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Wednesday, June 01, 2005
If you've ever been to the Gulf Coast for a vacation during the summer months, you're aware of the possibility of hurricanes. In fact, most of the souvenir shops and restaurants that have survived previous hurricanes actually have framed photos of the weather radar of the major ones hitting their establishments.
The preparation these communities go through when a hurricane warning is given is amazing. Locals already have plywood to put boards over glass windows (most of these homes have permanent fixtures outside the windows to make the process go more smoothly); boats are moored; pets and outdoor furniture are proteced; the stores have special emergency rations of batteries and bottled water and all sorts of basic food staples; the roads are all labeled with signs for which streets will get you out the quickest in light of possible hurricane evacuation; hotels all have evacuation information in the rooms next to the fire evacuation.
It's fair to say that those who live in coastal communities are prepared to handle potentially dangerous events--even if those events might happen once a decade, once a year, or once a century. They never know precisely when or where they'll hit (they might get three days' notice at best) but they're all prepared. Just in case.
The last two days we looked at the potential dangers that can hit our faith. False doctrines and deceitful spirits...things like that. Lies we all believe at some time or another.
Then Paul offers young Timothy a solution in verse 6: "In pointing out these things to the bretheren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of faith and of the sound doctrine you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness."
When pointing out the "things" (dangers like false doctrines nad deceitful spirits) you are a good servant of Christ. What's crucial is that you have to know what those false doctrines and deceitful spirits actually are. When I was in seminary, one of my professors told us that when the FBI trains agents to spot counterfeit money, they don't show them 2,500 examples of fake bills. They give them one real bill and tell them to study it that they know it so well they can spot a fake immediately because of their knowledge of what a genuine one looks like. That's what we're supposed to do. This makes us a good servant if we can point out these things to the brothers and sisters in Christ. Of course, we want to do so lovingly, and accept correction lovingly as well.
And it does "nourish" us.
See, I grew up in a denomination that focused more on the church services than on knowing Christ. We knew when to kneel or stand or sit; we knew how to respond to the priest when he said certain things we'd answer; we knew the creed of the faith because we said them every week; we knew when to come take communion; we knew certain hymns because we sang them every week.
And all these things can be good...but I thought they were what spiritual people did. I never knew that you could follow Christ *now* for crying out loud!
He was revolutionary.
He was knowable.
He was the Way the Truth and the Life.
He gave grace.
He loved more than I could imagine.
He was more than a list of "do's and don'ts"
He had a magnificent plan for me.
To many of you that stuff is basic...but I never heard them in the first decade of my spiritual life.
And I never grew.
But once I got involved with another church that taught me those things, it was like a little baby who get bigger almost every day. I was getting NOURISHED for the first time in my spiritual life and that gave me strength. I got stronger and more able to withstand those dangers almost daily.
It's preparation...just like you have that knowledge that a hurricane could possibly hit even if it's sunny right now. You just know what to do, how to do it, and when to implement those actions.
So, for today, do you have any experience with a time in your life when you were "stagnant" and then began to "grow?" What specific things were you doing at that time that helped you change?
Brent 4:44 AM
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