Christian Living – Page 20 – Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

A Servant’s Heart

I had a great reminder today of what a servant’s heart looks like. Before I actually jump into that, I want to take a moment to mention one think. As Christ followers, we are all called to be servants of some kind. Jesus modeled it. He told His disciples, and us through them, that we should follow His example and be a servant. In John 13, Jesus is recorded as saying the following in verses 12-17;

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

In washing the disciples feet, Jesus took the lowest of the low positions in Judaism. Home owners would have their servants wash the feet of their guests, but none were provided where Jesus and His disciples were going to have the Passover dinner. Yet none of His disciples were willing to wash each others feet. It too Jesus, their Lord and Teacher to lower Himself and wash their feet. And then He commanded them to do the same; become servants. So in that respect, we are all called to be servants in some way or another.

We are all called to be servants in some way or another.

In Romans 12 (read it here), Paul lays out potential spiritual gifts that Christ followers may receive. One of them is serving. So, it seems that while we are all called to be servants, some of us are actually gifted to serve and are prone to do it in a great way. That’s what I mean by a servant’s heart. And I got to see it in action from two different people today that I hold dear in my life. The best part, if either of them end up reading this, they might actually be embarrassed about being highlighted for their service. They weren’t doing it to be noticed. They were serving because that is their first instinct.

Kelley and I went up to Guadalupe Christian Camp this afternoon for an event that the church at the camp was hosting. It was a great afternoon with good food, good music, and a great message preached by the former manager of the camp. Some people from our congregation here in Carlsbad were there, and we were all able to share lunch together around the same table. The church that was hosting the event was planning on doing all of the cleanup afterward, but Ed had other plans.

He started sweeping around and under the table that we ate at, and asked me if they were planning on just throwing away the plastic table cloths that were on the tables. I let him know that I really didn’t have any idea, but that wasn’t good enough. He sent me to ask the new camp manager, so he could clean up our table as much as possible before moving over to the chapel for the music and message portion of the afternoon. I kind of hung back and just watched after confirming with David, and Ed is the only one that stayed and cleaned up the table that he and his family (and our church family) had eaten at. And he did it to serve, not for any recognition.

While all of this was going on, I went into the kitchen where I saw Bev in action. You see, Bev is Rusty’s wife. Rusty and Bev ran the camp for 40+ years before retiring about a year ago. Bev ran the kitchen over those years, and always wanted to be serving in some way. A year into retirement, where did I find Bev? She was helping clean and put things away in the kitchen. I approached her and jokingly mentioned that even in retirement, she just couldn’t stop serving. She smiled and told me that that is the only place that she feels comfortable.

This conversation with Bev brought back a memory from last March. At a retirement party in honor of Rusty and Bev, not only did Bev make some of her world famous cinnamon rolls, but when it was time for the desserts to be served, Bev was right there in the serving line passing out cinnamon rolls to anyone that wanted one.

(Back row, left to right: Me, Rusty, Ed; Front row, left to right: Kelley, Bev, Dorie)

These two people, Ed and Bev, are the embodiments of servants at heart. They are great examples of how to try to follow Jesus’ example. I long to be a servant like that. My spiritual gifts are in other areas, so serving in that capacity doesn’t come second nature to me. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t find ways to serve. May we all find ways to serve, and not for praise from other people. Bev and Ed, thanks for reminding me what a true servant looks like!

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Christian Living, Encouragement

Under the Cover of Darkness

Have you ever looked at the story of Nicodemus? Most of us know him for one thing, and one thing alone. He was the Pharisee that came to Jesus at night in John 3 to discuss some things with Jesus. He comes at night because he was not willing to make his meeting with Jesus known to his fellow Pharisees. In other words, he thought there was something to Jesus and what He was trying to do, but Nicodemus was afraid of what this belief might cost him.

The Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They didn’t even believe that He was a prophet. In fact, they held Him as a blasphemer, someone claiming to be God, and in so doing, condemning Himself. After Jesus’ resurrection, Jews that believed and made a public confession of belief in Jesus were kicked out of their families, their synagogues, and considered the scum of society.

Nicodemus was afraid of what this belief might cost him.

That is why Nicodemus was unwilling to make his potential belief in Jesus public. But his story goes much deeper than what we read in John 3. It is interesting to note that arguably the most widely known verse in the Bible comes from Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. John 3:16 is part of this conversation held under the cover of darkness. It reads;

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For most, this conversation ends, and Nicodemus is forgotten. But John actually mentions him by name on two separate occasions after this conversation. And when you read between the lines, one can argue the growth in belief and faith that Nicodemus has throughout Jesus’ three years of ministry.

In John 7, we see a story of the Jewish leaders, chief priests, and Pharisees actively trying to arrest Jesus. Jesus is able to slip away from the crowd, and the leaders are furious with the guards they sent to arrest Him. Their response is found in verses 47-49, which read;

47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

They are furious. And they are continuing to think highly of themselves while putting the common folk of the day under their feet. That’s when Nicodemus shows up again. He’s starting to stick his neck out a little and defend Jesus publicly, even if it is not in a direct manner. John records it this way in John 7:50,51;

50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

He’s trying to argue they need to at least talk to Jesus first, before they arrest and condemn Him. Of course this doesn’t go over well with the other Pharisees. They respond like typical Pharisees, but we don’t see much more of the situation unfold in the text.

Nicodemus is starting to stick his neck out a little and defend Jesus publicly, even if it is not in a direct manner.

The next and last time that Nicodemus is named in scripture actually comes after the crucifixion of Jesus. And this time, when he is named, Nicodemus appears all in. He’s putting his neck out there, and there is no denying where he stands in regard to his belief and acceptance of who Jesus is. It’s easy to miss, because we focus in on the first name in the story. Joseph of Arimathea. Of course, we know that name as the man that went to Pilate for the body of Jesus, in order to bury Jesus. But did you know that Nicodemus was with Joseph. He not only accompanied Joseph, making it clear that he respected Jesus, his actions proved that he was willing to pay a price for following Him; figuratively and literally. John 19:38-42 records the story;

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

He brought the mixture of spices to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. 75 pounds worth. These spices were not cheap. He publicly was helping bury Jesus, and paying for the materials to prepare Jesus’s body.

When we first see Nicodemus, he is clearly intrigued by Jesus, but he is afraid of what it might cost him in reputation. By the end something has completely changed. He is willing to act out in the open, not caring what it cost him, because Jesus had become real to him. It didn’t matter to Nicodemus if the other Pharisees condemned him. He didn’t care what following Jesus cost him monetarily. In fact, through his actions, we can know that the only thing that Nicodemus cared about in the end is who Jesus was.

We can learn a lot from Nicodemus.

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Ministry

Busyness as a Badge of Honor

I could not believe what I had just read. In a lot of ways, I still can’t. As I was getting ready for my day this morning, I was scrolling through Facebook on my phone, and an article popped up from “Church Leaders” that lead to the actual article hosted on churchplants.com. They title of the article got my attention, but I never thought that it would actually read like it did. The article was titled “Do Christians Spend Too MUCH Time Studying the Bible?”

Do Christians Spend Too MUCH Time Studying the Bible?

I opened the article, fully expecting to read an argument for more Bible study, or maybe a little different approach to Bible study. What I read, however, was an argument from a minister claiming that we study the Bible too much. An argument that early Christians didn’t even have the Bible as we know it (which is true), and because of that, we shouldn’t waste as much time studying scripture as we do. I’m still in shock over what I read. If you’d like to read the article, you can find it here. Continue reading “Busyness as a Badge of Honor” →

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Ministry

Celebration or Competition?

We are in a competition. At least that’s what most of us think if we are really honest with ourselves. It’s not a good or God-honoring competition either. What I mean is that Christ followers look at churches that they don’t attend as direct competition. Even ministers look at other ministers and other churches, mostly local but sometimes anywhere, as direct competition.

We compare ourselves to what the church down the street, across the state, or even around the world is doing to win souls. If we seem to be more successful, at least in the eyes of the world, we look down on these other ministers and churches, asking, “Why don’t they do more?” Or, if we don’t measure up to what another church is doing, we get down on ourselves. Maybe we even turn a little green with envy. In other words, jealousy rears its ugly head.

