Romans 12: Part 3

Romans 12: Part 3

Paul says the following with grace: He starts off with a warning to not think too highly of ourselves. Instead, we are to think of ourselves with sober judgment. Additionally, we are to use the faith God has given us to do so. 

Speak with Grace

Paul made a point to note that he was speaking with grace. He wrote and spoke by the grace given to him. Who gave Paul this grace? God did. God poured out grace on Paul and that grace went on to season Paul's own words. For those who need a refresher: GRACE is being given something good that we could never afford, earn, or buy. (MERCY is being pardoned and NOT given something bad, such as a punishment, that we thoroughly deserve.) One example of grace is the salvation God offers to everyone who believes in and follows Jesus Christ. We couldn't afford it, earn it, or buy it, but God gave it to us (AND wants us to share this Good News with others). 

Now grace, as much as we might want it to, does not shield us from hard truths and serious soul-searching. Grace acknowledges the depth of our depravity as it contrasts it with the goodness of God's gift. Grace isn't about avoiding accountability or the consequences of our actions. It isn't about assuring a person that they are perfect as they are and that they don't need to change, but rather grace involves God's goodness in the midst of our sinfulness. So Paul, speaking in grace, is about to deal out some stern commands.

Don't Be Vain

Next, Paul urges us to not think higher of ourselves than we ought to. Human beings are vain creatures. Arrogant even. We tend to view ourselves with leniency and compassion, even as we met out judgment and condemnation to those around us. So Paul cautions us not to think higher of ourselves than we should.

It is interesting to note that Paul did not write "DO NOT THINK OF YOURSELVES AT ALL". We do need to take care of ourselves and our needs. This is not selfish or vain, but is a method of caring for the temple of the Holy Spirit (i.e. our bodies). We can think of ourselves, but just not too highly. We shouldn't view ourselves with rose-colored glasses, unable to see our flaws, BUT we shouldn't see ourselves as hopeless and out of reach of God's grace. A balanced view can acknowledge our faults, sins, and shortcomings, while identifying the ways that the Spirit is growing, molding, and shaping us. 

Sober Judgment

Paul then urges us to think of ourselves with sober judgment. This view of ourselves acknowledges that all the good in us comes from God and is aware of our faults. It realizes that God does not owe us special or preferential treatment because of our long service to God or our amazing grasp of godly virtues. We are saved BECAUSE GOD made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. We do not deserve this grace, but He offered it to us any way. The crux of humanity is that we are flawed and broken more than we could imagine, but God is holier and more compassionate than we could imagine. Viewing ourselves with sober judgment does not mean that we should ground ourselves into the ground and practice self-flagellation because of our great sinfulness (indeed that mocks the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. He didn't suffer and die to give us salvation so that we could punish ourselves further to atone for the sins His blood covered). Looking at ourselves with sober judgment means that we are aware of our flaws, faults, sins, and weaknesses, BUT we are also aware that the Spirit is at work in us as it molds us into more Christ-like people. We should be able to see our sinful nature weakening and our Christ-like nature growing stronger. 

Faith Given to Us

Finally, this sentence ends with the thought that we should be doing this sober-judgment-thinking in line with the faith God gave us. This hints at a bit of personalization. Perhaps if we have a large amount of faith, we can look at ourselves with more sober judgment, whereas if we have a small amount of faith, we can show ourselves a bit of grace and not look as critically at ourselves. 

We should not be weighing ourselves against other people, whether in person or online. If we compare ourselves to other people, we can either end up thinking too highly or too poorly of ourselves. If we look down at others, whether because they are non-Christians, "weaker" Christians, or "living in sin", then we will end up thinking too highly of ourselves. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if we look up at the "super" Christians, "giants of the faith", and saints, then we are likely to think too poorly of ourselves and might even give up, as we think "I could never be as godly as ________". Instead of either of these fallacies, we should be following the model and example of Jesus as the Holy Spirit guides us. 

There is sometimes an ebb and flow to our faith. Somedays we might be thinking too highly of ourselves and the Spirit might remind us of the growth we still have left ahead of us. It can be humbling to see the amount of growth we are working towards. Other days, we might be thinking too poorly of ourselves and the Spirit might remind us of the growth that we have achieved in the past week, year, or over our Christian walk. It can be encouraging to see how the Spirit has been molding us into a more Christ-like person. 

A good catch phrase for this section might be "hey, I'm only human" since it works if we are thinking too highly or too poorly of ourselves. When we are too vain, "hey, I'm only human." can be interpreted as "I am not God or the Savior of the world. I am just one of 7 billion+ people on this planet and I need to stop acting like I'm better than others". Yet, when we are too self-deprecatory, "hey, I'm only human." can be interpreted as "I am a fallible human being, so while I need to repent of sin, I shouldn't hold myself to a higher standard and punishment than God uses. Yes, I messed up/sinned, but now I can repent, learn from my error, and keep on following Christ."

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

-Do you speak with grace? To yourself? To others? 

-What evidence of grace have you seen in your life this week? What undeserved gift have you received? 

-What hard truths do you need to face?  About yourself? About our society? 

-Are you prone of thinking too highly of yourself? 

-Do you think of yourself enough? Do you get the proper sleep, food, and self-care that you need to function? 

-What are your faults, sins, and shortcomings? 

-In what ways is the Spirit growing, molding, and shaping you? 

-What giftings and strengths has the Spirit given you? 

-Do you look at yourself with sober judgment? 

-In what ways has your sinful nature been weakening and your Chrsit-like nature growing stronger? 

-Do you tend to compare yourself to other people? Do you end up coming off better or worse in your comparisons? 

-Do you tend to need to be brought down a notch or lifted up from your despair? 

-How do you interpret "hey, I'm only human"? 

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Romans 12: Part 2

Romans 12: Part 2

In Romans 12:2, Paul urges Christians to resist conforming to the world's pattern and instead to be transformed (by having our minds renewed). When this happens, Christians will be able to test and approve what is God's will (and what isn't). As a refresher, God's will is good, pleasing, and perfect.

Rejecting the World's Pattern

We are not supposed to conform to the world's pattern. As Christians, we are not supposed to do things like the world does, seek after the things that the world does, or follow along with the world's methods. Yet, far too often, we are guilty of using the world's methods to try to achieve godly goals. (This ties in with the concept that "the ends DON'T justify the means" from last week's blogpost.) In order to reject the worldly pattern, we must first be able to recognize it. 

One litmus test we can use is our emotions. If we are feeling annoyed, angry with, disdainful of, or judgmental at a person, we probably are using the world's pattern. If we are feeling compassion, merciful, and gracious towards a person, we are probably using a godly template. If we look at those rejected by society and aren't moved with compassion, this is a huge red flag, because Jesus consistently felt compassion for those on the margins of society.

Another litmus test we can use involves weighing on whose behalf are we acting. If we are consolidating power for ourselves and those like us, we are acting in a worldly way. If we are using our position, power, and prestige to speak up to defend those being ignored, marginalized, and oppressed by the systems of power, then we are probably using a godly template. 

Transformation

May the renewing of our minds lead to our transformation. If we just reject the negatives of life without embracing the positives, then we will finish our lives empty. We wouldn't have made a positive or negative impact on the world. There are two types of sin in the world: sins of commission (doing the bad things) and sins of omission (neglecting to do the good things). If we just avoid doing the bad sins and do not actively do the good that God has called us to do, then we aren't being fully faithful. We don't just want to reject the world's pattern without filling ourselves with God's transforming power. 

Transformation involves change. We were worldly creatures, but when we submit to God, He transforms us into Christ-like disciples. We shouldn't approach God hoping that He will change others around us, but we need to approach Him wanting to be changed ourselves. Transformation is hard and messy. Instead of getting a trophy and a "no need to change" card for being an exemplary example of a Christian, we are called to bring our minds and our bodies back to God, as we allow God to form us in accordance with His desires. 

We need to renew our minds, by exposing ourselves to the Bible and then putting it into practice in our lives. We can read all the books in the world about being a patient person, but we must actively practice patience and imitate patient people in order to live this out. Many of us are familiar with the saying "garbage in, garbage out". When we put hate in our minds, we start to spew out hate. When we ingest a steady diet of fear-mongering, we begin to worry and stress over everything we encounter. When we browse social media, we tend to leave feeling discontent, dissatisfied, and depressed. 

BUT if we ingest compassion, we will show it to those we encounter and ourselves. If we look for things to be grateful for, then we will pour out thanksgiving to God. Then we can recognize when the world is trying to manipulate us with images of what things we need to buy to be happy. Then we can identify when the world is trying to control us through fear. Then we can reject the worldly patterns as we practice contentment, faith, and hope. 

Testing God's Will

What is God's will? This question has sent theologians and laypeople into long discussions. When our minds are renewed and we are transformed, then we should be able to test and approve of God's will. Jesus summed it up best when He said we are to 1) Love God fully and 2) Love our neighbors as ourselves (See Matthew 22 and Mark 12, keeping in mind that Jesus did all He could to broaden our definition of neighbor). So let us weigh our actions in accordance with these. Is this purchase loving my neighbor and glorifying God? What about this social media post? Would voting for this politician show love to my neighbor? 

The world actively dehumanizes people. People are treated as objects, cogs in a machine, or something we can use to benefit ourselves. God humanizes people and calls us to do the same. Instead of hating or fearing our enemies, God commands us to love them. Instead of spurning the poor, we are called to care for them.

Furthermore, God wants A) to be glorified and B) for sinners to repent and be reconciled with Him. God is worthy of our worship, honor, and thanks. He is good and also great. So if our actions are worshiping, praising, exalting, magnifying, and honoring God, then we are in line with His will. Since the fall of mankind in Eden, God has been at work to reconcile us humans to Himself. He has made a way (THE WAY in fact) to Himself, through Jesus. Repentance. Reconciliation. Redemption. God WANTS people to repent and be saved. So if we are sharing this Good News with others, then we are in God's will. 

God's Will

God's will is Good. It is Pleasing. It is Perfect. Notice that this verse did NOT say Easy or Cheap or Convenient. When we take His commands seriously, whether it's caring for the earth or giving to the poor, we are not taking the easiest, cheapest, or most convenient path. It is hard, but good. It can be expensive, but pleases God to see us loving Him and our neighbors as we steward the earth. It can be inconvenient, as we get off the conveyor belt of consumerism and greed to instead follow God's path. We probably will change our buying habits, goals, and methods as we shift from the world's ways to God's way. But His will is good, pleasing, and perfect. That beats easy, cheap, and convenient by a landslide. 

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

-What patterns of the world have you absorbed? 

-What can you do to reject these worldly patterns? 

-What worldly negatives are easy for you to reject? 

-What godly positives have you replaced them with? 

-How has God transformed you in the past week? The past month? The past year? 

-What are the messages of the worldly patterns that you are susceptible to? 

-What are the godly messages that you can reach for instead? 

-What do you do to show God love and glorify Him?

-What do you do to show your neighbor love? 

-What are you doing to share the Good News with people?

-What actions do we do that dehumanize people?  

-What do you need to do to shift from easy, cheap, and convenient, to good, pleasing, and perfect? 

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Romans 12: The Overview and Part 1

The Overview

Did you know that Bible verses (and chapters for that matter) are a human construct? They were added to Bibles in the 1500s. They are convenient because they allow us to reference specific areas and to direct each other to specific sentences in the different books. All of this is to say, we will not be going through this chapter verse by verse mainly since sentence fragments bother me. So we will work through this chapter sentence by sentence, although sometimes, we might look at several sentences together as a single thought or idea. 

While the verses I reference in this series will be NIV, I encourage you to read through this chapter in as many different translations as possible. Online resources and Bible apps allow you to change between different translations with ease. Find one that you are unfamiliar with; it may become your new favorite translation. Note how the underlying meaning stays the same from translation to translation, but how the different translations give nuanced understanding to the verses. I will talk *about* the verse(s) in each post, but I will only directly quote them if I'm splitting a verse into multiple parts in the series. 

Romans 12: Part 1

We start, as is customary, at the beginning with Romans 12:1. In essence, Paul urges those of us who are Christians to offer our bodies as a sacrifice to God, in light of God's mercy. In the Jewish temple, animal sacrifices were common and the animals were killed in the ceremony. So it is good that Paul specifies that we are *living* sacrifices. Our bodies, our sacrifice is holy and pleasing to God. Paul considers this the true and proper worship by Christians.

Mercy

God's mercy. This is a wonderous, glorious thing. Mercy, for those who need a refresher, is best summed up as "not giving someone something negative that they deserve". If a person comes up and slaps you, they would deserve a scolding and a punishment for unprovoked violence. But if you took the time to ask them what's wrong and listened to them vent, you would be showing mercy. God showed us mercy when He does not exact the penalty of our sins from us. We deserve death, hell, and eternal separation from God, but God, in His mercy, redeemed us through Jesus' death and resurrection. 

How do we respond to this mercy? We are to offer our bodies as a living and ongoing sacrifice to God. This doesn't mean that we mutilate our flesh or collect bruises as an atonement for our sins. But as an act of worship, true worship, proper worship, we use our bodies to serve God and humanity. May we treat others mercifully, because we have been shown mercy. May we use our redeemed bodies in acts of service to those around us and around our world, as we worship God.

Sacrificing Our Bodies

Our bodies are not our own. So let us consider what we put into and on our bodies. Are we putting in good, nutritious, wholesome food, so we will have the energy to serve God and people? Or are we consuming empty calories while watching mindless shows? This goes beyond just simple food and drink. What are we watching? What are we listening to? What are we wearing? It is my prayer that we take small, faithful, consistent steps to filling our bodies, our minds, and our lives with food, messages, and possessions that glorify God. May we go deeper than just buying things with pithy Christians slogans on them; may we buy items that are justly and humanely produced in ways that treat workers with dignity and preserves the environment. 

Sometimes, the Church is guilty of spiritualizing practical commandments. When we make "love your neighbor" a warm feeling we hold in our hearts towards our neighbor, we are absolving ourselves of taking practical loving actions towards them. But what if this was meant to be a practical thing? We can be living sacrifices by giving of our time, our energy, and our belongings. We are living sacrifices when we give the waitress a larger tip then the bare minimum encouraged. We are living sacrificially when we use our strength to do a task someone else is struggling with. We embody this spiritual discipline when we give of our time to housesit, pet-sit, or babysit.  

Holy and Pleasing

May the living sacrifice of our bodies be holy and pleasing to God. Our culture often spouts that "the ends justify the means", but as Christians, the methods we use to achieve our goals matter just as much as the end results. For example, if a person raised money for an orphanage by fleecing widows' from their savings, God is not glorified by this. But if a person raised that same money by denying themselves the luxuries they enjoy and by selling their possessions, then God is glorified by both the means and the ends. Let us invite the Holy Spirit to show us where our actions, words, and lives lack the holiness that pleases God. What purchases, activities, or habits are interfering with our ability to live sacrificially? 

Time and again through the Scriptures, God condemns His people for making a mockery of the worship of God (See Malachi 1, Isaiah 58, Amos 5). When our actions Monday-Saturday do not match up with our worship on Sundays, then our prayers, fasting, and worship are not acceptable before God. God has not been coy about what He wants from us. He tells us in James 1:27 that pure and fault religion=care for widows and orphans AND not being polluted by the world. He tells us in Micah 6:8 that He requires us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. He has detailed through the Bible what worship actions and attitudes He accepts and which He rejects. Have we taken the time to study this? 

We are fond of worshiping God in the ways that WE prefer. We use OUR music style, OUR Bible translation, and OUR preferences to try to worship God. We have made the worship experience about us instead of about God. It is like giving a person a gift YOU would love to get, instead of buying or making them something that THEY would like. Our goal as Christians is to live in a way that is holy and pleasing to God, but our culture has indoctrinated us to live in a way that is pleasing to us instead. 

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

How has God been merciful to you? 

How have you been merciful to those around you and those around the world? 

What kinds of things are you putting into or on your body? (What kinds of food, beverages, media, clothes, etc. are you consuming?)

How is the Spirit calling you to live sacrificially for those around you and around the world? 

What does the Bible say about specific worship/actions/attitudes that God wants from us? 

Are the "means" in line with your "ends"? How can you live more justly and ethically? 

What is God's preferred way to be worshiped? 

How we can live sacrificially, as we love God and humankind with our words, actions, purchases, and lives?

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Diving Deeper in Ordinary Time

We are currently in the longest season of the Church Year. This season consists of 25 Sundays of the year. (That's not counting the 6 Sundays in the Epiphany season of Ordinary Time). I touched on the basics of Ordinary Time on my blog back in 2012 (see this post here) and went a little more in-depth in this post here. Fun fact, some denominations split this season of Ordinary Time into two parts (before Reformation Sunday and After Reformation Sunday). 

In essence, Ordinary Time is a season to focus on our faith as we dive into different aspects of it, particularly our missions outreach and discipleship. The "Ordinary" comes from "Ordinal" meaning Counted. Green is the color for this season

This site here covers the basic focus, mood, and symbols or Ordinary Time. This site here gives three ways to observe this season, as we reconsider how our ordinary activities can be moments to commune with God. This site here does a good summarizing the focus and purpose of Ordinary Time. This site here reminds us that Ordinary Time is the season for celebrating the work we do for God, both in big and small ways, as we focus on the Great Commission, living in community, and reminding ourselves of God's faithfulness. 

During this bout of Ordinary Time, I will be diving deeper into Romans 12 here on my blog. I love this chapter of Romans and have often thought that going through it verse by verse (or rather sentence by sentence or thought by thought) would be a good idea. There is so much to chew on in that chapter!!

Ordinary Time does not have to mean dull or boring. In a culture that rushes after the feast days and spurns both the fast days and the Ordinary days, we can choose to live differently. Instead of following the tide of our culture, looking for something big, exciting, or new, we can choose to faithfully be discipled by the Holy Spirit, as we allow ourselves to be molded into most Christ-like individuals. This isn't something that is studied into being, but rather it is something that comes from faithfully putting it into practice. We tend to view our faith as an exam we cram for. We act like if we know the right facts, we will live the right way. But a better analogy might be learning to play an instrument or practicing a martial arts. We live the right way through practice and imitation as what is new and uncomfortable becomes something familiar and ultimately second nature to us. 

What will you dive deeper into this season?