Jonathan Evans

The lived-in and lived-out reality of love

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:1-3)

 

Heard with our ears. Seen with our eyes. Touched with our hands. Words that describe a sensory experience. This experience wasn’t a "what" as much as it was a "who". Jesus is Who the disciples experienced – listened to, looked upon, touched. He was the “word of life”, “the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest". “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). 

 

The glory of God in Jesus Christ was what, who, the disciples proclaimed, spoke of, conversed about. Yet, not just who they’d heard with mortal ears, or seen with mortal eyes, or touched with mortal hands, but who with their entire beings they’d come to know and to understand, to receive and to believe, to follow and to obey. Like a friend who is able to describe a loved one articulately, intimately, and stunningly, in a way a stranger never could or even imagine, is the disciple who knows Jesus able to describe him to others.

 

It is one thing to know about a country from reading about it – information as facts, pictures, maps. This is the student. It is quite another thing to know about a country from having visited it – the experiences of people and conversation, food and places of significance. This is the tourist. But it is still a different thing altogether to know a country from living there – life and daily routines, roads and secret places, stories and names, struggles and victories, etc. This is the citizen.

 

As Christians, we are saved and “born again”, born from above (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3, 23), to live in, through, with, and for Jesus, not to read about him or visit him occasionally. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) We are now to live here, there, wherever we are “by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20); to build a home, pray, work, rest, play, dig in, root ourselves, make friends, and serve and seek the prosperity of our cities (Jeremiah 29:4-7). We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom (Philippians 3:20) that takes the necessary and daily routines, roads and secret places, stories and names, struggles and victories of our lives and communities and gives them their higher and deeper meaning and purpose in Jesus. 

 

We are citizens of this kingdom by grace, not by our works nor for our works but by the King’s work and for his works. We hear and see and embrace him by grace; he hears and sees and embraces us in mercy. And far from being a postcard or a t-shirt or a visit from there (a distant land), our lives are the lived-in/lived-out reality of him (who has come near), his love articulated and manifested in and through us.

The what and how of our defense

 

"Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:14).

 

Like a fault line in the earth, there's a break in the ground of our heart between what we believe and how we treat others. Sometimes under the stress of people disagreeing with us, correcting us or opposing us, pieces break free and the energy released can cause substantial damage to our heart and to theirs. Anger, malice, disrespect, criticism, ridicule can all reverberate from the epicenter in us.

 

As Christians, we honor Jesus not only in what we believe but in how we believe. It is not just that I believe, but that in believing my thoughts, intentions, actions, and words are now formed and shaped differently from the inside out both towards God and towards others. 

 

We are commanded by Jesus to make a defense of what we believe. But how we are commanded to make that defense is with gentleness and respect. If we honor Jesus (have reverence, trust in Him), we will not mistreat people; if we honor people (have respect, show humility), we will not misrepresent the gospel. Both message and manner joined together comprise the what and the how of a faithful and truthful witness. 

 

 If you have a reputation as a Christian of being harsh and smug, your manner has invalidated your message; your defense is ruined, inadmissible. On the other hand, if you have no reputation as a Christian, you have no defense to make; neither your manner nor your message are distinguishable. 

 

Jesus commands us to be prepared to make a defense with gentleness and respect.  Our preparation of the what of our message is important. But it is our preparation in the how of our messaging that will convince (1 Peter 2:13; 3:16; Matthew 5:16). It is in the heart that we honor and worship Jesus; it is in the heart that we honor and respect others. It is in and out of the heart's preparation that a good defense is made. 

 

What have you prepared your heart for? How are you preparing your heart for that?

Love gets angry at the right things

God is love, not anger (1 John 4:8). Still, God does get angry. But God’s love provides the stimulus, the context and the constraint for His anger.  

 

  

 

BECAUSE God loves us, He gets angry at the RIGHT things which are the WRONG things that result from sin in our hearts. Thankfully, like a father who lovingly disciplines his children, He lovingly convicts us of what is wrong. He embraces us, forgives us, teaches us and continues to conform us into His image.

 

In our relationships, our love like GOD'S LOVE should always seek what is good and best for others – to know, love, serve and reflect God. Our anger like GOD'S ANGER, should arise when what is good and best is opposed by what is not – those things which aim to distract us or keep us from knowing, loving, serving and reflecting God.