Christ followers look at churches that they don’t attend as direct competition.

When this occurs, we end up hurting the efforts of the Church in presenting Jesus to the world. Others are aware of the jealousy and competition that we like to pretend doesn’t exist. And it hurts our ability to successfully share Jesus. Even if it doesn’t show publicly, this competition among ourselves hurts more than it helps. When we compare ourselves to another church or minister, we are forgetting two very important truths.

God has placed us in the context that we are in to do His work (that context is unique, and what we accomplish is unique to that context.
We are all in this together. This should not be a competition. Instead, we should be willing to help each other out. We shouldn’t look down on that church down the street that does things different than we do. They are hopefully reaching a group of people that we wouldn’t even know where to begin with. As for churches that we consider being better than us, instead of becoming jealous of their success, why not celebrate the souls that they are bringing into the kingdom!

It’s easier said than done. I get that. When you’re serving in a church and other churches seem to be having baptisms every week, and it’s been a while for you, that jealousy creeps in without us even realizing it sometimes. It can be frustrating, and that leads to us wanting to compare ourselves to another church that is in an entirely different context than we are.

I write this on a Tuesday morning, coming off of a normal Sunday a couple days ago at Central Christian Church. We had a few people out of town or sick, so our numbers were down a little, but not the lowest I’ve seen. It would be easy for a little depression and jealousy to creep in though. And it almost did. But I caught it early, and turned that jealousy into a celebration. That’s why I write this to you today.

I’m asking you to celebrate with me.

What am I celebrating? A ministry friend of mine in Kentucky, who went to Cincinnati Christian University with me, had a baptism last Sunday that he posted about this past Sunday. On top of that, another ministry friend, who is a college age minister at University Church of Christ in Las Cruces, NM was at a retreat this past weekend. They had at least 10 people that gave their lives to Christ and were baptized during the retreat. Another minister that I know, whom I also went to Cincinnati Christian University with, is the campus minister at Trader’s Point Christian Church’s new downtown campus in Indianapolis. They launched the new campus this past Sunday. Not only did they have over 1,600 people attend the opening of this campus, 42 people gave their lives to Christ through the obedience of baptism. Now each one of those 50+ lives is worth celebrating whether you know them or not.

And here is the great thing. I just wrote about 50+ people coming to faith in Jesus Christ over the last couple of Sundays. Those are just the ones that I know about through social media. I promise there are more that we can celebrate. You see, we are all a part of the body of Christ. There should be no competition among us. No jealousy. Only support and celebrating wins for the kingdom! Because, again, we’re all in this together!

Christian Living, Encouragement, Life, Writing

Do You Believe in Miracles

*Note: This is the article that is included in my previous post (Central Christian Church “Messenger”: March 2017 edition)

Just a few days ago, on February 22, 2017, there was a celebration of sorts. What you may be asking? It was the 37th anniversary of one of the greatest upsets in sports history. On February 22, 1980, a group of amateur U.S. Hockey players went up against the USSR Hockey team that had been dominating the world over the previous 20 years. In fact, just a few days before this battle took place, the two teams had met in an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden, and the Soviet team absolutely dismantled the overmatched Americans.

This was all in the lead up to the Winter Olympics set to take place in Lake Placid, New York. As fate would have it, the American team was set to play the Soviets in the semi-finals of the Olympic hockey tournament. History was against them. Not many gave them any chance. This was a team that was filled with college hockey players going up against the professionals of the Soviets. The stage was set, and if you know anything about sports history, you know this game as the “Miracle on Ice”.

miracle

Going into the final period, the Soviet team held a 3-2 lead. It seemed that all they had to do was just hold on and they would be playing for the Gold Medal. The U.S. team had other plans. They came back and scored two third period goals to take a 4-3 lead. The Soviet team threw everything they could at the Americans through the last few minutes of the game, but the American defense held strong.

As the final seconds ticked away on the clock, the Americans possessed the puck, and it became clear that they would indeed preserve their lead. The ABC network was broadcasting the game here in the States, with Al Michaels calling the game. His call in the final seconds has become as iconic as the game itself. As those final seconds ticked away, you can hear Michaels, “Do you believer in miracles?!” And as the clock hit zero, he emphatically added, “Yes!”

