Doug Tweed

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11) 

As we move through this Christmas holiday season, too often caught up a hectic focus on gift shopping, decorations, parties, and travel, it helps to remember the original meaning of “holiday” was “holy day” – time set apart to focus on God.

The Christmas story of Jesus’ birth provides a wonderful revelation of God’s goodness and love, and many of us may not realize the Bible provides five interrelated Christmas stories. In reading all five, we can see just how holy this birth is.

Our first story is the one known best: Luke 2:1-20, with its description of the journey to Bethlehem, the shepherds and angels, and the baby in a manger. As a Gentile physician, Luke had more interaction with women than most men in that culture. During his investigation into Jesus, it is clear he personally interviewed Mary and shares her perspective. Only she could have told Luke about her pre-pregnancy visit from the angel Gabriel, and only she could share how, after hearing about the angels from the shepherds, she treasured and pondered it all in her heart. (Luke 2:19)

As you read Luke 1 and 2, note the contrast between the conceptions and births of John the Baptist and Jesus, which show John as a great prophet-to-be but Jesus as so much more. Reflect anew on the presence of both humble shepherds and majestic angels, and how they laid the child we will call the Bread of Life in a food trough in Bethlehem, which means “House of Bread.” (John 6:35) When Luke explains there was no room in the inn, remember how the resurrected Jesus later tells the church He is knocking at the door for them to let Him come in. (Revelation 3:20)

Especially embrace what Luke writes about this baby’s identity: a Savior, Christ/Messiah the Lord. His virgin mother conceived through the Holy Spirit – not the son of Joseph but the Son of God. (Luke 1:34-35, 3:38)

Our second Christmas story is from Matthew, a former Jewish tax collector estranged from his people who now honors their patriarchal views by focusing on Joseph. (Matthew 1:18-2:12) In describing Joseph’s angelic dream, Matthew affirms the God-given name of Jesus and His conception through the Holy Spirit. As he does throughout his Gospel, Matthew reminds his Jewish readers of Old Testament prophesy – a virgin giving birth to a child named Emmanuel (“God with us” – Isaiah 7:14). To make sure his readers understand, Matthew explains how Joseph refrains from physical intimacy with Mary until after Jesus is born, and in his genealogy of Jesus, calls Joseph the husband of Mary. (1:16, 25)

Matthew also tells us of the Magi: an unknown number of highly educated, wealthy men from the Persian Empire who were so politically powerful some called them “kingmakers.” 

These magi had studied the teachings of their magi predecessor from 500 years earlier, Daniel aka Belteshazzar, who we know biblically as the Jewish prophet exiled to the Babylonian, Mede, and Persian empires. As Daniel-guided astrologers they recognized the star signifying birth of the King of the Jews. With their entourage of servants and guards, they “travelled afar” to worship Him and prophetically offer three gifts: gold for a king, frankincense for a high priest, and myrrh – an ointment used to anoint one who dies. (Exodus 30:34; John 19:39) 

Enjoy the supernaturality of a star that leads them to a specific home. Recognize, despite our traditional nativity scenes, Jesus’ family had moved from the stable before the magi arrived. Know through the magi’s presence that Jesus came for everyone.

Our third Christmas story is John 1:1-18, where we learn our Lord Jesus lived before His birth in Bethlehem, and is not only the Son of God but God the Son. The Word through whom all things were created – the Word who was with God and was God – became a human child so we humans could become children of God. (vs. 12-13)

Our fourth Christmas story also tells us that God the Son came down and why He came – to die on a cross for us. (Philippians 2:1-11) Because of His sacrificial obedience, this God-given name of Yeshua/Jesus is and forever will be the name above every name.

Finally, our fifth Christmas story, told 700 years before the birth in Bethlehem, names this child not just Jesus but as an incredible revelation of the Holy Trinity: one “Mighty God” in the persons of the “Prince of Peace”, the “Everlasting Father”, and the “Wonderful Counselor” we call Holy Spirit. (Isaiah 9:6, 11:2; John 14:26) Emmanuel!

What could be more holy than that?

