Gospel Endurance Revisited

Gospel Endurance Revisited

Blessings into the new week everyone!

First things first…I promised this would be out as soon as possible & here it is 😉

Bible Study Catch-Up — Friday – 19 August 2022 – 1:00 PM 

(click the link to) Join Zoom Meeting —  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88022194499  — Meeting ID: 880 2219 4499

 

Now…I’ve been working on this a bit…

Sometimes I finish a sermon & I have a ton of stuff left in my notes I just didn’t have time to explore on Sunday morning.

You’ve heard me say that I could go for another hour…it’s true. God’s word is just that engaging & the opportunities for exploring & learning that plentiful.

Sometimes I finish a series of sermons & there’s another month’s worth of preaching I could do on that book or Biblical theme.

I’ve known pastors who’ll hit one book of the Bible & go for a whole year. It’s possible. I’m not sure I can do that, but I know some who do.

 

The Romans series was like that…especially the final week on Gospel Endurance. I came across an article about teachers & teaching…that’s an interest in our house as you might imagine. https://www.joannejacobs.com/post/if-things-get-hard-they-just-quit — I just didn’t have the hours to explore this in worship & how it relates to our 21st century experience of life.

 

The article builds on some research from India, but I’ve heard similar stories from the US & Australia…Post-pandemic life seems to leave many people hitting a stopping point sooner & more frequently than pre-pandemic. For some reason, endurance, perseverance, tenacity & plain old grinding it out are in short supply these days. There’s a growing tendency to bail out, quit, give up, & throw in the towel in the face of obstacles. And that forces us to look for reasons & then for roads around the pitfalls.

 

Part of it, I would argue, stems from the lingering fear that was fostered during the early stages of the virus outbreaks. We didn’t have a great deal of accurate timely information about the virus as it broke onto the world scene & fear is almost always the primary reaction to things we perceive as harmful & are simultaneously unknown or mysterious. So our retreat into lockdowns & restrictions seemed appropriate at the time. Two-plus years on from those initial stages, and with “2 weeks to flatten the curve” turning into months of rolling on-again-off-again-on-again at times undecipherable restrictions…I still see & hear a lot of anxiety that no longer has any basis in fact, and a lot of behaviour not grounded in faith or science. We are not nearly, nor were we ever, in the jeopardy we’re often led to believe. So we’ve honed our “fight or flight” instincts down to mainly “flight.”

 

But another part I believe is still being cultivated. During my childhood, there was an increased emphasis on self-esteem. It was assumed that if people felt positively about themselves, had “high” self-esteem, they would perform well & achieve higher goals. I don’t hear that word much these days, but what has lingered is an over-emphasis on subjective feelings over objective facts. We’ve encouraged a hyper-sensitivity to how we “feel” & have at many levels steered children to avoid any experience that increases what could be understood as a “negative” emotion. So instead of winners & losers at the school carnivals, we hand out place champion and “participation” ribbons so that everyone goes home feeling a sense of accomplishment. Some children’s sports leagues have stopped keeping score altogether. School reports are awash in non-judgmental language & suggestions for future success. Again, the goal is to not “feel” badly about one’s performance even if that performance is less than optimal.

 

Recent cultural shifts have redefined the old “sticks & stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” into “words are violence.” We include “trigger warnings” on certain events just in case someone may “feel” uncomfortable in an otherwise normal setting, and the prevalence on social media of “cancelling” someone whose opinion is out of the accepted mainstream, shapes how we have become unable to even disagree politely or at all with one another without fear of being ostracized or cut out of the conversation completely.

 

All of that, and a culture that insulates children from hard-learned lessons and allows hours of technology immersion instead of rough-and-tumble outdoors time, adds up to a loss of endurance, perseverance, tenacity & plain old grinding it out. The cultural “too hard basket” runneth over and a growing number of folks, of all ages seem prepared to put greater portions of their lives into that basket.

 

There are probably other roads leading into this cultural dead end…but let’s talk about a few exits to this growing sense loss of endurance. In the sermon I said 3 things…I’ll go a bit deeper here:

  1. Never lose sight of the essential nature of the Christian community. Active engagement in the church links you to the unlimited supply of the Father’s strength through his Spirit AND it connects you to people who will encourage AND challenge your faith in positive ways. One of the great losses the church has experienced in my lifetime is that we stopped truly challenging one another toward deeper faith & greater commitment to Christ’s mission in this world. We especially stopped holding our young saints accountable to growing as disciples. We let them choose & then live out the world’s values, beliefs, attitudes, hopes & aspirations. James 4:4 reminds us that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God. The culture & it’s values system will not help you raise faithful disciples. It will do just the opposite. It’s crucial we reclaim our place in worship consistently, and a regular place in the company of a small group of folks who will steadfastly walk alongside us in the varied seasons of life holding our feet to the fire for Christlike living.
  2. Hold fast to the essential character of our identity & call. This is becoming a growing clarion call in my heart. If we allow something else to determine our identity or our purpose in this world outside of who we are as baptized children of God we will be forever chasing the wind, pursuing trophies that do not last, & finding discontent, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, fear & frustration at every turn. We are disciples of Jesus Christ who are to make disciples who in turn make disciples. We are to make the life of Christ visible in this world every day of our existence. Past experience does not need to determine your present perspective on life or your future outcomes in life. No one has to live perpetually victimized by a past trauma or pridefully gloating over a past success. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”
  3. Live from the essential wellspring of mission…overflowing joy peace hope and deep & selfless love. God’s desire to influence this world through you for the widening impact of his kingdom is unlimited. God, “who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think,” has empowered you with his Spirit. His Son has “overcome the world.” In Christ you are “more than conquerors.” We will never exhaust the abundant blessing of God who seeks our hearts as his home & our lives as his instruments in this world: And my God, who takes care of me, will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” You cannot empty the river of living water that flows for those whose hearts are fully dependent on Jesus Christ.

And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfector of our faith.

Because of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour at the right hand of God’s throne.

 

No need to quit. No need to falter in the traces. There’s always abundant resources for today & always joy up ahead & all around in Christ among his people.

John

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