Be Still...

Psalm 46:10 …be still and know that I am God…

What do you think of when you read that verse?

Is it a call to find a corner, make yourself small and hope for the best?

Is it a call to be quiet in worship?  …I’ve sometimes heard it used that way.

Is it a call to have a regular quiet time?

What does it mean to be still? 

Two things can help us understand what the psalmist is saying here.  First, the meaning of the word itself, and secondly it’s context in the Psalm.

I won’t bore you with my limited understanding of the Hebrew language.  The word is used several times in scripture and is translated in a variety of ways depending on the context.  My favourite (and the one that I thinks come closest to capturing the original language) is the NASB’s “Cease from striving”.

Stop fighting! …and know that I am God! 

Is it “If you want to know Me you must stop fighting”  OR  “I will be found …or better, I will be seen when you stop making a scene.” ?

You can let the Spirit guide you as to how that applies to your set of circumstances.

With that in mind let’s look at the Psalm as a whole…

Bear in mind that this is song – it’s not meant to be split into tiny sections and put on fridge magnets… it was intended to be sung as a package.

You need to read the whole psalm to understand it…

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

That’s why we do not fear!

… the world might crumble around us but…

God is right in the middle of the chaos!

God is right in the middle of the chaos!  (it’s subtle but powerful)

Our God is not any ol’ god, He is the “LORD of HOSTS” and

The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob [the God of our forefathers…

The God who has proved Himself powerful, and able for generations! 

This God is in absolute control!

…and here it is…

Cease striving!  Stop trying so hard… stop fighting!

“Cease striving and know that I am God;

Even the nations will exalt ME!

Somehow…

Suddenly…

That’s enough…

…just sayin’…

Taking the Stink

One of my aunts (I have/had about a dozen) got married later in life.  Because she was so… mature… when she got hitched she already had many of the things young newlyweds often only dream about… like a house of her own. Instead of selling it, she opted to put it up for rent, thinking to use it as an income property.

 

It rented almost immediately and she was off living her married life in another city or country while happily collecting the proceeds. 

 

All was well until the family moved out and she tried to rent it again. 

 

To this day the state of that house ranks as one of the filthiest dwelling I have ever seen.  When we went to see it we could not touch the walls or banisters.  Even touching door knobs required disposable towels or gloves.  Some rooms contained what looked like decaying matter, sections of the carpet still held what clearly looked like human waste.  The smell was something I cannot describe.

 

Let’s say, before departing the house the tenants had called up my aunt (their land lady) and said, “Something stinks in the house!  It’s so bad we can’t sleep at night and the neighbours are starting to complain!”

 

Let’s say they complain for months and nothing changes!  Finally in a fit of angered frustration they decide to move.  They find a new place and begin to pack.  Imagine they pack everything.  The beds, the dressers, the pictures off the wall, the microwave, the knick-knacks.  They pack their clothes and mementos.  They pack their board games, fridge, freezer, TV, stereo and video games.  They pack the drapery and all the bath mats.  They roll up the carpet, decaying matter, fecal matter, filth and all.  They strip the house down to drywall and subfloor, put it all in a truck and move it to their new home where they unload it all and set it all back up…

 

It’s not going to be long until they are complaining about the smell again…

 

In fact, even if they left everything behind at the old address but continued in their same old (dirty) habits, no matter how pretty the new place is, it’s gonna get smelly again.

 

Why is it that Christians think moving from one ministry to another… from one church to another is a solution?  Why do we insist on dragging our stink around with us when Christ invites us to leave it behind?  Why do we feel that moving into a place where nobody knows our baggage means that we don’t have any?

 

It’s time we stopped hauling our stinky junk around! 

 

PUT IT DOWN!

 

It seems to me, the only think Jesus invites us to take with us is a cross…

 

…just sayin…

 

 

If Jesus Were Here...

Where is Jesus?

We’ve all heard it… I’m pretty sure I’ve even said it…

“If Jesus were alive today…”

If Jesus were alive/here today He wouldn’t be found in the church…

If Jesus were alive/here today He’d be “out there” in the streets,

If Jesus were alive/here today He’d be hanging out with prostitutes and sinners…

If Jesus were alive/here today He’d be hanging out in bars and strip clubs…

If Jesus were alive/here today He’d be out with the soccer moms and the hockey dads…

I’m not sure who popularized it but it reveals, at best, an astounding (How do I say this politely?)…immaturity… at worst it’s heresy.

“if Jesus were alive today…”? 

THEO- Jesus is alive today!  That’s Discipleship 101!

TROY- You know what I mean!  If Jesus were physically alive today…

THEO- You mean like in bodily form?  You mean like, if we could see the Body of Christ…?

TROY- Yeah!

THEO- I thought the Church was the Body of Christ?

TROY- !?!?!?

THEO- If that’s true Christ is not just “here” in some abstract sense,  He is here in reality.  Alive!  Present!  Visible!

TROY- Well… He wouldn’t… like.. you know… go to church…

THEO- so you’re saying Jesus was lying when He said, “Whenever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there!”

TROY- You’re twisting my words!  You know what I mean!

THEO- Never mind your words.  What do you think Jesus meant?  Do you really believe that Jesus, contrary to His word, wouldn’t be present with His body gathered?

Ironically, the point seems to be that church is filled with broken, self-centred people who look nothing like the perfect, holy saints we think should populate churches.  In other words, churches are made up of the kinds of people Jesus came to hang out with… sinners. 

So…Jesus is here, and is doing what He has always done…  hanging out with folks who “need a physician”.

Perhaps our problem is not that the church is filled with righteous folks who should be “out there” but that the church is filled with sinners who we don’t like to see “in here” with us… and Jesus.

...just sayin'

 ________________________

For the record, “THEO” and “TROY” were names selected entirely at random and do not represent any THEO or TROY that may attend your church.

When Pastors Meet

Pastor 1- (with a smile) Hi

Pastor 2- Hi

Pastor 1- So… where you from?

Pastor 2- First Bapticostal Community Church[1] 

Pastor 1- Really?  Do you know the Ouanders?  I think they go to your church

Pastor 2- No, ‘fraid I don’t.  They might have been before my time.

Pastor 1- yeah… probably…

(insert awkward silence here as the “players” prepare for the only question they really want to ask)

Pastor 2- So… how big is FBCC these days?

…and there you have it.  Of course, the real question is this:  Is your church bigger than mine?

I try so hard to avoid the question?  I try to never ask it myself – though sometimes the curiosity is so intense it’s almost painful.  I often pause for several seconds trying to fight the urge to say what is in my heart… Eventually though, I give in.  I try to be as accurate as I can, “Since January we’ve been averaging…”  Or, “in the last couple months…”

Those who have bigger churches typically respond with a condescending, “Not bad…”  a kind of, “I remember those days…”

Those with smaller churches with a, “Wow, that big?”  …a kind of “How did you ever become pastor of a church that size?”

Here’s the thing.  When I get asked the question what I really want to is something like…

What does it matter?  Isn’t the real question… the better question, “Is your church family healthy?”   and if you really want to be a true shepherd maybe you should be asking, “Is there anything we can do to serve your church?  Anything we can do to help you become even more healthy… more effective at extending God’s kingdom?”

…few pastors would have the courage to ask or answer in that way.  Myself included…

Speaking of “health” here’s a question: Do we even know what a healthy church family looks like?  I don’t mean, “Have you taken the survey?” or “Are you pews filled on Sunday?”  In my experience a church of 10 can be healthier than a church of a thousand.  A church of 50 can sometimes reflect Jesus the Christ better than a church 5 times its size.  It has nothing to do with numbers…

There is nothing exhaustive here, in fact, I’m sure there are better minds than mine that can come up with better lists.  Off the top of my head here are some healthy/unhealthy markers.

Healthy – a community where every believer knows why they gather… and are committed to fulfilling their role in that gathering.

Healthy – a community that collectively responds to the needs represented in the community (both church and beyond)

Unhealthy – a community that looks to the pastor (or pastoral team) to do the things that God has called and gifted them to do.

Healthy – a community where people are so in love with Jesus they cannot be offended (that is, they refuse to take offense regardless of what is said or done)

Unhealthy – an offensive community.  That is, one in which everything (or anything) that is said or done is cause for offense

Healthy – a community where every believer is daily  becoming more like Christ

Healthy – a community where every non-believer is moving one step closer to Christ as a result of relationships with Christ disciples in the community.

Healthy – a community where every believer knows how God has wired and gifted them and are using those gifts to accomplish the above (without the lust for title or position)

…

I know, I know… nobody, and therefore no church, is perfect…

That doesn’t mean we should stop trying to be like Jesus.