Have a joyful and holy Christmas! God loves us all so much.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature….” (2 Peter 1:3-4)

Early in his walk with Jesus, before he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter spoke with concern of all he had given up to follow Jesus. (Mark 10:28)  Near the end of his earthly walk, in his final letter to the Church, a Spirit-filled Peter spoke instead of all he had received because he knew Jesus – everything needed for a life of godliness.

This life of godliness is described in both of Peter’s letters.  It is the life of people chosen by God for His own possession: people set apart by God to proclaim and demonstrate the excellence of our glorious Savior King. (1 Peter 2:9)  It is not a life free of persecution, but it is a life of love, faith, joy and fruitfulness with a rich and everlasting reward. (1 Peter 1:8; 2 Peter 1:8-11)

When Peter speaks of God’s precious and great promises that bring about this life, I think of how all the promises of God are “Yes” in Jesus Christ! (2 Corinthians 1:20)  And I know Peter was thinking in particular of the great “promise of the Father”: the Holy Spirit who would come upon them, saturate (“baptize”) them, and provide them the power to witness for Jesus and His Kingdom throughout the earth. (Acts 1:2-8)

This brings us to Peter’s most extraordinary statement of all – our ability to become “partakers of the divine nature”.

By “nature” (Greek word: “phusis”), Peter is referring to the essential character and qualities of someone or something.  Mankind is designed in the image and likeness of God, but our separation from God by sin brought us under the influence of the prince of rebels, Satan, and caused us to be “by nature” children of wrath rather than children of God. (Ephesians 2:1-3).  Now we are invited through Christ to reconciliation with God and the restoration of our original design.

Paul calls this “alive together with Christ”. (Ephesians 2:5)  Peter calls this “partakers of the divine nature”.  And the key to grasping what both men are describing comes in an understanding of the Greek word, “koinonos”, traditionally translated since the time of King James as “partaker”.

Many of you are familiar with the Greek term, “koinonia”, used in scripture to describe the close mutual relationship or “fellowship” among the early Christians. (Acts 2:42)  The term has also been translated as “partnership” in the gospel. (Philippians 1:5)   

“Koinonos” is the word used to describe someone who is in “koinonia”: a person who lives in fellowship and partners in purpose with another.  The term was used to describe Peter’s partnership with James and John in the fishing business. (Luke 5:10)  Peter uses it in his letter to describe a partnership much more profound.    

“Partaker” is an old English word for one who participates or shares in something.  While not inaccurate, it doesn’t catch the fullness of what Peter is describing – our ability to become godly as we live in loving fellowship with God and partner in His Kingdom purposes for the earth.

Think of all the scriptures that affirm this awesome truth.  Through Holy Spirit, our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, and made complete when it is also with each other. (1 John 1:3; John 14-16; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

Jesus prayed we would be one with Him. (John 17:20-23)  As we join with Christ, Holy Spirit, who is also called the Spirit of Christ, becomes one with our spirit. (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:17)

Christ is the Head and we are His Body, called through Holy Spirit to “grow up into Him in every way”. (Ephesians 4:15-16; John 16:13-15)  Apart from Him, we can do nothing, but in a life of partnership with our Lord, we bear much fruit. (John 15:5)

God’s purpose is to reconcile all things to Christ.  This ministry of reconciliation, which involves convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, has been given to both the Holy Spirit and to us. (John 16:7-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20)  If we partner with Him, Holy Spirit will speak through us, pray through us, and move in love and power through us in ways beyond our ability to ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Christ called Holy Spirit the “Paraclete”, Greek for “One who comes alongside”. (John 14:16)  Sounds like partnership to me!  Scripture also calls Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth, grace, life, glory, wisdom and understanding, strategy and might, knowledge (intimacy) and fear (reverence) of the Lord. (John 16:13; Hebrews 10:29; Romans 8:2; 1 Peter 4:14; Isaiah 11:2)  What a partner in life to have!

Scripture cautions us to “test the spirit” with the Word of God because both false spirits and our own flesh will seek to mislead us. (1 John 4:1; Galatians 5:16-24)  When we do that, and learn to partner or “walk by the Spirit”, we begin to experience lives filled with righteousness, peace and joy. (Galatians 5:25; Romans 14:17)  Marriages, families, friendships, workplaces, and communities are transformed.

