Category Archives: Church on Mission

Is Everything Changed?

Church on Mission, Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds

If “this changes everything” then we should be completely different.

As we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, we celebrate a singular moment in history where a man died and then personally overcame that death and returned to life.  This momentous occasion sent a shockwave through the world that is still echoing powerfully over two thousand years later.  The man’s own followers had not seen it coming and were rousted from their grief and despair over his death when they finally grasped the news of what had happened.

Today, like then, many still can’t wrap their head around this event.  Coming to understand and accept Jesus having the power to defeat the one enemy no other person, no matter how strong or intelligent has ever managed, changes everything for you.  Death, the guaranteed end of each of us, suddenly is beatable.

The question is, if This Changes Everything, have we been changed?

Knowing the power of death is defeated should transform how we relate to every other power we are up against.  The final victory represents every victory.  The forces of this world are suddenly not something we have to fear or concern ourselves with.  This is why the Scripture reminds us that we “wrestle not against flesh & blood.”   Yet we live in a day when many of those who claim a grasp of the Resurrection are deeply concerned with trying to find victory over flesh & blood.  The Kingdom not of this world is suddenly very much of this world and time, effort, money, and sermons are all aimed at a current cultural battle.  Much like most other interest groups and causes.  The Kingdom reduced to political party, campaign, civil power, and cultural domination.

How is that any different than all the kingdoms of man over the span of human history?

The Roman Empire saw many factions, competitions, civil wars, and striving for power against enemies.  So did Egypt which saw different subgroups try to take power over one another.  Here in America, our bloodiest war ever was when two groups fought over who would control the government and define the national values.

This is not different, this is the same.

So did the resurrection “change everything” for us, or did we simply take it and decide to be like everyone else? 

Jesus’ enemies in the Jewish leadership saw him as a threat, but since they had no civil power to kill him, they needed Roman buy-in.  So they tried to pass Jesus off to Rome as a political player who threatened Rome’s power.  This was the heart of Pilate’s questioning of Jesus.  Pilate couldn’t care less about Jesus’ thoughts about God & a heavenly kingdom.  He just wanted to figure out if Jesus was seeking to contest Rome.

Jesus answers him very clearly with a full, unambiguous answer.  

“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” “

(John 18:36)

Jesus represented something completely new.  He called it His church.  A kingdom that lived here but was not OF here.  A kingdom not defined by ethnicity, or earthly culture, or national boundaries.  A kingdom that wasn’t set up to compete against other “flesh & blood” kingdoms but instead one that would capture the hearts & minds by “taking every thought captive” and tear down “speculations & every lofty opinion raised up against the knowledge of Christ.”

This is why the Word of God is our sword, not some terrestrial weapon, and certainly not an excuse to fall back to terrestrial weapons.  You can never win a heart with a terrestrial weapon.  They are ineffective in winning any battle for the Kingdom that is not of this world.  

Over the centuries since He was here, Jesus’ kingdom has thrived the most where it lacked access to the tools and power of the earthly kingdoms.  Deprived of the ability to use terrestrial kingdom means, the people of God have instead clung to the Hope of the Resurrected Jesus and the power of His Word and have seen many come to know him.  The church has greater vitality in China, and Iran, than in the West for the simple reason that they are free from the temptation to return to the Kingdom of this world.  

Jesus told Pilate that you could tell the difference in the Kingdom because His followers weren’t fighting for his release.  Even though the resurrection was still days away, Jesus was already living His Kingdom.  His resurrection would be the final establishing moment.  When He defeated death by His own power, he completed the establishment of His Kingdom for us.

This Easter, as we celebrate the Resurrection, are we completely different?  Are we completely distinct from the kingdoms of this world and their values, methods, and styles?

Did this truly change Everything?

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Frog in the Icy Kettle

Church on Mission, Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds
Free photos of Tree frog

Growing up, the Frog in the Kettle was a popular metaphorical warning to us as Christians.  The metaphor compared a frog being slowly boiled to death unaware to the sneaky advance of liberalism.  While I have never studied the biological reality of the science, as a metaphor it is powerful, sticking with you as a great illustration of the danger of not paying attention to small changes that become big changes.  I think there was plenty of truth in the metaphor that time has in some ways validated.  However, over the recent two decades, I have observed a parallel phenomenon that requires an update of the metaphor.

Imagine the frog sitting in the kettle, alert to the danger, keeping his eye squarely on the burning to make sure it is not turned on nor turned up.  So keenly aware of the legitimate danger that the burner control poses, he stays vigilantly fixated on making sure the burner is not turned up.  So much so that he does not notice when a little bit of ice was added to the pot.

With each passing day, a little more ice is added to the pot, but the frog is unaware.  No one told him there was a danger from gradual cooling, only from gradual warming, and he’s guarded himself against that with intensity.  

One day a friend of the frog noticed how much ice had been added to the pot.  Concerned that the frog was already colder than was healthy, the friend tried to adjust the burner to up the heat a little to return the water to normal temperature.  The frog was immediately on alert.  “Stay away from that burner!  How dare you!?!  You are obviously a liberal trying to tempt me into my destruction!!”

Thus the frog began to perceive any who tried to save him from the cold as agents of liberalism trying to cook him.  Former allies were labeled as enemies who had fallen victim to the creeping liberalism he’d been guarding himself against for decades.  Meanwhile, the ice increased.  Soon the frog was very cold, but he never knew he was losing his life to cold, all he knew was that he had avoided being cooked.

The Bible says that in the last days, because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.  Among some of the staunchest warriors on the right and in church, there is not only a lack of compassion, but a stated distaste for compassion, gentleness, and love.  Any who advocates for warming things up a bit, showing love, compassion, or mercy are labeled as agents of liberalism, no matter their core theology, and fought as the enemy.  

I fear that many people who love Jesus and wanted to seek first His kingdom have guarded themselves well against drifting left but have been radicalized to the right, never having been warned that there is danger in both directions.  

Christian, has your heart grown cold, your love for your neighbor, for your enemy, (both commanded by Scripture) iced over?   Have you worked so hard to stay out of the left lane that you’re driving in the ditch? The warning to “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition” applies equally to all sides of the human political spectrum, & we must be careful that we don’t become blind to one side by fixating only on the other.

Let us not let our love grow cold, as did the Galatians.  We must not become licentious Romans or Legalistic Pharisees, but Disciples of Jesus, who came to seek and to save the lost.

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My aMErican Religion

Church on Mission, Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds

(author’s note: this blog post is not commenting on whether vaccines should be mandated or trying to address the debate behind their origin or efficacy).

A popular quote in some circles is “America was founded as a Christian nation.” This simple quote of course masks a much more nuanced and complex reality of the founding of the United States. Several years teaching American history and even longer as an avid student of same, demonstrates a lot of texture to that discussion. For simplicity’s sake today, we can stipulate that most all our founders were believers in God in one way or another, that most thought the Bible was important, and that Judeo-Christian thinking and ethics were the major shapers of their thinking. Some of the founders even had an understanding of salvation in Christ that we would recognize. Inspiration for our founding documents was drawn both from Biblical thoughts as well as other philosophers and thinkers that were not Christian.

This unique mix of Christian-ish belief and worldly philosophy can be most clearly seen in the Declaration of Independence, one of our two most cherished national birth records. You may have even memorized the lines.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

This foundational block of our national psyche has been in clear focus over the last year and a half as pandemic mitigation measures have caused great angst and anger among the citizenry of our country. We are allergic to mandates, orders, and restrictions. We’ve even decided that such things are against our religion. The question is, what religion is that?

The lines above do not come from the Bible, nor are they rooted in the philosophy or worldview of the Bible. First, the Word of God does not center around the achievement of rights, either by humans or even more importantly, by God.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
(Philippians 2:5-8)

The New Testament is stubbornly insistent on a theme of sacrificing rights.

