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Wednesday in the Word

Only Faith Saves Us, Not Works, Politics, or Anything Else

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Galatians 1:10
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

In the first chapter of the Book of Galatians, Paul is assuring the members of the Galatian church that there is no other gospel, no other basis of faith, than that which he has already preached to them–the good news concerning Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord, who gave himself in sacrifice for our sins, and was raised from the dead, just as we can be raised from our spiritual deaths and live a Christian life.

Many of the Galatian Christians were confused by the other religions that swirled about them, especially some who were told that they still had to follow many of the ceremonial rites of the Old Testament as the Jews did. Since in that day there was a sect of Jews called “Zealots,” who did not like the melding of Judaism and Christianity that was going on, some new Christians were trying to walk a middle ground by doing some of the Old Testament practices in addition to following the New Testament’s gospel. They were attempting to please the others around them, afraid of what would happen otherwise.

Paul rebukes this practice of pleasing men rather than God with verse 10. After all, the Galatians have said they believe in God; why then are they worried about what that belief might begin in their community? So what if somebody else gets their underwear in a twist about your beliefs–if you love Christ and want to serve Him on earth, Paul reminds them, it’s your business with God, not anyone else’s. No matter who they might politically offend in their town, Paul encourages them not to sway from their beliefs.

With Christianity now more a majority than the minority it was in those days, it may be hard for modern Christians to connect with how fearful the Galatians might have felt about their newborn faith. After all, Christians aren’t persecuted very much anymore; in fact, we are often the ones doing the persecuting of others, if history is any reminder. The conservative political parties (in America, at least) proudly wave the Christian flag alongside the American flag, seemingly praising God with one side of their mouths and decrying the liberal heathens with the other.

I would suggest that Christians today face a new type of persecution from non-Christians–that of being lumped in with the media frenzy of bigotry and judgmentalism that closely shadows many conservative “Christian” political candidates. While I call myself a Christian, for instance, I shy from calling myself a “conservative” Christian, because I don’t want people to think I agree with the brand of hateful, angry conservatism I see in the popular media. You could say I’m still seeking the approval of man by “hiding out” in this way; I’m trying to walk a middle ground, pursuing a Christian life without trying to make it as political as it’s ended up being in the last few years.

No, I’m not very brave when it comes to my own newborn faith; I only returned to the fold a few years ago, after all, and I still feel very fragile about it sometimes. I think many of us modern Christians are in the same boat, though–we’re Christians, not necessarily conservative (though often people use the two words interchangeably). We worry about being associated with the overbearing imagery of conservatism that gets broadcast through sound bites and 1-minute news features, because even if the imagery is incorrect, it’s what people think conservative Christianity is all about. Those of us who call ourselves Christian but don’t necessarily have that same conservative standpoint will thus be unfairly judged by association. (And it already happens, believe me–I’ve been told before that I need to “shut up about God” and I don’t “need to judge somebody else’s beliefs.” Those who know me well know that I am the last person to judge someone harshly based on religions, with all the junk that’s happened to me in the past.)

But we cannot keep seeking the tacit approval of others by hiding who we are–that’s what Paul is telling us in this Scripture verse. Just like today’s Christians, the early Christians he was writing to were worried about political affiliations and family traditions, but Paul urged them to think spiritually rather than worldly. If we are Christian and apolitical, for instance, or Christian and liberal, or Christian and anything, we should allow that Christianity to shine through in everything we do, seeking only the approval of God by believing in Jesus Christ. Only that faith–only that belief–will save us. No good works, no political contributions to “holy” candidates, or anything else of earth will save us.

Wednesday in the Word

God Renews Us, If We Let Him

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2 Corinthians 4:16
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Paul couldn’t have said it better. Our life on earth drags at us, ages us, weighs us down with responsibilities and stress, and can even force us into depression and anxiety. Things weren’t much different when Paul was writing–life was still touch and go in most of the small villages and towns he visited, and in most of the new churches he was helping to start. People struggled day to day to exist, let alone think or worship.

That’s why Paul sought to encourage people (here, the people of the fledging Corinthian church) not to let their faith flag or falter. He knew times would be hard for them, but he nurtured them by talking about their earthly selves as the “outer self,” and the spirit as the “inner self.” While their earthly selves could and would be vulnerable to fear, doubt, guilt, pain, rage, and hatred, God could directly touch and renew their inner selves, their spirits, because they believed in Christ’s power to save and forgive their sins through His sacrifice. Because they believed in a just and loving God, they could trust in Him to help them through the sorrows of their lives, and therefore, they would be rid of worries and guilt a lot sooner.

