Glory via Mystery

“It is the glory of God to conceal things…” Proverbs 25:2.

About a month ago at our church we had a rather lively discussion regarding the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

The Scripture that day was on the lost sheep, and we discussed how dumb sheep are, how the Shepherd must go out and physically pick up the sheep to bring the sheep back to Himself. The point was that a cat or dog, for example, would be more likely to follow naturally, but sheep must be pursued and brought back in a more direct manner.

Some in our church felt that the illustration given went too far. There is still a choice for man, they said. ‘If God saves us dumb people by simply scooping us up out of our sin and lost-ness, then why does He not do that for everyone?” was the key question for these people. “After all, the Word teaches that God desires all to be saved.”

Had God’s Spirit not been present and given complete freedom and unity in our meeting, I think we would have digressed into one big, frustrating argument.

Questions about the sovereignty of God (for example, how/why does God choose His elect?)  and man’s responsibility (for example, can/does man choose God by his own free will?) have been going on for centuries.  

These are heavy questions that I believe, sooner or later, every follower of Jesus will take into serious consideration, because followers of Jesus want to know His Word, and submit to His Word, and because we see very clearly both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man throughout His Word.

Here’s what I think you should consider when you begin to look at these two truths (the absolute sovereignty and control of God, and the responsibility/will of people) in Scripture:

1. People don’t like to live with mystery. We enjoy a good mystery novel, or a suspenseful movie, but we don’t want to stop short of reading the final few pages, or to abruptly hit "pause" on the last three minutes of our thriller, never to know how the mystery is resolved.

2. Christians live with mystery every day, however. We know Jesus promised to come again, but we don’t have any clue as to when; we know God is all powerful and loves unconditionally, but we don’t know why He allows suffering; we know there is only one God, yet there are three Persons called “God” in the Bible (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), etc. So, while we don’t fully understand these and other mysterious truths from Scripture, we still live with them, for now.

3. Consider the possibility that God gives these tensions for a reason. In the case of Sovereignty and responsibility, He doesn’t want to see either extreme among us, His Body of believers, because He knows if there were either extreme, we would stray from Truth, and He knew that His Body lives in community, not as individuals, and we need BOTH in the Body – those who glorify Him in emphasizing the responsibility of man before God, and those who glorify Him by emphasizing the absolute control of God over all. Consider that He is, in fact, glorifying Himself in concealing, for a time, the “whys and hows” of many of His workings.

4. Consider that any tension or mystery that makes God seem bigger in your life, bigger than you could ever possibly imagine, is a good thing.  Anything that magnifies Him is a good thing.

5. Consider that He is the final Judge of all, and He has all rights and authority, and man does not have the right to dictate to God whom He should be, nor how He should act. We must not make for ourselves an idol or an image of whom WE think God should be, but we should enjoy getting to know Him for who He really is. This is an eternal endeavor.

6. I believe when the Bible speaks of the “mysterious” side of God and His plan, the focus is not on something that is incomprehensible and unknowable. But mystery is that which God has chosen, for a specified time that He has established, to keep hidden from us for His good purpose.

God-fearing, Spirit-filled followers of Christ, who study and know and love the Bible, disagree on quite a number of issues in God’s Word. For example: Did God really create the universe in six days, or over a much longer period of time? What exactly is going to happen in the end times?

I think there will continue to be a sense of mystery about some of these issues until we get to Heaven and all becomes clearer ("for now, we see in a mirror dimly... " - I Corinthians 13:12).  Until then, don't argue about this stuff with people.  God is not glorified in the disunity that results from arguments over many of these areas.  Continue to move forward on the basic teachings He has given us that are very clear in His Word.  All else can prove to be a very costly distraction.

You want to be like whom?

Proverbs 24:1-2 “Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.”

I once read something Philip Yancey said about famous people, and how messed up their lives are. At some point in his career, he had the opportunity to meet with a lot of these actor types, and later he described how almost all of them were in some sort of psychotherapy, and their lives were empty and void of meaning, nothing you would really want to emulate.

Whether famous or not, we’re never to let our hearts become envious of people who don’t know Christ. It’s easy to do; I’ve let my heart go there many times before, sadly. Here’s a guy with lots of money, lots of skill in some sport, a really strong body, thinks on his feet superbly. These images mostly come from the movies, for me. But Christ is the One whom we are to emulate.

Ultimately, let Christ be your model for attitudes and behavior. Ask Him, “Lord, how do you want me to live? How do you want me to respond here?” Even if a person IS a follower of Christ, he or she can fail you, but Jesus never will.

It makes me a bit nervous when I see famous people who have decided to follow Christ, and then see young Christians so excited they’ve got a famous brother or sister up there that they can point to and say, “hey, he’s a Christian, too!” because, so often, that person fails horribly, crashes and burns.

Twice, in I Corinthians, the apostle Paul says, “imitate me”. In 4:16, he says, “be imitators of me.” And, in 11:1, Paul says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Yes, there are Godly men and women we should want to be like, insofar as they are trying to follow Jesus and live lives of integrity and influence. But, as Paul qualified his own words, be an imitator of those who are imitating Christ.

Matthew Henry says it this way: “Follow me as far as I follow Christ. Come up as close as you can to my example in those instances wherein I endeavor to copy after his pattern. Be my disciples, as far as I manifest myself to be a faithful minister and disciple of Christ, and no further. I would not have you be my disciples, but his.”

Less is More (a LOT more)

[Proverbs 23:4-5]

There’s nothing like flying with just one carry-on bag. It’s nice to know you can go straight from landing to your ground transportation, skipping over the baggage claim area.

It’s been much easier to do that when I’m flying alone than when we travel as a family. But that’s okay; over the years I’m amazed at how my wife has become a minimalist when it comes to packing for trips out of country.

Our kids, well, let’s just say they are accustomed to air travel. More than once we’ve caught them in their rooms playing “airport”, complete with the check-in, passport control, security and baggage check, and boarding processes, and of course baggage claim after they get to destination. As they’ve gotten older and had more opportunities to pack their own bags for real-life travel, I think they are learning the value of taking less stuff with them for their journeys.

I think the Biblical focus is that, as we make our pilgrimage through life on this earth, we travel light.

We lack discernment if the goal of our work is to acquire more stuff, according to Proverbs 23:4. Our goal should be, rather, to bring glory to God (I Corinthians 10:31).

As far as material possessions go, the Bible teaches that we are to be content with two things: food and clothing (see I Timothy 6:6-10). That eliminates a whole lot of excess baggage, yes? Light travel frees up not only our hands – so that we can serve others and help them with their burden (Galatians 6:1-5) – but our minds and hearts, so that our concern can be for things eternal, not temporal (Colossians 3:2).

The accumulation of a lot of stuff where you live can make or break your effectiveness as a disciple maker, as well. A great story regarding this, especially for those who work cross culturally, is called “18 Barrels and Two Crates”. You might want to take a look at it here:

http://www.missionfrontiers.com/pdf/1992/0304/ma925.htm

Ancient Landmarks

Proverbs 22:28 “Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.”

We’re in the process of buying a small piece of land back in the States. Other people own the land on either side of this property.

In Biblical times, normally one marked his property line by digging a small trench, probably with a plow, to make a visible line on the ground, and at each end of the trench he would place a heap of stones as a landmark. The landmark was most important, because even if the trench was covered up or washed away over time, the property owner could always run another line between piles of stones to see exactly where his boundary was.

Today, we’ve gotten a bit more high-tech with survey equipment, and the corner of one’s property might have a wooden stake in the ground with a piece of colored ribbon tied to it, but not a pile of stones.

But the idea behind this verse is the same. You would be in a lot of trouble with your neighbor, even today, if he or she discovered that you’d been moving that stake over to make it look like you have more land than you really do. It’s the same as stealing your neighbor’s land, and in Biblical times this was a big no no (see Deuteronomy 19:14).

You will stay out of much trouble if you hold to the Truth. The heaps of stones, that wooden stake in the ground, are true markers of your boundary line.

It’s the same with the Truth of God’s Word. Stay close to His Word, stay close to good, solid teaching of His Word. Be sure that your heart, your actions and words stay true to the teaching of the Bible.

Likewise, someone may try to move your landmark. The Bible says your Redeemer is strong, and He will plea your cause against those who try to lead you astray from His truth (see Proverbs 23:10-11).

Thank God for the ancient landmarks.