I stumbled across an interesting thought about spring as I read about King David. 2 Samuel 11:1 which is the passage where we read about him failing miserably as he takes Bathsheba as his wife, kills her husband. The passage says “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle…” Actually, if you look through scripture, this comes up often, this idea that springtime is a time for war pops up all throughout the time of the kings. As I’ve been pondering spring in a spiritual light, this thought brings new light to my feelings about springtime.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about spring and how we long for it at this time of year, because it brings with it a newness of life. I’ve thought about how around this time of year, I often find myself longing for a newness of spiritual life, this feeling that my spiritual days have been feeling short and that there is this lengthening of time to spend with the Lord around the corner. Spring is so often when we begin to make plans for new ventures or adventures. We look ahead to the rest of the year and incorporate changes that will set us up for success in the forthcoming time. When we see the Spring as the jumping-off point for the things ahead there is almost an urgency connected to Spring. When we connect these realities to the spiritual lives we desire, we must inevitably uncover the same sense of urgency. This is my reality. My wife needs me to be in love with God, my children need me to be in love with God, and my church needs me to be in love with God. Otherwise, I have robbed them of a picture of a life worth living.
Enter wartime scenario. This idea that springtime equals wartime, transfers into our spiritual lives. There is indeed a war for our affections and the enemy wants us to forget our true love, and it only makes sense that at this time of spiritual awakening of sorts that he would wage war.
I wonder if it is only me who sees or feels this, am I making up a spiritual battle that doesn’t exist? Or is there something to this idea of spiritual seasons, I know that when David did not prepare himself for battle and stayed home, he fell into sin, and for that very reason we must gird ourselves with the armour of God and prepare for the battle of a lifetime.
These are the words that God said to Moses when Moses protested to being sent back to Egypt as the messenger for God’s liberation project for the Hebrew people. “What is that in your hand?” When God asks questions in the Bible, it is important that we pay attention because God is never asking a question out of a lack of knowledge. The questions God asks in Scripture are asked so that the person who is being asked can come to a realization, either about God, or about themselves. “What is that in your hand” is not a quiz, but rather an invitation to a deeper understanding.
So what was in Moses’ hand? Moses was holding a staff. There would seem to be very little significance to Moses holding a staff as he was, as the text tells us, shepherding the flock of his father in law Jethro. A staff is the tool of a shepherd, so there really is nothing special about it, but Moses was never supposed to be holding it in the first place. Moses isn’t supposed to be in Midian, he is supposed to be in Egypt with his people. But Moses had to flee Egypt because he had messed up. Moses was upset about the injustices that his people were experiencing at the hands of the Egyptians, which is a good thing to be upset with, but he took matters into his own hands. Moses decided in that moment, that if anything was going to get better, he was going to need to do something. So in an act of dependance on his own capabilities, he killed an Egyptian and then he got scared and fled to Midian. Both of these actions demonstrated a lack of faith in God. Moses knows that he comes from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and he knows that God has proven Himself faithful to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he even knows that he is in Egypt because of God’s faithfulness and provision to preserve a family, why would he believe that God would all of a sudden stop being faithful? Sometimes we allow our circumstances to influence what we know about God instead of allowing what we know about God to inform our circumstances.
So Moses is wandering the wilderness of Midian shepherding a flock with a staff in his hand and he is met by God and in that encounter, God asks “What is that in your hand?” What it is in Moses’ hand is more than just a staff, it is a reminder of his failure. Moses is carrying with him a daily physical reminder of his own failure. But God has a plan and he has Moses throw the staff down on the ground and it becomes a serpent which God instructs him to pick up by the tail – this goes against all conventional wisdom by the way. God is saying to Moses in this instance that the very thing that is a reminder of his failure is going to be the instrument that He uses to bring about redemption.
Failure? Yeah, that’s going to happen every single time you take matters into your own hands, every time you think that you need to fix the situation you find yourself in. But God is not phased by your failures, He wants to redeem them. Major Ian Thomas who founded Capernwray England and Torchbearers International was a Major in the British army during World War II. During the war he was leading a charge and in raising his finger to do so, his finger tip was shot off. In recalling the incident, he would say that when he tried to take charge, God shot his finger off. The reminder to wait on and depend on the Lord remained with him!
What is that in your hand? What failure are you carrying around with you every day? What are you holding onto, that the Lord wants to redeem? Will you throw it on the ground and watch the Lord do something unconventional and miraculous with it?
After Moses’ encounter with the Lord, he goes to his father in law and asks permission to go back to Egypt, and when he goes, the text says that he took his wife and his sons and he also took the staff of God in his hand. The staff was no longer a reminder of his failure, it was now the staff of God. If you are familiar with the Exodus narrative, you will know that the staff of God plays prominently throughout the journey of redemption.
Will you allow God to transform your failures into His staff as he leads you and those around you deeper into His story of redemption?
In John chapter 21 Jesus has this encounter with Peter on the beach where He asks, “do you love me?” three times. As I’ve contemplated the passage It is Jesus’ first asking of the question that really sticks out to me. “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” There is all kinds of nuance in the conversation between Peter and Jesus as the original Greek words that they are each using are different from each other and mean different things, but this question “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” is what really got me.
More than what?
What is Jesus asking Peter to love him more than? Is it the other disciples? There are a bunch of fish on the beach as well, does Jesus want Peter to love Him more than the fish?
As I think about these two options I’ve come to believe that Jesus might indeed be asking Peter to love Him more than he loves the other disciples, but also more than he loves the fish.
The disciples were Peter’s family, the very people closest to him, the people he had come to love, enough to fight to the death for, we see this as he slices off an ear to protect Jesus. But he also came to love the fish, the way of life the only way to see his needs met. Peter relied on his job as a fisherman to make his way, funny thing is we never read of him ever catching any fish without the help of Jesus.
Jesus comes along and shakes up his world asking “do you love me more than these”
Do you love me enough to trust me to protect you and provide for you?
Do you love me enough to trust me with the lives of those closest to you?
Do you love me enough to truly follow me? Knowing that doing so does not put you or your loved ones in any danger, but rather allows you to live free in the assurance that you are loved and cared for beyond measure.
Do you love Jesus more than these?
What these? that’s for you to prayerfully consider.
So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. Acts 17:22-23
I was on a Zoom call the other day – actually, I’ve been on a zoom call pretty much every day for the past month, and sometimes more than once a day – and I was struck by the incredible opportunity that we have been given at this time as believers, as those who have been called to join in Christ’s work of reconciling the world to Himself. One of the participants on my zoom call was sharing about how he and his family have been gathering on Zoom on a regular basis. They’ve been using this as an opportunity to have family gatherings, and in doing so they are actually getting to spend time with each other that they may have actually been too busy to have, just a few months ago. As he was sharing about these family gatherings, he mentioned that in the past, many of his family members had been pretty closed to hearing about Jesus, and even his work in ministry, almost as though they were happy to chat as long as he checked that “Jesus stuff” at the door. But times have changed, and in this new reality of virtual family gatherings, everybody gets an opportunity to share and everybody’s current experience is valued. He reported that some of these family members are now actually excited to hear the ways that, through ministry opportunities, he is getting the opportunity to serve those in his community and care for those around him. He is witnessing a softening stance toward the “Jesus stuff”.
This isn’t just happening on Zoom calls, but I am seeing this on the comment sections of social media posts, and the chats of online worship gatherings. I have also seen this softening as we have had people ask us for prayer who would have never been open to the idea in the past, and we’ve seen opportunities to share Christ with some friends who’ve generally not been interested. We are actually just sharing about what life looks like right now, but Jesus is so central to that, that He quickly becomes the subject.
In thinking about this, I was reminded of Paul’s experience in Athens and how I believe that he demonstrated the most important distinctive in evangelism in the way that he observed. It has become my understanding, and I think the understanding of all who receive Christ, that the answer to everybody’s questions is Jesus, but knowing the answer is not the problem.
In Douglas Adams’ comedic novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” a group of pan-dimensional beings (mice) build a supercomputer named Deep Thought in order to learn the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything”. After computing for 7.5 million years the computer arrives at the conclusion that the answer is 42, but that the answer is pointless without knowing the question.
Much like the number 42 in Adams’ book, Jesus is the answer to everyone’s question, but knowing that, and even sharing that with them, is of little use if we don’t actually know the question that they are asking, and each person has a specific and unique question that begs to be answered.
