Worldly passion vs.zeal for good

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." Titus 2:11-14

This has become my recent motto. Every hour is battle against what I see and desire. What I'm waiting for is unseen and easily forgotten. How easily my best treasure seems dull and dusty, the memory sitting dormant in better parts of my mind. I feel the appeal of what I could have now. My senses aren't telling me most of the story.


God's grace trains us to renounce, to say "no", to the very things which feel so solid and sure and pleasing now. Part of salvation for Christians is a peculiar life in the present as we wait for Jesus to return. A life of not being passionate about the same stuff that people who don't know Jesus are spending themselves on. It's really hard not to be. And it's really hard to keep bothering to say "no".


The worldly passions which are most appealing to me are the ones about me possessing myself and making myself into whatever I want to be - preferably something which other people admire. But Jesus frees people from self possession and makes us God's possession.

This is no purse-lipped, passionless, sour sitting out of life. We have been bought by Jesus to have zeal for new things. People completely enthusiastic, but not about making ourselves amazing. People zealous for Christ centred, Christ shaped and Christ enabled good works.


As I keep prayerfully battling in the middle of my conflicting desires, I'm relieved that God is the big actor on his own stage. Jesus fights for me. My salvation was started by him and will be finished by him. Oh for the appearing of his glory!

Enjoying #13

Something I would have found very unenjoyable not so long ago has become very nice. Saturday afternoons at a quiet beach not too far from where we live. And fish and chips afterwards. I'm learning to play.

 

 

Jesus weak and tempted

There are two things I hadn't noticed before about the temptation of Jesus.

1. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted.
2. Jesus was really, really weak when temptation came. He was weak from forty days and nights of  lonely desert hunger.

Compare this with Adam and Eve. They lived in the abundantly satisfying goodness of the presence of God, in Eden. They didn't know what decay, disappointment and longing were. Adam and Eve were perfectly strong and satisfied. 

The only thing left to want was God's god-ness.

In their strength and fullness, they did not stand against the temptation to grasp at god-ness. And since then, no one could resist pretending to be god.

Every single human being has reached after God's god-ness. It happens every time we think and move with the impulse to own and rule ourselves. That's what sin is. The only one who didn't is Jesus.

And strangely enough, he was the only one qualified to grasp god-ness, because he is God.

Yet, in his humanity, when the Tempter offered Jesus a facade of god-ness (Matthew 4:1-11), Jesus resisted a very real temptation, even though he was hungry, weak and broken. He obeyed perfectly when the seen and unseen weakness racked him.

What about us? Well, the point is not, "Go and copy Jesus and resist temptation." The point is give up, own up and throw yourself on Jesus.

Jesus is beyond comparision. He is supremely wonderful. Come and trust him for forgiveness. Those who belong to him are hidden under his perfect obedience in their place.

Thank you, Amy Edwards for asking wonderful questions in, "Lord Have Mercy: Discovering Jesus in the Days Before Easter". These thoughts were provoked from the first Friday reading (on the Temptation of Jesus).  

Friends, you can download a Kindle copy of the book (it's not too late to start!) from here. You can also by a paperback copy from here.

If you would like to comment, you're welcome to email me, scw.mckay@gmail.com.

Home education paradox

So, yes, we are home educating. In case you missed this post, I'll say again, I have become convinced that educational decisions are complex and contextual. In our particular situation, with our particular children, with our particular church family, in our particular community, at this point in time, this is a really good option for us. Different circumstances make a difference. Please read anything I write about home ed with that in mind!

home education

As I meet more home educators (and homeschoolers and unschoolers!) and as I occasionally flit through the digital lives of home educators around the world, I'm realising how broad the category is. There are many different ways of educating children. There are so many different reasons for the choices people make. Similar choices can be made from completely different worldviews. It seems that a lot of home schoolers in Australia are not Christian at all.

When I think about the stereotypes and generalisations people make about homeschoolers, I'm feeling like a bit of a paradox. Here are some ways our understanding of the Bible is shaping what we do:

• Because we value the authority of Scripture and see the importance of a Christian worldview, we are happy to not use Christian curriculum and resources. We want our children to encounter all sorts of ideas and learn to think critically and biblically for themselves, rather than shield them from falsehood. God's truth is robust and real, so I don't have to hide different ideas from my children. I'm keen to be more present while they are making sense of things, though!
• We want our family to be useful in our community in the short and long term, rather than withdraw from it. That's an important part of who we are in Jesus' world while we wait for his return, so it's part of our kids' education.
• It's because we want our children to be more independent that we are home educating. Two of the main aspects of independence we are cultivating are independent learning and independent good habits (rather than parent/teacher/system/peer dependence). There are many other aspects of growing independent adults which I'm sure we'll uncover as we go.
• It's because we want them to know and learn to love people who are not like themselves.
• It's so we have more time for relationships, rather than hiding from people, that we are home schooling.
• It's not because we had a traumatic time at school or because we are anti-school. 
• It's not because we're scared of our kids not ending up Christian adults. God brings about salvation, not home education or parents.

Consider this some of my thinking in public as our family works out what education is as we follow Jesus. 

There is no comment option on my blog at the moment, but you can email me, scw.mckay@gmail.com if you would like to.

Quietly home educating

Our eldest child had a good time at our local public school last year. We've made some special friends. We've enjoyed having school families cross paths with our Christian family over BBQs and play times and parties. 


Even still, we've decided to take the opportunity to stop school and home educate our children. Steve and I are planning to be more present in our children's learning for a while longer. It has been amazing how supportive the school has been as we made this decision.  


I was not planning to mention home education on my blog, because I don't want it to be a big deal. I have become convinced that educational decisions are complex and contextual. In our particular situation, with our particular children, with our particular church family, in our particular community, at this point in time, this is a really good option. A year ago it wasn't.


I can see that some things I might write on my blog won't make sense unless people know our kids aren't at school during the day. So, I thought I'd mention it now, lest I discourage some. 


Jesus is still far more important than education. Education is from Jesus and through him and for him - however we go about it. So let's pray God will give us eyes to see how brilliant Jesus is, and give us help and wisdom to show his brilliance in all sorts of ways, to all sorts of people.

I've gotten rid of the Facebook page (some digital streamlining!), but if you'd like to communicate with me, you can email scw.mckay@gmail.com

Preparing for Easter

Meredith says it all here, so head over and read! 

I have loaded "Lord, Have Mercy" onto my ipad. We're ready to start on Wednesday. Thanks Meredith and thanks, Amy!

Wealth, privacy, relationships

Do you talk with your Christian community before you make a significant financial decision? Or is your Christian community involved in your small, habitual pattern of spending and accumulation? I reckon money is where we are likely to feel a great sense of individualism and entitlement. If we have it, that is. Maybe the more wealth we have, the more private an issue we think finances are? 


I was interested to read this in Isaiah,

"Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land." (Isa 5:8)

God is not happy with this picture of private plenty. In this picture, wealth is collected in houses and land which then create a physical barrier between the owner and others. The land was God's inheritance, and given to a people who belonged to him and each other. This alienating, individual accumulation was one symptom of a whole nation sick against God. So God says, Woe on the wicked for amassing individual wealth in isolation.

Old Testament Israelite society was to be distinct for its mechanisms for fair distribution. Even the king was not meant to collect excessive private wealth (Deut 17:14-20). God's picture across the Bible shows that wealth is good when it is shared (like Eccl 5:8). Wealth is for community. When people grew rich (through God's ordering of gentle conditions making hard work profitable; or through inheritance etc), the wealth was meant to be good for others, not just self. Wealth kept to self is toxic.

When Jesus speaks to a rich young man, he tells him to make his wealth more flexible (by selling) so he can give it to the poor (Mk 10:17-31). The instruction is spiritually good for the young man (for in his poverty he would gain Christ) and materially good for the poor. It was an action which matches God's design for wealth. 

Bound up in repentance for this man is a change which spreads good to more people. Jesus goes on to describe the losses and gains in following him. There is a distinct relational tone to his description. Wealth can't be untangled from relationships.

If God has given us material wealth, it is so we can know the joy of bearing his likeness in generosity. If we have wealth, it is for others. I wonder if the first step is to challenge our assumption that wealth is a private, individual matter.