MISFIT MESSENGERS/Mind of Christ

Posted on January 12, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Are you a leader in God’s Kingdom work?  Has God invited you to be a leader in His work to help others find and follow His Son, Jesus?  The principles of leadership come from our Master, Jesus Christ who came to earth to show us the “full extent of His love” along with how to serve.  He is the God who washes feet!  Wait, what?!  How counter culture, how weird, how out-of-this-world is this kind of thinking and behaving?  When we are called to lead, God is calling and equipping us to serve with the mind of Christ, His Son.  What is the mind of Christ, we ask?  Let’s quickly review what Jesus said and did while on earth.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  –Jesus, Mark 10:45, NIV

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.  The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”  –what Jesus did to show his love, even to his enemy, John 13:1-5, NIV

“Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!” 

–Who Jesus was, is and always will be so we would know how to imitate him, Philippians 2:1-8, NIV

Because of showing us how to serve by His extreme example of setting aside his position, power and glory due him for the salvation of mankind, God raised Jesus to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords forevermore.  Jesus is who we imitate.  He loved and served.  As believers and followers, we love and serve.  It’s in our DNA. 

With these thoughts in mind, Paul tells the Corinthians church directly and clearly who real leaders are and who they are not.  This is a great lesson in loving, servant leadership.

CORINTHIANS—CALLED AND SENT

1 Corinthians 4, The Message

1-4 Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God’s divine secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I’m not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn’t mean much. The Master makes that judgment.

5 So don’t get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the “Well done!” of God.

6 All I’m doing right now, friends, is showing how these things pertain to Apollos and me so that you will learn restraint and not rush into making judgments without knowing all the facts. It’s important to look at things from God’s point of view. I would rather not see you inflating or deflating reputations based on mere hearsay.

7-8 For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? You already have all you need. You already have more access to God than you can handle. Without bringing either Apollos or me into it, you’re sitting on top of the world—at least God’s world—and we’re right there, sitting alongside you!

9-13 It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We’re something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. We’re the Messiah’s misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we’re mostly kicked around. Much of the time we don’t have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces, and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, “God bless you.” When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We’re treated like garbage, the leftovers that nobody wants. And it’s not getting any better.

14-16 I’m not writing all this as a neighborhood scold to shame you. I’m writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything I’m not already doing myself.

17 This is why I sent Timothy to you earlier. He is also my dear son, and true to the Master. He will refresh your memory on the instructions I regularly give all the churches on the way of Christ.

18-20 I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don’t think I’ll ever show up in person. But I’ll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we’ll see if they’re full of anything but hot air. God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.

21 So how should I prepare to come to you? As a severe disciplinarian who makes you walk the line? Or as a good friend and counselor who wants to share heart-to-heart with you? You decide.

WHAT DO WE LEARN?

Servant Leadership:  Leaders in God’s kingdom are servants of those who need to know Jesus.  They humbly bow to Him and ask for direction and then do what God says.  They are all in, heart, mind and soul.

  • Servant leaders are guides, not security guards.
  • Servant leaders come alongside those they lead.
  • Servant leaders don’t ask anyone to do what they themselves aren’t willing to do.
  • Servant leaders know all believers are on equal ground with God through Jesus.
  • Comparisons are pointless.
  • Servant leaders live in “the midst of frailties and uncertainties”.
  • Servant leaders serve their enemies.  “God bless you” is the heart-felt response as opposed to retaliation when attacked.
  • Servant leaders want to grow and become more mature by Jesus’ example.
  • Servant leaders desire the mind of Christ daily.
  • Servant leaders know God and want what God wants for each day they serve on this earth.

“God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.” 

Lord,

Empower my life with all of you in me.  Enlarge your work of salvation in your servant.  I desire what you want me to be and do today and forever, but let’s concentrate on today.  Give us this day all you know I will need to serve well.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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THE PEDESTAL PROBLEM

Posted on January 11, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Our minds are conditioned and trained by the world to do it.  The evil one loves it when we do it.  Sports plays a huge part in fostering it.  It is called the pedestal problem.  We crave to be near someone who achieves more than we think we can, one who fulfills all our worldly dreams of success, one who is articulate, charismatic, and popular.   When we think we have found that person, we put them on a pedestal.  We begin to think they are perfect and can do no wrong.  We boast about them.  We defend them.

We do this to our church leaders and our pastors.  We hear a good sermon that touches our hearts and think what a great speaker he is!  When he speaks consistently well, we think he can do not wrong and follow him like a puppy follows his master.  Then the inevitable happens, the pedestal tips and tosses the imperfect person tumbling.  We jump into conversations that tell of his/her fall, gossip about their setback or demise and crucify the fallen from the pedestal we erected.  Sound harsh?  Maybe, but I’ve seen it happen many times. 

Paul is frustrated with the immaturity of new believers in Corinth who have put Paul and his coworker in God’s Kingdom work, Apollos, on pedestal positions of comparison.  They have also fallen prey to “greatness by association” self-promotion with these leaders.  Paul explains how childish it is to put anyone on a pedestal of praise while ignoring the One and Only who is worthy of ALL our praise and worship.  This is sinful to God and very unfair to servants of God who are led by God to lead us to Jesus’ saving grace.  We do this to our pastors and leaders is subtle and unsubtle ways.  Paul lets the church know quickly how wrong this behavior is.    

CORINTHIANS—CALLED AND SENT

1 Corinthians 3, The Message

1-4 But for right now, friends, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way? When one of you says, “I’m on Paul’s side,” and another says, “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally childish?

5-9 Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.

9-15 Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely.

16-17 You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.

18-20 Don’t fool yourself. Don’t think that you can be wise merely by being relevant. Be God’s fool—that’s the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It’s written in Scripture,

He exposes the hype of the hipsters.
The Master sees through the smoke screens
    of the know-it-alls.

21-23 I don’t want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone else. Everything is already yours as a gift—Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it is yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN?

  • Leaders are servants of God.  Only God is to be worshiped.  Only.  God.
  • There is only one foundation upon whom we build our lives—Jesus Christ.
  • Leaders are imperfect, led by God’s Holy Spirit, always growing, called and sent by God to follow Jesus while helping others find and follow Him, too.
  • We are all saved by grace, redeemed to grow to be more and more like our Master, Jesus.  We are all called to help people find and follow Jesus, too.
  • We invite people, like ourselves, to accept Jesus as Savior and point them to Jesus as Lord of their lives.
  • God changes lives.  God causes us to grow.  This is His work in each of us.
  • In obedience to God, we provide the environment where God can do His best work in all of us. 
  • God has gifted all of us with abilities to help with specific tasks in His Kingdom work.
  • Our bodies are temples where God resides to all who invite Him in.  We take care of the “house” where God lives.
  • God is wisdom.  Seek God and ask for wisdom, “skills for living”, for this life.  He will provide all we need when we ask.
  • We have nothing or anyone to boast about, only Christ, who saved us from all our sins.  No man/woman can do what Jesus has done for us.  Complete redeeming, reconciling forgiveness is freely given by God because what Jesus Christ did on the cross.
  • There is no greater love than the love God has for those who believe in His Son. 

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  May our only boast be always about You and what you have done for all who believe.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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THE SIMPLICITY OF SALVATION

Posted on January 10, 2022 by randscallawayffm

“Where does poo come from?” A little boy asks his dad. 

“Well, son,” his father says, “food passes down the esophagus by peristalsis. It enters the stomach, where digestive enzymes induce a probiotic reaction in the alimentary canal. This contracts the protein before waste enters the colon. Water is absorbed, whereupon it enters the rectum finally to emerge as poo.”

“Wow,” the boy says. “So where does Tigger come from?”

Sometimes we go overboard with our explanations while failing to answer the simple wonderings of people, no matter what age.

As we tell the story of Jesus and how God and His Holy Spirit works in our lives, we get flustered at times, don’t we?  There is so much that God has done, is doing and will do in our lives, that it is mind boggling to explain.  So, how do we explain to others the relationship we have with God through Jesus?  Theological explanations are not the answer.  To say, “you just know when you know” doesn’t touch the surface of understanding for a person who doesn’t know.  So, what is the answer when telling the Good News of salvation?  Paul advises us to keep it simple.

CORINTHIANS—CALLED AND SENT

1 Corinthians 2, The Message

1-2 You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s sheer genius, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.

3-5 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.

6-10 We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text:

No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.

But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.

10-13 The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.

14-16 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.

WHAT DO WE LEARN?

For children, ask questions first to see where they are and what they are really asking.  This give you time to pause, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the words in simple form with wisdom to answer what the child is really asking.  Ask questions before responding to all ages.

Paul gives the greatest advise, led by the Spirit, keep it simple; “first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.  All our words, led by the Spirit, are centered on this foundational truth.

Paul, one the most learned men in the Jewish community, felt inadequate.  What?!  We all do, when it comes to explaining the most profound truth of God and His work of salvation through Jesus Christ His Son.  What God did for us, humbles us.  That’s okay!  That feeling of humbled inadequacy causes us to turn to Him to lead us in all our thoughts, words and deeds when telling about the most important relationship we will ever have!

Paul learns himself and teaches all of us, that it is GOD and the power of His Holy Spirit at work in and through us that produces the right words, at the right time, in the right Spirit.  Relax, it’s not us speaking.  We pray and yield, deferring to the One doing the speaking through us.  More simply put; We pray, God works.

“God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes.”  What are His purposes?  “… what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene.”  Jesus is The Way, Truth and Life.  To all who believe, God gave His best for our best life forever with Him.  

“No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.”

God lets us in on what He is thinking.  He doesn’t hide the way to salvation!  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). 

God’s Holy Spirit provides God’s wisdom for daily living in His ways.  Led by the Spirit, we walk in His Spirit. “Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics.”  Don’t you love that!

“Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.” 

Dear Friends, what hope, assurance, wisdom, clarity wrapped up in simplicity!  Jesus knows.  That’s all we need to know.  We have Jesus’ Spirit living in us.  He will guide us to all that is good, bringing out His best in us!

Lord,

Thank you for reminding us how simple and yet how profound you are!  Thank you for answers that are easily understood and go deep filling every part of my soul.  I’m humbled by what you did for me.  I also feel inadequate to explain your love expressed in the pain of crucifixion that paid my debt of sin.  The more I think about your love, the deeper our communion goes.  Help me to pause, pray and keep it simple in my responses to others, led by Your Holy Spirit, prompted by your love in me.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

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YOU MUST GET ALONG! 

Posted on January 8, 2022 by randscallawayffm

We can all hear our parents, teachers, both public and Sunday School, along with coaches and youth workers, anyone with authority over us, shouting this with frustrated, passionate voices in the heat of chaos and bad tempers.  Disagreements come in all sizes.  They are about the way a game is played, how food is prepared, how a sandwich was divided, down to my personal favorite…crossing the imaginary line in the back seat. My brother and I dared each other to cross that line!  I discovered that all kids, my kids, do the same tireless game.  “Crossing the line” can cause war in our households unless diffused rapidly.  We discover it is easy to disagree about anything and everything!

You would think as we grow older, we would become wiser with learning to deescalate the wars of dissension, getting our own way, wanting to live life on our terms at all costs without the consideration of what others think. But we haven’t completely.  Selfishness, set in our own ways, jockeying for position, seep into our being and disrupt what God wants to do through his church.  It happens at church!?!  Yes, Linda, it happens severely and painfully within the church body.  We must remember we are not perfect, only perfectly forgiven, saved by grace alone not by works, so our “works”—God’s work in and through are called into question at times by others, criticizes unmercifully and gossip ensues. 

How can we get along as the Body of Christ?  Paul helps us as he helped the church at Corinth.  Cultivate a life in common.  Our commonality is Jesus Christ, crucified for all our sins, rose again, defeating death, so that we who truly believe will live with Him forever.  Go back to basics when trivial arguments rise up.  Remember Who gave us life, saved our souls, made us whole, renewed our Spirits, and restored the joy of His salvation in us.  Remember Who matures us in our walk with Him.  Remember Who to listen to for guidance with hearts of obedience.  Remember Jesus, Savior and Lord. 

Can’t we just get along?  God desires his “kids” in the back seat, with Jesus driving in the front, to forget about the imaginary lives drawn of hatred, jealousy, envy, comparisons—all behaviors opposite of God’s character.  Yield, instead to God’s Holy Spirit.  God’s character traits are matured in us when we all yield to our commonality—Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  His Holy Spirit then works in us to bear his character, hour by hour, day by day.  See Galatians 5 for a list of the fruits of His holy character.

Remember where we came from when Jesus embraced and saved us.  “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life.”

CORINTHIANS—CALLED AND SENT

1 Corinthians 1:10-31, The Message

The Cross: The Irony of God’s Wisdom

10 I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.

11-12 I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”

13-16 I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?” I was not involved with any of your baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting this report, I’m sure glad I wasn’t. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. (Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas’s family, but as far as I can recall, that’s it.)

17 God didn’t send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn’t send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.

18-21 The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I’ll expose so-called experts as shams.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered stupid—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

22-25 While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so cheap, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness.”

26-31 Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN?

Lay down all trivial pursuits, all that doesn’t matter and has nothing to do with Jesus saving our souls, His Holy Spirit growing our minds, along with God watching over the honesty and sincerity of our hearts.

