Desperately distant, you swallowed the grief,
The sanguine sadness, the soul-killing pain,
That tempted your palette with swine’s cuisine,
And starved your fading faith until weak and profane.
Unworthy of privilege, you will still obtain favor;
The fountain of joy will be yours in the end;
I formed your hard heart into an object of mercy,
Securing your fate as my guest and my friend.
With a single word I’ll open the floodgates
Of unbridled laughter, of uncontrollable tears;
Flung into the arms of unadulterated pleasure,
You will cry without restraint for your vanquished fears.
If you draw near and drink from my chalice of joy,
And drown your sorrows ‘till your cup overflows,
You’ll see streams of cold water for your sorely-parched soul;
And you will quench your thirst in the river of delights.
Sit here, at my table while I conjure new wine,
And savor the feast of the fat of the land;
Crave the cordial of dreams, the cascade of delight,
And share in the banquet at my right hand.
Then watch as I fill your barns with plenty,
Overflowing your land with milk and honey;
An unabated abundance for your cruise of oil,
With copious firstfruits from fertile soil.
I’ll intoxicate your heart with a double portion
Of emotional caviar, of milk from the breast;
Eat the bread of kindness; sip the fruit of the vine;
A profusion of pleasure, a wellspring of rest.
Indulge yourself freely in the manna of grace;
Taste it and see that my love is good;
So earnestly sought but for so long withheld,
Your abundant harvest and the latter rain.
Continually revel in my sumptuous feast;
Sigh for pleasure; sink to deep, dreamless sleep.
Guiltlessly wallow in this reckless self-abandon
And the consummate torrent of desire fulfilled.
Draw near and drink from my chalice of joy;
Drown your sorrows ‘till your cup overflows;
There are streams of cold water for your sorely-parched soul;
So come, quench your thirst in the river of delights.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Unrequited Love
There is so much inside my heart yearning to be free
That Providence is almost bound to bring to pass
A time of restitution when all wrongs will be made right,
When all tears will be for joy alone,
And waiting love will be fully requited.
The dreams that put a sparkle in my eyes as a child,
Or as a hopeful young man, in looking to the future,
Are reflections of the place where everything began,
The seductive, blossoming gardens of Paradise,
Where God and man walked side-by-side,
Where we would have stood naked and without shame,
Where flourishing love and abounding grace
Healed all wounds before they were even inflicted,
And all that could be and should be was.
A day will arrive when you and I will face each other,
Perhaps disillusioned, but with all masks removed,
Finding that the love of God is renewing all things;
That while hope deferred had made our hearts sick,
Our desire fulfilled has become a tree of life.
Knowing only our shame, yet trusting and hoping,
We will relinquish our fears and all shadows of doubt,
Throwing caution to the wind of reckless delight,
To find ourselves exultant, in joyful flight,
With our innermost dreams as our constant abode,
Released from past pain, wrapped in bliss forever.
What others have tried to do for selfish reasons,
That was found to be only to their tragic demise,
We will do, and for the first time in our lives,
Truly live.
This is the awaited nourishing of the soul
And the rapturous requiting of love.
That Providence is almost bound to bring to pass
A time of restitution when all wrongs will be made right,
When all tears will be for joy alone,
And waiting love will be fully requited.
The dreams that put a sparkle in my eyes as a child,
Or as a hopeful young man, in looking to the future,
Are reflections of the place where everything began,
The seductive, blossoming gardens of Paradise,
Where God and man walked side-by-side,
Where we would have stood naked and without shame,
Where flourishing love and abounding grace
Healed all wounds before they were even inflicted,
And all that could be and should be was.
A day will arrive when you and I will face each other,
Perhaps disillusioned, but with all masks removed,
Finding that the love of God is renewing all things;
That while hope deferred had made our hearts sick,
Our desire fulfilled has become a tree of life.
Knowing only our shame, yet trusting and hoping,
We will relinquish our fears and all shadows of doubt,
Throwing caution to the wind of reckless delight,
To find ourselves exultant, in joyful flight,
With our innermost dreams as our constant abode,
Released from past pain, wrapped in bliss forever.
What others have tried to do for selfish reasons,
That was found to be only to their tragic demise,
We will do, and for the first time in our lives,
Truly live.
This is the awaited nourishing of the soul
And the rapturous requiting of love.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Your Heart of Beauty Rests
Your heart of beauty rests in stillness and in pain;
And tearfully you’ve told yourself you’ll never love again.
Your dreams were shaken hard, your faith was shaken more,
Emptiness has filled your life as your hopes and fears make war.
There seems nowhere to turn, no friends who will be true,
And the empty promises they made is all you have in view.
The day has turned to night; the warm has turned to cold,
The gentle rain of yesterday became an unforgiving storm.
Yet somehow in the gloom, you look past the despair,
And you won’t let go of what you know lies just behind the veil.
No dreams were dreamt in vain;
lost love you will regain;
And all those hopes for joy and peace
weren’t hoped only in pain.
Another day will come; the clouds will blow away;
What you hoped would be, will finally be, and will be here to stay.
And tearfully you’ve told yourself you’ll never love again.
Your dreams were shaken hard, your faith was shaken more,
Emptiness has filled your life as your hopes and fears make war.
There seems nowhere to turn, no friends who will be true,
And the empty promises they made is all you have in view.
The day has turned to night; the warm has turned to cold,
The gentle rain of yesterday became an unforgiving storm.
Yet somehow in the gloom, you look past the despair,
And you won’t let go of what you know lies just behind the veil.
No dreams were dreamt in vain;
lost love you will regain;
And all those hopes for joy and peace
weren’t hoped only in pain.
Another day will come; the clouds will blow away;
What you hoped would be, will finally be, and will be here to stay.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
A Beautiful Soul
I am a dreamer. God made me a dreamer, and when I dream, I feel His pleasure. I long for transcendence so strongly that it frequently overwhelms me. I long to revel in the deep things of God—of present beauty, of ultimate reality, and of future glory.
But there are events in our lives that cause us to stumble, to break, and to focus on the storm rather than on the Master. We sometimes feel betrayed and abandoned by others, and even by God. And in the crucible of those moments, when our usually guarded worldviews are forced wide open, we allow fears, doubts, anger, and cynicism to creep in, even in small doses, and those feelings become hard to kill.
In those times of the dark night of the soul, we too often make subtle vows to ourselves that we won't ever be hurt those ways again. We build walls to make sure we stay protected, and create venues to avoid the pain.
But there is a better way.
These are the moments that become the hinges upon which our lives take major turns. These are the empty days and sleepless nights that count, despite how much they feel like a waste. These are the moments when we choose to seize the day, to seize the beauty, and to seize what truly matters.
A beautiful soul. I wonder what it takes to be a beautiful soul.
We all have things that weigh us down, but in the midst of our burdens, a transcendent mindset beckons us, one which the world cannot comprehend. Not all of us will choose it, and not all of us can even understand it yet, including me. But we can take small steps. We can admit we are not where we need to be, and purpose where our lives are headed. We can choose to truly be people of faith.
We tend to live by the notion that as life seems more trustworthy, we will be able to take more risks, and conversely, that if life gets less trustworthy, we will protect ourselves and take fewer risks. But what would be necessary for our hearts to take those risks even when life feels unsafe?
There is a kind of heart that learns to truly trust God for real, no matter what. There are eyes that see past today to eternity. There is a brokenness that embraces surrender like never before.
One of the most crucial choices we will make in life is vulnerability. Being open to the possibility of woundedness, disappointment, and even treachery, yet remaining willing to pursue life's beauty.
When we walk through dark valleys, we have the opportunity to take some terrifying emotional and spiritual risks which expose us to both the greatest joys and the deepest pains possible in this life. But without making the choice to be vulnerable, to seize the beauty of God and of life no matter what comes our way, we are only half alive.
C.S Lewis wrote that "Christ did not teach and suffer that we might become, even in the natural loves, more careful of our own happiness . . . we shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armor. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it."
In that mindset, we choose to keep holding on, to believe that dawn is coming. We embrace brokenness, and embrace it God's way. We know that He is using the trials of life to challenge our hearts, to prove us, and to help us surrender our wills—not to avoid pain. God, do whatever it takes to make us holy, no matter what the cost, and teach us to rejoice in whatever that cost may be.
