Week 20: Love Your Neighbor

"The entire law is summed up in a single command. Love your neighbor as yourself." ~ Gal. 5:14


It's the halfway point of The James 1:22 Project, with twenty weeks down and twenty weeks to go. Let's get to last week's command---loving your neighbor.

Blessed Are the Merciful

I've been thinking a lot about the parable of the good Samaritan---Luke 10:25-37. A lawyer asks Jesus how a person should act who wants to find mercy at the judgment day. Jesus says that those who receive mercy will be those who loved God with everything and loved their neighbors as themselves. The lawyer asks, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus answers with the story of the good Samaritan. A man lies in a ditch, having been beaten and robbed. A priest and a Levite see the man but pass by without helping. They are religious men, but their religion is empty. They're all about ceremony at the temple, but they won't interrupt their lives to help somebody in need. The Samaritan, on the other hand, comes from a misguided religious tradition. His doctrine isn't sound. But, his heart is right. His faith is real. He has a heart of compassion, and he acts on it. The Samaritan is the one who is merciful, and he is the one who will receive mercy. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7.

It's important to understand that this isn't salvation by works. We don't earn mercy by being merciful. Mercy is evidence of our faith and trust in God. Mercy is evidence of God working in our lives. Those who put their faith and trust in God will be merciful and will receive mercy.

Crossing the Lawn

I thought about making some grand gesture in response to this command. Logan, my seven-year old, suggested that we should invite everybody in the neighborhood to our house for my world famous grilled cheeseburgers. I seriously considered it. I think, however, that God's not calling me to a single big act, but rather calling me to a life that chooses relationships over my agenda and over my comfort.

If I would see my neighbor laying in a ditch beaten and bloodied, I'm sure that I would help him. My problem is that my neighbor might be laying in a ditch, and I wouldn't notice. I'm task oriented. I tend to go through life with my head down, thinking about the next item on my mental to-do list. God is convicting me that I need to slow down and look around. I need to cross the yard to my neighbor and start a conversation. Whatever my next project is, it can wait a few minutes. Maybe he's not in a ditch physically, but is in an emotional or spiritual ditch. How will I know, if I'm too busy to talk to him?

The other thing that often prevents me from observing this command is that I love my own comfort too much. For example, if somebody invites us over for dinner on a Sunday evening, my first instinct is to make excuses why I can't go. "It's been a hard week at work (or, it's going to be), and I need a quiet evening at home." "If we're out late tonight, then the boys will be tired and crabby tomorrow." "The game's on, and I haven't seen a ballgame since last week." "It's such a long drive to their house." Sometimes, by God's grace, I overcome those objections. I need to overcome them more often and more consistently choose relationships over my comfort.

Just a Beginning

This last week was about doing a few simple things. God gave me a few opportunities to choose relationship over agenda and comfort and then the Spirit nudged me the right direction. I did cross my lawn a couple times to start conversations with a neighbor. A Sunday evening dinner invitation came along at the last minute. I would usually find a way to get out of it, but I felt the Spirit nudge me to go for it. I also have some very dear friends with a daughter in the hospital, and I was blessed to visit them this week and be encouraged by their faithfulness. It is a Christian truism that if God commands us to do something, He will give us what we need to obey. I've always thought of that as having do with resources; God will give us the resources to obey Him. I think that's true. I'm realizing, however, that almost always when God commands something in His word He will also put before us opportunities to obey Him.

Answering the Call to a Life of Love, Mercy and Compassion

Choosing relationship over agenda and comfort is just a beginning. There is much more to this command. God is calling us to a life of love, mercy and compassion. Once again, I am convicted that I can't fulfill God's commands on my own but only by God's grace and mercy. I love the way John Piper answers the question, "How do we become a merciful people?"

"The mercy that God blesses is itself the blessing of God. It grows up like fruit in a broken heart and meek spirit and soul that hungers and thirsts for God to be merciful. Mercy comes from mercy. Our mercy for each other comes from God's mercy to us.

The key to becoming a merciful person is to become a broken person. You get the power to show mercy from the real feeling in your heart that you owe everything you are and have to sheer divine mercy. Therefore, if we want to become merciful people, it is imperative that we cultivate a view of God and ourselves that helps us to say with all our heart that every joy and virtue and distress of our lives is owing to the free and undeserved mercy of God."

I pray that God's mercy, His Word, and His Spirit would create in me a merciful heart.

