Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world. RSV
“ . . . we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened . . . “
The NCV says: “ . . . when the Lord judges us, He punishes us . . .”
It is very popular these days to believe that God loves us (which He does). But we translates that belief into “God won’t cause us to suffer because of that love” and that’s not at all true. The fact is, God can bring about suffering in our lives. The reason He does will be good for us, but He will do it because of His love for us. His love never fails, but it can be gentle and it can be painful.
Peter talked a lot about the suffering that accompanied the Christian life:
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7 RSV).
The Greek is “dokimion” which means crucible, test, trial.
A crucible is a porcelain jar in which metal is melted for the process of purification. The heat of the melting is so high as to separate the impurities from the true metal. The impurities rise to the surface so that they can be skimmed off.
Think about that in our lives. When God places a test (a trial) in our lives, first the heat is raised . . . a lot! That means pain, suffering, a lot of discomfort. And what results is that the junk in our lives that is causing sin, that is pulling us away from Him comes to the surface; we now see it. We now can cast it out of our lives (if we choose to do so) so that our faith becomes more pure.
It’s interesting that Peter chose this word. David used a similar picture in Psalm 66:
“For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” (v. 10-12 NKJ)
Notice after the initial analogy (“as silver is refined”), the things that David notes:
• You brought us into the net (being captured)
• You laid affliction on our backs (whipping)
• You caused men to rise over our heads (being run over)
• We went through fire and through water (destruction)
None of these are pleasant experiences; in fact, they are horrible experiences in our lives. And yet David gives credit for all of it as coming from God as the result of a test. Peter tells us that such tests are tests of our faith. They are then “faith” tests.
We so often hear that “faith” is about getting what we want, about making our lives easier and happier and less stressful, about not hurting, not feeling pain. And yet, it seems obvious that both David and Peter had far different ideas about it. Even Paul tells us that God “punishes” us in order to test or purify our faith.
David ends these verses with “You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” Paul tells us that God judges us now so that (at the last judgement) we will not be judged (and condemned) with the world.
But Paul goes a step further. He tells us that “if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged.” If we looked at ourselves, our actions, our choices with a critical eye, if we spent time everyday searching out where our sins lie, where we have hurt and offended (rather than having been hurt and offended), where we have missed the mark, then the Lord won’t judge us.
Father God gives us every opportunity to avoid His punishment. He gives us the Spirit as a Teacher to bring to our hearts and minds where we need to change. He gives us His Word as a Guide to show us how we should live. And He gives us the opportunity for us to come to Him first with the realization of our sins and the determination to turn away from them.
But if we should fail to avail ourselves of all this, then, out of His love for us and His desire that we be saved rather than condemned, He will bring us punishment in a holy effort to push us away from our sin and toward Him.
Musing
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. RSV
“ . . . on the night when He was betrayed . . . do this . . . in remembrance of Me.”
I think that we often want to think about Jesus the glorious, Jesus the Victor, Jesus the King, but we don’t often want to think about the fact that Jesus was betrayed by one of His closest friends. That the Lord Jesus, Ruler of heaven and earth, couldn’t be enough for Judas to keep Judas from committing that ultimate treason.
Jesus wasn’t enough for Judas.
I think we need to ask ourselves why. Judas was one of the Twelve (the apostles). He walked, he talked, he received face-to-face teaching and ministry and love from Jesus for three years. He saw the amazing miracles with his own eyes: Jesus feeding the thousands, healing the blind, curing the lame. And yet, Jesus wasn’t enough for Judas.
The fact is, there were many who rejected Jesus. Some of the religious leaders. (Not all, for we have the account of Nicodemus who was a quiet follower.) The rich young ruler who didn’t want to give away his wealth. And now Judas.
The one thing all had in common was money and power. Yes, even Judas as poor as he pretended to be, was mesmerized by money, by the seduction and power of having wealth. We are told that, first, he was the keeper of the purse. John tells us that Judas was the “keeper of the money box” and that, in fact, he used to steal from it for his own designs. Controlling the money gave him power and access.
Paul writes, to Timothy:
“For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:10 RSV.
Money itself isn’t evil. Like guns, it’s simply a tool that people use for a certain purpose. In the case of money, we use it for exchange, money for products or money for services. Money itself, actually, is meaningless; it only has meaning when we agree it has meaning.
And we have given it meaning. In fact, we’ve given it meaning beyond what it should mean. Money has come to mean, to many Americans, power, success, comfort, security. We believe that with money our lives will be made easier, our suffering will be lessened, our future will be guaranteed. Jesus taught about this kind of thinking:
“The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16b-21 RSV
What does it mean to be rich toward God? Jesus went on to teach more to His disciples:
And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. . . . And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? . . . . And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well. . . . 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:22-23, 25-26, 29-31, 33-34 RSV)
The Christian’s mindset is a unique perspective because it is both only-today and only-forever. The unbeliever’s mindset is concerned about the time in between: tomorrow. For the Christian there should be no tomorrow, only today and then (“then” being heaven). And because of that, we shouldn’t be concerned or obsessed with what will happen tomorrow (or the next day or the next). The fact is, those days may not come. And we should let our obsessing and worrying and being anxious over things distract us from the importance of doing what God calls us to do right this very minute.
I think that Jesus wasn’t enough for Judas because Judas was worried about all those tomorrows. What would he do when Jesus was gone? What would happen next week, next month, next year? When would Jesus step up to take power (so that Judas would also be in power)? What would happen when he (Judas) became too old to walk along Jesus’ side? All worries that were useless and senseless and, in fact, nonsense because Father God had another plan.
The fact is, for all that we worry and obsess about things, God may simply have another plan for us and the things which absorb our thoughts and consideration may never exist in the real future. What we need, instead, to consider is whether or not Jesus is enough for us. We believer in our minds, as Christians, that Jesus is indeed our treasure. Do we believe that with our hearts? Enough to invest our choices, our behavior, our thoughts in it?
“ . . . on the night when He was betrayed . . . do this . . . in remembrance of Me.”
I think that we often want to think about Jesus the glorious, Jesus the Victor, Jesus the King, but we don’t often want to think about the fact that Jesus was betrayed by one of His closest friends. That the Lord Jesus, Ruler of heaven and earth, couldn’t be enough for Judas to keep Judas from committing that ultimate treason.
Jesus wasn’t enough for Judas.
I think we need to ask ourselves why. Judas was one of the Twelve (the apostles). He walked, he talked, he received face-to-face teaching and ministry and love from Jesus for three years. He saw the amazing miracles with his own eyes: Jesus feeding the thousands, healing the blind, curing the lame. And yet, Jesus wasn’t enough for Judas.
The fact is, there were many who rejected Jesus. Some of the religious leaders. (Not all, for we have the account of Nicodemus who was a quiet follower.) The rich young ruler who didn’t want to give away his wealth. And now Judas.
The one thing all had in common was money and power. Yes, even Judas as poor as he pretended to be, was mesmerized by money, by the seduction and power of having wealth. We are told that, first, he was the keeper of the purse. John tells us that Judas was the “keeper of the money box” and that, in fact, he used to steal from it for his own designs. Controlling the money gave him power and access.
Paul writes, to Timothy:
“For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:10 RSV.
Money itself isn’t evil. Like guns, it’s simply a tool that people use for a certain purpose. In the case of money, we use it for exchange, money for products or money for services. Money itself, actually, is meaningless; it only has meaning when we agree it has meaning.
And we have given it meaning. In fact, we’ve given it meaning beyond what it should mean. Money has come to mean, to many Americans, power, success, comfort, security. We believe that with money our lives will be made easier, our suffering will be lessened, our future will be guaranteed. Jesus taught about this kind of thinking:
“The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16b-21 RSV
What does it mean to be rich toward God? Jesus went on to teach more to His disciples:
And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. . . . And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? . . . . And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well. . . . 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:22-23, 25-26, 29-31, 33-34 RSV)
The Christian’s mindset is a unique perspective because it is both only-today and only-forever. The unbeliever’s mindset is concerned about the time in between: tomorrow. For the Christian there should be no tomorrow, only today and then (“then” being heaven). And because of that, we shouldn’t be concerned or obsessed with what will happen tomorrow (or the next day or the next). The fact is, those days may not come. And we should let our obsessing and worrying and being anxious over things distract us from the importance of doing what God calls us to do right this very minute.
I think that Jesus wasn’t enough for Judas because Judas was worried about all those tomorrows. What would he do when Jesus was gone? What would happen next week, next month, next year? When would Jesus step up to take power (so that Judas would also be in power)? What would happen when he (Judas) became too old to walk along Jesus’ side? All worries that were useless and senseless and, in fact, nonsense because Father God had another plan.
The fact is, for all that we worry and obsess about things, God may simply have another plan for us and the things which absorb our thoughts and consideration may never exist in the real future. What we need, instead, to consider is whether or not Jesus is enough for us. We believer in our minds, as Christians, that Jesus is indeed our treasure. Do we believe that with our hearts? Enough to invest our choices, our behavior, our thoughts in it?
1 Corinthians 11:20-22
When you meet together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. RSV
What Paul is talking about here was the fact that, when the Corinthians gathered together for their communal meal (which included what we would also call communion), rather than giving preference to each other, each was more concerned about what he or she would get to eat, to drink . . . to the point of excess. To the point that some within the church would go hungry because all the food was gone.
I remember one church we attended. When we had potlucks, over half the church would bring tiny portions to share while piling their own plates with food. When those in the line finally got to the food tables, there was very little left to eat. It seemed that most of the people were more concerned about their own stomachs than sharing with their neighbors.
Sadly enough, we have become a society that is more concerned with ourselves than with those around us. We are petrified of being exploited, of being taken advantage of, of not getting our own rights. Paul is so disgusted with that kind of behavior that he’s saying—at the least—people should simply be willing not to gorge themselves until they get home. Shame on us that we are that greedy that we would think we need to have it all anyway.
We would like to think that we aren’t this way, but the fact is, American Christians are among the most self-centered and self-obsessed. We have millions of reasons (excuses) for not acting with sacrificial love, but scripture is clear. We are to be willing to pour ourselves out for others and depend upon God to supply our needs.
Are we?
We love to talk about how we are so sacrificial as Christians. But I think about the widow’s mite. She gave all she had. Not out of compulsion. Not out of believing that somehow it might do someone some good. But simply because she loved the Lord. She gave all she had, possibly the little she had to buy her next meal. She gave it without any hope or promise of more to come. She simply gave . . . willingly, easily, freely.
My prayer would be that I could return to that kind of faith, that kind of love for the Lord.
What Paul is talking about here was the fact that, when the Corinthians gathered together for their communal meal (which included what we would also call communion), rather than giving preference to each other, each was more concerned about what he or she would get to eat, to drink . . . to the point of excess. To the point that some within the church would go hungry because all the food was gone.
I remember one church we attended. When we had potlucks, over half the church would bring tiny portions to share while piling their own plates with food. When those in the line finally got to the food tables, there was very little left to eat. It seemed that most of the people were more concerned about their own stomachs than sharing with their neighbors.
Sadly enough, we have become a society that is more concerned with ourselves than with those around us. We are petrified of being exploited, of being taken advantage of, of not getting our own rights. Paul is so disgusted with that kind of behavior that he’s saying—at the least—people should simply be willing not to gorge themselves until they get home. Shame on us that we are that greedy that we would think we need to have it all anyway.
We would like to think that we aren’t this way, but the fact is, American Christians are among the most self-centered and self-obsessed. We have millions of reasons (excuses) for not acting with sacrificial love, but scripture is clear. We are to be willing to pour ourselves out for others and depend upon God to supply our needs.
Are we?
We love to talk about how we are so sacrificial as Christians. But I think about the widow’s mite. She gave all she had. Not out of compulsion. Not out of believing that somehow it might do someone some good. But simply because she loved the Lord. She gave all she had, possibly the little she had to buy her next meal. She gave it without any hope or promise of more to come. She simply gave . . . willingly, easily, freely.
My prayer would be that I could return to that kind of faith, that kind of love for the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:17-19
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. RSV
Unfortunately, there are times within the Church when divisions, disagreements, are necessary. When false doctrine and sinful practices become the norm, when they are accepted rather than ferreted out as the evil they are, then there will be divisions.
Several months ago I was involved in an online discussion where several believers were berating me and others because we weren’t actively involved in a church (of their choice). And while I don’t encourage Christians to avoid gathering together for fellowship and edification, there are situations (and unfortunately the situations are growing) were mature, serious believers can’t find a local church worth attending. It’s a sad commentary, but true.
Several years ago, David Wilkerson released some of his sermons on video. His initial purpose was to stimulate family Bible study, but it soon became clear to him that families were using the videos as a replacement for face-to-face church attendance. Why? Because, in their communities, there were no serious Bible-believing churches. Oh, there were congregations that purported to be such, but in fact, weren’t.
Paul describes such a situation in Corinth: “when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.” What a sad commentary on a church. The Jewish New Testament translates it thus: “when you meet together it does more harm than good!” I truly believe that this is the case in more and more churches in America. As believers, we are called to be the salt and light of our society. And yet, rather than influencing our society for good, we excuse our own lusts and simply dig into the muck with our unsaved neighbors. When we come together as a “church” (regardless of what the formal structure looks like), our purpose is supposed to be to edify each other.
Now that word is interesting: edify. It means to “instruct and improve.” In other words, when we leave a church service, we should leave as better Christians than when we came in. Can we truly say that? Can we say that we are better Christians today than yesterday? This year than last year? This decade than last decade? Is our Christian growth, maturity, measurable and observable?
As sad as it is, maybe we are at a point in American Christianity where we need to start making some divisions within the Church so that there might be at least some (a remnant) who are genuine among us.
Unfortunately, there are times within the Church when divisions, disagreements, are necessary. When false doctrine and sinful practices become the norm, when they are accepted rather than ferreted out as the evil they are, then there will be divisions.
Several months ago I was involved in an online discussion where several believers were berating me and others because we weren’t actively involved in a church (of their choice). And while I don’t encourage Christians to avoid gathering together for fellowship and edification, there are situations (and unfortunately the situations are growing) were mature, serious believers can’t find a local church worth attending. It’s a sad commentary, but true.
Several years ago, David Wilkerson released some of his sermons on video. His initial purpose was to stimulate family Bible study, but it soon became clear to him that families were using the videos as a replacement for face-to-face church attendance. Why? Because, in their communities, there were no serious Bible-believing churches. Oh, there were congregations that purported to be such, but in fact, weren’t.
Paul describes such a situation in Corinth: “when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.” What a sad commentary on a church. The Jewish New Testament translates it thus: “when you meet together it does more harm than good!” I truly believe that this is the case in more and more churches in America. As believers, we are called to be the salt and light of our society. And yet, rather than influencing our society for good, we excuse our own lusts and simply dig into the muck with our unsaved neighbors. When we come together as a “church” (regardless of what the formal structure looks like), our purpose is supposed to be to edify each other.
Now that word is interesting: edify. It means to “instruct and improve.” In other words, when we leave a church service, we should leave as better Christians than when we came in. Can we truly say that? Can we say that we are better Christians today than yesterday? This year than last year? This decade than last decade? Is our Christian growth, maturity, measurable and observable?
As sad as it is, maybe we are at a point in American Christianity where we need to start making some divisions within the Church so that there might be at least some (a remnant) who are genuine among us.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
2 Corinthians 1:3-9
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God’s comfort.
I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. NLT
What do we expect out of life? I think that our expectations mold us, control our responses to our circumstances, determine what we find valuable. We probably should ask ourselves what we expect . . . from relationships, from circumstances, from life itself. I think that the answer might be extremely revealing.
I think that, as American Christians, one of the things we expect is happiness. Our very nation was founded upon the idea that one of the purposes of mankind is to be happy:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I think, though, as Christians that we need to ask ourselves (1) if this is truly Biblical as it relates to the purpose of creation; and (2) if this is true for Christians themselves. Is the goal of our lives to pursue happiness, perhaps at all cost? Has God given us that right? Because, if it is a God-given right, then we can pursue it with a free conscience.
(I want to add a note here. I believe that the United States is a wonderful country and that democracy is the best of all possible choices for government when people refuse to submit to a theocracy under the Almighty God. This isn’t a commentary against the United States, but rather an exploration of the mindset of us as Americans.)
Paul obviously didn’t think that God was going to somehow “fix” life and take out the suffering. In fact, Paul tells us two very important things about suffering in this passage:
(1) God doesn’t create suffering, and
(2) God provides comfort when we do suffer.
“God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights.” (James 1:12-17a NLT)
And, to be honest, I think that a great deal of our suffering—the suffering we have as Americans—comes as a result of our own actions, but even more, as a result of our own expectations. What do we expect should happen in certain situations?
We live in a society that insulates itself against suffering. That’s why insurance and lawsuits were designed . . . to lessen the hardship impact of circumstances that caused loss in our lives. It used to be that people expected life to be hard and simply picked themselves up and began again when bad things happened to them. Now, we struggle with the idea that bad things might happen to “good” people and try to make sense of it.
The fact is, bad things happen to good people (and to bad people) simply because we live in a sinful world. That was a fact accepted by Paul and the other apostles. They never questioned why God didn’t intervene; rather, they accepted suffering as part of the lot of life and rather depended upon God to make such a life doable by providing comfort.
“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT)
We know that, even as Christians, we sin. Others around us who aren’t Christians sin even more. Even the very planet we live upon is affected by sin and groans to be released back into a state of perfection (reconciliation with God). Even if God could (or would) prevent us from suffering from every act of another sinful human being, the only way He could protect us from the results of living on this planet which itself is groaning would be to remove us from this earth.
There is no escape from suffering in this life.
That needs to be our expectation. And rather than wasting our time, efforts, and resources trying to escape suffering, we should instead be embracing the comfort of God which is promised to us. Rather than deluding ourselves into believing that we can somehow make life wonderful and devoid of pain, we should be instead be looking forward to that wonderful time when we are absent from this corrupt, pained body and present with the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:50).
Rather than asking ourselves how we can avoid pain and suffering, we should be instead focusing upon learning to lean upon God as He walks us through the shadow of (even) death and yet we don’t fear the evil around us, because He is with us (Psalm 23).
I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. NLT
What do we expect out of life? I think that our expectations mold us, control our responses to our circumstances, determine what we find valuable. We probably should ask ourselves what we expect . . . from relationships, from circumstances, from life itself. I think that the answer might be extremely revealing.
I think that, as American Christians, one of the things we expect is happiness. Our very nation was founded upon the idea that one of the purposes of mankind is to be happy:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I think, though, as Christians that we need to ask ourselves (1) if this is truly Biblical as it relates to the purpose of creation; and (2) if this is true for Christians themselves. Is the goal of our lives to pursue happiness, perhaps at all cost? Has God given us that right? Because, if it is a God-given right, then we can pursue it with a free conscience.
(I want to add a note here. I believe that the United States is a wonderful country and that democracy is the best of all possible choices for government when people refuse to submit to a theocracy under the Almighty God. This isn’t a commentary against the United States, but rather an exploration of the mindset of us as Americans.)
Paul obviously didn’t think that God was going to somehow “fix” life and take out the suffering. In fact, Paul tells us two very important things about suffering in this passage:
(1) God doesn’t create suffering, and
(2) God provides comfort when we do suffer.
“God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights.” (James 1:12-17a NLT)
And, to be honest, I think that a great deal of our suffering—the suffering we have as Americans—comes as a result of our own actions, but even more, as a result of our own expectations. What do we expect should happen in certain situations?
We live in a society that insulates itself against suffering. That’s why insurance and lawsuits were designed . . . to lessen the hardship impact of circumstances that caused loss in our lives. It used to be that people expected life to be hard and simply picked themselves up and began again when bad things happened to them. Now, we struggle with the idea that bad things might happen to “good” people and try to make sense of it.
The fact is, bad things happen to good people (and to bad people) simply because we live in a sinful world. That was a fact accepted by Paul and the other apostles. They never questioned why God didn’t intervene; rather, they accepted suffering as part of the lot of life and rather depended upon God to make such a life doable by providing comfort.
“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT)
We know that, even as Christians, we sin. Others around us who aren’t Christians sin even more. Even the very planet we live upon is affected by sin and groans to be released back into a state of perfection (reconciliation with God). Even if God could (or would) prevent us from suffering from every act of another sinful human being, the only way He could protect us from the results of living on this planet which itself is groaning would be to remove us from this earth.
There is no escape from suffering in this life.
That needs to be our expectation. And rather than wasting our time, efforts, and resources trying to escape suffering, we should instead be embracing the comfort of God which is promised to us. Rather than deluding ourselves into believing that we can somehow make life wonderful and devoid of pain, we should be instead be looking forward to that wonderful time when we are absent from this corrupt, pained body and present with the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:50).
Rather than asking ourselves how we can avoid pain and suffering, we should be instead focusing upon learning to lean upon God as He walks us through the shadow of (even) death and yet we don’t fear the evil around us, because He is with us (Psalm 23).
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
James 4:1-3
What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. RSV
Verses 3-4 NLT: And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
We just recently returned from a week’s trip to visit our Army son who had, a few months ago, returned from a tour in Iraq. We asked a friend (a very new Christian) to housesit our five poodles for us. As we were returning home from the airport, he called us to tell us that our oldest (and smallest) poodle was missing. (Very likely, she was taken by one of the hunting owls in our area.)
To understand fully, this little poodle was very special, extremely smart with a unique personality. Also, she had been with us for a number of years and through many difficult circumstances with us. In other words, we loved her very much.
Now we heard that she is “gone.” We were devastated.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned over the past three days. We need to understand why we pray for the things we pray for; we need to learn to see life through God’s perspectives to understand why there are times when our prayers aren’t answered.
This passage in James talks about why we often pray and God doesn’t answer. Unfortunately, in American churches, we are often taught that God will fix our problems, make our life easier, bring us happiness. Nothing is further from the truth. God doesn’t make life wonderful; He makes life doable.
We live in a sinful world. Paul tells us: “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT).
We “groan to be released from pain and suffering.” Paul acknowledged that this life was, simply put, awful! Our hope isn’t in that God will remove us from suffering in this life, but that we have heaven awaiting for us:
“By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (1 Peter 1:3b-4).
The fact is, our focus is often wrong. We turn to God when we are faced with pain and suffering, with our prayers being that He will remove the pain and suffering. What we don’t understand is that our prayers should be focused on the salvation of those around us: “not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33b RSV).
When we initially heard about our dear poodle, our prayers were—as James described—about our own desires, our own pleasure. This dog gave us a great deal of happiness with her winning ways. We failed to understand that our prayers needed to be about how this loss would affect the man who had housesit for us and his own relationship with the Lord. How we would respond to him was far more important than the loss we were feeling.
Everything in this life is temporary; nothing is going to last. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1a RSV). Everything here, in this life, is going to be gone someday (when the Lord Jesus makes all things new) and our focus needs to be not on hanging onto the things here that make life easier, but rather upon the eternal souls around us who are facing an eternity in hell.
Why don’t our prayers get answered? Because we interpret God loving us as His fixing all the stuff that hurts us. The fact is, we live in a sinful world where suffering happens. God isn’t going to mitigate that for us . . . now, but rather has provided a Hope for us in heaven. When we focus upon trying to avoid pain now—rather than upon the Hope of the future—we are focusing upon our own desires, our own passions, our own lusts. And our prayers won’t be answered. It isn’t because God loves us any less, but because we love ourselves more. If we want our prayers to be answered, we need to start praying differently.
Verses 3-4 NLT: And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
We just recently returned from a week’s trip to visit our Army son who had, a few months ago, returned from a tour in Iraq. We asked a friend (a very new Christian) to housesit our five poodles for us. As we were returning home from the airport, he called us to tell us that our oldest (and smallest) poodle was missing. (Very likely, she was taken by one of the hunting owls in our area.)
To understand fully, this little poodle was very special, extremely smart with a unique personality. Also, she had been with us for a number of years and through many difficult circumstances with us. In other words, we loved her very much.
Now we heard that she is “gone.” We were devastated.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned over the past three days. We need to understand why we pray for the things we pray for; we need to learn to see life through God’s perspectives to understand why there are times when our prayers aren’t answered.
This passage in James talks about why we often pray and God doesn’t answer. Unfortunately, in American churches, we are often taught that God will fix our problems, make our life easier, bring us happiness. Nothing is further from the truth. God doesn’t make life wonderful; He makes life doable.
We live in a sinful world. Paul tells us: “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering.” (Romans 8:22-23 NLT).
We “groan to be released from pain and suffering.” Paul acknowledged that this life was, simply put, awful! Our hope isn’t in that God will remove us from suffering in this life, but that we have heaven awaiting for us:
“By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (1 Peter 1:3b-4).
The fact is, our focus is often wrong. We turn to God when we are faced with pain and suffering, with our prayers being that He will remove the pain and suffering. What we don’t understand is that our prayers should be focused on the salvation of those around us: “not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33b RSV).
When we initially heard about our dear poodle, our prayers were—as James described—about our own desires, our own pleasure. This dog gave us a great deal of happiness with her winning ways. We failed to understand that our prayers needed to be about how this loss would affect the man who had housesit for us and his own relationship with the Lord. How we would respond to him was far more important than the loss we were feeling.
Everything in this life is temporary; nothing is going to last. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1a RSV). Everything here, in this life, is going to be gone someday (when the Lord Jesus makes all things new) and our focus needs to be not on hanging onto the things here that make life easier, but rather upon the eternal souls around us who are facing an eternity in hell.
Why don’t our prayers get answered? Because we interpret God loving us as His fixing all the stuff that hurts us. The fact is, we live in a sinful world where suffering happens. God isn’t going to mitigate that for us . . . now, but rather has provided a Hope for us in heaven. When we focus upon trying to avoid pain now—rather than upon the Hope of the future—we are focusing upon our own desires, our own passions, our own lusts. And our prayers won’t be answered. It isn’t because God loves us any less, but because we love ourselves more. If we want our prayers to be answered, we need to start praying differently.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
1 Corinthians 11:2-16
I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head—it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her wear a veil. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.) That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. (Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.) Judge for yourselves; is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her pride? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If any one is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God. RSV
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
We live in a society where one’s rights are paramount. Everyday there are accounts in the news of lawsuits or protests in favor of the rights of some oppressed person or group, demanding their rights as human beings, as citizens, as protected minorities. Unfortunately, this kind of this-is-my-right attitude has permeated the church as well. All kinds of people are pressing for changes (some good, many bad) within the various American denominations with the idea of protecting “human rights.” The question is . . . is this the Christian way?
“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 RSV
I think that sometimes we are so worried about our own rights, our own feelings, position, ambitions, that we fail to understand that—in the broad scheme of things (that being eternity)—what we gain or lose here in this life is very little compared to what we can gain or lose forever. The Lord Jesus taught this:
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man 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; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?” Mark 8:34-37 RSV
Look at these words: “deny himself.” To be honest, as American Christians, I don’t think we’re very good at denying ourselves at all. In fact, we want what we want when we want it. Even those things we do “for others” is often actually done for ourselves, to make ourselves feel good, to pat ourselves on the back. We choose to whom we will minister, to whom we will submit. And that isn’t really denying ourselves at all.
I think it goes back to the last verse in chapter 10: “just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” What is our motivation? If we are to, as Paul says in 11:1, imitate him as he imitates Christ, then our sole motivation is so that others will be saved. Pure and simple. Does that sometimes mean backing away from “fights for rights” (or “fights for righteousness”)? Yes. I believe it does. Because our motivation isn’t to make things right in this life, but rather that all people might be saved. Do we have that motivation? Are we concerned about the salvation of that “awful” person or do we simply want to change them so that our life is better? While we may be, as Christians, obligated to try to perpetuate a moral situation in our community, our nation, our world, ultimately the more important question stands: What are we doing that others might be saved? This world and everything in it is going to burn; only what’s done for Christ in reaching out to the unsaved will be what is ultimately important.
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
We live in a society where one’s rights are paramount. Everyday there are accounts in the news of lawsuits or protests in favor of the rights of some oppressed person or group, demanding their rights as human beings, as citizens, as protected minorities. Unfortunately, this kind of this-is-my-right attitude has permeated the church as well. All kinds of people are pressing for changes (some good, many bad) within the various American denominations with the idea of protecting “human rights.” The question is . . . is this the Christian way?
“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 RSV
I think that sometimes we are so worried about our own rights, our own feelings, position, ambitions, that we fail to understand that—in the broad scheme of things (that being eternity)—what we gain or lose here in this life is very little compared to what we can gain or lose forever. The Lord Jesus taught this:
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man 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; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?” Mark 8:34-37 RSV
Look at these words: “deny himself.” To be honest, as American Christians, I don’t think we’re very good at denying ourselves at all. In fact, we want what we want when we want it. Even those things we do “for others” is often actually done for ourselves, to make ourselves feel good, to pat ourselves on the back. We choose to whom we will minister, to whom we will submit. And that isn’t really denying ourselves at all.
I think it goes back to the last verse in chapter 10: “just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” What is our motivation? If we are to, as Paul says in 11:1, imitate him as he imitates Christ, then our sole motivation is so that others will be saved. Pure and simple. Does that sometimes mean backing away from “fights for rights” (or “fights for righteousness”)? Yes. I believe it does. Because our motivation isn’t to make things right in this life, but rather that all people might be saved. Do we have that motivation? Are we concerned about the salvation of that “awful” person or do we simply want to change them so that our life is better? While we may be, as Christians, obligated to try to perpetuate a moral situation in our community, our nation, our world, ultimately the more important question stands: What are we doing that others might be saved? This world and everything in it is going to burn; only what’s done for Christ in reaching out to the unsaved will be what is ultimately important.
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