Yesterday we talked about the endurance race that we’re all on from Hebrews 12.1 – 3. Immediately following that is a section on discipline. And competing in any sports event requires discipline.

But the “discipline” of this paragraph of Hebrews is not “training,” as in “train yourself for godliness,” (1 Timothy 4.7). It has more to do with hardship or even punishment. It’s the same word as used in Ephesians 6.4, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. (Hebrews 12.4 – 10, ESV)

As we think about the Olympics, which just concluded a few days ago, we see a lot of the “punishment” kind of discipline. Those athletes who, for example, lost in the previous Olympics in Tokyo, only to come back successful in Paris. Simone Biles, the world’s greatest gymnast, could barely compete in 2021. Would she come back? She did, with great success. Likewise, Noah Lyles didn’t do as well in Tokyo as he wanted but won the 100-meter dash in Paris. He wanted to win the 200 as well, but “settled for” bronze, this time with a good attitude.

These athletes and others used their hardship to propel them forward in their training – the other kind of discipline – which is how the section in Hebrews 12 closes:

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12.11, ESV)

We ended our review of God’s Faith Hall of Fame with the first part of verse 35: “Women received their dead back to life.” It’s on the list with “conquered kingdoms…closed the mouths of lions…” Great stuff. But if there’s a single verse of scripture that kills any idea of a health and wealth “prosperity gospel,” it’s this verse. Here’s the rest of it:

…Others were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. (Hebrews 11.35, NIV)

That part continues:

Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11.36 – 38, NIV)

Tough stuff.

Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours. (Hebrews 11.39, 40, MSG)

The text continues with a clear message for all of us, the “therefore…”

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12.1 – 3, ESV)

It’s an endurance race. A race with spectators! All those folks and their like in Hebrews 11. Winners lay aside harmful things and distractions because they know…

…the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. (Mark 4.19, ESV)

A race where Jesus is the goal and the example.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.5 – 8, ESV)

And winning a race requires discipline, the next subject in Hebrews 12, the topic of the next blog, and certainly the inescapable message of the Olympics, from which I’ll be sharing some stories over the next few days.

Those of us in the Historical Books Reading Program have just finished Hebrews and are about to start 1 Chronicles, a parallel look at some of the stories of 1 Samuel – 2 Kings. But it starts with nine chapters of names! I’ll be reading in Psalms as a supplement during that time, and the blog will talk about lessons learned from the Olympics, among other things. Stay tuned.

We wrote about Randy Gradishar’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame a couple of days ago. A great accomplishment, and he used the platform well, but how much better to be in God’s Hall of Fame! Does God have one? Some think Hebrews 11 comes pretty close: The “Hall of Fame of Faith.”

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible… And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11.1 – 3, 6, ESV)

As we look at the list of names and why they’re listed (hint: they took action), we’re reminded that faith is not a matter of simply “believing” a few things. As James wrote:

Faith without works is dead. (James 2.20)

Here’s the list:

• Abel “offered a better sacrifice”
• Enoch “pleased God”
• Noah “warned about something he hadn’t seen, built an ark.”
• Abraham “said yes to God’s call and moved…”
• Sarah “received power to conceive”

Interlude

Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them. (Hebrews 11.13 – 16, MSG)

• Abraham “offered Isaac”
• Isaac “blessed Jacob and Esau”
• Jacob “blessed each of Joseph’s sons”
• Joseph “prophesied the exodus and made arrangements for his own burial”
• Moses’ parents “hid him away…”
• Moses
  • “Refused the privileges of the royal house”
  • “Chose a hard life with God’s people”
  • “Valued suffering in the Messiah’s camp far greater than Egypian wealth”
  • “Left Egypt”
  • “Kept the Passover Feast”
• Israel
  • “Walked through the Red Sea…”
  • “Marched around the walls of Jericho…”
• Rahab “welcomed the spies…”
• Others (like Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets)
  • Toppled kingdoms
  • Made justice work
  • Took the promises for themselves
  • Were protected from lions, fires, and swords
  • Won battles
  • Routed armies

And this part of the list ends:

Women received back their dead, raised to life again… (Hebrews 11.35, NIV)

Some of the early ones on this list like Abel (murdered), Abraham and Moses had a tough time, but nothing but victory for that last group! Let’s join God’s team!! Not so fast, but that should be the subject of another blog. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, bravo to these examples of faith, people who believed God and took action. Here’s another:

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9.10 – 17, NIV)

“But the Lord said, Go!” And Ananias went.

