Let me set this up so that we’re all operating on the same page.  In my discussions with those who don’t believe in God, Jesus and the Bible, I have sometimes found myself making a statement, only to be howled down by the “other side” as being arrogant.  I wasn’t trying to be arrogant.  And I realise that just because somebody says you doesn’t mean that you are arrogant. 

But it does raise the question.

Where do you draw the line between confidence and arrogance?

Examples:

I am confident there is a God, but I have friends who believe there is no God.  If I say there is a God, is that being arrogant?   If my atheist friend declares just as confidently that there is no god, is he being arrogant?  What is the difference?

I am confident there is only one God, while there are Hindus who believe in many gods.  So, if I declare that there is only one God, am I being arrogant towards my Hindu friends?  If the Hindu declares many gods, is he/she being arrogant?  What is the difference?

I am confident that Jesus is the only way to get to God, but there are many Muslims who don’t.  So, if I tell my Muslim friend that Jesus is the only way, is that arrogant? 

God calls us to be confident, but we are to never be arrogant.

BIG IDEA NO. 1

Respect the person rather than what they stand for

In preparing this message I came across a question that made me think.  Is it really possible to respect another person’s point of view, even when you strongly believe the opposite?

My answer is: maybe it’s not.

If there is someone who holds a belief, or who is involved in behaviour, that you actually believe to be morally or ethically wrong, you may find it almost impossible to respect their views.

While I may or may not respect person’s beliefs or behaviour, I am under obligation from God to treat the person with the respect and dignity due to someone who is loved by God.

Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king. 1 Peter 2:17.  NLT

That word that is translated “respect” (timao) means to give value to or to honour.  That is, treat them as valued and honoured people. 

But what if the other person doesn’t act like an honourable person?

That doesn’t let us off the hook.

In fact, the king that Peter says they are to respect was, at the time, the Emperor Nero.  Nero was no friend of the early church.  He was the guy who reportedly set fire to Rome and then blamed the Christians for starting the fire.  And Peter told them to have respect for this guy!

I may not agree with people.  I may not respect what they believe. 

I must treat people with honour. 

BIG IDEA NO. 2

Avoid belittling

One of the sure signs of arrogance is that it has a tendency to belittle those who are different in some way.  To say or do something that in some way puts them down, makes fun of them, minimises their value or makes them look bad in the eyes of others.   

This will come out in a number of ways.

• Ridicule & sarcasm. 
• Insults & derogatory comments
• Personal attacks – playing the man and not the ball. 
• Degrading humour.  You see this when it comes to racism and sexism, where one will use humour to make someone appear to be less than they really are.
• Misrepresenting the other side.  You see this a lot in politics.  One side, instead of attacking the policies of their opponent, will exaggerate or misrepresent their views in order to make them look unreasonable. 

The Bible tells us to behave differently.

Remind the believers to yield to the authority of rulers and government leaders, to obey them, to be ready to do good, to speak no evil about anyone, to live in peace, and to be gentle and polite to all people. Titus 3:1-2. NCV

Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. Eph 4:29. Complete Jewish Bible

BIG IDEA NO. 3

Listen

One of the ways we belittle or devalue someone is by not listening to what they have to say. 

There are a number of reasons why we don’t listen well

1. We are so preoccupied with our own thoughts and our own agenda that we can’t hear anything or anyone else.  This is self focus to the point that we tune out what others think or have to say.

I was putting this together and came across a thought that hadn’t dawned on me before: Pride is an attitude of self-worship.

When I am engrossed in my own ideas, opinions and thoughts, that is a form of self-worship.

1. We have already worked out what we think the other person feels or believes and we’ve decided they’re wrong.  Our tuning them out is a way of showing our disapproval.
2. 3.       We don’t want to give the impression that we think we might be wrong, or that they might be right. 

The faulty reasoning is that by listening to someone we are telling them that they might have something to teach us.  That, in turn, might give the impression that we secretly think we might be wrong.  So, therefore, we shouldn’t even give their views and opinions the time of day.  Don’t listen.

And that is exactly why some people don’t listen.  It’s not a sign that they are confident in what they believe.  It’s a sign of fear.  Secretly, they fear they might be wrong and don’t want to admit it.  So, they hunker down and refuse to listen to any other point of view. 

Listening to someone does not mean you agree with them. 

Listen is about respect.

Listening to someone is to give them the gift of being.  About recognising them as a whole and valuable human being.

Not only that, but listening to someone, even when you think what they are saying is balderdash, makes it more likely that they will, in turn, listen to you.

