Tell Me Again

I’ve been reading Laura Story’s book When God Doesn’t Fix It. She makes some good points and asks some challenging questions. In talking about the man who was born blind, whose story is in John 9, she gives evidence that verses 3-5 are often misunderstood because of the way they are translated:

Scholars believe this sentence… should be read as: “‘Neither this many nor his parents sinner,’ said Jesus. ‘But so that the work of God might be displayed in his life, we must do the work of him who sent me while it is still day.’” As The NIV Application Commentary explains, “The purpose clause now explains that Jesus must work so that God’s work may be displayed in this man’s life. God had not made the man blind in order to show his glory; rather, God has sent Jesus to do works on healing in order to show his glory. The theological nuance of the two translations cannot be more different.” (137-138)

She goes on to say that when we encounter suffering and difficulties, rather than asking why it happened, we would be better served to ask “How might my Father’s glory be displayed through this situation?” That’s not always easy to do, and we may not immediately find an answer to that question either. But it does help to get our focus back where it belongs.

In looking back over the year, I know there have been a lot of times I’ve been looking answers and not finding them. Then this morning as I was getting ready for work I heard the song Save My Life by Sidewalk Prophets. You can read the lyrics here. 

If I’m honest with myself, I’m not sure I really care why things happen or what God might do through them. What I really want to know is that I’m not alone or forgotten. I think that is true for most people. We usually don’t need someone to tell us the Bible answers (or secular answers!). What we need is a bunch of people to remind us that God loves us and they love us and aren’t going to leave us. Laura Story comments about the weeks she spent at her husband’s side in the hospital:

More than flowers or cartons of greasy Chinese food, the greatest thing people brought me was their presence. During the wait, which eventually stretched over two days and nights, my favorite visitors were the ones who said the three magic words: not “I love you,” or even, “I am praying,” but, “Here’s your latte.” Those words made me smile each time I heard them because the people who brought me lattes weren’t trying to give me answers. They were just trying to give me coffee. They say with me and wept with me and never said a word. They were the ones who refilled my empty cup. (53-54)

I might disagree about the words “I love you,” but her sentiment is right on. True community and fellowship in the Body of Christ is so much more than just studying Scripture and finding answers. It is about being present in one another’s lives especially when we don’t have any answers to give. I think the local church tends to struggle with this because it is something that can’t be programmed. We can schedule potluck dinners and Bible studies and build greeting time into our Sunday morning service, but we can’t schedule loving one another. Some people are better at this than others (and they tend to get appointed as deacons and deaconesses), but none of us are off the hook. Love God and love others are the two things we’re all supposed to be doing.

Getting ready for a new year, I needed this reminder both in terms of what I expect from other people and how I can serve others. It gives me some guidelines by which I can evaluate what activities I need to be involved in and what ones I can let go. It challenges me to look beyond myself, but also to look beyond the Bible answers to see the people in need.

“These things I command you, so that you will love one another” (John 15:17 ESV).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. Picture by Dawn Rutan.

Divine Appointments

At this time of year as we think about the birth of Jesus, born to be the Messiah, a string of other biblical appointments came to mind. Zechariah was told by the angel that his unborn son John “will be great before the Lord... and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:14-15 ESV). The prophet Jeremiah was told, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4). The Apostle Paul also said he was “appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher” (2 Timothy 1:11).

I was listening to a sermon on the radio yesterday (I think it was Walk in the Word) that commented on Joseph being carefully selected to be Jesus’ earthly father. We don’t give a lot of thought to Joseph since he is mentioned in only a few verses. About all we know is that he was a just man who was obedient to God. He doesn’t even have a speaking part in the nativity, so he tends to get overlooked as a minor character.

There is a tendency to think that only the “great” men of the Bible received divine appointments. The fact is, every believer was chosen and appointed for a purpose: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will” (Ephesians 1:4-5). Some are appointed as a “prophet to the nations,” others as a minister to our neighbors, an evangelist to our coworkers, or a servant to our family (or all of the above). It makes no difference how public or private our roles may be, we are equally appointed by God and equally important to the ministry of reconciliation in which we are all participants (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

At Christmas we can tend to feel like spectators, like the shepherds who were summoned to praise God when they saw the baby Jesus, though they had little idea what the angel meant that a Savior had been born. However, the rest of Scripture indicates that the birth of Jesus was as much for us as for those shepherds. The life of Jesus was for our sake as well as for the twelve men He called disciples. His death was for our benefit just as it was for the women standing at the foot of the cross. The gospel song says, “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.” It could also say, “When He was in the womb, I was on His mind.” We are not afterthoughts or extras in the history of the world. We matter to God. He loves each of us and He’s called each one to love and serve Him.

Let us celebrate this Christmas with a fresh awareness that:

My hope is in the Lord,
Who came to earth for me,
He came to give me life
Through His nativity.
For me He died;
For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light
He freely gives.

(A new verse I added to the old hymn.)