As long as we’re on the subject of football and God having people everywhere, it’s time once again to talk about the “controversial” kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, Harrison Butker. Last year I applauded him for telling the graduates of his alma Mater, Georgia Tech, that getting married and having a family was among the best things they could do. Today that makes him “controversial” and reminds us that we are very much in exile. After Butker’s graduation speech this year to a private Catholic school, a change.org petition that the Chiefs should fire him garnered nearly 240,000 signatures!

Here’s some of what he said and the reaction to it as reported in A Swift Kick in the Pants by Ray Hacke, May 21, 2024.

[Butker] pulled no punches…in his commencement speech to graduating students at Kansas’ Benedictine College, a Catholic private school, in mid-May….“Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally.”

…Butker also voiced his opposition to the national pro-LGBT celebration known as Pride …Butker unabashedly condemned “the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it.”

Butker’s speech at Benedictine called on men in the audience to “be unapologetic in your masculinity” and to “reject this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in your homes and in your communities.” He encouraged them to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men” and connected America’s epidemic of violence to America’s epidemic of fatherlessness.

…Most controversial of all, though, is that Butker dared to suggest to women at Benedictine that perhaps they should reject the “girl boss” endeavors that society strongly urges them to pursue and that they may find greater fulfillment as wives and mothers, citing his wife as a chief example.

Of course, as so often happens in our modern world, Butker’s words went viral. And of course, it sparked outrage, including from the Kansas City’s leaders…While not condemning Butker’s speech, the National Football League distanced itself from it in a faux show of so-called “respect” for its female fans…But here’s what the NFL likely did not expect: Just as sales of former Philadelphia Flyers hockey player Ivan Provorov’s jersey skyrocketed after he took his stance against Pride in January 2023, so did sales of Butker’s jersey. And according to Kansas City TV station KCTV, women’s Butker jerseys are selling out on Chiefs.com. 

Hacke ends the essay this way:

More Christian athletes should follow his example, using their God-given platforms to proclaim God’s truths—no matter how unpleasant those truths may be, no matter what hostility comes their way.

Jesus was controversial, too.

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. (John 7.40 – 43, ESV)

The Jews then said, “That clinches it. We were right all along when we called you a Samaritan and said you were crazy—demon-possessed!” (John 8.48, MSG)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1.17, ESV)

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. (Ephesians 4.15, ESV)

PS Rather than firing Butker, the Chiefs have recently made him the highest paid kicker in the NFL.

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. (Proverbs 22.29, ESV)

We observed yesterday that through Jesus we have moved from “priests in a place” to “priests in ALL places.” We are the priests, and it’s our job to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2.9)

I just discovered a marvelous story, reported by World Magazine about Denver’s own Randy Gradishar, who was just inducted into football’s Hall of Fame last week. It’s embarrassing to read about this in a national publication, but if this story was covered locally, I don’t know by whom. Anyway, here it is:

Randy Gradishar on Saturday dedicated his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a Saturday speech at the hall in Canton, Ohio. The former linebacker was there to be remembered as a member of the Denver Broncos’ “Orange Crush” defense in the 1970s. Gradishar referenced a recent sermon series his pastor preached on the book of Nehemiah about individuals who make a difference in the lives of others and the world around him. Gradishar characterized his wife and his parents as difference-makers in his life, but credited one person with giving him the best invitation he’d ever received.

What exactly was that invitation? Former NFL running back Archie Griffin, who attended Ohio State University alongside Gradishar, invited Gradishar to a campus Fellowship of Christian Athletes Bible study. Gradishar grew up in church but never heard the gospel of salvation preached to him, he said. At that FCA meeting, he heard that gospel for the first time. During his Hall of Fame speech decades later, Gradishar credited that Bible study with teaching him four truths...

At the age of 22, Gradishar accepted Christ as his Savior. Fifty years later, at the Pro Ball of Fame on Saturday, Gradishar thanked Griffin for inviting him to that Bible study. – Josh Schumacher, World Magazine, August 5, 2024. (The whole article includes a summary of what some of you will recognize as “The Four Spiritual Laws.” The “speech” link above connects with the official Hall of Fame story and includes a link to Randy’s entire speech.)

Randy Gradishar, former linebacker for the Denver Broncos, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, August 3, 2024.

