march is coming in hot at our new church. 2 services on sundays + a group forming for thursday pm. we would love to see you .. why not join us for the first time this sunday?
perhaps?
philemon 15
for perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever
you know that thing where a certain kind of person says ‘God told me to tell you X’ or ‘God wants you to have cancer so you can praise him better’? many people find the lack of nuance annoying, but if you are anything like me, you may wonder deep down how to believe God is really moving in our day + time, while also not assume you know precisely + perfectly what He’s saying.
i’m starting a new set of messages on the short book of Philemon. the story is relatively simple. Onesimus, a bondservant (NT version of slavery) runs away from his master. he ends up in jail and meets the Apostle Paul, who leads him to faith + starts to build him up as a man. when the story of escaping eventually comes tumbling out, they both must have been surprised, because Paul had started a church at Onesimus’s masters house. so Paul writes, appealing for Onesimus to be forgiven + released.
the book has a funny shape, because Paul repeatedly points to his authority, but then says he doesn’t want to use it. he wants to compel Philemon by love. he wants to woo + win him more than give orders.
after describing how much Onesimus has grown as a man + follower of Jesus, Paul is trying to say God used the problem of escape + theft for something good. Paul takes a situation that could easily have a ‘GOD did it label on it’ and gently pushes that forward as an option but doesn’t assume it. he says ‘perhaps.’
the original greek word τάχα means ‘possibly’ or ‘perhaps.’ an option that could be the right option but isn’t required to be certainly the option. Paul saw the situation from his friends side, ‘wait a second, this guy left and stole from me and now you are telling me God was pumped on that because now i’m supposed to forgive and free him?’ … not hard to imagine that would be a hard pill to swallow.
the other reason Paul’s framing is so interesting is because he was writing scripture. i believe every verse is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3) and that Paul was a holy man of God moved along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1). Paul could have claimed certainty, but God inspired him to claim ambiguity for the sake of his hearer.
differently said, Paul didn’t say ‘perhaps’ because he was unsure, but because it was the more loving way to convey his message. i wonder how much more our messages of caution or concern or inspiration would get through to those we care about if we took the time to not need to be certain.
perhaps, things would go our way even more often :)
Last week, it was in the form of an email that went something like this, “your child is a great kid, I enjoy having them in my class but they do this, this and this and I am wondering if you can talk with him so that this behavior is curbed.” This week, it was in the form of a phone call, but similarly looking to make us aware that one of our children is not always choosing great behaviors in class.
Most of you parents out there can say, uh, huh, I’ve been there. It’s almost a right of passage as a parent to have these types of conversations with your child’s teachers. Here’s the truth : we’re all in process. From the moment that we received Jesus Christ as our Savior we were able to taste grace. The rich, sweet taste of grace that reminded us that we didn’t do anything to deserve it and that Jesus paid a great price for us to be able to enjoy it. I wonder if some weeks Jesus would want to ‘send a text’ home and say ‘let’s get on the same page.’
Paul writes this verse to the Philippian church, which is so encouraging. It says, “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
As long as you have breath in your lungs and blood running through your veins, God wants to work in you for His good pleasure. There will be days and weeks that you will feel like you are doing great, you are reading God’s Word, you are praying, you are encouraging those around you and then there will be those days that you just want to crawl in a hole because you realize that you chose sin that has great consequences. Here’s where spiritual maturity comes in; when you recognize that He uses all of it- the good, bad, and even in the suffering to make you more like Himself.
Later in Philippians 1 it says, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” I say that to remind you that if you are in a season of suffering, don’t believe the lie that Satan would want you to, that you are doing something wrong. I think western world Christianity has allowed us to think that suffering means we are getting Christianity wrong. The truth is that suffering is a powerful teacher and while painful as heck it strips out some of the fluff in our life and helps us to recognize what really is important.
Wherever you are on your journey, know that God started a good work in you and He will finish it. Notice that He doesn’t say He might finish it or He will finish it if… but He will bring it to completion at the day of Christ. He is using all the things in your life to draw you close to him, not just the good things but the ‘emails and calls home’ too. He loves you enough to see that those things that make you feel hard pressed have a way of squeezing you to reveal what’s going on inside of you. Your Father in heaven takes great delight in you and your sanctification, remember, anything that touches you goes through His hands first.
Cup of Leadership
but they stopped calling right when i needed them most
but she never even said she was sorry
but you haven’t heard what they said when i wasn’t around
but they ghosted me and all those promises they made
but they acted like it was a contract when they said it was a covenant
but but but but ….
but .. love anyway. try anyway. reach anyway.
now hear me clearly, i’m not advocating for some hippy-style reductionist, let’s just hug + smoke our way to peace nonsense. but i’m also not with the way things are usually done. i can do better.
withholding relationship isn’t right. withholding kind words they are dying to hear isn’t kind. pretending things are fine while holding onto hidden bitterness is counterproductive. layering reason on top of reason why i shouldn’t have to do the simple right thing isn’t good.
just try. answer the text. say ‘i’m sorry we got here.’ reach farther than your flesh wants to.. love anyway.
Saturday Morning Book Review
empire of pain: the secret history of the sackler family — patrick radden keefe
a vividly reported story on the opiod crisis, the reader goes behind the scenes for 3 generations of aggressive pharmaceutical marketing + the belief that doctoral purity is impenetrable. the Sackler family morphed into some of the most important charitable givers + drug king pins in the United States simultaneously. the makers of OxyContin (and a variety of fore bearers) didn’t see their product or marketing as a problem, rather the ‘bad’ people who abused it. the writer compellingly shows a generational desire to bend the rules for max benefit.
the numbers are astonishing. depending on the source, something like half a million people dead and 10-15 million long terms addicts in america alone since 2000. if you have been touched by the opiod crisis, check this out.
news on this story just this week…
Things to Click On
1. a simple new tune that my oldest + i love .. this is how i thank the lord
2. my college friend, neal anderson, writes a monthly leadership newsletter … this month was about generational differences in the workplace. i found it super useful …
have a great weekend…
luke + kristen
Hello to you guys at Good News Weekly! I run the school newspaper at my school in Tennessee through Substack, and I love your content! I'd love to have you guys on the Younger Colors Blog to talk about your publication and what you're about. Shoot me an email at ethan.kline@polk-schools.com if you're interested!
-Ethan Kline of Younger Colors