One Reason Real Love Matters

The fundamental nature of sharing the Gospel is such that there can only be three possible responses after hearing it: complete humble obedience, complete abandonment, or a lukewarm attraction accompanied by too much pride to embrace Christ fully. Of the three responses,  the latter is by far the most dangerous, yet it is also the most common. Lukewarm attraction is the bane of American Christianity. It is only humble obedience that is acceptable to God.

This is part of why love is so important in the humble Christian's faith walk. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:13 that three things will last forever, "faith, hope, and love...but the greatest of these is love." That is to say, individual humans will always hope for something. In the same way, we will always have faith in something. This is evident in the world around us. It is a part of our human nature. Even the self-proclaimed atheist lives with hope and faith. It is usually rooted in them self and their own abilities. This is why love is so important.  Like the others, love will also always remain. It is the greatest of the three because it is the only one that can affect lasting change over the other two.  

If we hope to see this world change for the better, for God's will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, we must come closer to loving others in the same full, deep and selfless manner which God shows to us day after day. This is different then the shallow love we feel toward most acquaintances. This is a love typically rooted in self-sacrifice, usually outside of our natural comfort zone. When we can more naturally do this, then through the power of the Spirit, our love for others can affect change in the substance of the faith and hope of the people around us.  In this way, we will not only be following God's universal, evangelical calling for each Christian, we will also likely have the opportunity to see the Holy Spirit bring a greater number of hearts into alignment with the will of God.  

Happy or Content?

How content are you? And I don't mean happy. Happy is something different. Happiness is a good thing, but it's a very fleeting thing.  I may be very happy, and then get an email or phone call that changes my dynamic and attitude for the rest of the day. Not so with contentment.  Contentment is broader, more even keel if you will.  Contentment is about life satisfaction, and inner-peace.  Yes, there is certainly an element of happiness that comes into play, but only as a symptom of the already established contentment.

So, how content are you?  I have definitely had to battle to find contentment in my own life.  I have so many things to be thankful for: a wonderful wife, a son, my health, my home, my job, the list could go on.  Why then do I, and I believe many people, struggle to maintain true contentment in our life?  Paul talked about this very idea in Philippians 4.  In verses 10-19 he alludes to the problem and gives the solution.

10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only;

16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.

18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

While making his main point, Paul gives a short list of his credentials. Paul says he has learned the secret of being content all the time.  For him, this included times when he was full or starving, having what he wants or dealing with not having what he wants. From other reading we know Paul also endured some other serious struggles.  Paul was imprisoned multiple times, he was beaten multiple times and ultimately martyred for his faith in Christ.

There is no doubt we all suffer to some extent in this life. But most of us will never know suffering like Paul. So, I suppose, if someone has gone through all that Paul has gone through and still claims to have "learned the secret to being content in any situation," we ought to be quiet and listen to his wisdom. 

Paul's answer for this mindset of contentment is found in the very next verse. Philippians 4:13.  This verse has become a bit of a cliche within Christian circles. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."  I have often looked to this verse as a way of inspiring myself not to give up, to trust in God to get me through difficult times.  There's nothing wrong with that, except it doesn't fully encompass what Paul was trying to get across when he said it.

Paul isn't really saying "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Rather, he is literally saying "I can do everything within God's will for me through him who gives me strength." This is kind of the rub. There are all sorts of things we could involve ourselves with that God is not supportive of.  So, here, the key is submission.  When our will is fully aligned with the will of God, only then can we say "I can do everything (with no qualifier) through him who gives me strength."

So, how fully submitted are you to the will of God?  I find this particularly difficult. This is not because I want to be running around smashing mailboxes and paint balling houses. Rather, it's because I have my own ideas concerning the methods, timing and location for my service to God.  I think many of us fall into this category.  What we want seems good to us, and in line with God, and yet for some reason God isn't "making it happen."  It's in these times that the fullness of my submission to God is tested. Being willing to say - and mean - "What I want may never happen, and I accept that" - is a true test of one's submission to God.  It doesn't mean you give up on your dreams, but it does mean that you acknowledge God as the ultimate dream-maker.

So here we are. IF we are willing to FULLY submit ourselves to God's will (hear leadership and guidance), THEN we will be able to "do everything through him who gives [us] strength."  It is ONLY within this framework that we will ultimately be able to find true contentment.  The contentment that is not based upon how happy I am or how good I feel.  But rather, it is based on my knowledge that I am submitted to, and aligned with, my God and my Savior.  No matter what this world throws at me, I have an eternal home waiting for me on the other side. In this there is peace.  In this there is hope.  In this we can have contentment. 

"Seeing the Meaning"

The other day I was reading John 13.  One of the more popular and humbling sections of the New Testament would certainly be the first 17 verses of this chapter.  Christ washing of the disciples feet brings to mind amazing imagery.  The Son of God (or God himself, if you like) on his knees scrubbing the garbage off the feet of his own students, all the while knowing they would abandon him; some more completely than others. 

I've probably read this passage 100 times before, but I was struck in a new way when I read a portion of it this time.  Verses 3-5 gave me a glimpse into the character of Jesus that I've missed before, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

The Greek word for "knew" in verse three is from the root word "eido" (in this case it is "eidos"), which means "to see."  This is interesting because this is always translated "to know or perceive," as it is here, as opposed to the literal "to see."  This is because this word was expressing the idea of "seeing" conceptually, as in the phrase "I see what you mean."  So here, instead of saying "Jesus knew," we could more literally say "Jesus fully comprehended...," or "Jesus sees the ultimate meaning behind..."  And what we have Jesus fully comprehending is the fact that God the Father "had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God."

Now, I certainly believe Christ knew exactly who he was, and what his purpose was on Earth prior to this moment.  But this moment seems to be almost an emotive response to the all the stressful variables going on inside Christ's head that evening.  Christ knows his crucifixion in near. He's in a room with all his closest friends.  He knows these disciples are going to be entrusted with an amazing task when he's gone.  He knows they still lack spiritual maturity. He know's they will abandon him. He know's Judas will betray him.  Maybe the disciples are squawking, as they so often did, about things that really didn't matter (who's the greatest, sitting on his left and right). He's hungry, tired, and probably has filthy feet himself.  

And now we get to the amazing part: Christ's response.  This is what stood out to me so powerfully.  At this very emotional moment, his direct response to understanding the implications of what God was going to do through him, was to get on his knees and wash the feet of his disciples.  Why this act? Why was this the most proper response to Christ's understanding?  Maybe Christ wanted to get their attention in a dramatic fashion.  We all need to be reminded of the need for humility within our own lives.  After all, all the "good" we do should be attributed to God, not ourselves.  Maybe Christ simply saw a genuine practical need at the moment and he filled it, while directing their hearts to him at the same time. 

Ultimately what Christ did, did accomplish those things, but they were not the main reason he did it.  The main reason Christ made this decision is found in a vague manner a few verses later. Verses 7-8: Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."  Jesus Christ washed his disciples feet at this very moment because it was the most natural way for them to understand in the finite sense what he was going to do for them in the infinite.  Christ's blood is the only atonement with the power to perfectly cleanse us for all eternity.  It is only through Christ's blood that the dirt and grime, the sins and shortcomings, are washed away and we can be blessed with the greatest opportunity of all: to bask in the presence of our God and creator forever.

So, the question becomes: have you been washed by the precious blood of the lamb of God?  If so, do you live like it daily?  If you have not come to God through Christ, why not?  Jesus Christ calls us all to life fulfilling purpose and personal peace on Earth and to eternal peace in Heaven. The God of the universe is not afraid of your sins.  I serve a God with all power and authority who is willing to get on his hands and knees and scrub the feet of the very people he created. Why? For you. So you could understand a little bit better, a love so unconditional that it doesn't exist outside the realm of our Triune God.  

What Are You Washing?

I had a neat realization the other day.  I was reading in the Old Testament...one of the many passages that focus on ritual washing. (See: most of Deuteronomy) In this case, I was reading about the priests needing to be washed and clean before they could enter the presence of God in the Tabernacle. It's really kind of a weird thing when you think about it: God requiring all this different washing and purifying...to what end?  God doesn't want them to stink?  Is it really possible that the creator God of the universe is so repulsed by B.O. that he instituted a whole list of washing laws before people could come into his presence. This is clearly silly, and this is clearly an extremely important concept to God, so what was the reason or purpose behind it.

I used to primarily think it was for practical reasons.  For example, the scriptures are clear that if you come into contact with a dead body, you are ceremonially "unclean" until you are properly cleansed. Well, this makes sense to me.  You could pick up a disease or virus and then spread it among all the other Israelites. Hygiene was a serious problem, and this was a serious answer from God. Now I'm not saying this wasn't part of the purpose of laws like this.  What I'm saying is that in the big picture, I don't believe this was their primary purpose.

All of the law of God was ultimately created for the same two-fold purpose: to reveal the glorious perfection of God and to overtly reveal our vast distance from that same perfection.  So, it is with this assumption in mind that I am approaching the idea of ceremonial washing.

When we turn to the New Testament, Christ offers us some new insights. He tells us, "It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart." - Mark 7:15 It seems that with Christ, we definitely get a different attitude toward what makes someone clean or unclean. At first glance, the washing seems to no longer be important or necessary for coming into the presence of God.  So has Christ nullified the need for washing and being clean in the presence of God?  Well, yes...and no.

The rules have only changed in light of the fact that the location of God has changed.  Let me explain.  In the Old Testament God lived and worked among Israel in a physical location within their community.  This was the tabernacle, and ultimately the temple.  In the New Testament, God has moved.  God no longer lives in a physical structure, but rather he lives within us.  In light of this fact, the change in ceremonial washing makes perfect sense.  We are still called to wash - but not our body.

