Can you do this job to the glory of God?

Last week, a helpful website The High Calling published a thoughtful article that I think might be of service to many who are in-between jobs or who have settled-in and gathered their breath sufficiently to re-evaluate what they are doing - and more importantly: For what purpose? 

CLICK HERE to read: Can you do this job for the glory of God?

God's larger perspective on work is that it is good (Genesis 2:1-3). Because He is good and He did work filling full the heavens and the earth, it is good. In fact, Genesis goes against Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman labor principles which stated that working with one's hands in the dirt is among the most demeaning kinds of work. God Himself did just this in creating man! The Ancient Babylonian creation account asserts that the gods created man so that they didn't have to do any work. Our God finds great satisfaction in working on our behalf and to His glory!

May we find satisfaction in our work done on other's behalf and to His glory! 

What makes a church unique? (part 2: the glory of uniqueness)

In my last post, I tried to establish that, given the consumer culture in which all churches find themselves and the accompanying temptation to 'play that game,' many if not most churches promote not simply Jesus making them unique, but Jesus + something else -- after all, every church gets to claim Jesus (so he doesn't 'set them apart'). I even took time to throw under the bus myself and my favorite church in the world - Sunrise Community Church of Grand Cayman. I want to exhort us to be insistent to trust our God enough to "billboard" to others what He says is unique about the gathering of His people (yes, ladies and gentlemen, you just witnessed grammar history as 'billboard' was used as a verb). 

What does God's Word say ought to make a church unique? I've often communicated to others that God's grace makes our church unique. But even God's grace, which is often expressed through a church's ethos in a welcoming, come-as-you-are atmosphere, is a means to God himself. Grace is the gift that allows us to know God, to be reconciled to God when we sin, and is described as the strength to serve God. The pattern being that the beginning and end of grace, the beginning and end of the gospel is God Himself. So also it is with the church - the people part is great. But the people part is especially great because it is in the entire people we more clearly see God - each person made in God's image with various gifts that reflect the entire Person of our Heavenly Father.  Thus, what makes a church unique is God's Himself, God's presence, which is ultimately expressed through Jesus Christ.

5 images that appear across the storyline of the Bible that reflect God's purpose to give His presence to a people He has set apart as His own 

(1) A Garden (Genesis 2: 4-17). The Hebrew word for "Garden" infers "to protect, to enclose." Eden means "delight" or "pleasure." It was a place of relational harmony - various, plants, animals, and, of course, a couple of humans co-existed without strife. The protection existed for relationship with God and the pleasure existed to reflect the gracious character of God. In other words, God designed this to be a place where man & woman might freely enjoy fellowship with God. Genesis 3:8 infers this was a place of direct fellowship with God: "And [Adam & Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." God is pictured here with the familiarity of a neighbor, going on His daily walk. Leviticus 26:12 pictures fellowship with God as a walk: "And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people." Not coincidentally the Book of Ephesians uses the Greek word for walk (peripateo) on six different occasions to describe times one's relationship with God.
(2) A dwelling (Exodus 25:1-8). In addition to being rescued from slavery (first half of Exodus) and being issued God's law (second half of Exodus), Israel is promised God's presence. "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I might dwell in their midst" (Exodus 25:8). From now on it won't be their athletes, a national anthem, their natural resources, the pride & toughness of their nomadic peoples, but God's presence that sets them apart. This makes a profound impression upon Moses. Upon being promised a great land, listen to the interaction Moses then has with God: "Moses said the YHWH, 'See, you say to me, Bring up this people [into the land I am giving you],' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me...' And YHWH said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' And Moses said to him, 'If you presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?' " (Exodus 33:12, 14-16). Consider how bold this statement truly was in Moses' life and relationships. He's leading a people who have been enslaved and then nomadic for generations . They just want to have land and have peace like all these other nations they've heard of and grow up around. And yet, Moses is bold enough to request: Don't give us any of those things if you don't give us Yourself. I'd rather stay poor, destitute, wandering and enslaved but have You with me. 
(3) A person (John 1:14). "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Literally, Jesus "tabernacled" or "sanctuaried" among us (see direct connection with Exodus 25:8 above). Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with us."
(4) A people (II Corinthians 6:16-17). "What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you'" (II Corinthians 6:16-17). Here we find that, through trust in Christ, we (the church) become the temple in which God dwells. We also see the near direct quotation of Exodus 25:8 and that God's presence provides us the motive to be different, to be separate, to be other than the world around us.
(5) A city (Revelation 21:1-4, 9-22). At the end of the Bible, we find a surprise. There is no more temple. Because, as in Genesis 2, God's presence is once again immediate, direct, unhindered and unclouded by sin, pain, & decay. "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (Revelation 21:22).  


