1- Everyone is broken. Everyone. There are 2 types of broken people: those who realize it and those who don't.
2- Broken people cause more brokenness. They demand grace yet give none. They want love and attention yet are quick to condemn and slow to help others. They blame-shift and justify. In other words, they are just like the rest of us. Some will act stronger than they are- and it will keep them from growing. Others will act weak on purpose- because they constantly want something from everyone else at church. Both are forms of sin.
3- Outside of the transforming power of Jesus, broken people stay just as broken. They may seek religion, self-help or other forms of improvement. But these are, at best, self-delusional veneers that only change the outside appearance.
4- I will never meet someone for whom Jesus did not die. Therefore, I need to respect and love them.
5- I will never share Jesus with someone who would be better off if I didn't. However, I should never push Jesus on someone whose heart is too hard to hear it.
6- Tolerance is hypocritical and overrated. Those for whom tolerance is a top value tend to become pretty intolerant and mean-spirited towards the people they deem "intolerant." But it's not tolerant to tolerate only those who are easy to tolerate. And, as a friend says, the value of tolerance aims far too low. How about respect? Admiration? Care and concern? Certainly, all of these are better than tolerance. I tolerate the flu because I have to. I love the sun because it's a blessing. I respect people because they are made in the image of Christ. Therefore, screw tolerance as a value.
7- Jesus was intolerant at times. He claimed exclusivity. "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." If we could get to Christ any other way, then Jesus died for nothing. Further, if Jesus is God- as he clearly claims to be- then how can I come to God by rejecting God?
8a- Churches can either see believers as customers or family. If they are customers, we cater to them. We try to make them happy. To get their money and keep their business. We chase them down to get them to come back because our goal is to become a bigger, more successful business. This is skubala.
If they are family, we speak hard truth, in love, because we want the best for them. We cater to Jesus. We seek to make Christ happy by helping them become holy. We show concern but chase after no one. Our goal is faithfulness to the call and real discipleship, not outward religious morality and Americanized church success.
8b. Some will leave a church to test our love. Will we call? Will we run after them? We do care, but should we have to prove it? And when we fail them, when we don't, they'll claim to have hurt feelings. This is ridiculous- love isn't a game. And there's usually nothing wrong with their dialing finger- they could have called at any time.
9- All biblical counseling is merely discipleship: formation into the image of Christ. Our goal is NEVER to fix the outward problem, but to look deeper for the image issue. What have they believed that is a lie and keeping them from following Jesus fully? How have the failed to see the truth of the gospel in it's implications for their lives?
10- I can fix no one. Ever. But I can take them to the One who is in the business of forming us into His image.
11- Couples counseling always involves 2 people. Never make a judgment until I've heard both sides.
12- My greatest times of growth will always come from or be centered on fellowship involving the Word of God. Sermons are widely underrated. Some of my most important decisions have come during times of hearing the Word preached and then responding to God's Spirit.
13- Most people serve money. Even if they don't have it. Jesus said serving money and serving Him were mutually exclusive. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he probably knew what he was talking about.
14- Our sinful natures cause us to worship the created rather than the Creator. For this reason, we cling to forms and miss the function. For instance, we're so concerned about the style of music that we miss the reason for it- worship. We get exercised over dress codes and miss the point- coming to Jesus laid bare inside and with nothing to hide. We get so concerned for the "sanctuary" that we miss our own heresy- there is NO building made with hands that is holy or in which God dwells. We are the sanctuary. How do we treat one another? It means much more than whether or not a kid runs in a building or Christian brings coffee into a particular room. Skubala- all of it.
15. Contemporary, casual-dress Christians (me!) can be just as judgmental towards traditional Christians as the traditional Christians are towards them. Both times, the issue is a prideful and wrong attitude.
16. In churches, there are: not-yet-sheep, sheep, shepherds and wolves. We challenge the not-yet to become sheep. We direct the sheep to greater growth. We pray for and respect the shepherds. We give no room to wolves. Ever. "Reject a divisive man after the first and second warning. Having nothing more to do with him..."
17. Wolves rarely know they are wolves. They are usually self-deceived. But they tend have an easy time bullying people because Christians think they should be "nice" to everyone- including those who would slander, gossip, divide and destroy the church.
18. We can only unify around something greater than our petty viewpoints and preferences. Biblical unity can only occur around Jesus as we each carry a cross and crucify our own desires. Jesus died for the church- it's his. Not ours. No matter how many generations of our family have been at the church.
19. God uses shock-value at times to communicate. The Christian community covers it up. Isaiah walked around naked, his junk swinging in the wind. Paul used the word "shit" as an expletive to describe all his honors and accomplishments apart from Christ. Our best deeds look like used, bloody, clumpy menstrual rags to God. This is Bible, not me. God does it to focus our attention on truth, not to titillate our minds. Ezekiel 23 in the NIV is positively pornographic. God has a reason for it- Ezekiel 23 demonstrates how God views our unfaithfulness.
Why, then, are we so proper and modest in our practice of our religion?
20. I will never feel successful. I'm in ministry. People are broken. They are a work in progress that is never finished this side of glory. They will, at times, attack and hate and slander. And I will want to walk away. This happened with OT prophets, NT Apostles and has been true of Pastors since the church began. However, faithfulness to the call is always going to be the real measure of success.
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