Bec and Asa were joined by Pastor Ken Lee from Nations Church to talk about partnering with God.
Biblical Partnership
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3: 9
Pastor Ken began by quoting Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians.
“I’m particularly passionate about this. We are co-workers, co-laborers in God’s service. It’s a partnership word.”
Synergy
The origin of this concept comes from the greek word, synagos, which is where the word synergy comes from.
“It is this whole idea of reciprocity, you know, that we do our part and God does his part. It is beautiful call for us to walk in partnership. with him in all things, really, as we walk our faith out in God,” said Ken.
He explained that the genesis of this concept is the two extreme pendulums that people often can swing between.
“One side of the pendulum is God’s sovereign, so he’ll do everything for me. I don’t need to do anything. And then the other pendulum swing is to go to the other extreme, to hustle and make it happen. It’s all in my own strength.”
Ken said that neither of those are biblical.
“I think our best life is actually lived in partnership with God.”
“It is not an exact science, which is really why it takes our faith to a whole new, deeply personal level.”
The Power of Partnership
“I live generally with a revelation that, you know, even though I might want God to do things for me, I think inherently God wants to do things with me. And I think that’s the beauty and power of partnership, that my Christian life is deeply enriched when I’m partnering with God, where I get to do my part and God gets to do His part as well.”
The greatest testimonies and stories come from partnership with God, said Pastor Ken.
“Western Christianity tends to be lazy and won’t take ownership of our part.”
He argued that there are so many scriptures that support our partnership with God, listing what we need to do in order to allow God to do his part.
Give and it will be given to you, you know, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will you pour into your lap.
Luke 6:38
Do Your Part
“We like the whole idea of, you know, stuff being given to us, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together. We don’t like the first word. which is our part, we just give. If you’re generous and you’re kind and you’re merciful and you offer grace to people and you’re giving up your life, then that’s our part. But then the rest of it is God’s part.”
Come to Me
“In Matthew 11, Jesus says ‘Come to me,’ that’s your part. ‘I will give you rest.’ That’s his part.”
“A lot of the time, we’re tired, we want Jesus just to refresh us, but he’s saying, ‘Well, you’re not exactly coming to me, so how can I give you rest?'”
“We are not spending time in the word or coming into His presence, yet we expect God to do His part.”
Ken said that although it is a confronting thought, with challenges, it is a call to owning our part in the Christian walk with Jesus.
Check out the full chat with Pastor Ken Lee below.