Born This Way

(You) as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

Ctrl-Alt-Del

I began to write a piece about how Christians are like Legos in God’s hands.

I was going to title it, ‘Christ’s Lego-cy.’

I deleted it after reading this:

And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 1 Kings 6:7

The Pits

In the final assembly of the temple, there was no sound of hammer or chisel upon stone, because all the noise was being made back at the excavation site. All the smoothing, all the shaping, all the friction was taking place in the quarry pit. In one way it’s a prophetic picture of the sanctification process every Christian willingly submits himself to while on earth.

Bottom line: we’re not Legos.

Legos are a done deal. They come prepackaged: no sharp edges, no rough exteriors, and no ability to accept or desire change. I suspect if Legos were mentioned in the Bible they would likely be associated with the Pharisees.

Living stones on the other hand speak to obedience, surrender, and a valued understanding of a need to be made useable regardless of the process involved. By definition they are submitted. Jagged exteriors, pointy protrusions, and coarse demeanors are dealt with on earth in order that the completed Heavenly structure will be pure, peaceful, and undefiled.

Frankly, Legos would melt under this kind of pressure.

“There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4b

Born This Way?

Like Lady Gaga, Christian’s understand that we were born a particular way, but that’s where the similarities end. We call the condition what it is: sin.  We’ve learned that it wasn’t a part of God’s original plan; Adam messed up.  Because God desires the absolute best for us, He has provided the solution in His Son Jesus.  Accepting the solution means to first accept and acknowledge that perversity in any form is not a life style, it’s a sin.  At this juncture the restoration and reformation can begin.

Discovery

There is a firm appreciation when we realize that everything we are going through in this life is for a specific purpose in the next life. Change is good. The shaping, the forming, the molding is being divinely orchestrated and knowing that gives us the capacity to not just tolerate it, but to welcome and cherish it as well.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…For we are His workmanship…Ephesians 2:8 + 10a

Are You…

1. Submitted to God’s plan?
2. Seeing the bigger picture?
3. Struggling with change?

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What You Should Know About Tolerance and Teaching

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” Romans 15:1-3

Missions 101

The last chapter (Romans 14) concludes that the compliant Christian’s agenda should be Christ-centered; summarily, we need to care less about the nonessential components of our faith. Recognizing that judging others in these supplementary matters is divisive, frees us up to love on one another and spotlight the mission of bringing the Good News to a lost world. Why does the Apostle Paul pick up the subject matter again? I suspect it’s because most Christians are guilty (myself included) and therefore the message is worthy of a do-over.

We’re reminded that the weak referenced in this chapter are frequently (but not always) the legalistic ones who strive to ram their personal convictions down the throats of others. Paul stipulates that in response to this rhetoric we should not thrust our contrasting convictions upon them, but rather yield in tolerance, demonstrating loving patience towards their principles and/or their insecurities. Additionally we should not exercise our liberties in a fashion that we might cause a weaker brother to stumble.

Case in Point

There was a man who enjoyed an occasional drink. He was not a drunkard or an abuser of alcohol, but enjoyed a glass of good wine with his meal. One day he left his home to purchase a bottle of wine and as he walked the snow-lined sidewalk he took notice that his 5 year old had followed him out of the house. He paused and said lovingly to his boy, “Where are you going mister?”

Looking down at the snow the child replied, “I’m just following in your foot steps.” Discerning the negative inference to his boy’s remark, the man turned and went back into the house, realizing that his liberty could adversely affect his child. This is how Paul proposes we regard our freedoms.

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.

Paul has just concluded emphasizing the importance of dealing patiently with those weak in the faith, but then follows it up with the need to educate them for their own good. This is not a contradiction, nor is it some kind of temperance with teaching balancing act, but an inspired prompt to pursue the leading of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, led by the Spirit, rarely if ever let someone wallow in ignorance, but rather corrected folks in such a way that was both edifying and enlightening. In this, Jesus never snubbed an ignoring soul, but chose to continue about His Father’s business.

And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Luke 14:3-5

Likewise, we should walk by the Spirit’s leading and allow the Father to determine how and when we make these applications. There is a time to bear patiently and there is a time to gently and lovingly instruct—those are the only two options we’re given. The stronger in the faith is the one who is connected to the Lord and who determinedly follows His commands.

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