Even more important, when we partner in life with the Holy Spirit, we start becoming the answer to the prayer of Jesus that we be one with Him and each other.  Then this broken world will finally begin to realize God sent Jesus and God loves them. (John 17:22-23)

God bless you, and God bless our community.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10

From childhood, I have always loved westerns, ranging from “Hopalong Cassidy” and “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” to “Tombstone” and “Lonesome Dove.” Often featured in those westerns, sometimes as “good guys” but more often as “bad guys,” were the people we called “Indians.”

When I was older, I finally learned how these many wonderful tribes and cultures became labelled as “Indians.” Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain in 1492 to find an ocean route to southeast Asia, then known to the empires of Europe as “the Indies”. When he landed in the Bahamas, over 8,000 miles short of Asia, he erroneously thought he had succeeded in his quest and named the local people “Indios”. For virtually all the Europeans who immigrated to the Americas thereafter, the name (and error) stuck.

Today our preferred collective names for these fellow citizens range from “Native American” to “Indigenous American” or “American Indian.” I am grateful they are part of our nation. I am also grateful I have now had the opportunity to visit a nation where Indians truly surrounded me – 1.4 billion of them!

In September, I was part of a small team that travelled to Sathya Veda Seminary (SVS), located on the city outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala, India. For a week, two members of our team provided advanced educational training to the SVS faculty while the rest of us assumed teaching responsibilities for the SVS students. I love teaching God’s Word, but I learned much more than I taught.

I learned what it is like to be Christian in a primarily Hindu nation that is incredibly diverse in language and culture. India is one third the geographic size of America but has a population over four times greater. There are 122 major languages and twenty-two official languages, and people groups ranging from remote and rural to massively urban. Delhi in north central India has a population of thirty-four million – four times larger than New York City.

I learned the challenges of pursuing Christian ministry when the national government is led by a Hindu nationalist party that is, despite constitutional protections, openly hostile to Christianity and other religious minorities.

Best of all, I learned (again) how linguistic and cultural differences become inconsequential when you are with people who trust and love Jesus Christ.

The SVS faculty and staff were welcoming, loving, humble, gifted, and faithful to the Lord. And I do not have the words to adequately describe the two hundred amazing young men and women who make up the SVS student body. Many experienced rejection from their families and communities when they accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Most have little if any money. And they know those rejections and financial challenges will not be easily resolved when they graduate and enter their ministries of church planting, pastoring, evangelism, bible teaching, and worship leadership.

Yet they are committed to Jesus, His Kingdom, and His calling on their lives. They are eager to learn and keep learning. They are eager to serve despite the risk of harm or even death. They are eager to worship from the depths of their hearts. They are eager to pray, and both they and the faculty/staff see God-sized answers to their prayers on a regular basis.

In short, they were inspiring, and inspiration is an important aspect of the witness our Lord wants us to provide in this broken world.

Revelation 7:9 is just one of the scriptures revealing the Lord’s plan for disciples from all nations, tribes, people groups, and languages (Daniel 7:14; Isaiah 49:6; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 3:6; Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8). Yet American Christians today seem, with many marvelous exceptions, to be more focused on “Us first” than “Christ first” and “Kingdom first” (Matthew 6:33; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

We benefit from remembering our nation’s population is 4.2% of the world population. 96% of the world is not “us”, and they are all loved by God.

Because of today’s efforts to perpetuate racial tension and distrust, we may benefit from understanding so-called “white” people are 10-12% of the world population while so-called “people of color” are almost 90%. And it is without doubt important to remember American Christians are 8.6% of the world Christian population. All around the globe, we have brothers and sisters Jesus commands us to love. The world will know we are Christians by our love (John 13:34-35).

I was surrounded by Indians this year, and I am a better man for it.

God bless you, and God bless our community.

In May 1994, God inspired the only poem I have ever written.

I was 45 years old, still practicing law, and had been an actively practicing Christian for only two years. I walked into the lobby of 1st Broad Street UMC one day and found myself thinking, “I would really like to work here.”

The thought of leaving law and going into fulltime Christian ministry seemed so appealing. I could spend my days among people who loved Jesus, help lead prayer and mission teams, do Christian dramas with my beloved wife Christie, and even preach from time to time.

I shared my thoughts with Christie and then with my dear friend and law partner, the late Ed Norris. Both told me the same thing. “Doug, you can go places a minister can’t go.”  They burst my bubble!

While in prayer that evening, the Lord revealed I wanted to be in ministry for the wrong reasons. I was looking to live on the mountain top. (Matthew 17:4) God sends His ministers into the valley. (John 20:21, 21:15-22) I was asking God to help me live my dreams. God wanted me to live His dream. 

I repented. Like Psalm 51 in the aftermath of David’s sin with Bathsheba, this poem burst out of me:

Moon in the Darkness

My Father, please make me a moon in the darkness
reflecting the light of Your Son;
and leave me no dark side,
no half-moon or half-truth,
that hampers Your will being done.
Let my service, through Your grace,
shift the tide of men’s lives
and help draw them closer to You,
where Your love and Your light
will eclipse all their fears
and transform who they are, what they do.

My Father, please make me a star in Your heavens,
just one in a host of small sons;
with Your daughters, creating a great constellation
that sings of the victory won!
Let our lights be a guide
when men sail on Your sea
In the dark ‘fore the morning’s red sky.
Let them find the Safe Harbor
Who is marked by the cross,
and be saved from the storm ‘ere they die.

My Father, please make me a part of the Body,
a part of the Christ now on earth –
an Aaron who helps others hold up Your prayer staff,
a clown who distributes Your mirth;
a carpenter restoring homes for the poor,
a fundraiser collecting alms;
a disciple in service to people in need
of a love that left holes in His palms.

My Father, please make me Your lover forever,
more intimate each wondrous day;
sharing the truth of Your Word and Your works,
sharing the price that Christ pays;
sharing Your love with all people around me
that they might be Your lovers, too;
sharing my Jesus, my Father, my All
in a new world where all worship You!

My Father, please make me an Adam of love
who would never partake of that tree,
and make my wife Eve, who,
not tricked by the serpent,
abides in Your garden with me;
where we tend to Your creatures
and nurture Your plants,
and give birth by becoming one flesh.
The children are Yours!
It’s a marriage of three –
love of God, man, and woman that mesh.

My Father, please make me a flower… a songbird…
a beaver… a tiger… a tree…
for reflecting Your beauty,
for singing Your praise,
for work, war or waiting on Thee.
I give You my life,
You give my life back,
perfect freedom for those who obey.
Use me! I thirst
for the rightness, the truth
that comes when I am what You say.

My Father, please make me whatever You will,
I ask it with all of my heart!
Let me move toward the oneness
that Christ prayed we’d have
where no one can tell us apart.
Let me speak of Your wonder
to all that You love,
of a vastness far more than I know –
power bound by no rules
but Your wisdom and grace,
our faithlessness, our only foe.

My Father, please make me a moon in the darkness!
Please make me a star in Your sky!
Please make me the salt of Your world that preserves!
Please make me a love that won’t die!
Please make me Your temple!
Please make me Your priest!
Please make me a man who will pray
every night, every day, for the rest of my life,
for those who don’t choose to obey.

My Father!
My Jesus!
My Spirit!
My Life!
Please make me,
please make me, I pray,
to become all the things
I can be that will please You
on this and each following day.
Amen

Three months later, God called me into fulltime ministry. Now my heart was right. And the last thirty years have been wonderful.

God bless you and God bless our community.

But to all who did receive Him [Jesus Christ], who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to Himself a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1-4)

The Bible is divinely inspired revelation of reality: who God is, who we are, how God wants us to relate to Him, and how God wants us to relate to each other (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 119).

We must understand every scripture in the context of all other scripture because it all originates from the same divine source. By connecting scriptures that might otherwise remain disconnected, we can receive highly beneficial insights. For me, one example is the insight that God’s children are children.

John’s Gospel makes it clear that Christians are “born again,” “born of the Spirit,” and “born of God” (John 1:12-13, 3:3-6). The Holy Spirit of God now lives within us (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9). As a result, we become children of God who are “new creations” still living in the world but no longer of the world (Romans 8:16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 17:15-16).

Could there ever be a more extraordinary change in who we are? One moment you are a mortal human being without God living within you; and the next moment the eternal God who created you lives within you and calls you His beloved child now and forever (1 John 3:2, 4:12)!

Most if not all Christians embrace the revelation that they are children of God, but do we fully appreciate the impact of this amazing truth? This extraordinary change in who we are does not often bring about an extraordinary change in how we approach life. We readily pocket our “ticket to heaven” but in lots of ways, continue to live the way we used to live as people who are both in the world and of the world.

The key to resolving this problem is connecting our identity as a child of God to the teachings of Jesus that we must become like children to “receive” and “enter” the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:1-4; Luke 18:15-17).

In teaching about our identity as children of God, both John and Paul used the Greek word, “teknon,” which refers to a child of any age and is most frequently used in connection with their father or parents – here, our heavenly Father. In teaching children of God who we must become like to receive the kingdom of God, Jesus uses the Greek word, “paidion,” which refers to a little child or younger child.

And when Jesus speaks of receiving and entering the kingdom of God, He is not talking about the afterlife. He is speaking of the benefits of living in His kingdom while we are still living in this world (Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 5:8; Romans 14:17).

As children born into and of this world, we learned how to live the life of this world. Now as “born again” children of God, we must start over because life as a child of God is remarkably different from what we learned before. Whether we are 25, 45, or 75 years of age, we must become little children of God who humbly love, trust, and depend on God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to teach us this new life. We must, like all healthy children, be alert, affectionate, expectant, and eager to learn. We must yearn to move on from milk to solid food (Hebrews 5:11-14).

Remember that this childlikeness Jesus teaches us to embrace does not include self-centeredness, irresponsibility, lack of emotional control, or wanting to have your own way. Those traits are childish, not childlike. Paul uses the Greek word, “nepios,” to describe them as infantile and strongly warns us to turn away from them (1 Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:14).

Remember also that maturity in the world means more independent and self-reliant, but maturity as a child of God means increasingly God-dependent and God-reliant (John 5:19, 12:49).

More truth means more freedom (John 8:32). An ever-renewing mind leads to an ever-transforming life (Romans 12:2). The more I learn from God, the more I see the immensity of what I do not yet know. But as a child of God, I am a child of the One who loves me beyond measure and knows everything I need to learn. Teach me, Father. Teach me, Jesus (John 16:13).

God bless you, and God bless our community.

The man [Adam] called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:20)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now… (1 John 3:1-2a)

God’s plan has always been “Family”: the family of humankind and the family of God, both loved by God.

The family of humankind begins with God’s creation of Adam and Eve, who married, told to “be fruitful and multiply,” and had many children together. (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:21-24; 5:1-5) The family of humankind has been growing ever since because we all share the same original ancestors and, thus, are part of one family tree “planted” by our Creator. (Ephesians 3:14-15)

The family of God, unlike the family of humankind, has no beginning because the one eternal, unchanging God has always lived in the family love of three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1, 14; 10:30; 2 Corinthians 3:17; 1 John 4:8, 19)

God revealed the importance of the family of humankind by His commands in the Old Testament that all people honor their father and their mother, that spouses honor and uphold the covenant of marriage, and that parents train their children in righteousness. (Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 18:22; 22:6; 31:10-31; Malachi 2:13-16)

The New Testament affirms this importance. (Matthew 19:4-6, 14; Ephesians 5:22–6:4; 1 Timothy 5:8; Hebrews 13:4) And the New Testament goes beyond that affirmation to reveal the wonderful truth of why God treasures the family of humankind so much. God’s plan has always been to use the family of humankind, made in His image and likeness, to grow the family of God!

God sent His Son so Jesus could be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. (John 3:16; Romans 8:29) By trusting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit and become in that moment (“now”) children of God who share the same Father with Jesus because we are born again, born of the Spirit, and born of God. (John 1:12-13; 3:3-8; Romans 8:15-17) We remain in the world but are no longer of the world. (John 17:11, 14-16)

To understand the importance of these biblical revelations about family, remember what happened to the family of humankind after we became separated by God through sin. Woman will continue to desire her husband, but he will lord it over her. (Genesis 3:16) Brother will kill brother. (Genesis 4:8) Joseph’s jealous brothers will sell him into slavery. (Genesis 37:28) King David’s son Amnon will rape his sister and be killed by his brother Absalom, who will then rebel against his father. (2 Samuel 13; 16) And the list goes on.

