God's Tolerance: Part 3 "Rebellious Presumption" 1 Samuel 13-15

     As a leader, I believe that I must earn your respect. I don’t think I deserve it because of my title or education. One of the ways that I attempt to earn respect is by being consistent to what I value and require of those around me. Being too stringent or too lenient will cause the respect level to diminish. If it diminished too much, God may make a change. Two things that God simply does not tolerate for very long are presumptuous and rebellious leaders.
     We understand why God would not wish to tolerate these, because we can’t stand them either. There is a certain relief when a presumptuous leader is removed. The whole organization takes a collective deep breath and pours out a sigh of relief. What becomes sad is when an otherwise good leader has their success turn into arrogance and rebellion. I think we all understand why humility and godly obedience is a prerequisite to being used by God. As I say this, I can’t help but think to myself of the leaders that I know who battle this. May we learn the needed lessons before we are removed. So, whatever role you play, may you understand that rebellion and presumption will be the cause of us loosing what we should be (1 Samuel 15:22-23). 

     The context of this statement in 1 Samuel (Chapters 13-14) is complicated and multi-layered.  

The people feared by the threat of the Philistines under the leadership of Saul (13:1-7). Saul failed to wait for Samuel and made the offering himself. This was an act of disobedience that disqualified him from leadership (13:8-23). Though Saul was a failed leader, God saved the Israelites from the Philistines through the hand of his son Jonathan (14:1-23). Because of this, Saul made a rash vow and it almost cost him his son’s life (14:24-46). Finally, Saul disobeyed the Lord’s commands and keep what he was supposed to destroy (5:1-34).

     From this context, 1 Samuel 15:22-23 make a bit more sense and help us understand two very important truths. First, many rebel by holding onto what they are to destroy. Saul’s rebellion was holding the spoils of war for himself which God told him to destroy. Here the words of Jerry Bridges come through. “Rebellion can be both obvious transgressions or in acts if decency. It is then appropriate to ask, what has God told us to destroy? One possible answer is found in 2 Cor. 10:5 where Paul writes, “5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

     Secondly, we can understand that God removes the presumptuous because presumption is one’s attempt to worship himself. Saul’s presumption was that he could do what only Samuel was called to do. One ways to fight against this very common human instinct is to pray for protection. Notice have the Psalmist prays in Psalm 36:11. Here he prays, “let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

     In conclusion, there is a personal challenge to which we may respond. We must destroy the seeds of presumption and rebellion. These may differ from person to person, but what we have in common is the need to safeguard ourselves by destroying them. Failure to do so is the equivalent of asking God to tolerate what will remove us from being our best and having a faithful relationship with God. We cannot ask God to tolerate what removes us from being our best.  

God’s Tolerance Part 2: “Less than Best” 1 Samuel 11-12

     I like it when God is tolerant of me, but when He is tolerant of you I must also like it.  Though there is a bit of humor in that statement, it is a hard truth that must be examined within my own heart. This hard truth births a closer look at God’s tolerance of me that causes me to take responsibility for the condition of my life. I must remember, whatever God is tolerating is creating a life setting in which I must be faithful.

     We all appreciate and benefit from God being tolerant, but when He is tolerant of those around us we must also be appreciative.  All this creates a life setting that requires flexibility and faithfulness. In this light, the challenge for both the Christian and those who do not believe in Him becomes to faithfully live in circumstances caused by sin. To examine this idea, we can turn to 1 Samuel 11-12.

     One of the first things we discover here is the possibility of a life setting formed by rejecting God’s best (1 Samuel 11) In this text God reveals the existence of justified an unjustified violence. In this setting, there is regret and blame because of the chosen leader. Somehow this chapter seems very familiar to our own. God tolerated their desire for a king and it has brought everything God said it would. Now there is regret. Regret is the outcome of living in less than God’s best.

     Moving to Chapter 12, we observe several ideas about living faithfully in a setting less than God’s best. These ideas are found in Samuel’s farewell address he makes to the Israelites. Each of these ideas are presented here in a short fashion and may better be understood by a slow reading of the text. First, keep a clear conscience before God and others (12:1-5) and remembering God’s ability to deliver (12:6-11). Next living in less than God’s best may provide us with a new sense of obedience (12:12-15) and appreciation for His mercy (12:16-18). Though living in less than God’s best means that we are guilty, we can renew our commitment to live in service from your whole heart (12:19-20). This will bring about the need to refrain from seeking fulfillment through empty things (12:21), moving us into an appreciation of God’s faithfulness to rebellious people and willingness to call us His own (12:22). Finally, we can display humble, and faithful leadership (V.23-25).  
     Being that living in less than Gods best is part of living in a broken world that each of His followers are challenged to live faithfully. Faithfully living in circumstances caused by sin is achieved through forgiveness (Luke 17:1-6).  As each respond to these challenges according to their own family and church roles, may they not sin against God by ceasing to pray and teach truth (12:23).

God's Tolerance: Part 1 - Tolerance is Not Permission

     As a person living in this world, I must be tolerant of certain things that I believe to be wrong or at least less than best. I simply cannot function as an individual by speaking out or being argumentative with everyone with whom I disagree. However, does that mean that I need to agree with or accept to be right those things that I believe to be wrong?

      As a Christian, I feel like I am being asked to tell people living in rebellion against God that they are ok and that my opinions may not be true for them. This issue has caused me to begin a tolerant pursuit of truth. This means that I am committing to being respectful to those that disagree with me while I seek to learn truth. Being that I am fully convinced in the existence and resurrection of Jesus; my pursuit starts with Him and those who recorded His teachings. This includes the historic events caused by His life and beliefs of those who followed Him. Though my pursuit begins there, it also includes the many other academic disciplines present today.

     As we come here today, each of us hold certain beliefs. Those beliefs are often challenged by changing life situations or new information. What I am hoping, is that we all are looking to base our lives on truth and not mere opinion. As a Christian pastor, my desire is to help you understand truth about God. I am not going to hound you in every area of your life that I think needs growth. That’s God’s job. However, I do want to share with you that God is tolerant, but that does not mean that He is permissive. To help us with this, consider the words of Pastor Jonathan Parnell as he states, “Now, as political and newsy as it may seem, the main thing to understand about tolerance is this: It is profoundly theological. Yes, tolerance is defensible based on mere reason, and no, you don't have to be a Christian to practice it — or even a theist. But the firmest ground for why we would bother being tolerant goes back to God.” (Pastor Jonathan Parnell http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/no-one-is-more-tolerant-than-god)
     The main thought of this message is the idea that God’s tolerance is not permission. Though it is not permission, it is full of grace and mercy in the hope of repentance. It is not rude or condescending, and it never says the one in rebellion is unloved. One Old Testament story reveals how God was tolerant of Israel’s rejection of Him when asking for a king in 1 Samuel 8-10. Here we can discover two truths about God’s tolerance. When thinking these through, remember that tolerance means that those in disagreement are not hostile or harmful to each other.

     In 1 Samuel Chapter 8 we read of Israel’s desire for a king. They were suffering at the hands of the Philistines and believed the answer was a king to deliver them. In Chapter 9, God was tolerant of Israel’s rejection and allowed Samuel to choose Saul as King. Pay close attention to verses 15-18 and you will notice two important truths. First, God remained faithful to hear their prayers for deliverance. Second, God remained faithful to restrain them.

     Moving to Chapter 10, we discover that God was tolerant of Israel’s rejection and worked in the heart of the leader they had chosen over Him. One surprising merciful act was the fact that the Spirit of the Lord turned the heart of Saul and allowed him to prophecy in verses 6-9. Following this, the people celebrated God’s tolerance perhaps thinking that they were right all along. They may, like many of us today, saw God’s merciful tolerance as permission to remain in rebellion free of its consequences. A simple reading of the rest of the story told in 1 Samuel reveals that our rebellion always has negative consequences in the end.

