Vulnerability

Dr. Brene’ Brown studied the essence of human relations from the perspective of a social worker.  She discovered, much to her chagrin, that at the heart of relationships in vulnerability.  Her research taught her that relationally successful people, labeled “wholehearted” people, have the common trait of being vulnerable to others in their relationship.

The world we live in teaches us that vulnerability is something to be avoided.  We are taught to protect ourselves, don’t take risks, and avoid looking weak.  These lessons are learned from infancy, and we learn them well.  We avoid the sense of vulnerability like it’s the plague.

The problem is that deep relationships depend upon two people making themselves vulnerable to each other.  This could explain much.  Why don’t marriages last?  It could be that our relationships are stunted because of our culturally learned unwillingness to allow ourselves to be sufficiently vulnerable with one another.

Further, this vulnerability issue is a problem for us Christians.  Jesus calls us to voluntarily take on the posture of vulnerability.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25 NIV)

Denying ourselves, carrying crosses, and losing our lives are images replete with a sense of vulnerability.  Thereby, they are things, acculturated as we are, to be avoided. 

Christ’s command to lose our lives is a command that He was willing to follow Himself.  Jesus could have come as a king commanding thousands of troops.  Jesus could have demanded the worship of the world.  Instead, Jesus showed us the way.  He showed us about vulnerability.  Jesus laid down his life.

Jesus commands us to love one another.  C.S. Lewis writes, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.”  Jesus commands us to be vulnerable in our relationships with people.

Please join me in striving to live according to Christ’s command to live counter culturally, to live vulnerably.

In Christ,
Lon Alderman
@leaderlifter
www.AcornMinistries.com

Give what you can!

I know this title sounds like a fund raising plea, but that's not the direction I'm heading with this post. Rather, I'm looking at the question, "What can we give to God?"

In Getting There, Oswald Chambers writes: We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours.

In other words, if God is the "owner" of the gifts He gave us, then how can we "give" them back? How can we give what is not ours to give?

Chambers continues: There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself.

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Finally from Chambers: If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you— and His experiments always succeed.

Give what you can and watch God succeed!

Lon Alderman
www.AcornMinistries.com
Follow me on twitter: @leaderlifter


Feedblitz Note: For those of you who receive these posts through Feedblitz, in order to see the Build UPs as I intended them, please click on the title to view the post. Otherwise, you miss out on videos, pictures and some of the formatting. You can also "follow" these posts through NetworkedBlogs. To follow, go to the blog site (click the title) and click on the "follow this blog" button under NetworkedBlogs.

Loops, by Lon Alderman

Jesus says, "Follow me."

And often we answer, "Lord, I will follow You, but..." (Luke 9:61)

Following Jesus requires submitting our will to God's will. If, when Jesus calls, we choose to follow our common sense instead, then we find ourselves in, what I call, a loop.

Oswald Chambers teaches it this way...
If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender.

When we fail to follow God's will then He loops us back to face the same test again. These loops continue until we submit. During these loops our relationship with God stops growing. However, when we finally pass the test by surrendering ourselves we (again) move forward in our relationship with Christ. Are you currently caught in a loop? The way forward is to submit to God's will even when it doesn't make sense.

Submit,
Lon Alderman
www.AcornMinistries.com

Work, by Lon Alderman

Hebrew 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

This passage has challenged me deeply over the years! After all, I've worked for some very, how should I say it, interesting bosses. Scripture teaches submission. Man, that can be a tough lesson!

Christ submitted to the authorities. His submission, even to death, allowed the turning point for all humankind to happen. His submission led to the cross and to our salvation! Christ's submission had purpose!

In Matthew 16:24, we are called to "pick up [our] cross and follow [Him]". There is a purpose in God's decision to place us where we find ourselves. Our responsibility is to submit and allow God's purposes to be fulfilled.

Bring your boss some joy!
Lon

Acorn Build Up: Submit (encore from 11/06/06)

Submit (Encore from 11/06/06)

Hebrews 12:9-11
...we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

My three-year-old daughter wants to do EVERYTHING herself. She needs adult help in many of the activities or she will likely get hurt or break something. Often I have to discipline her because she's just not ready to perform the tasks safely. Over time she will be able to do it herself, but in the meantime she must submit to my teaching; my discipline.

In my relationship with God, I'm (far too) often just like my daughter. I want to do it myself! The hardest life lesson for me is to submit to God. I don't know if it is my Marine Corps background, fear of what might happen, or just plain old everyday pride. Regardless of the cause, submitting is difficult for me. However, if I don't submit to His training, I'll never learn what I need to learn. If I don't accept the training, then I'll never receive the "harvest of righteousness and peace".

God's discipline shapes and molds us into the people God intends us to be.

Submit to His discipline!
Lon

Acorn Build Up: Submit

Submit

Luke 22:42
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.

Every act of Jesus' life is worthy of study. Jesus placed God's will above His own. In a world that elevates self, it is particularly important to study the Lord's submission.

Our culture screams at us every moment of every day a message of "you deserve..." and "it's all about you". Product names reflect this focus on "me", too! When we accept this message we put ourselves in the seat of the lord of our life. We then evaluate every aspect of life on how it serves the lord of our life, a.k.a. me.

That's not how Jesus lived. Think about it. Jesus had unlimited power on earth. He could have used that power to topple the governments of the day and then set Himself up as the ruler of the world. He could have. The devil tempted Christ with this very thing (see Matthew 4:8-10).

The world tempts us every day with the same promise of power and wealth. Jesus says, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." (Matthew 4:10b)

Submit to His will.
Lon