During the first sixteen days of this month MoSt Church is reading the sixteen chapters of Mark’s Gospel as a part of The Christ House project (TCH). Here’s a link to today’s reading: Mark 12.
The Christ verse for the month is Mark 9.41: “I assure you that whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly be rewarded.”
Civility.
What a word. Not extinct, but certainly endangered in our time.
How is it this word has virtually vanished from so much of what claims to be Christian representation or conversation?
Humor me and reflect on it with me for just a moment, won’t you?
If Christians are the embodiment of God’s love, then surely the clothes that body wears must be civility.
Or to use the metaphor of Scripture itself, Christians are God’s people clothed with Christ. If this is so, then surely civility is the respectfulness and the modesty of Christ, our apparel.
If there is nothing greater in the world than God’s love, then civility is one way his people express his love, magnificently so in terms of simplicity and wondrously so in terms of effect.
Further, since the way we love all others gives evidence of our relationship to Christ, ought we not as Christians then excel in civility, like no one else to compare?
And if we as Christian will do so for no one else, should we not seek to excel in it for the sake of those yet to believe?
For if those who are yet to believe do not first encounter civility in our ways with them, how then will they come to see anything further of God’s great love for them through us? Will they not rather, be blinded, if not repelled, before they can even grasp his goodness?
Yes, civility must then be the vanguard of our expression of Christ’s love. It is what makes the ever important “first impression” with all with whom we have dealings. It is what provides conveyance of the aroma of Christ in us. It is then, our first love language, forming our words that are most truly heard and remembered.
May all who wear the name of Christ consider their ways carefully in terms of civility without ceasing and may his words, and those of his Spirit, speak afresh to us with penetrating power:
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matt. 22.37-40)
“Love is patient, love is kind … it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable …” (1 Cor. 13.4-5)
“… with humility think of others as better than yourselves.” (Phil. 2.3)
Belonging, connection, self-worth & vulnerability: The Power of Vulnerability [20 min. TED Talk by Brené Brown]
“… the willingness to do something where there are no guarantees.”
Church dropouts, evangelism, outreach & restoration: An Open Letter to the Church: How to Love the Cynics [required reading]
“We left for a hundred different reasons, none less real or important than the other.”
Film: The Bible Series from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey- A Sneak Peak
“… brand new epic Bible Series … starts this Sunday evening on the History Channel (channel 269 on Directv).”
Homeless & homelessness: 10 Ideas For Helping Homeless People
“There is no template, one-size-fits-all plan that works for what we think of as ‘giving a cup of cold water’ to our friends on the street.”
Nationalism: Is the Pledge Good for Our Kids?
“Please stop and consider how we evangelicals have been conditioned not to see any conflict with nationalism and Christian discipleship. Will we allow another generation of our children to be taught that America is the hope of the world, or will we tell them the truth about a King whose Kingdom is not of this world, but is for this world?”
Quotes: Knowing Christ with Dallas Willard and John Ortberg
“In our world, relationships are based on attack and withdrawal. In the love of God, we don’t attack people. We don’t withdraw from them. We accept them.”
Sequester & tax cuts: * Today’s 3 ‘Should-Read’ Stories About The Sequester; * Impact of March 1st Cuts on Middle Class Families, Jobs and Economic Security: Texas [wow!]
“… get ready for “the sequester” — the $85 billion worth of across-the-board cuts in federal spending that would begin to kick in that day if lawmakers don’t strike some sort of deal before then.”
“If sequestration were to take effect, some examples of the impacts on Texas this year alone are …”
Aging, hearing & dementia: Straining to Heard and Fend Off Dementia
“Dr. Frank Lin, an otolaryngologist and epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, describes this phenomenon as ‘cognitive load.’ Cognitive overload is the way it feels. Essentially, the brain is so preoccupied with translating the sounds into words that it seems to have no processing power left to search through the storerooms of memory for a response. … Compared to individuals with normal hearing, those individuals with a mild, moderate, and severe hearing loss, respectively, had a 2-, 3- and 5-fold increased risk of developing dementia over the course of the study.”
