I Don't Want To Be The Rich Man

In my quiet time today I read Luke 16. While I didn't connect with the first part of the chapter, v.16-31 spoke to me in a whole different way today. It is the parable of Lazarus and the rich man:

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in e purple and fine linen and f who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate g was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with h what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by i the angels j to Abraham's side. [2] The rich man also died and was buried,23 and in k Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and l saw Abraham far off and Lazarus j at his side. 24 And he called out, m ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and n cool my tongue, for o I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that p you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers [3]—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have q Moses and the Prophets; r let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, s father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear q Moses and the Prophets, t neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (ESV)

What made me think today is not of being the rich man in terms of money but in how it can be easy to become hard hearted to those around us while spiritually indulging in Christian music, various Bible translations, and attending church while there are those who are spiritually poor living or working in "at our gates" The difficult part is that we take little or no notice of them. We are tempted to pass judgement on them in our minds because of their lifestyle or actions when we should be heavy hearted because they don't live a life connected to Christ.

I don't want to be the rich man living my life ignoring the spiritual or physical needs of those around me. Even if it is nothing more than showing kindness and praying for them on a regular basis. Maybe God will open the door so that I can simply say "I believe God places people in our paths that we can pray for, is there anything you would like me to pray about?

Life Lessons

Again time has slipped by as I intend to write more than I have recently. I like to attribute this to the fact that my mental fucntions are greatly reduced by the time I am home from work however I am sure some would argue about the existence of my mental functions in the first place.

The last two years have been really tough on our family. I would have to say it has been the roughest period that we have gone through in our 18 years of marriage. It is not our marriage itself, that is stronger than ever but the loss of a ministry position and the cancer fight my mother-in law is battling has put us in a position of complete vulnerability where we have had no choice but to rely on God. I think the most difficult thing for me is the unknowns and lets face it, when you are in a position of only being able to trust God it can be a big unknown. Walking by faith not by sight takes the control out of our hands and places it with the Creator and that is never fun or easy. Between my wife and I we like to know and be in control it feels safe and more secure. Jesus exemplifies this when he appeals to the his father while praying in the garden. He asks that if it be possible that this cup may be removed from him yet he is firm in is trust, yielding to God's will and not his own.

Personally, the hardest part about God's will is when you are not sure what the next step of the journey will be. We have gone through phases where we accepted the idea of moving to take a ministry only to have the door shut. Then coming full circle to not being sure we are supposed to move from Crawfordsville or not. Sometimes trusting in him and seeking only his will is not a matter of a revelation of his will but a series of roadblocks that or merely there to re-direct us on the journey. It is not an easy journey when you are in a two year lesson on learning to trust.

Jesus In The Flesh

We have finished up all the holidays and put the decorations away.  As I have thought back to December and the accounts of the birth of Jesus, one of the things that keeps coming back to my mind is the idea of God in the flesh.  I think a lot of people kind of gloss over the human part of Jesus as if he was some kind of super-human.  He was God and he did have the spirit dwelling in him but he also felt the same human things we feel.  It makes me wonder if he struggled with confidence like I do.  I know he felt hunger the same as I would if I fasted in the wilderness for 40 days.  It just seems as if we glorify the human side of Jesus to be less human... almost more of a superman who can leap buildings with a single bound.  Luke notes after Jesus was tempted Satan left him until an opportune time.  Just like us, Jesus was tempted at other times even though they are not necessarily recorded.   It makes me think that Jesus felt many of the same things that I do.

The Slippery Slope to Liberalism

I have started a new book called Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna.  It is a look at many of the traditions that today's church upholds and the history of how they came to be.  Many of them have come from non-christian or non-biblical backgrounds.  Today I remembered a remark that was told to me in a previous ministry when we felt the need to remove the pulpit and move the communion table to alleviate congestion on the stage.  I was told that we were heading down the slippery slope to liberalism by moving these two "religious icons".  The ironic thing is that neither item appears in the New Testament and they were not fixtures in the in the first century church.  Communion tables are derivatives from the alter that was put in place around the fourth century when Christianity became the official religion of Rome.  John Calvin took the alter and made it a communion table in the mid 1500's.  He is also the one that instituted the concept of serving communion to the people as they were seated in the pews.  It strikes me as funny that I would be considered liberal and yet moving the pulpit and communion table really made us a little closer to the first century church.  Wouldn't that make me more conservative?

Looking to Jesus

Perhaps it is due to the "holiday" season or just where my brain matter happens to be focused these last few days but I have decided to take a look at the life of Christ again.  One of the thoughts that has spurred this is the idea of becoming a better Jesus follower and I can't think of a better way to do it than to take a closer look at who Jesus was when he walked this earth in flesh and blood. (I think that was a pretty good run on sentence but it is my blog so I can do that!) :)

From the get go in chapter two there is the image of the "king of the Jews" being called the shepherd of his people.  The imagery depicts the king, the highest and most powerful person in the land in the role of the lowest profession, a shepherd.  As I think about the prophetic verses in Matthew 2 quoted from Micah 5 "for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."  The implications of this is a kind and gentle person who cares for and looks after those he is entrusted to.  There is a toughness that lies underneath as one who protects his own when danger approaches.

How does this apply to me?  To be kind and gentle to those I come in contact with.  To protect, teach, and at times correct those who are entrusted to me whether my family or those I minister to.  Sometimes this is easy and other times it is much more difficult.   I think this shepherd concept of Jesus is really  summed up in the fruits of the spirit particularly love, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control.   

Lessons Learned

I found this blog post by Chris Bell, pastor at Woolridge Road Church.  I wish that more leaders and pastors would follow this advice.  It would save a lot of time and energy not to mention massive amounts of discouragements.  Here are some lessons Chris has learned as a lead pastor.

1. Don’t assume the few numb skulls who are unreasonably giving you grief represent the masses… they don’t!  People who are negative, critical, or attacking always act and talk like they represent the majority… they don’t… or you would be hearing from the majority.  Most of the silent masses gets your vision and are headed that way.  Don’t give unearned weight and credit to the numb skulls!

2. Remember God called YOU - specifically - to where you are for this season.  He didn’t call them to pastor your church.  Make mistakes, own up to them, and move on… and don’t let anyone make you focus all your time, energy, or emotions on their agenda.  Even the worst pastor does more right than wrong - don’t get that turned around!

3. Remember who you work for!!! Who goes into ministry for the pay?  The prestige?  We go into this work because God makes it impossible for us to do anything else.  That means HE is the one whom you have to impress, please, and work for… no one else!

4. DO NOT feel like you have to respond, fix, or reply to every nasty comment, snide remark, or “critique”.  Do you chase down the guy who flips you the bird on the highway and feel compelled to make sure he likes you?  Is ok with you?  NO!!!  So why feel unsettled if some in the church do not like you - often that means that your vision/strategy is clear.  Some folks will not like you - ministry is not for people pleasers!!!

A Matter of the Heart

I have really grown to love the book of Amos.  It is such an obscure little book located in the latter books of the Old Testament.  As I read through chapter 5, in the midst of all the warnings comes a promise.  Simply stated in verse 4, "Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel, 'Come back to me and live!' " The following verses command Israel to give up various named idols and return to the Lord who created the stars and draws up the water from the oceans and pours it out as rain.  As I continued on in the chapter we come to verse 21 where the Lord says "I hate all your show and pretense--the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies... away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears."  

When I read this (and I have many times) I begin to understand that God wants our desires and affections to be about him.  It is no accident that the early part of the chapter is urging Israel away from worshiping idols.  God wants us to want him... the phrase still echoes "Come back to me and live!"  I have wondered many times God has hated our show and pretense in our worship of him.  When our thoughts, desires, focus, or our very hearts are elsewhere in our "solemn assemblies" of Sunday church is he saying this to each one of us?

In my past worship ministry, a comment was made to me by the senior minister about "being in a position to have the best music in town".  It should have greatly concerned me at the time but didn't because it was clearly desirable to my former employer that we could be in that position.  As I think back I wonder if God was dissatisfied because the desire was for more than just him.  Being in his presence and worshiping wasn't enough.  It had to be good, maybe the best, certainly perfect and definitely mistake free when all God is asking for is just us, just me, and just you.  No show or pretense, no arrogance or ego, just me giving my all, heart, soul, mind, and strength in worship of him.  Nothing else.  In Amos 5 the idols of the day are specifically mentioned.  What are our idols that takes away our hearts.  What is it that makes our "worship" merely show and pretense?  It certainly comes down to a matter of the heart when all God wants is for us to turn away from our idols and come back to him.