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The “Miracle on Ice”. It has been named the top sports moment of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated. But I think Michaels’ question at the end is an important moment for us as well. “Do you believe in miracles?” That was his question about one of the most unlikely upsets ever in the sports world. I want to ask you the same question, but not about sports.

“Do you believe in miracles?” I mean real miracles that we read about in scripture. The healings that have no explanation. People being raised from the dead. A man walking on water. Feeding of thousands upon thousands of people with just a handful of food. Water being turned into wine. A man beaten so badly that he couldn’t be recognized and then hung on a cross until he died, coming back to life three days later. These are the miracles I’m asking if you believe in.

Jesus’ entire ministry as a human was backed up by miracles. He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed thousands with nothing, knew the hearts of those around Him, and willing went to the cross for our sins, trusting the Father to raise Him from the grave three days later. And that doesn’t even go into all the miracles that we see throughout the Old Testament and in the beginning of the Church after Jesus’ ascension to the Father. Those miracles do two things. First, it shows us God’s power. Second, they were there to give authority to those speaking; to prove that they had something worth listening to.

Many people try to explain away the miracles that we read about throughout scripture. It’s just too hard for them to believe that these things happened. If you are a Christ follower, and don’t think that these miracles actually happened, how big is the God that you claim to follow? These miracles show us the power of our God.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?!

The “Miracle on Ice” was just a sporting event. In the grand scheme of things, it is not really that miraculous. If you don’t know the history of the game, however, I want to let you know that the Americans did back up this victory and go on to win the Gold Medal against Finland after the miracle on ice game. Jesus went on to back up His miracles as well. Coming out of that tomb three days after being crucified, He backed up not only everything that He had taught, but everything He had done as well. God proved who Jesus was, and that our salvation would be secure in Him through the Resurrection. So let me ask you this: DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?! I hope you can answer “YES!”

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Ministry, Preaching

Only God Can Change a Human Heart

We just finished a six-week sermon series at Central Christian today called Life on Mission. This may have just been my favorite series that we have done to this point, and it has completely given me a new perspective in how we should be striving to live this Christian journey that we are on.

There was a thought that I presented today which is critical in how we live our lives as Christ followers. It was straight from Tim Harlow’s book, Life on Mission, and it is something that we all need to understand for our own lives. You see, our human nature gets in the way and we often try to do things on our own, instead of learning to trust and wait on God. This even creeps into our lives when we are trying to share Jesus with others. We think that we can save them. In reality, however, if it depends on us, we’re in trouble.

Only God can change a human heart.

Only God can change a human heart. In other words, it’s not really up to us in the end. We are to partner with God on this life on mission, but it is only through His power that we are successful. So how do we partner with God in this mission? We pray. We develop a prayer life where we are consistently praying for individuals that we know of that do not know Jesus yet. And we don’t give up when we think we aren’t seeing results.

Harlow told a story in the book about a lady that prayed daily for 40 years that her husband would accept Jesus. It would have been easy to give up after praying daily for someone for that long, but she didn’t. And after 40 years of prayer, her husband accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and was baptized. Wow! But what happens if she had given up after 35 or even 39 years?

The problem we face today is that we don’t always see God’s timing. We want things done the way we see fit, and in our timing, but that’s just not reality. God sees the whole picture, so sometimes He answers those prayers in ways that we don’t see coming. Maybe, just maybe, when that happens our faith weakens sometimes.

The question was brought up today about strengthening our faith. How do we strengthen our faith in God? How do we develop a prayer life that we can honestly say that we “pray continually” like I Thessalonians 5 tells us to? Without going into a lot of detail, there are a few things that I think we can do to strengthen our prayer lives and our faith at the same time.

First, we just need to pray. How do we strengthen our prayer lives? We pray.

First, we just need to pray. How do we strengthen our prayer lives? We pray. Often. It needs to get to the point where we we might not even realize that we have started praying over a situation, yet we are. Prayer needs to become second nature and a habit in our lives. And the only way that that happens is by doing it more and more. Trust me, I know that that is much easier said than done, but it is something that we can all attempt to improve.

