May the mumbling commence!
Think back over the year in your church… What things are you proud of? What things would you rather forget and move on? For Community Church, I take pride in our journey toward finding gifts in the body of Christ and equipping them for service. I take pride in the possibilities to come in the New Year for publically naming gifts in people and laying on of hands, accompanied by anointing with oil.
Some of the things I would like to forget: arguments and disagreements about how best to serve one another and the community; arguments about matters of theology that are minor in the grand scope of Christianity. Yeah, I guess petty arguments I would rather forget and move on to a better 2012. I guess that’s why the passage from 2 Timothy chapter two came out in base relief in my Scripture reading for today. Read it below:
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." (Verses 11-19)
I included the trustworthy saying of Paul because it helps to center us back into the essentials of Christianity. Most petty arguments grow up from self-centeredness, fear, and misunderstandings. If we die to ourselves, these petty arguments will never gain a foothold. Even so, we must doggedly endure the pettiness of others – both without and within the church.
If we patently refuse to die to ourselves and endure, then we might as well deny the Lord and Savior and Holy Example of Christ Jesus. All pettiness and faithlessness aside, Christ Jesus cannot be faithless for he cannot disown himself. Christ will not sully the work that his heavenly Father brought him to earth for – not his teachings, miracles, life-example, death, nor resurrection.
These things are trustworthy because they are true. We are called to remind ourselves of them periodically. I suggest daily. The alternative is clear and hideously in view in the verses that follow. Quarrelling about words is in view. We look at the same Scripture and come up with almost as many conclusions as there are people looking. Such quarreling ruins those who listen. Godless chatter comes into view. Rumors and gossip and endless innuendoes will only help us further along the path to ungodliness and wickedness…
Maybe next year, I can turn from these wanderings. Maybe there’s hope for all of us. Let’s remember dying to ourselves, enduring and faith. May these three things lead to loving each and every “certain poor shepherds” we may come across. Let us remember whose we are – the Lord’s. And let’s confess His holy name to all those who will listen.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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