Saturday, July 10, 2010

11.07.10 - Two Types Of People

It is common for people to say, “There are two types of people in the world” and then to describe what those two types are. Let me give you some examples.

I read a blog in which a personnel manager (in other words, a person who recruits new employees) was quoted as saying that after 25 years in the job, he was convinced that there are only two types of people in the world: those who start with nothing and manage to produce something, and those who could be given all the resources in the world and would still produce nothing.

That’s an interesting thought. There are those who produce (despite a disadvantage) and those who don’t produce (despite an advantage). Which are you?

Because it was a blog, there were some interesting comments. One person said, “That reminds me of the story of the hiring manager who threw half of all job applications he received in the bin. That way, he didn’t hire anyone who was unlucky.”

Someone else said, “My experience teaches me that if there are two types of people they are people who know how to actually do things and personnel managers.”

An old joke says: There are two types of people in the world: those who believe there are two types of people in the world and those who don’t.

There is actually a web site called www.tattopitw.com and a facebook page for there are two types of people in the world. Some people will become fans of that page and some won’t.

Mark Twain said, “There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.”

There are two types of people in the world:
• Those who say the glass is half full and those who say it is half empty. Which are you?
• Those who are creative thinkers and those who are critical thinkers
• Those who read the instructions and those who don't.
• Those who follow the paths others have made and those who make their own paths.
• Dreamers and doers
• Those who moan about their situation and those who do something about it.
• Those who take risks and those who play it safe.
• Those who walk into a room and say "Ah here I am" and those who say "Ah there you are"

There are a number of jokes around too.
• There are three types of people in the world: those who can count and those who can’t.
• There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don’t

And here is a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox: Two Kinds Of People

There are two kinds of people on earth today;
Just two kinds of people, no more I say.
Not the sinner and the saint, for it’s well understood
The good are half bad and the bad are half good.

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
He who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.

Wherever you go you will find the earth's masses
Are always divided in just these two classes
And oddly enough, you will find, too, I ween,
There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner who lets others bear
Your portion of labour and worry and care?

When people are making these statements they choose one characteristic. And so people either are or are not that thing. People are either workers or shirkers. People either are or are not optimists. They either are or are not innovators. They are either doers or dreamers. They either do or do not like sea food.

So, in a sense there are only two types of people in the world – if we are talking about a single characteristic. But as soon as we add in another characteristic we have four types of people. There are:
1. Those who are introverts and like spaghetti
2. Those who are introverts and don’t like spaghetti
3. Those who are extroverts and life spaghetti
4. Those who are extroverts and don’t like spaghetti.

Add another characteristic and you have 8 types. Add a fourth and you have 16. The number of types grows exponentially until you have to say maybe there’s nearly 7 billion types of people in the world.

To make it even more complicated, it is often not true to say that a person is either A or B. There are some things that you either are or are not. You either are pregnant or you are not. You either are married or you are not. You can’t be a little bit married.

But for most things, everybody is actually on a continuum between those two extremes – maybe mainly A and a little bit B. Generally optimistic but pessimistic if I am tired. It is far more complex than just A or B. Even with just one characteristic there is an infinite range of possibilities, not just two.

For any particular characteristic, we can ask ourselves, “Am I A or B or where am I on that spectrum?” We should ask ourselves those questions. Am I a lifter or a leaner? Am I lazy or energetic? Am I positive or negative, or what combination of the two?

The reality is every one of us is unique, each made up of a unique combination of characteristics. There are not two type of people in the world but nearly 7 billion – each person unique.

Isn’t it one of the most amazing aspects of God’s creation that there are no two things exactly alike? There are no two snowflakes that are exactly the same (although I don’t know how anyone knows that) and there are no two people who are exactly the same. We have an amazingly creative God.

Our uniqueness makes us special. We are one of a kind. We are not mass produced. We are not just like everybody else, or even anybody else. There are things about us that set us apart.

Of course, the cynic says, “You are unique, just like everybody else” but the reality is that you are not exactly the same as anybody else. On the blog I mentioned earlier someone said, “There is only one kind of person in this world. A person comprised of an absolutely unique combination of features, flaws, characteristics, beliefs, quirks, and aspirations. It’s wonderful!” Celebrate the individual.

READ Luke 12:4-7

God knows all about you; all the tiny details. He knows your uniqueness. He doesn’t just assume how many hairs are on your head. He doesn’t just say, “Southland male, about 40 years old. In that case, probably 90,000 hairs.” He doesn’t make those assumptions. He knows the exact number. He knows you. He knows your uniqueness. The point Jesus is making is that you are valuable to Him.

Yet we have a tendency to want to put people in categories. We can’t cope with 7 billion types of people. God can but we can’t. We want to reduce it to a far smaller number of categories. We want to be able to say, “You are this sort of person. And you are that sort of person.” It is convenient to label people and deal with only a few categories. But it doesn’t do justice to the exceptions or the vast variety.

When we label someone we can then assume that they are a certain way. All extroverts are shallow. Or all redheads have a temper. That is the basis of prejudice – pre-judging – and it devalues people. God doesn’t put people in boxes and then make assumptions, and neither should we.

Although, you know, God does say that there are only two types of people in the world. There is one thing that divides all people into two categories.

READ Mark 9:38-40

John wanted to stop this person driving out demons because he was not one of them. There is another way of saying there are two types of people in this world; us and them.

Jesus didn’t argue with the idea of two categories. He said, “Actually, he is one of us too. If he does a miracle in my name, he is not going to then turn around and criticise me.” Then Jesus said a fascinating thing: whoever is not against us is for us. In other words, there are only two possibilities: for us or against us. There is no other option. Whoever is not against us is for us. In Matthew 12:30 Jesus states it the other way: whoever is not with us is against us. There are only two options.

There is a sharp distinction and we fall into one category or the other. We might express it in various ways. We are either God’s children or we are not. In John 8 Jesus spoke to the Jews, who clearly believed that they were God’s children. In that passage they say that they are children of God. Jesus says, “Actually, you are not. If you were, you would love me. Actually, you are children of the devil.”

We might talk about the same thing in terms of being saved and going to heaven. We either are or we are not. In the end, there is one characteristic that does divide the world into two types of people. There is going to be a judgement. People will be divided into two groups.

What is the criterion that divides people like that? It is having a relationship with Jesus. Are we for Jesus or against Him? It is trusting Him and following Him.

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.

That is very clear, isn’t it? Only two possibilities: whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life but rather God’s judgement. It all hinges on believing in Jesus. Believing means more than just head belief. It means trusting enough to put our lives in His hands.

That, of course, is our choice. We know what God wants. God wants everyone to be saved.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

1 Tim 2:4 [God] who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

In many ways it is ridiculous to say there are only two types of people in this world. There are many types of people because God has made us unique. But when it comes to the biggest question that we will ever face – the question that will be asked at the judgement when people will be divided into two types – we need to know that we know the answer. When it comes to our salvation and our eternity, there are only two types of people.

Have you put your faith in Jesus and are you following Him in obedience? God wants you to be His child. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants to give you eternal life. If you are not already a child of God, you have the opportunity today to start that relationship. As always, at the end of the service there will be people willing to pray with you, at the front of the church, at the right hand side. If God is calling you to respond today, the service hasn’t finished until you have made that response. Please don’t just walk out and leave the service unfinished. If God wants to make you His child today, please don’t leave without becoming His child. Don’t walk away from God. There are two types of people in this world.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

04.07.10 - Being Part Of A Miracle

READ Acts 3:1-16

The miracle in that story is very different from the types of miracles we have been talking about as we have looked at Bruce Wilkinson’s book You Were Born For This. That was a very dramatic, visible, physical miracle. Praise God for it. And praise God when similar things happen today. And praise God for the times when we have the privilege of being involved in such a miracle.

But some miracles happen in a person’s heart and are invisible. If someone is saved by putting his trust in Jesus, that is a miracle. If someone is forgiven or is set free from a fear, that is a miracle. If someone, simply comes to know that God loves her and knows her current situation, that is a miracle.

But whatever the type of miracle, there are a lot of common features. Bruce Wilkinson talks about five steps to delivering a miracle. Last week we looked at steps one and two. And they are pretty obvious. If you are going to be involved in bringing a miracle into someone’s life, you need to identify the someone. That means being aware of God’s nudges; aware of God directing your attention towards someone because He wants to do something in that person’s life. We need to be awake to God saying, “I want to use you to do something special in that person’s life. Now go and start a conversation.”

