Last week I performed a small wedding for a friend from church. We share an appreciation of C.S. Lewis so I thought it would be appropriate to find a good Lewis quote for the ceremony. Of course, there are many to choose from.
I landed on this one since it seems appropriate for the beginning of a marriage: "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point."
Courage is not only for big moments of bravery in our lives. It's for the "small" parts of life, too. Let's think about the famous passage from 1 Corinthians 13 that is shared at many weddings from the standpoint of Lewis' quote:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
In real life, courage is needed for the big and small things.
It takes courage to be patient.
It takes courage to keep no record of wrongs.
It takes courage to embrace humility instead of being self-seeking.
It takes courage to trust.
etc.
"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point."
In what way do the "small things" in your life require courage?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Lessons about Prayer from the Life of Daniel
This is an excerpt from a book I have been working on over the
past year or so:
Daniel understood that spiritual disciplines would help him endure
his captivity in a healthier way. Daniel was committed to prayer. There were
three times each day that he reserved just for prayer. After he and the other
captives arrived in Babylon, the king instructed his officials to find young men
from among them who were dignified enough to serve in his palace. Daniel stood
out and was appointed to the king’s service. He did well in his new position and the king
considered promoting him to second in command in the country.
Some of the native officials, of course, took offense at the
prospect of a foreign slave rising to the title of lieutenant governor. They searched for shady practices in his
business, but were not able to find any, so they tried to kill him. They
concluded that if they were going to get rid of Daniel, they would need to try
and use his steadfast devotion to God against him (Daniel 6:5). They manipulated
the king by proposing a new law that would in effect kill Daniel. For thirty
days no one would be allowed to pray to anyone except King Darius. The penalty
for disobeying the law would be death in the lion’s den, which was a brutal
death. At times in the den, the lions would kill the victims before they even
hit the floor (Daniel 6:24). The self-focused king agreed to the new law and
made it official.
The fact that the officials could count on Daniel to pray no matter
what shows that they had taken notice of his genuine commitment to God. After
hearing about the law, Daniel “went home to his upstairs room where the windows
opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed,
giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before (6:10).” Notice that
Daniel’s reaction came from a disciplined spiritual life. Sometimes things
happen that cause us to pray in reaction to a specific event. But Daniel prayed
not only out of response to the new law but because prayer was a big part of who
he had become.
We don’t always pray as often as we should. We know that we should
pray, but the lack of commitment, distraction of other things, mixed results in
the past, busy schedules and many other factors get in the way of regular
prayer. This is exactly what Satan, who the Bible teaches is the main enemy of
God, wants. In his book The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
speculates about the realm of darkness by providing a fictional account of an
experienced demon advising a younger demon about how to prevent a person from
following Jesus. In a section on prayer, the older demon Screwtape explains that “The best thing,
where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of
praying altogether.”[i]
He says that before he even goes into other strategies about making people avoid
prayer, because any time a person engaged God in prayer at all is bad for Satan.
Many times,
prayer is something we resort to when hard times come. Daniel made it a habit of
praying three times each day. As a result, when serious trouble came, Daniel
responded by praying. Prayer was engrained into who he was because he made it a
habit. I recently watched footage of the 1981 assassination attempt on President
Ronald Reagan. I was impressed by how quickly the secret service team reacted to
the shooting by identifying and subduing the assailant, securing the President
from any further harm, and examining the surrounding area with weapons drawn for
any further danger. All of that happened in just a few seconds because they were trained to
the point that such a response had become instinct. When hard times came for
Daniel, there was no question about what he was going to do. He did what he had
done every day and asked God for help (6:11). Jesus also prayed regularly even
when there were demands on him elsewhere (Mark 1:35-37).
