What Goes Around…

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

I am going to say something, because, apparently nobody else is going to. 

Conservatives and Christians are constantly being made laughing-stocks because of their hypocritical behavior. Sin will not be excused, forgiven or overlooked when committed by a preacher they call, “moralistic snake-oil salesmen who preach their fairy tales about the mythical, all-knowing sky being.”

And though it is such a shame to see well known professing Christians fall publicly, we know that we all have feet of clay and live in unredeemed bodies. No Christian I know of pretends to be perfect or anywhere near it.

This week, the president of an evangelical college and the maker of a popular film that shows the US President as an anti-colonial radical bent on the downfall of American exceptionalism, resigned his position over very questionable moral turpitude. The enemies of the cross and the lefties are all over it. They are dancing jigs of joy over another fallen right-winger.

But they are totally silent concerning their own shooting star of the week. Their Tour-de-France dominator and do-gooder, atheist extraordinaire has been found out for the complete deceptive, low-down hypocrite that he is.

It may sound unchristian and mean-spirited to point this out, but somebody has got to say it. For every fallen Christian leader, there are 10,000 pluggers out there just faithfully doing their thing the best way they know how and trying to keep their noses clean. Yet, for every hatetheist that bites the dust, there are an innumerable amount of sleazy, amoral, evolutionist, despisers of Jesus ready to take over the reigns of the wagon taking the trail to hell.

How does a Pastor Preach the Funeral of an Unbeliever?

Today, I had one of those “opportunities.” There was absolutely no way anyone was going to be preaching this fellow into heaven. He even claimed to be a believer... “Everyone’s gotta believe in something, I believe I’ll have another beer.”

The family, good people, not good Christians though, asked me to honor the old fellow’s wishes and not get “too into the religious stuff, definitely no invitation.” (They have seen how I do it at other send offs in the past).

I agreed with the dearly departed, I have no use for religion either. I get sick of the money grubbing, the false airs, the side-show antics and the micro-managing of people’s lives by hypocrites and snake oil salesmen better fitted for Vaudeville than the pulpit. 

He and I agreed when I would visit with him, I wouldn’t drink his beer and he wouldn’t drink my “Kool-Aid.” So, we drank coffee together instead.

Poor old chap had been burned pretty badly by religion, so he turned to drink instead. It never judged him, never demanded much but to be appreciated and laughed with and about.

But all that does little good when life is over and eternity begins. The old gent wrote a really good poem very late one sleepless night about his conception of the afterlife that pretty much mirrors the presentation of the heaven of the Bible (minus the drinking and heck-raising reminiscence).

Hopes are that he got a reservation for that special place in his final few days on earth when we gave him the gospel gun barrel straight. Great tears pooled in his cavernous, sunken eye sockets. He indicated he knew what he needed to do if he had any hope of making it to God’s glory.

As per the funeral itself, loved ones and friends left with the clear knowledge that Jesus is the only way to heaven. They also know who it is in the family they can turn to when they are ready to receive the Lord.

The First of Many

Rom 16:5  Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

   

Epaenetus was the first convert of Paul in Asia (Achaia). His name means commendable. Now, he abides in Rome where Paul includes him in this litany of people he calls out by name for special recognition and greeting.

Do you remember your first convert? Did fruit develop as a result of their profession of faith?

My first convert was Clay Lomax. Not much fruit here, as far as I know. I led him to the Lord in the employee's locker room at Russell Stover Candies, Montrose, Colorado, in 1976. I had been saved for about 2 years.

Clay was a doctor's son. Mildly retarded. He ran the dishwasher, really a very important job in a candy factory.

I'll never forget, a few weeks after his profession, I rounded the corner in the locker room and we was just finishing a pull on a flask of whiskey. Whoa! Was he embarrassed and ashamed! He felt he really let me down by reverting to such behavior.

Clay is gone now, I hope, in the presence of the One who loved him so. Whether Clay was one of my converts or a true convert of the Lord, only heaven will reveal.

After I left Stover's to go to Bible college, we never crossed paths again, although others said he often asked about me. I too have often thought about Clay. As Paul called Epaenetus his well beloeved, I think similarly of a retarded doctor's son, dishwasher at the candy factory and the first person I ever led to Christ.

My Helpers

Rom 16:3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house.

How important to the overall work of God was this couple? Expelled from their home in Rome along with all Jews under a decree from Claudius (Acts 18:2), they had landed in Corinth and come across the Apostle Paul. In this greeting, it is evident they have returned home.

This husband and wife team found an immediate affinity with Paul because they were tent makers, as was he. They invited him into their home where the Corinthian church was planted. (Acts 18:3, 26).

Their proximity to the apostle almost cost them their lives. Paul commended them that they laid down their own necks for his life. (vs 4)

Though it seems they came to Christ through the preaching of Paul, they returned the favor by expounding to him the way of God more perfectly.

It is evident that the early church owes a great debt to the hospitality and spiritual input of this great couple, Aquila and Priscilla.

This causes me to contemplate how that each believer has an opportunity to greatly benefit the work of God by exercising their gifts and talents for the cause. I can't help but think that when Paul wrote in an earlier chapter about the spiritual gifts, he was considering the contributions of this fine couple who aided the church at Corinth in such a great manner.

Are we making the most of our talents for the Lord and for His work? Let us each purpose to be a great helper in the Lord's service.

We Are Family

Rom 12:16  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

The Apostle would have us believer brethren to be on the same page in our thoughts and desires for one another. As we grow in the Lord, we should begin to think alike about the same things.

Church father Chrysostom notes of this phrase, “Be of the same mind one toward another” that we are to "enter into each others circumstances, in order to see how you would yourself feel." Stuart interprets that we must "be agreed in your opinions and views." Another says that we are to be united or agreed with each other.

This seems to be in contrast to today's notion that all opinions are of equal value. I personally don't see how one person's proper thinking should be considered equal to another's fallacy.

The Word is truth! Once it is determined what the Word says, this should be the last and ultimate opinion, fact and application.

In the context of a church body, we need to determine the truth about any issue and stand firm on our conclusion.

Next, we see the instruction to "mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate."

This means that no Christian should exercise themselves to seek worldly honor and position but we are to want and work for the same things for our brothers that we have for ourselves. We are to desire that none of us suffer want and none of us practice waste.

Again this goes against the modern grain which teaches us to strive to be best while leaving others in our dust. If we do well, wonderful, but we should desire others of our number do equally well.

Look, we in the local body are family. Considering our own families, who would want their own children to not fare well, or their siblings to not be as prosperous as we are? The well-being of the body of Christ should be of no less interest to us than our physical family.

Practically, we should pray for one another, encourage one another, be willing to share in our success, wisdom, and resources with hard-working and deserving brethren. Granted, if one tends to be a ne'er-do-well, they must learn to work with their own hands before receiving aid. Paul is not advocating a Christian entitlement society within the church, propping up those who expect everyone to make a way for them.

Conversely, we must take caution to "be not wise in our own conceits." That is, to think we are the only ones doing God's will.

What are you Thinking?

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

 

I like what Ann Landers said about what people are thinking: At age 20 we worry about what others think of us. At 40 we don't care what they think of us. At 60 we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all.

I am not sure who told the following, but it reflects the unrealistic thinking people have about themselves:

A woman was working in her front yard one day planting new bushes and flowers. She was dressed in her work clothes and had dirt all over her hands. She looked up and saw a moving van pulling into the driveway next door. Behind the van was a car and a nice looking family got out of the car.

The new family noticed the woman and came over to introduce themselves to her. They spoke for a few moments and the woman in the yard invited the new family over for a welcome dinner that evening.

Then, she went inside and told her husband to start getting ready, and she began dying her hair. As she was getting dressed and putting on her false eyelashes and false fingernails the husband asked her why she was so dolled up just for a dinner. She told him how they had seen her all dirty before, but now she wanted them to see the ’real’ her!

This lady exemplifies the American churchgoer today. We get ready for church and put on our Sunday go-to-meeting clothes and all too often, we hide the real us. Many go to church regularly, they know much about what is expected of them, but of all the things they do know, they don’t know who they really are.

Our verse tells us how we are to think about ourselves:

1. Think Humbly. "...not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;"

Illusions of grandeur could probably rightly be called delusions in most of our cases. It is said that no man is more out of tune than when he is blowing his own horn. It is good for us to remember that we are only one of 6 billion on this earth. Basically, we are made of dust and we are going back to dust. The only thing that makes us special is the grace of God, and that is a totally undeserved commodity.

2. Think Soberly. "…but to think soberly" The word soberly means that we are to think sound-mindedly, or sanely about ourselves. You have been to the carnival where you see yourself in the mirrors which distort your reflection. One mirror makes you look several feet taller than you actually are, another, a couple of feet shorter. One makes you look grotesquely obese, another, anorexic. But actually, people do see themselves in dreadfully distorted ways. Some see themselves as fat, unattractive blobs unworthy of anyone's admiration, others as God's gift to mankind and deserving of everybody's adulation. Some view themself as low down, good-for-nothings, stupid and unworthy. Others tend to believe they know everything and are looking for opportunities to bless folks with their opinion. But we ought to sober up and think sanely about ourselves.

3. Think Practically.  "…according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." The truth is, if you are a child of God, He has specially gifted you by pouring a measure of grace into you. He expects a good return on His investment into you. The spiritual gift you have been granted (see verses 6-8) is for the work of the ministry. Think practically by determining what it is you are gifted to do in ministry and then develop and use your gift to its fullest potential.

Finally, when it comes to how we think, Paul gives some wise words of advice in the

second chapter of Philippians. 

     2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: