Sibling Rivalry

 

“If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.”

—Galatians 6:3-4

Where does sibling rivalry come from? Largely, I’d say, it comes from jealousy, selfishness, or both. Even the Bible has stories of such family arguments. These stories caution us about the common, but contentious, occasions between brothers and sisters, both at home and within our churches.

One such story occurs in Luke 10:38-42. You know how this story goes. Martha is cooking, while pots and pans pile up in the kitchen. But, Mary sits at Jesus’ feet listening to Him teach. Martha complains to Jesus and He sides with Mary because she chose to do “the most important thing.” Mature Martha loves Jesus. So, she undoubtedly responds in humility and love for her sister, as well.

Jesus tells another well-known story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32. In this story, the younger brother rebelliously takes his inheritance money, recklessly spends it on foolishness, but later returns home to ask forgiveness from his father. The older brother, who has remained faithful and continued to work for his father at home, doesn’t appreciate the celebration and the banquet given to this ne’er-do-well sibling. The rift may have separated these brothers permanently. But, we aren’t told.

My last illustration from Scripture can be found in Mark 10:35-45. This story shows what can happen within a faith community infected with rivalry. Brothers James and John come to Jesus and ask if they can sit in the two most prominent seats in heaven—one on Jesus’ right and the other on His left. The remaining ten disciples became so indignant that Jesus has to sit them all down and tell them:

…whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

These stories illustrate the way that small rifts between brothers and sisters can cause disunity in our homes, workplaces, and in our churches. Each such rift provides an entrance for the work of the evil one. This kind of disharmony harms the witness of the body of Christ and affects the power of the Holy Spirit to work freely in that body. Scripture admonishes us often to work at keeping peace with our brothers and sisters, particularly within the church.

As Paul tells Christ’s followers in Ephesians 4:3:

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

We may expect, even tolerate, sibling rivalry between little children. But, among mature believers, we must ask God to protect us from the sins of jealousy and selfishness that create an atmosphere ripe for disunity. In our homes, in our places of work, and particularly in our churches, may God’s peace grow and abound to Christ’s glory!

 

 

Move Ahead

 

The Lord said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance.”

—Deuteronomy 1:6

I am “risk averse.” As a pianist and organist, I always look at printed music, even though I have a particular piece completely memorized. I try to stay out of crowds, afraid of the danger that may lurk there. I avoid certain sections of highway during snowstorms, lest I become involved in an accident. I like to plan ahead. And many times, I have opted to stay put rather than move ahead.

The Israelites showed this same kind of aversion to risk. Or, let’s be honest, they displayed a decided lack of faith during the time they wandered in the wilderness. They had certainly seen God perform amazing miracles for them in their escape from Egypt. He had supplied their needs and protected them. Still, they persisted, with heavy cement-laden feet, to resist forward movement in their lives, individually and as a nation.

When God calls us to take a risk, our arguments usually begin with a long list of “what ifs.”

• What if we come up against things we’ve never seen before—men that look like giants, violent land owners, walled cities we may have to conquer?
  
  
• What if we die of plague, starvation, wild beasts, or warring enemies?
  
  
• What if we run out of food or water?
  
  
• What if we take a wrong turn and lose our way?
  
  
• What if…

In the first two chapters of Deuteronomy, God reminded the Israelites of His faithfulness. And, He reminded them of their lack of faith. He had prepared really big things for them in the days ahead and He needed them to get moving.

Twice we read that God said, “You have stayed here long enough.” He reminded them that He had watched over them and provided for them for forty years. Later, He egged them on to move and take possession of the land He had promised them since the days of Abraham.

I like the second verse of the hymn, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.”¹

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
with blessing on your head.

When God prompts us to move on, to venture out and trust Him, we must move forward in faith, fully relying on His provision and protection. If we turn a deaf ear to God’s call to move onward and insist on standing still, mired in the fast-drying cement of our current situation, we stand the greater risk of getting stuck where nothing will move us.

