Be Devoted!

I remember as a newly minted Christian, one who was just beginning to follow Jesus, the Bible was such a cool book.  The more I read the more I learned and the more excited I became.  Today I know the Bible, though consisting of sixty-six different books, has a unified, consistent theme running all the way through it.  But back then, when I was seeing all that for the first time, my heart was enthralled in what I was learning.   Another thing I remember was how certain Bible verses just riveted themselves to my heart.  One such section of the Bible was the last verses of Acts chapter two.   The earliest of Christians had only recently experienced the coming of God's Spirit and He was changing everything in their lives!  They had gone from concealing themselves in a cowardly manner to bolding broadcasting their faith in Jesus, even at the peril of arrest and death.  But as a young Christ follower, the verse that impacted me so very much was forty-two where is says, "They were continually devoting themselves..."  Here's what God said to me way back then, "When you follow Jesus and the Holy Spirit is in your life, you can't help but passionately give yourself to follow Him."  You prioritize Jesus, His will, His Kingdom.  Those early Christians gave themselves with high energy and with all their hearts to what was important to Jesus.  

But just as impactful to me was what they were devoted to--what they were passionate about.  The Bible records several commitments to which they were devoted, the first being their weekly gathering where they were taught God's Word, worshipped with praise and prayer, and encouraged each other.   They were highly committed to this!  Unfortunately many who claim to follow Christ are not.  Did you know that one of the trends in the church today in 2016 is that people will be less and less committed to this weekly gathering?  Yet, God clearly says in His Bible, "Don't forsake gathering yourselves together as is the habit of some, but encourage one another; and all the more do so as you see the day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:24).  I was just beginning to follow Jesus when on the night before a Sunday I had to work really late and decided I'd just skip the next day's weekly gathering of believers.  I'll never forget a friend of mine knocking on my door when I didn't show up to carpool with him.  After I explained that I'd been up late and wasn't going, he left a bit dejected but as I lay back in bed God spoke to my heart and said, "I could devotedly lay down my life for you but you won't even prioritize my will for you?"  I got back up, got dressed and from that day I've devoted myself to the weekly gathering of Christ followers.

Another thing to which the early Christians passionately committed themselves was to love others, and that meant using their resources for the Kingdom of God and caring for others.   “All those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.”  All my teen years were spent with visions of wealth and prosperity—I was going to make it big in the realm of money.  But just as their devotion changed, so did mine.  Money was no longer the focus of my life and even more happened to me—I began to see my money not as mine, but as His.  I began to see myself as a steward, not an owner.  Like these early Christians, I devoted myself to use my resources as God wanted me to and that meant helping others as I could.  I began to give a tenth of my resources directly to my immediate church family, but more than that, I saw the other ninety percent as His--I needed to use it as He directed.   This continues to be my devotion.

And one more area to which they devoted themselves: they zealously gave themselves to investing in each other’s lives.  Not only did they meet for their weekly gathering, it says they were meeting daily, “from house to house taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.”  They understood something that I believe we westerners, born and raised in this individualistic culture, don’t often comprehend.  We weren’t created to do life by ourselves.  God made us for community.  He made us for Himself, He Himself being three persons, but He also made us for each other.  These early followers of Jesus were passionate about living their lives together with others—we have to be too.   It’s a choice that we make.  I’m not suggesting we go from nothing to every day but why not be devoted to a weekly home group gathering?  Why not choose to have folks over for a meal every week?  Why not devote yourself to pouring your life into others and letting them pour into you?

I don’t really think there is such a thing as low devotion and high devotion.  If you have low devotion to something, you simply aren’t devoted.  But assume with me that there is such a difference and let me ask you; does God have a low devotion for you or a high devotion?  The answer is obvious—His devotion for you is such that He died for you!  He will never leave you or forsake you.  He gave His all that you might be forgiven of your sins and set free from them and the hell that our sin deserves.  It puzzles me greatly—if you are a follower of Jesus, and you understand God’s great devotion and love for you, how can you respond to Him with such low devotion?  Why would we not all be like those New Testament Christians who were so filled with Holy Spirit-inspired devotion?

I bring this piece to a close with a call for you to follow Jesus with high devotion—or might I simply say, follow Him with devotion.  It’s a choice you make.  Devotion is not necessarily expressed apart from feelings, but it’s definitely not dependent on them.  What does that mean in specifics?  Be highly devoted to the weekly gathering.   Be highly devoted to caring for others.  Be highly devoted to doing life with other believers.

Getting Better at Ministry

Last week I wrote about the tension that exists between length of tenure and effectiveness.  The tension is that on the one hand, the longer I do something the better I get at it; while on the other, the longer I do something the more opportunity I have to become complacent in what I do.   That tension exists in many areas of life, but I particularly see it manifested in ministry.

When I first became a pastor, my mentor told me not to make any changes in my first year of ministry, and I lived by that advice.  However, I thought there would be no harm in encouraging the existing leaders in their ministry roles.  I remember one meeting in particular where we were talking about a need for more Sunday school space.  The church really only had four rooms that could be used for classes.  I offered several suggestions that we could implement to temporarily give us room to grow, but each suggestion was rejected because "we had tried that in the past and it didn't work" or "that doesn't go with the decor of the church."  That meeting was very discouraging, to say the least, and I remember experiencing firsthand the complacency that can set in when someone does the same ministry for many years.  Instead of using their acquired skills and knowledge to grow God's church, my friends had become bogged down in apathy and negativism.

So how do I turn my length of tenure into something positive rather than a boat anchor of complacency?  Whatever your ministry, let me give you four suggestions that will help.

Recognize the tendency we all have to drift toward ease and continually recommit yourself to invest in your ministry.  Just about everything in life drifts toward the path of least resistance; so unless you decide to apply yourself continually, you too will simply rest on your acquired abilities rather than trusting God for greater things.  Embrace this reality and remind yourself often that unless you decide and re-decide to give it your best, you simply won't.

Make yourself accountable and let someone speak into your life.  One of the best ways to improve at what you do is to invite people to help you evaluate your ministry.  Ask someone you trust, and someone who knows your area of service, if they see you giving it your best.  A word of honesty here--most people will be a bit reticent to tell you the truth.  It's not that they won't want to help you--they will just be leery of whether you really want them to.  Many people say they want the truth, but when someone shares it they become defensive or hurt, and even respond in a negative, wounded manner.  Ask for help and be willing to embrace truth with gratefulness--even if it hurts a bit.

Continue to stretch yourself with continuing education and training.  It's amazing to me how many Christians who are ministry servants and even leaders, don't avail themselves of opportunities to grow and improve in what God has called them to do.    We live in a day when so much help is available to equip ourselves profoundly.  Be a lifelong learner--a continual improver.  A key to taking advantage of tenure is to keep on training yourself to be even better and more proficient at what you do.  Yet so few actually do--don't be one of them!

Consider taking the skills and abilities you've learned in a long term ministry and actually choosing to use them in something different.  After my first year of pastoring, and making no changes, I decided it was time to make some.  I remember I led us to switch up people's ministries, that is, some who had been doing a particular ministry for thirty years were asked to do something different.  Well, as you may have guessed immediately, that didn't go over very well.  But the reason I did that back then was because I understood that change can be helpful in keeping us fresh, diligent, and not simply relying on past accomplishments.  If you find yourself merely going through the motions, not excited about your ministry, consider trying something new in the year ahead.  Doing something new tends to increase our excitement and dependence upon God, so if you can take your acquired skills and abilities into something fresh, think about it.

Serving in a ministry long term can be a great blessing because of what you've learned and what you know.  Make it so.  Don't settle for a name and title and lukewarm service.

Getting Better at Marriage

You may not know it, but there is a tension between length of tenure and effectiveness.  It's a tension that can be found in most areas of life, but definitely in marriage and ministry.  The tension is this--the longer you do something the better you may become, the more effective you might be.  However, at the same time there is the possibility that the longer you do something, the more stale and passive you might become, making you even less effective.  Let me talk about that tension in marriage.

The single greatest benefit of a long marriage is the knowledge you acquire of the spouse you are committed to.  Let's face it, when you marry you only think you know the person you are committing to.  Granted, some of you spent years dating before you walked into your marriage, and I recognize that you knew each other better than Anne and I did after just three months of courting, but there isn't a married person I know who won't admit that their knowledge of the one they married was so limited compared to what they discovered in the next decade or two of walking through life together.  In mine and Anne's case, we were extremely different people than we thought we were marrying, and that made for a great deal of misunderstanding and tension in the early years of marriage.  But now, three decades later, we have a much deeper understanding of who each of us is; and that knowledge can be the key to making our marriage better.

On the other hand, length of marriage can also be a detriment.  We tend to fall into ruts of apathy and indifference if we are not careful.  The excitement and newness of marriage wears off, and the passing of time can lead us into passivity, detachment and even unresponsiveness to one another.  With time we will change, and if we are not intentional, we may move away from our spouse.  I think it was Tim Keller who suggested that if you don't like who you are married to now, just wait--you will be married to seven different people in your lifetime!  He was talking about how we all tend to change over time; so as we do, we need to be careful not to drift apart.

