“Words on Paper”
July 7, 2001
What if you were a new Christian in the church in Corinth, having come into Christianity after a lifetime of worshipping all the many gods and goddesses around you in that ancient city? What if you were someone who had been diligent about that worship and who had thrown yourself into your religious involvement? But now, you were a Christian, having been convicted by the message of grace you had heard preached, and having responded to that wonderful message? You still had baggage, of course, but knew you’d deal with that over time.
One of these areas of baggage has to do with those idols you used to worship. In your mind, now, you were serving a greater God, but still those idols meant something to you. They had been a huge part of your life for so many years, and still, whenever, you saw a statue or walked by particular centres of worship for those idols, your heart raced a bit and memories of wonderful times of worship stirred in your mind.
Then you had a chance to hear a long and special letter read to you. This letter was written by the apostle, named Paul; you respected him very highly. (Not everyone around you, in the church, did, but you found him to be engaging and his writing to be very sound.) As you’re listening to this letter, you hear this:
1 Cor. 8. 5, 6, 7- you hear this and you want to believe it, but those idols aren’t nothing to you, and you find that, at this moment, these words are simply ‘words on a page’ to you. You can’t really wrap your mind around them very well. What are you supposed to do? How can these words become more than just ‘words on a page’ to you?
This situation might sound a bit far-fetched, but it’s not really. Any one of us, in reading the Bible, will find something that we can’t quite get our minds around. We’ll find- and have found- passages that we just can’t quite believe. To us, at first, they are ‘words on a page’ only. Perhaps you came from a Christian faith where idols were used significantly in worship or as part of the architecture where you used to worship. Perhaps you have had a difficult coming to terms with the idea that an idol is nothing. Perhaps, even today, if you were to attend a worship event in such a building, you have a difficulty with this idea which you want to be more than words on a page, but which seems to be something you might wrestle with.
What if you find yourself wrestling with wording of something that expresses scriptural ideas but in different words. It might be a denominational Vision statement, for instance. You can find one on the back of the monthly Northern Light, expressing the vision of the WCG (Canada). To you, these might be “words on a page” only. Yet, because you’re part of the WCG (Canada), you know that you don’t want this to be the way it stays.
You might be a member of a congregation that develops a vision, mission, or purpose statement, and this might seem to you, at first, to be just ‘words on paper’. You might be wonder how to take the words of such a Purpose Statement, which expresses scriptural ideas and directions from God. How are you to respond to your desire for them to become more than ‘words on a paper’ and to become something that you feel and believe deeply and intensely? You might have some feeling that you ‘ought’ to feel or believe deeper and wonder what to do.
We’re considering various levels of importance of ‘words on a page’ here, but the principles are the same when it comes to internalizing something that is written. Whether you are wrestling, in Corinth, with the idea that idols are nothing, or with a Christian congregation’s Purpose Statement, having something written to be more than just ‘words on a page’ is very important. God doesn’t want us just going along with something or just ‘giving in’, but consciously and intentionally agreeing and bringing what comes from Him into the midst of our hearts, minds, and lives.
How can we make something more than it appears? In other words, what are we able to do to bring scripture or a purpose statement from the head, where we might understand it with our eyes and ears, to our hearts?
Let’s consider five actions that we can take to make this important transition.
1. We have to approach any challenge like this with humility. This is a hard concept for 21st century people! We don’t like the idea of humility. It can be perceived as being weak. However, according to God’s Word, it is vital for us to humble ourselves before God and before others.
Phil. 2.3- this is a powerful concept and it involves not some obsequiousness but an active and conscious matter of the mind and heart! It involves consciously admitting to not having all the answers, being the big ‘it’, and being the one to make final determinations on what is right and wrong, for instance.
1 Cor. 10.12 tells us that if we think we stand, we need to be properly conscious so we don’t stumble. Now this doesn’t take from the assurance that we have in Jesus and the confidence we have in Him today, tomorrow, and forever. As Christians, we are meant to live with great confidence knowing that God isn’t in the business of trying to find ways to keep us out of His kingdom. Rather He is working incredibly hard to ensure that we- and all- are in His family. But, that being said, it’s vital to appreciate that we are not the end and that we don’t have within ourselves all that we need. We need to look to others.
Humility is a tremendous virtue!
“C.S. Lewis recounts that when he first started going to church he disliked the hymns, which he considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as he continued, he said, ‘I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in plastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out or your solitary conceit.”
This story, really, illustrates the entire process we’re speaking about- how you get something that doesn’t appeal to you or that you can’t identify with or accept from that non-acceptance to being right there in the midst and depths of your heart! It begins with humility!
2. You need to exercise some of a fruit of the Holy Spirit that is too easy to overlook. That is the fruit of loyalty. You might wonder where that one is listed in the list of fruit of the Spirit, and in reality all the fruit listed contributes to it.
Ga. 5. 22, 23- love presses us to give the benefit of the doubt to someone or something we might doubt. Peace allows us to be open to working with someone or something- words on a page- that we might not be initially drawn to. Patience allows us to continue to work with something because of a certain understanding of the source- the former idolater, for instance, liked Paul so worked with the material to come to understand, eventually, without question, that the idol was nothing. Gentleness will not allow us to exalt ourselves against something or someone we don’t understand but will enable us to work with material that is just ‘words on a page’. Faith enables us to go forward, understanding God who has made a commitment of loyalty to us. Do you remember the words of Hebrews 13.5, which tell us that He will NEVER leave us or forsake us? That’s important and fosters loyalty back toward Him in willingness to wrestle with His Word or with His Word as it is interpreted or reworded by some who are His children! Meekness brings us back to humility, and self-control tells us to control our reactions and words so that He might work with us.
God sets the example of loyalty to us, working so much differently, now, than in the old dispensation! That was a blessing and cursing time, with a carnal and physical people who could not have God’s Spirit. Now we’re God’s children and His loyalty to us is absolutely beyond our fathoming, it seems. God’s Word tells us we are to be loyal to spouses, family, and God; we are to be loyal to our spiritual family. Loyalty allows us to make some important steps when it comes to bringing something beyond being ‘words on a page’ to being conviction of the heart!
3. It’s important to recognize the enemy who wants your crown. At the very beginning- or almost the very beginning- the enemy drew Eve and Adam to think they saw it right; we know they didn’t, but you couldn’t have told them that at the time. They allowed their crown to be taken, and the essential element there was ‘I’m right and GOD is wrong!’ That’s pretty heady stuff, isn’t it? But that’s where they were; that’s what they declared.
In Rev. 3.11, we’re warned to not allow anyone to take our crown. Again, we have to be careful not to allow our minds to entertain our perfect ‘rightness’ on all issues, to the discredit of God, even, or others who believe. Hang on to your crown- but don’t do it by accusing others. (It’s a Christian tendency to feel that everyone else is wrong and that “I” am right. Don’t allow yourself the luxury of thinking that way. It’s normally not true and sets you up for pride and a great fall, rather than to humbly be expecting the best of everyone else, which love dictates!)
Rev. 12.10 tells us that the accuser of the brethren is wandering around. If you find yourself at odds with the Christian body, or some of the word of God, then look first at yourself rather than at others. If Satan can separate someone like yourself or myself, into anger, judgment, criticism, then we become en route to bitterness and destruction. We’re warned about bitterness in Hebrews 12.15; it’s not a pretty picture.
There have been times when I thought I was right and ‘everybody’ else was wrong. Oh, it’s high stuff- made me feel so great! For years, I thought I was so much better than my parents and other family who didn’t have ‘the truth’, but I’ve come to repent of my pride and my exclusiveness and realize an unnecessary separation that I raised. I did it with regard to some of God’s word, not accepting what scripture clearly says and which Christians have understood for centuries, thinking that I had a better understanding because it was an unusual one! Don’t let the enemy do with you what he did with Adam and Eve, separating them from the people of God and from God, Himself!
4. Apply or live the Word and see the fruits. Do and test the word you might be having trouble with.
Rev. 22.14- tells us that we are blessed if we DO the Word of God! This has always been a hallmark of our church and continues to be. We’re willing to test and live, and change, even, when new circumstances show that our conclusions were incomplete in the past. When we look at the Vision Statement of WCG (Canada) (or the congregational Purpose Statement) ask yourself whether there is anything unscriptural or ungodly? (If so, then reject!) But if not, which is the case, then do, live what is spoken, and apply 24/7. This is a hallmark of Christians- they are seeking to apply what is godly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
Back to our former idolater. He might wrestle with the words, but once he allowed himself to be open to this truth from a servant of God, he would come to appreciate the truth inherent in what he, viscerally, might reject. It’s the same with us.
5. Submit to those over you. The author of Hebrews makes a ‘deal’ about this in 13.17. Christians do this. We don’t just ‘go with the flow’ or submit to personal feelings. For instance, if you were studying Ephesians, and came to 4.29 for the first time, you might not like it at first. You might not like the idea of rejecting corrupt communication, or you might not like the need to be kind to one another, which following verses discuss. You or I might not want to do this, but God is over us, Jesus is over us, and Christians submit. We’re not the final authority. It’s not easy not to simply go with feelings- we’re inclined that way.
In the church, this applies, as we have people to help us- Eph. 4. 11-12; Heb. 13.17. These are put where they are by God, to watch for you. Heb. 13.7 speaks of ruling over you. Even government outside the church is God established (Rom. 13.1). It’s very important not to allow self to rise to the top and to be the final authority. I am not the final authority. You are not. Jesus is! We have a Leadership Council and Pastoral Team, too, that we submit to. Submission is great and it’s something that gives us security!
There is a conscious action involved in putting yourself under someone’s authority and responding to that authority. You have to desire to do it- that’s a positive act. I actively put myself under the authority of Doug Smith, Gary Moore, Randal Dick, and Joe Tkach- and do it joyously! It’s not always easy, but it’s the right thing for me to do, and for you to do, too! Prov. 3.5 & 6 tell ME not to lean to my own understanding. If I’m surrounded by God’s Word, or by those seeking God, I’m not to assume that I, and I alone, have THE Word, and everyone else is wrong. In a group seeking to acknowledge God, God WILL direct paths. Each of us is to choose to enter into God’s community, not into independence and selfishness.
Conclusion
It’s not enough for words to be just on a page. God wants valuable words to be in our hearts and minds, and we don’t have to passively sit around just ‘wishing’ or ‘hoping’ that something will suddenly become important to us, if it’s not initially so. Christians are not meant to be passive people. We’re meant to be intentional and active, just like Jesus was, is, and always shall be! We can choose to bring information from knowledge to heart!
These are steps that each of us can and should take to enable us to make the important transition from important words being just ‘words on a page’ to being ‘words of life in our hearts’!
