Don't Be Harder On Yourself than God is

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.” (1Co 4:3 AV)

To what Paul is referring is man’s judgment compared with God’s judgment.  The Corinthian church was very superficial and carnal.  In a later passage, Paul remarks how his personality was at issue with the church at Corinth.  They didn’t appreciate his blunt manner.  Paul was treading and uphill climb with this church.  Throughout both letters, Paul felt he had to justify his ministry to them so they would heed his advice.  The above verse is not what we might think it means. In fact, I have heard it incorrectly applied in the past.  It is common to assume Paul is being defensive here.  It might be assumed he is telling the Corinthian church to back off.  If he does not judge himself, what right does the church have to judge him?  But this is not what Paul is suggesting.  The verse that follows gives us the relevant context of Paul’s statement above.  It is God who judges.  Not man.  Paul is not judged by the values of the Corinthian church.  His is judged according to God’s values.  It is the second part of the verse to which I wish to draw attention.  Paul does not judge himself according to his own values.  He yields to God’s judgment and His values.  We might agree wholeheartedly with Paul on this.  But the truth of the matter is, we don’t live that way.

We live under our own values and expectations and frequently find ourselves coming up short.  We forget God’s objectives and values.  We tend to place our own over His.  One of my most memorable moments playing Little League baseball was not a good one.  I played outfield and was a pitcher.  My batting skills were atrocious.  Not because I lacked athleticism.  For me, it was a mind game.  When I got to the plate, I was too easily intimidated by the experience and eventual failure that would result.  This meant my batting statistics were not all that good.  It was a playoff game for us and it would turn out to be our last game of the season.  We were down by several runs and if we lost the game, our season was over.  It was the bottom of the ninth.  Two outs.  There were two guys on base and if we could keep the game going, there was hope.  My number was called to go to bat.  Not good.  As hard as I tried, I struck out and the game ended.  The season ended.  And I took it all on myself.  I was uncontrollably sobbing.  My coach was the first to console me.  I tried my best and that was all that mattered.  The team was coxed into consoling me as well.  It was alright.  There is always next year.  Besides, we were the worst team in the league anyway.  It wasn’t like we had high hopes.  I learned a lesson that day.  One that I have repeatedly forgotten and had to relearn.  Sometimes I take too much upon myself and I let my own judgment discourage me rather than seek God’s opinion.

Paul will later tell this church the examine themselves in light of partaking in the LORD’s supper.  There is a time and a place for self-evaluation.  What we must do is conduct self-evaluation in the light of God’s words and not our own expectations.  We have been given ten, five, or one talent.  To judge ourselves as though we have ten when in reality we only have one to what Paul is referring.  Or to look at our failures more than we look at God’s successes is another trap.  To put on ourselves unrealistic expectations is to play God.  Much anxiety and pressure we suffer are self-inflicted.  We are not required to be what God has not intended us to be.  If we cannot do it, after praying over it profusely, then it must not be God’s will.  So, let it go.  If we become our own standard, then we will quit.  If we seek to excel in playing an instrument and can only get so far, if perfection is the goal, then we surrender the instrument to another interest.  Our lives are not like that.  God matures us in a balanced way over a long period of time.  To judge ourselves by our standard which is higher than God’s is to always fail.  Judgment comes from God. Not from within.  We need to get ourselves off the hook we have put ourselves on and rest confident that God will get us where we need to be if we have faith and follow.  Relax.  God has this.  And, He is not finished yet.

Come In Dead Last

"For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.” (Ro 14:7 AV)

The next verse tells us to whom we live and die.  That would be God Himself.  The context is issues of liberty; in particular, the eating or not eating of meat once offered unto idols.  In the first century, animals were offered to pagan gods as part of a feast.  The leftovers were sold in the market.  There were both Jews and Gentiles alike who would not purchase or consume meat that was left over from a pagan worship gathering.  They felt once it was offered, even if not consumed, was defiled.  Others, who were not as sensitive in conscience took the liberty to purchase discounted meat and consume it.  Paul renders no judgment on the choice itself, but rather, on the effect the choice might have on others.  Chapter fifteen, verse one gives us the answer.  Those not offended by the practice should honor the conscience of those who might be offended and not partake.  The explanation is in the verse above.  A believer is not to live unto his or herself.  They are to live unto God and by extension, live for others.  What we want or what we think matters little if it offends someone else who, for conscience sale, cannot partake.  Rather than dwell on the specific application found in Romans chapter fourteen, I would like to consider the overriding principle.  That is, whether we live or die, we do not do so for Self.  We live and die for God first, and others, second.

As a child, our school would often go on a picnic toward the end of the school year.  It was often the last day of school before summer started.  The park to which we went was usually within walking distance.  When the picnic was complete, we were welcome to walk home from the park.  Those of us who rode our bikes to school walked back with the class and rode home from school.  The picnic was filled with fun activities.  We played park games for hours.  We played kickball, racing games, and the occasional three-legged race.  But the one game that always ended the picnic was tug-o-war.  Everyone is familiar with this game.  The class is split up into teams.  A rope was laid on the ground.  A bandana was tied in the center.  The object was for your team to pull the other team over to your side.  The competition ended when the bandana crossed your team line.  There was always the token anchor person.  Usually, it was a boy who was obviously much larger than the rest of his class.  The thing about this competition is that total commitment to the goal and one’s team was essential.  No one could be out for themselves.  The more coordinated the team, the more they won.  The closer each individual was to the one in front and behind him, the greater the concentrated effort to pull.  This meant we moved the same way.  Right foot with right foot.  Left foot with left foot.  The less slack between two people meant they were pulling as one.  The individual had to lose himself to the greater good.

This is the understanding of the above verse.  We are not our own.  We belong to the One who bled and died for our sins.  Therefore, when we make choices, it should be for the benefit of others and the glory of God.  What we want does not matter.  What God wants and what others need does.  This way of thinking is contrary to our human nature and to our cultural influence.  Our society is becoming more and more self-centered.  A day doesn’t go by that we don’t hear of some tragedy of an exchange gone bad.  Many times, it is petty.  Two days ago, a fast food restaurant was emptied because two people got into an argument and one person was seen with a firearm.  There was also a stabbing that was in the news over a condiment choice.  Violence is almost epidemic.  Why? Because people live and die unto themselves.  The believer should be different.  The child of God knows his or her life belongs to God and is for the service of God and others.

Continuing Instant

“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” (Ro 12:12 AV)

Continuing instant in prayer is to have the mindset to be in a constant state of awareness so if prayer is to be made, it can be done in an instant.  This instruction goes well with another from Paul.  “Pray without ceasing.” (1Th 5:17 AV)  Having the mindset that God is always with us no matter the circumstances and that a conversation can be had with Him is hard to do.  We get caught up in the business of life and forget that God is right there all the time.  We compartmentalize our relationship with the LORD and schedule Him in as a ‘thing’ we do.  We read our bibles.  We pray over our list.  Then we go about our busy day with never another thought that God is still there.  The word ‘instant’ jumps out at me.  The attitude that Paul is trying to convey is being in such a state of mind where prayer comes naturally and unabated.  Although there is nothing wrong with a prayer closet, one is not absolutely necessary for prayer.  If we look in the word of God, we see people praying in all sorts of places and under all sorts of circumstances.  Much of the prayer recorded in the word of God is spontaneous and natural.  The psalms record some prayer and these psalms were sung for specific purposes and in specific places.  But most prayer was not religious duty or a rite which the saint pre-planned and pre-wrote.  Having a prayer life that is instant requires we remember the proximity of our God is ever-present.

When I think of someone who is super aware of relationships, my wife tops the list.  There is a reason she is well-loved.  When she is with anyone, she makes a connection.  She cannot be in a room and sit by herself.  She has to talk to someone.  Even if it is just her and I and the dog, if she cannot talk to me, she will talk to the dog.  She is instant in communication.  She has to acknowledge others and have herself affirmed by their response.  My wife is the ultimate ‘people-person’.  Alone time is not in her vocabulary.  She has to know all that she can about the person to whom she is talking.  She makes time to hear and to speak.  When we go to church, she is almost the last one to leave.  As long as there is someone to talk to, she will visit for a bit.  Someone who is instant in conversation is well aware of the presence of another.  They cannot help it.  They are so socially acclimated they cannot be around another being without some kind of exchange.  The reason is simple.  They love people and they love to be loved.

Being instant in prayer requires we consider, nonstop, the presence of God.  God is spirit.  He is everywhere and at all times.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.  We are like two buddies sitting in a boat fishing in the middle of a lake.  We know each is sitting with the other.  We have something in common.  We are fishing.  We know enough of the other to carry on a conversation.  Yet what do two guys do?  They sit almost silent for the entire day.  Their communication is goal-oriented.  They may communicate as a team to harbor the boat.  They may speak to one another as they choose where to eat dinner.  They may speak if they need help landing a fish.  But to have small talk or talk of troubles in the heart would never happen.  That is not us.  This is how we treat the LORD.  We speak to Him only when necessary and usually only when we need something.  This is not what Paul had in mind when he told us to be instant in prayer.  He had in mind an ongoing conversation that resumes at any time and for any reason.

Life by the Spirit

“And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Ro 8:10 AV)

Reading our learned writers, it is clear most are confused as to the meaning of this verse.  They cannot decide if the body spoken of above is the flesh or if it is our literal bodies.  They cannot tell if the life to which Paul refers is a present life of righteousness or our eventual resurrection.  Regardless of how one reads it, there is an overriding principle here applicable to the here and now.  That is, the Spirit is the source of righteousness that we can live in today.  The more I read Romans chapter eight, the more I see the work of the Holy Spirit in empowering us to live righteously.  As the reader works through the chapter, one notices just how free from sin we are.  What we often miss is the place of the Holy Spirit versus the inability of the flesh to overcome the flesh.  This is what I believe Paul is trying to express in verses ten and eleven.  No doubt verse eleven is speaking of the resurrection.  Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit quickening our mortal bodies.  Our mortal bodies are alive until our physical death, so I think what Paul is trying to do is compare the physical resurrection of our dead mortal bodies with the quickening of our new man by the power of the Holy Spirit because the old man is dead.  The old man is dead and unable to do right as we learned by accepting Christ.  He now lives in us and the old man is dead.  It is unable to live in righteousness.  Life comes by the Spirit.  At least this is my feeble attempt at explaining a difficult passage.  The point to be made here is the place of the Holy Spirit in all this.

Like many, I am fighting the battle of the bulge.  My doctor is convinced that I am an obsessive eater and I can tell you, I am not.  You can ask my better half.  For whatever reason, I tend to keep what I gain.  So, I have tried several things.  I am not into gimmicks.  I am not into fad diets.  They only work for a short period and research shows those who use them, once they go off them, regain all the weight lost plus interest.  The better way, in my humble opinion, is simply.  Burn more calories than you take in.  It really is that simple.  Although there is no reason to eat what you despise just to prove you can control yourself, there is something to be said about making better choices in our food selection.  Choosing to eat foods low in calories while still making us feel full is the way to go.  There is one answer I sort of stumbled upon by researching another health issue from which I suffer.  I am hypothryratic.  My thyroid underperforms.  One of the symptoms is dry and itchy skin.  To combat this, I take vitamin B-12 every day.  After two weeks, it all went away.  The wintertime is a bit of a challenge, but a bit of medicated skin cream as well as B-12 seemed to help.  After researching the answer, I came across an article that stated taking B-12 without B-6 was less effective.  If I wanted to full effects of B-12, I also had to take B-6 with it.  The article also stated that vitamin B-6 also helped to control appetite.  I noticed right away this assertion was true.  It didn’t take but a few days of B-6 to notice a decreased sense of hunger.  I didn’t have it within me to say no to food as much as I should if I wanted to lose weight.  But pop vitamin B-6 and it became much easier.

Not that the Holy Spirit is a pill we swallow, but the analogy is a bit the same.  The Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and souls without a direct invitation on our part.  He is part and parcel of accepting Christ.  It is a package deal.  We accept Jesus as our Savior and the Holy Spirit resides.  It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that gives us life.  It is He who is the power behind living in Christ.  We are sealed until the day of redemption by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  While He resides, He empowers.  All we need to do is yield to the power that is there.  When I pop a vitamin B-6, there is no conscious yielding.  It does its work.  When it comes to the Holy Spirit, there must be a conscious choice to yield to the influence, conviction, leading, and instruction of the Holy Spirit.  If we can learn to yield, we will then live.

Believing Enough to Obey

“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (Ro 3:31 AV)

In contemporary Christianity, there is an idea that faith and law are contrary, one to the other.  This is true where salvation is concerned.  We are saved by faith and not by the deeds of the law.  The fault does not lie with the nature or requirements of the law.  The law is holy, just, and good.  The fault lies with man’s inability to keep the law perfect and without transgression.  James tells us the standard demanded from a holy God is absolute perfection.  If we seek to be justified by the deeds of the law, there can be no failure.  Not even once.  If we do fail, as far as God is concerned, we are guilty of every statute therein.  This is why faith justifies.  Faith is something we can do.  Despite our sinful nature, we still have the ability to believe.  All the penitent needs do is to realize his sinful nature, past, and consequences, calling upon the mercy of God and believing in Jesus as his or her sacrifice for sin.  The law cannot do this because we cannot keep the law.  So what of the law?  Does it have any value at all?  As stated above, it is holy, just, and good.  The relationship between faith and the law is a simple one.  We did not possess the faith to keep the law until Christ came into our hearts.  Now, we possess the missing tool to keep the law and thus establish it as something worthy to be subjected to.  By faith, we can keep the law.

An alarm clock is an amazing thing.  We need to get up at a certain hour and the alarm clock accomplishes this.  We set it for a few snooze sessions earlier than we need to get out of bed and go to sleep, knowing this simple device will do its job.  At the desired time, the clock goes off.  We hit the snooze and roll over.  It goes off nine minutes later, and we hit the snooze one more time.  That third time the clock goes off, we tell ourselves we have to get out of bed.  Without the alarm clock, we would sleep until the melatonin in our system diminished to nothing.  Then the sunshine will wake us.  What I have found is if you set your alarm clock for the same time every morning, with or without it, you will eventually wake at that time anyway.  I get up roughly at the same time every morning.  Within twenty minutes or so.  There are times when I have to get up much earlier, so at those times, I use my clock.  But, if I didn’t have to get up earlier, I would not use the clock.  I don’t need to.  I go to sleep at night knowing I will wake when I am supposed to get up.  I have faith that my body will react to the increasing daylight and I will awaken at the right time.  I didn’t have it in me because the flesh would fight against it.  The alarm clock overcame the weakness of the flesh.  But over time, faith took over.  I don’t need the clock because I have faith that I will get up when I am supposed to.

This is somewhat similar to what Paul is teaching.  The time we get up is the law.  The alarm clock is the flesh.  The natural way in which we get up is faith.  The law is good.  I have to get up and tend to things.  Especially the dog.  There is nothing wrong with the law.  It is there for my own good.  However, I need the alarm clock to get up.  The snooze button is an extension of my flesh.  I don’t want to get up.  I don’t want to obey the law that is there for my own good.  Over time, the duty of tending to my dog, the calling in which I live, and my family’s needs demand I get out of bed.  So, over time, trusting the natural rhythm of my body means I get up, get myself going, and tend to those things without the need for the discipline of the clock.  This is what faith does for the law.  Before, we needed consequences as the motive for obedience.  Now we have faith.  Faith does not destroy the law.  Faith enables one to live in the law.  Faith is the hammer that breaks the alarm clock.  We don’t need consequences anymore.  We have faith.  Faith makes it possible to live and walk in righteousness where we could not beforehand.  Faith is the life that makes it possible to do the right thing and avoid the wrong thing.  Faith did not destroy the law.  Faith established the law.

Enduring the Worst so the Hard isn't so Bad

“And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.” (Ac 28:15 AV)

 This seems kind of odd seeing Paul had a bleak future.  He pleaded to Caesar and that is exactly where he was going.  After two years of house arrest, Paul was to appear before Caesar for the charges laid before him by his own countrymen.  He would plead for his life.  Why would he thank God and take courage?  Seeing that he had imprisonment and maybe even death to look forward to, for what did he thank God, and why was he encouraged?  Perhaps because of the journey he took to get to Rome, Paul was grateful to finally get there regardless of the circumstances involved.  He suffered persecution back in Jerusalem.  He suffered a shipwreck and wintering in a barbarian island.  They set out in spring for the Italian east coast and traveled the rest of the way by foot.  His journey to the trial was worse than the trial itself.  Maybe God brings worse times before a trial so that the trial doesn’t seem all that hard in comparison.

I don’t care to go to the dentist.  It is perhaps my least favorite thing to do.  I’d rather clean a sewer than go to a dentist.  It harkens back to my childhood.  But I digress.  As everyone who has made these visits knows, there is pain involved.  There is always pain involved. Even if a cleaning is the only plan, there is still pain.  There is no getting around it.  So, I went to a new dentist because my wife insisted I go.  The pain starts with the X-rays.  Unless you have a great and experienced tech; which I did not; that reflector plate they put in your mouth does not fit well.  It digs into your gums.  This dear girl couldn’t get my pictures right.  It took her over thirty minutes and many takes to finally get a good set of pics.  In the meantime, the plastic guard dug into my soft pallet and I just knew I was in for several canker sores later in the week.  Then comes the hygienist.  She takes that metal pokey thing that is sharpened to a fine point and starts poking your gums.  “Looks like you have a little swelling and bleeding of the gums.”  So you think?  She yells out numbers ranging from three to eight as the tech enters them on her computer.  The doctor finally comes in and gives his suggestions.  Not bad teeth.  No cavities.  Just a few missing and one broken tooth.  We talked about implants versus a bridge and all of a sudden, the cap and bridge didn’t seem so bad.  Why?  Because I had been tortured for over an hour and endured pain.  So, what was coming next didn’t seem so bad.

We wonder why we have to go through hard times.  One of the reasons is to prepare us for hard times in the future.  If we had to face the bad without first enduring the worst, the bad would be the worst.  Paul was grateful and encouraged because he finally had the opportunity to testify to the Emperor himself.  All that he went through was far worse than testifying to the Emperor would be.  He may lose his life to an ill-tempered ruler.  But he had been through far worse.  He may have had to endure humiliation and persecution, but he had just watched his life flash before his eyes for fourteen days.  The hard things of today might be God’s way of making tomorrow’s hard things a bit easier to endure.

Hated For The Wrong Reason

“And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.” (Ac 22:22 AV)

Paul’s defense was one of complete innocence.  When he arrived at Jerusalem, he did not go to the synagogues or the temple to dispute Jesus with the lost.  He did go to the Temple once, and that was to observe the rite of purification stopping short of offering the sacrifice.  He then testified God had sent him to the Gentiles in faraway places so the Jews at Jerusalem had nothing to fear.  He would not preach in the capital city.  He was only there to deliver a benevolent gift to the saints at Jerusalem from the saints abroad.  There should have been no reason for these people to want Paul dead.  Why did they?  The bulk of his speech regarded his personal salvation testimony.  Like Lazarus, if they can destroy the evidence of the power of God, the movement stops.  They could not take the fact Paul was converted and no longer persecuted the saints.  He has become one of them.  It is the change in the life of the sinner that the world despises.  Wherein we rejoice at the change, we wonder why the world does not rejoice with us.  We were lost.  Now we are saved.  We were on the road of self-destruction.  Now we live for God.  We were in despair.  Now, our hearts overflow with the joy of Christ.  One would think, lost or saved, all would rejoice.  But they do not.

We have it relatively easy in this country.  At least for the time being.  We don’t pay a heavy price for our choice to trust Christ.  There are places in this world that are not so.  To trust Jesus in some countries means certain persecution.  Maybe even death. There is a country in central west Africa that is purging their land of any mention of Jesus.  They are slaughtering those who have trusted Christ.  The first-century church often paid with their lives when professing Jesus as both LORD and Savior.  My fear is when this persecution comes to our great nation, will the people of God be willing to stand and be counted?  Right now, persecution is coming in very minor ways.  A baker here.  A photographer there.  The next stop will be our churches.  They will demand we recognize any deviant as a legitimate member.  They will demand we not discriminate based on sexual practice or gender bias.  Once they enforce that, the next step is to require all marriages and mandate the minister not to discriminate, forcing the minister to officiate all marriages against the word of God and his conscience.  Lastly, they will regulate speech.  They will forbid the preacher from saying anything that might offend others.  That is pretty much the whole Bible.  Eventually, the church in our nation will have to go underground as they did in the first century and the Middle Ages.  Why?  Because they will not tolerate conversion!

Paul did everything he could do to mitigate trouble.  He didn’t go where he was not welcome.  He testified he was not there to cause trouble.  All he was doing was meeting the needs of some poor folk.  But that wasn’t enough.  His life was a testament to the power of saving grace.  He was no longer like them.  He no longer killed the enemy.  He was a professor of Christ and that was not good enough.  They wanted him dead.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the world has not changed one bit.  We may have enjoyed almost two thousand years of relative peace towards believers in the western world, but that is all coming to an end.  Rome, a Western culture city/state, killed Jesus.  Those who arrested Paul and sent him to Rome were in a Western culture.  Western culture may have been Christianized to some degree, but like Israel who turned on the Messiah, the Western world will do the same.  So, saint, get prepared.  They do not like you.  They despise you.  And when the time comes, will require you to leave the world for your faith in Jesus Christ.