Monthly Archives: November 2012

When Your Doing is Your Undoing

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This beloved portion of Scripture was part of this morning’s reading (1 Peter 1:3-4) :

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Many will tune out after the first major phrase: God gives us all we need.  Within itself, that is a wonderful truth, capable of fostering trust in God as the kind and capable Provider of all, to all.

However, Peter’s line of teaching goes a fair bit further.

Not only is God committed to providing life’s needs.  He is committed to making provision for each of us to journey into godliness, the state of God-likeness for which every human being has been designed.  To approach God is to open the door for Him to give you what you need for an existence of “glory and excellence”, even before we have any aspirations or desires for such a life.

The heavyweight phrase in this passage is undoubtedly “partakers of the divine nature”.  One could muse endlessly over the implications of such a five-word package.  But at least two points are clear:

  1. God has made outrageous promises that He intends to keep.
  2. These promises center upon delivering people into this form of existence: Partakers of the divine nature.

Then, in a clarifying statement, Peter expresses that one mark of this type of life is an escape from the corruption caused by sinful desires.  This corruption is in our world because it is in our hearts, and it is God’s intention on neither public nor private scales.  The one who knows anything about God will know this, and the one who values anything about God will make every move they can think of, in that direction.  This is where Peter’s list (faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love) finds its spot within the text: Pursue these qualities in your quest to experience both freedom and fruitfulness in Jesus Christ.

Efforts aside (and there are many to make), this escape from the dark and distorting desires of our hearts unfolds only as we:

  1. Embrace the promises of God (most call this “faith”).
  2. Seek to partake in the divine nature.

This second line matters greatly, as it speaks to the motivation behind every move we make.  Minus this motivation, we fall back into lesser motivations that actually undercut the transformation process:

  • Satisfaction in self, based upon some unwritten scoring system.
  • Reputation based on others’ perceptions of us or on inner illusions of ourselves.

Both of these can motivate us, but neither of them have anything to do with being freed from tainted desires.  In truth, both of them actually feed the corrupt (ie: Self-centered) tendencies that so easily sabotage our escape route into the God-designed life of “glory and excellence”.

“Make every effort”, to be sure.  But make them with measured focus, or our doing will actually be our undoing.

Saturday Six-Pack (21)

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Leaning heavily on the adage “better late than never”, I give you this week’s Saturday Six-Pack… on Tuesday!

The perk? Only five days to the next half-dozen online offerings.

As usual, these articles are mostly faith-focused or ministry-geared, with a bit of disorderly-pile-of-who-knows-what tossed in!

If you need help starting, begin with my two *Picks of the Week*, and move from there.

For a steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) to the right of this post.  Sharp quotes and solid articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.

Today’s edition:

1) The Bonds of Freedom
There is great paradox within the Christian understanding of freedom.  This piece from Christianity Today‘s Roger Olson fleshes out the tensions that differentiate Christian freedom from the version many of us fantasize about.

2) Tracking Wonder and Making More Time to Create
This non-Christian piece from Psychology Today was my morning call to prayer.  If you need more time for living, your next move is worship.  At least, that is what I read.  For the original statement, click the link above.

3) Great Quotes on Great Leadership (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Anyone who knows me knows that I love a great quote. Tim Challies offers this list of the best bits he found in Albert Mohler’s book, “The Conviction to Lead.” (He reviews the book, which he calls “probably the best book on leadership I’ve ever read” HERE.)

4) You Asked: Does the Bible Separate Salvation from Baptism?
This brief but balanced response is offered by the Gospel Coalition to a question received from a reader, a question relevant to the whole of the Christian community, and helpfully clarifying to my Churches of Christ heritage, whose views get unnamed mention in this piece.

5) Why Should We Care About Advent? (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
In regard to Advent, there’s one question that trips up more Evangelicals than any other: “Why bother?”  Elliot Grudem, for the Resurgence, offers a handful of solid reasons on why the pre-Christmas season of Advent is full of power and potential.

6) Top Ten Gandhi Inspirational Quotes
I have long loved Gandhi. I have long loved quotes.  This LifeHack offering seemed like a no-lose way to close this installment of the Six-Pack.

May your week be full of awareness and enjoyment of the God who already fills it with Himself and every good thing.  Blessings on you, my friends.

YOUR TURN: Direct other readers to the best stuff with a comment below, or weigh in on what you read.  Your input makes this post better!

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]

Grace is What Works

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There is a pragmatist within each of us.

Bent toward the rational and the results,this inner dweller unintentionally opposes some of God’s most profound movements in our lives.

This logic-loving, get-the-job done approach to life, a staple of the Western society in which I’ve grown up, struggles to grasp the life-Creator, who strangely–yet frequently–insists on operating in “obviously” impractical ways.

Grace is the finest of examples.

The careful reader of the New Testament will quickly observe the inadequacy of human efforts toward salvation. However, that doesn’t stop us from trying! Bent on saving ourselves, proving ourselves, and sustaining ourselves, responsibility and duty–praiseworthy qualities within themselves–kick into hyper-gear.  In the process, pride awakens and pressure builds, all the while we are unaware that we are building brick walls between God’s salvation and our souls.

Legalistic tendencies seem wired into the human hardware.

The hymn-writer called grace “amazing”. We call it “unbelievable”. We may never use the word, but we feel incapable of grasping the concept, and embracing it feels even less likely.  That is the pragmatist within us, speaking with conviction: “Grace is impractical.”  You hear it in the push back we feel obliged to offer against grace, particularly religious or responsible citizens: “What about discipline? Grace alone is too soft; it won’t take people where they need to be. It takes more than grace to transform a life.”

Grace is not practical enough for our liking.

Or perhaps we are not nearly practical enough.

The dynamic at work here is something like John Piper describes in “Desiring God”, a book carrying the subtitle of “Meditations of a Christian Hedonist”. Piper argues that hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure, is an attitude built into the very human nature. Other than spiraling our souls into self-destruction, this pleasure-seeking drive is what drives the soul toward God.  Paradoxically, Piper suggests that the reason we get lost along the way is that we are not nearly hedonistic enough!  Settling for watered down forms of satisfaction, our pursuit of pleasure is revealed as too weak, rather than too strong. We chase happiness like slackers, at the expense of our souls.

C.S. Lewis was developing the same thought when he famously observed:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

So back to where we began: We resist grace because it seems out-of-touch. “This won’t work in real life,” we critique.  Even more common might be the unspoken thought that Christ’s role in our lives is to provide a much-needed “reset” button. By his death and resurrection, he presses it and we sigh with relief.  We can take another kick at getting things right, in practical and reasonable ways, of course, powered by the fuel of self.

In this sense, we are part of a rich heritage of Christians who don’t get it.  Paul’s question to such folks:

Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? (Gal.3:1-3)

Beyond the Galatian goofballs, is anyone else’s “reset” button worn out from use?

“Seeking free-flowing forgiveness so we can take another futile kick at life on our terms”: Give me Impractical for $1000, Alex.

And there’s the rub.

Grace, in all its mystery and apparent irrationality, is the most practical of solutions to the human predicament.  The God we dismiss as idealistic or illogical actually, shock of shockers, knows what He’s doing, with His “power move” of offering freedom through surrender and victory through defeat.  Much to our surprise, perhaps chagrin, grace works.

In fact, it is only grace that works.

YOUR TURN: Why does humanity buck so hard against God’s grace?  What do you grasp about grace today that God has faithfully taught you over time?

Please leave your comment below, and enter the conversation.

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page. As well, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) for 3-4 daily tweets daily of of insightful quotes or intriguing articles, sprinkled with occasional goofiness.]

Leading toward a Difference

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Some new household rhythms have recently created a podcast-listening habit for this fellow.  One of my early finds has been the Andy Stanley Leadership podcast.  After two episodes (about 20 minutes each), I can only say, “Wow! Thank you, Andy.”

Concise, intelligent, well-balanced, insightful, and more.

I confess to possessing a measured cynicism toward anyone claiming to be an expert on leadership. That may be a result of having witnessed leadership styles that I have no desire to imitate; it may be a result of having witnessed leadership styles that I have no hope of imitating.  Whether excess of caution or shortage of confidence, it is never the wise move to shut one’s ears or close one’s mind.  Two brief podcasts have re-ignited my fire of desire to learn and grow.

Am I the leader I wish I was? Not today.

Have I maxed out my potential? Not a chance.

Will I take a step today to move from here toward there? I had better.

What might that step be? For this moment, keeping Andy’s podcast on my regular rotation is one easy move to make.

Here are some of the take-home chunks from a recent listen, entitled, “Making a Difference”  It began with talk of American politics and the polarizing force they often seem to exert among Christians in that country. I wondered if this podcast would be largely irrelevant to this Canadian.

And then the gems on leadership started flowing:

“It is more important to make a difference than to make a point.”

There is a weak form of leadership that is easily entered; it revolves around making a point rather than making a difference.  It is rooted in the desire to be right, and it typically revolves around words rather than actions.  To be sure, there are times when a point must be made.  But toward what end?  That answer better be “toward making a difference”, or we’re just playing games in our God-given roles.

“A leader should never risk his/her ability to make a difference by making an unnecessary point.”

Influence is too slowly gained and too quickly lost to make every issue a “go to the wall” item.  Some things matter greatly; others matter hardly at all.  The unwise leader can be sucked into making a statement about a second-rate issue (often at the prodding of critics OR those hoping a leader will agree with THEM) that goes on to undercut his/her from the big-ticket items he/she dreamed of impacting in the first place.

The churches in which I’ve grown up have often spoken of “majoring in the majors and minoring in the minors”.  This language displayed our awareness of this dynamic, but much of our history has betrayed our unawareness of just how much influence can be lost when we fail to live out this advice.

Organizationally or individually, influence is maximized (and guarded) when we release the desire to pound on unnecessary points.

