Devotion: Slow to Speak

James 1:19 "Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to
anger."
Proverbs 12:18 "Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of
the wise brings healing."
I was reading about a 4th century minister named Augustine who got
into a heated debate with another minister Jerome. The two of them
would communicate frequently about God and the Bible, telling the
other that they were going to hell. The debates where very serious,
personal, and angry at times. Yet the conversations transpired solely
by letters. In fact there was one point in their conversation that it
took 9 years for Augustine's letter to arrive in Jerome's hands.
Imagine having to wait nine years to hear back on some issue that you
think is essential to life. Nowadays we get irritated if our
voicemails are not returned in 3 hours, if an email goes unanswered by
a day, or if a text is not replied to immediately.

Something within our culture and within ourselves demands that
problems and frustrations have to be acted on immediately. While
working with young couples, I often remind them that communication is
one of the major issues in relationships. Learning when to speak and
especially when not to is vital for all relationships.

It is interesting that in Biblical times, when it took years for
communication to be passed along, that Scripture routinely warns us
about our tongue. The tongue and language are two central themes to
Proverbs and the Letter of James. Also, one of the most beautiful
descriptions of God is that he is "slow to anger, and abounding in
love."

Why is it so hard to be slow to speak and quick to listen? What would
happen if rather than sending off that heated email, you stopped to
pray for the other person first? How many hours or days do you think
you could go without email communication? Why has this form of
communication become the primary mode of communication in our culture?

Devotion: Offering a Helping Hand

Just in case you saw me on Monday at Cotswold, let me explain…I was helping a waitress carry those two cases of Bud Light into the bar.  God’s ironic timing was tremendous, because I was having lunch with a friend when this waitress approached struggling with the cases of beer.  My friend and I were discussing the role of ministers, and all Christians, to demonstrate faithful living.

Which would a better demonstration of faithful living:  personal piety by not supporting the alcohol/bar scene or service by helping her carry the boxes?

Just a few short decades ago, a minister may have very well been disciplined for fraternizing a bar or carrying cases of beer through the city.  The concern was that someone would not appear “above reproach.”  Now, however, people are hungry for genuine and authentic community; where our actions demonstrate what we say.

As Christians, we are called by God not to consider how our actions may make us look better than we are.  We are not to do a cost analysis to see if our action will improve our social status, get us promoted or make people love us more.  As Christians we are called to set aside ourselves so that others may be glorified.  To sacrifice our prestige and status for the benefit of someone else.  To embarrass ourselves for the benefit of someone else. 

This is what Christ modeled for us, a sacrificial love.  Christ demonstrated the love of God by going into the not-so Christian parts of town, by eating with tax collectors, hanging out with a prostitute, by empowering a bunch of illiterate fishermen, and by allowing us-a random group of people-to become the church.

What ways are we willing to put our faith into action?  Who is God calling you to serve?  Are you willing to embarrass yourself for someone else’s benefit?

 

 

Devotion: Small Steps

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

“You shall meditate on [the Bible] day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it.”  Joshua 1:8

 

Going through my iPhone the other week, I found an interesting report—it said that I had used my phone for 1 day and 19 hours.  At first I thought the phone was broken because I had been using my phone for months.  Then I realized that the counter was calculating how many hours I had spent talking on the phone.  In the short time of owning this device I have spent almost two full days of my life talking on it.  The cumulative effect of short conversations was startling.

I wonder if it would help if we approached spiritual disciplines like praying and reading scripture the same way.  Often the biggest hurdle to prayer is the feeling that it has to take a while and have all the right words.  And often the hurdle to reading the Bible is that it is a really long book, and not always that interesting.

However, what if we started with just small conversations with God.  A brief prayer at the start of our commute before we turn on the radio.  Reading a few verses—maybe what was read from the pulpit that week—of scripture before checking email.

By building in just a few moments into your day, over time the cumulative effect will probably be startling.  Also, my guess we may not notice the impact immediately, but suddenly find ourselves being drawn to prayer in certain circumstances or finding scripture bubble up from within.  We may discover that we pray constantly, and reflect on ideas from the Bible without realizing it.

Don’t those two scriptures at the top sound dauntingly impossible?  Yet are we willing to make a small effort to spend a few moments in prayer or reading the Bible?  What holds us back?  Who can encourage us to try?

No one wakes up and runs a marathon; it takes small efforts to accomplish what seems impossible.