Disturbed or Convicted?

 

"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment..." -John 16:8

"...I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple...Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King,  the Lord of hosts." -Isa. 6:1, 3-5

I remember the day I first felt the Spirit convict me. I grew up hearing the Bible and the gospel, but one day I actually heard it. It was an evening I was laying down to sleep and I couldn't get settled. I was in the 5th grade and my spirit was wrestling with God. I was feeling the heart wrenching truth that I was not right. Despite having a father for a pastor, growing up in church, and living relatively good it was not enough. Eventually, in that wrestling match God broke the sinew of my heart. I began crying and prayed to God to save me. I recognized that I was a sinner in need of Christ to make my heart and life right with Him. I knew the very basics of the gospel as it finally penetrated my heart, but it was enough. The next day I followed up with dad at a youth service and we talked more about salvation.

I tell my story because I was confronted in my quiet time with this quote from my devotional by Oswald Chambers, "Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin; we know the experience of being disturbed because of having done wrong things..." I was struck by this statement because I believe my initial interaction with God in my salvation was conviction. The weight of heaviness on my heart and the immediate recognition of needing Him reveals conviction. However, what has happened since then at times of confrontation with God and my sin nature that likes to make an appearance in my life? Do I still face conviction or am I simply disturbed? What about many believers today in the Church?

Disturbed vs Conviction  

To be disturbed by sin is to simply be troubled by it. It is nagging, sometimes weighing, and stays with us. Conviction can be the same, however, the key is our response to it. Our response to being disturbed in America leads to disregard. We are great at it! Why? We are trained to do it? When we are disturbed by something we might think about for a bit, feel a little bad, fleetingly speak about change, and then forget about it. Or we do not like it and find a way to escape it by watching TV, eat "comfort food", play video games, buy something to make us feel better, etc. To be disturbed might move us from our comfort for a bit, but we quickly find a way to get back to comfort.

Conviction, however, cannot let you move away from it. Conviction breaks down your very core emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, to a complete recognition of who God is and who you are. The passage I reference in Isaiah shows this well. Isaiah is confronted by God and immediately is broken. Not just emotionally breaks down, but cannot do anything but lay down before Him. Conviction removes comfort and leaves us uncomfortable. Why? Change is required! So, how does conviction take place based on Isaiah 6?

1. We are confronted in the presence of God
This is a place believers visit much anymore because it is uncomfortable...at first. To enter into His presence requires our spirits to be checked against a holy God. This means the discomfort of removing the sin before Him. What follows-- peace, comfort, grace, mercy, love, hope, purpose, etc brings us to a place of rightness. I see very few people, myself included, so deep in the presence of God that conviction permeates the believers life. Instead we like to stay on the fringe of His presence to get the feeling of disturbed to easily disregard it and think we've made things right with Him.

2. Recognize God as King
Isaiah describes God as a King which gives us a picture of what he is thinking, feeling, seeing; and then he eventually calls Him the King. Conviction shows us who we are in light of God. We are unworthy. I think about movies that feature amazing kings and how his knights are willing to die for him and when they enter his presence bow in reverence. That should be our response to God as our King. The problem is sin creates other kings the compete with the King or make Him just another king in our hearts and minds. Again, another reason being simply disturbed is easy to work through. God is just another king vying for my heart. Conviction reveals the true nature of God and how He is the King.

3. Conviction leads to humbleness
Isaiah says "Woe is me..." revealing a heart of humbleness. He is surrendered to the King and confesses before Him who Isaiah is. To be disturbed rarely leads to humbleness. It leads to discomfort and a look for a quick fix to remove the discomfort we feel. Conviction leads us to say we need You, Christ the King, to make the proper change in us. To our dismay, the changes necessary may require discomfort for a little while to dethrone the said little kings in our life. Our culture has taught us that discomfort is unnecessary and to be avoided. I think about the recent college president who had students complain because they felt "victimized" by a chapel sermon on 1 Corinthians 13. They were faced with a chance of conviction and respond accordingly. Instead they were simply disturbed and took up residency with pride.

