Crowd Pleasers

When I was a kid in San Diego, it was a special treat to go to a professional baseball game and watch the Padres in action.  There were many years our local team was the "cellar dweller" (last place!) and did not field a competitive team.  It was rare for the Padres to keep young talent because good players were expensive, and the ownership was not nearly as financially invested in building a championship team as today.  Sometimes the most exciting thing that happened during a baseball game was when a fan jumped the barrier and ran around on the field until they were corralled by security.  It happened with such frequency that we developed a term for such trespassers:  crowd pleasers.  There were likely many times the roar of the few thousands in attendance was the loudest as unfit men ran onto the field and deftly dodged equally unfit and uncoordinated security guards.

Over the years, strict penalties were enforced to deter fans from running onto the field for the protection of the players.  All in attendance were warned anyone who ran on the field could expect to be arrested, be fined and perhaps be banned from entering the stadium.  Another step taken by the MLB television networks was to pan away and not broadcast anyone who went onto the field.  As a result only the people present in the stadium could witness the silliness and served to remove any hope of worldwide notoriety on television (even if infamy!) by breaking the rules.  These deterrents have proved effective and have greatly reduced the number of people who decided to storm the field of MLB games.

There is wisdom in the MLB network's refusal to provide air time for hooligans and trespassers whose disruptive and dangerous antics cause stoppages in play.  Fans may still enjoy watching people embarrass themselves as they scramble away from security guards like pet dogs trying to avoid capture by their owners in the street.  We Christians may not make millions of dollars through our networking, but we can choose to walk in wisdom concerning what we choose to broadcast to the world in our social media feeds, blogs, messages and comments.  God has given us His wisdom and discernment by the indwelling Holy Spirit to choose what stories are worthy of repeating and drawing attention to and those we should avoid mentioning.  There are funny jokes that should not be retold and stories left unsaid that paint others in a bad light.

Focus on "crowd pleasers" who run around on the field can tarnish the MLB brand, and as Christians we ought to consider if our broadcasts bring honour to Christ or distract from Him.  Messages that sow fear, doubts and controversial subjects should not be given the spotlight when we have God's word that speaks truth, provides wisdom and brings salvation.  Many times my family and I left the stadium after a forgettable game and it was an obscene heckler or crowd pleaser who took the field, gave security guards the slip and managed to slide into second base which provided the most memorable occurrences during the game.  Every day we have opportunities to focus on the infamous and please the crowd or to extol the glorious greatness of our God and please our Saviour Jesus Christ.  May the LORD teach us when to be silent and how we ought to speak.

Praying Together

"Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour."

Acts 3:1

When I consider Peter and John going together to the temple at the hour of prayer, I recall seeing many people praying at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.  Men and women may go up together to pray, but everyone prays by themselves to God.  Currently there are separate areas before the Temple Mount for men and women to pray.  On a layover after a trip to Israel, several orthodox men donned prayer shawls and bound tefillin to pray, each with a prayer book in hand.  The manner of their prayer was different to Christian prayer meetings I have attended, for they each prayed alone to God.

After being born again by faith in Jesus, Peter and John (and countless Jewish disciples) continued in Jewish traditions, like going up together to the temple at the hour of prayer.  With Jesus as their mediator and filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter and John believed God would hear them wherever they were.  But they chose to go up to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer, and it was a good hour to observe.  They went to pray, not out of obligation to observe tradition, but to seek an audience with the living God they knew personally.  They knew God would hear every word muttered in their assembly spoken at once, and also the heart of the person who spoke.

During times of corporate prayer, Christians often speak in turn rather than all speaking at the same time.  Whether Christians pray all at the same time or in turn, the Jewish approach teaches us we all ought to be active participants in humbly seeking God individually in prayer privately and in public.  There is guidance in the Bible we ought to observe, yet there is also great freedom to pray in every place, time and in countless ways.  One thing I observed was in the Old Testament the priest and people laid their hands on the sacrifice to be offered for sin, and Jesus who would lay His life down as sacrifice for sin laid His hands on people to heal and bless them.  This is one of the remarkable changes Jesus ushered in by God's grace.

The book of Acts shows us His disciples continued what Jesus did together, praying individually and corporately.  At times during prayer they laid hands to heal, for people receive the Holy Spirit, or as they sent out disciples as led by the Holy Spirit.  Christians prayed in one accord in the upper room and received the Holy Spirit; believers prayed together and Peter was miraculously released from prison in Acts 12.  Following Christ's example of praying a blessing and breaking bread, the disciples did this regularly as we read in Acts 2:46-47:  "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."  Jesus and the disciples show prayer is more than just for mealtimes or at church, and we can all participate in the daily privilege of praising and thanking God as we make our requests known to Him.

