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The Antidote for Fear, Grumbling and Myopia

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MyopiaThe Bible presents life as it really is. Scripture stories are about people who do the same stupid things that I find myself doing. I am encouraged by this.

In Exodus 17 we have the Nation of Israel in the desert and in need of water. This is a real need, especially in an arid climate. The need is not the problem. How the people went about getting that need met became an issue.

These are the same people who had witnessed the plagues that bought their freedom. These are the same people who saw the water of the Red Sea parted so that they could cross. These are the same people who followed the cloud which gave them shade in the day. These are the same people who camped near the pillar which would provide warmth and light through cold desert nights. The point is that the God that they followed had a track record of meeting their needs in a spectacular way.

Like us (perhaps I should only speak for myself, but I don’t think I’m alone in this) Israel gave in to fear and started grumbling against Moses and against God. Their fear caused them to forget the past provision and the promise that God would see them through to the promised land. They even went so far as to declare that they would have been better off in slavery!

There was a choice made, conscious or not, to see only the immediate problem. They were near sighted and could not see beyond their circumstances. Sound familiar? It does for me. They should have had a bigger view, but they were too much like us. Spiritual myopia is not a new problem.

The great news is that God did provide for their need of water in a miraculous way, in spite of their grumbling and rebellion. He will do the same for us.

So then, what is the antidote to fear, grumbling and myopia?

  1. The antidote to fear is trust. I need to trust in the God who has been found faithful. He has made promises to me that he will fulfill.
  2. The antidote to grumbling is thankfulness. I need to thank God for his provision and learn to be content in that provision.
  3. The antidote to spiritual myopia is Scripture. The Bible allows me to focus on a bigger perspective I need to see God at work in me and in my world.

In Matthew 6, we are promised that our needs (not our wants) will be met. In some of his last words from Earth, Jesus tells us that he will always be with us in Matthew 28:20. These are two promises out of many where God declares his good intent toward us who believe.

I do not need to manipulate God or others to get my needs met. I do need to bring my needs to my Heavenly Father and trust that he will meet them in his time and in his way. He can handle it.

Technorati Tags: fear,grumbling,God,trust,myopia,Israel

Apathy and Ignorance in the Church

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Tony Campolo is famous (infamous?) for the following statement:

“I have three things I’d like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a sh–. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said sh–than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Campolo)

Whether you agree with his method or not, Tony makes a point. Mr. Campolo highlights one of the barriers to those needs getting met; that barrier is apathy.

There are many physical needs in the world and with the apparent increasing frequency of disasters, these needs are increasing. There are seemingly infinite opportunities to find and meet the needs of people.

While I acknowledge that apathy is a problem, it is not the only problem. There are many who are not apathetic but struggle to know what to do about it. They can give some money to a relief agency or take time to volunteer, but even those efforts seem small in light of the overwhelming need. It is not hard to see why there is sometimes a willful ignorance of what is going on. The fight or flight response seems biased toward the latter.

In the same way, I have heard pleas from missions organizations that are intended to shake off the apathy of those listening and get them to support the effort to bring people to Christ. As with the meeting of physical needs, apathy is one of the factors inhibiting the meeting of spiritual needs. Ignorance also plays a role, perhaps even a larger role. In the case of believers, it is seldom willful ignorance, but a sense of not knowing what to do about it.

In order to do something effectively, I need to know what to do, how to do it and why it needs to be done. As believers, we know why people need Jesus, but we may struggle to know what to do about it and how to do it. In addition to the motivational speech, there also needs to be training as to what each person can do to bring a solution to the problem.

In the case of missions, it is very appropriate to donate money to missions organizations. Suggestions to forgo a latte or a meal out and donate those funds to missions are appropriate. We can learn to live on less and share some of what we have. But there needs to be something more for the church to be all it is intended to be.

What about the spiritual needs closer to home? What about that uncle or cousin who doesn’t know Jesus? What about the cranky neighbor who is intentionally disagreeable? What about the vocal atheist at work who ridicules anyone of faith? What do we do with these? How do we share our faith? Can I respond with confidence and grace when that atheist brings up difficult issues?

As our society becomes increasingly hostile toward the Judeo/Christian world view, and especially hostile to genuine faith in Christ, the need for training on how to deal with these questions will increase.

Thankfully, there are many in the church at large that see the problem and are taking steps to develop materials and methods to train people to defend what they believe and to follow Peter’s advice to “be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

The point of this post is to encourage church leaders to:

  1. Train people in foundational Christian doctrine and how to share their faith
  2. Determine what God is calling your local fellowship to do with regard to missions near and far
  3. Articulate a strategy for accomplishing what God has laid on your heart
  4. Give the people in your fellowship a sense of what they can do individually to accomplish the mission

Motivational speeches alone will not get the mission done. We need drill instructors to produce recruits ready for battle.

Technorati Tags: Missional,apathy,missions,training,evangelization

Unrighteous Indignation

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No Indignation or AngerI am reminded of James 1:20 which tells me that my anger does not produce the righteousness of God. What prompts the mention of this verse is that I found myself a couple of times this week regretting some comments I made on articles and blog posts.

My issue is not so much what I said as how I said it. In Ephesians 4:15, Paul tells us to speak the truth in love. I think that there was truth in my comments, but there was very little love.

Jesus reserved his anger for those who knew better. Those who knew the Law of God and thought themselves experts at keeping it were often the target of his wrath when they got it wrong. With sinners who struggled to think that they could be accepted by God, Jesus was amazingly gentle.

Jesus found a way to let people know that he accepted them without condoning the sinful behavior. Hookers, addicts, poor people, cripples and extortionists loved him. It was the religious leaders who hated him.

How does this apply to me? The point is that if I take it upon myself to convince someone of his error if he is unwilling to see it, I am on dangerous ground. If that person is unwilling, my attempt to convince him will only result in my frustration which will result in the type of comment I alluded to at the beginning of this post.

I am resolved to let the Holy Spirit do his job. My job is to be prepared to give answers in a gentle and respectful manner.

Technorati Tags: Holy Spirit,conviction,anger,love,truth

Enemies of Faithfulness

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There are many things that can be listed as potential enemies to faithfulness. For the purpose of this post I have chosen three that I think are significant. These three are:

  1. Lack of a prophetic voice
  2. Lack of discipline
  3. Lack of understanding

Lack of a prophetic voice

Ravi Zacharias has pointed out that one of the failings of King Solomon is that there is no evidence that he allowed a prophetic voice to be heard during his reign. David had Nathan who called him to account for his misdeeds with Uriah and Bathsheba. Solomon had no such person to confront him.

Solomon started out as a shining example of one who was dependent upon God and who followed after Him. Poor choices soon began to take their toll in his life and in the Nation of Israel. His many wives lead Solomon to worship idols and other false Gods. He also explored philosophies that are contrary to the revelation that he had available to him. He did all these things while not allowing a representative of the living God to call him to account.

Solomon became unfaithful because he stopped listening to God. In the same way, if I stop reading Scripture, if I shy away from fellowship, if I avoid Biblical preaching, I will walk away from God and will become unfaithful.

The prophetic voice is crucial to faithfulness.

Lack of Discipline

King Saul did not lack for a prophetic voice. He has such a voice in Samuel, who frequently was used by God to give instructions to the king. What Saul lacked was the discipline to put into practice the instruction of Samuel.

Saul’s disobedience with regard to the destruction of the Amalekites led to him being rejected by God as king over Israel as recorded in 1 Samuel 15. In the dialog between Samuel and Saul in this chapter, we find the famous line, “to obey is better than sacrifice.” Obedience to what God commands is much more important than religious ritual.

In the same way, I can be undisciplined in my Christian walk. I need to be intentional in my efforts to read Scripture, pray and interact with other believers. If I do not have discipline in these areas, I will move in the direction of unfaithfulness. Left unchecked, gross immorality will be the result.

I should note this is not an endorsement of legalistic rigidity. The emphasis should be on the pattern and the motivation. I am not called to a “check box” mentality. If I am in relationship with God, I need to daily spend time communicating with him through prayer and Bible reading. Some days I can invest a longer time, some days shorter, but it needs to be daily. I need to be disciplined in this.

Discipline is crucial to faithfulness.

Lack of Understanding

One of the requirements that God placed upon the kings of Israel was that they were to write out their own copy of the Law. Obedience to this command would allow the king to understand the requirements and prohibitions that God placed on the king and the people of Israel.

Rehoboam is an example of one who displayed a lack of understanding. Solomon, his father, left the nation under a heavy tax burden. Instead of relieving the burden when he became king, Rehoboam increased it which resulted in much of his kingdom seceding under the leadership of Jereboam. Had Rehoboam consulted the law of Moses, he would have known of the prohibitions against building up an army and would have understood that his role was to protect and guide the people. The king was to function for the benefit of the people and not the other way round.

In the same way, I feel the need to ingest enough Scripture so that I understand God’s mind on the issues that face me on a daily basis. Lack of understanding is an enemy to faithfulness.

How can I be faithful to God if I do not spend sufficient time in his word so that I understand what he requires of me?

Understanding is crucial to faithfulness.

The common denominator

The common denominator in these three items is Scripture. I need to allow it to convict me, I need to be interacting with it daily, and I need to work hard at understanding it. These three activities are the antidote to the three enemies of faithfulness I outlined above.

By reading Scripture, I gain a sense of what to do. By practicing obedience, I can put the Scriptural commands into practice. By the reading of Scripture, I also gain a sense of when I am going wrong, thus allowing the prophetic voice to provide correction before I go completely off the path.

Thank-you God for providing such a resource. Scripture is crucial to faithfulness.

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