The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

There are people in our churches who believe they are no good to the Body. There are older brothers and sisters, Christians in poor health, disciples who can’t get around, people who don’t have outgoing personalities or character traits who feel inadequate because they’re not leading visible, out front, out loud, center stage ministries. They feel unimportant. Un-needed. They feel small in the Kingdom. They compare themselves to big-money givers or big-time leaders or big-mouthed preachers and they feel they come up short.

1 Corinthians 12. Paul says he doesn’t want the Christians in Corinth to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. He doesn’t want them to be led astray. He doesn’t want there to be any misunderstandings about gifts given by the Holy Spirit of God to individual disciples to be used in God’s service and to God’s eternal glory.

I think we’re ignorant.

Every single Christian is blessed with spiritual gifts. Every single person who makes the Christian confession — “Jesus is Lord!” — does so by the Holy Spirit. It’s impossible to be a confessing Christian and not possess these gifts. And Paul tells us very plainly that all these gifts are equal in importance to him and to the Kingdom. They’re all exactly the same.

There are different kinds of gifts but they all come from the same God. There are different kinds of service, different kinds of works, but they all come from the same Spirit of the Father. And, remember, they’re all gifts. They’re gifts! You don’t deserve them. You didn’t do anything to earn them. Neither did the Bible class teacher or the youth deacon or the guy who built the shelves in the church pantry. They’re given to each individual by the Spirit of God “just as he determines.”

I promise you that the discouraged person you warmly greet at the church door on Sunday morning is more touched by your smile and your hug and your sincerity than he is by the songs that Howard picks out and leads. I guarantee that the casserole you deliver to the grieving widow means as much — or much more — than the words said by the preacher at the funeral. I know that changing the oil in that single mother’s car blesses her much more than an eloquent prayer from the pulpit or an efficiently-run children’s program.

The lady who picks up and sorts all the attendance cards on Sunday afternoons. The guy who changes the lightbulbs in the worship center. The man who fixes the computers in the church office. The woman who helps in the nursery.

And a lot of these people say, “Well, that’s just what I do.” It’s a talent. It’s an ability. It’s something I enjoy doing. But…

…it’s not really a “spiritual” gift.

That’s where we’re ignorant.

Your talent becomes a gift from the Spirit when you submit it wholly to the Spirit to be used by the Spirit for his Kingdom purposes. “God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them (including you!), just as he wanted them to be.” That thing you do, no matter what it is, is a spiritual gift! God can move mountains when you install a ceiling fan. God can mend broken hearts when you write a letter. God can heal wounded souls when you buy a lunch. God will reveal his glory when you do what you do in his name.

We’re guilty of exalting the more visible and high-profile gifts. We talk more about the bigger and louder gifts. They get more space in the church bulletin. But in God’s economy, all spiritual gifts are exactly the same. Holding the songbook for the older lady next to you is an exercise of a spiritual gift. It’s just as important as what the preacher’s doing up there. And, probably, a whole lot more meaningful to her.

Peace,

Allan

Let us astound them by our way of life. For this is the main battle, the unanswerable argument, the argument from actions. For though we give ten thousand precepts of philosophy in words, if we do not exhibit a better life than theirs, the gain is nothing. For it is not what is said that draws their attention, but their inquiry is what we do. Let us win them therefore by our life.

~John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians, 4th century CE

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.” ~1 Corinthians 10:13

We live in an age of unparalleled developments in technology. We are subject now to an unprecedented and seemingly endless stream of information. We face new physical and emotional and mental diseases that were unheard of a century ago. Natural disasters and human warfare are on the rise, not the decline. And all of these things are adding to the amount of suffering in this world. It might be that human suffering is, today, occurring on a scale unmatched in the history of mankind.

Isn’t it reassuring to know that the temptations we face are nothing new?

External circumstances are different. Very different. But the spiritual dynamics of what we face as God’s children living in these circumstances remain unchanged. The natural inclination to say “my problems” or “our issues” or “this country” is/are different or worse than what anyone else has ever experienced is simply not accurate. The contemporary practice of blaming the way I am on God or my parents or our society or the devil is just not right, unless it also includes an honest acknowledgement of my own sinful nature.

