NewSong Bangkok Blog

 At Newsong we are having a conversation about Indispensible Relationships. Our new series is based upon Len Sweet's book called 11 Indispensable Relationships. You can find the material for each message in that book. If you don't have the book, then read on!!!

Last week, our own Patricia set us up really well in showing us that it's not just about the destination it's about a community of people on a journey together to God. Who will forget the VDO Clip by the Simpsons, "Are we there yet?"

Our objective is to spur us all to deeper conversation afterwards. Some conversations are like junk food, tasty and addictive, but not very nutritional or life-changing. Our hope is that this conversation is going to open up our lives to the wonderful possibilities of developing various types of relationships that we all need to attain greatness in our lives. We don't want Newsong to be just about going to a meeting and hearing another sermon, but we want this place to be a connecting point where you begin to develop your own apostolic band of brothers. Did you get that? When that happens, when we become a part of each other's stories, and when we do life together, that's when true life transformation takes place.

So ya, we'll be talking about many different kinds of relationships that you need in your life to make you a stronger, effective and godly person. I am happy to introduce the first relationship right now!

With-ness 1: (We are surrounded by a whole group of with-nesses).

"Who's Your Nathan?

You Need an Editor

2 Samuel 12 is an awesome story that will make your mouth drop.

Did you know, besides all the Nathans, that the name Nathan means "gift."

We all love gifts, but are there some gifts that we would rather do without? Some of us may not see a Nathan kind of person in our lives as a gift. We might think of them as a necessary evil. But Nathan was a true gift of God to David.

In fact during David's reign, we discover that Nathan provided him with expert counsel in everything from architecture to worship music and even to who should take the throne next!

But Nathan went beyond just advice on how to lead the people of Israel; he seemed to have the ability to come at the right time and speak a word directly to the heart of David. That's an exceptionally valuable gift!

The thing that impresses me about Nathan is that he wanted God's very best for David's life. He was not a "yes" man who only said what the king wanted to hear.  Nathan was a man of God, willing to confront when needed. I am sure that for weeks he was concerned to see David in a spiritual place where he should not have been.

You look at the background of this story as we have it, we note that David was at the height of his glory when we should have expected the very best of him. Yet that was the moment he acted his very worst. Lust. Tht's a strong word. But David allowed it to have the upperhand. After impregnating Uriah's wife, he then sent the man to the frontlines to die so he would not have to deal with him. He did all he could to cover it up.  

God speaks to Nathan. He was a prophet who spent time listening. What he heard wasn't nioce. This Nathan loves David and has courage enough to show David how his actions had deeply wounded the heart of God.

"In truth, none of us is ever far from a great fall." (George MacDonald) Are you more godly than David? Are you stronger than Samson? Are you smarter than Solomon? I didn't think so. So...it would be the bright thing to listen to the story we are getting in. It may help you from one of those embarassing situations, or worse than embarassing...

So Nathan comes to David, but doesn't just accuse or  blurt it all out. Tactful prophet! He comes to the inner courts with a parable. It's a story about a dirt poor man who owned one small ewe. Only one. That ewe was so close to the poor man that it even ate from the same plate. He loved it so much that he treated it like a baby daughter. He counted sheep out loud to put her to sleep. Oops, that wasn't in the Bible.

But this is in the story, there was this rich man who had so many sheep they looked like marshmallows covering the hills. One day a guest arrived at the house of this rich man. But instead of taking a lamb from his own flock to eat, he stole the poor man's only beloved lamb and ate it with his guest.

When David, the ex-shepherd boy heard this story, he was repulsed with anger. And he stands up from his throne and shouts, "That man deserves to die!" Are we getting a little hot under the collar David?

Then comes one of the most powerful accusations ever written in the Bible, Nathan sticks his bony finger in David's face and says, "You are the man!" It wasn't "You da man!" in a good way at all. It was more like, "You hypocrite wolf spirit King guy!" Ouch!

What a awkward 'oh-my-God' moment. Its a hand ‘stuck in the cookie jar' moment! Caught! Nathan then tells David of all that God had done for him and would have done for him. How it was through God's help that David became King. And then confronts David about using his own power and greed to steal another's man wife without any pity.

David had a harem of wives and Uriah had one sweet lamb. David, with unbridled passion, stole that little lamb for himself.

 "You are the man!"

David, when he hears the truth of his cover-up, cries out, "I have sinned against the Lord." He is broken before God. At last he can face this dark secret that was eating him up. He repents deeply and get's passionate about God once again.

This is heavy. But we all need a gift like Nathan in our lives. In those times when you and I are living in a way that is far below the potential for what God has destined for us, it is a gift from God to have someone come point their bony finger in our face and say, "You need to smarten up! You are going to miss out on the best that God has for you if you keep that up! You have slumbered your way into a place that breaks the heart of God. Wake up!!! "

If David never had a Nathan, it is more than possible that David's story would have continued with years of guilt and fear and regret and ineffectiveness.  His relationship with God would never have been as passionate and close ever again. We would not have one of the most beautiful Psalms in the Bible Psalm 51. In fact it would have been very possible that he would have continued his adulterous and murderous ways up to his own death, this corrupting the Davidic line.

But David had a Nathan.

You and I need a Nathan.

Do you have one?

Who in your life can say those things to you that make you sit up, shut up and listen?

Who in life can tell you that you're being a jerk?

Who can tell you that you are not speaking with the Jesus' voice?

You need an editor. An editor is someone who helps you write a better story.

Nathan is not an accountant. This message is not about having an accountability partner to keep you straight:

The word accountable is not my personal favorite word. It is a math word. I never liked math! Math is a stern focus on numbers and has very little to do with human relationships. It's about record keeping.

Paul, describing what love does, warns that "Love keeps no record of wrongs." People who like to keep records of sins often hate the sinner as much as the sin!

We need to be careful that we are not about looking for "offenses" to happen. We need to be careful that we are not only about "monitoring" people's lives for sins and trespasses. That's not a God thing. That's a devil thing.

Nathan wasn't keeping David accountable. Nathan wanted to edit David's life story so that it would have a better and more victorious ending. That's true love.

Accountability is designed to help you from doing the wrong things.

Editing is designed to help you do the right things.

The work of an editor is to make sure that the life story is told in the most interesting and edifying way possible. Editors look for just the right word. They love your story. They probably love you. They want your voice to be strong.

Someone who is a Nathan in your life is like an editor who loves you. He's a friend and not a foe. There are no icicles in his heart. He is not a critic. He wants the best for you. He believes in you. He believes in your future.

 Even if he shows up at your door with a sword, he will not use that sword like an executioner but like an expert surgeon who operates on your heart with a scalpel. Though the knife is sharp and cuts you deep it brings healing and wholeness back to your voice. A true editor wants your true voice to be stronger. He wants to cut out the things that weaken your story.

"Speak the truth in love."

"Some people want to catch you in your sin. Nathan wanted David to catch himself in his sin."

So we need an editor. Even the best writers in the world need an editor.

You need these truthful people in your life! I used to listen to a preacher named David Wilkerson a lot. Not because he was entertaining. But his messages made me drop to my knees and say, "Search me oh God!" He was a Nathan for me. I have an older friend who loves Patricia and I. He asks me the hard questions. I don't like it always, but it gets me to think about who I am and what I am about. He is like a Nathan to me.

Nathan kinds of people tend to pop in unannounced. They tend to come at inconvenient times. And yet they are so welcome. You need and want these people to intrude in your life. Nathan wasn't a nuisance to David. He was a trusted advisor. He had access to David's life. There was a valued relationship with him. He had contributed greatly to the work of David's life. There was a standing invitation for Nathan to come in the King's presence and even when the script needed some rewriting Nathan was there for that!

Sometimes he speaks with a still small voice from behind. But sometimes God specializes in the bony finger in the face.

We all need a Nathan.

Even a Nathan needs a Nathan!

It's not fun being edited. It is not easy.

A Nathan will:

•1.   Get under your skin. The intrusion may irritate.

Good and evil co-exist in each one of us. We all have the potential to put our souls in danger. The more God uses us, the more we need a Nathan!

This is more than just about sex. Some people think the only thing that the Devil tempts us with is sex. Although it's a big in your eyes temptation, other stuff is pretty real too. here are some of the works of the flesh: hostility, jealousy, anger, envy, greed and competitiveness.

We all get lost. Let me repeat this: You will get lost!

•2.   Ask Questions. Relationships need questions. Questions, by definition, are intrusive.

Questions can comfort you. "Is there anything too hard for God?"

Questions can challenge you. "Adam, where are you?"

Questions can convict you, "Peter, do you love me?"

And so he asks questions about the ill-fitting parts of our lives and personalities. He asks about the problems needing fixing. He inspires you to be resilient. He challenges you to bounce back and be useful.

•3.   Tells the truth. Nathan doesn't come from planet nice. He is radically honest with you.

A Nathan helps us to see the truth about ourselves. Truth is we are not nearly as good as we think we are. But we are not really as bad as we fear we are too!

It is so hard for us to have a correct value on our strengths and weaknesses.

Nathan will help us see what is true in our hearts. He will help us see what we are running from.

Do you know what David had a son with Bathsheba and named him what? That's right, Nathan. Luke tells us that it was through the lineage of Nathan that Mary came from.

"Nathan." Nathan was a gift in David's life.