What Must I Do for God? (part 2)

Let's get back to the original question: What must I do for God?
Now, I have claimed that a plausible answer to that question is, nothing but receive.

We've heard from Steve McVey and Devern Fromke in part 1.

How about walking further back in time.

Enter Watchman Nee, a Christian who made a huge impact on Communist China in the first half of the 20th century.

He said the following: 

"Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. God has certain holy and righteous demands which He places upon me: that is law. Now if law means that God requires something of me for their fulfillment, then deliverance from law means that He no longer requires that from me, but Himself provides it. Law implies that God requires me to do something for Him; deliverance from law implies that He exempts me from doing it, and that in grace He does it Himself. I need do nothing for God: that is deliverance from law."

Hmm...there is that answer again. "I need do nothing for God." Nothing?!

How about one more perspective, that of Hannah Whitall Smith. For her input, we'll go even further back to the 19th century. I finally got around to reading one of her books, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life.

She opens the first part of this book with these words: (highlights added)

In introducing this subject of the life and walk of faith, I desire, at the very outset, to
clear away one misunderstanding which very commonly arises in reference to the
teaching of it, and which effectually hinders a clear apprehension of such teaching. This

Hannah Whitall Smith

misunderstanding comes from the fact that the two sides of the subject are rarely kept in view at the same time. People see distinctly the way in which one side is presented, and, dwelling exclusively upon this, without even a thought of any other, it is no wonder that distorted views of the whole matter are the legitimate consequence.
Now there are two very decided and distinct sides to this subject, and, like all other subjects, it cannot be fully understood unless both of these sides are kept constantly in view. I refer, of course, to God’s side and man’s side; or, in other words, to God’s part in the work of sanctification, and man’s part. These are very distinct and even contrastive, but are not contradictory; though, to a cursory observer, they sometimes look so.   ...I would like to state as clearly as I can what I judge to be the two distinct sides in this matter; and to show how the looking at one without seeing the other, will be sure to create wrong impressions and views of the truth. To state it in brief, I would just say that man’s part is to trust and God’s part is to work; and it can be seen at a glance how contrastive these two parts are, and yet not necessarily contradictory.


Is that a hard pill to swallow? "Man's part is to trust and God's part is to work." 

So some Christians through the ages have taught that God does the work in our lives and we simply receive and trust in Him to do it. So what? That doesn't necessarily make it true?

What if I feel that the Bible paints a different picture? Couldn't these people be wrong, possibly even heretical?

Well, I think Smith is on to something by stating from the very beginning that both sides need to be recognized. Let's think of some Scriptural illustrations of how the two sides are presented and ask some rhetorical questions.

Could the clay do some of the molding at times rather than the Potter?

Are branches able to accomplish very much apart from the vine? (see John 15)

Is it possible for seeds to become great trees by working hard and putting forth "their share" of the effort, and not by simply receiving the water and sunlight and nutrients from the soil?  (see Mark 4)

The obvious answer to all of the above is NO WAY! I believe most people will honestly say they accept these truths. It is clear that God can do things that we cannot do, even when it comes to our own spiritual growth, and especially when it comes to meeting His own perfect standards. But it is not a matter of whether we say we believe it; the bigger issue is whether we live like we believe it. 

Rather than accepting these ideas as starting points and moving on from them too quickly, my encouragement would be to stay and rest in these truths. I know I am at a place where I need to seriously and patiently consider what all of this means in my life.

It is always the Potter who does the molding. Always! The clay simply yields.
Problems arise when I confuse myself as the Potter instead of the clay!

Branches separated from the vine or root can do nothing! When connected to the Vine or root, they simply produce what naturally flows from the Vine.
Trying to do things for God instead of letting Him live through me is just as silly as me walking down the street giving advice to tree branches on what they should do next to help their growth!

Seeds have everything inside them from the beginning to define what they will become. Gardeners don't have to wonder if the sunflower seeds they planted might somehow produce tomatoes, unless they have the wrong seeds in the first place. They just have to focus on preparing the soil. Nature will take care of the rest.

Our job, then, is to trust and receive as we abide in Christ.

Don't get me wrong. I still wrestle with how simplistic this all sounds. It even seems somewhat irresponsible. I wonder how to make sense of certain passages that appear to contradict these truths, and I know that it is just as easy to find Christians who preach messages that conflict with those of the believers I've quoted in these posts.

However, just because I may not comprehend it fully, I cannot dismiss it. I cannot ignore the reality of grace. Abundant, relentless grace! 

I cannot pretend that this exchange did not occur even though John 6 records it:

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

The formula for faith, then, is that I work for God by believing that He works in me.
After all, this is the mystery of God, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

What Must I Do for God? (part 1)

Question: What must I do for God?
Answer: Nothing!

How does that answer sit with you? 

All right, let me qualify it just a bit. More precisely, nothing except trust and receive Him.

Does that sound any better to you?

Probably not, if you are anything like I have been for years. You see that answer and wonder if it cheapens grace. You wonder where is the Christian responsibility. You wonder if such a "shallow" view of faith can be real. Of course, we have more to do than just receive from Him, you contend. Of course, we have to obey. We must serve. We ought to do good works. We should produce fruit.

You may even complain and question, Who are these "low-standard, anything goes" Christians who expect God to do all the work? What kind of relationship works when only one side does all the giving and the other side does nothing but receive? That doesn't sound very fair, does it?

Am I right? Are those some of the thoughts going through your mind?

I recently tweeted a bunch of insights from Steve McVey's book, Grace Walk (1995), which stirred the pot a little. I believe this sentence from page 129 captures the purpose and main point of the whole book: "If contemporary Christians spent as much time developing loving intimacy with Christ as they spend in defining proper Christian behavior, the world would be a different place."


Take a minute to review some of the other statements from Grace Walk:

• "In the natural world, trying harder is commendable and often effective. But God's ways aren't our ways. Sometimes they seem to be opposite from ours. In the spiritual world, trying harder is detrimental."  (p. 17)

• "We sometimes try to live for Him when He wants to live His life through us."  (p. 37)

• "Resting in Christ is the sole responsibility of the Christian. Everything else flows out of that."  (p. 39)

• "The Christian life is not about Christ. It IS Christ!"  (p. 71)

• "Self-effort is the essence of legalism. It is pointless to pray for God to help you live for him. That may be your goal, but it isn't His."  (p. 89)

• "God's life just naturally flows out of Christians who are abiding in Him."  (p. 106)

• "God's will is not primarily a path, but a Person named Jesus Christ. As we abide in Him, it is impossible to miss the will of God."  (p. 145)

In the book, Steve McVey distinguished between a "changed" life and an "exchanged" life. It is one thing to believe that we have a life that God alters in some ways. It is quite another thing to wrestle with the Biblical teachings about dying to sin and self, and being "born again" to a new life guided by the Spirit. The clear message is that the Source of the new life is Jesus Christ. It is a different life. It is a divine life, though still expressed in a physical, imperfect body.

DeVern Fromke

This is a good time to introduce DeVern Fromke. He wrote a book 30 years prior to McVey's, called No Other Foundation. (I think the book is out of print, but you can find more info about Fromke and his other writings here.) I recently read this book and was struck by the following portion from a chapter entitled, "Why Does Humanity Exist?":

My concept of life had become distorted because I had been thinking, "There is love and faith and power and holiness in the Bible, and I'm sure God will kind of impart it to me somehow, so that I will become a loving person, a believing person, a powerful person." I could not see for the life of me but that I should become something.

This, then, was the first and greatest problem: a misunderstanding of what life is. I think we all start there. It is really a product of the fall: We interpret life as something that we live ourselves; so that even when we become born again of God's Spirit, and saved through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we still interpret life as something we are living right now. We have a job to do, a home to run, and so we seek to live a life in contact with God through Jesus Christ, so we can get assistance and guidance and leadership from Him.

I had to discover that this was not life at all, rather that life is a total reverse of it. Life is not an assistance or addition; it is a replacement. There is only one Person who really lives in the whole universe, and that is the living God Himself. He is the One who is the Three, who is self-giving love. He is the One who is the love of the universe. And we humans exist that we may be means by which He expresses Himself. Humanity itself exists to express Deity.

