Did Mother Teresa know what it takes?

[apothanein kerdos]

I think her point of contention came when you said her life was a waste if she did not share the Gospel with these people. It would not make her life a waste, just incomplete.

We are answering your overall question though; actions without proper theology are incomplete and cannot reach their full benefit. THe same can be said for proper theology without action.

[David from New Bern]

I think her point of contention came when you said her life was a waste if she did not share the Gospel with these people. It would not make her life a waste, just incomplete.

We are answering your overall question though; actions without proper theology are incomplete and cannot reach their full benefit. The same can be said for proper theology without action.

Apothanien Kerdos...Your answers are always well thought out...I mean nothing to devaluate anyone worth...A wasted life is one that failed to have the impact it could have had...but because opportunities were not used they were lost...So, wasted probably comes in varying degrees. I probably wasted some of my life last week. To have taken advantage of none of the opportunities afforded me last week would have been a complete waste. The step aside from our focus on Mother Teresa for just a moment...Most Christian waste their life because they don't see their position in life as an assignment for the cause of Christ. If I am a nurse God has put me in the place to be a Christian witness in that environment. If I am have the good fortune to retire in reasonable health he has given me the luxury, the freedom to spend the rest of my days in ministry or I waste it. I am not using "waste" as a personal value label but an accountability grade.

On a personal note, I would like to find out more about you. You intrigue me with some of your answers...in a good way

[Fiosh]

Hi David,

I was thinking about this topic while I was out for a run. If you'll permit me a gross generalization, this is what I was considering...

Thinking Catholics, by conditioning, tend to use more of a "big picture" approach to faith. We accept our Catholic faith as a package deal---no picking and choosing doctrines. We examine the Bible as a whole rather than point to specific verses to prove a point. We evangelize with a more universal acceptance of people where they are...and start there to build an understanding of God.

Indulge me as I share a personal example?

A few months ago, I was visiting a local nursing home with my ministry partner. Our method is to pick a floor and simply go to whatever rooms we feel led to visit. On this particular day, I found myself speaking to a soft-spoken, gracious Oriental woman. Oddly, she was watching a western on TV. When I asked her about her taste in TV shows, she explained that she was married to an American soldier(now deceased) during WWII; he was a Christian, she a Buddhist.

I asked if she had never considered Christianity. She went on to explain that she does believe in God; and that the different religions are paths to the one God. I talked to her a bit about the fact that, yes, I also believe in one true God. A God who loves us more than we can know. She told me a little about her understanding of what she believed.

Then, I asked her, "May I tell you what I love about my belief?". With her consent, I shared the Gospel----how God sent His Son to die for our sins. How we only need to call on His name and accept His gift of forgiveness. She listened intently.

We then prayed together to the one true God we both profess.

Hopefully, I planted a seed that can be nurtured by the next disciple Jesus sends to her. Maybe a nurses' aide, or a housekeeper. Did she pray the sinner's prayer? No. Did I see the look of a soul considering the truth of Jesus on this old woman's face? Yep.

My point? Sometimes you need to adapt your evangelistic style to the soul you want to save. " To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." 1Cr 9:22

As Mother Teresa bathed a fevered brow with cool water, did she whisper, "Jesus loves you, child, call out to Him". I don't know for sure. Probably so. She was raised in the same church I was, and we tend to be pretty consistent in what we are taught.

Sometimes I stand on a street corner with a little table and hand out tracts and talk to folks about hell and heaven and being saved. Sometimes I pat an old woman's hand as she lay on a nursing home bed, and tell her I am there because I believe it is where Jesus wants me to be; and I care about her.

Yes, scrutinze Mother Teresa's life if you will, but do it fairly and with facts--- not suppositions. Believe me, the RCC will examine every detail in their process of considering her for sainthood. The investigation is more grueling than that of a presidential candidate. If her spiritual life was not on par with her actions, it will be found out.

In His Love,

Fiosh

[apothanein kerdos]

I think her point of contention came when you said her life was a waste if she did not share the Gospel with these people. It would not make her life a waste, just incomplete.

We are answering your overall question though; actions without proper theology are incomplete and cannot reach their full benefit. The same can be said for proper theology without action.

Apothanien Kerdos...Your answers are always well thought out...I mean nothing to devaluate anyone worth...A wasted life is one that failed to have the impact it could have had...but because opportunities were not used they were lost...So, wasted probably comes in varying degrees. I probably wasted some of my life last week. To have taken advantage of none of the opportunities afforded me last week would have been a complete waste. The step aside from our focus on Mother Teresa for just a moment...Most Christian waste their life because they don't see their position in life as an assignment for the cause of Christ. If I am a nurse God has put me in the place to be a Christian witness in that environment. If I am have the good fortune to retire in reasonable health he has given me the luxury, the freedom to spend the rest of my days in ministry or I waste it. I am not using "waste" as a personal value label but an accountability grade.

On a personal note, I would like to find out more about you. You intrigue me with some of your answers...in a good way

Thank you for the compliments. If you want to know more about me, feel free to PM me with questions. Lately I've had a hard time responding to PM's because I've been busy, but if it's just answering questions I should have some time.

As for what you said, I'm going to ask you to look at things in a different light. First, I'm going to disagree with what "waste" is. A wasted life, Biblically, is one that does submit to God in every area. For instance, if submission to God is spreading the Gospel solely, then anytime we brush our teeth, spend time with family, relax, etc., we are failing. Things that are almost essential in life become wasteful and thus turn us into failures. This, of course, cannot be true. Thus, waste should be defined as, "Anytime we live in rebellion towards God and forsake our moral duties as Christians and humans." This means that if I'm at a baseball game for my sun and skipping out on an evangelism rally, I am not a failure, I am merely fufilling my obligation as a good father. It means that if I do an ethical job at my work and refuse to do unethical things (like shred legal documents) but don't witness to them in the process, I am not a failure but instead a vast success. It also means that if I forsake my family in order to fufill my position as a missionary, or as a pastor, or just to witness to people, I am a failure because I'm only focusing on one aspect of who I am called to be. My justification for this is that if sucess is based solely off who we witness to in whatever situation we're in, we can never achieve it.

Secondly, continuing with the nurse analogy...if I am a nurse and witness to people, but do a poor job in my vocation, then I have still failed God. I can tell all the people about Christ, but if my actions are inconsistent with what I am saying, it does no good. In fact, the entire book of James is about this fact alone. Specifically in the first two chapters, James goes in and explains that our actions must match up with our faith or else our words are meaningless. This means at work that I must do the best job I can and when I can, give audible glory to Christ for it. Witnessing, while important, is not the only measure of success. I am not attempting to downplay witnessing. I work in a public school with special education kids and I'm also a debate/forensics coach. 99% of the time I'm either helping kids learn how to read, pay attention, use their motor skills, teaching debate, helping them with cases, or doing other things related to my job. I do not preach, I do not witness on the fly, I don't tout my faith around verbally. This does not make me a failure. I put my everything in to what I do there, and this has caused some great chain reactions. The sped ed kids I work with have excelled to the point that I am getting a 100% on my reviews (something that is hard to do under the 105 things in a list of what to look for)...but the kids are becomming more and more independent so they don't have to have someone help them their entire lives. As for the debate/forensics squad, it was the laughing stock of the entire state until this year. Now this year we've qualified 8 different kids to four different national tournaments are are currently number 2 in our district...and the district is ranked 4th in the nation. I give glory to God on that, but a lot of that is me giving my all for Christ. Now, when kids come up to me with personal issues, I give them advice through a Christian worldview, and thus I am witnessing at that point. However, it is not my main focus. Does this make me a failure or my life a waste? Of course not. I am fulfilling two passages of scripture in both Corinthians and Colossians where Paul tells us to do everything unto the glory of God. This does not mean witness in everything, it means work our hardest in everything. Thus, if we do a good job at what we're called to but don't necessarily go out of our way to verbally witness, we are not failures.

Third, your retirement. If God calls you to deal with pastoral ministry in some way whilst retired, that is wonderful. At the same time, if you chose to actually rest and enjoy the rest of your days with your family or traveling and enjoying creation, that wouldn't make you a failure at all. Ministry is not just confined to those who preach in the pulpit or witness on the streets.

I have two books that I really want you to read. Being a Hebrew Christian I found these two books on sale and not at retail price (little joke there).

"Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You do Matters to God. by Michael Wittmer and "The Call: Finding and Fufilling God's Central Purpose in Your Life by Os Guinness. I think these two books would help to shift your worldview.

As for the original question, when people do good works but do not share the Gospel, this doesn't mean it is a waste; it means it is incomplete. If I help a poor person but do not share, I have still aided that person, fufilled the passage of Matthew 25, have pleased God because I have shown justice to the poor, but inevitably I have done an incomplete job in that without Christ, he won't be able to be completely fixed. This does not make what I did a waste, just an incomplete action. Does this make sense? If I were to preach to the poor man but not help his physical problem and ignored it, it woudl likewise be incomplete.

[Fiosh]

Just a few things I've found --- for your consideration:

from, "My Life for the Poor", an autobiography by Mother Teresa

He is the Life that I want to live,

He is Light that I want to radiate.

He is the Way to the Father.

He is the Love with which I want to love.

He is the Joy that I want to share.

He is the Peace that I want to sow.

Jesus is Everything to me.

Without Him, I can do nothing.

*********************************

I am nothing. He is all.

I do nothing of my own. He does it.

I am God's pencil.

A tiny bit of pencil with which He writes what He likes.

God writes through us,

and however imperfect instruments we may be,

He writes beautifully.

"The joy of Jesus will be my strength--it will be in my heart. Every person I meet will see it in my work, my walk, my prayer--in everything."

"Keep the light of Christ always shining in your hearts. Only He is the Way to be trodden. He is the Truth we must speak out. He is the Love we must love."

*****************************************************

from "In the Heart of The World" by Mother Teresa:

I never forget what happened to our sisters in Rome, where we work with the shut-ins.

They go to the poor people's houses. (We clean the house and give them a bath, wash their clothes in the house and so on.)

The sisters found someone left in a terrible condition. They cleaned his room and washed is clothes and gave him a good bath, but he never spoke.

After two days he told the sisters, "You have brought God into my life, bring father also."

They went to the parish priest and brought the priest. That man who never spoke, only that sentence he said, made his confession (he was Catholic). He made his confession after sixty years, and next morning he died.

He had a beautiful death!

***********************

From Mother Teresa's favorite prayers:

Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with Your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly,

That our lives may only be a radiance of Yours.

Shine through us, and be so in us,

That every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our soul.

Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus!

Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as You shine;

So to shine as to be a light to others.

The light O Jesus will be all from You, none of it will be ours;

It will be You, shining on others through us.

Let us thus praise You without preaching, not by words but by our example,

By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do,

The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You. Amen.

[Kabowd]

If I am have the good fortune to retire in reasonable health he has given me the luxury, the freedom to spend the rest of my days in ministry or I waste it. I am not using "waste" as a personal value label but an accountability grade.

I think this touches on the bigger issue. You seem to view things in categories. If it meets a "spiritual" need, it's something more valid than meeting a physical need. You also seem to equate "ministry" only with preaching the gospel. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but that seems to be the case. Nevertheless, my point is that everything matters to God. There are no "little people" as Schaeffer would say, and a pastor is not more valuable to the kingdom of God than a janitor. AK mentioned Wittmer's book above, I'm going to quote some of it here. Granted, these are not in context, so they may seem "off" at first (I suggest you get the book to read them in context fully), but he is dead on about the dualism that has infiltrated Christianity.

