If I Had Children...

James 3:2-12

Philippians 4:8

If I had kids, I would teach them Philippians 4:8 before they could speak. I would sing it to them in the morning and in the evening and many times during the day.  And I would make it the guidelines for what is said in my home.  What would it be like if we constantly asked - Is this true?  Is it noble?  Is it right?  Is it pure?  Is it lovely?  Is it admirable?  Is it excellent?  Is it praiseworthy?
Discipline, discussions, disagreements... can you imagine if we really tamed our tongues by Philippians 4:8?  It wouldn't make everything filled with sunshine and lolly-pops, but it would provide a platform for love and honor to grow... a platform for God to be revealed.  It would be hard.  Really hard.  It would take careful attention and self-discipline.  It would mean that I speak out of careful attention and not just off the top-of-my head.
Oh, goodness.  I don't know when I'll have kids in my home.  But, I do know that if I will expect tongues of Philippians 4:8, I'd better start practicing myself today.

The Fine Print of Ministry

James 3:1

Those of us in ministry know what it is like living under a magnifying glass: what kind of car you drive, what radio station you listen to, how you educate your kids.  Sometimes we feel the line between private and public is a glass wall.  Should we allow people's opinions to shape our own?  No, especially when one person will say You're Too Liberal and another call us Too Conservative.  We need to be careful that our decisions are made as we follow God's heart and not in striving to do what is popular or pleasing to man.  And it's there that we find the judgement that really matters.  It's so easy to fall in the trap of worrying what your "people" are thinking that what God is thinking.  The next time someone holds up that magnifying glass - instead of complaining about how it's Not Fair, let's respond in grace and kindness and truth in love knowing it's just part of the job... but let's carry it further in our hearts and minds and let's ask God to search our ways.

Evidence of Faith

James 2:14-26

On one of my other blogs wrote an entry called "Would Jesus Fit Into My Spiritual Rubric".

Recently I heard a preacher try to encourage his congregation to make sure their faith was authentic.  Good.  Great, even.  He then proceeded to say (through a fictional scenario) that the way we can know other people have authentic faith is that they

a) attend Bible studies at church

b) walk around carrying their Bible

c) pray aloud at church

What?  Really?  OK - I, too think that those three things are good things... but as proof of your relationship with Jesus?  They might overflow from it - certainly - but... I don't know... seems a little Pharisaical to me if that is our rubric.  But the truth is - we all fall into that trap.

So what if we have the rubric of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, of being peacemakers, of being merciful, of being pure in heart?

James's rubric has two things: taking care of the poor's physical needs and offering your most precious child on the alter.  Yes, our faith overflows in our deeds... but Lord!  Please help us from being content with or even calling our "deeds" carrying around our Bibles.

Mercy and Truth

James 2:12-13

The King James translates Proverbs 3:3 as

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.

Do you know someone who lives in mercy and truth?  It's a rare gift.  Not many people have it.  Most of us live somewhere in between, which results in neither mercy nor truth.  If you read anything about forgiveness, you'll be advised that the purest forgiveness can only take place when the truth is out in the open.  This is dangerous ground.  We don't like it.  We don't want these wounds.  It is easier when we brush over things and wave our "It's OK" wand.  

The subjunctive form of this mercy is the word beauty.  This truth is a compound word from the word stability. When you know someone who lives in both mercy and truth - it will change your life. It will make you feel safe.  It's going to give you a soft place to land.  It's going to be a place where you find freedom... to let yourself be known, to give up your masks, and to give up trying to win God's grace.  Yes... you'll find a new freedom.

And in that freedom, you'll find a new you - one that's growing more merciful every day... partly because you see it lived out in front of your eyes... but mostly because every day your eyes are being more and more opened to the mercy of God.

Everything

James 2:1-11

Is your love language physical-touch?  Is one of your favorite books The Posionwood Bible?  Do you like long drives and listening to Rich Mullins?  Do you like to sit on the floor and chat for hours about what God is teaching you?  Can we give each other make-overs?  Let's spend a couple of hours planning our dream homes.  Do you love peanut M&M's?  Let's trade backs.  You wanna sit around and play DJ for each other?  Do you want to go for a slow walk through the trees?  Let's give each other pedicures.  And let's talk some more about our deep secrets and be really real with each other.  And let's make some dream-lists.  And make yummy coffee drinks.  And eat more chocolate. 

