"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.

Getting Clipped for the Cause of Christ

Suggested Reading: Acts 15:40-16:5

One of the things the apostle Paul was known for was fighting against those Jews who tried to insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised in order to really be saved. Throughout the entirety of the New Testament, Paul argued that God's grace, through a person's faith, is what saves a person.  In Galatians 6:15, Paul writes, "For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters is a new creation" (HCSB). In Galatians 3:28, Paul again wrote, "There is no Jew or Geek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (HCSB).  Very consistently, Paul argued that there is no need for Gentile believers to be circumcised in order to be saved, in some places going so far as to say that if a person got circumcised then grace became useless because the person was trying to earn salvation.  So, Acts 16:3 might get a little confusing because we discover that Paul "wanted Timothy to go with him, so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek" (HCSB).

Why would Paul, a man who argued so passionately and so consistently against the need for Gentile believers to be circumcised take a young Gentile believer and have him circumcised? Isn't that hypocritical? Doesn't Paul betray everything that he has been fighting for?

No.

You see, Paul argued against having to be circumcised in order to be saved, but Paul didn't circumcise Timothy so that Timothy could be saved. Paul circumcised Timothy so that other people could be saved. Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him in his missionary work because Timothy was a great asset to Paul. But if you are familiar with Paul's ministry, then you know that Paul's first stop in any new city was the Jewish synagogue where he would share the good news that the long awaited Messiah had finally arrived in the person of Jesus. For Timothy to minister effectively, Timothy had to be circumcised so that Timothy's uncircumcised condition would not be a hindrance to the initial Gospel message to Jewish audiences. If Paul were to bring an uncircumcised man into the synagogue and then allow him to speak to law-abiding Jews, those Jews would immediately stop listening to Paul's message because of the lack of respect Paul and Timothy were showing for Jewish tradition and law.  So, to cut off any problems before they arose, Paul had Timothy circumcised. Paul and Timothy, together, were living out Paul's missionary motto:

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  (1 Corinthians 9:20-22, NIV).

What about us? Sometimes, we avoid witnessing to people because the effort will require too much time. Paul regularly changed his entire way of living in to more effectively communicate the message of the Gospel. Timothy, apparently, did so as well. Meanwhile, we keep our mouths closed because the thought of sharing the Gospel makes us uncomfortable. The efforts we do make are often hampered because we don't want to take the time to translate the Gospel into an understandable format for those who have never heard.

We cannot all become heroic, world-traveling missionaries, but we can make sure that our lives do not hinder the message of the Gospel for those who are watching us. We can make sure that, when we share the Gospel, people don't immediately disqualify the message because of our own lifestyles. We can live in such a way that our lives make the Gospel message attractive rather than remove any motivation to listen.

When people look at your life, does it make the message of the Gospel more attractive, or does it reinforce the idea that the Bible is just a bunch of stories? Does your behavior and attitude give people a reason to want what you have, or do they convince people that Jesus was just some good teacher whose teachings have no real power in the lives of his followers?

Paul and Timothy were willing to do whatever it took so that their lives reinforced the Gospel message rather than distracted from it. Are we willing to do the same?

Suffering from Spiritual Second Night Syndrome

Suggested Reading: 1 Kings 18:36-19:10

I did a lot of theater in high school. I did everything from lead roles to being an understudy to working backstage helping with sets and props. Most of the plays that we did would run for three nights, typically a Thursday through Saturday. On the second night, we would always warn each other beforehand not to take it easy, especially if we did well on opening night. See, there was this thing we called "Second-Night-Syndrome" where, if we did really well the first night, we would let our guard down and then do horribly the second night. If opening night was bad, we typically didn't have to worry about Second-Night-Syndrome because we were already focused on not screwing up again.

A similar dynamic exists in our Christian walks. When things have been going really well, when we have been growing, and especially when we have had some major victory in our lives, those moments contain the greatest potential for disaster because we let our guard down or because we have experienced such a spiritual high that anything less than such stellar victory leads us into depression. There are two prominent examples of this in scripture.

We find the first example in 1 Kings 19. The prophet Elijah has just had a severe spiritual high.  Elijah had defeated the prophets of Baal in a duel by calling fire down from the heavens to consume a sacrifice and the people had turned back to the Lord. Then Elijah succeeded in praying a multiple-year drought to its end. Even the evil king Ahab seemed to give Elijah a break for once. But when Queen Jezebel found out what Elijah had done she threatened Elijah and he literally ran for the hills and found himself in a depression so deep that he prayed for God to end his life, saying, "I've had enough, Lord. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors" (1 Kings 19:4, HCSB).

The second example stands out as the single biggest mistake of King David's career. David had finally ascended to the throne, becoming king over the entire nation of Israel. David had succeeded in bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, subduing his enemies, and receiving a promise from God that David's dynasty would last forever. Finally, a time arrives when David feels that he can let his guard down and rest for a while. So, "In the spring, at that time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army" (2 Samuel 11:1, HCSB). Instead of leading his men in battle, like he should, David decided he deserved to loosen up and let his guard down. As soon as David let his guard down, he saw Bathsheba and got caught up in an affair that would bring trouble to his family for years to come.

Very often, the most dangerous times for us are not those times when things are going badly and we have to work for everything we get. The most dangerous times are when we have had great success in our lives and we let our guard down. The secret to righteous living is not to seek out the great victories, but to walk consistently day by day, whether in victory or in hardship. If you have had a great victory in your life, be careful not to let your guard down or to begin to believe that you have finally gotten everything together. The moment you do, you will find yourself falling very hard and very fast. Instead, whatever victory you have achieved in your life, thank God for his grace in granting you that victory and then seek to be consistent in your walk.

The greatest opportunities for us to fall lie in the shadow of our greatest victories. Seek God's grace in victory as much as in the battles of everyday life.

Asking God for Knicks Tickets

Suggested Reading: Acts 9:32-43

My wife and I have always enjoyed watching the dramedy Castle. It is the story of Richard Castle, a wealthy novelist who works alongside several New York City police detectives, doing research for his books and helping to solve homicide cases. As the show progressed, two of the detectives, Ryan and Esposito became very comfortable with asking Castle for tremendous favors: front rows seats to the Knicks games, reservations at restaurants nobody could get into, cool gadgets for the precinct that the police budget couldn't afford. They never abused their relationship with Castle, but they certainly made the most of his resources and his willingness to do big favors.

In Acts 9, Tabitha, a Jesus-follower who had been a pillar in the Christian community in Joppa and was constantly engaged in good works and acts of charity, died. Several widows who loved Tabitha, instead of preparing her for burial, placed her in an upper room and sent the Apostle Peter a message: "Please come to us without delay" (Acts 9:38, ESV). When Peter arrived, they immediately began showing him all of the wonderful things she had provided for them and talking about the incredible person she had been. Their request was clear: our friend has died, and we want you to do something about it. This was an audacious request. As a pastor, I'm not sure how I would react if someone called me over to their house because a friend had died and they wanted me to fix it. But that is exactly what these ladies did to Peter. And then Peter did exactly what they wanted him to do.

Sometimes we forget that we serve a God who does the impossible. Or, at least, we pray like we've forgotten. We face impossible situations and simply resign ourselves to the fact that nothing can be done.  We look at a marriage that has deteriorated with no possibility for reconciliation, but we don't ask God to step in, revealing himself and miraculously restoring the relationship. A loved one faces a terminal diagnosis, but instead of anointing the person with oil and having the leaders of the church pray for their recovery (James 5:14-16), we pray for decreased pain and comfort for the family. We fail to make the most of our relationship with a God who has all the resources of the universe at his disposal and wants to move in our lives.

God may have other plans. God may be planning on using these impossible situations to shape us or to lay the groundwork for something bigger. But God may also be waiting for us to make the impossible request so that people can see exactly who God is and what God is capable of. We serve a God who answers impossible requests and solves impossible problems. Maybe it's time we start praying like it.

Fiancé Noodle Soup for the Soul

Suggested Reading: Joshua 1:1-9

Not long ago, I was a little under the weather and it got me thinking about when my wife and I first started dating. Shortly after we got together, we took turns being sick. When she got sick, I brought some things by her dorm to cheer her up and, hopefully, help her feel a little better. I don't remember what all I took, but I remember what she did when I got sick. She drove just outside of town to the house I shared with two other roommates (and it was difficult to find if you weren't yet very familiar with it) and made me chicken noodle soup. Then she sat next to me on the couch and stayed with me for a while. It took me a couple days to get better, but I didn't seem to notice being sick as much when she was there with me. It was just difficult to feel bad when she was sitting next to me. Even today when I get sick, I still feel bad, but it's hard to remember that I feel bad when she sits next to me. Her mere presence is enough to boost my spirit.

Being sick or weary is not something unfamiliar to Christians. Quite often, we, like the everyone else on the planet, face difficulty and hardship, illness or trouble. Some people become disillusioned when these difficult times come, disappointed that Jesus has not, somehow, prevented these hard times. But nowhere in scripture does God promise us an easy life. Yes, there are general statements about how the lives of righteous people are blessed while the lives of the wicked are not and about how God will protect the righteous while bringing about the ultimate downfall of the wicked. But God never promised a life free from trouble and pain. What God did promise was that he would never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5).

God's promise to never leave or forsake us does not mean that we will never run into trouble. Rather, it means that God will be with us in the middle of that trouble. "So what?" you say. "I've heard all that before, but what good is that? I'm still going through all of this!"

When my future wife brought me soup and sat with me while I was sick, her presence did not heal me of my illness. But it certainly made it much more bearable. I may still have been sick, but I didn't feel as sick because someone I loved (and who loved me) was by my side. God's presence does not always take away the problems or the heartache of life, but when we are focused on God's presence in our lives instead of the trouble we face, we find heartache and trouble much easier to endure.

Whatever you are going through right now, don't trivialize it or pretend it's not as tough as it really is. Just focus on the presence of the God who loves you in the middle of it. God's presence may not make it easier, but you will find the problems are more bearable. 

The Gaps in Knowledge and Reason

Suggested Reading: Matthew 8:5-13

I have seen a trend  by skeptics to define faith  as the opposite of reason. These skeptics argue that faith, and the Christian faith in particular, is an excuse to ignore and even contradict reason. So what are some examples of faith from scripture?

One example is David going up against Goliath. As David stepped out onto the field of battle and Goliath taunted him with insults, David responded, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head" (1 Samuel 17:45-46, NIV). David was a teenage boy going against a hardened champion who had terrified an entire army of Israelites and yet David's faith led him to make this boastful statement.

Another example comes from the New Testament. Jesus entered Capernaum and encountered a centurion whose servant was ill. The centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant but when Jesus headed toward his home, the centurion stopped Jesus and told him that all Jesus had to do was speak the word and the servant would be healed. Jesus responded by saying, "I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith" (Matthew 8:10, NIV). 

Both David and the centurion expressed faith in outcomes that defied the logic of the day. David believed that as a boy he could bring down the mighty Philistine champion while the centurion believed that Jesus could miraculously heal his servant from a great distance.  Did these men embrace faith  as an excuse to ignore reason? The fact that they were both right seems to indicate otherwise. So what was the difference for these men? What allowed them not only to have faith but to be right?

Both of these men had experiences that had shaped them and informed them. David had encounters with lions and bears where he learned not only God's faithfulness but his own capabilities. The centurion, in his career as a commander of armies had learned the power of the spoken word and of authority, and he saw both that power and that authority in Jesus.  Neither of these things could be proven empirically to other people, but their own experiences and the Spirit of God moving in them was enough to convince them.

Faith does not stand in opposition to reason. Faith takes up where reason leaves off. Reason can only tell us so much because reason is dependent on what we know. When our knowledge fails us, reason becomes inadequate. Faith in Christ steps in and fills in that lack of knowledge of facts and figures and empirical data with a knowledge of the person of God as he works in our lives.  Our faith as followers of Jesus derives from knowing the God of the universe in a personal way and allowing that knowledge of God to fill in the gaps when our earthly knowledge, and thus our reason, can go no further.

Faith is not the opposite of reason but sometimes faith knows more than reason. Never ignore reason but be honest about how far your knowledge goes. When you reach the end of what you know and reason only goes so far, remember Whom you know and allow faith to fill in the gaps.

King Saul's Vengeance on the Borg

Suggested Reading: 1 Samuel 14:13-30 or 1 Samuel 14 (the whole story)

In Star Trek: First Contact, Captain Picard comes face to face with the Borg, the enemy who had enslaved him, taken control of his body and subjugated his mind, bending it to their control. At one point, the rest of his command crew recommend abandoning the Enterprise and setting the self-destruct, both because the ship has been infested by the Borg and because destroying the ship will eliminate the current Borg threat to Earth. Picard gives a fiery speech about drawing a line and refusing to allow the Borg to go any further. Picard advocates taking the fight to the Borg and refusing to allow the ship to be destroyed.  Only after a relative stranger intervenes does Picard realize that he isn't focused on defeating the Borg or keeping them from harming Earth but on hurting them, on taking revenge for the hurt they caused him. Upon making this realization, Picard grudgingly  abandons his quest for revenge and finally decides to do what is best for his crew.

There is a similar revenge-motivated story in 1 Samuel where the main character doesn't learn his lesson. Saul has led the Israelites into battle against the Philistines. Saul is so intent on destroying the Philistines that he 'bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food' (1 Samuel 14:24, NIV). Saul's son, Jonathan, unaware of the oath his father has placed on the people takes a small taste of honey after going on his own covert mission in which he routed the Philistines in their own camp. Saul finds out about Jonathan's taste of honey when God refuses to answer whether or not they should pursue the Philistines and finish the slaughter. Even upon discovering that the offender is his own son, Saul insists on carrying out the curse and killing Jonathan. Only the intervention of the people saves Jonathan from his father's oath.

As you read the story, you discover that Jonathan (even though he agreed to let his father kill him) thought that Saul's oath was reckless and that it prevented the soldiers from being at their best, and Jonathan was right. Saul didn't place the people under that oath because it would help them defeat their enemies but because he hoped it would motivate them to slaughter the Philistines faster. Why? Read Saul's words again, “Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!”  Saul was only concerned about having revenge on his enemies, not the oppressors of his people, not the people who had enslaved his fellow Israelites, not even the people who had mocked God. Saul put the people into a harmful situation because he thought it served his own selfish purposes. Saul was focused only on himself and revenge against his enemies and cared nothing for his people.

How often do we do the same thing? As leaders, teachers, supervisors, employers, parents? How often do we put the people for whom we are responsible in impossible situations to fit our own selfish desires? How often are we so focused on what we want that we destroy any chance at healthy relationships because the people around us can tell that we are making rash, selfish decisions?

The irony is, as in both cases above, if the leaders had focused as much on what was good for their people as their own desires, they would have gotten what they wanted. Picard would have defeated the Borg faster. Saul's people would have had enough strength to pursue the Philistines, and they wouldn't have been held up, trying to figure out who had violated the vow.

Ultimately, focusing on ourselves and what we want to the detriment of everything else leaves us in a position where the people who depend on us get hurt, and we rarely get what we want.  If you are responsible for someone, or even if you only exert a small amount of influence, take care of your people and do what is right for them. It will go better for you as well.