May 6, 2020
S = Something on My Heart
What Unites Us - heard from a manager at a safety meeting
once that the great thing about safety is it's the one thing that
unites us all. My first thought was one I often have when I
hear an extreme statement that uses terms like "always", "never" or
in this case "the one thing", and that thought was that it was
hyperbole, or exaggeration and that in the natural there are always
exceptions to extreme statements like this and that only God
deserves language like that (for example, all powerful, all
knowing, ever present),as a side note I've tried to avoid using
powerful or extreme words and phrases like this for natural things,
but reserve those for whom they are deserved, words like awesome,
incredible, amazing, unreal. But back to the safety meeting
at work. I thought about this statement some more, about
safety being the one thing that unites us , I thought about it both
during that meeting as well as in the weeks that followed,
particularly in light of the Coronavirus. I've come to the
conclusion that a better statement is that safety unites us more
than most things in life, but that it is not the one thing that
unites us all. In the workplace I have found that pretty much
everyone agrees that safety is important, maybe even that safety
should be our number one priority, but that unity ends when you go
beyond the general and into the specific. For example, I've
seen many examples where safety was prioritized to a level where it
went beyond common sense and didn't factor in sufficiently the need
for the business to be profitable nor did it factor in sufficiently
the need for individuals to take responsibility for
themselves. With the Coronavirus, I saw a fair amount of
division initially around what our reaction should be to the
threat, then a more united approach, but as we now debate how and
when we should reopen our country the unity has quickly changed as
there are different opinions on exactly what steps were appropriate
in response to that threat as well as how we should open things up
moving forward. To take this thought a bit further, what, if
anything, does actually unite all of us? This is not a
complete list, but here's a few things I've found to answer this
question. 2 things both come from Gen 1:26. We were all
made in God's image and we were all made so that we may have
dominion over the earth, I believe you could substitute the phrase
work for dominion. This was further clarified in Gen
2:15 "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden
of Eden to work it and take care of it." So 2 things
that unite all of us, believers and unbelievers, are God's image
and our purpose to do good work in the world. John
Stonestreet and Warren Smith in their book "Restoring all things"
say it like this "The absolute Ruler of everything decides to make
other rulers to take care of His world...they are not puppets, nor
have they been granted tourist visas to enjoy paradise. They have
work to do...they too, like the One whose image they bear, are to
fill and form...humans are to bring glory to God by living for the
good of the world". What are some other things that unite all
of us? The book of Romans is filled with them. "there is none
righteous not one", "for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God". and also that it is clear to all that God exists,
Rom 1:20 says "For since the creation of the world His
invisible
attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power
and
[g]Godhead,
so that they are without excuse," we're also united in the
sense that God doesn't want any of us to perish and that He sent
Jesus for all of us. John 3:16 says that "God so loved
the
world that he sent his
only begotten son". 2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is not slack
concerning
His promise, as some count
slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing
that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance." So far in our list
of what unites us all is some good news and bad news. We're all
made in God's image, we're all made to do good work, we're all
aware of God, we're all guilty of sin, and we're all equally loved
by God and have an equal opportunity to accept his gift of eternal
life with him. We've been talking about all of humanity, but
what about believers in Christ. What unites us? You've
heard the phrase "in the essentials unity, in non-essentials,
freedom, all things in love". As believers, we are all
forgiven. Psalm 103:12 says "as far as the east is from the
west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us". We are all
a new creation, 2 Cor 5:17 says "if anyone
is in Christ,
he is a
new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become
new". So, looking again at
all of humanity, what divides us? Well, in the natural
that's an easy question to answer, it seems that just about
everything and at an increasing level of intensity, divides
us. Let's talk just about the spiritual. What divides
all of humanity is our response to truth and to what God has done
for us. In John 18:37b Jesus says "for this cause I have come into
the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice".
Pilate responds to Jesus with a question "What is truth?". In 3 of
the 4 gospels Jesus asks a critical question "who do you say that I
am?". How we respond to that question as well as the question "what
is truth" is the primary way that all of humanity is divided.
That important division in terms of both how we
may respond as well as how
we
will respond
in the future is made every more clear by Jesus when he talks
about the present and the future. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says
"Enter by the
narrow gate; for wide
is the
gate and broad
is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Because
narrow is the
gate and
difficult
is the
way which leads to life, and there are few who find it". In
Matthew 25:32, Jesus says "All the nations will be gathered before
Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divides
his sheep from the
goats." Surprisingly, the Bible
does not say that Jesus came to unite all of us in peace between
each other but rather to unite us with Him. When the Angels
announced the coming of Jesus in Luke 2:14, they said "“Glory to
God in the highest, And
on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”.
Notice they said peace
toward men, not between men, i.e.
peace between God and man, not between man and man. And although
Jesus told us as his disciples to love one another, he also said
in Matthew 10:34-39 “Do not think that I came to bring
peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a
sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set
[j] a
man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s
enemies
will
be those of his
own household.’ 37 He
who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he
who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of
Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow
after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life
will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."
So, here are some takeaways for me on this question of unity. We
are united with all of humanity in the sense that God made us in
his image, he made us to do good work, he wants us all to choose to
spend eternity with Him, and he wants us to love HIm and to love
others. We are divided in how we choose to respond to God,
specifically to Jesus Christ. As C.S. Lewis said in his book "Mere
Christianity", "
“I am trying here to prevent
anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about
Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I
don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not
say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus
said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a
lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg —
or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.
Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or
something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at
him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call
him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense
about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to
us. He did not intend to.”
E=Example of
Faith at work
2 things to share. Both are innovative products that make
our lives better. These may not seem to be spiritual and I have not
researched to determine if the inventors are Christian, but as
we've discussed on here may times and in reference to Tim Keller's
book "Every Good Endeavor", all humans, believers and unbelievers,
are made in God's image and we all can be tools of God's common
grace, blessing all of humanity, by making the world better
including in very natural, physical ways. The first product
is one that teaches your cat to use the toilet so you can get
rid of litter. We found two makers Litter Kwitter and City
Kitty and purchased City Kitty mainly because it's less expensive,
and will be trying it out soon. The second product is one
that helped my mother out a lot and that is Windex
all-in-one. It has a pad with soap in it and allows you to
clean outside windows quickly and easily and more safely without
having to get on a ladder. I challenge you all to view
everyday tasks and accomplishments of your work as spiritual.
I was going to quote a famous quote from Martin Luther about the
value of making a good shoe until I found out that he didn't
actually say that, so instead I'd like to mention an actual quote
from Martin Luther I found on the reformed trombonist.com article
called "On making good shoes", where Michael Everett quotes Luther
as follows "The prince should think: Christ has served me and
made everything to follow him; therefore, I should also serve my
neighbor, protect him and everything that belongs to him. That is
why God has given me this office, and I have it that I might serve
him. That would be a good prince and ruler. When a prince sees his
neighbor oppressed, he should think: That concerns me! I must
protect and shield my neighbor….The same is true for the shoemaker,
tailor, scribe, or reader. If he is a Christian tailor, he will
say: I make these clothes because God has bidden me do so, so that
I can earn a living, so that I can help and serve my
neighbor.". In his post, Michael Everett also
refers to a scirpture I often refer to which is Colossians
3:23-24 " And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the
Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you
will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you
serve the Lord Christ."
L=Logos = Work
verse
Psalm 19:7b "The testimony of
the Lord is sure, making wise the
simple;" - I bring this up as an encouragement to other men like me
that feel they are sometimes not really measuring up in their work,
either in general or maybe temporarily on one of those down
days. You may feel simple or not as good at what you do as
the next guy. No matter who you are, or what your occupation
is, or how talented or gifted you are, you have access to mind and
heart of the Creator of the Universe in his word, and that word, if
you read it, receive it, and live it out in your daily life, will
make you wise.
A=Announcements
Finished Colson Fellows, Weekly release in June
H=Handy tip to
increase productivity and effectiveness
If someone at work
tells you about a problem they have, you can tell them you’re
praying for them but I recommend instead 2 better options, one is
for you to pray for them privately but don't tell them you're
praying for them, Matthew 6:6 says "But you, when
you pray, go into your room, and when you
have shut your door, pray to
your Father who is in
the secret place; and
your Father who sees
in secret will reward you openly."
The 2nd option is to pray WITH them right there and
then. Whichever way you choose to pray for them, I also
recommend you back that up by doing something in the natural
related to their problem. Don't just say "let me know if
there's anything I can do to help", instead at that moment or soon
after that, think and pray about what you could do to help them and
do it. James 2:15-17 says " If a brother or sister is
naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you
says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do
not give them the things which are needed for the body,
what does it profit? 17 Thus also
faith by itself, if it does not have works, is
dead."
