love

HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR

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Four Practical Applications for Overcoming Lovelessness

My recent posts focused on Christ’s letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”

Jesus holds his churches accountable for practicing fervent love. We must make every effort to comply with his demands to that end. We need ears to hear his complaint against lovelessness. Embrace his remedy for lovelessness. Heed his warning about lovelessness. What will it look like if we have ears to hear what the Spirit says and overcome with conquering love? Here are some ideas for application.

Audit Your Love

What better, more obvious way to be a doer of the word and no hearer only from this text, than to continually audit yourself individually and your church corporately about how loving you are. If we don’t do this, we run the risk of hearing Jesus say, I have this against you. Please take this seriously. Regularly subject yourself to the blazing light of the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and remember and repent accordingly.

Study Biblical Love

Alexander Strauch’s little book Love or Die: Christ’s Wake Up Call to the Church (Lewis & Roth, 2008) is a profitable resource to this end. He points to nearly 1,000 references to love in one form or another in God’s word. Do you want to pursue love more diligently? Then you must read and study what God says about love in his word. Strauch’s appendix B contains 50 Key Texts on Love. That will get you started. Prefer learning by listening? Consider streaming John Piper’s sermon series (15 messages) entitled The Greatest of These Is Love.

Pray for Love

If Jesus reported on an audit of your church, would it include a commendation like this? I know your works how you earnestly pray for one another—especially that you grow in love and even overflow in love? Let’s take our cue from Paul in 1 Thessalonians 3:12. May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you. The Thessalonian church was a prime example of first love according to 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10:

“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more.”

Practice Genuine Love

First John 3:16 says this: Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. Here’s my challenge. Conduct a self-audit in Romans 12:9-21 soon, and ask the Lord to focus you on just one tangible love practice in which you want to grow. Choose from among honoring, praying, giving, serving, showing hospitality, blessing, rejoicing, weeping, peacemaking, associating with the lowly, and more. You can do this! The Holy Spirit will help you (Gal. 5:22). 

There is evidence in the writings of the church fathers of the 2nd century that the Ephesian church did repent. A letter by Ignatius to the church praised them as “characterized by faith in and love of Christ”—their pastor “a man of inexpressible love.” 

May we too have ears to hear what Jesus says about the serious sin of lovelessness. To the one who conquers he will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

I WILL COME & REMOVE YOUR LAMPSTAND

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What Jesus Threatens If a Church Persists in Seriousness Lovelessness

I can only imagine one thing worse than my church getting a letter from Jesus containing his personal complaint about our fellowship–the consequences should we fail to comply with his demands. Both happened to the church of Ephesus back in the 1st century. The text is recorded for us in Revelation 2:1-7.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”

In my first post in this series, The Serious Sin of Lovelessness, I introduced the letter with its complaint. In the second post, I Have This Against You, I unpacked the grievous complaint about their lovelessness. In this post, I want to consider Jesus’s prescription for change and consequences for failure.

A Continuous Remedy (v. 5a)

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

Note the two-pronged cure for lovelessness which Jesus prescribes: remember and repent. Remember is a present tense command. It conveys a continual calling to mind the fervent culture of love they enjoyed in the past. Apparently at one time these people practiced a Romans 12:10-like brotherly affection outdoing one another in showing honor. They knew some good old days of Philippians 1:9-like love abounding more and more with knowledge and discernment. A good memory can be a good thing in the Christian life.

But somewhere along the way something broke. They fell. They abandoned the fierce love they had practiced earlier. And so, he commands them to repent. That’s a different verb tense suggesting a decisive, immediate break with present actions in favor of an altogether different direction—do the works you did at first. And work it is. Love is labor and toil in all kinds of forms. Martin Luther said our life is to be a constant and ceaseless repentance. Nowhere is that more important—think 1 Corinthians 13—than in the practice of love. To lack it makes us nothing. 

An Ominous Warning (v. 5b)

What happens if we fail to conquer (v. 7), by his grace, in the matter of ongoing fervent love as a church? If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Jesus was dead serious, literally, with this church over its sin of lovelessness. Don’t be deceived. If we excel in championing doctrinal purity only to suffer a loss of ever-increasing love for one another, we face utterly devastating consequences. A failing grade in love invites Jesus’s sternest of judgments. I will come and remove your lampstand. Scholar D. A Carson explains:

“The removal of the lampstand from its place can signify nothing less than the end of Christ’s recognition of the church as a church of his. It will become as devoid of Christ as the temple of Jerusalem became empty of God prior to its destruction. So grave is the sin of lovelessness in a Christian church.”

An ominous warning indeed. May God spare us such a terrifying judgment.

In my final post in this series, I will offer four practical applications from the letter to help our churches thrive in love which keeps the lampstand burning brightly.

I HAVE THIS AGAINST YOU

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Jesus Takes Personal Offense to Lovelessness in the Church

You’ve been served.

Have you ever heard those words spoken to you? I have, thankfully only once. Years ago, I caused a car accident involving two other vehicles on one of our busy Orlando highways. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt–or so I thought. Months later the doorbell rang one morning. Upon answering, I was handed a manila envelope giving me notice of a lawsuit against me for $100K in damages resulting from that wreck. Weeks later my insurance company settled for considerably less than that amount. But it’s hard to describe the sinking feeling which comes with hearing someone say, “You’ve been served.”

Imagine something quite similar happening to you and your church, only the One serving the papers is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The first-century Ephesian church experienced that very thing in Revelation 2:1-7.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”

The Main Idea

In my last post, The Serious Sin of Lovelessness, I summarized the thrust of the letter this way:

Because Jesus holds us accountable for practicing fervent love, we should make every effort to comply with his demands to that end.

There are three things in the text related to this accountability: from Jesus there is a grievous complaint, there is a continuous remedy, and there is an ominous warning. In this post I want to address the nature of the lawsuit.

Jesus’s Grievous Complaint

But I have this against you.

Before dealing with the charge, notice the context of this blistering accusation. It’s signaled by the strong contrast “but” at the start of v. 4. The previous two verses could hardly be different in tone and content:

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.”

The High Priestly audit does not overlook the good. Toil. Perseverance. Hatred of evil. Calling out false teachers. Suffering for the name. Yet more commendation comes in v. 6. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. That’s probably a reference to libertinism—cheap grace—do what you want because it’s all forgiven anyway. Upshot? They hated false doctrine and ungodliness just as Jesus does, and he credited them for it. High praise indeed. Well done, good and faithful servants.

All well and good, but … back to v. 4. I have this against you. That’s highly personal language. Jesus takes personally this flagrant flaw among this otherwise first-rate church of his: you have abandoned the love you had at first. I suspect most are more familiar with a different translation: you have left your first love. The original literally reads: you have abandoned the love of you the first. The word “first” comes at the end of the sentence for emphasis. Either approach has merit. But I lean with the ESV in light of the word “fallen” in v. 5. We’re talking serious failure here.

My principal objection to the idea of abandoning their first love, Jesus, is that the praises heaped upon them don’t seem worthy of a lack of love for Christ in the midst of such a wicked culture. They strike me as far too strong. Unless of course a lack of love among one another in the assembly amounts to a lack of ultimate love for Christ. In truth, the two are never far apart, as in 1 John 4:7-8: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Professor Dennis Johnson of Westminster West Seminary hit the target here in a Table Talk article for Ligonier Ministries:

“Keeping a firm grip on both poles — truth and love — is a constant challenge for redeemed sinners who swing like pendulums from one extreme to another. Too often, churches and their leaders either stand for biblical truth vigorously but lovelessly or else they preserve apparent unity and love at the expense of truth. Of course, when the truth of the gospel truly grasps our hearts, love for others must result; and, by the same token, the love that delights Jesus grows only in the rich soil of fidelity to God’s truth.”

Jesus holds us accountable for practicing fervent love. We should make every effort to comply with his demands to that end. This is a grievous complaint. A loss of love is no minor defect. No amount of religious orthodoxy and doctrinal fidelity can make up for lovelessness. How should we respond?

Audit Your Love

What better, more obvious way to be a doer of the word and no hearer only from this text, than to continually audit yourself individually and your church corporately about how loving you are. If we don’t do this, we run the risk of hearing Jesus say, I have this against you. Please take this seriously. Regularly subject yourself particularly to the blazing light of the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and take stock accordingly of any hurtful way within you (Psalm 139:24).

Self-auditing must precede embracing Jesus’s remedy in the text–the subject of my next post.

THE SERIOUS SIN OF LOVELESSNESS

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What If Jesus Conducted an Audit of Your Church?

I tend to look forward to fetching the daily mail. But I admit that my heart skips a beat when occasionally we get something with the return address label, Internal Revenue Service. I immediately stress. “Oh no, what if they wish to dispute a past tax return?” I think I’d rather have a root canal than face an audit by an IRS agent. Maybe you can relate.

Imagine with me for a moment a Sunday when the pastor announces to your church that he has received a certified letter from none other than King Jesus. And he informs you of a pending heavenly audit scheduled among the congregation at some future date. The Lord Jesus personally plans to conduct a thorough inspection of every aspect of your ministry and people. I wonder how you might take stock of your ways in advance. I wonder what changes that prospect might galvanize before his arrival.

Revelation 2:1 makes that plain. These are: The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands (emphasis added). Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher of old, summed this up well:

“No one knows the churches as Jesus does . . . he continually walks among them.  … His eyes are as a flame of fire. He sees the churches through and through, and knows their true condition much better than they know themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ is a most careful observer of churches and of individuals; nothing is hid from his observant eye.”

Does that sober you? I suspect it does. Your church is one of Christ’s lampstands. In a way, he has already written a letter to your church and every other church for that matter. Jesus means for us to ponder this one long ago to Ephesus, along with the other six in these two chapters, to see what he might say to us. As we confront the message here to Ephesus, I want to help you wrestle with what he might say to you about the serious sin of lovelessness.

Most scholars regard chapters two and three as real letters written to real historical, 1st-century churches. It begins with Ephesus—the highest profile, most influential one of all. Ephesus was a hotbed of idolatry, false teaching, and sin—a difficult city in which to function as an effective body of believers. This timely letter from John on Patmos took aim at a major fault in the church at the time of writing. 

Here’s the text of the entire letter to Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”

Here is the main idea: Because Jesus holds us accountable for practicing fervent love, we should make every effort to comply with his demands to that end. I want you to see three things in the text related to this accountability: from Jesus there is a grievous complaint, there is a continuous remedy, and there is an ominous warning.

In my next post I will unpack one or more of these particular aspects of the Ephesian audit. In the meantime, I invite you to pray Colossians 3:14 often for your local church community.

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

And remember, Jesus walks amidst the fellowship with eyes a flame of fire.

AN OUTDATED TOOL MAKES A WELCOME COMEBACK

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The Strategic Value of a Printed Church Directory


Numerous gains have come with our age of advanced technology. Few, however, will deny the reality of certain losses as well. Among them I count the utility of a printed church directory in favor of a tap-of-the-app digital kind. Granted, an online database makes accessing member contact information a convenience-lover’s dream. But in all the year’s I’ve employed these 21st century church versions, I’ve failed to find them as beneficial to my spiritual life as a good old, handheld, picture-containing church directory.

Major props to the officers of our church for favoring the ancient paths by providing a printed member directory. Who cares if it becomes outdated the moment you publish it? So what if a few more trees must be harvested to print the next edition? Maybe I’m just old and set in ways that prefer to turn pages of a book held in my hands rather than swipe them on a screen, but I find my printed directory so much more conducive to reaping its benefits than my digital options.

Whether you favor the new paths or the old, please consider three ways to use your church directory to the glory of God, the benefit of your church, and the growth of your faith.

One, to keep a covenant promise. Among the sacred things to which we commit in our membership vows is this: “Ever mindful of our fellow members, fellow heirs with Christ, we promise to walk with them in faithfulness, patience, grace and love” (emphasis added). Ever mindful. Talk about a high bar. Our directory contains twenty-nine pages of members with four households per page, except for the last with just two. That’s 114 units. I counted twenty-five of them I’ve yet to meet or know anything about after attending eight months at Grace Fellowship. I expect that number to decrease gradually, but in the meantime the directory helps me keep the still unmet in mind too, along with the rest with whom I already have some connection. More below on how it does that.

Two, to grow in brotherly love. Peter admonishes us, “Above all, love each other deeply” (1 Peter 4:8). Question. Do you feel loved when someone new in your life remembers your name? Of course you do. Names matter. Just read through Romans 16 and Colossians 4. Paul takes great pains to shout out by name all kinds of people and their service to Christ’s church. No matter how hard Jan and I try to recall names on Sundays, we constantly ask each other for help in remembering. But now we have a printed tool with color photos to help us match and review names and faces. And we can make important connections like family relationships that we often miss when just meeting a spouse or another family member. We also recall requests others have asked us to remember on their behalf. Our love for the body grows as a result.

Three, to help with intercessory prayer. None of us survives the battle with spiritual forces without the prayer support of other saints (Eph. 6:18-20). The directory adds a weapon to my devotional life the use of which use doesn’t require all that much additional time or effort. Take one page a day—that’s only four households—and pray a passage/verse of Scripture for each. This month I’m asking the Father to make 2 Peter 3:18 a reality in each household’s life. I add anything personal I know about them as well. Then I pick one of those households and text or email them a quick message of encouragement letting them know I’ve taken them before the Father that day. Do that consistently, or some version better suited to your schedule, and who knows what the Lord might do in our church as a result.

One 9Marks pastor considers a church directory the second most important book a pastor owns. He argues from Hebrews 13:17 for a pastor’s unique accountability for his members’ care which he does not have for Christians elsewhere. They are the sheep of his pasture, not someone else’s. The directory helps keep his priorities focused accordingly. Similarly, members of a local church steward unique accountability and support to their other covenant members in ways unlike other believers they know. Shouldn’t that make our church directories terribly important to us as well?

Brothers and sisters, let’s make good use of our tried-and-true church directories.

GET GOOD NOT EVEN

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Overcoming Love When Peacemaking Seems Impossible


In coaching sessions with folks in conflict with others, I frequently quote Romans 12:18.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

We can’t hope to control what someone else does about our issue with them, but we can take ownership of our personal approach to the situation. Love constrained by the gospel of Jesus as described in the immediate context (Romans 12:9-17), pulls out all the stops to achieve reconciliation. But what if all attempts fail? Even worse, what if our conciliatory efforts result in increased hostility and sinful behavior from the other party?

Even then gospel love kicks things up another notch. The rest of Romans 12 calls for nothing less than a supernaturally aided, two-fold strategy.

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Tactic #1 Never try to get even. Leave things with God who rights every wrong in due time. Instead, employ tactic #2: Treat your enemy just the opposite. Don’t repay evil for evil. Refuse to get even; overcome evil with good.

In Robert Peterson’s biography of Robert Chapman: Apostle of Love, he relates a story from the much-beloved life of the 19th century British pastor. It beautifully illustrates the power of a Romans-12 kind of overcoming love.

A grocer in Barnstaple became so upset when Chapman was preaching in the open air that he strode up to where Chapman was standing and spit on him. Later one of Robert’s wealthy relatives came to Barnstaple to visit him and to try and understand his activities. Arriving by horse-drawn cab at the address given to him, the relative at first would not believe that Chapman lived in such a simple abode in such a poor neighborhood. Chapman ushered him into the clean but simple interior and explained what living in dependence on the Lord meant and how the Lord had provided for all his needs.

The relative asked if he could purchase groceries for him. Chapman gladly assented but stipulated that he must buy the food from a certain grocer. The relative went there, made a large purchase, and paid the bill. When the grocer learned that the food was to be delivered to R. C. Chapman, he said that the visitor must have come to the wrong shop. Chapman’s relative, however, replied that Chapman himself had specifically directed him to that shop. The grocer, who had viciously attacked and castigated Chapman for years, broke down in tears. Soon he came to Chapman’s house, asked forgiveness, and yielded his life to Christ.

Perhaps we can’t truly say we’ve done all we possibly can as peacemakers, until we heap some burning coals of good upon the evil heads that spit on us.

GOSPEL-SHAPED COMMUNITY

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The Grace of Greeting with a Kiss of Love


Back in my preaching days I often warned folks to beware the onset of “gospel amnesia.” I first heard the term from Paul Tripp in the book How People Change:

You see, if I really do take the gospel seriously, one of the things that I encounter very early, and it’s a theme for me, is how easy it is to be a ‘gospel amnesiac.’ How easy it is in the press of the duties and responsibilities and schedules of everyday life to forget who you are, to forget what you’ve been given. And so, the whole message of Scripture is this: Your walk with God is a community project (emphasis added).

Faithful participation in local church community helps prevent gospel amnesia. It puts us in regular contact with fellow believers committed to helping each other keep the gospel the main thing (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The apostle Paul aimed numerous “one-another” passages in his epistles to equip us to that end. One text often overlooked for its value is 2 Cor. 13:12. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”

WHAT IS A HOLY KISS?

He means nothing sensual at all. This form of physical contact is holy. The gesture is spiritual, not fleshly. In the ancient world, among the Jews and other cultures (even in parts of the world today) people greeted each other—normally males with males and females with females—by a light touch of the lips, first on one cheek and then on the other. The early church adopted the same, often after baptisms as a way of welcoming new converts into the church and during communion to welcome repentant folks who returned to the table. We find this same exhortation in several other places in the New Testament: Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 1 Thess. 5:26; and 1 Pet. 5:14 (where Peter calls it the kiss of love). The repetition of the command emphasized its importance.

Why does Paul close his letter on this note? What would possess him to direct them to make sure they engage in such an intimate, personal expression of love toward one another as he concludes the epistle? It has everything to do with the kinds of issues he addresses in the letter. The Corinthian church experienced trouble on multiple fronts. They suffered division in their ranks (2 Cor. 12:20), corrupt teaching from false apostles (2 Cor. 11:4), grave sin that needed discipline and restoration (2 Cor. 2:5-8), among other things. Paul now wraps up the letter with a finally in v. 11 to put a summary recap on everything he has said.

NO PEACEFAKING ALLOWED!

I suppose you can approach somebody you would really rather not have anything to do with by getting so up close and personal, but don’t call it holy. And it’s really hard to do! To engage somebody on that level of intimacy where you will go cheek-to-cheek normally means you’ve got no impediments blocking your relationship. Having to do this kind of thing in a fellowship of believers can help ensure that peacemaking, not peace-faking or peace-breaking, actually does go on.

Do we get the point? The gospel shapes our community when we engage one another genuinely with culturally appropriate greetings of affection. And it just may be that exceptional situations, where deep affection has grown over time, or other extraordinary circumstances, might warrant a kiss on one or both cheeks. It has happened to me on occasion, and it has blessed me with the degree of love expressed. But as a rule something more may benefit us than the token handshake of our culture, though that’s better than nothing and can be done with genuine warmth. Please consider that “holy hugs” (men with women and vice versa remember—side hugs or A-frame only) may well capture a whole lot more of the spirit of what the Bible teaches here than the casual wave or minimal greeting.

I appreciated John Piper’s take on this:

Whatever means of expressing greetings we use, let them be genuine. Right now, what do you do? Ball up your fist and hit somebody’s knuckles. So I think what the apostles want to do is encourage us to use various culturally appropriate symbols of greeting, and sanctify them and make them holy. What do we do? We ball up our fists and we do fist bumps with each other. I hardly ever know what to do. Somebody makes a fist at me and I think: Oh yeah, I am supposed to punch you on the fist. What is that? I don’t know where that comes from or what that is, but I do it. And I think Paul would look at that and he would say, “I encourage all of you guys to fist bump with a holy fist bump.” That this what he is getting at: take the culturally appropriate means of showing brotherhood or camaraderie or affection and make them holy.

If the idea of giving someone else in the body a “holy kiss” seems unpleasant, even repugnant to you, you more than likely have some peacemaking to do. Prayerfully consider taking initiative to close the gap in love. May Jesus’s peacemaking power and the gospel’s impetus help us move into one another’s lives with holy, tangible expressions of intimacy.

COVID-19’S OTHER THREAT

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Heading Off Social Distancing of a Different Kind 

Social distancing (with a measure)

Our church reopened last Sunday! After six long, challenging weeks of stay-at-home lockdown, we eagerly gathered for worship in stage one of Idaho’s Rebound plan.

Given health risks, we observed safety protocols. Everything got sanitized. Social distancing was employed. We cancelled our regular weekly luncheon together.

Thankfully we survived week one of the new abnormal—but it wasn’t easy. Honestly, last week was the toughest this pastor pushed through thus far in his short tenure at Trinity.

Health issues aside, another threat posed by the pandemic tends to keep me awake at night.

One blogger astutely asked: “What will it matter if we re-assimilate only to end up ‘socially distant’ again not because of a virus, but because of our inability to love others who approach COVID-19 differently than we do?”

Great question!

Consider four ways to minimize the looming relational risks.

One, Pray for Leaders

Someone has to call the ball. Sheep are not stupid; they are dependent on good shepherds to serve them. Wisdom is needed everywhere.

Paul pleads of first importance “that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people–for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (1 Tim. 2:1-2).”

What might change if we pray more for leaders at every level than we post criticism on social media about their judgments?

Two, Be Patient

I’m in Indiana Jones mode these days—making things up as I go along! They don’t teach “Pastoring in Pandemics” in seminary.

I feel in over my head. This thing seems way above my paygrade. The challenge to get things right grows bigger each day.

Leaders need followers who remember the first mark of love is patience (1 Cor. 13:4).

Three, Do Peacemaking

Opinions on all things COVID abound. With them comes the potential for sharp disagreements. What are we to do?

Of all the conciliatory principles I could cite, I suggest at least these three guidelines for avoiding falling out with others, if at all possible.

“Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5).

“Let us not pass judgment on one another” (Rom. 14:13).

“Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” (Rom. 15:7).

We need to give others a wide berth in figuring things out, in the same way we desire for them to treat us (Matt. 7:12).

Four, Keep Perspective 

Days after Nancy, my first wife, died of cancer, a lunatic gunned down 49 souls at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub.

KLTY radio 94.9 in Dallas-Ft. Worth asked me the ultimate question. Why? Among my answers: We live in a sin-broken world. Romans 8:22 explains: “the whole creation has been groaning in the pains of childbirth until now.”

Hardships like COVID shout to us, “This is not the way things are supposed to be. But it is not the way things will always be.” “We wait eagerly for adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:23).

Jesus will come again to make all things new! That’s the big-picture perspective.

Hope for that—but wait for it with patience (Rom. 8:25).

Question: What’s one thing which helps you love others with whom you differ?

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

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A Message at Crosswalk Church in Daytona Beach, Florida

It was my great joy and privilege this past Sunday as a guest preacher to bring a sermon about my passion for preserving church unity.

Many thanks to Pastor Mitch Pridgen and the Crosswalk family for the warm welcome and enthusiastic reception.

Fair warning–the video above is relatively long.

My friend begins with a gracious and very kind introduction.

He then has me introduce Jan, who proceeds to play and sing her original song, “Welcome Back to the Throne of Grace.”

If you check out any of this, watch her minister so very well. You will be blessed!

Given the length, the very end of my message does not appear online, but that was about my book and the copies I made available to the church.

Please pray that the Lord uses them in the lives of these precious saints.

I remain incredibly grateful for this new season in my life and ministry where I get to spread a passion for the God of peace and the unity of the church for which the Prince of Peace died and made into one body.

THE BEAUTY OF OVERLOOKING

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Fighting Anger with Magnanimous Forgiveness

A Google search of royal jewels yields, among others, Queen Elizabeth’s Imperial State Crown.

Imperial_State_Crown

The crown is set with 2868 diamonds in silver mounts and colored stones in gold mounts, including 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls. What a glorious treasure that must be to behold!

Proverbs borrows that kind of imagery to describe a figurative glory to behold–overlooking personal offenses. I’m talking about Proverbs 19:11: “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it his glory to overlook an offense.”

The word “glory” is the same Hebrew term used in Proverbs 4:9. “She [wisdom] will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

When we choose forbearance in the face of insults by granting unilateral forgiveness of wrongs without confrontation, Scripture likens that to wearing a priceless tiara–a glorious crown. It makes us spiritually beautiful!

In this introductory post about this virtue for peacemakers eager to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in their churches (Eph. 4:1-3), please note that there are three essentials to grasp from the text.

The Aim Is Good Sense

The Hebrew is variously translated discretion, wisdom, understanding, and insight. The book of Proverbs champions this pursuit as priority-one in life. “Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly” (16:22).

Wisdom is a moral issue won or lost on the battlefield of human relationships.

Group scream

The Enemy Is Anger

Proverbs warns often about this nemesis to a life of wisdom, pleading for long-fused restraint in the face of wrongs.

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses” (10:12).

“The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult” (12:16).

“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly” (14:29).

“A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention” (15:18).

“It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling” (20:3).

“A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression” (29:22).

The takeaway is obvious: the more you are given to outbursts of anger the greater your distance from genuine spiritual insight and discretion.

Bible text - YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN

The Answer Is Forgiveness

Overlooking offenses means regularly choosing magnanimous forgiveness in the face of wrongs without ever talking to an offender. I plead with others all the time: “Please do not be easily offended. Overlook sins in others–a lot!”

It takes love which covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). Ken Sande explains a crucial distinction about this glory and the ultimate inspiration for its power:

Overlooking is not a passive process in which you simply remain silent for the moment but file away the offense for later use against someone. That is actually a form of denial that can easily lead to brooding over the offense and building up internal bitterness and resentment that will eventually explode in anger. Instead, overlooking is an active process that is inspired by God’s mercy through the gospel. To truly overlook an offense means to deliberately decide not to talk about it, dwell on it, or let it grow into pent-up bitterness (83).

How do you know when not to overlook an offense? Stay tuned for my next post!

Question: What is a challenging offense for you to overlook and why? You can leave your comment below.