That's pretty much the whole Bible there. So while we might be tempted to display something else more novel, more edgy, we must insist that it is the presence of God Himself through Jesus Christ that makes we His people unique.


So What? Two Pictures. Let me give you a couple pictures of how God's presence practically sets us apart. The first picture is an evening I spent with one of our church's Community Groups a few weeks ago. This particular group had asked me to come in and help conduct a Spiritual Gifts Discovery Seminar, which is something I've enjoyed immensely in the past and knew I would again. The third of four parts is probably my favorite part of the seminar. Recognizing that, because of sin, we all have blind spots, members of the group endeavor to go around and affirm certain gifts that each individual thinks he/she has and suggest certain gifts that perhaps he/she had never before considered having. The Lord used this as an exhilarating time of encouragement. I walked out that night with my friends Rob and Bianca - we started to talk and we all agreed: "Where else would people go out of their way to make such sincere and personal encouragements than as part of a church - where we all have Jesus in common?" (In fact, you could add: "Where else other than church would people even make this kind of statement or observation?").The presence of God had practically set us apart from others gathering that same night to watch a movie, play a game of cards, to participate in a Rotary Club, or even to do a charitable work. 


The second picture is my attendance yesterday at Georgetown Primary School's Outreach Program for at-risk youth. Last September our church Adopted a local Primary/Elementary School at which to volunteer and invest time, talents, and resources. Many in our church find a time slot to go each week and spend time mentoring at-risk youth. I happen to go for an hour on Wednesdays, during which time we have a wonderful Aerobics/Athletics instructor lead. At the end of the hour, the instructor was searching for something impactful to communicate to the twenty at-risk children. Getting to know her a bit, I could tell she was searching. So she decided to incorporate as part of her stretches us hugging ourselves and saying, "I love myself" and then "I will be a good student and not talk back to my teacher the rest of the year." In other words, messages these students had heard before from speakers, children's books, positive videos that a teacher popped in the player during a slow day. Just after this, we did another stretch or two. At my age, I was clearly lacking in flexibility so a couple of the kids inquired: "Mr. Ryan, here's how you do it. Like this." I explained: "My body is no longer able to do that. But because I've trusted my life to Jesus, one day I will get a new body. In fact, because I trust Jesus, I know that no matter how bad or good my life is going, it will always get better than it is now." That is real, genuine hope. And I could tell as the kids all stared at me that it was a message that set was unique, set apart. That's what happens when we bring ourselves, when we bring the church to an onlooking world that is desperate to hear and experience something unique - the possibility of God with them. 

When I am God

I recently had a fellow pastor send me this short little thought/faith provoker. It's written by a guy named Tim Challies, who is a pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto. I'm pasting it below & then following up with a challenge as to how you might practically grow in putting God back on the throne of your life.

When I am God    by Tim Challies

Sin is inherently anti-God, inherently pro-self. Each time I sin I make a statement about myself and a statement about (and against) God. Each time I sin, I declare my own independence, my own desire to be rid of God; I declare that I can do better than God, that I can be a better god than God. Recently I took some time to think about how life changes when I am god. The results were not pretty.

When I am god, it is against me, me only, that you may sin and do evil in my sight. This world exists for my pleasure, for my glory, and the gravity of your sin is measured according to how badly it interferes with my sovereign will. My wrath falls upon those who do their will instead of mine.

When God is God, your sin against me is light when weighed against its offense to God. This is the Father’s world and it exists to bring glory to him. Sin is any lack of obedience to God or any lack of conformity to his just and holy ways. For such sinners I have sympathy, and love, and hope in the gospel.

When I am god, worship of God interferes with my plans, with my slumber, with my loyalty to pleasure, to socializing, to sport, to amusement. I hate the thought of worshipping another, but long to worship myself or have others worship me.

When God is God, worship is joy, it is nourishment, it is life. There is no greater joy than to gather with God’s people to bring glory to the Creator, to give thanks to the Redeemer.

When I am god, sexual fulfillment is my right; sex exists to bring me pleasure and the value of other people is measured only in their ability to fulfill what I am convinced that I need.

When God is God, sex is a gift given to strengthen my marriage through service to my spouse. It is guarded and treasured and hallowed and motivates me to joyfully give thanks and praise to God.

When I am god, love is directed to me, the one most worthy of it. True love, meaningful love, meets the desires of my heart right here and right now. It grants peace when I long for peace, silence when I need silence, attention, affection, whatever it is that I demand. This is love. Greater love has no man than this—that he lay it all down for me.