And I will love you.

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBORS IF THEY ARE LIKE YOURSELF.

And I find that I, too am prejudiced.  I show favoritism to those who are in the same financial bracket, the same interest bracket and the same heart bracket.  And I hear the argument of It's Natural... It's Normal.  But I'm not called to a natural love.  I'm called to a holy love.

And in that - I fail.  Which is why I need Grace.  My Christian heritage is not enough.  My resume is not enough.  My quiet time is not enough.  The things I do "for God" are not enough.  My righteousness-compared-to-everyone-else is not enough.  My loving-the-loveable is not enough.

Religion, Part 3

James 1:27

I watched a disturbing movie yesterday.  I don't recommend it at all: language, 3 fast-forward scenes, lots of heavy, heavy issues, justification of sin... just skip it. Yes, I should have turned it off... but I didn't.  And now I can't stop thinking about it.

The plot was that salespeople acted like a family (with the last name of Jones), moved into a neighborhood and spent their lives selling things.  Their goal was to win people to themselves and very nonchalantly make the neighbors want to buy everything the Jones's had.  The story really is of Dad Jones who sees the damage materialism and greed brings to a friend's life.

The crazy part was that the whole time during the movie, I was being sold to... love is based on physical attraction, coming-out-of-the-closet is the highest success of a gay man, beauty in hair and youth and size.

I told Dave about the movie and we talked about the solution: how do you stay non-effected by these pressures?  Is our only alternative to find a hermitage in the woods?  ...

James tells us that God says our religion is pure and faultless in our loving orphans and widows and in keeping ourselves from being polluted by the world.

So, what does that really look like?  Only Disney movies?  No Disney movies?  No movies at all?  No fiction at all?  No books at all?  Nothing but the Bible?

I don't know.  I have a lot of ideas.  I have a lot of theories.  I have a lot of self-examining to do.  And I have a lot of repenting that needs to take place.

Religion, Part 2

James 1:27

episkeptomai... We read it in the NIV as "to look after"... but in Greek it has a fuller idea.  First, you inspect, then you select and then you relieve.

OK - I am not a mechanic at all.  Shoot, I don't even have a car.  But what mechanics are good at - is this episkeptomai business.  They inspect the motor/engine/what-ever-is-under-the-hood, they select the dilly-ma-bobber that needs fixin', replace or repair it, thus relieving the issue.

We are told to do that for widows.  Yes, yes... we love hugging those old ladies on the third row on Sundays.  We love taking them a basket of goodies at Christmas.  But do we really love them?  Do we episkeptomai them?  Do we really inspect their lives and choose an area in which we could relieve something for them?

Maybe it's grocery shopping.  Maybe it's taking them to the doctor.  Maybe it's listening to them or reading to them.  Maybe it's taking our children to talk to them.  Maybe it's just sitting with them and relieving the loneliness.

Religion, Part 1

James 1:27

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More Than Words

James 1:22-26

Have you ever met a poet? They're a little different aren't they? They seem to embody their words. From Shakespeare to Khalil Gibran to King David, poets cannot help the most private places of their souls jump out onto their skin. They don't keep love or anger or sadness to themselves. It ebbs out through public words. And if you do know a poet, you know that it alls ebbs out through the way the carry their days. Everything they think and believe - good or bad - reaches through their finger tips.

poiētēs

Greek for a poet.

Paul tells us not to just listen to God's word... but that we need to be poets. We need to grab onto what Scripture says - grab hold of it, internalize it, believe it, act it out, live it out. Let it reach through our finger tips.

A Rubric

James 1:21

I have been struggling with this verse for a few days... not because I don't understand it... but because I do. ... because it is working it's way down to the hurtful part of me. When I look at this verse I can't help but placing it next to the books I read, the magazines I browse through, the movies, the things I laugh about...

Balloons and Rotten Tomatoes

James 1:20

Think of someone blowing up a balloon. Blowing, blowing, blowing. And this person is sick. Really sick - with some deadly disease which is very contagious. And they keep blowing. The balloon is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And everyone in the room is just standing there watching. Bigger and bigger. Bigger and bigger. And then it pops. And those nasty germs shower through the air - each a little missal of contamination. No good can come out of that.

