Ways to Not Lose Hope As a Christian in a Minority Culture (Part 3)

This is a seven part series that was originally given as one meditation for a vespers service at Central Christian Church in Grand Rapids Michigan.  In my opinion, people who are living their lives with the Bible as their authority are in a minority in our country.

I took a FB test recently that told me I was a pessimist.  While I have never been a sugar plums and puppies kind of person, I have been a half full girl, not a half empty one.

I have so changed since 9-11.  Since I do not believe our country will be improving any time in the near future, am I doomed to be a pessimist?  NO!  I can pray for an attitude adjustment and I can tell myself the TRUTH, the way that I always have when times have gotten tough in my life.

Truth Three:   I need to tell myself the truth about suffering and persecution.

Suffering or suffer is mentioned six times in I Peter.  Here are some key verses to recall when those feelings of despair start to rise in me:

"But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly."

 Even Jesus had to continue putting his life in the hands of the Father! 

^" 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. 

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

Here are some comforting words for those who suffer as Christians taken from The Sermon on The Mount:

 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Rejoice and be glad.  Hmm.  I have been doing anything BUT this!  I don't want to be called a bigot or a fearmonger!  Help me God to rejoice and be glad.

Ways To Not Lose Hope As A Christian in a Minority Culture (Part 2)

This is a seven part series that was originally given as one meditation for a vespers service at Central Christian Church in Grand Rapids Michigan.  In my opinion, people who are living their lives with the Bible as their authority are in a minority in our country.

I took a FB test recently that told me I was a pessimist.  While I have never been a sugar plums and puppies kind of person, I have been a half full girl, not a half empty one.

I have so changed since 9-11.  Since I do not believe our country will be improving any time in the near future, am I doomed to be a pessimist?  NO!  I can pray for an attitude adjustment and I can tell myself the TRUTH, the way that I always have when times have gotten tough in my life.

Truth Two:  Since God is in control and God is good, I need to trust Him.

All of Job's children were killed in a day!  Then his body was horribly afflicted.  He did not shake his fist at God or anyone else.  This posture of Job is one I should strive for.  Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”  He also said, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?"

Other verses that might inspire me to trust when despairing:

Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Or this:

II Corinthians 4: "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

My absolute go to verses when I am overwhelmed with hopelessness are found in Psalm 62 in the Moffatt translation of the bible:

"Leave it all quietly with God, oh my soul, my help comes from Him alone.  Rock, refuge, rescue-He is all to me.  never will I be overthrown."

Ways to Not Lose Hope As a Christian in A Minority Culture (Part 1)

This is a seven part series that was originally given as one meditation for a vespers service at Central Christian Church in Grand Rapids Michigan.  In my opinion, people who are living their lives with the Bible as their authority are in a minority in our country.

I took a FB test recently that told me I was a pessimist.  While I have never been a sugar plums and puppies kind of person, I have been a half full girl, not a half empty one.

I have so changed since 9-11.  Since I do not believe our country will be improving any time in the near future, am I doomed to be a pessimist?  NO!  I can pray for an attitude adjustment and I can tell myself the TRUTH, the way that I always have when times have gotten tough in my life.

Truth One:  I need to remember that God is in control. 

How did Joseph respond when his brothers threw him in a pit, sold him into slavery, when he was falsely accused by Pharaoh's wife, when he was forgotten in prison?  He just continued on with life, believing God and serving others.  Toward the end of his life when his brothers apologized for their wicked deeds, Joseph is overcome with emotion.  He has not held a grudge.  He knows that his being in Egypt at that time in history actually saves his family.  He could confidently respond, "what you meant for evil, God used for good."

God has His purposes.  

The Transformative Power of Stretching

A confusion of words can result in a lifetime of error.  A misunderstanding of words can corrupt the intentions of God.  The word “church” is one such word.  People ask, “Where do you go to church?”  “What kind of a church is it?” 

The church is not an institution or the building on the corner.  The church is people.  The institution is the denomination, which adheres to certain rules and creeds that one must affirm to be a member.  The building on the corner is just that, a building where the church meets. These distinctions, far from being a matter of semantics, are crucial for understanding of how we grow up in Christ who is the Head of the church. 

I had the pleasure of being part of a wonderful church for almost 15 years.  Because I already knew the church was not the building nor the institution I was able to survive and thrive.  The people were the church to me and together we practiced our faith.  Some of the people were very much like me as far as physical, mental, financial health.  Others were not as fortunate.  A very few shared my politics, many did not.  All of us fit into the band of the church's stretchy arms.  This stretching expanded my capacity to care, listen, and give.  I saw the beauty of God’s design for the church, the Body of Christ, people using their giftedness to help each other “grow into the full measure of Christ.”  During my time with this diverse church I grew phenomenally!

Unfortunately, because of the confusion of words noted above, often the institution elevates itself over the church because it thinks it is in fact the church.  The rules and regulations are brought to bear.  The elasticity, which marks God’s design for the church, has no place in the institution with with its’ neat wrapper of creeds, distinctives and rules of order.  Instead of a rubber band stretching to include, the institution is more like a paper band around a pile of envelopes having little give.  When my giftedness crossed creeds, the institution prevailed.  It was a hard and sad time for all.  A paper band can only stretch so far.

Disobedience Equals Unbelief

I've been reading through Hebrews with Don, John, and Bonnie over the last few months.  This morning I found myself back in chapter three where the writer talks about the Israelites who had left Egypt by way of the parted Red Sea.  They are now wandering around for 40 years just outside the Promise Land.  God is waiting for them to die off before the next generation enters the land.  

How could this happen?  After God showed Himself to be God by the 10 plagues and subsequent departure from Egypt via a parted sea, the destroying of the Egyptians who pursued them, the sustaining by daily manna and quail, their clothing and shoes not wearing out while they wandered - YET, the writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
    on the day of testing in the wilderness,
 where your fathers put me to the test
    and saw my works for forty years.
 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
    they have not known my ways.’
 As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest."

 "They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways."

The proof of our knowing God is our obedience.  The Gospels clearly say that if we love the Lord we will obey his commands.  Sometimes we sin like we really don't get it.  Jesus says there is going to come a time when some will be telling God all they did for Him and He is going to say "Depart from me, I never knew you."  To ensure we do not run that risk we need to take seriously our call which is to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. 

Sometimes life is going to defy logic. We need to keep returning to The Book during those times of confusion.  If we decide to listen to our hearts and heads instead of to The Book we run the risk of  going astray in our hearts like those who wandered in the desert.  We run the risk of God saying, depart from me I never knew you."

The writer of Hebrews closes chapter three with this warning:

"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.  As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?  And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?  And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."

Consider this friends:  disobedience is unbelief.  It matters not to God if sometimes our lives defy logic, current trends, and philosophies.  Every age has had to grapple with Truth.  Let us commit to the hard work of wrestling with God over feelings, events, and circumstances.  Then when the wrestling is over, commit to obedience.

His Yoke Is Easy and His Burden Is Light

Sometimes the circumstances of life generate feelings that are hard to bear.  Feelings of frustration, anger, fear, discontentment, envy and a host of others that can feel heavy.  "How can I face another day?"  "Things are never going to get better."  "Will I have enough money to live in the future?"  "I am done with this."

This morning I was reflecting on Hebrews chapters one and two.  The end of chapter two in The New English Bible caught my attention:

¹⁷ And therefore he had to be made like these brothers of his in every way, so that he might be merciful and faithful as their high priest before God, to expiate the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For since he himself has passed through the test of suffering, he is able to help those who are meeting their test now.

Since I have been in a time of testing the last phrase "he is able to help those who are meeting their test now" jumped out at me.  So I sat with that.  Jesus is able to help me now.

Which lead me to think of the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 11:

³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Easy?  Light?  What I was experiencing was anything but easy and light.  Then the light bulb moment.  "I am carrying burdens I am not meant to carry."  The verses right before these in Matthew 11 give the solution.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Contemplating this made me recall days decades ago when I felt so weak, weary, and just plain burdened.  During a Bible study a friend read from I Peter 5:7 in the Moffatt translation and hearing it was like balm on my soul.

"Let all your anxieties fall upon him, for his great interest is in you."

In this version it did not tell me to cast my burden.  No.  That would not have spoken to me at all at that point because I was too weary to cast.  But to let them all fall off, fall upon someone else; well, it was in my power to just let go.  

What is this easy yoke, this light burden Jesus speaks of?  This is a question I have never considered.  I just took the words as a fact.  The yoke of Jesus is easy and light.  Now I wondered, what is this yoke?  Here is my answer.  Jesus came to do the Father's will.  Jesus is our example.  Our yoke and burden is to do the will of the Father like Jesus.

I turned this thought a little and combined it with all the ideas above.  We are told in beautiful words in the Sermon on the Mount that we are not to worry in this life.  We are to be confident that the Father knows our needs.  Jesus ends Matthew 6 with the command:

³¹ Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

 So, my friends, do the will of the Father today and if you begin to worry and fret about tomorrow or feel that today is just too heavy to carry, "let all your anxieties fall upon him, for his great interest is in you.

Trying to Find Truth in Our Politically "Correct" Culture

The longer I live in this new century the more I am left scratching my head in confusion.  How did white become black and black become white?  Why are so many common sense issues now gray?  Were they always gray but I hung with a group that painted the issue black and white?  I am so confused.

Most of the voices I hear today are poles apart in their take on the truth on any given issue.  I recently began reading Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions, a book which one reviewer thought would be better titled A Conflict of Mindsets.  This book is helping me understand the underpinnings of what Sowell calls the unrestrained and the restrained visions.  It's not exactly like the right and the left or the liberal vs. conservative view of issues BUT I think it is close enough for this blog post. Sowell explores why people end up on one side of the fence of an issue or the other and how usually if you are on one side on one issue, you will probably be on the same side of the next issue. 

I don't think reading Sowell is going to help me know which side of an issue to take because there is truth on both sides of issues.  How can I ferret out the real truth?  I don't want to adopt the agenda of the right or the left.  How can I know the truth?

I'm not sure one can know the truth on all things but I know that we can come much closer to the mark, as Christians, if we leave our political camp fortresses and seek God and His mind.  Think of any current event issue that is polarizing America.  I believe that if we want to know how to respond, the media and our preconceived action steps are not the places to look.  The Bible is clear about how we can come to know truth.

While reading Sowell's book I also began to read the book of Proverbs in the Bible.  Hear this passage from Proverbs 2:

My child, if you accept my words
    and treasure up my commandments within you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ if you indeed cry out for insight,
    and raise your voice for understanding;
⁴ if you seek it like silver,
    and search for it as for hidden treasures—
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,
⁸ guarding the paths of justice
    and preserving the way of his faithful ones.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path

According to this passage the only way to know Truth is to seek God for it with all your heart.  How many of us, if we are being honest, have actually cried out to God to show us His mind about our current event issues?  Don't we just have an idea of what truth is and then pray to that end?  Politics of all stripes have influenced the Church and the net result is the staggering polarization of people who claim to know the Lord Jesus.  Brothers and sisters this ought not to be!   What a horrible testimony to the world!

At the very least we should be crying out to God together to know truth and how to respond to our current events.  There should be a place for every Truth-seeking believer at the prayer rail and the discussion table.  

God help us to call good good and bad bad.