Take a Turn

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 1 Comment

As discussed in the previous post, “Making Disciples”, the first step in discipleship as Jesus taught, was to repent, or turn away from what what we were, to what He wants us to become. That would be in modern day terms, “to take a 180° turn” to travel in the opposite direction.

To start the Christ-following life, you must realize that you were going the wrong way and that you need to turn around and go the completely opposite way. To note here, one cannot just say, “Oh, I am pretty good already, not as bad as ‘those people’ so I don’t need to go quite the opposite way, I’ll just maybe add a bit of a difference to the way I already am.” No. That kind of thought is not Jesus’ teaching.

The whole point of starting a Jesus Kingdom walk (i.e., becoming a Christian) is realizing that no matter how “good” you think you are, you are not able to free yourself from the self-orientation of your life on your own. Everyone needs a savior. Being, seeming, or looking like a good person, like a religious person, a church-goer, or a Christian will not be the basis for actually being a Christ-follower or disciple. Being a Christ-follower has to do with knowing Christ in a personal way and accepting that he is worthy of following completely. “You must be born again” Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, and in Matthew 16:24, He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Jesus took the cross to a hill and died on it. This is what it means to have a new life in Christ: you turn away from your old life and take up the new life Jesus gives you. That “being born again” thing which many people don’t understand has to do with dying to your old life and being made a new creature. (See the last post which discusses what it means to “Believe.”)

Being a new creature entails that you are different and new.

The really good news in this isn’t just that you are going to heaven when you die, but rather, that you have a new kind of life here to live on earth before you go to heaven. That new life reflects a mirror of who Jesus is: the new creature who speaks what Jesus would say, acts and thinks as He does today. Jesus does this through making you into a new person and through you being a disciple on the planet Earth who shows His Kingdom values through your actions and words. Through your choices, not those that you assume other people will make. Through your words, not the words that your pastor preaches on Sunday. Through your interactions with family, friends, co-workers, strangers, enemies. Even—and very much so—the intentions of your innermost being, your heart.

As Jesus said:

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45

To understand this is the beginning of understanding what it means to be a disciple, a Christ-follower. Jesus called disciples. As he said in the parable of the seeds, there are many who have some interactions with the seeds He sows, but not all of the seeds grow up and bear fruit. A disciple is not perfect, and sometimes the mirror image of Jesus is duller than it could be, but a disciple is the plant growing and bearing fruit in the soil in which Jesus has planted His seed and tends it lovingly every day.

Making Disciples

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 3 Comments

To make a disciple, you must be a disciple. What does that mean?

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

John 15: 5-8

In the “Great Commission” in MATTHEW 28: 16-20 discussed in the previous blog post, Jesus commanded His followers to:

  • make disciples of all nations,
  • baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 
  • and teach them to obey everything He commanded.

Notice that He didn’t command people to make converts or new believers. He commanded them to make disciples. Of course, conversion is the basic underlying foundation of becoming a disciple. So what does to convert or to believe mean?

What does it mean to “believe”?

Well, the first words Jesus preached in Matthew 4:17 were, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Greek word “Repent” used here (μετάνοια, metanoia) means “to change one’s mind; to have a transformative change of heart; to take on a completely different way of thinking; to have a conversion; to utterly repent.” Jesus went about speaking this message before He spoke the Sermon on the Mount, the verses in which we often think of as Him explanining how we are to live in a Christ-like way.

Yes, the Sermon on the Mount teaches how we are to live, but first came the message to “repent, change, convert, think completely differently.” Jesus wanted followers who were committed to turn away from the old patterns toward His Kingdom values, the new way to think, speak, and act, which He unfolded through His Sermon on the Mount. To believe means that we need to accept that we are first of all, putting behind us our old ways, doing this before we can put on that new life that Christ calls us to. Yes, you might call this conversion, because it means that there is a complete change of inner being for those who believe in Him as His followers.

But the word believe doesn’t mean the same thing today, as it did in when Jesus used it to His followers. Today, we think of believe as more like a wishful thought or whatever we happen to be thinking about. Something like, “I believe my sports team will win,” or “I believe that I am the best flute player here” or “I believe that Coke is better than Pepsi.” Those things are opinions or preferences.

What Jesus means by “to believe” is very different than an opinion or preference. The word believe (πιστεύω, pisteuo) in Greek, means “trusting in, relying on, and adhering to,” which is much more than just a casual acceptance of fact. This concept is much more like the Biblical meaning of faith, which would be the Greek word, πίστις, pistis. As you can see, the Greek words are related. Faith means a lot more than we think of it meaning today. Today, you might say, “Good job, I had faith that you would win the game,” but in that, we are really just expressing an opinion or preference or hope or wish.

Both believe and faith are more like the person who is willing to actually sit down in a chair, believing that it will hold them up or the person who is willing to personally jump-in to something, rather than just expound about it with their mouth. One might compare this to the difference between an aerialist walking a high wire hundreds of feet up in the sky vs the person standing on the sidelines watching. Both might believe in a modern sense that the aerialist can walk that tightrope, but only the person walking it believes it in a Biblical sense: that person is doing it, living it out, experiencing it, committing to it, knowing it is real, trusting it and knowing that all will turn out. Taking the risk, in other words, that what they are trusting is true and worthy of the trust.

Does this advocate for people to do crazy things like walk on tight ropes? No. But rather, it does mean that believing and having faith has to do with doing the things that Jesus commanded. If we believe in Him, we need to model ourselves on His thoughts, words, and deeds—and His motivations.

Sometimes we can do something that we think is what Jesus would do, but our inner motivations are nothing like those that motivate Jesus. This, too we must beware of! He is looking at our hearts, from which all our actions and words will flow. To be a disciple first and foremost means to focus on doing what Jesus would do and for His reasons, not our own.

Following Jesus and doing WWJD must start with a heart that is converted and turned to Him. We must do as He said in His first proclamation: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Happy Birthday, Church!

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 1 Comment

Pentecost Sunday! The birthday of the church!

You will find the Pentecost narrative in Acts 2, but let’s take a look at a couple verses before that, Jesus’ last words to the church before He ascended to heaven. He was making provision for his disciples for what they would do after He returned to the Father, and how they were to continue to walk out the Kingdom He had died and risen to start: for His followers, to be the people of God on the Earth, what would become “the Church.”

What was it that the disciples were to do?

The Great Commission

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28: 16-20

Just before Jesus ascended to heaven, He spoke these words to His disciples, some of whom harbored some doubts about what would happen next. Additionally, in chapter one of the book of Acts, you will also see that Jesus said to the disciples at that time:

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”

Acts 1: 5-9

So, the disciples were to “wait in Jerusalem until the gift, the Holy Spirit sent from the Father” would come upon them with the power to be His witnesses. They also were to “make disciples, teaching them to observe all that they were commanded” to by Him. Pentecost is the day in which the power to do that work was sent to Christ’s followers in the upper room in which they had gathered for prayer and waiting. In that day, Peter rose up and spoke a powerful sermon, tongues of fire appeared over their heads, and a mighty wind rushed through the room, not caused by earthly weather patterns. People spoke in languages they did not know and about three thousand people believed and became Christ-followers. This truly was the beginning of the church and the day which Jesus had commanded them to wait for before going out to make disciples.

Power came upon them for the mission and the tasks and change happened within the people so that they became new and filled with the Holy Spirit, which Jesus described as being “baptized” in the Holy Spirit, a term that meant “immersed in, waterlogged,” like a log that has sunk in a river and completely soaked up as much water as it could hold. This was the beginning of the church, that body of Christ-followers who believed in Him and filled with the power to do both the mission (“The Great Commission”) and all the tasks (whatever specific things they were commanded to observe from Jesus words and teachings as disciples).

You can look up Acts 2 and read all about that and the beginnings of the Church throughout the book of Acts, which I encourage you to do. Acts 2 speaks of the power whereby Christ-followers can accomplish the mission and tasks set before the Church. But this post is not just about that—the power—but about something else.

Christ-followers are to be disciples and make disciples.

The Great Commission is not so much about “Going” or where to be, but “Who” to be. It is framed in the context of Who Jesus is, His authority (vs 18), and His presence (vs 20). Authority—Jesus is Lord, and Presence—Jesus is always with us.

Jesus wants His disciples to “observe all that they have been commanded,” in other words, that which He has instructed them while He walked the Earth with them and what was written out in the four gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. His life is the model for how disciples are to live out the Kingdom of God. Actually, this life of disciples is synonymous, or should be, to what we mean when we say “the Church,” “Christ-followers,” or what later became the term, “Christians” or “Christianity.”

