AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE…

It hung in one of the spare bedrooms in my grandmother’s house. As kids, we thought it was sacred. It was old and fancy and I knew it meant a lot to my grandmother.

The story pasted on the back is this: Abraham Eitzen and Susana Isaac were married on August 30, 1856 and settled in the village of her parents in South Russia. In the early years of their married life, they (along with some others) became deeply aware of the superficiality of the spiritual lives of the members of the Mennonite church as it was at the time. Their observation was that those attending Sunday morning services seemingly “fulfilled” their entire Christian obligation and hardly embraced it in their every day activities. They began to sense there was something more. So this group of “seekers,” through Bible study, prayer, and the help of an evangelist, found new life in Jesus Christ. When they became fervent in their newly found faith, the church labeled them as fanatics. Susana’s father had no interest or patience with this new “movement” so he offered Abraham and Susana the best farm in the village if they would abandon this group. If they didn’t, the relationship between Susana and her parents would cease to exist. One could only imagine how difficult this decision was to make for this young couple. But their convictions could not be sold for a farm. They chose to zealously pursue their faith in Jesus Christ.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

“Ich aber und mein haus, wollen dem Herrn deinen.” In English that means, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It’s taken from Joshua 24:15 which states, “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

I love this verse. I love this picture. I love the history attached with it. I love knowing that these ancestors of mine zealously chose to pursue their faith in Jesus Christ. I now know why it meant a lot to my grandmother.

It now hangs in my bedroom. And no…it’s not sacred, but it’s powerful. You see, I believe we all need to stand firm in our convictions about whom we will serve. Serving the Lord might be undesirable for some, but as Bob Dylan sang in 1979, “It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” No matter what walk of life you’re from, no matter what race, age, social background, nationality, what name you’re called, where you work, etc., you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

So the question is: As for you and your house…whom will you serve?

STAGNANT CHRISTIANITY: AN OXYMORON

The word “stagnant” isn’t very pretty. According to dictionary.com, it’s an adjective which means:

1. not flowing or running, as water, air, etc.
2. stale or foul from standing, as a pool of water.
3. characterized by lack of development, advancement, or progressive movement a stagnant economy.
4. inactive, sluggish, or dull.

Its synonyms include words like dormant, lifeless, dead, inert, and lazy. Again…the word stagnant is not very pretty.

 

Wanna visual of stagnant? Here you go…consider this pond:

A stagnant pond: lifeless & inert

It’s covered with green, mossy scum due to its inactivity. It has no progressive movement. It has a murky, putrid surface with nothing stirring underneath. There’s nothing flowing into it and nothing flowing out. It’s a stale, foul, standing pool of water. 

Wanna ‘nother visual? (And this one’s gonna hurt…so be forewarned…) Go look in the mirror. OUCH! 

Think about it…we can easily become just as stagnant as this pond. We get complacent. We become apathetic. We have no progressive movement. There’s nothing flowing into us, and nothing flowing out. We can become the same stale, foul, standing pool of water with the same murky, putrid surface. And in my opinion, the saddest state of affairs, my friends, is when Christians become stagnant. (No, I’m not standing in judgment of anyone here, I’m simply making an observation.)

Stagnant Christianity. If ever there was an oxymoron, here it is. These two words shouldn’t even be used in the same sentence. Afterall, Christians (i.e. “Christ followers”) have a personal relationship with the One who not only gives life, but gives abundant life. In addition, Christians are commanded to use the gifts we’ve been given to serve one another in love (1 Peter 4:10, Galatians 5:13). So, how in the world can we become stagnant? Trust me…it happens. I see it every week. Sometimes when I look in the mirror…and sometimes when I observe others.

Try this assessment of yourself. I know I’ve become stagnant when _____________:

1. Church is merely something I check-off on my to-do list.
2. Opportunities to learn, worship, or grow spiritually come my way and I pass them by.
3. Occasions to give, serve, or go bless other folks come my way and I fail to engage.
4. I’m so protective of my time that I view outside opportunities (to grow myself or to give of myself) as inconveniences. 

Bottom line is this: In order to guard against stagnant Christianity, there’s gotta be flow. There’s gotta be progressive movement. There’s gotta be input, and there’s gotta be output.

INPUT: learning, growing, reading books, actively studying, engaged in Bible study or Sunday school, listening to sound preaching/teaching, etc. Simply put, we must be frequently and consistently poured into by healthy, foundational, spiritual Truth.

OUTPUT: teaching or mentoring others, putting your gifts/talents to use by serving others, actively engaged in something greater than yourself, blessing others, etc. Simply put, we must be frequently and consistently pouring ourselves out and giving to others what we’ve been given.

It’s easy to sit back and say, “Stagnant Christianity doesn’t apply to me at all, but I know a bunch of other people who need to read this and make some big changes!” (Truthfully, I’m guilty of this all the time.) But, this time, sit back and ask God to tell you how to respond. Don’t decide for yourself whether or not you’re currently stagnant, let God tell you that. And once you hear from Him, start stirring the waters!

Don’t allow stagnant Christianity to exist in your world!

Get caught up in the flow!

How do you guard yourself against the oxymoron of stagnant Christianity? (Please feel free to leave a comment, like this post, or share with others.)

EVALUATING YOUR VALUE-GIVING QUOTIENT

David had a perfect opportunity to kill King Saul. And why shouldn’t he? Saul made David’s life a living hell. But when the opportunity arose to get even, settle the score, and retaliate, David walked away. Why? Because he valued Saul’s life. In a later conversation between the two, David said to Saul, “As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble” (1 Samuel 26:24). A different translation of that same verse has David saying to Saul, “…as your life was precious this day in my sight…”

David valued Saul’s life. David thought Saul’s life was precious in his sight. He respected it. He esteemed it. The feeling, however, was certainly not mutual. Saul had a strange love/hate relationship with David at best. He was extremely jealous of him. He even tried to kill David on several occasions. Yet, David placed great value on Saul’s life.

Let’s evaluate our own “value-giving” quotient. What’s the best way to communicate that we value others? How do we best demonstrate that the lives of others are precious to us? How do we practically give worth and value to those we come in contact with?

Here are 7 checkpoints:

1. Initiate conversation–Don’t wait for the other person to engage you. You start it. You pull the trigger.
2. Ask about things that light her up–You validate others by letting them share with you the things that jazz them up. But be careful about being impatient here. Let them talk. Abrupt disinterest sometimes de-values faster than you realize.
3. Look him in the eye–Personally, this one is really tough for me…especially when there may be a history of hurt or wrong-doing. But frequent eye contact says, “I’m listening…I’m engaged…I’m mindful of what you’re saying.”
4. Call her by name—Dale Carnegie once said, “There’s nothing sweeter than the sound of thine own name.” Tis true. Once again, when you use someone’s name throughout your conversation, it brings worth and value to them in ways we perhaps don’t fully understand.
5. Say what you mean and mean what you say–I used to frequently say that phrase to the high school girls I coached. In other words, don’t just give lip service. People see right through that junk. Be sincere. Be honest. Be genuine.
6. When you leave, wish her well–“Have a great week.” “It was so good to see you again and catch up.” “Enjoy your vacation.” Simple well-wishing goes a long way.
7. Bullet prayer him–When you part, send up a quick bullet prayer. “God, thanks for giving me the opportunity to chat with him today. I pray that You will bless him and his family. Give him _______________ (filling in that blank with whatever you gleaned he needs from your conversation).”

If David valued and esteemed and respected the life of a guy who hated him, how much more should we value the lives of folks we encounter day-to-day?

So…Who do you need to give worth and value to today? Which of the 7 checkpoints do you need to improve on?

GO, [INSERT NAME]. GO!

Do you remember the book by P.D. Eastman called Go, Dog. Go!? It was one of my favorites as a kid. Loved the illustrations. It’s actually a bizarre little story with all kinds of random tangents here and there. On almost every page, however, the dogs are doing something, going somewhere, or engaged in some kind of activity. My favorite scene comes on pages 50-51 when morning arrives and one dog is holding a megaphone shouting to the scads of dogs who are jumping out of the same bed, “Get up! It is day. Time to get going. Go, dogs, go!”

Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman

If only there were a dog holding a megaphone at the foot of my bed shouting this at me morning after morning. 🙂

I’m not sure who first coined the phrase, “Don’t just stand there, do something!” We hear it occasionally in movies or TV shows when something chaotic is happening. I think the irony of our lives, however, is that in the midst of our own messes of life, we’ve gotten really good at the opposite of that statement, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” But the longer we stand there, the less we get done. The more time we waste, the more we ourselves waste away. Another day gone is one more day of a phone call not made, a letter not written, a thank you unspoken, a project incomplete, a goal unmet, a dream not realized, etc. (I’m saying this as much to motivate me as I am to motivate you.) 

Maybe we look at the word “GO” as optional. Maybe that’s the heart of our problem. What if we began embracing the word “GO” as a command, a charge, an exhortation, a mandate, as our mantra for the day? “Go, dog. Go!” (Yes…I know…you’re not a dog. So change it to “Go [Insert Name]. Go!”)

If we consider the bible here, we see the word “GO” several times. But it wasn’t spoken in terms of an option. It was a command:

• God told Moses to GO to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10).
• God told Jonah to GO to Ninevah and preach against it (Jonah 1:1-2).
• Jesus told the 12 disciples to GO to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 10:6-8).
• Jesus told us all to GO make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).

I’m pretty sure God is a God of action, not idleness. I’m pretty sure He calls (and thankfully equips) us to go, and do, and accomplish, and create, and bless, and forgive, and love, and share, and pray, and connect, and reach out, and work, and strive, and serve, and …

So, pull up your bootstraps, get motivated, get inspired, get something done, meet the goal, make the deadline, don’t just stand there, do something! Embrace the word “GO” in your world. Change your perspective from “GO” being an option for you to consider to a command you are to carry out. Get up! It is day. Time to get going.

Go, Dog. Go! Go, brother. Go! Go, sister. Go! Go, friend. Go!

GO, [insert name]. GO!

What one thing do you need to accomplish this week? And how will you insure your success? (Please feel free to share your comments…)