It’s my fear that many chiastic structures found by readers/media viewers weren’t intended by the authors/media creators.
If your negative thoughts about a person involves making assumptions about their mindset by reading their minds, you’re probably sinfully judging.
One factor you should use in choosing a home is: Is it close to my church?
The question I want answered: What’s the real reason?
I’ve noticed a trend in some of the posts I’ve written, so I decided to post them all here.
Why I wear a tie on Sunday, but I don’t think everyone should.
Why our family sits in the second row at church, but I don’t think everyone should.
Why I sing harmony in church, but I don’t think everyone should.
Why we go to church and we DO think everyone should.
Why I Don’t Drink Alcohol, but don’t think everyone shouldn’t.
I’m glad you’re here. Please take a look around and if you’re interested in finding about music that teaching people the Bible through song, please click on the gold CD to the left there.
At the risk of letting my right hand know what my left hand is doing, I will state here openly that our family regularly gives a non-zero amount of dollars to our church. I have proof of this, because recently our church sent out to all of its givers their quarterly Contribution Statements. And on it, a sentence caught my eye:
No goods or services were provided in exchange for your contributions, other than intangible religious benefits.
Now it’s clear in the Bible that all (or nearly all?) church attenders should give to their church and we do this, to some degree, because we feel to do otherwise would be an act of disobedience. We are also desiring to contribute to the spreading of the glory of God. But the phrase “intangible religious benefits” made me think.
And it gave me joy – because our family does indeed receive many religious benefits as a result of our church attendance, and (don’t tell the IRS) some of them are just barely ‘intangible’.
Have you considered these?
Catastrophic Coverage
We pay serious money for various forms of insurance in case of great loss. But as I consider possible traumatic sudden losses that could happen to our family at any time, none of them are as valuable to me as the knowledge of the great support our family will receive from many families in our church, as it has in the past many times over, if our family did suffer great loss. We have felt the love of God through meals brought to us, and being uplifted in prayer, and many, many words of encouragement. We have been a part of supporting others in difficult times. The value of this (both giving and receiving) is great.
Consulting Confirmation
If my wife and I were going this alone, our kids might have great reason to doubt our theology, or our understanding of the Gospel, or our belief in the existence of God. But each Sunday they hear a sermon from a respected pastor, and then they hear a lesson from a Sunday school teacher. At other times they hear the singing voices of people in our small group. And they learn from mentors and youth group leaders. And all of them are more or less in agreement with what we’ve taught them. There is benefit here.
Correction Certainty
It is possible that one day either or I, or my wife, or one of my kids will stray from God, or away from the gospel, or away from life-giving, fruit-bearing Christ-centered behavior. Out of ignorance or informed disobedience, we might move in a direction outside the will of God in an outward way. If that happens, I know that there will be concern from people in my church, and then prayerful consideration, and then they will, in imperfect but loving ways, approach the family member with warning, direction and biblical counsel. I’ve seen it happen, and I’m counting on it.
Caring Community
Much of our lives, there are situations and concerns, big and small, that are pressing on our hearts, making us fearful, or confused. When we walk out into the commons area of our church after a service, or when we’re having prayer request time in our small group, if there is something we need to talk through with someone outside our family, there they are. Willing to listen and promising prayer, or praying right there on the spot. Giving suggestions. Weeping with those who are weeping and rejoicing with those who are rejoicing. There are times that it’s very important to talk things through and church is a resource making this possible.
Continual Cross
Perhaps the most important truth in the world is “God made a way, through the work of His Son, for you to be with Him.” This truth, as explained in His word, is not only important in showing us the way, but in giving us a right long-term moral, spiritual, and mindful mindset. So, it’s not just a truth to accept and move on from, but it’s a way of thinking that gives us joy and direction throughout life. And our family can hardly spend fifteen minutes in our church without experiencing reminders of this path, this salvation, this Gospel. And the reminder keeps us motivated to stay on the path towards Jesus.