Note that Jesus says the primary goal is not to make converts, but disciples. In other words, while conversion is necessary it is not the same thing as becoming a disciple. Signing your name on the “Salvation” dotted line is merely the utter beginning, not an end in itself. People must encounter Jesus and want to follow Him, of course, and they won’t know everything to start, nor do they need to be “perfect” to become “Christians” but they are to become disciples, as are we who say we are Christians.

We have to be disciples (i.e., those who are observing the commandments of Jesus) in order to make disciples. We are not here to make people follow our image, but we all are committed to observing all that Christ commanded and live out our lives to be like Christ. He is the model. If we focus only on Jesus as our Savior, which He beautifully is, we miss what He wants for us and for the Church as a whole.

Just as we can’t save ourselves (and the law was there not because God thought we could follow it, but to show us that we can’t and that we need a savior), so too, do we need Him to accomplish the tasks and mission of discipleship. This is why Jesus told the disciples to wait until they received the Holy Spirit before they went out and tried to “do” anything for Christ. Doing it in the flesh is not going to accomplish the purposes of God.

What is my part in this?

Jesus is with us always in this work, in this great project of transforming our life and the lives of others. This is how we can make an impact upon the world around us. Fleshly wrangling and strife will not accomplish the purposes of God. Those things are just dust in the wind and a distraction from the Kingdom that so many around us need to see. Commit yourself anew to knowing and applying the things that Jesus said so that your life is reflective of His life. Be a disciple. Make disciples through that life wherever you go.

Measuring Up

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 2 Comments

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Luke 6: 37

I know that when I have thought of this verse, it has been in the context of giving a tithe to the church. The idea that when you give something, you will have it returned to you in abundance is appealing. There is nothing to say that it doesn’t also apply to giving, but the context of this is all about measuring other people, not our own good deeds.

This verse is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, following after the Beatitudes and the “Woes to you” section. In the preceding section, Jesus is talking about “Loving our enemies,” “Turning the other cheek,” even lending to our enemies “without expecting to get anything back.” “Be kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful.”

All of that sounds pretty different from the discourse of our day, at least in the USA, when it comes to the church calling out in the political sphere. Doesn’t it?

What is that about? Why does the church call out against helping others, the weak, or those in need? Why is it the church that most stands faithfully against showing love or mercy to its supposed enemies? Why do people in the world associate Christians with ideas of isolation, self-protection, me-ism, and anger toward those that disagree with them? Why are Christians seen as judgmental, lacking in compassion, and expecting to be paid back in full? Is this not an affront to what Jesus taught in His most important sermon?

If we want to ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do in this world today?” we need to take a hard look at how we measure ourselves up to these verses. In fact, following the above verse 37, in verse 40 Jesus said, “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” How much more WWJD could that command and promise be?

Additionally, following, in verse 42, He says, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (See my previous post, “Log-in, Log-out”) and then, in verse 42, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.”

For those who call themselves Christians—for true Christ-followers, anyway—the Sermon on the Mount and these verses are cornerstones of our living out the Kingdom of Christ on this earth. We must go back to examine ourselves—our actions, words, and thoughts—in the light of this, so that our witness to the truth (which we say is so important to us) measures up to what Christ is telling us here. Only then will changes happen in the people and world around us.

Flashlights are not the Sunshine

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 1 Comment

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5: 14-16

One of the most noticeable things lately has been to see how common it is for us to want to shine light on other people instead of ourselves. I call that flashlight Christianity. It is as if we are all sitting in the dark with our flashlights pointed at other people.

“Whatever happened to WWJD?” the page asks. So many people answer that with, “Yea, what is wrong with the world? Everyone is forgetting that!” But, whatever happened to us answering, “Yea, what is wrong with me? I have forgotten that!” Well, we all have this tendency to point out what others are doing wrong, but let’s set that aside and instead focus on how we can become light in the darkness. His light in the darkness.

In the above verse Jesus says that it is in our good deeds that our light will shine out and glorify God. What are our “good deeds”? They are the deeds that Jesus would do. In the verses, He says that the way others will see His light will be because we are the city on a hill, going about our good deeds (or aka, His deeds) as a part of our everyday life which shine out for others to see. In other words, as we are living out our lives as Christ-followers, living out the WWJD life in our everyday situations, then people around us will be able to see Him alive in us. People in the dark will find that light and be attracted to it, to Him.

Are our deeds, His deeds? Is the light we shine coming from within, born of the work of the Holy Spirit changing us to be like Christ, who is alive in us? Are His words our words?

