"Our Achilles heel is the compass of our spiritual journey. Where I am weak, there-by God's grace-I become strong. When we discover what our basic weakness or woundedness is, or our basic handicap, then we ask for God's presence and grace to enter that place. . .
A broken bone, once healed, is stronger than one which has never been broken".
-James Houston
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Our Achilles Heel
Monday, July 26, 2010
Meaning amidst Suffering
Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, Victor Frankl, spent approximately three years in Nazi concentration camps living in the most horrid situations imaginable. Out of the depths of this experience was birthed his life work entitled "Man's Search for Meaning". In this book he investigates despair and muses over the difference between those who were lead to utter despair during their time in the death camps and those who were able to overcome insurmountable suffering and emerge with hope. What were the differences between the two? What lie between the thin line of hope and despair?
Frankl's observations are fascinating.
First, he defines despair. What really is the condition of despair? According to Frankl the word can be best defined through a simple mathematical formula: D=S-M. Despair is suffering minus meaning. Frankl observed that those who could not make any sense of their suffering turned to one of three poisons: anger, depression or denial. Each of these toxins lead to a slow death by despair. So, despite what we often think in our plush, comfortable worlds today, it is NOT suffering or difficult circumstances that rob us of hope and plunge us into dispair. It is the absence of meaning.
In fact, Frankl witnessed and personally experienced people going through the same horrendous ordeals who did not turn to despair. One the contrary, some individuals became more wonderful and more loving human beings precisely because of their adverse conditions. They became people of greater hope! Why is that? It was not that they were ransomed from their circumstances. Rather, it was that they found ways to make sense of this world within those difficulties. They were able to see a more ultimate purpose and meaning to life that others could not. And, that purpose formed their character and framed their thinking in ways that transcended their circumstances.
Frankl's observations are fascinating.
First, he defines despair. What really is the condition of despair? According to Frankl the word can be best defined through a simple mathematical formula: D=S-M. Despair is suffering minus meaning. Frankl observed that those who could not make any sense of their suffering turned to one of three poisons: anger, depression or denial. Each of these toxins lead to a slow death by despair. So, despite what we often think in our plush, comfortable worlds today, it is NOT suffering or difficult circumstances that rob us of hope and plunge us into dispair. It is the absence of meaning.
In fact, Frankl witnessed and personally experienced people going through the same horrendous ordeals who did not turn to despair. One the contrary, some individuals became more wonderful and more loving human beings precisely because of their adverse conditions. They became people of greater hope! Why is that? It was not that they were ransomed from their circumstances. Rather, it was that they found ways to make sense of this world within those difficulties. They were able to see a more ultimate purpose and meaning to life that others could not. And, that purpose formed their character and framed their thinking in ways that transcended their circumstances.
The apostle Paul and Victor Frankl seemingly were on to the same thing. I'd love to be in a room listening to them muse over this topic. Paul, in Romans 8, reverberates the same findings as Frankl. Read the text. In Romans 8 Paul explains that he is able to legitimize his present suffering and the creation's sufferings (groanings) because Jesus himself, the living God of the universe has entered our mess and salvaged our pain. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah infuses meaning into the madness of this present reality we call life.
According to Paul, suffering is the normal and consequential reality of a sin cursed world. But, because of Jesus, it is only seasonal. Yes, the present pain is great. Yes, it looks like the whole world is groaning. Yes, our suffering is real. But, it's not an empty pain and it's not an eternal pain. Our suffering is not random or purposeless. Because of Jesus Christ, the pain of the world is more like. . . birthpains. . .Yeah, weird metaphor coming from a guy (Paul) who is well. . .a guy.
But, catch the significance of the birthpain metaphor. Birth is always pain with a purpose. Labor has an ultimate goal. The blood and sweat and tears in the delivery room will culminate in new creation! Ever see a women in labor without hope? Of course not. Why? Because there is ultimate meaning behind her suffering. The pain is unbearable without the anticipation of new life.
