As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“It won’t be enough to white-knuckle the ego into submission like a wrestler pinning his opponent. We need to have our desires for peace, love, and purpose met. We need to fortify our gospel identity, besieged as it is by circumstance and public opinion” - TGC
“New research from The Allstate Foundation and Gallup finds that participating in service is strongly associated with skills and mindsets that help young people thrive. Those who engage in service report greater outcomes in areas of career readiness, connection and resilience.” - Gallup
(From the archives)
One of the most interesting words in the English language is hagiography. One of its definitions is the one I have in mind, an “idealizing or idolizing biography.” The idea is that once someone has died, we remember the individual as being better than he or she actually was. This adjusting of memory and idealization of those who lived before us is common throughout the human race.
But people “back then” were really not as wonderful as we think they were.
This is universally done with the folks who made up the very early church. Although the very early church had its strong points (the Apostles were around to teach and lead, God worked some unprecedented miracles like raising the dead, etc.), the people who made up the early church community were far from wonderful.
Consider the words of the New Testament itself about the believers who made up the family of faith. In Corinth, we notice a man sleeping with his stepmother (1 Cor. 5:1) while fellow Christians in the church accepted this brother as someone in good standing. The Corinthian church was divided into factions, each following the unique perspectives of a famous Christian leader (1 Cor. 3:4-5).
Things were so bad at Corinth that during their carry-in dinners members were consuming all the food before all arrived; some even became drunk while they waited (1 Cor. 11:21). The Corinthian Christians invented the “happy hour.”
“…there are a lot of ironic aspects of leadership. However, in my opinion, the most essential principle is that the ultimate job of a leader is to work themselves out of a job.” - Phil Cooke
“We don’t pray like Jesus taught us to pray… . We assume pulpit and bulletin announcements are effective recruiting tools… . We allow the same members to hold several positions… at least until they sometimes become the power group in the church.” - Chuck Lawless
“The humble person is not blind to their strengths; they are looking to see how their strengths can help others. They are self-aware without being self-consumed.” - IFWE
“The apostle Paul models that art of recognition in Romans 16. He shows us how easy, yet powerful it is when we acknowledge those who are working hard serving Jesus and His Church.” - Baptist Press
“We care more about reaching our potential than building up the body. If we are denied the opportunity to express our gifts, we feel disrespected, unappreciated, and perhaps offended.” - 9 Marks
Of course there will be hard places. What of it? To choose ease rather than effort is to choose slow decay. (Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand, 1901–1957)
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)
“you can inadvertently create a vibe that suggests the work of membership is somehow ‘less than’ the work of elders. That’s a tragedy.” - 9 Marks
Discussion