balance beam
Turtles pull their heads in when faced with danger or opposition. That’s why God compares His people to things like an eagle, a lion, an athlete, and a warrior. Life isn’t about getting back what we used to have or trying to achieve a place of safety or stability. Life is about living obediently in the Kingdom of God. It’s about an ever increasing faith. It’s about participating with a passionate and loving God as He seeks out and saves the lost at all costs. It’s about getting ready for the Day Jesus returns.
Our culture doesn’t live in or for the Kingdom of God, so their reactions are based more on self-preservation than anything else. It’s easy to be influenced more by our culture than God’s Kingdom. Francis Chan captures our tendency in these times to pull into our shell because of life’s pain and injustices.
burposaurus rex
Testosterone levels are on the rise at the Watts house. This morning it’s buckin’ broncos, emergency vehicles and dinosaur fights. Jack’s favorite dinosaur is officially the Pentaceratops, but he knows he can’t beat Burposaurus Rex :) We’ve swept the floor 3 times in the last 24 hours, and we’re supposed to be ready for an Open House tomorrow at 3pm. I think Katy wants this next one to be a girl!
Parenting, whether natural or spiritual, seems to be the great joy and challenge of life. I’ve never been more willingly inconvenienced in my whole life. Katy came home from the store last night just before 11, having saved tons of cash by following some good advice from Tulsa’s Coupon Queen. I thought to myself, our kids will never know what their Mom does for them every day. And I think it’s the same for us. We’ll never know what other men and women have done for us who have gone before us and cleared the way in prayer and hard labor.
rotten potatoes
I tried to get a picture of them for you, but for some reason I couldn’t get my phone to send the file to my email address. And boy did they reek! I stuck my head in the pantry tonight to get a plastic Walmart bag and caught a faint whiff of something foul. I made a thorough search of the pantry floor, smelling everything from the bread machine to the griddle. No dice. But I wasn’t about to give up when I knew something that gross was in close proximity to my food!
The bottom shelf was next. As soon as I started pulling stuff off, I saw it. A very juicy, very dark bag of what used to be potatoes. Actually a few of them were mostly dry, but one was completely disgusting. No need to keep looking. Honestly, my very first thought at that moment, as weird as it sounds, was “Thank you God for my sense of smell.” There’s no way I’d have seen them there behind everything, let alone searched for them, if I hadn’t smelled them first. And that’s when it hit me.
The gift of discerning spirits is like the church’s nose. It is sensitive and detects things by the Spirit that other parts of the body just don’t register. I have a friend who regularly operates in this gift. Some people are just nosy, critical or insightful, but the Lord works through this guy regularly with the real deal. And he does it in love through prayer. When I’m confused about something in my life, I know I can call this guy and he nails it before I get more than a handful of words out.
A couple points to be made here. One, just like I needed my nose to find those rotten potatoes, we need the gifts in each other. It’s supposed to be that way. It keeps us humble, dependent upon others and God, and connected to Jesus’ body. Two, God cares deeply about what’s hidden in the secret places of our lives. Whether it’s the stuff we suppress from fear or shame, or those things that we cannot see because of our own self-deception, pain or ignorance, He cares about it. And He cares because it’s hurting us, wounding others and ultimately crippling His body. He wants us to be free, to have the rotten potatoes identified and removed. My pantry has good food in it, but I don’t want anything out of there if it smells like sewer.
Praise God for discerning believers who operate in grace, humility and boldness. It’s good for us to confess our sins to each other often, to have dark corners exposed quickly, before they become infested. I’m so thankful for the times my good friends and my wife have lovingly punked me to my face instead of tolerating my peace treaties with sin.
Lord, reveal the things hidden in secret, and start with my heart.
10% reality check
I thought I was doing pretty good balancing out this whole 10% thing. 3 cups of New Testament, 2 tablespoons of Old, a pinch of people’s opinions…sip…almost there. But as I was out mowing the yard, God knocked the bowl over and sat me down.
I hear the Father saying, “Beloved, my Son isn’t counting pennies anymore because his hands are holding a cross going up a hill to die. Will you leave the money table to follow him?” Death, sin, sickness and the grave are conquered, but as long as the Bride is in the earth, Jesus joins her as she takes up her cross to climb a hill and die with Him there. And as that cross is lifted up, He draws the world in love. That’s what’s really going on.
Paul walked face to face with life and death, glory and pain, God and his persecutors. It’s no wonder that he didn’t get sidetracked with counting the Corinthians’ pennies and demanding his rights. He was there to die, to be poured out wine and broken bread for the sake of their eternal position in Christ. Like his Lord, he laid down his rights, became a servant, worked with his hands to provide an example for the Bride and then showed them how to live and suffer with power. If providing a life-sized example that would expose the “false apostles” for who they really were meant giving up money, so be it.
Have you ever seen a modern day pastor, overseer, apostle or prophet lay down his or her right to compensation for the sake of presenting Jesus’ Bride as a pure, spotless virgin? It’s rare.
I’m struggling with the relevance of a percentage while many of my friends, from Africa to America, are sleeping in foxholes and front line trenches, pouring out their lives for the ones Jesus’ died to save. They’re not giving token service, but sharing their very lives with AIDS victims, lonely orphans, widows, drug addicts, the demon possessed and the mentally ill.
A man I work with is fond of interrupting conversations and high-level meetings to remind everyone of something: “Guys,” he’ll say, “I want everyone to know that I deserve death…” (long pause) “…but Jesus has given me life.” When that’s our reality, do you really think we need to give a 10% guideline? I’d rather spend my time presenting the gospel with power, pointing people to Jesus’ death and resurrection, intimacy with the Father and real acts of religion, like sharing life with and meeting the needs of broken and hurting people. When that’s our reality, money won’t be an issue.
What was the cross really about? In the past I’ve taught about what it did for me. But that’s just from my perspective. The Word says, “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.” It’s also about what the cross did for Jesus. He won a spotless bride, a woman ready to die with him so she can live with him. In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself. The cross isn’t just about us, our prosperity, healing and forgiveness. That’s all in there, but everything He has given us is meant to be given right back to Him in adoration, just like Jesus will turn around at the end of everything and give it all back to the Father.
So it’s about giving, not 10%. Giving what? My life, my body, my everything. That’s all He requires.
bewildering inactivity
That’s the phrase in my study Bible’s commentary to describe what Asaph was struggling with in Psalm 77. Ever been there? I am.
“Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? Selah.”
Let’s Selah with Asaph for a second. I know the theology about God’s faithfulness, his never-leave-or-forsake nature. But what about when the overwhelming evidence of the situation screams out against what He said? Did I really hear God? Has He changed His mind? Did I make some mistake, or did He decide to move on? Is He angry, frustrated, disappointed? Will He hear if I pour out my weakness, my insecurities? What is this bewildering inactivity around me? I hear Him behind me, but when I turn around, it seems He has gone. Where are you, God?
“Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.’ I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.”
Thanks for reeling me in, Asaph. That was a long drop off the edge of that cliff. I will remember the deeds of YHWH, the Ancient of Days, I AM WHO I AM, who I said I will be I will be, the same yesterday, today and forever. I will remember how you gave this premature newborn life after 10 days hooked up in ICU, how you pulled him out of deep waters 3 times and saved him from drowning, how you saved him from 25 years of paralyzing night terrors, how you gave him a woman he didn’t deserve, how you forgave him of religious pride and filled him with Your Spirit and gave him a place in the body. I will remember and never forget.
“Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, though Your footprints were not seen.”
What a profound and mysterious statement. The God of all creation passes through the churning sea and heaps up millions and millions of gallons of water, yet He leaves no trace, no footprint, nothing natural by which to distinguish His passing. How is this possible? It is the faith of the righteous, the patient, the trusting, who discern Him. The wicked see nothing. They hear God’s voice from heaven and say “It thundered.”
“As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till He shows us His mercy.”
Selah
10% continued
I’m surprised that at this point in my life as a believer I don’t have a more solid conviction on this whole issue of the 10% rule. Maybe I should, but for some reason I find myself wanting to dig deeper to understand the Father’s heart. Anyways, I’m still digging. For better or worse, here are some ideas I came across during my sweep of the web.
One writer believes, based on the principle that much has been given to Christians and much is required, 10% is now the minimum. Another writer brought up the law of first mention, pointing back to Abraham’s giving a tenth of the spoil to Melchizedek, which was before the Mosaic Law was given. Another article supported the idea that the tithe is just as relevant today as it was in the Old Testament, comparing it to the continuing relevance of the Ten Commandments.
Still another highly ranked article believes the New Testament doesn’t clarify whether tithing is applicable for believers. Among other examples, it mentioned the fact that Paul didn’t ask the Corinthians for monetary assistance. The author’s final conclusion: while believers are called to support the ministry, there’s no clear teaching in the New Testament that strictly applies the Old Covenant tithing principle to New Testament believers.
One helpful article I ran across was on Crosswalk.com, called Is Tithing for the New Testament Believer? The writer addresses some of the fears behind people’s arguments against tithing, but in the end says the amount we give is between us and God and we shouldn’t discourage people from wanting to tithe.
