Advent Shows Us How to Wait with Expectancy

Sunday, December 3rd, marks week one of Advent, which is all about hope. Hope often looks like expectation, anticipation—while waiting. Waiting is central to hope. It’s easy to see this theme around Christmas time. Children everywhere wait with expectant anticipation for December 25th, for Santa, for presents. Every year, I recall a fond memory of my four-year-old daughter Scout yelling, “Christmas is my favorite Halloween!” Kids love (and hate) waiting, but they do so because they have hope.

Advent’s hope is woven throughout our Christmas hymns. In “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” we sing from the perspective of the Old Covenant Israelites, impersonating their hope for the long-expected king who the prophets said would come—soon. This theme is in the Scriptures’ telling of Jesus’ coming. When the Messiah finally came, Philip went to Nathanael and exclaimed, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote!” (John 1:45).

Perhaps the best example is Symeon, who lived his entire life with the hope that he would see the Messiah. We’re told that he was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” having been told by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t die until the Messiah came. Holding the infant Jesus in his arms, Symeon declared his willingness to die, for finally, “my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:25-32). Symeon had waited for this moment his entire life, able to endure the “in-between” because he had hope.

Advent is a season where we learn to wait. Perhaps you’re waiting for something today. You’re between jobs, between decisions, between seasons of growth, between relationships—waiting for joy, waiting for success, waiting for salvation. How can we hold on to hope in the in-between?

A Little While

Jesus’ language for that in-between is the phrase “a little while.” In John 16, he tells his disciples that for “a little while, you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” (John 16:16). He’s perhaps referring to the few days when he goes to the cross, dies, and is buried (scholars disagree on what “little while” Jesus is talking about). In any case, it’ll be a time of grief, sorrow, and painful waiting. That’s the in-between: the difficult, perilous, frustrating seasons of waiting. But afterward, they will see him again. The dead will rise. Hope will be fulfilled as “your sorrow will turn into joy” (v20). Here, Jesus offers hope to his disciples at their darkest hour. How will they get through the trauma of the next few days? Only by holding on to hope.

Fleming Rutledge explains that this pattern of hope in the in-between is what Advent is all about:

“Advent contains within itself the crucial balance of the now and the not-yet that our faith requires… [Between] the yearly frenzy of “holiday” time in which the commercial Christmas music insists that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” and Starbucks invites everyone to “feel the merry.” The disappointment, brokenness, suffering, and pain that characterize life in this present world is held in dynamic tension with the promise of future glory that is yet to come. In that Advent tension, the church lives its life.“ (Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ).

The “Advent tension” that Rutledge mentions is what so many of us experience on a daily basis. It’s what our songs are about and the air Israel breathed for centuries. Waiting is an everyday reality on this side of resurrection. In order to hold on to hope, we must remember three things.

The In-Between is Necessary

The “little while” was necessary if Jesus was going to make a way to God. “Until now you have asked nothing in my name,” he explains. “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (v. 24). Before the cross, “until now,” our relationship with God was based on nothing but promises and hope. By going to the cross, Jesus changed the relationship. Now, we approach God “in his name.” Jesus is helping his disciples understand that he had to leave them for a little while because by doing so, he secured our relationship with God.

Sometimes we don’t understand why God tarries or why promises take a long time to fulfill. We ask, “Why?” and wonder if we’re not wasting our time. But we can hold on to hope if we remember that these seasons of waiting are necessary. God is using them for our good. Peter relayed this lesson later in his letter:

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Frodo Baggins didn’t understand why he was tasked with the season of life he found himself in. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” he tells Gandalf. Gandalf explains to Frodo that none of us understands the times we’ve been given, nor can we control the seasons we’re in. But, knowing these seasons are necessary, one thing we can do: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” The in-between seasons of life are something God is using. But what is he using it for?

The In-Between is Formative

God uses the in-between seasons to form something beautiful in us. Notice the verb in Jesus’ promise: “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). That turning is the process of spiritual formation. It’s the process of becoming like Christ as we learn to trust in him, believe his promises, and hold on to hope.

Admittedly, this process is a difficult one. Pain seems bad. We might try to ease the pain of migraine with Ibuprofen or endure the heartache of a breakup with a tub of ice cream and a night of Netflix. But have you noticed that not all pain is bad? The pain of grad school—that’s a good kind of pain, the kind that promises a career at the end of it. There’s the pain of practice that promises proficiency. The pain of physical labor brings with it the promise of a remodeled bathroom. Growing pains bring growth. Exercise brings health. Labor brings a child. As we sometimes say, “No pain, no gain.” The Gospel of Jesus extends that promise to the pain of suffering:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

God uses painful trials, James says, to form something in us. This answers the common question, “What purpose could ever come from my sorrow? What blessing could ever come from my pain?” The answer is that God is forming you into someone who is patient, joyful, and full of hope. To be sure, this is a difficult process, one filled with mystery and unanswered questions. But equally sure is this: one day, “your sorrow will turn into joy.”

The In-Between is Worth It

The beautiful promise of the Gospel is that, soon and very soon, he will bring the in-between time to a swift end. We won’t even remember the pain. We will only see what God has done and rejoice. As Jesus explains, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). One day, the sorrow of the in-between will give way to the permanent joy of eternal life in the kingdom of God.

I remember going on vacation with our family to my father-in-law’s timeshare in Mexico. The kids were so excited. “We’re going to Mexico!” they screamed as we piled in the car, drove down I-5, and eventually arrived … at the airport. My kids were incensed. “Dad this is the airport, not Mexico! You lied to us!” I tried to explain that sometimes, getting to your destination includes a bunch of stops along the way. In order to get to Mexico, we had first to board a plane at the airport. Getting to where you’re going involves some amount of waiting in the in-between.

It’s those little stops, fits, and starts that make a trip feel like it’s taking forever. That’s the “in-between.” God promises to deliver on his promises to us, but sometimes, we have to stop at the airport first. In those times, we’re tempted to say, “God, you lied to us! This is the airport; I want to go to Mexico!” Instead, we need to remember that it’s just a little while.

Sit tight. Hold on.

Listen to God’s voice. Trust him.

We’ll be there soon.

“What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:23)

So begins Paul’s address to the educated crowd at the Areopagus in Athens. He had discovered an altar established for an unknown God within the city, and he used that as an opening to share the good news about Jesus. This Thursday, as we gather with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving, we have a similar opening. For many of our family members, Thanksgiving is a holiday to an unknown god.

Thankful to Whom?

Regardless of religious background, many of us will take turns around the table and sharing what we are grateful for without considering who we are grateful to. The act of giving thanks is a relational gesture, and it implies a giver. Thanksgiving (Gk. eucharistia) is a response to giving (Gk. charis). To say thanks is to say thank you. Paul would recognize this as an open door. An opportunity to ask, could I tell you about the one you thank?

We can tell them about “the God who made the world and everything in it” who “gives to all mankind, life and breath and everything (vs. 24-25). To another crowd, Paul proclaims him as the one “who did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17) and how he has done all of this so that all people, “should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.” (Acts 17:27)

We can tell them about how humanity collectively, although deep down they know these things, has failed to honor God, or give him thanks and how rejecting such truths has made us vulnerable to lies and idolatry. (Rom. 1:21-22) For if we do not worship the Creator, worshiping created things is all that is left.

Black Friday

This ungratefulness and idolatry are not hard to illustrate. It can be easily seen in what follows our Thanksgiving celebration: Black Friday. What could make our gratitude more questionable than our actions the next day (and increasingly, Black Friday is encroaching on Thanksgiving Thursday)? Because we can’t be satisfied with the giver and content in his gifts, we fight tooth and nail for the latest and greatest, trying to fill the void. Without true Thanksgiving, the feasting isn’t enough to satisfy … barely enough for a single day.

Of course, we haven’t even gotten to the good news yet: that the God we are introducing is gracious even to the ungrateful (Luke 6:35) and that his greatest gift is the Son he sent to save our selfish world. God’s response to our making gods in our image was, as God, to come in the image of man. His life, death, burial, and resurrection bring freedom where there is slavery and life where there is death. This greatest gift produces the greatest gratitude. That is why when Christians remember what Jesus did for us, we call it the Eucharist (Thanksgiving).

A Life Defined by Thanksgiving

The Christian life, the response to God’s great gift, is defined by thanksgiving. It is the earmark of Christian speech (Eph. 5:4). For we give thanks always and for everything (Eph. 5:20) and in every circumstance (1 Thess. 5:18). Whatever we do, in word or deed, we do in the name of Jesus and with thanksgiving (Col. 3:17). Our very lives are lived as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, responding to God’s great mercy (Rom. 12:1). Even our desire to share with our family about this unknown God flows from a place of thanksgiving. We invite them to turn their “thanks” into “thank you” and join with all who say:

“I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.

“Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.“ (Isaiah 12)

It was 1924 when the Summer Olympic Games were last held in Paris. The world had yet to feel the weight of the Great Depression or the specter of Nazism. These were also the first Olympic Games to be commented on via radio. Yet, more known in some Christian circles, they were ones that provide the setting for the movie Chariots of Fire to tell the story of Eric Liddell and his gold medal run.

In the movie, Eric famously said that he felt the favor of God when he ran. The scene opens in joy as he announces his acceptance as a missionary to China. He tells his sister, Jenny, then explains that he will defer his call to China until he finishes the Summer Olympics. Jenny doesn’t understand; he has to talk her into it. From a pastoral point of view, I wonder if my reaction wouldn’t have been like hers. It’s rather presumptuous of Liddell to say. There’s no Bible verse to back him up on this, just a feeling he has. How many of us would have counseled him to come back down and serve the Lord with the incredible gift he’d been given: an honored chance to serve the Lord in foreign missions?

But we know Eric was right. If you look closely at the actual pictures of his face as he was crossing the finish line, we can make out the face of someone in the ecstasy of total praise. It reminds me of the blessing taken from Numbers 6:24-26 that many pronounce on Sunday at the end of the service. A blessing was given to Aaron and his sons through which they were to bless Israel in the wilderness and throughout their history so Israel would bear God’s name to all the world. I want to look at this blessing in three parts, knowing that God’s face radiates love when He sees us in Christ.

May the LORD bless you and keep you.

To be blessed by the Lord is a happy state that envelops every part of our lives. Like Israel in the wilderness, one of the great reasons for this is because God is there. When Aaron blessed Israel, the Presence was visible: He gave manna, a physical blessing, to eat; water from a rock; and even quails when they complained …

Aaron would speak the blessing, but God was there and acting through the experience. As the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament explains: “God’s activity can be actualized through human speech; it can be ignited by it.” It’s visible and palpable yet invisible and spiritual.

Another example comes from Deuteronomy, where Moses recounts: “ So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years” (Dt 8.3-4). This was His provision and instruction, the Lord’s blessing and name upon His people.

His blessing is to know his protection. If God keeps us, it’s having Him as a Shepherd who protects and directs. This reminds me of that scene where Balaam tried to curse Israel, but wound up blessing them every time he opened his mouth (Nu. 22-24). The Lord’s protection was upon them. The prophet was powerless. It also reminds me Jesus taught us to pray that God would not allow us to enter into temptation but to deliver us from evil. In this way, He keeps us. His protection is here with us as He is here, present, and watching over us.

May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

This part of the blessing brings us close to what Eric Liddell expressed. He felt the Lord’s favor, His face like a benevolent light. This is interesting because John writes that God is light without shadow (1 Jn 1.5). He is, therefore, pure and life-giving. When God turns “His face,” His regard toward us “radiates.” What’s communicated responds to the fundamental need of humanity that begins at an early age. It’s the need to know we are seen. It’s the need for acceptance and love.

Babies manifest this need from the beginning. They seek the loving gaze of their parents. They need their full attention, more than mere eye contact. As they grow, children go on showing this through what they do. On the playing field, they watch the stands to see who’s watching. They run in the door from school with a picture in hand, their creation. They want one thing: to be seen.

This blessing responds to this need, like in the case of Eric Liddell, who knew God called him but felt God’s favor as he ran. The Lord’s face turns toward us, shining with His favor, His grace.

It’s often said that grace is the undeserved favor of God, and it’s even more! His grace is love that’s infused into the dynamics of everyday life. More than saving grace, it’s holistic, physical, and, why not, emotional. He wants to do good to us. Then, this grace is like the rays that emanate from His gaze. Why? Because He has adopted us, we are His children.

May the LORD turn His face to you and give you peace.

His gaze is favorable toward us. It’s important to let that sink in. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament puts it this way: “to raise the face, turn towards, lift the countenance, to encourage, take sides, show partiality toward the one He blesses.” This is how He sees us in Jesus. God sees us and smiles with affection. We do the same when looking at someone we love. His face radiates love. Knowing that God loves us this much strengthens us when times are difficult.

If that weren’t enough, He gives us His peace. It is one of the most precious aspects of this blessing: peace with God. Jesus became our peace because we were enemies with God. Let’s allow Scripture speak: Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” Jesus became our peace, between us and the Father.

Yet His peace goes beyond judicial righteousness. Jesus spoke of the peace He gives through the Holy Spirit. John 14.27: “Peace I leave with you, The peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Then, we can even go further. His peace translates into a state that covers everything, just like it says in Isaiah 26.3-4: Y“ou will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.” Because He is there, we know that all will be well, and the storms that swarm around us will calm down with the power of His loving gaze into our lives.

In the end, Aaron would pronounce this blessing on Israel so that God’s name would be upon them. Knowing that we bear the name of Christ, His name is upon us, too. That is why we end our worship services with this blessing and can go into the world knowing of His favorable gaze towards us. He loves us. Maybe you are like Eric Liddell. You know God has something for you, but you are on another project today. I hope this article encourages you. What God has given you today, do it with all your heart and enjoy His favor. It’s He who takes care of His plans. It’s enough today for us to trust Him, receive His blessing, and live in His favor.

This past spring, several friends and I started a community garden. Some of us had experience gardening, and some of us did not. I was in the latter group, but enthusiasm had me counting down the days until the soil would be warm enough to begin planting.

Finally, by the end of April, the conditions were right, and one of the first things we stuck in the prepared ground were potatoes. We were committed to avoiding harmful chemicals in our garden but were also aware that potatoes have an infamous arch nemesis: Leptinotarsa decemlineata, aka the potato beetle. If left alone, these insects can completely defoliate an entire plant, destroying it and significantly decreasing crop yields. They multiply quickly and are ruthless eaters. One way to prevent them is to spray pesticides, but since we had decided to go organic, we were left to find another alternative.

Find Them and Squish Them

We decided to pick them off one by one as they appeared. This is just as tedious as it is gross. The picking-off part is fine. Gloves and a jar keep tiny crawling legs from coming into contact with skin, but after being collected, the bugs must be destroyed. Fingers or rocks, it doesn’t matter the tool of choice; the pop sound of their shell being crushed is the same. So is the sight of little beetle guts oozing out everywhere. Not one of us looked forward to that part of the task, but knowing the damage they would do if not destroyed gave us enough motivation to stick with it until it was finished. Potato beetles lay their eggs on the underside of leaves, so finding those required us to slow way down and inspect each leaf. One cluster of eggs missed would result in a horde of adult beetles.

As a novice gardener, my first priority was to learn what these beetles looked like because I didn’t want, in my ignorance, to kill a beneficial garden bug. I needed to recognize this pest in all its stages of life: eggs, larva, pupa, and adult. Then, armed with my new knowledge, gloves, and a glass jar, I’d be ready to take up my vigil. The plants needed to be checked every time we went out to the garden, and sometimes I didn’t feel like doing it. It seemed to take forever to do, and it was boring. I would rather have done other things in the garden, even weed. At least when weeding, you have visible evidence of your work. A nicely weeded garden row is very satisfying and pretty to look at.

De-beetling the potatoes, however, is invisible work. Standing back, you wouldn’t notice the bugs, unless there were an infestation of them, and that means that the ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture of beetles vs. no beetles look just about the same. No Instagram picture opportunity there. What is noticeable are the effects of not taking the time to destroy the pest. Avoiding or ignoring this mundane task leads to death. Death of the plant above ground and death of the potato it feeds underground. Talk about noticeable.

So, pull off the bugs we did. Even though we were diligent, it would have been an unrealistic goal to try to keep every beetle from ever stepping foot into our garden. These insects will come and inevitably will eat some of the leaves they find, but a complete takeover can be prevented. If kept under control, the leaves they eat will not adversely affect an otherwise healthy potato plant. The plant can produce new leaves to replace the nibbled ones, and the potatoes will turn out just fine.

Notice that I said an otherwise healthy plant. What would happen if we had decided to spend all our time going after the beetles? The weeds would choke the plant out because we didn’t take time to clear the dirt around the roots. The sun would burn the leaves because we didn’t take time to water. And, the soil would fail to nourish the plant because we didn’t take time to replenish it. The reason would be different, but the result would be the same: no potatoes.

It was not enough just to kill the pest. We also had to set aside time and energy to nurture the plant. We had to become experts in cultivation as well as extermination. The ultimate goal is to do both in tandem, maximizing growth and minimizing harm.

Potato Bugs in My Heart

This goal of feeding the good and starving the bad is the same in my life as it is in my garden, just more subtle. Unlike the beetles and potato plants, the battle between life and death wages under the surface. My potato beetles are the invisible thoughts and lustful passions found in my heart. The Apostle Paul calls them the earthly things, and while he didn’t write an exhaustive list of what they are, he did give us quite a few examples, including covetousness, impurity, anger, wrath, and malice: universal pests that we all fight or have fought against. Paul warns us to put them to death, and for good reason. If left to their own, they’ll destroy us as they tear through our lives with their insatiable ardour in order to rule over us.

The first step in the battle against these foes is the same as it is with the beetles. We must be able to recognize them in all of their nasty forms. Thankfully, we have help. The Holy Spirit and the Holy Scripture are our main guides, but the church is also indispensable in helping us to recognize, pluck out, and remove these menaces.

It does no good to recognize and find them, just to put them in our jars for analyzing and self-sabotaging guilt-tripping. Paul’s call is to get rid of them by killing them, not to save them and be condemned by them. It is interesting to note that not once does Paul tell us to be ashamed of those worldly things that pester our lives, but he is straightforward in his exhortation: put them to death, put them off, crucify them. This is the language of extermination, and Paul employs it because he knows that these things have no place in our new identity in Christ. They are sin and they lead to one place: death.

Help!

How do you kill invisible heart issues? Do you punish yourself by always putting yourself down in your thoughts and your words? Should you deny yourself all pleasure? Maybe physically beating the sin out of you is the way? While creative, all these methods have been tried, and they failed. The truth is we can’t do it on our own. We need someone to save us and that’s just what Jesus did.

He came to save us from being overrun. In fact, we were already overrun. We were dead. We had no hope. The infestation was already in full force. No amount of picking and removing could clear our hearts of the sin with which it was inundated. We needed someone to come despite the mess and free us. And Jesus did. On the cross, He saved us from the power and dominion of sin and resurrected us. He didn’t just give us a new garden-heart completely separate from the old one. Nope. He resurrected the dead one right where it was, drowning in beetles, igniting life where there was none. His death and resurrection squashed the power of sin, making way for the power of life to be released. He exterminated one in order to cultivate the other.

Extermination of sin isn’t an end in and of itself. It clears the way for what is to follow, but we can easily become so obsessed with finding each and every beetle that we neglect the other elements essential to overall spiritual health. This, too, is the lesson of the potato bug. Killing them, although important, doesn’t guarantee that you will harvest potatoes, and as shocking as it might seem, putting to death the works of the flesh does not automatically ensure that we will live an empowered, fruitful Christian life.

When we decide to follow Jesus, we are freed from the overwhelming force of sin in our lives and are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit in us produces fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The potential is there from the moment we believe, just like the potential for the potato plant to flourish is there from the moment the tuber is planted in good soil, but in both cases, health has to be maintained for fruit to mature.

Cultivating Love

So, how do we unleash the potential and reap the biggest harvest possible? This is an important question when gardening and even more important when cultivating our spirits. The answer that Scripture gives is so simple that it is frustrating. Love God. What? That’s it? Yes, loving God looks very similar to loving my garden and potato plants.

An onlooker can see that I love my garden because I set aside time and energy to be in it. It is obvious that I enjoy working in it. It is not a duty most of the time, but I did make a commitment to it, so discipline and consistency are a must. More often than now, I am sad to leave it and want to stay just a little bit longer. Love for my garden evidences itself in my fascination with it. I walk through it, carefully examining vegetables and plants, wanting to learn more about them. What do the leaves look like? How and where does the fruit form? How does the plant grow? Tall and skinny, bushy and wide?

I want to know my garden better and better. I read about gardening when I’m not in it. I talk to experienced gardeners to get their advice and suggestions. I inspect other’s gardens to learn tricks and get inspiration. I work in my garden alone and with others, recognizing that both have advantages. I also protect my garden. I put a fence around it to protect it, mostly from my dog Sven, but also from other animals. I water it to protect it from drought and pick off those pesky potato bugs to protect it from harm.

Loving God looks like setting aside time and energy to be with Him: to experience and enjoy Him. This can be in prayer, meditating on scripture, walking in His creation, spending time with His people, singing praise to Him through songs, etc.

Allow yourself to be fascinated by Him. Dig deep into the Scriptures and other books holding to the same truth. Learning more about who He is, what He is like, and what He is not like is a good way to nurture your love for Him.

Talk with other experienced lovers of God. Learn from their example. Observing how they love God will enrich your love for Him.

Pray. It is the water that brings vitality to our inner lives and love for God.

Last but not least, protect your love for Him. Make boundaries to keep the enemy out and get rid of those beetles.

Scriptures for Meditation:

Ephesians 4:22-24: “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Colossians 3:5-10: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

In this new covenant, make sure to read the fine print.

Sometimes, cars explode.

That’s what a fireman told me after putting out the conflagration that used to be my 1998 Geo Prism. Driving down 85th Street in Seattle, my engine just—exploded. I’m serious: it erupted in flames. Terrified, I pulled the car over and from the window of a nearby Jack in the Box, watched my car burn to a crisp in the middle of traffic while eating a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. When the fireman finally came, I asked him why this happened. He told me, “Yup, one thing they don’t tell you when you buy a new battery is that they can spontaneously combust. Sometimes, cars explode.”

When you buy something, it usually comes with a contract, an implicit agreement stating that you, the buyer, know what you’re getting into. And at the bottom of the contract is the fine print: the details about the dangers and inherent risks of this product. “Warning: May spontaneously combust.” Fine print is everywhere.

Leaving Behind Who You Used To Be

Even living in the Way of Jesus comes with fine print. And his terms and conditions are no less unsettling. This contract states that to follow him is to follow him to the cross.

Of course, the cross is the locus of God’s mercy, redemption, and love. Jesus spent three years recruiting and training students to learn his way. He cast a vision of life “that is truly life” in the kingdom of God; allegiance to the world’s true king; certain belief and sure faith; a vision of future hope; ethics of service, care, and justice. Following Jesus is, at times, brilliantly exciting.

At other times, it’s unimaginably difficult. The cross is also the locus of pain, betrayal, and sacrifice. At the end of his earthly ministry, the man who is God ended up on a Roman cross, falsely accused, brutally tortured, and publicly executed in the most shameful way imaginable. When that road leads to suffering, we might wonder whether we want to live in the Way of Jesus anymore.

We should have read the fine print.

Three times, Jesus tried to teach his followers that his road led to the cross. But they couldn’t fathom such a fate. They couldn’t imagine that Jesus’ promise of eternal life might include death, or that the coming of the king would include condemnation as a criminal. But Jesus made it crystal clear that this was his road—and that the same road applies to us as well.

Becoming A New Person

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24 ESV).

If you want this vision of life in the kingdom of God, Jesus says, then just know … it’s gonna cost you. This is the fine print: “Warning: May die on a cross.”

The Apostle Paul read Jesus’ terms and conditions carefully. In his letter to the Colossians, he states, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake” (Col. 1:24). Under no illusions, Paul understands what’s been asked of him. Further, he writes this letter from prison, a victim of state oppression. Yet note his attitude: “I rejoice.”

Of course, not everyone who follows Jesus comes to the same fate. The Rich Young Ruler, for example, isn’t asked to suffer—only to give up his possessions. The Pharisees are asked to swallow their pride and care about mercy and justice. Zaccheus has to repay the money that he stole. Some give up their homes. Others, such as the prostitutes, give up their occupations. Some give up old habits. Some have to trust Jesus with yet another miscarriage. Some have to process old, traumatic concepts of family. And one day, all of us will have to face our own mortality with bravery and lasting faith.

In the Scripture, it’s all the same idea. Following Jesus comes with suffering. To suffer with Christ means to leave behind who you used to be. The process of becoming new in Christ is a painful and sometimes violent process. It’s costly.

We live in a culture that believes suffering is meaningless. We view it as an interruption to our scheduled programming. It’s an inconvenience that doesn’t fit in a world of Amazon Prime and Uber Eats. Suffering is far from something we embrace, much less “rejoice in.” Our culture views suffering similar to how Peter described it, “as if something strange were happening” (1 Pet. 4:12). The doctor Paul Brand, who served all over the world before coming back to serve in America, famously observed that American culture is “a society that seeks to avoid pain at all costs” (Paul Brand, The Gift of Pain).

The problem with this view is that suffering is unavoidable. It’s characteristic of a world broken by sin. It’s part of everyday life. Whether you are righteous or evil, rich or poor, suffering is inevitable. Just look at Jesus’ example. He’s perfect, sinless, and yet all throughout the Gospels, we see him weeping. Jesus cries over the loss of friends and the injustice of his nation. Isaiah named him a “man of sorrows,” a “suffering servant.”

Rejoicing In The Process

That describes the Apostle Paul as well. After stating that he “rejoices in” his sufferings, Paul goes on to say that he embraces it “for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Col. 1:24). He embraced the fine print because he was a servant of others. For Paul, suffering was meaningful, purposeful, even helpful. Though it is at times difficult, long, and painful, Paul knew that suffering creates something beautiful for him and others. In his letter to the Romans, Paul describes how this process works:

“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:3-5 ESV).

This is the fine print. God will call each of us, in different but significant ways, to suffer for him. It might not be the same experience as someone else—and 1 Peter 4:15 makes clear that some suffering can be caused by our own sin. Nevertheless, in each of our lives, there will come a time when the Lord calls us to sacrifice, loss, betrayal, even death. It’s inevitable. It may be difficult, long, and painful. It might seem mysterious for a time as we wonder “Why have you forsaken me?” But God promises that the fine print is meaningful. The first step to embracing and rejoicing in it, is reading it.

It seems that no matter how much nuanced hinting or explicit declaration happens in churches, people still stumble over the question of “Do we need the Old Testament?” For some it’s interesting but not instructive. For some it’s awkward and not authoritative. For some it’s plain banal and therefore certainly not binding. Neither references and quotes made, nor promises and prophecies fulfilled, seem to cement in people’s mind that yes, we DO need the Old Testament.

Let me give you just five reasons (of many) why we do.

1. All Scripture (the entire Bible) is God breathed and has been Divinely preserved for your benefit, not just the last quarter (2 Timothy 3.16).

When Paul wrote this to Timothy, he wasn’t just thinking about the records of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and intervening ministry (Matthew-John).

Neither was he just thinking of the testimony of those who lived with and learned from Him (Acts, for example).

Neither was he only thinking of the Hebrew Scriptures (cf. 2 Timothy 3.15).