So this blog is a shout-out, not to Randy Gradishar, but to Archie Griffith, who, as a sophomore, invited his teammate, Randy Gradishar, a senior at the time, to a Bible study. Archie was one of God’s “priests in ALL places,” even a football team at Ohio State University.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2.9, ESV)

We are thinking of Jesus as priest, a distinctive concept in the book of Hebrews, even while reminding us…

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. (Hebrews 8.4, ESV)

But Jesus is a special priest which Hebrews chapters 8 – 10 goes into in great detail, contrasting the Old Testament tabernacle system with what that system foreshadowed. I just want to capture a few highlights. The basic theme is that we are moving away from “priests at a place.”

But Jesus’ priestly work far surpasses what these other priests do, since he’s working from a far better plan. If the first plan—the old covenant—had worked out, a second wouldn’t have been needed. But we know the first was found wanting, because God said,

Heads up! The days are coming when I’ll set up a new plan for dealing with Israel and Judah. I’ll throw out the old plan I set up with their ancestors when I led them by the hand out of Egypt. They didn’t keep their part of the bargain, so I looked away and let it go. This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I’ll be their God, they’ll be my people. They won’t go to school to learn about me…They’ll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean. By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf…. (Hebrews 8.6 – 13, MSG, emphasis mine)

The new plan is so important, the author repeats it, again contrasting it with “priests in a place:”

Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:

This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time “I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts.” He concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them. (Hebrews 10.11 – 18, MSG)

The new plan was foretold by Jeremiah:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31.33, 34, ESV)

And it happened through Jesus – not priests at a place. Hebrews is offering us a behind-the-scenes, “this is how things work” look at what happened on the cross.

But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven’s “tent”—the true Holy Place—once and for all. He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all. If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God. Like a will that takes effect when someone dies, the new covenant was put into action at Jesus’ death. His death marked the transition from the old plan to the new one, canceling the old obligations and accompanying sins, and summoning the heirs to receive the eternal inheritance that was promised them. He brought together God and his people in this new way. (Hebrews 9.11 – 17, MSG)

Therefore…

Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out…spurring each other on… (Hebrews 10.24 – 25, MSG)

So it’s not “priests in a place,” but it’s priests in ALL places! WE are the royal priesthood, encouraging one another, spurring each other on, reminding each other that we are exiles.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light…Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (1 Peter 2.9, 11, ESV)

Priests, “proclaiming the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” I have a hot-off-the-press example. Stay tuned.

If you’re in the reading program, you’ve noticed several references and nearly an entire chapter devoted to “Melchizedek.” Say what? Who is he, and why does he matter?

It’s often said, although I know of no single scripture that states this, that Jesus is “Prophet, Priest, and King.” We’ve seen Jesus as prophet, and he even announced himself as king. But priest? Hebrews is the only book to address this subject, beginning early:

That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins… (Hebrews 2.17, MSG)

But what kind of priest? He couldn’t be king (in the line of David of the tribe of Judah) and priest (descended from Aaron of the tribe of Levi) at the same time. The author of Hebrews explains, quoting a Psalm:

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him… “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5.5, 6, ESV, quoting Psalm 110.4)

We have another short reference in Hebrews 6 and then most of Hebrews 7 is given to explaining and drawing applications from the story of Melchizedek which occurs after Abraham’s (still called “Abram” in Genesis 14) defeat of the kings who had defeated Sodom and captured his nephew Lot:

After [Abraham’s] return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Genesis 14.17 – 20, ESV)

That’s it. There’s nothing more about Melchizedek in Genesis and only the short reference in Psalm 110.

Hebrews 7 goes into detail about Melchizedek and shows how Jesus is a priest of that order – not the Levitical order, especially since “death prevents them from continuing in office!” (See Hebrews 7.23)

• Jesus always lives
• Jesus is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
• He doesn’t offer the sacrifice daily but rather once for all
• Jesus is “perfect forever”

Jesus is better than the priesthood and the law which establishes the priesthood.

As I read Hebrews 9, perhaps the real significance of Melchizedek comes through even though he is no longer mentioned. It talks about the place and the rituals.

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared…[and] the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. (Hebrews 9.1 – 7, ESV)

Melchizedek had neither place nor rituals. He met Abraham outside, served him bread and wine(!), blessed Abraham, and Abraham gave him the tithe. That’s it. 

Jesus fulfilled the place and the rituals:

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9.24 – 26, ESV)

We continue to complicate what Jesus came to simplify. He’s the high priest, and the rest of us are all priests – 1 Peter is clear about that – and our work is “outside” also.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2.9, ESV)

Portions of this blog first appeared on March 19, 2022.