As you can see, I haven’t made this a highly academic study. I want to know what average people really believe about it. I’m still praying, talking to people I look up to and chewing on the Scriptures. Overall, I’ve discovered that this is a hotly debated topic across the board. The church is all over the map on whether or not the 10% rule still applies as a core teaching and expectation. Abuse by leaders exists, for sure, and even though they’re in the minority, it has caused a lot of fear and knee-jerk reactions. Some resist even the thought of being expected to give 10% simply because they’re stingy. That’s obviously not a good reason to reject the 10% rule, but it’s a reality.
It seems the issue has become more complicated than it really is, but I’ll stave off any final conclusions for now while I let some of this stuff sink in.
10%
Is 10% giving mandatory, or even expected, in New Testament teaching? Is it assumed because of the largely Jewish audience? Probably. Is it a good place to start, as so many pastors today teach? It could be, but then why didn’t Jesus or Paul use it as a starting place when they taught? Should I follow what’s being taught in most churches today and teach people that they need to give at least 10% of their income? If so, what do I tell them will happen if they don’t follow this principle? Is God’s blessing on the 10% rule?
As a basline here, I want to assume the spirit of the law of tithing, i.e., the recognition that everything belongs to God, our love and worship most importantly, and that he wants us to show our understanding of this by gladly giving him the firstfruits of all types of resources: time, skill, money, property, etc. To ignore this principle is to deny God as our Source and, in effect, rob him of our worship.
That said, I’m wading through some thoughts about the 10% rule specifically because the reference to it is so commonly accepted and taught today, yet strangely absent from the New Testament, including Paul’s epistles to the Gentiles, who weren’t accustomed to tithing by law.
My bias, up front, is honestly mixed. I grew up as an Assemblies of God kid, so I walked into church every Sunday morning with my Buddy Barrel full of change. I’m really thankful that I was taught early on to give generously. However, I also saw people in our church being publicly recognized according to the amounts they gave, something for which I’m not thankful.
I tithed meticulously through high school, college and into my early to mid-twenties. But there were also times in life as a grad student and newlywed living 1300 miles away from normal when we were selling our things to pay bills and put food on the table. During those times, tithing occasionally came down to paying a bill or putting the right amount of money in the bucket. There were months we didn’t calculate how much we were giving; we gave what we could and sometimes we gave to friends who needed food or gas money rather than to the church we were attending. To tell the truth, that occasionally came with a feeling of guilt, wondering if I was going to be spiritually unprotected because I wasn’t meeting the 10% rule.
A few observations:
- Tithing was an Old Testament mandate with a blessing and a curse attached to it. Can we have one without the other? Can we say Christians will be blessed for giving 10%, as a rule, without teaching that they come under a curse if they don’t strictly tithe as the Jews were commanded to do?
- Tithing was mandated under the Mosaic law within a specific economic context of no additional taxes (like we pay Federal and State); the tithe was the tax for Old Testament Israel as part of national systems related to economics, welfare and supporting the justice system
- The 10% rule isn’t taught in the New Testament as an expectation for Christ followers
- The only time Jesus mentions tithing is in the context of rebuking religious people who tithe meticulously, yet break the more weighty commands of justice, mercy and faithfulness
- Both Jesus and Paul say explicitly that the most important, overarching principle behind giving is the heart attitude
- Jesus said the woman who gave two copper coins gave more than anyone because it was all she had
- Paul commended the Philippians for giving above and beyond their means to help impoverished Christians
- Many wealthy believers in the Acts revival gave lavishly to meet the needs of the poor and create economic equality in the body; they certainly went beyond the 10% rule
What does all of this mean for the 10% rule? For one, I realize taking away the 10% as an expectation threatens revenue predictability, which churches in our culture need to create operating budgets so they can, with some level of dependability, pay staff and building costs. I’ve been on a church staff, so I can appreciate being able to count on a check every two weeks. Faithful giving keeps the lights on and lets the pastor know what the church can safely commit to. However, is it possible that in some cases the tail is wagging the dog?
It seems Jesus intentionally messed with this principle because he wanted to adjust priorities. In the New Testament, it was a shift from focusing on the physical temple and religious hierarchy as a thing of beauty and authority to the glory of the transformed heart and the body of believers as God’s true tent of meeting.
What’s going on at the root here? Just a question, not a judgment. I’d love to hear your feedback. Are you seeing things in the Scriptures that I’m missing?
ouch
My wife went out with a guy one time who looked into her eyes from across the table and asked this question: “So, is this going anywhere, or am I just wasting my time?”
Ouch.
Needless to say, that relationship did NOT go anywhere. My wife, the classy woman that she is, laughed and moved on. This story came up the other morning as my wife and I were talking about the temptation to have a selfish agenda in prayer.
For me, it would sound something like “Ok, God, if I’m going to get out of bed this early or get on my knees instead of watching TV, you better show up” (aka, you better make this worth my time!!!) Ha ha, now that’s funny! And if that sounds presumptuous and arrogant…that’s because it is! And most of us are guilty of this until he busts us up with his heart for the lost and what’s really going on. In fact, there have been times when I didn’t want to sit there for an hour and nothing happen, so I just skipped out and did something else instead.
