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Marcos and Rob at ATX Hackerspace

Faithful Invention

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I was recently invited to the ATX Hackerspace in Austin, TX for an event, and I happened to be in town for it. If you consider “geek” a term of endearment, head to your local hackerspace or makerspace posthaste! You will feel warm and fuzzy inside.

While I was touring the space and meeting the locals, I found myself in a wonderful discussion on the theology of invention with a fellow Christian geek and maker. He raised the question, “Is invention idolatry?”

What Is Idolatry?

Here are two Biblical texts that give you the highlights of idolatry.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” – Exodus 20:2-3 (NIV)

“But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves. Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words…” – Jeremiah 25:7-8 (NIV)

To give you the quick summary, these verses suggest that we can anger God when we take matters into our own hands. We can cross the line when we believe our own solutions and our own inventions are better than God’s Creation. We can get into hot water when we take the place of the Creator.

That’s a bit scary for me, because I know that when trouble comes I often look for a way I can solve it and only later ask for God’s guidance. That sounds eerily similar to trusting “what your hands have made” rather than “listening to [God’s] words.”

What Is Invention?

But this fellow maker also raised an interesting point about the nature of invention. The word “invent” comes from a Latin root that actually means “to discover.” When we talk about inventing, we usually mean creating something from scratch. But so many of our “creations” are actually discovering what God has already done.

Did we create calculus, or did we discover an aspect of mathematics created by God? Did we create the Bessemer process for making steel, or did we discover a characteristic of iron that God baked into Creation already? Are we “creators” or “discoverers?”

Partnering With God (Not Replacing God)

We landed our discussion by considering that we are discovering the echoes of what God has already done. When we see ourselves partnering with God rather than replacing God with the works of our hands, we are probably in good standing with the Creator.

Similarly, when trouble comes and I want to manufacture a way through or around it, I can switch my mindset and try to discover the echoes of God’s already-laid plan.

What echoes of God’s plans are reverberating in your soul right now? Whatever you’re hearing, if it’s from God it’s better than the works of your hands.

Discussion Starter

  • When have you “trusted the works of your hands” rather than “listened to [God’s] words?”
  • When have you trusted God’s words despite the temptation to act on your own?
  • What is echoing in your soul right now?
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What Is Prayer…and Am I Any Good At It?

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Those who work with me have undoubtedly heard me say that prayer is one of my lowest spiritual gifts. I am 100% sure about this, but I regularly get surprised reactions from people when I tell them.

What Is A Spiritual Gift?

To me, a spiritual gift is something you do that brings you and other people closer to God without requiring much discipline from you. The amount of conscious effort you expend distinguishes between a gifting and a discipline.

In other words, you have the gift of helps if you just naturally notice opportunities to serve other people and regularly choose to do so. If you are constantly having to remind yourself to look out for ways to help people, or if you struggle inside every time you are faced with the choice of stopping and helping or going on your merry way, you’re using discipline instead of gifting.

Personal Example: Leadership vs Prayer

Leadership is one of my spiritual gifts. If we need to get from A to B, I will naturally start organizing people, casting the vision, and generally trying to get us there. I have to remind myself to NOT lead sometimes. That’s a gifting.

Prayer, on the other hand, is always a choice for me. I don’t pine away in my office for the next chance to pray. When I’m running meetings, I almost always start lining out our objectives before remembering to “open” in prayer. I have to CHOOSE to pray. That’s a discipline.

Do you know your spiritual giftings?

Do I Have to Pray?

The short answer is “yes.” But I’ll let Jesus do the talking on this one:

Matthew 6:6 (NIV) – But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Mark 11:24-25 (NIV) – Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Luke 5:16 (NIV) – But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Long story short: Jesus assumes we will pray, just as he often prayed. Just because I’m not “gifted” in prayer doesn’t get me off the hook. Some people revel in prayer and others (like me) choose to pray. We might pray differently, and we might pray for different amounts of time, but we are expected to pray.

Another way to look at this is to ask, “Why did Jesus pray?” If anyone in the history of humanity had a reason to NOT pray, it was Jesus. He’s basically praying to himself (nuances of the Trinity notwithstanding). But he prayed often.

A Different Definition of Prayer

While I have to choose to have a dialogue with God in the classic head-bowed kind of prayer, Wayne Cordeiro taught me a different definition of prayer that is useful for me:

Prayer is thinking about something God has asked you to do in the presence of the Lord.

I might not sit down and pray, but I routinely check in with God about things he has asked me to do. That’s a form of prayer, and I don’t have to make myself do that one.

Maybe I have a mustard seed’s worth of gifting in prayer after all.

Summary

  • A spiritual gift is something you do that brings you and other people closer to God without requiring much discipline from you (you naturally do it)
  • Prayer is thinking about something God has asked you to do in the presence of the Lord
  • Even if you’re not “gifted” in prayer, Jesus expects us to pray (just as he often prayed)

Discussion Starter

  • What are your strong spiritual gifts? What are your weak ones?
  • What spiritual disciplines do you choose, and how have they impacted you?
  • Describe your prayer life.
  • Does Wayne Cordeiro’s definition of prayer change how you would define your prayer life?
women reading bible

Can You Be More Specific?

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I was meeting with a dear friend recently, and I end our times together by asking what I should pray for him over the next few months. He told me the first thing that came to mind, I gave him a look he knows all too well, and he replied, “Yeah, that’s not specific enough, is it?”

Like Pavlov’s dogs, I have apparently trained him to think about very specific prayers when he’s around me. I almost always ask, “Can we make that more specific?” Or, “What are you really hoping for out of that?” Or, “How will you know when God is blessing you in this or showing you a different path?” Now that I think about it, that might be a little annoying…

Praying With Specificity

I was chatting with my brother (Chris) recently, and he was getting ready for his gig as a humorous speaker at a Christian men’s conference (shameless cross-promotion by linking to his site). So I asked him how I could pray for his upcoming speaking engagement:

Chris: Any prayer that has the phrase “hit it out of the park” will be fine.

Cody: Ah, but how will you know if you hit it out of the park or not?

Chris: Hmm…I guess if tons of people come up to me the next day and tell me something they got out of my talk.

Cody: What’s “tons of people?”

Chris: If I’m being honest, I’d take one.

Cody: All right! I will pray for at least one guy to come up to you the next day and tell you something they got out of your talk.

Chris: Can I add in a request that they get their church to book me for speaking gig, too?!?!

Did you notice how digging deeper honed his prayer request and also revealed one of his values: that people find his talk useful, not just funny? Would your prayer requests benefit from getting more specific?

SMART Prayers

smart-goals-221x300I like to run the SMART test on my prayers just as I do with all my goals. A prayer is SMART (link to article) if it is…

  • Specific – What do I truly want to happen?
  • Measurable – How will I know if/when God answers?
  • Attainable – Has God shown in Scripture that he might say “yes” to a prayer like mine?
  • Relevant – Does this matter to me and to God?
  • Time-Bounded – Am I giving God time to work on his own schedule? Am I committing a tangible amount of my own time to this prayer?

What Does Scripture Say?

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. – 1 John 5:14-15 (NLT)

If you read this passage carefully, you’ll notice that it makes a distinction between asking for what pleases God and what doesn’t. That’s Relevant. It also acknowledges that God always hears our requests and often answers them – God is listening so it might be Attainable.

The best SMART prayer in all the Bible, however, is found in Joshua 10:12-14:

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! (NIV)

Notice he didn’t pray just for God to make them victorious. He wanted victory that day, he needed light to do it, so he just made a small request for the Lord of the Universe to pause the sun. Unfortunately, it looks like God was only willing to do that once and Joshua already called dibs.

Summary

  • Specific prayers help you see what you truly want to happen
  • Measurable prayers help you see God’s response
  • Attainable prayers are similar to requests God has granted elsewhere in Scripture
  • Relevant prayers are in line with God’s heart and your own (so God wants to say “yes”)
  • Time-Bounded prayers give God time to work on his (probably slower than you want) schedule while also committing yourself to the task

Discussion Starter

  • What are some specific prayers you have prayed?
  • How can you take a generic prayer and make it SMARTer?
  • Will you be bold enough to ask people to be more specific when they ask you to pray for them?
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Really? Really? OK!

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Late one weekday evening, almost everyone I knew found themselves at the same viewing before a very hard funeral. The line stretched outside. As I approached the dearly departed, I felt an all-too-familiar nudge. It’s something different every time, but this time the nudge said:

“Tell that man that this is his chance to be a spiritual leader for his family.”

The nudge and I go back a long ways, so we have a rather formulaic dialogue by now:

Me: “And who’s going to make me tell him that?”

Nudge: “I Am.”

Me: “You and what army?”

Nudge: “Will the Heavenly Hosts suffice?”

Me: “Oh, that army. Sir, yes, sir!”

It was a little awkward (as it almost always is), but I did it!

Three Strike Rule

While that exchange may be a little stylized, it highlights my 3 strike rule for whenever God speaks through the nudge. If I think God wants me to do something a little crazy (or just plain uncomfortable), I have to say yes if I hear the same thing 3 times. That means I can only ask, “Really, God?” twice after the initial nudge before I have to say, “OK!”

Moses…Is Five Strikes Too Much To Ask?

I picked three strikes basically at random, but Moses demonstrates that there is an upper limit on how many times you can ask God if he really meant what he said to you. Here are some selections from Exodus 3 and 4:

Exodus 3:4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
“Here I am!” Moses replied.

Exodus 3:11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”

Exodus 3:13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

Exodus 4:1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

Exodus 4:10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

Exodus 4:13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”

Exodus 4:14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses.

Moses starts off well. He recognizes the nudge and says, “Here I am!” But enthusiasm that God is speaking to him quickly becomes protesting and pleading. Five times. And after the fifth time, when Moses really has no more excuses but is just asking to be let off the hook…God becomes angry with Moses.

I figure if Moses gets 5 strikes, surely I can get 3, right? And by my logic if Moses only got 5 strikes, I probably shouldn’t test if I get that many. So 3 is a pretty good number. For another example of this, see the scripture about Samuel in my summary at the top of the page. Samuel had to hear God multiple times, too.

Summary

  • God is quite active in nudging his followers to do his work. I have countless stories on this one, and I know other people get the nudge, too.
  • It’s OK to question if what you’re hearing is from God…to a point
  • Set a limit on the maximum number of times you can question whether God really wants you to do something. My limit is 3.
  • Once you hit your limit, just do it! I’ve never regretted it! Conversely, I have regretted every time I chickened out.

Discussion Starters

  • When have you felt the nudge that God wanted you to do something? How did you respond?
  • Has anyone ever spoken to you or done something for you because they were nudged by God? How did that feel?
  • How can you make yourself more open to feeling the nudge?
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God Please Derail Me

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I recently pre-ordered the new book by Chip and Dan Heath called Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work. One of the main points in the book goes like this:

Prepare to Be Wrong: we are overconfident, thinking we know how the future will unfold when we really don’t. We should prepare for bad outcomes as well as good ones. And what would make us reconsider our decisions? We can set tripwires that snap us to attention at the right moments.

That reminded me of one of my standard prayers: “God, please derail me.”

Praying Against Myself

I was almost finished with college, and I was really feeling the pull toward seminary. I had been toying with seminary since high school (even though it requires an undergraduate degree), so I thought I shouldn’t delay anymore. As a result, I didn’t apply to any job interviews through my college.

But then a funny thing happened: I had two job interviews show up on my schedule, even though I didn’t apply for them. I decided to go just for fun. Then I got an invitation to a follow-up interview on-site.

After a full day at the company, I prayed something like this:

God, I believe you are calling me into ministry. I believe I am called to start immediately and not delay. If I am wrong, change my plans. I guess I’ll go to work instead of seminary if I get a job offer from <particular division> at <particular company>. Otherwise, I’m going to seminary.

The next day I got a job offer from that division within that company. I accepted the job on the spot.

God’s Ways

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 1:25:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

I can do all the right things when trying to figure out God’s will…and still be wrong. So my last prayer with big decisions is for God to change my mind if he has a better plan in mind.

If you want a great book on the process of figuring out God’s will as best you can, I recommend The Power of a Whisper by Bill Hybels.

His five filters for testing what you “hear from God” are:

  1. Is this truly from God?
  2. Is this Scriptural?
  3. Is this wise?
  4. Is this in tune with your character?
  5. What do the people I trust think about this?

Tripwires

The quote from Decisive talks about setting tripwires to help you know when to reconsider your decisions. That’s what I did when I set a very specific way for God to change my mind.

Please note, however, that you can totally abuse this practice. “God, I’ll change my mind if you give me a winning lotto ticket.” Remember that God is too smart to fall for something like that. If you’re trying to manipulate God with your tripwire, it’s not going to work. He made you. He knows what you’re up to.

Summary

  • Use every tool at your disposal to figure out God’s will
  • Pray for God to change your mind if he has a better plan
  • Set some tripwires: tangible ways for God to show you that you’re wrong

Discussion Starter

  • When have you tried to figure out God’s will for one of your big decisions?
  • When have you been wrong about God’s will for you? How did you know?
  • What are you trying to figure out right now? Are you praying for God to change your mind if he has a better plan?
salt_plains

Salt of the Earth

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I read a fascinating interview (link to article) with Michael Moss about his new book Salt, Sugar, Fat that delves into the food processing industry.

In the interview he unveils a fascinating fact about salt:

When it comes to salt, what was really staggering to me is that the industry itself is totally hooked on salt. It is this miracle ingredient that solves all of their problems. There is the flavor burst to the salt itself, but it also serves as a preservative so foods can stay on the shelves for months. It also masks a lot of the off-notes in flavors that are inherent to processed foods.

This reminded me immediately of the Sermon on the Mount:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. – Matthew 5:13 (NRSV)

What Does It Mean To Be Salt?

If you go through the quote from Moss, here are some of the highlights:

  • Salt solves problems
  • Salt tastes suddenly refreshing
  • Salt preserves other foods
  • Salt masks the impact of other bad tastes

Do you think Jesus was referring to something like that when he said we are the salt of the earth? What would it look like if Christ-followers solved problems, left a refreshing impression, helped others be their best, and helped negate some of the evil in the world?

A Refreshing Story

I played basketball with the same group of guys for several years. Some were Christians, others…not so much. Although I started playing with them when I was in the workplace, they all knew when I started attending seminary.

On my last week in town, one of the guys told me, “I had to re-evaluate Christians because of you.”

As an aside, it is entertaining to me that the almost universal response I get on the court when someone learns I’m a pastor is, “Oh, I’m so sorry I cursed!” Perhaps part of my saltiness was not being offended? Perhaps the bar is really that low for being surprisingly refreshing!

Discussion Starters

  • When have you (or someone you know) been “salty” for Jesus?
    • Solved a problem
    • Left a refreshing impression
    • Helped someone else be their best
    • Helped negate some evil in the world
  • How would you love to be “salty” in the near future? Do you have an opportunity?
  • Do you want to be “salty” or not? Why?
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Lord, Keep Me Alert, Safe, and Legal

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I was driving from Austin to Dallas recently, and I prayed my standard road trip prayer:

Lord, keep me alert, keep me safe, and keep me legal.

All three of those petitions have a back story.

Keep Me Alert

I was driving from Port Aransas to Austin, ready to move in to my dorm at the University of Texas. We moved to Port A between high school and the start of college, so I wasn’t familiar with the drive. I took a wrong turn, but knew it would still get me where I wanted to go.

Once I was sufficiently far away from any civilization (which doesn’t take long in South Texas), I spotted a family with a broken-down car on the side of the road. Feeling magnanimous, I decided to turn around and help them.

*WHAM*

I wasn’t alert enough to spot another car coming over the hill, and I was a split second away from being dead. No real injuries sustained by anyone. Praise be to God. So now I pray Lord, keep me alert.

Keep Me Safe

I hate being late. I really hate being late when I’m teaching at church. I supremely hate being late when abnormal traffic is causing me to be late when I’m teaching at church.

The triple-whammy of lateness left me desperate to find a faster way to church. I tried to “flow like water” wherever traffic was moving, and so I found myself on a different road than normal. In my haste, I quickly glanced left, then right, then crossed the street.

*WHAM*

I wasn’t safe enough to take the time to spot the dark green car coming my way. No real injuries sustained by anyone. Praise be to God. There aren’t words to describe how much I hate being late because I caused a car wreck. So now I pray Lord, keep me safe.

Keep Me Legal

It was starting to get late, and I was starting to get tired. I was returning to Austin from visiting a friend, and I took a shortcut (notice a trend?). Passing through an unfamiliar town, I saw a speed limit sign and thought to myself, “I’m glad I’m going the speed limit.”

Five minutes later…

*SIREN*

Despite trying to go the speed limit, I missed not one but TWO signs in the small town. At least it wasn’t a *WHAM*. Praise be to God. So now I pray Lord, keep me legal.

Putting It Into Action

Jumping back to that Austin-to-Dallas trip, I noticed that I only had one hand on the steering wheel right after my short prayer. Since that could make me less alert and safe, I put both hands on the wheel. I had to repeat this choice about fifty times on the journey.

I also noticed that thin traffic was allowing me to set my cruise control. I was tempted to put it just 2 MPH above the speed limit, but since I just prayed about being legal I chose the exact speed limit.

This reminds me of the Lord’s Prayer. We pray “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” When Jesus sets up the pattern of prayer, he includes this zinger. Don’t pray for God to forgive when you are unwilling to forgive.

I can’t ask God to keep me alert and safe and legal if I’m unwilling to be alert and safe and legal myself. I can’t ask God to keep me healthy if I’m unwilling to be healthy myself. I can’t ask God to change me if I’m unwilling to change when he whispers to me that I’m slipping.

If you want to pray a prayer, will you listen when that nagging voice in the back of your mind points out how you’re not helping your own cause? That voice in your mind might sound like your mother, but often it’s God giving you the chance to place your own small piece of the puzzle.

Discussion Starter

  • What are some of your prayers right now?
  • When have you noticed that you’re not helping your own cause?
  • When have you decided to partner with God to fulfill your prayer?
Christ Crucified on Cross (lightstock)

How Do You Know?

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My devotions took me to Exodus today, and I noticed this little snippet from God’s words to Pharaoh:

“Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord…'” – Exodus 7:17a

While Pharaoh got smacked in the face by God’s power and presence, we normally have to look a little more closely to know that He is the Lord.

How Do You KNOW God Is Real?

As I think about this, I can list quite a number of reasons and stories. I know God is real because…

  • I had early experiences that brought me close to Him
  • I’ve never regretted following God, even when the instructions didn’t make sense
  • Life is way more interesting following God than following my own whims
  • Where there’s smoke, there’s fire – that many coincidences add up
  • I have faith…that means believing in something that can’t be conclusively proven

Let me tell you just one of my early experiences, and maybe it will remind you of some of your reasons forKNOWING God is real.

My grandfather had polio and was bound to a wheelchair for most of his life. As a result, he died before I was school-age. As my family was getting ready for the funeral, I suddenly told my mother, “In heaven, Gramps can walk.” I find it interesting that it was a statement, not a question.

I see that as one of my earliest God-sightings. God could use a tiny little boy to comfort a room full of adults by giving him certainty.

I could write story after story like that – moments when God showed up and did just the right thing at just the right time. What are some of your God-sightings? Why do you believe it was God?

1 Peter 3:15 says…

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

Someone asks you, “How do you KNOW God is real?” How do you respond?

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Thankfulness

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I have been using the Life Journal for my personal devotional lately, and I have seen immense spiritual growth from the process. I recently read Psalm 8, and I was especially drawn to v3-4:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (ESV)

This is an amazing claim, if you think about it. The same God who made the heavens cares about me (and you)! The same God who set the planets in motion cares about that parking place you think you deserve in the front row at the mall. The same God who made the forces of gravity and magnetism cares about the forces of love and joy.

Thinking about this God of the macro AND the micro, I felt I needed to write down how much I have to be thankful for. I wrote down tiny little prayers answered like finding a bug in a website I was designing. I wrote down big things like my wife, my son, and my health. I wrote down medium things like a group of guys to play basketball with.

What are you thankful for? Take a moment and write it down – you’ll see why in a second.

Do You Want To Be Happier?

I also read an interesting article (link to article) about how to increase your happiness. They had students write a nontrivial (requires thought) letter of gratitude several times throughout the semester, and then they surveyed how happy they were. The results?

“I saw their happiness increase after each letter, meaning the more they wrote, the better they felt” – Dr. Steven Toepfer, Kent State University

In other words, the more we practice being grateful and thankful, the happier we feel. How much would you pay for a pill that could make you happier? Will you spend just a few minutes practicing gratefulness to achieve an even better result?

Putting It Into Practice

  • Take a few minutes and write down what you’re thankful for
  • If you have a spouse or child, tell them some specific reasons (remember: nontrivial) you’re thankful for them

Discussion Starters

  • How easy/hard is it for you to express gratitude to someone else?
  • How easy/hard is it for you to receive thanks from someone else?
  • What are you thankful for?
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The Tree of Spiritual Growth

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What does Christian life look like?

How have you tried to answer this question? I remember how I tried to answer this question in high school.

I believed Christian life was all about following the rules – not sinning. I think I got this idea from Benjamin Franklin, but I thought every Christian should naturally have a sin calendar. The days of the week lined the top. On the left I wrote various sins I noticed within myself. Lust. Lying. Greed. Pride. Etc. (that last one’s the worst)

I took one sin at a time, marking down each day how many times I sinned in that category. Five lusts on Sunday. Three on Monday. Six on Tuesday (everything’s always worse on Tuesday).

I discovered I could virtually eliminate any sin within a week or two. So then I could move on to the next one. Four greeds on Sunday. Two on Monday. Seven on Tuesday. And on it went.

There are two major problems with this approach. #1: after I “moved on” from a sin it always came back to fill the void left by focusing on another sin. #2: this is totally NOT what Christian life is about.

How have you defined the Christian life?

The early Christians understandably had to make things up as they went (with a healthy dose of Jewish tradition to help them out). Their first attempt at this new way of living is documented in Acts 2:42-47.

Acts 2:42-47 – 42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

According to this passage, what does the Christian life look like? Take a minute to write down what you see. For example, v42 lifts up learning and relationships.

Spiritual Growth as a Tree

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Tree drawn by Judy Larson

What does Christian life look like? Picture a tree.

v46 says “they spent much time together in the temple.” Since the temple is where they worshipped, the soil for the tree is worship. The soil grounds the tree, it provides nutrients for the tree, but it isn’t a tree. Worship is foundational, but it isn’t enough.

v44 mentions “all who believed.” At some point your soil must harbor a seed of commitment to Christ. This is the moment when you are willing to trust Jesus with your life.

v42 and v46 lift up fellowship and spending time together. Your tree’s roots are formed from relationships. Tell me, how useful is a tree if it’s only a bunch of roots? You aren’t a full tree if you just have soil and roots (worship and relationships). All the best stuff is yet to come.

v42 says “they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching…and the prayers.” Your tree’s trunk is built through spiritual disciplines. Two of the most powerful spiritual disciplines are reflecting on Scripture and praying for guidance. On top of these you can find all kinds of disciplines like fasting, silence, etc.

v43, v44, and v46 highlight “wonders and signs,” “all things in common,” and “distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Your tree branches out in ministry. Branches are useful for shade. They are useful for harboring birds and squirrels and other creatures. Branches support the fruit (don’t worry, that’s next). Branches are useful.

Finally, v47 reminds us that “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”Sharing Christ with your friends is showing fruit. Ask yourself this, though: who receives nourishment from fruit? The tree or others? Also, think about how fruit spreads far enough away from the tree. Fruit can be carried by birds and squirrels and other creatures (thanks, branches). Fruit can also be carried by the wind (thanks, Holy Spirit).

At the end of the day, however, remember that your tree isn’t really about the soil, the roots, the trunk, the branches, or the fruit. Your tree is all about the One who is the original tree.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:5 (ESV)

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