Being Judged

Posted on May 12, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1So let us be considered as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2Further it is sought in stewards that a person be found faithful. 3But with me it is a very little thing that I should be judged by you or by any human judge. 4For I know nothing against myself, but it is not in this that I am justified. It is the Lord who judges me. 5So that not before the time you should judge anyone until the Lord comes, who will also make light the hidden things of the darkness and will reveal the desires of our hearts. And then the praise will come to each from God. — 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Most of us—perhaps all of us—do not like to be judged by others. When someone else judges us, we are hurt, disturbed, and angry. The less fair we think the judgment is, the more angry we become. We may even think that the person doing the judgment is not such a wise or fair person, yet we are concerned about their judgment of us, and especially about its being passed on to others in the form of gossip.

It would be nice, of course, if we could just dismiss from our minds any criticism from people whom we don’t have any reason to respect. That would at least eliminate a good deal of our annoyance. I know that I have been criticized fairly recently by some people whose opinion means nothing to me directly, yet even so their criticism interfered with things I was needing to accomplish. Friends and associates dismissed the criticism as well, but that didn’t quite completely wash it from my mind.

The person who is judging is doing wrong (Matthew 7:1, as well as today’s text). There is a fine, but critical line to be drawn between necessary rebuke and invalid judgment. An important test of the difference is that necessary rebuke is normally given solely and directly to the person for whom it is intended. In most cases it is left there, the exception being a case of immoral behavior that requires action by the church community.

You can be certain that any criticism or judgment that is passed on or “leaked” first as gossip is simply judgment and is not godly. But even words that pass these tests—they are told first to the person responsible and are not used as gossip—may still be criticism. Another question is whether you are trying to build up or to tear down. Is what you are saying to the person intended constructively, or are you just expressing your anger at their actions?

But our text today brings up another test. Are you trying to usurp God’s judgment and replace it with your own? If you believe that you can read another person’s spiritual state, then you are trying to do God’s work. You may certainly question a person’s actions, and under the appropriate circumstances you may have a duty to do so. But when you declare them outside of God’s kingdom, you overstep your authority.

It’s kind of a two pronged test. First, are you passing a judgment that only God can pass regarding someone’s soul or spiritual state? Second, will your action in rebuke stand up when you have to give an account to God? Rebuke is necessary, but the slightest bit of pride can derail it and turn it into divisive judgment.

Finally, in enduring the judgment of others—and do not doubt it, judgment will come your way—remember who your real judge is. It is very hard to cast this particular care on God, but you must remember that no judgment passed by those without the authority has any force, unless you let it!

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Does Your Team Have Chemistry

Posted on May 9, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

12Because just as the body is one but has many parts, and all the body’s parts are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For you were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether you were Jews or gentiles, slaves or free before, and all of you have drunk of one Spirit. 14For the body is also not one part, but many. — 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (TFBV)

I was struck the other day by the spiritual force of something that our son John said, which was quoted in the Pensacola News Journal. He said that his team, the Pensacola Pelicans had the sort of chemistry that made a winning team.

Now it’s hard to pull out “chemistry” and make bullet points out of it, but let me list a few:

  1. Knowing that it’s all about teamwork

  2. Knowing you each have to give your best

  3. Thinking like winners, not losers

  4. Never being satisfied with less than the best

  5. Encouraging one another

  6. Giving useful advice

I’m sure there are more things that could be said, but those should get you started.

So my question this morning is simple. Does your team have chemistry? You can apply this question to your whole church, to a ministry team on which you serve, or to a community group. You can apply this in the secular workplace.

Many churches exist with the attitude that they’re not doing too bad, so why change things when they’re kind of chugging along. They become satisfied with not being winners, with not doing the best that they can. When you do that, you will automatically start finding more and more things to be annoyed about, and you’ll spend your time on less and less important things. Why? You’ve already decided you can’t be winners, so what you’re interested in is dividing up what’s left over.

Now the main problem for churches and all those smaller groups I mentioned is that they often can’t get together on what their purpose is. If you don’t know what you want to do, it’s going to be very hard to get unified about doing it! Shocking, isn’t it? I recently heard a pastor say clearly in front of his church that the one purpose of that church was to fulfill the gospel commission. A couple of weeks later, I heard him express the same thing differently in a full sermon. The one and only purpose of the church is to be a witness to God in and through Christ Jesus.

When I visit churches to teach I ask about their mission statement. Now church management and growth isn’t my area of expertise, but I know enough about it to know this: If you don’t know your mission, you’re not going to get anywhere. Consider a baseball team in which many players don’t have as their mission to win games, but rather to bring in salaries for themselves, or in some cases just to occupy their time. It will be hard for such a team to win.

But many churches are filled with people who are in church in order to check off a box. They want to be known as church going people (purpose: business networking), or they want to give their children a good example (purpose: child-raising without getting too “spiritual”), or they may want to be entertained by some aspect of the service. Then we wonder why these churches are in decline. I don’t care how much we talk about unity and growth, we will never have it until we get on mission—God’s mission, the gospel commission.

I ask again: Does your team have chemistry?

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Receiving as a Child

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

2Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the midst of them, 3and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter intothe Kingdom of Heaven. 4Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea. — Matthew 18:1-6 (WEB)

I’ve written several devotionals based on thoughts I get while walking Barnabas, our dog. It is good thinking time! Yesterday, on our evening walk, Barnabas and I were accompanied by my three year old granddaughter. It’s interesting to have someone along who is so truly interested in the world and everything around her.

We understand what Jesus was saying in this passage in many ways, often based on what we think about children. Some go so far as to suggest that we want to be pretty much ignorant and inexperienced as children, so that we follow God without thinking. Others are afraid Jesus is saying that, and so run away from this passage. But it’s important to remember that childhood ignorance is not some sort of disease. It can be remedied. We call it “growing up.”

There are a number of things Jesus is probably pointing to in children. He mentions specifically humility, and it’s a form of that I want to talk about today.

While we were walking, my granddaughter had a simple sense of wonder. We walk by a fenced in yard where there are two beautiful dogs. I pointed out one of them, and she thought that was pretty wonderful. Then the other came into view. She looked at me with an expression of profound joy, held up two fingers and announced, “Two of them!” That little thing was exciting to her.

On our way back, the two dogs were barking. She looked at me and said, (Poppa’s translation!), “I don’t like them when they bark.” I told her that “woof, woof” was their way of saying hi. Suddenly that look of wonder was back, and she waved to the dogs and said “Hi!” Then as we moved passed the fence she looked back, waved, and said “Bye!”

Do you find joy in little things? Are you thankful to God for a nice morning, a cute dog, a beautiful flower, or the stars in the sky? Or do you need something more spectacular each day before you can find that joy. I’m not counting those more spectacular things out. They are great! But can we be thankful to God for the things he does every day and find a sense of wonder in them? Do we perhaps want God to “do one better” every day, otherwise we’re not going to be happy.

I think having the humility will mean that we’re always thankful, and always receive God’s blessings with a sense of joy and wonder.

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Witnessing III

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

So when they met together, they asked him [Jesus], “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or date the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:6-11 (NIV, emphasis mine)

As Pastor left the sanctuary on Sunday, he admonished me to stop STANDING and WIGGLE myself into ACTION! Don’t stand around – DO! And so the waiting that I have been doing is over…it’s time to move on.

BUT if I do not see my witness as a 3-dimensional command from God – if I do not pay attention to the witness to myself and my family – then I am a hypocrite. Yes, that is a harsh, ugly word. I believe it is true. I cannot witness at work, Wal-mart, and in Eastern Europe and yet have an anemic witness in my spirit and in my family and not cause a consequence – hypocrisy.

That said, my witness in the world is well summed up by most fellowships that ask a commitment of gifts, prayer, and service. God has given me gifts that He expects me to use as I witness to others in prayer and in serving as Jesus served. It is getting my hands dirty in every day life. It washing the feet of the ‘saints’ like Paul and the ‘sinners’ like Judas. It is sharing Jesus’ Good News of how He reconciled me to the Father – and He will do the same for them.

For this reason, I kneel down and pray that our Father will give you the strength you will need by the power of His Spirit so that Jesus will live in you – take that step of faith! And I pray that as you just begin to see that love when you realize how He saved you that you will continue on to grasp how BIG – how HUGE – is the love God has for you! It is MORE than you can now wrap your mind around. God is with you and you are with Him.

Ephesians 3:14-19 (my paraphrase)

To God be the glory!

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Witnessing II

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

He [Jesus] said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:44-49 (NIV)

As I have continued thinking about ‘I am a witness’ I went from the witness to myself to a more difficult one: the witness for Jesus Christ that I am to my family. (I can ‘see’ so many who have read that sentence and are cringing just like me.)

