Responsibility to others

No Love Lost

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ So he [Jesus] told them this parable: ‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’”

Luke 15: 1-7

What does Jesus value, as shown in this parable?

In this section, Jesus is telling us the value He puts on looking for and finding lost sheep. He states that finding those who are lost is of the greatest value we can imagine: that of leaving the large majority behind and going after those who are lost. Does that make you feel unloved, if you are a follower of Jesus who hasn’t left the fold? I am betting that this idea has crossed a few of our minds. Why would the Shepherd leave 99 sheep behind in the open field where they might encounter wolves or other dangers, just so he might possibly find one that is lost? He has 99 good ones already, isn’t that enough or at least good enough?

A few points about this:

  • In Luke, you will notice that the context of this section follows some griping comments made by Pharisees and Sadducees about Jesus’ propensity to dine and associate with “tax-collectors” (i.e., traitors to their nation) and sinners (i.e., those who are not following or trying to follow the laws of Moses and the religious traditions of the Jews). These leaders of the religious mind of the nation of Israel were complaining about Jesus not following their laws and purification requirements, making Jesus unclean.
  • You will also notice that in his parable, you might think that Jesus is contrasting the lost sheep with the “righteous” or at least those who think of themselves as righteous. In actuality, we know from elsewhere in the New Testament, that Jesus died because no one was righteous and free from the need to repent. So He wouldn’t have been thinking that way; to think that way is to think in an earthly way, which we have been warned about. (For more on this, you might check out my posts, “Take a Turn” or “Our Citizenship”.) In other words, Jesus is not saying here that He doesn’t love those who are not lost or that He cares less about them. He focuses instead here on His feelings about those who need Him to find and rescue them.
  • The Greek word used for lost in Luke 12: 3 is not just describing something misplaced, but rather it means something being irretrievably lost, something or someone in danger of being destroyed, like a ship “lost” at sea. The Titanic was not just misplaced; it was ruined, shattered, smashed, wrecked, that kind of lost.
  • In the similar passage of this parable, Matthew 18: 12-13, the word in Greek is not lost as in Luke, but has to do with the idea of straying. The Greek word there (πλανηθῇ /planēthē/) has the same root as the Greek word from which we derive the English word, planet, which actually meant originally, wandering body. The word in Matthew, planáō properly means ” to go astray, get off-course; to deviate from the correct path (circuit, course), roaming into error, wandering; (passive) be misled.” All of that doesn’t have so much to do with righteousness before God but right thinking and acting. The focus in both verses is not about the “who” that Jesus loves more, but on His feelings of love toward those who need Him.

Therefore, this verse is not so much telling us to compare the 99 (or ourselves, for that matter) with the lost sheep, but rather to focus on Jesus’ reaction to someone who is wandering off in their thinking and acting out to the point where they are about to be lost irretrievably, shipwrecked, and sunk at sea.

So, how does this apply to me?

Well, two things are relevant here. 1) We are the kind of being who can be lost. And we are the kind of being who can be found. If you find yourself sinking into what seems like an irretrievable lostness, you are not misplaced by God, but you might be on a course that has taken you astray from the fold. If that is the case, you are still able to be found and carried gently on His shoulders back home. “Back home” might not actually be a place you’ve ever been before, since you may not really know or understand what kind of kingdom Jesus taught about. However, you are never too far from God’s grace and good intentions of help. Just ask Him to show Himself to you and rescue you. Then, when He speaks to you, listen and respond with a full heart.

2) And this is more for those who are wanting to know and live by Jesus’ kingdom and follow a “What Would Jesus Do” course of life: one must continually ask oneself if their heart and intention follows that love that Jesus has for those who have gone astray. How do I feel about the weak, the lonely, the powerless, the forgotten, the poor in spirit, the poor in provision? For those different from you in heritage, religion, gender, race, ethnicity, politics? Do you have the same heart as Jesus for all people, even if you think they are astray or lost? Even if you disagree on some things, important or unimportant?

These are very serious questions we must all ask ourselves continuously if we truly want people to see Jesus alive today. He lives in His people and so the world will only see Him alive in us. What do they see?

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

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.

The King’s Heart

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“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

Pass it On

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“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Phil. 4:9

This verse is about the need for passing on the kingdom life and truths of Jesus’ words to others, specifically, to the next generation of believers. Paul has stated here that watching and listening to his words and life are the ways for fellow Christ-followers and disciples to learn the way they should go and how they should live. What makes Paul so bold to say this? He knows that is the way that Jesus taught His followers. Paul knew that this was Jesus’ plan for spreading His kingdom and bringing maturity and discipleship to Christ-followers.

This verse, Philippians 4:9, doesn’t stand in isolation. Importantly, the earlier part of chapter four—indeed, the whole book of Philippians and as well, all of Paul’s writings—flesh out how the disciple of Jesus, the Christ-follower, is to live. Take for example, going backward in the earlier part of Philippians 4.

Verse 8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Verses 4-7: ” 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Here, the peace of God, which is referenced in verse 9, is described in more detail.

Philippians 4: 4-8 ESV

Paul is stating some critical points for us to ponder about what messages we are sending to those who come after us. We need to study and apply this more thoroughly as Christ-followers.

