Living By Faith

"If you can't find God where you are, you won't find Him where you're going."


                                                            Pastor Andy Straubel
                                                            Windsor Chapel

To Be or Not To Be...Proud

My theoretical philosophy of life, as I often share it, is simple and Biblical: my life is not about me; it is about Christ working in me and through me. I am, to my very core, the product of God’s glorious and purposeful workmanship. My value rests in Christ’s finished work on my behalf. I need not earn anything or prove anything. Although the Day of Judgment is coming, I need not fear a performance review. The obedience I offer enables me to partake in the very nature of Christ and participate in His kingdom’s work. Success comes not from working harder and longer but from abiding in Christ and bearing the fruit He enables me to produce.


In Matthew 11, we read that Jesus proclaims that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Why, then, do I sometimes approach church life and ministry with reluctance, and if I’m honest, outright dread? The answer is both easy and painful: I will not be able to experience the easy yoke and light burden of a life in Christ as long as I am living for myself and by my own strength. My negative emotions are most often linked to a fear of not meeting expectations. Although this makes hiding in a hole quite attractive, the solution favored by God is rather more demanding: I need to live with my identity and value grounded firmly in Christ, which in turn requires me to give up my pride.


Back in the Garden of Eden, we see Eve as the quintessential do-it-yourselfer. As she engaged in the discussion with the serpent about God and His rules, she ignored the option of including her mate or even God Himself in the conversation. At least part of the appeal of the forbidden fruit—to become wise like God—was that it would make dependence on God unnecessary. She could do it herself. Pride.


Pride, by its nature, creates a focus on self at the expense of everything and everyone. Once Adam and Eve took the fruit and ate, they experienced fear and shame and became preoccupied with covering themselves—at the expense of the nearby fig tree. When confronted by God, they were quick to protect themselves by denying responsibility and shifting blame to someone else. Their pride—our sin nature—has created a fallen world in which identity and value are measured by how our performance compares to that of someone else. C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, puts it this way: “Pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature.”


It is my pride that makes me uncomfortable when my picture is taken for the church newsletter. It is my pride that makes a writing opportunity feel like a pop quiz. It is my pride that encourages me to “do-it-myself” in my Christian life. A do-it-yourself Christian is unable to abide in Christ and live as a contented bond-servant. When I choose that mode, I worry about being good enough and meeting expectations, both of which are contingent on the opinions of others. And I can improve my chances for success by being sure to be better than the person beside me. Before long, I find that I am serving a tyrant—me—and looking at others with a spirit of competition rather than love.


The do-it-yourself Christian life follows the law of diminishing returns: the more we do and the harder we try, the less we will know Christ and the less we will be able to love. The only antidote is that offered by Christ: to deny self and follow Him. Making that choice means that I see my life wholly in the context of Christ’s Lordship. My life becomes one that is about Him, working in me and through me. Not only does that bring me genuine peace and joy, it equips me to love others and participate deeply in relationship. It enables me to offer enthusiastic encouragement and receive help as I need it. Please consider this an invitation to join me in the lifelong struggle to relinquish pride and abide in Christ. May we encourage one another in this endeavor.

The Power of Relationship

"All life transformation occurs in the context of relationship."


                                                            Dr. Andrew Straubel
                                                            Pastor, Windsor Chapel
                                              

One Anothering

Many years ago, a popular bumper sticker read, “Have you hugged your child today?”  Although I am not a big fan of bumper stickers, the reminder of what is really important in our rushed society has some appeal.  Now, I would like to translate that bumper sticker to a question for those of us who, as Christians, attend church.   “Have we one anothered lately?”

I know.  “One another” is not a verb.  But if you look at its use in the New Testament, it is always closely associated with a verb.  We are to love one another; encourage one another; exhort one another; forbear with one another; confront one another; and the list goes on.

At the heart of one anothering is relationship.  Godly relationship is the reward when we follow the New Testament’s prescription to live our lives in, with, and among one another.  This is what families do.  As I write this, we are just a few weeks past the holidays, and for many of us, celebrating with our families and extended families has us feeling like we have had enough “family” relationships until next Thanksgiving.

When our adopted daughter was very young, she approached her dad one day and announced that she didn’t like her brothers.  “I want to go back to India so I don’t have any brothers.”  When he explained that she could have brothers in India, she changed her mind and decided to stay.  Her objection to her siblings was repeated and reciprocated many times over as our children grew up.  Our response was always the same: “Siblings are the best gift we can give you.”  Our children sometimes had trouble seeing beyond the annoyance and conflict.  We knew, though, that living together was God’s gift in teaching all of us to love as He loves. 

It is only as we live together that we experience the joy of sharing our strengths and the pain of inflicting our weaknesses.  It is these experiences that sanctify us, that enable us to become more who God created us to be.  Indeed, I was told a while back that the Chinese government had invited Campus Crusade into their universities (!) to help deal with the relationship crisis that had developed as thousands of only children left home and came to school completely unequipped to live with their peers.

It is God’s desire that we share our lives with one another, because as we do, we become more like Him and more able to fulfill His purposes for us, both individually and corporately.  This has a medicinal ring to it—we must do this because it is good for us!  I would suggest, though, that it is sugar-coated medicine: engaging with one another heals and blesses us even as it sanctifies us.  As an illustration, please consider with me a typical church fellowship event, a pot-luck dinner.  What a wonderful way to celebrate the family of God!  Families come together and food and fellowship are generously shared.  But as we know from the gatherings of our non-church families, such an event is not without potential for rising tensions and hurt feelings.

I for one will confess that as I consider what meal to bring I worry that my lasagne won’t measure up to expectations.  It is all too easy for cooks to come to a potluck dinner and feel possessive, defensive, controlling, or competitive about their contributions.  And then there’s the etiquette of the line for food, the behavior of our children, and the “where do I sit” dilemma to magnify the potential for hurt feelings and conflict.  Maybe it would be easier if we all just stayed home.

But if we all just stayed home, we would miss the opportunity to practice finding our identity and value in Christ rather than in how much people like our food or how well our children behave or how well we entertain those around us while we eat.  We would miss the experience of being valued and loved even with our faults.  We would miss the blessing of trying something new with no need to fear failure.  We would miss learning to love and be loved.

So now I return to my original question: Have we one anothered lately?  Please consider this an invitation to explore, develop, and use your gifts and share your lives with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Significance of Grace

"It's not what you've done, but what's been done for you."


                                                              Jars of Clay

Perisseia: New Series

All women are invited to attend a new discussion series on Godly relationship at Windsor Chapel. Perisseia (a feminine derivative of the Greek word for abundance), our women's growth group, meets Thursday evenings, 7:00-8:30, at Windsor Chapel in the Chapel House. No preparation or commitment is required. For more information, please contact Cindy Bills--clbills@verizon.net.

New Year's Resolutions

‘Tis the season...to make New Year’s resolutions.  There are many styles of New Year’s resolutions.  Some make a list that is abandoned and forgotten by Spring.  Others focus on one big resolution that too often devolves into discouragement and failure.  Still others don’t bother to make any resolutions for a new year, either on principle or, more often, because of a history of frustration.  A few make resolutions and apply enough determination and discipline to succeed, changing their lives, presumably for the better. While I would be loathe to discourage anyone from taking steps to witness to neighbors, reconcile broken relationships, or make healthy improvements in diet and exercise, I believe that the typical New Year’s resolution is fundamentally misguided: it usually defines success in terms of performance, and it emphasizes “doing” rather than “being.”  Just as bad is its individualistic rather than relational approach.

Let’s consider Jesus’s emphasis on heart issues.  In Mark 7:21, Jesus explains that our thoughts, words, and deeds are manifestations of what is in our hearts.   It is our hearts that define and reflect who we are, and who we are becoming.  In Paul’s famous teaching on love in I Corinthians 13, the apostle makes it clear that doing wonderful and powerful works for God are meaningless if they are done without an appropriate heart attitude.  Simply put, there is no shortcut to Godly living.  C.S. Lewis puts this truth very eloquently: “We might think that God wanted simply obedience to a set of rules: whereas He really wants people of a particular sort.”  (Mere Christianity).  The Christian life is not so much about doing ministry as it is about becoming like our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  Then, as we become more and more like Him, we will be able to minister according to His will rather than our own.

So how do we go about becoming like Christ?  I believe it begins with a resolution of sorts: we resolve to place ourselves before God and to invite the Holy Spirit in the deepest recesses of our hearts.  We define our identity and value wholly and completely as bond-servants of Christ.  We seek to know our Master and follow Him. 

A desire to become like Christ inevitably directs us back into the realm of doing.  In order to become like Christ, to experience the power of the Holy Spirit within us, and to know and follow our Master, we are going to need to engage in spiritual exercise: prayer, Bible study, Christian fellowship, and using our gifts to promote the kingdom of our Lord.  It is our attitude, though, that is crucial: are we “doing” prayer, Bible study, and ministry so that we can complete a performance checklist, or are we praying, studying God’s Word, participating in Christian fellowship and using our gifts in order to better see who God is so that we can follow Him more closely? 

While each of us is responsible for his/her own attitude and personal spiritual growth, Christ has called us to exercise that responsibility in the context of His body, the Church.  It is primarily in the context of relationship and in the midst of a corporate commitment to spiritual growth that the Holy Spirit can maximize His work in and through each of us.  A body comprised of individuals committed to becoming like Christ and becoming who God created them to be has unlimited spiritual potential.  As we encourage one another to become who God has created us to be, rather than to perform according to Christian expectations, we will, individually and corporately, be free from the burden and distraction of performance and be free to follow our Lord with our whole hearts.

Finally, I would like to share a favorite Christian chorus of mine from years back.  It is my prayer and  desire for myself, for my brothers and sisters in Christ, and for communities of believers.

            Give me one pure and holy passion.

            Give me one magnificent obsession.

            Jesus, give me one glorious ambition for my life,

                        To know and follow hard after You.

            To know and follow hard after You;

            To grow as your disciple in the truth.

            This world is empty, pale, and poor,

                        Compared to knowing you, my Lord;

            Lead me on, and I will run after you.