Resolutions are for
non-perfect people …
With the memories of the Old Year still fresh on our minds,
and the hope of yet another New Year before us, many of us enter into that old
peculiar ritual of making New Year’s Resolutions. I joked with someone at work
on New Year’s Eve saying, “New Year’s
resolutions are for non-perfect people, which explains why I do not make any of
them.” But seriously, I think we all make resolutions of sorts, and we
don’t necessarily wait for a New Year to do so. Despite our good intentions, however,
it is sad that many resolutions do not last out the week. Having said that,
have you ever wondered why we even bother making them at all?
I believe that ultimately we make New Year’s resolutions
because something in our lives is not as we would like it to be. We make them
because we have taken a personal inventory and found ourselves lacking. Spiritually,
we might make them because of some sort of revelation or inspiration. Others
may not see the mess we see ourselves in, but we see it, and that’s what
matters. There is weight to be lost, a bad habit to quit, and perhaps even a
good habit to develop. In the words of Thomas ‘A Kempis, “Habit overcomes habit.” The way I see it, such is the nature of
the New Year’s resolution.
While I haven’t officially made any resolutions this year, I
kind of would like to see a few changes in my life develop as well. Like many
of us, I could stand to lose a pound or two … or thirty. I would like to blog
more, and focus on making those posts a little more edifying in nature. On a
more personal “note” (pun intended), I would like to learn to play the guitar
again, and maybe even a saxophone. Ultimately, I’d like to discover that fine
line between making a living and making a life. Hmm, maybe I have made some
resolutions as well.
Love Trumps All
Doctrine …
However, spiritually speaking is where you’ll probably find
my biggest resolutions. If I were to ask you to summarize 1 Corinthians 13 into
one sentence or phrase, what would you come up with? I asked myself that
question a while back and came up with this: “Love trumps all doctrine.” Perhaps a great New Year’s resolution
for everyone who calls themselves a Christian would be to go through the
exercise of carefully re-reading that chapter and see if we don’t each come up
with something similar. Does love really trump all doctrine? If so, how will
that affect our plans and relationships in this New Year?
My New Year’s resolution is going to include striving to
learn how to move the “love” that I
profess to have from the theoretical to the practical. How will I do that? I
hope it will include being less judgmental of other Christians who think and
worship differently than I do. As someone has so eloquently said, “Pointing out the weeds in your neighbor’s garden,
doesn’t remove them from your own.” As I reflected on that, it sort of
reminded me of Jesus’ saying in Matthew 7:3, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay
no attention to the plank in your own eye?” I find myself no longer
interested in the “specks” in the
eyes of others, but I am deeply concerned with the “plank” in my own.
I hope that my love will also become practical by committing
myself this year to regularly volunteering some time at some inner city
ministry that could use a helping hand, regardless of their denominational or
religious affiliation. Now there’s a resolution that I really would like to see
become a reality; a New Year’s resolution that’s less about me, and more about
others.
Someone once said that “actions
speak louder than words,” and I believe that is true. However, lately I’ve
been hearing “words” pretty loudly
too from within some Christian circles, and unfortunately they do not always
sound very loving or gracious. Please understand, I am preaching to myself here
as much as to the next one; for every finger I’m pointing out towards another,
I have three pointed back at me. My New Year’s resolution this year includes
lining up my walk with my talk.
Conversation must
always be full of grace …
I remember in the early days after I left the pastoral
ministry and the institutional church, several people told me that I sounded
angry a lot. I don’t know why, and that’s not even important, but this came out
verbally as well as through some early blog posts. Then along came an
illumination from the Apostle Paul who said, “Let your conversation be always full of grace” (Colossians 4:6). I
noticed that he said “always,” as
opposed to only “some of the time,”
or “as the mood strikes us.” Is there
still some measure of anger in our conversations today? Is my conversation “always” full of grace? I am sorry, but
I know that mine is not, and this grieves me terribly.
I have heard some people sometimes try and justify an angry
spirit based upon the fact that they found some mention in the Scriptures of
where Jesus and Paul also got angry. While that is true, it does not logically
follow that I then also have the same right to be angry with my brothers or
sisters. It is one thing to occasionally snap and blow a fuse in anger; it is
quite another to regularly be angry. At the very least, if there is anger, it
needs to be Spirit-led, loving, gracious, and redemptive in nature. When I
leave any of those out of the “justified-anger” equation, anger itself is no
longer justified, and it is no longer in keeping with the theme of 1
Corinthians 13. My New Year’s resolution seeks to lose any remaining anger
issues and seek a conversation that is always full of grace.
Some things are best
kept between yourself and God …
By now most of us probably know where we each stand when it
comes to the institutional church versus the non-institutional church, and all
those other little idiosyncrasies of other Christian traditions and those who
teach them and those who embrace them. Some we agree with, while others we
strongly disagree with. My challenge for myself this New Year is to strive to
move beyond all discussions that only serve to highlight our differences as
opposed to those things that we have in common. As Paul said, “So whatever you believe about these things
keep between yourself and God” (Romans 14:22). While in context it has to
do with dietary regulations, I keep hearing that verse in my head over and over
again. Could it be God speaking to me about this? I am convinced that it is.
Unfortunately, I haven’t always been listening very well.
Likewise, I’m tired of all the “us and them” feuding, between the “good guys and the bad guys,” as it were; tired of Christians and
pseudo-Christians, and of who falls into which category. Am I the only one who
finds it strange that everybody is so sure that they’ve cornered the truth
market? Really? Think about it. How is it that six Christians from ten
different denominations can have fourteen interpretations of the same verse of
Scripture? Yes, I am being a little facetious, but you get the point. I’m the
only one who has got the truth market cornered? Really? I think we all still
have a lot to learn about Christ’s plan for His church and understanding a proper
hermeneutics pertaining to it. My goal for this New Year is to hopefully come
to a little closer understanding of what that plan might be.
The “reverent
agnostic” in me …
In his excellent book, “Chasing Francis,” one of author Ian Cron’s
character’s says, “I’d rather be a reverent
agnostic.” I like that. My New Year’s resolution recognizes that there are
still many unanswered questions, and I’m OK with that. This side of glory, many
will likely remain unanswered, but I still find comfort in the words of that
old children’s chorus, “Jesus loves me,
this I know.” In the end, for me, that is enough. Maybe in some ways, we
are all “reverent agnostics.”
So, Yes, I guess I have made some New Year’s resolutions
too. I recognize that you, my brother, might see some of these things I little
differently, but I’m OK with that, and I hope that you are too. Can we focus on
what we have in common and fellowship around that? I pray that it may be so.
Peace, Blessings, and Happy New Year.
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