Nothing has changed. Everything’s the same. We have always been tempted to depend on ourselves instead of God. We’ve always been tempted to trust ourselves and our own strength while putting our God and Savior on the backburner. Yes, we need our Father in heaven. But we don’t need him for everything. Yes, our God is important. But he’s not that important.

“God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” ~1 Corinthians 10:13

I think sometimes we want to re-write the above verse to read, “…so that you don’t have to stand up under it any longer.” We’ll complain sometimes that God didn’t provide the “way out” because he didn’t deliver me from the troubling situation. That, of course, is just the opposite of what Paul wrote. It’s the opposite of what he intends. It’s the opposite of what God inspired. The “way out” isn’t the removal of the temptation. It’s not the removal of the situation or the circumstance in which you find yourself being tempted. The “way out” is the strength provided by the Spirit of God, the endurance and perseverence provided to stand strong and faithful under the pressure.

Look back at the times you’ve yielded to temptation. Last year. In the last hour. Who knows what would have happened if you had just hung on for 30-more seconds. If you had just stood strong and said ‘no’ to the temptation for just half-a-minute more, who knows if the temptation itself wouldn’t have just vanished. You don’t know how close you really were to that victory over Satan, to that tremendous boost of confidence that comes with defeating the devil and his schemes.

Be strong. Walk with your God always, faithful to the end. You’re not going through anything right now that’s not common to man. He knows. He endured the same things. And he will give you the power you need to stand up under it.

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Allright, I need your help. I’ve asked once, with no reply. I’ll try one more time:

Can anybody find an explanation or a reason the Dallas Cowboys are not sporting a 50th season patch on their uniforms this year? Have you read anything or heard anything about it? The team wore “Silver Season” patches in 1984 to celebrate their 25th year. In 1999 they donned 40th season emblems. They’ve honored Tom Landry with a fedora patch. They broke out a one-time stadium patch to inaugurate Jerry Wayne’s new monster in Arlington for that initial home game this year. They wear sponsor patches on their practice jerseys like some kind of little league rec team. Where’s the 50th season patch?

Eight other NFL franchises are recognizing their 50th seasons this year with a commemorative patch on their game uniforms: Bills, Broncos, Chiefs, Jets, Raiders, Chargers, and Oilers/Titans. I understand those are all old original AFL teams. And their patches all feature the old AFL logo. I just don’t understand a guy like Jerry Wayne who will do anything and everything to market his brand (see 3D disaster last Sunday) not designing a patch for the 50th.

Unless it has something to do with Cowboys history. Pre-Jerry Wayne history. And his reluctance to honor it. Or his desire to break from it. See, that can’t be right, either. I know it can’t. Surely the owner/GM understands it’s that very history of Murchison, Schramm, and Landry that makes his franchise as valuable as it is. Without Lilly and Meredith and Staubach and Dorsett, Jerry doesn’t even bother buying the Cowboys. He’s acknowledged that before.

But he builds this new stadium and he puts the 14 Ring of Honor names from the Schramm/Landry years on one side of the stadium and the three names from the current Jerry Wayne era on the other. Separate and apart. No Super Bowl banners have been hung in that new place yet. Where’s Emmitt’s all-time rushing champion banner?

Whoa. Sorry. I’m sidetracking, big time. I need to stop or I’ll be writing all day about the video board, the play clocks, the score board, the 3D, the roof, the kicker, the GM, and everything else that’s wrong. Back to the original question. Please, somebody help me out on this. What do we know about the 50th season patch?

Peace,

Allan

Our Tuesday morning men’s Bible study group is right in the middle of 1 Corinthians. Today it was chapter eight: Now, about food sacrificed to idols. The conversation in Scripture and in the church library this morning was all about strong brothers and weak brothers, disputable matters and matters of salvation, knowledge and love, freedom and stumbling blocks. Of course, the apostle Paul makes the whole thing rather clear in the first couple of sentences:

“We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.”

Christian love is always the key. Always. No exceptions. Christ-like love. Considering others better than yourselves. Putting the needs of others ahead of your own. Love is more important than knowledge, even correct knowledge. Love is more important than right or wrong. Love, Paul says elsewhere in this letter, supercedes even hope and faith. Love is everything. And love, not knowledge, has to form the foundation of our Christian behavior.

Regarding our contemporary church issues, it’s much easier and requires much less thought and work to just issue blanket prohibitions of certain practices or to indiscriminately accept anything. The hard thing — the correct thing — is to maintain a proper perspective through Christian love. This way, Paul’s way, rings true. It makes much more sense in reality and according to God’s revelation in Christ.