God does the same for us, if we stop worrying, fretting, and squirming long enough to let Him be part of our lives. For me, God’s Word was hard for me to get into at first, but since I began studying it closer (especially as part of my “Wednesday in the Word” segments on this very blog), I have found myself becoming heartened by what I read. Just as God renewed David’s strength, just as He encouraged Abraham, just as He reached out through Jesus to comfort the woman convicted of adultery, He can hold our souls in His hands and heal them.

But we have to be willing to trust Him completely–otherwise, we’re lulled into believing that we’re strong enough to handle everything in our lives. Then, we become trapped by our own self-sufficiency, and we forget that God is there…and then, we stop believing He exists because we don’t feel Him in our lives anymore. Paul reminds us not to forget that God is there, and that God is ready, willing, and able to renew us spiritually, to help us stay heartened and encouraged despite the problems we face.

Wednesday in the Word

When It’s Time to Kneel Before God

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1 Chronicles 21:11-17
11 So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice: 12 three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord–days of plague in the in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

13 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” 14 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. 15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and was grieved because of the calamity, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell face down. 17 David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O Lord my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.”

In the verses before this passage, David had ordered that a census be taken of Israel, so he could ascertain how many fighting men he had available. God was displeased with this–David’s reign had already been marked with a lot of righteous fighting in which he had called upon God for strength. But now, it seemed, David was more willing to rely on a massive human force than the eternal mass of God’s strength. God then tells Gad, the current prophet, to pass on to David the message of three options for punishment.

Upon hearing the punishments, David immediately opts for the punishment that will affect him and his people the least amount of days (and himself the least of all)–three days of plague and destruction. He even says “don’t let me fall into the hands of men;” that threatened three months of being used to wipe the desert floor sounds the most horrible to him. The famine sure isn’t good, but David thinks three days of destruction and widespread plague is more bearable than being beaten by his human enemies. He doesn’t even stop to think about the nation he’s leading, or the people who depend on him for safety and security.

God does as David has selected, and punishes Israel for straying from His will, sending an angel to mete out the punishment. But God is not happy or joyful about this–His attitude is like that of a parent who knows he must punish his child (so that the child will learn boundaries), but hates the act of doing so. God grieves at the sight of so much destruction and death among His people, and finally orders the angel to stop.

By this time, David has been witness to all this, as have his council elders. They are all dressed in the clothes of mourning (sackcloth), and they prostrate themselves before God, to show humility. Then David says, most eloquently, that he will take on the punishment of Israel, since he was the one who ordered the census of able fighting men, and he was the one who deliberately led his people into dangerous spiritual territory. He admits his guilt before God.

In times of suffering, we often blame God or question God’s existence; we wonder “Why are you doing this to me, God?” Before we claim that God doesn’t exist because we are suffering and our prayers are not being answered, and before we blame God and curse at God for what He’s doing to us, we need to examine our hearts and our lives. Are we doing things that are pleasing to God? Are we acting in love, forgiveness, and patience towards others, even those who are not Christians? Are we relying on Him for guidance and strength, not relying on our own wits?

God punishes in the Old Testament a lot more often than the New Testament, but He’s still a just God. He isn’t going to let us get away with living a life that doesn’t follow His teachings, especially if we’re claiming to be saved the whole time. When our lives become more struggle than anything, we may not need to blame God first; we may need to look within and see if there is something in our lives that is not in line with His will. David learned during those terrible three days that he had to come before God humbly and accept his own guilt. Sometimes, we need to do the same.

Wednesday in the Word

Christians Can’t Be Bystanders

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Exodus 23:2
2 Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

As part of the Book of Exodus’ “Laws of Justice and Mercy,” this verse reminds us that in order to be just and merciful to others, we can’t just let things happen if we feel that it is against what God wants of us.

But this is a difficult law to apply to our modern lives. Christians do live slightly apart from the world’s rules, overall, and so sometimes it’s more tempting just to say, “Heck with it, let the world mess themselves up–WE’VE got JESUS so it doesn’t matter what they do.” Mob justice and mass apathy terrify us, and yet we feel powerless to speak up or to do anything for fear of being labeled one of THOSE Christians–one of the crazies who more often than not end up on the news for negative reasons.

