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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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Compassionate Fatherhood

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By Bill Naron

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” – Psalm 103:13 (ESV)

Fatherhood is rough; parenting in general is rough. Children try our patience, they test our resolve, and they melt our hearts. We can go from disciplining or chastening a child to laughing and playing in a mere matter of hours. Often, we hear the expression, “Life is a roller coaster.” However, with children it is a roller coaster that twists, has turns, goes upside down, and travels at the speed of sound. Needless to say, being a dad is a tough task.

In Psalm 103:13, David compares the compassion that God shows to those who fear Him with that of a father toward his children. I was struck by this statement! How often do I show compassion to my children? Does my compassion look like God’s? Who am I reflecting? So many thoughts came rushing to the forefront of my mind. As a father who follows Jesus, I always make it my goal to show my children the way that God has changed my heart. It is my desire that I would give my children a small picture of my heavenly Father’s heart.

Earlier in this same Psalm, in verses 8-10, David lists attributes that signal the Lord’s compassion. He is merciful and gracious, is slow to anger, does not keep that anger forever, and does not repay our iniquities. In this Psalm, we see the example of how God shows His compassion to those who fear Him. This is what God’s compassion looks like. He sent his Son to pay our debt, to live perfectly the way that we never were able to live, and to make a way for us to become His children. All this was done for us when we were at our lowest point (Romans 5:8).

In the midst of COVID-19 and the usual busyness that comes with life in general, it is easy for me to lose sight of the important things. I can become so wrapped up in the things that I have going on that I neglect to consider the ways that I am engaging with my children. David tells us that God is full of mercy and grace and that He is slow to anger. However, many times I am quick to anger and lack much mercy and grace. In other words, there are times that I am a horrible reflection of the Lord to my children and wife. 

I think that one of the greatest responsibilities that is bestowed upon men is spiritual leadership. We are called to love our wives the way that Christ loves His church (Eph. 5:25), and we are to raise our children to serve the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Our job is to reflect our heavenly Father to our families. Leading our families, serving them like Christ, and showing them the same compassion that the Lord shows us—this is our greatest responsibility.

My challenge to you this week is to join me in starting fresh! Apologize, pray, seek forgiveness, and start doing fatherhood differently. Show your children, your wife, and the world around you compassion. Spend time in the Word with your Father in heaven. Spend time in the Word as a family. Ask questions about what your children and wife need physically, emotionally, and spiritually. By doing these things, we can reflect Jesus to our families and the world around us. 

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Seeking God in the Face of Adversity

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By Bill Naron

Each of us can no doubt remember a time before the COVID-19 pandemic. A time when there was no government shutdown and when churches gathered physically. In the face of our struggle against this disease, many aspects of our lives have changed. For many, the stay-at-home order and the resulting inability to gather with the ones we love is difficult. In some ways, this is a type of suffering that is not “normal” for us as Americans.

This hardship we are experiencing has disrupted our usual way of life. We are not able to go and to do the things that we would typically do. We are not able to gather with our friends and family. We are not able to corporately worship, as a body of believers, in the way we are accustomed to gathering. A suffering of this nature is not something that we, as Americans, have much experience with.

A week ago, as I was perusing YouTube, I came across a video by Francis Chan entitled “Message to the Hong Kong Church.” He read from the Psalms, specifically 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” When I heard these words, I stopped cold. It resonated with me and was like a breath of fresh air.

“Be still and know that I am God.” What a powerful statement that is and what a great reminder of Who is in control. I know that there are many different opinions about the things that are happening and how Christians should engage. As I heard these words, they reminded me of Daniel. In Daniel chapter 6, the other high officials who served King Darius deceived him into signing a law that no one could pray to any god but him for 30 days. But God’s faithful servant Daniel did what he always did – the right thing. He defied the order and continued to pray to God

Right now, as we face this hardship together as a body and as we mindfully navigate these perilous times, there are three things we should not neglect to practice. First, we need to “be still” and know that God is on His throne. Second, we need to pray for our leaders at Elim and in the Church throughout the world, and for governmental authorities. And third and finally, we need to follow the example of the prophet Daniel, who made trusting, following and pleasing God the top priority in his life, regardless of the personal cost.

