14

Jump Start # 1745

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1745

Jeremiah 6:14 “And they have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.”

  This week we are taking a serious look at how Satan tempts a church. It is important to see how valuable a stable and growing congregation is to our lives. It serves as an oasis in this crazy world. It reminds us that we are not alone in our journey with the Lord. Together with others, we blend our voices, talents and pool our money to help the kingdom grow and thrive. Things can be bad at work, but if we can find some peace and rest for our spirits when we worship with others, it becomes a balm for us. Things can even be bad at home and through the teaching of God’s word, the encouragement of others, we find hope. But when things are bad down at the church house, it affects us everywhere. That’s one place where we expect things to be good. In far too many places things are tense and an unsettled atmosphere looms over the congregation. We can be suspicious of each other’s motives. This disrupts our worship to God and we can leave feeling worse than when we came. It’s hard to sing, ‘Bless be the tie that binds our hearts…’ when we look around the auditorium and we are upset or mad at certain ones. Enough of that and folks either look for another place to worship or they simply quit.

 

Satan knows this. Attack the church and he hurts many families all at once. He can splinter and divide us. He can turn us on each other. We end up doing his work for him.

 

Our verse today, presents yet another way Satan tries to sneak in to the church and that is through the leaders. Paul warned the elders of Ephesus about this. He said, “among you,” men will arise speaking perverse things to draw the disciples after them. The failure of the leaders has been the death of too many congregations. Here in the Jeremiah passage, the brokenness was healed superficially.

 

  • The NIV states this: “they dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious”
  • Peterson says it this way: “My people are broken—shattered!  And they put on band-aids, saying, ‘It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.”

 

There were several serious problems facing God’s people. The leaders did not see it that way. They were not serious themselves. Maybe they were too busy with their jobs. Maybe they just didn’t want to do the hard work that it takes to heal serious problems. So, instead of addressing the problems, they denied them. They tried to convince the people that things were fine. “Go home and take an aspirin,” the doctor says, when you show him your broken arm. It’s late in the day and he wants to go home. He doesn’t want to deal with you and your problem, so he tells you that it’s not broken. In our medical world today, that doc would be in trouble. Yet, turn the situation around to a young couple who are having a marriage problem. Or, a man who struggles with pornography. A young lady and the bottle. A college student who takes the first steps toward atheism. A family who is drowning in debt. A man who has been fired for cheating at work. A teenager who is in jail. I could put names to most of these situations. This is today’s world. This is what God’s leaders face today. Messy. Detailed. Complicated. Time consuming. But fixable. With patience, teaching of God’s word, direction, all of these things can be changed. All of these can be righted. But it takes leaders.

 

Too often, leaders in God’s church would rather write checks and do the work that does not require their spiritual experience. They’d like to decide what colors to paint the classroom. They’d like to decide when to invite a guest preacher to come. They’d like to decide whether to lease or purchase a copy machine. These are the things that deacons can and ought to be doing. The shepherds need to be with the sheep. The sheep are broken and are needing help. Shepherds ought to consider why and how the sheep got broken and how to keep it from happening again. They need to mend the broken. They need to pour time showing compassion to the broken. This means they must do more than meet around a board room table once in a while. This means that they need to leave their warm homes on a Monday evening and go visit the home of the broken. This means that they must engage in deep and meaningful conversations.

 

I find it amazing how many leaders do not want to do this, nor, know how to do this. They are good at getting the snow off the parking lot. They are good at making sure the supplies are stocked. But in dealing with broken lives, they don’t like that. It seems such men ought to be deacons and not shepherds. It seems that they may not have understood what their job entailed.

 

Satan has a sure way in when no one is at the helm and no one is seeing after the people. Sheep without a shepherd is certain lunch for any wolf. Get the leaders preoccupied with trivial things and the sheep are not watched. Keep the shepherds busy being CEO’s of the corporation and very little vision takes place. The same ole’ things keep happening year after year. Little life. Little change. Little direction. Little hope. Without strong Biblical leadership, large, once powerful congregations can become unglued and start to fall apart. Members turn on each other. The work stops. Gloom and doom prevail. In a city not far from where I live, back in the 1960’s, there was a corridor of congregations that numbered 300 and 400. Several of them. Powerful. Large. Impressive. Today, some of those places do not exist. Others are on life-support, numbering 30 or less. Today they are struggling. Most of them are without shepherds today. What happened? People moved out. There was little progress. There was little vision. There was little change. A lot of brokenness. And many of those congregations died. They died a slow, ugly death because no one was there to heal the brokenness. It’s easier to say, “it’s not so bad,” than it is to do what it takes to turn things around.

 

In Jeremiah’s day, it was “peace, peace, but there is no peace.” Nationally, Judah was deceived and led into believing all is fine. The coming Babylonians changed all of that. The walls were crushed. The temple ransacked and destroyed. The people were killed or taken away as captives. There wasn’t a voice saying, “I told you so.” No, the voices before this was, “peace, peace.” Everything is fine. It wasn’t. Judah was crushed because of a lack of commitment to God and poor leadership.

 

Leaders today need to wake up. It’s time to turn off the auto pilot. It’s time to recognize the condition of the flock. It’s time to do what needs to be done to help the people become stronger and more spiritually minded. Sometimes surgery must be radical, intense and hard. It’s necessary to remove the deep tumors that can kill a person. Sometimes, spiritually, leaders must do what is radical and intense and hard to help remove the tumors of sin deep with the soul. Expert surgeons can do it. Expert leaders can do it. They do not work alone. With God. With God’s word, and with other godly people with them, today’s leaders in the kingdom can make powerful, life changing differences in our lives.

 

There is a responsibility upon the sheep as well. Some like being broken. They’d rather stay broken than do what is necessary to fix things. The shepherds can lead, but the sheep must follow. It comes down to, do you want to go to Heaven? How bad? What would you be willing to do to get there? Switch jobs? Change friends? Move? Give up a Monday night for Bible study? Oh, I want to go to Heaven, but how bad?

 

Shepherds, stay at your post. Don’t take your eyes off the horizon. Don’t settle for the quick and easy solutions. Do what is right. Do what God wants you to do. We need you and we are counting on you.

 

Roger

 

13

Jump Start # 1744

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1744

1 Corinthians 3:1 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of the flesh, as to babes in Christ.”

 

This week we are looking at the unique topic of how Satan tempts a church. We understand by both Scripture and observation that each of us are wired differently. Satan seems to know that. His attacks upon us individually seem to be tailored specifically to how we are wired. For instance, one person can cut through the liquor section of the grocery store and nothing happens. The needle in his heart doesn’t even move. He’s not tempted. Take another person, and he does the same thing and as he walks through, he is looking at each bottle. Drinking is a problem and now he is really tempted. He can’t seem to get it off his mind. The same thing happens with lust or materialism or pride. Satan seems to know just where to hit each of us. We understand this on the personal level. Should it be any different on the congregational level? To one congregation, Satan throws the curve ball of lack of trust in the leaders. That might work in some places. In other places, the needle won’t even move. Pride may be the death blow to another place. Just as Satan knows us individually, he knows congregations.

 

Our verse today shows another way Satan tries to get the door open to the church house and find his way in. He does that through hearts that are filled with the here and now. Our verse, Paul’s concern for the Corinthians, addressed the fact that he wanted to reach them on a deeper spiritual level, but they weren’t there. It wasn’t a lack of knowledge. It was a spiritual maturity issue based upon where their hearts were. They were, “men of the flesh.” Other versions use the expression, “carnal.” Worldly. Earth bound thinking. Hearts that are filled with the here and now.

