Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Mark 12:29
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
Loving God is the central issue of our faith.
Before any religious duty, before any work for God can be done in earnest, we must Love God.
The extent of our expected love for Him is clear. We are to love Him in the totality of our being. Every aspect of our being is to love Him - with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might - we are to love Him with everything in us that can love.
It is interesting that the request to love is expressed in a command. In our culture we tend to say, “You cannot demand to be loved.” That is true in the sense that we cannot force a person to love us.
In fact, in the mystery of God’s desire to have love from creatures who could freely love Him, it seems He allowed them to also freely hate Him. I believe this is the mystery of where sin and as a result of sin all of the suffering in the world comes from.
Still God does not ask His children to love Him, he commands them to love Him.
Love is to be the foundation of all righteous actions. Without love, I Corinthians 13 tells us, all of our acts mean little or nothing. God wants to underline this as foundational.
John 15:9-13
"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11 "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. 12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
In John 15 Jesus repeats the command to love from another perspective he says that if we love him we will do what he commands.
The Old Testament culture was so conditioned to believe that their actions made them righteous that they had to be commanded concerning their internal motivations to love God.
The New Testament culture was so conditioned to separate their motives from actions that they had to have the opposite message - you say you love God in your heart, it will show in your actions. In the late part of the first century this tendency had so grown that John had to say that if you say you love God but hate your brother you lie!
1 John 4:20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
The point of my thoughts today is first I need to constantly be checking how my culture impacts my thinking. That is not just the secular culture but the religious one. The idea of God commanding me to love Him is strongly outside what most of my religious culture teaches but it is clearly biblical.
Why would God command us to love Him? In the context of Mosaic Judaism it was to counter the force of idolatry. The constant theme of the Old Testament was the competition in the hearts of Israel between God and idols. We hardly can understand this.
The tendency to forsake God for images of wood and stone was the central reason for so much of what God spoke to Israel. They had seen the God of Wonders do miracles that defy imagination. Even while they were in front of a mountain that was ablaze with the Glory of God they were making a golden calf and worshipping it.
God commanded them to love Him for their own good. He knew the tenacity of their hearts to want a God made in their own heart's image of Him. A God of stone is so much easier to deal with than the living God.
We are pretty sure we are above all this because we do not often worship images. But by the time Jesus was giving his command to love a new point of departure from God was in place. It was as tenatious as any prior. The doing of God's bidding grew to be more important than knowing Him. And the knowing of Him, while supposedly connected to every act of life was disconnected from loving others.
They had moved from worshipping stone to having hearts of it.
God was no longer an image to be manipulated He was a means to escape the responsibility of loving your neighbor as yourself.
Fast forward to today. We no longer worry about the command to love..... in fact we embrace it whole heartedly. But as children of post modernism we take the power out of God's radical claim on our lives by simply changing the meaning of the words He uses.
That is why I believe He has had to command each generation to love Him. That is why He has had to say it differently to each generation as well.
The human heart has not really changed so much but its way of continuing to have its own way in the face of the Almighty has.
Today God wants me to know that when I say I love Him it does not mean I have a nice feeling inside towards Him and it ends there. His call to love is a radical call to full surrender of myself in every aspect of my life, thought, will, emotions and spirit to Him. He shows me by the call to follow Jesus to the cross to die to myself and live to Him that I am no longer my own.
He challenges me with His claim of ownership - that I am bought with a price - His own possession purchased by the blood of His Son - to let me know that I no longer have any rights to my own life.
This directly confronts the essence of all the idolatrous movements of the human heart since time began. An Idol is a God we own. The living God is the one who owns us.
When He commands me to love Him he is not giving me the option to remain in charge of my own life. He is making clear that it is not "if I feel like it", or "if I would like to" I might consider the benefits of loving Him. He is saying that He has the right of ownership of me. I am really not my own.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
An Everlasting Love
Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
How wrong we see God when we understand Him as less than what He is:
1 John 4:7-9 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
The Bible says "God is love."
It does not say God has love.
It does not say God's character is to love.
It says "God is love."
He is the definition of love.
You see behind God there is nothing else. There is not a set of standards that God Himself is subject to. There is no ideal called love that we can compare God to. There is no higher authority than God. God is the standard by which everything else is considered.
God did not have to be love. He could have been hateful. Many think He is. He could have been selfish. He could have created the world for nothing more than His own pleasure.
When people say that there could be no God because of the existence of evil I have often wondered what my friend Harvey Katz once asked an atheist after he made such a statement. He said, "Who told you God had to be good?"
This is pivotal. God could still be God and be evil. The presence of evil does not demand that there is no God. It just gives the possibility that God may not be what we think is good.
I would suggest that believing in a God that hates is not inconceivable as many people believe in just such a God. And in fact God could have been hateful. And if He was so He would still be God.
How thankful I am that He is not hateful. He is love. He is the very essence of kindness, care, generosity and compassion.
The other wonderful message in today's meditation is that His love is everlasting.
It never ends.
I don't know about you but my love, as strong as it may be, runs out if tested to great limits. Were it not for God I would not even have real love.
I don't have such a great memory these days but I vividly remember what I was like before I knew Jesus. There was nothing of true, self sacrificing love in me. Even my narcissistic love ran dry rapidly upon demand of selfless giving.
But God's love is everlasting. It goes on forever. That's because He is love. Since He is eternal, love is eternal.
What is almost beyond my comprehension is that every single person that Jesus will say, "Depart from me" to is now and will always be loved by him. He gave everything for them. For God so loved the world..... John 3:16
This is the irony of our human existence. As much as God loves us He cannot change us until we respond in kind to His love.
This is true of us with our fellow humans as well. No matter how we love them we cannot make them change one bit. No matter how much they love us they cannot change us one bit. In fact as sad as it may be both God's love and our love given to a narcissistic person can actually let them grow deeper in their pride. And it is the same for us if we remain in our narcissism.
God is love and the one who does not love in response does not love or even know God. That is because He is love.
To truly know God is to truly know love. To be filled with God is to be filled with love.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit includes being filled to overflowing with love. That is why I believe what Keith Green said, "The primary evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is love for Jesus and others."
Keith had it right. The "gifts" of the Holy Spirit are amazing and extremely important for a believer. But without the love of God filling our hearts..... the Spirit of God Himself filling our hearts, the gifts are actually going to be destructive.
We must never rest on being loved by God. Hitler was loved by God. Charles Manson is loved by God. Karla Holmolka is loved by God. Being loved by God does not change people. Loving Him and those He loves in grateful response to His love does.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
How wrong we see God when we understand Him as less than what He is:
1 John 4:7-9 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
The Bible says "God is love."
It does not say God has love.
It does not say God's character is to love.
It says "God is love."
He is the definition of love.
You see behind God there is nothing else. There is not a set of standards that God Himself is subject to. There is no ideal called love that we can compare God to. There is no higher authority than God. God is the standard by which everything else is considered.
God did not have to be love. He could have been hateful. Many think He is. He could have been selfish. He could have created the world for nothing more than His own pleasure.
When people say that there could be no God because of the existence of evil I have often wondered what my friend Harvey Katz once asked an atheist after he made such a statement. He said, "Who told you God had to be good?"
This is pivotal. God could still be God and be evil. The presence of evil does not demand that there is no God. It just gives the possibility that God may not be what we think is good.
I would suggest that believing in a God that hates is not inconceivable as many people believe in just such a God. And in fact God could have been hateful. And if He was so He would still be God.
How thankful I am that He is not hateful. He is love. He is the very essence of kindness, care, generosity and compassion.
The other wonderful message in today's meditation is that His love is everlasting.
It never ends.
I don't know about you but my love, as strong as it may be, runs out if tested to great limits. Were it not for God I would not even have real love.
I don't have such a great memory these days but I vividly remember what I was like before I knew Jesus. There was nothing of true, self sacrificing love in me. Even my narcissistic love ran dry rapidly upon demand of selfless giving.
But God's love is everlasting. It goes on forever. That's because He is love. Since He is eternal, love is eternal.
What is almost beyond my comprehension is that every single person that Jesus will say, "Depart from me" to is now and will always be loved by him. He gave everything for them. For God so loved the world..... John 3:16
This is the irony of our human existence. As much as God loves us He cannot change us until we respond in kind to His love.
This is true of us with our fellow humans as well. No matter how we love them we cannot make them change one bit. No matter how much they love us they cannot change us one bit. In fact as sad as it may be both God's love and our love given to a narcissistic person can actually let them grow deeper in their pride. And it is the same for us if we remain in our narcissism.
God is love and the one who does not love in response does not love or even know God. That is because He is love.
To truly know God is to truly know love. To be filled with God is to be filled with love.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit includes being filled to overflowing with love. That is why I believe what Keith Green said, "The primary evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is love for Jesus and others."
Keith had it right. The "gifts" of the Holy Spirit are amazing and extremely important for a believer. But without the love of God filling our hearts..... the Spirit of God Himself filling our hearts, the gifts are actually going to be destructive.
We must never rest on being loved by God. Hitler was loved by God. Charles Manson is loved by God. Karla Holmolka is loved by God. Being loved by God does not change people. Loving Him and those He loves in grateful response to His love does.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Three Gifts of the Father
Malachi 4:5
"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."
The last words of the Old Testament are concerning the relationship of Fathers with their Children
They describe the ministry of Elijah.
This gives us some idea of the importance of a father in a child's life. The ministry of the second most important messenger sent from God is described as turning hearts of father's to their children. And turning the hearts of their children to them
Without this mutual turning of hearts the earth is cursed.
THE GIFTS OF A FATHER
PROVISION
PROTECTION
PRESENCE
I believe one of the greatest assaults on the world in these last days has been to remove from fathers their role in the family.
The resulting curse is evident
Not only in families
But in the society at large the legacy of has been to remove fathers from being the primary provider - To remove fathers from being the protector of the family unit - To remove fathers from being in the home at all.
The key to being a provider, protector and loving presence in our wife and children's lives is found in our relationship with God our provider, protector and the one who is always with us.
Today, Father's Day, I was meditating on the aspect of my role of provider, protector and one who is with those I love in relationship to God's provision for me. What a wonderful blessing he has given us. We as fathers simply pass along what has already been given us. Those of us who have never really known what a real father looks like can find everything we need to be fathers by letting Him father us.
PROVISION
Proverbs 19:14
House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,
I Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Luke 12:31 "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Luke 12:24 "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! . . . .27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28 "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! 29 "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 31 "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
PROTECTION
James 4:7 (KJS) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
PRESENCE
Hebrews 13:5
"I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Beauty for Ashes
Isaiah 61:1-7
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them beauty for ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
4 Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
6 But you will be called the priests of the LORD;
You will be spoken of as ministers of our God
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,
And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion
Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
Everlasting joy will be theirs.
This morning as I was spending time with my sweetheart she told me about how she had a family of finches in one of our birdhouses.
She gets so much joy from the birds we have on our property.
We have a bit of a wildlife refuge and a bit of the best earth gives.
Our home backs onto 1600 acres of farm property and she had me put many trees on the property. It is full of birds.
The appearance of this little finch family was especially precious as she has been going through a very hard time in her life in some of her other relationships.
As I was thinking about what she had told me I thought of the scripture that says He gives us "beauty for ashes."
How like God to do that! In the midst of terrible situations he makes sure the flowers still grow and the birds sing so that we can know that somewhere beyond our present situation there is hope for the future to be brighter than today.
Hope is the beauty He most often gives me for the ashes of my present life. Hope is beautiful. The little finches gobbling up the food their mom is bringing is the hope of the future for her and today for my beloved.
It reminded me of a story I once heard Corrie Ten Boom tell. She was visiting Oral Roberts University where I did my B.A. She was telling us about how she learned in the darkness of a life in a prison camp in Nazi ruled Germany that there was "No pit so deep that God was not deeper still."
She said the horror of the camp could not keep the beauty of God from coming forth. She related to us that his beauty in creation led her in one of the most horrible moments of her life. She said that she had to report to a prison administrator to go over her crimes and to be supervised.
The first day they reported they brought the prisoners into an open area where there were several huts that served as the offices of the administrators. On hut had a window box with flowers in it. She chose that administrator to report to. She said that she knew that in order for him to still plant and care for things of beauty that he had to have a part of his heart that had not been darkened by the horror that surrounded him.
She was right about him and he did help her while she was in that place. But the thing that I marveled at was how God's beauty invaded the darkness like a beacon of light to guide her to His protection. It still does the same today.
The beauty of the creation tells us of a greater beauty. It tells us of the one who its beauty comes from. The greatest beauty we can be given in the midst of these terrible ashes is God Himself. As we journey through death's valley He is with us. He is the true beauty of life.
Today my beloved tended the flowers in her garden and fed her birds. She knows the darkness is here. She feels the ashes of torched expectations. But she also knows that in the midst of the worst that life can give there is one who will always give Himself - the fountain of all beauty - for the ashes the world gives.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them beauty for ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
4 Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
6 But you will be called the priests of the LORD;
You will be spoken of as ministers of our God
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,
And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion
Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
Everlasting joy will be theirs.
This morning as I was spending time with my sweetheart she told me about how she had a family of finches in one of our birdhouses.
She gets so much joy from the birds we have on our property.
We have a bit of a wildlife refuge and a bit of the best earth gives.
Our home backs onto 1600 acres of farm property and she had me put many trees on the property. It is full of birds.
The appearance of this little finch family was especially precious as she has been going through a very hard time in her life in some of her other relationships.
As I was thinking about what she had told me I thought of the scripture that says He gives us "beauty for ashes."
How like God to do that! In the midst of terrible situations he makes sure the flowers still grow and the birds sing so that we can know that somewhere beyond our present situation there is hope for the future to be brighter than today.
Hope is the beauty He most often gives me for the ashes of my present life. Hope is beautiful. The little finches gobbling up the food their mom is bringing is the hope of the future for her and today for my beloved.
It reminded me of a story I once heard Corrie Ten Boom tell. She was visiting Oral Roberts University where I did my B.A. She was telling us about how she learned in the darkness of a life in a prison camp in Nazi ruled Germany that there was "No pit so deep that God was not deeper still."
She said the horror of the camp could not keep the beauty of God from coming forth. She related to us that his beauty in creation led her in one of the most horrible moments of her life. She said that she had to report to a prison administrator to go over her crimes and to be supervised.
The first day they reported they brought the prisoners into an open area where there were several huts that served as the offices of the administrators. On hut had a window box with flowers in it. She chose that administrator to report to. She said that she knew that in order for him to still plant and care for things of beauty that he had to have a part of his heart that had not been darkened by the horror that surrounded him.
She was right about him and he did help her while she was in that place. But the thing that I marveled at was how God's beauty invaded the darkness like a beacon of light to guide her to His protection. It still does the same today.
The beauty of the creation tells us of a greater beauty. It tells us of the one who its beauty comes from. The greatest beauty we can be given in the midst of these terrible ashes is God Himself. As we journey through death's valley He is with us. He is the true beauty of life.
Today my beloved tended the flowers in her garden and fed her birds. She knows the darkness is here. She feels the ashes of torched expectations. But she also knows that in the midst of the worst that life can give there is one who will always give Himself - the fountain of all beauty - for the ashes the world gives.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
But Do You Love Me - The Essential Question of Marriage
BUT DO YOU LOVE ME......
Ephesians 5:25-33 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband.
We stood as the judge walked into the room and was seated. He was given honour by calling him that name. It was my first experience in that room that so many of the broken pieces of our world pass through. I was impressed with the way his Honour was treated.
What I didn't find out until later, as I grew to know the court system, was that almost everyone on that particular stage hated that particular judge. I would have never guessed it by the way everyone acted. It seemed he was deeply respected by all. He was accorded honour on the principle that made our society work a hundred years ago. His tribute was a relic from an age gone by when people honoured offices and consequently people.
Yesterday I phoned a professional nursing office to find out about housing for a widow I was helping. The lady answered the phone and placed me with a counsellor. The lady answered and informed me that I was speaking to "Brenda Jacobs". For a moment I struggled inside of myself. I then asked if I should call her Brenda or Jacobs..... She is a part of a revolution which has changed everything in our world. She will not be known or honoured for her position in marriage.
I am a pastor. I live and work in between the world of the judge and Brenda. I have worked in churches that honoured the role of the pastor highly. I have served in traditions where the pastor had to ask the choir director what his sermon topic should be in order to fit it in with the hymns. In both I have found a mysterious relationship between love, acts of loving and marriage. Almost incidentally I found a wonderful truth about the growth of churches.
Love is like many words which have no physical model to which we can point. We are all sure we know what we mean by it. When we talk to one another we are sure that we are communicating what we mean but often we aren't. Love is this kind of a concept. We often miss what it really is in favour of other concepts like honour or intimacy. Love is neither honour nor intimacy though it cannot truly be in a person's heart without displaying both.
The marriage vow speaks of the honour of keeping a commitment to love until death. It speaks best to that part of the world who still feel a vow is sacred and to be kept in spite of all that occurs to darken the emotions that brought the couple to the day of covenant.
"I didn't love her anymore....." This tragic view of love has crossed my path many times. It sees love through Brenda's eyes. Not a commitment but a feeling.
To her world covenant relationships are not reflective of "reality". Love is either there or not. If it is not then the outward forms have no meaning.
Love in the modern era is intimacy without commitment. It requires real emotions in the heart but when they leave or are not found it does not demand effort to bring them to life again.
How many marriages do I know that have come weekly to my church and stay together through the years because they honour their word.
Countless numbers of people that still stand for the judge though, they hate him, still honour marriage and the lifetime commitment to it. It is here that our brave new world has lost its virtue. It is here that we find the source of almost all marital breakdown.
Marriages are failing externally today because of a lack of honour of promises made. If you do not believe this simply ask a person that recently divorced their spouse (i.e. the one that left) how they feel about the fact that they broke their vow to stay with this person and love them until they died.
If they are like most people that I counsel they will look at you with great amazement.... or anger. They will most likely point out the worthlessness of keeping vows that you no longer "feel". They belong to Brenda's world. They took their vows in the world of the judge but when love as an emotion left they "faced the facts" and decided that his world wasn't real. They lost intimacy and so the relationship was over.
On the other side of this I must say that I hurt deeply for those who just "keep their word". Wives’ faces fill my mind that have literally died from anger they quietly sat on for years in order to save face and "do what is right".
I think of men who in their despair have confessed to me that they were living in a nightmare of external conformity while their hearts had become like bitter poison. The poison was held by the bottle of external keeping of promises made but their power was killing the one in the bottle....themselves. They are the victims of a doctrine that teaches it is enough only to act like you love.
I remember a little church I pastored. It was in the early years of my ministry. I was still an idealist. Almost the first thing they did was put my name up on their sign.
It is funny but at the time I thought it quite odd that one of the board members proudly marched me out to that sign the first week I was there.
In my idealism I thought all churches changed their signs immediately He beamed as he said, "We got your name painted on there as soon as we knew you were coming".
That church grew under my ministry rapidly. They gave me precious memories of what it is like to be loved by a congregation. I preached better for them...I prayed more for them...I visited them with joy and they grew.
A few years later the autumn winds blew the leaves across the yard as I left the house of a parishoner named Bill and his new wife. My new church honoured the pastor highly.
The couple called me pastor Terry all night in spite of my request to drop the formality. I thought about how he had showed me so many pictures of his former wife who was now dead. I could not help but notice the emotions that both displayed. He spoke with deep affection for his former spouse. She became quiet.
I could not put my finger on the emotion I was experiencing until I got to church. As I pulled past the church sign I saw it was still there on the sign....the former pastor's name.
I had come in the early summer yet he was still with me. In fact his name was still on the sign when I left. they never. Oh he had vacated the parsonage. My parishoner's wife had died. They were both still here though. And I felt silence.
As I prayed that God would take the hurt out of my heart I remembered that unusual board member at my former church who took me out to show me my name on the church sign.
I then knew what was wrong in my parishoner's new marriage. He couldn't see it. He loved his wife who died and that could not be wrong. He honoured marriage. He would be faithful to his new wife, provide for her and in action love her as long as they both would live. I understood that young bride's silence though. I felt it keenly in my new ministry. We were honoured but they were loved.
Inside of my heart that night I came to a clearer understanding of the difference between a good and bad marriage for those who honour that sacred commitment.
Almost in passing I found more evidence of the secret of a church that grows and one that just continues to exist.
It was expressed best through the lips of one who long ago recognized the difference between honour, intimacy and love. One of his disciples had both of the former. He had followed Him all over Galilee. He expressed the commitment he held for him when at His last supper with his beloved friend he proclaimed, "though all forsake you yet will I not".
He had honoured that vow when he bravely fought when his enemies came to take his teacher away.
But before a rooster let out his morning cry he had refused to bear the name of Jesus.
Some weeks later as Jesus sat on that ancient shore where he had first called Peter, he asked him a question which put his life back together. It was the question that finished his attempts to "keep his word" while having a heart far from Him. Jesus would not fill an office. He would not allow a lesser character quality to fill the place where relationships hold together.
It is true that Brenda's world will not support love in the fuller meaning of the word. Love takes commitment. It takes vows that are honoured. We must recover this if marriage is to succeed. But we must not stop there. We must not assume that every marriage must simply reduce to silence in the attempt to "keep the show going".
We must let the penetrating light of truth bring us to our senses. We must not cover the reality of loveless hearts with feigned acts no matter how noble that may seem. Still, we must let the firm resolve to keep our vows force us into action. We must let nothing stand in the way of us answering the master's question to his best friend in truth for the one whom we share the most intimate of all human relationships with.
"Do you love me?", "Yes, you know that I love you".
Ephesians 5:25-33 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband.
We stood as the judge walked into the room and was seated. He was given honour by calling him that name. It was my first experience in that room that so many of the broken pieces of our world pass through. I was impressed with the way his Honour was treated.
What I didn't find out until later, as I grew to know the court system, was that almost everyone on that particular stage hated that particular judge. I would have never guessed it by the way everyone acted. It seemed he was deeply respected by all. He was accorded honour on the principle that made our society work a hundred years ago. His tribute was a relic from an age gone by when people honoured offices and consequently people.
Yesterday I phoned a professional nursing office to find out about housing for a widow I was helping. The lady answered the phone and placed me with a counsellor. The lady answered and informed me that I was speaking to "Brenda Jacobs". For a moment I struggled inside of myself. I then asked if I should call her Brenda or Jacobs..... She is a part of a revolution which has changed everything in our world. She will not be known or honoured for her position in marriage.
I am a pastor. I live and work in between the world of the judge and Brenda. I have worked in churches that honoured the role of the pastor highly. I have served in traditions where the pastor had to ask the choir director what his sermon topic should be in order to fit it in with the hymns. In both I have found a mysterious relationship between love, acts of loving and marriage. Almost incidentally I found a wonderful truth about the growth of churches.
Love is like many words which have no physical model to which we can point. We are all sure we know what we mean by it. When we talk to one another we are sure that we are communicating what we mean but often we aren't. Love is this kind of a concept. We often miss what it really is in favour of other concepts like honour or intimacy. Love is neither honour nor intimacy though it cannot truly be in a person's heart without displaying both.
The marriage vow speaks of the honour of keeping a commitment to love until death. It speaks best to that part of the world who still feel a vow is sacred and to be kept in spite of all that occurs to darken the emotions that brought the couple to the day of covenant.
"I didn't love her anymore....." This tragic view of love has crossed my path many times. It sees love through Brenda's eyes. Not a commitment but a feeling.
To her world covenant relationships are not reflective of "reality". Love is either there or not. If it is not then the outward forms have no meaning.
Love in the modern era is intimacy without commitment. It requires real emotions in the heart but when they leave or are not found it does not demand effort to bring them to life again.
How many marriages do I know that have come weekly to my church and stay together through the years because they honour their word.
Countless numbers of people that still stand for the judge though, they hate him, still honour marriage and the lifetime commitment to it. It is here that our brave new world has lost its virtue. It is here that we find the source of almost all marital breakdown.
Marriages are failing externally today because of a lack of honour of promises made. If you do not believe this simply ask a person that recently divorced their spouse (i.e. the one that left) how they feel about the fact that they broke their vow to stay with this person and love them until they died.
If they are like most people that I counsel they will look at you with great amazement.... or anger. They will most likely point out the worthlessness of keeping vows that you no longer "feel". They belong to Brenda's world. They took their vows in the world of the judge but when love as an emotion left they "faced the facts" and decided that his world wasn't real. They lost intimacy and so the relationship was over.