Father is the Christian Name for God

I came across this quote from J.I. Packer last week. It's from his wonderful book Knowing God. It isn't directly related to The James 1:22 Project, but I find it so smart and wise and helpful that I wanted to share it.

“You sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God. Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.”

J.I. Packer

Also, if you receive these posts by e-mail and haven't checked out the web site recently, then maybe you've missed some additions and updates to The James 1:22 Project site. There are several new links on the sidebar and new ways to explore the site and to connect to some of my friends and favorite links.

Week 19: Offer a Sacrifice of Praise

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise---the fruit of lips that confess his name." Hebrews 13:15

I was in Alaska last week for work. I had reserved the "praise" command to coincide with the trip. I imagined myself surrounded by snow-capped mountains and waterfalls, being inspired by the glory of the creation to praise the Creator. I was set to leave St. Louis early on Monday and was due to be in Alaska by early evening surrounded by scenic wonders and praising my heart out.

Things didn't go as planned. My scheduled flight was cancelled. I didn't arrive in Alaska until almost midnight, and the flight the airline gave me turned out to be a nightmare. The first leg was St. Louis to Detroit, scheduled to depart at 3:30 pm. We boarded on time but sat on the runway until almost 5 pm so that we arrived late in Detroit forcing me to sprint to make my connection. Then we sat on the runway in Detroit for over an hour before taking off. On the flight from Detroit to Anchorage, I was seated directly in front of a couple with a sick and constantly barking dog that pooped on itself about one-hour into the six-hour flight. Who brings a sick dog on an airplane? The smell caused somebody nearby to get sick and throw-up. For the next five hours, my plane-mates and I were subjected to a barking dog and the re-circulated odor of dog poop and throw-up. I had started the day with a pinched nerve in my neck, and it felt more and more painful as the day went on.

About three hours into the Detroit to Anchorage leg, God reminded me that my assignment for the week was to "continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise." I prayed one of those really transcendent spiritual prayers. Something like: "Really, God? My neck is killing me. I'm tired and uncomfortable. I'd like nothing more than to open the emergency hatch and kick that dog off the plane, and I'm supposed to offer you praise right now? What is this---cosmic candid camera?" And, then, I started really thinking about my assignment.

The command to praise "continually" comes from the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews was written to a people that had suffered. They had been insulted and persecuted. They had been robbed of their possessions. Hebrews 10:32-39. And still, they had endured and kept confidence in God. God commanded these people to continually offer to Him a sacrifice of praise. God doesn't want praise that is conditioned on our comfort or circumstances. God is always a good Father, and He's always good to us. He's there in the midst of hardship, using it to discipline and mature us. Just one chapter before giving the command to praise continually, the author of Hebrews says: "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his Father? . . . God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness." Hebrews 12:7, 10.

God is the same good Father whether we are comfortably driving down a beautiful scenic mountain road listening to worship music (like I was on Tuesday morning) or stuffed into a too small airplane seat for six hours with a stiff neck and a stinkin' dog in the next seat. In the midst of that awful flight, God reminded me that He was still sovereign and in control of my circumstances. It's not that we're supposed to praise God despite difficult circumstances. We don't go through life with blinders on trying to ignore the hardships. In a misguided effort to give God a pass on the difficulties that we face, we should never suppose that God is passive and uninvolved in every aspect of our lives. Rather, we're supposed to praise Him in the midst of difficult circumstances, understanding that God is still in control and that He is using all things for our good to make us more like Jesus. Romans 8:28-29. When I was on that flight, God wasn't just sitting back passively watching me suffer. He was there, using a bit of minor short-lived hardship to teach me and to impress upon my heart something profound. That is worth praising God about, and I do thank Him and praise Him for an important lesson so easily learned.

I did finally make it to Alaska. I had a very nice day sight seeing on Tuesday, and the trip home went very smoothly. Thank God! Here are a few pictures from the trip.

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The morning after "the flight," I had breakfast at the Snow City cafe. The omelet was truly praiseworthy!






Anchorage is surrounded by ocean and mountains, so it doesn't take much driving to see some spectacular scenery. My sight-seeing day was overcast, but Alaska was still amazing. I don't have the talent or the camera to capture the beauty of it, but here are some pictures of those snowy mountains.





Here is a ferocious bear. He lives at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center.









Dasher and dancer.

James 1:22 Project Bye Week

Even NFL teams get a week off during the season, and their season is only 17 weeks. I'm slammed at work this week, suffering from a pinched nerve in my neck and between business trips (South Carolina last week and Alaska next). I don't have the time or mental capacity to sit at the computer and blog this week. The project will continue next week. That's a promise. For now, here are some pictures.


Here is Baby Girl Wyatt as of June 1, 2010. Only about FIVE weeks until we meet her. We've narrowed the search for a name to two possibilities---Julia Leigh or Cora Leigh. Neither was in the original baby name poll, so I'm putting up a new poll today. It's a toss up for us. This poll could be the deciding factor, so don't forget to vote! Just scroll down the right side of the blog to find the poll.





Below is Herbie the Wonderdog. He's been with us for about two months now and is already part of the family. Ain't he cute?

Week 18: Think About Such Things

"Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." ~ Phil. 4:8

Over the last eighteen weeks, I've realized something rather shocking about the New Testament---shocking to me, at least. The New Testament commands are no less demanding than the law of the Old Testament.

By the time Paul was writing his New Testament epistles, the Jews had summed up all of the Old Testament law into 613 commands. On top of that, the rabbis added their own regulations. It was impossible to keep all of the law and attempting to do so was a burdensome way of life. It's a mistake, though, to think that God requires less of us through the New Testament.

God still commands every part of our lives. He commands our feelings, thoughts, speech and actions. He commands how we relate to Him, to our families, to our Christian brothers and sisters, and to the world. He has a plan and purpose for every moment of our days. For a Christian, there is strictly speaking no free time. There is time to rest and time to play, but only because God has appointed such times.

Our failure to live up to God's standard is inevitable. We can't achieve righteousness through commandment keeping. So, what is the purpose of God's commands? To convict us. Paul said, "I would not have known what sin was except through the law." Romans 7:7. That's no mere abstract theological point. It's concrete and personal. God commands you and I because He loves us and His commands are good for us, but He also commands us in order to convict us of our sinfulness.

I've never felt God's conviction so acutely as in the last eighteen weeks. I don't think we fully feel God's conviction about our sinfulness until we get serious about His commands. We don't completely appreciate our inadequacy and inability to live up to God's standard until we've diligently tried to do so. It's not our obedience that draws us closer to God. All of our efforts can't get us one bit closer to God---only by God's grace can we approach Him with confidence. It's our failure that brings us to a place of Christ dependent faith, which is the channel through which God's grace flows to us. Ultimately, it's God's grace that brings us closer to Him.

I don't mean to suggest that God is setting us up for failure or that the only purpose for God's commands is to cause us to fail. When we sometimes succeed in clumsily, reluctantly, imperfectly obeying God, we find that God, also by His grace, rewards us. God doesn't guarantee that obedience will produce an easy life. No doubt, however, it is better to obey.

What I'm getting around to saying is that God truly succeeded at using my failure this last week to convict me of my total dependence on Jesus. For week eighteen of The James 1:22 Project, I was supposed to think about certain things---things that are right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. God cares what we think about. He has, of course, every right to command our thoughts, and many of His commands involve our thoughts. He doesn't want our minds cluttered with sinful thoughts, and thus He commands us to fill our minds with good things.


For the most part, I failed miserably at this one. My brain was as cluttered as usual with unholy thoughts---thoughts of worry, dissatisfaction, anger, and lust. I take away two small insights about this command.

• First, it's a positive commandment. Sometimes, God tells us what not to think about, but here we're commanded to think about certain things. I find that very helpful. Have you ever tried to not think about something? Right now, try hard not to think about a pink elephant! It's far easier to clean your mind up by filling it with something good, than by merely attempting to flush out bad thoughts.

• Second, the command is not limited to spiritual things or holy things. We're commanded to think about whatever is good or admirable or excellent, and so on and so forth. So, I think we can fulfill the command by prayer or meditation on scripture, but also by taking a walk, or watching a favorite wholesome movie, or listening to a favorite song, or reading a good book. The one thing that I found very helpful this week was reading two of my favorite novels---Airman by Eoin Colfer and Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein. There's nothing spiritual or holy about either book, but they're good, clean, fun books that I really enjoyed reading. I find that reading any book that I enjoy (whether or not it has any spiritual content) puts my mind into a state that is more receptive to God and less receptive to the enemy.