Without Wax

Many years ago when sculpting was a popular form of art, sculptors found a way to rip off their clients even if they made a mistake. If the sculptor accidentally made an error, he was set to lose a lot of money. He couldn’t just hit the backspace button or grab some white out; he would have to scrap part, or even all, of his sculpture and start over. Then someone realized that wax could be melted and used to cover flaws, such as by filling cracks in the sculpture. Once the wax dried the untrained eye could not tell the difference. 

The customer who purchased the sculpture would later find out about the wax. The sun would shine on it, melting the wax and exposing the sculptor’s dishonesty. For that reason, sculptors began to advertise their art as being sine cere, the Latin words for “without wax.” A customer who purchased a sine cere sculpture didn’t have to worry about finding any hidden flaws once he returned home. 

Did you know the Bible tells us to be without wax in our lives? The Latin sine cere was shortened in English into our word sincere. Think about what the Bible tells us to do. In I Timothy 1:5 Paul said his aim was for us to have a sincere faith; in I Peter 1:22 Peter said we need to have a sincere brotherly love; in II Corinthians 11:3 Paul said not to be led astray from our sincere devotion to Christ. There are certainly other passages, but those three indicate that as believers, we should be sincere in our faith, our love, and our devotion to the Lord. 

We need to be without wax. We need to be genuine, not trying to cover up flaws that we want to keep hidden. We need to be the real deal. What people see should be what they get. It might be tempting to try to cover our flaws with wax; we may be able to convince others that our faith, love, and devotion are sincere, but God knows the truth. There is no point in trying to hide our flaws from God. Instead of trying to cover them, let’s work on being genuine. This doesn’t mean we become perfect and free from flaws, it means that we are honest, admitting our shortcomings, and not simply playing a part like an actor. 

Don’t be a con artist when it comes to your faith. Live your life without wax.

Newly Planted

One of the requirements that Paul gave Timothy is that a pastor should not be “a novice (1 Timothy 3:6).” Does that mean that a pastor cannot be a rookie? If so, then how much experience is required in order for someone to be a pastor? After all, everyone has to start somewhere.

The word that Paul used for novice means “newly planted.” Anyone who has ever done any gardening or landscaping understands that something newly planted cannot be left alone to fend for itself. It requires extra attention and care. You have to watch it to see if it needs water, more sunlight, shade from sunlight, fertilizer, or protection from the cold. You might need to stake it up, pull some weeds, or spray some bugs.

As the plant matures it will not require as much attention; it will be able to survive more on its own.

That is the goal of any believer; new converts are new plants, or novices. They need to be looked after and cared for until they mature. New converts are not yet ready to be pastors.

Who are you investing in? What new plant are you caring for as they mature into what God wants them to be? That young Christian could be the next pastor, missionary, or great worker for the kingdom. 

Tax Day

As all tax paying citizens are aware, this past week brought us “tax day”—April 15^th. The day that all income taxes must be filed, and for many of us, a time when we find out how much more we owe the government.

Many people dread tax day. For some it is anticipated because there could be a big refund check, but still many people are nervous about the paperwork. You have to pay a person to look through your personal financial matters, and some of us wonder how good of a job they are doing.

Are they getting me every break I am entitled to?

Are they getting me too many breaks?

A few years ago we got an incredible return, only to find out later she was scamming the government. She charged us over $400, and our big check was quickly spent on home repairs, and now the IRS is reclaiming it a little each year. Many people have their own horror tax day stories, and you share my nervousness this time of year.

I have come to view tax day as something I must get through. I won’t set aside money in case I owe, but neither will I depend on a return. Tax day was not designed to make me rich.

If you want a big return, just be good and happy. Seriously.

1 Timothy 6:6 says, “Now there is great gain in godliness and contentment.”

That great gain refers to wealth—spiritual wealth—when we live godly and are content. As believers, we should desire to live godly lives all the time because that is what God has called us to. But He also calls us to be content.

Many Americans lack contentment in their lives. We need a little more. I’ve got to pay off the car. I need to set aside for my child’s college. There are so many things to fix around the house. When should I start planning for retirement?

While it is important to be responsible, we still need to be content. There is a fine line between our needs and our wants that we must not cross. Are you content with what you have?

Wanting to have more drives us crazy, but contentment allows us to be satisfied with what we have. 

The Love of Money

Money is what runs the world, right?

Without it we are very limited in what we can do, what we can eat, or where we can go. And as the cost of living continues to go up, the demand and desire for more money goes up.

And yet many times it seems as if the church teaches us that it is wrong to have money. It almost seems as if we believe that God loves us more if we are poor rather than wealthy.

Then there are other churches that seem to teach that if God really loves us and we really love Him then He will make us healthy, wealthy, and prosperous.

But the Bible never tells us to be rich or poor—those circumstances just seem to play out for each person. Whether we have little or much, we are just told not to love money, for that produces all kinds of evil (I Timothy 6:10), and many people have wandered away from the faith in search of more of it.

I don’t know your financial situation, but I know that you need to be content with whatever you have (Philippians 4:11), and remember that it is all a gift from God (James 1:17).  

Our Mediator

A mediator, by definition, is a person that goes between two people or parties. Perhaps you have been in a childish argument before and you told a third party to tell the person you were mad at that you “aren’t speaking to him.” That middleman is your mediator.

The Bible says that there is a mediator between God and men. One cult teaches that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is that mediator. In essence, they believe that we have to pray to Mary and she will carry our prayers to God for us. Others believe that we need to pray to some saints so that they can serve as our mediator.

But we need to finish the verse. I Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Jesus alone is our mediator.

But that doesn’t mean that we pray to Jesus and He carries our prayers to God. Jesus did the work of the mediator 2000 years ago on the cross. Once God poured out His wrath on His Son, then a direct line of communication was made between us and God. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father…”

Christian, are you taking advantage of the open prayer line that our Mediator made available to us?

Good Exercise

There was a time in my life when I was disciplined to run and stay in shape, although it was mostly so I could play sports. Now that I am older I have found it harder and harder to make myself exercise. I’m glad that Paul didn’t put a premium on bodily exercise. In I Timothy 4:7-8 Paul says to “exercise thyself unto godliness. For bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable for all things.” 

Like the runner who has to work at conditioning his body, so the child of God has to work at godliness because it is unnatural to our flesh. We have to condition ourselves to read God’s Word, spend time with Him, and obey Him. 

I once had a basketball coach who wanted us to be the best conditioned team in the league, and in my opinion, we were. In one contest the game was on the line, and in the final minutes the player guarding me was tired and gasping for air when I still had energy. That conditioning was paying off when I needed it to. There will come a time in your spiritual walk when your conditioning will pay off—in temptation, in witnessing, etc—but only if you are in shape.