On the other side of this I must say that I hurt deeply for those who just "keep their word". Wives’ faces fill my mind that have literally died from anger they quietly sat on for years in order to save face and "do what is right".
I think of men who in their despair have confessed to me that they were living in a nightmare of external conformity while their hearts had become like bitter poison. The poison was held by the bottle of external keeping of promises made but their power was killing the one in the bottle....themselves. They are the victims of a doctrine that teaches it is enough only to act like you love.
I remember a little church I pastored. It was in the early years of my ministry. I was still an idealist. Almost the first thing they did was put my name up on their sign.
It is funny but at the time I thought it quite odd that one of the board members proudly marched me out to that sign the first week I was there.
In my idealism I thought all churches changed their signs immediately He beamed as he said, "We got your name painted on there as soon as we knew you were coming".
That church grew under my ministry rapidly. They gave me precious memories of what it is like to be loved by a congregation. I preached better for them...I prayed more for them...I visited them with joy and they grew.
A few years later the autumn winds blew the leaves across the yard as I left the house of a parishoner named Bill and his new wife. My new church honoured the pastor highly.
The couple called me pastor Terry all night in spite of my request to drop the formality. I thought about how he had showed me so many pictures of his former wife who was now dead. I could not help but notice the emotions that both displayed. He spoke with deep affection for his former spouse. She became quiet.
I could not put my finger on the emotion I was experiencing until I got to church. As I pulled past the church sign I saw it was still there on the sign....the former pastor's name.
I had come in the early summer yet he was still with me. In fact his name was still on the sign when I left. they never. Oh he had vacated the parsonage. My parishoner's wife had died. They were both still here though. And I felt silence.
As I prayed that God would take the hurt out of my heart I remembered that unusual board member at my former church who took me out to show me my name on the church sign.
I then knew what was wrong in my parishoner's new marriage. He couldn't see it. He loved his wife who died and that could not be wrong. He honoured marriage. He would be faithful to his new wife, provide for her and in action love her as long as they both would live. I understood that young bride's silence though. I felt it keenly in my new ministry. We were honoured but they were loved.
Inside of my heart that night I came to a clearer understanding of the difference between a good and bad marriage for those who honour that sacred commitment.
Almost in passing I found more evidence of the secret of a church that grows and one that just continues to exist.
It was expressed best through the lips of one who long ago recognized the difference between honour, intimacy and love. One of his disciples had both of the former. He had followed Him all over Galilee. He expressed the commitment he held for him when at His last supper with his beloved friend he proclaimed, "though all forsake you yet will I not".
He had honoured that vow when he bravely fought when his enemies came to take his teacher away.
But before a rooster let out his morning cry he had refused to bear the name of Jesus.
Some weeks later as Jesus sat on that ancient shore where he had first called Peter, he asked him a question which put his life back together. It was the question that finished his attempts to "keep his word" while having a heart far from Him. Jesus would not fill an office. He would not allow a lesser character quality to fill the place where relationships hold together.
It is true that Brenda's world will not support love in the fuller meaning of the word. Love takes commitment. It takes vows that are honoured. We must recover this if marriage is to succeed. But we must not stop there. We must not assume that every marriage must simply reduce to silence in the attempt to "keep the show going".
We must let the penetrating light of truth bring us to our senses. We must not cover the reality of loveless hearts with feigned acts no matter how noble that may seem. Still, we must let the firm resolve to keep our vows force us into action. We must let nothing stand in the way of us answering the master's question to his best friend in truth for the one whom we share the most intimate of all human relationships with.
"Do you love me?", "Yes, you know that I love you".
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Condescend
Romans 12:15-16 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
The word condescend has fallen on rough times. Far from what it meant when the translators of the King James Bible put in it their translation.
Today it is seen as an attitude of superiority. "Don't speak in such a condescending tone to me!" "He was so condescending to me!" are ways that we see this word. But the original Greek and even the original English has a whole different meaning.
συναπάγω sün-äp-ä'-gō
means
1) to lead away with or together
2) metaph. to be carried away with
a) of a thing, i.e. by a thing, so as to experience with others the force of that which carries away
b) to yield or submit one's self to lowly things, conditions, employments: not to evade their power
So when we look at the Greek we see that Paul is counseling us to "be carried away" with those whose lives are not based on pride. We are to be led by their example of living a life without the marks of superiority. He tells us to live a life that is willing to be a common person in submitting to the things that everyone else faces in life. In short we are not to place ourselves above others.
It is just the opposite of what we think of today when we think of condescending.
As I have been hearing this verse over and over in my heart in the last few days I have come to more fully appreciate at least one aspect of what it is trying to say.
Superiority is a great way to insure there is no intimacy with others.
Have you ever met someone who always has to be above you. As a teacher, I must admit that many of us who teach have a hard time moving out of the role once we are out of the classroom.
It is impossible to be connected emotionally to someone who always has to be your superior.
In marriage it is absolute death to intimacy of any kind.
Deep emotional connectedness requires vulnerability. Those who always place themselves in a superior position do so to keep themselves from being vulnerable. That is why their relationships do not move beyond a surface level.
But Paul is trying to tell us that the way we are going to touch the world we inhabit is not through a superior position. It will be by joining the world as an equal and not a superior.
The first place we see this is in our estimation of our relationship with God.
Luke 18:10-14 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
When we stand in the place of the Pharisee..... and I have stood there...... we can not fully embrace the Truth, Mercy or Grace of God. The truth would bring us to our senses that we are in desperate need of a saviour. Admitting that we need mercy places us on the same level as everyone else that we think we are better than. And finally coming to see that we are given grace even in the gift of the air we breathe is death to our self-sufficiency.
When we come to understand the great heart of our God and that all of life is a gift from Him we no longer need to be better than anyone. We can join all of humanity in eternal gratefulness that God cares for all of us.
The second thing that superiority inhibits is our relationship with others. If we view ourselves as somehow superior to others we will eat the fruit of pride. Not only that, but we will never be able to get alongside a person walking through the grief of recognition of their heart's reality before God and weep with them. I can imagine the heart of the man who stood far off and was coming to grips with who he really was. I wonder what brought him to that place?
Did his world fall apart through a broken marriage that he knew was really his fault?
Did he commit some horrendous crime that he was unable to push down the guilt and now it came rushing out?
Did the hopes of a once cherished relationship with God fall to the ground and now after years he recgnized what he had lost in his prodigal journey?
Or was he keenly aware that he had looked down on others so long that it had broken any fellowship with any other living being including and especially God.
We do not know. What we do know is he needed someone come alongside of him knew the road he was travelling.
That's exactly what Jesus does.
And that is what it means to condescend to men of low estate.
The last issue I was thinking about is superiority leaves us eternally insecure with ourselves.
I know that there are lots of ways people try to deal with the issue of salvation. Some are the frozen chosen who never think a moment about their relationship with God outside of being convinced that they were chosen and who cares about the rest of the world.
This is the very essence of the heart of the Pharisee. Me and God and who cares about anyone else - especially this sinner standing next to me. I'm right with God and that's all that matters. But I believe that the root of superiority is a need to convince ourselves that we are secure when we are not. Only living in the truth, mercy and grace of God brings us internal security.
God's Truth says that we have all sinned..... ALL.... and have come short of God's Glory. That settles the issue of being good enough to merit anything but hell from God.
God's Mercy says that while were were yet sinners Jesus died for us. Jesus was God's eternal gift to us. It tells of a love that we can rest in. It tells us of a heart that is filled with desire to be reconciled to us. It says that when our best efforts were not enough God Himself made a way for us to come to Him.
Finally God's Grace tells us that He is able to empower us to live the life of humility in which we do not need to compete with anyone for value. A life of condescention actually lifts us up. Whoever exalts himself will be brought low. Whoever brings himself low will be exalted.
I have learned a very practical way to bring this reality into my life. Jesus said it in a simple commandement that is often overlooked or overspirituallized.
Luke 14:7-11 And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. 10 "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. 11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I find that looking for the place that Jesus would take and filling it is where I find His life.
I first understood this principle when I was in my last year of high school. I was a fairly popular guy. I was liked by many people. I was a Christian.
For several weeks I had noticed a person at my school that it seemed that everyone despised. I began to pray for him. I once had known the pain of being the school punching bag. That had been years before in another school. No one was punching this person but the pain of rejection was clear in every step he took. When he would go sit a table with people at it they would all get up and leave.
As I prayed for this person I felt God say to me, "I would sit with him regardless of the cost." I knew just what he meant. And I loved Jesus for doing it. I was once in the same place and Jesus had sat with me. So I walked across the lunchroom and sat with him. I immediately lost most of my popularity. But soon I had made the connection with my new friend and was finding that I had far more to gain from the friendship from him than he did from me. I was no longer a noble person stooping to help some poor individual whose station in life was far below me. I found a real friend and a real relationship.
But the next thing that happened was even more wonderful. Soon the table was filled with all the rejected and despised ones of the school. And one by one they found Jesus. Before long the school was swept up in revival.
The Spirit of God moved on students in the most unusual ways. People would be praying for each other in hallways, at football games, in class. The Christian teachers became mentors to all these young people that were just learning about what it meant to follow Jesus. One of the local churches began holding meeting for the students.
Eventually the church I attended ended up renting the school on Sunday to hold services there.
The fire of God moved far beyond the school and the churches as we went into parks and on the streets on the weekends to share the message with others. It was the first revival I witnessed. The primary mark of it is one that I have learned from history has been the primary mark of all revivals - humility.
When the people of God begin to undertand their blessing as being a gift of God's grace and not something they merit they begin to do what Jesus did..... condescend. To humble themselves for His sake and others' sake. They come out of the high towers of their self righteousness, they come out of the walls of their safe places of worship and to walk across rooms to sit at the last seat..... with those who are despised and rejected..... just like He was and just like He did.
The word condescend has fallen on rough times. Far from what it meant when the translators of the King James Bible put in it their translation.
Today it is seen as an attitude of superiority. "Don't speak in such a condescending tone to me!" "He was so condescending to me!" are ways that we see this word. But the original Greek and even the original English has a whole different meaning.
συναπάγω sün-äp-ä'-gō
means
1) to lead away with or together
2) metaph. to be carried away with
a) of a thing, i.e. by a thing, so as to experience with others the force of that which carries away
b) to yield or submit one's self to lowly things, conditions, employments: not to evade their power
So when we look at the Greek we see that Paul is counseling us to "be carried away" with those whose lives are not based on pride. We are to be led by their example of living a life without the marks of superiority. He tells us to live a life that is willing to be a common person in submitting to the things that everyone else faces in life. In short we are not to place ourselves above others.
It is just the opposite of what we think of today when we think of condescending.
As I have been hearing this verse over and over in my heart in the last few days I have come to more fully appreciate at least one aspect of what it is trying to say.
Superiority is a great way to insure there is no intimacy with others.
Have you ever met someone who always has to be above you. As a teacher, I must admit that many of us who teach have a hard time moving out of the role once we are out of the classroom.
It is impossible to be connected emotionally to someone who always has to be your superior.
In marriage it is absolute death to intimacy of any kind.
Deep emotional connectedness requires vulnerability. Those who always place themselves in a superior position do so to keep themselves from being vulnerable. That is why their relationships do not move beyond a surface level.
But Paul is trying to tell us that the way we are going to touch the world we inhabit is not through a superior position. It will be by joining the world as an equal and not a superior.
The first place we see this is in our estimation of our relationship with God.
Luke 18:10-14 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
When we stand in the place of the Pharisee..... and I have stood there...... we can not fully embrace the Truth, Mercy or Grace of God. The truth would bring us to our senses that we are in desperate need of a saviour. Admitting that we need mercy places us on the same level as everyone else that we think we are better than. And finally coming to see that we are given grace even in the gift of the air we breathe is death to our self-sufficiency.
When we come to understand the great heart of our God and that all of life is a gift from Him we no longer need to be better than anyone. We can join all of humanity in eternal gratefulness that God cares for all of us.
The second thing that superiority inhibits is our relationship with others. If we view ourselves as somehow superior to others we will eat the fruit of pride. Not only that, but we will never be able to get alongside a person walking through the grief of recognition of their heart's reality before God and weep with them. I can imagine the heart of the man who stood far off and was coming to grips with who he really was. I wonder what brought him to that place?