The second step is to isolate the need that God plans to meet. In part, that means listening to what God is saying; what is on His agenda for that person. In part, it means listening to what the person says, or even the body language, and picking up the need that God seems to want to meet.

Peter and John had possibly gone into the temple hundreds of times before. The crippled man had been lame from birth and was carried to the temple gate every day to beg. Peter and John may have seen him on numerous occasions. But this day, their attention was drawn to him in a new way. God nudged them.

It wasn’t hard for them to discern his need. He needed money. He asked them for money. Obvious need.

But, in fact, that wasn’t the need God planned to meet that day. That man had possibly long ago given up hoping for a cure or a healing but God planned to heal him that day. The spoken need wasn’t the need. Peter and John had to be aware of what God was saying.

The third step is: Open the heart.

Many miracles happen in the heart. They are personal miracles – times when God speaks profoundly to a person and that person’s attitude or understanding or emotions are changed. It will be a wonderful thing and very liberating but before God can use you to touch that person’s heart, the heart must be open.

The heart is a person’s most private and protected place. Sometimes a person will share his/her heart straight away. She will be very open about the need she has. But, sometimes, that is not the case. In the story I used last week, Owen said everything was OK. He didn’t acknowledge his need. He was going to give up the ministry God had called him into. He had already decided, but he wasn’t yet ready to tell all the men in that conference. If he remained closed – if he wasn’t willing to talk about his own situation – there could be no miracle. It is only when we open up and acknowledge our need, that God can meet that need. There is a certain amount of vulnerability and humility required.

If we really sense that God has drawn our attention to someone and we believe God wants to do a miracle, how can we get that person to open his/her heart? We can’t force it and we shouldn’t try. People’s freedom and dignity must be respected. Trying to force it open is likely to make the person more resistant.

Having said that, Bruce Wilkinson’s approach with Owen was pretty direct! He went back to him a second time and told him he wasn’t telling the truth! I don’t think even Bruce would recommend that approach. You would have to be very sure that was what God was saying and, of course, sometimes God does take a direct approach.

But generally, to be allowed into someone’s heart requires a different approach – an approach that says that you care and that you can be trusted.

And, actually, even in Owen’s case, Wilkinson did a number of things to indicate that he cared and could be trusted. We’ll come to that in a moment but Wilkinson says that if he hadn’t sensed that this was a miracle opportunity he might have responded very differently. He might have encouraged Owen to reconsider his decision to quit or he might have asked all of the other men to remember Owen in their prayers. They would have both been caring, Christian responses but for God’s miracle to happen, it needed to go deeper; it required an open heart.

So, how can you open a closed heart? Hearts respond best to gentle and sincere invitations from one hearts to another. Wilkinson suggests some tips – in fact, things we already know and use all the time, and things he says he did as Owen talked.
Maintain eye contact. There are wonderful people who, when they are talking to someone else, look at them with absolutely undivided attention.
Soften and lower your voice. If we are talking about ideas or news our voice might be louder but when we talk about feelings we lower our voice in terms of both volume and pitch.
Slow down and allow gaps. Leaving gaps invites the other person to carry more of the conversation and says, “What you have to say is very important to me.”
Relax your posture. Our bodies speak volumes even when we are silent. Our bodies might say we are uneasy or aggressive or angry or bored. To encourage the other person to speak and feel safe, we need to look relaxed and open.
Invite more heart sharing. Just saying “Hmmm” shows that you are paying attention and you care. If your head is tilted to one side it indicates that you are listening. A nod shows that you understand and care. Or you can ask questions like, “How does that make you feel?” or “What does your heart tell you at a moment like this?”
Practise empathy. Empathy means you put yourself in the other person’s shoes and you know how he/she feels. A comment like “That must have been very frustrating” or “That must have hurt” shows that you understand the feelings.

We do a lot of this naturally but, if we want to deliver miracles for God, we also need to be quite intentional about it.