 

The carnal church is composed of members who are carnal. Their conversations not only dominate secular subjects, but it’s secular in totality. Before services begin, it’s all politics, sports and fun. Worship takes place and then as soon as worship ends, it’s back to all politics, sports and fun. It can seem like the worship interrupted their secular thinking and their secular pursuits. The carnal mind does not see any connection between what happens on Sunday  and the rest of the week. There are no bridges between worship and the rest of your life. So at work, at school, Godly thinking never happens. The carnal minded person just “doesn’t think” spiritually. He doesn’t see how God’s word fits into his world. He never thinks to pray about things that bother him. He never thinks about the eternal consequences of decisions and choices he makes. He just doesn’t think spiritually. And too often, “I just wasn’t thinking,” is the cause of his many problems.

 

This is dramatically opposite of the image and the way that God wants us to live. Consider a few expressions:

 

  • Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20)
  • Live by the Spirit (Gal 5:25)
  • Be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18)
  • Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (Col 3:14)
  • Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you (Col 3:16)
  • God is at work in you (Phil 2:13)
  • Christ is in you (Col 1:27)
  • Abide in the light (1 Jn 2:10)
  • The Spirit of God dwells in you (Rom 8:9)
  • The Holy Spirit who is in you (1 Cor 6:19)

 

The spiritually minded person never turns off the switch concerning God. He is always thinking about God. This is why “praying without ceasing,” is never an issue for the spiritually minded man. He is praying constantly. He is thinking spiritually all the time. He looks for opportunities to do things spiritually. Help this person. Invite that guy. Pray about this. Avoid that. Thinking. Considering. Growing. That’s how God wants us to be. Jesus shows us this in the sermon on the mount. In the section about worry, the Lord says, “consider the lilies of the field,” it’s more than looking at flowers. By looking at the beauty of the flowers, the spiritually minded person realizes that God takes care of him. The birds of the air, another illustration of the Lord, and another connection spiritually to God. The spiritually minded person sees the same things that the man of the world does, but he goes deeper. He makes spiritual observations and conclusions. Every where is a lesson. Every where there are reminders.

 

The carnal person doesn’t get it. He’ll be at the church house every Sunday. He wouldn’t miss church services for anything. But as soon as the service is finished, so is his spiritual thinking. He just doesn’t think spiritually between Sundays. This problem affects him. His choices are shallow, selfish and materialistic. He is not strong spiritually. Get a church full of carnally minded people, and you’ll find Satan sitting on the front row. He’s there. He’s got the church right where he wants them. They are convinced they are doing well because they show up on Sunday, but they are not living, doing nor showing Christ to the world. They don’t think spiritually outside the church building. Satan has blinded them to their real condition. Like the church in Revelation, they have a name that they are alive, but in truth, they are dead. If it doesn’t happen on Sunday, it’s not going to happen.

 

Here and now people are consumed with who won what game, who is playing next, what movie is out, what song is # 1 on the charts, who kissed who in Hollywood and a host of things that really do not matter. Here and now folks don’t do much Bible reading during the week. Usually, they are too busy watching TV. Here and now people don’t do hospitality, especially with families from church.

 

The Ethiopian eunuch that we read about in Acts 8 certainly fits the description of a spiritually minded man. He had been to Jerusalem to worship. He was returning home, and we find him reading the book of Isaiah on his way home. He most likely had purchased the expensive Isaiah scrolls while in Jerusalem. Worship  was over. He was finished. Yet, on his way home he was reading Isaiah. Church, we could say, was over, but he wasn’t. That’s the mark of a spiritually minded person. He’s thinking. He’s reading. He’s talking. He’s interested in spiritual things, no matter what day of the week it is and no matter where he is. He’s that way as much at work as he is in the church building. He’s that way on vacation as much as he is at home. He’s God’s man, through and through. He loves all things spiritual. He likes talking Bible. He likes teaching the Bible. He likes being around other Christians. He likes helping out where he can. He is thoroughly spiritual through and through. Get a bunch of these folks together, and Satan can’t make his way in.

