SHOULDER TO SHOULDER $74 ---- June 7, 1999
Posted by: root <root@...>
As We Fight The Good Fight
Shoulder To Shoulder $74 ---- June 7, 1999
Title: "Speaking Different Languages"
Dear Fellow Workman:
WOW! Talk about time squeeze and interruptions, that has been the story
of the past five days. Since I wrote last week we have sanded and waxed
ceilings and doors, done sheet rock work, painted rooms, moved a
commercial grade kitchen, served food, washed dishes, spoke in four
churches Sunday, and led a week-end youth retreat from which our team
just returned Sunday night far too late to write my week letter to you.
Then ---- to add to our long list of "flexibility" surprises, our group
from Tuzla arrived this morning two hours early ---- and eight people
larger than what we had expected. As I sit here and write, some of the
young men are already coming back from the sea where they just took a
swim. We have a brief informational and welcome session shortly, so,
you won't mind if my letter today is shorter. Come to think of it, they
all need to be shorter.
Jo Ann and I are so grateful for what we know is a broad prayer support
base across the continents for our safety, endurance, wisdom, and
unwavering compassion. Thank you for under girding us during these days
of ministry in Croatia.
We ask your continued prayer this week as we minister to a group of 56
from Tuzla, Bosnia ---- almost all of whom are unbelievers. Most are
either Serbian Orthodox or Muslim.
Troy Donahoe and his wife minister in Tuzla with the International
Mission Board. After we had met them last October while we were in
Sarajevo, we agreed to try to work together on this project. So, this
is the culmination of lots of planning and many obstacles to overcome.
This week could be a major spiritual turning point for many people and
also for the future ministry in Tuzla.
Just this morning I received an e-mail from the director of University
Ministries where our current group of students is from, indicating an
interest in putting a medical missions team together for next January to
minister in one of the Balkan states. You might begin praying right now
that God will put me in touch with the right people while we're here on
this trip.
Now to my thoughts today.
SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES:
You remember last week my encounter with a "Balkan" computer software
program, and all my efforts to master different locations and symbols in
order to write you d decent letter relatively void of errors.
So, you can imagine my shock and "I-can't-believe-this!" response when I
discovered that, with just a couple simple clicks of the mouse on the
correct button, I could have instantaneously switched to the English
alphabet and the Americanized version of keyboard configuration.
All that work! All those hours! All that sweat! All that involuntary
hair loss!
But, then ---- as He so often does, the Lord prompted my heart with a
significant thought.
"That's the way you often live your life and do My work ---- using a
language different from Mine."
After I got over the initial shock of that thought, I began to consider
---- just how many times have I tried to communicate with the Lord on
either my terms or the world's instead of his?
How often have I tried to hear what He was saying by listening through
the ears of the world or of carnality rather than the ears of my spirit?
How many occasions have I tried to communicate with another believer
about an issue or an opportunity of ministry, only to find we are
speaking different languages to each other, and, consequently, don't
reach the point of unity in our understanding or course of action?
Even worse, how often have I tried to communicate the grace of the love
of Christ to an unbeliever using a language they didn't understand?
Maybe I need to click the mouse on the "Jesus' language" button.
THREE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES:
Not everyone interprets the make up of man as a tricotomy. Since I'm
very comfortable with that concept, let me follow that approach.
Assuming that we are, as Paul indicated, Body, Soul, and Spirit, I would
propose that we communicate in each of those areas ----both in our
speaking and in our hearing.
1. The Body is the house we live in; it is the vehicle in which we move
about in the world, and is, therefore, primarily world related. Through
the five senses of hear, see, smell, taste, and touch, we both
articulate and perceive the world around us.
Many believers try to live their Christian lives and communicate that
so-called commitment on the level of the world on the basis of its
comfort and convenience to the body. So, depending on what they see,
feel, hear, taste, and smell, they then attempt to interpret and express
spiritual things.
It cannot be successfully accomplished.
If they get enough sleep, have the right things to wear, don't have a
headache, or can make Sunday lunch at a certain time, then they'll go to
church and worship their little hearts out. And, if it isn't too
embarrassing or inconvenient, they'll even go out and do ministry of
some sort ---- maybe even talk to a hurting person or an individual who
needs to know Christ personally.
2. Interestingly, those five senses are often called the "windows to
the soul", the second "language" level in which we communicate. Whereas
the body is world oriented, the soul seems to be more "person"
oriented. That is the part of each other we recognize to be the real
person.
As information through the five "windows" is received into the soul or
the personality, it is then filtered through one or more of three major
functions of the soul ---- our mind (or intellect), our emotions (or
responses of how we feel), and our will (the actions of decisions and
choices we make).
Within the framework of "soulish" communication, we receive, analyze,
and respond to conditions, circumstances, and need based on either our
understanding or attitude, how we feel about the situation, or what we
have already decided we want to do. So, if our minds are "made up", we
may miss what God is saying or doing ---- simply because we are
operating with a different language.
As a result, we can end up arguing with each other about "doctrine",
priorities, or preferences. In doing so, we waste unnecessary time,
energy, and resources ---- and get little or nothing done at best, and
absolutely nothing done at worst.
3. Or ---- we can use the "language" of the spirit. Just as our
personalities or our souls seem to have three major functions, so does
the spirit ---- namely, our conscience, our intuition, and our
worship. And, as the body is world oriented and the soul is person
oriented, our spirit is God oriented. Our conscience is the monitor the
Holy Spirit uses to enable us to discern right and wrong, our intuition
is used to enable us to instinctively perceive things without being
affected by human rationalization, and worship, of course, is the means
by which we enter into intimate communion and fellowship with God and
with fellow believers.
THE DILEMMA:
The struggle comes when we end up using the improper "software" as I did
last week. Subsequently we hit many wrong keys, we spend excessive
energy and time searching for the right ones, and as a result, we send a
message we never intended to send. That, in turn, produces
misunderstanding, suspicion, rabbit chasing, and frequent failures in
the kingdom work.
Using the wrong language setting is also the cause of disunity of heart
and purpose, the cause of sectarianism within the Body of Christ, and
even division on the church ---- simply because people are not
communicating in the same language.
1. Too many of us would rather listen, speak, and act in the language
of the world. The Apostle John warned us of such things when he said,
"love not the world, neither the things in the world ---- the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life (I John 2) ----
which is to say . . . . .
1) The lust of the flesh ---- the craving to "Do" something apart
from God. Paul said, "the flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit
against the flesh so that we cannot do the things we should." (Gal
5:17).
2) The lust of the eye ---- the craving to "Have" something apart
from God. And . . .
3) The pride of life ---- the craving to "Be" something apart from
God.
2. Others of us would rather use the language of the soul. Now this
sounds reasonable ---- which is, in itself, the basic problem. We too
often substitute reason for revelation, feelings for conviction, and
convenience for discipline.
Frankly, our attitudes, our personal preferences, and our personal
comforts should never influence what we do in serving the Lord and
ministering to people ---- but, in fact, they do virtually every day.
And, when that happens, we end up missing God because He doesn't speak
from that perspective.
3. Finally, even in the realm of our spirit we often struggle, because
we are still heavily programmed to listen to the other two languages of
the body (or the world system and its influences) or the soul (and its
perverted form of the flesh). As a result, our conscience becomes
seared and insensitive, our intuition is flawed and unreliable, and even
our worship becomes contaminated so that we can no longer clearly hear
the voice of the Father.
SO, THEN . . . . :
So, then, my friend ---- where do we begin? How do we get from the
language we are in to the one where we need to be?
The computer is actually sound; the keyboard is actually configured
properly, and the software truly does work. Though we have often failed
miserably, the system is both functional and reliable.
We need to Click the Mouse.
You can imagine my embarrassment (and my irritation at myself) when I
discovered just how easy it would have been last week to simply put the
arrow on the right button, click the mouse, select the right language,
click again, and then do my work.
So much for lessons the hard way.
I propose that the right button to click on for Christian ministry is
Romans 12:1-2. In my own pilgrimage I have too often failed to do
that. As a result my ministry has been less than what it could have
been.
True, just as last week, there was enough familiarity there to keep me
going, yet there was also enough interference from foreign positions and
symbols to keep me frustrated, and to actually steal away my joy of
writing the letter.
When you click on Romans 12:1-2, you will find three simple steps which
will lead you to the desired conclusion ---- clearly discerning,
knowing, and embracing the perfect will of God.
1. Presentation ---- "present your bodies a living sacrifice, totally
acceptable to God".
2. Transformation ---- "be not conformed, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind". We cannot experience transformation unless we
have first made ourselves available to that process by presenting
ourselves to Him for His unrestricted access ---- with no secret
passwords to keep Him out.
3. Revelation ---- "so you can KNOW God's will, which is good,
acceptable, and perfect." Too often we want to "know" before we "do".
When God says, "I want you to do something for Me", we respond by
saying, "Great ---- but tell me first what it is, and then I'll decide
whether or not I'll do it."
That doesn't work.
4. Actualization ---- When we present ourselves to Him and yield to His
language system, then He begins to progressively and sequentially
transform or "re-program" the entire system so that we will ultimately
know beyond any doubt just what it is He is saying to us and what He
intends for us. That, in turn, brings His purposes into living
reality. That is true both in the development of our inner man into the
nature of Jesus, and the act of ministry and service.
Why was it that miracles happened in the days of Jesus? Why was it that
the disciples preached with power, wisdom, and great insight? Why was
it that multitudes were touched by the love and power of Jesus?
Was it because the disciples lived with Him in person?
No, it was because the language was clear and the systems were fully
operational. No viruses had yet invaded, and the hard disk was crash
proof.
FINALLY:
So, friend, what does all this say to you and me?
Join me in a lifetime of making sure we're on the same wave length with
Jesus and have made certain we are tuned to His language only and to His
purposes alone. We have too much of our own words and ideas. It's time
for His and His alone.
In Christ's Bond,
Bob Tolliver ---- Romans 1:12
Copyright June, 1999. All rights reserved.
Life Unlimited Ministries
lifeunlimited@juno.com
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