A Grace-Propelled Patience

I love Starbucks. Few things in my life bring as much simple, sweet happiness as a tall peppermint mocha or an iced coffee with milk and toffeenut syrup. It's the small things, yo. So, with a few minutes to spare before work yesterday, I went to Starbucks to grab a coffee before I was on my Kroger grind for six-and-a-half hours. After all, what better prepares one for work than caffeine and sugar? I submit that there is nothing.

I was in the drive-thru, and only two cars were between me and the window. Score. I'm going to be at work on time. And yet, the care in front of me aimed to change that. They received four drinks through the window, as well as a gift bag with something in it. They, no lie, took about five minutes to complete their order and drive off.

The entire time that they were dominating the drive-thru and dwindling my time to get to work, I fought a battle within my mind. Much of me was frustrated and impatient.

I knew I shouldn't have wasted time on this.

I'm going to be late.

Come on people, let's go.

What the crap did you order?!

All the while, my mind also told me to be patient. The Spirit pushed and prodded my heart to remain calm. The reward would be worth the wait. I am in Christ, and as such, should exude patience as one of the fruits of the Spirit. Patience should define my life. Alas, I was not patient and remained frustrated at the long wait. By the time I got to the window, my stress levels were rising. I'm paying for this, daggumit!

And then I got my drink for free. Starbucks gave me a free gift because of my wait.

I was not patient.

I did not pay.

I was gifted this cup of coffee, despite my attitude, and it changed my entire perspective on the wait. When I wasn't paying for it, when I was being given something with no work or payment of my own, the wait no longer seemed so bad. Had I known the whole time that my coffee was free, I'd venture to say that I would not have been so impatient. I would, instead, have been calm and peaceful. I would have used my wait for more God-glorifying thoughts. Perhaps I'd have prayed. Perhaps I'd have read my Bible app. Perhaps I would have just been patient, which is glorifying in and of itself.

Don't you see that this is our lives, Christian? We have the free gifts of salvation and the Spirit within us and our future in glory with Christ (which are all immeasurably more amazing and beautiful than a mere cup of coffee), and yet we are impatient with God's timing in our lives. How ungrateful are we?

When one gives you a gift, we must depend upon their timing. How ridiculous would my impatience have been had I known that Starbucks was giving me a free cup? I'd have been unappreciative of the giver's heart, and would have disgraced the gift. It would be as if I were still running the show, demanding that a gift only make me happy if it is what I want, when I want it. Absurd!

Grace, therefore, should propel us towards patience. Every good thing comes from God (James 1:17), and we are undeserving of any good (Romans 3). It follows that all good things we receive are gifts of grace from a loving, good God. We have no say; these gifts are waiting for us in His time, in spite of our impatience and frustration with the wait. Instead, we should pursue patience. Patience shows a grateful heart for not just gifts such as His provision in our lives, His listening to our prayers or even His bringing us onto the throne with Christ in the end of time, but also for the Giver Himself. Patience shows that we trust that God has something good for us, and that we believe that He will give it to us in time. Patience shows that we understand His sovereignty, His love and His goodness.

Be patient, fellow Christian. The Giver of gifts knows best; let this truth of His grace launch you to new depths of patience!

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love," -Ephesians 4:1-2

"Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret, it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land." -Psalm 37:7-9

"Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." -Galatians 6:9

Two Mistakes People Make With Spiritual Gifts (And You're Probably Guilty of One)

I've been reading through Romans for a long time now, going at a pace of a few verses a day. I've wanted to soak up some information, and really dive into the book. Today, I'd like to share what I read this morning, and give a little bit of application for it.

"3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts..." -Romans 12:3-6a, HCSB

Paul says, toward the end of verse three, "not to think of himself more highly than he should think." In ordinary talk: "I tell everybody not to get all cocky and arrogant." He follows this with a better plan: "think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one." This is speaking directly to Christians: don't get all high and mighty. Instead, keep cool and remember Who runs your life. Remember Who gave you your faith. Remember Who gets all glory.

Then Paul seems to abruptly jump to talking about how the people in the Church (parts of the body of Christ) all have different jobs within the Church, all based on our spiritual gifts. What's up with that?

I think this section is a warning to all the people who get cocky in their spiritual gifts. Some Christians, particularly those who are leaders and teachers in the Church, get all holy and arrogant about being so "spiritual" and being "the only people that work around the church." If you are a leader in your church, you must remain humble in your gifts. Your fellow church members need to see humility in your leadership, and will be more likely to follow after you in your vision and mission to spread the Gospel. This is an area that I personally have had struggles in, and totally understand the difficulty in staying humble and not judgmental of "slackers." But we all get our spiritual gifts from God.

The word for "gift" in this passage is the Greek word "kharisma," which means a "gift of grace." Any spiritual gift that you may have is a complete gift of God's grace, and that leaves us ZERO room to be arrogant. It has nothing to with our superior holiness and everything with His supremely amazing grace.

If you aren't a leader, this passage has something for you, too. Notice that is says that gifts are given "according to the grace given to us." Have you received grace? Are you saved and a follower of Christ? If you answered "yes" to those questions... then you have spiritual gifts! Use them! You are part of the body of Christ, too. Maybe you think you're just an elbow, and no where near as useful as a hand. Maybe you are an elbow. Guess what: a hand can't do a thing without an elbow moving the forearm to where the hand needs to be. Without the elbows and eyebrows and taste buds, the hands, eyes and tongue couldn't their job. You may not be the person that's out in the open, preaching on stage or leading the bible study. But without your work in the church, the leaders cannot lead. Don't waste your gifts; use them to advance the Kingdom!

So, leaders, will you humble yourself, and lead like Christ led: by a humble, hands-on example? Other church members, will you step up and quit wasting your gifts? I pray that both occur.

unChristian, Part Four: Sheltered

"Christians enjoy being in their own community. The more they seclude themselves, the less they can function in the real world. So many Christians are caught in the Christian 'bubble.'" -Jonathan, age 22 (from unChristian)

I normally open an unChristian post with a life experience or something, but to be honest, Jonathan summed this viewpoint up perfectly. Christians seem to be stuck in this concept that "huddling up" is the correct way to live the Christian life. They go to church a few times a week, listen to Christian music, go to lunch with their Christian friends, go to Christian schools, and all around do anything to "avoid temptation." This viewpoint is dangerous, and quite common.

The fact is that we are not called to huddle. The disciples, after Jesus ascended in the first part of Acts 1, they spent a time where they were huddled. They stayed together, not sure what to do from there. So they just stayed up together. Then, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit paid the guys a visit, and perceived craziness ensued. The disciples all of a sudden were able to speak all kinds of different languages, Peter (the guy who denied Christ, remember?) preaches a sermon, and:

"41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them." -Acts 2:41, HCSB

WHAT?! THREE THOUSAND?! Can I point out that a group of twelve huddlers, within a day, became a mission-minded mega church? Does anyone else find this to be incredibly amazing?

Now, the response some may have is: "Bryan, the disciples were overcome with the Holy Spirit, and they started speaking different languages." Guess what? If you are a Christian, the Spirit is within you already!

"11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you." -Romans 8:11, HCSB

But does the bringing of our mortal bodies to life through the Spirit make us speak languages? No. However, we are not without our own gifts. The Spirit equips us with ways to do amazing things for Christ.

"7 To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all. 8 For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things." -1 Corinthians 12:7-11, NET

We each get our own set of gifts, made custom to accompany our personality to make us most affective to reach people with the Truth of Christ. As we are told by Christ to go to everyone with the good news (Matthew 28:18b-20), we must stop being huddled. But the disciples aren't the best example of not being huddled.

"9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: although He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich." -2 Corinthians 8:9, HCSB

I was told that verse yesterday, and it couldn't fit better. Jesus could have stayed huddled in Heaven. He was without any temptation there, hanging out with the Father and the Spirit. Yet, instead of remaining there, He came to Earth. Why? The same reason we must refuse to huddle up and go; He came to spread the news of how to come to a saving relationship with God, and that is the message we are commissioned to take to the masses.

Are you willing to follow Christ and the disciples and take the good news of Christ to the world, or are you afraid to act? Will you be challenged to move, or remain huddled up like a coward? I know that is a really blunt way to ask that, but I really want you to think: are you scared, or will you go?