T + P = MC

James, chapter one is about going through tough times. He starts out with some advice that sounds pretty wacky: "Consider it pure job, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds." 

Seriously?! When EVER do we do this?! This is an oxymoronic request if I've ever seen one. There is nothing joyous about tough times. So, you’re sick. “Yay! I’m sick!” Uh. No. No “Yay.” You’ve been slammed with financial trouble and you’re supposed to rejoice about it. Right. “While you’re at it, please poke me in the eye and chop off a finger, please. I can’t get enough of this ‘joy.’”

I don’t think this is what James is after ... as though we are to be unrealistically optimistic or Disneyland giddy about our dire circumstances. I think Eugene Peterson captures it well when he translates it, “Consider it a sheer gift...” No trial or time of testing is wasted time for us. Besides surviving and getting through it -- which is usually our only focus, naturally, I think James wants us to see at the front end the real value of our difficulties. There is a dimension we can live in that takes some focus in order to gain value. Testing your faith develops something good: maturity and completeness, or as The Message puts it, “mature and well developed, not deficient in any way.”

 Really, having a mature outlook and perspective is reward enough. I find that when my outlook is mature, I don’t freak out as much when the next big thing hits. (Watch me make a liar out of myself next time :) ) God has gotten me through this before, we’ve been here before, we can handle this one, too. Yes, it’s a bit more serious this time -- maybe a lot more -- but we can do this thing. You see, hard times - smack downs - aren’t an indication that God is on holiday. And, that’s the real crux of the issue. We are tempted to think that God has abandoned us -- that’s the “testing of our faith.” Faith says God told me he wouldn’t abandon me -- Jesus said as much. Faith says God does care, God is here, he’s able and willing to help me work through this and come out stronger and more mature.

There’s a very good reason beyond ourselves that maturity is good. Maturity helps others - the less mature than you, the younger than you, the weaker than you. Mature means you are out ahead of someone. As you learn the navigation issues through these particular waters of testing, you will chart a course for someone else, someone right behind you, or someone in the future who will face a similar circumstance. (I think that part is exciting.) This isn’t a matter of superiority as though you will now be able to gloat or best someone, although that seems a common human tendency. 

Speaking of, I’ve known people to do this. If they’ve ever had any situation similar they’re “all over it.” Instead of offering a compassionate, steady hand, they’re quick in one of two ways. One is the you-think-you’ve-got-it-bad syndrome. Or, it’s “This is what you SHOULD do. I’ve been there. I KNOW. Or, they’re good at both. Maturity comes along  side rather than dispensing auto responses. Maturity offers to walk along side, if only for a season. It says, God loves you, you’re gonna get through this. How can I help? What do you need that I can offer? … and it may not be advice. 

To me, the whole value of this maturity-through-trial thing is that we come out better lovers of people. We are loved through a hard time, by God and others, and it is natural that we now know how to love others better.

So, James says, whenever you face trials of many kinds (or one kind), see the gift in them. Hard to do. Very hard to do, especially right in the middle of them. But, the benefit is worth the effort.

There’s one other element here that is part of the “formula.” Now, I don’t like formulas for Christian living. I don’t think they work. People write "how to" books on the Christian life -- I have shelves full of them -- and they don’t work, as a friend of mine says, because if they did people wouldn’t keep writing them. (Look for my big sale on Amazon.) Living in God’s love isn’t about formulas, it is about relationship. It's about living loved by God and loving others -- relationship. That said, what James lays out for us does fall out as an equation of sorts. The testing of your faith develops perseverance. When perseverance is “finished” we find that we are more mature, more complete, that we have everything we need to get us through this thing, to come out on top, to thrive. Testing + perseverance = maturity and completeness. T + P = MC.

It’s also funny how he says this. The testing of our faith develops perseverance and “perseverance must finish its work.” It’s as though perseverance is something outside of us, a thing that is at work. It’s a very passive way to say this. You might expect to hear something more like, “You must persevere if you want to get through this. Don’t give up or...” (or else). That’s not the language. Perseverance is doing something TO us. It’s working to mature us. He almost personifies it. What I’m discovering is that as I hang in there with God, acknowledging he is right in there with me, that he will get things worked out as soon as they need to be. This “trial of faith” is doing a number on me. It’s good number though. It’s “a perfect 10.” I do what I know to do, use the resources at my disposal, and … wait. I know that I am loved by a Father who loves me more than anyone ever has or ever will. As I grow in the realization of his affection and care for me, trusting him is natural. Trust is the moment by moment outcome of my always-increasing confidence in his affection for me.  