If you really believe that everything they say is rubbish, then you will also be wanting to verbalise to them what you really think. 

If you refuse to listen, don’t be surprised if they also cut you off.

One of the best ways to be heard is to first of all be a listener.

Having said all that, let me also add this big idea…

BIG IDEA NO. 4

Admit you don’t know it all

The reality is, we don’t know everything there is.

Even when it comes to God, Jesus and Bible, we do not know it all. 

First of all, there are a lot of things about which the Bible doesn’t speak. 

Second, we live in a different culture from which these things were written.  To fully understand the Scriptures, you have to have a good understanding of the culture in which it was written.

Third, our powers of interpretation and understanding are limited.

I don’t know how many things there are that I thought I understood, only to have the Holy Spirit come along and change my mind.

The reality is, just about everybody can teach us something, if we are humble enough to receive it. 

BIG IDEA NO. 5

Present what you believe with confidence and respect

Let’s come back the question of how we can talk about God, Jesus and the Bible to those who do not believe in God or accept the authority of the Scriptures. 

Here is the approach we’re told to take…

The Lord’s servant must gently teach those who disagree. Then maybe God will let them change their minds so they can accept the truth. And they may wake up and escape from the trap of the devil, who catches them to do what he wants. 2 Tim 2:25-26. NCV

How do you feel when someone tries to force their ideas on you?

Isn’t it a much better approach to put things in such a way that people will listen rather than tune you out or, even worse, get ticked off at you?

Here are some possible discussion starters.

I believe the Bible.  Can I share with you how the Bible puts it?

I see it a little differently.  Would you like to hear what I think?

Can I give you my impressions from a different point of view?

BIG IDEA NO. 6

Live the message

We believe in grace and redemption. 

We believe that God is with us through everything.

We believe we are loved by God in spite of all we’ve done.

We believe in kindness, mercy, forgiveness, love.

Do we live those things?

Be sure that you live in a way that brings honor to the Good News of Christ. Philippians 1:27. NCV

Here’s Jonah 3.

Then the Lord spoke his word to Jonah a second time. He said, “Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people the message I have given you.”   Jonah immediately went to Nineveh as the Lord told him. Nineveh was a very large city. It took three days to walk through it. Jonah entered the city and walked for about a day. Then he said, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed.”
The people of Nineveh believed God. They decided to fast, and everyone, from the most important to the least important, dressed in sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he made this announcement and sent it throughout the city:
“This is an order from the king and his nobles: No one is to eat or drink anything. This includes all people, animals, cattle, and sheep. Every person and animal must put on sackcloth. Cry loudly to God for help. Turn from your wicked ways and your acts of violence. Who knows? God may reconsider his plans and turn from his burning anger so that we won’t die.”
God saw what they did. He saw that they turned from their wicked ways. So God reconsidered his threat to destroy them, and he didn’t do it. Jonah 3:1-10. God’s Word

My two friends were crossing swords on an online forum that I visit fairly frequently. I will call these two guys “Ed” and “Ted” (not their real names). A little background might be in order.

• “Ed” is a committed and outspoken Christian. He speaks or writes with humour, but also with great directness. Consquently, some of the people on the forum have taken a dislike to him, or at least to the belief system he espouses.
• “Ted” is what I might call a “used to be Christian.” He grew up in a Christian denomination but has walked away from that. He would call himself a “spiritualist”. He believes in spirituality but not in Christianity. He does not believe in an “absolutist” view of religion. He does believe in reincarnation.

With that background, here’s something of the online discussion between my online mates.
“Ed” writes: “In fact if you read all the things Jesus said and did, His emphasis was almost always on His love for us… not on His intention to punish anyone. If you think Christianity is about “fear”, then I suggest you have an inaccurate perception and understanding. Isn’t there more “fear” involved in being presented with multiple incarnations that involve stress and painful struggle to try and reach enlightenment?”

“Ted” replies:  “Christians believe that the ONLY way to heaven is through accepting Jesus as the Son of God. The moment you say that you are instilling fear into people, and are being quite arrogant to boot.”  ….   ”By being absolutest the Christian religion is based on fear – It is my way or the highway,… a fear tactic designed to convert people to Christianity. No matter which way you try to spin it around or twist the words it is still the same.”

 I read that and thought both had a point.  Jesus used the motivation of love not fear. He drew people to himself and to God by demonstrating love and compassion.  On the other hand, I have heard my share of “fire and brimstone” preaching, where people are made to feel the fear of hell as a motivation to coming to faith in Jesus.

So, here I am reading this discussion online and preparing a message about Jonah as well. This prompted the question:
What part does fear play in Jonah? (particularly in chapter 3)
• The sailors (in chapter 1) were full of fear because of the storm sent by God.
• There’s every indication (in chapter 2) that Jonah experienced some fear when he thrown overboard.
• In chapter 3, does Jonah obey the second time he’s called because of the duty of obedience or because he’s afraid of another fish-like experience? We don’t know. We’re not told why Jonah obeyed the second time, but I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t some fear involved.
• Why did the people of Nineveh suddenly repent? The message was one of destruction in 40 days. I can’t help but believe there was some fear involved in that decision too.
I believe there was some fear in operation here. My question is, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” It’s from that question that I want to form some big ideas.

UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEALTHY & UNHEALTHY FEAR.
To live a life that is dominated and controlled by fear is a terrible thing.
Some people’s lives are ruled by fear. There is a phobia for just about everything. Have you seen those lists? The one I found online (phopialist.com) had a list of 530 phobias. Let me give you a few. Some of them sound legitimate enough.

• Ballistophobia: the fear of bullets.
• Taphophobia: the fear being buried alive.
• Mysophobia: the fear of dirt or germs, or being contaminated by them.
• Peladophobia is the fear of bald people-. (You gotta watch those shifty bald people …)
• Aulophobia is the fear flutes- (watch out for killer flutes…)
• People who have Geliophobia are afraid of laughter-. (I think I might have known some of them)
• Arachibutyrophobia (I don’t know if I can pronounce that one) is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.

While we might have a good laugh at some of those, for the person who suffers from one of these phobias, it is a terrible life. It’s irrational and unexplainable. It controls people’s lives and makes life unbearable.

A life lived in fear is an awful thing.
To play on those fears as a means of manipulating people is just plain wrong.

At the same time, there are some forms of fear that are healthy.

• The skydiver has a healthy fear of hitting the ground hard. For that reason he or she will check and recheck the parachute to make sure it has been packed well. It is a fear that produces a healthy result.
• As a motorcycle rider, the thought of a car coming out in front of me is not a particularly comforting thought. That’s why, out of a healthy sense of fear, I look both ways at each intersection, and then look again, even when I know the other stree has a stop sign. If I see a car with it’s turn indicator on, I think, “That turn indicator works.” But I don’t believe they are actually going to turn until I see them turn.
• Some streets are dangerous at night. There are bad people out there, some of whom will make trouble for yoy. A healthy sense of fear will cause you to think twice before going into places of danger.
• Healthy fear motivates us to stay away from dangerous places. It prompts us to make sure our vehicles and equipment is safe. It promotes taking safety measures and hinders us from doing stupid or foolish things.
• I remember asking an electrician if he was afraid of electricity. He said he wasn’t afraid as long as he understood and operated with respect for the properties of electricity. He has a healthy respect for what electricity could do if it was handled carelessly, but he understood that if he used certain precautions, he was completely safe.

That’s the first big idea: learn to identify the difference between fear that is healthy and fear that is unhealthy.

ACCEPT GOD’S PEACE
This is where my online friend “Ed” is absolutely right. If you look at the ministry of Jesus, he is continually drawing people away from fear and towards peace through God’s love.
Over and over again, the Bible gives us this phrase, “Fear not.” Let’s look at a few.

Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9. NKJV
 

Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10. RSV
“So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:32. NLT

God does not want you to live a life dominated by fear and apprehension. God doesn’t want to frighten you into believing in Jesus. God wants to enter into a relationship, whereby we “do life” together with God, motivated and driven by love rather than by fear.

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day — our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life — fear of death, fear of judgment — is one not yet fully formed in love. 1 John 4:16-18. Message

Turn all your anxiety over to God because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7. God’s Word

ENCOURAGE HEALTHY FEAR (including the fear of God)

This is where my friend “Ted” misses the point. He thinks all fear is bad. He doesn’t seem to get the concept of healthy fear. He believes, and so do I, that our prime motivator ought to be love. Fear as a prime motivator can be manipulative and evil.

I found this quote from motivational speaker Zig Ziglar:
Dr. Judge M. Lyle said, “Someone has said that the basis of action should be love and not fear. Theoretically that is true, but in practice it does not work out that way. There are legitimate fears. Fear of ignorance causes you to seek an education and fear of poverty makes you work. Fear of disease motivates you to practice healthy and sanitary living. Fear of losing your job will inspire you to show up on time and do the best you know how to do. Fear of failing a class will drive a student to spend extra time in the books. Fear of losing our family inspires us to be faithful to them, work hard for them, and show them love on a daily basis.”

If we go back to my other friend, the electrician, I think we could learn a lot about how to approach healthy fear. He approaches an electrical circuit, not with a paralysing fear, but with a healthy respect. He knows that if he handles things right, there is nothing to be afraid of. He also knows if he’s careless, the consequences could be, well, shocking.

This is also true when you look at those places in the Bible where we are told to fear God.

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. Proverbs 9:10. NLT

 Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes. 2 Chronicles 19:7. NLT (spoken by King Jehoshaphat to judges he apointed)

Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children. Proverbs 14:26. NLT

Fearing God does not mean being afraid of God.
It means a healthy respect for what God can do if not handled correctly, or of what can happen to life if lived without God.
That’s what we want to encourage in our lives. Not being afraid of God but of being humble and respectful, reverent and in awe of who God is.
What kinds of things encourage that kind of fear or reverence?
Those are the things we ought to be doing.

 I want to finish with one little twist.
Sometimes love must instill fear until a better motivator can be brought to maturity.

 When my kids were little, they would sometimes do things that were not right and were certainly not motivated by love. You can’t expect someone who is not mature to act with maturity. So, our love, as parents, had to guide them. Let’s say one of them lied. This response was so typical that they still remember it to this day. I would say something like this;
 

“This is what you did. You told a lie. If you keep doing that, you will grow up to be an adult who lies. I love you too much to let that happen. So, this is what you’re going to get [followed by a description of whatever punishment was about to follow].
This was an impartation of fear motivated by love.

What parent has not, out of love, sought to instill some sense of healthy fear in their children?
Fear of sticking a knife into a power outlet…
Fear of walking into the street without looking…
Fear of touching a hot stove…
When they’re older, and more mature, you don’t need to do that anymore, because they can see for themselves the consequences of carelessness around things that could cause harm.

I think, that’s pretty much what God did with Nineveh and with Jonah. He wanted them to understand the consequences of going through life while disregarding the God who made them. God didn’t want to hurt them. He didn’t want to them to cower in fear. In love, God wanted them to realise their full potential while living in partnership with God.
And that’s really what God wants for all of us: Freedom from fear in the context of healthy reverence.

This is the One Whose Birth We Celebrate

By David Woodward

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a young unmarried virgin.  The Bible tells us that he was God, who became a man in order to reach a broken humanity.  Although sent from heaven, he was born in poverty, and raised in a poor, working class home.  His first visitors were humble sheepherders.   His seconded recorded visitors were men of renown wisdom who brought extravagant gifts.  A jealous tyrant sought to have the infant Jesus killed, and in the process murdered many other helpless young children.

The baby grew to manhood and stamped his mark on the world by healing sick people, feeding hungry people, casting out demons, raising the dead, and showing the love of God to the most sinful of people.  He touched lepers, blessed children, and wepted over the brokenness of the human race.  By his own admission, he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.  He did give his life, willingly allowing angry men to nail him to a cross.

The Bible tells us that he did this as a willing sacrifice for your sins, my sins and ultimately the sins of the world.  But that was not the end.  Jesus rose from the dead.  He returned to heaven bearing the scars of his crufixion.  And, according the Scriptures, one day he will return – this time not as a impoverished servant, but as a conquering King.

This is the one whose birth we celebrate.  We don’t just celebrate the birth of Jesus, we honour his life.  We identify with his principles.  We champion his ideals.  We bind ourselves to him, this Messiah who lived, died and lives again.  We pledge ourselves to the Jesus’ life of accepting sinners, helping the poor and hurting, walking by faith, rejoicing in forgiveness, overflowing with generosity, loving life yet welcoming death, living with boldness and humility, welcoming strangers, dispensing grace, always seeking to live the values of the Kingdom of God in the here and now, while looking for the fullness of the Kingdom of God yet to come.

This is the one whose birth we celebrate.

• Family
• Giving
• Community
• Shopping
• Being nice to people
• Jesus (only heard that once)

If Christmas is “all about” any of these things, then it can’t be about any of the others.

To me, Christmas is primarily about Jesus, but there are other things that are important at this time of year.  There’s family, remembering the poor and disenfranchised, generosity, and so on.

It’s just those words “all about” that get up my nose.

There. I’ve had my rant.

One thing that hit me about these parables is the placement of the seed and the yeast. Christians need to be placed in the world where we can do some good. That reminded me of something I heard a long time ago (not sure who the author is):

“Christians are like manure. Spread them around, and they can do a lot of good. Pile them up together, and they can begin to stink.”

