Discipleship

Fainting Alone

March 16, 2017 0 Comments

If a tree falls in a forest does it make a sound? If I faint alone, does God care?

These words of despair and even of fear are not the cries of just those who are old or sick. These words reflect the condition of even the young and healthy. Each of us can arrive at moments and seasons of life where we feel that we carry an unbearable weight alone.

Where is God when I’m hurting alone? Apparently the people of Israel voiced such a complaint to God. Their burden was too much. And to bear that burden meant to them that God was not present to them with care or concern. I have taken solace in the words of God given to us by the prophet Isaiah many times.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you know known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:27-31

 

Change, Discipleship

, ,

The Users’ Guide for Becoming Lovers

February 21, 2017 0 Comments

We are all known by our worship. Jesus Christ comes from the Father seeking true worshippers who worship in truth and in spirit. (John 4) Worship is the application of ultimate worth to something or someone. When we worship people, or ourselves, or the stuff of earth, we will become users not lovers. I do find the classical sense of idolatry helpful; idolatry is the misappropriation of that which has been created as a substitute for God. These false gods have powerful shaping influence in our relationships and in our brokenness. We mirror these gods. The Psalmist highlights the “mirror factor” when he says,

 

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear; noses but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
(Psalm 115:4-8)

The mirroring factor is at work in our worship. The explosion of visual enticement through our screens is cueing up not just our brains, but also our souls — to worship. And when we do, our souls are being hollowed out. All too often, death inhabits the desperate scroll, not life. For that idolatry also works to create false views of God and a false view of living well. A living, dynamic, grace-filled life is what God intends for us. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life of the sheep.” (John 10:10-11)

One of the beautiful observations we can make about King David is that he is more widely known for his worship of God than any other aspect of his life. The evidence of his relationship with God is recorded within the Psalms. The diversity and breadth of these prayers covers the spectrum of human emotion. David honoured God even as he talked, complained, questioned, and cried out to HIm. When I read the Psalms as an act of worship, I am drawn into deeper conversations and worship of God.

 

King David’s confession and prayer in Psalm 23 is a profound departure from the idolatry of his day and of ours.  David is following a personal and relational real God who is sufficient for the trials and brokenness of each day.

Psalm 23 — A PSALM OF DAVID.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

 

Worship matters. Jesus Christ is our Shepherd. He is our guide. Jesus doesn’t use people. He shows us who the Father is. He is the lover of our souls. He is the one who turns “users” into “lovers.” And for that we need grace! We need the Gospel truth of God’s pursuit of us through the life and work of Jesus Christ.

Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us — eternal life… And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are are… Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
(1 John 2:23-25, 28-3:1, 2-3)

Discipleship

, , ,

Crushed by Comparison

February 16, 2017 1 Comment

Everyday our comparison reflex is being trained so comparison becomes automatic. Our internal insecurities lend themselves easily to the economy of a comparison culture. It’s killing us. It’s crushing our souls. Even when our friends post a happy moment the comparison reflex kicks in and leads us to filter the photo so we cannot celebrate with them. Instead we covet their applause and their good fortune.

 

I know. I’m a pastor. Positions and responsibilities in the work of the Gospel do not create immunity to the comparison culture. Pastors can be exhausted by an insatiable desire to be liked, to be successful. Its miserable. Comparison creates misery! So Saul’s story is scary.

 

It’s possible to believe that success will heal us of such misery. But no, many a king has lain awake at night spinning in the tale of lost affection, applause, and attention. Israel’s first king was so taken by the comparison reflex that he quit listening to God, turned his back on God, and even came to actively oppose the activity of God. King Saul was driven by insecurities that he believed could only be sated by the applause of people.

 

Early in his kingship, when the stakes seemed high, Saul rejected God’s instructions and overreached his authority. He told the prophet Samuel, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come… I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal and I have not sought the favour of the Lord.’ So, I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” (1 Samuel 13:11-12) Saul lost the kingdom. But ultimately he lost his soul.

 

Saul’s concern for the affections, applause and attention of people created a cascade of jealousy in his life. When the people celebrated victories in battle, the refrain, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands,” galled Saul. Saul’s displeasure fuelled his premonition that David would be the next king. As a reader of 1 Samuel we become observers of tragic lost potential as Saul is hollowed out and crushed by comparison. He is filled with insecurity, overreaching, idolatry, lack of peace, progressive rage, and active resistance to what God is doing in the world. No doubt, the companion culture creates vulnerabilities within each of us that can be taken full advantage of by Satan.

 

In the New Testament, James would write to people being formed by Jesus Christ, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” (James 3:13-16) Jesus is the true wisdom that came down from Heaven — He shows us the good life and invites us into it: humility and godly  ambition in the love of God.

 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ creates perspective for us to observe our own hearts and ask, “am I giving safe harbour to envy and selfish ambition? In the great letter of identity in Christ called Galatians, the Apostle Paul declares “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10) So it is: if we are living loved through the declaration of God’s love for us shown through the Cross of Christ, then we are released internally from the oppressive consuming power of comparison. Even if others insist on comparing us to another person, we can be free internally. I am loved by God. My heart does not have to remain a safe harbour for envy. Living loved in the grace of Christ means we have a place at the foot of the Cross where we can stand and calmly confess, “I’m comparing myself to others. I’m becoming driven to outdo another. I can’t celebrate their success or God’s grace in their lives. Help, Jesus. I need You!”

 

Mortification of the comparison reflex requires grace, otherwise we will resist the movement of God. When his disciples were going over to Jesus, John the Baptist declared of Jesus, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) And the Apostle Paul who was ministering in a hyper-comparison culture declares, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Psalm 131
A Song of Ascents. Of David

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high.
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

Discipleship

, ,

Can’t say “That’s wrong.”

February 4, 2017 1 Comment

Photo credit: Netaly Reshef

Over the last seven years I have listened to a lot of students. In conversation through five big ideas of the Gospel and the Christian worldview, I ask the question “How do we know our relationships are broken? What have you seen and observed about relationships with people, the stuff of earth, and self that indicate these relationships are infected with brokenness?”

More often than not these days, people are struggling to answer the question. From my perspective it seems  they are struggling more than they did seven years ago. I wait out the struggle and make a few suggestions and  by and by we make some progress with the topic. But I’m troubled.

 

While there may be several sources for the general reluctance of my companions to identify what’s wrong with the world, at the end of the day, I think its a general reluctance to go on the record as saying, “That’s wrong.” “That’s wrong” or “That’s broken” sounds so sure and confident. Our global-traveling, urban-living, culture-crossing people, are not sure they’ve got the corner truth on what’s wrong in the world. And that’s ok, because if the only authoritative source for what is wrong is yourself, you’ve got to be pretty confident.

 

But what is not alright is the lack of access to any moral authority beyond themselves. I’m not even hearing my companions call upon the rule of law, the graceful creative vision of a society to implement rules, as a nod toward something outside of themselves.

 

From the Christian worldview, the Law, revealed in the Scripture, is a gift from God. Not only does it stimulate for us a vision of what life with God could look like, it creates a vision of what a people incarnating God’s love looks like. The Law is a companion bringing us to the Cross of Christ. For without the Law as revealed in Scripture, the Cross of Christ would lack meaning. The Law can bring us outside the oppression of self and gift us with a cognitive capacity to say, “That’s wrong.”

 

However, the Law is powerless to invoke complete righteousness and grant perfect justice. Its through the Law that we learn God’s grace is required. Its through the Gospel that grace is applied to us.

 

While my companions in Gospel conversations are reluctant to go on the record as saying, “That’s wrong,” I’m noticing as well that all kinds of people are struggling to recognize elements of our brokenness: lying, theft and adultery; abuse, torture and murder; neglect and contempt. Perhaps that’s a symptom of not really knowing God.

Discipleship

, , ,

If Jesus doesn’t show up.

February 3, 2017 0 Comments

Photo Credit: Todd Diemer

Reluctance to lead can infect any of us at sudden notice causing us to loose our nerve. Crossing the threshold into leadership by showing up, speaking up, remaining warm but firm and pursuing righteousness and the Kingdom of God, takes us outside the comfort of our couch and screen. Jesus has called His disciples to be salt and light. We are on the King’s Mission in all our circles of influence. We are called to participate in a mission of grace and truth for the redemption of people. Impossible situations abound and God calls leaders into them.

 

Deborah, the prophet and judge in Judges 4 and 5, issued God’s call to Barak to summon an army from the tribes of Israel so they could throw off the oppressive regime of King Jaban and his army commander, Sisera. The odds were against them. Israel was living scared, avoiding the roads for fear. They had no standing unified army. They did not have sufficient defence against 900 chariots. If they showed up by the Kishon river in front of Sisera’s army, surly they would be routed. Unless… the Lord showed up.

 

Barak said he would go if Deborah came with him. We are like that sometimes so find someone to go with you if you are loosing your nerve. Some in Israel stayed away without a second thought. Some had much searching of heart, but stayed away too. Others volunteered willingly and joined Barak and Deborah in their stand against Jaban.

 

It rained. God sent the rain and the chariots sank and slowed in the mire and muck. The situation changed because God showed up.

 

What are you doing that won’t get done unless God shows? What are you aiming at that requires grace? What are you trusting Jesus for? Into what relationships, what circles of influence will you bring hope, forgiveness, kindness, conscientious and quality work, and the Gospel? Are you trusting Jesus to do something there, at work, in your neighbourhood, in your family, in a friend, that can’t be done without Him?

 

“Our Father in heaven, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Discipleship, Leadership

, ,