Discipleship

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Religion That Is Worth Something

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  James 1:26-27

We live in a world where a person’s word often means very little.  Many are surrounded on a daily basis by people who use words very carelessly.  Perhaps the language itself is filthy or the content of the words is hurtful or damaging to someone else.  In the midst of a society where we are so thoughtless with our words, these verses from James should cause us to take a serious look at our speech and how it affects our lives.

Is your religion a true relationship with Jesus Christ?  Are you actively working to keep a rein on your tongue?  Are the words that you speak wholesome and uplifting – full of encouragement and support? 

James wants us to understand that what comes out of our mouth, and our life, is a true reflection of what’s inside of us.  If you can’t keep control of your mouth with the help of the Holy Spirit, your claim as a religious person is worthless.  That can sound like a really negative and discouraging principle.  However, the rest of this passage gives us a positive side of our claim to religion showing in our life. 

Pure and faultless religion from God’s view sounds like something to be highly sought after by Christians.  By keeping a rein on our tongue, we are free to practice religion that God views as valuable.  This includes looking out for those that can’t look out for themselves.  Do you care about those who have no voice in our society?  Do you look out for the “orphans” and “widows” of our day?  Obviously, this should include those who are truly orphans or widows, but I think it goes beyond this.  There are many who are orphaned or widowed even though they may have parents or spouses living.  Do we care for them?  When we do this along with keeping ourselves from being polluted by the world, we have a religion that is worth something.  It is a true relationship with Jesus!

It is my prayer that you gaze intently into the Word of God and put it into practice.

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Stand Without Fear

I’ve been working at compiling a booklet based on articles I had written for the Deer Run newsletter from 2001 through early 2004.  I thought this would be a good forum to share some of those earlier writings of mine with a greater audience.  This is the first of those articles that I will be including in posts from time to time.

“So you must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when He judges you.  But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear at the judgment.”  James 2:13 (NCV)

I would guess that everyone would like the confidence to stand with no fear at the judgment.  James addresses this issue and lets us know that the way we treat other people affects our ability to stand without fear at the judgment. 

I believe this verse is in keeping with the context of James chapter 2.  The idea we need to think about is, “how do I treat other people, particularly those who are different than I am?”  The first part of chapter 2 talks about showing favoritism to someone because of what they appear to have.  James goes so far as to make it clear in verse 9 that to treat one person as better than another is sinning against God.

Is this you or I that James could be talking about?  How do we decide whom we will associate with?  Do we ignore some people because they don’t do things the way we want?  Do we seek out only people who agree with us all the time?  Do we determine friendships based on how rich a person may appear to be?  Do we avoid people who may appear poor?  Do we show mercy in our relationships with others?

James continues in the end of chapter 2 to show that our actions do speak louder than our words.  Who we choose associate with, and even those we choose to help, speak loudly about our willingness to show mercy and accept people as equal regardless of race, wealth, or family background.

May you be found showing mercy so that you may stand without fear at the judgment.

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Chameleons

Relevant.  What, or who, is?  What, or who, isn’t?  How do you know?  Who determines that?  Is it dependent on you?  . . . or someone else?  Does it change?  . . . or is relevance a fixed commodity, able to be defined once and for all?

Last night I had the privilege of preaching at Deer Run for our Chapel Service and in preparation, God kept drawing me to this question of relevance.  In a spiritual reality, what makes a person’s life relevant?  What makes an individual Christian, a church program, or an entire church itself, relevant and what keeps any of these from being relevant?  Is it really based on me and my particular likes, desires, and needs?  That would seem a rather selfish definition of relevant, but one that we commonly use – it’s applicable to me, so it is relevant. . . . or, it is not applicable to me, so it is not relevant.  Sound familiar?  Oh, we often go to such lengths not to sound selfish.  We wouldn’t say it’s about me and what I connect with.  No, we find someone just like us and use them to help define relevance according to what suits me, eh, I mean them.

This morning as I was reflecting on last night’s message, I began thinking about chameleons and how their nature relates to relevance.  (I know, some of you are saying, “What!  Where did that come from?”)  Please hear me out.  A chameleon becomes relevant to its surroundings by taking something neutral, skin color, and changing it to fit into a variety of settings.  There are a couple of very important things to note here:

  1. It is not a matter of choosing one color that works well in one setting and sticking with it because that is the one the chameleon likes best.  There really is no relevance in that.
  2. The changes are all superficial and do nothing to diminish the fact that the chameleon is still just that – a chameleon.  The relevance is not in changing what it is, but in changing how it is seen.