“God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”.  We were nothing of real value for God’s Kingdom until Jesus gave us significance by the shedding of his blood for our sins.  We owe Jesus everything with every part of our lives.  Our whole created being belongs to Jesus.

Lord,

We get all in a tizzy about the stupidest things of this life that have no bearing on our salvation that gives us life forever with you.  Help us to see, really see what is going on, realizing who our real enemy is who plays on our selfishness.  Then help us to run from the enemy of division to you the completer, the unity of all things good.  You are Life.  You are Savior and Lord of our lives.  The closer we get to you, dear Jesus, the closer we get to each other.  We realize the depth of love you have for us also guides the amount of love we give to each other.  You love truly is without borders!  Lord, help us to love each other the way you love us.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen! 

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CORINTHIANS—CALLED AND SENT

Posted on January 7, 2022 by randscallawayffm

When people become believers in Jesus, they don’t at the same moment become nice.  This always comes as something of a surprise to more mature believers whose memories of their conversions and growth have been forgotten.  Though it shouldn’t.  Conversion to Christ and his ways doesn’t automatically furnish a person with impeccable manners and suitable morals.  We all are growing.  Paul reminds us in his letters to churches that growing is part of the process of following Jesus.

Eugene Peterson introduces us to the people of Corinth with whom Paul spent over a year as their pastor.  He states;

“The people of Corinth had a reputation in the ancient world as an unruly, hard-drinking, sexually promiscuous bunch of people.  When Paul arrived with the Message and many of them became believers in Jesus, they brought their reputations with them right into the church.”

“Paul spent a year and a half with them as their pastor, going over the Message of the ‘good news’ in detail, showing them how to live out this new life of salvation and holiness as a community of believers.  Then he went on his way to other towns and churches.”

“Sometime later Paul received a report from on of the Corinthian families that in his absence things had more or less fallen apart.  He also received a letter from Corinth asking for help.  Factions had developed, morals were in disrepair, worship had degenerated into a selfish grabbing for the supernatural.  It was the kind of thing that might have been expected from Corinthians!”

“Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is a classic of pastoral response:  affectionate, firm, clear, and unswerving in the conviction that God among them, revealed in Jesus and present in his Holy Spirit, continued to be the central issue of their lives, regardless of how much a mess that had made of things.”

“Paul doesn’t disown them as brother and sister Christians, doesn’t throw them out because of their bad behavior, and doesn’t fly into a tirade over their irresponsible ways.  He takes it all more or less in stride, but also takes them by the hand and goes over all the old ground again, directing them in how to work all the glorious details of God’s saving love into their love for on another.”  (Peterson)

We who are called and sent (all of us) must realize that new believers need to grow in faith and that takes time.  Sometimes we expect too much, too soon and wonder why frustrated believers fall away and give up.  Oh, friends we must show the same love, mercy and grace as Paul demonstrates in this letter to messed up Corinthians who are new believers in Jesus. 

There is a reason that the ultimate mission of most churches is “help people find and follow Jesus”.  Finding is not as hard as teaching them to follow Jesus, not follow imperfect us, but Jesus.  Paul cares enough to confront his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ and goes over the teachings of Jesus again.  And again.  We are all messed up at once time or another.  No one is “good”, only God, said Jesus.  We are not perfect; we are only perfectly forgiven by Jesus.  We all are sinners saved only by the grace of Jesus.  We all need to learn to follow Him, be made holy by Him, who saved us for eternity.  This learning will take an eternity.  Wanting to learn makes God smile.  Our God is patient with those who learn to follow Him.

Hold all these thoughts in mind as we journey through both letters to the church at Corinth.  We being with chapter one, taking in small bites at a time, because this is good stuff to chew on.

1 Corinthians 1:1-9, The Message

1-2 I, Paul, have been called and sent by Jesus, the Messiah, according to God’s plan, along with my friend Sosthenes. I send this letter to you in God’s church at Corinth, believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus, wherever they live. He’s their Master as well as ours!

3 May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father, and the Master, Jesus Christ, be yours.

4-6 Every time I think of you—and I think of you often! —I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There’s no end to what has happened in you—it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives.

7-9 Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

WHAT WE LEARN FROM PAUL’S LEADERSHIP…

  • Begin with thanksgiving to God for your brothers and sisters.
  • Affirm who we are; believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life.
  • Remind believers of God’s gifts and benefits of believing and growing in His love and ways.
  • God will help us to grow.
  • God NEVER gives up on us.
  • God is always with us.

Whew, I needed these reminders, too!  How about you?  Who can we affirm with this truth today?  Pause, pray, let God provide us with opportunities to spur growth in ourselves while helping others to grow alongside us.  We are in this together until Jesus comes!

Lord,

I love how you teach us to follow as well as teaching us to seek you.  Because of your love, you never give up on us.  That truth in itself is amazing and so affirming today.  Thank you for Paul who was dramatically saved by you, dear Jesus, then called and sent to tell the good news along with the ways to live for You.  Thank you for your continued transformational growing process in me.  I’m still a work in process—YOUR work in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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HOLY HUGS AND HELLOS

Posted on January 6, 2022 by randscallawayffm

I know that many skip over this last part of Paul’s letter of greetings, but in it I find so much affirmation. “Be sure to welcome____”,  “Say hello to ____” begins a list of the people doing the work of the Lord in all kinds of ways.  It shows that Paul knows the people well almost as much as God knows their hearts for loving and serving him.  Paul takes the opportunity to AFFIRM the work God is doing in and through them!

Dear Friends, we do not give as much honest affirmations like this as we should in and out of God’s church.  We get so busy surviving another Sunday with one or more services without even a smiling nod of approval or a word of thanks much less an “I love how you serve” holy hug.  This is part of the work, according to Paul, for people are God’s work in progress.  How will people know if they are on the right track of serving if we do not tell them as leaders?  A little bit of affirmation multiples exponentially.  When someone affirms me, I work ten times harder and immediately affirm others.  God planned it that way, I’m pretty sure.

Jesus affirmed women in his work while on earth which was counter culture for that time.  Now, it is good to see that Paul does the same.  Look at the list of affirmations he gives to specific women in the work of God’s Kingdom.  Paul will do this many times in his letters to the churches he helped to develop.  Watch for it…

Finally, Paul teaches us a very important aspect of affirmation.  We affirm, not the person, but Jesus IN the person leading them to do what they are doing for Him.  This huge difference we must not miss.  Vain flatteries are merely comments of self and produce only conceit.  But affirming words, prompted by God’s Holy Spirit, build the Body of Christ.  Notice that Paul ends all these affirmations with;

“All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures. All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started, down to the final detail.

All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes!

Affirm someone in the work of the Lord today, tomorrow or next time you meet.  You will discover that every time you sincerely affirm someone else in the work, attention on self disappears, we gain strength, more at peace with joy overflowing from God, the One who makes us all strong. 

How do we do it, you might ask? 

I learned many years ago that the holiest way to affirm someone while doing the work God gave them to be and do is;

“Fred, Mary, I see Jesus in you when you _________”. 

Fill in the blank with what you see Jesus doing in them while they are serving Him.  This “holy hug” will be embedded in the hearts of those who serve God with all their hearts, minds and souls.  “Nice haircut or nice clothes” are personal but do not build the Body of Christ who said, “Don’t worry about what you eat or wear.”  “Love each other as I have loved you.”

Ooh, now I think we get it, Lord.

ROMANS—OUR CARE AND CALLING

Romans 16, The Message

1-2 Be sure to welcome our friend Phoebe in the way of the Master, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for. I heartily endorse both her and her work. She’s a key representative of the church at Cenchrea. Help her out in whatever she asks. She deserves anything you can do for her. She’s helped many a person, including me.

3-5 Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked hand in hand with me in serving Jesus. They once put their lives on the line for me. And I’m not the only one grateful to them. All the non-Jewish gatherings of believers also owe them plenty, to say nothing of the church that meets in their house.

Hello to my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first follower of Jesus in the province of Asia.

6 Hello to Mary. What a worker she has turned out to be!

7 Hello to my cousins Andronicus and Junias. We once shared a jail cell. They were believers in Christ before I was. Both of them are outstanding leaders.

8 Hello to Ampliatus, my good friend in the family of God.

9 Hello to Urbanus, our companion in Christ’s work, and my good friend Stachys.

10 Hello to Apelles, a tried-and-true veteran in following Christ.

Hello to the family of Aristobulus.

11 Hello to my cousin Herodion.

Hello to those who belong to the Lord from the family of Narcissus.

12 Hello to Tryphena and Tryphosa—such diligent women in serving the Master.

Hello to Persis, a dear friend and hard worker in Christ.

13 Hello to Rufus—a good choice by the Master!—and his mother. She has also been a dear mother to me.

14 Hello to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and also to all of their families.

15 Hello to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas—and all the followers of Jesus who live with them.

16 Holy hugs all around! All the churches of Christ send their warmest greetings!

17-18 One final word of counsel, friends. Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They’re only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren’t above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents.

