How do I teach God’s word?

What is a teacher’s role?

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:3-6

When we teach the Bible, we are partnering with all the saints of the gospels across the ages in communicating the words the Lord left us to study and know so that we could know him and make him known.

See yourself as a partner with other saints in the past.

Who is in your classroom or small group?

Think about why your Bible study group or class comes to see you each week.

Do they need nurturing?
Where are they in their knowledge of the Lord?
How do you teach those who are seasoned students of the Bible as well as those who sit quietly, still trying to determine if Christianity is right for them?

It is crucial that you create a lesson that works for everyone.

What is the central purpose of Bible study?

As a teacher it’s your job to focus on the central reason people are there — to study God’s word, but never lose sight of the other reasons people come to the room.

Understand your lesson might be the only Bible study some people in your class experience that week. Know their faces and names, making sure you provide them a lesson from God’s perfect word.

God has a plan for you every time you teach. When we teach God’s word, God accomplishes his purpose through us.

“…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11

The key is in knowing what God’s purpose is for the day. Make it your goal every time you teach to remember that you have a high and holy calling. You are partnering with the saints from the past in teaching his word. His word is what matters; ours are secondary.

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17

God’s word stands forever, God’s word is truth, and God’s word never returns void. It has a purpose that God wants to accomplish through his Holy Spirit.

Called and Equipped

Teachers are simply humans with a high calling.

“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.” James 3:1-2

A person should be called to teach God’s word and gifted by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the task.
If we teach God’s word, we are held to a higher level of responsibility for how we live our lives.
Remember though, to give yourself grace. No one is perfect and no one will ever teach a perfect lesson. But trust that anything God teaches through you is perfected.

The right priority builds a strong wall

When do our priorities line up with God’s?

Our lives are getting back to normal again. My whole family just went to our first baseball game and our granddaughter’s horse show and enjoyed being in the crowd. I didn’t even think about catching a virus because I was too busy thinking about the Rangers catching a baseball or me trying to catch the perfect photo of my granddaughter in her cute riding pants and blazer.

How quickly our priorities can change!

IF YOU HAD TO PICK ONE PRIORITY . . .

What if someone asked you to name your number one priority? Is that even possible? We might be able to list our top ten, but which would make the list first?

• Faith?

• Family?

• Friends?

• Future?

How can we choose a priority when so many things matter so much?

JEREMIAH’S PRIORITY

Jeremiah is often described as the weeping prophet, a name I think he would probably hate. Chances are, if you pick up your Bibles for a time of devotion, you are more likely to read from Ephesians than the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was a prophet to the Southern tribes of Israel, or Judah. They were supposed to be the “good guys” of Israel, and were, much of the time. But Jeremiah preached to Judah after the Northern Tribes of Israel had been captured, enslaved, and removed from the land. The Northern Tribes never did return home.

Judah should have learned from their brothers’ mistakes but didn’t. As a nation, Judah became distracted by their enemies, their finances, their families, and their future. As a result, their priorities changed. Jeremiah’s job was to speak for God and warn Judah that the same thing that happened to the Northern Tribes could happen to them as well. And it did.

Daniel and his friends were taken captive, and then came a second and third wave of attack. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and their lands and families were taken away by the Babylonian armies. Some would say they lost everything, but they didn’t.

They never lost God’s word. The prophet Jeremiah and many others kept teaching and preaching what God wanted his people to understand.

Jeremiah preached God’s word almost twenty-five hundred years ago, and I’m still teaching his lessons today. Jeremiah lived during one of the worst times in biblical history. He and the people he loved lost almost everything in their lives. And Jeremiah was tasked with warning the people to repent. He knew how to help, but the people just wouldn’t listen. In fact, they attacked Jeremiah for preaching the truth, and it broke his heart and spirit. That’s why he is called the weeping prophet.

Jeremiah 15 is a conversation between God and Jeremiah. God tells Jeremiah what is going to happen to Judah because of their lack of faith and misguided priorities: God will judge his people and Judah will fall. Jeremiah knows what will happen and knows nothing will stop God from fulfilling his words.

When Jeremiah understands he can’t help Judah, he prays for himself. He asks God to protect him from the coming judgment. Jeremiah offers one defense to God. The prophet asks for God to protect him because he has maintained one important priority.

Jeremiah 15:16 says, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty” (NIV).