I know that when deciding whether to give to a church, we shouldn’t feel it necessary to do a cost/benefit analysis. But for us, it’s certain the benefits outweigh the costs. I hope you go to a church and I hope you’re finding these benefits at your place of worship. This is certainly not a complete list (I started to run out of C-words), and maybe you could suggest more. Honestly, I don’t know how non-attenders live without them.
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Here is my post linking to all the posts in this “Why I do this” series of posts.
For nearly every piece of wise advice, there is at least a small subset of people whom it would be unwise to give this advice to. This is true even with Biblical advice.
People are like muscles – if they are stretched the wrong way, they can be injured. But if they are never stretched (challenged, stressed, used) they get weaker.
So as ‘members of the same body’, we should make it a goal to challenge each other.
I was listening yesterday to NPR (again!) and I heard a segment about the sobering subject of the Santa Fe shooting – and the Christian community’s response to this.
In the segment we heard some clips from the prayer vigil that was held on Wednesday night. I was interested to re-listen to it, because two of the Christians discussed God’s role in what had happened.
But as I was looking at the transcript from the segment, I noticed something interesting.
At 0:32 in the segment you can hear the worship band singing the chorus of the Chris Tomlin song “Amazing Grace – My Chains Are Gone” and at this point in the transcript it says:
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) My chains are going to be set free.
… which, you know, aren’t the actual lyrics from the song they were singing.
And despite the serious nature of the segment, this caused me to chuckle. Because I was wondering what the transcriber must have been thinking as he or she typed it in.
“Wow … That’s kind of an odd sentiment. Why would you want your chains to be free? I mean, don’t you want to be free yourself?”
And I would have to agree with the transcriber at this point.
Right now our family is memorizing Romans 13 and it’s a fairly short chapter (only 14 verses) and has several valuable sections, with Paul’s teaching about being subject to authority, and how we should owe only Love to each other and how love is the fulfillment of the law. The last verse is a nice wrap-up encouragement for all Christians –
[14] But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
But the verse right before that is more problematic, from the standpoint of teaching it to children –
[13] Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
I read this, and I’m thinking, “Really Paul? Orgies? Was that necessary? I mean, it’s not very family friendly. Couldn’t you have left that one word out?”
But then I considered what he might have been thinking as he wrote it. Perhaps he was imagining how a hypothetical conversation between two guys might have gone if he’d left out the O-word:
“Hey, Freedman, can I get your opinion on this section from Romans as I’m thinking about how I should make choices in my personal behavior?”
“Sure, Morris, what do you want to know?”
“Well, it says here that we should not live in drunkenness, or in sexual immorality and sensuality, or in quarreling and jealousy.”
“Sure, that makes sense and is consistent with the rest of what Paul wrote. So what do you want to know?”
“Okay, given this, do you think it would be okay for me to go to orgies?”
“Well, I don’t see why not. It’s obviously not in the list. If Paul didn’t want to you to do that, he would have put ‘orgies’ on the list.
“That’s what I was thinking!”
So, okay, Paul. I see your point. But I think I’m going to change it to ‘parties’ for family memorization purposes.
Given all the warnings there are in the Bible, it is not unwise to make decisions out of fear.
Just in case you’re interested, here’s a category chart of the nine New Testament couples listed in yesterday’s post. I hope it’s helpful.
In case you’re curious, here is a list of other posts on my blogs which show a whole category of items from the Bible.
Case Studies Pointing Us Toward More Biblical Marriages
As near as I can determine it, out of hundreds of individuals described, in the entire New Testament there are only nine married couples named*. They are an interesting cross section of Jews and Gentiles, Christians and non-Christians, persons of high position and regular people. As such, I thought it would be helpful to look at each of the NT couples and see what questions are raised by how they interacted with each other, as well as with Jesus and his followers, to see how their stories can guide us – for married people, and for people who are thinking about getting married.
