Ringing In

This is the last post in a four-part series that I titled “Towards a Complete Christian Life.” The point of this post is to highlight the inherent challenges and benefits of serving God

Let’s look at four passages that illustrate different aspects of serving God.

The first passage (or verse, if you prefer) is Ephesians 4:1. On a personal note, this was the theme verse for Urbana 06, and it has had a deeper meaning for me since that time.

Some context for this verse is in order. When Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, he was actually imprisoned in Rome, lending additional weight to the phrase “as a prisoner for the Lord.” This verse also kicks off the second half of Ephesians, which focuses on the day-to-day aspects of Christian living.

In this verse, Paul stresses a general interpretation of “calling,” where he urges the Ephesians (and, by extension, us) to be holy and set themselves apart from the world for serving God. This highlights the notion of a standard for the Christian life, where God has set the bar high and we strive to live up to His expectations for us.

We should also view the “calling” from this verse in a more personal manner, which was the intent of the conference organizers at Urbana 06. Each of us possesses a unique set of gifts and abilities that have been given to us by the Holy Spirit, and so each of us has been “called” to a specific role in the body of Christ. Moreover, it can be argued that finding your specific “calling” facilitates living a “worthy” life, since you know your exact purpose for existing.

It should be noted that we may not know our specific calling when we begin to serve Him. For example, when moving to an unfamiliar location to begin a new job, you may be unsure as to why God has led you to that particular place. What you should do is trust that God has led you there for a good reason, and He is “calling” you to make the most of your time in that place. You should also trust that God will reveal your specific “calling” to you in His good timing.

Question 1: why do you believe God led you to where you are now?

Next, let’s read through Acts 9:10-16. This passage describes the events immediately after Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

The first six verses of this passage nicely set the stage for the key verse of this passage, which is verse 16. In particular, verse 16 reminds us to be cognizant of impending difficulties when serving God. From my personal experience, I can say that it is typical for Christians to dive into serving God and then become frustrated when things don’t turn out the way they expect them to.

Matthew Henry’s commentary on Acts 9 drives home the point that serving God is not meant to be a “walk in the park”:

those that bear Christ’s name must expect to bear the cross for his name; and those that do most for Christ are often called to suffer most for him.

The word “suffer” should serve as a wake-up call for Christians who believe that serving God will be easy. In fact, it is difficult to think of a ministry that never experienced any setbacks.

Since difficulties are guaranteed to occur during our time of Christian service, how do we meet these challenges head-on? Recall the famous Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, where Jesus’ key message was that Christians needed to have a good foundation to live “worthy” lives.

How can we acquire this good foundation? This actually goes back to my previous three posts, which focus on the importance of reading God’s Word, prayer, and seeking the counsel and fellowship of other Christians. By practicing these three principles on a regular basis, we are equipping ourselves to overcome the difficulties of Christian service.

The overall message of Acts 9:10-16 bears repeating: be prepared for difficulties in your ministry and think about how you can turn them into blessings. Another encouraging note on this topic can be found in John 16:33.

Question 2: what are some difficulties that you’ve encountered while serving God?

The next passage that I want to focus on is Romans 1:8-12. In this passage, we see that 1) the strong faith of the Christians in Rome made Paul joyful and 2) he desired to have fellowship with them, which I want to discuss further.

This passage illustrates the importance of a support group when serving God, which recalls the theme of my previous post. Though Paul was an eminent Christian who had accomplished great things over the course of his ministry, he knew that he needed the support of other Christians if his ministry were to continue to thrive. This is evidenced in verses 10-12, where Paul’s desire for the support of other Christians is so strong that he “longs” to see his Roman brothers and sisters in Christ.

I once read part of a book by Intervarsity Press on “tentmaking,” which involves Christians spreading the gospel while supporting themselves through other means. This arises from Paul’s experiences as a tentmaker in Corinth, which are described in Acts 18.

The authors stressed the importance of the role that local churches can play in preparing tentmakers for their missions work. Specifically, the authors recommended forming an accountability structure within the local church for tentmakers, along with a group covenant that each tentmaker would sign with their accountability partners in their local church. This is a neat example of how mutual support can render Christian service even more effective.