Hold on! It gets even better! He later adds:

So God created persons to express His own Person by them. The basic purpose of us human beings therefore should be to become the vessels that contain Him. That means our permanent habit has to become receptivity rather than activity.

...If you look at nature, you see that a tree does not produce one leaf by activity. Vegetation receives. It has sunlight and moisture poured on it. What it receives it uses, but activity is only a product of receptivity. Thus did I begin to learn the basic secret of life.


(To be continued...)

Only Human vs. Human Enough

Here is another insight from The Incomparable Christ by J. Oswald Sanders, from the Moody Classics series.

Sanders writes, "We must be careful to distinguish between 'human nature' and 'sinful nature.' They are not synonymous" (p. 112). He reinforces this point by reiterating that Jesus was fully human and yet without sin. 

Being human is part of the original design that God declared good. Theologians have sometimes picked up on this theme and submitted that part of the sanctifying work in people's lives is not to make us less human (more "robotic"), but actually more human; more fully alive, with our emotions and intellect and all parts of ourselves being touched by God.

While it is obvious that part of being human is making mistakes, to say, "I'm only human" when we are faced with the fact that we have made bad choices or willfully disobeyed God or hurt another person, is probably a very poor way of avoiding responsibility for our actions, both naturally and supernaturally.

The fact is that our human nature is what God made us to be. It is good. So, attributing our sin to it is bad theology and anthropology. It quickly can become, God, why did you make me this way? Now, we have fallen into the same trap as Adam and Eve and every blamer and excuse maker in history. We actually dismiss our evil as God's fault.

However, we have a "satanic intrusion" (as Sanders describes it) that is our sinful nature. You may hear the apostle Paul talk about the sin living inside him or doing things he does not want to do (Romans 7), but you don't really hear the excuse from New Testament writers, "Well, I'm only human."

Knowing all of this doesn't solve much of anything for us. We are still left to wrestle with the reality that there is a force at work against us. Simply, we do sin in our humanity. The only point is to be careful what we believe as a result of that fact. We can quickly get into a pattern of all kinds of faulty thinking about God and ourselves if we are not careful to keep that distinction between the human and sinful natures that Sanders mentioned. Once those mindsets take hold, they distort the meaning, and reduce the power, of grace and mercy and love.

Sanders concedes that we are left with a mystery when we consider how we have two natures, and even more, how Christ depended on his anointing from the Spirit rather than his own deity for power in ministry (p. 114). It is mysterious, but it is extremely important and practical for us to realize this truth. Jesus did not have to escape His humanity to perform miracles or love perfectly. Neither do we have to escape ours!

No longer should we say, "I am only human" (insulting the Creator's craftmanship). Instead, we can say, "I am human enough to respond to God and submit to His Spirit and carry out His will today."

Instant Gratification Sold Separately

Here is another insight from The Incomparable Christ by J. Oswald Sanders, from the Moody Classics series.

Sanders writes, "...our divine Lord spent six times as long working at the carpenter's bench as He did in His world-shaking ministry" (p. 69, emphasis mine). 


I have noticed that being in the "formal ministry" (associated with pastoral work in an organized church, which I did for about a decade) is not much different from working in another business setting in our society in one particular way. Instant success, or impact, is desired just as much. It is tempting to want to see a great move of God (people saved, numerical growth, a new ministry launched, etc.) after just a couple prayers or attending "that one conference."

If God is almighty and can work so powerfully, so quickly, then why wait? Why does He put us through the "trial" of preparing for so long? 

If there was one time when we would think God would speed up the process, then it would be when Jesus was on earth getting ready for His public ministry. The work of a carpenter was important and respected in those days, but couldn't God have fast-forwarded to the "Messiah miracles" part of the show?

This lesson is yet another, perhaps the most vivid, reminder that God is not on our timetable. If it was important for the Christ to put in His hours as a carpenter and to go through the process as a Rabbi, then we should expect no less.

