Flashback Favorite - Blindsided

I received one of those calls this week - my wife was in a car accident due to the other driver’s negligence. She’s ok. Nothing is broken, but she’s feeling beat up, stiff, and sore. The car, however, is not ok. So as we deal with the fallout of this unexpected situation, I’m bringing back a post from nearly 11 years ago about Psalm 119. I often come back to it when life doesn’t go as planned. I hope it’s a good reminder for you, as well.

Blindsided
Originally posted on May 22, 2015

Blindsided.
Knocked down.
Run over.
Left for dead.

Life does that sometimes.  Just completely out of the blue, you get that phone call.  A relative in good health suddenly dies.  A friend’s child is in an accident.  Layoffs.  Divorce.  Cancer.  Any number of things can take us out at the knees without any warning.

And we’re quickly reminded of how fragile and small we really are.

In Psalm 119:25-32, the author use two descriptive phrases to relate how he feels after life has knocked him down.  First he says, my life is down in the dust.  Other translations render his words as my soul clings to the dust or I collapse in the dirt.  He feels so low that he can only relate to the trampled dirt on the ground.  Secondly he says, I am weary from grief.  Other translations relay the author’s meaning by stating my soul melts from heaviness and my soul weeps because of grief.  We can relate to the psalmist because we’ve all had times when our hearts are so heavy that even our souls are shedding tears.

Our typical reactions to getting knocked down by life is to ask God “Why me?” or, if we’re feeling mature, we’ll ask “God, what are You trying to teach me in this?”  However, the psalmist has neither of those responses.

As you read this section of Psalm 119, look for where the psalmist turns to when life has brought him down low:

Psalm 119:25-32
My life is down in the dust; give me life through Your word.
I told You about my life, and You listened to me; teach me Your statutes.
Help me understand the meaning of Your precepts so that I can meditate on Your wonders.
I am weary from grief; strengthen me through Your word.
Keep me from the way of deceit, and graciously give me Your instruction.
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set Your ordinances before me.
I cling to Your decrees; Lord, do not put me to shame.
I pursue the way of Your commands, for You broaden my understanding.

When life has him down in the dust to the point where he is weary from grief, the psalmist looks for life and strength though Your word.  He’s not looking for an explanation or a life-lesson, rather he is looking for God himself, as revealed in Scripture.

It is noteworthy that when he asks God to help me understand, he’s not looking for the meaning of what knocked him down to the ground…instead he’s asking God to explain the meaning of Your precepts.  Again, he’s not focused on how he got there or why he got there…he’s focusing on meeting God in the midst of it all.

When life has knocked him down, the psalmist implicitly trusts God with all aspects of the situation.  And he seeks God through the Scriptures to reinforce his faith.

So should we.

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

A personal pep-talk

Life’s been busy lately.  “Very full” would be a better description. 

I won’t list everything out for you…I fear that would not only be rather dull for you to read, but I don’t want to get anywhere near a “humble-brag”, either.  To say I have shared a lot of worthwhile time with many different people/groups, both at work and in the community, will suffice.

I’d rather we talk about how we feel when we’re dealing with a season like this.  There’s some mixture of tired-fulfilled-weary-happy-reflective-drained that I think we can all relate to.

That’s why I love spending time in the book of Psalms.  These song-writers did not hold back on sharing their life experiences with God.  You’ll find the entire range of emotions, multiple times over, as you read through them.

Here’s a portion of Psalm 42 that is really resonating with me right now:

Psalm 42:5-8
Why, my soul, are you so dejected?  Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.

I am deeply depressed; therefore I remember You
from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.

The Lord will send His faithful love by day;
His song will be with me in the night – a prayer to the God of my life.

I wouldn’t say I’m at the level of feeling dejected and deeply depressed, but I recognize those feelings from other times in my life.  We all go through seasons when those are very real and very deeply felt.

The part of this psalm that resonates for me right now is the psalmist giving himself a pep-talk.  Did you notice that?  He’s talking to his own soul.  He identifies the feelings of turmoil, but doesn’t claim them as his identity.  Instead, the psalmist encourages himself to put your hope in God, insisting that despite how low he feels, I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.

When we’re struggling, a dejected soul may want to just curl up in a ball in a dark room, but instead, the psalmist takes three bold steps away from the darkness:

1.       When he feels depressed, his first step is to remember the God who loves him.

2.       Next, he enjoys nature – being present in and listening to the sounds of God’s creation, like His waterfalls, can help clean out the junk we feel inside.

3.       Lastly, he looks for God by day and in the night, trusting that God will meet him there.

This three-step pep-talk helps clarify our perspective when a season of life has been so full.  However, let’s be clear – these steps don’t “work” because we simply do them.  We’re not capable of fixing ourselves.  These steps only “work” because by doing them, we bring ourselves back to the God who loves us more than we can understand.  Keeping close to Him is what we truly need, in all of life’s seasons.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

What's in the New Testament?

We commonly refer to the Bible as a “book” – in fact, it is the best-selling book of all-time.  However, the Bible itself is a collection of 66 individual books.  These books were written over approximately 1500 years, by 40 different authors, and in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors to write His words and His message to humanity.  Each author brought their own experiences, concerns, and writing style…and as such, we have a variety of literature types within the Scriptures.  The major division of the Bible’s books is between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  For this blog post, we’ll look at what God has said in the New Testament:

New Testament – This is a collection of 27 books which details Jesus’ birth, ministry, death on the cross, His resurrection, and the world-wide impact of these events.  They are divided into 5 different categories:

The Gospels – These 4 accounts tell of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection.  The only other historical contemporary to Jesus who had four biographical accounts of their life at that time was the Emperor Tiberius.  The gospels show a remarkable consistency for having been written by four different authors writing for four different audiences.  The gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

History – Just one book, Acts.  It begins with Jesus giving the disciples their mission to tell the world about Him, and then He ascends into the heavens.  The rest of the book tells how this mission was fulfilled through the early church.  It also reveals Paul’s incredible conversion to Christianity and his role as a missionary.

Paul’s letters – Not only did Paul take multiple missionary trips, bringing the gospel to several nations around the Mediterranean, but he also wrote letters to the churches he established and specific people he partnered with in ministry.  These books contain a mixture of Christian doctrine/teachings and practical advice on how to live like Jesus in a messed-up world.  Paul’s letters include: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

General letters – These are smaller letters written to larger Christian audiences.  They contain additional teachings and practical applications.  These letters include: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

Prophecy – The book of Revelation is God’s foretelling of the end of earth’s history and the beginning of Jesus reign into Eternity Future.  You’ll find lots of symbolism and references back to many Old Testament people and situations.  Whereas Genesis begins with the story of Paradise Lost, Revelation ends with Paradise Restored.

A few things to keep in mind:

The Bible isn’t a science text – but it does contain some science references.  The Bible isn’t a history book, but there’s never been an archeological find that has contradicted a historical statement in the Bible.  The Bible never claimed to be “the book of every explanation”, but it does contain everything we need to understand God’s love and design for humanity.  The Bible tells us of God’s original partnership with us, how we fouled it up, and God’s plan to rescue us from the mess we’ve made.

I hope and pray that this brief description is helpful to you…perhaps even spurred some questions or curiosity about a book of the Bible you haven’t read in a while.  I’ll end with Paul’s encouragement to his protégé, Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

What’s in the Old Testament?