 

APART FROM LOVE, though, it is hard to be angry at the right things, with the right motives, for the right reasons. 

 

I might have personal, good, and even justified reasons for my anger, but FOR God's purposes ONLY God's love can provide the stimulus, the desire, the aim, the guidance, the safety and the constraint for my anger. Otherwise, my anger has the potential to be at best misaligned with God's love, at worst severed from it. 

 

If the foundation of my LOVE for you has collapsed, how can I BUILD you up? If my legs are crippled, how can I HOLD you up? If my arms are broken, how can I HELP you up?

 

LOVE digs around my anger down to the root of it; it searches my anger with the spotlight of humility; it shines through my anger to uncover any hidden snares; it frames the portrait of my anger and brings the right object into focus.

 

Is God’s love the stimulus, the context and the constraint for your anger? 

90 Second Read: "Honey, wake up."

Jesus never comes to a person and says, “Convert or die.” Jesus comes to a person and says, “You’re dead. Come to me and live.”

 

I am, apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ, dead in my sins. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). I may live, breathe, move, eat, play, and sleep, but spiritually I am dead. Like Lazarus was, I am wrapped, bound and buried in a cold, dark and sealed tomb. 

 

But Jesus loved the dead man Lazarus. They were friends in life; Jesus was his friend in death. Jesus “cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:43) 

 

When Lazarus died, there wasn’t a sword or a gun in Jesus’ hand. There were tears in his eyes. (John 11:35)

 

So, Love called out.  Light broke in. Life pulsed through.

 

“For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (John 5:21)

 

“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)

 

But why? Why, care about the dead? 

 

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5).

 

Love is why and love is how. 

  

“Child, arise.”, Jesus said to the still corpse of a little girl (Luke 8:54). He used the term her mother would have used to call the girl to herself that very morning. “Honey, wake up.” 

 

Jesus touched and took her hand. He crossed the boundaries of impurity by touching death. 

 

Yes, that’s what He would do on the cross. He would reach out to touch our sin-ridden, death-striken hearts and bring us out of death and into new life in Him.

 

Jesus doesn’t come to you and say, “Convert or die.” He comes to you and says, “You’re dead. Come to me and live.”

Unselfed-church

What are you natural at? Is it math? Is it sports? Maybe art? Music? What about talking? All of us are good at something, that is, all of us have something that we do without effort and without hesitation.

 

Love should come natural, without effort and hesitation, to the church of Jesus Christ.

 

TESTED

Having died and risen from the dead, Jesus has richly poured out the Holy Spirit on His church (Acts 2:33; Titus 3:4-6). We read in chapter two of Acts that great power was given to the disciples, that the church grew by thousands and that the fame of the disciples spread. But the pouring out of the Holy Spirit went deeper than power, size and fame.  As Paul says, “...God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5) The Holy Spirit brought a new dimension and experience of the love of God to those who by faith believed in Jesus Christ for their salvation by grace.

 

Furthermore, the coming of Jesus Christ and subsequently the Holy Spirit inaugurated “the last days” (Hebrews 1:1-2; Acts 2:17). Though no one knows the day nor the hour (Matthew 24:36), we are living in the last days before the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is important because Paul warns us (2 Timothy 3:1-2), as Jesus did (Matthew 12:24), that in these last days the church, Jesus’ disciples, will be tested. Yet, what will be tested in particular will be our love. The battle will be between love for self and love for Jesus. Will we be lovers of ourselves and of pleasure (what pleases us) or lovers of God and of His will (what pleases God)? 

 

“...many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:10-12) When Jesus returns we won’t be commended by our power, size or fame, but by the condition of our love for Him. Neither power (miracles, signs, wonders) or size (how many attend a church, how many decisions have been made) or fame (how reputable, innovative and authentic our services and speakers are) will be the concrete evidence Jesus is looking for.  

 

INVOLVED

Jesus involved Himself in creation, in humanity and above all in our salvation at great cost to Himself out of love for us. The gospel – what Jesus has done to rescue and save sinners – is the perfect expression of love.

 

By next year, it is speculated that the average person in America will consume around 15.5 hours of media (using 30 different forms of media like satellite radio, tv, internet, etc.) Today our attention will shift about every 3 minutes. We are distracted! So, the question is, If we’re consuming and distracted during most of the day, when do we have the time to put out, to give away, to focus and to involve ourselves? As the church, this is critically important if it’s true that the main way the world will know Jesus has come and that we are His disciples is by our love (John 13:35). 

