Power & The Fear of Death
"They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority."
(Luke 4:32)
Jesus was powerful. After all, He was God in flesh, and no one would disagree that being God in human form provides you with a great deal of power. But with Jesus it was more than possessing power. His was power under control and under authority – the Father’s authority.
Human history is filled the stories of powerful men. In most cases, these men pursued power because of deep-seated insecurities. Psychologists tell us that the fundamental basis of those insecurities was the basic fear that unites all humans: The Fear of Death. Interestingly, the Bible tells us the same thing:
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14,15)
People attempt to overcome their fear of death in many different ways. Some become extreme risk takers. Each time they engage in a death-defying activity, they become exhilarated because they believe that they have cheated death. Many extreme risk-takers will tell you that they never feel more alive than when they have faced death and survived.
Even more common are those who seek to conquer their fears by seeking control; especially when seizing control means having power over others. Dangerously, the greater the sense of insecurity and insignificance, the greater lengths these individuals will go to acquire such control. For instance, a serial killer finds pleasure in bringing death to others. In his twisted way of thinking, he believes that if he can cause death, he gains power over his own death.
But the worst examples are those who gain a great deal of political power. As one writer explains:
Having control over others can become addictive for these individuals in that it produces feelings of elation and diminishes feelings of insecurity. By achieving power over other people, destructive leaders are also attempting to deny their feelings of powerlessness in relation to death. The fantasy of being immune to death supports their vanity and offers them a sense of being special and, as such, exempt from natural forces. Because this process never succeeds in completely eliminating the fear of death, the need for power becomes increasingly compelling, often leading to disastrous outcomes and crimes against humanity. Unfortunately, in the political sphere, destructive leaders appear to have considerable staying power, often inflicting suffering on multitudes of people over many decades (e.g., Adolph Hitler, Mao Ze-dong, Pol Pat of the Kymer Rouge, Joseph Stalin). [Robert Firestone, Ph.D. in The Human Experience]
The Bible makes important distinctions when it speaks about power. It does this through the use of three different Greek words:
1) Dunamis is what we might call native, inherent, or raw power. It is the root for our English words dynamic and dynamite. This is power in its most basic, unrefined, and uncontrolled form. It is probably best illustrated by the power of lightning: if the electricity in one lightning strike could be harnessed, it would power the entire city of New York for a year. But we do not possess the technology to do this. Thus, even though that power exists as lightning, it is useless to us because is not harnessed. In fact, it is mostly destructive. Raw power (outside of the hand of God) is rarely able to produce positive results.
2) Ischuo is the word used by the New Testament writers to describe serviceable power and is often translated strength or might. Jesus used it to describe how we are supposed to use our ischuo power to serve God:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)
Every one of us is born with a variable degree of personal power, whether it be of body, will, or intellect. Jesus is essentially saying that we have a choice: we can control that power in terms of where and how we use it. This type of power is more often known by its ability to exercise restraint when faced with the opportunity to do something wrong. One of the greatest marks of a truly powerful person is self-control.
There is a third kind of power. It is the power that is most often used to describe how Jesus exercised the divine dunamis that resided inside of Him. It is also the reason Jesus did not simply use His power as He willed, but submitted Himself to the greater authority of the Father. For example, He does not display His dunamis prior to the age of 30, and He refused to use His power to save His own life, though He could easily have done so. He didn’t, however, because only the Father had that power:
Pilate …went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. ” (John 19:8-11)
The power referred to by both Pilate and Jesus is translated Exousia:
3) Exousia is almost always translated authority. It is the power or right to act, to give orders, and to enforce obedience. But what it means on a deeper level is that the one who has the power is subject to One who is yet greater – superior in authority (exousia). In other words, Jesus submitted His dunamis power to the will of the Father. That is why we see Jesus only using His divine power in the time, place, and manner allowed by The Father. (Matthew 24:36; John 2:4; 7:8)
What this says to you and me is that we also are men and women under authority. Regardless of how much power we may have attained (whether material, emotional, mental, or political), it is to be used only as directed by God’s authority. “Thy will be done” should be the hallmark of every Spirit-filled Christian; we are not to be merely self-controlled, but Spirit-controlled. That is why the key question is never “Can I?” or even “Should I?” but rather “Father, what is your will?”