For Paul and Frankl, there's hope, because there is infused within creation a something deeper and more powerful than human suffering. And, that which is deeper and rings with more potency is the gospel message itself.
Both the cross and the resurrection inject meaning and hope into human suffering. The meaning behind Good Friday is that our God has strangely entered our suffering, legitimizing and sympathizing with our pain at once. The meaning behind Easter Sunday is that he has overcome all suffering, redeeming and ransoming us from death and despair. Sundays promise is that he will make all things new. What a promise!
Because of the gospel hope is free to roam in the most unusual and unlikely places. Places like Golgotha and Nazi Concentration camps.
The backdrop to all our smaller stories and days of despairing is one grand story that provides purpose and meaning and a way to make sense of it all. And, that meaning is not found in a system or a thought or a solution, idea or philosophy. None of those things bring meaning to our suffering.
No, the meaning to human suffering is found in a person who entered it and has come out the other side vindicated and unscathed. And, now he mediates on our behalf. Jesus the King, our savior, brings hopeful meaning to our senseless suffering. His suffering and death was redeemed. Ours will be too. May His name be praised!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
On a Christian Worldview
The gospel is not just a truth that we look to, it is a lens that we look through.
-Tim Keller
Once the gospel gets a hold of your life, you quickly realize that it's not simply the truth of Christ and the objective source of salvation that we look towards. Yes, indeed it is that. But, it is more. The gospel itself pulls us into a larger story of Creation, fall and redemption. It has the power to ransom us from our smaller self-made stories and place us into the light of the way that things are really. Gospel people are people who have a radically different lens that they see through. And, this lens impacts the way that we see God, ourselves, others and this world.
Is your gospel simply a gospel that you look to in your time of need? Or is it a gospel that you also look through? A gospel that penetrates so deep that all of life and reality are seen through its lens.
We talk today about a Christian worldview, but the tendency in the Church today is to neatly fit God into our own eclectic, self-made worldviews. The problem is that God cannot be packaged and perceived through the lenses of our choice. He will not allow His holiness, goodness and love to be hijacked and used for our own purposes. His gospel can only truly save us when we allow His world, His story, His reality to penetrate us. Anything less than that reduces the gospel and cheapens the cross.
If you have the time, I highly recommend listening to Tim Keller's teaching on "Writing from a Christian Worldview". You don't have to be a writer to take this stuff in. It's HIGLY applicable and necessary for everyone who calls themselves a Christian.
http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/writing-christian-worldview
-Tim Keller
Once the gospel gets a hold of your life, you quickly realize that it's not simply the truth of Christ and the objective source of salvation that we look towards. Yes, indeed it is that. But, it is more. The gospel itself pulls us into a larger story of Creation, fall and redemption. It has the power to ransom us from our smaller self-made stories and place us into the light of the way that things are really. Gospel people are people who have a radically different lens that they see through. And, this lens impacts the way that we see God, ourselves, others and this world.
Is your gospel simply a gospel that you look to in your time of need? Or is it a gospel that you also look through? A gospel that penetrates so deep that all of life and reality are seen through its lens.
We talk today about a Christian worldview, but the tendency in the Church today is to neatly fit God into our own eclectic, self-made worldviews. The problem is that God cannot be packaged and perceived through the lenses of our choice. He will not allow His holiness, goodness and love to be hijacked and used for our own purposes. His gospel can only truly save us when we allow His world, His story, His reality to penetrate us. Anything less than that reduces the gospel and cheapens the cross.
If you have the time, I highly recommend listening to Tim Keller's teaching on "Writing from a Christian Worldview". You don't have to be a writer to take this stuff in. It's HIGLY applicable and necessary for everyone who calls themselves a Christian.
http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/writing-christian-worldview
Monday, July 19, 2010
Writing with the Other Hand
The process of Christlikeness is counter-intuitive.It goes against the grain of natural self and the ego. Usually, for a new Christian who is set on following Jesus, things get real messy and much more difficult before they get easier.
