These episodes are posted every two weeks. They are posted on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m.
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Christ and Going Big
After our last conversation, it took Old Man Tom a few days to get back by the house. But as old as he is, his memory is tack sharp. Indeed, it was he who reminded me that he had wanted to follow up and share what our last conversation had inspired.
He started off by saying, “Good morning, Charles. Hey, have you heard the rumor about the butter?”
“The butter? No.”
“Oh, I’m not going to spread it.” And at that, he started laughing very loudly.
Once he stopped laughing, he said, “Do you remember how we left off our last conversation?”
“Um, oh, yeah. But I’m not going to spread it.”
Ok, what I actually said was, “Um, you said that there was something that your thoughts on Christians being perfect brought to mind. Correct?”
“You remembered!”
I simply smiled; well, no sense in telling him just how barely I remembered. And then I quickly asked him to come inside and have some coffee while we talked.
Now, if you haven’t met Old Tom just yet, despite his being full of such ‘quaint’ jokes, he is a man with uncommon clarity of thought. You might say he is a man blessed with more common sense than many a drug store has pills (despite his being older than dirt). Also, as he is usually a man of few words, I find it is generally well worth the listen when he does say something. So, I was genuinely interested in hearing him out.
Now, as Old Tom is waiting for the coffee to brew, my name is Charles. And this is the Coffee-side Chat series here on the Simple Not Shallow Podcast. This podcast is for those who want a deeper faith, not an aggressively mediocre one. This series is a collection of stories conveying real things about the Christian faith and loving God. Now communicating real things about the Christian faith does mean that Scripture will be referenced, from time to time, in these stories. Honestly, how could it not? But rather than breaking up the flow of the story with chapter and verse listings, I will list them where they occur in the transcript of this story, which will be posted in the show notes for this episode. That way, you can check out all the references for yourself. Also, and this is very important, it should be noted that these stories are being enjoyed while I’m nursing this here cup of coffee sitting on the table right beside me. This is, after all, a coffee-side chat.
Also, before we delve any deeper into this, I do want to mention our sponsor, our book: Psalms 1-72, A Simple Not Shallow Presentation. It is a presentation of the first 72 Psalms that is true to the Scripture and allows the poetry to be seen as poetry. It is beautiful and easy to read, and it does reveal the prayerfulness found in the Psalms. Now, don’t worry. I like you so much that I’ve provided a couple of links for you in the show notes for this episode, just for your convenience. So, go ahead, tell our sponsor that you like this podcast, and collect your copy today.
Now, grab yourself some coffee, and let’s begin with this story, this conversation with Old Man Tom.
Once we had assumed our usual positions around the kitchen table, with coffee in hand, I said, “Ok, Tom, let’s hear it.”
He said, “Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘go big or go home?’”
“Sure, Tom, who hasn’t heard that?”
“Well, last time we spoke about how being perfect means to be maturing, growing up, in terms of loving God and our neighbors. That got me thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice if God were to help us out with this by telling us how this could be done?”
Now, even I could tell that was a no-brainer, even with this being my first cup of coffee of the day. So I said, “Why certainly, Tom.”
“Well,” he says, “what if I were to tell you he did precisely this? Yes. And I found where he did so in two different places.
“Would it surprise you even more that the first place I found it is in the Psalms?”
“Really? The Old Testament Psalms?”
“Charles, what other Psalms are there? But yes, in the Psalms, the worshipful prayer book of the Bible. And it is in the very first one, to be exact (Psalm 1:2, 3). Why it’s almost as if God is saying, ‘Before we get started here, there is something you need to know. There is only one way to grow up and mature in love: that is to walk on the pathway of the righteous.’ He then tells us what we need to know to walk this path. We must think on, muse upon, and ponder about God and his teachings day and night. What’s that old saying? You are what you think about. The more something occupies your thoughts, the more it becomes who you are. So, consistently focusing your thoughts on God is the real way to grow up in his love. And not only does he tell us this, but he also tells us that everything else belongs on the path of the not-so-much, the path of non-growth. Or what the psalm calls, the way of the wicked (Psalm 1:4-6).”
“Ok, time out, Tom. Can we slow down there for just a moment? I think I’m following along, more or less, but what has that to do with going big or going home?”
“I know, I know…. Take another sip of coffee while I tell you about the other place I found this instruction, and maybe that will help.”
I nodded and said, “Ok.” But, between you and me, as things were shaping up, that’s going to have to be one big sip.
“The second place I found this is where Jesus tells us how to have his joy in us and our joy to be made complete (John 15:11).”
I blurted out, “That’s the um…, I know this, I know this, that’s um… that’s the passage about remaining in him and his love (John 15:1-16).” Right?
“See, that second sip helped you indeed. Coffee is a beautiful thing. Now, since we must abide in him to know this joy, this abundance, then if we are not abiding, we must be standing on the path of the joyless, on the path of the not-so-much. Right?”
I took another sip of coffee.
He took a moment and slowly smiled before saying, “Well, couldn’t we then say that, in terms of a relationship with Jesus, the idea is that you are either all in or you are not in at all?”
I took… another sip of coffee, and after a moment, I said, “That is intriguing. And it does make so much sense. So this is the go big or go home moment?”
He smiled, “No.”
“No?”
“No. In fact, there is no go big or go home moment. Though it is something similar.”
“Ok…but you said….” Now, I hoped I wasn’t looking as confused as I genuinely was.
Evidently, I was. For he said, “Tell you what, let me briefly recap what we know, and then I’ll share with you what the moment actually is. We’ve seen that to be perfect as God is perfect means to be growing in terms of loving him and our neighbors, and the only way to do this is by abiding in him. Ok, so far?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then, here is that something similar, what the Bible tells us is not to go big or go home. It’s telling us to go big; otherwise, we have never left home, to begin with.”
“Whoa.”
“Whoa, indeed.”
“Question.”
“Yes?”
“If there is only one way to be all in, does this mean that everyone has to act the same, think the same, worship the same way?”
“Nice question. No. That would mean that we would all have to be robots. God didn’t make robots; he made people. Many different types of people. He did not make us into carbon copies of each other but as unique individuals. Tell you what. Ponder on what we’ve said today, and give me a little time to gather my thoughts on this, and we'll explore this over our next cup of coffee if you’d like.”
“That would be nice. But one more question.”
“Sure.”
“For all our talk about how God sees being perfect as growing in him and his love, doesn’t this going big thought mean we have to always get things right? You know, being more or less what our ideas of perfection are?”
“Another excellent question. The brief answer to this is also no. But if you give me that time to collect my thoughts, I think you’ll find that both of these beautiful questions will be answered simultaneously.
Now, as I already had a lot to think about, I agreed to muse upon all this until the next time we spoke. And I was looking forward to having my questions answered.
Tom said, “Until next time, my friend. And next time, I’ll even bring the coffee.”
With that, he was out the door and on his way. And I…. I had a lot to mull over. Mull over. No, not like cider; I’m not too fond of cider, no matter how mulled it is. But still—a lot to mull over.
What do you think about all this? Anyway. If you don’t mind, let me know all about it in the comments section for this episode. Click on the link provided in the description of this episode. Copy and paste it if you need to. And once on this episode’s home page, scroll on down, and you will find that comment box and can share away. Thank you for listening and for sharing. Also, please rate this episode and subscribe to this podcast through the podcast service of your choice. Stitcher, Spotify, Apple podcasts, iheartradio, tune in, google podcasts, or whichever you prefer.
Well, until next time then. May you live a life of maturing in God and his love.
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