James says that our anger is like that. The word for "anger" is a garden word... you know when your fruit or veggies just keep growing on the inside until they burst open? Well, that's the idea. Our internal stuff keeps getting bigger and bigger until we burst. No good can come out of that.

So - the question I'm asking myself is what do I do to make that gook grow? The verse before talks about being a listener... and not being too quick to talk or too quick to get anger. So, what happens in those moments between listening and acting... what is my brain processing? Am I nursing my pride or bitterness? If I am, I might as well be blowing up a balloon with that deadly air. No good can come out of that.

Rounded Edges

James 1:19

My feelings get hurt easily. Really easily. I take everything personally. I think that everything you say or do is a reflection of how you view me. I believe I can read your mind through the things you do that rub me the wrong way. My emotions are really sharp. If either of us get too close, one (or both) of us will bleed.

James warns against this kind of living. He tells us to be dull to speak, dull to anger... rounded edges instead of sharp corners... a little less sensitivity to me so that I can allow people - and I can allow God's grace and His wisdom - to get close.

It Is The Thought That Counts

James 1:16-18

The NIV reads as, "Every good and perfect gift is from above." The King James gets a little closer to the Greek by saying "good gifts" and "perfect gifts" but even that doesn't go all the way. Paul used two different words that have been translated as "gifts".
The second one is what you think it is - gifts. But the first one? It is more like a gerund (how well do you remember your high-school grammar?)... a verb used as a noun... the giving itself is good.
You know how people always say, "Well, I didn't understand it at the time, but now I see what God was doing." We do see the maturity, the lessons learned, the gifts at the end as perfect gifts. But, the journey itself was also part of the gift. It was the goodness of God that delivered the gift in a good way.

In The Courtroom

James 1:12-14

OK, friends... I know I'm getting carried away with Greek. But this - this is some good stuff.

Look at verse 12. See in the NIV where it says "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial..."? I've always looked at that word as hardships... as in - blessed is the girl who doesn't give up when things are tough. The word does mean that - but it's not complete. The primary meaning means "to give proof". Think about a trial - the kind that has a court and a judge and a jury. That's the context where you'll find the word we read as temptation. It appears four times in verses 13 and 14. It means to prove. This isn't a Innocent-Until-Proven-Guilty trial. It's the opposite. We have to prove ourselves. We have to prove ourselves faithful. In fact, back in verse 12, where the NIV writes "where he has stood the test" and the King James says that "when he is tried", well that word is accepted.

The proof has been accepted.

So, here's the scene. I'm on trial. I have to prove my faithfulness. The Prosecutor? Satan. Scripture is clear that Satan is the one who is testing and trying us... Think of Job. Think of Peter. We see how Satan put Job on trial. Jesus said that Satan asked to sift Simon. But there is a co-counselor. Ummm... that's me, too. James says that it's my own evil desires that have brought me here. Yikes.

But my Defense Attorney? You know the answer. Jesus. Scripture tells us that Jesus is on our side, which is a good thing. I don't have enough faithfulness in me. He has it all, and we get to let it rub off on us. He sympathies with us (Hebrews 5:15). He was tempted... with control, power, food, wealth, ease-of-living. It says that he was tempted "in every way, just as we are." He knows what you're going through. Hebrews 2:18 says that because of these temptations, He can help us. When Peter was about to be sifted as wheat (sounds painful!), Jesus prayed that Peter's faith wouldn't fail (Luke 22:31).

And now... the Judge. He's not a Judge that sits back and just watches the scene. He's pro-active. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

And when you do? When you crawl out... when you stand up... you don't just get to go free. You get the Crown of Life. In Revelation 2:10 the Church of Smyrna was told

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil willput some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution... Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

OK. So I'd like to stay in bed a little longer even though it means I will have to skip my prayer time. So I'd like to watch this movie, even though I know romances make me discontent. I really want to go shopping today even though I can't afford anything. I'm going to eat that whole package of Oreos anyway - might as well do it right now. I really, really don't feel like getting into a "discussion", so I'm just going to lie and tell them what they want to hear. I'm too tired to discipline my kids right now.

I walk into these trials worn down, broken, insecure and apathetic. But James here reminds us that I can walk out as royalty.

How It Was Established

James 1:9-11

A few weeks ago I was studying World War I Italian Literature. Believe me, it was as depressing as it sounds. We read fiction, autobiographies and poems. And folk songs. When we got to the folk songs, my professor - who has No Religious Beliefs - talked about the major themes in folk music of that time. He said that they centered around

Christian beliefs - not how Christianity is today, but how it was established... the rich becoming poor, the poor and lowly being exalted.

James here is talking about that kind of Christianity. High being low - low being high... the upside down world of Jesus that doesn't make sense. What in the world, then, are we doing? What are we doing?

Twice-Souled

James 1:5-8

Ask. And believe. Don't doubt. That's what James tells us to do when we need wisdom. The worddiakrinō which we translate as "doubt" literally means to separate throughly... to withdraw from or oppose. We diakrinō in four ways:

1. We don't believe it is "God's Will" when things don't go our way or aren't easy.

2. We see God's wisdom, but don't want to do it because it doesn't align with our desires.

3. We forget how much we need God's wisdom all together and do it on our own.

4. We're so Not Sure that we never step out in faith.

The word we read as "double minded" is a compound word in Greek: twice-soul. Of course we are twice-souls when we don't believe God. It's why James also uses the word oscillate. We're in a continual tennis match. Who has the ball? God. Me. God. Me. God. Me. God. Me. Our hearts and minds keep looking back and forth. No wonder we feel unstable.

When OK Isn't Enough

James 1:5 ... Part 2

Type in "wisdom" to your Google toolbar, and you'll have 570,100,000 results. Then click on images. You'll get some creepy looking things. Included in all your results is a painting from my home town. Not New Braunfels. No... but from here in Verona. It's the painting by Paolo Veronese called "Wisdom and Strength." In it, Wisdom is a voluptuous woman full of life. She's standing on a globe-type object which represents all that the world has to offer. I'm going to call her Sophia.... well, that is "wisdom" in the Greek.

Though I'm not a feminist-feminist, I am intrigued that throughout Scripture, wisdom is portrayed as a woman. Maybe because women are the givers of life... maybe because our first teachers of wisdom are our mothers... maybe because wisdom teaches us how to live well, just like our grandmothers.

Proverbs 4 says that we should get wisdom.... we shouldn't forsake her and she will protect us. If we love her she will watch over us. She's above all other things. If you get her, your life will be blessed. Really blessed... not just good-good - but really good.

I don't know about you, but I get tired of the "life's ok" way of living. I want to live well. I want to love fully. I want every day to be alive with goodness. That's what wisdom has to offer us. Her ways might not be easy. Her ways won't always be fun... but in her there is life.

How do we get her? James already told us. We ask.

Upbraiding

James 1:5

It's time to talk about wisdom. But before we do, let's "make parenthesis" (it's what Italians say when they want to change the subject for a minute or two or nine). Let's look at this one little word in verse 5. James has just told us to ask for wisdom if we lack it. Ummm... who doesn't lack it? Anyway, he goes on to say that God gives generously without finding fault. At least that's what the NIV says. In Greek, this term "finding fault" interests me. It is the word to upbraid. Hmmm? I have no idea what that means. Good thing we have a dictionary! OK - good thing we have Google.

It means to scold, to reprimand.

He's not going to scold you for asking. He's not going to say, "Hey stupid - you should be old enough to know the answer." He's not going to say that you should just do it by yourself. He's not going to tell you how weak and how silly you are. He's not going to roll His eyes at you sighing that you are not good enough or smart enough. He's not going to be exasperated with you.

Sometimes I need help from other people... but you know the feeling - you're worried that they are too busy and that this problem is too petty. Or you're worried that if you ask they'll hold it over your head (at least in the back of their minds). Or you're worried that they will say no and then you'll feel awkward the next time you see them... or that they will say yes and then they'll make you feel indebted for life...

But not with God. He will not upbraid you. He will not rebuke you for asking. He will not be grumpy with you. He will not be annoyed or frustrated with you. He wants you to ask. So, go ahead. Ask Him.

Joy

James 1:2-4

Here's a little exercise for you. I'm going to give you a word and I want you to list five words that come to mind. (If you're really brave, write them in the "comments" section.) Ready? Here it is:

JOY.

