Modeling Jesus

 

The Apostle Paul has a wonderful gift of writing.  His letters to fellow believers are chopped full of inspiring encouragements and direct instructions that will motivate the readers to live the Jesus life. I must admit, living a Christian life isn’t always easy, but it is always rewarding.  The Christian life has its ups and downs.  We will have good days and bad days.  We will experience the horrible defects in people and at the same time; enjoy the best relationships with them.  The Jesus life is meant to be proactive.  Seek out the best in others.  Love deeply from the heart.  Share what you have with others.  Be a two-mile walker with someone in need.  Tell the love story of God.  Be Jesus.  Be Spirit-led.  Be the face of everything that is good. 

Paul is closing up a letter with the believers in Thessalonica.  In his final words in

1^st Thessalonians 5, Paul gives his brothers and sisters in Christ’s many nuggets of truths that will sustain them in life and build up the body of Christ.  These truths are not just 1^st and 2^nd century, but 21^st century truths, too!  Paul says:  

Be an encourager (5:11)  “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up….” Encouraging people are the people I desire to be around.  The Message Bible says it best in Hebrews 10:24, “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out….”

Respect the leaders (5:12 & 13)  “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.  Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work....” The responsibilities of spiritual leaders are huge.  Those who lead with godliness deserve our utmost respect.  Spiritual leaders must care deeply for every person and generate ways to ensure each one is being fed spiritually.  If spiritual leaders lead right, respect comes without even having to demand it. 

Help the weak (5:14) Weakness can ultimately destroy us if we stay stuck in whatever is causing our weakness. The way to clean up someone’s act of defiance is to help him or her through the process of change.  Paul never said cast them out until they get over whatever is causing the weakness, rather he says to help them.  I get that some may not want help in the moment, but we must never give up on them. We must never waiver on offering our support and prayers. 

Be Patient (5:14) Patients is a fruit quality believers receive from the Spirit.  I can relate to folks who have a short fuse life at times.  There are mean spirited people who are bent on making life miserable.  It is their way or the highway.  But, Spirit controlled Christians are patient with them.  They are encouragers.  They are Lovers, not haters.  And, they have a long life fuse of grace.

The Apostle Paul gives more tips on being an effective believer among the world we live in and among those in the community church we serve.  The effective Christian will be known not by the church they attend or the stand one takes on a particular “doctrine” rather by his or her wiliness to be engaged in modeling hope and forgiveness and peace and joy and love.  The effective Christian will see the value in living out the Jesus story and being careful to encourage, respect and help others the way Paul instructed the believers over fifteen hundred years ago.    

Our communities will be a better place to live when believers identify themselves as people who are not perfect, but saved by the grace of Jesus and who walk in faith and love because they know beyond any doubt that Jesus is the risen savior!   May we all do our best to model the Jesus life!

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Bria

Community of Servers in White County

The rains came down, the temperature dropped, the winds blew and the trees and power lines froze, and they feel with a great crash.  For days, thousands were without the use of power to keep warm, cook food, take hot showers and go to work.  The scene on Bon Air Mountain was as if a bomb had exploded.  Power lines were lying all over the place.  Poles were broken into as if they were toothpicks.  Trees were snapped in two and debris was scattered everywhere.  

In the two years I have lived in White County Tennessee, I have learned many things about the people and the way of life, but the one thing I have learned that has been the most inspiring is how the vast majority will help others in times of need and disasters.  I love what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 13:10, “Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others.”  (MSG)

My first trip to Bon Air Mountain was on the Sunday after the winter storm.  As our church made our way into the BonDeCroft Elementary School, I saw working people preparing a place to help their neighbors and friends and family.  I saw teachers like Sara Cope working tirelessly organizing, helping others and reassuring those without power that they were not alone.  She worked day in and day out with a determination to serve.  Sara’s love for her neighbors, her school and her students was the driving force of service, even though her own home was without power. 

Another inspiring story was the BonDeCroft Baptist Church.  Their commitment to serving was over the top.  Day in and day out the members poured their heart and soul out in preparing meals, delivering meals to those who could not get out, serving the linemen who were working to restore power and giving out supplies the community needed to survive the days ahead without power. 

Thousands of people from all over donated supplies, money, food and time.  The efforts to help their neighbors were encouraging.  It was truly a community coming together for those who were in need of help. 

Jesus tells a story about a man who was robbed and left to die.  There were three people who saw the man.  Two of the men were “religious” and one was a “Samaritan.”  Jesus says that the two “religious” guys saw the man but did nothing but cross the street and pay no attention to the needs of the dying man.  However, the “Samaritan” saw the man and began to take care of his needs because he was filled with compassion.  Jesus asked the question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell in the hands of the robber?”  The expert of the law said, “The one who showed mercy on him.”  Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”  

Our neighbors are all over the world.  We do not discriminate based on color of skin, religious affiliations, ethnicity, or gender.  Rather, we live out what Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40,  “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” (MSG)

As the Central Church of Christ and the BonDeCroft Baptist Church served food to the needs of our community, it proves that our resolve is not to be divided, rather, to serve and to live out the Jesus life daily.  As I saw the leadership of Dr. Larry Thompson, the Principal as BonDeCroft Elementary School, it proves that he is more than an administrator; he is a neighbor.  As I witnessed Doug Benningfield, the minister at Hickory Valley Baptist Church, deliver loads and loads of supplies, it demonstrated his allegiance to being a neighbor.  The same is true for McDonalds, KFC, the Fire Department, Wal-Mart, various churches, individuals and a host of people who do not live in White County. 

May God bless White County Tennessee!

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian