Cornerstone

“A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” 1 Peter 2:8

Imagine exploring the ruins of an ancient city. The tour guide leads you over piles of rubble and beneath cracked archways. When you pause to snap some photos, the group moves on without you. You race to catch up and trip over something. Rubbing your bruised knees, you look for what made you stumble. A huge bolder juts from beneath the rubble. You dust it off and read the ancient inscription that tells you this was the first stone laid in this once-massive cathedral. The entire structure had rested upon the strength and accuracy of this cornerstone. The rest of the stones had crumbled and fallen.  You could kick them out of the way, but not the cornerstone. It was settled deep into the earth and immovable. If you wanted to examine it, you must do so right where it was. It would not move for you. You must move for it.

Jesus is like that Cornerstone. He is the Truth, and Truth does not move out of the way for our sensitivities or preferences. To those who love Him, He is our strength. An immovable fortress. But because Jesus will not change to accommodate us, those who refuse to conform to His will find Him offensive. A stumbling block. People who want to define truth for themselves stumble over His absolutes and His right to be Lord. Like an ancient cornerstone, truth will not change to fit our parameters. Jesus is who He is—either a great comfort or a great offense. We either stumble over Him or embrace Him.

  

 Each of us must decide whether Jesus is our cornerstone 

or a stumbling block. 

Who is He to you?

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Power Source

“…stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

The directions on the box said to press the red button and the blender would come on. You’ve been pressing it for 20 minutes and nothing. Frustration takes over and you stuff it back into the box, grab your receipt, and head to the store. “This thing doesn’t work!” you inform the puzzled clerk. “I did exactly what the instructions said to do and nothing. I want my money back.” The clerk opens the box, takes out the blender, and plugs it in. The motor hums to life while embarrassment washes over you. “Did you plug it in?” the clerk asks. Red-faced, you back out of the store with your perfectly fine blender, hoping you never see the clerk again. There was nothing wrong with the blender or the instructions. You just forgot where the power came from.

Sometimes we forget where our spiritual power comes from. Imagine how bewildered the disciples felt when Jesus told them to stay in the city. What? Hadn’t He just told them to go into the world and preach the gospel? They were ready to go! But Jesus knew something they did not know: only the power of God can transform a life. He does not rely upon coercion, persuasive words, or beautiful music to convict, heal, and save. It would be the Holy Spirit who built the church, working through lives surrendered to Him. If Jesus’ followers had not waited upon that power, their efforts would have been in vain.

Are you plugged in? Wait on the Holy Spirit to do His work through you. The results will astound you.

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Disciple Maker

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Matthew 28:19

When a mom teaches her daughter how to cook, she is making a disciple. When a teenage boy practices the moves of his favorite football player, or a preteen girl dresses and acts like a pop star, they are becoming disciples. A disciple is a disciplined follower. We become disciples of whatever holds our focus—whether good or bad. We start to resemble our heroes, and we can also resemble our enemies unless forgiveness has taken away their power to mold us. When Jesus told His disciples to go and make other disciples, He was implying a lot more than we often realize.

 Notice what Jesus did NOT tell them to do. He was not interested in a “show of hands” responding to the leading question: “Who wants to go to heaven when you die?” He never mentioned praying a prayer or “asking Jesus into your heart.” Those are catchy little phrases that we sometimes mistakenly substitute for Jesus’ real command to make disciples. He had often said that following Him would not be the easy path (Matt. 7:13-14). He warned His listeners to “count the cost” before deciding what He was worth to them (Luke 14:25-33). Only those who were willing to recognize what Peter recognized could become disciples. The eleven followers on the hillside that day would eventually be martyred for their faith. They had counted the cost of following and considered Jesus worth it. Before we can make disciples, we must BE disciples. Only then does the church grow and flourish.

What is Jesus worth to you? What has He asked you to forsake in order to make disciples of others?

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Who Do You Say?

 

“…I tell you, you are Peter, 

and on this rock I will build my church.” Mathew 16:18

He started out as Simon the fisherman. Then he became Simon, disciple of Jesus. But when Jesus asked him the question: “Who do you say that I am?” Simon’s answer—“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”—changed him into Peter the Rock. With that declaration, Peter’s heart changed. He recognized Jesus as more than a cool Rabbi who did miracles and fed people. He was more than a great guy, an awesome teacher, or even a prophet. Peter’s statement became the foundation for the church. Every person who desires to become a part of that church must have the same change of heart.