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide... These things I command you, so that you will love one another” (John 15:16-17). “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word... so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me” (John 17:20,23).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan

Entrusted

For some time now I’ve been thinking about 2 Timothy 1:12 (ESV) “…But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” This is an interesting verse because it has two different ways to translate the original Greek, which is imprecise. In contrast with the ESV, many Bible versions say something like “He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him.” I suspect the ESV chose their rendition because of the parallel in verse 14, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

That leads to two questions: what has God entrusted to us, and what have we entrusted to Him? From the context of 2 Timothy there are several things entrusted to us:

• Faith – v. 5
• Spiritual gifts – v. 6
• A spirit of power, love, and self-control (or a sound mind) – v. 7
• The testimony/gospel of Jesus – v. 8
• A holy calling – v. 9 and 11

To use Peter’s terminology, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). God has entrusted us with the message of His love and the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18), and He has equipped us with everything necessary to do His will. So although He could personally appear to every person in order to cause them to believe, He has entrusted a large part of the work to us. That’s a bit intimidating if you think about it for long.

So then what have we or should we entrust to Him?

• Our paths – Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 143:8
• Our salvation – Isaiah 12:2, Hebrews 5:9
• Our security – Psalm 56, Psalm 118:8-9
• Our souls – Matthew 10:28, 1 Peter 4:19
• Our future – Jeremiah 29:11, 1 Peter 1:3-5

We really got the best deal in all of this. We can entrust all that really matters into the hands of the only One who is fully trustworthy, in complete control, and who loves us steadfastly. In exchange, He does give us work to do, but He is the One who ensures that it will be completed (Philippians 1:6, Psalm 57:2).

It is curious how often people think they can trust God for “big” things like salvation, but they don’t want to trust Him for the details of daily life. They want to accept Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord. That tends to be the case when people think God should act for their personal comfort and success, rather than accepting that He may allow difficulty and pain. Sometimes He does entrust us with suffering that can accomplish some greater purpose in our lives. Candi Pearson-Shelton writes of this trust: “He trusts me because I trust Him. Do I always desire that kind of trust from God? No. But do I want to be counted as worthy of that type of trust? Always” (Desperate Hope, 48).

Last night I was pondering what it means to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Matthew 12:30). Now it occurs to me that one answer to that question is Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” To fully love Him is to fully trust Him. I don’t think anyone is quite there yet, but hopefully we’re moving in that direction.

“Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

Never Alone

A couple weeks ago I was watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the millionth time. One particular quote often catches my attention. When Harry is feeling alone in his fight against the enemy, Voldemort, Luna Lovegood tells him, “I suppose that’s how he wants you to feel... If I were You-know-who, I’d want you to feel cut off from everyone else. ‘Cause if it’s just you alone, you’re not as much of a threat.”

I can identify with that feeling. One of our enemy’s primary tools is to make us believe we’re alone in the fight for truth, good, and holiness. The “roaring lion” looks for the weak and isolated members to pick off (1 Peter 5:8). The Apostle Paul also reminded his readers that separation creates opportunity for sin:

“…We are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:25-27).

“Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:5).

I recently read All the Places to Go, by John Ortberg, and something he said made a lot of sense. Sometimes when we make a big decision, we suffer from “buyers regret.” The reason for this is that we start to compare all the negative features of what we chose with all the positive features of what we did not choose. This doesn’t just apply to purchases, but to schools, marriage, career, etc. And it occurred to me that it also applies to our self-perception. We know our own sin and weakness all too well and we often start comparing our worst features with what little we can see of the people around us. Pretty soon we’re thinking “Everybody else seems to have it all together, so I must be the one who’s really messed up!” We’ve created our own sense of isolation, and the enemy capitalizes on it to bring us even further down. (Check out Elijah in 1 Kings 19.)

Comparing ourselves with others is never a good thing. It will only lead to pride or shame, depending on who we’re looking at. “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding… For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends” (2 Corinthians 10:12, 18). And the fact is that God commends His children even when they do screw up, because His love and grace are greater than our sin. His love never changes. We may think we have cut ourselves off, but He’s just waiting for us to look up and see Him still standing there. Christians are really never alone, no matter what we may think or feel. Ideally, we should know the loving support of being in frequent communion with our fellow believers. But even if everyone else fails us, judges us, turns away, or persecutes us, the Father is still on our side.

Mark Gignilliat wrote in Christianity Today:

“We face trials and temptations of all sorts, and God uses them to test our faith. No one knew this to be true more than Jesus. And no one invites us into the joyous dangers of faith more graciously than him, either. We don’t wrestle alone. He is with us, and countless faithful believers have gone before us… The life of faith is one of continual wrestling, where our faith butts up against the troubles of our experience and the sovereign God who controls all things. But the work of Christ, True Israel, assures us that we never wrestle alone or in vain. We may get injured in the ring, but our wounds—like Jacob’s thrown hip—will never become fatal to faith’s final security. God won’t allow it.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/december/when-god-hits-below-belt.html 

© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

Reasons to Hold On

I don't have the mental or emotional fortitude to write a post of my own this week, but I wanted to share the following quote from Nancy Guthrie. It's a good reminder for all of us living in a broken world, and not only give us reasons to endure, but also ways to pray. The full article can be found here: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/praying-past-preferred-outcomes  --

"If we really believe that God is purposeful in suffering, that our suffering is not meaningless or random, shouldn't that affect how we pray about the suffering in our lives and in the lives of others? As it is, we pretty much only know how to pray for suffering to be removed—for there to be healing, relief, restoration. Praying for anything less seems less than compassionate. But shouldn't the purposes for suffering we find in Scripture guide our prayers more than our predetermined positive outcomes? We could make a very long list of purposes for which God intends to use suffering according to the Scripture. But here are just a few:

• To put God's glory on display (John 9:3)
• To make the life of Jesus evident (2 Cor. 4:10-11)
• To live out genuine faith (1 Peter 1:6-7)
• To cause us to depend on him more fully (2 Cor. 1:8-9)
• To reveal hidden sin or keep us from sin (2 Cor. 12:7)
• To experience that Christ is enough (2 Cor. 12:9)
• To discipline us for holiness (Hebrews 12:10-11)
• To equip us to comfort others (2 Cor. 1:3)
• To make us spiritually mature (James 1:2-5)
• To make us fruitful (John 15:2)
• To shape us into Christ's likeness (Romans 8:29)
• To share in the suffering of Christ (Philippians 3:10)"

Giving With Gratitude

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Matt shared the example of Rick Warren’s decision not to increase his standard of living as he started receiving significant income from his book sales. We were challenged to increase our standard of giving rather than our standard of living. This reminded me of a quote I read several years ago that has influenced the way I budget for each year. In Revolution in Generosity, Daryl Heald (President of Generous Giving) writes:

“Early in our journey of generosity, a friend challenged Cathy and me to give more. We had just finished a Crown Financial Ministries course and decided to increase our giving goal to 20 percent. Each year we would increase that amount by 1 percent. I felt pretty good about that and mentioned it to a friend, hoping he would be impressed with our commitment. After ‘boldly’ sharing, I asked him at what level he and his wife were giving. He told me that they were giving 40 percent of their income and suggested that Cathy and I could do the same. Talk about feeling humbled! At that point in our journey, I didn’t know people gave that much. His openness and lack of arrogance or condemnation appropriately challenged me. He was a motivator. His model eventually allowed us to do the same. Cathy and I talked and prayed about this decision. Our conclusion was to set our new goal at 40 percent and by God’s grace to increase it every year.” (392-393)

I wouldn’t say this is necessarily the goal of every Christian, because every family is different. Adding kids or losing jobs can quickly change the needs of a family. But I do think every Christian needs to give careful consideration to their plan for giving (and yes, it does need to be a plan). Many Christians ask “How much should I give?” The better question is how much should I keep? What do I really need to meet the basic needs of my family now and for the foreseeable future?

Jesus spoke of giving as something that was expected—when, not if:

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven... But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:1, 3-4 ESV).

When we discussed these verses in Sunday school recently, I thought about the ongoing debate in Congress about doing away with the charitable giving tax deduction. It is unfortunate that tax laws play such a big role in how people use their money. For Christians that should never even be a consideration. Christians living in nations where their faith is illegal have far more difficult choices to make about how to care for the needs of orphans, widows, and fellow believers.

We in America are blessed with so many resources that we quickly lose sight of the fact that none of it belongs to us to begin with. We are merely temporary stewards of God’s resources. We are quick to make excuses not to give. It’s easy to ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit while we’re distracting ourselves with the latest gadgets and the football game of the day. I have to say, I have sometimes regretted not giving more to a particular need, but I have never regretted giving “too much.” In one instance in college, I gave some money to a collection but then immediately felt that I should have given more. So God arranged for the collection bucket to go past me again!

In the end, it comes down to a matter of the heart. A gift grudgingly given does not honor either God or the giver. “You shall give to [the poor] freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake” (Deuteronomy 15:10). “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, bot reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful give” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

May our giving this Christmas and all year round be inspired by the grace that God has lavished upon us, and not hindered by fear, selfishness, or pride.

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. 

Getting Ready for the Holy Days

It seems like the holiday season gets harder every year. Besides trying to shop for gifts on a budget, there are all the parties and gatherings, decorating, colder weather, travel, and attempting to remember the real reason for Christmas. And for accountants, there’s the added fun of trying to close out one year and get ready for the next. For some of us it’s just too much—too many people and too many expectations—and it makes me want to crawl into a cave and hibernate until March. I’ve often thought we ought to move the holiday observances to some other month. How about Thanksgiving in October and Christmas in February?

I wrote that first paragraph yesterday, but then couldn’t think where to go from there. Then last night I read Psalm 8:4 (ESV), “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” This was my prayer:

Lord, why do You love us when we’re so screwed up with stupidity, weakness, pride, selfishness, anger, lust, mixed motives, etc.? I don’t know why You love even one person like that, and yet You’ve loved millions over many generations—more than I can count. And you keep on loving us when we keep on being idiots! Our slight improvement over a lifetime is nothing to brag about before Your holiness.

You don’t give up and You never change Your mind, even though we are usually ungrateful and apathetic about Your love. We’re also ignorant of what it really cost You to make Your love manifest to us. We can’t begin to comprehend the heights and depths and lengths of Your love. We go blithely through Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrating a Baby in a manger without any astonishment that You would send Your Son for us, especially considering the fact that His life would end on a cross.

As we head into this holiday season, let us not be blinded by busyness and traditions, but let us be awestruck by the wonder of Your love for us that is beyond all measure. May this reality completely change our perception of the holidays this year and every year!

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. 

