Not a Tame Lion

My family and I recently visited Custer State Park in South Dakota.  It is located in the Black Hills, and the beauty of this natural landscape permeated each day of our trip.  Although the tourists had come out in full force to join us, we often found a spot here and there on our trip when it seemed to be just us and God's sprawling landscape.  It was truly a sight to behold.  

Custer Park contains one stretch of highway called the Wildlife Loop.  It is just what it claims to be; hundreds of acres of land dotted here and there with wild horses and bison.  As we traveled down this small highway, I could feel the anticipation from the rest of the family.  

"Would we see any wild buffalo today?" they commented from time to time.  As it happens, we were just about to give up after going around several more curves without seeing anything.  And then it happened.  Our SUV pulled over one last hill and we had to come to a quick stop - there were at least a hundred buffalo herded together across the road.  Cars were stopped all along the shoulder to take photos and watch intently.  

I began to get nervous as one large bull crossed in front of us and started licking the hood of the vehicle a few car lengths away!  A mother and her calf came close enough to my daughter's side of the car that she could have reached out and touched it.  I motioned to her to roll up the window quickly.  For some reason the button didn't work right away, so for a few seconds I began to sweat as the calf came closer and the window stayed down.  "When would it's mother decide to step in and protect her baby," I thought to myself.  Finally the button worked, and the window came up.  Not long afterward, the herd thinned out, and we continued down the road to the next adventure.  

It didn't occur to me until later, a flimsy car window would have been no match for a charging buffalo.  Although everything went well that day at the park, I'm willing to bet that from time to time, a tourist gets into trouble rather quickly.  It isn't a petting zoo.  Maybe people decide to feed the animals, or simply get too close.  Whatever the reason may be, it is by and large, an illusion of safety for those who visit the Wildlife Loop on any given day.  

When we shift to discuss spiritual matters, I find that many churches often talk very freely and comfortably about God.  In fact, maybe from time to time, we get a little too comfortable.  This is easy to do, especially sitting inside of a nice, climate controlled church building.  We tend to think that God must certainly see the world the same way we do.  But we don't know what it was like to be Moses up on Mt. Sinai as the Lord spoke to him in claps of thunder.  We will never know what it was like to be one of the Israelites who witnessed the parting of the Red Sea.  

Those stories have grown into comfortable childrens' fables and vacation Bible lessons.  But the fact remains they really happened, and so did other stories like them.  They depict God as mighty and Holy, and not someone you want to mess around with necessarily.

In the Narnia book series, author C.S. Lewis invents a protagonist named Aslan the Lion.  It is a direct connection to Jesus of Nazareth, couched ingeniously into a kid's novel.  In the books, Aslan is often seen protecting little Lucy, Edmund, and Susan from the clutches of the evil ice queen.  At one point in the book, Susan asks Mr. Beaver if Aslan is "safe" to hang around with.  Mr. Beaver replies by telling her, "Of course he isn't safe, but he is good.  He isn't a tame lion."

Lewis' implication here is that Jesus is good and he is loving, but we must come to him humbly and with awe.  God is sovereign above all things, and that includes us.  We cannot compartmentalize Him away into some kind of comfortable, fun uncle, any more than we can really control the weather or stop the Earth's tectonic plates from shifting.  It is God's universe, we just live in it.

I want to quote a piece of Scripture from a very old book in the Bible.  Scholars think that Deuteronomy was written sometime in the seventh century B.C.  One reason I feel comfortable using this Scripture in the here and now, is that Jesus often quotes Old Testament passages in the Gospels.  He makes the old new again, and this passage is no different.  It still applies to us today.  

Deut 6:16-19 says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.  Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.  Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said."   

This Scripture comes shortly after Moses reminds the Israelites of the ten commandments in Exodus.  Massah refers to a point in time which the people pushed back in rebellion against Moses due to a lack of water in the desert, and is a reminder for them (and for us) not to test God.  This reference would have made perfect sense to the listener back then.  Instead, we must keep a healthy level of respect for Him and a certain level of awe in our hearts.   

Jesus bridges the sin gap that exists between us and God.  Indeed, the Bible mentions elsewhere that to fall into the hands of the living God can be a fearful thing without the covering and the blood of Christ.  Atonement is necessary in order for us to commune properly with God the Father.  Trusting Jesus in that way, allows the removal of barriers between an imperfect people and a Holy God.