 

The gospel enlarges our hearts and involves our lives at a cost to ourselves out of love for others. But are we too busy, too distracted, too self-preoccupied? Blessed are those who have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires and have inherited NOT only the kingdom of God BUT the passions and desires of The King. We are blessed when we are oriented around and centered in Jesus Christ. 

 

“WHEN”

In a parable on the Day of Judgment, Jesus describes two kinds of people whom He will encounter (Matthew 25:31-46). The first kind are those who served The King by involving themselves in the lives of those The King calls “the least of these”. The second kind are those who did not involve themselves with “the least of these”. But, and this is central, both kinds of people were UNAWARE of what they had and hadn’t done. Their common answer begins with the key word, “When”. Both kinds of people were living what was natural to them. They both were without effort and hesitation living out of what they were on the inside. 

 

For a local church (as for any christian), “When” represents a supernatural, natural way of living. It represents the unselfed life, a way of living for Jesus and a way of loving Him that is so normal that we do so without question and without thinking; His love is so richly dwelling within us by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that we forget ourselves. 

 

A church obsessed with itself is not a church filled with the Holy Spirit. Such a church is looking inward (what do I want) and outward (what can I gain from the world). But a church filled with the Holy Spirit is a church consumed with the love and work of Jesus. It is looking outward (what do they need) and upward (adoring and pursuing Christ). 

 

The praise and love of man is tantalizing, but also anesthetizing and paralyzing. The praise and love of Jesus is holy, transforming and freeing! A church that lives for the glory of Jesus is a church that is filled with the presence and power of Jesus. And it is only His presence in the midst of His people that makes both a clear contrast between the world and a profound impact on the world. 

 

Love. Love is how we will endure to the end (Matthew 24:13). Love for Jesus and love for others. Love that is often unassuming, unannounced and unobtrusive, yet always demanding nothing, expecting nothing and giving everything.

 

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

Fashion designers and missionaries

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” 

 

“I want to be a fashion designer.” 

 

I envisioned all the unique and intricate designs spilled over from my daughter, Hannah-jae’s, imagination into the fashion-design books I had given to her. It was time to buy her new ones.

 

I considered, “She may change her mind and become a missionary or a pastor’s wife. If she does, will I be happier?”

 

I remembered a time when I was younger. I always thought that all American Christians were ignorant, especially when they asked me about the outhouse my family and I used back home in the country of Mexico. Of course, we didn’t have an outhouse, but I was still condescending towards these Christians because in my mind and heart I thought that I was “more godly” for being the son of American missionaries to central Mexico. 

 

Adelyn Rose and Hannah-jae

 

Godliness is the interplay between our knowledge of God and our obedience to God. It takes the invisibilities of our faith and makes them visible in a practical way in our lives. It encompasses our whole life, the whole spectrum, from praying to playing. It has nothing to do with position or title or location or preference, and everything to do with heart and faith and love and response. 

 

Noah was good with the hammer. I’m assuming he was an expert craftsman, a carpenter of distinction. Not sloppily or ignorantly did he build the ark God had commanded him, and gifted him, to build.

 

The man God tapped to head the design/build team for the Tabernacle was named Bezalel. God “filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft” (Exodus 31:1-5). There were also “Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded” (Exodus 36:1).  None of these were priests or “typical” religious workers.

 

I don’t think David, the shepherd boy, was unfamiliar with his sling. The sling was an ancient weapon of battle and in Judges 20:16 we read that every one of 700 slingers chosen for battle “could sling a stone at a hair and not miss”. Was David an expert in the art of slinging a stone? Did he consider it a waste of time in his shepherding duties, as opposed to singing and writing songs to God? Perhaps David spent as much time with his sling as he did with his lyre.  Was one more important than the other for the job God had for him to do?

 

Paul, I imagine, learned the skill of tent-making well (Acts 18:3). I doubt he “cut corners” or did only a mediocre job. Knowing what we do about the missionary Paul, he would have entered wholeheartedly into this type of manual labor and immersed himself in the details, even though many in that day and Greek culture would have despised such labor. 

 

A woman named Dorcas made clothes – tunics and garments – with freedom, leisure and generosity to give and minister to the needy around her (Acts 9:36-43). 

