Getting onto the streets

I am grateful for the challenge that comes to us from these words of Dallas Willard. In his work, The Spirit of the Disciplines, he says:

"Holiness and devotion must now come forth from the closet and the chapel to possess the street and the factory, the schoolroom and the boardroom, the scientific laboratory and the governmental office.

Instead of a select few making religion their life, with the power and inspiration realised through the spiritual disciplines, all of us can make our daily lives and vocations be 'the house of God and the gate of heaven,' 

I can - and must - happen."

I have had many conversations with Christ-followers wrestling with a sense of calling. Their initial thoughts are always drawn towards fulltime ministry, because this is what we have led people to believe "serving God" looks like. However, God needs his home to be set up in all places and all over the world. 

So, if you are feeling prompted to serve God in some way, my first comment would be: Love God and Love People, where you ARE at the moment. I bet that there are people in your community who need to experience the love of Christ today. 

Matthew 28:18-20 - "Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (The Message)

Living in grace

D3LM3

 

Trying to find the right balance

As Christians we wrestle with the dilemma of being submerged in our communities, as witnesses for Jesus, but at the same time, not wanting to take on the ways of the world. It is a hard balance to live out. Too much of an influence from the outside, can pull us away from the Christian Life; but if we stay hidden away from a world that is searching for answers, how will people ever hear about Jesus?

It is interesting to read these words from the early Church Father, Tertullian, who shows us how the Christian community didn't shrink back from the world in which they found themselves:

“We have filled every place among you – cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplaces, camps, tries, companies, palace, senate, forum …. We are not like (others) exiling themselves from ordinary life…. We go to your forum, your market, your baths, your shops, your workshops, your inns, your fairs, and the other places of trade.” - Tertullian

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house." - Matthew 5:13-14

Thought: Ask God to help you shine His shine into your community today.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

The mystery

“God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.” - C.S. Lewis

It is often a great mystery as to why God would choose to include us in his work on earth. Surely God can do it a whole lot better than we can? Yet, we are still invited to be co-workers with Christ; partners with God in making his kingdom a reality.

"The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. For we are co-workers in God’s service.” – 1 Corinthians 3:8-9

Living in Grace

D3LM3

You don't have to be a Pastor!

You don't have to be a Pastor to serve Christ! There are many people who feel that the way to respond to God's calling on your life is to become a Pastor - and this couldn't be further from the truth. God has need of his disciples in every avenue and community in the world. God needs people to serve him in schools, hospitals, police stations, commercial enterprises, prisons, old age homes, grocery stores, banks, taxi ranks, shopping malls, gyms, and so on.

Of course, there are some people who are called to serve Christ in the church, to equip the saints for service and to encourage the body of Christ - but this is not everyones calling. Perhaps we should stop worrying about what other people are called to do and ask God to reveal what he NEEDS us to do for him.

Ephesians 4:16 - "He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love."

·         “Each of us can reach out with Jesus in our own ways, through our vocations.” – Scot McKnight 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

It is work!

Ministers are always on the receiving end of jokes about working "only one day a week". We know that these jokes are only made in jest, just as the jokes about teachers only working half-day are also made for fun. However, when I read this quote from C.F.D. Moule today it shed some light on prayer and work.

"Prayer, genuine and victorious, is continually offered without the least physical effort or disturbance. It is often in the deepest stillness of soul and body that it wins its longest way. But there is another side of the matter. Prayer is never meant to be indolently easy, however simple and reliant it may be. It is meant to be an infinitely important transaction between man and God. And therefore, very often…it has to be viewed as a work involving labour, persistence, conflict, if it would be prayer indeed." - C.F.D. Moule 

Did you notice that? Prayer = work.
So, when I am praying (on my six days of rest), I am actually working :)

Take care and have a blessed day. Don't miss the significance of prayer being a discipline and something that may require effort.

Living in Grace
D3LM3