Spiritual Growth

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. – 1 Cor 13

I’ve read it a hundred times. Heard it at weddings. Even used it at weddings a few times myself. Maybe one of the most spoken verses in the Bible. Maybe it is time that it is the most lived verse in the Bible.

Last night at exchange, we explored Mark 8:29-32 and the idea of be-do-have (click here for the full audio under “Imagine: Cause unlocked”). We explored how before we do all the stuff of serving we need to be connected to Christ.

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Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1 Cor 10:24

Paul is again instructing the church. Evidently there was some selfishness and self-centeredness going on. Can’t imagine that. Maybe Paul’s hope was that if the church could be totally selfless in the early stages, she would have such an impact on the world that she would be unstoppable.

What would that be like?

I can imagine a church were people are totally living outside of themselves. A place where the focus is on the other person. A place where needs are met and wants are shelved. A place where people find a home and find God. A place so overwhelming and a God so compelling, that people are naturally drawn to it. A place where we wrestle with self.

Why can’t a place like that exist?

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He does not answer when men cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked. – Job 35

Job’s friend is unloading on him. Finger shaking, voice raised. Maybe a little cadence like a preacher getting fired up. Why does God not answer? One simple reason: arrogance.

I run across people who have no use for God. That is, until something bad happens. Then everyone becomes praying people. “We are praying, but God doesn’t seem to be doing anything.” I want to look at them and say “Why would he? You had no use for him when you had things under control. In your arrogance you had no use for him.” Then, I think of my life.

“God,” I say “where are you in the middle of my crisis?”

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When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. – I Cor 2:1-5

Paul is giving instruction to a church. Among other things, there seems to have been some division on who the church was following. Some were saying they were better than others because the were baptized by this person or that. They were influenced by a certain person, so they must be better. They must be right.

Paul just lays it down. The messengers are nothing, the wisdom is nothing. The real deal is Jesus. Period. Nothing more.

The recent stuff with Ted Haggard has hit me pretty hard. I have met Ted, read a book he wrote, been to his church, even talked briefly one afternoon with one of his staff.

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“If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,‘ – Job 31:24

This verse stings. Job is in the middle of his life crisis, where everything is taken away and he is left with a choice: be bitter or trust God. He once had everything. He now has nothing.

I know I would have been thinking, “OK, my life is a mess. When I had some money, it was better. It won’t solve everything, but it will bring some security.”

Job has been there. Done that. He knows that security can only come from God. What a deep lesson.

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Then everyone deserted him and fled. – Mark14:50

Jesus had just come from the most intense time of prayer to date in the Garden of Gethsemane. He took a break from praying and returned to Peter, James, and John. My guess is hat Jesus was hoping to find them praying with the same intensity as Jesus. Instead of finding three friends engaged in an intense spiritual battle, he found them sleeping. That had to be a kick in the gut.

Jesus is soon surrounded by guards. They come and arrest him. The disciples leave. Everyone of them. Jesus was without human companionship at a most crucial time. Another kick.

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus can really identify with some of my struggles. Among other things, I wonder of he can really understand what it is to feel alone and abandoned. I don’t feel much a sense of being totally alone. I have in the past. In those times, can he really identify with what I am feeling? He can.

Maybe it is in the pressures of life that I can be the closest to Christ. in suffering, I meet the one who suffered.

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 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mark 4:18

Jesus had just told a story to the disciples. Some people will hear about God and totally embrace it. Some will embrace it for a short season, and others not at all. What gives? Here Jesus says that three things come in direct conflict with the growth of the kingdom in our lives.

1. Worries of life.
2. Thinking money can solve everything.
3. Desiring other things.

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I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Acts 26:19

Paul is in the middle of a trial. After two years in prison, he is before King Agrippa, recounting his story and his defense. As he spoke, he mentioned that he told people they should prove their commitment by the things they do.

It’s easy to make a decision and not follow through. I wonder if we make it too easy to be a follower of Jesus. Come on, pray this prayer and get this thing done. It’s the most important decision you will ever make. I know you just stopped by for a cheeseburger, but how about you accept Christ right now, with little thought? The result is a life with no deeds. I mean, what if I proposed marriage with such little thought. Shouldn’t it be a well thought-out decision? When I meet people who have wrestled with the decision and made a commitment to Christ, I usually don’t have to ask them if they are a follower. It shows by what they do. There entire life is wrapped around the thought out commitment that they made. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

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