We talk a lot about balance in the Christian faith, and it is a gut-wrenching exercise to try and live out that balance in each area of life.

Not because there are so many "rules" as is often thought, but because God has given so much freedom.

In that freedom, many will choose legalism; closing the door completely on themselves AND on others and forming regulations that the scriptures do not inform. Others will chase license; throwing the door open and disregarding other texts in their drive to be free, ironically enslaving themselves to addictions and being mastered by small things.

It seems that the abuses of legalism and license are all around us.

Because food can involve gluttony, do we abandon it all together?
Because sleep can involve laziness, do we starve ourselves of rest?
Because money can involve greed...
Because sex can involve lust....
Because alcohol can involve drunkenness...
Because music can involve idolatry...

The obvious (hopefully) answer is no. Making a list of "don't do's" is much easier than finding the biblical position on many of these issues, but there are balanced positions.  Regardless of what you think of the man, this song is on point:

I've been reading an epistle an evening recently...Here's what I've done so far:
-1 Thessalonians
-2 Thessalonians
-Colossians
-Philippians
-Ephesians

It's funny the things you notice when you read Paul's letters (or any scripture for that matter) to the churches back to back. My 2 most prominent observations:

1. Laziness is ungodly, especially for those that labor in the church. Ministry puts you face to face with many critics who don't want to be part of the solution to whatever they are complaining about.  I need more patience with these people. I need repentance for the times I do the same.

2. The people you invest in and help grow in the faith are your "crown of glory" before God. It's like the ultimate sign of authentic faith, is the works of God in your life contagiously healing/restoring/saving another. God still gets the glory and we get to offer a great gift to our heavenly Father; the investment of our heart for Him in the heart of another.

¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:9-11

I had a conversation with a friend today about the Gospel, specifically that the power of God in Christian living and the suffering that comes with associating with Christ are two sides of the same coin, and inseparable.

I live in true luxury. You probably do too.

Compared to most of the world, we enjoy daily comforts that many do not even comprehend, from the dozens of pairs of socks in my drawer, to the laptop I am writing this on at this moment. Not just geographically, but historically too. Americans 100 years ago had a different standard of comfortable too. So are we to feel bad about the things we have been blessed with? I don't think so, but I do wonder if our luxuries haven't made it more complicated to "know the fellowship of His suffering". The expectation of comfort is far scarier to me than the availability of it.

While most Christians I know at least desire the power of God in their life, they hardly ever mention suffering. My friend made the point that you can not separate the two. In other words, the closer you press in to Christ and really learn Him, your life will be filled with more power and
suffering. With as much as we put into avoiding anything resembling suffering, it's hard to reconcile that we really want Christ more than an easy life.

Examples: A high-school girl wants God to do amazing things in her life, but not if she has to be single to learn to love Christ above all else. A college guy wants to have purity in His life, but not at the expense of living alone with internet access. A parent wants their child to grow up in the faith, but not if that means being responsible for the hours invested in spiritual guidance at home. All of these show our desperate attempts at separating power and sacrifice. It doesn't work.

This really drags the "health and wealth" pseudo-gospel through the ringer, and exposes it for what it is; a false teaching with disastrous dangers of painting God as a slave genie that has insufficient power to protect His kids from difficulty, or worse, a works-based merit system that leaves cancer patients, the unemployed, and pretty much anyone who experiences the winter seasons of life asking God where He has gone, since they must not have enough faith or their life would be...easy.

What further complicates things (or perhaps simplifies them) is that God is pretty clear in His word that hardship is a tool of His love and not a punishment in some twisted karmic payback for transgression. Hardship brings about suffering, and with it a deeper and more meaningful relationship to Christ. To know that suffering is an inescapable part of chasing Christ and actually desiring it...actually longing for that piece of the beautiful mess God brings us through as Paul did, is a leap I need Christ to teach me.

The point is, suffering in this life doesn't mean the system is broken, it means that it's working.

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

One of the primary purposes of the pastor is to equip the saints to do ministry.

I have recently pondered about what role corporate worship plays in this process.

There is undoubtedly great power in singing true things of the faith. Believers have included music and song in their liturgy for generations.

The power however, is commonly a jumbled blend of emotionalism, mystery, and authentic transformation through the spoken and sung Word, as well as the Holy Spirit.

So how can the church intentionally focus their worship times to equip the saints?