Is It Sacrifice Or Privilege?

Too often we Christians can be accused of allowing our society to influence our perspective. It's hard not too considering how much of our mind and heart we lend to the world. With the music, the tv shows, the movies, books and other things that are produced by unspiritual minds, our spiritual senses are dulled and destroyed. Our sensitivity to the Spirit is lost and we become spiritual zombies; still walking but dead inside. We are getting to the point where there is little difference between those who go to church and those who don't, except for the church going thing.

Perhaps this is why attitudes toward sacrifice are either poor or religious in nature. The fact that we would even consider anything God asks of us as a sacrifice speaks to our spiritual condition. It should not be a sacrifice to be generous, kind, gentle, loving, but often it is for us. It becomes an extraordinary thing we do instead of a natural part of our day. So if we have trouble with the small sacrifices in our daily walk, what happens to us when we are called upon during extraordinary times? Do we rise to the occasion or disappear within our self-centered perspective?

Where are the heroes of the literature of old? Where is a Frodo Baggins, who rose above his lot in life, leaving behind his self-centered society to lay down his life for the benefit of everyone? Forget about literature, what about people like apostle Peter, Paul, John? Where are the Stephens; those who set aside their own interest for the benefit of the whole? What about Mary? Yes, what about the woman who was asked by God to give up everything she considered ordinary and important so that Jesus, the Son of God, could enter into our history and complete his mission.

Was this a sacrifice that God asked of Mary? Of course it was. Most of us know what was at risk for her. What if her fiancee rejected her? What about when society found out and people wanted to apply the law? What about the reputation of her family? It was a huge sacrifice to ask of someone so young, but to those who love and trust our God, we know this to be a privilege not a sacrifice. This is what we find in Mary who obviously loved the LORD God with all her being. Her's was not a song of complaint or regret but one of joy and thanksgiving:

Mary said,

        “With all my heart I glorify the Lord!

              In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. 

           He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant. 

             Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored

                   because the mighty one has done great things for me.

         Holy is his name." (Luke 1:46-49)

We say that the Spirit Of Christmas is about giving instead of receiving, but the only sacrifice that is worth anything is what we "give unto the Lord". God has not told us to become humanistic in our attitude. He has told us to love as we have been loved; to forgive as we have been forgiven. Generosity in everything is a sure sign of someone who has given themselves fully to the Lord.

Jesus told us to not just love those who love us but to love those who hate us. The only way this is possible is when we understand that we love our God with our entire being and because of such we are loving him when we love everyone; we are giving to him when we give to others; we are serving and sacrificing to him when we serve and sacrifice for others. When we are doing these things because of God's love for us and ours for him, it is done with a genuine joy and attitude that shows we consider it a privilege.

Use this Christmas season as an opportunity to evaluate where to stand in your relationship with Jesus. What is your attitude? How self-absorbed are you? Who is shaping your perspective? Are you a Christian zombie? Or are you totally sold out to Jesus? Is it sacrifice or privilege?

The Truth About Marriage

There are a lot of things we say and do that we justify when there is no justification for it. We can reason away anything so we can do what we want to do. We can get away with whatever we want to get away with as long as we forget that God knows every motivation of our heart. We can even make the Bible say what we want it to say. We need to stop it.

Yesterday I said that every act against God can be traced back to a selfish heart. Every act against our neighbour can be traced back to a selfish heart. How much easier then is it for us to justify acts of hatred in a family? Just look at what husbands and wives do to each other with the emotional games they play on each other, justifying it within their self-centered world and even believing that God is on their side. These are two people who have made a covenant with each other, with God as their witness, to love each other until death separates them. Love does not play games. Love is not selfish. We should understand that it is in a relationship of love, trust, mutual understanding that these two people become an incredible spiritual force.

God hates divorce.

Those are Jesus' words. He said that there were some circumstances that God would tolerate divorce but tolerate is a long cry from support or encourage. It is amazing the acrobats we go through to try to fit within the criteria in order to justify our selfishness. I should know, I write this as a divorced man.

In most cases there are no innocent parties in divorce. We all make choices and have to live with those choices. In the case of divorce, selfishness took over at some point. Hearts got set against each other because someone wanted something that put them above the needs of the other person. Maturity, good spiritual maturity, would cause both people to set aside their own needs for the needs of the other person. Not easy but it is the thing that would please and honour the God who they say they love more than any other.