The most instructive story about this sin-separated family of humankind may be the Tower of Babel. (Genesis 11:1-9) God had commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful, multiply, and disperse over the earth, just as God instructed Adam and Eve, but under the leadership of the “mighty man” Nimrod, the “children of man” decided to defy that command and stay together in one place, building a city and tower that reached to the heavens so they could make a name for “themselves.” (Genesis 9:1, 7; 10:8-12; 11:4-5) To prevent this rebellion and enforce His command, God confused their language, effectively dispersing them and creating the ethnic and cultural diversity and divisiveness we have today.

God’s plan, however, was never permanent division. Revelation 7:9-10 describes a great multitude from every nation, culture, ethnicity, and language who have come together through Christ into the family of God. Here there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave nor free, because as Christians we are God’s family – “… a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession …” (Galatians 3:28; 1 Peter 2:9-10)

The sin-separated family of humankind has throughout history shown itself to be arrogant, selfish, divisive, greedy, lustful, idolatrous, easily angered, brutal, and/or untruthful. (Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:1-5) The family of God is defined by the Golden Rule (my last column) and the agape love of 1 Corinthians 13 – patient and kind; never envious, boasting, arrogant, or rude; never irritable, resentful, or insisting on their own way; never rejoicing in wrongdoing and always rejoicing in truth, which must be spoken in love. (Ephesians 4:15)

The sin-separated family of humankind will come to an end, but the family of God is wondrously everlasting. So, which family best describes your family of origin? Your present family? Your family of faith? Your city and region? Your nation? Your role in each of those? God wants us all in His family. (1 John 2:2; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; 2 Peter 3:9)

God bless you, and God bless our community.

Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 NAS)

We like options. They give us the freedom to choose based upon our personal preferences. In a restaurant, I might choose to have the French fries option with my cheeseburger while you choose the baked potato. I might choose a white SUV with cloth upholstery while you choose a red SUV and leather. And when attendance is optional for an event, you might choose to go while I choose to stay home.

Even within our Christian faith, we have many options. You may choose a traditional worship service while I choose contemporary. You may choose the NIV or KJV Bible translation while I choose the ESV. We have denominational options, liturgy options, favorite author and podcast options, and the list goes on.

There are, however, matters of Christian faith that are not optional. Foremost among these is the command of our Lord we call the Golden Rule. (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31)

When I was a child, the Golden Rule was a constant point of emphasis. I memorized it this way: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Even then, it was a scripture verse I could easily understand. I want people to be nice to me, so I should be nice to them.

Now, after sixty-five more years of life and over thirty years of full-time ministry, this simple verse from my childhood has proved itself to be the fundamental requirement for Christian living on earth. Please let me explain.

Jesus tells us that the Golden Rule “is the Law and the Prophets.” The only other time Jesus makes such a statement is when He explains that all the Law and the Prophets are based upon the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-40) The Golden Rule and the Great Commandment are, therefore, intimately connected to each other.

Although we often think of worship when we speak of loving God, the Lord says the people who “have and obey” His commandments are the ones who love Him. (John 14:21-23) What is the most important command we must obey? Loving others! (John 13:34-35) This fulfills all the law and covers a multitude of sins. (Galatians 5:14; James 2:8; 1 Peter 4:8) And, to drive this point even deeper, if you do not love others, you do not know God and cannot love God. (1 John 4:7-8, 20-21)

Otherwise put, one of the best ways to love God is to love your neighbor, not just with lip service but in truth and deed. (1 John 3:18) The Golden Rule tells us a profoundly simple way to do that – treat them like you want to be treated. And just as the Golden Rule is not optional, your understanding of who your neighbors are is not optional. The parable of the Good Samaritan makes it clear that family, friends, strangers, and enemies are all neighbors. (Luke 10:29-36; Matthew 5:43-48) In fact, Luke’s rendition of the Golden Rule comes immediately after the Lord’s commands that we love, bless, and pray for our enemies. (Luke 6:27-31)

There is no need to ask how well the world is following the Golden Rule. Over two-thirds of them are not trying to follow Jesus. But how well are we Christians doing?

In my opinion, far too many Christians in our nation believe they can satisfy God by a profession of faith, right doctrine, church attendance/offerings, and correct political views. But 1 Corinthians 13 makes it clear: those efforts may be good, but without love, they mean nothing.

Jesus concludes His Sermon on the Mount with a parable contrasting the wise and the foolish, and He says something I find frightening: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 7:21-27)

At the time He spoke, Jesus focused on people who prophesied, cast out demons, and did mighty works in His name. But because they still did not do the will of God, Jesus “never knew” them. What if those people spoke today about the political rallies they attended and the political leaders they earnestly supported in the expression of their Christian faith? One group focused on pro-life and traditional marriage and gender issues while the other focused on the rights of people of color, women, and other marginalized groups.

Then Jesus said, “Fine, but did you love the people who did not agree with you? How did you treat them? Did you obey the Golden Rule?”

We must speak the truth in love. (Ephesians 4:15) Faith works through love. (Galatians 5:6) The Golden Rule is not optional for any of us.

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him [or her], he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Most of us are familiar with the parable Jesus taught of the vine and the branches, but I suspect few if any of us understand the full implications of it. The vital importance of having a better understanding is highlighted by the parable’s punchline: “… apart from me you can do nothing.”

“Meno” is the Greek word in this parable we translate into English as “abide”. “Meno” means “abide”, “remain”, “dwell”, “stay” or “be continuously joined with and connected to”. Just as a branch must remain joined to the grapevine to receive essential nutrients, stay alive, and produce grapes, so we must stay joined with Christ to have everlasting life and “bear fruit” for His Kingdom on the earth. And just as a grapevine needs branches to produce grapes, so Jesus needs His disciples to bring forth His fruit on earth.

This fruit we are to produce is elsewhere called the good works God prepared for us to do after we became new creations in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. (John 20:21) We prove ourselves to be His disciples by producing much fruit (John 15:5, 8). And this fruit is not limited to church work or those other times we feel we are overtly serving the Christian faith. As disciples, our call to good works includes everything we do and say – in our marriage, our parenting, our workplace and elsewhere (Colossians 3:17-24). Everything is to be in the name of the Lord.

Does this sound difficult? Of course it is! That is why we can only accomplish it by staying joined with Jesus. And who is the greatest example of this parable? That same Jesus, whose whole life on earth was a model for what our lives are to be. (1 John 2:6)

Jesus emptied Himself of divine power when He descended from heaven and became one of us. (Philippians 2:5-8) Then, at His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven upon Jesus, and “remained” (John 1:32). “Meno”, the Greek word from our vine and branches parable, is used here to describe what happened to Jesus.

As a result, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and power so He could begin His ministry on earth (Luke 4:1, 14). Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus became fully rejoined with the Father – “with Him” in power and purpose (Acts 10:38). Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Him (John 14:10). They were “one”, and from that time on, Jesus spoke what the Father directed Him to speak and only did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19-20; 10:30; 12:49-50).

Now the same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus lives in His disciples so that we can be in Jesus and He can be in us (John 14:15-20). His teachings and commandments can abide in us through faithful study of the Bible, and His more specific directions for our lives can come through prayer and the leading of His Spirit (Matthew 4:1; John 15:7-8; Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Just like Jesus with the Father, we become empowered to join the Lord in what we see Him doing.

Do we want to have much fruit in our marriage, parenting, workplace, friendships, and other endeavors? Then we need to join with Jesus in all those efforts, remembering that the Lord who loves everyone is living inside us to direct and empower us.

Do we want to have much fruit in our Christian outreach and discipleship both as individuals and the Body of Christ? Then we need to stop focusing on our own agendas and join Jesus in what He is doing, always remembering the vine and all His branches are together one plant – one Lord, one Body, one Spirit, one faith, one hope of our calling, and one Father who is over all, through all, and in all (Ephesians 4:1-6). As we become more one with Jesus, we become more one with each other, and together we will finally be the witness the world needs to see (John 17:20-23).

God bless you and God bless our community.