Community Matters

The deep longings we have to know and be known by true friends, comes from God. We were created for community. Small groups is where we experience Bible Study, Community, and Care. Jesus is the bread of life, but it is His community that serves it to us.


Here’s the text of the message:

It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving in 2010. I had been without a job for almost a year. It had been a hard year and probably the worst of it wasn’t financial but the toll that it took on my own sense of worth. I had been beaten down and struggled every day to recognize that Jesus was all that I really needed. I focused on Him and had some truly incredible moments, but I also had some of my darkest moments during that time. Anyway, that Sunday night we were home doing nothing, I mean, we didn’t have much to do. We had cancelled internet and couldn’t afford anything really. But there was a knock at the door, so I went and answered it. Outside the door was a crowd of people singing Christmas carols, but they weren’t just carolers. They were our friends. Friends from other cities and other states. Friends from next door. Friends from our church, our small group, and from churches we served years before, old students from my youth ministry days. These were not just people. They were “our people.” Miranda and I stood with our kids in our arms and tears in our eyes. As they finished singing, one of them said, “Steve, Miranda, we know you’ve had a difficult year, but wanted you to know that you aren’t alone. We’re here for you. One of them gave Miranda a brown paper bag and then they all took turns greeting us individually sharing their lives and hearts with us as they dropped money and checks into the bag. We got to experience this little community of God’s people “being the church” for us that night. It was humbling, but amazing! Later that night one of my friends reminded me, “Steve, we could have sent you the money. This wasn’t about the money. We knew you needed more than that. We wanted to be with you guys. We wanted you to know we were hurting for you and we may have been miles away, but we have been going through this with you. We’re here for you.” He was right.

Guys, in all honesty, I don’t know where I’d be today if I had continued down the path I was traveling. They were dark times for sure, but we weren’t alone. Even when it felt like it. Jesus saw us, His people. He knew the condition of my heart and heard the desperation in my prayers. He knew my heart ‘cause He created it. We thought we were alone, but “our people,” “Jesus’ people,” a community of Christ followers – They were with us. Praying for us, Lovingly pulling for us, scheming and secretly planning to show up for us. We were never alone because Jesus was working to stir His people on our behalf. He had a plan to use His people, the church.

You see, we were made for community. We like to think that we are independent and strong and that we don’t need anything or anyone. Our culture especially tells men that this is what it is to be a man – to be tough and rugged and strongly independent. Our culture celebrates radical individualism and the self-made person. But our culture is wrong. There’s a dark side to this kind of individualism. It’s called loneliness, and the US Surgeon General called it a “social epidemic.” This radical individualism and device empowered isolation are both contributing to our mental health crisis. There’s really no getting around it. We need each other.

We are created for community. From the core of who we are, we long for it. When God created the world and everything we know, He would create something and then proclaim that it was “good.” Light, good. Land, good. Plants, good, Heavens, good. Animals, good. He proclaims everything good – until He creates man. With Adam, God says for the first time, “It is not good.” It’s not good for man to be alone. That’s when He created Eve.  God created us to be in community. I mean, really God Himself is a community. The Tri-une God, 3-in-1. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are their own community. And we were created “in His image.” We long for community ‘cause He created us that way.

God’s design for His people to be in community can be traced all throughout the Bible, all the way to Jesus. He spent most of His time with a community Himself, a small group. It’s 12 guys.

Real community is found in Jesus ‘cause He alone can offer the forgiveness that is needed for us to have real connections and offer real grace to real people.  

Think about your own life. It’s crazy how much we long for someone to truly “see” us. From the time we were just children, we’d yell from the playground. “Mom! Look at me!” And it has just continued into adulthood. We want to be known, and to be loved just as we are. We want people to love us in spite of our shortcomings. People who will accept us like we are, but also want more for us. People who see our potential and believe in us. People who will lead us to grow and be challenged and improve.

We want all of this, but we’re also deeply afraid of it. We think that if people really know us, there is no way that they’d love us. We think we’ve got to keep certain parts of our lives hidden away and out of sight. However, we’ve got to learn to be bravely vulnerable. The Brazos Pointe core value is: Authentic Living over Maintaining Appearances. I know it can be intimidating because our deepest wounds come from relationships, but we’ve got to remember that so do our greatest joys and deepest healing. They come on the other side of our vulnerability.   

So. . . here we are. We’re made for community. We know we need it and we even long for it, but what do we do?

Many seek community in other activities – sports teams, clubs, social media, political organizations. Really anywhere people gather represents some way that people are seeking connections. Unfortunately, these all fall short. None of them can offer the forgiveness that we have in Jesus and that’s the only way we can have true relationships. God has designed us for much more than any of these other activities can offer and He has given us the church, His people, to satisfy that longing.

So what does a community of Christ followers look like?

Turn with me to Acts 2:42-47. (5th book of the NT – just after the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts.) Now to be clear, Randy shared a message on these verses about a year ago as a part of the Acts series we’ve been working through, but it’s just too good not to return to it today. These verses describe how Christ followers interacted with each other in their community just after His ascension – when He left the earth. It also describes what our community should look like.  As the Discipleship Minister here, this describes my dream, my vision for small groups where we can all truly experience the church, and learn to be the church for one another. It’s a place that calls us to grow and become, but also to know and be known. Sunday mornings just aren’t as effective at that. If you come to worship every Sunday, but are still disconnected, then you’re missing something. If you think you’re too busy, I’m sorry but you’re wrong. I get it. I’ve been there and I’ve made those mistakes. (I even stood in front of you guys and shared about it a few weeks ago.) But speaking from experience, there is a price to pay. If you’re too busy, then you’d be better off letting go of something else than missing out on what Jesus has for us in community. Small groups create a perfect place to truly experience God’s people and to practice our faith, building spiritual muscles, reflexes, and habits.

Look with me:

Acts 2

42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Now let me point out a few things here.

First of all, notice verse 44. It says, “All the believers were together.” and had everything in common. It doesn’t say they “met” together or that they “came” together. It says they “were” together. I think this is talking about physical proximity, but I think it’s more than that. It describes a “togetherness” that goes beyond location and speaks of their hearts. They were working out their faith together. They were likeminded and found ways to be in agreement – unified by Jesus. They had been apart, but now in Jesus, they have become “together.” I mean, we can be “with” someone and not be “with” them, right?!?! I can be with someone physically, but not with them emotionally or intellectually. Man, I’m not even always “with” Miranda, my wife when we talk about it this way. She loves Gilmore Girls. I’m definitely not “with” her. She doesn’t like Seinfeld so she’s not “with” me either. We don’t share that bond, but we do have a deeper bond in Jesus.

I actually believe this statement about the first Christ followers is one of God’s most amazing miracles! These people were from vastly different walks of life. They had opposing views on lots of issues, but they were still “with” each other. Can you imagine a group of democrats and republicans who are “with” each other? “Jesus over everything.” Right?!?! In Jesus, it is possible. We can find unity. Though we were apart, we can be “with” one another. As a matter of fact, if we are with Christ, abiding in Him, we are already “with” one another. This is community. This kind of “withness” is our goal here at BPF, and our vehicle for getting there is small groups.      

Now, Brazos Pointe emphasizes three primary activities in our groups. Bible Study, Community, and Care. We can see all of these in this passage. Let’s consider the 1st of these activities: Bible Study.

Now, Vs 42 says they were “devoted to the apostles’ teaching.” These teachings have become what we know now as the Bible today. In their time together, the Bible was central. It guided their lives. Their “withness” was found as they gathered around God’s Word, and they worked to both understand and obey it together. They didn’t just show up and learn and then walk away feeling proud of what they knew. No! They were dedicated to working it out and to living it out.

James 1:22 says “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

If you look closely at the Acts passage, it’s clear that they set up daily habits. It says they “continued” to do these things and it actually uses the word “daily.” They were practicing rhythms intentionally so they could live as they understood Jesus’ call on their lives. They knew that knowledge alone wouldn’t shape and form them, but small, obedient decisions repeated over and over were the key. It would take practice, effort, work, and intentionality. We’ve got to make conscious, calculated, and deliberate decisions about our own spiritual growth and our communities, or we will end up aged infants just big just babies.

The 2nd primary activity in a BPF small group is Community. Vs 42 says they were devoted “to fellowship.” Being together. Enjoying one another. They were committed to each other everywhere they went too. We see them together in public spaces like the temple studying the Bible, but it also says in vs 46, that it continued when they went home. It says they did this every day. Man, these guys couldn’t get enough of each other. And they couldn’t get enough of the Bible either. It was an obsession. Jesus compelled them to one another. Community, life together, “withness” was a habit and a rhythm that was growing in their lives, and the longer they practiced it, the deeper those roots became. Their community preferred the craziness of a crowded life with Jesus’ people over the solitary life of independent living. They made a good choice.

US Surgeon General said that isolation is worse for your health than 15 cigarettes/day.

Christian author, John Ortberg summed up a 7000 person study saying, “Researchers found that the most isolated people were 3 times more likely to die than those with strong relational connections. People who had bad health habits such as smoking, poor eating habits, or obesity or alcohol use, but strong social ties, lived significantly longer than people that had great health habits, but were isolated.”

Andy Stanley piggybacked on this saying, “It is better to eat Twinkies with good friends than to eat broccoli alone.” 

In addition to the Bible, history, science, and sociology all point to our need for community and the dangers of isolation. We were made for community.

The last of our 3 primary small group activities is Care. Vs 45 says they sold their possessions to care for “anyone who had need.”  I think that means they made sacrifices to care for the annoying people, and the ones who always seemed to need a little extra grace. It means people who are democrats and people who are republicans. It means people who are rich & poor, sick or healthy. It even means people that we don’t like. , . or people who are simply not like us. They took care of everyone.

Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

I love this verse. We can fulfill the law of Christ (that’s love) by helping others. “Fulfill” is a big word. And the “law of Christ” is a monumental task, but in one simple act, we can get ‘er done.

Now, I’ve been in churches for most of my life and when we hear about people going through struggles, we like to say, “I’ll pray for you.” We like saying that ‘cause it makes us feel better and sounds all spiritual, but how often do we actually pray? Sometimes what people really need is someone to come over with a truck and help them move their couch. Prayer is important and good, but a kind word, a shoulder to cry on, your presence at a hospital, a smiling face behind a coffee cup. . . man, sometimes these are the things that make the biggest difference. It’s been almost 15 years, and I’m still talking about people showing up in my front yard. By the way, these are the kinds of things that become simple and come naturally when we have the right kinds of relationships with people – when we have taken the time to truly invest in people and work over time to build a history with them. You’d probably stand in someone’s yard like that if you were close to them. You wouldn’t skip a hospital visit if it was your child in that bed. We fall over ourselves and make all kinds of sacrifices to attend the weddings of people that are close to us. When you have these kinds of relationships, you show up. And they show up for you. It’s just what you do. In a real community you are both one who has needs, and one who fills needs. One who cares and one who is cared for.

All of this is to say that here at BPF, we want you to have real community, and that can only be found among God’s people. We believe that it’s important to:

  • Be “with” other Christ followers
  • Be Devoted to Bible Study
  • Practice intentional habits for growth
  • Be committed to Christ following Community
  • Care for Others

Small groups are a place where God can work His greatest miracles through Bible Study, community and care. It’s the place where lives are forever changed – where people can know and be known, support and be supported. It’s where God’s people become the family that we were created for.  

We aim to create small groups that are interconnected communities of love and depth in a world of hyper-individualism, loneliness, and superficiality. We believe that practicing Christ-following community is stronger than the world and its’ influence. We may not be perfect, but we believe we’ve got some amazing groups who are true examples of the kind of community that Jesus has called us to.

 However, we must choose to be a part of it. It won’t happen by accident. It won’t happen simply because you chose it once, sometime in your past either. This is a choice we must intentionally make each and every day.

If you aren’t currently connected, I’d encourage you to find a way to get connected. I know your schedules are crazy, so I’m not asking you to do something more. I’m asking you to do something different. You may have to say NO to other things in order to say YES to Christ-following community. If you’ve been in a group before or are close to someone who is, join that group. If life forced you out for a season, jump back in. Don’t get comfortable in your isolation. If you’re new or don’t have other connections, the “Rooted” experience is the place to start. It’s a discipleship class designed to build connections around the Bible with some experiences to practice what you learn.

My wife, Miranda and I walked into a “Rooted” group at the beginning of this year and wondered if we were going to make any real connections, but just a few weeks in, we knew we had found some new friends. Our group will be a part of the kickoff event next Sunday and will begin meeting as a regular small group the following week. Here’s the thing though. We’re not just meeting. We became friends during “Rooted” and we have had a couple of other gatherings this summer just so we could stay connected. We seek each other out on Sundays and share what some might consider an annoying (but fun) text feed, but we love it. Our group is looking forward to being together again. It’s not just a meeting. It’s a gathering of friends. This is our hope and our prayer for you as well. Get in a “Rooted” group if you don’t have a small group. Talk to myself or Erin Wilson at the Next Step center in the foyer. You can also sign up for a Rooted class using the QR code on the seatback in front of you.

One last thing: I really want to be clear. I am not asking you to get involved in a group because we need more people in groups. I’m urging you cause I know that God created us for community, and I have found it. I know how much of a difference it has made in my life. I’m not special either. I honestly don’t know anyone in real community who isn’t grateful for it. I’m just “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” Like bread, community fills, and satisfies, sustains us, and gives us life. Now to be clear, Jesus is the bread, but it is community, God’s people, who serve it to us. (by the way, if you think you have community somewhere outside of Jesus, it’s not bread that they are serving you.)

We need people who will stand in our yard and we need to stand in the yards of others. I’m just grateful for what I’ve experienced and I want you to experience it too. Community is what the church is all about ‘cause we come to know Jesus through His people. We hear echoes of His voice and see demonstrations of His love through His people. Community is where we experience the hands and feet of Jesus. 

AMEN

Chisels for Priorities

This is the first message I shared at Brazos Pointe Fellowship. The series was Chisels: Scriptures that God has used to shape us. I chose the Gibeonite story from Joshua 9 because it shows clearly how the enemy can use good things over time to take territory from the Lord in our hearts.   

Listen here:

Here’s the video:

Here’s the text for the message:

My son Kasen is a Jr at Brazoswood now, but he gave me permission to tell you about when he was 6. From early on He was very physical and sports came easy to him. He rode a bike without training wheels the same week that he turned 3. He was always one of the best athletes in every sport he played. However, when He tried out for the swim team at 6, it all changed. To make the team, he was supposed to swim across the pool with a “recognizable stroke.” He jumped confidently into the pool and . . . well . . . let’s just say it was not very “recognizable.” OK, It was bad, but it was fine with me. I didn’t really want to give up all our Saturdays for swim meets. If he made the team, it would have been great, but if he didn’t make the team, it still would have been great.

I didn’t really care, but Kasen was ready to quit. He wasn’t the best swimmer in the pool and it was hard, so he was discouraged and he was just done. In that moment however, something changed in me. I didn’t want a kid who quit anytime something was difficult. I didn’t care about the team, but I cared about my son and I knew this was a teachable moment – a formative moment. I wanted him to learn how to work for something – how to have a little grit. He agreed to practice every day for the next two weeks and when he tried out again, he killed it. He joined the team and then went on to so much more. He went to the State swim meet that same year. He currently holds the state record for 8 and under backstroke, and even got gold medals at a National swim meet a few years later.

More importantly, he knows how to work for something. He doesn’t quit when things are tough. He has grit. This summer, he is actually working as a swim coach on that same team.

Swim has been a good thing for our family. It has been one of the tools God has used for shaping us, and we are grateful for it. I couldn’t let Kasen quit, ‘cause I recognized how that moment could shape him and be important to his future. And it has been.

As the new Discipleship Minister at my church writing about chisels and spiritual formation . . . man this is like music to my ears! This is what my job is all about. And I think it’s important to remember that we are being formed, shaped, molded, and changed all the time. Something is formed in us every day – both good and bad. If I had let Kasen quit that day, it would have formed something in him too – just not the formation that I, as his father would have chosen for him.

We can’t avoid change. Spiritual formation is guaranteed. We will be formed. The question is not if we are being formed, it’s who has the chisel in hand. While God works to make us more like Him, this world aims to chisel away and distort the image of God within us. God wants one thing, the world tears it apart. God will win that battle every day that we abide in Him and give Him the space to work.

On the other hand, if we place our lives in the hands of the world, if we are apathetic about it, or even if we aren’t intentional, we are putting ourselves in danger of being formed into something other than God’s highest and best. This is where it gets tough though. I mean, this moment with Kasen was obvious to me. It was easy to see with his reaction to just give up. It was a clear moment that he could learn something. I saw the moment and I responded well (which I don’t always do.) But it’s not always so simple and easy. These moments can be tough to spot.  Sometimes they aren’t so obvious. Sometimes they’re subtle. Sometimes I miss it. I don’t recognize all the ways I’m being shaped. There are things that creep into our lives. Subtle things. Things that are good things. Things that gradually, bit by bit, grab tiny pieces of our hearts. And if they get too many of those pieces, they can begin to control us. In this way, these good things can become like little “g” gods without us even realizing how it happened. Good things that become like gods are bad things.

I’m going to share a story from the Old Testament today, that I believe is a similar situation. It’s a story about a formational moment that God saw for his children. You see, for 400 years, His chosen people in the Old Testament, the Israelites, had been shaped and forged into slaves in Egypt. God saw them there, as they were, and loved them, but He wanted more for them. He wanted them to represent Him to the entire world, so He miraculously rescued them from slavery and had a plan to bring them into a new land for a new start. Unfortunately, with their slave mentality, they weren’t going to represent Him very well.

God needed to form them and shape them to look more like Himself. (That’s the point for us too.) All of this meant they had to be holy – set apart and spiritually pure. So God had to keep them to Himself. He had to be their only influence. He had to keep them away from distractions or anything that might hinder their holiness. So as they entered the new promised land, God told them not to make any treaties with the people that occupied the land. He even told them to destroy them. . . Destroy the kings and idols that they find in the land. Destroy the distractions.

By the way, this is still God’s desire: You and I are still called to destroy the kings & idols that are found in our hearts.

Destroy the distractions that hinder our holiness.

Now, let’s think a minute about these distractions – the kings they were to destroy. What is a king? Kings hold authority over a specific location or people. They are sovereign within a certain territory and hold power over its’ people. God tells Joshua, (He’s the leader of God’s people at this time.) God tells him to remove all the kings in the land and to destroy them because God Himself would be the only King. He alone is King. He alone is in control. He will not share His authority. If they were going to represent Him to the world, He had to be first place in their lives.

An English writer from the 1800s named John Ruskin says,

“God will put up with a great many things in the human heart, but there is one thing that He will not put up with in it – a second place. He who offers God a second place, offers Him no place.”

As Christ followers, we must remove all the kings and idols that once occupied territory in our hearts.” We must clear the land and offer our hearts to Jesus, the one and only King and then continue to protect and defend God’s territory.

Our church uses a resource called, “Rooted” for small groups. Week 5 is the “strongholds” week. The whole evening is focused on some of the obvious kings that need to be removed from our hearts. Things like fear, pride, bitterness, control, despair, sexual immorality, insecurity, deceit. . . These are clear and easy to spot. As he entered the promised land, Joshua had won battles against some obvious enemies like this at Jericho and Ai. They were strongholds. They were obvious enemies. They were hard to miss.

But the ones I want to talk through today are less obvious. They’re subtle enemies. They are kings that pretend to be friends. These subtle kings are much harder to spot.

Before reading he Scripture below, remember that God is forming His people under the leadership of Joshua. They are former slaves who need to become holy so they can represent God Himself. God has told them to destroy the Kings and idols in the land. At this point in the story, they have done well. Joshua has listened and obeyed God at every turn. They have defeated both Jericho and the city of Ai in some miraculous and incredible ways. Joshua and the people are in a good place when all this goes down. 

Joshua 9: 1 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things . . . 2 they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel. 3 However, when the people of Gibeon (who also live in the Promised land) heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they resorted to a ruse: (They disguised themselves) They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”

7 The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”

(remember: God said no treaties)

8 “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. (These are lies. They really want Joshua to serve them.)

But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

9 They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—11 And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. 13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”

14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. 15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

Wait!?! What?!?! Joshua is a Bible hero. He’s not supposed to do this. He’s supposed to do it right and be our example. Yes . . . but he was deceived. He was tricked. The Gibeonites weren’t obvious kings. They were subtle kings. They deceived Joshua by pretending to be from another land.

Did you notice how he messed up? Where he made his mistake? Did you catch it? Look at vs 14.

Joshua did NOT inquire of the LORD.

Joshua undermined the whole thing by just powering through on his own. The Lord had given him success in two huge victories. He was confident. He was on a winning streak. He thought he was in control. He relied on himself.  He relied on himself.

Alright. So. . . let’s get personal here.

What are the deceptive kings in your life?

Who are your Gibeonites? What is fighting for more territory in your life? If you’re a Christ follower, then Jesus is the one and only King over it all. It’s all His territory. What kings have tricked you? What relationships or habits or activities have crept into your life and consume you? These aren’t “bad” things. They might even be good. These aren’t obvious kings. These are Gibeonites – the subtle deceivers.

I’ve got more of these than I care to admit, but I’m gonna tell you about one.

Actually, in some ways I’ve already told you about it. My story about Kasen and the swim team is where it all started. Over the years, that amazing formational moment with swim has grown into a Gibeonite king. Today, that king goes by another name though: Waterpolo.

Don’t get me wrong. We love waterpolo and the community of people that we have become a part of is amazing. It’s just that it’s not always a great and Godly endeavor either. Both school and club waterpolo have occupied territory in our lives that was once the Lord’s.

We have missed worship services for tournaments. We have spent money on hotels, food, gas, and fees, for tournaments, and practices, and waterpolo experiences. That money could have been used for eternal/kingdom purposes. We have spent emotional energy, shed tears, and been angry over waterpolo drama – not to mention when a ref makes a bad call. I will jump out of my seat screaming and waving my arms around like a fool. I can get caught up in the moment and completely lose control of myself. Just last season, I found myself yelling at a ref so obnoxiously that from the deck of the pool, he yelled back into the stands at me saying, “You think you’re a better ref?” Then he pulled out a little notebook to tell me what dates I could come to referee training. But, it didn’t slow me down. I just kept yelling. When the game was over, a friend said, “You know it’s a bad call when the guy wearing that shirt is screaming.” I looked down at my shirt. It said, “Be Kind” in big bold letters. I felt really small. I didn’t exactly reflect Jesus to that ref. I am a walking contradiction.

Anyway, a bad call is like the fast track for anger to become my king. Anything that can do the things that waterpolo can do to me, probably occupies more of my heart than I really even know.

To be clear, waterpolo is not all bad. There are great and Godly things that have happened too. God has used waterpolo to form us into His image.  We’ve had spiritual conversations with people who aren’t church people and we’ve been able to be a steady and consistent witness with many people in that community.

What I am saying is this: We’ve been on both sides of the line between what glorifies God and what doesn’t.

My guess is that this has happened to you too. It’s probably not waterpolo, but there’s some sort of Gibeonite in your life too. Maybe it’s another sport, or a relationship, maybe social media, or a habit, or something that has become an addiction. I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s a subtle slope. Slow and seemingly unpredictable.

My family was shaped by a series of tiny decisions. When we started, there were no games on Sundays. However, as my kids got older, schedules got more demanding and one Sunday, we said, “The team is counting on us. We can’t let them down. It’s just one week. Our kids are still connected to the body of Christ.” We justified it. Each decision was small enough that it was easy to write it off.

Like Joshua, we were deceived and like Joshua, I didn’t “inquire of the Lord.” I thought I didn’t need His help ‘cause it seemed like such a small decision. I relied on myself

Author, Mark Lawrence says,

There’s a slope towards evil, a gentle gradient that can be ignored at each step, unfelt. It’s not until you look back, see the distant heights where you once lived, that you understand your journey. (from Emperor of Thorns)

That’s where I’m at right now. I’m looking back where we’ve come from and where this path is headed. This is my fault. I can see it clearly now and I’ve got to do something different.

So where do I go from here? How do I fix it? Do I tell my kids it’s over. We’re done with waterpolo? Do we kick waterpolo out of our lives? Sometimes, I think that is the answer, but this time, I don’t think it’s that simple. I think it’s more complicated and nuanced than that. It’s too nuanced for me, so let’s go back to Joshua. What did he do?

After he figured out how he had been deceived: That very same day.

Joshua 9:27 “That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the need of the altar of the Lord.

Do you see it? He didn’t go back on his word. He didn’t break his treaty. He didn’t kick them out. Instead, Joshua made them servants of the Lord. It’s genius really. 

He put God back in His rightful place as King. He put the Lord over the Gibeonites!

I think that’s my answer. I think it’s your answer – the answer for all of us. No matter if your Gibeonite is waterpolo, or social media, an addiction, a relationship, or whatever.

Man, we gotta put God back on the throne. We gotta make Him King over it all. He deserves to sit in His rightful place, which is never 2nd place. In the ways your Gibeonite serves Him, you’re good. In the ways that it doesn’t, well. . . those are tougher decisions, but they are decisions that we know the answers to. They’re just decisions that we don’t like. We’ve got to repent and turn back to God. The issue here is more about having the courage to make the right decision. How will we choose to be shaped in those moments?

Will you choose the chisel in God’s hand or the one in the hand of your Gibeonite?

Here’s what I know. We’ve got to do something different. We can’t just keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’ve got to be intentional. Like my son Kasen, it’s gonna take hard work and grit. When God swings the hammer at His chisel, it will be painful. It hurts to cut these things out of our lives, but they will be worth it. We will look more like him as we create new practices and habits so our reflex is to make Jesus King.

There are things we can learn from Joshua’s mistake. We must:

  • Be Wise: Inquire of the Lord. Don’t be deceived.
  • Be Ready: Refuse to rely on yourself.
  • Prioritize: Make Jesus King over everything – especially your Gibeonites.

This is our church core value: Jesus over Everything. Right?

By the way, I should finish the story. In the next chapter, the Gibeonites call upon Joshua to protect them. Who do they think they are? They want him to serve them because of a treaty they tricked him into. Joshua doesn’t abandon them. (which is what I would have been tempted to do thinking now they’ll get what they deserve now) Instead, Joshua comes with his whole army and defends the very people who deceived him. That’s crazy to me. But Joshua did what Jesus would do years later.

As the true King, Jesus rescues you in spite of your sin. Even if you come to Him pretending you’re someone else, He forgives you and saves you and protects you. He isn’t fooled. He knows every part of you and still makes an irrevocable treaty with you. Are you hearing me? He knows every part of you and still makes a treaty with you. This treaty is authorized by His work on the cross and it’s signed in blood. It’s an everlasting treaty and it gives you full rights as a child of the King. The King who will rule and reign forever. If you invite other Gibeonites into His territory, He will subdue them. In Him, there is only victory. Let Him be King of your heart and your life. It’s the best decision you’ll ever make. Jesus is King! Jesus is King! Jesus is King!

Prayer:

Dear God, We thank You and praise You that You are King. You rule and reign over everything. The heavens and earth declare Your glory. The planets were formed and move around their orbits at Your command. The wind and the waves, they listen to You. All of creation responds to You with a resounding, “Yes!” And yet Lord, when I look at my own heart, full of kings and idols, hardened and distracted. I have the audacity to tell You “No.” Lord, forgive me. Turn me from these ways, back to You. Teach me to inquire of You at every turn. Give me courage to choose the chisel in You hand. Send Your Spirit to lead me to destroy the distractions so that I might be holy and represent You well. Lord, You are King over everything. Today, may You be king over my heart too. AMEN.