The 260 Journey

Day 137

Today’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 4

Children do not always appreciate what parents do for them. They have short memories. Their concern is not what Mom and Dad did for them yesterday, but what are Mom and Dad doing for them today, right now. The past is meaningless and so is the future. They live for the present. Whereas those who are mature are deeply appreciative for past, present, and future.

Thanksgiving is the language of heaven, and we need to learn it here before we get to heaven. Just as we, who are parents, are committed to teaching our children to say “Thank you,” God also is committed to teaching His children gratitude.

Many of us don’t think too often about gratitude. Author William A. Ward convicts us when he said, “God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’” One out of 86,400 to say thanks, to show gratitude. That’s .00001 percent.

Remember the days before Kindles and Ibooks when we used to have to go to libraries to get a book? I remember having to read newspapers on microfiche film and going through card catalogues to locate where the books were on the shelves. My family and I still use the library, and we always seem to have overdue books because my children can’t find them to return them. Most of us who frequent libraries have brought back overdue books and paid the few pennies’ fine. It’s irritating, of course, but it’s what we get for being so forgetful. When I read this story about fines, though, our family’s fines didn’t seem nearly so terrible.

George Szamuely borrowed books from the New York University library but never returned them. In fact, he’d hoarded more than five hundred books! That’s taking overdue books to a new level. Police finally called on him to get him to pay his fine and return the books. The fine exceeded $31,000! He couldn’t pay it, So George was hauled into court, where he faced grand larceny charges, meaning possible jail time. The forty-four-year-old was charged with possession of stolen property. It’s kind of a funny story, and yet it’s also irritatingly sad. How can a man let so many books be overdue and neglect to return them?

I think worse than overdue books are overdue thank you’s to God.

I am in arrears in gratitude to God. Steven Furtick once said, “You can’t be grateful for something you feel entitled to.” And the truth is, you’re not entitled to anything, because it’s all a gift from God. First Corinthians 4:7 is one simple sentence that sums up the motive of our gratitude: “What have you that was not given to you?” (AMPC). Meister Eckhart said, “The most important prayer in the world is just two words long: Thank you.” I owe a lot of those to God today. I’m betting you do too. How about we pause today and give God one of our 86,400 with a “thank you”?

Day 136

Today’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 3

In an old Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demanded that her brother, Linus, change television channels, and then threatened him with her fist if he didn’t.

“What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asked Linus.

“These five fingers,” said Lucy. “Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”

“What channel do you want?” sighed Linus. Turning away, he looked at his fingers and said, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

Just as Lucy’s fingers working together to form a fist can get Linus to change a channel, the body of Christ working together can get a soul bound for hell to heaven. In today’s chapter, the apostle Paul speaks to the power of teamwork.

When Herman Edwards was coaching the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, in regard to teamwork, he insightfully challenged the Chiefs: “The players that play on this football team will play for the name on the side of the helmet and not the name on the back of the jersey.”

The name we play for is God. And here is what we are to remember as we work together:

When one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:4-9)

Paul and Apollos were the names on the backs of the jerseys. Let me give you five words that come to mind especially when I read verse 8: “He who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.”

1. Teamwork. Each member surrenders a high profile. For those who have an ego, this is difficult. We all fight this. Don’t believe it? When you see a group photo, who do you look for first? Yourself! When one member is determined to stand out, then the whole team loses. What causes disunity in the church? A bruised ego. In order for a team to be a team, its members must each be willing to have a low profile. Teamwork means we surrender. We surrender identity, surrender independence, surrender inflexibility, surrender indifference, surrender inequality, surrender self-interest.

2. Talent. Planting and watering are metaphors that refer to a specific gift of ministry people have. The point is that none of us has them all and when you add up everything all of us are doing together, our jobs equal one work.

3. Test. This is the willingness to become one, to go unnoticed and unrecognized. If Paul had said, “I have planted and God gave the increase,” there would be room for self-importance. How humbling it is that God uses more than one person in a person’s conversion! There is not one of us who owes their conversion and growth to just one person. The test is the willingness to let Jesus be wonderful.

4. Time. What does “each will receive his own reward” mean? This refers to the future. This may disappoint you. We all want to be paid now. It says, “will receive,” which is future tense. If we keep a low profile now, we get high pay then.

Do you only get involved in church activities that are working? Or something that gets immediate results and is high on the radar? Then you want your reward now.

5. Treasure. There is a prize at the end of this. And it’s worth it. What Paul is talking about here are people. Lives being transformed. When the body of Christ works together, amazing things can happen. When one waters and one plants, a miracle takes place—the miracle of changed lives.

That’s what happens when we work together: lives are changed, and God is glorified.

Keith Green, one of my favorite Christian artists from the 1970s and 80s wrote a song called “Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful.” In it, he sings, “When I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown, for my reward is giving glory to You.”

That’s the end of working together. When we are doing well, our reward is giving glory to our beautiful Lord.

Day 135

Today’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 2

A friend of mine was just voted in as the new president of a Bible
school in the Midwest. When I think of that school, I think of one of the most embarrassing things I did to appear impressive: I lied as I preached to them. I was supposed to speak to students who wanted to start a church, and because we’d just started ours in a very difficult spot in Detroit, they wanted me to talk about it. I not only wanted to speak about it, I wanted to be impressive. I rounded up the numbers—not so bad that they would be suspect, but enough that I would look awesome. As I was speaking, God told me, You just lied. Repent. I mentally responded, Absolutely. When I get back to the hotel. But God said that I needed to fess up right there. I can only anoint truth, He said. When you embellish, then your story no longer has Me in it.

God cannot be part of anything that is not truthful.

I went through all of this just so I could look impressive. How inauthentic I was being!

One of the most amazing stories about authenticity is about former first lady Betty Ford. While her husband, Gerald, was president, she admitted that she was addicted to prescription drugs and that she was an alcoholic. That took a lot of courage to be that transparent—especially being the first lady of the United States. But as a result of her honesty, she got help and then was able to start helping many other people through her Betty Ford Center. All because she said no to be inauthentic.

I like this anonymous seventeenth-century nun’s prayer:

"Lord, thou knowest me better than I know myself that I am growing older and will some day be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others’ pains, but help me to endure them with patience. I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken. Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a saint—some of them are so hard to live with—but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

Amen."

No one lived a better Christian life than the apostle Paul. He was authentic. He was real. I love Paul’s honesty to the Corinthians. He was not trying to impress them. He was redirecting them to the One they should be impressed with:

You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified. I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, MSG)

Paul was saying, “I was telling you the truth about me so you would fall in love not with your pastor but with your Savior.”

Make sure they are impressed with the Savior not the one talking about the Savior. As A. J. Gossip is attributed as saying, “You can’t come across clever and have Jesus wonderful at the same time.” Sobering words from a nineteenth-century preacher for those who teach God’s Word.

The humility of Paul is mind-boggling. Listen to what he says in these three verses:

“I am the least of the apostles.”

  (1 Corinthians 15:9; written AD 54)

“I am the very least of all the saints.”

  (Ephesians 3:8; written AD 62)

“I am the foremost of sinners.”

  (1 Timothy 1:15; written AD 63)

He moves from apostles to saints to sinners. And the only time he is the top of the list is for the sinner’s part. Paul gets more and more honest about himself as he gets older. We pretend more as adults. Paul went the opposite way.

A. W. Tozer put it this way; “A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.”

When you come vulnerable, you take away people’s ammunition against you. They are not saying anything about you that you haven’t already said about yourself.

Day 134

Today’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 1

Sotheby’s in New York City had an Auction some years ago and sold some of the belongings of iconic people. Winston Churchill’s desk, C. S. Lewis’s pipe, and one sheet of Johan Sebastian Bach’s music all auctioned that day. Here are three items and their final auction prices that caught my attention.

Napoleon’s toothbrush sold for $21,000.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s fake pearl necklace went for $215,000.

John F. Kennedy’s wood golf clubs sold at $772,500.

These items are not worth that price on their own. Think about it. A used toothbrush, wooden golf clubs, and fake pearls. They have no intrinsic value. So, what makes these items valuable? And why did they sell for so much money? Who they belonged to.

Since they belonged to someone important, famous, or significant, their price skyrocketed.

In today’s reading, the apostle Paul reminds us of our value. Listen to this verse: “In everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge” (1 Corinthians 1:5).

Two words from this verse are important: everything and enriched.

First, Jesus touches all areas of our lives. Paul says God has an effect on everything. Nothing is left out and nothing is off limits to God. So, when Jesus comes in, every area gets affected. Religion asks for a day a week, while a relationship with Jesus wants every day. Why every day? Because He wants everything.

Second, enriched is a money word, a financial word. It means to add value to something and make it pricey. God added value to your life. The day you became a Christian, your value skyrocketed because He started improving every area of your life. He started cleaning up the mind, the heart, the speech, the priorities—as Paul said, “In everything.”

But what really makes you valuable is not that you are different, it’s Who you belong to. You belong to God. That’s better than JFK, Jackie O, and Napoleon. These owners were a president, a first lady, and an army general. But your Owner is the Maker of the universe. And since you belong to Him, your value has skyrocketed. Which means at auction, your worth is off the charts.

And all of this from being in Him. In Him is such an important phrase. And it is considered one of Paul’s most incredible and most quoted phrases in describing a Christian.

Donald Coggan, the Archbishop of Canterbury, drew attention to the 164 occurrences of “in Christ” in Paul’s writing. Listen to his defining of this phrase:

It is a strange phrase. We can scarcely find a parallel use to it in ordinary life. If, let us say, an intimate friend of Churchill who had spent many years with him and then had given a decade to the writing of his life were talking to us about that great man, he might sum up his relationship to him in a wide variety of ways. He might say that he feared him or admired him or revered him or even loved him. But he never would say, “I am a man in Churchill.” It would never occur to him to use that phrase. But Paul was above everything else, “a man in Christ.”

The part that I love about in him in verse 5 is that because Paul is in Christ, his speech changed, all speech. If Christianity is a heart thing, then it is a speech thing. When you read 1 Corinthians, Paul can’t stop talking about Jesus. Just look at the first nine verses. I will help you by emphasizing a few words so you can see a pattern.

Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:1-10, emphasis added)

Jesus is in nine out of ten of the first verses. I think Paul’s speech has been affected by Jesus. He can’t stop talking about Him. That’s what happens when Jesus is in the heart, He changes your conversation.

Day 133

Today’s Reading: Romans 16

Occasionally on Sundays after I’d finished the sermon, we’d completed the last song, and I’d said the final amen, I’d realize I forgot to announce something to the congregation. I’d have to tell our sound technician to turn the mic back on so I could tell the people what I forgot.

I’m in good company. Even Paul forgot something in Romans and had to essentially tell the sound technician to turn his mic back on.

Today’s reading of our final chapter in Romans is one of Paul’s most overlooked and undervalued. They are words spoken after the microphone is turned off.

Look with me at Romans 15:33. It seems like a great ending prayer for this amazing Epistle. Paul usually ends his Epistles with short doxologies. Here he writes, “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” “Amen” means it’s over, time to go, time to eat.

Then Paul stops everyone and says, “Wait, wait, wait! I forgot something. Turn the mic back on. I missed a huge announcement!”

And then in one of the most amazing chapters that doesn’t get its props, Paul goes on for the next twenty-seven verses before he gives his second amen. Here’s the second doxology, the second closing: “To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 16:27).

Between those two amens Paul mentions thirty-three names! Go back through today’s reading and count them all. He starts with “our sister Phoebe who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea” (verse 1) and spends twenty-four verses listing people who he wants to recognize. Thirty-three names of people who helped him in ministry. Thirty-three names who made Paul’s ministry possible. He’s recognizing them with a “there’s no way we do what we do without these people.”

One of the greatest coaches of any sports franchise or university has to be John Wooden of UCLA. He coached his teams to ten national championships in twelve years. He had an 800-winning percentage. He is an icon. In A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring, he wrote

"When one of my players scored, he knew he was supposed to point to the teammate who had passed him the ball or made the block that allowed that basket to happen. It wasn’t about deflecting praise, but about sharing it with everyone who was working hard as a part of the team."

Today many athletes thump their chests while the team has to follow them around as they carry on without giving any recognition to anyone who helped them get there. When was the last time you saw a defensive end sack a quarterback and then turn around and point to every defensive lineman who made the hole so he can get in? Never! He stands in the middle of the field as if it were his talent alone that gave him that moment and forgot to point to all the players who made it happen for him.

Wooden said his dad taught him, “There is nothing you know that you haven’t learned from someone else. . . . He . . . was reminding us to always be thankful for each lesson an individual offers, wittingly or unwittingly, because those lessons become a kind of borrowed experience.”

I found this short course in human relations from an unknown, but very wise, author:

The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake

The five most important words: You did a good job

The four most important words: What do you think?

The three most important words: I love you

The two most important words: Thank you

The one most important word: We

The least important word: I

After Ronald Reagan became the fortieth president, he put a plaque on his desk to remind him of an important piece of wisdom: “There is no limit to how far a person may go as long as he doesn’t care who gets the credit.”

Romans 16 is best known for its pointing fingers instead of thumping chests. No doubt behind every one of these names there is a hidden story. Time wouldn’t allow us to trace their individual stories. Whatever their stories may have been, those people influenced and helped Paul in his work, and Paul knew it. That’s why he turned the mic back on and gave well-deserved shout outs to otherwise-would-be-considered no names.

Paul portrayed a good model, which even Albert Einstein followed: “A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received.”

Here’s a challenge for you today. Thank someone for their investment and help in your life. Thank a parent, a pastor, a professor, or a friend. Send them a text, an email, or call and thank them. Listen to Coach Wooden and don’t come down the court thumping your chest. Remember that a bunch of other people helped you to be where you are today. Paul had at least thirty-three of them. I had a lot more than thirty-three. How many do you have?