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor writes about 1 Corinthians 8 in an article from 1978 entitled “Freedom or the Ghetto.”

“Through fear the Weak would have forced the community into a self-imposed ghetto. Through a destructive use of freedom the Strong would have committed the church to a pattern of behavior indistinguishable from that of its environment. If either group had prevailed, the identity and mission of the church would have been gravely compromised. Paul’s response was to focus the vision of the Corinthians on their roots in Christ and on their responsibility to each other and to a wider world. His passionate prudence is a perfect illustration of ‘love builds up.’”

Love is always at the center of Paul’s ethics. Without love, Paul maintains that all our spiritual blessings from God are worthless. And this love grows as Christians mature in the faith. The more we mature, the more we understand how little we measure up to God’s standards and how much depends on him and not us. That kind of humility naturally leads to the kind of love Paul’s writing about. Without it…

…the Christian who still thinks he knows something, doesn’t really know anything.

Peace,

Allan

“One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’” ~1 Corinthians 1:12

Our Tuesday morning men’s Bible study is looking at 1 Corinthians right now so you’re going to get a dose of this once a week or so for a while.

I see us just like the Corinthians. We have divided up into factions. One person belongs to a “progressive” faction.  One is of a “conservative” group. One claims a “traditional” view. Still another stands for the “liberal” position. Each group claims to have something the others don’t. We’re better. Or we’re more mature. Or more “correct.” Or more free. Or more righteous. Or more whatever. Everybody else is more rigid. Or more strict. Or more loose. Or more prone to slip. Or more worldly. Or more whatever.

Since our differences — distinctions — are seen as good things in and of themselves, and something in which to even boast, we limit ourselves to only the thinkers or authors or preachers or teachers in our own groups and have a real tendency to vilify all the thinkers and authors and preachers and teachers in the other groups.

And we divide. And we disfellowship. And we write articles and papers. And we split up our own families. And we tell the world that the Prince of Peace isn’t really all that great afterall. He can get us to our own congregations (or our own sections of our congregations) on Sundays. But real unity and peace is out of the question.

“Is Christ divided? Was Paul (insert your favorite preacher or congregation or Bible class teacher here) crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul (insert your favorite Christian university or author or professor here)?”

The answer to this evil division, of course, is found in the Word of God. What we see in Scripture is that the Gospel is Christ and him crucified. Period. That’s it.

But, alas, that’s not enough to support my clan or my faction or my segment of the divisions over the others. We’re all equal at the cross. Equal in sin. Equal in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Equally saved by grace. So, forget the Bible. Or, more accurately, let’s add on to the Bible. When’s the next lectureship? When’s the next gospel meeting? Email me the link to that article. Get me a copy of that magazine.

“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” ~1 Corinthians 1:10

Peace. Seriously.

Allan

Our Tuesday morning men’s Bible study group dove into 1 Corinthians this week. And we were struck by Paul’s comments at the beginning of this powerful letter. He’s writing to a church that’s completely eaten up with pride and divisions and arrogance and immaturity. The leaders of this church are abusing the very gifts God’s given them to prove his holy presence. They’re running the church with worldly methods according to worldly standards. This church is a mess. It’s a wreck. It’s doing more harm for the Kingdom than good.

Yet, Paul writes:

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”

Huh?

Paul gives thanks for this church. He praises this church for their enriched speaking and knowledge. He calls them the “sanctified.” He claims that this whacked-out church in Corinth has just as many spiritual blessings and potential as any church that’s ever been established.

Huh?

How can he write that? How can he be positive and thankful? How can he, with a straight face, affirm anything good going on here?

“He [Christ] will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” ~1 Corinthians 1:8-9

God himself provides the guarantee. He will remain faithful to his promises to ultimately perfect his chosen people. No matter how immature they are, regardless of the ways they act toward one another and in their community, God is making his Church wholly blameless. We are forgiven of our sins and are in the process of “being saved.” We’re being remolded, transformed, even if it comes with great swings and dramatic ups and downs.

We’re always going to see the blemishes in God’s Church. His Church is made up of humans. Some days, those blights on the Bride of Christ are all we can see. It can be discouraging. It can bring us down. Especially when we recognize that, a lot of the times, we ourselves are actually part of the problem.

The key is to focus not on the unfaithfulness of God’s people but, instead, on the eternal faithfulness of our God. We are Christians still awaiting perfection, still awaiting the final revelation and completion and arrival of the Kingdom of God. It’s coming. And he promises that when it does, he will have made us ready.

That includes you. And me.

Peace,

Allan

“You are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” ~1 Corinthians 1:30

All the doctrine of the Bible is made personal is Jesus. God’s wisdom is Jesus. Our righteousness is Jesus. Our holiness is Jesus. Our redemption is Jesus. Our resurrection is made personal and real in Jesus. Everything we need, and indeed have, for salvation and a right relationship with God is in Jesus.

When you’re down two scores in the fourth quarter you need a Pro Bowl quarterback, not a good playbook. When you’re being sued you need a good lawyer, not a comprehensive law encyclopedia. When you’re sick you need a good doctor, not a user-friendly medical website. And when you’re facing your greatest enemies — sin, death, Satan — you need the Savior of the World!

God’s wisdom and righteousness and holiness and redemption are gifts to you from him. They are benefits, yes. But they’re more than that. They are actually aspects of a relationship with Jesus. It is him in you. For all of us who were baptized into Christ have clothed ourselves with Christ.

When you belong to Christ Jesus you have all you’ll ever need in life and death, in time and space, and for eternity.

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A look back at Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address which he began writing in August 1809, 200 years ago this week inspires the reader to carefully and prayerfully consider our Lord’s call to Christian unity. Scripture’s picture of unity. Our God’s will for unity.

The opening lines — one sentence with tons of commas — goes like this:

“That it is the grand design, and native tendency, of our holy religion, to reconcile and unite men to God, and to each other, in truth and love, to the glory of God, and their own present and eternal good, will not, we presume, be denied, by any of the genuine subjects of christianity.”

The whole thing is a call to unity. Reconciliation. The kind of reconciliation Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians 5. Reconciliation between God and man. Between man and man. The kind of reconciliation that drives God’s eternal plans. The very ministry he’s given those of us who’ve professed our faith in him and put his Holy Son on in baptism. Campbell’s words in this document are bold. Aggressive. And they ring with beautiful and undeniable truth. The Declaration and Address, the charter document of our Churches of Christ, calls for a swift end to all divisions among those who claim to be followers of Jesus.

“Has the Captain of Salvation sounded a desist from pursuing, or proclaimed a truce with, this deadly enemy that is sheathing its sword in the very bowels of the church, rending and mangling his mystical body into pieces. Has he said to his servants, let it alone? If not, where is the warrant for a cessation of endeavors to have it removed?”

Campbell claims that tearing down the walls and uniting again with our brothers and sisters in Christ is a “matter of universal right, a duty belonging to every citizen of Zion, to seek her good.” And while the work will be difficult and the opposition will come mainly from within the church establishment, Campbell says it is God’s will. It is the Church’s will. It is the will of those who’ve gone before us. And our efforts will be divinely rewarded.

“…both the mighty and the many are with us. The Lord himself, and all that are truly his people, are declaredly on our side. The prayers of all the churches, nay, the prayers of Christ himself, John 17:20-23, and of all that have ascended to his heavenly kingdom, are with us.”

I thank God for the Campbells and the Stones and other giants of the faith who latched onto God’s holy will as revealed to us in Scripture and. would. not. let. it. go. They lived to obey God rather than man. They swore to use only the Bible as their guide. And they vowed that, despite the opposition, they would remain loyal to their King and his Kingdom. We owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. We owe them the effort to carry on the difficult work they started 200 years ago.

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24 days until the Dallas Cowboys kick off their historic 50th NFL football season. 24 days from now they’ll be battling the Bucs down in Tampa. And we’re counting down the days with the Red Ribbon Review, a look at the second-best players in Cowboys history, according to jersey number. (This countdown becomes much more important with every Rangers loss. If they lose tonight, I’m blaming it on Lewin’s “1999-ish” comments on Tuesday.)

The second-best ever #24 in Cowboys history is a Super Bowl MVP, cornerback Larry Brown. The Cowboys stole him with a 12th round pick in 1991 and got a starting right corner for five straight seasons, three of them Super Bowl championship seasons. Brown is best known for picking off two Neil O’Donnell passes in the second half of Super Bowl XXX which led directly to the points the Cowboys needed to win their third title in four years. Yes, the balls hit Brown right in the chest. Yes, it looked like one of them would have to be surgically removed after the game, O’Donnell threw them right at him so hard. But a lot of people forget what a great ‘95 season Brown had leading up to that game.

The former TCU star collected six picks that season, racked up 124 return yards, and ran two of them back for TDs. All of this just a few months following the tragic death of his young son. It was a great story that year. But most people have already forgotten.

Brown used his three rings and his MVP trophy to cash a huge paycheck in Oakland with the Raiders. That only lasted two years. He came back to Dallas in ‘98 and played just parts of four games for the Cowboys before hanging it up for good. He finished his Cowboys career with 13 total picks and 279 total tackles. He played in 13 playoff games, four NFC Championship Games, and three Super Bowls as a Cowboy. And he’s the second-best #24 in Cowboys history.

Peace,

Allan

“My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12

I’m blown away by the fact that Jesus showed his apostles how much he loved them by washing their feet the night he was betrayed. The Lord and Master of all got up from the meal, took off his coat, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a bowl, and washed their feet.

He washed their feet.

The King of the Universe knelt down and scrubbed 120 filthy, stinky, sweaty, dirty, disgusting toes. And all the stuff in-between the toes. He even washed the feet of Judas.

Knowing what Judas was planning to do — what he was about to do — Jesus still humbles himself and washes his feet. Jesus loves Judas that much. And then hours later he dies for Judas, this one who betrayed him. He dies for Peter, this one who denied him. He dies for all the apostles who fled and disowned him. He dies for the Jews who demanded he be killed. He dies for the Romans who carried out the execution. He dies for me, who’s just as guilty as any of these men in Scripture.

That’s a Savior’s love. No ifs, ands, or buts. Jesus never says I’ll love you if you treat me right. He doesn’t say I’ll love you when you get your act together. He doesn’t say I’ll love you when you grow up. Jesus’ love is not conditioned by right behavior or a good performance. It’s not based on your IQ or money or skin color or clothes or education or bloodline or status. Jesus actually says I’ll die for you when you’re my enemy. I’ll serve you while you’re sinning against me. I’ll give my life for you when you’re only thinking of yourself.

Because I love you this much.

And then he says, “Love each other as I have loved you.”

We don’t think about that enough. We don’t take it seriously enough.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is more important than preaching and giving and good works. Incredibly, he even says love is bigger than faith and hope. And if love is really more important than those things, then our conclusion must be that love is more important than everything. Love trumps our worship assemblies and worship styles. Love is bigger than our business meetings and budgets. It’s bigger than our doctrine and our tradition. Love is bigger and more important than any thing else out there that could ever possibly divide us.

If so — and I believe it with all my heart — then why aren’t we as committed to loving each other as we are to those other things that divide us and lead to arguing and fighting? Seriously. If love is the most important thing — and if you don’t believe that, then we’re not reading the same Bible — why do we fuss and complain?

As children of God and disciples of his Son, we must place unconditional, God-ordained love in the supreme position of our hearts and our minds and our church. All of our time and energy and strength should go into loving each other as Christ loves us.

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52 days until the Cowboys begin their 2009 regular season against the Bucs in Tampa Bay. Of course, training camp and pre-season games are right around the corner. But, honestly, who can watch that? We’re all pointing to Sunday September 13. And to help us get there, we’re recognizing the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number.

Today’s #52 is tiny linebacker Dexter Coakley.

OK, he’s not exactly tiny. 5′10″ and 236 pounds is good for a small 1-AA school like Appalachian State. And despite setting all kinds of national tackle and interception records there and winning every defensive award there was, Coakley slipped all the way to the Cowboys in the third round of the 1997 draft.

And they got a steal.

Coakley wound up starting in his rookie year and played eight seasons in Dallas before giving way to Bradie James and Bill Parcells’ 3-4 defense. He was named to three Pro Bowls playing on a Cowboys defense that was built on speed and pursuit. And he wound up all over the Cowboys team record books. Coakley racked up a team record seven consecutive seasons of at least 100 tackles. He’s got the fourth highest total tackles record in team history with 1,046. And he’s tied with Dennis Thurman for the most defensive TDs in a Cowboys career with five.

