Posts By Dteb
“A Pastor or a Teacher?”
I went to the Asbury University President’s Brunch yesterday morning with Sharon. It was billed as a non-fundraiser. I have learned to be skeptical of such claims. However, it really wasn’t a fundraiser! It was a wonderful time. The university paid for everything, including valet parking. It was good to meet new people, all of whom had some connection to this university that I love. I came more alive in this setting. Years ago, a good friend who was also one of my students in a New Testament Greek class, said “You come alive in the classroom.” Lois was right. Apparently, I even come alive in academic settings at the Westin Hotel.
I got a chance to chat for several minutes with Kevin Brown, Asbury’s president. He was very generous with his time. He heard a bit of my story. I told him that I had been a pastor for a long time and am now teaching online courses for Southeastern University. After listening, Dr. Brown asked me a very thought-provoking question: “Would you say that you are primarily a teacher or a pastor to your students?”
Simple yes-or-no questions can bring me to a screeching halt. Like a deer caught in the middle of the road, I stopped, unable to go this way or that. If you stop in the middle of the road, you sometimes get struck by the truth. That is what happened to me.
My wife walked up as I was struggling with the answer. When she was apprized of the question, she responded with one word: “Both.” My wife has a way of cutting to the chase.
Here is the thing as best I understand the “thing”: We are all called to help others along in our pilgrimage. The word “pastor” historically means “shepherd”. A shepherd—at least a good one—takes good care of his flock. So does a good professor. So does any person who does any kind of good work. Moms, dads, nurses, doctors, counselors, utility workers, engineers, and everyone else who does anything else that is at all worthwhile have the privilege and responsibility of caring for others. No exceptions.
And we all do learn from one another. Or, at least, we should. Therefore, we are all teachers. We may not know it, but we are. We teach by our words, but more so by our deeds. We teach by our silent attitudes. We teach by returning or making phone calls.
So, while it may be true that the words “pastor” and “teacher” may be defined more narrowly, they also have some broader and deeper connotations. As good as Dr. Brown’s question was, there is an even more profound question: “Am I being a good pastor-teacher today? Am I building people up? How can I do better at that?
“Even When We Mess Up”
One of my students in the Luke-Acts course I’m teaching right now online made a very perceptive comment in a post to another student’s work. She and the other student, Mackenzie, agreed on an excellent point: God can even use our mess-ups for his purposes and glory.
Here is Victoria’s comment:
“Mackenzie, your perspective on how “each character [in Luke] fulfills the will of God in some way or another” is quite interesting. While a character like Peter can find himself denying Christ in chapter 22, it remains evident in the chapters before that God is using Peter to advance His Kingdom. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that you would even argue that this event of Peter denying Jesus “fulfills the will of God in some way or another.” I do believe that God should not, can not, and will not be limited by our actions. I believe He has the ultimate and final authority in how the events that play out over time will affect the advancement of His Kingdom.” (Victoria Damian, used with her permission.)
When I was a pastor, I did some teachings on the Apostle Simon Peter. One of my visual aids was a graph which showed the ups and downs of the Rock on which Christ was to build his church. The chart had sharp spikes upward, followed almost immediately by plunges well below the base line. Of course, after the coming of the Holy Spirit (recorded in Acts 2), the progress was perhaps less spectacular, but far more sustained. However, even in Acts, Peter had his ups and downs.
What does all this tell us about ourselves and about God? When it comes to us, Peter’s erratic discipleship could give us some hope and comfort. A lot of us (and I speak from experience here) are anything but consistent. Sometimes we wonder, “Can God use such an up-and-down person as me?” Looking at Peter, I would say that the answer is a resounding “Yes!” We can take some hope and comfort from this, as well as the determination to go on.
In terms of God, Peter is a sign to us all that God can, does, and will still use us. Messing up does not mean that God has given up on us. Yes, we certainly need to repent. Yes, we need to do things differently. But God does, in fact, use us. I have heard it said that God used cracked pots. I have also heard that God uses crackpots.
Good thing! Also, God thing!