We must not be scared of conviction, but embrace it like a spiritual discipline. We cannot bring it upon ourselves, but when the Spirit convicts do we follow through or let it disturb us? To make it a practice is to consistently be in the presence of God, allow His presence to reveal who He is, and humbly accept our position before Him. Thankfully, His grace, mercy, love, salvation, and life change follows conviction. Simply being disturbed by the Spirit's working in our lives leads to shallowness of faith, and less of the abundant life Christ talks about.

Suffering As a Troublesome Meddler

The newest shot heard around the Christian world: Starbucks infamous red holiday cups. I usually don't jump on the bandwagon of the next thing to blog about, but my morning quiet time and devotion led me to a response in all the madness happening. For the most part, many who are like-minded are appalled at the negative response and the claim of supposed persecution taking place on Christians. Then there are others who are in support of "taking a stand" over some cardboard for Jesus. Some, like social media personality Joshua Feuerstein who tell his followers to tell baristas their names are "Merry Christmas" forcing baristas to write Merry Christmas on the cups and even say it. So, is this really something a believer should be concerned about?

1 Peter 4:12-16 speak of suffering/persecution and how our response should be:
 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;  but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

Suffering will happen, but it is shared in Christ's suffering
Suffering and persecution are common in the life of a believer of Jesus. However, suffering as Christ suffered is more than just daily life trials or certain traditions and comforts are threatened. Suffering comes because Christ is boldly being proclaimed that suffering/persecution would look like His. How did Christ suffer? He was verbally assaulted, abandoned by family and friends, beaten, plotted against toward death, wrongfully arrested, cast out of society, was not believed as God's Son, and ultimately killed. Maybe...maybe one could make the case that something like this cup incident is a casting out of society, but it is more over tradition than the name of Jesus. I fear as a group, American Christians have forgotten it is about the person of Jesus and not traditions we stand firm upon. Even more, how does a coffee cup really impact one's life for the gospel? Instead, buy a cup of coffee for someone and share about God's love and redemption through Jesus. If that person throws hot coffee in your face or begin berating you for crazy beliefs then you can claim suffering/persecution. If this happens, rejoice that you have joined Christ in the mission and work of redemption and that God's Spirit rests upon you. If they reject your offer of coffee or of Jesus, then move on...its not suffering.

Stupid mistakes or sin does not equal suffering
 Peter states that you should not suffer as a murder or thief or evildoer. Why? Cause its contrary to the gospel and it is not suffering. You have sinned and suffer either consequences for your actions. Interestingly, Peter also says not to suffer as a "troublesome meddler". Here is the great sin of many Christians today involved in the unnecessary debates and public outcry. The word Peter uses is unique and not seen much in Greek. Scholars understand this to mean someone who involves themselves in the business of others. One scholar I looked into even said implications could be an over zealous denouncing of pagan habits. To be a troublesome meddler is to essentially be one stirring up controversy for the sake of generating "suffering" that is not really suffering at all. What if the supposed "war on Christians" that runs through social media is nothing more than believers being troublesome meddlers and many have fallen prey to it? We know that Scripture speaks of a spiritual war taking place that influences our physical world. But, have we actually fallen into a trap that brings more upon us than we really should experience?

We are to not be ashamed of suffering as a Christian
When we truly face suffering for Christ, we should not be ashamed. What does this look like? How about the hundreds of Christians in Iraq who were demanded to renounce Christ or face death? To be ashamed is to deny the person of Jesus. The apostle Peter knows something about that...3 times in fact he was ashamed. Thankfully, grace extends even in those moments of weakness. How about those moments we must speak truth to others about the gospel and risk life, security, employment, housing, slander, the loss of a friend or family member? If we cannot speak God's truth then are we not ashamed? Whether a cup represents Christmas right, from a business that could care less about whether you believe in Christ or not, is not suffering. In fact, it makes our faith look petty, foolish (not as Paul speaks of it), and built on traditions and not a Person.

Last Thoughts
Recently a Facebook post from a church member of a former church I attended stated that a young woman from the Middle East was baptized in the church. The pastor who baptized her spoke in her native tongue and was asked several question. Two of them were: 1) You are aware you will suffer persecution as a Christian? and 2) Are you willing to die for Christ?. Wow! Not, if your coffee cup carries no Christmas message will you "die" for that? Our God is big enough to make His name famous, He doesn't need us to do it for Him. What He wants is for us to submit to His kingship, deny ourselves, our "rights", and be open to His work through us! Finally, remember that as believers we are to love one another and correct one another in love. This "debate" should not lead to further division or fighting. It should lead to a laying down of self and loving one another as Christ loves us.         

