None of Self, All of Thee

In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, one of the antagonists was a churlish boy named Eustace.  He was cynical, spoiled, and a thankless snob.  After finding himself with his cousins in Narnia aboard the Dawn Treader, Eustace was introduced to a world of adventure, talking animals, and Aslan.  When they came to a certain island, Eustace left the others and slipped an enchanted bracelet onto his arm.  While he slept, he magically turned into a great dragon.  The novelty of being a hulking beast was short-lived.  He felt very sorry for himself:  he was unable to communicate and the bracelet bit painfully deep into his foreleg.  As a beast, however, Eustace began to change.  He became an asset and friend rather than a self-absorbed loner.

The final turning point for Eustace is when he was met by the great lion, Aslan.  The lion led dragon-Eustace to an inviting bubbling pool and told him before he could enter he must first undress.  So Eustace dug a claw into his hide and stepped out of his skin painlessly, only to see a fresh skin in its place.  After three failed attempts, Aslan told Eustace that only he could undress him.  Eustace was desperate for a change from being a dragon.  He lay still and Aslan pierced him to his very heart, painfully tearing away the dragon flesh.  Aslan placed Eustace in the pool and he was changed back to being a human.  But Eustace was no longer the same Eustace:  he was a new boy, born again.

This story is an allegory concerning the fact that no man can change his own heart.  Eustace was filled with wickedness, and no effort of his own - even repeated, sincere attempts - was enough to change him from being a dragon to a boy.  The change had to come from outside Eustace.  The only one who has the power to transform a man is the one who raised Himself from the dead:  Jesus Christ.  The point God keeps hammering home to my heart is complete surrender to Him.  Eustace could not have only have his legs or arms cleaned of dragon flesh:  it all had to come off.  When we first make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ, we are hardly aware of all the areas God desires to change within us.  God desires our first and best, seeing this is His just due.  He wants our spiritual appetites, dreams, desires, and future to be completely placed in His hands.  While Satan and the world are only too happy to control and oppress us, God waits for us to voluntarily give ourselves to Him.  Too often we are like Eustace at the beginning, thinking that we can change ourselves with the spiritual power and authority Jesus grants by grace.  No, God must change us.  He will only do it when we are desperate to be done with the dragon.

The danger of the deception of partial commitment to God is revealed in the lives of Ananias and Sapphira.  Changed hearts in the early church was evidenced by transformed lives.  People generously gave all they had in the service of God for His use and glory.  Ananias and Sapphira, like other people, sold a possession and brought the proceeds to the apostles.  However, under the pretense of giving all, they had agreed to secretly keep back a portion of the sale.  They lied to the Holy Spirit and therefore had lied to God.  Their deceit and hypocrisy cost them their lives, for they were struck dead by God.  Their sin of holding back proved costly.  What was a secret before men was laid bare before God.

Should God always act in this fashion, I confess I would have been dead many years ago.  How many times did I say "I surrender all!" when I had no intention to take steps to do so!  Perhaps He spared my life so I could die to self for His glory every day until He takes me home.  I am grateful for God's patience and faithfulness to die for me when I was a sinner and enemy, and thank Him not destroying me even after I sinned against His grace by continuing to live for self.  In William MacDonald's book My Heart, My Life, My All, a poem by Theodore Monod on page 154 strikes at the heart of the matter:

Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow

That a time could ever be,

When I let the Saviour's pity

Plead in vain, and proudly answered,

All of self, and none of Thee.

Yet He found me; I beheld Him

bleeding on the cursed tree;

Heard Him pray, Forgive them, Father,

And my wistful heart said faintly,

Some of self, and some of Thee.

Day by day His tender mercy,

Healing helping, full and free,

Sweet and strong and ah! so patient,

Brought me lower while I whispered,

Less of self, and more of Thee.

Higher than the highest heavens,

Deeper than the deepest sea,

Lord, Thy love at last hat conquered:

Grant me now my soul's petition,

None of self, and all of Thee.

The sooner we are fed up with ourselves and the passing pursuits of this world the better.  It is time to submit all we are and all we have to the God who has purchased us with His own blood.  Forgive me Father for all the times I have only offered some when I needed to give all.  No price is too great to pay.  Strip me of self!  None of self, and all of Thee.

The Minister As Shepherd Musings

A pastor recently recommended I read The Minister As Shepherd by Charles Jefferson.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book, a collection of lectures delivered in 1912.  Jefferson lamented the fact that pastors were falling short of their calling as shepherds.  He defines the shepherd's work in chapter 2 as consisting of seven parts:  acting as a watchman, guard, guide, physician, rescuer, feeding and loving the sheep.  Instead of a distant, unapproachable master, the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ was a humble, gracious, loving leader.  As a pastor, I am glad to be reminded that in all things, even the pursuit of my calling, I am to emulate Jesus Christ.

Although many things have changed since 1912, much remains the same.  What people perceive as pastoral work has been reduced to teaching Bible studies and supplying leadership of a body of believers.  Charles Jefferson rightly deduces that many pastors and the laity alike see pastoral visitation and direct involvement with each member of the family as an antiquated practice held by those who had nothing better to do.  There is a grave deception that people do not need a pastor but only need to be taught.  Again, we see this belief perpetuated throughout the world today.  The laity is uncomfortable with giving a pastor access to their struggles, and there are so many struggles the pastor feels his calling is best pursued among only the willing leaders of his fellowship.  I am of Jefferson's mind.  I am of Richard Baxter's mind, who visited every family in his parish every year (many hundreds).  I am of Ichabod Spencer's heart, who intimately involved himself with people continually.  I heartily recommend his book A Pastor's Sketches (two volumes).  I believe these men emulated Christ with the way they served as under-shepherds in the flock of God.  Call me outdated and impractical, but Christ's example will never be outdated.  Impractical though it may seem, given the dynamics of a westernised modern-culture, the needs of people remain the same.

There is a difference between teaching and leading.  People are fine with being taught:  they resist being led.  They are content to sit under teaching on a Sunday, but are generally disinterested with giving up or sharing their independent lives.  This is not to say that a pastor has all the answers.  Hopefully a pastor is someone who absolutely believes God has all the answers and reveals them through His Word and the Holy Spirit.  Feeding sheep is fine and good, but there is more to tending the flock than feeding.  Our day is marked by abundance and lack.  Those who have abundance eat too much, and others are wasting away from spiritual starvation.  The same can be true spiritually.  Some churches make the preaching and teaching of God's Word the ultimate end, while other churches have substituted experience and emotion for substance.  The end result is sedentary Christians who know much but do little, or a life devoid of the foundational doctrines of Christianity that barely survives from one emotional high to another.

After reading the book I had to ask myself:  am I willing to be shepherded by Christ?  Do I also see my need to be tended by under-shepherds called by God to watch, guard, guide, aid in healing, rescue, feed, and love me?  I say yes!  To think that mere teaching alone is enough to sustain and guide me in everyday life is foolish.  Every person needs the closeness of a relationship with Jesus Christ and people they can shake hands with or hug, laugh or cry with, support one another through the storms of this life, and share their hearts without fear of negative reprisal.  As a Christian I am called to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn.  As a Christian I am called to love one another as Jesus loves me.  As a pastor, the scope grows in depth and intimacy.  Even as Jesus opened up His arms to Jerusalem with love for all, so I am to open my arms and heart in offering love and acceptance to all people.  And like in the case of Jesus we can open our arms, reaching out with fervent desire, and people will run away.  Only Jesus Christ is sufficient for these things.

How about you?  Is Jesus Christ your Good Shepherd?  Have you personally realised the benefit of pastoral ministry?  I know I have.  Being a pastor is not a job or a career, but a calling.  It is a calling God wants me to embrace fully and grow in.  It is a life devoted to God and His people:  loving God, loving people, and making disciples of Jesus Christ.  It is a hard life, but not without great reward on both sides of heaven.  I thank God for the people who God has used to pastor, encourage, and strengthen me in faith.  May you too have a testimony of the people God has brought into your life to aid you as you follow Jesus faithfully.  To God be the glory, both now and forever!

I Shall Not Want

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."

Psalm 23:1

How profound is this simple truth!  This immortal psalm was penned by King David, a man who knew God as a sheep knows his shepherd.  A good shepherd is faithful to meet all the needs of the sheep in his flock.  Because God was David's shepherd, he lacked no good thing.  That is not to say David's life was easy.  For many years David was homeless and in hiding, fleeing from the wrath of King Saul.  Yet whether David found himself in a cave or a palace, the Word of God remained true.

It is common for us to use the word "want" in relation to our desire.  That is not the meaning of the Hebrew word used here.  The Strong's Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary defines "haser" as "to lack; by implication to fail, want, lessen; be abated, bereave, decrease."  David is saying, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack.  I shall not fail.  I shall not be abated or bereaved."  This sentiment is confirmed many times in scripture.  He would later write in Psalm 34:10, "The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing."  How ironic is this!  Even young lions, with their sharp claws, teeth, and skills for hunting, still end up going hungry.  But those sheep of God's fold will lack nothing.  All our needs are met in our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We see this lived out even in our day.  The prominent politicians, the powerful businessmen, the wealthy men and women of this age die empty and dissatisfied with all the world can offer.  No amount of fame, riches, or possessions enables a man to enter into rest.  The things a man pursues to fulfill himself end up being a mirage.  Like smoke, it ends up being without substance.  How people impale themselves upon their passions and pursuits!  What a price people pay to obtain what will only destroy them.  If a rock star lives to be 60, he has outlived most of his peers.  It is no secret that many lottery millionaires cite their winning the lottery as the worst day of their life - in retrospect.  Most people will not give up what strangles them.

One of the things people long for is love.  The Bible says the love of God "never fails."  David had experienced this love.  God was his shepherd, so he did not lack.  He goes on to write how God provides contentment, peace, and rest in Psalm 23:2:  "He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters."  He spoke of the healing, restorative work of God's grace and how God always directed him in the right way to live in Psalm 23:3:  "He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake."  David's Good Shepherd had removed all fear from him, because he remained continually in God's presence as evidenced in Psalm 23:4.  Those whom God loves He corrects.  "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."  Even his daily bread was supplied abundantly by God.  Psalm 23:5 reads, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over."  God even provided a future that no one could separate David from!  He was so convinced of this David concludes in Psalm 23:6:  "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

Can you say, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want?"  Is your current life lacking?  If this is the case, then we can know we have not been looking to our Good Shepherd Jesus Christ to supply our needs.  Jesus says in John 10:10-11, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."  It is very easy for even Christians to fall into the rut of dissatisfaction and covetousness.  Our wants increase while our needs for fellowship and guidance from God are neglected.  It is for this reason Paul writes in Colossians 3:1-4, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

Because Christ is our life, we shall not want!  His love never fails.

Love and Hope for All

No one can receive God's love without being dynamically changed by it.  Instead of focusing upon self, love turns its gaze towards God and others.  There is compassion and grace where there was once only selfish preoccupation.  Love makes our hearts grow in breadth and depth.  Knowledge paves the way to feelings of incredible persistence.  God's love is so profound, tangible, and real.  A person who tastes of this love sees it is good, and nothing in or of this world can compare.

God's love seek release through acts of service and salvation.  No one filled with the Holy Spirit and His divine love can read shocking statistics of how many children and adults are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and remain unmoved.  The world has sown to the flesh through sexual sin and is reaping a bumper crop of deception, oppression, pain, ruin, disease, horror, addictions, and death people don't even want to think about.  But love won't look away.  Love cannot avert its eyes from suffering and pain.  Love wants to do something:  love must do anything possible to deliver bodies and souls from the pain of physical or sexual abuse.  Love does not falter in the face of sin's ugliness.

Awareness of the issue of sexual slavery is growing.  But awareness of a problem does not mean we have the capacity to fix it ourselves.  So what is to be done?  The Bible tells us that our fight is not against flesh and blood - the pimps, Johns, drug pushers, or people who knowingly sell their children for sex - but against principalities and powers, the demonic rulers of wickedness who increase the sway of Satan in this world.  These are spiritual beings of great power who seek to destroy the bodies and souls of people by their lies and lusts, people young and old created in the image of God.  It is only through God we can do valiantly and bring down the strongholds which daily grow stronger.

If you are someone who has been wounded and damaged through sexual abuse and/or slavery, you are of great value to God and to me.  I love you.  Only in Jesus can you find rest for your soul.  Jesus demonstrated His love for you on the cross and rose again, defeating death.  His love for you is everlasting and there is no stain of sin His precious blood cannot cleanse.  Only God knows how greatly you have suffered:  the tears you have cried, pain you have endured, humiliation words cannot begin describe.  Even when you cannot bring yourself to cry, God knows.  That is why Jesus laid His life down on the cross:  to free you from guilt, to heal your mind and heart, and so you can live with Him forever when you repent and trust in Him.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  Cast your cares upon Christ, for He cares for you.  I am praying that God would set you free physically and spiritually from your bondage!

Let us be faithful to pray for the deliverance and eternal salvation of those who suffer the slow death of sex slavery and abuse.  May the deeds shrouded in secrecy and darkness be overwhelmed with the light of life found only in Christ.  Let us pray that those taken captive by the devil to do his will to be freed, and for the fear and shame of the victims to be swallowed up in victory through Jesus.  May God forgive us for our apathy and for not walking in love as He has demonstrated by dying on the cross for us while we were yet sinners.  Thank you Jesus, for the tangible love you have granted us by your grace.  I am no Saviour, but Jesus is!  Here I am, LORD.  Use me to set the captives free.