I wrote a blog post about Christian maturity two weeks ago but didn't post it because I didn't like my conclusion. Imagine my curiosity when our guest speaker at the marriage conference, Hud McWilliams, also promised the key to Christian maturity. Here's the last passage from my "Intense" theme so I can wrap it up. That's code for "not really relevant." (There will be one more from 1 Thessalonians.)
Revelation 16: 1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." 2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land,and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. 3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. 4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; 6 for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve." 7 And I heard the altar respond: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments." 8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun,and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
Here's my post that got shelved:
You have a good foundation: you KNOW that God is there, even if you don't feel His presence; you KNOW it when you fall short of Christ's radical humility; you KNOW that God is just, though His justice is so widely misunderstood; you KNOW that hope wins in the end and not by the breadth of a pinkie-nail, but by the expanse of the ocean. You don't ask for signs or to hear voices, but persevere day to day.
What now, God? New experiences will be great, but I don't crave them. New believers will be a joy, because God's work will be satisfying. His kingdom will have advances and setbacks, but the news will not defeat us. But when it comes to RIGHT NOW, I feel passive in the flow of life. New experiences rush past as I go here and there obediently. Indifference creeps in about Bible Study. Conflict lurks in my family about social commitments. I feel tired of the intense ups and down.
So here was my conclusion: I need zeal and enthusiasm and to love people more. I could be preaching hell-fire and brimstone to the unrepentant. I need exercises to grow. After all, this blog started as an exercise in gratitude for small things every day, and we have all been blessed by it....
Our speaker said to imagine two platforms on either side of the lectern. On one, we live by rules. We hold on to what we have learned so as not to lose it. If we were a sports team, we would get ahead by a little and then change to a defensive strategy and play so as not to lose. He hates watching those teams and gets bored and wanders off. On the other platform, God has given us everything we need: salvation, grace, forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, fellowship with Him. Having all of that, we should play to win. I actually meant the title to be sarcastic, because even after eternity in heaven with God, we will not know all there is to know about God. But according to Hud, I was actually on the right track. Where I went wrong was grasping for a formula.
I immediately had a chance to practice. My one Spanish friend from school was slow to answer one message, and hasn't answered the last one at all. I'm not stupid. I've been dumped. I cried a little bit and Troy reminded me of the sermon. I can't think of her as "the only mom who lived in the States, the only one who understands, the only friend possible, ever," or as something to hold onto desperately so as not to lose. The one who plays to win accepts the generous welcome she offered and rejects the bitterness that so easily takes root. The lesson was a timely reminder of my freedom in Christ and saved me some grief: the grief of a pity-party about the friend and the grief of busy work that focused on me.
So what do you think? How can you play to win today and let go of a formula you are holding onto?
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