He does this work. I slip my hand in his. He walks me out of the messes, most them of my own doing. Through every painful trial, perseverance must finish its work. I learn to sit still while perseverance works on me, while God works on me and in me. Really, it’s a matter of rest, of resting. And, I didn't say doing nothing. Rest doesn't necessarily mean inaction. It may, but it may also mean continuing to do what I am doing. As I rest in the reality of his love, the more I find that I am trusting him and not my own agenda for my life. That’s the difference between me grunting in perseverance and allowing perseverance to do its work. I’m really allowing God to do his work. Didn't Jesus say, “Come to me and I will give you rest"? He's saying, Your work alongside me will be restful.” If I don’t come to him, I find that I am laboring in my own strength, wallowing in my own agenda. I like how The Message relays Jesus’ words, “What I’m trying to do is get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving.”

You see, this is so much like God. He works best when we are content in him. In fact, the New Testament writer, Paul, says as much when he says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Being like God is to respond to him and life with contentment. If I'm not content, then there is something to learn about his love that I haven't yet learned. He is enough. His love is enough. Resting in this reality is allowing perseverance to finish its work. Jesus grows my trust right through the middle of my mess. He continually frees me from focusing on what I don’t have and turns my attention to him. He is the author of grace and trust. He is sufficient.

The testing of my faith develops perseverance. Perseverance finishes his work, and I grow, and lack nothing I need for life. T + P = MC.

Life in the Family

What does life look like as we live loved by our Father and live that life out with other believers? A friend recently observed that a healthy life together as believers in Jesus should not be an obligation; it should be irresistible. In my experience, as well as my understanding of the scriptures, there could be no truer perspective on life in "the Body." If we see fellowship as something God creates, not as something we conjure up, what could be more irresistible than something our Creator has come up with? ... Did you catch that? Let's try it again: What could be more irresistible than something our Creator has provided? You DO see the operable word in that sentence, right? Our CREATOR. He has loved us with this unimaginably creative love. He IS love and so, his love is intrinsically creative. And, if God loves to see us relating among one another in healthy ways -- and he certainly does, don't you think we can count on him to bring people into our lives with whom we can do that? Man, I do! Lord knows, we've screwed it up a million times over the centuries. Maybe it's time to get out of the way and trust this awesome God to do his thing. It IS time. I would like to suggest that no human effort can produce the Christian community that we long for. It is God's gift to us, his provision. 

Try these realities on for size ...
As we are learning to live in God's love, we realize that HE is our source -- of life, of freedom, grace, love, all that we need. If I don't feel like I need to get from you what I am already getting from Him, I don't need to put expectations on you to provide those things. As I said in the blog on Freedom last time, I am freed from the need to manipulate others for my own well-being because I am totally accepted by and in a relationship with a Father who loves me, who has my back, and provides for me. I don't need you to do that. He may very well provide through you something I need, and that's great, but it is him providing it, not me grabbing for it. There is a big difference. He frees me from being preoccupied with getting and grabbing, and is teaching me to relax in what he is giving. (NOT an easy lesson.) I accept what he gives from wheverever he gives it. He may be giving you to me to walk alongside for a time for mutual support, friendship, and relationship, and that's great. 

Do we NEED each other? In one sense, no -- what we NEED is him. Does he give us one another to share our life together? Absolutely. We will inevitably find our lives intertwined with other believers coming alongside them for a season and others coming alongside us for a season. Sometimes, what I need is exhortation -- Thank you, God, for my sister who gave me the right exhortation at the right time! Sometimes, I need encouragement and God sends you to encourage me. I accept that and we walk together in that time of encouragement. Every once-in-a-while, some good person who I know loves me steps up beside me and says, "Uh. Skip? Skip, what WERE you thinking?" Thanks, my bro, I needed that. Thanks, God for sending my bro for some clarification. Sometimes, what you need is ... MONEY! A JOB! I can help with that, how about you? 

The best journeying-together study from the New Testament that I have done is searching through the "one another" phrases in the first century letters to believers. I actually did this about 10 years ago. It really messed with me. You know: Love one another. Exhort one another. Pray for one another. Give to one another. Be kind and tender hearted to one another. I think there are 20 or so different "one another" phrases in the letters to the first century believers in Jesus. I tried to plug that stuff into my churchy mentality and it didn't work very well. (More about that later, maybe.) You see, the "one anothers" are all about relationship, not programs or any other kinds of organizing. And, that's what those historically closest to the source were all about. People who had seen, touched, and walked next to Jesus.

