TWO KINDS OF CHRISTIANS

In a sermon entitled The More Excellent Way, John Wesley shares a provocative contrast between high road and low road Christians.  It’s worth sharing in this blog.  He writes,

“One ancient writer observed there have been from the beginning two kinds of Christians.  One kind lived an innocent life, conforming to the customs and fashions of the world in all things not sinful, doing many good works, abstaining from gross evils, and following the commandments of God.  He tried to keep a clear conscience, but did not air at any particular strictness, being in most things like his neighbors.  The other not only kept  from all appearance of evil, he was diligent in good works of every kind, and kept the commandments of God.  He also worked to attain the whole mind of Christ, and to be as much like Jesus as possible.  In order to do this, he walked a constant course of universal self-denial, trampling on every pleasure he was not divinely sure was pleasing to God.  He took up his cross daily, and tried unceasingly to enter in at the straight gate.  He spared no pains to arrive at the summit of Christian holiness, leaving the first principles of the doctrine of Christ to go on to perfection, to know completely the love of God that passes knowledge, and to be filled with all the fullness of God.”

 

To paraphrase John Wesley, we always have a choice.  We can choose to walk either path. God’s calling of course is the more excellent way.  While it is often the narrower path, nevertheless it leads to higher heights and deeper depths of holiness.  The lower path is still a good way and on that path God can be served in a fashion.  Mercy can be found at the end of life.  Those on that path are not going to hell.  They just won’t have as high a place in heaven as they would if they chose the higher path.  In nearly everything we do, there is a more excellent way.  So, choose the higher path and keep going on the more excellent way, the way of obedient love.

QUIET AND CONFIDENT

What is it about quiet guys that girls find attractive?  Is it because in a quiet way they seem to have a hidden strength?  I confess in college my wife liked me in part because I was quiet.  Quietness left room for mystery.  In reality, I was just shy, but hey, it worked in my favor.  Quietness is often paired with confidence, an inward appearance of assurance and poise.  It infers an inward strength.  It may be assumed because in real life it is often true.  We find attractive the person who is strong and needs not to be loud about it.  In times of difficulty and distress there is a calm demeanor.  He or she has a peace that others notice. God says through the prophet Isaiah, “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”  (Isaiah 30:15) The Apostle Peter says in the hidden person of the heart there is “an incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in the sight of God.”

(1 Peter 3:4).

I find that quiet people are often more approachable.  Perhaps they appear to be good listeners.  They have the potential of a quiet ministry that Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the ministry of biting the tongue.  They are not proclaimers.  They have no soapbox issues to announce.  They are reflective and slow to speak.  I remember often seeing effectiveness of the chairman of the Dept. of Psychology at Arizona State University in meetings of a community agency board of directors.  He was quiet, pensive, and not saying much the whole meeting.  But, often toward the end of the meetings he would speak up to quietly offer just the right wisdom to untie the Gordian knot problem with which the board had been wrestling.  His stock on the board was high.  He quietly achieved high respect and the confidence of others.

There is much in the Bible to support the idea of quietness and confidence.  God says to Joshua “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will not leave you nor forsake you. . .  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:5,6&9)  The ApostlePaul, after encouraging the Ephesians to do the will of God from the heart as to the Lord and not to men, then says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.”  (Eph. 6:10)  Jesus in giving his disciples his Great Commission says,  “All authority has been given me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples . . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

As I get older, it is easier to relax, enjoy the meditating benefits of quietness and reflect on the truth that God’s promises are real and reliable.  He is absolutely faithful.   His grace in the past and the present occasions confidence and faith in the future. To paraphrase Paul’s words to the Philippians (4:6&7), we need not be anxious for nothing, but in everything by quiet prayer and confidence, and with supplication and thanksgiving, we may let our requests be made quietly known to God; and the gentle peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will give us confidence in Him and guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God! 

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. (Isaiah 30:15)

GETTING MORE OUT OF MEMORIAL DAY

Is it time to do something more with Memorial Day than just backyard  barbeques and schmoozing with friends?  The central idea of celebrating the day is remembrance. With that in mind, a few adjustments can go a long way.  First, focus on something worthy of remembrance in accord with the spirit of the day.  Reflect on all those who have served our country with honor and bravery, living and dead.  Their courage and sacrifice is a price paid for our remarkable freedom and quality of life.   

Don’t just skip over the opportunity.  Focus and reflect on someone specifically with some devotion to discussion as a family or gathering of friends.  The possibilities are endless.  Is there someone in your family or circle of close friends whose life was given over to preserve and protect the nation and our posterity?  Research that person and discuss their contribution.  Then pray with thanks for what you now appreciate more deeply about them.  It will make the day of remembrance more meaningful and personal.

Second, you may care to expand your focus and reflection beyond the present age.  Go back in time. Pick a time period and learn something about the key figures that made a difference then.  Here’s where Wikipedia can be helpful in doing a little research.  Some examples might be the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish- American War, etc.   Do the same as above.  Focus and reflect with some meaningful discussion. You will acquire a new appreciation of others the memories of whom have faded.

Third, you may choose to expand your focus beyond contemporary history and reflect on  Christian martyrs. One more exercise would be to do some research on martyrs of the early church (Stephen, Peter, Paul, several disciples, Justin, Jerome, Origen, Perpetua), or in subsequent history, or even in the present twenty-first century. In the book, Sorrow and Blood: Christian Mission in Contexts of Suffering, Persecution, and Martyrdom,* we read the estimate that the world has experienced 70 million Christian martyrs since the beginning of the Church at Pentecost.  Here is the most startling statistic I have ever encountered:  well over half of the 70 million martyrs over the past two thousand years were killed in the twentieth century alone.  This includes over 20 million martyred in Soviet prison camps. Christians are still being persecuted and martyred in startling numbers. Again, look for an opportunity to discuss what you’ve learned.  Then give thanks to God for those who have given their lives for what they believe.

I’ll be doing this on Memorial Day as part of our family devotions at the dining table.  Taking the time to remember is a more meaningful way to celebrate Memorial Day than just grabbing some burgers off the barbeque and guzzling down a beverage of choice, though I look forward to that too.

*W.D.Taylor, A. van der Meer, & R. Reimer (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2012)

SOME COLLEGES CAN KILL YOU

I make the case in an earlier blog that parents are the key to children’s life long spiritual formation and well-being.  I am convinced that they are.  Parents frame the environment of family life for every family member’s spiritual formation and maturity.  Parents are the primary force in a child’s spiritual education and experience, until age eighteen.  Then, there is another reality that is key.  Children leave the home and venture out into life settings that are either spiritually healthy or toxic.  The one I am most familiar with is the university/college context. 

College can kill you spiritually.  I’m not saying that students cannot spiritually survive toxic college and university environments.  The odds favor students who are strong in their faith and daily walk.  But, for some students, especially those who are not strong, some settings are high risk for Christian spiritual mortality.  Here’s why:  1) university education is built mostly on high status, high influence persons called faculty of whom very few (17% at best) are Christians.  The overwhelming number of faculty on most universities and colleges are either agnostic or committed atheists.  A critical mass of faculty is boldly hostile to Christianity and to students who are Christians.  2) The same may be said for the percentage of student peers at the university.  The normative life style on most campuses is minimally distracting and more often outright toxic.  3) University and college campus settings are largely void of opportunities to continue the Christian journey including worship, corporate prayer, Bible study, fellowship, and the integration of faith with the subjects that students are learning.  4) A Christian worldview to contextualize the university experience is not available.

Too often the result over a four-year bachelor degree experience is the total dissipation of faith.  A student may come from a very healthy family milieu.  His/her parents may have done every thing right in providing a spiritually healthy family setting for growing strong children.  But, university and college settings can be powerful alternative contexts that can undo all the good that was accomplished in the home.  Students may remain nice people, good citizens, and persons of ethics and charity, but faith in Christ dissipates and their faith journey goes in other directions.

The option to this rather familiar and sad picture is Christian higher education.  Such settings* offer an enormous value added alternative.  Students in Christian universities and colleges are immersed in contexts where the means of grace are available.  Faith is integrated with learning.  Professors are spiritually supportive.  The Christian worldview is normative and spiritual maturity is an intentional student outcome of the institution.  In such settings, the exposures and encounters give students a chance to spiritually flourish into Christ-likeness.  Thanks be to God!

*Asbury, Bethel, BIOLA, Booth (Canada), Eastern Nazarene, Gordon, Greenville, Houghton, Indiana Wesleyan, Messiah, Malone, Point Loma Nazarene, Roberts Wesleyan, Seattle Pacific, Spring Arbor, Taylor, Trinity Western (Canada), Westmont, Wheaton, to name a few.

PARENTS ARE THE ONES . . .

Some kids grow up well grounded in their relationship with God. They develop into mature Christians with their own walk with Christ.  They live lives of righteousness and service to God and to others.  They manage the inevitable stresses and struggles of life with strength tapping into the grace of God.  They seek the Lord and walk in holiness.  Other kids grow up good-hearted people with shallow grounding in their faith or none at all.  They remain at best "babes in Christ" with only an occasional, episodic connection with God at Christmas and Easter.  They miss out on the inexhaustible grace of God in times of struggles and stress.  They ignore God most of the time if not completely, and they walk following paths of their own choosing.

 

Most Christians know both kinds of kids who take two divergent paths in life.  What is it that differentiates the two different outcomes?  Why the two different paths?  I ask these questions because I am the grandfather for the first time of a nine-month old little boy.  I want him to grow-up completely.  I want him to be physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritual healthy.  I want him to have a personal, intimate relationship with God and develop into a man of holiness and righteousness.  I have some ideas of what needs to happen for God to shape and form him, bless him, and make him a blessing to others.

The overarching factor in his spiritual maturity and purity of heart is parents' engagement with their child in the ways and means of becoming increasingly intimate with God throughout his/her life.  Parents cannot leave this to someone else.  The home is the primary setting for this to happen beginning at the earliest age. This means loving parents who love her/him and each other.  They read the Bible to him/her, help him get into the life-long habit of reading the Bible and making that a priority.  They pray with her and together in the beginning of the day, at meals and at the end of the day.  They continue that throughout his life.  As he gets older, parents must see that he is engaged with other Christians (not just children) in worship and ministry (and not just in nominal, entertainment oriented church youth group activities).  They participate with her in Christian service ministries to the poor, marginalized, and displaced. They encourage him as a young adult to stay the course, seek Spirit filled social contexts, and follow Christ. 

There is great developmental potential in viewing his spiritual journey as one in which he/she becomes increasing acquainted with Jesus.  This begins by teaching him about God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Counselor and Comforter Holy Spirit.  It continues helping him understand his identity as a sinner and seeking Christ’s forgiveness and salvation.  It progresses to helping her in the spiritual disciplines and means of grace by which God grows her heart and her desire to be filled with the very presence of Christ and to love the Lord with all her heart.  It continues with nurturing a heart of service and sacrifice for the good of others.

Parents' spiritual leadership in the home is the key. Parents, and the social/spiritual context they provide, are the key to a child’s development and maturity in Christ.  The Bible does not say, “Make sure, parents, that you get your child into a good Sunday school or youth group.”  It doesn’t say, “Send your child to a good summer camp or to the right school.”  I does say –

“Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prov. 22:6