Individual Rights and the Disciple of Jesus

During my devotional time this morning, I was reading Romans chapter 14. As I read Paul’s admonition to the Roman Christians, the Holy Spirit witnessed with my spirit regarding some issues that I have been struggling with for quite some time.

We live in a nation and a culture where the rights of each individual are lauded and trumpeted. Our rights have become the highest good. I have the right to… It is my right to believe as I see fit. It is my right to do with my body as I see fit. It is my right to keep and bear arms. It is my right…

All of the talk about individual rights among followers of Jesus has concerned me for some time.

Now, before you label me a communist and right me off, let me affirm, I am proud to live where I live, in the country in which I live. I am glad to have the freedoms we have. I own firearms, hunt, and fish. I drive a big truck…

In Romans 14, Paul writes to those in the church who exercise their freedoms at the expense of others. Some eat certain foods, others choose not to eat because their conscience bothers them. Others observe some holidays, while others do not or cannot. Some drink wine, others do not. What seems to be happening is that people are being damaged because of the factions that arise in the fellowship and the pride that drives them.

Paul tells both sides, ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. (Romans 14.7-10, NIV) Notice that he does not say one side is right and the other is wrong. He does not applaud those who eat, nor does he applaud those who do not eat. He makes the issue the Lordship of God through Christ and allows our minds, especially as it involves other people to be formed by the image of Jesus Christ.

There is a higher principle at work in the Kingdom of God than individual rights, it is our responsibility to the other. Our brother’s and our sister’s walk with God should be of more value to us that the exercise of culturally explained rights.

¹⁵ If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. (Romans 14. 15, 19; NIV)

I am thinking, more and more, that it may be time to give up some of my rights for the good of others. I am CERTAIN that it is time for followers of Jesus to stop judging others, and consequently their walk with Jesus, because of their interpretations of rights.

There is an old saying that is attributed to so many people, I believe it comes from St. Augustine, In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, but in all things charity (or love). What is truly essential to the gospel is really pretty brief, Jesus Christ was crucified, dead, buried, and risen again to bring us to a relationship with God the father. That’s pretty much it.

I invite you to consider, with me, what might need to be surrendered for the good of our world, the ultimate good of our friends, and those around us, that the Gospel of Jesus might be known in us, and through us.

I’d be happy to talk some more, personally and privately, if you are so inclined.

Anyway, that is my meanderings for today…

My Thinking About Success

I have been doing a great deal of reading, thinking, and listening lately. Much of that thinking has centered around the ide of success. It is no secret (see the title of my blog) that I am a pastor. I have been a pastor for over 30 years. Much of my identity has been defined by my pastoral identity. My vocation is leading in the context of a local parish.

A persistent struggle for me is to define what “success” looks like as a pastor. You see, I am pretty sure that the definition of success for the Church has been coopted by the world. That is to say, in my conversations with colleagues in ministry, I find that success has been defined by the numerical growth of those who attend our parishes, by the financial growth of our churches, by the notoriety that we receive for the works of ministry that we perform. We live in a mega world that defines success by productivity.

The challenge, for the Boy of Christ in America, is that numbers are declining. Finances are shrinking. Churches close. Yet, in ecclesiastical circles, and even in our own minds, we are pressured to show how successful we are.

As I have reflected on success, it occurs to me, as pastors and and followers of Jesus, we can’t force the results of discipleship. We can’t force people to faith. We can’t drive people to live into their identity in Christ or according to the values of the Kingdom. We can’t do anything to cause people to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to embrace God’s sanctifying work in their lives. God created individuals in God’s image, notably with free will to accept or to reject the offer of God’s presence through redemption. Paul said it this way, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but Go made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of the process but God, who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3.7-8 MSG)

It seems to me that defining success in terms of fruit is bankrupt and idolatrous. For most of my ministry, I have lived under the guilt that my fellowships haven’t become the next mega-church in my community.

All of this begs the question, what does success look like for a follower of Jesus anyhow. I think Eugene Peterson, among others has helped me. Peterson wrote a book entitled, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. In that book, he teaches me that the measure of success for a disciple, a pastor, or a church is faithfulness. Faithful obedience to the calling of God in our lives (individually or collectively) is how God measures our success.

After all, the judgement on our life at the end isn’t the voice of God saying, “Well done! You were a success!” The judgement we long to hear is “Well done my good and FAITHFUL servant! Enter in and receive your reward!” (Matthew 25.21 my paraphrase). Faithfulness is the measure God uses to judge our lives and our efforts.

So what does faithfulness look like for a follower of Jesus? Faithfulness is using the gifts God gives us for the glory of God and the good of the world. Faithfulness is nurturing the gift of grace lavished upon us and sharing that grace with others. Faithfulness is in the regular daily practice of carrying out the mission God gives us each day – participating in his mission of the blessing of the people of the world. Faithfulness is sharing of our resources with the lonely, the lost, the widow, ministering to the sick, the prisoner, and the immigrant. Faithfulness is proclaiming the gospel that Jesus came to release the prisoner, to heal, and to bring God’s eternal reign into the here and now. Faithfulness is living our life to daily enjoy fellowship with God in prayer, in solitude, in God’s word. Faithfulness is walking in the light of the revelation of the Holy Spirit, joyfully and lovingly.

I invite you to wait before God, listening as you ask the question of God, “Where can I be more faithful?” Walk in that light…trusting God for the results.

Anyway, that is my meanderings for today…