Dale Cresap's blog

Do you hold contempt for other faiths? You accept the truth claims of your own faith and reject those of others, but you can do this in a gracious and loving way. Contempt like bitterness is a characteristic of the one expressing it, not of its intended target. Consider my own example. I was Jewish, but I lived in a culture in which many faiths were practiced. On rare occasions I would affirm the claims of my own faith relative to others, but did I ever hold them in contempt? I invite you to follow my example.

Do you go to a church with a printed order of worship? Some churches use these, and others do not, but in nearly every case there is an agenda planned in advance by someone whether it is printed or not. Have you ever seen a printed service bulletin with an entry that says, at this point in the service the Holy Spirit takes over and we don’t know what will happen after that. Have you ever been in a service where this happened? Even if you can’t arrange this in advance you should consider it to be desirable and be prepared to abandon your planned sequence order when it occurs.

Do you know the difference between wishing and hoping? Hope looks forward and is based on the expectation of fulfillment. Wishing is an expression of preference that can be disconnected from reality. You may wish that things had been different in the past, but you have no hope for that. Wishful thinking has a negative connotation, but being hopeful does not. You may note that hope is a Biblical concept while wishing is not. You don’t know what the future holds, but you can have hope for the future since you know the one who holds the future, and this isn’t just wishful thinking.

When you have a dispute with your brother, or with anyone for that matter, how do you address it with him? My word tells you to go to your brother directly (rather than to everyone else). This is a good start. What then? Do you lead with your strong points and point out the errors in his ways? You would do better to acknowledge your opponents strong points and the weaknesses in your own positions. Why is this? Your opponent already knows these things, and this is his position.

In the world of commerce, those with whom you do business can be thought of as customers or clients. Do you know the difference? The term customer implies that a transaction takes place and nothing more. To view someone as a client implies that you are caring for their interests. Customers should be treated with courtesy, but being a client implies a higher level of involvement. Which type of treatment do you prefer for yourself? This principle can be applied beyond the world of commercial transactions. You can treat every person you meet as a client rather than a customer.

Do you see people who are recognized as spiritual leaders for whom you have no admiration, and others that you do admire? Do you have a spiritual leader of your own? As a citizen of a country you are under whatever system of government is in place. You may have had the chance to vote for your leaders, or not, and your candidate may have lost the election, but you live with the outcome whatever it is. There are leaders in my Kingdom as well, but the selection process is different. You are free to affiliate with the church of your choice, so in that sense you get to select your leader.

Faith and doctrine are central features of your faith. Do you think of faith only in terms of doctrine? Do you think you must have everything correctly understood before your faith has meaning? Do you recall the story of the Centurion with the sick servant? I commended him for having greater faith than I had found in Israel. Consider the magnitude of this statement. What did he believe? Would you expect a Roman to have faith according to correct doctrine? Yet I still commended him. Exercise faith according to what you understand and I will lead you into all truth.

Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘tell someone who cares?’ Have you ever said it? This is a harsh statement and is thought more than it is spoken. Have you ever heard someone tell you about something in their life that you didn’t really care about but expressed the courtesy of listening? Everyone has a story and everyone needs to be heard. This is therapeutic and an expression of human compassion. When was the last time someone really listened to you? You can pay it forward. Give the gift of your attention to someone who is lonely and isolated. Be the one who cares.

When you see someone with a disability, do you give them an extra measure of grace and consideration? Some disabilities are obvious, such as those that limit mobility. What about others? Who do you know that isn’t fighting a battle of some sort, to overcome inherent limitations or unfavorable circumstances? Do you make an issue of whether they made bad choices that led to their current condition? It isn’t necessary to be so judgmental. When you see someone in a wheelchair, do you ask if they were at fault in the accident that led to this? In like manner you can give grace to everyone.

Have you ever heard of fighting fire with fire? Wouldn’t it make more sense to use water? Are you grieved at the hatred and anger that you see in the world around you? Do you want to do something about it? Yet have you seen people attempt to oppose hatred and anger with hatred and anger? Doesn’t this just serve to escalate the supply of these things? Doesn’t it make more sense to become the opposite of what you oppose? In that case you should become more loving to oppose hatred and anger. I wouldn’t have told you to overcome evil with good if it wasn’t the best way.