When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. [1 Corinthians 9:20-21 (NLT)]
Like the rest of the east coast, Florida had a cold spell last week. With a temperature of 40, the weatherperson warned of a windchill of 36. Cautioning about the hazardous weather, she suggested that small children and animals stay indoors. That same morning, our son’s family in the north woke to -4 with a windchill of -20. For them, it was just another cold winter morning. They calmly bundled up the kids and walked them to school as they do every day. What a difference of perspective 1,400 miles makes!
How we view the world around us often depends on how it affects us. We were enjoying the antics of a pair of raccoons as they dug in the water for snails and crayfish when we heard, “Where’s my rifle now that I need it?” Stunned by such a negative reaction to what was an “Aha!” moment for us, we turned to look at the speaker who explained his vehement reaction to these engaging animals. To this farmer from Iowa, raccoons are masked marauders who wreak havoc with his corn crop and in his hen house. One person’s pleasure easily can be another’s pain in the neck! Where we saw two of God’s delightful creatures, he saw only destructive pests and I had to concede he made a good point.
Before meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, the Apostle Paul was a devout Jew. As a Pharisee, he carefully abided by every one of the Torah’s 613 commandments. Gentiles, however, didn’t abide by the restrictive Jewish laws. They shaved their beards with a razor, didn’t recite the Shema (a Jewish prayer) twice a day, didn’t wear tefillin on their heads and arms or have tzitzit on the corners of their robes, made no distinction between kosher and non-kosher, and didn’t follow a host of other rules about food, work, and clothing. When Paul met with them, he didn’t go into their homes and tell them how wrong they were. He didn’t insist they keep kosher, add tassels to their robes or put mezuzahs on their door posts. Knowing that Christ had freed the Jews from the Torah’s regulations, the only law about which Paul was concerned was the law of Christ. Understanding the Gentiles’ different point of view, Paul respected it and lived their way with them. On the other hand, Paul also respected the perspective of the Jews. Having always followed the strict ritual observances of the Torah, he knew they’d be disturbed to see him break from any of them. When with the Jews, Paul followed their traditions, probably recited the Shema, and refrained from eating pork, shellfish, or milk and meat together. That didn’t make Paul a hypocrite—he openly admitted the way he changed behavior depending on his company. It simply meant that, rather than being judgmental, he respected others enough to look at things from their viewpoint. With each group, he found common ground in Jesus Christ. When we take the time to see the world from someone else’s perspective, we might just learn something; I know we’d be better evangelists!
“I’m the answer to Pastor’s prayers,” said the woman lightheartedly as she sat down next to me at Bible study. Having seen on Facebook that he was praying for more people at Bible study, she felt the urge to come. Her comment caused me to think about the way God uses us to answer people’s prayers.
Yesterday, our nation celebrated Thanksgiving, a holiday that revolves around food and unites our nation across lines of culture, race, religion, and politics in a way little else can. Regardless of what football team they support, where they live or from where they came, whether liberal, conservative or somewhere in between, my Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, and unbelieving friends all celebrated around tables heavy laden with food. The menu and traditions varied—some had naan and others enjoyed cornbread or Parker House rolls. Some plates had ham alongside the turkey while others tofurkey and lentils or some of Grandma’s lasagna. Some cooks put pork sausage in their dressing and others kept kosher. There may have been glazed sweet potatoes and green beans at one house and mashed whites with gravy and corn casserole at another but, whatever was served, no one went away hungry and there were plenty of leftovers. Unfortunately, not everyone’s plate was piled with food and not everyone complained of feeling stuffed.
Although more people prefer to believe in heaven than in hell, the Bible tells us that hell is as real as heaven. It exists whether or not someone likes the idea of a place of eternal punishment or refuses to believe in its actuality. The Bible uses words like fire, brimstone, pits of darkness, torment, anguish, weeping and gnashing of teeth to describe it. I won’t pretend to know what hell is like but, based on Scripture’s description (whether literal or figurative), hell doesn’t sound like any place I (or anyone I know) would deliberately choose to be.
I walked into the university workout facility and was greeted by a large sign telling me the school says no to hate. I was surprised that a Christian University felt the need to say what should be obvious. Has hate become so much a part of our everyday lives that we have to be reminded not to do it? There wasn’t a sign telling us not to pee in the pool, have fist fights, or swear. Evidently, certain acceptable behavior was assumed but not hating wasn’t! Apparently, the sign is necessary because people feel freer to express their prejudice, intolerance, and bias than do any of those other things.
One week after Hurricane Irma, our Florida church met where they usually do in the city park. As the service began, an irate city official arrived. Afraid of unsafe conditions and liability issues, he insisted that the service be stopped immediately. While the senior pastor continued the service, our associate pastor tried to calm him down. He started by asking the bureaucrat how he was doing. The overwrought man’s response was a recitation of all of the challenges he’d dealt with in a city without power, working sewers or safe water. “No,” our pastor said, “I know the city is a mess, how are you doing?” He went on to ask about the man’s family, his house, and whether he was in need of anything. Instead of seeing him as a problem to be solved, our Pastor saw him as a person under a great deal of stress. As the two men talked and shared their personal hurricane stories, the official calmed. He finally took a good look at the park and decided the service could continue. This didn’t happen because our pastor won an argument; it happened because he saw the city employee as a person with problems of his own and showed that he (and our church) cared.