It bears repeating from my last post that “no man is an island,” especially in Christian service. When serving God, it is important to see who God has placed in our midst and whether or not they can be part of a mutual support group. We must keep our eyes open and look for people who can share in this mutual encouragement. A support group offers opportunities for us to give to others and to receive God’s blessings from them.

Question 3: have other Christians helped you “serve God better?”

I want to wrap up this post by looking at Philippians 3:7-11. IMHO, this passage is one of the greatest declarations of faith in Christ of all-time.

From these five excellent verses, we can infer that serving God results in a radical change in focus. Paul had become so committed to his task of spreading the gospel that he could not think of anything more worthwhile for him to do. His singular purpose was to glorify Christ, and his ministry was a necessary means for accomplishing that goal.

Matthew Henry’s commentary on Philippians 3 further describes Paul’s devotion to serving God:

The apostle was as ambitious of being sanctified as he was of being justified.

Many Christians feel that serving God is irrelevant since they have already been saved or “justified”, so why do they need to serve God? The answer to this question can be found by observing Paul’s life. Paul was so grateful that God had rescued him from a pointless life that he was determined to do everything he could to express his gratitude. Similarly, we must strive to express our gratitude to God for our salvation, which can be performed via our Christian service. Note that we are also “sanctified” through our Christian service.

We also see a bold and unabashed declaration of Paul’s new purpose in life in verse 10. He knew that by serving God and enduring the attendant difficulties, he was becoming more like Christ and drawing closer to Him. We must consider how we might apply this verse to our own lives; how can we serve God better and become more Christ-like in the process?

It bears repeating that our service to God should flow out of genuine love for Him and a desire to know Him better, which arises from our “rolling up our sleeves” and working in God’s vineyard.

Question 4: how has serving God changed your life?

Hopefully, these four posts have inspired you to strive towards a more “complete” Christian life. If you have any questions or comments you’d like to share, feel free to let me know.

This is the third post in a four-part series that I titled “Towards a Complete Christian Life.” The point of this post is to highlight the importance of having meaningful fellowship with other Christians.

To get an idea of what meaningful fellowship with other believers entails, let’s look at four passages that focus on different aspects of Christian fellowship.

Let’s begin by reading Acts 2:42-47. This passage provides some valuable insights on the early Christian church. A quick glance through these six verses shows that a) each believer put others before themselves and b) God was definitely at work in the early church.

From verse 42, it is evident that meaningful Christian fellowship arises from personal devotion to it. With the invaluable assistance of the Holy Spirit, we must desire genuine Christian fellowship in order to truly experience its attendant blessings.

Verses 43a and 47a show that meaningful Christian fellowship can impact the lives of others, including both believers and non-believers. This point is nicely stated in Matthew Henry’s commentary on Acts 2:

Undissembled piety and charity will command respect; and cheerfulness in serving God will recommend religion to those that are without.

The familiar hymn, “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our love,” also nicely captures the broader impact of meaningful Christian fellowship; it’s important to remember that the world is always watching us.

Verse 47b continues the theme from verses 43a and 47a. Specifically, note how God moved people to be saved on a daily basis. It can be inferred that God, working through the meaningful Christian fellowship displayed in this passage, impressed upon non-believers a genuine desire to be a part of this fellowship. The end-product of meaningful Christian fellowship should be the literal transformation of both believers’ and non-believers’ lives.

Question 1: have you been in a ministry where you felt the joy of meaningful Christian fellowship?

Next, let’s take a gander at Hebrews 10:23-25. This happens to be one of my favorite Bible passages and illustrates the importance of mutual encouragement.

In verse 23, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that as Christians, we are all striving towards a common objective. Specifically, we hope for our promised ultimate sanctification and the blessings of eternal life in the constant presence of God. The second part of this verse reminds us that since God is faithful in terms of keeping His promises, we must remain faithful to Him in our Christian walk.

Verse 24 reminds us that we cannot strive towards the common objective from verse 23 in isolation. This point is reinforced in Matthew Henry’s commentary on Hebrews 10:

A good example given to others is the best and most effectual provocation to love and good works.

We are called to inspire our Christian brothers and sisters to live out our common hope. In another sense, verse 24 reminds us that by showing love toward God and others, and by doing good deeds, we are effectively living out our common hope.

The theme of mutual striving towards our common hope permeates verse 25. We can think of this verse as calling us to have “godly jealousy” for each other. We must desire the best for our Christian brothers and sisters, and these emotions must be demonstrated by mutual preparation for trials during these “last days.” Also, we must prepare each other to be able to give a good account of our lives to God when we stand before His judgment seat.

Question 2: have any Christian brothers or sisters encouraged you?

Now let’s read through Galatians 2:11-16. This passage illustrates the importance of accountability.

From verse 13, we see that Christian accountability in an unfortunate situation is crucial, especially when other Christians are affected. The familiar saying “no man is an island” rings true in this case; the actions of any Christian will always affect the lives of other Christians. We will elaborate on this theme of interconnectedness at the end of this post.

Note from verses 11 and 14 that Paul was unafraid of challenging Peter, even though Peter commanded significant respect in the early church. Verse 11 states that Paul took such a bold action because Peter “was clearly in the wrong.” It can be concluded that as Christians, we must take decisive action to correct our Christian brothers and sisters if we see them acting in an un-Christian manner.

The salient word “afraid” in verse 12 describes Peter’s wrongdoing in this passage. This verse indicates that Peter was more concerned about his standing in the eyes of fellow Jews who had been saved (“the circumcision group”) than about his standing in the eyes of God. In some sense, we can also view this verse as an opportunity for personal accountability; are we putting God first in our lives, or are we putting ourselves/others first?

Question 3: have you ever had to hold a fellow Christian accountable?

Finally, let’s read through 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. This is the famous “body of Christ” passage and illustrates the importance of being in a church body.

Instead of picking through some of the key verses in this passage, let’s conclude with some general observations. First, being in a church body allows you to interact with people who may be quite different from you. This can try your patience in many ways, but it is important to remember that patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit; thus, interacting with Christians who may be quite different from you can be helpful in your Christian walk.

Second, being in a church body allows you to learn from other Christians. The overriding theme of this passage is that everybody in the body of Christ can help build up the body. One common temptation in the Christian life (which I can personally attest to) is to think that you don’t need the help of other Christians to live righteously. In fact, other Christians can help you assess your Christian walk from different perspectives, which is invaluable for finding stumbling blocks and other hindrances that you need to remove.

Third, being in a church body is important since God has a purpose for you in the body of Christ. As is evident from this passage, each of us has a particular gift that we can use to glorify God. By serving Him in the context of the body, we build it up and help it to become more Christ-like (becoming more Christ-like ourselves in the process).

To recap, meaningful fellowship with other believers is a multi-faceted endeavor. We must consider the effects of our thoughts and actions on those around us. Also, we must strive to build up our Christian brothers and sisters while correcting them if they are “in the wrong.” Lastly (and perhaps most importantly), meaningful Christian fellowship glorifies God while building up the body of Christ.

My last post on this topic will focus on the challenges and benefits of serving God.

This is the second post in a four-part series that I titled “Towards a Complete Christian Life.” The point of this post is to highlight the importance of having a close relationship with God.

To see just what having a close relationship with God entails, let’s take a look at four Psalms that highlight some aspects of this relationship.

Let’s begin by reading through Psalm 8. This psalm stresses the importance of praise in a close relationship with God. Note that the famous Lord’s Prayer also begins with an expression of praise, which further illustrates the importance of praising God.

In verses 1 and 9, the phrase “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” is repeated. In this case, the psalmist (David) uses repetition to emphasize a key point of his praise, namely the wide-ranging power and authority of God’s name.

Verse 3 brings up another critical point regarding praising God. Sometimes we want to praise God, but we can’t think of the right words. At those times it helps to stop and “consider” who God is and what He has done, not only in our lives but throughout all time.

A neat analogue to the concept of praising God can be found in married life. Often we see spouses praising each other by pointing out their significant other’s pleasing characteristics, such as “he’s a good listener” and “she really understands me.” Thus, just as in a healthy marriage, telling God what we admire most about Him strengthens our relationship with Him.

Question 1: have you ever been amazed by God’s creation?

Next, let’s read through Psalm 51. This psalm stresses the importance of repentance in a close relationship with God. As expounded cogently by Paul in the book of Romans, sin is an ever-present part of our life on Earth, which makes genuine repentance an essential aspect of our relationship with God.

Verse 1 is a superb reminder that when we have sinned and ask God for forgiveness, we must “cut to the chase” and avoid attempting to rationalize our sin. Instead of telling God, “well, what I did just now wasn’t that bad, but to make myself feel better I’ll tell you I’m sorry,” we need to immediately confess our sins (while either implicitly or explicitly acknowledging their magnitude) and ask Him for mercy and forgiveness.

In verse 10 we see that repentance does not merely consist of asking God for mercy and forgiveness. We need to desire inner change in our lives so that we can become more Christ-like; while we cannot be “sinless” in our life on Earth, we can “sin less.”

Verse 11 is a neat illustration of the intense desire and longing we should have for God. In particular, we should love God so intensely that when we have wronged Him, we should beseech Him to allow us to remain in His presence.

The wide-ranging benefits of repentance can be observed in verse 13. We see that repentance is important not only for renewing our close relationship with God but also for encouraging both believers and non-believers. By experiencing the blessings that result from repentance, we can share them and help other people to have closer relationships with God.

Question 2: have you ever prayed to God for forgiveness in a serious, meaningful way?

Now let’s consider Psalm 142. This psalm stresses the importance of prayer in a relationship with God. By lifting up our prayer requests to God, we acknowledge His sovereignty in this world and His ability to answer our requests (whether or not He chooses to answer them in the way we want them to be answered is another issue).

Note the word “mercy” in verse 1. When we present our prayers before God, we need to remember that He is in control of our lives. Failing to acknowledge His sovereignty in our prayers is a gross error that we must avoid.

Verse 2 illustrates the importance of being a) honest before God and b) specific in our prayer requests. Since God desires a genuine relationship with us, we must speak honestly with Him and lay our exact thoughts and feelings before Him. We see several examples of this in the Bible where godly people, including Job and Jeremiah, wrestled with God over some tough issues (and they did so without sinning).

Verses 4 and 5 remind us that we must depend on God first and foremost (as opposed to depending on our fellow man above all). It is essential for us to remember that while people can change, God never changes. We should be content in the knowledge that God was, is, and always will be our “refuge” and our “portion.”

The theme of “dependence on God” is further expressed in verse 6. The psalmist (David) admits that he cannot solve his problems by himself and cries out to the Lord for deliverance. This may be a difficult pill for us to swallow in the 21st century, as most (if not all) of us like to be in control of our lives. More often than not, though, our best efforts aren’t sufficient for solving our problems.

The psalm concludes with verse 7, which can be nicely linked with Psalm 51:13. Verse 7 reminds us that trials/temptations in our lives are actually opportunities for us to praise God, both during the trial/temptation and afterwards. Note that “the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.” Thus, it should be apparent from verse 7 and from Psalm 51:13 that a close relationship with God can be a vehicle for making a positive impact on the lives of other believers.

Question 3: have you ever prayed to God fervently for something?

Let’s wrap things up by looking at Psalm 30. This psalm stresses the importance of thanksgiving in a relationship with God. By giving thanks to God for an answered prayer (regardless of the way in which it was answered), we demonstrate our gratitude to Him and show how much we value our relationship with Him.

Based on my experiences, I can say that reflecting on my prior difficulties allows me to praise God and thank Him in a more heartfelt way. When life is going smoothly and everything is just “hunky-dory,” I’ve found that it’s easy to become formulaic and robotic in my prayers. During/after some trial or temptation, though, I find that my prayers become more intense and genuine.

Along these lines, note in verse 11 how an complete reversal in fortunes can elicit joyful prayers of thanksgiving. The quote “I’ve been to Hell and back” is an interesting secular expression of the key concept in verse 11. As human beings, it’s easier for us to appreciate God when He sustains us during the storms of our lives.

Verse 12 nicely rubber-stamps one of the central themes in this post, namely the role that praise plays in a relationship with God (recall Psalm 8, Psalm 51:13 and Psalm 142:7). The other central theme in this post, namely inspiring others to praise God, is rubber-stamped in verse 4; the psalmist (David) encourages other believers to “sing to the Lord” and “praise his holy name.”

Question 4: have you ever seriously thanked God for an answered prayer?

My next post on this topic will focus on cultivating strong relationships with other believers.

Occasionally I will post some notes from the Friday night on-campus Bible studies that I helped lead. Hopefully they will be edifying (and perhaps they will spark some insightful discussion).

This is the first post in a four-part series that I titled “Towards a Complete Christian Life.” By following the general principles outlined in all four posts, I feel that Christians can take an important step towards living “purpose-driven lives.”

The point of this post is to highlight the importance of reading God’s Word (i.e. the Bible) on a regular basis.

To start things off, let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17. In this post I plan to examine this passage and glean some valuable insights from it.

In verse 16, we see the phrase “God-breathed.” One might ask, “what does that really mean?” It is important for us to remember that the entire Bible can be viewed as God’s Word (as I stated earlier). Specifically, for every word in the Bible, a) it was communicated by God directly to its writer or b) God, via the assistance of the Holy Spirit, inspired its writer to actually write it down.

We also see the word “teaching” in verse 16. In this case, “teaching” refers to basic Christian doctrine. Merriam-Webster defines “doctrine” as “a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief.” For example, one particularly profound statement of Christian doctrine can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. From reading Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ,” it turns out that this passage was an early church creed which arose not more than two decades after Christ’s death and resurrection.

Question 1: when you share the gospel, do you refer to the Bible?

In addition, we see the word “rebuking” in verse 16. This is nicely paired with “teaching” and refers to the correction of false doctrine. For example, if someone were to boldly proclaim a “Christian” message that contradicted anything in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, that person would be guilty of promulgating a heresy and would need to be rebuked. We see in 1 Timothy 1:3-5 that while false teachers need to be rebuked, we need to remember the general principle of “hating sin while loving the sinner.”

Question 2: have you had any experiences in terms of correcting false doctrine?

Next, we see the word “correcting” in verse 16. We can view “teaching” and “rebuking” as referring to Christian theory while “correcting” refers to Christian practice (“training in righteousness” and “equipped for every good work,” which appear later in the passage, also fall into the latter category). In particular, Paul tells us that the Bible is “useful” for convicting us of the sins that we commit in our daily lives, which occur when we fail to live righteously. For example, Ephesians 5:18 reminds us that drunkenness is forbidden in the Christian life.

Question 3: has the Bible ever convicted you of sin (either directly or indirectly)?

We then see the phrase “training in righteousness” in verse 16. As mentioned above, this refers to Christian practice; Paul tells us here that the Bible is “useful” for preparing us for living righteously while not committing the sins that require “correcting.” For example, we see in Luke 10:25-37, which is the classic Parable of the Good Samaritan, that righteous living involves helping those less fortunate than ourselves. On a related note, one can link the “theory” and “practice” aspects of verse 16 by viewing “training in righteousness” as preparing us to live out righteous doctrine in our daily lives.

Question 4: have you ever trained for something, and if so, was the training helpful?

Lastly, we see the phrase “equipped for every good work” in verse 17. One might ask why we need to be “equipped” to do God’s will in this world. From my personal experience, I can say that doing God’s will is equivalent to not obeying Satan’s wishes, and we need to be prepared to resist Satan. In particular, Satan is quite displeased when Christians serve God, and he tries every trick in the book to dissuade us from doing so. While serving God, I’ve had thoughts such as “should I be doing something more enjoyable” and “is this really going to make a difference in these people’s lives?” The word “equipped” also got me thinking about the famous Armor of God passage, which is Ephesians 6:10-18. In Ephesians 6:17 we see how God’s Word is a crucial aspect of being “equipped” to not only survive but to thrive for God in this world.

My next post on this topic will focus on cultivating a strong relationship with God.