Questions and Answers

From time to time people have questions concerning particular posts.  Instead of trying to answer the questions by commenting back and forth in the comments section, feel free to send me an e-mail address in your comment.  I will not publicly post your comments or my response.  Though far from the ideal of speaking, e-mail seems to be much more profitable than discussion threads which are easily derailed!  Again, thanks for reading!

Borrowers

Have you ever read a great book which impacted your life?  After speaking excitedly with friends or family, you offer the book on loan to someone who seems very interested.  Months pass.  We've probably been on both sides of this equation many times and so we know what happens.  After a ridiculous amount of time has elapsed the book is returned - unread.  This is as annoying as disappointing, because the book would have been likely loaned to others who might have actually read the book during that time and been greatly blessed.

I'm sure many excuses or reasons could be given why the book was never read, but it is undeniable that the book was not as great a priority or as important to the borrower as the loaner.  I suppose if the borrower really wanted to read the book he would buy it, check it out from the library, or buy an e-book himself.  When people invest nothing and are loaned a book rather than purchasing it sometimes they lack motivation to follow through.  Sadly, we can even buy books ourselves and never get around to reading them!  It is likely the borrower was interested to read the book because of the excitement of their friend.  Man, I want to read something exciting.  I want to hear something new.  I desire to be affected by anything to the degree as this person I admire and respect has been inspired.  Yet the book just sits there gathering dust, a testimony to our lack of motivation, forgetfulness, and procrastination.  A procrastinator is better than said borrower because though it may take awhile, he will complete the task!

While pondering this phenomenon, I couldn't help thinking about how this "borrower" mentality is prevalent in the lives of many Christians today, even my own at times.  All have been born into sin on this earth.  In His great love God has granted us a new life through repentance and faith in Jesus.  Perhaps we were won to Christ by a person filled with enthusiasm for God and we thought to ourselves, I want that excitement.  I would love to have purpose for my life and to be free from sin.  I want to go to heaven too!  True to His Word, God gives us a life which we are stewards of on earth, a life of righteousness, purity, victory, and power.  We are not our own because we have been bought with a price.  But instead of focusing on bringing God glory with our lives, we neglect our walk with God.  The life on earth we are borrowing from God - the life according to His will and plan - is undisturbed in a drawer while the life we live every day is pretty much the same as when we weren't born again.

There is nothing more exciting than living a life for God.  It will also be the hardest thing you have ever done.  We have forfeited our lives for the life God intends for us.  If we never wanted to really read a book we shouldn't have borrowed it, and if we don't want to follow Jesus we should have never claimed to be a Christian!  I am asking myself today, what do I have to show for the new life Jesus has given me through His own sacrifice?  Is my "Christianity" reserved for Sundays when I'm around people who can be playing at it too?  Our life on earth is a generous loan from God.  I want to make sure when my Savior settles accounts with me I am not one of those borrowers who sheepishly returns his life covered in dirt like the servant who buried his talent in the ground.  If I think I will receive any blessing for such ill use of such an unfathomably great gift I would be mistaken!

If I am disappointed when someone returns a book unread after six months, what devastation must God endure when we let our new life paid with the blood of His own Son be neglected with other pursuits.  I thank God for His grace and the fact that He knows our frame.  We are dust moistened with blood, earthen vessels God has graciously allowed His light to shine into.  Thank God for His patience, generosity, faithfulness, and love.  Just like we don't "unfriend" someone who been a lousy borrower, God will never disown His children for their faults because Christ has cleansed them from all sin.  Let's be sure to thank Him by pressing on in a deeper walk with Jesus.  May we use all God's gracious gifts with zeal and a sense of purpose.  Teach me to number my days, O God, that I might apply my heart unto wisdom.

Real Discipleship

"Discipleship" is almost a catch-phrase these days in church circles.  We lament the fact that we need more of it, that church fellowships are too impersonal, and people young in faith in Christ have difficulty connecting with experienced followers of Christ.  For most people, when speaking of discipleship it is usually to reference a course on biblical doctrine, a one-to-one fellowship meeting, or an opportunity to study through a book or part of the Bible.  It's amusing and also sad that what passes for discipleship quite often is not discipleship at all!

Part of the role of being a Christian is making disciples (followers) of Jesus Christ.  Jesus made disciples of people by calling them to follow Him.  That was all.  Following Jesus made a man a disciple.  The only decision which remained was to forsake all for Christ in obedience, or choose to abandon Christ.  There was no curriculum, books to read, questions to answer, or tests to take.  All was summed up in a lifestyle of faith and absolute surrender of a life to Jesus Christ.  That is discipleship.  Today we think discipleship lies in facts, knowledge, and experience.  This is simply not the case.  Instead of making disciples of Christ, most often our attempts at discipleship make followers of men and women other than Christ.  Instead of Christ becoming the only one relied upon, we can fall into the trap making ourselves crutches which make lame those we attempt to instruct.

Perhaps this is why discipleship is so difficult to cultivate in a church fellowship.  Most of us aren't quite sure what it is and why we need it!  It is very easy to start new believer's courses, have men and women's Bible studies, and read through a book together on "The Life You've Always Wanted."  But to be frank it is much harder to fulfill perfectly one command of Christ:  "Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me."    This is not the life we always wanted!  But it is Christ who we want:  therefore we obey joyfully and follow Him along the narrow path goaded on by faith empowered by the Holy Spirit.  If we had a church filled with such people in complete submission to Jesus He would have more disciples than all the programs in the world can generate.  "Love your enemies.  Do good to those who hate you.  Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."  Jesus is the only one who can make disciples.  We shouldn't be surprised when fellowship with other believers isn't enough to live a life of victory over sin.  Following Jesus is the critical, necessary, and all-important aspect of the Christian life.

Forgiveness is easy to talk about, but forgiving someone is completely different because it is personal.  We can have all the facts, define forgiveness biblically, cite examples, and explain the Christian's obligation to forgive others, but this does not guarantee we have forgiven all who have wronged us.  Our relationship with Christ is deeply personal and requires faith.  When Jesus told the disciples to forgive not only seven times but seventy times seven they begged, "Increase our faith."  Being a disciple of Jesus requires faith, and demands constant action based upon trust in Christ alone.  Discipleship is a lifestyle of "followship" with Jesus.  It is a life not built upon knowledge but upon active reliance upon the person of Jesus Christ.  Those who follow Christ are examples to others and the good that others see is simply the sacrificial love and life of Christ being lived out through us.

Waiting On God

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  [14] Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!"  

Psalm 27:13-14

Waiting on someone is very different than waiting for someone.  We are only too familiar with waiting for things or people:  waiting for your turn in line, waiting for your birthday to arrive, or waiting for traffic to start moving again.  I remember as a kid waiting for my friends to arrive at my house.  Half an hour before the set time I would occasionally peek out the window at the sound of any car.  I was completely preoccupied with waiting.  All my hope rested upon my friend's mom bringing him at the prescribed hour.  Sometimes friends were early, late, or they did not show at all.  I am only too familiar with the truth of Proverbs 13:12:  "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life."  I am familiar with it because I've been on the heartsick side of it more times than I'd like to remember!

As I wait for opportunities to minister in Australia on a full-time basis, God has taught me a lot through waiting.  For years it seems - especially the last eighteen months - there has been a temptation for me to wait for God, rather than wait on Him.  When I become impatient God has revealed to me it is due to a lack of faith.  Impatience occurs when we are reluctant to wait upon God's timing.  If I trusted God perfectly, knew His plan was ideal, and looked to Him continually, why should I be impatient for anything?  It is when we focus on circumstances and others that we become dissatisfied and frustrated.  Frustration occurs when our will is being hindered.  Something so simple as waiting can be used by God as a divine tutor which strips us of our false impressions concerning our own faith.

We are all filled with strong faith, no doubt (wink, wink).  Just like we all think we are great drivers and the other guy need to figure out the difference between the accelerator and the break, we often see ourselves in too favorable a light when it comes to spiritual matters.  In the words of Job 12:2 "No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!"  Spurgeon said, "The best men see themselves in the worst light."  Only a humble man will grow in wisdom, understanding, and faith.  He sees his enormous need and is willing to submit himself to God without strings attached.  Waiting has been a challenge to me because it has forced me to honor God above my calling, and regard His timing as infinitely superior to my own.  My futile plans must be scrapped and I must press on in faith, waiting on the One who has called, redeemed, and anointed me for His glory.

Waiting for God can cause us to lose hope, while waiting on the LORD causes us to grow in strength.  Waiting for God blinds us to our purpose because we block our own view to God with our agenda.  But when we wait on the LORD for His plan to unfold, we are able to be used by Him when the time comes.  Bitterness, disillusionment, disappointment, and confusion attend those who wait for others or even themselves.  I remember a Daily Bread devotional (from 1994!) which emphasizes the point of struggle in our lives, even in something as seemingly trivial as waiting.  An excerpt from Joanie Yoder's devotional contains an example which is profitable to consider:  "... I was reminded of the story of a man who took home a cocoon so he could watch the emperor moth emerge. As the moth struggled to get through the tiny opening, the man enlarged it with the snip of his scissors. The moth emerged easily—but its wings were shriveled. The struggle through the narrow opening is God’s way to force fluid from its body into its wings."

In our foolish ambition we would always shorten the process.  But in God's wisdom, He has allowed just enough time for us to be refined and perfected so we can be usable for His purposes when the time comes.  He does not make it so hard for the emperor moth to emerge that it kills the moth, but makes it a struggle for a purpose:  the struggle makes the moth capable of flight.  God wants us to soar on the wings of eagles while we are content to run with the dogs.  Wait on the LORD, my friends.  Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.