Sometimes something pops up that’s too good not to share…

A few days ago I heard from a young man I haven’t talked with in probably 15 years. (Probably not quite so young anymore!) He asked me if I had taught him a 5-step process for decision-making and suggested what several of the points might have been.

I responded that I didn’t remember that I had such a template, but I sent him some preliminary thoughts. The next day, I was continuing my reading in a marvelous book on prayer, and and an answer to his question popped out. I sent him a follow-on letter, most of which follows:

My brother,

I’ve come to a bit more clarity…

I was reading the excellent book: Lead with Prayer: The Praying Habits of World-Changing Leaders by Skoog, Greer, and Doolittle. In the chapter on “Leaders Listen,” there are these snippets. First from John Wesley:

John Wesley had his own tool for confirming God’s voice, later named the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Wesley taught that there are four elements that together help confirm direction: 

• Scripture first and foremost 
• Christian experience 
• Wisdom of Christian tradition through the ages 
• Godly reason

The direction we receive in prayer—the impressions and nudges—must be tested against these four authorities, which provide guardrails for us as we listen for God’s voice. And even after the direction passes these tests, Scripture gives us another “runway light”: our Christian community. Page 104, bullets mine

The chapter closes with counsel from George Mueller:

As we seek to listen well, we’ve found these practical steps from George Müller instructive.

1. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord’s will, whatever that may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.

2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or a simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

3. I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

4. Next, I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God’s will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.

6. Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge; and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving the most important issues, I have found this method always effective. Page 106, 107

Thus, we have a 5-point, P-centered outline:

• Prayer (listening for the Holy Spirit)
• Precept (the scripture)
• People (the Christian community)
• Providential circumstances
• Peace

END OF LETTER

It’s a simple list, which in real life would take practice to do well, but it’s a good framework.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30.21, ESV)

I like to read The Message from time to time. Its fresh approach often breathes life into a familiar text. If you’re a regular blog reader, you’ll notice it’s my primary text for this year’s readings. Every now and then I’m criticized in a workshop for suggesting it as a reading option, but my response is always the same: “If you don’t like The Message or any other translation I recommend, don’t read it. But be sure you read something. There are no ‘points’ for NOT reading a particular translation!”

I like The Message, but I think Eugene Peterson missed it in this paragraph in Hebrews. I like the beginning but not the end:

I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong. (Hebrews 5.11 – 14, MSG)

“You’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening” is way better than “dull of hearing.” But, the last sentence is not quite what the text says. According to the standard translations, it’s not “right from wrong,” it’s discerning between “good and evil.”

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5.14, ESV, emphasis mine)

I associate “right from wrong” with the folks who work hard at their “doctrine” – they want to get their theology just right. But “good from evil” sounds more like behavior and character, way more important values.

Decades ago when my daughter was a little girl, there was TV preacher holding forth. I don’t remember who he was nor why I had it on. I was listening to his content, making sure that what he said was “correct.” Melody listened to him for a few minutes, then looked up at me and said, “Daddy, why is he so angry?” A good observation that I had missed.

Often some of the most vitriolic behavior and all-around lack of love by believers is directed at other believers who disagree with them on some minor point of theology. We need our “powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. “The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer…You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required.” (Matthew 23.1 – 3, 23, MSG)

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2.23 – 26, ESV)

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13.34, 35, NIV)

We just noted that a main theme of Hebrews is “Stay with it,” and Sahil Bloom recommended a fantastic article that’s too good not to share: Repair and Remain: How to do the slow hard work of staying put by Kurt Armstrong. It’s long and worth the read in its entirety. Here are Sahil’s takeaways:

• Repair the small things before they become big things.
• Make the minor upgrades that keep your life feeling fresh.
• Work with what you’ve got, learn to appreciate what you’ve got, and don’t fall for the “shiny object” trap.

The following snippets jumped out at me:

…for twelve years now I’ve had a hybrid operation, juggling a one-man autodidact home-repair business and part-time lay ministry at a little Anglican church in Winnipeg. My basic MO in both roles is simple: repair and remain.

Note: home-repair business and part-time lay ministry. He juxtaposes these in the remainder of the essay.

…Odds are the house you’re in right now needs a few updates and minor upgrades, and I’d be happy to help with whatever you need done: add some new windows, open up some walls, replace the old basement stairs, tile the backsplash. Repair and remain.

Same with pastoring: no point thinking you need a brand-new life, but, well, let’s not kid around—you could use some serious updates and upgrades yourself.

Let’s say time comes to gut and renovate your bathroom: I can help you with that—demolition, framing, reworking the plumbing, moving some electrical, installing some mould-resistant drywall, maybe some nice tile for the floor and some classic glazed ceramic three-by-six subway tile for the tub surround. Should take a month or two, depending on what all’s involved. And as for you, hey, for the sake of your wife and kids, I think you better quit the flurry of furtive late-night texts to the sexy young co-worker and cut back a bit on your recreational drinking because wine is a mocker, so goes the proverb, as if those Facebook posts of you at the bar last week weren’t proof enough.

Repair and remain. Work with what you’ve got. Sit still for a moment, take stock, make some changes. Big changes, if necessary.

…

Over the past dozen years I have had hundreds of pastoral conversations, mostly with young men, about the challenges of family life. They tell me it’s exhausting, that there’s no more free time, that they’re having a hard time setting aside their dreams and wishes, that kids can be unbearably frustrating. I get it. They tell me that the marriage isn’t what it used to be, that they don’t really have anything in common anymore, that the passion’s gone, that she isn’t who she used to be, that the sex isn’t what it used to be, that they’re tired of all of it. I sip my coffee and nod in agreement with every word. I understand. I feel it too. It’s the same at my house. Marriage is hard.

But when they say, “I’m thinking of leaving,” I think, Now hang on a sec. You had me right up to that last bit. Fine: you’ve changed; she’s changed; life has changed. And the kids—well, they’ve disrupted, interrupted, confronted, confounded, and otherwise fundamentally altered everything. All very, very hard. And yes, sometimes it feels impossible. I know what it’s like to feel trapped, and my wife undoubtedly knows what it’s like to feel trapped, because she’s stuck with me, the more irritable and moody ingredient in our marriage. But you’re thinking of leaving? What is that going to fix?

We have, all of us and to varying degrees, been duped by the sales pitches, the flashing cascade of advertisements traipsing through the sidebar. That jam-packed flow of ads is full of shiny new things, new techniques, new experiences that promise to finally alleviate the so-far insatiable, burning, lonely, primordial ache. Bono laments, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” Springsteen cries out, “Everybody’s got a hungry heart.” k.d. lang bemoans the “constant craving.” Augustine says, “Our hearts are restless.”

…

So it goes. I’ve said it more than once to some guy across the table who tells me he’s planning to leave his marriage: You should stay. Sit in the awful, agonizing sorrow of it all, and figure some things out. Your life is very hard. I know you’ve thought it through more than I can imagine; I know you’ve calculated the cost-benefit, weighed your options; and all that is fine and good. There is no way of knowing how this will play out in your very real life. Nobody can predict the future. Something has to give, yes. But it doesn’t need to be this. I think you should stay.

It’s a tough sell. I understand, because my undisciplined imagination, formed like everyone else’s by countless half-minute ads and building-sized billboards, frolics among fantastic, glamorous possibilities of something other than what I’ve already got. It’s a cornucopia of options, with countless cathedrals and priests promising salvation at the marketplace, be it a new app, new phone, new car, new house, new job, new city, or new spouse. The promise is always the same: this thing will make you happy. Never mind trying to fix what you’ve got. Just get a new one and start over.

Repair and remain sounds simple because it is. But simple is not the same as easy. “For better, for worse,” we say, and everyone likes to stay when it’s the better. But staying through the worse—that’s the whole point of the vow, for Christ’s sake.

Mostly they do what they’ve already decided to do, and they leave. My track record for counselling couples to stick it out is pretty poor. I still think the better part of wisdom says stay. Endure. Wrestle. Suffer. Struggle. Keep working. Your heart is restless, my heart is restless, all our hearts are restless, “until they find their rest in Thee”—a rest that may well be found in full only after our death. So be it. Until then: stay.

Repair and remain.

Repair and remain.

Repair and remain.

– End of article –

The author’s primary application to “repair and remain” is marriage. But remember, Sahil’s applications were broader than that. And if the marriage counsel is not for you right now, it might be for someone you know. I’ve had these conversations. About 30 years ago, a brother had a wife who was given (as he told it) to temper tantrums. She would throw things. He told me, “I can’t take it anymore.” I looked him in the eye and said, “Yes you can.” And he did. I’m happy to report they are happily together today.

So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion. (Hebrews 10.35 – 36, MSG)