Second, we need to be grounded in the Word of God.

Second, we need to be grounded in the Word of God. We need to be studying scripture on our own and with other people. If we aren’t connected to scripture on a daily basis, then it is going to be hard for our faith to be strong. You want to strengthen your faith? Study and meditate on the Bible. That’s a great place to start.

Finally, don’t try to do all of this on your own.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, don’t try to do all of this on your own. Get connected to a community of Christ followers that are willing to walk beside of you and help you make prayer and Bible study a bigger part of your life. Not only do you need to have others in your life that are more mature in their faith to help you grow, you need to be investing in others that haven’t been at it as long as you have. There is a principle that works here; you never learn more than when you are trying to teach someone else.

We are made to live in community with each other. How do we strengthen our faith and our prayer lives? Getting connected to a group of Christ followers and making sure that we are staying connected to Jesus through prayer and Bible study. We can live this life on mission, but we have to keep our priorities straight. We are not going to save anyone. Only God can change a human heart!

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Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Ministry

The Faith of a Child

My wife has been babysitting for a young mom in our church over the last few months. It’s just a couple of hours a day in the afternoons. If you know much about me, I usually don’t deal well with little kids. I just feel awkward around them. Jr. high and up is usually the age groups that I seem to work well with. So Kelley babysitting in our home has been a growing experience for me.

This is my buddy Aaron. He’s around a year and a half old. He has a smile that will just melt your heart at any time. Like I said, him being around has been a growing experience for me. I’ve actually gotten to the point now where I miss him being here on days that he’s not at our house. His little personality is so awesome to watch develop, and he is on the verge of talking, which I’m sure will just be a whole new experience.

He’s taken to me, and loves when I take him outside. The other day, we had a pretty funny exchange. It was one in which I realized just how much he really understands, even when he can’t fully speak yet. He had woken up from nap time and Kelley was in the other room for a minute. I asked him if he wanted to go outside and you could just see his face light up. But then he really blew me away. He walked over to his diaper bag and pulled out his jacket that we normally make him wear when we take him out. He didn’t need it that particular day, because it was actually pretty warm, but his comprehension amazed me. I couldn’t help but laugh at how excited he was to go outside as well.

The best part about having Aaron around though is just watching his joy and wonder taking shape as he discovers new things around him. Watching him trust others without a care in the world is refreshing. As he is around us more, the more he trusts us. And like I said, his smile can just melt your heart (It doesn’t matter how upset he is, me trying to do a Daffy Duck impression brings this huge grin to his face).

Being around his curious and trusting personality has brought life to a passage of scripture. Jesus talks a lot about children throughout His ministry. There is a story in Mark 10, however, that really shows how much He cares about children. The story is found in verses 13-16,

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

I’ve always known about Jesus saying that no one will receive the kingdom of God unless they do it like a little child. But something clicked when I was reading through this again recently. Did you notice Jesus’ mood when His disciples were trying to keep the children away from Him? It says He was indignant. Not a word that we use much anymore, so let’s take a look at its definition. Indignant: feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment. Jesus was angry at His disciples.

The faith of a child is a wonderful thing. Aaron has shown me this in a very personal way. Watching the way he learns is just incredible. You tell him something and he believes it. The faith of a child is what we need when we are pondering the kingdom of God. And that is why Jesus valued them so highly. Children can teach us how to learn. They can teach us what it means to have faith in Jesus. And according to Jesus, we have to have faith like a child to inherit the kingdom of God. May we all have the faith of a child.

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life

Well Done: A Tribute to a Friend Gone Too Soon

I woke with a sadness in my heart this morning. Over the last few days, I have been seeing a prayer request posted and reposted on Facebook from a friend in Tennessee, asking for prayers for her friend Jane. What I didn’t realize over that week was that she was asking for prayers for a Jane that I highly respect and has been a huge supporter for Kelley and I over the last few years. I just found out yesterday morning through a separate friend’s post that it was my friend Jane that was needing prayer. Sometimes this long distance thing isn’t any fun.