God gifts His people spiritually in order to use us for His purposes. Unfortunately, many Christians see that in-filling power of God as a resource to be used as they please. There is often little thought of submitting the use of that power to the authority of God and His Word. However, spiritual gifts are a form of God’s dunamis power. Therefore, we must be careful not to abuse that power, or use it for personal gain. Instead, we are to live in submission to God’s authority over our lives and employ those gifts as He wills.
Hoarding Our Hurts
Hoarding Our Hurts
I received a profound phone call from a friend today. After having suffered for half a decade with bitterness, hurt, and resentment against family members, she had come to a monumental realization. Here’s how she expressed it: It is not that I haven’t forgiven my parents; I have. But I realized that I have been hoarding my hurt, and there was no room left for grace to dance and rejoice in my life.
What brought this revelation to my friend was watching one of those cable reality shows about people who are hoarders. Their lives become increasingly restricted and polluted by their emotional inability to throw anything away. Eventually, they lose friends, then family, until their very survival is threatened because of their need to hang on to everything – even gross, disgusting things.
While watching one of these programs, my friend (I am sure with the help of the Holy Spirit), suddenly saw herself. Although her exterior life is very neat and orderly, inside, her soul was stuffed with boxes and paper bags – all full of past hurts, wounds, and offenses. She too was a hoarder: a hoarder of past hurts. Even though she yearned for the expression of God’s grace in her life, she had left no room for it. Grace couldn’t get through the front door, much less dance in the hallways and rooms of her heart! Hurt had taken over her world.
Many of us are in the same place. Little by little, day-by-day, we start picking up wounds and offenses. We stuff them away in the secret places of our hearts and minds. Over time, our memories begin to fill and overflow with the wrongs that have been done to us. It doesn’t happen suddenly. It takes time. But one day, we realize there is very little evidence of God’s love and grace in our lives – because He cannot find a place to put it! “Junk” has filled our lives to the brim.
Soon, our relationships with others begin to suffer. Whenever we open the doors of our heart, the rotting stench of those past offenses comes rolling out. Even people who love us can’t bear to be around us much because our constant recollection of past hurts becomes too much for others to endure.
Still, we cling to these wounds as if they were some valued treasure. We can’t discard them because they serve too important a purpose. They are proof to others and to ourselves that we are victims… and therefore are excused from forgiving and loving those who have hurt us. They explain away our faults and failures. “After all," we say, "what else can you expect from someone who has been so deeply hurt?”
There are three problems with this approach to life’s woundings: First, this attitude destroys both us and our relationships. Second, it denies the power of Christ to heal and set free. And third, it is a form of disobedience to the commands of God.
If there is anything that reveals the will of God in our lives, it is our willingness to forgive those who trespass against us, (Matthew 6:12, Luke 6:37, 11:14). Nothing more perfectly displays the character of Christ than forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 2:13, 3:13). And nothing displays love more truly than to forgive those who harm us (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, 35). The very core of the Gospel is that God has forgiven you and me for our sins against Him, only because Jesus paid the price for those sins. And we in turn should be more than willing to forgive those who have trespassed against us.
We refer to this message as the Gospel of God’s Grace. But that message can only be communicated when we have allowed that grace to grow forgiveness in our own lives – and then in turn become ministers of the same. It is only when we live lives that are a regular celebration of grace received that we can become channels for expressing that grace to others.
Blaming and victimization are increasingly the hallmarks of American culture. We don’t move forward because we are preoccupied with hoarding our hurts. Our misery is someone else’s fault. A certain rabbinical saying speaks truth to this point: You can blame your parents for the first forty years of your life; but the second forty is your fault!
I believe God gives us the ability to see the faults of others so that we can learn from them and avoid the same failures. Sadly, most people don’t see personal hurts as lessons to be learned. Instead those hurts become places to settle.
You may never be able to forget what was done to you, but you can learn from those wounds. Solomon put it best when he wrote, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses,”(Proverbs 27:6). Jesus is our best friend – yet He also allows wounds to touch our lives. He does it to help us grow in grace. Trust Him. Stop hoarding your hurts, and begin dancing with grace in the hallways and rooms of your soul.
Hidden Isaac!
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry." (Luke 4:1,2)
There is a common assumption among most Christians in the western world that God is never involved or responsible for the “bad things” that happen in life – and I am not just referring to the opinions of the "health and wealth" preachers. Even many mainline, fundamental, Bible-believing, born-again, evangelical Christians react with shock and even incredulity when tragedy and/or loss sweeps over their life.
