"We Can't Witness If We're Dead!"

Suggested Reading: Daniel 3:1-30

One of my favorite stories from scripture is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were three Hebrew young men who had been kidnapped from their home in Judah and forced into the service of the Babylonian king. As they figured out how to live in the Babylonian court, they did their best to be faithful to God, despite the constant pressure to compromise the commands of God to succeed and fit into the surrounding culture. Along with Daniel, they repeatedly held their ground and became a witness to King Nebuchadnezzar because of it. He even announced, "Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings" (Dan 2:47, ESV). 

But not long after that, Nebuchadnezzar set up an idol and commanded everyone in the kingdom to worship it, threatening them with a fiery death in a furnace if they refused. Despite the penalty of death hanging over their heads, these young men never even considered compromising and worshipping Nebuchadnezzar's idol. They didn't decide to worship the idol "just this once" because they couldn't keep telling people about God if they were dead. They didn't rationalize giving this prideful, sinful king what he wanted because he provided the money and resources that they lived on. They knew what God had called them to, and they took their stand, saying, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up" (Dan 3:17-18, ESV). Notice the last part of their statement to the king. They trusted that God would deliver them, "but if not" they would still remain faithful to the commands of God. 

Sometimes, we are tempted to compromise just so that we can survive. We are tempted to adjust what we are doing so that the sinful, prideful king won't destroy us. After all, how can we tell people about God if we are dead? How can we share the Gospel if we are killed for our faith? How will we keep the church doors open if standing on the truth of scripture drives people away and we can't pay the bills? Can't we compromise just a little so that we can live to fight the good fight another day?

But God does not call us to survive. God calls us to be faithful. We say that God is able to save us. We say that God is faithful. But when the moment of decision comes, do we trust God to see us through or are we tempted to compromise to survive? Are we willing to do things we know we shouldn't do because faithfulness would hurt us? Are we tempted to give in to sinful, prideful people to avoid complications we aren't sure how to deal with? Or do we trust God enough to obey him regardless of how tough things might get? 

God doesn't call us to survive. Survival is nothing without faithful obedience. We must be willing to do what is right regardless of the consequences, trusting that God will see us through.

You Volunteered Me For What?

Suggested Reading: Acts 9:10-20

My wife and I often give each other a hard time about volunteering each other for different tasks. An event at church needs someone to cook? My wife can do that! Somebody needs musical entertainment or a two-ton piece of furniture moved? Chris can do that. Finding out you've been volunteered for something can be a little annoying, but primarily because we don't ask each other half the time. We typically know what the other will be willing to do and are comfortable volunteering each other, and we are almost always right. Almost always.

Jesus did that same thing to a man named Ananias in Acts chapter 9.  After Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus for persecuting his people, Jesus appeared to Ananias and told him about Saul. Jesus instructed Ananias to go to Saul and added, "In a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so he may regain his sight" (Acts 9:12, HCSB). Right then is when Ananias must have had his you-volunteered-me-for-what?-moment.  Jesus didn't ask Ananias to go to Saul. He just told Ananias that Saul was already expecting him.

Ananias replied, "Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name" (Acts 9:13-14, HCSB).  Ananias knew exactly who Saul was and what he had done; he knew the dangers for a believer who went anywhere near Saul.  But in the end, Ananias went to Saul, restored his sight, and helped Saul begin his transformation into one of the greatest Christian missionaries of all time, as well as the author of half of the New Testament.

How much does this say about Ananias? Jesus vouched for Ananias, volunteered him, knew he would be willing to go before Ananias was ever asked, wagered (depending on how you look at God's foreknowledge) on Ananias' obedience. Can God do that with us? Are we faithful enough that Jesus would be able to vouch for us before we are ever told about the mission? Could he safely place his reputation in our hands and know that we will be faithful to answer his call? Or does our faithfulness depend on how dangerous, public, or difficult the task is? 

How faithful are we to God's call on our lives? Personally, I want to be an Ananias.

Are You Showing Up?

Suggested Reading: Matthew 26:31-56

I've recently decided that the Apostle Peter has gotten a bad rap. Yes, Peter was a loudmouth and sometimes started talking before his brain or filter kicked in. Yes, Peter was brash and impulsive, chopping off ears that Jesus had to reattach. Yes, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus, going so far as to swear at one point. And even later, yes, Peter acted like something of a hypocrite when, after being the one who announced that even the Gentiles could be saved, he withdrew from them to stay in favor with the legalistic Jewish Christians and had to be called out by Paul. But I've decided Peter has gotten a bad rap, especially about denying Jesus.

In Matthew 26, when Jesus warned Peter that he would deny him, Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same (Matthew 26:35, ESV). Notice that Peter wasn't the only one to proclaim loudly that he would die with Jesus before denying him. All the disciples said the same. But when Judas came with the temple guards and Jesus was arrested, all the disciples fled. And when the story picks up again, Peter and John are the only ones who've come back. John was allowed into the place where Jesus was being tried because the priests recognized him but Peter watched from a distance. None of the other disciples even showed up at the trial. Peter denied Jesus. But Peter was the only disciple who put himself somewhere it might have happened. The priests already recognized John and the other disciples fled and stayed away. Peter was the only disciple who ended up in a position where he could either take a stand for Jesus or deny him. He failed the test but he at least showed up.

Sometimes I wonder how much showing up we do. We hang out in our Christian groups, run in our Christian circles, shop in Christian bookstores and patronize shops with Christian fish on their signs. If we can afford to, we put our kids in Christian private schools or home school them. When we are really adventurous, we invite unbelievers to come to church with us, bringing them into our safe place in order to share the Gospel with them. What would happen if we instead started going out, putting ourselves in uncomfortable places where people might look at us funny and say, "Are you with that Jesus fellow?" How many of us would chicken out? How many of us would find an excuse not to say anything or to make a quick exit?

Peter showed up and failed. But when the day of Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to preach the Gospel in the languages of the world, it wasn't those disciples who didn't deny Jesus who got to stand up and lead five thousand men to faith in Christ. That privilege went to the guy who had failed but who had actually shown up, to the guy who had been tested in the fires of failure and knew how much he needed to brace himself against his own fear.

Failure for Christ is not final. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:14, ESV). But we do have to show up. We have to put ourselves in a position where success or failure are even options. Otherwise, not denying Christ doesn't mean we're faithful, just that we haven't even tried.

Being Satisfied With your Doe

Suggested Reading: Matthew 5:21-32 and/or Proverbs 5:1-23

Not long ago, I was reading the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus said, "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28, NLT) and without thinking about it, I said to myself, "I guess we can't watch prime time TV." I mean, prime time television, as well as a lot of streaming programs, are designed to make men lust after women and women after men. The system is designed to have people commit adultery in their hearts.

But then I had the random thought, What does that mean about the fidelity of men who view pornography? How many times do they commit adultery per webpage? But photographs of women are not the only kind of pornography and men are not the only ones who use it.  Erotic stories and novels like some recent bestsellers are also a form of pornography. After all, is there really much difference between lusting after the form of someone on your screen or monitor and lusting after the form of someone described in words on a page?

Proverbs 5:18-19 advises us, "Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love" (NLT) and I think we can safely reverse that as well, warning women to be satisfied with the forms of their husbands. But can we ever rejoice in the love of our lives, can we really be captivated by the love of our spouse (or our future spouse) when our heads and hearts are filled with unrealistic, air-brushed, or word-brushed pictures of other people? Do our spouses ever have a chance when we are enthralled with these make-believe fantasies, designed by people whose goal is to hook us and keep us coming back for more, to lead us into committing adultery in our hearts over and over again just so they can make a buck? How are our spouses ever to be satisfied with us if we are responding to them as if they don't measure up to unrealistic fantasies?

Maintaining purity is about more than avoiding certain physical acts or just staying away from particular kinds of photographs, videos, or books. Purity and fidelity are about maintaining a heart that seeks God and yearns only for your spouse (or future spouse).  Anything we feed our minds and hearts that draws us toward someone or something else undermines that.

Disney Models of Comical Integrity

Suggested Reading: Romans 3:1-8

When she was younger, one of my daughter's favorite Disney shows was Austin & Ally. In one episode, a mysterious blogger was taking pictures and videos of Austin and misrepresenting them on her website in order to destroy Austin's singing career. To discover the blogger's identity, they came up with a plan to promise, via email, embarrassing pictures of Austin and then wait to see who picked them up.  But instead of delivering blank pieces of paper like they had planned, Austin's friend actually delivered embarrassing pictures. When Austin and Ally got mad he responded, "I know she is going to misuse them but I made a promise and I am a man of my word!"

Their friend's "mistake" was meant to be comical but in many ways it is a great illustration of God's faithfulness. Romans 3:3-4 reads, "What if some were unfaithful? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar” (NIV).

We live in a world where it is often acceptable to go back on our word if another party does not live up to an agreement, where we are only expected to treat well those people who treat us well, and where another person's bad behavior is often used as an acceptable reason for us to behave badly. But to quote a very old maxim, "two wrongs don't make a right." Our good behavior or personal faithfulness should not be dependent on another person's behavior. We should be mature regardless of whether other parties are also being mature. We should keep our word regardless of whether other people keep their word. And we should strive to be faithful in every circumstance because God is faithful to us in every circumstance regardless of our own faithfulness.

Are you being tempted to go back on your word because someone else is behaving poorly? Are you thinking about getting back at someone who hasn't been faithful by being unfaithful yourself? Have you decided that someone else's bad behavior requires you to behave badly in order to set things right? Don't let someone else determine your integrity. Be faithful regardless, because God is always faithful to you. 

I Wish I Could Get Attacked For That...

During the last presidential campaign, I heard a commercial blasting one of the presidential candidates as someone who used to have a Swiss bank account. Aside from the fact that owning a Swiss bank account doesn't have any direct bearing on one's qualifications to be president, my first thought as I heard the commercial was, "I wish I had a Swiss bank account!"

Then I got to thinking about what I would do if I had enough money to warrant a Swiss bank account. Obviously I would be saving some of it (that's what Swiss bank accounts are for), but what else would I do? I would imagine that many of us have those fantasies from time to time. What would I do if I won the lottery? What would I do if someone left me a million dollars? How would I spend that kind of money? I've known a few people who suddenly came into money and I have discovered that the answer to that question is surprisingly predictable: they spend it on the same kinds of things they already spend their money on, just to greater extremes. People who already spend money on their family tend to spend even more. People who give to the church tend to give even more. People who waste their money tend to waste it even more.

As I was pondering this phenomenon I ran across this verse from Psalm 37:26 about the righteous person, "He is always generous, always lending…" (HCSB). When I read that verse, I immediately played the devil's advocate (not literally), asking, "Well what if he doesn't have much money?" But then I realized the verse didn't say, "He is generous when he has a lot" or "He lends money when he can afford to." The proverb says, "He is always generous, always lending…" The righteous person doesn't give because he can afford to; the righteous person gives because of who he is.

Jesus reinforced this principle in a number of parables, most notably the parable of the talents where three different men are given sums of money to use in their lord's name. At the end of the story, those who have been faithful with the little they have been given are rewarded with more and the one who did not manage for his lord's benefit had everything taken away from him. Jesus ends the parable with the master telling his faithful managers, "You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share in your master's joy!" (Matthew 25:21,23, HSCB). Jesus was teaching that what you do with a little, you will also do with a lot.

If you ever wondered how you would handle a sudden influx of wealth, look at the things you spend your money on now and you will find out. Be faithful and generous with the little you have and you never know when God might give you the opportunity to be faithful and generous even more.