Bring your whole self to God

Over the past decade, there has been a push to make places of employment “more inclusive”.  While that term has a variety of definitions and applications, one phrase that I’ve frequently heard is the desire to “bring your whole self to work” – and this idea is often hooked up to the argument that we’re not autonomous worker-robots simply there to do the company’s bidding.  Instead, we’re told, the ideal would be to foster belonging and acceptance, because a unified group gets more accomplished than a fractured group.

The counter-argument doesn’t necessarily advocate for a fractured group, rather the question is more around “How much of ‘our whole self’ really needs to be identified, shared, and celebrated within the workplace?”.  And this debate has volleyed back and forth over the recent years, with many businesses and employees caught in the cross-fire.

Regardless of how you view the idea of “bringing your whole self to work” – I have to wonder how much we have this same struggle in our relationship with God.  Are we holding back?  Are we over-sharing? If you’re not sure, try a few of these questions:

Do we approach God in prayer with the same robotic, formula-driven phrases because that’s what we think He wants to hear? 
Are we afraid He will get mad at us for being less-than-perfect or frazzled by the day’s events? 
Have we convinced ourselves that our issues are too small for the God of the Universe to be bothered with?
Do we feel guilty after we have an emotional outburst (anger, tears, etc.) while talking to God?
Do we think that God will “bring down lightning” or punish us for questioning His plans?

When we’re troubled by questions like this, the best place to go is to the Scriptures.  One famous psalm that is familiar to most people is Psalm 23, which starts out like this:

Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Reading through that psalm, we can find many truths that can be very comforting.  But did you know that the psalm just before it, Psalm 22, starts out very differently:

Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Completely different feeling and situation from what we read in Psalm 23.  Both psalms are authored by the same guy, David.  He’s talking about the same God in both psalms.

Most importantly – don’t miss this – God considers both of these psalms to be acceptable worship.  Psalms were not just words written on a page, but they were songs to be sung.  Can you imagine singing “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” in a church today?  And yet, the ancient Israelites sang it to God.

Take a look for yourself and survey the first verse of any number of the 150 psalms in the Bible – you’ll find that the ancient Israelites indeed brought their “whole selves” to God, looking to Him for truth, rescue, comfort, relationship, excitement, guidance, and support.  Regardless of circumstances, God welcomed them, just as they were.

So let’s stop with trying to say “the right prayer” or worrying that we don’t sound like our pastor when he prays.  Bring your whole self to God.  There’s no need to hide or pretend to be perfect.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Do not memorize this verse

Did you know that the numbering for chapters and verses in the Bible are not original with the text?  Instead, they were added later on to help us navigate the text in a consistent, reliable manner.  In fact, chapter numberings were first introduced around 1227 AD and verse numberings not until 1448 AD for the Old Testament and 1551 AD for the New Testament.

As such, we should not consider these numberings to be at the same level as the inspired Scripture text; instead, they should be viewed as helpful navigational landmarks.  Most of the time, chapter breaks and verse numberings make sense within the text; however, there are more than a handful that seem a little random or even interruptive to what the author was writing.

Many times we use these chapter-verse landmarks to help us identify truths that we want to recall later – to hide them in our heart, as the writer of Psalm 119 states.  Scripture memorization is an awesome tool to help us keep God’s perspective in focus through whatever life throws our way.

That said, not all verses are equally helpful, taken at face-value.  Check out this verse from the Mosaic Law:

Leviticus 11:30
geckos, monitor lizards, common lizards, skinks, and chameleons.

Feeling edified and uplifted?  Ok, maybe not so much.

While we might not find this particular reference to be a statement we want to immediately recall…we need to avoid thinking that because we shouldn’t memorize a verse that it means the verse isn’t all that useful.

Admittedly, taken by itself, this verse is kinda odd.  Since this is the back-half of a sentence, let’s go back to verse 29 and see if we can figure out why God would bother listing out a bunch of lizards:

Leviticus 11:29-30
These creatures that swarm on the ground are unclean for you:
weasels, mice, any kind of large lizard,
geckos, monitor lizards, common lizards, skinks, and chameleons.

Ok, well, that gives a little more perspective.  God is telling the Israelites that these lizards were unclean for them – meaning they should be avoided.  Interestingly, God gives them additional clarification about handling these creatures:

Leviticus 11:31-35, 41
These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures.  Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening.  When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean – any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work.  It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.

If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you are to break it.  Any edible food coming into contact with that unclean water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean.  Anything one of the carcasses falls on will become unclean.  If it is an oven or stove, it is to be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you…All creatures that swarm on the earth are abhorrent; they must not be eaten.

Well, that seems like a lot, doesn’t it?
Why would God get so seemingly bent out of shape about lizards?

When reading Scripture, not only is it important to read individual verses in context, but it’s important to remember the timeline context, as well.  At the time of the Mosaic Law, there are no refrigerators or freezers.  Food is always prepared fresh, otherwise it spoils.  None of the cleaning supplies we use everyday are available.  If a dead lizard fell and landed in your clothing or food or water, it would be contaminated.  Just because they didn’t know about bacteria and microbes doesn’t mean they couldn’t become seriously sick from them.  Getting a clay pot or clay oven cleaned out?  There’s no way they could guarantee that they had disinfected all parts of that super-porous material…the Israelites really were better off smashing them and moving on.

God gave these rules (and others) to both set them apart from the practices of the surrounding nations and to protect them from potential dangers/illnesses they could not foresee or understand. 

This is where the ancient rules in Leviticus actually teach us modern-day believers something…there are some commands that God gives in the New Testament that we might not fully understand.  For those instances, I would propose that God is doing with us the same thing He did for Israel – He wants us to live distinctly from the culture around us and He wants to protect us from potential dangers that, right now, we can’t foresee or fully understand.

So maybe you don’t memorize a verse from Leviticus that is nothing more than a list of lizards…but do remember the principle that God has a purpose in everything He commands, even if we don’t fully understand it at the time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Hope while navigating catastrophes

My wife and I recently watched the Netflix movie Leave the World Behind, starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke.  As the movie progresses, you begin to realize that something catastrophic has happened in the USA, and the technology we all rely upon is no longer available.  The main characters struggle to figure out what’s happening, what they should do next, and how much they should trust each other.  Through odd camera angles and tension-building music, the director paints a picture of unease and curiosity that lasts over two hours.  By the end of the movie, there is no resolution given to the world changing events; instead, the story has focused on the dynamic of ordinary people reacting to and changing in situations they can’t control.

To be honest, I don’t watch a lot of movies, but when I do, it’s typically for simple entertainment value.  Give me a story where the problem is resolved, there’s some crazy action stunts, sprinkle in some unexpected, quippy humor…and I’m good.  Leave the World Behind did not even come close to that category of film. 

Afterwards, my wife and I talked through all the different catastrophic scenarios that could happen in our area and what we could do about them.  We recognized that you can prepare for a lot of stuff, but ultimately, you can’t prepare for everything.  That’s when it hit me – if all there is to our lives are the events we are living through right now, then the realization that a natural disaster or global catastrophe could end everything we know and love…that would be mind-shatteringly depressing.  However, if Jesus is right and death is not the end of our lives…then the potential of these terrible scenarios, while still horrific, have much less bite. 

In light of God’s promise of life beyond what we see here, thinking through all these uncontrollable world events reminded me of a few verses I memorized many years ago, from my NIV84 Bible:

Titus 1:1-2
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Christ Jesus for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time

The faith we have in God and the knowledge God gives us of the truth are not simply coping mechanisms to make us feel better in this life.  Trusting God is who He says He is and striving to understand Him better are not just distraction techniques or escapism fantasies, ideas that have no foundation other than our own wishful thinking.

Instead, Paul tells us that our faith and knowledge [are] resting on the hope of eternal life.  Our foundation for our trust in God and our perspective on this life rest upon our confident expectation that God has promised eternal life to those who believe Him for it.  God promises that He gives us never-ending absolute fullness of life.  Do you believe that?  If you do, then our confident expectation of eternal life is what sustains us as we move through all of life’s troublesome times.  Even when the catastrophic happens.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Depressed, messy prayers

There is a lot of nervousness right now about the economy and job security.  Government jobs are under heavy scrutiny, and while many private-sector companies are cautiously optimistic about the future…they’re also worried about budget constraints, talent shortages, foreign politics, domestic politics, and waning consumer sentiment – because many Americans still feel the impact of high prices.

If you’re feeling like your job security is low, then public perceptions, partisan divides, and loudly-shouted mixed opinions about economic data do nothing to alleviate your fears.  While I’m not currently there, I have been before.  There have been times in previous positions where I’ve been worried that I might lose my job for something I did, or times that I worried about moves the company was making that could eliminate my position, or times when fear and nervousness spiked because a “reduction in force” happened with no warning at all.

And in all those times, you know what always grew?  The amount of time I spent praying.  Nothing drives you to increase your time talking with God as much as having your paycheck security threatened. 

But what of those prayers?  How do you pray for help when the world around you feels so uncertain?  Especially if you haven’t talked with God 1-on-1 in a while…just letting the preacher on Sunday talk to God for you.  Should I sit up straight, fold my hands, bow my head, and close my eyes?  Do I need to drop down to my knees and (politely) beg?  Should I recite the Lord’s Prayer five times…ten times…more?  What are the right words to say?  Pastor Tony Evans has this advice:

If you have wrongly assumed that all prayer should be dignified and employ only theological jargon in your petitions to God, you have not understood prayer rightly.  Let David be your model. He approaches God honestly, pleading emotionally for deliverance.  As a troubled child depends on his or her daddy, go to your heavenly Father in your turmoil and open your heart to Him.

That is exactly what David did.  In Psalm 142, the beginning header recounts that this was written when he was in the cave.  How dark was it?  How confining?  How much despair and depression did the sloped walls communicate?  They certainly contributed to his mood and the raw words he prayed:

Psalm 142
I cry aloud to the Lord;
I plead aloud to the Lord for mercy.
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I reveal my trouble to Him.
Although my spirit is weak within me, you know my way.

Along this path I travel they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see: no one stands up for me;
there is no refuge for me; no one cares about me.

David certainly felt isolated and unsure of his future.  When he looks to the right and sees…no one, he feels utterly alone.  There was no one there to be his “right-hand man”; a warrior would have his trusted ally on his right to help protect his flank while holding his own shield with his left hand.  But for David…he looks and finds no one to care about him.

Alone.  Surrounded by cave walls.  No support.  All he sees are hidden traps up ahead. 
Perhaps you can relate. 

So David does the only thing he can do, and it is a model for us as well:

I cry to you, Lord;
I say, “You are my shelter, my portion in the land of the living.”
Listen to my cry, for I am very weak.
Rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
Free me from prison so that I can praise Your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because you deal generously with me.

There are no highbrow words, no flowery talk.  David doesn’t posture, fake being strong, or try to bargain with God.  Instead, he readily admits: I am very weak…they are too strong for me.  He can’t do this on his own.  The future, apart from God’s rescue, has no hope.

Looking at David’s example…it’s ok to pray this way.  Be raw.  Be real.  Be honest.  Tell God that you are weak, but you trust that He will be strong.

David made it out of that cave, because the God he trusted took care of him.  You can, too.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

All my heroes could transform

Growing up in the 80s and 90s provided me with many advantages – and one of the greatest advantages is that we had some of the best cartoons ever made.  With just a handful of TV channels to choose from, weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings were prime-time cartoon viewing as the networks put out their best efforts to captivate an audience.

