Weekly Blog
Tips, Tricks, Skills, Spirituality and Wisdom
A Fruit-Filled Life
No temptation has seized you that isn’t common for people. But God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities. Instead, with the temptation, God will also supply a way out so that you will be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 CEB
If we are willing to consider a perhaps fuller, more comprehensive reading of the text, what can we take away from our reading? First, and very, very importantly, God is faithful and in control. Things are going to change. We have no idea when, but eventually, the kingdom of God will come. Second, we have to acknowledge our temptation to chase our tails when we get anxious and follow other gods. This is what 1 Corinthians 10 is talking about. It’s talking about humanity’s instinctive desire to plan for its own survival when it doubts that God is in control. It shows up in the various ways we chase idols. Whether it is a golden calf like they did in the Old Testament or the relentless pursuit of security and success in today’s society, we bail on God anytime we get scared or impatient.
What Paul is suggesting is that this is common, and so it will be true for us. It’s gonna happen. We can prepare for it by making a different choice: persevere.
We persevere by chasing after the distinct ways of God. We ask ourselves, what are the things that are uniquely and distinctively of God? We find the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - and we persevere in living a fruit-filled life. We don’t argue with people on Facebook because it probably violates a bunch of those fruity qualities. We don’t punch back when someone hurts us. We persevere in the ways of the Lord even when it feels like the cards are stacked against us. And friends, they are stacked against us if we believe the point is winning.
But the point is not winning. It’s not avoiding temptation so that we lose ten pounds or do not cheat on our spouse. It’s persevering so that we make choices that would preclude cheating as an option. See the difference?
Instead of staring at a list of “don’ts”, we peer intently into the light of God’s ways and we stick to the journey of chasing the things that are distinctively of God even as we struggle, feel anxious and even afraid.
I choose protein smoothies over egg Mcmuffins because of what I want out of my life, not to avoid temptation. What do you choose?
Chasing Our Tails
No temptation has seized you that isn’t common for people. But God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities. Instead, with the temptation, God will also supply a way out so that you will be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 CEB
In the book of 1 Corinthians the Apostle Paul is writing a local church that is steeped in discord. Paul writes to both exhort and encourage them. When he gets to the part of his letter that includes the above mentioned passage, he is calling upon historical context to help the Corinthians further understand his advice. The history of God’s people is this:
“God’s people have a history of chasing our tails when we get anxious.”
(Scott McBean)
It turns out that throughout history, God’s people remain stubbornly predictable. When it gets difficult for us to feel God’s presence, we get scared and impatient. We run after other gods. THIS is the context of 1 Corinthians 10. He makes the case of the pattern in the first part of the chapter, and then exhorts his friends to do it differently going forward.
This passage is less about temptation and more about perseverance!
Perseverance is required because God’s plan is unfolding over a very long period of time. No wonder we get frightened and begin to look around for shortcuts to a satisfying life! The answer is not found in assuming that we should be able to overcome all temptation.
We are and will continue to be tempted. But the temptation is different than we have so literally assumed! It’s not egg mcmuffins or two pieces of cheesecake when one slice should suffice. It’s not about whether or not we are going to cheat on our spouse. The solution is not found in white knuckling the process of denying our preferences for things that are not good for us.
So what is it about? Stay tuned!
In the meantime, consider the word perseverance. Ask yourself what it might mean for you to persevere as you await God’s unfolding plans.
We Are All Still Learning…
“Don’t be discouraged. Those people who seem to know exactly what to do in life are wanderers just like you. We are all still learning here.”
Morgan Harper Nichols
Yesterday’s blog suggested that cultivating a life that is both genuinely good and feels good requires slowing down and paying attention. For me, part of my attentiveness is on the scriptures. I believe that this book of God can help me learn what is good in his eyes, and that will give me a better understanding of what a good life for me means. But it takes a long time and a lot of curiosity to actually figure out what the bible is teaching us - at least, that has been true for me.
During a recent Sunday message Scott, our associate pastor, unpacked a passage of scripture in a way that really helped me learn something new. It’s a common passage and I suspect we students of scripture have often missed its point in favor of a misinterpretation that often leads to unintentional shaming or slightly off-the-mark applications of the text to our daily lives.
