Pursuing Honor and Glory

 

 

We love recognition, adoration, and honor. Jesus’ Apostles were not any different from us:

·       Mark 10:35–40 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.”

 

James and John wanted to occupy the most prestigious positions in Jesus’ kingdom. However, they weren’t aware of the costs involved. Jesus warned them that they would have to endure suffering as preparation for reigning with Him. It wouldn’t be fun and games.

 

Paul also warned that reigning with Christ would be costly:

·       2 Corinthians 4:10–11 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

 

It was certainly costly for Paul in terms of the beatings he had to endure and then a satanic “thorn in the flesh” to keep him humble amid the revelations and recognition he had been receiving. However, he regarded it as necessary preparation:

 

·       2 Corinthians 4:16–17 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

 

Suffering is preparing us for the roles we will be performing in heaven. Yes we are to be reigning with our Lord in heaven, mediating disputes in His heavenly kingdom, training the nations in the righteousness of the Lord:

·       1 Corinthians 6:2–3 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

 

We will also be training Israel in the ways of the Lord:

·       Matthew 19:28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

 

There is nothing wrong with desiring glory and honor. Our Lord even promises that He will give us these things for us:

·       Psalm 23:5–6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

 

However, we must first promote others to the seats of glory that we might desire for ourselves. This should start with our wives:

 

·       1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Frank Schaeffer on Certainty and Marriage: Some Friendly Advice

A letter to Frank Schaeffer:

Dear Frank,

I’m sure that you would appreciate some corrective feedback. Perhaps you haven’t received any in a long time and realize that we all need some correction. So let me just focus on one little statement you just posted in your blog:

• With the acceptance of paradox came a new and blessed uncertainty that began to heal the mental illness called certainty, the kind of certainty that told me that my job was to be head of the home and to order around my wife and children because “the Bible says so.”

Perhaps most obviously, although you claim to bask in “blessed uncertainty,” you seem to be quite certain about what the Bible teaches about marriage. (I guess certainty is that “mental illness” from which none of us can entirely free ourselves.) Although you are correct that the Bible does teach that a wife must serve her husband, it seems that you have totally ignored the husband’s duties towards his wife. Let me just supply a few verses that you might consider:

• Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself… each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33)

• Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (1 Peter 3:7)

• Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. (Col. 3:19)

I’m sure that you are already familiar with these teachings. However, in the hustle-and-bustle of promoting our own agendas, it is so easy to forget about them.

I don’t think that it’s an accident that women of the Christian West have experienced that greatest measure of freedom and protection. The “why” becomes obvious when we compare the biblical teachings with those found in other religions. Take the Koran, for example:

• [2.223] Your wives are a tilth [cultivated land] for you, so go into your tilth when you like, and do good beforehand for yourselves…

• [2.228] And the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three courses; and it is not lawful for them that they should conceal what Allah has created in their wombs, if they believe in Allah and the last day; and their husbands have a better right to take them back in the meanwhile if they wish for reconciliation; and they have rights similar to those against them in a just manner, and the men are a degree above them, and Allah is Mighty, Wise.

• [2.282] …call in to witness from among your men two witnesses; but if there are not two men, then one man and two women from among those whom you choose to be witnesses…

• [4:34] Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them…

I will not even cite Koranic verses regarding the permissibility of rape, lest your righteous indignation be aroused and you literally lose your head in the process.

No need to thank me. Instead, it’s a pleasure to serve an atheist who believes.

Treatment of Wives: Koran vs. New Testament

Here is my response to a Christian-Basher:

You have mistakenly charged that Islam’s teachings about wives and women are similar to the Bible’s teachings. So bear with me as I make some comparisons between the Koran and the New Testament. I’ll cite the Koran first and follow it with NT teachings:

[Surah 2.223] Your wives are a tilth [cultivated field] for you, so go into your tilth when you like, and do good beforehand for yourselves…

In the Koran, the male’s needs are supreme. The wife must service her husband on demand. Instead, the NT teaches equality and mutuality:

o       1 Cor. 7:3-5:  The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

   

[Surah 2.228] And the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three courses; and it is not lawful for them that they should conceal what Allah has created in their wombs, if they believe in Allah and the last day; and their husbands have a better right to take them back in the meanwhile if they wish for reconciliation; and they have rights similar to those against them in a just manner, and the men are a degree above them, and Allah is Mighty, Wise.

In the Koran, men have more value and rights than women. However, in the NT, both are of equal value:

·        Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

o       Ephes. 5:31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

   

[Surah 2.282] …call in to witness from among your men two witnesses; but if there are not two men, then one man and two women from among those whom you choose to be witnesses…

The court testimony of a man is equal to two women. In the NT, there is no distinction:

·        1 Cor. 11:11: In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

    

[Surah 4:34] Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them…

The Bible never counsels a husband to beat or physically abuse his wife. Instead:

   

o       1 Peter 3:7: Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

·        Col. 3:19: Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

·        Ephes. 5:28-33: In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church… However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Here is a video of a Muslim cleric teaching wife beating: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2007/01/islam_beating_w.html