Seize the Word

This week’s ABC, Ephesians 6:18:

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.

I like how this verse tells us to be “on the alert” for prayer requests, essentially. I think we tend to view prayer requests as things that are dealt with a few times when experiences of troubles are volunteered in BCS, and not much more.

The reason why I like this passage is that it encourages us to have a more active role in ministering to others in prayer. It’s not just praying for people who happen to share in BCS or come to prayer meeting, but much more than that. I have a prayer list, and try to update it regularly. I encourage everyone to do the same. Prayer requests and brethren in need are things we should watch for more vigilantly and follow up on them with more perseverance. I will be the first to admit that I’ve taken prayer requests before and forgotten about them or not ended up praying for them for whatever bad excuse, but keeping a prayer list helps guard against this. It serves as a reminder of those requests and people who slip your radar now and then.

There are many practical things we can do to have a more active and effective personal prayer ministry, but keeping a prayer list (and an up to date one!) is a quick and practical way to get some results. So I encourage you all to do so if you do not already.

My Bible study was a little shortened this week due to the tight schedule, so I made it more freeform, and we focused on the end of the passage more than the beginning, and didn’t get to this point. So I’m turning it into an ABC post =P.

Check out Ephesians 4:1-6. In 4:1, Paul exhorts us to walk worthy of the calling “to which we have been called”. Hopefully we’ve all been learning about how God has called us out of sin into life (and if not, go re-read the first three chapters of Ephesians and look for this). Ok, great, but what does it mean to walk worthy and how do we do it? Paul lists out a bunch of things in 4:2-3: humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, and unity in the Spirit.

Notice these are all interpersonal things, about how we should act towards one another. And this is a great link to our theme of “one for all and all for One” and the emphasis on what Christian community should look like. These qualities are all things that should be present in our fellowship. So we should check ourselves: how are we doing on each of these categories, and where can we improve? How can we take practical, real steps in building the strength and unity of our community?

Humility: demonstrate it by serving one another, whether in an official role in fellowship, or in a less formal (but still very important!) way. If you just come to fellowship seeking to get your needs met, perhaps you should check yourself for self-centeredness.

Gentleness: as opposed to being hard on one another, especially in restoration for sin (see Galatians 6:1). If someone came to you with a sin to confess or a burden that they need prayer for, how would you respond?

Patience: literally longsuffering. Are we quick to judge people in the fellowship because of a minor fault? Are we willing to forgive people when they wrong us, sacrifice for them and walk with them on the long road of becoming more Christlike?

Tolerance for one another: some of us will have our differences, but they should not be insurmountable with Christ’s help. Do you have conflict with people in the fellowship that you let remain unresolved? Also related to patience, see above.

Unity in the Spirit: note, that’s “in the Spirit”. That’s the only way we get unity. Look down to 4:4-6. Let us be all for One, and that is Christ.

I think this is a good passage to think about in light of the Missions Conference that just passed. It’s challenging to me in that John states that his joy will be completed in proclaiming the gospel and seeing more people come to Christ. I’m happy when I hear about other people accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, but I don’t know if I could say that it is the thing that really gets me going. And this is probably why missions and sharing the gospel with random people comes so hard for me. Certainly, I care about some of my friends and have a heart for them and pray regularly that they will find Christ. But when it comes to faceless, random people in the world that I don’t know, the compassion just isn’t strong enough. I often find it a lot harder to pray for countries or people groups to receive Christ, because it seems so impersonal. But the scope of John’s message and Christ’s compassion universal. It didn’t just extend to his friends or people he’d gotten to know well. I’m sure that it included a lot of those types of people, but it went far beyond that. Just a challenge for me coming out of this weekend and this passage.

What stands out to me the most in this week’s ABC (Ephesians 3:13) is Paul’s heart and approach towards ministry.

He writes to the Ephesians, saying that they should not be discouraged, just as he is not, at his imprisonment and other things he has suffered. He says not to lose heart because the sufferings he endures are for their behalf and for their glory.

As someone who’s served for several years in Crossroads, there have inevitably been times where I’ve had to make a small sacrifice for the ministry. I’ve had to adjust my schedule, stay up late studying, or cut other things out of my day in order to fulfill my duties at Crossroads. And there have been times where I have resented that. Times when I wished I weren’t serving as much so I could go and do what I wanted to do, or take it easier. But consider Paul. By the time of the writing of this letter, he’d been through so much more than I have been, and probably more than I will ever face. See 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 for a partial list of Paul’s trials throughout his ministry. It’s pretty staggering. And through it all, he was so much more content, so much happier in his situation than I was in my minor inconveniences, because he wasn’t serving just to get check boxes filled and events dead and done with. He was serving for the spiritual growth and salvation of all the Gentiles. Many times, I’ve lost sight of that fact.

There may be times where serving one another may involve inconvenience or sacrifice. But anything we face today will surely pale in comparison to what Paul had to go through. Ask yourself: do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ enough to be able to do this? How much are you willing to sacrifice? Why do you feel the way that you do? It is my hope and prayer that as we continue to think about being one for all and all for One this semester that we will be able to excel in our Christ-like, self-sacrificial love for one another.

This week’s ABC, Romans 10:12-13 was intended as a follow up to the last Bible study we did, Ephesians 2:11-22, which talks about the reconciliation between Gentile and Jew. And just touching back to that study, Ephesians 2:12 reminds Paul’s Gentile audience that before Christ, they were “without God in the world”. What a change this is now, going from that to a God who is “abounding in riches for all who call on Him”. When both are taken in conjunction, it is an excellent reminder of what we have to be thankful for.

But practically, what does this mean? Well, yes, it increases our thanksgiving and love for God when we are reminded of what He has done for us. But how often do we take advantage of this change? One of the biggest ways that we can do this is through prayer. That is our direct line to God, where we do the calling on Him. How many of us go through a day and don’t pray at all? How often do we do that? Prayer should also be an act of worship and thanksgiving, because it is only because of Christ’s death that we have this ability. If you don’t like praying, or don’t think it’s important, I challenge you to think what message that conveys. It’s like saying that even though Christ’s death has brought us to the point where we can pray openly and directly to God at any time, you’d have been just as happy without that happening. Hmm…

Now, I’m not accusing anyone of actively believing that Christ’s death did nothing. I just want to challenge you all who read this to take (perhaps yet another) look at what Christ has done and have that make a change in your lives.

This week’s ABC made me think a little about my own situation. I wasn’t born here; I’m not an American citizen or a permanent resident yet despite the fact that I’ve lived here for the past 8 years; I don’t get to vote but still have to pay taxes; I’m ineligible for a lot of things; and yes, I have at times experienced the discrimination and stigma that comes with being an immigrant, even though I’m here completely legally. Also, I moved around quite a lot before coming to America, so I never really knew what to say when people asked me “Where are you from?”, because my childhood wasn’t spent in just one country or city or neighborhood. To save time now, my short answer is that I’m from San Jose, because I called it home in middle school and high school, and that’s where my parents live, but if your home is somewhere that you feel like you belong, then I would have to say that I’m from Berkeley, because I feel like I belong at Cal and at Crossroads, but it wouldn’t really make sense to say that to someone because I’m not actually from Berkeley, in the sense of the word people have when they ask that question. My Indian passport just means I stand in a different line at the airport there, but I don’t have any real attachment to the country besides some family. So I’m not a citizen in the full sense here or anywhere else, and I’m not sure where I’m from. Guess you could call me confused. But contrasting all those confusing feelings with the fact that we have 100% citizenship in the kingdom, I have to say that its really nice to have a place that I know I belong and am accepted regardless of anything besides Jesus’ sacrifice. Citizenship in heaven is worth so much more than anything this world has to offer (although Crossroads has been good to me ).

Every time I read of citizenship and having a country and a family in heaven, I think of my physical situation here in the United States. I’ve written about it before.

I doubt that this issue will be resolved soon, if ever for me. Having a place in heaven is awesome, coming from my perspective. For me, the “no longer strangers and aliens” part really, really rings true. Before really finding out what Christ’s sacrifice means, I did feel like a wanderer, or at least someone who wasn’t wanted much of anywhere in the world. When Paul talks about the previous state of the Gentiles and them being ostracized and excluded, I think I get a very small picture of what that would have been like by looking at my little identity crisis.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

—Ephesians 5:18-19

Happy Blogging

P.S. Behind on ABCs? Lost those pesky sheets? The past ABCs have been posted for your convenience.

Reposted from my site

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

— John 13:34–35

Not too long ago, I wrote a post surmising that, as Christians, we don’t pray for our non Christian friends because we simply don’t care. While it’s certainly something to work towards by God’s grace, let’s start a little easier and close to home: Do we love our Christian brethren?

Ever stopped and thought about why you care about your brethren? Beyond the Sunday School answer of “because Jesus told us to,” we usually do because we enjoy each other’s company, because we mutually benefit / derive a sense of satisfaction, and so on.

But what does Jesus say about why we should love each other? Because He did first, in the most spectacular manner.

We would do well by studying the greatest love that ever existed and still exists: Jesus Christ crucified for our sins. Overflowing with joy, we may then unconditionally love others as we have been loved first.

This week’s ABC: John 13:34–35:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

As you may have known already, the Greek word used here for “love” is agapao, which is an unconditional, self-sacrificing love. We are told a couple things about this love. First, it is the love with which Christ loves us. Second, we are called to love one another (other Christians) with this kind of love. Third, it should be a distinguishing characteristic of the Christian faith, something above and beyond the norm for the world.

So we’re told to go and show love to one another, but how does that play out in our lives? Here’s a thought exercise to test yourself on how you’re doing. Suppose it’s the night before a big midterm, and, like any good Cal student, you’re locked in your dorm or apartment cramming. While you’re studying, another Crossroader calls and asks for you to come and pray for them urgently due to some major problem that has just appeared in their life. Would you drop your books and go pray for them, encourage them and show them love in spite of your midterm the next morning? Who would you do that for? For anyone? No one? Just one or two people? Figure out who you would do that for, and who you wouldn’t. Of course, my hope and prayer is that we’d be there for each other no matter what.

I like this example because it demands a real sense of self-sacrifice. Are you willing to give up an A on a test for the spiritual well-being of your brother or sister in Christ? Are you willing to trust your future on the test to God and follow the example of Christ instead? It’s also something completely against the conventional wisdom of this world. The world would say to take care of yourself first, to look out for number one, and then deal with your friends after the storm passes.

Speaking from personal experience, I was faced with something similar during my freshman year. I passed it up, choosing instead to study for my CS 61A final. It didn’t cause tons of damage or someone to fall away from Christ or something, but I still regret that decision. I got the A on the exam, but was certainly not worth it. I know I’m not perfect, and may fail again in the future, but I hope and pray that should a similar situation arise again, I would respond in love, even if it’s something like a phone call at 3 AM with work the next day at 8.