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Chapter-a-Day

Amidst the Conflict

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Amidst the Conflict (CaD Matt 12) – Wayfarer

“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Matthew 12:32 (NIV)

My heart is heavy and sad this morning. I have recently found myself in the midst of many conflicts. I don’t like conflict. I confess that I don’t do it particularly well. I happen to be married to an Enneagram Type 8 for whom conflict is a form of intimacy. I, as an Enneagram Type 4, find that conflict triggers my deep sense of shame. It means we’ve had to learn some creative dance moves when it comes to conflict.

The conflict I’ve been experiencing lately is not with Wendy, however. It’s not really even with me. It’s within a human system of which I’m a part. Members of that system are drowning in negativity toward others. When I have to be around it I’m left feeling like my soul is soiled. It’s like I crave a spiritual and emotional shower. Even if I take one, I’m left with an acute sense of sadness as I’m drying off.

Perhaps it’s a bit of synchronicity that today’s chapter is focused on the conflict between Jesus and his most caustic critics. Ironically, it was the institutional religious establishment who led the opposition to Jesus. The Pharisees, in particular, were a powerful political constituency in the leadership of the Hebrew religious system of that day. Matthew offers a trinity (there’s that number three again from Matthew the Quirk) of episodes highlighting the conflict. Matthew focuses on the religious leaders motives:

“But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

“But when the Pharisees heard [that Jesus healed a demon possessed man], they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

“Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.'”

What Matthew makes obvious is that there was zero openness to Jesus’ teaching. They viewed Jesus as a threat. He was a wrench in the human religious system they controlled; A system that was the source of their personal power. Everything they did was motivated by a self-centered desire to maintain personal control of the system that fed their ego, social status, and religious self-righteousness. Theirs was a system of exclusivity and strict adherence to social, cultural, and traditional norms. Jesus was an outsider. He didn’t fit any of the norms, and He possessed both power and authority that threatened them. Whenever a fundamentalist system built on exclusivity encounters such as threat, it will always circle the wagons and declare the threat evil.

What struck me this morning as I read these three episodes is the contrast between Jesus’ actions and teachings and the reactions of his enemies. His disciples, hungry, simply and casually slid their hands over heads of grain as they walked through the field in order to have a snack. A man with a hand shriveled and disfigured is miraculously healed. A demon-possessed man is freed from the evil that had captured and kidnapped his body and soul.

These are all good things.

Jesus’ enemies declares them all evil.

In the midst of Jesus’ response, He famously mentions that there is one sin that is unforgivable, and that is to “speak against” the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? It means exactly what His opponents are doing. To look at something good and call it evil. To oppose what God is doing with selfish motives. To exclude those whom God loves and in whom God is working for personal gain and self-satisfaction.

Which brings me back to my sadness. The personal attacks. The whispered, salacious accusations. The threats used as systemic leverage. I’m reminded this morning that Jesus’ death and resurrection did not change evil. For now, evil remains and perpetuates the same systemic paradigms that Jesus faced in today’s chapter. What Jesus’ death and resurrection did change is me. As a disciple of Jesus, I am called to navigate, be present, and participate in broken human systems and the evil I find within them in order to bring the power and presence of God’s love and shalom as I best as I am able.

I confess that most of the time I don’t want to do so.

Did I mention that I hate conflict?

In the quiet this morning, God’s Spirit whispers to my spirit: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” I guess that means following Him into unhealthy human systems in which evil wreaks havoc and perpetuates conflict.

The words of an old hymn rise from the memory banks in reply as I contemplate Holy Week next week, and as I think about Good Friday in seven days:

King of my life, I crown thee now.
Thine shall the glory be.
Lest I forget thy thorn-crowned brow
Lead me to Calvary.
Lest I forget Gethsemane.
Lest I forget Thine agony.
Lest I forget thy love for me,
Lead me to Calvary.

Speaking of Holy Week, I’m going to take next week off. I’ll be back after Resurrection Day. Cheers!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

“Much is Required”

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“Much is Required” (CaD Lev 21) – Wayfarer

“‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes.’”
Leviticus 21:10 (NIV)

As a young man I spent five years in vocational pastoral ministry, a total of six years in professional ministry when you add one year of purgatory in a para-church men’s ministry.

Six years.

Six is the number of man, and it was yours truly’s determination back in the day that when God called me to proclaim His Word that it must have meant being in vocational, professional ministry. I have fond memories of those six years and, to this day, I continue to be blessed by the fruit of my labors within them. Nevertheless, those years will filled with many hard lessons as God made it clear to me that He had another plan. I was still going to proclaim His Word. It was just going to be nothing like I had been determined it should be. My ways are not His ways.

“To whom much is given, much is required,” Jesus said, and goodness gracious did I experience that during my six years of pastoral ministry. The question I learned to ask during that stretch of my life journey was, “Exactly who is requiring this of me?”

As a youth pastor and pastor I learned that many people required many different things from me. And, many of them made it clear that they were the ones doing the “giving” that paid my salary so I had better toe the line of their personal requirements. It didn’t take long before I realized that I was beginning to pretend to be someone I wasn’t in order to be the person others were requiring me to be. So, I fulfilled my contract and chose to walk away.

I then worked for one year for a ministry started and led by charismatic and popular celebrity in local Christian circles. In this professional ministry I learned that what was required of me was to be loyal, do what I was told, not to complain, and not to ask uncomfortable questions, especially about how the ministry’s finances were being handled. I actually got fired from that job. It put me and my young family in a tremendous financial pinch at the time, but it was among the best things that ever happened to me. God provided what we needed.

In the next two chapters of God’s priestly manual for the ancient Hebrews, God addresses the priests, and the High Priest, in particular. Jesus words are just as apt here. There was nothing that Aaron or his sons had done to deserve or earn being the priests. It was a calling given to them by God. And, it was a pretty sweet gig. They wouldn’t toil like all the other tribes to make a living and provide for their families. They got a portion of the offerings and sacrifices that were simply brought to God. As the tribe of priests grew, it also meant that they actually only did their priestly duties on occasional shifts. And, the priests had God-given authority over the people. They had the power to declare people clean or unclean, to banish people from the camp, and to declare a person’s offering acceptable or not. In other words, the priests had the power to keep people in fellowship with God, or to cut them off from God’s favor. What is clear from today’s chapter is that God is requiring from them an exceptional level of behavior from His preists as it relates to remaining ritually “clean” and being a “holy” example as they carry out the ritual offerings and sacrifices God prescribed earlier in the book. They are to live and lead by example. But, that’s ultimately not going to happen.

As Lord Acton observed back in the late 1800s, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

What eventually happened with the Hebrew priesthood is the same thing I observed in the large institutional churches and denominations I’ve served in and been a part of my entire life. They become just another kingdom of this world under the dominion of the Prince of this World. Spiritual authority is corrupted into personal and worldly power. Being an example is corrupted into being a pretender. Those at the top of the religious food chain become just like politicians, celebrities, or business moguls. They expect or demanding one thing from those under their authority or influence while doing pretty much whatever they want.

For example, I read in today’s chapter God’s very specific instruction to the High Priest that he was never to “tear his clothes.” The rending of one’s garments was a common practice among the ancients as a sign of grief or lament. God apparently wanted the High Priest to remain an example of spiritual objectivity and discipline, and not to do this. I suddenly remembered something and quickly flipped to Matthew.

When Jesus was arrested by the High Priest Caiaphas, He was arrested under the pretense of Jesus breaking all sorts of religious laws. He worked on the Sabbath, He claimed to be God, and He said He would destroy the Temple. However, the High Priest had Jesus arrested at night, which was also against the law. He presided over a trial of Jesus during that same night, which was also against the law. When Jesus proclaimed that He was exactly who He claimed to be, Matthew tells us: “Then the high priest tore his clothes….” In condemning the Son of God for breaking God’s laws, the High Priest breaks them himself.

Rules for thee, but not for me.

That’s the way it works in this fallen world.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself grateful that God led me down a path that gave me a much more expansive (and powerful) understanding of what “ministry” is and means. He blessed me with a vocation that perfectly fit my gifts and abilities which I have really enjoyed. He also blessed me with regular opportunities to continue using my gifts among every local gathering of Jesus followers while having another vocation. It has also afforded me the freedom and opportunity to find and embrace my authentic self and what God requires of me without the pressure to conform to what everyone else “requires.” Just like Paul who made tents wherever he went so that he wouldn’t need to ask anything from the local gatherings of believers he served, it’s allowed me to do very much the same, serving even in pastoral roles in ways that are a service and a calling but not necessary as my professional vocation.

I’ve had people ask me if I would ever consider going back to a full-time pastoral gig. I always feel myself shrug. Who knows? A lot has changed all around in 35 years. As I see “retirement” out there on the horizon, who knows where God might yet lead me in future seasons of life. I know that I will continue to follow wherever He leads. I know that I can trust Him with the Story. And, I know that I am right where I’m supposed to be doing the things I’m supposed to do today.

And with that, I enter another day of the journey, just another Wayfaring Stranger making my way home.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Who Am I Living to Please?

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"Who Am I Living to Please?" (CaD Jhn 5) – Wayfarer

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
John 5:30 (NIV)

I was 14 years old when I became a disciple of Jesus. My sister, Jody, joined me in this. This decision was not an institutional “profession of faith” or “confirmation” that was expected of us as part of the institutional church in which we were raised. In fact, both Jody and I had been through that established and corporate rite of passage. It provided us with knowledge. It resulted in us receiving a certificate and a box of offering envelopes. It did not, however, result in any meaningful transformation of spirit or of daily life.

When we willfully chose to give our lives to the Lordship of Jesus, and we committed ourselves to follow His teaching and example, everything changed. Some changes were immediate. Other changes took years, some took decades, and some changes are still in process. Being a disciple is a life-long journey of transformation.

One of the immediate changes for Jody and me was our relationship with one another, and our relationship with our parents. Jody and I had always been close as siblings, but suddenly we had experienced and shared a common love that transcended the petty sibling squabbles, rivalries, and conflicts that prevail in adolescence. In addition, without even thinking much about it, we became more respectful and obedient to our parents. Our parents would later testify that the change they saw in us led them to wonder what was going on, and eventually led them to the reaffirmation of their own faith.

John spends today’s chapter revealing and expounding on the “line in the sand” between Jesus and the ruling religious leaders in Jerusalem. We’re just 25% of the way through John’s account and he makes clear that the institutional religious leaders were already seeking to get rid of Jesus, whose popularity and anti-establishment rhetoric threatened their earthly power and authority.

When I read Jesus’ statement, “I seek not to please myself but him who sent me,” it resonated in my spirit. I find the question, “Who am I living to please?” worth pondering. The religious establishment crowd was trying to please itself. I’ve observed that human establishments and institutions end up serving themselves in what are often very unhealthy ways. I just finished watching the HBO Miniseries Chernobyl. I recommend it as Exhibit A. This is why the religious establishment saw a paralytic miraculously healed and walking for the first time after 38 years and immediately chastised him for carrying his mat on the day of rest.

John then records that Jesus contrasted this thinking by stating that He was interested in pleasing His heavenly Father, and him alone. I can’t help but ponder the fact that this motivation and commitment will only lead Jesus to conflict, persecution, prosecution, and execution by the establishment. That is what John is foreshadowing. This is the delineation between the establishment pleasing itself and the Son of God who wants only to please His heavenly Father and the Kingdom of God on His earthly mission. The line in the sand is clearly drawn.

As a disciple of Jesus, I must answer the question myself.

“Who am I trying to please?”

As a teenager, I saw how my desire to please God by honoring my parents had a positive impact on our relationship and on my parents themselves. I must confess, however, that I can look back at my life journey and see so many seasons, and so many examples, of me still choosing to please myself. The results were not so healthy or positive.

So here I am at the beginning of another day. I can’t change the past. I’m not promised a tomorrow. I have today. And so, my heart cries out in the quiet: “Heavenly Father, I choose this day to live to please you. May my thoughts, words, and actions toward others reflect Your ways, and the ways of Your eternal Kingdom, and not the ways of this world.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Me and Babel 2.0

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Me and Babel 2.0 (CaD John 17) – Wayfarer

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
John 17:15-16 (NIV)

Earlier this year Wendy and I were on the back patio with friends late into the evening. One of the things we like to do in the dark of night is keep our eyes peeled for meteors, satellites, constellations, plants, and other interesting objects in the night sky. On that night I spotted a satellite, which basically looks like a moving star, trekking slowly from west to east. Then there was another one right behind it. I’d never seen two of them so close and moving in the same trajectory. Then came another, and another, and another, and another.