Take Heart

In my “year in Romans 8” I just made a new connection. Verse 15 (ESV) says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry ‘Abba! Father!’” I suddenly wondered, since Paul has spent several chapters talking about flesh vs. spirit why didn’t he say “you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into sin”? Going back to 6:16-18, he wrote,

“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

So the short answer to the question is that Christians are in fact set free from the slavery of sin. Paul reiterates this in 8:9, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.”

We also need to remember chapter 7 and Paul’s extended commentary that “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (v. 19). Even the great, miraculously converted, Apostle Paul struggled with sin. A few theologians try to say that this chapter refers to his pre-conversion struggle, but there is no evidence for this. After all, Paul wasn’t struggling when he actively participated in the persecution of Christians. He said of himself, “as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:6). His wrestling with the flesh was a reality even when he understood and preached the grace of God.

So then why does Paul say “slavery to fall back into fear”? John explains that in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” If you put Paul and John together, you don’t just have half the Beatles. What you have is a reminder we all need at times:

Christians, though we are free from slavery to sin, we still wrestle with it and fall into it. The difference is that we no longer need to fear God’s punishment because we are His beloved children. His love and forgiveness are lavished upon us, and we can turn back to Him every time we fail.

I’ve started reading The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis, and he had some good thoughts on the problem of temptation:

“When a man of good will is afflicted, tempted, and tormented by evil thoughts, he realizes clearly that his greatest need is God, without Whom he can do no good. Saddened by his miseries and sufferings, he laments and prays. He wearies of living longer and wishes for death that he might be dissolved and be with Christ. Then he understands fully that perfect security and complete peace cannot be found on earth.” (Twelfth Chapter)

“So long as we live in this world we cannot escape suffering and temptation... No one is so perfect or so holy but he is sometimes tempted; man cannot be altogether free from temptation... Yet temptations, though troublesome and severe, are often useful to a man, for in them he is humbled, purified, and instructed. The saints all passed through many temptations and trials to profit by them, while those who could not resist became reprobate and fell away. There is no state so holy, no place so secret that temptations and trials will not come. Man is never safe from them as long as he lives, for they come from within us—in sin we were born. When one temptation or trial passes, another comes; we shall always have something to suffer because we have lost the state of original blessedness...

“We should not despair, therefore, when we are tempted, but pray to God the more fervently that He may see fit to help us, for according to the word of Paul, He will make issue with temptation that we may be able to bear it. Let us humble our souls under the hand of God in every trial and temptation for He will save and exalt the humble in spirit...

“Some, guarded against great temptations, are frequently overcome by small ones in order that, humbled by their weakness in small trials, they may not presume on their own strength in great ones.” (Thirteenth Chapter)

We can draw encouragement even from temptation for several reasons:

1) The struggle proves we are Christians. Non-Christians don’t struggle with sin because they don’t recognize it as sin. “If it had not been for the law, I would not have know sin” (Romans 7:7).

2) The struggle shows if we are growing in Christ. Our enemy doesn’t want us to grow, and wants to cause us to despair, so he turns up the heat. “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (Hebrews 12:3-4).

3) The struggle reminds us of our weakness and humility. While we don’t know if Paul was specifically referring to sin as his thorn in 2 Corinthians 12:9, it is still true that “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

4) The struggle reminds us to turn to God. If there were no battles, we would not need Him as our Defender and our Refuge. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

5) The struggle spreads God’s comfort to us, and through us to others. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). [I wouldn’t be writing this blog if I had not recently experienced it.]

6) The struggle reminds us of what is truly important. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

7) And one day the struggles will be over and God will be glorified. “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever” (1 Peter 5:10-11).

So take heart, brothers and sisters in Christ, in the world we will have tribulation, but He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:16-17).


© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

True to God

Since Sunday’s sermon on hypocrisy from Mark 7:1-13 I’ve been thinking about some of the evidence of hypocrisy in our world. This week it’s Starbucks cups, glaciers in the malls, and “Merry Christmas” being debated by many who honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. I’m not going to get into that discussion, because I think there are more important issues closer to home, like within our own hearts. It’s so easy to go through the motions and act like a Christian when Christ is the furthest thing from our minds. On an average Sunday, I wonder how many church-goers tune out in the middle of the announcements and don’t tune back in until the benediction? I’m sure we all have occasional mental lapses, though for some that is a weekly occurrence.

It’s also easy to give others the wrong impression by what we say and do. We arrive at church dressed decently and smiling even though we’ve just been fighting in the car, lost a job, or got drunk last night. We may know all the Sunday school answers and can quote chapter and verse but struggle to find a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

We are all careful to edit what we say to fit the proper social expectations of the church, small group, friendship, or work environment. Sometimes that’s okay because some things just don’t need to be shared outside a select few relationships. James said “confess your sins to one another,” not to the whole church. Jesus’ guidelines for confrontation in Matthew 18:15-17 don’t go immediately to the whole church either. However, we do need to give careful thought to whether we are being hypocritical by misleading others either intentionally or unintentionally. Gossip usually arises because someone is found to be hiding something that is inconsistent with their public character.

Discerning what to say in what contexts makes for a hard path to follow. I can think of plenty of things that I would not want revealed to the vast majority of people. And as a result, I know I probably give false impressions by the things I choose not to say. I think where the distinction of true hypocrisy comes in is whether we’re trying to put on an act for God. For myself, I am very much aware that God knows my every thought and word, and He understands my conflicting motivations and desires far better than I do. I know that nothing is hidden from His sight. I want to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, but I know that I often fail in many ways.

