Have you ever heard of Jerol Swaim? Probably not unless you are a student of Williams Baptist College or know one. To us WBCers the man is a living legend. He recently retired as the President of Williams after serving at the school for 48 years. 48. What made Dr. Swaim a good president? He knew his students. He could tell me that the college must be stooping to a new low because I'd been picked to be an RA, he could pull up behind me at a gas station in town and demand I pay for his gas, he sent hand written Christmas cards to every student every year and he sent text messages telling you how good you did in the recent theatre production. I learned at CentriKid that "ministry happens in the context of relationships." I don't know if Jerol Swaim ever heard that, but he lived it. He ministered to hundreds of college students for nearly 50 years, his entire professional career spent at a small Baptist college in a corn field. He left a legacy.
I thought about this subject again over Christmas break. My Papa passed away after being very sick for a very long time. As I prepared words to say at the funeral I realized how much of an example my Papa set with his actions. He was a hard worker, he loved fiercely, he was slow to anger and he raised his children to love God and their neighbor. Those are the words I said in a nutshell through tears on the day we laid him to rest. The sad part is those words were criticized. By a pastor that said we did not present the gospel at that funeral. If telling about the life of my Papa and the legacy he left isn't the gospel I don't know what is. Every time I preach a sermon it was because he lived the gospel. Every time Meggin teaches a class full of students its because he lived the gospel. Every time Racheal takes care of a patient, its because he lived the gospel. Folks, if you leave a legacy you are preaching the gospel.
How? Well, I'm 22 years old. I don't know how to "leave a legacy." But I do know it can't be just to leave one. In other words the best left legacies were left by people that weren't full of themselves and they were certainly humble (see yesterday's post). Friends, leaving a legacy isn't about becoming famous. It is about the gospel. It is about relationships and ministry. A lot of people don't know who Jerol B. Swaim is or John Bane. But I do. And that has impacted the kingdom.
I really thought of all of this again this week when I got an email from my church back in Walnut Ridge. Miss Jackie Burton, church member and long time servant of students at Williams Baptist College had passed away. Miss Jackie was a warrior of the faith. She served as BSU director and in several other capacities at Williams for 30 plus years. Each time some BCM director or state convention worker came to chapel to speak they hugged Miss Jackie. She was a pioneer in collegiate ministry in the state of Arkansas. She was a college BSU director when women were barely allowed to go to seminary. I did not get to know Miss Jackie as well as I would have wanted to. She retired for good from Williams (now working in the cafeteria scanning id cards) my freshman year. I do know Miss Jackie left a legacy though. I think of so many WBC alums that have touched my life that were first touched by Miss Jackie. I wonder if Miss Jackie wouldn't have been obedient to God's call, would there have been a Josh Goza in my life? A Josh McCarty? Or Michala Gallup? Or even a Sam Rogers? Maybe not. Because Miss Jackie, she left a legacy. For the gospel. Not for herself.
Go and do likewise.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Humility and Hypocrisy
You know when you read FaceBook posts or tweets and you see ridiculous grammar errors? You think to yourself can this person spell? Is this person even literate? They should be banned from using social media ever again? I understand, so that's just me. Well, I digress. The truth is not really, you see I was presented with this gem the other day from my friend Hannah. She likes to keep me on my toes, its like her favorite pass time. I understand why she is pretty good at it:
Really? Aloud? Come on, now!
You see sometimes the things that annoy me the most are the things I do so often. It is like the old adage from I don't know...Jesus, that says take the plank out of your eye before judging your friend (or FaceBook friend, though I'm not sure the two are synonymous always). You see, I have a real problem with the word humility. I didn't think I did. You see, I am not the type of person that thinks highly of myself. Really, I'm not. I don't like the way I look. I have ears the size of Dumbo's, I weigh like 10,000 more pounds than I did in high school. I am not good a techy stuff, I am not athletic, I don't like to run, I'm not in a relationship (which negates marriage as well)....the list could go on. This summer God tried to teach me two lessons (well more than that but we will focus on two of them here). First, he taught me as Ellie would say, "Will, you're good at stuff." There are things I am good at, maybe not the proverbial small town Arkansas kind of things but I am good at stuff. I am good with kids, I can write, I can generally preach decently, I love camp, I am organized...those are things God made me good at to use for his glory. But here comes the second lesson God taught me..."Will, be humble."
There were a couple of times when he screamed it in my face. The first I can think of is when I got some type of stomach bug traveling from our first location to the second. I was driving a Ryder and we were in the middle of nowhere Arkansas and had been traveling for about 20 minutes when it hit me. I needed to go to the bathroom stat. Not a good thing to do when you are 20 minutes into a 14 plus hour road trip. That wasn't the last time we had to stop. The rest of the afternoon I slept and woke up and then we had to stop. God said, "Hey Will, I'm in charge...you aren't."
You would think that would teach me the lesson. It didn't so much. You see, I realized for most of my life I had replaced my insecurities with arrogance. I had overcompensated, putting on a front that I had everything together. Why? I don't really know why.
I read this verse recently and it is kicking my rear end (Jesus + Jen Hatmaker = Convicted Will):
"Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgement of their God." Isaiah 58:2
Y'all I have been Israel. So much of last semester I spent time, "seeking God daily." I was seeking God to better myself. To become a better person, a better pastor, a better Assistant Director at camp this summer. I was seeking God to improve me. It kind of has a Joel Osteen ring to it now that I write it down (Lord forgive). But y'all that isn't the goal. Sure, we want to become more like Jesus, thus a better person in the end but that isn't the goal. Self improvement is not at the core of the gospel. The gospel isn't about us. Its about Jesus. It is about denying us. Denying myself. Like Kyle Idleman puts it in Not A Fan, the gospel is about death. Jesus bids us to come and die. It isn't a gospel of self improvement. And when that is what it becomes we are hypocrites.
A hypocrite's fast is useless.
A hypocrite's sacrifice is detestable to the Lord.
A hypocrite's offering is not fragrant.
It is to those people (many of us and certainly me) that God says:
"Behold in the day of the fast you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers." Isaiah 58:3b
.....and
"Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice heard on high." Isaiah 58:4b
I'm a hypocrite. Isaiah 58 is just as telling today as when the Israelites first heard it. Repentance is needed. You see, a lack of humility almost certainly leads to hypocrisy. Which often if not always leads to idolatry. Putting ourselves, status, friends, family or whatever else before God.
Will, be humble. Don't be a hypocrite.
Really? Aloud? Come on, now!
You see sometimes the things that annoy me the most are the things I do so often. It is like the old adage from I don't know...Jesus, that says take the plank out of your eye before judging your friend (or FaceBook friend, though I'm not sure the two are synonymous always). You see, I have a real problem with the word humility. I didn't think I did. You see, I am not the type of person that thinks highly of myself. Really, I'm not. I don't like the way I look. I have ears the size of Dumbo's, I weigh like 10,000 more pounds than I did in high school. I am not good a techy stuff, I am not athletic, I don't like to run, I'm not in a relationship (which negates marriage as well)....the list could go on. This summer God tried to teach me two lessons (well more than that but we will focus on two of them here). First, he taught me as Ellie would say, "Will, you're good at stuff." There are things I am good at, maybe not the proverbial small town Arkansas kind of things but I am good at stuff. I am good with kids, I can write, I can generally preach decently, I love camp, I am organized...those are things God made me good at to use for his glory. But here comes the second lesson God taught me..."Will, be humble."
There were a couple of times when he screamed it in my face. The first I can think of is when I got some type of stomach bug traveling from our first location to the second. I was driving a Ryder and we were in the middle of nowhere Arkansas and had been traveling for about 20 minutes when it hit me. I needed to go to the bathroom stat. Not a good thing to do when you are 20 minutes into a 14 plus hour road trip. That wasn't the last time we had to stop. The rest of the afternoon I slept and woke up and then we had to stop. God said, "Hey Will, I'm in charge...you aren't."
You would think that would teach me the lesson. It didn't so much. You see, I realized for most of my life I had replaced my insecurities with arrogance. I had overcompensated, putting on a front that I had everything together. Why? I don't really know why.
I read this verse recently and it is kicking my rear end (Jesus + Jen Hatmaker = Convicted Will):
"Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgement of their God." Isaiah 58:2
Y'all I have been Israel. So much of last semester I spent time, "seeking God daily." I was seeking God to better myself. To become a better person, a better pastor, a better Assistant Director at camp this summer. I was seeking God to improve me. It kind of has a Joel Osteen ring to it now that I write it down (Lord forgive). But y'all that isn't the goal. Sure, we want to become more like Jesus, thus a better person in the end but that isn't the goal. Self improvement is not at the core of the gospel. The gospel isn't about us. Its about Jesus. It is about denying us. Denying myself. Like Kyle Idleman puts it in Not A Fan, the gospel is about death. Jesus bids us to come and die. It isn't a gospel of self improvement. And when that is what it becomes we are hypocrites.
A hypocrite's fast is useless.
A hypocrite's sacrifice is detestable to the Lord.
A hypocrite's offering is not fragrant.
It is to those people (many of us and certainly me) that God says:
"Behold in the day of the fast you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers." Isaiah 58:3b
.....and
"Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice heard on high." Isaiah 58:4b
I'm a hypocrite. Isaiah 58 is just as telling today as when the Israelites first heard it. Repentance is needed. You see, a lack of humility almost certainly leads to hypocrisy. Which often if not always leads to idolatry. Putting ourselves, status, friends, family or whatever else before God.
Will, be humble. Don't be a hypocrite.
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