It turns out that in God's way of doing things, the time of preparing us spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially is of major significance. Just as college or job training is necessary for certain vocations, spiritual preparation is equally necessary for disciple making and ministry. (This is not to be confused with building a case for seminary. While study may indeed be part of the preparation process, to automatically equate God's preparation in a person's life with man-made training systems misses the point, and has very little scriptural support.)

Moreover, the preparation is usually some form of "wilderness wandering" that involves testing and character building. God takes the time to rid us of ourselves until we are to the point of dependence upon His Spirit. In fact, I have thought that I was ready only to find times when God causes me to return to that uncomfortable prep work again. The wilderness may not be fun, but it is an essential prerequisite before entering a "promised land."

Sanders sums it up in one simple sentence: "Preparatory years are important years."
Well, I guess so!

The Incomparable Christ - Even More Great Quotes

Here is a final set of quotes from J. Oswald Sanders' classic work, The Incomparable Christ. My next few posts will include deeper reflections on other material from this book.

• "Those who love most deeply, suffer most intensely. For Mary, 'the greatest of all privileges was to bring with it the greatest of all sorrows' (259)."

• "We can still hold the cup to His lips by going to those who are needy and ministering in His name" (282).

• "The three English words, it is finished, are the equivalent of a single Greek word, tetelestai. With ample justification, this has been called the greatest single word ever uttered" (285 - referring to what Jesus said on the cross).

• "It can confidently be affirmed that human priesthood reached its zenith in Judaism, but the story of the Jewish priesthood only serves to reveal how tragically it failed those who pinned their hopes to it. It is only in Christ, the ideal High Priest, that this deep and hidden yearning of the human heart finds complete fulfillment" (341).

• "The Bible tells us sufficient to satisfy faith, although not always enough to gratify curiosity. The New Testament was not written to satisfy the inquisitive but to glorify the One who is coming, and to stimulate faith in Him" (355).

The Incomparable Christ - More Great Quotes

I could not fit all the excellent quotes from J. Oswald Sanders' classic work, The Incomparable Christ in just one post so here are more thought-provoking statements. 

• "Anyone can sing in the sunshine, but to sing in the shadows is a rare accomplishment" (181).

• "We are apt to advance pressure of business as a reason for not praying. With Jesus, it was a reason for giving extra time to prayer" (194).

• "He drank a cup of wrath without mercy, that we might drink a cup of mercy without wrath" (204).

• "Never were legal proceedings more irregular or verdict more unjust than in the trial of Jesus" (209).

• "The death of our Lord was unlike every other death. It was not an incident in His life, but the very purpose of it. His self-oblation was no accident in a brilliant career, it was the chosen vocation of the God-man" (226).

The Incomparable Christ - Great Quotes

I just finished J. Oswald Sanders' classic work, The Incomparable Christ (originally titled Christ Incomparable). It turned out to be a great devotional read, focused entirely on the Person and work of Jesus. My next few posts will include reflections on material from this book.

Today, I am sharing some great stand-alone quotes from the book. It appears that there are many great books in the series of Moody Classics. You might want to check them out.

• [It is our task]..."to examine the glorious colors that emanate from the prism of His holy person and redemptive work" (24).

• "If He is not God, He is not even good" (95).

• "Christ never concealed the cross to gain a disciple...The emphasis of our day is rather on what one gains by becoming a Christian. Jesus never failed to emphasize the cost of following Him" (124).

• "It should not be borne in mind, however, that Jesus' perfection of character did not consist in merely negative faultlessness. Throughout His whole life He was characterized by positive and active holiness" (140).

• "Not until Jesus came with His peerless life and matchless teaching was humility elevated to the level of a primary virtue" (174).

• "One fact stands out crystal clear - God's way up is down" (179 - on becoming humble).

Happy Easter Choco-holics!

Like me, you might be surprised to know that except for Halloween, Americans actually purchase and consume more chocolate on Easter than any other holiday, including Valentine's Day and Christmas! 

With the celebration of Easter and Passover, there will be A LOT OF EATING CHOCOLATE going on, which brings us to a tragic irony. The Passover that so many people will celebrate in remembrance of the Jewish deliverance from slavery in Egypt under an oppressive Pharaoh will be held in conjunction with more people eating candy made available to us by the hands of forced child labor.

For information and videos from the full CNN series about the relationship between chocolate and child labor, go here. To check out a recent documentary video, click on this link.

In keeping with my "baby steps" theme, next week I will post simple ways to take action to make this Easter season more about freedom and still treat your sweet tooth.

My Simple Church Guide

For those of you that can't handle a church group not having a manual to address all the "big rocks" like doctrine and evangelism and leadership, here you go. This is what ours would look like.

Our Theology & Beliefs

• Jesus is All.
• Be willing to unlearn some things so that you can learn new insights.

Evangelism & Outreach

• Ask and answer one question: Who is Jesus to you?

Discipleship & Ministry

• Let the answer to the question in the previous section dictate how you live.

Church & Fellowship

• Keep it simple!

Leadership & Service

• The Holy Spirit is the Leader. Everyone else follows as they share in His gifts. 

Organization & Policies

• This section is not applicable due to no buildings, budgets, or big shots. 

There you go!

Somebody's "Emerson" (aka. Why I am Becoming a Modern-day Abolitionist")

Recently, my family and friends surprised me with a birthday celebration. Boy, they got me good! I never saw it coming!

In addition to the event itself, another surprise was the collection of donations toward a personal interest I had of trying to raise enough money for a slave rescue operation with International Justice Mission (IJM). Due to their generosity, I needed to find a way to organize these efforts so I could track funds and progress toward the $5000 goal. So, I went to the IJM website and started a FreedomMaker campaign called Somebody's "Emerson". (You can check it out here.)

My daughter was naturally curious about the name, "Somebody's 'Emerson'." So, I explained to her the reason I am becoming a modern-day abolitionist. Here is what I told her.

"Every night I get the honor of tucking you in at night and praying with you. Many times, we read together and talk about our day and laugh. I look around your room and I see stuffed animals that you can hold in a comfortable bed, a nightlight, a dresser full of clothes, and shelves covered with books.

Emerson with her daddy

"You are my Emerson. You have a lot of nice things and are protected in a home with a family that loves you. Your mommy and daddy get to kiss and hug you and tuck you in safely each night.

"But did you know there are children like you all over the world, and there are some of them that don't get to be in safe homes at night? Some of them don't get to sleep in comfortable beds. They don't have even one stuffed animal to hold on to. They are hurt by people stronger than them. They are told lies. And the worst part is that they don't have a mommy or daddy they can go to for help. Some of these precious kids don't have someone to hold them and love them and do what is best for them.

"If you, my Emerson, were ever in a situation like that, I sure do wish someone would do something to help you. And if that is what I would want someone else to do for my Emerson, then it is right and good for us to do something to help someone else's "Emerson".

Every hurting, exploited or trafficked child is "Somebody's Emerson"!

My Heart Will Sing No Other Name

I am actually writing this very short post in early January 2014 as I think about what I want to do and be this year. I have scheduled it to publish close to my birthday as a reminder to myself and a testimony to others as to what I want to be the theme of my life.

I feel like the words of this song capture it well. May these lyrics be my prayer today.

Lord, help my heart to sing no other name.

I chose this version because there is no distraction of a band, cheering crowd, or images...just the words.

Maybe the message alone can bless you today wherever you find yourself.

Should Christians Follow the Bible or Jesus?

I used to think that the whole Bible was put together to be a complete guide for us. I taught this same view to many others over the years. Sure, I still highly value all Scripture. In particular, the Old Testament has significant insights into God and human nature, tremendous and rich history, a huge volume of examples and "non-examples" of what to say and do, and foundational context to understand the New Testament. But I simply don't think I can support seeing it as a source of direction and authority for how Christians are to live.

With some simple church friends, we recently took a journey through the Old Testament, tracing the story of the Hebrews throughout the centuries. My daughter is working on a website that chronicles some of the lessons from this time that we all spent together. To say that the Old Testament is not important to me or my family would be grossly mischaracterizing what I am saying about Scripture. It is an essential narrative to His-story.

But...it is not essential for salvation. It is not essential to know how to follow Jesus. It is not essential for obedience to Christ, nor is it a pathway for life for the believer. The genuine follower today needs only to be obsessed with one thing - Jesus of Nazareth!

If I had to choose between my daughter knowing all the laws and commands of Moses and Israelite history inside and out, or knowing nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, it would be a no-brainer! (1 Corinthians 2)

Teaching (Core Practice #4)

Intro Note: I have already written about our Plan on a Page, which lays out the four core practices that we consider the marks of discipleship according to the New Testament. In that document, we try to capture the "irreducible minimum standards" of our mission. 

Basically, I contend that there are many things you could not do and still be a Christian, or follower of Jesus. For example, you could not "go to church" or participate in a youth group or listen to Christian radio stations or become a missionary in a foreign land or tithe or...okay, you get it...and yet still be an authentic, sincere, passionate follower of Jesus. These examples may all be good things, but they are not the marks of true discipleship that Jesus gives us in the Bible. They are not the "make-or-break", non-negotiables of the Christian faith used to identify people as real believers.

Then, what are the non-negotiables?


The fourth and final one is TEACHING.

 If we are going to call ourselves disciples, then we must respond to the Great Commission, which calls us to teach new disciples everything that Jesus has commanded us. Discipleship is holding to these teachings. There is a long list of things we could teach each other that would be helpful in our faith, but Jesus has a special way of boiling it all down to the absolute most important teachings. He also makes it clear in Scripture how the world will be able to tell if we are truly His disciples.

Ultimately, everything comes down to obeying Jesus' command to love. This is the greatest command for us to obey. Obedience is expressed through the fruit of the Spirit and leads to freedom.

What is critical to teach children is that being a disciple means obeying and acting like Jesus, especially by loving God and loving others. 


The guiding question for a disciple or church could be, Are people being set free and becoming more like Jesus?

Baptizing (Core Practice #3)

Intro Note: I have already written about our Plan on a Page, which lays out the four core practices that we consider the marks of discipleship according to the New Testament. In that document, we try to capture the "irreducible minimum standards" of our mission. 

Basically, I contend that there are many things you could not do and still be a Christian, or follower of Jesus. For example, you could not "go to church" or participate in a youth group or listen to Christian radio stations or become a missionary in a foreign land or tithe or...okay, you get it...and yet still be an authentic, sincere, passionate follower of Jesus. These examples may all be good things, but they are not the marks of true discipleship that Jesus gives us in the Bible. They are not the "make-or-break", non-negotiables of the Christian faith used to identify people as real believers.

Then, what are the non-negotiables?

The third one is BAPTIZING.

Let me start this one with what we teach children. We are baptized as a way of showing we understand that Jesus died and rose back to life to wash away our sins and give us power to live a new way of following Him. I respect that this is a topic about which parents can have strong feelings.

Baptism is one of the topics that has challenged me as I read through the New Testament objectively. It is possible to defend just about any position concerning baptism, depending on which verse people quote and what context they use it in. I am not going to dive into that debate here. Simply, we define this practice as uniting with Jesus in a new life.

Regardless of what you believe about baptism, there is no way to dismiss the significance of this act in the New Testament. The early church's immediate and automatic response to the gospel was baptism. 

Anyone who encountered Jesus could be baptized and baptize others.

I want to be clear that I am not saying that going into water is what "saves" a person, but I also can't dismiss the obvious importance of baptism as evidenced by the repeated emphasis on it throughout the New Testament. I just have to re-state it again: The early church's immediate and automatic response to the gospel was baptism. It was the Bible's equivalent to what the "sinner's prayer" or "altar call" has become in our part of the world over the past two centuries.

The guiding question for a disciple or church could be, Are we bringing people to salvation in Christ?

My wife baptizing me

(You can read my baptism story here.)

Praying (Core Practice #1)

Intro Note: I have already written about our Plan on a Page, which lays out the four core practices that we consider the marks of discipleship according to the New Testament. In that document, we try to capture the "irreducible minimum standards" of our mission. 

Basically, I contend that there are many things you could not do and still be a Christian, or follower of Jesus. For example, you could not "go to church" or participate in a youth group or listen to Christian radio stations or become a missionary in a foreign land or tithe or...okay, you get it...and yet still be an authentic, sincere, passionate follower of Jesus. These examples may all be good things, but they are not the marks of true discipleship that Jesus gives us in the Bible. They are not the "make-or-break", non-negotiables of the Christian faith used to identify people as real believers.

Then, what are the non-negotiables?

The first one is PRAYING.

There are many things you can decide not to do and still be in tight with Jesus, but deciding to avoid talking to Him or listening to Him is a deal breaker. This one falls into the common sense category. Trying to be right with God without ever praying is like marrying someone with the condition that you never communicate after the vows are exchanged. It doesn't work.

Another reason I would consider this essential is that Jesus commanded, taught, and modeled prayer for us. So far, these are the obvious reasons why prayer is important. 

There is one more truth, though, that needs to be highlighted in describing the necessity of prayer. It is, quite literally, how disciples are made. There is an illusion that people are persuaded into the kingdom of God, but it is probably more accurate to say that people are prayed into the kingdom. Receiving God's grace in Jesus is not a matter of the wisdom of the world, but is the response when are minds are "set on things above."

One of the interesting ironies of the gospel is that it cannot be shared by human means because it is SPIRIT-ual. The only way to make sense of the gospel or understand wisdom of the Spirit is to have Him reveal it to you. Prayer opens a channel for that to happen. It is how we know His mind, heart, and will.

What is critical to teach children is that prayer is how Jesus taught us to connect with God. We don't water down the message about prayer, but rather keep it simple because children can actually lead us in this area and have powerful relationships with God through prayer.

The final point about prayer is that it is a great example of the freedom we have in Christ. Prayer is not regulated. There is no requirement for a person to pray in a certain posture, at a certain volume, with certain words, at certain times, or in certain places. A conversation with God can be had anywhere. In fact, that is what is so great. I can talk to God or listen to Him at home, at my work, in my car, on the sidewalk, during a meeting, in a class, when I am alone, when I am nervous or happy or sad or confused, or even while I am at my computer typing the words to a blog. Thank you, Lord!

The guiding question for a disciple or church could be, Are we seeing prayers being answered?

Faith Like a Child (Part 7)

To wrap up these posts about faith and children, I will simply leave us with the following passage from Mark 10:13-16. I welcome your thoughts and observations of this text. The only comment I will make is the obvious one - Jesus doesn't want anything to get in the way of children coming to him, or him coming to them! That is really what all these passages have boiled down to in my opinion.

May God guide and bless you as you receive and reflect on his words below. People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Faith Like a Child (Part 6)

Continuing with Matthew 18:1-6, now we arrive at one of the most intense teachings concerning children and faith. Jesus deals directly with the great responsibility we have when it comes to guiding children. He doesn't play word games or speak in abstract terms. He is as clear and to the point as anytime in his whole ministry. He says, "It is better to be drowned than to lead a child astray!"

I have watched a video about this teaching that was filmed in the Holy Land. The presenter showed a "large millstone" like what Jesus is referring to in this verse with a sea in the background. He demonstrated how vivid this warning would have been for the people listening to Jesus. It left quite an impression on me.

In context, this passage leads into some more verses explaining the devastating dangers of sin and how it is to be avoided at all costs. There is nothing light about this passage no matter which Gospel you take it from. And clearly, Jesus seems to be just fine with letting the immensity of it lay heavy on our minds and hearts. In sum, Jesus argues that the children are the greatest in the kingdom and becoming like them is really good, and causing them to go away from God is really, really, really, really, really BAD!!!

So, that leaves us with the responsibility of evaluating our own beliefs. What are we passing on to the next generation? How are we shaping their belief systems? What are we communicating about God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Are we interfering with God's will or contradicting God's word? Are we passing on the gospel of peace or our own tradition? Are we handing children and youth a vibrant faith that accompanies true discipleship, or are we programming their lives with the religion of Pharisees? How honestly and willingly are we analyzing these issues?