This is where we see Paul giving us a model for evangelism that is so important, especially in times like these. Paul, earlier in Acts 17 is walking around Athens doing some people watching, verse 16 says “his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.” (emphasis added) Paul was observing the people and the city as he was walking around, he was uncovering the question that these people were asking which we see later is embodied in the alter that they had built to an “unknown god”, he then says to them “Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” and he goes on to share the message of the Resurrected Christ with them.
So how is this pertinent to this season that we find ourselves in? As we have been forced to slow down, we are being given the opportunity to connect in ways that we haven’t had before. Maybe you’re having online family gatherings like my friend from my Zoom call last week, maybe you’ve just noticed that your friend from high school is online more, posting more on social media these days, showing a vulnerable side that has been under wraps until now. I’ve had people that I haven’t spoken to in a while checking in on me and vice versa, the Lord has been putting others on my heart who I haven’t talked to in a while and I’ve had opportunities to chat and catch up.
What a glorious opportunity for evangelism we’ve been given! But I dare say that if we simply run in with Jesus as the answer without fully comprehending the question that is being asked, Jesus will seem just as irrelevant as the number 42. So as we’ve been given this opportunity to slow down, we need to slow down in our conversations too. We need to be listening intently, looking to understand the hearts of those who we love and want to introduce to Jesus, we need to hear their hurts, their fears, their uncertainties and ask the Holy Spirit to give us an understanding that is able to tie the question to the answer.
I pray that we would be people who are marked by our quickness to listen. Especially at times like these when life seems to be slower, at least for the moment, and people are taking the opportunity to talk a little more candidly and openly. As we do so, we will gain a clearer understanding of what questions are being asked and just how Jesus is the answer to those questions.
*Digression notice Shortly after I read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I was reading through the Gospel of Matthew and in the genealogy of Jesus I noticed that Matthew divides the genealogy into three sections and at the end of each section he says fourteen generations. He ends the whole section in verse 17 with
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.”
Now I’m no math whiz but 14+14+14 equals 42!
So without even knowing it, Douglas Adams essentially wrote that Jesus is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything! (he’s gone on the record as saying that it was simply a number that popped into his head, no hidden agenda, although there are a number ridiculous of fan theories that have been floated)
With the early end to our Winter Bible School year, we’ve been presented with a unique opportunity to continue to meet as a community using some of the online tools that are available to us. One of the things that we’ve been able to do this week is to have our students present their study project presentations. During this study project, our students have been looking at some of the names that are used for God throughout the Scriptures and presenting on a specific name, drawing conclusions about what each name communicates about God’s character and what principles and application can be drawn from that.
Today, during the presentations, one of the students who was presenting on the name Adoni asked the following question “Are you living as though Jesus is Lord of your life?” Immediately, this question hit home.
Are you living as though Jesus is Lord of your life?
This is quite possibly the most important question we can ask as followers of Jesus, and maybe even more so at a time like this.
I often self evaluate this question by looking at my daily life, was I patient with the students or with fellow staff? Did I get frustrated when the driver in front of me cut me off? How did I react when the person in front of me in line at the grocery store had 25 items in the 8 items or less line? As I evaluate my actions and reactions in these situations, I ask myself if Jesus could be seen as Lord. This is a good exercise, and I think that there is value in regularly engaging in this type of evaluation, but I think that right now, when all of the outside interaction is stripped away, when there is no traffic to deal with or strangers to interact with, right now when my relationship with Christ is stripped down to Him and I, am I living as though Jesus is Lord of my life?
And what does that look like?
It is now that the personal nature of my faith is so important. It is now that the Lord is making it clear to me that there are many areas of my life that still require surrender, that I have allowed him to deal with the justification and glorification components of my faith, but He wants me to allow Him to get into the nitty-gritty work of sanctification.
I’ve shared the analogy before of when we have guests come over we like to make the house look presentable, and in doing so, sometimes we end up throwing a pile of stuff into our bedroom and closing the door (you do it too, don’t judge me!). We do this because we know that when our guests come over, not one of them will go down the hall and open the bedroom door exclaiming “wow, what a mess you’ve got here”. The thing with Jesus is that He does do that! He comes in and goes straight for the mess and says “hey, we’ve got quite the mess on our hands here, let’s get to cleaning it up together”
I believe that during this time of self-isolation and social distancing, we’ve actually been given a wonderful opportunity to dig into our relationship with the Lord. The prophet Isaiah found himself alone in the presence of the Lord and his response was “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5) it was in that moment that the Lord met him in the sanctifying work as the angel touched his lips with the burning coal saying “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” (Isaiah 6:7) What is so cool about this sanctifying work is that after it takes place, Isaiah is then commissioned for the work of the Lord. It is only in the difficult and souls searching, sanctifying work of the Lord in our lives that we can truly be prepared for the work that He sets before us, and the two can actually not be separated. Our faith is not just for ourselves, we are not called to solitude and seclusion from the world in order that we would be kept unstained by its uncleanliness, nor are we to fill our time with acts of service, “evangelizing”, keeping busy, and forming initiative after initiative, as that will only tire us out if it is not prompted by the leading of His Spirit.
So during this time, I need to ask the Lord daily “what do I need to surrender to you?”
As someone who teaches the Bible and looks to point others to Christ, I am thankful for the reminder that if I am not growing spiritually, if I am not engaging the Lord in His work of making me holy, If I am not honestly asking myself “Are you living as though Jesus is Lord of your life?” then I have nothing to share. I believe that if we as the Church ask this question collectively, on a personal level, we will be led by Him into the world joining in His reconciling work and we will see Him do great things through us.
Are you living as though Jesus is Lord of your life?
Every year at Christmas, as we get ready to decorate our tree, our children discuss among themselves and inquire of us who’s turn it is to put the star on top of the tree this year. This is no small matter in their minds as it serves as the official welcoming in of the Christmas season – Christmas can come now, we are ready! When it is our youngest’s turn, he will ask repeatedly throughout the decorating process, “Can I put the star on now?” or “When will it be time to put the star on?” The answer that he will surely have to endure a number of times is “not yet.” As we continue to decorate, he is inevitably preoccupied with the star and finally getting the opportunity to put it in its place.
As Advent begins, I am reminded that it seems to be a season of “not yet” that we are called to step into as we think on the foretelling and waiting for the birth of Christ.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ Jeremiah 33:14-16
This was one of the promises given to Israel about the coming Messiah, but there was a time of waiting that needed to occur before it’s fulfilment, in fact, they, as a people, needed to be taken into exile and then return to Jerusalem before this would happen. Imagine being given a promise and having to go through a time of great struggle and difficulty before seeing that promise come to fruition.
Just like Israel, we have been given a promise that requires a period of waiting and struggle before the promise is fulfilled. As we read the Scriptures, we are shown that Jesus, who was crucified, has resurrected and ascended to the Father, will return and bring all of creation into His order with a new earth and new Heaven. As believers, we look longingly toward the fulfillment of this promise, but often find ourselves, just like my youngest child wanting to place the star on the tree, asking “is it time yet?”
As my son asks over and over whether it is time to put the star on the tree, he is missing out on the enjoyment of placing the other decorations on the tree. As we decorate, we are working together as a family, we are strategizing what will look best on the tree and where. Each decoration offers a number of memories and emotions, reminding Michelle and I what life was like in Christmas past when a certain ornament was purchased, what we were looking forward to then, and what we are looking forward to now. As we decorate, we find ourselves enjoying each other’s company and the process of seeing it all come together, but as my son’s patience grows thin, he runs the risk of missing out on the fun we are having. “When?” he asks.
Just before this passage of promise, we read that God calls the Israelites, through Jeremiah, to live life fully even as they find themselves in exile.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:4-7
We need to listen to these words as our calling here as we live our lives in Christ. He has called us to not only live in expectation of the promise of His return but to live the life abundant until that day, not simply complaining that life is tough and wishing Jesus would return soon, (although we do long for that day) but living each day, stepping into what He places before us, knowing that what He has called us to, He will equip us for. In doing so, we are not distracted by the waiting for the promise, but rather we find ourselves blessed by the life that He gives. Further to that, we find ourselves taking that blessing to the world around us as the salt and light that He has called us to be. As Jesus calls us to be salt and light to the world around us, it is no different than this call on the lives of those who were exiled, as we ourselves are sojourners and exiles in this world. (1Peter2:11)
So as Advent reminds us of the “not yet” of the days to come, both as a reflection on the time leading up to Christ’s birth as well as the promise of His return, may we also be reminded that in order to not miss out on all that He has for us, we are to wait actively by joining Him in the work of reconciling the world to Himself. In that, we are not only asking that His Kingdom come, but we are actively seeking His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven by being the salt and light of the world.
How are you being challenged to enter fully into what He has for you this Christmas season?
Someone once said that “life, at it’s best is unpredictable.” As a follower of Christ, I think that this quote can be better expressed as “Life is at it’s best when it is unpredictable.” Jesus Himself put this truth on display in His life.
As we read the Gospels we regularly come across situations where we think we may know what Jesus is about to do, and low and behold, he surprises us by acting completely contrary to what we expect. In John 8 He is presented with a woman caught in sin and His response is “I do not condemn you”, He heals a blind man by using His saliva, and in the most unpredictable act known to humanity, he overthrows His greatest enemy by dying on a cross. If one thing is clear as we read the Gospels, it is that the work of Christ is not subject to situational perfection or checklists.
In John 4 Jesus acts somewhat unpredictably by having a conversation with a Samaritan woman in the middle of the day. During that conversation, she questions Him about the “right way” to worship.
“The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
The woman was very caught up on the conversation of the day, it was an ongoing debate between Samaritans and Jews around where and how to properly worship God. If you boil down the argument, it’s the basic question is “what box does God fit in?”
We can read this passage and very quickly identify where this woman has missed the mark. It’s easy for us to see that she is operating out of a false understanding of God. But do we as easily identify these things in ourselves? In what ways do you and I assume that God works? What does your checklist look like?
We are entering into a season of recalibrating to schedules and routines as Fall kicks into full swing and students of all ages and teachers go back to school, and we know that these routines serve a purpose. The same is true in our spiritual lives as we uncover routines and practices in our lives that help us get close to God and to hear Him as He leads and instructs us. These routines are important as they help to structure our days around our relationship with God and although they become tools in meeting with Him, we must remember that He is so much bigger than our routines and He is not interested in being confined by our ideas of how we will meet with Him.
I distinctly remember taking our students on a trip to Rimouski one year where we all slept in a church building for the week. During our orientation, I asked the students not to leave the building without another person, preferably someone with a phone in case of an emergency. One of the students pulled me aside and asked if she could be exempt from this guideline as it was important for her to run in the morning “that’s how I meet with God” she said, and she explained that a running partner was not an option as that would “defeat the purpose”. After a lengthy discussion, my challenge to her was “Is God capable of meeting you in a different way this week?” She understood what I was getting at but she wasn’t particularly pleased with my decision. Later that week we were having supper at the pastor’s house who’s backyard is the mouth of the St. Lawrence River where the tide rises and falls quite significantly. When we were at his house, the tide was out and the sun was setting beautifully in the distance All of us took time to explore, hopping from rock to rock and uncovering multiple treasures along the shore. This student later pulled me aside grinning from ear to ear as she told me how she had just met wonderfully with God as He was speaking to her through the beauty and majesty of His creation! She was experiencing a truth that she had already heard many times at Bible School but had not quite internalized – The problem is never that God is not speaking, but rather that we aren’t listening. And we do this when we set up our systems and checkboxes.
Do we expect God to show up when we’ve fulfilled the required steps? Attend the right church, say the right prayers, assume the proper physical posture? Likewise, do we assume that He won’t show up in a certain situation because we’ve never seen Him work that way before? What are the limitations that we place on God all because we have certain expectations of how He works? And when we limit God this way, aren’t we just like the woman at the well?
Henri Nouwen said “The real enemies of our life are the ‘oughts’ and the ‘ifs.’ They pull us backward into the unalterable past and forward into the unpredictable future. But real life takes place in the here and now.”
How can you be encouraged to step into the unpredictability that a life in Christ offers? It is in that unpredictability that we find the fullness of living a life that is truly led by Christ who is Himself led by the Father.
I recently read a blog post that reminded me of some very important things that I’ve written. The post speaks about the importance of having a personal mission statement and I agree with it what he speaks of wholeheartedly, although I have often forgotten that I do, that is, I don’t remind myself enough that this mission statement is more than a piece of paper that is stuck to the whiteboard in my office, it is actually my MISSION, should I choose to accept it. That’s the kicker, right there, I need to choose to step into this mission statement on an ongoing basis. Although I’m the one who has written this statement, If I truly believe it to be my mission, I must operate as though the only way I could actually pen such a thing, is by the inspiration of the One who gives me my mission.
This is my personal mission statement:
As a result of God’s call on my life and that of my family it is my desire to serve Him with my life through my role at Capernwray Quebec by seeking to be continually led by the Holy Spirit as to how I can speak into the lives of and serve the student body, conferencing guests, staff, and my family.The gifts and talents that the Lord has given me for this ministry are of no use if they are not accompanied by love, so I will daily seek His heart for those who I serve. Through complete dependance on Him, I am confident that the Lord will use me in ways far beyond those that I could ever imagine.
I like my mission statement, I feel as though it accurately identifies the specifics of my calling within the truths that make up my general call as a believer. Reflecting on my mission statement caused me to then think about another statement that I’ve written, which is my personal statement of philosophy of ministry which is as follows:
The ministry of the church (worldwide community of Followers of Christ) is twofold; the church exists to reconcile the lost with God and to foster a maturing journey for those who have been reconciled with God.
Reconciliation of the lost occurs when God, through His Holy Spirit brings about conviction of sin in a person’s heart and they recognize their own inability to live a life that is pleasing to God apart from His indwelling.
Maturing occurs in the life of the reconciled, when they exhibit a life that depends on Christ for sufficiency, and demonstrate His character in their daily living, and desire to be and bring Christ to those who are lost.
Ministry among a community of believers is a privilege that is offered to all who are willing to identify a need in the community and recognize the ways that God has equipped them to bring Him into that place of need.Ministry is not a role reserved for the elite or educated, but rather the willing and called.
The leaders of a community are commissioned to the task of identifying the needs of the community and pairing those needs with those who are best equipped by God meet the identified need.
The appropriate person for the ministry task may not always be willing, (see Moses, Jonah) or seem like the logical fit, (see Matthew, Paul) but it is the role of the leader to bring people to a place that they may never go on their own.
At various stages throughout our walk as redeemed believers we will find ourselves among those who are being led and those who are leading, it is our responsibility to see the personal application as it pertains to our own lives in each situation.
Why do I feel the need to look at this personal statement of philosophy of ministry while thinking about mission statements?
I believe that the mission statement is an incredibly important statement, but I don’t know that I could have properly reflected on or crafted it without first identifying what I believe mission or ministry to be. Crafting a personal statement of philosophy of ministry helps to narrow down what it looks like to be about what the Lord would have of you as a believer, so that you can then focus in on the specifics, looking at how He’s equipped you and called you in the context of where you are.
Having a keen sense of the call of all believers as it pertains to mission, helps to uncover the specifics of your personal call.
I’m really just thinking out loud as I’ve been encouraged by going back and looking at these statements, my prayer is that they will continue to be shaped and formed as I seek Him for clarity in all things and that I will continue to reflect on and look to these statements as guideposts as I stumble along in this journey of mission wherever I may be.
Psalm 23 is among one of the more well known psalms in the Bible, we see it on hallmark cards, we hear it sung in popular songs and it’s often recited at funerals. As is often the case with well known or often quoted passages of Scripture, we risk glossing over them, or deciding before we dig in, what the passage has to say to us based on what we already know about it. Familiarity can, in such cases, breed nonchalance. I was recently reminded in a sermon of the joy that is to be had when hearing something for the very first time. When I was younger, music was something to be devoured one whole album at a time, I would get an album and I would go sit in my room and I would listen from start to finish and if the album was good, I would do it all over again, and again, and again. I remember listening to John Melloncamp’s Lonesome Jubilee for the first time and placing myself into the small-town American scenes that he created or listening to Pearl Jam’s Ten and realizing that emotions were meant to be expressed. Music has a way of conjuring up feelings and emotions, and when we hear a song we are immediately transported to another time and we are reminded of the lessons that we’ve learned and still need to learn.
The psalms were written for the very same purpose, yet for some reason, we (or at least I) have allowed them to become stagnant, to become muted, to lose their voice. We decide with the first words of a familiar psalm, exactly what we think it means and we assure ourselves that we’ve already learned that.
The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.
In reading Psalm 23 recently I was struck by the Phrase “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”.
What does it mean that the Lord prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies?
I have a couple of thoughts about what it means.
Naturally the idea of the Lord preparing a feast leads to thoughts of His providence. The Lord provides. You don’t need to search too far to see that the Bible is full of instances of God’s providence, in Genesis 3 He provides garments to cover the shame of sin, throughout the book of psalms we see and hear the psalmist speak of God’s provision, Malachi encourages worshippers to bring their whole tithe and allow the Lord to meet their needs in abundance, and in Matthew we hear Jesus himself tell us that we should not worry about what we have or don’t have and that if we ever are worried we need only look at how He provides for the birds to understand His desire to provide for us. So when we read these words in psalm 23 it is not a stretch to say that this passage is speaking of providence.
But what do we make of the part that says “in the presence of enemies?
In my flesh, I’m tempted to read that as a way to spite my enemies, an opportunity to gloat and flaunt the ways that God is for me and against them. “your opposition means nothing because God is for me!” Although there is actually some truth to that in that we are not to become overwhelmed with the opposition that we face, we are reminded throughout Jesus’ ministry that we will be opposed, even hated for our faith. We are also reminded throughout Jesus’ ministry that the heart of Christ compels us to see such opposition as a call to action rather than an opportunity to rejoice over our enemies.
As Christians, our abundance comes with a responsibility of hospitality. We rest in the provision of the Lord and as freely as we have received, we are called to give. Jesus began this paradigm shift during His time of ministry as he regularly sat with and invited the sinner and unclean to His table. He goes even further than that as He opens the table of communion to US while, as Romans puts it, we were still enemies (Rom5:10) So if, Jesus invites His enemies to the feast, what are we to do with the banquet table that He prepares for us in the presence of our enemies?
The Lord’s provision in our lives, both physical and spiritual is an invitation to hospitality. Hospitality to those who we can’t even imagine showing hospitality to. When Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, He is calling us to not just be pleasant to them, not just get along with them, He is calling us to share unreservedly the love and abundant Life that He gives to us, but not only that, to actively seek that they would have that for themselves as well, and rest in His call to do so as a promise that He will equip us to do it.
Dare I pray that He would prepare for me a table in the presence of my enemies with such a call to action?
Those are some pretty powerful words. I’ve witnessed those words shutting down an argument just as quickly as it arose, I’ve also witnessed those words being challenged with an attitude of “we’ll see about that” followed by an investigative interrogation comprised of “Daddy, did you say…?”
When we are questioned on our authority in a given situation, we often find the need to hold up the authority of another as a justification, and having the the highest authority possible in a given situation gives us assurance that what we are saying is in fact true.
Paul begins his letter to the churches in Galatia with some very important words in establishing who is in fact speaking and why these words are important. “Paul, an Apostle – not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead – and all the brothers who are with me.”
Paul is about to bring some difficult words to a group of people who have been receiving some conflicting messages and the only way he can do so with any authority in an already confusing conversation is by the authority that has been given to him by God. The people giving the Galatians mixed messages are self appointed, they’ve developed a system of deciding how things should be and who fits in where, and in doing so, they’ve placed themselves in charge.
I guess practically speaking this is where I find a tension. Living a life that is truly connected to the Father will undoubtedly lead me to speaking into the lives of others. In fact, my role as the Dean of Students at a Bible School requires that I am prepared to do so at any given time. I believe that I am here as a result of God’s call on my family and His leading us here, so I can, in my role say “Jay, an Apostle – not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father…” But I am also a deeply flawed human being capable of twisting reality so that all things lead to my very own selfish ambition and personal betterment, which makes me entirely capable of placing myself in charge, or trumpeting my own authority.
To my knowledge, I am inclined to live as the former not the latter, but I’d be a fool to ignore that capacity, so how do you ensure that you walk in a manner worthy of your calling? (Eph 4:1)
Daddy said so.
It’s only in a firmly rooted understanding of the knowledge that I’ve been commissioned by my father in heaven that I can operate with any assurance.
Daddy said so can go one of two ways though; I can choose to use the assurance of calling as a blanket of permission to behave how I choose, or I can look to that call as formative and walk in the the identity that it shapes.
Foolish To The Wise 