Labels and Identity

How do you identify? 

There are so many labels that we use to categorize and distinguish ourselves - our job, nationality, region of origin, favorite sports team, hobbies or interests, religion, denomination, birth order, type of food you eat, political affiliation, sexual preference, school you attended, graduating year, physical abilities,... pretty much anything you can think of.

What is your primary identity? What's most important?

Do the labels we use help us understand ourselves and others better? Do they serve us in that they help us identify others who share the same traits? Or do they just serve to divide us ("You're different. You're not X like me!")? 

For a Jesus-follower this has huge implications. Paul addressed this in his letter to the Christians in the region of Galatia when he wrote, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:28)

For a believer, our primary identity is "forgiven and beloved child of God." That is the most important distinguishing factor in our lives, not any of the other labels we so often use.

Looking back on 2023

[This is from part of my challenge at church this morning.]

I think it's interesting how we characterize and categorize years - like they have their own personality and are good or bad years. 

I was trying to think of years that stand out to me personally. 

1966. That was the year Star Trek came out and the year I was born. Both very memorable and important to me. Good year!

1984. I graduated high school and headed off to college. We had economic prosperity in our country and great 80s music and styles. For me, I would say that was a good year.

2001. We had 9/11 happen, so we tend to characterize the whole year by that and say it was bad year. 

2013. That was the year I started out as a full-time pastor at First Presbyterian Pine City. It was a good year for me. Hopefully my congregation would agree.

2020. I don’t even need to talk about it. Bad year.

What about last year, 2022? There were lots of global and national challenges, but a lot of individuals still had a good year. A mix of good and bad. Pretty typical for a year. 

One thing all of those years have in common – they’re all in the past. You can’t change them now.

But 2023 is just starting. It’s full of potential and possibility.

So my question is: How will you categorize 2023 in 12 months when you look back on it?

We can’t control most of the circumstances of our lives. Good and bad things are going to happen to us throughout the year. But one of the things we do have some control over is the person we are becoming. 

At the end of 2023, you will not be the same person you are today. You will have had experiences and relationships that will shape you, for better or for worse. Maybe you will have developed some new practices that will develop into habits.

There are a lot of areas where we can grow and improve this year: physically, intellectually, relationally and so on. But I hope you don't neglect of think about your spiritual growth. 

Spend some time reflecting on how you want to grow spiritually this year. If you are a Jesus-follower, your goal is to draw closer to Jesus and to become more like him. How can you do that this year? What is a step you might take this week? Today?

Hopefully in 12 months you can look back and say 2023 was a great year.

The Butterfly Effect

It's fun to look at old pictures of the town you grew up in or the town you live in now (maybe it's the same for you!) I wish there was a way to go back and drive through your town or watch a video of that town from ten or twenty or however many years ago. You would be going, "Oh, I remember that store." or "I had forgotten how that looked."

What you notice is how much everything has changed so much in the last however many years. Even in the last five or ten years, the difference is striking. It pretty astounding when you view it like that, but when you're in the middle of the transformation, you don't tend to notice it, other than a few things here or there that change or get updated or improved.

I think that's the way it is with our spiritual lives. When you're in the middle of the transformation it seems like things aren't changing very quickly, but when you step back and view it from a distance, the transformation is substantial. 

It's the little changes day by day that make the biggest difference.

So what little change are you going to work on today?

(pictured above: Small town Pine City in the 1940s looking south from 3rd Ave. One of the round stained glass windows from the old court house (white building on the right) is hanging in the public library window now. Pletschel’s is currently Nicoll’s Café.)

Putting His Word in Our Words

I love that there are so many translations of the Bible readily available online or through the YouVersion Bible App. (If you are a Jesus-follower with a smartphone, you really owe it to yourself to download this app!) 

Growing up we were pretty much stuck with the King James Version. In middle school I discovered The Living Bible and used it for several years, and it was a great tool for middle-school me, but it was a paraphrase and not as helpful when doing Bible study. My youth pastor, Carey Olson, challenged me in high school to move to something more faithful to the original text. For several years I enjoyed using my parallel New Testament which has the KJV, NIV, Living Bible paraphrase, and the Amplified Bible (which is kind of a cross between a translation and a thesaurus. Eventually I settled on the New International Version, which is my primary one to this day. 

When I'm teaching the Bible, I stick almost exclusively to the New International Version (2011 edition) because of its popularity, ubiquity, and familiarity. But occasionally I enjoy reading a different translation devotionally to keep it fresh. Recently I've enjoying reading using the New Living Translation (NLT). It's in the spirit of The Living Bible but an entirely new translation. It's a little more contemporary than the New International Version and easily accessible by all ages. It's uses a "thought-for-thought" methodology for translating Scripture rather than a word-for-word. That means it may not be as helpful for detailed study, but is excellent for devotional use. 

The Message Bible is similar in this regard, although even though it's a translation, more like a paraphrase because it uses more contemporary idioms and slang. For some reason I find it difficult to use for devotional reading because it's so wildly different, but it's great for someone who is newer to the Bible or is just looking for a fresh take on the text. There are plenty of other great translations available, like the New English Translation (NET), which has a ton of translation notes. 

My recommendation for teens and adults newer to reading Scripture is the New Living Translation or the New International Version. But it's nice to switch it up now and then to help keep God's Word from becoming something you skim through because you are so familiar with a particular translation. The great thing is that you don't have to go buy a ton of books, just download the YouVersion app! Try several until you find one that you enjoy.

Who Will Tell You the Truth?

Oftentimes when high-profile people like celebrities, athletes, or even well-known pastors fail morally, it's because they have isolated themselves or surrounded themselves with yes-men (or women). 

Those are the ones who make the news, but it's not just that type of person at risk. We all have a tendency to insulate ourselves from honest feedback because it can be difficult or even painful, and we are all pain averse. The truth is that we all need someone who can speak truth into our lives, no matter who we are or what we do or how well we are known.

Paul, in Ephesians, tells us to "speak the truth in love." 

So who do you have that can tell you the hard truths?

If you can't think of anyone, who could you invite to have that role in your life? 

You need someone to do that. We all do. That's the only way we grow and the only way to avoid a fall.

I saw a quote that said, "A best friend is someone who tells you the truth even when you don't want to hear it." I would say that a real friend will tell you the truth especially when you don't want to hear it. 

People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed

I mentioned yesterday in a postscript a podcast that I recently discovered called The Simple Reminder with Patrick Lencioni. He's been recording this for the past couple of years, but I just discovered it as he hasn't promoted it on his business podcasts, the wonderful At The Table and The Working Genius, both of which are highly recommended.

The Simple Reminder it's a delightful short podcast (usually under 10 minutes) that he puts out weekly that focuses on spiritual formation and following Jesus. It's really a refreshing take from a layperson who loves Jesus and is working to follow him more closely. He often will begin with some prepared thoughts and then have a brief discussion with some family, friends, and coworkers. I highly recommend it.

(The title of this post is a quote from Samuel Johnson that Lencioni references in the podcast introduction.)

Moderatation and Extremes

"Moderation in all things."

That's usually a good rule of thumb for most of life, especially when it comes to food, drink, exercise, finances, and so on.

But what about when it comes to our faith?

Jesus calls for his followers to be fully devoted. All in. Sold out for the Kingdom of God.

Extreme.

Moderation when it comes to faith is just another word for "lukewarm."

 

(Thanks to "The Simple Reminder with Pat Lencioni" podcast for the inspiration for this post.)

Blessing is Instrumental

One of the reasons I decided to blog about stuff is to share the things that bring me joy. Or, to put it the way my favorite Star Trek podcast hosts do, "We're all about celebrating the love." (The Inglorious Treksperts podcast). I like to share things that I enjoy so that maybe I can help someone else find things that they enjoy, as well.

So what are the things that bring you joy? What makes you happy? Have you shared any of these things with someone else?

One of my favorite old hymns is "Count Your Blessings", but I think the reason we should do that is so that we can share them with others. Blessings are always instrumental. They're never meant just to be something for the recipient. In other words, God is blessing you so that you can bless someone else - you are blessed to be a blessing.

