A Stretchy Kinda Love

When I was a very young child I used to love watching my older cousins play the game of Twister.  If you're not familiar with it, it's a game where you stretch and contort your body to try and land on designated colors on a large floor mat.  The most agile and flexible person always won.  I would beg and plead to play with them, but I always got the same response:  You're not old enough!  Apparently, my immature and bite-sized limbs would only hinder my progress. 

Christian love reminds me a lot of twister.  You never knew what color would be called out next; you simply knew you had to move when it was called (without moving away from the previous color).  Your body was also challenged to move in unconventional and unfamiliar ways.  If you weren’t nimble and flexible, you snapped and lost it! 

1 Peter 4:8 says, "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins."  It's interesting because that word fervent means stretched out.   It gives the picture of a love that is pursuing in its very nature.  It also means, without ceasing.   The analogy is simple:  Christian love requires you to be nimble and flexible.  You never know where God is going to require you to "cover a multitude of sins."  Only the mature and flexible won't snap and lose it (James 3:13).  This is an absorbing kind of love.  It is willing to be hurt, unappreciated and even misunderstood.  Does that sound like someone we know? 

How stretchy is our love? 

•        Have you ever muttered the phrase "I'm done with so and so?" 

•        How do we handle it when we are hurt by someone's actions (or lack thereof)?  How do we respond in the face of anger and even hostility?  How stretchy is our love? 

•        Do you recall Jesus (being innocent) washed the feet of his betrayer and "loved him to the end?" (John 13) What do you do when you have been gossiped about?  Betrayed?  Left out?  Used? 

•        How do you handle it when someone has a need and you have other plans?  

•        Will you love another when it costs you sleep, gas, money, time?   Would you sacrifice your spa day or mini-vacation so another can be cared for? 

•        Do you even know others "urgent needs" as Romans 12 puts it?

•         Is "your" time just that? 

•        Here's one that is very challenging...  Once you have loved sacrificially in all these ways, do you deserve a break?  Or are you ready when that next "twister color" is called?

Conventional psychology and even well-meaning Christians can communicate unbiblical messages to us.

•         We need to "look out for yourselves" and establish our own boundaries. 

•        Things need to "fit into our lives" or else it's not from God. 

•        If you feel wounded or hurt by someone you should stay away from them until you "heal".  (Of course if someone is physically or verbally abusive we need to separate and involve appropriate authorities (Romans 13)).  

There's one major problem with this kind of life, it is the self-life.  It does not mesh well with the life of Christ that is dying to flow from us. 

 I honestly have shared this "wisdom" a time or two.  I can recall sensing the Lord telling me "Please be sure that you're not teaching people to disembrace the cross."  When a need arises, we must prayerfully consider our lives and responsibilities.  It's foolish to try to meet all the needs in the body because there are other "body parts" for that.   But are we truly loving people sacrificially?  Remember David said that He would only give to the Lord that which cost him dearly (2 Samuel 24:24).  Only we can answer that question.  

Please see next page for First Session Notes: See you this Sunday at 8:45 AM!

Body Building: Lord Help me Like the Women at My Church Session 1

Wanted to be able to share with those of you who couldn’t be with us as we started our summer series.  Thank you to so many who were serving our body this weekend in many ways! Didn’t want you to be left out so please take a look at what we covered and join us for the next class and some of the times of fellowship.  Watch for the dates to be posted.
So let me tell you about two ladies in the church: a little background they were working side by side together serving the Lord, they heard the same messages, worshipped and sang together and when others saw them they probably thought of them as good friends.
Then they fell into a trap—they had differing views on something and a disagreement arose between them. Perhaps it was something small, but with time and the fuel of selfishness and unforgiveness it grew to a point where it not only affected them but began to hurt the entire church.
You may know of similar circumstances. The people I'm referring to, however, were a part of the early church at Philippi. The apostle Paul gives specific pastoral instruction to them in the book of Philippians. He doesn't provide much detail about these ladies, but we can get part of the picture if we look at the verses carefully.
Please turn to Phil 4:1-3 
Verse 1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
Paul knows and loves this church, what precious words he uses.  Paul ministered at Philippi during his second missionary journey, spending about three months in this city. Paul shared the gospel and brought many to faith in Christ. These people would form the core of the flourishing church in the city. Among them was Lydia, a businesswoman who opened her home to Paul and his coworkers (Acts 16:13–15). Women were a vital part of the early church even when women's status and freedoms were severely limited by Jewish law and custom in ancient Israel, as they were in essentially all other cultures at the time.
The exhortation itself: So stand fast in the Lord. Being in Christ, the church must stand fast in Him and be even and steady in their walk with Him. To stand fast in the Lord is to stand fast in his strength and by his grace; not trusting in ourselves, or any sufficiency of our own. We must be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, Ephesians 6:10
Right after expressing his heartfelt feelings toward this body of believers and encouraging them in the Lord we hear:

² I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. ³ And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.          

Disagreement had arisen between these two women, and it concerned Paul enough to address it in this public letter.

Euodias (yoo-OH-dih-uhs) and Syntyche (SIN-tih-kee). Euodias means “a pleasant scent”; Syntyche means “fortunate.”

These two sisters certainly had an admirable side, for Paul describes them as “women who labored with me in the gospel” (verse 3). This suggests they were prominent in the church doing Christian work. Their very prominence may be one reason why Paul endeavored to deal publicly with the conflict. Let’s stop here and ask: How does this conflict affect: new believers, fellow workers, leaders and even the Apostle Paul (not present at the church)

Paul does not take sides—he addresses both women in the epistle. Both needed to do something about their behavior, which had been disruptive enough to reach the ears of the distant apostle Paul.
Notice also that Paul addresses both women. This shows that both needed to change, as is the case in most disagreements. Notice he tells them "be of the same mind in the Lord," (4:2).  And verse 3 states whose names are in the Book of Life, these women are believers in Jesus Christ.
How do others see you in the church? Is there something in your behavior that needs to change? These questions were posed in last week’s blog.

• I know she doesn't like me so I'll just be cordial and keep my distance
• They don't like me
• What did she mean by that comment about my blouse?
• She just thinks she is so.....
• I'm too progressive of a thinker for these women
• I don't measure up
• They don't measure up
  These thoughts are planted by the evil one.  His goal is to keep us from thinking the best of one another and covering each other's faults with love.
  Take a few minutes and think about where you need to change and then pray and ask the Lord to help you in this. An great extra step would be to reach out to another sister and encourage them to take a look at this post then you can pray for one another.
  Paul knew that true joy comes only through humble faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ, joining ourselves in harmony with His followers, and serving others in the name of Christ. This was the life experienced by the Philippian believers, and it is a life available to us today. Allow the joy you find in Christ to keep you from useless quarrels and divisions and to instead guide you into harmonious relationships with God’s people.  As we spend time together this summer we will encourage one another to “put on love”!