God’s Will

I’ve been exchanging some ideas with a friend of mine regarding God’s will.  Not God’s sovereign will but his personal will for individuals. Something that I don’t think has validity in scripture and has been a piece of propaganda served to the Christian community through such organizations as Campus Crusade for Christ and their “Four Spiritual Laws.”  Law number one…”God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”

“God loves you” is true. He loves me as well. It may not be equally true that God “has a wonderful plan for your life.” He indeed has a plan, but it may not be a plan much further or more detailed than your responsibility and role within the Christian community to reflect the character of Christ and the righteousness of God.

What God does through individuals, whether patriarchs, prophets, or apostles is most often done for the sake of the community, not the individual. Everything expected of the individual is designed to strengthen or support the body. Even the fruit of the Spirit is a reflection of ones role in the community. There is no love unless it is in relationship. There is no peace unless it is within the body proper. There is no joy unless it finds its expression in the community (Gal 5:22).  When we understand this, it frees us to move from this what’s-in-it-for-me mentality as reflected in gift assessments and the concept of a personal, individual divine plans, and move to our proper role in the community and how the body fits together in harmony for the glory of God (1Cor 12-14).

Now it’s true that some are called to specific tasks and roles within the church or community of believers. But that role is for the building up of the body not the self aggrandizement of the individual called to that role. Paul ran in to those kind of folks in the church at Galatia – the so called super apostles.  Paul also speaks to this issue in his letter to the Philippians when he encourages them to “…determine what is best so that in the day of Christ  you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God”  Ph1:9-11. There is nothing about a personal will of God other than that of producing a right character for the glory and praise of God. That’s what all of us are called to – always.

It is comforting to many to think that God has a specific plan for their life. Specific in terms of job, spouse, career, etc. But that may simply be  so much fabrication. God wants us to develop a character that reflects Christ and a righteousness that glorifies him.  Can that be done within a career? Yes.  Any career? No – there are not many thieves that reflect the Character of Christ.  But an honorable career in most venues can be glorifying to God.

If we look at the ministry of Christ, he seems not to espouse the concept of an individual will for people other than their status as one of the elect or their role within his ministry. Precious few found the hand of the Master summoning them to a will/plan like that of James, John, Zacheaus, or the like. Even Legion had only one responsibility – go and tell all the wonderful things Christ had done for him.   That too is the role of every believer. That is their base gift, their personal responsibility, the plan of God for them above all else.

I’m open to the idea that “God….has a wonderful plan” for my life. I simply don’t see it as justifiable in scripture. It may be a way to move people off the dime and into service. It may be a way to keep people active in a church, it may even sell a lot of books but it is a concept that we should out grow and replace with the intent of God as outlined in scripture: Love the LORD thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all  your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor has yourself. If we can do that we are well on the way to understanding God’s will for our life.

Engaged – Not all it’s cracked up to be!

I’m heading full speed ahead toward the big 6 0 and this is one of the few times in my life when I’ve tried to be engaged in government affairs and how the action of the federal government shapes personal lives and history in general.  Quite frankly, I don’t like it.  Yes, I’ve voted regularly in national elections in the past, not so much in local elections. However, much of the time I was voting against someone or something instead of voting for someone or something. That’s never good.  And yes, I would suspect folks would label me as a conservative.

What concerns me about engagement is what you learn. You learn there are different standards for those in Washington DC and the rest of the world. You learn that politicians, in general, really don’t listen to their constituents unless it happens to be an election year. You learn that it’s all about control. If a particular party controls a branch of government then the country plays by their rules.  In this particular time, we are learning that the rules are more than partisan, they are down right in-your-face, personal, and often vindictive. For example, the current administrations attack on the FOX News Network.  What has Fox done to deserve this dubious target?  From what I have observed, whether it is opinion pieces or hard news, they have attempted to present the facts as they find them or as they are fed them from Washington. Then they make an effort to verify the “facts.”  If that is offensive to the White House, then perhaps they should counter with facts not attacks.

I’ve also learned over the years that being engaged in local congregations can bring it’s own issues. I suspect that is why I find it hard to be comfortable or find a place where we feel comfortable in worship and Bible study.  Some of the problem is a result of my getting-off-the-couch spiritually and thinking for myself when I read scripture and attempt to extract its meaning. I’m not content to have someone tell me what to believe, I want to learn it for myself and decide the merits of certain political issues.  For example, when we were attending a PCA church and taking a doctrine class. I wanted to be engaged in dialogue about the issues presented, not simply acquiesce to what was being taught. That proved uncomfortable for many, including myself, and often bordered on confrontational.  However, the seeds planted there have caused me to read scripture with a more critical eye when it comes to Calvinistic tendencies and the merit of such a theology.  Which in turn has fostered an examination of long held beliefs that, on occasion, must be abandoned.  That’s uncomfortable but refreshing in its own way.

I’m reading the Book of Daniel now. It’s one of the most challenging books in Scripture because of its supposed apocalyptic tendencies and it’s extended prophecy. Naturally, commentators of all sorts have opinions about the sitz in leben for the book and whether or not it foretells the exact year of the coming of the Messiah and what the end times will be like. This makes for interesting reading however I’m not certain those positions are always correct. Twenty years ago I would have swallowed it all hook line and sinker, but now I’m a bit more skeptical about what I read and whether it not it meshes appropriately with that the evidence shows.  Of course, in certain settings and with certain people, if you offer differing opinions it is seldom accepted and one is often isolated as not being in step with the teachings of scripture.  So much for being engaged.

I like engagement…even with its baggage. No, it is not all it’s cracked up to be – it can leave you scratching your head wondering “Why don’t they see that?”

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Recently my Mom was visiting with us and it was pure torture for my wife. Not because she does not love my Mom, she does dearly. But between my Mom and I we were driving her nuts with “ugh?”, “What did you say?”, “I didn’t hear you.”  Apparently, my mom’s hearing is getting as bad as mine and we were pushing my wife to the edge.

I’ve had poor hearing for several years and gone through at least three sets of hearing aids. Yes, the hearing aids improved my hearing, but they drove me crazy with the itching and repeat ear infections so I stopped wearing them. Consequently my wife puts up with having to constantly repeat herself, I miss bits of conversations with friends, and I must ask my co-workers to repeat themselves once, twice, or three times before I understand what they are saying. Not a good thing for sure.

Right now I have my hearing aids in. I hear the keys on my keyboard, the whirl of the hard drive, things I don’t normally hear. There are a great many other things I don’t normally hear without my hearing aids. You could expect the normal things like kids playing in the yard next door and birds chirpping. But there are everyday sounds that many of us don’t really process until we can’t hear them. For example;  the shuffle of my feet on the carpet, the rustle of unwrapping a Pop-Tart, the splash of pee in the toilet, wind rustling past your ears, the fridge running or the soft sound of your spouse breathing as she sleeps next to you and more. In fact, for me, with my hearing aids in the world is a very noisy place.  Sounds that are commonplace for regular hearing folks have become a distraction to me.

There is a spiritual side to this as well. I don’t hear God as well as I used to either. It’s not because I don’t listen, it’s because I don’t always hear. Or if I do hear, I don’t always like what I hear. It can be a distraction from my routine and so I tune it out.

Jesus was asked by one of the scribes in Mark 12:28, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered with the Jewish Shema from Deut. 6:4, “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” 

The emphasis in this phrase is not so much the love or the heart, soul, mind or strength. The key to this verse is shema – “listen” or “hear”. Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord in the garden, God heard Israel’s cry of oppression under Pharoah’s thumb. David cries out to God, “hear my prayer O God.”  If we do not hear or will not listen, we miss  what God is attempting to say to us. Naturally, God speaks today through his word – that involves reading. But if we do not hear the words or listen to the instruction we are simply doing the exercise of flipping pages.

Just like sounds I’ve forgotten, my heart and mind often fails to hear the words of scripture. I miss the intimacy of prayer because I speak and seldom listen.  Perhaps it is time to put my spiritual hearing aids on and become tuned in  to the sounds of God’s presence, the power of his word, and the joy of his salvation.

Prayer and Sin

During our recent Sunday morning service, the pastor – as many pastors do – decided to preach on something different from what he had planned. In other words, his series on Job was being interrupted because he felt God leading him to speak about other things.  That’s all well and good and I appreciate a man’s candor about that. Although I suspect that God lead him to do the series on Job, so why God would change his mind in order to change the pastor’s mind is befuddling – nevertheless.

Apparently, what prompted the change was a realization that the pastor had been praying for the wrong things. That in some regard his prayers were self direct and somewhat selfish (anyone identify with that?).  Now it is not unusual for all of us to pray wrongly at times. We think we understand needs and pray accordingly. There are times when we pray from the center of God’s will and sense it deeply. And of course there are times when we pray by simply uttering words with little thought to whom we pray or the content of our prayer.

Now here’s the rub from this whole thing. Multiple times the pastor referred to his misdirected prayers as “sin”.  Perhaps he prayed with a wrong understanding, but to refer to his prayer as sin seems a bit of a stretch. I’ll admit, my reaction to this may be a direct response to the fact that I suspect many times, much of the time, a great percentage of the time, my prayers are not always in synch with God’s will – or even my understanding of God’s will. Now if that’s sin, I’m guilty. However, I think we all pray wrongly at times. We  think we know how to pray when in reality we know how to say pertinent words, but not necessarily principled words. We know how to seek out but are not that good at soaking in. We know how to petition but are not that good at penitents. But is any of that sin?  Perhaps if willful, but who of us enter into prayer with an intent to deceive, mislead or bamboozle God?   If we do, then indeed, SIN is the word. However, I suspect that is seldom, if ever the case. Yes, sin can inhibit prayer, sin can negate prayer, just  as prayer can inhibit sin and prayer can help us overcome sin.

Prayer and sin have a relationship. Nevertheless, we might be cautious about how we relate prayer to sin and sin to prayer.

The Rich Young Man

In the discussion with the Rich Young Man in Mark 10, Jesus made an interesting observation about the young man’s commitment and desire to keep the Law. The observation was this, “You lack one thing…”

What was the one thing the rich young man lacked?  If he had done all that the Law required of him “from (his) youth” then where was the void? What had he missed? Was it sacrifice, commitment, generosity, sincerity or something different?  It may have been all of those things and more. Specifically, it may have been security. The security this young man found in his wealth and the status that wealth garnered. Consequently, what he lacked was the ability or desire to walk away from that security. Nevertheless Jesus was willing to give him that opportunity when he said, “GO, SELL all that you have and GIVE it to the poor…and COME follow me.”  At that point it appears the conversation was over. Jesus had scratched the young man’s veneer of vulnerability to the false security of wealth and challenged him to move beyond that superficial idea. He could not.

All the verbs that Jesus uses to move the man to a true inheritance of eternal life had been a nail in the coffin of his tender soul. He had worked hard for his wealth and had his fist tightly clinched in a desperate move to hold on to it along with his dedication to the Law. But that was not enough. It never is.

Most of us know this story and how it ends. The young man could not do what Jesus asked him to do. It grieved both his heart and Jesus’. The young man walks away knowing – or at least admitting at that time - that he could not “sell all that he (had) and give it to the poor.” It was just too much.

With the economic conditions of our time, many of us are faced with the issue of security. We may scale back our giving to the local church, to missional work, to faith-based ministries and the like.  Because of our acute awareness that today or tomorrow could be our last day of viable income, we tend to give short-handed. That is we give, we just give out of fear even though we may never be asked to give in the same proportion as the rich young ruler and that is, give “all”.

I often look and wonder where ’ve tethered the rope of my security. Is it a bank account, a portfolio, certain possessions, a home?  If called upon, as an expression of trust in God’s security, could I or would I go, sell and give in order to follow? 

In my mind’s eye, I like to think that perhaps somewhere down the road the rich young man decided that what he had was not worth keeping in comparison to what he needed to have. That the “price” of eternal life was worth the “cost” of giving away all that he had. As we know, “all” was the price Jesus paid at the cross. But perhaps the man didn’t and simply died a rich old man - rich but still lacking.