Author: Lissa Eggleston

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Is a “B” Good Enough?

1257962367_38e5fdfe95_m I have a friend who frequently says to me, “Lissa, why strive for perfection when good enough will do?”  I always laugh because the thought hits me as such a novel idea! Most of us have heard of “Type A” personalities or at least we have been the uncomfortable recipients of their intensity as they navigate life and tasks. It seems that women are particularly susceptible to this personality inclination.  Here is how this type is described:

Type A Personality Characteristics & Behavior The Type A is a normal person operating at his maximum possible speed. She wants to achieve a big goal but she thinks that time is very limited and this results in the following behavior:

    • Exaggerated Sense of time urgency: Since the type A thinks that time is running out and since her goals are too big, she always races with time. If you want to lose a type A in a short time, then waste her time (by making long phone calls or making her wait for something too long). Time is a tool for measuring and a means of limiting, confining and defining. As such, time is important to someone who has always had to meet standards and deadlines for acceptance.
    • Issues with Valuing rightly: Type A people have esteem issues, as they don’t base their value on solid ground but rather on meeting standards. As such, rather than by their inherent value as people, they value themselves and what they do by money. What’s it worth, what did it cost, how much do they earn, have and spend? Their language is peppered by references to the cost of things.  They spend or give money as a way of showing love or affection. It is their empowerment and security. In relationships there is a medium of exchange and of acceptance with others and it is money.
    • Competitiveness: The type A is a very competitive person, she considers everything to be a challenge. She is challenging the circumstances that led to her insecurity and so she will challenge every thing else that does the same.
    • Cleanliness: Since A types tend toward perfectionism they have a high need for orderly, clean, neat surroundings. Disorder or dust makes them feel bad about themselves so they are driven to stay ahead of clutter and dust bunnies!
    • Multitasking: The type A can handle more tasks at the same time than Windows XP can.Smiling You know that a person is Type A if you have found that she is involved in at least five unrelated activities while performing well at them all.
    • The Price for Over Achievement: Over achievement does not come for free. Type A’s are subject to tremendous amounts of stress. Their life style is the main drive for this stress (always running, having lots of things to do & racing with time)

Doesn’t that list make you want to settle for a “B”?  As I was pondering the cost of striving for perfection, I ran across this quote from Noel Piper’s book “Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God.”  It caught my eye because it was about one of my missionary heroes, Helen Roseveare.  What a helpful, gospel-orienting help this was to my soul:

“Perhaps the deepest underlying personal factor in Helen’s tension was the need she felt to do her very best and, if possible, to be the very best. God called her to Africa where that was not possible. There were K8JTSCAUO7J84CAYVXZ7DCAFHY0HRCAOE5RKQCAK30FDACAF9OZ8KCA9CDTFACA4HF5OSCAJ4413ICAZV5LM5CACA26UMCAP8G9O4CASHO9Z0CAP2YNUJCAG65LSPCA7JTXEBCAJ89X62CAGTK75JCAZRV2G6 continuing lessons for her: learning to treat malaria by symptoms rather than with prescribed lab tests, having to operate without having been trained as a surgeon, needing to make bricks rather than spending the day with patients. Perhaps that is an issue for some of us–struggling with the reality that God has called us to do less than we want to do or less than what we believe is best. That can happen in any setting.

For me, it’s been especially true in my years with small children – ‘I got a college degree for this?’ Maybe the problem is the way we see ourselves. Maybe we think more highly of ourselves than we ought. If anyone was too good to die, it was Jesus. If anyone should have done greater things than walking dusty roads and talking with people too dense to understand him, it was Jesus.

In Philippians 3 . . . is the verse, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (verse 10). When God called Helen to less than she expected, he was helping her become like Christ, rather than like the best doctor or missionary she knew of. Who is it we want to be like?” (p. 172)

Can you imagine?  Our perfectionist impulses are evidences that we think too highly of ourselves? Oh little one, why strive for perfection–Jesus is the embodiment of it–so restfully settle for the “B”… it is very good enough!

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Family Resemblance

FamilyReunionTree_78134301_std I miss family reunions.  In the past, our family on both my father and my mother’s side, would gather on what always seemed to be the hottest day of summer to rehearse favorite memories and eat great southern dishes.

I don’t think there was any gathering where I didn’t hear an aunt or cousin say, “I can’t believe how much you have grown!  You look exactly like your mother!”, if it was my mom’s side of the family. If it was my father’s family who was gathering together they of course would say, “You look exactly like your father!”

