by RobertCummins | Dec 19, 2016 | 51. Involved In Ministry
Are you involved in ministry? Is the nature of your ministry full-time or are you just part-time? I have had people for years telling me that they could see me in full-time ministry someday. Since that had been an ambition of mine since Christ took up residence within me at 23, I was always pleased to hear this prediction. After all, I didn’t want to just give Jesus a part-time commitment. But, I have also been frustrated because my attempts at moving in that direction always felt like I was kicking against the goads.
It has only been in recent years that I discovered that I was already in full-time ministry and had been for years. Here is something that might cause you some surprise: if Christ is in you, you too are in full-time ministry. (And if you are a Christian, Christ is in you.) If you’re not drawing a paycheck for your ministerial contribution, this passage drives home some of the advantages of the type of full-time ministry you and I share. You and I (non-staff ones) have much more in common with Paul than we probably think!
Here are some observations from this passage about Paul’s ministry. His conscience was so clear before God and man that he could defend his whole-hearted effort and motives without blushing and also without pride. Paul clearly understood that in regard to his ministry, it was ultimately God, with whom he had to do. This was simply the orientation of his heart since he had become the tabernacle of the living Christ. This relieved Paul of the burden of trying to impress anyone or even assert the apostolic authority that was rightfully his. He preferred to win their hearts and draw their choices from them as opposed to laying down a law and driving them with guilt and fear toward obedience. A key to Paul’s success comes to light in verse 2:8: “Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.”
Paul knew something about different types of authority. He knew that the kind of authority that is earned by sharing life’s burdens was superior to the kind that came with his apostolic title. Paul was using the authority of a true spiritual father, not that of a hireling. He knew from experience that, from this place of close relational proximity, he was more effective in the exhorting, encouraging and imploring necessary to equip men to live as sons and ultimately spiritual fathers.
Paul owed nothing to anyone other than God. He was not obligated to meet the expectation of a congregation whose tithes would be the basis of his economic stability. In the Christian culture most of us have grown up in, there is a pastor who receives a paycheck and he is accountable to his employer, which is typically represented by some kind of board or committee. And, if you have had the experience of being either the writer or the recipient of these checks, you know there are the ever-present dynamics of politics, by which Paul was fortunately unhindered in Thessalonica.
I have had the opportunity to enter into the dynamic tensions between the writer and recipient of these checks. Consequently, today I thank the Lord for sparing me from “that type” of full-time ministry and permitting me to see that all Christians are in full-time ministry with the same advantages that Paul knew. We have the privilege, just as Paul did:
…To walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls us into His own kingdom and glory. And for this reason we can thank God that when those (in relational proximity to us) received (and observed) the word of God’s message, they accepted it not as (just) the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in those of us who believe. (Parentheticals mine)
For the record, Paul did issue commands by the authority of the Lord Jesus, but he didn’t just preach them, he demonstrated them. When he exhorted the Thessalonians that each of them must learn to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, as a member of their community, he was able to actually demonstrate how to abstain from sexual immorality and to live and to work free from lust and greed. The kingdom of God is learned by a combination of exhibition (example) and exposition (teaching).
As much as a pastor might like to imitate Paul and personally exhort and encourage the flock, his organizational and managerial responsibilities usually require so much of his time that relational proximity to others is nearly impossible. There is another complicating feature for “pastors” in experiencing true relational proximity (and intimacy) to others in our current church culture— “compliance.”
I hate this word because our construction business contracts with government entities, who are really heavy into “compliance.” If we do not comply with their specifications and regulations, which are numerous—and sometimes onerous—we do not get our paycheck. I believe I see this same dynamic in-play within church (the way our traditions have taught us to do it). It may in fact be worse in churches than in government. At least in our business (where God is not confused as its sovereign author) we have written contracts, specification, and prescribed means of resolving disputes.
Within church cultures, there are some written codes, but there are also myriad unwritten ones spelling out the righteous standards that must be complied with. It is very complicated, because over time these standards become embedded into the group’s culture and are hence sacred (assumed to be ordained by God). If one wishes to remain employed or in good standing, it would serve them well to understand the religious culture in which they serve and live in compliance with it. If, however, you are a re-former of church culture, brace yourself for an inevitable and messy battle where the disputed territories being fought over will seldom even be understood or acknowledged for what they really are—a swampland of traditions, swimming with old-wineskin assumptions.
