My 25 Planks – 16 to 20
*hi?* I found this post in the drafts saved deep inside my old website. I am posting it now (6/29/2022…nope Life happened. Now is now 7/11/2022 ?) here, for posterity. Maybe one day I will be able to post about those final 5 planks.
Earlier this year (April 2012 — This series was originally being posted around April 2012.) I wrote something huge. I wrote down a list of 25 planks I have stuck in my eye. (Matthew 7:3-5). I wrote down my planks and then promptly hid them in a file on my computer vowing to never show anyone. Well, “the time has come” as Effie Trinket says. God is nudging me to confess my 25 planks to the world. So here is my list exactly as I wrote it a couple months ago, yet ever-pertinent to my life. This week: planks 16 through 20.
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16. Stop Bullying.
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
1 Peter 2:1
I address this topic in two separate posts so I will not spend long on it here. Being Jesus: Love is active, not passive is a general post about loving with our actions. Dear Bullied: There is no other you is a letter I wrote addressed to anyone who has ever been bullied. Here is an excerpt from Love is active:
“When people bully, the devil wins. When we let hurt kids/teens/adults stay hurt, we aren’t doing our job. Cutting remarks, making fun of someone, racial slurs even when used as jokes, talking about someone behind their back — all of this can be included in bullying. As Christians, we should build people up. There are plenty of people in the world who love to bring people down. It is our job as Christians to spread love. Love always builds people up.Please don’t stand silently when the person next to you is being brought down. It’s probably not Christlike to turn around and bully the bully either. Just try to spread LOVE, however you feel is best at the moment. Remember, spread LOVE. Not spread criticism, not spread judgement…spread Love. If you don’t know how, but you know something needs to be done…ask the Big Man upstairs. He knows everything. He’ll be more than happy to help you out. As a matter of fact, He was probably waiting for you to ask Him all along.”
Today spread love and help stop the epidemic of bullying.
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17. Stop Excluding.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
Luke 6:22
Typically, I find exclusion to be the small step into a pile of quicksand. And it’s a small step I too often take. Hatred and Exclusion are of this world and not of Jesus. We are going to be hated and excluded plenty by this world, so why do it to eachother? Why do it to others? Christ was not exclusive He was inclusive.
At Church (and adult life): Stop going to church (work/school) and just talking to the people you know. Stop speaking to the new person only during “meet and greet.” (Strike up a conversation during those awkward moments in the elevator at work.) A lot of what I’ve experienced from moving to different towns is a thing I like to call Church Exclusivity. Church Exclusivity consists of walking into, through and out of the building with a smile to those you know, and a quick smiling scuttle by those you don’t. Walk into the building with a smile and a hello. Walk out of the building with a smile and a hello. Walk through the halls with a smile and a hello. But don’t just stop there. Hold a conversation. Even if it’s just the awkward, “What do you do?” or “How have you been?” followed by blank stares. Cause every so often that conversation ceases to be awkward and starts to be Jesus. All of this applies to life outside of the building as well.
In Younger Groups (and life): Not exactly my lane, but I’ve definitely been on the wrong side of some very cruel young groups. I’ve also been on the opposite side, and both were tough for me as a youngin. I’m sure this is a very nuanced topic that can and has been explored by many people much better than I can in this small space. But what I would tell my younger self is this: STOP EXCLUDING because people aren’t cool enough to fit in your circle. STOP EXCLUDING because someone believes a bit differently than you do. STOP EXCLUDING because someone loves God a bit differently than you do. Because none of that is Jesus. NONE OF IT. That is all the devil, all the time. (And his minions.) I’m convinced one of the strongest places the devil trains his minions is in young groups. We need to cut that out.
As adults who notice these actions by youngins, STOP IT. Stop allowing cliques in the young groups to blatantly ostracize certain kids right in front of your face. In the team atmosphere, at the lunch table, etc. I know it’s not realistic for everyone to be best friends, but at the very least let’s try to make all groups of youngins friendly and respectful. (I’ve also been on the receiving side of danger in these situations, so like I said above, nuanced approach here, but EVERY SINGLE TIME when adults stepped in to intervene, things went better for everyone involved.)
Hopefully we can all agree: the most idealized version of the goal here is the very best most successful young groups should be a circle of trusted accountability partners and confidants, a safe and protected greenhouse of seedlings forming the roots they need to grow tall and strong. But how can we model that goal for kids as they grow if we don’t even apply this impossible goal to ourselves first?
As adults who notice these actions by youngins, STOP IT. Stop allowing cliques in the young groups to blatantly ostracize certain kids right in front of your face. In the team atmosphere, at the lunch table, etc. I know it’s not realistic for everyone to be best friends, but at the very least let’s try to make all groups of youngins friendly and respectful. (I’ve also been on the receiving side of danger in these situations, so like I said above, nuanced approach here, but EVERY SINGLE TIME when adults stepped in to intervene, things went better for everyone involved.)
Hopefully we can all agree: the most idealized version of the goal here is the very best most successful young groups should be a circle of trusted accountability partners and confidants, a safe and protected greenhouse of seedlings forming the roots they need to grow tall and strong. But how can we model that goal for kids as they grow if we don’t even apply this impossible goal to ourselves first?
The same applies to life. Jesus was more of an includer (unless you were selling in His house of prayer, but even then just two verses later we see that He healed the blind and the lame who came to Him :-). We see Jesus healing and teaching masses of people many places in the Bible, but just for an example I’ll cite Matthew 20:29-34.
A large crowd was following Jesus, the “in crowd” so to speak. As the crowd passed by two blind men on the side of the road began shouting at Jesus. These blind men were clearly not a part of the “in crowd.” The crowd behind Jesus rebuked the men for calling out to Jesus. [“No, Jesus is too cool for you. Quit bugging him. How ridiculous you are for even thinking He would take time to care about you! He has all of us to preach to! He has much more important things to do than listen to someone like you on the side of the road! You can’t even see for goodness sake! Be quiet!” *evil stares*]
Instead of excluding them like the crowd clearly was, Jesus listened to the two men and healed them for their faith. Then they joined the crowd. And you know what? I bet they were pretty popular after that. I mean they were just blind and now they could see. That’s kind of a big deal. The moral is: Coolness is all relative, popularity momentary, and exclusivity wrong. This story sounds more like support of the Jesus was inclusive theory and disproval of the Jesus excluded theory. We should strive to be inclusive rather than exclusive.
God wants us to love.
Today make an effort to include those who are obviously excluded. Love people for their eccentricities. (We are all our own special kind of weird.)
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18. Stop Accepting.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2 Peter 1:5-11
Stop accepting and adopting the behaviors of the society around you as your own. You are supposed to be a child of God with endless Hope and shining like a light on a hill. People should be amazed and ask Where does your hope come from? And you respond “My hope comes from the LORD the maker of heaven and earth.”
Take one trip to any third world country and you will quickly see how sickening American prosperity is. Thirty pairs of shoes could provide shoes for thirty shoeless people. Yet, I still have 30+ pairs of shoes. I don’t need everything I have in my home. Hoarding Tasaj is a quick shortcut to the dangerous destination of storing up treasures on earth. Be realistic with your possessions, Hayley. Do you really need the purchase you are making? Or does someone else truly need your purchase? Not the American, I spilled coffee on one of my white blouses, so now I need a new one definition. More like the East African I have to walk 3 miles for water everyday so I can’t go to school, or the Indian I live with my six family members in a lean-to smaller than your main bathroom definition of need. Could you leave all of your possessions behind to follow Jesus? Will you?
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19. Stop Limiting.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
John 14:12-14
I limit God. I limit the Holy Spirit. I limit my ability to change the world. God says we can move mountains if only we had enough faith. God can do the impossible. We just have to believe He can. Something that strikes me as odd is how we as humans try to make sense of God and the way He works.
God is infinite, omnipotent, and the creator of the universe.
We are human.
Why would we ever begin to try to understand why He does what He does?
Why would we question the way He does things?
The habit of questioning God leads to limiting God.
I heard a great analogy on this from a preacher. When Jesus was at the wedding banquet and the host ran out of wine, His mother told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Mary knew Jesus would handle it, she just didn’t know how. And she didn’t care how. She just knew the problem would be handled. Jesus made the new wine in ceremonial cleansing basins instead of wineskins or glasses or anything else expected … not the typical way we would think to solve that problem, but it was God’s solution. John 2:1-11. Sometimes God nudges us in a direction that makes no sense to us, and since it doesn’t make sense to us, we ignore the nudge.
God doesn’t have to always make complete sense to us. He’s God.
For more on Limiting God, see my If he asks for an egg will you give him a scorpion? post.
Today is the day to stop limiting God. Start believing.
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20. Stop Doubting.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:25-31
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly[a] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
Mark 11:22-23
I will let Jesus speak for this one: “‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. ‘Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.’” If only I could have faith like that. Believing in my heart is something I’m working on. I believe with my brain. I need to believe more with my heart. I’m wrestling with the fact that truly believing in my heart without fear or doubt could actually throw a mountain into the sea. I believe Jesus rose from the dead and performed countless miracles. So why do I struggle with doubting how much my God can do today? Doubt is an alleyway for the devil to creep into the fortress of Faith. Now if the only words we have to live by and guide us are those from Jesus and those in the Bible, I have to believe what Jesus says here is possible. My faith could literally throw a mountain into the sea. I need to work on that.
Today, stop doubting and throw your mountains into the sea. As Jesus Himself put it, “Have faith in God.”
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Stay tuned next week for the conclusion of my planks series with my planks 20 through 25.
All verses quoted are from the New International Version of the Holy Bible unless otherwise noted.