To be stalwarts of the faith

Who does not want to live better?  No matter who you ask, everyone can point to some improvements they desire in life.  When we think about life quality, it is not about the house or the car or the job.  We know that the body is more than clothing, and life is more than food [Lk. 12:23].  The way we live is less about exterior features and more about interior manner.  The following passages in Romans give us some foundational truths that should not only serve as anchors in the faith but as simple steps to making this life better.  This is about perspective, about attitude, and about true transformation.  This is about staying the course regardless of how rugged the terrain or how dim the light.  It is not always comfortable and is often trying, but we are taught how we can make sure that it is always good. 

Rom. 12:3

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Whenever I watch track and field competitions, something always stands out to me as being very obvious.  The kinds of events that occur at a meet are very varied, and the athletes who participate in those various events can look very different from one another.  One of the most glaring examples comes when we compare the physical build of a sprinter to that of a middle distance or long distance runner.  Sprinters will be much more muscular, and longer distance runners will be much thinner.   Part of this certainly comes from the kind of training each discipline requires, but we also must recognize that these athletes have chosen their events based on their individual abilities.  Each is built in a certain way that lends itself to performance ability in that particular event, and that is how they recognized in which events they could excel. 

You will never see me competing in the shot put throw, and that is perfectly fine with me.  An ectomorph who is barely 5′ 9″, I have a very difficult time putting on significant muscle mass.  I would be dwarfed and comically so next to the kinds of men who typically compete in that event.  My power could not compete with theirs, and my physical makeup would probably be better suited for most other events.  Spiritually, we experience the same phenomenon.  God did not make a bunch of clones.  Yes, the goal is for each of us to be conformed more and more into his likeness of character, but we do not all have the same abilities or the same job here.  The idea of making sure to think no more than we should of ourselves really is about a sober perspective of self.  God made each of us a certain way for his purposes, and no one of us can say we are better than the others.  Whether giftings or faith or any spiritual ability, God gives as He sees fit to measure, that none should boast over another.  It is about finding our fit.

Rom. 12:9-13

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

When I survey most of my past working experience, there is a trend that becomes clear.  Each of my most recent positions started in a very favorable way.  Perhaps there was something about the newness of the work and the change from my stale previous work that got me excited for the new adventure.  A certain period would go by, and I could honestly say that I was enjoying what I was doing.  However, each position eventually brought me to the same place of dissatisfaction and wondering whether I might be a better fit elsewhere.  Once the work was no longer new but started to show the cracks that every job shows, the annoyances and irritations of working in environments we cannot necessarily control, then my passion would leave me.  I would want to move on to something else.  I had no desire to stay the course until maturity. 

To me, these instructions look like a laundry list of work tasks.  Be loving, be diligent, and be patient.  These are instructions but also warnings.  God knows that the work we start will at times lose its luster, that we will feel overwhelmed or uninspired and decide that maybe the work is not worth it.  This list of commands is telling us to keep at it because the work needs to be done.  We might be disillusioned now, but that will pass.  We might not be seeing the fruit we expect, but fruit will come.  We are told to cling to what is good because there will be 1,000 bad distractions that try to grab our attention.  It is too easy to fall for the diversion if we are not focused on staying the course.  No matter what comes our way, we must always remember what God wants us to be giving of ourselves.  Those are goodness, love, compassion, and a long-suffering nature.

Rom. 13:1-3

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

I hate speed limits.  It is not necessarily that I just want to drive as fast as I want to drive, but I feel like I am smart enough to know how fast is safe.  Every time I encounter a speed limit of 25 miles per hour in a residential area, I laugh.  I can only go that slow if I ride the brakes.  Mothers pushing strollers are passing me on the sidewalk, and I cannot reason why that speed limit ever would be necessary for a driver with even minimal competence.  I think I know better, and I refuse to drive that slow.  To me, it is just not that big of a deal.  However, this is not really about whether the posted speed limit makes sense.  There is something deeper going on here.  If we take authority seriously, we must ask why it is that I am comfortable defying that authority that God has placed over me.  We also must ask what that defiance says about my relationship with God. 

