Questions

"For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. [6] For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [7] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. [8] We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- [10] always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. [11] For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."
2 Cor. 4:5-11

I planned on writing on this yesterday but I pulled a double shift (6am-2pm and 4pm-12am).  Hope it's right on time!  I suppose there are several parts of the passage which I've been mulling over.  Though we would likely never admit we think the Christian walk of faith in Christ will be easy, we sometimes wish it to was easier!  We read of men and women of faith in scripture doing valiant things for God's glory.  There are successes, failures, moments of doubt and boldness alike.

As I read this passage over and over, I noticed all the things which Paul claims marked his life as a believer.  We are hard pressed on every said, Paul says.  We are perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and ultimately delivered to death for Christ's sake.  There was one of these experiences which we might think was due to a lack of faith:  being perplexed.  I freely confess I am very familiar with being perplexed.  But as Paul says, we are perplexed but not in despair.  It is faith in Christ and His sovereign plan which keeps us from despair.  It is not a sin to be perplexed any more than being hard pressed on every side.

There is a tendency for us Christians to think that we must have all the answers, we must have knowledge to combat every doubt of the world.  We feel foolish when we are ignorant - "I should have known that," we think.  Yet isn't it true that ignorance marks mankind more than knowledge?  For all a man might know there is much more he recognizes he does not know.  A perplexed mind is a working mind.  If you are walking with Jesus and are not at times perplexed, I wonder how that could be.  The disciples were always asking Jesus to explain things because they did not understand.  It's crazy with all the time I have spent teaching adults and youth how few questions I have fielded over that time.  God made our minds to think.  The more we think the more questions we will have.  We should ask questions of God, not question Him.

I am comforted by the fact Jesus never upbraided his disciples for asking a question because they saw themselves ignorant.  People sometimes ask questions to test others, not because they are seeking wisdom.  But I believe scripture reveals how God honors the questions of those who ask in faith seeking God's wisdom in a situation.  We often are looking for clear-cut answers.  Sometimes the answers never seem to come.  But in His grace and mercy God leads us away from despair and doubt.  We need not wallow in despair.  He wants to turn our thoughts from obstacles or struggles and onto Him.  We might not have answers and perhaps we never will.  But let us pray that whatever we face causes the life of Christ to be manifested through us.

Particularized Trust

I read an interesting article in Time by James Poniewozik today called "The Myth of Fact."  "Technology now enables rumors to spread at the speed of the Forward E-Mail button," he writes.  "But the common explanation - that new media let us self-select into groups and never hear news that contradicts our beliefs - may be too simple.  We do hear contradictory news.  But we have better ways to invalidate it...Farhead Manjoo writes that the rise of self-selecting media tribes has led to a decrease in "generalized trust" but an increase in "particularized trust"...People now live in self-buttressing fortresses of myth, where debunking a belief only confirms it."

The internet and media have brought an abundance of information unparalleled in history.  With an abundance of information has ushered in an incredible amount of mis-information.   It is so easy to pick and choose which version of the truth we are comfortable with or suits our pre-conceived bias.  For instance, there is currently a debate raging concerning the establishment of a mosque near where the Twin Towers fell in New York on 9/11.  NBC claims President Obama "endorsed" the building of a mosque near Ground Zero.  Another local new agency starts an article with this statement:  "After skirting the controversy for weeks, President Barack Obama is weighing in forcefully on the mosque near ground zero, saying a nation built on religious freedom must allow it."  NPR states something different:  "...President Barack Obama said Saturday that Muslims have the right to build a mosque near New York's ground zero, but he did not say whether he believes it is a good idea to do so."  So does President Obama "support" the establishment of a mosque or just the right of muslims to build one?  It is likely only he knows.

With all of this rhetoric, what more do we really learn?  All we have done is confirm our previous beliefs of President Obama.  The same thing can happen between church fellowships and their interpretation of scripture.  People bounce from group to group, looking more for style than substance.  The very real danger is we would bring a worldly perspective to the Bible instead of allowing scripture to confront our bias.  The Bible is living and powerful, able to speak to any situation or person.  One verse may have many different applications but the truth remains unchanged forever.  Scripture is multi-faceted, not limited to a single idea or theme.  But the overall theme of scripture is God Himself.  We learn of His character, attributes, holiness, and purity.  It is in learning of Him that we see ourselves in our proper light:  we are sinners, without hope of salvation through us.

When was the last time you read the Bible and learned something completely new?  It should happen all the time.  God says things that can be downright shocking to our flesh, totally different than we would expect.  But God must be trusted, and His Word remain our sure foundation.  One thing God will NEVER do is contradict Himself.  If there is an apparent contradiction, it is our failure to understand.  As Paul says in Romans 3:4, "...Let God be true but every man a liar."  Our beliefs evolve over time as we gain more information.  Often when we are young in Christ we are very rigid in our views and think everyone should see things the way we do.  But as we mature and grow we realize we weren't as right as we once thought we were about everything.  God does not evolve and neither does His character.

We should not treat the books of the Bible like the hordes of news agencies which vie for our viewership.  One book should not be discounted because of another, neither should we ignore the Old Testament for the New or vice-versa.  The same God can be seen throughout both, for He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever.  The New Covenant has replaced the Old, but His Word will endure forever no matter when it was spoken.  Let's give God an invitation to debunk every false myth we might cherish about Him above His Word.  He remains the authority no matter what we think of Him!  Thank God for the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth and quickens our understanding to receive of it.  May we grow in "particularized trust" in our God and His Word.

Take the Stand

"If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

Luke 14:26

Through the call of Jesus men become individuals.  Willy-nilly, they are compelled to decide, and that decision can only be made by themselves.  It is no choice of their own that makes them individuals:  it is Christ who makes them individuals by calling them.  Every man is called separately, and must follow alone.  But men are frightened of solitude, and they try to protect themselves from it by merging themselves in the society of their fellow-men and in their material environment.  They become suddenly aware of their responsibilities and duties, and are loath to part with them.  but all this is only a cloak to protect them from having to make a decision.  They are unwilling to stand alone before Jesus and to be compelled to decide with their eyes fixed on him alone.  Yet neither father nor mother, neither wife nor child, neither nationality nor tradition, can protect a man at the moment of his call.  It is Christ's will that he should be thus isolated and that he should fix his eyes solely upon him."

- Beginning of Chapter 5 titled "Discipleship and the Individual," page 94 of Dietrich Bonhoffer's book "The Cost of Discipleship"

How hard are the sayings of Christ!  How devastating to hear from the mouth of Christ, "You cannot be my disciple."  It is true that He will accept whosoever will respond to His call, but if we refuse to abandon our life for His sake we have not actually responded to His call.  We live in a day when some think we are disciples because we want to be.  But if I will not become Christ's disciple, I cannot become His disciple.  Christ is not to be blamed for His exacting standards.  He supplies the righteousness and we offer a willingness to trust and yield only He can enable.

Christ and the world are opposed to one another.  The world accepts you on account of your race, wealth, education, career, sexuality, family, or political and religious views.  You can be accepted by the world if you will be like the world:  think the same way, do the same things, have the same passions and hobbies.  To be accepted by Christ we must leave all these things behind, not only acknowledging our sins but counting ourselves without any merit or reason for acceptance.  Then we can be partakers of God's grace through faith.  When we fill out an application for a college or employment, we are forced to "sing our own praises" and explain why we are the best candidate for the position so a judgment can be made.  There is no paperwork to be filled out to be a Christian.  We simply forfeit our own lives for God's glory so that He might live through us.

Our love for Christ must far outweigh our love for anything of this world - even people so close to us as father, mother, wife, and child - that our love for them seems like hate compared to our degree of adoration for Jesus Christ.  I would never have said or even thought such a thing.  But Jesus said it!  And if we want to be His disciple then we must follow His pattern of love, sacrifice, and obedience to God.  Jesus did not hate his mother or brothers.  But He loved His heavenly Father with a love which outshone them all.  This is not a "feeling" kind of love, but the active agapao love which pursues God's will passionately.  God does force us to become individuals, but not individualistic.  We cannot be a disciple alone.  We must first have Christ and then remain in fellowship with like-minded Christians.  This does not believe we must agree on all things but we must believe and trust in the LORDship of one Person, Jesus Christ.  This belief will affect everything we do because it will no longer us be living but Christ through us.

Are you willing to stand alone for God and say with Job, "Though He slay me, I will trust in Him?"  This is a decision we make alone, not to make our dad or mom happy.  Praise the LORD we never need be alone for Christ has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."  Bonhoeffer's conclusion is right:  let us look to Jesus alone.  Jesus must be our all-in-all or He will be reduced to an imaginary companion no greater than ourselves.

An Encouraging Word

Hardly a day passes when I am not directly asked about my plans to minister in Australia.  "So, what's going on with Australia?" or "Have you heard anything from Australia?" and my personal favorite:  "When are you leaving?"  If I had a dollar every time I was asked a question along these lines I would be a wealthy man, and if I earned a dollar for every time I thought about my friends in Australia or prayed about it, I would be richer still!

As I press on working with my hands to put money away to pay for moving and future living expenses, I see God's grace, love, and wisdom at work.  During my time as a mechanical insulator with Local 5, I have worked at three shops.  At every shop I had time to share my faith with many people.  I have maintained contact with people from all three.  Witnessing at random is great, but there is something special when you have earned the trust of other people so they will freely share their personal beliefs and solicit your own.  Everyone I work with know I am a pastor and they know I want to serve God in Australia.  But why Australia?  When I say that God has placed the people of that country on my heart and called me to go, I receive some strange looks.

I started thinking of all the profitable conversations I have had in the last 9 plus months since starting work at Farwest.  Seeds have been sown, and hearts have been engaged.  God will bring the increase, for His Word never returns void.  While my efforts have been largely on preparing to go away, God has been gracious to allow me to impact people here in the meantime - and be personally impacted by the relationships I have been able to make.  The need for Jesus is so great it boggles the mind.  It seems like I am learning more all the time about my own faults and how precious Jesus truly is to me.

I have not always held such a positive view concerning obstacles/opportunities.  Though I recognized God's hand at work, I had a tendency to focus on what I'll call "obstacles" rather than seeing those same things as "opportunities."  Is the hand of God shortened so He cannot save?  He helps us to redeem the time and work while it is day, for night is coming when no one can work.  The longing of my soul is that every place I go I would bring the fragrance of Christ that will linger on in saved souls long after I am living in Australia.  I want to say with Christ in John 9:5:  "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  Only God could make the words we say affect the lives of others for eternity.  Every day is an opportunity to let our lights shine!  Whatever you do and wherever you are, do all for the glory of God!