19-20 And so while there has never been any question about your honesty in these matters—I couldn’t be more proud of you!—I want you also to be smart, making sure every “good” thing is the real thing. Don’t be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil. Stay alert like this, and before you know it the God of peace will come down on Satan with both feet, stomping him into the dirt. Enjoy the best of Jesus!

21 And here are some more greetings from our end. Timothy, my partner in this work, Lucius, and my cousins Jason and Sosipater all said to tell you hello.

22 I, Tertius, who wrote this letter at Paul’s dictation, send you my personal greetings.

23 Gaius, who is host here to both me and the whole church, wants to be remembered to you.

Erastus, the city treasurer, and our good friend Quartus send their greetings.

25-26 All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures. All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started, down to the final detail.

27 All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes!

Lord,

I love you with all my heart, mind and soul and so do millions of others who believe.  Help us to holy affirm each other, spurred by our love for you that prompts us to love each other they way you love us—without conditions. 

In Jesus Name, Amen

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PRAY FOR ME

Posted on January 5, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Friends, when we ask for prayer, who do we go to first?  We go to those we know pray with sincere hearts, wanting God’s best for us.  Right?  Hold that thought…

As believers in Jesus, we are all ministers of the gospel—the Good News that all can be saved for eternity by believing in Jesus.  God’s work in us is to listen for His prompting, timing, right words, with His Spirit of delivery of those words to the lost.  Paul went where no other apostle had been before, telling the Good News to the Gentiles as well as his fellow Jews.  Paul was powerful, passionate and productive in God’s work, giving all the glory to God for whatever was accomplished.  We love that about Paul.  We also love that often Paul humbly asked for prayer. 

We love that about anyone in the church today who does not seek glory for themselves as they do God’s work.  Friends, God invites us to His work, equips us and leads us. So, to HIM be the glory for all that is good from the results of our yielding to Him.  When pray asking for help, it is only fitting and sensible to give glory to the One who helped us.  When we get this wrong, we are in trouble and peace alludes us.  When we get this right—walk humbly with God—we walk in His peace.

As Paul brings his letter to the churches in Rome to a close, he asks humbly for the church to pray strenuously for him.  Paul, who seems to have it all under control, strong and courageous even while in prison, always preaching in all circumstances, asks for earnest, strenuous prayer. This is the kind of prayer that “wrestles” with God to know exactly what HE wants.  This is the kind of prayer Paul is asking his friends to pray with him.  Paul knows, without doubt, WHO is really in control.  God and His will are what Paul seeks. Why?  Because Paul knows that prayers of sincere hearts bring the peace of God in all circumstances—even in jail.

ROMANS—OUR CARE AND CALLING

Romans 15:22-33, The Message

Part three of three

22-24 And that’s why it has taken me so long to finally get around to coming to you. But now that there is no more pioneering work to be done in these parts, and since I have looked forward to seeing you for many years, I’m planning my visit. I’m headed for Spain, and expect to stop off on the way to enjoy a good visit with you, and eventually have you send me off with God’s blessing.

25-29 First, though, I’m going to Jerusalem to deliver a relief offering to the followers of Jesus there. The Greeks—all the way from the Macedonians in the north to the Achaians in the south—decided they wanted to take up a collection for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. They were happy to do this, but it was also their duty. Seeing that they got in on all the spiritual gifts that flowed out of the Jerusalem community so generously, it is only right that they do what they can to relieve their poverty. As soon as I have done this—personally handed over this “fruit basket”—I’m off to Spain, with a stopover with you in Rome. My hope is that my visit with you is going to be one of Christ’s more extravagant blessings.

30-33 I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously with and for me—to God the Father, through the power of our Master Jesus, through the love of the Spirit—that I will be delivered from the lions’ den of unbelievers in Judea. Pray also that my relief offering to the Jerusalem believers will be accepted in the spirit in which it is given. Then, God willing, I’ll be on my way to you with a light and eager heart, looking forward to being refreshed by your company. God’s peace be with all of you. Oh, yes!

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT PAUL…

Paul explained the characteristics of his ministry in this chapter, don’t miss what God is teaching us—

  • Paul’s ministry was received by grace (vv. 14–15).
  • It was centered in the gospel (v. 16).
  • It was done for God’s glory (v. 17).
  • It was done by God’s power (vv. 18–19).
  • It was according to God’s plan (vv. 20–24).

Like Jesus went to the Father in continuous prayerful communication before doing anything of significance, Paul has learned to go the Father, asking for His specific plan, by His power, in Jesus Name, for His glory as he centers God’s work all on the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Who are we, as believers, to do anything less?  Pray for me and I’ll pray for you, sincerely and strenuously…

In Jesus Name, For His Glory, Amen.

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PIONEERING

Posted on January 4, 2022 by randscallawayffm

“Going where no man has gone before” is a phrase made popular through its use in the title sequence of the original 1966–1969 Star Trek science fiction television series, describing the mission of the starship Enterprise. The complete introductory speech, spoken by William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk at the beginning of each episode, is:

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!”

As believers, called to tell the Good News of Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are pioneers when we yield to God’s leading to go where no one else will go to tell what many do not know.  Pioneers are also called “missionaries” in the church world.  Paul describes himself as a “trailblazer” which is another word for missionary and pioneer.  He relates, “In such ways I have trailblazed a preaching of the Message of Jesus all the way from Jerusalem far into northwestern Greece. This has all been pioneer work, bringing the Message only into those places where Jesus was not yet known and worshiped.”

Friends, are we settlers, settling for what others have already done and said for us?  Or are we willing to be pioneers who will tell the Good News of Jesus to anyone who has never heard of Him?  We don’t have to go around the world or up into space to find people who do not have the greatest relationship known to mankind.  “Mankind” could be across the street, down the block, at the grocery store, at the park with their kids, at the Y getting exercise for the month of January to pay for all the food sins and lack of exercise the other 11 months of the year. (Smiling)

People need a Savior.  People need to know what puts a smile on our face even when in pain or facing adversities of all kinds.  Humans all around us need to know the most important relationship they will ever have—One with Jesus who speak for us before God!  God is our Provider, Healer, Protector as well as our Savior through His sent Son.  Jesus pioneered a life for us to live while He was on earth.  His life, before laying it down to save our lives, was lived in the most excellent way, full of love and compassion for everyone He met, teaching us, by example not to look to own interests but to the interests of the others.  Paul took us to a higher level of thinking about Jesus when he wrote about Jesus in Philippians 2:5-11;

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.”

THIS is what Paul preached, going where no man had gone before with the gospel Good News of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord of our lives forever!

PAUSE TO PRAY AND REFLECT

(Take all the time you need, I am)

What Good News am I ready to tell, no matter where I am or what I’m doing? 

If God sends me somewhere else, am I ready and willing to go? Frontier or across the street?

What are my top interests?  Myself or others?

Is being “equal” more important to me than being humble?

ROMANS—OUR CARE AND CALLING

Romans 15:14-21, The Message

Part two of three

14-16 Personally, I’ve been completely satisfied with who you are and what you are doing. You seem to me to be well-motivated and well-instructed, quite capable of guiding and advising one another. So, my dear friends, don’t take my rather bold and blunt language as criticism. It’s not criticism. I’m simply underlining how very much I need your help in carrying out this highly focused assignment God gave me, this priestly and gospel work of serving the spiritual needs of the non-Jewish outsiders so they can be presented as an acceptable offering to God, made whole and holy by God’s Holy Spirit.

17-21 Looking back over what has been accomplished and what I have observed, I must say I am most pleased—in the context of Jesus, I’d even say proud, but only in that context. I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures, only the wondrously powerful and transformingly present words and deeds of Christ in me that triggered a believing response among the outsiders. In such ways I have trailblazed a preaching of the Message of Jesus all the way from Jerusalem far into northwestern Greece. This has all been pioneer work, bringing the Message only into those places where Jesus was not yet known and worshiped. My text has been,

Those who were never told of him—
    they’ll see him!
Those who’ve never heard of him—
    they’ll get the message!

(Emphasis mine)

Lord,

You have taught us how to repent, how to pray to God our Father, how to live a life of humility, to walk justly and to love mercy, putting others first in line, ahead of all that we think we need.  Now, help us live the Good News out loud so others will know you more by telling your story for your glory.  We need you every hour of every day to do this well, in the most excellent way, with your love in us, flowing through us.  Come Holy Spirit.

May all we think, say or do today be pleasing to you, Lord.  I’m listening.  I believe.

In Jesus Name, For His Glory, Amen

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HOPE LIVES IN HARMONY

Posted on January 3, 2022 by randscallawayffm

A great choir director has sharp, keen ears to hear when one person is out of tune and needs help to hear the harmony.  The Great Director will move the out-of-tune person to a place where they can learn to hear with one who has achieved the skill to sing in harmony. After a time of learning, maturing through listening, the once out-of-tune, out of sync and rhythm member comes back into harmony with the rest of the choir.  “Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus! 

The Great Director smiles as believing members of His choir are filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, brimming over with His Hope, as they sing together in harmony in the rhythm of His Grace!

Dear Friends, as we read Paul’s words to the church at Rome, we are encouraged with his words that ring true today as we dive deeper in our own understanding.  Paul reminds us of God’s original intent for His created choir.  Godly harmony is where life and hope come together.  God loves ALL, is in ALL and above ALL.  God is our Great Director.  God loves all of us, insiders and outsiders, so much that He sent His Son to save us.  Jesus, is the root of Jesse, through the line of David, who saved us from our sins.  Jesus is our Hope for today, in the coming year, and forever!

“There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse,
    breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,
Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!”

“Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!”

Lord, this is my prayer for all of us…

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

“All God’s creatures got a place in the choir…”  (Song from my past…)

ROMANS—OUR CARE AND CALLING

Romans 15:1-13, The Message

1-2 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”

3-6 That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

7-13 So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! Jesus, staying true to God’s purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance:

Then I’ll join outsiders in a hymn-sing;
I’ll sing to your name!

And this one:

Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!

And again:

People of all nations, celebrate God!
All colors and races, give hearty praise!

And Isaiah’s word:

There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse,
    breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,
Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!

Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

TAKE NOTE—Be like Jesus

Followers of Jesus follow what Jesus said and did, as directed by His Father, the Great Director.  We also must follow the lead of the Director.

Jesus said,

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”  Matthew 11:28-30, The Message

Yes and Amen! 

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RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER

Posted on January 1, 2022 by randscallawayffm

Disunity has always been a major problem with God’s people. Even the Old Testament records the civil wars and family fights among the people of Israel, and almost every local church mentioned in the New Testament had divisions to contend with. The Corinthians were divided over human leaders, and some of the members were even suing each other (1 Cor. 1:10–13; 6:1–8). The Galatian saints were “biting and devouring” one another (Gal. 5:15), and the saints in Ephesus and Colosse had to be reminded of the importance of Christian unity (Eph. 4:1–3; Col. 2:1–2). In the church at Philippi, two women were at odds with each other and, as a result, were splitting the church (Phil. 4:1–3). No wonder the psalmist wrote, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Ps. 133:1).

Pleasant and joyful, relaxing and stimulating indeed, when we come together because of our relationship in Christ!  How wonderful to worship and praise Him minus thoughts about our petty differences among our sisters and brothers!  Often, my dad would say when faced with differing opinions of others; “relationship trumps differences, don’t lose the relationship”.  It begins with Jesus.  Our relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship we will ever have.  Seek and develop this relationship daily.  The deeper we love and commune with God through Jesus, the stronger our relationship grows with Him. Over time, because of this developing relationship with our Master, we discover our relationships with each other grow stronger, deeper, unassuming and sweeter each day.

The closer we get to Jesus, the closer we become with each other in relationship.

ROMANS—OUR CARE AND CALLING

Romans 14, The Message

Cultivating Good Relationships

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.

2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.

5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.

6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.

10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

“As I live and breathe,” God says,
    “every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
    that I and only I am God.”

So mind your own business. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.

15-16 If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!

17-18 God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.

19-21 So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.

22-23 Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.

WHAT WE LEARN FROM PAUL…

  • We are saved by Jesus.  We are answerable to God.
  • Keep a holy day.  Be grateful to God.  Live in gratitude and praise to God.
  • Only Jesus is the perfect judge.  “Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God.”  He is God and we are not.
  • All attention and focus must be on our own intimate, growing relationship with God.
  • Christ died for all.  Let God show what is right for us.  Don’t confuse each other with personal opinion.
  • Our task is to single-mindedly serve Christ!
  • Agree to get along with each other.  When God’s kids get along, we must make him smile.  Parents, how do you feel when your kids work and play together in loving ways?  Same with God. 
  • Our primary calling—share the story of Christ.  May all our thoughts, energy and compassion for others, because of our love for Jesus, drive our behaviors!  “You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent.”
  • First, love and cultivate a relationship with God.  Then develop God-honoring relationships with each other.  God loves that.  Love God.  Love Others.  Jesus told us these two commandments (not suggestions) are the most important.  I believe Him, don’t you?

Lord,

Our primary task is to tell your story, without our opinions.  Our opinions are not necessary and pale in comparison with your Truth.  Give us wisdom in our relationships.  May we grow closer to you so we grow closer to each other in the coming year.  May 2022 be the year of unity—One with You.  One with each other because of being One with You.

I believe.  Help me to behave like I say I believe.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen. 

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