spiritual life

The everyday nature of greatness…

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

Image credit: National Archives. Crossing the Rhine under enemy fire at St. Goar- March 1945. ID: 535978

The Second World War ended almost 80 years ago. While thousands of books, films, and accounts of the conflict have been recorded, each day fewer people who experienced combat and their loved ones who lived through the conflict on the home front remain. Only a few years at most remain until the last members of America’s “greatest generation” pass from this life.

These brave men and women did more than protect the dream of democracy and liberate the world from tyranny- they also form the last living link with the devastation of the Great Depression and the economic rebuilding and social restructuring of America. Many of these same individuals became our social, political, and religious leaders who impacted the following decades through the Civil Rights era, the space race, and the explosion of new cultural movements and technological advances. People who were taught in one room schoolhouses saw the results of the atomic bomb, watched a man walk on the moon, and now can FaceTime their great-grandchildren on the other side of the world in an instant.

Every nation and every community have larger-than-life figures who tower over their history. Sometimes these men and women are politicians or war heroes or long-serving monarchs. Communities of believers have these people turned legends as well. Augustine, Luther, Wesley, Spurgeon, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Billy Graham- such names evoke powerful memories among those who study church history. While such men and women were far from perfect, they each left a legacy that impacted the spiritual lives of millions. While it is unlikely that we will never achieve worldwide recognition, none of us is without influence. As we live from day to day, we are each crafting our personal legacy of faith.

Are you caring for a preschool-age grandchild a few times a week? Your attitude and influence will shape that child forever. Do you teach a Bible class to a half dozen seemingly-disinterested teenagers each Sunday morning? Some of those young people will grow up and remember not just the facts you shared, but the memory that you showed up week by week and sought to share the love of Jesus with them. Our impact is not always seen instantly or even measured in the course of our lives, but it touches eternity.

While we do not all have the measure of ability, each of us is charged with serving faithfully wherever he or she is planted.

You may not be gifted for greatness in the kingdom, but you are gifted for faithfulness- and faithful is what we are ultimately called to be.

Whether we are preaching to thousands from a prominent pulpit, influencing millions from bookstore shelves, or showing up to patiently love and minister to the handful of saints gathered in a rural congregation, it is not the size of the crowd, but the condition of the heart that determines faithfulness.

We do not look upon the photographs of D-Day or Iwo Jima, see the bravery there, and say “Well, those guys weren’t the generals or admirals or presidents or prime ministers, so they really didn’t matter.” Such a pronouncement would be blasphemy. It would disparage the faithful service of the very people who directly sacrificed the most in a vital moment in the world’s history. While political officials and military commanders were essential, the masses of the almost unknown soldiers were the key to lasting victory.

In the same way, God looks at His kingdom and sees value in each person. No one is nameless or small or insignificant in the kingdom of God. Honored professors, beloved authors, and celebrity preachers have their place, but the vital work of discipleship and ministry is most often carried out by unknown believers in overlooked places never seen by the majority of the watching world.

May we remember the truly great people that helped shape us into we are, and may we seek to use our gifts, whatever their shape or size, to pass on our blessings. We should never forget that our gifts, which may seem to us so very small, can be used for great good when we are willing to yield them faithfully in service to Christ.

Asking for directions…

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

When we are willing to ask for help, we receive as well as give a blessing.

When we are willing to humbly open our lives to instruction and correction, we create an opportunity for others use their talents and gifts to edify and encourage us.

While on campus for Freed-Hardeman University’s annual Bible Lectureship last year, I stopped outside the Brewer Sports Center to check my schedule for the day’s sessions before heading over to the campus-wide chapel service. Many ministry/missionary booths were on display inside the main gym, and several people were coming and going- hurriedly seeking to make it to their next session.

A middle-aged man I did not know approached me and said, “I am sorry to bother you, brother, but it is my first time here on campus and perhaps you could help me. Do you know where the Loyd Auditorium is?”

I smiled, looked up, and said, “You’re on the right track. That’s it right there,” and pointed to the large building standing directly in front of him. He laughed at himself, thanked me, and walked off toward the prominent building.

Would he have found the auditorium without involving me?

Almost certainly, but he willingly admitted he wasn’t sure and needed help. Because he was willing to acknowledge he was lacking information, he asked for help and avoided unnecessary wandering or confusion. He was on the right path, but he wasn’t sure of his awareness and rather than unnecessarily going further with his uncertainty, he asked for directions.

Spiritually, we can find ourselves wandering with only a vague idea of where we are headed. Sometimes we choose to take the chance that will run into a sign or make it safely just by following the largest crowd. In reality, we have access to the direction of God’s word, a perfect waymaker in Christ, and willing guides in other believers who have traveled the same roads many times and by their experience in the Christian life can help point us on our way. Often the path to the goal is right in front of us if we are willing to follow it and ask for help along the journey.

