Matters of Faith – Page 12

A Religion of Convenience: This God or That One

In our Sunday School class we’re studying the Old Testament books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth. These books occur just after the Israelites have occupied Canaan; The Promised Land, and after Joshua, the last of the patriarchal leaders has died. Without a patriarch to hold them to their religion, the people fall away from God, following the pagan practices of the Canaanites who were not driven out of the land as God had instructed the Israelites.

Baal worship religion — A temple to Baal

A cycle is set up where the people fall away and begin worshiping Baal, his sister Anoth and Baal’s wife: Asherah (who was known to the Greeks as Aphrodite, and to the Romans as Venus, figures who appear in society even today). God becomes angry with Israel and delivers them into the hands of an enemy for a period of time. Israel cries out to God for forgiveness, God provides a deliverer who leads them in a miraculous victory over their enemy and guides the nation for a time. But upon that leaders’ death, Israel slides back into pagan religion and the cycle begins again. Over and over and over.

Why Don’t They Remember?

Why, when the nation has been delivered so many times from its enemies, beginning with the exodus from Egypt led by Moses, would the people keep sliding back into paganism? Why is it so hard for them to remember the God who keeps delivering them?

Perhaps it’s the same reason we are doing it again today. Continue reading “A Religion of Convenience: This God or That One”

SPIRIT-LED CONCLUSIONS

One of our problems with honest Biblical interpretation is that we want our Bible to specifically address every issue. We want it to give simple, pat answers to all our complicated questions. When it does not, we twist and bend certain passages to give us our desired result. We tend to manipulate the Word of God to suit our own interpretation. We will not accept the Bible’s limitations.

The truth is, the Bible does not explicitly supply us with easy solutions to all our problems. It is not so much an answer book as it is a study guide. For this reason it is dishonest to make certain passages say things never intended. The Bible is God’s inspired Word on many issues and it gives us direction and guidelines for all issues, but a specific conclusion on so many matters is ours to discover.

In no way does this minimize the authority of Holy Scripture. In reality it allows the Bible to point to something greater. If the Bible had told us everything, there would have been no need for the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the disciples before His departure that He had much more to tell them, but they were not ready to grasp it. He announced the coming of the Holy Spirit who would lead them into all truth. Here, then, is our clue for approaching today’s complex issues. Our Lord has not left us without a Leader. We must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, a question arises. How do we know our understanding is of the Spirit? For one thing, it will be consistent with the scriptures. It will reflect the spirit of Jesus as He dealt with the issues of His day. There will be no malice or jealousy in the way we discuss our opinion. We will be open to what others have to say on the matter. We will be firm in where we search for truth, but not dogmatic in our decisions. We will leave room for the Holy Spirit to correct our mistakes and redirect our thoughts.

A closed mind on any issue cannot enjoy the fruit of the Spirit. We are not sufficient within ourselves to have all the answers. We do not own the scriptures and neither do we own the Holy Spirit. We must allow them the freedom to speak to us whenever and however they choose.

There is a wonderful peace in permitting the Holy Spirit to control our lives, even our interpretation of scripture. Love is a marvelous tool for learning. It equips our mind and emotions to discern truth and error without agitation.

THE SABBATH PRINCIPLE

There is a Sabbath principle in life that must be observed if we are to be healthy and productive. It simply means that we cannot work nonstop without some time to recover our emotional and physical stamina. We cannot endure long periods of stress without some wholesome diversion. Our human physique has many limitations which requires periods of rest and relaxation. God made us this way. When He rested on the seventh day of creation, He punctuated the Sabbath principle for all His creatures. The fact that we have night and day, sunshine and rain, summer and winter reminds us that there is a time to work and a time to rest. This law of God is carved into the cycle of the seasons. How well have we learned it?

In our scientific world where nature no longer restricts our work, we tend to ignore the Sabbath principle. We fail to listen to the alarm system within our own weary bodies and, in so doing, we bankrupt our souls before our years are spent. Insecurity and greed have sent us on an exhausting search for that pot of gold at the end of a very demanding rainbow. We are often overwhelmed by life’s circumstances as stress takes its toll.

Yet, we are reluctant to find our rest in the Lord. God gave us the Sabbath principle, not to restrict us, but to restore us. God does not wish to inhibit our days of productivity. He wants to give our days a greater sense of fulfillment. Anxiety and fatigue will never allow us to be at our best. Overwork results in underachievement. Perhaps keeping a Sabbath day holy makes all our days holy unto the Lord.

On several occasions Jesus our Lord needed downtime and turned aside for uninterrupted moments with the Father. His human limitations left Him exhausted from dealing with the crowd. He taught His disciples and He is teaching us the need to stop what we are doing long enough to revive our mental, spiritual and physical energies.

It is a sin against our spirit and the spirit of God that lives within to destroy the house in which they dwell. Of course we are not equipped to live forever on this earth, but we are equipped to make the most of our years. In our mad rush to be materially secure, we must be still and know that He is God. In knowing Him we discover His Sabbath principle of rest for our work-weary lives. It is possible to find rest and recreation in the Lord.

WALKING WITH GOD

Walking with God is a beautiful way of describing our Christian pilgrimage. “A Closer Walk With God” is the essence of our daily journey with Him. Even though we struggle to make this a goal of our lives, we often fail to be where God desires. We find ourselves in the awkward position of walking more by ourselves than walking with God.

There are times in walking with the Lord that we tend to walk ahead of Him. We become impatient with His slower pace and move on with what we assume is a better gait toward our goal. It is more like a race with God than a walk. We rush to conclusions. We hurry up our prayers. Rather than wait for clearer signals we compose our own agenda for the living of our days. In our haste to get where we are going we want God to quickly bless our plans. Walking ahead of God we tend to get exhausted. Because we do not wait upon the Lord we do not “mount up on wings as eagles.” We do not run without getting weary and we grow faint in our walk. Like children who refuse to hold their parent’s hand at a busy intersection we expose ourselves to much danger when we get ahead of God. Continue reading

MARTHA AND MARY

The dishes were rattling noisily in the kitchen. Martha was getting frustrated. At first she only talked to herself. It was a joy to cook for Jesus. He was complimentary of her meals. Although He did not say much His frequent visits indicated something was to His liking. Maybe she was a little too sensitive in thinking Mary was not doing her part of the work. “She will surely come to the kitchen shortly to do her usual chores,” Martha thought. But she did not come. More mealtime preparation noise did not seem to produce the desired effects. Finally, Martha blurted out, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Please tell her to help me.”

The Lord fixed His eyes on Martha. He studied her mood to determine the depth of her anger. He looked at Mary, who seemed a bit embarrassed by Martha’s outburst. He did not want to sound unappreciative, but the situation was obviously a teaching opportunity. He wanted to calm her frustration by giving her a lesson on priorities.

There must have been a bit of pain in His voice as He said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried about many things. Your kitchen duties have possessed you. Your meal is more important to you than my fellowship. You have chosen to feed me. Mary has chosen to let me feed her. She has made the better choice because physical food is for the moment while spiritual food is forever.”

Like Martha, we sometimes get preoccupied with important things, but in the process neglect the most important thing. There is nothing more essential to our earthly existence than a healthy hunger for God. To crave conversation with the Master is the key to unlock our spiritual personality. Unless we have fellowship with Him we may never survive the busyness of life. The Christian life is a matter of priorities. The “less than best” is always sacrificed for the best. Somewhere along life’s journey we want to hear Him say that we have chosen the good thing that cannot be taken away from us. It is a matter of living close enough to Him to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

MUMBLINGS OF A CHRISTIAN JEW

“Go ye therefore into all the world,” He said. “Does He really mean that”? Is this a command or a request? There is a difference, you know. It is a big, cruel world out there. Rome does not deal kindly with new movements. Surely Judaism will not tolerate competition for her converts. Our half-pagan world does not understand a religion of love, grace, and purity. Is it possible for this good news to be absorbed by crude and cruel minds?

“All the world” would mean telling Gentile folk about Jesus. I think we should keep His gospel for our Jewish people. After all, we are the chosen ones. He was birthed and nurtured by our kind. It was our scriptures that predicted His coming. It was our prophets who anticipated a Messiah. Why should we share this good news with anyone but our own? There are a lot of Gentile pigs out there who would trample the pearls of His marvelous story. Did not our fathers teach us that such people were unclean?

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

Someone has said, “Success knows no strangers while failure has no friends.” On first reading it seems to be a fairly accurate observation. We do tend to applaud those who succeed and shun those who have failed. Society gives the limelight to those who have done extraordinarily well, yet it hardly gives a footnote to those who have not met public expectations. The friendship factor favors the successful. We clamor for companionship from those who can teach us how to be winners. We are indifferent to those who have allowed life to lose its zest. Business, politics, entertainment, and sometimes even religion focus upon beautiful people who appear to be bright and successful. Therefore our beginning statement seems to have some validity.

On the other hand, however, the issue of success and failure may be as much a matter of perception as reality. If we perceive ourselves to be successful, most likely we will have a more exuberant personality. Yet, if we perceive ourselves to be failures most likely we will be inhibited and withdrawn. From this perspective neither success nor failure is as much a matter of numbers as it is a matter of attitude. Successful people who have lost the challenge of achievement feel like failures. People who have failed are sometimes motivated to survive their setbacks and focus their sights on higher goals. In many ways we are who we think we are and we do well not to think more highly or lowly of ourselves than we ought. Continue reading

THE GOD OF OUR IMAGINATION

Do we worship a god, sometimes, who is the figment of our imagination? Do we create a god in our image rather than conform to the image of God created within us? Do we set our own agenda or do we seriously search for the will of God? False gods do not have to be made out of gold or silver. They can be the products of our speculation. Idols are formed in our minds long before they are created by our hands. Our most common human heresy is to make up our own set of rules. We pray to a god who permits. We serve a god who satisfies our carnal desires. Our religion is egocentric rather than theocentric. We invent ways to satisfy our thirst for heaven which fall short of heaven’s expectations. We are never at peace with God because the gods we create instigate chaos.

Sooner or later our house of religious cards will tumble. The bubble of synthetic spirituality will burst. The charade of pretentious Christianity will end. We cannot go on serving a god who does not exist. There comes a time when the issues of life demand a quality commitment to reality. Whenever sickness and death sting us with the tentacles of despair, we need an eternal hope. Whenever temptation lurks at the door and sin creates an uneasy conscience, we need more than a silly system of self approval. Whenever friends turn against us and we feel alone, we need the deeper friendship of divine devotion. Whenever crises come, as surely they will, we need more than human resources.

Simply stated, there comes a time when we cannot make it with a faith based only on convenience.

What, then, shall we do to cultivate an authentic attachment to our Lord and all that adds substance to the living of our days? We need to take God at His word and follow His guidelines for godly living. We must evaluate our tendencies to be less than honest with ourselves about God. We cannot serve a god who exists only in our imaginations. The altar of our own ego is a poor place to find the peace that passes all understanding. We need to confront our risen Savior and in the fellowship of His suffering find meaning in whatever penalties and blessings life presents us. We are never nearer to God than when we denounce our idols and make Him the primary focus of our lives.

THE WORD OF GOD

The word of God converges upon us in many ways to remind us of our creatureliness in relation to the Creator. At best we are limited in our understanding of who we are and how we fit into the scheme of things. We are not equipped to be God, but we are equipped to know the mind of God. Although there is mystery surrounding the Divine presence, He does not wish to remain a secret. We are invited to grasp as much of God as we are willing to seek. We are not left without resources in our search for ultimate reality.

We do not have to concoct fictitious characters and suspicious myths about the past. We do not have to worship the bizarre in the present nor do we have to fatalize the future. We have the Bible as the written word which bears witness to Christ the Living Word. We have the Holy Spirit which enhances our appreciation of both. Whatever lack of knowledge we have concerning the things of God is not because we lack the resources and one of those resources is the Bible.

WHAT WE HAVE AND WHO WE ARE

Some people come into the world with a tremendous financial advantage. Their forebears have provided them with substantial resources. Some folk make the most of it and live productive lives. Others squander their inheritance by reckless mismanagement. It is no crime to enter into life with a prosperous endowment. There is nothing wrong with having one’s life fully funded. It is a sin, however, to abuse one’s advantage. To whom much has been given much is required. There is a stewardship of life which expects us to do the best we can with what we have. There is such a thing as responsible abundance. Affluent folk are uniquely blessed with many avenues of special service to humankind. No matter what our status at birth we have a lifetime to establish our worth.

We sometimes refer to people entering life with an abundance of material resources as having been born “with silver spoons in their mouths.” Perhaps most of us feel as if we were born with “rusty spoons” in our mouths. We certainly brought nothing into the world. We had little offered us on arrival and we are leaving very little behind in terms of material wealth. Nonetheless, we are trying to do the best we can with what we have. Whatever good, whatever bad, whatever rich, whatever poor, whatever great, and whatever small there is about us, we are primarily responsible.

The kind of spoon with which we were born need not determine the quality of our contribution. Just as it is no crime to be rich, it is no crime to be poor unless our poverty is a poverty of soul. God has created us with the freedom to be the best we can be with the set of circumstances life has imposed upon us. He does not require us to build a financial fortune. He expects us to be fruitful and multiply. He wants the spot we inhabit on planet earth to be productive.

God desires that we use our creative energies in positive ways. Whether we come into the world with a “silver spoon” or a “rusty spoon” we still have a purpose. We start from where we are and move to where we can be by the grace of God. Neither riches nor poverty is an excuse for lazy living. Yet, it is not ours to harshly judge the poor or the rich without knowing the circumstances. We take hold of that bit of life we have been given and pursue the richness of God’s possibilities for us. Our investment is called “commitment.” His return is called “contentment.” No matter what kind of spoon from which we eat, we are either nourished or impoverished by what we digest.