Scripture Snapshot - Thinking About Politics

Thinking in the long term, I care about politics because I care about the country and environment my children grow up in.

Psalm 103:17-19 (NIV) - But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children -- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 

But it is God's government that is truly important, no?

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV) - For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

And God's government will only be fully established in Jesus. No point looking to men to establish it or make it work. In other words, put your hope in God, not men!

Psalm 94:20-23 (NKJV) - Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,

Have fellowship with You?
They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.
But the Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge.
He has brought on them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness;
The Lord our God shall cut them off.

Over where I come from, Christians care more about what is legal than what is right. The above passage tells us that God cares about what is right. Condemning the innocent is an abomination to God...

Psalm 75:6-10 (NKJV) - For exaltation comes neither from the east

Nor from the west nor from the south.
But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red;
It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth
Drain and drink down.

But I will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

“All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”

... and eventually there will be a reckoning. We may see evil men in power now, but God will bring them down and raise up other people. So anticipate that process with much prayer!

Psalm 107:39-42 (NKJV) - When they are diminished and brought low

Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow,
He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock.
The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth.

How does God judge princes? By how well the common citizens fare. That is God's heart for the people. Again, we see God's purpose and intent. But it is up to us to pray for it into reality.

Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV) - “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

May this be the acceptable year of the Lord. May your Kingdom come and your will be done, Lord, on earth as it is in heaven!

Recognizing Arrogance

This is the question I received via email.

"Should we recruit experienced worship leaders and musicians who would like to join our worship team from another church which we know they possess arrogance and think that they are better than the leaders of our church?"

Looking at the question, I think the answer is simple: No. Have nothing to do with arrogant people, but rather avoid them. Truly arrogant people cause more damage than they are worth. But how would we recognize people who are arrogant?

What I experienced with my life is this: because I am confident in many things (or at least look confident) and can express my viewpoints strongly, insecure people find me threatening. And they therefore accuse me of being arrogant. That's OK, because it's less dangerous to me than the people who feel threatened by me and hide it until one day they just blow up at me out of nowhere.

That used to happen to me often at one of my previous day jobs. Even though I was so low in the company hierarchy that practically anyone else in the staff could get me fired, I intimidated my immediate manager unknowingly, not by arguing or threatening, but just by how I carried myself day-to-day. So my manager didn't give me the immediate feedback I needed to do better, he just held his feelings in check until he finally blew his top…

So, how do you tell if someone is confident or just arrogant? There are 3 signs to look out for.

1) How they talk to other people:

Psalm 73:6-8 (NIV) -Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

Arrogant people show their true colors in their words. Their words are threatening (as in the above passage) and boastful.

Psalm 75:4 (NIV) - To the arrogant I say, 'Boast no more,' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horns.

The arrogant use their words to attack the righteous (Psalm 31:18) and mock them (Psalm 119:51). They would tell lies (Psalm 119:69) in order to falsely accuse the righteous (Psalm 119:78). In contrast, the confident feel no need to attack other people in order to make themselves look good.

2) How they treat other people:

Exodus 18:10-11 (NIV) - He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."

This passage tells us that God sees the way Pharaoh treated the Israelites as arrogance. The Israelites were subjected to forced labour (Exo 1:11) and their newborn sons were mercilessly killed (Exo 1:22). Why were they so harshly abused? Probably because Pharaoh did not think the Israelites had a God that he was angering with his behaviour (Exo 5:2).

Arrogant people see others as resources to exploit or as threats to be neutralized (Exo 1:10-11), rather than people with the same needs and wants as they have. When you see someone treating others only as resources ("he has money to give me, she can help me get my dream job") or as threats ("I better make sure the boss won't give him MY promotion") you know you have an arrogant person right there.

3) How they respond to instruction and correction

Nehemiah 9:16 (NIV) - But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands.

Nehemiah 9:29 (NIV) - You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.

Sometimes arrogant people put on a façade to get what they want from others. That's why it can be hard to recognize them at times. Here is one more sign of an arrogant person: he or she does not accept teaching or correction.

Watch how a person behaves when given teaching or correction. If he or she accepts it humbly or expresses any disagreement with you in a peaceable way, you know this person is not arrogant. However, if this person despises your words or suggestions, or totally ignores them, you know you have a problem right there.

Conclusion:

You do not need to have arrogant people in your worship team. In fact, it is better to keep them out. If you truly embrace worship ministry as participation, rather than performance (http://invisibleworshipmusician.com/article01.htm), you'll find that you do not need very musically skilled musicians to serve in your church. In my experience it is possible to prepare adults (with no music background) to play keyboards for church within 3-9 months. That's because worship music that works is not technically difficult.

But if you want to keep them out of your worship team, you'll need to be able to recognize them. You'll also need to make sure you don't reject confident people by mistake! Try these guidelines for recognizing arrogant people and let me know how they work for you?

Be blessed!