Imagine a right-handed person penning his own autobiography. In the middle of the story a doctor diagnoses the writer with severe arthritics in the right hand. His condition is so debilitating it will create permanent paralysis if the writing continues. The only sensible solution is to stop using that hand. "But", the eager author pleads to the doctor, "I'm in the middle of penning my own life story. I can't quit now. I was born to write."
Now, imagine if you will, the doctor contacting the writer and stating that the author could continue his masterpiece, but must learn to write with his left hand.
After much thought the decision is made to surrender to the doctors orders. He dies to the use of his right-hand forever, and for the first time in his life places the pen in the other hand and begins penning his first sentence.
As the pen touches the paper, it feels quite awkward. His hand shakes. It's uncomfortable and the tendency is to default back to the old way of doing things. It requires much concentration and intention and effort and energy and patience to even get through one paragraph. As he continues, the preceding pages look real messy. Hardly legible.
Page after page he endures. Daily the temptation to go back to the old hand, the old way of doing things. Sure, he intellectually knows that that hand no longer serves him well, and continued use will lead to paralysis. But despite that knowledge, the old way is so. . .so comfortable, so normal.
As time continues the grip becomes more natural. The left hand stronger. The writing more clear. The counter-intuitive nature begins defining itself as the "new normal". Confidence is gained, and with it a the pathway of liberation.
The gospel is like learning to write with the other hand. Let me explain.
When we come to Christ we are called to lay down the normal ways that we had always done things. Jesus beckons us to forsake the usual way we have gotten on in life, and follow His way. Which sounds good on paper. . .and then life happens and we find that the way of Jesus, the way of the gospel is so counter-intuitive. His is a kingdom where everything we are called to think, believe and do runs so backward, so upside-down to the way we had always lived. Yes, following Jesus is like having to learn how to write with a brand new hand. Living the gospel is an uncomfortable to our default life. It both disrupts and transforms the story we're penning all at once.
If the implications of the gospel you believe in doesn't feel abnormal, uncomfortable or counter-intuitive to your natural leanings, then you may not be fully embracing the gospel according to Jesus. The gospel changes everything. And, we feel how against the grain it really is when we start living like Jesus did.
In what ways are you finding the gospel counter-intuitive? In what ways is Jesus teaching you to write with the other hand?
. How does your congregation help folks learn write with the other hand?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Individualism and the Church Part I
I was musing over St. John's words yesterday in my devotions. He was the only recorded disciple who actually witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus. The disciple whom Jesus loved gazed helplessly as his rabbi and friend hung helplessly upon a cross. He saw him suffer in silence and finally groan as he gasped his final breath. Oh, how the image of a self-sacrificing savior must have been cemented deep into John's consciousness.
As an older man, John still had etched into the recesses of his mind, the sweat, the dust and the blood of Golgotha. In his first epistle he writes, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" (I Jn. 3:16). John connects Jesus' ruthless love for us with the kind of loving community that should exist within the Church. Christ stepped in front of a moving bus for us, so shouldn't be willing to do the same for each other? The answer is a resounding, yes.
Yet, is Christian community today made up of the stuff of Golgotha? Does it look like blood, sweat, tears or grime for the sake of loving relationship? Too often our love is safe, sanitized and benign. Is it true grit love? Or simply sanctuary sentimentality? Too often I fear it is the later.
We have discovered ways to co-exist at arms length, separated and insulated from one another. We shake hands on Sunday and smile, yet the rest of the week are free to pursue our own self-directed goals, dreams, and ambitions without much thought or concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ. How can this be? How has the portrait of self-sacrificial love that was burned into John's consciousness gotten so far removed? How can we be ready to lay our lives down for one another if we do not even know one another? if we are unwilling to commit to a small group community?
Communal life is not an optional appendage for the Church. It is central to the mission of the gospel and to Christ's vision for His Church. We must reclaim a deeper understanding of Christian community and find ways to subvert the individualistic culture of the day with the communal nature of the gospel. We have the power and love at our disposal to model before the world an entirely different way of being human! Individualism and Church cannot co-exist. It was not an option for John, and it's not an option today.
So, how do we combat the idol of individualism within the Church? How do we begin to recognize it in our lives? What are the ways in which we can grow into the kinds of people that would lay our lives down for our brothers? Chime in on this one. I would like to hear your heart.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Old Heresies, New Hosts
Last Sunday we tackled Ephesians 3:14-21 which is one of Paul’s two prayer for the Ephesians in the epistle. Paul seamlessly moves from words to the Ephesians to prayers for the Ephesians in this text. As we looked at the apostle Paul as a man of prayer this morning, we discussed two heretical threats to a vibrant prayer life. Both threats, interestingly enough, de-personalize God in their own way leading to a God who we cannot come to know and embrace.
Threat #1-Deism
Remember that song Bette Midler used to sing called "From a Distance"? "God is watching us, God is watching us, from a distance". Good tune. Poor theology. The first sectarian threat is Deism. Deism depersonalizes God and serves as a serious threat to a life of prayer. Deists believe that God is the Creator and sustainer of this universe, but is distant from His creation.
Like a grand clock maker, He designed and wound up this universe, but now it's sort of left it alone to tick on its own. His involvement in the day to day affairs of men is limited to let's say "emergency life and death sorts of situations". Overall, he lets this earth alone and is somewhat aloof from our personal lives. Is this your understanding or view of God? Distant, somewhat too aloof to take notice or be involved in the stuff of your life? If so, you are not alone. Recent research done by Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith indicates that a group of people dubbed by Smith as "moralistic, therapeutic deists" comprise the largest segment of young adults in America. (Check out http://johnortberg.com/?p=56 for more information).
Deism, or some abridged version of it, is alive and well in America. And, one sign and symptom of deism is a feeble prayer life. And, that makes sense. After all, if we transform God into a remote being out there who has little to nothing to do with our personal lives, the logical conclusion is that prayer is an exercise in futility. Of course, the God of Deism is not the God of the apostle Paul in Ephesians whose prayers glorify the love and power of a God who is at work in us. Paul's God is Emmanuel. A word meaning "God with us". Is your God Emmanuel? Or is He distant, aloof, removed sort of God?
Threat #2 Gnosticism
Secondly, prayer is threatened by Gnosticism. Gnosticism is an ancient heresy that has re-emerged throughout church history and is alive and well today. Philip Lee, a scholar who has studied gnosticism in depth, discusses five primary elements of this ancient heresy. I've summarized some of Lee's thoughts below.
• Gnosticism embraces a deep chasm between body and spirit. Essentially Gnosticism is dualism. It believes that the spirit-world, the invisible is inherently GOOD. And the creation, the visible, created of the flesh world is inherently BAD.
• Gnosticism believes there is a secret lore, a special knowledge (gnosis) that can save us from this hopeless condition of the body/flesh. However, it requires a certain pathway/method to discover.
• Gnosticism always leads to escapism. It urges us to remove ourselves (mentally, spiritually) from this world and get in touch with the true world of the Spirit. Often results in privatized, over-preoccupation with self. Each person must be his/her own guide.
• Gnosticism holds that this secret knowledge is known only to the “elite” who attain this inner knowledge and the methods of tapping into this knowledge.
• Gnosticism believes that enlightenment is the private pursuit of each individual. Each adherent to its teachings are free to discover truth as he/she sees fit and is not subject to the accountability of a community or the guidelines of an authoritative text.
As you notice above, gnosticism's goal becmes the personal pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment, instead of the pursuit of a personal God. The ultimate blessing of gnosticism is not someone, but a something. God is that impersonal, mysterious force that we can "tap" into that unlocks the right doors and opens the right corridors to enlightenment. Another way of saying it? God is the means to an end. Not the end itself.
Do we not see this kind of heresy alive and well around us today? God becomes a means to our own private, personal pursuit of self-actualization. We see this in many forms both inside and outside of Christian circles. Gnostic prayers are not true prayers because all true prayer must be sourced in the personal and the relational.
We see this in Paul in Ephesians. He clings to a relational God and lifts up his prayers in a deeply relational way both to God and on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ. Christian prayer must always be marinated in the personal. . .in the relational. If not, we will miss God entirely. Stated a different way, Christian prayer must always be informed by the incarnation. That is to say, that our prayers always mouthed towards a God who entered our mundane and small messes through Jesus Christ. He is a God who does not reveal himself to only a select few who now hold the secret instructions to "tap" into Him. No. The Christian God is a God who enters into human history in the most personal of all ways...as a person Himself! Our God's deepest desire is to get personal with us. . .his creation. And so, He became a living, breathing, human to show us how up-close and personal He really is. He is a God "which we have heard with our ears, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have touched with our hands" (I Jn. 1:1,2). Gnostic's know such God. In search for rapturous, mysterious someTHING they overlook the personal someONE.
Deist? Gnostic? Christian? Take a close inventory and assess where you find yourself. Our prayer life does indeed reflect the kind of God we worship.
Threat #1-Deism
Remember that song Bette Midler used to sing called "From a Distance"? "God is watching us, God is watching us, from a distance". Good tune. Poor theology. The first sectarian threat is Deism. Deism depersonalizes God and serves as a serious threat to a life of prayer. Deists believe that God is the Creator and sustainer of this universe, but is distant from His creation.
Like a grand clock maker, He designed and wound up this universe, but now it's sort of left it alone to tick on its own. His involvement in the day to day affairs of men is limited to let's say "emergency life and death sorts of situations". Overall, he lets this earth alone and is somewhat aloof from our personal lives. Is this your understanding or view of God? Distant, somewhat too aloof to take notice or be involved in the stuff of your life? If so, you are not alone. Recent research done by Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith indicates that a group of people dubbed by Smith as "moralistic, therapeutic deists" comprise the largest segment of young adults in America. (Check out http://johnortberg.com/?p=56 for more information).
Deism, or some abridged version of it, is alive and well in America. And, one sign and symptom of deism is a feeble prayer life. And, that makes sense. After all, if we transform God into a remote being out there who has little to nothing to do with our personal lives, the logical conclusion is that prayer is an exercise in futility. Of course, the God of Deism is not the God of the apostle Paul in Ephesians whose prayers glorify the love and power of a God who is at work in us. Paul's God is Emmanuel. A word meaning "God with us". Is your God Emmanuel? Or is He distant, aloof, removed sort of God?
Threat #2 Gnosticism
Secondly, prayer is threatened by Gnosticism. Gnosticism is an ancient heresy that has re-emerged throughout church history and is alive and well today. Philip Lee, a scholar who has studied gnosticism in depth, discusses five primary elements of this ancient heresy. I've summarized some of Lee's thoughts below.
• Gnosticism embraces a deep chasm between body and spirit. Essentially Gnosticism is dualism. It believes that the spirit-world, the invisible is inherently GOOD. And the creation, the visible, created of the flesh world is inherently BAD.
• Gnosticism believes there is a secret lore, a special knowledge (gnosis) that can save us from this hopeless condition of the body/flesh. However, it requires a certain pathway/method to discover.
• Gnosticism always leads to escapism. It urges us to remove ourselves (mentally, spiritually) from this world and get in touch with the true world of the Spirit. Often results in privatized, over-preoccupation with self. Each person must be his/her own guide.
• Gnosticism holds that this secret knowledge is known only to the “elite” who attain this inner knowledge and the methods of tapping into this knowledge.
• Gnosticism believes that enlightenment is the private pursuit of each individual. Each adherent to its teachings are free to discover truth as he/she sees fit and is not subject to the accountability of a community or the guidelines of an authoritative text.
As you notice above, gnosticism's goal becmes the personal pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment, instead of the pursuit of a personal God. The ultimate blessing of gnosticism is not someone, but a something. God is that impersonal, mysterious force that we can "tap" into that unlocks the right doors and opens the right corridors to enlightenment. Another way of saying it? God is the means to an end. Not the end itself.
Do we not see this kind of heresy alive and well around us today? God becomes a means to our own private, personal pursuit of self-actualization. We see this in many forms both inside and outside of Christian circles. Gnostic prayers are not true prayers because all true prayer must be sourced in the personal and the relational.
We see this in Paul in Ephesians. He clings to a relational God and lifts up his prayers in a deeply relational way both to God and on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ. Christian prayer must always be marinated in the personal. . .in the relational. If not, we will miss God entirely. Stated a different way, Christian prayer must always be informed by the incarnation. That is to say, that our prayers always mouthed towards a God who entered our mundane and small messes through Jesus Christ. He is a God who does not reveal himself to only a select few who now hold the secret instructions to "tap" into Him. No. The Christian God is a God who enters into human history in the most personal of all ways...as a person Himself! Our God's deepest desire is to get personal with us. . .his creation. And so, He became a living, breathing, human to show us how up-close and personal He really is. He is a God "which we have heard with our ears, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have touched with our hands" (I Jn. 1:1,2). Gnostic's know such God. In search for rapturous, mysterious someTHING they overlook the personal someONE.
Deist? Gnostic? Christian? Take a close inventory and assess where you find yourself. Our prayer life does indeed reflect the kind of God we worship.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
What Are You Relying On?
Are you placing your dependency these days on the tangible things in front of you or are you trusting the Spirit of God inside of you? We speak of faith, we speak of the "gifts" of the Spirit that are used by the Spirit in our lives. But, if you are like me there's a temptation to place more security in my props than in God. Props are any tangible thing that I have come to depend upon other than the Lord. My plans. My personality. My personal power or persona. All these things have their place...but when I begin to trust in these props more than God, I've got a big problem. Truthfully, I’ve seen God’s hand in my life more powerfully displayed when the props are removed and the stage is cleared. In those moments I’m forced to see what is unseen and trust in God in a more real way. Jesus commanded his disciples to go out and “take nothing for the journey” (Mark 6.8). No programs or agendas. No porta-pews or papyrus tracts. His reason? Props get in the way of sincere devout faith. Much which we assume to be helpful in the spiritual life can be detrimental.
Here's a link to a great blog post that epitomizes removing the props we have come to depend upon and beginning to see that which is unseen. Enjoy the clip. . .and the post.
http://john8.com/christian-living/a-portrait-of-faith-in-jesus/
Here's a link to a great blog post that epitomizes removing the props we have come to depend upon and beginning to see that which is unseen. Enjoy the clip. . .and the post.
http://john8.com/christian-living/a-portrait-of-faith-in-jesus/
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Stop Trying to Change the World
So, you want to change the world, huh? I confess that I've dreamed of myself as a mover and shaker on a global scale. And, why not? After all, there are so many needed changes out there. Shouldn't we all want to change the world? Not necessarily.
A recent post by John Ortberg (http://johnortberg.com/?p=64 ) reminded me that changing the world is not in my primary job description as a disciple. And, good thing for the world too, because I'd probably do a lousy job at global transformation. Truthfully, all worldwide moving and shaking is God-sized stuff, and probably best left His hands, not ours. That's not to say that we have no part in world change. But our primary task is not to change the world.
Ortberg highly recommends a new book by James Hunter entitled "To Change the World". In it, Hunter argues, that the primary role of God's people throughout history has never been to change the world. . .that's always been God's job. . Our role? According to Hunter, to be a faithful presence within culture God has placed us. Often, in our Christian past, our agendas and ambitions to change the world has led to "Christian conquest" in the name of Jesus, without the marks of Jesus like humility, grace and love.
Not a world-mover. Not a conquering king. Simply a faithful presence. A Faithful Presence? I know what you are thinking. That's so. . .so boring. So wimpy. So passive. Yes, so it appears. That is until we flesh out what being a faithful presence actually looks like. As we jump into the skin of a life that embodies a "faithful presence" kind of life, we find anything but boring, wimpy, passive lives. We find Daniel in Babylon. What was this young man if not a faithful presence? How about Joseph? Hard to change the world in the slammer. Fortunately, God had not called him to change the world, but to simply be a faithful presence of God under years of lock and key. We see through the lens of faithful presence Noah, Esther, Job, Ruth, Simeon and Mary. We find the DNA of faithful presence in the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles. . .all called by God to be a faithful presence of simple obedience, often in cultures that despised, ignored and rejected the call of God.
When we set our sights on changing the world our heart might be in the right place, but our focus is in the wrong direction. Being a faithful presence means that our target, our focus, our primary aim is being who God has called us to be and doing what He has called us to do. And, that is enough for God. Because, the lives of the saints ensure us that God will use our faithful presence as a catalyst for His kingdom, so that He can receive the glory for changing our world.
Haven't read Hunter's book yet, but the excerpts I've read about his book look fantastic. Has anyone out there picked up the book? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
A recent post by John Ortberg (http://johnortberg.com/?p=64 ) reminded me that changing the world is not in my primary job description as a disciple. And, good thing for the world too, because I'd probably do a lousy job at global transformation. Truthfully, all worldwide moving and shaking is God-sized stuff, and probably best left His hands, not ours. That's not to say that we have no part in world change. But our primary task is not to change the world.
Ortberg highly recommends a new book by James Hunter entitled "To Change the World". In it, Hunter argues, that the primary role of God's people throughout history has never been to change the world. . .that's always been God's job. . Our role? According to Hunter, to be a faithful presence within culture God has placed us. Often, in our Christian past, our agendas and ambitions to change the world has led to "Christian conquest" in the name of Jesus, without the marks of Jesus like humility, grace and love.
Not a world-mover. Not a conquering king. Simply a faithful presence. A Faithful Presence? I know what you are thinking. That's so. . .so boring. So wimpy. So passive. Yes, so it appears. That is until we flesh out what being a faithful presence actually looks like. As we jump into the skin of a life that embodies a "faithful presence" kind of life, we find anything but boring, wimpy, passive lives. We find Daniel in Babylon. What was this young man if not a faithful presence? How about Joseph? Hard to change the world in the slammer. Fortunately, God had not called him to change the world, but to simply be a faithful presence of God under years of lock and key. We see through the lens of faithful presence Noah, Esther, Job, Ruth, Simeon and Mary. We find the DNA of faithful presence in the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles. . .all called by God to be a faithful presence of simple obedience, often in cultures that despised, ignored and rejected the call of God.
When we set our sights on changing the world our heart might be in the right place, but our focus is in the wrong direction. Being a faithful presence means that our target, our focus, our primary aim is being who God has called us to be and doing what He has called us to do. And, that is enough for God. Because, the lives of the saints ensure us that God will use our faithful presence as a catalyst for His kingdom, so that He can receive the glory for changing our world.
Haven't read Hunter's book yet, but the excerpts I've read about his book look fantastic. Has anyone out there picked up the book? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Excavating Ephesians
I'm studying Ephesians right now and loving it. Studying the Scriptures is like digging for buried treasure. There's some work to be done for sure, but the labor is never in vain. In in the middle of your labor you discover this chest of wealth that existed just beneath your feet all the time. All you had to do was a little digging. My time in prayer and preparation for this study has been like that. What begins as labor-intensive and perplexing (what in the world does Paul mean here???), begins with prayer and meditation to expose itself little by little. And, then it happens. Instead of pulling up one more handful of sand, you begin to excavate from the unknown depths jewels and gems and find cloth and all sorts of unique, priceless relics. And, you discover at once that you are more full, more wealthy, more secure, more loved than you had ever realized. And, you're brought to your knees in humble recognition that Christ Himself is that treasure. That's what I'm excavating in Ephesians.
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