Beloved family and friends,
In the not-so-distant past, I stood outside the terminal of a busy foreign airport, expecting to meet a man who would take my traveling companions and me to our hostel. He was nowhere to be seen, so we put our luggage in a pile and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, our bags became stools as the 18+ hours of travel took their toll. A mob of taxis and busses honked their way through the lines. People blurred in and out. Security officers paraded around with AK-47s and menacing glares. Still we waited. Turkish blared simultaneously from the PA system, the stationary vehicle patrol, and the crowd in an intimidating cacophony of loud. We did our best to tune out the roar, and I suppose it was moderately effective...until the parading men pointed their guns our way. They yelled at us in Turkish. And all we could do was stare dumbly back. Some sympathetic soul took pity and translated. The gun guys wanted to know why were lying about like a bunch of vagrants. When our plight was communicated, they seemed to be less displeased, but the glares never ceased. We waited there, helpless and exhausted, for more than 6 hours. In the end, I remember sitting down on my bag, putting my head in my hands, and telling God that I couldn’t take it anymore. I was entirely undone. Then, I looked up and, through the tears, saw an old, silver van pull up to the curb. The wait was finally over. Our knight had arrived.
In 2010, that beleaguered, head-in-the-hands feeling was a common occurrence for me. The more I reminisced about the year, the more I realized many of you -my family, friends, and colleagues- endured lots of hard trials, too. And if this year wasn’t your year, a past year was. I recently read about the afflicted life of David Brainerd. It was encouraging to relate to his struggle and watch him seek God. Countless men and women before me took heart from this godly man’s life. And that same model is seen in the Psalms and all over Christendom. Our hardships are to be sung so others can hear and praise God. So, unconventional as this topic may be for a Christmas letter, I pray you will be blessed –not because I am a great person, but because I am sustained by a great God.
The hard seasons were interspersed throughout the year, but this fall was the worst. And, sadly, it was also the most despairing moment of my walk with Jesus. Ever. For the sake of time and significance, I’ll skip the details. Essentially, I spent the first three months of the school year exhausted and overwhelmed. In times like that you are easier prey to everything –even those matters with which you are normally able to cope. So on top of the circumstances that started it all, I was beginning to feel plagued by singleness and loneliness and ineptitude as a teacher and failure as a Christian. In the past, I’d learned to combat those things with truth, namely Christ’s work on the Cross. But I was so weary I didn’t even want to try. I felt abandoned by God, and I let myself consider it was true. I knew all the churchy answers, but I'd convinced myself they didn’t work for me anymore. I wanted to quit the whole Christian thing. I was tired of trying to be obedient. I was even looking to be willfully disobedient. Eventually, I realized I was frustrated because God wasn’t changing my circumstances when I thought he should. (Sounds like a 25-year-old fit, huh?) I discovered that when I’m pressed, I rely first on my own strength, my own system. But this time it failed me. Not only that, it wore me out. I fell flat on my face, and there was no grabbing bootstraps to get back up. If God wasn’t going to help, I was finished. But, help he did. It wasn’t a flashy, blazing swords kind of help. It wasn’t even a beat-up van kind of help. There was no instant change. But God continued to quietly speak truth into my life and never let me go –even when I wanted him to. It was the Holy Spirit in action. I couldn’t make myself choose a godless life. Literally. God graciously wouldn’t let me escape the fact that as terrible as everything seemed, there was hope nowhere else. I’d seen God’s faithfulness too many times to be able to logically conclude he’d actually abandoned me. To ultimately doubt his love would’ve made me the epitome of a fool. We were created for dependence. I knew that, but I think I had to fall harder than I ever had –in ways I never had– to learn what it really meant for God to be my only hope. It’s funny how Christian clichés can seem trite until the Teacher of life schools our ignorance to regard them as precious.
So wherever you are today, in sunshine or sorrow, I pray God will “grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” [Ephesians 3:14-19]
To be truly saved from anything, we must first give up on fixing the problem ourselves. Whether it’s the eternal problem of sin, or the immediate problems of life –we need to rest entirely on the power of God and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. For those who fully rely, there is always a Knight who pulls to the curb, even if change doesn’t come right away.
May 2011 find you resting in the joy of who Jesus is!
