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Tolerance in the Age of COVID-19

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By Bill Naron

One definition for tolerance is “acceptance of others as unique expressions of specific character qualities in varying degrees of maturity.” This definition gets to the heart of the matter in two ways. The first draws on the biblical truth that God knit us together and formed us (Psalm 139:13). We bear His image, and we bear that image in unique ways. Second, this definition acknowledges that we are all at different places and stages on our journey. This is important for us to remember as we engage with one another in our church community.

The pandemic we are in has presented the church with a unique situation. Think about the dystopian, almost apocalyptic timeframe that defines this pandemic. Cities are shut down, and many people are staying home or out of work. Riots are happening, and people are being encouraged to refrain from close contact. It almost seems like a sci-fi movie!

One of the dangers often spoken of regarding social media is that people often speak harsher than they would in person. I believe that this is truer in the COVID age than ever before. The debates are increasingly more divisive, and tensions are increased. How we talk to one another and how we handle conflict is very important.

In steps the character quality of tolerance. Many people are going to find themselves having tough conversations as churches begin to come back together. One of the often-unrecognized by-products of this political climate and this pandemic is wounded relationships. Friendships have been fractured, feelings have been hurt, and judgments have been passed. Many people have experienced hurt and we have to be willing to make amends. Tolerance helps us graciously deal with one another. One aspect of tolerance is the ability to respond graciously to others. Ephesians 4:29 states, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” We must learn to speak graciously to one another. No matter your opinion on the topics of the day, always remember that people matter more. Be gracious and kind to your brothers and sisters at this time. This is what the Lord has been dealing with my heart on and it is not easy, but it is absolutely necessary.

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“Every Possible Fig Leaf” Removed

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By Larry Short

One of the favorite parts of my week is sitting in the hot tub each Sunday night with Jason Comerford. Sometimes we watch wild animals come out of the quiet forest. This week we listened as a nearby fir tree made an enormous “crack” and plunged to the ground with a thunderous crash. In the midst of relative isolation, we enjoy hot water and good fellowship, we pray for each other and our church, and we ask God lots of questions.

And the question that has been most frequently on our minds and hearts in recent months is this: Where is God working in the midst of all this pain and chaos? What is He doing?

I read a blog this week by a pastor and writer I enjoy named John Myer. He asked that exact same question. And he used a set of Where’s Waldo? drawings to provide a possible answer.

First, here’s a Where’s Waldo? drawing from 2019:

How long did you have to look before you found Waldo? I confess I STILL haven’t. (I blame bad eyesight, LOL!)

And now here’s the 2020 social distancing edition:

            (Image credit: Times Free Press)

THAT was a lot easier, wasn’t it?

What’s the difference between the two drawings? Obviously the 2019 edition had a lot of noise: visual distractions, lots going on, lots of people. (We might now look back with a sigh—THOSE were the days!)

But in the 2020 edition, those distractions have been mostly removed. We enter a meadow near a forest in a state of solitude. Waldo is much more obvious once the distractions are gone, once the decks are cleared.

Myers made this very uncomfortable observation:

From the spiritual standpoint, God has cleared the decks.  There’s very little church stuff left to camouflage Him.  The only things left are you, the Bible, and those Christians you meet with.  Gone are the pageants, the events, the programs, and every possible fig leaf. (Bareknuckle Bible)

The “fig leaf” part really got to me. Darlene and I had a fig tree once. Fig leaves are scratchy, itchy, awkward, and very uncomfortable. They are of course what Adam and Eve applied as they sought (unsuccessfully) to hide their sin and shame from the God with Whom they had previously fellowshipped in the Garden. (In His mercy and grace, God of course gave them much more comfortable coverings, made of leather—costly as they were in terms of some poor, innocent animal’s blood.)

God calls us to the exact opposite of this scenario: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.“ Jeremiah 29:13

In the Garden, after Adam and Eve sinned, they stopped seeking and started hiding. God in His grace and mercy sought them out instead. And He has done this with each and every one of us. “God demonstrates His own love toward us in this While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s seeking was done on the cross. Christ’s blood became the covering for our sin and shame.

Now that we are forgiven, now that we have no more need of fig leaves, God desires us to seek Him. And He PROMISES us that if we do so with all our heart, we will find Him!

What has this got to do with COVID-19 and social isolation, the risk of possibly debilitating or mortal illness, loss of employment or retirement funds, the departure of many of our sports and entertainment choices, and the sudden evaporation of most if not all our previous trappings of doing church?

You may already see that the answer to this question lies in the two contrasting Where’s Waldo? drawings above. Peel away the distractions, remove the fig leaves, and God is far more easily found.

But, have we been looking? Or do we instead seek to embrace new fig leaves—to create new distractions with which to repopulate the Waldo drawing that is our world?

Are we complaining about our new normal and asking God to restore our previous comforts? Or are we seeking Him with all our hearts TODAY? Now is the time when, perhaps, He will be most easily found. If we would only seek.

Jeremiah challenges me, time and again, when my fig leaves are removed and I feel uncomfortably exposed, to claim God’s promise: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”

Will you join me in this, as my brother or sister in Christ?

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Pastoral Search Adventure

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By Interim Pastor Steve McCoy

Our church is poised for a great experience. Our pastoral search team is hard at work, praying, poring over scores of resumes, making calls, and asking questions. It takes time—lots of it.

They are very aware that searching for a leader is a faith-filled, time-tested adventure. At the right time, they and the elders will bring you as a congregation into the mix as we explore together God’s choice for Elim.

Meanwhile we can relax, because the “Evangelical Free Church at Ephesus” had to go through a similar assessment process.

Acts 18:24–26 reads, “Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.”

As a quality leader, Apollos had multiple positives going for him:

  • He was educated—“a learned man” (v. 24).
  • He was biblically savvy—“instructed in the way of the Lord” (v. 25a).
  • He was a gifted communicator—“spoke with great fervor” (v. 25b). (Interestingly enough, great fervor is an idiom that literally means “to boil in the spirit.” He was eager, enthusiastic, and passionate about ministry.)
  • He was doctrinally astute—“taught about Jesus accurately” (v. 25c).
  • He spoke “boldly” (v. 26a) about Jesus in a religiously hostile context.

But there was one negative regarding Apollos—he was deficient in his understanding of Jesus (v. 25) and the “way of God” (v. 26). With a teachable spirit, he humbly submitted to the tutelage of Priscilla and Aquila and was brought up to speed.

In due time, Elim will look at a pastor’s character and his ministerial competency. In addition, we will assess if he has the right chemistry to serve at our church. There will be all kinds of pluses, but there may be a negative or two. That’s what you will have to weigh as you consider the prospective pastor.

Meanwhile, Elim is on a time-tested, faith-filled adventure in finding your next pastor.

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The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want

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By Beth White

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you’” (Psalm 16:1).

There is great beauty in these words of David. What freedom he must have felt, acknowledging that his goodness, his well-being, his very life were the Lord’s to worry over and not his own.

Of course in David’s time, Jesus had not yet spoken the Sermon on the Mount; God’s people had never heard their Savior, in the flesh, lovingly explain the reason why striving to care for yourself is a fruitless endeavor. “For the Gentiles seek after all these things,” He reminded them, “and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:32-33). But David knew the ways of his good Father. He trusted, with the simplicity of a man unstained by the world (James 1:27), that his God carried him as a man carries his son (Deuteronomy 1:31).

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That’s it. Before anything else. Before deciding what good needs to be done in the world or which party deserves our vote or what on earth we’re going to do with our kids all day every day now that school is remaining closed: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Life gets a whole lot simpler when we think of it that way.

Our Shepherd is with us. We must train ourselves to hear His voice. The temptations of the world hold no power over the one who dwells deeply with his Lord, secure in the knowledge that He guides his steps. Unfortunately, the world speaks louder, and it requires a great deal of discipline to quiet ourselves and seek the guidance of our Master. How easy it is to go about our day trusting in our own knowledge of right and wrong, thinking that we are the masters of our own lives. How difficult it is to find the time to drink from the Living Water that gives wisdom and righteousness. But we must beware of forgetting who the Lord is. Psalm 50 warns, “These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.” We must take seriously the deceitfulness of our own hearts (Jeremiah 17:9).

Let us cry out with David, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth!” (Psalm 86:11). When we despise the world with all its worry and shame, we find rest. Take comfort; your Father sees you. He remembers you. You may wish to achieve a desired result; He sees beyond the surface and works toward something infinitely better. Seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and you will find yourself transformed.

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Revelation

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By Brian Waple

Normally, I try to write these articles in a way that is encouraging to others.  My desire in what I write is to take the challenges we face as a body…challenges that seem to hijack our focus away from God and redirect that focus back towards God and the loving grace and mercy He has for His people and this church.  During normal times I feel I can write with a clear sense of God’s purpose, and this has helped me find a peace, which I trust brings peace to the reader as well.

But as we all know these are not normal times.  There are a lot of hard, unprecedented things going on right now and I have a difficult time seeing where God is working in the midst of it all.  As a believer, I know that God is in control of all things, but it’s become difficult for me to understand exactly where He is in the day to day.  It’s sad to see what these events are doing to our country.  And as an Elder, it’s become increasingly disheartening to see what these events have done to our Elim community.  As things have unfolded, I fear we are becoming more and more divided…polarized.  And this polarization is not so much a result of the events of the day (it’s expected that we would all have our individual views about what’s happening in this country and how we should respond), but in how we use our views to criticize, judge and marginalize others. 

In the midst of all these polarizing views and divisive stands, I have been asking, “God, what are you doing?  What are you revealing to me, to your church?”  I wonder if, during this time of uncertainty, God could be using these situations to reveal who I am and where my heart, and the hearts of His Body the church, truly are.  I don’t think this is a question of salvation, but more about how I am living life as a follower of Jesus.  Is it pretty?  Not always.  If I’m courageous enough to look, God is showing me more and more how judgemental I can really be.  As long as I have a simpatico relationship with someone, it’s pretty easy to hear them.  But, if I sense resistence or criticism or a difference in what I believe, I attribute something wrong with them and it takes a lot more energy and willingness to be open to hearing them and seeing any truth to what they have to say.  This type of judgement is detrimental individually and as a community, and the judgement we are warned against in Matthew, for as we read, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, NLT)

Therefore, my desire is to be less judgemental.  But, being less judgemental and more open to others takes effort and is not something that feels natural to me.  Plus, as a person who likes control, this is all very conflicting.  How can I do it?  Well, there’s the rub…something else He is revealing to me is that I can’t change in my own power.  As Paul says, “I have discovered this principle of life – that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.” (Romans 7:21, NLT)  As hard as I may try this is largely a transformation of the heart, not the mind.  In the end, I realize I can only be obedient by placing all of this before Him in prayer.

As I said in the beginning these are not normal times, and during this period it’s hard to see where God is working.  But, perhaps we need to shift our focus.  I heard a line from a pastor recently that really impressed me: “God is revealed in the conflicted moments, not just in the resolution.”  We find ourselves living in many conflicted moments.  What is being revealed there for you?

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One in the Spirit

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By Jeff Foerster

Cross, Jesus, Christ, Sky, Faith, Jesus Christ

In the beginning, the Deceiver had a plan.  His target was God, but his mark was man.

God created the world.  God created Adam and Eve; in His own image He created them.  Satan’s fall from heaven landed him upon the back of man.  His hatred for God gave him fuel for the fire he unleashed upon mankind.  His attack upon image-bearing humanity is ultimately an attack upon God himself.  Adam and Eve were a means to an end.

The Accuser began by offering and fostering doubt.  He sowed seeds of distrust of God in the hearts of Adam and Eve.  He distracted them, exploiting their vulnerability and shifting their focus from God.

Doubt led to distraction, distraction led to division.  Once fellowship with the Almighty was broken God’s beloved image-bearers followed not the lead of their faithful Creator and Father, but of the one who came to kill and destroy.  The man blamed the woman (and by extension, God) and the woman blamed the serpent.  Fingers were pointed and blame was placed. They chose division over unity.  They chose accusation over responsibility.

Of course they did.  They were deceived, they were distracted, and they lost focus.  We are not so dissimilar from our original ancestors.  We have a tendency to wander from our Creator, become distracted, and seek to place blame.  The result of this will always be division.

Yet hope remains!  The finished work of Jesus Christ has delivered us from bondage to doubt, distraction, and division.

If we experience doubt, distraction, or division, know that these are tactics of the evil one.  And he has been defeated by the blood of the Lamb, our Savior, Jesus Christ!  We need not give in to these difficulties but recognize them for what they are and work to preserve the unity of all believers by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” –Galatians 3:27-28

Unity comes by prayer, it comes by seeking the good of others, and it comes by grounding ourselves in the love of our Father, and dependence upon Him in all things and at all times.  To do so is to live a life perpetually fixing our focus upon Jesus, our one true Hope!

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