Finally Friday

Ah, Friday.  The work week is at an end, and your humble author plans to reward himself with two days of relative inactivity.  Rain is predicted, so I can't do yardwork, and Tiffany will be out dress shopping all day Saturday.  This will be the perfect time to reacquaint myself with my old friend, the couch.  I do have a few plans.  Supper club is tonight, and Joey is hosting in his freshly (and I mean freshly - he's probably working on it right now) updated kitchen. For those who are unfamiliar with the supper club concept, it's basically a dinner party with a culinary theme. Mediterranean fare will be served tonight. I've already prepared batches of roasted garlic hummus and taziki. I'll also do Greek burgers (lamb and pork seasoned with dill, mint, salt, pepper, coriander, and cumin) stuffed with Feta cheese and served crostini-style with sauteed onions. I can't wait to see what everyone else brings....it should be interesting!  

The wedding is fast approaching, and I am awfully excited about it!  Our plans are coming together quickly as well.  Travel has been booked, and we spoke with the wedding planner Wednesday night. We have reserved a beautiful garden overlooking the ocean as the setting for our nuptials.  Everyone will be staying at Kauai Beach Resort on lovely (you guessed it) Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. God has made many incredible things, but I don't know that many of them are much more breathtaking than the little chain of islands he plopped in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Note to all our guests:  if you haven't contacted Bob and Midge at Destination Weddings to book your travel, please do ASAP.  Flight prices will steadily climb as we get closer to the departure date, so it is definitely in your best interests to lock them down now. Their contact information is on the Save the Date email you received.  I hope everyone will do themselves a favor and stay a few extra days.  The resort is very affordable, so there isn't much of a cost difference between staying 3 days and vacationing for a week.  And really, how often will you find yourself in Hawaii? 

I'd like to reiterate that I really appreciate the feedback everyone has been giving me for my recent posts.  It has all been positive so far, but if you disagree with me please post that as well.  I will always write what I feel here, but I would love to hear differing opinions....many times, that's how I learn.  The worst kind of feedback is no feedback at all. 

My good friend Bill Oliver always writes thought-provoking Facebook status updates (in ALL CAPS for some reason).  I guess he has a calendar full of them or something (ha). Anyhow, here's today's post:

DON'T GO WHERE THERE IS A PATH, GO WHERE THERE IS NO PATH AND LEAVE A TRAIL!

See what large letters he uses as he types with his own hand!  This is great advice that is often ignored in favor of sticking with the status quo. Pioneers, spiritual and otherwise, are few and far between these days. After all, one must accept the fact that blazing a new trail will always involve cutting down a few old trees.  Thanks for reading, everybody!

Work it out

Last night's dinner: chili-rubbed salmon steaks with mango-strawberry salsa. I can wholeheartedly recommend Kroger's whole frozen side of salmon. 

I'd like to thank everyone who left positive feedback for my last blog.  It was certainly from the heart, and it is reassuring to know that I'm not the only one thinking about those types of things.  

As I said before, this blog will serve as a repository for various topics of interest to me. Much like a box of chocolates, readers, I think you'll find that you'll never know what you might come across on my site. Some posts will be long, some short, but I aim to make all of them interesting. I hope you'll bookmark this site.  The link is www.joebsummitt.blogspot.com.  Now, let us move on to today's food for thought.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling...Phillipians 2:12

This particular section of scripture has intrigued me recently. What does it mean?  It certainly conjures up a righteous image, usually one of a desperate Christian on his knees, calling out to God in confusion and despair. Is this what Paul is talking about?  And if so, is this image still applicable today?  Should we be in constant turmoil and fear regarding the state of our souls? 

These are uncomfortable questions for me, mostly because I don't know the answer to them. This is a concept that, unfortunately, I've not studied or given much thought to until recently.  After some consideration and study, I feel that I've made some inroads on this topic.   I've found it helpful to examine the context of Paul's instructions.  Paul writes to the church in Phillipi some years after he founded it on his second missionary journey. It seems that the brothers and sisters in Phillipi, though they have grown, are experiencing the same problems that their fellow Christians in Corinth were dealing with.  False teachers, jealousy, and divisions have sprung up in the young church and pandemonium seems to be the order of the day.  Sounds familiar, doesn't it?  Remember, there was no written New Testament in this time. There were no commentaries, blogs, or Harding-educated preachers, either. All these churches usually had to go on were the principles Paul left them with, concepts from the old law, and the testimony of various folks who had heard Paul or other apostles speak elsewhere. You can imagine, then, that misinformation would be quite easy to come by. False teachers were likely everywhere, as were saboteurs determined to destroy the Christian faith by any means necessary.  Had I been there, I too would have been awfully confused about who to listen to.  Given this context, Paul's instructions are easier to understand. He is warning the Corinthians to take anything they hear with a grain of salt and prayerfully compare them to the inspired teachings Paul and the apostles have given them. In other words, accept nothing and question everything.

So then, this command was certainly applicable to those living in the tumultuous environment of the first century church.  Is it still applicable today?  We certainly live in more informed times.  I am no more than 30 seconds away from a Bible at any given moment. Countless opinions, commentaries, and thoughts are available for reference and study. We certainly have the advantage over the first century church in that regard. In my experience, however, this wealth of information has been both a blessing and a curse. It's certainly wonderful to be able to access scripture so easily, but I am afraid that it has reduced the urgency within the modern Christian to engage in more intensive personal study and meditation.  We really need to revisit this concept more than we do.  I'm convinced that there are a great deal of Christians who walk around daily carrying a faith that isn't their own.  It might be mom and dad's faith, or the preacher's faith, or even the Church of Christs' faith, but it isn't theirs. This bothers me because a Christian in this state is extremely vulnerable, especially when confronted with an educated mind from the other side.  If you don't believe me, watch this video starring the honorable Senator Mark Pryor and Bill Maher, a noted (and well-educated) atheist.

How long has it been since you questioned your faith? I am convinced that this is a vital step in the process of spiritual growth. It's also one that I believe we don't go nearly far enough with.  The enemy is strong, and their arguments make a lot of sense when using conventional wisdom.  We know this is the case. So then, why is it that most of us know absolutely nothing about atheism?  Why do we know nothing about Islam?  Never in the history of war has one side been less prepared to fight an enemy than many of us are today.  It seems that we are very content to stay within our own comfort zone.  We like to hear lessons and scripture that are familiar and light on toe-stepping, and we avoid listening to or reading anything that contradicts our set of beliefs.  We've become La-Z-Boy Christians. Why?  I'm not entirely sure, but I am confident that this is not a Biblical concept. Consider this....if you were suddenly accosted by a smooth talking, educated atheist and asked why you follow Christ, would you have an honest and educated response ready? 

This week's dare is simple - determine your basic, foundational set of beliefs. List out those things that you believe are absolute truth about God and Christianity. Identify them, then read something that contradicts them completely.  Learn what the enemy believes and why he believes it. Challenge your faith. I'll give you a good place to start - http://www.atheists.org/.

I am not afraid to ask anyone who loves God to do this, because I believe that He will bless anyone who is earnestly seeking Him with truth. I've read books by atheists before, including one called "God is not Great" by a man who was formerly a Christian. It was incredibly challenging, but I cannot tell you how beneficial it was for me. I was forced to spiritually start over in several ways, and it grew my faith considerably.   Understand this: there is no wrong in questioning God. We see men do this time after time in the Bible, and God never punishes them for it. Instead, He provides answers and understanding.  We must get ourselves in the habit of this kind of intense spiritual exercise.  If we don't, we're going to be beaten badly when wrestling with the enemy.

And now, for something completely different...

Well, after a brief resurgence, my little blog seems to have gone back into hibernation. I think that the "food" theme hamstrung me a little bit because, while I enjoy cooking, I was a bit too lazy (and hungry) to take pictures and prep blog posts before enjoying the fruits of my culinary labor. Since I enjoy blogging, I think I'm going to try out a format change. This blog will now serve as a repository for the thoughts and feelings I have on a lot of subjects and events as well as a forum to post events and things I enjoy. The food content isn't going away, it'll just be part of the meal instead of the whole course (+1 for food analogy!).So here goes...

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This, friends and neighbors, may well be the most beautiful verse in the Bible. It is a simple, yet poignant end to a portion of a letter Paul penned to the church in Corinth.  Taken on its own, chapter 13 of I Corinthians an incredible and elegant piece of work. When read in context, it becomes something much more. Let's set the stage.

Paul has received word that the church he planted in Corinth is, frankly, a mess.  Outside influences and differences in opinion had reduced the young church's gatherings to chaos and disorder.  It's easy to see why. Corinth served as a major economic hub of the Roman empire as well as the location for the temple of Aphrodite, the Roman goddess of love and sexuality.  Debauchery, sexual promiscuity, and greed were commonplace and accepted in that culture. Needless to say, it would take a good bit of reeducation to teach the new Christians there the principles God wanted them to live by. Also consider that there were likely a few Jewish Christians in attendance who, despite being freed from the old law, still held on to some of the old traditions and procedures they had grown up with. This environment, coupled with a lack of mature leadership and small amount of available information, resulted in some serious divisions and infighting. Brothers were suing brothers, men lived and slept with their stepmothers, chaos ensued during worship, and the Lord's Supper had become a banquet for the rich.  Paul certainly had an uphill climb in front of him. The amazing thing to me is how he goes about correcting them. 

Consider Paul's first words: 

I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.

Wait, what? He's thanking God for this group of ne'er-do-wells? Surely the Corinthian church thought the same thing when they read his letter. We know there were various warring factions among them, and there's nothing warring factions like more than to hear they were correct and the other side wasn't. So imagine their initial disappointment when Paul doesn't go down that road. In fact, he kind of heads in the other direction.  His next statement is a simple plea to them:

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into^[b] the name of Paul? 

Paul seems to be less than concerned with the arguments they are having and more worried about the consequences of these arguments - division. And this is not a kitchen/no kitchen dispute. They were divided over who to follow! Serious stuff, to say the least. So I find it very interesting that Paul briefly reminds them that they were baptized into Christ, then moves on. I believe that Paul understands the consequences that these divisions would carry, and begs the brothers to avoid them at all costs. If you look at the current landscape of the church, you can see why he was so concerned. Christendom, in its current form, has more sects, denominations, walks, and so on than one could count, none of which seem to be willing to work together on anything.  I don't know much, but I'm fairly certain that this not what Christ envisioned when he prayed that "they all be one."  We have allowed our differences to create the very divisions that Christ and the apostles worked so hard to prevent.  What happened?  The short of it is, we have missed the point.

But wait, some say, these divisions were necessary!  True, many divisions are born of a desire to be doctrinally correct and faithful, and that is certainly an honorable quest.  But consider again the Corinthians. I have never seen or heard of a group of Christians who were more doctrinally torn than these brothers were. I, as most of you know, grew up in the Church of Christ.  I have seen churches split over everything from buildings to small group implementation to worship style, and everything in between. I was encouraged to fortify myself to "defend the faith."  That's great, except to me "defending the faith" meant going to war with Baptists, Methodists, or anyone else who might disagree with my background on any point. We battled over the Lord's Supper, instrumental music, the role of women, and other things of that nature. But not once did I ever encounter any brother or sister who told me they followed someone other than Christ. It seems my battles were a bit petty in comparison. And yet, Paul instructs these warring brothers to unite.  How in the world can people with such deep differences remain one?  Love.  Paul is 100% clear about one thing - love for your brother/sister in Christ trumps everything. It trumps spiritual gifts, hope, wisdom, and faith. Yes, even faith. Now think about this - our love for one another is to be so great that even the biggest, most colossal and seemingly insurmountable doctrinal divide won't overcome it. What does this mean? 

I hope that nobody is offended by what I am about to say. It is not my intent to discredit or attack anyone, but this has been heavy on my heart recently. Brothers and sisters, we have failed.  Thanks to our inability to love one another, we have splintered off into countless groups, warring against each other while weakening our effectiveness in the fight against the real enemy.  We meet exclusively with people who see things the way we do, hold seminars and write books and pamphlets that reinforce our set of ideals, and lash out at those who don't see eye to eye with us. We have taken preferences and made them into law. We have adopted an alarmingly legalistic view of a law that was intended to do away with legalism.  In our fervor to reproduce the processes and procedures of the early church, we have completely lost sight of their greatest trait - they were united in love.  They were more concerned with taking care of each other and excitedly telling friends and family about the amazing power of Christ in their lives than they were debating the pros and cons of having a song during the Lord's Supper. Love reigned in the first century church. Some time after that, it stopped.  One day, I fear, God is going to demand to know how and why this happened, and we're going to have to explain it. 

So then, what do we do? Am I advocating a free-for-all meeting of all walks where anything goes? Of course not.  We are humans with preferences, and it would not be feasible or possible for all of us to meet together.   Unity does not require that we all meet in the same building. It does require that we work together as one. Our love for brothers and sisters in Christ - Christians, regardless of what the church sign says - must outweigh all other things.  This encompasses any disagreement on any subject I might have with another brother or sister with no exceptions.  Imagine the power and influence God's people would wield if we spoke as one body in love. A cord with three strands, as they say, is not easily broken. Love one another, folks. And do yourselves a favor - open that Bible up and objectively relearn your faith. Work it out yourself with "fear and trembling."  Figure out where the line between truth and preferences is, and learn to understand and accept that freedom in Christ begins where preferences do. Love one another, as Christ has loved you.