Got Character?

Posted by Jim Thornber on January 11, 2012
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Church, Leadership. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3)

A few years ago, a church I attended in Arkansas hosted a Thanksgiving service to raise money for the ministerial alliance. The alliance asked our church to lead in the praise and worship, and I played the piano on the worship team. Looking over the congregation, I noted a pastor from another church who, no matter what we sang, refused to either clap his hands or raise them in worship. He simply sat in his pew with his arms folded.  That struck me as strange, because outside of church he was a happy, vivacious, demonstrative man.

I have never been known for my extreme subtly or bashfulness, so as we gathered for refreshments after the service, I questioned him his about posture. “Why, when Scripture instructs you to lift up holy hands to the Lord, and you have a chance to do so in a public service, did you sit with your arms folded across your chest?”

“Well, you see,” he began to stammer and laugh, “I’m a . . . .” and he named his denomination. I cut him off and said, “Are you a denomination first or a Christian first?”

At this point, he began to look around for help from the people who had gathered, including my pastor. He asked, “Is he always like this?” to which my pastor replied, “Hey, he’s going easy on you.” Everybody gathered around laughed.

It is sad that many church members (or goers) around the world are more concerned with offending their denomination and the people in the next pew than they are in obeying the Word of God. The congregation led by the pastor in my story will have trouble obeying Scripture because he was not setting an obedient example. In a simple sense of the word, this pastor lacked character.

Regarding His eternal relationship to God, Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the “exact representation of his being” (1:3). James Moffat says He was “stamped with God’s own character.” The phrase “exact representation” translates the Greek word charaktēr, which gives us our English word “character.”

Originally, this word meant to cut, to scratch, to mark. It indicated the tool or agent that did the marking, and eventually came to mean the mark or the impression that was made. It also indicated an impression made in a wax seal. Or, think of a coin: its image, numbers and letters bear the exact image of the raised numbers and letters of the original die from which the coin was cast. To see a dime or a quarter is to know exactly what the original die or stamp looked like.

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the father” (John 14:9). This is true, because He was the “exact representation” of God, “stamped with God’s own character.” To see Jesus is to see God, for He is the exact image of God, the perfectly engraved representation of the very nature of God.

This brings up a very difficult question, especially for me: “If to see Jesus is to see the Father, then, when people see me, do they see Jesus?” As I was looking for the Christ-like qualities in that pastor, I began to wonder:

  • When I am at my church, what do people first see in me —   ­­­­­­­­­the Kingdom of God or a denominational version of God?
  • Am I stamped with the very character of God?
  • Do people see Jim or Jesus?
  • As a disciple of Jesus, am I exhibiting the character of Christ the way that Jesus the Son bore the character of God the Father?
  • When people see the church out working in the world, whose character do they perceive? Are they seeing the compassion, mercy, patience, and love of God, or do they see the values of MTV, ABC, Wall Street, Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, and Men’s Health?

We must all ask those tough questions if we are going to live the character of Christ and represent God in all we say and do. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Now I want to be able to say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen Jesus.” Maybe one day, at my funeral, some kind soul will say, “Jim was the most Christ-like person I’ve ever met.”  Then I’ll know I got character.

God Factors In Our Detours

Posted by Jim Thornber on January 3, 2012
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

“As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years… In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” — Genesis 15:12-16

God confuses me. I’ve been reading the book of Genesis, and His whole treatment of Abraham seems like a bundle of contradictions.

First, God told Abraham he would make him into a great nation (Gen. 12:2), and then He withheld the birth of Isaac for twenty-five years. Then God told Abraham to “look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever” (Gen. 13:14-15), while in chapter 15 God tells Abraham his descendants would live as slaves in Egypt for four hundred years before they would come back and possess the land. I’ve discovered that reading the Bible is a bit like reading a spy novel; you really don’t know how all the pieces fit together until you’ve read the last chapter. Of course, the same thing could be about my life. I won’t really know how all the parts fit together until I’ve lived the final chapter.

This is what challenges me about Genesis 15—sometimes when I think I’ve missed God’s direction for my life, it turns out that God has factored in my detours. Furthermore, about the time I think my detours are a result of a sin, I often find they are God’s gift to prepare me for my promise.  Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — John 13:2-5

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 26, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Humiliated By Service

During supper . . . Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands . . . rose from supper . . . and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. – John 13:2-5 (ESV)

I have to confess that I’m not a very good servant. Yes, I pastor a church and yes, I’ve been a more-or-less follower of Jesus for almost forty years now, but I still struggle to be an effective servant. I still complain sometimes when I have to go the extra mile, especially when it comes to doing a job someone else is supposed to do.

What started me thinking in this direction is this passage from John. I’m teaching a Bible study on John and, after many months, we finally made it to chapter thirteen. And, as has happened many times before, I’m rereading a very familiar passage, a passage I’ve preached on more than once, when something jumps out and grabs hold of my pride, something I didn’t see before.

Foot washing was a very menial task. People went around barefoot or in sandals, and their feet naturally got muddy and dusty. Guests’ feet were usually washed on arrival at the host’s home—certainly before the meal—by a servant, because people didn’t sit at a table to eat but reclined on the floor. This put their feet at the same level with their head. It was a menial job to say the least, but it was also a necessary job.

However none of the disciples, upon arriving at the place Jesus arranged to have the Passover Feast, was willing to stoop to the lowly job of washing the feet of their companions. They may have been hanging out with each other for three years, but no one was going to volunteer to serve the others.

Finally Jesus, in the middle of the meal, gets up and washes their feet. I get the picture that He’s waited as long as He could for one of the boys to understand the true nature of servanthood, and when they don’t, Jesus takes the opportunity to teach them.

How humiliating! Here’s all the personally chosen disciples of Jesus, all too proud to wash each other’s feet, now having to endure having their feet washed by their teacher and soon to be Savior. How would you feel if Jesus did something for you that you were too proud to do for someone else? Continue Reading

Tale of the Towel

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 22, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 comments

BEFORE the Passover Feast began, Jesus knew (was fully aware) that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the last and]to the highest degree. . . .took off His garments, and taking a [servant’s] towel, He fastened it around His waist (John 13:1,4, Amplified).

Perhaps the best-known passage that shows us the servant heart of Jesus is John 13, where we see our Lord and Savior, the creator through whom God made the universe, washing feet.

Jesus was fully aware of who He was in God, where He was from, and where He was going. As such, He was not serving His disciples while He waited for God to bring Him into His “real” ministry. He didn’t wash feet as a way of passing the time before He got on with His studies at Seminary or waited for His first call to pastor a church. Those are the things I would do. Instead, service was at the heart of the life Jesus laid down for His friends.

What challenges me most about this episode is the fact that Jesus gave credibility and integrity to what He did because of who He was, while most of us are inclined to get that backwards. We have the tendency to define who we are by what we do. For example, if you go to any gathering or social event and meet somebody new, watch how long it takes for one of you to ask, “So, what do you do for a living?” Most of us define and categorize ourselves not by who we are in God, but by what we do in life. But in Luke 9:18-20, Jesus did not ask His disciples, “What do the crowds say I do?”, but “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Colossians 3:16

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 13, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly—Col. 3:16

A few weeks ago, we had some family come and stay with us for a few days. They live about three and a half hours away, so when they come for a visit it is always a special event. We clean the house, over-stock up on food, make the bed in the guest room (which probably wasn’t cleaned since the last guest), clear a path from the laundry room to the kitchen (Admit it. You do the same thing.), take out pillows and blankets and pull the mattress off the futon so the kids can sleep on the floor, and generally put the house in order. And it stays that way for about, oh, the six minutes it takes the grandkids to drop their stuff, get out the toys, and make themselves at home.

Naturally, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our family is always welcome to visit us and stay as long as they want, which usually isn’t long enough.

After they leave, we pick up the house, put the guest room back in order, fold the blankets, replace the mattress, start a new load of laundry and then sit in silence. We miss the crowded living room and the noise, but it’s nice to have the house back in order again. We made room for our guests, but now that they’re gone, we quickly put the house back the way we like it.

This scenario reminds me of the difference between a guest in a house and the one who owns and dwells in a house. A guest is not a permanent resident; a dweller is. A guest comes and goes according to what is convenient for him and the host. A dweller remains regardless of the circumstances. A guest does not have the right to paint the walls and move the couch near the window. Only the resident of the house has those privileges.

In Colossians 3:16, Paul tells us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. As I studied this passage, I began to see the differences between a guest and a resident. That done, I had to ask this question: Am I allowing the Word to dwell in me like a resident in a house, or do I simply invite it in like an infrequent guest, hoping it won’t stay too long and try to rearrange the furniture?

I like the way Eugene Peterson translates this verse in The Message. “Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives.”

The Message of Christ, the full teaching and knowledge of Jesus’ purpose and being, should have the run of my life. That’s another way of saying Jesus is King of my life and His every word is my command. I wish it were always true. But Peterson doesn’t stop there. For some mean and sadistic reason he adds, “Give it plenty of room in your lives.” Thanks, Gene. Not only am I having trouble letting Jesus have full run of the house, now you’re telling me I have to give Him plenty of room to do so.

And here I was hoping the guest room would suffice.

Now I have a question for all of us who make the claim that Jesus is the Lord of our life. Is the Message and presence of Christ living and dwelling in me as an owner occupies a house, or does is just come and visit on weekends at my convenience?

But Lord, I Want THAT Gift

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 12, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 3 comments

“It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have” – 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NLT)

 For many people, the Christmas season is their favorite time of year. The time spent with family, the abundance of favorite foods, and of course the opening of gifts all make this holiday special.

When I was a kid, I was so keen on getting gifts I would often peel back the wrapping paper to get a peak at what was underneath (and I’ll bet you did, too). After all the gifts were unwrapped, I would head outside to gather with my friends and compare gifts which, in Southern California, inevitably included a few new bikes, a skateboard or two and usually one remote-controlled car. However, it seemed to me that no matter how cool my gifts were, there was always some other gift my friends had that I envied. I guess they felt the same, because we usually ended up playing with the other person’s gifts more than our own.

What bothers me is how often I have this same attitude towards the gifts the Holy Spirit has wisely given to me. Instead of enjoying and showing gratitude for the gifts God graciously gave me, I find myself desiring “other” gifts – gifts I see in people that I, with self-proclaimed omniscience abounding, deem more successful than I am. I figure if I had their gifts then I, too, could have what they have: house, car, job, successfully published book, prestige. You know, all those items that are destined to perish. Continue Reading

Why I Don’t Chase Christians

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 17, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him. . .” – Luke 15:20

If you’ve been in church very long, you’ve probably seen more than one person leave your fellowship. And I don’t meant they left your church in order to go to another church, which happens a lot, but they simply stopped going to church completely.

What are you supposed to do when people leave and stop attending church? Not just your church, but any church? Do you call them up and ask them why? Do you quote Hebrews 10:25 at them as a proof text that we are not to “give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing”? Do you go to their house on Sunday morning and force them to go to church with a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other?

In Luke 15, often called the “Lost Chapter” because of all the things that get lost, we find some interesting reactions to those lost items. The shepherd left ninety-nine sheep to search for the one that was lost, and the woman lit a lamp and cleaned house to find the lost coin. However, we don’t read about the father leaving home to go find the son. Instead, we simply find the father waiting at home, anticipating the day the son would return, for he noticed his son “while he was still a long way off.”

Why didn’t the father go after the son? The shepherd and the woman both search for their lost items, but the father stays and home and waits. Why? Because the sheep and the coin were ignorant of being lost, while the son, “when he came to his senses” (Luke 15:17), knew the way home. This is why I don’t chase Christians: they know the way home. Continue Reading

Let The Singing Begin

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 5, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 4 comments

The Lord, your God, is in your midst . . . he will exult over you with loud singing. – Zephaniah 3:17

Last week at our church Bible study, we were reading the passage from John 12 that talks about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion. We were going back and forth between our text in John and some Old Testament texts, and we ended by reading this passage from Zephaniah 3:17. 

As we were getting ready to leave, one of the men said to me, “I like the idea that God is singing. It never occurred to me that God sang.” And this is what bothered me about his observation: It never occurred to me, either.

And it should have! Why wouldn’t God sing? Every culture in the world sings, so why wouldn’t God? He invented singing and endowed us with the joy of opening our mouth and singing loud, joyful, heartfelt songs.

            Of course, the idea of God singing isn’t really news; it was just a new thought to me.

C. S. Lewis wrote of Aslan singing Narnia into existence in The Magician’s Nephew. Aslan would sing a note and stars would appear. He’d sing another note and trees would appear. And all creation, with different molecules vibrating at different frequencies, would sing back. So why didn’t it occur to me that God sings? I’m fifty years old, and NOW it occurs to me that God likes to sing? What took me so long to see it? Continue Reading

For Whose Benefit?

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 31, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 comments

 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father – John 14:13

I’ve been teaching the book of John at our weekly Bible study, so I thought I’d be a good teacher and read ahead. I was doing great until John 14:13 stopped me. It was one of those times when I’m thinking, I’ve read this passage a hundred times. I’ve even got it underlined in my Bible. So why does it jump off the page now?

