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Making Ripples

7/30/2015

 
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“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

Even if we cannot change the world, Mother Teresa’s famous saying encourages us that we can still have an effect, can still change some things for the better.  But we are too often content to make a few ripples in our own corner of some small pond of life, and we don’t take advantage of just how far ripples can spread.

In their 2006 book,  Outflow:  Outward-Focused Living in a Self-Focused World,  Steve Sjogren and Dave Ping use the analogy of Christ’s commission to his disciples, recorded in the Book of Acts, to spread the Gospel by being  “…my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts1:8b).  Sjogren and Ping relate these outward-flowing ripples to our relationship first with God (Jerusalem), then family and friends (Judea), our community (Samaria), and our whole personal world (the ends of the earth). 

It’s a neat analogy, though for the purposes of this article I would prefer to modify it a little for several reasons. While we certainly need to develop our relationship with God, we don’t carry the message to him in the same way we do the other levels, and for most of us, ancient Judea’s prickly relationship with Samaria doesn’t exactly match that of us with our community.

From the perspective of doing the work of God, we might perhaps adapt  Outflow’s  structure to our relationship with our family and friends (Jerusalem), our community (Judea), more distant and less culturally similar communities (Samaria), and the far distant areas of the world (ends of the earth).

But, however we look at this analogy, it provides an excellent framework for us to analyze our own efforts to do the work of God.  Many Christians spend a great deal of time and energy trying to find their “personal calling” – trying to ascertain whether they are called to local outreach or some foreign mission, and even those who are confident they have found or know their calling may sometimes limit their own effectiveness by thinking within the box – and geographic limitations – of the calling they perceive.

Sjogren and Ping’s Outflow analogy helps us to look at Acts 1:8 with fresh eyes – to see a potential for our service at all those levels rather than just at one.  If we think about it, whatever our own area of focus may be, there is nothing stopping us working in some way and certainly praying for every level of the expanding work of the Kingdom.  After all, many of the same disciples who preached in Jerusalem also worked in the widening circles beyond. We, too, can perhaps do physical outreach in our own neighborhood while supporting  in whatever way we can those doing work in distant areas.  The important thing is to understand that we do have opportunities to send out ripples at every level if we will only look for ways to do so. A letter of encouragement to a distant mission team, for example, might help to the same extent as serving in a soup kitchen in our own neighborhood. We don’t always have to choose between near and far; we can often do both.  We just need to remember – we may not all be able to make waves, but we can all make ripples. 

When Encouragement Works Best

7/24/2015

 
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(This post reproduces one of the chapters in our eBook – Lessons in Christian Living from the Early Church.  You can get a free copy of the book in a choice of PDF, Kindle and ePub formats from our downloads  page.)


The apostle Paul suffered many hardships and a great deal of mistreatment during his missionary journeys (2 Corinthians 11:25-26).  Acts tells the story of how he and Silas, while they were at Philippi on the second journey, encountered a female slave who made a great deal of money for her owners by predicting the future. When Paul cast out the spirit that enabled her to do this, the woman’s owners were infuriated and raised an uproar against the missionaries which led to them being seriously beaten:

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks (Acts 16:22-24).          

This was no simple “roughing up” at the hands of a few disgruntled individuals.  Luke stresses that the crowds joined in the attack so it sounds as though the two men may well have been badly beaten even before they were “severely” beaten with rods in a professional level punishment. The pain of cumulative beatings like this would be intense and would have lasted for days.  To add insult to the injury, Paul and Silas were then thrown into the “inner” cell – the lightless dungeon-like part of the prison where they were fastened in stocks so they could not even move.

These events took the concept of “no good deed goes unpunished” to new levels of irony.  We can only imagine the levels of pain and discomfort Paul and Silas must have felt at this time. But Luke tells us that: 

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose (Acts 16:25-26).  

The jailer himself was converted, and if you have read the account in Acts you know the end of the story is much happier.  After they were freed, Paul and Silas left the jail and went to the house of the convert Lydia … where the believers tended their wounds and encouraged the two men?  Actually, this is not what happened.  It is certainly what we might have expected to have happened to the two missionaries, but Luke plainly tells us the very opposite: “After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them…” (Acts 16:40 emphasis added). 

