He was yelling, and I didn’t know why

A few years ago, I was driving down the center lane of a three-lane road in town.  Whenever I’m stopped at red lights, I often look around the area, just to see what’s going on.  Occasionally, I’ll sneak a peak at the other drivers, just to see who I’m traveling with.

At one particular red light, I looked to my left and the guy driving the car next to me immediately caught my eye.  He was alone, but he was forcefully spitting out words and tightly gripping the steering wheel.  His face was set on edge as he spoke, and his body was tense.  However, it didn’t appear that he was mad at anyone or another car in the vicinity.  He was definitely yelling, but what he was saying couldn’t be heard from where I was in my vehicle.

We were both heading the same direction in a mass of other vehicles, so it wasn’t all that difficult to stay near him for a block or two.  His behavior didn’t change, and I began to imagine different scenarios that would cause a person to behave this way.

My first thought was that he was on the phone and was chewing someone out.  That situation certainly fit his behavior.  And if that was the case, I feel bad for whoever was on the other end of that phone call!

But then I begin to think of other situations – maybe he was just singing along with some really angry music, perhaps he’s in a play and he was rehearsing lines for an unbearable character, or possibly he felt stuck in life and just needed to vent when he thought no one was looking or could hear.

The truth is, I had no idea what he was going through or why he was acting the way he was.  I was just another person in a different car that got a 30-second glance into his life.  And I don’t think I was getting his life’s highlight reel, either.

If I had simply gone with my first assumption – that he was angrily chewing someone out – I could imagine a whole backstory to judge him for the time I witnessed his actions.  If we then ended up at the same place, how would I treat him?  Or…how would I describe him to someone else?  “Hey.  You wouldn’t believe the crazy angry guy I saw driving today.  He was giving somebody the business, let me tell you!”

Beyond not assuming someone’s story or whatever battle they are internally fighting, the whole situation brought to mind something that Paul wrote to the believers in a town called Colossae:

Colossians 4:5-6
Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

Would it be wise of me to assume the guy next to me is an angry jerk that had no issue with chewing someone out?  Honestly, I didn’t have enough information to make that kind of assumption.

But if I never saw him again (and as far as I know, we’ve never met), what harm is there in making up backstories and then playing out those situations in my mind? 

The potential for harm wouldn’t be isolated to the guy who never noticed me observing him.  Instead, it’s bigger than that.  I’d be setting my mind on a negative path where I am morally superior to him, and I would be ready to gossip about him and my made-up story to others.  When I step back from doing so, it’s clear that this line of thinking is not making the most of the time I have.  Embellishing on a 30-second snippet of his life would not help my speech to always be gracious to the other people I would be talking to that day. 

Imagine again, that I snapped a 30-second video of his behavior and posted it for the world to see.  With my imagined-story framing, he could be insta-famous for just having a bad moment on a bad day.

So let’s be careful with what we imagine about others, especially if we have very little information to go on.  Making rash assumptions will prevent us from knowing how you should answer each person or handle each situation.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Unexpectedly interrupted, and it was good

I have plans.  You have plans.  We all have plans – for how we start our mornings, how we expect the day to generally progress, how we will spend time this coming weekend, how we will spend our money, and on and on and on.  We’re more protective of some of our plans than others…and we certainly don’t like it when our plans are interrupted.  But how many times have our plans been derailed, and we look back and say “Wow, I didn’t expect that good thing to happen.”

That is exactly what is about to happen to Jesus’ disciples. 

After the Samaritan woman accepted Jesus’ free-gift offer of living water and eternal life, she ran back into town to tell others that the Messiah had finally arrived.  Here’s what happened next:

John 4:39-42
Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”  So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days.  Many more believed because of what He said.  And they told the woman. “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

A two day stay was not part of the original travel itinerary.  They were traveling from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north, for most of the disciples, Galilee was home.  I’m sure they were looking forward to seeing family and friends.  When Jesus saw the Samaritans’ need for Him and their desire to hear more, He opted to change the disciples’ travel plans.  And look at what took place as a result: many more believed in Him because of what He said.

Those that heard Him speak over those two days either hadn’t heard the woman’s invitation to meet Jesus at the well, or they were too skeptical to join her and the others when they went back to meet Jesus at the well.  Jesus staying longer gave extra time for even more people to encounter Him.

Think of it, though, from the disciples’ perspective.  They stayed two more (totally unplanned and unscheduled) days with the Samaritans.  The disciples likely didn’t want to be there at all.  Samaritans were outsiders and sometimes enemies to Jewish society.  On their current journey, they were about halfway home.  How did their interactions go when they bought food in the town?  Were they rude?  Stuck up?  Condescending?  If so, what was it like when the shopkeepers arrived later with the woman to hear from Jesus?

There are lots of ways that we could apply our observations from this small section, but let me share a personal one:

A few months back, I was working on the outline for this study of John 4.  It was during my initial flight home from a 10 day work trip.  I was ready to get back to the USA, and I had planned to use at least the first leg of my journey to hammer out as much as I could for this study’s blog posts.  I did not know anyone around me and most were not Americans.  I thought it was the perfect time to shut out the world and do some focused work.  However, soon after takeoff, my plans were interrupted.  The woman next to me must have read some of what I was transferring from my notes to the Bible verses in my laptop’s outline text – she apologized for disturbing me and asked if I was a pastor.  I told her that I am a teacher and gave her a card for this blog.  She was very thankful and told me that growing closer to God was one of her goals for the year and that she’s always amazed at people that can teach from the Bible.  She quickly apologized again and said that she didn’t want to interrupt my work. 

Did I have some work to do?  Absolutely…a lot of work, in fact.  It was Wednesday, I did not have Thursday’s post complete.  I was up against a deadline to have the next day’s post ready for you, my regular readers.  However, taking care of her was more important in that moment.  She went on to tell me that she was flying home to brother’s funeral.  We talked about God and how He can handle our outbursts and frustrations when we don’t understand what’s happening in life.  We talked about our families and parenting boys into young men.  I encouraged her to reach out to me via the blog/website if she has any questions – I hope that she does.  But if I don’t hear from her again in this life (and as of this posting, I haven’t), we’ll have some catching up to do in eternity. 

Her needs at that moment were spiritual food for me, our conversation encouraged me to keep going…but talking with her certainly wasn’t on my To-Do list for the day.  However, Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well and His unexpected two day stay in Samaria shows us how important it is for us to flexible with our schedules – so we can do God’s work in the harvest fields when the opportunity arises.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Opportunity, right under our nose

Whenever we’re looking for something, why is it so hard to see that it’s sitting on the counter?  Or at the front of the shelf in the fridge, staring us in the face? 

We can be so intent in our search for something that we fail to notice our goal is not that difficult to find.  Apparently, I’m not the only one!  Because Jesus’ disciples also suffered from far-sightedness.

On their journey from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north, they stopped at a well outside of a town called Sychar.  Jesus stayed at the well to rest and sent the disciples into town to purchase food. When they returned from Sychar, Jesus refused their food and explained to them that He was going to delay eating, due to the task at hand.  However, they didn’t understand why.  So, Jesus used a farming analogy to help them understand:

John 4:35-38
“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’?  Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.  The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.  For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’  I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest – This was likely a common cultural phrase which cites the amount of time a farmer must wait before he started gathering the useful food.  It could easily be used as a proverb instructing the Jews to be patient and wait for a desired outcome.  Plants have obvious characteristics that demonstrate their fruit is ripe and ready.  Those tell-tale signs of development are what the farmer watches for to know that harvest time has finally arrived. 

