What We Need to Hear
As a pastor and follower of Jesus, my desire is that I’m in tune with God’s will for my life and my calling. I may not always get it right, but I want to be sure that I’m headed in the right direction. Often there are circumstances and desires in my heart that I need to discern. Fortunately, I don’t have to do this alone. There are people around me that are not at all shy about helping me wade through those issues. They may not always tell me what I want to hear, but they are invaluable in telling me what I need to hear.
There’s this great story in the book of 2 Chronicles of the Hebrew Scriptures. It’s in the 18th chapter of the book.
King Ahab of Israel is feeling an itch to go into battle against another city. He enlists the help of daughter’s father-in-law, Jehoshaphat, who happens to be a king also.
So they pool their armies together but Ahab indicates that he wants to make sure God is in this thing so he gathers 400 of his prophets to see what they have to say about his plan. All of the prophets give a big thumbs up to Ahab and promise him that God will give him victory. Jehoshaphat seems a little hesitant. He asks if they might be able to consult with another prophet.
Ahab replies that there is another prophet, Micaiah, but that he hates him. Why? Because he always foresaw trouble for Ahab. Jehoshaphat basically tells Ahab to grow up and they decide to call in the rogue prophet in spite of his prophecies against Ahab.
At first Micaiah give a bit of a sarcastic word to Ahab and tells him to go on into battle. Ahab sees through Micaiah’s wit and demands to hear what’s really on his mind. Micaiah tells him that if he goes into battle, he’s going to die. Not only that, he tells Ahab that all of his other prophets have been lying to him. Ahab pretty much loses it at this point, saying “See?!? What did I tell you? This guy just tells me bad stuff. Throw him in prison!” Ahab decides to go into battle anyway, but his preparation for battle belies a seed of doubt in his mind.
Ahab, king and leader, decides to hide behind a disguise so that he won’t be recognized on the battlefield. He hides among his men. During the battle, a soldier from the opposing army fires a random arrow into the crowd. The arrow just happens to find it’s way to a spot between the joints of Ahab’s armor. Within hours Ahab is dead. Micaiah was right.
Do you have any people in your life who tell you the truth about you? I’m not talking about people who tell you how amazing and awesome you are. If you’re a leader, you won’t have any trouble finding those people. I’m talking about people who are so committed to staying on the right path that they are more concerned about offending God than they are about offending you.
Who has God surrounded you with? Find two or three to whom you can give permission to speak truthfully to you and commit yourself to listening to them, no matter what they may say.
We all need Micaiah’s in our life. Ahab needed him, but he was too proud to listen to him. It cost him his life.
Using your BRAIN!
This past weekend, my wife and I attended a birthing class as recommended for the arrival for our first child. While I could write an entire post about that experience, a simple acronym our instructor introduced to help navigate the decision making process really stood out as a valuable tool for leaders. Upon further inspection, you don’t have to be giving birth to a child to use a system to make better decisions!
The acronym: BRAIN.
B- Benefits
So often as leaders we immediately jump to all the reasons we shouldn’t do something, instead of starting with why we should. Often, true benefits override anything else you may consider. You’ll want to consider how the decision benefits your team, your organization and yourself.
R- Risks
Once you weigh the benefits, then you can jump to the risks. It is easy to become overwhelmed in this stage, as every significant decision involves some level of risk. Often times, the more important the decision the more risk attached. Just be sure you don’t start or stop your process here.
A- Alternatives
Weighing other options is critical to making the best decision. Here at City Church San Antonio, we try to create an environment where the best idea always wins. That means there is no reason to protect an idea because we will consider any solution. Introducing new ideas either gives you something better or helps you refine your original thought.
I- Intuition
Never overlook your gut when decision-making. I’ve heard people ask about the tension between using logic and using your instinct, but by making your gut part of the process it allows you to use both effectively.
N- No or Not Now
The central question here is “what happens if I do nothing?” or “what happens if I wait?”. It is very easy to get wrapped up in a decision, feeling the pressure to find an answer now, when there would be no problems waiting for things to develop or to acquire more information. This question helps you gauge your timeframe and consequences attached to the issue under consideration.
How will you use your BRAIN this week?
How Do You Treat Those Who Disagree?
The way we treat people that have opposing opinions says a lot about who we are. It is very easy to insult, undermine or dehumanize those that you disagree with. Sadly, we are all prone to forget that the person we’re arguing with is far more important than what we’re arguing about.
I could tell you how to treat your opponents, but I think these Little Leaguers actually show you (1:00 mark). If you’re like me, you may want to grab a tissue box:
The Georgia players show immense class and maturity comforting their counterparts after what has to be one of the biggest achievements of their lives. But the more I watch the clip, the more the vulnerability of the Japanese players stands out. It is remarkable to stand with humility and accept the condolences of your opponent after losing in such a heartbreaking way.
After spending years honing their skills to be the best 12 year old baseball players in the world, and an afternoon trying desperately to beat one another, these boys never lost sight of the fact that they’re just kids playing baseball. Remember that as you face opposition at work or an argument with your family or friends.
Fixing the Leak!
After an afternoon of hard labor preparing our nursery for the arrival of our first child, my wife pointed at the ceiling and uttered the words no man ever wants to hear when they’re worn out: “what’s that!?!?” It wasn’t the words as much as it was how she said them. A tone packed with emotions including, but not limited to, surprise, concern and regret. We had just finished moving furniture, assembling the crib (far more complicated than it looked) and the most time-consuming task of all: completely cleaning out a “Monica” closet. The agreement (in my mind) I had with my wife and the universe at large clearly stated there would be significant relaxation after our nursery work was complete. However, the wet spot on the ceiling in our entry way had different ideas.
Common sense told me that if it’s not raining and the ceiling is wet, then we must have a leak. Unfortunately, you can’t really ignore a leak and hope it goes away. I was filled with dread as I realized the most likely source of our ceiling spot: the Air Conditioner. So I crawled into the attic on a 100+ degree day to find the leak, constantly pouring sweat over everything I touched (if you’ve ever experienced an attic in a Texas summer, just crawl into your oven while baking). I couldn’t help but think that all of this could’ve been avoided if I had just done a better job maintaining the AC. As frustrating as it was, this incident taught me an important lesson about the value of dealing with the leaks in my life; the hurts, habits and hang-ups that effect me on a daily basis.
I am a self-described “stuffer” when it comes to dealing with the difficulties in life. Instead of being honest with my feelings, I stuff most things deep down in an attempt to avoid dealing with them. I try very hard to ensure that “everything is fine.” Much like my AC unit, without constant maintenance these issues eventually leak into my life in very inconvenient ways. As I learn to maintain both my home and my life with healthy habits, I am learning the hard way that neglect can be very costly. But don’t be like me and allow the leaks in your life to become a huge problem! Find a person and/or group of people you feel comfortable sharing with and take a few moments everyday for honest reflection, prayer and scripture reading. As much as we’d like to fix ourselves, only God can truly heal us.
Paradidomi: Philippians 3:1-11
For two chapters Paul has been trying to persuade the Philippians to live the paradidomi life by giving their lives away. But now in chapter 3 he starts to deal with the enemies of Christ and his Cross. Believe it or not, these “enemies” are Christians, who reject the paradidomi life.
The first enemy of the paradidomi life is ultra right-wing religionists (3:1-11). I grew up in the church and there were many good things that accrued to me as a result. I heard and believed the gospel at an early age. I was taught to try to live my life by the teachings of Scripture. I was taught a worldview that placed God at the center of all things. I was educated at Baylor and Southwestern Seminary. I have lived out my whole career as a missionary and a pastor.
But there came a point where I became uneasy with my religion. The reason was that I felt like I always had to prove to others in the church that I was really serious about following Jesus. I felt like my religion isolated me away from people who I was suppose to serve. Eventually I felt fake as I did all the things prescribed by my religion.
The symbol of my religion was “The Envelop.” It had a bunch of boxes that I was suppose to check every Sunday morning and then bring it to my class with some money in it. The boxes to check were things like on time, bible brought, bible read daily, giving, lesson studied. The idea was that if I could check the boxes, God would be satisfied with me and would more likely bless me.
Many people believe in an “Envelop” system of satisfying God. We naturally think that if we do certain things, and don’t do other things God will be satisfied with us, and more likely to bless us. But in these verses Paul tells us that we have to lose our religion to keep the Faith.
These ultra right-wing religionists had their own “envelop” and it was circumcision. They taught that for a believer to be a fully devoted Christ follower they had to keep the laws of the OT as prescribed by them. In the OT God gave us the 10 commandments, but this group of religionists had expanded them to over 600 laws. But Paul noted that when we try to please God this way it leads us to believe that we are superior to others. Superiority harms the faith, and is the enemy of the paradidomi life. Why?
Superiority based on religious acts makes me feel that I don’t have to serve another or be kind to other because I’m actually better than they are. But the paradidomi life is a call to suffer on behalf of other people. But most people participate in religion to avoid suffering. The idea is that if I am religious, God won’t let me suffer. However nothing could have been more foreign to Paul. He wrote in (10-11) “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead.”
To experience the mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead, you have to die! It’s a lot easier just to check the boxes on an Envelop than it is to live the paradidomi life. But Jesus didn’t give us an Envelop. He called us to live the way of the Cross so as to make a difference in the lives of people we contact every day.
You may have to lose your religion to keep the Faith.
The Superstition of Control
When watching your favorite team, do you have a lucky T-Shirt you always wear? Socks? Underwear? A spot on the couch you always sit? A ritual you are required to carry out before, during or after? I know that at some point in my life as a giant sports fan, I’ve done all of the above, sometimes embarassingly. As fans, we often enact ridiculous superstitions that make us feel as though we’re effecting the outcome of the game. In reality, the silly things we do have absolutely zero impact on what transpires on the field or court… no matter how much we wish they did.
Sadly, we do the same things in our lives. Despite our repeated attempts, there is very little we can actually control (this is one of the baseline principles of Celebrate Recovery, a process I highly recommend everyone go through). This is a hard reality I’m currently struggling with as I journey through the recovery process. I’ve found that I spend so much time fooling myself into believing that I must control every aspect of my life to avoid bad things and for good things to happen. As a Christ follower, nothing could be further from the truth. God is in control. Anything that I do to control my life is merely superstition masquerading as productivity, stability or authority. No matter how hard I try, those are all just apparitions deluding me into a prideful pursuit of salvation by my own means.
For years I’ve allowed “God is control” to be a trite cliche that washed over me and made no difference, as I continued living life on my own terms. With the help of a supportive community, I had to challenge myself to truly consider what areas I maintained the illusion of control and attempt to give them over to God. While it has been extremely challenging, I invite you to join me in pursuing the latter.
Paradidomi: Philippians 2:12-17
Having set out Jesus Christ as ‘exhibit A’ of the paradidomi life, Paul now moves to try to ensure that the Philippians take practical steps to live the same way: to give their lives away. If they do, they will serve as a beacon of hope, a light in a dark world (16) to help guide people home to God, and this will in turn make Paul feel that his work was not in vain.
What keeps us from living the paradidomi life? As Dave said tonight, it is when we place the emphasis on ME! As Paul has already indicated in 2:3 some in the church were selfish, they were trying to impress others, and they were thinking they were superior to others. Now in verse 14 he lets us know that there was complaining and arguing go on. We don’t know for certain what that was about, be we are fairly certain that some of the members in the church were arguing over who was most important. Nothing more totally vanquishes the light of the gospel than when Christians live a self-focused life. In fact that kind of life is exactly the opposite of the paradidomi life that is at the heart of the Cross.
How can each of us know our role in shining forth the light of the gospel? Paul gives us two hints in this passage. First he says in verse 13 that it is God who is working in us. The word “working” translates the Greek word “energeo.” We get our word ‘energize’ from it. God is the one who energizes us to live the paradidomi life. Where do you sense that God is energizing you to serve others? One of the ways he energizes me is to help get God’s word into people’s lives. He energizes Dave to lead. He energizes Brent to administer and teach. He energizes Doug to serve the City. He energizes Miriam to help people figure out their lives. He energizes Eva to lead us in missions. He energizes Sherry to pray for our people. He energizes Corey and Scott, and Richard, and Noel to lead us in worship. How is God energizing you? That toward which you feel great energy is a hint to how God wants you to live out the paradidomi life.
The second hint that Paul gives us about our paradidomi role in being a light in this world is in verse 17. There Paul says his life is being poured out as a drink offering. The word “poured out” is in the passive voice in the Greek text. That means that Paul isn’t pouring his own life out, no, it is God who is pouring him out. The language Paul uses is from the OT, when a drink offering of wine was poured out on a sacrifice before it was killed. Imagine the hand of the priest holding the cup as he poured out the wine. In the same way, God’s hand was on Paul and He was pouring out Paul’s life.
Can you sense God’s hand on your life? Can you feel it? Are you aware of how God wants to pour you out? One of my great struggles in living the paradidomi life is that I often don’t want to pour out my own life. I want to hang on to it for myself. But this all changes when I have a strong sense that God’s hand is on my life.
So I ask again, can you sense God’s hand on your life? Where God’s hand is on you, that thing which He is energizing you to do, that is your paradidomi role. Enjoy living it, because it is the life you were created for.
Paradidomi: Philippians 2:1-11
Once again, take 15 minutes and read the whole book of Philippians at one sitting. Hopefully by now you are getting better “feel” for the book.
If the paradidomi life is characterized by giving ourselves away, then taking, grasping, and clinging is its opposite. I don’t know about you, but my greatest struggle to give my life away is that I’m so use to taking what I want to try to secure my life. Do you struggle with being a taker? Some of the Philippians did. They were selfish, and trying to impress others (3). They were looking out for their own interests (4).
This kind of thinking was leading to division, and division always impedes progress. Division in a family, or in a relationship, or at work, or on a team, or in a country. Paul knows this will be true for the church in Philippi as well. Therefore he calls them “to agree whole-heartedly with each other.” This phrase actually translates the Greek word ‘phroneo” which more literally means “to be like-minded.” It is one of the key words in the book and it is the dominant idea in this section. Paul uses it in 3:2 and repeats it in 3:5, when he says “have the same attitude” that Christ had.
What attitude did Jesus Christ have? Jesus lived the paradidomi life. Although he was God, he did not cling to his position and use it for his own benefit. He did not grasp at greatness, although it was his to take. Instead of trying to impress others, he humbled himself. In one sense, Jesus showed us what it means to be like God. Being like God is not expressed through making yourself look great, it is expressed through humbling yourself for the sake of others. We are calling that the paradidomi life. Jesus said it this way, “if you want to be great, but the servant of all.” ”If you want to be first, be last.”
This is the heart of the message of this section. What does it mean for us? Our best chance to live the life God designed us for, a God-like life, is to live the paradidomi life. Our best life is not the result of taking all we can for ourselves. Our best life is discovered by giving our lives away to others. Living humbly. Trusting ourselves to God. Trusting our futures to God. Trusting every day and every need to Him. The basis of the paradidomi life is absolute confidence in our heavenly Father.
What are you holding on to, grasping at, clinging to that you need to let go?
Paradidomi: Philippians 1:27-30
Thanks for coming back to the paradidomi blog as we dig deeper into the book of Philippians and look at the implications of giving our lives away. Once again I want to encourage you to take 15 minutes and read through the whole book of Philippians.
Paul has finished updating the Philippians about his situation in prison. Now he begins a section in 1:27-2:18 urging them to live like Christ, to live the paradidomi life in the face of external pressure (1:27-30), internal pride (2:1-11), and eternity with God (2:12-18).
How does giving our lives away help us when we face conflict?
- The paradidomi life binds us together in unity (27-28). It was important to Paul that the Philippians conduct themselves in ways that were consistent with the gospel they believed and the Lord they followed. They were facing some adversaries who commonly challenged the gospel Paul preached. These were known as Judaizers. They taught that to become fully mature as a Christian it was necessary to observe the Old Testament law of Moses. Paul taught that true maturity was demonstrated through living the paradidomi life. Paul wanted to see the Philippian believers stand together and strive together united by the common Spirit and faith that he had taught them. Even though their unity would come at a price of suffering, Paul hopes they will endure it together. Conflict often fractures unity. We experience this at all different levels of society. In recent months we have seen Middle Eastern dictators’ governments fracture because of protests and bombing campaigns. Families often fracture of conflict between parents. One reason we fracture is we think we can live a better life on our own. Remember what Dave said in his talk, “You can go faster alone, but you can go further together.” We were designed for community. We need each other. Giving our lives away to each other preserves unity. Questions: Do you find it hard to live together with others? What qualities of the paradidomi life enable us to create unity? In your experience what kind of things usually divide people from each other? Describe a time when conflict fractured your personal world.
- The paradidomi life makes sense of suffering (28-30). The paradidomi life will involve suffering. Remember the term itself was used of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the Cross. Giving your life away is a commitment to suffer for the sake of others. Paul knows the Philippians may struggle with the idea of suffering, so in verse 28 he encourages them by telling them that suffering is actually a privilege. He uses the Greek term “charizomai” to help them understand this. The root of “charizomai” is “charis” from which we get our word “grace.” In other words, Paul is telling them that they have been graced by God to not only believe in Christ, but also to suffer for him. Why would he say such a thing? Who thinks of suffering as an act of grace? We normally think of suffering as some kind of punishment. The reason Paul says this is that he knows it is impossible to become like Christ apart from suffering. At the end of v. 27 when Paul says, “…that you are going to be saved” he is not referring to salvation from hell to heaven. Instead he is referring to becoming like Christ so that in the day of Christ we will be rewarded. Suffering endured leads to reward from our heavenly Father. Suffering is difficult now, but it is the path to prosperity in the future. He hopes that since they see him suffering now, it will encourage them to choose the same. Questions: Do you ever think about suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ? What are some ways that you have suffered that have actually made your life better later, even though they were hard to endure? Do you ever think about heaven and the future or is your mind, heart, and emotions set on this world only? Have you thought of the fact that to give your life away you may have to suffer?
Jon Pyle
Shawn Richard
John Witte
Mark Richard
Rey Lo
