Beyond Mediocrity Blog

(Image courtesy of stock.adobe.com.) “If you pray for patience, be careful; you’ll be given a lot of situations that will teach you patience.” This has often been repeated to me and probably to you. Perhaps you have even said this to others. I do not doubt the goodwill or the sincerity of the brother or sister in Christ who may have said this to you or vice versa, but I do think this common, Christian cliché deserves a little unpacking.

(Image courtesy of shopify.com.) Every season has its quintessential images and moods. Winter, for instance, brings to mind images of snow, howling winds, and freezing cold. Trees stand naked against a sea of white. But what is dreadful outside is wonderful inside: images of hot chocolate, a crackling fire, and fuzzy blankets warm us almost immediately. To me, springtime creates anticipation and excitement for the new life that is budding and blossoming all around. The spring rains truly do bring spring flowers. The countryside teems with new life: speckled fawns nurse in the thicket and baby blue colored eggs fill the robin’s nest. The deadness of winter is forced into distant memory as the greenness of new life bursts forth everywhere!

(Image courtesy of loc.gov.) "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment" (Romans 13:1-2). During the government overreach of the COVID mayhem, we witnessed the limit of government jurisdiction and authority. In short, God never contradicts himself. We do not throw ourselves behind the support of all government edicts, with a sort of blind obedience, for then we might be guilty of obeying man but disobeying God himself. What COVID reminded us was that the Church by her very nature must meet together. It is essential and an apostolic command: "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together." Let no government silence the Church. Her Lord is not the State, but Christ.

(Stock photo) “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).   The author, Paul the apostle, uses the contrast of light and darkness to help illustrate his point that Christians (light) are not to have fellowship with non-Christians (dark). What does this mean exactly? Elsewhere, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world Here, Paul recognizes that we cannot disassociate ourselves from the world completely. The only way to do that is to leave this world and go to Jesus, which is not up to us. So, are we to associate or disassociate? Are we to have fellowship or not with the world?