Today we met in our new church for the very first time! YES!!!!!!!!
In class there was a general atmosphere of excitement about finally arriving in our "promised land" after many years of dreaming, struggling, battling and fighting for this moment. And we do deserve a moment to celebrate!
As part of our class discussion, we talked about the fact that we are at a fork in the road where we must decide what to do in this new promise land. Do we give in to the human tendency to sit down and relax thereby choosing the path of the coffin or do we choose to live out our faith in motion thereby choosing to be the catalyst God called us to become?
In asking this question, we introduced the new series "Real Faith for a Real World". During this series, we will be looking at what the road map in the book of James has to say about living our life as a catalyst. We briefly looked at the first verse of James where he introduces himself as a "servant of God".
Now to be totally honest with you, I've never been very good at being a servant. That does not mean I haven't gone through some "servant" actions. For instance I love to volunteer for "servant projects" like the church setup team, Royal Family Kids Camp, or even as an occasional member of a moving team for a needy church friend. I must get some real servant points somewhere for these projects. Right?
There's a problem though... I've recently learned I had the whole definition of servant wrong. In fact, if someone ever treated me like a servant I was ready to drop the servant thing real quick.
But when you understand what James is saying by calling himself a servant of God, you might be a little less excited about joining the next "servant" project opportunity. James meant he was someone who had actually given up all of his rights to become a servant.
Ouch! Give up my rights? You see, if I'm totally honest with myself and you , I was really into the servant thing to get my affirmation fix. (Hello my name is Freddy and I am an affirmation junkie.) There now I've said it and exposed the very wrong reason I've sometimes "served" in the past.
So how about you? What does it mean to be a servant of God to you?
Wow, Freddy I became the 12th member or follower! As I had told you previously we have been wanting to come to class more but have been unable to lately. Prayerfully and hopefully we will be able to now more. You got me to thinking about the motion or action discussion in class on Sunday. WAY back in Cleveland State chemistry class Mr. Rowlee mentioned Rudolf Clausius, originator of the concept of entropy. Entropy states that ALL motion left unto itself produces disarray or lack of order. A major stumbling block with evolution. Particles of matter seek less order not more. Kinda like us without God. Motion but no order. Thanks for your witness.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you may get to come to class more often. We have been praying for Tripp and the whole family.
ReplyDeleteExcellent example on what we were talking about in class. Motion without the master's order leads to disorder and eventually death...Thanks for the input!
The catalyst/coffin idea is intriguing. The truth is that catalysts and coffins share something in common. They change what's around them. A catalyst sets things in motion and a coffin brings them to a standstill. I like to pretend that the things that I do or don't do matter to me. I cling to this myth of neutrality, that my actions don't have a larger impact. We are called to be salt and light, to literally change the environment around us. I can't walk away leaving my surroundings unchanged. Either I'm bringing about change or bringing about a slow death.
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