Weekend Warriors

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

– Galatians 3:28-29

Whether it’s switching out a bathroom light fixture, installing a kitchen countertop, or building a backyard patio, completing a do-it-yourself project is one of the most satisfying aspects of home ownership. Big box stores like The Home Depot and Lowe’s cater to the millions of so-called Weekend Warriors who literally make it greener on the other side of the fence. And for those seeking guidance and inspiration for their DIY projects, it’s as close as cable television’s HGTV and The Magnolia Network or the time-tested This Old House TV series and magazine.

We can credit this to our modern Information Age. And if we choose to follow the expert advice found on social media and TV, there’s often no need to hire a master carpenter or plumber to complete our project. Ordinary Joes and Jo-Anns really can save big bucks by doing it themselves.

There’s a similar principle throughout the Bible: God chooses the weak, the unwanted … and the otherwise unqualified to get the job done. And it’s no coincidence that much of the New Testament revolves around a group of unlikely amateurs who learn their skills from a Master Craftsman (Jesus). Some were fishermen, one was a tax collector, and another (Simon the Zealot) might be considered a terrorist by today’s standards.

Their project was to change the world for Christ’s kingdom one person at a time. And since that tall assignment continues to this day, it’s no surprise that God still chooses society’s outsiders to turn the unfeasible into the achievable.

“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties,” explains the apostle Paul. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Indeed, today God accomplishes much via the weaknesses of a different type of Weekend Warrior. Through their contributions and work in churches, food pantries, the Salvation Army, and similar organizations, families are fed, clothed, and housed. The sick are cured with the help of health care professionals who also happen to put their faith in Jesus. And still other Christ-followers teach the illiterate to read and the undereducated to gain critical life and job skills.

When you and I are desperate to be included, we’ll do whatever it takes to fit in and avoid rejection. But God doesn’t leave us as outsiders. He wants the unwanted like us to come as we are and become like his Son. As we read in Acts 4:13:

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Love Language

 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

— Romans 8:38-39

Love is a remarkable English word with a broad scope of meanings and implications. We say that we love our spouse, love our church, and love pizza. What’s more, we’d love our favorite football team to win the Super Bowl. On the other hand, Hebrew and ancient Greek — the languages of the Bible — have several words for love including agape (self-sacrificial love), hesed (loving kindness), eros (romantic love), and phileo (fraternal or friendly love). And Genesis 22:2 uses the word ahab to convey the intensely close emotional bond between Abraham and his son Isaac.

While we might broadly consider love to be a thing, it’s also very much an action word … and Jesus is our example. The apostle John wrote that “we love Him because He first loved us.” And then there’s John 3:16, which summarizes God’s good news (the Gospel) to mankind:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

That’s very good news — especially considering that we’re imperfect people who constantly break God’s perfect law through our thoughts, words, and deeds. Moreover, we can’t save ourselves from the resulting punishment we rightfully deserve. But Jesus, who was sinless, paid that exorbitant price for us by dying on a cross between two criminals. And then as the Old Testament had prophesied (predicted) centuries earlier, Christ defeated death and the power of sin by rising to life.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends,” John 15:13 explains. And in 1 John 3:1, the apostle adds: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

The lesson for you and me is that rather than trying to earn love from God or others, we can rest in our Creator’s love because he’s already freely given it to us through Christ’s sacrifice. It just goes to show that ours is a Savior who speaks the ultimate love language.

 

 

Walking the Tightrope

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

– John 16:33

If you were around in the 1970s, you probably remember Evel Knievel — the daredevil who once vaulted his motorcycle over Las Vegas’ Grand Fountains at Caesars Palace. In 1974 he failed to leap Idaho’s Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered cycle, but the showman survived the stunt with only minor injuries. Knievel also attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps over his career … and broke nearly 40 bones in the process.

More than a century before Evel’s exploits, Charles Blondin was the nation’s headline-grabbing risk-taker. And in 1859, he made a name for himself by being the first person to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls. Even more impressive was that he accomplished this feat in different ways: on stilts, in a sack, and even in the dark. Once, Blondin walked the tightrope over the falls blindfolded while pushing a wheelbarrow. The audience that had gathered along the riverbank roared their approval of the death-defying spectacle.

“Do you believe that I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?” he asked the excited crowd.

“Yes, yes!” they replied. “You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. You can do anything!”

“OK,” said the daredevil. “Get in the wheelbarrow.”

Blondin’s admirers claimed that they believed in him. But when he asked them to leave the safety of solid ground and take a step of faith, no one came forward. Likewise, Christ-followers like you and me can sometimes fail to step out of our own comfort zones. 

Let’s ask ourselves: When we face tough situations at home or at work, do we compromise — or do we trust that God’s way is the right way — regardless of the cost? For example, your boss might want you to exaggerate the company's sales figures so your department will impress the CEO. And your spouse might even tell you to fudge your family’s tax return to claim a bigger refund. 

They’re scary scenarios. But fear, uncertainty, and danger are always present in one form or another. The good news, however, is that we can find security through God when we rely on his provision rather than trying to protect ourselves with our money, possessions, or relationships. The key is to do things God’s way. And that can be costly — and particularly uncomfortable — when everyone is watching. 

Let’s remember that when we walk the tightrope of faith, it exalts our Creator. And when we seek to honor him, he’ll seek to honor us.

Trial by Fire

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

– 2 Thessalonians 2:15

It’s been about 2,000 years since the apostle Paul sent this admonition to the embattled church at Thessalonica — a group of Believers living in what’s now northern Greece. Aren’t his words just as relevant to modern-day Christ-followers like you and me? Surf the web and turn on the TV these days and try to avoid the stormy headlines about political turmoil, natural disasters, and military conflicts. It’s by understanding God’s message to us through the Bible that we can put it all into perspective and continue walking the narrow path of the Kingdom.

Whether the storms are literal or figurative, Believers can count on facing them. And there’s no escape — even after we’ve switched off the smartphone and changed the TV channel. For some people that storm might be a job loss or financial setback. For others it’s a chronic illness or the prospect of major surgery. Or maybe the trouble involves family or relationship issues like a divorce or the loss of a loved one. In our fallen world, these trials by fire are a harsh reality of the human experience.

Christ-followers, however, have the hope of better days ahead. That’s because we worship a God who’s much greater than our circumstances, no matter how discouraging they may be. Ours is a Creator who literally spoke the universe into existence, formed great mountain ranges with his hands, and parted the seas with a breath.

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” asks the writer of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

So, let’s take God at his word. His reassuring message to us is that he works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purposes. But let’s also remember that we’re not exempt from storms and setbacks once we turn over our lives to Jesus. What does change, however, is that eternal assurance that helps us endure any difficulty or trial — trivial or immense. 

“Why are you afraid?” Christ once asked his apostles. “Do you still have no faith?"

In one form or another, the storms of life surround everyone. The lightning flashes and the thunder rumbles. But for Christ-followers, it's blue skies on the horizon while our trials by fire refine our faith. With that in mind, let’s embrace Jesus’ message to us through Matthew 6:34:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”