Ephesians 4:25-5:2: Angry

Greetings Earthlings!

I wrote this post while up at Splash Lagoon on our Middle School retreat, but we had a severe lack of internet access, so I'll save it and actually upload it when we get home.

Have you ever had a student do something to make you so angry that you couldn't breathe anymore? We once caught a couple of kids smoking pot in our parking lot during a kickoff event. I remember bringing them to my office, probably red in the face, and shaking uncontrollably. I don't know that I've ever been so angry.

There have been smaller offenses over the years. Those times that the boys won't go to sleep. Those times that the pranks get a little bit out of hand. Those times that no one has the obvious answer during a bible study. If we're honest, they make us a little bit angry. But what are we to do with that anger?

Paul writes that we should actually get angry, so long as we do so without diving into sin. I think the reason that we get so upset at our students sometimes is that we realize that they're capable of so much more than they're offering up. But in this passage, we learn a little bit about how to best manage our anger.

Don't let the sun go down on your anger- This one is basically universal to all avenues of our lives. Going to bed angry sucks. Plus, you'll probably not be able to sleep. Plus there's an awkward situation over coffee, and coffee should never be awkward!

Let no evil talk come out of your mouth- It's ok to be angry, but sometimes when we're angry we say things that should never be said. We aren't thinking, because our brain has likely been essentially short circuited. Sometimes it's just best to walk away, and save your thoughts for another time when you're more chilled.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God- This is kind of a mysterious verse, and a lot of people have been trying to determine the precise meaning. Thinking through this particular situation, and how to deal with anger, I wonder if it means that we as messengers of God's word need to be a little more careful with how we use the Spirit's resources? I wonder if we shouldn't waste the Spirit's time when we could easily resolve our own conflicts.

So get angry, but don't be dumb about it!

Tomorrow, 5:3-20

Ephesians 4:17-24: The Old Life

(That could be one of the creepiest pictures on the internet right now...sheesh...)

Hello friends,

Sorry I fell behind again by a day. Failure is not an option, so we're just going to pick up and keep going like that never happened. Thanks for sticking with me.

In almost 4 complete chapters of Ephesians, this is the first time we come to a direct command from Paul. Everything we've been working through has been a reminder of the life we ALREADY HAVE in Christ Jesus. You don't have to work to be an heir of God, you already are. You don't have to earn God's love, you already have it. Your sins are already forgiven through the abundant and plentiful Grace of Jesus Christ.

So when we finally come to the first direct command from Paul, what do we find him encouraging us to do? He's telling us to leave our old lives behind.

Depending on what your old life looked like, this might not be the hardest thing in the world. It's not too hard to leave behind years of rejection, abandonment, lies, and torture. Which, when you think about it is exactly the kind of life we were surely living before we came to know Christ in our lives.

If you put all your hopes in the relationships in your life, from your friends to your romantic interests to your peers to your colleagues, I can almost guarantee that they let you down at least once. Probably more than that. The truth is, the love of almost every person in the world is conditional. They only love you if you love them back, or provide them with something they want. Sad, but usually true.

So often I see youth ministers or youth ministries that are entirely set up on convincing people that they need Christ as a type of fire insurance, a means by which to avoid the terrible consequences of hell. While that is part of what Christ provides for us, I think we stand a much better chance of showing them how much better their lives could be with Christ. Showing them exactly how much the life they're leading without him is letting them down. Almost everybody can get behind that, right?

For tomorrow, we'll work on 4:25-5:2

Godspeed,

Jason

Ephesians 4:1-16: Making every effort

Greetings bloggers!

We're back for another theme that was sounded a couple of days ago. If Paul sounds a similar theme twice in the same letter, it's fairly clear that it's something of importance to him and thus should be to us. So let's take another in depth look at the issue of unity.

There's a sentence right up front that sets the whole thing into perspective."...making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." I really think this sentence could be challenging to those of us who work in ministry.

Some of us talk about how much we reach out to the other churches in our area. Maybe we do a once a month get together with our youth groups. Maybe we get excited because we network together with different denominations for a monthly lunch. But let's face it, the majority of us don't get together once a month, and even if we do once a month doesn't exactly sound like making every effort.

My heart breaks when the Church divides itself further. It truly does. There was a commercial a couple of months ago that I think puts things into perspective a little further for us:

I like the line "There was a time when 8 different brands made sense. Not anymore." I think if we were honest with ourselves, the Church would say "There was a time when splitting into completely different denominations over differences in doctrine made sense. Not anymore." I think we've fallen into a trap of listening to our own perspective so much that we've completely dismissed anyone else's perspective, we're just too busy defending our walls of faith.

Paul also writes in this passage that "We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine..." Which I'm sure can be interpreted to mean that we should stand firm in our doctrine and not let other people convince us to be changed or moved. But what if we're being tossed to and fro by our OWN doctrines? What if we're so caught up in the traditions of our past leaders that we forgot to spend any time being rooted and grounded in the faith and teachings of Jesus Christ? Because in comparison to the surpassing love of known Christ as Lord, the Book of Order is pretty weak.

John Wesley (someone I'm growing to respect a great deal!) said faith could be broken up into four equal areas: Scripture, Experience, Logic, and Tradition. If you put too much focus on any one of these areas, you will have a lopsided faith. If we focus too much on defending our traditions rather than being a unified body of Christ, we will not be effective at sharing Christ's love in the world.

So today, my challenge to us would be to make EVERY effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit. Not just some, not just a monthly meeting, but EVERY effort. What do you really know about the people who disagree with you? Do you truly know their doctrine or are you basing your thoughts on a cartoon version of who they are? Have you sat down with someone to try to figure out where they're coming from? Today, make EVERY effort to maintain our unity.

Tomorrow we'll go short and read from 4:17-24

Godspeed,

Jason

Neue thinks I'm J-Lo

I was driving home from Pine Spring Camp today, catching up on some old Podcasts I'd kind of fallen behind on. If you find yourself in church ministry in any way shape or form, you need to be hooked up with Neue. It's a magazine/resource box brought to you by the fine folks at Relevant Magazine, and they have a really awesome heart for where the Church is headed. Anyway, I was listening to their podcast today, and I was really challenged.

They were interviewing Glenn Packiam, and they compared him to Jennifer Lopez. People say that she's a "triple threat" because she knows how to act and sing and dance, and does each fairly well. They noted that Glenn is a preacher, worship leader, and author all in the same package, and that made him a sort of "Christian J-Lo."

Wait...that's me too!

But the interview was interesting on a number of levels. How do you balance your ministry when it has so many aspects to it? It doesn't often flash across our minds at Westminster because we're all pitching in on different levels, but when you realize that Ed and I run both a weekly youth ministry gathering (plus all the outside events that go with it) and a weekly worship service (including both preaching and worship leading) and do a fair amount of writing both for things in our church (newsletters etc) and outside (again, more on this later!), you realize that our time gets pretty widely spread around.

How does a person balance this ministry? It's something I've been struggling with lately. At times it seems like I put a lot of energy into the youth ministry side of things at the expense of the worship leading. Sometimes it's the other way around, I'm so focused on the Bridge that I lose a little bit of my edge with Veritas. God's strength is awesome when I am less than awesome, and covers me and helps me to keep a careful balance. But all the same, it's something I'm working through this week.

To those of us who are "triple threats" (or double threats, or whatever...) how do you balance the different aspects of what you've got going on? What insights can you share with us?

Because the last thing anyone wants is me dancing in a skimpy outfit singing Jenny from the Block.

Godspeed,

Jason

Ephesians 3:14-21: Strengthened

Tired doesn't even begin to describe it.

How often have you said that in your ministry? I feel like lately I've been saying it more and more, with each week that passes. Ed and I actually discovered that through some flaws in our thinking (not the first time...) we are booked every weekend from now until April 23rd. We'll be home for Easter, but come on, Easter has it's own insanity associated with it for those of us who work in the Church.

We've all been there before, where there simply isn't any energy left in the tank. Maybe it's your ministry that's wearing you down, or your life at home, or your marriage, or your family, or whatever. There are undoubtably times where we would rather just pass out on our couches than take a look at one more permission slip or retreat plan.

Today's scriptures speak directly to those of us who are worn out.

In verse 16, we hear that Paul is praying for us to be strengthened in our inner being with power through the Spirit. Even as I'm sitting here in my office, these words speak tremendous hope into the fabric of my bones. Paul starts it all by reminding us that we need to be on our knees in prayer to our great and glorious Savior.

So if you're with me, and you're just beat up and tired, this bible study is for you. Take a moment to pray, and invite the strength of the Lord to be with you. For as much as we know what it's like to be tired and worn out, I think most of us can relate to that mysterious strength that shows up when we need it most. That ability to counsel a student who shows up in your office at the last minute of the day. The ability to survive a lock-in without the aide of any caffinne or other stimulant. I'm not talking about easily explained adrenaline rush, I'm talking about that burst of energy that leaves you saying "there's no way I should be able to do what I'm doing right now." I believe strongly that that's the strength of the Spirit.

To all of you who need that strength right now, I'll be praying for you.

Let's do 4:1-16 for tomorrow.

AND: I have an extra post coming up later tonight! Check it out!

Godspeed,

J

Ephesians 3:1-13: Game Plan

Hey gang,
Sorry I missed Saturday and Sunday. It was a great and crazy weekend with Tree Anthem, and in all the fun an excitement I just fell behind. Time to get back up on the horse though!

What's your game plan for youth ministry? Or maybe perhaps better framed the way Doug Fields would have it, what's your youth ministry's purpose? Why do you exist? Another great way of thinking through this question is to ask yourself if you were to close down your ministry tomorrow, who would be offended? Would your students? Would their parents? What about the local schools? What about your congregation? And why would they be upset?

At Veritas, our purpose statement (which recently got a facelift to be a little easier to say) is to provide opportunities for students to experience Christ's redemptive power through discipleship and fellowship, to react appropriately through worship and mission, and to think revolutionarily about reaching out to others in the community. We have a goal, we have a direction we're headed. We know the game plan.

In Ephesians 3, Paul tells us that his mission statement comes to him through the power of the gospel of Christ. Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ... Because of the gospel of Christ, Paul has the conviction and the desire to see to it that non-Jewish Gentiles get in on the great stuff that happens to a person covered in Christ's grace. At this point in the story, most of the other Christ followers were focused on reforming Jewish believers. Paul was one of the few with a heart for the Gentiles.

But I think the major lesson to be learned here in this passage is that our mission statement or purpose statement need to be fueled by nothing other than the gospel. If you have a youth ministry simply because the church up the street has one, you need to rethink your approach. If you exist only to provide entertainment to your students, you need to rethink your approach. If you define success only by the number of students walking through your doors and not by the (much harder to measure) change occurring in their lives, you are doomed to fail. The truth is, it's only by the gospel of Christ that we have any hope of success at all.

So I encourage you this morning to take a hard look at why your ministry exists. Why do you do the things you do? What motivates you to come to work in the morning? If it's anything other than to share the boundless love of Christ with your students, you might need a reboot.

For tomorrow, let's rock out 3:14-21.

Godspeed,

Jason

Ephesians 2:11-22: The New Humanity

Greetings bloggers,

I know this is late, but Tree Anthem is out on a retreat, and this was the first chance I had to sit down and work on our devos together. It still counts!

Tonight's passage speaks to me on a profound level. I'm a little bit lost for words in the passion I have for the Bride of Christ, the Church of the Saints. The long and short of it is, I'm tired of the division. What used to be one united Church is now several churches, denominations fighting over the smallest of theological differences, and leaving most of their members confused about the direction Christ has for them.

Listen to Paul:

But now in Christ Jesus you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace...

Because I'm such a Rob Bell fanboy, I've loved the phrase "the new humanity" for a while, even though I've never really been able to wrap my mind around it fully. I don't know what the new humanity looks like in it's purest and most beautiful form. But I believe firmly that I'd recognize it when I see it, and I'm not recognizing it.

Every division within ourselves is a step further away from the new humanity.

I understand that we have some pretty serious disagreements on some fairly serious issues. I understand that we can get a little bit feisty when it comes to things like women in ministry and how often we serve communion and infant vs. believer baptism. I understand that there comes a time when you need to hold fast to what you believe, and not make compromises. I get that.

What I don't get is why we aren't making more of an effort to reunite the Church rather than to split and splinter it as much as it will go. Why aren't we doing our every effort to be united under the flag of Christ, reaching out to a weary and desperate world in need of his love and of his grace?

When you think of it in terms of youth ministry, you can come to some pretty scary questions. Namely, are you teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ or are you teaching the gospel of John Calvin or Martin Luther or John Wesley or Joel Olestein or even in my case Rob Bell(the list goes on and on and on)? And if you are truly teaching the gospel of Christ, are you taking steps to reconcile yourself to all things (Hebrews 9) including the churches in your community who believe differently about particular details? Does your youth group participate with other youth groups in town, or is there tension there? Are you willing to set yourself aside to become the youth leader Christ has called you to be?

I don't know what the new humanity looks like. But I'd love to see it in my lifetime.

Tomorrow we'll kick it with Ephesians 3:1-13

Godspeed,

J