A Life Worthy

Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults (1 Corinthians 14:20).

Babies don’t think a lot about themselves.

Wait a minute, Michael! Babies think only of themselves. “I’m hungry!” “I’m sleepy!” “I’m soiled with squishy nastiness!” “Care for me, even if it is 3am!”

Well, that is true, Beloved.

But

It’s not really thinking, so much as simply reacting to stimuli. Babies aren’t capable of abstract thought–so far as I know–and so can’t really have bad motives. Yes, they are focused on their needs, but those are pretty simple and legitimate needs.

Unlike the need to be seen as super spiritual because you speak in tongues.

It’s kind of like when Jesus said that we should come to him like children–not out of a desire for stuff or power or status, but simply because we want to be with him.

Infants are incapable of evil because they are incapable of impure motives.

Once they are, all bets are off.

So, as far as evil goes…be infantile today.

Happy Friday, Beloved

If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue (1 Corinthians 14:16-17).

This is a tough one for today’s society to get its collective head around.

See, our society is very focused on rights–what I get to do for me, and has lost sight of duty–what I am obliged to do for others.

We’re way out of balance.

As a result, we enter the church with the idea–often unconscious–that the service is all about us and our individual relationship with God. With that premise, we do what we gotta do for our own edification. Sometimes that comes at the expense of others.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Paul seems to be saying that our public worship should be informed by an awareness of those around us and an understanding of how our actions might impact them.

Have I mentioned Flag Lady to you before? Basically, I once attended a church that was, shall we say, demonstrative in its worship. Jumping, waving, dancing–you get the picture. One day a woman decided that she needed to worship God with the shiny gold pennants she just happened to have with her.

Said pennants were about three feet long each, and she danced up and down the aisle waving them in a fever of ecstasy. Beloved, I do not say that she was not worshiping. Her worship may have been genuine, sincere, and deeply fulfilling for her.

The rest of us, however, were a bit distracted as we dove for cover.

How many ways, how many times, can Paul say it’s not about us?

Happy Wednesday, Beloved

Follow the way of love, and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him, he utters mysteries with his spirit. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement, and comfort. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified (1 Corinthians 14:1-5).

Big chunk of text today, but where would you break it up?

I don’t know where you go to church, Beloved. Perhaps you believe that the spiritual gifts Paul describes here are still active. Perhaps they are a regular, even necessary, component of your worship. Perhaps you think that the gifts are no longer necessary–and therefore no longer extant–now that we have Scripture.

I’m not qualified to speak on the subject, and frankly that’s not the issue here. Paul’s point is, as it has been for many a verse now, that the role of gifts is to edify the body. In fact, the role of the Church service was to edify the body.

In other words, once again…it’s not about you.

So speaking in tongues is great, but it’s primarily between you and God. To everyone else it’s just noise.  Prophecy, however, was spoken in words that all could understand, so it was edifying for the entire church. You see, that’s what Paul was interested in. When it came to the church service, Paul was looking for the most bang for his buck.

Spiritually speaking

Happy Thursday, Beloved

Now And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

This is not to dismiss Faith and Hope. Both are super important–in fact, I don’t see any of us getting very far without them.

But

show me the verse that says, “God is faith”

or 

“God is hope.”

While you’re looking, allow me to point to 1 John 4:16.

Now that I think of it, God didn’t have so much faith and hope in the world that He gave His only Son…

Nope, that was love.

One day, Beloved, our faith will be made manifest and our hope will be fulfilled.

In fact, you might say that Faith and Hope are gonna work themselves out of a job.

But Love will never not be God’s nature

and

you will never not be His Beloved.

Happy Tuesday