     This truth leads us to a New Testament thought. God’s tolerance is not to be mistaken for a lack of justice and judgment. To grasp this idea let’s quickly consider the words of 2 Peter 3:1-13. The first thought here is that those who misunderstand God’s tolerance forget about His past judgments. Also, seen here is the overall goal of God’s tolerance that in turn should be ours. The goal of God’s tolerance is that those in error would repent. This becomes very serious because God’s tolerance will end. Therefore, we are to live in holiness and godliness.

     Because of the seriousness of the topic and the place of tolerance in our world today we should be on a tolerant pursuit of truth. I would hope that even those who are not following Christ desire to live in truth. Living in lies is counterproductive to a life most desire to live. Finally, we at Yucaipa Church of the Nazarene are to be tolerant for the same reasons God is tolerant. May God help us be tolerant in the hope of repentance and true unity beneath His truth.

My Situation: How to Thrive in Your Imperfect Place - Part 5 "Responding to Rejection"

            Rejection has played a large part in shaping my life situation into one that I am very thankful. I was not thankful for the rejection when it occurred, and there was temptation to deal with it in ways that were unhealthy. But I thank God that He walked me through those challenges to where I am today. We all have and will continue to face rejection, but it is how we handle it that will shape our life situation. This message addresses the issue of thriving in your imperfect place by properly dealing with rejection. The text for this message as we finish this series is found in 1 Samuel 8. 

           By the time we reach this text, the Israelites had suffered at the hands of poor leaders like Eli and his sons. Therefore, they were rejecting the good leadership of Samuel and God.  As many of us would, Samuel was experiencing this rejection on a personal and spiritual level. However, God came along side Samuel helping him to not take the rejection too personally. Based upon the rejection experienced by Samuel in this text, I want to address avoiding the dangers of improperly dealing with rejection.

            First, improperly dealing with rejection disrupts the safety of community. God created us to live in the safety of community. For the safety of community real reasons for rejection exist. For example, Proverbs 22:10 states, “Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.” Our brokenness and the brokenness of our community keeps us from getting this 100% right. In our attempts to get this right, we as a church may welcome any and all to attend but not all should be allowed to serve as leaders. For the sake of the community, we must work hard to understand the Lord’s will concerning who is called to lead.
            Secondly, improperly dealing with rejection causes us to become overly self-critical. Psychologist Guy Winch believes “the greatest damage rejection causes, is usually self-inflicted because we usually become overly self-critical”. Life then becomes a battle of being overly self-critical verses understanding the need for personal growth. When we are in this position we must learn to understand our value that makes improvement worthy of the effort. Learning to understand this requires getting connected with emotionally and spiritually healthy people.

            With these two ideas in mind, the personal challenge becomes, to deal with the dangers of rejection by embracing the reality that God understands your heart unlike all others. Read the account of how God leads Samuel to select David as Israel’s second king in 1 Samuel 16. The key verses here are 6 and 7. Here we read, “when they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is before him." 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."

            This same passage presents a corporate challenge to our church. The challenge is to deal with the dangers of rejection as a church. At times, we may have to reject our own initial reactions and replace them with God’s. Samuel had to reject his initial understanding of God’s will for the real one. Sometimes who we think should serve in leadership is not God’s choice. May we continually be checking for God’s will as to who shall lead His church.  

My Situation: How to Thrive in Your Imperfect Place - Part 4 "Put it Away"

            I have learned the benefit of leaving my cell phone in my home office when I go to bed. I used to keep it on a small night stand next to my bed and use it as an alarm clock. The problem was, as I would try to go to sleep I would desire to check sports updates, or respond to just one more text. Putting my phone away in my office and buying a simple alarm clock gave me the opportunity to have a few moments of quiet prayer leading to sleep. I had to put away my phone to gain a quiet moment.

            At times our lives situations require us to put some things away. There are things that we all need in life, but fail to have because we refuse to put away some things that we should not have in the first place. Some of these things that we need are things that we have lost. Perhaps you have lost a sense of peace or a measure of faith. When we lose peace or faith, life becomes a struggle to regain them. Therefore we have the challenge of regaining what we have lost by putting away what we should not have.

