BEFORE we start the next chapter in our Complete Green Letters study in Principles of Spiritual Growth, we’re going to take a little detour in this and the next several postings.
I Want to share a “Daily Moment” from Mark Hamby. As we have been looking at discipleship and the issue of “self” and the “cross” in recent chapters, I think you’ll see some connection here. But there is one thing in the following in particular that caught my attention, motivating me to take this momentary break in our current investigation. See if you can spot what it is.
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The Screwdriver – Mark Hamby
I’ll never forget the day my oldest son called me on his cell phone and asked me to bring him a screwdriver! Can you imagine? What I gave him was a piece of my mind. Then my wife asked who was on the phone. When I told her who it was and what he wanted, she told me that she would bring the screwdriver to our son! “No you won’t!!” I replied.
Supper was ruined and everyone was upset over a ridiculous screwdriver; all of this was caused by my lazy son! Well, that’s what I thought was the problem.
Later that week, I shared what happened with a friend of mine and he agreed with me that my wife should “Absolutely not!” have brought our son the screwdriver. I was relieved and vindicated. It is not often that I am in the right when I share a family conflict with him.
But my vindication only lasted for a moment. As I was departing he said, “You should have gotten it!” “WHAT?!” “That’s right” he said. “You should have gotten the screwdriver because that is the only way that you’re going to break the cycle of self-centeredness. He learned it from you. All those years, he has heard his father say, ‘get this and help me with that, and when you’re done I need you to do this and that.’ Your son needs to see you serve; then–and only then–will he learn to serve as well.”
It’s now fifteen years later. I’m happy to say that my friend’s counsel was a turning point in our lives. My son turned out to be one of the most selfless people I know. Me? I’m not what I used to be and by the grace of God I’m getting closer to who I should be.
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3).
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OKAY, good consideration. Did you pick-up on what may have caught my notice? There is obviously a lot here, but what I found of particular interest was the phrase “my friend’s counsel,” and everything that proceeded related to his friend’s confrontation with his sinful pattern of behavior. Had it not been for his friend playing the role of “Nathan to King David” in exposing his own foolishness, he would have gone on in his destructive way.
HAVE you had a friend like that or been a friend like that? It is not easy on either side of that equation. Proverbs is full of wisdom lessons related to this valuable commodity like Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful (Prov. 27:6); yet it is rare when you can find someone willing to enter into the risky business of true friendship and truth-speaking in love.
I CAN recall such a friend who many years ago exposed a deep root of bitterness in my own heart. The heart truly is deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9), and we need the painful objectivity like that above in the revealing “screwdriver-friendship” willing to call us out and unmask our self-centeredness.
OF course, there are some problems with all this. Where do we find such friends willing to enter into this “risky business;” how do we foster those friendship and trust connections that allow for open communication and needed conversations; and where do we find the character of soul willing to place our self under the scrutiny, the loving – watchful eye of another, a true friend? …Well, I think we know the answer to that question. If you need a reminder, let me suggest a reading of Paul’s primary prayer for the church in Ephesus:
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. Eph. 1:16- 21
PAUL prays for the church, the saints, the collective body of Christ that they may:
- Know the hope of their calling in its entirety
- The riches of their inheritance in the saints in its entirety as the family of God – iron sharpening iron (Prov. 27:17)
- The exceeding power available to all in Christ according to His death, resurrection and ascension
AS I have considered Paul’s primary prayer over the years, it has occurred to me that these three prayer points are connected and go together. Just like the means of grace, the Word, Sacrament, and Prayer, they form a whole. If I lack in one it is quite possible because I have not given myself completely to one of the other. And when it comes to the inheritance in the saints, there is a distinct reason why we are told not to avoid the assembly of ourselves together, and it is beyond just mere pew sitting.
WELL, I‘ve gone long here, and I can see I have more to say on this topic. Thus, I will pick this up from here and continue this theme next posting. …..to be continued
In the infinite blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15; Jas 1:2