 

Jesus was a “carpenter” (Matthew 13:55), a word generally used to indicate a craftsman of considerable skill. 

 

Someone made the boat Jesus got into and taught from (Luke 5:1-3). It was important that it float. Someone caught the fish and made the loaves he broke, multiplied and gave to the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21). Someone made the baskets to hold the leftovers in, too. Someone made the very costly ointment that the woman poured on Jesus, the same action and ointment others considered an “ungodly” waste (Mark 14:3-9). And someone made the alabaster flask it was in. Someone made the bread and wine Jesus gave to his disciples in the upper room at their last supper (Matthew 26:26-27). And someone made the cup. And someone cleaned up after them. 

 

When David prophesied of Jesus in Psalm 22:18, “they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots”, God had a seamstress in mind. Someone made a seamless tunic, “woven in one piece from top to bottom.” Someone made his sandals, belt and head covering. All these garments and those who made them were necessary, critical, and precious to the fulfilling of Scripture (John 19:23-24). 

 

God neither saves our talents nor saves us because of our talents or skills. He saves our hearts and saves us from our sins. So everything that proceeds from our saved heart, though it might not look “godly” or different on the surface from what others might do, is in fact different.  It’s different because we’re godly. Nothing in our lives is compartmentalized, segregated, under godliness. Rather, everything is absorbed into it. Everything is different simply because God gives each of us unique skills and variations thereof, and accordingdly calls each to differing places and positions of service. Yet, when we respond, whether with pencil or thread or plane ticket or tears, our response is Spirit-inspired, God-directed, and Christ-exalting. 

 

Maybe Hannah will go and serve as a missionary. Maybe Hannah will design clothes and give them to missionaries and help to clothe those they are serving and trying to reach. Maybe Hannah will love Jesus and be "just" a fashion designer, a loving wife and a mother. I’d be a grateful and proud father and pastor.

 

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

 

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

 

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24

Favorite Memory: A girl and a tooth

I’m not sure how it came to her attention, whether she noticed it in walking by or overheard it standing in line, but my daughter Hannah, in third grade, discovered that a boy in kindergarten had lost his first tooth. A first tooth is a big deal! Papa makes a big deal of it by giving his grandchildren a dollar.  A dollar is a big deal to a little child!  Hannah had a dollar on her, so she gave it to the boy in kindergarten. And a dollar wasn’t a dollar any more, a lost tooth wasn’t forgotten in the commotion of a school day, and a kindergartner experienced a small/big act of kindness.

 
Hannah-jae

Christians want to change the world – fast, because “time is short”, and radically, because boring is unacceptable (we think). But the world is changing. Rather, it is being changed:  Jesus is on the move, sometimes overtly, sometimes subversively, but always on the move. We are saved into His Kingdom-on-the-move. He initiates, we respond. His resurrection power operates even as we hit the snooze button again.  Then we get up, our lives-as-prayer asking, “What are You doing today? I want to be a part. By Your grace, in Your power, for Your glory, and out of love for You and others, I want to hear and follow, see and imitate.” But do we?

 

Sometimes it’s a dollar out of kindness. Sometimes it’s not. Being kind is more child-like than we like to become, and more powerful than we’d care to admit. Not because we don’t believe it, but because we’d rather be touring the world than wandering the halls, leading the line instead of keeping up with it, working a miracle and preaching a sermon than discovering a missing tooth and giving away a dollar.

 

Yet the love of Christ compels us to do a lot of things:  wonderful things and strange things, obvious things and subtle things, visible things and invisible things, impossible things and mundane things – all of them empowered by Him, and each of them a big deal to Him and to those whom He calls us to notice. 

What's your reputation?

Do you have a reputation? Whether we believe it or not, whether we like it or not, we all have a reputation. Our reputation could be due in part to a single event, either good or bad. It may be the result of many things done over a long period of time. Our reputation may be known only as far as our home. It may be localized to our workplace or our classroom. It may go beyond to our neighborhood or city, or even beyond that into the state, the nation or the world. We all have a reputation.

 

 

REPUTATION = RESPECTED

 Boaz was a man of reputation. He was a worthy man, a moral man, a man esteemed within his community (Ruth 2:1).  He was recognized and respected at the gates of the city, where legal and business dealings took place, as well as where people gathered socially or came seeking advice and counsel from the elders and men of influence of the city. Boaz was welcomed in the gates. He was respected (Ruth 4:1-12).