The problem is, once selfishness gets in and we start justifying our emotions, it is difficult to turn back. It is true for any relationship. Once selfishness takes root we are in a lot of trouble. Our love for God should be enough to de-root anything before it takes hold, but in order to justify ourselves we have to distance ourselves from that love because no amount of self-justification could stand in the brilliance of that love.

It is a hard thing when we begin to allow emotions to take the lead because love goes beyond emotion; it is a decision,a commitment, a covenant. Solomon said this of marriage to his son:

You should be faithful
    to your wife,
    just as you take water
    from your own well.
16 And don’t be like a stream
    from which just any woman
    may take a drink.
17 Save yourself for your wife
    and don’t have sex
    with other women.
18 Be happy with the wife
you married
    when you were young.
19 She is beautiful and graceful,
    just like a deer;
    you should be attracted to her
    and stay deeply in love. (Proverbs 5:15-19)

It is the last part that stands out for me: "You should be attracted to her and stay deeply in love." That is a decision that has to be made every day. That is a commitment, to give your whole self to your wife. There is nothing here to say it is dependent on how she acts or if she loves you too. It is a one way charge. He is telling his son that he has the responsibility to stay attracted to his wife and to stay deeply in love with her over everything else. The only thing a husband should love more than his wife is God.

I will tell you right now, every day at least ten reasons will present themselves not to love your wife. There will be ten reasons that you will need to look at in the face and say, I love my wife in the way the Lord has loved me. It is my choice, the decision I make right now. Some days will be easy and other days will be hard but every day should end with the same result, being deeply in love with your wife. It does not depend on her; it depends on you. It doesn't matter how she acts, what she does or what she says, it is your responsibility to love her:

A husband must love his wife and not abuse her. (Colossians 3:19, CEV)

There is no justification to supersede this command. It is not a command of the law but of the heart of God. If we have accepted his sacrifice on our behalf, his faithfulness in the face of our unfaithfulness, his mercy and grace, his overwhelming love, then his expectation is that we will do the same for others; how much more our wives?

Sometimes we learn these lessons on the wrong end of things. In those cases, we allow his grace to carry us along as he picks us up, dusts us off, and we begin again. His grace is incredible but he will not put up with it being abused. He knows our hearts. He knows our schemes. He knows our motivations. It comes down to what Jesus said: If we love him we will do what he has commanded. Do we love him enough to see our selfishness put aside, to do the right thing and to allow love to be the command of the day?

Take Care Of Your Pastor

Hard working pastors are worth their weight in gold. In fact, you can't put the value on a man of God. Yet too often they are treated as employees; someone who can be hired and fired. It's probably because we have allowed them to become managers instead of the men of God they are called to be.

If you ask a pastor for his job description it should be a simple thing:

- to preach, teach and admonish with the Word of God
- to set aside all worldly pursuit for the sake of serving the Body of Christ
- to guide and disciple
- to teach people so they in turn can teach

Instead we will find these things:

- to manage the affairs of the church
- to maintain a balanced budget
- to be financially accountable to the deacon's board
- public relations for the church
- to oversee 2 dozen various committees

And you will find this as a requirement for being a pastor:

- a B.A. in business administration
- a Masters in theology
- a B.A. in psychology
- a teaching degree

It is sad what we have allowed the Church to become when all God requires of his servant's is obedience. Jesus said not to worry about what we will say, that he would fill our mouths with his words. What we need is Holy Spirit filled, anointed, obedient servant's of God. Perhaps there is a reason Jesus called the fishermen and tax collectors and not the priests of his day.

Today we have reduced the pastor to an employee who must meet the credentials of man and earn a man's wages, giving account for his hours, just like any other job. The only problem is that being a pastor is not a job, career, or even a choice. It is a calling to strict obedience and a submission to the anointing of God. The responsibility to look after the servant's of the Church falls on the Church itself. The people have the responsibility to look after their pastors. Paul reminded Timothy:


The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. (2 Timothy 2:6)

This principle goes way beyond just finances. Who do you think benefits the most from the preaching and teaching? The preachers and teachers do not just teach what they know but what they are receiving. As they study and receive from the Lord they are giving out from the new revelation, always keeping the meal fresh. You will also find pastors do this with everything they receive; time, money, gifts are all freely given out as they are freely received. They are never hoarders.

However, the church that refuses to bless their pastors will in turn discover that the blessing of the Lord stops flowing. If they hold back from these servant's of God, God will hold back from them. Not out of vengeance but just simply because these hearts that refuse to give do not have the capacity to receive. But honestly, what loving heart would not desire to bless those who bless it? Only the religious heart would put requirements on blessings. Freely we have received, freely we should give.

