It's been a little over a month since my first born son entered and then left this world. My wife had been pregnant for twenty-two weeks when we received a call that one of the tests had come back positive and we made the long drive to Danville to discover that there were multiple issues with the baby boy growing inside her. The doctors told us that it was very unlikely that our son would survive the remainder of the pregnancy, and that even if he did survive the pregnancy, it was almost impossible that he would survive the birth and, if by some grace of God, he managed to be delivered alive, he wouldn't survive longer than a few hours. The prognosis was accurate, Josiah Emmanuel managed to survive until Hannah, my wife, and I could meet him. Both of us got to hold him in our arms before he left us. My first born child. My son.
Today we had a memorial for him. As part of the memorial service I got to share a little bit of what I felt like God was doing in my heart. I know that I haven't blogged in a while but I felt like I should share it with you all.
When Josiah died, I was angry. I had prayed and begged God to heal my son, but from the beginning both Hannah and I heard God say that he wouldn’t heal him. But I kept praying for it and I kept hoping that we were misunderstanding God but we weren’t and we knew we weren’t. But all that warning God gave us didn’t really take the sting out of losing Josiah. And so I was angry with God that he wouldn’t give me my fifty or sixty years with my son, and instead I had to fit those years into ninety-five minutes. So in the rawness of those emotions I was feeling, I was angry. But as those emotions callused over and the rational part of my brain regained control, I remembered that God was not a giant child with a magnifying glass just burning ants for fun. That I could trust him that this pain that he was giving me was for “the good of those who love him” and not because God was just some mean spirited deity that wanted to mess with weaker creatures. I could trust him because he allows himself to feel pain and suffering. In the book Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, Tim Keller writes,
“… God is sovereign and uses suffering as part of his inscrutable purpose. Yes, He is Lord of history, but he is also the vulnerable one who entered that history and became subject to its darkest forces. Yes, God often seems to be absent, but Jesus himself experienced the searing pain of that absence when he cried, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Yes, God is king, but is a king who came to earth and went not to a throne but to a cross. Yes, God is glorious but there is no greater glory than this – that he laid his glory and power aside and became weak and mortal.”
As Tim
Keller said, God chooses to suffer. We have no control over our suffering, but
God does, and he chose to suffer and to what end? Ours. Again Keller writes,
“We all know heart involvement leads to suffering. The more you love someone,
the more that person’s grief and pain becomes yours. And so even in the first
chapter of Genesis, we see God is suffering because of our suffering, because
of the misery of the world. Here, we have no abstract deity, no ‘divine
principle,’ no ‘rational structure behind the universe.’ This is a transcendent
but personal God who loves us so much that his heart is filled with pain over
us.”
You see, God allows himself to suffer for our benefit. Because of his
suffering he chooses to send his Son to us.
Matt
Chandler points to this in a sermon (you can hear the sermon here) he delivered
the sermon shortly after getting a phone call about a little girl who the
doctors had basically stopped treating her cancer because there was nothing
left for them to do and he’s just torn up inside over it. He’s angry, he’s sad
and he’s trying to work through it all and preach a sermon and he says,
“Now follow me here because there are some things looking at the life of Christ that don’t add up. Like, if you look at His life He lived really hard, man. I mean, He lived really hard. I mean, He’s betrayed, He’s hated. He feels alone at times. He lives this very difficult life. And then it’s consummated in this brutal death. And it doesn’t add up because He could’ve been born into the manger, lived an easy life, died on the cross and it’s done. And it’s done. So why? Why does He have to be betrayed? Why does He have to taste loss? Why does He have to feel hate? Why does He have to walk in that? Why does He have to be tempted? Hebrews 2 says that He endured those things so that when my telephone rang on Friday, and what was going so well started to go so bad, that He could say, “I know, I know.” And as my heart grew frustrated He could go, “I know.” And as I’m lost and wonder about where He is and what He’s doing here, He’s not going, “Oh, come on Chandler, haven’t I shown you enough? Haven’t I done enough for you to trust me on this one?” No, He just sits there and goes, “I know, I know, I know. I know this stings and I know it doesn’t make any sense. I know and I remember. I lost. I lost, ok?”
So as I
stood in the hospital, looking at my wife who had just come through major
surgery and I held my dead son in my arms and tears rolled down my cheeks I
remembered that God had watched his son die. I remembered that Jesus lived a hard
life and that he wasn’t giving out pain lightly because he knows pain more
perfectly than this fallen body I walk around in could ever imagine. And I
remembered that I had hope. That even when we put Josiah’s remains in the earth
yesterday, that it wasn’t Good bye and those fifty or sixty years that I was
angry about missing, would pale in comparison to the eternity that I would get
with him. And while it doesn’t quite completely cover the pain my wife and I
are feeling right now, it does give us hope, and Romans 5 reminds us that "hope does not lead us to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us."
I have been back and forth about posting this. I worry that it comes off condescending and self righteous. I promise this is humbly given, not as an attempt to embarrass anyone who may have reposted this video, or an attack on the man in the video himself, but given by the Holy Spirit through me. I am equally guilty of committing the sins I am pointing out (and I am adamant about that point). If it does not come across that way, I welcome comments either privately or on this blog.
Recently, facebook has been blowing up with a youtube video made by a man who claims that Religion and Jesus are not only mutually exclusive, but also completely opposing ideas. Here is the video:
Here is another version told live:
Now there have been many blog posts about this (many critical over the semantics of the word "Religion") but I do not plan to discuss that. However, I would like to discuss the idea of holiness AND grace. In order to do that, we must discuss the differences between holiness and legalism.
Allow me to first explain legalism. Legalism has two definitions, one in terms of political and social philosophy and one in terms of religious theology. These two ideas, while not mutually exclusive, have different connotations when used in context. Legalism as a school of political thought is essentially a strict dictatorship with defined rules and harsh punishments, with power being held based on the position one holds in the hierarchy of the State. Legalism as a school of religious theology is similar. There is a strict adherence to the rule of law in the Bible, with an over-emphasis on conduct and little or no emphasis on the work of the Spirit and/or the grace of God. Legalism, in my opinion, tends to be a response of fear to sin, and a lack of faith in Jesus' grace. Legalism is NOT merely a strict interpretation of the Bible, but rather an over-emphasis on the law. Having a strict interpretation of scripture without the leading of the spirit can lead to legalism, but a strict interpretation in and of itself is not indicative of legalistic views. I consider myself to have a strict interpretation of scripture, but I do not consider myself to be legalistic.
But there is another facet to legalism, often times legalism is adopted as a means to impress those around you. Not always, I would say the Amish have adopted legalism with the opposite intention, but in most churches legalism is adopted on Sunday morning but immediately forgotten by Sunday afternoon. I may come to Church in my best suit, sit in the front row, and hurry to participate in the Eucharist, but Sunday afternoon I'm cursing out the cable guy because I can't watch my football. It may even be more subliminal than that, perhaps it's having stamped out lust, but turning a blind eye to pride when I smirk and think "HE'S at church? I KNOW he's still sleeping with his girlfriend. Why even bother?" or false humility, "Well, I know I'm evil but at least I didn't do THAT!"
The speaker discusses legalism throughout the poem, but I'd like to highlight a verse:
"The problem with religion, is that it never gets to the core. It's just behavior modification, like a long list of chores" (1:07).
Now, in the information about the video, he says that this is in regards to "false religion" and not religion itself. He is equating false religion with legalism and self righteousness which is a fallacy, but I'm not going to dive into the logical errors. So, for all intents and purposes we will make the poor (and dangerous) assumption that he actually means legalism and self-righteousness when he says "religion". For the definition of true religion we must look to James 1:27 which says,
"Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their time of distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (NIV)
As a Christian, I must accept James 1:27 as a true definition of religion. If this is the case, then religion is not the process of becoming holy, religion is the the practice of changes made. Legalism would be caring for the widows and the orphans, but only because you HAVE to, or self-righteousness because it looks good. Religion is caring for the widows and the orphans because you WANT to and whether people recognize it or not is neither here nor there. Faith without action is dead (James 2:17) just the same as action without faith does not mean salvation (Romans 4:4-6). However, where I must disagree with the speaker is this idea that behavior modification is bad. We are still called to be Holy.
In 1 Peter 1:13-16, Peter says:
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (NIV)
For those of you not familiar with the Old Testament, Peter is quoting a verse from Leviticus where God tells the Jewish people to "Consecrate [themselves] and be Holy because I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 20:7) and "You are to be holy because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the Nations to be my own" (Leviticus 20:26). This is fitting because earlier in 1 Peter, Peter discusses how Christians are now being set apart by God as the Israelites were set apart. He is drawing the connection to the fact that the God of the Old Testament sent Jesus and that Jesus came "not to abolish the law... but to fulfill it" (Matthew 5:17). My interpretation of what Peter is saying is basically that our actions are a reflection on God. In Leviticus, God wants the people to be holy because HE is holy, and if we are his chosen people, then people who have not yet been called will see how we act and assume that that is how God is. But does that mean that we become hypocrites? Showing off our white washed tombs while inside our bodies wither and die? Obviously not. We are also called to "bear with each other in love, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).
See, the difference is not that we are to dress up the outside to look holy, we are commanded to ACTUALLY be holy! Now, I don't doubt that the speaker would agree with this statement. But what I think he fails to convey is that the grace of Jesus is more than just a "get out of jail free card". I fear that in his message to be authentic, one might misunderstand that as being permissive of sin and this is simply not true. There is a difference between not accepting sin and judging others. Now, I don't think he believes that sin is "okay", (though I must admit his video Rob Bell - love wins (remake - Jesus wins) leads me to question this assumption) *UPDATE: after watching his video about Rob Bell in conjunction with Rob Bells it makes more sense. I apologizes for taking the video out of context.* but I fear that he just does not fully convey the seriousness of sin except for his small, ambiguous note of "Yes I believe in sin". Please don't get it twisted that I believe myself holy. I believe the process of becoming holy is a long one, but there is a certain level of "following the rules" because God said so. Once you become a Christian, you are baptized into Christ Jesus' death (Romans 6:3-4) and therefore are dead to your sins (Romans 6:5-7) because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but if we already died with Christ and then are made alive in Christ, then we cannot die again (Romans 6:11-14).
He seems to echo a similar sentiment of a haphazard feeling towards sin near the end of the clip when he says,
"See religion says 'do', while Jesus says 'done'. Religion says 'slave' while Jesus says 'son'" (2:50)
Now, this seems to be the same watered-down gospel that gets spouted to non-Believers so that they can be "saved", but ultimately creates a group of luke-warm believers. Jesus does say do. He says to "do onto others as you have them do onto you" (Matthew 7:12). Jesus says to "pick up your cross and follow me" (Luke 9:23). He tells us to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit tells us to grow in our faith (2 Peter 1:5-9) and to build one another up in love (1 Corinthians 13), to give generously (2 Corinthians 8), to repent (Colossians 3:5-11) and to love each other (Colossians 3:12-14). The truth is that there is a lot to be done, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). We do not do it alone, but by the grace of God, we are lead away from sin (Titus 2:11-12), given a way out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), and given a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). It is not a matter of saying a prayer and believing that Jesus can save, it is a matter of following him! Yes, it is true that by grace, we do all of these things, and nothing can be done to earn grace, therefore it is the work of the Holy Spirit that allows us to follow Jesus, but once we're following him there must be action because, as stated before, faith without deeds is dead (James 2:17).
We are still a slave, but we were bought from the ownership of sin and taken into the ownership of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:20, Romans 6:15-22). We are not our own, and while yes we are loved by God and heirs to his glory, we are still a slave to righteousness. But these ideas are not mutually exclusive. I cited Romans 6:15-22 which discusses how we were once slaves to sin but then become slaves of God through Jesus. However, Romans 6:23 explains why being a "slave to God" is such a wonderful beautiful thing.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NIV)
What we earn when we are slaves to Sin is death. What we are GIVEN when we are slaves to God is life! We are both son AND slave. That is the beauty of the Gospel, it isn't a story of either/or, it's a story of both/and. But yet we cannot comprehend these things with our finite understanding so we have to soften it so that non-Christians can understand. We take on the responsibility of conversion when the Holy Spirit is the only one who can make permanent change (Galatians 3:3) and we grab on to pieces of truth and turn it into a lie.
The Devils greatest victory is when he can plant just a small lie in a whole bunch of truth. We say that we are saved through grace not works, which is only true if we continue on to do great works because of the grace. We have boiled out the hard ideas or the "crucifying the sinful desires" part of Paul's letter to the Romans because it's harsh and not pleasant. We forget that God is not only perfectly merciful but perfectly just. We mold the Bible to match our faith and not our faith to match the Bible, casting out ideas such as the sinfulness of sexual immorality or drunkenness, because they don't seem "that bad". And I am not innocent of this! Please notice the use of "we" rather than "you", I am not better than anyone else! But that doesn't mean I shouldn't speak up. That doesn't mean I shouldn't encourage you all to change this as you are all encouraging me to change it myself!
To recap, yes we are freed from death by grace, yes we cannot earn that grace but that's not the end of the story. When Jesus said "it is finished", it was the end of death but the beginning of our work. I think the speaker WANTS there to be good works and I believe that he would agree with what I said, I just fear that, in his attempt to make a new and interesting way of presenting the Gospel and trying to obtain change, he has accidentally missed his whole message. But I would admonish those who had harsh criticism of him. Yes his message missed the mark, but we all do. I encourage him to keep spreading the word, keep pushing the Body, and keep doing God's work that God has set before him. Consider this a loving correction not an angry post. Let us build one another up in love, rather than spread division with anger.
I grew up in State College, I have lived here 22 years this past September. I attended and graduated from State College Area High School as did my Mom, and as did both her parents. I am fairly certain but not positive that my Grandma’s mother (my Great-Grandma, my Mom’s Grandma) also grew up in State College. My Grandpa attended Penn State, as did my Mom. Additionally my Grandma on my Father’s side attended Penn State and so did my Father. I have had cousins, sisters, Grandparents and parents grow up in this town, and attend college in this town. Obviously, I currently attend Penn State and so does my Sister. Needless to say, I have strong roots that go down in this area. This is my home.
Growing up here, it was always viewed as the best place to raise children. We continuously have one of the lowest violent crime rates per capita according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report and have very seldom felt the effects of the “outer world”. I lived in a small city utopia where everyone knew everyone but we were still more educated, more athletic and wealthier than the surrounding "hick-towns” (Tongue-in-cheek intended). And though I wasn’t old enough to recognize it at the time, State College was not the real world. If you have ever seen the movie “Pleasantville” that is sort of how I view my youth in State College. But, unlike in movies, nothing is ever perfect.
As it turns out, our town was not so utopian after all. Our “omni-benevolent” leaders who had shaped and defined us, who had taught us to be honest, and to fight clean, to be humble and to let your actions do the talking, who had reached a level of reverence in the eyes of the town that was unhealthy and crossed the line into idolatry, were in fact, sweeping sins, poor-judgment, and passivity under the rug. A man who was identified as a “hometown hero”, who retired from football in his prime to “spend more time” with his organization helping to give a future to at-risk boys, who at the asking of a relative stranger, was willing to make time in his busy day to call and talk to a young man who was struggling to come to grips with manhood and encourage and reaffirm him, was, allegedly, preying on the boys he had retired to “help”. Since Saturday November 5th 2011, my youthful heros have toppled.
This may seem melodramatic, and perhaps it is, but growing up in this town, we used to pride ourselves on winning “the right way”. We didn’t need to cheat to be good like those boys down in Miami or those hoodlums in Ohio State, we were upright, clean, and respectable. But this gets me to my point. This whole crumbling of the men who I once held up as heros has made me identify where my faith is held. Without even knowing it, the pain and anger I am feeling is proof that I had put my faith, my hope and my trust into men who were nothing more than men. They were not God, and for all of the good that they had done for the community and for my town, they were still men.
