STRUGGLING WITH “WHY?”

                Over the past 35 years of ministry, I have often found myself asking the question, why? Sometimes there is a simple answer, or at least it seems like a simple answer on the surface. I made a certain decision, and this is the outcome of that decision. At other times, there doesn’t seem to be an answer to the question. Job, for example, was never given a reason for why he had to face all of the suffering that he did. We know, but he did not. Sometimes, God gives us a glimpse of the why. That was the case for Joseph. After many years of hardship and pain, God elevated him to the second highest position in Egypt. When he finally revealed himself to his brothers, they we terrified. Instead of punishing them, Joseph put his life’s circumstances into a bigger picture.

                But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:19-20

                When we are faced with negative situations, such as what happened recently in Dallas, I fall back on the truth that we live in a sinful, fallen world, and that these are the consequences of that.    Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32

   

                When Christians get caught up in negative situations, I remind myself that we are part of this fallen world and face the consequences right along with everyone else. In fact, as Christians, we can expect, at times, to be the target.

    "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Matthew 24:9-11

                When things happen closer to home, the why question begins to loom large. Although I can see the answer in the big picture, it does not satisfy me completely. I would prefer a much more specific answer. I can understand why things happen in general, but I want to know why they happen to me.

                Not all of my why questions are negative. Some of them are more questions of puzzlement. Such as, why has God allowed me to stay at my church for 29 years, when the norm for evangelical pastors is 8-10 years. Or why has God blessed our family with relatively few major problems, when other families seem to have more than their share?

                Throughout the Bible, when people have come to God with why questions, He has answered them in basically the same way. Instead of giving a specific answer to their question, He invites them to trust Him. When people ask why, God responds “I am with you. Do not be afraid.”

                When Paul, a man who had been given the power to heal others, was faced with his own “thorn in the flesh” he called out to God to remove it. Instead of removing it, God promised Paul that He was with him. Instead of complaining, Paul chose to trust God.

    To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor. 12:7-10

                Romans 8:28 is a verse that we often pull out when bad things happen. We use it as some kind of a salve to smooth over the situation. But it is really the answer to all of the why questions of life. It is a call to genuinely trust God.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

                Some day we may get the answer to all of our why questions, or we may not. One thing I can genuinely say is that, if we will truly trust God, we will experience the good, which He intends for us. 

GETTING TO KNOW GOD PERSONALLY

                One of the most enriching and challenging things that we can do in our life is to really get to know other people. Each of us has a different capacity for this. Some of us find it relatively easy, others must work harder at it. Yet all of us have the desire to know others and be known by others. It is a part of what it means for us to be created in the image of God. Just as God lives in eternal, perfect community, so we were created to live in community.

                One of the things I have learned is that getting to know another person is a process and that it takes intentional effort.

                The process begins with observation. Most of us are people watchers. Have you ever sat in a crowded airport or at the mall and watched the people going by? That situation usually raises my curiosity. I wonder where they are going or where they are coming from. I wonder about what they do. I wonder about who they are. In reality we do this all the time with the people we regularly encounter. We observe them from a distance and we begin to unconsciously form an idea about who they are. Many of our interactions stay at that distance.

                The next step in the process is to actually encounter the person. We intentionally greet them. We ask their name and maybe gain some basic information about them. At this step we are clarifying our image of the person. But the information we gather tends to be superficial.

                If we feel connected to that person in some way, we may take the next step to move from knowing about the person to actually getting to know the person. In my experience, this takes on many forms. Of course, the obvious way we get to know someone is by talking with them. We begin to ask probing questions that get beneath the surface. In order for this to really develop, we need to be willing to open up to the other person ourselves. The more open we are with them, the more open they become with us. This often leads to the next level, shared experience.

                We really get to know someone when we enter into shared experiences. It is in shared experience that we get to see the person in action. Different kinds of experiences reveal different aspects of the person’s character. You might visit some point of interest with the person and discover that you share similar tastes. You might work on a project with that person and see how they handle a challenge or work under pressure. By sharing experiences, we have the chance to explore the full range of who the other person is inside. We discover where we are alike and where we are different.

                A number of people here at my church have shared some significant experiences with me outside of church. The people who traveled to Ukraine with me came to know me in a different way than people who only see me on Sunday. The men who have gone on the backpacking trips with me have seen me struggle and endure in ways that would never be evident here at church. Shared experience tends to strip away some of the façade we all have and can expose the real us underneath. That is scary for some people, but it is the path to really getting to know another person.