From time to time, my job as pastor requires me to say unpopular things based on how I interpret the Scriptures.  Things that are often counter-cultural and politically incorrect.  When I need to prepare something that I know may draw rebuke from people, my mind goes back to the command from James chapter 3, verse 1.  It says, "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."  

If I know what the Bible says, I need to preach it in just the same way ... I dare not test the Lord on this matter.  He is just and He is good, but He is not a tame lion.  Best I think, not to get too comfortable when it comes to the being who created everything.  Even better to trust in His son Jesus, who sacrificed himself such that we can have eternal salvation. 

 

 

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Push vs. Pull

From time to time, we hear the phrase "push versus pull."  It used to show up a lot around conference tables in corporate America because it is an old marketing term.  The idea was that a company making 'widgets' for example, could expect a certain level of product pushed down the assembly line because the customer was pulling a certain amount of demand.  If widgets were popular that year, then supply and demand would bring high profits for the company - they would feel a natural pull for higher production and shareholders would be happy.   

Widgets are a fictional item, so I would like to apply this principal in a more realistic way to our spiritual lives for a moment.  In order to do this, I must change the metaphor just slightly.  We all know what it's like to be forced (or "pushed") into doing something that we don't really want to do.  This type of relationship often yields mediocre results in both churches and the workplace, not to mention personal relationships.  Take for example, a boss that tells you to take a forced furlough without pay during certain slow months of the year.  I suspect many employees would use this frustrating time to look for another job.  

As I said a moment ago, we can apply this to the world of personal relationships also.  Take another example: the friend that coerces you into doing something you would rather not do.  Maybe they are convinced that you owe them something, so the intention is to guilt you into performing at a level they desire.  Wouldn't most people do only the bare minimum at that point?  It doesn't make for an ideal situation.  The difficult friend may get what they want, but it creates a lose-lose result ultimately. 

Another interesting thing occurs when people are pushed into a form of rule book religion at church.  Maybe they have a pastor who believes that only good works get you closer to heaven, and so they try and try to live a good life through behavior modification as best they can; resulting in the inevitable frustration when they do eventually fall short and sin.  This exemplifies an understanding of God that never really allows grace into the equation.  In other words, the idea is that if you want forgiveness ... you must earn it yourself.  

Jeremiah was a Biblical prophet that foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of Assyria.  He was often called the 'weeping prophet', because much of what he had to say was negative.  He often didn't want to say what God put on his heart, and the people didn't want to hear it.  What a difficult job, right?

Jeremiah 31:3 says this, "The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.'"  The prophet is speaking to Israel here, on behalf of God.  This time it is good news!  Notice how the Lord decides to draw people to himself - it's a pull, not a push.   It's a gentle word of encouragement and an everlasting love pulling God's chosen people back to Himself.  

We all know that the opposite of this gentle encouragement (feeling the violent push aforementioned) can result in rebellion.  If someone were to exclude Jeremiah 31 and other similar passages from their Biblical worldview, and try to argue people into the Christian faith, we wouldn't have many followers.   While logical arguments and reason do play a part in Apologetics and conversion, I believe that the vast majority of converts follow Jesus today because someone showed them love and kindness.

I attended a large, non-denominational church years ago in a different city.  The pastor was someone about my own age, who also had young children.  We had quite a bit in common, and I'm sure it was clear to him that I was in need of the real Jesus back then.  So he took the time to offer me counsel when needed, and to help me make sense of the Scriptures.  I studied, and then he guided.  He used love and kindness to help draw me to the Lord (never arguing or becoming impatient).  His was a faith built on trust and goodness, and it helped me find my own way to the cross.  In effect, God pulled me to Himself through this young preacher.  Right time, right place, right relationship.  

Since that time, I have been witness to both the effect of graceless, rule book religion's harmful results, as well as forgiveness and mature Christianity.  Pulling people to Jesus is always the most effective way.  Gentleness works. 

A 'pulled Christian' will change the world, one convert at a time, because kindness is universal.  The church does have access to an undeniable and exclusive truth (i.e.: Jesus is the only way to the Father).  But we need not wield that truth like a weapon, using it to argue or chastise the lost.  We pull them to church instead, then the Spirit loves them, and Jesus does the judging in his own time.  

We are far more important than widgets, and the work of the church is of immutable value when it comes to pulling people to heaven.  We offer our hand in a friendly gesture, their fingers holding ours tightly.  All the while, Jesus pulling both of us upward together by his own force.  

 

 

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Building God's Healthy House

Anyone who has built a house from the ground up knows that the "devil is in the details."  Depending on how involved the homeowner is with the floor plan, you may spend a good portion of your time deciding what kind of tile to put on your kitchen floor or what type of doorknob to use on your front door.  The attention to detail can be overwhelming at times.  For others, they are content to allow the builder and contractors to sift through the minutia and make selections based on more of a cookie-cutter approach (each house looks the same).  No less details to attend to, just a different person doing the sifting. Someone will eventually have to go room by room and plan things out.

I recently got to know someone in a local small group, and he talked a lot about what it means to have a healthy "spiritual house."  By this he didn't mean a literal, physical house - but rather the importance of living your life in a deliberate fashion as it pertains to staying mentally intact.  It's a great metaphor, and it lines up perfectly in many respects to what God wants from our lives.  

I believe it is possible to build our metaphorical house by engaging God while we lay out the ideal floor plan.  We should strive to build a healthy house at all costs.  1 Corinthians says this, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it.  But each one should build with care."   In fact, a carefully built house is of paramount importance I think, because it sets us up to be strong and healthy in the faith.

How is your own house?  Is it strong with a firm foundation?  Or is it subject to decay and wear over time, as the rain and snow show up each season?  For example, I believe it will behoove us to create the following rooms in our house: love, peace, forgiveness, and faith.  In fact, it is difficult for any house to remain standing for very long unless they exercise these traits regularly.  

Likewise, I believe that none of these virtues can exist apart from each other either.  Can you imagine for example, someone at peace without first being able to both seek and grant forgiveness?  Or what about someone trying to walk in their faith, but without love as an ultimate end goal?  After all, God is the very definition of love.  As you can see, these virtues go hand in hand, and every healthy house needs rooms like these. 

By contrast, we must now discuss the type of rooms that no one intends when working out their floor plan.  They come about maybe through early trauma, experiencing disappointment, or simply because we are born with a sin nature.  These are the rooms you should fight to remove from your blueprints: guilt, shame, pride, and jealousy.  They have no place in one of God's houses. 

As you may have guessed, these anti-virtues will often exist in tandem with each other as well.  How many of us have experienced guilt for something we did, followed immediately by shame?  Or what about puffing ourselves up with pride, only to be jealous of someone else who is better at something than we are?  The list goes on and on, and it's no fun at all to live in a house like this.  Unfortunately, many people have come from this type of upbringing - whether they lived in an unhealthy childhood situation, or are currently in an abusive home.  And for many, this style of living is simply part of their day to day reality.  They are guided by a natural predilection toward feeling these types of difficult emotions. 

Look around at your current floor plan; do any of these negative rooms exist?  If so, then we must set to the work of remodeling at once.  Time to pull up the flooring and strip off the wallpaper.  Life is to short to nurture unhealthy rooms.  Jeremiah 17:14 says, "Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise."  

If we look to the Father, He will heal us indeed.  It may not come quickly or in the particular way that we expect, but if we seek Him out, Scripture says He will never turn away from us.  That is the type of awesome God that we serve.  Turning to Him of course also means trusting Jesus, and listening to what his Spirit says to ours.  This is accomplished through prayer, and sometimes even fasting.  And then we wait.  Wait on God to redeem us; wait on Him to heal us.  In this fashion, we root out and remodel the unwanted rooms in our home, even if they have been there for a very long time.  

I want to finish with just one more thought.  While most who visit our home will be guests, occasionally we may get a visit from an unwanted interloper.  They don't always enter in through the front door.  The Bible says that the devil seeks to steal and destroy, often trying to enter the Good Shepherd's sheep pen by the side door or window.  When this happens, the sheep are in real danger.  Even if you live in a healthy house, you must stay alert and keep your guard up.  It is so very easy for pride and jealousy to sneak in, for example.  To begin eroding your foundation slowly but surely over time.  

It is important to stay vigilant because a healthy home breeds other healthy homes.  A child who is raised with a blueprint of love and peace will grow up and show the same to others.  In this way, God's Kingdom can be secured over time through generations and "healthy neighborhoods."  

Doesn't this type of lifestyle sound more inviting than rooting out black mold and wood rot?  Build and nurture the type of home that God desires for you.  A home made of love and trust, peace and faith.  The type of place that creates a safe space to become the type of people we were meant to be.  

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