No temptation has seized you that isn’t common for people. But God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities. Instead, with the temptation, God will also supply a way out so that you will be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 CEB
Historically, and I think with good reason, most of us have focused on the word “temptation” because, well, it is used three times in the passage! But there is a good reason we do not cherry pick verses and try to make a point with them. Like any decent reading, it’s important to look at the context of a word, sentence, paragraph and so on.
Here is what does not make sense if you read this passage in context. This passage does not mean that we should be able to set our mind on losing ten pounds and expect God to block and tackle our way through the inevitable temptations that come our way. It does not make sense to use this passage to blame a person with a compulsion (substance use disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorder, etc.) for not being about to “just stop”.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at what makes a bit more sense. But for today, consider this: What if we could all embrace the idea that we are all still learning? Would that change how we engage in conversations with folks who do not share our certain way of seeing a subject? Would it help us get more curious about the context and meaning of this text so that we don’t use it to beat ourselves or others up needlessly?
What's our part?
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN;}
Everyone has heard that there is sexual immorality among you. This is a type of immorality that isn’t even heard of among the Gentiles - a man is having sex with his father’s wife! And you’re proud of yourselves instead of being so upset that the one who did this thing is expelled from your community. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
After much rumination and no small amount of people whipping out their seminary teachings, we finally got around to this: and you’re proud of yourselves instead of being so upset that the one who did this thing is expelled from your community.
Here’s what we noticed:
- Paul was presuming that the sexual immorality was bad, but he was finding problems in places other than this guy’s bedroom.
- Paul is pointing out an attitude problem of those who weren't being appropriately discerning about protecting the community. They were proud of themselves for keeping someone in the community who was putting the community at risk. Yes, it's good to seek restoration wherever possible, but we also must be discerning about the well-being of the entire group.
- Paul was inviting the Corinthian church (and we could invite the same of ourselves) to pause and contemplate.
Here are some things we might contemplate when considering banishment:
- Are we more worried about our reputation or the restoration of one who needs restoring?
- Is our discussion centered around our core values? Or are we driven by a fear to protect something - our ministry success? What’s our motivation driving our thinking on this subject?
- What core values are we in danger of violating as we wrestle through this problem if we aren’t careful?
- How do we sort through and resolve our competing core values? Which of our many core values are pertinent in this particular situation?
- What wounds/blind spots/prides/prejudices are in play in this room that need acknowledgement?
There were more noticings and contemplations, but this provides a general framework for the discussion. These questions became so intriguing, so challenging, so engaging, that even the Senior Pastor tucked away his ipad and leaned forward into the discussion. Here’s a wild and crazy idea I want to posit for your pondering: It is possible, when we sidestep shame, to get very invigorated by the prospect of leaning into change and inviting God to transform us. It’s exciting! It’s in keeping with the humanity within us that bears the very image of God. I’d invite you to consider that shame may be hindering your own enthusiasm for your own work of recovery.
Sneaky, Sneaky Shame
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN;}
Everyone is quick to point out how much they hate being shamed but it rarely provides an automatic insight to help us not act as shamers. Shame is sneaky and shows up sporting a bunch of different looks. It can be kind of punky, aggressive and direct - attacks on others’ looks, character, ethnicity, etc. It can hide out in silence - when we fail to speak up against wrongdoing. It can really go stealth and try to mask itself as righteousness. It can go underground and manifest as a critical voice in our heads. It can develop strength and stamina for running and keep us from living our one wild and wonderful life. Shame has mad skills of disguise.
When the group met to discuss the problem with their recovery ministry shame was in play big time. The Senior Pastor looked serious and stern, but he was playing a game on his iPad. The Care Minister was extremely emotional, crying and sobbing when discussion arose about staff termination. The Missions Minister muttered that there was too much estrogen on display for the team to get much accomplished. And the content of the discussion? Wowser. Brutal. All of it. Every stitch of it was completely unproductive. Eventually people wore out or grew so frustrated that an uneasy silence emerged. Soon folks were stirring as if waking from a nap; catching sight of me and our team the Senior Pastor suggested without much enthusiasm, “I guess maybe you should offer a couple suggestions for us to consider.”
“Glad to.” I said. And I asked them to turn in their bibles to this: Everyone has heard that there is sexual immorality among you. This is a type of immorality that isn’t even heard of among the Gentiles - a man is having sex with his father’s wife! And you’re proud of yourselves instead of being so upset that the one who did this thing is expelled from your community. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
Tomorrow I will continue the discussion on shame, but today do me a favor. Read these verses as if you’ve never seen them before and see what you notice.