Our response to another's sin

February 29, 2008 in Philosophy with 1 Comment

Jesus came to model for us how we are to respond to another’s sin. If we apply human attributes to Jesus, one might argue that He shouldn’t have ever come to die for us. He would have been perfectly justified responding with anger, judgment, hostility and wrath. And while there was a price to pay for sin (separation from God), He never left us to suffer for eternity for what was justifiably an eternal offense.In spite of this justification – He came. And not only came, but suffered and died a heinous death to atone for something He didn’t do – we did. What does this say to us about how we SHOULD respond to another’s sin?

Humility | It is only by His Grace that we’re not in the same shoes
Sadness | A choice against God’s has been made and that leads to pain
Grief | There’s a part of God’s family that is hurting and something lost
Love | If we can’t love one another in the hard times, we have not love at all
Grace | We’ve required it and need to be quick to give it
Mercy | We all need pardoning because we are all guilty

finally…

Hopeful expectation | The valleys He takes us through are the places where we are shaped to be more like Christ and we should expect God to show up and start His miracle work in the deep dark places where we are forced to come to the end of ourselves.

What is your default response to another’s sin? How does your response help restore your brother?

Leadership | 1.0

February 15, 2008 in Leadership, Philosophy with 0 Comments

I’d guess that more books have been written about leadership than almost any topic (if not, close), which shows just how important leadership is to our society. I have regular time with a few friends where we talk about leadership – expressed in different contexts, but leadership is the core of the discussion. I’ve been a leader (involved in leadership roles) since high school where I served as our National Honor Society’s President my senior year.

When I look back at that experience and compare it to the roles I’m engaged in today, a vast difference is readily evident, but a few similarities exist as well. Back then, it had some to do with status (yes I know it was a club for nerds), but I distinctly remember implementing a new way to conduct our meetings. I desired to increase the effectiveness of our time together and therefore organized our people into comities with an officer giving oversight to each. It was new, fresh, risky…and it worked and I felt really good about the gamble paying off.

That illustrates a trait common to many books on leadership: high tolerance for risk. This trait is important; however, it is WAY down on the list in my estimation today. So, what is the list, you may ask. I’d like to take several posts to look at a few of them, but start here with something that will help put them all into perspective.

Andy Stanley has been a teacher via podcasts and recorded Catalyst messages. The one thing that he stresses is that leadership is given by God and is therefore temporary. “Leadership is a stewardship. It is temporary and I’m accountable. The sovereign God is the ruler of all the kingdoms of men. He gives them to who He wishes.” He states that if that one single thought were to settle into our hearts, our leadership would be different. Why is that? No…really, I’m asking – post your thoughts on this whether you agree or disagree.

Being vs. Doing

February 12, 2008 in Philosophy with 2 Comments

Over the past several months, God is showing me the difference between “being first” vs. “doing first”. Specifically, I’m talking in a spiritual context and the motivation or heart behind my activities. To illustrate what I’m talking about, I’m going to use Jesus as an example. I’m starting to see Jesus (the person) in a different way. He has been described on a regular basis as a revolutionary and I disagree. Sure, he was proposing a different way of thinking, but it wasn’t anything new. In fact, Jesus was calling people back to what was intended all along, so in that sense, He can be best described as a traditionalist.

The Old Testament is filled with rules (also called laws) that were intended, in my opinion, not so much to set some “safe” boundaries for God’s people, but to shape a lifestyle that was different enough for the world to take notice and therefore, create opportunities for the Jews to point to their God as the One True God. The motivation behind following the Law needed to be out of a love for God, but it got morphed over time for some to blind obedience. Jesus said that He was on earth to fulfill the Law and show first-hand what it looked like to BE first rather than DO first.

If you look at how Jesus interacted with the Pharisees (the most schooled people on God’s Law), you’ll notice an intense examination of their heart – the motivation behind the rituals performed. He continually chastised them for not only following a ritual with impure motivations, but also for propagating that mentality on to the rest of the Jewish community. Jesus wasn’t talking about a new Christianity, he was reminding them of the way it should have been all along. Abraham was saved, not by his relentless following of the Law, but by his faith in God and His promises of salvation. His obedience to the Law flowed out of his love for his God. In essence, Abraham loved God first and that love was the motivation for his actions.

So, that brings me to today and a close examination of my own heart and those that God has given me watch over. I believe He has always called us to focus on our heart; spending the majority of our time examining our character, developing a reputation of integrity and a genuine love for others. In short, it is the inside of a man is what proves to power long-term motivation that brings God pleasure. It is out of that mature heart that action is given influence.

The struggle is against a culture that readily produces activities that we are supposed to “do” in order to grow in our faith. Sure, there are things that we can learn by doing that make a difference in our heart and then there are other activities that we do out of a sense of guilt. It is the latter that I believe Jesus was asking us to reject or at least scrutinize.

To sum up, I’m starting to “do” things that develop who I am first and allowing that maturity to overflow into how I serve – always examining my motivation and learning from the “poor choices” I make along the way.  Thoughts?

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