Words to Live By
THOUGHTS:I have found that over the years I have developed a handful of concepts which can each be expressed in a word or a succinct phrase and which have become the basis upon which I make every decision in my life. Together they make up the guiding star which informs every ethical and behavioral choice with which I am confronted. I can take you pretty closely to the week of my life or the specific experience that galvanized each of these concepts into moral life guidelines. I am writing this to induce you to ask what your particular guidelines are, to put them in writing, and to begin to see that all of your life conforms to them. My main counsel is to be certain that each of them is thoroughly and completely biblical! So here are the words, in the order in which they became operative principles in my life, that I [seek to] live by:
1) WWJD – I detest the jewelry, the bookmarks, and the bumper stickers. They took my very first life principle and cheapened it. They took what was sacred to me and made it another Christian marketing ploy to enlarge the coffers of whatever enterprising person or company realized the fiscal benefit of taking advantage of our Christian tendency to trivialize our faith with trinkets and apparel instead of incorporate it into our lives by thoroughgoing obedience!"What Would Jesus Do?" indeed!! Could you imagine if we simply applied this simple dictum to every decision we made, asking the question honestly, listening for the response openly, and then applying the answer completely and without hesitation. Of course, to answer the question accurately demands a well-founded understanding of the probable response of our Lord to each and every situation in which we might find ourselves. It demands daily saturation in the Gospels. But after all, isn’t it "Jesus Followers" that we are called to be?
2) Above Reproach – This is one of the requisite characteristics that Paul applies to being an overseer. The word (or words – there are actually a couple) gives the idea that there is nothing in our lives that could serve as the basis for any accusation. This doesn’t speak of motivations, but of conduct that is above or beyond the scope of any negative comments. Even under scrupulous examination, nothing could be found that would serve as the foundation for a critical reproach. That is squeaky cleanness! Could you imagine running all of our decisions and activities through the grid of above-reproachness!?!
3) What does it look like? – This is the question that dominates all of my Bible study. Whatever teaching or command I come across, I immediately ask what it would look like to live out that teaching in the context in which I live, and what would it look like to have an entire community of people live like that. I want nothing that I read in the Word to remain on a strictly theoretical, theological, doctrinal plane…I want to ask and know what it looks like to put all of these things into practice, to live them out.
4) Attentive and Responsive – All of my “duties" as a Christian can be summed up with these two terms. First I am to be attentive to the voice and the proddings of My Lord. He always takes the initiative; I always adopt the posture of listener/learner/responder. That is why I focus so much on the spiritual disciplines. It is imperative that we develop our spiritual attentiveness! Then my duty is immediate and full response to what I have read/heard/seen. That is what walking is the Spirit is all about – paying close attention to the Spirit who guides us, then immediately taking the step that He indicates. Two necessary safeguards to living this way are to know the Word well, and to live life out in community. That will keep us from excess in our responding!
5) Intentionality – This really sums up the previous 4 “words". None of them are just going to happen. You are not going to instinctively walk as Jesus walked, or live an above reproach life, or contextualize all biblical teaching, or live in close harmony with the nudgings of the Spirit. Each of these practices and decisions has to be an intentional choice. And that is basically how we live our lives…choice by choice by choice throughout the day, intentionally responding to the Spirit, walking as Jesus walked, maintaining an above-reproach lifestyle as we contextually implement all of God’s gracious instructions!
6) Intimacy – This has most recently begun to dominate most of my thinking. It is closely related to #4, but especially focuses on the issue of motivation. To be a people who are overwhelmed by an open-armed Father who fully accepts us, completely forgives us, and absolutely delights in us, and then to live out all of life as a response to that overwhelmedness, is what we are called to be and do. There is no short-cut to intimacy. There is no substitute for time with the Father. To hear His voice announcing that we are his delightful children and that on us His favor rests and to feel the intimacy of the Father’s arms wrapped around us in a fully accepting embrace are the postures upon which are built and out of which flow every loving, obedient response to Him with whom we have achieved intimacy. Our faith is indeed not a religion, but a relationship. The development of that relationship must have the highest priority with respect to our time, our energies, our efforts, our activities, our entire lives. Be sure to bring to every decision in your life the question, “Will this contribute to or detract from intimacy with my Father?"
I don’t confess to have perfectly kept all of these principles throughout my life. But they have been and continue to be the key principles that guide all I do or correct each of my errors. What are the guiding principles in your life? What is (are) the question(s) that you apply to every decision or choice that you are about to make? If you don’t have any then you are not living intentionally but are simply letting yourself be carried along by the current of the culture, friends, media, lies, and other influences, both internal and external that surround you. Seek God and His Word for those guiding principles that are going to be your north star. Whatever you do, don’t drift! Be intentional!
BOOK: In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. This is must reading for every believer. It should have been among the first 10 books you read as a new believer. If you haven’t yet read it, repent, go buy it, read it, do what it says, and then give it away to a new Christian.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
No pictures this time.
I recently came across some awesome words of wisdom written by a good friend and wanted to post them here with hopes that more people can benefit from the insight and understanding God has given him. Hope you're blessed as much as I am in reading them!
Finding “God's Will”
Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:42pm
This is a huge issue for almost all of you. My biggest concern is with the way that you ask the question and some of the assumptions that you make. I have recently been asked several questions, such as, “Should I study language, work, or spend time at my home church?” “What agency/people/country should I go with/to?” “Should I do an internship, go to Bible school or head straight to the field?” “Why are there so many 'closed doors'?” My contention is that these questions do not have to do with “God's will” but with obedient, wise and strategic thinking. Let me explain.
Preliminary Considerations:
1) God's will is not hidden, it is not a secret, it is not difficult to ascertain. God's will – that is, what God wants – is completely revealed is Scripture. Do you want to know what your Father desires, what He delights in, what brings Him pleasure? Just look at His commands. In those His “will” is most perfectly and completely revealed!
2) When we use the term "God's will" the usual assumption is that God wants us in a particular place at a particular time with particular people...and our job is to get all of the particulars right! We think in terms of hitting the bull's eye in the middle of the target. “Should I be studying language, studying the Bible, working to save money, or getting more involved in my home church? Which one does God want? What is His will?” That is NOT how God's will is dealt with in Scripture. (That may be the theme of a future “note”.) As I mentioned, God's will, or what God wants, is most clearly revealed in His commands. He wants our holiness, He wants the nations to glorify His Name, He wants all people to repent, He wants us to pray without ceasing, etc. It is helpful that we move out of a "right place, right time" mentality, away from “bull's eye” thinking and understand God's will in terms of obedience.
3) The basic assumption behind commands, especially the command to love, is freedom. We are free to chose to love or free to chose not to. We are free to obey each and every command, or free to disregard them all. A clear teaching in Scripture is that the nature of our relationship with God and Christ is precisely that – it is a relationship...father/child, beloved/bride, etc. He delights in our freely chosen response to love Him. He gives us the parameters of what that love should look like ("this is love for God: to obey His commands"), but leaves the specifics up to us. We are clearly not pawns on a chess board simply being moved to whatever square His will determines. We are people in relationship freely and creatively offering obedient love in ways that we think will please Him. I tend to think the more creative the expression of love offered, the more pleasing it is to the loved (that is a lesson that marriage teaches us!).
4) Rather than asking about God's will, the more accurate question is, "How do we go about making decisions?" That is the question that needs to be asked. But before I answer it, I again want to dispel a common myth. Behind the question about making decisions is usually the assumption that there is a "right" decision and a "wrong" decision. Along with that is usually the expectation of identifiable, discernible leadings which increase our certainty that we are doing the "right" thing. (The “leadings” usually have the added benefit of taking responsibility out of our hands. Whatever we do ends up being God's responsibility – read “fault” – since He is the One who led us.) This is, again, bull's eye thinking. Scripture doesn't bear out this kind of thinking, and I believe that it has been harmful on a couple of different levels (which I won't elaborate on here). "Freedom" rather than a "particular time/place/person" needs to be the rule that guides our decision making.
Basic Principles:So how do we go about making decisions? Here are my 4 words. These are not definitive words. Others could be added. But these principles are a good place to start.
