Dale Cresap's blog

Do you find it easier to love people who agree with you and are kind to you, and harder to love those who are disagreeable and mean? That comes as no surprise, but then it isn’t much of a sacrifice either. There should be a distinction between those who live by faith and those who do not, and I pointed out that even sinners love those who love them, so there is no special recognition for that. I have called you to love your enemies, and do good to those who despitefully use you and persecute you.

Do you have a “graduate degree” in Christianity? Many believers take their faith seriously enough that they make a diligent study of it over a period of many years; more years than they spent in formal education. This is worthwhile and admirable. Have you noticed that academics speak to each other in terminology that the layman doesn’t understand? One risk of the increase of knowledge is that it makes your faith inaccessible to outsiders. Don’t assume that they are familiar with the terminology that you are so accustomed to.

Are you familiar with the passage that says you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? It is easy to memorize and just think of it in terms of your whole being, but you can also unpack each item. To love God with all your heart and soul addresses the passionate aspect without which love cannot exist, and these are mentioned first for a reason. Yet your mind is also involved in the full expression of love, and you can practice your faith with intellectual rigor, but there is still another part. Love is not content to be idle and passive.

Do you have a staff of servants? Most people associate this practice with the very wealthy, but even those who are only moderately affluent pay others to do farm work, drive trucks, pave roads, mount tires, and hundreds of other similar tasks. The people who do these things serve you. I demonstrated to my disciples that I was their servant, and told them to go and serve also. In doing this I inverted the social order of my time, and it would invert the social order today too. Does it seem to you that everyone serves in some way and is served in others?

When you partake of communion, what passage of scripture is most commonly used? Are you accustomed to hearing, do this in remembrance of me, or so let a man examine himself? These are valid and applicable to the situation. What about except you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man you shall have no life in you? This is just as pertinent and applicable but rarely used because it is so offensive to human sensibilities. My own disciples were offended and some of them quit following me but others remained because I had the words of life.

Do you think of marketing as a worldly means to make people buy things they don’t really need? As a means of employing deceit and subterfuge for profit? Do you think marketing has any place in church? Let us re-frame the question. Is it acceptable to present eternal truth in a way that connects with audiences you encounter? I thought so, and Paul did too. He presented the gospel message as a declaration of the unknown God. He also said he would become all things to all people that he might by any means save some.

Does your faith make you a better or worse person? Do you find this question offensive? Yet I addressed it in great length in my interactions with the Pharisees. They were as devout and diligent in their practice of faith as you could ask for. Yet their practices made them less loving, caring, and compassionate, and provided them with excuses for their bad behavior. Their faith took them further away from me and made them worse people than if they had made no profession or affirmation of faith. Don’t think this issue is limited to a small sect that only existed for a short while.

Is there some big obstacle standing in your way; some impediment that prevents you from making the progress you want in your life? Perhaps you do not see things the same way I do. Paul complained of a thorn in his flesh, something he did not want and asked me three times to remove. This is what he wanted but I told him that my grace was sufficient for him. This is not what he wanted but he found out it was true and the thorn I refused to remove was part of my process of grace in his life. Do you have a thorn of your own? Are you still at the stage of asking me to remove it?

What do the poor want? Those without food, drink, shelter, and clothing are very aware of these basic needs and are highly motivated to fulfill them. Once these necessities are met the concept of desire does not go away, but it does change. The wealthy spend just as much time in the pursuit of their desires as the poor, but the search is not as focused. The wealthy are not as able to articulate what they want, and more expensive versions of toys do not bring satisfaction.

Is it possible to feel the pain of others? This is known as empathy and compassion. Everyone admires these qualities but they are not so commonplace in practice. It is easy to look at others and see the ways they are different from you. This makes it easy to exclude and reject them. Do you dismiss those you consider to be in trouble of their own making? It is harder to identify with those you consider to be different from yourself but can you begin with the ways you are similar rather than different? This is a first step, but I have called you to do more than this.