Backrow Baptists

 Growing up in a Southern Baptist church, I always heard jokes about "backrow Baptists" being the backslidden ones. Meaning, (in jest, of course) if you sit on the back row of a Baptist church, you've got grievous sins in your life and you're probably somehow backsliding from the Lord. So you can imagine my surprise when my husband suggested we sit on the back row of church today. (In his defense, other Baptists sitting in the area were being good Baptists in that they were taking up all the aisle seats and perfecting the art of not making eye contact in order to not have to move to a seat-in-the-middle.) So there we were, sitting on the backrow, but not backslidden. (To my knowledge, I'll have to confirm with my husband on that one later. haha)

Very shortly, the service began. The worship music was inviting and on point. After a few songs, in walks the reason I believe God had us strategically placed on the back row today. In walked a woman with her toddler son. I don't know that she was necessarily new to the church - I just know that I've never seen her before. As she walked in and decided to sit one seat over from me (there on that glorious back row), I quickly had two thought lines running through my mind. 

Thought #1 - "Is she backslidden?"

Thought #2 - "Wait. Does she think I'm backslidden?"

JUST KIDDING... the real initial two thought lines I had in my mind were this...

Thought #1 - I'm thankful she's here. She's late, but I can tell she made a huge effort to be here. It's a ton of work to get a toddler out the door and to church all by yourself. I'm glad she's here.

Thought #2 - Girlfriend is going to have quite-the-work ahead of her to get her toddler son to sit still through this whole service. My kids probably wouldn't have made it at that age. I hope she's prepared.

As she sat down next to me, her little boy went leafing through some Bibles sitting on the edge of some seats on the end (Good Baptists don't just sit in seats on the aisles; they also save seats on the end of the aisles too.) She leaned to me to confirm that she was okay sitting there next to me and wasn't taking up anyone else's space. I assured her she belonged right where she was. (As I was still slightly inwardly wondering if she was prepared for all that would entail keeping a toddler still/quiet/compliant/happy during a looooong church service.)

As the worship song set came to an end and pastor got up to bat, he began preaching on work. All work. The work God has for us. Everything being sacred. As he preached, I saw all of His points coming true right before my eyes in real time with this young mom and her son.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Along with this mom-and-son-duo came a giant bag-of-treasures. As the sermon began, the mom started digging inside that bag-of-hers and provided her kid with cookies. Then, moved on to pen and paper doodling, a trip to the bathroom, and finally ended with her masterful use of teaching the kid to play with a pen cap. I mean that sincerely. She taught him the knack-of-it, so that he was self-entertained for the remainder of the service. It was mom gold.

Through simultaneous efforts of listening to the sermon, taking notes, and taking mental observations of what was going on next to me during the service today, here's some things I realized about the work God has for all of us:

1. It takes planning. Pastor couldn't have made it through his sermon without preparing and planning for it. The toddler-mom next to me couldn't have made it through the sermon without her giant bag-of-treasures.

2. It takes personal sacrifice. Pastor spoke of personal/family health issues throughout the week that needed attending to in his own life. He personally sacrificed to take care of the ones he loves and sacrificed even more to make sure his sermon was complete this week as well. Being a pastor is a lot of work. The woman next to me sacrificed roughly 45 times in 45 minutes with all the things asked/required of her by her toddler. She personally sacrificed a lot just to be there today.

3. It takes patience. Any man who's a pastor can tell you this is true. God's call requires patience. Also, any woman who's a mom can tell you this is true. God's call requires patience. Patience to get the work started. Patience to keep the work going. Patience to see the work through to the ending. And patience-upon-patience to deal with all the people and demands in the midst of it all. (Can somebody say "Amen" right there?)

Upon reflection, I came home, cooked dinner for the family, and began to think some more about what it was God was pressing into my heart about the work God has for all of us, and here are 3 more things I can add to what's already been said.

1. The work God has for us...It doesn't require a stage. If the work God has for you has a stage included, then by all means, use the stage for His glory. But if it doesn't, by all means, keep serving and doing the work God has mapped out for you. God's work comes with a no-stage-required kind of instruction manual.

2. The work God has for us...It doesn't require recognition. If you get recognition for the work you do, consider it an abundant grace of God. If you don't get recognition for the-day-in-and-day-out-work you do, that's ok. Keep going. Keep doing what God has called you to do. Work for Him and not for men. He sees, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him in all they do.

3. The work God has for us...It doesn't require appreciation. If you get appreciation for the work you do, consider it an uncommon kindness, a blessing, if you will. But also remember, sometimes the behind-the-scenes work God calls us to (or even the on-stage work God calls us to), doesn't always pay off in debts of gratitude aimed in your direction. Ask any pastor. Better yet, ask any mom.