 Too often, the idea of being relevant and a “chameleon” Christian gets a bad rap because we tend to hold on to the “neutral” elements of life and compromise on the core qualities of being Christ-like – all in the name of relevance.  True relevance and “chameleon” Christianity reflects great flexibility in the non-essentials while holding fast to the very things that make a Christian Christ-like.

True relevance is found when others are brought further along in their relationship with Christ because of their encounter with you and me.  If we are living a relevant Christian life, people will be bragging about Jesus Christ and not about the things we have done or said.

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Accumulating Treasures (What’s In Your Heart?)

I moved to South Bend a little over 6 years ago and left behind a building and a barn full of treasures that I did not have room for in our new place.

The new renters of my old place wanted more space and so my parents decided to rent the building on the property to them as well.  Uh – Oh!  It is full of stuff.  My stuff.  My father-in-law’s stuff.  My parents’ stuff.  All stuff that was too valuable to throw away, but as far as my part of the stuff – stuff I hadn’t needed for over 6 years!

Clean-out time had come.  Everything had to go!  What was worth keeping?  Was anything worth keeping?  The time to decide was here.  Oh . . . did I forget to mention that I’m a pack-rat?  I guess maybe the building and barn full of stuff kind of gave that away. 😛

There were a few things that I felt I could use.  A couple very nice basketball goals . . . an old wooden desk chair . . . something else . . . and something else as well, I guess.  There must have been a few other things, at least we brought 3 van loads home.  But that was nothing compared to the truck and trailer loads that were hauled off and dumped.  Much of it was simply trash . . . waiting for the day that it would be called what it was and dealt with appropriately.  For much of it, that day had come.  There is likely stuff that was kept and saved by myself and other family members that actually fit the “trash” category, but it wasn’t identified as such yet.  Perhaps one day it’s time will come as well.

It made me think of the principles Jesus taught . . . “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  . . . “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”  Wow!  What is the treasure that fills my heart?  What does my mouth sound like because of the treasures that I am storing up.  Is it time for a continual cleaning out and an honest calling of the clutter, trash?  It is not just the garages, basements, barns, and storage buildings that fill up with worthless items.  Much worse is when we let our hearts, minds, and souls fill up with things that are worthless so that the things of the Spirit have no room.

May you and I clean “house” and give the Spirit ample room to live and work!

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Living Letters

My good friend, mentor, and fellow minister, Stan Hullah, spoke Sunday night at the Deer Run Church of Christ and challenged me to think about what my life says to others.

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablet of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”  2 Corinthians 3:3 (TNIV)

I love to write.  There are times writing is easy . . . other times I search my mind long and hard for just the right words to express what I want to say.  I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to join the “blog world”, because it seems to be the perfect fit for this love of mine . . . a creative outlet regardless of if it is read or not.  🙂  

Writing allows me to form and express my thoughts in a careful and precise manner.  It helps me to avoid the often rash, sarcastic, thoughtless words that can so easily come out of my mouth.  Not that it eliminates those . . . they can still creep onto a page if I am not diligent.  Writing helps me to evaluate what I am saying, before it is said, so that I can attempt to see how others view my words.  Writing can be saved, studied, critiqued, and evaluated to determine its worth and genuineness.  Writing has extended value . . . not here today, gone tomorrow.  Writing done well can be compelling, thought provoking, convicting, and even irresistible.  Writing can also be poor, booring, discarded, and even offensive.  It can be rude, obnoxious, crass, and downright insulting.  Writing can be misunderstood, misplaced, fragmented, and even lost in translation.

If you are a Christian, what does the “living letter” that is your life say about the Jesus you proclaim?  We know that the “writing” itself is good . . . it is written by the Spirit of the living God.  The bigger question is, “How are you doing at translating this “living letter” into the language of the culture you live and work in.  Are you living a passionate pursuit of Jesus that can be read by everyone?  Is the letter of your life fragmented and in pieces so that it is difficult for anyone to make sense of what it says?  Are you having difficulty in knowing what it says?

Stan made an excellent point in his message that being a living letter is all about faith.  “Without faith it is impossible to please God” – Hebrews 11:6.  Without faith it is impossible to be the “living letter” God wants you to be.  It requires a full surrender and complete trust that God is the one writing the letter that is your life. 

I pray that God writes His story in your life and that you live as a “living letter” that is read by everyone.