WHEN THE WORLD – OUR NATION, OUR LIVES – IS COLLAPSING

Much of Western Europe seems to be walking the tightrope between civil war and accommodation to the demands of Islam. Now that Islam’s militant agenda is becoming increasingly clear, will the West find the moral courage and conviction to take a costly stand?

The USA is facing an unprecedented and acrimonious election characterized by allegations of fraud and threats of possible violence. We desperately want the anger, fear, and uncertainty to pass, but no simple reconciliation is in sight. Instead, whatever the outcome of the election, it seems that our foundations are crumbling.

Where then must the Christian stand, and what principles must serve as our foundation? These are questions to which I continue to return. Here are biblical boulders upon which we must plant our feet:

OUR GOD REIGNS: Psalm 46:1-2, 10-11 (ESV)  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea…“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

NO ONE CAN HURT US WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION: Psalm 91:7-10  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

NEVERTHELESS, WE MIGHT HAVE TO FACE MARTYRDOM: John 16:2  They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

EVEN IF WE ARE MARTYRED, WE ARE BLESSED: 2 Corinthians 5:1  For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

WE HAVE AN ETERNAL KINGDOM AWAITING US: John 14:1-3  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

WE MUST NOT FEAR OR HATE OUR ENEMIES: Philippians 1:27-29  Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

WE MUST EVEN LOVE OUR ENEMIES: Romans 12:14, 17-19  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them… Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

BUT INSTEAD, MAKE USE OF THE GOVERNMENT, AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD’S VENGEANCE/WRATH: Romans 13:3-5  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

OUR ENEMY IS NOT OUR PRIMARY ENEMY: Ephesians 6:12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

NEVERTHELESS, THEY ARE STILL GUILTY BEFORE GOD, SINCE THEY WILLINGLY REJECTED THE LIGHT IN FAVOR OF THE DARKNESS:  John 3:18-20 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

NEVERTHELESS, WE MUST SHOW THEM COMPASSION, SINCE WE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO BETTER THAN THEY, HAD WE NOT BEEN GIVEN CHRIST’S GIFT: 1 Corinthians 1:28-31  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

I have found nothing as liberating as knowing these truths. I need to know that I am eternally and incredibly rich in Him(1 Cor. 3:20-22; Rom. 8:17), and that I have been privileged to love my enemies. As soon as I clothe myself with these truths, I feel unburdened by fears and angers. I am serving my Savior, and that’s all that seems to matter.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t be concerned about the threats encircling us. However, we must address them in ways that honor our Lord. Lift your voice, expose evil (Eph. 5:11), vote, champion justice, and be the light of the world, but in the confidence and equipping of our Lord.

BEING HUMBLED

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Humbling is always painful. Humbling shows us that we aren't the good and sufficient people we want to be. However, we need the humbling. As I am humbled, I marvel, all the more, at my Savior who loves me and provides for me despite my unworthiness.

 The Apostle Peter was also humbled. He had denied the Lord three times. The Lord appeared to him a third time by the Sea of Galilee as they were fishing and miraculously filled their net with 153 fish. After eating, He asked Peter three times if he loved Him. This disturbed Peter, probably because it reminded him of his humbling threefold denial of Jesus.

Peter was humbled, but humility was a necessary ingredient for his glorious calling - "Feed My sheep."

But with such a calling comes more brokenness and glory - martyrdom, as our Lord had promised Peter:

* “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me." (John 21:18-19; ESV)

I want to follow Him, but I have learned that I do not have what it takes, but my Lord does. If He can grow His most fragrant roses with manure, He can use us!

Rejecting Uncomfortable Truths

Quoting from Deuteronomy 8, Jesus informed the Devil:

•   “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Mat. 4:4)

This means that Jesus’ faithful follower has been deprived of the luxury of picking-and-choosing what truth to believe. Instead, we are to live by all of God’s words. If we leave any out, we might find ourselves trying to navigate a plane with only one wing.

It’s like doing math. If you leave one term out of an equation, your answer might be radically different. For example, let’s look at this equation:

1000 + 5000 x 0 = 0

If we leave “x 0” out of the equation, our answer is “6000” – very different from “0!” It is also possible to do the same thing with our theological calculations and derive a very different worldview by simply omitting one teaching.

This is just what is often done in many “seeker sensitive” churches. Certain doctrines are omitted because they are offensive, for instance the “depravity of man”:

• The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jer. 17:9)

• “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands;   there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

On top of this degrading picture of humanity, Scripture makes modern humanity even more uncomfortable by its radical distinction between the saved and unsaved:

• The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:14-16; Rom. 8:5-8; John 3:3)

Such truths present both an obstacle to what we see and how we wish to live our lives in our professional settings. We look at the outer man and not the inner man. Consequently, the unsaved look virtually the same as the saved.

However, even more problematic is the “us vs. them” (saved and unsaved) distinction, separating us from the world we so esteem. Brian McLaren, a key writer of the Emergent Church movement, charges that:

• Christians have been taught to see in "us vs. them" terms for centuries, and it will take time to reorient faithful people in a new direction -- "us with them," working for the common good (Huffington Post Religion Blog, 2/19/03).

In support of his indictment, McLaren cites two like-minded students:

• “People don't want to have to side with the church and against their friends who are Buddhist or Muslim or Jewish or agnostic." 

• “We can't find a church that doesn't load a bunch of extra baggage on us. We tried, but they all had this long list of people we had to be against. It's just not worth it.”

McLaren is right that this teaching tends to set us apart, creating discomfort and interfering with social and professional engagement. But perhaps this cleavage is biblically warranted! Since McLaren argues his case in terms of the costs of this biblical doctrine, it is justified to also weigh the benefits. This doctrine of the radical distinction – believers vs. unbelievers - serves as a lens enabling us to see reality clearly and to navigate its waters. Consequently:

1.     We will not become disillusioned when the world rejects our best efforts (John 15:18-20).

2.     Understanding the depths of human depravity, we will be less inclined to be influenced by naïve, costly utopian schemes to change the world.

3.     We will be on guard against the world’s hatred of the light (John 3:19-21; John 16:1-4). 4.     We will be on guard against the sinful influences of the world and how it affects our thinking (Mat. 7:15; Mark 8:15). Paul warns against the possibility of being cheated out of our reward (Col. 2:8). 

4.   We will be more apt to protect the teaching ministry of the church (Titus 1:7-11; 2 Tim. 2:24-26) and to correct those we need to correct (James 5:19-20).
6.     We will be less inclined to compromise our faith and our relationship with our Lord (John 15:7-14) and to be joined with those who will undermine our faith (2 Cor. 6:14-18).

7.     We will not reject the Bible-believing church as an ignorant obstacle to unreservedly joining hands with the world. For many the church has become an embarrassment, like a deranged sibling who we keep locked-up at home.

8.     The rest of our understanding of Scripture will be subverted by the addition of a doctrine that doesn’t fit (Gal. 5:9). For one thing, it will undermine the warranted praise that the Lord should receive for rescuing us out of our contemptible depravity, producing in us gratitude.

We cannot leave any of God’s teachings out of the equation without great cost. The Apostle Paul affirmed this principle during his final visit with the elders of the church at Ephesus:

•  I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. (Acts 20:26-27)

More than anything else, we need to know that our lives are pleasing to our Savior. Paul affirmed that we could not have such assurance if we have systematically left out portions of His teachings.

Faith Healing: God’s Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Quite often, our secular media will drag into public attention a couple whose child had died because they believed that their faith required them to reject modern medicine.

I certainly believe in faith healing. We serve a miracle-working God. However, faith is not opposed human efforts to address problems. Rather than faith in God vs. our human responsibility, our walk with God should embody both!

If our son tells us, “I’m just going to trust God. Therefore, I will not seek a job. I’ll just wait for God to present one to me,” we’d think that he’s going mad. Knowledgeable parents would respond:

• Well, if you trust God, you’ll do as He tells you to do – work hard! He rewards diligence not sloth!

This is because trusting also means doing. If we trust our Lord, we will do what He tells us to do! Somehow, faith and obedience go together, as the Apostle Paul indicated:

• Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philip. 2:12-13)

Paul’s teaching is puzzling as is the rest of Scripture. On the one hand, he claims that we are responsible for “working out our salvation,” but then He adds that God is even more responsible. He works within us to accomplish His good purposes! Although God is in charge, this does not detract from our responsibility to do and to obey. Somehow these two truths go together! We call this the “doctrine of compatibalism” – human responsibility is compatible with God’s sovereignty or governance.

How do we get our minds around this bewildering truth? I don’t think that we can – not entirely, at least. However, if we don’t accept both truths, we will get ourselves into trouble, like faith healing parents who allow their child to die because they mistakenly rejected one side of the equation – human responsibility.

We cannot and should not separate God’s plan for our lives from our efforts to please Him, as Paul confessed:

• But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Cor. 15:10)

Paul gave God the credit for his spiritual growth and fruitfulness. Yes, he worked hard and made the rights choices, but, at the end of the day, it was God’s work (James 1:17). Paul’s efforts and freewill choices worked in conjunction with God’s sovereignty over Paul’s life. We may not understand how they both go together, but, scripturally, it is clear that they do.

Peter recognized this same dual truth. On a number of occasions, he pointed his finger at the religious leadership, accusing them of crucifying Christ. However, he also acknowledged that they did this according to the plan of God:

• This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. (Acts 2:23)

Both parties are responsible! We have to affirm both truths – human responsibility and God’s sovereignty – even though we might not be able to put them together. While we believe in prayer and God’s healing powers, we must not put God to the test by ignoring our responsibility or by acting foolishly. The devil challenged Jesus to jump off the cliff if He really is the Son of God, the Messiah. After all, God has a plan for His life and wouldn’t allow anything to disrupt it, right? However, Jesus answered:

• "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Matthew 4:6-8)

If we act irresponsibly by trusting that God will compensate for our lack of wisdom, we are acting presumptuously of the grace of God. When we ignore medical matters, presuming that God will step in, our trust is misplaced.

Instead, Paul counseled Timothy:

• Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. (1 Tim. 5:23) 

Timothy had to take responsibility for his health! This advice doesn’t negate the fact that God is the healer and that He has even ordained the length of our lives (Psalm 139). However, it does acknowledge that we too have a responsibility!

We certainly shouldn’t rush our child to the hospital whenever she has a cough. However, wisdom affirms that we, who are trusting God, also have our responsibility!

Jesus must be more than an Add-On

Jesus cannot merely be our catastrophic insurance policy. He must be Lord of all! Great multitudes had been following Him – many who hadn’t surrendered all. He therefore chastened them with this parable:

·        "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he  lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-33)

To not make Jesus Lord over our entire lives is to retain lordship for ourselves and to use Jesus at our convenience – the very thing we cannot do! In comparison with Jesus, we are required to “hate” everything else, even our own lives. In this sense, “to hate” means to love less.

God had announced Rebecca that her older son Esau would serve the younger son Jacob. In comparison to Jacob’s appointed destiny, Esau was “hated”: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Romans 9:13). God didn’t literally hate Esau. It is unthinkable that He would have told Esau’s mother Rebecca that He literally hated Esau even before he was born. Instead, God also had plans for him. He had appointed Esau to become the father of the Edomite nation.  

However, the best indication of what it means to “hate” our families and our own lives comes from the parallel statement in Matthew:

·        "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)

Here, the equivalent – “loves…more than Me” is substituted for “hate.” Therefore, instead of “hating” our own life, it is a matter of priorities. Jesus must be first in our lives!

However, Jesus also makes another point in this parable. We have to consider the costs of making Him first! To illustrate this point Jesus gives two examples of people who hastily make a commitment without doing a cost/benefit analysis beforehand. They therefore end up in an embarrassing situation, like the man who begins to build a tower but doesn’t have the money to complete it.

Jesus then concludes:

·        In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)

From this, some have wrongly concluded that Jesus calls us to surrender all of our material goods. However, this cannot be the meaning. He is certainly not asking us to “give up” our clothing, the tools of our trade, our family’s home, or our children’s bread. In fact, He wants to give us all that we need:

·        But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these [material] things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

What benefit would it be to us if, after we had received “all these things” from the hand of our God, we then had to immediately give it all away! Instead, Jesus once again is preaching priorities. He and His kingdom must be first in our lives. Our needs must become secondary. However, if we put Him first, He will put us first on His agenda and take care of us.

Right priorities are precisely what Jesus is teaching in His “hate” parable. We are not to harm our families or ourselves but merely to regard them as secondary to Him!

What then does it mean to “forsake all,” as the NKJV puts it, or to “give up everything?” Simply to “forsake all” that might interfere with Jesus’ headship by placing all things beneath Him! When we refuse to do this – when we refuse to repent of our sins – Jesus warns us that we “cannot be my disciple[s].”

But isn’t this outrageous of Jesus to demand that He must be Lord of all? Actually, such a demand is born out of love! It is this love that requires us to make Him number one and ensures that “all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)