Burning Questions: What do I do when my kids break my heart?

Main Teaching Point:   Model and teach our kids what it means to choose the Holy and the clean in our pursuit of God.

Scripture Passage:  Leviticus 10:1-11
Secondary Scripture:   Leviticus 11:1, Leviticus 8-9

I come from a long line of disappointing children.  My brothers and I did the typical stupid things kids do and then we invented a few new ones.  My dad and mom did.  Their parents did.  It extends back.  However there is no parent immune to the disappointments that stem from their children making poor decisions.  Sometimes the consequences of those decisions are not so bad.  Sometimes they are tragic and heartbreaking.

I had a friend who called me once and related to me about how his 18 year old son, who had just been voted the homecoming king, was sent home from the homecoming dance because he showed up drunk.  My friend was crushed and didn't know what to do.  He had just realized that he was another in the brotherhood of kids who disappoint their parents.  We will all either be there or cause someone to be there.  And the Bible is full of those folks too.  Aaron is who we are looking at in the scripture above.

Moses was the leader of the people of Israel.  But Aaron was the high priest and his sons were priests.  It was their duty to be consecrated and then lead the people into God's presence.  That meant offering sacrifices for the people and also teaching them the statutes God was laying out for them to live by.  

Aaron and his sons knew the intricate and very specific restrictions that the Lord had laid out for the priests to follow when preparing to offer sacrifices.  Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took this restrictions lightly and offered up something that was not obedient to God's command.  Immediately after they offered their unauthorized sacrifice, God acted.  He took their lives.  It would be a very public and painful experience for Aaron, Moses and the people of Israel.  

However through all of this, we learn so much as parents.  We learn that it is going to happen.  Our kids will make mistakes, regardless of our best effort to communicate clear instruction of God's plans.  How do I know this?  Because I make mistakes and they are bound together with my DNA.  How do we deal with this when it happens?  How do we cope with that reality?  Aaron is a perfect example for us.

Aaron was disappointed.  Obviously.  Although the Bible never mentions it directly, he had to at least be disappointed that his own children took God so lightly and valued their  lives so little that they would offend Yahweh so deeply.  We will be disappointed.  It will happen.

Aaron was embarrassed.  It was a very public thing that happened.  It wasn't something Aaron could hide away and deal with behind closed doors. In fact Aaron couldn't directly deal with it because he had to perform his duties as the priest.  But his sons' remains were carried out for all to see in front of all of the people of Israel.  The family would mourn.  The people would mourn.  But everyone would see it.

Aaron was hurt and broken hearted.  He lost two of his sons. What parent copes with that and processes it immediately?  It does not happen.  My dad passed away ten years ago.  My grandma, his mother, was actually still alive when he passed.  Even at 90 years old, the loss of her own son was just overbearing.  I remember seeing her break down and I remember her saying that no parent should every have to outlive their children.  Aaron was crushed.  How can one not be?  Even David was crushed and broken after Absalom died.  Our children will break our hearts.  They will hurt us deeply.  Either from something they say, something they do or an attitude they develop.  Or they will make a decision which could have tragic consequences.  And we will be left to take care of the family and our own obligations and responsibilities.

Aaron was silent.  The Bible says he held his peace.  He knew his kids messed up.  God himself spoke to Aaron and made it clear.  The priests were not to take that responsibility lightly.  Aaron never tried to defend or justify what they did.  It was an awful mistake.  And he stood there in silence.  He didn't feel the need to speak on behalf of his sons.  He had no defense.  We would do good to remember this example.  We aren't always supposed to defend our children.  Sometimes we need to let their actions speak for themselves.  That doesn't mean we don't deal with ourselves and our children and families.  But we don't go argue with the coach or the teacher or the principle about why our child is misunderstood.

Aaron was obedient to correction.  Moses and God both made it clear to him.  He had some course correction to cover.  Aaron had specific steps from Moses to follow.  And then he had some heart issues to deal with God about.  God tells Aaron to choose between the holy and the common.  Interesting that the opposite of holy isn't unholy, like clean and unclean.  No the opposite of what is holy is not unholy.  The opposite of holy is common.  It is being like everyone else.  And God tells Aaron to make that distinction and choose between the two.  Obviously God wants Aaron to choose what is holy.  It is important because God has some very specific things for Aaron to do.  And he needs Aaron to be able to teach his commands with integrity.  Aaron cannot teach the commands of the Lord without consistency and integrity.  How can the man who fashioned a golden idol for the people to dance in front of come to them now leading them in worship?  Only by choosing what is holy in his life. 

Our kids mistakes are their decisions to be sure.  But the first correction that needs to happen when my kids mess up is with me.  My heart and my actions and motives.  More than likely my kids will learn it from me.  Where could Aaron's sons have come up with taking God lightly?  Perhaps when their father fashioned a god out of gold for the people to worship like pagans.



Aaron had two other sons.  Keep our children’s mistakes in perspective.  If I get too off kilter over one child's mistakes (or successes for that matter) it can communicate to my other child(ren) that I value that one more.  I don't want my kids trying to get my attention from something they feel like they need to do.  They should have my attention because I am their father.  Aaron was forced to keep perspective.  He had other children who needed direction and support during this time of loss. 

Now there is a benefit to choosing the holy path of dealing with my children and their disappointments.  I can then live a life of integrity, consistent with God's word.  Another great perk is getting to hear God speaking directly to you!  Aaron had always heard God via Moses.  God would speak to Moses.  Moses would speak to the rest of them.  Until this situation.  God speaks a rebuke directly to a suffering father, Aaron.  And Aaron deals with it and embraces it and leans into the teaching.  And then beginning in Leviticus 11:1 we see God speak to Moses AND Aaron.  Now God is speaking directly, powerfully to Aaron.  He doesn't need a go between any more.  When I choose what is holy over what is common, God is then allowed access directly to me - He cannot abide the presence of sin.  How much easier would it be for me to lead my children when God is speaking directly to me?

Obviously being a parent is difficult.  Our kids will make mistakes.  How I respond to them and seek God in the process is what matters.  Do I just punish my kids or do I seek personal correction and direction before I go in and provide it for my children?  I would do good to follow Aaron's example found in Leviticus 10 and 11 in dealing with the disappointments caused by my children.

Burning Questions: What does the Bible say about bigotry/intolerance?

Main Teaching Point:   Jesus Christ taught He was the truth, the way and the life AND HE was the ONLY way to God.  Any and everyone who would call out to him and believe in him would be saved.

Scripture Passage:  John 14:1-7 

Secondary Scripture:   John 3:16, Romans  1:16, Luke 10:29-37, John 4

We are all conditioned through how we were raised to have some sort of intolerance programmed into us – even if it is to be intolerant of the intolerant.  Despite our best efforts to be different from the generations who came before us, we cannot escape the programming of our DNA.  While I may not have the same biases and prejudices as my parents and grandparents, there are still some that exist in me.  Mine don't seem to fall between racial, gender or ethnic grounds.  But mine had a tendency to be related to religion.

However after carefully considering the example of Jesus, I realize that I have run out of excuses to justify my bigotry.  I like to use the word bigotry because it really is an ugly word.  Intolerance isn't as jarring as bigotry.  You can have a mild intolerance of milk.  You cannot be a minimal bigot.  That word cannot be softened.  That is why I like to use that word when I can when it concerns these issues.

Jesus actually taught against bigotry, intolerance etc.  It is a simple connection of two verses that reveal the heart of God.  John 14:6 said that ONLY Jesus is the way, truth and life.  And what's more, Jesus is the only way to heaven.  Nobody comes to the Father unless they come through Jesus.  So what does this teach us about the inclusiveness of Jesus and what Christianity is supposed to look like?  When you interpret John 14:6 with John 3:16 you realize that while Jesus is the only way to God and to Heaven, ANYONE can access God.  ANYONE and EVERYONE can come to Christ.  He won't turn you away.  More importantly, without Jesus I would be destined for the same place that the people I hold a bias against would go without Jesus.  If Jesus did not come, we are all destined for death and hell.  That is a great unifier.  We are all of us united in our dependance of the mercy, grace and salvation of Jesus Christ.

The selection of the 12 from the rest of the disciples was also significant – and while many had a lot in common (four fishermen, former followers of John the Baptist) the selection of two of the disciples reveals some interesting glimpses into the heart of God as well.  He chose Matthew the tax collector and one time Roman sympathizer.  Most tax collectors had turned against their own people, stealing and robbing their way into wealth and comfort.  Matthew had built his lifestyle off of the sweat and backs of his fellow Jews.  He was considered a sinner by the leadership of society because of what his chosen profession meant.  

Jesus also chose Simon the Zealot.  While the Zealot movement would really his its zenith later after Jesus had risen and ascended, there were still those who wanted The Messiah to come and be a military deliverer.  They wanted to overthrow their Roman oppressors and they wanted the Messiah to lead the way.  The fact that these two men, so diverse and so opposed to the other, could live and serve with only their connection to Jesus in common means that we can absolutely see the value and worth of those who are completely different from us.  The fact that Jesus elevated those two men into his twelve is significant.  Jesus sees past political ideology and also our flawed personal history.

Simply put, the Boldness of the Gospel can be bigger than the intolerance conditioned into me.  Look at the way Jesus treated the woman in Samaria at the well.  And remember the powerfully radical and very controversial parable of the Good Samaritan where He indicted religion and those who practice it as being unloving, non-compassionate and exclusive.  Can you imagine what the contemporary version of the Good Samaritan would be?  Could you imagine what your church's response would be if Jesus taught it this Sunday?

It doesn’t matter what/how/where people live their lives, Jesus is the ONLY access to God.  He is also the only Truth and Life.  And ANYONE can have access.

 

Jesus Christ transcends political causes, governments, and all earthly turmoil. His kingdom is eternal.  He taught above all of that.  

BURNING QUESTIONS: What Happens when Christian Friendships end?

Main Teaching Point:   God brings relationships/friendships into our lives for different reasons and different lengths of time.  Learn how to enjoy them while you are in them and appreciate what they did for you after you are through them.

Scripture Passage:  Acts 15:36-41

Secondary Scripture:  2 Tim. 4:11, Colossians 4:10, 1 Cor. 9:6

 So I checked out one of those fantastic friends quizzes online from one of those delightful teeny bopper mags.  It was a "Are You a good friend?" quiz.  It was written for teenagers and after reading through it, I assume by teenagers as well.   The grammar was atrocious and the questions were all versions of "would you do anything for all of your friends?  yes, no maybe."  I wish that superficial quiz made me feel any better about being such a lousy friend.  However, after reading through the focal passage above, I have a new set of questions, a more insightful quiz to take.

I am the first to admit that I am a lousy friend.  I don't always communicate.  I am selfish.  I am petty.  I have a big ego.  I am pretty proud of myself.  I am a jewel in the friendship crown, to be sure.  I don't have many life-long friends and the age-old friends dept is running pretty low these days too.  I don't really have arguments and end friendships.  I just sort of fade away from them.  But that doesn't mean I don't have bitter or jealous or petty feelings about people I used to be friends with.  I certainly do.  The sad thing is that most of these friends are Christians.  When I think about it, my Christian friends are actually less skilled in the arts of friendship than my poor, lost friends.  It really grieves me lately that I have disabled so much of the unity and harmony in the church by how lousy a friend I have been.