My 5 things:

ice-cream, my mom, yellow flowers, laughter, my nose

Hmmm... I totally did that impromptu - and am a little surprised at my answers! I have been craving ice-cream for a couple of days, so that was what first popped up. My mom is a woman of joy. Yellow flowers? I don't know - I always choose pink or white. Laughter - that makes sense. My nose? I think that has to do with how much good-smelling things delight me. Perfume, candles, laundry-soap, fresh cut grass...

Anyway, the Greeks' word association also surprised me. The Greek word James uses here ischara which means what you would think it to mean... gladness, cheerfulness, whoo-hooing, etc... but it also means this: calm delight.

A cup of tea on a cool morning. A long morning of snuggling. An extra five minutes in the shower. Oh! I love calm delights.

I'm actually having one of those moments right now. It's raining and it's cool. I have a cappuccino and I'm lounging on my bed writing. The house is clean and my work for today is done. I'm looking forward to eating chili tonight and talking to Dave and finishing an interesting book. Yes. This is joy! This is a calm delight afternoon.

But wait. James isn't talking about calm delight days. He's talking about trials. He's talking about the testing-of-my-faith!

He's talking about loneliness and fear. He's talking about me dying to myself. He's talking about having a calm delight when I'm too busy to sit down with a cup of tea. He's talking about having a calm delight when there's no one to snuggle with. He's talking about having a calm delight when I don't have a minute to myself even to take a shower - much less have five extra minutes in it!

I have to confess, today I had a breakdown. I was not having a calm-delight morning. My worries and fears and loneliness and hormones were strangling me. Dave called and I had a full-blown-pity-party. Poor guy. I had that pity-party because too often, I require my environment to provide the calm delight. I want the candles and the roses, the big bathtub and Bach. I want things to be easy, to go my way. I want to be right. I want to be strong. I want to be in-control. That's not the joy James is talking about.

When he made his list of "joy" words - he wrote some nasty words: temptation, adversity. That's a joy that has nothing to do with the circumstances of today. It's has to do with me wanting to grow in the Lord - and be His above all else. He also chose the words faith, patience, maturity, completion, and perseverance.

That sounds to me like the joy of an old couple rocking on the front porch with big glasses of iced tea... having earned their wrinkles and gray hair... yes, that sounds like joy to me.

Ciao

James 1:1

What if we started with a man. That's what we like to talk about, isn't it? Our men. Well, this one's name is James. And he's one of my favorites. Most people believe he was the brother of Jesus. He has a lot of good stuff to say - he's full of encouragement and life and hope... but he has a lot of hard things to say as well.

He describes himself as a "servant" of Christ. Now, let's buy into the idea that he was Jesus's brother. Wouldn't you announce yourself as that? Where would your heart have to be to call yourself a servant.

I like being a servant. Well, if I get the oooo-s and ahhh-s when I set my masterful cake on the table. I like being the servant when people I love need me to do something I enjoy doing for them. I like being the servant when it's easy. When it's fun. When it's dramatic. When it's rewarding.

I like to be the servant when it's my choice.

But... ummm... James didn't really use a word that means that kind of servant. He used the word slave. Oh. A slave who is a slave by force - or by choice. And that slave word comes from the Greek word deō which is a verb meaning "to bind, tie, or wind". It doesn't sound so pleasant. Goodness, I get panicky if my headphone cords get all tangled up around my neck.

Galatians 5: 13 says that we are called to be free... we aren't called to be slaves. Were we? Paul goes on to say that we are to use that freedom - not for our sinful nature - but to serve one another in love.

I've been thinking a lot about that verse that says "A cord of three strands cannot be easily broken." It's talking about relationship. It's talking about being so untied in love that we are tangled up in each other. It's about becoming servants of each other. It's about becoming slaves to each other. And it's about choosing to be slaves to one another.

Italians, as well as many Europeans greet each other with the word, "Ciao." It comes from the Venetian phrase of "I am your servant." What if that was really how we greeted our spouses, our children, our co-workers, our neighbors... what if when we said hello, we were really thinking, "I am your servant"?

And what if when we made that our first prayer of the day and the one we cried before going to sleep? Lord, I am Your servant.

And what if we lived lives so full of God and His love and grace that when people thought of us they thought, "There goes a woman who is a servant of God."