The disciples had not sowed Jesus’ message among the outsiders in Samaria.  As such, they may have assumed that these people would not be ready to accept Jesus’ offer of eternal life or be allowed to participate in His coming kingdom.  After all, Samaritans were not accepted as part of Israel.  The combination of their mixed history and ignorance of God’s prophecies would appear to exclude them from being ready to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.  I’m sure that the disciples expected to just eat in this town and then keep moving on their journey so they could preach the good news to the Jews living in Galilee.

In contrast, and certainly to their surprise, Jesus tells the disciples that harvest time for the Samaritans was happening now.

Jesus cautioned them against falling back on the farming proverb in this situation, telling them to open your eyes to the harvest of people around them.  It can be difficult for us to admit, but us believers can sometimes be blind to the work in front of us.  Planning for church services and future events is necessary and important, but we cannot overlook harvest work among those around us every day.

Here, in this small section of Scripture, we find a command from Jesus for all of us to obey – Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.

As such, we need to ask ourselves: Am I missing opportunities to share Jesus with others because I’m overlooking the obvious? 

Don’t write someone off because they don’t “look ready” to you.  Love them like Jesus loves you.  Talk to them the way Jesus talks to you.  You may be surprised at the harvest, right in front of you.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Relating Jesus to others

Some people are hard to reach out to.  They do their best to go through life unseen, or else they give off a vibe that screams “Leave me alone!”.  People who are treated as outcasts by society or those who view themselves as outcasts do not expect to be interacted with.  And while they may not initiate spiritual conversations, that doesn’t mean we cannot relate to them.

John 4:7-9
A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, because His disciples had gone into town to buy food.
“How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked Him.  For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

The normal prejudices of Jesus’ day prohibited public conversation between men and women, between Jews and Samaritans, and especially between strangers.  A Jewish Rabbi would rather go thirsty than violate these social boundaries.

That may sound absurd to us today, but in Bible times this was a serious etiquette predicament.  By asking this woman for a drink, Jesus is breaking all rules of Jewish piety and He also opens Himself to a charge of acting in a flirtatious manner.  Wait…flirting, really?  Well, you may recall that Israel’s patriarchs Isaac and Jacob found their prospective wives at wells.  Talking with an unfamiliar Samaritan woman was no small event, which is why she was so taken aback when Jesus started the conversation.  However, He does not let her surprise derail the conversation:

John 4:10
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and Who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”

Jesus identifies Himself as the gift of God.  Someone living in Samaria would have been a bit isolated from the happenings around Jesus’ ministry among the Jews.  At best, she may have heard some travelers talking about it.  Add in the limited knowledge of the Samaritans’ religion (since the only part of the Old Testament they used were the first five books), and it is understandable that she was unaware of who was talking with her.  She was did not know that God had given all of humanity an incredible gift.

In the previous chapter, John records Jesus explaining God’s gift this way:

John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

God loved…so God gave…which means Jesus accurately described Himself to the Samaritan woman as the gift of God.  Although Jesus was able to cut to the chase and present the entire gospel message to Nicodemus in John 3:16, Jesus takes a slower approach with her. 

This isn’t a man vs. woman thing, either.  There were significant differences between these two situations, even though Jesus is revealing who He is to both of them.  Nicodemus came to Jesus – Jesus approached the woman.  It was culturally expected that Jesus would discuss theology with another man – it was culturally unexpected that Jesus would discuss anything with a Samaritan woman.  Because he was immersed in Jewish law and God’s scriptures, Nicodemus had a base-level understanding of what the Messiah would be like – she only looked forward to the prophet Moses predicted. 

Jesus’ good news discussion – about Himself – isn’t the same in both conversations, either.  Instead, Jesus uses their immediate, relatable surroundings to communicate the truth of who He is to the Samaritan woman.

From Jesus’ example, we see that there isn’t just one way to present the gospel of who Jesus is.  As long as our message is focused on Him and the simplicity of believing in Him for eternal life, we are free to approach anyone however we can relate to them.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

An outcast of outcasts

We saw last time that Jesus purposely spent a lot of time with those who found themselves on the fringes of society.  These people were outcasts due to disease, physical brokenness, demonic influences, scandalous choices, or society’s prejudices and attitudes.  And yet, Jesus still connected with them, regardless of whether their situation arose due to their own choices or if their condition was due to circumstances outside of their control. 

There is one interaction I want to focus on, but in order to get a clear picture of why this individual would be considered an “outcast of outcasts”…we need a little history lesson:

The Assyrians brought about the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC.  They deported around 30,000 people from the Northern Kingdom/Samaria and replaced them with captives from abroad (2 Kings 17:24-34).  Intermarriage occurred between the northerners who remained and the imported refugees, and a pluralistic culture of sorts developed.  Some of those refugees embraced a number of articles within Judaism, although they still mixed in their old religions, and in time came to regard themselves as Jews (Ezra 4:1-2).  However, their bid for membership in the Jewish community was rejected by post-exilic Jews (Ezra 4:3-5).  This event set into motion a religious animosity between the Jews and Samaritans that persisted throughout the remainder of the biblical period (Luke 9:51-56, John 4:9 and 8:48).

Samaritans claimed lineage through Joseph’s children.  When the tribes of Israel came to the Promised Land, half were instructed to stand on Mt. Gerizim and the other half were to stand on Mt. Ebal.  The half on Mt. Gerizim received the pronouncement of blessing from God – representing what would happen to the entire nation if they chose to follow God (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) and the other half, standing on Mt. Ebal, received the pronouncement of cursing from God – representing what would happen to the entire nation if they chose to not follow God (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).  Joseph’s tribes were among the those who stood on Mt. Gerizim and heard the blessing (Deuteronomy 27:12-13); however, the Jews would have viewed the Samaritans as being among the cursed.  Roughly 400 years prior to Jesus’ time, the Samaritans had built an alter to God on Mt. Gerizim, but it was later destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC.

A significant piece to understanding the Jewish-Samaritan tension is that the Samaritans only accepted the Moses-authored, books as their bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).  The Samaritans acknowledged no prophet after Moses other than the one spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:18, and that is who they regarded as the future Messiah.  The Samaritans rejected all other Jewish writings of the Old Testament, containing history, wisdom literature, and the words of the Jewish prophets.  As such, while the Jews and Samaritans agreed in the expectation of the Messiah and His kingdom, by Jesus’ day, they were looking for different types.  The Jews expected a conquering king, who would clean up the world’s mess and establish Jerusalem as the center of His rule.  The Samaritans were looking forward to a teacher/restorer, who would set things right.

Because of the region’s mixed race history, pure-blooded Jews wanted little to do with Samaritans.  It was insulting to them that half-breeds would make equal-footing claim to their Jewish ancestors.  However, from a political perspective, Samaria was part of the Roman province of Judea in Jesus’ day.  Nevertheless, the ancient cultural barriers created a sharp divide between the residents of Samaria and the Jews who lived in Galilee (which was north of Samaria) and the Jews who lived in Judea (which was south of Samaria).

With this background, we are now ready to step into an amazingly unexpected encounter that Jesus had with an outcast from those who were regarded as outcasts:

John 4:1-7
When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea and went again to Galilee.  He had to travel through Samaria; so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph.  Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well.  It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

Societal ranking of the day looked like this:
Jewish man
Jewish woman
Samaritan man
Samaritan woman

Collecting water was a woman’s task, and they would typically go in groups to draw water during the cooler parts of the day – either early or late.  It is very telling that this woman of Samaria came alone, when the day’s heat was at its peak.  Later on, we’ll find out other aspects of her life that would have made her an outcast, even among her own people.

Despite all the historical animosity and racial tension between the Jews and the Samaritans, Jesus saw her as someone worth His time, His effort, and His offer of Eternal Life.

Whom do we see as a modern-day Samaritan?  Whom do you shun because you see them as an outcast?