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Chasing after God with Ambition

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By Bill Naron  

This last Sunday, Pastor Steve preached on the topic of ambition from the book of Joshua. This was a great sermon, and if you have not had a chance to check it out, then click here. In Joshua 14:10, Caleb makes the statement that the Lord had kept him alive for the last 45 years. Then in verse 11, he makes the following statement: “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.”

Upon reflection, I see the boldness of this statement from Caleb. At this point Caleb is 85, and when Moses sent him out, he was 40. In my limited understanding of things, I assume that Caleb is talking about physical strength. As we read through the battles that Caleb fought following this statement, physical strength is part of it. However, I do not think that is the whole picture. He was a God-fearing man and desired to see the will of God accomplished.

In addition to the physical aspect, there is a spiritual aspect to this statement as well. Caleb and this story were not just included in the pages of God’s Word for nothing. The benefit for us as believers today is to see a man of God ambitiously chase the will of God. Caleb saw what God had promised him, and he knew what God wanted to do for the children of Israel. Therefore, he was ready and determined to chase after that promise.

There is a poem by C. T. Studd that I absolutely love, called “Only One Life.” Every stanza of this poem ends with this phrase: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past / Only what’s done for Christ will last.” When I was listening to Pastor Steve talk about having godly ambition the same as Caleb, I thought of this poem. It made me think about the ambition that I have in my own life. I ask myself whether the things that I ambitiously chase are for myself or God.

The strength required to accomplish the purposes of God is spiritual. Caleb lived his life ambitiously chasing after the promises and purposes of God. Ultimately, the things that are done for Christ are the only lasting things that matter. All of us must find ways to cultivate spiritual growth in our lives through consistent time with Jesus. This will help ensure that we have the spiritual strength to be people of godly ambition.

Caleb’s story is included in Joshua for us to learn what it means to have godly ambition. So my challenge to Elim, and what I myself am processing through, is to ask, “Do I have godly ambition? What is my household doing to fulfill the purpose of God? What is Elim doing to fulfill the purpose of God?”

Elim is in a time of transition, and as a church it is important that every individual, every family, and the congregation as a whole wrestle with these thoughts. We are wrestling through what vision of ministry the Lord would have for Elim in the Transition Team. However, this is not something that can only happen at the Transition Team meetings, but this is a conversation that includes everyone. It is my prayer that Elim would find a leader with godly ambition and that we would be a body of ambitious believers who strive to see the purposes of God accomplished.

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Is Jesus Your Reason for the Season?

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By Bill Naron

Christmas approaching is another reminder that another year is ending. The Christmas season is a great time of year for reorienting our lives around the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, with only weeks left in the year, I find myself reflecting on the greatest point of growth in our family. One of the things that has tremendously blessed our family is the practice of family discipleship.

In the Scriptures in Deuteronomy 6:7, we are given the command to teach the words and statutes of God diligently to our children. In Ephesians 6:4, fathers are encouraged to not provoke their children to wrath, but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It was through these Scriptures that I realized I needed to more diligently pursue the discipling of my family. As my wife and I have tried to incorporate consistent and purposeful discipleship in the house, we have learned a few valuable lessons.

The first lesson that I have learned when it comes to family discipleship is that it looks different from family to family. This point may not seem so profound, but it has been huge for me. I spent countless numbers of hours online trying to figure out what a strong and successful family discipleship program looks like. I found some resources of liturgical readings, some great hymnal resources for families, and even found some blog posts that were filled with suggestions of how to successfully disciple your family. All of these resources are helpful, but what I have come to realize is that how you disciple is not nearly as important as what you teach.

In a lot of ways, we can become so stuck on making sure that we do something the right way that we miss the point entirely. The Scriptures do not call us to disciple our children in a specific way; rather, the concern is that we teach them the words of God. The goal of family discipleship is that Jesus would be at the center of everything we do. Discipleship takes people and helps them shape their lives around the gospel.