What makes this so surprising is that the Bible clearly and repeatedly warns us that we are not exempt from suffering; in fact, we are often greater recipients of suffering because we believe. For example, both Paul and Peter inform us of this:
"…everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."
(1 Timothy 3:12)
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you." (1 Peter 4:12)
For 1st century Christians, suffering was assumed. Religious freedom and tolerance were nonexistent; to vary from the community norm was almost always a deadly choice. Even within the Roman Empire, which was liberal by most ancient standards, the state carried out ten separate pogroms against Christians between 60AD – 300AD. It is estimated that as many as a million believers perished at the hands of persecutors during this period.
Still, our tendency is to view such persecution as ancient history, incongruent with our modern sensibilities. Yet recent research has found that the 20th century was more deadly for Christians than any previous era. In fact, as many as 20 million Christians perished through persecution during that time. The two biggest culprits were the Communists and the Muslims, which no doubt has fueled much of the hatred that exists toward both groups today.
It is easy to become hateful towards those who are guilty of such atrocities. But in order to do that, we first have to ignore one very important fact of Scripture: God, who is sovereign over the affairs of this world, must give His permission for any evil that touches His servants. Satan, the perpetrator of this evil, can do nothing without God’s allowance (Job 1,2).
This is given more evidence by what Luke states at the beginning of chapter 4:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
Jesus, who was full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit… into the desert: the wilderness, the eremos. Eremos means “a solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited place.” It was there that Jesus faced three things that are terrors to most people: loneliness, temptation, and starvation.
• Loneliness: Jesus had no human support or companionship. No one to hold up his arms (Exodus 17:11-13) when he became weak.
• Temptation: In the ultimate "mano-e-mano" moment, Jesus went face to face with the Prince of Darkness. The only resources He possessed were His faith in God’s Word, His hope in God’s Promises, and His love for the Father.
• Starvation: When someone fasts they pass through three stages. In the first stage, hunger is constant. But somewhere between the seventh and 10th day, the hunger subsides as the stomach shrinks. As the fast continues, the body first uses up its fat reserves, then begins to consume muscle and organ tissue. By then, irritability and lethargy are constant. Too weak to sense thirst, the individual becomes dehydrated. All movement becomes painful as the muscles atrophy and the skin becomes dry and cracked. The final stage comes when one is close to death, when the sensation of hunger returns. This makes Luke’s comment, “He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry,” much more poignant; Jesus was beginning to die.
It was at that very moment that “The tempter came to him…" (Matthew 4:3). Fortunately for us, Jesus both resisted and overcame all the temptations that were thrown at Him. But we need to be careful that we don’t overlook the fact that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit and led by the same Spirit into the desert, was led there for the express purpose of being “tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
We don’t find Jesus faulting the Father, blaming others, or looking upon external causes or past bad choices as the source of His temptation. He who was without sin did nothing to deserve what He was suffering. In fact it was just the opposite: He was allowing Himself to be led by the Spirit; and it was the Spirit's purpose to subject Him to temptation.
Why? The writer of Hebrews explains:
"In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Hebrews 2:10)
"Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered." (Hebrews 5:8)
This also answers the question as to why God allows Christians today to suffer as well. Suffering first causes us to question the condition of our lives. It clears away the clutter from our hearts and minds and helps us to focus upon what is really important – as opposed to those things that just seem to be important at the moment.
Secondly, it compels us to seek answers to our suffering. We usually begin looking at the externals (a change in employment, career, spouse, location, relationships, church, etc.). Usually, addressing only the externals proves to be ineffective and the suffering continues.
Real and lasting relief comes when we stop looking outside and begin looking inside. Some might call it introspection, but it is far more than that. Introspection by itself can only produce guilt, shame, remorse, and regret. These are all only further symptoms of suffering, not the root causes.
In Psalm 139:23-24, King David exposes the root causes of my suffering:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Notice there are two things that God wants to show us: things we are often only willing to see when we are desperate for relief from our suffering:
• anxious thoughts: fears that control my choices.
• offensive ways: sinful behaviors that separate me from God and others.
Over my 42 years as a Christian, I have found that the only way that change can happen in my life is through suffering. When things are going well and I am prospering in body and soul, I am content. But when my life is troubled and solutions are not readily found, I begin to call upon the Lord in earnest. First I ask Him to make the problem go away. When that doesn’t happen, I begin asking Him to reveal the source of the problem. More often than not, He leads me to some inner fear or offensive way that has taken control of my thinking. Then I discover some hidden Isaac that God wants me to place upon the altar.
It was only when Abraham was willing to give up Isaac that God could say of him, "Now I know that you fear God…" (Genesis 22:12). And it is only when we are willing to admit to the hidden Isaacs in our own lives that we can truly fear, reverence, honor, submit to, and obey God with all of our heart, soul, mind, body and strength.
Depression
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
(Proverbs 13:12)
Depression! Just saying the word can be depressing. We don’t like to talk about it – until we get depressed – and then there seem nothing else that we can talk about. Most people who are depressed either deny it or don’t even realize it. Yet researchers tell us that 12% of us regularly suffer from it.
In most cultures, depression is seen as a character flaw because it has such a debilitating effect upon its victims… and because depressed people are not much fun to be around. Among most Christians, depression is viewed as sin; something we merely need to repent of in order to make it go away.
What these same Christians often overlook is that even some of the Bible’s greatest men of faith battled bouts of depression. Moses often wanted to resign because of it. Elijah ran away and hid in a cave. In the Psalms, we see that David frequently battled against it. Even the venerable Paul spoke about being so overwhelmed by problems that he “despaired even of life.” (2 Corinthians 1:8). The renowned minister and preacher Charles Spurgeon dedicated an entire chapter in his book Lectures to My Students on what he called The Ministers Fainting Spells. That’s code for depression!
So what is depression? The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as: “severe despondency and dejection, typically felt over a period of time and accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy.” If you have never felt like this, then you are not alive. Depression comes sooner or later into every life, because sooner or later something happens that makes a person feel hopeless and inadequate.
Chemical Causes
Not all depression is a consequence or evidence of sin. Low levels of a brain chemical called serotonin can contribute to depression and many other emotional disorders. By taking medications that contain this chemical, depression and other emotional stress can be greatly reduced
Circumstantial Cause
But most depression comes from a more common cause; Solomon called it heart sickness caused by hope deferred (Proverbs 13:12). Our hearts get sick when we have a hope, a dream, an ambition, or an expectation that suddenly falls apart. The loss of a relationship, the loss of a job, the loss of wealth or health, all cause one’s heart to become heavy – and then sick. Some depression is associated with a sense of irretrievable loss; the belief that something that is essential to our happiness has been taken from us and will never be restored. This type of depression often masks itself with angry feelings, followed by deep regrets.
For the psalmist Asaph, such depression came when he concluded that following God was not working out in his best interest. Listen to how he describes his depression in Psalm 73:
…my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…. This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning… my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered… When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me…
But then Asaph comes to a revelation about God that gave him a totally new perspective:
…till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny… How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! …My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge…
David put it more directly when he wrote in Psalm 27:
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13 KJV)
David's point was that hope deferred does not have to mean hope lost forever. It’s only deferred: “put off to a later, more beneficial time.” His confidence was based not upon circumstances but upon the goodness of the Lord. Similarly, Paul reassured himself and us by reminding us:
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28)
Spiritual Cause
There is a third source of depression: Spiritually-induced depression. Paul illustrated it as the fiery arrows aimed at Christians who have let their guards down (Ephesians 6:10-18).
How and in what ways does a Christian "let their guard down"? Earlier in Ephesians, Paul warned about giving the Devil an opportunity to insinuate his agenda into one's life:
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold… (Ephesians 4:26-27)
Anger is a sure foothold under the nimble grip of Satan. That anger often comes through disappointment and disillusionment with others, which in turn become the fiery darts that pierce our armor and leave us vulnerable to spiritual depression. When allowed to simmer and seethe inside the heart and mind, they bring an ever-deepening depression, which left unaddressed, will destroy you.
Spiritual depression requires a spiritual remedy. The next time you find yourself depressed, ask yourself: "Have I myself provided the foothold?" And if the answer is "yes," Get rid of it:
… do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:30-32)
Mediocrity
One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
- Proverbs 18:9
The above passage is one of many that I have read repeatedly over the past forty years, but I only saw it for the first time today. That is because I never really understood its deeper, more rudimentary meaning.
We rarely think about the effect of a job done poorly, a project fulfilled half-heartedly, an assignment never completed, a promise only partial kept. Our assumption is that our very best is not necessary for things to go forward. Instead, we selfishly reason that those we serve should be thankful for what they receive from us, even if it isn’t the full measure required. Close enough is good enough, we wrongly assume.
Yet Solomon is telling us in the above passage that a job well done is often critical. To prove his point, simply pick up the daily paper and read about bridges that collapsed, planes that crashed, surgeries that killed – simply because someone didn’t do their very best. People got tired, distracted, lazy, disinterested, whatever. The consequence was that when someone became slack in their work, someone else became the victim of their slackness.
Over the years, I have encountered slackness in many different areas. But what I have seen most often are men and women who become slack in the area of their own spiritual lives. They may be extremely diligent in other areas, especially in their careers; but when it comes to the care of their own souls, or their service to Christ and His Church, they are content to serve up leftovers… day old donuts! Which again is why Solomon warned:
If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks. (Ecclesiastes 10:18)
What’s true of physical houses is also true of one's spiritual house. Don’t be slack, but be diligent. Is your spiritual life sagging? Is your roof leaking? Repent and get to back to work!
Most often this kind of slackness reveals itself one of two ways: Mediocrity, and/or Apathy.
Mediocrity
Mediocrity comes from viewing something as not important enough to invest significant resources, especially time. This is not always wrong, as long as we are talking about something that truly is not important. But when we are talking about Christ and His Church, this should never be our attitude. As Paul noted,
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
(1 Corinthians 10:31)
This implies that there are to be no half-measures. Yet when mediocrity rules, we end up giving God only what is convenient, comfortable, and affordable. The Prophet Malachi dedicated most of his prophecy to a generation that had contented itself with mediocrity in their walk and service to God. They viewed serving God as a burden:
“…you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty. “When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD. (Malachi 1:13)
Mediocrity is not the product of a mediocre people. It is the production of a disinterested people.
Apathy
Apathy is similar to mediocrity. It only differs in degree of disinterest. Apathy says, "It doesn’t matter." Whereas the mediocre will do just enough to get by, the apathetic won’t even try. They see no value in putting forth the effort.
Both mediocrity and apathy fly in the face of what should define our view of Christ, His Church, and our service to Him. Jesus states the standard simply:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
Love and apathy are antithetical. They are extreme opposites. Love is passionate; apathy is passionless. Love is self-less; apathy is self-absorbed. Love is sacrificial; apathy is self-seeking.
Sometimes mediocrity and apathy can become the governing characteristics of an entire culture – much like a prevailing inferiority complex, in which one never confronts issues directly or completely. Instead, there is a passive-aggressive approach to all of life. We never directly address important matters; but we complain constantly about them.
That’s not to say that folks like mediocrity. In fact, we love excellence – especially if we are on the receiving end. But we don’t want to pay for it. We don’t want to put in the hard work and sacrifice in order to achieve that excellence. Mediocrity hates hard work and sacrifice.
There is something else that is lost when we chose mediocrity instead of excellence. We are no longer dangerous. Satan is not frightened; evil doesn’t worry. Darkness feels no threat from mediocrity. That’s why there is so little resistance to it. But when one begins to pursue spiritual excellence, the enemy notices. He responds. He will not stop until he has restored us to mediocrity & apathy. Sadly, too often, we let him succeed.
The writer of Hebrews understood this temptation better than most, which is why he wrote the following:
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Hebrews 6:10-12)
Paul also recognized the temptation, which prompted him to similarly write…
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold (seize, hold tightly, rescue from peril) of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)
Accountability Or Encouragement?
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
We hear a great deal today about accountability. We want our politicians and government leaders to be more accountable for how they govern. We want business and industry to be more accountable to their customers and workers. We want our church leaders to be more accountable for how they lead.
But I wonder if God is as concerned about accountability as we are? You see, from Heaven's perspective, accountability is a “given”. Moses put it clearly enough: “…you may be sure that your sin will find you out,” (Numbers 32:23). Likewise, Paul warned: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows,” (Galatians 6:7). Mankind cannot escape accountability!
Now I am not suggesting that we ignore the wrong that others do; or that we excuse bad behavior, especially when it is our leaders who are doing wrong. Paul puts it pretty clear: “Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning,” (1 Timothy 5:23). And with regards to everyone else, Jesus added, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3).
Yet is that all there is to it? Is being a Christian only about looking for and pointing out where others are falling short? I don’t think so. There is another side to the coin that often gets overlooked. It is often the missing ingredient in the way Christians care for one another: Encouragement!
Five times in the New Testament, we read of ministers being sent to churches for the express purpose of encouraging them: (Acts 15:32, Romans 12:8, Ephesians 6:22, Colossians 4:8; 1Thessalonians 3:2). Ten more times, the New Testament instructs believers to make a concerted effort to encourage one another: (1Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11, 14, 2Thessalonians 2:17, 2Timothy 4:2, Titus 1:9, 2:6, 15, Hebrews 3:13, 10:25). Similarly, in the Old Testament, we repeatedly read of God encouraging Israel, as He did with Joshua as he prepared to invade the Promised Land:
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous...have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9)
We live in a world that is full of discouraging words. More needful today are not constant reminders of what is wrong, but encouragement to, as Paul wrote,
“…stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain,” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Accountability for sin will come in its own time. It will be absolute and unerring. No one will get away with anything. So instead of focusing upon holding people accountable, or setting things right, or settling scores, let’s instead follow the council of Hebrews 10:25, “…let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
When Faith Grows Old
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)
As I age, I have noticed something. Not only is my body becoming less flexible; but so is my mind. On the one hand, it makes me more stable. But on the other, I have become less daring. I am becoming increasingly risk averse. I know that if I fall, it will take longer to heal, and could permanently limit my range of motion.
Now those who do physical training tell me that it does not have to be this way. If you continue to exercise and do stretching exercises, you can slow the pace of decay and retain much of your formal flexibility and strength. This is also true of the mind. Recent research has found that those who stay actively engaged in relationships and continue to learn new things retain much of their mental capacity and clarity into old age.
Because these things are true about the body and mind, shouldn't the same be true with regard to our spiritual capacities? Isn't it possible to stay active and daring in one’s faith, even though the body and mind are not as responsive as they once were?
I believe it is possible, if we are willing. For what is true about the body and mind is also true about the soul. We have to stay engaged, earnest, invested, and active… or even our faith will begin to atrophy with age.
This was certainly true of Moses, of whom we are told, “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.” (Deuteronomy 34:7) Clearly, Moses was spiritually active and energetic in his last days, just as he had been in his first.
What God wants is evidenced by how God works in this world. The Creator told Isaiah, “Behold, I do a new thing (KJV). Of course He does! He is not the Re-Creator, but the Creator. He constantly does new things in new ways. And He wants to do new things even when we are old. He has no age preferences. He is not, as the King James version puts it, a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). As we can see from our study of the Gospel of Luke, God works through the old (Zechariah & Elizabeth), as well as through the young (Mary).
But sadly, the old are often unwilling to do something new. They become like those Jesus spoke of in Luke 5:39: “…no-one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.'” Sometimes that is true; but many times it is not. Old cars may be nostalgic and have a certain appeal, but they aren’t better. Old healthcare may have been cheaper, but it wasn’t better.
This also applies to the way God worked through His church in the past. I say this as someone who came to faith through a genuine revival, the Jesus People Movement. It was good, and it was glorious. Millions came to Christ and probably saved our nation from the moral and social collapse that was threatened because of the Hippie Movement.
But that was then and this is now! The challenges facing the church and the nation are not identical, nor are the solutions. Of course the message should not change; nor should the methods, if that means dependence upon the Holy Spirit and prayer. But the challenges are different, darker, and more pervasive. Our culture is no longer a churched culture – nor could we merely call it an un-churched culture. We are a de-churched culture. People no longer see the value or the relevance of the Church.
That’s the bad news; but here’s the good. They do see the value of Christ, and they are interested in what the Bible has to say about their lives.
But we cannot simply rest on the laurels of our sacred past, refusing to allow God to move through us in new and less familiar ways. We need to engage the world around us; to challenge its assumptions and present the Gospel message of Christ. Many people have heard about Christianity, but they have not heard about Christ. They know about the rules, but no one has ever spoken to them about the relationship. They have heard of God’s hatred for sin, but not about His love for sinners. They know all about broken lives, but almost nothing of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness. They know all about going to church, but have never seen Christians living in holy community.
I urge you to invite God to begin moving in your life in a new way. The past does not have to be your best. You are still here for a reason. Look to the future! As Jeremiah noted in the darkest moment of his life, Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22,23)
Love And Forgive
"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him." (John 1:10)
The reason the “world” did not recognize Jesus as God was that even though He was “in” the world, he was not “of” the world. He entered our reality, but He never became compromised by it.
In this sense, it could be said that Jesus was leading a counter-cultural movement: That is, His life went counter to the culture He entered. This was certainly true regarding the Jewish culture, but it has been proven to be true of all cultures. Whenever any of Jesus’ disciples have followed His teachings literally and radically, they have upset the status quo – and have been branded as anti-social and disruptive.
