Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

Home Archives for Christ Jesus

Toward the conquest of fear

Posted on Written by Leave a Comment

We have nothing to fear - FDR

In his first inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt used the oft quoted phrase, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” The first time I heard this quotation, I thought it rather silly since there are many things to fear. But as I’ve gotten older (I hesitate to say matured), I see the wisdom in this.

In the New Testament, the verb phobeo (fear) is used as an imperative 62 times (list).  If I counted correctly, 59 of those instances the command is used in the negative; we are commanded to not fear. In the 3 remaining uses of phobeo we are commanded to fear God.

Why does God tells us so many time to not fear? It is because we are prone to experiencing fear. Fear is a powerful, if short term, motivator. Since it is so powerful and since we have an enemy, it should not surprise us that The Enemy uses fear as one of the primary weapons in his arsenal. That is why Peter tells us to “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

In this election year we see fear used as a campaign tool. The ads tell you about all the bad things that will happen to you if you elect the other guy. Political commentators make a lucrative income by playing to these fears. We as believers must not give in to them. We can’t panic. God has not given up control.

In 1 John 5:4 we are told that our faith is able to conquer the world. That faith is rooted in an understanding of the nature of God. We can be confident in God’s ability to remain in control and complete his plan for the world. His love and justice will not be thwarted by any scheme of the enemy.

If that is the case, then why do we fear?

I am not a trained counselor so you may think my answer to this question is simplistic. If so, I ask your pardon. Yet I have a sense that we fear because we do not understand nor appropriate God’s love and power. The Apostle Paul proclaimed this great love for us when he penned these words:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:4–9, NASB95)

God made us alive, raised us up and seated us with Jesus Christ. By his resurrection, Jesus displayed his destruction of the most powerful source of fear that the Enemy has, that is death.

So I must remind myself, if Jesus has conquered death, what could be worse than that? If God is master over death, can he not get me through whatever trial that comes my way? Yes he can. I simply need to live as though this is true despite what my fears tell me.

5 R’s for 2012 – A Lesson from the Apostle Paul

Posted on Written by 1 Comment

We are 16 days into 2012. In thinking ahead to the the rest of the year, I want to choose some Bible verses as a point of emphasis. The passage that comes to mind is found in Philippians 4:4-8:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (NASB)

Anyone who has been in church for any length of time will have been exposed to this passage; it is quite familiar to most believers. Yet there are some things that jump out at me as I read them now.

We are commanded to rejoice. This is a command which can be obeyed or refused; a choice must be made. To be obedient, I must choose to rejoice. I have been blessed with a relatively comfortable life and compared to many I have little to complain about, yet sometimes I allow those little things to inhibit my ability to rejoice.

The next verse gives the reason why I should rejoice, even when things are not going the way I would like. Paul reminds me that the Lord is near. On the basis of his nearness, I can learn to not be anxious by bringing my concerns to God in prayer. I am to bring those concerns with thanksgiving, sometimes easier said than done.

The result of this will be that the peace of God will protect my heart (emotions) and mind (thoughts). I have the responsibility to bring the things that are bothering me to God and he will exchange the anxiety for peace. This is very cool, but how does it come about?

It comes about through discipline. I must train my mind to focus on what is true, honorable, right (or just), pure, lovely and of good reputation. It is on these things that I am to ponder and focus my attention.

I am generally an upbeat and optimistic person, so much of the time it is not hard for me to do this. But there are times when it is difficult. Paul doesn’t tell us only to do this when it’s easy. He doesn’t indicate that this should be the case most of the time. He indicates that we are to focus on these things all of the time.

War, economic problems, crime, governmental policy, family issues and dealing with people and their issues can easily distract me from thinking on the things Paul lists in Philippians. Along the same lines, the author of Hebrews commands us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and not be pulled down by the bad news around me. We have a choice as to where we focus our attention and we need to choose well.

In summary, here are the bullet points from these verses with alliteration to help me remember them:

  1. Rejoice– rejoice always
  2. Remember– remember the Lord is near so don’t be anxious
  3. Request– Bring your concerns to God in prayer
  4. Rest– Let God’s peace protect my thoughts and emotions
  5. Reflect – Focus on the good things

This takes a discipline that I have yet to master. Yet by following these steps, I hope to look back on 2012 as a year of great progress in trusting God.

What is your verse or verses for the year?

No retreat baby and no surrender – Inspired by Bruce Springsteen

Posted on Written by Leave a Comment

Springsteen
Image via wikipedia

I woke up this morning with the Bruce Springsteen song “No Surrender” bouncing down the corridors of my brain. The line “we made a promise we swore we’d always remember, no retreat baby and no surrender” grabs my attention. This line reveals the heart of someone who is all in, someone who will not settle for half-way measures. Having a goal in mind, nothing will deter him from pursuit of that goal.

While the chorus is catchy and the no surrender attitude seems praiseworthy, the song does not articulate a goal worthy of such dogged pursuit. Yet, there is in the heart of man the desire for such a pursuit. The question comes in, what is worthy of such focus and energy?

One of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotes comes from his essay entitled, “The Weight of Glory.”

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

The Apostle Paul demonstrates this attitude when he writes “I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” in Philippians 3:12. In his first letter to the Corinthians beginning in Chapter 12, Paul tells us that each believer has been given a gift or gifts from God for the purpose of building up the Church. Putting these two thoughts together it seems that the goal toward which Paul presses is the development and use of his gifts to build up the Church.

The responsibility of church leaders is to equip those in the local body to pursue what God has called them to do (see Ephesians 4:11). The responsibility of church members is to find out how God has gifted them and then find opportunities to use those gifts.

If we are pursuing depth in our relationship with God, if we are seeking to develop our gifts and put them into practice, then we are right in taking the no retreat, no surrender attitude. The goal must be worthy of the focused energy.

What goal do you think is worthy of a “no retreat” attitude?

Advice from Hollywood

Posted on Written by 2 Comments

Hollywood SignYesterday I read Psalm 1:1.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” (ESV)

Growing up, I was taught that this verse is speaking about choosing friends and situations to avoid: those who are wicked, those who are overt sinners. “Don’t hang out with worldly people,” is the short version.

The thought struck me that this should be applied not only to choosing friends, but also to choosing the media I consume. Even though a film, song or show may not be enticing me to overtly sinful behavior, am I being sucked into a world view that is contrary to Scripture?

In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul tells us,

12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.

While there are media choices that are clearly wrong, there are many about which discernment needs to be practiced.

For example, the sin in the Garden is primarily that of valuing self over God, precisely the sin that is lauded in our culture. Put yourself first, have it your way, you deserve the best, control your own destiny; these are some of the messages that come at us every day.

The point of this is not to lay down hard-and-fast rules about what media is safe to consume. The point is that we need to remain vigilant in exercising discernment about which particular media items are harmful. What trips me up might be OK for you and vice versa.

But how do we choose? I think that Paul gives us a clue in Philippians 3:8–11,

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Those media items that cause me to deepen my relationship with Jesus are helpful. The rest are rubbish. It goes without saying that rubbish is not to be consumed.

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama