I've been reading an excellent book on personal leadership and growth by Jay Bilas. The book is called Toughness. Jay Bilas was a former college basketball player at Duke and is currently a college basketball analyst with ESPN. He discusses several principles in his book that, if followed, enable one to build resiliency and toughness in life.

One of his early chapters is about preparation. His focus in that chapter is that preparation develops the ability to persevere through whatever difficulty you might face. To a casual fan, college or pro basketball might look like little more than a pickup game played at a higher level. To a player, coach or analyst, the game is much more, and preparation is key to that. Jay wrote that he spends more time and works harder to prepare to announce a game than he did as a player getting ready to play a game.

How does this idea of preparation intersect with our spiritual lives? I've written before about Jesus' teaching about diligence and watchfulness. But we can go further. If the summation of God's call on our lives is to love him with our entire being and to love our neighbor as ourselves, how does preparation play into this?

Simply, we must prepare if we are going to live the life God calls us to. We practice, we think, we read, we pray. All these things are "practice" that help us prepare so that in the moment, we are ready to serve God. For these reasons, Paul writes both, "Train yourself in godliness" (1 Timothy 4:7) and "Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one" (1 Corinthians 9:25).

By applying the concept of preparation--by reading the Bible, examining the details of our lives, praying for strength, help and guidance, and thinking ahead about how we will handle the different temptations and opportunities in our lives--we will be diligent and watchful as Jesus calls us to be. 

Think about Paul's encouragement to train yourself in godliness. How will you do this? 

In a couple of recent sermons I've addressed the idea of being a taker versus being a giver. Takers, in a church context, are there for themselves. They would not be that direct about it themselves, but takers are the first ones to complain when they don't like something or are not getting what they think they should from their experience.

Givers, on the other hand, understand the principle that we are to love and care for one another. If the church is a family, then we must treat one another as the brothers and sisters they are. If the church is the body of Christ, then we must follow the lead and example of Christ, our head.

There are dozens of "one another" passages in the New Testament that teach us how to live with each other. Here are a few:

• "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." (Romans 12:10)
• "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." (Galatians 5:13)
• "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works." (Hebrews 10:24)

From this small sampling of passages, it is clear that we are obligated to each other. We must be givers. We must be focused on the needs of others, honoring them and regarding them as better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). 

If we do not want to live this way, I think we must ask why. Is it because we are learning this way, learning how to move out of selfishness into service? Or is it because we would rather be a taker, taking from others who are willing to give?

Scripture commends us to be givers. Jesus said that he came among us as one who served (Luke 22:27). As we follow him, we become givers. We become less, as we help others become more.

Would you prefer a lot or a little at your retirement? Do you believe that bigger is better? You've probably seen the bumper sticker that says "The one who dies with the most toys...wins!"

Our culture forms us to focus on our futures, on how we can maximize our interests, on how we can build our legacies. Of course, we aren't the first culture to think this way. Even Jesus' disciples had the same questions.

In Luke 22, Jesus discovered that the disciples were disputing among themselves "as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest" (22:24). The language of this question implies that they are looking forward--they are thinking about their legacies. Which one of them, they are arguing about, would have the greatest legacy because of Jesus? They were thinking about their futures.

The ironic thing is that Jesus had just told them, not about his future, but about his end. This dispute arose immediately after Jesus had shared the Passover with his disciples and had instituted what we have come to call the Lord's Supper. Jesus had just shared with them the words that his body was being given for them, that his blood was being poured out for them. Missing the point entirely, all the disciples could do was argue about which of them, if Jesus was truly dying, could carry on and have the greatest legacy.

Jesus countered by teaching them not to think about their legacies, but to think about being least (22:25-27). He told them that the world thinks about legacies and power over others, but they should not think that way. Instead, they should seek to be the least among all, to be like the youngest in everything.

He gave an example: Who is greater? Is it the one who is served at the table, or is it the one who serves at the table? The implied answer is that the greater one is the one who is being served. "But I am among you as one who serves," Jesus said.

Jesus came among us as a servant. His legacy was not in wealth or power, but in humility and service. His serving led to his own death. He came among us as one who serves.

What do you think about? When you think about your future, what kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? A life of wealth, ease and power stored up for yourself and maybe a few close others, or a life of abundance, a life given for others, a life of least, of humility and service that follows Jesus?

