skip to main |
skip to sidebar
When I was growing up it seemed like there was a lot of preaching about things you couldn’t do. Like it was wrong to wear shorts, it was wrong for boys and girls to swim together and it was wrong to dance.
In fact when I was in the 8th grade the PE teacher informed us one day that they were going to combine the boys and girls and we were all going to learn to Square Dance. I thought to myself… I’m not going to Square Dance because it’s a sin and smugly went home and told my parents what the Devil’s minions wanted me to do. Imagine my surprise when my parents said… it won’t hurt you to learn how to Square Dance. I guess that was my first lesson that just because you heard a preacher, preach something, didn’t necessarily mean it was true.
Of course in the Bible there is no command not to dance, there is no example of it being identified as a sin and there is no necessary inference that it is wrong. So, where is the authority for teaching that dancing is wrong and sinful?
Usually dancing is taught as being wrong because it might promote lust between a man and a woman and lead to fornication. If that’s a legitimate reason for forbidding a practice then we should also throw out dating or holding hands or putting on make-up or… so many things. And if we don’t include those activities then we are not being consistent in our arguments,
Sometimes preachers teach that dancing might hurt our Christian influence. Really? How could it hurt our influence if no one else sees anything wrong with it? I think it might do more damage to our influence if we condemn a practice that is not condemned in the scriptures.
If we really want to be biblical why don’t we teach and preach against lust and fornication… primarily… and mention activities that might promote those sins secondarily?
I still remember dancing with that girl in the 8th grade. I was so scared and nervous and couldn’t wait for it to be over. I also remember when one of my nephews got married that there was some dancing going on. My mother was 80 years old at the time and I asked her if she would dance with me and we did. I’ll never forget it… I think I cried.
Is dancing wrong? No it isn’t. What is wrong is the blanket condemnation of dancing, which is disingenuous, paints a false portrait of Christ and cripples the Cross of Jesus Christ.
John 11 contains the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
Martha and Mary were at home with their brother when he fell sick. Everyone gets sick but Lazarus day by day kept getting sicker. Jesus had been in the home of Martha and Mary at least once and probably several times because he had developed a relationship with them. The scriptures said… he loved them.
Martha and Mary knew how busy Jesus was but they feared for their brother’s life and sent the message to Jesus… “Lord the one you love is sick.” A simple, understated message that hardly revealed the hidden emotions behind it… unless you were Jesus.
Even though Jesus loved this family he waited two days to do anything about it. Imagine sitting at your brother’s bed side as his health waned and viewing the agonal breathing that precedes death and wondering why the one who could heal him hasn’t come? I mean… you loved Jesus and thought he loved you and yet at the hour of your greatest need Jesus doesn’t show up.
Your brother dies, you bury him and all the friends come to comfort you in your great sorrow… but Jesus isn’t there.
Finally the two sisters get word that Jesus is coming. Martha hears first and goes to meet Jesus on the road and says… “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died” They have a brief conversation about the after-life and in spite of all the emotions and disappointment Martha says… “I know that you are the Christ the Son of God who was to come into the world.”
Amazing! In spite of Jesus’ failure to help her brother she still believes.
Then comes Mary. She hears that Jesus is on the road and comes quickly. Maybe she even ran. Unlike Martha when she sees Jesus she drops to her knees and through her tears states the same thing that Martha had… “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.”
Jesus sees her tears and is overwhelmed with emotion and cries himself.
Notice the difference in the two sisters and Jesus’ response. Martha controlled her emotions and Jesus told her in a logical way the things she needed to hear.
Mary expressed her emotions and Jesus also gave her the thing that she needed the most… his emotions.
Jesus gave Martha the thing she needed to hear and gave Mary the thing she needed to see.
Of course we know how the story ends. Jesus gave both sisters the thing they most wanted… their brother.
Just like Martha and Mary we are all built a little different. One personality is not better or worse than the other personality.
We are all going to lose someone we cherish the most in the world. We may pray to God and their health may be restored or we may lose that cherished person.
Remember Martha and Mary and don’t ever lose your faith. Whether you have your loved one returned to you on earth or whether you see them in Heaven one day… God is in control and is the only one who can help you.
I like reading the logical things recorded in the scriptures but I also like knowing that Jesus understands my emotions and can even read my heart when emotions overcome my logic and understanding fails me.
The context of Matthew 18 begins with a question from Jesus’ disciples… “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus answers by talking about humility and receiving “little ones” and not causing them to stumble.
He continues by asking them if they had 100 sheep and 1of them strayed wouldn’t they leave the 99 to go find the lost 1?
He concludes that story with the statement…”even so it is not the will of God that one of these “little ones” should perish.
Here are some questions that should be asked… Who is the owner of the sheep? Who are the 99 sheep? Who is the lost sheep and how do we find and bring the lost sheep back?
I think those questions are answered in verses 15-17.
18:15a. If your brother sins (or sins against you), go and show him his fault.