While watching a couple of shows last night, and winding down for sleep, the news came across my social media feeds that Jane had passed away. I’m just blown away. Jane was someone that I would have never expected to pass this soon. While she was older, she seemed in great health the last couple of times we were able to go back to Tennessee for a few days.

You see, Jane’s husband David and I served on the board together at Crossroads Christian Church before Kelley and I moved to New Mexico. Dave became an elder at the same time I became a deacon. David and Jane were constantly encouraging us, praying for us, and genuinely excited for us in our opportunities for ministry. After moving to New Mexico in September of 2014, I always looked forward to seeing them when we would go back home for a few days. They always wanted to know how things were going, if there was anything that they could be praying for for us, and would always have that encouraging word and piece of advice for us.

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For the last few months we were in Tennessee, Kelley and I were in the same Sunday school class with David and Jane. It was amazing to see their love for the Lord, their interest and knowledge in the Word, and their genuine care for those that didn’t know Jesus yet. They have served as missionaries, especially David, who uses his background as a doctor to invest in lives overseas.

Jane was the type of person that could always put a smile on your face. She was talented, energetic, and just plain fun to be around. She had a lot of talent in the drama field, directing a few different dinner theaters and dramas at the church over the last few years. Her love for God, people, and service will be greatly missed.

I started off saying that I have a sadness in my heart this morning. And it’s true. I’m sad that I will never get to talk to Jane again. I’m grieving over our loss here on earth. My heart is breaking for David. Even as I type these words, I feel myself choking up. But I’m also rejoicing right now. I have this intense sense of joy because Jane is no longer suffering! I’m confident (as confident as I can be in regards to someone else) in her relationship with Christ. I’m rejoicing that while she has been taken from this earth, her work is done. She’s heard “Well done my good and faithful servant”. And in that sense, as sad as I am she’s gone, and as joyful as I am that she is not in pain, I’m a little jealous.

Jane’s finished her race. She’s won her prize. She’s at the feet of Jesus!

Jane’s finished her race. She’s won her prize. She’s at the feet of Jesus! Rest well my friend. While I miss you and hurt for your family, I’m so incredibly overjoyed for you! Thank you for all your love and encouragement over the years. You’ll never know how much it meant to Kelley and I. Until we meet again my friend.

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Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life

Treat One Another with Respect (Part 3, Conclusion)

The last couple of days I’ve written about treating each other with respect. First in general, and then what our response as Christ followers should be when the world doesn’t always treat us with respect (Jesus warned from the beginning that the world would hate us because of Him). You can read those two posts here and here if you’d like.

Today I’m going to wrap up this three part post about treating one another with respect, and it’s a topic that I feel shouldn’t need to be discussed, but is one that probably needs more attention than the others. We are going to be looking at how Christ followers should treat other Christ followers. You would think because we have Jesus in common, then we would be able to at least be civil with each other. But that is just not the case anymore. Sure we can disagree over minor issues, but that doesn’t mean that we have to resort to yelling, name calling, and just down right belligerent behavior. Yet, more and more that is what I see happening between people that share a faith in Jesus Christ in common.

You would think because we have Jesus in common, then we would be able to at least be civil with each other.

I’ve seen it multiple places and involving multiple topics of discussion. And we fall right into the trap that the rest of the culture does. We think by yelling and name calling, we make our point come across in a more effective way. But in reality, all it does is make us look juvenile, and in the process give Christ a bad name. Let me deal with that first.

If we can agree on one thing, it should be that we have a mission of sharing Jesus with others. Seriously, if we have this relationship with Jesus, and we see someone who doesn’t, why would we not want to share that with them. Jesus is the best thing that has happened to us, and we should not want to keep that from other people. But when we disagree with other Christians in a belligerent and juvenile way, others see that. When they see that we aren’t acting any better (and sometimes absolutely worse) than the rest of society, they are going to ask one question; Why would I want to follow this Jesus when His followers don’t even treat other with love and respect?

When they (Non-Christians) see that we aren’t acting any better (and sometimes absolutely worse) than the rest of society, they are going to ask one question; Why would I want to follow this Jesus when His followers don’t even treat other with love and respect?

And they have a point. We damage our ability to share Jesus with others when we can’t even treat our fellow Christ followers with respect. In fact, I think it is fair to say that most people that have had a bad experience with Christianity or God would say that it was really an issue of how they were treated by other people, and not God.

Social media has just made this phenomenon even worse, because it is so easy to type words and not consider how they will affect the situation. We can attack without much fear of how it will impact us in the long run. But others are watching us. Politics has been one area where Christians on both sides of the aisle, so to speak, have just gone off the rails. They can’t understand how anyone could support something opposite from what they support, and instead of agreeing to disagree, they attempt to tear the other side down through attack after attack. I’ve seen it, like I said, from both sides. I’ve seen it from friends and family, and complete strangers. And it breaks my heart.

That is one reason that I try to stay as far away from political posts on social media as I can. I know what I believe and support, and I vote that way. But our relationship with Jesus and trying to follow Him should take precedent over any political party or position we could hold. Neither political party in this country completely lines up with Biblical principles. I’ve heard it from both sides; You can’t be a Christ follower and support the _________ party.

It’s not just politics. I’m in groups on Facebook for members of and ministers of the Independent Christian Church/Churches of Christ. These groups are set up for similar leaning people in their theology and doctrine. Yet I learned very quick after joining these groups to not post or comment without being ready to be flat out attacked because someone is going to disagree with your stance on something. And I mean attacked hard. I’ve been told that my opinion on something was completely and just flat out wrong. I’ve seen people just so beaten down that they end up leaving the groups. And there has been so many discussions that have gotten so nasty with personal attacks that the admins of the groups finally had to take the original post down and actually ban people from the groups.

Friends, this should simply never be the case when we are talking about Christ followers interacting with other Christ followers.

The only thing that I am thankful for in regards to these Facebook groups is that they are not open to where just anyone can read the junk that sometimes happens, because that would hurt any effort of sharing Jesus with others.

So what should we do? First, we need to remember the words of Paul that we looked at yesterday. When possible, as long as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Does that mean we have to agree with everything someone says or does, even fellow believers? No. That is just never going to happen. But we have to be able to still treat each other with love and respect.

When possible, as long as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Most of these disagreements I see between Christians that get this nasty are actually things that would fall under the category of opinion. In other words there is really no Biblical proof, one way or the other, as to exactly what should be our stance. But one person thinks one thing, and another disagrees. Instead of realizing that both parties have a right to their opinion, and deciding to discuss and listen to each other, the yelling and screaming begin.

Here’s the thing. If what we are disagreeing over as Christians can be considered opinion or that we have freedom in those things, then we have to get to the point that we just agree to disagree. In other words, if it is not a clear salvation issue, or something that is clearly declared sin in Scripture, why are we wasting our time arguing over it.

That leads me to my final thoughts on this topic though. What if what the disagreement is over is a potential salvation issue, or and issue of sin? In other words, one person thinks something is completely fine and not an issue, but another person thinks that it is a sin or that you have to do something to reach salvation. I believe that Jesus addressed this. Jesus states in Matthew 18:15-17;

15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

You address the issue with them. If they don’t change, you take a couple of other mature believers with you as witnesses. If it continues, then you bring it to the church and finally you cut off contact if they still refuse to change. But no where in these instructions does it say to resort to anger, yelling, or name calling.

You are to do all of this in a loving way, because you truly care about that person.

Even if it is not a sin or salvation issue, sometimes the most loving and respectful thing we could do with someone that we disagree with is just to stay away from them. I have found that to be the most useful thing for me. And it takes a lot of stress and potential anger off of my shoulders. There are others that I completely disagree with one certain topics, some that I would consider a sin issue. They know where I stand, I know where they stand. And instead of locking horns in a never ending debate, I have chosen to walk away. That doesn’t mean that I ignore them completely. If I see them, I try to be cordial and say hello. But we aren’t close friends.

Major in the majors, minor in the minors, but in all things treat one another with love and respect. Disagree with someone to the point you don’t think you can be kind to them? Sometimes the best thing to do is walk away. Let’s make this world a better place by treating one another with respect. Join me, won’t you?