While we sat at my Mom's hospital bedside yesterday, my Dad and I talked. Both of us have given our lives to church leadership so naturally we discussed church life and trends. Since he relocated to Pennsylvania this Spring, he has been visiting churches seeking a spiritual home for his family. What he has found has not, by and large, made him thrilled with the state of the church! Much of what he labels as evidence of 'worldliness' and compromise in abundance, I see as expressions of generational differences over what is good and/or acceptable Christian practice. He sees compromise; I see adaptation.
I serve as part of a committee that guides a ministry. It's a good assignment with people who are earnest about their responsibilities. Recently they made a decision that I think weakened the core mission of the ministry, but which the rest of the group believed to be a necessary accommodation of the demands of the ministry at this time. I keep asking myself, "Jerry, are just attached to a tradition? Does your discomfort come from that tradition being violated or does your disagreement arise out of a necessary defense of principle?" Time will tell, as the Spirit leads.
How do we honor God, living as holy people who are distinct from the world of which we are a part, yet continue to be effective in reaching out to those who do not know Him? Ah, that is the question, isn't it? The gray choices of life are the hardest, aren't they? And the older I get in this world, the less black and white I see!
So many choices I make everyday involves many shades of gray and thus, I must lean hard on the guidance of the Spirit, who has promised to create the mind of Christ in me. The safest choice, and often the most comfortable, is to preserve the status quo. But, just doing what we've always done, just because we've always done it that way, will lead to increasing isolation and ineffectiveness. The world continues to spin, change continues, the march of time never slows. The other side of that argument is that constant innovation that is not solidly grounded in truth will lead to disastrous consequences.
So, again, I circle around to ask, how do we choose?
Humility must be a part of the process that guides us. If we really want to know God's leading, we need to have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. He speaks to us through the Scripture, through the traditions of the church, and through dialogue with our brothers and sisters that can be intense. It's that last part that I find most difficult! But in Proverbs I am reminded, "As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend." (Proverbs 27:17, NLT) Wrestling with the truth helps us not only to discover it, but to own it. I am learning that a decision that does not allow for honest, open dialogue is usually not the best, nor wisest, one.
Prayerfulness, too, must always be part of a decision-making process. "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25, NIV) It is the Holy Spirit that gives us true wisdom. We find life when we find His way. We find His way by remaining in a place of intimate communion with Him. When prods our conscience, quickly we respond, "yes, Lord!" When He lifts His peace from us, we stop and wait and listen. When we grieve Him with willfulness, we repent quickly. This walk with the Spirit allows Him to 'guide us into all truth.' (John 16.13)
Don't become apathetic. The response to the complexity of life cannot be - "Oh, whatever." The path of least resistance is always downward!
Got a challenge today?
Not sure what is the right course?
God promises to lead. Let Him. Listen to counsel. Meditate on the Scripture.
Pray! "If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." (James 1:5-7, NLT)
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