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I am so weak and I’m so tired
It’s hard for me to
Find enough strength to feed the fire…
And consequently all my pride has all but died
Which leaves me down on my knees
Back to the place I should have started from.[ii]
It’s hard for me to
Find enough strength to feed the fire…
And consequently all my pride has all but died
Which leaves me down on my knees
Back to the place I should have started from.[ii]
It’s easy to
not have a scheduled time for prayer. A devoted prayer life like Daniel’s does
not happen by accident. Last summer, I visited an NFL team’s training camp. For
the first half of the two and half hour practice the team went through drills
that stressed physical conditioning. When the whistle blew they had to sprint,
then lay flat on their stomachs, then jump up and sprint again. These types of
drills went on for a while. At the end of practice, when the players were
clearly tired, the offense and defense lined up against each other in a
mock-game scenario. The head coach was
stressing the importance of staying focused even though the players were tired
which would make it easy for them to make mental mistakes. After all of that
conditioning, they needed to focus on running correct routes, securing the ball,
and footwork. The coach kept yelling to his team: “This isn’t going to happen by
accident!” If we do not have a time specifically devoted to God, it’s unlikely
that we will pray as much. It rarely happens by accident. It has to be intentional, not just
incidental. Otherwise we’ll be people who mean to pray more often just like
we’ve been meaning to eat healthy or go jogging.
Sometimes we
pray continually and sporadically throughout the day, which is good, but we can
use that as a reason for not having a set prayer time. Praying throughout the
day is very good, but it does not take away from the importance of having a
specific time devoted to prayer alone that Daniel, Jesus, and others modeled. If
we never commit to this, our relationship with God may plateau. A Christian who
does not pray is like a bird that chooses to walk rather than fly. We have the
gift, but we don’t always take advantage of it. When prayer is not a priority,
other things will take priority.
The
spiritual discipline of prayer also helped make Daniel humble. He had a lot of
success and it would have been easy for it to go to his head. He once saved many
lives by interpreting a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. The king was going to
kill all the Babylonian wise men because he was frustrated that they could not
interpret it. Notice Daniel’s words to Nebuchadnezzar before he interprets the
dream: “No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can explain to the king the
mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries”
(2:28). He did not take the credit for himself.
This
attitude of humility is not surprising coming from someone who prayed three
times a day no matter what. Prayer is like a drink or smoothie that blends the
power of God and humility together. It is important to note that when we pray,
we do not possess the power of God, but the power of God works through us in
various ways according to our spiritual gifts and God’s purposes. God works through us when we invite him in,
and keeps us humble by opening our eyes to his power. Prayer makes us more like
Christ, and humility is a Christ-like attribute (Philippians 2:1-10). Humility
helps us give credit to God, accept guidance, and be more selfless.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Does commitment to God change with increased responsibility?
When I first became involved with the youth group at 15, I was involved in every possible way that I could be. I had been living the wrong type of teenage life (drugs) and after 3 years at 15 decided I'd had enough of it.When I decided to live for God and get involved with the youth group, I jumped in head first.
Almost each night of the week there was a youth group or church activity to take part in or help lead. Monday night was what they called visitation where we would drive to the houses of other teens who had visited church to thank them for coming. We would take them a a mug filled with Hershey's hugs (the were sort of like Hershey's kisses). Then we would tell them they had been "hugged and mugged" by the youth group and that we were glad they came. I liked this effort because when I wasn't involved with the youth group they visited me a couple of times. Tuesday night was prayer group - led by members of the youth group. On Wednesday night the whole group met from 7-8. I would help set up for that. Thursday night was the only night that there wasn't something official because we always hung out on Fridays and Saturdays and of course there was Sunday, too.
When I became involved, I wanted to help sit up every chair for every event, be at every retreat early to help set up, go on all the trips in the summer (one summer I was gone five or six weeks on different youth group things).
I was so involved because I was passionate because I had just experienced a great change in my life and I wanted to contribute to something that contributed to my change.
At youth group events we would play songs that talked about living in the moment. I remember on Christian song was called "The Next Five Minutes." The chorus said "So I'm living the next five minutes like these are my last five minutes because it could be that the next five minutes may be all I have." The idea was that we should be on fire for God and live every moment as if it were the last one we had.
We were always talking about living for the moment. We were on fire for God and that's all that we wanted to matter.
Then we all grew up (at least a little bit).
We realized that it would be not only illogical but irresponsible to live every moment as if it were our last.
I'm married now. People who were in the youth group with me have kids and all that. Responsibilities. Student loans. Maybe even college funds for their kids.
