Across Church Street
Another Roman Road
Recalling the Roman road from suffering to hope.
“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
The 'Roman Road to Salvation' is a collection of verses from Romans—a helpful guide for explaining God's plan of salvation in Jesus.
There's another Roman Road found in the first few verses of Chapter 5—the Roman Road to Endurance, Character, and Hope. Paul lays out Sufferings, Endurance, Character, and Hope as a process—a sort of assembly line, where one thing produces the next thing.
What's noteworthy here is that the thing we all want and need—Hope—is connected to the very thing we try so hard to avoid—Suffering. No one welcomes persecution, the death of a family member, a serious illness or financial setback. But most of us also avoid smaller sufferings: failures, losses, delayed gratification, deferred purchases, exercise, hard conversations, rejection, stillness, even fasts.
Could it be that our avoidance of pain and discomfort, individually and as a society, is connected to poor endurance, questionable character, and a deficit of hope?
Paul gives us a vision for suffering. Even major suffering, while uninvited, can be fertile soil for growth. And those minor sufferings? Maybe we should take more risks, denying our flesh in small ways and allowing our pride to be bruised more often. Paul says this is the key to more endurance, better character, and an abundance of hope.
The ol’ college try
Different people need different approaches to discipleship. Not like the way ‘some people’ do their laundry in college.
Two ways to wash clothes:
Throw everything in together and press 'Start' (like I did in college).
Carefully sort the clothing and use the most appropriate settings for each type.
Two ways to cook a meal:
Throw the ingredients you can find in a pot and apply heat (like I did in college).
Carefully select the best ingredients, add them at the appropriate times, monitor the heat and other conditions, and adjust the pace.
When discipling people, 'the old college try' comes up short. Getting Things Done (GTD) is too blunt. We need to know our people, choose the best materials, offer information and experiences at the right times, and pay attention to context and pace.
Teach my sheep
Feeding the sheep should be more about care than academic instruction.
“Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.””
People will say: "Your job is to feed the sheep." Or, "I'm not being fed here." Knowing what they mean, an image forms in my mind—hundreds of woolly creatures, sitting in rows or circles, being taught by a shepherd about eschatology. Baa.
The Greek word translated 'feed' means tend, keep, and pasture. Jesus' request of Peter has more to do with care than it does instruction. Yes, to live well, sheep—and people—do need to learn a few things: mainly to trust the Shepherd, to know His voice, and not to stray. But the Christian's life is much more about relationship than academic knowledge. We need to be tended. Cared for.
People's criticism may be valid—just often not in the way they mean it.
- love
- friendship
- beauty
- thankful
- attunement
- communion
- discipline
- video
- hope
- hania rani
- holiness
- serving
- seth godin
- dean sherman
- across
- covenant
- music
- eternal life
- justice
- embodiment
- wonder
- gracious
- hesed
- welcome
- poetry
- rest
- image
- brokenness
- disruption
- invitation
- companion mode
- resonance
- steadfast
- observer mode
- framework
- pastoral
- oneness
- caritas
- difference
- shalom
- john stott
- worship
- status
- care
I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.