Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 12:23-25
I’ve never been what you would call a great physical specimen. When I went to the beach, no one stared in awe of me. My muscles, what there were of them, weren’t bulging. And now, the only thing bulging is my stomach.
But there was a brief moment in history where I responded to the cheers of my friends and everyone watching. One day, our gym teachers combined classes for a wrestling competition.
Then it happened. Out of the blue, and for no reason that I can think of, the teacher chose me to wrestle. What was he thinking? I was a nobody and had no strength. I had no skills. To this day I still wonder what was going through his head when he chose me to wrestle for our class.
As I walked to the center of the stinky and sweat-stained mat, I started shaking because this was just going to be another embarrassing moment in the long string of humiliations that made up my life.
But when my classmates started cheering for me, I felt powerful. When they yelled that I could take this guy, I thought maybe I could. I wanted to do well for my friends and teacher. I just had to win, but I’d never won a wrestling match before in my life.
When the coach said “Wrestle” I just lunged at the other guy he went down like a wet noodle. I quickly rolled him on his back and pinned him in about 15 seconds. For one brief, shining moment I was popular. My friends, classmates, and teachers were cheering for me. Everyone in my class slapped me five while patting me on the back.
Doing what’s right and winning in a high school gym class wrestling really doesn’t amount to much. But doing what our loving Heavenly Father wants does. It’s our loving obedience to not just do what he wants, but it gives us power to treat people with lovingkindness.
The writer is telling this same truth to these Hebrews. They need to respond to God’s gift of Jesus in their daily lives. In their worship or God. In their service and kindness to people. And they need more than just encouragement. They need to be held accountable. There are two kinds of holding going on here.
Hold unswervingly – holding ourselves accountable. When I heard my classmates and teachers encouraging me, it strengthened me. I had to hold myself accountable. I had to wrestle and pin my enemy down. No one could do it for me. We need to “pin ourselves down” to the promises we make to God. Yes he will forgive, but do we want to disappoint the one who loves us so much that he died for us? Don’t we want to do anything and everything to please the one who loves us?
Spur one another – holding others accountable. Like when I pinned that guy down in gym class, we need to hold each other accountable. Yes, this means that we encourage one another, speaking kind words to lift them up. But there’s another side to this. Just like a good coach or mentor tells us when we’re wrong, we have to be willing to risk saying the hard things. There are times that we must be willing to take a risk and stir each other up. For their good, we need to say the truth, even when it hurts for a moment.
I meet with some men for lunch every week. To say that we come from different backgrounds is one of the great understatements of the year. Different backgrounds. Working in different industries. Different levels of responsibilities. Different roles in the community.
But we all have one thing in common. We’ve come to the place where we can pin each other down. Ask the hard questions. We can ask embarrassing questions. We can even challenge their manhood. We’ve come to the point that we can look each other in the eye and tell them that they’re wrong.
Yes, we pin each other down. Not to defeat them, but to lift them up. To encourage them. To get them out of feeling sorry for themselves and to get moving. Moving in the right direction. To become the men that God wants them to be. Not some cartoonish macho man, but someone who will give themselves like Jesus did.
Probably you’re feeling a little bit uneasy right now. The idea of someone pinning us down sounds scary. When we’re pinned down, we’ve lost control. Someone else is in control. We’re not the leader. We’re not the victor, but the victim. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus was God from eternity past. And what did he do? He freely gave up his rights as God. He made himself a nobody. He became a servant who didn’t have rights or privileges. He even freely allowed himself to be killed on a cross[1]. If he let himself be pinned down for you and me, shouldn’t we do the same?
Noodling Questions
Describe a special time where you won something. How did you feel?
Do we want others to hold us accountable? Why/why not?
Why do we avoid giving up our rights like the plague?
[1] Philippians 2:6-8
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