When God is God, love is directed outward. Love for another is simply a means of expressing love to God; it is loving much as one who has been loved much. Love is not asking “What do I need?” but “What does God desire?” Greater love has no man than this—that he lay down his life for a friend, just as Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners, has done for me.

When I am god, I myself am the source of all wisdom. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child or in the heart of anyone who contradicts or contravenes me. I am good and do good and long to teach you my statutes.

When God is God, wisdom flows from a source outside of me; wisdom is extrinsic and other-worldly and infinitely, eternally good. This is wisdom from above, wisdom from a book.

When I am god, I am enslaved. When God is God, I am free. I thank God that God is God. 

How God helped me practically grow from a simple exercise. After reading this, I sensed the Spirit slowly nudging at me as to what I would add to this list. Doing this really helped me call out the specifics of my self-centeredness, see the glory & freedom of God-centeredness, and helped me, well, repent.  


Here's mine: "When I am god, I have credit due to me for the good or important deed I've done. I will not give my credit or glory to another. I am offended when another would rob me of my credit or glory."


"When God is God, my left hand forgets about what my right hand just did,  anything I give is remembered and stored up by God as treasure in heaven, and I view my righteous deeds like filthy rags compared to the gracious, immeasurable, and radically persistent deeds (He just keeps doing them even when I don't notice!!) of my Father."


You. What would you add to the list? Beginning with "When I am god..."

A 4th century encouragement for a 21st century job

This past Sunday under the Big Top, I taught from 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 on God's Calling. The  sermon in a nutshell was basically: When it comes to questions of "God, where do you want me?", "What do you want me to do?", "With whom do you want me to do it?", the biblical, God-speaking to you default is to remain. Though walking with God daily, prayer/discernment, & good counsel may lead you elsewhere, remaining where you are, what you're doing (vocationally/job-wise), with whom you're already doing it is God's starting line. 


Of course, the place, the people or the job (especially) isn't necessarily what we would choose in the Game of Life (or in the elementary/primary school Game involving those do-dads constructed out of notebook paper where you start by choosing a number, open up a leaf, and eventually find out who you marry, what your job is, and how much money you make - what were those things called?? Please don't say 'do-dads').


Jobs we wouldn't pick. I was reading some older church history and came across this. A prominent fourth century church father, Basil, informed his young brother, Gregory of Nyssa, that he was to become the bishop of Cappadocia (in the middle of nowhere...a.k.a. middle of modern day Turkey).  To which Gregory objected! He didn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere away from friends and family ministering with and to a strange people where there is little prospect for distinction & advancement. His older brother replied:

I don't want you to obtain distinction from your church but to confer distinction on it.

Cappodocia is now best known in history for being the center from which the so-called Cappadocian Fathers (Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, & Gregory of Nazianzus) fought the heresy known as Arianism (the rising belief growing in popularity that Jesus was inferior to God the Father and was, in fact, created by the Father...a similar belief to modern-day Jehovah's Witnesses). Indeed, through his service there, Gregory conferred distinction upon the place and the the people.


Jesus conferring distinction like it's going out of style. When the incarnate Christ walked this earth, all he did was confer distinction upon places, people, jobs that otherwise had none. Consider the places. Jesus was raised in the runt among places, Nazareth. One of Jesus' future disciples even confessed when first being told about Jesus: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). He conferred distinction upon the hated territory of Samaria (see Luke 10:33 and 17:16) - where, from the Jewish perspective, a bunch of 'half-breeds' lived whose worship of God was considered a joke (cf. John 8:48). Among the many examples of people upon whom Jesus conferred distinction, perhaps the one who stands out is the woman of ill-repute who interrupts dinner to wash Jesus' hair with oil: "And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her" (Mark 14:3). Consider the jobs. Jesus chose for his cabinet: Fishermen (a poorly-regarded, blue-collar job), a zealot (someone who was organizing radical, militant religious rallies), and a tax collector (symbolically stood for all things evil & traitorous in the eyes of God's people). But all legitimate positions from which to begin following Jesus. 


You and your job. For those who have trusted their lives to Jesus, Paul states the following: "To [us] God chose to make know how great are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Christ still exists to confer distinction upon jobs, including the locations and the people who work there. All the riches of glory which are contained in His person is in you, who have believed.


The temptation of course is to think: Which next place, which next people, which next job will bring me distinction, will finally set me apart. You already are set apart, friend, because of Christ in you. Such is the hope of glory! And he wishes, through YOU, to now bring distinction upon whatever you do, wherever you are & whomever you are with.  

A Sunday Follow-up: Living & Speaking Priestly

This past Sunday, while examining Malachi 2: 1-9 in a sermon called Priesthood: Then & Now, I shared a story about a man who allowed Christ to so shine through his actions, that one cynic declare of him, "He was the only Jesus I ever knew." I argued that the story is simultaneously both encouraging and potentially dangerous. It is potentially dangerous when I start to adopt the attitude of: "I'm probably the only Jesus this person will ever know" and the subsequent conclusion: "If I don't help this person, no one will."

Consequently, we don't just serve as a bridge to Jesus with our actions but also with our words. We must always be holding out Christ with our words while we serve and tangibly love others. Otherwise people might see only the glory of what man can do -- while the reality being a Christian is something both intensely human and intensely divine. Human and divine: You may have met him...his name is Jesus.

Anywho, after the sermon, I had two persons share with me a testimony of the danger of man-glorification because of a lack of words. One brother, Ray, shared a little about his friendship with a Honduran co-worker. Ray is a hard-worker, a servant-leader, and a man of integrity. He was living out those traits at his place of work. One day, when Ray finally asked his co-worker about the Lord, his co-worker replied:

Oh, Ray, I don't believe in God. But I've watched you and I do believe in you, Ray.

Ray was floored. Now, he went on to share a bit with his co-worker about the Lord and this last week they even talked about what a "covenant" is. But Ray was describing exactly what can happen when we only share Christ's love with our actions -- we can become the only Jesus someone ever knows. And that's a problem.

This coming Sunday we'll take a more practical look at how being a priest for Jesus is a speaking role.

The King seeks our Maximum Good

"The King seeks maximum glory - so what are you going to do about it?"

This was the sermon in a nutshell yesterday during our worship service, when we looked at Luke 20: 20-37. All about the Kingdom of God and how He seeks maximum glory through surprising means -- a crucified Savior -- and how are we are called to respond (if you wish, you can listen to the sermon here).

Frankly, His glory is the most important aspect of His Kingdom -- as God seeks Maximum Glory above all else (see for example Ezekiel 36: 22, 32; Isaiah 43:7; Isaiah 48:11). But He also seeks our Maximum Good -- and He does so also through the Jesus Christ Crucified.

While studying this passage last week, I ran across this excerpt from 2nd century Greek Philosopher, Celsus, who said this about his perception of Christianity, which is ironically fairly accurate:

Those who summon people to the other mysteries [i.e. other religions] make this preliminary proclamation: "Whosoever has pure hands and a wise tongue." And again, others say, "Whosoever is pure from all defilement, and whose soul knows nothing of evil, and who has lived well and righteously." Such are the preliminary exhortations of those who promise purification from sins. But let us hear what folk these Christians call. "Whosoever is a sinner," they say. "Whosoever is unwise, whosoever is a child, and, in a word, whosoever is wretch, the kingdom of God will receive him." Do you not say that a sinner is he who is dishonest, a thief, a poisoner, a sacrilegious fellow, and a grave-robber? What others would a robber invite and call? Why on earth this preference for sinners?

Today people call the cross a scandal. And it was just as much so in the 2nd century -- literally "foolishness to Greeks" like Celsus, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:23. With the crucified Christ as the backdrop, Paul goes on to say in that same passage:

For consider your calling, brothers, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose the what is weak in the world to shame the strong. (I Corinthians 1: 26-27)

He attracts us to a sign like the Crucified Christ for our maximum good. I was really struck by this today. There are so many who, by natural means, are more worthy of salvation than me. Perhaps you, like me, can go through a mental list of genuinely humble, nice, kind, hardworking people you've met throughout the course of your life. Yet, God doesn't require trust in one's behavior, one's works, or how one treats others -- but trust in a person, Jesus Christ, and his work on the cross.

The best thing I ever did for myself, then, was to realize how very much like a child I still am -- needy & incompetent to run my own life. The BEST thing!! Jesus says this is a most praiseworthy gift of grace:

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will." (Luke 10:21).

Why is this for our Maximum Good? I think I most like being a servant or slave because I was created to be so (see Romans 6 which describes people as having one of two options -- being slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness). The most freeing moments or seasons of my life are ones in which I'm okay with being a child, okay with being incompetent to run my own life, okay with being one who freely responds to a Master rather than working hard to master a sinful life -- (the latter done all in the name of pride).

The Crucified Christ represents God's curse upon Christ so we wouldn't have to endure God's curse for sin & it represents total humiliation so that God might forever identify with & draw near to Himself the despised & humiliated of this world. Thus, God through the Crucified Christ, earns our trust & allows us to be submit ourselves as children & slaves to a Merciful Master.

Any other way may have been good as it would have been from God -- but the Crucified Christ reminds us that the King seeks our maximum good.