I'm always surprised at how quickly Solomon falls.
 
In 1-2 Kings, we have a long story about the ascendancy of David, from his humble origins as a shepherd and the armor-bearer of Saul, to God's rejection of Saul and anointing of David, and finally to David's rise and conquering of his enemies. A turning point in David's story is when he takes stock of his own beautiful palace and realizes that the ark of God is living in a tent. He decides, presumptuously, to build a house for God.

God, of course, had other plans. Through his prophet Nathan, he told David that it would be David's son who would build a house for God. God then created a covenant with David, and in a tremendous demonstration of grace, promised a permanent descendant of David on the throne, who had done nothing to deserve this.

The promised son was Solomon. The first section of 1 Kings describes his rise. In this section, the slow consolidation of Solomon's power is built up. He makes alliances, often by marrying daughters of foreign rulers, he gains territory, he amasses a superior armies, and he extends the boundaries of Israel to new heights. In chapters 7-9, the pinnacle of Solomon's spiritual leadership is reached as he builds and dedicates the Temple to God. God appears to him at the end of this section to remind him of the conditions of the covenant--that obedience to God's ways was required.

In chapter 10, the height of Solomon's political career is reached as he receives a visit from the Queen of Sheba, who has heard of his great riches and wisdom. The chapter ends with a recounting of Solomon's greatness in riches and wisdom. King Solomon has arrived.

How ironic, then, that the very next chapter (11) describes the downfall of Solomon! His downfall is announced through a comment about the "love" Solomon had for his many foreign wives. As the nationalities of these wives are recounted, we see that they are from many of the nations that had opposed Solomon in the past, and of whom God had told his people not to marry. Thus, "the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD" (11:9). Consequently, God raised up enemies against Solomon and decided to take the kingdom away from Solomon. It was only because of God's promise to David (not Solomon), that God allowed Solomon's son to retain a small piece of the kingdom as it was torn asunder (11:26-40).

The rise of Solomon is told to us in ten chapters. His fall, in less than one. This is a symbol of our own lives. It takes dedication, commitment, and growth over the long haul to follow God in obedience. It takes just moments to have this torn down. 

It is for these reasons that Jesus teaches alertness and watchfulness. In Mark 13:33, he said, "Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come." In the same passage, he taught the disciples to "keep awake" two other times. We should heed the warning of the example of Solomon and the teaching of Jesus--be very diligent as you walk with God in obedience.

What do you do when you are angry?

Many of us follow one of two paths in anger: either we lash out in the moment or we brood on it for awhile, which often results in a lash out at some point in the future. Both of these approaches cause us to feel embarrassed with our behavior. They also leave behind a trail of damage that we must undo if we are to live with the integrity and unity that we are called to in the gospel.

We find wisdom in scripture to find a different way. In Ephesians, in a paragraph about being false towards others, Paul writes, "Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil" (4:26-27). It is clear that Paul believes we can be angry without yet sinning; it is what we do with that anger that leads to sin. If we immediately lash out against another, we have sinned; we have acted inappropriately with our anger.

It is also clear that prolonged, unprocessed anger creates space for the devil to creep in. The longer we brood and meditate on an issue or person that caused us anger, we become angrier and bitter towards that person, perhaps lashing out later. In this case, also, the inappropriate use of anger has led to sin.

Paul provides a solution for us to ponder. Many of us believe that anger is a sin by itself, so we question how we can be angry without sinning. Paul writes, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." Paul's exhortation to us is to process our anger, to pray about it, to work through it, to seek forgiveness and reconciliation.

Paul's exhortation is an application of Psalm 4:4, where the psalmist admonishes that "when you are angry [disturbed; NRSV], do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent." His teaching, picked up by Paul, is that in the night ("on your beds"), when you have time for reflection and prayer (most Jews observed evening prayer as a disciplined practice), pray about and work through your anger. Paul reflects this idea when he says not to let the sun go down on your anger.

Prayer is a help with anger. In our anger, we are most often focused on ourselves, how we have been offended and wronged. We often do not think about how we might have contributed to the problem, and we do not often seek reconciliation and forgiveness in the heat of anger. 

If we follow the admonition of Paul and the psalmist, then we will turn to prayer in our anger, which is really a turning to God. We will process our anger in prayer, seeking the Lord's guidance, with a much better possibility of an outcome that includes peace, reconciliation and forgiveness.