The counter-cultural church

Posted on June 12, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 5 Comments

Israel and his sons encountered a warm welcome in Egypt because of the work that God had done through Joseph to save Egypt from starvation. The Israelites enjoyed a comfortable position in the land and the favor of the Pharaohs for many years.

Then things changed. Exodus 1:8 tells us, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” (ESV)

From being the group that formed policy and whose culture and background were dominant in the society, the Israelites became slaves and outcasts. They became political outsiders. They were abused by the system and were persecuted for who they were and what they believed.

The solution to their problem was not reformation of the political system. Moses tried that and found that it didn’t work out so well when he killed an Egyptian middle manager.

The Israelites did not suddenly find favor in the eyes of Pharaoh. They did not regain their status as it was when Joseph was alive. God had to break the Israelites free so that he could begin a new work in them for the benefit of the whole world. When God did this, it got much worse before it got better.

When the communists took over China, they announced an end to Christianity in that country. Yet, the church in China is the fastest growing church in the world. This despite significant persecution that continues.

In the west, our political systems were founded on a Judeo-Christian worldview, the same worldview that is under constant derision by much of the ruling intelligentsia. We wonder at the breakdown of the moral fabric of our country, yet that breakdown is inevitable given the crumbling support for our moral underpinnings.

It may be that God will bring revival to the countries in the west. If so, the church should play a role in that revival by being the conduit for the good news of Jesus Christ. Or, God may choose to allow the west to continue to decline.

The health of the true church is not dependent upon the political system in which she finds herself. We do not need the support of the government for our churches to be healthy.

Whether or not we have the support of the current Pharaoh, Prime Minister or President, the church is called to be counter-cultural. When the government seems to support the church, we should not be lulled to sleep by that illusion. When the government is in open opposition to the church, we should not be overwhelmed and feel that God failed us.

In the end, it is to Jesus that every knee will bow (Phil 2:10). The church should be leading the way in this and bowing only to Jesus. That is the most real and best counter-cultural move we can make.

Numbering our days: a reflection on Psalm 90

Posted on July 14, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

Beyond a temporal understanding

I have been reading through the Psalms. Recently I came to Psalm 90 where it says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) This is a verse that has often been quoted, usually in the sense of expressing urgency to get busy in doing work for the Kingdom of God. In this understanding, the emphasis is on the fleeting nature of time and how we have, on average, some 70 years to accomplish things for God before life comes to an end.

If this is the correct understanding of this verse, wisdom would dictate that we discover our calling and work hard at accomplishing the most in the time we have allotted. Ephesians 5:15-16 would seem to support this understanding when Paul writes:

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

I have even heard it said that we should keep a running countdown of the days until our 70^th birthday so that we can be aware of how much time we have left to work for the Kingdom. While the countdown is not a bad idea, I think that it does not capture the whole point of the prayer in the context of the Psalm. Awareness of the brevity of our days has benefit, but the focus should not be on what we plan on accomplishing but upon what God wants to accomplish through us.

Obedience is the key

Moving a few verses back in the Psalm, it can be seen that the context of the prayer is God’s judgment against Israel for their rebellion. In verse 8 it says, “You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.” In other words we are to live with the understanding that we are under the scrutiny of God and as a result, we must have an understanding of our finite nature and respond to God properly. It is not our temporal awareness that is in question, but our ability to obey.

In reading the rest of the Psalm I have a sense that some of the anger at the nation of Israel was due to presumption on their part. They presumed upon God’s tolerance and as a result they reaped God’s anger. Can we not do the same? We can be busy doing all sorts of things and convince ourselves that we are doing it for God. Jesus often rebuked the Pharisees for this type of hypocrisy. The question is not whether we are busy, the question is are we being responsive to God?

On the basis of this, I see Psalm 90:12 as a request to help us understand our finiteness rather than an encouragement to pack in as much in our 70 years as possible. The lesson we learn from Matthew 7:21-23 is that activity is not the cause for reward, relationship with Jesus Christ is. This prayer is not a call to busyness or activity, it is a call to submission to God.

It is God’s plan

I do not for a minute buy into the argument that there is something that God needs me to do and I am the only one to do it. Yes, God allows me to participate in the accomplishment of his will but my rebellion or incompetence cannot derail his plan. I do not have to race the clock to get something accomplished for God. This is freeing if I allow it to be.

