Naked Before God in Community: “But I’m an Introvert!”

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Don Merritt

When it comes to being naked before God in community, you might think that the whole idea is just not possible, for even though you understand that the “naked” part is a metaphor, you are an introvert, and anything “in community” is hard to fathom. I am INTP-A on the Briggs test. That’s right gang, I am one of those introverted characters who hates parties, social events and… community in general; I would much prefer to be alone and unnoticed. The funny thing is, quite a few people that I know, have no idea that I am an introvert, particularly if they only know me from seeing me in front of a room full of people, for being in front of a room (public speaking in other words) has never been even the slightest problem for me; maybe that’s because of the “A” part which stands for assertive.

At any rate, in my mind, being introverted is sort of a given, and it hadn’t even occurred to me to mention it.

Most of the time, spiritual gifts and personality traits are more or less in harmony, so that extroverts are more likely to have leading gifts like leadership, exhortation or teaching. They might also have gifts such as hospitality, while introverts more commonly have serving gifts like helps or service or mercy. Yet for some of us, God has seen fit to give leading gifts to introverts like me. As a result, we are called to serve in the place where our service is uncomfortable; that is my story. I can truly tell you that God is strong where I am weak, and thus, He is glorified by my weakness in certain areas. While this is encouraging, it is still uncomfortable.

I really don’t know why God gave me a personality that doesn’t want to be noticed and called me to leadership where you must be noticed… but that is the reality of my situation. Yet I can tell you that even though I dread those situations, when the time comes, He more than compensates for what I lack and people seldom suspect there’s a problem. The long and short of it is this: When God calls you to serve, go where He leads you secure in the knowledge that He will sustain you. Where God has given you spiritual gifts, use them, even if it’s scary, for God will be glorified in your discomfort.

The whole theory of naked before God in community however, is not really dependent upon our personality types, for it is instead dependent upon the quality of our relationships with Him. Please note that I haven’t called this “naked before the community”, I’ve called “naked before God in community”. In community with other believers, God is present in the midst of His people, and our nakedness is before God. It follows that our spiritual nakedness will spill over into our relationship with the humans who are also present. The key is for us to perceive His presence in the midst of the people, and as believers in the promises of Scripture, this perception is not as difficult as one might assume at first, once we have a little practice looking for Him.

Does this sound abstract or theoretical to you? Please believe me when I tell you that it isn’t; it is entirely practical. If you’ve never read it, or even if you have, please read a very short little book called The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence; you can find it online for free. It is a classic of spiritual discipline that is on required reading lists in Seminaries of every denomination, and it is so simple and easy to understand that a child can master it in an hour or two. Brother Lawrence will tell you how to be naked before God in community.

I know that for the introvert, this whole subject can seem quite daunting, but in truth, we introverts have a decided advantage over the extroverts, for we do not crave attention, and are unlikely to perform in front of others, thus we must rely upon God in social settings… or just hide in the darkest corner of the room until we can escape. We also have more time available to be alone with God, and this gives us an enhanced opportunity for a deeper personal relationship with Him. If we recognize that our apparent disadvantage is actually an advantage, with a little effort and a degree of faith, we can let God do amazing “naked” things in and through us.

Once again, please don’t hesitate to tell me what you think!

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Repentance

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Don Merritt

Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
Assyria cannot save us;
    we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
    to what our own hands have made,
    for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

Hosea 14:2-3

Right after urging Israel to return to the Lord, Hosea continues here with some advice− Israel needs to confess their sins to God.  As we discussed last time, Israel was in a bad way after reaping the consequences of their sins. Yet even though God had turned away from them and allowed events they created to progress without any intervention on His part, there was still an opportunity to repent.

Actually, what it means to repent is illustrated in these verses. All too often we think of repenting as feeling bad, or showing remorse, of having guilt. Yet that really isn’t what the word means; it means to turn away from something. They should first acknowledge that they have sinned, and then acknowledge what their sins were and turn away from them, and this is found in verse 3. Israel had embroiled itself in a disastrous alliance with its enemy Assyria, even joining the Assyrians in attacking Judah. As one might expect however, when Israel had served Assyria’s purposes, the Assyrians then turned on Israel and gobbled it up, taking the people into captivity. No, Assyria cannot save Israel!

No longer would Israel worship false gods, for they would rely only on their true God, the God of their forefathers, the patriarchs. This is the part that God was waiting to hear, for the Assyrian adventure came about as a result of their rebellion against God, their idolatry had led them into some very strange territory.

Isn’t that really the way things work out in our own lives? First, we turn away from God as we find other things or people so very fascinating. Then our standards begin to slip and we find ourselves doing things we know we shouldn’t be doing. Knowing we’re doing wrong, we find ourselves in the company of people we need to help us forget what we’ve turned our backs on, and sooner or later we either repent and turn back to God… or we take a fall.

Israel took a very long fall.

So, will God have them back? We’ll find that out next time…

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Naked Before God: In Community (2)

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Don Merritt

It is vitally important for each of us to realize that our relationships with God are always in the development process; they are organic and alive. They must be cared for, nurtured and attended to; they suffer setbacks when they are put on ignore or relegated to mere forms. From God’s point of view, as revealed in Scripture, His desire is for intimacy with His people, both on an individual and corporate level, and to achieve this intimacy, He has done great things. When there are difficulties in this relationship, the genesis of disconnect is found on the human side, not on the divine side.

I’ve noticed that in this discussion of naked before God in community, that there is hesitancy on the part of some with regard to any level of openness in community, or at least to a level of openness that goes very far beyond mere formality, and the reason for this unease is a lack of a feeling of safety. Obviously, I cannot speak for others, and I have no inclination or desire to dismiss another’s discomfort; for all I know they have every reason to be uncomfortable. All I can really offer is this: If you find yourself in a faith community where hostility and condemnation of other brothers and sisters in Christ is the norm, then why are you still there? If you are part of a denomination in which this is the norm, then why are you still in that denomination? That kind of behavior is a telltale sign, for there are no tough guys in the shower. Where the tough guys are, there isn’t intimate relationship with God.

Once upon a time, I was speaking with a pastor who was having some marital difficulties. He was speaking to me about the situation because he couldn’t discuss it with anyone in his denomination, for if his congregation should discover that he and his wife were going through difficulties, he would surely be fired, even though he had faithfully served that congregation for many years. Before I could catch myself, I blurted out: “What have you been teaching your flock all these years?” As mortified as I was at my own lack of tact, he had been teaching a great deal of finger-pointing and legalism, and even though his marital situation wasn’t in difficulty because of sin or affairs or anything of that sort, he had taught his congregation to always assume the worst and point fingers− very sad. The truth of the situation was that his wife was an introvert and could no longer deal with always being in the spotlight and having to meet the unrealistic expectations of others for “the pastor’s wife”.

My friend lost his job when his wife went to stay with her sister for an extended visit.

You see dear reader, the problem often is that there is no openness because there is no feeling of safety, and there is no feeling of safety because there is no openness.

The good news is that most congregations are not like this. Yet most every congregation contains one or more individuals who behave in a similar fashion, and it is important for each of us to bear in mind that these people are also “works in progress” just as we are.

There is a misconception in the minds of some people that being naked before Go in community means that we must stand up in front of everyone and bare all, reciting every sin, evil thought and temptation to the rest of the community, and nothing could be further from the truth! While such a demonstration might be therapeutic for the speaker in certain cases, it would be nothing other than a distraction for everyone else; it would not build the Body of Christ. Rather, being naked before God in community means to be open and honest in our relationships with the people in that community. It means being real, sincere, genuine, loving and forgiving; it means being as much like our Lord as we can manage. It also recognizes that some are farther down the path of maturity than others, while each is doing what he or she can at their level of growth.

It requires that we “get naked” in the sense that we learn to leave off the facades and the pretense; it means we are who we really are, instead of who others expect us to be. In the end, it will mean that we are imperfect, just like everyone else.

Is this transformation too difficult?

The answer to that, quite honestly, is “yes and no”

It will be difficult if we need to replace one façade with another façade. It will be pretty much impossible if we haven’t developed the habit of being naked before God privately. On the other hand, if we have developed the habit of being naked before God, then sooner or later we will move that “nakedness” into community without even having to try, for it will have become a part of who we are. I hope this doesn’t seem to be too lacking in tactfulness, but the chances are that if you feel too uncomfortable with the notion of ‘naked before God in community’, you probably need to give extra attention to your individual relationship with Him right now. If you think that you have been ‘naked before God in community’ for a very long time, and that you are way down the path of maturity, way beyond most everyone you know, then you might want to do some soul searching, since most of us find that we are not quite as far along as we think we are.

As always, I look forward to your comments and observations.

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Time to go Home

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Don Merritt

Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins have been your downfall!

Hosea 14:1

With these words, Hosea’s final chapter begins. It is a chapter of repentance and redemption, filled with hope and a simple faith. Israel had fallen into idolatry, literally the worship of false gods made by their own hands, they had fallen into violence, injustice, greed, envy and debauchery of every sort. As a consequence of all this, they had refused to repent and return to their God, they had persisted in their foolishness and had suffered God’s justice. Now, at the end, there is one more call for Israel to cease its rebellion and return to God.

The situation in which Israel finds itself here is a very human situation in which many of us, probably most of us, have been in at one time or another. There is anger, resentment, hurt and yes, a fair amount of shame. Yet even then, there is pride and stubbornness in play. We know we’ve messed up royally, and yet we are afraid to come home to the Lord for whatever reason. Often, we simply don’t wish to be condemned further, to be chastised, to be lectured or preached at about our errors; we already hurt enough.

It’s very important for us to see what is really happening in this book: God has judged Israel, yes, this is true, but God’s judgment consisted of His removing His blessing, it was passive, not active. He simply allowed events to take their course and didn’t intervene to save His rebellious people from the consequences of their own actions any more. Thus, the second part of our verse:     Your sins have been your downfall!

This is just like a parent who lets their teenage child take what they have coming when they simply refuse to listen to reason.

As Christians, what do we do when we come across someone who has been seriously burned by their own bad choices in life? Do we kick them when they’re down? Do we call them names?

Harlot! Slut! Jezebel! Sinner!

Maybe we need to pour it on and tell them every single thing they have done wrong and demand that they apologize to us…

I would respectfully suggest that if we do these kinds of things, then our own sins will be our downfall. Shouldn’t we be extending a loving hand to help the person get up instead? Is it really up to us to punish someone who has already received the consequences of their sins?

These are things to think about, that’s for sure. As we continue, Hosea will show us God’s approach to all of this, and then we can think some more about it.

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TLP Living: July 16, 2018

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Don Merritt

A Little Reflection

It’s Monday again; what better day for a little reflection?

Has God been filling your life with blessings?  Has He given you peace in a tough situation?

Well, you see what I mean by reflection…

We spend so much time and energy running ourselves ragged these days, and so much of our lives just rushes by in a sort of blur; so it’s time to seize the moment.  Let’s give thanks to God for all He is doing in our lives, let’s thank Him for all of the ways He’s blessed us.  Let’s recall the great things He has done, like sending His Son to die for our sins.  Let’s take a minute to give Him the praise that is His due for all He is doing in His Body, the Church.  Let’s praise Him for all of those who have come to know Him recently, and for those who continue to grow in their faith, stepping up to lead His people forward to accomplish His purpose.

Let’s take another minute or two to ask Him for the gospel to continue to move forward, that hearts and minds everywhere would be changed, that lives would be given over to Him.

Most of all, let’s take a few moments to sit by His side and ask Him to give us continued strength to go forward in our walk with Him.  Let’s be refreshed in His presence and be renewed in His love.

Hey!  I’m thinking this is going to be an awesome Monday!

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TLP Inspiration: July 16, 2018

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Don Merritt

A Man About Town

Good Monday from the Heartland.

What exactly is “a man about town?”

I’m not quite sure but I think he’s kind of a cool guy…

There are a lot of ways to describe the attributes of a “cool guy” I suppose, and they would surely start with one’s own idea of what “cool” is.  Of course, this takes us back to the original idea for this blog: “references”

Our individual frames of reference will determine for us what is “cool.”  If our past experiences tell us that dressing well is a really good thing, then we might say that a guy who dresses well is “cool.” If a cocky attitude and under-spoken confidence are good, then a guy who dresses well, is a bit cocky and who has a sense of under-spoken confidence might be a “man about town.”

If we took a view like this, we would be taking a view that is directed by our culture.

Let’s try a view formed by frames of reference other than those provided by our culture… just for fun.

What attributes might a godly man or woman possess?  Humility, faith, kindness and consideration for others might fit the bill.  As you might imagine, a person who has godly attributes may not exactly have the same attributes as our culture would dictate, but then if we were to add things like dressing well and a quiet confidence we might find that we are describing a person who is godly… and who has an appeal to people in our culture who are not yet Christians.  Why, it might just be that we have stumbled upon someone who might have a little bit of influence with those outside of Christ.

Now let’s just try to imagine one more step.  If by exchanging our old frames of reference with some new ones that come from Scripture and then adding a little bit of class to our walk around town we can develop some influence, isn’t it more likely that we might be able to reach more people for Christ?  Now before you accuse me of advocating being a phony, please consider that what I’m suggesting here is simply that we behave well.  Behaving well is an admirable quality that is not fake, but rather encouraged by Scripture.  As Ambassadors for Christ, we each are His representatives in this world and maybe  we can do a better job of acting like it.

Maybe all of us should become a man or woman about town.

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Sunday Sermon Notes: July 15, 2018

Posted on July 15, 2018 by Don Merritt

Title: Sabbath, Controversy and More Followers

Text: Mark 3:1-20

Mark 3:1-6

Parallel Texts: Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11

After the scene in the last section where Jesus announces that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, Mark recounts another Sabbath scene, this time in a synagogue, where Jesus heals a man with an injured hand. It seems that there were some present who were interested in causing problems, and Jesus, no doubt being aware of this, asked the injured man to step forward:

Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

Mark 3:4

I’m guessing they also remained hopeful…

Jesus healed the man.  Mark tells us in verse 5 that Jesus was angry and distressed at the hard hearts of those who sought an excuse to act against Him… and afterwards, they began to plot to kill Him. Mark tells us that the group consisted of Pharisees and Herodians, who were of the party of Herod, the Vassal king of Judea, son of the guy who slaughtered the infants in Bethlehem.

Mark 3:7-12

Parallel Text: Matthew 12:13-21

With the plot to kill Him underway, Jesus and His disciples go to the Sea of Galilee, followed by ever-growing crowds of people. Many, maybe hundreds pushed to be close to Him, hoping to be healed, and security became an issue with the pressing of bodies and precautions had to be taken, so great was the rush of the crowds.

People possessed by impure spirits became a problem, as the spirits within them cried out that He was the Son of God, and Jesus silenced them. Can it be any wonder that both the Pharisees and Herodians wanted Jesus out of the way? Neither Herod nor his partisans wanted him deposed and replaced by a legitimate king. The Pharisees, pose another interesting question for us to consider.

It has long been my view, that the Pharisees, of all people should have known exactly who and what they were dealing with in Jesus of Nazareth. As I’ve mentioned before, they knew the prophecies and they knew the timing; they saw the prophecies playing out with Jesus, and though it may sound odd to point this out, they not only had the testimony of John, but that of the impure spirits regarding His identity.

It seems apparent to me, however, that they did not see the Messiah they wanted in Jesus, for they could care less about redemption, they wanted power. Jesus was not the king who would defeat the Romans and rule a powerful and influential Israel with the Pharisees being the center of Jewish life. No sir, they saw a Kingdom that was not an earthly one developing before them, one that would undermine their position instead of strengthening it, so it had to be stopped at all costs.

We all might be well advised to carefully consider what lessons God has for us today in all of this…

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Nakedness, Tough Guys and False Expectations

Posted on July 13, 2018 by Don Merritt

The tough guys never bothered me in Junior High School; that is something you should understand right from the first. Yet even though they didn’t bother me, they bothered everyone else, unless you were one of my friends. I was what one of my teachers called “an early bloomer” which I took to be a reference to the fact that when I was 12 years old, I was six feet tall and under my mother’s strict orders to shave every day.

That particular year was the year that my classmates and I went from Elementary School to Junior High School, and we had been told by everyone that bad things happen in Junior High School. In Junior High School, you went from being the oldest in the school to the youngest, and the oldest in the school, the ninth-graders loved to pick on the seventh-graders. We would be bullied, badgered, thrown into trash cans and beat up periodically, and the girls would laugh at us. We would be required to take PE (physical education) and in PE everybody was required to shower together before you could leave. Oh yes, and all of the classes would be harder and move faster, and you might not be smart enough to make it through.

Yet these are the horror stories we heard from teachers; the ones we heard from older kids were truly terrifying. If the truth were to be told, I wasn’t all that concerned about the ninth-graders; I knew that I was bigger and stronger than most (all as it turned out) and that I was an excellent athlete, so I figured I could probably handle any eventuality in dealing with the tough guys. I wasn’t worried about the classes being harder; after all I was often teased for being a “brainiac”. Being laughed at by girls was something I was used to… except in dodgeball where they begged for mercy, which was almost always granted. The only thing that really concerned me about going to Junior High School was the showering part; that would be very awkward for me.

The funny thing about that is that I used to skinny dip with my friends quite often in our old neighborhood, but two years previously we had moved to a new neighborhood, to a house that had no pool, on a street that had no kids my age. This was a new development in that I was, at the time, isolated to a certain extent; I had to ride a bus to school, and I had no friends near my house, so no skinny dipping for over two years now. Yet the real problem was that everything about me had changed since then, and while I would never had admitted it at the time, I felt like something of a freak. I wondered if I was the only one. Some of my classmates’ voices were beginning to change, but I had finished with all of that over a year ago, and none of my friends were even thinking about shaving… was I going to have to beat people up in the showers for making smart remarks about… changes? Talk about awkward!

Let’s remember friends that these are the thoughts and insecurities of a 13-year-old…

As it turned out, when school started that September, I was right about some things, and wrong about others: I was right about the ninth-graders; not one of them ever gave me any trouble, and I actually became quite accepted in their midst. I was right about the classes; easy peasy. I was also right about the tough guys in general; no problems with them. In fact, they ended up being quite friendly. The girls still laughed, and since there was no dodgeball after Elementary School, I had no way to keep it under control, so I had to endure their peculiar form of torment and torture. My mother told that they did it because they liked me, and that’s when I knew that she had lost all semblance of rational thought.

The showering part however, I was completely wrong about. On the very first day, I noticed something very interesting: There were no tough guys in the showers. They might have been what toady is called “bullies” before the shower, and after the shower, but never in the shower, for in the shower they didn’t have their tough guy pants, and their tough guy boots and shirts; no, there they were just like everyone else. Oh yes, it turned out that I wasn’t that much of a freak after all, I was just the tallest. What had seemed so uncomfortable, so awkward, was not nearly as scary as I had thought it would be.

Junior High School was a cakewalk.

The more I think about it, the more I must conclude that nakedness is the most brilliant metaphor of all time, for it so richly illustrates what we go through in building relationships; with friends and co-workers, family, spouses and most of all with God Himself. More to the point, it illustrates the process of growing in community with other believers.

I fully realize that like moving on to Junior High School, this seems difficult, but also like Junior High School, it isn’t as difficult as we might expect. Oh, I know that there are church communities in which many are waiting for the chance to point fingers of accusation at others, as they hide behind their attractive masks of phony righteousness; I’ve had plenty of people tell me that they find themselves in such a location. Each time I hear such things I can’t help but wonder why they would remain there, if it is all that bad.

Of course, if we are in the habit of being naked before God, being naked before God in community really isn’t as much of a challenge as it might sound when you really think about it, for deep down, I think we all know that even though new things can be awkward, they really aren’t as tough as they might sound at first.

Next time, I’ll continue along this line of thinking; see you then!

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Hosea Continues the Pattern

Posted on July 13, 2018 by Don Merritt

We’ve seen Hosea’s pattern: Israel slips more and more into sin and away from God, then into idolatry. After that sin multiples dramatically. God sees all of this and sends messengers of warning to the people, who scoff at them; they aren’t all that interested in returning to God. Then God tells them that He will execute judgment against them and shows us that the reason for the judgment is to bring the people back into relationship with Him so that they may be saved from their own wickedness, ending up with a message that points us to Christ Himself.

In our brief study thus far, we’ve seen the pattern more than once already.

A few people have asked me why I don’t write about the books of prophecy more often, and this is why− they tend to repeat, and I find myself having to repeat the same things over and over each time. Of course, I could always approach them differently. I could forget about context and try to force them into thrilling end of the world narratives, you know, make a good story out them. While that would probably make for more entertaining reading, it would be at best, unethical, and at worst, a sin against God to do so knowingly.

Hosea continued through the end of chapter 7 with his pattern, and then began again in chapter 8 and went through chapter 13, this time in some extra detail, yet the same message: Israel has run out of time, it is going to face Judgment very shortly, and it may interest you to know that the Assyrian campaign actually began while Hosea was still writing.

Yet not every last person there was unfaithful, there were still a few who, like Hosea, remained true to their God. I can’t help but wonder if those last few were the ones to whom chapter 14 was written, for it contains a final appeal for repentance, confession and trust in God’s mercy. In our next and final edition of our Hosea study, let’s take a look at the ending of the book, and see how this message of hope was delivered. See you then.

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Naked Before God: In Community

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Don Merritt

Up to this point we have been discussing being naked before God in our own personal worship, individually; just God and you. This can and should be a wonderful time, regularly observed. Yet it is not the end of matter by a long stretch; rather, it is the beginning. God made humanity for community, and His purpose and will is that this community would be in fellowship with Him, thus becoming His very expression of who and what He is; we saw quite clearly in our examination of His image a couple of years ago, that this was His intention from the very beginning.

For most of us however, it is one thing to be naked before God in privacy and safety, but it is quite another thing to be naked before one another in any sense of the term. Certainly, in the literal physical sense of the term, the notion of baring all in front of others is simply outside the scope of what is even thinkable or acceptable for most people, and you will no doubt be relieved to learn that I have no intention of going there, for that is entirely too simplistic and hardly scratches the surface.  You see, this isn’t a matter of simply baring body; it’s a matter of baring soul, of being real, genuine and letting people see who we really are. It is about trusting, caring and loving others in a way that allows us to put their interests ahead of our own, not just in word, but in deed.

We could say that in this whole discussion, that “naked” actually means “relationship”, and that would be a very wise and insightful observation, for that is what it really comes down to. Yet it isn’t just relationship, it goes deeper, to the quality of the relationship. Recall that for us to be naked before God means that our relationships with Him are intimate, open, no holds barred, with everything out in the open. There is no holding back, no attempts to deceive and no barriers of any kind. To be naked before God in community with other believers is that there is the same level of openness between us and the others as there is between us and God, and obviously, such a human community requires that there be many who have matured enough in their relationships with God to be able to handle this level of intimacy with other people.

This dear reader is what it means to make disciples; it begins with godly love.

Far too many Christians are under the mistaken impression that making disciples is little more than making “converts”, but nothing could be further from the truth. Making disciples is really the ultimate act of love in action wherein we lovingly guide another into the kind of maturity that will enable them to become makers of disciples themselves. One who “makes” disciples is a mentor, a teacher, a trainer, and most of all, an example. He or she is one who can share the love of God and love of others in a way that brings their younger brother or sister into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. That person is one who loves, shares and leads others, he or she is one who lets their guard down, who respects, who trusts, who sets ego aside for the benefit of others and who lives in such a level of transparency before both Man and God, that they inspire the legitimate trust of others; they are naked before God and in community with others.

To be honest with you, most of us haven’t quite attained the ideal we’ve been talking about here. Most of our churches are not doing as well as we’d like, many are shrinking, others may even be on life support. Many people have left “church” behind and are happy to share a litany of complaints about churches they used to attend. We can come up with a long list of possible causes for this sort of thing, yet most of our lists, while accurate, don’t really tell the story. They will speak of over reliance on traditions, forms and details, but these are only the symptoms; the causes of the problems run much deeper than that. If I might be so bold, the biggest problem in American (and I suspect other) churches today is that there are not enough people who are really naked before God, needless to say, there are even fewer who are “naked” in community. I’m not sure about you, but I think this is worth getting into next time.

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