One of my morning breakfast time, I was preparing the breakfast by steaming a frozen meat bun on an electric steamer. After adding water into the steamer’s bowl, I set the steamer’s timer on.  After the timer is up, I was happy to see the meat bun puffed up nicely outside.  I started to enjoy the “hot” meat bun as my breakfast. In the middle of my tasting, I find that the middle of the bun is still cold. Two bites later, I decided to give it up because I didn’t feel like to have a hot bun with cold meat inside.

This interesting experience prompts me to think what I have done wrong. Apparently, I didn’t prepare it correctly – either the water in the bowl was too low or the steaming duration was too short for a frozen bun. The end result is, as is expected, a hot skin with a cold meat bun, which is an undesired one.

As I put the bun back to restart the steaming process, I was thinking: isn’t this undesired bun similar to the teachers of the law and Pharisees in Jesus’ time – looking good from outside but is not good inside? In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 23, Jesus used 7 woes to scold the teachers of the law and Pharisees. He called them hypocrites, blind guides, blind men, and whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. Obviously, Jesus was very dissatisfied with their inconsistent and self righteous behaviors, especially they are supposed to lead the Israelites to follow God truthfully.

Thinking about this, it makes me to examine my own behavior too. As a Christ’s follower, do I have the similar behavior as the Pharisees – serve God and others with my lips only? Do I look beautiful on the outside but on the inside is completely different? I have to admit that sometimes, I am guilty as charged. My wife oftentimes complains that I say a lot but have done little, including to my kids; in particular, she thinks I spend too little time with them. I guess I have to watch out myself. 🙁

My dear brothers and sisters, when we frequently didn’t do what we are saying, we quickly fall into the hypocritical state like the Pharisees. It is the state that our Lord has despised the most. Because He said the Pharisees are the descendants of the evil one – who is the father of lies (John 8:44). This is quite serious. Therefore, let’s encourage one another and be diligent to do what we are saying.

One late night in last week, a friend of us called and asked us to come over“urgently”. We wasn’t sure what is going on and thought they might just have something to share with us. Arrived their place, we found that their family was in the middle of “intensive fellowship”. It is kind of awkward and all we can do is assuming the role of listener, because we really don’t know how to resolve it, as Chinese has an old saying, “清官難斷家務事 Even a good judge has a difficulty in judging the family matters”. 

Coincidentally, in last Friday night’s small group meeting, we watched / discussed a video titled, “How to resolve conflicts, part 2” Most of us find it is very useful. The guest speakers shared with us several their own examples and taught us some practical methods and approaches in resolving conflicts within a family. The foremost principle, per the speakers, is based on “love”.  And in practice, we should discuss events and matters instead of people. These are good principles since our careless words sometimes carry detrimental power when we speak them without love. In addition, words concerning personal behavior, instead of events/incidents, may put one on defense mode and fuel negative emotions inadvertently. One of our group members commented, “These are easy to say than done”. Yes, sometimes it does appear like that; otherwise this world would be a “better” place already 🙂

God gives us the ability to speak and communicate with words, but He also knows how difficult it is for us to control our tongue. The Bible, therefore, taught us many lessons in speaking words in love and in proper manner.  One of the familiar ones is “Speak truth in love 用愛心說誠實話 (Ephesians 4:15a)”. And, apostle Paul in his well-known teaching of “love” (1 Corinthians 13) mentioned that a person who can speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, he is only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal (13:1). Similarly, the author of the book of James even warned us that the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. 舌頭就是火，在我們百體中，舌頭是個罪惡的世界，能污穢全身，也能把生命的輪子點起來，並且是從地獄裡點著的(James 3:6). No wonder king Solomon said,  “一句話說得合宜、就如金蘋果在銀網子裡Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket. (Proverb 25:11 NLT)”

Conflicts can occur when we insist our own view or opinions, without basing in truth and love. Sometimes it is better to calm down and rethink what we are going to say during confrontation. Someone once said, “It is better to bite your tongue than to make a biting remark. 與其出口傷人，不如緘口無言。”  It is very true!  We should learn how to control our tongue in all situations, especially when facing our family members. Perhaps you are familiar with the saying, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. 「君子論理，常人談事，小人議人。」” Hope we all soon become “great minds” in the future….

In the early morning while still in my bed, a church friend, who was staying with us during the weekend, woke me up. With my drowsy eyes, the friend said his roommate called him several times already regarding a forceful entry to their apartment. Though I was still in my half-sleeping mode, I agreed to take him back to his apartment to check it out. On the way to his apartment, the church friend was worrying that he may lose something valuable in this incident. I told him that you couldn’t do much now except call the police and report the incident. While I was there waiting for police officers to do a thorough check around the apartment, I had a chance to chat with my friend’s neighbor next door, she stated that she was surprised to learn this occurrence since she didn’t hear anything abnormal. Besides, “This is a nice neighborhood”, she emphasized.  

This kind of incident is just one of the many occurred across the country each day. Even with a nice neighborhood like the one where my friend stays, burglary and theft seem to find its casualty without exception. My friend’s roommate told me that he lost a laptop computer during this incident. Though the computer is not brand new, he still wants to get it back earnestly because it stores valuable pictures and music that he has collected for years. I think this is certainly not an enjoyable experience, especially when considering something valuable to him is stolen.

“Something valuable” sometimes can mean different thing to different people – it could mean significant monetary value or, it has great importance or, it is something being held dearly. In the analogy of “good shepherd” in the Gospel of John, Jesus told Pharisees, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep我是好牧人，好牧人為羊捨命. (John 10:11)”. Jesus indicated how invaluable we are in His eye – He gave His life to us.  The evil one, however, is determined to prevent us from receiving this precious gift. He tries very hard in every possible means to “steal” the most valuable thing – our heart – from us by using his treacherous tools: fame, position, wealth and others. No wonder Jesus said, “All who have come before me are thieves and robbers. 凡在我以先來的，都是賊，是強盜 (John 10:8a)”  In contrast to “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy盜賊來，無非要偷竊，殺害，毀壞”, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 我來了，是要叫羊﹝或作人﹞得生命，並且得的更豐盛”

So, what is the most valuable thing to us?  The author of the Proverbs taught us that “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it你要保守你心，勝過保守一切‧﹝或作你要切切保守你心﹞因為一生的果效，是由心發出” Apparently, it is our heart that is most valuable to us. The author also told us that a prideful heart would result in destruction, while a God-fearing heart would keep us from walking down the sinful path. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, guard your heart from anything that could tempt you away from God. Let us “Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength.”

I took a few days off last week to relax and do some house repairs. The weather however wasn’t quite cooperating – a series of hot, humid and stormy days follows. I managed to finish a few things around the house and decided to take it easy. Later in the week, I need to drop off my kids and friends at the airport. After dropped them off at the airport, my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to visit our daughter at college because it was the July 4^th weekend. So, we drove up and brought a church friend along to accompany us since he has never been there.

It was a beautiful day while we were driving. The church friend is very talkative so we learned many stories from him that we haven’t heard before. He mentioned that there is a famous English cram school in his home country, which is good at preparing students for taking GRE exam. Whoever would like to get a good score for the exam, in a very short time period, they can assure him/her to achieve the goal. Essentially, the school purposely focuses on teaching students “crucial” techniques in finding the best answer to each question, efficiently and accurately. It is not her purpose, however, to increase students’ knowledge in English in the long run. It is much alike an automobile cram school – aim to get students pass the driving test instead of “how to drive properly” on the road.

In today’s impatient world, everything has to be quick and fast. “Patience” seems to be lost from most people’s dictionary. In order to achieve personal goal / gain in a very short period, shortcuts, insiders, cram schools, etc. are favored and selected. A lengthy learning process or development is therefore deemed dumb and inefficient. This kind of “seeking instant benefit (急功近利)” can be very destructive to a person’s life and to the society. The chilling fact is it is like a beautiful building with a weak foundation – crumbled quickly when face with an earthquake or a storm.

My dear brothers and sisters, do we have a similar situation in our journey with our Lord? Do we consider the catechism class like a cram school – after we have been baptized, we think we are done? If this is the case, then, we are in trouble. The famous lesson “The Wise and Foolish Builders” from our Lord to His disciples, in Matthew 7: 24-27, teaches us that the difference between the wise and the foolish builder is to “listen” to His words and put them into practice. Without putting His words into practice, our faith is like building a house on sand.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, we are in Christ’s school instead of cram school. In Christ’s school, we learn how to be obedient in following our Lord. He allows situations and trials to test us and let us to learn His will and to live a life that is worthy of His calling. This is what apostle Paul said, “all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). 萬事都互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處，就是按他旨意被召的人” And, we are predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. Consequently, our journey to conform to the image of Jesus is a “life-long” process and we can’t achieve it instantly.  May God grant you persistence and patience to put His words into practice!