 

Some Truth of Student Ministry

Confession: God smacked me right in the head today with some truth about ministry that I had either forgotten or taken for granted.

For the last several weeks our Student Ministry has been doing flag football with the guys. For the most part we have had great turnout every week. Today, however, 3 guys showed up. Why? I don't know. More than likely many others just had a busy week and weekend and needed the rest today. Others maybe didn't want to be there. Regardless 3 showed up. At first it was just 2 and a 3rd showed up 30 minutes past our start time. I was ready to "close up shop" for the activity, but decided I would run the track for a mile and let the guys throw the ball around. Why run? I needed to clear my head and talk to God. In the time it took me to run I watched these three simply have fun. They didn't care that we didn't have a huge game. I did and I was not happy. Again, God gave clarity in just moments. I was witnessing an older youth take time to teach and play football with 2 younger ones. I was missing the picture that 3 youth and I were connecting, building relationship that is more important than any flag football game. The four of us eventually sat down and just talked about life. Simple and complex things. Life was shared.

Here me out any youth minister who might read this, especially those serving in small towns.

Ministry has right moments, not just events
Ecclesiastes 3 speaks of a time for everything. Essentially, the writer says that all things serve a specific purpose in the right time. For today, it was the right time to get to know these 3 youth better. It was a chance to invest quality time that may not always present itself. Jesus invested into 12 men who did incredible things for the kingdom. What if these 3 are to be like the "12" for me? What if I had simply just let the moment pass and not invested? What opportunities would I have missed? When things to do not go as planned, the numbers we look for as ministers is smaller than anticipated, or what we have accomplished seems like failure; perhaps we are missing the "right moments" that God has planned. We must moved passed ourselves and see His work instead.

Our response can reveal our value or lack thereof of each student
I'm sure there is a better way to word this point, but to clarify let me ask a question. If I had canceled my plans of the game at 3:30 and missed the opportunity, what do I say about the significance of the boys that showed up? They aren't worth my time because more guys didn't show? Yet, Christ tells us to seek out all people to share the gospel with, to share life and joy with. My original thoughts were anti-Christ's teaching when examined deep enough. Graciously God spoke and helped me realize this truth and instead I hope these guys saw that I cared for them despite my plans not coming to fruition. Who knows how that will impact them or how that investment might come back into the ministry.

So, check yourself and your thoughts when you are in the position I was. Remember, that we are called to bring Christ to all people and all size of groups. Your response can possibly make or break a student in how they understand your view of them. I think we are all guilty of this at some point. Let's help students remember that they all matter.

It's okay to "remove" yourself from the situation for clarity
As ministers I wonder if we sometimes feel like we are supposed to be Superman to our students? When we get frustrated, tired, sad, etc. we shouldn't reveal those emotions because they aren't strong. However, it shows we are human and sometimes need a break. Even more, those emotions come to us when we are most self-centered. This was especially true in my case. I needed to "de-center," and be re-centered upon Christ and His mission. I believe that is a more important lesson to be caught by our students than we give credit for. So, in the middle of activity or events, if necessary, pull yourself away to be re-centered when plans do not go our way. Even if it is for a couple of minutes, the clarity the Spirit can bring could the the catalyst for something incredible.


So, for many of you this may be a "duh!" blog post. For some it may be a time to reflect. I believe that all of us need these reminders from time to time. It doesn't matter how much of a veteran or rookie of a ministry you are. For me this day has been a little of both. I know what I have written about, but reflection was needed to be a better minister down the road. 

Sports and Leadership

A recent news article has emerged in the world of sports concerning professional player Adam "Pacman" Jones who assaulted another player from a different team by banging his head against a helmet. Currently, Jones is facing a $35,000 fine. The article comes a few weeks after another of high school players targeting a referee who they felt made a bad call. Each act committed by these players could have repercussions resulting from serious injury to those they assaulted and a choice that could effect the rest of their lives...maybe. Jones and the team will appeal the fine he has received and it is quite possible the young men who targeted the ref will have their actions chalked up to a "dumb teenage decision" with lesser consequences than they should receive. What does this mean for parents, youth ministry, athletics in school, and in the professional (I almost use this word lightly) world?

