Growing Pains - Jeremiah's Vow

Growing Pains, Pt. 7 | “Changing Circles”

Difficult Choices…

What happens when we make life decisions that make a change in the way that we live our lives? It is hard to change the way that we do things. How much more difficult can those changes be for our families and friends? If we have Christian family we should consider ourselves blessed. But, there are many who make a decision for Christ and are pushed out by the those that they love. It is not an easy thing to chose Christ. The way may appear to be simple, but the journey can cost us in areas that we could not imagine.

To live the Christian life, to live it as it is meant to be lived will require difficult choices. And these choices are difficult because some of the choices may require us to change the circle, or circles, of influence in our lives. A circle of influence consists of those individuals that we listen to and trust. The reason that a change may need to be made is not because the person is bad, but because our values have changed. The reasons and motivations of our lives have changed and if someone does not share these things with us then something will give. Something must give. Having said this, it does not mean that you must let go forever or even at all. What changing circles means is that the ear that at one time was ready to hear must now filter words and intentions that do not agree with the Word of God.

…Must Be Made…

It begins with hearing the truth of the Gospel and all of a sudden the conviction of the Holy Spirit moves us to make a profession. We confess our sins, accept Jesus as Lord and are baptized, joining a local body of believers. Then we go and share what has happened because this was such a wonderful thing that has just happened, but we do not get the reaction that we wanted or expected. We are left to wonder whether or not the decision that we made was the right one because the ones that have helped and counseled do not seem to agree with us. It is here that the we reach a crossroads where the difficult decision is made.

A choice must be made because we cannot continue in our old ways of doing things. It must be made because we have been changed and have become new creations in and through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). It must be made because if there is to be any chance to be what God would have us to be we must be willing to make the decision and be confident that it is the right thing to do.

…In Order To Grow.

Ultimately the most important relationship that is nurtured in our lives is the one with our Heavenly Father. Because of this it is important to surround ourselves with those individuals that will provide for us the environment, structure, education and encouragement that we need to make our faith a reality. It is possible to have a faith that is not real to us. If faith is mere theory, an idea what we wish we had, it will not be real to us. If what we want is to have a real and living faith we need to do what needs to be done-we need to change circles.

It’s not about hurt feelings, missed friends or a popularity contest. We are talking about our hearts. We are talking about the condition of our souls and the direction of our lives and the lives of our families. It is time to live the choice-you already made it.

Growing Pains, Pt. 6 | “Evangelism”

Give What Has Been Given

If there is one characteristic that embodies the essence of Christianity it is selflessness. Another word for this humility. Rick Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Life that humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less. I could stop right there, but that would only be part of the picture. If we are going to be the people that God would have us to be, then we must be willing and able to share the Good News of Jesus to all who are around us. There is a phrase that has stuck in my mind over the last several years. It is borrowed, but it says, “God will not send a blessing to you, if He knows He can’t get it through you.” God’s hand and activity in your life is not about you, and it surely is not only for you.

Christianity is a religion of return. No one comes to faith in isolation. Faith requires a body of faith to give it to others. If you had never seen a church, a Christian or a bible you never would have known about Jesus. You may have thought about God, for Paul said that the world testifies of God, but what we need can only come through revelation and that gift and responsibility has been given to the Church of Jesus. If there has been any benefit or change in our lives, then we are charged with a great responsibility, to give what has been given to us.

Many Ways To Share

Far too many Christians have been turned off to evangelism because they think that to spread the word is to get on a soapbox or hand out tracks or to be able to quote scripture to someone who is not a Christian. Evangelism is more than what you know or do not know about the church, the bible or the doctrines of scripture. What has Jesus done for you today? If you can think of one thing, then share that. It should not be that complicated.

Bible thumping is not the best or only way to do what Jesus did. Can you take a warm meal to a family in mourning? This is evangelism. Can you tell someone of a prayer that God has answered? Can you show grace where once there would have been anger? Can you look past the sin and love the sinner? This is evangelism. There are some that may feel comfortable with the confrontational method. There are some that need this kind of straight forward talk, but there are others that could use a gentle hug of comfort or a kind word of hope. The Gospel is supposed to be a balm, a medicine that we apply to the pains and hurts of someone’s life. If this is true, then it should not feel like alcohol on an open wound.

Like A Vitamin

Sharing your faith with someone else is like taking a vitamin. The more and the longer you share your faith the better you feel and the stronger your faith will become. I share my faith by showing that it is possible to have fun, to have a full and vibrant life and not compromise your values and convictions. There was a time when men and women knew that they needed God in their lives. There are so many distractions and diversions today, God has been relegated to an “as needed” remedy.

So many people feel that with a good job and good pay they can get everything that they need. The form of evangelism must change, not its substance. Try to find some way to share what you believe. Remember; you may not change anyone, but you will change the way they look at you. And that is evangelism at its heart.

Growing Pains, Pt. 5 | “Discipleship”

Being Stretched

One of the most difficult things that we as Christians must face is ourselves. For the most part there is no greater barrier to spiritual growth than our own preconceived and long standing beliefs–or misbeliefs. It is hard to get rid of those ideas and thoughts that have guided us throughout our lives. This is more the case for adults than for children because when a child comes to Christ they have not lived too much life. They have not experienced as much or seen as much. A child comes in innocence and through the love and structure of a church and family can learn the faith without having to replace or undo other ideas and feelings and thoughts from outside sources. The child asks this question, “Is what I have been taught the truth?” The adult on the other hand asks a different question. An adult’s question is, “Why should I change what I already believe and hold to be true?” This fundamental difference is what causes the stretching in people’s lives.

For the child it is a struggle to hold on to what he or she has been taught. For the adult it is the process of replacing already held beliefs for Christian ones. And it is through the process of discipleship that the stretching occurs. It is through the struggle of finding the truth and learning to exercise faith that we become more and more like Jesus. Continue reading “Growing Pains, Pt. 5 | “Discipleship””

Growing Pains, Pt. 4 | “Participation (Time)”

What Do You Value?

If looking at your checkbook will give you an idea of where and for what your money is being spent, what will determine where and for what you life is being spent? The simple truth, I believe, is that what we give to most is what, in the end, we value most. This is not a comment of judgment, but a reality. When I look at what I do with these few precious moments that I have been given in and on this world, I have to ask, “What good is coming of my being here?” When the time comes for all of us, and it will, when we will breath our last, will what we remember be memories of a life filled with years or years filled with life?

Being a Christian means that we have made a choice. Whether we understood it completely or not the choice was made. It was a choice to live by a certain code of morals, ethics and values. The choice was to change the way we were living our lives because we had met someone who had a better way. A vote of confidence in Jesus is a vote of no confidence in ourselves-that we cannot find the best way, let alone live that way on our own. I think that it is an injustice to new Christians not to explain this to them. If a plant is not growing or bearing fruit the assumption is that it must be dead. Continue reading “Growing Pains, Pt. 4 | “Participation (Time)””

Growing Pains, Pt. 3 | “Service”

Prove It!

Caring for our neighbor is not something that can be passed by and overlooked as unimportant. Of all the things that Jesus said, the love of God and the love of neighbor are the most important. Jesus went so far as to say that upon these two commandments hang, hinge, stand, all of the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:34-40, NKJV). Everything that we, as Christians, believe and hold to be true can be summarized with these two statements. That is significant and should be treated in a way that reflects this.

While other religions in the world want to add more and more things to do, God says, “Here, just try these two.” In Christianity there is a shrinking of the requirements. And yet, the struggles that come from trying to do these two simple commandments are incredible.

As we go through this process of growing in faith we come to a very sharp and unyielding challenge. What are you doing WITH your faith? James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that faith without works is dead. We say you have faith! “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 1:18, NKJV). If nothing has happened since we have professed, confessed and have been baptized, we should be some concern. Our faith was not meant for ourselves, but for those around us. That’s why God gave it to you.

Finding A Place To Serve

Service has a way of healing the one that is doing the work. This experience does not come from watching, but from doing. We must put our hands to the plow if we are going to see the fruit of that labor. We live in a society that tells us that we can have it all-at a very reasonable price. Well, the price that God found reasonable was the blood of His Son Jesus. That means that if we are going to have it all, then we must also pay the price that has been set, and that price is our service. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1, NKJV). What God expects is not unreasonable. We must learn to acknowledge this truth whenever we are tempted to say that “God would not…” followed by something we do not want to do.

To serve is to return to where God intended for us to be from the beginning. He commanded Adam to go and tend to the garden. Adam was not created to just recline on the soft grass and eat grapes and do nothing. Adam had a job and it was to see after the creation of God. The older I get the more I realize that it is in doing the simple things of God that I find the most joy.

What Are You Doing?

If there is anything at all that is hard about being a Christian it is this-we have to do something. To sit back and kick our feet up just will not do. I believe that God demands us to be proactive. It just is not good enough to do nothing because we will not be satisfied if we are not serving.

When we look at our lives do we think that God is pleased? This is not a question meant to bring guilt. If we cannot answer this question in a way the leaves a sense of peace in our hearts, then something has to change, someone is going to have to give. I can assure you of this, God will not be the one doing the moving.

It is true that I may not be able to judge the quantity or quality of faith that you have in your life, but there is one thing that the world can do and that is it can see and consider the effect that our professed faith has had or has not had in our lives. What do they see? The better question is what should they see?

Growing Pains, Pt. 2 | “Ministry”

“Am I A Minister?”

I have had this question asked of me and I would like to say that the answer to this question is yes–and no. It is “yes” because we all have accepted the salvation that Jesus Christ died to provide for us. We all are capable and encouraged to share and speak about the faith that we now profess to live. Peter speaks about the priesthood of believers, which implies to me that there is a shared responsibility to minister.

But the answer to the question is also no. It is “no” because not all who believe in Jesus are called to be pastors, teachers or evangelists. Not everyone is called to preach and to stand in front of the church and proclaim the gospel. Not everyone is called to be a preacher because there must be a desire, a passion for the word and work of Jesus Christ, a willingness to share the Gospel. Ultimately, our willingness to be a part of the process is what God wants from us.

Not being a full-time minister does not relieve any us of our responsibility to model, tell and live the life and death of Christ in our bodies before the world for them to see.

Ministry is not an Option

After Peter denied Christ, Jesus gave him the same number of opportunities to be reconciled (John 21:15-19). Having done so Jesus sent Peter to feed His lambs. While the command to feed the lambs is found within a specific personal and historical context, I believe that it is a much more general command. One that must be listened to by all who love Jesus. To follow Jesus is to walk where He walked, doing what He did, with love and grace.

When we identify with Jesus we buy into the ministry that He came to bring. The great commission shows us this. Jesus, once He had suffered, been crucified, died and was resurrected did not leave this earth without leaving some final instructions. There is work left to be done and that work is the responsibility of all who bear His name. Do you know when we will no longer have to worry about spreading the Gospel? When we are in heaven.

Ministry is not an option for the Christian. Some may feel that they are exempt because they do not know enough or because they have not been Christians long enough. These are not valid reasons for not ministering. The most basic Christian responsibility is to love one to another and this is done through ministry.

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us that we all have spiritual gifts. So the question that each Christian should ask is why? These gifts that are different and given to all have at the root of them have one purpose–to minister other believers and to the world around us.

Learning To Say, “Yes!”

When we think of the word minister we most often think of someone who is a pastor or who, at the very least, works for a church. The word minister actually means “to serve.” There are some professional ministers that have forgotten this, but that does not give the rest of the body of Christ the right to forget. The Christians in this modern time must come back to what is most important, service. We ought not to dread doing the work of the church.

Many do not serve because they do not know where to serve. Others fail to serve because they do not know how to serve. Still others fear serving because they believe they have nothing to offer. All of these would be incorrect. Allow me one last word of encouragement. Just say “Yes!” to God and the rest will take care of itself.

Growing Pains, Pt. 1 | “Fellowship”

What is Fellowship?

Fellowship is more than just being in the same room as someone else or even saying “hello” to those that are around us. Fellowship is found not in the halls that we meet nor in the restaurants that have great atmosphere. Fellowship is the sharing of lives. It is coming to a place where those that at one time were strangers to us have now become family. When those people that before we would have seen only once in a while, now for some reason we find yourself thinking about and wanting to be around them more and more. Fellowship is the process where two or more people’s lives becomes a part of our own life.

I do not mean that another person is being nosy or trying to run or ruin our life. But, when another person becomes a loved one, so that you hurt because they hurt, that is fellowship. It is not an easy road to travel, the one called fellowship. It is a slow and sometimes hurtful journey to bring people in that close. It is not easy, but there is something about being able to share with someone, about having that outside influence and strength. Will we be able to have fellowship with everyone in the church? The truth is no, that is not possible, but what are we doing to reach out and invite in those that we can?

Why Is Fellowship Important?

Growth only happens in an environment where trust exists. If we do not trust those that are around us will we be able to grow and feel safe? One of the most difficult things about growing in faith is being able to share our genuine concerns and know that they will not become the talk of the town, or worse the church. We cannot worship in an environment where we feel that we are being singled out. Trust is built by being trustworthy. Love is known by being loving. Fellowship comes when we are neighbors to strangers and family to friends. This may seem like a difficult way of doing it but that is what Jesus did for us. The apostle Paul writes it this way, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8; NKJV).

A large part of what makes fellowship what it ought to be comes from the way that we react to the people and circumstances that are around us. Do we want fellowship to exist? Then let us be the first to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. These are the tools that we are to use to create an environment that will produce fellowship. To answer the question a little more direct, “Why is fellowship important?” we need to understand that it is in the context of fellowship that we love one another and that people will know that we are Christ’s disciples (John 13:35; NKJV).

How Do We Sustain Fellowship?

Here is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. How do we go about sustaining fellowship within a body? The word that comes to mind is sincerity. If true and lasting fellowship is going to exist there has to be sincerity among those that are acting and doing within the body. If what you do is half-hearted or selfish, fellowship will not grow and it will die quickly if these things come into the body of Christ.

Fellowship will happen when we decide that we are really going to care about those that come to our church, whether visitor or member, and we will love them with the love of God.

Growing Pains | Introduction

Growing pains are not meant to be fun, but they are necessary. They are a sign that you are alive and that you are not perfect. Both of these are good things.

We All Have Growing Pains

I remember waking up in the middle of the night with a pain shooting up both of my shins. I thought someone had come into my room and had hit me as hard as they could. It was as if a vice had been place across my shins and where being tightened and then loosened over and over again. I had never felt pain like that in my life. Now, I was about twelve, so I did not have a lot of other moments to compare it too. The next morning, I told my mom what happened and she told me that it was a normal part of getting bigger. They were just “growing pains.”

Well, it has been a long time since I had physical growing pains, but the experience has not changed as I have gotten older. The growing pains that I go through now, however, are spiritual, personal and emotional rather than physical. I am constantly learning new things about myself and others. Some of them are better than others. Some of them, I wish I never had to go through, but I would not change it even when it was my fault.

Growing pains are not meant to be fun, but they are necessary. They are a sign that you are alive and that you are not perfect. Both of these are good things. The challenge is to be an active participant in the process. We have to accept the pains as a reality we have to learn to deal with because there will never be just one. And because of that we may lean in the direction of quitting or giving up rather than fighting through.

Growing Edges

My pastor told me as I sat across from him in his office during my annual staff review, “We all have growing edges.” A growing edge is that place where you have to improve, get better. We all have them. We do not always see them. That is why we need someone to remind us of where we need to grow. The same is true in the church. As a whole we all have to grow together, together. This is what makes a church’s growing pains difficult. They are difficult because they involve more than one person. And all of these people may not always be on the same page.

Over the next several weeks we will look at seven growing pains. Each of these areas are important because they are the visible realities of our faith expression. At any given time any person that is not a Christian, not a part of the body of Christ will come in contact with a believer who may be (should be?) engaging in one of these activities. It is at these times that we discover where we are and whether or not we are moving towards where we need to be.

My mom’s explanation helped be to understand what I was going through. My hope is that over the next few weeks we will see the purpose of these pains and find a way to endure and grow to see the benefits of what is happening even when we don’t always enjoy it.