 

It’s the carnal man, the here and now person, that Satan can sure use to get his way into the congregation. Here and now folks are generally weak. They are not thinking nor using their spiritual tools nor opportunities. It doesn’t take too strong of a wind to blow them over. Error, trouble and all kinds of bad things can slip right past the here and now folks and they would never recognize it.

 

What can be done? Here and now people are that way by choice. They can change. Will they? Will they want to? They need to be lead. They need to be shown. They need to be included. Invite them. Walk with them. Take those little baby steps. Help them become spiritually minded.

 

I’d rather have a crowd of 10 people who were spiritually minded  over 200 who were carnally minded. Now, it’s easy to point the fingers at others, but the truth is, what about you and what about me? Are we spiritually minded? Do we waver too much? Do we fill our hearts and minds with things that really do not matter?

 

Look at the Corinthian church. What a mess they were in. Divisions. Lawsuits. Immoral. Abusing the Lord’s Supper. Mixed up about spiritual gifts. One must wonder if they were that way because of here and now thinking. Carnally minded will affect not only the family but also the congregation. Corinth proves that.

 

One of the hymns we sing, “Draw me, nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord…” That’s the answer. That’s the solution. Draw us closer to the Lord. Flip on that spiritual switch and never ever turn it off. Become absorbed in God’s word and God’s people. Get off the sidelines and get involved. Get busy for the Lord.

 

Carnal can become spiritual, if he wants to. And, that is the key. What do you want to do?

 

Roger

 

12

Jump Start # 1743

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1743

Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.”

 

A few years ago I wrote a Bible class booklet about the temptations of Satan. Many have studied similar topics. Paul told the Corinthians that we are not ignorant of Satan’s schemes. Peter told his readers to keep their eyes open to Satan. He’s out there. He’s dangerous. The devil is after three things: he is after our marriages and he will do anything to destroy healthy, trusting and vibrant relationships; he is after our congregations and will do anything to disrupt the peace and unity and the good that they do; and he is after our souls. Most times when a study focuses upon how Satan tempts, the direction is upon the personal level. Concepts such as the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life are talked about. We need to understand those things. The booklet I wrote, was focused upon one specific area, how Satan tempts a congregation. We need to know this. Shepherds ought to put some time into thinking about this. Too often a quick and simplistic answer to how Satan tempts a church is assumed and that answer is always, false teaching. We feel that the only way Satan tempts a church is through false teaching. Lessons are given about how evil false teachers are and we move on, not giving too much more thought about Satan and his eyes upon the congregation.

 

This week, I want to give some thought to how Satan tempts a congregation. One of the first ways this is done is when people become tired of God’s ways and they become fascinated with new ideas and new ways that are contrary to what God teaches. The old is out and the new is in. That “old time religion,” is no longer good enough for the crowd.

 

There are some careful things that we need to notice. The way we have done things, the traditions, the old way, is always assumed to be right. It may not be. The model of the past generation when it comes to shepherding, is nothing more than micromanaging deacons and running the church like a corporation. That model, even though several generations old now, isn’t right. Just because we have being doing something for a long time doesn’t mean that it has been done right, not does it mean that it has been God’s way.

 

We can also assume that if it is new, or we have never done it this way before, then it is wrong. Old is right and new is wrong. That’s the thought process in many places. Sometimes the old is stale and not working today. Young families are hungry for depth and practical lessons that deal with the things that they face. Bringing in  a guest preacher to spend a week detailing the failures of Calvinism, may be good information, but is it what families need the most today? Bless their hearts, some preachers and some shepherds don’t seem to get it. What worked in 1970, isn’t working today. The Gospel message hasn’t changed, but the methods to teach it, what we need and how we teach it should. The world has changed since 1970 and we need to find effective and Biblical ways to connect people to the Lord.

 

A very old, but classic example is our verse today. Taken from the days of Isaiah, the people were still worshipping God. Their lips were moving in praise. They are doing what they had been taught. However, within their heart, there was nothing. Their faith, their worship, their walk with God was all superficial and artificial. They had learned traditions by rote.

 

That word “traditions,” is a hot button for many folks. This is where some want to toss out everything old. Change the name. Change the look of the place. Change what is done. Change. Change. Change. They think changing things will bring back meaningful worship and faith in the Lord. And so, some have gutted the church building, their theology and the way they worship. This is nothing new. What we notice is that after a period of time, the “new look” becomes “old.” More changes. More throwing things out. With these changes, much too often, comes changing what God wants us to do. That should never be changed. Yet, too often, it is all bundled up in the concept of tradition and all of it, including what God wants us to do, is tossed. This is common when folks fight traditions and want changes without thinking about why they ought to change.

 

The Isaiah passage said that Israel learned traditions by rote. Most of us have learned things by rote. This is how we learned the alphabet, the books of the Bible and other important things. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Rote is not the problem.

 

The Isaiah passage said that Israel learned traditions by rote. Traditions are not always bad. It’s a sour taste for some, but it shouldn’t be. Here we are at the holiday season, a time filled with classic traditions.  The “non-traditionalists” don’t seem to have  a problem with that. The same Christmas music on the radio.  The same holiday movies again this year. How many will put on the same ornaments on the tree this year? Traditions are dear to us. We begin ball games by playing the national anthem. Is there a law that says we must do that? No. It’s one of our traditions. So don’t panic each time you hear the word tradition. All that word means is a way of doing things. The opposite of tradition is doing things differently, each time and every time. Chaos is what generally follows doing when you do things differently every time.

 

So the problem in Israel wasn’t rote. The problem wasn’t traditions. What was the issue? The answer is found in the little expression, “but they removed their hearts from Me.” Who did that? They did. That’s the issue. That lost touch with God. They forgot their purpose.

 

Now, this is one of the sure ways Satan gets through the front door of the church house. It happens when we forget our purpose. We lose contact with God and His word. We become so caught up in doing things differently, that we start worshipping the concept of being “different,” instead of God. We must recognize the difference in the way we do things, tradition, and what God authorizes. We may change the order of worship, but we cannot change what we are to do in worship. We may change the time of worship, but we cannot change what God expects of us in worship. We many change the number of times we worship on Sunday, but we cannot change the fact that we must worship on Sunday. There is no changing what God wants us to do.

 

This fascination with the new often does not make those distinctions very clear. Trouble brews when some are calling what God authorizes “tradition.” Then they make the unqualified statement that we need to get rid of our traditions. Without knowing, or maybe they do know, some use this as a platform to change what God wants in worship. The role of women, the use of the instrument, what and how a church raises money and what they do with that money, the use of entertainment, drama, are just a few of the things some are experimenting with today. Why not, they suggest. They justify major changes as being “non-traditional.”  The expression, “I’m not traditional,” is used to justify and to flaunt changes of the very things God wants. They arrogantly believe that being “non-traditional” is more spiritual than being traditional. The key, back to our Isaiah passage, is where is your heart with God?

 

Israel removed their heart from God. In other places in Isaiah, we find that they were calling evil good and good evil. They were worshipping idols. They had left the faith that was founded upon the word of God. Be careful when someone boasts, “I’m non-traditional.” My reply is always, “Why?” They usually complain about stale worship, dull services, out of touch sermons, old fashioned songs. Could be. Or, could it be that they have removed their hearts from God and what they really tire of is God’s word and God’s way. They don’t want to follow, even God, they want to be the pace setters. They want to lead. No one can get ahead of God. No one can lead God.

 

Satan is looking for a way in. Tired of the old ways and fascinated with the new is one way he gets in. Instead of being traditional or non-traditional, let’s just be biblical.

 

 

Roger

 

09

Jump Start # 1742

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1742

Matthew 16:13 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’”

  This week I have been doing an unannounced series about Jesus. We have looked at several different ways that people saw Jesus. Not everyone saw Him as God on earth.

