Sacred Mundane: The Blog

“[The false teachers] make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.” Galatians 4:17 (emphasis mine)

In Galatia the false teachers “made much of them.” The phrase translated “make much of” has the idea of a man seeking a woman. False teachers were pursuing them, almost lustfully. They fawned on them and fussed over them. That is, they flattered them. Why would the false teachers “make much of” the Galatians? So that the Galatians would “make much of” the false teachers.

Flattery is always a form of manipulation in order to draw people after yourself. To win their approval, popularity. To make them your fans. And this is huge:

One of the primary marks of false teachers is that they try to draw converts to themselves away from others, and not to Christ or God’s Word. A true servant of Jesus Christ does not “use people” to build himself up or his work. He ministers in love to help people know Christ better.

Proverbs 27:6: “Profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

False teachers always use kisses, flattery, smooth talk. Paul said in Romans 16:17-20,

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery deceive the hearts of the naive.”

False teachers serve their own appetites, their own desires, their own egos. And they use smooth talk and flattery to deceive the hearts of the naïve. And Paul makes it clear that he writes these words because he wants us to be WISE. (“I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.”) That is, he wants us to be women who are discerning.

Consider: A “teacher” who names her show after herself, who names her magazine after herself, who builds an entire business empire based on exalting her own name and her own self: Those are the marks of a false teacher.

Some questions to consider:

Does this teacher draw people to him or herself? Do they promote their own name or Christ’s name? Do they insist that they alone have the secret knowledge or only path to God? Do they somehow elevate their status in such a way that people depend on them as their source of spiritual sustenance?

Sisters, it is hugely important that we are discerning women. And this is not meant as a knock on our gender, but women are, in general, more susceptible to false teachers than men. Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3:1-7.

¹But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ²For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ⁶For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Women, we are susceptible to deception. We tend to be more emotional, more subjective, we’re far more compassionate so we tend to be more warm and open. We aren’t as confrontational, and we’re WAY more easily swayed by relational temptation and flattery.

But creeping into our households?! Well, of course we wouldn’t let false teachers creep into our households! We’d close the door to those false teachers and not let them in! But here’s the thing:

The front door isn’t the only place where people creep into your house. We have many portals! Every time we turn on a TV or “open” our home things are creeping into our household.

We “let false teachers creep into our household” every time we “entertain” people who teach things that are contrary to the word of God. And, it’s worth noting, that not all “false teaching” is in the form of religious “-isms.” There are world systems of materialism, humanism, consumerism – everything preaches something and it flatters us in order to draw us after it.

Are we to live in fear and never open our homes to anything or anyone? No. Are we to bediscerning women who are cautious about what we let creep into our households?

Absolutely.

{Revisiting these thoughts from last year; Thanks for reading.}

Courage has never been my strong point.

As a little girl, I was so shy I would hide under my mom’s skirt every Sunday at church. I still remember the one time I got crazy-brave and rode in a small inflatable raft, pulled behind my dad’s boat. It got pulled under water and I was absolutely convinced I would drown. That pretty much put an end to my risk-taking ventures.

We have home videos of me recording one of my commonplace childhood tricks. I can still remember doing this.

I would stand in the middle of the living room, in front of my parents (the “audience”) and say, “You want to see something really hard for me?” And then I would throw myself around in strange contortions and gyrations, limbs flinging and head waving around. Then I would pull myself back together, standing tall with wide eyes and panting as if out of breath, and say, “That was really hard for me.” 

Now I look back at my 4-year-old self and just shake my head. Oh baby-girl…

Of course now it’s just a joke, and Jeff loves to tease me about it. But the truth is, that silly bit reveals a lot about who I was–and who I am.

I know that I really wanted to be brave. From 4-years-old I wanted to do hard things. I wanted to risk, to try, to do something courageous.

But I really struggled to be brave. 

On the one hand, it kept me out of trouble. I never did crazy things. I never got in trouble. I didn’t smoke or drink or party.  I never jumped off bridges. I’ve never even broken a bone. It certainly kept me safe.

But I don’t know that “safe” is the word I want to describe my life when all is said and done. I do know I don’t want the “hard things” I did in life to be nothing more than a lot of hopping up and down and throwing myself around in strange gyrations and contortions.

But sometimes it is.

Sometimes, if I’m really honest, the “hard things” I attempt are just a lot of ridiculous gyrations and not a lot of actual risk. I haven’t done much except jump up and down and ask people to watch. 

Ouch. 

So I sit here, right now, on a patio in Phoenix, Arizona, and I ask God what that means for me right now. What does the real “hard for me” look like? The real stuff of risk? Things like selling our home, living on 1/3 of our last income, starting a church, those were precious baby steps–like me no longer hiding under my mom’s skirt–but deep down I know they didn’t take that much courage. In other words, I’m still standing in front of my mom and dad gyrating ridiculously and pretending to be brave.

So I asked Him what it meant. His answer surprised me.

Dream.

Why is it that as I type that word I begin to cry? Is it because I feel like my life has been so peppered with failure that I’m terrified to dream again? Because the enemy seems to spin every situation so that it reads failure?

