Calcfest 2006
What a great group of kids we had at the house last night. There was, surprisingly, some pizza left over, but that's mostly because Aaron's car broke down and he never showed up. We ate and drank and played games. Scattergories was fun until Lilian and KCee started guessing all the same words as Christian and I. It was close to 11 when they left and I think they would have stayed longer if I hadn't been falling asleep. What an old fogey.My lesson on Daniel this week revolves around the fact that everybody knew what Daniel believed. If he hadn't been so public with his faith, his enemies wouldn't have known to create a law forcing prayer to the king. They wouldn't have known where to find him when he was praying, or what time of day. But Daniel lived what he believed every moment of his life. It's a pretty tough example to follow, but an important one, especially when you have a chance to be an example to others as well.
Jesus told the Pharisees to go pray in a closet, where they could not be seen. As with many of Christ's instructions, we've often taken the idea of the prayer closet to the extreme. Now, we often take pains to hide our acts of faith from others. And so, once again, we've missed the point. If we pray in front of others so they can see how pious we are then, yes, we are better off finding a dark corner somewhere. But if we run to the dark corner so that others won't know we pray, then we are guilty of being ashamed of our God, ashamed of what we believe. I recently saw a group of girls holding hands in a parking lot, praying with heads bowed. I don't think they were doing that so that others could see them. I think they just needed to pray. It made an impression on me that they were willing to be seen acting out their faith.
I have to question how many times I hold my tongue when it would be better to speak. I need to pay attention to what others see when they watch me. I want the world to know that I serve God.
posted by Thurman8er @ 8:26 AM
5 Comments:
Hey Steve-
It is hard to balance my spirituality with being politically correct in the classroom. I want to guide the students to the correct answers, as I see them, but I have to balance every idea presented with the views from the opposition. At the very least, I will inform them of my point of view and they can make educated decisions on their own. Daniel, to me, was not worried about following the rules, as long as the rules got in the way of his spirituality. My persecution is much more subtle than a lion's den. My persecution is fear of losing my job. Hmmm...Something to think about.
Shane Mason
Good thoughts, Shane. I don't mind my kids being presented with another point of view. I think they need to be presented with ideas about evolution and political correctness. Then, we have to live our lives in such a way that Godly perspectives look attractive to them. They'll learn much more from how we act than from what we say.
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I never put those thoughts together Steve but it makes sense even if the result has been somewhat tragic. I wonder about the times when I was trying to not be an "in your face Christian" (sharing my faith in public / outside the church building walls) that I was really playing into the evil one's hands.
Greg - (excuse me Steve) the key word you used was "boy." When I was younger I could hang with the best of the big dogs to the whee hours of the night. I did manage a rousing game of "Spoons" (at one point it became "Full Contact Spoons") with Steven and 3 of his buds last night to about 11pm.
Thanks for your honesty.
I work for a neat Christian guy who tries to listen to God's leading every day. He has obeyed God's leading to speak to any number of people wherever they were ... in public, in private ... I have witnessed this. I love the Lord with all my heart, but hesitate to do such things and I am not really sure why. It could be that I am nervous ... or embarrassed ... or fear rejection ... all of which I have experience at one time or another. Sometimes I think I am too hard on myself and sometimes I think I need to just "do it". I also have seen myself as more of a friendship evangelism kind of guy, but that may be a cop out. I am still searching my soul regarding this issue of speaking out for God or holding my tongue. The latter is easier. Ah, me and my comfort zone. Lord help me, please.
Good entry brother.
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