You see, the difference I'm realizing is that Christian community is not based on need; it is based on the sheer joy of sharing relationships with fellow journeyers. We modern, institutionally-minded people have our compass set in a pretty weird direction. Jesus' life flows FROM each of us into the body, not the other way around. Whenever I try to get from the body what I am not finding in Jesus, I am actually substituting it for Jesus. And we all know that serving something that isn't him is "idol worship." Asking the body to be what I really need Jesus to be for me is to make an idol out of it. I bring to my brothers and sisters the life I am experiencing in God. That's how we flourish together. It is his life flowing from us to each other that brings our strength and effectiveness. This is a far cry distance from a group of weary, bleary-eyed Sunday morning people sitting through a Sunday morning concert and motivational speaker workshop... like a group of hungry birds waiting for someone else to pour some life into us ... the life that we need to be getting everyday on our journey with the Father. (Time to BBQ some sacred cows? Anyone for a little cow tipping?) 



Back to the one anothers ... When I began to study the preponderance of these phrases in the New Testament a number of years ago, the realization came over me that being the church wasn't about meetings, buildings, programs, events, etc. BEING the church was about family, relating, loving, sharing, giving of our lives to one another. I discovered that the family images and metaphors of our life together far exceeded any other picture of what body life meant. 


This study started a revolution in my mind of what the church means. Here's what gets me crucified every time. I started to see how our structures, organizations, and institutions actually work against the one anothers so evident in the life of early believers. I told my wife the other day that it's like the old trying to "fit a square peg in a round hole." Every large (large is relative) church structure I know of and have been a part of that wanted to make at least an attempt to be faithful to this aspect of new life in Christ always struggled to make this happen. Why the struggle? Usually because the sheer size of the mechanism made it impossible. So, what do these folks do? They try to organize people into small groups. AND ... one of the problems is that it becomes forced. It doesn't work very well. Even when they pound out in their public meetings the importance of relating to one another on a small group level, their very structure belies the truth. They have spent scads of money, time, and effort attracting people with their flashy programs, buildings, and "ministries" that it seems a paltry and even hypocritical effort to now say to people, "You really need to be a part of these small groups we have put together for you." Some even go so far as to say, "If you really want to grow in Christ as you should, you will invest your time in a small group" or something like that. Most of us are so used to the big gathering being what we call "having church," that we don't know that there is no such thing in the scriptures as going to church. Since we don't know this reality -- even with a pastor-type person telling us, "Folks, we ARE the church" -- for us, going to a "service" IS being the church.  I've never heard anything so schizophrenic.  

This God journey is all about relationships. Our relationship with him. Our relationships with one another. And, you see, what is evident from the New Testament is that their life together was defined by their relationships with one another, not their meetings or activities. Their life together was not marked by programs, services, activities, outreaches, etc., but by their love one for another. Did they have problems? You bet your bottom ... dollar. That's pretty much what the letters to the early groups of believers was all about. Helping them sort out this life together they had discovered in Jesus. The New Testament writers taught them a lot about learning to love each other unselfishly and practical ways to serve one another. 

In reality, of course, none of us have it all together, and many times we do feel like we NEED to be with others who seem to be on top of it. Sometimes, we are too wounded to offer much of anything to others as we gather. I think that's when the life of Jesus flows from others into the body to bring wholeness. Even so, the most effective help to give is to learn to point each other to Jesus, not get others dependent upon us. So many people feel a need to "minister" because they have some sort of gift and they have this hankering to foist it on others, aka "having an outlet for their gift." That's the least effective focus, I think. The most effective kinds of gatherings that I have been a part of are not times someone has some "need" to minister or "exercise their gift." The greatest benefit comes when we share the life of God with one another in response to where each of us finds ourselves at any particular time. 

You know, that brings to mind another realty of life together which really is the rockbed of our ability to relate to others. You cannot love others if you don't know how you are loved by God. Brings us right back to the reality of being loved, doesn't it? That was the whole point of Jesus' "new commandment" in John 13: A new commandment I'm giving you, Jesus said, love one another. "As I have loved you, so you must love one another." So, does this mean your task then is to read all about how Jesus treated people and then go out and mimic that behavior. I don't think so. I think Jesus was plainly saying, you can't love until you are loved. You can't love well until you are loved well. You can only love to the level that you know you have been loved by the Father. When you know how much you are loved by this Father, you will love others well. Until then, you won't know how to love. It's a reality of living loved. That's one of the main reasons real fellowship is irresistible. People who have been SO LOVED are great lovers. :) Knowing how much I have been loved by this awesome God just spills over into loving others in very practical ways. 


So, that's it for now. Life in the family. Learning to live loved. Learning to love. Learning to serve. Learning to point one another to Jesus for the answers to our perplexities. Learning to listen to God together. This is what he has been showing me. 

Living Loved

I said a couple blog entries ago that I would talk about five different areas of understanding God has been bringing me into: Living loved, growing in trust, embracing freedom, sharing his life, and incarnating his love in the world. I took a side road to talk about living in contentment -- not totally unrelated! -- and now I'm back on track. The first of these understandings is learning to live loved by our Father. 

Living loved as a believer in Jesus means that you first of all understand how solid God's love is for you. It's pretty simple, really. It's also powerful. No one ever has loved you or ever will love you as much as God our Father does. You stand firm in his grace. That means what you do or don't do will not change his love for you. There is nothing you can do that will make him love you any more or any less. His love is perfect ... perfection. It isn't tied to your whims. His love and grace are not based on your performance.
Are you concerned that God will give up on you? You need not be. Are you worried that he will at some point have his fill of you and become disillusioned with you? How could he? He never had any illusions about you in the first place. His knowledge and love are perfect. He knew what he was getting into. You have a father who loves you more than anyone could ever love you.

Living loved also means that God isn't playing a guilt-trip motivation game with you. He doesn't use guilt and condemnation to shame you into obedience and growth. If you are a believer in Jesus and you are experiencing condemnation and shame, there is something about God's love you get to learn. There is something about the cross you get to discover as he reveals himself to you. Condemnation doesn't come from Him. There is no condemnation to anyone who is in Christ. This understanding can be found in chapter 8 of Romans: 
¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.


Think about it? If we live in the foundation of his unwavering love and unfathomable grace, and we certainly do, we are walking in the Spirit. We no longer need to live by our fleshly desires and motivations. Guilt, shame, and condemnation are not on God's agenda for us and they do not help us live in God's life. He knows that and has removed them by the wonderful cross event and he has no need to use them to grow us. In Jesus, there is no condemnation, there is no shame. (When Hebrews says that Jesus "despised the shame" on the cross, it means a whole lot more than he was uncomfortable being naked. But, that's for another time.) 

We also do not need to try to earn points with God. He is not keeping score. Paul said as much in verse four of Romans 8. God did what he did in Jesus so that "the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." You could never earn enough points to gain God's favor. You will never do enough to deserve his grace. Never. You will never be good enough to deserve his love. God knows this and that is why Jesus went to the cross. By taking our place on the cross, he filled out the score card for you and me. Toss the one you're holding and use that hand to grab his hand. ;) 

You know what else? He loves you so much that he wants to make himself known to you. He wants you to know him. He wants to show you each day how to live in the freedom of his love. He wants to teach you how to recognize his voice. I am learning that Father not only loves us, but he likes us. He wants to spend time with us. And, he is the Creator and has so many creative ways to speak to us.


Now, does this all mean that God doesn't care how I live, what I do? "Sin all you want. God is a wonderful, forgiving God. Don't worry about it." Of course it doesn't mean that! God is greatly concerned about sin. Sin is what diminishes me from the person he has created and recreated me to be. It is destructive to me and to all those around me. It destroys his intent for our world. What I have discovered is that he hasn't given me a new set of rules to live by. On the contrary, he has "poured out his love into our hearts by his Holy Spirit" who comes to live in us. (You can read about that in chapter five of Romans.) 


This fact of God's love in me means that instead of giving me a new set of laws to live by he has given me the power to walk in freedom by his Spirit in me. The scriptures come alive now as he begins to reveal his purposes and intent for life on this planet. The words of God take life and rich meaning and are no longer dead words on a page, rules and laws for pleasing God. My Abba Father (Romans 8) lives in me through his Spirit and quickens that Word in me. As I begin to understand the scriptures, I learn how God works in me, in others, and in the world. I am freed from sin, free to live loved by him and to love others in the same way.

What you learn about his love and experience in him leads to greater trust and I'll talk more about that later. 

Live Loved today! 
 ~ Skip