To pay homage to the impact of our print publication and the contributions of our past editors and content contributors, we’ve decided to re-publish a select number of articles from the archives. In this issue, we discuss the impact and importance of Gary Krehbiel within the position of FEBC Ministries Coordinator. While Gary has had significant and invaluable interactions with the churches within our Fellowship, he has also been a contributor of thought-provoking pieces like the one below, originally published in the 2020 Sept/Oct issue of Fellowship Focus.
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“You have to do the first thing before you do the second.” It can’t get much more basic than that. It may have been the most common thing I heard as a distracted child. “Do your chores before you go play.” “Do your homework before you watch TV.” “Clear your plate before you get dessert.” Priorities. Sometimes even a good priority can prevent us focusing on one that is more important. It is often a struggle to keep our priorities because we are easily distracted, often selfish and occasionally overwhelmed. With the pandemic and political unrest that has become a common part of our lives, we need to remember that God has told us what our priority is. Years ago when people were asked what the most commonly known verse in the Bible was, they usually responded that it was John 3:16. The message of the gospel. Now the most commonly quoted verse in the Bible is likely Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” And if it’s not that, it might be, “Love your neighbor as yourself ” (Matt. 22:39 niv). Both of those verses represent the priority of the culture: non-judgmental acceptance. That cultural priority has had an impact among churches and those who claim to be followers of Jesus. The cultural definition of love has begun to shape the way the church attempts to demonstrate the love of Christ to the world around us. Love becomes defined by the culture. But should it be? We are known by our love for one another. We are supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves. God is love. Jesus loved sinners. But how do Christians love the way Christ loves? The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37). As important as it is to love others, the greatest commandment sets everything else in order. The priority is to love God -- fully and wholeheartedly. An emphasis on the command to love your neighbor misses the priority. We have to do the first thing in order to do the second. We cannot disregard the other implications of that commandment. We are to love God with complete commitment and trust. It means that He receives our full loyalty and devotion. His priorities have to be ours. To fully love God demands that we love the things that God loves and the things that proceed from the character of God. We love people because God is love. We love justice because God is just. We love holiness because God is holy. Too often people and churches emphasize the second commandment without prioritizing the first. I thought about this as a friend described her conversation with someone about gender. They discussed someone they knew who is transitioning their gender. The other person suggested that everyone needed to be supportive of the person transitioning so that they would feel loved and accepted. My friend pointed out that the emphasis on acceptance doesn’t acknowledge that God can and does use difficulty and brokenness to bring people to Himself. Attempting to draw someone to God by trying to make Him fit their perceived needs places the second commandment ahead of the first. To truly love God is to love who He is and what He loves. We cannot compromise any of that and remain faithful to the first commandment, the first priority. In Matthew 22, Jesus answers the question of what is the greatest commandment. The religious leaders of the day were trying to undermine Jesus’ credibility and authority before the crowds. They pressured Him to align Himself with a political movement, tried to draw Him into a theological conflict, and attempted to force Him into a virtue dispute. They tried to force Him into taking a ‘with us’ or ‘against us’ position. Each time, he stepped out of the trap. In summarizing the greatest commandment, He prioritized all allegiances and obligations. Our culture attempts to force us to make declarations and alliances so that people will know which side we are on. The pressure to signal our virtue by agreeing with the morality of the day can lead Christians to take positions that ignore our first priority. If the church focuses on the second great commandment, we are always at risk of defining love by the response of the culture we live in. When we focus on the greatest commandment, God orders our hearts and minds so that we reflect His character without the need to conform to the world. Ancient church buildings and cathedrals were often built with towering ceilings and spires to direct worshippers’ eyes upward and remind them of the supremacy and majesty of God. As our culture and events draw our eyes downward to the needs around us we must maintain our first priority in order to truly be agents of reconciliation and hope to the world around us.
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Mark Haber
9/14/2024 07:59:16 am
Looks great thank you all for your hard work in getting this up and running !!!
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