Of course God will have us speak to others about Him, but if all we do is talk and we really don’t “shine” out from our lives, people will see that and our words lose meaning. Perhaps having your light under a bowl is not just an unwillingness to tell others about what Jesus has done on the cross, perhaps it also is that person who becomes a Christian (or says they are one) but never allows Jesus to work His light and life out in their life. Perhaps for those people, their little light never has the chance to grow. One thing I do know about candles is that if you light one and put a bowl over it completely, it will soon burn out because it won’t have any oxygen to keep it going. Could that be part of what is being said here?

We need to grow and feed our walk with Christ. We need to know and apply His word. We need to commune with Him in prayer and relationship so that we are walking on the earth in a way that shines His light around us. Is there something dark and wrong with the world? Of course. But if we are the city on the hill, we need to each be shining His light.

We often use this verse to say that we need to not be afraid to tell others about the wonderful thing that Jesus has done in buying our salvation from sin, death, and hell. Let our light shine in that context means, “Tell others.” I don’t dispute that. However, we see everyday (if we have eyes to see, that is) how lots of Christians are talk, talk, talking, but not really live, live, living like Christ-followers. Let us most importantly be letting the Holy Spirit shine His flashlight on our own hearts and lives so that we can be made more like Him to shine His light more clearly into the darkness that is around us.

What About Earthly Power?

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 2 Comments

The Apostle Paul, whose name started as Saul, was a sinful man full of pride and willing to see believers in Jesus killed; interestingly enough, though, he was extremely religious, and he had committed everything he had to follow a wrong thinking about the Old Testament law.

As a proud Pharisee, a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” he strictly followed the law in all its forms, and even persecuted to death those who stood in the way of that wrong belief. But Saul met Jesus on the Damascus road in Acts 9 and he become a Christ-follower. As Paul later wrote in Ephesians 3:8, he counted all his worldly and religious success as “dung” (yes, he used the sh** word). All his religiosity and superficial attempts to be holy and right were as dung. His worldly values—to be thought highly of, to be perfect in the eyes of men and God, the zeal for position, his rule-following prowess and commitment—all of it, became as low in value to him as excrement. (Yes, the word he used to describe his former ambitions, is sh** in Greek, but it often gets cleaned up in our English Bibles, translated as “nothing,” “loss,” or “rubbish,” “garbage,” “dirt,” or “trash.”)

Anyway, you should get the picture that he thought all that worldly ambition was as low as it could be and as far from what he wanted in his life when he became a Christ-follower. He was a different person, and eventually, he used a new name, Paul (see Acts 13:1-11).

Recently, someone tried to use Saul/Paul as an example to me of how God uses the worldly and powerful to get his work done on the earth. You can imagine the sort of political point this person was making. The person who said this seemed to think that Christians should emulate Paul because of his position of power. I feel that the words of Paul himself here show how wrong-headed that sort of thinking is. Paul called all his zeal and ambition to accomplish actions for God outside of God’s plan in Jesus as dung, excrement, valueless, something to repent of, something to shun, something to avoid as if you were touching manure.

Paul is only an example to us because he repented and completely submitted his all to God and followed Christ. He changed and became a new person, the old was past. The old was not excused. It was not an example. The heart of the “old religious Saul/Paul” was, as how Jesus described it:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”

Matthew 23:27

As such did Jesus describe religious people who think themselves better than others and who thought that by their “activities for God” they were pleasing God, even though what God is interested in is a pure heart and our inside motivations.

Jesus’ showed His value system in His very strong diatribe against religious hypocrisy throughout what he said in Matthew 23. No doubt this made the religious crowd in charge and in power angrier at Him than they already were. He nonetheless spoke it out strongly for them to hear. We need to take this into account because He was not just speaking it out to the religious leaders—although, the power of our leaders to lead astray is judged more harshly because they bear responsibility for the truth and other souls—but all of us must take to heart the call away from religious pride, hypocrisy, and as Jesus put it,

“Woe to you…hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”

Matthew 23:25-26

In this day and age, like all ages before us, we must take it seriously to be following what Jesus said and doing what Jesus would have us do and say and think in the world we live in. We are called to be light and truth for Him and Him only, not for political persons or worldly ideas. Some of our worldly ideas might seem to be based on our faith or Christian teachings, but we must at all times examine ourselves to see if we really are in line with the truth, justice, and what Paul wrote to the Philippians:

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Philippians 4:8

A Living Sacrifice

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 12:1-2

These verses in Romans are a picture to us of what it means to become a Christ-follower. What Paul is talking about when he refers to a “living sacrifice” is those animals placed on the altars of the Old Testament temple in Jerusalem, offered as a dutiful sacrifice to God. Here, in Romans 12, we are commanded to place our own selves on the altar of sacrifice in worship to God, similarly to how the sheep or doves were placed on the temple altar. The animals were no longer “their own,” so to speak—no longer doves flying freely in the sky or lambs frolicking in the grassy meadow. The lives that those animals had lived were no more. They were dead: dead to those things. Dead to that life. Their lives were no longer their own.

In a similar way, we are told to think of our duty to worship God as leaving behind ownership for the life we knew, to take up a different kind of life. We must present ourselves to God’s altar just like the sheep and doves were presented by the faithful worshippers at the Temple. We are not killed, but live. And we don’t atone for sin in this sacrifice. In fact, the atonement for sin of the animal sacrifice in the Old Testament Temple was God painting a picture in advance of Jesus’s atonement for sin. Jesus accomplished the real atonement on the cross.

This picture of atonement and sacrifice was also a picture to help us understand our own worship. Here, we are told clearly what constitutes worship for Christ-followers: worship is not about how often we go to church, pray, read the Bible, sing hymns, or talk about our faith. We are not physically dying like Jesus or the lambs and doves, but rather, we are to live continually as if we were laying on His altar at all times, dead to self, a “Living” sacrifice, alive, but dead to self. The life we knew is no more, if we want to follow Christ.

Additionally, we are told that it is by the “mercies of God” that we can and should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. The sacrifice is not a punishment or deprivation, but rather, our response to what Jesus has done for us. God has allowed us to be on his altar, offering ourselves to Him, and that is how we worship Him. This privilege is also a command. We do this daily, continually, living it out.

Now, many people don’t think of the Christian life like that. Too often, people think that following Jesus is a wonderful way to fulfill ourselves and feel good, to lose that “Guilty feeling.” Other people think that becoming a Christian is a way to punch our ticket out of hell to free ourselves from the condemnation of sin. One of these views make us feel like God “owes” us a nice happy and comfortable life; the other, might lead to us thinking of ourselves as better than all those who don’t follow Him.

But, if our emphasis on the Christian life is on experiencing miracles, financial provision, answered prayer, or blessings of some kind, or on being part of the exclusive “in-crowd” of God, we are missing the point here and actually, according to this, not really worshipping Him in a holy or acceptable way. True, it sounds unpleasant to realize that worshipping God has to do with crawling onto an altar and not getting off, but that is what is said here. Christ-followers are to stay there and live there, belonging no longer to ourselves, but to God.

If we find that we have been thinking of the Christian life mostly as something to benefit from, a way to answer our prayers, provide health or financial favor, or just basically to keep us out of hell when we die, then we need to come back to this verse. And the good news about presenting yourself as a living sacrifice is that you can start now to do it. Present yourself to God right now and always. Take the next verse seriously: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

How do we test this? By seeking our the answers in the Bible, by becoming more and more familiar with the teachings of the New Testament, particularly, the things that Jesus said and did in the four gospels, and by asking God to help us become more and more open to hearing correction and repentance, as shown through the Word and Holy Spirit.

Log-in, Log-out

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 1 Comment

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Matthew 7: 1-5

An amazing fact that happens when someone mentions following Jesus to Christians, the first thought often is on how other people don’t. We look at “all their sin” and bad actions, attitudes, and problems, then start judging them. You will notice that in the above verses, which by the way are preceded by Jesus telling the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount (including all his disciples and followers): “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

The “who” he is speaking to here—beyond everybody else—is you and me! He wants us not to judge others and specifically came up with a truly clear and understandable, no-excuses sort of analogy. Log in the eye; speck in the eye.

I have heard this explained like this: a speck in your own eye will make you see specks everywhere.

Jesus wants us to apply His words to ourselves. Yes, He does make the point that we are then to help others with the specks in their eyes, but how many of us simply brush off that point? It is very easy to think to oneself, “Yes, I have looked at my life already and know myself quite well. I don’t really have any logs there. I would know it.” A thought like that is the core of what makes up our blind spots in life.

We all know what a blind spot is when driving alongside a semi-truck, right? There are certain spots alongside a truck that will hide your car from the truck driver’s mirrors. This is why they have special mirrors to help them see everything on the side, including your car. They are called among other things, “Blind spot convex safety mirrors” which you have to add on extra to your truck or car to see the blind spots. I think Jesus is adding here such an accessory for us to use to see our own blind spots.

