The Power of Other-Orientation

     I love to watch God heal: bodies, hearts, emotions, spirits, and perhaps especially, relationships. And I am not alone in my joy in seeing relationships healed. In writing his joy-filled letter to the network of house churches we know as "the Church at Philippi," the Apostle Paul says, "Make my joy complete by being in completely healthy relationship with one another." (Philippians 2:1-4 summarized and paraphrased.). 

     In encouraging the Philippian saints to complete his joy, Paul gives a powerful other-oriented prescription as to how these healthy relationships are achieved. All that follows "make my joy complete" is one big string of supporting participles describing how they can fulfill his joy: "being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose, doing nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, humbly considering others as more important than yourselves, not looking out only for one's own interests but also the interests of others." (Tom's translation). And if there's one phrase that, in my opinion, describes all of these, it's "other-orientation."

     There is tremendous healing power in other-orientation, even beyond the obvious realm of relationships. I have noticed many times over the years the power of turning someone from the self-focus that often accompanies great pain to at least a little focus beyond him/herself. Even small movements towards others can bring, if not total healing (physical, emotional, relational), a noticeable reduction in pain and an open door to more healing. Indeed, I cannot recount the number of times I saw breakthrough for someone who decided to turn away from self to serve others in some small way or the number of marriages that started the healing process when at least one partner made a decision to consider his/her spouse "as more important than him/herself."

     Sometimes this truth is quite obvious: allowing God to remove bitterness and its connection to physical healing is well known. And the shift towards serving the other, forgiving the other is also clearly a key to healing relationships. But is it possible? Absolutely! Consider the following.

     First, before Paul gives the admonition about fulfilling his joy, he reminds his hearers of what we all have been given through Jesus Christ. Verse one literally reads, "Since you have encouragement from being united with Christ, since you have comfort from His love, since you have tenderness and compassion from Him..." (Tom's paraphrase). Paul's appeal is given to those who were, through their relationship with Jesus, experiencing an ongoing flood of encouragement, comfort, tenderness and compassion. It is in light of their corporate and individual experience of the wonder of all this that Paul says, "make my joy complete by ...." So we are not asked to make a choice to consider others better than ourselves, to become other-oriented, in a vacuum. Rather it's in the infinite context of and continuing experience of God's love and power and all that means (the healing of our own wounds and changing of our "wounded" thinking) that God says to us, "Turn from self to the other"! 

      Second, Paul doesn't suggest that in considering another better than self we are to accept that as reality: that they really are better than we are, more important than we are. That's where far too many people live already: feeling inferior to others, and it's totally wrong and counter-productive in terms of becoming other-oriented. Neither does Paul suggest that we "pretend" in some way that the other person is more important. No, what Paul encourages us to do is to make a conscious decision to make the other person: their heart, their interests, etc., more important than our own. It's a solid decision, made in the heart, that reveals itself in how we think and act.   

·           Third, Paul elaborates on what "considering others better than ourselves" looks like in verse 4: "looking not only to your interests but to the interests of others." Wow, I wonder what it would look like if our American culture, our church culture, really put this one into practice in a conscious and continuing way. What healing, what relational wholeness would follow, eh? 

     Finally, Paul points to Jesus (who lives in each of us by His Spirit) as our example for the power of other-orientation in verses 5-11. I don't have time today to fully elaborate on this remarkable passage, but please notice the following: God's Son made a conscious and settled decision to lay aside the "God part" of Himself to serve us, but He did this in the context of His knowledge of and trust in His Father and His Father's love for Him. It is, I think, the context of Father's love and the very deliberate decision to lay self aside that grew out of it that we need most to understand if we are to release in our own lives the power of other-orientation. Just a thought.

Living loved in order to live increasingly other-oriented.

Tom, one of Abba's dearly loved little children

My Dad

     My dad is now 88 years old and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and it's sad to see that disease slowly steal away a great man. But the legacy of who he is remains, of course, and it seemed fitting today to share with you portions of a letter I wrote to my dad a while back that lists some of the things my dad gave to my siblings and me. I have written about my dad a couple of times before--the entry from September 17, 2010 being somewhat similar to today's entry (you can see it by clicking here), but I have never really listed out some of the things for which I am truly grateful like I do in the letter below. 

