Double Duty

Nehemiah, the cup-bearer of King Artaxerxes, approached his Persian master with a burden from God to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its wall.  The king was pleased to give him permission and provide him provisions to accomplish the task which God had laid upon his heart.

Nehemiah and the Jewish people were pleased to begin the work, which God had laid upon their heart and begun the work with great fervor.  But the Gentile inhabitants of the land were not pleased, instead they were alarmed and sent Sanballat to discourage them with ridicule and threats.

Sanballat and Tobiah chided Nehemiah saying, "Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble,,,even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones" (4:2-3).  But Nehemiah and the Israelites were not listening, they continued to build.

The Arabs and the Ammonites became more alarmed and determined to stop them by force.  Word of their plot came to Nehemiah and the Jews but they did not stop building on the wall.  Instead, "Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked" (17-18).

Rather than back down due to the added pressure and increased threat level, Nehemiah and the Jews doubled down, continuing to work on the wall while carrying weapons and posting guards while they worked.  The burden on their hearts from God was stronger than the burden they felt in the heat of the day facing intense opposition with every brick laid upon the wall.

What the people of God faced in the days of Nehemiah is not essentially different from what we must face today.  When we are burdened from God to do a good thing, Satan is bound and determined to make it more difficult in order to get us to surrender.  We too will have to pull double duty, serving God on one hand and resisting the Devil on the other.  As the apostle warned, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12).

We are called to the double duty of building the kingdom while defending against Satan's attacks but we need not fear for Jesus promises, "I will never leave you as orphans, I will come to you" (Jn 14:18).  The pressure will be on but the Prince of Peace will be at hand.  Jus' Say'n.

Making Room For Yes

My natural inclination is to say yes when asked to help someone, participate in an event or work on a project.  As a rule, I feel good about volunteering and others appreciate my help.  But experience over decades of ministry has taught me that saying yes to everything soon results in having to say no to better things and failing to leave room for Divine appointments and prompting of the Spirit.

As a parent, if your day is filled with the demands of work and your evenings taken up with community volunteerism, just when are you taking time with your children?  As a spouse that is busily going and doing, serving in multiple good and godly venues, how well are you meeting the needs of your spouse?  As a businessman, always busy with business, how well are you meeting the needs of your family, friends, church and community?

As a pastor for three decades, I found myself wanting to be a part of everything.  And, for the first decade, I pretty much was - to the growing determent of my family and my health.  I was heading down the path, which is a major contributor to 60% of pastors dropping out of full-time ministry by the 7th year: Over-commitment.

In one of those personality tests I took somewhere back in the early 90s, I registered as a "Golden Retriever"; One of those individuals who wants to please everyone.  But the fact is, even the best of dogs can only chase one stick at a time.  Every time I say yes to one thing, I must say no to whatever else I could be doing or helping in at that given time.

Even Jesus, who came and died in his quest to "seek and save that which was lost" (Lk 19:10), "often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (Lk 5:16).  As much as he desired to bless people, he often said no to the opportunity in order to make room for saying yes to quiet time with the Father.  Sometimes, he would retreat with disciples for the specific purpose of resting and recharging their batteries.  Making room for yes means saying no to somethings.

So, the point I've been coming to is the need to make priorities and keep them.  Attending worship is a priority for me.  If something is planned during that time, it will likely happen without my participation.  Work is a priority, I don't just miss work.  If something urgent comes up like a family emergency, my priorities will shift.  If there is something really important planned like an anniversary trip, a mission week or our recent Apostles' Habitat for Humanity work day, I'll schedule time off.

As hard as it is to say no, we have to force it out sometimes, making room for yes when the Spirit prompts, making room for those Divine appointments, making room for higher priorities, making room for rest, making room for family, making room for church, making room for yes when it counts the most for any given moment in time.  No, it isn't easy.  Yes, it is worth it.  Jus' Say'n.

Changes

Will Rogers once quipped, "It's not that I'm afraid to die; it just that I've been alive for as long as I can remember and I don't like change."  As with most things he said, most people can identify.  We really don't like change so much.  We take great comfort in  the fact that the way things worked out yesterday can be counted on to work out today as well.

Of course, there are some changes we do welcome: A promotion, a windfall, losing those extra pounds, getting the leaky faucet fixed, having your braces removed for good.  Change that we look forward to, which benefits us in some way it welcome change.  Welcome change is not the change I'm talking about - I'm talking about the change that happens without our input and without our approval.  I'm talking about most change, the kind of upsetting change written about in the little book entitled, "Who Moved My Cheese?"

I'm not going to try to recap the book or even make a direct reference, it just happened to pop into my mind as I was writing that last paragraph and it is a good illustration taken from the business world, which is constantly in flux, using the illustration of a mouse vexed over his cheese being moved.  It's a pretty good read and doesn''t take long.  You might want to check it out.

The point I'm driving at is that while we resist change in general, in general change is coming, regardless of our resistance.  Change is the vital dynamic in things that are alive and growing.  Growing itself is systematic change.  Living things get bigger, stronger, faster, developing and changing on a cellular level constantly, and in more obvious ways, reaching milestones along the way.

The deal is that change happens.  Sometimes change will be welcome.  Often it will not.  Regardless, it will happen.  We can embrace it, cope with it, lament it, curse it - but we cannot stop it with but one exception: Stop living.  Living things grow and growth is change.  There is no change occurring in a cemetery.  But as long as you are alive, expect change.  Go ahead and enjoy things as they are today but be prepared for those things to change tomorrow.

Paul said, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every circumstance" (Phil 4:12), which implies the constant change he lived through.  Solomon said, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" (Eccl 3:1).  Since every thing has its time, when it's time for something else, there must be change.

There is but one static point in life, one thing that will not move about, one anchor we can hold on to in a sea of constant upheaval: "God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change" (Ps 55:19). Embrace the changes of life, holding on to God who instead of constantly changing is The Constant, yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).  Jus' Say'n.

Marvelous

I have a particular co-worker, who has an especially sunny disposition.  Each day when you ask her how she is doing, her stock answer is, "I'm marvelous!"  Until she came to work at our office, I don't remember hearing that word since Billy Crystal was using it in his imitation of Fernado Lamas on Saturday Night, "You look marvelous!"

But just today I came across it in my reading of the Book of Zechariah, when the Lord Almighty declared to Israel, “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me ?” (8:6).

Marvelous means "Causing wonder or astonishment; Of the highest or best kind or quality: first-rate."    And certainly, there are times when we feel we have accomplished something or conducted ourselves in a rather marvelous way.

I don't know if any churches would say, "We're really marvelous," but I do know that most feel that they are above average if not first-rate.  But does God feel that way?  An example of this contrast is found in Revelation 3:17  "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

This is a very important question  in our personal and corporate Christian walk, "Am I, are we, marvelous in God's sight?"  While I may think I'm doing pretty good, does God agree?  While the church I attend may feel it is operating above the grade, does God think so?

We know that God loves us (cf. Jn 3:16) but do our lives, our words, thoughts and deeds, honor him? A good test is, "Would anyone be drawn to Christ by my life or the body life of our church?  Am I and are we truly, "Set apart" (sanctified) from the world in how we conduct ourselves?  Or would people say we are like all the rest?

I believe that we should be marvelous, I believe that I should be marvelous.  I believe that every Christian and every Christian Body ought to be sanctified.  But are we?  And how can we know?  Well, we "all sin and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), so we are not perfectly marvelous, but we could be as marvelous as an imperfect being can manage.

How we can know is by becoming familiar with one who is Perfectly Marvelous: The Lord Jesus Christ who "has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin" (Heb 4:15) is truly marvelous.  And, through prayer, devotional time and study of his life in Scripture, we can come to know him who "left us an example that we should follow in His steps" (1 Pet 2:21).  Jus' Say'n.

Small Things

The prophet Zechariah asks a very pointed question: "“Who dares despise the day of small things" (4:10)?  The answer, of course, is "Most of us."  Especially, I think, in this country.  For us bigger is not only better, bigger is important while smaller is less so.

To feel important, we seek a big job with lots of authority, a big paycheck, a big house and a car in the garage with a big price tag.  As Christians, we want to belong to a big church with a big budget and big influence.  If we teach a Bible class, we want big numbers in attendance.

If we host a seminar or a conference or a gospel meeting, we judge its success by the numbers in attendance.  When we evaluate the success of our churches, we begin to check attendance numbers and the number of dollars in the contribution plate.  Big is good, small is bad.  We dare despise the day of small things.

But the truth is, however, size or amount is not the true measure of worth or value.  The apostle Paul said, "I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Cor 14:19).  It is quality, not quantity that gives true value.

Which is of more value, to lecture a class of 1,000 people who forget the message before the day is out or to teach a handful of people who drink it in and determine to apply the principles in their lives?   Which do you believe is more pleasing to God, a mega church in the suburbs, where thousands of members come to hear an eloquent sermon and leave a sizable contribution or a small inner-city church that struggles to pat the rent but is daily reaching out to the helpless and the homeless?

In God sight, which has more worth, $10,000 sitting in a bank account or $10 used to buy food for a hungry child?  What would do the most kingdom good, attending 100 seminars on outreach or 1 week on a mission effort?  The number of steps in a journey is not nearly as important as the direction of those steps.  And in Southern imagery, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog."

Rather than concern ourselves with the number or size or amount, we ought to focus on what is right, what is good, what is helpful.  Consider kingdom worth rather than monetary worth, strive to make a difference instead of a name, take the first step (however small) to doing the right thing.  Do what you can with what you have for, as Jesus said: "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” (Mt 10:42).  Jus' Say'n.

Anger Management

For many Christians, anger management means to suppress any feelings of anger, to strive toward a state of equilibrium where there are no moments of heightened emotional response. The idea seems to be that a follower of Jesus would always exhibit self control and be at peace.

The only problem with that theory is "it ain't so!"  Jesus was loving and kind to the degree that he is called "The Lamb of God" (Jn 1:36).  But, on the other hand, he had the ability to so aggressively stand against wrong-doing that he would also be referred to as "The Lion of Judah" (Rev 5:5).  You may recall the time in the Temple when Jesus fashioned a whip out of cords and drove the greedy money changers out (see Jn 2:15).

So, what is anger management to look like for the disciple of Jesus Christ?  Paul put it this way, “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold" (Eph 4:26-27).  In other words, when you get angry, as you surely will when you are  wrongly injured or witness injustice, don't allow your anger to morph into sin by becoming hatred or doing wrong yourself.

We should be angry when evil rises it's ugly head, only "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21).  We need to seek to bring good out of a bad situation. By that may mean facing down the evil doer so that justice can prevail. So, allow yourself to be angry but do not let the anger manage you - choose to do good. Jus' Say'n.

Higher Purpose

I was listening the other day to someone speak about a study completed recently correlating wages and job production.  The study compared the output of workers in relation to the amount of salary paid and found that workers paid more for the same job, did not perform better on the whole.  In fact, the ones paid less tended to do better.

It seems that the ones who were paid less placed more value on their job and the ones who were paid more placed more value on themselves.  That being true, the higher paid workers felt their job was beneath them and the lower paid workers felt lucky or blessed to have a job.

However, there was another group which outperformed everyone else - the ones who found a higher purpose in their job or vocation.  Those who saw their work as bigger than themselves and/or more important than their individual lives, tended to have very high output, regardless of the pay.  These kind of workers often put in extra hours for no pay, many simply volunteer.

As another chaplain and I were traveling yesterday to a conference in Oklahoma  City, we both were receiving calls from our offices regarding concerns with veteran population.  He, a chaplain working with the VA and me a chaplain coordinating veteran services for Arkansas Hospice, took those calls and helped to work out their issues even though we were released from regular duties to present at this conference.  Why?

We both believe that what we do is important work.  We both work more hours than we're paid for and take calls after hours because we believe our cause is great.  We serve a segment of our population that has served our country and many are in dire need of being ministered to now. And, as the Blues Brothers said, "We're on a mission from God!"

We both believe that we are working for the Lord and that fact alone makes whatever we do vitally important, having a higher purpose then ourselves.  But the truth is, every Christian should approach his/her work in this light: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters" (Col 3:23).

Think what a better world this would be if we all approached our jobs with this kind of attitude.  Consider how your witness for God would be amplified as you worked with joy and purpose instead of drudgery and complaints.  How much more productive would we be and therefore our communities and our country if all Christians worked as though for the Lord and not for man.  What if indeed we all set about our tasks as a mission for God?  Jus' Ask'n.