Show Me Your Friends and I'll Show You Your Future

Today’s reading from Romans 16 is certainly different than much of what Paul has written in Romans.  Many Biblical scholars and Christian leaders over the centuries have opined that Romans is perhaps the most comprehensive and complete work of the New Testament in helping us to understand the entire Gospel.  It is packed full of deep and significant theology to help us understand sin, salvation and perseverance in our walk with Jesus.

And yet here in Chapter 16, Paul devotes almost the entire chapter to the recognition of other apostles and disciples of Jesus with whom he has deep friendships and relationships.  By my count, he takes the time to specifically mention 27 people that have been influential in his life and ministry.  Not to mention the various mentions of entire households and families.  That’s a lot of people!

Paul was the greatest missionary in history, and yet he knew that he was dependent on the commitment and passion of other believers to help him in continuing the work that he had started.  As I read through Paul’s list of shout outs, there’s not one particular name that stands out to me.  In the rolls of Church history, this is not a list of the who’s who and none of them made it into what many people call the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11. 

These were just ordinary men and women who loved Jesus and were consumed with a passion to build His Church in the world, and to serve in whatever ways they could according to their giftedness.  It’s certainly something that I understand and appreciate as a pastor of a church full of ordinary people living our lives for an extraordinary God.

This is more than relational sunshine and lollipops though.  There’s a very important life lesson in this for those of us who are trying to follow Jesus faithfully and fully in our lives today. 

I read a quote that a friend on Facebook shared today from Joel Osteen.  “You need to associate with people that inspire you, people that challenge you to rise higher, people that make you better.  Don’t waste your valuable time with people that are not adding to your growth.  Your destiny is too important.”  I know that some of you that know me and have heard me preach might be shocked that I’d share a Joel Osteen quote, but this is so true. 

It’s a principle I’ve seen at work my entire life – not just in ministry, but every day.  You show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.  We become like the people that we allow to influence us the most. 

Some Christians take this to an unhealthy, legalistic extreme and shun a relationship with anybody that’s not a Christian.  Paul didn’t do this, and we shouldn’t either.  We are commanded by Jesus to be salt and light in the world, not to retreat into holy huddles all the time.  But this is about who we allow to have the most influence in our lives.  

Think about your 5 closest friends, the people with whom you “do life.”  Do they have the characteristics of somebody that loves Jesus and loves The Church?  Are they like Paul’s friends? 

Are they like Phoebe, who has been a great help to many people in the cause of the Kingdom of God?

Are they like Priscilla and Aquilla, people who work first and foremost for Jesus and who are willing to risk their lives for you?

Are they like Andronicus and Junias, who loved Jesus and His Church so much that they were willing to risk prison and are outstanding witnesses to Jesus?

This is a list of friends and fellow laborers for the Kingdom who have outstanding faith, exhibited by sacrificial character and commitment to building The Church.

You see, I am where I am in my life because I’ve always made a conscious decision to surround myself with these types of people.  When I was a new Christian – about 17 or 18 years old – a Christian adult that I trusted told me, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”  He was so right!  I’ve had to walk away from a lot of situations and some relationships in the 20+ years I’ve been a follower of Jesus because I knew that those situations and relationships would drag me down.  I have many relationships with people who aren’t Christians, or aren’t as committed to Christ as I might be, so that I might be this kind of person in their lives.  But I’m careful to not allow their opinions and lifestyles to change who God has called me to be. 

Are these the kinds of friends that you have in your life?  Are you spending time with people who encourage you to grow in your faith; who challenge and inspire you to take risks for God, or are you spending time with people who drag you down?  Are you allowing others to speak into your life who are mature in the faith and encouraging your personal spiritual growth, or are you making decisions by taking polls on Facebook or from people who know nothing of what it means to be committed to Christ?

If you want to grow and fulfill your God-ordained destiny and calling in your life, it’s time to check your friends and the people that you’re allowing to have the most influence in your life.  I thank God that my closes friends challenge me and inspire me.  I thank God that there are people in my life who encourage me in my faith. I hope you have some of the same kinds of friends. 

Everybody Wants a Revolution But Nobody Wants to do the Dishes

I read the quote in the title of this blog this morning on a friend’s Facebook wall.  Not sure what the original source of it is, but it wasn’t me.  And it hit home for me today in light of today’s reading from Romans 11.

As a pastor and leader, sometimes – actually a lot of the time – it’s difficult for me to focus on what’s right now instead of what’s next.  It’s not just something that poses a challenge for me as a pastor, it’s who I’ve been my entire life.  I always want to know what the next big, fun or exciting thing is.  One of our 3 kids is exactly the same way.  That kid, and I, can be in the midst of some great and wonderful event or family adventure and already be thinking down the road to what the next wonderful event or family adventure will be.  It’s hard to be in the moment, and focusing on what God has placed before us right now, when we’re always thinking about the next big thing.

The Apostle Paul’s writings are filled with great and godly visions of mission and ministry.  If one thing marked Paul’s life, it was adventure and danger as he lived out God’s calling on his life.  As I read Scripture, I almost always read with an eye towards that next big thing in my life and my ministry.  I want to see a revolution of God!  Wanting to see a revolution and a movement of God is a wonderful thing!  It’s a God thing. 

But doing the dishes can be too.  Or taking care of your kids and home; digging ditches; counting beans; setting up and running computer networks; building houses; teaching a class room full of eager and not-so-eager students; offering care and compassion to your patients or clients.  Whatever you do for your “day job” or during the 9-5 is just as important in your calling to live for Christ as doing the big, hairy audacious things that God lays on your heart.

Paul has spent most of Romans 9, 10 & 11 lamenting the fact that so many of his fellow Israelites haven’t yet trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and haven’t yet acknowledged him as the Messiah.  Paul’s burning passion and purpose in life was to carry the Good News to the ends of the earth, despite the cost and the challenges.  Paul was a man who was consumed with a vision of spiritual revolution in his time and culture.

But Paul also was consumed by his responsibility to do the dishes.  That is, he understood the importance of living in the here and now in what he called in Philippians the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus.  Paul knew that the revolution would only come about through obedience in the small things, and making intimacy with God the primary focus of his life. 

In Romans 11:33-35, he wrote these words:

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!
'Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?' 

'Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?'
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen."

Did you notice the language that Paul uses here?  It’s rich and wonderful and speaks deeply to us in the everyday-ness of our lives. 

God’s wisdom and knowledge are deep riches!  We don’t get wisdom and knowledge by always being busy and thinking about the next big thing.  We get the wisdom and knowledge of God by seeking Him daily in prayer and Bible study and fellowship with other believers.  We get wisdom and knowledge of God by living for Him and His glory in the everyday things that are before us – the dish washing, the ditch digging, the teaching and loving and serving. We get satisfaction from living obediently to God right here and right now. 

He closes by expressing a reality that I struggle to grasp: In God is everything that I need!  If I can’t find everything I need in God, and can’t find satisfaction and joy in the small, everyday, ordinary things, and living a life of quiet obedience, I’m never going to find it in the big things.  In fact, chances are, that if we can’t do this in the small things, God will never even give us opportunities to be faithful in the big things. 

In my Twitter feed, I follow quite a few Christian leaders and pastors.  One of them is Dr. Tim Keller, who has been a faithful pastor and church leader for decades.  This morning, he shared this thought: “Everybody has something, that if they lose it, they won't even want to live life anymore. That is what you're worshiping.”

What are you worshipping today?  Chances are, many of us are worshipping a vision for our lives that is not of God.  Where has God called you to serve Him and love Him today?  Are you satisfied with that?  Or are you worshipping a vision of a revolution?  Maybe you’re worshipping a vision of more stuff, prestige and titles.  Maybe you’re worshipping a vision for you life that has nothing to do with having Jesus at the center of it.  If you lose the vision you’re worshipping, or if it never comes to fruition, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. 

But when we bow in worship to King Jesus; when we quiet ourselves to drink deeply from the wells of his wisdom and knowledge; and learn to be satisfied with Him and all that is in Him, we will never be disappointed.  We’ll be perfectly content doing the dishes, knowing that we are doing it for His glory and for His Kingdom. 

Ugly Feet and Pedicures

My feet are nasty.

Size 13.

Callouses all over. 

They sweat.  A lot.  And smell bad.  When I get new shoes, they lose that new shoe smell in about 10 minutes.

My big toes are shorter than my second toes, and I have more hair on my big toes than I have on my head. 

Once in awhile I have these intense flare ups of Athlete’s Foot that itch and burn like crazy from the nasty, yeasty fungus that grows in all that sweat. 

Did you just throw up in your mouth a little bit?  Sorry. 

As a guy, I don’t think about my feet very often, unless they’re itchy or hurting.  Don’t really care what they look like.  Sometimes in social situations or when I want to get close to my wife at home, I care mildly about how they smell.  I know they’re ugly and nasty, and I just don’t care.  I think most guys are like that.

I’d get a pedicure – minus the nail polish of course – but I couldn’t subject another human being to that.  It MIGHT make my feet a little less ugly and stinky and itchy. 

Let’s face it, most of us don’t think about our feet much – at least guys.  Women might spend a few bucks a couple times a summer to have somebody try to take the nasty away through a pedicure.  Other than that, feet are something we generally don’t pay much attention to and often try to hide. 

But today’s reading from Romans 10 has made me think about my feet.  And I hope it makes you think about your feet too.  No matter how little or how much you might normally think about your feet, when we have decided to follow Jesus and carry the Good News to the world, our feet are beautiful! 

In Romans 9&10, Paul is in the midst of talking about his longing for his fellow Israelites to trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ, and to quit relying on their ancestry and rules to be made right with God.  It’s an incredibly deep longing for Paul – even overwhelming to him and causing him great sorrow and anguish (Romans 9:1&2).  In Romans 9:3&4 he even goes so far as to say this: "For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel."

That’s a deep passion for people who don’t know Jesus.  A passion that most of us know nothing about.

Finally, in the midst of Chapter 10, Paul gets around to talking about how his fellow Jews can be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, The Messiah.  Although he is writing a book called Romans, he’s writing primarily to Christians of Jewish ancestry living in Rome, and exhorting them to share the Good News with their fellow Jews who haven’t yet trusted in Jesus for salvation.  In v.14 he asks, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” 

Chances are good that you know somebody – probably a lot of people – who haven’t yet called on the name of Jesus.  Chances are good that you know somebody – probably a lot of people – who probably really haven’t even heard about the incredible grace and truth of Jesus Christ.  Like Paul’s fellow Jews, you probably know many people who have some idea of who God is; who have some idea that they’d like to know God; and have some idea that being a good person and following the rules will make them right with God.

And this is where your feet come in.  In v. 15, Paul says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Are your feet beautiful?  Not pedicured or nice smelling or callous free.  Are you feet beautiful in the sense that they are carrying you to bring the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in your life that don’t know Jesus? 

For far too long, the feet of the church have been ugly feet.  Feet that carry hatred.  Feet that carry arrogance and pride.  Feet that carry condemnation.  Even feet of indifference and apathy are as ugly as feet of hatred, arrogance, pride and condemnation.  Not feet that carry the Good News of truth AND grace.  I don’t know about you, but I want to be known as a person that has beautiful feet because I’ve brought Good News to people who have never heard it. 

What do your feet look like?  Hatred?  Arrogance?  Pride?  Condemnation?  Are you indifferent and apathetic, afraid or unmotivated to go to those who need Good News?  Go ahead and take off your shoes and socks.  Nobody’s looking.  Check out your feet.  Need a spiritual pedicure?  Ask God to give you one, and He will!  Start living today with the realization that your feet can be beautiful!