            1 Samuel 7:3 states, “And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’” The context of this verse (1 Samuel 4-7) is a time of great trouble and loss. The Israelites were seeking to regain what they had lost. The trouble was, they had a strong enemy and were not in right relation with God. This had been the case for many years and now they were beginning to experience the challenges of having what they should not.

            Where they found themselves, brought about the need that many of us have today. They and we need to put away our false comforts. The Israelites had been defeated by the Philistines and the Arc of God had been captured (Ch. 4). They had come to believe that if they had the Arc with them, they could not suffer defeat. They were wrong. What brought victor was God, not that which symbolized Him. That which you believe to signify the presence and power of God is useless without obedience to God.

            The Philistines also became an example of what must be put away. Those things to which we trying to add God. The Philistines suffered greatly because they tried to place the Arc of God among their gods and thus returned it to the Israelites (Ch. 5-6). Trying to add God to your gods causes false assurance and failure. Is we want what God offers we cannot add him to life goals. He and His Will must become our life goals.

            When the Arc of God had been returned to Israel, Samuel proclaimed a challenging truth. Our main verse for this message is that challenge and it is one that remains true. Putting away what you should not have allows you to have what you should.  According to Samuel, we should have a heart directed to the LORD and the ability to serve Him only.  In order to have this, what do you need to put away? The same question can be asked of us as a church. What do we, as a church, need to put away so that we can gain what we don’t have?

            Finishing this thought, it would be wrong to avoid a couple of obvious questions. What if God is not your main concern? What if God is your means to an end? If you find yourself in this positon, you are among many. It is very difficult for us to grasp the fact that God had a reason in mind when He created us. However, when you accept this, you will find peace in nothing else. When you accept this, He will be your main concern instead of a means to an end.   

My Situation: How to Thrive in Your Imperfect Place - Part 3 "An Uncommon Word"

     This week a friend thanked me for giving him a perspective different from his own. His situation involved an issue that could have been acted upon from a multitude of perspectives. For one hour, we thought out loud about many of them. At the end of the conversation we felt like we had looked at both common and uncommon perspectives. My prayer is that God will speak plainly to him, providing a divine perspective. The divine perspective often offers the most uncommon yet most needed word. 

     Similar to the situation faced by my friend, living in a family or community necessitates the need for an uncommon word. We find ourselves being tempted to simply speak about common ideas and popular perspectives. We want to speak what is easy and non-confrontational. However, if we wait on the Lord He can give us an uncommon word. As we continue with the series “My Situation”, may God shape your situation with an uncommon word.

    To elaborate on this topic, we will first look at Samuel’s situation as he was called by God. His situation was unexpected and would require him to be God’s spokesperson. The word of the Lord was rare and there was no frequent vision (V.1). Samuel was young and did not yet know the LORD nor His word (V.7). This was about to change because God was on verge of publically punishing the house of Eli because Eli had known of the sins of his sons and did nothing to restrain (V.11-14).

     Into this situation Samuel was called to speak a difficult and unpopular word. In Chapter 1 Samuel was dedicated to serve the Lord. Now, in Chapter 2 God was calling on him to fulfill the reason for his dedication (v. 3-10). Samuel was confused by the initial calling. The only thing that would clear up the confusion would be to remain still and utter the words, “speak, for your servant hears” (V. 10). When Samuel did this, God gave him a difficult word to speak (11-15).

     Samuel now found himself in the honorable yet difficult position of speaking an uncommon word. His ability to understand the word of God was new. He had to speak difficult words to an authority figure who was being punished for sin. To fulfill this task, he was granted the presence of God and powerful authority to speak effectively (V.19-20).

     God did not stop calling people to speak uncommon words when He called Samuel. He continued to do so throughout history up to today with you. He has shaped you through uncommon words and calls you to speak them to others. For you to fulfill your calling into the lives around you, be a listening servant willing to speak an uncommon word. If you are willing to listen pray the following, “Father, show me the places in my life where Your word is rare and fill me with words to speak.”.

     Not only are individuals to speak uncommon words, but collectively churches are to influence their communities in the same way. In 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10, three important issues are raised. The word must be accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit and full conviction. Secondly, the word may be received with much affliction yet with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Finally, those who receive the word become examples that need no words. May Yucaipa Valley Church of the Nazarene be this type of church. Toward this end consider the words of Ryan Shelton, “We cry out for God to speak with authority and power in our worship meetings and then we open up our Bibles to listen” (http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/only-our-god-speaks).

My Situation: How to thrive in your imperfect place. Part 2

            Job change is bringing many new people into my life. New people that have similar desires and callings. As I get to know them and they get to know me, we summarize how we have arrived at our current jobs. Sharing my path to working at Blooming Christian school has caused me to reflect upon that path and evaluate my current situation. Add 1 Samuel 2 and I begin to ask myself a question. Is my current situation a result of honoring God and is this what He had in mind when He called me into pastoral ministry? The easy answer is yes because they both include the teaching the Bible. However, these kinds of question are never easily answered.

            We all have a path that has led us to where we current sit in life. Maybe you can ask the same question I am asking. Is your current situation what He has in mind? One way to answer this is to ask another question. That question is, is your situation a result of honoring God?

            How about our Christian community? Is Yucaipa Valley Church of the Nazarene what God intended many decades ago? Honestly, there are probably some things that are exactly what God had in mind and other things that are not. This leads us to the main point of this message. Honoring God shapes our situation. Take a moment to read 1 Samuel 2 before continuing.

            In 1 Samuel chapter two we read of two situations. The first is Elkanah and Hannah’s. Hannah now “exults in the Lord” because He has given her a son and removed her form the scorn of others. They were now living in the blessing of God. Because of this Elkanah and Hannah had left their son Samuel in the service of the Lord and were experiencing the blessing of a growing family. Finally, Elkanah and Hannah had a son who was growing in the Lord and the respect of others.

            The second situation is that of the Eli the high priest. Though he had a respected and important position, all was not well. His sons, who were to inherit his position as priest, lived in selfish rebellion. He was being questioned by God as to why he had honored his sons above Him by joining in their sin. These actions caused his situation to become less of what God had in mind. In fact, Eli was living with God’s changed mind.  

            Based upon what we learn in this chapter of Scripture, the challenge becomes to honor God in your current situation through biblical confidence. Please note that confidence is not pride nor is it self-confidence. In his book A Portrait of Christ-Honoring Confidence, B. Hambrick defines biblical confidence. Its three components begin with faith in the fact that God uses you. This breeds the second component which is courage to act out your gifts and abilities Finally biblical confidence includes contentment with how God forms your situation. Further Hanbrick states “A lack of confidence either calls into question God’s ability to enable you to do those good works He has prepared for you to do, or your desire to do them. Therefore, it is theologically and morally wrong for a believer to lack confidence. Confidence is rooted in our understanding that we are sinners redeemed and enabled by God’s sufficient grace to contribute to His kingdom”

            Closing this post leads me to consider how this applies to us as a gathering of Christians. Teck Hui suggests that churches are to honor God by applying our faith to their communities as a corporate social responsibility. In other words, our faith in Christ should have a place in civic matters. This is very difficult to do in today’s religious and political climate, yet we need to get creative a make this happen.

My Situation: How to Thrive in Your Imperfect Place - Part 1

I have suffered from the “if onlys”. If only I had more time I would do a better job. If I had more help I would reach my goals. If only those around me would do better, I would do better. If only I could get in a better situation. Do you ever suffer from the “if onlys”? I think our culture suffers from them greatly, and we as God’s people can rise above them. I believe this is true because there is a high calling above “if only”.  

One of the popular “if onlys” concerns family. Many say if only you had a better family. Samuel could have identified with those who make this claim (1 Samuel 1:1-8). He could identify because His father was a worshiper of God, but he lived with what God tolerated, not what God desired. The law of Moses allowed polygamy (Deut. 21:15), but God’s original desire was one man and one woman. (Matthew 21:15) Samuel also had a mother that had suffered greatly because if what God allowed prior to his birth. However, his mother trusted the Lord in the mist of heartache and rejection. Samuel had a good family, but he could have wanted a better one.