Next time someone asks me, “How many people go to your church?”  I’m going to try to remember to ask the “health” question instead.

…tryin’…

---

[1] nowadays churches have kewler names like “the Tree” or “Seeds” or “Journey”  …but I didn’t want to offend anyone

I Have to Defend Myself

Recently, a pastor named Tullian Tchividjian was involved in, what turned out to be, a very public break-up between the ministry he leads and another ministry.

Honestly, I don’t know the details… and really don’t care, except that as I was poking around online I came across part of  Pastor Tullian’s response in the thick of this public disagreement.

I can’t help reading it over and over…  he writes:

 “First, I want to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for saying things in my own defense. One of the things that the gospel frees you to do is to never have to bear the burden of defending yourself. Defending the gospel is one thing. But when a defense of the gospel becomes a defense of yourself, you’ve slipped back under “a yoke of slavery.” I slipped last week. I’m an emotional guy. And in my highly charged emotional state, I said some things in haste, both publicly and privately, that I regret. I never want anything I say to be a distraction from the mind-blowing good news of the gospel and last week I did. I got in the way. When you feel the need to respond to criticism, it reveals how much you’ve built your identity on being right. I’m an idolater and that came out last week. Because Jesus won for you, you’re free to lose…and last week I fought to win. I’m sorry you had to see that. Lord have mercy…”

Whoa...

The Gospel frees you to never have to bear the burden of defending yourself…

When you feel you need to respond to criticism it reveals how much you’ve built your identity on being right…

 I find those statements so shocking I haven’t even gotten around to figuring out if I believe them or not.  Not in the sense of “are these statements ‘true’ or ‘false’”  this isn’t a quiz after all.  I mean believing in the Biblical sense…

…do I live this?

Am I a prisoner to the “burden of defending myself”?  Truth be told I’m indefensible.  There is nothing worth defending in me.  Of course, I still try, mainly because I think I hold Truth but that’s absurd.  I don’t hold Truth… I can’t!

It’s too big for me! 

 Truth has got a hold of me!

 That should be enough to free me from the need to defend myself.  Truth is the only defense… and Truth has me! 

Think about it this way.  The worse accusation that can be leveled against me is a mirror.  That is, to see myself truly… to truly see self.  But to truly see self is to see Truth… Truth has me… the same Truth that sets me free.

 It must drive the enemy nuts!

 …unless of course we fall into the trap of trying to defend ourselves… the indefensible.

 Like I said, I’m still working it through….

the Valley

I’m not sure I have ever been totally comfortable with the whole valley metaphor.

We tend to talk about valleys as “dark times” or troubling times in our lives but have you ever given any thought to what a valley represents in nature?  In nature it’s the mountain peaks that are barren, rugged, harsh.  People die trying to get to the top of mountains!

Valleys on the other hand are typically lush.  Rivers snake through valleys.  Still, clear lakes glisten in valleys.  Meadows don’t sit on mountain tops.

Still… when we talk about challenging times which encompass our lives we talk of valleys.

OK so let’s talk valleys… metaphorically…

I was wrestling with how to respond to both my own circumstances and the challenges of a dear friend when it occurred to me that the valley isn’t mine.

That maybe sounds obvious to you – but at the time it was something of a revelation to me.

It’s His Valley

In more traditional lingo, “God is in control!” Even in the valley He is sovereign… more than just sovereign – he doesn’t just rule the valley like a benevolent king… He owns it! 

Not, “owns it” like it’s His property it’s more than that… the valley is possessed by Him.  Possessed by His presence, His nature, His will… Yes! His will!  Even this part of your journey will work to bring about His purpose. 

People may be caught off-guard but never God.  Trust Him to work  His work and accomplish His purpose in you, through you and with you in this.  His will, will be done not because He is able to overcome the valley but because the valley is His!

He’s Present

If the valley is His… and because you are His – He, God, is with you.  Not with you like a friend walking through it, but WITH you in the Biblical sense.  In, through, around, behind and BEFORE. 

He’s not worried because He knows the end of the story.  He knows the goodness that lies ahead because it’s His goodness… He knows the blessing around the corner because it’s His blessing… He can make promises because He knows it is already done.

Do your part… do what you can… remain faithful – but rest in Him.  When has He ever failed? 

What makes you think that He would want to break a perfect record by failing you?

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