Earlier today, I was reminded of a bad pun that said, "If God had His own business, would it be a soul proprietorship?" The reason I was reminded of it was that I was editing one of my stories where an angel asks a character whom he works for. The character thinks it's a stupid question because he assumes the angel means his employer. In the angel's sense, the question was really, "Do you work for God or yourself?"
I think it's a good time to ask yourself that question. I know I just did. And my answer wasn't very redeeming. Here I am, typing merrily away at my computer, doing what I suppose to be what God wants me to do, so in this moment (assuming this is His will), yes, I am doing His work. But what of all the hours before this one? What of the movies I've watched in the middle of the day, the games I've played, the naps I've taken, the hiking trips? What of all the books I've leafed through? All of those things are for me and most are just for entertainment. Precious little of the above was done for inspiration or information. When people ask what I do, I sometimes answer that I'm self-employed, and nothing could really be truer.
It comes down to where my treasures are and where my faith is. In a way, they're the same thing. One definition of putting your faith in something, to me, at least, is believing that a given thing or being is more likely than any other to make you happy and/or provide for you. What are our treasures if not things we look to for happiness and security? And my treasure has been the enjoyment of my vast supply of free time.
It's not about resolving to do better for the rest of this week. It's not about me trying harder. It goes back to a heart issue. Why does my heart seek my own enjoyment rather than God's will? Why am I self-employed rather than God-employed?
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Three Divisions of Humanity, Our Lives, and God
I've heard a good number of people, including pastors, say that the Bible is divided into two parts for a reason: because there are two divisions of humanity and our lives, under law and under grace. There is life under God the Father and then under Jesus the Son. There is a life that you have to live perfectly to get to Heaven and a life where you can get there based on faith.
I understand the division, but I don't think it goes far enough. To me, there is life under the law, life under grace, then life with God actually in us. This third part corresponds with the Holy Spirit and is, unfortunately, a part that few Christians ever seem to reach.
When Jesus promised the disciples the Holy Spirit in John 14:15-17, "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you," He was promising a new sort of life.
Let's start with the beginning: God creates Adam and Eve and they are without sin. They are able to talk with God in the garden with no sin separating them. Then they eat the fruit and God's justice and purity can't allow sin in His presence, so there is a gulf created between God and man. That gulf is bridged through sacrifice, but sin must be atoned for and laws are enforced rigorously, either by people or by God.
Then Jesus comes and fulfills the law for all of us, the law that we could never fulfill perfectly. No more sacrifices are necessary, no more perfection is required of us, no more works, simply faith. It is a faith that will produce works if it is in earnest, true, but it is not salvation by works as it was under the Old Testament. There is salvation through faith in Jesus alone. We are forgiven and allowed to come before God again. There is restoration and a relationship, but that seems to be where most Christians stop.
In the beginning of Acts, the Holy Spirit comes into the upper room and everyone seems to preach the Gospel in a different tongue. It is not some gibberish tongue, but an actual language and each of the passers by hears the Gospel in their own language. By the Holy Spirit, Stephen, who was an uneducated man, was able to confound the Jews, perform miracles, and forgive those who were stoning him. By the Holy Spirit, Peter, who was an uncouth fisherman and blustering coward, was crucified and the only objection he was known to make was that he did not want to be crucified right-side up because he felt unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me," in Galatians 2:20.
There is more than a faith in God here and adherence to a set of laws here. There is more than a human desire to serve out of gratitude and love. There is a presence, a great power and sense of peace, in these men that fundamentally changed who they were. It took over them in a way that even the disciples had never been taken over when Jesus was with them, which says to me that it is not through Jesus that this power came. Jesus was the restoration, the sacrifice that gave us the right to come before God again without sin in the way; the Holy Spirit takes it one step further and allows God to actually come live in us.
There was still some human nature in these men. The verse in Galatians above is part of Paul's correcting Peter for eating with Gentiles, but spurning them when Jews were in town. Peter was still afraid at that point of what people would think of him. Paul, at least as I read his letters, seemed to have a few lingering pride issues throughout his life. But these men, "count[ed] it all joy...when [they met] trials of various kinds," in James 1:2. Paul sang in prison and even got up after being stoned and left for dead, went to the next town, and taught the very next day. All of the disciples except John the Beloved (and, of course, Judas Iscariot) were eventually killed for their faith. Where they went, miracles happened. Their faith in God's goodness and power isn't questioned. They seem to rarely sin.
It is, to me, the third part of humanity, our lives as Christians, and God. I pray that I am more filled with the Holy Spirit and that each of my fellow Christians are, too. For those who are not Christians, I pray that you become Christians, as much so you can experience a life truly with God as so you can go to Heaven.
I understand the division, but I don't think it goes far enough. To me, there is life under the law, life under grace, then life with God actually in us. This third part corresponds with the Holy Spirit and is, unfortunately, a part that few Christians ever seem to reach.
When Jesus promised the disciples the Holy Spirit in John 14:15-17, "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you," He was promising a new sort of life.
Let's start with the beginning: God creates Adam and Eve and they are without sin. They are able to talk with God in the garden with no sin separating them. Then they eat the fruit and God's justice and purity can't allow sin in His presence, so there is a gulf created between God and man. That gulf is bridged through sacrifice, but sin must be atoned for and laws are enforced rigorously, either by people or by God.
Then Jesus comes and fulfills the law for all of us, the law that we could never fulfill perfectly. No more sacrifices are necessary, no more perfection is required of us, no more works, simply faith. It is a faith that will produce works if it is in earnest, true, but it is not salvation by works as it was under the Old Testament. There is salvation through faith in Jesus alone. We are forgiven and allowed to come before God again. There is restoration and a relationship, but that seems to be where most Christians stop.
