I’ve attended a few churches in my life. I can count 15 that I’ve either been a member of or attended regularly with my parents and have clear memories of. There are quite a few more that I have visited over the years. One thing that is true of all of them is that they weren’t perfect. 

In one, the music was not well done. In another, the preacher was not a particularly good speaker. Yet another sang a song that I thought was questionable theologically. This other preacher spoke well, but I don’t think the scripture he used actually supported his point (or that any scripture that comes to mind would support that point). I could, of course, go on and on with complaints. Some of them would be about unimportant things, grounded only in my opinion. Others would be about serious theological issues or instances of hypocrisy. Whatever the issues, I guarantee that no church you or I ever set foot in will be perfect.

What then? 

Maybe we should just give up on this whole church thing. I certainly know quite a few Christians who have done exactly that, and I will admit to being tempted on occasion. However, if we seek to follow New Testament teachings, that’s just not an option.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them:

Romans 12:4-6a

It’s difficult for all of these different people to be one body, serving and supporting each other, if they are disconnected. Paul tells us that the purpose of our gifts is to serve one another, not for our own benefit. We cannot exercise our gifts as intended outside of a community of believers.

The teaching goes further than that. The author of Hebrews makes it quite clear that abandoning church is not the right option.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25

Maybe we just need to do church differently. I regularly hear of people who are trying to recreate church in various ways. The motives here can be excellent, and the results can be God-honoring, as they seek to draw people into the church and strengthen those in it. I most often hear that the goal is to make things more like the “New Testament church,” because of all that God accomplished then.

But I want to let you in on a little secret: the New Testament church was not perfect. If it had been, a large portion of the New Testament wouldn’t exist. All those letters provide correction and guidance to various 1st-century churches, which wouldn’t have been needed.

God actually doesn’t expect churches to be perfect. He only expects the people in them to grow toward perfection. We are supposed to be getting to know Christ better and becoming more like him. In the church, we are supposed to be helping one another toward that goal of Christlikeness. What we’re not supposed to do is to expect any of the people around us to have actually achieved perfection.

In the middle of Paul’s description of the church in Colossians 3, he says,

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:12-13

A perfect church wouldn’t require patience or “bearing with one another.” The church is made up of people–mostly people who are sincerely trying to follow God, but imperfect people nonetheless.

As we do this church thing, we need to acknowledge that we also are not yet perfected. Remember Paul’s instructions as we interact with our fellow imperfect Christ-followers. Then in that gathering, we will find the greatest purpose of the church:

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

Matthew 18:20

Photo by Kristijan Arsov on Unsplash

When I first planned to write a blog entry with this title a few weeks ago, my life was in the middle of chaos. My younger son was in the hospital. I had too many commitments and too many things that I planned to do but hadn’t gotten done. It felt like life was spinning out of control, but I knew, even as I struggled, even as I failed to make the time to sit down and write about it, that there is a rock.

You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Isaiah 26:3-4

I was struggling with that trust and not quite staying in that perfect peace. Somehow it always seems harder to deal with challenges facing my children than the challenges I personally face. But God is merciful and compassionate: he held me through those struggles. While I still have way too many things on my plate, especially since I don’t teach in the summer, many things are better. I can feel the stable footing underneath me rather than just clinging to the promise that it’s there.

I worked on finding the time to get back to my writing and started to think about other topics since this one was no longer immediately relevant to my life.

But then . . . 

I woke up one morning to news of a building collapse: 12 stories of condos just demolished. Hundreds of people’s lives have been suddenly thrown into a chaos that puts my personal struggles into perspective.

The news has become full of stories. The story of the 10-year-old boy who woke trapped and terrified and was rescued along with that of the neighbor who helped find and save him. Stories of the missing from worried and grieving families. Stories of those who survived and must now figure out how and where to go on living.

We watch in horror and sorrow. We pray, but too often our prayers are nothing more than cries of “Why?”

As I write this, we don’t have all of the human answers as to why, and we certainly don’t have any answers as to why God allowed it to happen. I do, however, see a lesson for all of us in the aftermath.

As I watch the various people personally affected by the tragedy, I see two responses. Some are anxious for news but express confidence that the search and rescue teams are working hard and doing the best they can to find any survivors who might be in the rubble. Others are simply impatient and express certainty that they could do better, that the search and rescue teams are not moving as quickly as they could and should be.