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
(Galatians 5:13)
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
(Matthew 16:24)

Perhaps the most inconvenient verse, often quietly ignored, is the when the Bible is teaching about being in conflict with other believers. 

Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
(1 Corinthians 6:7)

Those are haunting words. “wouldn’t you rather be wronged?” “Defrauded?” Paul’s argument, consistent with Jesus’ life and teaching of suffering servanthood, is that we give up rather than claim our lives. This is a Biblical principle that we don’t tend to fight for.

The way of the Cross, the way of Christ, is laying aside ourselves, rather than a God-promised right to do what I want and be happy. These concepts are not based in God’s Word, but in John Locke, Aristotle, and Epicurus.

This returns us to the debate about what we do in our current culture. This conviction of self-determination and sovereignty is embedded in our founding documents and part of our psyche. It is synchronizing of American political belief in self with Biblical morality creating a religion we can call American Christianity.

Being asked to do something that conflicts with what we want (our rights and desires, good or bad) is against this religion of being sovereign to myself. This entitles me to a religious exemption for any firmly held belief I have, no matter what that belief may be or whether it is covered in the Word of God. After all, my rights are self-evident.

There are many reasons to restrict the power of the state over the individual, as the founding fathers intended. There are powerful and fruitful debates to be had on how this country decides what to mandate, how to do it, and when. Freedom itself is rooted in the Good News of the Gospel, but not the freedom of self-satisfaction. National issues are important and affect both our lives and the relative cost of carrying out our Mission and lives as followers of Christ.

The key is in being careful to notice when we have moved from Biblical Christianity to an American Civic Christianity that is based on the rights of the self over the Sacrifice of the Savior and His cross-bearing followers. We must guard against our natural motivation to seek our own comfort and happiness over our ability to lay down our lives for others.

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
(John 15:13)

For more on the Lockian ideas, check out this link: https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/john-locke/

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Shifting Rock?

Church on Mission, Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness” is the first line of the hymn “The Solid Rock.”  The chorus reiterates each stanza, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand.”

I grew up singing those words and they are etched deep in my mind.  Today they stand in stark contrast to the Christian church culture I find myself surrounded by.  Between presidential elections and Covid mitigation strategies, I have rarely heard people who call themselves Christians sound more shaken.  I grew up in the ’80s when Hal Lindsey was writing during a wave of End Times interest that would find its apotheosis in the Left Behind series.  Those days of worrying about Soviet nukes and European Unions don’t hold a candle to the unrest of today’s church that is either on the verge of destruction because wearing a mask is antithetical to Jesus or because the wrong political party is in power in Washington D.C.

The rain falls, the wind blows, and rather than standing firm, there is fear, anger, and division among self-identified Christians like I have never seen in my life.  Talking to both pastors and those who minister to pastors reveals that my observation is true across the country.  I find most pastors fall into two general categories.  Either they too are up in arms and view themselves on the verge of calamity, or they are just tired & discouraged by the tumult around them.

“All other ground is sinking sand.”  The simple truth of this song is easy to lose sight of when you don’t realize that singing those words are not the same as living them.  We have too often rested our hope on the freedom of American culture, the belief in American goodness, on living in a society where we thought we had enough sway to live a Christian life with minimal friction from the world.  Sure, they would disapprove of us, but they still had to listen to us, and our vote was our power to keep us secure.

“All other ground is sinking sand.”  When a pandemic changes how society works, does the upheaval threaten our sense of hope and security?  When our morals, our views, or our very church culture is not understood or respected by society, are we driven to either despair or angry warfare to try to take back the power no longer offered to us?

Jesus’ blood & righteousness has not changed since the day His body was laid in the tomb.  It was not changed as Roman leaders lit Christians on fire or fed them to lions to entertain the crowd.  The blood of Jesus is untouched by communist repression, Islamic extremism, or corrupting capitalism.  It is no more changed or challenged by an American election or a Taliban takeover.

