Iron Sharpens Iron

Last night I spend some time chatting with a good friend of mine. We talked about a number of different things - but one thing we always tend to talk about is things we may not agree on. I know a lot of people shy away from those types of conversations - they can be hard and make a person feel uncomfortable. I believe it is important to have people in your life that you see eye to eye with on most things but I also think it is vitally important that we have those people in our lives that do see things differently than we do; people with a different perspective. We have heard the verse Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one friend sharpens another." - well if there is no friction there can be no sharpening. I believe we run into a huge danger if we only ever associate with those who think and act just the way that we do. If we do that we will become an exclusive club of people unwilling to listen to anyone else's point of view and therefore always assuming we are right. I always want to be the type of person who is willing to listen to a different perspective, that is willing to ask hard questions, that is willing to look at where I could be wrong and make changes if necessary. I also want to be the type of person who will do that for another. 

I have been spending some time in 1 Peter 5 today. It is a great chapter on leadership and humility. The whole chapter is great, but here are the first 5 verses:

"Now for the elders of the church. I want to encourage you. As you know, I am an elder, too, like you. I have witnessed firsthand the sufferings of the Anointed One as well as shared in the glories which are soon to be revealed. When you shepherd the flock God has given you, watch over them not because you have to but because you want to. For this is how God would want it not because you’re being compensated somehow but because you are eager to watch over them. Don’t lead them as if you were a dictator, but lead your flock by example; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will be crowned with honor that will shine brightly forever. You who are younger in the faith: do as your elders and leaders ask. All of you should treat each other with humility, for as it says in Proverbs,

God opposes the proud

    but offers grace to the humble."

I love this passage because it speaks to the leader and the new believer in the same way - and says to "treat each other with humility". The leader isn't the only one asked to be humble and neither is the new believer. Both need to walk in humility towards each other. The believer needs to be humble enough to take the instruction of the leader and the leader needs to be humble enough to listen to the believer's concerns. I believe if we truly grasped this concept in our churches today it would solve a lot of problems! Be open to listen to each other - be open to hear a perspective that may be different than yours. And be willing to go to each other in a humble manner and discuss these things. Yes - there will always be things we won't agree on and never come to a place where we see eye to eye, but we need to at least take time to hear another person out and see where they are coming from. I believe that is what makes us sharp. A sharpened sword is then useful and productive - ready to be used in battle. Let us not go into battle unarmed and dull because we are afraid of the sharpening process. Together we make each other better and our differences are what help us to grow and become an effective team with the same goal and purpose - to show people Jesus! 

Pastors are People Too

Let me just start this by saying that in general I hate blogs. I really didn't want to start a blog at all... but I could not shake the sense that I needed to -- so I did. God gives us all gifts and He gives them to us to use. So... I am trying to use what God has given me and this seems to be a way He would like me to do that at this moment. I dislike blogs that find fault and criticize things -- so in a sense I am writing today the anti-blog blog which I know makes no sense whatsoever. Call me a hypocrite because that is what I am. So here goes... 

I am a pastor's wife. I love my husband with all my heart and I see how hard he works day in and day out. He has a job inside the church and a job outside of the church, he is a wonderful father and a devoted husband, he tries to take care of our house and cars as well as run a mentoring program and be a youth pastor and a worship leader and oversee the creative ministries at our church. He wears a lot of hats. That being said sometimes there are a few things that might fall through the cracks. I am guilty as anyone of letting him know when something does. For that I am truly sorry. 

There is this trend today that we like to find fault in our leaders or our churches. We post about it, blog about it, complain to each other about it -- but what are we really DOING about it? There has got to be something more productive than that doesn't there? To me it seems really rude. What would we do if our children blogged daily about all the mistakes we make as parents and how we do not run our house the way they think it should be run? That would be devastating to us wouldn't it? We'd say, "That is crazy, no parent is perfect - we are doing the best we can!" Well I am here to say today that no pastor is perfect. Pastors are people too. They have real feelings - feelings that can be hurt. We demonize some we think are insensitive, power hungry monsters, but let me tell you that if they are out there then they are definitely a very small minority. Most pastors I know are just doing their best to love the people who have been entrusted to them. They work hard day in and day out to connect with people, meet people's needs and run the church they are a part of. 

I think it is time that we treat pastors like people too. We are quick to say how we are imperfect people who deserve grace and mercy - but when it comes to pastors we have a double-standard. They have to be without fault. If they say a phrase the wrong way in a message, if they don't call as often as we'd like, if they don't communicate as effectively as we think they should they are chastised. This can be very hurtful. 

I know this is not a perspective heard very often so please hear my heart in this. My heart aches for my husband when he comes home from a long day of working two jobs and dealing with very heart wrenching, real problems in both of them and then he gets online and sees another post or another blog about how what he is doing is not good enough. As a mom if I saw those kind of posts all the time about what I was doing wrong as a mom I think I would have a mental breakdown.  I am not saying that you can never raise concerns, by all means please do! But there is a right way to do that and a wrong way. The wrong way is never ok so don't try to justify it. Even if you don't get the response you'd like from the leader right away that does not give you a free pass to behave badly. All I ask is that you'd consider this before posting something and remember that pastors are people too. <3 

A Double-Edged Sword

"The word of God, you see, is alive and moving; sharper than a double-edged sword; piercing the divide between soul and spirit, joints and marrow; able to judge the thoughts and will of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12

The Word of God is a powerful thing - no one can escape being affected by it. But so many times it is misused and manipulated. It is compared to a sword. I don't know if you've encountered swords much, but most of the time a sword is not something we think of to make us feel all warm and fuzzy. Unfortunately, many in the Church as a whole today like to use the Word of God to make them feel all warm and fuzzy... but that is not the purpose of it. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. The Word of God should make you uncomfortable. There should be parts of Scripture that you don't like! There should be parts of it that offend you. Say what?! It's true - if no part of the Bible challenges us and makes us uncomfortable than we are no better than a Pharisee thinking that we have it all together. We don't - none of us do. I would go as far to say that we should seek out those sections of Scripture that we don't like and those should be the ones that we study the most. We all like to go to our favorite Scriptures - the ones that encourage us - as we should. But we should not neglect the ones that challenge us, offend us or make us uncomfortable. 

It is time we look at Scripture as a whole and stop manipulating it to meet our needs. So many times we find Scriptures to back up what we want to say and use it to align with our opinion and circumstances. Instead we should make our opinion and circumstances align with the Word of God. I have been guilty of it myself quite often, but you know what - I am sick of it! I no longer want to go through the Word looking for what I want to say - I want to look through the Word and let God show me what HE is trying to say. 

Lord, forgive me for manipulating and misusing Your Word. It is a precious gift and one that I have often used incorrectly. Thank you for ALL of the Word - the parts that encourage me and the parts that convict me. I don't just want part of You, I want ALL of You. All of You is what makes me complete. 

Out in Force

Well today was a little more exciting than I would have liked. It started like any other Tuesday - I was at church in a mentoring session when I got a call from the school that there was an armed robbery in town and the kids were being held in school longer unless I wanted to come pick them up. 

This freaked me out enough and I decided to go pick up my kids - first my son from kindergarten and then my daughter in 4th grade. I was just going to stop home quickly to get my kids' piano books and then head out of town to my mom's. But... when I got home my front door was wide open. Now on a day that you know an armed robber is on the loose this is not a sight you want to see. I called my mother-in-law over and she enlisted the help of some men who were cutting down a tree in our neighborhood - they looked through the house quickly and said the back door was open too. 

At this point we call the cops and the cops tell everyone to get out of the house and go next door, so that is what we do. I see a cop car round the corner - then another - then another - until there are 5 or 6 cop or trooper cars rushing down my street with their lights on. It was all very surreal. The cops then surround my house with their guns - they go into the house and search it - looking in every cupboard, under each bed, and in each closest. They don't find anything in the house except for a package from UPS by the front door. What a great day for UPS to come put a package inside my door and leave the door open!! 

Lesson #1 - always lock your door, even if you think you live in a relatively safe little town. We only had one house key so I didn't have one, but I guarantee we will be making one tonight. Lesson #2 - If you work for UPS or Fed Ex or any place like that never open someone else's door and certainly don't leave it open, especially in a town that has an armed robber on the loose!! 

So that was my excitement for the day - and I think I am set for a while. I am ready for a nice, quiet, uneventful rest of the week please. 

I was pretty impressed by how quickly the cops responded though and with such force. I know I was already praying my whole way home to go pick up my kids. I am still not sure why our back door was open or if it ever really was.. But I do know one thing: My God was protecting me and my family. 

Psalm 91:9-11 promises "If you make the Lord your refuge if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you, no plague will come near your home. For He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. " 

As quickly as the cops responded when we called earlier my God's response is even quicker and the force he brings with him is even greater! He has an army of angels he sends to protect us and keep us - and they protect us numerous times a day - many of which we may never even realize there was danger near. I am so thankful for that protection today! As the song says, "I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind - the God of angel armies is always by my side." 

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