I don’t feel I am alone in this. I think that much of the pain that people are feeling due to Mr. Paterno’s announcement of retirement is proof that even those who did not grow up in State College have forced a man-sized filler into a God-sized hole. The truth is, if God was where our hope was, rather than wasting energy trying to make our opinions heard by anyone who would hear them, we would be focusing them to pray for the victims. Rather than screaming vulgar slurs at Sandusky, we would be working to forgive. Rather than organizing mobs, we would be organizing fundraisers to donate to victim relief organizations like Centre County Woman’s Resource Center, RAINN, Centre County Child Access Center, and the Youth Service Bureau of State College to help stop the cycle of abuse that accounts for approximately one-third of the abusive parents and adults.
The truth is that our hope should be in God and not men. This doesn’t mean we build walls around our hearts to keep others at a distance, but in fact, it means the opposite. It means that if God is where our hope is, we can grow close and not fear being let down. We can forgive quickly, easily and freely, giving grace and forgiveness “just as God forgave you”(Col 3:12-14). This does not mean live apathetically, but rather empathetically, allowing God to break our hearts for discipline, to grow or just because he wants to spur us on and give us the strength and drive to pursue that which he has laid on our hearts because He has our trust and hope (Matt 14:14). Living in fear is not putting our trust in the Lord but trusting in the Lord allows us to live freely (Col 3:1-4).
Perhaps your “man-sized hole” is not Joe Paterno or Jerry Sandusky, perhaps it is any number of things, many of which are toted about in church and in the Bible. I hope though that you will take this time to examine where your hope is. Because if it’s anywhere besides Jesus, at some point God will most likely test that area because he loves us and “he disciplines us for our own good so that we may share in his holiness” (Hebrews 12:4-11).
For Calvary on Campus we are doing the "poster board testimonials". This is a way for people to give a quick overview of what God has done in their life and to give God glory for his faithfulness. Essentially, we are to try to explain our pre-Christ life and then on the back, we flip it around and give a quick view of what God has done to correct that. It's a pretty cool way for us to share our faith a little and to help tell a small fraction of our story.
I was asked if I would be willing to do it. At first I resisted, I'm not completely sure why, but I felt like I could not quantify my pre-Christ existence in one simple phrase. I was disobedient to my parents, teachers, and people in authority. I didn't care for women like I was supposed to, I didn't protect them from sin or attempt to protect their emotions. I indulged in the party scene and cared more about how the people I was with viewed me, so I was able to "fake" what I thought they wanted to see and hear from me depending on who I was with. I was concerned with MY comfort, MY emotions, MY outward appearance. And in that lay the answer. My pre-Christ existence could be narrowed down to one thing: I was focused on MY life.
After coming to Christ (sort of when I was 16, actually when I was 20) the focus had to shift. It had to be HIS will, HIS glory, HIS life. Going through Men's Fraternity helped me understand how my actions affect not only me but people in my life, including women, my friends and my family. The view had to change from "it's my life why do you care?" to "how can I serve you better?". There are still areas I need to serve better in but I am slowly coming to ask that question more. It also meant giving up control, James 4:15-17 says:
"Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that' As it is you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." (NIV)
Stacy gave a sermon on serving the other week and discussed one of the benefits of serving is that it takes the focus off us and onto others. Jesus himself says that the two greatest commandments are to love the lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. We are to focus outwardly on others and on God's will and not on our own plans and ideas. My pre-Christ existence was measured by my life. How to make myself happy. In my Christ existence the question needs to be turned to how can I follow Christ, and how can I love others. I am still growing in that. I am getting better at serving others and keeping God in focus which has been a long process with a few dropped opportunities on the way, but thank God for grace.
Taking the focus off my life has also helped me to live my faith better. Earlier in James, James says,
"If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:16-17)
James is not saying that we need to EARN faith, but rather if we HAVE faith, there needs to be a radical change in how we live and who we focus on. I have seen that in my life for sure and hope to see it as I continue to grow in faith.
Looking at my pre-Christ existence was good. It helped me to reflect on how much I have grown in Christ and His amazing faithfulness. Reflecting on my past helped me realize even more how much I need Jesus and his grace, as well as the Holy Spirit and his guidance and work in my heart. Jeremiah 2:13 comes to mind when I think about living for myself.
