Avoiding the Crazy Label

 

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said.  For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.  Well then, what shall I do?  I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand.  I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.  For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you?  How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying?  You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.  But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.  Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things.  Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.  It is written in the Scriptures:  “I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners.  But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.  So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers.  Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers.  Even so, if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy.  But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say.  As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”   1 Corinthians 14:13-25

I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone who claimed to be super-spiritual.  I have known several gossips who criticized others (behind their back, of course) that they were such.  The point about being super-spiritual or holier-than-thou (a phrase from another era), is that one who is truly so close to God that one gains the reputation of being something of a spiritual giant, well, that kind of person would never claim that status; humility would forbid it.  They would be denying attaining spiritual heights with pride.  Consider God’s Word on the matter:

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.  James 4:10

But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.  Matthew 23:12

And he gives grace generously.  As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6

Avoiding the “crazy label” is a matter of humility and truthfulness.  People who show-off with their so-called super-spirituality, or over-the-top-humility, are those who put-off others enough to derail a church’s entire ministry.  The apostle, Paul spoke of prophesying, or speaking the truth about God and humans in a way that exalts the LORD, and encourages people.  We can shirk that responsibility in more than one way:

1.    We can favor the appearance of super-spirituality, gaining the applause of men…a rather empty sense of accomplishment

2.    We can fade into the woodwork in feigned humility, a lie (at best) of the greatness of the Holy Spirit residing in your heart.

Either of those is not that to which God called any of us.  Rather, the body of Christ is to be a working force, every member using his or her gifts appropriately, respectfully, and humbly, so God gets the glory as unbelievers are converted.

For You Today

Our goal as a church is never to approach entertainment or satisfying someone’s opinion or preferences…or even just keeping peace.  It is to have the mission of Christ effective in our lives, declaring with power that God is truly among us.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©    

Circle of Life

[1]

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge!  How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!  For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?  Who knows enough to give him advice?  And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?  For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.  All glory to him forever! Amen.  Romans 11:33-36

With all due humility and respect to the popularity of Walt Disney, Tim Rice, and Elton John’s Circle of Life song in the movie, Lion King, what they give us is merely wisdom from the underside of things here on earth; they don’t begin to scratch the surface of the circle’s source.  The real circle of life begins and comes round to Heaven.

The apostle Paul rarely stuttered like Moses.  When the little, ugly student of Gamaliel, (Paul may have been a slow learner, but he turned-out to be quite a scholar) wrote his letter to the Roman Christians, his small, twisted stature, poor eyesight, and thorny side faded into the background as he gave us an eternal glimpse into our beginning and ending.  Bowing to the omniscient wisdom of JHWH, Creator of all, the apostle unfolds the simplest, most profound truth about the circle of life:  it begins with God, continues to exist because of God’s will and power, and does not simply repeat until it destroys itself…but returns unto God bringing glory, honor, and unending praise to its Maker – quite a circle!

In the movie the little lion cub, Simba, is destined to be the king after his father, Mufasa passes from the scene[2].  Dad teaches the young prince that, while they chase the gazelle and eat them, eventually lions also die, return to the soil to become the grass, which the gazelle eat.  That is Mufasa’s circle of life, sometimes you’re the windshield; sometimes you’re the bug!

But God has a much higher plan than live – deteriorate – die – rot in the ground to become fertilizer for the savannah grass, and be re-born as a well-fed antelope (only to be eaten by the next generation of lions).  With that existential philosophy (even less appealing than Akuna-matata), you’ve got nothing more to look forward to than the African proverb that whimpers:

Every morning a gazelle awakens to the reality that he must outrun the fastest lion or be eaten today, while every lion awakens to the reality that he must outrun the slowest gazelle or starve today.  Either way the dawn brings running.

And that’s the whole difference between philosophy and theology; with man’s philosophizing circle all you get is running, and someday being outrun. 

When it’s theology – God thought – it’s about living; we are created by Him, and we live for, and in His good and glory, and eventually go to Him, the giver, sustainer, and purpose of all life.  That’s a circle you can live with!

For You Today

You were created with a higher purpose than retirement to become gazelle food.  With a Creator and Savior like that, what’s not to love? 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] Image:  By Абдырашит Сатылганов - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0