Sometimes when my pastor and his wife are out of town, our women's ministry leader gives the sermon. She also happens to be my mentor (I got lucky.) Her message yesterday was compelling, and I feel like I should write some of it down.
"Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body." --Colossians 2: 8-9
High-sounding nonsense. I'm fairly certain sometimes that's all my students hear. But I have to say, I can find myself very distracted by high-sounding nonsense. In my yoga practice, I have to make sure I'm on the right side of the line with what my yogi is saying. It goes something like this:
Yogi: And now, bring the awareness back to your fingers...
(Inside my head): Dang it, I could totally lie here forever. He's going to turn on the lights and it's going to be like waking up ALL OVER AGAIN.
Yogi: Begin to feel your body moving...
(my head): mmm....so comfy...so relaxed...
Yogi: And find your inner god and offer blah blah blah....
(my head): ahh yes...my inner--wait, what? I'm just going to talk to the real God, who is living inside of me. There's a difference!
If you know me you know I like organic, natural, hippy things. It's a great place to find high-sounding nonsense. (The NIV says "hollow and deceptive philosophy".)
To stand against these "big-sounding ideas" (NLV), we've got to become people of principles. My mentor asked us to write down some of our principles. Again, welcome inside my head: "Uh, ok. Well...love Jesus...obey Him...uhhh don't steal...but I guess that falls under obeying Jesus because He says not to steal..." Before I knew it we were on to the next point. I was still trying to figure out how to balance vague principles like "follow God" and overly specific ones like "don't glare at the fourth grader who talks out of turn". So, this will probably be a work in progress. But pulling from some of my favorite verses, I think I have some figured out. So, here we go...for lack of a better name, Natalie's principles:
Seek justice.
Love mercy.
Walk humbly with my God.
Think about what really matters.
Honor my parents.
Encourage others in their faith.
Look after the poor, widows, and orphans.
Stop complaining.
Behave in a way that invites questions.
Be ready to answer those questions.
I'm sure there are more/should be more...but again I don't know how to get more specific. And because I will most likely lose the paper she gave out to take notes on, I'll write them here.
Being a person of principle will:
enable us to stand in the face of temptation
enable you to stand in the face of trials
keep you from giving in to pressure
help you stand in the face of mockery and trial
enable you to stand against threats
enable you to stand in the face of turbulent emotions
enable us to reach out to others in times of need
Yeah I want all that. Count me in.
No comments:
Post a Comment