Lifelong learning

Blog Train Yourself to Be Godly #10: Working for Jesus

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*Training yourself to be godly may include viewing your work as working for Jesus.

Who are you working for?

When asked this question, you might think of the name of your boss or the company you work for. Some of you might think, “Well, I work for my family, it doesn’t matter who signs my paycheque or who gives me orders for the day, it’s all so I can provide for my family.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Here are a few ideas on how to give glory to God in our work.

1.         Work as if Jesus were your boss!

Colossians 3:23 tells us: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Work willingly, work hard, as if you are serving the Lord. Do your work as if you are working for Jesus.

This verse is in the context of Paul writing to slaves, encouraging them to please their masters all the time, even when they are not being watched. Paul expects that slaves, Christian slaves, should be great workers for their human masters, as if they are serving Jesus! If they are to do so, how much more should we who choose to work where we do!!

I wonder if our work ethic would change if Jesus were our boss?

2.         Work as a witness to Jesus

If the people you work with or serve know that you call yourself a Christian, but you are a terrible employee, what would make them interested in being a Christian?

In Titus 2: 9-10, Paul again addresses slaves when he writes: “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

One might think a slave might have a good excuse not to work hard, or to find any way they could take advantage of their master, since they are being taken advantage of by them, but Paul encourages them to do their best so they might make the “teaching about God our Saviour attractive.” He expects that how they work will reflect well on God or not.

In his book, “The Practice of the Presence of God”, Brother Lawrence writes about how one can practice God’s presence no matter the task. His job was a thankless job of cleaning pots and pans, but he is well known for his consistent and joyful devotion to Jesus in the middle of his daily, menial work.

Practice God’s presence at work by talking with Jesus as you go about your day, Remember that he is a constant companion.

3.         Don’t let work take the place of Jesus – Or don’t make work your idol!

Some people are consumed with their work. They work all the time. They can’t stop. They don’t take time for their family, or to enjoy life, or to enjoy time with God. Their whole identity is wrapped up in their job – their position or their status or their power that comes with their job. Simply put… for some, work becomes their idol.

Do you know what God did after six days of the work of creating? He rested! Genesis 2: 2-3 tells us: “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

God ceased from all his work.

There must be a time for us to stop. There must be a time to say, “Enough”.

One way of preventing work from becoming an idol is to take a day off. Take a day to rest, take a day to stop, take a day to focus on the One you Worship. Refocus yourself at least once a week on the one you are truly serving, and on the one you should find your identity in, not in your work. God commanded the Israelites to remember the Sabbath every week.

The Discipline of Sabbath is not just about rest, but an opportunity to refocus regularly on God as the one we worship! It is a constant reminder that we live for God, not for our work. We are to find our identity in Him, not in our work.

View your work as working for Jesus, to honour him, and to use it as a witness to Him.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #9: Created to Work

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*Training yourself to be godly may include how you view your work.

The average person spends 90,000 hours (that’s around 10 years) over the course of their lifetime working.[i]

A 2023 survey of Canadians suggested 80% of workers were satisfied with their jobs. At the same time, another survey indicated 33% of workers plan to look for a new job next year. .

60% of workers feel burned out.[ii] 77% of workers reported experiencing work-related stress.[iii]

One statistic stated: Only about a quarter of employees worldwide are actively engaged in their work.[iv] Though many seem to find enjoyment in their work, it’s not uncommon to hear people saying they are “Working for the weekend” – or “Thank God it’s Friday”.

Even some of our jokes are funny because we generally live in a society that doesn’t like work.

My boss told me to have a good day, so I left and went to the beach.

My boss told me I’d missed too much work lately. I told him I hadn’t missed it much.

We often think of work as fulfilling duties regularly for wages or a salary. It’s about making money. Yet there is more to it. Work is also exerting strength or energy to do or perform something; it involves being creative, using skill, and producing something.

Work shows up very early in our Bible.

Often, the first thought about work is that it’s a result of the Fall, or a result of humanity’s sin and God’s judgment. Genesis 3:17-19 gives God’s judgment on Adam: “the ground is cursed because of you.” We see life becoming more difficult as a result of sin.

But this does not say that work is a result of the Fall. The judgment is not work. The judgment is difficult and sweaty work!