                Ultimately, the greatest step to getting to know another person is being present with them over time. The longer we are intentionally connected with another person, the better we come to know them and they us. There are a couple of men that I have met with on a weekly basis for many years. The depth of our relationship has grown more by the amount of time we have invested in that relationship, than what we actually did.

                Just as we strive to really get to know other people in our lives, we have been invited to strive to get to know God.

                Many people live their whole lives viewing God from a distance. I recently began rereading J.I. Packer’s excellent book “Knowing God.” At the beginning of the book, he makes the point that there is a big difference between knowing about God and knowing God personally. Many people settle for knowing about God, without really knowing Him. So how can we move from knowledge about God to knowing God personally. The process is very similar to what we have been talking about regarding getting to know another person.

                The first step to getting to know God personally is to invite him into your life. All of us rub shoulder with people all of the time that we will never get to know. Why? Because we don’t invite them into our lives. The same is true with God. In the beginning of the book of Revelation, Jesus makes it clear that He is waiting for us to invite him in. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Rev. 3:20 Jesus wants us to get to know him, but he will never impose or barge into our lives. He has already taken the initiative to reach out to us. It is up to us to respond. But that is only the first step. If we stop there, our relationship with God will remain on a superficial level.

                The second step to really getting to know God is to enter into dialog with Him. Just as talking with another person is the gateway to discovering who they are, so it is with God. So, how do we do that? We do it through reading God’s word and prayer. I know that sounds simplistic but it is not. Getting to know God through the Bible and prayer takes intentionality and effort. We can settle for just reading the words of the Bible and reciting standard prayers and we will never grow in our relationship. Instead we need to learn to study the Bible for ourselves and engage God is genuine prayer. Let’s take a closer look at both of these.

                Like the study of any subject, study of the Bible has multiple levels. We all begin with getting an overview of the Bible. We learn the main characters, the main stories and the main themes. This would be akin to when I took Intro to Biology in college. The idea is for us to get the big picture. But God did not give us the Bible to fill our heads with interesting facts. He gave it to us so that we could get to know Him.

                The second level is to go deeper in understanding the significance of the main themes and stories. Here is where we move past the what question to the why question. Why is this story significant? Why did God use that person? What is God trying to communicate to me about Himself? To do this we need to slow down and examine the Bible in smaller pieces for a longer period of time. There are many good tools that help us to go deeper, such as commentaries, Bible handbooks, Bible dictionaries, and the like. We should never be afraid to use the tools God has made available to us.

                The third level is to put ourselves into the picture. How do the things I am discovering apply to my life? In what way is God revealing Himself to me? What difference does this make in my life? All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:16-17. There are many excellent devotional guides that can help with this.

                Coupled with digging deeply into the Bible, we need to learn to pray genuinely. It is so easy for us to pray laundry list prayers, filled with requests of God. God has invited us to do this, but genuine prayer is so much more. Our prayers should include time to honor God and marvel at who He is. The Psalms are filled with examples of giving praise to God in very specific ways. We can ask God to reveal more of Himself to us. We also need to be willing to ask God to reveal to us what he desires from us. Prayer should be a dialog not a monolog. Often, as I am praying a persistent thought will come into my mind. I have learned to recognize that God is speaking and directing me to something that I need to talk with Him about. Prayer is an essential part of getting to know God personally.

                Paul challenges us to make prayer an integral part of our lives. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephes. 6:18

                Jesus assures us that prayer is not a waste of our time or a hollow activity. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

                But we are not done with our quest to get to know God personally. We need to move on to the next, and most important step; shared experience.

                As our knowledge of God grows, we need to take it out into the real world and put it to the test. We have all known people who talk big in the comfort of the coffee shop or living room, but can’t perform when put to the test. To really get to know God, we need to actively get involved in His world. The most common shared experience for most of us in corporate worship. It is relatively safe and we are comfortable there. But if we really want to grow deeper in our relationship with God, we need to step out in faith and move into some less safe situations. Here are just a few examples of how we can do that.

- Volunteer to teach or help in a Sunday School class.

- Engage in mentoring a young person.

- Volunteer in the community with some worthy endeavor.

- Ask God to give you a Timothy, who you can invest in over time.

- Go on a mission trip.

- Take the initiative to help a neighbor

- Get involved in a small group

- Take a personal interest in a specific missionary family.

- Host a visiting missionary in your home.

- Invite an international student to lunch or dinner.

- Be a friendship family for an international student

- Make the effort to get to know a college student who attends Bethel

- Make the effort to actually connect with the people who serve you on a regular basis.

