Hey! Rachel here. I'm blogging now at joypublished and Miriam is at headington hill.
The Bible is Relevant.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Thursday, May 12, 2016
The Idol of No-Pain
Photo by Miriam Boone
I
lay flowers on an altar covered in debris, hoping to pacify some god beneath
the rubble. I try to think of reasons my prayers should be heard. All I can
come up with is: “Haven’t I suffered enough?”
Of
all the idols that have sprung up in my life since my
divorce, one of the hardest to grab from the roots is the idol of no-pain.
Because I now know the excruciating suffering God’s love for me can include, I
sometimes fear the future. And when I do, I let that fear confuse my theology.
I start to view blessings as false-security. Good days as a tease. I dwell on
future pain instead of present hope and brace myself for the next storm.
Avoiding Pain
Examining the lengths we’ll go to get something can
reveal our idols. I also find mine hidden behind the things I intentionally
avoid. When I look “at the bottom of painful emotions, especially those that
never seem to lift” I often discover the idol of no-pain, bidding me to cower
alongside it in scared, desperate worship.[1]
Tim Keller points out that how we respond “to unanswered prayers and frustrated
hopes” can point to our idols. When worshipping the idea of a painless future,
we are bound to shrink back from people, ministry, God’s word, and faith.
Pulling away
from people
The
possibilities for pain are endless when in relationship with others. If we want
to avoid frustration, hard conversations, burdens and heartbreak we should stay
far away from people. And we do this when we leave church before anyone can
grab us for lunch, when we let our phone go to voicemail and refuse to allow
conversations to get too deep. Surface level interaction seems safer.
But
when people hurt Jesus, he didn’t pull away. He knew that his life on earth
would include suffering. He felt every bit of it, from the anguish of losing
his dear friend Lazarus (Jn. 11:35) to the betrayal of one of his own disciples,
Judas. Still, he drew close. One of the most poignant examples of this is seen
on the Mount of Olives. Judas leads an angry mob to where Jesus is praying and
Peter, determined to defend Jesus, draws his sword and cuts off the ear of
Malchus, the high priest’s servant. Jesus immediately reprimands Peter and
draws close to Malchus, a man who – just moments later – would take part in his
murder. He draws close enough to touch his wound and heal him (Luke 22:49-51).
Instead of allowing the fear of pain to keep him from loving people, Jesus continually
approached the hurting, even those he knew would hurt him.
C.S.
Lewis said in his book, The Four Loves:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and
your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of
keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it
carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock
it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket,
safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will
become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
Pulling away from ministry
Ministry
is not safe, either. If done with the right heart, ministry will lead to caring
and caring can lead to heartbreak. When someone is fixated on avoiding pain,
their ministries are often the first to go. Ministry also involves sacrifice. We
must step out in faith into what is unknown to us and known only by God. We may
never see the fruits of our labor. It may demand more from us than we
predicted. The discouragement involved could lead us into a fight with depression.
But we can look back at that same night when Jesus healed Malchus’ ear, to hear
Him speak to God about the pain of ministry:
“‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet
not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and
strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his
sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:42-44)
There
are so many things to note in this brief description of Christ before the
cross. First, He was in enough pain to ask God if there was any way he could be
spared. Second, he trusted God enough to accept the answer “no.” Third, God
strengthened him from heaven. And fourth, this still left Jesus “in anguish.”
He still had to go to the cross. And this is what ministry means. That we will
want out sometimes, but that God can be trusted. That pain is a promise on
earth but it is God Himself who strengthens us.
The
most important takeaway from this passage is that Jesus’ obedience to his
ministry makes all our ministering in His name worth it. In his death and
resurrection he fills our ministries with the hope of the gospel.
Pulling away from the Word
It
is a beautiful thing when pain leads us to the Word of God for healing, truth,
and inspiration. But sometimes our pain makes us cower from Scripture because
Scripture demands response. Vulnerability. Action. We reject the comfort that
can be found in God’s promises and we fear the conviction that can lead to
painful obedience.
