritual, then being seen as spiritual is your full and rightful reward.  Instead, when you give to the poor, don’t even advertise it to yourself.  Give quietly and in secret, and your Father — the one who knows all our secrets — will reward you.

What I’ve learned:

• When giving, I must choose between the approval of God or man.  I can’t seek both.
• I must choose between the reward of being seen as spiritual or actually being spiritual.  I can’t seek both.
• It is assumed I will give to the poor: “When you give to the needy…”

My thoughts:

What stands out to me most is that Jesus assumes we’re giving to the poor.  He doesn’t instruct us to do so.  He doesn’t attempt to convince us to do so.  He simply speaks to our motives for doing so.  Why are we giving to those in need?  There’s no question as to whether or not we are giving to the poor.  There is only a question of why.

Actually, if in Jesus’ day one could appear to be righteous by giving to the poor, then we know righteous people were indeed giving to the poor.  If I was a righteous person, I was giving to the poor.  Plain and simple.

That’s sad to me, because in our culture seeking to appear righteous doesn’t require nearly as much of us.  I’m guessing today Jesus would say something like, “Be careful not to go to church every Sunday in order to appear righteous.  Make sure you don’t tell business acquaintances you’re a Christian in order to look like you have a relationship with God.  Don’t put a bumper sticker on your car or wear a bracelet to lead others to believe you give a crap about spiritual things.”

It’s sad that today we can appear spiritual or righteous just by wearing a bracelet or saying, “Yes, I go to church.”  What if we had to give to poor people in order to look like a Christian?  I say that’s a step up from where we are.  We have such low standards for appearing righteous these days.

Other items of note:

• I honestly don’t think the lesson here is so much that we should give to the poor.  And I don’t think the lesson really is even that we shouldn’t do acts of righteousness in such a way that others see them.  The lesson seems to be, at its core, about our human nature — that we tend to seek the approval of men, and not the approval of God.  We get so caught up in wanting to respected, popular, and seen as successful that we turn our backs on the one individual who can give us worth and call us valuable.
• And I should probably clarify, I haven’t fully made up my mind that this text is even about seeking the rewards of God.  It might be about doing what’s right, just because it’s right.  Jesus always confuses me when it comes to this.  I want so badly for Christianity to be about doing what’s right just because it’s right, or glorifying God just because he’s God.  But Jesus keeps throwing incentives in there — promising rewards from God and treasures in heaven.  I don’t know if he’s just playing a bit towards our selfishness, or if he really intends for us to buy into John Piper’s ideas on “Christian hedonism.”
• What’s just as interesting to me is we’re taught throughout scripture that part of God’s reward to us will be the respect and love of others.  To be clear, though, we’re also told we’ll be despised and reviled.  I suppose if we are truly spiritual — rather than simply appearing to be — those who are spiritual will respect us, as they are of God.  And those who are not will degrade us and persecute us.  So, on some level, seeking the approval of men gets us that approval, but not from those who are truly spiritual.  And in seeking only God’s approval, we gain both his and that of those he has called.

In the next post in the series, I will attempt to share all the conclusions to which I’ve come through this study of generosity and giving.  In essence, it will be my strategy for giving to the poor in Tanzania.

giving: love means action

[Where I live, lots of people ask me for money.  This post is one of several in search of a biblical view of giving to the poor. I believe the process of finding a biblical stance is at least as important as the conclusions to which I've come.  For this reason, I intend to post portions of several 3-column studies that have helped me arrive where I have on these issues.  For the sake of brevity (not one of my gifts), I'm not including all I've discovered in these studies, but rather only those realizations which have pointed me toward my current stance on giving.  For a better understanding of what a 3-column study is and why it's important, see these instructions. Also, I'm saving all "I will" statements to print at the end of the series.]

