Three Questions…The 90/10 Rule…

What a disappointment when you order BBQ ribs and the meat is tough, chewy and overall not very appetizing.

And the same goes for pulled pork, I’ve had lots of sandwiches or plates of this savory meat, and I’ve also had a few along the way that were less than good. Bland seasoning, consistency of a strand of hair (no comments or throwing up here).

Whether you’re chomping on some ribs or mastering pulled pork…there is one thing that you can’t do without…The experience is incomplete without this one addition…

Good BBQ sauce!

If you’re like me, your mouth is watering even as you read this paragraph.

The 90/10 Rule is the BBQ sauce to understanding the best part of God’s will.

So let’s dive in for a little bit of BBQ sauce, given in this short little segway in between Part 2 and Part 3.

I believe that God’s will is 90% “General Will” and 10% “Personal Will.” My belief doesn’t make is so, but I’ll try to support what I’m saying.

But I am wholeheartedly convinced that God’s will is the same for 90% of us. And his “personal” journey for us is the last 10% of knowing his 100% will.

The reason we often get off track when looking for God’s will is that most of us, and I am including my own faith journey, are looking to find the 10%. In our search, we often leave behind or ignore the 90%

Let’s see if I can make my case that those of us who are Jesus followers share 90% the same expectations from God…

How many of us are lost and unforgiven, living in our sin apart from Jesus before we decided to trust Him as Savior? All of us.

How many of us are in need of placing faith in Jesus to forgive our sins in order to have eternal life? All of us.

How many of us are told that we are saved by grace, not of our own doing? All of us.

Are there any of us who can live in disobedience to God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit’s work in our life? No, we’re all called to God, saved and indwelt by Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit. The evidence that we’ve done that is consistent obedience.

How many of us are called to love our neighbor? All.

What about loving our enemy and praying for those who persecute us? All.

Live our lives in a way that we don’t grieve the Holy Spirit? Yep… you got it, all.

What about the fruit of the Spirit? Is there any one of these we’re told we don’t have to have as fruit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Which are not for all of us?

It’s obvious, we’re ALL able to have fruit, and are called to live in a way that allows the Holy Spirit control and growing fruit.

What’s amazing to notice at this point is that even here we see the 90/10 rule played out. God clearly says that all of these “fruit” show we’re in God’s will. Yet, many spend all their time seeking the Holy Spirit for things that are not “all of us” related, more than seeking God’s work in our hearts to bring about this fruit. No where does the scripture say that the work of the Holy Spirit is anything else for EVERY BELIEVER.

Let’s try a few more…

How many are told to pray regularly? All of us.

What part of the body of Jesus is exempt from “love God and love your neighbor”? None of us who claim Jesus as Savior.

How many of us are to follow the letter of the law to produce righteousness? (sounds like a trick question, but it’s not) None of us. Listen in as Paul states this clearly, “O foolish Galatians! … Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3)

And the list could literally go on and on…

Every aspect of the everyday life of a believer is the same. Thus, we share 90% of the same “standards” if you will, that God asks of every believer.

Then, he kicks into the personal side of things and talks about being preachers, deacons, teachers, lay leaders and so on.

I believe this principle is seen very keenly in this reminder from Paul to a divided group of believers, “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” (I Corinthians 12)

What I find so amazing is what Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says next… “the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body…”

Take that preacher man, singing sister, teaching brother/sister and so on… Those who are “less” in our eyes are afforded greater honor before God. And his reasoning? Mankind has an ego a mile wide and we love to flaunt it like we’re somebody if we can “bring it”, whether it’s the word, the song or the spirit.

I’m sure I could go on, but I hope you’ve gotten the idea… There are more things we have in common to do that we do individually. And, when we do our individual things, it can’t be at the expense of the rest of the body. We must be in unity or we’re out of his will for us.

Let me close with these few thoughts…

First, seek to learn and obey the 90% stuff from scripture.

Second, don’t sweat the 10% stuff. As a matter of fact, if you approached your job this way, doing 10% of your job 90% of the time, you’d probably get fired. I would imagine they would hire someone who could do the 90% of the job. Then they would trust them with the other 10%. Want to be in management? Prove you’re trustworthy in 90% of your job. Then the 10% will become even more powerful.

Third, once you are able to get the 90% down, God will have an easier time letting you see the 10%. Then He can say to us, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord… Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act… and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalms 37)

Dare I say that if you are obedient, you can choose anything that your heart desires (don’t go to the money, cars and other craziness on me here).

And if God wants you to go another way, he’ll get your attention.

Don’t believe me, read Acts 16:6-9. I’ll be sharing those verses in Part 3. And we’ll get to the paydirt, The Three Questions, in our next adventure together…

Next week…

Till then…

Ramble on my wayward son…

Ramble on till you are done…

Lay your weary head to rest…

Don’t you cry no more…

NO…

Sorry, it was stuck in my head…

I know, I took liberties, I’ll probably have to pay royalties…