Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible, InterVarsity Press, 94.
No work of art is more important than the Christian’s own life, and every Christian is called upon to be an artist in this sense. He may have no gift of writing, no gift of composing or singing, but each man has the gift of creativity in terms of the way he lives his life. In this sense, the Christian’s life is to be an art work. The Christian’s life is to be a thing of truth and also a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world.
Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible, InterVarsity Press, 94.
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Peter still didn’t get it.
"Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" (John 13:6-9) Typical Peter, we always say, always overdoing it. No, he didn’t overdo it. He didn’t go far enough, in fact. None of them did. Not a one of them said, “No, Lord. We ought to be washing YOUR feet.” It wasn’t that difficult a concept. Two women had already figured it out, one identified as “a sinful woman” in Luke 7, and then Mary, Lazarus’s sister, in John 12. One of those apostles should have said, “Why didn’t we think of that?” but none of them did, not even the three from that inner circle. If ever they failed to show their understanding of who Jesus really was, it was that night in the upper room. In fact, instead of serving him as Mary did a few days earlier, they all, not just Judas, resented the fact that so much was spent on that very gesture (Matt 26:8). But just a few weeks later—“afterward,” as Jesus had said--they did get it. All of them, even that apostle born out of season, figured out what service and humility meant. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake, 2 Cor 4:5. Paul and all the others except John were ultimately martyred in their service to the Lord, along the way serving others at huge costs. They washed their Lord’s feet, not with water, but with their own blood. Do we get it? Do we understand humility, or is saving face more important? Can we give it all up for Christ, or do our opinions and think-sos matter more than the body for which he died? Can we subject ourselves, our preferences, our goods, even our lifestyles to others for their souls’ sakes, 1 Cor 9:20-22? I once spoke about subjection at a women’s meeting. As I was giving an illustration one of the women spoke out loud for all to hear, “That’s where I draw the line.” No, we were not discussing Acts 5:29 where such a statement would have been appropriate. We were just talking about sacrificing for others. Yet she wasn’t even embarrassed to say such a thing. She obviously didn’t get it. If she had been next to Peter that horrible night, she would have been happy to sit back and let the Lord wait on her, as long as the water wasn’t too hot and the towel was nice and soft. Consider this thought for a moment: what would I have done that night? Would I have gone at least as far as Peter and the rest, and let the Lord wash my feet, learning the whole lesson eventually? Or would I have already been there with my pan in hand, as those two other women had been, ready to wait on him and his disciples, anxious to show my devotion to my Lord and Master? Now take it a step farther: what am I willing to do today? Am I willing to wash feet, not just with time, effort, and money, but with my own blood? If we would draw a line anywhere, Satan will make sure we come face to face with that line sometime in our lives. Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Luke 7:44-48. Dene Ward Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.
Josh. 24:15 ". . . choose you this day whom ye will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah." We usually see this verse as a great statement of faith and devotion by Joshua, which it is, but I wonder if we miss the full implications of his statement. Joshua doesn't say, "I will follow Jehovah," he says, "me and my house". This declaration isn't just a wonder of personal faith, it is an example of family leadership. Guys, we need to step up as husbands and fathers (writes the single, childless man). Clearly, God has given us leadership in the family (Eph. 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church" and 6:4 "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord") and if Joshua's example is an approved one, then the responsibility is ours to ensure that not only we, but our families are serving the Lord. This demands thought and purposeful action in every aspect of our family lives. From carefully choosing our spouse for her spiritual beauty more than her physical looks, to being the spiritual leader she needs. Eve was created to help Adam, which necessarily implies that Adam was the prime mover. Our role is leadership, most importantly in things spiritual. Surely part of nourishing and cherishing her (Eph. 5:29) is leading her toward heaven. And so husbands and wives ought to be praying together, reading and discussing scripture together and deciding together how best to serve the Lord with their resources in their daily lives, with the husband being the initiator and driving force. It is also the fathers' job to nurture the children in the "chastening and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4). While the wives are to run the household (1 Tim. 5:14), ultimate responsibility falls on the father. This takes thoughtful, planned action, as well as relentless repetition. Deut. 11:18-21 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth." Moses tells fathers that raising children in the Lord is an all day, every day task. They were to inculcate their kids with God's Word while accomplishing all the tasks of the day. Moses' statement shines light on Solomon's proverb: "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6). That training is more than just making sure they attend Sunday School. Joshua's statement also implies some tough love. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" but what if, despite the best training or because of failures long since repented of, a family member decides not to serve the Lord? Joshua said his house would serve. If one didn't, I am under the strong impression that they would no longer be in Joshua's house. While we need to approach such situations with love and compassion, there comes a time to "deliver [them] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that [their] spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." (1 Cor. 5:5). 'My house, God's rules' should be the mantra of every Christian father in the unfortunate event of such a challenge. Men, God gave us a big job to do, which is why He created such wonderful ladies to help us complete it. Lucas Ward One of the prettiest views of our property in North Florida is coming down the shady lane late in the afternoon as the western sun sets behind the tall pines. The live oaks spread their arms over the house and carport and most of the yard, dripping with Spanish moss and providing an even deeper shade over the lush green grass. It isn’t fancy by any means. It isn’t the grandeur of mountains and valleys that dwarf the human spirit. It isn’t the sculptured and manicured lawn of a great mansion. But it’s homey and comfortable and inviting.