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Giving and Generosity

giving: the pot-smoking beggar

giving: the righteous man

giving: the farmer and his harvest

giving: the seventh year and debts

giving: enemies and self-preservation

giving: love means action (you are here)

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1 John 3:16-24

Rather than post column 1, I will direct you to 1 John 3:16-24.  Below is a summary and restatement in my own words:

We only know what love is because Jesus Christ gave his life for us.  And we should do as he did, and give our lives for our fellow Christians.  If we have material possessions and see an individual in need, but don’t feel compassion for him AND share with him, this is proof we don’t have God’s love in our own lives.  Let’s don’t just say we love, but make it real love by doing something about it.  Tangible love for others is how we know we are actually Christians; acts of love are also how we find peace with God when we feel in our hearts we’re not worthy.  God is more powerful to give us peace than our own hearts are to condemn us; and he knows everything about us.

If our love brings the peace of God into our hearts, then we can be sure of ourselves when we ask God for things — and we can be certain that we’ll receive those things.  This is because we do everything he asks of us out of love, which makes him happy.  And the highest command he’s given us is to put our very own lives in the hands of his son, Jesus Christ, and then to love one another.  If we trust in Jesus and love each other, it confirms that we’re living in him — and that he’s living in us.  Actually, we will always have proof that he lives in us, because he gave us the Holy Spirit in our lives.

What I’ve learned:

• We can only properly define love because Jesus died for us.
• Love can only be learned from seeing and experiencing love.
• We are expected to follow the example of Jesus in loving others, even if it means death.
• The love of God is not in people who don’t have compassion and pity on others.
• The love of God is not in people whose compassion for others doesn’t result in action.
• Saying you love someone is not love.  True love requires action and service.
• Truly loving others is proof that I am a Christian.
• God rewards my acts of love by giving me peace, even if inside I feel rotten and sinful.
• I make God happy when I obey him and do what he asks.
• God’s central command is to put our trust in Jesus, and to love one another.
• I am living in Jesus, and he is living in me, when I am obedient to the above commands.
• The Holy Spirit living inside me is proof that Jesus lives in me.

My thoughts:

We know what love is only by being witness to Christ giving his life for us.  God is the creator, source, definition, and example of love.  And we can’t truly comprehend love without first understanding Jesus’ sacrifice. I am confident much of Christ’s reason for coming to earth was to show mankind what love looks like and how it acts — to be a living demonstration of true love in human form.

So love can only be learned by experiencing love.  If I’ve encountered true love in Jesus Christ, I am now to follow his example in loving others.  One of my goals on earth must be to demonstrate to others what love looks like — so they can learn what it is and how to do it themselves.  This is why John urges us in this text to make sure our compassion always results in action. If my faith doesn’t manifest itself in a pouring out of self for the sake of others, I am preventing them from knowing what love is, and from being able to perform it themselves.

And I don’t think it’s any mistake that John explains WE know what love is, because Christ died for US.  As the church, we’ve experienced God’s love collectively. And it is collectively that we will demonstrate God’s love to the world. This is why we’re encouraged to meet the needs of other Christians.  The church taking care of one another is a demonstration of love to the outside world.  We tend to think of this as selfish — “those Christians don’t love anyone else.”  But we don’t serve one another to the exclusion of those who are not disciples of Christ.  Rather, we help one another in hopes that it will bring those outsiders to understand true love and then be included in our family. As Christians, we have a responsibility to meet one another’s needs before we meet the needs of non-Christians. We don’t like this; it’s much sexier to give to people in Africa and Haiti than it is to the neighbor on our church pew.  And so, we deliberately are disobedient to God’s intentions.

Other items of note:

• Love always produces action. Saying “I love you” has no value if it is not accompanied by a demonstration of that love. I would even argue that words of love without deeds do more harm than good.  Look at the way in which popular culture defines love; much of this is a result of words without corresponding action.  The remainder, I’d say, is the result of attempts to love without first understanding love, which is only possible through Christ and his church.
• If a “Christian” or a “church” professes to love others, but has no actions resulting from this love, they are not indeed Christians and have no part in the body of Christ. This is plain and simple.  Let’s stop calling things what they are not.
• God gives me peace in my heart when I love others.  I hear a lot of Christians saying they need to “work on their relationship with God,” because they don’t “feel as close to him” as they once did.  They’re unsettled in their hearts and want to have God’s peace again.  Then they proceed to make commitments to Bible study and prayer time, etc.  While these are worthy pursuits (and incredibly important in the life of a Christian), my guess is these individuals probably have plenty of knowledge concerning God, and ought to stop worrying so much about “working on” their relationship with God in terms of reading their Bibles — and instead start demonstrating his love to others.  In this they will find peace.
• We have an opportunity to make God happy by loving others.  What an amazing ability and responsibility! Little old me can bring joy to the creator of the universe, the guy who made the heavens and the earth. And little old me can also cause him sadness by accepting the love he offers, and keeping it to myself, demonstrating that I’ve failed to understand it.

Next post in the “giving and generosity” series:

giving: blow the trumpets and give me my reward

giving: enemies and self-preservation

[Where I live, lots of people ask me for money.  This post is one of several in search of a biblical view of giving to the poor.  The introduction is here.  I believe the process of finding a biblical stance is at least as important as the conclusions to which I come.  For this reason, I intend to post portions of several 3-column studies that have helped me arrive where I have on these issues.  For the sake of brevity (not one of my gifts), I'm not including all I've discovered in these studies, but rather only those realizations which have pointed me toward my current stance on giving.  For a better understanding of what a 3-column study is and why it's important, see these instructions.  Also, I'm saving all "I will" statements to print at the end of the series.]

Luke 6:27-36

Rather than post column 1, I will direct you to Luke 6:27-36.  Below is a summary and restatement in my own words:

I’m talking to those of you who can understand what I’m saying:  Love your enemies and do good things for those people who don’t like you.  Bless them and pray for them, no matter how they treat you.  If someone hits you, don’t resist them; instead allow them to strike you again.  If someone desires to take something from you, don’t object; instead offer them that and another item.  Give to every person who asks you.  And if someone steals something, don’t demand it back.  Treat others how you want to be treated, regardless of how they’ve treated you.

If you love your friends, what’s unusual or honorable about that?  Even the worst of people do so.  Why do you think it noble to treat well those who treat you well?  The ungodly do that.  You expect praise for lending money to those who will repay you?!  All kinds of evil people make loans, expecting reimbursement.  But I tell you to love your enemies.  Treat them well.  Lend to them without expecting anything in return.  Then you’ll get “credit” for your actions; you’ll be rewarded the rights of a child of God.  You’ll be like him in sharing mercy and kindness even with the evil.  He blesses even those who don’t acknowledge or appreciate him.  Be just like him in this.

What I’ve learned:

• Jesus wants me to love everyone, even (or especially) my enemies and those who mistreat me.
• When I love others (including my enemies), it will be demonstrated through my actions and evidenced by 1) treating them well, 2) honoring them, and 3) praying for them.
• I am not to take my own personal rights into account when determining how I permit others to treat me.
• I am not to take my own personal rights into account when determining how I treat others.
• I shouldn’t live life protecting myself or my possessions.
• I should give to everyone who asks.
• I should treat others how I want to be treated, regardless of how they’ve treated me.
• We gain “credit” through our actions, but loving the easy to love profits us nothing.
• Lend to your enemies and to those who will never pay you back.
• God blesses and shares even those who are against him and don’t acknowledge his lordship.
• Remember what God did for you when you were still his enemy; then do as he did.  Be merciful and kind to your enemies.
• In doing this, you become like God and demonstrate that you are his child.
• The children of God should look and act like God.

My thoughts:

Much of this text centers around gaining “credit” or reward based on the way in which we treat others.  We will all, in the end, be judged according to our works. I know it sounds controversial, and I don’t want to get too deep into my thoughts here (rather I’ll save them for another post).  But I will offer that salvation is by the grace of God through faith alone.  But that faith is evaluated by works.  Every individual will stand before God and be judged according to his deeds.  If I haven’t gone far enough yet to get you riled up, I’ll add my leaning that there will be levels of reward in heaven, according to each man’s works on earth.

But regardless of how you feel on these issues, it’s clear that exchanging kindness for kindness gets us nowhere with God.  But God rewards us when we offer love despite having been shown hatred.  We’re commended when we give without the expectation, or even possibility, of repayment.  When all there is to gain falls in the lap of our enemy, we are becoming like Christ and acting like children of God.  In giving up our own personal rights we’re able to offer healing while receiving injury. Think Jesus on the cross.

I can no longer live a life of self-preservation.   To spend my energies protecting my possessions, my freedoms, my image, and even my own life, is to choose to be unlike Christ. Think about all the time and money we devote to ensure we’re not stolen from or cheated in any way.  What about the anger, and even rage, we experience when we’re not afforded our rights?

• “That guy cut me off!  Jerk!”
• “I can’t believe they wouldn’t give me my money back on this item — what the ___ good is store credit?!  I’ve been cheated.”
• “I’ll teach him to treat me that way…”
• “We should get a better alarm installed on our house.”
• “Its a lot of money, but we’ve got to be covered by insurance.”
• “I’m not giving that guy cash — he’ll just spend it on whiskey.”
• “How do I know you’re really out of gas and haven’t eaten in two days?  You could be lying.”
• “Did you just hit me on the cheek?!  Oh, you’ve done it now!”
• “She’s a prostitute!  She’s not gonna’ touch my feet with her tears or her perfume.”
• “I’ve got a great idea: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones!”
• “Can you believe he told me to sell all I had and give it to the poor?  I worked hard for all those things.  What the poor need to do is get a job!”

God didn’t call me to a life of protecting myself and defending my rights.  That’s not what he intends for his children.  Self-preservation is a lie of Satan.

It’s important, too, to look at those verses which precede Jesus’ words in our text (vv. 20-26).  Those who are poor will receive the kingdom of God.  The hungry will be fed, and those who weep will laugh.  But the rich and well-fed have already received their “credit” and the fruits of their labors.  In the end it’s better to have been treated like an Old Testament prophet than to have been warm and well-fed in a 3-story house with a 4-car garage.  We will be judged by our actions — and I’m guessing our response to our enemies and the poor among us is towards the top of the list.  Furthermore, I believe Jesus is, in our text, speaking to those people who have understood and taken to heart the words he’s just spoken.  Hence his opening statement, “But I tell you who hear me….”  If you understand this concept of future judgment and reward, you’d do well to put into practice this loving your enemies thing I’m about to tell you.

Other items of note:

• A Christian should treat his enemies well, honor them, and pray for them.  It seems to me some of us are good at faking the first one.  And praying for people can be easy — they’re just words, right?  But honoring your enemies… that’s a tall order.  It means putting others (whom I even dislike) before myself.
• Give to everyone who asks. I’m still working through this one.  Thoughts?
• I’ve often heard it argued we shouldn’t give to those who won’t use “our” money wisely.  But when I look at how God divvies out wealth and blessings, he doesn’t seem to use the same formula.  I know a lot of really rotten and selfish people who are blessed with material possessions, power, health, and influence.  And I also know some of the things they spend God’s money on.  If I’m to be like God in being kind to the wicked….
• It’s wise to remember I was once God’s enemy. I was once the beggar, asking him for money to eat.  I was the one who constantly robbed God — in addition to claiming that his blessings were my own, I stole his glory every chance I got.  But now I’m his child, and all he has is mine.  Can I do the same for those who are enemies, beggars, and thieves in my own life?
• Children of God should look and act like God.  I would go even further to say we always look and act like whatever we serve as God.  Our lifestyles clearly reflect our idols. If I’m right and this is the case, money is king for many of us.  And power and authority for others.  Food, sex, popular culture, Facebook, college football, and even knowledge.

God, please help us.

Next text in this series: 1 John 3:16-24.