Jesus shows me so much mercy and His never-ending grace – that’s ‘forgiveness’ and ‘love’ – for me that when God speaks to me about witnessing to my family – I fall to my knees because I fail so miserably at that. I extend SO MUCH to others and NOT SO MUCH to my husband! When he snaps at me, is my response ‘grace’ or ‘pout’? Why do I do that? And then there are expectations that I have of my children. Aren’t they grown? And sometimes they still don’t always make good choices! If they just asked me – I’d be glad to tell them what to do!!! Seriously, God is the standard of a GOOD PARENT. He allows me to make choices and loves me back into His path when I make a “not-God-turn”. Yes, there are consequences. But Father God’s love is NEVER withheld!

My witness to my family is walking a real witness. It is truly spending time with God every day. It is coming up on a question or crisis and saying truthfully, “I need to pray about this first” and then doing that. It is LIVING the witness not just PREACHING the witness.

All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.  Proverbs 21:2 (NIV)

For me, this Proverb doesn’t speak more clearly or strike my heart more painfully than it does when I look at how I live in front of my family. I can ‘fool’ most everyone – but not God. God knows what I think and speak in my heart. Do I let God speak to me about what I am thinking and feeling? Do I allow God to separate the ‘wheat’ from the ‘chaff’ of my feelings? I have stinkin’ thinkin’ sometimes! The Holy Spirit will flush the junk out of me and fill me with HIS thinking! If not right in the moment – then may I finish each day with quiet time for God to examine my day’s thoughts – correcting and flushing all that is not Him. Tomorrow is a fresh start of witnessing. There may be no greater witness than “I’m sorry” that precedes a change of attitude and heart with my family.

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Witnessing – I

Posted on May 5, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

He [Jesus] said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:44-49 (NIV)

[This is the first of a three part series.]

Yesterday the Church celebrated Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. I heard a message yesterday that has kept me thinking all day. I suspect I will be thinking about it all week also. (sigh) That’s a good thing for my spiritual health – like eating cauliflower and exercise is good for me – even though I don’t always like it!

Luke records Jesus’ lasts words in chapter 24 of his gospel and in the first chapter of Acts. The central point of the message that I heard was: My purpose of my life here on earth is to be a witness of Jesus Christ for the glory of God. I was sitting there nodding, “Yup, got that.” And then the seed of that truth took root and began to grow. By the time the message was over and I received communion – God had ‘hammered’ three points for me to ponder into my spirit.

Karl Barth (1896-1968) was a Swiss theologian. Aldolf Hitler called him “the most dangerous man in Germany”! Why? Because he wrote a lot and talked a lot about…JESUS CHRIST! Barth was a witness! The ‘fire in his bones’ was SO HOT – that his God-inspired words – scared Aldolf Hitler!

Being a witness for Jesus Christ is not like a ‘job’ – It’s my life! The first place I am a witness is to myself! Yes, you read correctly. I am a witness to ME! Every time I spend time with the Lord, I am a witness to what He says to me and teaches me. I make a choice to be open to His agenda for time He gives me for that day. I choose to be obedient to meet with God, follow His ordering of my life that day. What kind of witness that I am on that day – begins with me.

Part of my spiritual health has to do with accountability. To whom do I hold myself to a standard? It is so easy to pick some person out and line myself up and find that I do ‘better than him/her’! Well, duh! I’m not going to pick somebody better than me!!! But God – my Father – gave me the standard in Jesus! In sending Jesus as Redeemer and Savior, I also have the example to follow in all aspects of life as a disciple. Jesus is my standard!

I have much to think about as I consider my personal witness that begins with me.

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Lions? And Tigers? And Bears? Oh my!

Posted on May 2, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

(24) How marvelous are your works, 0 Lord!
You made them all wisely.
The earth is full of your created things.

(25) This sea, great and wide across,
In which are uncountable creatures,
Living things, both small and great —

(26) There the ships travel;
Leviathan which you made,
Plays in it. — Psalm 104:24-26 (My translation, available here)

Were you ever frightened by monsters in the closet or under the bed as a child? I don’t recall closets or under the bed, but I do recall being worried about something nasty being in the woods. For many years as I was growing up we lived in the country, and I often had to pluck up some courage to walk through places that were truly safe.

Adults tend to respond to these fears by checking. You know, look under the bed—no monsters. Look in the closet—no monsters. But monsters are still very frightening things. We react to things that we perceive. In our minds, it doesn’t matter so much what is actually there as what we think is there. Of course a healthy mental attitude involves trying to be as certain as possible that what we think is there actually is there.

Medieval maps used to carry the inscription “Here be dragons” in places that were unknown. I’m not sure how many of those mapmakers really believed there were dragons in the desolate places, but it looked good, and many people were frightened by what sort of nasty, monstrous creatures might be found in unknown places.

We can, like Dorothy, say “Oh my!” when confronted with danger. Though having said “Oh my” Dorothy did what she had to do. We can choose to run away. We can choose to confront.

I’d suggest a great point of perspective. Re-read Psalm 104:26 above. Leviathan was a terrible monster in the ancient world. The idea of fighting with him was like fighting the devil himself. It was the work of various gods to deal with such situations. You didn’t think of Leviathan “playing.”

But from God’s perspective, Leviathan is just this creature. God made him. God placed him where he belongs. He is playing in the ocean. We try to identify what type of real creature a “Leviathan” might be, but that’s not the point. Take all the terrors of the ancient Mediterranean world, wrap them up together, package them with all the nasty, scary features you can think of, and then release the resulting creature into the wild. That’s Leviathan.

Now imagine that creature playing, doing what God says, simply part of God’s creation. Yes, you can say “oh my.” You can run from the monsters. You can confront them trembling with terror or filled with courage. But with God, you can cut the monsters down to size.

Everything in the world comes ultimately from God. Even the nasty stuff (Isaiah 45:7). It may not result directly from God, but rather from the fact that he has made creatures and given them freedom, which they sometimes abuse. But he is the source of all.

Everything gets cut down to size in his presence, even our monsters. Wow! Oh my!!!

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The Spirit Moves and . . .

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. — Acts 2:4

If you’re expecting a devotional on the gift of tongues, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m more interested in the response.

What is your response to being filled with the Spirit? Personally I think we can receive a special measure or special experience with God’s spirit many times in our lives. I can certainly recall any number of times when I have felt the Spirit moving. The question is just what we’re going to do.

People have many reactions. Sometimes they pray. Sometimes they will speak out. Others will be still in God’s presence. The reactions are as varied as the people. That’s not a problem; it’s OK to have our individual response. But what then?

It’s quite possible that we just turn around, go home, and perhaps talk to a few friends and neighbors about what we have experienced. “Wasn’t that a great church service!” someone asks. “Wasn’t that a powerful prayer meeting! I wish I could do that every day.” Then the experience fades into the background and we go on with life as usual.

The disciples, on the other hand, starting talking. They didn’t just talk to people that they knew, the folks who were gathered in that one room. Imagine what would have happened had the disciples and the 120 stayed in the room and simply talked to one another about the wonderful experience they had. It’s important to testify to other believers, but in their case, they pretty much had all the believers in the room. If they had just talked to one another, the Christian church might have ended right there.

But they went out where they could be heard, a crowd gathered, and they spoke to them. Notice that there was no evangelism committee, no plan, no tracts, no publicity. It was just a matter of 120 or so people speaking “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” I translated that above as “as the Spirit enabled them to speak.”

Most of us would be very uncomfortable with this program. There isn’t enough of a plan. We don’t have equipment. Our church isn’t ready to accommodate new members. I’d be more comfortable if I just had a tract, so I won’t stumble over presenting the message.

The difference between Pentecost and the way we do it—or don’t—is related in verse 41. Three thousand people were added to a 120 member church. Take that and figure out the logistics, administrative board!

How can we get on this program? It’s simple:

  1. Learn to listen for the Holy Spirit.
  2. Learn to obey the Holy Spirit.
  3. Speak when the Spirit leads.

The Spirit moves and . . . move with him!

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Everything by His Will

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

28You give to them, so they may gather;
You open your hand, so they may be satisfied with good.
29You hide your face, and they are disturbed;
You bring their breath to an end,
And they return to their dust.
30You send forth your breath, and they are created;
So you renew the face of the ground. — Psalm 104:28-30 (Author’s Translation)

12Because just as the body is one but has many parts, and all the body’s parts are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For you were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether you were Jews or gentiles, slaves or free before, and all of you have drunk of one Spirit. — 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (TFBV)

[I wrote a long paper on Psalm 104 back in graduate school. Most will find it technical and boring, but it forms the basis for much of what I say about creation.]

You may have some trouble seeing the connection between these two verses in English, so I’m going to take a rare detour into Greek to help. Some may be wondering why I say Greek when I’m dealing first with an Old Testament passage, but I’m looking at the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, the Septuagint. The word for “breath” and “spirit” in Greek is “pneuma” from which we get such English words as “pneumatic.” It refers first to breath, and then later was used to refer to “spirit.” Jesus uses this kind of play on words in John 3 when he tells Nicodemus how the Spirit works.

Psalm 104 proclaims God as creator, and not just as a distant creator who made us and left for a cosmic game of gulf (with apologies to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), but one who is very present and involved. There are two ways I can think of my next breath. One is physiological. There are certain signals in my body that cause me to breathe in, my lungs function in certain ways and draw in the air, then use it to provide oxygen to my blood.

But the other way is to realize that God gives me the next breath. One way of understanding this doesn’t detract from another. In ancient times, before we learned about things like atoms and then subatomic particles, when you talked about the breath being under God’s control that meant that everything was—every moment of every day. I like to restate this passage in modern terms. God is involved in every movement of every subatomic particle in the universe. It doesn’t happen without his will. We can describe all of this by talking about laws of nature, but that is only because God’s will is so consistently expressed.

So how does this apply to my spiritual life? God’s Holy Spirit is the breath of life in the church, in his body of believers, and of course in each one of us. It is by God’s constant will that we can have spiritual life. Often we think of spiritual life as a series of disciplines. If we do certain things we will be spiritual and grow spiritually. But the fact is that God’s sovereign will provides breath. If he were to take it away, we would all whither. If he sends it back, we will come back to life.

But just as I can also talk about the work of the lungs and the nervous system in keeping me breathing, while simultaneously crediting it all to God, so I can talk about spiritual disciplines.

I will probably talk about this a couple more times. But today I want us to get hold of one lesson. No matter how we understand the mechanics, prayer time, morning devotions, fasting, and so forth, it will all work better if we understand and acknowledge the God who gives us spiritual breath by his will.

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Hurry Up and Wait – II

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1And when the Pentecost season was completed, they were all together in one place. — Acts 2:1

I’m giving you a very short piece of scripture to think about this morning, because I think it has an important message. [When I went to save this devotional, I noticed that I had used the title before, on January 29, 2008, with a different scripture, but a similar message. I hope someone truly needs to hear this again!]

When I was in the Air Force, we had a saying that is probably common to all the services: Hurry up and wait! That’s what you have to do when you’re in the military. The problem is that other people aren’t prepared to wait for your convenience; you have to wait for theirs. In the view of those in authority, there’s no problem making a hundred guys, or even a thousand, wait all day as one by one they go through a ten minute procedure. You go and you wait. How long? As long as it takes.

There’s also another “hurry up and wait” that goes on in the military every day. It’s the process of training and being prepared for actions that may come at any time, and sometimes that you hope will never come. Those who man missile control facilities have to be prepared to go flawlessly through their tasks every day. They hurry to be ready, but they hope they don’t have to put it into practice.

When I joined the Air Force, I truly didn’t expect to get involved in that much excitement. After all, this was the early 80s, Vietnam was behind us, and how likely were we to get involved in something like that again? But in the end I would up with ribbons representing Grenada, Panama, and then the first gulf war. Today it still feels a bit odd saying “first” gulf war. We certainly had hoped our little war would be unique!

When these wars happened preparation was important. When I volunteered for exercises related to the middle east, I didn’t realize how soon they would prove useful. What happened during the waiting time became critical to what happened when something actually happened. Exercises and training can be boring. Much of one’s time in the military is spent being ready—not in the doing, but in being prepared to do.

Picture the disciples on the day of Pentecost. It’s about 50 days since the resurrection, and where have they been? Well, some of them took time off to go fishing, but generally they’ve been waiting. Waiting and preparing in prayer. They’ve spent the time in between getting ready to receive those tongues of fire that are about to descend.

In our Christian life, we have both times of waiting and times of action. What do we do with the times of waiting? Do we pace the floor impatiently? Do we complain about the time of waiting? Do we head off and do something other than what God has called us to do?

Or are we willing to hurry up and then wait—for God?

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