Life is about intimacy and beauty, and will be for all eternity. It's what God, the Gospel, heaven, and humanity are all about. We embrace the beauty. We pursue it, revel in it, and dive into it with all our hearts.
God, You have woven beauty and majesty everywhere. Even in the darkest hours, we have abundant reason to stand in awe of You, in amazement at what You have created, and in gratitude for what You have done and are still doing. You delight to give Your children good gifts. You cannot but bless Your Son's beloved Bride. We drink deeply from the fountain of delights.
A beautiful soul. I wonder what it takes to be a beautiful soul.
We choose to be carefree, unworried, and untroubled. We choose to cast our cares on the Lord, because He cares for us. We choose to be resolute, confident, cheerful, joyous, and lighthearted. We choose optimism. We play the Glad Game and really mean it.
We purposefully choose to not be disillusioned. We reject cynicism. We sanctify our imaginations. We resist the tendency to take shortcuts and the easy way out. We choose the way of wisdom.
We choose to believe that the presence of pain does not equate in any way to the absence of God and does not imply His displeasure. God allows all His children to go through dark valleys to teach them trust and obedience.
We choose to believe that the wilderness may, indeed, be the best place for God to find us. Empty of all pride, success, and confidence in our own strength, we turn to God, admitting that we cannot enter the Promised Land without Him, and that in truth, He—not our supposed dreams and plans—is the Promised Land.
We choose to believe that everything God had made, and everything God does, is good, and that His design is always right. He is the sovereign, brilliant Master Designer. He never makes mistakes of any kind, and He constantly takes our lives—including our wounds and even our mistakes—and turns them into glory.
Oh, God, may the depths of me collide with the depths of You! May I be transformed through and through, from the inside out.
We choose to believe that God cannot help but bless us. He blesses us constantly, whether we realize it not. He constantly works things together for our good, and will only ever bless those who are His. What could He do that would not ultimately be a blessing, even if it currently feels like a loss or a disappointment? Even His discipline is a blessing, because in teaching us to give up something, He is focusing us on His will, our character, His glory, and our good.
We choose to believe that God loves to celebrate. God delights to invite His family to a feast He has prepared. He is the King who serves, the Friend who prepares a table before us, the Father who will throw the most lavish wedding in history, the Master who even washes our feet as we sit down to have Him share His bread with us. In that spirit, we offer our lives as a constant celebration, a continual feast, a neverending expression of joy. We choose to be carefree because our hearts' deepest desires were already met at the Cross of Christ. The Lord is our Shepherd, and so we lack nothing.
We choose to embrace the paradoxes. We know that there is beauty beyond comprehension in the mysteries, in not knowing all the answers yet running to the One who does, and in being children with endless questions yet belonging to the faithful, trustworthy Father. We question for a short time, but we do not let our questions hold us back from wonder, amazement, and worship. We fall on our knees and stare and laugh. We stand confidently, and walk without fear, and dance for Him, whether He answers all our questions or not.
We choose to not let anything draw us away from the simplicity of our love for Jesus and our devotion to Him.
We believe that God is on our side and He does not write any truly sad endings. The Lord will be faithful to complete what He started in us. God is the Master Artist, and we are unfinished portraits. God will make us glorious in the end. Jesus, paint my life!
Lord, we have set our sails as best as we know, in the direction of Your will, so far as we understand it. Please fill our sails with Your wind and guide and redirect us where You will.
We hold nothing back. No reservations. No separate stash for ourselves. It all belongs to You. Our only goal is to be pleasing to You, our Master.
We bow our knees to You with tears of joy and gratitude that we no longer bow to sin and death. We do not argue with doors You open or shut. We are soldiers committed to Your task. We are children dedicated to the honor of Your name.
We are Your followers, forever grateful for Your opening our eyes to see, and forever ready to do Your bidding, so that others may see what great things You have done for us.
You alone are the One worthy to direct our lives. You are the only One we can truly trust to write the very best story of our lives. You alone call the shots in our lives, and for that we are eternally and joyfully indebted.
Lord, make our lives a song. Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, and may they pour out as praise to You. Write the lyrics of our lives, and let them be worship to You. Whether the songs sound upbeat, sad, calm, or fearful, let us take those songs and offer them up, imperfect though our offerings may be. Rewrite the songs of our lives the way You choose, and we will learn the tune and sing it back to You with a grateful heart.
Lord, I know what it will take to be a beautiful soul. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Come what may; to You be the glory.
But there are events in our lives that cause us to stumble, to break, and to focus on the storm rather than on the Master. We sometimes feel betrayed and abandoned by others, and even by God. And in the crucible of those moments, when our usually guarded worldviews are forced wide open, we allow fears, doubts, anger, and cynicism to creep in, even in small doses, and those feelings become hard to kill.
In those times of the dark night of the soul, we too often make subtle vows to ourselves that we won't ever be hurt those ways again. We build walls to make sure we stay protected, and create venues to avoid the pain.
But there is a better way.
These are the moments that become the hinges upon which our lives take major turns. These are the empty days and sleepless nights that count, despite how much they feel like a waste. These are the moments when we choose to seize the day, to seize the beauty, and to seize what truly matters.
A beautiful soul. I wonder what it takes to be a beautiful soul.
We all have things that weigh us down, but in the midst of our burdens, a transcendent mindset beckons us, one which the world cannot comprehend. Not all of us will choose it, and not all of us can even understand it yet, including me. But we can take small steps. We can admit we are not where we need to be, and purpose where our lives are headed. We can choose to truly be people of faith.
We tend to live by the notion that as life seems more trustworthy, we will be able to take more risks, and conversely, that if life gets less trustworthy, we will protect ourselves and take fewer risks. But what would be necessary for our hearts to take those risks even when life feels unsafe?
There is a kind of heart that learns to truly trust God for real, no matter what. There are eyes that see past today to eternity. There is a brokenness that embraces surrender like never before.
One of the most crucial choices we will make in life is vulnerability. Being open to the possibility of woundedness, disappointment, and even treachery, yet remaining willing to pursue life's beauty.
When we walk through dark valleys, we have the opportunity to take some terrifying emotional and spiritual risks which expose us to both the greatest joys and the deepest pains possible in this life. But without making the choice to be vulnerable, to seize the beauty of God and of life no matter what comes our way, we are only half alive.
C.S Lewis wrote that "Christ did not teach and suffer that we might become, even in the natural loves, more careful of our own happiness . . . we shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armor. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it."
In that mindset, we choose to keep holding on, to believe that dawn is coming. We embrace brokenness, and embrace it God's way. We know that He is using the trials of life to challenge our hearts, to prove us, and to help us surrender our wills—not to avoid pain. God, do whatever it takes to make us holy, no matter what the cost, and teach us to rejoice in whatever that cost may be.
Life is about intimacy and beauty, and will be for all eternity. It's what God, the Gospel, heaven, and humanity are all about. We embrace the beauty. We pursue it, revel in it, and dive into it with all our hearts.
God, You have woven beauty and majesty everywhere. Even in the darkest hours, we have abundant reason to stand in awe of You, in amazement at what You have created, and in gratitude for what You have done and are still doing. You delight to give Your children good gifts. You cannot but bless Your Son's beloved Bride. We drink deeply from the fountain of delights.
A beautiful soul. I wonder what it takes to be a beautiful soul.
We choose to be carefree, unworried, and untroubled. We choose to cast our cares on the Lord, because He cares for us. We choose to be resolute, confident, cheerful, joyous, and lighthearted. We choose optimism. We play the Glad Game and really mean it.
We purposefully choose to not be disillusioned. We reject cynicism. We sanctify our imaginations. We resist the tendency to take shortcuts and the easy way out. We choose the way of wisdom.
We choose to believe that the presence of pain does not equate in any way to the absence of God and does not imply His displeasure. God allows all His children to go through dark valleys to teach them trust and obedience.
We choose to believe that the wilderness may, indeed, be the best place for God to find us. Empty of all pride, success, and confidence in our own strength, we turn to God, admitting that we cannot enter the Promised Land without Him, and that in truth, He—not our supposed dreams and plans—is the Promised Land.
We choose to believe that everything God had made, and everything God does, is good, and that His design is always right. He is the sovereign, brilliant Master Designer. He never makes mistakes of any kind, and He constantly takes our lives—including our wounds and even our mistakes—and turns them into glory.
Oh, God, may the depths of me collide with the depths of You! May I be transformed through and through, from the inside out.
We choose to believe that God cannot help but bless us. He blesses us constantly, whether we realize it not. He constantly works things together for our good, and will only ever bless those who are His. What could He do that would not ultimately be a blessing, even if it currently feels like a loss or a disappointment? Even His discipline is a blessing, because in teaching us to give up something, He is focusing us on His will, our character, His glory, and our good.
We choose to believe that God loves to celebrate. God delights to invite His family to a feast He has prepared. He is the King who serves, the Friend who prepares a table before us, the Father who will throw the most lavish wedding in history, the Master who even washes our feet as we sit down to have Him share His bread with us. In that spirit, we offer our lives as a constant celebration, a continual feast, a neverending expression of joy. We choose to be carefree because our hearts' deepest desires were already met at the Cross of Christ. The Lord is our Shepherd, and so we lack nothing.
We choose to embrace the paradoxes. We know that there is beauty beyond comprehension in the mysteries, in not knowing all the answers yet running to the One who does, and in being children with endless questions yet belonging to the faithful, trustworthy Father. We question for a short time, but we do not let our questions hold us back from wonder, amazement, and worship. We fall on our knees and stare and laugh. We stand confidently, and walk without fear, and dance for Him, whether He answers all our questions or not.
We choose to not let anything draw us away from the simplicity of our love for Jesus and our devotion to Him.
We believe that God is on our side and He does not write any truly sad endings. The Lord will be faithful to complete what He started in us. God is the Master Artist, and we are unfinished portraits. God will make us glorious in the end. Jesus, paint my life!
Lord, we have set our sails as best as we know, in the direction of Your will, so far as we understand it. Please fill our sails with Your wind and guide and redirect us where You will.
We hold nothing back. No reservations. No separate stash for ourselves. It all belongs to You. Our only goal is to be pleasing to You, our Master.
We bow our knees to You with tears of joy and gratitude that we no longer bow to sin and death. We do not argue with doors You open or shut. We are soldiers committed to Your task. We are children dedicated to the honor of Your name.
We are Your followers, forever grateful for Your opening our eyes to see, and forever ready to do Your bidding, so that others may see what great things You have done for us.
You alone are the One worthy to direct our lives. You are the only One we can truly trust to write the very best story of our lives. You alone call the shots in our lives, and for that we are eternally and joyfully indebted.
Lord, make our lives a song. Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, and may they pour out as praise to You. Write the lyrics of our lives, and let them be worship to You. Whether the songs sound upbeat, sad, calm, or fearful, let us take those songs and offer them up, imperfect though our offerings may be. Rewrite the songs of our lives the way You choose, and we will learn the tune and sing it back to You with a grateful heart.
Lord, I know what it will take to be a beautiful soul. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Come what may; to You be the glory.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Gatekeepers of Eternal Beauty
A while ago I used the phrase “Gatekeeper of Eternal Beauty” to describe a very dear friend, and it’s become a recurring theme ever since. As Christians, we long for transcendence. We want our lives to count for something infinitely bigger than just the random nothings that the world tells us are so important. But how do we do it, especially when we face so many distractions in our daily lives. I want to offer a suggestion: we need to surround ourselves with Gatekeepers of Eternal Beauty and follow their examples.
In the New Testament, Paul personally taught Timothy how to be a pastor, and then exhorted Timothy to teach others, and for those others to teach others, too. Today, we also need these kinds of Gatekeepers, these friends and mentors who are further down the road of the Christian life than we are. They’ve seen the beauty of God, the Gospel, and eternity better than we have yet, so we spend time with them because we want to think their good thoughts after them, and follow their example. We mimic their hearts and lives so the eternal beauty that’s reflected in their lives gets imprinted onto our lives, too, so that we, too, can increasingly reflect that same beauty to others.
Gatekeepers are not easy to find. They are few and far between, but they are definitely worth the search. If you find a Gatekeeper, befriend him or her as if your life depends on it—because, in one sense, it does. A Gatekeeper watches out for our best interest, often because he or she has already been down the road we’re about to take and knows the dangers we will face. If we want a victorious journey, we must take heed to their exhortations and encouragements.
A Gatekeeper of Eternal Beauty is a student of beauty, a lover of goodness, and a seeker of truth. A Gatekeeper is someone who sees beyond the façade of daily life, and even of a whole lifetime, to eternity, to heaven, to the Gospel, to ultimate reality—the way God sees things. A Gatekeeper is someone who understands that our preoccupation with eternity and the Gospel doesn’t just affect our future status in glory, but our daily life today as well. God has woven His story and His beauty into our daily lives, right here and now. Gatekeepers love life, not because their lives are perfect, but because their hearts know the One who put all the beauty into life, and they are blissfully overwhelmed by Him and by what He does in their lives.
A Gatekeeper is not only a pursuer of beauty, goodness, and truth, but is also a guardian, a sentry who makes sure that we do not lose touch with those issues which matter most. In a metaphorical, shepherding sense, they help us know which gates to enter and depart from, and they send us in the right direction.
Becoming a Gatekeeper happens to those whose worldviews are entrenched and wrapped up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This world is utterly dark until we understand and receive the forgiveness of God through Christ, who died in our place, as our Substitute on the Cross. That truth, the Gospel, is the cornerstone of all beauty in our lives. Sadly, few of us plumb its depths and its massive implications for the beauty that our lives can enjoy. Why? Because we do not understand how to take the truths we hear and read and reach to the depths of our worldview.
Reprogramming our worldview is not as easy as we may think. Changing our worldview is not about taking a class or reading a book. We can change our beliefs fairly easily, but not our worldviews. They are deeply hidden inside us, and though they get easily programmed when we are children, they get harder and harder to change as we grow up. In fact, it’s difficult to even identify them. A worldview is not what you think about; it’s simply what you think.
Very often our beliefs and our worldviews are polar opposites, even though we don’t necessarily realize it. For example, we can truly believe that life is beautiful, but have worldviews that “know” on a deeper level that life is sad and disappointing. Or we can truly believe that our bodies are good, because God made them, but on a worldview level we may hate our bodies. We can adhere to something in principle, but not really “buy it” internally. And in the contest of belief versus worldview, worldview always wins.
Gatekeepers are people who have deliberately asked God to push eternity into the depths of their thinking and to reprogram their worldview. In Romans 12, after Paul plumbed the depths of the Gospel, the very first way he applies that great theology is by exhorting us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. God wants our minds—our worldviews—renewed.
God takes such willing servants and grants them the desires of their hearts, which He Himself planted there. He shapes them into seasoned warriors, passionate poets, more prepared than ever to minister grace to those around them. He makes them better able to cry out to God in prayer than ever before. He gives them eyes to see the angels coming down from the mountain that no one else can see. He helps them see that He really does bring beauty from ashes.
As God transforms our worldviews, He puts into us a greater capacity for joy, and a deep gratitude for the good things in life that He grants us. But whether every dream of ours comes true or not, we find ourselves realizing more and more that life’s beauty does not come from God becoming our personal Genie Who grants all our wishes. We find that beauty is already all around us. Our eyes lose the scales that were over them, and we find our hearts welling up to the point of overflowing. We find ourselves smiling at everyone we meet, not because our lives are perfect, but because no matter what storm we may face, we have the settled conviction that God knows everything that is happening in our lives and has a plan for our good and His glory.
A heart set on fire with that worldview cannot help but want to cherish life and soak in the beauty all around us. The Gospel takes us to the point where we want to give and give and give, to be “wasted for Christ.” A heart set on fire for God knows how much it’s been chosen, forgiven, loved, wooed, cherished, and protected. Gatekeepers put all of life’s circumstances through that paradigm—that filter, that grid. As with all of life, any particular situation isn't just about that situation; it's about something much bigger. It’s about the Gospel and about ultimate reality, about how the circumstances of our lives reflect or explain God's character, His salvation plan, and heaven. There is a always massive theme going on behind the scenes, and though we can't see it yet, it's there.