So as the Word says, bless your pastors so that you may be blessed. It is to your benefit.



PS - This is in no way a word directed at my church, which is a blessing to me, but simply the next lesson in the daily reading of God's Word.

Where Have All The Producers Gone?

I often ask this question of people: Are you a producer or a consumer? The short answer is that we are both but the eternal answer should be that we are producers. Unfortunately our society is bent on creating consumers; people who do nothing but consume whatever junk is thrown their way. Very little of it is of any value, mostly just entertainment related things. But we eat it up with an insatiable appetite. What is it that we are contributing, producing for our society?

The seed of God is not a consumer but a producer. Wherever God's Word goes things are produced. Wherever God's love is shared things are produced. Wherever he sends his children things are produced. We are seeds. We are producers. We contribute. If we are born of the Spirit it is part of our new character and we can't help ourselves.

In one of my favorite passages of the Bible, Isaiah 55, God says this of his Word:

As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (vv. 10-11)

"It will not return to me empty". Jesus gave that same direction for our lives as he told the story of the talents. A master was going away for a while and he gave some money for his servant's to invest for him, to produce more. The one who produced the most from what he was given was rewarded the most. The one who produced nothing was rejected. Our lives are like that money. We have been given many blessings but those blessings are not to be selfishly hoarded away but instead they are meant to be given out, shared, planted, invested so that they will produce.

Paul encouraged the Colossians with this:

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. (Colossians 1:6)

Wherever the gospel goes in produces growth. We have been given this gospel to seed into people's lives but we are like farmers who hold on to the seed, afraid of offending the soil. People are not being saved from death because we are too afraid of offending them; we withhold the good news. We have not yet understood that we have the key of life to be offered to those who are dying. If they accept it or not is up to them but how will you know unless you offer it?

So again I ask, are you a producer or consumer. We have enough consumers in this world, what God has called you to be is a producer. Wherever the gospel goes it produces fruit and there is growth. Are we taking the gospel with us wherever we go? Do we trust that God will do something with it? Are we willing to set aside our fear of rejection and just trust that God will use the words he places in our mouth and the action he gives to our hands? We are producers because of Christ in us, so let's get to work.

Do Something Useful With Your Hands

What is your perspective on work? Is it a necessary evil? Something that has to be done just so you can afford some things in life, like food? I remember as a teen I thought books were the essentials in life. Forget food, clothes and shelter, it was books that sustained us. I remember sitting in a barber's chair one day and thinking that all I wanted in life was to get a small job that gave me enough money to pay for food, rent and books. My plan was to live alone and read all day long, except for when I had to work. But there is more to working than just a means to afford the essentials of life.

In Paul's address to the Ephesians, as he was explaining what it is to live as children of the Light, he told them this:

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. (Ephesians 4:28)

There was a saying around where I grew up, "A good day's work will make an honest man out of you". It's more like an honest man will do a good day's work. Work is something we were created to do. When Adam was put in the Garden it wasn't to lay around all day, he was there to work:

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)

We never do well when we spend all our days reading, watching TV, or filling our hours with video games, FaceBook and Tumblr. It always does our spirit good when there is work for our hands to do. It is essential for us as followers of Jesus because the Spirit prompts us to be generous. It is not just about having provision for our family but it allows us to give to those in need.

Perhaps we have forgotten that this is a natural thing when we are living in the Spirit. The first Christians lived as if everything was in common. What was mine was yours and vice versa. People would sell off pieces of land to help those who were in need. After the great persecution in the Church in Jerusalem most of the Christians fled and spread out. Those who were left behind were facing difficult times as they were considered like lepers. So Paul took up a great collection among all the cities with congregations to benefit those left in Jerusalem.

So when we work it should not be with the thought that it is for ourself. We would do much better if we can see ourselves working for the Lord so we can contribute to the Church and to those who are in need. We need to provide for the Church so the Church can look after the widows and orphans. We need to work so we can be generous and share with those in need. There is purpose in keeping our hands busy. It goes beyond 10%, a tithe to a full giving, where everything we have belongs to God.

We need to work, it is only natural. We need to give, it is only natural. We need to work so that we can give, it is who we are in Jesus. There is greater purpose in our work than just providing for ourself and our family. As followers of Jesus, the essentials in life include generosity.