The Less the Merrier

Romans

Personal Application

The book of Romans is challenging me to rethink the whole concept of grace, especially in missions. Somehow, I thought that if I did more, God would be happier with me, and therefore I would have a bigger house [I’d rather call it “mansion” or “castle”, but anyway…] in heaven. I actually have heard this in some churches… and here comes the teacher of the week and tells us [in a few words] that when we do that, we are treating God as pagan people treat their gods. In some ancient civilizations, they believed that by praying a certain way or by doing some works for the god, people could affect the will of the god in a positive way for humans! So, I think I have been doing something similar all this years! But Romans states that God’s grace is free and undeserved (11:6), and that means that we do not need to do anything to receive grace from God. We just need to be alive.

I feel as if something that I believed true my whole life is actually a little bit off, but, being the positive person that I am, I am really glad that I realized that, because now I can adjust that “glitch” and continue growing in truth. I want to take a moment to thank all the teachers that have gone through my life [good ones and bad ones alike] and have taught me something. They took time to learn that something themselves and then they took the time to teach me that something. And teachers make the world go round… because if it were not for teachers, I could not type this text and you could not be reading it! God bless all teachers of the world and give them revelation of what is true, so they can teach it to their students.

Point of Passion:

In Romans it says not to argue with other believers about what they eat… “For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.” (Romans 14:2-3) And I feel this example is really strange if it is out of context, so, here is some of my own context:

I once was in Peru and they eat Cui [I think that’s what they call it], and it is basically a big guinea pig, which in my mind is a big rat. So, in the couple of weeks I was there, people tried to make me eat it, but I would not. I always refused it politely. And somehow I managed not to eat it! I feel this is a matter that could have escalated to an argument if I would have offended them by saying that I did not eat oversized rats. And I don’t think that there is anything wrong with eating them, they’re just not for me! Like cinnamon or oatmeal! People can eat those things, even enjoy them, but I try to stay away from the things I don’t like to eat. And I try to respect those who eat them in the same well. There’s not benefit in discussing about such matters because they don’t really take us anywhere! [I’m learning more and more about this skill because it can be applied to marriage in many contexts!]

1 Corinthians

Personal Application

This book really depicts the gross part of Christianity in the sense that it shows a lot of the problems the church actually faces [even] nowadays! “Fights. Rumors. Factions. It’s all here in 1 Corinthians. Few other passages of scripture reveal the weaknesses of Christians as vividly as this book does.” (SourceView Bible p. 1474) And whoever says that is not true in our times, can just look and count the amount of denominations we have in Christianity… if we were all so sweet and loving, we would be one international mega church. But we are not, and I don’t even think it is important to think about why we are this way today, but I want to think more on how to fix it. Well, I guess it’s my lucky day because Paul addressed all these issues in his book! Let’s see… maybe the solutions are around here, hidden in the pages of 1 Corinthians:

Don’t Judge - it’s not your job: “So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.” (4:5)

Unity - be one in Christ: “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” (12:12-13)

Love - that is your job: “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” (13:1-3)

Point of Passion:

There’s only a few books left in my Bible to read… and I keep on my search for food! I want to someday go on the streets and cook for people. I want poor people and homeless fellows to experience a great, hot meal, and maybe that would be the trigger for them to desire to go back home, or start a home of their own! Now, in 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about caring for others and not judging and being a great Christian, and all of that sounds great, but then, he drops the bomb:

“If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” (13:3)

Here we have the conditional “if” of someone who gives everything [even sacrificed his/her own body] but has no love for others… then what happens? That person gained nothing. How is that possible? Here’s the formula, you give all you have + even your body - LOVE = 0 (zero). I’m no mathematician but that sounds awful! As humans, we usually want to give something to get something else in return… but here Paul is analyzing the motives of the heart. So, I’m challenged to give with a good intentions, even more so, with love!!! Here’s the catch, how can you love someone you don’t know? Someone who is dirty and smells bad? I don’t have a formula for that one, but all Paul says is that whatever you do, do it with love, or else it means nothing. So, next time I go to eat with the homeless and the poor, I need to remember that I am there to love on those folks. And that’s why I really like to eat with them. Notice that I didn’t say to “feed the homeless”, because I do not feed them, I have dinner with them. I always try to talk to them [sometimes they don’t want to talk], or I just sit silently next to them until they ask me something, which usually is “can I get more food?” I always say yes, with a smile and offer to bring it for them. You would be surprised how many of them say not to bring it to them, they are completely independent and don’t think that other people should do certain things for them.

I really enjoyed last weeks Monday dinner with them, I had a very good conversation with Shawn from South Point, Hawaii. He has been a homeless for a few years and he was telling me how he became a homeless. I asked him if it bothered him if I asked him some questions about “homelessness” and he agreed to answer my questions. I asked him why was people homeless… he gave me several reasons, but most of them involved drugs and loss of homes and families in the process. I also asked him if he missed the concept of “home”, and he said he kind of did, but he did not mind it now to sleep on the streets. I wanted to decipher how to get him out of the streets, I needed to “rescue” him. And then I realized that he was confortable where he was. He does not want to get out, or at least that’s what he said. So, it really does not matter what I do to get him out of the streets, I will fail in every scenario. So, I just aborted my mission and started to talk about the island of Hawaii and his eyes got all sparkly! I learned that he loves traveling and seeing new places… he longs for long road trips and flying to places. Just like me! I talked to him about ancient Rome and Corinth. I told him about my trip to Italy and he was drooling about it. I then realized two things, first, we share a dream: traveling! And the second things is that the same key does not open all hearts. I feel he will get out of these streets if he had the opportunity to go far, to travel, to know other places. And maybe he would just find another set of streets to sleep on, or that might be the way to get him back on his feet. I don’t know. But what I do know if that before that conversation I saw homeless people like a different race. Like a lower class. Not exactly like me. Similar to me, but just not the same. And then I noticed that we are exactly the same. I don’t own a house, I don’t have a car, I don’t even have money in my wallet, the only actual differences I can find are that I don’t do drugs, and that I know my goals in life, and those things keep me going like fuel to my soul! My faith in God keeps me up and running. And my purpose of getting people out of the streets is suddenly changing into bringing Jesus into their streets. I’m sure He can get them out of there, but now I know I can’t.

Philippians

Personal Application

The book of Philippians is like a fairy tale in the sense that it is all about joy. It seems to be like the happiest letter that Paul wrote. I really enjoyed this book, especially after all the nagging he did in all the other epistles. And I feel the one verse that sums the reasons why he is so joyful here is because he is “citizen of heaven” and he lets the believers of Philippi that they are too (Philippians 3:20)! I am trying to picture Paul singing as he was writing this letter because he is looking at the end of the race. He knows what will happen at the end. He is confident he is going to heaven, where Christ lives. And Paul knows [and longs for] that God will give us new bodies which will not die like these ones we have (3:21). And at the time Paul was sending this letter, he was old and sick. He is really hoping for a new body! The one he’s got is kind of falling apart. However, I’m sure [after reading all his epistles] that he did not work to gain these heavenly prizes, but he knows it is “collateral damage”. He is so joyful that he advises people not to worry but to enjoy God’s peace:

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (4:6-7)

Point of Passion:

Yesterday I was thinking about some people who have asked me why did I leave my good paying job and joined missions. And that was not a one step thing… in between those two events there is a year and a bit worth of time and thinking. Yet, the questions remains, and I think that for me it has never been about money. Money does not move me, I prefer to see it as a tool to achieve my goals, if it is even needed for that [sometimes it’s not needed at all]. And once again, here’s Paul answering the question that we ask, I feel this verse compresses how I feel about going from a multinational corporation job’s monthly payment to a “wondering about the next check’s amount” kind of “job”:

“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” (Philippians 4:12)

I have come to the realization that I really like my stomach to be full, but I will take a heart full of fulfillment over a full stomach any day!