 

  • On Monday, Cornelius knew of the Jesus who went about doing good (Acts 10:38)
  • On Tuesday, the Jews said that Jesus was a Samaritan (John 8:48)
  • On Wednesday, the centurion at the cross declared, “truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54)
  • On Thursday, His family came to take Him away because they thought He had lost His senses (Mark 3:21)

 

Just who is Jesus? Different impressions. Different reasons for their answers. The Jews, who claimed that Jesus was a Samaritan, already had their minds made up. There is no way that this Jesus would be the Messiah. Our verse today, adds even more suggestions and ideas. Who do people say? Jesus knew. He wanted His disciples to understand. He wanted them to make a claim on their own faith.

 

 

The answers that the disciples give to Jesus’ question is interesting. Some claimed He was Elijah. Others, John. Some thought He was Jeremiah. Some thought other prophets. Several suggestions. Several names.

 

First, other than Elijah, all the names given were of people who had died. John the Baptist was dead by this time. Jeremiah, dead. Other prophets, dead. All of them dead, except Elijah who was taken to Heaven in a fiery chariot. What were people thinking? Did they think these prophets had come back? From the dead? Did they think that somehow Jesus had the spirit of these people in Him?

 

Second, all the names submitted were prophets of God. No one repeated the “Samaritan” claim. Others had said that Jesus had a demon. That didn’t make this list either. I don’t know if the apostles “cleaned up” the list to make Jesus feel good or if this was the totality of what people said.

 

Third, all the names submitted were wrong. Jesus wasn’t Elijah, John, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Jesus was the Son of God. These guesses were all human. Jesus is God. No one saw Him as He really was.

 

Fourth, Jesus then asked the apostles. “But who do YOU say that I am?” Now the question becomes personal and relevant. Now, it doesn’t matter what others say. What do you say. Who were they going to stand with? Were they going to speak from faith, or hide behind a safe answer?

 

The question that Jesus asks the apostles, is the question that each of us must answer. Who is Jesus? This is not an academic question, but a question of the heart and of faith. What do you believe? That is what Jesus is asking.

 

For some, Jesus is the go to person when there is trouble. Mamas’ in the hospital, go to Jesus. Bills stretching you thin, go to Jesus. Some only see Jesus as the instant help in times of trouble.

 

Others see Jesus as the divine friend. He’s a friend you can talk to. He’s a friend that is not going to get on you about stuff. He’s there for you. Your buddy from Heaven.

 

Others find Jesus only in the church building. They believe He belongs there and needs to stay there. Go to worship on Sunday and find Jesus, but keep Him there until next week. Out there in the dog eat dog world of today, there is no room for Jesus. It’s mean and nasty out there and to survive you must run with the big boys. This Jesus stuff of kindness, forgiveness, putting others first, is great for church times, but not out there where things are tough. Jesus in the church building is how some see Jesus.

 

Others see Jesus as good in theory but out of touch when it comes to practical living. What Jesus says about divorce, many think, just doesn’t work today. Modesty, sex only in marriage, no lying, pure in heart, just doesn’t work today. Love Jesus, but He is hopelessly out of touch and behind the times. Jesus just doesn’t fit in today’s world of evolution, same-sex marriages and legal pot. Jesus is important, but don’t take it too seriously all the stuff He says. Consider the source.

 

Some want Jesus to be a good ole’ boy, who winks at mischief, looks the other way when folks are doing wrong and grades on the curve. Any other way and Jesus seems too stuffy and stiff.

 

Some want Jesus to be ever evolving. Contemporary. Hip. Into new ideas and new thinking. Global. Environmental. Social awareness. The causes are many. Women’s right to abort. One world government. Equality among the social and economic classes. A bridge builder between the different faiths and different religions. Some don’t want to pin a definition on Jesus. He’s changing as the times change.

