A Concluding Thought

Even though there are still a few weeks left in the summer, this week is the conclusion of our Southside summer blog. I want to thank everyone for participating by reading and making comments. I also want to thank Bekah Weatherford for helping me put this all together. It has been good for us to have a place where throughout the week we could discuss 1 Peter together. Several of you have made some great comments throughout the summer and I have learned from you.

As I write this, I am quite excited. Over the past weekend, I have had several conversations with people at Southside who are doing "peculiar" things in their lives. There are great things happening among our church body. It is apparent to me that God is growing a "peculiar people" here. Also, I am excited about the future. God is drawing people to this place, particularly because of the opportunities to reach out here. I am looking forward to the upcoming “mission” activities coming up where we are going to introduce others to God’s love and mercy. God has placed us here as a church for a unique time and place – to be a church in the heart of the city of Fort Worth and to be His presence to the diverse people within this area. May God continue to bless us as we seek to be His Missionaries!

For my final thoughts on 1 Peter, I must say that this book seems more relevant than ever before. I think as our culture becomes increasing secular, we will be turning to this book more and more. By the aid of the Holy Spirit, Peter really helps us know our identity and how to live that out today in a powerful way. As we conclude, I am curious what lesson stood out to you from Peter.

For me, I know the passage in 2:4-10 has really meant a lot to me. Every human being struggles with feelings of self-worth from time to time. Often we feel like we are not matching our own standards or others’, and we can feel a sense of shame or disappointment. I think it would do me good to read those seven verses every day, just to be reminded that for “those who believe” they are of “precious value” in God’s eyes (v. 7). We are his “chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation, a people belonging to Him” (v. 9). He has made us “the people of God” and chosen to give us mercy (v. 10). Those ideas are so powerful, uplifting, and identity-shaping. We all need to remember how God looks at us as His children. What about you? Was their a verse, an idea, or a theme that really seemed to connect with you in someway? If so, please share.

Becoming a Church of Love

Yesterday I received two somewhat surprising responses to my sermon. First, I received several comments about when would I be free to go run or work out (To be honest, I did not think that part of my sermon would catch on so much.). But more seriously, I talked with a member who felt like Southside really needed to hear that lesson – particularly, about loving one another. That took me a back a little. I always assumed that love is a great strength of our church. After all, our vision is to be a “place of mercy.” But as this member talked with me, I was reminded of the great challenge we have here at Southside.

By the grace of God, Southside has become a fairly diverse church. I tend to describe our Sunday worship assembly like this. If you were to grab 5 random people on Sunday morning, one would be a recovering addict, one would be under 18, one would be over 65, and the other two would be a part of a young or middle family. One of those five would not be white. That description alone shows diversity and I have not even talked about other differences in our church body like interests, theology, single/married, etc. You put all of those categories together and Southside is an assorted group of people. While it is good to have variety, the challenge becomes how do we learn to love one another, despite our differences.

As Peter wrote those words to the Asian churches, they were probably struggling in the same way. The Roman Empire was not monolithic. We know New Testament churches were made up of different ethnicities (Jew/Gentile), income status (slave/free), and genders (male/female) (see Gal. 3:28 for example). Peter knew that in saying those words, this was not going to be easy. That is why he reminded them that God helps us do this and God is praised as a result.

I find it pretty easy to love those I like. People who are similar to me, who are interested in the same things as I am, and are my age, I have no problem loving them. But those who are different than me – it is a little harder. Now don’t get me wrong, it is not hard to be friendly to everyone. But that is not what we are talking about. Sometimes we think love is being nice or friendly. However that is not love. Love is deeper. It is choosing to want the best for another person. It is praying for them, spending time with them, learning about them, having them over for dinner. It is overlooking faults, forgiving the past, and helping to bear burdens. It is not pity or sentimentality. It is truly caring for the welfare of another person and being willing to do whatever that person needs to grow closer to Christ. I think that member was right; this is an area that we all need to grow in.

What about you? How do you feel about the love at Southside? Do you struggle in loving a person “different” than you in some way?

Suffering to be a Faithful Christian?

I was not at Southside yesterday and Lindsay, the kids, and I are in Minneapolis. In a little bit, I will be attending my first doctorate class. While I did not get to hear Dan preach, I am sure that it was thought-provoking and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Through First Peter, the motif of suffering is very pervasive. It is mentioned 11 times throughout the book. One scholar said, "The issue is not that or what the early Christians are suffering, but how to make sense of suffering." Basically it is just assumed that these Christians are going to suffer and he tries to offer some theological help in trying to deal with it. But here's my question. As I have read through Peter several times, I have had the sneaking suspicion that this assumption and expectation of suffering is not just for those early Christians in the first century, but also for Christians in general. I know there situation was a little different than ours, but should it be that we are to be living in such a peculiar way that there might be some suffering involved? I mean not just a hard time (non-Christians have hard times), but actual ridicule, physical harm, unjust treatment, etc because of our faith in Christ. If that is the case, what does that mean for Christians whose life is relatively easy and comfortable?

I would love to hear from some of you what you feel the role of suffering is in the life of Christian and how it might be felt (or is being felt) by 21st century American Christians today.

What is Submission?

The question came up over the weekend in the talk about marriage/relationships in regards to the word “submission.” The Bible uses that word several times in relation to the wife’s posture before her husband (Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:1), yet it can be difficult to define what that looks like.

Within our culture, submission is a bad word. We are raised to think that we should “be our own man (or woman, as the case may be).” I have heard people say before, “When someone told me I could not do it, that gave me all the more motivation to do it.” While that attitude works for accomplishing the impossible, it does not translate well into submission within marriage. How do we learn the aspect of submission when we live in a culture that tells us that is the one thing you should not do?

To compound the problem, many women are in marriages where the husband is not very loving towards his wife. Maybe he is abusive – physically or verbally – or maybe he is not very strong spiritually. Maybe he has some deep spiritual struggles or even does not believe at all. Every woman has a husband who makes wrong decisions, is not as spiritually strong as he should be, and does not lead as good as he could. So what does submission mean then?

On top of all of this, does submission simply mean doing what the husband wants done or can a wife express displeasure? Should a husband give in to his wife at times? How often should a wife yield to her husband’s will? Should she do this even if she disagrees with her husband’s decision? These are all tough questions that probably are answered differently in every marriage.

Certainly a husband is to love his wife sacrificially (or as Dr. Milholland said, “die for her”). That means he should not get his way all the time either – after all, Jesus did not get “his way” (according to Lk. 22:42; Heb. 5:8), when he went to the cross. Yet repeatedly, Paul asked the wives to submit voluntarily toward their husbands.

So what does this look like in the 21st century? I would love to hear from different sisters about how they understand the command of submission and to hear how you have made this “work” within your marriage.

Link to Steve's Sermon (July 4, 2010)

Develope a Harmonious Marriage (July 4, 2010)

www.archive.org/details/DevelopAHarmoniousMarriage

A Peculiar Way of Dressing

I have an interesting story from yesterday. After preaching on marriage from 1 Pet. 3, I had an older couple come up to me – individually (I don’t think the one knew that the other spoke to me.) First, the wife approached me and remarked that the kind of husband that I was describing in my sermon (one who treats her wife with honor) was her husband. Virtually with tears in her eyes, she said that he was a perfect husband. A little bit later, the husband came up to me and told me that I had left one statement out of my sermon. I asked, “What was that?” He said, “Yes, dear!” Later on, I wondered if saying the phrase, “Yes, dear,” connects with the description of being referred to as a “perfect husband.” Does anyone else have some thoughts from yesterday’s sermon?

Two verses that I did not mention very much yesterday, but are power-packed are 1 Pet. 3:3-4. They are the verses that declare that a wife’s adornment should not be external things like braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, etc, but the hidden quality of a gentle and quiet spirit. The word translated “adornment” in this verse is literally “world.” Peter does not want Christian women to dress as the “world” does, but in a different way. It is thought that Roman women would show off their wealth and status by how they dressed, but for Christians this was not to be the case. Their focus was to be on the inside.

Yet I get the sneaking suspicion if Peter was to peer into our closets where our clothes are and if he noticed the time it takes for us to get ready, he might wander if we really believe that today. Our culture really entices us with the desire to look good. Being attractive in many ways is the most important currency of today. If you are beautiful or handsome, that opens up so many doors for you. People will want to speak with you, get to know you, and become your friend. I can even feel the pull at church. Who is the guest that I want to talk to more – the handsome young couple that just walked in or the man with disheleved hair and an untucked shirt? Slowly we teach our children that you need to look good. Don’t be immodest, of course, but be attractive. But is that even possible today? I think Peter’s words have a lot of kick to them as he challenges us to think differently (or should I say peculiarly) about our dress. Instead of focusing on dressing the outside, dress the inside, Peter declares. That’s easier said than done, Peter!

What is your response to Peter’s words in 3:3-4? I would love to hear from some of our sisters on how these verses challenge you. God bless your week.

Engaging our World for Christ

Yesterday in my sermon about 1 Pet. 2:11-12, I mentioned that there are two questions that we should ask ourselves to determine if we are truly being missionaries for the Lord. Below are the questions:

1. Identity: How many of your friends know you are a Christian by your behavior?
2. Mission: How many non-Christians do you really know?

In many ways, those two questions can be anchor points for each one of us as we seek to engage and impact the world around us. For if we can answer these questions well, it means others are being impacted for Christ by our life, whereas if we can’t, then we are not letting our light shine.

Last night, I had a member come up to me and tell me about his afternoon. He was impacted by the sermon in the morning (and particularly question #1) and so in the afternoon, he went out and asked some of his friends, “How can you tell that I am a Christian?” He was curious if they knew he was a Christian simply because he came to church or some other reason, or if it was because of his actions and behavior. What a challenging, yet informative question to ask! What if we all asked a non-Christian friend that same question? I think it would give us an update on how we are doing in being “peculiar” within our world. That is your challenge for this week. I would love to hear what you learn in response.

Also, which question do you struggle with the most - #1 or #2? I would be curious to know. Because of my position, I probably struggle with #2 more because I am around Christian people quite frequently. In fact, I have noticed if I am not intentional about putting myself in places where non-Christians are and seeking out their friendships, then my answer to #2 can be pretty small. What about you?

Links to Steve's Sermons

"Know the Nature of God" (June 13, 2010)
www.archive.org/details/KnowTheNatureOfGod

"Claim Your Place in the Spiritual House" (June 20, 2010)
www.archive.org/details/ClaimYourPlaceInTheSpiritualHouse

Some Links to Check Out

To those who want to go deeper and learn more about the idea of “honor” and “shame” within the first century that I mentioned Sunday, here’s a link to a good article on the subject:
www.ivpress.com

Here’s a link to the song about Belle in the Beauty and the Beast. Can anyone find the word “peculiar” in the song?
www.youtube.com

Link to the story in Psychology Today about the impact of peer pressure on young girls in regards to their bodies:
www.psychologytoday.com

Seeing Honor, when Others see Shame

There are a couple directions I could go after my sermon yesterday. But one direct connection is that if God views us with honor, despite what the world thinks of us, should we not view others in the same way? Because God chooses to view us with a different set of values, should not we view other people in a different way as well?

I think this hit me a couple years ago when our theme for Southside was “Lord Open our Eyes.” When I prayed this over and over, I started to observe that there were people everywhere who often I did not even think about or even notice. Grocery cashiers, drivers in the car next to me, fast food restaurant workers, neighbors down the street, and children on a playground. I would see these people on a daily basis, and yet act as if they simply did not even exist. My interaction with them was purely based on their involvement (often, negative) in my life. For instance, if they messed up my fast food order or did not give me the right change, then I noticed who was working there. If they did it all right, I didn’t notice.

Not to mention, other people who I don’t see on a regular basis because my path of daily interaction does not interface with them. Like for instance, people who are homeless, poor, or disabled. These people do not offer me any tangible reward for getting to know them. I am not going to receive any benefits from interacting with them (at least, initially); it is just going to be work on my part. So I can plan my daily path to not deal with them, at least in some way.

Yet, when we ask God to open our eyes, we see the people that I have described. They are there – maybe jaded by the world and shamed by the community. But they are there. I think Peter’s message in 2:4-10 challenges our viewpoint of others. Of all people in the world, the one group who should be willing to look at a person not for what they have accomplished or where they work (or don’t work), but simply for who they are should be Christians. After all, is that not what God has done in us? Simply because of His mercy, He has declared us as “His people.” So the challenge for us is to adopt that same mindset with others in our path (and even outside of our path). To notice a person and see their God-given value when the world does not see it, and maybe they do not even see it themselves.

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him." 1 Cor. 1:26-29

Does anyone struggle with the challenge of seeing honor and value in people, despite what they do, where they live, and who they associate with?

Application point: Sometime this week, notice a person during your routine duties and interact with them in a special way because you recognize the value they have as a person.

Holy Fear

Yesterday I mentioned briefly in my lesson the concept of fearing God. Peter says in 1:17, “conduct yourselves in fear” (NIV adds “reverent fear” to soften the term, but the Greek word is “fear”). So what does this mean to live in fear of God? Fear often conjures up negative emotions. We feel fear when a tornado warning is sounded or when we hear a doctor’s diagnosis. We feel fear when the teacher calls our name catching us misbehaving or when the police car starts flashing his lights while driving behind us. Often this is what we can think of when we use the term “fearing God.” We might think of God as a big policeman getting ready to catch us doing something wrong, so we live in fear hoping that we never mess up.

But there is a positive side to fear, as I mentioned yesterday. If the President of the United States was coming over to your house today, probably you would drop everything to get your house ready. You would take out the trash, dust the furniture, wash the dishes, etc trying to make everything as clean as you can for his arrival. Why? Because you know he is a man of importance and you want to show honor and respect for him by making your house presentable. In other words, you fear him in some way. The positive side of fear is reverence, awe, or honor. It is holding someone up in so high esteem that to be in their presence causes you to be nervous – not because you are scared but because you are amazed. Yet it is not just a feeling. True fear – biblical fear – causes us to do something. It causes us to act. A good example is in Ex. 9:20, where it says, “The servants of Pharoah who feared the word of the Lord made his servants flee…into the houses.” Moses had predicted a hailstorm upon Egypt by the hand of God. Those who feared God did something. They acted. They told the servants to get inside. Contrary to Pharoah, they believed in what God could do and revered Him so much that they were going to act in some way. I think that is what Peter calls us to do: to live in such a way, not where we are scared of God, but that we honor and revere Him so much that it makes us want to obey Him. Sometimes we obey God out of gratitude for what He has done, yet sometimes we obey Him because we are in awe and fascination of who He is – that is fearing the Lord.

