Ouch! Conviction, such a nasty word

Been Convicted lately? Well, Don’t push your conviction on me!

Isn’t that how you feel? Come on now, most people, in any “religious” circle, long time “Christian” does not like being told what to do, or not do. Am I right about that, or not?

It all starts during our childhood, and if you want to fool yourself, you can say that decreases as you get older, because, in most cases, it doesn’t get easier. You’ve heard it said, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Sort of true, isn’t it? I know it is. I’ve always been known to be a patient person, but my experiences have proven differently as I’ve gotten older. I have to be very intentional about my patience levels now days.

What got me thinking about all of this is the holidays. You know, the time of year that makes “everyone” feel good? Well, not really. What tends to happen, is people start getting irritated because of the extreme expectations that loom over us all. Like, pressure over gifts, how many, how costly. Family and friends gather, where do we go and for how long. Church, work and personal parties, school programs, not to mention the scheduled “down time” at home with your family. Whoops! Did I say that?

Can you imagine how many different opinions there are about Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas? Not counting the different implications weaved in and out of each?

Anyway, what I’m getting at, is everyone has an opinion. I won’t tell you what some of my friends of old used to say about everyone that has opinions. Truth is, everyone has one.

That is what leads me to this thought about convictions. Usually, most people talk about a conviction as though it is the only one that exists, when in actuality, there are too many to mention.

Discussing convictions causes many conflicts, heightened emotions, and, sometimes, division.

So many who feel convicted in a particular area, feel as though others should follow the same conviction. They are convicted, why are you not? Often times, this is viewed as legalism when in the “religious” arena.

The problem is, that you can have an opinion about every, yes, every area of life. Thus, leaving room for a conviction in every, yes, every area of life.

I saw the Cold Stone Creamery on the Food Channel the other day. They are known for their many, many flavor combinations. After seeing the brief documentary, I looked at their website to confirm just how many different flavor combinations they have. Did you know…”There are over 11 million possible Creations, ranging from the simple, to the quirky, to the sublime. We’ve named a few of our most famous and favorites our “Signature Creations.” But millions of people walk into Cold Stone every day and order up something they’ve invented themselves, which we call “Custom Creations.” We encourage you to try both, but at over 11 million possibilities, you’d better get started!”  (http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/icecream/cold_stone_creations.html)I mean, it is someone’s full-time job, coming up with just the signature creations!

Listen to what they said, “We encourage you to try both, but at over 11 million possibilities, you’d better get started!” How different combinations of convictions do you think we can come up with? WAY TOO MANY!

Therefore, in comparison, I think we should be very careful how we live, and what we attempt to push onto to others. The key, I think, is found right here, in 1 Timothy 4:12, 15, 16 which says, “…set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

I do not see the Scripture telling us to throw convictions on people.  But doing the before mentioned is enough of a full-time task as it is. I encourage you to try this method…I believe this is effective.  

Enjoy Today’s Journey… It is on purpose!

Mike

Everything in Common…Today?

Acts 2:44 “All the believers were together and had everything in common.”  (NIV)

                 “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common” (NKJV)

“All” things NKJV

“Everything” NIV

The Greek word used here, is hapas, meaning absolutely all;   which comes from the Greek word, pas, including all forms of declension, meaning, all, any, every, the whole.

The first thing I think of when I picture this, is anyone’s family union, or holiday gathering, church or work related picnic, high school reunion… you get the idea. Experience and observation clearly depicts a picture of dysfunction when most gatherings take place.  No, I’m not being negative. I’m not saying that any one of these functions can’t happen without some sort of squabble, to some degree. I’m just saying that it seldom ever happens that some sort of dysfunction, pre-existing or birthed at the event, does not occur. 

With this idea of “having all things in common,” what do you envision? What does this kind of gathering, or fellowship, look like?

Don’t disengage right now.  In a sense this topic of “all” seems too broad, therefore, we have a tendency to  want to withdraw from this topic. Let me encourage you think about the implications of such a topic if you are one who desires to experience God in ways that we, typically, are not. This could be transforming, enlightening and extremely beneficial.

I’m thinking the first step for us is to understand what this means within the context of fellowship for those who are following the Way of Jesus. If we don’t do this, we associate “all” in context of people we can’t imagine associating with on this level. Some of you are thinking of your work environment, others are observing walking around the mall, or downtown, Wal-mart, well, or the like. And you can’t imagine having to get along with all these people! I can’t!  Let alone on some closer than acquaintance level. Whoa! God forbid! 

Therefore, let’s put this in context of its historical value, the culture that existed at the time this was written. Communities were closer, somewhat protected, by walls of security in most cases. Most of us are aware of what a subdivision looks like. Here in the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) Metro-plex, there are planned communities. These communities are, typically, surrounded by brick walls, with a neighborhood- community building, a swimming pool and, often, an elementary school.  This is similar to what it was like historically, except the conveniences were more related to the market place, the temple, and the like.

Our culture has gravitated away from community style living. Even in the event someone lives in a small town, they still drive wherever they want to go. Up until the 50’s and 60’s we were still thriving around neighborhood communities. You would have the local general, or grocery store, a school, post  office, church, bank and, sometimes, funeral home. So living with all things in common looks much different today, than historically in Scripture, or the recent past.

I’d suggest that we step back for a moment and examine practical ways that we can live together and fulfill this portion of life. It will not be a single decisive moment that will change everything, but a decision to implement and practice each new day.

What do you think?

Enjoy Today’s Journey – It is on purpose!

Mike

Guitar Hero and the Bible (not what your thinking!)

As I begin this blog, primarily as a means for me to express what I’m thinking, hopefully to the benefit of us all, I feel as though I need to refer to the Scripture passage that inspired what I’m currently thinking, Acts 2:42-47.
Not to ignore the preceding verses, but allow me to post verses 46 and 47, which reads, “Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being served.”
This amazes me! I don’t care how long I’ve proclaimed to follow Jesus Christ. I care how I’m choosing to follow Him in the present, and what decisions I will make as I encounter each day I experience. Therefore, when I read such a passage of Scripture as this, I am unsettled and can’t understand why we do not, as a whole, experience this kind of fellowship as a people who proclaim the same…to follow Jesus.
I’ve been thinking about this for some time. How can we make something like this happen? Is it the American culture? Obviously, our immediate response is our recognition of daily demands, such as, work, family, some recreational activities, errands and relaxation, which some would even go as far as mentioning how they seldom even have time to relax. Talking about relaxation is an entirely separate discussion. Listen, I’m not talking about “going to church” here. I’m talking about the characteristics that accompany the inner person, that cause that person to desire this type of behavior. What characteristics I am referring to you ask? Well, people who came together “everyday.” They meet every day, because… yea, because, why? Verse 44 says, “had everything in common.” Okay, what? Well, it says, everything! Once they had everything in common, it affected everything! (I’ll talk about all of this each week…different segments of behavior, why we don’t and what we might be able to do about it).
This is just one example of where I’m going with this blog. I want to, I pray, develop steps that will help us to realistically progress towards the type of fellowship and daily behavior God would expect from those who say they follow Him, or desire to do so, but already feel defeated.
One day, while talking to my wife, Kay, she likened it to Guitar Hero (yea, we love to play that together!). You don’t just start out on the expert level (okay, someone may, but it’s not normal). We all started at the beginner level. Not only did some of us start at the beginner level, we even selected the easier songs at the beginner level. And, some even “paused” the game and went to the practice, or instructional, session before proceeding…at the beginner level.
That, my friends, is where I’m going with this (P)A2 Blog (Practicing Acts 2). I hope to implement steps that will allow us to progress, sometimes even practice, or step back for instruction until we are ready to step back into our level of experience. I have been simply amazed when I have watched someone on Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero at the expert level. Looks impossible, but it’s not. I look forward to journeying with you (P)A2.
Enjoy Today’s Journey!
Mike