Growth Relationships

Common Confidence

When we are young, we learn all sorts of new things. Somewhere along the way we learn how to match – we learn how to see two objects and realize that they are the same. (Hopefully somewhere along the way we’ve also learned how to color-coordinate – but that’s another story.) In elementary school, they test for this. Can a child see two objects, identify that they share common characteristics and group them together? If so, it demonstrates an ability to observe and organize – skills that are valuable as the child learns increasingly new information.

Sometimes it can be difficult to apply these same skills to our relationships with other people. We know that we need “common ground” in order to relate to one another, but there doesn’t seem to be any foundation on which to build. There may be occasions where we strive to identify those shared characteristics, but most of the time, we don’t even work that hard. If they aren’t immediately apparent, we just assume that there is no natural affinity between us.

For Christians, however, we always share something in common, namely the confidence that we have in Christ.  Because we rely on Him, and Him alone, for our salvation as well as our sanctification and to sustain us, we are joined together in the most important ways.  And it’s important to encourage each other with reminders of this truth.

We can see this in Colossians 2:1-5. Paul is concerned with the churches he has yet to visit, because he wants to encourage and strengthen them; he wants those churches to mature (See The MacArthur Bible Commentary, John MacArthur, 2005). He knows that this depends on their recognition of and deepening of their “assurance” or their confidence in Christ.  As they are joined together in love for one another, he wants them to spur each other on to a deeper and greater understanding and reliance on the One that they serve. Even though he can’t visit, he knows that their hearts will be encouraged as their shared confidence in Christ and their love for one another, propels them to an even greater assurance of who they are in Him.

It can be a hard truth to remember. When another believer disappoints us, when we seem to disagree, it can be hard to see that we have anything common. Yet what we do share is the one thing that will remain after our disaapointment fades and our disagreement ends; it is what will last for eternity.

People can be joined together for all sorts of reasons. They like the same music, the same sports, or the same style of clothes. For Christians though, our affection for each other is rooted in our common confidence in Christ. May this be what we look to when we are tempted to let our affection wane, knowing that, with fellow believers, our “common ground” is the firm foundation of Christ.

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Growth

Generous To A Fault

Every once in a while I’ll hear someone remark that somebody they know is “generous to a fault.” It’s always been a funny colloquialism to me because I never understood where the line between “generous” and “too generous” was. Moreover, who gets to determine it?  It seemed that more often than not the line was drawn by the person making the remark when they felt that their friend’s or family member’s generosity was somehow going to impinge on their comfort, even if the infraction was just their feeling of guilt for not being quite as giving. Or worse yet, when they felt like there would be less generosity to benefit them.

The Bible, however,  draws a very different line when it comes to generosity.  It tells us that if “someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” (Matthew 5:40). Most people don’t give beyond what’s asked to their friends, let alone to their adversary who is taking them to court. The next verse says that if someone forces us to walk one mile with them, we should go with them two, which is not the usual response when we are being cajoled into action. Scripture also tells us that we should “lend, expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35), an unheard of mentality in a society of interest rates and quid pro quo. We are commanded to give to those in need (Romans 12:13), and to be generous when we give (I Timothy 6:18). Giving too much doesn’t seem to be much of a concern in God’s Word.

But there was at least one time where it was a concern. In Exodus 36:6-7 Moses had to tell the people to stop giving. In fact, Scripture tells us that he had to “restrain” them from being too generous. However it wasn’t for the reason that we normally find fault with another’s generosity. It was because they had met the need in abundance. The Israelites had so graciously given of their possessions that there was no longer a need for any more of their gifts. They so wanted to participate in what God was doing that they were willing to go to great personal expense and sacrifice in order to do so. Until they had to be stopped.

Wouldn’t it be great if the same could be said of us? What if when someone accused us of being “too generous” it meant that we wanted to give beyond what the need was? What would the world say if we were so eager to participate in the work of God that that people had to restrain us from giving in excess of the problem’s capacity? What if we gave even when there was no longer a deficiency?

Who would find fault with that?

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