Simplifying The Complicated, part five - Honour Everyone

Keep it simple. That is the overwhelming thing I hear the Spirit speaking in this age of confusion and complication. This is my fifth blog entry on this subject. We have considered the simplicity of loving God, loving ourselves and loving our neighbour. These are the three biggies and are covered in what Jesus called the greatest of the commandments. Today I want us to consider the instruction to honour everyone. Let's start with 1 Peter 2:17 :

"Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Have respectful fear of God. Honour the emperor." CEB

Let's focus on the "honour everyone" using the TPT translation but let's start with the lead up:

"As God's loving servants, you should live in complete freedom, but never use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. Recognize the value of every person."

Some Christians struggle with the idea of honouring people not deserving honour so the TPT translation may help some people uncomplicate the issue : treat every person as valuable to Father. 

We have been called to a place that is above differences, above grievances, above insult or injury. What do you think Jesus was talking about when he said to love your enemy? He has called us up to a place where we have been given the capacity to love with the same love that we have been loved with and he has called this an obligation. His love has indebted us to love other people in the same manner he loved us. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that uncomplicated?

When we honour someone we are saying that we recognize they have value. No one said that you have to agree with that value because the value is not assigned by you. You are simply told to recognize the value Father has placed on that person. What you recognize as valuable you will treat well, or you should. That's the whole point. We complicate it when we think we can show value without treating people well.

I show value by giving people my time, by choosing words that do not insult but instead lift up. I show value by taking actions of love and kindness which have nothing to do with what the person deserves because I received Father's best when I did not deserve it. I demonstrate value with my words, tone, actions, attitude and investment.

I complicate this matter of honour when I try to base that honour on my own ideas and ideals. Honour is based on my Father's will and I act on it "as God's loving servant". I keep it simple when I keep everything based on my relationship with Father and not according to my ideas and values. He is my source. My desire is to live a life rooted and growing in Kingdom values.

Now imagine how this would change our approach. Instead of approaching people in an adversarial manner we would see the value of us being in their lives, perhaps even as their friends. Instead of seeing people as projects we would simply want to position ourselves so that Father could pour out his love and grace into their lives through our friendship with them. We could discuss the methodology of such a relationship but the challenge is to see that you are their for their benefit and not your own.

We complicate it when we keep thinking we are the most valuable person in the room. This causes us to be offended when people do something against us. Scripture tells us to act as if everyone else is more important than ourselves, not because we have no value, but because we should already understand our value to Father. There should be no insecurity. Where there is insecurity you will find people lifting themselves up above everyone else. Complicated. We are in that person's life, be them friend or be them foe, to demonstrate that they have value with Father.

The conclusion of the matter is that Father has not made this complicated. When we live according to his values, according to what he says is important, according to who he says to love, being taught and led by Spirit, it's simple. When we decide to be our own teacher and to live according to what we think are the values of Father, promoting ourselves above everyone else, taking offense, defending ourselves, pushing our agenda, honouring those we think deserve it, we very much complicate what Father designed to be simple.

 

Simple But Not Easy

There is an underlying desire in most of us to have a simplified life. It is a desire that most of us complicate with our daily living and the messed up application of priorities. Those who know me have often heard me state that simple is not easy. I have taken that from many areas of scripture but none is as clear as Solomon's writings recorded in Ecclesiastes. Solomon wrote that Yahweh has made matters simple but we have looked for ways to complicate them.

Ecclesiastes is the writings of a king who had it all and then lost it. Proverbs is the sayings of a young king whose relationship with Yahweh was growing in obedience. Proverbs is filled with great wisdom of the Kingdom of God. Ecclesiastes is filled with confused observations of a heart that had wondered from Yahweh and the struggles of trying to make sense of things without the context of Creator. Yet, in this dark place we find little nuggets of insight, such as Yahweh has designed things to be simple.

The Kingdom of God is founded on the attributes of our King and include the foundational materials of love, respect and honour. We can even see this in the Law of the old covenant. If you examine the purpose of this Law you soon discover that it created a culture of honour, based on love and respect. This was all designed to create an atmosphere of prosperity. The rich would look after the poor so everyone would have plenty. Even the immigrants, the widows and the orphans would finf a culture that honoured them.

It works in simplicity. If I am occupied with you instead of myself, and you are occupied with me instead of yourself, then we move forward together. We move forward because we aren't tripping over the rotten stuff that comes with self-centeredness such as jealousy , envy, pride. We find this same Kingdom culture in the new covenant with greater clarity.

Under the new covenant we are told to honour everyone. We are told that the Kingdom is about considering other people more important than ourselves and, when we consider our own needs to also consider the needs of others. We are told that we celebrate the successes and triumphs of other people because in such an atmosphere it means everyone will also celebrate ours. The seeds of envy, jealousy and pride are never given the opportunity to take root.

Such an atmosphere allows for the attitude of success and prosperity. Instead of running after my self-interest I am occupied with yours. I will do everything I can to make sure you succeed. I can do this safely because I belong to a Kingdom where people are occupied with my success too. I don't have to watch my back while I work for your success because other Kingdom citizens are occupied with watching my back.

This is a simple system of love, respect and honour. But the reason simple is not easy for us is because we find it hard to say no to ourselves. Jesus said to walk in his Kingdom the first step is to say no to ourselves. It is not about trusting other people as much as it is about trusting our King and Father's design. So it is simple and easy for me to honour you because you honour me. Jesus said that this was a given and would not cause treasure to be laid up in heaven because our reward for that is here and now; the treasure of loving relationships. 

The complication comes when I honour you but you don't honour me. Now I am forced to watch my own back which puts us on the defensive and does not allow us to progress forward together. But this does not let me off the hook; I still have to honour you. Jesus says this is when treasure is being laid up in heaven, when we love those who don't love us back. In the well working Kingdom system we get to enjoy reward here but in a broken relationship there is reward but it is a delayed reward. Considering the condition of the world and the Church, many of us should be laying up a great deal of delayed reward.

Father has designed things well and simple. It is for us to discover this simplicity and value it enough to choose it for ourselves. It is the Kingdom system, the Kingdom currency and what allows us to move from a poverty mindset to one of prosperity. But we cannot fully operate in it until we learn to start saying no to ourselves because honour cannot happen until we can put the needs of others ahead of our own.

Overcoming Prejudice - The Touch

Laws are not going to change hearts. The best way to overcome the prejudices our society has instilled in us from infancy is by developing a culture of honour. Not where we honour just those who we deem worthy but honouring everyone based on the fact that they are alive.

The Kingdom of God has just such a culture even if we have forgotten to teach it or expect it from each other. I am not sure how we have forgotten our Kingdom culture but I think we have. To see how we are falling short of the new life we have been birthed into all we have to do is look at Jesus to see what it is suppose to look like.

Jesus accomplished many things in the short three years of his ministry. He revealed the Father's heart to us. He set the example of what life walking in Spirit looks like. He paid the price for our redemption. He laid the seeds for the birth of the Church. And he demonstrated to us the Kingdom of God and what that culture looks like.

There were a lot of injustices in Jesus' day. The poor were mistreated. Women were little better than dogs. Children were tolerated. The sick and the physically challenged were isolated. Jesus overcame these and many more. Maybe we don't see it because we have normalized the stories but when you are willing to see it from the Kingdom's perspective it is quite breathtaking.

One encounter that has moved me the most over the years is the one with the leper who knew that he could be healed if Jesus was willing. There were different levels of faith expressed by people when they encountered Jesus. Some were the basic level of "If you can". Others expressed a higher level of "If you are willing". And still others spoke the greatest faith of "Just speak Lord". But it wasn't the level of my faith that caught my attention but rather Jesus' response.

Ever since becoming sick this leprous man would have to call out "unclean" anytime he was in public. Talk about anxiety provoking. He would not have known human touch since the day of his diagnoses. He would have been removed from family and forced to beg for a living in a culture that would have ignored his existence. Isolated in a crowded room.

This is why it is so moving to read Jesus' responses to his pleas for help. It is not so much the words of our gracious King who said to the man "Of course I am willing", but his generous gift of a human hand upon his diseased flesh. Jesus could have just spoke, he did not have to touch. But what was the greatest need here, the rescue from the disease or the acknowledgement of his need for contact? Jesus did both, touching the man while assuring him of the willingness of our compassionate Father.

In one simple heart-felt gesture Jesus let it be known that the culture of the Kingdom is far superior to the limited culture of a broken world. He demonstrated that ever person has value, is important and is deserving of compassion and grace, regardless of their condition. 

Israel had a culture of division and prejudices. Jesus seemed to take great delight in destroying these one by one. Jesus highlighted those who had become invisible in this pious culture. He brought such people out into the light and honoured them in the sight of those who considered him their enemy. He demonstrated the culture of the Kingdom in which we are sons and daughters. Today we look to our King to know how honour overcomes prejudice and lifts up those who have been trodden down.

Over the next few days I want to highlight these actions of our King. I want to discuss with you the example of our Lord so we can better grasp his Kingdom. I want to show you the many faces of what a culture of honour looks like. Come take this important walk with me. 

What Does A Kingdom Of Honour Look Like?

So the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of honour. We see it in everything our Father has said and done as recorded in the Bible. We see it in the Law he gave to Israel. We see it in the interactions Jesus had with everyone. We are taught it in the Epistles of the Apostles. But what does that look like?

How do we honour those who do not love us? How do we honour those who hate us and persecute us? How do we honour those who live in rebellion against Father? First we start by understanding honour.

There is an honour that we give to people in our society when they do something incredible. Recently we have seen the frontline health care workers honoured because of their daily sacrifice and risk on behalf of the sick and suffering. Then there is the honouring we do when someone has gone through unmerited suffering or death, such as those killed recently in Nova Scotia. WE also honour leaders we consider to be great. But a society of honour goes beyond spotlight honour.

A culture based on honour gives honour to everyone who is part of that culture. It comes in the form of attitude, actions and words. We show honour to people simply because they exist, breathe, dream, work, laugh. We recognized they have worth simply because they were created by Father.

In the KIngdom we recognize that everyone is the object of our Father's love. They have the freedom to accept or reject that love but it does not affect Father's love for them. We honour them because of that love. But in what way do we honour them? Is not honouring lifting up their actions and saying their rebellion is okay?

We honour people by recognizing their value to Father. Considering this value, we honour them with the various manifestations of Father's love. We are gentle with them, showing kindness and goodness. We forgive their offenses even if no apology is offered. We are patient with them, refusing to see ourselves better by realizing what we have received from Father when we have not deserved it.

We can start with the very basics: we were all created in the same way by our Father. We all bleed when we are cut. We all have the same insides, have the same need for oxygen, food, water. We all need shelter and clothing. We all need to be loved and to love. We need a sense of belonging, of being needed, of being useful and appreciated. 

Those of us who are willing will also recognize our rebellion against Father and our need for forgiveness and restoration. We recognize that while we were still in this rebellion that Jesus paid the price so that this rebellion could be forgiven and we could be restored to Father. This is not for a select few but everyone who decided to believe and enter into the fullness of that relationship. This is the part that becomes important when it comes to honouring.

The only difference between me and my rebellious neighbour is that I decided to surrender my rebellion and align myself with Father's heart through Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. I am a new creation birthed by the Spirit but none of this was because I deserved it or because I worked for it. This was a free gift offered by the grace of my Father. It is because he loves me in the same way he loves my rebellious neighbour which means that free gift is still being held out to my neighbour.

My Father created me the same way he created my neighbour. He loves me in the same way he loves my neighbour. That is not affected by race, colour or creed. When James tells us to honour everyone it was because we were created and are loved in the same way and it is not affected by race, colour or creed. It is given to me, as a citizen of God's Kingdom, a child of my Father, a bearer of his image, to honour everyone.

If this is true then how much more is it my responsibility to honour a fellow citizen? How much more is it my responsibility to stand with them, to pray for them, to celebrate them, to forgive them, to rejoice with them? They are my brothers and sisters and I must honour them at all times.

No matter how you look at it the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of honour and we are citizens of this Kingdom who honour each other and even those who are not yet citizens. We do not judge, we honour, trusting Spirit to teach, mature and guide us in these his ways.

We Are The Change Our Society Longs To See

We are pretty naive if we think the ills of our society will be fixed with marches in the street and op-eds in the newspapers or with FaceBook posts. Much of what we are seeing has been underneath the skin of our society since it's beginning. In the beginning it ruled our society but then disappeared beneath the surface to pop up every now and then when a camera happens to catch it. 

This is what happens when we try to control people's behaviour with laws. Wrong behaviour might be curtailed when people are watching but it does nothing about wrong thinking. Laws do not change the hearts of people. A mayor and police chief may be very good people with good hearts and best intentions but they cannot control the thinking of the people under them. The police chief is not there with that one patrol officer who is harbouring fear and hatred toward a certain ethnic group. That poor police officer may not even be aware of how society has shaped his thinking.

What we, the Church, must ensure is that we are doing the job of creating the culture of God's Kingdom among his people. We must help people understand the poison of wrong thinking that is systemic in our society and instead embrace a passionate relationship with the King. It is in this relationship that hearts and minds are transformed but we must understand the change this brings.

When we speak of the "righteous" it is not the "holier than thou" thinking but the "doing what is right according to my Father's heart" thinking. I choose to align myself to my Father and do what I have seen him do and say what I have heard him say. I can do this because my birth in the Spirit has given me the capacity to do this. Every citizen of the Kingdom has this capacity.

One of the key elements of the Kingdom is honour. When we look at Israel's laws we can see that they were based on honouring Yahweh and honouring other people. There was a huge emphasis on honouring those who were in weak positions. It was a law that created an atmosphere of prosperity. In a place where I watch your back and you watch mine there is a desire to see each other people succeed. But as I already stated laws cannot change the hearts of people. 

That's the beauty of the Kingdom; Jesus came to make it possible for the Law to become part of our DNA.  In loving him it makes it possible for his life to be manifested in us so that we do naturally what the law tried to force people to do. The reason we struggle is not because of the power of anything over us (that power was broken) but instead because of habit. Old habits can take a while to change. Spirit God has been given to us to train is in the new habits of the Kingdom. So this is to say that the Church should be an example to our society of what it looks like to be a people who honour each other.

Honour is not based on worth but on relationship. Because you are the object of my Father's love I value you. I find it much easier to honour the people I consider valuable. This is the Kingdom of God, where we consider others more important than ourselves, where we consider the needs of others along with our own, where we have each other's back, long for each other's success and celebrate the victory of others.

It is true that this ideal is not where we currently function in the Church but we can be because we have the capacity through Jesus, our King. Our allegiance is to our King, and his desires. We do not get to re-shape his Kingdom according to our opinions. We are here by invitation, because Jesus paid the price for our entry and even gave us our best friend, Spirit-God, to train and mature us in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God is demonstrable. The Kingdom of God is powerful. The Kingdom of God is here, seen through us and we carry this Kingdom wherever we go. This Kingdom cannot be forced on anyone but is available by invitation. We get to share this invitation while demonstrating the benefits of friendship with the King. It is why we are still here.

We are here to influence society but we cannot influence if we are no different. But we have the capacity and capability to be different because of Jesus in us. We have been re-created to be different. We have the answers our society needs. Peter said it best in 1 Peter 2:17 "Honour everyone". That is our King's heart desire because it comes from the Royal Law "You must love and value your neighbourhood as you love and value yourself."

Today, be what you were created to be. Be the change our society longs to see.      

Who Gave You Those Mad Skills?

You think you have mad skills? Are you amazingly good at something? Thinking it is you? Do you know where those skills, talents, gifts, abilities actually come from? Certainly you have had to practice and refine them but where does the seed of the skill originate?

There is a passage in Exodus that always gives me pause to think and reflect on Yahweh's hand in my life. He knit me together in my mother's womb, he spoke into my life, he planted seeds to bloom as I grow, he gave me the raw materials that he would later build on. This includes my skills and abilities. The passage is found in  Exodus 31, a not exciting passage as the Lord was giving Moses the details of the tabernacle that would be built. But consider this:

“See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills." (Exodus 31:2-3)

And for people who think it was a one off:

"Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you." (v. 6) 

Artisans of every stripe, whether painters or builders, bakers or pilots, writers or home makers, have this nature of highs and lows. They can go from feeling really great about their abilities to feeling lost in the darkness of self-doubt. That's because we are trying to define who we are and what we do outside of the intended purpose. Everything we have been given has been intended to bring glory to the Lord and to be focused on his direction. These are not skills and abilities that are for personal glory or fame. These are not skills to be used selfishly but are given as means to bless our God and other people. They are not to be done and stored away in secret but to be put on display and acknowledged as coming from the Lord.

Too often we take the glory for ourselves but if we want to see real skills then we need to allow the power of the Lord to flow through us, bringing those skills to the highest heights. Those skills, talents and abilities are gifts from Yahweh to be used as he directs for his purpose and glory. Acknowledge that and see what he does through you.

It`s Not Always About Prosperity

I am not a prosperity preacher, believing very much that Christians have been called to suffer for the sake of the gospel. However, that suffering is not as some consider suffering. Instead of suffering maybe it is better to understand it as sacrifice. It only makes sense. Love is not love unless it has called us to sacrifice. As Christ put us before his own needs, this same love compels us to put others ahead of our own.

Yet, there are certain spiritual laws that are in place that cannot be ignored. One of these is that we are to love and honour Yahweh above anything else in our life. Jesus made it clear as he told us that our love for him must be greater than any other, including for our wife and parents. The Word also tells us that doing this allows everything else to flow as Father intends it to flow:

Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

I know that with the garbage that is out there right now there is a push back against anything that even remotely smells of prosperity teaching, but this is the Word of God. Jesus taught this in a better depth when he told us not to chase after the things that people of this world are consumed with, but instead to seek the things of the Kingdom. He said when we have our priorities right it allows Father to provide for us everything that we need.

Some Christians pride themselves in not chasing after the prosperity teaching yet their hearts are not right in this matter. They may not be trying to get rich but they are still getting their priorities wrong. They still chase after the things of this world so they can pay the bills, setting aside their spiritual priorities. This is wrong and it will stop the flow of Father's blessings.

Many people don't tithe, using a long list of excuses, but tithing, or lack of tithing, reveals the condition of our heart toward Yahweh. We honour our governments and whoever else we owe money to, but we hold back our tithes, considering it not to be a spiritual thing. We treat it as a business thing and unfortunately the Church treats it this way as well. But it is a matter of love and honour and when it is lacking it blocks our heart from receiving from Father.

The difference is, the Word does not tell us to tithe so that our "barns" will be filled but that filled "barns" are the natural blessing of a people who honour Yahweh. It is about relationship, love, honour, respect, and if that is not the foundation of our life with Jesus, we will never come into the fullness of this relationship. This is obviously not a full teaching on this subject because there is much to be said on the physical and spiritual blessings that result from a proper heart condition, but it is a nudge in the direction of considering the matter more fully.

Why Mother's Day?

What can we say about our moms that has not already been expressed by thousands of loving men and women throughout the ages? They are the most incredible creature in all of creation. A mother who guards Jesus as the center of her being is worth far more than any other precious thing in the system of man. A superhero to her children that no father could every hold a candle to in the eyes of her children.

I am not saying that dad's have no place. Hardly. Dad's have a different and vital role throughout the life of the children but moms hold a special place in our hearts. They aren't superhuman. They are full of sins and faults just like the rest of us. They need salvation just like the worst of sinners but even the worst mom will always be honoured by her children, if for no other reason than the fact she sacrificed herself to be their vessel of life. Life comes from Yahweh but our moms were the bearers of such blessings.

Moms are faithful to their children. They believe the best of them even in the worst stages of their life. They stand with them, protecting, defending, pushing them on to greatness. It is because of their protective nature that dads sometimes need to step in to give the child some breathing space and to allow them to take risks, but moms are always there with the first-aide kit.

Moms are teachers. The are patient and kind, instructing in all things. They teach manners, hygiene, good habits. They teach us to care, share, and to be kind. The teach us to read, to cook, to take care of ourselves and the environment in which we live (clean your room). Most importantly they teach us all things about Jesus in both words and deeds. They teach us what it is to trust Jesus in the best and worst of times. They teach us what it is to serve others by serving us.

Moms are women of influence. Every great man and woman in history and in our current age, had a mom who influenced them on to greatness. Even beyond our formative years our mothers lend us wisdom and courage, giving advice, even when it is not always sought. And we love them for it.

Moms are not superheroes but they are to us. We know they are not perfect. We know that they didn't always get it right. We know that they are human just like the rest of us and there were moments of discouragement, selfishness and wrong decisions. But we know their hearts. We know their love. We know their desire. We know they got it right more often than not. We know that they learned from experience and got better at it with time. We love them because they never gave up, they pressed on, and they loved us even when they weren't sure if they were doing it right. And you know, they were doing it right.

We honour our moms, every mom, everywhere because no matter where they live and what culture they are from, they are Yahweh's gift to the children. We praise the Lord today for our moms, in all their victories and defeats, in all their virtues and mistakes, in all their perfection and imperfection, simply because they are our moms. And we love them.

Happy Mother's Day mom.