What I do need to do is bring my finite understanding to God and seek him for what I should be about today. Do we really believe Jesus when he said take not thought for tomorrow? I don’t need to plan out what I need to accomplish for God, I need to do what he has asked me to do today. God will take care of the years moving forward if I simply submit each day to him.

The danger of relying on talent

Posted on April 22, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

If there is one sad story that we’ve seen too often repeated in the church, it is the story of gifted leaders getting off track. The result is a train wreck. Some of the most famous examples have been those who had large radio and television followings.

It may be a great over simplification to say that the story of Jeroboam explains this phenomenon, but perhaps it does give us a clue.

In 1 Kings 11:28 tells us:

Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

Jeroboam had talent. He was a mighty warrior and a good manager. He was a man that men would follow. Solomon recognized this and rewarded it.

Jeroboam also had opportunity. A few verses later we are told that the prophet Ahijah came to Jeroboam to inform him that God was giving ten of the tribes of Israel to Jeroboam to lead. Not only would he lead them, but if he led well and followed God’s commands, Jeroboam would have an enduring kingdom like that promised to David.

It was at this point that Jeroboam had a choice to make. He had to choose between living in dependence upon God or relying on his wit and talent. As we can see from the following chapters, Jeroboam chose the latter and Israel suffered. 1 Kings 13:33 tells us that Jeroboam “did not return from his evil way.”

In reality, all of us have this same choice to make on a moment-by-moment, daily basis. In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily. We have to constantly choose the path of self denial and reliance upon God. This is true not only for our Salvation but for our very existence as believers in Jesus Christ.

For those of us who are not in official positions of responsibility in the church, this choice seems like it would have small impact. Yet this is not the case. For the Body of Christ to be healthy, all of the members of the body must be in harmony with the head, Jesus Christ. We cannot be in harmony with the head unless we acknowledge our dependence upon him. Small rebellions can have a big impact.

For those, like Jeroboam, who have been given the responsibility to lead, small rebellions will always have huge impact. I believe this is why James 3:1 tells warns us that teachers will incur a stricter judgment. It is one thing to move yourself out of God’s blessing, it is another to lead a group toward chaos.

For all of us, small or great in the workings of the church, we need to learn the lesson of Jeroboam. Self reliance and self will have no place in the Kingdom of God. We rely on our own talent to our own peril and to the peril of those we lead.

We need to be reminded of the words Jesus spoke to Paul as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

Reliance upon God-given talent, no matter how great that talent is, will always end in brokenness and failure. It’s not worth it; depend upon God and God alone.

When God makes you wait in the wilderness. . .

Posted on February 11, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

Caleb was 85 years old when Israel entered the Promised Land. He was promised this opportunity back in the early days of the Exodus as we read in Numbers 14:24:

“But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

When he was 40 years old, Caleb was one of twelve spies that went into the Promised Land to bring back a report to Moses. Of the twelve, only Joshua and Caleb gave a favorable report. They were in favor of taking on the giants in the land but they stood two against ten. The report of the ten caused the people to respond in fear and rebellion. The people cried out to Moses saying that they would have been better off staying in Egypt. Their fear overruled their faith and they panicked.

This revolt against God was punished by 40 years of wondering in the wilderness where all the men of Caleb’s generation died with the exception of Joshua, the other spy who gave a good report.

While he was waiting 45 years for his inheritance, do you suppose Caleb had moments when he wanted to rant against the people and their hard headed stupidity? Do you think that there were times when he was frustrated with God for making him wait? It would be easy to become bitter while trudging through the wilderness with the people that caused the delay.

Yet, when we see them finally enter the Promised Land, I do not get a sense of any self-pity or bitterness from Caleb. Read what Caleb said to Joshua about his inheritance in Joshua 14:10–12:

¹⁰And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. ¹¹I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. ¹²So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

Instead of self-pity or bitterness, I get the sense that Caleb spent his time in anticipation and preparation for his eventual inheritance. He kept himself sharp, in shape and ready to conquer. He knew what he would be up against when the time came and he came prepared.

Things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes an expected blessing takes a long time to materialize. I am encouraged by the example of Caleb in that he appears to have used his waiting time wisely. When the opportunity finally came, he was ready to capitalize on it.

It appears that he stayed focused on the God who made the promise and not his circumstances. May we do the same when faced with difficulty!