Children's Theology of Hitting Back

Had an interesting conversation with my boys tonight. One of them saw an apparent (to him) contradiction in the Bible and sought clarification from me. I love being able to help form their theology.

There were two passages in question:

But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:39 ESV)

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 ESV)

Their question was: how can I turn the other cheek and also respond in anger when someone harms me? Good question. While there could be long and serious discussion about righteous anger (one boy did refer to Jesus clearing the temple, but it may have been a bedtime stalling tactic...) my answer was fairly simple:

We are to do to others what we wish they would do to us, regardless of how they are (or have) treated us.

When we honor others, when we treat them well, we honor God who made them in his image. We are to love others, in the name of Jesus, with our words and actions, regardless of how they interact with us. Truth be told, most adult struggle with these concepts.

Patient

Sometimes I am not a patient person. I complain about traffic and poor driving, I don't like waiting in drive-through lines, I stand and watch the coffee maker.

Sometimes it's even worse, I become quickly frustrated with my daughter as I attempt to help with her math homework, I can become easily annoyed by my boys when I have to repeat my expectations over and over to them. Sometimes I react badly when our family schedule changes. I often become irritated when something prevents me from getting my own way.

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant..." (1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV)

As churches, I think we are impatient with people. Sometimes I think we find ourselves as the Church feeling impatient because of the sin that we see in the lives of people in our church families and around us in our communities. I think we feel like life transformation takes longer than we wish, perhaps because it takes time sometimes and we expect it to be instant. I think, honestly, we are often impatient with God - as if our timing and our planning were better than His.

Love is patient. Not sometimes patient or selectively patient. It is always patient - patient with those we know and those we don't know. Patient in all circumstances.

Am I truly patient? Are we as churches truly patient? How does my / our lack of patience reflect God to those around me / us?

Giving Motivation

I usually feel like I am a giving person. In the recent past, I've opened my home and invited another family to live with my family for a month, I have given away possessions that I wanted to people who needed them more than me, I have given food to the food bank, money to my church, time to my children's school and a variety of other places, energy to serve others. And yet...

"If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:3 ESV)

Motivation for giving, not the gift itself, is the point. How often have I given from obligation? How often from pity? How often from my own prideful desire for fame? Do I really love?

Jesus said clearly that we are to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbours. These, he said, are the greatest commands and all other commands are based upon them.

Love comes first.  It should be my motivation for any act of giving. Do I truly love God and am I motivated by my love for him when I give in tangible and practical ways to the church or to my community? Do I truly love others? Am I motivated by my deep love for others and my heartfelt concern for their well being and their need of the gospel and is that the motivation for my gifts of time, energy and possessions?

Is love as my only motivation for giving in every way which I give? Or, am I gaining nothing?

Knowledge is Nothing

One of my favorite things in the world to do is teach the Bible. I love teaching and preaching to children, students, adults, large groups, small groups - anyone! What I love most is connections. I love how God's activity is woven into the fabric of humanity's experiences in the Old Testament. I love how the whole Bible tells the story of Jesus, how each story fits into the grand story of redemption.

However, if I stop there, I have a problem.

"And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2 ESV)

Even if I knew every connection and every fact, if I understood and had great wisdom, it would not be enough. Knowing what God has done in the past may help me to see what he is doing in the present. However, if all that information does not lead me to live out my faith, to Love God and Love Others, then I personally have nothing of value - "I am nothing."

Do We Have Love?

Each week on Tuesday morning out staff at NMBC meet to review, plan and pray. As we do we also take turns leading a devotional time. This week Pastor Mark lead and left me really thinking. He shared a simple concept which resonated deeply. This concept will be a series of blog posts here.

He read 1 Corinthians 13 and asked us not to think about it as individuals but rather a church. He followed up at the end with a question something like this: Is there evidence to show that we are a loving church? Interesting.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV)

If we have Biblically true and culturally engaging sermons, deep and convicting small group discussions, well planned children and youth ministry teaching, etc., but are not a loving church... we are simply making noise.

In our culture there are lots and lots of people making 'noise.' More books are published every single day in our world than anyone could ever read. More news is reported by video, audio and print media than ever could be consumed. More speeches are given, more lessons are taught than ever could be remembered. Our culture is noisy.

What will make the Church stand out? What will cause the gospel of Jesus Christ to be heard? Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:1, says the answer is love... And so, the original question:

Is there evidence to show that we are a loving church (Church), or are we simply adding to the noise around us?