The second lesson that has been extremely valuable to me and my wife is learning to have grace for ourselves when Bible time is inconsistent. None of us are Jesus, and we are not going to hit the mark every single time. It is important that as one attempts to disciple their family that they extend themselves grace. The important thing is to make sure that Jesus is at the center of everything. I know from personal experience that when we attempt to consistently get into the Word as a family, it gets messy. This is because so many things are pulling for our attention.

This brings me to the third lesson that I have learned. In our pursuit of family discipleship, we have learned that we have to intentionally place priority on discipleship. Within the average household, each family member is splitting his or her time several different ways. For this reason, it is important that we set time aside and make sure that it is distraction-free. We typically schedule ours for nighttime, because this is what works best with the rhythm of our house. But this is not the only time it takes place. For instance, our family works through a biblical-character calendar. This allows us to take the character qualities we are learning about and identify real-life applications during our days and weeks.

This is a topic that I have become truly passionate about. I desire to see family discipleship become an integral part of the Church in America. I believe that the call in Deuteronomy 6:7 and the call of Ephesians 6:4 are easy to overlook. However, this is a huge responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of parents. Since we have started doing family discipleship more intentionally, our family has been tremendously blessed. We get to see our children grow in the way that they process spiritual things, and as we learn and teach them, we grow as well.

In closing, I want to leave you, the reader, with some encouragement this holiday season. My encouragement is to take the time you are given this season and commit now to a more diligent approach to family discipleship. I encourage you to figure out how your family discipleship will look. Try different approaches; you will never know how it will work until you try. Remember that it will be messy and inconsistent. It is a growth process for every family, so do not get discouraged. Above all, my encouragement to you, the reader, is to examine what is at the center of your family in an honest way. Ask yourself if your top priority is Jesus and how He shapes your family’s decisions.

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What’s in Your Backpack?

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By Bill Naron         

A couple of months ago, in a desire to allow our home to be more efficient, my wife and I began the process of purging. We chose to start with the children’s rooms. The reason for starting there was simple: they had too many toys! Our children had this interesting habit of taking a backpack and stuffing it full of toys. Then they would just walk around with it while playing whatever game they were playing. We were both so confused by this behavior and tried to reason out why they did this. The conclusion that we finally came to was that the children had too many toys.

            Proverbs 27:20 says, “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.” By our own human nature, we desire to gain more and to have more. Like the proverb says, our eyes are never satisfied.

            As I have pondered the words of this Scripture and as I reflect on the words of Pastor Steve, I ask myself, Are my eyes satisfied? Am I content with the things that the Lord has given to me? Am I content with where God has placed me?

Our contentment is not just being satisfied with the physical items we possess. Our contentment is also a matter of being satisfied with where God has placed us. No matter who you are, God has given you defined life roles. Whether we are fathers or mothers, or teachers, or husbands, or wives, or students, it is important for us to identify the roles that God has given us and understand them.

The word content is defined as “being in a state of peaceful happiness.” Are you in a state of peaceful happiness? Is your backpack light or heavy? The Apostle Paul says in Timothy, “But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” Paul lets us in on the secret: the only thing that matters is seeking after the Father. All the possessions we can gain mean nothing, because we cannot take them with us.

It is often stated that we should not be like the world and chase after material objects. In fact, in Romans, Paul tells us not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We pray that God would guard our minds and our hearts. But have we ever thought of guarding our time and efforts?

How we prioritize our lives and how we fill our time give such a picture of what matters the most to us. This is why it is so vital to understand what the roles that God has given us are. Otherwise, we become like children whose backpacks are full of stuff. Filling our backpacks with commitment after commitment, we walk around or run around so busy, yet we do not seem to see the results that we thought we would. The stuff in our backpacks is taking up space and is hindering us from doing the things God has called us to do.

            I would challenge you to sit down and list out the roles that God has placed you in. Guard your time, and guard your efforts. Use your calendar and time to help enable your family and yourself to flourish. May your joy be full and may you be at peace with the time and season that God has you in.

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