What opened the heart of the crippled man at the temple? It wasn’t actually a heart miracle. It was a physical healing but, all the same, the man had to want it. Peter said, “Look at me.” That got his attention but he still expected only money. When Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” I suspect hope flooded that man’s heart.

The fourth step is to deliver the miracle. Peter took the man’s hand and helped him to his feet. Instantly, his feet and ankles became strong.

The miracle is God’s work. We can’t do the miracle. We don’t have to know what God is going to do or understand how He will work. We can relax and leave that up to Him. But we do need to trust that God will act and we need to be open to what He wants us to do as part of that. While continuing to make eye contact, listen for the leading of the Holy Spirit. God might want us to say something or do something that we wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. Again, we don’t have to stress over it. Jesus has promised...
Matt 10:18-20 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

God might prompt you to give the person $50 or visit his grandmother or pray with him or quote a Bible verse that you didn’t even know that you remembered. It is about being open to God’s leading and willing to act. You might not even realise that what you say is significant but the other person will.

Sometimes you won’t know what to do and that is because God wants you to simply do nothing and give Him room to act.

I was sceptical that there really were five steps to a miracle or seven keys to a life of predictable miracles but ultimately there is no simple step-by-step formula. It is about our willingness to listen to God and obey. The process can look different in each different situation.

But Wilkinson says there is one constant: it is nearly always the recipient who first realises that a miracle has taken place. He might say something like, “Wow! That was an amazing breakthrough for me” or “How did you know?” or “That was a miracle.”

That leads to the fifth step: Transfer the credit.

The mission is not complete until we do everything we can to help the person shift his focus from the wonderful experience he has just had to the source of that experience. In other words, the job is not complete until we have helped that person realise that it was God who did the miracle.

In Acts 3, the man needed no help apparently. He went into the temple courts walking and jumping and praising God. But notice what happened after that. People flocked to Peter and John, amazed at what they had seen. There was the danger that they would credit Peter and John with the miracle. Peter was very emphatic. “Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” And then later: “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has completely healed him as you can all see.”

If someone is not particularly open to God, you want to direct their attention to Him in a way that feels natural, not “churchy”. On other occasions, it will be appropriate to be quite open about it.

Wilkinson suggests encouraging the recipient of the miracle to put into words what just happened. Help him to recognise that it was God who just showed up, but don’t tell him that. Let him come to see it himself. You might ask, “What just happened?”

He might respond, “That was God!” or “I can’t believe what just happened. It feels like a miracle.”

Wilkinson uses three steps
1. Clarify what just happened. “The fear has gone, hasn’t it?” or “Something just changed for you. What was it?”
2. Help the person express what he feels about what God just did. A good question might be: How do you feel about what God just did?
3. Help him put into words his thanks to God or his praise of God – like the crippled man, walking and jumping and praising God.

It might be a case of asking if he would like to say a short prayer of thanks to God, or offering to pray that prayer yourself. You might ask, “Don’t you think God would like to know how you’re feeling about Him right now?”

Transferring the credit is not optional. This is actually the completion of the miracle. Good people doing good works is not enough to accomplish what God wants. It is not about good works and helping people. It has to go further than that. God wants to reveal Himself. The point of the miracle was that people might experience God and know that He loves them.

But, if we can finish by ensuring that God gets the glory, then we have completed a whole miracle delivery and been part of God’s intervention in someone’s life. What a great privilege. God wanted to bless someone and He used you and the person was blessed and God got the glory.

We have been talking about this for 6 months now. Are we doing it? Does God have a miracle He wants you to deliver today?

We have talked about:
• Wanting to be used. Praying that God will use us.
• Being open to go to whomever God indicates – not just the people we like but whomever.
• Cooperating with the Holy Spirit
• Taking risks
• These five steps
   o Identifying the person
   o Isolating the need
   o Opening the heart
   o Delivering the miracle
   o Transferring the credit.

Are you willing to be used by God like this? Are you willing to be available and to listen to the Spirit and to take risks? I suggest that those nwho are willing, stand up - but only in your imagination! No-one else will know but you will know whether you are standing or sitting. Are you willing to say, “I am willing. I am available. I will be looking for the people God wants to bless.” If that is you, would you stand, in ytour imagination, as a sign to God that you want to be available to Him, and I will pray for you?