On
the cross, Scripture was heavy on Jesus’ heart. He spoke his pain by quoting
David’s devastating prayer in Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
During
Jesus’ time on earth, when Satan twisted Scripture and threw it at him in hopes
that it would knock him down, Jesus continued to cling to the true Word. I can
only imagine how tempting it must have been to quench his suffering temporarily
by accepting Satan’s lies. But Jesus fought it. When he was most tempted to
ignore God’s word, He believed it. Recited it. Used it to motivate his
obedience.
Pulling away from faith
There
is a basket at my local coffee shop where they sell day-old bread. It’s cheaper
so I often buy it instead of the fresh loaves. But were they the same price, I
would never choose the bread in the basket. Who would?
Some
Israelites were tempted by old bread. The lack of trust that motivated their
hoarding of manna is the same lack of trust that can cause me to panic rather
than praise God for a good day. I wonder if it will be my last. With the
Psalmist Asaph, I question: “Will he never show
his favor again?” (Ps.
77:7). Trusting that God will provide the “manna” we need every day takes a
great deal of faith. And faith is what we lack when we try to manipulate God’s
daily mercies by putting them into storage containers.
Jesus stepped out in faith at the
highest cost. Because he “endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” we can
“run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus,
the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Tackling Our Fear
When I was eighteen and in the hospital with a serious bone
infection, the doctor told me “the pain you’ve experienced is on par with the
pain of giving birth.” I remembering feeling kind of proud of that. Brave. I
felt a similar rush of bravery this past year, having survived a different kind
of pain, the trauma of heartbreak. But in the past few months, that bravery has
thawed out and melted away. Loss lasts a lot longer than we’d like. And God seems
to be reminding me that I still need to hold onto Him for dear life.
The fear that has replaced my bravery cannot be dissolved by
mere willpower. It must be replaced with faith. For me this is often an hourly
task. I have to remind myself that the most fearful thing, God the “consuming
fire,” (Heb. 12:17) is now the one shielding me under His wings (Ps. 91:4). His
wrath toward me has been pacified and His love for me has been kindled through
Christ. There is nothing safer than being “from God” who is “greater than he
who is in the world.” (1 Jon. 4:4)
The Reward for Endurance
What
a relief to read in Hebrews that God recognizes that we “have need of
endurance” (Heb. 10:36). And an even greater relief to know that we do not
endure in our own strength. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: “Jesus asks nothing of us
without giving us the strength to perform it.”[2] Sweeter still is the
knowledge that this endurance has purpose: “You
need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will
receive what he has promised.” (Heb. 10:36). The pain we have experienced, are
experiencing and will experience in the future is not pointless. “For he who
promised is faithful” and we will “be richly rewarded” when Christ appears “a
second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Heb. 9:28, 10:23-35).
The Best is Yet to Be
In
her book on loneliness, Elisabeth Elliot points out that “the worst thing that
ever happened became the best thing that ever happened.”[3] She refers here to the
work of Christ on the cross. Elliot, who endured countless trials in her life
including the loss of two husbands, believed that the worst really was behind
her and behind all of us who trust in Jesus. When that crowd of men demanded
that the perfect Son be tortured to death, the lowest moment in history
occurred. And when he rose from the dead, Jesus made it possible for all those
who trust in Him to look forward to the future. In Christ:
“The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the
first was made:
Our times are in His hand”[4]
[1] How
to Find Your Rival Gods by
Tim Keller in Christianity Today: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/octoberweb-only/142-21.0.html.
[2] The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pg. 38.
[3] The Path of Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot, pg. 45.
[4] Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The Benefits of Baggage
Growing
up, my only experience with baggage was when I
packed for summer camp. I sympathized with those who
carried heavy loads but I also thought: “Life is so complicated for them.” I even said to myself: “Marrying someone with that much baggage would be difficult."
But
at the age of almost-thirty I now own my own suitcase of suffering. I carry it
awkwardly because it’s new. I'm just beginning to understand the complicated nature of this weight. The pressure it puts on those closest to me. The way I must now learn to navigate the strange ebb and flow of grief. But though baggage is hard to view in a positive
light God has graciously shown me some of its benefits.
The
Bible makes more sense
In college, one of my wing-mates told me that she knew
Biblically she was a sinner but couldn’t think of any sins she’d committed. She
drew a blank when she would try to repent. I couldn't relate. Every verse about
forgiveness was a gift to my guilty soul. I felt connected to just about every
sinful character in the Bible. As a result, God’s Word was full of conviction
and comfort for me.
But it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve come to an
intimate understanding of David’s cries for help in the Psalms. His isolation.
His fear. His desperation. It wasn’t until I was in the fetal position on the
bathroom floor of my apartment, crying out to God to save my husband and my
marriage, that I read the Psalms with complete understanding:
“I am feeble and crushed;
I groan
because of the tumult of my heart.
O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing
is not hidden from you.”
(Psalm 38:8-9)
Since my divorce, groaning and sighing have
become a regular part of my prayer life and passages like Matthew 11:28-30 have
become a treasure:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mathew 11:28-29)
“Cast your burden on
the Lord, and he will sustain you.” (Psalm 55:22)
Jesus makes more sense too. His constant sorrow on earth
resonates in a way it didn’t before. My awe over how He left heaven to save us
and satisfy God’s wrath has increased. It’s as though His sufferings are now
printed in bold in my Bible. The more baggage I carry, the more
I need Him. The more time I get to spend unburdening at His feet. These are
painful but precious times with my Savior.
Bonding over baggage
Jerry Sittser lost his daughter, wife, and mother all at once
in a car wreck in 1991. In his book, A Grace
Disguised, he said: “Sorrow took up permanent residence in my soul and
enlarged it.”
Baggage can weigh us down so that we fail to see others and
Christ clearly. But it can also provide us with an opportunity to practice and
receive compassion. When you start walking around with baggage, you suddenly
become aware of those travelling beside you. Their loads become visible. Though
some choose isolation and self-centeredness, our burdens can lead us into the
most blessed community – the community of sufferers.
The people I found easy to categorize as “a mess” or “too
complicated” before are now the ones helping me make it through the day. They
pick up my bags and carry them for a while. I help them unpack theirs and we
travel together. For “two are better than one, because they
have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one
will lift up his fellow.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9)
I have seen the beauty of the Body of Christ more this past
year during my greatest grief than in all my previous years as a Christian. The
Sunday after my husband told me he was going to file for divorce, I sat in an
empty row at church. The assistant pastor saw me and, knowing what had
happened, stepped out of his row where he had been worshiping with his family
and walked down the aisle to where I stood. He put his arm around me, said “I
am so sorry,” and let me cry. Instead of returning to his row, he stood next to
me for a few songs so that I didn’t have to worship alone. I can’t tell this
story, type it, or even think about it without tearing up. My baggage does not
scare away my brothers and sisters in Christ. It gives them a chance to
demonstrate His love. And I get to receive it. “For the body does not consist
of one member but of many...If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one
member is honored, all rejoice
together.” (1 Corinthians 12:14, 26)
Homesick for Heaven
I asked one of my closest friends her thoughts about this
idea of “baggage,” knowing how greatly she and her husband have suffered this
year. She said: “This challenge has given us eternal perspective. Life is not
about how big our house is or how much we made last year. It forces us to think
about what really matters. Jesus and souls.”
I
love this perspective. Baggage forces us into a cage where we must wrestle with
God’s goodness, His grace and His plans for us. As we wrestle with heavy things
what is flimsy and fleeting matters less.
A
close friend of mine walked alongside me for years until his sister died. That
day, he refused to carry the weight of his pain to the cross. Instead, he
picked it up and walked in the opposite direction. Baggage, whether handed to us by an abuser, given to us at birth, or
taken up after a consequence-filled mistake, is never light. But for those who
are in Christ it is temporary. It is a heaviness we will not carry into
eternity. This truth only increases my longing for His kingdom (Mat. 6:33).
The blessed nature of
humiliation
I
am humiliated to admit how many times I prayed this year: “God, just take me
home.” It’s a prayer I pray when the emotional intensity of this loss seems
unbearable. I know it’s selfish. I must repent when my strongest desire is not
God’s glory but to see an end to my pain. In a recent sermon my pastor spoke
about Elijah praying a similar prayer in 1 Kings 19:4: “It is enough now, O
Lord, take away my life.” He pointed
out the faithlessness of this plea in light of all God had shown Elijah. We
lose heart so quickly. But God was merciful to Elijah. And He has been merciful
to me.
Regardless
of what brings you low, humiliation is an equalizer. Job bowed down in
humiliation when God appeared before him. He no longer felt the need to argue
his case but instead put his hand over his mouth. I have been weighed down so
that I can sympathize with my fellow travelers. So that I will cling to His
Word. I have been brought low to understand better how my Savior was brought
lower. It has been tempting to use this baggage as an excuse to sin – to indulge
in self-pity or build mini-idols. But I see the wisdom in that Puritan prayer, that
it is from the valley that we are truly able to see Him in the heights.
The
humiliation of baggage pushes us to see our weakness and His strength: “Three
times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he
said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For
the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.’” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) We may never get to a place where our
suitcase of suffering is empty. But if we allow it to, our baggage will ground
us in humility, push us toward the Body and lift our eyes to the Mighty
Fortress that is God.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Take Your Tears to Church
If you’ve experienced grief you know
it can be deceiving. You may have months of such severe heart-pain you are
convinced it will last forever. Then, one day, you realize you aren’t in that
place anymore. Your limbs don’t feel weighted with sand. You laugh more easily.
You think, maybe this is finally over. Maybe you’ve finally healed.
Without warning, the heaviness returns. You notice that you are stuck just
behind the finish line, like landing on the Molasses Swamp square
in Candyland.
That was me last night. Pushed back a
few spaces. Stuck in grief. New hurts emerged that I thought I’d wept my way
past. Hot tears. The last thing I wanted to do was set my
alarm clock for church.
I read Psalm 56. When I got to verse
5, which asks: What can flesh do to me? I couldn’t help but
respond: a lot. Flesh humiliates. It speaks the right lie at
the right time. It leaves children orphans. It beheads Christians. It defiles
what was pure. Flesh makes promises then breaks them. Falsely accuses. Slanders.
Gets cancer. I am so sick of this flesh.
And yet these are the times I need to
ask the Psalmist’s question: What kind of power does flesh really have
in comparison to God’s? The answer is of course: very little. Very
little in light of eternity. Flesh can sting, disappoint, even murder, but it
can’t take away the future hope I have in Christ. That promise remains
untouchable.
But what about all
the pain this side of heaven?
God acknowledges it.
He captures every private tear (Ps. 56:8). He does not downplay its
presence in our lives, but instead tells us that those who sow
in tears shall reap with shouts of joy (Psalm 126:5). About
this verse, John Piper writes:
Be realistic. Say to
your tears: ‘Tears, I feel you. You make me want to quit life. But there is a
field to be sown (dishes to be washed, car to be fixed, sermon to be written).
I know you will wet my face several times today, but I have work to do and you
will just have to go with me.
This morning, despite
heavy limbs and heart, I took Piper’s advice. I told my sorrow: You’ll
have to come along, because I’m going to church. When I picked up my
friend Jennifer on the way, I
admitted to her that I was distracted. As a fellow griever, she understood. We
arrived and I got to sing hymns alongside my family, the congregation. I was
reminded during the sermon that glory is a promise; that trials are too. The pastor
pointed out that the order in Scripture for Jesus and His followers is always:
suffering -->
death --> glory
Accepting this did
not take away my pain, but it validated it. There will be times when I sow
in tears, when I must take my pain to church, to Walmart, the DMV, or
coffee with a friend. But these tears are not forever and death is not the
conclusion:
Since therefore the
children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same
things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the
power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver
all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Heb. 2:14, 15)
Eternal joy is a
promise worth dwelling on, especially during periods of earthly sadness. Read
these promises to yourselves. Write them on your wrist, your friend’s Facebook
wall, or your most oft-used bookmark. You’re going to need them:
He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall
there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have
passed away. (Rev. 21:4)
And the ransomed of the LORD shall
return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their
heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away. (Isa. 51:11)
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Five Articles for the Sexually Frustrated Christian
For so many, sex seems like the missing puzzle piece. Christians
are not any more immune to this thinking than unbelievers. It’s a challenge to
respect God’s design for sex without idolizing or demonizing it. And we are
easily caught up in “if only” thinking. If only...we could experience it more
often, differently, with someone else, or at all, then we would finally be
complete. Whole. Satisfied. Some of us have even been told that sex is the only
way to truly understand intimacy with Christ, making marriage an awfully
attractive goal.
