WE DEMEAN OURSELVES IF WE DEFINE OURSELVES MATERIALISTICALLY

The way we think about ourselves becomes the way we feel about ourselves. If we think that we are no more than purposeless wet machine, it is not surprising that we feel this way.

·       According to [Gil] Dodgen, from his youth “[ I] believed that I was just a complex piece of biochemistry that came about by chance.” He still remembers the place he was standing at age seven when he came to the stark realization that his own life had no meaning or purpose. For the next thirty-six years he often contemplated suicide. After all, what difference would it make if he were dead rather than alive? Even though he never tried to kill himself, by his own account he was “cynical about life.” All this changed for him in 1994 when at age forty-three he converted to Christ. From that time forward he was filled with joy, recognizing that he was created for a purpose and his life had meaning. Never since that time has he contemplated suicide. Now he knows that his life—and the lives of others—is valuable. (Richard Weikart, "The Death of Humanity: And the Case for Life")

Christ dignifies life. Knowing His love and purpose for our lives, we are no longer a chance collection of molecules but a beloved person with eternal significance and a divine calling. What can be more edifying!

Missions, the Missional, and Incarnational Ministry

J. Todd Billings provides some important corrections to the popular teaching of “incarnation ministry” – “Being Jesus to those around us.” Billings summarizes two different distortions associated with this teaching. According to the first distortion – Billings associates this one with the liberal church:

• Jesus provided the model for how to immerse oneself in another culture, but the specific content of his life and teaching and his death and resurrection, were beside the point…The point is to identify with another culture rather than to testify to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus…The slogan in these circles is to “live the Good News rather than preach the Good News.  (Christianity Today, July/August 2012, 60)

Truly, many forget that “the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16) and not our example. Instead, it is Christ who saves through our believing a particular message. It is a message that works powerfully through the Spirit:

• And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. (1 Thes. 2:13)

It is the Spirit through the Word of the Gospel that saves and not us:

• For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God…And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:23, 25)

Consequently, Paul committed his beloved Ephesian elders, not to a charismatic leader, but to the Word”

• "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

Billings then sounds a second alarm regarding the incarnational ministry. He warns that this teaching places too much emphasis on us and not enough on Christ, the only true incarnation:

• It is not our “incarnation,” then, but the Holy Spirit who makes Christ present in us and beyond us. The Spirit makes our witness effective. Yet because they take the Incarnation as their “model” of ministry, these evangelicals often assume that they – rather than the Holy Spirit – make Christ present in the world…The burden of incarnation – the revelation – is on the shoulders of the individuals. Such a theology often leads to burnout…We forget that we are not equipped to represent Christ to the world without being united, as a community, to Christ through the Spirit. (60)

Incarnational ministry places too much of a burden upon us to perform. Therefore, Billings opines that:

• We are not sent into the world to perform another incarnation, but as disciples who bear witness to Christ and his reign by the Spirit. (61)

Therefore, missions is not about us; it’s about Christ and our testimony about Him. It’s not about our adequacy (2 Cor. 3:5) or perfected life, but about His. We will never have the perfect life, the irrefutable arguments or even an adequate love. Instead, we have this incredible treasure in our earthen corruptible lives (2 Cor. 4:7), through which our very obvious flaws call attention to the real power and love beyond us. Once we forget this, we will tend to place our focus upon self and not where it should be – on Him and our union with Him!

However, Billings associates this second flaw with the evangelical church – those who take the Bible seriously. Although placing too much upon our backs, instead of Christ’s, is a very common failing, I would think that it is even more common in the liberal church. This severely culturally-compromised church – it doesn’t rely fully on the Bible – is even more susceptible to the culture’s emphasis on believing in oneself and the “you-can-do-it” mentality. Therefore, it lacks the Biblical teaching and wisdom against self-trust and its bosom buddy – self-righteousness. Consequently, the bereft liberal church is left with little more than their own efforts to “do better; try harder.”

This is a very minor criticism in light of Billings’ fine and important correctives. After all, we are guilty as charged.

   

   

Suffering and the Will of God

It is hard enough to deal with our painful and prolonged trials. However, we tend to complicate matters when we interpret our pain and frustration to mean that God doesn’t love us enough.

What makes matters worse it that we’ve been praying for years for something that is clearly consistent with God’s will – for instance, an emotional healing that would conform us more perfectly into Christ’s image. Consequently, we find ourselves struggling with two things:

1. The painful trial and
2. Our resulting doubts about God.

The first issue is complex. Even though it clearly is our God’s will to conform us into the likeness of His Son – and this He is always performing (Rom. 8:28; Phil. 1:6) – He also uses our weaknesses and infirmities to accomplish this (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Surprisingly, He informs us that “when we are weak, it is then that we are strong [in Him].

Consequently, we don’t know if a particular healing is consistent with God’s will, and if it is, when He will do something about it. However, it is certain that we will all die without receiving all of our prayed-for healings. We will continue to struggle against sin until His return (Gal. 5:17; Rom. 7:25). Life isn’t supposed to be too comfortable here. If it was, we wouldn’t cry out, “Come quickly Lord Jesus.”

The answer to the second issue is more important and more straight-forward. Hardships, even the most intense forms, aren’t proof of God’s displeasure. If anything, they represent the opposite:

·        Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?...Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:7-11)

(I know that you are aware of these things, but sometimes it is helpful to here them from someone else.) Job was the most righteous man on the entire earth, yet God subjected him to the greatest trials. Paul would become the greatest missionary the church has ever known, but God promised that he would have to suffer profoundly, saying:

·        “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (Acts 9:16)

Suffering is not a sign of God’s displeasure. King David was arguably Israel’s greatest king and a man after God’s own heart. Nevertheless, he suffered greatly. We need only to read the Psalms to see this.

For years, I experienced intense doubt about God’s love for me. I suspected that even if I did make it into heaven, God would only open the doors to me reluctantly. Therefore, I would become the heavenly street-sweeper. I felt as if I was displeasing to Him. I had become keenly aware of my own sins, and so it seemed very plausible to me that I couldn’t be one of His favorites. Clearly, I deserved nothing from Him. As a result, I resented those who I suspected were in His better graces.

What changed? I think that the real change came from God making the truths of His Word very real to me. And as these verses (and others) illuminate for me, I cried copious tears of joy and relief:

·        Galatians 2:20:  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

·        Romans 8:1: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

·        John 6:37: All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

·        Ephes. 3:17-19: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

There were also many other verses that spoke to through the tsunamis of depression. They assured me that our Savior is truly who He said He is, and that makes all the difference in the world. I trust that as you continue to seek Him, He will likewise deliver you.

Although knowing who God is is almost everything, it isn’t everything. There is the knowledge of God, but there is also God Himself. If knowledge alone could deliver, we would find little need for God! This would tend to create arrogance and self-sufficiency. Therefore, He requires that we wait patiently for deliverance:

·        I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14)

Waiting is a constant reminder that it’s not about us – not even merely about our faith and knowledge – it’s about our merciful Lord!