Fairness vs. Grace (Friday Devotional)

 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

- Romans 12:17-18

Retaliation is, by its very nature, fair. You hit me, I hit you back. You scream at me, I respond in kind. Everyone is treated the same.

That inherent fairness is probably why nobody has to teach children to retaliate when they’re provoked. When one of my kids yells at their sibling, it becomes a shouting match almost immediately. When somebody gets hit with a toy, it doesn’t take long for them to pick up that toy and strike back. Nobody taught them to respond like this—it’s just what feels right.

But while it may feel that way, I’ve observed something from my parental perspective: the fairness of retaliation leads to twice the tears. Nobody wins in a back-and-forth; everybody loses.

That’s why the gospel points us to a different response in times of conflict: not the fairness of retaliation, but the grace of peace. When believers are wronged, God calls us to look to a broader perspective than the one to which our sinful flesh defaults—instead of thinking about what’s best for you, the Holy Spirit compels you to think about what’s best for everyone.

It’s not an easy thing to turn the other cheek in a world where lashing out is rewarded. But the crucified Christ is our model and the risen Christ is our hope. In a world of anger, escalation, and violence, may Christians be reminded of Jesus’s words: blessed are the peacemakers.

Whistle While You Work? (Friday Devotional)

 

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

- 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

I can’t whistle.

It’s not for lack of trying. In fact, I’ve always been a little embarrassed by it. But no matter how hard I try, all that comes out when I try to make that sharp, distinctive sound is a soft, anticlimactic hiss. There are first graders out there who can whistle, but at age 35, I cannot.

Obviously I wish I could whistle, just like I wish I could drive an 18-wheeler or dunk a basketball. But those aren’t skills I was born with, nor ones I’ve acquired. So I just have to content myself with the things I can do, leaving those abilities for others. After all, I can’t do everything.

We understand that principle at a basic level, but forget it sometimes when it comes to spiritual matters—we want to be able to do everything (or perhaps want certain people to be able to do everything!) But the truth is, God doesn’t set up his church like the Avengers, a small team of superheroes swooping in to save all the ordinary bystanders. Rather, he empowers each believer, ensuring that all of us have a role to play.

You can’t do everything, no matter how much you want to. But you can do your part. And God has given you his Spirit to make sure you have what you need.

May Reading Log

I didn't feel like I did any more reading than usual in May, but the numbers tell a different story. Lots to see below!

HELP THANKS WOW by Anne Lamott

As she explains in the introduction to this book, writer Anne Lamott has found that virtually all of her prayers can be summed up with one or more of the book's titular words: help, thanks, wow. All of her prayers—and so, in a sense, all of her spiritual life—is suffused with either need, gratitude, wonder, or some amalgamation of the three. Help Thanks Wow is her meditation on these themes.

On the positive end, Lamott is a wonderfully gifted writer, and the rare author outside the evangelical publishing subculture who dares to write about spirituality from a Christian perspective. Furthermore, her insight into how simply our prayers can be summarized—help, thanks, wow—was instructive to me, something I've already shared with members of my congregation.

On the negative side, while Lamott's writing in this book is decidedly theistic, it seems as though she (or her editor/publisher) has sanded down any expressly Christian language in order to make the book more palatable to a general audience. I don't remember Jesus being mentioned once; the book assumes a benevolent Creator but never points to a crucified Savior. Knowing that Lamott is a Christian—and that fundamentalist types consider her heterodox—I wish she'd been a little bolder and veered away from the spiritual-but-not-religious side of the road.

Due to that criticism, I don't know that I'd recommend this book to just anybody, and it's one I'm glad I checked out from the library instead of purchasing. Nevertheless, there's some useful insights about prayer and some beautiful writing to be found. Proceed with caution, but you might appreciate what it offered here.

A LONG OBEDIENCE IN THE SAME DIRECTION by Eugene Peterson

This was a reread of a book I first tackled in 2019. What I said then remains true today, so here you go:

When A Long Obedience in the Same Direction was published in 1980, it was unlike anything else on the shelves at the Christian bookstore: a book that offered no easy answers and no 5 step plans, just a biblical call to the slow, methodical work of discipleship. 40 years later, it remains as singular a work as ever.

In this, Peterson's first book, he sounds what would become the clarion call of his written and pastoral ministry, a call to discipleship. In a society used to getting so much quickly, if not instantaneously, he writes that becoming more like Christ is something that takes a lifetime's worth of prayer, study, and effort. It is not always glamorous, but it is worthwhile.

To illustrate what he calls the biblical model for discipleship, he uses the Song of Ascents, a.k.a. Psalms 120-134. Each psalm shows a different facet of discipleship, from worship to service to blessing, with Peterson using both personal and pastoral anecdotes alongside his breakdown of the biblical text. Each chapter works both as an individual sermon on the topic and as a piece of the larger message on what it means to be a disciple.

In many ways, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction is the ur-text for everything Peterson would write afterwards—his call to incarnational, rooted, lifelong ministry is one he wrote about, preached about, and lived. Whether you've never heard of Peterson or own all his books, this one is not to be missed.

THE MEASURE OF ENOUGH by Deonna Kay

I confess, this is not an unbiased review. Deonna and her family are dear friends of mine, and this is her debut novel. I was thrilled to pick it up the day she announced its publication, and enjoyed reading it over the first half of May.

The Measure of Enough is a story about an independent but conflicted woman coming to terms with her family history. Through a return to her hometown and the reading of her mother's journals, she learns that her childhood was more complicated than it seemed, and her lifelong opinion of her unstable mother and her saint of a father does a 180. In the end, by wrestling with the demons of her past, she is able to come to terms with who she is, learning that, just as her mother had always preached, she is enough.

This novel, while filled with humor, tackles some deep subjects, including domestic abuse, sexual violence, and and mental illness. These topics are handled sensitively, but readers for whom those subjects are triggering should be warned. For anyone unfamiliar with or ill-educated on such topics, the novel provides some basic, therapeutic outlooks.

I'm so proud of Deonna for writing this book, and was glad to read it. Buy your copy today!

DIGITAL MINIMALISM by Cal Newport
SLOW PRODUCTIVITY by Cal Newport

Every couple of months, I get mildly obsessed with the intersection of time management and phone addiction, seeking the secret sauce to bring down my screen time and open up newfound hours in my day. This month, that preoccupation led me to two books by Cal Newport, both of which seek to recapture and redefine productivity in the digital age.

Digital Minimalism is the more focused and practical of the two, making a case and offering tips for how to divorce yourself from the siren songs of email, apps, and mindless scrolling. Newport's advice is, by his own admission, radical, but he argues that by temporarily taking extreme measures—for example, switching to a flip phone for 30 days—you will break bad habits and be better able to establish digital boundaries. His diagnosis is convincing, even if his prescriptions feel a little fantastical.

Slow Productivity is a broader and more meandering, but also more enjoyable, read. It argues that things like email and Zoom, far from making us more productive, have actually robbed us of the ability to get important things done—instead of working on projects, we're constantly responding to the latest query or attending a meeting. With a flurry of anecdotes and case studies, Newport argues that the key to productivity is working more slowly and deliberatively, instead of just more. Intentionality, not volume, is the key.

Both of these books were fascinating, if flawed. My overriding criticism is that most of Newport's solutions only work if you have a high degree of freedom in your work life—you can tell subordinates you only take meetings on certain mornings (as he suggests in Slow Productivity), but good luck telling that to your boss or a demanding client. Newport offers a compelling case for why modern office culture is broken, but his solutions will only work for those in upper management. These are interesting reads with good ideas therein, but take them with a grain of salt.

BOY by Roald Dahl

When you think of Roald Dahl, you probably think of his wildly inventive children's fiction, and for good reason. From James and the Giant Peach to The BFG, my kids and I have loved working our way through all the oddball characters and stories. But Dahl also had stories to tell about his own life, which he covered in two autobiographies dividing his life between boyhood and adulthood.

Boy covers, as the title indicates, Dahl's adolescence in Norway, Wales, and England. There are family tales, boarding school stories, and more, all told with his characteristic imagination and wit. Admittedly, the subject matter isn't quite as off-the-wall as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it's an enjoyable ride nevertheless. My kids didn't seem to mind the absence of Dahl's usual wackiness! Next month, we'll finish up our 16-book boxed set of Roald Dahl books with the second half his autobiography, Going Solo.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF W.B. YEATS

One of my resolutions for 2025 was to read more poetry, so I dutifully read one or two of W.B. Yeats' poems every morning for the first five months of the year.

Nope, I still don't "get" poetry.

Admittedly, my strategy was bad here. For a novice, going with one poet's complete works instead of a "best of" anthology was bound to disappoint me. Complete collections are for hard-core fans, not beginners.