Here is a short list of my favorites…see how many you recognize:

TigerSharks – A team of humans and aliens had access to the Fish Tank, a device that allowed them to transform from their humanoid forms into super-powered marine animals.  They used their abilities to defend the inhabitants of the planet Water-O from various evil enemies.

ThunderCats – The ThunderCats were cat-like humanoids who escaped their war-ravaged world to start a new life on a new planet.  They fought several groups of power-hungry, evil bad guys by calling on the power of the Eye of Thundera.  The Eye would grant the ThunderCats enhanced strength, speed, skill, or anything else they needed to defeat the evil Mumm-Ra and his minions.

He-man and the Masters of the Universe – Whenever the unassuming Prince Adam would hold the Sword of Power and say, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!” – he was transformed into He-Man.  Along with his friends, He-Man defended his planet from the schemes of the evil Skeletor.

Transformers – The Transformers were split into two factions: the noble Autobots and the evil Decepticons.  They crash-landed on earth and continued their eons-long conflict, with the Autobots defending humans and the Decepticons looking to either enslave or wipeout the humans.  Both groups had a robot form and could transform into a vehicle or other objects. 

You might have noticed a running theme in all my favorite cartoons…and while I didn’t make the connection when I was a kid, it is rather obvious now: Every main character was able to transform from their “normal” state into a super-charged version of themselves with enhanced abilities.  Of course, these enhanced abilities were crucial to defeating evil and winning the day. 

I’m sure you can see the same theme in some of your favorite shows, movies, books, and comics.  Us gravitating toward stories of transformation-leading-to-success speaks to our own desire to change and overcome.  But sadly, most of our stories about transformation are external changes – the TigerSharks became aquatic animals, the Transformers changed their outer form, and both the ThunderCats and He-man gained physical abilities.  By and large, the transformation stories we seek to tell about ourselves are also mainly external – we got a new job, we went to the gym, we bought a new car – and while those things are good…there remains a part of us that is unchanged.  It’s the part inside, at our core, we most want to transform…and that isn’t touched by any external changes.

This is our dilemma.  How do we find real, lasting, life-altering change?

Jesus offers us Himself:

John 10:10
I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

The Greek word for life – zoe – describes a life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, and blessed, in both this world and the next for those who put their trust in Christ.  Once we believe in Jesus for His gift of this zoe life, we are part of His family and we can begin to experience this life-change here and now, as well as in eternity.

While Jesus’ gift is free to any one (John 3:16, 5:24) and cannot be lost, we can participate in our own transformation and experience into abundant life.  But this transformation doesn’t start with the outside.  Instead, the Apostle Paul said it begins with how we think:

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Being able to know God’s will sounds like a super-power for living a life that conquers evil.  To get there, we need transformation of our minds.  What are we thinking about?  What are we spending our free time exposing our minds to?  Are we being conformed to this age or are we achieving the transformation we deeply desire?

These are hard questions, but ones worth wrestling over.  Don’t skip this.  Stop right now and ask God to renew your mind. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Take my Legos, take my toys

It was a moment that parents love to stumble upon, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

When our boys were young, their job every Saturday morning was to clean their room upstairs.  It didn’t matter to us how long it took them, 10 minutes or 7 hours, they were free to do other things in the rest of the house once the room was cleaned.  But they were definitely not quick about getting it done.  I can’t recall a time when the job took them less than an hour.  They would clean, get distracted, play with their toys…and we didn’t mind, really.  The longer they took, the more peaceful our Saturday mornings downstairs tended to be.

They had a small CD player, and they loved having music going while they “cleaned” their room.  At this point in time, they were all into a Jeremy Camp album, called “Stay” – and they especially loved a song called “Take my life”.  It had a rock anthem beat and guitar riffs on the last word of each line – right up a little boy’s alley.  Here’s the chorus:

Take my life (riff)
take my mind (riff)
take my soul (riff)
take my will (riff)
As I am yours and I give it all to You!

They played this song all the time and always sang it at the top of their lungs.  On this particular Saturday, my parental timing was perfect.  I passed by the bottom of the stairs at just the right moment to hear our oldest son call out to his younger brother:

Hey, hey, wait…check this out:
Take my Legos,
take my toys,
mumble,
mumble,
As I am yours and I give it all to You!

You could hear the pride in his voice as he was coming up with his own lyrics to match the beat of the song they loved so much.  Taking all this in, I stifled a surprised chuckle – not wanting to ruin the adorableness of the moment – and quietly walked away before they realized I had overheard them.

Jeremy Camp’s song was based on Jesus’ answer to the question: Which command from the law did God consider to be the most important?  Here is what He replied:

Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

Jesus was pointing His audience back to one of the nation of Israel’s primary lessons about God. Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength means that you love Him with all your best, all of who you are.  Jesus’ Jewish audience would have picked up on the importance of the connection Jesus was making.  While I’m certain Jesus didn’t add any guitar riffs to the end of each line, the addition of them by Jeremy Camp certainly got the attention of my boys. 

Changing the lyrics to “Take my Legos, take my toys”, demonstrated that our oldest son got the point – that we offer our best, our all to God – and his favorite thing in the world at that point in his life was Legos.  He loved to spend hours creating, playing, and dreaming with his Lego builds.  For him to offer his Legos to God was a pretty real sacrifice, at his young age.

Do we pray similar prayers?  When was the last time you offered your house, your car, your career, or your favorite hobby/toy to God?  We can’t leave them off the list if we’re going to love the Lord your God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.  

Keep Pressing,
Ken

The simplest way to describe Jesus

My mentor, Joe, taught me how to study the Bible.  It involves a 3-step process: first Observation, then Interpretation, followed by Application.  I have since taught this method to many others over the last 20 years.  Teaching it typically involves a classroom or small group setting, but I have taught this 1-on-1 as well.  Broken up over 8 weekly lessons, there is plenty of opportunity for people to practice and ask questions as they learn how to study the Scriptures for themselves.

After teaching this method a couple of times in a classroom setting, Joe had an unexpected request for me.  He wanted the entire 8-lesson process to be condensed down to a 1-page handout.  He was meeting with someone soon to discuss how to properly Observe, Interpret, and Apply the Scriptures, and he thought a 1-page layout would be helpful as he talked through the process…and he was looking at me to create it.

I was pretty stunned at his request.  I mean…8 lessons…each about 7 pages long…about 8 hours of class time…down to just one sheet of paper?  After I sat down at my computer, I began to move through the five stages of grief as I hacked and slashed section after section.  It took some time, but I finally was able to bring the whole thing down to just 2 pages.  I decided that these two pages could be printed back to back on 1 page – thus fulfilling Joe’s request.  I felt both relieved and a little accomplished when I emailed the final version to him.

If someone asked you, “Who is Jesus?  Why do Christians care so much about him?” – how would you respond?  Better yet, if you didn’t have a lot of time in that moment (and couldn’t review your life story or crack open the Bible), what would be your short, condensed answer?

It’s best to think about these kinds of situations before we actually get there…so, what would you say?

I would suggest having two verses memorized.  That’s it, just two.  The first one is the most frequently cited verse in all of Scripture, even in the culture, so it can be a familiar touchpoint to the one who’s asking:

John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

But then, I would suggest following up with a second verse that comes a couple chapters later:

John 6:40
For this is the will of the Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

These two verses clearly convey who Jesus is, why he’s so important, and what happens to someone who believes in Him.  In a brief moment, you can demonstrate that God loves us, Jesus gives us eternal life when we believe in Him, and His promise is forever – all the way up to the last day. 

I highly encourage you to memorize them both, so you’re prepared for any conversation that comes your way. 

But back to my example story with Joe…Sometime later, I asked how his meeting went and if the 1-page summary was useful.  Nonchalantly, he said that he didn’t end up using it.  Once again, I was stunned.  All the work and heartache I had put into that thing…and it wasn’t even used???  I bit my tongue, and we moved on to talking about something else.  It still bothered me for a while that all my efforts didn’t make a difference. 

However, even though Joe did not use the 1-page summary that day, it has been tremendously useful to me on many other days.  I keep a copy of that 1-page in my Bible, and it has become a go-to reference for me as I study God’s Word.  Additionally, whenever a new group completes the 8 lesson course, I present a copy of the 1-page summary for them to keep handy as well.  Just because my efforts didn’t get immediately used the way I expected them to, it didn’t mean that my efforts were wasted.  God has had other uses for the work I put in all those years ago.

I suspect the same will be true as you memorize the two verses.  You might not have an immediate, pressing situation where you need to share them.  But I am certain that God will take your efforts to memorize His word and use it later…maybe even in a way you wouldn’t expect.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Better, but different

Eleven weeks ago, I told you that I was in need of an extended break.  I had just exited a crazy busy season where I was so focused on plowing through that I disregarded all the warning signs that something could be wrong.  In the midst of it all, although I needed time to rest and recharge, I instead leaned on moments of escapism…only to jump back on the hamster wheel and start running again. 

After days turning into weeks, and weeks piling into months…I finally took a few days off of work…and my first day back felt as numb as my last day on.  I panicked.  I have never felt so exhausted and empty, and my go-to fix of “getting away from work” hadn’t fixed anything.  Instead, in my exhausted panic, other issues that I thought had been dealt with (but were really only set aside and not resolved) came to the surface and demanded my attention. 

One of the things I learned is that if you don’t declare a finish line, your body will.  So, I had to pull back and say “no” to many good things that I was doing and had been doing for a long time.  I had to get super honest about what I was experiencing with some friends, my wife, and myself.  I had to stop writing THE WORD so I could go to Scripture without the pressure of figuring out how to teach from it.

Even though dealing with burnout is new to me, my situation isn’t unique.  There are others who have walked this scorched road before, and I appreciate their help and insight.  Thankfully, all of them have referred to their burnout as a “season” and not a permanent lifestyle.  This one, consistent comment gives me hope that what I’ve experienced isn’t going to last forever.

When King Solomon was investigating the ever-looming life questions of purpose and meaning, he made these observations:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-3
There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven:
a time to give birth and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot;
a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to tear down and a time to build;

We will experience these cycles over and over, season after season.  Even if we aren’t expecting a change in season to occur, we can be certain that these life cycles will eventually continue on to the next.  Although Solomon was likely bemoaning the cyclical nature of our existence with these contrasts, we can find God walking with us during each of these times.  And while these cycles do not change – we do.  God uses these times to reveal who we are and to refine us by who He is.

I’m not done healing from my burnout.  I am doing better…but I am also different.  And I expect it will take months (if not the rest of this year) to continue healing and explore what this difference means.  

THE WORD will continue, for now.  I do not believe God has told me to stop teaching here, and I expect to continue until He says otherwise.  I appreciate your prayers on my behalf…and your patience with me as we continue to walk the road in front of us, one step at a time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Round 2: Pause on prayers and regrets

Pause on prayers and regrets
Originally posted on February 03, 2022

There’s a running joke in Christianity that says you should never ask God for patience, because if you do, you’ll hit every red light, you’ll be late for everything, and no one will behave like you expect them to.  “Ask God for patience,” you’re warned, “and you’ll regret it!”

But have you ever asked God for something and later regretted asking Him?  Maybe you asked God for something, but you never received it, so you felt guilty for asking in the first place.  It could have been a relationship with who you thought was “The One”, that “perfect” job opportunity, or public recognition…and they didn’t turn out the way you wanted. 

There’s a flip side to this also – what if God answers your request, but not in the way you were expecting? 

My wife is a good example.  When our boys were young, rambunctious, and not yet in school, my wife was struggling.  She knew that she needed to carve out time for herself.  She wanted to spend that time with God.  But little boys do not make it easy to schedule quiet time.  So she prayed about it, asking God to help her find/make/squirrel away some time where she could read the Bible, pray, and just breathe for 15 or 30 minutes.   

God answered her prayer…but He did it in a way that neither of us anticipated.  During one doctor appointment, she described her struggles and how she was feeling – and, based on their discussion, the doc diagnosed her with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  At the time, we lived in a very cloudy city that didn’t get much sun throughout the winter months.  So her doctor prescribed blue light therapy, meaning that she had to sit with a blue light to help with her mood and sleeping patterns.  Suddenly, she had 30 minutes to kill every morning as a blue light box shined across her face.  She got the result she asked God for, but certainly not delivered in a manner she would have chosen.

The moment in Scripture that we’re going to pause on was filled with tension and sorrow.  Jesus was slowly dying as His naked, beaten body hung from the cross.  For the handful of followers who watched, it must have been gut-wrenching to see Him like that.  Among those who were brave enough to risk being seen there, Matthew noted the following:

Matthew 27:55-56
Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after Him were there, watching from a distance.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

This may seem like an odd moment to pause on, but we need to focus in on the unnamed woman who is listed last: the mother of Zebedee’s sons.  Both of her boys – James and John – were Jesus’ disciples.  And not just any disciples, but they were also part of Jesus’ inner circle, typically mentioned as Peter, James, and John.  Yeah, those were her boys.  They were among the first disciples chosen and they had followed Him everywhere.  Their mother also believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  But as she watched her Messiah slowly die on that cross, how could her mind not flashback to this recent scene?

Matthew 20:20-23
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached [Jesus] with her sons.  She knelt down to ask Him for something.  “What do you want?” He asked her.

“Promise,” she said to Him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”

“We are able,” they said to Him

He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Whoever sat at a ruler’s right hand held the top position, while the ruler’s second in command would sit at his left.  In effect, the mother was asking Jesus to ensure that her boys were placed in the top spots in His kingdom.  Notice that Jesus did not rebuke her for asking, nor did he reprimand James and John for desiring those positions.  However, all three of them were unaware of what such lofty positions would cost.

In Scripture, to drink from a “cup” is figurative for following a divinely appointed path or outcome, in the form of a blessing, wrath, punishment, or, in Jesus’ case, His upcoming suffering.  While Jesus could not promise the top positions, He warned the brothers that to have an opportunity for that honor, they must be prepared to suffer as He would soon suffer.

After their meeting, the other disciples found out and were not happy about the mother’s request:

Matthew 20:24-28
When the ten disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers.  Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.  It must not be like that among you.  On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

The path to greatness is paved with service to others.  Jesus will rightfully rule in His kingdom because He suffered the most and served the most.  The seats at His right and His left have been prepared for those who similarly serve.  There is nothing wrong with desiring the high positions in Jesus’ kingdom, but those seats come at a high price – a “cup” of suffering service.

Back at the cross, what was James’ and John’s mother thinking about?  How did she feel, watching Jesus die, knowing that after her petition, Jesus said her boys would drink from the same cup?

Did she regret her request?
Did she desire to somehow protect her boys from the same horrific path?
Did she still trust Jesus when He said that being great actually means sacrificially serving others?

Those are good questions for us to wrestle with, as well.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Round 2: Pause on abuse

Pause on abuse
Originally posted on January 27, 2022

Physical.  Mental.  Emotional.  Sexual.  Financial.  Spiritual.  Attach the word “abuse” to one of those terms and any rational person cringes at the thought of personally receiving it or witnessing another person taking it.

The Christian church has a spotty record when addressing these issues.  For years, we’ve seen pastors and clergy make headlines for misusing their positions.  Unfair fights and manipulations do happen in homes where the family goes to church.  Also frustrating is that when presented with abusive situations, many in the church don’t know how best to offer support.

We expect the church and our church family to be a safe haven from abusive behaviors, but that’s not always the case.  And as big and sensitive as this topic is, I want to focus on just one aspect.  A question that has been both wondered silently and shouted out loud:

Does God even care that abuses are happening in society at large and even in His church?  Does He not understand how much pain this behavior causes?

In all honesty…yes…God does understand the pain of abuse, because Jesus experienced it directly:

Matthew 27:27-31
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole company around Him.  They stripped Him and dressed Him in a scarlet robe.  They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and placed a staff in His right hand.  And they knelt down before Him and mocked Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”  Then they spat on Him, took the staff, and kept hitting Him on the head.  After they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

Let’s pause right here.  We often read these verses quickly and don’t fully take in the situation.  I get it, it’s painful to think about, but let’s pause for a moment and recognize that in these verses, we see Jesus experience a range of abuses:

Verbal abuse: through their mocking, taunting, and demeaning words.
Physical abuse: when they stripped Him of His clothes, shoved thorns into His head, spat on Him, and beat Him with a staff.
Emotional abuse: through their isolation, intimidation given, and Jesus’ humiliation as the whole company gathered around and participated.

Jesus did nothing to deserve this treatment.  Those in power chose to take advantage of the situation and treat Him this way.

But the abuse Jesus endured didn’t stop there.  A little later, more people joined in.  When Jesus was at His weakest point, when He was totally naked and exposed to everyone…it only got worse.  While the soldiers’ abuse happened away from everyone, isolated in one part of the governor’s residence, Jesus’ next round of abuse was in public.  While He hung on a cross, people from all walks of life began piling on.  It must have felt like the entire world was against Him.

Matthew 27:38-44
Then two criminals were crucified with Him one on the right and one on the left.  Those who passed by were yelling insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!  If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 

In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked Him and said, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself!  He is the King of Israel!  Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.  He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now – if He takes pleasure in Him!  For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with Him taunted Him.

While there were people who loved Him, none of them were with Him in this moment.  Most had scattered.  Some watched at a distance.  A few got as close as they could.  But as He died…He was alone.

Jesus’ purpose was to die on the cross to remove the sin barrier between God and humanity.  But was this “extra” abuse necessary for Him to complete the mission?  No, it wasn’t – but the Roman leaders allowed it.  The Jewish religious leaders were not sad that it happened.  The Roman soldiers chose to pile on what they saw as a poor, powerless, helpless Jew.

Jesus took blows that were unfairly delivered.  He endured taunting that criticized Him as a person, questioned His identity, and mocked His purpose.  However, there is hope.  His endured suffering became our peace and healing:

Isaiah 53:5 (HCSB)
But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

Hebrews 4:15-16
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses – the mistakes we’ve made as well as our struggle to cope with how others have mistreated us.  Jesus wants us to come to Him, because He has mercy and grace for us.  He gets it.  He understands us.

Whatever abuse you have suffered, Jesus has been there.  He’s taken the hits.  He’s endured the taunts.  He’s suffered through others piling on insults, blame, and shame.  You are not alone.  It was wrong for Him to receive it, and it is also wrong for us to receive it.

Pain and abuse isn’t some academic discussion in Christianity – the God we worship has personal, direct experience with human suffering.  The church needs to identify and assist those who have been abused and those who are being abused now.  As ambassadors, we need to lovingly introduce them to a God who sees them and understands their history more intimately than they would expect.

If someone has taken advantage of you or abused you, let me be clear: It was wrong.  Others may not understand.  Blood family or church family may not handle it well.  But know that God understands – and in Him we can find peace and healing. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken