Sunday School isn’t just for children!

sunday school

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Sunday school isn’t just for children. One of the things I enjoy discussing with young people on the college campus is their faith. In my World Civilization to 1500 course, I teach the broad concepts of religion. Religion is one of the seven components of civilization I introduce to students in the first week of the semester. It is also one of the four parts which drive students’ interests in the course.

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Focus on yourself; it is okay not to worry about others

focusFocus on yourself. For many Christians, this very idea seems contrary to everything we know to be Christian. In the letters written to Paul, we are told to teach one another. In the book of Ezekiel, we are urged to be watchmen on the wall – warning of God’s impending judgment of sin. If we are supposed to do all of this, how can we not worry about others?

Setting ourselves as the top priority

Beginning with my early teenage years and extending into adulthood, I often worried about what others thought of me. As a result, I often found myself in places or situations where I didn’t want to be. Wanting to be liked by my new “friends” at college, I spent every night partying instead of studying and doing homework. Therefore, I sacrificed a full scholarship at the University of Southern Mississippi to study music to party every night.  Wanting to be seen as an adult by others, I married at twenty-three years old. That marriage ended three years later and set me on a path of self-loathing and hatred. And all because I thought more highly of what others thought of me than what I thought of myself.

We often neglect our spiritual health. Sometimes we become fixated on trying to control how others see us. When we need prayer, we often don’t ask for it because we fear being seen as weak. And other times, we hide from the Lord by keeping ourselves busy doing the Lord’s “work.” And if we are not careful, we will elevate our spiritual needs above the needs of others, which is also spiritually dangerous.

Jesus tells us to keep a proper focus.

As Christians, we hear all kinds of anecdotal stories and teachings of how we should put Jesus first, others next, and then ourselves last. But in the scriptures, there is a different and more profound order. We place Jesus first, then our own spiritual needs next. It is impossible to minister to the needs of others until we have the right mind and spirit. We are often led to believe we are selfish when we do seek to have our spiritual needs met first. It is a vicious cycle that caused me a lot of mental anguish until I began to grasp what the Bible teaches.

Fulfilling our spiritual needs looks different for each believer

One of the best-known stories of the New Testament is the rivalry between Mary and Martha. Consider this passage in John: There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment (John 12:2-3). We see the story of two women, each seeking to have their spiritual needs met but in a different way.

Martha felt led to prepare and serve her Lord a meal. She needed to demonstrate her hospitality for the Lord’s approval. But Mary didn’t have that same spiritual need. Undoubtedly, if we consider the cost of her gift to the Lord, was priceless by market standards. Even Judas remarked of how foolish that offering made by Mary was. Jesus rebuked the scoffers and the scorners: Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always (John 12:7-8). She had a spiritual need met by giving her most valued possession to the Lord at that moment.

Jesus expounds on this teaching moment

In the gospel of Luke, there’s a continuation of this story: But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:40-42). Martha is upset and is complaining to Jesus about Mary’s lack of hospitality, choosing to wash Jesus’ feet instead of helping to prepare and serve a meal.

Martha expected Jesus to side with her. She believed being hospitable to the Lord and their guests were more important than what Mary felt she needed to do. Why? Because Martha thought her spiritual need was that important than what Mary was doing. Mary was wasting her money on a trivial thing. It was Martha’s need to be prepared for the meal, which was much more important to her.

Each of us is Martha and Mary

We all have this happen to us from time to time. Sometimes, we are Martha, demanding others do what we think is right only because it addresses our spiritual need. We can often become dismissive of the spiritual needs of others. And yes, like Martha, we can even hold our own spiritual needs above the needs of those around us. All Martha was doing for the Lord was good until her attitude towards Mary became the center of her focus. She began to resent Mary. Martha didn’t like that Mary didn’t have the same vision as hers. In her heart, she became dismissive of Mary’s desire to offer all she had of value to the Lord.

And sometimes we are Mary. We are doing what we need to have our spiritual needs met. It may not be breaking a bottle of perfume to anoint Jesus’ feet, but it may be fasting, prayer, taking on a project within the church, or even going to nursing homes to visit the elderly or anything else which gets laid on our heart by the Lord. And then Martha comes along to remind us how what we are doing isn’t as important as what they are doing. And they never forget to tell us of the help they need to accomplish their goal.

This is continued on the next page.

Gaining focus when you’re surrounded by chaos

gaining focus

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Gaining focus is something we all need to do from time to time. It has been over a year since my last post to The Daily Walk, and during that time, the Lord taught me the importance of gaining focus. When we lose sight of what our goals are, we can become surrounded by chaos. For a Christian, confusion can keep us from reaching our full potential within Christ; it can hinder our prayers. Chaos can rob us of understanding what the Lord wants for us. Gaining focus when you’re surrounded by chaos can be challenging, but it is necessary.

Surrounded by chaos

Chaos is defined by the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary as “a state of utter confusion; a confused mass or mixture.” Chaos and confusion are the same. We often hear others claim they thrive on chaos; we never hear those same folks admit they thrive on confusion. At times, I said I thrived on chaos but soon realized I was only fooling myself. God doesn’t want His children to be in a state of confusion or to have to battle chaos. Chaos and confusion do not come from God but are tokens of the fallen state of this world. Paul writes For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33). It isn’t that chaos and confusion are a sin, but they are the effects of sin.

Gaining focus isn’t easy

In the past, I have resisted sharing a lot of the personal struggles I’ve had in my walk with the Lord. It wasn’t until three weeks ago someone pointed out that they’ve learned a lot from me when I’ve shared my struggles and experiences within my faith.  So, for the past five years, I’ve been struggling how to answer the Lord’s call to serve within His ministry. And during the five-year journey, chaos and confusion became a part that obscured my understanding of what the Lord wanted for me.

During that five-year journey, I hid from the Lord in the comfort of a church and a printing ministry I had started. I knew the Lord wanted me in His service, but I thought that by providing a need for the church I was in, it was all I needed to do. God responded to my efforts by calling me out of my comfort zone and moving me into another local church. For the next four years, chaos and confusion reigned supreme until I decided to listen to what the Lord was trying to teach me.

Only when we are ready to listen

David, the psalmist wrote, The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God (Psalm 14:2). He also wrote, And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee (Psalm 9:10). When we add to this the wisdom of Solomon, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding (Proverbs 3:5, we can get a glimpse of the nature of the Lord.

God is continually looking for those who are seeking Him above all else. He desires a relationship with everyone but does not force us into a relationship with Him. The Lord waits until we seek Him out; then, He helps us to understand the fullness of our relationship to Him through Christ Jesus. He wants us to put our complete trust in Him. But too often we have a problem with that last part. We worry. Stress takes over as we work out our solutions to the issues we face. We too quickly think we understand what is going on only to find our decisions have made things even worse. It isn’t until we have run out of room to run that we honestly decide to listen to the Lord and to put our trust in Him as our last option.

It is continued on the next page.