"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me: the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (NIV)
We have substituted REAL life for MY life. We pour our life giving water into comforts, jobs, sex, drugs, and any number of broken cisterns but they cannot hold that water. Eventually the excitement and thrill of those things die, and we are left trying to find the next broken cistern to pour our water into. I know my pre-Christ existence embodied that. But when you turn to the source of that water, you no longer need those earthly goods and your vision turns outward.
Sunday night was an interesting night. I had homework due at 11:55 pm and I was anything but on top of it. In normal college student fashion, I had staved off the inevitable until the last possible moment and when the self-inflicted stress reached critical mass, I finally buckled down to do it. I returned to my apartment at about 9 pm and was slightly anxious about the amount of work I needed to do in the next three hours. It was do-able but I had to push everything aside and ignore all of the distractions that living with three other guys entails and put on my working pants.
As I began to get ready for the storm of computer programing I was about to pursue, my friend said he really wanted to talk to me about stuff. My friend had just recently accepted Christ as his savior, and we had been walking together with this "Christianity stuff". I told him this really wasn't a great time and I had homework to do and that I would catch him later. Fortunately, God had other plans for that evening. He was not about to let me miss my divine appointment that night and so when I sat down to do the first problem and could not get the computer program I was supposed to be writing to work, I began to panic. I kept getting the same error over and over again no matter how I changed my program to correct it. Finally, I was praying for a miracle to help me finish this. One more attempt.... nothing. So I decided I needed to step away from the problem and I told my friend I could meet him for a little to discuss what he wanted to discuss. Thank God I did.
He met me outside my apartment and we talked. He opened up to me about all sorts of crazy things going on in his life and things that God was teaching him. Unfortunately, sometimes growth comes at the cost of pain. I used the example of Eustace, the boy-dragon from C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in my Jesus Camp High post to help illustrate the pain that comes with drastic transformation, and my friend is going through a "stripping of the flesh" experience for sure. It was hard to hear what was going on but it was AMAZING to see the conclusions and growth that he was experiencing from it. I offered to pray over him which he accepted and we went up to my apartment so that I could pray over him. I am excited to say God moved. For the first time ever, I spoke in tongues and saw a vision and those spiritual gifts did exactly as they were supposed to: they edified the body. My friend felt the Holy Spirit move all around us and he felt loved, strengthened and energized. I felt the rush of the Holy Spirit and was also strengthened and energized. It was a God story for sure.
I didn't finish all of my homework by the due date. Honestly, I should have not put it off, but I did come back and found the problem with the program I had written and managed to bang out a few more before the time was up. But God taught me something about that experience: relationships matter.
I have been battling with how we do church. How do we do Church better? Is the current format of church broken or is it merely just not being used the full potential? Is there even a problem at all? I have had discussions about this with many people, most of them a lot smarter and a lot more practiced in ministry than I. I have heard a vast array of responses, but they all agree on one thing: Relationship is needed. Most of the time spiritual growth has come for me, was in conversations with other people. People using their God-given spiritual gifts to teach, edify and stretch me. I have certainly heard amazing sermons and have learned from them, but many of my God experiences have come when I was meeting a few people, discussing God and walking together in life. Paul discusses church unity in Ephesians 4:
"But to each one of us Grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: 'When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.' ... So Christ himself gave the apostels, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7-13 NIV)
Let's start with that. Christ gives us gifts, gifts that we can use in conjunction with other people to build up the body of Christ. So relationship is important in order for the body to function. But let's take a step back and examine what does relationship mean?
The word "relationship" is a difficult word to nail down. Relationships are messy, and in that messiness, they are defined separately for each person. There is no standard relationship formula because as many different types of people, you need that many different types of relationships. However one principal is clear, relationships need to have mutual submission to one another. Jesus himself says to his disciples in Mathew 20:25-28:
"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever want to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (NIV)
Jesus is explaining that it needs to not be about prestige and honor but about loving one another and submitting fully to each other. We have to shed our pride and be willing to serve the other side of the relationship. I did not do a good job of doing that Sunday night. I was too caught up in my own work that I forgot to love my friend and serve him. God forced me to back away from my stuff and to focus on him and I am so thankful I did.
Let's focus on doing life together so that we can build one another up. Let's step outside ourselves and put another persons needs before our own and submit to them just as Christ submitted to us. I know that if we do that, we will start to see some amazing, life-transforming, kingdom-building changes in how the Body works.
Wow! Sorry about the long break. Once the summer came blogging went on the back burner a little but as school approaches I want to get into it again! So here we go:
Below are links to two articles that Bruce Eveleth sent me regarding high profile pastors that have stepped down citing issues with pride as their reasons and some reasons why Pastors are vulnerable to this low profile sin.
Pride is a tough sin. Where do you draw the line between an accurate view of your own worth and over emphasizing your worth? I think that one issue that wasn't touched on was "professional pastors" in that their job is to get people into their church so that they can make a living. Even if they do not have a huge salary, if no one is coming and giving an offering, the pastors will have to find other means of income. So the emphasis is on bringing in more people and just like in any profession, if you're successful then there is a little ego boost that comes with it. As a prospect interested in entering that industry, it is something that I need to be mindful of.
I was blessed to be asked to lead a college life group this summer and in doing so had to battle with my own pride. I only had two people come to my first life group out of about 15 that I asked or who voiced interest in coming. I was rather disheartened by the turn out the first meeting, I must admit, but I decided that it wasn't my life group it was God's and that whomever he trusted to me I would do my best to equip them to spread God's glory. Since then I have had 4 regular attenders but I have been extremely encouraged by the growth and discussions we have had. It is not big but once I stepped aside and allowed God to control it, I was amazed at the conversations and the growth TOGETHER that was coming from the conversations.
I think that is the key to remaining humble. Hebrews 11:2:
"Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power."
If we fix our eyes on the Kingdom and on Jesus and recognize that the fruit of our labor is his glory and not our own, we can rejoice in our successes without the sin of pride. Paul says in Galatians 6:14,
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (NIV)
I think once we take our eyes off Jesus and the cross and begin to build up our own kingdom on Earth, we can forget the main goal which is to spread God's glory and not our own.
I do feel this is all easier said than done. I feel we often rest on our own strength and power and when we succeed, we are quick to give credit to ourselves. Through out the Bible, God called people of low status in society to spread his glory for that very reason. Jesus himself was a child born out of wedlock, to a lower middle class carpenter. He could have chosen to be born to a king and had more influence but he wanted the glory to be God's. So if we are focusing on Jesus and attempting to walk in his footsteps, we should be resting on the power of the Holy Spirit and all he has to offer and not on ourselves. We have to be open to God's correction and follow discipline, surround ourselves with godly men and women who we are open and vulnerable with and who will hold us accountable. As Stacy Sublett would say, we need to be "disciplined and teachable".
I am currently in the midst of the Life Journal and it has me reading through 1 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, and Matthew with the occasional Psalm sprinkled in. As I have been reading through the Bible one thing jumps out to me very regularly: God provides.
I often struggle to trust God fully and completely. This is frustrating, because there are so many times in my life that I reflect on, and clearly see God moving, by providing courage, strength, patients and guidance to grow me and lead me through the murky waters. As my junior year comes to a close and my senior year draws nearer and nearer, I am faced with the realization that sooner rather than later, I will have to become a real functioning member of society. This is scary because for the past 21 years, my life had been rather cyclical. Sure there were times of change, I would have to go from Elementary school, to Middle School, to High School, to College, but my future was rather certain: I would be in school the following year. Very little decision-making required and the one time I had to make a decision, where to attend college, I ended up transferring the following semester back to my comfort zone. But now there is no comfort zone, no familiarity, no set plan. I perceive that I am essentially at the mercy of the world. And that is where trust in God comes in. I am not at the “mercy of the world”. I am at the mercy of God. I would say my apprehension at the future, can be summed up in two fears: first, where will money come from? I have debt, I hope to have a wife and kids at some point, I want to do missions, I want to support missions, I want to adopt! All of these things cost money. But I need to take on more debt still if I plan to go to Seminary, and Youth Pastors don't exactly make the front cover of Forbes.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (NIV)
And precedes Matthew 7:7-12:
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (NIV)
Jesus is saying 1) Keep your heart on the Kingdom, 2) Don’t worry about stuff, I’ll make sure you have what you need and 3) Ask, I want to bless you so that you can bless others. If we keep the kingdom foremost in our hearts, then the rest of the stuff is insignificant compared to it. But that is easier said than done. I still struggle and I still fret over it. Which leads me to my second fear: I will mess up God’s will and completely miss what he wants me to do.
