Malachi 3:16–18 (NKJV) 16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. 17 “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18 Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.
I apologized two or three times for starting so abruptly with my Christian brother at the beginning of our planned 50-minute weekly phone call. My rant was about Christians’ various views on how repentance works.
He assured me that my abruptness was fine. I thanked him, and we had a great time.
Toward the end of our visit my friend said, “I need to just be quiet. I’ve talked too long.” He hadn’t, and I told him so. He thanked me, and we had more great time together.
Then, the verse above came to mind and I observed, “It’s good to talk to each other, so we can articulate our thoughts and hear other viewpoints. Talking to each other even when we are unsure of our thoughts, and sometimes feel stupid for having them, is good for us!”
Then my final rant began.
“The Christian church is mute!” I exclaimed. “We’ve been trained to sit quietly and have the professionals do the talking and singing and playing the music.” My brother cheered. He’s been frustrated for a while about his church experiences.
Finally, “two or three” is the recommended Dr. Jesus dosage for a gathering that he attends. So, how about it? With whom can you get some Jesus-talk-time started? And, when?
Remember, our visits are so important to the LORD that he records them. Plus, we “shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked…”
Giv’m Heaven!
John Parker
john@simplechurchsuccess.com
P.S. Please Comment below or Email me.
Great job
Thank you, Peggy, for reading my posts and taking the time to reply. You are a great encourager. You’ve got lots of Holy Spirit horsepower!
How easily the people of God trade in their “priesthood” responsibilities to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called them….” for spectating or at best off-the-cuff chit chat. The path from spectating to priesthood practice is all battle with the flesh. Deception to return to passive anonymity is baked into our soul. We must persevere. We will be richly rewarded for eternity. That is a better deal.
“Passive anonymity.” Interesting and intriguing. “Deception to return to passive anonymity is baked into our soul.” Yes. Baked in! AS per, “The Christian church is Mute.”
Opposites are not different, and I tend toward that opposite: “Aggressive lime-lighting.” The deceptive temptation for me is to activate, talk, lead, and do (including blogging at times)! That can be “baked in” too.
Undeceived, Jesus confused people regularly. He didn’t do (passive) what was expected. Then, he’d turn and do (aggressive) the unexpected.
His greatest not doing and doing was when he went to the cross. Everyone was confused! His “not doing” was not fighting back! His “doing” culminated in his cry (about the work his Father directed him to do), “It is finished!”
The open-secret that authorized his balanced “Son of Man” and “Son of God” life is revealed his own words. Here they are:
John 5:19–20 (ESV)
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
John 8:28b (ESV)
28 So Jesus said to them, “…I do nothing on my own authority, but [I] speak just as the Father taught me.”
John 14:10 (ESV)
[Jesus speaking] “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
Now, is Jesus prescribing this for us, or is this “hear God stuff” exclusively his venue? I believe it is ours too, to work out through God’s Holy Spirit and not our human effort or intellect. Thank God for the help of the Holy Spirit!
Romans 8:26 (NLT)
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
1 Corinthians 2:8–16 (ESV)
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Jesus prophesies that we will emulate his life and ministry.
John 14:12 (ESV)
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
There’s lots of wiggle room in all this if we are not empowered to do what Jesus did.
Comments anyone?
JSP
P.S. God’s working in, and get to work it out. Making bread is a process! It’s not store-bought, cookie-cutter, and prepackaged. It’s heaven-made! That flour makes a mess! The reality is messy! As Ray Charles sang (in a different context!), “do the mess around…”! Let’s do the Holy Spirit’s “mess-around”! (John 3:8)
Philippians 2:12–13 (TNIV)
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, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Thank you John for the post. It is so right on.
I agree to follow what Jesus recommend, two or three gathering together in His name. Taking time to actively listen to one another. Feeling free to rant, even to say I am having a freaking bad day. Let the rant go on…
I recall a leader of a men’s group shared about his relationship with another brother in the group. The leader went on to say he can go to that brother rant, rave, etc. The brother listen with love and acceptance. when the leader was done ranting, raving he felt better.
I forget what the other brother said, however the main thing that stayed with me was the love, acceptance, and he listened. Also…the brother didn’t try to fix him.
~~~
I agree with Tim regarding how spectating is baked into our souls. We or I should say in some churches we have become so passive in our worship. Our spectator eyes are on the pastor, worship leader, choir, etc. Our eyes should be upon our God, Lord and Savior Worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.
Yes we must persevere. I believe as we persevere via gathering and worshiping a ripple effect will occur.
Let’s just keep our eyes on Christ and remember we are a royal priesthood in Christ.
He loves us and accept us right where we are.
Our “talking with each other” inspired me to write this post in the first place! Thank you!
“…the Lord listened an heard.”
The Lord is listening in, even before we speak a word. He is seeking to guide our words to be in sync with his will. I have come to recognize this as I write. Words come together that exceed my intelligence and discernment. That doesn’t mean they all come out perfect. But I find a large share of them to be highly determinative for growth in faith.
The Lord is listening when his people are listening to a speaker that God is guiding. He listens to their thoughts, their defense mechanisms, their excuses, and their angry rejections. And he listens to others whose hearts are soft and receptive to the scripture offered.
Jesus is Lord. We must be aware, tuned into his active participation in our speaking, listening, and responding.
Thank you, Tim. In the following verse “…the word (logos) of God…” and, at the end of v.13 “…must give account (logos)” are the same word in Greek—logos.
Hebrews 4:12–13 (ESV)
12 For the word (logos) of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (logos).
Thankfully our God is here with us and deeply involved to help us. We can safely pray:
Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!