A second popular “if only” is, if only you had a better church. Samuel’s place of worship was imperfect (1:9-18). Samuel’s mom’s heartache was misunderstood as drunkenness by her priest. Many people fail to live up to their high calling because they have a pastor who missed something going on in their life. Pastor’s often fail in this area because, they are human and prone to making mistakes. A pastor’s mistake is not reason for personal mediocrity. Because of this mistake, the advice she received was not in accordance with her need. This issue of compounded by the leadership situation. Eli the high priest had problems of his own and would soon turn over leadership to corrupt sons (Ch.2). All this was about to change because God has a high calling for one that had yet to be born.

           

There are many other “if onlys” that can be discussed. However, we must understand that our calling is to live above each on of them. Samuel’s calling was to thrive above his imperfect. Situation and so is ours. His mother made a vow to the Lord as she prayed to conceive (1:11). His parents offered a generous offering of appreciation at his birth (1:21-25). His parents gave him over to the service of the Lord (1:26-28). All of this formed a calling that would later be described by Jeremiah (14:1) calling Samuel Israel’s greatest leader between Moses and David.                   

Because of what we read in 1 Samuel 1, I want to challenge you to commit to greatness amid imperfection. Consider the following thought. A commitment to greatness is a commitment to service within the imperfect (Greenleaf –Servant Inspired The Journey East by Herman Hess)

As we move forward as a church, the challenge from this message is to thrive in our high calling to do this we must understand that the road of effective church ministry is bumpy. There will always be “if onlys”. Consider the following thoughts from some historic leaders. “Where the Lord builds a church, the Devil will also build a chapel” (Martin Luther). “Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich healthy blood to a sick man” (D.L. Moody). “The Christian church in the U.S. is still strong numerically, but it has lost its decisive influence both in American public life and in American culture as a whole, especially in the major elite institutions of society” (Os Guinness).  God bless you in your “if onlys”.

Judge Me

            From many recent experiences, I am learning of my need for God to be clear on what He thinks about my life. In other words, I need God to make some judgments about me. I see this as a great and exciting thing, because I am confident that God makes true judgments. I also believe this to be good because I am confident in the fact that God created me, and loves me.

            We all have aspects of our lives where we need solid information on what is either good or bad. Regarding how we live as families and communities, we have decisions to make. These decisions shape our lives in many powerful and meaningful ways. One of the aspects that has become very confusing and misleading is justice. We all want it, but collectively we don’t do well defining or experiencing it. One reason for such confusion in this area is that only a just judge can provide justice.

            When thinking about this main thought, God judges the way we wish we could.

God judges with righteousness, equity, and truth.  Psalm 98: 9 stats, “Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.” Our judgment falls short of the truth and is based on status and relationship. Concerning this, Psalm 58:1 states, “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?” This questions is asked in the negative. Asking a question on the negative is done when the one asking the question assumes a no answer.  An example of this is a study on morality by Jonathan Haidt and Jonathan Baron (1996).

“Three experiments investigated how moral judgements of harmful acts and omissions are affected by information about social roles. Subjects were given vignettes in which the relationship between an actor and victim was varied along the dimensions of solidarity (e.g. friends versus strangers) and hierachy (e.g. superior versus equal; the terms are from Hamilton& Sanders, 1981). Subjects were asked to judge the morality of the actor in each case, both for a harmful omission (e.g. intentionally withholding the truth) and for an equivalent act (e.g. actively lying). Subjects judged the behaviour worse in the act than the omission. Judgements were also affected by role relationships. The act-omission difference was also greater in the low-responsibility roles. Responses to the high-responsibility roles seem to reflect in a consequentialist perspective, focusing on outcomes rather than prohibitions.”                     

            Second to desiring to judge in the way God judges, when we understand God as a righteous judge, we desire His judgement. We desire this because God is righteous and full of integrity. Psalm 7:8 states, “The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.” Two more Psalms make the same point. Psalm 26:1 “Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide” and Psalm 35:24 “Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.”

            Thirdly, love and judgement go together. Many belive this to be the exact opposite. Observe this example from nojudgmentjustlove.com. On this website there is a motto and a pledge. The motto is “Inspire No Judgment. Just Love.” The pledge is, “Create a world filled with people who see beyond their first impressions and treat each other with respect. I pledge: (1) To be kind and living to myself, so that I can be kind and loving to others. (2) To recognize when I am judging harshly, then pause and change to something different. (3) To know I don’t have to understand everyone. I can just allow and let them be. (4) To know the joyful expression of forgiveness and truly let thing go. (5) To look for and find more things to be grateful for in my life. (6) To include fun and laughter in every day. (7) To open my heart to live in ways that inspire others to live with no  judgment. Just love. As you look at this motto and pledge notice that it is mixed with truths that do not have anything to do with judgment. These truths give the pledge a sense of truth that masks the unlivable claims about judgement.

            To further make this point, in 2006 a journal called Psychology, Crime and Law reported on a study of both delinquent and community controlled teenagers concerning moral judgement, cognitive distortions, and empathy. They concluded that moral judgement and cognitive distortions are important treatment targets for juvenile delinquents, whereas empathy may be less meaningful to address directly. These conclusions help us understand that if people are to move forward in to health, they will have to learn how to make strong moral decisions and grow out of cognitive distortions. These call for strong, loving, and truthful judgment that leads us towards God’s best for us.

            If you accept what I am saying in the message, then I encourage you to embrace God’s judgment. I believe that as you do, you will come to understand His love in brand new ways. I also desire that our church be a place where God’s judgment is understood and loving used to  

promote a healthy vibrant life. With this I believe we can hold a meaningful place in each others lives and our community.  

References

Haidt, Jonathan, and Jonathan Baron. "Social roles and the moral judgement of acts and omissions." European Journal of Social Psychology 26.2 (1996): 201-218.

Lardén, Martin, et al. "Moral judgement, cognitive distortions and empathy in incarcerated delinquent and community control adolescents." Psychology, Crime & Law 12.5 (2006): 453-462.

Before You Panic

     One of the most powerful motivators that moves us to action is fear. Because we receive hundreds of fear inducing messages per day, we live in culture of fear. This fear tempts us to behave in ways that display the thought that God hides from our prayers, and will not attend to our needs. We then, like the psalmist, seek to fly or wander away. In Psalm 55:1-7 we read of a prayer that we all can relate to in times of fear. Psalm 55:1-7 reads, “1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! 2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, 3 because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. 4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. 6 And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; 7 yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

     To help us deal with fear, I suggest that before you panic, remember.  Looking at Mark 8:18 we see a question asked by Jesus when His disciples feared because they had forgotten bread for their journey. Jesus’ question is, “18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?

     The context of this question is Mark 8:1-30. In this text we see Jesus meeting the needs of those who were following Him and listening to His teachings. Following these event Jesus warned His disciples concerning the sin of the Pharisees and of Herod. The disciples thought that this warning had to do with the fact that they had forgotten the bread, while in fact Jesus was speaking about the propensity of the human heart to need miraculous sign in order to believe. Because they misunderstood and had forgotten bread they began to panic. From this context, instead of panic we are to remember. Within the stated context, we find for things that we can remember instead of experiencing panic.

1. Remember that His provision is from His compassion. 8:1-10

2. Remember that you don’t need another sign. 8:11-13

3. Remember that He has helped before. 8:14-26

4. Remember Who He is. 8:27-30

     As we remember these things and reflect on the caring love of God, we can replace panic with worship. Note what the author of the book of Hebrews says as paraphrased in The Message Bible. Hebrews 12:28 “Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander” (MSG). With this passage in mind, understand that the author calls us to “see”. As you face challenges, please remember to see the good and possibly miraculous outcome when we worship instead of being filled with panic.