Like most people, I’ve often read this passage and thought, Jesus is telling us to pray in His name and He’ll give us whatever we want. How cool is that? But the other morning something else reached out and squeezed my theology. Instead of focusing on what we can get from our prayers, Jesus is teaching us to pray so the answers allow the Son to give glory to the Father. In other words, how many prayers would never leave our lips if we filtered our every word through this idea: How can the Son bring glory to the Father by answering this prayer? Far fewer, I’m sure.

 I wonder how often I pray in the “name of Jesus” but to the glory of Jim? Let’s say I pray a good, religious prayer like this before I preach this Sunday: “Lord, bless Your Word this morning. Anoint me so that Your Word is glorified and people hear and are changed. Bless me to be a vessel of your goodness. Amen.”

That’s a nice prayer. However, I also know that in the back of my mind I’m praying like this because I don’t want to appear like I’m a failure in the eyes of the congregation. I want to appear successful, sincere and spiritual. To be honest, a prayer like that is equal parts a true desire to give all glory to God and a hope that I don’t look too foolish in the eyes of everyone watching. Did I say “equal parts?” How about 75% not looking foolish and 25% wanting God to show up and get some praise?

How many things would we stop asking for because we know our prayers are really seeking our convenience, not God’s glory? Perhaps we pray for more money, but we don’t tithe on the income we have now. We have a new car with new car payments, satellite TV with three hundred channels and Smartphone, but we can’t invest in God’s work. And now we have the audacity to ask Him for more money. If God isn’t getting the glory for the money you have now, why should He give you more?

We ask for peace in the home. But the husband treats his wife with disrespect and bullies her into doing things his way, while the wife goes behind his back to get the things she’s sure she needs, and by example she teaches her daughter to do the same. We don’t really want peace; we want everything our way.

We pray for a house because we’re tired of renting. But we haven’t taken care of the home we’re renting. The grass is two feet high, the dog ruined the carpet and the stove hasn’t been cleaned in three years. But we want God to bless us with a new home. Why? So we can mess it up, too?

God is a good of a manager; too good to throw nice blessings at bad investors. I think many of our prayers are never answered because God knows we’d use His resources to glorify ourselves while giving lip service to Him. So I ask once again, for whose benefit are we praying?

Perhaps so few of our prayers are answered is because God knows His glory is not in the answer. This idea is making me examine the motivations of my heart and rearranging the way I present my requests to God. I still know I can ask for anything in Jesus name and He will do it, but only if it brings glory to the Father.

Do You Use Your Books?

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 19, 2011
Posted in: Publishing. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 comments

Do you use your books? I didn’t ask if you have used books. I asked, “Do you use your books?

Most of the books I own have places I’ve underlined, pages I’ve dog-eared, passages I’ve highlighted (sometimes I even underline the highlighted places) and comments in the margins. Some books have notes referring me to certain pages in other books.

And I don’t just do this with reference and study books. I’ve also been known to underline encyclopedias, concordances, magazines and even novels. John Steinbeck’s East of Eden has a few passages underlined, as does James Michener’s The Source, just to name a few. Autobiographies are not too sacred to be marked up, and my Bibles are replete with underlines, notes and references to other passages.

I see books as tools, and every tool I own has marks and scuffs on them from when it was used. Some people might say, “Well, I have a book I dropped and the cover is bent, and I spilled coffee on another book. Does that count?” No, it does not count. If you dropped mustard on a hammer, would you say you used the hammer for its intended purpose?

I believe the primary purpose of books is to learn something, to grow as an individual and to be entertained. This is why not all my books are marked up. Some of my reading is for pure entertainment. But even then if I find a great passage I want to remember, I’ll dog-ear the page and underline the sentence.

I hope people underline and dog-ear my book.

I have some friends who are using my book in their small group, and they asked me to write a study guide for them. And to tell the truth, I’m honored they would choose to use my book.

However, I do hope that everyone in the group is finding passages that are interesting enough to underline, highlight and dog-ear. My book is not a shrine to be cherished but a tool to be used. I hope one day to see my book on someone’s shelf, take it down, and find it is well-used and full of colorful underlines and highlighted passages.

I think I would be a bit hurt if someone read my book and didn’t feel that one sentence was worthy of being underlined. I want to know the things I’ve written have been useful tools in the hands of many readers, and it has helped them build a life worthy of living.

So, do you use your books? I know certainly hope so.