The lost sheep is the sinner who is also a “little one”. His fault or sin makes him lost.
18:15b. If he hears you, you have gained your brother back.
In this story the one looking for the sheep is his spiritual brother. He takes “ownership” of the other sheep by caring for their safety.
18:16-17. If he won’t listen take two or three witnesses and if he won’t hear them tell it to the congregation.
The congregation are the 99 other sheep who have not strayed.
Here’s the thing about the “little ones” who are trapped in the web of sin. We should make every effort to pull them loose. All of us should, not just the Preacher, Elders or Deacons. We do that by approaching the individual and identifying his sin. If we are rejected we don’t give up. We take a few others with us. If we are rejected we still don’t give up. The whole congregation tries to pull this “little one” out of his sin.
God doesn’t want to lose any of his “little ones” his mechanism for achieving that is the action of the other Christians. Pride and indignation over another’s sin is counter-productive.
The Christian arms himself with humility and loving concern to bring the lost sheep back. Sometimes in spite of all this the sheep won’t come back to the flock. That sheep is no longer part of the flock and all relationships are severed.
However, remember the prodigal son… that relationship was also severed but the sheep eventually made his way back.
The greatest ones in the Kingdom are those care and sacrifice for their brother sheep. Be great through sacrifice.
Growing up my dad never hired anyone (that I can remember) to do anything. I remember he had a 1964 step side Chevrolet pickup truck with a manual transmission that was acting up. Dad went to the local library and borrowed a Chilton’s manual and fixed that transmission.
He taught me and my two brothers how to work on cars. When I went to college I worked construction jobs and learned carpentry. When the kids were young and money was tight I fixed everything I could on my own.
Even now when money is in better supply I find myself still fixing things. One of my weak points now-a-days is to just hire someone to fix things. 4-5 times our pool equipment has needed to be repaired so I call the pool guy and he will say I’ll be there in a week or two. I say… never mind and fix it myself. I’m a little impatient too.
I’ve had some projects that seem a little overwhelming and will call for a price quote which usually seems too high and then decide just to do it myself.
I’ve had a lot of friends that were old men (most of them are dead now) that I’ve learned a lot from. One of those was RD Cave. RD and some of the other old guys used to eat breakfast together and then meet at the church building to do maintenance. RD Cave at 80 some odd years old… I’ve never seen anyone work so slow or get so much done. He just kept at it. He’s my hero.
Here’s what I really wanted to talk about… Bible study and Bible knowledge. Most people want to learn their Bible like RIGHT NOW. One of my favorite things to ask is… “Do you know how long it takes to get a year’s experience?” When they shrug their shoulders quizzically I reply “12 months… there are no shortcuts”.
I look back at when they made me an Elder at Parkway and my Bible knowledge was pretty good back then but not near as good as it is now. The best way for me to learn Bible has been to participate as a student in Bible classes and to regularly teach in Bible classes. Another way has been to write a blog and come up with a Bible article every week.
I read out of a chronologic Bible every morning and mark it up pretty good with notes and such. If I have an idea for an article I write the page number down in the back of that Bible… there’s not much room left on those pages.
Some people try to take short cuts to improve their Bible knowledge like spending their time listening to preachers and reading up in commentaries. That’s OK… I do that too, but don’t use that as a crutch or substitute for real, down home, earnest Bible study.
Dad taught us to work on our own and not rely too much on others and I miss him every day. Do your own work… you’ll be prouder and better for it and I’m not just talking about auto repair or carpentry.
In Larry’s class tonight we talked about influence and all the ways we can enhance that. As Christians we are changing spiritually into Jesus Christ and as Christ is formed in us we become powerful influencers without even trying that hard.
Let me give you a few examples. Many years ago several Parkway members got together to play Volleyball along with whoever else wanted to play. James was one of those other guys… about my age and looked like he had tried about everything this life has to offer. One evening he called me to the side and asked me to pray for him and his wife… they were having problems. That was the opening I was looking for and we prayed but I also invited him into our home. He started attending with us and at some point he told me he hadn’t been to church since he was a kid but saw something in our lives that was lacking in his and wanted to make a change.
The other guy was also a Volleyball player. He had been a drug dealer and been shot a few times and spent some time in prison. Also he told me he had been with about a thousand women. I asked him how that happened and he said that when the women came to buy drugs you also usually had sex with them. Of course all that was in the past for him. Anyway he was a really nice guy and I liked him. At some point he started going to the church where he was raised, got married and was very active in his congregation. He was a contractor and we hired him to do a few little jobs at the congregation where he also became friends with David Smitherman.
At some point he told me that the reason he started going back to church was because of me and David Smitherman and his respect for us. I had no idea.
I see people putting bumper stickers on their cars about Jesus and getting religious tattoos and quoting Bible verses at the drop of a hat and all that is OK… but let me see it in your lives because that’s the greatest advertisement there is for Jesus Christ. You want to be of great influence? Transform into Jesus Christ and be active in the community where people can see Him and you will help change a few lives.
