Category: Practical

How Should Christians Work? – Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Leadership, PracticalLeave a comment

Work, it’s something we do a lot of. I am not sure if you have ever figured it up, but on a 40 hour work week, you will spend over 2,000 hours a year working. Over 30 years that amounts to roughly 62,000 hours or 2,600 straight days at work. I think it is safe to say that work is a big part of our lives.

Work is also a necessary part of our lives because without work we wouldn’t survive. We have to pay for the place live, the food we eat, the car we drive, the clothes we wear, and the things we do. So work is not only a big part of our lives, it’s a necessity.

Since we work so much, and retirement is far away for most of us, it’s important we have a biblical understanding of work.

How Should Christians Work?

(2) As Christians, our work must be done with a dependence on God 

When we truly depend on God, trusting Him to supply our needs, we don’t have to be people pleasers. We can not only be genuine, but we can also keep our hands clean. We don’t need sketchy side deals to make things happen or take care of our family because we know that the Lord will provide.

Nor do we have to work ourselves to death. When we depend on the Lord, we can enjoy a work-life balance. Which means we can actually take a Sabbath, spend time with our family, and enjoy a vacation.

As well as depending on the Lord means we can pick a career that suits our God-given gifts. A lot of times people don’t do this. Instead, they pick a career based on the money they can potentially make.

That is why I chose sales as a career right out of college. But there was only one problem with the career I had chosen, I wasn’t all that great at it. While I like talking to and meeting new people, I don’t like to impose upon people’s day. As well as I am not all that great at small talk. I do it from time to time because it allows me to get to know people, but I don’t really like it. In sales, you have to do both of those things a lot — you have to impose upon people and you have to be a good small talker.

So while sales promised me the potential to make a lot of money, it didn’t work for me because it didn’t play to my strengths. It didn’t play to my God-given gifts. As you can imagine, I wasn’t really good at it, and I was miserable doing it.

But here is the thing, when we depend on God to meet our needs, we are free to take positions that allow us to use our gifts, even if they aren’t lucrative careers.

As you all know, pastors don’t make a lot of money, but I have to tell you, our family doesn’t want for anything. All our basic needs and more are taken care of. I attribute that 100% to the Lord. He has worked things out in ways that only He could so that we are taken care of and are able to serve Him in the way that He desires.

God taking care of you doesn’t just hold true for pastors, but everyone. I believe if we depend on the Lord, answering His call for our lives, the Lord will provide for us so that we can use the gifts He has given us. Now that doesn’t mean that you are going to be rich, just because you answer the Lord’s call. The gifts the Lord has given you may not amount to a lucrative career. So you might need to rethink your standard of living. But even if a lucrative career isn’t in store for you, I believe you will be happier, and I believe you can count on the Lord to provide for your basic needs.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you depend on God, even when it comes to work?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon How Should We Work from a Christian Perspective?

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How Should Christians Work? – Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Leadership, PracticalLeave a comment

Work, it’s something we do a lot of. I am not sure if you have ever figured it up, but on a 40 hour work week, you will spend over 2,000 hours a year working. Over 30 years that amounts to roughly 62,000 hours or 2,600 straight days at work. I think it is safe to say that work is a big part of our lives.

Work is also a necessary part of our lives because without work we wouldn’t survive. We have to pay for the place live, the food we eat, the car we drive, the clothes we wear, and the things we do. So work is not only a big part of our lives, it’s a necessity.

Since we work so much, and retirement is far away for most of us, it’s important we have a biblical understanding of work.

How Should Christians Work?

(1) As Christians, our work should always be genuine

One of the first long-term jobs I had out of college was at a staffing company. I began working for them in Atlanta and ended up moving to Dallas to help open a satellite office. I didn’t move to Dallas alone. Four other people from the corporate office moved with me. Everyone who moved to Dallas had done really well in the Atlanta office, which only makes sense, after all, you aren’t going to trust your brand new satellite office to those who are having a hard time with sales or recruiting at the Corporate office.

Our new office looked promising. There, however, was just one problem, no one was appointed as the head of the office. Instead, a bunch of twenty-somethings was thrown in an office half-way across the country and told to work without any oversight. While it wasn’t a total bust, most of us worked hard, there was one guy in our office who didn’t. It is not that he didn’t do anything. He made a few obligatory calls, participated in our daily office meetings, made sure I was working on the few jobs he had pulled in, but the rest of the day he watched videos on his computer, talked to his friends on the phone, and joked around with people in the office. That was his daily routine until one of the executives from the Atlanta office came out to check on things.

When the executives were there, his work ethic picked up 100%. He was on the phone all day setting meetings, pulling in jobs for me to work on, as well as he made it a point to talk up all that he had done in the office, or was supposed to be doing. You see, his goal was to be head of the office in Dallas. He knew if he wanted that position, he had to impress the executives, which is exactly what he set out to do, but only when they were there and they could see him.

