"14Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain."
It was hot, I was sweaty most of the time, the rides were long, the seats uncomfortable, and I couldn't hardly understand half of what anyone was saying - yet I woke up without fail at the crack of dawn to meet the Lord in prayer and in His Word to prepare for a joyous day of service and travel to people I didn't know and couldn't understand. And for the whole 10 days it was truly joyous. I was doing what I loved.
Fast forward to this week. It's back to the job Monday, back to the mundane, the comfortable, the busy, and the known and understood - and I can hardly crack open my eyes and slam the snooze button like a lifeline until the very minute I HAVE to get up and be to work on time. I haven't spent time with the Lord all week in His Word as I did in the foreign land. My heart is downcast and I'm complaining. In fact, just last night I was heartbroken to learn that my wife thought that I'd rather be away from her and my beloved daughter and in Honduras - this is how bad that sour attitude has been coming out.
Do I have a good excuse?
When I was in Honduras, I saw that the Lord does what He pleases, just like the Scripture says. I saw that it pleases the Lord to save people and conform them to His image. I saw that it pleases the Lord to exercise His grace in restoring one of His own who had fallen into sin. I saw that it pleases the Lord to teach His people to chew on the meat of His word and grow in holiness as they are conformed into the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus. I saw Him answer prayers to help us make the most of our time while we were there, and we completed what we came to do; He answered prayers to soften our hears, and soften the hearts of the Hondurans to receive the teaching we'd give them; He answered prayers to make us bold in sharing the Gospel, which many who had been timid did despite language barriers. In short, our Lord is not hindered by anyone or anything - just like the scripture says, He does what He pleases. What does this have to do with Philippians 2:14-16 and me complaining?
Philippians 2:14-16 commands us to do all things without grumbling or questioning (both imply a negative sense). "But my life is so busy and mundane here! I wasn't hindered there like I am here, and I did what I loved there - here I have to do what I need to do!" So? Has God somehow changed the way He operates just because I have to live life here in the USA? My Lord conforms the Hondurans - who have busy, mundane, need-to-do-this kind of lives like me - into the image of His Son amid and using all of those things to glorify Himself in all of those things - am I so arrogant to say that He is hindered by me? Certainly NOT! But isn't that exactly what I say when I walk according to my flesh and grumble, and not according to the Spirit, seeking love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to the glory of Jesus Christ?
So, do I have any excuses at all? Seems like Jesus defeats them all. So what now? I repent. If I'm to be an approved workman, my heart's desire should be to seek the will of my Master over my own. And at the end of the day, my love should be for my Master, and not just the work I do, true?
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Approved Workmen - 2 Timothy 2:15
"15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."
While we were in Lemon (Lim - ohn') doing the first two-day conference on Hermeneutics (a five dollar word that means "how to study the Bible" - that's a Mr. Paul-ism so far as I know, although he may have gotten it from Neal Creecy) we had a pastor address us on a passage in 1 Peter 3 (and it's funny: Mr. Paul and I both thought that the scripture they were in reference to was about the doctrine of election, which usually causes a great deal of controversy, and would consume more time than we had to address the issue). The passage referred to women and had a mention about the way they dressed. The pastor said, convicted by what we had taught about looking at the Bible in context, that he had been teaching this scripture wrongly, and that he had not considered the verses before and after - focusing on the outward apparel of women instead of the inward holiness, which is what the thrust of that section of the Word is really about. The man confessed openly before a group of about 20 of his peers that he had done wrong - this man showed his heart's desire to be an approved workman. I'll explain what I mean.
In 2 Timothy 2, Paul tells Timothy in verse 15 to strive to be approved in God's sight as a workman. In the verses before and after, Paul is explaining and giving examples of what an approved workman seeks and looks like - he seeks holiness, righteousness, love, and peace, and looks like a good soldier serving his enlister, an athelete striving for the goal according to the rules of the race, and a hard-working farmer who will receive his due choice of first-crops - and also what the approved worker avoids - foolish arguments that cause controversies, quarrels about words that lead hearers astray, youthful passions, and anything dishonorable. The man who openly confessed that his teaching was wrong revealed a heart more concerned with handling the Word of God properly to the honor of his Lord and Master (and we can only serve one - and it will either be the Lord Jesus or something/someone else) than protecting his own honor - he wanted to do the will of His Master. Perhaps he taught in ignorance before, but he now held himself openly accountable before God and those peers - and it's my hope and hunch that the confession he gave will be followed through with repentance, as he listened intently to Frank Monteroso explain the context of that passage.
The Lord was working there in Honduras long before we showed up, pricking the hearts of His people and getting them ready to receive good training on how to handle His Word, and I'm so thankful that He let me see that and be apart of it. He didn't need us, but He decided to use us.
So now that I'm back home, it's my desire to be an approved workman who rightly handles the Word. I don't want to be teaching in ignorance when God has provided the means and the will for me to study His word (which would honestly amount to negligence - the difference is the act of will) - I've learned a valuable skill, and now I'm accountable for it, just like that pastor realized he was. I also want to encourage you who are Lifegroup leaders/leaders-in-training (like me) to read 2 Timothy 2 and see the implications is has on us who have a heart to teach the Word of the Lord - and let us do it in love for our Lord, our brothers/sisters, and the lost (our Christian family and our Adamic family).
While we were in Lemon (Lim - ohn') doing the first two-day conference on Hermeneutics (a five dollar word that means "how to study the Bible" - that's a Mr. Paul-ism so far as I know, although he may have gotten it from Neal Creecy) we had a pastor address us on a passage in 1 Peter 3 (and it's funny: Mr. Paul and I both thought that the scripture they were in reference to was about the doctrine of election, which usually causes a great deal of controversy, and would consume more time than we had to address the issue). The passage referred to women and had a mention about the way they dressed. The pastor said, convicted by what we had taught about looking at the Bible in context, that he had been teaching this scripture wrongly, and that he had not considered the verses before and after - focusing on the outward apparel of women instead of the inward holiness, which is what the thrust of that section of the Word is really about. The man confessed openly before a group of about 20 of his peers that he had done wrong - this man showed his heart's desire to be an approved workman. I'll explain what I mean.
In 2 Timothy 2, Paul tells Timothy in verse 15 to strive to be approved in God's sight as a workman. In the verses before and after, Paul is explaining and giving examples of what an approved workman seeks and looks like - he seeks holiness, righteousness, love, and peace, and looks like a good soldier serving his enlister, an athelete striving for the goal according to the rules of the race, and a hard-working farmer who will receive his due choice of first-crops - and also what the approved worker avoids - foolish arguments that cause controversies, quarrels about words that lead hearers astray, youthful passions, and anything dishonorable. The man who openly confessed that his teaching was wrong revealed a heart more concerned with handling the Word of God properly to the honor of his Lord and Master (and we can only serve one - and it will either be the Lord Jesus or something/someone else) than protecting his own honor - he wanted to do the will of His Master. Perhaps he taught in ignorance before, but he now held himself openly accountable before God and those peers - and it's my hope and hunch that the confession he gave will be followed through with repentance, as he listened intently to Frank Monteroso explain the context of that passage.
The Lord was working there in Honduras long before we showed up, pricking the hearts of His people and getting them ready to receive good training on how to handle His Word, and I'm so thankful that He let me see that and be apart of it. He didn't need us, but He decided to use us.
So now that I'm back home, it's my desire to be an approved workman who rightly handles the Word. I don't want to be teaching in ignorance when God has provided the means and the will for me to study His word (which would honestly amount to negligence - the difference is the act of will) - I've learned a valuable skill, and now I'm accountable for it, just like that pastor realized he was. I also want to encourage you who are Lifegroup leaders/leaders-in-training (like me) to read 2 Timothy 2 and see the implications is has on us who have a heart to teach the Word of the Lord - and let us do it in love for our Lord, our brothers/sisters, and the lost (our Christian family and our Adamic family).
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Aim of Our Charge - 1 Timothy 1:5
"5The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."
It seems like the first thing that the Lord did in me when I arrived in Honduras was set my aim right.
In my first quiet time on Friday morning in La Ceiba, what convicted me was verse 5. In the context of the book, Paul is warning Timothy about certain teachers who had "swerved away" from teaching out of love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith, and had swerved to teaching on genealogies and myths; thus promoting speculation rather that stewardship. What was so convicting about this scripture was that I had done this very thing. Rather than making my aim love, my aim was information exchange, and so I became a clanging cymbal rather than an instrument of the beautiful message of the Gospel. I repented and was determined to have my aim be love from the appropriate charge, and I sought the Lord daily in light of this scripture; this set the tone for how I would serve the rest of the trip.
In Lemon, the first town we served at, I saw this scripture in action. John Edmonds, whom I have grown to love deeply in the Lord as though he was my own blood brother, had planned a sermon to preach that night to the company in the Baptist Church in Lemon. But after worship, as he got up to preach, he instead told the people that he would address them as brothers and sisters rather than a congregation to be preached at - that he would encourage them in love. He talked to them like a father and a brother, encouraging them from the book of James to resist temptation, and explained what temptation is. When it was done, I was greatly encouraged myself because I saw practically how someone looks when they speak with the aim of love from a pure heart, clean conscience, and sincere faith.
With the conviction of scripture and the physical example laid before me, my heart changed from desiring to merely exchange good information, to desiring to see those whom I shared with to be conformed to Jesus, reproved of sin, and taught the truth of the Word of God. I addressed the congregation at the Church ouside of Lemon pastored by a wonderful brother in the Lord, Modesto (whom I will write of soon), as my mothers, elders, brothers, and sisters as I expounded on Isaiah 6 and the majesty of the Lord as revealed to Isaiah. My aim was love, and although there was a bit of work to be done concerning the way I communicated (another post coming soon), that is what I delivered to them, with the help of Frank Monteroso who translated for me (and bless his heart, I gave him a time that night). The difference wasn't the information, but the aim of my heart, and that is the point of this post.
2 Timothy 2:15 tells us that we are to seek to be approved workmen who aren't ashamed and who handle the word of truth accurately. The apostle Paul said elswhere that if he knew all mysteries but lacked love, he'd be nothing more than a resounding gong, a clanging cymbal, much like I was for awhile there. If the aim of our charge is simply to convey information, the only thing we'll strike at is the mind, and while the mind DOES need to be renewed, only filling the mind will puff us up and make us arrogant. But when the aim of our charge is Godly love, given from a pure heart - made pure by the Lord, because He is the ONLY one able to purify the heart - a good conscience yeilded to Christ, and a sincere faith in the Lord, we may manage to strike at the heart by the ministry of the Spirit of God through that Word we preach. And isn't that what makes a workman approved - to seek the will of His master over his own will?
Oh, and here's a freebie: notice the series in 1 Timothy 1:5 - love from a pure heart (begins at the seat of the will), good conscience (since only God is good, a conscience that is good has been submissive to the will of God, which begins in a man's heart as the man's will is conformed to God's will), and a sincere faith (the heart, mind, and soul working in one accord, humbly submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ).
It seems like the first thing that the Lord did in me when I arrived in Honduras was set my aim right.
In my first quiet time on Friday morning in La Ceiba, what convicted me was verse 5. In the context of the book, Paul is warning Timothy about certain teachers who had "swerved away" from teaching out of love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith, and had swerved to teaching on genealogies and myths; thus promoting speculation rather that stewardship. What was so convicting about this scripture was that I had done this very thing. Rather than making my aim love, my aim was information exchange, and so I became a clanging cymbal rather than an instrument of the beautiful message of the Gospel. I repented and was determined to have my aim be love from the appropriate charge, and I sought the Lord daily in light of this scripture; this set the tone for how I would serve the rest of the trip.
In Lemon, the first town we served at, I saw this scripture in action. John Edmonds, whom I have grown to love deeply in the Lord as though he was my own blood brother, had planned a sermon to preach that night to the company in the Baptist Church in Lemon. But after worship, as he got up to preach, he instead told the people that he would address them as brothers and sisters rather than a congregation to be preached at - that he would encourage them in love. He talked to them like a father and a brother, encouraging them from the book of James to resist temptation, and explained what temptation is. When it was done, I was greatly encouraged myself because I saw practically how someone looks when they speak with the aim of love from a pure heart, clean conscience, and sincere faith.
With the conviction of scripture and the physical example laid before me, my heart changed from desiring to merely exchange good information, to desiring to see those whom I shared with to be conformed to Jesus, reproved of sin, and taught the truth of the Word of God. I addressed the congregation at the Church ouside of Lemon pastored by a wonderful brother in the Lord, Modesto (whom I will write of soon), as my mothers, elders, brothers, and sisters as I expounded on Isaiah 6 and the majesty of the Lord as revealed to Isaiah. My aim was love, and although there was a bit of work to be done concerning the way I communicated (another post coming soon), that is what I delivered to them, with the help of Frank Monteroso who translated for me (and bless his heart, I gave him a time that night). The difference wasn't the information, but the aim of my heart, and that is the point of this post.
2 Timothy 2:15 tells us that we are to seek to be approved workmen who aren't ashamed and who handle the word of truth accurately. The apostle Paul said elswhere that if he knew all mysteries but lacked love, he'd be nothing more than a resounding gong, a clanging cymbal, much like I was for awhile there. If the aim of our charge is simply to convey information, the only thing we'll strike at is the mind, and while the mind DOES need to be renewed, only filling the mind will puff us up and make us arrogant. But when the aim of our charge is Godly love, given from a pure heart - made pure by the Lord, because He is the ONLY one able to purify the heart - a good conscience yeilded to Christ, and a sincere faith in the Lord, we may manage to strike at the heart by the ministry of the Spirit of God through that Word we preach. And isn't that what makes a workman approved - to seek the will of His master over his own will?
Oh, and here's a freebie: notice the series in 1 Timothy 1:5 - love from a pure heart (begins at the seat of the will), good conscience (since only God is good, a conscience that is good has been submissive to the will of God, which begins in a man's heart as the man's will is conformed to God's will), and a sincere faith (the heart, mind, and soul working in one accord, humbly submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ).
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