Pulling up the internet on my phone to find out what we were looking at, we learned that evening about the satellite train. The brainchild of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, it is a long string or “train” of 60 satellites that follow one another in orbit. SpaceX plan to eventually have 12,000 of them in low orbit to provide internet service everywhere from space. Fascinating.

It’s an amazing time to be alive and to make this earthly life journey. In the course of my lifetime, the world has arguably changed more rapidly and drastically than in any other time in human civilization. Advancements in technology and science are beginning to outpace our ability to comprehend the effects of all that it possible.

Along with the “progress” has come a sharp decline in the number of people who adhere to traditional Christian belief systems or attend institutional Christian churches. One of the things that I read consistently about this trend is the criticism that believers and churches in America haven’t done enough to address social justice issues and the problems of our world.

Today’s chapter is traditionally known in theological circles as “the high priestly prayer.” John records Jesus praying just before He was betrayed by Judas and arrested. In the prayer Jesus acknowledges two important things. First, that His followers are “not of this world.” In my experience, Jesus is acknowledging that those who follow Him have expanded their world-view beyond this earthly life to God’s eternal Kingdom. After acknowledging this, Jesus consciously chooses that His followers not be removed from this world, but protected from the same prince of this world that will see Jesus crucified within twelve hours of this prayer.

To quote Hamlet, “ay, there’s the rub.”

In this world, not of it. How do I, as a follower of Jesus, hold that tension?

That’s what my soul and mind are chewing on in the quiet this morning. And here are a few of my thoughts…

I confess that critics of Christianity are not wrong. Followers of Jesus and the institutional churches of history have not done enough adhere to personally fulfill Jesus’ mission of crossing social boundaries, loving the outcast, and caring for the poor. Mea culpa.

At the same time, history has taught me that revolutions and reformations typically paint complex realities with broad-brush generalizations, and then throw babies out with the bathwater. Despite the moans and wails of how awful of a state the world is in, here are a few undisputable facts:

  • In 1966 (the year I was born), 50% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. In 2017, that’s dropped to 9% despite population growth.
  • When my parents were young, average life expectancy was between 30-40 years. In two generations it’s risen to 72, and still climbing.
  • In 1975, 58% of children with cancer survived. By 2010, it was 80%.
  • In 1980, 22% of one-year-olds received at least one vaccination. In 2018 the percentage was 88%.
  • In 1970, 28% of the world’s population was undernourished. In 2015 that number had dropped to 11%.
  • In 1900, roughly 40% of children died before the age of five. By 2016 the percentage was down to 4%.
  • In 1980, 58% of the world’s population had access to a protected water source. By 2015 the number was 88% and climbing.

It’s easy to cast a stone at the institutional church, its members, and cast stones regarding all that it hasn’t done. I also know many believers in my own circles of influence who, led by their faith in Jesus and dedication to His mission, have given their lives to contribute to the numbers I’ve just quoted.

Scott and Marcia have helped mobilize native efforts in Eswatani Africa to care for unwanted babies, lower the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water, and improve agricultural yields to feed the local population.

Tim and an entire host of individuals in our local gathering of Jesus followers have done a similar work in Haiti. Learning from the mistakes of the past, they are helping native Haitians create sustainable and healthy life and community systems.

My college suitemate, Tim, has dedicated most of his career to helping care for impoverished children and single mothers around the globe. He’s now leading a non-profit to address the 12% of the world’s population that still need a protected water source.

I have long believed that with the technological age I may just be witnessing humanity’s next great attempt at building a tower of Babel. Instead of bricks and mortar, we’re using processors, fiber optics, CRISPR, and satellite trains. The goal is the same: nothing is impossible, and we ascend to be our own god. I find it fascinating to observe what I perceive to be “Babel 2.0” is that we largely still speak the same language but our transmission and translation are increasingly confused. What one intends to say, what they say, and what the other hears and interprets to have been said are incongruent. Language is hijacked and redefined in a moment by part of the population. New words are created, defined, and trend within one part of the population while everyone else in the population failed to notice. They are therefore ignorant and confused when they are discussed.

