Respecting Others

   The church body is no different from the rest of society in at least one area. The composition of a congregation mirrors that of the society around it. Made up of persons of all ages, there is the possibility of a generation gap, where members of one age group do not hear or want to hear what the others age groups say. This is probably the most evident in the interactions of the older and younger adults.

   The old look at the young and see a lifestyle that embraces the culture outside the church. Sometimes the older members perceive a disrespect of the opinions and wisdom of their generation. There is a tendency on the part of both ends of the age spectrum to feel that theirs is the correct way, and that the other just does not want to understand.

   But all of this does not have to cause conflict in the body of Christ. Each part needs to really hear what the other is saying. Each needs to put aside perceptions and understand where the other is coming from. It may be true that the younger group of adults have more passion and see the older as impediments to progress, as they define it, where the older may see a brashness and an unwillingness to acknowledge tradition and maturity. Conflict arises when either, or both, fail to take into account the ideas and wisdom of the other, when in fact, they 'know' what is right and that the other just does not want to see. Hardness of position divides the body into antagonistic groups where there should be cooperation and acceptance.

   Now, lest anyone think that my church is about to split because of conflict, let me put that to rest. Our pastor is a wise 'forty something', working in a church with a true multigenerational bent, and he tries to embody the Kairos model of prison ministry, where I also serve, an example that each person, no matter the age or position, should emulate:

   Listen, Listen, Love, Love

   Really listen, really listen, really love and really love. Listening with the heart as well as the ear, understanding another's position and reasoning, getting beyond prejudice and stereotype, seeing what is perception and what is  real, and a genuine respect for another. Now these are worthy goals, for the church and for the individuals contained therein.

   What a witness to the world is a harmonious church body and what a witness to society is a person who is a true respecter of others.

  Let me promote the one by being the other.

 

A Win Win Situation

   In a couple of days from now, our Kairos team will enter Ware State Prison for the 38th time. I have served on several of these teams, and, by this time, I pretty well know the program. There will be several talks, some meditations, some chapel programs, some discussions, some posters and plenty of food.

   One of the big incentives for the inmates to request an invitation to attend is the food. The food in the mess hall is edible, and it will keep you from starving to death, but is not what you would call gourmet by any stretch. The whole prison system is run on a pretty strict budget and food is one place they can scrimp.

   When I first served on a team at Ware, we ate in the mess hall with the participants, eating prison food and trying our best not to offend those men who had to eat there every day. We had lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and dinner on Friday and Saturday. These days, we cook for the men on the outside and bring it in. The system has cut out the Friday,  Saturday and Sunday noon meal for all their inmates and ordinarily they are down to two meals on those 3 weekend days.

   So the food is a big part of what brings some to the program. Now, there are men who sign up to come that are truly seeking something spiritual, and there are men who are already Christian who come for the fellowship with men from the outside, but there are some who will tell you that they came for the food.

   When they say that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, they are talking Kairos. Regardless of the main reason they showed up on a Thursday night, the food they receive for the soul is the one thing that causes a change in their lives.

   On Sunday night, several of the men will tell the group that they came for the cookies (and other stuff) but what they found was much more filling. Their lives have been impacted by all the love shown by the men from the outside which is really just an outpouring of God's love as given by ordinary men.

   I have been honored to have been used in this way, It is a service that I like to do, and the changes seen in the faces of the inmates, is worth any amount of food.

   Plus we don't have to eat that stuff that we can't recognize in the chow hall.

   A definite win win situation.

   Food for thought and food for the soul.

Desperation, What Does It Look Like?

   As I read the narrative in Mark chapter 5, and reflect on the characters in this incident, a troubling thought comes to my mind.

   But first the events that Mark records here; Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people by the sea. All of a sudden a man appears in front of Him, falling down at His feet with a plea to come and heal his daughter, who is at the point of death. Jesus then goes with the man, who is a ruler of the local synagogue, toward his house. While they are on the road, a woman, who has been suffering for twelve very long years with a discharge of blood issue, touches His garment because she felt that even this touch could heal her. As she does this, the touch accomplishes its purpose. The blood stops. Jesus then stops, turns around, and asks who did this to Him. With that question, she falls at His feet and confesses what she had done and the reason for the touch. Jesus commends her faith and sends her on her way.

