Archive for August, 2019

Biblical Excellence

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

arete

This idea of excellence has been dogging me for some time now.  When I first began to explore the idea of biblical excellence the Greek word arete was the first to come into view.  Such a short word for such a big concept.  While arete can refer to general excellence it carries with it a strong moral component.  It is only used five times in the New Testament, once by Paul in Philippians and the rest by Peter in his two letters.

Peter designates arete  to be an attribute of God.

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3

Peter then calls the people of God to pursue this very excellence that we find as a aspect of God’s character.

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 1 Peter 1:5

While arete is a Greek word that denotes moral excellence, I believe that as Peter uses it arete is found only in the expression of God’s divine power (through the Holy Spirit) in his people as they diligently through faith function in that divine power.  Let’s look at this passage all together.

3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 1 Peter 1:3-7

Paul also uses arete in his final charge to the Philippians.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Paul here gives a break down of Peter’s attribute of God.  It is pure, lovely, of good repute and praise worthy.  This weekend Levi Elarton (our pastor’s youngest son) spoke on loving people well as a quality of Jesus and by extension a quality that should be a basic part of any Christian’s life.  As a part of that he stated that sinners liked to be around Jesus.  Jesus managed to be attractive to sinners without compromising his arete in any way.  In fact I am going to step out and say that His divine moral excellence (and I would suggest that there is no other kind of true moral excellence) was the very thing that drew people to Him.  You can see this moral excellence in operation in the call of Levi the tax collector (Levi’s text for this Sunday), in His encounter with the woman at the well, in the many times the religious rulers of the day attempted to trip Him up.  You can see this moral excellence in operation as he was beaten, abused and hung on a cross.  You can see this moral excellence being made available to you and me through the power of the Holy Spirit when Jesus rose from the dead, ascended to His place at the right hand of the Father and when the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples in Jerusalem on Pentecost.

Arete is not a philosophical or theological concept, it is a practice of life that requires diligence and participation in the very nature of God.  It requires what Peter Scazzero in his series of books calls “loving union”.  It requires both the mindset spoken of by Paul and the action that Peter calls for. Arete is the fulfillment of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is the natural result of the Hupomone lifestyle.

 

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Hupomone Health: Wisdom of the Father

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

Proverbs 4:20-22

Today there is a plethora of voices in our society all claiming to have the answer for personal health. Over the years I have listened to a variety of those voices (and in most cases ignored their advice) whether it was in school, over the internet, on TV or in a magazine. Being relatively healthy and naturally thin for so many years (often in spite of unhealthy life choices) I really did not have a focus on health, physically, mentally or spiritually. Health just seemed to me to be what was.

It was really not until 2013 and Allana’s battle with Leukemia that the importance of health came solidly in view. How clear the importance of something becomes when it is suddenly gone. As God walked with me the path of hupomone living, the idea of healthy living solidified. That path extends beyond 2013.  God was patient if not necessarily gentle as he brought me out of the desolation that I had made of my life by 2001.  As is often the case he inspired changes in lifestyle long before I understood the direction and truth of hupomone living.  I stopped using alcohol to backstop the weak areas in my life.  I quit smoking.  Allana brought stability to my relational life and I found myself engaged with mature Christian men and women.  God placed me in positions of ministry and opened opportunities for sharing the Gospel message.  The normal stressors of life (and some not so normal) began to be opportunities to grow and mature instead of being occasions of descent into selfish behaviors.

The first step to healthy living was to hear and listen to the voice of God in my life, the small still voice of God encouraging me to return to the path of health that he had for me. It is true that some have giant, radical life changes when they encounter God.  While these changes can be valid works of the Holy Spirit, we fool ourselves if we think they eliminate the need for the daily work that is involved in the healthy living of the hupomone lifestyle.  I think that in many cases the noise and clamor of such transformations actually makes settling into daily listening to that small still voice so much more difficult.  This can result in a stalled relationship and stagnant personal health as we only identify the work of the Holy Spirit with radical change. So in the absence of the “burning bush” experience we miss the growth that God has for us.

Hupomone health takes on the characteristics of God as our relationship with Him grows.  It is a health that transcends human circumstances and yet expresses itself concretely in our lives.  Hupomone health proceeds directly from the wisdom of the Father.

“Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.”
Jeremiah 33:6

Hupomone health is a function of supernatural healing.  Jeremiah links health and healing to peace and truth.  These are the gifts that Jesus brings to his people and form the foundation of healthy living for ever Christian.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” John 14:6

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27

Accepting peace and truth from God is not as easy as it sounds.  It is a spiritual journey, one with many steps, falters and restarts.  It rests in what Peter Scazzero calls “Loving Union” (Emotionally Healthy Leadership).

“Loving Union is an act of surrender– giving God complete access” (EHL, p. 117)

It is only in that act of total surrender that we can truly accept God’s truth and peace that is so foreign to everything that this world has to offer.  When we come to this place it is a profound move towards the hupomone lifestyle and the health that comes with it.

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Redemptive Excellence

Posted in Life and Ministry on August 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Paul made much of his weakness and of the fact that the Holy Spirit manifests itself greatly in our weaknesses making us strong. This is very much true. When God calls you into that uncomfortable place of service that you never expected to be in, He will empower you to be more excellent than you could ever imagine.

“And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

When we use this and other verses like it to focus on our weakness, we miss the entire point. It is not about my weakness. It is about the power of Christ that dwells in me. The Holy Spirit is not out there creating empowerment in the consequences of our incompetent behavior. He is dwelling in us crying out for us to push ourselves to a level of excellence that can only come from God, Redemptive Excellence.

Redemptive Excellence should be the hallmark of godly, Holy Spirit led men and women. They should stand out in every way.

“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” Acts 4:13

It was a matter of Redemptive Excellence that caused the Jewish leaders to recognize that these men had been with Jesus. No they were not formally educated but they had applied themselves to excellence during their time with Jesus and the Holy Spirit came up underneath that effort and made them men that would turn the world upside down. (Acts 17:6 KJV) The Holy Spirit did not come behind them cleaning up their messes or excusing their lack of effort. He empowered them to be amazing.

Redemptive Excellence is an expression of God’s call on someone’s life. The Old Testament is full of men and women called by the Holy Spirit to Redemptive Excellence. In each case whether it was Gideon, Deborah, Samuel, David, Elisha, Isaiah and the list goes one, they followed the call of God and the Holy Spirit empowered them to Redemptive Excellence that brought to them a standard of performance that they would not have otherwise attained. It was this empowerment coupled with effort and focus that brought world changing results.

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