The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 12 January 2015 "The half-truth: life and faith take effort"

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 12 January 2015 "The half-truth: life and faith take effort"
Daily Scripture: Philippians 2: Lights in the World
12 My dear friends, you always obeyed when I was with you. Now that I am away, you should obey even more. So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved. 13 God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing.
Reflection Questions:
The half-truth of “God helps those who help themselves” is that our willingness to put forth effort is a key part of almost any growth or progress in our lives. It is, however, quite wrong to suggest that God only acts in response to our effort. In fact, even as he urged the Philippian Christians to “carry out your own salvation,” Paul reminded them that “God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes” (verse 13).
• Scholar William Barclay wrote, “The word he uses for [carry out] is katergazesthai, which always has the idea of bringing to completion. It is as if Paul says: ‘Don’t stop halfway; go on until the work of salvation is fully wrought out in you.’” In what parts of your life can you sense that the work of salvation may still be somewhat incomplete? How can you seriously open yourself to God’s power to complete that work in your life?
• Barclay noted that verse 13 twice used the Greek verb energein to talk about what God does for us, before we ever do anything for God. (You recognize the root of our word “energy.”) Do you find it a challenge to believe that God has given you the spiritual energy to accept salvation and live out God’s purposes? In what ways have you sensed God drawing you to a new way of life, and energizing you for that life?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for seeking to save me before I ever knew I needed saving. Keep energizing me as I give my best effort to live into the worthwhile way of life you offer me. Amen.

Insight from Melanie Hill

Melanie Hill is the Guest Connections Program Director at Resurrection.

I grew up in a house full of athletes. My dad was a great athlete in his youth and a fantastic coach as an adult, often coaching my teams as I grew up. My mom was a wonderful cheerleader; not the kind that wear short skirts, but the kind that offer meaningful encouragement after a hard loss. With four kids and 12 sports between them, we were always hopping from one event to the next. My dad was a pretty competitive guy and always pushing us to do our best and then make it better. In his attempts to motivate us to work harder he was fond of throwing out many half-truths that you find in sports:

“Walk it off” (Are you sure my ankle should be that size and color?)
“It’s mind over matter”  (No matter how many times I tell myself I can slam dunk a basketball, it isn’t going to happen)
“Pain is only temporary but victory is forever” (Tell that to my knees and the lack of cartilage)
“The best athletes in the world are those who are willing to push harder than anyone else, and go through more pain than anyone else.” (At the end of the day some people are just more talented)

My dad always meant well. Don’t get the wrong impression. He wasn’t one of those crazy parents who yells and screams at his kids to get it right (for the most part). He was trying to inspire us to work harder and get better. And I guess it paid off when all four of us earned Division 1 athletic scholarships. Throughout my years in youth sports, high school and later college sports, I heard all kinds of half-truths related to motivating athletes to push harder. In the end they turned out to be fairly harmless. The same can’t be said about some of the half-truths we tell ourselves about our faith and God.

Today’s GPS looks at the half-truth of “life and faith take effort.” On the surface it seems true. Developing our faith does takes effort. We have to choose to be in fellowship with other Christ followers. We have to choose to make studying the Bible a priority and set aside time for meeting with our small group. All of these things take effort and a sacrifice of time. I think the half-truth (and the danger) comes when we only focus on the effort. In western culture, especially in America, we are fond of rooting for the hard worker. We pick ourselves up by our bootstraps and keep going! We celebrate the overachiever to the point that we are a nation of stressed out, under vacationed, workaholics. The idea that my faith takes effort (because on some level I believe I have to earn it) is easy to believe. It also means that I’m in control and we really like to be in control. This belief leaves no room for Grace.

Grace says you can’t earn it, but I give it to you anyway. One of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning says it this way in his book Ragamuffin Gospel: “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” Grace is a gift. One that we can never do enough to earn or deserve, period. God accepts us as we are, where we are. Perhaps one of the things I love most about Jesus is that his dream for me doesn’t leave me there. His dream for me has me walking with him daily in prayer, study, worship and serving.

So does our faith take effort? If we want it to grow deeper, then yes. While I will continue to make worship on the weekends a priority, to find time to study my Bible, to meet with my small group, to set aside time for conversation with God, and to serve those who are in need I will also rejoice in the love of a God who gives grace and gives it in abundance. Praise be to God that I don’t have to earn it. And for those times when I fall short, well, I’ll just walk those off.

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