Black Hole

If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! ⏤ Matthew 6:23b

Paul gives us two lists in Galatians 5. One list begins, "The acts of the flesh are..." The other starts with the words, "But the fruit of the Spirit is..." What happens when people are taught that the first list represents godly strength and the second list represents weakness? It's a contradiction that calls for a deliberate pledge of allegiance.

Pegged

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. ⏤ Philippians 3:7-8a

The value of an art piece is determined at auction. What will someone pay for it today? Currencies can be valued at auction or pegged to a standard, like gold. Paul judged the value of everything by the standard of knowing Jesus, which is eternal life. By comparison, his basket of achievements, qualifications, merits, and possessions was a loss. Garbage. Dung.

Meeting The Moment

There's a tension in ministry. On the one hand, we need to communicate God's message in ways the world can understand. On the other hand, we must resist conforming to the world. We should always feel this tension. It's not helpful to seek a 'sweet spot' on some godly-worldly scale. Instead, we should imagine what it looks like to be a holy, distinct, worshiping, Jesus-like community in our corner of the world, in our moment. Not in some abstract location. Not in the first century. Not in the 1600s. Not in the 1950s. Here, today.