1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NLT

'There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.'

In an age of ‘political correctness’, we are all aware of difference. As a term, it is typically associated with the censorship of policies, actions and language seen to disadvantage or offend a particular group of people in society, and the development of ways to fix such social injustices. Paul here seems to welcome difference, yet as Church down the centuries we have used differences between ourselves as a basis for excluding, excommunicating and even executing each other. This is not the best way to reflect a gospel of love.

The process of discerning the nature of difference is critical. Church establishes itself around groups of like-minded individuals. It’s often the theological nuances we hold that bind such groups together across ethnic, gender, social and economic differences. However, equally such theological nuances can lead to a ‘demonisation’ of another gathering of Christian believers. One reason we started Spring Harvest was an attempt to prevent the UK Church from dividing over the charismatic/non-charismatic issue. Clive Calver’s great contribution to unity was to insist that two speakers led each main seminar, one a non-charismatic, the other a charismatic. Neither might criticise the other’s perspective, but difference of view was allowed free expression.

This difference is not to create fear but to stimulate curiosity. We are to face up to the differences we notice, and reflect upon our reaction. Difference can offer the opportunity to dismantle walls of division (Ephesians 2:14) or the motivation to build them. Breaking down difference invites me to live with a measure of uncertainty in anticipation that out of such differences God might work in a variety of ways, and the rich diversity within the household of faith might be revealed. Once it is, the Church expresses itself in technicolour rather than the monochrome we have accepted for far too long.

QUESTION: How do you respond to difference? Does such difference raise anxiety, even fear, within?

PRAYER: Lord, help me to listen and learn from those who are different to me.

Matthew 25:14 NLT

'Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.'

Jesus is now ascended. So I guess he’s left the bags of silver distributed among us, his disciples. The question is: what am I doing with my silver? It has taken many years to identify and then to do battle with what I call the distractions that direct my attention away from God and my sense of purpose in God’s kingdom.

For a number of years while engaged in full-time Christian ministry, I think the platforms and progress was more about me and less about God than I thought. I was having a wonderful time. It didn’t feel like work, for often it wasn’t, as I sat and pontificated with others about great biblical themes, vision and the rest. How well I was investing the time and talents afforded me by God, I don’t know. Only when I was called upon to lay all that aside to care for Katey did I discover both the nature of hard work, work I often did not relish.

I am grateful for the discovery that life in God is less about me than it is about God and others. In contemporary culture, this can sound a lot like a lack of self-esteem. In reality, it’s the key to finding one’s greatest self-esteem, for it lays to rest the lie about my personal significance apart from God. Indeed, all of life is about my slow walk home, which takes me via humility to wholeness.

If the first half of my life was learning through mistakes, I trust the rest of this life might be established upon the learning from those mistakes and the practices now implemented to craft a walk in humble adoration and service of God.

QUESTION: What distracts you from obeying God?

PRAYER: Lord, help me use well what you have entrusted to me for your kingdom.

Matthew 20:20-21 NLT

Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

Asking the appropriate question is key. I’m not always on point here. I remember asking a significant worship leader, who I thought was a great lyricist but not a tremendous singer, why she didn’t write for other people given she hadn’t the best voice? My enquiry received a frosty reception, for obvious reasons! I’m not sure how James’ mum will have felt on reflection, having asked Jesus this question.

Our questions give an insight into how we think. On one occasion I was meeting with a business connection with a view to developing some ministry opportunities, when he asked me, “Don’t you want to become stinking rich?” I was briefly taken aback by his directness but responded, saying I couldn’t make a constructive response. I went on to explain I was exploring Franciscan spiritual approaches founded on simple living which meant I was in process of moving away from personal wealth accumulation. I was also sensing a call to contemplative prayer and practice, which again meant a primary focus on money would be an unhelpful distraction. He wasn’t impressed.

There’s nothing inappropriate about money as such, although the love of money is a snare, but money is not an essential element to [itals]my[end itals] calling. James and John, and their mum, obviously missed the discipleship teaching about giving up one’s own preferences in pursuit of God (Matthew 16:24-26). There’s a sacrificial side to pursuing Christ. However, when I make this sacrifice from obedience, it doesn’t feel like sacrifice. It’s the source of my inner peace and contentment. Pleasing God is not that you making yourself miserable. This is the view of those who have missed the point of serving God and therefore the reality of discipleship.

QUESTION: What question would you want to ask of God right now?

PRAYER: Lord God, thank you that a life serving you both fulfils and satisfies.

Proverbs 19:21 NLT

'You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.'

I have trained and operated as a spiritual guide. Before I agree to work with someone, it’s essential we meet to decide if we are a good fit for each other. In the questions I get asked is always one about how I provide guidance. But a spiritual director/guide does not give instruction. Rather, it’s a listening together with God. The spiritual guide is something of a midwife, assisting at the birth of some insight which is all the product of the directee.

Of course, there’s another reason for finding an appropriate spiritual guide, and that’s to help us collect the garbage that we accumulate in our lives and carry it out to the dustbin. I’m amazed with the lack of interest I exhibit towards cleaning my home until I know someone is about to visit. I then blitz the place. I don’t want them to see just how messy my home is. So often that dirt is what prevents us from seeing where God is operating in our life. We become familiar with the garbage and learn to accommodate it.

Fulfilling our God-given destiny is so often about rediscovering what seeds were sown in us from our birth. As we grow up, distractions can lead us away from those things that give us fulfilment. It was eye-opening for me to spend time with a career consultant in my middle age completing many ‘tests’. What stood out for me in the report was the advice that I take time with nature, for this was an essential part of what energised my life.

In conversation with the consultant, I was encouraged to discover that if I’d followed my father’s advice and headed for a merchant bank after Oxford, I would probably have been sacked or gone mad! The heart and reality of guidance is finding how to do what I love. This may not be my primary career. My passion for people, for nature, for contemplation will not pay the bills, but does nourish my soul like nothing else can.

QUESTION: Do you need assistance in clearing some of the ‘mental junk’?

PRAYER: Lord, guide me to the areas where I will bear fruit for your kingdom.

Luke 9:24 NLT

'If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.'

Growing up, I enjoyed an American TV comedy called Bewitched. As a child, I longed for the ability to wiggle my nose and for my wishes to become reality. Samantha, the main character, had this power; life for her was effortless. The programme must have left a deposit of ‘magic dust’ in my mind, for I assumed that once I became a Christian all my troubles were over. In one sense that was true; I was in relationship with the source of life itself. In another I was entirely wrong, for it was my responsibility to work out my faith on the ground (Philippians 2:12).

Being someone who is very much of the moment, planning and preparation are never high on my ‘to-do’ list. So the idea of sacrifice being an essential feature of growth was something I tried resisting. Yet, as every athlete knows, sacrifice is a foundational element to their success. They need to adjust their life choices around their athletic ambitions. Unsurprisingly, Paul calls us athletes (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Simply becoming a disciple demands a level of focus I’d not really planned for my life.

Sacrifice means I put my ambition first and do all that I can to realise that dream. Sacrifice is critical to guidance, for none of us can realise our aspirations without it. It also helps clarify my ambition. Was I seeking to realise my sense of what God had for me, or something related to it? As I applied myself, I discovered there were things I needed to weed out of my life and practice to grow a healthier me. It was at these moments of self-revelation that I wrestled, like every aspiring athlete aiming to progress to a higher level of competition.

QUESTION: How do you react if you have to make a personally costly decision?

PRAYER: Lord, help me to place a greater value on the things that matter most to you.