Paul was so often a big-picture guy, and his declaration that all Scripture is breathed out by God most certainly starts in Genesis and then includes the aforementioned records of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, resurrection, and legacy.

2. As believers, the New Testament gives us the hope of Jesus. The Old Testament shows us whyit was needed.

Again, and again, and again in the Old Testament, we see people doing their utmost to live the life God wants for them but failing. We see the fallen, fallible, and frail human condition come to the fore again and again. On their own and in their own strength and power, people simply can’t cover the space and separation between themselves and God that their sin has created.

We see in the Old Testament that, at the core, people want and need a figure of hope, someone to look to who will put this inability of theirs right. For a while, the figure was a judge (Judges 3.15); for a while, it was a king (1 Samuel 8.19-20). None worked, truly. The longing for something better remained. The longing for someone better remained. The New Testament makes clear that this person is, ultimately and permanently, Jesus.

3. The New Testament picks up right where the Old left off.

So much is shared in the first few books of your Bible. There’s creation, covenants between God and man, the promise of a Messiah, and time after time, the human condition is shown, warts and all. So many threads and themes are begun, so many promises are promised, and so many dilemmas are detailed. The New Testament picks up each, answers them neatly, and resolves them without fail in the person and work of Jesus.

Consider but a few:

See the story of Jael and her radical obedience in Judges 4 and how the New Testament flawlessly completes this arc.

See the proto evangelium, the first Gospel, of Genesis 3.

See the mathematical and chronological accuracy of the prophecies of Daniel.

See the prophetic declarations of Isaiah and Micah about the birth of Jesus.

See the suffering Saviour in Isaiah and the Psalms.

So much is predicted and begun in the Old and comes to fruition and finality in the New. To detach the two would be to have an answer to a question nobody asked.

4. Jesus said He came to fulfil, not abolish (Matthew 5.17).

Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial and atonement laws of the Old Testament. We’re no longer required to live by the complex atoning framework of Leviticus to be in God’s presence, for example. However, the character, selfless love, and behaviour of a believer draws much from the Old Testament (Romans 7.12). Jason Derouchie wrote that

“As Moses asserted, in the day of heart circumcision (Deut. 30:6), which we are enjoying today (Rom. 2:29), all of his teachings in Deuteronomy would still matter: “And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today” (Deut. 30:8).”

Whilst we are no longer required to offer sacrifices for sins or to observe ceremonial laws, do we ever move past commandments like Deuteronomy 6.5?

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

To say that the Old Testament no longer matters is tantamount to saying passages like that don’t matter, and Jesus said otherwise (cf. Matthew 22.37).

5. Jesus said it all points to Him (John 5.39; Luke 24.27, 44-47).

Quite simple this one.

Jesus said it’s all about Him, so why wouldn’t it matter to those that love, follow, and believe in Him?
* * *

These are just five reasons why the Old Testament is important. We as a church have been working through it one chapter a week for a few years, and I honestly can’t remember how many times something has come up in Genesis or Exodus (for example) that has then been preached from a New Testament book on a Friday. To be believers with a well grounded, firm, and secure faith, we need to feed ourselves on the full counsel of Scripture, not just the last quarter.

I’d love your thoughts on the Old Testament:

Are you currently reading part of it?

Are there parts you’ve never read?

Are there parts you don’t understand?

Further Reading

https://jamestravis.net/2021/03/10/jael-radical-obedience/

References

https://jasonderouchie.com/10-reasons-why-you-should-read-the-old-testament/

Moses is such an incredible person to look at in the scriptures that though I lack commonality with him, I find myself drawn to his story. His narration brings you to the Red Sea parting, shepherding days, and how he handled leadership situations. Through all this, he drew near to the Lord and remained faithful to him, even after he knew that he would never see his greatest desire come to pass: Israel home and free in their land.

One aspect that recently caught my attention is how Moses worked with others. We don’t always think of him as a team player. For years, I thought of him as more of a visionary type who led from the top down, marching down the mountain with the two tablets in hand. Then there’s the story of him hiding his face behind a veil because of the glow or hiding in the mountainside, protected by the hand of God as the glory passed by. There’s also the first-person narrative of Deuteronomy, the one man retelling the story before the people of Israel who were to enter their inheritance as he was to pass into eternity. We think of the solitary man, but without closer reading, we might forget that there was a little more to it than that. Maybe Moses worked constantly and even well with other people.

The Surprising Ways Moses Valued Teamwork While Leading Israel

One of the first things that astounded me in this man’s life was how much he wanted to work with others. The first example is when he pleads with God not to send him before Pharaoh. Admittedly, this is not a decisive moment for him. Arguing with God is never a good idea. Despite this, it would seem that the Lord provided Aaron, who was already on his way over to meet Moses while the prophet was trying to get out of his responsibilities (Ex. 4). No matter how we interpret what happened, we realize Moses worked near a brother who was maybe a little too gifted at public speaking. It’s important to remember that he was in this situation because Moses insisted on it. At that moment, the roles were clearly defined in Exodus 4:30. Moses heard from the Lord and told it to Aaron. Aaron spoke to Pharaoh, and then Moses performed the signs. This is how ministry was done before the King of Egypt, but it was also a precursor to how Moses would lead the people of Israel.

Let’s take the example of Exodus 18. Moses receives his father-in-law, Jethro, and shows him all the beautiful things God is doing. Then, the next day, Jethro watches Moses in action. His father-in-law sees something that could potentially hurt Moses and the people. The man is doing too much. He was wearing himself out in matters he didn’t need to be involved in; today, we might call them warning signs of burnout or adrenal fatigue. From that day, the team grew into a cohesion of many people working together. It could be argued that this wasn’t Moses’ idea, which I would concede, but having been in a blinding tunnel of work that I couldn’t see out of, I also made many mistakes that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Jethro’s advice was needed and implemented willingly by Moses.

It seems Moses took the lesson to heart in Numbers 11. When the people’s complaints weighed him down, he cried to the Lord to alleviate his burden. The Lord responds by instructing him to name 70 elders to help. Everything seems to go well as the Lord fills the men with His Spirit until Joshua sees two men prophesying who were not chosen… I find Moses’ response to Joshua’s jealousy extremely revealing: “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them” (Nu. 11:29). It appears to me that Moses dreamed of a more considerable cohesion of God’s children working together through the power of the Holy Spirit, much like what Paul would develop later in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Teamwork: Everyone Had a Place

In the book of Leviticus, we see in God’s design for the Children of Israel that everyone had a place. It’s true that Moses spent time alone with God and spoke to Him as one spoke with his friend, but Moses also shared ministry with other people. He didn’t build the utensils, provide the materials, physically slaughter the animals, carry the tabernacle on his shoulders, pick up the sword, and fight the enemies. Instead, he appointed artists and specific people for each task so that it could continue without him. He chose twelve spies and seventy elders and sent the soldiers into battle under the head of another man, Joshua. In the end, I would argue that Moses’ teamwork was so interwoven in the fabric of his ministry that we don’t even see it. It’s much like a political candidate whose name is on the billboard but who is supported by a well-coordinated team, without which it would all be impossible.

Not everything Moses did as a team ended well. We could point to the 12 spies as a crisis moment that ended horribly. And yet, two men remained faithful to the Lord and entered the promised land, while the other ten did not. Another less-than-brilliant moment comes to mind in Numbers 20. It was the moment when Moses, in anger, struck the rock rather than speak to it and misrepresented God before the people. Was Moses alone in this moment? In verses six through ten, we realize Aaron was with him. The Lord’s rebuke in verse twelve was to both brothers. Though Moses and Aaron were both accountable to God, that didn’t stop him from committing one of his most regrettable errors. We can’t forget that another mistake at the beginning of his public life came when he alone murdered the Egyptian he caught abusing one of the enslaved Hebrew people…

Serving Together in a Way that Brought Glory to God

Was Moses a team player? Let’s be prudent in using today’s terminology ripe with modern nuances foreign to his worldview and the biblical text. Moses was, after all, just a man, though incredibly blessed. He braved situations we will never have to see because of his unique calling. He had times of recluse, times of social gathering, and times of prayerful solitude. One of the best parts of his story is that it stops us from making him two-dimensional, with a title that fits our day’s hermeneutic. We can say that he loved Israel and that his policies enabled many people to serve together in a way that brought glory to God.

And in the thick of it, I’m encouraged to see a man who gave away power to others and worked actively to a continuing legacy that would far outlive his long life on earth.

In closing, my favorite scene of Moses collaborating with others is in Exodus 17:12. “But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other; his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” As Joshua led the army into battle below, Moses watched and prayed. But he wasn’t alone. He had two men standing there with him, who at the right moment held up his hands, giving Moses and then Joshua the strength they needed spiritually. That is the sweet teamwork that inspires me most, one not too far from Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus when the Lord went to pray on the mountain with three of his disciples. It would appear from these passages that teamwork isn’t just for this world; maybe our collaboration here is just a preparation for something greater to come.

Originally published in James Travis’ blog on July 29, 2023.

Living in Bahrain means that travel is an accepted part of life. We travel to see friends and family, we travel on vacation, we travel to renew visas, and we travel because living here puts us close to many other wonderful places (Europe, Asia, and Africa are all reachable in around three hours). People often say that “travel is good for the soul.” The philosopher Seneca (reportedly) said that “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”

How does this all look in the life of the believer?

Is travel really good for the soul?

Here, in no particular order, are some reasons why travelling is one of a great many good and perfect Divine gifts (James 1.17).

Travel interrupts and disrupts our well-worn rhythms and routines (but without penalty).

We’re not made to be at work twenty-four seven. We’re not created to be reachable and questionable all hours of all days. Being out of reach, offline, and unavailable has a huge impact on our mental and physical health.¹ We’re forced to be still, be present, and just be.

Even those who love and thrive on routines need a break from them now and again. We see this as early as Genesis 2.1-3wherein God Himself rests from work and established patterns. People need rest (Exodus 20.8-11), and ultimately this work/break rhythm points us to Jesus in His fulfilment of the Sabbath (Hebrews 4.9-11). We rest knowing that our status before God will not suffer and our regular rhythms and routines can freely be paused without penalty. There is now no mental angst from removing yourself from your regular rhythms and routines because those routines are not earning you anything before God. Rest, recharge, and trust that this doesn’t remove any of God’s favour from you.

Travel gives new and renewed perspective.

What’s truly important, and what’s not.

Where we’re investing time, energy, and emotion, and where we shouldn’t be.

What we own, and what is beginning to own us.

What we truly need in our lives, and what we don’t.

These are just some of the contrasts we begin to see in increasing clarity when we move away from our comfort zones and all of the ‘stuff’ therein.

Matthew 6.19-21 teaches us very clearly that where our treasure is, so too is our heart and affection. We are counselled to love God with all that we are (Matthew 22.36-40) and this cannot be done whilst also glorying in our possessions.

Travel, wonderfully, removes us from most of our personal possessions and puts us out there in the Kingdom with little more than a suitcase. Less around us, more to see.

Travel gives new (visual) perspectives.

Seeing the sun rise or set over a new landscape renews your sense of awe and wonder in the process. Watching the same sun that sets over your house set over a mountain range in a different land is (somehow) a much more interesting process.
Seeing vastly different visuals challenges us to imagine a life that’s different from the one we are living and the one we are so used to seeing.

We begin to see that our little corner of the world is just that: little.

We begin to see that we are so small and insignificant in the face of the spectacular created world around us.

In Psalm 8.3-4 we read:

When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,
Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them?

Seeing more also urges us to think things like;

Could there be more for me?

Could God fulfil me in a different location just as much as He does now?

If you never go (even for a short time), you’ll never know.

Simply, travel is fun and brings joy.

New places, new spaces, new faces.

There is joy in discovering more of creation than you have ever experienced before. Joy is an essential part of the Christian experience and one that I am convinced many are lacking. It’s a defining part of the born-again life.

As part of the fruit of the Spirit presented in Galatians 5 we read:

“… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
(emphasis added)

So, is travel good for the soul? It seems that it is, yes.

It doesn’t have to be an epically-long international odyssey, but going somewhere new to do something new is a gift from God: enjoy it!

References

¹ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-and-mental-health.htm ︎

Click here for part 2

We’ve already looked at two ways that we can easily make people into projects, and today we tackle the third and final way. We make people into projects when discipling them becomes a task to be completed instead of a relationship to be nourished.

Too Close for Comfort

This one hits uncomfortably close to home for me. As a task-oriented person, I naturally tend to put the thing to be done above everything or everyone else. For me, success is accomplishing what I set out to do: finishing the job. This means that I’m usually focused, determined, and committed, which are great things.

I love a challenge, and difficult doesn’t intimidate me, but hidden among these strengths is a huge weakness that I must be aware of and counterbalance. Because of my strong drive to put my full attention on completing the task, I try to do the same thing in my relationships. I make friendship an assignment and push discipleship into a line on my “to do” list. When I do this, I miss the entire point of what discipleship is, and I don’t think I’m the only one missing the mark.

More Than a Program

I fear that we’ve sucked all the life out of making disciples by modeling it as a curriculum to be followed. It’s become little more than another meeting on our weekly calendar. A timeframe of several months or a year is set in which “discipling” someone is to be achieved and a specific goal met, e.g., to read a book together or to complete a bible study. Neither books nor studies are intrinsically harmful, but we must be aware of the tendency these organizational tools have of taking over.

A tool is meant to be used to aid in the process of something. It’s not an end in and of itself. Instead of a tool to guide us and our conversations, these things can quickly morph into a task to be completed. Finishing the book or the study becomes the benchmark of success.

What happens when this switch is made is that the relationship between the disciple maker and the disciple becomes secondary, or even worse, a mere imitation of a relationship instead of a genuine one. The real objective when this happens is to complete something, instead of walking alongside someone in relationship.

This becomes painfully clear after the “discipleship” program is completed. Are the two parties involved friends by the end? Not best friends, but do they have some kind of relationship with each other that doesn’t focus on the subject they studied together? Do they know about the victories and challenges in each other’s lives (not all of them, but at least some)?

While it’s unrealistic to assume that friendship will always be the natural result of discipleship, I do think it should be the norm. Time spent reading a book or studying scripture should open the door to real conversations that connect real life to real truth and nourish real friendship.

Lessons Learned

I’m passionate about this because I’ve been both the disciple and discipled others, within the context of a genuine friendship and also outside of it. I’ve seen and experienced the difference. One mentor of mine (can I use that as a substitute word for disciple maker?) was very faithful to meet with me and read through a book with me. We met at a restaurant, ate food, and talked about the book.

It was fine, but we didn’t have an authentic friendship. In fact, we had no contact outside of our meetings. Even though we went to the same small church and her son was a friend of mine, if the book wasn’t in my hand, we didn’t talk. She wasn’t involved in my life in any capacity nor was I in hers. I didn’t learn anything from her life because I had no access to it.

She was an active member of our church and a mature believer, so don’t get the idea that she didn’t love Jesus because she did. She was just following the pattern of discipleship that she’d been taught. She was prepared for our meetings and faithfully read the book with me, but after we completed the book, we stopped talking all together.

I don’t know if she felt the same way, but I remember feeling like reading that book and meeting with her were things I was supposed to do as a good Christian. For me, they were boxes to check, and once I did that, I was free to move on to the next thing.

There was another mentor however that left me with a completely difference experience. First of all, she invited me over to her house. I met her dog. I spent time with her and her husband. I wasn’t there every week or every month; it was only a couple of times. But it was enough to help fold laundry and eat snacks from her cupboard.

When she had their first baby, I babysat for her. Just once, but still our lives were connected outside of the confines of our “discipleship” in a very natural way. Shortly after having her baby, she moved away and we lost contact for many years. But this past year we exchanged a few emails and the depth found in them attests to the authenticity of our friendship all those years before.

Even though she’s older than me, she was always honest about how she was doing. She didn’t share every detail about the things she was going through, nor should she have, but I felt like we were real friends. I still do, and if I needed advice and the two of them were my only choices of people to call, I’d call the second lady, my friend.

The funny thing is, I don’t think she was any more spiritual than my first mentor, nor that she loved Jesus more. She just treated me more like a person to know instead of part of a program to be completed. Notice that, at least for a season, my interactions with both ladies ceased.

Sometimes there’s a beginning and an end in the process of discipling, so I’m not suggesting that time frames aren’t helpful or that discipleship is never-ending. But I challenge you not to make the end coincide with the last page of a book. Allow the Lord to move you or the other person on in his timing and in his way and allow him to define what discipleship looks like in between.

The Heart of It All

As I read about the life of Jesus in the gospels, I can’t find one single interaction that would lead me to believe that his disciples ever felt like they were a box for Jesus to check off of his ministry to-do list. From what I see, they had a very typical rabbi/disciple relationship: Jesus didn’t hide when exhausted, even sleeping in their presence.

They knew when he was hungry. They saw his dependence on the Father when he took time away from his hectic schedule to pray. He shared meals. They discussed an endless variety of topics, and they felt free to ask him questions about his teachings and about spirituality in general.

One thing that I personally find extremely difficult to imitate is the amount of time Jesus gave to his disciples. He was available to them daily for a period of three years, pouring endless time and energy into them. I find this impossible and long for clarity in this area.

What does it mean to disciple someone in my context? This is a question I’m currently wrestling with. So I don’t consider myself an expert disciple maker, nor have I found THE way to do it. Maybe more than one way exists.

One thing I’m sure of though: each time we’re honored with the opportunity to disciple someone, we should fall on our faces before our Father and ask for wisdom in humility realizing that we’re not Jesus.

While he did leave us an example perfect in every way, we may not be able to replicate his specific methods of discipleship, like spending every day with the disciples. But we can imitate his heart. His heart was first and foremost burning to do the will of the Father. He sought this will and then set his face like flint to follow it. He yielded every desire and life-choice to the loving guidance of his Father and as he moved along in this journey, invited others to join him.

He modeled and taught them how to completely and utterly trust in the love and faithfulness of God and his life testified to the joy and the power that trust brings. Trust to the death. Trust beyond death, to resurrection.

This is what discipleship should be. A heart struggling to trust on display. A life willing for the layers to be peeled back by another to reveal the inner workings of a prayer life filled with praises and laments, trust and honest questions. It should be a sharing in the sacred fellowship of his sufferings as well as the power of his resurrection.

If you can do that by reading a book, then read it, but don’t limit a potential friendship to the questions at the end of each chapter. Don’t believe the lie that discipling is something to be done.

Follow Jesus with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and when you notice someone trying to do the same, invite them in: into your heart and into your relationship with Jesus.

The day began like any other. Getting myself up and ready to face the world at my job, along with the anticipation of seeing my grandchildren’s faces later in the day. But as I was putting on eye makeup, I suddenly found myself in a desperate place and subsequently landed in front of a doctor at our local urgent care clinic.

As I’d applied my pencil eyeliner that morning, a sliver of wood shaving flicked into my right eye. Immediately my eye watered uncontrollably, becoming red as a beet, and the pain! It felt as though someone was poking a needle into my eye, over and over.

I begged my husband, Wayne, to drive me to the clinic as I had to hold my eyelid open to prevent blinking and thus aggravating the sliver impaled in my eye. This doctor sent me to an ER in downtown Seattle, for they alone had an ophthalmologist on call 24/7.

We arrived at a scene of total chaos in Seattle: the largest ER trauma center serving five states. Patients surrounded me, many of them yelling at everyone but no one in particular. My son Nick walked over from his nearby hospital job and started advocating for those “numbing drops” that took away the pain instantly (but wore off in 20 minutes).

I was told I had an abrasion or worse, a laceration on my cornea. This ER eye doc spent nearly an hour closely examining me with all the specialized equipment. I begged once again for more of those “numbing drops,” but his response surprised me. “Mrs. Taylor, I know that works, but the drops have been found to melt the cornea if overused, so no, you’ll have to endure this pain for a while longer.”

“There’s something impaling my eyeball,” I complained. He assured me nothing was there anymore, except that my cornea had suffered four abrasions that affected my line of sight. After completing a vision test, I couldn’t even see the largest letter on top of the chart!

Lessons Learned in the ER

What I didn’t say to the doctor was that I’d been having a conversation while in the waiting room. “Lord, please take this piece of wood out of my eye! Please, I’ll never criticize again. I’ll stop trying to take the speck out of everyone else’s eye. I’ll only deal with the plank in my own if You take this one away. Please have mercy on me, Lord!”

After my eye recovered from this painful ordeal, I got rid of all my wood pencil eyeliners and realized what Jesus meant in Luke 6:41. One can’t function at all with a wooden plank in their eye, let alone clearly see the speck in another brother’s or sister’s eye. Inevitably, you become myopic, hypercritical, faultfinding, and nitpicking.

In Luke 6:42, Jesus goes on to say, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck (piece of chaff) that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

One can’t see straight or function rationally with a wooden plank plaguing them. Jesus is using humor here to exaggerate His point.

It’s so easy to see another person’s faults with a microscope and our own with binoculars turned backward.

Only the person who has honestly faced, and dealt with, their own deep-set character flaws is able to help others who are struggling. Thus, it comes from a personal testimony point of view, not an accusatory one.

Why We Become Critical

Why do we become people with a critical spirit? Why do we harbor arrogant eyes toward others or worse, give voice to thoughts of malice that cross our minds?

I remember hearing the words of the English pastor Stanley Vote who was challenged by East African believers who taught him, “When you point the finger, there are always three pointing back at you.” These believers showed Stanley the verse in Isaiah 58:9, pointing out that all too often we focus upon other’s faults, neglecting to recognize the real work the Spirit is doing in our own souls, which is showing us how to love at a much deeper level. The Holy Spirit is holy and will not cease to convict us of unloving thoughts and words until we are face to face with Jesus.

Oftentimes, I believe we focus on other’s specks so we don’t have to look at our own planks. It becomes a distraction for us, a diversion from doing business with God and facing our own sin, responsibility, and repentance for our own glaring weaknesses. Playing the hypocrite can buy us time, but it doesn’t buy us blood-bought divine forgiveness and the peace that follows.

Removing the plank is first, thus seeing our sin in God’s perfect light and asking for mercy that is new every morning, enlightening our darkness. We then see the light of forgiveness shining bright. God is more eager to forgive us than we are ready to repent.

There are additional nefarious reasons we’re critical toward others. We see certain people as our competition, so we feel threatened. I’ve witnessed this firsthand throughout decades in the ministry. Musicians criticizing others in the field, degrading their talent and motives. Pastors speaking disparagingly of nearby pastors in their towns, accusing them of “sheep stealing,” pride, shallow teaching, or other accusations.

James gives an exhortation regarding jealousy as a motive of our critical heart in his famous chapter on the taming of the tongue:

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” James 3:14–15.

What Fuels Criticism

Another issue that fuels criticism is a guilty conscience. We’ve done or spoken wrong of another person, but instead of repenting and apologizing to them, we turn on them.

There’s a scene in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility that perfectly captures this issue. When the hypocrite, Willoughby, is unjustly criticizing Colonel Brandon, Elinor asks him, “But why should you dislike him?” He answers, “I do not dislike him. I consider him, on the contrary, as a very respectable man, who has everybody’s good word, and nobody’s notice; who, has more money than he can spend, more time than he knows how to employ, and two new coats every year.”

It’s not until the end of the story that we find out Willoughby has fathered a child with Brandon’s goddaughter and has completely abandoned her. Human nature will do anything other than repent honestly, and if it means maligning good people, so be it.

Somehow, we think by degrading them, we no longer have to apologize for they’re not worthy. But our hypocrisy is easily seen by others who hear our biting critical words.

Unforgiveness turned into bitterness is another noxious weed that springs up into a critical spirit which “spreads, causes trouble and defiles many” (Heb. 12:15 NIV). Bitterness, like a weed, can live underground, unseen for a time, but eventually will manifest into words. Jesus said the following after speaking about planks and specks in our eyes: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45 NKJV).

Jesus is saying Look at your words! Hear what you’re saying! If it’s good fruit, it’s a good tree. If it’s bad fruit, it’s a bad tree, full of thorns and briars. If you find your mouth quick to criticize someone, examine your heart. Does it contain unforgiveness that you must let go of? If so, repent and don’t give voice to your bitterness. Thankfully, the blood of Christ covers this sin as well.

The Sin Inherent in Hypercritical Judgmentalism

Hypercritical judgmentalism is a sin Jesus constantly refers to in His teachings. An example is found just four verses before the planks and specks verses. “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37 NKJV). Jesus sees how sinful people have a terrible time with self-righteousness. Instead of trusting in the atonement of the cross, we flaunt our own criteria for being truly enlightened and spiritual.

And when we see someone in violation of our “list,” we criticize them to their face, or worse, behind their back. We had parishioners condemn our own church, and leave, because we “promoted witchcraft.” This was because they found C.S. Lewis’ book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on our shelf.

The twin of judgmental sin is having unreasonable expectations that go unmet. This sin manifests itself in families, churches, and the workplace. I work as a chaplain in three different places of business, and I’m shocked to hear employees constantly criticize management, supervisors, and owners. Although they’ve been given a good job, verbal condemnation is their response.

Back to the scripture that the East African believers showed to our friend Stanley Voke. It’s found sandwiched between promises and challenges:

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and He will say: ‘Here am I.’
If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you give yourself to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
Isaiah 58:9-10 NIV

Notice three things: what we aren’t to do, what we are to do, and what we will become if we do obey. First, we are to cease oppressing others with our critical words, finger-pointing, and maligning. Second, we are to call on the name of the Lord for help in feeding the hungry and meeting the needs of the afflicted and oppressed.

Scripture then promises that our light will shine brightly in the darkness. It’s followed next by the promise that “You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring” (Isaiah 58:11 NLT). I know what it’s like to sit down in a watered garden. It’s peaceful. Plants are wilting no longer, and one can abide within its beauty, enjoying the fruit ripening and the flowers blossoming.

Becoming Numb to the Spirit’s Conviction

If we keep indulging our right to have a critical spirit, we can risk becoming numb to the work of the Holy Spirit’s conviction.

If we keep applying “numbing drops” so we no longer feel the sting of conviction, we risk becoming blind to our sin. As Jesus said in Matt.15:14, “We become blind guides leading the blind.”

Seeing Clearly

So, let’s take out the planks from our own eyes. Upon seeing clearly, we can truly help others avoid falling into the pits in this world.

My clear vision returned two or three weeks after my injury. But my perspective was totally changed. Thank God it did.

Originally published on March 1, 2016

I’m not a huge pastry fan, but I do enjoy a fresh, hot slice of apple pie with a generous scoop of rich vanilla ice cream.
The rich, creamy ice cream, luxuriously melting over the warm, flaky, buttery crust is pretty much irresistible. Pie a la Mode was invented about 1885.

Fruit pies were common in the Roman Empire as early as the 5th Century B.C., and ice cream was available to the general public by 1660. Yet, the world would wait more than 200 years before ice cream and pie were combined to offer something wonderful—pie a la Mode. The moral of the story is that sometimes “both and” is better than “either or.”

What Is the “both and” of making disciples?

We need to be both filled with the Spirit and intentional in making disciples. Some might assert that not being intentional is organic, thus led by the Spirit. But that’s not necessarily the case. Similarly, one could argue that if a process is intentional (strategic), it’s of man (flesh) and not of the Spirit.

But again, a review of the Scripture reveals that the claimed divide between organic and strategic is a false dichotomy. In fact, a review of Paul’s ministry at Ephesus demonstrates the “both and” principle (Acts 19:1-7; Eph. 5:18).

Have you ever met people who claimed to be followers of Jesus, but there just seemed to be something missing that made you wonder if they were really submitted to Him? When Paul returned to Ephesus, he found some disciples and asked the curious question “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” On no other occasion do we have a record of Paul making this inquiry. What prompted him to ask?

Presumably, there appeared to be something missing in their spiritual lives that prompted the question. Perhaps they didn’t seem to be submitted to Christ as Lord, or empowered by the Spirit for Christian living, or perhaps Paul had some discernment about what was lacking. These disciples at Ephesus confessed their ignorance of the Holy Spirit (verse 2).

Yet, the text indicates they were disciples and implies they were believers. They understood the need for repentance and desired to follow Jesus (verse 4). But they were apparently seeking to become mature followers of Christ by either the power of self-discipline or man’s efforts rather than the power of God’s Spirit.

And Paul recognized the problem. Subsequently, the Holy Spirit came upon them and was manifest (verse 6).

Jesus declared that His followers would receive power to represent Him when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). He likened it to being baptized with the Holy Spirit or being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5, 2:4).

We believe that the baptism, or filling of the Spirit, is distinct from salvation, but it may occur at the same time or subsequent to being saved. The work of the Holy Spirit empowers Christian living. Jesus affirmed that the Holy Spirit was available to those who sought this gift from God and were yielded to Him (Luke 11:9-13).

When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he instructed them as follows: “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18).

The Greek reveals that it’s a commandment, and the tense can be translated “Being constantly filled with the Spirit.” The terminology of being filled might cause some to assume that we can leak the Holy Spirit, like a car engine can leak a quart of oil. Or we might think that the issue is how much of the Holy Spirit a believer has. Nevertheless, the issue isn’t how much of the Holy Spirit we have, but how much of us the Holy Spirit has.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit flows from being submitted to Jesus. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to be disciples and to make disciples.

Once the believers at Ephesus were filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul began an intentional process of mentoring them to become mature followers of Christ (Acts 19:8-10). Paul taught the Scriptures daily to make disciples and develop leaders at Ephesus.

The Bible helps us to understand God and know His commandments. Thus, Bible learning is critical to being a disciple. For example, it is through the Scriptures generally, and Ephesians specifically, that we learn how being filled with the Spirit is manifest in praise, gratitude, mutual respect, marriage, family, and the workplace (Eph. 5:17-6:9).

But having knowledge, apart from the power of the Spirit, to apply the lessons is futile. So, making disciples requires us to be both filled with the Spirit and intentional (“both and”).

The filling of the Spirit is so critical to disciple-making that Paul issued a sober warning: “And don’t be drunk with wine in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit …” (Eph. 5:18). Please pardon the pun about “sober” warning, for the issue is not limited to excessive alcohol consumption. Paul’s exhortation is connected to the earlier cautions to live carefully in wisdom, redeem the time, and understand and do the will of God (Eph. 5:15-17).

Excessive alcohol consumption is an obstacle to being controlled by God, and is sin. And Paul notes that being drunk is dissipation. Dissipation relates to squandering energy, time, money, or other resources.

The only way to avoid wasting resources and wasting a life is to be intentional to live as Christ’s disciples, disciples who make disciples. And the only way to be a disciple is to be controlled by God or filled with the Spirit.

Thus, the moral of this story is that sometimes “both and” is better than “either or.”

Lifework

1. How can disciples neglect the need for the filling of the Spirit?
2. Why is it helpful to have an intentional process, along with the filling of the Spirit, to help become a disciple?
3. How do you believe that being filled with the Spirit and intentionally going through the discipleship process would help you in making disciples?

One of the values of our local church is “We create margin for what matters most.” We have observed, discovered, and experienced that life is too complicated. As individuals, as families, as groups, and as a community of faith, we need to create margin for what matters most. How can you cultivate new rhythms that help you to flourish in community and grow healthier—spiritually, emotionally, and even physically?

1. What are the priorities?

First, we need to determine what matters most. Presumably, Jesus would not leave us without direction, guidance, and important clues to figure out what are the priorities. We presume the great commandments to love God supremely and love your neighbor as yourself provide valuable insight.

When Jesus was asked the greatest commandment, He responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Jesus’ Jewish audience would associate this verse within the premier prayer of Judaism, the Sh’ma. Israel is exhorted to “Hear” (Sh’ma), that is, to listen, understand, and apply God’s truth and wisdom. Israel is reminded that there is no other God besides YHWH, and they are in a sacred covenant relationship: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” Then, what follows is the instruction that God’s commands are to be observed in the home, taught to your children, and observed when you leave the home. Thus, we could conclude the first priority is God and the second is family. Note, God has to be first because you cannot properly love your family or others without receiving and responding to God’s love.

Imagine the many spheres of life that people are trying to juggle: personal health, recreation, school, career, friends, family, God, etc. As you juggle those spheres, keep in mind that most of them are “rubber” in the sense that if you drop them, the consequences are manageable. On the other hand, the marriage and family spheres are like “glass,” so you don’t want to drop them. Making God the priority will allow you to balance and maintain the other spheres properly without damaging them.

Jesus helped us to discover the third priority when He volunteered the second greatest commandment: “And you will love your neighbor as you love yourself’ (Lev. 19:18). The second great command was like the first in that they cannot be separated. Not only do you need to love God to properly love others, but your love for neighbors is evidence that you truly love God. Therefore, the third priority is to love neighbors. We must remember that Jesus made clear that a neighbor is often someone that you have little in common with including religious beliefs, and affinity (Luke 10:30-37). They are people God has called you to share His love with where you live, work, study, play, and worship. Thus, we could say neighbors include friends and those whom God brings into your sphere of influence. The priorities arewho matters most: God, family, and neighbors.

2. Discover discretionary time and create margin.

Each of us has 168 hours in a week. Very few people are fully free or independent in the sense that they have no time-consuming responsibilities or commitments. The largest commitments of time are often related to parenting, being a student, work, and sleep. Anecdotally, life seems very busy and complicated. There does not seem to be a healthy margin, and where there is margin, we often neglect what matters most.

Take a week or month to consider how you use your time. Consider entering in a calendar your actual use of time to see the patterns and rhythms that emerge. Discover how you use time before work or school, after work or school, and on your days off. What time do you generally wake-up, and what time do you generally go to sleep?

The greater the margin, the greater your freedom to enjoy what matters most to God. Paul exhorted the Corinthians not to worry about being a servant (cf. employee), but if they gained freedom to use it: “Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it” (1 Corinthians 7:21). In an effort to gain freedom, you can discover discretionary time and create margin. I would recommend adjusting the pendulum intentionally, but gradually, to avoid unintended consequences. For example, in most instances the answer is not to quit your job, or stop all recreational activities to create margin. If you are married or have a family, there should be a team approach to decisions. What changes need to be made to free-up time? Begin by identifying changes that create margin of a few hours every day or week.

3. Discern how God would have you redeem the time.

Prayerfully seek to discern how God would have you reallocate time. Consider spiritual disciplines to enhance your relationship with God. These might include, but not be limited to: Bible learning, prayer, contemplation and reflection (e.g., journaling), weekend worship gatherings, service in a local-church or para-church ministry, fasting, or generosity.

Consider relational disciplines to enhance your relationships with spouse, family, friends, and neighbors. These might include, but not be limited to: date nights, family devotional and/or prayer, family meals, weekly time spent with friends and neighbors talking, sharing a meal, or recreation.

Consider personal disciplines to enhance your health. Consider sleep, diet, exercise, content consumption, alcohol, drugs, or recreation.

Cultivate new rhythms resulting in new habits. Our habits, good or bad, can generally be established or broken in about a month. You are engaging in time-leadership more than management. Schedule new practices for what matters most and zealously protect that time from intrusion. Learn to say “No” to non-critical encroachers. Evaluate at the end of a month or two (or three). If you need to adjust the rhythms, try something new.

In addition, create some margin generally to provide flexibility for divine appointments. Create margin to talk, to listen, to pray, to observe, to hug, and to spontaneously play. Learn to recognize God’s leading of how to use that margin on any given occasion. Passionately protect margin, because in the margin is where you discover and enjoy what matters most.

Originally published on June 10, 2016

When a husband or a wife says, “I want us to be intimate,” their expectation may be substantially different, whether it was the man or woman who spoke. I have never met a married person who didn’t want more intimacy in marriage. God designed a husband and wife to become one (Genesis 2:24), but intimacy can seem so elusive. Here are three keys to unlock the intimacy enigma:

1. Emotional Intimacy

The primary tool to develop emotional intimacy is communication. Communication is necessary for understanding. We know that husbands are to dwell with their wives with understanding (1Peter 3:7), but we need to communicate to understand. Consider the spouse who says, “If they really loved me, they would know how I feel without me having to tell them.” They are blaming their spouse for their lack of communication, and they are making their spouse be a mind reader. I need to share my feelings as well as facts, and I need to listen better. “…Be swift to hear and slow to speak” (James 1:19). My wife may simply want to be heard. So I try to ask before offering a solution or suggestion to see what she is looking for from me. Part of communication is asking simple probing questions. For example, “What was the best part of your day? What was the most difficult? How did that make you feel?”

Compassion is necessary for connection. Feeling what your spouse is feeling creates intimacy. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). Sometimes it is difficult for us to weep with someone who is weeping. We may feel overwhelmed by their emotions or uncomfortable with our inability to bring comfort. We may even resent that someone continues to be sad when we feel they should have gotten over it by now. A person who connects with their spouse during the difficult times and good times demonstrates compassion, empathy and emotional intimacy.

Conflict is an excellent opportunity to develop emotional intimacy. Remember to respect the rules for handling conflict (i.e. “fight right”). “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of our mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). Focus on the issue at hand, and avoid words like “always & never” and bringing up the past. Express feelings rather than fault, “I’m frustrated” not “You’re so frustrating.” Give your spouse time to process, but seek to resolve conflict speedily. “Be angry, and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26).

2. Spiritual Intimacy

Couples that regularly go to church together, read their Bibles and pray report 91% satisfaction in marriage and divorce rate of less than 10% (Lifeway Research). Seek Christ together. Remember, spiritual intimacy with our spouse results from time together pursuing God. But unless we want to have a relationship with God as an individual, we cannot truly seek God together. Worship together by regularly attending weekend worship services. Read the Bible together, or create time to share what you’ve read independently. Praying together or alone is a spiritual discipline and can be challenging. Prayer helps to establish hunger for God, humility and honesty. Here are some practical suggestions about your prayer time as a couple: Set aside time for prayer. Agree on a start time and end time. Start off with a brief period. Take turns, and keep the prayers short. Go back and forth after about a minute. Keep the prayers personal. Pray for your marriage, your spouse, your kids and whatever else moves you personally. Also, take time to thank God for your spouse and children.

Emotional intimacy and spiritual intimacy create the foundation for physical intimacy.

3. Physical Intimacy

Sex in the marriage relationship; “Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1Corinthians 7:3-5).

Physical intimacy helps to satisfy desires and helps to discourage adultery. Sexual intimacy is a right as well as a responsibility in a marriage. In considering sexual relations, we need to keep in mind the big picture of seeking to develop intimacy. In an ideal world, both partners would have the same level of sexual desire, would find each other totally satisfying in every way and would be comfortable with their partner’s sexual fantasies. The reality is that, often times, the expectations of the partners differ. Sexual intimacy is not imposing your will upon your partner at the expense of their feelings. In light of these differences, what should a couple do?

Elevate: Place your spouse’s needs before your own. Sexual intimacy flows from God’s love. God’s love is pure and never exploits. Avoid exploiting your spouse. In seeking to experience physical intimacy, place your spouse’s needs before your own.

Navigate: Sexual intimacy can be a complicated process. Be patient in the process of navigating overlapping emotional issues. Allow God the time to get you to the desired destination as He works in both you and your spouse.

Communicate: Communicate your desires to one another. Seek to learn from your spouse some of the emotional issues connected with their sexual desires. Avoid passing judgment. Sometimes certain desires in sexual relations flow from emotional issues outside of the marriage context. Perhaps one of you was sexually molested as a young person. This will certainly impact your feelings about sexual relations in the context of marriage. Other issues may arise from a desire for control. Still, other issues can arise from a sense of rejection and a desire to be wanted. And other issues relate to hormonal or other physical aspects. By communicating about these issues, we can better learn how to minister to needs in regard to physical, emotional and spiritual intimacy.

Consummate: Passion, romance and desire are an ideal for marriage. The verb tense of “consummate” is defined as making a marriage complete by having sexual intercourse. God doesn’t view sexual desire between a husband and a wife as dirty or profane. Song of Solomon is full of passion. When God saw Adam and Eve naked in the Garden of Eden there was purity of sexual intimacy. They were not ashamed, and God did not tell them to put clothes on. Everything was very good (Genesis 1:31). Enjoy sexual intimacy as part of intimacy with your spouse. God intends marriage to be an intimate relationship. Intimacy between a husband and wife contemplates an emotional, a spiritual and a physical bond that typifies God’s desire that the two shall become one flesh.

What are some other keys that you have discovered to unlock intimacy in marriage?

originally posted January 5, 2016

Most of the medical community, and those of us who are trained in even the basics, know that the Hippocratic Oath begins with the phrase,

“First, do no harm.”

It’s the stepping stone of medicine, both ancient and modern. Our opening line is the simple instruction to do good, not evil.

I recently sat with a friend of mine who is far from God. She believes He probably exists, but openly states that He has no place in her life. During our conversation she said to me, “You cannot measure the good that religion has done. You can easily measure the harm: the wars, the gossip, the hypocrisy. But you cannot quantify the good.”

Certainly, I could argue this point. In that moment, with that friend, I did not. I simply let settle the clear perception from this modern woman that knowing God brings more harm than anything else.

This is our world. We speak to a generation of men and women who have been burned by church, embittered by politics, antagonized by moralism, disgusted with corruption. They’ve seen scandals and disappointments, watched prayer used as a bribe and Bible verses used as trinkets. Cheap grace has cheapened their experience of Christ and caused harm.

What then is our response?

Mine is very simple.

Live with faithfulness. Seek greater grace. Apologize for the wrongs you did not choose. Allow the incarnational Christ, who lived the life we could not live and died the death we could not die, to speak for Himself. Pursue the Gospel. Preach it to myself before I preach it to others. Love.

Even by accident, we harm others. Even with the best intentions, we experience and cause suffering. I was recently arrested by the clarity of this quote:

“What if in this new year we focused more on Jesus’ wounds and less on our own? They’re both real but only His can heal.”

-Luke MacDonald

The answer is and always will be Jesus.

Don’t look at the things done in His name. Look to Jesus. Don’t look at the ways our wounded world causes new wounds. Seek the ways He invites us to true healing. Don’t dwell on the discouragement and disappointment. Instead, “dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” (Psalm 37:3)

The only generation we live with is our own. Our decisions can shape far beyond the one in which we live. May we be a generation who leaves behind a legacy of radical, faithful love for Jesus. Loving Him…does no harm.

“The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.””
Exodus 3:2-4 (emphasis added)

When you look at the countless examples of people that God has used throughout history, there seems to be a common trait with them all. They all responded. Some responded wholeheartedly and some reluctantly, but just about all made a conscious decision that God deserves a response. Apathy has no place in the kingdom of Heaven. One of man’s greatest temptations throughout the ages has been apathy—a lulling to sleep spiritually, an avoidance of responding appropriately.

Moses’ Response to God Revealing Himself

I recently read the section in Exodus on the burning bush, and something stood out to me. I was convicted by Moses’ response. I have the tendency to ask God to reveal Himself or give some sort of revelation of Himself. I tend to like signs and proof. But how can I ask for more if I haven’t responded to what He’s already revealed?

In the account of Moses and the burning bush, we have a great example of how we should respond to what is right in front of us. We see in this exchange with Moses that God didn’t speak until after Moses responded to His presence in the burning bush. One could argue that Moses’ encounter with the burning bush warrants his response because of how miraculous the incident was. But do we acknowledge His overwhelming and holy presence in our midst daily? Is creation any less miraculous than a burning bush? Have we ever lifted our eyes to the heavens? The vast universe, the sun, moon, and stars, the mountains and oceans, the sunrise and sunset; are these any less miraculous? Have we ever contemplated what is right in front of us? Have we responded appropriately to what He’s already revealed?

Lifting Our Eyes to the Heavens

In Isaiah 40:26, we are instructed to “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things…” Oswald Chambers says regarding Isaiah’s command to lift our eyes to the heavens, “The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we’re children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it’s holy and sacred.

We’ll see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades … The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded … If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God.”

Seeing God’s Fingerprints in His Creation

Chambers calls this ability to see God’s fingerprints in His creation “sanctifying our imagination.” If we don’t want our vision to dwindle, if we want to avoid spiritual apathy, it will require sanctifying our imagination. Chambers doesn’t mean we pretend to see God; he means we respond to the countless number of ways God reveals Himself daily. Creation itself is overflowing with miraculous design, with holy testimony.

Astrophysicist and author Ethan Siegel said this: “When you put it all together, it means the most astounding fact about the Universe is this: that it exists in such a way that it can be understood at all.” What Seigel’s statement touches on is an astonishing and miraculous fact that often goes unnoticed. It’s the fact that since creation exists in an understandable way, and since humans exist with the capability to understand it, it is logical to conclude that it was created to be understood. Ethan Siegel, as far as I know, isn’t a Christian. But he brings up an excellent point.

Creation testifies to the fact that God has designed it in such a way so as to lead us to Himself. His creation declares Him to us. Isaiah instructs us to look at God’s creation because there is a revelation there for us, a revelation that helps guard against spiritual apathy. You could say creation itself is our burning bush. I’m not saying that we should worship nature or creation. But His creation does provide a timeless testimony of His love and existence for those who are willing to look. You can accept this testimony or reject it, but it would be a tragedy to ignore it. At the very least, it deserves a response.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a poet in the 1800s, put it this way: “Earth is crammed with Heaven, and every common bush afire with God; and only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”

If we can lift our eyes to the Heavens as Isaiah declares, we’ll see a glimpse of just how miraculously and emphatically God has revealed Himself. And such a revelation, like the burning bush, deserves a response. I pray that we’ll be those who respond.