"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." - King Solomon
How true is this statement!?!?
I remember when I was in the elementary I had a friend who would stutter. After spending some time with him at his house, believe it or not I would stutter too!
My mom said she could tell who I had been hanging out with on the farm, whether it was my grandfather or great-grandfather. I always wondered why she knew...the reason? She said when I would hangout with my great-grandfather I would walk with a limp just like he did.
We all have been there have we not? If you are around people who cuss, you have a higher probably of cussing! If you hang around people that watch basketball, you most likely will begin watching and following basketball. If you have a wife (like my beautiful wife) that enjoys NASCAR, sooner or later you will end up with a driver and follow him. (I now follow Denny Hamlin #11)
We know the influence others have on our lives....
As I was reading through the letter Paul wrote to Galatia today, Galatians 2:10 jumped out at me. I will share it in context below:
"8For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. 10All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."
Check out verse 10 again..."All that they (Peter, James, and John) asked was that we should continue to remember the poor..." Once again we see the power of influence in who we hang around. You see Peter, James, and John was the closest to Jesus. They had experiences with Jesus the other disciples heard about only later. So to know the heart of Peter, James, and John is to know the heart of Jesus even greater.
With Peter, James, and John focus for Paul not to forget the poor, tells me that Jesus was focused on the poor. Not only was he focused on the poor, but he passed this importance to his followers. The student will resemble the heart of the teacher.
I close with a quote from Yoda...Terah you will be proud!
A Jedi's strength flows from the Force.
-- Yoda
Our force being that of Jesus!
Amen!! Love it!!
ReplyDeleteHey Barnes Family! It is too bad we haven't gotten together while we live so close in Texas! I enjoy seeing your insight through this blog.
ReplyDeleteHere is my response in regards to this post. I know that you have a true heart for God and His work, but in today's Christianity I find far to often that some neglect the "force" of the true gospel. In this passage you indicated, Paul is basically being commissioned by the Jewish church to bring the good news to the Gentiles. The comment "to remember the poor" I believe directly correlates to the receptivity of the poor towards the Gospel (as you have indicated). Christ often associated with the poor because they had soft receptive hearts and were in need of salvation. The religious elite did not have receptive hearts. In that, we sometimes mix the focus of the Gospel with the result. The clearest explanation of the Gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15. This is where transformation begins. In John, the bookends of the book consist of 1:18, "He made Him known" and 21:24 that the testimony is true. Jesus' time on earth was spent not only to seek and save the lost but ultimately to make the revelation(glory) of God known to all. In relation to Christ's time with the disciples, his healing's and dealings with the poor were extraordinary especially in light of the religious elite. Thus, we should not neglect the poor. But our help to the poor is not the gospel. Our help is the result of the impact of the Gospel on our hearts and Christs command to make disciples. We cannot truly, unselfishly offer our lives as living sacrifices for the sake of the poor, needy, and downtrodden without first being impacted deeply by the death, burial, and ressurection of the Living King! The outworking of our faith is the result of the magnificent impact the Gospel has made on our life. Our remembrance and work with the poor should not be classified with the Gospel but should be an outward working of the Spirit. Our saltiness should make those we work with, the poor we feed, and the families we raise THIRSTY for CHRIST! (Matt 5:13). It is then, with our lives and speech, that the gospel oozes out of our very being and God is glorified as His name is proclaimed among all.
Anywho, this has been on my heart as I have seen many in the church neglect the true Gospel for the social gospel. Your post naturally lead into this and I was compelled to comment. Hope you guys are doing well!
John 15 ties in very well to your comment on Galatians 2. Our connectedness to Christ directly relates to our actions for Him (fruit).
ReplyDeleteBen Penfold
Ben
ReplyDeleteThank you for reply to the blog and holding me accountable. We just came off a great service at Beautiful Feet in Fort Worth that the services on Sunday morning is so powerful in the fact that there are hurting people that cannot hide behind the masks of fortune and fame that hold their pain within. Thank you for being a true admonisher! I found it intriguing that the many points that could have been given by the "three" closest of Christ came with the voice of "remembering the poor!" What a Savior and what an impact he had on these three in relation to the poor. But to be transparent we all are "poor" are we not? Thank you for the reply! Love you guys!
Thanks for the response! I hope I didn't sound like I was trying correct your interpretation. I was simply trying to supplement your great post. You are very right that we are all poor! Also, our ministry to the poor should not diminish towards the poor as result of the gospel, it should be enhanced! We must look at life as Christ looked at life in that no one is outside of the potential for redemption. More so is the fact that those who knew they didn't have anything were often the only ones to respond.
ReplyDeleteBTW, our church, Bear Creek Bible Church, has done some things at Beautiful Feet in the past. Maybe we shall see each other there sometime...it would be great to catch up. Thanks for your ministry bother!