Philippians 3:13-14
As I remember September 11, 2001 I remember it vividly, as you probably do too. Like so many others I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. I also remember how I felt. The thought of all those people who just went to work, another day like so many they’ve worked before. Then, out of nowhere a horrible tragedy occurs that’s difficult to put into words.
As I reflect today, I sense the need to remember that day in some other ways too.
I can still remember the day that I got through the fear. I remember it well. I was in the eighth grade and my parents took me and my brother to Disney World. The drive to get there from our home just outside of Washington DC seemed like it took forever, which is one of the things that helped me get over my fear. I told myself, “I’m not traveling all the way down to Disney World and not riding these awesome roller coasters everyone’s talking about, just because I’m afraid!”
So, there I was standing with my brother outside of the coaster I heard about the most: Space Mountain.
After the ride was over I realized a couple of things: one, I was still alive, and second, that was actually exhilarating! Like, I want to ride that again! I think we rode that crazy roller coaster eight times strait!
This opened the world of roller coasters to me. That summer when we went as a family to a theme park close to our home I was riding everything they had. And, I’ve never stopped. When my daughter was six years old, I had her on every adult ride she was tall enough to climb on; and she loved it too.
But, I realized something after years of riding the same rides that used to be so exciting to me. After riding a roller coaster 50 times, it loses much of it’s exhilaration. It’s just not as exciting anymore.
You know, so many people walk into churches and they’re looking for something. And they should be! Everyone who walks into a church is looking for what they’re looking for. What I mean is they know what kind of music they like, and what they don’t, what kind of church “feel” they like, and what they don’t, what kind of preaching they like…You get the point.
When they come into church and it’s what they like, it’s exhilarating. I often have conversations with folks about that. They’ll say, “the worship is fantastic,” “the sermons are just what I need” or “the people are so friendly I feel like I’m at home.” Just so you know, to be a pastor and hear these things is definitely a win!
Inevitably, however, after a while the church can become like my experience with roller coasters. What was once so exhilarating is now, because of familiarity, no longer that big of a deal. And, it becomes easy to drift. What happens? The same thing with so many Christians in America. They stay for a while at a church, it loses it’s exhilaration, then off to the next. So many American Christians are bouncing from church to church because the excitement and newness wears off after while.
What’s the answer?
1. Remember what church is really all about.
If you’re looking for a church you should find one that makes you glad you were there. There’s nothing worse than boring church. As a matter of fact, it’s a tragedy when worship of our great God and His Word are made boring—because there’s nothing boring about them!
But, church is not about being excited all the time. It’s actually about Jesus and following Him. If you didn’t know this, following Him is not always easy and He never promised it would be.
2. Remember that Jesus brought you to His church on purpose.
You are a part of the whole and that matters more than you may know. Paul uses the metaphor of a “body” for the local church. And a great metaphor it is. A body only functions correctly when all it’s parts are in place and healthy.
Paul Tripp explains it this way:
Autonomous Christianity never works, because our spiritual life was designed by God to be a community project.
It’s good that you loved what you saw and experienced when you first went to your church but make sure your love for Jesus and understanding why He calls the church together become important to you too. Then, you’ll become a part of the church’s mission:
Reach people with the Gospel—make disciples—change the world.
Let me tell you, there’s nothing more exhilarating than being a part of the church that way!
3. Church doesn’t exist for Christian consumption.
If Christians are always just looking to be exhilarated, the work of the church will actually never be done. And, that work is the only thing going on in this world that’s actually of eternal impact. That’s pretty important.
Thom Rainer states this very well in his book I Am A Church Member.
Rainer states that Jesus,
placed us in churches to serve, to care for others, to pray for leaders, to learn, to teach, to give, and, in some cases, to die for the sake of the Gospel.
In other words, Christ brought us together for so much more than a fleeting feeling of exhilaration.
If you’ve spent any amount of time in church, I’m sure it’s been for you like roller coasters became for me when I was a teenager—exhilarating at first but not so much with more familiarity. Just know, that for you to see the church as more than that, is incredibly important. It won’t always be so exhilarating, the sermon won’t always be exactly what you want to hear, and the song choice won’t always be the one you like the most.
