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January 24, 2025


When we read the stories of Jesus’s interactions with individuals throughout the Gospel stories, we often make a quick, unthinking, but critical error. If gone uncorrected, we risk the potential of reading the Gospels in a very different light than what was intended and certainly we’ll miss the lessons oozing from those interactions which Jesus intends for our spiritual formation. 

 

Look at this interaction in Matthew 19. 

16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 

17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 

18 “Which ones?” he inquired. 

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 

 

Let me explain the potential error we make. When we read stories like this, we often see ourselves from one of two vantage-points:  

 

One, we are the hero of the story. We are the disciples standing with Jesus nodding our heads in agreement with him as he instructs the young man in this passage. Or we may see ourselves in the place of the hero-character themselves. We are David in the Goliath story, hurdling stones from our sling with great faith, for example.  

 

Two, we see ourselves outside of the text as a third-party observer. We immediately side with Jesus’s words and agree with him. We respond, “Yes, Jesus. You said good things to this young man. We certainly hope he learned a lesson.” We may also look at the story of Mary and Martha complaining to Jesus that his absence allowed their brother, Lazarus, to die and remark, “Gee whiz, ladies. If you had more faith in Jesus, you wouldn’t have reacted like you did.” 

 

Either way, we miss the point. Instead, consider this as you read biblical narratives and Jesus’s interactions: You and I are the anti-hero in the story. You’re not David in the Goliath story, you’re Saul. Fearful, untrusting, stagnate. I’m not the onlooker of the Mary/Martha/Lazarus story, I’m Mary. Angry, misunderstanding, with misplaced hope. You and I are not the agreeable disciples or representing the I’m-on-the-side-of-Jesus fan club in the Rich Young Man story. We are the rich young man! We are those who are distracted, holding onto earthly comforts, placing our hope, status, and priorities on earthly things.  

 

You see, the characters in these stories are being formed. We all are. We are either being mal-formed into the image of the world or we are being transformed more deeply into the image of Jesus. Some will cower, dig in their heels, or walk away. Others will embrace the way of Jesus. Which will you be? 

 

From December 2022-December 2024 our church family went on a journey of formation.  We asked God to shake us with his power and move us out in bold steps of trust! Our primary goal for the SHAKEN season was the 100% of us would be engaged in taking those steps. We’ve seen much life-change here at White Oak where God has been moving mightily in the lives of many! Our secondary goal of SHAKEN was to trust God to move us in bold generosity. He did just that!  

 

  • Total Shaken giving during the two years was $6,165,823.  

  • December 2024 giving alone was $446,889 which is the highest monthly amount for any month in White Oak history exceeding the December 2022 (first month of Shaken) which amounted to $434,027.   

  • Giving for all of 2024 was $2,976,059 which is another historical record and only $24,000 short of $3,000,000.   

  • We expect in January and February to make further payments on the mortgage which will reduce the loan balance to $2,115,655 which is less than half of the initial loan amount. Total mortgage prepayments will also produce interest savings of over $1,900,000 during the term of the loan. 

 

Praise God! Thank you for your trust, your generosity, and your allowing God to shake you with his power! This is not the end. We are stepping into the next season of our formation story. Let’s move forward with bold trust.  

 

Trusting, 

Nathan 

 




Nathan Hinkle

Lead Pastor








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