How prideful is that? I know it doesn’t seem it on the surface, but the fact that I believe that I could mess up God’s plan is giving me a lot more credit than I deserve. It seems to be the natural reaction to being called though: Abraham thought he was too old, Moses thought he couldn’t speak well enough, the Hebrews didn’t believe they could defeat the people living in the promise land, Saul believed he was unable to be king because he was the weakest of the weakest family in the weakest clan, the Bible is littered with people believing that they might “mess up God’s plan”. But they don’t.
1 Chronicles is a very painful book to get through, and I often wonder why in the world God wanted it in the Bible, until I come across sections that really strike me. 1 Chronicles 5:22 comes at the end of a list the relatives of the Gadites.
“and many others fell slain, because the battle was God’s…” (NIV)
I missed it the first time through 1 Chronicles but God pointed this one out to me this time. There was nothing about “the Israelites fought bravely and won” or even “the Israelites tried their hardest”. It was God’s battle and he won. I don’t know where the saying “God helps those who help themselves” came from but I can’t get on board with that. Matthew 7 doesn’t say, “Try really hard and then when you’ve done all you can go ahead and pray for God’s help”, The things that we need to do are rather simple: knock, seek, and ask. It’s not a hard concept yet why do I struggle so much with it?
I am reminded of the story of Gideon in Judges 6. Gideon is called by God to lead Israel out of the oppressive rule of the Midianites. An Angel of the Lord appears to him and explains what he wants Gideon to do. Gideon questions him then and asks for proof. God gives him the proof and Gideon continues on until it is time for the actual battle. Again Gideon asks for proof, which God again delivers but it’s not enough. He asks a third time for proof from God and once again God delivers. Finally, Gideon is ready to go to war, but God makes him get rid of almost his entire army. I imagine Gideon was thinking, “hang on, I’m not even sure I can do this with the Army you gave me, now you’re taking all but 300 of my men away and you expect me to go through with this?”
But God does. He uses our ineptitude, our weaknesses and our screw-ups because that’s the only way that God’s power will be fully realized. It’s only when we have to rely on God that his glory will be spread. Gideon’s small army defeats the Midianites, Moses is able to successfully communicate to the Hebrew people, Abraham is able to conceive and Saul becomes the first king of Israel. God is not interested in using the powerful and proud, he wants the weak and the humble, the ones who will give all the glory to God because they know there is no way they could have possibly pulled this off on their own. In Matthew 19 a rich man comes to Jesus and asks Jesus what he needs to do to get eternal life; and Jesus tells him to sell all of his possessions and follow him. David Platt discusses this passage in his book Radical and points out that the common reaction today would have been to make him pray a prayer and have him Baptized so that he could start using all of his wealth and power for God’s kingdom. But God doesn’t need our wealth and power he needs those who want his wealth and power. 1 Samuel 16:7 says:
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (NIV)
As I struggle with my faith, I am also reminded of a verse in Mark 6:5-6. Jesus is in Nazareth and has just been rejected by his own countrymen. It says:
“He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them and he was amazed at their lack of faith” (NIV)
I wonder how often we limit God with our lack of faith. How often we don’t heed the call of the Holy Spirit because it seems like the task would be hard, or uncomfortable, or we can’t possibly succeed. How often do we miss out on the chance to see God move, because we rest too much on our own talents, abilities and power. I continue to pray that God will remind me of his faithfulness and that I will heed the Holy Spirits call. I don't know what will be next, but what I do know is God is already there, and as scary as the future is, I'm excited to see what God has in store.