“Don’t fear guilt by association.”

We cannot influence people that we refuse to associate with.  Whatever issue or movement I desire to move forward will be minimized if my ultimate objective is to guard my reputation.  Sprite may have overstated it in their “Image is Nothing” campaign some years back; however, the wise leader must be driven by forces far greater than image.  The difference he/she desires to make will determine the bridges that need building and the relationships that require cultivating, and within our fragmented world, bridge-building is a messy work, demanding feet to be planted in unfamiliar, sometimes downright uncomfortable, settings.

Jesus knew this, and his critics served him regular helpings of guilt by association.  Yet Jesus remained aware and convicted of the need for fences to come down and lines to be crossed, and leaders will be the first doers of such tasks.  But not leaders who are afraid of guilt by association.

“Influence is a stewardship.”

The responsible leader asks, “Why have I been given influence?” Surely, it isn’t to protect my number of church members or constituents.  At some point, the leader is required to risk his/her credibility for a purpose greater than maintaining that credibility.  Every competent leader will move from a state of less (say, influence, power) toward a state of more (say, influence, power).  It is sign of fear when the “days of more” are lived out in a protective manner, where that role of say, influence, and power is guarded rather than leveraged.

It may take wisdom and discernment to identify the cause or issue upon which one will stake everything.  Or it may be quite clear, as the reason one entered leadership in the first place.  Regardless, every leader needs to be governed by an awareness that we do not gather influence and build trust for our own sakes or satisfaction.  How does God expect you to steward it?  That’s a money question there.

“Don’t attempt to police the behaviour of people who don’t believe what you believe, to begin with.”

While this point may tie most fully into a discussion of how Christians should or shouldn’t attempt to wield political power in the shaping of their nations, it quickly transfers to discussions of how churches (even those with no deep political desires) carry and execute their desires to shape society as well.

Attempting to guilt people into behaviours based upon assumptions that are ours but not theirs–how do you see that working out? Yet Christian history is filled with examples of God’s people compromising their influence in this fashion.  If we’re feeling fired up about morality and purity, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 5:12 would guide us well:

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?

How many sermons have you heard on that passage?  For some reason, those within religious circles feel a strong temptation to take their evaluative skills outside the loop.  Paul’s advice?  Stay at home.  If people of faith took the policing of their own lives and their own communities as first priorities, we might be surprised to realize the weight of influence that could be had in our larger contexts as well.

And all that came from a twenty-minute podcast.  Again, I say, “Well done, Andy.  Thanks for sharing.”

YOUR TURN: Which point particularly resonates with your leadership journey?  Which idea do you “amen” or wish you’d discovered earlier?

Comment below, and become part of the conversation.

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page. As well, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) for 3-4 tweets daily of insightful quotes or links to intriguing articles.]

Saturday Six-Pack (20)

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Back from a two-month absence, I have a stash of articles waiting for their spots in the Saturday Six-Pack.  Let’s get rolling!

As per usual, this weekend’s Six-Pack features a half-dozen online offerings that I recently enjoyed.  These articles are mostly faith-focused or ministry-geared, with a bit of disorderly-pile-of-who-knows-what tossed in!

If you need help starting, begin with my two *Picks of the Week*, and move from there.

For a more steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) to the right of this post.  Sharp quotes and enriching articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.

Today’s edition:

1) 6 Reasons Why Mormons Are Beating Evangelicals in Church Growth
With the presence of Mitt Romney in the recent American election, Mormonism received even more media attention than usual.  David French, for the Gospel Coalition, offers this concise take on why the Mormon Church is “outdrawing” the Evangelical Church these days AND what we can learn from this.

2) Ranting is Not Preaching
The title says it all, but Tony Merida spends a few more lines fleshing out the temptation toward this lesser form of communication and the very real dangers that arise when pastors give in.

3) 10 Proven Practices for More Productive Leadership
In this guest post on Michael Hyatt’s blog, JD Meier offers a sharp list of practices relevant for every leader.  From his role at Microsoft to whatever role you fill, something (or likely SEVERAL somethings) from this list will speak to your current leadership challenges.

4) Lost in Translation (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
For Relevant magazine, Berlin’s Ben Stevens ponders why so few Christians, particularly those who tie great importance to the Bible’s authority, have ever considered learning Greek. His observations may surprise you.

5) Does Quantum Physics Make It Easier to Believe in God?
(*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
One more entry from TGC, this post summarizes a larger article posted at Big Questions Online by Stephen M. Barr, a professor of physics at the University of Delaware who specializes in theoretical particle physics.  To consider how cutting edge science intersects cutting edge theology, start here today. You’ll be glad you did.

6) Seven Habits of Highly Prolific Writers
This brief piece by Henri Junttila will inspire those of you thinking about putting words on paper to but your butt on the chair and get ‘er done!  If the thought of writing appeals to you, this post will nudge you toward the reality of it.

It’s good to be back, my friends!  Enjoy your weekend through renewing yourself and reverencing God.