Charisa Stories

Tag: hebrews 10:24-25

  • Spiritual Growth Can Be Found in the Roots of Redwoods

    Real growth in relationships, faith, and maturity doesn’t just happen. I have to be intentional about confronting my own heart and shortcomings. Change is hard. Sharing my need to change with others is even harder. 

    Several years ago I took the risk to trust three men with everything about me. We called ourselves the Redwood Brothers based on a unique characteristic of the Coastal California redwood trees. A redwood alone in a forest might look magnificent but the first strong wind could destroy it. The Coastal Redwoods have shallow root systems and cannot survive a storm alone. Their roots extend over one hundred feet from the base but just broadening the root base is not what makes these beautiful trees capable of surviving the worst storms. They stand strong by intertwining their roots with the roots of other redwoods. The winds are now taking on an entire stand of trees and not a single redwood. No matter how majestic those trees might appear God designed them to need other trees to survive the storms. 

    That is exactly how we are designed. That describes the relationship I have forged with the three other men who gather every year to share weaknesses, fears, and frustrations. We are men who desire to follow Christ faithfully and love our wives and families well. Yet we can have shallow root systems, and we need the strength of one another as we go through strong winds and storms together. Sharing our imperfect journeys in a safe space has resulted in remarkable breakthroughs. We have experienced what my friend John Lynch wrote about in The Cure.

    “What if there was a place so safe that the worst of me could be known, and I would discover that I would not be loved less, but more in the telling of it?” 

    Dropping the pretense and engaging in real conversation about the difficulties of this journey with other honest wayfarers is a real way to become more like Jesus. After several yearly gatherings with powerful results we invited our spouses to join us in this vital journey. The impact as couples continues to grow our roots deeper and more connected with fellow believers and with Jesus.

    The need for church community is clear. But it’s even more important to look at what Jesus modeled. Jesus knew hundreds of people. He traveled with dozens. He sent out seventy. He discipled twelve. And He invested deeply in three. Jesus’ inner circle consisted of Peter, James, and John. He confided in these three men on a deeper and more profound level than any of the other disciples. I’ve found the same results in my own life. My greatest growth has taken place since I risked trusting a small group of fellow believers.

    Legendary professor Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary described Paul’s friend Barnabas as the type of friend that will help you grow in your faith. He noted that Barnabas was a soul brother who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody who’s willing to keep you honest even if it creates a moment of discomfort.

    What a great description of a true friend. Someone who loves you but is not impressed with you. These men love me. They want the best for me. They tell me the truth because I trust them with my story and I have given them permission to speak truth with grace. I keep emphasizing the grace part. That is how God desires our community to look. I can only receive real love from you to the extent that you know the truth about who I really am. We all have blind spots in our hearts. I need a person who loves me enough to gently and gracefully point them out. 

    I hope you will find the courage to carefully trust others with everything that is true about you. We need each other. These scriptural passages are great reminders of the importance of being honest and loving in community.

    “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
    ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬


    “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”
    ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

    We need Jesus. And we need a community of brothers and sisters who share our desire to follow Him.

    Portions of this article from my book Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace.

  • Want a Healthy Community? Focus on the Last Five Letters of the Word.

    One of the 7 Core Values of my church is Community. I was blessed to speak on that value this week at Waterbrook Bible Fellowship. Here is the statement about Community from our church website.

    Genuine biblical community means living in caring relationships that are guided by biblical truth and grounded in spiritual accountability. We value real community, and yes, we know how messy and hard it is. But, we also know that real and lasting life-change—spiritual transformation—primarily occurs in the unity and diversity of authentic relationships.

    Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus about living in community in the power of the Spirit. Note that he wrote these caring words while in jail for the “crime” of serving the Lord. His heart for his people overshadowed his difficult circumstance.

    Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 NLT)

    We have been called by God to be humble, gentle, patient, and forgiving of each other’s faults because of love. Then Paul reminds us that the Lord is our source of unity.

    Community is a basic human need. Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman and CEO, saw that need. When he joined Starbucks, he wanted to create a place for human connection, conversation, and one that fostered a sense of ­community – a third place between work and home. That was the genesis of one of the most successful business models in history.

    One of the places that used to be the third place between work and home was the church. For many, it still is a community that matters, but sadly for some, church is a place that has lost its appeal. Why did that happen?

    The church shares some of the blame for not aggressively proclaiming the amazing nature of grace. We allowed the proclamation of what we are against to be the face of the church instead of the Gospel message that gives us hope. We talked about the repulsiveness of sin instead of the forgiveness of sin that leads to peace and joy.

    We have somehow proffered the narrative that church requires individuals to undergo a begrudging moral cleanup to be worthy of inclusion in our club. The attractiveness of the church should be that you don’t have to shape up and you don’t have to clean up. We just want you to show up and learn about the redemptive power of the Gospel.

    All of us want a place where we are accepted. We are designed for community, and the church needs to realize that it must be a place of teaching and honest reproach but, perhaps more importantly, a place of refuge, grace, and safety. A walk-in clinic for messy seekers and messy Christians. The truth is that all of us are messy. If many people honestly relayed the condition of their souls, as soon as they walked in the door, they would be triaged with a code blue of love, concern, and prayer.

    The writer of Hebrews encourages us to lean fully into God’s love, and from that base we can love others.

    24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25, NLT)

    The concept of thinking of ways to motivate others to acts of love and good works is wonderful. But just thinking about it isn’t enough. We have to come together in community for it to work effectively. And nothing should level the playing field like embracing the teachings of Jesus. He cares not a whit about color, status, resume, income, or appearance. Jesus looks only on the heart. Would Jesus hear the ugly words of a hurting person or the desperate tone of their need? Would He condemn the sin or embrace the sinner and whisper gently in their ear that there is a better way? Of course, there are consequences to sin, made ever more clear when we turn on the news every day. But the truth is that all of us are sinners. We need to share the hope and joy of living in Christ.

    Building a loving and grace filled community is also based on this important truth.

    Loving everyone who enters our doors does not mean we accept all their behavior.

    May I repeat that?

    Loving everyone who enters our doors does not mean we accept all their behavior.

    The Jesus Revolution began when people involved in all kinds of wrong behavior were accepted, loved, and taught the Gospel. From that came the biggest revival of my lifetime.

    Paul wrote about the need for unity.

    I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. (1 Corinthians 1:10, NLT)

    We need to be unified in Christ. You can’t spell Community without unity. I am grateful that Scripture recognizes our need for one another on this journey. Share your journey with your brothers and sisters in Christian community. I know that some have tried and been wounded. Some have tried and been ignored. I have been there too. I encourage you (make that plead with you) to not give up. Pray for those connections. We are created to live in community and it isn’t easy. Worthwhile endeavors rarely are.

    You can hear the entire message on Community by clicking here.