While there are times when I wish I could be more transparent in certain areas, I know that would not be wise at this point. One day all things will be made known, and we’ll all be surprised at what we learn. Thankfully, God’s mercy and grace are abundant for those who trust in Him. As David told Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9 (ESV), “Know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”

The true hypocrites are those who think they can deceive God with their words and deeds while their hearts are focused on self rather than God. They may be deceiving others, and they definitely are deceiving themselves if they think that God can be influenced by outward actions without the heart motivation.

“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:1-3).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

Inside Out and Upside Down

I came across the following quote from Dennis Jernigan, an author and songwriter I respect:

“Temptation does not equal identity. Feelings do not equal identity. Jesus was tempted in every manner - EVERY MANNER - just as we are, yet without sinning! That tells me temptation does not define me. Temptation compels me toward Jesus! It has been through seeking Jesus and finding out Who He says He is that I have discovered who He says I am. In other words, I simply put off the lies of who I thought I was and put on the truth of who Father God says I am. …In the process, I changed the way I thought. As my thoughts changed, so did my attitude. As my attitude changed, so did the way I feel. As my feelings and attitudes and thoughts changed, so did my behavior! Why? Because I act according to who I think I am! God changed my identity, making me a new creation!”

I’ve found that he echoes some of the same thoughts the Apostle Paul shared in Colossians:

“These [outward rules] have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (2:23-3:2 ESV).

Too often we approach the Christian life as if it is all about sin management. We make rules to try to protect ourselves from temptation, but we never get to the level of heart change. While it’s great to have accountability and to avoid places and things that might lead to temptation, that can only go so far in managing “the indulgence of the flesh.”

Although we’re told that God will “provide the way of escape” from temptation, that is not His primary method of enabling us to change. God works from the inside out. He starts by making us new creations, and as we come to believe what He has said is true, then our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors begin to change to align with that truth. Christianity isn’t about behavior modification, but heart transformation. As God said through Ezekiel, “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (36:26).

Theologian Dallas Willard contends that managing sin is only one small part of the work of God:

“History has brought us to the point where the Christian message is thought to be essentially concerned only with how we deal with sin: with wrongdoing or wrong-being and its effects. Life, our actual existence, is not included in what is now presented as the heart of the Christian message, or it is included only marginally” (The Divine Conspiracy, 41).

He goes on to say:

“The issue… is whether we are alive to God or dead to him. Do we walk in an interactive relationship with him that constitutes a new kind of life, life ‘from above’? As the apostle John says in his first letter, ‘God has given undying life to us, and that life is in his Son, Those who have the Son have life’ (1 John 5:11-12).

“What must be emphasized in all of this is the difference between trusting Christ, the real person Jesus, with all that that naturally involves, versus trusting some arrangement for sin-remission set up through him—trusting only his role as guilt remover. To trust the real person Jesus is to have confidence in him in every dimension of our real life, to believe that he is right about and adequate to everything” (48-49).

Although sin is a hindrance to our relationship with God and is often the thing we are most conscious of, that may not be our greatest need as we learn to walk in our new identity in Christ. He has already dealt with sin and its consequences on the cross for us. Now we are being conformed to His image day by day. That will result in growing freedom from sin and temptation, but that’s not the main emphasis. That should be encouraging news. Our struggle is not with combating sin and the flesh so much as it is recognizing Christ’s work for us and in us. It’s not about the negatives, but the positives. It’s not just turning from sin, but it is pursuing God and taking hold of every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.

“Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. 

Enough

Thinking about Sunday’s sermon on Jesus as the Bread of Life and how often we think that He is not enough…

When I’m alone,

Feeling forgotten,

Wondering what matters,

Your love is enough.

You say, “Child, I’m here,”

You draw me so near,

I’m not alone,

Your love is enough.

When I’m tempted,

Falling in sin,

Unable to look up,

Your blood is enough.

You cleanse every stain,

You forgive me again,

Never turning away,

Your blood is enough.

When I forget,

Not sure who I am,

Wandering, confused,

You are enough.

You call me by name,

Erase all the shame,

Bring me back home where

You are enough.

I don’t want to turn away,

Or ever forget,

Your grace is sufficient,

You are enough.

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69 ESV).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. 

Does It Ever End?

I’ve been realizing anew one of the challenges of growing in Christ in this life: sin. (Big surprise, right?) The thing is, it’s a constant cycle of recognizing sin, repenting, and growing in obedience. When one sin is conquered, another seems to pop up in its place. It’s a bit like peeling the layers of an onion, but the onion never seems to get any smaller. This was the analogy that C.S. Lewis drew on for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in describing Eustace’s efforts to remove his dragon skin:

“But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that’s all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I’ll have to get out of it too. So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.

“Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off?”

He learned that he had to let the Lion cut through to the deepest layers to get rid of his dragon nature. While the same is true for us, we won’t realize complete freedom from sin in this lifetime. Only the resurrection to new life will make us as we were meant to be.

It’s amazing how easily we deceive ourselves about sin. I know there have been times when I was not conscious of any current sin, but I’m pretty certain that I was just not looking very far. Some sins are subtle enough to slip in without our awareness, but others get adopted as permanent members of the family. We may subconsciously decide they aren’t worth fighting, particularly if they aren’t seen to be hurting anyone else—a little pride here, a little envy there, a bit of judgmentalism, along with a lot of failures to love one another.

Seventeenth century theologian John Owens had many good quotes on the subject:

“Do you mortify [sin]? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

“Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, if he follow not on his blow until it be slain, may repent that ever he began the quarrel. And so he who undertakes to deal with sin, and pursues it not constantly to the death.”

The Apostle Paul made some similar comments: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13 ESV). “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). I’ll be the first to say that that’s easier said than done. Sin doesn’t want to die, and the enemy doesn’t want us to conquer it. Failure is sure to bring discouragement, and success only changes the field of battle, but we don’t have the option of giving up the fight.

As I’ve been endeavoring to memorize Romans 8 this year, I have needed the frequent reminders that although we’re still waiting for creation to “be set free from its bondage to corruption” (v. 21), we are on the side of ultimate victory. We have God as our Father (v. 15); we have the righteousness of Jesus (v. 4); and we have the Spirit interceding for us (v. 26). Though the battle seems unending, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (v. 37).

The familiar song “Day by Day” from Godspell borrows a prayer ascribed to the 13th-century English bishop Saint Richard of Chichester, and that is my prayer as well:

“May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.”

© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

Rest Area

Sunday’s sermon from Mark 6:30-44 on Jesus as our caring Shepherd reinforced some things I’ve read lately in taking care of ourselves. One point from the sermon was that Jesus restores His sheep. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus invites us to come to Him for rest. The difficulty is that everyone has conflicting expectations placed on them by family, friends, coworkers, church members, and themselves. And as I mentioned recently, we tend to judge ourselves and others by our level of productivity. When it comes to periods of change or stress, we have to know what our priorities are so we can use our time wisely. In You’re Going to Be Okay, Holley Gerth suggests three questions we need to ask:

1) What does God want me to do?
2) What’s the best use of my emotions and energy?
3) What do I need most right now?

At times it seems like the church excels at adding to our stress. You can’t stop teaching Sunday school because you’ve always done it. You can’t get off the church board because no one else will fill that position. You have to help with the church dinner, nursery, bulletins, etc. There is a perception in the church, and even among pastors, that everything related to the church takes priority over personal time, family, career, and anything else we may want to do. Sometimes it’s hard to say no to church activities because “You’re serving God,” but we often don’t differentiate between the many types of activities churches promote. It’s ironic that the building that contains a sanctuary may be the last place we’d come for rest.

But Jesus (and the pastor!) said it’s okay to rest when you need to rest. If we don’t set our own limits, no one else is going to do it for us. Gerth puts it this way:

“It’s like we have internal emotional and energy bank accounts. We’ve budgeted well and can cover all our expenses. Then someone runs the family car into a pole, and suddenly we need to buy a new vehicle. So what do we do? For the next few months, we change our spending. That’s also what we do when we face change. We temporarily alter how we spend our emotions and energy. This can be difficult because often the many things we do are part of our self-worth. That means when we slow down or switch things up, we feel like a failure. But the opposite is true. Sustainable life success is only possible when we can adjust in times of change to avoid going into life overdraft” (159-160).

Communicating that change can be a challenge. Little children and teens aren’t the only ones who don’t like the words “No” or “Later.” If we don’t know what our priorities are, we can’t say no to anything, and we will end up too burnt out to say yes to the things that really matter. If we let our identity be defined by what we do, we can’t stop doing anything. My identity is not teacher, leader, board member, or treasurer. My identity is beloved daughter of the King and servant of God. There is only one Lord, and only He has the authority to tell me what I should or should not do in His service. His approval is all that matters. Guilt has no place in God’s agenda for me. Even if I accomplish nothing today, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV). Even if I never help with another church function, my future is secure.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

Still Single and Satisfied

The following is an article I had published in 1999. One reader at the time thought that it was too snarky. Although I might phrase things a little differently today, my underlying beliefs have not changed. I know other singles in the same boat, as well as some who wish they were married, but I also know married folks who wish they weren’t. I’ll add a few thoughts at the end.

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What’s the first thing that is mentioned when a young, single woman joins the church? Usually it’s “We’ve got to find you a husband and get you married off.” At least that’s what they told me. Why can’t they let me be content with who I am? People are always trying to set me up, even though I’ve told them I’m not interested in dating or marriage. There’s an underlying assumption that to be unmarried is to be incomplete. Just because the Bible says that Adam and Eve “became one flesh” doesn’t mean they were less than whole before that. Marriage is a special case where 1+1=1, not ½+½=1. And don’t tell me “It’s not good for the man/woman to be alone.” When God said that about Adam, he was the only person on earth, not just an unmarried person in a marrying society.

So why am I not interested in dating or marriage? There are several reasons I would like the matchmakers to be aware of:

1) “In [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete” (Colossians 2:10 NASB).
I am complete in Christ, so being unmarried does not make me less of a person than someone who is married. Jesus Christ supplies all my needs for affirmation, affection, attention, and acceptance. Apart from Him, I have no other needs that any man could fill.

2) “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB).
Though many people consider women, particularly single women, to be weak and unable to protect themselves, God has shown His strength to be sufficient. There are many evils in this world that we could be afraid of, but even a man can’t protect me from most of those things, while God will protect me from anything that is not in His will for me. God will provide, protect, preserve, and persevere for me because He is sovereign.