Now, the way he worked is the exact opposite of how Paul calls Christians to work in Colossians 3. In verse 22 he says,

“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Col 3:22)

According to Paul, we aren’t just to work hard when our bosses are watching. Instead, we are to work with “sincerity of heart“. In other words, what our boss sees when in the office should be what they can expect when they are out of the office. Our work, then, should always be genuine.

Our genuine work should be driven by our fear of the Lord. When the Bible talks about fearing God what it means is that we are to live in awe and wonder of Him, that we are to have an intense love and respect for Him. Those things should be what drives us to work well.

When we allow the fear of the Lord to drive our work, people will see a difference in the way we work. They won’t just see us doing things for attention, accolade, or promotion, like many of their co-workers, or even themselves. Rather they will see us as genuine. People appreciate people who are genuine, even if they aren’t genuine themselves.

Being genuine not only pleases God, but it also opens up a conversation with others about why we work the way we work. It gives us an opportunity to tell other people about Jesus. How He has changed our heart, and how that has affected our work.

So as Christians, our work should always be genuine. We shouldn’t seek to please man, but God.

Question for Reflection

  1. Is your work genuine?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon How Should We Work from a Christian Perspective?

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Looking for the Perfect Church?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical2 Comments

There is one question all Christians ask, and you may even be asking it right now: What church should I be a part of? As you thought about this, or are thinking about it, I am sure many questions have run through your head. Questions like:

  • Should I be a part of the church that has a lot of activities and fun things for my kids and me?
  • How about the one that perfectly fits my theological niche?
  • Or should I go to the one with the dynamic worship service?
  • How about the one in which I always feel comfortable?
  • Or is it the popular one in town that I should attend?

These are all questions that have been asked by Christians at one time or another when looking for a church. So which is it? Which church should we attend?

What should you be looking for in a church?

I believe the perfect church, the one we should look to attend, is the one that is primarily focused on benefiting others. Now I know it may sound strange to say that we should look for a church that is primarily focused on benefiting others, but if you think about it for a minute, that is the church that will best benefit us too.

Here is what I mean. If we are all willing to focus on the benefit of others, then we will all benefit. On the other hand, if we only focus on what benefits us, then we limit not only others benefit but ours as well. 

You see, when we only focus on our own benefit, we aren’t using our God-given spiritual gifts as we ought, which means we aren’t helping others as God intended. When you have a whole community that’s not helping others as God has intended, then the whole community suffers. In the end, no one receives the degree of benefit that they could, if all focused on benefiting each other. I know, it sounds counter-intuitive but it’s true. A community focused on self, receives less benefit than a community focused on others. So the perfect church, the one we should look to attend, is one that is primarily focused on benefiting others.

Now, if we are honest, most of us struggle with pouring ourselves out for others. Why is that?

Why do we most often do what benefits us?

I believe we focus on our own benefit to the exclusion of others because we have a sinful desire to be at the center. A sinful desire that is spurred on by American individualism. We may not realize it, but, as Americans, we are very individualistic. I believe American Author, Adam Johnson, captures this sentiment well when he says,

“In America, the stories we tell ourselves and we tell each other in fiction have to do with individualism. Every person here is the center of his or her own story. And our job as people and as characters is to find our own motivations and desires, to overcome conflicts and obstacles toward defining ourselves so that we grow and change” [1].

Did you catch what he said? “Every person here is the center of his or her own story.” Most Americans have bought into that idea, so much so that we all believe everything revolves around us.

But consider what Jesus says about us in Matthew 5:14,

““You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Mt 5:14)

Jesus tells us we are the light of the world. We are a city set on a hill. A city is not made up of one person. Rather, it’s made up of a gathering of people, who have banded together for a particular purpose. As Christians, we should be banded together for the purpose of following and glorifying Christ. When we accomplish that purpose, we shine as lights to the watching world for Christ.

We don’t, however, shine as lights to the world, if we are all centered on ourselves. Instead, a church, whose individual members are centered on themselves, produce discouraged, uncomforted, self-centered, immature believers, rather than a brightly shining light others want to join.

How do we change?

How do we make sure we are a city shining a bright light of gospel transformation to the world? By shifting our focus from self to others. In order to do that, we have to apply the biblical idea of love. Love is what allows us to sacrifice our own desires and benefits for others. It’s love, then, that allows us to be a growing, thriving, encouraging, and comforting community that’s piercing the darkness of this world.

What if we are having trouble loving?

If we are having trouble loving, we need to meditate on the gospel. The picture of love the gospel presents is beyond belief. The gospel tells us that Jesus loves us so much He left His heavenly home, became a man, faced the difficulties of this sinful world, was persecuted, and ultimately nailed to the cross. But things didn’t end there. While He hung on the cross in physical agony, dying, the Father’s wrath was poured out on Him, not because He deserved it, but because we deserve it. Jesus hung in our place, taking our punishment so that we could experience a relationship with the Father and eternal life. It is His love that drove Him to sacrifice Himself for us. 

If the love of Jesus expressed in the gospel doesn’t warm your heart, and make you want to sacrifice and do what benefits others, then you may not have experienced the effects of the gospel in your own life; you may not have experienced God’s love. When God’s love comes into your life, you want to share that love with others. So if you are having trouble loving and giving of yourself to others, then meditate on the gospel.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you pouring yourself out for others, or just expecting them to pour themselves out for you?

Resources

Post developed from my sermon Christian Community is for the Benefit of Others, which you can listen to in full by clicking here.

[1]http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/adamjohnso442716.html#7bMkReDEe6fZru22.99

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How Can Husbands Love Their Wives Self-Sacrificially?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, PracticalLeave a comment

The Bible calls husbands to love their wives self-sacrificially. In Colossians 3:19 the apostle Paul writes,

“Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.” (Col 3:19)

And again in Ephesians 5, comparing a husband’s love to Jesus’ love of the church, Paul says:

“In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Eph 5:28)

We could explore other passages, but you get the point. The Bible is big on husbands loving their wives.

The Type of Love

The type of love husbands are to have for their wives is a self-sacrificial love. We know this because the Greek word behind love in these verses is agape. Agape, in Greek, denotes a self-sacrificial love. It is same love Jesus demonstrated when He went to the cross for our sins, sacrificing Himself for us. Agape love then is a love that gives rather than takes. It is a love that sacrifices.

How do we love our wives in a self-sacrificial manner?

(1) We love our wives self-sacrificially by not being harsh with her.

In the second half of verse 19 in Colossians 3, Paul specifically commands husbands not to be “harsh” with their wives. When I first read this, I didn’t fully understand what Paul was saying, so I did some research into the word “harsh”.  I found it means that husbands aren’t to make their wives bitter or resentful because of unfair or abusive treatment. Instead, husbands are to treat their wives fairly, not using or abusing them. As well as husbands aren’t to make decisions or perform actions that would make their wives resentful.

What are some things that might make your wife resentful?

  • An unwillingness or not offering to help with the kids.
  • Not abiding by the family budget.
  • Going off with your buddies all the time instead of doing things with the family.
  • Glueing yourself to the TV instead of helping out around the house or talking with your wife.
  • Caring or ministering to others whenever they ask, but not setting aside time to do so for your wife.

(2) We love our wives self-sacrificially by leading in a non-selfish way

Being the head or the leader of your household doesn’t mean you always get your way. That’s not how Jesus leads. Since we are modeling our love and leadership after His, we should act as He acts. When Jesus came it wasn’t all about Him, instead, it was all about us. Remember, He left His heavenly abode, took the body of a man, gave up His rights, and His life for us.

We are to do the same. We are to give up our rights for our wives, sacrificing for them, instead of always demanding our own way. When we do that, we are loving and leading in a non-selfish way.

(3) We love our wives self-sacrificially by seeking to build her up in the Lord.

Husbands are to do all they can to promote their wife’s well-being and sanctification. Marriage, then, is about more than fulfilling our own sexual appetites. It is about us working to build up and sanctify our wives, washing them with the Word of God, in order to ready them to meet their heavenly husband — Christ.

(4) We love our wives self-sacrificially by providing for her physically and emotionally.

As a husband, we are to make sure we are doing all that we can to provide for our wife. Certainly that means we are to make sure her basic needs are met. But our wife’s basic needs are just one area for which we are to provide. Along with providing physically, we are also to provide emotionally. Men, including myself, often miss the mark on this one. I believe that is because it is easier for us to spend our energy working than it is to spend our energy talking, listening, and drawing our wives out. But if we want to love our wives as Christ loves the church – self-sacrificially – we must provide for both her physical and emotional needs.

Question for Reflection

  1. What other ways can a husband self-sacrificially love his wife?

Resources

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Adapted from my sermon A Wife’s Submission and a Husband’s Love

 

Evolution vs. God

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Evangelism, PracticalLeave a comment

Hear expert testimony from leading evolutionary scientists from some of the world’s top universities:

• Peter Nonacs, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
• Craig Stanford, Professor, Biological Sciences and Anthropology, USC
• PZ Myers, Associate Professor, Biology, University of Minnesota Morris
• Gail E. Kennedy, Associate Professor, Anthropology, UCLA

A study of the evidence of vestigial organs, natural selection, the fifth digit, the relevance of the stickleback, Darwin’s finches and Lenski’s bacteria—all under the microscope of the Scientific Method—observable evidence from the minds of experts. Prepare to have your faith shaken, if you are an atheist, and your faith bolstered, if you are a Christian.

How Does Jesus’ Death, Resurrection, and Ascension Benefit Us?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

I don’t normally post my sermons on the blog, but Easter is an important day. 

Easter is a time for Christians to celebrate the resurrection. It is also a time to reflect on the benefits we receive from Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. Find out what those benefits are and more in this week’s message.

Scripture: John 16:1-28

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