Isn’t that a supremely human reaction? Aren’t we often convinced that we could do things better and faster?

Yet the reality is that those working on the pile of rubble are well-trained and are still taking risks. The evidence we have is that they are, in fact, doing the best they can, however tempting it is to believe otherwise and to encourage them to hurry.

We do the same thing with God in circumstances like these and many others. Our prayers sometimes turn into instructions rather than petitions. We blame God for not moving fast enough, for not doing things the “right” way (our way).

God is smarter than we are. He understands the bigger pictures. It isn’t easy to wait. It isn’t easy to accept that our way isn’t the best way. It isn’t easy to trust. But that’s what we need to do. We have to trust that the rock is solid, even when it doesn’t feel that way.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
    and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
    I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
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 righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:9-10

Photo by Max Kleinen on Unsplash

We’ve grown tired, as individuals, as a nation, as a world. Tired of less activity. Tired of less togetherness. Tired of trying to do the right things to keep everybody safe. Tired of hearing bad news, whether about the virus, about injustice, about politics.

As I rejoice in the new-found freedom of being fully vaccinated and seeing the numbers in my little corner of the world and my country trend in the right direction, I watch what’s happening elsewhere, especially in India, with horror but also with a numbness that is almost acceptance that things are just bad.

My husband and I have been blessed with jobs that were safe in the pandemic, leaving our finances in good shape. Early in the pandemic, we were eager to help others whose situations were not secure. We looked for opportunities to give to help people in our community who were negatively impacted by the pandemic. For the first several months, we made it a point to do that extra giving each month.

Time passed, and we grew tired, not of the giving so much as of the circumstances. We realized that we had stopped doing the extra giving, not because we decided to quit but because we forgot. At that point, we did go back and give more, but we had skipped a few months in our weariness.

I think this is a common occurrence when we set out to do something good. We’re not usually in the midst of a global pandemic, but we are usually trying to help with problems that are not going to be fixed overnight. Concern and enthusiasm are enough to get us started, but often not enough to keep us motivated, especially when we don’t see quick results.

God knows that about us. He knows that our nature prompts us to do things for ourselves, not for others: that we are prone to give up when our efforts to help others do not produce quick and dramatic results. Thus we have the admonition:

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:8-10

As we do our part to help the world get normal and walk with God day-by-day, let’s work to follow this admonition. Let’s keep our eyes open for those chances to do good for our neighbors, our coworkers, and especially for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s fight the natural exhaustion that creeps in as we demonstrate God’s love and remember to look forward to the promised harvest.

Photo by Mulyadi on Unsplash

Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes it just stays hard for a long, long time. I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day, and she mentioned some issues her daughter was going through. Now this young woman has been through a lot in her life. She was born with club feet and dealt with multiple operations and a great deal of pain as she grew up.

This is an exemplary young woman in many ways, a hard-working young mother who is deeply devoted to the Lord.

My reaction to my friend’s information was to say that her daughter “did not need more to deal with.”

My friend responded, “No she didn’t in our eyes. But we trust the Lord’s view on her life.”

My friend was right, of course. And I knew that, but as we walk day by day it can be easy to look at pain and suffering from a human perspective. I had to stop and adjust my thinking.

This kind of thing has been very close to me lately. My father has been dealing with issues of pain and numbness in his face for several years. Doctors have tried various treatments with varying success, but nothing has eliminated the problem. In March of this year, the pain became much more acute, and he began to develop other issues impacting his ability to use his right eye.

Because of the greater problems, the doctors have become more serious about trying to find the solution, but it has not been an easy road. Imaging has revealed a cause of the problems, but it is positioned so that it cannot be reached surgically without major, risky surgery, which the doctors want to avoid if at all possible.

At times doctors have thought they had the answer but turned out to be wrong. We now think we have the answer, but it is a probable answer, not a certain one, and we’re all reluctant to depend on the end being in sight. And, if this is the answer, there is a fair bit of pain and suffering yet to come in the process of treatment, though the good news is that treatment is possible and likely to be effective.

In this story, again the natural response is “why?” This is a man who has devoted most of his adult life to serving God. Although he finally retired, there are books to write and classes to teach. It seems obvious from our human perspective that he should be going on with his active service, free from debilitating pain.

I could tell other stories, and there are many others that I know nothing about. This is a tale told again and again, from the beginnings of the Christian faith.

Paul speaks of his own extended struggle. We don’t know what his thorn in the flesh was, but we do know that he didn’t like it. He says, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me” (2 Corinthians 12:8 ESV). We also know that God didn’t take it away.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

When we think about grace, we often think it’s about what makes us feel good, that it’s about getting what we humans believe we need or want. Instead, grace is about what God knows that we need, what God desires for us.

Grace may be about living through pain and suffering with a joy that encourages others. Grace may be about going through chemotherapy and meeting others who are suffering without Christ and introducing them to him. Grace may be about surviving unthinkable abuse without losing faith and becoming a source of help and hope for others.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 ESV

We read that verse and cling to it in confidence that things will get better. They will, of course, in heaven if not before. We need to understand that the good here is not about comfort or wants or lack of pain. It is about God’s view of good. When we quote this verse, we often lose sight of its context.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:26-29 ESV

This passage is full of comfort. The Holy Spirit himself intercedes when we don’t know what to pray. Sometimes that’s because we are without words because of pain or sorrow or shock. Sometimes it’s because we’ve got it wrong and we’re praying for the wrong things out of our human wisdom. The Spirit will pray not for what we want but for what the will of God says we need. It is in that context of the Spirit praying for us, according to the will of God, that we find assurance that everything is working for good. Then, we get further clarity about that good in the following verse. At least part of the good is becoming Christlike.

This is grace, for this is what we can never achieve on our own.

I don’t know why my father or my friend’s daughter are suffering. I don’t know how long the suffering will last or what will come of it. I do know that God’s grace can and will work in their lives to bring good from the suffering, as it will for any who choose to trust him. God will not leave us in our pain. He loves us and will never abandon us.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:37-39 ESV

Image by James Chan from Pixabay

One of the great blessings of being a child of missionaries in my denomination is the extended family that one automatically joins when arriving on the mission field. This is especially true for those of us who ended up in a particularly large group of missionaries, as my family did. There were suddenly over a hundred people who were to be called “aunt” or “uncle” plus dozens of courtesy cousins of varying ages. It was a bit overwhelming when I was 10 years old and first walked into that situation, but ultimately many of these people became closer than most of my relatives by blood. 

As we age, a natural consequence of having a large family is that we begin to lose family members. My first family funeral was that of a great-great-grandmother when I was eight (my family might have married and had children quite young for several generations). Since then I’ve attended several for both my birth family and my missionary family.

Several weeks ago, I received word of another loss–another missionary uncle. Uncle Von loomed large in my life both literally and figuratively. So many images came immediately to mind from the serious to the hilarious, from daily life and family vacations and more recent reunions. As always when I think of Uncle Von, the first incident that came to my thoughts was the time my sister fell off the back of his Vespa because she refused to hold on to me.  She was fine. Why did we have 5 people on one Vespa scooter? Well, we were in Indonesia, and we wanted to get somewhere. I also think that we children may have actually wanted to ride on the scooter, though it’s hard to believe that now.

The biggest thing that came to mind was concern for Uncle Von’s family. While I respected him a great deal, he and I were never very close, mostly because of differing interests. On the other hand, after my parents, his wife was probably the strongest spiritual influence on my adolescence. Her loss, and that of his children, was where my heart went immediately.

I wanted to be there, but, of course, I could not. I’m in Illinois. They are in Oklahoma. We live in the time of COVID-19. Messages can be sent. Memorials can be made. Hugs are not an option.

I am grateful that, despite that limitation, I was able to at least watch the memorial service, and that service was a blessing in and of itself. It was a beautiful reminder of Uncle Von’s walk with God through his life and of the reality that we do “not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13b ESV). The one who is gone is released from suffering and is with Christ.

Yet we do grieve. Uncle Von is not here. We on earth have lost him for now.

