Becoming a Sent People: Humility and Identity

In John 17:21 and 23 Jesus’ prayer includes what I would consider an audacious promise.  His prayer states that if those who believe in the apostles words (vs. 20) will be one, the world will know and believe that Jesus was sent by the Father. I believe that the key to why this is the case is found in John 17:18 and 20:21. As Jesus was sent by the Father so also he sent out the disciples. As Jesus was sent, so we are sent. The world knowing and believing in Jesus comes about from more than lone evangelists crying out for sinners to repent. The revelation of God’s sending Jesus comes from the body being bound together in oneness. It comes from us living as one, sent people and that comes from dwelling in the reality that we are a loved people (John 17:23).  Loved with the same perfect love that Jesus was loved with and sent by.  When we accept and rest under that weight of undeserved love we are shaped in two ways that lead into us being formed into a sent people: Humility and Identity.

Humility

When you begin to realize you don’t deserve God’s affections and that you can not earn grace, it forces you to a position of humility.  To be loved first, before any movement towards holiness was ever displayed in your life, is an assault against any grounds for pride.  The very nature of being sent also points to humility – a humility that Jesus displayed.  His words to commission the disciples referenced his own sending to show what it would look like.  Paul the apostle sums up this example of humility in Philippians 2:5-7.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (ESV)

Submission to the sender is required of one who goes at the request of another.  There is a position of subordination that is required.  Now in that submission you are not making yourself less, but saying that God is more trustworthy with your life than you are.  You become more by placing yourself in right relationship with God, which leads to the second result of resting under the undeserved love of God.

Identity

The phrase that is fast becoming cliche is, “To know who you are is to know whose you are” or some variation there of.  But cliche or not – it is true.  To know our relationship with the One who sends us secures in us identity.  Jesus was sent as the only beloved Son of God, and because of Christ’s sacrifice we are all invited to become sent out as beloved daughters and sons of God, in whom He is well pleased.  To become a sent people is to live in the reality that we are chosen into a family of brothers and sisters, and that we are given commission to expand that family to every corner of the earth.  To make disciples is to witness the re-birth of people into the kingdom as daughters and sons of God.

Humility and Identity as a People

I believe that the relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ become attractive to the world when we live in the tension between knowing that we are unworthy of grace and believing that in Christ we are called worthy.  Humility kills pride and identity creates confidence.  The two working in tandem create a freedom to not only be sent into the world, but sent into the joy and hardships of our brothers and sisters.

Easy to say, hard to grasp.

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

John 17:23 (ESV, emphasis added)

Jesus was perfect, and the Father loved him perfectly.
We are imperfect, and the Father loved us perfectly.

Wow.

The Uncontrolability of God (Reflections on Psalm 78:65)

“Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

like a strong man shouting because of wine.”

Psalm 78:65

I invited you into my ponderings of this passage a few weeks ago and I thought I would share where my personal reflections went.  I was initially disturbed by the image of God portrayed like a drunk because one who is under the influence of alcohol is usually considered as operating outside of their own control.  However, as I talked this out with people I thought of my internal reaction to being in the presence of a strong, loud, drunk.  I’m a little guy, and I thought of times when I had been around a person a foot taller and over 100lbs heaver than I when they were full of strong drink.  There was no reasoning with this person.  If he decided to do something I was utterly powerless to stop him.  No eloquent words, or impressive argument, or physical threat would have the slightest impact on his decision.  That thought captivated me in relationship to this passage.  What if part of the reason for this image of God was to remind us of our inability to influence God?  God described in similarity to being big, loud, and drunk is bringing a new dimension to the reality that God is fully outside of my control.  That when He chooses to act on His own I am utterly insignificant in halting His actions.  All illusions of control are taken away.  It’s scary enough to realize there is nothing you can do to stop a person who is drunk.  It is terrifying to realize that when God chooses to act without us we really are powerless to stop Him.  I’m growing in the conviction that to fear God rightly is to realize His potential to act without us and His divine grace that invites us into co-labor with Him.

Just my thoughts at present.  Reactions or responses?

Uncomfortable images of God

Every once in a while I come across imagery of God in scripture that stops me in my tracks. Images that are at great tension with my understanding of God. This morning I read Psalm 78:65:

“Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.”

Think about that choice of images. Not only do we have God waking up as if he were sleeping (contrast that with Psalm 121:4 where God never sleeps nor slumbers), but next He is presented as a loud, angry drunk. I freely admit, that makes me a little uncomfortable. Then again, I like that about scripture as the Living Word of God. In processing his own grief, C.S. Lewis observed that part of the loss of his beloved wife was that her presence was no there to shatter his misperceptions. Her reality could no longer break down the incomplete image his mind held. When we approach scripture in humility, God’s reality will constantly challenge and break down our misperceptions of His character. If we are willing to sit for a while with the uncomfortable images instead of quickly rationalizing and justifying them, I think we might soon find that God is bigger than we give Him credit for.