And I did admire Yeats' hits, like "The Second Coming" ("Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold") and "Easter, 1916." The trouble is, most of the poems I enjoyed were the ones I was already familiar with; I didn't do a lot of highlighting of the material I was reading for the first time. By the time I got to his later works, which are longer, epic poems, my "reading" was a lot more skimming than comprehending.

None of this should be taken as a criticism of Yeats, often considered one of history's greatest poets. I'm just convinced I handled this project all wrong; I should not have started with a full course of Yeats when I was only intellectually prepared for a snack.

I did not enjoy this book, but I don't blame the author. Yeats was not at fault—rather, in the words of one of our best-known modern poets, "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me."

ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL. 11 by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, et al.

At long last, Essential X-Men Vol. 11 brings to a close Chris Claremont's run writing the X-Men, which began with 1975's Giant-Sized X-Men #1 and concludes here with the first three issues of the adjectiveless X-Men series, the first of which remains to this day the bestselling comic book of all time. This volume is almost exclusively devoted to tying up the loose ends necessary to debut that book and reset the X-Men universe—dissolving the X-Factor team so that Cyclops, Jean Grey, et al. can be X-Men again, injuring Professor X in such a way that he is once again wheelchair-bound, reestablishing Magneto as a villain, etc.

As mentioned last month, the end of Claremont's tenure did not happen on his timetable, nor according to his wishes. Marvel editorial, after years of letting him and Louise Simonson have their way with the X-universe, stepped in with a mandate to reset things in such a way that new readers could follow the action. And, while I sympathize with Claremont and am generally in favor of giving writers as much freedom as possible, I have to admit that Claremont's final three issues—which see the X-Men form two separate strike teams made up of fan favorite characters to face off against Magneto and his Acolytes—were the most I'd enjoyed X-Men comics in a while. With Jim Lee at the peak of his powers art-wise, the book has an energy that had been lacking for a long time in the years when Claremont had disassembled the team.

With that being said, issue #3 ends rather suddenly, probably a reflection of Claremont's abrupt decision to leave Marvel. After more than 15 years with this team, one wishes he had been allowed to craft his own conclusion instead of having it handed down. In this reader's mind, Marvel editorial's decision to pry the X-Men loose from Claremont's hands was probably the right one—you just wish it could have been done more gracefully.

I'm all X-ed out for a while, but there are still 7 volumes of Essential Wolverine and 5 of Essential X-Factor that I'll have to tackle someday. So for more mutant action, check back in around 2032!

Quiet Faithfulness (Friday Devotional)

 

Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you.

- 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11

For more than a week, the people putting in the most hours at the church have not been staff members, Sunday School teachers, or deacons, but the volunteers decorating the church for this year’s Vacation Bible School, which we’ll hold next week Monday-Friday from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. Every day—rain or shine, on workdays and weekends and on Memorial Day, sometimes leaving the building after 10 PM—this small group of women has shown up to draw and cut and staple, over and over and over again. Seemingly every spare minute of their time has been given to the church, all so this year’s VBS is a vibrant, exciting experience for the families who attend.

Those volunteers won’t get a big check at the end of VBS. They won’t be invited onstage Sunday morning to take a bow—indeed, they’d shoot death glares my direction if I so much as asked them to stand and be recognized. And at the end of it all, most of the decorations they spent so long assembling will get thrown away.

It’s enough to make you start to think that such work is thankless, even pointless. After all, in our world, your impact is usually measured according to the fame and fortune you accrue. If people aren’t watching, it doesn’t matter. If it doesn’t turn a profit, it isn’t valuable.

But the Bible teaches us that there is dignity and inherent worth in the kind of quiet faithfulness that Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction.” Christian service often happens in the shadows instead of the spotlight; acts of love happen behind the scenes far more often than on a stage. Quiet, unglamorous work for others is one of the hallmarks of a life of discipleship.

Our egos demand recognition when we do good, but the Holy Spirit reminds us that our reward is heavenly—not pats on the back, but jewels in our crown. So be encouraged even when it seems that your faithfulness is unnoticed or unappreciated—your Father in heaven knows, and he loves seeing his children humbly doing their part. Keep up the good work—not for the adoration of the crowd, but for the glory of the kingdom.

Telling the Truth (Friday Devotional)

 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

- Romans 12:2

When I was a Boy Scout, a regular chore on campouts was doing the dishes, which included cleaning cast iron skillets. When our adult leaders doled out this task, they always stressed that we were under no circumstances to use soap. Hot water, yes. Foil, yes. A washcloth, yes. But soap, they explained, would eat away at the cast iron and ruin it.

So for nearly 20 years I took that advice as gospel, always keeping the Dawn far away from our cast iron cookware. Until this week, that is. Because this week is when I learned the truth: while there was certainly a time when dish soaps, which were made with lye, would strip away cast iron’s seasoning and damage the pan, that has not been the case for decades. No modern dish soap is going to hurt your cast iron.

I’ll let you fact check me on Google or ChatGPT real quick. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

….

Welcome back. Chances are, you may still be suspicious of this new information—truthfully, I am too! That’s because once something becomes conventional wisdom, it’s awfully hard to successfully dispute it. Once our world decides something is true, it takes a lot of courage and conviction to go against the tide.

But for believers in Jesus, there are times where our faith requires us to do so, times when the gospel of Jesus Christ and the wisdom of the world simply do not align. In those moments, you have to choose whether you will passively go with the flow or actively follow the Lord. You have to decide whose disciple you really are.

In a world of conformists, God calls his children instead to be transformed—made not in the image of the world, but in the image of his Son. Don’t settle for the conventional wisdom—embrace the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Form vs. Function (Friday Devotional)

 

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

- Psalm 119:105

In the corner of my office sits an acoustic guitar. It’s in tune (or pretty close, anyway). All its strings are in good shape. If you know how to play it, you can pick it up and make some beautiful music.

But the thing is, I don’t know how to play the guitar, at least not beyond a few simple riffs I taught myself in high school. Ask me to strum a G chord and I’ll look at you blankly. Tell me to play you a tune and I’ll just laugh. That guitar in the corner may technically be functional, but for me it’s purely decorative.

On the other hand, not 2 feet from the guitar is a brown recliner that used to belong to my grandmother. Beyond that sentimental attachment, there’s nothing particularly special about it. It’s not a beautiful piece of furniture, nor is it hideous. It’s comfortable, but far from luxurious.

But I sit in that recliner, whether for a few minutes or for hours on end, every single day. Whether I’m reading, writing, studying, praying, making a phone call, or just taking a break, I’m often doing it from that brown recliner in the corner. It doesn’t look like much, but I use it all the time.

That brings me to the last thing that’s caught my eye in the corner of my office: my Bible. If you’re reading this devotional, then chances are you have one too. Maybe it’s a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation, filled with photos and handwritten notes and baptismal certificates. Maybe it’s a prized possession, with a real leather cover and pages with gilded edges, the kind of thing somebody had to save up for.

Then again, maybe yours is an old Gideon Bible you ‘borrowed’ from a hotel room 20 years ago. Maybe it’s a study Bible you got for Christmas which is nearly falling apart. Maybe yours is filled with ink stains and highlighter markings.

God gave us his Word so we would learn it and thereby know him. In our time, we have the indescribable blessing of being able to hold personal copies of those scriptures in our hands. So is your Bible more like my guitar—something to look at, but rarely pick up—or is it like my familiar, useful recliner? Is your Bible decorative or functional?

God, Please Help (Friday Devotional)

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 

- Colossians 4:2

Every time an ambulance speeds past, I can count on hearing two things. The first, naturally, is the siren. But the second sound is the quiet voice of my daughter Katherine in the backseat.

“Dear God, please help the people where the ambulance is going. Amen.”

The origin of this prayer comes from a day, years ago, when Katherine had a lot of questions after an ambulance drove by. Who were they going to help? What was wrong with the person? What were the paramedics going to do when they got there?

At the time, we told Katherine we didn’t have the answers to her questions, nor did we have a way to find out those answers. But what we told her we could do was pray for the people in need and for the paramedics seeking to help them. And so, without fail or hesitation, she does so every time she hears a siren screaming.

There are times when, even as adults, we find ourselves like Katherine in the backseat, filled with questions and concerns but no answers. Grown-ups like to imagine we can solve all our problems on our own, but life has a way of disabusing us of that notion. Sometimes you just don’t know what to do.

In such moments of confusion and disorder, the best thing to do is to turn to the one who has the answers we don’t, offering the simple prayer that has sustained God’s people since the beginning: “God, please help.”

Such a prayer won’t necessarily result in God intervening to solve your problem for you. Praise the Lord when he does, but it’s not exactly the point. Prayer is simply your acknowledgement that you are not sovereign over all things—and that you know who is. It’s an act of trust.

So today, let me encourage you to turn your anxieties, whatever they may be, over to God. You don’t have all the answers, and you may not get them. But there’s something humble, something faithful, and something powerful about looking to the Lord, and simply saying, “God, please help.”