Sweater Weather (Friday Devotional)

 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

- Hebrews 11:1

As I type these words, I’m wearing a T-shirt, gym shorts, and flip flops, perfectly appropriate attire for the weather. Today’s forecast calls for a high near 90 degrees. When I pick up my kids from school this afternoon, we’ll be sweating by the time we get back to the car. It still feels like summer.

Nevertheless, time marches on. Tonight, Major League Baseball begins its World Series, the so-called “Fall Classic.” Our church will host its fall festival tomorrow. Starbucks has been selling pumpkin spice lattes for weeks. It may still feel like summer, but our habits and traditions persevere—whatever the weather says, we stubbornly insist that autumn has arrived.

In some ways, it feels silly to carry on this way in defiance of our senses. Why should we pretend we need to have a jacket handy when it’s so obviously unnecessary? Saying the seasons have changed when we remain so obviously mired in the same one we’ve been in since May feels like an act of cognitive dissonance, a willful act of mass delusion.

Yet I can’t help but feel there’s something hopeful about it. Cooler weather may be delayed, but our rhythms endure, because we trust that change will be here soon. We refuse to cancel our annual traditions because we don’t need it to feel like fall to know that it is fall.

It’s not hard to believe in something when you can see it. But biblical faith is trusting God when faith is all you have to lean on, going all in on hope instead of hedging your bets. There will always be those who call such faith naïve, even silly—but there is something profoundly brave about persevering in faith when cold, hard rationality says you should just give up.

Our world is a cynical, pessimistic place, and if you listen to it too closely, you’ll be ready to throw in the towel at any moment. But if you listen to God’s Word, you’ll hear a different refrain: hope. The tomb is empty, and Jesus is returning soon. The Holy Spirit is at work. God is making all things new.

It’s hot down here, no doubt about it. But don’t throw away your sweater quite yet. Persevere in hope, looking forward to the day when your faith will become sight.

Getting Where You're Going (Friday Devotional)

 

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 4:4-7

As you read this devotional, my family and I are overseas on a trip to Scotland and Ireland, seeing the  sights and enjoying the time together. You may have already seen some of the photos that Lindsey’s uploaded on Facebook or the daily diaries I’ve posted. Travel’s an important thing for our family, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to do so.

But of course, before the fun of overseas travel comes the stress of making the necessary arrangements. How are we going to get around once we’re there? Where are we going to stay? How much money should we change, and where will we change it? Do we have the right kinds of adaptor plugs to charge various electronic devices? When do we call the credit card and phone companies? And for goodness’ sake, what all should we pack?

There are a million little details to attend to before a trip like this one, all of which matter, all of which need to be dealt with before you get on an airplane. It’s enough to make you jittery and anxious when the trip begins, worried you’ve missed something along the way. But then, inevitably, something wonderful happens when you arrive at your destination—the worries largely melt away, overcome by the fun of vacation. The anxiety of the preparation gives way to the joy of the experience.

Life in Christ is a lot like that. The world will pile on burden after burden, a million different things it insists you need to stress over. From the practical—do we have enough saved for retirement?—to the petty—is our car the oldest on the block?—your mind can constantly fixate on different points of anxiety.

But for those who are in Christ, there is freedom from such concerns, or at least a bigger perspective about what ultimately matters. Because we can turn our worries over to the Lord, because we can trust his providence more than our plans, we can rejoice when others fret. What brings fear to an unbeliever is the first step towards joy for a believer. For where there is reason to worry, there is also reason to pray—and in turning our fears over to God, there is peace.

Today, don’t let fear win out over joy. In Christ, you’ve got what you need—so get where you’re going and enjoy the experience!

What Do You Sound Like? (Friday Devotional)

 

Do everything without grumbling or arguing…So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

- Philippians 2:14, 18

Buzz. Click. Clang. Fizz. Groan. Hiccup. Hiss. Rattle. Rip. Sputter.

All these words have something in common: they are onomatopoeias, words whose names sound like the noises they describe. English has more than 100 such words—from argh to ugh, boom to zoom. Some make us smile just to see them in print—think achoo or belch—while others have a more unpleasant feel in our mouths, like blurt or snarl.

To this latter category you can add the word ‘grumble.’ One of its definitions, “to make a low rumbling sound,” the way thunder does when a storm is gathering, fits the word’s sound perfectly. But so too does its primary definition, “to complain about something in a bad-tempered way.” While complaining can sometimes be louder and higher-pitched—think of that other onomatopoeia, ‘whine’—often it’s more like an undercurrent, something soft and in the background, inescapable and unpleasant.

There should always be a place for constructive criticism in our lives—if we don’t want to stagnate, then we need to be seeking ways to do better. But while we ought to welcome helpful suggestions offered in the pursuit of sanctification, the Bible tells us we need not tolerate and should not engage in the kind of complaining that tears down without building back up, that finds nothing but problems and doesn’t bother to seek solutions. That’s just grumbling—and far from helping, it’s just downright unpleasant.

One of the characteristics that set the early Christians apart from the world was the joy they constantly exhibited, even in the face of tremendous difficulty. Their hope was not found in worldly figures—not in financial statements or attendance figures or election results—but in the good news that Christ is risen, the knowledge that by grace and through faith their eternal future was assured. Whatever this world threw at them, their attitude was always the same: Jesus is Lord, so what do I have to complain about?

The world isn’t any simpler today than it was then—some aspects of life are easier, others far harder. So if you’re looking to the world for your hope, you’ll find plenty to worry and stress and complain about. But if Jesus is your Lord, you can rejoice and be glad, for you have a hope that will endure far longer than any of life’s cares and concerns. With every word you speak, whether an expression of joy or a grumble, you are bearing witness to what you believe—so what do you sound like?

All-Around Players (Friday Devotional)

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

- 1 Corinthians 12:7-10

In 1974, Oakland Athletics owner Charles O. Finley signed Herb Washington to his first major league contract. The signing raised eyebrows around the league for a simple reason: Washington hadn’t played baseball since his junior year of high school.

You see, Finley had a hunch that it might be worth a roster spot to invent a new position, a “designated runner.” Such a player would rarely take at-bats or play defense, but would replace slower runners on the basepaths in key spots. Washington, a world-class sprinter who’d narrowly missed the 1972 Olympic track and field team, was the perfect fit—even if he wasn’t, strictly speaking, a baseball player.

Upon signing his designated runner, Finley predicted he would be “personally responsible for winning ten games this year.” But while Washington—whose Topps baseball card simply listed his position as “pinch runner,” the only player in the company’s history with that distinction—stole 31 bases and scored 33 times, the experiment was widely considered a dud by 1975. “Finley’s Folly,” as it was labelled, came down to one central issue: to be successful, you have to do more than one thing well.

Churches operate under the same principle—while every congregation is going to be better at some things than others, they can’t give 100% of their energy and focus to one area of ministry to the exclusion of all others. A healthy church can’t exist solely to worship but willfully neglect service to the community, any more than it can have a vibrant teaching ministry for adults but ignore children’s discipleship.

That’s because God gifts his children differently, empowering each of us for different works of the Spirit. The idea is not for all of us to be uniform in our giftings, but instead united in our diversity. Put us all together and you have a whole mess of strengths and weaknesses, bound together not by shared methodology but by shared love for the Lord.

Ask yourself, what gifts has the Spirit given you? How are you using them to glorify God and serve others? Don’t let your spiritual gifts go to waste—the church needs to do more than one thing at a time, and it needs you to make that happen!