Family of God, a Pillar & Foundation of Truth

The church of God is a family, a household, a pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). God’s people are built upon the Word of God and they are being built for the truth of God. God’s truth is to be taught, learned, and lived. 

“Because the local church is a family, it must be fed; and the only diet that will nourish the people is the Word of God. It is our bread, milk, meat and honey. A church does not grow by addition, but by nutrition” (Warren Weirsbe). Amen! I love that quote!

Authentic and powerful good works flow from this nutrition. All knowledge of God’s truth comes from knowing Christ and none other. For it is through Him all truth and grace can be known and beheld; once Christ is the driving force of our church family, then all our good works will flow from His power.

If a church’s focus is only good works through a watered down teaching of the Word of God then they become a family with a watered down Christ or worse an absent Christ. Then the church’s good works leaves them with empty senseless, tiresome labor- no eternal purpose and no authentic power.

However, with Christ as the primary focus and His word as the driving force of nourishment, a church family propels a change that takes death to life, sin to holiness, lies to truth, brazenness to repentance, indifference to refreshment, and attendees of a local church to devoted followers of Jesus. In other words – through Christ we have the greatest IMPACT! For without Him, we do not have His Spirit, on the other hand with Him we are fueled by the most powerful force of the universe. There is nothing in heaven, on earth, nor under the earth that can match His weight of glory, honor or might!

We wonder why church attendance is down. We wonder why so many existing churches are dying out or becoming useless in their society. It would be good to assess if the Word of God is the main course or if the works of the people drives the meal. Jesus warns us…

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Narrow the Road and Live

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Knowing the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave is quite different than following it in our daily lives. This part of the sermon is particularly difficult for Americans! For America is built around wide choices and a plethora of options to live life by. However, the wider the choices, the harder the choice is to make, so what do we do? We do more than we can handle. We want it all, after all the world’s wisdom says the one with the most toys wins, right? Wrong, the one with the most toys is destroyed. Likewise the one who embraces all or even many choices in life will come to the end of life with an exhausted spirit and no accomplishments worth reporting.

The Bible is filled with illustrations where God has called His people to choose the narrow and small road. The narrow and small gate (road) simply means there is only one way – no other options are on the table. When the Israelites escaped from Egypt, they had to walk through the Red Sea and trust that God would separate the waters and dry the land for them to walk through swiftly and with ease. There was no other way to trust God in this situation. Did they have choices? Yes, indeed. They could have gone through the Philistine country, because it was shorter and easier, but God knew that they would face war and they would change their minds and return to Egypt. “So, God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea” (Exodus 13:18). This seemed like an impossible choice. I mean really, walk through the Red Sea? They must have thought that Moses was crazy. What’s interesting is that if they had gone through the Philistine country – God knew that this way would have caused them to lose trust in Him and their fear would have taken first place in their hearts dictating their decision to return to Egypt. Fear is a dangerous leader.

Why do we want the wide and broad path? Because it’s easier to take. It requires less faith in God; it encourages more dependence on self.  But the real act of obedience and trust in God is when we die to self and our own desires in order to walk the narrow and small road. But most do not want to deny self. Most want to say “I love and obey Jesus” but in reality the wide and broad path we choose reveals that this is not the case at all.  

Choosing the narrow and small road requires constant communication in prayer with God, a saturation of His word in our daily life, and a radical obedience to His word and His Spirit when we are directed. It does mean saying no to many things and saying yes to one. Choosing the one is incredibly difficult. You might doubt and think, “What if I chose the wrong one?” or “What about the other choices, aren’t they worthy, too?” You may allow your mind to fill up with thoughts like, “What will people think? Who will I disappoint? What will I be missing?” When we allow our thoughts to go this way, we have begun the route back to Egypt and we have left our Lord and His purposes. We hear what Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (Mark 8:33).

Who cares who we disappoint. Who cares if it looks like we have taken the less favorable choice to others and even to ourselves. It is not about us. It is about bringing glory to God the Father through our life of obedience. I am glad that I am not God and that He knows all and can lead me into the one successful route that He takes me on. I’m glad that I don’t have to wear the stress of all the decisions. I just have to love Him, trust Him and obey Him. His burden is definitely lighter than the burdens we put upon ourselves, for didn’t Jesus say, “…My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). 

Love Does No Harm to Its Neighbor (or child)

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).

“Love does no harm to its neighbor,” begins in our thoughts about the other person. Once we tackle our thoughts, we can then transform our reactions. Often times, we will predispose who we think a person is by their acts; we meditate on that false thought; we do this to the point that the lie becomes our truth. Then we counter the person with punitive treatment. You can see that our thoughts are the beginning points of harm to our neighbor.

We can take this to heart as we parent our children, too. Parents will react to their children's behavior long before they understand the reason behind their actions. Certainly we can all relate to this at some point in time with not only our children but other people as well. 

There have been many people (my children included) who have crossed my path with mean-spirited, judgmental and arduous words and actions. I am tempted to judge right back and give what I have received. But the grace of God whom lives inside of me decides to seek understanding of that person instead. I am reminded that hurt people hurt people. Some are suffering so deeply that they only know how to respond to others through their pain. Seeking to understand can ultimately dispel the bad behavior that started. 

I am also quickened by the Spirit of God to look at my own faults and my own relational failings.  When humility of mind, spirit and heart mark my beginning to love the unlovable, I am able to then dismiss all debts one owes me and embrace the only godly duty I have – to love my neighbor as I love myself, for I see myself with clear eyes and am able to help my neighbor (my child) with clarity not a fogged up self-righteous human nucleus.

“…first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). "...the greatest of faith, hope and love - is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). 

Tick. Tick. Tick. Set the Captives Free

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: "The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon” (Jeremiah 50:33-34).

Our children today are held captive by so much. There are the abstracts: depression, isolation, attitudes, rebellion, immorality, violence, and the list goes on. Then there’s the concrete: lying, cheating, illegal acts, estranged relationships with parents, disrespect to authority, and the list goes on. But the biggest captor they face is the lack of time for the word of God. The busyness of life imprisons them to the very atrocities previously mentioned. They know not the truth therefore they live in the lies and deceptions of culture. The clamps on their souls are strong and the culture (devil) does not want to let them go.  Yet, their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name! 

Jesus is our redeemer and He did not give up on saving our souls. Like Jesus we need to have the same resolve to save our children from their captors. Our love for them must be stronger than our selfish ambitions and our plethora of commitments. It’s not easy to leave our obligations and serve our children’s spiritual needs. It’s tiring, it’s time consuming, it’s hard work. But if we do not, it’s a matter of eternal suppression or everlasting deliverance for them.

Time is ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick. Did you read the word of God with your child today? Did you pray for them? Did you spend time developing your friendship with your children? Tick. Tick. Tick. If not, you are losing your chance to free them from bondage.

Last night, my son and I watched the movie, “ARGO.” It’s based on the true story of CIA operative Tony Mendez’s attempt to rescue six U.S. diplomats from Tehran, Iran. If these six had not been rescued, they would have surely been killed. Time was of the essence. Each moment that was filed was a strike against the operation. If they did not act within the days, hours and minutes allotted, the mission to rescue these six from their captivity would have ended in tragedy. By merely seconds, these six with their “redeemer” found freedom! It was the persistence of Tony Mednez that saved them! He did not give up.

Likewise, time is ticking, parents. I cannot say it without more conviction and passion – DO NOT GIVE UP!

Remove all distractions from your life and give your children the key to freedom – Jesus Christ through His Word!