     My dad was a captive, in a sense, of the times in which he lived. His generation, the "Greatest Generation," according to Tom Brokaw (see my blog on this by clicking here), lived through some of the most horrific seasons in modern history: the Great Depression and World War 2. Those experiences shaped my dad and others in his generation, and some of that "shaping" left them broken in ways that hurt their children. Thus I and others in my generation have our share of "father wounds." But the older I have gotten, the more I have come to realize the reasons why Dad is the way he is and, more importantly, the legacy he has given to me in spite of his own wounds. You will glimpse some of that legacy, I trust, in my letter to him.

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Dear Dad,

I was going through my journal the other day and found my entries where we were all realizing that Mom’s time of departure was near at hand. One thing that struck me deeply after her funeral was discovering my letters to her in her Bible. I found myself wishing I had written more of them to her.

It’s strange how we sometimes fail  to tell those who are most precious to us how important they are to us, but I don’t want to make that mistake with you. And even though historically you have thought it a sign of weakness for people to need “an Attaboy!” I know that you really do need to hear encouragement from others just like all the rest of us. So I want to write a few thoughts telling you why I think you are a good man, a great man. You probably don’t know this, but one time when Mom confided in me about your relationship, she described you (more than once, I think) as “one man in a million.” That moment has always stayed with me, and as I have grown older I have come to realize why Mom said that, and why I believe she was right. Here are a few reasons.

First, you are a leader. From your stories about almost walking off the edge of the ship to the ones about how you started the business to a thousand other stories, it’s clear that God destined you to lead. You spent decades leading a company through good times and bad times, and you did so with a caring heart for your employees and a true commitment to ensuring that customers could count on Wymore’s doing things right. You led in other areas as well, serving on the board at church, serving as scoutmaster, taking the lead in caring for the Blue Angels during their training season down here, and many more. That leads me to the next point.

Second, you are a servant. If we didn’t know that before, watching you care for Mom during her final years proved that beyond any shadow of doubt. And you served in many, many other areas as well. Every time you drive by the First Christian Church building you see evidence of your servant’s heart. You and John, Claude and a few others took the lead in seeing that facility constructed and it stands today as a testimony to your servant-heartedness. And think of how many members of the Blue Angels got to experience not just good barbecue but good hunting and good friendship from you as you served them. I could write more, of course, but you get the picture, I think. You also served your country as part of the Greatest Generation—something I appreciate more and more each time I meet a WWII vet or read about the Great War. You also served us as best you knew how. Many of my friends never had a dad who taught them how to fish or hunt or work or fix cars, but I did. And I realize now that your taking me hunting or fishing or having me work for things instead of just giving them to me was your way of saying “I love you” to Rich, Marla and me. Thanks for serving and loving us, Dad.

Third, you are remarkably generous. I learned how to be generous and hospitable by watching you, Dad. And of all the things I am proud of you for, this one may be the one I mention the most often to others. I trace my deep commitment to generosity to my learning it from you. It seemed to me that every time I turned around I was watching you give to people—that marked me deeply, Dad, and I will always be grateful for your example in this!

Fourth, you put your very strong mind to good use. None of us can take credit for how God made us, of course, so the fact that some folks have strong minds is simply a gift from God. But we watched you put your mind to very good use, and you taught us to do the same, challenging us to think things out, use initiative, etc. You also modeled good reading habits, and I owe my love for history directly to you, I am sure. I saw you reading history so much that I caught the desire to read it myself.

Maybe this is enough for now, Dad, but I can think of many, many more things. Happy Father's Day, Dad! Thanks for being a good man, a Christian man, and a dad who loved me!

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Thanking Papa for a good Daddy,

Tom, one of Abba's little boys

The Problem with "Christianese"

     I am surprised that I haven't posted this before. Today I want to write a few thoughts on the reason why we need to avoid using "Christianese" and then share a rather funny story about Christianese that I collected from the Internet years ago (and edited considerably.

     It is a natural tendency for groups of people to create language unique to their group, so the formation of the strange language known as Christianese and its various dialects (Baptist-ese, Pentecostal-ese, Fundamentalist-ese, Toronto Blessing-ese, House Church-ese, etc.) is not unexpected. But we who wish to connect with those Jesus loves would do well to cleanse ourselves of Christianese language as much as possible so that we remove the barriers that it creates. What barriers? I can think of three off the top of my head: 1) lack of clarity (illustrated humorously by the story below), 2) exclusion of others (people feel excluded when the "club members" talk in language only the club members understand), 3) hurtfulness (think what it feels like to a recovering alcoholic to hear the words "drunk" without further explanation! Think what it feels like to be excluded rather than invited in, etc.). I am sure there are more reasons, but maybe these will do. The point is that if we share our Father's heart for people, we will want to remove every obstacle that might hinder their hearing His invitation to transformation and relationship with Him.

     So to help make my point in what I trust is a humorous but forceful way, I offer today the following story about Ed, a Christian with a real "speech problem." Enjoy (and consider what Papa may be saying to you through it, please!)

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 “Have you ever been saved?” a wide-eyed young fellow asked me this question as we walked toward the bus. He handed me a booklet with a picture of hell on the front. 

“Sure,” I responded. “Once when I was nine, I was swimming at Jones' beach on Long Island, and a strong undertow began to drag me out to sea. My uncle heard my call and ?..” 

“No, no, no,” he interrupted. “I mean redeemed. Have you ever been redeemed? You know, reborn? Washed in the blood?” 

“What,” I inquired, “in the world are you talking about?”

“Convicted,” I mean. “Have you ever felt convicted?” “Well, of course not. I've never been in trouble with the law.” 

He looked at me square in the eye and said, “I think you need to be delivered.” 

“Delivered? I was just waiting for the bus home. I think I'll stick to that, but thank you very much.” He looked at me as though I were speaking another language. 

“Can we have lunch together sometime?” he asked. “I work just down the street.” 

“Sure, that'd be fine.” He looked like a harmless fellow to me, but I must admit, he was unusual and quite difficult to understand. That Wednesday, I had lunch with Ed. He was a little late, but he explained he was having a quiet time. 

I said, “Quiet time? What does that mean?” 

“Well, each day before lunch, I get in my prayer closet.” 

I was puzzled. “You pray in a closet? At work?” 

“Oh, no, it's my car.” 

“You have a closet in your car?”

He changed the subject like the first day I met him. Again he left me confused. This Ed is quite a unique fellow, I thought. As we parted that day, Ed gave me a little book that explained how someone could come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I read it and understood it well enough to know that this was exactly what I needed. So that night I submitted my life to Jesus, was "born again" like it stated in the booklet. Two days later, I told Ed. 

He was overjoyed. The following week we got together again, and he strongly urged me to find a good body. Now I was surprised at this suggestion, but it sounded good to me! So I took his advice and began to comb the local health clubs for an attractive body. When I met Denise, I knew she was just the one. We began to date and soon, she became a follower of Jesus as well. 

Ed rejoiced and told us it was crucial that we "get planted" so that we could grow together. I said to Denise, “Sometimes this guy's hard to understand.” 

I told Ed I wasn't quite sure what he meant by planted. He responded, “Committed. You know, both of you need to be committed.” 

“Now wait a minute,” I protested, “just because I don't understand what planted means doesn't mean I'm nuts. Anyway, I think to trust in Jesus is probably the most sane thing I've ever done.” 

Well, it was obvious that Ed's patience was growing thin, and he explained, “Bob and Denise, you've got to get plugged in. Don't you understand?” 

Well, no, we didn't. I did wonder if getting plugged in had any connection with going out under the power, something that I'd heard Ed mention and hoped it would never happen to me. 

Regretfully, I had to miss worship the next Sunday out of town. But Ed and I had breakfast together later, and he filled me in on what had happened. He said, “Boy, God moved!” He said, “God really moved yesterday.” 

“Where did He go, Ed? I was just getting to know Him and now He's gone?” 

“No, no, Bob, God hasn't gone anywhere.” I was relieved. “It's just that so many people were stepping out and moving in the gifts.” 

“You mean people were leaving the meeting? And what's this about presents?” 

“No, no. It's the gifts. The gifts were really flowing,” he said. 

Changing the subject, he said, “Hey, Denise was there, and boy, was she on fire!”

“Fire? Denise got burned? What happened? Is she ok?” “

“No, Bob, you don't understand.” 

“And boy, that's an understatement,” I thought. 

He said, “Denise is just fine. It's just that I believe she's really called, and God really wants to use her.” 

Things were not getting any clearer, so I asked, “Did Denise mention she was getting too many phone calls or something? And what's this about God wanting to take advantage of her?” 

Ed sighed, “Can I walk in the light with you, Bob?” 

I said, “Well, yeah, where do you want to go. We can walk in the light. It's daytime, Ed.” 

He just shook his head. I don't know what it is. Sometimes it seems like Ed and I have a hard time communicating.

It's been 2 years since I was saved and delivered, plugged in, planted and committed to a good body. God has been moving, and I've been stepping out in the gifts. I can hardly believe how God's been using me. I do have one new problem, however. It seems that all my friends can't understand me any more. When I share about my redemption, and say that I've been washed as white as snow in the blood, and that I desire to follow the Lamb, they just tune me right out. I guess they're just convicted when they see me on fire.

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Praying you get the point :-)

Tom, one of Abba's little children

Tools For The Treasure, Part Three

     Last week I promised to give some answers as to what to do with the questions and observations you make when you approach scripture in an observant, aware-of-context and curious manner. To do this, I will describe briefly a simple method I use in digging the treasure: SOAR (Survey, Observe, Ask/Answer, Reflect/Respond). Please note that there will be some repetition of what I said earlier because this method incorporates everything I have previously mentioned into some easy to remember steps. Okay, let's start "soaring."

     Survey the passage, asking yourself questions like the following.

• Is this passage a complete unit of thought or a complete story? If not, how much context do I need to add into it to make it complete?
• What kind of literature is this passage: a story (narrative), a teaching (discourse), poetry, prophetic literature, wisdom literature (like the Proverbs), etc. 
• How is this passage connected to the rest of the book it is part of? 
• Is there anything else I need to make not of on this first pass?

     Observe the passage carefully. I won't repeat myself here because last week I gave what you should be looking for. This is the step where you stop, look and listen, taking time to notice patterns, asking questions like who, what, when, where, etc.

     Ask and Answer lots of curious questions! This is where I will add some new thoughts. How do you answer all those questions?

• Look again! Lots of times we can answer our questions by looking at the passage and its surrounding context a little more closely. For example, if we notice our passage starts with a "therefore" we can look ahead of it to see what is leading into it (see how the last verses in Romans 11 lead into Romans 12:1 ff.). 
• Look at different translations. Many questions can be answered by seeing how another translation translates a passage. Also, comparing translations keeps us from building doctrine on something that a particular translation gets wrong. For example,  the KJV (a shaky translation at best for many reasons) translates Psalm 138:2b as "thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name," leading some to teach that God's word is superior to His name, a theological impossibility since God's name represents Him and all that He is and His word flows from that. A quick look at almost any other translation (except the NKJV which repeats the error) shows us that it's better to blend name and word together. The Holman CSV translates this as "You have exalted your name and your promise above everything else." 
• Look around the passage in larger and larger circles to see if the context will help you answer some of your questions. 
• Look it up. Yes, there are times when it's okay to consult a study Bible or commentary after you have run out of your own answers, but do this last, not first!

     Reflect in order to Respond. At some point you will need to summarize what you have discovered and listen to the Holy Spirit for His guidance as to how you are to respond to this new treasure. (For me, sometimes the responding is "automatic" because what I see is so amazing and fresh that I just can't help breaking out in praise or asking Papa how I am to make this part of my life). It is important for us to consider how we are to respond, of course. Otherwise we are like the person James describes in James 1:23-24, "For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was." (New English Translation). But consider the promise that follows this warning (v. 25), "But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out--he will be blessed in what he does."

Soaring more and more, 

Tom, one of Abba's little children

Tools For The Treasure, Part Two

     Last week I gave some basic convictions I believe are important as we approach God's written word. Today I will give a few thoughts on three principles that guide me as I work with Scripture.
     In a nutshell, careful observation, supported by a constant awareness of context, both fueled by curiosity are my top three principles. Stated in another way, if you want to glean lots of treasure from God's word: Be observant, be aware (of context), be curious. 
     Be observant. Most people will start discovering a lot more treasure in the Bible just by slowing down and looking more carefully at what they are reading (or hearing if they are auditory learners). Rushing through the Bible to get a reading program done rarely allows for the careful observation that exposes the gems in the Bible, so I often tell people, "Stop, look and listen!"
      But it helps to know what you are looking for, of course, so what should you be looking for? I could write a book about this, but here are a few things for those starting out on the journey of discovery. 

• Look to see if the passage is a complete unit and for how it fits in with the rest of the book it's a part of. 
• Look to see what kind of literature your passage is. Different kinds of literature need to be looked at in a different way. For example, an Old Testament narrative (story) is very different from one of Paul's letters (mostly written "discourse"), and Old Testament poetry is different from the Book of Acts. For a thorough understanding of this, I recommend How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart.
• Look for the main thoughts/themes or events of passage and for how the themes are developed (or how the events fill out the story if the passage is a narrative).
• Look for repeated important words and other factors like emphasized words, connecting words (What is that "therefore" there for?, etc.) and other patterns.
• If applicable, look for hints about the writer and those he is writing to that give you clues as to the purpose and main ideas of the passage. 
• I hope this gives you a good starting point. Now let me illustrate how this works (just a little) from Ephesians 1:3-14.

     Take a careful look at Ephesians 1:3-14 and it won't take too long to notice that words like, "all, everything, every" are repeated quite often, that the passage is one big long praise to/of God (the phrase "praise of His glory" or something similar appears three times), that the words "redemption" and "predestined" appear twice (NIV), etc. There are many more things to notice in this passage, of course--I have just scratched the surface. But just a little closer look at the first "every" leads to a remarkable discovery that can leave us reflecting on it for the rest of our lives: we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ! Just working through the implications of that one truth can change your life forever, especially when you remember that it's in the plural: all of us together and as individual parts of Christ's body have already been blessed with every possible spiritual blessing! And then there's all the worship in the passage, the rest of the "all, every" theme and much, much more. 
     One final thought about observation: careful observation can also help us see what's not there. What do I mean? I mean we get to question assumptions we or others have made. One of my favorite examples of this for me comes from the parable of the Sower. I recently realized that contrary to my previous assumptions, the parable does not imply only a 25% success rate, does not say that the word is planted only one time, does not say that the soil cannot change or be renovated or weeded, etc. All of these new things that aren't there have many implications which I cannot cover right now, but I trust they help you see what I mean by seeing what's not there.
     Be aware of the context. Words only have specific meaning in context. A word can have potential meaning by itself, but it can have specific and clear meaning only when we see it in its context. For example, you don't really know what I mean by the word "love" until I add some kind of context to it: "I love dark chocolate!" or "I love country music," or "I love my grandchildren!" And note that even the amount of context can be increased by adding more words. I can tell you what kinds of dark chocolate I "love." I can give you specific types of country music that I "love." I can elaborate (forever) on what I love about our grandchildren. 
     So it is with the words in the Bible. Surrounding every word in Scripture are concentric layers of context that give the word its specific meaning. These include 1) the words immediately surrounding it, 2) the entire passage it's a part of, 3) the book it is a part of, 4) the Bible and theology, 5) the history and culture of the writer and original readers. All of these can affect the meaning of the words in Scripture, and the possible meanings of a word can only be narrowed down to its one true meaning by thinking about its context. Now some of this thinking is automatic, so don't panic, but being aware of context as we read the Bible is one of the most essential parts of discovering God's written treasure.
     Be curious! For me, insatiable curiosity is the fuel that feeds the discovery process in my approach to Scripture. I find myself asking curious questions all the time: "Why did Paul repeat that word so many times?" "What was the writer feeling when he wrote those words?" "How is this connected to that other passage later in this book?" "What would it have felt like to be there when Jesus did that or said that?"  I think you get the picture. My observation of the passage gives birth to these questions, then the questions lead to more observation that leads to more questions that leads to more observation, so that it becomes a wonderful cycle of discovery that never really ends. Try it! Take a passage that you are familiar with and look carefully with your curiosity at full attention and see if you can arrive at questions you've never asked before. You won't be disappointed. 
     But how do we answer all of these questions and/or make sense of the observations? The answer to that will have to wait until next week when I will cover a simple method (SOAR) that will help you put all of this into practice and soar like an eagle on the winds of fresh discovery.

Marveling at the endless treasure,

Tom, one of Abba's little children

Tools For The Treasure, Part One

     In a few weeks I will be teaching a brief class on "Discovery Bible Study" here in Houston, and as I have worked on it I have come to realize that I have never given "Tom's tips" for digging the treasure out of God's Word in blog format. So today and the next two weeks, in a very, very basic way, I want to give a few thoughts, a few "tools," for digging out more of the endless treasure contained in God's Word.

     Let's start with some basic convictions about studying God's word I believe we need to take with us as we approach Scripture.

1. Everything that any follower of Jesus needs from the Bible in order to live the Jesus life is accessible to her/him. This is an unshakeable conviction of mine and very important. If we think we have to be experts to understand the important things of God's Kingdom, we will miss God's heart entirely and disqualify most folks from finding the treasure. It is always God's heart to make everything we need accessible to all of us. To think that He would lock up the truth of His word in complexity so that only a few could access it violates the very core of the good news of a God who is committed to removing every obstacle between us and Him. What this means for you is that you are qualified to dig for treasure, no special gifting required!
2. On the other hand, some digging is required! Because God wants us to move past infancy in our life with Him, He chooses not to spoon feed us by just dropping truth into our mouths with no effort on our part.Taking time with God's word, putting some careful thinking into the process, seeking Holy Spirit's guidance, etc., are all part of mining the treasure from God's word. As I have said before, simple is not necessarily always easy. 
3. It's best to approach scripture looking for the Promise-giver and not just promises, looking for the Person, not just principles. The Bible is ultimately His-story not a book of facts and principles, and we can encounter God in remarkable ways if we allow Holy Spirit to show us His ways and teach us His paths as we read it. Reducing the Bible to a packet of principles or passel of promises will move us back into religion and away from a relationship. If I am just looking for promises and/or principles, I am looking for things I can do: things I can claim or put into practice, and that tends to put the focus on me rather than Papa God, doesn't it? On the other hand, if I allow my reading of Scripture to draw me into increasing intimacy with the One who makes the promises and reveals His heart and character and imprints them into my life through Word and Spirit... you get the picture, I trust. I hope this is clear because it's really important, methinks. If it isn't, let me know and I will try again.
4. It's important to remember that the Bible cannot be approached like any other book. In the first place, it's the only book in the world that is inspired by God Himself, the only truly "holy" book. Secondly, it is a collection of books written over a period of hundreds of years by many different human authors, so it can't just be read from "cover to cover" without thinking about the context and circumstances of the writers and recipients. We will talk more about this when we discuss reading it in context. In some ways, of course, we do read and study the Bible like we do other books, but there are many differences as well, and remembering that up front helps us approach Scripture with increased awareness of our need for Holy Spirit's help and our need to stop and think as we read. More on this next week.
5. It's also important to be aware  of our "filters" as we approach the Bible. All of us bring to anything we read or hear our own assumptions, cultural biases and other filters. We can't fully remove these, of course, because they are an integral part of who we are, but we can be aware of them so that we can put them aside as best we can. If we succeed in doing so, we will be able to see what's really there and allow it to challenge our assumptions and adjust our filters. Perhaps I need to give a couple of illustrations here. The easiest filter for most of us to understand is the filter of our own 21st century western culture. Obviously, the world of the Bible was very different from ours but if we are not careful we will read the Bible as if it were written in our time and culture. For example, we tend to think of "church" as the very cultural, often building-centered organization of our day rather than the New Testament church which consisted of groups of people meeting mostly in houses. The "church in Philippi" was a collection of brothers and sisters meeting in homes throughout the city, not a visible collection of buildings--you get the point, I trust. Another set of filters we bring with us are those that have been put into us by our exposure to whatever "Christian" teaching we have been most influenced by. Being aware of what has influenced us and being willing to lay it aside or at least have its assumptions challenged will open up an entirely new world of revelation for most of us! Perhaps you may want to take a moment right now and ask Holy Spirit what filters you bring to Scripture. You will be amazed, I think, at what He shows you and how it helps to lay them aside!

     Okay, because this list took more space than I originally thought, I will give part two next week at look at some of the basic tools for treasure hunting that we all possess. But here's a preview of some of them: in addition to the most important tool of allowing Holy Spirit to lead you, other important tools are Careful observation, Curiosity and Context. We will look at these three "Cs" more thoroughly next week. 

Lost in the wonders of His Word,

Tom, one of Abba's little children

Journey with Papa or Project for the Boss?

     Like many believers, I used to think of discovering God's will as very hard, and I consequently lived with a low level anxiety inside of me about "missing God's perfect will." Yes, for many Christians "missing God's plan" is a real fear. How differently things seem now from within the embrace of a loving Father!

    Today's entry was triggered by my reading a chapter from An Apple for the Road (a great book). In chapter 8, Pam Spinosi writes poignantly about her struggle to free herself from the tyranny of the fear of missing God's plan. (The title is appropriately called "Should I buy bread? Should I wear red? ... What's that God said?"). Her story elicited so many resonating responses in me, that I felt led to attempt to write down a few things that may help set you free from this tyrannizing fear. I will just scratch the surface of this topic today, but maybe a few foundational truths I have learned will help you live more peacefully in the middle of God's purposes for your life. Here's a few thoughts.

     Our life with God is best viewed as a journey with a loving Father, not a project for a demanding Master. This one truth unfolds into many wonderful implications that help take away our fear. Because God is the best of Good Fathers...

• He makes discovering His purposes for our lives easy, not hard. What kind of father would make the best choices hard to find? Yet Christians often seems to think God is like this. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God's will is clear for all who take time to enter into intimate, listening relationship with Him.
• He gives us increasing freedom in partnering with Him in making our life choices. Every good father knows that one of his duties as a dad is to help his children make increasingly wise choices. The children are able to do this based on their learning more and more to be like their daddy, more and more filled with his wisdom and character. The more they become like their daddy, the more their choices and desires become totally trustworthy, made in dialogue with their daddy, and the more their father can partner with them rather than dictate to them.
• He delights in our desires, is not threatened by them but rather is calling them forth and folding them into His purposes for our lives, especially as we share more and more of His heart and character. God knows how He made you, including the things that make your heart sing. Do you really think He would dismiss those things that He Himself planted within you as He helps you discover your highest purposes?
• He brings us back on course when we call out to Him after missing a turn. Like a Heavenly GPS, God makes all things work together for our good, including our missteps. (Romans 8:28-29). A quick survey of Scripture shows us how this works. Even the Apostle Paul couldn't find God's will for his second missionary journey without missing a few times, but God kept "reeling him in." (See Acts 16:6-10). 

     So does this mean that we can just do anything, and it somehow becomes God's best for us? I think you know that's not the case. Living the Jesus life entails being led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14), keeping in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), etc. But since Paul clearly states that being led by the Spirit is the mark of sons and daughters, not slaves, (see Romans 8:14-17), whatever else "guidance" means, it's not like getting orders from some sort of heavenly boss. It's best to think of it as a dialogue of a father and his son/daughter as they journey through life. This is obviously how Jesus lived. He was intently focused on His Father and committed to total obedience to Him (John 5:19, 30), but He also clearly dialogued with His Father with a confidence that He was always heard (John 11:41-42). Combining these two thoughts gives us a picture, I think, of a surrendered Son in constant conversation with His Father, sharing His heart and desires with His Abba while also surrendering completely to His Father's infinitely (at the time) superior wisdom and insight. This seems to me to be a fairly good picture for us as well, don't you think?

     So from that place of growing intimacy with God, fueled by our getting to know Him through His Word and Spirit and by living life with Him, our journey through life with all of its choices becomes more and more a joyful conversation about the journey rather than a discussion of an unalterable blueprint. What do you think? 

     One final thought: I often remind people that if we listen to God only for guidance and correction we are missing 95% of the conversation God wants to have with us.  Again I ask, what kind of relationship would you have with anyone if the only topics were guidance and correction? Guidance is only a small part of our life with Him, and even calling it "guidance" makes me nervous because God is a father first, not a taskmaster, and relegating Him merely to the role of guide seems to miss the heart of what the Good News is all about. So I will journey with my Papa and we will discover together this amazing future...

Checking my GPS...

Tom, one of Abba's little children