Did his world fall apart through a broken marriage that he knew was really his fault?
Did he commit some horrendous crime that he was unable to push down the guilt and now it came rushing out?
Did the hopes of a once cherished relationship with God fall to the ground and now after years he recgnized what he had lost in his prodigal journey?
Or was he keenly aware that he had looked down on others so long that it had broken any fellowship with any other living being including and especially God.
We do not know. What we do know is he needed someone come alongside of him knew the road he was travelling.
That's exactly what Jesus does.
And that is what it means to condescend to men of low estate.
The last issue I was thinking about is superiority leaves us eternally insecure with ourselves.
I know that there are lots of ways people try to deal with the issue of salvation. Some are the frozen chosen who never think a moment about their relationship with God outside of being convinced that they were chosen and who cares about the rest of the world.
This is the very essence of the heart of the Pharisee. Me and God and who cares about anyone else - especially this sinner standing next to me. I'm right with God and that's all that matters. But I believe that the root of superiority is a need to convince ourselves that we are secure when we are not. Only living in the truth, mercy and grace of God brings us internal security.
God's Truth says that we have all sinned..... ALL.... and have come short of God's Glory. That settles the issue of being good enough to merit anything but hell from God.
God's Mercy says that while were were yet sinners Jesus died for us. Jesus was God's eternal gift to us. It tells of a love that we can rest in. It tells us of a heart that is filled with desire to be reconciled to us. It says that when our best efforts were not enough God Himself made a way for us to come to Him.
Finally God's Grace tells us that He is able to empower us to live the life of humility in which we do not need to compete with anyone for value. A life of condescention actually lifts us up. Whoever exalts himself will be brought low. Whoever brings himself low will be exalted.
I have learned a very practical way to bring this reality into my life. Jesus said it in a simple commandement that is often overlooked or overspirituallized.
Luke 14:7-11 And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. 10 "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. 11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I find that looking for the place that Jesus would take and filling it is where I find His life.
I first understood this principle when I was in my last year of high school. I was a fairly popular guy. I was liked by many people. I was a Christian.
For several weeks I had noticed a person at my school that it seemed that everyone despised. I began to pray for him. I once had known the pain of being the school punching bag. That had been years before in another school. No one was punching this person but the pain of rejection was clear in every step he took. When he would go sit a table with people at it they would all get up and leave.
As I prayed for this person I felt God say to me, "I would sit with him regardless of the cost." I knew just what he meant. And I loved Jesus for doing it. I was once in the same place and Jesus had sat with me. So I walked across the lunchroom and sat with him. I immediately lost most of my popularity. But soon I had made the connection with my new friend and was finding that I had far more to gain from the friendship from him than he did from me. I was no longer a noble person stooping to help some poor individual whose station in life was far below me. I found a real friend and a real relationship.
But the next thing that happened was even more wonderful. Soon the table was filled with all the rejected and despised ones of the school. And one by one they found Jesus. Before long the school was swept up in revival.
The Spirit of God moved on students in the most unusual ways. People would be praying for each other in hallways, at football games, in class. The Christian teachers became mentors to all these young people that were just learning about what it meant to follow Jesus. One of the local churches began holding meeting for the students.
Eventually the church I attended ended up renting the school on Sunday to hold services there.
The fire of God moved far beyond the school and the churches as we went into parks and on the streets on the weekends to share the message with others. It was the first revival I witnessed. The primary mark of it is one that I have learned from history has been the primary mark of all revivals - humility.
When the people of God begin to undertand their blessing as being a gift of God's grace and not something they merit they begin to do what Jesus did..... condescend. To humble themselves for His sake and others' sake. They come out of the high towers of their self righteousness, they come out of the walls of their safe places of worship and to walk across rooms to sit at the last seat..... with those who are despised and rejected..... just like He was and just like He did.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
But Is it the Holy Spirit? - a different approach to unusual manifestations
1 Corinthians 12:6-8 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Recently someone asked me about the unusual manifestations that sometimes occur in revival meetings. They specifically were quite concerned about the strange things that happened in certain revival meetings that are not seen in the Bible.
I live about two hours from a place where people began to manifest actions that were extremely different from anything I had every seen. I had many friends who went there and I myself went a few times. In another place where the same kind of manifestations I had wonderful friends for several years being discipled in their School of Missions.
It was very hard for me at first to understand the wonderful changes I saw in so many that were "touched" in the meetings and the rather unusual "manifestations" that were going on.
I prayed a lot about this and felt that I did get an answer.
This is what I have come to believe about these manifestations.
I have seven children. They are all very different but they share (with their father) a common love for chocolate chip cookies!
Now to say that they love the cookies does not say they all respond the same to a plate of them set before them.
In fact their responses vary as greatly as you could imagine.
Now from time to time I pickup a bag of what we call "President's Choice Decadent Chocolate chip cookies and bring them out on a plate after supper.
They all react to the cookies. One starts begging to serve them to everyone....... One has to be threatened with mutilation to keep his hands off them....... One is very cool and acts like she could care less...... as long as she knows that dad will give them out...... One starts shrieking with joy....... one comes over and gives me a big kiss ...... knowing full well that she most likely will get the first one for doing so..... One counts the cookies to find out how many he will get...... one sneaks as many as he can under the table to be retrieved as everyone else is distracted by enjoying themselves.
The point of this little story is that the common influence of all these behaviours is the cookies.
The behaviour is not to be equated to the cookies. It is rather the response of the person who is being influenced by the cookies.
The unusual manifestations occuring at certain revival meetings are responses to something.
It may be the Holy Spirit is what they are responding to. However I have come to believe that we cannot always say the Holy Spirit caused us to do what we do, especially when it is not a biblical response seen throughout scripture. Any that do not fit into that criteria may simply be a responces to the Holy Spirit filtered through our humanity. This means that we do not claim our non-biblical actions are a direct action of the Holy Spirit but rather my response to the Holy Spirit.
It alos means that we cannot always discern just by the outweard manifestation what is happening inside the person.
I find nowhere in scripture that the Holy Spirit made people "drunk", bark, chirp, bleat or roar like animals.
The only time people fell down in convulsions was under the influence of a demonic spirit.
I agree, and so would many of the leaders of these meetings that sometimes the influence is satan.
Sometimes the responses are the need to be a part...... kind of a group mentality which does not just occur in pentecostally oriented groups. Peer pressure is just as strong in any group and the need to conform is one of the strongest forces of imitating each other or rejecting God in any church setting.
But some responses are the humanity of the person..... sometimes even the flesh reacting to the Holy Spirit.
However some people may be genuinely responding to the Holy Spirit in this way.
It may be from God or it may be from the evil one.
I believe the true discernment comes not from the outward manifestation but the presence or absence of godly character.
If you need some scriptural basis for this take a look at the life of Saul the King of Israel.
He first went among the prophets, fell under God's power and ended up prophesying in a strange but godly manner.
1 Samuel 10:10-11 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
Only a few years later he ended up in the same group and again fell under God's power...... his character had taken some wrong turns however and this time instead of prophesying in an appropriate way he stripped off his clothes and lay down naked.
1 Samuel 19:19-24 Word came to Saul: "David is in Naioth at Ramah"; 20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they also prophesied. 21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?" "Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said. 23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
This is not what you would expect from a move of God's Spirit in a man's life. That is just the point. Just like the cookies provoke a response in my children that reveals something of their character so the move of God exposes our character.
You could not deny that Saul was under the influence of the Holy Spirit because the text makes it clear that he was so.
Nor could you deny that the Holy Spirit would not lead a man to act in the manner that Saul did in his second encounter since it goes against God's ways clearly stated in other places. What is happening?
Saul's soul and body responded to the influence of the Spirit of God. In the first encounter it was a godly response because he was right with God. In the second encounter it was a wrong response because his heart was not right.
I found this explanation to be very helpful to me in being able to accept that some will respond in ways that I would not respond and yet still be responding appropriately to God, It also tells me sometimes people respond in ways God would never approve yet still be responding to a genuine move of God's Spirit.
It also underscores the importance that we be living in a way that is pleasing to God. If we are doing so Godly character is the key to having godly manifestations.
Recently someone asked me about the unusual manifestations that sometimes occur in revival meetings. They specifically were quite concerned about the strange things that happened in certain revival meetings that are not seen in the Bible.
I live about two hours from a place where people began to manifest actions that were extremely different from anything I had every seen. I had many friends who went there and I myself went a few times. In another place where the same kind of manifestations I had wonderful friends for several years being discipled in their School of Missions.
It was very hard for me at first to understand the wonderful changes I saw in so many that were "touched" in the meetings and the rather unusual "manifestations" that were going on.
I prayed a lot about this and felt that I did get an answer.
This is what I have come to believe about these manifestations.
I have seven children. They are all very different but they share (with their father) a common love for chocolate chip cookies!
Now to say that they love the cookies does not say they all respond the same to a plate of them set before them.
In fact their responses vary as greatly as you could imagine.
Now from time to time I pickup a bag of what we call "President's Choice Decadent Chocolate chip cookies and bring them out on a plate after supper.
They all react to the cookies. One starts begging to serve them to everyone....... One has to be threatened with mutilation to keep his hands off them....... One is very cool and acts like she could care less...... as long as she knows that dad will give them out...... One starts shrieking with joy....... one comes over and gives me a big kiss ...... knowing full well that she most likely will get the first one for doing so..... One counts the cookies to find out how many he will get...... one sneaks as many as he can under the table to be retrieved as everyone else is distracted by enjoying themselves.
The point of this little story is that the common influence of all these behaviours is the cookies.
The behaviour is not to be equated to the cookies. It is rather the response of the person who is being influenced by the cookies.
The unusual manifestations occuring at certain revival meetings are responses to something.
It may be the Holy Spirit is what they are responding to. However I have come to believe that we cannot always say the Holy Spirit caused us to do what we do, especially when it is not a biblical response seen throughout scripture. Any that do not fit into that criteria may simply be a responces to the Holy Spirit filtered through our humanity. This means that we do not claim our non-biblical actions are a direct action of the Holy Spirit but rather my response to the Holy Spirit.
It alos means that we cannot always discern just by the outweard manifestation what is happening inside the person.
I find nowhere in scripture that the Holy Spirit made people "drunk", bark, chirp, bleat or roar like animals.
The only time people fell down in convulsions was under the influence of a demonic spirit.
I agree, and so would many of the leaders of these meetings that sometimes the influence is satan.
Sometimes the responses are the need to be a part...... kind of a group mentality which does not just occur in pentecostally oriented groups. Peer pressure is just as strong in any group and the need to conform is one of the strongest forces of imitating each other or rejecting God in any church setting.
But some responses are the humanity of the person..... sometimes even the flesh reacting to the Holy Spirit.
However some people may be genuinely responding to the Holy Spirit in this way.
It may be from God or it may be from the evil one.
I believe the true discernment comes not from the outward manifestation but the presence or absence of godly character.
If you need some scriptural basis for this take a look at the life of Saul the King of Israel.
He first went among the prophets, fell under God's power and ended up prophesying in a strange but godly manner.
1 Samuel 10:10-11 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
Only a few years later he ended up in the same group and again fell under God's power...... his character had taken some wrong turns however and this time instead of prophesying in an appropriate way he stripped off his clothes and lay down naked.
1 Samuel 19:19-24 Word came to Saul: "David is in Naioth at Ramah"; 20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they also prophesied. 21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?" "Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said. 23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
This is not what you would expect from a move of God's Spirit in a man's life. That is just the point. Just like the cookies provoke a response in my children that reveals something of their character so the move of God exposes our character.
You could not deny that Saul was under the influence of the Holy Spirit because the text makes it clear that he was so.
Nor could you deny that the Holy Spirit would not lead a man to act in the manner that Saul did in his second encounter since it goes against God's ways clearly stated in other places. What is happening?
Saul's soul and body responded to the influence of the Spirit of God. In the first encounter it was a godly response because he was right with God. In the second encounter it was a wrong response because his heart was not right.
I found this explanation to be very helpful to me in being able to accept that some will respond in ways that I would not respond and yet still be responding appropriately to God, It also tells me sometimes people respond in ways God would never approve yet still be responding to a genuine move of God's Spirit.
It also underscores the importance that we be living in a way that is pleasing to God. If we are doing so Godly character is the key to having godly manifestations.
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