Being a little isolationist is necessary to avoid the temptations in today’s global society; just as former alcoholics must avoid bars, so do born-again Christians have to avoid places (and sometimes people) who would tempt them back into a lifestyle that does not include a personal relationship with Jesus. But being completely isolated from the world, almost cloistered away and having nothing to do with it at all, is not what God wants either, and this verse tells us that very clearly. God does not want us to stand aside and let injustice and merciless behavior run rampant–He asks for us to step up and speak up, to brush aside apathy and resentment and try to help the world as much as we can. The example of giving testimony in a lawsuit is an example that shows how serious this concern is to God.

Since humans are generally a social species, and we tend to base much of our lives on how other people are living, it stands to reason that other people’s opinions would sway us heavily, despite our faith. We watch TV shows, read magazines, and visit websites that tell us how to live (and think) exactly like we “ought to.” This law doesn’t tell us to become completely worldly like this, but to be aware of what’s going on in the world, and to stand up and be counted if a decision is against what you believe. When we take this stance, of living a faith-centered life while still being aware of what’s going on in the world, we stand ready to seek God’s guidance and speak up when the world begins to tilt out of control.

Wednesday in the Word

What Exactly Jesus Did for Us

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whatjesusdidforus
Mark 15:21-38
21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [no verse 28] 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). 35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

What The Crucifixion Meant for Us

Most people–even some Christians–do not often think about what exactly the Crucifixion and the death of Jesus did for us. While this passage is stark and disturbing, it was a necessary part of salvation.

Jesus as the Final, Everlasting Sin Offering

For centuries, the Hebrews had been following Mosaic Law, the Law taken down by Moses which was God’s will for his people, and that Law included almost daily offerings of animals and produce to be presented to God as thanks and as atonement for sin in their lives.

But when Jesus was crucified, He took on the sins of humanity, all the pain and rage and death and lost-ness, and offered His life as a final, everlasting sin offering to reconcile God and His people. Jesus’ sacrifice made sin offerings unnecessary for salvation–instead, belief in Jesus as Savior was now the path to salvation.

Jesus as Bridge Between God and Humanity

There had also been a distinct separation between God and His people before Jesus came–God could only be spoken to through the aid of priests (descending from Aaron, Moses’ brother), and He existed among His people in the Holy of Holies, a special place designated within the temple to hold the Ark of the Covenant. No human was supposed to intrude in this space, and it was usually sectioned off with curtains.

But when Jesus died on the cross, Mark notes that in the temple, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the space was torn asunder. This symbolized that God was now open and willing to hear from His people directly. No longer did they have to talk to someone else on earth to get a message to God–they could “instant-message” Him whenever and however they wanted to, just by praying.

Very Few People Understood This at the Time

The purpose of Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and later resurrection was misunderstood even at the moment it happened, however. The people who crucified Him did not believe His claims of being the Son of God, reasoning that if Jesus was indeed the Son of God, then He would not let Himself be crucified–He could just come on down whenever He wanted. They did not understand how lost they were, what Jesus’ death would mean for them, and what God’s plan for the whole world was. They were so confused that they even thought Jesus was crying out for Elijah at the end, and waited to see if Elijah would indeed come to take Jesus away. They did not understand that Jesus was crying out to God, feeling separated from God by the weight of all the sin He was taking on, and they certainly didn’t imagine that this was a temporary situation.

What This Means for Us

Jesus performed a massive act of forgiveness and selflessness, a gift meant for each of us, ready for us to accept. He took on all the sin that would have normally doomed us to never hear from God again, and took it to the grave with him, effectively deleting it from our lives. (He returned from the grave, however, unlike our sins.)

This is what makes Jesus such a powerful figure in the lives of all Christians–to think that a loving God would do something so drastic, just to have contact with us again, is awe-inspiring. Our sin was something God knew He couldn’t stand, but He didn’t need all the sacrifices and sin offerings anymore. He wanted an uncluttered relationship with each of us, and through Jesus’ sacrifice, we can each have that.

Wednesday in the Word

Why Is Jesus Talking About Dogs and Pigs?

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dogsandpigs
Matthew 7:6
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

What in the world is this verse about? Dogs aren’t supposed to get hold of what is sacred? Well, of course I wouldn’t be handing Rover my Bible to chew on. No pearls for pigs? Yeah, I guess Jesus is right, pearls don’t really belong in the trough, but why would I do that in the first place?

This Verse = Sound Witnessing Advice

What Jesus is really talking about here is witnessing and teaching others about God. As Christians, we come across people every day who may or may not believe in God. If you witness to somebody who’s ready to hear about God, who is curious to know more, or who really wants to be saved, then you’re at the right place at the right time, by God’s plan, and you might well be the person who leads them to Christ. The person you witness to in this way will be grateful for your willingness to help and to teach them from what you know of God and what He’s done in your life.

Dogs and Pigs = Pharisees and Sadducees, Neither of Whom Liked Jesus

But, if you try to witness to someone who isn’t ready to hear about God or who despises God, you could get into a very heated situation very quickly. Jesus Himself dealt with several groups in His day who were hotly opposed to everything He taught. For instance, the Pharisees, Law-abiders and temple-builders that they were, were not about to let this upstart preacher start converting people over from the Law that they had kept since Moses’ day. They’d been doing sacrifices and sin offerings this way for years, and now this random guy says they aren’t needed anymore? Pah!

Not to mention the Sadducees, who refused to acknowledge any holy books except the Torah (the first five books of the modern Bible’s Old Testament). “All those books of prophecy in the latter parts of the Old Testament which talked about a coming Messiah? Nah, those aren’t canon; they aren’t true, and this Jesus guy is just another rambling fool.”

Neither group believed Jesus was the Son of God; neither group was willing to listen to anything He had to say. If He had tried to teach them directly, it would have been like “giving dogs what is sacred”–both groups would have torn His words apart without listening to the message, just like a bunch of dogs fighting over a piece of meat.

Witness Lovingly–We’re Not Trying to Meet a “Convert Quota”

If we try to witness to people who don’t agree with any of God’s teachings and aren’t ready to hear anything different, we will meet with hostility, too; people who don’t want to listen aren’t going to try, and they might even turn on us with hatred, like the pigs Jesus used as an example, if we try to force them to “get saved.” Jesus warned us about this–we can’t witness in judgmental ways because it can inflame people’s emotions, meaning that nothing constructive gets done.

We can, however, LIVE our Christian faith in front of others, and pray for those who declare that they hate God and want nothing to do with Him. God is big enough to take care of everyone, and that includes the people who don’t know or don’t want to know about Him. If we try to force God down people’s proverbial throats, we might end up throwing pearls to the pigs; if we instead love others and keep the sacred teachings in our hearts, we might just make people curious enough to want to know more.

Wednesday in the Word

God Always Brings Justice

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godalwaysbringsjustice
1 Samuel 31:8-13
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
11 When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

Saul had spent most of his life running from God. As first King of Israel (before David), Saul had been driven by abject fear and jealousy for most of his reign, choosing to hide from the Philistines rather than face them, choosing to punish God’s next anointed king, David, and chase him around trying to kill him, rather than bowing out gracefully. In short? Saul acted very human.

Just before this point in the Scripture, Saul had realized his cause was lost in the midst of the fight with the Philistines; he was wounded badly, and so he chose to take his own life rather than to be discovered by the Philistines and be carted off to a worse fate. His sons and his armor-bearer also take their lives and die with him, and as verses 8 through 10 describe, their bodies are defiled and disrespected in death. What a sorrowful end for the first king of Israel–even though he made a lot of mistakes, it seems ill-fitting that he should be afforded such treatment in death.

And indeed, others consider it ill-fitting treatment, too. The people of Jabesh Gilead (a town east of the Jordan River) remembered Saul as a good man who came and successfully saved their town when the neighboring Ammonites threatened them. When they hear of what the Philistines have done with the former Israelite king and his sons, they immediately go to set things right. They ritually burn the defiled bodies, religiously purifying them and preventing any more mischief to be done with them, then bury the bones in a sacred place. They then mourn the deaths for seven days through fasting.

Saul, who had not been well-liked as king and who had not really done much besides chase David around and close his ears to God, is thus honored as a human being should be in death. He wasn’t perfect–far from it–but his deeds did not warrant such dishonorable treatment, and God moved in the hearts of those who lived in Jabesh Gilead to set that to rights.

