Tag: Christian living

Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:19-20

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“Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.’ But ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We’ve all been there. Someone comes along and does something that makes you mad. What’s more, they meant to do it. Now you are left with a choice: How are you going to respond? Do you get them back? Do you let it go? Do you express your displeasure in some unmistakable way? If we’re being honest, for most of us, our first instinct is to start plotting how we can get revenge in some way. That’s normal. It always has been. And if there’s no God, or if we can’t trust the gods to avenge us, that kind of thinking makes sense. But if there is a God as is revealed in the pages of the Scriptures, it doesn’t. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:17

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“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the principles kids tend to operate by is that turnabout is fair play. If someone has wronged you in some way, it’s only right, it’s only fair, it’s only just that you get to do it back to them in return. This principle lies at the heart of one of the foundational ideas in the history of jurisprudence: an eye for an eye. The idea that we should respond to others in kind has been baked into the cake of humanity from nearly the start. And then came the Christian worldview to turn that idea on its head. Let’s talk about what Paul, borrowing from Jesus, had to say about it to the church in Rome.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:16

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“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A friend of mine pastors a church that’s hard. The congregation has a reputation for being a church that chews up pastors and spits them out. There constantly seems to be discord among the members. Someone is always upset about something. My friend spends a fair bit of his time putting out fires. From the outside looking in, the people there do no live in harmony with one another. It makes accomplishing effective ministry a great deal more difficult than it might otherwise be. A church wracked by disharmony is going to have a much harder time proclaiming and advancing the Gospel than one that isn’t. This is why Paul gave us this next series of commands for living the Christian life well. Let’s continue our exploration of his practical list of how what it looks like to follow Jesus.

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Digging in Deeper: Galatians 6:1

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“Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’ve been talking more and more often about the church lately, and today is going to follow in that pattern. I was reminded just last night while watching one of the shows my bride and I enjoy together of yet another reason the church matters so very much. This time, though, the reason is hard. It’s hard on both sides of the equation too. Yet in spite of the difficulty of this reason and its expression, its significance to our lives and to the life of the church more generally is hard to overstate. Let’s talk this morning about birthing babies, nearly missed affairs, and why the church is so important.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:15

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“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I heard a commentary the other day reflecting on the number of adults who are going to summer camp. They aren’t going to summer camp as chaperons for their children’s summer camp. They are going to their own summer camp. Adults – and especially women – in their 20s and early 30s are increasingly looking for week long summer camps they can attend like perhaps they did when they were kids. And while they are doing it for reasons of nostalgia, they are doing it even more for reasons of loneliness. They don’t have many – or any – friends in real life, and they are so online that they struggle making them. So they go to camp in hopes of building the kind of life-giving relationships they are hungering for. What they really need, though, is not a summer camp experience; they need the church. They need the church where they can find real community and build genuine relationships; where they will find people who will follow Paul’s next command here with them. As we continue our walk through some of the basics of kingdom ethics, let’s talk about the power of real community.

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