Cristi
========================================================================
the loved of 2010
—aunthood: Jack, Hallee, & Char-Char
—The Hidden Smile of God, by Piper
—Hymns remade by Page CXVI
—Dr. Betts and my Old Testament classes
—cooking with children
—Psalm 77; Isaiah 54-55; Hosea 2:14-15, 6:1-3
—Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, by Hertzberg/Francois
—traveling: Belize, Mexico, & Cali
—The Search for God and Guinness, by Mansfield
—2nd half marathon in the Rockies
—A Gospel Primer for Christians, by Vincent
—Justification & Regeneration, by Leiter
—starting an FCA chapter at Cheylin
—The Percy Jackson Series, by Riordan
—The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, by Birdsall
—www.twentytwowords.com
—writing a devotion published in Women at Southern: A Walk Through Psalms
—Creators, by Johnson
the anticipated of 2011
—aunthood: Jack, Hallee, and Char-Char
—women’s book study on Crazy Love, by Chan
—investing more in people instead of projects
—January/summer seminary classes
—possibly finishing my M.A. this year???
—Broken Down House, by Tripp
—mastering Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
—traveling: North Carolina & ???
—Zumba!!!
—Cheylin: FCA, FFA trip, teaching ESL class to faculty
—watching God’s truth take root in hearts
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
God Does Not Reside on Mount Olympus
After my two-month marathon of grad school this summer, I decided to take a break from the rigors of academia to read Rick Riordan’s popular series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I’m a fifth grade teacher, and I try to read children’s books when I can so I'm able to recommend quality literature to my students. But the truth is –I wanted to read this series. For me. And I wasn’t disappointed.
The series is based on the premise that the Olympic gods are alive and well –only now they reside above New York, the major city of the modern world power. And the Olympians, being who they are, of course, have demigod children running around the United States. One of these demigods is the protagonist: Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. The series follows him from the moment he discovers his true identity to the moment his greatness is ultimately tested in the final battle. The stories are fast-paced, intriguing, and humorous. They are about heroism, honor, and friendship. Read them. I know you’ll love them.
But –as I took the journey with Percy and his gang across the U.S. and under the ocean and through the Labyrinth, I wandered about the profit of reading a book saturated in the mythology of pagan gods. Perhaps I think too much, but this consideration led to more fruitful thoughts. In the end, I found Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Co. to be painfully lacking as deity worthy of authentic worship. And I found God even more securely established as the One who is worthy. Not that I expected anything different, but the absurdity of the Olympians as "gods" is laughable.
The books rely heavily on the ancient myths I learned in high school and college. Revisiting them as an adult, the gods of Olympus seemed to be sniveling, spoiled tyrants clearly constructed from the minds of men. They react to the actions of men. They are wooed by the beauty of women. And they are as fickle as, well, as a hormonal woman! They are altogether too human to be divine. In other words, when it came to explaining natural phenomena and all the other mysteries of life through their gods, it is evident that the Greeks only had the faculty of their own minds to do it. They couldn’t create something truly supernatural because they themselves were not supernatural. The Olympians act in ways that make sense to the Greeks because the Greeks were writing the book. They were incapable of thinking beyond that. The Olympians can only be founded in humanity because they are the brainchildren of humans. So, human nature, with a smattering of imaginative, superhuman steroids, is the DNA of the Greek gods.
Compare this to the Bible, and you’ll find Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The sovereign God who does not bend to the actions of insignificant men. The holy God who is supremely righteous. The gracious God who is truly immortal and wise. The merciful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with His people. This God may not always make sense to our feeble minds, but He does not need to –and I would venture to say, He doesn’t care. I don’t mean to be flippant. God is omniscient. If He deems it wise to reach down and open our eyes so we understand Him better, He will. But He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t owe it to us. Because He is God, and we are not. He need not make sense to humans to be real. Unlike the Olympians, man did not invent Him. Instead, God took the initiative to tell us who He is. God reveals Himself to us in the Bible. Perhaps men held the pen, but God is the author. If a man had created God to be accepted by the rest of humanity, he would have been better off making God a little more understandable, a little less mysterious. The God of the Bible wouldn’t ever win a divinity popularity contest because He simply doesn’t fit into our measly mental boxes. We don’t like what we don’t understand because we can’t control it.
Take, for example, the story of Job. Terrible atrocities were put upon this godly man. Were he Greek, he would have comforted himself in the logical conclusion that Zeus and Hera were having a marital rift. Or Athena was grumpy because of a cold. So he would have tried to make his life better with sacrifices and any other notion that would appease the offended god. Instead, Job humbly proclaims, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth...I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted...The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed by the name of the Lord” (Job 40:4, 42:2, 1:21b, ESV). Job realizes that God does not owe him an explanation. If He gives him one, that is His loving purpose. If He withholds one, that is His loving purpose. God answers to no man lest He chooses. And we are wise to not try controlling our circumstances with attempts to make them better, but to depend fully on the One who can sustain us in them –rain or shine.
Another difference that struck me in the books is the capriciousness of the Olympians. I briefly mentioned this previously, but I especially want to note this moody vacillation toward the gods' own children. Percy and his demigod friends are always in limbo as to whether or not they are pleasing their Olympic parents –and questioning what sort of catastrophe may occur as a manifestation of their rage if they are not. Now, God is perfectly merciful, gracious, and loving. He is also perfectly righteous and just. If He must exhibit His wrath toward sin as a rightful extension of His righteousness, He has every right to do so. He would not be truly just if He didn’t. But He will not extend that wrath to His children. That is why Christ came. The wrath of God was satisfied in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. [See 2 Corinthians 5:21 and 1 Peter 2:24.] Those who repent of their sins and believe in that perfect work need never wonder about God’s love toward them. It was purchased, once and for all, by Jesus’ blood. For those repentant souls, God’s wrath was poured out entirely on Christ. There is not even a drop left in the cup.
There was one thing I appreciated about the spirituality of Riordan’s characters. They revere the Olympians. This is particularly expressed through discussions of the gods’ names. When Zeus’s name is mentioned, the sky thunders on cloudless days. Poseidon’s name churns the sea. Percy is often reminded to “be less casual about throwing [the gods’] names around” (The Lightning Thief, page 67). Yet the true God’s name, Jesus’s name, and every variation of the two are glib curse words today. That wasn’t always the case. For the Israelites, speaking the name of Yahweh was in and of itself an act of worship. In fact, we see the reverence of His name directed in the Ten Commandments. Oh, that we would return to that awe and veneration! God’s name is abused in the streets and on TV...and even in the prayers of Christians. His name is not a prayer filler tantamount to “umm” or “uh.” But we use it as such. This whole thought process made me wonder why the names of other gods aren’t used as curse words. You never hear someone shout “Allah!” as they stub their toe, or “Buddah, I love these!” as they slurp down BBQ chicken wings. I wonder if it’s because of the popularity of Christianity. Perhaps the other deity are just more revered. Or perhaps Satan just doesn’t give a wit about slandering the names of myths so he doesn't even put the thought into human heads. Just wondering...
Anyway, bottom line: God does not reside on Mount Olympus. He is not borne of man’s imagination. He is God. But He is approachable through the sacrifice of Jesus. [Hebrews 4:14-16] May that knowledge drop you to your knees in worship. May you speak His name in humility, remembering that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:1).
The series is based on the premise that the Olympic gods are alive and well –only now they reside above New York, the major city of the modern world power. And the Olympians, being who they are, of course, have demigod children running around the United States. One of these demigods is the protagonist: Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. The series follows him from the moment he discovers his true identity to the moment his greatness is ultimately tested in the final battle. The stories are fast-paced, intriguing, and humorous. They are about heroism, honor, and friendship. Read them. I know you’ll love them.
But –as I took the journey with Percy and his gang across the U.S. and under the ocean and through the Labyrinth, I wandered about the profit of reading a book saturated in the mythology of pagan gods. Perhaps I think too much, but this consideration led to more fruitful thoughts. In the end, I found Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Co. to be painfully lacking as deity worthy of authentic worship. And I found God even more securely established as the One who is worthy. Not that I expected anything different, but the absurdity of the Olympians as "gods" is laughable.
The books rely heavily on the ancient myths I learned in high school and college. Revisiting them as an adult, the gods of Olympus seemed to be sniveling, spoiled tyrants clearly constructed from the minds of men. They react to the actions of men. They are wooed by the beauty of women. And they are as fickle as, well, as a hormonal woman! They are altogether too human to be divine. In other words, when it came to explaining natural phenomena and all the other mysteries of life through their gods, it is evident that the Greeks only had the faculty of their own minds to do it. They couldn’t create something truly supernatural because they themselves were not supernatural. The Olympians act in ways that make sense to the Greeks because the Greeks were writing the book. They were incapable of thinking beyond that. The Olympians can only be founded in humanity because they are the brainchildren of humans. So, human nature, with a smattering of imaginative, superhuman steroids, is the DNA of the Greek gods.
Compare this to the Bible, and you’ll find Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The sovereign God who does not bend to the actions of insignificant men. The holy God who is supremely righteous. The gracious God who is truly immortal and wise. The merciful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with His people. This God may not always make sense to our feeble minds, but He does not need to –and I would venture to say, He doesn’t care. I don’t mean to be flippant. God is omniscient. If He deems it wise to reach down and open our eyes so we understand Him better, He will. But He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t owe it to us. Because He is God, and we are not. He need not make sense to humans to be real. Unlike the Olympians, man did not invent Him. Instead, God took the initiative to tell us who He is. God reveals Himself to us in the Bible. Perhaps men held the pen, but God is the author. If a man had created God to be accepted by the rest of humanity, he would have been better off making God a little more understandable, a little less mysterious. The God of the Bible wouldn’t ever win a divinity popularity contest because He simply doesn’t fit into our measly mental boxes. We don’t like what we don’t understand because we can’t control it.
Take, for example, the story of Job. Terrible atrocities were put upon this godly man. Were he Greek, he would have comforted himself in the logical conclusion that Zeus and Hera were having a marital rift. Or Athena was grumpy because of a cold. So he would have tried to make his life better with sacrifices and any other notion that would appease the offended god. Instead, Job humbly proclaims, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth...I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted...The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed by the name of the Lord” (Job 40:4, 42:2, 1:21b, ESV). Job realizes that God does not owe him an explanation. If He gives him one, that is His loving purpose. If He withholds one, that is His loving purpose. God answers to no man lest He chooses. And we are wise to not try controlling our circumstances with attempts to make them better, but to depend fully on the One who can sustain us in them –rain or shine.
Another difference that struck me in the books is the capriciousness of the Olympians. I briefly mentioned this previously, but I especially want to note this moody vacillation toward the gods' own children. Percy and his demigod friends are always in limbo as to whether or not they are pleasing their Olympic parents –and questioning what sort of catastrophe may occur as a manifestation of their rage if they are not. Now, God is perfectly merciful, gracious, and loving. He is also perfectly righteous and just. If He must exhibit His wrath toward sin as a rightful extension of His righteousness, He has every right to do so. He would not be truly just if He didn’t. But He will not extend that wrath to His children. That is why Christ came. The wrath of God was satisfied in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. [See 2 Corinthians 5:21 and 1 Peter 2:24.] Those who repent of their sins and believe in that perfect work need never wonder about God’s love toward them. It was purchased, once and for all, by Jesus’ blood. For those repentant souls, God’s wrath was poured out entirely on Christ. There is not even a drop left in the cup.
There was one thing I appreciated about the spirituality of Riordan’s characters. They revere the Olympians. This is particularly expressed through discussions of the gods’ names. When Zeus’s name is mentioned, the sky thunders on cloudless days. Poseidon’s name churns the sea. Percy is often reminded to “be less casual about throwing [the gods’] names around” (The Lightning Thief, page 67). Yet the true God’s name, Jesus’s name, and every variation of the two are glib curse words today. That wasn’t always the case. For the Israelites, speaking the name of Yahweh was in and of itself an act of worship. In fact, we see the reverence of His name directed in the Ten Commandments. Oh, that we would return to that awe and veneration! God’s name is abused in the streets and on TV...and even in the prayers of Christians. His name is not a prayer filler tantamount to “umm” or “uh.” But we use it as such. This whole thought process made me wonder why the names of other gods aren’t used as curse words. You never hear someone shout “Allah!” as they stub their toe, or “Buddah, I love these!” as they slurp down BBQ chicken wings. I wonder if it’s because of the popularity of Christianity. Perhaps the other deity are just more revered. Or perhaps Satan just doesn’t give a wit about slandering the names of myths so he doesn't even put the thought into human heads. Just wondering...
Anyway, bottom line: God does not reside on Mount Olympus. He is not borne of man’s imagination. He is God. But He is approachable through the sacrifice of Jesus. [Hebrews 4:14-16] May that knowledge drop you to your knees in worship. May you speak His name in humility, remembering that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:1).