Many people assume they are right with God because they consider the Bible “an amazing Book” and revere Jesus as a “wonderful teacher.” But going to a building once a week does not make someone part of God’s church. The church is made up of people who have seen Jesus for who He really is and handed ownership of their lives to Him. C. S. Lewis echoed the declaration that turned Simon into Peter: “You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” Peter’s declaration transformed a group of fishermen and tax collectors into world-changers. When we surrender our lives to that declaration, it transforms us too.

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Who Did It?

Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon… because my Father… has revealed this to you." Matt.16:17

The clubhouse was perfect—or so it seemed to a couple of eight-year-old boys. But a wild spring storm turned their plywood masterpiece into a tangled heap of broken lumber and rusty nails. The next day, Dad saw the problem and offered his skill and a garage full of power tools. Before nightfall, the boys had the clubhouse of their dreams with real windows, solid doors, and shiny hinges. They called all their friends to show off what their Dad had done. They didn’t even try to take the credit for it, because they had seen what happened to their best efforts. They understood that the only reason they possessed such a fabulous treasure was because Dad did it.

That’s exactly what Jesus said to Simon. Simon had just aced the pop quiz about salvation, and was feeling pretty good about it. But before he could get puffed up over his superior knowledge, Jesus reminded him that the only way he could have understood those things was because Dad did it. Simon’s own ability to understand would be revealed a few verses later when he tried to stop what Jesus came to do (v. 21-23). It was the Father who enabled Simon to understand who Jesus really is, and it is that same Father who enables us to respond to the knowledge He gives us.

We can humbly gain knowledge when we recognize that comprehension is ours only because Dad did it.

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Trustworthy

A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. Proverbs 11:13

After 18 years of marriage, Doug walked away. “I just couldn’t trust her,” he said. “She was always mad that I wouldn’t talk to her, and I don’t, because she would tell things I’d told her in confidence. I can’t stay married to someone I can’t trust.” Barry had the opposite problem. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Gossip was to him the juiciest morsel, a way of gaining attention. When he knew something about someone, all eyes were on him and for just a brief moment, he felt important. What he didn’t know was that no one wanted to get very close to him. Everyone feared betrayal. In the end, the very thing both Doug’s wife and Barry most desired—intimate relationships—they could never find.

We don’t like to think of ourselves as gossips, so we camouflage our delight with spiritual terminology. We share the secrets of others disguised as “prayer requests” or asking for advice. What we don’t realize is that when we do that regularly, we develop a reputation for being untrustworthy. People may enjoy hearing our juicy news, but they will refrain from sharing their lives with us for fear we will gossip about them. Even in families, there are private issues that deserve respect. Each member needs to know that his or her private lives, mistakes, and challenges will be kept private by the rest of the family. A family should be a safe place where each member can fall, get back up, and start over without the whole world knowing about it.

How trustworthy are you? Is your home a safe place where everyone’s private lives are protected?

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On or Off

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding... Proverbs 3:5

Jim sat in the open doorway of a plane, one foot inside and one planted firmly on the ground. He grabbed a magazine and smiled at the flight attendant headed toward him. She was not smiling. "Sir, you really must come inside or the pilot cannot take off. We won't get anywhere with you like that." Jim lifted a brow. "It’s OK. I’ll just ride like this. I don't understand aerodynamics very well. This hunk of steel staying in the air seems impossible to me. Plus, I'm not sure the pilot knows how to get where we're going, so I’d rather keep one foot on the ground just in case." The flight attendant wouldn’t budge. "Sir, we won't be flying low enough for you to jump out. Either get all the way on the plane or get off. You can't have it both ways." 

 

Trusting God is like that. Trust means we let go of our right to control a situation. If we want to trust in the Lord, we cannot also lean on our own understanding. Even when we can’t trust a person, we can trust God with the relationship. We don’t always understand God’s ways, and we’re afraid he doesn't know how to get where we want to go. So we keep one foot on our own understanding while pretending to trust Him. We want an escape route in case we don't like where this is going. It won’t work. God is nobody's co-pilot. We are trusting either in Him or in ourselves. We can’t have it both ways.   

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