A CHURCH IN YOUR HOME

Hospitality means Love

Paul often wrote to people “and the church that meets in [their] home” because it was commonplace for the Christians of that time to meet from house to house, rather than gathering together in a holy edifice as we do today. I wonder if meeting in homes would change the way we “do church” today? Consider the word “hospitality” which is a combination of the wordphilos for “friend” and xenos for “stranger.” The word itself is an oxymoron as “friend” and “stranger” are as distant from one another as “love” and “hate” and yet we are commanded to “entertain strangers” and “show hospitality” just as we are ordered to die to live and to serve to lead.

To be hospitable at home costs money: it requires more food than your fridge contains, more beds than you own, more water, trash bags, chairs, video game controllers, carpet cleaning, parking spaces, spousal patience, child care, and anything else you already use multiplied tenfold. But going to a hospitable church costs you nothing but a “hello” and a tenth of your earnings. Besides the money, there’s probably other reasons people are unwilling to have church in their home.

Have you noticed that you could go to the same church for two years and yet still be strangers to those who share your pews? But if a few of those same people weekly shared the couch in your home it’d be hard not to call them “friend.” I know I need to invite more people home from church in order to have real Church in my home. How about you?

 

 

MY THEOPHILUS

“It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught,” (Luk 1:4). Only two books in our Bible were written by one man for one man, both by Luke to Theophilus, in order to relate to him the ministry of Christ and the ministry of those who followed Him (Acts). What is the significance of this revelation to those of us involved in an on- on-one discipleship ministry? Luke wrote that his friend might “have certainty,” or assurance, that the things he had heard were true and applicable.

The average Christian is bombarded weekly with messages about Christ that consist of lackadaisical commitments to attendance, superfluous Bible glossing, fun filled “missions” to provide a ministry “fix,” and reminders that God loves them whether they obey His commands or not. If we are no longer in a position to meet with them one on one to “always remind” those who are “established in the truth” we taught them (2Pt 1:12), then we had better find a way to ensure they hear the truth amidst the cackle of true sounding doctrines. If you have never been involved in discipleship, then you are like the rest of us not named Theophilus who eavesdrop on a Spirit inspired discipling conversation hoping to one day imitate the faith of those whose example is our commission. I write these thoughts to my Theophilus praying that he will remember, and that others won’t mind listening in, providing critique, asking clarifications and ultimately becoming another “friend of God” to me.

PS—Theophilus, my words are mine, His word is His, your words are yours, and our words are the fruit of a discipleship ministry. Teach His word through your words as you remember my words. God bless your obedience.

 

 

BUTS FIRST

 

In Luke 10, Three men were called by Jesus to follow Him and they answered, “I will, but first…” Our “but firsts” could be work, family, friends, hobbies, or even our religion. We should read the Word, fellowship, pray, make disciples, witness, serve, but first…. If we continue to put our buts first, we’ll quickly discover we’ve been walking backwards.

I have to confess this sin to you as I’ve continued to put things I like before the things I ought to love. Jesus rebuked me with this passage today, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Lk 10.41,42). As much as I know what is better, I still choose to fret about many things that will ultimately amount to a bad memory. I’m worried about evaluations, mortgage, a boss who thinks I’m a moron, my extra 20 pounds, and about perceptions that are probably truer than I ‘d like to admit. So why do I put my buts first?

Martha’s rebuke came because she asked the Lord, “Don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?” Sometimes we lose trust in God because we think we are all alone. We are like Peter who starts to sink because he takes his eyes off Christ. If we put His kingdom and His righteousness first, we'll find that our buts will take a seat to His priorities for our lives.

 

 

THE ONE GOD HATES

“I cannot stand people like that- my anger against them is like a fire that never goes out” (Is 65.5, GNT).

What kind of people do you think the Lord hates: Nazis? Racists? Pacifiists? Yuppies? Sinners? The lost? I don't know about you but I would hate to hear the Lord say to me, "I cannot stand you." Maybe we ought to figure out who the Lord will not forgive?

I've heard Christians say that all sin is the same and that God will forgive anything and anyone. These are people who are "in error because [they] do not know the Scriptures" (Mt 22.29), for God would not agree with their assessment of Him. He actualy says this concerning a certain type of person: "The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven" (Deut 29.20).

But these verses apply to the "Old Testament God" and not Jesus our Lord, right? Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:28-29). John even tells us that there are two types of sin: those that lead to death and those that do not (1John 5.16, 17)--I'm not sure how else to interpret this other than the fact that not all sins (or sinners) are the same. Hebrews 10.26 actually tells us: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement."

So who does God hate? Whom can He not forgive? James 4.17 summarizes the unforgiveable sin succinctly: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." Deuteronomy 29:19 provides more details: "When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.... [God] will never be willing to forgive him." How many of us put our faith in John 3.16 and then think, "I'm safe, now I can freely do what I want!" We hear the Word and then invoke a blessing on ourselves and then “stubbornly do what is wrong and go [our] own way… [we] say to [ourselves and God], ‘Keep away from us; we are too holy for you to touch” (Isa 65:2-5).