Can my wife and I learn something from these husbands and wives? Can you and your spouse?
Can these couples point us to truth and the gospel?
This list is generally arranged from least godly to most godly and only includes those couples whom we know were married when they interacted with Jesus and his apostles**.
- Ananias and Sapphira – The Complicit Couple
Text: Acts 5:9 – But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
Background: Ananias and Sapphira conspired to hold back their gift from the young church. Their sin is not that they didn’t give all, it’s that they lied about it, saying they’d given it all.
Comment: This is perhaps the most sobering story of a marriage in the New Testament. This couple is unique, not only in that they are both on the wrong side of God, but that they did their sin as a team and they are a part of the newly formed church. Peter says to Sapphira that she agreed with her husband to do this deed. Theirs was a sin against the Holy Spirit, and they did it together.
Question for married couples to ask: Am I and my spouse doing something that we both know is wrong? Are we covering it up somehow? Are we encouraging each other in this? Should we repent and ask forgiveness for decisions we are willfully making together?
Questions to ask before you’re married: If you get married, are you going to be tempted as couple towards a specific sin? Are you being tempted (or giving into temptation) to sin right now?
- Herod and Herodias – The Demanding Wife
Text: Matthew 14:3 – For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
Background: John the Baptist is calling out Herod on his sinful marriage with Herodias, so they murder him.
Comment: In this case, it seems like Herodias takes the lead in requesting this sin and Herod just goes along with it, at least partially against his will, because of his foolish vow.
Question for married couples to ask: Is there a sin that one of you is trying to get the other to do? Are you willing to stand on the side of God even if it puts you at odds with your spouse?
Questions to ask before you’re married: Looking forward to when you are married, is it likely your spouse will try to get you to sin in a certain way? Or do you see yourself encouraging your partner to sin?
- Pilate and His Wife – The Warning Wife
Text: Matthew 27:19 – Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”
Background: Pilate is encouraged by his wife to avoid condemning Jesus, whom she somehow knows is ‘righteous’. He rejects her counsel.
Comment: I think it’s reasonable to consider this dream as likely from God. Pilate would have done well, and acted more justly, if he had listened to his wife.
Question for married couples to ask: Is there something you should be encouraging your husband or wife to avoid or stop doing? Should you be listening to your spouse as he or she encourages you to avoid specific behavior?
Questions to ask before you’re married: Will you do this for each other? Will you warn each other away from foolish or sinful behavior? And will you listen?
4 and 5. Joanna and Chuza and Mary and Clopas – The Determined Wives
Texts: Luke 8:3 – and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
Luke 24:10 – Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles…
John 19:25 – but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Background: Two women, but not their husbands, follow Christ – all the way to the cross.
Comment: I put these two together, since (1) they seem like similar stories and (2) We know very little about these people. I’m guessing that in at least one of these marriages (perhaps both), the wife was following Christ and the husband wasn’t.
Question for married couples to ask: Will you follow Jesus even if your spouse doesn’t?
Questions to ask before you’re married: In your marriage, will you be alone when you seek to know, obey and worship Jesus? God doesn’t want this for you.
- Felix and Drusilla – the Conflicted Couple
Text: Acts 24:24 – After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
Background: Felix is one of the governors who has to decide what to do with the Apostle Paul – and his wife is interested in listening in on their conversations.
Comment: This couple is a mixed bag of good and less good responses to the message of the Apostle Paul. On the plus side, they were interested. You could make a case that Drusilla was very interested – since she came with her husband (we don’t hear about other governors’ wives listening to Paul). And they listened to his words as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.
On the other hand, Felix sent Paul away when he spoke about “righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment” and the passage makes it clear that Felix hoped that Paul would give him money.
Question for married couples to ask: In which ways are your attentions divided when it comes to what God would have you hear? Do you listen with interest? As a couple, do you follow up on opportunities to be more engaged with spiritual matters? Do you stop listening when you hear something that convicts you? Do you have less than spiritual reasons for doing religious things?
Questions to ask before you’re married: Same questions – looking to the future.
- Zechariah and Elizabeth – The Proof-Requiring Husband
Text: Luke 1:5 – In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Background: Zechariah asked for proof that his wife would be having a baby in her old age, while Elizabeth discerned much about her cousin and her cousin’s child just by how her own baby moved in her womb.
Comment: The narrative portrays Elizabeth as having more faith than Zechariah. From all appearances, she immediately believed but Zechariah doubted, even when an angel was telling him what was going to happen.
Question for married couples to ask: What is God asking you to believe through the faith of your spouse?
Questions to ask before you’re married: Is the person you’re marrying likely to encourage you towards greater faith or greater skepticism and doubt? Will you encourage your future spouse towards greater faith?
- Mary and Joseph – The Called Couple
Text: Matthew 1:20 – But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Background: These are the parents (biological and earthly) of Jesus. They accepted the words of the messengers of God on faith, despite having reasonable reasons not to.
Comment: Mary and Joseph are generally spoken of quite highly in scripture. It’s true that at one point they didn’t fully understand the mission and mindset of their son, but it should be recognized that they did hard things that (1) must have taken a significant amount of faith and (2) caused their life to be difficult at times.
Question for married couples to ask: What are you, as a couple, missing about Jesus’s mission and mindset? What difficult thing is he asking you to do? Are you doing it?
Questions to ask before you’re married: Can you see yourself doing challenging work for God?
- Priscilla and Aquila – The Consistent Couple
Text: Acts 18:2 – And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,
Background: This is the only married couple mentioned working among the apostles. They are mentioned in Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy. They were instrumental in the mission of more than one body of the young Christian church. Paul says at the end of Romans, “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.” Those are very positive words. They were both instructive in pointing Apollos towards more accurate teachings.
Comment: Out of all the couples in the New Testament, this one is mentioned in the most passages, and they are always spoken of highly by the apostles. I find myself wanting to know more about them, and I’ll be interested to hear some of their stories in heaven. But one thing is clear; they did much for God and the work of the church.
Question for married couples to ask: Are you working together to let God work through your marriage to build good things and help people for His glory? What new endeavor or ministry or move should you consider with each other, to tell people about Jesus?
Questions to ask before you’re married: As a married couple, will you work to proclaim the Gospel? Will you do good work in your church? What can God do through your family?
Conclusion:
Let’s remember that all of these people were fallible. They all sinned and failed. This can be an encouragement as you consider your own failings. Another encouragement we can consider is a marriage that I left off this list: a transcendent and eternal NT couple – Jesus with his bride, the church. Our marriages can be a picture of that – a reminder and image of that holy reality.
In any case, several of these human couples did bold and effectual work for God as a part of this bride of Christ and are noted in the Word of God as such. Will you be like them?
In case it’s helpful, I’ve posted a category chart of the nine couples.
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* By comparison, nine couples in the NT is fewer than the number in Genesis alone.
** I don’t feel like Peter, or the woman at the well, or Crispus, or Anna the prophetess, or the man with seven brothers fall into this category.
In case you’re curious, here is a list of other posts on my blogs which show a whole category of items from the Bible.
One of the most important truths of the Gospel is a negative: You can’t obtain salvation by your obedience.
There is good health food and good junk food and never the twain shall meet.
Some people say, “I found something I like at this restaurant, why would I ever have anything else?”. Others say, “I found something I like at this restaurant, why would I ever have it again?”
As you are considering the behavior of another person – consider these two things:
- Is the behavior sinful?
- Will the behavior give them joy?
If the answers are (1) perhaps no, and (2) perhaps yes, then do not judge their behavior negatively.
Every year you get older, you’re further away time-wise from the age you’ll be when you’re twice your age. So there’s that.
Every time I do something that thirty or more people see, I assume that at least one of them will be bugged by the way I do it.
The Responsible Puppet 