The following articles will challenge and encourage you whether
you are single, divorced, widowed, married, same-sex attracted, or just plain
lonely. I don’t endorse every idea in these pieces, but I do believe each one
is worth the read.
From Sex is More and
Less Important Than You Think by Trevin Wax:
To a society that says, “Sex is nothing,” we say, “It’s much more
serious than you think.” But our society also says “Sex is everything. This is
where I get my identity, my fulfillment, my life.” To
this, we say, “Sex is less serious than you think. You are pinning too many
hopes on sex.”
Many people today believe that the purpose of human life and the
measure of human flourishing is in the freedom to express oneself, to
deliver one’s unique inner essence to the world by “being true to yourself.”
Apply this expressivist philosophy to sexuality, and you wind up with a society
in which sexual self-expression becomes vital for happiness. To
question the validity of someone’s sexual attractions or practices is to call
into question their personhood, to do damage to their identity, to radically dehumanize
them by submitting their desires to scrutiny.
In response to this idea, the Church must say, “Human dignity
means you are not defined by your sexual attraction.” Staking your
identity in sexuality or pinning your hopes for happiness on sex is too low of
a goal for a human being made in God’s image.
In this case, we put sex in its place — not by saying “sex is no
big deal” but by telling people, “you are so much more than your sexuality.” We
will not reduce our human self-understanding and self-expression to sexual
urges. It’s not that we diminish sex, but that we elevate human dignity.
From My Gay Roommate by
Eric Teetsel
Tim vacillated between acceptance of his sexual inclinations and
the greater calling of his faith for years before finally finding rest in the
decision to let Jesus be enough. That arduous journey was made much, much more
difficult by voices from within the Church encouraging him to embrace his
inclination to homosexuality.
From Celibate gay
Christian leader urges faithful to ‘normalize’ committed friendships by
Jonathan Merritt (interviewing Wesley Hill):
Wesley Hill says:
I don’t want to say that friendship is a substitute for erotic
love. They’re definitely different things. In the historic Christian
understanding, erotic love is about one spouse complementing the other spouse
who is sexually “other.” When the two partners come together, their love opens
them to new life—to the “one flesh” of a child. Friendship isn’t like that.
Friendship is about two people coming together not for romance or procreation
but for companionship, for mutual encouragement, and for serving the wider
community. So a celibate person does give up one form of intimacy. But
that doesn’t mean he or she gives up intimacy altogether.
From An Open
Conversation on Mixed Orientation by Preston Sprinkle
(interviewing Brian and Monica Gee):
Monica Gee says:
During that time, we realized that in our marriage, we were both
being called to live with form of suffering if our relationship was to
continue. I say ‘called’ because it certainly wasn’t our choice, and yet it was
exactly where God had directed our lives. In remaining faithful, Brian suffered
by not experiencing the fulfillment of many of his physical and emotional
needs. And by remaining in our marriage, I suffered by having my deepest fears
realized and feeling a deeply painful form of rejection. We both realized that
this suffering wasn’t going to be temporary and would probably never find
resolution in our lifetime. And yet, this common suffering that we experienced
united us to Christ’s suffering and to each other in an inexplicable way. We
began to take solace in this unity, a unity that would become a keystone for
our life and work together in the years that have followed.