But, the purpose and eternal impact of the church will never be less than Jesus gave His life for it to be. And that’s a huge calling, purpose and impact that needs to include you.
photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/128048643@N02/15145049938″>IMG_4766</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>
Have you ever noticed that the longer you are a Christian, connected and involved in a church, the more seasons you see of difficulty? I’m speaking about the relational, spiritual and emotional challenges that cause some people to walk away from fellowship and seek it somewhere else. Often even seeking it in community outside of the church.
I find myself often talking to new and growing believers and almost warning them. I warn them because I know that what is now so fresh and so potent in their life, their new life in Christ and the unbelievably liberating joy it brings, is a feeling that they will not always have. Eventually, to continue in Christ and in fellowship with the local church in which He places us becomes difficult. There will always be seasons of that. Why does it become difficult? Because we know in our world that anything worth doing will be difficult or bring difficulties. If that is true, and it is, how much more true will that be for eternal things? So, we agree that difficulty will come. As a matter of fact, we’re promised that difficulties will come. (John 16:33)
But, here’s the question: How can I stay faithful when faithfulness gets difficult?
1. Remember truth is not about how I feel. It’s about who God is.
On of the biggest stumbling blocks that keep Christians from continuing in what and where we’ve been called is self. In our culture of self, feelings rule. The problem is feelings so often take us away from the truth. That’s why Paul wrote Philippians 4:6-8. You’d better believe that he struggled from time to time with his feelings. But, he never let them rule his thinking. “Whatever things are true…”
2. Keep Jesus as the greatest authority in my life.
The necessity of Jesus’ authority in life will always bring us to this question: who am I trying to please? The answer to this question will (or should) determine much, if not all, of what I do and why I do it.
This won’t be easy, however. There are times that Jesus will ask us to do things the we don’t want to do. Remember, He’s taking us away from self and toward him. We need to recognize that when He asks us to do things we don’t want to do, it’s not a curse, it’s an unbelievable act of grace!
3. Recognize the spiritual battle.
The spiritual battle gets people off the path and out of the fellowship of faith quicker than anything. Satan wants to divide, and he’s good at it! He’s been practicing for millennia. That means that the major temptation you have to walk away may very well be straight from the playbook of the evil one.
This is why it’s paramount that when Christians have relational problems with others in the church, they go to that person, or people, and seek resolution. That’s what Jesus is asking the people of His church to do.
4. Resist the devil and draw near to God.
This is the only response to spiritual struggle that will keep you on the path on which Christ is leading you. And, by the way, He is leading you into His church and to continue faithfully. (Jesus leads everyone that’s following him to the same place: the church, local, active and faithful. And also to the cross. But, that’s a different blog post.)
We are not told anywhere in Scripture to fight the devil. We are told to straight up run! He’s powerful and he’s a jerk. But, when we resist him the promise is that we can drawn near to God who will ultimately keep us where He wants us. (James 4:7)
5. Pray – ask for help and strength.
Jesus connected prayer to both watching and waiting. Prayer keeps your focus right and that focus must always be the One you call Lord and Savior. Only then will you and I be able to stay faithful when faithfulness becomes difficult.
So, if your currently in community within a church and you’re struggling to stay faithful. Remember, God led you there for a reason, and He didn’t do that on a whim. Remember also that community takes patients, forgiveness and even a little work. But, because of the Gospel it is worth it! Remember, anything worth doing will be difficult.
Stay faithful, He’s worth it!
It’s imperative for the believer to know what Jesus is actually intentionally doing in his or her life. Unfortunately, so many people who believe in Jesus for salvation don’t understand the work He intends to do. And it is much more than simply getting you and I to heaven.
So, what is it that Jesus intends for your life? In in a word: new.
I have met many people, whom after they become believers memorized 2 Corinthians 5:17. You may be able to quote that verse right off the top of your head now. Its a great verse.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
But what did Paul mean by “new.” This, I believe, is where many Christians miss what Jesus desires to do in a life that knows Him as Savior.
What is the opposite of new? Well, old, of course.
Did you know that Jesus didn’t make you new so that you, then, in Him might become old. Now, of course I’m not talking about age. We’re all going to grow old unless God is gracious enough to take us out of this world before we do. But, “old” in Christ is not found anywhere in the New Testament and is definitely not the goal. We’re always “new” in Him.
Jesus did not save us into a religion that becomes old.