Pastor and staff beware. These stagnant waters often breed a nasty parasite – the backbiting saint. There is typically an ongoing buzz of discussion within the local assembly as to how the pastor (and others) are doing in their compliance. Sheep may look innocent, but they bite like crazy. Just ask all the pastors who have distanced themselves (for safety and sanity’s sake) from all the self-appointed code enforcers.
I have drifted. My point is that those of us who do not draw a paycheck for our service of worship have an unprecedented opportunity and responsibility. The pastor does not have the same congregation we do. Only you and I have our particular network of friends, co-workers, and family. It’s not the pastor’s job to reach them. Only we, who are unencumbered by title and who have been uniquely gifted, equipped, and strategically located, must serve those nearest us. Only in our unique relational proximity to these people can we impart our lives.
I Thessalonians has much to say about life together, but here is one of Paul’s most precious pearls: “Encourage one another and build-up one another…and always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men.”
Father, may the light come on within us and help us see and take ownership of those you have placed near to us. Help us to love them with the gifts you placed uniquely in us for this purpose. Deliver us from the idea that the kingdom was left to be built by salaried professionals. Give us new strategies that will equip and commission the saints to impart our lives and the gospel to those You have placed near to us. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Dec 18, 2016 | 50. Give Your Life Away
It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” And they could make no reply to this. (Luke 14:1-6)
I can imagine this scene; Jesus enters and hears, “Greetings, Rabbi. Thank you for coming to this reception which we have organized in your honor.” Perhaps the only honest part of the host’s opening sentence was that it had been organized. Whether the host was grateful or intended to honor this so-called teacher is unlikely. We can assume that everyone in attendance had been invited. The invitations had been sent out with an organizational agenda in mind. It wasn’t advertised, but this gathering was intended to be a barbecue.
Whether we acknowledge it or not, we always have an agenda. (This is an aside, but it would be healthy for our spiritual formation to acknowledge this and, when God desires, to even know what our agendas are.) It is not improbable the day (the Sabbath) and at least one guest (the dropsy victim) were chosen to further the agenda of the host and his orthodox colleagues, which was to expose the interloper (Jesus) as a violator of their sacred commands and their myriad derivatives.
Oh, how I love Jesus! For many reasons, but this morning I love watching Him cut through all the pretense of this gathering. What was Jesus’ agenda, anyway? He had been on record (since the Nazareth Synagogue incident) on just this point: “He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” So how did Jesus advance His agenda in the midst of this trap His enemies had laid for Him?
To begin with, Jesus knew that His Father was sovereign and had sent out His own invitations. This made His Father’s will light and easy. Jesus did not feel His Father’s agenda as a heavy burden. Neither should we. Jesus never lost sight of His Father’s will, which was (and is) to put all things right (on earth as it is in heaven), by expanding the sovereignty of His Son, one heart at a time. Jesus simply watches to see what kind of banquet the Father would spread out before Him in the presence of His enemies.
Knowing fully well what was in men’s hearts, Jesus plied His prophetic-messianic vocation of realizing that this moment (and all moments going forward) represented the favorable timing of salvation. Always intuiting God’s heart, Jesus simply wades into the situation as the living, active, and sharp, two-edged sword of Truth, prepared to slice into the thoughts and intentions (agendas) of His host’s heart. As was often the case, this occasion required exposing the obvious contrast between the letter and the spirit of the matter. And on this occasion, the scalpel, as it often was, is in the form of a question: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
But the hosts keep silent—hopefully because the scalpel was doing its work, liberating them from the snare of religion they themselves were unknowingly entangled in. Not one to squander even a single kingdom moment, Jesus healed the man beset with dropsy. Knowing Who had sent out the invitations and His agenda, equipped Jesus (and will equip us) to better organize our hearts so that we will be able to present to Him hearts of wisdom.
