Drew Boswell

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God Loves Me Because of What I do For Him . . . and other foolish beliefs; Luke 15:25-32

UnknownLuke 15:25-32

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” 

When the older brother hears that the prodigal brother has returned he is angry. His father comes to talk with him after he has refused to enter the celebration party. The older brother complains of how his father never did anything for him (like kill a goat, throw a party, etc.)

 Who was Closer With the Father?

 Was it the younger son who leaves, dishonors the father, wastes his inheritance, and returns to find pardon, party, robe, and ring loved more? Was the older brother who faithfully stayed behind and was “in the field” doing the father’s work more loved? One would assume that because the older brother stayed behind, did the work on the farm, and lived close by the father that he would have a wonderful relationship with the father. However . . .

I.          Being close to God’s work does not equate being close to God. [1]

The older brother has proximity to the father, but does not seem to have a close relationship with the father. He is unaware of the father’s provision for him. The father responds to the older brother’s complaints by saying, “you are always with me, and what is mine is yours.”

In the older son’s focus on “being in the field” and doing the work, he neglects the relationship of Father and Son. Being close (proximity) to someone does not mean you are close (relationship) to them. The wonder of being close to the father is lost because the older son has become too focused on the work of the father.

Ok, church volunteer, staff member, senior pastor, Sunday School teacher, deacon (you get the idea) – if you are not careful, your duty or job will crowd out your relationship with the Lord. This occurs when we say things like, “I’ll have my quiet time later, I need to respond to these e-mails,” or “I’ll pray later, I need to make a hospital visit.”

When we allow what we do to supersede who we are in Christ (his child), we are on the fast track to being the older brother. The older brother’s identity was tied to what he did (work in the field, stayed with the father, etc.) not who he was (the father’s son).

When this happens in our mind, we begin to feel entitled to having an attitude of dishonor toward our heavenly father; especially when what He desires to do (i.e. throw a party) is different than what we feel should be done (i.e. have the younger brother thrown off the farm!) You see this happening in churches when people are more concerned about their own comfort or recognition at the expense of seeing the lost saved or welcomed into the congregation.

Also, when we become so focused on doing “stuff” instead of investing in our relationship with the Father, we take for granted or even forget what God has provided for us, and how precious it is. We have the ability to be in his presence. We, as children of God can enter into the throne room of heaven, hold our Father’s hand, and feel his eternal love for us. Let us never get so used to this, that we forget how special it truly is. Also, the Father has provided for children. He gave His one and only Son so they could be his children in the first place, “what is mine, is yours.” When we forget how wonderful and precious grace truly is, then we do not value sharing it with others. Or like Jonah we sit in judgement of who should receive it and who should not.

We have everything in the Lord. This is a very difficult thing for us to comprehend. Our natural instinct is to grab and hold on to the “slop” of this world which has no value and forget the things that have eternal value.

II.        Being close to God’s work does not mean you have the right to tell the Father what to do.

The older brother also questions the father’s use of his resources – he is like a slighted child saying, “It’s not fair!” Those who are close to the work of God but lose the relationship with him begin to think they know better than the father as to how resources should be allocated and what should be celebrated.

The father says, “It is fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” The older brother becomes so focused on his “work in the field,” that he forgets that it is the Father’s priorities that are the most important.

The father’s son is home again – it’s time to celebrate, and it is fitting to do so. The older brother has no right to undermine the father’s party with drama and attitude.

III.       Being close to God’s work does not mean you are loved more. 

We do not earn our Father’s love, it is given totally apart of what we do.

What about the relationship between the brothers? Who was more godly? The one who received great grace or the one allowed to be apart of the father’s business?

Comparison is poison to a relationship. Brothers (and sisters)-In-Christ do it all the time. They say things like “How many are you running in Sunday School?” or “in a worship service” or “offerings?” etc. ad nauseam.  It has been my experience that far too many pastors cannot be friends (or even have friends) because they are constantly comparing themselves to others. They are constantly trying to one-up each other, which erodes genuine love for another. Instead of celebrating the victories, they (we) are jealous and ask God, “Why can’t that happen in my ministry?” Or we have inflated (and false) sense of pride, as though they really had anything to do with it. Don’t even get me started on how messed up our determination of “success” can be – I’ll give you a hint it has to do with how we answer those questions.

We each have a relationship, as His child, with the father and in this we know that we are loved with a depth far beyond any of us deserve. If he chooses to bless another, it is His right to do so, and who are we to say any different. It is a privilege to be a worker in his field. Let us never forget this. We serve the father because we love him and are thankful for what he as done for us.

James 2:14 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

The focus of this passage (James) it to explain how faith (in Christ, i.e. relationship) comes first then the work for Christ. This work is an expression of love that comes from the relationship. Works are not to be apart of our lives as a means of grace or a way to increase God’s love for us. The older brother believed that because he was working for the father, then the father should love him more. No. Don’t believe that you will be better off than another Christian because you are at the church all hours of the day and night.

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[1] Brian Berry, Criticism Bites (USA; Group) 20.

Community Day; Serving Across North America Banquet

Last Tuesday evening many churches from south Georgia gathered to celebrate the launching of Community Day to a national platform. Church planters were brought in from seven “send” cities identified by the North American Mission Board. Despite inclement weather over 800 were in attendance. There was a choir of over 160 and an orchestra of over 20. Many in attendance remembered how they personally were involved in the Community Day here in Valdosta where over 25,000 people were given basic needs like food, clothing, and medical screenings.

Whycommunityday from Drew Boswell on Vimeo.

When Can I Get Off This Thing?

 

UnknownI love photography and have since I was an early teen. By the time I was in 9th grade I had either received as a gift or saved and purchased myself a SLR film camera and several other expensive pieces of a camera kit (a flash, various lenses, program cards, filters, etc.) I even had a film-developing lab that could be set up in my bathroom. I love the smell of the chemicals, the challenge of taking the film out of its’ canister in the dark, doing the stop bath, and even timing the exposure. I enjoyed the process of having to see in my mind what the shot would look like on film, then take it through a process that took hours to bring it to completion. It was the journey that I enjoyed, even more than the finished photograph.

This process has been lost in the day of digital slr photography. One can take a picture, see it in the display, and even edit it right there in the camera. Some cameras will even allow you to send it to the internet and social media sites immediately. The days of stop baths, timers, chemicals, film, projectors, and whole rooms dedicated to the process are items in yesterday’s yard sale. The whole process is now condensed into an app like Instagram. sigh.

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Now in some circles I am thought of a tech nerd (I know pretty funny right?), and you would think that I love the constant advancements in technology (and I do love it!). But with the progression of change we have to be careful not to lose the soul of a discipline. For example there is a current push to replace subjects like Geometry (in which children learn logical thinking) with computer code writing. Code writing acts as a language with which one can change around to create a program to do just about anything. This process also encourages creativity and logical thinking.  As one who hated proofs, and well anything that had to do with math, I would be the first to pull the lever if we were to put it to a vote. But by replacing one thing with another what is gained is obvious (with code writing our children are better equipped to engage a digital world). But what is lost is not immediately obvious. But, before I wade into math waters too deeply, I’m going back to the shore.

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Unknown 1

So before you blast me for my mad math skills, my point is the process of replacing one thing for another. The replacing of film and the mindset and process that goes along with it is replaced with the digital mindset. We live in a world where the iPhone has replaced the landline phone. No longer can I call you “at home” — I call you wherever you may be anywhere (just about) on the planet. Call me “at home” has been lost to “call me.” There are subtle things that are lost (and gained) with each new step forward. And we can never push the pause button and say, “I’m done. I’m going to just stay in today.” Time and tomorrow keeps marching on and we do the best we can, only to learn later what has been subtly lost.

Yes, you should get an iPhone and no you should not be rocking a mullet. Good luck keeping up.

Click here to see another article relating this topic.

 

2013 In the Rear View

FE_DA_NewYear2013_122012_425425x283There are two times a year when I get more introspective than normal. In the summer months when I go on vacation, I ask “Lord, am I where I am supposed to be?” In other words, how’s my relationship with the Lord, and is His purpose and plan clear in my mind? The second time of the year when I ask myself questions is at the end of the year. It is during this time that I ask, “Lord what did you teach me this year?”

“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

George Santayana

I have found it be essential to stop and consider what the Lord has taught me in the previous year (just as it is essential to stop and “sharpen my ax” in training). There are some people who are not adding experience to their lives, they are simply repeating the same year again and again making the same mistakes again and again. The following are some of the highlights from 2013. Because sometimes life’s lessons come with a scar, involve people (with feelings), etc.,  they are intentionally brief and without much commentary.

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1.  Invest in people before you invest in possessions. Physical property will break, technology will fade, and eventually every ‘thing’ will need to be replaced. People, on the other hand, are an investment that has limitless dividends. For example, if you help a person become a teacher (or a better teacher) then not only do you help them, but you influence all the people they will eventually teach.

We as Americans like to hold things in our hands. We think that we have security in our possessions. We find comfort and limited peace in our bank accounts and retirement. But our true wealth is what we cannot hold on to – the lives of other people. A Christian leader’s life long job is to invest in and equip others in order that they can be sent out to do ministry. So it is a lifetime of letting go (in love), not of holding on.

Don’t get me wrong we need stuff to do ministry and life, but people should always come first. If you only have a dollar then buy a friend a cup of coffee and spend time in conversation.

2.  Know and learn to love the culture where you minister. If you are a children’s volunteer then you need to be able to enter a child’s world and know what the child likes. You should know what they are doing when they play in their homes.

If you are a youth volunteer you need to know what youth think is ‘cool’, ‘righteous,’ ‘sick’, ‘ill’, or whatever. If you are on staff at a church then you learn to love whatever the culture you find yourself. If you don’t, then you always stand outside the circle making commentary on things you don’t understand or appear to appreciate. This is an issue of immersion. You must immerse yourself in a culture (dress, language, food, customs, etc.) and actually adapt them to your life.

3.  Respect and Honor Other’s Investment in the Ministry Where You Find Yourself. Rarely are you the first to ‘till the ground’ and ‘reap the harvest,’ where you minster. Usually there is someone (or even many others) who have come before you. These are people serving in your church who have been doing it longer than you have been alive. Thank God for them, give them what they need to do their ministry, and leave them alone.

4.  React. Do something when someone comes to you with a concern. You do not necessarily have to do what they want done, when they want it done, but if someone has taken the time to set up a meeting with you, then they are expecting you to take some kind of action.

It is not good (in the eyes of your relationship) for you to develop a plan, pray about it, and begin to work the plan if what you are doing is not communicated with the person who initially brought you the concern. If you have not communicated with them, then they assume you are doing nothing, do not value their concerns, and they get very frustrated (especially when needed change takes time).

5. Keep people “in the loop.” especially those on your staff. When ministry gets hectic, stressful, and you feel attacked from all sides, information is more precious than gold. But it seems that this is exactly when people get guarded, protective, and keep things to themselves. Earn trust in the good times, because you will need it in the bad times.

6.  Invest in Friendships. If you want to have a friend, then you have to be a friend. Quit sitting around and waiting for people to come to you (who are you that people should revolve around you?), you make the effort, take the risks, and build the relationship. No, they won’t all work out, but some will.

Take some time and ask yourself the question, “Lord what have you taught me this year?” I would love to hear your list!

 

Reaction to the Firing of Phil Robertson

Really?
ddWere we really that surprised when we heard of Phil Robertson being fired from the hit A&E television “reality” show for making comments to a GQ reporter? It’s funny how we want reality in our television, but not too much reality. We don’t want to hear the reality of their belief in Jesus, or praying in His name around the family dinner table. We especially don’t want to have to endure the reality of their “intolerant” Christian beliefs regarding the Bible and if they actually live their lives as though it were true.

