What they did . . .
Adam tended a garden. Noah built a boat. Abraham fathered a nation. David built a kingdom. Solomon built the Temple. Paul planted churches.
Who God says they are . . .
Adam is good. Noah is righteous. Abraham is faithful. David is chosen. Solomon is wise. Paul is sent.What we do . . .
Love. Read. Pray. Attend. Serve. Sacrifice. Sing. Speak. Sin. Forget. Fail. Injure. Hate.
Who God says we are . . .
Beloved. Known. Heard. Present. Sent. Sacrifice. Charming. Forgiven. Remembered. Victor. Heir.
You are not the sum of your actions. We cannot keep telling ourselves that we need to do a little bit more. We are His. That must be enough.
"We cannot find our significance through what we do. We find our significance through who God says we are." - Harvey Carey
How can we be reminded of WHO we ARE over the noise of WHAT we DO?
Read.
Here's a good start from Donald Miller's Storyline Blog: My Identity in Christ. Let these titles sink in. Memorize the passages. Allow these names to define you.Cease.
Nothing reminds us of how much we rely on Him like resting from work and allowing life to go on without us. Take a vacation, a day off, a fifteen minute break.Gather.
Spend time with friends who love you for who you are. Surrounding yourself with people who could care less what you have to offer is refreshing.You are not what you can accomplish. You are what God has accomplished.
It is our nature to add a rule of measure to something in order to give it a value. Which means that if we want to place a value on our relationship with God (good or bad or meh) we automatically try to find a way to measure it. The problem with this this is not how God's economy works. He does not require anything of us, outside of the submission of our lives, in order to receive the gift of being His children.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when we are told we must pray a prayer or walk down to the front of the church or take a class in order to receive salvation this seems counter intuitive. If we start off a new believer with this idea of God's grace (bought with our effort of prayer, response, or attendance) we send the wrong message that can take that new believer down the wrong path.
Maybe we struggle with the idea of "Whose Accomplishment" really achieved the result of salvation is because we portray a works based economy of salvation in the beginning.
Should we rethink this aspect of how we do ministry?
Recently, I had a group of freshmen pretend I was a lost friend interested in "being right with God." Though there was a lot of discussion and debate, our teenagers repeatedly discussed how works play a large role in salvation. One teenager even said that we might not know if we've done enough good until we get to heaven.
DeleteI agree. We have indirectly communicated to our churches and ourselves that we have a role in our own salvation. The truth is that God does all the work from creation to redemption.
One thing I might do differently in ministry is to adjust how I preach. One thing that Kara Powell said at NYWC15 that struck me was how many youth sermons, devotions, and emails seem to communicate one thing: "Try harder." Maybe I have inadvertently sent the message that God accepts our doing more than our being.
What would you change in your ministry, Harris?