All that moss is part of the charm. We’ve had people try to tell us to remove it. “It’s a parasite,” they tell us, a common misconception. Actually, it’s a bromeliad, related to the pineapple. According to the Sarasota County Forestry Division, Spanish moss, the beard of ancient live oaks, does not jeopardize the trees. It does not steal nutrients. It is an air plant that prefers to perch on horizontal limbs like those of live oaks, which provide more access to sunlight and water than vertical limbs. It processes its food from the rainwater that runs off the leaves and limbs of the trees. Nothing is stolen from the tree. Just look around. Moss even hangs from power lines and fences, and it seems to prefer dead trees to live ones. So much for the myth that it’s a parasite. However, the moss can become so thick that it shades the leaves of the trees from the sunshine, the thing necessary for photosynthesis. During the rainy season, thick moss can become so heavy that it breaks branches. I think Spanish moss must be a little like worry. Let’s dismiss the notion that any worry at all is a sin. Paul talks about “the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches,” 2 Cor 11:28. He may not use the word “worry,” but that is exactly what he is talking about—anxiety, care, concern, the “daily pressure.” Sometimes that emotion is legitimate and we become petty when we start forbidding certain words while accepting the feelings as long as we call it something else. Yet worldly care and worry can rob us of our spirituality and our usefulness to God. It can make us “unfruitful,” Mark 4:19. It can “entangle” us in worldly pursuits, 2 Tim 2:4. It can tell tales about our hearts with misplaced priorities, Luke 12:22,23, doubt, Luke 12:29, and lack of faith, Matt 6:30. All of that can choke the word right out of us and when trials come, instead of trusting a God who loves us and provides our needs, we may break from the stress. If you have trouble with worry, camp awhile in Matthew 6. Don’t you understand, Jesus asks, that life is more than food and clothing, v 25? Don’t you know that God loves you even more than he loves the birds and the flowers, vv 26,30? Are you so arrogant that you think your worry will fix anything, v 27? Don’t you have more faith than the heathens, vv 30,32? Jesus always has a way of laying it on the line, doesn’t he? While there may be legitimate concerns, things we pray about even in agony as Jesus did in Gethsemane, and there may be good things that occupy our minds, like our care for the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church and the spiritual progress of our children, don’t let the trivial things, the things of this life that you can’t do anything about anyway, become such a heavy burden that you break under its weight. Rid yourself of the moss that robs you of the Light. “Let not your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said, John 14:27. He came to bring us peace instead. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 Dene Ward My family loves gravy. I would never think of serving bare rice or naked mashed potatoes. There must always be gravy.
On the other hand, sometimes you cannot have gravy. When you grill a steak, there is no gravy. When you smoke a chicken quarter, there is no gravy, and if somehow you did catch the drippings, you wouldn’t want them. Believe me, I tried it once. Smoked drippings simply taste bitter. Oh, you can always fake it with butter, flour, and canned broth, but any gravy connoisseur will know the difference. You only get really good gravy with fresh meat drippings, flour sizzled in the pan, and some kind of liquid. Yet, if your life depended upon it, you would choose the meat over the gravy any time. You would know that the only real nutritional value, the only real protein, is in the meat and not the gravy. If you tried to live on nothing but gravy alone, you would soon starve. You might be round as a beach ball, but you would still starve. Too many times we give up the meat for the gravy. We give up marriages and families for the sake of career and money. We give up a spiritual family that will help us no matter what for fair weather friends who won’t. We even give up our souls for the sake of good times, status, and convenience. Then there are the times when it seems like life makes no gravy. So we give up God because he dared to allow something less than ease, comfort, and fun into our lives. Can’t have the gravy too? Then I don’t want you, Lord. You’re going to give up a grilled rib eye because it doesn’t come with gravy? Really? I doubt we realize exactly what we are doing. The problem is that we have things reversed. We think this life is the meat, and the next is just the gravy. That is what we are saying when we give up on God because things didn’t turn out so well here. Justin Martyr, a philosopher who was converted to Christianity in the early half of the second century wrote, “Since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men put us to death. Death is a debt we must all pay anyway” First Apology, chapter 11. Can we say that, or are we too addicted to our pleasure loving, wealthy culture? The first Christians converted with the knowledge that they would probably lose everything they owned and die within a matter of weeks, if not days. And us? We are out there looking for the gravy and blaming God for his scanty menu. The fact is we do have some gravy promised in this life. We just look for it in the wrong places. Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" Jesus said to them …everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Matt 19:27,29. Are you still looking to the world for your gravy? Jesus plainly says the place to look is in your spiritual family. When it works as he intended--even if it only comes close—it is far better than anything the world will ever offer you. So remember where to find your spiritual sustenance. Remember where to go when times are rough and you need a hand. And even those things are not the meat. The meat is eternal life with a Creator who loved you enough to die in your place. Everything else is just gravy. …train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come, 1 Tim 4:7,8. Dene Ward In high school American history class we learned that Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense. We learned that it was a 47 page document, written in plain language that all could understand, questioning the authority of the British monarchy over the thirteen colonies. It was the first open request for independence. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776.
Probably because of the understandable language, it was openly read in meeting halls and taverns and, proportionate to the population at that time, has the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history. It approached the idea of American independence in a way it had never been before, and was indeed, Common Sense. It is still in print today. Oh, if we could only get God's people to operate on common sense nowadays. Just a couple of "for instances:" We seldom buy a newspaper any more, though sometimes we might pick up a Sunday paper for the coupons. The business page one recent week sounded like something you might read in a church bulletin—or at least hear from the pulpit or a Bible class lectern. Notice: “A start [to reduce our stress] is to mitigate the desire to acquire. Folks with a high net worth are frequently coupon clippers and sale shoppers who resist the urge to splurge…Many times the difference between true wealth and ‘advertised’ wealth is that those with true wealth are smart enough not to succumb to the lure of what it can buy.” Margaret McDowell, “Lieutenant Dan, George Bailey, and Picasso,” Gainesville Sun, 12-14-14. When I turned the page I found this: “Dress appropriately [for the office party]. Ladies…Lots of skin and lots of leg is inappropriate…Keep it classy.” Eva Del Rio, “Company Holiday Party Do’s and Don’ts for Millennials,” Gainesville Sun, 12/14/14. Jesus once told a parable we call “The Unrighteous Steward.” In it, he took the actions of a devious man and applauded his wisdom. He ended it with this statement: For the sons of this world are for their generation, wiser than the sons of the light, Luke 16:8. Jesus never meant that the man’s actions were approved. What he meant was he wished his followers had as much common sense as people who don’t even care about spiritual things. We still fall for Satan’s traps in our finances, believing that just a little more money will solve all of our problems. We still listen to him when he says that our dress is our business and no one else’s. It isn’t just short-sighted to think that accumulating things will make us happy—even experts in that field will tell you it’s not “smart.” It isn’t just a daring statement of individuality to wear provocative clothing, it’s cheap and “classless.” If we used our brains a little more, there would be less arguing about what is right and what is wrong. We could figure it out with a lot of soul-searching and a little common sense. Why is it that I regularly overspend? Because I am looking for love and acceptance from the world? Because I trust a portfolio in the hand instead of a God in the burning bush? Because I have absolutely no self-control? Why do I insist on wearing clothing that is the opposite of good taste and decorum? Because I do not care about my brothers’ souls? Because I do care about the wrong people’s opinions? Because I am loud and brash and think meekness is a sign of weakness instead of strength? Or maybe it isn’t any of these bad motives—maybe it’s just a lack of wisdom. Is there any wonder that the book of Proverbs is included for us, and that so many times it labels people with no wisdom “fools?” Not just wealth and dress, but practically everything we struggle with could be overcome by being as wise as at least some of the “children of this world.” Isn’t it sad that they so often outdo us in good old common sense? Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, Eph 5:15-17. Dene Ward My grandson came by for a quick visit recently. I spent a couple of hours preparing the house, putting up the things that might hurt him and the things that could get him into trouble. Then I put out the old toys his daddy used to play with, the “new” ones I had picked up at a thrift store, the crayons, a small plastic chair I had bought for him, as well as my old rocking chair, the one I sat in until I outgrew it.
