Doing Good...

     Paul writes, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Galatians 6:10 NIV).  We find this verse in the context of Paul challenging the believers throughout Galatia to carry each other's burdens, to be humble and to be responsible for one's own work or pack.  He follows that by telling them that God is not mocked.  Whatever a man sows, that's what he'll reap.  In the ninth verse he warns them not to become weary in doing good and notes the promise of a harvest for those who do not give up.  Clearly, the admonition here is to continue to good to all, especially to other Christians.  

     I thought about the idea of "doing good to others" quite a bit while cutting the grass at the church and parsonage today.  The world in which we live is not to concerned with "doing good" to others.  However, there are a few little reminders of "good" out there. 

     ---Someone held the door for a couple of people to leave the convenience store today.

     ---A person gave up their spot to another who was in a hurry at the gas station.

     ---A guy jump-started a car for a lady whose battery had died. 

     These are not "big" things and none of them will make USA Today or The Columbus Post Dispatch.  I noticed them, though.  I think maybe God did, too. 

     Doing "good" to others, however, is not the entire message of that passage.  We are to do good, "especially to those who belong to the family of believers."   As hard as it is to understand why,  I think this may be more difficult than simply doing good to others.   I suppose there are a couple of reasons why I think this.  First, I think many times we get impatient, frustrated and angry with those with whom we are the closest.  We may expect them to do more or better than just the average person and when they don't we're apt to criticize.  Also, we may think they don't need any particular encouragement or "good treatment."   The second reason is a bit more harsh, but I think it is true, too.  Sometimes we just don't like our brothers or sisters in Christ, so we, at best, ignore them or, at worst, fight with them.   I can already hear what some of you are thinking.  Wait a minute, Thomas.  I don't have to like everyone.  I love them, but I don't have to like them.   I guess that's true, but here's a simple question.  Have you really tried liking them?  Have you forgiven as you want to be forgiven so you can begin again?   Have you tried to find that which Jesus Christ put in them that makes them unique and good for service in the Kingdom?    It's true that we may not like everyone.  I don't think that's possible.  It might be good, though, for us to like more and follow that by doing good.   Think about it. 

     Thanks for reading and have a blessed day...

Thoughts on "Copperhead" and what it is to be "all in"

     "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62  NIV).  This passage records Jesus' words as he concludes a "teaching moment" with his disciples.  Three men come to him as he and the disciples are walking along the road.  Each of the three wants to follow Jesus, but each has an excuse.  The third man agreed to follow Jesus but wanted first to go and say good-bye to his family.  On first glance these words seem a bit harsh.  After all, saying "good-bye" to family members isn't a bad thing, is it?   However, there is more to understanding this passage than what first meets the eye.  It isn't so much a matter of saying "good-bye" to family members.  What Jesus is describing here is one whose attention is diverted.  S/he wants to serve the Lord in the kingdom, but is distracted by the things of this world.  It is comparable to a plowman looking behind him as he plows a field.  He can't do that job well if he isn't directing his attention forward.  That's what Jesus is calling his followers to as well.  He seeks undivided loyalty and attention.  

     I thought about that some tonight as I had the chance to watch an independent movie called Copperhead.  I know.  It sounds like some weird monster movie, but it isn't.  It's a movie about the Civil War, and, in particular, northerners who opposed Abraham Lincoln and the war, not because they favored slavery but because they found no constitutional justification for it.  I'm not so much interested in whether or not the "copperheads" were right or if President Lincoln was justified in expanding presidential powers.  What did hit me, though, was the commitment made by those during that time to fight in the war.  As I watched, it became clear to me again that many young men and some boys, for that matter, when they marched off to war, they were knowingly marching off to death.  As their families gathered to say "good-bye" and cheer them on, many had to know that they wouldn't see them alive again.  There was a sense of total commitment and being "all in."   

     I wondered as I drove home about my commitment as a Christian.  Am I "all in" on doing whatever Jesus has set before me?   Are there things regarding the kingdom of Christ that I am willing to march out on knowing that I'll not likely return?    I suppose in the United States in 2013 there is very little danger that I'll have to be ready to die for my faith.  I admire, though, those who so believed in the cause of the Civil War that they'd march out to death.  I want my faith to matter to me as much.  I hope that you'll consider these questions, too.  

     Have a blessed day and thanks for reading...