Welcome to the May 30th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
The Story of My Week
The high point of my week was Sunday’s service.
On Saturday, I got a notice that for Sunday, we would be doing a read-through of the whole book of Hebrews.
Yes, the whole book.
I have never been part of something like this so I was looking forward to it.
It was a wonderful experience.
It felt a bit like one of the first-century churches getting one of those letters from Paul, gathering together to listen and have it read to them.
One person read the whole, we had music intermissions when we all sang congregational songs.
The beauty of reading through an epistle in the Bible all at once is that you can follow through the thinking that runs through the letter seamlessly with minimal interruption.
This was all we did during the service.
A simple opportunity to honor and listen to God’s Word.
Some of us are already saying "let's do this again".
Things I Learnt
1-When Church is not Christianity - I was watching an interview with the pastor of a mega international church who was been asked about public failures of some pastors in the church.
He had founded the church about 30 years ago and it had spread to different countries.
The interview was by a secular news organization. At a point, the interviewer asked about the not-so-good experiences of gay members of the church and why he thinks that has happened.
His response was a bit poignant - “I want us to get better at the way we communicate and embrace and work with people who are gay. I don’t have any personal bias at all against gay or lesbian people. But unfortunately, as a pastor, you don’t represent what you think. You represent what the Bible says. And so, at this point, we’re still a conservative one on the subject of (an) active gay relationship.”
I felt sorry for him.
He is caught in a culture war which he is trying to win but is reminded that the Bible does not expect him to win.
I was shaken when he said "But unfortunately, as a pastor, you don’t represent what you think. You represent what the Bible says."
What should be a joy; the clarity of the Bible on a matter is not a reason for him to feel sad.
In a way, I was glad that he took the interview to the unshakeable foundation of Christian and a Church - the Bible.
You don't rewrite the Bible to align with the culture.
The Bible stands firm through different cultural changes.
I said a word of prayer for the pastor. I pray he can continue responding to questions like this - sending them to the Bible.
I know what it's like to find it difficult to explain something that the Bible clearly states in a way that makes sense to someone else.
Some years back, a Muslim had put me to the task on my faith. We agreed to a conversation to talk about our faiths. A conversation, not an argument. We would present our sides and let the matters be.
One thing had come up during our pre-conversation - the sonship of Jesus. This was something he would like me to explain during our conversation.
I remember staying up at night after many discussions in my head and wondering "God, why didn't make the Christian faith logical? I don't know how to logically explain Jesus being the Son of God"
That night, I blurted out to God "I can't explain you logically but I believe in what you have written in the Bible".
That confession flooded my heart with faith.
Over the next few days, God provided me with the resources I needed to prepare for the conversation - an English version of the Quran and a book by a Muslim convert to Christianity (it's decades ago, I can't remember the name now).
The book and our pre-conversation made me realize that the best way to explain Jesus to a Muslim was not through the New Testament - which they believe is corrupted but through the Law and the Prophets.
Isaiah 53 was the chapter for the job.
And it did the job.
I didn't win a convert that day but he left with a different understanding of Christianity.
And sometimes that is what we can hope for.
Especially in these difficult times, we live in.
2-Don't Try, Only Do: I was listening to Simon Sinek's interview with Matthew Barzun.
Matthew Barzun served as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom and was selected by President Barack Obama as National Finance Chair for the president's 2012 re-election campaign.
He was instrumental to Obama's grassroots campaign idea as "citizen fundraisers" that drove Obama's connection with supporters.
According to him, this was largely due to his deficiency. He is an introvert.
When he was given the job of fundraising, he knew he could not go the traditional route of meeting with big donors to try and get the maximum allowable amounts from them.
So, he went the alternative route - throw parties, bring the small $10 contributors in and have them get their friends to bring in their $10 donations.
Instead of doing target-listing donors for big donations, he seed-spreading to a lot of smaller donations.
And that changed the game.
The smaller donations are a cultivated route - a slow climb but the mass effect is a bigger committed audience.
Sometimes instead of trying to follow the same path others are running, do it using the path that God has measured for you.
Don't Try, Only Do.
Postscript
May God inspire you to see how you can use what you see as weaknesses as an opportunity to trust in Him. And may that trust breathe new ideas which glorify Jesus. Amen.
Tata
Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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