Make A Difference - James 1:22

But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22


The end of a relationship with Jesus Christ is that we are doers. There is a difference between someone who remodels his kitchen and someone who remodels kitchens for a living. There is a difference between someone who plays guitar and a musician; or someone who volunteers and a volunteer. The difference is commitment. James challenges us to be a doer. We're to be professional in our doing.

Think back to the best leaders you've known. I'd bet one thing they had in common is that they weren't afraid to do what they said. They were people who had integrity. Integrity is the most common response to the question, "What do you want in a leader." Integrity means less that your leaders are honest, but more that they are true, pure. Their message was consistent with their beliefs. When we say someone has integrity, we are saying that they are what they claim to be. Integrity is the opposite of hypocrisy. The original Greek word for hypocrite meant an actor or one who wore a mask. Anyone who appears different than they truly are is a hypocrite. They're acting. If the best leaders in your memory were actors, you haven't had a good leader. Great leaders are what they represent. They live the life they call others to. Followers of Jesus are to do what they claim to believe.

Another problem with integrity in leadership is that it spills over from the professional life to the personal life. If you tell the truth to your teammates, but you lie to the government about your income, are you still a liar? Do you really have integrity? If you're an honest politician but you cheat on and lie to your wife, are you not still a liar? How can you be called honest if you're not always honest? If you lead a team and preach commitment to your company, do you bad-mouth your superiors? Would you be surprised to know that I have? We all have fallen in some way or degree. You can't achieve perfection in your integrity, but as a fellow member of the human race, your friends and teammates ask that you pursue integrity and that you're closer than they are. It's hard to lead someone to integrity if you're not on the same road.

Finally, we can't just do anything. We must use judgment and discrimination because we're called to do "the word." Our profession as followers of Jesus is to be full time doers of the Bible! "Wait a minute!" you say. "We can't be accountable for everything in the Bible! That's impossible!" And, you'd be right. No one would ever do anything if they had to become an expert on the Bible before they started. In Romans 3:23, the Bible itself says, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." We fall short, but that's no excuse. We can't wait until all the lights are green before we leave the house. Becoming a full-time doer of the word is a process. Just like any profession or vocation, we have to start. Doctors practice medicine and lawyers practice law. Just as integrity is a pursuit, knowledge of Jesus and the Bible is a pursuit. Once we believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be, we begin the pursuit of knowing Him and glorifying Him. Once you believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life as John 14:6 says, then you can truly begin to study for the tests that life will bring your way.

Today, ask God to make you a doer of the word. Take a few minutes more than usual and learn the Bible. Take a few minutes more than usual to talk with Jesus and ask for direction. But be careful, if you get an idea that lines up with the teaching you know to be true, you probably need to take action. How else will you be able to call yourself a doer?

As you pray, ask God to show you where you can do something different today.


What thoughts came to your mind?



Do they line up with scripture and what you know to be right? *


If it did, what are you waiting for. Go and be a doer of the Word today. The word of God is your new job. Do it like you mean it. You get to work on your career and the rewards are eternal! Think about it. Then, get to work.


*If you're not sure, check with your pastor or send me a note. I don't have all the answers but I may be able to help. Or I definitely will help you find a friend who can walk with you as you work on your career in Christ.

Photo © Vyacheslav Osokin - Fotolia.com

Wide Awake

A book that I recently finished spoke to me, Wide Awake - The Future Is Waiting Within You by Erwin Raphael McManus. It was published in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas Nelson. You can get it here.

Erwin Raphael McManus is not your normal, run-of-the-mill pastor. He has a refreshing, engaging approach to following Jesus. Wide Awake is a challenge to those of us who have postponed or given up on our dreams. The challenge: embrace the dreams. They were put there by God. He designed them into us. Let's not quench them, or run from them or ignore them. Let's embrace them. Let's become alive in Christ and free enough to live our dreams. Why not dream wide awake?

Inside Flap: "Maybe you have been asleep. You have never lived up to your potential. You have unfulfilled dreams and longings. If you're dead, let Jesus raise you up to new life. If you have been sleepwalking, it's time to wake up and start dreaming wide awake."

McManus begins the introductory chapter titled Awaken with the premise that there is a hero within each of us. He claims (and I heartily agree) that "people are the most underused and undervalued resource on the planet. Earth's unlimited resource is the gifts, talent, passions, imagination, and ingenuity of its citizens." He goes on to say that "the real battle is not between good and evil, but between less and more." He also asserts that the world needs us at our best. We were created by God for a purpose. He states that the "planet is made better or worse by the people we choose to become. If you live a diminished life, it's not only you who loses, but the world loses and humanity loses." We simply need to awaken the hero within us.

The following eight chapters are the attributes necessary to live out our greatness. They are:

1. Dream
2. Discover
3. Adapt
4. Expect
5. Focus
6. Create
7. Enjoy
8. Invest

The author's hope is that we would live out the "more" that God created us for and change the world in the process. "Go. Dream big. Dream God-sized dreams and have the courage to live them. If you do, the world will never be the same again." In all, I was challenged and encouraged by this book. I appreciate the author and read everything of his I can get. This book helped me have a better view of a God that is much harder to understand; a God who refuses to fit in my boxes. God is so big, so powerful, so "not me" and still so loving as to be interested in my life and its outcome. Erwin Raphael McManus has helped me know God a little better and challenged me to pursue the dreams God has given me for my life. Who knows, maybe the world will benefit!

Introduction

Welcome
Many of my thoughts and opinions come from a desire to make a difference. The question however required definition. What type of difference would I make? How can I maximize that difference?

The Power to Make a Difference
A few years back, I decided to act as if Jesus Christ was who he claimed to be, and that changed my life. Up until that time, religion, and religious teaching left me empty. Nothing seemed to make any difference in my life. I was a failure in my own eyes and destined to remain so.

However, as I have studied Jesus' teaching contained in the Bible, I have found it to be the best and only way to actually reconcile religious teaching to the things I experience. Jesus teaching, and all the teaching recorded in the Bible, provides a rational explanation of my circumstances as well as those I can view objectively in the world. Daily I find that it takes more faith to believe that Jesus is wrong. As a result, I have a new life! I am different than I was and I have the power to do things I've never been able to do before. Many times I fail to trust that power, but I have experienced it too many times to deny its existence. Therefore, I have the power to make a difference in my own life and I have friends who will testify to that change.

The Best Difference
But if Jesus gave me the power to make a difference in my own life, is that the extent of his teaching? Is his only goal for me to be a better person? Or should the difference I make extend beyond myself? Empirical evidence seems to suggest that we were designed to interact and relate to one another. We were built for relationships. Also, there is no denying that people tend to want to do something that will outlive themselves.

Interestingly, Jesus claimed that true treasure did not exist in this world. He told us to "lay up treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal." True treasure is only in Heaven. Also, we also know that you can't take anything with you when you go. So the best difference, the most lasting difference must be in the lives of people.

Purpose
My goal then, is to help people improve their quality of life. This blog will contain thoughts and learning on the subject. If you'd like to improve your own life quality or that of others, please feel free to participate.