Pass it on when you have others who need to hear the words of Jesus.

Under Scripture

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This statue of Swiss reformer, William Farel, in Neuchâtel, Swizerland is one of my favorite images to represent what the Christian life is about in relation to God’s words and instructions in the Bible. The reformer holds the Bible above his own head to make a statement: all people, no matter their state, are under the word of God and no one is above it. No matter whether someone is rich or poor; king or peasant; pastor, priest, or layman; leader or follower; believer or non: each individual is measured under the Bible and no one is above it.

The other point with this image—the main point that brings it into this WWJD discussion—is this: The Bible speaks to the individual and it is the individual who must be under it. You will notice that the reformer is not pointing the words outwardly for the world to see, or hitting anyone with it, or having primarily an outward focus to it, bur rather, the Bible is first and foremost having its effect upon the individual under these words.

For us to make a difference in the world, we must see this as the crucial point. We must measure ourselves by the words of the Bible, not us measuring the words of the Bible by ourselves. IF we live our lives in a WWJD way, then we will be able to make an impact on society. If all we do is measure everyone else by the Bible, pointing out how they need to be more like Jesus (oftentimes to people who don’t even believe in Him or have interest in the Bible), without having the Bible have its full impact on our own lives, then we will only be fooling ourselves and not having the impact on the world we wish to.

Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
    apply your heart to what I teach,

for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
    and have all of them ready on your lips.

So that your trust may be in the Lord,
    I teach you today, even you.

Proverbs 22: 17-19
Statue of reformer William Farel, from Neuchatel Switzerland holding the Bible above his own head

Hello World!

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

The natural beauty of this world should never be taken for granted. We should take care of the planet that we live on. It doesn’t seem to make sense that anyone would disagree with the idea of taking care of the Earth; however, listening to the discourse that goes on between the “sides,” the polarized viewpoints in our day, you find one group seeing itself as the protector of the Earth and the other side feeling the need to react against the “other,” downplaying any interest in good earth citizenship.  However, there is a Biblical mandate to steward this garden that we call our home, the planet Earth, so really, there isn’t any need for the excessive polarization and reactivity. Aren’t there things that we can agree about as important for everyone on the planet?

Much of the genuine disagreement between the polarized sides lies in the definition of “taking care of the Earth” or as the Bible calls it, “being a steward.” If you follow the “group-think” of our day too much, you will probably see yourself as  personally responsible to carry out all and everything that is a part of your definition of “loving” the planet. Such things would probably include decreasing your carbon footprint and worrying about whether the problems with the water supply in Flint, Michigan might be more widespread than anyone knows.  Yet, those concerns are not even a small part of what people find to worry about. Some people go to the extreme from the fear and the pressures of habitual ecological worrying, and feeling so much pressure to fight all the problems of the world that they see bring us to the brink of destruction, they become afraid of everything and end up paralyzed, giving up and cocooning, or worse.

However, those that honor the Bible, would do well to remember that it is written, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.”  Acts 7:49 (Also found in Isaiah 66:1). The English word, “Earth” is a translation in this verse from the original Greek of the New Testament,*  which follows:

‘Earth’: Ge Pronounced /ghay/ Noun, Feminine Definition
1) arable land; 2) the ground, the earth as a standing place; 2) the main land as opposed to the sea or water; 4) the earth as a whole–(a.) the earth as opposed to the heavens; (b.) the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals; and 5) a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region.”

Taking care of this beautiful earth to keep it healthy and beautiful is implied in that Biblical statement, since God made the earth as His footstool, or the place on which He places His reign (or throne) and conducts His authority. Believers in the Bible are quick to point out that God has a throne over the Earth, but not all are as quick to understand that for those who honor God and the Bible, showing honor and care for that place in which He has displayed His handiwork, the Earth, is an important task.  Whether or not everyone agrees about the methods or on what it means in whole or in part to “take care of the earth,” God requires attention to this stewardship.

Speaking to those who want to honor God and the Bible: stewardship for the earth is God’s job for mankind, right from the first day. Don’t minimize the importance of this, just because you disagree with the means or methods of some.  Overreacting to the ideas you disagree with, simply to disagree, is not honoring the biblical ideas that one says one professes. Often, the overstatement is just as unbiblical as the thing that you are reacting against. If you are the one that says that you believe in the Bible, why do you expect those that don’t believe it to follow the biblical commands more closely than you do?

For those that don’t believe in biblical commands, do you take it as an unchanging fact that everyone should take better care of the earth–even when you say you don’t believe in any god that would be a source to impose absolute rules? The existence of a source outside mankind to impose an absolute rule that requires us take care of the earth is at least a common ground with those of the biblical viewpoint.

There is, then, at the least, some common ground for agreement in the idea that taking care of the earth is a good and required effort. Maybe we should focus on that common ground more often instead of disagreeing to the extremes.

The Tick (animated series, 1994) created by Ben Edlund (01:30)

Bibliography Information:
* Thayer and Smith. “Greek Lexicon entry for Ge”. “The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon”. 1999. http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/genesis-5.html