1) Obedience - I have probably already mentioned this enough. As we are careful to listen to God speaking to us and revealing His heart and desires to us in Scripture, and then as we carefully put into practice what He says in His Self-revelation, there is little else that we will have to concern ourselves with. We need to always be asking, regardless of what decision we are making, "What does My Father say in His Word that tells us what He thinks about this decision?" or "What are the principles that My Lover has shown me in His Scriptures that come to bear on this decision?" I know that sounds basic and elementary, but I honestly don't think that we listen enough and seek to apply what God has already revealed about His heart in the way that He wants us to.
2) Counsel - This is huge. That's why I put it second. We are so limited in our perspectives, we are so ethnocentric and egocentric (not simply in the sense of being selfish, but in the sense of seeing everything exclusively from our own limited point of view) in our outlook, we are so prone to self-deception, that we desperately need the broadening and expansive perspective of other members of the body. That is so much of Paul's teaching on the Church...that none of us is adequate on our own, that we need one another. The body is built as an interdependent organism. Hence my harping on finding a mentor!! Three practical words of direction on seeking counsel that I want to give:
· Ask counsel of someone who has chosen to live wisely and well – be sure you get your counsel from a wise person whose life demonstrates that they have lived by and are living by the wisdom that they give. The quality of the counsel will be no better than its source.
· Do not just seek counselors who agree with you. In fact, it would be wise to do the opposite...to seek counsel form those you know may have a very distinct perspective from your own. In counsel you should always value honesty over sympathy. Mothers give sympathy. Counselors should give truth.
· Part of the counsel should consist of applying the WWJD question. Take a look at my "Words to Live By" note.
3) Strategy - Though I believe there is seldom (if ever) just one "right" decision, there is often a "better" decision. (There may even be a "best" decision, but I am not sure that is ever identifiable and I certainly would never presume to have insight into what is "best"!) The person who offers wise counsel will help us identify what is better. But a second kind of person or perspective we need is a strategic one. After counsel, this is the most important way to answer the question about making decisions. Here are two of the ways that I apply this principle to decisions:
· "Lord's Prayer Decision Making" - I think that the Lord's prayer is perhaps the most succinct and comprehensive expression of God's will in Scripture. You've probably heard me teach on it numbers of times. The 3 parallel requests that we are to ask for are: God's Name to be honored, God's Kingdom (or rule) to come, and God's will to be done. As I apply the Lord's prayer to decision making I simply ask, "What is most going to honor the Lord's Name, most cause His just and holy and loving rule to be exercised among people and most cause the living out of His will to happen? At that point the answer to that question (or those questions) becomes simply a matter of strategy. We merely ask, "What can I do or where can I go or how can I live in such a way that is most going to honor God's Name and cause His Kingdom to come and His will to be done?"Then we simply make the best strategic determination we can with the information we have and the counsel that has been given us, and do it.
· "Great Commission Decision Making" - This is the same as the preceding paragraph, but with the assumption that Jesus' last words to His Church most completely sum up His will for us. So we simply apply the strategic question to the Great Commission and ask, "What can I do or where can I go or how can I live in such a way that is most going to see the nations evangelized and obedient followers of Jesus raised up among every language and tribe and people and nation?" Again, the answer to that question is completely a matter of wise strategy. There are certainly some "wrong" answers, but there is not just one "right" answer.
One further word on Strategy...to be in a position to be able to formulate an informed, strategically accurate answer to the question, we need accurate information. Hence the need to do adequate research. "Adequate" is hard to define because we can't know everything, but we need enough information to be able to answer the question.
4) Freedom - Once we are sure that we are being obedient to the revealed will of God, and have sought counsel about how to address a specific decision, and have strategically looked at the "best" way to live out that decision, then we are free to offer our grateful love to God in that way. Simply make a decision that reflects obedience, that has taken into consideration wise counsel and that has applied good strategic thinking, and then be assured that your Father is going to be exuberantly pleased with that expression of love that He receives from His adoring child. He is NOT a harsh taskmaster who is sitting up there ready to leap off His throne and explode with an irate, "You did what!?!" and then come down on us with some divine disciplinary retribution. He will be thrilled to receive from us our obedient, counsel-informed, strategically-motivated decision to follow Him. Rejoice in the freedom you have to bring your Father joy by offering to Him a decision that is going to bring His Name praise among the nations. I can say with full conviction and assurance that He will proudly smile on you, His daughter or his son, and declare "This is my beloved child. With them (and with their decision) I am well pleased. On them my favor rests."Meditate on these things, then let the questions or comments fly. I would love to interact with you about these principles!
Finding “God's Will”
Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:42pm
This is a huge issue for almost all of you. My biggest concern is with the way that you ask the question and some of the assumptions that you make. I have recently been asked several questions, such as, “Should I study language, work, or spend time at my home church?” “What agency/people/country should I go with/to?” “Should I do an internship, go to Bible school or head straight to the field?” “Why are there so many 'closed doors'?” My contention is that these questions do not have to do with “God's will” but with obedient, wise and strategic thinking. Let me explain.
Preliminary Considerations:
1) God's will is not hidden, it is not a secret, it is not difficult to ascertain. God's will – that is, what God wants – is completely revealed is Scripture. Do you want to know what your Father desires, what He delights in, what brings Him pleasure? Just look at His commands. In those His “will” is most perfectly and completely revealed!
2) When we use the term "God's will" the usual assumption is that God wants us in a particular place at a particular time with particular people...and our job is to get all of the particulars right! We think in terms of hitting the bull's eye in the middle of the target. “Should I be studying language, studying the Bible, working to save money, or getting more involved in my home church? Which one does God want? What is His will?” That is NOT how God's will is dealt with in Scripture. (That may be the theme of a future “note”.) As I mentioned, God's will, or what God wants, is most clearly revealed in His commands. He wants our holiness, He wants the nations to glorify His Name, He wants all people to repent, He wants us to pray without ceasing, etc. It is helpful that we move out of a "right place, right time" mentality, away from “bull's eye” thinking and understand God's will in terms of obedience.
3) The basic assumption behind commands, especially the command to love, is freedom. We are free to chose to love or free to chose not to. We are free to obey each and every command, or free to disregard them all. A clear teaching in Scripture is that the nature of our relationship with God and Christ is precisely that – it is a relationship...father/child, beloved/bride, etc. He delights in our freely chosen response to love Him. He gives us the parameters of what that love should look like ("this is love for God: to obey His commands"), but leaves the specifics up to us. We are clearly not pawns on a chess board simply being moved to whatever square His will determines. We are people in relationship freely and creatively offering obedient love in ways that we think will please Him. I tend to think the more creative the expression of love offered, the more pleasing it is to the loved (that is a lesson that marriage teaches us!).
4) Rather than asking about God's will, the more accurate question is, "How do we go about making decisions?" That is the question that needs to be asked. But before I answer it, I again want to dispel a common myth. Behind the question about making decisions is usually the assumption that there is a "right" decision and a "wrong" decision. Along with that is usually the expectation of identifiable, discernible leadings which increase our certainty that we are doing the "right" thing. (The “leadings” usually have the added benefit of taking responsibility out of our hands. Whatever we do ends up being God's responsibility – read “fault” – since He is the One who led us.) This is, again, bull's eye thinking. Scripture doesn't bear out this kind of thinking, and I believe that it has been harmful on a couple of different levels (which I won't elaborate on here). "Freedom" rather than a "particular time/place/person" needs to be the rule that guides our decision making.
Basic Principles:So how do we go about making decisions? Here are my 4 words. These are not definitive words. Others could be added. But these principles are a good place to start.
1) Obedience - I have probably already mentioned this enough. As we are careful to listen to God speaking to us and revealing His heart and desires to us in Scripture, and then as we carefully put into practice what He says in His Self-revelation, there is little else that we will have to concern ourselves with. We need to always be asking, regardless of what decision we are making, "What does My Father say in His Word that tells us what He thinks about this decision?" or "What are the principles that My Lover has shown me in His Scriptures that come to bear on this decision?" I know that sounds basic and elementary, but I honestly don't think that we listen enough and seek to apply what God has already revealed about His heart in the way that He wants us to.
2) Counsel - This is huge. That's why I put it second. We are so limited in our perspectives, we are so ethnocentric and egocentric (not simply in the sense of being selfish, but in the sense of seeing everything exclusively from our own limited point of view) in our outlook, we are so prone to self-deception, that we desperately need the broadening and expansive perspective of other members of the body. That is so much of Paul's teaching on the Church...that none of us is adequate on our own, that we need one another. The body is built as an interdependent organism. Hence my harping on finding a mentor!! Three practical words of direction on seeking counsel that I want to give:
· Ask counsel of someone who has chosen to live wisely and well – be sure you get your counsel from a wise person whose life demonstrates that they have lived by and are living by the wisdom that they give. The quality of the counsel will be no better than its source.
· Do not just seek counselors who agree with you. In fact, it would be wise to do the opposite...to seek counsel form those you know may have a very distinct perspective from your own. In counsel you should always value honesty over sympathy. Mothers give sympathy. Counselors should give truth.
· Part of the counsel should consist of applying the WWJD question. Take a look at my "Words to Live By" note.
3) Strategy - Though I believe there is seldom (if ever) just one "right" decision, there is often a "better" decision. (There may even be a "best" decision, but I am not sure that is ever identifiable and I certainly would never presume to have insight into what is "best"!) The person who offers wise counsel will help us identify what is better. But a second kind of person or perspective we need is a strategic one. After counsel, this is the most important way to answer the question about making decisions. Here are two of the ways that I apply this principle to decisions:
· "Lord's Prayer Decision Making" - I think that the Lord's prayer is perhaps the most succinct and comprehensive expression of God's will in Scripture. You've probably heard me teach on it numbers of times. The 3 parallel requests that we are to ask for are: God's Name to be honored, God's Kingdom (or rule) to come, and God's will to be done. As I apply the Lord's prayer to decision making I simply ask, "What is most going to honor the Lord's Name, most cause His just and holy and loving rule to be exercised among people and most cause the living out of His will to happen? At that point the answer to that question (or those questions) becomes simply a matter of strategy. We merely ask, "What can I do or where can I go or how can I live in such a way that is most going to honor God's Name and cause His Kingdom to come and His will to be done?"Then we simply make the best strategic determination we can with the information we have and the counsel that has been given us, and do it.
· "Great Commission Decision Making" - This is the same as the preceding paragraph, but with the assumption that Jesus' last words to His Church most completely sum up His will for us. So we simply apply the strategic question to the Great Commission and ask, "What can I do or where can I go or how can I live in such a way that is most going to see the nations evangelized and obedient followers of Jesus raised up among every language and tribe and people and nation?" Again, the answer to that question is completely a matter of wise strategy. There are certainly some "wrong" answers, but there is not just one "right" answer.
One further word on Strategy...to be in a position to be able to formulate an informed, strategically accurate answer to the question, we need accurate information. Hence the need to do adequate research. "Adequate" is hard to define because we can't know everything, but we need enough information to be able to answer the question.
4) Freedom - Once we are sure that we are being obedient to the revealed will of God, and have sought counsel about how to address a specific decision, and have strategically looked at the "best" way to live out that decision, then we are free to offer our grateful love to God in that way. Simply make a decision that reflects obedience, that has taken into consideration wise counsel and that has applied good strategic thinking, and then be assured that your Father is going to be exuberantly pleased with that expression of love that He receives from His adoring child. He is NOT a harsh taskmaster who is sitting up there ready to leap off His throne and explode with an irate, "You did what!?!" and then come down on us with some divine disciplinary retribution. He will be thrilled to receive from us our obedient, counsel-informed, strategically-motivated decision to follow Him. Rejoice in the freedom you have to bring your Father joy by offering to Him a decision that is going to bring His Name praise among the nations. I can say with full conviction and assurance that He will proudly smile on you, His daughter or his son, and declare "This is my beloved child. With them (and with their decision) I am well pleased. On them my favor rests."Meditate on these things, then let the questions or comments fly. I would love to interact with you about these principles!
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