Walk This Way: Feel It
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." (Romans 12:11)
Have you noticed, lately, that a lot of people are bad-mouthing cynicism? On his last Tonight Show for NBC, an admittedly angry Conan O'Brien warned his fans not to become cynical. I've read a couple of other recent things from secular sources suggesting that success and cynicism rarely ride together.
I know long-time Christians sometimes get cynical about churches and the state of Christianity and how other people are living for Jesus. I don't think the Bible teaches that we should never get honestly discouraged or be afraid to ask hard questions about human motives, but walking like Jesus doesn't leave room for indulging in cynicism about the path we're on.
Cynicism sometimes leads to funny jokes, but it also kills joy. It makes us feel smart for protecting ourselves from dashed hopes, but it also keeps us from hoping without reservation in the power of God in us to do His work in His time -- for Jesus.
God is asking us to walk with intentional enthusiasm, to stay emotionally invested in living for Jesus, to find an authentic excitement about serving God today.
Think: Do you think it's right for God to tell us what to feel while serving Him? Do you think it's right for a coach to expect an athlete to be "up" for a game, to have the intensity needed to play his or her best? Are those similar ideas?
Pray: Ask God to help you to never be lacking in zeal, but to keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Do: Make a quick list of three of the most genuinely enthusiastic and motivated Christians you know.
Walk This Way: After You
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." (Romans 12:10)
Have you ever gone on a long hike with a group of people? It's not always easy to do. If you were all walking the trail on your own, you'd all walk at very different paces. Some would stroll. Others would almost jog. But when you walk together, everyone adjusts -- or divides.
To live as Jesus does, to live as a true Christian, means to say, "I'm going to give up the right to set the pace for my own life." It means being willing to slow down or speed up to meet the needs of brothers and sisters from different mothers but the same Father.
It's hard to do.
To get specific, this family devotion means more than just being willing to show up when there's trouble. It means being willing to treat other believers like they outrank me, like we're not separates or equals. It's means I'm willing to talk about what they want to talk about, to listen to their music, to go to their restaurant, to wait, to adjust, to help, to defer, to die.
If we all do it, it's beautiful. It's the point of church. If I'm the only one doing it, it's beautiful. It's the path of Jesus.
Think: How did Jesus honor others above Himself? How do you?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be devoted to other Christians in brotherly love and to honor them above yourself.
Do: Write a quick list of three Christians who really seem to honor you above themselves.
Walk This Way: Hate Love Cling
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9)
Christian teachers are always talking about "following Jesus" and "walking in the Spirit" and staying on the "path of God." We know what they mean, kind of, but what does that look like outside of the metaphor? What do you actually do when you are "walking in the footsteps of Jesus"?
Romans 12 is here to clue us in this week.
1) Don't fake-love anyone. Don't act nice or be extra polite and call that love. Jesus-walkers love like Jesus did. He wasn't always nice, but He came to serve, give, die. (See 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 for a full definition.)
2) Hate evil. We're not talking about super-villains with maniacal laughs. Evil includes everything that is against God. This isn't about people; it's about sin. Jesus-walkers learn to hate sin instead of loving it, including their own.
3) Bear hug what is good. Don't let it go. Good is anything that is from God or for God or in service of God. Jesus-walkers don't just shake hands with good; they embrace it.
Think: Why is it so hard to hate our sin? What helps us to hate it better? What good in your life could you be holding on to more tightly?
Pray: Ask God to help you to love sincerely, to hate what is evil, and to cling to what is good.
Do: Even if you've read it a million times before, give 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 a slow, thoughtful once-over.
Walk This Way: Like Jesus
"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6)
Here's something that would be weird: A 28-year-old guy who never, ever walked in his whole life even though he was perfectly healthy. He just never felt like it. He never got around to it. Maybe someday when he's older.
Guess what? That never happens. Human babies who can walk always do eventually. If they don't, they're not healthy. Something is wrong that needs fixing.
But I know some Christians who think it's perfectly normal not to walk in the way of Jesus. They seem to think you can be a healthy Christian without ever moving your spiritual legs, without ever getting up and following after Jesus. Guess what? Healthy Christians always walk -- unless there's something seriously wrong. (We might fall down a lot, but that's because we're walking in the first place.)
We're going to talk for the next week or two about what we should expect to see our spiritual legs doing as we grow up in Christ. Where should these wobbly new legs be taking us? What should be different about us than if we were not Christians, at all? Come back tomorrow.
Think: What does the idea of walking as Jesus did mean to you? Do you expect to see yourself walking more and more like Him as you grow as a Christian?
Pray: Ask God to help you to understand what it means to walk as Jesus did -- and then ask Him to help you to continue to do that.
Do: If want to read ahead, check out Romans 12:9-21 to see what kind of hiking we'll be talking about for the next two weeks.
Fool Week: Sad Dads
"To have a fool for a son brings grief; there is no joy for the father of a fool." (Proverbs 17:21)
We're wrapping up Fool Week with a moment of silence for the dads of fools everywhere. They're out there right now grieving and joyless.
Everybody wants their dad to be proud of them. Of course we do. It's built into us to want our dads to respect us and be glad to call us their kids. Sometimes, dads aren't great at showing that. Dads can be fools, too.
But here's something students don't always ponder: Dads want to be proud of their kids, too. And it's hard to be genuinely proud of what the Bible calls a fool -- someone who has rejected God's way for his or her own path through life. That makes wise dads sad, because they know every path but God's leads to pain, heartache, and disappointment.
You can't make your dad be proud of you -- that's up to him -- but you can give him (or anyone whose opinion matters to you) good reason to be proud of you by growing in wisdom, looking for it and figuring out how to live by it.
Most dads want exactly that for their kids.
Think: Do you tend to think of your dad as a wise person? Do you think he wants you to be wise in how you live your life? Does that matter to him?
Pray: Ask God to help you to continue to grow in wisdom in a way that would give your dad -- or anyone you respect -- good reason to be proud of you.
Do: Read how urgently one dad begs his kids to go out and get wisdom in Proverbs 4:1-8.
Fool Week: Lie Your Way Out
"The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception." (Proverbs 14:8)
A lie is a powerful tool. It can definitely get you out of a tough spot. A good lie might even help you to get exactly what you want in any given moment.
But telling a lie is also like pushing the button on a time-bomb when you can't see the clock. You never know when it's going to go off, but you always know it's going to blow up in your face eventually.
Unless you're a fool. Then you're positive you'll get away with it forever.
The wise person makes a choice ahead of time: I'm taking lying off of my menu of options. I'm going to do the harder work of "giving thought to my ways," of figuring out an honest strategy to solve the problem even if it costs more time, money, or effort than hiding the truth.
Think: Is lying still on your menu of options? If so, how often do you select it? What's keeping you from removing it?
Pray: Ask God to help you to give thought to your ways and to reject the folly of deception.
Do: Notice this week how often you make the foolish choice to sacrifice truth for convenience.
Fool Week: Hey, I’m Annoyed!
"A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult." (Proverbs 12:16)
Fool Week marches on. It's a kind of madness, really. A marching madness. There may be a bracket to fill out.
Anyway, today's fool believes that he has a biological need -- a human right, even -- to express whatever he's feeling whenever he's feeling it. So if you bother me, offend me -- and especially if you insult me -- I'm not going to wait around to let you know I am not okay with that.
This fool really likes saying, "I am NOT okay with that." Sometimes really loud.
The prudent guy, on the other hand, has developed the life skill of telling his emotions when they can come out and when they have to stay home. He decides, "Making a deal out of this insult isn't going to help anyone; it's only going to lead to less interesting trouble."
That doesn't mean he's a chump; he doesn't let every insult pass. He talks about how he feels sometimes -- just not every time. He's a cool cat, that prudent guy.
Think: How often do you keep from showing those around you that you are annoyed? How often do you let an insult pass without responding to it?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to show your annoyance at once, but to be able to overlook an insult when it's the wisest choice.
Do: Notice this week who in your life can't seem to keep from showing everything they're feeling -- and who chooses to let an insult slide without responding to it. If you're curious, ask them how they do that.