The Lord is wise, and He knew very long ago that mankind would get strange ideas in their minds.  One of those ideas is that following the Lord requires a defiance of worldly authority.  Some think that obeying God is impossible if we also try to obey man.  The reality is what this passage tells us, which is that God himself established governmental authority.  Obeying our leaders speaks to our obedience of God.  Defiance comes into play only when obeying the rule of man would have us defy the rule of God.  Outside that scenario, I need to follow the law.  I cannot call myself faithful to God and then willy-nilly defy the authorities He has established just because I like to think I know better.  As annoying as some of those rules might be, my obedience to them is really only about my obedience to God.  If I believe and honor his word, then I will be obedient just for the sake of obedience to him. 

Rom. 13:8-10

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.

When we make that transition from living for the world to following Christ, it can be a really difficult change to make.  For me, I constantly compared myself against the Christians who were now my new community.  I took my cues from how I saw them live.  I knew that I had a lot of things to change about myself, and it seemed like a really daunting task.  The way I approached pretty much everything in life had to conform to this new way of living.  Being the kind of person who likes to know exactly how I go about accomplishing whatever goal lies before me, I really wanted to have a game plan for this transformation.  Developing that game plan would prove to be frustrating and overwhelming, but I was making it so much more difficult than it had to be.  I truly did have a lot to change about myself, but my focus should have been more narrow.  At base level, I only had to live in a more loving way. 

We can drive ourselves crazy if we start to compartmentalize all the areas of life where we need to improve.  Once I started following Jesus, I knew that I had to be a better son.  I also needed to be a better brother and a better uncle.  I hated my job, but I knew I had to be a better employee.  Life in general had to have more purpose and meaning, and I needed to stop being so lazy and start actually accomplishing something.  There were so many things to improve, but there really was only one thing to improve.  I had to learn to live in the loving way that the commandments require.  Learning to live in that love would bleed into all those areas.  I would work in love, interact with my family in love, and approach the world in love.  The complex transition from sinner to saint is really rather simple in concept.  We only need to let God teach us how to live in love.  The rest will fall into place. 

Rom. 13:11-14

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Mom and dad tell their children that they must be sure to behave because Christmas is right around the corner.  The first few days go by, and the kids are like little angels.  They do their homework, finish all their chores, and make sure not to talk back.  They wake up with smiles on their faces, and they are eager to help mom and dad with whatever they need around the house.  Then, about four days of all this goodness begins to take its toll.  Time moves slower for children, and it does not seem like Christmas is getting closer.  In fact, the three or four weeks left until that day seem like an eternity.  It becomes clear to the parents and also to those kids that this streak of good behavior will not last until then.  It just seemed like too much to do for too long, and the day they had in their sights seemed like it would never come.

This same trick of time can happen to us when we consider that many of us will walk in the faith for decades and not see the day of Christ’s return during our lifetime.  Millions and millions of saints have come and gone, and this system of things persists.  It seems like it is slow going and taking forever, and we can let that discourage us.  The other option is to understand the very simple truth that each day we live is another day closer to reaching that great hope we have.  Sometimes it seems like we will never get there, but the fact remains that we are getting perpetually closer.  Every sunrise could be the marker of the day.  We do not know when it will come, but we know it will come, and the timing will be perfect.  We must live like today is the day, because no one is promised tomorrow.  It is about living faithfully and above reproach every day, because any day could be that day.

Learning to live this life better begins with understanding who we are.  We need to take the sober and humble look at ourselves that requires facing the truth of what God has created in us.  From there, we can seek him for cues regarding our work, our giftings, and our purpose.  Regardless of what He shows as, we all must learn to live in a more loving way toward ourselves and others.  The road is long, and the work is plentiful, so we might find ourselves growing tired or even bored with the pace of this faith.  We look forward to forever with our Lord, but it seems like it will take forever to get there.  We can focus on how things look, on the drudgery we must endure throughout this life, or we can focus on the facts of our faith.  There is no struggle or trial we endure here of which we have not been warned already.  The disillusionment is not news to us.  That is an old story, but the faithful know how it ends.  They will not grow weary, they will be renewed in spirit, and they will reach the end of the race.