Summer Faith

 

Summer Faith Exercise

June 2023

 

            As it warms up, more and more people are getting outside. Hiking, jogging, bike-riding, golfing; the summer months encourage activity and exercise. I propose that in addition to working out your body for strength, endurance, and health, you exercise your spirit so you’ll grow as a disciple.

            There numerous spiritual disciplines and areas of focus one can practice to bolster one’s commitment to Christ. For the summer of 2023, I propose faith-life integration.

            Identify one area of your life; your golf game; your tv watching; your job; doing chores around the house; going out with friends; it can be any area of life that takes several hours in the week and that you regularly practice. I suggest picking just one.

            Once you’ve selected it, then do an assessment. What role, if any, does your walk with Christ play in that area of your life. Let’s say you select your job and you work as loan officer at a bank. How is faith a part of your work. Does following Christ cause you to work with greater precision, more compassion toward your clients, and more empathy toward coworkers? Or, once you arrive at your desk, is faith on the backburner until you get home? Or until the next Sunday when you come to church? Do an honest assessment.

            Then, make a plan. Identify ways you can remember your baptism in your work. Maybe week one, you commit to saying a 30-second silent prayer as you sit at your desk. In week two, you continue with the 30-second starter prayer and add to it a commitment to show greater care toward a specific co-worker. In week three, continuing with the commitments of the first two weeks, you add in a silent, 30-second prayer for each customer, as they leave your office after the transaction is completed.

            Each week, you add a small commitment that helps you remember the Jesus you follow even in a secular environment: your workplace. Note, this is not a call for ostentatious displays of personal piety. You won’t call attention to your faith exercise. You won’t tell anyone about it. You’ll just keep finding new ways to live as a disciple of Jesus within the world of your profession whether it is banking, medicine, or waiting tables.

            Each week, make notes. What differences do you see in yourself as a result of this focus? What differences do others comment upon as they interact with you? At the end of the summer, again, assess the place faith has in your work life. Compare your end of summer assessment with the one you did at the beginning.

            I hope everyone who reads this will take up the challenge and incorporate faith into some area of your life. If you want to check in with me, I’m happy to talk with you and pray with you as you seek to grow as a disciple of Jesus. This is your 2023 summer faith challenge.

Pursue Joy

 

 

            In the novel Don’t Cry for Me, Isaac’s dying father, Jacob, writes to his son. In telling his life story, Jacob remembers when his grandmother died. His grandfather, somber and seemingly angry, did not shed a tear at the funeral. He did, however, dourly warn the gathered mourners that judgment was coming and they’d best be ready. A hard life rendered the man dour, somber, and very angry. I don’t blame the character, though I want to jump into the story and tell him that faith in the Lord Jesus is more than soberly preparing for judgment.

            Paul writes, “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness” (Galatians 5:22). Joy! ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ refers to what God produces in the life of someone full of God’s Spirit. We don’t work on being loving or joyful so much as we get to know God better. We work on aligning our lives with God’s ways and God’s purposes. We develop our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Then the Spirit produces fruit – love, joy, and the rest. The Holy Spirit produces these things in our lives.

            That said, I think a way to get to know the Spirit is to pursue joy. This fits at any time of year: Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, a chilly, cloudy, gray Tuesday in February. However, focusing on joy is especially apropos in May. Summer is right around the corner. More people will be outside, soaking up the sun. Many go on vacation in the warmer months. Fun moves from being a pleasant, unexpected outcome to the purpose of the planned activity.

            It’s the fullness of time for going deep into God’s heart in pursuit of joy. This happens in a thousand ways, in as many places as you can imagine; sharing coffee with a friend in a café; a morning walk in the woods; lingering as you admire a sunset; writing poetry; leaning into the positive feelings certain colors produce in you; having your breath taken away as you take in the view from a mountain top; meeting fellow Christ-followers from another part of the world; feeling God’s pleasure as you spend time praying for someone you love; the list could go on.

            It’s hard to imagine the joyless faith Jacob displayed as something connected to a God whose Holy Spirit is manifested in joy in the lives of believers. We realize how God carries us through life as we get to know God better. We get to know God better as we walk in and feel the joy God pours into us to overflowing.

            Yes, the Bible mentions judgment often. The word rejoice comes up a lot too. As summer blossoms, my Christian friend, pursue joy. You will feel God’s arms wrapped around you and the warmth of God’s smile with the happiness that come to your life. And, you’ll be ready for the judgment Jacob feared, whenever it comes.