You are never really sure what a two year old will find interesting. Their likes and dislikes change with every mood. I picked up blueberries and chicken nuggets, two of his favorite things, at least the last time I was with him. That doesn’t mean he will like them this time. At least I know that about toddlers. It would have been more helpful to have been able to remember well my own preschool days. Then I might have stood a better chance of pleasing him. All of that is entirely normal. In fact, that is normal in every case. If you could climb into the mind of the person you are trying to relate to, wouldn’t it be much easier to understand them and get along? A long time ago, Job said the same thing about man and God. There was no one who could “lay his hand on both” God and man, 9:33. Which is precisely why the Word “became flesh and dwelt among us,” John 1:14. The Hebrew writer says, “He had to be made like his brothers in every respect” so that he could become our high priest, our intercessor, the one who stands between us and God, laying his hand on both because he understands both worlds, 2:17. Paul makes it plain in 1 Tim 2:5 that Jesus is the only one of the Godhead who fulfills that requirement--There is one mediator between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus. So now we cannot say, “No one understands.” Jesus went through a lot of pain and sorrow and injustice and indignity just so he could understand. Any time we excuse ourselves with something like, “Well of course he could overcome sin, he was the Son of God!” we are demeaning the sacrifice he made for us, and the things he bore on our behalf so he could be “the missing link” between our Father and his children. We are saying that he doesn’t, and can never understand what it is like to be human. The Son of God is also the Son of Man. He knows how we think, he knows how we feel, and he knows what we can and cannot endure. He sits at the right hand of God even now, making intercession for us, Rom 8:34, because he searches our hearts and knows what is in them (v 27 with Rev 2:23). I may make a mistake about what will pique the interest of my two year old grandson. Christ will never make the same mistake about us. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them, Heb 7:22-25. Dene Ward When we bought our paint, it might have been the first time I realized that every can of paint in the store was white. No matter what color you want, it starts out white. Then the man at the counter will look up something or other on his computer screen, open the can and squeeze a set number of color squirts into the can. (Don't you love my technical vocabulary?) After it's shaken the requisite amount of time in the paint milkshake machine, you have the color you asked for. Works every time.
But notice—even for the lightest colors, one squirt and the paint is no longer white. That's the case with purity, folks. One sin, and your soul is no longer white. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven…(Matt 5:19). We do our best to get around that, labelling some big and some little, even calling some sins "white," as in "little white lies," but the paint is no longer pure white no matter what we may call it. It doesn't matter if you grew up going to church and never doing the big, bad sins as we like to say. It doesn't matter if no one knows about them. It doesn't matter if we are blind to our own faults. None of us is pure white any longer and we need to recognize that sooner rather than later, and stop judging others before we recognize our own. As dire as that may sound, the amazing thing is, regardless the properties of paint at the paint store, God can make your soul white again, as white as you were before. Not because you are still white, nor because of the false label you have put on your own sin, but because you have admitted those squirts of sin, no matter how few or how small in our own eyes, and done your best to change—to repent. We were all pure white once, but somewhere along the way we failed. The only way to get it back is to add the bright red blood of Jesus and, even more amazingly than the paint store, we will once again be a whole can of white paint. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb 9:13-14). Dene Ward Although I had done my best to clean our home before we left it to the new owner, the favor had not been returned on this end. We came into dirty floors, filthy baseboards, and dusty shelves in every cabinet and closet. Add to that the general wear and tear, scuffs and scrapes, of twenty plus years of living in a place. Dingy was a mild word for it and that was after I had been on my hands and knees scrubbing with every cleaner I could think of in turn. Painting was an option, though I feared it would have to wait for a year because of all the other expenses. Enter my beloved children who handed us a gift card specifically for paint as a housewarming present, and we were in business.
