Category Archives: telling

How 2 ordinary guys confounded religious scholars.

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Peter and John stood in front of the leaders of their tribe.

Imagine a random Catholic talking to the Pope and cardinals, an ordinary citizen in front of the Supreme Court or the President’s cabinet, a student in front of the university president and faculty, you in front of the people you grew up being taught to respect.

The formality of the setting is designed to remind you of the history of the tribe. Every person in the room is present because of intellect, scholarship, reputation, training.

Everyone but Peter and John.

Their families lived by the lake, but not in the resorts. They fished all night and then sold the fish to live. They didn’t have time to study, not beyond the basics that everyone learned.

Standing in this meeting room, Peter and John should have been tongue-tied, knock-kneed. They should have been silent when asked, “By what power or what name did you heal that man?” Instead, Peter reminded the leaders that they had killed Jesus, that God had brought Jesus back to life, and that the living Jesus was the name, the power, the authority they claimed when healing the lame man outside the temple.

These were gutsy words. This was the single most provocative thing to say to the people who had killed your rabbi because they were jealous of his power.

The leaders were astonished at the courage. They knew Peter and John were untrained, undereducated. The only remarkable thing about them, realized the leaders, is that Peter and John had been with Jesus.

Peter and John had spent three years listening to Jesus teach, watching Jesus challenge other teachers, seeing how Jesus healed. It wasn’t the same school as the authorities, but it was pretty solid training.

I think class is still in session.

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From Acts 4

teaching stories

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Kelley and Michael walked into my office. They asked a simple question about a person. I started laughing. They just looked at me.

I said, “Sometime I’ll be asked a question that’s not answered with a story.”

And then I spent five minutes telling them a series of stories about the person, stories that answered their simple question.

Those of you who have asked me questions know that I have a story for almost everything, a story of almost every item in my office. And I will inflict those stories on the person asking.

The reason I do that is not to amuse or confuse, though that is often the result. The reason is that a story takes you into the experiences that surround the mug or the pad of sticky notes or the timer or the candle on my desk. The story gives you a glimpse of the values that I’ve attached to the object. It takes longer. But you might understand why on the way to understanding what.

Jesus often did the same thing.

“How many times should I forgive my brother,” Peter asked, perhaps looking at Andrew. “Seven?” “Seventy times seven, “Jesus said. And then he said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.” And Jesus tells a story about little debts and big debts and gratitude. The disciples move into the story. They feel the outrageous ingratitude of one of the servants and the righteous indignation of the master. They learn more about the values of the kingdom. They begin to understand that the grace they have been shown should shape all of their interactions. And from the way Jesus uses story so often to teach, they see that sometimes hearts crave understanding, not just right answers.

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Here’s a video version of this post.

Out of the Salt Shaker

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When people have been following God for a long time, it’s easy to stay in our bubbles. Most of the time, we don’t like to be challenged. But God has called us to make a difference in our world. We have to get out of our bubbles. Or out of the saltshaker. Jesus says we are salt in Matthew 5:13.

Rebecca Manley Pippert wrote a book titled “Out of the Saltshaker” in 1979. I saw her speak about this topic not long after that. Her line of thinking stuck with me since then. That shows you how powerful it is!

Simply: if we stay inside the saltshaker, we will have no effect. We must rub shoulders with people who have no salt in their lives – those who do not know the presence of God. Jesus goes on to say that we need to speak with our deeds. That’s sometimes the best way we can be heard.

Here are some practical suggestions:

  1. If you’re in a Bible study with other Jesus followers, quit – and start one with friends who don’t know Jesus. The Bible is a strange book to those who aren’t familiar with it. “Let’s look at the Bible to see how relevant its message is to today’s world.”
  2. You don’t know anyone who doesn’t know Jesus? Time to get out of the saltshaker…
  3. Join a club. Find out groups which meet in your town that fit your natural interests.
  4. Start a club. Who doesn’t like to eat out? And what about joining with others in your favorite weekend activities?
  5. Make friends with international students at your local college or university. Many have never met anyone outside of their classes or dorm. International Students Inc. can help you meet students from another country.

Have fun!

(Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday.)

a teacher who recruits

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College admissions offices spend enormous energy recruiting students. Most faculty members don’t. The faculty are part of the product that recruiters sell.

“If you come here, you will get to study with Dr. X. He’s the one who wrote that famous commentary on John. In fact, he was on the translation team.”

It’s possible that if you were to visit the campus, you would see Dr. X. He may even look at you, as part of a group, and say, “Come to our great school.” But he’s doing that primarily because the school has convinced him that he needs to help recruit.

In general, teachers teach. They don’t recruit.

That was true of rabbis, too. A student would ask to follow, would hope to be taken on.

And then there’s Jesus. He’s collected three followers: Andrew, Simon, and some player to be named later (probably John). He’s heading out of town. He goes looking for Philip, find him and says, “Follow me.” (John 1:43-44)

Philip was from the same town as Andrew and Simon. They may have known each other. But they don’t bring him to Jesus, Jesus goes to him.

Relationships with people matter. It’s one of the ways that Jesus uses to connect with people. But I’m pretty sure that sometimes Jesus walks up to someone and says quietly and directly, “The rest of your friends are in my school, learning to follow me. Why don’t you come along?”

We’re going to hear more from Philip as we read through John. In fact, if you want to hear Philip stories, this is the only book to read. It’s almost as if it was written by someone who knew him well, who noticed what he said, the way only a friend notices quiet people.

But Jesus recruited him. He matters.

Life is short

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[First Friday guest post from Paul Merrill]

My mom died in June. She was a month shy of 80. Her life was long and full, by most standards.

Psalm 39:4 says:

Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered -
how fleeting my life is.

She had a nearly full refrigerator. Her car insurance was paid for almost a year in advance. She was not planning to die. (Few of us do.) But all of her accounts were settled, in the relational sense. She had no regrets about those she needed to forgive.

How are you facing the rest of your days?

You have heard the concept of carpe diem – seize the day. We should live our life like each day may be our very last. That shouldn’t mean indulging in a hedonistic rampage of filling ourselves with all the pleasures we can grab. Rather it should mean loving those we know to the best of our abilities. And asking God to give us wisdom to know how to love those in our lives better – beyond our abilities.

It seems like almost every job provides us with a difficult person to relate to. Even if you work alone, you probably deal with vendors or clients. One co-worker stretches you in ways they don’t even know about.

Love them.

Pick up the phone. Call that old friend you haven’t spoken to in a while.

Love them.

There may be someone in your family you just can’t relax around. Speak to them. Clear the air.

Love them.

That homeless guy who’s parked on that same corner every morning on your way to work?

Love him.

That intimidating superior at work you just can’t relate to? Think of a way to humbly bridge the gap.

Love her.

You won’t regret it.

————

Paul is with his family in Texas this weekend for his mother’s memorial service. Please pray with them.