It was Paul and Silas who encouraged the believers! The lessons for us in this amazing twist to the story are clear.  We may not rise to the level of encouraging that these two servants of God accomplished, but their actions teach us not only that any time is a good time for encouragement, but also that the most effective and meaningful time we can ever encourage others is when we ourselves are suffering.  

Encouragement is a wonderful thing, but if we are not careful there is always a danger that when we ourselves are feeling buoyed by peace and happiness, our encouragement of others who are  down or discouraged can seem slightly hollow – it’s easy for us to say “be encouraged” when we are not the ones suffering.  But when encouragement is given by those who are suffering themselves, it carries a level of truth and effectiveness that cannot be doubted.  It’s a story we should try to remember. When we find ourselves in times of suffering, it can remind us that we may have the opportunity to encourage others more than we might ever otherwise do.

An Interview with Bible Gateway's Rachel Barach

7/20/2015

 
LivingWithFaith.org recently interviewed Rachel Barach, senior vice president, Bible Gateway & Olive Tree,  for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and general manager of Bible Gateway. Ms. Barach's answers to our questions provide a fascinating inside view of the development, current operations, and plans of BibleGateway.com – the world's most visited Bible website. You can read this encouraging interview here.

Fear Not – I Am and I Will

7/16/2015

 
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Scripture: Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10 ESV).

Something to think about:  When Moses asked God for his name (Exodus 3:14), God replied with some of the most famous words in the Hebrew Bible. In English translations of the Bible these words are translated “I am that I am” or “I am who I am,” but they have a great deal more significance.  The  word ehyeh translated "I am" is a form of the Hebrew word to “exist” and it can actually be translated “was,” “am” or “will be” – all are correct.   

In the encouraging statement of Isaiah 41:10, although with different words,  we find the same basic meaning of the One who was, and is, and will be, promising us that just as he is our God, he will be with us to help us as we move through time.  Like the words of Exodus 3:14, Isaiah’s words connote more in the Hebrew than we might guess in English translations – they show that God’s continuing with us is just as sure as his present existence.  We can take reassurance and hope in the fact that God commands his people to “fear not” because the great “I am” is also the great “I will.”

Walking in Truth and Love

7/9/2015

 
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The letters we call the Second and Third Epistles of the apostle John are not only the shortest books in the Bible (at only 245 and 219 Greek words, respectively), but also they share something else in common – their stress of the fact that our “walk” must be in truth and love.

John's Second Epistle was written to “the elect lady and her children” – perhaps an individual and her family or perhaps more likely a church and its members. 

The Third Epistle was written to someone named Gaius - possibly one of the men mentioned in Acts and in Paul’s epistles (Acts 19:29, 20:4, etc.), although Gaius was a common Roman name, and the man John calls his “dear friend” may have been someone else. But the identity of the recipients of John’s two epistles is not important, compared to their message. 

John, the “Apostle of Love,” might well be expected to speak about love – but in both these letters he provides an insight into a broader picture in which love and truth are combined.  The apostle sets the tone of  the letters by stating that the elect lady and Gaius are both someone “I love in truth,” showing from the outset the connection between the two qualities that he is about to expand. Notice what John writes to the elect lady:

“The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth — because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.  It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands...I say this because many deceivers … have gone out into the world” (2 John 1:3-7, emphases added).

In this epistle, John continually mentions and combines love and truth, but we should see that he is making a specific point.  Although he reminds us that both qualities are important, the emphasis of what he says in these verses is on walking in truth and God’s commands (which he shows are directly related).  The end of the passage shows why he is writing these things – because “many deceivers” are turning the people to whom he writes from the truth. The problem is already evident in verse 4 where he states that only “some” of them were walking in the truth.  John shows that although these people had love, they were accepting others into their fellowship who were not walking in truth but accepting gross heresies instead of the true Gospel. John tells them, therefore: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them” (2 John 1:10).  

When we turn to 3 John we see a related but somewhat different problem.  Notice what John wrote to Gaius: 

“The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.…  It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.  Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love… We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth. I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us ... he even refuses to welcome other believers” (3 John 1:1, 3-10, emphases added).

Once again we see that John juxtaposes love and truth, but the emphasis here is different.  Gaius’ love is commended both generally and in the specific area of acceptance and hospitality. But in this case, we see, at the end of the passage, the problem in this area is that some – notably Diotrephes – would not show true love, would not welcome and include others of the faith.   There is no suggestion that the people in Gaius’ area did not know the truth, but that they were not informing the truth they knew with love.    

In both John’s second and third epistles, then, we see truth and love expressed as cardinal qualities of Christianity – on virtually equal footing.  But John shows us that when love is not informed by truth, it allows error to enter in, as he stresses in 2 John.  In 3 John the apostle shows that in a similar way, when truth is not informed by love, it allows selfishness, arrogance and exclusivity to thrive.  The message to those associated with the elect lady is that we can walk in love but not have truth. The message to those in Gaius’s area is that we can walk in truth and not have love. 

These simply worded, yet profound, epistles teach us that love or truth alone can lead us astray. Love can be dangerous if it leads us away from the truth, and truth can be dangerous if we allow it to lead us away from love.  As John insists, we need to be walking in love with truth, and to be walking in truth with love. 

The Bad News and the Good

7/2/2015

 
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The Book of Acts is a remarkable document of early Christian history – in many ways.  One of the interesting things we see in it is a candid representation of Christianity.   It gives us the good news and the bad of what it was like to be a believer in the first century of the early Church.  Acts certainly gives good news – it continues Luke’s Gospel in the same manner as the earlier book, searching for and recording the successes that occurred as the new faith grew and spread from Jerusalem to Rome, the very heart of the ancient civilized world.  

But Acts also shows the bad news. It not only records natural disasters (from famines and earthquakes to shipwrecking storms), it also shows much human-caused misery.  Acts shows the imprisonment of believers great and small; it shows them accused, berated and physically beaten on numerous occasions. More tragically, it shows, of course, the first Christian martyrdom and the deaths of many others for their faith.  So Acts certainly doesn’t look at Christianity through rose colored spectacles. In fact, it gives us an honest appraisal of many of the difficulties experienced by early Christians that we would be missing if we only had the epistles written by Paul and the other apostles. 

The epistles speak of problems, but more often than not they are doctrinal problems in the early Church: discussions of apostasy, perversions of the gospel and moral issues relevant to specific congregations.  When the epistles speak of the problems of everyday life, it is usually in a generic sense, and it is mainly in Paul’s letters written to individuals that we find specific problems such as Paul’s instruction to Timothy “Use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23).   

Acts, on the other hand, continually grapples with instances of the things that go wrong in everyday life. It names the names and gives us actual examples ranging from those who tried to steal from the church (Acts 5:1-11) to someone who dozed off and fell to his death during a sermon (Acts 20:9)!  The actual examples give Acts an immediacy and a relevance that touches us all.  If we have ever felt tempted to fudge on a tax return, or ever felt drowsy in church, we can relate to the stories Acts gives us at a very real level. 

So, compared to the epistles we might say that Acts more frequently gives us specific examples – to which we can relate – of the problems of everyday life.  We may turn to the epistles more frequently for doctrinal guidance and generic examples of moral and doctrinal issues, but Acts often speaks to us through its real life examples - of both the positive and negative type.  

Both Acts and the epistles are given to us for a purpose, of course (2 Timothy 3:16),  but we should not overlook the everyday quality of Acts.  We need the doctrinal and moral guidance found in the epistles, but we often need encouragement and role models to look to in our daily life as well. Acts provides verbal pictures that are worth a thousand words.  So don’t neglect Acts in your study of the New Testament. It includes both the bad news and the good, and in that respect, it’s very much like your life and mine.

*You can download a free copy of our eBook on Acts:  Lessons in Christian Living from the Early Church right here on this site.  It’s not only free, you don’t need to give an email address or anything else to get a copy – just follow the link and click download!

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    Unless otherwise stated, blog posts are written by R. Herbert, Ph.D.,  who writes for a number of Christian venues – including our sister site: TacticalChristianity.org
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