Watching the memorial service brought to mind a song that I have come to love. I believe it beautifully captures the reality of Christian death, the intermingling of grief for now and hope for the future. In part, it says,

It isn’t easy to say goodbye
But I know it’s only for a little while
Run up ahead and I will catch up
‘Cause I’m gonna see you when tomorrow comes
On the other side

“The Other Side” by Colton Dixon

Uncle Von is well and safe and out of pain with Jesus. Someday we will be, too. In the meantime, we must both grieve our loss and rest assured by the God of hope and love.

Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash

At one point, I had a student contact me the day before an exam to say that a close friend of his had passed away earlier in the week and that he would take the exam the next morning if he had to but he would really appreciate being allowed to take it a few days later.

There is no policy about the death of friends at my university. Family deaths, yes. Serious illness, yes. Religious observations, yes. This situation, no.

I had to decide how to handle the situation. I know faculty who would have made the student take the test at the planned time. I hope I would never have been one of them, but at this point in my life, there was really no question. You see, I know what it is to be the mother of a college student who has lost a close friend. I instantly saw the situation not only from the perspective of the policy-following professor concerned about fairness, but also from the perspective of a mother who knows the trauma of such a loss and how it can impact a student’s ability to function.

As humans and as Christ-followers, it is valuable for us to see things from the perspectives of others. When we understand other people’s values and experiences, we can minister to their needs more effectively, better recognizing what is helpful, and what is insulting, and what is enabling patterns of poor choices. We can share the gospel with them in more understandable ways. 

Jesus demonstrates this in his interactions with people, diving to the heart of the problem of the rich young ruler’s love of his wealth (Mark 10:17-31), weeping with Mary over the death of Lazarus (John 11:28-37). Even his first miracle of turning water to wine is evidence that he takes others’ perspectives into mind, since he performs the miracle even after telling his mother that it was not his time (John 2:1-10).

Paul demonstrates the adjustment of the gospel presentation in his letters, which speak to the different needs of the churches who receive them. We also see that he speaks very differently to the Athenians at the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34) than he does to King Agrippa, who has an understanding of and belief in Scripture (Acts 26).

We also need to seek to understand the perspectives of those around us, to ask why they think and act as they do, to shape our presentation of truth and aid to reach people where they are.

Even more than recognizing and understanding the perspectives of the people around us, however, we need to seek to recognize, understand, and adopt God’s perspective on pretty much everything.

We are prone to see the world from a very self-centered place: how will this situation change my life? How does this change increase or decrease my taxes? I’m uncomfortable talking to strangers, so why should I do that?

God makes it very clear that our perspectives are not his:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV

As Christians, we are called to do better, to allow God to adjust our thinking, to leave behind our self-centered perspectives. Part of the new life is supposed to include new ways of thinking.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 ESV

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:13-16 ESV

How do we do that? Much as we do it with other humans. We have to spend time with them. We must also spend time with God. We must learn about other people’s values in order to understand their actions. We must learn about God’s values. We must read and know the stories that God has given us that tell of his actions in regard to the world and to his people, both Israelites and Christians.

We must, in fact, do exactly what we are repeatedly called to do: study and meditate on the Bible, which is our record of God’s values, instructions, and actions. Then we must work to consistently adopt those values as our own and follow those instructions. 

As our own values and actions become reflections of his, we can more effectively communicate them with others. As we adjust our personal perspective to match God’s, we will find it easier and easier to also recognize and respond appropriately to the perspectives of other humans, just as God does.

As followers of Christ, we have amazing freedom. That is a truth that echoes through the New Testament.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:21-32 ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 ESV

Galatians 5:1 ESV

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

We have been freed from sin, from lies, from the law.

We know that our freedom is not without limits. Paul spends much of the 6th chapter of Romans explaining that our liberty is not a license to do as we wish in regard to sin.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:17-18 ESV

Peter makes the same point:

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

1 Peter 2:16 ESV

This is a truth that most of us accept without difficulty. We struggle with sin at times, but we know that part of our response to God’s gift of freedom and life is supposed to be turning away from our sin, avoiding wrong-doing.

The question follows: what about things that aren’t sin? Are there limits to our freedom when sin is not involved?

No, and yes.

If what I wish to do is not sin, I am free to do it. However, there are times when I can and should limit my own freedom for the benefit of fellow Christians or for the benefit of unbelievers.