He saved us into a life with him that is constantly becoming new. He didn’t call you into life with Him to be new once, in the past. He called you into life that is constantly being made new.
That’s a great goal to live!
Here’s why I say this. As Paul talks about what Christ, through His Word and Spirit, is doing in the Christian’s life, he speaks of it in a progressive manner.
You and I are a work in progress.
Earlier in the epistle of 2 Corinthians Paul speaks of Christ’s work in us as being “from one degree of glory to another” or “from glory into glory.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
This is a process that is to occur in us from the day we meet Christ by faith until the day we meet Him face to face. That being true, there should never be a time in a Christian’s life that he or she seeks to stay the same. Change is good. Change is necessary. Change is Christianity.
How do I know I’m growing and changing in Christ the way He wants me to?
In Christ, the future is always bright!
If you look to the past and see something you’d rather be today, you’re going in the wrong direction.
That includes personal Bible reading and prayer as well as a committed connection to the local church where disciples are made.
This is a goal that has a very large scope in meaning. How do I know I think like Jesus? I’m sure He has a lot on his mind! But, here’s a few goals that are worth while:
Did you know that Jesus has called you into a life of new? And you and I haven’t arrived yet. Not even close. But, you and I are His workmanship and He’s constantly changing us from the inside out, making us new. Or, at least, that is His supreme desire for you.
There is a great difference between a wish and a prayer. It’s very possible that what Christians so often do is offer “wishes” to God instead of praying in hope. So, let me say again, there’s a huge difference between praying and wishful thinking.
This topic really takes us to the big struggle of prayer. Why does God, at times, seemingly not answer and why is the answer sometimes just “no?” If you don’t struggle a little bit with this question you probably don’t have much of a prayer life. If you’re praying as a lifestyle, you will eventually run into the difficulty of not understanding why God is doing or allowing what He is or why He doesn’t seem to want to do what you’re asking.
So, here’s the question: is what I’m doing praying in hope or just wishful thinking? There’s a big difference in praying “wishes” to God and praying in hope.
To understand this difference in prayer, I must first demonstrate the difference between these two things: a wish and a hope.
Henry Cloud tells a story of a conversation he had with a woman who was frustrated with the relationship she was in. She had boyfriend and their relationship had been serious for some time, even to the point of talking about marriage. But, the longer their relationship went on he seemed to have less and less time for her. She felt that she was very low on his list of priorities. Out of frustration she broke up with him. After some “time off” she called him back to talk about rekindling the relationship because she missed him. When they were together, they enjoyed each other’s company. But, the problem was, he just didn’t seem to have time for her even when she gave him a second chance.
As she was trying to figure out whether or not to continue in the relationship she ask for some guidance. “Should I continue with this relationship?” was her question. The answer to her was that it dependent upon if there was hope or not. She said that she hoped it would work out. The problem was that it was not really hope at all, it was just a wish. She had all the objective evidence that clearly showed that he would not treat her as a priority, ever.
A wish is subjective, hope is objective.
Cloud’s summation of the story was this: “Remember that hope means investing time and energy toward results that you have solid reason to believe can be achieved. It is not hope to invest time and energy in a goal that has no forces acting upon it to bring it about.” That’s just a wish! (Henry Cloud. 9 Things You Simply Must Do. 63)
To pray for things that God is not even doing is nothing more than a wish.
How, then, do I pray in hope?
Before I can answer that I first must define what hope actually is. Here’s three definitions of hope:
Hope is something known but not yet seen.
Hope is expecting what is to come because of God’s reliability.
Hope is solid reason to believe because God is acting on it.
I still need to answer the question, though: how do we pray in hope?
It’s impossible to pray in hope if you don’t know what to hope for. Here’s a few questions that may help steer you in the right direction: What does Jesus promise? What is His desire for your life and the lives for whom you’re praying? What does He want to teach you? Are your current circumstances part of His plan for which you hope?
Praying in hope, then, is always praying “forward” (always looking to the future based upon the promises God has made) basing our request on what we know God is doing. That’s how we have true prayer in hope. Our prayer is based upon objective evidence that God is able or working to bring something about. That “something” is that for which we ought to be praying. This is essentially what it means to pray in Jesus’ name. This is praying in hope.
Forgetting Forward 