When God tells us that His ways are higher than ours, He is also saying our agendas are inferior to His. If it is our agenda to give our lives away as leaders, Paul tells us it is a fine work we desire to do. However, James would add that “not many of you should become teachers since they we will incur a stricter judgment.” In light of the higher accountability, a powerfully equipping idea for any would-be leader (with whatever title they aspire to) would be to keep in mind that the kingdom of God is an invitation-only affair, and that God’s invitations, coming as they always do from a higher agenda, more often than not, go unnoticed or turned down.
Perhaps an even more sobering idea is that the most scripturally literate among us, can miss the spirit while flailing about in the letter of some law or principle. Here’s a reality-based principle that might liberate us into our walk in the Spirit: there is always more going on in the kingdom than we typically perceive. Just understanding the motives of the One who has invited us to the banquet will help us keep our hearts running on the kingdom track and our clay feet out of the snares set to entangle them. Keeping in mind the Father’s comprehensive full-time salvation intentions (which include our bodies, souls, and spirits) will go far in giving us eyes to see and ears to hear.
Father, may our hearts receive and ponder the piercing questions that will expose our hearts so that they may be liberated and equipped to see just how intricately the banquet table has been laid out before us. Teach us to use the right questions when necessary to silence the religious spirits within and without. Amen.
Perhaps today’s post, in its consideration of “Invitation,” will be a key to better understand the balance of today’s passage which is The Parable of the Guests (Luke 14:7-15). From here, I will leave you to your own meditations.
by RobertCummins | Dec 17, 2016 | 50. Give Your Life Away
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Jesus has burst onto the scene with miracles of healing and provisions of food, not to mention this wonderful theme of “love”. Loving one another is an ultra positive message. Everyone can cast a vote for “love.” It is not surprising that “now large crowds were going along with Him.” What is surprising is what He adds next to His message.
And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26)
Ok Jesus, what’s it going to be, “love” or “hate”? We know the answer. We know we are supposed to even love and pray for our enemies; how much more must we love our immediate families? So, why this bizarre command? Jesus is saying a very hard thing because He is introducing a very large and revolutionary idea. He knows people are aghast at His comment, so with their attention now in hand, He follows up with another illustration – one that will soon be fleshed out before them in an unforgettable way.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:27)
A cross is good for only one thing – effecting death to the one hanging on it. Jesus came to give us life and to give it to us in abundance. How can death be factored into life? Perhaps this is the greatest mystery we face and ironically, our teachers have told us next to nothing about it. In this vacuum how can one become an authentic follower of Jesus? A participant in abundant life? A light to the world? Jesus does not just drop this bomb and walk away. He continues…
For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ (Luke 14:28-30)
Who would be willing to hate his immediate family? To take up their cross daily and follow Him? This tower is just too large! Well hang on; it is going too become taller yet.
So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. (Luke 14:33)
Jesus has just given us a breakdown and cost summary of this tower He has referred to. This highly visible structure is built on Christ alone. It requires that we relinquish the rights to our lives. We are no longer the sovereigns over our own lives. Like Paul and other early disciples, we carry a sentence of death within us (2 Corinthians 1:9). Our lives have been purchased; we are no longer our own. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Jesus has not changed His message but we have. The leaders of the western church have created an alternate tower – one that is much smaller, hardly noticeable but much more affordable. Being a disciple – one who has relinquished the rights to their life to God, is not a cost component of this tower. One can get into this tower with a modest downpayment of believing that Jesus died for their sins and will be taking them to heaven when they die.
Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Luke 14:34-35)
I believe that one day, men will arise with a vision of the same tower Jesus had in mind. They will also know the actual cost and convey it on the front end of their message. The cost is in fact impossibly high but perfectly affordable, in Christ – to Whom all things are possible. I believe that one day hearts will ache, when we see how poorly we have invested. Tears will flow when we see just how deeply we have buried our talents. I believe that one day, without the slightest damage to God’s grace, we will eventually understand the mystery of the cross and its integral relationship to abundant life.