3) “But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I… One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:8, 32 NASB).
For whatever reason, God has called me to this time and place as a minister for Him. For me to get seriously involved with someone would take a lot of time and energy I need to spend learning from the Lord and doing His work. I know that I am still growing “in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:180, and that “He who began a good work in [me] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). I don’t want anything to hinder my relationship with Him.

4) “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
This was the last command of Jesus while He was on earth, and I believe it is my own great commission to make disciples in obedience to Christ. That entails a lifestyle of building relationships that will have eternal consequences, unlike marriage, since Jesus said, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage” (Matthew 22:30). The marriage relationship is for the purpose of fulfilling God’s original command in Genesis 9:7 to “be fruitful and multiply.” Jesus initiated a new method of multiplying by making disciples. This doesn’t necessarily negate that of biological multiplication, but I believe it does make it less important. I don’t feel the need to bear children, and indeed, I wouldn’t want to try to raise children in the world today. It is much more important for me to be a discipler than it is to be a mother.

I believe God has given me the gift of celibacy, at least for the time being. I haven’t dated in eleven years [now 26 years!], and I don’t feel the need to start dating now. If God wants me to marry at some point, He will be the One to convince me of that, not anyone else.

So, before you start matchmaking for every single person in your church, consider this: not every single person is single for the same reasons. Some, like me, are single by choice and don’t want help meeting every eligible person around. Others may want to date and eventually marry, and they might appreciate a neutral place to meet others of like-mindedness. Also, in today’s society, we must also consider that there are some who do not want to date because they are homosexual. For such a person, efforts to set them up will only further alienate them from the church, which is the only place where grace makes complete healing possible. At least have the courtesy to ask people if they want to meet some eligible singles before you tell everyone you know who so-and-so should meet and marry. “For I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). So by the grace of God I will continue being “single and satisfied.”

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The reason this article came to mind this week is that the enemy tried to hit me with a lie. I’m sure most parents hope that their little girls will grow up, marry, and have kids of their own. The thought crossed my mind, “I wonder if my life was supposed to have a different story line?” Thankfully, God quickly reminded me of the truth: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16 ESV). God doesn’t revise His book because of choices that I make. He knows every sin, scar, and success. He already knows the picture He is making out of all the puzzle pieces of my life, and He’s not left wondering, “Now what do I do with that piece?!”

He knew in advance all the events that would take place and how they would shape my character, desires, and choices. If He had intended for me to desire marriage and children, He certainly could have made that possible, but then I would be someone other than who I am. Although I may occasionally wish some parts of my life were different, I’m okay with being who God has made me. Such is my life!

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. 

More Than Good Enough

It’s been one of those weeks. You know the kind—when everything that could go wrong does: an unwanted notice from the bank; dozens of reports printed with the wrong data; computer glitches creating irreconcilable accounts; a question that throws doubts on standing procedures... Not only does it make the week seem extra long, but it creates an opportunity for the enemy to toss his own lies into the mix. “You can’t do anything right. You should have known better. That was a stupid mistake. You’re incompetent...” That’s why I appreciated the reminder I found in Holley Gerth’s books You’re Going to Be Okay:

“But what it all comes down to is believing this: you’re only as good as what you can produce. And that, my friends, is a sure way to drive yourself crazy... If my worth does not come from what I produce, then where does it come from? ...my worth is not something I can make... It’s a gift. Offered with outstretched hands by the One who made me. I don’t produce my worth. I receive it” (134).

It’s easy to get sidetracked into thinking that our value is determined by what we do well or by what we fail to do. Other people often reinforce that by the way they praise or condemn us for things we’ve done. Our perceptions of our own value can rise and fall faster than the stock market. Thankfully, the value God has given us is not dependent on anything we can do. Gerth starts her book by stating the scriptural facts that we need to remember when taunted by the enemy’s lies:

“You are not what happens to you. You are not where you are right now. You are not your weakest moments or biggest struggles.” But—

• You Are Loved - “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV).
• You Have a Purpose - “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
• You Are Irreplaceable - “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).
• You Are an Overcomer - “Who will bring any charges against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? ...In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:33-37).
• You Are Enough - “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

This isn’t just self-esteem—this is God-esteem. It’s agreeing with God about who He says we are, and living by that truth. I don’t want to listen to the lies of the enemy, trying to please everyone else, or setting unrealistic expectations of perfection. Paul even says that doing that keeps us from effectively serving God. “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10 ESV).

Doesn’t it make more sense to seek the approval of the One who made us and gives us value and purpose? Now I just need to remember the truth...

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 7:42 ESV).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan. 

Just a Little Faith

I was thinking this afternoon of some hymn lyrics that are often hard to sing without lying. I started flipping through the hymnal and came across several songs that fit the category. One that struck me several weeks ago was “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.” At the time I had very little trust or proof to hold onto, though I did cling to the last line of the song, “O for grace to trust Him more.”

Another hymn that may be less familiar is Francis Blackmer’s “Since I’ve Learned to Trust Him More.” I wish I knew the story behind the song, because after the first verse it gets into territory unknown to me: “Now I’m trusting every moment, nothing less can be enough... And my way has brighter grown since I’ve learned to trust Him more.” I don’t know many (or any?) Christians who could honestly sing those words most of the time. For most of us the journey is a lot more sporadic.

I appreciate the authenticity of words like Charlotte Elliott: “Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come!” Or Edward Mote: “When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil... When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.”

Songs like “Day by day and with each passing moment” or “Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine,” seem to be more realistic about the ongoing battle to cling to faith. It isn’t a straight and easy road from the moment we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. There are steep hills and dark valleys that make faith a daily decision. There are times when faith is easy because God’s presence and power are evident to us. There are also times when we (or at least I) have to say, “God, I don’t know what You are doing, and I don’t much like this path, but I want to trust You through it.” Some days we may not have the faith to cling to Him, but we just hope that He’s still clinging to us.

And that is really what matters most. We can never generate enough faith to save ourselves or to breeze through life with no doubts. While we commonly read Ephesians 2:8-9 to mean that salvation is a gift, I think it also means that faith itself is a gift. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (ESV). God not only saves us by His grace, but He also gives us the faith to accept it, and then enables us to walk in the path He’s prepared for us. At no point does it depend on our strength or ability, so we have no place for boasting. Even the weakness of our faith becomes reason to boast in God’s grace to hold onto us.

Jesus told His disciples, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). However, He never tested them on that point, for which I’m sure they were grateful. He already knew then, and He knows now, just how small our faith can be in the face of life’s challenges. As others have said, it’s not a matter of how big our faith is, but how big our God is. Faith may grow or shrink day by day, but God never changes. As Priscilla Owens put it, “We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll, fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.”

So it’s okay if your faith feels small and you can’t say “I’m trusting every moment.” God already knows, and He’s not going to let go.

“My soul clings to you; Your right hand upholds me” (Psalm 63:8).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

Be Who You Is

I remember hearing Brennan Manning speak when I was in college, and one of the things he shared was advice that he received from a woman: “Be who you is, ‘cause if you ain’t who you is, then you is who you ain’t.” That’s good advice, but it’s harder to put into practice than we often admit. It’s not just teens who cave in to peer pressure. Nor is it just the world that is trying to fit us into its mold. The church can be just as tough some times.

Last year I started reading Hugh Halter’s book Sacrilege, but I couldn’t finish it. I still remember one illustration he used of a couple that started coming to his church. He said in essence, “They were sitting alone in the sanctuary waiting for ‘church’ to start, not realizing that church was what was happening in the hallway and fellowship hall.” While I agree that fellowship is important, so are worship, prayer, and teaching. However, I also have to point out that fellowship happens in different ways for different people. Not everyone enjoys crowded, noisy rooms. In fact, I’d say that true fellowship is minimal when you have to struggle just to hear one another. Smaller groups are more congenial in many ways.

There is a tendency within the church to pursue a one-size-fits-all approach to programming. Although it varies from church to church, many leaders think, “If this program works for 33% of the people, then all we need is to repeat this three more times.” So when we think about how to get more of the church members actively involved, the discussion goes one of two ways: either do more of the same, or slightly tweak what we’ve got to make it more appealing to a larger number of people.

There is often a lack of understanding of the huge diversity of people in the Body of Christ. I think some part of this is due to the negative attitude that many Christians have toward psychology, and thus they decline to accept the observations that psychologists and sociologists have accumulated about individuals and social interactions. Being an introvert and highly sensitive person, I’ve experienced firsthand how often events are planned for the most social people in the gathering. I’ve been made to feel not only like a minority, but like a “defective” person because I don’t enjoy the same things that others do.

When people come to Christ, they aren’t shoved into a cookie cutter to make them all look, sound, and act alike. Timothy had to be reminded not to let people look down on him because of his youth (1 Timothy 4:10). And when Saul was confronted by Christ and became Paul, he didn’t lose any of the fire or zeal that he’d had when persecuting Christians. When he said in 1 Corinthians 9:22 (ESV) “I have become all things to all people,” he didn’t mean that he abandoned his personality or his unique giftedness, but that he didn’t want anything to stand in the way of the Gospel. It seems like many churches take the opposite approach: if you’re like us you’re welcome, but if not, find somewhere else to go. (I think this is the point Halter was trying to make in his book, but he seemed to go about it by bashing all that the traditional church holds dear.)

There are certainly times when we all have to go out of our comfort zones, try new things, and perhaps find a new interest. (I wonder though whether the majority would be as anxious to try silence and solitude as they are to convince the introverts to be more social.) It’s easy to make excuses not to do things, but God sees through every excuse to the heart beneath.

I would suggest a few things that might help us all:

1) To the social butterflies and extraverts who make up the majority of our church membership and leadership, seek the opinions of the minorities among you. If a particular segment of the body is not involved in the planned activities, ask them why that is. Doing more of the same old thing is not going to suddenly change their minds.

2) To the quieter, less social people among us, remember that no one is going to read your mind and know what you’d like. Make your opinions known when you can. Just be aware that as a minority, sometimes you have to go along with the majority opinion even when you’d rather not.

3) To all of us, make the effort to establish and develop close relationships with individuals. Evangelism and discipleship generally happen one-on-one or in small groups, not in large groups or church socials.

We need the unique contributions of each member.

“God arranged the members in the Body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the Body be?” (1 Corinthians 12:18-19).

© 2015 Dawn Rutan