 

The world still has a place for Jesus, but what have they done with Him? Is it any wonder that so many places do not take the Bible very seriously today. Why should they? Their Jesus is ok with what they are doing. Their Jesus happens to be a different Jesus than what we find in the Bible.

 

Who do you say that I am? Simply question. The answer that it demands is profound. The answer that we give shapes what we do and how we walk through this life. Some are so busy rewriting the rules of faith that they have forgotten what Jesus is really like. They have made Jesus answer to them.

 

Who do you say that I am? The answer to that question shapes how I view the Bible.

 

Who do you say that I am? Any answer can be given, but only one answer is correct. Peter found it. It was revealed to Him by Heaven. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That answer calls me to bow before Him. That answer leads me to obeying Him. That answer humbles my heart and silences my lips. That answer puts the rightful crown upon the head of Jesus.

 

Who do you say that I am? What’s your answer?

 

Roger

 

08

Jump Start # 1741

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1741

Mark 3:21 “When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses.’”

  Family—you just have to love them. The first people we ever know is our family. We don’t get a say about who are family is. For many of us, one of the greatest blessings has been our family. They have been there for us. They supported us, helped us and molded us into the responsible child of God that we are today. Had it not been for our family, many of us would not be Christians today. For others, family has been a nightmare. Neglectful or abandoned parents. Sibling rivalry. Divorce. An atmosphere of criticism, hatred and put downs. The influence of ungodliness. Dysfunctional adults surrounding you. Broken promises and broken homes. It’s been a struggle for some of us. We overcame thanks to a friend or a spouse that led us to Jesus. Had it been up to our family, we would have never darkened the church building.

 

Our verse today is about some of the family of Jesus. “His own people,” means His kinsmen. We know from other places in the Gospels that some of Jesus’ family did not initially believe who He was. Mary did. The setting of our verse is that Jesus came home. A massive crowd gathered. There were so many people that they could not eat. This is when His kinsmen came to take Him away. “He has lost His senses,” is a polite way of saying, “He’s nuts.” “He’s crazy.” “He’s loony.” “He doesn’t know what He is saying or doing.” So, family thought it was their responsibility to step in and take Jesus home. All of this “Messiah-talk” will end. Let Him rest. Get Him away from the people. Let things calm down.

 

Jesus’ kinsmen didn’t understand. They didn’t realize who Jesus was. Their plans to take Jesus home would not fit in with Heaven’s plans for Jesus. The family was wrong.

 

It is hard when one in the family becomes committed to Christ and wants to follow the Lord with all their heart, but the rest of the family doesn’t want any part of that. How awkward it becomes when the lifestyle of the parents is leading the family away from Christ. The language. The drinking. The lewd jokes. The immoral movies watched. The negative attitudes. The putting down of Christians. And in the midst of all of this misery, rises one who wants to follow the Lord. He may even want to preach. Instead of being encouraged and supported in this wonderful endeavor, he is mocked and ridiculed. He is pressured to pursue a career that will make more money. His family doesn’t get it. As this young man tries to preach the saving message of Jesus Christ to the world, he realizes his own family doesn’t believe in what he is doing.

 

The holiday season makes it difficult for many disciples. It means coming home and gathering with the family and surrounding yourself with some very toxic relationships. Nutty cousins. A grandma who can pass along the guilt with the best of them. Brothers who act like they are still eight years old. Jealous sisters who try to destroy everything good about you. Parents who are so absorbed in themselves that they don’t acknowledge you. As one grows in Christ, it becomes very clear that he has less and less in common with his family who are not Christians. There gets to be little that they can talk about. The atmosphere is uncomfortable. He is made to feel like he’s the one who is wrong, but he’s not. Home for the holidays can be hard on our faith when the atmosphere is unhealthy for a Christian.

 

It is easy to find an excuse not to go home, but this is your family. You are expected to be there and you realize that your may be the only one who can show Jesus among this strange group of people that are called your family. What do you do?