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Economy of the Infinite: Opportunity Cost
Opportunity cost defined…
“The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action.”
-Financial Dictionary
Basically, if you choose Option A, you give up Option B. If you pick Rocky Road, you surrender Cookies ‘n’ Cream. If you pursue a college decree, you relinquish a full-time income. If you choose the night lights of the city, you forfeit the starry skies of the country.
Ever since I first wrote on the economy of the infinite last spring, I’ve been considering opportunity cost in the realm of eternal truths. There are at least two ways in which this economic term is reflected in the gospel. One relates to Christ’s decisions, and one relates to mine...and to yours.
In Philippians 2, Paul gives us a glimpse of what opportunity cost looked like for the world’s preeminent hero:
The all-sufficient, all-powerful Christ gave up His heavenly throne to come to earth as a needy baby. Though He was fully God, He didn’t take advantage of His divine privileges. He relinquished them, subjecting Himself to the limitations of humanity. But He didn’t come to just be human. The peak of Christ’s earthly purpose was accomplished in His excruciating suffering and death and in His triumphant resurrection.
We can see what Christ sacrificed. But why? What was His motive for choosing Option A and giving up Option B? The answer is twofold. Number one: Jesus came to die that God might be glorified. “‘Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28).
Number two: Jesus came to die so that a lost world might be saved from hell. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Paul put it like this: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).
The sacrificial generosity of Christ has been seen and sung for two thousand years. But why doesn’t everyone choose it? The math seems pretty simple. We deserve hell. Jesus offers heaven to us if we truly repent and trust in His moral perfection to replace our moral filth. So, if we choose to believe that in faith, we forfeit our tickets to eternal suffering. Pretty sweet deal. Why wouldn’t everyone pick that option?
Well, lest I oversimplify the issue, it may be a matter of never hearing the truth. It may be a matter of never recognizing a need for salvation. But it may be a matter of opportunity cost. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Jesus told His disciples:
So following Christ means we are obedient to His Father. (1 John 2:3-6, 3:4-10, 5:1-5) Opportunity cost for the Christian means you don’t get to do whatever you want. You don’t get to cheat your way to gain or ease. You don’t get to gossip about your neighbor. You don’t get to waste your life in drunkenness. You don’t get to gratify your lusts with pornography. You don’t get to have sex outside of marriage. You don’t get to spend all of your resources on your own pursuits. You don’t get to hide when truth must be championed. You don’t get to be silent when souls around you are perishing. You don’t get marry an unbeliever. You don’t get to respond in anger when you’ve been wronged. The list goes on.
You may be thinking you’ve already messed up too much...the above list was essentially your biography. Or you may be thinking that there's way too many don’ts to be worth it. To the former, I say, keep reading. To the latter, remember what’s on the other side of the scale –eternal, horrific suffering. Forfeiting some instant gratification and worldly pleasure in this whisper of time we call life is far less egregious than spending eternity in hell. And, like I said before, you don’t have to give up every pleasure. Every good thing is from God –beer, sex, vacations, beauty, wealth. But the way we pursue, use, and spend those good things must honor God.
Please don’t misunderstand me. You cannot save yourself by obedience. Paul told the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). But your works, your obedience, are the evidence of your faith (James 2:14-26). God doesn’t expect His children to be perfect, but He does expect us to be faithful. And in that we forego those behaviors that blaspheme Christ's work on the Cross. Obedience is a response to grace. It’s a response to the Cross. We obey out of humble gratitude. Like the prostitute who wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair, those who are forgiven much, love much. We can love because we’ve been so loved. We express our love in obedience.
“The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action.”
-Financial Dictionary
Basically, if you choose Option A, you give up Option B. If you pick Rocky Road, you surrender Cookies ‘n’ Cream. If you pursue a college decree, you relinquish a full-time income. If you choose the night lights of the city, you forfeit the starry skies of the country.
Ever since I first wrote on the economy of the infinite last spring, I’ve been considering opportunity cost in the realm of eternal truths. There are at least two ways in which this economic term is reflected in the gospel. One relates to Christ’s decisions, and one relates to mine...and to yours.
In Philippians 2, Paul gives us a glimpse of what opportunity cost looked like for the world’s preeminent hero:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (verses 5-8)
The all-sufficient, all-powerful Christ gave up His heavenly throne to come to earth as a needy baby. Though He was fully God, He didn’t take advantage of His divine privileges. He relinquished them, subjecting Himself to the limitations of humanity. But He didn’t come to just be human. The peak of Christ’s earthly purpose was accomplished in His excruciating suffering and death and in His triumphant resurrection.
We can see what Christ sacrificed. But why? What was His motive for choosing Option A and giving up Option B? The answer is twofold. Number one: Jesus came to die that God might be glorified. “‘Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28).
Number two: Jesus came to die so that a lost world might be saved from hell. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Paul put it like this: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).
The sacrificial generosity of Christ has been seen and sung for two thousand years. But why doesn’t everyone choose it? The math seems pretty simple. We deserve hell. Jesus offers heaven to us if we truly repent and trust in His moral perfection to replace our moral filth. So, if we choose to believe that in faith, we forfeit our tickets to eternal suffering. Pretty sweet deal. Why wouldn’t everyone pick that option?
Well, lest I oversimplify the issue, it may be a matter of never hearing the truth. It may be a matter of never recognizing a need for salvation. But it may be a matter of opportunity cost. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Jesus told His disciples:
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:24-27)Now, was Jesus saying every true believer must be a martyr? Was He saying that real Christians must live a life void of happiness and pleasure? Of course not. Jesus was saying that the choice to pursue Him is just like any other choice, and, though the rewards are infinitely great, it demands a price. A life truly submitted to the lordship of Jesus will increasingly reflect that joyful submission in actions, desires, words, and thoughts. God doesn’t want your lip service, and on Judgment Day, it will mean nothing. (Matthew 7:21)
So following Christ means we are obedient to His Father. (1 John 2:3-6, 3:4-10, 5:1-5) Opportunity cost for the Christian means you don’t get to do whatever you want. You don’t get to cheat your way to gain or ease. You don’t get to gossip about your neighbor. You don’t get to waste your life in drunkenness. You don’t get to gratify your lusts with pornography. You don’t get to have sex outside of marriage. You don’t get to spend all of your resources on your own pursuits. You don’t get to hide when truth must be championed. You don’t get to be silent when souls around you are perishing. You don’t get marry an unbeliever. You don’t get to respond in anger when you’ve been wronged. The list goes on.
You may be thinking you’ve already messed up too much...the above list was essentially your biography. Or you may be thinking that there's way too many don’ts to be worth it. To the former, I say, keep reading. To the latter, remember what’s on the other side of the scale –eternal, horrific suffering. Forfeiting some instant gratification and worldly pleasure in this whisper of time we call life is far less egregious than spending eternity in hell. And, like I said before, you don’t have to give up every pleasure. Every good thing is from God –beer, sex, vacations, beauty, wealth. But the way we pursue, use, and spend those good things must honor God.
Please don’t misunderstand me. You cannot save yourself by obedience. Paul told the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). But your works, your obedience, are the evidence of your faith (James 2:14-26). God doesn’t expect His children to be perfect, but He does expect us to be faithful. And in that we forego those behaviors that blaspheme Christ's work on the Cross. Obedience is a response to grace. It’s a response to the Cross. We obey out of humble gratitude. Like the prostitute who wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair, those who are forgiven much, love much. We can love because we’ve been so loved. We express our love in obedience.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Taste and See: An Ode to My God
Fiona (who I affectionately call Flea) and I stayed home from church this morning because the poor little dear caught the stomach flu. So she napped, the sky drizzled, and I sat down with my Bible and journal to reflect with God on past weeks. You wouldn’t think being trapped inside with the flu bug on a drippy day could be so encouraging but such was the case…to the extent that my heart overflows in praise to my Lord, and I want you to know what He’s done.
Situations and circumstances have recently catapulted me into a state of spiritual unrest, for lack of a better term. Some of this is due to my own sinful foolishness. Some of it is a result of living in a fallen world. But this morning I’d had enough. Feeling overwhelmingly sinful and spiritually thirsty, I knew I needed to soak in the wisdom of the Most High. I studied Ephesians this week in my class, so that’s where I went. Paul starts his letter reminding the church of all they have in Christ:
This is the gospel and its rich implications for those who believe. Here, in the beauty of Christ and the grandeur of God’s sovereignty, I found respite for my weary soul. But God wasn’t finished. As I prayed through the above verses, I was particularly grateful for Christ’s blood; because in my depraved wretchedness, it is my only hope for salvation. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient -even in my miserable failings and fallings. What a comfort to know God’s favor towards me is not based on what I can or can’t do, but on the finished work of Jesus. That’s what it means to be saved by grace. But, as Paul wrote to the Romans, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” So I exalted in the finishing work of the Cross but continued to look for wisdom to be obedient in fighting against my own depravity.