Do we share Jeremiah’s godly priority? If so, we can also share in God’s promise.

CHRISTIANS BEAR GOD’S NAME TOO

The first people to be called Christians were in the church of Antioch, the church considered most responsible for supporting Paul and his missionary work. The name Christian literally means “little Christ.” Christians bear the name of the Son of God.

More and more our culture is attacking that name and attacking those who bear it. Is there coming a time when we will pray Jeremiah’s prayers for our nation? And pray Jeremiah’s prayer for himself? Is that time already here?

Jeremiah prayed to God with confidence because he had lived with one powerful priority. The prophet had consumed God’s word. God’s thoughts and ideas were Jeremiah’s joy and his heart’s delight. The prophet understood that his role in life was to bear God’s name everywhere he went.

Like Jeremiah, we bear God’s name too. The question for all of us today is this: Do we also share Jeremiah’s priority?

Do we simply read God’s word, or do we consume it as our joy and our delight? Is God’s word truly our daily bread?

If so, we should listen to and claim Jeremiah’s promise from God.

GOD’S PROMISE TO JEREMIAH

God responded to Jeremiah’s prayer with this promise. God said to Jeremiah and to us, ‘“If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 15:19–20).

There is so much I want to say about the passage above. I know the Lord spoke to me in those words as I read them again and again. I expect the Lord will do that for all of you as well. Let’s consume his words to Jeremiah as food for our own souls. Will you receive God’s teaching with joy? Will you delight to obey?

God needs the people who bear his Son’s name to be that fortified wall of bronze. The people in our culture need to be able to turn to the Holy Spirit in us for God’s love and wisdom. We were never allowed to turn to the culture for our guidance.

It may seem like the culture is winning right now, but that isn’t the biblical truth we should take to heart, with joy. Jesus echoed God’s words to Jeremiah when he told his disciples, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, ESV).

PRAY LIKE JEREMIAH

We can pray like Jeremiah if we share the prophet’s priority. He consumed God’s word as his great joy and delight. Jeremiah bore God’s name.

Jeremiah could have preached his words to our culture and people would have treated him the same way today. The calling for all of us who bear Christ’s name is to share Jeremiah’s priority. It will no doubt cause us some trouble going forward. Thankfully, we also share Jeremiah’s promise. Hear God say to you: “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you.”

God needs his people to be that bronze wall of truth today.

We will be—if we will live with Jeremiah’s priority.

Giving our souls a tune-up

I’m smiling as I remember my dad’s best efforts to teach me how to give my ’67 Chevy a tune-up.

That Chevy was the first car I ever owned, and my dad wanted me to learn a few things. I can honestly say that almost nothing I learned is helpful to car maintenance now. No one I know owns a timing light or changes their own spark plugs and filters. In fact, I don’t even know where the spark plugs are in my car today! Now, I drop my car off at the dealer when the “Maintenance Needed” light comes on.

I’m smiling because there are more important lessons I learned from my dad’s advice. Dad helped me understand maintenance was important if I wanted to keep my car in good shape. In a lot of ways, my dad helped me write this blog post today.

We understand our cars need maintenance. We spend the time and pay the cost because we don’t want to get stranded somewhere. We can apply that same principle to our souls as well.

If your life is sluggish and not responding to God’s will, you might need a spiritual tune-up today.

WHEN MAINTENANCE IS NEEDED

It would be nice if something in our lives would flash with the words “Maintenance Needed” like our cars do today. We are a lot more like a ’67 Chevy. We have to notice the sluggishness, the slowness to start, and the “wrong noises” that indicate the need for a tune-up. My dad could just listen to engine noises and know there was a problem, and he usually knew how to fix it.

It would be nice if there could be a “Maintenance Needed” light that would flash in our spiritual lives, but there are indicators:

• Has your witness grown sluggish?

• Are you a little more difficult to “start” when the Spirit prompts you?

• Is your prayer life making some strange noises . . . maybe a little too full of self-absorbed rattles and clunks instead of purring along?

It’s better to fix the problems we notice than break down somewhere.

God created our souls to run like a perfectly tuned engine: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). We are God’s possession and he wants to keep us running well. But, he also waits for us to respond to the warnings and bring our cars to the shop!

THE DEALER HAS THE BEST SERVICE DEPARTMENT

A lot of places can do routine maintenance. It’s fairly easy to find someone who can change wiper blades, replace an air filter, or rotate the tires. But, if something inside the engine is not working, we know the dealership has the most specialized care.

We take our souls for weekly maintenance to church or Bible study each week. Don’t you notice how much easier it is to treat people with kindness and put others first after spending time in worship? We are cleaned up and running more smoothly after a helpful sermon and time of worship.

Routine maintenance is essential to almost everything in life. Our souls were meant to run on “daily bread,” our time with God each day. If you are reading this blog post, you are probably someone who understands that we need to keep our souls maintained by the daily disciplines of Bible study and prayers. The daily maintenance means we can keep our lives running more smoothly, and Sundays are a great boost to our daily routines. But, there are times when things in life require more help than our routines provide.

My car has a need for significant maintenance at certain mileage markers. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and rarely “good news.” But, I pay the price because it almost guarantees I will avoid the breakdowns. When the dealer tells me I need to do significant maintenance, I do it.

Our Dealer knows what is needed in our lives. He manufactured us and knows what is necessary to keep us running. It is good to know we need regular maintenance and care for our souls that way. But, when was the last time you submitted your soul for the more complete work, the work that only the dealer can accomplish?

That kind of maintenance will come at a cost. It will cost you more time and effort and will be more of a sacrifice than just a Sunday morning service or daily devotions. When is the last time you left your regular routine to spend a significant time away with the Lord?

If things aren’t running smoothly in your life, it could be time to take more time and submit your life to the One who created it.

Jesus was preaching, healing, and creating a great stir in the synagogues. The Pharisees had begun to take notice of him and Luke wrote that “they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus” (Luke 6:11). Jesus, our example, knew he needed God’s divine wisdom and help. Luke writes, “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God” (v. 12).

Even as I type those words I feel a sense of conviction. When last did I retreat from the world and my daily routines to spend an extended amount of time with God?

Is it time for the “extended maintenance?”

The dealer/manufacturer will need us for more time in order to do more work, and it will require a greater cost. But, have you ever noticed how much better your car runs after those times of maintenance? Our souls will experience greater benefits as well.

ONE CAR WILL LAST A LIFETIME

I’m not sure how many cars I will drive in my lifetime. I was in my forties when I bought my first new car. I kept it a decade, did all the suggested maintenance, and it never did break down. I’m now driving my second version of that car! My ’67 Chevy will always be dear to my heart because it was my first car and I worked hard to be able to buy it. But, I’m glad I can drive a better car these days, and I am careful to take good care of it.

We only have one soul because that is all we will ever need. The first choice we ever made was to allow Jesus to buy our souls back for God, from the world. But, for the rest of our lives, we will choose to maintain what Jesus bought and has promised to continue to make new.

We have been given one life, but it is all we need if it is eternal. I’m so glad I exchanged my old ’67 Chevy for something better. I’m glad I exchanged my old life for something better as well. My soul is eternal, and I want it to run as well as possible on earth and in heaven. I’m glad for the warning lights that remind me when maintenance is needed. It’s good to know life will run more smoothly with his care.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). One day these cars of ours will roll through the pearly gates and we will realize they are “maintenance free.”

Until then, we need help from our mechanic. He is waiting to care for our souls. Do you need to do some routine maintenance or schedule an extended visit? He is always at work and always able to get you back on the road.

But, we also have a lot to look forward to. One day when our journey is complete, it will feel great to pull into the garage, see my dad and my Dad, and know I am safely and forever, home!

Warmer times

In many ways, Texas recently became a parable for our culture.

During our long freeze, the weatherman promised the sun would return in a week, but the news anchor couldn’t predict when the power would be restored. Most of us were much more interested in the electricity than the weatherman’s promise for the coming week.

And that is a parable for those of us who want to share our faith.

Our best answer, the one we could count on, was a week away. Even still, we were less interested in the long-term answer because that power didn’t make promises for the moment, just the future. And, we need to hear many of God’s promises with that same perspective.

It was a tough week, and now things are better. The weatherman was right, and we are glad. I’ve spent the month writing about God’s voice and our need to listen.

What are the lessons from last week’s parable?

GOD OFFERS PERSPECTIVE

All of us go to God for today’s needs. Jesus taught us to pray for “our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). But Jesus also taught, “ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Jesus promised us his peace, but he also promised we would need it. This world is going to freeze again. Spring is coming, but so is another February.

