Paideia Studies

The Darkness in Humanity and the Light of Christ!

2011-11-11T20:59:37Z

There is a darkness in humanity, a quest for freedom which is neither noble nor praise worthy. This quest is against being, but speaks as though it is the fulfillment of being. There are few things in life that can produce beauty without order and purpose, yet our quest continues to strain against the order that would bring beauty out of our chaos. We want to be our own people. You may succeed in being your own person in either life producing or destructive ways. Yet, there is truly no happy medium, there is no neutral zone, no common ground between life and death. They are not poles on a continuum, they are independent places separated by a gulf, traversable in one direction only and by one means alone.

Can we find light to fill the darkness in us? Can we overcome the void that is reminiscent of the "Tohu vaVohu, vaHoshek" a Hebrew phrase in Genesis 1:2 translated "formless and void and darkness..." What has produced the wreck of formless, voided, darkness in the creature today? What hope is there for The "Wasted and Wild and Dark" (another possible translation of "tohu vaVohu vaHoshek ") humanity? You may look around you and see devastation and you would be right in your assessment. Yet the very same transaction in Genesis is the same which must occur in us today.

In Genesis 1:2 we hear the statement of the wrecked condition of the earth and we see the presence of hope hovering above the face of the abyss, the deep into which the darkness pours. The "Ruach-Elohim" The Spirit of God is hovering above the wreck and ruin of the earth. Then in the very next verse, the transaction of deliverance commences. Genesis 1:3 relates it this way in the New Living Translation, "Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light."

Hope for the darkness in humanity is found in the declared word of God as it was and continues to be for the " Tohu vaVohu" in our lives and world. The declared word of God was carried in the mouths of the prophets and has been finally declared in the life and finished work of Jesus Christ. John 1:14 say it plainly, "So the Word became humanand made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. "(NLT)

The darkness in humanity is overcome by the life of Christ Jesus because as John 1:4 testifies, "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind." (NIV) As we become free, it shall never be done through the meonic, "anti-life" assertion of your own freedom to self-will. We become free by submitting to the discipline of the Word made flesh as his followers, disciples. Our life is made possible by the light that he places in us.

Here are the words of 2 Corinthians 4:6&7, "For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." (NLT)

You may consider the following statement overly simplistic, but it is stated so because the Word of God declares it to be. The darkness which remains in us is not there because the light is insufficient to fill us, but because we love the darkness and by self-willing, we wrestle against true freedom. Our supposed quest for freedom apart from The Word of God, Christ results in the loss of freedom. We retreat into the hopelessness of "Tohu vaVohu, vaHoshek" and darkness fills our earthen vessels. The only way out is to advance through Jesus Christ, the Visible, Revealed Word of God. Nicolas Berdyaev's book, The Destiny of Man. offers this beautiful statement:

Then comes God's second Act: He descends into non-being, into the abyss that has degenerated into evil; He manifests Himself not in power but in sacrifice. The Divine sacrifice, the Divine Self-Crucifixion must conquer evil meonic (anti-life) freedom by enlightening it from within, without forcing it, without depriving the created world of freedom."

Berdyaev says plainly, that we by virtue of our fallen state cannot pursue light and life because we will ourselves toward death. Only God by His own act of sacrifice/Love can reverse the destruction of our self-will; we are incapable of doing so at all. Our way only leads in one direction. Proverbs 14:12 says it best, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (KJV) We are acted upon by the Love of God in our darkness, and He by doing so fills us with His life and light.

The solution to the darkness in humanity is the Word of God, Jesus Christ. It is the light and power that shines in us, the lamp that guides us as we walk the path and the source of our boast in the Lord, because He has placed it in us. Freedom is made perfect/mature in surrender to the light and Life.

Principles of Livng Life as A Believer!

2011-03-15T02:42:16Z

The life of the believer is governed by three supreme and interconnected principles. A believer is characterized by an expectant hope for the future fulfillment of an unrealized promise. A believer by nature is hopeful and forward looking. It is the expectation of a promise fulfilled that drives the believer on through the gauntlet of obstacles, setback, challenges, critics and defeat. The believer is a dreamer, a person of unique character who is held steady by the gravitational pull of their hope for a promise.

The Pull Of Promise in The Believer’s Life

The believer is kept by the promise. The believer is empowered by the promise. Where the promise is obscured, the belief withers and dies. For this reason alone, we discover that vision is more powerful than sight. There is an unwritten law that rules every living human being; “When one’s behavior changes, look to their beliefs for the answer.”

We are all powered by promise. It is the promise of a first kiss that emboldens us to risk rejection. It is for the promise of a better lifestyle that we endure the rigors of academic study. Our degree is our key that unlocks the guarded passageways of professional promise. The promise of eternal life prompts our profession of faith in Christ.

Where there is no promise, there is no hope.

Promise: The Fountain from Which Hope Springs Eternal

The life of a believer is moored by the hope which remains focused upon the promise. It is hope that keeps the believer warm when distance and time separate them from the fulfilled promise. Hope is the natural state of life; it is the substance of childhood visions of Christmas morning, the joy that overwhelms the wedding day, which draws tears from the well of newborn parent’s eyes. Hope springs eternal from the fountain of promise.

The believer is a teller of futures hoped for; the pursuer of fortunes unseen, yet experienced vividly with every waking and many sleeping moments. This is the substance of Hope. The writer of Hebrews says “Faith is the substance of things Hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hope is the compass pointing to the promise and faith is the power which drives us to it.

Faith: The Present Reality of A Steadfast Hope

Too often faith and belief are confused. They are not synonymous. Faith is the act of pursuing the hope. Faith is the single irrefutable form of evidence that one is a believer. Faith is not what you believe; it is what you do and who you become because you believe. Faith is the practice of your belief. As such, Faith is a verb. It is what you do that moves you ever closer to the hoped for thing that signals fulfillment of the promise.

We hear the writer of the New Testament book, Hebrews, echo this same truth as he writes in chapter 11, “By faith Abel offered…, By faith Enoch was taken…, By faith Noah…built, By faith Abraham…obeyed and went. Each of their ‘acts’ of faith and others were focused upon a hope. Hope steadies those who live the life of a believer and endure.

Faith is the power to pursue the hope and overtake the promise.

The life of a believer is an expectant and hope filled life, guided by the principles inherent in their belief: Faith empowers the believer to pursue the hope which inspires the believer to overtake the promise. These three principles form the substance of the believer’s life.

Our Lives As Believers

2010-05-10T18:45:29Z

The Pull Of Promise in The Believer’s Life

Where there is no promise, there is no hope.

Promise: The Fountain from Which Hope Springs Eternal

Hope is the compass pointing to the promise and faith is the power which drives us to it.

Faith: The Present Reality of A Steadfast Hope

Faith is the power to pursue the hope and overtake the promise.

Victorious Living: Planning & Insight

2010-04-12T04:01:21Z

Worry vs. Concern

There is a distinct difference between worry and concern. Worry is rooted in a lack of trust and faith as we confront a situation real or imagined. When we worry we focus and meditate upon the worst possible outcome and generate immense amounts of fear. Worry immobilizes, and it stagnates people who are filled with fear. Concern is rooted in compassion for someone or the desire for the best outcome for ourselves. At its best concern is founded upon the belief that our involvement will bring about a change for the best and that God will make the greater good apparent to us or the person about whom we are concerned. Concern moves us to act to resolve the issue that has created the concern. Concern and caring are closely akin to one another because it is only when we care that we will work to change the circumstance or situation that we believe needs to change.

Planning and Insight

God’s instruction helps us overcome the issues that plague us and cause much grief in our lives. Proverbs 3: 21-26 tells us the following:

My child, don’t lose sight of good planning and insight. Hang on to them, for they fill you with life and bring you honor and respect. They keep you safe on your way and keep your feet from stumbling. You can lie down without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams. You need not be afraid of disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked. For the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

Planning

The scripture is clear that it is good planning that assists us in living above worry. Preparation is the hallmark of real successful worry- free living and working. The scripture identifies planning as a key to a worry-free life. This is important because we must recognize that people can accomplish a great deal of work if the project is properly planned. Moreover, if we plan into our lives that there will be challenges that we will encounter, then we can prepare for them by managing our attitudes in the midst of those circumstances.

Insight

The scripture also indicates that insight is critical to worry-free living. Insight is the ability to look at a situation and discern from it the outcomes that will occur. Insight is born out of hindsight. The greatest challenge that we have in our lives is that we have short memories. If each of us took a quick inventory of the things that God has brought us through, then we would not be so quick to worry and complain about our personal challenges or circumstances. Your Faith in God and His promises become the lens through which you and I can transform our hindsight into insight. Through Faith insight becomes a ground for action.

Faith is a form of knowledge that empowers us to move forward without fear or doubt. The scripture tells us that the source of our security is The Lord. We have all experienced the saving Grace of God and have found ourselves in circumstances and situations, most of our own making, which have challenged our belief and infused us with fear. It is Faith in God, who is our only hope, which gives us the power to work past our fear and to overcome the overwhelming sense worry that often bogs us down.

Victorious Living

2010-04-06T02:36:07Z

Wisdom That Defeats Worry

There are two primary thieves that steal our joy and rob us of our power. Doubt and worry are enemies to a healthy life and we cannot afford to hand so easy a victory to these two imposters that build their case upon imagined facts. Jesus tells us this in Matthew 6:25, 27, 31-34 as he says:

“So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink and clothes, doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of Course not. So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. And he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Jesus tells us that worry does little more than rob us of peace today. Remembering that the “Just shall live by faith, not by sight” is the key to victorious living. Why, because Fear, which immobilizes, and Faith, which energizes, are polar opposites.

Worry Defined

What is worry? Worry is the result of focusing and meditating on the things that you do not want to happen. Worry creates an ominous sense of dread and anticipation that the worst is going to happen. Worry creates fear and paralyzes most people who would otherwise launch out into the deeper waters and accomplish more in life.

Worry is operative at all levels and immobilizes people of every age, race, creed, color, nationality, ethnicity and economic standing. There has never been nor will there ever be a greater thief that strikes fear in the hearts of millions and cheats them out of their heritage and legacy of hope and anticipated blessing quite like worry. Worry is rooted in distrust and is related to faithlessness.

As disciples there should be no room in our lives for worry. The moment that doubt attempts to overtake our thoughts we must remember that our hope is built on faith in the Power of God to perform the things that He said that He would perform. The following passage helps to clarify what the source of worry is in our lives.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make you paths straight.” Proverbs 3: 5 & 6 (NIV)

Each one of us has been caught in the trap of worry before. Most of the things that we worry about are situations that grow out of our lack of discipline. The Scripture tells us that when we lean on our own understanding we also make room for struggles to overwhelm us in life. Yet when we trust in the Lord with all our Heart (Mind), He will take the detours and wrong turns out of our path.

What Do You Want To Do?

2010-03-24T20:46:25Z

Is it better to be known for the things you stand for, or for the things you stand against? This is an important question because the “Church World” is often characterized by the things we oppose rather than the things we support and advocate.

It is like your child who when asked what they want to do says, “I dunno!” The same child who just said “I dunno” to the question will in the same breath respond, “I don’t want to do that!” to each of your suggested activities. What is clear is that we know what we don’t want so much better than what we do want. Our inverted logic results in a backwards way of approaching life.

The church spends much of its time moving away from the things it considers Sin or Sinful. We perfectly articulate our anti-position yet fail to communicate our pro-position. The church moves forward in those instances where we successfully communicate what we advocate. The greatest challenge is to align our advocacy with the pure purpose of Christ in the world.

The “Anti” method of ministry makes for a combative, reactive, punitive and mean-spirited community. The “Pro” method of ministry creates a militant, proactive, redemptive and grace spirited community.

Jesus announces His ministry in Luke 4:18 – 21. This is the same ministry we have been commissioned as His Disciples to continue and to do more of in His earthly absence. Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to…” each succeeding statement clearly articulates for whom He has come to advocate.

Jesus has come to advocate for the “poor”, “brokenhearted”, “the captives”, “the blind” and the “bruised”. Had we asked Jesus, “what do you want to do? He would not have responded “I dunno!” Moreover, He did not spend much time articulating what He opposed.

Sadly, the few glimpses we have of the Lord’s opposition are narrowly focused upon the religious of the day who were notorious for their “anti-positions” relating to people.

When Jesus spoke these words written in the scrolls of Isaiah on that day recorded in Luke 4, He was clarifying that he advocates for those who are dispossessed, disconnected, afflicted, oppressed and wounded. He is the giver of Life in all its richness, and He has come to advocate for the living dead, looking beyond our faults and seeing our needs.

Jesus prospered prostitutes and adulterers because He advocated life for those dwelling in the shadow of death. He did not advocate their lifestyle, life choices or condition even though it is clear that He was keenly aware of it.

Instead, Jesus declared that love covers a multitude of sin, that His grace is sufficient. Jesus did not excuse Sin, but embraced the Sinner in redemptive love and grace to the extent that the Sinner was transformed. Can we be for Love and Life even for people who are enslaved by Sin? Is there enough grace in our witness to embrace the homosexual, the adulterer, the whore, the abuser and yet hold them accountable for their destructive and Sinful lives?

Or do we fear them, and shun them because we fear what is in us? Now we must ask and answer the question, “What do you want to do?” How will you respond?

The Battle Against The Seige of Ideas!

2009-10-18T12:00:45Z

Ancient Wisdom, Contemporary Power!

We are instructed to,“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” in Proverbs 4:23 KJV I particularly like this translation of the verse from the King James Version of the Bible, because of the word, “KEEP”. At the time the translation was being produced the “Keep” was a fortified structure located in the interior sections of a castle. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archeology 2002 as Keep is,

A strongly fortified residence of a king or lord in which the KEEP, which may be freestanding or surrounded by a defensive enclosure, is the principal defensive feature.

According to Wikipedia,

“The keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main habitation area, or contain important stores such as the armory, food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a siege.”

The relationship between the word, “Keep” and the KJV is that the translation was completed in 1611 during a time when the Keep was in common use in castles and other fortified structures. The translation clearly indicates that the human heart, (mind) the seat of human thought must be protected from assault and siege at all cost. It is the most precious possession of all human life.

It is the point of genesis for our thought life and therefore determines the course of our actions, habits and destiny. The Today’s English Version (TEV) interprets the passage in the following way,

“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts”

We are what we eat, and we become what we allow into our minds. It is an act of futility to attempt to behave in a manner that is inconsistent with how you see yourself. The truth is that we have a body image, and our eating habits, exercise habits and health maintenance habits all conspire to achieve the image we have of ourselves. To change your body, you must change your body image.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, the famed author of Psychocybernetics discovered that his plastic surgery patients continued to see themselves as unattractive even after he had successfully performed surgery. He concluded that you must address the thought patterns which create the self-concept to align them with the goal of plastic surgery to be successful. What does this mean? It simply confirms the scriptures, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

The quality of life you either enjoy or dislike is driven by the quality of the contents of your “Keep”. The wisdom of God advises and instructs us to place our minds under constant guard against the ideas and concepts that lay siege to it. We experience a constant barrage of images and stimuli all designed to rewrite your self-concept and your root values.

There are some things we should not expose ourselves to; simply because they have a profound, albeit insidious impact upon the contents of our "Keep". Unfortunately, what goes into the "Keep" is only half the problem. It is what comes out of the "Keep" that makes the difference.

The King James translation says, “Out of it are the issues of life.” The issue of life is the blood that flows through your body and keeps you healthy and alive. The implication is that a contaminated "Keep", produces diseased and dying issues.

The wisdom of God translated in The TEV, plainly states the promise and the problem. How you think, shapes how you live. Your thought life and the things which influence it may result in a distorted and deformed life. The true power of this passage of scripture is that no one is strong enough to withstand the impact of destructive influences. You may believe you are, but the witness of scripture begs to differ.

Ancient Wisdom, Contemporary Power!

2009-09-27T12:00:05Z

Ancient wisdom is often forgotten wisdom. It is for this very reason that we continue to make the same mistakes and repeat past errors that wreck our lives. We can see clearly from the lives of people around us or by simply looking in the mirror why it is smart to look to the past for wisdom for our present.

Since the first word was committed to ink in the first mechanically published volume by Johannes Gutenberg generations have sought power for each succeeding one through literacy. Why is this true? It is true because, if you can read and understand what you have read, then you can glean and benefit from the knowledge and experiences of the past. No longer does each person have to invest the personal time and pain necessary to acquire wisdom.

Reading the experiences and conclusions drawn from other people’s pain and growth can become the vicarious source of our progress and prosperity. There is an African proverb which says,

“It is a mystery, why the child must bump their own head.”

Each succeeding generation bumps their head on the same low hanging beams of life. The bumps are not necessary, because there are signs, maps and markers warning each generation to duck, detour and dodge the source of our bumps and bruises.

This series is dedicated to offering wisdom that empowers you and your progeny to save yourself some of the bumps and bruises of life. The source of the wisdom is the Biblical Proverbs found in the book titled the same. The hope is that you will benefit from the ancient wisdom and prosper from past generation’s painful life lessons without the pain.

An eagerness to grow that is supported by a willingness to learn is the first quality of a wise person. Proverbs 18:15 records,

“Intelligent people are always ready to learn, their ears are open for knowledge.”

An earlier version of the New Living Translation interpreted the second portion of this passage in this way, “In fact they seek it out.”

The Bible tells us that intelligence or wisdom comes as the result of learning and that learning is connected to hearing knowledge. The Bible asserts in this small passage of scripture that a person who is not ready to learn and who is not looking for or open to knowledge is not intelligent. The New International Version (NIV) uses the word, “Discerning” in place of “intelligent people” suggesting that the chief skill is the ability to decide between options when presented with multiple choices.

The NIV suggests that the person who does not seek knowledge and who is unready to learn when presented with new knowledge is also unable to discern between options when they are presented. A person who is unable to discern may be easily tricked by people who take advantage of their lack of discernment.

Typically we are not confronted with one clearly good and one clearly bad option. Many times we have to discern between the good, the better and the best options. When presented with no clearly bad options it is difficult to decide which option to exercise. The only remedy for poor discernment is the solution prescribed in Proverbs 18:15;

Prepare to learn and seek knowledge that empowers you to become more intelligent. According to the Chambers Dictionary, intelligence is:

“The ability to use memory, knowledge, experience, understanding, reasoning, imagination and judgment in order to solve problems and adapt to new situations.”

Ultimately, intelligence is about solving problems as we encounter them. If we don’t acquire enough knowledge that empowers us to solve problems, then we become dependent upon others to solve our problems for us. Rest assured that we will never be pleased with the solutions others create for us. Ignorance makes you a victim, knowledge empowers you to prosper. You choose!

Spiritual Integrity in Discipleship

2009-09-06T12:00:01Z

A key concern of Discipleship and the Discipline we follow is achieving and maintaining integrity in our life and practice as followers of Jesus Christ. Spiritual Integrity demands that we be what we say we profess to be. The relationship between what we claim about ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ must approximate our practice as believers or we become living lies, deceptions masquerading as true followers. God relates this truth in Proverbs 11:3 “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity” (NIV)

Jesus Instructs in Matthew 5:33-37 in this way,

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

Spiritual Integrity is a Discipline that produces a result in the disciple, but also offers benefits to the unbeliever. Your exercise of spiritual integrity produces an inner strength that empowers the believer to stand against accusation and assault; confident in the knowledge that they are who they profess to be. There is a ministry to the world in integrity among believers. When believers behave in a manner that is consistent with their testimony about themselves, the Witness to Christ is strengthened in the world.

As a spiritual discipline, Spiritual Integrity is a make or break proposition. We are called to live before men that they may see our good works and glorify God in heaven.

We do this by living as representatives of Christ. Our integrity is the only means by which we can demonstrate our kinship with Christ. We are told, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:20 NIV.) We are Christ’s representatives and the world will credit or discredit the Cause of Christ by virtue of the works that we do as His disciples. We can claim that our failures do not impact the work of Christ but we can bring reproach against the “name of Christ” and thereby diminish the witness of the Saving Work of Christ in the lives of those we say we were saved and called to serve.

Should we fail the Spiritual Integrity test before the world, we in fact expose the Cross of Christ to public ridicule. The public spectacle disciples make of the Cross is a reverse of the Word of God which says,

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

We make the Word of God and the Work of Christ a public spectacle by living as though it has no authority over our lives. What Paul is teaching us is that our “worth” will be measured by how we live out our lives as disciples. This is not to say that God values any one more highly than another, for the scripture teaches that the Father is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). God loves His children equally, and showed His Love, by the sacrifice He made on our behalf.

Paul is giving voice and expression to an old saying that “Our word is our worth and our worth is our word.” In the Hebrew mind, there was no distinction between word and deed; therefore to make a statement of commitment was as much the act, as the act itself

Discipleship: Raising the Standard

2009-08-30T12:00:43Z

Discipleship implies and presupposes that both a master and a clearly defined discipline exist. In order for a discipline to be engaged there must be a vision or a dream of what the followers of the discipline will accomplish in their lives.

Perhaps a further illustration will make this issue clear. Let’s suppose that a married couple decide to have a child. When the wife becomes pregnant she decides that she will stop smoking because of the potentially negative effect that it will have on the unborn child. The discipline that is required is only really possible because the pain of staying the same became greater than the pain of change. It is this principle that moves us to claim any discipline, it is the dream of some greater thing that the discipline will make available to us by being obedient to the vision.

Proverbs 16:26 tells us, “It is good for workers to have an appetite; an empty stomach drives them on.”

The writer of Hebrews teaches powerful truths that will either disciple us or we can ignore and fail to reap the benefit of God’s Wisdom as revealed in it. As disciples we must ask ourselves, who will be our master, in other words, by what discipline will I live and thrive? The issue is one of whose leadership will I accept over my life.

Paul tells us in Philippians 3: 7& 8 that he counts all things that were important to him as unimportant “in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”. Paul goes on to write that:

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear friends, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us up to heaven. (NLT)

Here we find Paul describing his striving to reach the end. Paul is revealing a principle of growth and development in that he tells us that we too must stretch and grow into greater responsibility. Paul also reminds us to not allow the past to define our future, but to inform our future. It is in this idea, of looking forward, that we find the standard that Paul makes later reference to.

The New American Standard Bible translates Philippians 3:16 in the following way: “...however let us keep living by that standard to which we have attained.” The standard of the discipled life is the life of Jesus Christ, but not only the life, it is the entire Christ event from birth through death and resurrection continuing into His resurrected Lordship. With Christ Jesus as the standard by which we live then the words that He spoke have new meaning for each disciple as we make progress in growth through the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says in John 12:32, “And when I am lifted up on the Cross, I will draw everyone to myself.” Here we find the standard of self-giving Love being raised as the standard of discipled relationships. It will be this act of love that we as disciples will hold up to the world as the model or standard of true redeeming, life giving love. It is the model of God giving His Life for a rebellious, hateful, bunch of children to save their lives that will draw men and women to Christ.

This love must manifest itself in the way that disciples love one another, because it is the standard of continuing discipleship. So if we are to raise a banner, a standard above our camp to clearly identify the rule and law of our community as all standards are raised to do. Let us make the empty cross the standard that we raise, representing the Love of God in the sinless life, death, resurrection and Lordship of Jesus the Christ.