So, there is the tension to which I was referring to--with length of marriage we know each other better, which can be a really good thing; but at the same time, the longer we are married the more opportunity we have to drift toward indifference and apathy.  That is not so good.  So, let me give you three suggestions to help your marriage flourish and not whither.

Embrace this truth: marriage is not automatic, it takes work.  I can remember in my pre-married days how easy I thought living in holy matrimony would be.  Our premarital counselor told us we'd have problems, but we literally laughed at him; what did he know!  Thirty years later I can tell you unequivocally that marriage is hard work.  It takes sacrifice and surrender, and you must exchange your vows with that mindset.  To you not-yet-marrieds and newlyweds I'd say, "Remember I've been a newlywed; you've not been married thirty years.  Listen to me!"  Go into your marriage knowing that unless you are willing to invest and to sacrifice, your marriage is probably doomed to failure before you even begin.  It's true that some people may make marriage look easy, and indeed, maybe it has been easier for them, but that is not the case most of the time.  Accept this axiom of marriage: Marriage takes work and both spouses must labor at it to make it good!

Use the knowledge you gain with the passing years to serve one another.   What's the benefit of a long marriage?  You get to know one another better.  With the passing months and years, you know more specifically and more clearly what blesses and what hurts your spouse, but what good is knowledge without application?  So the operative challenge here is to use your growing understanding to serve one another.  The reality is that if you don't use your growing insights to bless each other, you will actually embitter your spouse.    Love always serves, and if we aren't serving, we aren't loving.  A successful marriage is built when two people are willing to prefer one another as more important than themselves and give themselves to one another unconditionally.  I'll make this declaration--every divorce can be traced back to the selfishness of one or both partners in a marriage.


Refuse to give up.   Every marriage stumbles.  As a pastor I've heard the stories of marriage pain, and rarely have I met a couple who never struggles.  But if you want your marriage to flourish, don't give up in the difficult times--fight for your marriage.   The studies are pretty clear that if couples will push through the difficult times, most will bounce back to a relationship that the couple themselves will say is happy or very happy.   Dietrich Bonhoeffer declared so well what I'm trying to say: "It is not your love that sustains your marriage, but your marriage that sustains your love.”

As the years pass under your marriage, may your marriage grow deeper, more fulfilling, and more satisfying.  Accept the challenge of hard work, and use your growing understanding of the one you love to serve each other better.  Do your best to never, ever give up.

Why you should read the Bible if you are not a Christian

You don't have to be someone who follows Jesus to know the Bible has impacted western culture in invaluable ways.   More than six billion Bibles have been printed and at least some parts of the Bible have been translated into almost 3,000 languages.   The Bible is comprised of sixty-six different books, written by approximately forty different writers, over 1600 years, on three different continents, in three different languages, on thousands of different subjects, yet with one central theme—God's revealing of Himself to mankind in the person of Jesus.


Now, if you are already one who believes in and follows Jesus, you probably know the reasons you should read your Bible.  But, what if you aren't a Christian--why should you read a Bible? Let me give you two really good reasons.

First, read the Bible so you can know what it says.  One thing I've discovered over the years is that many people think they know what's in the Bible but when pressed, they really don't.  They may have some vague notions but all too often even those perceptions aren't correct.  Too many people think things come from the Bible when in reality they don't.  For instance, here's one I hear often; "God helps those who help themselves."  That's not in the Bible.  In fact, one of the major themes of the Bible is that God helps them who can't help themselves!  Another such saying is, "Cleanliness is next to godliness."  I wish that was in the Bible so I could use it to encourage some folks I know.  So read the Bible so you will definitively know what it says.

A second reason to read the Bible is so that you might be introduced to Jesus.  Just like what's in the Bible, too many people have misconstrued ideas of who Jesus is.  Let Jesus speak for Himself.  He once told people that the older part of the Bible--it's divided into an old and new part--actually points people to Himself.  Did you know that Jesus often hung out with people others called thieves and prostitutes, and that some of His harshest rebukes were for religious people?  Don't go by what you think Jesus was like; read for yourself.

The New Year is often impetus for change or to try something new.   With that thought, I'd like to encourage you to pick up a Bible and read it.  Find out what it really says and let Jesus speak for Himself.  If you do decide to read, know that the Bible isn't like a chronological story that begins on page one and ends on the last page--remember, the Bible is actually sixty-six different books.  So find that divide between the old and the new, turn to the new part and begin reading the first book in that new part--the book of Matthew. It's actually about the life of Jesus.  If you find that interesting and helpful, then turn to the fourth book of the new part, the book of John, and read that.  John records a number of talks that Jesus gave.

My own life story was affected deeply by what I read in those pages.  Maybe yours will be as well.