The network tried to make this family and their beliefs more palatable to its viewing audience by adding bleeps in recorded conversations as if to hide curse words that were not actually there. They were also told they could not pray in “Jesus name” around the dinner table at the close of the show. Both of these issues were worked out between the Robertson family and the network – but it shows how the world desires a “cutting edge” and “reality” as long as it’s their own reality and no one else’s.

Remember the network’s only desire is to make money. They are a business, so they put shows on the air they feel people will watch. They do not have some agenda to shape the morality of the culture. They are not stupid (blind to reality perhaps; but not stupid.) They have done polls, market research, etc. and reached the conclusion that America wants the Duck Dynasty in their living room, the seat covers for their minivans, and the bobble heads on their kid’s shelves. A&E sees them as a moneymaker, when that changes the show ends. But as with most things that have an inkling of light, we don’t like it when it’s shined in our face.

This is not a freedom of speech issue. The world comes to Phil Robertson (200 times a day) asking for interviews. He travels all over the country with his family giving speeches and teaching Bible studies. The GQ interview is an example of how what Phil Robertson said was expressed. We have the freedom to say what we want to say, but as with all actions there are consequences.

Your boss at work can fire you for comments made at work. If you are a public figure, you can be fired for what you say away from the office. What seems to have changed in America is not the consequences for expressing one’s freedom of speech but the tolerance of differing thoughts. Dialogue and the ability to disagree are essential to a free society.

When one group has power to control the outlet of opposing thoughts and ideas, then liberty is in jeopardy. Because we have enjoyed such freedoms for generations we will not fight for these rights or even care for such things until we feel the sting of their absence. America has grown indifferent to it’s innate liberty because it has never known anything different. We have dumbed down our taste for entertainment to where we do not want to be made to think about things differing from the main stream’s understanding of reality. This is true on the secular and the Christian side of reality.

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Challenged
How many times have you intentionally sought after a friendship with a person of different beliefs in order to truly know them and be their friend? We see the opposing side as dangerous because they may infect our children, or others in our group will think we have compromised our ways to some degree, or I may actually learn something difficult about myself that I don’t want to change. Fear and Pride.

Or you may just say, “I ain’t got time for that.”

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America’s New Core Values
Many will sadly simply turn the channel to the next reality show with no thought that one man’s views are no longer heard because they challenge or go against what has been decided is America’s new core values.

But the Robertson family have been very open regarding their beliefs. The GQ articles says, “During the family’s initial negotiations about the show with A&E, Jase told me, “the three no-compromises were faith, betrayal of family members, and duck season.” What they believe has been no secret and the family has continued to fight to keep a certain level of reality in the reality show.

A&E wants to mold this Christian family into what it feels will reach the widest viewing market. And as with all things that say something with no meaning and live life with no depth it will blow away. The reason America loves this show is deeper than long beards and guns. They see something authentic and real in a painfully scripted “reality” television world. They see men dedicated to their wives and families. They see families working through personality differences, and they see a successful business that is rooted in Christian beliefs.

But if you are a fan of the show, then you know this already.

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What is the Real Issue? 
Before I weighed in on this issue I read the GQ Interview. (be forewarned there is some crude language). I would encourage you to go and read it for yourself, but I have pulled out the quotes that I think most people are reacting to.

1) “It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

2) The GQ reporter asked, “What, in your mind, is sinful? and Robertson replied, “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

The issue is not really about comments made toward homosexuals. A&E has the right as a network to hire or fire anyone they choose for whatever reason they choose. They are a business who is in the business of making shows that people desire to watch.The Robertsons have the right and freedom to believe what they want.  If you don’t like what happened then let them know, if enough people want him back, then he’ll be back. Who knows this may just be a publicity stunt for ratings.

The core issue is that America is afraid to talk about a reality different than their own. A&E is reacting to this fear in trying to make the show as neutral as possible. But what they seek to push out of the frame is the true reality of what makes this family worth watching. But here’s to hoping that we can at least talk about it with out it being called “hate speech.”

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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