The Dithering of a District Diva

Last month I mentioned that if you are in the D-M-V, and you are “Chasing God + Purpose” like we say over here on The Dithering, then there is no place else for you to be on the First Wednesday of every month than the Alfred Street Baptist Church “Come As You Are” young adult Bible study at 7:30 p.m.  That month, Pastor Wesley commissioned us to complete a “30 Day Challenge of Holiness,” in which we would strive to look more like Christ in our Conduct, Character, and our Conversation. He encouraged us to have prayer and accountability partners to see us through this challenge. I was so blessed by this challenge and by my two prayer partners (we prayed on a conference call every morning from 7:00 -7:30 a.m.) that I was sad to see the challenge end!!  Thankfully, this past Wednesday, guest pastor Rev. McKinnley told us that we were only “30 Days INTO our challenge.”  He spoke to us at Wednesday’s CAYA service on the topic of “Lamps With No Oil.”

The scripture reference for this was found in Matthew 25:1-13;  In these scriptures, Jesus is giving his disciples the parable of the ten virgins who are waiting for their bridegroom: 5 wise ones, and 5 foolish ones:

³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

What an appropriate scripture in the wake of the false prophet who prematurely sounded the “rapture” alarm on May 21!  Pastor McKinnley stressed that as we continue on in our challenge for holiness that we always be watchful — watch your conduct, your character, and your conversation, as Pastor Wesley taught us at last month’s CAYA — because we never know when Christ will return for us. The question is, will you be like the wise virgins who were prepared, with oil in your lamp? Or will you be a lamp without oil?

Pastor McKinnley gave us the characteristics of lamps without oil:

1) Defined By Unholy Things.  A lamp with no oil is useless. It looks good on the outside, but it cannot be used because it does not have all of the oil it needs to make it function the way it was designed to function.  Therefore, since oil-less lamps cannot perform the way they were created to perform, they stop believing that they are lamps, and start outsourcing their value and significance to other people and things.  We allow our circumstances to define how valuable we are (i.e., “I can’t find a job/man/woman/place to live,” or “I am in poor health,” or “I’ve been abandoned/abused so I must not be worth anything.”)  We question our own value and worth and even devalue ourselves and surround ourselves with people who will treat us in a manner that reinforces our own feelings of inferiority and worthlessness.   Or contrarily, things are going well for us, so we start to feel valuable by the nice car we drive and the great house we just bought, or that great job we just landed, not realizing that if any of those material things go away, we will again start to question our own worth.

As a lamp WITH oil, we’ve got to be mature in our walk with Christ.  Maturity means knowing and believing that God knows us inside and out and that He knew us before He knit us together in our mothers’ womb (Psalm 139). We’ve got to know what God said about who we are and who He created us to be. We are royalty, joint-heirs with Jesus to the Kingdom of God. We are the borrower and not the lender, the head and not the tail. Knowing that, we ought to say “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14)  Mature Christians realize that it’s nothing that we’ve done or can do that will separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39) and that nothing we’ve done or can do will define are value and worth. Christ died for YOU because YOU are valuable to Him!  Maturity in Christ, therefore, is pressing through the bad times and praising through the good times, knowing that no circumstance or person can define who you are. Our “oil,” or preparation to function properly is  knowing the Word of God and His definition of who we are because of Christ’s sacrifice.

2) Ill-equipped,to handle long periods of waiting.  Lamps with no oil can’t seem to wait on Jesus and trust Him to do what He says. They want it right now and will figure out a way to get it themselves and on their time– whether that be a relationship, a spouse, a child, etc.  But Pastor McKinnley gave us the parable of the McDonald’s Drive Thru.  When you want a #3, you get in the line, you order it, it comes out, and you keep driving to wherever you going. You’ve got your fast food.  But when you get in the order line and you ask for something really particular, made to order, with all the fixings, thinly grilled, with lettuce and tomato, you’ll find yourself being pulled out of the drive thru line and parking next to be building, waiting on your order to come to completion. You may get mad because you’re hungry and you look in your rear-view mirror and see everybody else speeding through the line, getting what they want and continuing on with their life, but here you are, still waiting.  But when you want what the world wants, it will come quickly to you. Anyone can get married. Anyone can have a boyfriend. Anyone can have a child with anyone else.  But when you start changing your wants, when you stop wanting what the world wants, and start wanting what GOD wants for you — God, who has seen the end of the story and has something tailor-made just for you — you’re going to have to be willing to wait for it.

In the parable of the 10 virgins, the five wise virgins kept their oil burning all night long and kept oil in their lamps so that they wouldn’t miss the bridegroom because they KNEW that the bridegroom was worth the wait.  Mature Christians are at the point where they can wait it out, even when it seems like it may never come. Mature Christians trust that even though they FEEL like they’re ready for God to take them to the next level, they will submit to God’s decision that they need to sit in the oven a little while longer so that your insides match the outsides and you’re cooked all the way through.  Mature Christians trust that He is who He says He is and will continue to be faithful to us and to His perfect plan.

3) Cannot Create Light Nor Heat: As was mentioned above, a lamp without oil looks good on the outside, but is useless on the inside.  They look like Christians (can shout/sing you out of the church), but their life produces no evidence that they are Christians. Lamps without oil cannot create light in darkness as we’ve been called to do (Matthew 5:14-16). They cannot generate heat and they aren’t on fire for the Lord like Revelations 3:16 tells us to be.   But even worse than not being able to generate light and heat ourselves, we sometimes want to attach ourselves to lamps with no oil because we aren’t able to wait on God. We want a relationship right now, so we go off of the “look test.”  “(S)he looks good, (s)he’s got a job/degree, so maybe I can work with this.”  Be careful!  Not only will these oil-less lamps be unable to provide you with the light and heat you need in a God-ordained relationship, they will also siphon off ur oil! Just like the five foolish virgins said to the five wise “lemme get some of yours…”  These oil-less lamps will drain you, if you let them!  Be like the wise virgins who told the foolish ones, “get your OWN!”  God would not have you be spiritually and emotionally drained by the people in your life. He tells us plainly in 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Be ye not yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”  This does not mean you can’t talk to those who are not Christians — that would defeat the purpose of us being lights in darkness.  What it does mean is that you cannot tie your spirit to someone (whether through sex, marriage, or romantic relationship) who does not have a personal relationship with Christ.  You’ve got too much weight to pull to be yoked to someone who has his knees in the sand!

Pastor McKinnley reminded us that even as we press towards the next 30 days of holiness — and the 30 days after that — we will be attacked by the Enemy.  Our past will come tap us on the shoulder and try to pull us back into where we were. We’ll slip up on our holiness walk and someone will try to convince us that, “see? you aint no different then you were before.”  But mature Christians know this is just the enemy at work! They also realize that being attacked MUST mean we are on the right track! Satan doesn’t mess with those people he’s already got in his corner. He doesn’t need to throw road blocks in the path of the lamp without oil!  Mature Christians are equipped — through reading the Word, talking with God regularly, being united with other believers in a church and with accountability partners — to handle in and all tricks that the Devil places in our pathways.  Mature Christians can be strong, even when the season is unfavorable. They are O.K. with waiting. They know that He promised us brand new mercies every morning and they trust Him to be the faithful God He has always been.

As oil-filled lamps, we know that God has been too good to us for us to give up on Him! We know that in a world of war we can be people of peace! We know that He does not need a good situation to bring about a good result! We know that even in bad seasons, “All things work together for the good of those that love the Lord!”  Therefore, we  can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’! Remain steady. God is faithful!

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