 As Christians, it’s important, good, and even necessary that we have a good reputation. When the Apostle Paul told Timothy to establish leadership within the churches by selecting elders (overseers), one of the requirements was that they be “well thought of by outsiders”. When the church was born in Acts 2 and the Holy Spirit was growing the church by leaps and bounds, the Apostles couldn’t continue to do all the work themselves. So they asked the people to pick out from among them seven men “of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3). Right on par with, and equally important as, being full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom was having a good reputation. And in Mark 15:43, we read that after Jesus had died on the cross, a man named Joseph of Arimathea courageously came to Pontius Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. But Joseph was no stranger to public life. Joseph was “respected”, which also means honored and attractive. That is, there was something respectable and attractive about the way Joseph lived and carried himself about. Just like Boaz. Just like us? 

 These men, these Christians, had a good public image. And so should we as disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, as citizens of a heavenly kingdom, we should be the best earthly citizens. Our earthly citizenship is lived out as a reflection of our heavenly citizenship.

 Furthermore, as it pertains to our reputation and our being respected, nothing should stand in the way of the gospel being accepted. No, we shouldn’t do whatever it takes for us as Christians to be accepted by others. Jesus did not seek to please himself nor did he set out to behave or to speak in any way necessary to please people or to be accepted by them (Romans 15:3). But Paul says that we should give no INTENTIONAL “offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:32 – 11:1). As Paul imitated Jesus, so we should give no obstacle to the gospel in our reputation.

This is the tension we live with as the church of Jesus Christ and His disciples: no obstacle to the gospel, no compromise of the gospel.

 

REPUTATION = BEHAVIOR

 Ruth was a woman of reputation. She was a woman of excellence. We know this because Boaz said to her, “…all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman” (Ruth 3:11).  The whole city had seen and heard of Ruth’s behavior and conduct. They’d been watching her since the day she arrived. She was a foreigner, yet her reputation became such, her behavior earned her such respect, that she became “one of their own”. She was accepted on that basis.

 It’s important for us as Christians to understand that our behavior is bound up with the gospel. And my behavior will either open or shut doors. 1 Peter 3:1 says that a Christian wife can win her unbelieving husband without a word, by her conduct. Why? How? Because behavior is bound up with the gospel. Colossians 4:5-6 says this about our behavior, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (emphasis mine). Wisdom in conduct and behavior understands that there is a right and a wrong way to behave in each circumstance, as well as a right and a wrong way to speak to each person.

 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 tells us “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”

 Romans 13:13-14 challenges us as Christians to “walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  Titus 3:1-2 reminds us “to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” And then Paul says in verse 3 that we should behave this way because “we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” Our good, respectable behavior is bound up in our relationship with Jesus. Our reputation is bound up with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 There is no separation between my faith and my conduct. Therefore, telling people about Jesus should not be the ONLY thing I do. It’s the highest and the greatest, but if my mindset is that living for Jesus involves ONLY telling people about Him, areas in my life such as my marriage, family, finances, morals, etc. will unravel and becoming disordered, if not distorted. Jesus says we’ll be blessed when we’re accused of things that are false, not when we’re accused of things that are true (Matthew 5:11). Unworthy conduct “puts off” rather than encourages outsiders to come to the church, the house and family of God. But worthy conduct in every area of our life, both private and public, is a true reflection of the life and character of Jesus Christ. We should do good, honor everyone and allow our reputation to speak for itself (1 Peter 2:15-17). We should always be ready to answer when asked about our faith, yet with gentleness and respect, allowing our reputation to defend us (1 Peter 3:15-16).

 We must steward our reputation for Jesus, not squander it.

 

REPUATION = PRAISE

 Boaz is a man of reputation. So when he decides to marry Ruth, what does that say about her? Because of who he is and how he has conducted himself, it speaks volumes about her, and vice-versa. The reputation of each served to enhance the other’s reputation.

 Our reputation should serve others by causing them to be held in greater esteem. When my wife tells others she’s married to “Jonathan Evans”, my reputation in my community will either cast a shadow over her or be light. The reputation of our church leaders either enhances or diminishes the reputation of our churches. The reputation of a believer either enhances or diminishes the reputation of a local church.