Paul uses the example of eating meat offered to idols to make this point regarding other believers. That example doesn’t make much sense to us today, with meat freely available in supermarkets and few worship practices that involve slaughtering animals. In Paul’s day, sacrificing animals was a common act of worship, not only in Judaism but also in the worship of various idols. Some of the meat from those sacrifices was then made available for people to eat.

Paul makes the point that if the believer’s intent in eating the meat is just to eat the meat and his or her attitude is one of thankfulness to God, there is no sin. There’s nothing wrong with the act of eating the meat itself. Not everyone could separate that act from their experiences of previous idol worship, however. 

Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

1 Corinthians 8:8-13 ESV

Paul says very bluntly that eating the meat in front of someone whose faith would be weakened by seeing it is wrong, is sin, even though eating the meat isn’t sin in and of itself.

If what we are doing may weaken the faith of another, we should limit our freedom and refrain from doing it, even if the thing itself is not wrong.

Paul also talks about limiting our freedom in relation to the conduct of gatherings of believers, saying that we should not simply say and do as we wish in our worship of God, but should consider the impact on other believers and on non-believers who might come into our gatherings. 

If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

1 Corinthians 14:23-25 ESV

Paul speaks most about the impact of speaking in tongues because it is something that benefits the person doing the speaking and not those who don’t understand what is said. However, he also talks about the gathering time having order and purpose in general, so that it is to the benefit of all.

Clearly, nothing that Paul speaks of refraining from in 1 Corinthians 14 is a sin. It’s all about worshipping God using the spiritual gifts we’ve been given. At the same time, we must not abuse the freedom we have to the detriment of either our fellow believers or those who we should be seeking to lead to Christ.

Paul stated the general principle in regard to unbelievers quite clearly:

 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

1 Corinthians 9:19 ESV

As we revel in the freedom that we have in God, we also need to consider all of our actions. How do the things that we do each day impact those around us? Are we strengthening other believers? Are we demonstrating the character of God to everyone? Are we, instead, taking actions that lead non-believers to think that we don’t care about them?

Like Paul we must consider our actions in light of their impact on those around us. Our freedom is worth nothing next to the spiritual well-being of those around us.

Photo by Hanxiao on Unsplash

In the course of my life, I have been privileged to visit a few temples, most of them Buddhist, both those now in use and those that are now tourist sites. I’ve explored Borobudur in Central Java, seen the Emerald Buddha and the Reclining Buddha among others in Thailand. I’ve watched the monks and other worshippers in a temple in Xining. I’ve stood in the Pantheon in Rome and imagined what it was like when still dedicated to the Roman gods. I’ve seen the remains of other temples: in the museum in Cairo, in the Louvre, in the British Museum.

One thing that strikes me about temples is that you can’t miss who or what they’re dedicated to. There’s just no question. The decor, the behavior of the worshipers, and often the architecture itself makes it clear.

This is also true also of the Jewish temples, beginning with the tabernacle. My current Old Testament reading is in Ezekiel where he is being shown the temple. Those chapters remind me of the meticulous (and long) instructions God gives Moses for the tabernacle. Everything about the tabernacle is laid out clearly. Every bit of the design has purpose, all of it eventually centered on the Holy of Holies.

As Christians, we don’t build temples. We build gathering places. There’s a reason for that. We are told quite clearly that we ourselves are the temples.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ESV

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV

We ourselves are the temples of God, of the Holy Spirit? What does that mean for us?

The first passage is found in the midst of Paul calling out the Corinthians for claiming to follow Apollos or Paul instead of focusing on following Christ himself. Paul describes his work and that of Apollos as working to build the believers into buildings that will stand the test of fire. The implication here is that we are being formed into worthy temples of God.

The second passage comes after an extended diatribe against sexual immorality. Paul’s point here is pretty clearly: “Your body is a temple dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Don’t sin with it.”

A central concept underlying both of these points is this: if we are a temple of God, people should be able to tell. We must ensure that our bodies, and our entire selves, reflect the entity to whom we are dedicated. Our actions, our words, and everything else about us should represent the God we claim to serve and worship.

Just as any casual tourist can easily see that Borobudur was dedicated to Buddha and his teachings, those who interact with us should see who we belong to.

That goes beyond each of us as individuals as well, for it is not just each separate Christ-follower who is a temple.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV

Therefore, we must work, both within our own selves and as a body of believers, to ensure that we are growing into worthy temples who reflect God.

Photo by Leo Chandra on Unsplash

This is not the post I had planned to write this week. That one will come later, but it was a post about dealing with old wounds and former pain. This week, I’m not in the place to do that, because I find myself too much in the middle of new problems and current pain.

Some of the week’s stresses are just my current job situation, exacerbated by the recent flood of my office and the decision to abate asbestos on that floor during repairs, meaning that I have to pack up the office and have a smaller temporary space somewhere for the rest of the semester. Not a huge deal, since I’m primarily working from home this semester, but a bit unsettling not to have my usual office space and things available at need. And, of course, not convenient to have to deal with packing things up in the midst of an already too busy semester.

Then one of my sons called. That is not my story to tell, but I will say that it was not good and it did involve him coming to stay with us while looking for a new place to live. There is good news. He has found a new place which looks like it will be a good fit for his circumstances. The other problems that led to the crisis, however, will be with us all for some time to come.

So I and my family find ourselves in the middle of turmoil, where it is sometimes easy to call out and cling to God, but also easy to cry out in frustration and blame.

I often turn to the Psalms at times like this. Many of them contain cries of protest and cries for help born out of struggles and pain, mingled with reminders and gratitude that God is in control and he does care.

This time, my son drew my attention to Micah 7. Micah describes a world of barrenness, struggle, and mistrust. Then he declares:

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
    when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.
Micah 7:7-8 ESV

This is the response we need to have when we’re in the middle of the struggle, still dealing with the chaos of life. God will hear us. He will be our light when we look to him—when we wait for him.

I usually find it easy to stop and pray for a short time when the problem happens. That’s especially true when the problem is a big deal because those stop me in my tracks and force me to look up from the tasks of my day. I personally struggle with the waiting and continued prayer. I want to do things, to fix the situation, to exert control.

The answers, the salvation, are not in my control but are in God’s hands. My prayer for myself, my family in our current struggles, and all of you in the problems you find yourself in the middle of, is one of Paul’s: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13 ESV).

What we feel in the middle of our problems is not reality. God can and will provide hope and help to see us through to the other side.

One thing I love about being a university professor is that a significant part of my job is constantly renewed. The previous semester is gone. Some of it was good; some of it was less good; all of it is in the past and can’t be changed. Now I have a new semester ahead in which to give my students the best experience and instruction that I can manage. I have new students, sometimes new material, new approaches to try. While the new can bring challenges, it also brings excitement and an opportunity to do even better by this next group of students.

Newness is also one of the exciting things about a life spent following Jesus Christ. The Bible is very clear that when we accept Christ, when we make that choice to acknowledge and turn away from our sin and obey God instead of our own desires, we are made new. Paul’s expression of that concept may be the most familiar to us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV). Elsewhere he emphasizes again that our old lives are dead and gone: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 ESV).

Many other verses emphasize that we were dead in our sin and that God has given us a new life and made everything new.

Unfortunately, we sometimes lose sight of God’s amazing regeneration of our souls and lives. We may look back and appreciate that one-time deal, but we don’t always live in our new life as we plod along on earth.

I think this is partly because we’ve missed the magnitude of the renewal that God offers us. The first great change is an amazing transformation, but God also calls us to a constant refreshing, a repeated renewing of hearts and minds. He calls us to sing new songs several times in the Psalms. We need new songs because they refresh us and renew our praise for God and our joy in him. In the midst of great sorrow, Jeremiah proclaims, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV).

We can see God’s willingness to renew and restore simply by reading the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. He repeatedly rescues the Israelites from the consequences of their bad actions and restores them as his people, until they stray again.

How do we take advantage of God’s offers of renewal? How do we live as the new and constantly renewed creatures that we should be as followers of Jesus Christ?

The key is in that last phrase. Jesus gave us the instructions we need to follow. “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23 ESV). We too often treat our choice to follow as a single event. Rather, we are called to make the conscious choice every day.When we do make that constant, conscious choice to submit to God and follow him, we will receive the renewal promised. We are told: “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV).

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash