Courage Under Fire

You’ve confronted someone when things didn’t look right, right? And I know you have been confronted as well. Humans rarely enjoy conflict and those that do need therapy.

In Galatians 2, Paul tells of a moment when he confronted Peter about his church leadership, reminding him he was not living up to how Jesus called us to follow him. Both Paul and Peter, leaders in the first century church, had come to realize that the Gospel of Jesus was for everyone, not just the Jews. So, in Jerusalem, Peter had begun eating with Gentiles, sitting at their table and living life with them.

But other Jewish Christians called Judaizers believed not only did you need Jesus for salvation, you also had to keep following the Jewish Law (Torah). So these guys put a lot of pressure on Peter and Peter pulled away from the Gentile believers. Peter’s move away created chaos and confusion in the early church. So, Paul called him on it, reminding him that the Gospel was for everyone and the Law no longer controlled the lives of people following Jesus. Peter recognized his mistake and made the necessary corrections to quell the confusion.

This interaction leads us to a question: How do you respond as a follower of Jesus when someone calls you out on something? I mean, whether we are in the wrong or not, we are called to be different than the world. Our response to people who have questions about our actions is a clear indicator of what we believe about Jesus and our discipleship.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” And then he says in Romans 12:16, “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” So, even when it’s hurtful, always respond as Jesus would.

My wife is a public school teacher. She was questioning a 4th grade boy about his activity and he shut down. All he would say is, “If you have any questions, ask my mom.” He just repeated this script taught to him by his single mother. So, my wife reached out for a parent meeting. The young mom came into the meeting with condescending looks and words that were mean-spirited. My wife, ever professional, sat just listening. About 4-5 minutes into the meeting, the angry helicopter mom was not getting the same indignant reaction from my wife so she asked, “Why are you acting like that?” Meaning, why are you smiling and listening and not coming back at me.

Well, it’s because my wife is a follower of Jesus. She has listened well to how we are called to act, even when the world is angry and mean. Her response is a clear indication of what she believes. And it should be that way for us as well. Sometimes, it’s exhausting living in a self-centered world while trying to follow the Savior. But it will be worth it. Hang in there. The Spirit will energize you and hold you up. Let your light shine. Blessings on the journey.

Living in Unity.

I played high school football. There were many things I enjoyed and learned by being on a team. One of those pleasures was having the unified backing of my teammates. During a game if you got hit hard or the other team began giving you a hard time, my teammates would come to the rescue. Our unified voice told others we did not stand alone.

The Apostle Paul and Jesus both prayed that as followers of Jesus, we would have one voice and stand together so that the world would know Jesus and the love the Father has for his creation (John 17:20-21, 23; Romans 15:5-7).

Tragically, we have felt many times the enemy is the group of other believers down the street. When in fact, our common enemy is Satan who only wants to kill, steal, and destroy. But if we ever finally lay down that thing we have been carrying all these years (hatred, agenda, unforgiveness) we’d discover that we can do infinitely more for God’s Kingdom together. So, we pray for unity and one voice for Jesus.

We pray for unity because we desperately need each other. Paul tells us in Romans 12:4-5 that like the human body is made up of many parts, so the body of Christ is also made of many parts. We can’t live without our body organs just like we can’t function without the diversity a church brings to the story of Jesus. We belong to one another. Think about the church universal. No matter the skin color, language or name over the door, we all worship the Name above all names, Jesus!

We pray of unity because the world will see God’s love for them. The word Paul uses in Romans 15:7, “accept”, is a word in the original Greek with beautiful imagery. The visual Paul gives us is this: we hug, pull each other in then walk hand-in-hand through life together. Jesus himself told us in John 13:34-35 that the way we love each other is the way the world will know we are his disciples. Jesus didn’t say, “with the right doctrine” or “with the right name on the building”…No! He said, “Your love for each other will point the world to me.”

We pray for unity because we can do infinitely more together than we can do apart. Because of our desire to be known as Jesus followers, together we positively affect churches in two foreign countries. We put Bibles in public classrooms in Eastern European countries. We partner with local para-church organizations to help homeless families get off the street and young couples make better decisions about their unborn baby. We partner with a local Bible translation group who puts the Word of God into the hands of people who have never read the story of Jesus in their local language. I really can’t do that on my own. I need you and you need me.

Acts 2 and 4 remind us of what one voice can do. Followers of Jesus came together to eat, worship, pray, and live. They supported each other and loved each other. Every need was met if you belonged to Jesus.

The truth is, the world is tired of hearing about Jesus…they want to see Jesus. How will they know? By the way we love each other. So, what do you need to change in order to be the follower Jesus prayed for? What thing are you hanging on to that is prohibiting you to be the person Jesus prayed for?

My hope is you will desire to live into Jesus’ prayer and love those who also believe. It’s our turn to roll up our sleeves and show the world the loving Savior you and I have. Blessings on the journey.