What blessing can you share?

My Parents Were Models

One of the (many) things I am thankful to my parents for is the way they were role models for me with regards to church attendance. I wasn't always super thankful when I was a young person, but we were at church regularly on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights, plus youth special events once we got older. 

In fact, I could probably count on one hand the number of times that we were we missed church growing up. I remember one time - it was September 13, 1978. I had just turned 12 and I begged my parents to allow me to stay home on Sunday night to watch the premiere of Battlestar Galactica. They said "yes" this one time, but this was a rare, rare exception. I think only other times I missed was due to illness or being out of town on vacation. 

Church attendance was not optional for us growing up, and I learned to view the church as a kind of extended family. I played at church, served there, made friends there, learned there, and grew there. My involvement at church was an integral part of my life from an early age. 

I think a lot of parents don't realize how important that kind of consistency is to a child or young person. There's an old saying that faith is often "more caught than taught." In other word, parents model for their kids the priority of a relationship with God by their regular involvement in corporate worship and church life.

Obviously it not a guarantee, but a great way to help encourage kids to have a vibrant faith and deep connection to a local church when they grow up is to model it for them through your consistent attendance at worship and involvement with your church family.

Just Start With Five

One of my challenges to my youth group this year was to set aside (at least) five minutes a day to read the Bible and have a personal time alone with God. Obviously, I hope the students fall in love with Scripture and have a vibrant prayer life and so on, which will require more time than that. But five minutes is a good place to start.

It's understandable that students often struggle with this, given all of the other demands on their time with school and homework, family obligations and so on. If it's not a habit that they have developed while in elementary school, it can take some time to acquire. But many adults struggle with this, as well - even adults who have been Christ-followers for many years.

What's inconceivable to me (yes, that word means what I think it means) is how some people will commit their lives to following Jesus, and trust God with their eternal soul, but they don't spend time actually reading His Word to see for themselves what God has to say!

I'm not saying that you have to be a seminary-trained theologian. That would be somewhat like expecting a person to understand aerodynamics and aviation engineering before flying on an airplane. But you should at least be familiar with his love letter to you.

Some will complain that it's confusing. Sure, parts are, but not all of the Bible. Mark Twain is sometimes credited with a variant of this saying, "It ain't the parts of the Bible that I don't understand that bother me. It's the parts I do!" There is plenty of Scripture that is clear. I'm betting that just learning about those parts, and how to live by the stuff we do understand, will keep us plenty busy without ever having to worry about the more confusing parts.

So what's keeping you from spending some time alone with God today?

A Packers Evangelist

I'm a Green Bay Packers fan because I chose to be. And because of the influence of a great friend.

I didn't watch football when I was growing up so I didn't really root for any team in particular. When I was attending Bethel, one of my best friends, Marty Fischer, was a big Green Bay Packers fan, having grown up near Green Bay. My other best friend, Kevin Orme, was a big Chicago Bears fan, having grown up in Wheaton, just outside of Chicago. Both tried to recruit me to cheer for their team. I told them that I would just be a fan of both teams! "Um... no. You can't do that," was the response. (It was later before I would fully understand why.)

When I would watch Packers games with Marty, he would talk to me throughout the game, giving me background on the players and the team. He would answer my questions about football, which were many and no doubt annoying. He shared his love of the Packers with me, and then he invited me to visit him at home over school break. While there, we visited the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame at historic Lambeau Field, and there was no going back.

A couple of observations about this. One today and one tomorrow.

First, it was the "evangelistic" fervor of a friend who shared his passion and love for his team with me that led me to become a Packers fan. There is a strong parallel here for Christ-followers who want to share about Jesus with someone else. 

The most effective way to really evangelize (ie. share your faith with someone) is to come alongside them as a friend and explain over time why you love Jesus. As you share your passion and love with them, answer questions and so on, you can't help but influence them to explore the claims of Christ. Perhaps they will learn to love Jesus, as well, and choose become a follower of Hims. 

But you're going to have to start sharing. 

Smudged Glasses and Discipleship

When your glasses get dirty, you can deal with it because they are uniformly dirty and you don't really notice the dirt. But then you start to clean them off and you realize how bad they were. And if you miss a spot, that spot really stands out and annoys the heck out of you until you take care of it.

That's the same way discipleship works. At first your life seems okay because it's kind of messed up everywhere and you don't really know any different. But then when God begins to work, the parts that are left that are still messed up are more noticeable. I think that's why the longer you've been a Jesus-follower, the more you realize how much more you need to grow in your walk with Christ.

I Know What I Saw

I started reading a great little book from my college Bible professor, Dr. Gary Burge, called The New Testament in Seven Sentences: A Small Introduction to a Vast Topic. (Dr. Burge was at my college, King College, before moving to serve on the faculty of North Park College, Wheaton College, and now Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, where he is professor of New Testament.) 

I'm just getting started with the book, but I've already been struck by an observation he made. I guess I already knew this, but never really thought about the fact that the early church was birthed and grew long before anyone had access to the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Stories of Jesus were certainly circulating and some or all of the Epistles, but it was this one event that made all of the difference. In fact, Dr. Burge notes that in Acts, "When these early believers preach about Jesus, the resurrection is the critical element in every presentation. It is the power of Jesus that converts, not well-reasoned presentations about his public life."

He notes that, "The life of Jesus certainly was compelling, but the resurrection of Jesus was profoundly confirming that God was at work here in ways they could barely measure."

Then later, "At some point the community of Christians recognized that if their faith was anchored to the resurrected, living Jesus, they wanted to know more about him. If it was Jesus in power who was transforming the world, then it made sense that reflection on his earthly life was necessary as well." Which led to the Gospels being written down. 

I think sometimes Jesus follower forget to appreciate the depth to which our faith is dependent on an event - the resurrection. You might try to argue someone's beliefs, but you can't argue with what they (the disciples in this case) witnessed. 

Are You A Stalker?

There's a difference between getting to know someone better and just learning about someone you don't know, which is what stalkers do. 

Which one describes your relationship to Jesus?

Too many people know a lot about Jesus, but they don't really know him personally. They're just stalking Jesus.

A Verse for Life

Do you have a life verse? A life verse is a verse from the Bible that speaks to you in a very special way. It seems as if it were put in God's Word just for you. People used to talk about having a life verse and I used to think it was kind of just like having a favorite Bible verse. I decided that my life verse was going to be Romans 8:38-39: 

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

That served me well for many years, and is still one of my favorite promises from Scripture. But a few years ago I came across another verse that I think fits me better. It's Acts 20:24. 

The phrase in the verse that initially caught my attention was this "My only aim is to finish the race." I thought that would be good to have on a t-shirt that I could wear when I'm out running a 5K or something. Like, "I don't care if I win anything, I just want to finish!"

While that's still applicable, it's the rest of the verse that really resonated with me. This is the Apostle Paul speaking here to the Ephesians and he says:

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

That's what I want. I want to get to the end of my life and have people (and God) say, "He completed the task of testifying to the good news."

That would be what I would consider to be tattoo-worthy. If I were going to get a tattoo. Which I'm not. Probably. (Maybe just the reference? Probably not. But you never know.)

But at least a t-shirt would be nice.

Running, Music, and Worship

When I go running, I almost always am listening to something. Usually I listen to one of the podcasts I subscribe to, like The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe, Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, Hollywood & Levine, Inglorious Treksperts, Akimbo with Seth Godin, or North Point Community Church, to name a few.

But every once in a while I'll crank up some music to run with. Occasionally I'll put in a soundtrack to a great movie or some 80s music. But usually it's some upbeat worship music. That's also my go-to on Sunday mornings, which gives me a chance to worship and connect with God before church on my sunrise run.

There are some days when I'm kind of tired, or just not feeling the run, or I'm not sure if I'll make it without just walking. But then I'll start listening to the music (verses a podcast) and it's like I gain extra energy and endurance. I'll run faster and feel better, even if the run overall is still a challenge. Maybe it's just the beat, but there is just something about music that energizes you. 

I think that's the same kind of deal for people when it comes to their life and authentic worship. I say authentic because it's possible to go through the motions but never really connect with God, but when you do, there is something amazing that happens. You can be struggling during the week with a lot of challenges, and it may seem like you're stumbling along in your walk with God instead of running the race. But then you gather with brothers and sisters in Christ and worship and it's like you get this boost to help you keep going. It's not just the music (although that's helpful, especially when it's good), but there's something deeper going on at the soul level.

If you're struggling with life, or depression, or feeling disconnected from God or others, make sure you are engaged in consistent worship with your church family. I'm not guaranteeing that will change everything, but it might just give you the boost you need to keep on going!

Wait For It...

One of the Fruit of the Spirit that Paul talks about in his letter to the Galatians is patience. Out of the nine he lists, this one is the one that people seem to struggle with the most. I know I do.

There was a survey done of thousands of Christians at a church. They were asked, "Which fruit of the Spirit would you most like to grow in?" More than 50 percent said patience. In other words, more people felt like they needed to develop patience than all the other eight put together.

There area lot of reasons why this might be: the pace of our world, technology and screens creating short attention spans, and so on. (I could probably list more, but who has time for that?) As a result of our society and just our fallen human nature, we get hurried and impatient.

The problem is, when we are caught up in busyness and hurry we don't have time to really love people. We don't take time to notice them. John Ortberg put it this way: Relaxed people look. Hurried people overlook.

Who can you slow down and notice today?

Prayer - It's Not Just for Pastors

I was asked if I would say a prayer of blessing at a special event today that I hadn't heard about in advance but was a great fundraiser, and so I was happy to do so. As a pastor, this is a common occurrence - to be called on to pray at an event or at a large gathering before a meal or something like that. I'm always happy to oblige, but I think it's interesting that people always ask pastors to pray instead of doing it themselves.

As best as I can figure, it's because...

• they don't feel comfortable speaking in public, which I understand.
• they don't feel comfortable praying in front of others. It's a shame that we don't teach people to begin to do this when they are younger. 
  
• they're not a believer, but they feel like it's a good thing to do anyway (there's so much to explore there); 
• or they think being a pastor gives you some kind of special connection to God or we know the exact right words to say or something. Like there's a whole special class in Seminary about the secrets of public prayer and how to use words that really impress people! There's not, but that would be interesting.
  

What I am always willing to jump in and lead in prayer, I sometimes wonder if I am doing a disservice by perpetuating the stereotype that the prayer of a pastor is somehow better or more effective than that of any believer. Maybe it's an artifact of Roman Catholic teaching that you need a priest to mediate between you and God or something.

When I pray I don't use extra-flowery terms or phrases anything ("Our most gracious and benevolent Heavenly Father, we do beseech you by Thine infinite mercies...") I just pray like I'm talking to another person (which I am). 

I wonder if people hear me pray real casually and end up going, "Gee, I could have done that!" Which would be a good thing, after all!

Diagnosing Your Spiritual Health

How is your spiritual life doing? If you're a Christ-follower, how is your walk with Jesus going?

How do you know? 

Paul tells us in Galatians that if your spiritual life is going well, you're going to see fruit. Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. If you find yourself becoming more loving, joyful, peaceful, etc., you can know that the Spirit is at work in you.

If not, what's getting in the way? 

You are going to have to diagnose the problem before you can begin to find a solution.

Freedom to Serve

Happy Independence Day!

As a country we are spending the day celebrating our freedom. Yesterday in church we were treated to a message by Andy Stanley called The Other Side of Freedom (you can watch it here.) In it he reminds us that freedom is not just "freedom from" but "freedom to". To what? Here's how Paul puts it: 

Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 

We are free to love others by serving.

That's very different from the kind of me-centered idea of freedom we usually have. 

Imagine if everyone were to approach freedom from that point of view. Not, "I'm free to do what I want to do," but "I'm free to do what I ought to do."