Matthew 6:9-13
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
What really struck me in this passage ("The Lord's Prayer", Jesus' example of how we should pray) was the part about food (yes, I am a huge fan of both Jesus and food so I was pretty excited to find them both in Matthew 6).
If you re-read the passage, paying extra attention to food part, you see that when Jesus teaches us to pray, he does so in the future tense. So often, for many of us, the only consistent time we pray is when there is food in front of us or even after we've already eaten, but Jesus example was about, before anything happened and before we even thought about where our next meal was coming from, recognizing that it is God who sustains us and provides for us. I think for many of us we ignore God all day long, sit down to dinner and, in our hearts, pray "God, this food looks great and I worked my butt off earning the money to buy it and/or cook it. Oh, PS, thanks for anything you might have had to do with it. Amen."
Maybe it's time for a change.
Showing posts with label cultural Christianity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cultural Christianity. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Admiring the Vision
Matthew 6:1
Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Not long ago, I visited an unfamiliar church. I was seated in one of their pews and decided to entertain myself by rifling through the many cards and pamphlets that were available. Among others, I found one card that said in big, bold letters: "I give electronically". It had a spot to write your name and date and included fine print that read: "If you donate online or by bank draft you may use this card to participate in the offering during worship services." I felt an immediate unsettling in my spirit: this is not right.
What should a gift to God look like? Well, my friends at Merriam-Webster define a gift as "something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation" and I see nothing in that definition that conflicts with Scripture. So, both Jesus and M-W tell us that when we give a gift, we should give it without expectation of compensation, whether that looks like the choice piece of Communion bread (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about), a stroked ego, or even the praise and admiration of our peers.
So why then would a church use a card like this? Well, since the people using it "donate online or by bank draft", both the congregant and the church would already have a record of the transaction, so that's not it. The card states that its purpose is to allow the user to "participate in the offering", but if you donate online or by bank draft, haven't you already participated in the offering? You are left with no choice but to believe that this card is a modern-day example of exactly what Jesus was speaking out against in Matthew 6: sinners' need to be admired by others and their willingness to trade that admiration for the reward that God has for them.
Do I think the leadership of this particular church have no regard for the vision that God has for their church? Not at all. My guess is that they have let the wants a few misguided congregants (who also happen to give electronically) interfere with that vision. I think one of the strongest signs of the spiritual health of a church (or almost any organization or individual) is the willingness of the leadership to discern the vision that God has for them and then to pursue that vision despite all of the distractions that the masses have to offer. Isn't that something that we have all experienced?
Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Not long ago, I visited an unfamiliar church. I was seated in one of their pews and decided to entertain myself by rifling through the many cards and pamphlets that were available. Among others, I found one card that said in big, bold letters: "I give electronically". It had a spot to write your name and date and included fine print that read: "If you donate online or by bank draft you may use this card to participate in the offering during worship services." I felt an immediate unsettling in my spirit: this is not right.
What should a gift to God look like? Well, my friends at Merriam-Webster define a gift as "something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation" and I see nothing in that definition that conflicts with Scripture. So, both Jesus and M-W tell us that when we give a gift, we should give it without expectation of compensation, whether that looks like the choice piece of Communion bread (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about), a stroked ego, or even the praise and admiration of our peers.
So why then would a church use a card like this? Well, since the people using it "donate online or by bank draft", both the congregant and the church would already have a record of the transaction, so that's not it. The card states that its purpose is to allow the user to "participate in the offering", but if you donate online or by bank draft, haven't you already participated in the offering? You are left with no choice but to believe that this card is a modern-day example of exactly what Jesus was speaking out against in Matthew 6: sinners' need to be admired by others and their willingness to trade that admiration for the reward that God has for them.
Do I think the leadership of this particular church have no regard for the vision that God has for their church? Not at all. My guess is that they have let the wants a few misguided congregants (who also happen to give electronically) interfere with that vision. I think one of the strongest signs of the spiritual health of a church (or almost any organization or individual) is the willingness of the leadership to discern the vision that God has for them and then to pursue that vision despite all of the distractions that the masses have to offer. Isn't that something that we have all experienced?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Timing
Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.
I am a Christian and have lived in Knoxville, Tennessee for my entire life. Being raised in the South, I have been exposed to mass amounts of 'cultural Christianity'. In fact, the culture in the South is so inherently Christian that many non-Christians use Biblical phrases and terminology without ever knowing where it came from. What's worse is that Cultural Christianity has exposed us to Christian cliches to the extent that many of us view phrases such as 'God's timing is perfect' more as chicken soup for the pimple-on-prom-night's soul more than scripture.
What we should realize is that, when it comes to God's timing, we must have faith that it is perfect. I say that we must have faith because when you read verses like Psalm 90:4, you will realize that we will never comprehend the way that God sees things.
Today, perhaps we should pray that God cleanse us of our lukewarm habits, give us a passion for His Word, and that we would have the faith to truly believe that his timing is perfect.
For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.
I am a Christian and have lived in Knoxville, Tennessee for my entire life. Being raised in the South, I have been exposed to mass amounts of 'cultural Christianity'. In fact, the culture in the South is so inherently Christian that many non-Christians use Biblical phrases and terminology without ever knowing where it came from. What's worse is that Cultural Christianity has exposed us to Christian cliches to the extent that many of us view phrases such as 'God's timing is perfect' more as chicken soup for the pimple-on-prom-night's soul more than scripture.
What we should realize is that, when it comes to God's timing, we must have faith that it is perfect. I say that we must have faith because when you read verses like Psalm 90:4, you will realize that we will never comprehend the way that God sees things.
Today, perhaps we should pray that God cleanse us of our lukewarm habits, give us a passion for His Word, and that we would have the faith to truly believe that his timing is perfect.
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