We commonly refer to the Bible as a “book” – in fact, it is the best-selling book of all-time.  However, the Bible itself is a collection of 66 individual books.  These books were written over approximately 1500 years, by 40 different authors, and in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors to write His words and His message to humanity.  Each author brought their own experiences, concerns, and writing style…and as such, we have a variety of literature types within the Scriptures.  The major division of the Bible’s books is between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  For this blog post, we’ll look at what God has said in the Old Testament:

Old Testament – This is a collection of 39 books of ancient Hebrew literature, which begins with the story of Creation and the fall of humanity into sin, which separates all of us from God.  These texts continue through the establishment and history of the nation of Israel, which are broken down into 4 major categories:

Torah/Pentateuch – These are the 5 books of Moses.  Torah is Hebrew for “teaching” and Pentateuch simply means “five books”.  These books detail out how God created everything, but quickly focus in on the establishment of the nation of Israel.  The books include: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

History – These 12 books travel through Israel’s many ups and downs as they struggle between keeping in step with God and doing everything on their own.  Many of the familiar Old Testament stories are found in these books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

Poetry/Wisdom – This is a collection of some of the most interesting and beautiful poetry you’ve ever read.  Many common sayings we still use today trace their origins back to this section of the Bible.  These books include: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

Prophecy – God sent many prophets to Israel throughout the centuries.  Their writings are divided into what is call the “Major Prophets” and the “Minor Prophets”.  However, that distinction has nothing to do with the importance of their individual message, rather the prophets’ writings are divided up by size, with the Major Prophets having significantly bigger texts than the Minor Prophets:

Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel
Minor Prophets: Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

After Malachi’s teaching, God did not send a prophet to speak to Israel for approximately 400 years.  Then everything changed with the arrival of Jesus. 

Some modern-day Christians have wondered if it’s worth our time to read and study the Old Testament.  After all, since Jesus came and saved us, wouldn’t His teachings be enough for us to focus on?

The Apostle Paul had to say this to the church he planted in Corinth, in reference to the events of the Old Testament:

1 Corinthians 10:11
These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction

There are three ways to learn – by instruction, by example, or the hard way.  God has given us instruction and examples in the Old Testament so we don’t have to learn the hard way.  As such, it’s definitely worth our time to see what God has to say in those books.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Dealing with agitation

There are so many triggers that lead to me being agitated.

I hate to admit that.  I’d like to be better at managing it.  What I have gotten better at is keeping the surface-level calm, but the agitation still stirs in my heart.  I’m not certain that’s real progress, though.

Sometimes, my agitation is my own fault.  If I’m running late, I always seem to find the lane with the slowest driver…which, of course, means I’ll hit all the red lights along my path, too.  Or I could get pulled into what I thought would be a short conversation that quickly turns into a deeper discussion than I wanted to budget my time for.  A particularly agitating situation for me is when I’m depending on someone – especially if I’ve paid this person to do a job – and they aren’t meeting the standard we had agreed to. 

Do any of these situations sound familiar?

The American Hertitage Dictionary has this description as a part of its definition of agitation:

A stirring up or arousing; disturbance of tranquility; disturbance of mind which shows itself by physical excitement

That sounds about right.  I may begin with feeling frustration, but if I progress to agitation, there’s probably some physical tell to go along with the shift in my mood.  I’ve suddenly lost my poker face.  The chances of me lashing out before thinking it through have definitely gone up.

One sure-fire way to get me agitated is external to me.  I despise people taking advantage of others or taking advantage of “the system”.  We all need to make a living, but we don’t have to price-gouge.  I am 100% in support of entrepreneurs (there are several in my family), but I’m shocked and agitated when people create fake businesses, like daycares or hospice centers, only to get paid out by government programs.  Worse yet, it appears that some people just take advantage of others simply “because they can”…and that agitates me to no end. 

And to fix situations like these, we may even convince ourselves that we gotta meet them on their level.  We justify defrauding them just like they defrauded others.  We daydream of pulling it off and yelling, “See?  Do you like how that feels?”

David recognized the same feelings of agitation we have, but his advice runs counter to our knee-jerk reaction:

Psalm 37:1-9
Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong.
For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender green plants.

Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely.
Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act,
making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.

Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him;
do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,
by the person who carries out evil plans.

Refrain from anger and give up your rage;
do not be agitated – it can only bring harm.
For evildoers will be destroyed,
but those who put their hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

My first thought when reading through is “That sounds nice David, but not very practical.  Me ‘doing good’ doesn’t stop them from ‘doing bad’ to others.  I still see them running around taking advantage of people.”

However, this line of thinking misses what God says to do first when we’re agitated by evildoers.  “Do what is good” comes second.  “Trust in the Lord” comes first.  Too often, I expect that I can wield “my good” to bully or shame the other person into doing what I think they should.  In those cases, I haven’t included God in the equation.  I’m expecting my own righteousness to prevail.

Instead, God is telling us that we aren’t the cure for evil – He is.  When we trust Him, He will act.  But His acts will come on His timing, not ours. 

Does this mean we are to be a doormat and simply let bad people be bad?  No, I don’t think so.  Part of doing what is good is advocating for and protecting others.  But we do so with a humble attitude that God’s correction is better than us lashing out of our agitation.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

How do you know my name?

A little over a year ago, my wife and I went to support our younger son and his then-girlfriend (now wife, but that’s a story for another day) as they ran through downtown Raleigh.  Our son ran the half-marathon, while she ran the 10k.  Fortunately for me and the missus, their race paths merged for a short portion of the course.  We set up shop and began to watch excitedly for them to run by, ready to cheer them on.

I’ve run a number of races, and I’ve always appreciated the people in the crowd who would cheer for me.  There’s something uniquely special about having complete strangers yell encouragement as you work to keep moving forward.  So, while we waited for our two runners to come by, we started to cheer for the rest of the runners, too:

Let’s GO!!!!
C’mon, you got this!
Keep it up.  Keep it up.
You’re doing great!
Don’t quit now!

At one point, however, I realized that the bibs each one wore with their race number also listed the runner’s first name and last initial.  It was in much smaller font below the extra-large race number, but on many of the runners I was able to read their first name.  So, for any runner I could, I added their name to my yelled encouragement:

Let’s GO, James!!!
You got this, Brian!
Keep going, Nancy!

And you know what?  There was a visible shift in the runners.  When I called out their name, they made eye contact directly with me.  I kept smiling and cheering them on.  The encouragement I was calling out suddenly hit deeper and you could see it in their responses – some would straighten up their form, many smiled back at me, a few picked up their pace with confidence. 

One older lady named Nancy who was race-walking with two other ladies, when I called out her name, practically stopped her pace to ask me, “Do I know you?” 

I said, “Nope” and shook my head.

“Then how do you know my name?” she asked with a bewildered look on her face.

“I read your bib.” I replied with a smile on my face, pointing across my own chest, as if I had a bib.

She didn’t know what to say but went back to race-walking with her friends.  She seemed pleasantly surprised to get called by name like that.

I didn’t know anything about them, other than their name.  What many of us forget is that God knows us, even more than just our name:

Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14
Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways…

For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.

These verses are only a sampling of all the ways the psalmist realized that God knew him.  I would suggest that you take the time to slowly read the whole psalm.  Even better, try reading it out loud, as if the psalmist’s words were your own.

God knows more than your name.  He knows YOU.  And He wants you to know Him.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We must grieve

Jesus begins His “Sermon on the Mount” with a series of blessings referred to as ‘The Beatitudes’.  Even if you’re not familiar with the name, I’m certain that you’ll recognize several of them:

Matthew 5:3-10
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

This is an easy list to breeze through…at least for me it always has been.  I was recently challenged with a speaker’s focus on the second blessing:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Which side do you see yourself on…the person who mourns or the one who brings comfort?

Honestly, I have always pictured myself as the one who brings comfort – which breaks down to com-fort and means to “bring-strength”.  I can see myself as one who brings strength to those who are struggling…but I didn’t see myself as someone who would need to receive comfort.

The acts of mourning and grieving are necessary to our lives, but we generally don’t like them very much.  So what do we do?  We tend to stuff our feelings and avoid any opportunity to evaluate or process them.  We use a variety of terms to describe how we expect it to feel: messy, sticky, uncomfortable, out of control, never ending, lonely, depressing…I’m sure you could add a few of your own.

Most of all, deep down we fear two things: that if we start to mourn, it will never end…and that if we really grieve, no one will come to comfort us.  Just the thought of being forever alone in our grief is enough to scare us into avoiding it at all costs.  We’d rather spend a massive amount of energy and time pretending that we’re fine instead of facing both our fears and our grief.

But that’s not what Jesus promised, is it?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Look also to what David wrote about God:

Psalm 56:8
You Yourself have recorded my wanderings.
Put my tears in Your bottle.  Are they not in Your book?

God knows where we have been.  He knows the heartache we’ve experienced.  He’s not only seen every tear we’ve cried, but He’s carefully collected them as well.

God offers another promise – this one is announced at the opening of New Jerusalem in Eternity Future:

Revelation 21:3-4
Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them.  They will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  Death will be no more, grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

Did you see that?  God Himself will wipe away the tears from your eyes.  But how can He wipe away tears we refuse to cry?  How will we find comfort if we refuse to mourn?

We must grieve.  Not just when a loved one dies, but any loss we experience – the loss of a friendship, a job, our innocence, our dreams, a season of life.  Even when we let go of good things so we can focus on better things, we still need to grieve.

When grief comes, don’t avoid it – lean into it.  Your mourning won’t last forever.  In fact, leaning into it will bring it to conclusion, even if we don’t feel that way right now.  Avoiding it will guarantee that the unresolved grief will linger with you for the rest of your life.

God promises blessing and comfort to those who mourn.  Will you trust Him with your tears?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

At His lowest moment, they needed Him

How close are you with your cousins?

I wasn’t all that close to mine, mainly because we lived so far apart that it was unlikely we’d see each other more than once a year.  However, I have met other people that tell me they are so close to their cousin, they may as well had been raised as siblings…even to the point that their cousin knew and understood them better than their actual siblings did.

Did you know Jesus had a similar family situation?

Growing up, and even into His ministry, Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in Him (John 7:1-9).  Can you imagine having a literally perfect older brother?  Yeah, I wouldn’t be too thrilled with him, either.  But Jesus did have a cousin whom He was close with.  His name was John.

John was born six months earlier than Jesus, but even in the womb, he recognized who Jesus really was (Luke 1:44).  John’s mission was to announce to the nation of Judah that the Messiah was coming (Luke 3:1-6).  He was even given the honor of baptizing Jesus (Luke 3:21-22), signifying that a new era in God’s relationship with mankind had begun.  John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, those chosen by God to point the people toward the coming Messiah and King.  But John was the only prophet to actually know the One he was pointing people to.  John knew better than anyone on the planet what Jesus had come to earth for, giving up his own opportunity for fame and fortune among the Jewish people.  His understanding is wholly encapsulated in his statement:

John 3:28-30
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of Him.’ He who has the bride is the groom.  But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice.  So this joy of mine is complete.  He must increase, but I must decrease.

John’s mission as a prophet wasn’t just to announce the Messiah, but to also bring the people to recognize their need for the coming Messiah.  His teaching routinely convicted people of their sin – some wanted to know how to deal with their sinful state, but others wanted to hide from it.  And John wouldn’t just call out the average citizens…he had no issue calling out the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and political leaders for their selfishness.

As you can imagine, this caused John some trouble.  At one point, King Herod arrested John and had him thrown in prison.  Then through some shrewd political maneuvering, others manipulated the King into beheading John (Matthew 14:1-12).  This act shocked the people and word spread quickly to Jesus.

Matthew 14:13
When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone.