If we want to be Jesus’ disciples, we’re going to need look at the outcasts like Jesus did…and then meet them where they are.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Jesus and the outcasts

One of the peculiar things about Jesus’ time on Earth was the people He chose to spend time with. 

Luke 15:1-2
All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

When someone was welcomed or you would eat with them, it was assumed to be an acceptance, or even an approval, of their lifestyle.

The upper class, who claimed to be closest to God, were baffled and ended up complaining that someone who has such a great following, such inherent authority, and such great wisdom…was not falling in line with the social norms of class and status that they followed.  Even Jesus’ disciples were amazed at who He would take time with.  For example:

Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to Him in order that He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me.  Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them.

Infant mortality was high in the ancient world.  As such, small children were of little value until they grew enough to contribute to the family.  Still thinking within society’s attitudes and values, the disciples thought it would be a waste of time for the Messiah to be with little children.

After recording Jesus’ most famous sermon, ‘The Sermon on the Mount’, Matthew describes the waves of people who were constantly approaching Jesus.  Matthew 8-9 records the following: healing a man who had leprosy, healing a paralyzed man without being physically next to him, healing Peter’s mom of a fever, casting out demons, healing those who were sick, healing a paralytic brought to Him, calling a tax collector to be a disciple, bringing a dead girl back to life, healing a woman who suffered from bleeding for twelve years, and healing two blind men.

All of these individuals were isolated in some way by their disease, their spiritual condition, or their job status.  They would have been on the fringes of society – those with diseases had to be physically isolated from others, it was generally assumed that those with broken bodies were being punished by God, those with demonic influences or behaviors were shunned, and tax collectors were considered to be traitors to their own countrymen.  For people in these groups, acceptance was hard to come by.

And yet, these were the ones that Jesus healed and spent time with.  At the end of Matthew 9, we find out why:

Matthew 9:35-38
Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.  When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.  Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Jesus felt compassion for those who were cast aside, those who felt distressed and dejected.  He didn’t just acknowledge their plight and move on with His life – He stopped and took the time to interact with and help them.  Even if high society had different values.  Even if the religious leaders expected different behavior.  Jesus saw the crowds as sheep without a shepherd; they needed His compassion and leadership…and no one else thought they were important enough for either one.

Learning to see the crowds as He did was one of the lessons Jesus had to repeatedly teach His disciples.  It’s one we should expect Jesus to teach us, as well.

Jesus rebuked His disciples for hindering those they thought unworthy.  Jesus instructed His disciples to pray that God sends out more of His workers to reach out to society’s outcasts.  And then, in the next set of verses (Matthew 10), Jesus sends out His disciples to work.

Get your thinking corrected, pray for assistance, and then get to work.  That’s Jesus’ plan for those who follow Him.

Why?  Because He values the outcast.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Do we have to follow the Law?

Every so often, the modern church wrestles with problematic question of what to do with the Mosaic Law.  Do we still have to obey the 10 Commandments?  What about the other parts, that nobody does…like animal sacrifice, dietary restrictions, and ceremonial washings?

The early church dealt with the same questions, and some people were trying to add the law’s requirements in addition to following Christ.

1 Timothy 1:5-7
Now the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.  Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion.  They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.

A little cultural context will help here.  If you were a Jewish teacher of the law, then you were at the pinnacle of the Jewish social, religious, and political society.  For those who became Christians and had come out of Jewish culture, their understanding of who the top people are was formed by looking at the lives of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Paul had to spell out the relationship of the law to the believer for the church in Galatia also:

Galatians 3:23-26
Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.  The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.  But since that faith has come, we are no long under a guardian, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Since Jesus came to fulfill the law’s requirements for all of us, those who trust Jesus for eternal life have been declared righteous (i.e. – not guilty) and will not be judged by the law.  As such, the Mosaic Law no longer governs the life of a believer.  Apparently, these wannabe teachers Timothy was encountering in Ephesus were so blinded by status-seeking that they did not grasp this foundational truth…and so they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.

Does this mean that the Mosaic Law is useless and should be set aside entirely?  Paul doesn’t think so:

1 Timothy 1:8-11
Now we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately.  We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but
for the lawless and rebellious,
for the ungodly and sinful,
for the unholy and irreverent,
for those who kill their fathers and mothers,
for murderers,
for the sexually immoral and homosexuals,
for kidnappers, liars, perjurers
and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching based on the glorious gospel of the blessed God that was entrusted to me.

The law still serves a legitimate purpose in this world – it continues to show sin for what it is.  The law clearly points out the ways in which humanity has driven a wedge between us and God.  The law points out that we can’t bridge that relationship canyon with our own efforts.

Given the multicultural mix that was the city of Ephesus, the law was certainly applicable to those outside the church…and so was the law’s penalty – eternal separation from God.

When used legitimately, the law is good because it reminds us how much we needed to be rescued, and how much those outside the family still need that rescue.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Who can be mentored?

We really don’t know a lot about what the disciples were doing before they encountered Jesus.  If any of the disciples had been a part of a prominent family, or politically connected, or a member of the religious ruling class…you would think that the gospel writers would have brought that up.  However, given that Jesus was doing something new on earth, then it stands to reason that He would not have wanted his disciples to have any previous connections to the leading human institutions of the time.

The only community education for a Jewish child was to learn the Torah and impress a Rabbi enough for him to take the child on as his personal disciple.  If a Jewish child didn’t make the cut to continue up the religious school ranks, they were sent home to learn the family trade. 

We do know that when Jesus called Andrew, Peter, James, and John, they all were fishermen.  This job required no formal education, only on-the-job training.  So clearly, they hadn’t been picked by any Rabbi or Pharisee.  Matthew is introduced as a tax collector.  This was a job working for the hated Romans.  Tax collectors were generally known as cheaters, liars, and turncoats against their kinsmen.  They were barely tolerated in Jewish society.  Simon is referred to as “a zealot”, and while not a profession, the title suggests he was part of a fringe political group interested in the overthrow of the Roman government.  Again, not mainstream or popular. The rest of the disciples’ previous occupations are unknown.

But there is a scene that takes place much later that gives another piece of information about this rag-tag group.

After Jesus had returned to Heaven, the disciples were speaking about what they had seen and heard.  Through Peter, God performed a miracle and healed a lame man.  Reading through the account, we find that the man had been that way since birth and was now over 40 years old. 

Of course, the entire city of Jerusalem was going crazy over this miracle.  After Peter and John preached to the crowd, they were arrested by the religious authorities.  When they were brought before the Jewish leadership, Peter again spoke of Jesus:

Acts 4:12
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.

It’s the next comment that gives us a clue about their background before they had become Jesus’ disciples:

Acts 4:13
When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and knew that they had been with Jesus.

Jesus’ disciples were men of little clout.  They were people that high society did not consider all that important.  They were common-folk, and some were outcasts.  Definitely not Varsity players.  Not even Junior Varsity.  Maybe they might make the B-team.  

However, no one can change a life like Jesus can.  Peter said it himself, that there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.  Just as all are welcome to come to Jesus for salvation – regardless of their background – don’t overlook someone’s need for a mentor because they don’t have a great resume.  The uneducated, the untrained, the unwanted – Jesus didn’t disqualify them, and neither should we.

The disciples’ example should also keep us from thinking that we could be disqualified from either being mentored or doing great things for God because we didn’t get the proverbial “silver spoon” or if we’ve been rejected by others.  Ask God to send you a mentor.  You might be surprised by who they are when they show up, too.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Talking with outsiders

No one likes a “know-it-all”.  Generally speaking, people do not mind if someone else has more knowledge, but the way a person handles themselves in light of that additional knowledge can make or break relationships.  Whether it’s among strangers or siblings, classmates or co-workers, no one appreciates being talked down to.  The subject matter could be of small consequence or something really important, but how something is communicated is as important as what is being communicated.

For those of us that have been following Christ for a length of time, there is a tendency toward smugness that will cause problems.  When we get comfortable going through the motions of living the “Christian life” instead of focusing on our relationship with God, we grow stale.  Our mindset and interactions with others will twist until we end up presenting a conceited, self-righteous version of Christianity.

A telling symptom of this stale-ness is found in how we interact with those outside of our Christian family.  What is our general attitude toward non-Christians?  While we know that they need Jesus, do our actions and attitudes invite them toward Jesus or push them away?  Do we speak at them with a lot of Christian-ese?  Do we belittle them because of their sin?

After spending most of his letter describing the wondrous relationship we now have with God and praising the Colossian believers for their great love for everyone in God’s family, Paul took a moment to give them a warning:

Colossians 4:5-6
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the time.  Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

Those outside the faith need our wisdom and our gracious speech, not arrogant attitudes and put-down talk.  Being “better off” doesn’t make us “more important”.  In fact, many of the Bible’s authors gave warning against such self-righteous thinking.

Instead, gracious speech comes from a grateful mindset.  That’s why Paul has spent so much time writing about the greatness of Christ and the priority He should have in our lives.  When we have our relationship with God in its proper place, then our interactions with outsiders will begin to look and sound a lot like Jesus’ interactions with others.

Looking and sounding like Jesus will draw a lot of attention, people will take notice of the difference.  In order to be ready to answer each person, we should take the same attitude Daniel had when God told him the meaning of the king’s dream:

Daniel 2:30
As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.

Can you hear his humility?  Can you see how Daniel shifted the focus from himself and gave the credit to God?  When we have the opportunity to share the gospel with others, we should have the same attitude:

I’m not a Christian because I’m better than anyone else.  One day, someone told me that God loves me enough to die for my sins.  He loves you, too.  I’m just glad that I get to be the one to tell you about it.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Suffering for outsiders

Pain is both a motivator and a deterrent.  Physical, mental, emotional pain…it doesn’t matter the type, because pain is, well, a pain to deal with.  Usually, it’s the desire to avoid pain that leads to us promptly finishing a given task or ensuring that we do not do a particular task.  We don’t like pain, and we’re willing to go to great lengths to make sure we don’t experience it.

There are very few things in life we willingly suffer for.  Since our default is to avoid pain, it is a significant decision when we are willing to endure pain and suffering.  Even then, the only people we may willingly suffer for would be a family member or an incredibly close friend.  However, most everyone understands our motivations when we do choose to endure pain for those close to us.

But that’s where the gospel turns things upside down.  When we accept the truth of the good news – that Jesus loved us enough to die in our place – we see others differently.  After Paul became a believer, Jesus gave him the task of spreading the gospel message.  As he describes his calling to the Colossians, Paul mentions that he suffers…but notice who it is he’s suffering for.

Colossians 1:23-27
This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I Paul, have become a minister of it.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church.  I have become its minister, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints.

God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Since the implications of Christ’s death and resurrection was a mystery hidden for ages and generations, no one fully understood it.  Even the disciples had to have Jesus explain it to them.  This means that everyone else would have trouble grasping this mystery, also.  As the gospel message was explained and spread throughout the world, some people “got it”; they understood and believed, and yet some people didn’t. 

It’s amazing to think that Paul was willing to suffer for something that the outsider Gentiles didn’t understand.  In fact, some of them would never understand.  They would fight against the message and the person delivering it.  On several occasions, they even attempted to “kill the messenger”.

However, because the message was so big and so important, Paul was willing to take the chance that he would suffer for it.  In fact, he did suffer a lot of pain.  But he also found joy in his pain – because he knew that he was doing the job God gave him to do.

Looking a Paul’s example, each of us should pause and ask the question –

Am I willing to suffer in order to do the job God gave me to do…even if everyone doesn’t understand the gospel message or my motivation to share it?

Keep Pressing,
Ken