 

  • First, you need to go and be there. Not showing up is perceived as you are too good for them. Not showing up will do more harm in the long run.

 

  • Second, pray before you get there. If you have kids, talk to them and prepare them. Have a game plan in mind.

 

  • Third, smile, be upbeat and be kind. Most will ask you very little. They have very little interest in what you are doing. So, take the lead and catch up with the rest of them. You may hear things that turn your stomach. Divorcing. Living together. DUI’s. Arrests. Dishonesty. Cheating the system. It’s enough to make you scream. Making a scene by preaching and condemning the whole group isn’t a productive solution. Turn the conversations to safer topics. One on one, say and do what you can. Suggest coming to worship with you. Offer to sit down and talk at another time. Show concern. Let  them  know that you care.

 

  • Fourth, keep an eye on your kids. Cousins, around the same age, can introduces words and activities that you do not approve of. Your kids may come running to you, declaring in a loud voice, “Tommy, said…”  Kindly remind your kids, “we don’t say that. Find something good to do.” You may have to get up and supervise. That may get you out of the dull, trashy talk that the adults are engaged in.

 

  • Fifth, keep your eye on the time. If it’s getting to be too much, leave. Leave politely. Don’t leave in a huff, with threats to never come back. There is a bigger battle that you are trying to win. People are watching you, even if you don’t realize it.

 

  • Sixth, lead by example. I’ve seen times when the dinner is over, everyone gathers around the TV and poor mom is left in the kitchen to clean up by herself. Jump in there and help her. Be that servant that Jesus talked about. When the conversations turn to gloom and doom, find constructive and positive solutions. Be helpful. Solving the woes of the country is a common conversation piece, but most of us are not in the position to do much about that. Politics, sports and TV shows seem to be the thrust of what most families spend the afternoon talking about. Bring up a great book that you read recently. Talk about something good that is going on in your life. Turn the conversation and lead it to something useful, helpful and beneficial.

 

  • There always seems to be that one obnoxious person in every family. He’s the in-house ‘know it all’ about all subjects, including God and the Bible. He talks loud. He doesn’t even take a breath. He gets on a rant and there is no stopping him. He’ll take pot shots at the church, Christians and the Bible. He’s the self declared expert, and you may be his number one target. He loves to show the failures of Christians. He loves to find inconsistencies in faith. He thrives on contradictions. All of this makes him feel justified for having nothing to do with religion. Don’t take it personal, even though he’s trying to make it that way. It’s not the place for a debate, even though he seems to want to. Let him say what he wants, but end it with a strong positive affirmation about God and His people. This guy doesn’t want to discuss. He is not interested in you talking with him one on one. He’s proud and he knows he is right, even though he’s not. Remember, they thought Jesus lost His senses. He hadn’t. They were wrong. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, Solomon tells us. I have been in settings like this. It’s not comfortable. Try to say something and Mr. Obnoxious interrupts and dominates the conversation. It’s like watching a talk show on TV when two opposite views are being passionately discussed. Everyone is talking at the same time and nothing can be heard. That’s when I take the remote and try to find the Three Stooges. You may have to say nothing more than, “I don’t see it that way.” Don’t be shaken. Confidence is what the obnoxious person can’t deal with.

 

  • Try not to get too discouraged. You may be the one bright spot in your family. The things that you see that bothers you, can be the motivation to lead your self and your own family in a different direction. So your dad never spent much time with you. Be different and spend time with your kids. You and your siblings never got along. Build relationships among your children. Build a family like God wants you to have.

 

The family of Jesus thought He had lost His senses. They didn’t realize that they had lost their souls. Your family may think the same of you. It hurts. You wish it could be different and better. Make your home in such a way that people will want to come and be with each other. Make your home warm, loving and Christ like. Your home can be different from the home you grew up in. It’s your choice.

 

Home for the holidays…Family, you just have to love them.

 

Roger