Lately, I have been experiencing headaches and dizziness regularly. The issue is that my eyes have changed over the past fourteen months. As my vision got worse, it has led to side effects that are impacting my everyday routine. I went to the eye doctor and explained to him what I was experiencing. He ran me through a battery of tests, and my right eye is deteriorating more quickly than my left. He changed my prescription, and within a week, I will have new glasses to fix the problem.

Here is the point of my story. When I took my symptoms and tried to give a self-diagnosis, my first thought was a brain tumor. That would explain everything, along with other issues in my life. Then I typed them into WebMD, and I received a variety of possible problems. My research left me affirming my brain tumor diagnosis, or possibly it was just the side effects of influenza. The list of various issues was long and hard to distinguish the correct item. Even when I decided to check my eyes first, because I have experienced problems before, the doctor discovered things that had not crossed my mind. Self-diagnosis, even in the age of the internet, is still guesswork.

If this is true of your physical body, might it also be true of your spiritual life?

Is it possible that your thoughts about yourself are wrong? You think you know what is happening, but you are wrong.

Is it also possible that your friends on the internet are misleading you? Not on purpose, mind you, but rather, they are untrained and inexperienced.

Is it even possible that the book you just read might not be the information that helps you in your walk with God? They are not trying to lead you astray, but their ideas don’t accurately apply to you and your situation?

If you think the answer is yes to any of these questions, then you understand why God gave us the Church. When we come to follow Jesus, we are placed into a community of people who are also following Jesus. There are people there who lead who have been trained in the proper way to interpret the Bible, theology, and how those intersect with people. Other leaders help pray for your spiritual needs and provide the advice that comes with years of following Jesus. Some God-fearing saints have walked paths like yours who want to help you on your journey. There are people your age who bring different life experiences that can stand beside you on this journey. There is a large group of people who are here to help you see your shortcomings, overcome your flaws, and move you into a healthy relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you try to walk the journey of faith alone, you are susceptible to the limitations of your own experience and research. You don’t know what you need. You need someone with training and wisdom to guide you in paths of righteousness that you would not walk alone. I know the community of faith is not perfect, just like the medical community, but they are both here to help you.

Last week I spoke to a group of teachers as part of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes program called a “Coaches Huddle.” It is an informal devotion that I lead along with the other pastors in our community. As God so often does with lessons, what I wrote for the message also touched my life and challenged me. The topic for the day was waiting on the Lord, and I thought you might find it helpful too.

Psalm 27:13-14, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (14) Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (NIV 2011) This Psalm is one written by King David, and the entire thing drives toward one concept. Believers are frequently called to wait on the Lord to act at the proper time in his perfect way.

The Biblical characters underline this truth to us repeatedly. Abram waited 25 years from the promise of a son to its fulfillment. Joseph, in Genesis, waits 13 years for God to give him the place of honor promised to him. Moses spends 40 years in Egypt and then must spend another 40 tending sheep before he is ready to lead the Lord’s people. Even King David, the author of this passage, was anointed as the next king and then spent 14 years waiting to take the throne.

David, understanding the way of God, says two times in one verse, “Wait for the Lord.” He states it and then restates it to drive home his point. This is the equivalent of him shouting at the top of his lungs. He screams this truth to people living a long time ago, and maybe that is so his words will reach clear to future generations like ours. We live in a time of instant gratification. We have microwaves to cook our food in seconds. One TV service now offers “Movies on Demand.” There is high-speed internet where I can get everything from news to entertainment to personal connection immediately.

Yet, believers are willing to wait for God to act in his own time and in his own uniquely perfect way. We submit our will to his leading and his timing. He forces us to trust him day after day, week after week, and often year after year.

The context of this statement in verse 13, where David says he is confident of one thing. If he clings to the Lord and waits for him, we will see his goodness in this lifetime. This is not a health and wealth gospel that says, “Trust God, and he will give you everything you want.” This is “Cling to God over a lifetime, and his goodness will transform you.” You will receive his blessing, even though it may not look like what we were expecting.

Today, at the start of another week, we may find ourselves in the middle of a season where God has not shown up yet. His blessings are delayed, and we feel like giving up. The challenge of David is to keep holding onto God, even when we want to quit. Wait for the Lord, he is seldom early, but he is never late. Trust him while you spend time in the waiting room of life. When we have the least control is when we need to trust that God is in complete control.

Hundreds of articles and posts have been written about the need for Christians and Churches to change their behavior so that we can make Jesus popular. If the followers of Jesus were less judgmental, angry, political, or religious, and instead more loving, generous, accepting, and gracious, then people would flock to Jesus.

On the flip side, there are hundreds of articles about how the Church community is shrinking, fewer people are interested in faith, and most of the younger generation are calling themselves “None” when they are questioned about faith.

Jesus is less popular than ever in the United States, and believers need to do something to turn the tide.

While I agree that we as believers need to represent Jesus well, and we need to make every effort as a Church to reach the lost with the message of grace, I also understand that Jesus will never be popular in the world. Never.

Matthew chapters five through seven, records the longest teaching of Jesus we call “The Sermon on the Mount.” Near the end of this section, he says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV 2011). Jesus affirms that his teaching will never be popular with the majority. Many will take the wide road because it is easy, well-trod, and lots of people are heading that way. While the way of Jesus is narrow, and only a few will maneuver the difficult corridors of this path.

I don’t think that we, as his followers, can do anything to change this reality.

Those of us who follow Jesus and walk the path of faith will always be in the minority. That does not mean that we should become cynical, mean, and fatalistic on this journey. It does mean that we should get used to being rejected, feeling alone, struggling to share something we call “good news.” The way of the believer is a difficult life choice that many people will not make. Jesus asked his twelve closest followers, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” and Simon Peter speaking on behalf of the group responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:67-68 NIV 2011)

Take heart. Stand firm. Following Jesus will never be popular, but it is significant.

A few years ago, Churches and religious communities started doing something new that was a throwback to days long past. They started having tent meetings on the lawn of their Churches with a revival speaker to challenge the crowd each night. These gatherings were supposed to inspire people and recapture a piece from the past that would help the Church on its mission.

The problem with these events is found in the flawed thinking that stands behind it. The idea is that if we could somehow reproduce this past event, we will get the results back from when they were popular. In the late 1940s through the 1960s, tent revival meetings were a huge boost to the faith. A Church could bring in an outside speaker who had a few compelling sermons, and he would preach stuff to inspire people. His speeches were only compared to the local preachers and were always better in different ways. People who had slowly quit attending Churches for various reasons would be challenged, and their faith revived. They would go back to worshipping regularly on Sunday, bring their family with them, and possibly invite their neighbors. A tent revival meeting meant that God would do something exciting in a town as they would make new disciples and grow old ones.

Today, the world has changed. A Church will decide to set up a tent in the summer and leave their climate-controlled building and go outside to sit in hard metal chairs. They will invite in a speaker, who might be slightly better than the local preacher, but does not compare to the thousands of sermons found on the internet. A few highly committed people will come, and they are usually those who attend every meeting to support their friends in the faith. A handful of people will recommit their life to Jesus often because they feel someone “ought to do something” after all this effort. The local Church is unchanged, but the community feels better that “at least they are trying something” to reach the lost for Jesus.

Tent meetings demonstrate a fundamental concept that the followers of Jesus must understand if we are going to reach people with the gospel message. The issue is that the believers do not need to recapture some past event to get past results. Instead, they need to focus on the future to reach people in the future. Tent meetings are dead activities that give the appearance of life. We need to pour our resources and energy into living events that actually lead to growth.

At our Church, we are pouring our efforts into our website, social media, and learning to create helpful videos. I blog, and I am launching a podcast soon. We are upgrading our children’s ministries with decorations, videos, sound, and lights. I know we are behind large Churches who are doing cutting edge ministry, but we are continually seeking to improve.

A preacher I know describes the Church as a crayfish. We tend to back blindly into the future while looking longingly toward the past. For the Church to reach our children and grandchildren for Jesus, the ministry will not look like anything we have attempted before, and accepting that fact is the first step toward reaching more people for Jesus.

One phrase I find myself repeating to believers is, “Interpreting the Bible has rules.” It seems that whenever I enter a conversation with a Christian about reading their Bible, many of them are struggling to figure out what God is saying. Part of the problem is that they have never been taught to interpret what they read correctly. The other part of the problem is that so many people do it so poorly and yet are vocal about their findings.

Case in point, over the past couple of weeks, I have read articles shared on social media that were the use of allegory in interpretation. While this type of thing has existed in Church communities since the beginning of the New Testament, it is always dismissed as poor Bible teaching at best and heresy at worst. Since it seems to be on the rise again, I felt it necessary to explain what I am seeing.

Allegory, when it is used in interpretation, is the quest for some deeper hidden meaning or application. One I have heard regularly is about the catching of the 153 fish after Jesus’ resurrection in John 21:11. Allegory teaches that those fish actually represent all of the nations on earth, and the disciples are to try and catch (as fishers of men) all of the world. Instead of these being fishermen who like to obsess over how many literal fish they catch (trust me I know), there is this hidden meaning of nations and the figurative fish of evangelism.

There are hundreds of examples. The star at Christmas is actually the life of Christians shining to lead others to Jesus. Peter catching a coin in the mouth of a fish to pay taxes is actually Churches reaching new believers to fund their budget. Eutychus in Acts 20 represents new believers dying because of a boring Church. And on and on it goes. The idea is that if you look closely and use some “creative license,” you can learn some hidden truth.

The interpretation of scripture as allegory is widespread and sometimes fascinating, but it betrays what the author originally meant, and therefore it leaves us on the quicksand of creative application. It makes the Biblical writers say things they never meant to say and lead us toward false conclusions, attitudes, and actions.

When reading the Bible, always ask yourself, “What is the plain meaning of this passage?” as the first step toward a proper understanding. If it takes some creative thinking to get a meaning few have seen before, then you are probably on your way to allegory rather than appropriate interpretation.

My wife and I had spent the first year of our marriage in Missouri, and then we moved to Indiana to start a new ministry. Like most young couples, our only furniture was a collection of hand me down junk from our parents. That first year ended with us buying a sofa, love seat, and chair. After the move, we accepted an old table to use in our dining room, but eagerly awaited replacing it.

When we finally had enough money, the two of us went to a local store known for selling high-quality furniture. It was there that we talked to the salesman about our exact needs. At the time we spoke with him, we had limited funds and no children. I was leading a small Church with little signs of growth in the future. My wife and I confidently told the salesman we needed a huge table. We wanted one that was small but could hold no less than ten people if expanded. He looked at us curiously as I explained that we dreamed of a large family. I also told him we also hoped to one day have people into our home for meals, and we wanted a table big enough to hold everyone comfortably. Thrilled by the possibility of a bigger sale, he did not question our judgment but showed us the large dining rooms sets. The purchase was made, and we had a cozy little oak table for ten.

Since that day, we have loaded that table up and moved it into six homes. Two big bolts hold the pedestal to the top, and I can take it apart in less than fifteen minutes, and it is ready to move. It has gained scratches from the years of use and travel, but it remains in decent shape after twenty-five years. I have been blessed to watch my four boys sit around it with my wife and me as they grew up. We have hosted family and friends through the years and shared many good times around that old oak table.

The other night my wife and I hosted a meeting of Church people we call “Dinner Circles.” It was four other families and us. Sitting there at the head of the table, I saw a dream from twenty-five years ago come true. We were blessed to have a table full of ten adults sharing a meal in our dining room, and all of us had plenty of space to eat and enjoy each other’s company.

For me, this table is a tale in making plans and God fulfilling them in your life. My wife and I have never longed for possessions or fame. We wanted God to give us a family and friends with whom we could share our lives in the name of Jesus. He has blessed us enormously with both of our dreams. We hope this is one of many times that our home, life, and table will be full of people for the glory of God.

Sometimes you need to buy the bigger table. Not because it is more expensive and a symbol of your status, but rather because you want to leave enough space in your life for God to work. It gives you the ability to connect with other people in his name when the time comes. It doesn’t usually happen immediately, but one day your table will be full.

While no one knows the exact origin of the phrase “leap of faith,” it was popularized by 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. It means that there is a point where we no longer have the evidence on which to step, so we jump out into the unknown. The phrase has become a popular part of modern thinking, especially of those who follow Jesus.

The problem with this concept is that there is no Biblical foundation on which to establish it. None of the people found on the pages of scripture are described as “leaping” in their faith. Instead, the life of a believer is characterized by the metaphor of walking. We walk with God, in the light, in the way of love and by the Spirit. There is no instruction for us to get a running start before we leap out in the darkness, hoping to find God. The way of a Christian is to keep taking steps forward with God day by day.

This means that some days we will need to pause and rest as we prepare for the next step of the journey. Other days we will take many steps as God moves us at a brisk pace. There will be seasons of slow progress as we take deliberate steps. There will be others where we stretch our legs over significant strides in the right direction. We truly never know what each day, week, or season might hold as we walk with God.

I am convinced that this week God is not going to ask you to leap into the unknown for him. Rather you are going to feel his nudge to take a step forward as you trust his guidance. He will lead you one step at a time as you trust him. Each one will require you to rely on him, but he is there holding your hand through the process, not watching you perform blindly for his amusement. The question is not, “Are you ready to take a leap of faith?” but “Are you taking the step God wants you to take today?”

The reasons that people leave the community of believers are numerous. It is easy to come up with a list of the problems with the Church. Today I want to flip that over and write about how you stay in the Church rather than leave.

I believe there are five things every Christian needs to last a lifetime in a local Church.

1. Cling to Christ Alone – If your connection to the Church is only through the preacher, you will eventually be let down. He will move, retire, make a mistake in your eyes, or possibly even sin. One way or another, he is going to let you down.
2. Receive Grace – When you mess up, the temptation is to run. You will want to go to another group of believers who do not know your flaws. The challenge is to work through your failures and not avoid them.
3. Offer Forgiveness – When other people make mistakes, you will need to forgive them the way you would like to be forgiven. Other people will fail us (see #1); this will be your chance to extend grace to them. The other option is to become judgmental and throw stones at the Church. To stay in a community, you will have to learn to both receive and give grace.
4. Faithful Stewardship – If you invest your time, talent, and treasure into a community of people, it makes it very difficult to walk away. Where you invest your life is where you will feel connected.
5. Real Relationships – You need to have strong relationships with 5-10 people. You do not have to know everyone in the Church; rather, you need a strong network of people who are living out #1-4. Almost without exception, the people who leave the community of faith have no deep connections with other believers. You need a few people to stand in front of you, beside you and behind you through the journey of life as a Christian.

These are the most significant aids to spending a lifetime with a group of believers in a Church community. They are not a guarantee that your life in the Church will be perfect; instead they are the ingredients that make this group more like family. Give up one of them and everything changes. Live them all, and life in Church will be a more pleasing experience to you and everyone else.

Everyone who attempts to read the Bible will say that it is a tough project. Everyone!

It requires proper reading, interpretation, and application. It takes work, study, and knowledge to make the pieces come together. Through the years, I have noticed there are two distinct groups of people who are a part of the Church and try to read the Bible.

1. Those who say it is tough and dabble at reading.
   These people will tell you about how difficult the Bible is to understand and can give you a list of issues. The problem is that they never sit down and read the whole thing. Their intake of Bible consists of a verse or two here and there. They listen to an occasional sermon and hear some of the verses. They depend on books, often controversial writers, because they demonstrate the difficulties of particular topics or passages. The final place they are exposed to the Bible is the internet.
2. Those who say it is tough and keep reading.
   These people will agree that there are issues in understanding the Bible. Then they read it. Often, they have a plan to read it from cover to cover every year. They study and work through complex issues. There are things they don’t understand, but they keep working, and it a little bit every day.

Learning the Bible is like learning a foreign language. When I was in high school, I took German for a year, and all I know right now is a smattering of words. Other students threw themselves into the class and were almost fluent by the end of our time together. Then they signed up for German 2 where they took a summer trip to Germany when they finished. We both had the same resources available, but how we each handled them was vastly different.

What kind of Bible reader are you? It will not be easy to do, how you approach the difficulties says more about you than the scriptures.

Everyone who knows me understands that I am an introvert by nature. Given a chance, I will withdrawal from everyone and hide in the recesses of my mind. With that said, over the past year, God has been laying a growing conviction on my heart. I need to become a better people person. The result was that one of my New Year’s resolutions was to invite more people into my life.

For the first eight weeks of this year, I have committed myself to be more loving and hospitable toward people. This has meant several things to me. My wife and I have sat with different people at basketball games. We have invited people into our home. I go out of my way to talk to people before and after worship on Sunday morning. Basically, if there is an opportunity to connect with people, I am taking advantage of it.

Here are some of the things I have discovered on this journey so far.

1. It takes effort every time. I know Jesus teaches us to love one another. I know Paul instructs believers to encourage, help, and serve one another under as we follow Jesus. Yet, every time I see an opportunity to do what the Lord desires, I hesitate and have to talk myself into it. It is still unnatural to me.
2. I still find it exhausting. People drain me. They wear me down, and God did not magically change that when I decided to follow his will.
3. I need to build in times to recharge. This year, after seven straight days of spending time with people, I had to take a four-day break. I am learning that to follow God unnaturally, means rearranging my life so that I have downtimes to recharge my emotional battery.
4. It has been a blessing. Most people I have visited with over the past weeks have been so happy to spend time with me. They share the stories of their life and ask about me. I am developing new relationships and making solid friendships. I have experienced kindness and love from everyone in ways I have never known before this year.

To follow Jesus means that we do things his way, even when it does not come naturally. For me, and possibly some of you, this means getting out of my comfort zone and into the lives of other people. Two people have told me that I have become more friendly than they have ever known me. God has been good to me through this, and I am finding a joy I never experienced in following him. Sometimes in unnaturally doing the Lord’s will, we discover the key to what has been missing in our lives.