This is from Tamara Nation at Nate’s office. She and I went to this meeting. The story is told from one man’s perspective.
Jeff sent out some thoughts on what happened at ROOM last week. I’m not sure if he is honoring God with his email. What John did was real and required faith!! If people were scared that doesn’t mean that LOVE was absent!!! What do you guys think??
Jeff’s Thoughts about ROOM:
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I just wanted to share a few thoughts about last week’s ROOM…
(In case you weren’t there… we got to talking about how all of us have gifts that God has given us — spiritual gifts as they’re called in 1 Corinthians 12 — and when I asked if anyone knew what their gift was, a new guy to the group said that he healed people, and then set about praying for a gal in our group and her knee. This, of course, led to a lot of discussion and wondering about those “kinds of gifts” — the more flashy/miraculous/odd gifts. And, clearly, more than a few people felt uncomfortable.)
A couple of people, very honestly, said, “Yeah, this stuff freaks me out.
I’m sort of scared by it. I don’t know… I don’t really get it.” GREAT HONEST STUFF! (That was the best thing, for me, from last Thursday, was how honest folks got about how they felt about things. I think that is SO good. Huzzah!)
I thought about comments like that a lot the next couple of days and then a verse popped into my head:
1 John 4:18
Perfect love chases away fear.
So, if there was fear in that room — about what was happening, or (I think, moreso) how things were being conveyed — then LOVE WAS ABSENT!
And, in my book, THAT AIN’T NO GOOD. No, sir.
In the midst of all of the talk about having gifts and using gifts to bless other people (read all about it in 1 Corinthians 12 & 1 Corinthians 14) is the sweet little chapter smashed right in between those two. It’s 1 Corinthians 13 — the LOVE chapter.
Paul says in verses 1-3 that, sure, he could have AMAZING FLAMING GIFTS THAT BLOW EVERYONE’S DOORS OFF… but if there isn’t love… then it’s a waste of time. And, not only that, it can be (like a clanging cymbal) annoying and detrimental.
Sad.
So, when gifts get popping, but God’s love isn’t being continually held up and declared — and His loving shepherd heart and how He leads us into things well and right and for our good — then it’s sort of a flop.
Now, I’d like to say that the guy who was a healer… it’s not that he wasn’t loving. No! If you got to talk to him, you know he’s a great, sweet, kind guy who (I believe) has a real gift. And, of course, when he was setting out to pray for the gal, he declared God’s love over her and, of course, healing seems to convey love (!).
So, it really just comes down to how the room felt last week. And, a lot of that falls on my shoulders. So, if in the midst of all the stuff, you didn’t really feel reminded of God’s love and how He works WITH LOVE and IN LOVE, then I’m really sorry.
(By the way, if you weren’t there last week you must be thinking to yourself: “WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED?! DID SOMEONE HAVE THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF INCREDIBLE CARD TRICKS? DID SOMEONE LEVITATE A TABLE AND THEN BRING IT DOWN ON SOMEONE’S HEAD?! WHAT IN THE WORLD?!” Um, no… nothing like that.
I promise.)
I’ll sum all this up by this: God loves. God loves us. God is love.
According to the Bible, He wants to use His people to love His people.
Yeah, some of the stuff that they talk about in the Bible seems crazy because we’ve either never really seen it (maybe hear rumors about it) nowadays, or we’ve seen guys and gals practice those things rudely, or without help understanding, or with lots of SHOUTING and nonsense kerfuffle (frequently displayed on religious TV). I understand all of that. I’m with you. Weird.
All I know is God loves me, and I just want to look at Him and go, “What you got? You got something for me? I want it. Lay it on me. Because you love me.”
Anyhow, we’ll probably talk more about this stuff (openly, honestly) this week at Room (Thursday June 19th).
Hope you have a GREAT week!
PS Here’s what I want Room to look like eventually: