Are you a dinosaur? I’m not referring to how old you are, or how big you might be. I’m asking about the way that you think. The human brain has evolved quite a bit from the days that T. Rex and his friends roamed the earth. But at times we can allow our more primitive instincts to take over and control the way that we act and think, and we ignore the higher thought processes that we’re capable of. Or, to word it more spiritually (this is a church message, after all), at times we allow our worldly nature to control us, instead of conforming to the spiritual nature that Christ has won for us.
The session and I are spending this year in spiritual development, in order to become better faith leaders for the congregation. As part of our time at January’s session meeting, we used material by Dave Derby of Gospel Recordings to think about how we can overcome our “dinosaur brains.” He outlined seven rules that control how dinosaurs think. For each rule, we discussed examples of when we’ve seen it at work, and we read Scripture passages which describe the kind of thinking that God calls us to instead. Then we thought about what life in our church would look like if we gave up dinosaur thinking for the mind of Christ. This month, I invite you to do the same thing. Here are the seven rules of dinosaur brains. Think about times when you’ve seen people (maybe yourself!) act according to them. Then read the Scripture passages to learn about what God calls us to instead. Finally, think about how your life would be different if you overcame your own dinosaur brain.
1. Be Dominant: Win at all costs, and be sure to get the last word.
Matthew 20:25-28, James 1:19, Genesis 11:1-8
2. Defend the Territory: Hold on to what is yours and what is important to you.
Genesis 12:1-3, Mark 12:13-17, John 11:45-57
3. Get It Now: Act impulsively for instant gratification, instead of long-term rewards.
Genesis 45:1-7, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, James 4:1-3, 13-17, Proverbs 6:6-11
4. If It Hurts, Hiss: Blame someone else if things go wrong.
Numbers 14:1-4, Proverbs 19:3, Matthew 7:1-5, Romans 2:1-4
5. Get the Mate: Do what it takes to make yourself as impressive or attractive as possible.
Acts 5:1-11, 1 Samuel 16:1-12, Matthew 23:1-12, Mark 12:38-40, Luke 14:7-11
6. Like Me = Good, Not Like Me = Bad: Only trust people who are like you.
Luke 9:49-50, 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
7. Fight, Flight, or Freeze: Protect yourself from danger, ridicule, or rejection.
Matthew 6:25-33, Luke 9:22-26, John 15:9-17
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Facing a Gideon Moment
The congregation that I serve has been affected by the financial crisis that our nation is dealing with. A significant amount of money that we raised for our building project has disappeared because of the downturn in the stock market. If we want construction to continue, we will have to increase our loan from $300,000 to $450,000. As we deal with this unpleasant situation, it would be easy for us to respond with despair, frustration, anxiety, or anger. We may want to look for someone to blame for this situation, or we may give up on trying to complete this goal.
Instead, I encourage you to consider this to be a “Gideon moment,” as we trust and work with God. In Judges 6 and 7, God told Gideon that He was sending him to defeat the army that was occupying the land of Israel. In response to God’s call, Gideon assembled an army of 32,000 soldiers to attack a much bigger enemy force. Anyone in their right mind would say that Gideon needed every warrior he could find to join him in the battle. But God told Gideon that he had too many men. Too many! What general who was ever preparing for battle thought that he had too many soldiers? But God wanted Gideon to know that when he defeated them, the victory would come because of God’s power and not his army. So with God’s guidance, Gideon whittled down his forces until he only had 300 soldiers. And with those 300, he defeated the enemy.
When we first started preparations for this building project, we knew that it would only succeed if it was God’s will. At every step, we did our best to ensure that we were following where God was guiding. And by every conventional measure, things seemed to be going well. In four years we raised an incredible amount of money, and we secured a loan with excellent terms from church-related institution to pay for the rest of the construction. Based on what we had been able to raise in the past, we had every reason to believe that we would be able to pay off the loan in three years.