Jesus says that the measure we use to judge others is the measure that will be used to judge us. Perhaps a useful tool here would be to keep track and attentive to ways that you yourself respond in judgement of others around you, both the non-Christians and Christians, so that you can firstly see how (i.e., “how” not “if”) you are being like that yourself. Applying the Word to ourselves is likely to keep us so busy we will not have as much time to be judgmental to others.

Perhaps we will then have more time to pray, have compassion, and do, think, and speak like Jesus did, in a world that definitely needs more WWJD.

What’s the Context?

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

Although the “Whatever Happened to WWJD?” FB page posts one or two verses every M-F, it is very important for us to look at the verse’s context, in other words, the rest of what is said surrounding a particular verse as well as the whole book and Bible. Obviously, a simple blue square can only hold so much text that can be seen and read by you! Reading, studying, and memorizing single verses is a great practice and really helps the words of Jesus stick in our memory to be used by the Holy Spirit as needed to speak to our innermost thoughts—or to be spoken to someone else.

Nevertheless, when you only look at one verse at a time, separated from the context of the rest of the chapter, you might miss some important issues or even misunderstand the verse itself. A case in point was one of the verses that was shared this last week, Revelation 3:20. Probably all of us have heard that verse before used to speak to people who are not yet Christians to encourage them to come to Christ. However, the context of the verse is much different than that. (Not to say it is wrong to use it to encourage people to come to Christ, because the verse is true for everyone.) Revelations 3:20 is the warning/promise part of the angel’s letter to the 7th church, Laodicea, starting with verse 3:14 

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Revelation 3: 14-22

The seven letters in Revelation are from God to seven churches that an angel brought to the Apostle John while he was exiled to the island of Patmos. The churches are local congregations in far western Turkey, relatively nearby to where John was. 

Everyone wants to be thought of as being in the Church of Philadelphia, where the congregation is commended for being patient, enduring tribulation, and completely faithful, with nothing to rebuke. However, the verses of 3:20 are part of the letter to the church that is called “lukewarm, wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Yet, that church was told to “buy gold refined from fire” and to “cover their shameful nakedness” and to buy salve for their unseeing eyes. Even that church was offered the “knock on their door” to come in and sup with the Lord. It seems that they have a choice to change and the offer is there for them.

As is often noted, in the famous picture by William Holman Hunt of this verse, the doorknob is on the inside of that door, waiting to be turned by those inside. Christ doesn’t force His way in, He knocks and asks. What will we do? Those who want to walk the way that Jesus would have them, will do as the letter to the angel of Laedicia says, “Be earnest and repent.”

The King’s Heart

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.”

Proverbs 21:1

This verse is really not directed to a king, but is directed to us who are reading it. Who is it that needs to understand this? Those who look out upon the king and government and want to turn the “tide” of what is happening around us. The Bible is clearly pointing us toward seeing that change or turn in its proper perspective: Look to the hands of the Lord.

How do we as Christians today, living in a world where we have some choice as to who will be the “King” and government that represents us? Sorry to say, but it is the same answer: The hands of the Lord. What that means for us is to pray.

How many people spend as much time praying about this as they do complaining, posting comments, and other worldly efforts to bring about their will for elections? Been there done that myself over the years. However, we as Christians—very specifically to those in the US, but it applies everywhere—must take this very seriously. Our witness to the reality of what we say we believe in is on the line. Do we really believe that it is the Lord who will change hearts, both the hearts of the king and government, as well as the people in our communities and world? Or do we believe that we should use any means necessary to accomplish what we think is the right sort of government and leader for our country?

Proverbs 21 as a whole is extremely instructive about how God sees this issue. I would strongly encourage everyone to take some time and really think through each of these verses in Proverbs 21 in the context of how God views us in our world. Please avoid the sort of binary view that so many people take today, where they look at every condemnation as a strike against “the other guy, that person whom we are not for” and not as a chance to self-examine the hypocrisy out of their heart. Clear your own preconceived mindset and read Proverbs 21 to see what God thinks is important. Doing so may change your viewpoint.

Changing our viewpoint to better match God’s viewpoint is what it is all about when it comes to WWJD. Sometimes we are very ingrained in what we think God wants and we miss what He actually does want. The most important thing for us is to always, everyday, bring ourselves back to the place where we rest at His feet our ideas and take up His. Unless we do that, our efforts to accomplish a Biblical life might not actually be very Biblical.

small boat on a lake or river at sunset