You are valuable, significant, and loved.

If anyone reading this blog has ever had any questions as to weather or not they have significance, I invite you to spend some time considering birds – sparrows in particular.  Jesus brought the simplicity and depths of God’s affections for us to light using these seemingly insignificant creatures.

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”  Matthew 6:26a (ESV)

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But even the hairs on your head are all numbered.  “  Matthew 10:29-30 (ESV)

In both of these sermon illustrations Jesus was pointing to God’s care of birds to make specific points to the people listening, but I invite you to stop and ponder what it means for God to care for sparrows.  Often we quickly move on to the applications of not being afraid and not worrying, and fail to dwell in the weight and intimacy of the Father’s care.  Sitting in the reality of God’s care for birds readies the heart for considering God’s interest in you.  In our economy scarcity determines value, but Jesus points to the numerous sparrows and says that God has value for each of them.  He takes notice of their needs and of each time one perishes.  Keep that in mind as you read this next passage.

“Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O LORD of hosts,

my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise!”

Psalm 84:3-4 (ESV)

The altar was the place of worship, the place of sacrifice, the place where man was able to approach God.  Because of what happened at the altar, the temple was the place where God’s presence was pleased to dwell.  At that sacred place, near the heart of God, the Father made room for the sparrow.  The sparrow he fed and clothed.  The sparrow whose death would not pass un-noticed.  Having considered that Jesus rhetorically asks, “Are you not of more value than they?” and later proclaims “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 6:26b, 10:31).

God’s invitation into His presence is ever an invitation of love.  A love that is passionate, caring, intimate and satisfying.  A love that massively outshines, yet still exists alongside, His sustaining care and concern for birds.  More importantly, a love that will exist fully independent of whether you accept it or not.  But make no mistakes – accepting that love will destroy your life in the best way possible.

Sexual Theology (Why I am Voting Yes on 8)

I’ve been absent from the blog for a few weeks so I thought to myself, “Why not write on something that can get people angry at you?”  Ok, so that wasn’t what prompted this blog but I did take it into consideration when I chose to write.  If you are already offended by the title, please listen to my words and respond with theology, thought, scripture and love.

I wrestled with voting on Prop. 8 for longer than some of you may suppose.  A big part of me wanted to vote no, simply to upset the Church out of her cathartic slumber.  Had I kept with that descision I wouldn’t really have been doing anything but submitting to the authority and governmental structure of our state.  After all, for all our independent spirit we are nonetheless a democratic republic, not a democracy, and the judges simply did what they were supposed to do.  They are a check to interpret the law, and reject things that they find unconstitutional or unlawful.  Obviously I did not keep to this decision (hence the blog title), and here is why: The more I fall in love with the Christ and His church, the more reverence I have for marriage.

Ultimately, it’s not about sex or sexual sin as black and white morality.  As Don Everts captured in his book The Smell of Sin and the Fresh Air of Grace, that kind of understanding turns sin into point by point list that smells “(l)ike a childhood classroom.”  A simple laminated list of things not to do, ’cause they’re bad.  That kind of list often fails to stand up to the question of “Why not?”.  We weren’t ready for the why not when we learned the list, and often times neither were the people we learned it from.  I think that for some of us when we questioned and didn’t get a straight answer we rejected the whole list.  Truth be told, if we had prayerfully sought God and searched scripture we would have found the answers.  When it comes to the list that falls under the heading “Sexual Sins” I see the “why not” through out God’s word.  I see it when I read Hosea, where God chose to use an adulterous marriage as an allegory to describe the broken relationship between the people of Israel and Himself.  I find it in Revelation where the relationship between Christ and the New Jerusalem is described as a union between a bride and groom.  Christ’s own use of wedding imagery in parables seems to give answer to that simple, two word question.  In my heart and mind, the reason why marriage between a man and a woman is important is that it is the image God chose to use over and over again to give us insight into the depth of His affections for us.  With Hosea, God shows himself vulnerable in that He is impacted by a faithless, wandering Israel in something like the way a husband is impacted by an unfaithful wife.  Faithfulness is a characteristic of God that He chose to make known to us by gracing us with marriage.  When it comes to the Church, Christ’s love for Her is the example for husbands to love their wives.  At the end of time we have a wedding!  A celebration of union between God and his people.  In each of these cases there is a bride and a groom, male and female.  Out of all the ways that we could come up with for why this is a poor choice on God’s part (e.g. it excludes homosexual marriage, it is sexist having God spoken of in gender terms, etc.), in my mind none of them stands up to the simplicity of submitting to God’s choice and seeking desperately to understand it as the most loving and satisfying.  In voting to define marriage as between a man and woman, I feel I am being faithful in preserving in a small way the earthly institution that was meant to be foundational to understanding God’s feelings towards His people.  In short, I’m doing it out of loving the very best that I can, which means loving God with all my heart, soul and mind and loving my neighbor as myself.

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This issue is so polarized and heated I fear some will automatically read things into this post.  Either that this is some sort of ammunition that can be used to bully moderates or opponents to Prop. 8 to vote yes, or that it will be read through a lens that interprets it (and me) as hateful, and unloving.

So if you were trying to shove this post into your ammo clip or if you have swallowed the propaganda that Yes on 8 will “protect marriage” – God loves you, and I love you but if prop Prop. 8 passes it won’t protect marriage, and if it fails it won’t kill God.  Marriage and sexuality have been undervalued by the church for far too long, and one piece of legislation does not relieve you of responsibility to live out biblical love, sexuality, and marriage.  Besides, pornography, divorce, and premarital sex have likely done far more harm to traditional marriage than homosexuality, and legislation is a piss poor substitute for the people of God showing the love of God.

If you were on the other side of things, I apologize for the lack of love.  Beyond that, I am sorry for every act from a Christian that made you feel that homosexuals were somehow less valuable to God, more sinful, or somehow unlovable.  I repent of every area in which I am not motivated by God’s love and by His standards, and I will try harder to love better.

And to all who chose to read this blog: Truly, I’m trying to love the very best I can, which for me means submitting to the love of God which exists fully outside of myself.  It’s the only unchanging standard of love I’ve ever found and I’ve found it to be deeply satisfying.

2 Timothy 2:25: The Call to be Gentle and Bold

Time and time again in scripture I find things that pull on both ends of a spectrum.  God’s word seems to be filled with concepts and characteristics that pull in opposing directions.  For example: Grace and truth; mercy and wrath; victory and humility; prosperity and poverty; gentleness and boldness;royalty and servitude.  I consider these points and others to be invitations toward harmonic tension in the Christian life.  We who believe get to experience both extremes in our faith by allowing God to tune us to resonance with His heart and will.  Although the nature of harmonic tension is a constant tightening and loosening to find the right tone, there are times when I am so off key, so far pulled to one side or the other, that I become disquieted within myself as I read scripture. The encouragements to be bold and gentle is one of those hard to tune strings within me.  It seems like I am either sharp (overly bold) or flat (overly gentle) but never quite hitting the right note which I believe to be “not quarrelsome” but “correcting with gentleness” (2 Tim. 2:25).

It is the phrase “correcting with gentleness” that brings out the false note in me.  The implications of boldness in the first word of that phrase hit me pretty hard.  You only correct when someone is wrong (shocker, I know).  So even if tamed with gentleness, at it’s core any correction is based on the assumption that there is a right way and the person being corrected is not following it.  That is a bold thing to say.  So in that short phrase I am forced to wrestle with the idea that there is a standard, and absolute that people need correction to realize, and that in bringing that correction to them I must do so in gentleness.  I fear that too often I refuse to correct towards right relationship with God because that in its very nature is saying that relationship with God is not right.  It is a weighty judgment, and even with the error revealed in scripture I tremble at being the one who lays those scriptures before a stumbling brother or sister.  So here’s my sticking point – is it still gentleness if the person corrected doesn’t receive it in that way?  If I, striving for humility, call someone forward in godliness and they receive those words as judgment and take offense have I appropriately answered to the calling in 2 Timothy 2:25?  What if, in desiring to show love, I hold my tongue even though a truth is burning in my heart?  I try to trust that I am being faithful in the times of boldness and silence but it doesn’t stop me from questioning myself.  I want harmonic tension in this area of my life, so I continue to allow God to tune me – and I am extremely grateful that in His grace He can still use me as an instrument for His glory.

Shaped by and Shaping Others – Counting the Costs of Unity

Living out Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20 – 23 is costly.  It requires two actions that scream against the natural tendencies to preserve our stability and mental/emotional safety.

First, to be one with our brothers and sisters in Christ means that we make ourselves available to be shaped by their circumstances, culture, personalities, struggles, and celebrations.  It means that when a sister struggles with depression we risk losing a little bit of our happiness and well-being to sit with her.  To truly be one means forfeiting the option of quick answers and quick fix giving that serves only to end our discomfort and instead to make choices that lead to solidarity.  Biblical unity is an invitation to lose part of yourself, in order to gain a deeper understanding of Christ and the gospel by partnering with people and cultures whose display of Christ in them is at tension with our understanding of the gospel.  In  Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships , the idea of becoming a 150% person is put forth.  As Jesus was the 200% man (fully Jewish man and fully God), we have the opportunity to forfeit part of our identity when we truly bind ourselves to other people – in order that we may gain a portion of their culture and identity (Lose 25%, gain 75% = 150% for those of you who needed the math).  Losing a chunk of identity is not an easy or pleasant task.  Two years ago, if you asked me about world missions I would have told you that it seemed like escapism, and that those who chose to minister in other countries were often running away from the poverty and depravity in America.  I would have been quick to point out that there are plenty of needs here and invited you to consider Skid Row, Tent City, New London, or Delft Colony.  But over the last year I have been partnering with and walking alongside a sister whose heart is for international ministry and it forced me to adjust my way of looking at missional Christianity.  I had to risk loosing my heart and passion for local missions in order to take on the wider passion of God for His glory to be proclaimed in the nations.  At times it felt like dying.  My ministry mindset came into question, the value of my work came into question, and I questioned my location of ministry and my methods.  Things that had gone unchecked for 5 or 7 years came under my personal scrutiny as I examined scripture for God’s heart in missions.  As I wrestled, and continue to wrestle, it has turned from dying to living once again.  I have a growing passion for every nation, tribe and tongue.  My heart now expands far beyond Dinuba – but the work God has in this small town is more satisfying in the context of His global work.  I have an increased urgency to see people and people groups reached for Christ, not wanting any voice absent from the heavenly choir.  In short, I have become more because I risked losing part of myself by partnering with the work of Christ in a dear sister.

There is a second risk in being one, however.  The risk of allowing yourself to be known.  In allowing others into your life to the point where it shapes both you and them.  To realize that just as others have a valuable reflection of Christ that is uniquely theirs so also are you individually gifted and created.  Allowing others to invest in you and your dreams means that you risk influencing the understanding of Christ in people around you.  This has happened to me twice in very noticeable ways, and quite frankly it freaks me out.  To see my personal culture, values and theology replicated in people around me is scary.  In sharing my passion for John 17 with a friend, she put me to shame by memorizing it…all of it.  Another time, a conflict arose in a meeting about risk vs. safety in ministry.  A student and close friend whom I have spent much time with was at the meeting but didn’t speak up.  After everyone else had left I sat down to debrief with him and the conversation was incredible.  Both his reason for maintaining silence, and his internal reaction to the conflict were shaped by the the work of Christ in me.  They were choices that I would have made based on my relationship with Christ – and his relationship with Christ was mirroring that.  Unity costs having your personal relationship with Christ made public and put on display through those who you invite into your life.

On the same note of allowing others into your life, true solidarity also means that you risk allowing others into your sufferings, frustrations, and failures.  This is dangerous for maintaining anger, self pity, depression, isolation, and any number of other real yet potentially unhealthy emotions.  To show oneself as weak in community is admiting that not only can you not work it out alone, but that at times you can’t work things out between just you and God.  It feels like you’re somehow less (less of a Christian, less of a man, etc.).  But the truth is we weren’t created to deal with life (pain, struggle, celebration and all) apart from others.  We were created to be in community with God AND with others.  Our interpersonal relationships are one of the ways God has chosen to help us understand His relationship to us.  Just look at scriptures in Hosea and Revelation and the use of marriage imagery to describe God’s relation to His people.  By recieving forgiveness, grace, and care from our brothers and sisters we get a sliver of a glimpse of the abundance of those things that dwell in Christ.  We can more easily put legs on the things that we know in our head when we experience them through the incarnational presence of fellow believers in our lives.  Humbling ourselves and allowing others in allows us to gain depth, wisdom, and compassion in our ability to walk alongside others.

Thoughts on Suffering: A late response to “a cultural guide for the non believer”

In response to a previous post “a cultural guide for the non believer” wrote:

The sent thing is neat. God damned his only son to save us since we are his sons. I don’t like the idea of suffering for God or Jesus because we already have and so did Jesus. I think Jesus example is to damn lucifer. I think that is what he was trying to do with his life and save us from him and get us back to what we were before lucifer damned.