But that meant I had to choose colors. I am not an interior designer of any stripe. All our married life we had to live so closely that the idea of buying something to "decorate" our home was foreign to my thinking. We only bought what we absolutely needed and that after we had repaired and mended and come up with every jury rig we could think of. And that included painting—we had never painted anything because we had never been able to afford paint. I felt like someone had thrown me into the deep end of the pool without teaching me how to swim. But, I sat and looked at paint cards and thought about every HGTV show I had ever seen and how they chose paint colors. I have to admit though, some of the things I saw were hideous to this untested paint palette of mine. Still, I was proud of myself when I looked at our new, but small, office space and thought, all by myself, "It's not a room for the public so it doesn't matter whether it looks bigger or roomier. It has two big windows on the east side so it gets plenty of morning light and there are no trees to shade those windows in the afternoon. That means I can go with a darker color." So I did—Lakeshore Blue by Sherwin Williams, if you want to look it up, and we love it. But the larger living/dining area was woefully dark due to the lack of windows. And since it served two functions, it was somewhat cramped. So it needed a light color. I finally chose what looked to me like a very, very pale tan; but for some inexplicable reason, at least to uneducated me, it was included in the "whites." Whatever it is, I like it. Elegant comes to mind. But we wondered if one coat would do with such a light color. Mr. Williams—or is it Mr. Sherwin?--says it is a one coat paint so we trusted him and measured accordingly. It is indeed one coat paint, but it did not cover the amount it promised so we had to return to the store for more. I had never even looked at the name, just pointed to the color, but now I needed the name. Imagine my surprise when I found it: "Patience." After going through a difficult move with every glitch imaginable, I laughed out loud. And of course, it also got me to thinking. Don't we all need a good coat of patience every day of our lives? Whether it's putting up with difficult people or enduring the usual trials of life, endurance—the Biblical meaning of patience—is sometimes more than a little challenging. Yet we have example after example of people who waited on God far longer than we seem to think we should have to. Abraham who waited till he was 100 for a child, 25 years after the promise of one. David who not only waited, but ran for his life for about 11 years after he was anointed by Samuel and promised a kingdom. And then he waited another 7 years until the whole country united behind him. Zacharias and Elizabeth prayed for a child for around 50 years, and kept praying for that child long after it was physically impossible for them to have one. The Jewish people as a nation waited a few millennia for their promised Messiah. Yet these people never gave up on God. They had patience. And me? I'm more like the little kids in the backseat screaming, "Are we there yet?" till they drive their parents crazy. I think that maybe one coat of Patience isn't enough for me yet. Shame on me that I might need two, or even three coats. And so I will keep on trying until finally I live up to my billing, "One coat covers it all," because with the help of my Maker, it will. Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience [endurance] the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls (Heb 12:1-3). Dene Ward When we first moved to our place in the country, nearly 40 years ago, I knew I wanted azaleas around the house. And I wanted as many different colors as possible--none of this all white or all purple or all pink business. We planted about two dozen and once they started blooming, I discovered why some people stick with one type and color—they all bloom at once that way. You don’t have spots of color here and there, with blank, green places in the middle of the row. So I have learned to live with those spaces, and to accept that some will bloom before others—first the white and the coral pink, followed by the lilac and pale pink, then the red and purple, and finally the bubble gum pinks, the two that frame the front door. I was a little disappointed at first, but it no longer bothers me. This is just the way it is when you have different varieties of azalea.
That’s the way it is when you have different people in the body of Christ as well. None of us are at exactly the same stages in our growth. Sometimes it is because we are just starting and have little or no background in the scriptures. Sometimes it is because we have brought a lot of mistaken beliefs to the table that we have to overcome. And some of us are just a little slower than others to grasp new ideas, either from lack of comprehension or cautious skepticism. God never expected us all to be in the same place at the same time. He spent quite a few chapters in the New Testament epistles telling us to respect one another regardless. Jesus told a whole parable about accepting the late-comers without resentment. After all, who is accepted is God’s business not ours. Some of us seem to have a problem with this. I have heard far too many comments about “them” lately, referring to the ones we see as holding us back. It usually comes in a tone of disdain, while making of ourselves some elite spiritually mature group that ought to be looked up to and heeded automatically. After all, look how much more knowledgeable we are. The epistles talk a lot about that attitude too. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant, (1 Cor 13:4), comes quickly to mind. We all know the word “longsuffering,” but we seem to ignore the “long” and home in on the “suffering,” which we don’t think we have to do for “them.” After all, “they” are holding back the progress of the gospel. Truth be told, when stubborn self-will enters the picture, that may be the case. In that instance, the wisdom of the elders decides when it is time to move on, even if some get left behind—or in fact, leave. That is why we have those men—to be strong enough to make those unpopular decisions and wise enough to know when to. Far more often, God expects us to “wait for one another” in all its various applications. He expects us not to “set at nought” the one who just can’t quite get it yet. Check your other translations of Rom 14:3. That phrase means to despise, to disrespect, and to count as nothing. It means we think his opinion is worthless. The words may not have been used, but the contempt in them says exactly the same thing. God would certainly expect better of those who are supposedly so much more advanced. Of all people, they should be tolerant with the many varieties of azalea among us. We all bloom in our own time. We are all beautiful to God, if not to each other. As long as everyone is striving to grow and serve the Lord to the best of their abilities, we are all equal in God’s eyes, and certainly should be to one another. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand...Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us will give an account of himself to God, Rom 14:4,10-12. Dene Ward |
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Dene Ward has taught the Bible for more than forty years, spoken at women’s retreats and lectureships, and has written both devotional books and class materials. She lives in Lake Butler, Florida, with her husband Keith. Categories
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