1. Athletes (People in general) must be held accountable for their actions
Most should gather that a $35,000 fine for Jones' actions is nothing compared to the amount of money he makes. Essentially the consequence does not match the behavior of the man. Even more, he will appeal the consequence given to him by the league instead of owning to the decision he made. I think that our teenagers see this and believe they too can "fight the system" to have lesser consequences. Again, this may happen anyway as the standard we as a culture hold teens is lessened over time. I believe the Jones incident reveals a deeper issue of culture too. People in general do not want to be held accountable for their actions and find ways to shift blame to an outside source. Why? It's a part of our make up. Genesis 3 reveals our desire to not take responsibility as Adam blames his wife, she blames the serpent, and then they indirectly blame God. Scripture calls us to more though. We see that we should recognize our wrongdoing, seek the one offended, and make amends.

As parents, ministers, school employees, etc. we must help teens learn accountability for their actions. We must help them learn that it is harder and much more noble to admit failure or wrongdoing, own it, and reconcile the mistake as best can be done. If we do not, we create privileged youth who feel they are above any standard set for them. Perhaps that is the case, they know of a higher standard and actually desire to be held to it, but adults do not actually provide that for them. In many cases we are not able to hold a standard necessary to teach youth about life because the culture in general does not accept it. We must begin somewhere though. A good place is through athletic programs, our ministries, and in the home.

2. Leadership is strong, but to what end?
Regardless of how professional players feel about being leaders and looked up to by younger athletes, the fact remains they are leaders. Their actions on and off the playing field or court teaches younger people. There is an identity associated with being an athlete and thus, a way to live/act under said identity. So, when NFL players can abuse women/children, possibly cheat, and then act violently toward others; our youth will follow suit in some way. Therefore, we see strong leadership coming from our professional players, however, the kind of leadership we see is not positive. Now, I don't want to generalize all professional athletes as many are doing great things with their notoriety and exemplify positive leadership. But, as a culture we must do something to change the leadership that is negatively effecting our young men and women.

As adults we are leaders to our teenagers in some manner. The question is what kind of leader. When mistakes are made do we allow them to be teachable moments for us and for youth? Are we imparting quality character in addition to skills that correlate with what we lead them in? Our answers should tell us a lot about who we are as adult leaders. Even more, it should help us see who we need to be as leaders for the sake of those we lead. Leadership is more than imparting a skill or wisdom to younger people. It is imparting a way of life.


 

A Battered Reed He Will Not Break Off

Spit on, punched, kicked, jumped, verbally assaulted, and looked upon as weird and different. This was my greatest memory of Junior High School. I just moved from a city in Ohio to a small town in Arkansas. The transition was tough because I had left all I knew and entered a culture I didn't understand and it (they) didn't understand me. In addition, I had recently become a believer in Christ and knew that my life must be different from those who didn't know Him. My faith was young and I was immediately faced with scrutiny and hurt. I didn't always handle the pain I experienced well and sometimes lashed out at my peers, but mostly I held onto it.

For many of us, Junior High/Middle School were tough years. We are working through that awkward stage of puberty, starting to change our thinking and understanding of the world, and well probably have a story of deep hurt we experienced in those years. For me I didn't realize that hurt could carry years later when I would one day see a young man I knew as a middle schooler and immediately feel anger for how he treated me. In that moment I had to forgive him and could not harbor anything further. My faith had grown over the years for sure. This memory came rushing back as I read Matthew 12:15-21 today for my time with Jesus. 

Quick Background:
Jesus has just broken rabbinic law in front of the religious elite and was challenged by them. The result was the leaders and teachers of His time to plan His destruction. He crossed the line one too many times. His response is to quote a passage of Isaiah about Himself. It's a slap in the face of the Jewish leaders and a comfort to those who have been painfully under their "rule" and for the Gentiles who faced hurts and pressure from many facets of their culture.