When I was a teenager, there were three things that could make me really cranky: 1. lack of sleep, 2. an empty stomach, and 3. getting wrapped up in my own world. That’s pretty much still true, even though I’m 33 not 13. I’m learning how to deal with the first two (kind of), to which every parent of small children can relate. But that third one still hangs me up.
My mom used to say “Benjamin, go do something for someone else and you’ll feel better.” And it really works. But in the context of prayer and intimacy with the Father it sounds more like, “Son, get thankful and then intercede for the people I’ve put on your heart.” Once I start down the road of lining up with his agenda, prayer comes alive and what’s in his heart blows everything else away…my agenda included.
intimacy
Someone once said a marriage without Jesus is like two ticks and no dog. It’s easy for a husband and wife to take their cues from each other and expect the other person to meet their needs by doing the right things. And if that’s the focus, it works in fits and spurts, but it eventually leads to a pretty exhausting and dry relationship, which is how I was told to do it. It’s works sometimes for Katy and me, as long as we’re getting pretty good sleep and the kids are behaving and work isn’t too demanding and the calendar is being nice… :)
We can’t meet each others needs, really. But as we’ve become more connected to Jesus individually, we’ve become more independent, more steady regardless of each others situation or what’s going on around us. The real bonus has been that as we’re more intimate with Jesus individually, the more energy and confidence and health we bring to the table when we’re together.
Experiencing this with Katy has taught me something else. I don’t have relationship problems with people. That’s really not the issue. Tension with a co-worker, pastor, friend, or family member isn’t the source of my problem. The source is my connection to Jesus. He’s the Vine and I’m a branch. When I’m connected to him intimately and constantly, life naturally flows to me from him and ultimately through me to others, regardless of what they say or do. But cut off that daily, intimate relationship with Jesus and I’ve got nothing for anyone, except myself, which is a frightening thought.
If I’ve seen anything that I have lacked as a man and that most men lack, it’s intimacy: the emotional and spiritual capacity and desire to be dangerously close to and vulnerable before God and other human beings for the sake of relationship. For the sake of loving and being loved. John Eldrige talks about the primal “wound” from our fathers, the wound with which we are all inflicted because of this fallen world and the broken relationships that have resulted. For us guys, that wound has kept us guarded, stoic, walled up, performance-minded, and a host of other things.
What about you? How’s your intimacy meter? How intimate are you with Jesus? How intimately have you known your spouse or your family today? Do you know what speaks to their deep desires and longings? Do you know what they’re really afraid of or hoping to see happen? When you see another believer, is it a handshake, a socially acceptable hug or a true embrace?
Our fear of intimacy, of getting hurt, causes us to create acceptable substitutes for true intimacy. I fear that we have so easily traded true Jesus-like intimacy with others, the kind that’s both passionate and pure, for connections that are more socially comfortable, more guarded. This is dangerous stuff, dangerous to the very intimacy Jesus died to give us and dangerous because it leads to far greater problems than the ones we’re trying so carefully to avoid.
rodeo and real estate
I haven’t blogged in forever, so I thought I’d throw the proverbial spaghetti at the wall!
Another adventure with Jack coming up tonight. It’s our “Cowboy Adventure” at the Tulsa State Fair rodeo. Jack’s main concern is whether or not the fence that keeps the bulls in is tall enough.
Been going through the book of Acts with a group of guys for the past couple months. We’re on chapters 20 to 24 and soaking up what it looks like to live by the Spirit, completely immersed in the testimony of Christ.
Also studying 1 John right now. It’s interesting how the initial evidence of walking in the light is intimacy with other believers. When we’re moving away from the light of truth, we tend to isolate emotionally and spiritually. We might stick around physically, but there’s no true intimacy with others: fervent love, spiritual transparency, confession of sin, genuine concern for others, etc. Symptoms to pay attention to.
Interesting too in this contrast between light and darkness is James 1:17. God is the Father of lights. He dosen’t produce a shadow. Anything that makes a shadow blocks the light, and bad things collect in these kinds of shadows. Am I creating shadows in others’ lives? Is there anything I’ve invited or allowed in my life that’s blocking the light of truth from shining on my motives, my imaginations, my words? Chances are, I won’t see it unless I lay on my face and desperately ask the Lord to search me. Like everyone, it’s too easy to protect myself from what I don’t want to see.
A big real estate sign in our front yard tells people that our house is for sale. This is the first time I’ve ever sold a house. Keeping everything clean and picked up every minute of every day, especially with two kids, is a major chore. My wife is amazing!