“On Christ, the solid rock, I stand.”  These words are easier to sing than to live, simpler to say than to demonstrate.  When I open the Word, I see men & women of God who knew with a simple certainty that there was nothing on this earth that could threaten their God.  Their hope was in the Kingdom that is not based on this earth, their country was not defined by any national borders or earthly leader.

Are we on sinking sand or solid rock?

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Starfish Ideology

Church on Mission, Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds

An old anecdote speaks of a young man walking along a beach where hundreds of starfish have been washed up on shore. As he throws them back another person claims he’s wasting his time because there are so many.  What he’s doing doesn’t matter.  As he throws back the next one, he replies, “it matters to this one.”

Watching the SBC Convention online this last week as an outsider I was struck by the barely concealed anger of some as their attempts to push harder-nosed, strict positions failed.  The crusade to seize control of what a whole collection of churches should do had been fomented over long months.  Meanwhile, others’ passions were centered around seeking care for individuals who had been abused and hurt.  Their efforts were aimed less at trying to police what others thought, and more on ways to care for individuals.  Most of these warriors sounded far less angry but no less passionate.

The fallen world with its injustices and sins quickly seems to call for a massive effort to seize the reins of power and force everyone to change.  In trying to fix large-scale issues, we can turn a blind eye to real people right before us. The issues and ideologies of our battle become impersonal.

Jesus, came to earth to deal with cosmic rebellion and provide salvation to the world.  Yet He spent a lot of time helping individuals.  Raising one child from the dead, helping a beggar gain his sight, or even healing a group of lepers did nothing to move the needle on global evil.  Yet as you read the Gospel accounts, repeatedly, in a sea of sinful humanity, He spent time with individuals.  While He did teach large crowds, most of His efforts were amazingly small.

Thinking back to the starfish story, small things matter to the recipients of love and care. The hard-line warriors, pastors, or others who count themselves as leaders, are often snide, angry, dismissive of others, and harsh. In fighting for the Kingdom of God, little of that kingdom’s characteristic concern for others shines through.  It is a vision of big-picture “truth” at the expense of individuals.

We must always start with the starfish at our feet.  You can’t clear the beach by ignoring them.  God puts us in our spots with people before our eyes.  Systemic change must always be rooted in the love of the individual, not love for ideology about individuals. Churches and communities need the love and call of Christ.  Truth must prevail in our churches and in people’s lives.  Before we go to war over ideologies, we must make sure we love the people behind each and every ideology.  This is the way of Jesus. God Himself makes His quest for global justice and restoration deeply personal.  He’s not fighting for ideological purity, he’s fighting for individuals’ souls.

The sacred truth of God’s Word is intensely rooted in love for my brothers, my neighbors, and my enemies.  My passion must be centered in that.  I’m too busy to get angry about ideologies when I’ve got starfish to throw back into the sea.

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Have You Met My Angry Friend?

Church on Mission, Perils of Shepherds

If you told me you had a friend who was intensely angry at me, but if I was willing to talk to him, he would become my friend, I would take great pause. Before I had even met your friend, I would be forming an opinion about their temperament, character, and probable reaction to me based on the fact that one of the first things you’ve presented me is their anger. It might turn out that your friend is the nicest person in the world, yet that initial presentation will be hard for me to overcome.

There has long been a tendency in the evangelical church to begin a presentation of the need for personal salvation by presenting strongly and dwelling powerfully on the wrath of God that results in judgment. The goal of course is to move toward the Good News of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross, but first we have to impress upon people the danger they face from the judgment of God’s great wrath. This approach has the virtue of not only being true but also being highly motivational if the threat is great enough. It is also a very strange way to try to introduce someone to what is at its heart a love relationship. “Come meet my angry friend who is planning on killing you. You’ll love him.”

The moment we start talking about avoiding this kind of approach, many experience a clutching fear of creeping liberalism and cheap grace. Are we unwilling to look at the tough parts of the Bible and the terrible consequences of our sin? Refusing to understand sin and its consequences is indeed dangerous. However, to truly understand our situation, and fully comprehend the grace & mercy that is being offered in Christ, people need a true introduction first and foremost to who God is before we talk about what they’ve done. A focus that starts with their sin & God’s anger presents a false picture of God.

How does God describe himself? 

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
(Exodus 34:6-7)

God repeatedly describes himself as slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He emphasizes mercy, grace, forgiveness, and steadfast love. He is clear that there is judgment, but his emphasis is not there. Even when he had to bring judgment on his people, he still reminds them of the strength of his love over the length of his anger.

In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.
(Isaiah 54:8)

His anger is momentary, his love eternal. God consistently in both the Old and New Testaments describes himself as reluctant to judge and eager to love and forgive. 

Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
(Ezekiel 18:31-32)
Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
(Ezekiel 33:11)

Judgment of the wicked is a reality and one that God executes, but he makes it clear that because of his lovingkindness, his great desire is to see mankind redeemed.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9)

This should not be surprising when we remember that while we were still sinners, God so loved the world that he sent Jesus, who, once here, declared that he was not here to condemn but to save.

When the first great rebellion took place in Genesis 3, we do not see an angry God, but a God who speaks of redemption and deliverance. He clothes Adam & Eve and promises them the Messiah. Yes, there are severe consequences to their actions, and their sin is not downplayed in the least. God however is again focused on redemption because love is central to his being. God is love.

We do God a great disservice when we introduce him as an angry and vengeful God rather than a God that is abounding in love. Rather than fear that beginning with the love of God will somehow dilute the sense of danger we want to instill, we could realize that once we establish the goodness of God, our rebellion and sin take on a far more terrible tone as they are not merely rebellions against some cold law, but a betrayal of the One who loved so fully. Sin is no longer merely a rule violation, but a personal rejection and betrayal of one who loves us so fully.

I am far more convicted of things I do that hurt my wife or kids than when I get stopped for speeding. The consequences of betraying the relationship are far more impactful. If you read through the Old Testament prophets you see that God appeals regularly to this relational breach, often using marriage imagery and speaking of adultery. He presents himself not as a police officer pulling you over and asking you if you know why, but rather as a spurned spouse who has loved deeply. God’s wrath is powerful because it flows out of the rejection of his love. This resolves the tension some have in trying to understand how a loving God could have such wrath. God’s wrath is not opposed to or incongruent with his love, but an outgrowth of it, falling only on those who refuse the love & redemption offered freely.

We should preach the entire Gospel of God, but let us be careful in starting with an angry God intent on judgment. Let’s begin by making sure they understand that God is abounding in lovingkindness, that our sin, more than merely breaking some rules, has been a massive betrayal, and then complete the Good News by explaining the great love God has driven him to provide a way for us to return to him. That is the God of the Bible, the message of reconciliation, and the complete Good News of the Gospel.

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End Times & Danger

Church on Mission, Perils of Shepherds

In high school I was a constant student of Revelation, Daniel and the End Times. I consumed books by Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, Salem Kirban, and a few others who were putting out books and studies. We watched “A Thief in the Night” and its sequels at church. It was the 1980’s and the threat of imminent thermonuclear war hung over society.

Some of the books I collected, like Kirban’s “Guide to Survival” had been written in the 1960’s when race riots & civil unrest had seized the country. In times of unrest or upheaval, our natural interest into End Times spikes. As the current pandemic began to circle the globe, I began to see it rise again. Sermon series, blog posts, articles, and theories. Once again we are in the End Times. As a high school student, many were pretty sure that Henry Kissinger was the Anti-Christ as he checked enough boxes. (He’s almost 100 years old, but not dead yet, so maybe there’s still time).

I graduated from high school in 1988. I was already surprised because I hadn’t expected God was going to wait even that long, the “End Times” was so close. Someone gave me a booklet that was very popular that year. “88 Reasons Why the Rapture will be in 1988.” The sequel, “89 Reasons…” didn’t do as much business (not a joke, that really happened).

At this stage, you might expect that I am going to say we are not living in the “End Times” as such, or talk through why one point of view or another is valid. I’m not going to do that. I’m done trying to tease out End Times moments and map Revelation & Daniel over the latest news.

Instead, I have begun to wonder this: when it comes to the End Times, are we more focused on what is going to happen to Us, or what is going to happen to Them?

Stick with me here. When is the Rapture of the Church? Is there even “the Rapture?” Is the Tribulation literal? Will the church go through it, part of it, etc. These questions seize our imagination because we want to know what we are going to face. When we sense cultural trends that may be working against us Christians, we suddenly sense that the End Times are upon us.

What if our biggest concern about the “End Times” wasn’t us, but them? When time comes to an end, no matter how bad it might get for a short season, it means we are almost to the final full reign of Jesus, the final imprisonment of the devil, and the end of suffering. We are also almost to the final judgement, the moment beyond which no one else will be saved. If we understand that salvation through the grace of Jesus’ shed blood on the cross is essential, than we should be far more concerned about time running out for others than about our own temporary suffering.

In a moment of frustration a day ago, I stated, “I just wish Jesus would hurry up and come back!” My dear wife reminded me, that will be a terrible day for many many people.

Revelation ends with a plea for Jesus to come quickly. How could we not look with eager anticipation for that moment. But just a few books earlier in Peter, we are reminded that Jesus is not waiting because He is slow, but because He wants more people to have a chance of salvation.

So let me ask you, when you think of the End Times, are you focused on what is going to happen to you, or what is going to happen to your unsaved friend or neighbor?

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Has the Church been Idol?

Church on Mission, Perils of Shepherds

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

(2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

As Paul speaks to a church that had a tendency to get caught up in all the latest passions of its culture, he reminds them of both their new identity (new creature) and new purpose (ministry of reconciliation). He’s been building this picture of identity for several chapters, including comparing the church to clay pots and tents. He is reminding us that we do not represent earthly strength and permanence. Now he uses the image of ambassadors. Visting, but not citizens.

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. …..
…We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,

(2 Corinthians 6:1, 3)

Working with Jesus then, the goal is that call to reconciliation, to salvation through Jesus. To accomplish this, Paul wants to make sure nothing gets in the way of that work. He wants to present no obstacles in how he does ministry that would interfere with the call for reconciliation.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

(2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

Paul draws the argument together here. We cannot lift this passage from its context to just teach about marriage. This is about the ministry and identity of the people of God. A warning not to mix the idols of the world’s culture with the identity and ministry of the church.

The world has many idols; the things it turns to for guidance, comfort, and control. Our current culture uses tribal grievance, character attacks, outrage at opponents/political enemies, claims to hidden knowledge and conspiracies, and a strong sense of grievance. The western church, especially in America, is too easily swept up into the use of these. From pulpits to Tweets to Facebook pages people who claim to have heard Christ’s call cheer and support politicians and movements that are built on these idols. Not only that, but we step into the yoke and share these idols, using them to advance our agendas. We declare that this is good, or at least necessary.

This is to be not separate at all, but rather yoked up and working alongside the world. Its’ idols are now our idols. We believe that somehow we have found common cause with those who are serving Belial. Christian, may we be visibly, materially, substantially, and eternally apart from these things!

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Under Threat?

Church on Mission

A mighty warrior thunders a challenge and promises death to all who would draw near. The people shake. Seasoned warriors, even the tall and impressive king, cower in fear at the mighty brute. Then a young man, not as great of stature and without armor or sword strides confidently down the hill. He sees no threat, merely an opportunity to once again demonstrate who his God is. The giant falls.

The air is filled with the roaring of the lions, the roaring of the fire. Young men face the roar and rather than cower, honor their God and are confident that whatever happens, they will have victory and demonstrate who their God is. Emerging from the roar, there is no mark on any of them. A sure threat has had no power.

A no-longer-rich man looks upon loss and destruction beyond what many will ever know, yet as even his wife urges despair and death, he declares, “though he slay me, I will hope in Him.”

A culture decides to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” and the people scream and shudder and cry out that war is upon them and defeat hovers overhead, ready to crash down and destroy them. A culture shifts and men and women with decades of service in the Lord’s army groan and mourn that defeat is crouching at the door. Powerful forces threaten.

They forgot.

Greater is He in His people than the power in the world. The very gates of hell cannot prevail and death itself already whimpers in the corner, defeated and defanged, no longer able to touch His beloved ones. He told us to fear not, for He has overcome the world.

There are giants, there are lions, there are flames, there are losses and trials, but they have no power except to allow us to stand and demonstrate who our God is. It is time for the church to stop cowering with King Saul and join David, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Job to declare the One who goes before us, and who now calls out to the world, “Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Be reconciled to God. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin, so that we may become the righteousness of God!”

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Fiddling in the Fire

Church on Mission, Life in Christ, Personal

A few days ago we watched “Fiddler on the Roof” as a family. I have long loved the musical and was eager to expose my kids to it. My son’s response was to observe that it started out good and fun and then got rough and sad. We had a discussion about the treatment of the Jews in much of history.

Today we started watching the Civil War by Ken Burns and listened to the accounts of the disease, death, and indignity that was part of living as a slave in the USA. 4 out of 100 would live to be 60. It is not a fun show.

We don’t like this stuff. If we can avoid it, we try to. Human suffering is not something we like to see, dwell on, or think about any more than we feel we have to. We want happy endings, feel-good moments, and pleasant stories with good memories.

The sad truth is that the story of human civilization is the story of human suffering and most of it at the hands of other humans. Sometimes we cause the suffering directly, and other times through inaction or failure to appreciate the results of our actions and choices.

In Fiddler on the Roof, the local constable hates to do what he’s doing but he’s just following orders. He can’t risk his own position and even if he did, it wouldn’t change anything, so why try. That thought animates so much of human suffering. “There is nothing I can do about it, so why try.” When that phrase echos from thousands of voices, the reason for such agony in the world quickly becomes apparent.

God is deeply motivated by human suffering. He has allowed us to plot our own path, but He has told us what is good and what He wants.
1. To do Justice: This isn’t about enforcing laws, rather Biblical justice is about making sure the weak and powerless are not victimized and neglected by those who have resources and power.
2. Love Mercy: We want to ignore mercy because it, by definition, does not make people pay for all their mistakes. We want to withhold good from the guilty, forgetting that the heart of the Gospel is that Jesus died for the guilty.
3. Walk Humbly with God: Humbly first remembers that we have been recipients of mercy, that we have nothing within ourselves and are but poor sinners. Our lives don’t belong to us, neither do our resources. All belongs to Christ.
If this became central to our response to our fellow humans, human suffering would be mostly diminished. There would still be illness and natural disasters, but some of the causes and many of the impacts of even those would be ameliorated by the efforts of those who have the resources and power to help.

This is Jesus. He came down from heaven, laid aside His glory and privilege, and became not just human, but a poor and suffering human who took on the reality of human suffering. He lived with, loved, and healed many who were sick and suffering. He showed a different way. Then, in His greatest act, He laid down His life on the cross, choosing to take on the spiritual debt, the great need of our souls, and pay, out of His life and fullness, the price of our redemption. There has never been a greater provision of Biblical justice, mercy, and humility. He also mentioned that we should do likewise.

I, like most of us, do not like to dwell too long on the misfortunes and suffering of others. It is easy to pass it off as not my concern, or outside of my ability to do so. I am part of the problem. Are you?

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