That’s when I remembered Ephesians 5. Paul is talking to husbands but references Christ’s sacrificial death which sanctified His Bride, the church. She is “cleansed…by the washing of water with the word.” The author of Hebrews wrote that “the word of God is living and active.” So, in the knowledge that I have been betrothed to Christ by His death and resurrection, I prayed that God would cleanse and lead me by His Word.
I went on journaling and praying through all the stuff of the past weeks and the grime of my own heart. In the issue which caused the most havoc, I realized I was gripped by fear. I was afraid of my own propensity for sin –its subtlety and its strength. I was afraid of continuing on my current path for fear of making another mistake. I was afraid of making a new path for fear of the effects it may have. I was a slave to fear.
And here God faithfully answered my prayer to be sanctified by His Word. He brought to mind Paul’s words in Romans 8: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” I realized that the fear of my own sin and weakness was inhibiting me from living boldly for the Kingdom. And if that’s how I’m living, then I’m functionally rendering Christ’s work on the cross as powerless and worthless. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1). So with my eyes fixed on Christ and the hope of the gospel, I hopefully and joyfully continue on this path as a soldier of the King, made strong in Jesus and the Word.
I am overwhelmed by the mercy of my God. This morning I tasted and saw that He is good. I cried for help and He answered. Today, in another degree, the living Word conformed my heart and mind to Christ’s. And that is “to the praise of His glorious grace.”
Situations and circumstances have recently catapulted me into a state of spiritual unrest, for lack of a better term. Some of this is due to my own sinful foolishness. Some of it is a result of living in a fallen world. But this morning I’d had enough. Feeling overwhelmingly sinful and spiritually thirsty, I knew I needed to soak in the wisdom of the Most High. I studied Ephesians this week in my class, so that’s where I went. Paul starts his letter reminding the church of all they have in Christ:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
This is the gospel and its rich implications for those who believe. Here, in the beauty of Christ and the grandeur of God’s sovereignty, I found respite for my weary soul. But God wasn’t finished. As I prayed through the above verses, I was particularly grateful for Christ’s blood; because in my depraved wretchedness, it is my only hope for salvation. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient -even in my miserable failings and fallings. What a comfort to know God’s favor towards me is not based on what I can or can’t do, but on the finished work of Jesus. That’s what it means to be saved by grace. But, as Paul wrote to the Romans, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” So I exalted in the finishing work of the Cross but continued to look for wisdom to be obedient in fighting against my own depravity.
That’s when I remembered Ephesians 5. Paul is talking to husbands but references Christ’s sacrificial death which sanctified His Bride, the church. She is “cleansed…by the washing of water with the word.” The author of Hebrews wrote that “the word of God is living and active.” So, in the knowledge that I have been betrothed to Christ by His death and resurrection, I prayed that God would cleanse and lead me by His Word.
I went on journaling and praying through all the stuff of the past weeks and the grime of my own heart. In the issue which caused the most havoc, I realized I was gripped by fear. I was afraid of my own propensity for sin –its subtlety and its strength. I was afraid of continuing on my current path for fear of making another mistake. I was afraid of making a new path for fear of the effects it may have. I was a slave to fear.
And here God faithfully answered my prayer to be sanctified by His Word. He brought to mind Paul’s words in Romans 8: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” I realized that the fear of my own sin and weakness was inhibiting me from living boldly for the Kingdom. And if that’s how I’m living, then I’m functionally rendering Christ’s work on the cross as powerless and worthless. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1). So with my eyes fixed on Christ and the hope of the gospel, I hopefully and joyfully continue on this path as a soldier of the King, made strong in Jesus and the Word.
I am overwhelmed by the mercy of my God. This morning I tasted and saw that He is good. I cried for help and He answered. Today, in another degree, the living Word conformed my heart and mind to Christ’s. And that is “to the praise of His glorious grace.”
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