I comes down to this:

Are we bringing people to Jesus or taking Jesus to people?

I am coming to the place where I think we (the modern evangelical church) have got it wrong. We think we have to bring people to Jesus. Because of this, we put a lot of energy and resources into attracting people to our churches, thinking that when we bring people “to church” we are bringing them to the place where they will meet Jesus. Instead of bringing people to Jesus, we need to be bringing Jesus to the people. That is, wherever we go, we are taking Jesus with us. Our attitudes, words and actions reflect Him. People see Jesus in their own environment instead of being asked to enter a totally foreign environment (the church) so they can meet Him there.

I never had any problem with Christ, but Christians were always a bit of a problem for me.  I used to avoid them if I could.  I found them to be completely disinterested culturally and in the world around them.  I found it very hard to relax with them.  Christians can be very judgmental—particularly around the way people look, the way they carry on.  They tend to judge people groups and peoples problems.  So I grew up very suspicious of Christians, but determined to know more about the life of Christ.

I’ve got to say that I think Bono has a point.  Have we Christians so isolated ourselves from the world, and so aligned ourselves with particular political parties or movments that we have missed what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?

The big idea for this series started when we were looking at the message on humility during the Full Flame series.  I was thinking about how often Americans wonder why many in the world hate America.  This was something I didn’t understand this until I was able to view America through non-American eyes.  America does a lot that is favourable to the world, but it also does some things that are unfavourable.The same is true of Christians.  There are people who are hostile towards Christianity and Christians.  Sometimes it’s because they have a negative bent towards all religions, faith and belief in God.  We also have to face the fact that sometimes it’s due to negative things done and said by people in the name of Christ.

Unfortunately, we have to face the fact that some people are genuinely put off by the behaviour of some believers. 

So, we are going to look at six attitudes which help to make Christianity more attractive to those who are not-yet-Christians.

Then, this week, in the middle of a prayer meeting, God reminded me of another Scripture having to do with fire.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you  through the laying on of my hands.grace.  2 Timothy 1:6 (New International Version)Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

    As I was praying about this, it hit me. 

• The Holy Spirit produces the fire!  There’s nothing we can do to make the fire happen.  It is entirely a work of the Spirit.

• It is our responsibility to tend to the fire.  Like a campfire, if we neglect it, it will eventually die out.  We have to “throw another log on” and “fan to flame” the fire God puts within us.

How do we tend the fire of God within us?

• Faith

• Humility

• Obedience

• Holiness

• Service

• Worship

What things do you do to “fan to flame” the fire of God within you?

I always seem to have a struggle regarding how to end a message.  The traditional way of doing it is to have a come-forward-invitation, but I have come to believe that these can be counter productive. 

For one reason, they put pressure on people to come to the front when, in fact, the Holy Spirit may be quietly working on that person’s life.  I used to assume that when no one came forward that God wasn’t working.  I have found that is not the case.

The majority of people I have been privileged to lead to faith have not come down the aisle at the close of one of my sermons.  Coming to a faith relationship with Christ is a process.

That said, I still lead come-forward-invitations, but not nearly as often as I used to.

Anyway, back to yesterday:  The message was on Luke 17:5-10 where the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith.  Jesus’ answer was interesting.  He didn’t zap them with more faith.  He didn’t give them an eight-step formula for faith-building.  He talked to them about tiny seeds of faith.  The big idea, as I saw it, was that we don’t need more faith, or bigger faith; we need to act on the little seed of faith that we already have.

I asked God what He wanted me to do at the end of this message. 

Immediately into my mind came the thought that I needed to pray for three things. 

That we would recognise immediately when the Holy Spirit gives us promptings to do something.

It may be a prompting to pray for someone, visit someone who is sick, encourage someone who’s downhearted, do an act of kindness, or to speak a witness for Jesus.

I have missed many opportunities, only recognising them after they have passed.

That we wouldn’t spend too much time asking, “God is this You or me?”

We often don’t know at the moment that it’s happening whether it is the Holy Spirit who is prompting us or whether it is just our own thoughts.

If we spend too much time debating this in our minds, the opportunity will pass, and we will have done nothing.

That we might see what God can do.

It’s not about what we can do. It’s about what God can do with the mustard seed faith that we have.

Here’s the really cool part.

When those thoughts came to mind, I didn’t know whether it was God or me.

When I started to pray those things at the end of the message, I sensed a wave of spiritual power come over me.  That, I have come to recognise, is the power and presence of God.

Wow!

Can’t wait till next week to see what God has done!