Father, may we be known for our love for You which exceeds even our love for our own families. May we emerge as those who have abandon our personal rights and who have, in turn, discovered an abundant life of joyous liberty. May we build in Your strength, in Your name, for Your glory. May we become wealthy in the greater sense as we transfer the title of all that we are and have to You. Give us ears to hear that we might become the salt and light You intended for us to become.
by RobertCummins | Dec 17, 2016 | 50. Give Your Life Away
Scientists and moviemakers are attracted to the idea of intelligent life in outer space and making contact with it (or them). The motivation of this quest into the mysterious unknown is often to gain superior knowledge from superior beings that will enhance and perpetuate life on earth. It is interesting, when the imagination and money machine of Hollywood is turned loose on this theme, that the beings they conceive are typically super intelligent, large, frightening looking combinations of men, reptiles, insects, or germs with ravenous appetites for either us or our stuff.
I see a similar theme in our passage today: that of communication between man and intelligent Life from above. But in our story line, the mysterious knowledge that men intuitively hunger for, which, at the time this letter was being written, had been hidden from the past ages and generations; it was then being delivered through the unlikely vessel of Paul to an unlikely people—saints.
It turns out that the Life from beyond was not an intelligent ravenous monster with malevolent intent; rather, it was an omniscient, loving Being with benevolent intentions, who revealed the mystery in His own way and in His own timing. God Himself knew that it was not just knowledge we needed. And, He knew we needed more than success in perpetuating life on earth in its progressive state of decay. He knew that what man needed was Life Himself in order to perpetuate, not just more perfect temporal unions, but to inaugurate and build His eternal kingdom. In God’s story, the mystery (a.k.a. true knowledge) is “Christ Himself in whom had been hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
The plot of God’s story thickens further in regards to this mystery, and it has to do again with the unlikely audience—these people called saints, “to whom God willed to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery,” which turns out to be CHRIST IN THEM—THE HOPE OF GLORY.
If you read all the writings of the unlikely vessel Paul, you will discover that much is riding on the eventuality of “glory” being manifested through the collective expression of the “saints.” No one could have invented this plot! It really is scandalous! What is the likelihood of Paul, a Christian hater and persecutor of The Way, inheriting the well-spring itself of The Way and then preaching that mystery to the unclean and very unlikely Gentiles. A first century Jew would have said, “Are you kidding me!” Yet, how very much like God! (Definitely read I Corinthians 1:18 – 2:16.)
I have been amazed at how frequently matters return to the issue of identity. Satan, while tempting Jesus, said; “If you are the son of God…” He is not really very creative, because he uses a similar lie aimed at our identities: “If you were a saint…” To so many within Christendom, sainthood is an earned status or an advanced level of Christian maturity or even something we only achieve after we die. These are monstrous lies designed by Satan to perpetuate a cosmic-level identity crisis amidst God’s family. A great deal of Satan’s kingdom will be dissolved when these lies are exposed.
The wealth of sainthood was deferred to us and should have been realized at our new birth. Sainthood is not earned. It is our gifted birthright of which we are to have full-assurance and understanding. We are His! The issue of identity was resolved at the Cross. It really is finished as He has proclaimed! The rending of His flesh removed the veil that we might forevermore, by way of this inheritance, come boldly and joyfully into His most holy presence. True sainthood has never had anything to do with maturity, pedigree, or resume. It has always had to do with our new hearts and our brand new natures.
It is no longer I who live but Christ lives within me. (Galatians 2:20)
Paul leverages his revelation of Christ, and all his considerable power of communication, to plead with the Colossians:
As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him… I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive arguments… See to it that no one take you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (from Colossians 2:4,6 and 8)
Father, as a race of men, we are bloated in knowledge and bankrupt in Mystery. We have accordingly reaped a whirlwind of societal plagues and then wondered at the cause. Forgive us, Lord. May Your saints arise in these days, ahead of whatever tumult may await us. In our new identities, that are steeped in the wealth of full assurance, may our hearts be knit together in love, providing each other and this world with a revelation of “Christ in us,” so potent that a hope of glory is produced—a new optimism that the kingdom of God is a now kingdom and an ever expanding one, one of which we are now citizen-saints in good standing. May Your saints fulfill their destiny— becoming the unlikely source of fresh wisdom and light, exposing the futility this earth has been subjected to and the underlying spiritual darkness that creates it. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Dec 16, 2016 | 50. Give Your Life Away
Now all the tax gatherers and sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him… both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble… (from Luke 15:1-2)
What is going on here? Why is it that society’s losers and outcasts were attracted to God Incarnate and society’s best and most religious kept their distance and complained? Those that knew they were unclean were drawn to Jesus. Those who believed themselves to be clean were not; instead they were offended. Perhaps this Parable of the Lost Sheep will shed more light on our question.
It’s a short and simple story of a shepherd who leaves his flock to search for one sheep that has strayed and gotten lost. We know the outcome. The attention the shepherd has diverted from the flock is rewarded: he finds his sheep and his joy spills over among his friends, who join him in the celebration.
Verse 7 helps us to understand the nature of the rescue. It involves repentance. It is probably no coincidence that this parable precedes the Parable of the Prodigal Son by just 4 verses. I have been thinking of repentance in the context of that parable. I first think of the younger son and the vile things he had done with his father’s wealth. His life style had been godless and unclean—a total waste. For this boy, the father’s only rescue strategy was to let sin run its course so that the child could be brought to a place of acknowledged poverty. The father was beside himself with joy that spilled over and became a huge celebration. The father did not bring up the boy’s waste and debauchery. His heart melted when he saw his precious son. It seemed it was the distance between them more than the uncleanness and defilement of the boy’s lifestyle that troubled the father. (I wonder if the prodigal went so far out of control as to get a tattoo or a piercing!)
The father had to launch a second rescue mission the same day for another lost sheep. It was his older son, who, even though he had lived compliantly, was just as distant and relationally alienated from his father as his brother. For this one, the father’s rescue strategy involved listening to the boy’s heart that was sick with anger, bitterness, and resentment. I think the elder brother was the type of person who perceive they had no need of repentance. I think of this soul as being more deeply lost than the prodigal. Religion is a deeper bondage—a greater stronghold than a mere base lifestyle. Most people living in the gutters of life know they are lost and feel alienated from God. The religious, on the other hand, believe that God is pleased with them because they have stayed home and done their religious chores and held fast to their religious creeds and moral commitments. Deep inside, they believe God owes them a feast.
I am living proof that there is hope for both prodigals and elder brothers. I was saved at 23 as a very lost boy who had squandered some of his earthly father’s money in unrighteous living. I was rescued at 58 years old as an elder brother who had squandered a fair amount of His heavenly Father’s grace. In terms of the burden lifted from my heart, my deliverance from the stronghold of religion was nearly as dramatic as was my initial salvation encounter with the Lord. Much of what I post in middlewithmystery.com is flavored with insights gained since Father has initiated this most recent rescue.
Since my liberation, I view religion as that old wineskin, unfit for new wine. This propensity of ours toward religion is bound up in our fallen DNA, and, just like sin, it distances our hearts from God and misshapes our understanding of Him, others, and ourselves. Being a legitimate born-again son of God and somehow having drifted into more of a servant/slave mindset, I can see how, from our old wineskin hearts, we build old wineskin structures that are capable of keeping the Holy Spirit corporately at bay. Having said this about our structures, it is more important than we realize that our primary responsibility is not our structures. Our structures will likely take care of themselves as we make sure that our own hearts, as new wineskins, are utterly free of elder brother, works-oriented righteousness, and they will issue forth the living water of Christ’s very own life within us.
When we become corporately successful at watching over our hearts in this way, a new life will issue forth that is empowered by God’s Spirit. Christ in us, the hope of glory will be manifested for all the world to see. The earth will finally see the Bride of Christ radiantly adorned in the very splendor of God’s grace instead of some shabby garb patched together by us elder brother types. I truly wonder if this stronghold of religion very well may be the last and greatest demon between us and that day when He fully receives the reward of His suffering.
Father, as we set our hearts on the hope of comprehensive deliverance allow us to anticipate and embrace the incremental dividends of freedom You will impart to us as we rest in You as our Sufficiency. May you grant our hearts the courage to acknowledge where we think our track records merit Your favor. May You grant our hearts the humility to acknowledge our inner poverty that has been glossed over with works and words. May You grant us the perseverance to endure the refining process that will liberate us from the constraints of our old religious wineskins. Amen.