Why is this the case? The very men who eventually condemned Jesus to death supply the answer:
If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:48)
In other words, their entire life’s work, all the wealth and power they had acquired, would be lost – for it had been gained in ways that the Bible condemns.
This is still the reason why Christianity continues to be persecuted and compromised in nations around the world. The implications of truly living the Gospel are so radical that they inevitably upset the cultures they enter. Therefore, Christians are given an ultimatum: Compromise or get out.
Sadly, Christians find it easiest to compromise in regards to the two commands that are the most defining – and therefore essential – and the hardest to keep: Loving and Forgiving others. Yet, if our message is to ring true, we must prayerful ask God to empower us to do both, faithfully!
We can’t do one without the other; and we can’t do it on our own. To love our enemies and to forgive those who have wounded us takes the power of the Holy Spirit. And that usually comes through a prayer of confession: God I don’t love and I don’t forgive. Change my heart! You may have to pray these things over a long time and you may have to pray them often. But don’t content yourself with a blockage to your love – don’t rationalize your lack of forgiveness. Only by being loving and forgiving can God's people remain open channels through which God’s love and forgiveness can flow to a hurting and hopeless world.
What a man desires is unfailing love…(Proverbs 19:22)
Fear Of Death
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." (Hebrews 2:9)
As emotional beings, humans experience a wide variety of feelings, both positive and negative. Psychologists tell us there are nine distinct emotions: joy, sadness, trust, disgust, anger, surprise, sadness, anticipation, and fear.
Of these, I believe that fear is the strongest and most common. More decisions are fear-based than love-based. Fear is also the emotion that we are least willing to admit. It suggests weakness, and none of us like to admit to being weak. Nevertheless, there are two things that we cannot help but be fearful over: suffering and death.
Think for a moment how much effort we humans put into protecting and securing ourselves against the suffering that comes from hurt and loss. Consider how uncomfortable we become when the topic of death, especially the eventuality of our own death, becomes the focus of conversation. (This probably explains why pre-funeral arrangements are such a hard sell. Most people would prefer not to think about death, much less plan for it, even though we all know it is going to happen no matter what we do or how well we take care of ourselves.)
The apostle Paul taught that if we are truly believers in Christ, then the sting of death is gone (1st Corinthians 15:55). James promises that suffering can be turned into a source of joy (James 1:2,3). But let's be honest, most of us wonder just how that all works in real life.
Paul explained to the Corinthians that the secret was found in looking beyond the veil, (2nd Corinthians 3:13-16), for that is where we “see Jesus.” Most of us have a veil over our eyes when suffering & death intrude into our lives. All we can see is how things look in this present world. But when I “see Jesus” in my circumstances, I look past the veil and see “the world to come.” In an instant, suffering and death are redefined as friends and helpers, not enemies. They are no longer the “end,” but rather a means to a greater and more glorious end; that is, a “crown of glory and honor,” just like the one given to Jesus by the Father after He suffered and “tasted death.” When I truly believe this, then joy will prevail in my suffering, and peace will triumph over death.
An Accurate Self-Appraisal
It is one thing to believe that God is a forgiving God, quite another thing to believe that He has forgiven “me.” For many of us, self-forgiveness is more difficult than forgiving others.
This is especially true if someone has done something contrary to what he wants to believe is true about himself. Do you know what I am talking about? We begin by assuring ourselves, “I would never, ever, do that.” Then, in an unexpected moment of weakness, we find ourselves doing the very thing that we were confident we would never do.
Such moments are very disillusioning. We all hold to moral illusions about ourselves that need to be “dis-ed.” This is probably why the moment we assure ourselves that there is something we would never do, we soon find ourselves doing it. And God will let us, because He wants us to reject illusions of our own goodness in favor of a more honest appraisal.
Oswald Chambers once noted, “We are never nearer to greatness than when we are face down at the foot of the cross.” Greatness in God’s eyes is not found in moral perfection or religious rectitude. Rather, it is found in brokenness and humility, as a consequence of a correct appraisal of ourselves - the kind of self-appraisal that was forced upon David in the aftermath of his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah:
- “I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
(Psalm 51:5)
There are two key verses we would do well to keep in mind when we are tempted to disillusion ourselves:
- “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
- “…this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.” (Isaiah 66:2 Amplified Bible)