Gideon thought his army of 32,000 could defeat the Midianites, and we thought that we would be able to complete our building project. But God wanted Gideon to know that it was His power, not Gideon’s, that won the victory. And now, perhaps God wants us to know that this building project will not succeed because of our efforts, but because of His power at work in us. A sign in the back of our sanctuary defines faith as “Fantastic Adventures In Trusting Him.” This latest situation is part of the adventure that comes from trusting God. If we could complete this building project on our own, where would the faith be? But if we are brought to our knees and realize that the project will indeed succeed only with God’s blessing, then we are well on our way to living out our faith.
Does this mean that we should sit back quietly and do nothing, because God will take care of it all? By no means! Gideon and his band of 300 men had an army to face, and we have a project to complete. We have work to do together, but we must remember that we are playing our role in the plan that God has for us.
We share this crisis with countless families and institutions across our nation. May the way that we face it as a church be a witness to those around us of what is possible when we trust and follow God.
Instead, I encourage you to consider this to be a “Gideon moment,” as we trust and work with God. In Judges 6 and 7, God told Gideon that He was sending him to defeat the army that was occupying the land of Israel. In response to God’s call, Gideon assembled an army of 32,000 soldiers to attack a much bigger enemy force. Anyone in their right mind would say that Gideon needed every warrior he could find to join him in the battle. But God told Gideon that he had too many men. Too many! What general who was ever preparing for battle thought that he had too many soldiers? But God wanted Gideon to know that when he defeated them, the victory would come because of God’s power and not his army. So with God’s guidance, Gideon whittled down his forces until he only had 300 soldiers. And with those 300, he defeated the enemy.
When we first started preparations for this building project, we knew that it would only succeed if it was God’s will. At every step, we did our best to ensure that we were following where God was guiding. And by every conventional measure, things seemed to be going well. In four years we raised an incredible amount of money, and we secured a loan with excellent terms from church-related institution to pay for the rest of the construction. Based on what we had been able to raise in the past, we had every reason to believe that we would be able to pay off the loan in three years.
Gideon thought his army of 32,000 could defeat the Midianites, and we thought that we would be able to complete our building project. But God wanted Gideon to know that it was His power, not Gideon’s, that won the victory. And now, perhaps God wants us to know that this building project will not succeed because of our efforts, but because of His power at work in us. A sign in the back of our sanctuary defines faith as “Fantastic Adventures In Trusting Him.” This latest situation is part of the adventure that comes from trusting God. If we could complete this building project on our own, where would the faith be? But if we are brought to our knees and realize that the project will indeed succeed only with God’s blessing, then we are well on our way to living out our faith.
Does this mean that we should sit back quietly and do nothing, because God will take care of it all? By no means! Gideon and his band of 300 men had an army to face, and we have a project to complete. We have work to do together, but we must remember that we are playing our role in the plan that God has for us.
We share this crisis with countless families and institutions across our nation. May the way that we face it as a church be a witness to those around us of what is possible when we trust and follow God.
Revelation 2:1-7 – Getting Back to Basics
As we begin to study the letters which John wrote to each of the seven churches, we can notice that the letters follow a specific pattern. Each begins with “These are the words of him who…” and then picks up one of the descriptive phrases for Jesus which we found in Chapter 1. The particular descriptive is frequently something that relates to the particular issue that the church is dealing with. Next, the letter provides an affirmation for how the church has been faithful (except for the notable exception of the church to the Laodiceans). The next element for each letter is a call for reformation: the identification of something that the churches can do to be more faithful (except for the notable exception of the Philadelphians). The letters end with a promise of the reward which the faithful will receive, and the charge “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The regularity of this formula helps us understand the message for each church.
John begins with a letter the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a major seaport and the most important city in the region. It was also the center of worship for the goddess Artemis (or Diana). Acts 19:23-41 describes a riot that the worshipers of Artemis incited in reaction to Paul’s preaching of the gospel there.
The affirmation for the Ephesian church was that they were hard-working and conscientious. They were discerning people and sought to avoid the influence of misleading or false leaders. That’s great: these are values which we’d all admire. There’s something almost instinctive, at least in the American “heartland,” about valuing hard work and quality work. And we respect people with sharp minds who don’t just accept every idea that comes down the pick, but probes and analyzes them to sift out what is valuable and get rid of the dangers and problems.
This is all quite commendable, but in the midst of their hard work and careful thought, the Ephesians had strayed from their “first love.” This can be understood two ways. First, they may have forgotten about the condition of love which is the starting point and grounding of everything we are and do as Christians. Church history is riddled with unfortunate examples of believers who became so caught up in doing the right thing and working hard to do it, that they no longer acted in love. The Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials are two quick examples that come to mind. But they’re safe examples because they’re so removed from us. But it’s a danger we still face. It would be easy for the ongoing debate about the role of homosexuals in the church to dissolve into this, if and when those who hold up the Biblical standard against such conduct fail to do so out of love and respect and begin to demonize and break fellowship not only with homosexuals but with those who support them. Many congregations can find sad localized examples of their own: when a longtime member criticizes a new member because she violated a long-standing tradition about how “things are always done here,” or if a dispute about how to handle a situation in the church dissolves into factionalism and bitterness. In each of these cases, the love from which all discipleship begins has been violated.
But there’s a second way to understand Jesus’ criticism that the Ephesians have “forsaken their first love:” they lost sight of their primary call from God. They forgot how their relationship with God and their identity as God’s people started. In the process of developing and growing in faith, they abandoned their roots instead of building on them. This can happen to us, individually and as a church, when we forget why we are doing what we’re doing and obsess over how to do it. They need to heed the exhortation that Paul offered to the Philippians: “Let us live up to what we have already attained” (3:16).
John begins with a letter the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a major seaport and the most important city in the region. It was also the center of worship for the goddess Artemis (or Diana). Acts 19:23-41 describes a riot that the worshipers of Artemis incited in reaction to Paul’s preaching of the gospel there.
The affirmation for the Ephesian church was that they were hard-working and conscientious. They were discerning people and sought to avoid the influence of misleading or false leaders. That’s great: these are values which we’d all admire. There’s something almost instinctive, at least in the American “heartland,” about valuing hard work and quality work. And we respect people with sharp minds who don’t just accept every idea that comes down the pick, but probes and analyzes them to sift out what is valuable and get rid of the dangers and problems.
This is all quite commendable, but in the midst of their hard work and careful thought, the Ephesians had strayed from their “first love.” This can be understood two ways. First, they may have forgotten about the condition of love which is the starting point and grounding of everything we are and do as Christians. Church history is riddled with unfortunate examples of believers who became so caught up in doing the right thing and working hard to do it, that they no longer acted in love. The Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials are two quick examples that come to mind. But they’re safe examples because they’re so removed from us. But it’s a danger we still face. It would be easy for the ongoing debate about the role of homosexuals in the church to dissolve into this, if and when those who hold up the Biblical standard against such conduct fail to do so out of love and respect and begin to demonize and break fellowship not only with homosexuals but with those who support them. Many congregations can find sad localized examples of their own: when a longtime member criticizes a new member because she violated a long-standing tradition about how “things are always done here,” or if a dispute about how to handle a situation in the church dissolves into factionalism and bitterness. In each of these cases, the love from which all discipleship begins has been violated.
But there’s a second way to understand Jesus’ criticism that the Ephesians have “forsaken their first love:” they lost sight of their primary call from God. They forgot how their relationship with God and their identity as God’s people started. In the process of developing and growing in faith, they abandoned their roots instead of building on them. This can happen to us, individually and as a church, when we forget why we are doing what we’re doing and obsess over how to do it. They need to heed the exhortation that Paul offered to the Philippians: “Let us live up to what we have already attained” (3:16).
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