Brian Gee says:
But what is at the foundation of a Christian marriage except the
charge for both spouses to continually serve and sacrifice for one another as Jesus
both served and submitted to the Father, even in the face of certain failure,
pain, weakness, or suffering. We know that as humans we do fail, we will be
hypocrites, and we will cause those we love pain. Like anyone, I’m not exempt
from that, and no amount of self-protection will change that reality. So when
real sexual hurts and unspeakable relational betrayals go unforgiven or even
unaddressed, it’s not the initial incompatibility that makes the relationship
insolvent; it’s the progressive lack of willingness of one or both spouses to
lay down his or her own desires for the sake of the other, especially in the
face of certain future pain.
From Sex and the
Single Woman by Fabienne Harford:
It might be that the pain of a life without physical intimacy was
part of what equipped Paul to proclaim through the Spirit that to die is gain.
To die is to gain a glorified body that feels and experiences the truth that
all our needs are met in Jesus. To die is to gain the heavenly reality that
earthly intimacy can only reflect in shadows. To die is to gain full oneness
with God, fullness of joy, and pleasures forevermore.
This pain has blessed me by forcing me to be all in with God:
banking on him for my joy. Our God is a God of pleasure. He is not calling us
to hunger because he wants us to be miserable. He is calling us to hunger
because he wants us to experience the greatest pleasure available to man:
himself.
Nothing sounds as foolish to the world as a person who would
pursue purity, not out of some sense of religious obligation, but out of a
faith that there is a greater pleasure in store for those who would trust in
the Creator. Nothing makes God look as beautiful as when we, who have tasted his
goodness, would use our lives to testify that we will forego any momentary joy
in order to taste more of him.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Utter Dark Sayings to Your Children
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us (Psalm 78:1-3).
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us (Psalm 78:1-3).
There is a story we should be telling. It’s about a people who
forget an unforgettable God. This forgetfulness encourages them to ignore His
patience and provision. It enables them to dismiss His miracles. This story is
a captivating one because of God’s power, but it’s dreadful because of man’s
sin.
I picture a Sunday school class full of kids sitting
crisscross-applesauce, leaning forward, eye-brows arched. The flannel graph has
been abandoned and it’s just a teacher telling her students something true.
The Psalmist tells us that he will utter dark
sayings from of old. He will not hide these stories from children, because God did
not (v. 5-8). The story turns out to be a familiar one and the purpose
is clear: we share it so that our children will not forget the works of God (v. 7). By watching Israel in some of
her grittiest moments of unfaithfulness we gain insight into our own
complicated relationship with sin.
This is where the flannel graph can make a comeback as long as
you are quick at changing out scenes and characters. The Psalmist mentions some
of the most famous stories in Israel’s history like the ten plagues, (v. 12),
God parting the Red Sea (v. 13) and providing water from rocks in the desert
(v. 15, 16). Somehow, incredibly, these are the very miracles God’s people
forget (v. 9-11).
And this should register shock, not just in kids, but in each
of us. How could anyone forget the fearsome power behind the plagues? The awe
of that parted sea? It’s impossible. But
what we can do is live as though those miracles aren’t enough, which is exactly
what Ephraim did.
We test God when our desire to satisfy our cravings is greater
than our desire to honor Him. After God’s repeated deliverance, Israel tested God in their heart by demanding the
food they craved. So God gave it to them. They wanted meat, so he rained meat on them like dust (28). Have
you ever had a child ask you for more food while they are still chewing? And do
you ever demand more from God before appreciating what He has given you—before
thanking Him for the food already in your mouth? Israel, instead of accepting
God’s good gifts, questioned His ability to provide. They found His mercy in
the past insufficient for the present.
It reminds me of that scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where Violet
demands a piece of Wonka’s new, experimental chewing gum. Despite being
surrounded by edible plants and wallpaper, she wants the gum. Wonka warns her
not to eat it, but she grabs it anyway and pops it into her mouth. He watches
her, shaking his head. When she turns into a blueberry, he isn’t surprised.
After God punished Israel’s selfish cravings (30, 31), a
positive arch should have developed. They should have learned their lesson,
repented, and moved forward in faith. This was a time to sit down around the
desert camp-fire and share stories about God’s faithfulness. Time to tell
little Benjie just how red the Nile looked that day. How breathlessly eager
they felt, escaping from Egypt during the first Passover. It was time for them
to recall the way God guided his people out of slavery like sheep
and guided them in the
wilderness like a flock. (v. 52) How He acted as a Father to them; faithful
and strong.
But they didn’t.
When God punished them after
yet another rebellion, they seemed repentant for a while. They paid Him some
temporary lip service. But in their hearts, they did not submit to Him (v.
34-37). Can we relate to this at all? Do our children ever say sorry because
they want to get off time-out? Do we ever mumble a prayer of repentance before
communion, knowing full well that sin still has a hiding place in our heart?
It’s absolutely incredible the way God responds to Israel, and to us, when we
are insincere:
Yet he, being compassionate,
atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh (v. 38, 39).
atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh (v. 38, 39).
I wish I could say that this incredible compassion was
received by humble hearts. But, like we so often do, Israel abused grace by
letting sin abound (Rom. 6:1). They mocked God’s patience (v. 58, 59) and found
idols they liked better. It is a dark, dark day when God the Shepherd is asked
to remove his staff of protection from the fold. This is what Asaph recounts in
the second half of the Palm. As with the meat, God gives them what they crave.
He removes His presence and lets their idols protect them.
But God’s punishment, though fearsome, isn’t the darkest part
of this story. Man’s sin is. It is the reason God’s judgement must exist.
Sinning is the most outrageous response to a faithful and patient God (Deut.
7:9, 2 Thes. 3:3, Heb. 10:23, 2 Tim., 2:13).
In spite
of all this, they still sinned;
Despite
his wonders, they did not believe (v. 32).
Do our children grasp the depth of His wonders? If we don’t,
they won’t.
We need to talk about what God has done in our lives, in the
lives of our friends, in church history, and in the Word. Stories of His
faithfulness should flood our living rooms and be stacked high on each night
table. Stories of His creation, His hard-to-fathom knowledge, and His
extravagant love in Christ should be on our lips so often that the idea of
forgetting God causes us to gasp.
Tell your children this story until they gasp, not when God
must punish Israel, but each time Israel rejects God.
What is the scariest story you can think of? The darkest one
God can think of is when His own people, whom He purchased and guided to
safety, forget Him, complain about His perfect provision, and leave Him for
other gods.
If this is not the darkest story you can think of, you’re not
telling it right.
…that the next
generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments (Psalm 78:6,7).
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments (Psalm 78:6,7).
Article also published on The Gospel Coalition
Friday, April 24, 2015
Apologetics Don’t Save
I recently read female
apologist Nancy
Pearcey’s testimony in Christianity Today. It
spoke to my barefooted, California-raised soul. After a crisis of faith that
led her to walk away from Christianity, Pearcey ended up in L’Abri, Switzerland.
There she found:
….an enclave of
culturally savvy Christian hippies who understood the questions she was asking
and were doing the hard work of finding answers. They identified her worldview
as relativism, pointed out its logical flaws, and discussed Jackson Pollock
paintings and epistemology over candlelit dinners. In the shadow of the Swiss
Alps, Pearcey became open again to the intellectual tenability of faith. Within
two years, she had given her life to Christ.
I love those
Christians. They took time to tackle Pearcey’s doubts. But it wasn’t the
worldview discussions or Pollock paintings that saved her. I imagine she would
agree with Tim Keller that this form of apologetics cleared a path to the
gospel. The believers she met helped sweep away the clutter so that she could
see the cross.
Pearcey’s story
reminds me of the importance of Christian apologetics. My time in the Gospels
reminds me that apologetics has its limits:
“But who do you say
that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God.” And Jesus answered
him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
If I take some time
to look over all the things Peter witnessed in flesh and blood, Jesus’
statement seems incredible:
Peter was called
personally by Jesus (4:18-20). He saw him teach, heal, and grow in fame
(4:23-25). He had a front row seat during the Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:27)
He saw Jesus cleanse a leper (8:1-4), commend the centurion’s faith
(8:1-13), and heal his own mother-in-law (8:14-17). Peter witnessed
Jesus fulfilling prophecy from Isaiah (8:17), calming a storm (8:23-27),
casting out a legion of demons (8:28-34), and healing a paralytic
man of his infirmity and sins. He saw crowds of people come to faith (9:1-8).
He watched Jesus show love to tax collectors (9:9-13) and he heard the parables
straight from his mouth. He was even given power to cast out demons and
heal the sick (10:1-9). If anyone could credit his salvation to experience and
proof, it was Peter.
But Jesus says that
it wasn’t what Peter witnessed or experienced that saved him. It was God. There
were others who saw the same things yet remained in disbelief (Jn. 12:37).
Consider the Pharisees. In John 8, they accuse Jesus of illogic and demand more
proof: You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true (v.
13). Instead of listing his miracles or bringing up John the Baptist,
Jesus says: Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is
true for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you
do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to
the flesh… (v. 14, 15).
Jesus does not
satisfy them with the answers they want: My judgment is true for it is
not I alone who judge but I and the Father (v. 15, 16). When we examine the
skeptic’s questions, historical research, and scientific data, we must remember
that, according to Jesus, the way to determine truth is to listen to God: If
you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you
will know the truth (v. 31, 32).
Apologists
love to bring up the Bereans. And rightly so! They with great eagerness
examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).
But where did they of such noble character go to find truth? Did they
double-check Paul’s message with the sages or logisticians of the day? No. They
poured over Scripture.
I’ve fought against
believing that I have faith because God gave it to me. It seems circular. Why
do you believe in God? Because of God. True salvation must be more complex
than that. Shouldn’t I get some of my toughest questions answered first? Maybe
once I can name five supports for the resurrection, I can commit to faith. But,
no. That is not my testimony. When I explain my salvation, I have to steal John
Piper’s description: The Bible tells me what happened to me, not my memory
and not my experience. What happened to me is, I was raised from the dead.
This is where it
began. With new life. Life that only God could breathe into me (Eph. 2:1-10,
Col. 2:13). In that moment I was given the Holy Spirit who now daily breathes
life into the Word so that I see God’s character, evidence of Christ’s deity,
proof of my fallen nature, and future hope. My dad reminds his congregation: Where
unbelief is the problem, and faith is the solution, where does faith come from?
Not from doing apologetics research. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing
through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17).
Though at times I
envy all that Peter witnessed, I must recognize that Peter’s experiences
are mine through the Word. His eye-witness accounts, along with the rest of
Scripture, is the broom that clears away my doubts and leads me to the cross. This
is the broom I must share with the lost.
“Apologetics is
driven by love,” says Pearcey. “You have to love people enough to listen to
their questions and do the hard work of finding answers for them.”
What a humble and,
quite frankly, beautiful attitude. I want to have coffee with Pearcey and
introduce her to all my unbelieving friends. With her, I want to help clear
away excuses, listen to the hard questions, and love those who are drenched in
doubt. But I must remember this: apologetics don’t save anyone. God saves. Again,
I reference wisdom from my dad: You simply cannot suspend faith in order to find
the truth. To do so is sin. And though truth can be analyzed, discussed,
and debated, Jesus consistently points us to God. And God points us to His
Word. So that’s where I’ll be, though Pharisees jeer and doubters mock. It will
offend the stubborn heart, but to those who believe, it will be the scent of
new life (2 Cor. 2:15, 16).
Lord, I am not trying
to make my way to Your height,
for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
but I do desire to understand a little of Your truth
which my heart already believes and loves.
for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
but I do desire to understand a little of Your truth
which my heart already believes and loves.
I do not seek to
understand so that I can believe,
but I believe so that I may understand;
and what is more,
I believe that unless I do believe,
I shall not understand.
but I believe so that I may understand;
and what is more,
I believe that unless I do believe,
I shall not understand.
--Anselm of Canterbury
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)