So what does this mean for me today? I don’t run an institution, nor do I want to. I am a follower of Jesus and, as such, I have a world-view that sees beyond this world and incorporates God’s Kingdom into my earthly existence. I seek to accomplish His mission of “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth” and I take that responsibility seriously. This earthly journey is not about biding my time until death and eternity, but rather trying to bring a Kingdom perspective into my every day intentions, choices, work, actions, and relationships.

I am in this world, a world which remains the dominion of the prince of this world, which is why Jesus prayed for my protection on that fateful night. Jesus asks me to affect this world with love, service, and generosity that He exemplified. He told His followers to be “shrewd as a serpent and gentle as a dove.”

And so, I enter another day of the journey with those intentions.

Note:
Three messages have been added on the Messages page. Click here

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day, Wayfarer Podcast

That’s Qadosh

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That's Qadosh (CaD Ps 99) – Wayfarer

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
Psalm 99:9 (NIV)

While being in quarantine has frustrated my extroverted need for interpersonal interaction over the past ten days, I have also been mindful each day to appreciate the opportunity it has afforded Wendy and me to spend lots of time with our grandson, Milo, who normally resides across the pond in Scotland. Yesterday, my exercise monitor informed me that I’d set a new personal record for exercise in one day. If you’re having a hard time getting into that New Year’s workout routine, I suggest finding someone to loan you their three-year-old for a few days.

One of the more endearing developments during our extended time together has been Milo’s desire to go to sleep at night in Papa and Yaya’s bed. Last night, Wendy and I climbed onto the bed with Milo between us. We read three books together, then turned out the light. We sang softly in the darkness. Wendy reached over Milo and held my hand as we lay and sang with Milo nestled between us. Even with my hearing impairment, I could hear Milo’s deep breaths as he drifted to sleep. We then whispered a prayer over him before slipping out of the room.

That, my friend, was a special moment. I wanted to just stay in that moment forever. If only I could bottle it up and hold onto it. I immediately knew that it was a memory I will remember and cherish always.

Today’s chapter, Psalm 99, continues in this section of ancient Hebrew praise songs. They were likely used for liturgical purposes to call the Hebrews to worship in the temple. The lyricist of Psalm 99 layered this call to praise with metaphorical meaning that casual readers in English would never pick up.

Remember in yesterday’s post/podcast I shared that “everything is connected?” The Hebrews found spiritual connections with numbers. Each number had meaning. Seven was a number that meant “completeness.” Three was a number spiritually connected to the divine. There are three stanzas, each with four verses (4+3=7). Seven times the songwriter uses the Hebrew name of God, Yahweh. Seven times he uses Hebrew independent personal pronouns. Three times he refers to God as “holy” (Hebrew: qadosh).

I confess that “holy” is a word, and a spiritual concept, that I failed to fully understand, or flat out got wrong, for most of my journey. The concept of holiness as communicated by the institutional churches I’ve been involved in my whole life made holiness out to be simple moral purity in the utmost sense. The equation was “no sin” plus “going to church” equaled “holiness” (x + y = z). Which meant that holiness, unless you were Mother Theresa, was pretty much unattainable.

I have come to understand, however, that qadosh has a much larger meaning. There are moments in life in which everyone in the room knows there is something meaningful, something special, something larger that is happening in the moment.

Our daughter, Taylor, has an audiotape of the moment she entered the world in the delivery room. You hear her squeaky cries. You hear Dr. Shaw announce it‘s a girl. You hear me talking to her on the warming table. That moment is qadosh.

Last October I stood with our daughter, Madison, in a courtyard. We watched the congregation stand and turn toward us. The beautiful bride, whom I taught to walk, I now walked down the aisle to “give her away” to the man she loves. People smiled and wept. That moment was qadosh.

I sat in the dark room of the nursing home as my grandmother’s life ebbed away with each strained breath. Through the wee hours I kept watch over her. I held her hand. I sang her favorite hymn. I read the final chapter of the Great Story to her and I realized in the moment that it was like reading a travel brochure for the trip she was about to take. That moment was qadosh.

Last night as Wendy and I held hands and hovered over our peaceful, sleeping grandson lying in our bed. We sang. We prayed blessings over him. It was a holy moment. That’s qadosh.

Throughout the Great Story, when God made a special appearance (theologians call that a theophany) the person to whom God appears is mesmerized, speechless, dumbfounded, or overwhelmed. To be in the presence of God, described by lyricist of Psalm 99 as the royal King of Kings. That moment is qadosh.

When the psalmist calls me to worship, he’s not religiously demanding that I dutifully “go to church” in an effort to attain some pinnacle of moral purity. In fact, when I meditate on the fullness of all the qadosh moments I’ve recalled, then all my old notions of what it means to be “holy” are silly in their triteness. The psalmist is calling me into the mysterious, beautiful, meaningful moment of qadosh.

Chapter-a-Day

Divine Call, Human Reluctance

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Divine Call, Human Reluctance (CaD Ex 4) – Wayfarer

But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Exodus 4:10 (NRSVCE)

The first time I publicly spoke about my faith I was just shy of 15 years old and had been a follower of Jesus for two months. I was young, uneducated, inexperienced, and naive. It was a church “youth” service and I was one of three young people who each had ten minutes to share. Within months I was unexpectedly given more opportunities to speak, which turned into even more regular opportunities. Again, this was not something I expected at all.

I made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I still do. I also learned a lot of valuable lessons in the process.

In the past few years, I’ve volunteered to lead and mentor others who give messages among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. The vast majority of individuals express fear when they start, which is natural given the fact that public speaking is one of the most common fears in all of humanity. There’s the fear of not knowing enough, saying something stupid, looking stupid, people pushing back, offending others, et cetera, and et cetera. It is not hard for people to find reasons to decline the opportunity.

I have always loved the story in today’s chapter. Moses, on the lam and living as a shepherd in the land of Midian, is confronted by God and called to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrew people out of slavery. As I have already noted in the previous chapters, Moses “has ‘hero’ written all over him.” In today’s chapter, we find our hero receiving a clear, miraculous “call” from God to lead a historic and heroic endeavor.

Moses doesn’t want to do it.

“What if my people don’t believe that you called me to this? What if I get pushback?”

“I’m not a great public speaker. I struggle enough in regular conversation. Speaking in front of a group of people would be a disaster!”

“Seriously. PLEASE call somebody else.”

It is such a human moment. Fear, reluctance, pessimism, and defensiveness are common human responses to the call. Moses is like all of us.

Along my journey, I’ve had three interrelated observations:

First, God’s Message makes it clear that every follower of Jesus who “answers the knock and invites Him in” is given a spiritual “gift” by the indwelling Holy Spirit with which they are to serve the larger “body” of believers and carry out Jesus stated mission to love everyone into God’s Kingdom. This is true of every believer regardless of age, gender, race, education level, social status, economic status, or experience. Peter called every believer a member of a “royal priesthood.”

Second, most human beings are, like Moses, reluctant to embrace the notion that they have any gift, talent, or ability. They are quick to decline any opportunity to take responsibility for serving the larger “body” or accepting the responsibility of loving others like Jesus in their circles of influence.

Third, for 1700 years the institutional church has largely entrenched the thinking that serving the larger body is almost exclusively a professional career for a select group of educated individuals who have successfully navigated the prescribed institutional education and bureaucratic hoops. Those who have not done so (all the rest of us) are, therefore, largely off-the-hook other than regular attendance and financial giving necessary to provide for the livelihood of the aforementioned ministry professionals.

That third observation is bovine fecal matter. And, I believe that it contributes to the impotence and decline of the Jesus Movement being witnessed in current society.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself appreciating Moses the reluctant hero. I also find myself appreciating the fact that God both made allowances for Moses to depend on the giftedness of his brother-in-law, Aaron, to accomplish the task. That’s the very picture of the “body of Christ” the Jesus Movement adopted. Everyone has their “gift” and contributes to the whole of the mission. Moses was a gifted leader. Aaron was a decent public speaker. They depended on one another.

I can always find an excuse to not serve. There’s always something that I can conjure up as an excuse that I am “lacking” (education, knowledge, experience, calling, opportunity, training, etc.). The truth is that all God requires is simple trust and obedience. Which brings to mind a song from many years ago…

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.