pure: a meditation for youth workers

My Desire

I desire to be used by God: to be used powerfully and to great effect.

I desire to be used by God: to help find many who are now lost.

I desire to be used by God: to love because I was first loved.

I desire to be used by God, but am I willing to pay the cost?

2 Timothy 2:20-21 (NLT):

In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

If God came over for dinner I’d most likely not be cooking… I’d hire some fancy chef. But I’d definitely be using the fancy dishes, the heavy cutlery, the clean glasses, because he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords… because he is worthy. The same is true in our day-to-day living: God will only use worthy utensils. Worthy utensils are men and women who are pure and clean.

It is up to me to keep myself pure and clean: v21, “if you keep yourself pure”. If I am not being used by God because of impurity, I have only myself to blame.

Orthodoxy compels orthopraxy. That is, correct belief compels correct action. “Everything in moderation” is not a biblical principle: there are correct actions and incorrect actions. We must heed what Paul says in v22:

Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

Now, few of us live in a monastery or a convent, so each of us must daily work out how to realise these commands in the mess of real life. It isn’t easy, it’s not blank-and-white, but it is essential if we want God to use us to save souls and nurture those young in the faith.

We youth workers have been given a high and holy calling. We are part of a long line of teachers of the Truth that goes back millennia. We must ensure that the line doesn’t end with us; we must see our role as teaching future teachers. And not just by cramming doctrine, principles and truth into their heads. We must also show them how to apply all this stuff. We must live it out before them.

There are always going to be some who don’t listen or are disruptive or scoff, but read on from v24:

A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.

That is our goal: that, through us, God would change the heart of every young person in our care so that they know the truth and believe it. But more than that… that they would be transformed in every area of their life.

Psalm 15 is a favourite of many, and it’s interesting that it talks so much about how life is lived.

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.

So, now I finish where I started… only this time I must answer the question…

My Desire

I desire to be used by God: to be used powerfully and to great effect.

I desire to be used by God: to help find many who are now lost.

I desire to be used by God: to love because I was first loved.

I desire to be used by God, but am I willing to pay the cost?

…?

where’s jesus?

I’ve been thinking today about the Jesus of the gospels and the church and how everything relates to the community I live in. I think something’s missing from the church, or maybe there’s too much getting in the way.

Reading Luke 8:40-48 and Matthew 9:18-22 has sparked all this off. Here was a woman who was suffering from “a hemorrhage for twelve years” [8:43 NLT], who was marginalised from people and the so-called religious (because she was deemed unclean), who had probably gone through more emotional and physical grief than I can imagine… and who was desperate to get to Jesus, to feel him… no, not even, just grace a touch of his robe.

She needed no invitation. The masses of people crowding round Jesus [c.f. 8:45] blocking him from view, even from reach, did not deter her. The judging glares, cold and stiff shoulders, and callous remarks from those she had to squeeze past to get to Jesus did not dampen her desperation, her utter desperation to get near to Jesus… to reach out and just touch him.

To me, that is such a powerful scene (and damning indictment of my own failing to show Jesus as he is through my own life). I believe that the marginalised in my community are desperate for Jesus, though they might cover it up with a stoicism and/or aversion typical of Northen Irish culture. I believe these precious, dear, created-in-the-image-of-God people long for compassion, friendship, welcome, healing and more… and they lament day and daily that they don’t have it.

How have we so badly savaged the body of Jesus – the church – that it is unrecognisable to those who are crying out for a glimpse of him? Or how have we dressed it up that it is unrecognisable to those who yearn to reach out and touch him and feel his warmth, but not the nice stuff we’ve wrapped around him?

size doesn’t matter

I’m not long home from my small group. It was excellent tonight! We were studying through Philemon and discussing the theme of inclusiveness in Christian community. We discussed at great length how we thought we did, as a Christian community, at including people and accepting them where they’re at. We then spent about twenty minutes in prayer, which felt so… so *real*… so in touch with the Spirit… at one point the group spontaneously broke into a prophetic song. It was awesome. It was humbling. It was obvious God was in our midst.

I love my small group. I miss it when we don’t meet over the summer break. (Why on earth do we need a break from such refreshing and energising things?!) I’ve been a member of a small group for many years now and I truly believe that they are essential for a healthy church. The intimacy, the accountability, the partnership, the advice, the encouragement, the fun and the genuine concern for health, well-being and spiritual state are all found in my small group. There is just no way that I can conceive of that this sort of pastoring/mentoring/discipleship/shepherding/all those things can be done adequately or even at all in a big church meeting – it’s too impersonal.

More people need to get into these small groups and experience all this. I’m on a mission!