If nothing else, we are at least left with a sense of burden from these verses.

 

Faith Like a Child (Part 5)

Before reading my thoughts today, you should check out Matthew 18:1-6.  Here we reach another popular, often quoted passage of Scripture. I only want to look at the first part now and save the last part of it for the next post.

A couple observations. First, this is one of the places the Bible records that people are to become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Interestingly, for as much as we talk about maturity in the church, there is no verse instructing children to become like adults, but Jesus explicitly says that entrance into the kingdom is dependent upon adults changing and becoming like little children. Now, I do believe we need to talk about spiritual maturity and growth in the church (more precisely, as the church) because I think there is plenty of biblical warrant for that, but let's not dismiss the profundity of Jesus' statement in this text.

I believe the issue here is what kingdom we are focused on. I submit that much of our rhetoric may be about getting children ready for the world. There is tremendous attention given to making them "better disciples" by being more responsible. Questions usually asked are: How can we help them do better at school? How do we get them to behave more appropriately in society? How do we teach them the importance of going to college, getting a good (aka. high paying) job, pick the best marital partner, raise a family, etc.? Obviously, there are necessary aspects to all these questions that I don't mean to diminish. However, my concern is that we could have become too preoccupied with the kingdom of the world...maybe we are too focused on "earthly things" at the expense of setting our "minds on things above." The truth is that we are "aliens", foreigners in this world, and that children are the best human representatives of the kingdom that we should be more concerned about.

What I need to be reminded of is that our identity as the church is in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. It is this reality that flips our understandings and priorities completely. Suddenly, our emphasis is on how to become not the first, but the last; not how to gain status and income to be served, but to serve; and NOT how to raise children up, but how to bring adults down. In other words, the kingdom in which Jesus reigns as King has an interesting admission requirement. It is not about how we have raised children into better grown-ups, but it is how we have raised grown-ups into better children! After all, the kingdom belongs to the children. I mean, think about that truth for a moment. Do we really believe that? In all other arenas of life, if we totally believed that something we wanted belonged to someone else, then I bet we would go to that person or group to find out more. So, if we really care about the kingdom of heaven, then doesn't it make sense that we might want to spend some time with the very people it belongs to - the children themselves!

My second observation is simple and from the mouth of Jesus:  greatness is associated with the humility of children.

Faith Like a Child - Part 4

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."   -Matthew 11:25-26

I have to be honest. I don't ever remember reading this verse before a couple weeks ago. So, in my past readings of Matthew, I must have dismissed this verse for some reason, but now it stands out to me. First of all, like Psalm 8, we have the combination of heaven and earth mentioned. The spiritual (heavenly) realm is at work in our physical world (earth). The Kingdom of God is very much here and now.

I don't know how I could have just skimmed over this verse before. Let's see...we have the Messiah, the Savior of the world, praising the Father (in other words, the Triune God) because it was his pleasure (i.e. his desire) to make it so that only children understand some things!!! Um, that's pretty stinkin' amazing! We don't only get a glimpse into the truth about children and adults here, but also another picture of the nature of God himself. Make sure not to miss the point that some really important things have been hidden from the "wise" and only revealed to little children because that's the way he likes it!

Now, for the kicker...the context of this passage. What was Jesus talking about just before he said these words? Believe it or not, it was the judgment of God - the same divine and devastating judgment that was released on the ancient cities of Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon. Jesus unleashes harsh warnings on Korazin and Bethsaida. To be blunt, Jesus is saying, "You think you've seen consequences before; you ain't seen nothin' yet!" Then, he follows it up with this teaching about children only comprehending things that even the trained, educated, wise people don't get, which makes God happy.

I'm not pretending that I can make sense of all this (I’m sure a child could!), but I do know that it makes me wonder just how seriously I am taking the spiritual insights of the children around me. Children must be active participants in "church life" in the midst of an adult community that respects and appreciates and accepts their spiritual contribution to God's family. After all, according to this verse, they may know something we don't!