So to see Paul and Barnabas have such a strong dispute that forces them to go their separate ways encourages me.  Remember, Barnabas vouched for Paul.  He gave Paul entry into the leadership of the early church.  And they were a very effective missionary team.  But on that first big missionary journey, Barnabas's cousin John Mark bailed out early.  This never set well with Paul.  When they were putting a team together to get out for round two, Barnabas suggested his cousin get a second chance, get back in the swing of things.  Paul would have none of it as John Mark had backed out already.  So they split.  Paul and Silas went one way and Barnabas and John Mark went another.  And this very personal conflict is on display for all to see in the pages of Luke's account.  God wanted us to see this.  After reading through it, here are the questions I asked myself and my disagreements or friendship failures and fallouts.

Did my disagreement with my brother in Christ involve a dispute over Biblical doctrine?  Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement over a personal preference or choice.  Not over something crucial doctrinally.  What about me?  Do my disagreements with other believers stem from a dispute over Biblical doctrine?  Not really.  Oh sure, there are people that I disagree with as far as various interpretations of doctrine goes but I am not friends with them.  Most of the time I don't even know them.  No when I lose an actual friend, or when I grow apart from one, it is because of my own selfish nature.

Did my disagreement lead me towards or distract me from continuing to do God’s will?  Paul and Barnabas stayed focused on advancing the gospel.  They were mature in that regard.  They both saw the value each one brought to advancing the cause of Christ.  There was still love and respect.  It was just being overshadowed by a personnel decision.  And that is okay.  Because as we read later in Paul's own letters he still values and honors Barnabas and even accepts and asks for John Mark.  When I have a friend issue, I can honestly say that it distracts me from continuing to do God's will.  In fact, I will even justify my own distraction by pointing out (at least to myself) how the other person was wrong. 

Does it matter who was right and who was wrong?  Luke never says anyone was right or wrong.  It was a sad dispute but nobody ever gets to be right or wrong.  We assume Paul and Barnabas never see each other again because Barnabas exits the Acts narrative at this point.  But they surely communicated somehow because Paul is aware of Barnabas's work in the field.  Maybe letters were exchanged, updates shared via mutual friends and co-workers.  But just because we follow Paul's story doesn't mean he was right.  And if anything Paul changed his view on John Mark.  Now I have to be right, at least a little.  And you have to be wrong.  At least a little.  For some reason that matters.  If necessary, I will twist scripture out of context ever so slightly to prove I am right.  But the need to always be right causes such personal darkness and just wrecks the heart of a believer.  The selfishness just overtakes the Light.

How quickly can I get to a place where I wish them nothing but God’s best and continued success in their lives?  The darker my heart, the more "right" I am, the more justified I am in defending my position pushes me further and further from getting to where Paul ended up.  Wanting God's best and continued success for Barnabas and John Mark.  I have some friends that I am still trying to get there with them in this regard.  What a mark of Paul's maturity, to want Barnabas to be taken care of.  To want John Mark to help him because he could see the usefulness.  I have to get to a place where, despite whatever water has passed under the bridge, I want to see all of my friends, both current and former, to be blessed with  God's best success.  I am a long way off from this.  I assume we all are.

Did my love AND respect for my friend diminish after the breakup?  If so, why?  At some point, Paul remembered the value and role God has used Barnabas to play in his life.  He remembered why he allowed John Mark to begin the journey with him.  There might have been a season of, at the very least, awkward feelings but it gave way over time to love and respect.  Love can be easy, at least to give it lip service.  But respect is hard to restore to the former friends you have either slipped away from or bolted away from.  If I simply cannot restore either love or respect or both to the friend, then maybe I never had it for them in the first place.  God places people in our lives.  Some he keeps there for a lifetime.  Some he moves in and out for a season.  Regardless, I need to be able to see that this friendship is or was a blessing from God.  What can I learn from it?  Why did God have that person in my life for that time of my life?

Friends could be lifelong or they could be seasonal.  Learn to appreciate both types. See the value that God sees in it.  

Why would God display such a personal conflict so openly in the pages of scriptural history like this?  To give us hope.  To show us how to work through it.  To help us keep our heroes on the appropriate level of a pedestal.  There are any number of reasons.  I don't know exactly why God gave us this brief story of a friendship magnificently crashing to earth.  But I am glad He did because I needed to examine my own life.

How long will I accept being a lousy friend? 

Burning Questions: Do I Sort of Believe in Jesus?

Main Teaching Point:  Belief and unbelief can both co-exist at the same time.  Our original sin nature will battle with the new Spirit in us.

Secondary Teaching Point:  Win the battle for your heart and your head.

Primary Scripture:  Mark 9:14-Mark 9:14-29
Secondary Scriptures:  Romans 7:14-19 / James 4:1-10 / 2 Corinthians 10:5 / 2 Corinthians 5:17 / 1 John 1:9 / Psalms 103:12 / Philippians 4:8 / Matthew 12:34

As a child growing up in the 70's and 80's in northwest Oklahoma, I remember that cartoons were special but scarce.  We had about an hour of some of them after school (G-Force, Star Blazers, various fighting cats, metal birds and superfriends) but Saturday morning showcased the best.  For three to four hours before wrestling came on and your parents woke up completely, you could catch the Looney Tunes, Mighty Mouse, Tom and Jerry and the whole Hanna Barbera crew.  So I would get up as early as possible, suffer through either the Little Rascals or the Three Stooges (nothing like 1930s black and white live action shorts to make me appreciate the glorious cartoons of the 40s and 50s) and be in place for my favorites.

I have clear recollections of a Tom and Jerry cartoon where the animators used that age old illustration of the battle going on with Tom's interior monologue.  You remember the technique too, if not this specific cartoon.  The character's good side and bad side would literally take position on his shoulders.  An angel version of Tom in a white outfit and halo and complete with a falsetto speaking voice urged him to be nice to the mouse.  But on the other shoulder, red and complete with pitch fork and a voice that was gravelly as your late Aunt Margery's, was the devil version of Tom trying to raise up the evil nature in Tom to harm the mouse.

Despite the cartoon format, I was always intrigued by the spiritual battle depicted.  I would come to realize that these lesser demons and better angels sort of signify what happens in my life.  My sinful nature, the lesser demons, would be on constant struggle with my newness in Christ, my better angels.  And even though Tom and Jerry was a cartoon, it illustrates a point that Jesus, Paul and James all teach and speak to:  we are dual-minded and it is completely possible for belief and unbelief to coexist within a follower of Christ.

Jesus has just returned from the Transfiguration to another fight between the religious elite and the disciples, with a possessed child and desperate father caught in the middle.  The boy was being held by a vicious demon who would cause terrible convulsions, grinding of teeth and foaming at the mouth.  It would also try to throw the boy in the water or the fire in an attempt to murder him.  This father had brought the boy to the disciples to see if there was anything they could do to help.  The disciples were unable to cast out the demon which sparked all sorts of debates.  Jesus has them bring the boy to him.  As soon as the demon is in the presence of Jesus directly, the attack starts.  Jesus then brings in the father to get more information.  While Jesus is diagnosing the issues that day, the attack continues.  We find out the sad history the father is dealing with.  He asks Jesus that if there is anything Jesus can do to help, please have pity and help.  Jesus responds to the if statement and then says that all things are possible for someone who believes.  Then the father makes a fantastic statement:  "I do believe; help my unbelief."

It is fantastic because out of all the characters that get speaking parts in scripture this father might as well be me.  That sums me up pretty succinctly.  I do believe in Jesus, especially when I am in his presence.  But there are parts of me that are clouded and crowded with unbelief.  And they are there all the time, together, an odder couple than Oscar and Felix.

How can this be?  Shouldn't all Christians be free from that unbelief, that doubt?  Weren't we taught that once you gave your life over, Jesus would make everything sunshine, lollipops and rainbows?  Preachers talk about how Jesus makes everything better and life gets better and problems dissolve and peace and knowledge and seven other spiritually impressive but sometimes confusing and vague words later we start to think life with Jesus is life without issues!  And then issues return.  Problems arise.  Mostly within our own skin, in our heart.  But shouldn't we be past this?  Shouldn't all of this be solved?  I remember clearly feeling like I wasn't doing the God stuff right because I still had doubt and unbelief.  And the leaders in my church seemed to agree.  I was a failure as a follower because I couldn't free myself from sin.

But we are not alone.  We have this desperate dad.  And we have Paul.  Who comes so transparent in Romans 7 where he says that he is still doing the things he doesn't want to do and not doing the things he does want to do.  He can't seem to get this stuff down either.  And then James says in his book in chapter 4 that we have this dual nature within us that is at battle constantly.  And when two of the scriptures most effective teachers self-diagnose a problem, we need to take notice.

I learned something in a quiet time ages ago that literally freed me up from the unrealistic expectation of perfection:  who I was before Christ will always influence who I am in Christ.  Yes scripture says I am a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come.  But that seems to be more of an issue with turning on the no-vacancy sign for the Holy Spirit.  Christ is in my heart and the Spirit is in my life.  However, that sinful nature never goes away.  Because it is tightly wound into my DNA as a human being.  I was born into that disease and it will be a lifelong affliction.  There is no cure.  There is treatment.  Jesus can forgive my sin and remove the weight of the guilt and condemnation.  But sin will return.  Who I was before Christ will always influence who I am in Christ.

I still say the same bad words that I did before Christ.  I still suffer from the same character flaws that I did before Christ.  Regardless of the battle I wage, that is still there.  There is a reason the imagery Jesus used was "carry your cross daily."  It implies a hard struggle.  My selfishness will never go away.  It will always be there.  I will always love me more than anyone else.  I will have seasons where I love my wife and my kids and the least of these etc etc etc but I will always ruin those moments with some stupid, vapid, passing thought about how I would like to eat fried something or other instead of loving God and other people.

There are a lot of scriptures above that scripture provides with great plans to help your better angels win the battle waging within you against your lesser demons.  And they are that.  Your sinful nature is less powerful than the new Spirit living in you.  Never forget that.  And realize that the things that make you "you" are there for a purpose too.  If we can harness the abilities, experiences, skills and talents that are inherently making us who we really are for the cause of Christ, we can become a powerful tool and weapon in right Hands.  That old me can actually be filtered through Christ and be used to help bring more people to Christ.

There are other people who can relate to everything I have been through, every thought, every word and every action.  God can use that.  So I don't let the old me run roughshod over the New Me, but I don't just run away from it.  God knew it would be there and knows how to harness it for good.

So stop beating yourself up.  You are not going to miraculously change on this side of heaven once you have accepted Christ.  You will still deal with road rage.  Your crippling insecurity will still come to visit.  The damage done to your self worth from some family member or friend will still be there convincing you that you are worthless.  Who you were will always influence who you are.  Just use who you were to make who you are more effective for Christ.


When the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't heal the possessed boy, Jesus said that sometimes only prayer can heal.  When I really struggle with who I was before Christ, I have to get in prayer, in the presence of Jesus.  Just like in Mark 9 it will probably cause me at least discomfort, at the most some spiritual and emotional upheaval, but Jesus will heal me, hold me up and send me the right direction.  I may have to spend a little more time in prayer than i usually do but He is the one true miracle worker.  He will ultimately cure my sin when I am actually in His presence.  But until that day, he will help me treat the disease and provide fresh and refreshing victories along the way.

Burning Questions: What about the faith of my family?

Main Teaching Point:  How important is the faith of my family and what am I doing to strengthen and perpetuate it?

Secondary Teaching Point:  Don't get stuck looking at scripture the same way.  Be open to different applications possible from time to time in your life.

Primary Scripture:  Judges 11

Simple lesson tonight.  How important is the faith of my family.  Regardless of how you interpret Judges 11, Jephthah teaches us valuable lessons about the faith of our family.

Jephthah was a judge appointed to deliver the people from the Ammonites.  He came from a rough start.  His half brothers (same dad obviously in ancient Hebrew culture) ran him off because his mother was, according to scripture, a harlot.  She was probably also not a Hebrew either.  He was abandoned to fend for himself.  Back then you either depended on the mercy and handouts of the people or church or you went and took and fought for your own.  And Jephthah was a very successful and influential warrior leader who provided plenty for himself and also for the men who found their way into his company. 

Eventually he became a pretty famous warrior with an impressive reputation for taking care of business on the battlefield.  The Gileadites came back to him to ask him back as their leader, the next judge.  He locks them into an agreement to be their leader.  Then goes to prepare his soldiers and others for battle.  He also goes to see if there is a diplomatic way to end the oppression.  Jephthah reveals an understanding and education in the history of the Israelites and writings of the Torah.  After he is faced with no other choice but ending the conflict through force, he makes a vow to God.

If God will deliver the Ammonites into his hands in victory, then he will offer the first thing that leaves his home to greet him in victory over to God.  Unfortunately his only child, a daughter, is the first one out to greet him.  He is gob-smacked and his heart is broken.  He explains his grief to his daughter and she too is grieved.  But breaking the vow was never an option for them. 

We are not ever going to make such a rash vow to God.  And even if we did, I doubt we would keep it.  The reason I say that fairly confidently is that we don't keep weaker vows.  But how important is it to me to help my family keep their vows to God.  How important is it to my family to help me keep mine?

Now, you may be wondering what vows we make these days?  It is 2013 and we are not considering a monastic lifestyle.  Sure there are vows of chastity, poverty, silence and isolation.  But what "vow" do I make?  Well we make a vow in salvation.  If I trust my life to Christ, then He will save me and extend to me abundant and eternal life.  We make a vow in baptism.  If Christ will save me, then I will make that decision public through the act of baptism.  We make marital vows.  We make vows to serve.  Vows to give.  Vows to help.  Vows to lead.  Vows to minister.  We make vows.  If that word throws you, maybe it is time to work it back into your religious vocabulary.  It isn't just a commitment.  It is a vow - an arrangement or an agreement.  An if/then proposition.

Are you helping your family make and keep vows? 

Also there is a deep love between Jephthah and his daughter.  If this was a Hollywood script for a movie or tv movie (and it could be - they surely are working on a sequel to the History Channel's The Bible miniseries) then they would add a little montage showing how close the judge was to his daughter.  Regardless of the creative license you add, there is a strong love binding them together.  How strong is the love you have for your family?  Will you waver in helping them?  Is my love for my family stronger than my love for myself?

And there is a deep level of commitment, total surrender and sacrificial giving.  Jephthah has no other children and he is willing to sacrifice his future family, his lineage (crucial to the paternal head of any Hebrew family) to keep his vow.  And his daughter makes an extreme sacrifice for her father as well.  What am I willing to sacrifice for the faith of my family? 

How seriously do I and my family take the vows we make to God?
How do I show my love for my family?
What am I willing to do to help my family's faith grow?

Burning Questions: Does your Gospel need a social life?

Main Teaching Point:  the Gospel is the only hope for a dying world - that message is always more important than how it is delivered
Secondary Teaching Point: Am I completely captured by the power of the Gospel
Secondary Teaching Point: churches and believers should feel a burden to ease and end suffering

Main Scripture: Mark 6:30-44
Secondary Scripture:  all of it, basically

There are two terms we need to get down before we get started because we are framing the lesson in these terms:
1.  The message - the content
2.  The platform - the delivery system

There are a lot of ways we get our news today.  Via email, websites, podcats, facebook, twitter, newspaper, radio, television, magazines, blogs, vlogs and text message updates.  Our parents read the papers, watched the news and listened to the radio.  Our grandparents read the papers, listened to the radio and watched the newsreels at the local movie palace.  There have been a lot of platforms over the years - public discourse, smoke signals, oral tradition and face to face delivery systems.  However the message of the news has not changed much.  Oh the names have changed but over the decades we are still dealing with wars, scandal, taxes, unemployment, The Oakland Raiders and other various problems that pop up again once every few years.

In many cases the platform is more important than the message.  Not in the case of the church though.  Our message is MUCH more important than our platforms.  However, that doesn't mean the platform is not important.  Growing up in the Disciples of Christ denomination meant having a firm grasp of the different platforms or delivery systems.  There were a lot of social justice irons in the church's fire.  And I thought it was and is great.  However now I see that a crucial element was missing so often.  We were never convinced of the power of the message, the power of the Gospel.

Our friends at Dare to Share have really provided a great and complete understanding of the Gospel and have shown how the entire Bible lays it out.  And they even patched it all together with a lovely acrostic:
God created us to be with Him - Gen. 1-2
Our sins separate us from God - Gen 3
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds - Gen.4-Malachi 4
Paying the price for our sins, Jesus died and rose from the dead - Matthew-Luke
Everyone who trusts in Jesus alone has eternal life - John
Life with Christ starts now and lasts forever - Acts-Revelation

If you look at that complete outline with the GOSPEL laying it out and the scriptures in support you can see the complete picture.  And it is life changing and powerful.

In Mark 6 Jesus finds himself in the midst of an arena full of people.  An OKC Thunder game has shown up to be in his presence.  His reputation has been spreading and his disciples have just returned from a ministry project.  Many are sort of there.  Jesus has compassion on them because they were like a sheep without a shepherd.  He wasn't worried if they had eaten, had a place to sleep, had some other issue or concern or physical issue.  There was a group of people who needed the Gospel.  He taught them many things, Mark tells us.  After he was done, they feed the crowd with very limited resources.

The message was much more important than the platform.  People who focus on the platform focus on the feeding.  But Jesus was not focused on a physical feeding.  He was concerned with the spiritual condition he was facing in that crowd.  He knew the life changing power of the Gospel could change lives.

Don't let the platform become more important than the message, the content.  You all know people who are so obsessed with the platform that their lack of content is certainly not compelling.  You all know someone whose tweets and updates you skip because you don't care about the trivial usage of the platform.  Honestly, do you really care what someone is watching or eating all the time?  The platform without a compelling message is a waste of time and energy.  But if you have a powerful message, something you believe in your bones and have to share, you will utilize so many different platforms and maybe even link them all together in one cohesive push.  We do that all the time to get the word about voting, social justice issues and big events.  Why couldn't we do that with the Gospel?

I think it is because we are not completely confident in the power of the Gospel.  If we were, we would be using the oldest and still most effective platform to share that message:  face to face.

The disciples were believers and loved and followed and listened to Jesus.  And they saw Jesus do incredible things in front of them.  And then they witnessed the resurrection and suddenly the gospel became the Gospel and their lives changed.  And the delivery systems became secondary to the content being delivered.  Peter could no longer contain himself.  He didn't care if he lived or died or went to jail.  He HAD to share the Gospel.

When you and I believe in the Gospel completely, the platforms will present themselves more often.  God has already programmed you to have some passions and experiences.  He has hard-wired you to care about some sort of injustice or issue.  So find out how you can connect the platform of that issue with the message of the Gospel.  Then someone dealing with pain and hurt and lacking some basic essential of life can approach it with the hope and grace and peace that comes ONLY in the presence and person of Jesus Christ.

The message is the Gospel.  The delivery system is you and me.  How can I get the Gospel into every platform I have to share content?