How This Proves God’s Justice

This story in the Bible shows us that God will always set things to rights, even if it takes a long time, even if it comes by unexpected channels, and even if we aren’t around physically to see it. Saul was given a decent burial, given justice in death despite the choices he had made in life; even though he was a wayward child of God, God still loved him. God never stops loving us–not even when we refuse to listen to Him, not even when we curse Him or say we don’t believe He exists. And because He loves us, He is always acting for our best interests and for justice. Justice may not always come when we want it, but it will arrive perfectly on God’s time.

Wednesday in the Word

Trust God and Take the Risk

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trustgodtaketherisk
Ecclesiastes 11:1-2
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. 2 Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

I was very, very confused when I first read these two verses. Throw bread on the water and it’ll come back to you? Ew, mold. Give portions to seven, and even eight? Does this mean I donate a bunch of stuff to Goodwill and work at the soup kitchens every Saturday?

Well, not exactly. Here, the Teacher (the writer of Ecclesiastes, who might or might not have been Solomon), lays out a little business sense in the middle of his text.

#1: Take Calculated Risks to Grow Yourself

“Cast your bread upon the waters,” Biblically speaking, referred to merchants shipping their grain by boat. It was a dangerous and risky thing to do because boats could easily sink–but those merchants who risked it often were much more successful than those who did not risk anything, because they were willing to try. In our own lives, the times we’ve risked much of our own efforts in order to gain something even more valuable (a friend, a new love, a job, an accomplishment, etc.) often stand out in our minds as the times we truly understood our own mettle. Not to mention that it was a thrill to take a chance, and that it possibly led to more happiness.

As a habitual non-risk-taker by nature, I try to make sure that the thing I desire most is just about in my hand before I reach to grab it. But the few times I’ve really launched myself out and lunged for something, something I didn’t want to wait any longer to grab, I’ve surprised myself with unexpected passion and tenacity, as I strove to hold on to what I wanted. Yes, sometimes I had to let what I wanted go; sometimes it slipped from my hand. But I was better for having reached, and that’s what the Teacher is referring to here.

#2: Try Everything You Can–Don’t Limit Yourself

The second verse is just as hard to fathom. Who or what are we supposed to give portions to? Well, in fact, this relates back to good business practice as well. We have to try out many different ventures, “diversify our efforts,” you might say, because you never know which one will work.

Think about it–we don’t just fill out one college application, or one job application. We fill out many at a time, in order to get a broader “net” and possibly a better chance of getting a hit. If we pin all our hopes to one idea and that idea sinks, what happens to us? We are more easily discouraged and start to falter in taking risks. By contrast, if we have many ideas and no big hopes pinned to any of them, we can move on from the failure of one and maintain faith that one or more of the other ideas will yet bear fruit.

Where Does Faith Come Into This Picture?

Speaking of faith: “Where is the faith in this passage?”, you might be asking. “This sounds more like life advice and business advice rather than Christian living advice.”

Oh, but it is Christian living. The more we take risks and diversify our efforts, the more we learn to stop fearing and start trusting God. When situations are literally and figuratively out of our hands, we learn to place our trust in God and lift up our concerns to Him.

When we have no way of influencing the outcome of something in our lives, we can become more comfortable with praying about it and knowing that God has a perfect plan for everything. Risk helps test our faith, and broadened efforts helps reduce risk as well as develop our abilities in areas we might not have trusted otherwise. We begin to live a more balanced (and more faith-based) life as a result.

Wednesday in the Word

God? Who’s That?

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godwhosthat
Judges 2:10-13
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

In this second chapter of Judges, a new generation of Israelites has grown up, and many members of the older generations, the “old-timers,” as it were, have passed on. The older folk were the ones who wandered in the desert for 40 years with Moses and followed Joshua (Moses’ successor) around in ancient Canaan to defeat the indigenous tribes; they had seen firsthand how God was with them and carried them in times of fear and trouble.

Without the older folk to guide them, the younger generation knows little of their tribe’s history or of its God. They grow up not knowing that God was truly with their forefathers, and as such, they begin to explore into other religions, including the ones followed by some of the surrounding tribes in the area. They start worshipping Baal, Asherah (possibly Ashtoreth as this translation reads), and many other gods, leaving behind the moral codes and worship practices that Moses had laid down decades before. If they were asked about God, they’d probably say the title of this blog post: “God? Who’s that?”

We Ask This Question, Too

Sadly, many of us today are quite like the younger generation of Israelites in the Book of Judges. We have not seen any miracles for ourselves, so our reasoning is that God must not exist. We have not felt God’s presence in our lives, so we think that he must be just a fairy tale. We have been hurt before by people calling themselves Christians, so we feel assured in saying that the Christian God must be just a fallacy.

From this reasoning, we begin to justify our forays into other religions, other practices and beliefs that may or may not be injurious to us, to try to find our “personal truth” amid the chaos of the world. I certainly did this during my 11 years outside the church–I dabbled in astrology, numerology, and Tarot cards, and I studied many different religions trying to find the truth. But I was somewhat disappointed to find that I never felt like I truly worshipped anywhere. I never really stopped believing in God as my church background had taught me, but He almost seemed too far away for me to grasp. He felt like a vague presence in the stratosphere somewhere, not personally real and relevant. (That has since changed, due to many startlingly real experiences with God, not the least of which was the spiritual healing which took place after my teaching career was flushed down the toilet.)

Much like our parents get annoyed with us when we go off and do our “own thing” rather than following their advice, God got justly angry with the Israelites for being unfaithful in their worship. He had guarded them and supported them, brought His people out of Egyptian slavery into His “Promised Land,” given them strong leaders to guide them, and THIS is how they act? As my mama used to say when I got sassy or rebellious, “We give you a lot of freedoms around this house–you just don’t appreciate them!” Though I don’t claim to know the mind of God, I figure His response went along the same lines. 😉

God Isn’t Called Heavenly Father for Nothing

For those who have never known God, this passage and its surrounding chapter might seem overly harsh–God seems bent on punishing His people! But this righteous anger is part of His role as Heavenly Father. Parents can’t just give their kids tons of privileges with no discipline; you end up with kids that don’t respect anything or anybody, and expect everything to be given to them. Likewise, parents can’t punish all the time and never spare their kids even a smile; you end up with kids that are terrified to make a mistake, terrified to disappoint, terrified to live.

God, as our Heavenly Father, gives us a perfect balance of discipline and support. Both types of treatment remind us that He is still in control, even when we think we control everything. Yes, He disciplines us when we forget Him, but He never stops loving us enough to help us.

Wednesday in the Word

Lead With God First

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leadwithgodfirst
Proverbs 16:12
12 Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.

As part of a larger section in chapter 16 of Proverbs, about how a ruler can be Godly, Solomon writes this guideline about wrongdoing. It’s a verse many world leaders, past and present, would do well to follow–how many world leaders can we think of who have been caught in acts of injustice, greed, or unrighteousness? In each case, when such acts are brought to light, the welfare of the country often falls away and the scandal surrounding the leader is of paramount importance. These acts undermine authority and take away credibility, leaving nations often floundering for a leader they can trust again.

Even though human leaders are just that–human–they are still responsible for leading their people in a safe and trustworthy manner. Politics and its “deals” and “votes” comes second to God. When a leader is truly prayerful, considering God at every option, it shows, in a leadership that is firm without being brutish, gentle without being weak. Such leaders may not always appease everyone, but their actions are more centered on God, and for that, their leadership will be blessed, as David’s leadership was blessed in his reign of Israel.

This Goes for ALL Leaders–Including Us

This verse isn’t just for CEOs, presidents, and the like; it’s for any Christian who accepts a leadership position. We too have to take this same prayerful stance when we are given authority. We must not be caught in wrongdoing of any sort, because we are examples to the people we lead, and we are being observed, if not by others, then by God. Godly teachers must not cheat; Godly accountants must not fudge numbers; Godly managers must not treat employees harshly, and so on. (For example, in every lesson I do for the Sunday School class I lead, I must make sure that I am studying the Bible as deeply as I hope my class members are, and I must do my best to read Scripture as it was written and not just accept someone else’s interpretation.)

When we lead with God first and forget about all the politics and the pride of leadership, we might just find that leadership is a little bit easier, if not always a cakewalk. Sometimes, God puts us in power to help us guide others, and sometimes God puts power in our hands to teach us something, but in either case, we have to uphold righteousness in order to overcome our human weaknesses.