Dale Cresap's blog

Are you ever mean to other people? Do you find that you are more prone to do this after people have been mean to you? One rude act seems to set the stage for another. It would be bad enough if it was only a matter of escalation, directed back at the person who was mean to you, but it can spread in a non-specific way to those who were not party to the original offense. It may go against your first impulse, but my commandment to love your enemies and do good to those who hate you and despitefully use you will break the escalating cycle of mean offenses.

Have you read in my word that Abraham believed God and he was righteous? That isn’t exactly what it says. It says that Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him as righteousness. You may recall the story of Abraham and Sarah and Pharaoh. It was not an act of moral courage for Abraham to pass off his wife as his sister to save himself. Yet I accepted him on the basis of his belief and so began  the concept of imputed righteousness by faith which is a strong theme throughout the Bible.

What is your attitude toward the poor? Do you judge them and blame them for their state of poverty? What about the rich? Do you resent them for their wealth or try to curry favor with them? All of these attitudes are wrong. The poor have special standing in the Kingdom for being rich in faith. And even if there are not many in the Kingdom who are noble or wealthy by the standards of this world you should not single them out for special favor or contempt.

Do you know any believers for whom good works have a bad name? You know that you are not saved by good works; that your salvation is the free gift of God by grace. Once you have this premise settled in your heart, can you accept that good works are not bad? Once you know that you are not trying to earn your salvation, can you see the value in putting forth effort to make the world a better place? In this case you are working from a position of security rather than trying to obtain it. You have some free time that you can use for any reason you choose.

Have you ever met a contrarian: someone whose first instinct is to oppose you, to find fault with whatever you do, to say no? Unfortunately these are not rare. There are some questions for which the answer is no and some for which it is yes. Which do you favor? Some people think of me this way, but they are wrong. Consider the way I am represented in the story of the prodigal son. The father says yes to some shocking and inappropriate requests and the short term results are exactly what you would expect.

Back in the day, the patriarchs and other faith founders had encounters with me. They were forever changed by these experiences and went on with a deep sense of mission and purpose to influence the course of history. On the day of Pentecost there were many who encountered me, and the Spirit added to the church daily those who were saved. Fast forward to today. Do you think that everyone in your church has had an encounter with me? Which do you think is the normal progression of events?

One of my final instructions to my followers was to do and teach all that I commanded them. What did this consist of? My followers were familiar with the law, and I said that the law would not pass away until it was fulfilled, but my message was different from the religious establishment that opposed me, for whom the law was a beginning and an end. The law was a complex and detailed, and a heavy burden to carry. My commandments were few and simple. What did I teach my followers beyond loving God and loving their neighbor, broadly defined? Do and teach this, and it will be enough.

How high do you set the bar for those you would minister to? Consider my own example. Did I ever ask anyone to recite the Ten Commandments before I would heal them? What did I ask? I typically only asked if they wanted to be healed. Even I wasn’t going to force blessings on them against their will. Other than that I required no payment or knowledge or commitment. In other words I set the bar really low. I have commissioned you to go forth and do the same things that I did, and given you the power to do these things in my name. in doing this you should follow my example.

Are you eager to cause your enemies pain? What about heaping coals of fire on their heads? That sounds very painful, but the Bible says you should do it. Yet this passage is not written in the context of aggressive torment, but rather of conviction by your example. Treating your enemies better than they would expect from you should activate their conscience. So don’t be surprised if your acts of love towards those who oppose you makes them uncomfortable. Is this a loving way to treat your enemies?

Do you think more offense is given or taken? This question can only be answered if there is an objective standard for what is offensive. An offense requires two parties, just like a transaction requires a buyer and a seller, and in this case neither side can claim to be loving and gracious. You are warned against giving offense in that it is better to be cast into the sea tied to a millstone than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. But if you would be truly gracious, then you can learn to overlook personal slights and offenses and not be offended by them.