"Personal evangelism is a vital part of the Christian life. Certainly Christians should look for and create opportunities to share the good news of Christ with lost people. However, it just isn't true that this is the only reason we remain on this planet. Personal evangelism does not comprise the sole meaning of life. And those who think that it does, if they are consistent, will drive themselves crazy. Just as people who take naturalism seriously must eventually fall into the despair of nihilism, so those who embrace this super-spiritual form of Christianity will eventually fall into a similar, though exceedingly pious, despair....Even full-time evangelists and missionaries must devote time to these merely human activites [mowing the lawn, washing the car, brushing teeth]. Thus we are in deep trouble if leading souls to Christ is the only reason we remain on this planet, for most, perhaps 99.9 percent of what we do, is not that."

"It's no wonder that many Christians leave church services feeling more than a little bruised. We often exhort them to lay aside earthly cares and concentrate on the one or two things that really matter: reading their Bibles and leading lost souls to Christ. They desperately want to do so, but they sense that their weekly schedule allows precious little time for instense Bible study and evangelism. They spend their entire days on the job, either at work or at home with their children, and spend their evenings on routine maintenance around the house, running teens to band practice, and perhaps watching a litte television. Thus they conclude that they are utterly unable to integrate the morning's sermon into their daily routine, and they feel pretty bad about it"

"Why must there be this impression that "spiritual values" are in opposition to our earthly concerns? Rather than view life as a struggle between "temporal" and "spiritual" values (which implies with Gnosticism that our problem is ontological rather than ethical - that is, our problem is that we are temporal, not that we are sinners), why not view our temporal, earthly endeavors as opportunities to pursue kingdom values? Then activities like fishing, golfing, and gardening are more than merely "not wrong", neutral escapes for those seeking diversion from spiritual values. Instead, they provide fresh opportunities for believers to extend the kingdom of God in the world."

"Many evangelical Christians have typically been slow to confront and solve the significant social issues of our day. In part because we fear falling into the trap of liberalism's "social gospel", we tend to focus only on people's spiritual needs. Too much concern for their physical or social well-being may distgract us from deeper issues of the soul, so we had better stick solely to gospel preaching and let someone else, perhaps the government or secular aid agencies, care for people's other, less important problems."

"Augustine had dabbled in Neoplatonism before his conversion, and though he successfully checked most of it's wrong beliefs at the door, he unknowingly carried remnants of it's unconcern for creation into his Christianity....it believed that marriage is legitimate - a sacrament even - but that celibacy is the ultimate Christian ideal. Possessions are permissable, but poverty is better. It' is okay to hold a normal, nine-to-five job, but even better to be a monk who invests his entire day, every day, in prayer and spiritual contemplation. With these views, the church transformed Christianity into an add-on religion. The normal, ordinary life is tolerable, but those who really want to please God will always go one better. They will seek to move beyond the ordinary, relinquishing some aspect of their humanity in order to reap the more desirable spiritual benefits."

"We no longer need to bow in deference to pastors and missionaries, who alone have been called into "full-time Christian service". After all, if only pastors and missionaries are "full-time" Christians, then what does that make the rest of us - part-time, half-time, or worse? It is true that pastors and missionaries possess a particularly high calling from God. There is no greater privilege or responsibility than to lead Christ's church. However, as significant as this is, they are not the only full-time Christian workers. If we do our work as unto the Lord, then our work pleases God just as much as if we were preaching a sermon or evangelizing in a Third World nation. Whether we are a lawyer, engineer, entrepeneur, or janitor, we must recognize that our job, too, is a calling from God."

"What the Reformers knew, and what we must learn, is that every corner of our existence matters to God. Does God care that we go to church, read the Bible, and pray? Of course He does. But He also cares deeply about how we raise our children, conduct our business, and spend our weekends. Even when we are not doing "spiritual" things, our actions, when done from obedience to God's cultural mandate, still count."

You don't have to be a pastor, missionary or in formal ministry for your life to "count" or not be a "waste".

[eric]

There are hundreds of people today, who are doing similar work to that of MT, because they have a passion to help the poor sick and needy and who do it out of the goodness and kindness of their heart. There are film stars, rock stars sports stars and even a late princess.. And they get all the media coverage that is possible to get because of their public image and no one questions their motives, because they are rich and its more publicity and just a drop in the ocean as far as their wealth is concerned. Everybody applauds them and says what wonderful people they are and don

[apothanein kerdos]

There are hundreds of people today, who are doing similar work to that of MT, because they have a passion to help the poor sick and needy and who do it out of the goodness and kindness of their heart. There are film stars, rock stars sports stars and even a late princess.. And they get all the media coverage that is possible to get because of their public image and no one questions their motives, because they are rich and its more publicity and just a drop in the ocean as far as their wealth is concerned. Everybody applauds them and says what wonderful people they are and don

[eric]

Hey, brother, I take your post as a compliment, I usually draw a blank lol. But I tell you what, AK, if I was dying of some disease, I would be more cocerned where my spirit was going than my body. Ya know I could re-phrase a verse of scripture by saying, " what profits a man to have good health if he forfeits his soul in the process?"

Waal you know what I mean.

[David from New Bern]

I think her point of contention came when you said her life was a waste if she did not share the Gospel with these people. It would not make her life a waste, just incomplete.

We are answering your overall question though; actions without proper theology are incomplete and cannot reach their full benefit. The same can be said for proper theology without action.

Apothanien Kerdos...Your answers are always well thought out...I mean nothing to devaluate anyone worth...A wasted life is one that failed to have the impact it could have had...but because opportunities were not used they were lost...So, wasted probably comes in varying degrees. I probably wasted some of my life last week. To have taken advantage of none of the opportunities afforded me last week would have been a complete waste. The step aside from our focus on Mother Teresa for just a moment...Most Christian waste their life because they don't see their position in life as an assignment for the cause of Christ. If I am a nurse God has put me in the place to be a Christian witness in that environment. If I am have the good fortune to retire in reasonable health he has given me the luxury, the freedom to spend the rest of my days in ministry or I waste it. I am not using "waste" as a personal value label but an accountability grade.

On a personal note, I would like to find out more about you. You intrigue me with some of your answers...in a good way

I still admire your mind...Somehow I could tell you were a debate coach (that is not a negative comment). However, I believe you are focusing on a minor issue of semantics. You don't like the word "waste" because it seems too personal you would prefer "incomplete". Now all I have to do is introduce another logical progression and introduce the word "disobedient." I am not so extreme to believe that I'm suppose to be spending all my waking hours proclaiming. I realize ministry to my family is just that a God called assignment of perhaps of greater significance. But even in my relationship with my family I am there to impact them for Christ. Doing that is not always preaching or even teaching them. It may be just displaying a Christian attitude toward life. While I'm not any longer in secular employment, when I was I was able to balance doing a good job as a restaurant manager but letting my faith be known by witnessing and displaying.

That reminds me of a personal illustration. 12 years ago I was in seminary, an interim pastor on the weekends, and a full-time restaurant manager at a fast food chain. I was praying to God asking Him just how long was He going to ask me to carry this load. I was asking Him to put me in a full-time pastorate. I was praying about this matter very passionately. I was asking God, "What was He trying to accomplish by putting me through these hard hours and demands, it was nearly impossible." I felt like He who drew my mind and thoughts toward my restaurant job and reminded me that I was begging for an opportunity to be in serious ministry and I was leading a staff of 40 already. In that makeup of people I had influence over at least 12 single mothers, people with relationship problems and financial issues. I had wasted a lot time where God had already put me. So I went to work impacting people as far as I could go within professional limitations. Friend, God began to work and I stopped hating my job and within 6 months God moved me on to my first pastorate. "incomplete," if that is the word you prefer.

There is a whole lot tied up in the words of Christ on the cross when He said "It is finished". In the original language teleo two meaning come forth, "satisfied or paid in full" but also the idea pf a servant returning to report to His master "job completed, noting more to be done." Jesus did not waste His life, Paul did not waste even his prison time. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.1 Corinthians 2:2 NKJV Paul here was not talking about keeping his gospel presentations real simple, he was talking about becomng a man of single passion. He considered all else rubbish (that's waste isn't it?).

Thank you for the compliments. If you want to know more about me, feel free to PM me with questions. Lately I've had a hard time responding to PM's because I've been busy, but if it's just answering questions I should have some time.

As for what you said, I'm going to ask you to look at things in a different light. First, I'm going to disagree with what "waste" is. A wasted life, Biblically, is one that does submit to God in every area. For instance, if submission to God is spreading the Gospel solely, then anytime we brush our teeth, spend time with family, relax, etc., we are failing. Things that are almost essential in life become wasteful and thus turn us into failures. This, of course, cannot be true. Thus, waste should be defined as, "Anytime we live in rebellion towards God and forsake our moral duties as Christians and humans." This means that if I'm at a baseball game for my sun and skipping out on an evangelism rally, I am not a failure, I am merely fufilling my obligation as a good father. It means that if I do an ethical job at my work and refuse to do unethical things (like shred legal documents) but don't witness to them in the process, I am not a failure but instead a vast success. It also means that if I forsake my family in order to fufill my position as a missionary, or as a pastor, or just to witness to people, I am a failure because I'm only focusing on one aspect of who I am called to be. My justification for this is that if sucess is based solely off who we witness to in whatever situation we're in, we can never achieve it.

Secondly, continuing with the nurse analogy...if I am a nurse and witness to people, but do a poor job in my vocation, then I have still failed God. I can tell all the people about Christ, but if my actions are inconsistent with what I am saying, it does no good. In fact, the entire book of James is about this fact alone. Specifically in the first two chapters, James goes in and explains that our actions must match up with our faith or else our words are meaningless. This means at work that I must do the best job I can and when I can, give audible glory to Christ for it. Witnessing, while important, is not the only measure of success. I am not attempting to downplay witnessing. I work in a public school with special education kids and I'm also a debate/forensics coach. 99% of the time I'm either helping kids learn how to read, pay attention, use their motor skills, teaching debate, helping them with cases, or doing other things related to my job. I do not preach, I do not witness on the fly, I don't tout my faith around verbally. This does not make me a failure. I put my everything in to what I do there, and this has caused some great chain reactions. The sped ed kids I work with have excelled to the point that I am getting a 100% on my reviews (something that is hard to do under the 105 things in a list of what to look for)...but the kids are becomming more and more independent so they don't have to have someone help them their entire lives. As for the debate/forensics squad, it was the laughing stock of the entire state until this year. Now this year we've qualified 8 different kids to four different national tournaments are are currently number 2 in our district...and the district is ranked 4th in the nation. I give glory to God on that, but a lot of that is me giving my all for Christ. Now, when kids come up to me with personal issues, I give them advice through a Christian worldview, and thus I am witnessing at that point. However, it is not my main focus. Does this make me a failure or my life a waste? Of course not. I am fulfilling two passages of scripture in both Corinthians and Colossians where Paul tells us to do everything unto the glory of God. This does not mean witness in everything, it means work our hardest in everything. Thus, if we do a good job at what we're called to but don't necessarily go out of our way to verbally witness, we are not failures.

Third, your retirement. If God calls you to deal with pastoral ministry in some way whilst retired, that is wonderful. At the same time, if you chose to actually rest and enjoy the rest of your days with your family or traveling and enjoying creation, that wouldn't make you a failure at all. Ministry is not just confined to those who preach in the pulpit or witness on the streets.

I have two books that I really want you to read. Being a Hebrew Christian I found these two books on sale and not at retail price (little joke there).

"Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You do Matters to God. by Michael Wittmer and "The Call: Finding and Fufilling God's Central Purpose in Your Life by Os Guinness. I think these two books would help to shift your worldview.

As for the original question, when people do good works but do not share the Gospel, this doesn't mean it is a waste; it means it is incomplete. If I help a poor person but do not share, I have still aided that person, fufilled the passage of Matthew 25, have pleased God because I have shown justice to the poor, but inevitably I have done an incomplete job in that without Christ, he won't be able to be completely fixed. This does not make what I did a waste, just an incomplete action. Does this make sense? If I were to preach to the poor man but not help his physical problem and ignored it, it woudl likewise be incomplete.