All in all, I'm grateful I was able to be among the backrow Baptists in service today. God taught my heart lessons on a variety of levels - all from the sermon, to the worship set, to the mom-and-her-toddler-with-the-pen-cap. To update any of you curious and still reading, the kid did great the entire way through the service up until the very last invitational song. To which, he said pretty confidently, "All done!" and then proceeded to walk confidently out of the building. Lol. (To be honest, I find a hard time faulting him for that though, because some of y'all grown-and-bred adult Baptists do that too.)

With all said, I encourage you to be encouraged in whatever work the Lord has set before you today and this upcoming week/season of your life. Also, I encourage you - put it in your seating rotation to be a "Backrow Baptist" every once in a while, you never know what lessons the Lord may have for your heart. Also, I hear it's a great place to be if you're backslidden already anyway. ;-)

 

The "Why?": How to grow in wisdom & discern our motives through questioning

Mommy, why.

Why?

Why??

Why?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

Why, why, why, why, why...

As any mom (or dad) soon recognizes, the question "Why?" is an ever-present and ever-pressing question often posed over-and-over-and-over-and-over again by our young kids. (Anyone else, or is it just my kids? lol.) The problem with the question "Why?" (other than the fact that it comes at an annoyingly strong pace sometimes) is that we often think we outgrow it. More than just a rather effective annoyance tactic from toddler to parent, the question "Why?" has power if we afford to give it the space, silence, solitude, and time to work as it should.

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I believe God has so knit each one of us together, so that we all each have strengths and weaknesses. We use our God-given strengths to serve and encourage others, and we use our God-knitted-together weaknesses to be lifted up and served by others. (Note: Weaknesses are not the same thing as personal proclivities to sin, as we'll discuss that more later.)

That said, one of the strengths I believe God has granted me is the gift of discernment.  What is discernment exactly? By definition, discernment is "the ability to judge well" or "the ability to distinguish (someone or something) with difficulty by sight or with the other senses; to perceive or recognize (something)."

Ever since I was a teenager and walking with the Lord, I would pray on-the-regular for wisdom and discernment. I believe He granted me those requests. Now, let me caveat that with this: I don't always hit the mark. Sometimes, I miss the mark. Sometimes, I overanalyze. Sometimes, I misread. Sometimes, I get anxious. Some of those things are due to human error. Some of them are due to my default personality. Some of them are just straight not from God.

But when I do get it right, when I do discern a person, situation, etc. correctly, I know it's because of the Holy Spirit living inside of me. And really, no other reason at all. It's His strength at work in me.

If you would like to become a more wise, discerning person, here are some steps that have helped me and I hope will also help you:

#1. Pray for wisdom and discernment. 

The Bible tells us in the book of James chapter 1 verse 5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." 

The Bible also lists discernment as a gift of His Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom,  and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills."

If you are a child of God, He hears your prayers. He tells us to ask Him for wisdom when we lack it. He gives this generously to all who ask. He also sends discernment as a manifestation of His Holy Spirit to some for the common good. Pray and ask God for wisdom and discernment.

#2. Read the Bible to get to know the God of the Bible.

If your personality is anything like mine, you'll do the Bible reading in a year. You'll start out right. And then you'll end up all wrong because you're doing it just to check off all the boxes before the end of the year. Or you'll do all the Bible studies and fill in all the blanks of "homework" just to have something to show for your time with the Lord. Believe me, these things aren't wrong as a start, but they can become a sloppy finish. I would dare to contend that your time with the Lord will show out in your character, your reactions, and your word-responses more than any checklist will ever show.

If your personality is anything like mine or even if it isn't, resolve to read the Bible to get to know the God of the Bible. Learn His names. His attributes. The ways in which He works and moves and relates with His people. Get to know His voice. Know the God of the Bible by reading the Bible.

#3. Surround yourself with discerning people. 

Whether that's in person or a combination of in-person and through reading about the lives of discerning people who have gone before us, surround yourself with discerning people.

I'm currently going through Marty Machowski's Wise Up! devotion with my girls in our homeschool Bible lesson times. It focuses on the book of Proverbs. Proverbs has so very much to say about foolish and wise people. It is straightforward in what wise people treasure and build their lives around and what foolish people are tripped up by. Study Proverbs. Surround yourself with wise, discerning people in modern-day. Learn/read about wise, discerning people of times gone by.

#4. Ask really good questions (of yourself and others).

I've found that asking yourself "Why?" questions is a good place to begin. It can really be as simple as this:

Why do I WANT to do this thing?

Why do I NOT WANT to do this thing?

Why WOULD I do this thing?

Why WOULD I NOT do this thing?

This line of questioning cuts out what others will think or you, say of you, or expect of you, and it gets straight to the heart (read: motives). This process of questioning helps to show our true selves and helps us process if our motives are selfish, sinful, sideways, or sanctified. (With all that alliteration going on, I feel a Baptist sermon coming on...lol.)

So with that, I'll leave you alone to think and process. Until next time, pray for wisdom from the Lord. He will give it generously! And to discern what is best in any given situation, try considering the "Why?" questioning method listed above.