How to Be a Good Christian

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media] 


I grew up knowing what “good Christians” are supposed to do to grow in their faith. Read the Bible, pray, go to church, volunteer, be generous, etc. There’s even a children’s song that goes, 

Read your Bible pray every dayPray every dayPray every dayRead your Bible, pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow 

The next verse is less encouraging.

Neglect your Bible, forget to prayForget to prayForget to prayNeglect your Bible, forget to pray and you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink

Photo Credit: Markus Spiske

As a kid it seemed like such a simple formula. Read my Bible + prayer = growing in God. Not surprisingly, the ease of that message wore off over time. There have been times in my life, some longer and more serious than others, where all the Bible reading and prayer in the world seem to do absolutely nothing in the face of the very real problems I was facing in my everyday life.

The story in Proverbs 24 is the kind I’d like to forget when I’m struggling to keep up my regular rhythm of Bible reading and prayer. It’s not a complicated concept--if a field is left untended or a fence unmended, they will only get worse over time. While I haven’t tended a garden since I was a kid (and was forced to by my parents), last summer the small raised beds on my back patio were perfect evidence of this passage. I had just bought my condo and wasn’t up for undertaking any sort of growing project, so I let them be. Though I didn’t plant anything, weeds crept in completely uninvited and took over all three of the beds. It was much more work to remove them once they had taken over than it would have been if I hadn’t let them get so weed-ridden in the first place.

Most of us probably know the heart of this message without having to think about it too much. Good things take work, and if we don’t put in the work, they fall into apart. But we often don’t want to deal with all the little mundane drudgeries to get us to that outcome. It’s much easier and more pleasant to watch another episode of my TV show than to heave my Bible onto my lap to do some reading and soul-searching. A day or two of skipping prayer doesn’t seem like a big deal. Sleeping in on the odd Sunday won’t hurt. And it’s true, none of these things are intrinsically bad--but we often fail to consider what kind of person these actions, or lack thereof, are slowing forming us into. 

Author (and Calvin College professor) James K.A. Smith has written several books about the ways our habits and culture shape us, often in ways we don’t even recognize. In Desiring the Kingdom he writes, “All habits and practices are ultimately trying to make us into a certain kind of person. So one of the most important questions we need to ask is: Just what kind of person is this habit or practice trying to produce?” (page 83)

At its heart, this passage in Proverbs is asking a similar question--do we believe the rhythms of faith can form us even when we don’t--or perhaps can’t--see the fruit? Reading the Bible and praying every day isn’t as simple of an equation as the children’s song makes it out to be, but over time, it can slowly form us into the kind of people who are committed to these good practices even if we can’t see the tangible results right away. When we're in painful, devastating circumstances and our faith practices aren't any immediate help to soothe our hurt, God's grace sometimes doesn't look much like grace at all. But God’s grace is often a slow one, and when we ask him to meet us in these places, he can and will use them in his time.

What kinds of commitments might God be asking us to make--and follow through on--so that he can make our tomorrows better than our todays? 


[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

Making Decisions in a World of Grey

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media] 

Many decisions we make have simple, clear-cut answers if we’re striving to follow Jesus. To yell at the coworker who made an honest mistake, or to not yell? To cheat on the physics exam, or to not cheat on the physics exam? To lie to our spouse about how we spent money, or to not lie? These answers are, in most circumstances anyway, pretty black and white. They’re rarely the ones we spend a lot of time worrying about though. Decisions that eat up our worrying time are usually all sorts of grey, with any number of solutions that could be God-honoring. Where to go to college? When to have kids? Whether or not to take the new job? While we can be confident that God will use whatever situations our choices place us in, that confidence doesn’t provide much practical help in how to actually make the decision.

Photo Credit: Behr.com

In the story of King Rehoboam, we see a decision maker who started off in a good way. Instead of making a rash, rushed decision when the people came to him asking for a lighter workload, he told them to come back in three days and then sought counsel. First he asked the wisdom of the elders who had seen the country through difficult times in the past. Then, he decided to get a second opinion by consulting the men he had grown up with and who knew him well. Up to this point, Rehoboam was actually making pretty good decisions. It can be advantageous to get input from various types of people, maybe some who have a better understanding of the situation and some who have a really good understanding of us as a person.

Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. Instead of carefully weighing the input he had received from the elders and from his friends and then using that information to make the best possible decision, Rehoboam simply opted for the advice of his not-so-wise friends without considering the consequences. He didn’t just ignore the people’s request for a lighter workload, he did the exact opposite and gave them more work to do, as well as threatened them with whipping.  

As we seek wisdom from those around us, we have to remember that not all the input we’ll receive is equal. The older advisers had spent time with Rehoboam’s dad Solomon as he ran the country and had a good understanding of how the people worked and what they would respond well to. Rehoboam’s friends knew him well, but they clearly didn’t have his or the country’s best interest in mind with their advice.

Not everyone has deserves the right to speak into our lives or into a particular decision we’re trying to make. Building a strong community full of people with wisdom that can be trusted takes time and effort--it’s not something we should simply stumble into overnight. Inviting people into our lives and allowing them to see who we really are, even in our most unpleasant, unglamorous moments can be God’s way of shaping us into better versions of ourselves. True wisdom sometimes looks like letting trustworthy people who are striving after Christ help us at the times we need it most.  At the same time, if others seek our input, we must consider our words carefully, taking into account everything we know about that person and the situation they’re dealing with. It is a gift and also a weighty responsibility to be invited to speak into someone’s life. We must use our words to build up, encourage, and guide. Even wise people can inadvertently give advice that misses the whole picture.

Our decisions are ultimately our own, but there’s no reason we have to make them completely on our own. We can learn from Rehoboam’s mistakes and seek out wisdom from good places, and then truly take the time to consider it carefully and match it up with what we already know. Making decisions and trying to follow God’s will doesn’t have to be as grey and murky as we often make it, as long as we have put in the work ahead of time and have community around us to help guide us along the way.

[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

When It Seems Like God Lied

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

There are many promises throughout the Bible.

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) 

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

In our best moments, these verses likely come as a source of deep comfort. When we’re in the middle of difficult times though, having these verses offered as solutions to our problems can be frustrating or even annoying. Does losing a job seem like a plan to prosper us? Do illnesses, failed classes, divorces, cruel bosses, or financial ruin seem like giving us a hope and a future? There are times when God’s promises feel more like lies than truth.

Photo Credit: Chelsea Francis

Isaiah was the prophet who spoke to King Ahaz when his country of Judah was in a messy situation, being attacked by various kingdoms. But instead of listening to Isaiah’s words from God and trusting God to provide, he took matters into his own hands. Ahaz used money set aside apart for God to strike a deal with another nation, even though he had specifically been told not to. His disobedience and lack of trust put in motion the events that would eventually lead to the nation of Judah being exiled. 

It’s easy to scoff at King Ahaz for not believing God would come through, but one of the things that’s difficult for me about the Bible is that all the stories are so close together. We read the story of Isaiah prophesying to King Ahaz about a baby who will set everything right, and we flip a few hundred pages later and read the story of the baby’s arrival. What we miss is all those years in between, when the world seemed to be crumbling and God seemed to be silent. Anyone who originally heard the prophecy, or heard about it from a family member or friend, was long dead by the time the prophecy was fulfilled. Entire generations lived and died in the 700 years between when Isaiah foretold the baby's coming and when the baby was actually born.

But just because the people couldn’t see it doesn’t mean God wasn’t working.

In the Christmas story we find the hope of God’s kept promises, despite what we may be seeing or feeling in our own lives right now. We might feel forsaken, or like God’s plans are actually harming us, or that he’s completely ignoring the desires of our heart despite our delighting in him. There is nothing easy or simple about feeling that way, and we don’t have to pretend like we’re not--God is big enough to handle our frustrations and angst about what’s happening in our lives. At the same time, we can trust his promises. They may not come true in any way we can see today or tomorrow or thirty years from now, but his vision extends far beyond the span of our lives. Henri Nouwen once wrote, “Hope is trusting that something will be fulfilled, but fulfilled according the promises and not just according to our wishes. Hope is always open-ended.” 

The same God who sent his own son as the fulfillment of a 700-year-old promise is working now to fulfill the promises he’s made to us in his word. While not a traditional Christmas song, the words to Elevation Worship’s “Your Promises” are so fitting:

Doesn’t matter what I feelDoesn’t matter what I seeMy hope will always beIn your promises to me

In whatever situations we find ourselves in this Christmas season, may the story of God’s kept promises provide hope we can cling to when we need it most, and eyes to see the ways he is already at work. 

[Brianna DeWitt is a Christmas enthusiast. She believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]