Troubles Lead to Jesus

In Judges 20, all the other tribes of Israel gathered to go to war against the tribe of Benjamin because of the murder of a Levite's concubine--and they refused to surrender the men responsible for capital punishment.  Though Israel sought the LORD before going up to Gibeah to attack the Benjamites, day after day they suffered huge losses.  The fighters of Israel outnumbered the Benjamites 15 to 1, and they still lost 40,000 men over two days.  Copping huge defeats in battle prompted the Israelites to desperately seek God for help and victory.

One might have assumed because Israel sought the LORD and obeyed Him they would have been assured of success, but victory did not immediately come.  They came to realise despite their manpower and righteous cause they had no chance of success without God's guidance and strength.  They would have been content to be only told what to do, yet God was working toward another aim entirely:  to draw all the children of Israel to Himself and increase their faith in Him.  Sometimes we can have the same approach when we see people who are deceived or without understanding concerning the Christian faith.  We imagine if we only responded to their skepticism or unbelief with the perfect verse (when all God's word is true) a hard heart would soften, a mind would change, and a life would be transformed.  If the outcome of our best efforts falls short of our expectations, we put the onus back on ourselves to know more and do better--when the LORD would have us seek and trust Him to do all the work we cannot.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  We have a responsibility and privilege as God's children to read the Bible (God's word) and to walk in light of it.  We ought to labour to dig into the word to gain knowledge and learn how to rightly divide and interpret it as led by the Holy Spirit.  At the same time we should realise much more than knowledge is needed to change people's minds and hearts.  The strongest arguments and evidence will fall on deaf ears unless the LORD does a miraculous work in others and they willingly yield to Him.  I love how God is able to reveal Himself to people through ways we never imagined possible, to communicate truth that deeply affects people for life.  One sentence, phrase or word spoken by God, a feeling people cannot shake, even a sleepless night can be used by God to orchestrate eternal transformation by His grace.

God is able to use anything and anyone--including us imperfect Christians who make mistakes, flub our words, forget scripture references and can be easily mixed up.  We are incapable of doing good ourselves and are deeply flawed, yet our God is more than sufficient and perfect in every way.  That is a reason why we came to Jesus Christ at the beginning, because we were hopeless and unable to save ourselves!  As much as we desire to see more sinners saved by the Gospel, God has already shown a full commitment to this by sending Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost.  When we face conflict we cannot overcome ourselves, should we feel disillusioned, discouraged and feel like failures, allow the full force of our failure and negative feelings lead us by the hand to Jesus who encourages, strengthens us and increases our faith.  It is not by our might, nor our power but by the Holy Spirit obstacles are overcome--even when it is our own unbelief.

Lacking Without Jesus

"And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."

Luke 12:15

There was a man who came to Jesus who had great wealth.  Despite all the goods he possessed, a sense of lack drew him to Jesus.  He inquired what good thing he needed to do to inherit eternal life.  This is a common assumption people make today, that entrance to eternal life in heaven is a divine reward for good deeds done in life.  When eternal salvation is tied to our works or worthiness, immediately we are stripped of all assurance of going to heaven.  We may have done some admirable things in the eyes of ourselves or others, but we have also done many shameful and sinful things in God's sight.  No matter how much "good" we do, only the most conceited could imagine they have done enough.  Even by man's standards, how can anyone be sure?

Matthew 19:16-20 says, "Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" ¹⁷ So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." ¹⁸ He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' ¹⁹ 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " ²⁰ The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"  The young man called Jesus good and thought by doing good he could receive eternal life.  Jesus questioned the man's use of good to describe Him and probed the man's heart He knew well:  was he calling Jesus good because he believed Jesus was God?  If Jesus was indeed good, would the man heed Him?

Jesus said the man could enter into life by keeping the commandments and rattled off a series of commands that pertained to man's conduct towards other people.  The man asserted he had kept all those commandments from his youth, yet he still felt a great lack.  Matthew 19:21-22 reads, "Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." ²² But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."  The man was right:  he lacked treasure in heaven!  It was not by doing good but by faith in Christ marked by obedience to Him which was the path to eternal life, for Jesus Christ is the Way.  In all his religious efforts the man lacked Jesus Christ who is good and God, the Door through whom sinners enter by faith into eternal life.  The young man who was convinced he had done everything was unwilling to do the first thing the good teacher asked him to do.

It turned out the man who lacked Jesus and eternal life loved his own life and valued his possessions more than a relationship with Jesus and assurance of heaven.  When the man walked away sorrowful, I wonder what sort of sorrow he experienced:  sorrow that leads to repentance not to be sorrowed of, or sorrow that leads to death (2 Corinthians 7:10)!  Praise the LORD what is impossible with man is possible with God, that stubborn, lost sinners can be brought to repentance and salvation by faith in Jesus.  God's word and wisdom wipes away our delusions of possibly being good ourselves and explains in verses like Titus 3:5-7 it is "...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ⁷ that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."  There is no life to be found in abundant possessions:  eternal life consists in Christ alone.