The Shepherd vs The Teacher

     I remember having a class back in my college days at Cal State University Fullerton, where I was struck by the teachers inability to reach his students.  Now let me begin that I was not the best of students in college (9 years to get a degree), but I remember this teacher in particular because of the "D" grade that I received and, much to my surprise the "D" grade that almost half of the class received.  This particular teacher had a idea that teaching that did not involve counseling or meeting with the students outside of the classroom, especially those who needed help.  The Professor then became to many of us in the class, merely a speaker and not a teacher.  His unwillingness to meet with students, to counsel them, and help them when they struggled became his legacy.  He became one of the most difficult professors to take not because his subject was hard but because he never helped beyond speaking from the front.  The investing into students would have to come from others.  

     

     My brother is just the opposite of this teacher.  I had the opportunity to listen to him speak at Loma Linda University to 2500  students and the bottom line was get involved.  Do something.  If he had spoken of compassion or caring and had not exhibited that in his life or ministry then he would have simply become a speaker not a shepherd or pastor.  As it stands now, my brother and his church in the bay area are feeding the hungry, ministering to the homeless, taking care of the single mother, loving the unwanted, not by waiting from them to come to him but by actively seeking out those in need, counseling them, feeding them, everything that Christ would have done had he lived today.  Our church has always asked the question, "Is our town better because we are in it?"  Are we willing to not just speak from the front but are we willing to meet the people where they are?  This is a challenge for the church as a whole including the leadership, are we willing to reach out and help those who need helping or are we content to become watchers not doers, "standers" not "movers", or speakers not pastors.  We have been blessed with "Pastors" who have come through our church, always willing to meet, counsel and lead not just from the top but also from the bottom.  May we never change from that and become simply teachers and not shepherds.  

A Modern Day Achan

      I have recently had the opportunity to study the story of Achan and how his sin undermined the plan and purpose of the Children of Israel's conqueroring the promise land. If you remember Joshua and his army, along with the people marched around the city of Jericho for seven days and on the last day through a miracle, gave the city over to the Israelites. The people of Jericho were so wicked that God ordered every person, animal and living being to be killed and nothing was to be taken and everything was to be destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth. But Achan had other plans. He saw things that he liked and took them and in doing so doomed Joshua's army to defeat against the people of Ai. The Children of Israel suffered and many died. Sin had entered the camp and until this sin was rooted out, Israel could not move forward. Lucky for them Joshua was a die-hard, commited man of God, sin was dealt with and the Isarelites were able to move once again.

        Sometimes I think how this is very similiar to my life. How much sin do I have buried in the dirt in the back of some tent in my life, and how often do I root it out and deal with it, not often enough. I then started to think that what would have happened to the Children of Israel if Joshua had not decided to deal with Achen and his sin? Would the Israelites still be sitting on the banks of the Jordon river, unable to move any farther than the city of Jericho? Would God have taken Joshua out of the picture and found someone else to do the job? Or would the people have decided that this all was not worth it and headed back to Egypt? How would "undealt" sin affect my life? Would I too become stagnant, unmoving and worthless to God? Would I become stuck in one place, unable to move off the banks of my sin and take the promise that God has given me. And on a greater scale, how would "sin in the camp" affect today's church? Undealt with, would it have the same outcome as the battle for Ai? Would the church become stagnant, unable to move forward? Would the leadership be removed or leave to give way to those who are not willing to compromise with sin?

     Joshua, or rather Achan learned this lesson the hard way, he lost his life. I would like to think that I would be able to "not" follow in Achan's footsteps but rather Joshua's so that the sin in my life would be dealt with and I could move forward. And finally, that the church would recognize that sin in the camp would leave them sitting on the banks of their "Jordon" destined to fight the battle of Ai with the same results time and time again until the leadership was moved to action or was moved to leave.

     

     The story of Achan can be applied to every aspect of today,  through our lives, our families and even our church.  Can we learn this valuable lesson and move on towards the promised land or or are we content to view God's promise from afar never truly dealing with sin in the camp.

October 6, 2008

The Beginning

This is the first of many thoughts that I would love to write down. My first thought is why the title 'The Long Journey Home'? I believe that we are born with a purpose and that purpose is to glorify our Father in heaven. From the moment we are born to the day we die we embark on a day to day, if not hour to hour and sometimes minute to minute adventure filled with happiness, joy, sorrow, hurt, pain, excitement, friends, enemies, aquaintences, kids, spouses, and a myrid of experiences that can either distract us or bring us to the knowledge that all the things listed above amoung a thousand other things can be an opportunity to Glorify God in heaven. This is our . . . my journey, to seek and at times simply recognize those things that God has for us that bring us to glorify Him.
My hope is these letters are able to chronical the events and experiences that come my way, sometimes humorous, or sad and even at times thought provoking but that is up to the reader. And in doing so be able to show my journey home.