 Proverbs 31:10 says that “an excellent wife is hard to find”. What kind of wife? One who is worthy and esteemed. And then it says in verse 23 that her husband is “known in the gates” of their city. Her reputation (the respect she’s earned due to her behavior and conduct) as a woman and as a wife, measurably increases his reputation as a man and her husband. Her reputation is a form of praise for him and his is a form of praise for her.

 Proverbs 31:28 says that the husband praises her. I wonder: are there witnesses to my reputation? Are there to yours? Is there anyone around us that would confirm that our reputation is or is not what we claim it to be? Are we respected for our conduct and behavior? But what is the evidence of our reputation? In the last verse of this chapter, it says that the works of the wife praise her in the gates of the city. From the story of Ruth, remember the gates of a city were where all the people gathered formally and informally. There in the gates, there was evidence of a reputation. There her works praised her. There her works earned her respect. Think of where people gather now. Do our works praise us there?

 

THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

 I think Proverbs 31:10-31 could be and should be used as a measuring rod for the reputation of the Bride of Jesus Christ, the church. If we were to read through each verse, would it be true of us? We are either a multiplier or a diminisher of the glory of Jesus Christ. May our reputation be a sweet offering of worship to God and a bright reflection of Christ to man.

 

This post adapted from the sermon RUTH: God's extraordinary work through our reputation

DISCIPLE: go (part 2 - mission fulfilled )

Some things go together, like a cool morning and hot cup of coffee, or pancakes and chocolate chips, or a three-part harmony. In the same way, as disciples of Jesus there are certain things, certain parts, that have to come together if we’re going to fulfill the mission Jesus has given us: take His Gospel to every corner of where we live. 

 

Those parts are all relational: (1) Jesus calls us into personal relationship with Himself, (2) brings us into relationship with other disciples in a local church, and (3) sends us and leads us into particular relationships with people in the world.

 

When and where all relational parts come together is critical to the health, life, growth, purpose and mission of a disciple and a church. But when all three parts don’t come together - where only two of the three come together - it’s detrimental to the life, health, purpose and mission of any disciple and any church belonging to Jesus Christ.

 

ISOLATED

 

When it’s JESUS + CHURCH - WORLD, you have a disciple or church that is cold, indifferent and self-removed from the world. Yet Jesus has called us and sent us into the world even as He was sent into the world (John 17:18). Jesus was warm and compassionate, welcoming to and welcomed by sinners. But often as His disciples and church, we are happier away from the world. We feel healthier isolated and insulated in our homes or churches or ministries.

 

Having a personal relationship with Jesus and belonging to a local church are not enough, if we’re interested in reaching the lost. There’s a reason you and I live where we do and our churches are planted where they are. It’s to be a compassionate witness and loving servant of Jesus alongside and in close proximity to those who need compassion and love. 

 

INDEPENDENT

 

When it’s JESUS + WORLD - CHURCH, you have disciples or churches who are arrogant, immature and self-proclaimed. Those in this condition have a personal relationship with Jesus and with people in the world, but hate the church or don’t see their need for a local church. All they need is Jesus and all Jesus needs is them. But  this is incompatible. Jesus doesn’t approve any semblance of independence or any inkling of attitude that refuses accountability in a local church or mutual submission to other disciples.

 

Jesus calls us into relationship with Himself and then brings us into a family, a community of disciples called a local church. In humility we need and depend upon one another. To grow and mature we are in relationship with each other - each of us plugged in and serving in our church. No disciple should be perpetually immature and unhealthy if they’re a member of a church body. Jesus grows us, matures us, equips us, empowers us and sends us together. 

 

INDISTINCT

When it’s CHURCH + WORLD - JESUS, you have a disciple or a church that is simply indistinct from the world. Without Jesus, without the Word of God as center of all that we do, our mindset becomes twisted and our behavior toward God irreverent at best, perverted at worst. We become self-deceived. 

 

But we are called to be distinct in the world, to be holy and set apart so that the excellencies of Jesus might be distinctly seen and heard. Jesus wants us to have relationships and even friendships with people outside of our churches. We are to love them and serve them even if they never become disciples of Jesus with us or accept our invitation to church. But we are to remain distinct from them, in that our lives are to be grounded in the Word of God and shaped by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

 

MISSION

 

When and where all the pieces come together - a personal relationship with Jesus, a personal relationship with a local church, a personal relationship with someone who does not believe in Jesus - the Holy Spirit has somewhere to land and someone (be it a disciple or a church) through whom He can accomplish the will of God, exalt the name of Jesus, and lift up the cross in the world. And then and there Jesus will draw all men to Himself (John 12:32). Mission fulfilled.