It is so important to seek God’s voice for our lives, not just our days. His answers sometimes take years to receive or realize. Listening for God’s wisdom requires God’s perspective. Scripture, prayer, and God’s Holy Spirit can provide strength for the moments of our lives, but often his most important instruction is for eternal—not present—circumstances.

GOD WILL ALWAYS CONSIDER EVERYONE

The people in charge of the Texas power grid cut power to millions for a time so that everyone would have power in the future. Texas reserved power for those who needed it most. And those of us who did without were reminded of all we tend to take for granted.

But even when it got down to forty-something degrees in my kitchen, I was glad that my kids, and their kids, were warm. I was glad the hospitals had power. I was glad the cold was only for a week. And I was especially glad that the people who knew a lot more than me were responsible for making the tough choices.

I imagine it was a tremendously difficult decision for those who cut the power to people’s homes, knowing it was freezing outside. But, they did what was best, not what was easy.

God has a unique love for each of us. He has a plan for every life. And only God has the ability to take care of everyone forever. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Ash Wednesday got lost in the snow. But Cynthia Izaguirre, a Dallas newscaster, did her best to remind people things would get better and why. She closed the broadcast on Ash Wednesday, not with words of hope about electricity, but with words of eternal hope.

GOD’S WARMTH

I felt much warmer and much safer when our power was restored. I still wake up and smile because I know my coffee pot is out there and ready to go! I took a lot of things for granted, and I know I will likely take them for granted again.

But today, I am grateful.

The people in charge of the grid should have been better prepared. Hopefully, by the time February rolls around again, they will be. A lot of us in Texas had a bad week. Others will have a bad year trying to repair the damage. Still others lost their lives. The Texas power grid couldn’t thaw the snow or protect us, but the sun did. And that might be the biggest lesson from last week’s story.

The warmth God brought through the sun is what caused the snow to melt. Electricity kept us safe in our homes, but God’s provision is what enabled us to get back to normal. Last week was rough; this week is wonderful. And so goes life on this side of heaven.

The power grid restored my heat, but it was God who brought warmth. The weatherman knew what he could promise last week and he did. The news anchor couldn’t promise electricity, but she could promise hope.

LESSONS FROM THE GREAT THAW

I can promise God is speaking, guiding, and directing the path of those who trust in him. I am like the weatherman who can make promises that depend on the truth of God’s creation and character, found in the truth of God’s word. It would have been wrong for those in the news to promise our heat would return quickly. That depended on people being able to fix the problems.

What can we learn about God through what we have experienced?

We should never underestimate the power of warmth. For many years, we have been making strong arguments by using strong language to share God’s truth. We have been trying to present a powerful, united front to the world and hope our politics would legislate morality. We have been trying to build bigger and better churches, thinking that such an effort would attract people to God.

But, the end result is a power grid that failed. Our ideas and best-laid plans might provide a momentary fix, but it isn’t God’s solution. Our culture needs warmth because our culture needs disciples. People aren’t left in the cold when they are led to the Son.

We are like the weatherman. We can’t create God’s answers; we only report his hope. We have to be careful not to promise for this life what God has not promised.

JESUS PROMISED

Jesus promised tribulation. Jesus promised his peace. Jesus promised we could live with hope. Jesus promised our hope would one day be our reward.

Until then, we are to accept the storms, endure the cold, and wait for the warmth. It always returns. Mostly, we are to use our lives to lead as many people to the Son as we possibly can.

One last “report” from a “weatherman”: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Don’t just read that verse today; hear Jesus speak his promise to you.

God speaks to servants who listen.

Allow God’s truth to warm your soul until your hope becomes his reward.

Temper TV with Truth

I’ve decided the best way to temporarily treat my temper is to temper the television and totally take in truth instead. I need to take time for my temperament.

“Fake TV” has political implications, but, let’s face it: TV has more fake than fact these days.

Let’s take the Monday morning news as Example A.

One hour of Tabloid TV

The coronavirus has spread to Italy, and, sadly, there have been two related deaths. The morning news showed an empty store shelf, a person wearing a mask, and a check station at the border.

The coronavirus is, without a doubt, scary. But, did the media accurately reflect Italy’s reaction? Are people truly in a state of panic, or did most of the Italian population get up this morning and go to work as usual? Is the coronavirus an apocalyptic threat or just this year’s dangerous virus?

If the television is the only news, we should all be moving to a cave in Colorado to avoid the impending dangers and doom of the virus.

JLo (a.k.a. Jennifer Lopez) has issued a “bikini challenge,” which is going viral. Apparently, we are all supposed to take selfies while wearing a bathing suit and then post them on social media. This is supposed to make us feel better about ourselves.

JLo looks good in a bikini, and she should be proud. That said, is that really what should make her feel great about herself? She is working hard to look good for her upcoming wedding. But there is more to the story. This will be JLo’s fourth wedding. The other three didn’t work out too well. Yet, the morning news raved over the positive message that her “bikini challenge” was having on the internet.

Donald Trump drew large crowds in India. The news anchor issued the report in front of gigantic images of Joe Biden that had been erected near the stadium. Again, this isn’t a political message. I just think we need to be aware of the fact that if people only watch TV for their news, they are missing a lot of truth.

And it was reported that the entire cast of the show Friends has been signed to do a one-hour reunion program. Each cast member will be paid in excess of $2.5 million. The reporter was giddy at the prospect of watching that show, which will need to be streamed/paid for by viewers. Because, after all, $2.5 million for each actor has to come from somewhere.

But, should that show reflect what friendship means to our culture, or is there a more truthful example?

Truth transcends

For most of us, today is just another day of our lives. But that truth isn’t on TV because it just doesn’t sell a lot of ads.

We are addicted to rumors, suggestions, and temporary trivia. Facts are free, and, most of the time, aren’t found on the television these days. If you have a few reputable websites, you can know those facts in a short amount of time and move on with your day. That isn’t good news for network TV.

Our culture used to gather the news in an hour of evening viewing. Now, the news appears differently on each channel. A lot of it is called “breaking news,” even if we’ve already heard about it. There isn’t a lot of time for accurate details because about half of every news broadcast’s time slot is used for commercial messages.

And, for those of us living in Texas, there is no reason for a ten-day weather forecast. If the meteorologist were completely truthful, they would put a question mark on everything past the third day. Reporting weather in this state should be done by saying, “My best guess is . . . .”

Scripture provides an important message for everyone in our culture. Truth transcends television tabloid trivia every time. Our temperament is impacted by the way we consume our information.

Shouldn’t we be careful to consume truth?

Temper trivia with Truth

Paul told his protégé, Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

And Jesus appeared to John on the island of Patmos and said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5).

We own the apocalyptic truth. Jesus told John to write it down for us.

I will continue to listen to the news but not as often as I have in the past. I actually dread the “ugly” of the upcoming campaign season. So why should we listen to those ads when we have a mute button on our remotes? Why should we care about the body image of the JLo’s in this world?

We need to care about their souls.

Why should we worry about a virus when we know that life in this world is just a temporary journey home?

Do we care more about the disease causing death, or about the fact that some of those dying might not live forever?

Temper the TV with Truth

Do you believe that TV has more fake than fact these days? The television networks can’t survive on truth because it isn’t titillating.

Or is it?

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
“Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off” (Proverbs 24:14).

A timely temperament

Paul told Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3).

Scripture always tells the truth. That “time” Paul was talking about has come. We are living his words every day. So it is time to take time for our temperament.

Does the news cause us concern for ourselves or for those who don’t know the truth?

Let’s temper the TV with truth.

Equally important will be tending to our temperaments. We have the “sound teaching” that Paul was talking about. But, do our lives and temperaments earn us the chance to speak it?

Paul told us the time was coming, and it came. All Scriptures, including that one, are true. That’s good news!

Who will you be able to share the truth of God’s word with this week? The word gospel means good news.

I’m praying that all of us will look forward to our opportunities to share truth with our culture that isn’t getting it from their TVs. But then, God always intended for that job to belong to his kids anyway.

Have a great week!

Christian-ish

A friend called me this week with a few questions about a Bible study app that she and her child were doing together. It is popular and very well done. But, there were a few flags in terms of what was taught, or rather, what was not taught. She just had a bit of a catch about some points of theology that were omitted rather than addressed.

There are some popular television shows called Black-ish and Mixed-ish. Truthfully, I’ve not seen either one, but I understand the premise has to do with children who are not fully one race or another and the cultural issues they have with their identity.

I think Christians have some issues in our culture as well. It is less common to take firm positions on theology today because we feel the need to blend well with our culture.

Christian-ish seems to describe a lot of God’s people today.

Confident or Christian-ish?

It’s difficult for people to navigate their faith in a world where the “correct” position is often an “ishy” position. In other words, it’s not fully the truth, but it’s not untruthful either.

Is it a good idea to position ourselves as people who are confidently Christian, or is Christian-ish a better way? Do we catch more flies with honey than vinegar?

Yes, if you want to catch insects.

But what if the game is baseball?

An outfielder is supposed to catch flies as well, but honey and vinegar have nothing to do with his job. So, the right answer involves understanding which game we are playing. We need to figure out if we ought to be catching bugs or baseballs.

The flies-and-honey saying is about popularity. We will catch more insects if we put together a mixture that sweetens the truth just a bit. So, we edit the Bible stories with a happier ending and leave out some of the tougher parts. We teach that God loves everyone, which is true, but we might choose to omit the Bible verses that point out the fact that God will judge everyone as well.

The problem is, bugs are pretty easy to squish. Faith based on partial truth might not hold up well under pressure.

The “flies” in baseball are really a better analogy for evangelism.

An outfielder knows that, if he drops the ball, it might cost a bunch of people the win. There isn’t a very large margin for error. An outfielder needs to know the entire field to do his job. There are other players, walls, wind, and the glare of the sun that have to be factored in. The whole truth of Scripture isn’t as easy to present or accept—but understanding the game and learning to play it well makes all the difference.

Catching baseballs requires a lot more effort than catching bugs, but baseballs are almost impossible to squish.

Christian-ish is a blended faith

The word Christian-ish describes a person who wants to blend the rules of their faith with other things.

It is easy to want to be Christian-ish because that kind of faith doesn’t usually offend, and we are less likely to be called narrow-minded.

But, Christian-ish isn’t a pure faith.

Most importantly, Christian-ish is not an option the Bible can support.

Truth-ish isn’t an option.

Psalm 119:160 says, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”

Rewriting the rules of Scripture to try to make them “sweeter sounding” is not effective evangelism. God’s rules are “righteous,” and it is the sum total of Scripture that is the whole truth.

Paul told the early Christians in Ephesus “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

Christian-ish might suggest we blend biblical truth with what the culture believes is true. Paul taught the early church not to alter the truth because our faith needs to “grow up in every way.” We can’t soften the truth so Paul said we needed to soften our delivery of the truth.

We need to speak God’s word motivated by his love.

The Mixed-ish Samaritans

Jesus traveled through Samaria one day and stopped to get water at Jacob’s well.

The Samaritans were considered “mixed-ish” in Jesus’ day. Many were both Jew and Gentile, genetically and spiritually.

The woman was surprised when Jesus spoke to her. John 4:9 says, “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” But, Jesus wasn’t interested in the woman’s “genetics.” He was interested in her soul.

So he led her to understand the truth about her identity with God, which had nothing to do with cultural perceptions. He told her that he wanted to give her and her family the water that would “become in [them] a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

Jesus then told the Samaritan woman, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23).

I think Jesus would tell our Christian-ish culture the exact same thing.

Pure truth in worship

God is looking for true worshippers who will worship in spirit and truth.

Are we worshipping the God of the universe or a version of God that seems more acceptable to people?

Do we worship as we are directed by others or as we are led by the Holy Spirit within?

Are we learning truth or a “sweetened” version of the truth?

Going forward, we will all need to listen to what is said, and especially to what is not said, to determine if we are receiving a message that is Christian or Christian-ish. We might need to take every message back to God’s word to decide if it was true or “kinda” true.

And, when we want to share God’s word with others, we will need to share the pure truth, with pure love. We want to bring people to heaven who have matured into strong, “unsquishable” believers.

Playing the right game matters

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The game is not about catching insects with sweeter words; it’s about catching baseballs with truth and talent.

And playing the right game matters eternally.

Christian-ish seems like a sweeter, more popular way to evangelize, but it’s a game played on the wrong field. And “no one comes to the Father” through partial truth. His word is “the truth” that leads to “the life.”

Let’s all make sure we are trying to catch the right “flies” today using the right methods.

The game is clear—and the final score matters forever.