If your heart is focused on God’s beauty, you will find that you will naturally surround yourself with Gatekeepers because those cherished moments in their company are what make life seem healthy, whole, and beautiful. You’ll find yourself asking them what they are reading, what they’ve been thinking about, what songs they’ve been singing, and what kind of art they’ve been enjoying or creating. You’ll find that you have conversations that you look back on with amazement. The cheap stuff of life—the gossip, the celebrities, the tv shows, the pursuit of more and more “stuff”—will show its true colors, and will sicken you. You won’t reject the cheap side of life because a preacher told you to, or because you read about it in a book; you will reject it because you really want to, and you will replace it with the true beauty—God’s beauty. Changing our worldviews is not about setting up a list of dos and don’ts; it’s about truly wanting to pursue God, from the heart.
Some of us might feel discouraged by these concepts because though we want that kind of life, we feel like it’s out of reach. If you don’t feel like much of a Gatekeeper, like you really want to be but can’t imagine how you’ll ever get there, take heart. Chances are you’re already on the path and don’t realize it. The key is not our perfection, but our direction. We don’t need to focus on where we think we should be or could be by now. We need to ask ourselves what makes our heart soar and what makes us feel like we are home. We need to ask ourselves what are the deepest desires of our hearts. If what you want most in life is to tell others about what God has done for them in Christ, and to glorify God with your life, and enjoy and share the beauty He’s given us in Himself and in His creation, then you are already well on the way to being a Gatekeeper. You’re already marching to the beat of a different drum than the world; keep marching. May we not grow weary.
In the New Testament, Paul personally taught Timothy how to be a pastor, and then exhorted Timothy to teach others, and for those others to teach others, too. Today, we also need these kinds of Gatekeepers, these friends and mentors who are further down the road of the Christian life than we are. They’ve seen the beauty of God, the Gospel, and eternity better than we have yet, so we spend time with them because we want to think their good thoughts after them, and follow their example. We mimic their hearts and lives so the eternal beauty that’s reflected in their lives gets imprinted onto our lives, too, so that we, too, can increasingly reflect that same beauty to others.
Gatekeepers are not easy to find. They are few and far between, but they are definitely worth the search. If you find a Gatekeeper, befriend him or her as if your life depends on it—because, in one sense, it does. A Gatekeeper watches out for our best interest, often because he or she has already been down the road we’re about to take and knows the dangers we will face. If we want a victorious journey, we must take heed to their exhortations and encouragements.
A Gatekeeper of Eternal Beauty is a student of beauty, a lover of goodness, and a seeker of truth. A Gatekeeper is someone who sees beyond the façade of daily life, and even of a whole lifetime, to eternity, to heaven, to the Gospel, to ultimate reality—the way God sees things. A Gatekeeper is someone who understands that our preoccupation with eternity and the Gospel doesn’t just affect our future status in glory, but our daily life today as well. God has woven His story and His beauty into our daily lives, right here and now. Gatekeepers love life, not because their lives are perfect, but because their hearts know the One who put all the beauty into life, and they are blissfully overwhelmed by Him and by what He does in their lives.
A Gatekeeper is not only a pursuer of beauty, goodness, and truth, but is also a guardian, a sentry who makes sure that we do not lose touch with those issues which matter most. In a metaphorical, shepherding sense, they help us know which gates to enter and depart from, and they send us in the right direction.
Becoming a Gatekeeper happens to those whose worldviews are entrenched and wrapped up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This world is utterly dark until we understand and receive the forgiveness of God through Christ, who died in our place, as our Substitute on the Cross. That truth, the Gospel, is the cornerstone of all beauty in our lives. Sadly, few of us plumb its depths and its massive implications for the beauty that our lives can enjoy. Why? Because we do not understand how to take the truths we hear and read and reach to the depths of our worldview.
Reprogramming our worldview is not as easy as we may think. Changing our worldview is not about taking a class or reading a book. We can change our beliefs fairly easily, but not our worldviews. They are deeply hidden inside us, and though they get easily programmed when we are children, they get harder and harder to change as we grow up. In fact, it’s difficult to even identify them. A worldview is not what you think about; it’s simply what you think.
Very often our beliefs and our worldviews are polar opposites, even though we don’t necessarily realize it. For example, we can truly believe that life is beautiful, but have worldviews that “know” on a deeper level that life is sad and disappointing. Or we can truly believe that our bodies are good, because God made them, but on a worldview level we may hate our bodies. We can adhere to something in principle, but not really “buy it” internally. And in the contest of belief versus worldview, worldview always wins.
Gatekeepers are people who have deliberately asked God to push eternity into the depths of their thinking and to reprogram their worldview. In Romans 12, after Paul plumbed the depths of the Gospel, the very first way he applies that great theology is by exhorting us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. God wants our minds—our worldviews—renewed.
God takes such willing servants and grants them the desires of their hearts, which He Himself planted there. He shapes them into seasoned warriors, passionate poets, more prepared than ever to minister grace to those around them. He makes them better able to cry out to God in prayer than ever before. He gives them eyes to see the angels coming down from the mountain that no one else can see. He helps them see that He really does bring beauty from ashes.
As God transforms our worldviews, He puts into us a greater capacity for joy, and a deep gratitude for the good things in life that He grants us. But whether every dream of ours comes true or not, we find ourselves realizing more and more that life’s beauty does not come from God becoming our personal Genie Who grants all our wishes. We find that beauty is already all around us. Our eyes lose the scales that were over them, and we find our hearts welling up to the point of overflowing. We find ourselves smiling at everyone we meet, not because our lives are perfect, but because no matter what storm we may face, we have the settled conviction that God knows everything that is happening in our lives and has a plan for our good and His glory.
A heart set on fire with that worldview cannot help but want to cherish life and soak in the beauty all around us. The Gospel takes us to the point where we want to give and give and give, to be “wasted for Christ.” A heart set on fire for God knows how much it’s been chosen, forgiven, loved, wooed, cherished, and protected. Gatekeepers put all of life’s circumstances through that paradigm—that filter, that grid. As with all of life, any particular situation isn't just about that situation; it's about something much bigger. It’s about the Gospel and about ultimate reality, about how the circumstances of our lives reflect or explain God's character, His salvation plan, and heaven. There is a always massive theme going on behind the scenes, and though we can't see it yet, it's there.
If your heart is focused on God’s beauty, you will find that you will naturally surround yourself with Gatekeepers because those cherished moments in their company are what make life seem healthy, whole, and beautiful. You’ll find yourself asking them what they are reading, what they’ve been thinking about, what songs they’ve been singing, and what kind of art they’ve been enjoying or creating. You’ll find that you have conversations that you look back on with amazement. The cheap stuff of life—the gossip, the celebrities, the tv shows, the pursuit of more and more “stuff”—will show its true colors, and will sicken you. You won’t reject the cheap side of life because a preacher told you to, or because you read about it in a book; you will reject it because you really want to, and you will replace it with the true beauty—God’s beauty. Changing our worldviews is not about setting up a list of dos and don’ts; it’s about truly wanting to pursue God, from the heart.
Some of us might feel discouraged by these concepts because though we want that kind of life, we feel like it’s out of reach. If you don’t feel like much of a Gatekeeper, like you really want to be but can’t imagine how you’ll ever get there, take heart. Chances are you’re already on the path and don’t realize it. The key is not our perfection, but our direction. We don’t need to focus on where we think we should be or could be by now. We need to ask ourselves what makes our heart soar and what makes us feel like we are home. We need to ask ourselves what are the deepest desires of our hearts. If what you want most in life is to tell others about what God has done for them in Christ, and to glorify God with your life, and enjoy and share the beauty He’s given us in Himself and in His creation, then you are already well on the way to being a Gatekeeper. You’re already marching to the beat of a different drum than the world; keep marching. May we not grow weary.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Divine Laughter
Do you ever think about God’s laughter and sense of humor? Divine humor is fun, colorful, occasionally harsh, always deserved, and not emulated by us nearly enough. If we want to be like Him, we might want to look at what puts a smile on His face and what makes Him laugh.
I imagine that God frequently laughs because of how much fun He has creating things. We all know the joy of little children with play-dough, and the fun things they create. Imagine how much fun God had at creation, and how much fun He still has sustaining His creation. No doubt He chuckled as He made the platypus and the giraffe, or when He decided to make elephants and first watched them trying to mate. He is the Master Artist, brilliant and creative to the extreme, yet mixed a sense of humor and a love of fun that we haven't even begun to understand. I am sure God laughs often, and has been doing so for all eternity. God isn’t a killjoy; He’s the author of joy.
The Bible teaches that God delights to give His children good things. We know how much a loving human father delights in the joy His children receive when opening up a gift, how he laughs and smiles at their innocent pleasure and fulfillment. He jokes with them, plays with them, gives them gifts, and delights to give them a safe, loving environment in which to enjoy themselves.
How much more does God do that? I can only imagine the laughter and smiles God enjoys when a person realizes his or her need for the Cross. Or when His children realize the joy of giving up their rights and dreams for the sake of ministering to others. Or when someone counts the cost of witnessing, and gets to see the faith spread to an unexpected proportion. Or when an engaged couple who are living for Him get to finally enjoy their wedding day and wedding night. Or when a baby is born, and the wonder and splendor of life takes that couple to new heights of love and joy. God delights to surprise His children good gifts, and no doubt He laughs when He sees how beautifully overwhelmed we are at His blessings.
In Genesis, God made Abraham wait until he and his wife were in their retirement years to make their bodies fertile. Abraham and Sarah didn’t deserve it, nor did they even believe it at first when God promised it to them. But when the baby was born, they knew God had been gracious to them, and they were filled with so much joy that they named their son “Laughter”.
Do we laugh enough? Do we let our sense of joy take over our hearts and faces often enough? Proverbs 31 says that it is a virtue to smile at the future. Are we willing to admit we're a little too concerned about the details of life’s myriad situations, both past, present, and future? We ultimately have no control over the path God gives us, yet God has said that He will make everything turn out for good because we love Him. Are we willing to take the adventure that He has for us, not with fretfulness or apprehension, but with courage, joy, and laughter?
You can tell by the time someone is an adult whether they have this mentality. Their smile is imprinted into their face muscles. They are positive and optimistic people, not because everything around them is going right, but because they know that God will do what is right and that He loves them very much.
God surely laughs often simply because of the joy of giving. That is a joy He wants us to share. He says in 2 Corinthians that He wants us to be extremely joyful givers, sharing what we have with those around us out of the overflow of our hearts. How could we not be joyful to give to His work when we see the big picture? I mean, really, think about it:
God thinks those who mock Him are so foolish that they deserve not just judgment, but sarcasm. Psalm 2 says that He laughs at them; He’s “amused at their presumption” and scoffs at them. He connects people’s sins in life with their judgment in eternity and shakes His head in wonder, saying, “Why are you so intent on dying? Are you really that foolish? Are you really that bull-headed that you will jump right off the cliff despite my warnings? Do you not see the irony of how much you act like you love yourself, yet you are actually, in view of eternity, proving that you hate yourself and a glutton for punishment?”
The Scriptures are full of sarcasm, from God’s speech to Job, to God’s mockery of the false gods of Egypt (through the plagues aimed directly at the power of those false gods), to the prophets’ speeches to the nation of Israel, to Christ’s sharp answers to religious hypocrites, to Paul’s blatant name-calling, to the ironies in the final judgment of Revelation.
We will be blown away in eternity at not just what happens there, but at the contrasts between:
When you add it all up, it’s clear that for many reasons, God laughs. Some reasons are glad, and some are sad. But it is ultimate reality: the divine sense of joy and the divine sense of humor has ample room for laughter of all kinds. If you can’t smile at the beauty of life, if you can’t laugh at life and even at yourself sometimes, if you can’t chuckle at the ironies of life and eternity, and if you can’t occasionally enjoy the same kind of sarcasm God does, then you’re missing out on some of the most obvious, colorful, and fun aspects of who God is. So make some jokes. Don’t be afraid of using a little sarcasm (God isn’t afraid to)! Laugh a little! Laugh a lot! God does, and so should we.
I imagine that God frequently laughs because of how much fun He has creating things. We all know the joy of little children with play-dough, and the fun things they create. Imagine how much fun God had at creation, and how much fun He still has sustaining His creation. No doubt He chuckled as He made the platypus and the giraffe, or when He decided to make elephants and first watched them trying to mate. He is the Master Artist, brilliant and creative to the extreme, yet mixed a sense of humor and a love of fun that we haven't even begun to understand. I am sure God laughs often, and has been doing so for all eternity. God isn’t a killjoy; He’s the author of joy.
The Bible teaches that God delights to give His children good things. We know how much a loving human father delights in the joy His children receive when opening up a gift, how he laughs and smiles at their innocent pleasure and fulfillment. He jokes with them, plays with them, gives them gifts, and delights to give them a safe, loving environment in which to enjoy themselves.
How much more does God do that? I can only imagine the laughter and smiles God enjoys when a person realizes his or her need for the Cross. Or when His children realize the joy of giving up their rights and dreams for the sake of ministering to others. Or when someone counts the cost of witnessing, and gets to see the faith spread to an unexpected proportion. Or when an engaged couple who are living for Him get to finally enjoy their wedding day and wedding night. Or when a baby is born, and the wonder and splendor of life takes that couple to new heights of love and joy. God delights to surprise His children good gifts, and no doubt He laughs when He sees how beautifully overwhelmed we are at His blessings.
In Genesis, God made Abraham wait until he and his wife were in their retirement years to make their bodies fertile. Abraham and Sarah didn’t deserve it, nor did they even believe it at first when God promised it to them. But when the baby was born, they knew God had been gracious to them, and they were filled with so much joy that they named their son “Laughter”.
Do we laugh enough? Do we let our sense of joy take over our hearts and faces often enough? Proverbs 31 says that it is a virtue to smile at the future. Are we willing to admit we're a little too concerned about the details of life’s myriad situations, both past, present, and future? We ultimately have no control over the path God gives us, yet God has said that He will make everything turn out for good because we love Him. Are we willing to take the adventure that He has for us, not with fretfulness or apprehension, but with courage, joy, and laughter?
You can tell by the time someone is an adult whether they have this mentality. Their smile is imprinted into their face muscles. They are positive and optimistic people, not because everything around them is going right, but because they know that God will do what is right and that He loves them very much.
God surely laughs often simply because of the joy of giving. That is a joy He wants us to share. He says in 2 Corinthians that He wants us to be extremely joyful givers, sharing what we have with those around us out of the overflow of our hearts. How could we not be joyful to give to His work when we see the big picture? I mean, really, think about it:
- We didn’t even deserve to be a part of God’s plan, to be declared righteous and made worthy. We were given grace upon grace upon grace, even when we didn’t know how desperately we needed it.
- The small sacrifices we make in life are nothing compared to the sacrifice God made for us at the Cross, and yet God chooses to praise us for our sacrifices and to say “Well done” when we’re just doing what servants should do anyway.
- Think of the investment return! What investment on this planet is going to give a one billion percent return or more? Yet the smallest things we do in life for God’s glory, like giving a cup of cold water to someone in need, reap benefits for all eternity.
- We’re not only reaping benefits for eternity, we’re reaping them now, because we know and believe that even our meager offerings—our two pennies or our few loaves and fishes—can be multiplied exponentially by God, right here and now. God does immensely beyond what we could ask or imagine.
- Whether we would see benefits here or in eternity or not, we know that the reason we’re giving at all is because we’ve been set free! We know the power and penalty of sin and the lies it told us when we were slaves to it, and the darkness of the prisons it put us in. And now we’re dancing in the light! We had broken lives, and He made us new. We were once beggars, but now we are free, and showing other beggars where to find the bread. If that is not enough to put joy in your heart and in your voice, nothing is!
God thinks those who mock Him are so foolish that they deserve not just judgment, but sarcasm. Psalm 2 says that He laughs at them; He’s “amused at their presumption” and scoffs at them. He connects people’s sins in life with their judgment in eternity and shakes His head in wonder, saying, “Why are you so intent on dying? Are you really that foolish? Are you really that bull-headed that you will jump right off the cliff despite my warnings? Do you not see the irony of how much you act like you love yourself, yet you are actually, in view of eternity, proving that you hate yourself and a glutton for punishment?”
The Scriptures are full of sarcasm, from God’s speech to Job, to God’s mockery of the false gods of Egypt (through the plagues aimed directly at the power of those false gods), to the prophets’ speeches to the nation of Israel, to Christ’s sharp answers to religious hypocrites, to Paul’s blatant name-calling, to the ironies in the final judgment of Revelation.
We will be blown away in eternity at not just what happens there, but at the contrasts between:
- What people did in life versus what they could have chosen
- The obviousness that we can’t get away with sin to the silliness of how much we tried to
- How much the afflicted will be comforted in eternity versus how much the afflicters will be discomforted
When you add it all up, it’s clear that for many reasons, God laughs. Some reasons are glad, and some are sad. But it is ultimate reality: the divine sense of joy and the divine sense of humor has ample room for laughter of all kinds. If you can’t smile at the beauty of life, if you can’t laugh at life and even at yourself sometimes, if you can’t chuckle at the ironies of life and eternity, and if you can’t occasionally enjoy the same kind of sarcasm God does, then you’re missing out on some of the most obvious, colorful, and fun aspects of who God is. So make some jokes. Don’t be afraid of using a little sarcasm (God isn’t afraid to)! Laugh a little! Laugh a lot! God does, and so should we.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
We are all called
Recently I’ve been thinking about the desperate needs around us, both locally and around the world. I recently heard a Christian talking about how he thought some people are called to the hard ministries, like ministering to those dying of starvation or those without the Bible in their language, and others are not called to that. He also admitted that he liked his comforts too much to even consider going. What he verbalized, I see lived out in the majority of Christians that I observe. Our greatest concerns appear to be what coffee shop our Bible study should meet at next and what Christian concert is coming to town next.
Many of us have recently seen a video online which reminded us of some facts which should spur us to think differently:
And what of getting the Bible and the Gospel message to the world? While we have hundreds of translations and versions in English, 2,393 language groups, comprised of 200 million people, have no Bible in their own language.
At what point do these facts become meaningful enough to us to make us go? Would those people in far-off places mean more to us if we were blood relations? If they lived across the street? Is it “out of sight, out of mind”? Because we don’t have to see their hollow hearts and dying bodies every day, we ignore them?
Would it make a difference if our positions were reversed? If we were the orphans, starving, dying of terrible diseases, and we had a chance to beg someone to come help us? If you were the poor, imprisoned, dying person in a far-off place, without hope, what would you say to someone in our culture, whose main goal is to live a “standard Christian life” in a clean-cut, comfortable, safe environment for the rest of his life? How would you get such a person to have enough compassion on you to believe he can make a difference, and to take steps to do so? How important would your rescue be to you if you were the one dying on the street, orphaned by disease or war, and with many questions about eternity but no answers at all in your language?
Our lives are not ours. We belong to Jesus Christ. We do not call the shots. Our all-consuming passion and mission is to be useful to the Master. He has the resources: what He needs are people who are willing to give up anything to heed the call He gives to all His followers.
Who will go for me? Whom can I send? Here I am, Lord; send me!
The call to follow Christ is a call to give up anything God asks us to—everything, if necessary—for the sake of ministering grace to others and sharing with them the Good News of the cross.
There is no second choice. There are not Christians who are called to serious ministry and those who are not. We are all called to find the darkness around us and shine the light of Christ. We start in our own homes, and go across the street, across the country, and across the world. No matter where we are, we have one uniting cause: people all around us are lost and dying without Christ, and we alone have the message of salvation.
While we are going about our lives, the most pressing needs deserve our greatest attention. A massive wound gets much more attention than a hangnail. Our missing a few meals here or there is not on the same level as the starvation killing thousands each day. And our comfort is not worthy to be compared to the suffering happening on our city streets and all around the world.
When and how did we become so callous that others’ desperate needs became so secondary to our comforts, so disconnected from our purpose in life? At what point did having a quiet, peaceable life, which God asks us to pray for, become equated with living in suburbia and focusing on which coffee shop to visit or which movie to see next?
God has not called us to mediocrity, self-centeredness, or complacency. He has called us to radical obedience and total commitment to reach out in love to the world. Discipleship means following Christ, and it has a cost which must be counted—but which is infinitely worth it.
Proverbs 24:11 says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” If it were you or I being led away to slaughter, we would be horrified to think that there were Christians in other countries who were praying for us on Sundays but whose primary thought all week long was about funding their retirement funds so they could take lots of vacations and keeping up on the latest sports scores. We would sit in wonder at the audacity of the contrast. We are a people who care enough to talk about it, yet feel no compulsion to go, as if it’s someone else’s problem and someone else’s call.
If parents were staring out their home’s front window, and saw their daughter being attacked, would they do something to stop it? Of course. What if they got a text message or call from their daughter across town? Of course. How about a state away? Still, yes. How about in another country? Still, yes; parents would do anything to rescue their beloved daughter.
What about a niece? How about a neighbor’s daughter? How about a stranger’s daughter? How far does the example have to be removed for us to justify letting it suddenly become someone else’s problem, and no longer urgent? How often does it have to be reported on the news before we just shrug our shoulders and forget about it? How many years of self-centeredness does it take for us to picture such suffering and just walk away so we can catch up on our Facebook updates before we watch our favorite reality show?
No parent would say, “That’s not my calling to rescue my daughter.” No one would think of it as a special gift or talent. No one would act like it is a difficult sacrifice to go help his or her daughter escape such a situation. It would be understood that it’s a parent’s responsibility, and a parent would be proud to go. It would be an honor and a privilege to sacrifice anything to rescue a daughter in need. Why is it somehow a massive sacrifice we’re unwilling to make when it’s someone else’s daughter? And why are we so short-sighted about the toll the sacrifice will make on our lives when Christ has said that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life"?
I will not allow this culture or even the Christian culture to callous me to the needs of the world. I am personally responsible, as all Christians are, to heed the call to reach out those with the most desperate needs. Book clubs and coffee houses and Superbowl parties are not wrong, but if that’s the sum and substance of our outreach, we have missed the boat.
Do we not understand the words? People are starving to death right now. Children are being sold into prostitution this very second. People are dying this instant in groups that still have no Bible.
How can we say this is anyone’s problem but ours—each and every one of ours? How can we turn a blind eye and focus our lives on anything else but those crying out with the deepest needs? If it were you or I, it would be an urgent matter. I will not let it become less than urgent simply because it is someone else’s problem and because it may cost me dearly to reach them. What cost could be too great to pay, especially in light of the great cost God paid--His own Son--to rescue us? If I were a father, I would ask others to be willing to pay any cost to rescue my children if I could not do so myself. It would eat me alive to watch my children be attacked or die of starvation or diseases. No cost is too great to rescue those who are perishing. No cost is too great in light of the cross.
I will not let my privileged status as someone who grew up in a safer, wealthier environment, to allow me to ignore the urgency of others’ plights. I will answer the call. As soon possible, I will go, and until I can go, I will help send others and pray for them, as well as for those to whom they are ministering. And as soon as I am able, I will answer the call that God issues to all of us.
Lord, send me!
Many of us have recently seen a video online which reminded us of some facts which should spur us to think differently:
- There are 13 million orphans around the world.
- 30,000 starve to death every day.
- In the last hour, 1,625 children were forced to live on the streets. 1,667 children died from malnutrition or diseases. 115 children became prostitutes. 257 children were orphaned because of AIDS.
- Half the world’s population live on less than $2 each day.
- There are approximately 100,000 missionaries working in the world today. About 3% work among the unreached.
And what of getting the Bible and the Gospel message to the world? While we have hundreds of translations and versions in English, 2,393 language groups, comprised of 200 million people, have no Bible in their own language.
At what point do these facts become meaningful enough to us to make us go? Would those people in far-off places mean more to us if we were blood relations? If they lived across the street? Is it “out of sight, out of mind”? Because we don’t have to see their hollow hearts and dying bodies every day, we ignore them?
Would it make a difference if our positions were reversed? If we were the orphans, starving, dying of terrible diseases, and we had a chance to beg someone to come help us? If you were the poor, imprisoned, dying person in a far-off place, without hope, what would you say to someone in our culture, whose main goal is to live a “standard Christian life” in a clean-cut, comfortable, safe environment for the rest of his life? How would you get such a person to have enough compassion on you to believe he can make a difference, and to take steps to do so? How important would your rescue be to you if you were the one dying on the street, orphaned by disease or war, and with many questions about eternity but no answers at all in your language?
Our lives are not ours. We belong to Jesus Christ. We do not call the shots. Our all-consuming passion and mission is to be useful to the Master. He has the resources: what He needs are people who are willing to give up anything to heed the call He gives to all His followers.
Who will go for me? Whom can I send? Here I am, Lord; send me!
The call to follow Christ is a call to give up anything God asks us to—everything, if necessary—for the sake of ministering grace to others and sharing with them the Good News of the cross.
There is no second choice. There are not Christians who are called to serious ministry and those who are not. We are all called to find the darkness around us and shine the light of Christ. We start in our own homes, and go across the street, across the country, and across the world. No matter where we are, we have one uniting cause: people all around us are lost and dying without Christ, and we alone have the message of salvation.
While we are going about our lives, the most pressing needs deserve our greatest attention. A massive wound gets much more attention than a hangnail. Our missing a few meals here or there is not on the same level as the starvation killing thousands each day. And our comfort is not worthy to be compared to the suffering happening on our city streets and all around the world.
When and how did we become so callous that others’ desperate needs became so secondary to our comforts, so disconnected from our purpose in life? At what point did having a quiet, peaceable life, which God asks us to pray for, become equated with living in suburbia and focusing on which coffee shop to visit or which movie to see next?
God has not called us to mediocrity, self-centeredness, or complacency. He has called us to radical obedience and total commitment to reach out in love to the world. Discipleship means following Christ, and it has a cost which must be counted—but which is infinitely worth it.
Proverbs 24:11 says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” If it were you or I being led away to slaughter, we would be horrified to think that there were Christians in other countries who were praying for us on Sundays but whose primary thought all week long was about funding their retirement funds so they could take lots of vacations and keeping up on the latest sports scores. We would sit in wonder at the audacity of the contrast. We are a people who care enough to talk about it, yet feel no compulsion to go, as if it’s someone else’s problem and someone else’s call.
If parents were staring out their home’s front window, and saw their daughter being attacked, would they do something to stop it? Of course. What if they got a text message or call from their daughter across town? Of course. How about a state away? Still, yes. How about in another country? Still, yes; parents would do anything to rescue their beloved daughter.
What about a niece? How about a neighbor’s daughter? How about a stranger’s daughter? How far does the example have to be removed for us to justify letting it suddenly become someone else’s problem, and no longer urgent? How often does it have to be reported on the news before we just shrug our shoulders and forget about it? How many years of self-centeredness does it take for us to picture such suffering and just walk away so we can catch up on our Facebook updates before we watch our favorite reality show?
No parent would say, “That’s not my calling to rescue my daughter.” No one would think of it as a special gift or talent. No one would act like it is a difficult sacrifice to go help his or her daughter escape such a situation. It would be understood that it’s a parent’s responsibility, and a parent would be proud to go. It would be an honor and a privilege to sacrifice anything to rescue a daughter in need. Why is it somehow a massive sacrifice we’re unwilling to make when it’s someone else’s daughter? And why are we so short-sighted about the toll the sacrifice will make on our lives when Christ has said that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life"?
I will not allow this culture or even the Christian culture to callous me to the needs of the world. I am personally responsible, as all Christians are, to heed the call to reach out those with the most desperate needs. Book clubs and coffee houses and Superbowl parties are not wrong, but if that’s the sum and substance of our outreach, we have missed the boat.
Do we not understand the words? People are starving to death right now. Children are being sold into prostitution this very second. People are dying this instant in groups that still have no Bible.
How can we say this is anyone’s problem but ours—each and every one of ours? How can we turn a blind eye and focus our lives on anything else but those crying out with the deepest needs? If it were you or I, it would be an urgent matter. I will not let it become less than urgent simply because it is someone else’s problem and because it may cost me dearly to reach them. What cost could be too great to pay, especially in light of the great cost God paid--His own Son--to rescue us? If I were a father, I would ask others to be willing to pay any cost to rescue my children if I could not do so myself. It would eat me alive to watch my children be attacked or die of starvation or diseases. No cost is too great to rescue those who are perishing. No cost is too great in light of the cross.
I will not let my privileged status as someone who grew up in a safer, wealthier environment, to allow me to ignore the urgency of others’ plights. I will answer the call. As soon possible, I will go, and until I can go, I will help send others and pray for them, as well as for those to whom they are ministering. And as soon as I am able, I will answer the call that God issues to all of us.
Lord, send me!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
To sit in His presence
What a blessing to simply sit in His presence and be still, to push out the noise of the world and listen to the Holy Spirit instead. I've always loved turning out all the lights and sitting on the floor with lit candles spread out around me, enough for me to be able to read Scripture. We quiet our hearts before Him, and sing songs to Him.
We ask Him to teach us. We learn that prayer is not as much about talking to God, but learning to listen; not as much about presenting our desires before Him, but aligning our desires with His will and the wisdom of His plan. We learn to stop striving, as if our plans, anxieties, and concerns were really all that they seem to be at first glance.
We look deeper, and find God leading us to quiet waters, teaching us to trust Him, to be patient, and to let Him give and take away as He sees fit. We learn obedience through suffering, and in quiet contemplation, we learn to see that suffering as infinitely worth it.
We begin to see the needs of the world as we imagine others all over the planet sitting around a campfire, or maybe by candlelight, as we are, asking God for food or security, or perhaps simply crying tears of grief to Him. And we see God crying tears over them, too, so we learn to cry tears for others as well. And we begin to beg Him to use us to wash their feet and carry their burdens.
We quiet our hearts and let eternity resonate into our thoughts. We focus on the Cross and see that it is so much more important than we act like it is in our daily lives. We cry out for transcendence.
We focus on our sin, and see that it is so much more horrifying than we will admit; our sin begins to truly disgust us, as it disgusts God. We begin to beg the Lord to deliver us from the hell of our own selfishness. We ask God to "make us holy, whatever it takes."
We listen, and discover that we need to listen better, and more often. We learn to put our hands over our mouths, and simply become students--disciples--of Christ. We ask for the way of wisdom, admitting that our own way has failed us. We ask for humility, so we might see ourselves correctly.
We ask for insight, so we might think clearly and translate our beliefs into a fortified worldview. We ask for a vision, to see God move us where He would have us go. We ask for openness, so that we will be truly willing and eager to obey His will. We ask for open doors, because we long to show the other beggars where we, who were once beggars ourselves, have found the bread.
We ask for protection, so that our faith would be strong. We ask for increasing intimacy with our loving Creator, that we might embrace what existence is ultimately all about. And we ask for the increasing ability to rest ourselves in Him, so that we might come back to these times of refreshing over and over again, for our delight, His glory, and simply because we truly long to be near Him, and to offer our gratitude to Him for the great things He has done.
We ask Him to teach us. We learn that prayer is not as much about talking to God, but learning to listen; not as much about presenting our desires before Him, but aligning our desires with His will and the wisdom of His plan. We learn to stop striving, as if our plans, anxieties, and concerns were really all that they seem to be at first glance.
We look deeper, and find God leading us to quiet waters, teaching us to trust Him, to be patient, and to let Him give and take away as He sees fit. We learn obedience through suffering, and in quiet contemplation, we learn to see that suffering as infinitely worth it.
We begin to see the needs of the world as we imagine others all over the planet sitting around a campfire, or maybe by candlelight, as we are, asking God for food or security, or perhaps simply crying tears of grief to Him. And we see God crying tears over them, too, so we learn to cry tears for others as well. And we begin to beg Him to use us to wash their feet and carry their burdens.
We quiet our hearts and let eternity resonate into our thoughts. We focus on the Cross and see that it is so much more important than we act like it is in our daily lives. We cry out for transcendence.
We focus on our sin, and see that it is so much more horrifying than we will admit; our sin begins to truly disgust us, as it disgusts God. We begin to beg the Lord to deliver us from the hell of our own selfishness. We ask God to "make us holy, whatever it takes."
We listen, and discover that we need to listen better, and more often. We learn to put our hands over our mouths, and simply become students--disciples--of Christ. We ask for the way of wisdom, admitting that our own way has failed us. We ask for humility, so we might see ourselves correctly.
We ask for insight, so we might think clearly and translate our beliefs into a fortified worldview. We ask for a vision, to see God move us where He would have us go. We ask for openness, so that we will be truly willing and eager to obey His will. We ask for open doors, because we long to show the other beggars where we, who were once beggars ourselves, have found the bread.
We ask for protection, so that our faith would be strong. We ask for increasing intimacy with our loving Creator, that we might embrace what existence is ultimately all about. And we ask for the increasing ability to rest ourselves in Him, so that we might come back to these times of refreshing over and over again, for our delight, His glory, and simply because we truly long to be near Him, and to offer our gratitude to Him for the great things He has done.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
It's all in your mind
The most important struggles of our lives take place in our minds. Sin or holiness, disbelief or faith, fear or trust, mediocrity or commitment, all start in the mind. That's why, in the book of Romans, after 11 glorious chapters about the glory of the salvation God has accomplished for us, the first words out of Paul's mouth are "present your bodies as a reasoned [Grk: logikos, "of the mind"] sacrifice and be transformed by the renewing of your mind." That is why he also says to "take every thought captive to Christ."
It's all about worldview. What you think is what you are. What you think determines your attitudes, your actions, your character, your choices, your legacy, and your eternity. Ideas have eternal consequences. Take your mind captive. Train yourself to think God's thoughts after Him. Have the mind of Christ.
It's all about worldview. What you think is what you are. What you think determines your attitudes, your actions, your character, your choices, your legacy, and your eternity. Ideas have eternal consequences. Take your mind captive. Train yourself to think God's thoughts after Him. Have the mind of Christ.
Friday, August 14, 2009
The power of a smile
I'm repeatedly amazed at the power of a smile. Over and over at work, at the park, at the mall, anywhere I go, I see downcast faces, and all it takes is eye contact and a smile, and the smiles become contagious. If God has redeemed you, let it show on the outside. There is a world of hurting hearts all around us. Start with a smile, and see where God takes it. Let others know there is hope, and there is joy, despite the shadowlands.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The beauty
Embrace the beauty. Pursue it, revel in it, and dive into it with all your heart. God has woven beauty and majesty everywhere. Even in the darkest hours, there is abundant reason to stand in awe of God, in amazement at what He has created, and in gratitude for what He has done and what He is still doing. Drink deeply from the fountain of delights. Open your eyes; it is perfect sunrises and sunsets every day; there is sunshine everywhere. God delights to give His children good, beautiful gifts. God cannot but bless His Son's beloved Bride.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
A new song
Over the last six months, it seems like I've been constantly singing. Whether I'm in the car, in the shower, at the park, and even at work (as a low-level hum), the Lord has put an overwhelming desire to sing in my heart to Him and because of Him. It's such a delight to see His joy coming out spontaneously, almost all the time. And it is such a privilege to be able to sing together with other believers at church and in their homes.
We are here to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and that joy, that delight, can't help but come out of our mouths. The overflow of our gratitude for our salvation is testimony that we are redeemed, and that we dance and sing, literally or figuratively, at all times, before the Lord. Praise God for lifting our hearts off of the world, ourselves, sin, and sorrow, onto the bigger picture, onto the Cross, onto glory, and onto His love and grace.
We are here to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and that joy, that delight, can't help but come out of our mouths. The overflow of our gratitude for our salvation is testimony that we are redeemed, and that we dance and sing, literally or figuratively, at all times, before the Lord. Praise God for lifting our hearts off of the world, ourselves, sin, and sorrow, onto the bigger picture, onto the Cross, onto glory, and onto His love and grace.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Embrace the paradoxes
Embrace the paradoxes. There is beauty beyond comprehension in the mysteries, in not knowing all the answers, yet belonging to the One who does, and in being a child with endless questions but belonging to the faithful Father. Question for a short time, but do not let the questions hold you back from wonder, amazement, and worship. Fall on your knees and stare, and laugh. Stand confidently, and dance, and walk without fear, whether God answers your questions or not.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The power of God's Word
This past year I've been reading more of the Bible than I used to. It's been refreshing and renewing to dive deeper and deeper into the Word, and to be saturated with daily reminders of God's love and grace.
I just finished reading through The Message, which I highly recommend. It felt really different at first, but before long I found myself really enjoying that difference.
There are so many good things to read, but there's no substitute for simply spending time with the Lord and His love letter to us. Some days it's hard to carve out time because of our busy schedules, but it's worth it. God's Word grounds us in eternal truths and refocuses us for the path He asks us to walk, with His light to guide the way.
I just finished reading through The Message, which I highly recommend. It felt really different at first, but before long I found myself really enjoying that difference.
There are so many good things to read, but there's no substitute for simply spending time with the Lord and His love letter to us. Some days it's hard to carve out time because of our busy schedules, but it's worth it. God's Word grounds us in eternal truths and refocuses us for the path He asks us to walk, with His light to guide the way.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Hospitality, service, and encouragement
Over the past few weeks, God has overwhelmingly opened up doors for me to reach out to those in need and to show hospitality to people who were discouraged. People who had a loved one die, people facing fearful surgeries, people needing home-cooked meals or a freshly-baked loaf of bread, even people stuck on the side of the road where their car stopped in a dangerous place at night, were all somehow put on my path recently by the Lord.
A few months ago I prayed sincerely for the Lord to provide opportunities for me to share what I have, or to touch others' lives in some way, to really bless others, as God has blessed me. It has been amazing to see Him provide those opportunities, and, as always, in blessing others, we get more than blessed ourselves.
It's been such a delight and encouragement to my soul to see God using us, feeble instruments though we are, to help others, to help them stand when they are weak, and to let those who are suffering know they are not alone.
Praise God for comforting us, so we, in turn, can comfort others.
A few months ago I prayed sincerely for the Lord to provide opportunities for me to share what I have, or to touch others' lives in some way, to really bless others, as God has blessed me. It has been amazing to see Him provide those opportunities, and, as always, in blessing others, we get more than blessed ourselves.
It's been such a delight and encouragement to my soul to see God using us, feeble instruments though we are, to help others, to help them stand when they are weak, and to let those who are suffering know they are not alone.
Praise God for comforting us, so we, in turn, can comfort others.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Disciplining our disappointments
Tonight I heard someone speak about the concept of disciplining our disappointments so that they do not get the better of us, but instead become launching points for good choices and a better future. As a Christian, I do think that we should be embracing that mentality, given that all our failures were nailed to the Cross, that the Lord has a plan for our good, that He will even turn what has been bad into good, and because we already know that ultimately, everything will turn to glory since we are now children of God. We are blessed to be able to bring the optimism of God to our disappointments.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Been thinking about patience
I've been thinking a lot recently about patience and how easily we get impatient. What makes us most impatient? Having to wait for God to bring about something we think we need, want, or deserve? Frustration that our timetables aren't being met by God? Sadness that we have to go through situations we'd rather avoid? Putting off our dreams, sometimes for a long time?
God does not make us wait for no reason. And when we circumvent His work, when we force our life situations to move in directions we want them to go, without His obvious blessing, we give up the very best that He would have for us, even if that best might cause us great pain at present. John Newton once said that “Everything is necessary that he sends. Nothing can be necessary that he withholds.”
Let's rather have God's will in His timing, than have our dreams now. Let's rather be patient and be teachable, than have our way but miss out on something He wants to teach us. Let's not sacrifice the best for anything less.
God does not make us wait for no reason. And when we circumvent His work, when we force our life situations to move in directions we want them to go, without His obvious blessing, we give up the very best that He would have for us, even if that best might cause us great pain at present. John Newton once said that “Everything is necessary that he sends. Nothing can be necessary that he withholds.”
Let's rather have God's will in His timing, than have our dreams now. Let's rather be patient and be teachable, than have our way but miss out on something He wants to teach us. Let's not sacrifice the best for anything less.
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