First off, thanks for the comment (if you ever visit again after having being ignored for a month).  I agree that Christ’s sacrifice has released us from the curse of Adam, has redeemed us to be daughters and sons of God, and provided complete and sufficient victory over lucifer.  However, I do want to push a little on the sentence “I don’t like the idea of suffering for God or Jesus because we already have and so did Jesus.”  I believe this was mostly in response to my statement “Christ enables us to suffer for God and for one another with zeal, joy, and patience.”  I don’t think anyone naturally “likes the idea of suffering” but Christ redefined suffering for righteousness sake and on his account as blessing (Matthew 5:10-12, Luke 6:22-23).  (On a short side note – the Beatitudes make me uncomfortable when I think of how lightly we say “God bless you”).  Through Christ we are freed to live out a worldly oxymoron – we get to suffer gladly!  This was a viewpoint elemental to the early church.  They sacrificed wealth to live in community (Acts 2:44-47), they rejoiced at persecution (Acts 5:41), and the first martyr blessed his executioners by asking for their pardon (Acts 7:60).  We even find Paul, after having been stoned and left for dead, returning to the city where he suffered to strengthen and encourage the disciples there “to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:19-22).  Then we get to the rest of the New Testament!  In Romans we are exhorted to “also rejoice in our sufferings” (5:3-5), and most directly in response to “a cultural guide” our adoption spoken of in terms of dependence on our suffering with Christ.  “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17).  Now this suffering is not damnation or the wrath of God – but purification and refining for glory.  It is one of the most basic ways of imitating Christ so long as we approach it with joy, “(L)ooking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2).  One passage really ties it all together much better than I can, and that is 1 Peter 4:12-19 which states:

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.  But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.  Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

So after all that scriptural bludgeoning (sorry – I got carried away), I must admit I was a little off when I wrote “Christ enables us to suffer for God and for one another with zeal, joy, and patience.”  That sentence could potentially leave the burden of suffering on the individual if the reader placed the emphasis on suffering for God and one another.  A better wording might have been “Christ enables us to suffer with and for him and with and for one another with zeal, joy, and patience.”  The word “for” captures the obedience and individual action that we are called to, but the word “with” takes us into relationship – and suffering outside of relationship is hell.

All scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.  Emphasis was added by me by marking some words in bold.

The righteous and the poor

I tried to teach through Amos with the youth at my church this past summer.  It failed miserably.  I got stuck in the middle of the second chapter and my mental and spiritual gears are still grinding on one short phrase.   In Amos 2:6 the righteous and the needy are placed side by side in a way that captured my attention:  “…they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals…” Amos 2:6 ESV.  Other translations use the word innocent instead of righteous – but best I can tell with my limited resources is that the Hebrew word being translated means just, lawful, and/or righteous (H6662 in Strongs).

This is a powerful statement in my mind.  God is casting judgment against Israel for their perversion of justice – but in it He doesn’t shake his finger at the “righteous” telling them to attend to the cause of the poor.  We actually find that the righteous are right in the middle of the injustice, side by side with the needy.  The righteous are oppressed in a way similar to the poor.  That linkage got me thinking about other places where language of poverty and righteousness find themselves next to each other.  What came to my mind first was the Beatitudes.  (If that’s where your brain went too, great! You can stop reading now and go do your own meditations.  If you’re thinking something along the lines of “The Beati-whats?” keep reading.)

The Beatitudes are a series of blessings that Jesus made during his sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5:2-12 and Luke 6:20-23.  When reading through it with Amos 2:6 in mind I was struck by the poverty and righteousness wording.  For poverty there are the words: poor, mourn, meek, hunger, thirst.  As for righteous language there is: righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers.  The two themes crash together in the middle when poverty language buts up against righteousness in Matthew 5:6 , “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (ESV, Emphasis is Mine).  Later oppression becomes blessing for the righteous when in verses 10 – 11 when Jesus speaks blessing to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.

Those connections in mind, I’ve been challenging my self – and my youth – to seek out poverty and find ways of joining with it.  To find a place where there is lack, be it relational or financial, and find a way to walk along side it in truth and love.  With my passion burning to see Jesus’ prayer John 17:20 – 23 realized as soon as possible – this approach to joining with poverty makes any lack within the body inexcusable (detestable might be a better word).  If there is lack within the body of believers anywhere in the world – we as brothers and sisters must give every effort to fulfil what is lacking.  Be it medicine and food to our family in Africa and Asia or friendship to the lonely that fill our churches here in America – we need to join with poverty until there is no more or untill we are all suffering joyfully together in a way only possible by being one just as Jesus and the Father are one.  Because by that unity the world will know that Christ was sent by God, and that the Father loves us (his children) with the same, perfect love he had for Jesus (John 17:20-23).