Sophomoric Christians

Second year students are called ‘sophomores.’ The word is a made-up combination from two Greek root words:  sophos which means to be wise; and moros which means to be dull or a fool. The student with a little bit of learning can become over-confident and intellectually pretentious. His knowledge is not matched with wisdom that would reveal how much more there is to know. He doesn’t know what he has yet to learn. I remember a family friend who used to rib me when I was a student calling me a ‘smart college kid.’  It wasn’t a compliment. He saw my pseudo-maturity for what it was, sophomoric!

The Bible says "if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.  … wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." (Proverbs 2:3-11, NIV)

I find sophomores more amusing than anything else. When they put their newly acquired knowledge on display, I listen and smile. A person who ought to have matured into real wisdom who is still being sophomoric is about as irritating as anyone or anything I can think of.  Knowledge is a great accomplishment. I do not admire ‘know nothings.’ To study and own a body of information is admirable. But, without wisdom, knowledge only creates pride. That is why the Lord tells us that insight and understanding are a treasure. James warns of being one who is only a ‘hearer’ of the Word. Be a doer of the Word, he says. Otherwise you will be a sophomoric Christian, full of head knowledge, lacking heart conviction.

Want to grow wise? In addition to praying for wisdom, receive the counsel of this word from the Word. "Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces." (Proverbs 13:20, The Message)

Living Ghosts!

“Lost Larry” visited me again this week. He comes by for a handout, always with a story about his bad luck. This week he said he had just got out of jail after the cops caught up with him for some old outstanding warrants. “Man, I’m all done with them now. I sat out all my fines, but my boss is made and gave me the week off. I don’t have any food.”  I provided a bag of groceries for him from the food pantry. He’s like a living ghost,  one of those invisible people who walk the streets without being seen. Those who do see him, see a problem not a person. On reflection, I realize even I, too, have let him be invisible. I have not made a real effort to connect him. Sure, I feed him, even give him a ride to his room, but I don’t even know his name!

Develop a chronic or disabling illness and see how many people steer clear of you. Start to struggle with mental illness or delusions it will not take long for friends and family to stop calling. Lose your money or your job and, in the eyes of many, you will quickly become a number, a case, not a person. Young mothers who are home all day, every week, month after month, caring for babies tell me that they sometimes feel invisible. Those who have a disability that confines them to a wheelchair or mars their speech tell me how people will ignore them though they are in plain sight! Many who are old tell me how they feel like living ghosts, unseen by the world.

Hagar was an Egyptian slave girl. Sarah presented her to Abraham to be a surrogate mother. It was not unusual for barren women to do this in that time. After becoming pregnant with Abraham's child, Hagar somehow offended Sarah, most likely forgetting her social position and deference, mistakenly thinking that since she was carrying the baby of the head of the household, she was secure. But, she overplayed her hand and Abraham did not come to her rescue. He abandoned her emotionally and left her in the hands of Sarah, now jealous and angry.  In time, she choose to run away, a choice of sheer desperation, knowing that she would almost certainly be enslaved yet again. Sitting alone and afraid by a spring, she met God who spoke to her heart with promise! Amazed that the Lord would take note of a slave girl, Hagar gave God a Name - El Roi- meaning, "The God who sees me."  (Genesis 16)

You are not invisible to God! A slave girl, a person who was invisible in her society, discovered that God is El Roi - the One who see me! She found courage in that to return to her situation and work through it, hard as it was. When we know that God cares, it may not change our situation, but it changes us. In Him we are given worth, dignity, and resources that allow us to press ahead. Feeling invisible?  Pour out your heart to Him today. He won't turn away in disgust. He won't offer you some empty platitude or a pat on the head. He will see all the way into your heart!

Our word from the Word is taken from Jesus’ peculiar illustration of our worth in the eyes of God. "Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-32, NLT)

Little sparrow, look up and wait for El Roi - the God who sees!

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Why should I feel discouraged?

Why should the shadows come?

Why should my heart be lonely,

And long for heaven and home?

When Jesus is my portion?

My constant friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me!

I sing because I'm happy,

I sing because I'm free.

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

"Let not your heart be troubled,"

His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness,

I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path He leadeth,

But one step I may see:

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me!

©Civilia D. Martin
          Public Domain

Hospitable Heart?

As soon as I stepped through the door, I wanted to leave. The tension in the atmosphere was thick as a heavy morning fog. Perhaps they had just had a big fight or had just received some disappointing news. I never knew what made the issue was, but I was certain of this: it was not a great time to be visiting that household! In spite of the strained efforts to express a welcome, it was not a hospitable place.  My son, then an early teen, felt it too. Later he remarked, “Where’s the love, Dad?” I still smile at the memory of his perception.

Did you welcome the Presence of the Holy Spirit into your life today?
Did He find a heart that was warm and inviting, or just a strained attempt at being polite?
Throughout the day, will you continue to be open and hospitable to Him?

An ancient story from the Bible illustrates this. Samson was a man dedicated to God from his childhood days. His parents trained him in godly ways and he grew to become a man full of the Spirit. The Lord gave him great strength and influence among the people. When Samson lived in obedience, God worked through him. But, he came to take God’s Presence for granted. He became willful and indulged his appetite for women! The women of Israel were not enough for him, so he ended up in Philistia, lying in the arms of a woman who treacherously manipulated him. As she played on his pride, she learned the secret of his great strength, his unique relationship with God. She conveyed that to his enemies and then coaxed him into sleep in her arms. Then, “she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him." (Judges 16:20, KJV)  That last phrase is a quaint one that I hope we will not forget.  “He wist not that the LORD had departed from him.”  He was unaware that he had offended the Spirit and no longer enjoyed the power that came from deep intimacy with Him!

One of the great treasures of the Christian disciple is the promise of the Spirit living in us, counseling and comforting, guiding and directing, giving peace. We don’t have to go to a holy place, travel to a shrine, or wait for some special day to meet with Him. Wherever we are, God, the Holy Spirit, is there.  But, we can offend the Spirit! We can ‘break fellowship’ with Him, becoming inhospitable. How? 

When we are willfully disobedient to the Lord, when we give ourselves to the pollution of sin, in effect we are saying, “Go away. You are not welcome here.” The Scripture says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:29-32, NIV)  In The Message part of that passage reads this way: "Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted." (Ephesians 4:30, The Message)

Clean up your heart house. Offer forgiveness to those whose sins against you still clutter the closets of your mind. Deal with guilt by making a full confession and receiving God’s pardon. Throw out the old sins. Invite the Spirit to move in! From His Presence your life will become a thing of beauty, your heart a place of full of the wholeness, the peacefulness that only God can give to us.

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me;

All His wonderful passion and purity.

Oh, Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,

Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

-      Public domain

About Jane or Jesus?

Presidential primary season is upon us. A person who puts himself in that race must have an amazing sense of self-confidence to say, “Hand me the responsibility of being the Chief Executive of the country.”  A couple of the candidates display a real sense of duty, something like a calling. You don’t get a sense that they are out to prove themselves, or even that they have to win. Then, there are those in whom you can sense a titanic ego. It comes across to me like this:  “I am Mr. Wonderful. I deserve your vote because I am so very special.” (Don’t ask me which ones. I’m not going there publicly.)

In a discussion about ministry with my wife I made an observation about a person who serves faithfully and effectively. This woman builds teams, plans strategically, and consistently produces positive results. There is a remarkable characteristic about her service, one thing that sets her apart; it’s never about her!  She not using her position to make herself important. She does not need to create a name for herself. It’s not about Jane (not her real name), it’s about Jesus. If even the smallest bit of ego slips into our Christian service, what we do ‘for Christ’ is quickly corrupt, tainted by Self. The focus shifts from pleasing Him to being recognized. The goal moves from doing the work of the Kingdom to making sure of our place or solidifying our influence.

Here’s how Jesus speaks to this issue.

"When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:
“When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”" (Luke 14:7-11, NLT)

Humility grows in us as we choose to serve for the sake of love alone. We cannot try to be humble, it just doesn’t work that way. The moment we become self-conscious, humility is lost. So, we pursue Christ-consciousness. We pray that He will fill our vision, satisfy our desire for love and esteem, and give Self the boot. When ego comes knocking, when it whines about being ignored or overlooked, we silence it with confession of our need for His love.

Is your life about __________________ (fill in your name) or Jesus?

Here’s the word from the Word. Spirit of God, plant it deep in my heart. Amen.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8, NIV)

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