How do you understand the idea of “fearing the Lord”?

“Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” Deut. 4:10

Application Point: Ask someone this week, “What are your thoughts about God?” Everyone has an opinion about God and if you ask and listen, they will share. See what people are saying about God and compare it to what Peter said.

A Few Links to Check Out

Born Into A Living Hope Sermon (June 6, 2010):
www.archive.org/details/BornAgainIntoALivingHope
(Under "Whole Item" click on "22MB" to begin the download)

20/20 Shawn Grim Video:
www.youtube.com

Voice of Martyrs Map of Persecution:
Persecution Map

Remember Your Baptism

What a great Sunday we had! As I was preaching on being "born again into a living hope" yesterday, it dawned on me that maybe this is the reason why Paul mentions baptism so much in his letters (see for example, Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Cor. 12:12; Gal. 3:27). I mentioned in my lesson that baptism is the beginning of our identity as God's peculiar people. When we are immersed in water, everything about us changes (from our desires, our dreams, our actions, to even how we treat our spouse). Often when Paul wanted to encourage a church to be more Christ-like, he would remind them of their baptism. To Paul, baptism was a powerful act that permanently changed the identity of who we are. We have acts like this in our society. Maybe a timely one right now is high school graduation. Often the luster of this event gets lost in the fact that there will be college for four more years, then possibly graduate school, etc. But what makes high school graduation so special is the fact that a young person is maturing. They have moved on from being a quirky teenager to a young adult. Have you ever noticed what someone says when a young adult starts acting a little juvenile? "Hey, we're not in high school anymore!" In other words, we have a different identity now. We've matured and so act like it. I think that is what Paul often would tell the Christians he wrote to. "Hey, you've been baptized; quit acting like you haven't been!"

What if we saw baptism less as simply an act where forgiveness is found (although certainly this is true) but more as a boundary marker that would set out a new kind of identity. When someone was not acting like they should spiritually, we could simply say, "Hey stop doing that; you've been baptized! Baptized people don't act like that."

My brother-in-law (who will be speaking in a couple of weeks on a Wednesday night) tells the story of a Middle Eastern man who wanted to become a Christian. Because he came from a Muslim background, the Christians wanted him to weigh the costs of his decision. So they told him, "We do not want you to become a Christian until you are ready to die." He thought about it and eventually decided to be immersed - his love of Christ was too great despite the risks. But what if we warned everyone preparing to be baptized in the same way. It would definitely cement in our minds the change in our identity that comes from being "born again" - the point Peter was trying to bring out in 1:3.

Application point for this week: Ask someone about their baptism/conversion story. Maybe start with a family member or close friend. Ask them about what they felt as they were immersed and how they feel now looking back on that event. If someone hears a good baptism story, I would love to hear it.

Have a blessed week. Live like the baptized people you are!

Welcome to Southside's Summer Blog

This summer, I am preaching through 1 Peter in order for us as a church to learn better "how to be peculiar people." I thought it might be helpful and enlightening to have a forum by which we as a church family (as well as others) could continue the conversation about what we are learning. My plan is that every Monday (starting June 7), I will post something new (I might do more if I get really excited). It might be thoughts that I have after preaching my sermon, different insights from Scripture that I did not get to say on Sunday, or it could be a funny story that I learned in talking with a member afterwards. But hopefully it will be something to strike a thought and keep us all thinking about the text of 1 Peter for the week. Plus, I will provide a specific activity to try for the week as a means of living out what Peter is teaching. Hopefully, then, throughout the week, you will come back and comment on what I posted - either on my thoughts or how it has worked out in doing the special activity of the week. I will try to respond to comments as they are shared. My prayer is that some wonderful conversations can be experienced through this blog.

For the very first post, below I have a passage from Epistle of Diognetus. It is a letter written in the 2nd century to a man who is a skeptic of Christianity. The letter was an apologetic of sorts about the validity of the Christian faith. In this passage, the writer tries to explain the way of life for a Christian disciple. I love this passage because in a very practical way, it shows how the early Christians were trying to live out the call to be a peculiar people - to be citizens of heaven while on earth. What do you notice about the passage that strikes you? Is there anything surprising about the man's description?

Epistle to Diognetus, 5.1-15

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.