As we travel forward in the life of faith, we must allow God’s word to guide our steps and never be afraid to admit when we feel lost or confused. We all will have doubts and fears along the journey, but we cannot allow fear, embarrasment, or pride to prevent us from seeking the help we need.

In asking for help, we admit our limitations, and we open a door for others to use their gifts for God’s glory.

In looking to Jesus, we see a perfect path to follow. In leaning on each other and the wisdom of those who have walked this life before us, we receive the blessing of their experience, and they receive the blessing of sharing our fresh enthusiasm as we seek to walk in the way of Jesus.

Caution! Your own thoughts ahead…

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

Having received a little graduation money recently, I thought it would be good to invest in a new jacket for our ever-changing Tennessee weather. I did a simple online search to see different styles and colors. After briefly looking at a couple of options, I decided to wait until after Christmas before checking local stores or making any actual purchase.

Despite my minimal attention, suddenly new jacket options appeared everywhere. The Internet “knew” I might be in the market for a new jacket, and so advertisements began to appear on my social media, in my email, and in my online shopping offerings. I had not even seen a jacket in-person, much less tried one on or told anyone else of my idea, but my single look brought seemingly unlimited options before my eyes.

A new jacket may be innocent enough, but the same pattern emerges in our own private lives and inward thoughts. You and I are always engaged in an internal dialogue happening within us. Our thoughts are pulling us and pushing us, and unless we seek to guard and guide them, these flights of thought can lead us in directions we do not even fully realize and ultimately would not wish to go.

David encountered this in 2 Samuel 11 when his lingering look at a married neighbor led him, this young woman, his adult children, his kingdom, and his godly influence down a terrible path of death and destruction. The writer of this text, guided by inspiration, carefully notes how there were decisive moments when David could have taken a different road but allowed his spiral to continue- he neglected his duty to be with his army, he refused to look away initially, he did not stop gazing but inquired her identity, he failed to dismiss his passions when his servants warned him, and on and on. Even after the initial sin of adultery, the murder, the cover-up, the late-coming guilt- each should have been a flashing warning sign, but his pride and blindness to his own sin were his downfall. Although David came experience God’s grace and forgiveness, the harm from that seemingly causal walk on his rooftop would haunt his own life and that of his family for generations.

A millennia later, the same Spirit led James to write in his epistle, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15)

The overthrow of our strongly-held beliefs does not happen overnight. The darkness does not need to overwhelm us with the worst of the worst when it comes to temptation; the seeds of doubt, discouragement, and our snares and hang-ups are present in each of us and if we allow them to take root and grow, we all too often find ourselves coping with our pain in unhealthy and unholy ways. The paths that lead to sin are often not striking but subtle, and such temptations prey upon us when we are most worn down and weary.

Each of us will sin and fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23), but the off ramps on the highway toward sin are numerous. Ultimately, we cannot blame God or other people or our circumstances for our choices- we must be self-aware enough to see our own weaknesses and humble enough to turn back to God before our sin damages and destroys the very things we hold most dear.

Embracing a daily spiritual practice…

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

Embracing daily spiritual practices should not be seen as an attempt to earn God’s grace or to increase His love for us- in Christ, we already have those blessings in abundance and no action on our part can merit more of God’s saving grace or bountiful gifts.

Spiritual practices should instead be centered in our desire to know God more fully and our desire to then seek His will for our lives more faithfully.

Realizing this difference changes our perspective.

When we are occasionally tired and fail to pray or busy and fail to study, we are not afraid of God’s wrath at our weakness, but we instead miss our time spent in His presence.

We are so connected to Him that to not spend time in devotion causes a loneliness in us and a longing hunger to renew our commitment to Him.

I want to grow in intimacy with God not out of some passionless sense of duty or fear, but out of a genuine desire to spend time and communion with my Father and my Friend.

When we reach this point relationally with God, devotion becomes a conversation we long for rather than a hurried errand we feel pressured to fit into our already packed day. We will long to meet the Lord in the morning and to come into our quietness with Him each night.

Rather than driving us toward isolation, such private times serve to deepen our relationship not only with God but with other like-minded believers. As we maintain daily intimacy with God, our times of gathered worship with others are not just a religious chore to be checked off but a centering of our lives celebrated in community with fellow Christ followers. When we find greater joy in the daily sharing of time with God, the strength of that personal relationship should stir within us a longing for the collective worship we find in His church.

As we mature, each believer will recognize the need for different approaches and rhythms in private devotional life, yet all of us can come to love God more deeply and see His will for us more perfectly through faithfully spending time each day in His presence. When we love being with Him and make growing our relationship with God a priority, we are better equipped to take the inner strength gained in solitary devotion into the daily tasks of life and to become more closely attuned to the spiritual needs of others.