We believe that God hates sinners, murderers, deniers, atheists, child molesters, liberatarians, communists, Calvinists, or whomever else we think are "bad." But God says He hates those who know the good they ought to do and don't do it. He loves those who love Him, so why wouldn't He hate those who "claim to know God but by their actions deny Him?" (Titus 1.16). We would be wise to know not only what and whom God loves, but what and whom Jesus hates.

 

 

 

"See More"

When you spy those two words on a post, you know that you are engaging in a test of your will: will you endure the extra seconds (or, God forbid), minutes that it takes to click and read what extends beyond the preview? Will you care enough about what the person has to say? Will you spend your time reading one friend's elongated diatribe or will you skip it in order to read the multitude of other status reports? After all, Bob's Chapstick is drying and he needs to apply more; Mary's Mom's cat is sick; Willy is goofing off at the mall; and Pam "forgot how to cry." If you "see more" from one friend, you will see so much less of everyone else!

Why We Write

Day One

Dear Reader,

You have asked why we write and I would like to answer you succinctly with such a phrase as, “To make our joy complete,” but feel you deserve more than a biblical brush-off. Let’s begin with a mutual understanding regarding the need for written communication. You see, in the beginning, the earth was void of communication because it lacked life, whose subsequent birth, which came by a “word,” necessitated continuous intercession between living beings (Heb 11:3, Gen 1:1-3). What is spoken provides the eternal foundation for what is written and subsequently creates a paradigm for communication wherein truth is revealed by mouth but refined by the written word. I spoke and my words lived. I wrote and my words will live forever. The spoken word is second hand coming by a voice other than your own, but when we read the word we claim ownership because we hear it uttered in our own tongue. We write so that what is read may be eternal and may also be your own.

With Regards,

The Author

Day 2

Dear Servant,

You have called yourself thus and have replied with this question, “Why the Bible?” I imagine you mean to ask why I mainly quote the Word and not new revelations or thethoughts of contemporary saints (Isa 8:20). The answer is simple, if you are willing to accept this analogy. I wrote my words as a “character sketch” of a person I know well(John 5:39,40; Luk 24:27). Every thought in the library is a molecule of the whole person I wish to portray. You ask why I excluded what you thought primal or included what critics considered superfluous, but you are asking the wrong thing. It’s like asking why Moby Dick isn’t from the whale’s perspective or why a love letter doesn’t say, “I love you,” or why the doctor’s report doesn’t use the word, “miracle,” or why this email isn’t more appealing to your tastes. The answer is the author. He wrote it to point to a person. He wrote it to you so you would follow the finger. The inclusion of outsiders would detract from the whole while the exclusion of the necessary would negate the rest. We write that you may see the author.

Sincerely,

The Author

Day 3

Dear Son,

You ask me about the validity of the Word because you are concerned that the passing of the text between multiple human hands will have tainted the purity of what was originally uttered. It is true that human thought often muddles the simplicity of Truth, but without man’s interaction, the eternal words will fade into perpetual obscurity (1Thes 2:4,13). That is, truth must be humanized if it wishes to lead the way to life. This Truth made man must live the way that points to the Author through the muck of sinful filth that surrounds Him (Jhn 14:6). Those who receive this Gospel from the hands of sinful men, see the Truth that shines as bright as one lone light in the blackest darkness. The words they read are accepted as either the light leading themthrough the darkness or the sinful utterances of men deceiving them with fables of faith, hope and love. Either the man in the text is a product of sinners’ creation or He is the Savior from sinful creations. The written word is valid because I said it is (2Tim3:16, 2Pet 1:20, Mt 24:35, Ps 33:4). We wrote the Truth by the hands of sinners so that sinners might see the hand of God.

Lovingly,

The Author

Day 4

Dear Friend,

You ask me why we write but the real question is why should you? The word was written to reveal the Author. It was written to you as a revelation of yourself. I wrote it by the pen of saints like you who felt it necessary to provide their brothers and sisters what was needed for their edification (2Pet 1:20, 1Thes 2:13). What you write must be inspired by what they wrote but will never equate in value because it is not what the Author breathed. Their word is my word. Your words ought to be my words repackaged and presented as your thoughts about me. You must write to your friends because I have written to you. We have written to you and you must write to them because it is through this process that you become more like me.

Your friend,

The Author

Day 5

Dear Mike,

We know that what makes writing great is not the quality of the work but the reception of the readers. Though the Word is written to “those who believe” and is rejected by those who do not, the individual men inspired to write the books typically focused their attention on few and sometimes even one. That is, they didn’t write to a broad, undefined audience but to one whom they believed would receive it. One example of this is Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts addressed to Theophilus. It was written to one and yet received by many. When you write, just as when you disciple, focus on one person. My word was entrusted to you. Share your words with those you love. Write, because in so doing you show yourself their friends.

Your Lord and God,

The Author