Sometimes I would think about that time in the youth group and think about the passion I had. Then, one day, reading one of my favorite passages about one of my favorite guys in Scripture - something hit me that I should have realized the whole time:
Added responsibility in life does not mean that our passion for God dwindles, but just that we manifest it in different (and possibly more effective for the long-term) ways. Adults with lots of responsibilities can be just as passionate about Jesus as they were as teen/teens now even if they are not living every moment as if it were their last.
Paul's description of Timothy in the book of Philippians encouraged me in this sense:
"I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel." - 2:19-22
A few things stand out to me about Timothy's commitment to God as a young adult with responsibilities that should challenge those of us who are young adults with responsibilities:
1. He was a responsible leader
Paul speaks highly of Timothy, who the church in Philippi already knew of, because he was going to be one of their leaders in his absence - since was Paul was in prison and could not come back.
2. He balanced his passion with responsibility
Timothy was very passionate - so passionate that Paul said he looked to the interest of Jesus over his own interests. Paul is giving him more credibility as a leader and says that "you know he's proved himself." He's shown consistency in his pastoral leadership. It's likely that Timothy would not be a full-time paid leader by the church and would have to have another job, and would need to balance those things as well.
3. A passion for Christ turns into a care for others
He didn't love Jesus so much that he didn't care about the church in Philippi. See also Matthew 25:34-43
Almost each night of the week there was a youth group or church activity to take part in or help lead. Monday night was what they called visitation where we would drive to the houses of other teens who had visited church to thank them for coming. We would take them a a mug filled with Hershey's hugs (the were sort of like Hershey's kisses). Then we would tell them they had been "hugged and mugged" by the youth group and that we were glad they came. I liked this effort because when I wasn't involved with the youth group they visited me a couple of times. Tuesday night was prayer group - led by members of the youth group. On Wednesday night the whole group met from 7-8. I would help set up for that. Thursday night was the only night that there wasn't something official because we always hung out on Fridays and Saturdays and of course there was Sunday, too.
When I became involved, I wanted to help sit up every chair for every event, be at every retreat early to help set up, go on all the trips in the summer (one summer I was gone five or six weeks on different youth group things).
I was so involved because I was passionate because I had just experienced a great change in my life and I wanted to contribute to something that contributed to my change.
At youth group events we would play songs that talked about living in the moment. I remember on Christian song was called "The Next Five Minutes." The chorus said "So I'm living the next five minutes like these are my last five minutes because it could be that the next five minutes may be all I have." The idea was that we should be on fire for God and live every moment as if it were the last one we had.
We were always talking about living for the moment. We were on fire for God and that's all that we wanted to matter.
Then we all grew up (at least a little bit).
We realized that it would be not only illogical but irresponsible to live every moment as if it were our last.
I'm married now. People who were in the youth group with me have kids and all that. Responsibilities. Student loans. Maybe even college funds for their kids.
Sometimes I would think about that time in the youth group and think about the passion I had. Then, one day, reading one of my favorite passages about one of my favorite guys in Scripture - something hit me that I should have realized the whole time:
Added responsibility in life does not mean that our passion for God dwindles, but just that we manifest it in different (and possibly more effective for the long-term) ways. Adults with lots of responsibilities can be just as passionate about Jesus as they were as teen/teens now even if they are not living every moment as if it were their last.
Paul's description of Timothy in the book of Philippians encouraged me in this sense:
"I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel." - 2:19-22
A few things stand out to me about Timothy's commitment to God as a young adult with responsibilities that should challenge those of us who are young adults with responsibilities:
1. He was a responsible leader
Paul speaks highly of Timothy, who the church in Philippi already knew of, because he was going to be one of their leaders in his absence - since was Paul was in prison and could not come back.
2. He balanced his passion with responsibility
Timothy was very passionate - so passionate that Paul said he looked to the interest of Jesus over his own interests. Paul is giving him more credibility as a leader and says that "you know he's proved himself." He's shown consistency in his pastoral leadership. It's likely that Timothy would not be a full-time paid leader by the church and would have to have another job, and would need to balance those things as well.
3. A passion for Christ turns into a care for others
He didn't love Jesus so much that he didn't care about the church in Philippi. See also Matthew 25:34-43
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