While we tend to think of work as a result of sin, it is actually part of the world before sin. God tells Adam in Genesis 2:15 that he has a role to play in this garden God made for him. He is to “Work it and take care of it” (NIV).

Even before that, in Genesis 1: 28 God gave the people he created a role to play in creation: “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’”

Work is not a result of sin but was the first responsibility and role for humans! Along with being fruitful and multiplying, people were to govern and reign. Work is part of that governing and reigning, doing what is good for the world around us.

Work is about contributing to the good of our world. We all need something meaningful to do with our lives. We all have ways of contributing to the good of our world – to “work” in some way.

God has blessed us all with various gifts and passions and skills. Many of us have learned other skills through formal education or experience. We have gained ways of working and contributing to the “governing and reigning,” the “ruling” over the world that God created humans to do.

Hopefully, you have a job that you are created for, that fits, that feels like you are being who God created you to be! If not, ask Him to guide you to where you fit better.

As we think of Spiritual Disciplines and Practices associated with work, there are a few that we will look at in the next blog, but here’s one: The Discipline of Serving.

Mark 10:45 says: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Discipline of Serving says, “I will choose to use whatever abilities and skills I have to work for the betterment of others, serving them. Not working for my own benefit alone, but also for theirs!”

We are created to work and have the opportunity to serve others in the process.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

[i] https://www.worldofwork.ca/by-the-number

[ii] Calm’s Voice of the Workplace Report

[iii] APA’s Work in America Survey

[iv] https://www.worldofwork.ca/by-the-numbers

Train Yourself to Be Godly #8: Honouring Your Body in a Way That Honours Christ.

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*Training yourself to be godly may include honouring your body.

So you must honour God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

There is a website that lists 20 Famous Temples to Visit Once in Your Lifetime. These are incredible works of art and design.

A temple not on the list but would have been great to see is King Solomon’s Temple. Before Solomon built a temple, God had Moses and the Israelites build a Tabernacle, a tent. This is described in Exodus 25 – 40. We are given all kinds of details about what the Tabernacle was to be like, how to design it, what colours to use, who was to design and build or sew it, and what kind of furniture was needed.

And then we come to Exodus 40: 35. “Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle”. God came and lived on earth in the temple. Leviticus goes on to explain the role of priests who served in the tabernacle and details about sacrifices that were done at the tabernacle.

Many years later, when the Israelites are in the Promised Land, God asks Solomon to build Him a temple, a more permanent place of worship. There are four chapters in 1 Kings dedicated to describing the details of this temple (1 Kings 5-8) including measurements and designs and decorations to be used. 2 Chronicles gives us even more details about the temple in another six chapters(2 Chronicles 2-7).

“When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious presence of the Lord filled it” (2 Chronicles 7:1-2).

God comes in fire and smoke to dwell in the Temple. God comes to live in, dwell in this Temple, and He gave very specific, detailed instructions to ensure it was designed, built, and furnished just right. Think about how much detail, all those chapters of details, went into this place that God would choose to live in here on earth.

The Bible tells us that God no longer lives in a temple of stone, but in the hearts of believers. In 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17 we read: “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”

Did you catch that? Now, the temple is us!!

Let’s look at one more scripture. 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.”

God is no longer living in a physical building, but in His people, and specifically in each one of us as believers. And the exhortation is to “honour God with your body”.

John 14: 23 says, “Jesus replied, ‘All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them and we will come and make our home with each of them.’”

Jesus, by the Spirit lives in us! The Father by the Spirit lives in us! We are the temple of God.

The phrase, “So you must honour God with our body” comes after a warning to flee sexual immorality. Many, if not all sins we commit, we do by using our bodies.

  • We lie by using our mouth.
  • We listen to gossip by our ears.
  • We lust for things with our eyes.
  • We dwell on temptations with our minds until we act on them or say no to them.
  • We hit with hands and use our feet to walk into places we shouldn’t.

But the very same body can…

  • Use the mouth to speak words of encouragement.
  • Use the ears to listen to a grieving friend.\
  • Use our eyes to see the needy around us and help them.
  • Use our minds to consider ways to help others.
  • Use our hands and feet to help in practical ways – and to walk into church and lift our hands in worship!

We need to honour God with our bodies, to recognize that we are the Temple of God, and then to invite Him to take up residence in our lives as he did at the Temple. Invite the Holy Spirit to fill you as you surrender your body to be used for his honour.

We will look at a few spiritual disciplines next week, but for now, as you think of training yourself to be more godly, recognize that your body is a gift from God that He chooses to live in, so honour God with your body.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #4: The Spiritual Practice of Prayer

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*Training yourself to be godly will include intentional prayer.

It is easy to worry. We all face things that are out of our control, whether it’s the state of the world that we see in the news or the health conditions of loved ones. We don’t have to look far to realize that we do not control most things in life. This may cause us to worry, but scripture suggests an alternative.

Look at the words of Philippians 4:6-7,

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

We are encouraged not to worry or be anxious about anything. Anything seems to, well, include everything. There is nothing worth worrying about. It won’t help us anyway, even if we do.

Instead, we are to pray and pray about everything. We should have nothing to worry about and everything to pray about. Everything. That means that everything we can think of or imagine can be prayed about. We should pray for those suffering with cancer and for persecuted Christians, and for our work situation or relationships, and even a parking spot or finding the right Birthday present for our spouse.

The verse continues, “tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

God wants us to communicate our need to him. He wants us to ask for help. And he wants us to thank him for what he has done for us. This helps explain what praying for everything means as prayer includes both asking for help and thanking God for all the help he has already given. That covers everything, doesn’t it?

The verse goes on to explain the peace we can have as we bring everything to God. His peace can become a guard for our hearts and minds so that we continue to experience his worry-free peace. This peace comes from “living in Christ Jesus.” We need to continue to remain connected to Jesus if we want to have peace.

As a child, I enjoyed flying a kite, watching it get smaller and smaller as I let out the string. One day, the string came off my spool. I no longer had control of the kite. What happens to a kite that is not anchored to the person flying it? The wind may blow it for a while, but it will eventually drop to the ground. The kite is only flying free in the wind when it is anchored to its master. We are only able to fly free in the winds of life if we remain anchored to our Master, and that anchoring, that string that ties us to him is our prayer.

We need a consistent and intentional prayer life, a plan for how we will pray, if we are to train ourselves to be godly or remain connected to the God we serve. If we want to train ourselves to become more like God, we must engage in the spiritual practice of prayer. This means that I will be intentional, not just to pray for meals or to say a prayer before I go to sleep, but to pray intentionally and about specific things and even in specific ways.

I would suggest you make a prayer plan. When will you pray? What will you pray about? And then ask God to speak as you pray.

As you regularly talk with God, he will help you become more like Him.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #3: Spiritual Practices of Scripture Memorization, Meditation, and Studying

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*Training yourself to be godly includes memorizing, meditating on, and studying scripture.

Last week I introduced Scripture Reading as a spiritual practice to train ourselves to become more godly and become friends of Jesus. Many people read the Bible, at least to some extent. This may be reading a few verses a day or reading through the Bible in a year. While there is great value in reading scripture, there is great benefit in going beyond reading alone.

So, yes, have a plan for reading the Bible regularly, but also think of going beyond just reading to memorizing, meditating on, and studying scripture. Reading can help us get the big picture of scripture and help us understand what God has written and what Jesus has said. I would like to encourage you to find a way of intentionally internalizing what you read.

Scripture Memorization

Psalm 119:11 says,

“I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.”

Memorization is to hide God’s word in your heart. By spending the time in scripture it becomes embedded in your memory.

At a recent worship service, the pastor started quoting Psalm 23. As he did, he coached the congregation to quote it with him. It was impressive to have many in the congregation reciting Psalm 23 from memory. The congregation had hidden Psalm 23 in their hearts.

I want to encourage you to begin memorizing. You don’t have to start with long scripture passages, but start by memorizing a verse a week. You could start with Psalm 23 or a passage from Paul’s letters like Philippians 2:1-11 which describes the humility of Jesus in coming to earth.

Scripture Meditation

Meditation is to think on a verse over a longer period of time. If you are memorizing a verse and mulling it over in your mind, you are also meditating on it as you continue to let it speak to you.

Psalm 119:15 reads: I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.

To practice meditation is to spend time thinking and praying and talking to God about one thing, one verse or one statement about God.

Meditation slows us down as we focus on one idea for a period of time. It may be one verse or one phrase that describes God or a theological or doctrinal statement that we can think over as allow God to speak to us over time.

Scripture Study

Maybe you have read the Bible a lot, but you realize you haven’t really stopped to study it – to take time to understand certain passages of scripture or a certain book. You can use different online helps (Biblehub.com) or commentaries to dig a little deeper.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

If we long to be more godly and want to train ourselves to be so, studying moves beyond reading, memorizing, and meditating, to dig into what words and phrases and verses mean.

I encourage you to move beyond devotional booklets like the Daily Bread, and others. While they have good stories and good scriptural thoughts, learn to study the Bible for yourself. Take time to “chew” on the word of God, not just taking in what others have “chewed” in their study. Study it for yourself without just relying on the work others have done. There is value in us processing the study instead of just receiving someone else’s answers from their study.

Train yourself to be godly by spending intentional time in scripture, getting to know God, getting to know Jesus, and allowing scripture to equip you and train you to be the woman or man of God He longs for you to be.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Spiritual Training Series #2: The Spiritual Practice of Reading Scripture

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*Training yourself to be godly will include reading scripture.

Anne of Green Gables described the type of friend she longed to meet: “A bosom friend. A kindred spirit. I’ve dreamt of meeting her all my life.” We all desire a good friend, a bosom friend who understands us, wants to spend time with us, and shares our interests.

But did you know that you can become a friend of Jesus? Or that Jesus wants to call you his friend?

In John 15:14,15, Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.”

Jesus calls YOU a friend if you do what he commands.

This is not just for the disciples – Jesus is inviting you and me – as his present-day disciples, to become his friends!

Verse 15 declares there is a change of status for Jesus’ disciples – there are no longer slaves (or servants) but friends!

But there needs to be obedience on the part of the friends.

And for the friends to be obedient to those commands – they need to know what those commands are!

Yes, Jesus is Lord, but he invites us into friendship. Jesus invites us into friendship, not as ones who must do everything Jesus said – or God said – but as ones who know the heart of Jesus and want to do the things that honor and show respect to our Lord – and friend!

You are my friends if… If what? If you do what I command.

How do we know what Jesus (or the Father) has commanded? We need to read the Bible.

If you want to be a friend of Jesus you need to spend time in Scripture getting to know Jesus, reading it like a letter from a friend rather than a textbook.

This is about getting to know the heart of God, the heart of Jesus. It’s about getting to know him and love him and desire to please him so that it is not obedience out of obligation, but because of a desire to please the one you love!

If you want to train yourself to be godly, to become a friend of Jesus and be more like him, you will want to include a regimen of Scripture reading (memorization, meditation, study, etc.), which will help you to get to know Jesus better.

First, get your own Bible, and then make a plan for reading the Bible. There are various Bible Reading Plans available, including some that take you through the entire Bible in a year. Just search the internet and you can download or order from a variety of plans, but make sure you have a plan so you can train yourself to be godly!

Read the Bible regularly so you can learn what Jesus has commanded, can do what he has taught, and be his friend, and become more godly in the process.

We are to train ourselves to be godly. It begins with reading the Bible regularly.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Spiritual Training Series #1: Train Yourself to be Godly

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Imagine you just received a baby picture from friends who just had a baby. What if they sent you a picture every year? What if you are like me and don’t clean your fridge very often? As you put up the picture from year five, you notice the picture from the first announcement. And then you realize there has been very little change. The baby is still hardly any bigger and doesn’t seem to have developed much. Unfortunately, there are some children who do not mature the way we expect, who never crawl or walk or communicate. This makes us sad because a baby needs to grow.

As followers of Jesus, we need to grow, too.

1 Timothy 4:7 says “train yourself to be godly”.

Philippians 2:12 says “work out your salvation”.

We are to become more “godly” or Christ-like. We are to continue to grow and develop spiritually to become a better expression of the image of God as we were created to be, according to Genesis 1:27.

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he crated them.

Genesis 1:27

This is not just about our own hard work though. In Colossians 1:29, the Apostle Paul writes: “I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” Yes we are to train ourselves and work out our salvation and struggle. We have a part to play in our spiritual development, but this is never something we do no our own. Like Paul we can depend on “Christ’s mighty power that works within me”.

We can and should do our part. It may be that we choose to practice some of the Spiritual Disciplines that Christians have practiced throughout history. This includes prayer, scripture reading, fasting, sabbath, generosity, and so on. As we practice these disciplines, we make an effort to do our part as we invite the Holy Spirit to do His work in us to make us a little more like Jesus.

Whatever training we want to instill in our lives, we do need to train ourselves to become godly. For this to be a priority in our lives, we need to intentionally prepare a training schedule or plan. When will you read the Bible, and what will you read? When will you pray, and what will you include in your prayer time? When will you choose to fast, and what kind of fast? How will you practice generosity, and so on?

Think back to the time when you first became a believer in Jesus. We could say you were a baby Christian. What would that picture have looked like if your heavenly Father had taken a picture and hung it on his fridge in heaven? What would a picture he took this year look like? As I look back 51 years, to the time He could have taken my “spiritual baby” picture,  I trust that my picture – the me that God sees – would give evidence of much spiritual growth and maturity. Maybe the picture would not just include me, but other people around me who have come to know Jesus or been impacted for Jesus by me.

I pray that you are intentionally pursuing Jesus and looking for ways to grow toward every fuller spiritual maturity.

Keep on looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Highlight Baptism as the Celebration It Is.

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One of my highlights of pastoral ministry has been baptism services. I have had the joy of baptizing children, one as young as nine years old, as well as a senior who was around ninety years old. I have baptized in rivers and lakes and horse watering troughs and baptismal tanks. I had the privilege of baptizing my daughters! Every baptism has been a great celebration of God drawing an individual to Himself and that individual responding by faith and a public declaration of their commitment to serve Jesus!

Baptism is one of the acts that Jesus challenged his followers to do as part of making disciples. Along with teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded, disciples of Jesus are to make disciples of others, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28: 19-20). As the water runs off, the baptismal candidate is reminded of their sins washed away. My practice has usually been to immerse the candidate, so when they come out of the water it is as if they have been buried and now raised to a new life in Christ.

Baptism should always be a great celebration! I have been disappointed to be in services where baptism seemed like a side issue. One church baptized people off to the side of the stage as the rest of the congregation continued with their worship service. We heard no testimony from the candidates or the words spoken over them as they were baptized. Baptism is one of the few expressions of discipleship Jesus instituted so let’s make it a priority in our services. Let’s show everyone present that we believe this is an important step in obedience to Jesus by highlighting the whole of the baptism.

I have heard of some baptisms that happened in someone’s backyard with only the family attending. Again, I think the church is missing out when a member of their community is not baptized in the presence of the whole church, as it is a celebration of their discipleship, and discipleship must happen in community with the local body of Christ! The baptismal candidate is also missing out because they do not have the support and excitement of their church celebrating this momentous moment with them. We have celebrations for our physical birth and for wedding anniversaries, why not celebrate our spiritual birth and life too!

Baptism is important because Jesus told us to do it. It is an initial step in discipleship, so let’s not only practice it but also highlight it as the special priority it is. Let’s invite the whole congregation to gather around, whether it is in the church, or out at a lake or river, or even in a hot tub in someone’s backyard. Let’s allow the candidate to share a testimony, whether live or recorded, where they declare their allegiance to Jesus! Let’s invite unbelieving family and friends to come too, so they can experience this occasion and recognize the commitment the person is making to Jesus. Maybe the event will be an occasion for them to commit their life to Jesus, too!

Pastors can use the baptism service as a time to remind the church of God’s love, of Jesus’ sacrifice for them in His death and resurrection, and that the Holy Spirit wants to help them grow in their relationship with Jesus. Highlight baptism as part of discipleship. Those witnessing the baptism can see Christ’s incredible love and fall more in love with Him, too.

I hope you have many baptism celebrations as many come to faith in Jesus and connect with your church!

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Persistent Prayer

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Believers have the wonderful privilege of talking to their God. We can pray and expect that God hears us. We can pray and expect that God will speak to us as we listen. What a privilege!

Many believers pray. May churches have prayer meetings and prayer in their services. But how long do we pray? Do we pray once and then go on with life? Or do we continue in prayer until we hear from God?