“A Confrontation in a Kroger Parking Lot”
My wife was waiting for a lady to pull out from a parking spot in a Kroger parking lot. She had waited for quite a while, but when the lady finally pulled out, another “lady” who had just come around the corner from the other direction whipped into the parking space. My wife is not known for being confrontational, but she did speak to the lady about it. The woman just shrugged her shoulders and walked toward the entrance to the store.
There seems to be an epidemic of rudeness these days. Everything has become a competition, even finding the closest parking spot. On the other hand, perhaps we are just in too much of a hurry to be courteous. Or, is it that we are all so self-obsessed that we think that everything should be for us and our convenience? I am reminded of a tagline—as best I can remember it—from a radio personality in Cincinnati who did radio skits that purported to be investigative journalism: “Our right to know supersedes everyone else’s right to exist.”
Perhaps all the above are contributing to our individual and collective rudeness? In any case, I feel as if courtesy ought to be placed on the endangered species list.
If I am right that competition, speed, and self-centeredness are all involved in our rudeness, what might help to breed more courtesy in our world as well as in the Kroger parking lot? Here are a few suggestions that border on the obvious.
- Recognize that not everything is a competition, so don’t turn it into that!
- Slow down!
- Realize that life is not about you. Instead, life is about us.
“The Crushing Debt I Owe to God”
“A Sinful Woman Forgiven
Luke 7:36 ¶ One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
Luke 7:37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment,
Luke 7:38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
Luke 7:40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
Luke 7:41 ¶ “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
Luke 7:42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Luke 7:43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Luke 7:44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
Luke 7:45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.
Luke 7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
Luke 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Luke 7:48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 7:49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”” (English Standard Version)
I was so familiar with this story that I overlooked something obvious. In the parable that Jesus told within the story, he seems to imply that he is the one that this sinful woman owed a great deal to. Look at verse 41, and I think you’ll begin to see what I’m saying. This becomes crystal clear when Jesus tells the woman that she is forgiven. The other dinner guests realize that this is the claim of “this” man. (See verse 49. The word “man” is not actually in the Greek manuscripts, which may suggest dismissiveness.)
Now I do realize that not all the aspects of a parable necessarily point to some deep spiritual truth. However, in this case, I suspect that this detail of the parable is important. In the story and in Jesus’ words of forgiveness to the woman, it is strongly implied that all the moral and relational debts we incur are ultimately held by Jesus. Yes, we are in debt for our wrong-doing to our parents, our children, our friends, our coworkers, and the convenience story clerk that we treated unkindly. But, in the final analysis, we are in debt to God.
Why? To paraphrase a Tina Turner song, “What’s God got to do with it?” Doesn’t our wrong-doing just affect the ones we wrong?
No! That is just a lie we tell ourselves in order to keep ourselves from complete despair. This lie also helps us to keep doing the same stupid wrong stuff that is just racking up more debt.
Here is the truth that I ignored for many decades: Wrong-doing hurts everybody. It hurts the ones that I hurt and everybody they interact with. It goes on to affect—or should I say that it goes on to infect—all the people that the second generation of victims interact with. And so on, and so on, and so on.
Of course, it also affects and infects the wrong-doer, doesn’t it?
I remember watching a bit of true tv crime show that was featuring a man who was convicted of some very serious felonies. Before he was arrested, he was living in a homeless shelter, talking to no one but himself. It is, of course, impossible to say which came first, the mental health issues or the crimes. However, I think it is safe to say that doing wrong to others is not good for your mental health. When you harm another person, you harm yourself.
But back to the question of what God has to do with human wrong-doing. Why would our moral debts be ultimately held by God? Well, for one thing, if we take the Bible with any seriousness at all, God is the Creator of all things. That includes you and me and all the people that we harm. If Jesus was God with skin on and with skin the game, then, by the very fact of creation, God is the ultimate owner of our debts.
But there is something else besides creation. The Bible teaches that God actually loves us ornery cusses. In fact, there is one verse (1 John 4:8 and 4:16) that says that God is love. In fact, I believe that God is the Ultimate Lover. And because God is the Ultimate Lover, the best way to hurt God is to fail to love people.
So to quote the actual title of that Tina Turner song, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”, the answer is:
EVERYTHING!
“Only Two Kinds of People?”
“Psa. 5:1 ¶ Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
Psa. 5:2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
Psa. 5:3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
Psa. 5:4 ¶ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
Psa. 5:5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
Psa. 5:6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
Psa. 5:7 ¶ But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
Psa. 5:8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
Psa. 5:9 ¶ For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
Psa. 5:10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
Psa. 5:11 ¶ But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
Psa. 5:12 For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.” (English Standard Version)
“No One Is Righteous
“Rom. 3:9 ¶ What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
Rom. 3:10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
Rom. 3:11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
Rom. 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
Rom. 3:13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
Rom. 3:14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
Rom. 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Rom. 3:16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
Rom. 3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
Rom. 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Rom. 3:19 ¶ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
Rom. 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
The psalmist seems to be saying that he is righteous and a candidate for God’s love, but some of the folks around him were thoroughly wicked. Paul, however, takes this same psalm—especially Psalm 5:9—and applies it to all humankind.
So, who is right, the psalmist or Paul?
I think that the answer is a resounding yes! Sometimes, those around us are indeed wicked. On the other hand, so are we all. When we make us-and-them distinctions, we are ignoring our own wickedness and adding more wickedness to our own wickedness by our distinctions. I am reminded of the saying, “There are only two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.” Ultimately, there is only one kind of person in the world: the sinner who is loved by God.
“On Being a Good Ad”
I was buying candy corn for a friend at Ollie’s the other day when I eavesdropped on an interesting conversation. The lady behind me said to the cashier, “This is a really good store with good prices, but I didn’t even know it was here. You should advertise more!”
The young cashier replied, “If we didn’t save money by not advertising, we wouldn’t be able to keep our prices so low! We rely on word of mouth for people to find us.”
Hummm! Things are never simple and straightforward, are they?
And, of course, I thought about the Church. Do we advertise, or do we rely on word of mouth? How excited are we about our church? Do we talk about it to others? More importantly, do we talk about Christ to others? Frankly, I hear Christians talking a lot more about politics these days than I hear speaking of Christ.
The best advertisement for Jesus are people whose lives have been changed for the better by hanging out with Jesus and his people. Are we those kinds of people?
I would like to say a resounding, “Yes!” However, I’m not so sure. I am reminded of an old question: If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? I wonder sometimes if there would even be enough evidence to indict us?
If Jesus is the “Product”—and of course, Jesus is that and a great deal more—then we are the advertisement. Am I a good ad? Are you?
“Trusting God with My Sleep”
“Psa. 4:0 To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
Psa. 4:1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
Psa. 4:2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
Psa. 4:4 Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the LORD.
Psa. 4:6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
Psa. 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (English Standard Version)
The story is told that before Socrates was executed, he slept like a baby. As far as I know, I am not scheduled to drink hemlock, but I struggle with a lack of sleep these days. Five-and-a-half hours is not enough. Nine or ten would feel much better.
What is my problem? I wish I knew. I would love to experience Psalm 4:8. Obviously, vss. 1 and 2 of this psalm suggest that the psalmists was having some real problems with some real bad dudes. Apparently he was experiencing shame, probably because of lies that were going the rounds about him.
And yet, he says that he will lie down and sleep. How can he do that? Because he trusts God. Do I, I wonder?
Of course, there are many reasons why people don’t sleep, but in my case I wonder. Do I trust God or not?
The story of is told of a pastor who was terribly worried about things that were going on in his church. He was up at two in the morning, pacing back and forth, trying to pray. Finally, God got in a word edgewise. “Son, why don’t you go on to bed and rest? I’ll stay up and worry about this.” The pastor laughed and went to bed.
Good night, all!
“Confession Isn’t Enough”
“Prov. 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (English Standard Version)
Sometimes I think that we Christians put too much emphasis on confessing our sins and not enough emphasis on forsaking them. Confession isn’t easy, but forsaking is much harder.
The Hebrew word in this verse that is translated “forsakes” is a strong word that is used for a man or woman divorcing their spouse, or for a person who walks away from God. Forsaking anything is a serious business. Furthermore, the form of this Hebrew verb suggests on an ongoing action flowing out of the very nature of the one performing it. Forsaking sin isn’t an action; it is a lifestyle.
How on earth do we cultivate a lifestyle of forsaking sin? I wish I knew, dear reader! I still struggle with the same sorts of things I battled when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. But while I don’t have a lot of wisdom about this, I do have some suspicions.
First, praying for discernment of our own sin is important. We are all pretty good at noticing the wrongdoing of others, but our sin (like our own body odor) is something we get used to pretty quickly.
Second, it is vital that we confess our sins. To God? Yes, of course. Even though God already knows us and our sins, we don’t always know ourselves until we confess and are willing to forsake those sins. And the Bible talks about confessing our sins to one another too. There is the need for human accountability and support if we are to live a forsaking lifestyle.
Third, falling in love is a good way to forsake something (or someone). If we fall in love with a good person or a good activity, we will find it much easier to forsake the not-so-good things in our lives. If we love God and people—and even the best version of ourselves—we will find it much easier to forsake the things that compromise that love.
Easier, but not easy. Maybe I should say, less difficult instead of easier.
“Fear Not! How Many Times Does God Have to Say It?!”
[The following post is a response to and appreciation of a post I just read at https://pastorbrett.wordpress.com/2022/01/18/does-the-bible-really-say-fear-not-365-times/#:~:text=The%20two%20word%20combo%20%E2%80%9CFEAR,a%20far%20cry%20from%20365. Check it out!]
“2Tim. 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (English Standard Version)
I had a nightmare last night. I was about to give a lecture at some prestigious biblical studies conference. The room was packed. Someone walked up to me and said, “People don’t want to hear more about the Pentateuch.” Now, the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible—is where I’ve done most of my scholarly work. Genesis is especially one of my ongoing loves.
But because this one person came up to me and said what he said, I decided to scrap my lecture. I announced that I was just going to talk about scholarship in general. I had no idea what I was going to say. People immediately started leaving. At first, a few people trickled out. Then, the trickle became an avalanche. Soon, I was left in a large lecture hall by myself.
Now you know why I don’t sign up to do scholarly lectures.
So, this morning for my meditation time, I decided to meditate on fear. I have heard it said that there are 365 times in the Bible when it says, “Fear not!” I thought that was neat, but I was skeptical about it. I’ve learned to be wary of neatness. If you saw my sleeping and work area, you would say an immediate “Amen!”
To find out about this 365-thing, I did what all really good biblical scholars do: I googled it. Brett Maragni quickly disabused me of this statistical myth and confirmed my suspicions: The phrase “Fear not” occurs 71 times in the King James Version. However, as Maragni wisely notes, “. . . [H]ow many times does God have to say something for us to take it seriously? ONCE should be enough.”
He goes on to say, “So, I hate to bust the bubble of all the people who love posting on social media how awesome it is that there is exactly one “FEAR NOT” / “DO NOT FEAR” command for every day of the year, but at least now they won’t have to worry about what to do on the final day of a leap year! 🙂”
“ONCE should be enough!” Yes!
Not all dreams or nightmares seem significant to me, but I suspect that this one means something. Since I was little, I have been afraid that I have nothing worthwhile to offer others. If even one person criticized me or thought me less than perfect, I was a total failure. The nightmare suggests that fear persists.
But God does indeed say, “Fear not!” So, how am going to flesh out a fearless attitude today? I am going to do a bunch of simple, but worthwhile things.
- I am going to take the dog outside to do what she needs to do, give her a treat, and play with her for a little while.
- I am going to put away the dishes in the drainer before Sharon gets up.
- I am going to grade students’ papers.
- I am going to go for a long walk.
- I am going to text or call several 12-step friends.
- I am going to post this.
Who knows? Maybe I’ll even sign up to do a scholarly talk somewhere.
And one more thing, dear reader. The things you do may not seem all that important to you, but I suspect they are very important to others. “Fear not” may not be as common as you and I had hoped, but it’s still a good way to live our lives for the glory of God and the benefit of others. Perhaps if we all faced our fears of insignificance during the day and countered those fears with small worthwhile actions, we would sleep nightmare-free at night.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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