The Gospel In Daily Life

How do we try to apply the story of the gospel to our daily lives in a way that both positively impacts our living while consistently reflecting the theology of the gospel story. We talked about that this week in the service, and discovered that God at work is a competent creator of good, when we go to work we also should seek to be as competent as possible while seeking to create good in the work site in any way possible. When it comes to parenting, we imitate God by balancing both a willingness to forgive error with the need to discipline wrongdoing. In this way we reflect a God who is both just and forgiving. Because Jesus is the bridegroom and we are the bride, the marriage relationship is a unique place where Jesus' relationship with His people is made visible. Therefore, husbands are to lovingly serve their wives as Jesus lovingly served His church. Wives are to respectfully submit to their husband's leadership just as the church respectfully submits to Jesus leadership. Finally, because God demonstrated His love both through what He did and what He said, we too are to enter our world in a way where we live and speak the gospel. In all these ways, we allow the story of the gospel to impact the way we live our daily lives.

A Different Perspective On Suffering...And Glory

Paul makes an interesting statement in Romans 8:18. Paul states, in essence, that regardless of how great our suffering may be on this planet, it is not even worthy of being compared to the surpassing greatness of the glory we will experience when we pass from this world to the next. Now, some have read these words of Paul and been bothered by the way he seeks to minimize the pain people feel in life. However, Paul may not be minimizing people's pain at all. In fact, he may be helping to see just how great the glory of heaven will be when we finally arrive. Think about it for a minute. Think of all the horrors of war, the terror felt by an abused child, the hopelessness of the homeless and the pain caused by countless millions who have died at the hands of a tyrant. These pains are real, and great. However, Paul's point is not this pain isn't real...or even great. His point is that the glory of the next world is so amazing...so grand...so exalted that it will be worth every moment of suffering we experience along the way. So, what Paul is trying to do is not minimize our pain, but maximize our vision of the glory of the world to come. This is a different perspective on pain and suffering. From this perspective, pain and suffering are designed to cause us to long for the world to come where there will be no more pain and tears. Suffering reminds us that this world is not our home, and builds within us an increasing desire for our heavenly home. I don't know about you, but I could gain a great deal of courage and strength from this kind of perspective.

Something To Boast About

Friday, January 27, 2012

Text: Romans 2:17-29

Reflection: Paul's point in this passage is not that the law, in and of itself, is worthless or meaningless. In fact, Paul will later argue quite the opposite. For while none of us earn the right to salvation by keeping the law, the law is critical because it reveals God's character, shows us how to please God in daily life, and leads us to realize what sin is. However, Paul also argues here that what matters most in the area of making a person a child of God is not keeping the law, but placing faith in Christ. The reason for this is because no person fully keeps the law at all times. Because this is true, if keeping the law were the standard to access to God's household the home would be empty. Rather, Jesus has kept the law on our behalf. In this way, God's just requirements of the law are kept while you and I gain access to the family by faith not in our keeping of the law but in Christ who kept it for us. So, there is no room for pride or boasting unless it is in boasting about the grace of our God. Now, that is something to boast about!

Kindness Over Judgment

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Text: Romans 2:1-16

Reflection: It's interesting to note that the heading for this section of scripture is God's righteous judgment. To some extent this is accurate as the passage no doubt talks about how God's judgment is accurate. But the main issue in this section is not really God's judgment of us, but rather his kindness and patience with us. (see verse 4) The whole point here is that we tend to pass judgment on others even though we ourselves have sinned in the same way as those whom we judge. Yet God, who is righteous and without sin, chooses to show kindeness and patience hoping to lead us toward confession and healing. For this reason we should think twice about judging other people. It seems to me that I have two choices when a person sins against me. First, I can judge them...and in doing so risk giving up God's patience as He is forced to also judge me. On the other hand, I can extend kindness and patience to them in the same way God has done for me. The question is will I imitate God or retaliate in anger. I'm thinking showing kindness is the way to go.

Evil In The World

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Text: Romans 1:18-32

Reflection: Sometimes its important to slow down and look closely at something so as not to misunderstand what is being done or said. That seems to be the case here in Romans 1 as Paul explains God's revealed and righteous wrath. Some time back, I read some comments about these verses suggesting that God's wrath against mankind is justified and that His direct actions against them was appropriate. While I would not disagree with the fact that God's judgments are always right, I do disagree with two wrong assumptions made by this author. First, God's wrath is not being poured out against people per se, but their wickedness. Notice that Paul is careful to say that God's wrath is not directed toward people, but toward "...the godlessness and wickedness of men..." As such, God is dealing with sinful actions rather than sinful people. Second, God does not directly do anything to these people. Notice that Paul says that God "...gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts..." In other words, God allowed men to harm themselves as they acted on their own evil desires. As such, God did not harm humanity. Human beings harmed themselves as they acted upon their own evil desires. So rather than blaming God for the evil in the world, perhaps I should look in the mirror and realize that the evil so prevalent is a result not of God's anger but my acting out my own evil desires.

A Visible Faith

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Text: Romans 1:8-17

Reflection: It's interesting to note that Paul is thankful for the Roman Christians because of how their faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. As I think of this reality, it reminds me of several things that need to be true in regards to believers. First, we need to be people of faith. To have faith is to believe without doubt. It entails an inner conviction about the facts and reality of things. So Christians are to have unwavering faith in the gospel and person of Jesus. Second, our faith needs to be visible. The Roman believers lived in such a way that word of their faith spread throughout the world. They had a reputation to be people who believed in and lived for Jesus. Finally, I need to be thankful for rather than jealous of believers who gain a good reputation. When I hear of churches that are growing because of the visible faithfulness of their people I need to be thankful and celebrate rather than become jealous and irritated. I need to allow their faith to inspire me to act so that I too gain the reputation of being a believer and a doer. So as we enter the world today, let us make it evident that we are believers in Jesus.

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2012. I have always loved a new year while at the same time disliking New Year's Eve parties. I am not seeking to be a person who dampens a party. It's just that I don't really enjoying having to stay awake until after midnight. After all, I'm an early bird...so if I stay up until midnight I will get a maximum of three hours sleep. Now, I can function fine with three hours of sleep, but would prefer to avoid it. I also don't enjoy going out in the winter and having to go out into the cold that late at night to travel roads filled with people who perhaps should not be on the road to begin with. So, I don't really like New Year's Eve parties. However, I love a new year. It reminds me of new beginnings, new possibilities, new hopes and dreams for the future. It also reminds me of a passage of scripture written by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian believers. In that letter Paul writes the following...

"...But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

When I think of these verse in connection with a new year, it reminds me to do several things. First, whatever is in the past should be left there. I should not let past failures limit future success any more than I should let past successes make me overconfident about the future. What is in the past should be treasured or learned from, and then left there. Second, I need to press forward in life to live as Christ has determined for me. I am to seek to fulfill all the God-given goals that I have for my life. Finally, I should remain focused on eternal life with Christ in the heavenly realms. In this way, I will continue to make a difference in this world until I am called to the next world. So, in this new year, let go of the past, press forward toward present goals, and keep an eternal focus at all times. If you do, what a new year it might be for you.