When God dwelled outside of us in a temple, we washed and cared for the outside of our self in the particular manner laid out by God.  In this way, we were preparing our self to be in the presence of God.  The people of the Israelite community all had to keep themselves clean by these laws because they were God's community and his dwelling place was among them.

Likewise, in the New Testament we have Christ discussing "washing." But he clearly shifts the focus from physical washing.  God has moved, and the Holy Spirit of God now dwells within us.  So Christ focuses on the "washing" of the inside.  In speaking to the Pharisees, Christ calls them "whitewashed tombs - beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with bones of the dead and everything unclean." - Matthew 23:27.  He is speaking not just doing what's right, but also of thinking what is right. Suddenly a clean attitude, mindset, and heart have become far more important than the physical cleanliness of our body.  Our bodies have become the holy temple of God.  He dwells within us and we must keep our self pure for the presence of our Holy God.

So yes, please do still take a shower before church on Sunday.  But don't loose your focus.  "Looking the part" isn't enough.  We are called to be more than "do-ers" of the right stuff.  Instead, we are called to be constantly "renewing our mind" so that we will be able to test and know what God's will is - "his good, perfect and pleasing will."  We are able to effectively do this because, quite literally, God is living within us.  If you are willing to submit to our living God through the constant renewing of your mind, you will find that it's almost impossible not to step up and step out in this world in the name of Jesus Christ.

God is still Creating

I think God is a fan of themes.  There are lots of themes you can pick up on when you are reading through the Bible in larger chunks over the course of time.  This is the opposite of what I believe is more common: reading the Bible in a few-verses-at-a-time sections and then bouncing around to the next thought that catches your attention. There is a place for both styles of reading the Bible, but the latter can, much more easily, lead to misunderstanding, and misapplication of Scripture.

When I think of those big picture themes, I am talking about concepts that exist from Genesis to Revelation.  Examples that come to mind are things like God's authority over everything, or God's unwillingness to give up on us despite our generally deplorable treatment of him. But the one theme that is sticking out in my head right now is God's desire to make great, or large, or abundant, that which was previously weak, small or bare. We see this theme expressed in so many ways within Scripture that it's almost impossible to list them all. So instead of presenting an exhaustive list, I'll look at a couple that really stand out.

I think the most obvious, and probably most important, way God does this in Scripture is with his disciples, both in the Old Testament and New Testament.  In fact, I would say that all the other ways in which God illustrates this theme in scripture is towards the penultimate end of making "great" his disciples. The ultimate end, of course, being to receive their glory and praise himself.

In the Old Testament we have such heroes of faith as Moses, Joseph and Samson.  Some of the leading characteristics of these men's lives prior to God's intervention was cowardice, arrogance, and lust respectively.  In the New Testament we have characters like Peter, Paul, even Zacchaeus!  Before Jesus these men were, in order, an uneducated fisherman, a murderer of Christians, and a tax-embezzler.  This is not to say they suddenly ceased to struggle upon the intervention of God. But rather, their potential was seen and developed by God where humans alone would have likely missed it entirely.  They were made great not because they were great in themselves, but because they made the decision to trust in God's faithfulness and his ability to make them great.

We also see this theme is the area of the physical world.  In the OT Elisha encounters a poor woman who's in a large amount of debt. He tells her to go home and take her small amount of lamp oil and begin filling jugs.  Jug after jug is filled and the oil never runs out.  She sells the jugs of oil and repays her debt.  Or in the NT, God tells his apostles to take the 5 loaves and 2 fish of a local boy and feed a crowd of many thousands. After prayer, they break the bread and fish and begin handing it out. It is more than enough. Basket-fulls are picked up afterwards.  God is often over-abundant, giving us far more than we need.

(1) God takes the small and makes it large. (2) This serves to build up faith in his children (taking the weak and making them strong), (3) who in turn choose to give increasing glory to Him. At least that's the pattern. Unfortunately, we are fallen, rebellious sinners.  So the pattern actually continues to (4) us becoming complacent and ultimately abandoning God's love. (5) We then find our self in one of life's many difficult moments and we decide to call out to God...again. And God is ever-faithful. (1) Once again he makes great something or someone who is weak. He strengthens us, refuses to abandon us and so the theme has repeated since creation.

We should find comfort in this.  God was and still is our great provider.  This is not simply to provide us with our physical needs like clothes, food and shelter (although, if we need it he will provide it).  God understands our needs fully and broadly.  God will make us great.  He will make YOU great.  I can also almost assure you that it won't come in the way or trajectory within your life that you expect. But God is always faithful.  God has authority over all things.  He makes what is nothing to be amazing, beautiful, clean and perfect.

God's grace is sufficient, his power is made perfect in our weakness. So don't fear or question your own shortcomings when you approach God.  For the glory of God, we must try to be content in our weaknesses and not assume our past or current struggles are too much for God to handle.  In Christ, when I am weak, I am made strong! In Christ, when I am empty, I am made full!  In Christ, when I am beaten or broken, I am made better than new! My cup overflows, all for the sake of the glory of God.