   Then we come back to the reason for the trip they were on. A little girl was dying and Jesus was answering the plea of Jairus, the ruler. While they were all on the road toward his home, some came from there, telling the synagogue official that there was no use in Jesus coming any farther, the little girl had died. Jesus words to Jairus, "Don't fear, only believe", preceded His telling the crowd to stay put while He, Jairus and three disciples went on to the house. At their arrival, they saw the mourners already there, confirming for everyone what had happened. Jesus then went in, telling all that the girl was only asleep. After being laughed at, Jesus goes into the girl's room, tells her to get up, she does, and He tells the parents to let no one what has happened, but to get the girl something to eat.

   As I look at the story, I see two people sharing the same emotions. Both Jairus, the ruler of the local synagogue, and the woman with the blood issue, share a common depth of feeling. They are desperate, and their faith has brought them to Jesus. How deep was their faith that Jesus could and would perform a miracle for them? Was it just a little more than hope that He could? Perhaps, but they were willing to prostrate themselves at His feet, in front of a crowd of people, to admit that theirs were problems that they could not solve. They were both at the end of their respective ropes, and Jesus was their final hope.

   But just think how their faith was multiplied after Jesus acted on their behalf. Where they may have hoped when they acted, they knew now, and that knowing made all the difference. They would never be the same.

   How often have I stepped out in faith, however small it may have been, and pleaded for Jesus' help and guidance? How desperate have I been in the past for Him to show up? How many times have I done things in my own strength, not even bothering to ask?

   Desperation may look like failure, but it can be the door to real faith, not just hope.

   How desperate am I?

Choices

   This coming Friday I will, God willing, give a short talk to some 42 inmates at Ware State Prison. This will be as a part of the Kairos weekend for these men. This talk is also the first of several that will be given over three days time, and it sets the stage for the others that follow it, so I have given it much thought and prayer over the past weeks, looking for the right words to say.

   This search has also taken me into my own life as I reflect on choices I have made, some good and others not so much. The outline for the talk gives a statistic that each person makes around 225 choices in a normal day. Some are normal, some are one-of-a-kind, some are trivial and some earth shattering. The problem is that while we are making them, we do not realize how a particular choice will affect our lives in the future.

   I thought about this as I finished the book Seven Days in Utopia last night. A man comes to a fork in the road and makes a choice on which way to go, based on the name of the town in a certain direction. The result of the choice, one that could have been inconsequential, changes his life, but he did not know it at that time.

   How many choices do I make each day that I do not even think about? Does God know about these choices? Does He care? Does He maybe orchestrate some of these to lead me in a certain direction, or give me an encounter that I need?

   As I walk through my day, I, at least, need to realize the choices that have placed me there, and see if there is some lesson in this situation that God wants me to see. If God wants the best for me, and I believe He does, it could be good for me to look and listen.

   Too soon old and too late smart.

In The Moment

   Yesterday I played golf with some friends from church and a thought hit me in the middle of the round. I was playing pretty well, nothing great but steady, and I caught myself looking toward the end of the round and maybe a good score for a change. Then I realized that I should actually be enjoying the moment I was in. Good golf, good day weather wise, and good friends. There is no use to look forward during all of that. Just enjoy it.

   Today I was over in Waycross for a prison meeting. During the meeting there was a general prayer session where every person prays for each of the other volunteers in turn, as each passes in a line behind the chairs of the others. As various ones paused to pray over me and spoke of blessings to come from the next weekend in prison, I thought, I should not overlook the moment that we were in right then. It is a good time to listen to others pray for you, for your ministry to inmates, and for your service in this work, and a blessing for me as it takes place. There will be many times on the Kairos weekend, when God is in evidence and we all are blessed, but I don't want to miss a current one looking forward to a future one.


   God please help me not to look back on the past, nor continually look forward to the future, but to enjoy the present. It is all I really have.

Who Is This Man?

   The disciples had been with Jesus for some little time now, hearing Him teach, seeing Him heal, and enjoying the inside information on the meaning of the parables He was using to speak to the crowds of people that were coming to Him. They knew He was special, but did not really know Him in all His power.

   From the narrative in Mark 4, I read about Jesus retreating from the crowds by getting into a boat with His disciples and starting for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples at this point were pretty secure in their knowledge that Jesus was a great teacher and miracle worker, and they were privileged to be included in His inner circle. After all, the crowds saw them with Him all the time, and their status rose with each new miracle and each great teaching. Things were going pretty well.

   But they did not know Him. They were close to Him, they knew what He taught, they knew He was able to heal people and knew He was special. But then came the storm, a big storm. They were being tossed about by the angry waves, and they feared for their lives. As they fought the wind and waves, they realized that Jesus was not helping them, He was asleep in the back of the boat. Who was this guy who could sleep through all of this? Waking Him, they chastised Him for not caring about their situation. They were about to go under. This could be the end for them. They knew the sea, it was bad.

   So Jesus spoke to the sea and told it and the wind to be still, and it calmed. Just like that, the bad situation was erased, and all was as it should be for these twelve. All was calm, except for their emotions as they experienced the power of this Man, firsthand. They must have suddenly realized, they did not know Him at all. "Who is He anyway?"

   The disciples were in the boat with Jesus. They had left their old lives behind and followed, and their identity was in being followers of this Rabbi, but they still did not know the whole story. Their individual reputations might be on the line, but not their lives, at least not until now.

   So, the questions come to me also. Am I so comfortable in my role as a disciple that I forget who Jesus is? Do I trust Him in all of life's situations? Is it just my reputation at stake or is it my very existence? How would I measure up in a genuine life or death experience? Am I willing to put myself out there for Him, taking a risk, that if He does not show up, I am a goner?

   Christians around the world experience those kinds of experiences daily, so who am I to feel so snug in my own life?

   The most important question is not "Who am I?"

   The question is "Who is He?"

Hay or Stubble?

   I enjoy the pursuit of knowledge. I like to study, to learn and understand some things that seem important to me. I like to learn new things about what interests me, even though those same things may not stir anyone else at all.

   I don't believe, as I once heard a man say, that to be a Christian you have to check your mind at the door. God gave us a mind to use, and we do have a responsibility to use it. 

   So what should I do? Some Bible verses come to mind:

      1. Study to show yourself approved by God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed.

      2. The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful and godly Wisdom, instruction, and discipline. (Amplified Bible)

      3. If I understand all knowledge and mysteries and have not love, it does not profit me anything.

   What I get from all of the above is a sense that study and the acquisition of knowledge is good and desirable, but should be tempered with the purpose and meaning of the effort.

   So I start with Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created", and then proceed from that point. I try to ascertain why I am studying, my motives and my desires. Is there a useful reason for my study, or is it just idle curiosity, or a desire to be a winner at Trivial Pursuit?

   If I study History, which is my favorite area, I like to look at why events happened, their causes and the results. I like to try to get into the minds of the people who shaped those events and times, and try to understand their reasons, their hopes, and desires. 

   My daughter gave me a book for Christmas last year that chronicled the efforts of the Confederate States to gain recognition from England in the time of the Civil War. By looking at the efforts of the Rebel government and the tightrope the British, and other European countries had to walk in order not to antagonize either North or South, helped put those days in a different perspective. Now that was an interesting study, but we'll have to wait and see if it was useful for anything more than some good answers in a game.

   One of the purposes of my time of Bible study is not only to gain some knowledge of God, and His ways and purposes, but to listen for His application to my life. I want to be able to take the insights from a particular section of Scripture and make it real. Real in my life and helpful to others in some way. Building up a Scripture memory bank could be useful for recall, but if it does not transfer to positive action, it is no better than fodder for game playing. 

   There is a profit in study, but I need to make sure I start from the premise that the study needs to be approved by God, be useful to someone else and be couched in the reverence of God. Real study, real results.

   Now that would not be trivial at all.