Do You Have a Lofty Goal, or a Low Down Dirty Goal

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The Bible has a lot to say about goals.  Proverbs 21:5 tells us that diligent people plan out goals that lead to abundance, and that hasty people who don’t make plans end up in poverty.  Consider, also, that Proverbs 6:6-11 portrays the ant as wise because she diligently tends to goals and duties in their proper season.

These truths mesh well with 21^st Century America which also has a lot to say about goals.  In America, we are told to complete a college degree, or to ascend the career ladder, or to amass money, or to be famous, or to do any number of things that improve ourselves.  Certainly, there is nothing inherently wrong with these kinds of goals.   Well, nothing wrong with them until we consider what they might mean in light of serving God. 

We spend a great deal of energy shooting for these lofty goals. But we often do it at the expense of the loftier goal of serving God. 

If we are pursuing these lofty goals like a college degree, or climbing the career ladder, at the expense of God, and certainly if we are pursuing them without considering how we will serve God once we’ve achieved those goals, then those goals cease to be lofty.  In fact, they become the opposite of lofty. They become lowdown and dirty.  

Paul understood this very well.  He understood it so well, in fact, that his whole life after salvation was dedicated to pursuing God.  In Philippians 3:7-14, he tells us that he wants to become like Jesus, sharing in His sufferings, and even in His death. He famously tells us in verses 13 and 14 that he forgets everything behind him and presses onward to the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ. 

There is no loftier goal than attaining the upward call of God. So ask yourself if the goals you are striving for today move you closer to that upward call, or if you are just striving for a low down dirty goal. 

Like a Good Pair of blue Jeans . . .

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The non-Christian wise man, Confucius, once argued that the strength of a nation flows from the integrity of the home. He may have been a pagan, but he got that truth right. The same thing can be said of the strength of a church. Her strength, in part, derives from the integrity of her congregants. But this leads us to ask, how should we define integrity? And where or how do we get it?

My friend, Drew Castoral, defines integrity as being an undivided

Losing Jean Integrity!

whole. He likens it to blue jeans, or other woven fabrics in which all the threads are interlinked into a seamless wearable tapestry. He points out that if the cloth becomes frayed then those individual threads can be pulled out, and the whole thing unravels. It can quickly cease to be an undivided whole.

A church needs to to have integrity if she wishes to remain useful to God. For her to be an undivided whole means that her members must be wholly devoted to God. They must be an unbroken whole when it comes to their love for Him. This is an impossible task without the Holy Spirit, because the truest integrity is completely dependent on His presence and action. We can achieve this integrity by being diligent. That is if we exert our energies with careful and persistent effort toward pleasing God and keeping His commands then we will have spiritual growth toward that integrity. This is, after all, our duty (Ecclesiastes 12:13). And we should exercise that persistent effort daily with any task or mission he gives us. He tells us that if we seek Him diligently, then we will find Him (Proverbs 8:17).

But we can't just be diligent. We must also be consistent. Consistent means to be the same throughout. It means being the same where ever we are. C.S. Lewis put it this way. He famously said that integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching. So in order for us to be church members of integrity, we must be the same out in the world that we are at church. Our lives should be consistent.

Colossians 1:17 teaches that Jesus is the key to true integrity, because it is Jesus who holds all things together! So strive for integrity - to be that unbroken whole - by being diligent in your search and obedience as it regards God, and by being consistent in the application of the wisdom and character that he gives you through Jesus!

Cheating on the Homework or Seeing Opportunities Instead of the Obstacles?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

I hated math when I was in sixth grade.  I struggled with it from that point until my first year of college when everything finally clicked, and I could apply the concepts to actual problems. Anyway, before that, I often needed just a little help.  If I could just have a hint at the answer, or a hint at the procedure, I could sometimes stumble into an understanding of what my teacher was trying to instill.

She used to send the class home with little booklets full of math problems. And it seemed like this homework was a never ending torturous list of boring, incomprehensible busywork. At the end of each math activity were blocks of red dots and patterns.  Beneath these patterns, one could make out what looked like little etched, squiggly lines of gray.  I learned that if I looked at these blocks through a red lens, or even if I took a transparency and colored it with a red marker and placed it over these blocks, that the red patterns blended together into a seamless background, and I could see written in gray, the answers to those problems that tormented me! It was magic! Did I use this newfound discovery? Well, yeah . . .  But don’t get the idea that I’m condoning cheating. I’m not.

Instead, here’s the point of that story. Those red blocks were obstacles that kept me from seeing what was really there.  Sometimes we walk out into the world, and those pesky red boxes hide wonderful opportunities from us.  But if we choose to look through the proper lens, those obstacles fade to the background, and we see clearly what we need to do, and how we can grow.

Consider the story of Peter and John visiting the temple (Acts 3:1-10). As they were about to enter the temple they were met with a lame man who asked them for charity. Instead of viewing him as an obstacle, or as someone who would slow them down, or as a nuisance asking for money they didn't have, they viewed him as an opportunity to proclaim the power of Jesus.  Because they were wearing the right glasses, the lame man was healed,  He then praised God, in the name of Jesus, while walking and leaping before a whole bunch of people who didn’t know the savior.  Peter and John grew in their faith, the man grew in his faith, and in health, and God’s kingdom grew with a new chapter of scripture.

Your whole life is full of opportunities, but you must look past the obstacles to realize them.

Three Spiritual Tips from the Apostle Paul

Mike Hosey, an Elder

Paul can sure squeeze a lot of stuff into a just a few paragraphs.  In the last chapter of his letter to the churches in Galatia, he gives some very practical spiritual advice.  He makes many significant points, but three stand out in particular.

1)      Gentleness and Restoration are to be Favored Over Judgmentalism and Punishment: In Galatians 6:1-3, Paul tells us how to handle those brothers and sisters who have fallen or strayed from right living.  He tells us to restore them with gentleness. This means that we are to help them recover from their fall. One way we are to do this is to share the burdens of those in our church family. But more importantly, he tells us to watch our own lives so that we don’t fall into the same tempting traps that our brothers and sisters might have fallen into. We are to keep an accurate account of our strengths and weaknesses, so that we do not think of our flesh as more powerful than it is. One place you can find a great example of all of this advice in action is in Fellowship’s recovery ministry.  In this ministry, those who are spiritual and who have also experienced the pain of a fallen life, gently share the burdens of those now experiencing that life, and help to restore them to a right place with God!

2)      You Will Harvest What you Plant: In Galatians 6:6-9, Paul clearly teaches that if you live to satisfy your flesh, then you are going to get corruption and evil – so if you are constantly planting negativity, bitterness, and dissatisfaction, then you are going to get more of that stuff in your earthly life.  But if you live to satisfy the spirit, then you are going to get an eternal spiritual life.  

3)      You Might Have to Bear Some Marks: One curious sentence in Paul’s closing thoughts is, “from now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17).” Paul is hinting here that someone has caused him trouble in Galatia – probably someone preaching a conflicting gospel. But more telling is his reference to the marks he bears.  He is highlighting his credibility by drawing attention to how his commitment to the true gospel is visibly proven.  

So take Paul’s advice and be sure to adopt a spirit of restoration, watch where you are planting, and understand that scars you receive in your commitment to Jesus are marks of genuineness.

The Difference Between Transformation and Change

Mike Hosey, An Elder

In our day-to-day language, we use words like transform and change as if they are equivalents of one another. They are not. There is a world of difference between change and transformation. Change is when something becomes different, or is made different. Transformation, on the other hand, is when that “something” is made completely and totally different. Transformation, also, is usually a permanent change.

For instance, if I replace the door of your car with a day-glow green, dented door from a different car of the same model, then I have changed your car. But I have not transformed it. While it is different, it is also fundamentally the same. However, if I rip off all of your doors and replace them with wings, re-gear and reorient your engine to turn turbo props, and then hollow out all the metal so that it is light enough to fly, then I have fundamentally changed your car. I have transformed it into an aircraft, and I cannot change it back without destroying what it has become.

We live in bodies that are in desperate need of transformation. Not change, but transformation. Our bodies are riddled with sin, and everything bad. The condition is so desperate that even Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, recognized it. In Galatians 5:17 he explains how our bodies are at war with the spirit that God has given us, and how they keep us from doing those things that the spirit wishes us to do. In fact, in Romans 7:14-19 he opens up how he personally battles with sinfulness in his body, and how he often loses.

Thankfully, Paul shows us the way out of such a mess. In Romans 12:2, he contends that if we renew our minds, and center our thinking on God and not the world, that we will be transformed. That is to say that we will be made completely new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). Because when your mind is focused on what God wants you focused on, you will be able to discern what His will is, and what it is that He wants, and you will move toward that. You will be doing it not because you are trying to keep a law, but because you are trying to please Him. Your life will be marked and guided by His Spirit, and your old body will be destroyed, and in that process transformed into one that is truly alive and fruitful (Galatians 5:22-24).