A Battered Reed....
Jesus says that a battered reed He will not break off speaking of those under oppressive rule and strain. A reed was used for so much: a flute, a measuring rod, pen, etc. and a whole, perfect reed was desired of the owner. The landscape made reeds plentiful and cheap as well, so it was easy to obtain them. So it was easy to find a better reed and break off the imperfect part or simply get a new one. Jesus is comparing people opposite of the religious elite as these reeds. In His kingdom, in His presence battered reeds are not broken off. Jesus is willing to work in spite of, through, and with the imperfect portion of a reed (us) to make it useful, right, and good once again. This is the process of salvation at work in us.

My experiences through middle school battered me, my soul, to a place of anger, hurt, and struggle that stayed with me. In high school I became a wallflower about my faith and who I was. I had friends, hung out with people, and did fine in high school, but I remember hating high school. I think it dealt with my not living out as I was called to do. I was battered still, but being worked on. I must continue to be worked upon as life still finds ways to batter me.

DIY Project...

Today I can look back at those experiences and see how they impacted me and made me into who I am today. I have a story that reaches teens. I have a story of redemption that reveals God's work, grace, and salvation. My wife and I love watching shows like Property Brothers or Fixer Upper. What I like about Fixer Upper in particular is their ability to see a house or piece of furniture as broken, yet redeemable. I see myself in that same way. I was once a table that was dirty, scuffed up, broken in some way that really carried little or no value  or worth in most people's eyes. I became this way because of my own sin and choices and the sin of others. It marred me. Jesus comes along as the Great Carpenter and sees the value, the potential, and the beauty. Instead of tossing it away, He takes the table and sands it down to remove the roughness, He fixes areas that are broken, He does what is necessary to make the table what it is supposed to be and even more than what it may have been at one time. I was His DIY project and continue to be. Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

For anyone reading this, you too are His workmanship being crafted, created in Christ. This recreation begins in accepting who He is as God, Savior, and Lord. From there He re-purposes our hearts, our lives. He turns that which is deemed ugly, useless, or broken and says I will not cast it out. In Him you find a great craftsman working in and through you. Whatever you may have carried or carry with you that batters you, know He will not get rid of you.

Good Teen vs Discipled Teen

I have heard this phrase several times from grandparents or parents of teenagers/young adults: “He’s a good boy, but…” The statement is usually followed by a description of how the teen has made some poor decisions and possibly gotten himself or herself in trouble. If the statement is followed with the young person not being a believer in Christ, then I am not as taken back. However, when it is described of a believing teen I want to say that a good teen does not mean a discipled teen.

Good Teens vs. Discipled Teens

Good teens are everywhere and we applaud their attitudes, goals, accomplishments, and good deeds. I believe this is rightly so, but are the good grades, star athlete, college-bound, job carrying, non-partying, celibate teens the highest standard we set before our youth? How does discipleship influence and become a part of the things mentioned? What happens when these accomplishments are done and that which became their identity is no longer there? I believe the difference between a good teen and a discipled teen is seen. Discipled teens find identity in Christ alone, not in the accomplishments that others expect of them. Professor of Student Ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Richard Ross, gives a great diagram of this issue:

Good Teen	Discipled Teen
I have a great future. Being good will make my future even better.	My sole desire if for Christ to have a great future. To be more famous. To receive more glory. My decisions all have Him as the goal.
I think a lot of myself. I have value. I don’t need to be screwing with my life because I deserve better.	Jesus is worthy of righteousness in my life. His sacrifice for me makes Him worthy. The fact He is God makes Him worthy. The fact I gave Him my life makes Him worthy. THE motivation I have for righteous living is Him.
Parents and other authorities in my life correctly and skillfully used rewards and punishments—such that I now lean toward the good most of the time.	Any righteousness in my life is motivated by gratitude, awe, and adoration far more than any conditioning.
I’ve noticed that there are rewards along the way for those who keep their noses clean. I like rewards in life	I imitate Christ whether it improves my immediate situation or not. Worst case, I desire to think and act as He does even if it costs me my physical life.

Ideally, a discipled youth should look similar to a good youth described in this blog, but they should also exhibit so much more. I think we see this in Scripture with Jesus’ encounter with the “Rich Young Ruler” as he is described in Mark 10:17-22. Here this young man recognizes Jesus as a good teacher and ask a question concerning eternity. Jesus tells this young man that he has kept all the commands, which he admits he has done. Jesus knowing this young man’s heart says you must sell your possessions, implying he is good a keeping the law, but his heart is far from God. His god is his possessions, his accomplishments, and keeping the law (except those first two). It could be fair to say, this young man’s identity is founded in his accomplishments and to find identity in Christ is difficult for him to grasp. Sadly, he walks away with an incomplete faith. How many of our young people walk with an incomplete faith because they are like this young man? They are good a reading their Bibles, serving someone every now and then, coming to church, getting good grades, going to college, but they do not fully know the One who truly completes their life.