DISCIPLE: go (part 1)

“One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ).” John 1:40-41

 

 

WHO WE KNOW

As disciples, one of the first things we should desire is for others to know Jesus. But beyond this, one of the first things Andrew did was to go and find someone he knew. Andrew went and found his “own” brother.

 

As disciples, who would fall under this “own” category in our lives? Is it a relative, a close friend? I believe that private witness born out of relationship is still the predominant way that the Gospel of Jesus Christ finds an opened heart and takes root. 

 

Still, who of us can demand a private audience with anyone? Usually, one is invited to have a private conversation. In our personal and private relationships, there are grounds for being heard that must be established:

1. Reputation/Character - our reputation will precede our witness and help determine whether or not we will be welcomed and heard.
2. Patience/Time - it took Jesus about 33 years to finish the work of salvation (though God created the world in 7 days!). So why do we think in our relationships with people that our being the audible, visible, and tangible evidence and expression of Jesus to them will ALWAYS instantaneously change them? We are called to PERSEVERE in our witnessing, out of love.
3. Spiritual/Practical - Sunday after Sunday we sing our lungs out, pray fervently for one another, enjoy meaningful conversation with each other and then, Monday after Monday, go into work 15 minutes late. We passionately pursue the presence of God both privately and publicly, but then won’t follow through on our commitments to people or ministries we volunteer for. We espouse Biblical truth and attempt to influence people for the good, but couldn’t care less about the way we present that truth or treat them. God’s vocabulary includes “prayer” and “punctuality”, “spiritual disciplines” and “common sense”, “truth” and “wisdom”.

 

WHO WE’RE WITH

When Andrew found Simon and when Philip found Nathaniel (vs. 45), they said, “We have found...” We, not I. They already had a sense of community. They already understood that when Jesus found someone, Jesus brought them into a family. Being sent by Jesus must be understood with a “we” mindset, not a “me” mindset.

 

If Jesus, in His grace and in the power of His Spirit, empowers our witness to Him and to the cross and reveals Himself to someone, we do not then leave that person where we “found” them. We invite them and bring them into a local church. Why? Because a local church is where someone is shaped, formed, matured, equipped and sent out from. Neither you nor I are ever called to do the will of Jesus apart from His church.

 

Throughout the gospels we see many examples of Jesus sending out His disciples two by two (Mk. 6:7, 11:1; 14:13 18; Lk. 10:1). In particular, in Acts 2:1 we read that all the disciples, in obedience to Jesus’ command, were “all together in one place”. Certainly, Jesus could have sent them individually to their own homes and scattered them across Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus commanded them to be together, empowered them together by the Holy Spirit, and sent them out together in His authority.

 

Mutual witness and example go a long way. Without question, when Jesus sends us into a private relationship with someone and we discerningly and lovingly witness to them, He will send another to confirm what we’ve said or shown. Jesus sends us together.

 

WHO WE’RE FROM

“We have found the Messiah”, Andrew told Simon (John 1:41). And Philip told Nathaniel, “We have found...Jesus of Nazareth” (John 1:45). We have found a person, someone local, someone you can come and see and hear and touch. Andrew and Philip had been changed by a person! They had come to know someone. They were living out of a living relationship with that someone - Jesus Christ.

 

When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to Him, He said, “Before Philip called you... I saw you” (vs. 48). Before we go to our “own”, Jesus is already there. Before we ever knew their name or circumstance, Jesus knew. And when that moment comes where you’re “invited” or when they pour out their heart, you can rest assured that the One who can change and save and heal and deliver and rescue and transform is there with you and with them.

 

As disciples, we join Philip in saying to our “own”, “Come and see!” We now join Jesus in saying to others what He said to us, “Come and see.” “Come and see,” not a place, but a person. In our minds and hearts, when we’re deep in conversation, we can remember that we’re in the presence of the very Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ. When we’re ready to extend an invitation to a building we call “church”, we can remember that when we gather as a church, wherever we gather as a church, we do so in the presence and at the feet of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and He can do in a moment what we could never do on our own in a lifetime.

 

 

This post is adapted from the sermon: http://elimgrace.org/media.php?pageID=20