Despite his size, Coakley was durable, too. In his eight seasons in Dallas, he only missed one game. He started all 127 games he played for the Cowboys. None of those games, by the way, were playoff wins. But he’s still the second-best #52 in Cowboys history.

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I’m still looking for information regarding the commemorative patch the Cowboys are going to wear on their uniforms this season to mark their 50th year. Anyone with info on that?

I’m also thrilled to share this bit of news with you: the NFL is going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the old AFL all year long. The original eight teams of the old American Football League will wear 1960 throwback unis for three games this season, several of them matchups between AFL alums. Of great interest to me is the old Houston Oilers. Yes, the Titans are going to throw on light blue jerseys with light blue helmets and white derrick logos and gray facemasks for three games this season. Plus, they get the bonus game at the Hall of Fame on August 9. I can’t wait to see that.

Of course, the Jets will be sporting their New York Titans uniforms and logos this year. And the Boston Patriots will be giving us the classic triangle-hat wearing-Revolution-soldier-snapping-the-ball look on their helmets.

The Cowboys will also be involved in something pretty neat. When they travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs, they’ll actually be lining up against the old Dallas Texans. The Chiefs will be wearing bright red jerseys and helmets with the all-white Texas-shaped decal, including the gold star that designates the location of Dallas. Some Chiefs fans are upset that their team will be wearing a huge map of Texas on their hats this year, especially in a game against the Cowboys. But I think it’s super cool. The Cowboys and Texans never played a regular season game against each other before Lamar Hunt moved his team to Kansas City. Too bad this one’s at Arrowhead and not at the Cotton Bowl.

Peace,

Allan

The Legacy basketball team played its last game of the season last night, giving up our one-point halftime lead and losing by eight.  Of course, it was our first game since learning that we were losing Aaron later this month to some church team down in Houston. I’m not sure what we’re getting in return. Hopefully another strong 6′ 4′ post/forward with decent moves who comes with a Bunko playing wife and three adorable children. Probably just a couple of practice balls, though, and a dirty elbow pad.

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I’m convinced that the temptation to jump off the roof of the temple was the temptation to do something that would gain a lot of attention, to do something that would appeal to the crowds and make Jesus an instant celebrity. Surviving a 460-foot jump, especially if everybody in the temple courts actually saw the angels lifting him up in their hands, would put Jesus in the tabloids and on the talk-show circuit.

The temptation to be important, to be seen as important, in the world’s eyes.

In our wishes to be accepted by the world, to be seen as relevant or even desirable in the world’s eyes, we’ll do some pretty silly things. We’ll do some very worldly things.

Colt McCoy, Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback for the Texas Longhorns! Jordan Shipley, award-winning wide receiver for the ‘Horns! And they’re both members of the Church of Christ! So we plaster them on the cover of Christian Chronicle and all our brotherhood newspapers and magazines. We talk about them in our sermons and at our lectures and seminars.

Graham Harrell, record-setting quarterback for Texas Tech! He’s not a member of the Church of Christ. He actually belongs to a community church just outside Lubbock. But his parents are Church of Christ! They raised him Church of Christ! So let’s talk about him, too!

How about senator / actor Fred Thompson? He’s running for president! Now, we don’t know if he’s Church of Christ or not, but he said his grandmother used to take him to a Church of Christ when he was a boy. So let’s promote him, too!

Find us an athlete or a politician or a millionaire, find us a celebrity the world thinks is important, and we’ll use him or her to show the world that we’re important. (For a group that claims to be non-denominational, this is quite hilarious.)

You know, we all want the organizations to which we belong to be successful. We want our clubs and groups to be important. We want to belong to a winner. That’s why you see so many Yankees baseball caps around the country. That’s why everybody rooted for the Chicago Bulls in the ’90s and the Lakers today. Our culture is eaten up with celebrity and money and status. And it can eat us up, too.

That’s why if I ever run into Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton at our neighborhood Target I’ll approach him and wonder how I can get him to our church. How can I get him to visit? How can I get him to our Small Group? Will he have dinner at our house on a Sunday night? Would he even consider it? Should I ask him?

Why don’t I have those same kinds of thoughts for the other 20,000 people I’ve met in North Richland Hills?

More than at any other time in this nation’s history, people are church-shopping. How big is your church? How important is your church? How wealthy is your church? Who goes to your church? How new is the carpet in your church? And those kinds of questions disgust us. But at the same time, we’re screaming to each other and shouting to the world from our own pinnacle, “Look at us! We’re important! These people you value, these rich and famous people, they’re Church of Christ! We’re viable and we’re desirable! Accept us! We matter! Pat Boone, remember? Church of Christ!”

Jesus says, “You’re the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men. What it highly valued among man is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15).

Paul nails it in his letter to the Christians in Corinth. That group was very concerned that they be accepted as big and important by society. And Paul sternly warns them, “Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

Jesus taught that a life like his, life in his steps, The Jesus Way, is one of rejection by the world, not acceptance. If the goal, the end, is to show them Christ, our medium, our means, have to be consistent with Christ. Or we’ll show them something else.

With apologies to Paul, Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our value, our worth, our importance, our significance.

Peace,

Allan

I am so proud of our congregation.

Yesterday one of our wonderful ten-year-old boys, Avery Caddell, led us during three of our songs. Avery won a gold medal in song leading at last month’s LTC event at DFW. One of Avery’s dreams is to someday be a worship leader in God’s Church. He talks about it a lot. And Lance pretty much decided that someday was yesterday!

And I’m so proud of our congregation.

Lance introduced Avery right at the start, told the church Avery was going to be leading us in three of our songs, and then handed him the reins. (He already had a microphone.) And I was so nervous for him. I was grinning from ear to ear — and not just because Avery and Lance were wearing almost identical striped shirts (coincidentally, I’m told). But because I was nervous. I thought back to my very first times to lead singing, lead prayers, serve on the table, and read Scripture in front of the whole church. Just about at the same age. And I got the butterflies all over again. For Avery.

And I’m so proud of our congregation.

We sang our hearts out with Avery. Our God, He Is Alive! He is our God, the great I AM!

Have I mentioned yet how proud I am of our congregation?

It was during the second song Avery led that I was moved by our church family. See, Avery paused between verses during Our God, He Is Alive. It was just a couple of beats or so, but it was a definite pause. It caught all of us off guard. We didn’t really start the verses together because most of us were singing a very familiar song in a very familiar pattern. But by the second song, He Lives!, we started waiting.

As a congregation. All 858 of us. Together. Waiting for Avery to lead us.

You ask me how I know he lives? He lives…………(breath)…..within…(pause)…my heart.

Beat-one-two-three. Wait.

In all the world around me I see his loving care….

It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was moving.

We weren’t just singing with Avery. We were also singing for Avery.

All 858 of us. I didn’t see a single soul not singing. And not singing loudly. And we were all smiling. Smiling big. And focused on Avery. Really tuned in. Zeroed in singing with and for Avery. And waiting on him.

He’s ten-years-old, right? So of course, without exception, every single person in the room is intent on encouraging Avery, supporting Avery, doing everything in our collective power to make sure Avery’s experience is a good one. There’s not a person in the room who would ever criticize Avery or say anything that might discourage him. The whole church body was determined to lift him up. Oh, we exercised such grace. Such patience. Such love. Such encouragement. Such acceptance. Such….

What if we showed that exact same grace and patience and love and encouragement and acceptance to every brother and sister in our churches? What if we focused on lifting one another up? What if we absolutely refused to ever criticize? Ever? What if we concentrated on encouraging everybody? What if we each totally zeroed in on making sure I worship in a way, and respond to everybody in a way, that guarantees the people around me and up in front have a great experience?

We do it for Avery, we wait on him, because he’s ten-years-old. We support him and encourage him and love him and are patient with him and we shower him with well-deserved praise because he’s ten.

What makes us think the 53-year-old among us doesn’t need and deserve that exact same level of kindness and love? Don’t you believe the 19-year-old and the 61-year-old brothers and sisters in our churches need support? Don’t they need encouragement, too? Aren’t we required to treat every single person the same way we treat Avery? Isn’t it demanded of Christ’s disciples?

I know it’s mostly out of context, but I couldn’t help thinking yesterday and into today about Paul’s admonitions in 1 Corinthians 11. He got on to the church in Corinth because they refused to wait on one another. “Each one of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else.” At the end of the chapter he encourages them, when they come together, to “wait for each other.”

I am so proud of our congregation.

Yesterday we waited on Avery. Today, a lot of us are learning to wait on one another.

Peace,

Allan