But here’s what gets me. I see that same cycle in my kids. I see their caution. Their fear of failure. And I see that if I do not break the cycle, its stranglehold will keep them living the same cautious existence. So how do I break it? How do we break it?

By ditching the “something hard for me” bit.

As long as pursue merely the appearance of courage, we will not become courageous. Appearing brave and being brave are two entirely different things. So it means asking the Father, every day, What is true courage in this situation?

It will be different for each of us.

Honestly, I don’t know what it looks like yet. I just know I’m supposed to give up the “something hard for me” bit and begin to dream instead. 

{Thanks for reading.}

I often get comments about “that post about milkshakes.” It seems that we as women are always bombarded by the needs around us and constantly need wisdom on how to navigate it all. So, for all of us, here is “that post about milkshakes.” I need to read it again too… 

~

I didn’t mean for it happen, the dates just all fell together. Four speaking engagements for me in just eight days.  Sprinkled among these was the aftermath of our move, a funeral Jeff officiated (those things aren’t planned!), a baptism, a membership class, and a Sunday morning speaking engagement for Jeff. Truly, we don’t usually live like that, and now I’m reminded all over again why.

Something about milkshakes and straws. 

It was all wonderful. But oh as I flew home from Bend I ached for all those arms, both little and big. Their two little faces, dirty, smiled wide as I climbed into the car. Heidi had on a pajama shirt and old sweatpants. Dutch asked me to never leave again. They love their daddy, that’s not it, it’s just that if we’re all really honest, everyone in the family thrives on Mama’s milkshake.

Everyone’s got a straw and they all want me. 

And you know what? That’s perfect. I am the perfectly flavored milkshake for my family and I love that they all want a taste. I love that I can nourish their souls and care for their bodies. I love that God made me to feed these two little lambs and this one terrific man.

It only gets complicated when I start passing out straws to everyone else. 

Good people. They deserve a straw, right? Maybe …

A friend recently read me this quote, from Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gifts from the Sea:

With our pitchers, we attempt sometimes to water a field, not a garden.

God has graciously given us a pitcher that is just the right size for all that He intends us to water.  In truth, some of our pitchers are bigger or smaller than others. My friend with seven children has a bigger pitcher than me.  Her milkshake is just much bigger than mine. But whatever the size of our pitcher, we just have to be careful we’re only watering our garden, not the field next door.

We were made a milkshake just the right size.

Who gets a straw?

We have to use discretion, don’t we? Must hand out those straws with caution that takes courage.  

Whenever we say yes to someone we say no to someone else, true?

Looking back over our busy-season (which is over, by the way!), I don’t doubt that all our commitments were “of God.”  I do believe He called us to each and gave us the strength for each one. But I also believe that part of His purpose was to remind me to be so careful about to whom I hand a straw. 

Who is in your garden, the place you were meant to water?

And you, delicious milkshake that you are, who will get a straw today?

Might I suggest, to you and to myself, to hand them out with the caution that takes courage?

{Question for you: How do you remain disciplined and deliberate about who gets a straw in your life? Thanks for sharing your thoughts and wisdom, and as always, thanks for reading.}

• As I type this, my husband and brother taking the kids on a rocky hike to touch cacti and search for scorpions. Dutch & Jennika holding hands out the door. Those two love each other so much. Precious. 
• That as I type these words from a sunny porch in Arizona, RENEW church is gathering together in Oregon. So many saints pitching in, stepping up to lead, serve, care for each other. Praising God and so grateful that things do not depend on us. Every church is His church and I’m grateful. (Then, as I finished praying for them and typing this, a picture came through on my phone, all of them together, waving hello to us! How did we get so blessed with these precious saints?? Eyes and heart full.)
• Visiting the church of my dear cousin and his wife who were just baptized last week. Praising God with every ounce of my being for His faithful work in their lives! So full. Just so full. 
• Evening with Jeff’s brother and his wife, kids. Time with Nana. Relaxing on the back porch in the shade while kids play happily rowdy. 
• Laughing. So much laughing.
• The Garrisons.
• Debra. How we miss our roomie.
• Being with the Zyps.
• Four kids crawling around the condo, each a different jungle animal.
• Oma reading story after story to them on the couch.
• Swimming, swimming, more swimming.
• 13 hours in the car Friday, kids doing valiantly. 
• In-N-Out
• The cheap-gas app on Jeff’s iphone.
• Provision at every corner.
• My cousin’s frozen yogurt shop–opened for us for a special little family party and all-we-can-eat-yogurt and toppings. Pretty much my dream come true. 🙂
• That God so lavishly pours out His blessings on us.
• A great message from God’s Word at Christ Church of the Valley.
• That God uses all kinds of churches to do all kinds of work.
• Hearing from Him.
• That He is not limited.
• That He can even use me. Of all miracles, that He can use me. 
• Trusting.
• Relaxing.
• Letting go.
• Remembering to smile.
• Remembering to live now.
• Enjoying this day. This moment. 
• Beautiful opportunities.
• Now.
• An afternoon nap.
• A full stomach.
• Our God of reconciliation. 
• His peace.