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- Written by: Don Goulding
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. (Hebrews 13:17)
“Hey, Paul,” my voice gave a mid puberty squeak, “my parents are gone. Come pick me up.”
Paul arrived with other boys, and we brewed schemes of teenage rascality. As the night unfolded there were primal yells, illegal entries, and stolen goods.
The revelry jerked to a halt when the police stopped us for spinning doughnuts on our high school lawn. We denied the charge, but a grass covered souped-up Chevy made for an unconvincing tale. We spent the rest of the night in the town jail. So much for a parent free adventure.
God maintains order through hierarchies of authority, in both the physical and spiritual realms. In the material world he works through parents, governments, even armies, on occasion. In the church, he uses elders and pastors (AKA bishops, shepherds, overseers, & presbyters).
I was a foolish teenager when I cast off submission to authority, and I paid a dear price. As an adult, how often do I ignore the authority of my church leaders and lose out on blessings for myself and others? Do I even consult them about life decisions?
The anointing over positions within the body of Christ is bigger than the persons holding the offices. That’s not to say we should follow blindly. Leaders need to be held accountable to the Bible, and woe to the ones who misuse their authority. But when I submit to their Spirit led direction, I’m under the umbrella of God’s protection. To step out from under that privilege is more foolish than spinning doughnuts on the lawn.
Prayer: Father, use my church leaders to keep watch over my soul.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak. (2 Corinthians 4:13)
Mockingbirds, you either love their midnight serenades, or you hate them. To me, they are DJ’s playing the favorite songs of other birds. They memorize what they hear and remix it into a playlist that rocks through the night.
According to biologists, mockingbirds aren’t expressing joy that’s pent up in their little birdie hearts. The males sing to establish the boundaries of their territory. The volume and eloquence are meant to intimidate rivals into staying away from their mating and feeding territory. Mockingbirds sing from compulsion, not only from delight.
I, too, have songs trapped in my chest. Jesus giving his life for us is not an event I can keep to myself. Like the mockingbird, it’s not only my delight, but my compulsion. I must sing.
The gospel has not been explained to forty percent of the global population. I can start by asking that group for permission to sing.
For the percentage that has heard about Jesus, most disbelieve because they haven’t witnessed changed lives in those who preach. For them, the Christian message is so much rhetoric from copycat mockingbirds.
I can talk about the gospel, write about it, even sing it out, but my most effective communication is made by my lifestyle. Only when my words match my actions does my proclamation become a sweet song instead of a grating annoyance.
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Prayer: Lord Jesus, may my life sing about belief in you. |
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- Written by: Don Goulding
When the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading them to continue in the grace of God. (Acts 13:43)
Paul and Barnabas let the flow of grace carry them toward God. They knew that to go back to the 613 laws of the Torah was to get beached in the gravel of self effort. They pled with their converts to continue in the middle of the river of grace.
I, too, wanted my life to float in the depths of grace, and yet, there were hazards—shallows of doubt, and boulders of temptation. Proper navigation was no simple task. I needed a mentor, someone further along in the faith to guide me into the free current.
By instinct, I knew what a mentor in grace would look like. A person of grace would open their heart wide. They wouldn’t be condescending, but would rest in the power of the Spirit. A person of grace would love animals, and be kind to enemies. Their life would be free of worldly ambition, and refreshingly content. They would laugh, and have smiles for everybody.
Where was I to find such a person, one who modeled the inner beauty of grace? The leaders I knew were stuck with me in ankle deep water.
Then it hit me. Most any young child could demonstrate grace. I read back over the qualifications and, yes, a child would do nicely.
Prayer: Jesus, make me a trusting, laughing, childlike person of grace.