I think it is time we begin to evaluate how we understand and gauge our young people today. Life accomplishments are good, but do they follow Christ wholeheartedly? Do we see a desire of Lordship of Christ over our young people instead of what they can get out of life? Christ talks about living life abundantly through Him, thus we must lead our youth to that life abundant. Of course it must also start with us evaluating our own lives.

Perseverance: A Lost Art

“Depth comes when I must persevere; when things don’t come quickly and easily. The struggle brings a work ethic and a tenacity that may not surface any other way.” -Tim Elmore, Artificial Maturity

Tim Elmore discusses in his book, Artificial Maturity, how culture, parental upbringing, and the church has provided youth with artificial maturity. Artificial maturity is like fools gold; in that it looks good on the outside (straight A’s, made some decent choices, star athlete, leads the youth group, etc), but internally the student lacks emotional maturity. The maturity to process the information they take in and using wisdom to guide their lives. Even more, they lack a real depth in how they approach life. Most of their lives are built around a virtual world where everything is given to them or created for them. As he puts it, “Too often we condition them to be brilliant consumers, not contributors.” Thus, the world they live in becomes nothing more than to take from and not to give back; a world where everyone can be a star with the perfect note on The Voice or a funny video on YouTube. Why? Because the mindset is these things are for me and ultimately about me. In reality, they can’t handle when life doesn’t go their way because they haven’t been given opportunity to walk through it properly. This is especially evident when life does not come easy as it has been created for them to be.

So, Elmore provides one of several “hurdles” that young people face today: convenience. Young people today have trouble facing the struggles of life, even more, making sense of the troubles and evils of this world because they live in comfort. What does this mean for our youth in our churches today? What does this mean about a biblical characteristic of perseverance in life? The reality is that young people will not and cannot grow if things come to them easily. For example, my son is attempting to learn to tie his shoe. He is struggling with it and very much desires that my wife or I tie them for him. Is it easier for us and him? Certainly! Does it help him in life? No! Perhaps tying a shoe seems like a lesser skill. After all, many shoes today come with no laces, Velcro, or slip on. Why? Convenience was cleverly marketed and now a skill is passing by. Even more, what does it teach my son? If it starts with tying his shoe, what happens when the next hard struggle comes along? The point is that as a parent I must allow my son to struggle with hard things in order to teach him to work through hard things. It’s counter-intuitive as I wish he not have to struggle. However, it is not reality! Life is hard and he must learn to navigate.

Scripture speaks of the principle of and characteristic of perseverance. In Romans 5:3-5, Paul speaking to Christians under intense trial, persecution, and struggle; provides a reason that perseverance through it all is good. First, Paul says “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.” Paul is saying struggle actually creates perseverance in a person, particularly the believer. Parent, youth leader, mentor, family member, do you allow some struggle in the life of your youth to help create perseverance? Are you willing to?

Paul continues and states that endurance/perseverance leads to character and character to hope. Perseverance creates character or depth of a person through the struggle, the pain, the hurt, etc. Does this mean that young people will need us who are older to rescue them? Sometimes it does. Many times what they really need is for adults to walk alongside them through the struggle; to process the information and experience they are taking in to learn, grow, and develop strength to their faith. Without hard experiences and the help of adults, our youth will remain in a place of shallowness. They will become walking fool’s gold. Plus, when a young person is able to walk through a struggle of life and overcome, that perseverance will provide hope for the future. It builds in them a mindset that I have overcome before and I can do it once again. (Help them remember their successes as well.)

What does this mean? How do we take on this issue in youth ministry and at home? Practically, Elmore offers two great examples I want to share:
    1. Choose a project to collaborate on that requires effort and tenacity. Perhaps it’s climbing a mountain or biking a long distance. Maybe its a science project you can work on together. Then, throughout the project, talk over the value of working hard and enduring unglamorous attempts at succeeding.
    2. Sometime this year, allow your children to fail at something. This is counterintuitive, because most of us want our kids to “win” or succeed. When they fail, however, use it as a teachable moment and talk over the value of failure—of things’ being hard and how it makes success even sweeter in the future.

I would add to these examples a few other ideas:
    1. Every failure, struggle, hardship is a teachable moment for our young people. We as adults must develop a mindset to walk them through it. Perseverance is cultivated, much like an art form.
    2. Evaluate yourself and your depth of perseverance. If you feel like you lack in this characteristic, that is okay. It takes practice and time to develop. You can still walk your young people through something as you do.
    3. Start early in their life if you are able. We must discern what to shelter our children from, but we cannot shelter them so much that they miss opportunities to learn perseverance. If your children are older, now is the time to work through this.
    4. Perseverance is not found in our own strength, but in Christ and the Holy Spirit. Thus, we must develop an assurance and identity in Him who is our ultimate perseverance. This means lots of prayer, learning to trust, reading of Scripture, and seeking guidance from those who have traveled these roads before us.

Spiritual Bulimia?


By using bulimia as an example for a condition of a spiritual walk; I am in no way desiring to belittle or make light of a condition that plagues so many emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I simply recognize a harmful condition in people that can be seen in one’s spiritual walk as well. Bulimia is characterized as an eating disorder by the person binge eating and the rid the food consumed by either vomiting, using medication to make the food consumed to be expelled, or excessively exercising to maintain a particular body weight. How do we see this spiritually?

I am studying a book concerning leadership and how to develop habits of one’s self spiritually as a leader. The application drawn from the book/study led me to reflect upon myself and Christians in general on how we approach spiritual growth. So many people today are biblically and spiritually illiterate and starved. Why? I wonder if we have a case of spiritual bulimia. I see far too many (myself included) who “over consume” on spiritual things only to later expel it without regard. It may seem strange to think one could “over consume” upon spiritual ways to grow, but it has less to do with the actual ways and more to do with how we approach them. Here are some ways I see this manifest:

Sunday Consumption
What is the purpose of attending church on Sunday? For the Christian it should be the time we collectively worship our God, Lord, and Savior for who He is and what He has done. In addition, we attend to study the Scripture collective and learn from those God has placed in a position to teach. For many though, we make Sunday our binge time. We “load up” on God by making ourselves feel good by worshipping (Him or us?), hearing a sermon or lesson that encourages us and gives a little advice on how to navigate life, then finally carry on with the week where we expel what we have taken in. Perhaps Sunday’s binge gets us through Monday, but when the rest of the week comes about we are starved. Therefore, one simply uses the program(s) of church, particularly Sunday’s, to fill up self. Again, the events/programs that take place on a Sunday are not bad, but how do you approach them? We should come away refreshed and renewed after worshiping our Lord and Savior and hearing what His Word has to say, but to what end?

Conferences/Camps
Similar to Sunday Consumption we use conferences and camps in a similar manner. We load up on “spiritual food” that may last us several days, weeks, or even months only to expel it. Many times we go looking for “food” that is rich. Perhaps it is found in the worship team that leads or the special preacher/speaker everyone wants to hear. Thus, we look to the next “big thing” in a conference or camp to binge once again. I do not believe that conferences and camps are bad. In fact, I believe they are a necessary component of American Christianity, however, they should not be used as a binge and purge process. Our spiritual walk/growth cannot be dependent upon the people who lead in these events. Does God allow growth to happen at events like this? Absolutely! Again, to what end do you approach events like this?

Church Bible Studies
Church Bible Studies are for those people who binge on Sunday, purge by exhausting themselves senseless in all areas of their lives and then create one more thing to their list like a Bible study. Similar to the bulimic who exercises excessively to ward off extra pounds, so does the spiritual bulimic in their service. Their intent is not to hinder spiritual growth, but they are doing too much. Thus, they find one or two Bible studies or groups that they can binge on and then continue their unhealthy exercise. Specialized Bible studies are important to one’s growth and even necessary. But, to what end do we add them to our lives?

Inconsistent Devotional
Inconsistent Devotional is less about quantity in number of devotions one has and more to do with what takes up our devotional time. Many devotional materials out are helpful, but they are treated as the focus instead of the Word. The result is malnourishment. While those who suffer with bulimia can consume various foods; the spiritual bulimic can binge on spiritual food that offers no value. It is the Twinkie. It looks good, smells good, and even tastes good, but does nothing to add nutritional value to ones life.


What Does Scripture Say?
Scripture never paints a picture of the spiritual walk of the believer with a binge-purge mentality. Spiritual growth should be a process, one that is as slow or fast as it needs to be as the Spirit works in the life of the believer. Many times we develop a mentality that we should be super spiritual by a certain time in our lives. We set ourselves up for failure because most goals are simply unattainable. Honestly, Scripture tells us perfection is the goal, but perfection found only in Christ, not of our own doing. I believe that is the key to a binge-purge spirituality: works based spirituality. The things mentioned above are necessary for the process of spiritual growth to happen, but they are not the end themselves. They are simply a means to the end. Therefore, we can and should develop strong habits that bring about spiritual growth and are less dependent upon a binge and purge process.

Everyday, All Day (Deut. 6:6-9; Psalm 1:2, 88:1; 1 Thess. 5:16-17)

Our growth and pursuit of spirituality in God is an all day everyday experience. This does not have to be grandiose revelation from a devotional time, but simply experiencing God throughout the day. Famous writer, Brother Lawrence discusses “practicing the presence of God,” a practice not readily done today. His basic concept is that we can recognize God in anything we are doing from simple mundane tasks to larger more complex ones. For example, one can simply have a moment with God washing the dishes as our hearts are attuned to His voice and presence. Even more, God is there when we have a big decision or difficulty at work. How do we practice this presence of God? Paul says in 1 Thess. 5:16-17 to rejoice always and pray without ceasing. The intention is to always have God on our mind and heart as we navigate everyday life. Thus, we have less need to “binge” upon God to fulfill some deep need because we have “purged” of Him to “get through the day.” Instead, His very presence provides life that sustains always.

Meditation (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, 63:6, 77:12, 119:15, 145:5)

Meditation is a process of thought, reflection, and application of the Word or who God and listening to the Spirit as He presses the focus of your meditation onto your heart. From that wisdom flows ways to navigate life, encouragement,and  a hope to anchor yourself to fully. Meditation should take place upon Scripture, words of wisdom from other believers, worship music, and our God and who He is and how He has worked in our lives. Find creative ways to keep a verse before you throughout the day, or how God has worked in your life, or an attribute of who He is. The ultimate goal of meditation is permeation in our life and walk.


Consistency and Constancy (Phil. 2:12)

In Philippians 2:12, Paul tells his readers to “work out their salvation” and in Ephesians 2:10 he says that “we are His workmanship”. Both of these phrases provide basis that growth is continuous and must require a consistency about them. The approach many take to the Sunday morning worship time, the conference/camp, or that extra Bible study at church is about finding the next big thing to take them to the next level. Instead, we should allow these avenues of growth to lead us to consistent and constant growth. Even more, our time with God does not stop when we put our Bible down in the a.m. just before work and reading through a quick devotion. Our time with God is always consistent as He works through our jobs, school, family, “random” situations, etc. The issue is we fail to see it as such and miss the opportunities to grow in them. So we get the “life” sucked out of us because we are inconvenienced, annoyed, dismayed, frustrated, maybe angry, depressed, etc because we’ve used up what has been given to us in the 5 minutess we spent with God that morning or the service we attended two days ago.

Imagine for a moment Jesus as a carpenter building furniture for someone. Let’s imagine that the buyer wants it ornate with particular designs that reflect the family. It takes time to first build a piece of furniture, let alone the time to craft the intricate details. If we are His workmanship, that means it takes time. First, He has to build the larger part of who we are and then intricately craft the finer details He desires in us. Along the way, accident happen that cause some flaws in the design. He may have to reconfigure the design, but He still accomplishes the goal: the glory of Himself being revealed through the piece He is making. So, consider yourself and how your approach spiritual growth. Do you expect it to happen in larger quantities? It can and will happen, but eventually the finer details must be worked out. How do you approach the avenues of growth He provides through life and His church? They are not meant to be utilized for a binge-purge pattern, but for consistent and constant growth that happens over a lifetime.