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1 Cowper, William. God Moves in a Mysterious Way. Verse Two. Public Domain.

 

 

Reflection

 

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

—John 8:12

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

—Matthew 5:14-16

Have you ever considered how differently the brightness of the moon affects what we can see at night? Driving seems so much easier. And, the distance we can see is so much farther. Nights with a full moon allow us to see so much more than we can see when the moonlight is absent or diminished.

Scientists tell us that the phases of the moon, and the amount of light we observe from the moon, results from how much of the moon’s surface faces the sun and reflects the sun’s radiance. The moon produces no light of its own. It serves only to reflect the glory of the sun.

When we meditate on Jesus’ words in the first Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, where He told is that He is the Light of the World, we must realize that Jesus has given us the same designation that Creator God gave to the moon. As His devoted followers, Jesus expects us to understand that we give divine light to those around us only to the extent that we reflect Him. The more “face time” we have with Him, the more fully we will reflect His powerful light.

In the second Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, where Jesus said that we are lights of the world, He used the illustration of a lamp. Even if we shine as lamps in this dark world, we must have oil, or power, from some source other than ourselves. The image of oil in the Bible often refers to the power of the Holy Spirit.

We cannot expect to give off the Light of Christ in this world unless we reflect Him, just as the moon reflects the sun, nor can we shine as lamps without the oil of the Holy Spirit. The divine light must come from outside our own selves.

This question, then, is worth asking ourselves: “Is the ‘light’ I give off coming from the dimly lit bulb of my own selfish glory, or do I truly reflect the glory of my blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the glory of God, my Father in Heaven?”

How we answer that important question makes a difference. And, that difference is like night and day!

 

 

Slaying the Dragon 1

 

	“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
	—James 4:7

David and Karen Mains, in their marvelous children’s book, Tales of the Kingdom,² tell a story of Amanda, a princess, who, despite warnings, takes home a dragon egg, hatches it, and makes a pet of the baby dragon. At first she enjoys playing with the little guy and does everything she can to domesticate it. But, before she realizes it, the dragon has become much too formidable for her to control and she has to kill it to save her own life.

Private sins are like that. We try to housebreak them and keep them under our control. Our secret fantasies, the so-called minor offenses we hide and whitewash, never stay the same. Like the dragon, they grow too large for us. The gossip we share with just one friend becomes too easy to share with many more. The anger we allow to spill out in occasional verbal outbursts at others soon becomes a way of life.

Recently I read this quote from J. C. Ryle in the book, Diamonds in the Dust ³ by Joni Eareckson Tada:

We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself in its true colors. Never when we are tempted will we hear sin say to us, ‘I am your deadly enemy…I want to ruin your life.’ That’s not how it works. Sin, instead, comes to us like Judas with a kiss. It comes to us like Joab with outstretched hands and flattering words. Sin, in its beginnings, seems harmless enough—like David walking idly on his palace roof which happened to overlook the bedroom of a woman. You and I may give wickedness smooth-sounding names, but we cannot alter its nature and character in the sight of God.

We need to remember that the dragon has a burning breath and a dangerous tail. When we first entertain the idea of letting him near us, or even domesticating him for our pleasure, we need to slam the door on him and flee.

We can never hope to serve God effectively with known sins in our lives. The longer we let them grow, the more attached we become to them, and the harder it gets to slay them.

Please pray with me:

Oh, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit’s power to recognize the first sign of a deadly sin and flee from it. Help us to stay very close to You, hour by hour, so that we can be protected by Your loving arms and have the power You give us to resist the devil. Amen.

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1 This blog post was originally published on June 16, 2014.

2 Mains, David and Karen. Tales of the Kingdom (Kingdom Tales, Book 1). Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Company, ©1983, Chapter 10.

3 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Diamonds in the Dust. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, ©1993, Devotional for June 8th.