This week in our series on James (12 Ways to Live Your Faith) we tackle the subject of temptation. Essentially, in the book of James (chapter 1, verses 13-18) we are told that we are responsible for the temptations we face, and so we must actively resist giving in to temptation. How does this square with the way you usually think about temptation? It seems to me that I am often ‘tempted’ to view the temptations I face as someone else’s fault. I mean, I didn’t put that magazine rack in plain view at the convenience store. Can I help it if the guy driving in front of me slams his brakes on unexpectedly, eliciting an angry response from me? But James says that temptation is rooted in my own evil desires, by which I am enticed and dragged away into sin, and sin always produces death. If I didn’t have evil desires to begin with, I wouldn’t be tempted to sin. Here’s how I see this process working out in my own life:
This past week I was tempted to feel bitter and self-righteous toward others who didn’t spend as much time in the parking lot during the State Fair (our church parks cars in our lot for 11 days during the State Fair as a fundraiser). I wanted others to feel bad for not working as much as me, and I wanted to be recognized for my ‘sacrifice’ – those were my evil desires. Those desires gave birth to sin – bitterness and self-righteousness instead of love toward others – and that sin, left to grow, could easily result in death – the decaying of my own heart and the death of good relationships with the people that my sin was directed toward.
The other thing I notice about temptation is that sometimes I’m ‘tempted’ to take it lightly. This is driven by two errant beliefs: 1) I can’t help giving in to temptation because someone else is responsible for tempting me, and 2) It doesn’t really matter if I give in to temptation, because God will forgive me. Certainly God forgives, but Scripture never condones intentionally diving into sin because forgiveness is certain. Such a mindset reveals a deep misunderstanding of God’s grace and mercy.
So, are you ready to take responsibility for the temptations you face and to actively resist them so that death isn’t produced in your life and relationships? |
Last week in preparation for our annual meeting I spent some time writing the Calvary Year in Review. If you’d like to see it, you can find it here. It was a great exercise because it forced me to think reflectively about what God was doing in and through the people of Calvary Church in the past year.
Interestingly, the one story that really showed me God was at work was one I didn’t even include in the Calvary Year in Review. Brilliant, I know. Anyway, it’s the story of our mission trip to Chicago. It’s long, but I’ll condense it here just to give you the gist.
Last Fall, I began to feel a real burden to plan a mission trip for our middle and high school students. I even told the students that we were definitely going to have a mission trip this year! I had no ideas, resources, or time, but God “coincidentally” connected me with Shane Bennett, a missionary living in Pueblo who had expertise and interest in planning a mission trip for students.
We quickly determined what we wanted to do (minister to third world people without leaving the US), but had no idea how, where, or with whom to do it. Through a mutual contact, God connected Shane with Annette Horton, who works with third-world refugees in Wheaton, Illinois and had hosted teams of students in the past. She signed on immediately.
However, Annette’s crazy schedule prevented us from making any concrete plans for months. In the meantime, God moved Shane to Indiana! With a lack of plans or progress, In April I pronounced the trip (scheduled for July) dead. God, through Shane and Annette, resurrected the trip in May. Eighteen students and seven adults immediately signed up!
Now we had a plan, but we had no funds. The students and adults had to come up with $200 each – a real stretch for some, especially those families with more than one person signed up. At the end of June, we parked cars in our lot for the Annual Street Rod Show at the Fairgrounds across the street from Calvary. In one weekend, we raised $185 of the needed $200 per participant! This was twice the amount raised at the same event the year before.
Also in June, we hired our new Youth Pastor, Peter Nevins. We wondered about throwing Peter into the middle of this trip. It turned out that both Peter and his wife Kristin are very familiar with Wheaton; Kristin actually grew up in Annette’s church! This proved very helpful, especially when the departure date for the trip changed suddenly, making it so I could not go.
Clearly, God was involved in making this trip happen. Despite the many obstacles we faced, He continually paved the way for the team. That so many people who did not know each other previously, could coordinate a trip like this so quickly while living in three different states is evidence of God’s work.
Stories like this are powerful because they show us that God really is up to something in our ministry. What about you? Have you taken stock recently of God’s activity in your life? I’ll bet if you took some time to journal about the events, issues, and happenings in your life this year, you’d find evidence of God’s work in your midst. Capturing them as stories makes them easy to rehearse and repeat, helping you remember what God has done. How encouraging is that? |