In the beginning of Acts, the Holy Spirit comes into the upper room and everyone seems to preach the Gospel in a different tongue. It is not some gibberish tongue, but an actual language and each of the passers by hears the Gospel in their own language. By the Holy Spirit, Stephen, who was an uneducated man, was able to confound the Jews, perform miracles, and forgive those who were stoning him. By the Holy Spirit, Peter, who was an uncouth fisherman and blustering coward, was crucified and the only objection he was known to make was that he did not want to be crucified right-side up because he felt unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me," in Galatians 2:20.
There is more than a faith in God here and adherence to a set of laws here. There is more than a human desire to serve out of gratitude and love. There is a presence, a great power and sense of peace, in these men that fundamentally changed who they were. It took over them in a way that even the disciples had never been taken over when Jesus was with them, which says to me that it is not through Jesus that this power came. Jesus was the restoration, the sacrifice that gave us the right to come before God again without sin in the way; the Holy Spirit takes it one step further and allows God to actually come live in us.
There was still some human nature in these men. The verse in Galatians above is part of Paul's correcting Peter for eating with Gentiles, but spurning them when Jews were in town. Peter was still afraid at that point of what people would think of him. Paul, at least as I read his letters, seemed to have a few lingering pride issues throughout his life. But these men, "count[ed] it all joy...when [they met] trials of various kinds," in James 1:2. Paul sang in prison and even got up after being stoned and left for dead, went to the next town, and taught the very next day. All of the disciples except John the Beloved (and, of course, Judas Iscariot) were eventually killed for their faith. Where they went, miracles happened. Their faith in God's goodness and power isn't questioned. They seem to rarely sin.
It is, to me, the third part of humanity, our lives as Christians, and God. I pray that I am more filled with the Holy Spirit and that each of my fellow Christians are, too. For those who are not Christians, I pray that you become Christians, as much so you can experience a life truly with God as so you can go to Heaven.
Friday, September 3, 2010
What's in a Name?
When Nehemiah went to rebuild Jerusalem, he went with the authority of King Artaxerxes of Persia. The king gave him letters that allowed him to pass through every territory in the kingdom unharmed. He also gave Nehemiah letters that ensured he would get the supplies he needed to rebuild the temple. Without these letters, it is possible that one of the governors of the provinces would have taxed or imprisoned Nehemiah or turned him away and he would never have gotten to Jerusalem. Had he tried to go in his own name and under his own authority as cupbearer to the king, he may or may not have gotten through. With the king's authority, he was safe from all the governments on the way.
When I had my last job, there were times I would try to convince someone to do something because I wanted them to. Sometimes, they would do it, sometimes not. When Jim (our CEO) told me to do something a certain way and I told others what I needed from them to make it happen, I never got a no. It was usually yes and at worst, a "Let me go to talk to him about it first." I used his authority and others obeyed what I said.
In our daily lives, though, we often don't use the authority given to us through faith. Before I get into that point, though, it must be noted that to walk in this authority, one has to obey the one who has the authority. Had I told my coworkers something Jim hadn't told me, I would have gotten in trouble later, even if I'd gotten away with it at first. If Nehemiah had demanded more than the king's letters had given him authority to demand, he would quite rightly have been rejected. We can only do what we are given authority to do.
Which is why we can't trek on over to the nearest Ferrari dealership and say, "God says you should give me a new car." We have to be in God's will for His authority to benefit us. When we are doing what He wants us to, though, then there is no reason we should try to do it by ourselves. Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." 1 Corinthians 3:6 says, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow."
In other words, it is not only foolish and much harder to try to do things on our own, it is impossible to have any real gain without God. Yes, you might get that promotion, but you can always be let go. Yes, that house is nice and big, but it's one big fire, tornado, or hurricane away from being toothpicks. Yes, you have money, but that can be sucked away in a heartbeat from any of a thousand different directions. Only God's work lasts. That's why the Bible tells us to "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal," in Matthew 6:20.
When I try to do things on my own, I get frustrated. I also find that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Even at my meager best, I'm not prescient and far from infallible. I can't seem to get much of anything right. Why, then, am I so hell-bent on doing it myself?
When I had my last job, there were times I would try to convince someone to do something because I wanted them to. Sometimes, they would do it, sometimes not. When Jim (our CEO) told me to do something a certain way and I told others what I needed from them to make it happen, I never got a no. It was usually yes and at worst, a "Let me go to talk to him about it first." I used his authority and others obeyed what I said.
In our daily lives, though, we often don't use the authority given to us through faith. Before I get into that point, though, it must be noted that to walk in this authority, one has to obey the one who has the authority. Had I told my coworkers something Jim hadn't told me, I would have gotten in trouble later, even if I'd gotten away with it at first. If Nehemiah had demanded more than the king's letters had given him authority to demand, he would quite rightly have been rejected. We can only do what we are given authority to do.
Which is why we can't trek on over to the nearest Ferrari dealership and say, "God says you should give me a new car." We have to be in God's will for His authority to benefit us. When we are doing what He wants us to, though, then there is no reason we should try to do it by ourselves. Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." 1 Corinthians 3:6 says, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow."
In other words, it is not only foolish and much harder to try to do things on our own, it is impossible to have any real gain without God. Yes, you might get that promotion, but you can always be let go. Yes, that house is nice and big, but it's one big fire, tornado, or hurricane away from being toothpicks. Yes, you have money, but that can be sucked away in a heartbeat from any of a thousand different directions. Only God's work lasts. That's why the Bible tells us to "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal," in Matthew 6:20.
When I try to do things on my own, I get frustrated. I also find that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Even at my meager best, I'm not prescient and far from infallible. I can't seem to get much of anything right. Why, then, am I so hell-bent on doing it myself?
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