I don’t blame Him one bit.  You find out that your closest friend – your cousin that’s practically your brother – has been murdered on the King’s orders.  The person who understood your life’s mission the best has been violently taken away…and all Jesus wanted was some time to Himself, some time with just Him and the Father.  But that’s not what He got:

Matthew 14:13-14
When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns.  When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd

How deflating that must have felt.  Jesus wants to grieve, but even in His lowest moment, the people still needed Him.  They were still drawn to Him.  So much so they ran around a body of water to chase down His boat, in the hopes of meeting Him on the other side.

I admit that if I were Jesus, I would have been mad at that scene as I brought the boat into shore.  Too emotionally tired to explode with anger, I likely would have shut down in depression.  Every instinct in my body would have been to turn the boat around and go drop anchor in the middle of the lake…and I’m pretty sure I would have given in to doing so.  My internal dialogue would have been screaming, “Don’t they know how broken I feel right now?  Can’t they see I need to get away!”

Instead, this is how Jesus saw them:

Matthew 14:14
When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

Jesus had compassion on them because He still saw them as they were, instead of viewing them as hinderances to His own desires.  They were sheep without a shepherd.  They were listless and leaderless.  They were drawn to Jesus, even if they couldn’t fully explain why.  They just knew He had what they needed.  Jesus did get His time alone with the Father a little while later (Matthew 14:23), so He could properly grieve and process the loss of John.

Therein lies the challenge for us.  When life punches hard – and it will happen – are we going to see people through the lens of our suffering or through the lens of compassion?  When you’re ready to leave and your classmates or coworkers ask you to help them out again…or that little hand reaches under the bathroom door when you just wanted a minute to breathe…or you’re in a rush at the store and down the aisle comes an elderly lady with a lost and confused look on her face…how will we see them?

I hope we choose compassion.  We cannot go wrong when we see people through that lens.  Even when we’re low, we can still compassionately connect and even meet some needs.  When we do, I’m convinced God will grant us the time we need to rest and process.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Fulfilling our need to be reconciled

I was sitting in church recently, when the pastor included a familiar passage in his message.  When this situation happens, it’s an easy trap for believers (especially if they have been taught from the Scriptures for a few years) to think, “Oh that passage.  Yeah, I’ve heard this one before.  I know what that means.”

And while it is 100% true that God’s meaning of His word does not change, the depth of our understanding and ways in which we apply the truth of God’s word most certainly can change.  Often these two arrive hand-in-hand – when we understand better, we can become better at applying.

That’s what happened as I sat there listening.  Our pastor was discussing what we share as believers by being a part of God’s family, and he took us to the familiar passage in Paul’s second letter to the believers in Corinth.  This is where Paul says that we share a mission to be Christ’s ambassadors to the world, specifically reaching out to others with the message of reconciliation:

2 Corinthians 5:18-20
Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us.  We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

Now, I’ve heard a number of sermons cite this passage, and they typically emphasize each believer doing their part in getting the good news about Jesus out into the world.  Those sermons focus on Paul’s use of the word ambassador and the ambassador’s job to represent God and His interests, purpose, and design for human life.

However…my mind went somewhere else.  I made a connection that I hadn’t thought of before…one that left me both stunned and (honestly) a little agitated.  It wasn’t about the job of an ambassador; I understand that part.  Instead, it was realizing exactly how God expects us to do the job of an ambassador. 

Let me take you through my thought process:

C.S. Lewis famously said in Mere Christianity that “Every Christian is to become a little Christ.  The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.”  God’s plan for our lives is to make us more and more like Jesus, such that when the world encounters us, they have the opportunity to see Jesus.  And if, according to Paul, Jesus reconciled the world to God the Father THROUGH HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS…and I, as a Christ-follower, am to become more like Jesus…who has given the message of reconciliation to us…

THEN…for me to be an ambassador that clearly and correctly represents God…I have to be willing to die, just like Jesus was…and whatever God asks me to let die, for the sake of others being reconciled to Him, I need to give up – just like Jesus did.

As this conclusion dawned on me, sitting in church…my immediate, raw, and unfiltered thought was “Oh, come on!  Really?” 

I mean, I get that we need to be “good ambassadors”, play nice, and be good neighbors in the world…but that’s not what we’re called to do, is it?  No, after becoming the new creation through Jesus’ free gift of eternal life (John 3:16), He then calls us to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-25).  The cross is an instrument of death.  We’re not supposed to just carry the cross, we’re meant to use it.

So, ever since this realization, the question I’ve been pondering is “What in me has to die so others can be reconciled to God?”  I’ve grappled with a few ideas…several of them are hard to let go of.

That’s a tough question, isn’t it?  What about you?  What in you has to die so others can be reconciled to God?  What has to die so you can become more like Christ?  Here are a few options:

Our need for validation from others.
Our self-centeredness.
Our shame.
Our suspicions of people not like us.
Our desire to appear like we have it all together.
Only seeing people as tasks or obstacles.

I’m sure you could add something of your own, too.  I suggest picking one and taking it to God.  Tell Him you want to be a better ambassador, and that you’re willing to give up what He asks of you so that others will be able to hear the good news – Jesus sets us free and gives us eternal life, all we have to do is believe in Him for it.

The question still stings a bit, but we can trust that God’s answer is for our good and His glory:

What in me has to die so others can be reconciled to God?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Believe me, I swear!

Growing up, it seemed like any time another kid wanted to be believed, he would say something like, “I swear on my mother’s life” or “I swear to God”.  It was because he wanted to be seen as telling the truth, no matter how outlandish his claim was.  Even still now, among adults, I hear similar phrases like, “That’s the God’s-honest truth” or “May God strike me down if I’m lying” or simply “On God”. 

These qualifiers have always seemed to me as, well, a little weird to say.  And apparently, so did Jesus’ half-brother James:

James 5:12
Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.  But let your “yes” mean “yes”, and your “no” mean “no”, so that you won’t fall under judgment.

Another translation for so that you won’t fall under judgment would be so that you won’t fall into hypocrisy.  Ouch.  No one wants the stigma of being viewed as a hypocrite.  This thought isn’t unique to James, either.  Because his big-brother Jesus covered this same topic in His Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:33-37
Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, “You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord”.  But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; or by the earth, because it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King.  Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.  But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’, and your ‘no’ mean ‘no’.  Anything more than this is from the evil one.

How bad of a look is it if we’re “swearing” by heaven or by earth…and we are actually wrong on whatever it is we’re trying to convince others about?  We have no control over the heavens, the earth, or what color our hair naturally grows out as.  So what does all this “swearing” mean?  A whole lotta nothing, honestly.  But wow, phrases like this are commonly said in today’s culture.  It’s as if we’re so used to people not following through that we need an extra layer of promise to get people to believe us.

It might not seem like a big deal to simply let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’, and your ‘no’ mean ‘no’, but the difference is that it will stand out in comparison to what people have typically experienced.  If that statement sounds far-fetched, I would have likely agreed with you, if it weren’t for a recent experience at work.

I was given a small task of updating a few accounts, so I contacted each of the account owners via email on a Friday, telling them that their account credentials would change on the following Wednesday afternoon.  Then, on that next Wednesday afternoon, I communicated their updates.  I thought nothing of the task until I received an email back from one of the account owners with the following statement:

Thank you for making this process so smooth!

I was pretty surprised at getting a “thank you”, but also really surprised at being told that I made the whole thing “so smooth!”  All I did was follow through with what I said I would do – and that apparently stood out to this particular person, enough for him to feel the need to express his gratitude to me.

It was still just a small thing…or was it?  If we are to be Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), then it is appropriate for us to be reliable ambassadors.  If we’re not following through on the “small things” or we have to “swear” or “On God” what we say…how will they believe us when the opportunity comes to talk about the most important thing they could ever know?

And it’s really just as simple as James and Jesus made it out to be – let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’, and your ‘no’ mean ‘no’.

Keep Pressing,
Ken