One day, Jesus told a story:

“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” – Luke 18: 1-8

Jesus uses this story to show the value of persistence in prayer. A persistent  resulted in the intervention of a judge who “neither feared God nor cared about people”. The judge finally gave in and helped the woman because of her persistence.

Jesus applies this story to the Christian life: “So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” (Luke 18:8)

Jesus wants us to understand the value of persistence in prayer – not to have a reluctant judge or a reluctant God respond – but because we have a God who is much better than a reluctant judge. God loves us more than that reluctant judge. He wants to help his people; he honours those who persist in prayer.

Jesus continues in verse 9, “I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly!”

Jesus wants his disciples to recognize God’s willingness to answer prayer and encourages them to keep on praying and not to give up. As followers of Christ today, we can similarly apply this message in our lives and persist in prayer.

Unless you have a clear answer from God, continue praying. The Apostle Paul wrote about a problem he had that he wanted God to clear up. He describes how he persisted in prayer three times and then stopped. “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12: 8-9) Paul didn’t stop praying until he heard God’s answer.

Keep praying until you get an answer from God. Persist in prayer.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Discerning Truth

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New ideas challenge our understanding. What do we do with new ideas? As a young man, I wanted things to be black and white. I wanted to know right and wrong. I accepted the teachings I received in my church and at home, as well as those I learned at Bible College. I held strong views about beliefs and practices of other churches based on what I had grown up with.

As I ventured into the world, I discovered speakers, authors, and churches who presented ideas I was not comfortable with because they were different than what I thought was right. There were times when the teachings I came across made sense. There were times I had to adjust my thinking because I was wrong, or at least not fully informed, about a certain belief.

How should we respond to new ideas? Let’s look at a couple of ways we often respond to new teachings.

It is new, so it is wrong.

There are some people who are convinced, as I was in my early years, that anything new and different must be wrong.  And if it is wrong, it must be avoided. These people will not accept anything new as true because it is not what they are used to or comfortable with. They will ban those books from their libraries and caution others not to listen to those speakers. In their desire to hold to the truth, they assume that they already have the truth and don’t need to be confused with new ideas. While well-meaning, this is a naïve attitude that prevents many good followers of Jesus from growing.

It is new and I don’t know if it is right or wrong.

Some Christians, when exposed to new ideas, aren’t sure if these are right or wrong, and either don’t want or don’t know how to determine if it is right, so they just choose to ignore the new idea. Maybe it’s too much work to figure out if it is true. Maybe they aren’t sure how to assess it’s validity. Maybe they are comfortable and don’t want anyone to rock the boat. Life is good, I know where I stand, I know what my church teaches, and my friends believe. I don’t need to check out anything else.

Again, this attitude keeps followers of Jesus from growing in their relationship with Jesus as they never struggle with new understandings of God or scripture. Spiritual growth assumes a deeper or further understanding of and obedience to God. This may include accepting something new.

It is new, but is it true?

Other followers of Jesus are aware that they do not have all the answers. They may have already experienced times where a new teaching has given them further clarity about who Jesus is or how He works in their lives. They are willing to do the work to find out if this new teaching is truth or not, and willing to accept and apply the new teaching if it is true.

Their attitude is “I don’t know if it is true, but I will check it out.”

And so they study scripture to see if what they have been hearing is consistent with scripture. They read other authors or listen to other teachers they trust to get advice from other believers. They take time to talk to God about what they have discovered, asking God to give them clarity about what they are hearing. They might consider how this teaching has been accepted by other churches or by some of the older writers.

These followers of Jesus do not just jump on the bandwagon because friends are or because a certain speaker endorses this teaching, but they take time to consider it carefully before accepting it.

I have benefited greatly from discovering teachings that were not part of my childhood or that of my church. I have learned to appreciate teachings on the gifts of the Spirit and learning to listen and hear from God. I have appreciated being challenged on my beliefs about the kingdom of God. I have come a long way from my theological roots, continuing to carefully learn and grow in understanding God and how He works in us. In my pursuit of a deeper intimacy with Jesus, I have had to grow in my understanding and learned to accept new truths along the way.

Discerning truth is not a quick and easy process, but it may be of great benefit to you and your relationship with God as you get to know more. Be willing to do the work of assessing the validity of new teachings you come across without discarding them too quickly.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe