Class is Not Dismissed

Psalm 86:11 "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."

This past Friday night I had the privilege of speaking to our women's group at church a message entitled "Class is Not Dismissed." In this message, I talked about the importance of our encounters with God. Every time someone spends time with the Lord, it should be looked at as an opportunity to learn. Everything we go through in life is meant to be a learning experience to elevate us to the next level in our walk with God. There is an extreme importance in the process of learning. When we stop learning, we stop growing. When we refuse to learn, we choose death.

My husband teaches a leadership class at our Wednesday night Audacity service. In his class he asks the following question: "Who is the most dangerous person in the church?" Most people answer this question by saying the hypocrite who tries to live a double life, the church gossip who stirs up strife, or the "negative Nancy" who seems to want to keep everyone else down. It is true, all three of those types of people are dangerous and will destroy a ministry if not lovingly dealt with, however, none of those three are the MOST dangerous to the church. The most dangerous person to darken the doors of a church is someone who is unteachable - someone who refuses to learn. This person will always hold a ministry back, because they will never see the necessity of learning and growing. They feel they have arrived and are no longer in need of assistance from anyone...including God.

This past week was the first week back to school for students in Roane County. I teach 5th grade at a small elementary school. It amazes me the different types of learners that sit in my classroom. Some learn by listening, some by music, some by organization and pattern, some by bodily-kinesthetic strategies, and some even by sitting alone and reading a book. However, across the board, students learn best by DOING. If you can practice it and master it...you've learned it. Sometimes the reason I think people become unteachable is because they fear the learning process. They are afraid to go through the necessary training that might hurt, require patience, or require commitment to obtain the knowledge their Teacher wishes them to know. We must not fear the learning process, but rather embrace it as a mechanism for growth and ultimately spiritual survival. Louisa May Alcott, a famous author, said it well: "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship."

No matter our age, current status, or prior knowledge - learning is never done. God has an unlimited supply of astounding things for us to learn, one of those things being His infinite love for us. There's more to learn, because there's more to be done. Let's not let our brains atrophy while a lost and dying world is abandoned of the knowledge of who God is and what He has done for them. Class is not dismissed. There's more learning to do. Sit at His feet. Learn from His heart.

Do I Serve a 10% God?

Luke 17: 11-19 "Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out with a loud voice, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us.' When he saw them, he said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Where not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'"

This past Sunday morning, Pastor Nick delivered the first sermon in the new series "Make It Rain." In this first sermon, he mentioned the story of the ten lepers. In this story, as you can read above, Jesus is traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee. Along the journey, he encounters ten lepers. He heals these lepers and instructs them to show themselves to the priest to prove their cleansing. Only one of the men return to give thanks to the Lord for what he did for them. As Pastor was speaking on this the Lord truly spoke to me and showed me a few things that I need to work on. Here they are...

The first thing that jumped out to me is that out of ten men - only one returned. That's 1/10 or only 10% of all those that were healed that gave thanks for what Jesus had done. Leprosy was a disease that automatically made you an outcast because of it being highly contagious. Lepers were quarantined away from society, their families, their homes, their jobs, their way of life in general. Jesus wasn't just giving these men back their health, he was giving them back their life. It was truly a wonderful miracle! If you lost everything you own, your family, your job, and your way of life, then someone came along and gave that all back to you free of charge and in an instant - wouldn't you leap for joy and fall at that person's feet in gratitude? We would think so, but the truth of the matter is, I have been given an even greater gift than these leprous men. I have been given salvation, hope, an abundant life, eternal life, love beyond my wildest dreams...do I only thank the One who gave it to me 10% of the time? What about in other areas of my life? Do I only give God 10% of those too? What about my job, my time, my family, my addictions, my insecurities, my worries? Do I give all of me or only 10%? Do we tell God, "Here Lord, here's 10% of me. The other 90% I think I'll keep though." We give ourselves a pat on the back for the 10% of our lives we give God, but in reality, we don't serve a 10% God. We serve a God that wants and expects all of you. Yes, I know that my tithe (10% of my income) is owed to God. He requires that, and yes, it is disobedience if it is not given. But, do I ever go beyond that 10% in my financial giving? Do I heed to the voice of God when he asks me to sacrifice monetarily? I hope that when God sees me - He sees someone that gives 100%, not just 10%. Think about it this way...what if God kept His promises and was faithful only 10% of the time? What if he met only 10% of your needs? How would we feel then...

Another thing that stuck out to me was the fact that the one man that returned was a Samaritan. In those days, Samaritans were outcasts to Jewish people. They did not get along. Our awesome Jesus was walking along the border between Samaria and Galilee - between the outcasts and His own people. It amazes me that it wasn't his own people that came back to give thanks, it was an outcast. Those of us that have been raised in church our whole lives or have been in church for a long time can grow very complacent about serving the Lord and remembering what He has done for us. We forget that we had a condition far worse than leprosy. Our sins, no matter what they were, had us bound and destined to live eternity in hell far from God. I, one of His children, who ought to know better, am the first one to criticize, be lazy, and be an ungrateful spoiled brat about a lot of things. Sometimes, those of us that have followed the Lord for awhile need to take a step back and rekindle that gratitude. We need to watch the zeal of new converts and try to recapture that excitement and passion for God. I know I am guilty many times of not doing this. Jesus was standing on the border between these two countries. Similarly, He stands in gap between His people and those that are lost and are searching. He died for us all. He paid the same price for us all. We were all bound for the same destination without His grace and mercy, yet many of us think we can sit back and only skim the surface of what God wants from us. We think we'll be "good enough" to receive the reward He has for us. The truth is - we are missing the point. He has redeemed us for a relationship with Him. We don't deserve it by any means, but His love for us caused Him to make the sacrifice of His Son for our redemption. This lost world needs to see a zeal and passion for God from His people. We need to show them that He is the missing piece they have been looking for.

I don't serve a 10% God - so let's give him the gratitude He deserves.