It is not so great at 54 years old to be told how much you’ve grown since last year…but how I still love hearing that there is a family resemblance.

When someone delights in seeing how I am favoring the likeness of my parents, I begin to think about my destiny to favor the likeness of my Lord. The Apostle John puts it this way:

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.

But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.

But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning.

Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him.

All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own. 

1 John 3:1-3 The Message Translation

“Glistening purity?”  Yes, the goal of the Father is to have His children grow in likeness to Him.  to bear a family resemblance.  It is for my character to be shaped so that it will manifest His kindness, mercy, love, purity and wisdom. For my thinking to be reordered so that I think His Word as my first thought and know that following it is not only right but perfect for my life.

“To put it another way, God is making us holy.  But there is a requirement in learning how to submit to God’s authority: humility.  We don’t get very far in the development of holiness if we are defensive about our flaws.

That is why truly holy people are so easy to be with.  They have been around God too long to try to pretend they are perfect. They are the first to acknowledge their pride and their faults.

Then why are holy people so joyful and radiant?

One reason is that they know the answer to their character problems doesn’t reside in them but with God.  They don’t try to please God through efforts of the flesh, such as moralism and legalism, but through their obedient walk in the Spirit.” ((Becky Pippert, A Heart Like His, Crossways Books, 1996, p. 146-7))

610px-Banquet_Piece_with_Mince_Pie-1635-Willem_Claesz__Heda It seems that while families plan reunions to stay close to each other…the Father planned communion.  Through the gift of His Spirit, His Presence is so immediate and near that His character begins to rub off on us. We bear a family resemblance.

He has promised us a great banquet when we meet Him face to face.  I find my silly self “humbly” hoping that He loves to serve fatback in His green beans just the way my mama always would for our family reunions!

Talk about being joyful and radiant!  What joy to eat those beans, some homemade potato salad and brown stone front cake.

“O, what a foretaste of glory divine….”

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Holding On

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.”  John 8:31

Christ is saying, ‘Many hear the gospel and stick with it because it’s useful to them.  They gain money, possessions, and honor from it.  Yes, dear friends, who wouldn’t want that?  That is why I teach that if you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. There are only a few who hold tightly to the Word when there is a cross to carry.  Where can I find those who will stand firm?  Therefore, I say, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.’

rock-climbing As I read this verse and Martin Luther’s thoughts about what Christ is saying, the idea of “holding on” really captured my attention.  When I think of that phrase, images come to my mind of people clinging to tree trunks in violent storms, of climbers clinging to a rock face for dear life during a challenging climb, or a toddler who feels threatened embracing the leg of his parent.

“Hold on” assumes something precious is at stake and would be forfeited if intentional clinging was forfeited. When I read John 8:31 with those vivid images in my mind I understand why the winds of suffering blow so hard against us in this life.  I sense that our sufferings are coming as the merciful wind of the Spirit pressing us to cling to what is eternally precious.  Beyond that,  the winds that cause us to hold on are the same winds that reveal which followers are true and which are false.

Murray_clinging_to_life_by_a_thread People would gladly believe in Christ if it meant becoming rich and acquiring a kingdom.  But if it involves suffering, then their faith is finished.  So Christ knows many of them won’t keep on following His teaching.  Remaining true to His teaching is rare, especially when evil winds blow.  Many become Christians and hold to the gospel in the beginning.  Afterward they fall away just as the believers in this passage did.  It’s similar to the parable about the seed that fell on the rock.  When the heat of the sun beat down on it, it withered and dried up (Luke 8:6).  But those who stick with the gospel are true disciples of Christ.” ((Martin Luther, Faith Alone, Zondervan, 1998, May 14 Devotion))

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Beyond Cameraman Prayers

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Matthew 21:22

cameraman So, I ask for relief from financial distress, safety in travel, smooth relationships, healing from every sort of malady that I hear about.

Aren’t they the best prayers?  Don’t those requests reveal my belief in the truth of this verse?

Yes and no.  I think my eye gets so fixated on what comes after the comma that I fail to weigh the significance of the words that come before.  “If you believe…”

The second part of the phrase really has no substance or benefit apart from the first.
It raises the question, what do I have to believe in order for the second phrase to stand in all its truth?  Psalm 145:13 answers that question.

“The LORD is faithful to all his promises.”

“This, then, is the prayer of faith: to ask God to accomplish what He has promised in His Word.  That promise is the only ground for our confidence in asking.” ((Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone, Reformation Trust 2007, p. 146))

So, if I believe — that is, have unswerving confidence in the promises of God, how will that affect my prayer life?  Both Peter and Paul address this question:

“He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”  2 Peter 1:4

“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”  2 Corinthians 7:1

These verses reveal that through God’s promises He reveals His goal of holiness.  The promises that I believe impact what I will pray and what I pray is intended to impact what I become.  With promises in mind, my prayers would be focused not on health, comfort, ease, convenience, prosperity and approval but for God to progress His promised plan of transformation within me!

“It’s as though we each look at life through a video camera and ask for changes in everything except the person filming.  The cameraman is never in view.  We will pray with parents for their straying teenager to straighten out; we rarely pray for the parents not to be fearful, bitter or controlling.  We will pray for a person to get a job; we rarely pray that he would grow in faith as he learns not to fret about money.  We pray for the conversion of someone’s loved ones; we rarely pray that the believer would grow more loving and honest in the way she treats the loved ones.”  ((David Powlison, Speaking the Truth in Love, New Growth Press 2005, p.118))

As a cameraman whose view finder is full of the disruption of joblessness, today I want to believe more and pray something bigger than, “Lord, please bring us a good job.” Today, with reverent trembling I want to pray, “Lord, you have promised to perfect holiness in me–that will mean purifying my heart from so many contaminating loves that reside there. 

Let me love your transforming work and the tools you use to accomplish it. I believe you are accomplishing your promised goal of helping me escape the corruption of this world, so I am bold to ask now, allow me to be a participant in the divine nature. 

That is a promise prayer too wonderful for me to comprehend.  I believe that you are working out 1 John 3:2 and so I say, your will be done Father.  In the name of Jesus.  AMEN

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure

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In Christ Alone

564 I first heard Sinclair Ferguson speak at a Faith and Life Conference at All Saints Presbyterian Church in Richmond, VA. 

A few years later I was at a Ligonier Conference in Orlando and listened to him present deep truths from the Gospel of John that were all the more compelling as they came wrapped in the sound of his rich Scottish accent.  Because his teaching always challenged and enlarged my heart and mind, I was anxious to read his new book:

In Christ Alone.

I had a sense as I moved from chapter to chapter that I was reading something "greater than" other books that I have delighted in.  Early on, my mind stopped referencing my fondness for Sinclair Ferguson because I became enthralled with the glory and supremacy of Christ.  I found myself intending to stop at the end of one chapter only to be grabbed by the title of the next and reading on. It was thrilling to see how many ways and through how many topics he remained commitedly Christocentric.  I know that this will be a book that I will return to again and again.  It is such a gift of concise, enriching Jesus exalting teaching.

Some of the questions dealt with are:

  • What does it mean to abide in Christ?
  • What is a legitimate prayer?
  • Why did Jesus weep at Lazarus’ tomb?
  • How well do you play second fiddle?
  • What does it mean to come to Christ for rest?
  • What does contentment look like and why does it have to be learned?
  • What can we know about our enemy the Devil?
  • What am I to think in light of struggles and suffering?
  • How am I to exercise the liberty that I have in Christ?

ferguson Having just completed a study of Hebrews, I was especially interested in the chapters that unpacked the meanings of that book.

Ferguson asks a question that he called a touchstone of truth so that a reader could discern the influence that a particular teaching was having on them.  "Is this teaching by which I am being influenced leading me to love and trust Jesus more? Or less?  (p. 67) 

I can say with deep appreciation and joy–this book certainly led me into a deeper love of my Savior Jesus!

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The Gospel is Strong Wind!

"For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep doing…What a wretched man I am!   Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!…Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Romans 7:19, 24-25, 8:1

mistress1 What a gift to a believer’s heart are these words from Romans 7-8!

From his own experience, Paul describes the struggle of having new creation wants and desires coexisting and battling within the same body that still houses the desires that he had before being indwelt by Christ. 

He turns not to the law to resolve the inner conflict–he turns to Christ and the glory of the gospel!

"The law can tell us what obedience looks like and can chart our course for it, but it cannot give what it commands, and this is as true for the Christians as it is for unbelievers. 

Continue reading “The Gospel is Strong Wind!”