Every August on New York everyone starts playing tennis, whether they're amateurs, average or beyond. Doesn't matter if you're young or old. The courts are full of people mimicking their favorite professional players. In August every year in New York, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships are played. It tends to bring out the tennis player in everyone.
I have had the pleasure of teaching a Bible Study recently on the topic Serve as in service. Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 tell us that Jesus did not come to be served or be a slave master, but to serve others. He has given us an example of a servant's heart. We, the followers of Jesus Christ are called to serve others, whether they are nice or not, believers or not, task masters or not. We are to serve others, period. Sorry to say, this is a lost concept in the American church. We go by the mantra, "It's all bout me and how comfortable I feel." Apathy.
As I thought about the word serve, tennis came to mind. The serve in tennis has purpose, it is done with energy, it has a specific aim, it is watched by others, it can cause others to be humbled, it can inspire others, it can be done as an individuals (singles matches), with another teammate (doubles), or as a team (team tournaments).
Serving others has a purpose, to please God, to encourage/bless the person being served, to win the lost. Serving others takes energy. Service is watched by others, whether they are see or unseen. Serving others may humble you or the person(s) being served. Acts of service can inspire others to serve or seek salvation in Christ. We can serve alone, with others, or in a group.
If you aren't serving, you're faith is not being lived out. Very few will notice your witness for Christ.
Get your serve going. The game is not yet over.
There was a movie out recently called something to the effect, "Snakes and Planes," which starred Samuel L. Jackson. I didn't see it but I believe the premise was that there was a killer snake on a plane which he was on. The idea was to kill the snake before it took down the plane. I've never really heard of snakes living tens of thousands feet above the earth in a pressurized plane. There comes a point that life ends at certain heights in the atmosphere. If snakes were meant to live at those heights, wouldn't they have wings?
Last year I had to take a Theology class as part of my curriculum in graduate school. So, I took a Systematic Theology class. I had a wonderful professor named Omar Ortiz. In one of the classes we were discussing how the devil tries to discourage us and how he uses worship in his fight. He told a story of a pilot and co-pilot taking off in a loaded 747. As they were lifting off the ground the co-pilot saw what he thought was a snake crawling in a nook above his head. He was right, it was a snake. He told the pilot. The pilot, who as relaxed as could be, simply said, "wait." The co-pilot couldn't understand, surely this thing will bite one of us or both of us, he thought. The pilot kept ascending upward as calm as sitting and watching a beautiful sunset. They've been flying about five minutes now still climbing upward. The co-pilot saw the snake now thrashing around and told the pilot in a shout, "Aren't you going to do something?!!!" The pilot calmly responded, "just wait, it'll be all right." Well, they were just about at their peak before they leveled off and the snake up and died in the blink of an eye. The pilot looked at the co-pilot and said, "see, I knew we'd be all right. Snakes can't survive at this height. The pressure is too much for them."
The next time that snake the devil keeps lying in your ear and bringing you down, take him for a ride. Let your praise arise to the heavens out of a heart of thanksgiving. Keep going higher and higher in your praise and watch him turn away. Higher praise kills the attempts of the enemy to keep us from being who God created us to be and live as His rightful child. Pressurize your life with praise.
Psalm 22:25a, "From you comes the theme of my praise."
Psalm 33:1, "Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him."
Psalm 42:11, "Why so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."
Psalm 52:9, "I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name will I hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints."
Hebrews 13:15, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess His name."
To tell the kids that Santa is real or not has long been a dilemma for parents, especially true Christian parents. Santa is part of the culture of the world we live in. Stores are geared toward a Santa theme in their decor. From pre-school to high school Santa is seen in the decorations, plays, in "Secret Santa," and "Kris Kringle," gift giving celebrations. Some parents leave out Christmas cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve. Some dress up as Santa delivering gifts. You can see Santa at the mall starting Thanksgiving Day. You can see him at every department store ringing a bell. How can that be? Can he be everywhere at that same time? Even the myths concerning Santa juxtapose that somehow Santa shares some attributes of God to see everything, know everything we do, judge us as good or bad, and be at so many places at once. There are so many things about carrying on these myths that are so damaging to children.
The foremost thing is that when children find out that Santa does not exist after so many years of indoctrination by their parents that trust is destroyed. The child is in disbelief. What they believe about Santa was all a lie all that time and Mom and Dad were the ones who said it was all true. It is statistically proven that children who grow up believing in Santa and then find it's not true have more difficulty in life believing their parents when they insist something is true. Children who grow up knowing Santa is not real fair much better in trusting their parents. Children who grow up believing Santa is real and find out he is not, deal with unintended humiliation at the hands of their parents. They feel like a sucker played out through their parents. There's an immediate traumatic scar that helps build a defensive wall around their heart and emotions. In severe cases some children have needed counseling to work through trust issues with their parents and the humiliation they felt at the instance they found out the truth. Think of how humiliated a child might be who finds out Santa does not exist from kids at school who ridicule the child for believing in Santa. That's a tough situation for the child. Peers gain more respect of their words than parents. Should they trust peers or their parents? This is a tough dilemma for the child. What else can their parents be telling them that isn't true? Even if the parents are telling the truth about everything else, the damage is done. Peers now have a stronger hold than parents do/will. The pattern is set.
Statistics don't lie. New York Magazine (February 2008) recently had an article in which showed that when children lie, they are copying what they see their parents do. The study showed that the number source of where children learn to lie is from their parents! A study was done by Family Central (July 2007) on parents lying to their children. 67% of parents surveyed said they lied to their children growing up. Out of the 67% who lied, 52% of those children had trust and relationship issues. 9% of those children had juvenile criminal records. Be careful parents. The values you model before your children are the ones they will adopt.
Am I being overly dramatic? That depends on your perception of truth and how much you value truth. Deuteronomy 4 is very descriptive in commanding us to teach our children God's truths. Proverbs 11:15 tells us, "the godly are directed by honesty (New Living Translation)." Psalm 26:3 intimates that followers of Jesus Christ are to live according to God's truth.
Believe it or not, it can all start with Santa as innocent as that myth may seem.
Truth is everything. "Be careful little ears what you hear. Be careful little eyes what you see."
Have a blessed Christmas everyone.
There's a verse I've been meditating on for over a month now. It's 1 Corinthians 13:13- "Three things will last forever- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love (The New Living Translation)." The three are all interrelated, but I kept wondering why love would be the greatest. Another translation, the New International Version, uses the word remain instead of the words, last forever. Either way these three things will endure throughout all eternity. That's pretty awesome to think about. Then I wondered why will faith be needed in heaven? Perhaps we will be interceding for those still living. Perhaps we will need faith just to get over the fact we made it to heaven as unworthy of receiving it as we are. Perhaps hope will be needed too because when you have faith in something there is a hopeful expectation tied to it. Having faith in God gives us the hopeful expectation of seeing Him face to face. There's the hopeful expectation of answered prayers we laid before the Lord in faith. For instance, my wife and I are praying in faith for children, so we have a hopeful expectation of the pattering of little feet around the house.
What does love have to do with this, you ask? I think love is the goal of the first two, faith and hope. Faith brings hopeful expectation. Hopeful expectation fires love up. It stokes the flame of love. When the expectation of something is fulfilled, there is a deeper love and appreciation for the one who fulfilled it. I think of it as a child who has faith in their parent to get them a birthday gift they wanted. They have hope the parent they love will do it. Upon receiving the gift, the child has a greater love and appreciation for the parent.
How does love prevail over faith and hope? Well, this thought just occurred to me recently through a recent event. Sometimes we may not have much faith in God. Sometimes we may not have much hope in anything. Combined, these faith and hope deficits lead us to give into those sins that so easily besets us (Hebrews 12:1) and thus we may even hurt those we love most by our actions, even God. But love endures.Love remains. God still loves us. In spite of what we have done, nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). The enduring love of a mother hurt by a child she loves and continues in faith to pray for their salvation. The hopeful expectation that God will hear and answer her prayer. The love and adoration of God who saves the child in answer to her prayers. Love prevails over faith and hope and faith and hope deepen and enliven love.
I am so thankful that nothing can separate me from God's unconditional love. I am thankful for my wife's enduring love. I am thankful for the love of my family and friends. I am so blessed. The greatest of these is LOVE!
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