Anxiety & stress: Anxiety, You’re Not the Boss of Me
“I will conquer because I will not allow anxiety and panic to kill another day of my life. It’s my life, and anxiety can’t have it anymore.”
Ash Wednesday & Lent: * Ash Wednesday: Beginning of the Lenten Journey; * Ash Wednesday: When Darkness Reigns by Jonathan Storment; * Homily for Ash Wednesday by Tim Gombis
* “Lent has also been understood as a time of preparation for the renewal of our baptismal covenant. In the early church, candidates for baptism spent as long as three years preparing to be baptized. The last 40 days were known as the “scrutinies,” when candidates examined themselves and church leaders determined whether they were ready to be baptized. Later, Lent became that time when all Christians were invited to consider their need for spiritual renewal. This was common practice by the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.”
* “… Ash Wednesday was going on long before Protestants and Catholics ever split. It’s an annual reminder that Christians have observed every year, for thousands of years It’s when we remember that from dust we came and to dust we will return. It is profoundly ancient and biblical.”
* “A homily given on Ash Wednesday at Midtown Christian Community, Feb. 17, 2010.”
Children, parenting, relationships & technology: Raising Personable Children, Even If They’re Glued To Phones
“The biggest limitations that we talk about all the time is just making sure that our kids still interact with each other, and [are] articulate in conversation with adults … And with our oldest son interviewing for jobs and things like that, we wanted to make sure that they had good eye contact.”
Church dropouts & youth: Top 10 Reasons our Kids Leave Church [required reading]
“We all know them, the kids who were raised in church. They were stars of the youth group. They maybe even sang in the praise band or led worship. And then… they graduate from High School and they leave church. What happened? … The statistics are jaw-droppingly horrific: 70% of youth stop attending church when they graduate from High School. Nearly a decade later, about half return to church.”
Depression, Millenials & stress: * Who’s Feeling Stressed? Young Adults, New Survey Shows; * 7 Habits of Highly Miserable Twenty-Somethings
“Millennials [ages 18-33] are … more likely to be told they have depression or an anxiety disorder.”
“… here’s what I believe are the seven habits of highly miserable twenty-somethings, and then how we cure each one.”
E-mail & iPhone: Is ‘Mailbox’ for iOS Worth the Wait?
“Whether you’re a seasoned GTD ninja or daily drown in a deluge of email I think you will find Mailbox a breath of fresh air.”
Faith & science: The MIT Survey on Science, Religion and Origins: the Belief Gap [very interesting]
“We present a detailed survey of how different US faith communities view origins science, particularly evolution and Big Bang cosmology. We find a striking gap between people’s personal beliefs and the official views of the faiths to which they belong. … the main divide in the origins debate is not between science and religion, but between a small fundamentalist minority and mainstream religious communities who embrace science.”
Focus & solutions: The Silver Bullet by Tim Archer
“We need to decide to know nothing but Christ and him crucified.”
Minimum wage & poverty: The Impact of a $9 Minimum Wage
“The federal minimum wage has lost 30% of its purchasing power in recent decades, according to the law project. If the minimum wage had kept pace with the cost of living since 1968, it would now equal $10.56. The White House says that raising the wage to $9 restores its inflation-adjusted value to where it was in 1981.”
Sexualization: Sexualization and Christianity: How Should We Respond? by Jennifer W. Shewmaker [required reading]
“Sexualization is treating other people and/or oneself as an object of desire, with value primarily coming from sex appeal and physical attractiveness … Churches should be fighting against these messages of sexualization and objectification with all that we have. … And yet, if you take a hard look at some of the messages that are being sent to girls and women through church curriculum, Christian books on girl and womanhood, and mega-church sermons, I’m afraid that you will find many of the same messages. … What can Christians and church bodies do to stand against sexualization? How do we send a countercultural message? Here are some practical ideas …”
Silence: What Your Silence Tells Others
“For extroverts, finding silence during a week is very important even though silence is not their natural leaning. For introverts, finding silence is easy since they prefer less stimulation on any given day. For both groups, silence speaks volumes.”
