I've come to realize that we've lost something in recent generations that was once a very vital piece of life. We've lost the ability to really listen to people. I'm guilty too, so don't take me the wrong way, but sometimes I observe conversations and I balk at how inconsiderate we can be. We don't look each other in the eyes anymore, it's too uncomfortable for some reason. We don't let people express themselves completely, we're too eager to interrupt with our own similar experience. We don't respond with pulling questions to find out more, we're just not interested or empathetic enough to go any deeper.
I do have some really great listeners in my life and being in a group or conversation with them is always so rewarding. I can tell that they care about me by the way they give me a voice above all the noise. I actually feel like I can be me and be loved unconditionally. I can reveal things to them from my heart and not be afraid of how they will respond because I know they want to hear my heart and not just my words.
James 1:19 says, "Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear." (MSG) How can we lead with our ears? What will it take to get that lost art of listening back? Will it be slowing our lives down? Perhaps biting our tongues for a few extra minutes? Crucifying our pride and assumption that we have something more important to say than our conversation-mate? Intentionally caring for a person enough to hear and understand the heart behind the words? Look them in the eye when they are speaking?
Let me know how you've developed your listening skills . . .
Monday, October 13, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
unity
There are some days when I look around at the people of our community - in their cars, at the store, with their kids, at work, and I ask God: what is it really going to take to see people come to Christ? How is it supposed to happen, when will it happen, and how can God use me to redirect souls from hell-bound to become heaven-bound? Sometimes God gives me little glimpses of what it looks like to see lives transformed by the Grace of Jesus. And sometimes I get discouraged because it feels like soul winning is harder, more complicated, longer, and more painful than moving a 20-foot hill of sand with tweezers.
That's why when I read in the Bible about how the world will recognize God, or come to the saving knowledge of Christ, I zoom in on those verses and want to figure out exactly how I can use those principles in a relevant way in my generation. Check this out:
"The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me. "
- John 17:22-23 (The Message - emphasis added)
When you think of the Church, as in the grand-scale body of Christ, does your mental picture resemble this passage? How about your local community of churches? How about our own church, Crossroads? If if doesn't, perhaps this is why we are not seeing the harvest we so long for in our hearts.
So what? What can we do? What can I do? What can you do?
How about cooperating with Jesus' prayer. He prayed (aloud, mind you) that we would be JUST AS UNIFIED AS HE AND THE FATHER ARE UNIFIED. Wow. It doesn't seem possible. Could we really be that submitted to one another? Could we truly work together that well? Could we honestly all be on the same page when it comes to loving one another? If we did, would the world change it's mind about the church, about Jesus, about Christians? Would they stop referring to us as hypocritical, judgemental, and mean? If we were actually unified and loving toward one another? Wow. Maybe. Just maybe Jesus' prayer could be answered for our unity and then our prayer could be answered for revival. I'll do my part. Maybe we all will. Maybe that sand hill won't seem so endless when we all work together.
That's why when I read in the Bible about how the world will recognize God, or come to the saving knowledge of Christ, I zoom in on those verses and want to figure out exactly how I can use those principles in a relevant way in my generation. Check this out:
"The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me. "
- John 17:22-23 (The Message - emphasis added)
When you think of the Church, as in the grand-scale body of Christ, does your mental picture resemble this passage? How about your local community of churches? How about our own church, Crossroads? If if doesn't, perhaps this is why we are not seeing the harvest we so long for in our hearts.
So what? What can we do? What can I do? What can you do?
How about cooperating with Jesus' prayer. He prayed (aloud, mind you) that we would be JUST AS UNIFIED AS HE AND THE FATHER ARE UNIFIED. Wow. It doesn't seem possible. Could we really be that submitted to one another? Could we truly work together that well? Could we honestly all be on the same page when it comes to loving one another? If we did, would the world change it's mind about the church, about Jesus, about Christians? Would they stop referring to us as hypocritical, judgemental, and mean? If we were actually unified and loving toward one another? Wow. Maybe. Just maybe Jesus' prayer could be answered for our unity and then our prayer could be answered for revival. I'll do my part. Maybe we all will. Maybe that sand hill won't seem so endless when we all work together.
Monday, September 1, 2008
am I hungry?
Our appetite is the source of our motivation. It's probably been a while since your pantry was empty, but think back to your college years or some period of near-poverty in your lifetime and you'll remember how significant appetite is. Your belly's grumbling, but there's nothing to eat except some saltine crackers and jelly. What is a person to do? Go out and earn some money, of course. Do a good job at work so you can keep your employment longer than one week and get a paycheck. Show up on time. Go the extra mile. Put forth some effort. If you don't, well, your belly's just gonna keep on growlin'.
Proverbs 16:26 says, "The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on." Because a man is hungry for food, he'll keep on trying, He'll get up early and get a shower before work. He'll shine the boss's shoes, be kind to his jerky co-workers, put in the extra 1/2 hour to finish the project, and even skip lunch break so the deadline is not only met, but finished early so he can get that promotion. Why? Because he's hungry - for food, or a better car, or a bigger house, or maybe he's feeding hungry kids and his appetite is for providing for them.
But for what was Jesus' appetite? " 'My food,' said Jesus, 'is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work' " (John 4:34). He was hungry for God's will and work. Hungry to serve mankind. Hungry to redeem lost souls. Hungry to obey the Father. Hungry for the harvest He spoke of in the following verses. This hunger is what motivated Him. It's what got Him through long days of crowds and lines of sick people and persecution and ridicule and scorners and sinners and ultimately, it's what got Him through the pain and torture of the Cross. His appetite to do God's will worked for Him to be able to finish His Father's work.
So what am I hungry for today? As Jesus' follower, do I share His appetite for the lost, or is my appetite for something else? Is it hunger for God's will that motivates us to go the extra mile for Him? Are we shinning His shoes, being kind to the jerks who sit in the pews with us, putting in the overtime it takes to disciple our lost neighbors and co-workers and friends, skipping our lunches to read His Word and, and giving our best efforts and time to please and obey Him? Are we hungry, that hungry? So famished and desperate for Him and His will? If not, we should be. Maybe we need to cultivate a little more hunger, or the right type of hunger - Jesus' type.
Or maybe we just need to get up off our keesters and do something about our hunger. Proverbs also says, "The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work." (21:25). So even if we have the right appetite, and it's a healthy one, if we're too lazy, we end up just spiritually starving to death. Some of us need to get up and get moving, using diligence and our appetite to actually accomplish something for the Lord (see Proverbs 13:4).
There's a worship song that I used to sing in church that goes, "If my food is to do your will, then I'm hungry, still hungry." I pray that God will make us hungry. That he will stir up in our spiritual bellies a rumbling that will not be satisfied until we are diligently, perseveringly, desperately laboring to do the work of soul harvesting. I pray that for me. And I pray it for you too.
Proverbs 16:26 says, "The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on." Because a man is hungry for food, he'll keep on trying, He'll get up early and get a shower before work. He'll shine the boss's shoes, be kind to his jerky co-workers, put in the extra 1/2 hour to finish the project, and even skip lunch break so the deadline is not only met, but finished early so he can get that promotion. Why? Because he's hungry - for food, or a better car, or a bigger house, or maybe he's feeding hungry kids and his appetite is for providing for them.
But for what was Jesus' appetite? " 'My food,' said Jesus, 'is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work' " (John 4:34). He was hungry for God's will and work. Hungry to serve mankind. Hungry to redeem lost souls. Hungry to obey the Father. Hungry for the harvest He spoke of in the following verses. This hunger is what motivated Him. It's what got Him through long days of crowds and lines of sick people and persecution and ridicule and scorners and sinners and ultimately, it's what got Him through the pain and torture of the Cross. His appetite to do God's will worked for Him to be able to finish His Father's work.
So what am I hungry for today? As Jesus' follower, do I share His appetite for the lost, or is my appetite for something else? Is it hunger for God's will that motivates us to go the extra mile for Him? Are we shinning His shoes, being kind to the jerks who sit in the pews with us, putting in the overtime it takes to disciple our lost neighbors and co-workers and friends, skipping our lunches to read His Word and, and giving our best efforts and time to please and obey Him? Are we hungry, that hungry? So famished and desperate for Him and His will? If not, we should be. Maybe we need to cultivate a little more hunger, or the right type of hunger - Jesus' type.
Or maybe we just need to get up off our keesters and do something about our hunger. Proverbs also says, "The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work." (21:25). So even if we have the right appetite, and it's a healthy one, if we're too lazy, we end up just spiritually starving to death. Some of us need to get up and get moving, using diligence and our appetite to actually accomplish something for the Lord (see Proverbs 13:4).
There's a worship song that I used to sing in church that goes, "If my food is to do your will, then I'm hungry, still hungry." I pray that God will make us hungry. That he will stir up in our spiritual bellies a rumbling that will not be satisfied until we are diligently, perseveringly, desperately laboring to do the work of soul harvesting. I pray that for me. And I pray it for you too.
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