Lay your weapons down

What does it look like to fight in a battle that’s already won? This thought has been bustling around in my mind recently, and I'd like to try to unpack it in a specific way, if you don't mind. Feel free to join me. 

In this battle, we do have a real Enemy, but I think we as Christians have the tendency to confuse the Enemy with those that we are trying to love and see reconciled to God. We have the tendency to direct our fighting against people or groups or ideologies, creating this culture of separation between us and other people who are made in the image of God. Maybe instead of fighting, instead of creating the dichotomy of “us vs. them”, maybe we can come to nonbelievers with a white flag of humility, understanding that we are all fighting on the same field. Maybe we can beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks and turn the battle field into a garden, working to create something beautiful on this journey we are on together. Maybe instead of creating more and more separation with nonbelievers, we can work to identify with them, coming alongside them where they are in love and grace—the same love and grace that we have been shown where we do not deserve it.

As the Church, we need to emulate our Lord, with His outstretched hands on the cross, inviting in the enemy (you and me!—see Romans 5:8) to share in His Kingdom, His love, and yes, even His sufferings. We also need to obey His command for us to “Go out.” We go with confidence, knowing that our Lord has already won the victory. We go with humility, knowing that we were nothing before He saved us, knowing but not knowing this Mystery that dwells within us, working through our weakness. And so a new paradox of our ministry is created. We are ever going out while ever inviting in. We are to be ever inviting people into the heart of the Church while ever working to expand the heart of the Church to the fringes, the outer margins of society and faith.

It’s this concept of working to identify with people in order to bring them to reconciliation with God that fascinates me. Because that’s exactly what Jesus did. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” Even to ones who don’t believe in Him, Jesus identified with them when He cried out on the cross, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “Let the atheists themselves choose a god. They will find only one divinity who ever uttered their isolation; only one religion in which God seemed for an instant to be an atheist.” In this in another lesson for us: in our moments of doubt and uncertainty, we need to cherish those painful times and use them to identify with nonbelievers.

Identification towards salvation—this is what Jesus is all about. This is what Christianity should be all about. We can’t be their savior, but in humility we point them to the only One who can save them. You can’t love someone like this while attacking them and considering them an “enemy.” We are called to be separated from this world, but we need to be careful not to become separated from people, which is exactly opposite of our mission here. 

How does this actually happen in real life? I have no idea, but I pray that we trust the Holy Spirit to work Jesus’ incarnational ministry through us for His glory. So lay your weapons down. Begin to see your “enemies” as brothers and sisters, and beautiful things can happen.

Love can only lead to poverty

At a time when spiritual leaders were teaching believers to collect, count, and carefully record their good deeds, [St. Therese de Lisieux] firmly rejected that sort of accounting: I count nothing. I simply do everything out of love--and if I then stand empty-handed and utterly poor in the ranks of those who collected, counted, and recorded their merits, isn't that, after all, the poverty that Christ speaks about in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the poor?

-Tomas Halik, Patience with God: The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing in Us, pg. 33

A Conviction

In the Gospel of Luke the Greatest Commandments are given, not by Jesus, but by a teacher of the law who desired assurance of the way to eternal life. His answer,

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

is affirmed by Jesus as the way to eternal life. But even with this affirmation, the lawyer wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus then launched into the parable of the Good Samaritan:

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he out two denarii, gave them to the inkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." 

Although these two sections of the same passages (the Greatest Commandments and the Good Samaritan story) are well known, we tend to read them separately. But here we have Jesus, giving us a definition of what it means to be a neighbor to someone, right after affirming that loving our neighbor is one of the greatest commandments that will lead us into eternal life. The two parts of the passage should not be separated.

But I think it's pretty incredible that here, Jesus explains in detail how to really live out what He is teaching. I can't think of any other place where He really does that. So, in other words, pay attention. Greatest commandment --> specific application. Got it?

The reason that this has been on my heart recently is because of this application to my life. In the past year or two, the Lord has really given me a heart to love those who are loveless, those that are on the fringes of society, those that the rest of the world tends to pass by on the other side of the road. Not that I'm super good at it now (I'm not), but it's just been weighing on my heart more and more how crucial it is for the life of a Christian to live like this, to "Go and do likewise." Not only for the sake of just doing good things, but for the sake of seeing the image of God in the Undesireables of this world. For knowing God's heart for those who no one else cares about. For allowing God to use us to be His hands and feet, which can be as much of a benefit to us as to those we are helping. For knowing that every human being needs to know the love of Jesus Christ, in whatever form it may take.

Last week I made a vow with the Lord, one which I'm not quite sure how to keep yet, but that won't keep me from trying. I told the Lord that I will never intentionally avoid eye contact with a homeless person or someone whose presence makes me uncomfortable. I will try to never miss an opportunity to buy a hungry person a meal and have a conversation with them and try to befriend them. I will do whatever I can, no matter how small of a gesture, to help someone and show them the love of Jesus Christ.

It's been difficult at times, especially when all someone wants from you is cash, which you should never give to a homeless person. But still, I think just making the effort to see them as a real person with real needs, regardless of whether they are telling you the truth or not, has to count for something. I have faith in the love of Jesus Christ to have power in people's lives, whether I see the effects or not. 

In God's Kingdom, there are no social boundaries. God has called us to love all people, regardless of race, class, gender, or hygiene. And people need to know that love. They need to know that they are accepted in the eyes of the Lord, and thus in ours as well. And we need to know that they are real people with real stories and real hurts that need healing. 

Refuse to let social boundaries contain the love of God. Refuse to allow your discomfort to contain the love of God. Allow God's love to work through you to love the unlovable, comfort the uncomfortable, bring hope to the hopeless, and bring the light of God's Kingdom to this world.

Amen. 

Psalm 27:1

"The LORD is my light and my salvation;
     whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
     of whom shall I be afraid?"
Psalm 27:1

This verse has been my anthem the past week or so. It began when a brother told me that during a time of prayer over me, this was the psalm that came to his mind for me. I've been meditating and praying on it since then, and the impact of what it means still hasn't fully been revealed to me yet, I don't think. But I pray you are  blessed by this meditation, as I have been.

The LORD is my light.
What is light? It is a wave and a particle (somehow), and it is a force, not opposite of darkness, but one that chases away all darkness. Because darkness is not a separate force opposite of light, but rather it is the absence of light. Where a light shines, no darkness can remain within the reach of that light (see John 1:5). For the LORD to be our light, it means that He is the one who illumines our lives and chases away the darkness. There can be no darkness where the light of the LORD is shining. There can be no falsehood where Truth is king. There can be no depression where Joy is master. There can be no hate where Love reigns.
      LORD, be my light. Be the One that illumines my path and my life. Be the light that chases away the darkness in me. Let Your light shine through me, to bring the light of Your truth to a dark world. 


The LORD is my salvation.
How easy it is for us to say this and take it for granted, or to not even grasp the fullness of what it means. The LORD is salvation to the lost, wholeness to the broken, healing for the sick, joy for the downtrodden. The LORD has paid the debt owed on us, brought us out of our exile into His freedom, cleansed us from all our sins and brought us into the glory of His Kingdom. Nothing can compare to the greatness of the salvation that we have through Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! What a Savior! My words cannot even begin to do it justice. All the books in the world could not hold enough praise, and the extent of our language is frustratingly limited to express the greatness of our salvation.
LORD, be my salvation, now and forever. Daily your mercy restores me to Your will and keeps me dwelling in Your presence. You are my rescue, my salvation, the hope of my glory. Use me to bring the news of your great Salvation to the world. 


The LORD is the stronghold of my life.
A stronghold is a place you can go to be safe. The alternate word used in the Scripture is "refuge." A haven. A sanctuary. A place of rest and security. A place like home. A place that is a solid rock upon which to stand amidst a sea of chaos. A fortress of peace in the midst of a war surrounding you. When all around is bearing down on you with demands, persecutions, criticisms, stress, conflict, hatred--the LORD is a refuge. He is a stronghold whose walls of protection nothing can penetrate. Run to Him and let Him receive you in love. The stronghold of the LORD is a place where you know you can trust Him to protect. It is a place where you know you are safe. It is a place where you know you are loved.
LORD, be the stronghold of my life, the refuge of protection that I run to when I am troubled. In the good time and bad, You are constant, and You never change as a source of love and goodness and protection from all evil. Let the peace of Your refuge be shown in my life, that others may know the power of Your love. 


With the LORD, there is no fear. His perfect love casts out all fear. With the knowledge of His great salvation, living in His all-pervading Light, secure in the comfort of His refuge, there is nothing that can come against us. If our God is for us, who can be against us? Know the goodness of the LORD, His goodness that is for you. Meditate on His light, His salvation, and His stronghold and what these can really mean for you in your day to day life. And be blessed by the Lord of all the universe, Who loves you more than you can imagine, and desires to be known and loved by you.

Amen, and glory be to our God forever and ever!

Side-Effects of a New Creation

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view (according to the flesh); even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"

                                                     2 Corinthians 5:16-17

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 2:20

These two oft-quoted Scriptures in our modern Christianese are also two of the most ignored. It's really easy to quote Scripture that can inspire us and make us feel good, but when it comes down to looking at what these really mean for our lives, it's easy to look only as far as we're comfortable. 

The Lord has been hitting me over the head with this the past couple weeks. I came into this year fully expecting that it would change my life. Recently I realized that my prayer for God to change me was really more like "Lord, change me, but only in the ways I want to change." I want to grow spiritually and in my maturity, but only in ways that conform to my plan for my life. Really, I don't want to be single anymore, I don't want to give up my things, I don't want God to mess up my plans. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

Do we really realize that we are, in fact, a new creation? Do we really know that the old "us" has passed away, and we are being made new in the name of Jesus Christ? Have we really crucified our old lives to be in conformity with Jesus?

That's the unfortunate side-effect of being a new creation: that newness requires change, discipleship requires a cost, and crucifixion requires dying to self. 

But it's this radical change that Christ calls us to, and it is for this purpose that He came. This is the purpose of God for you--to make you a new creation. But first you must die. 

"Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." 

John 12:24-25

We need to stop getting in the way of allowing God to bear fruit with our lives. What are you holding back? What part of your old life are you holding onto? In this life, with this faith, it is not about you. It is about a God Who is bigger than you can possibly imagine, Whose love goes farther than you can comprehend, Whose greatness we can never even put into words, Whose glory lights up the whole universe! This God is your salvation, and you owe him everything. 

If you're reading this, please don't just read and nod your head and say "Amen, brother." Please take time to examine your own life and ask the Lord what He wants from you. What are you holding onto that is keeping you from the Lord? If your automatic answer is "Nothing," then search deeper. And then search again. This is the most important thing you can do with you life--do you really understand that, at your core? 

This is stuff I'm just re-learning and trying to apply to my own life again, and I feel the Lord calling me to share it. This is the Gospel that He wants us to preach. This is Good News.