                Our faith in God moves from theory to reality when we actively put it into practice in our everyday world. Getting to know God is a lifetime pursuit. It is worth all that we put into it and more.   Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3 

REAL WISDOM

                We live in a world that tries to be very rational. We believe that we have the ability to explain anything by the use of our reason. But when our reason is based on faulty assumptions, then it becomes irrational. Many people in our world are basing their lives on the assumption that there is no God, or in a faulty understanding of who God is.

                I was watching a British mystery show last night. The central figures in the story were part of the psychology department at a Cambridge University college. One was the professor and the other two were students. They were running experiments to discover why people hold onto the irrational idea of faith in God. The intent of the professor was to demolish people’s irrational idea that they are part of something bigger than themselves. Although this was a TV program, the sentiment portrayed is all too common in our Western world today.  Belief in God is irrational.

                This attack on faith is not new, although it may be dressed up in new clothes. Paul faced the same challenge. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he addressed this issue head on.

    For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

    Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

    Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

                Paul makes it clear that God did not design humanity with the capacity to figure Him out on our own. Instead, He placed within us a longing to know Him, and then He revealed Himself to us. It is a totally irrational idea that a created being could figure out the creator. It is a totally irrational idea that our “wisdom” should be greater than God’s wisdom.

                Our faith is not irrational, as some want us to believe. It is a rational response to the evidence that has been given to us through creation, the revealed Word of God, and Jesus Christ. The truly irrational approach is to see the evidence and try to make sense of it without God. All that a godless approach can do is produce hopelessness, fear, cynicism, and fatalism.

    The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

    For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:18-23

                Without God in the picture, we humans will devise all manner of gods to take His place. For some, these false gods take the form of idols. For others, these false gods take the form of philosophies that seek to explain the world without God. But the most common false god is human wisdom and reason. It is the arrogance of humanity that says, I am the master of my world and I bow to no one.

                God has given us a great capacity to think and to reason. Through this endowment, we have discovered many amazing things about the world in which we live, and about ourselves. But when we leave God out of the equation, all of our wisdom becomes foolishness, and leads us in the wrong direction. Real wisdom is accepting the fact that we are not the center of the universe. Real wisdom is realizing that without God this world doesn’t make sense at all. 

FROM FANTASY TO REALITY

                Almost from the beginning of time, people have created their own fantasy world to counter balance the real world. In ancient times this took the form of myths about “the gods”. The Greeks developed an elaborate fantasy world around the gods. If you have ever studied Greek mythology, the gods looked a lot like humans, except with superhuman powers. They lived with all of the passions and desires of humans, without the restraints. The Greeks were not alone. The Norse, Hindus, and Native Americans, just to name a few, had their set of gods, complete with elaborate stories of their exploits.

                In our world today, many of these old gods are being revived as prototypical superheroes. Movies are being made and books are being written that revive these ancient superheroes for a new generation, with a modern twist, of course. In addition, through the power of computers and video games, many people are finding or creating their own alternative world, into which they can escape from reality.

                As followers of Christ, we must be on our guard against slipping into our own spiritual fantasy world about God and Christ. There are many today that have created their own image of Jesus to fit their ends. It is not uncommon to hear someone say, “My Jesus wouldn’t do that”, or “My Jesus is loving. He would never condemn anyone”. Whenever the sentence begins with the words “my Jesus” it should raise a red flag. “My Jesus” is a clue that we are entering into a fantasy world instead of reality.

                As followers of Christ, we do not have the right to define Jesus or God the way we want to. Instead we must conform our image to the truth as God has revealed it. Anything else is a distortion. Any attempt on our part to confine God in our well-defined boxes is futile. As the Psalmist states in Psalm 145:3-7, Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. We can never put God in a box. Instead, we need to stand in awe of His greatness and majesty.

                As followers of Christ, we need to seek to know God as He is, not as we want Him to be. Our very souls depend upon it. As Jesus said in John 17:3, Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Our quest is to get to know God through His revealed word and through Jesus. If we are going to truly know God, we need to accept the whole package. We cannot pick and choose which aspects of God we will accept. We cannot reshape the character of God to fit our sensibilities.

                Our faith is not in myths created by people to escape the realities of our world. Our faith is in the Living God, who is Lord over our world. The writer of Hebrews clearly defines the essence of our faith in Hebrews 11:6, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

                Let’s not settle for a fantasy world of our own making. Let’s strive to take hold of the reality of who God is in all of His power, glory and majesty.

    

LASTING SATISFACTION

                One of the things I like about baseball is that, no matter what the outcome, there is always another game tomorrow. Unlike football, where you have to wait for a whole week for the next game. The team that I follow happens to be playing quite well right now. They have won six games in a row and have taken over first place in their division. They won a game on the west coast late last night, which I discovered as I got up this morning. But there is a significant drawback in baseball. The thrill of victory is very temporary, because, even if you won the game last night, there is another game to play tonight.

                Whatever our field of endeavor, we all like to succeed. But in this life, all of our successes are only temporary. Each “victory” is followed by another challenge, which must be met. The satisfaction that we get from being successful is tempered by the need to do it again and again and again. Each new challenge holds the potential for failure, so we cannot bask in the glow of our success for very long. In fact, success itself can be a source of discouragement. Many who have strived toward some high goal, and have achieved it, are left with a hollow feeling. Is that all there is?

                We do not find lasting satisfaction in the things of this world, because we were not created for this world. This world is only a signpost to eternity. To use a baseball analogy, this life is only Spring Training for the regular season. Spring Training is a time filled with hope and anticipation, but nobody is satisfied with a successful Spring Training. They all see it only as a spring board to the Big Leagues. All the experiences that we have in this life are designed to increase our longing for God. If we look for ultimate meaning in the experiences of life, we will never discover true, lasting satisfaction.

                Solomon expressed this truth, in rather dark terms, in the book of Ecclesiastes. Throughout the book, he describes his attempts to discover true satisfaction from the things of this world. In the end, he concluded that all was vanity, a chasing after the wind. The reason for this is that people are looking for their satisfaction in the wrong place. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, Solomon zeros in on the source of lasting satisfaction. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. God has placed a longing into every person’s heart for Himself. A person can never find lasting satisfaction in life until he connects with God, through Jesus Christ.

                Jesus is the ultimate source of our satisfaction. In Christ, we know that, no matter how many failures or setbacks we face, we have already won the ultimate victory. Jesus minimizes the blow of our failures and enhances the joy of our successes. Paul transformed the way people viewed their lives when he wrote to those in the church we were slaves.  Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8

                In our country today, no one is a slave, but sometimes being an employee can feel that way. Many people find their work environment discouraging. They feel underappreciated and taken for granted. They are looking for a sense of satisfaction from their job, and not finding it. But if we all took Paul’s words to heart, it could transform us and our work environment. We would stop looking to others for our sense of satisfaction and look to Christ.

                We will never find lasting satisfaction from the things of this world. At best, we can have a temporary taste that will quickly fade. But in Christ, we can find real satisfaction. We can know that our lives matter and that what we do counts for eternity. The rewards that we will receive from Christ can never be taken away from us. We are secure in Him, so we can face any challenge the world may throw at us with an internal strength and confidence that comes from the Lord.

                2 Corinthians 4:6-9,16-18

    For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

    But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

    Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

   

   

   

PARTNERS ON THE JOURNEY

                Since I was in high school, I have liked the idea of backpacking. We did some camping as a family, and I thought it would be great to be able to take that to the next level. I liked the idea of getting away from the beaten path and getting out into the wilderness. I still have the Sierra Club book that I bought back then. But, for the most part, my experience was all theoretical.

                After I was accepted to Wheaton, I was given the opportunity to go on a program called Vanguards. It was a true wilderness experience set in the back country of Wisconsin and the UP. Wheaton owns Honey Rock camp, which was the launching pad for this three week adventure. I went into that experience all excited about finally getting to do some real backpacking. Little did I know how much it would put me to the test. The first day of our experience took place at camp, where they gave us some basic training in canoeing and in using the equipment we were issued. Then it was on the trail for the better part of three weeks.

                The first week was spent canoeing north. At the end of that week we relinquished our canoes, shouldered our backpacks and headed into the wilderness. We were given a compass, a topographical map, and a daily destination. The rules were that we had to avoid populated areas and we could not use any established roads. Each day, two of our team were selected to determine the course for the next day and to lead the team. Our official leaders were there to keep us out of trouble, but they made us lead. At the end of each week, we had to find our supply depot, which had our food and other necessities for the next week. At the end of the three weeks we arrived on the shore of Lake Superior in the UP of Michigan. After a three day solo experience on the lake shore, we were picked up by the camp bus and transported back to Honey Rock for a day of debriefing. Before that experience was over, I was pushed to my limit, only to discover that I could go farther than I thought.

                 I didn’t have any opportunity to continue my backpacking adventure until I moved to Minnesota. I discovered that Minnesota is a prime place to get in touch with nature, up close and personal. On our many trips to the North Shore, I discovered the Superior Hiking Trail. When my boys were in high school, we took a couple of long weekend backpacking trips. Each trip was a learning experience. Each trip offered new challenges.

                Two years ago, I led the first Bethel Men’s backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail. That was followed by a second trip last year. I am trying to find a time when I can lead one this year. With Elizabeth graduating from college in May and getting married in August, my time table is a little cramped.

                As I was thinking about what to share with you today, I noticed this picture in my office. Partners in the voyage. It reminded me that the spiritual life is a journey, not unlike a backpacking trip. We begin the journey with great enthusiasm, but little knowledge of what lies ahead of us. We soon discover that the journey is harder than we thought it would be. There are times of great excitement, interspersed with unanticipated challenges. We quickly discover that this is a journey best shared with others. I could go backpacking on my own, but it would not be as much fun, and it would be more dangerous. I can try to live the Christian life on my own, but it is not as rewarding and it is far more dangerous.

                The Bible says much about being partners on this life-long journey. One of the most well-known passages is Eccl. 4:9-12.

    Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

    If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

    But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

    Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?

   Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

    A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

                There are some important spiritual truths in this passage for all who embark on the adventure of this spiritual journey.

                We make better progress in life when we work together. When you are backpacking with others, you push each other to give your best effort. It is not really a competition. It is more a drawing out of full effort; not wanting to let the others down. Solomon put it this way in Proverbs 27:17. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

                When we work together we accomplish more than if we try to do it on our own. Paul refers to this as being a part of the Body of Christ. He reminds us that God’s design for the Christian life is that we would take this journey together.

1 Cor. 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

1 Cor. 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

                Later Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the importance of working together. Ephes. 4:16

    From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

                There are times when we all stumble and fall. We need a companion to help us get back on our feet. There are two incidents from my wilderness experience that illustrate this important truth. There were ten of us on my Vanguard team, plus two upper class leaders. One of our team members was a small guy, who I’ll call Eric, because I can’t remember his name. Eric did fine while we were canoeing, but once we had to carry our heavy backpacks, things got a little more difficult for him. Sometime during our second week, Eric pinched a nerve in his shoulder, which made his left arm go completely numb. Our leaders took Eric to a doctor who diagnosed the problem. He said Eric could continue on the trip, but he could not carry any weight. Each of us took some of Eric’s equipment so that he could continue with us.

                Because of Eric’s arm, he became the defacto head of the line. Although he was not the daily leader every day, he would be the one out front of the group. One day we hiked across a marshy area with Eric out front. Another team member, call him Bruce, was following right behind Eric. Suddenly Bruce dropped straight down into the ground. At that point we discovered that we were hiking on a floating bog. The extra weight of Bruce’s backpack had caused him to break through the top layer. He was suspended there; his backpack saving him from going all the way through. Together we hauled him out of the hole.

                On this spiritual journey there will be times when one of us will need extra help. There will also be times when one of us will step into a spiritual hole, and need someone to pull him out.

Galatians 6:1-2 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

                Having a fellow traveler helps us to overcome the inevitable discouragement that we will face along the way. On last year’s Men’s backpacking trip, my two companions were not in as good of shape as they thought they were. The initial excitement of hitting the trail soon faded, and they began to feel the weight of their backpacks. It would have been easy for them to give up and cut the trip short. But we encouraged one another to keep going.

                There are many times during our spiritual journey when the weight of life will wear us down. We can become discouraged and want to give up. It is at those times that we need others to come along side of us and encourage us to keep going. I have a couple of friends that I can turn to when discouragement begins to creep in. They don’t have all of the answers, but they can lift my spirits and give me the courage to keep going. Have you noticed that discouragement and encouragement have the same core. To discourage is to take away courage. To encourage is to give courage.

                One of the greatest gifts we can give to one another is the gift of encouragement. We all need it, but we don’t all get it as regularly as we would like. During these unsettled times, we need to be intentional encouragers.

1 Thes. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

                A lone traveler is vulnerable. But those traveling together can offer a greater sense of security and protection. We are often braver when we are with others, then when we are on our own.  

                One of my fears whenever I am backpacking on the North Shore is that I will run into a bear. Having other people with me lessens some of my fear. I figure if there is more than one of us, we can scare the bear away more easily.

                We have an enemy who is far more menacing and far more cunning than a bear. The Bible describes Satan as a roaring lion. He is always looking for the vulnerable, the unprotected, to attack. When we band together, we are better equipped to fend off Satan’s attacks.

1 Peter 5:8-9  Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

                On this journey, we can follow Christ’s lead. Ecclesiastes says that a cord of three strands in not easily broken. The glue that holds us together is not our determination, or our skills and talents. It is our faith in Christ. Our strength comes from Him. He has not only set the course for us to follow, he has traveled the course before us.

                I mentioned that we had two upper class leaders on our Vanguard team. They were there to watch over us and keep us from making any real bad mistakes. They were able to guide us on our journey because earlier in the summer they had taken the same trip. They knew the path we would be taking, as well as how to get us out of the wilderness if an emergency arose.

                The Bible assures us that Jesus has already blazed the trail before us. Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.

                We can trust Jesus to lead the way, and to give us the strength we need for the journey. Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

                I hope to be able to do some more backpacking in the future, if the Lord allows. But every day, I am on a journey of far greater significance. It is a journey of faith that will last until I stand in Christ’s presence in eternity. We are all on this journey. Christ wants us to travel together; partners in the journey.      

THE NEED TO BE RIGHT

                I have a major flaw in my character that I share with many other people. That flaw is an inordinate need to be right. This flaw manifests itself in a number of ways. It comes out in the need to correct others. I was in an airport once and I overheard two people talking. One of the people gave the other some inaccurate information about where to find something in the airport. I had an overwhelming urge to butt in and correct him. It also come out when I find myself in a conversation and start to defend my position, whatever it is or how important or unimportant it may be. Once when I was young I was in a conversation with my father and some other adults. The topic of conversation had something to do with Moses and the golden calf. Wanting to impress these adults, I inserted the information that Moses had the golden calf ground into power, mixed with water, and made the people drink it. The adults all laughed and shrugged off my comment. For the longest time, I had the desire to prove to those adults that I was right.

                In the Bible, the people who suffered the most from this malady were the Pharisees. They were the spiritual elite of their day. They were not “professional clergy”, but lay people who avidly studied the scriptures, in the most minute detail. They would spend hours arguing over fine points in the Law. Things such as, how much weight can a person carry on the Sabbath without doing work. The most important thing for the Pharisees was that they were right. They had the corner on the truth, and they were not shy to let others know it.

                When the Pharisees encountered Jesus, the inevitable sparks began to fly. Jesus often challenged their understanding of the scriptures. This made them very defensive and so they argued more aggressively. We can see this conflict clearly in the Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in Matthew 5-7. In Chapter 5, six times Jesus says, you have heard it said, but I say. Six times, Jesus openly challenged the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees. Needless to say, this did not win Jesus many friends among the brotherhood of Pharisees.

                The reaction of the Pharisees highlights two corollaries to my flaw of always needing to be right. Maybe they are actually the underlying cause of my need to be right. They are the need to prove myself and the need to have other people’s approval. Much of my life I have tried to prove myself to God and to others. I kept all the rules, so that those I respected would approve of me. I was compliant, in order to win the acceptance and approval of others. My obedience was often not fueled by any noble quality in my character, but by my need to be accepted and affirmed.  In a way, I was trying to prove to God that I was worthy of His love and acceptance.

                I would love to be able to say that all that is behind me, but that is not true. I still struggle with these things, but I have also matured spiritually. I have gained a different perspective that has allowed me, for the most part, to let go of these deep seated needs. Here are a few things I have learned.

                I have learned that I can never be good enough to earn God’s favor, but that Jesus has taken care of that for me. I cannot become righteous by my own effort. My righteousness comes from Christ. Paul makes this clear in Romans 3:21-24. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Knowing this can free me from the insatiable need to prove myself.

                I have learned that, in Christ, I have been completely accepted by God. I am loved with an everlasting, overwhelming love that is not dependent upon my performance. There are many passages that emphasize this truth. Here are just a couple examples.

                But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10

                How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3

                 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19

                I have learned that I don’t have to prove myself to God. My relationship with God is not based on my efforts, but on God’s grace and mercy, which He has freely given to me. I can trust in His promises and be secure in my eternal hope.

                For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

                I still struggle with the desire to be right, to be in control, and to seek approval. But these things has loosened their grip on me. These days I am less dogmatic and more compassionate. I am more willing to admit that I don’t know or that I am wrong. And less and less do I feel the need to prove myself. Each day I am becoming more secure in my walk with Christ and my dependence upon the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14