{"id":6,"date":"2010-09-02T16:47:03","date_gmt":"2010-09-02T20:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=6"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:29:24","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:29:24","slug":"a-job-half-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/a-job-half-done\/","title":{"rendered":"A Job Half Done"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This story takes me back to summertime down near Crawfordsville, IN. My dad and us boys would spend as much time as was humanly possible down at the creek that ran along the backside of our property.\u00a0 We spent so much time down there in fact, that we became increasingly dissatisfied with having to leave and go back up to the house (which was about dead center of our 22 acres).\u00a0 Now, I can\u2019t remember who started us down this road (my dad or us boys), but somehow we all got in our minds that we wanted to build a cabin at the top of the 60 foot cliff just above our favorite swimming hole.\u00a0 Several years later, the idea had morphed from a small cabin to a full-fledged two- story, 2000 square foot house!<\/p>\n

The first step in the process was simple since the spot we had picked was right in the middle of our woods.\u00a0 We found ourselves cutting and hauling more wood that summer than we ever had in our entire lives.\u00a0 We had cleared both a plot for the house and an extremely long driveway by the time we realized that overriding family plans (namely our move to Lafayette, IN) weren\u2019t going to allow us complete the dream. \u00a0So the mostly-cleared plot sat there, strewn with huge logs and stumps.\u00a0 Now we had worked hard, believe me, and if you would have asked us, we had cleared that area.\u00a0 After all, where there were trees once before, there were now none.\u00a0 Where there had been shade, now there was bright sunlight flooding the forest floor.\u00a0 Yet if you had asked someone else (maybe someone not so emotionally invested in the project) they would have seen stump after stump, and log after log that still needed to be removed.\u00a0 When it was all said and done, even though so much had been accomplished, we were still a far cry from putting in a foundation for a house.\u00a0 You really could say that we\u2019d left the job half done.<\/p>\n

Spiritually “Half-Done”<\/h2>\n

In the Sermon on the Mount\u00a0 (Matthew 5-7) we find Christ holding his followers, not to the standard of the Law of Moses, but a higher standard still.\u00a0 He calls His followers to go beyond the law in their devotion to Him\u2026to not leave the job, in a manner of speaking, \u201chalf done.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Christ begins point after point with, \u201cYou have heard that the Law of Moses says\u2026\u201d and then goes on to explain, in essence, that the law is not the goal, but just the starting point.\u00a0 Not murdering someone is just the bare minimum.\u00a0 We must take care of the root of that issue by not getting angry with someone in the first place.\u00a0 Not sleeping around is just the starting point.\u00a0 The goal should be to not look at anyone with lust.\u00a0 Loving your friends is just the bare minimum\u2026even criminals do that.\u00a0 How about loving those who hate you? How about blessing those who would rather see you suffer than to see your face?\u00a0 Being spiritual in public\u2026that\u2019s easy.\u00a0 How about praying, giving, and caring for the needs of others privately\u2026when no one but God knows about it?\u00a0 It\u2019s so easy for me to look at my life and think, \u201cwell, I don\u2019t murder, I don\u2019t sleep around, I love my friends, I do my devotions (after all, I couldn\u2019t bear telling my accountability group that I didn\u2019t have devotions everyday this week).\u201d\u00a0 Held up to Christ\u2019s expectations, that thought process is minimalistic, shallow, and really quite lame. \u00a0If what Christ said is true, that anger is the same as murder, lusting after someone is the same as having sex with that person, that loving my enemies and caring for the needy in secret is the standard\u2026man I still have some serious work yet to do if I\u2019m going to be an actual follower of Christ (in word and <\/em>deed). \u00a0I\u2019d encourage you to read these chapters (5-7).\u00a0 Christ uses some very strong language to describe the standard He\u2019s calling us to.\u00a0 Words like \u201cpure\u201d and \u201cperfect.\u201d Concepts like whole-hearted, undivided devotion.\u00a0 Obviously, a calling that can only be lived out by the grace of God and the power of His Spirit.<\/p>\n

The Results of “Half-Done”<\/h2>\n

Several years later I went back to that same clearing.\u00a0 Guess what\u2026it\u2019s no longer a clearing.\u00a0 In fact it\u2019s what I would consider the opposite of a clearing.\u00a0 That plot contains some of the most dense forest on those 22 acres.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because we didn\u2019t finish the job.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t go all the way.\u00a0 We were satisfied to leave the stumps and roots and call it \u201ccleared.\u201d\u00a0 Are you selling yourself short by convincing yourself that you\u2019re a true follower of Christ when in reality you\u2019re offering of worship is the bare minimum?\u00a0 \u00a0We must go further and deeper till we get to the heart of our sin (and likewise to the heart of our devotion).\u00a0 If you\u2019ve left the job half done, the external \u201cclearing\u201d you\u2019re satisfied with today could manifest itself as a seriously dense forest of sin issues down the road.<\/p>\n

I say we pick up our axes, shovels, bulldozers, font-end loaders, and most of all the double-edged sword of God\u2019s Word, and get after the roots of our sin.\u00a0 And this time, let\u2019s not leave the job half done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we find Christ holding his followers, not to the standard of the Law of Moses, but a higher standard still. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[106,107],"yoast_head":"\nA Job Half Done - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/a-job-half-done\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Job Half Done - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we find Christ holding his followers, not to the standard of the Law of Moses, but a higher standard still.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/a-job-half-done\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-02T20:47:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T14:29:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2010\/08\/Overgrown-stump.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Titus Curtis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Titus Curtis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/a-job-half-done\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/a-job-half-done\/\",\"name\":\"A Job Half Done - 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