The Perils of Apostacy

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the laws of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” -- Hebrews 10:26-31

It is commonly thought by those who have only a passing knowledge of Jonathan Edwards that his famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was preached with a sadistic glee to his bewildered congregation. The supposition is that Edwards enjoyed afflicting his people and that the sermon was preached with pulpit-pounding vehemence. Such thinking is wide of the mark. Shouting was not Edwards’ style as he typically read his sermons from tiny pieces of paper he held up in front of him. We must understand that it was his passionate love for God and his flock that caused him to employ every tool in his considerable store of logic and metaphor to plead for the souls of his people. He was less concerned with God’s wrath than with His grace, which was freely extended to sinners who repented. Jonathan Edwards gave his people a whiff of the sulfurs of hell that they might deeply inhale the fragrances of grace. It was this intense concern for his people that enjoined him in heart to the preacher who wrote to the Hebrew church some 1,700 years earlier. The stakes were identical – Heaven or Hell. And the symptoms, though not identical, were similar as well – a declining regard for the church’s authority, a willfulness to define one’s relationship to the church in one’s own terms, and, in some cases, quitting the church altogether. To such are addressed the thunderous warnings in vv. 26-31.

The writer begins his plea by graphically outlining the terrors of apostasy. The opening terror is that it obviates Christ’s atoning sacrifice: “ … no sacrifice for sins is left” [v. 26]. This is the terror of no sacrifice! The writer is not describing the grace of Christ running short but rather a graceless, reprobate state characterized by two things – deliberateness and continuance. This is deliberate, intentional sin. In fact, the word “deliberately” stands first in the Greek for emphasis. Moreover, this deliberate sin is continual. This unfortunate person persists in open rebellion to God and His Word. The point is this individual has “received the knowledge of the truth” – the content of Christianity as truth. He knows what God has done in Christ, and he understands it. Yet he intentionally – knowingly – rejects it and willfully continues on in an unremitting state of sin – as an apostate. This is what Jesus called the sin against the Holy Spirit [Matthew 12:32, Mark 3:29]. It is the same thing as was described earlier in Hebrews 6:4-6: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace.” The ignorant cannot commit this sin. It cannot be committed inadvertently. It is a sin that only “church people” can commit. To such, “no sacrifice for sins is left” because they have rejected the one and only valid sacrifice – Christ. This terror is joined by the second great terror, because since there is no sacrifice, judgment follows: “… but only a fearful expectation of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” [v. 27]. This is an echo of Isaiah 26:11 and is a gripping expression for the judgment of God. The point being, that those who have rejected Christ inherit a fearful expectation of judgment whether or not they are aware of it. Interesting thoughts, even amusing to some, when one is in good health. But it has proven far different with hardened apostates at the time of death when there comes “only a fearful expectation of judgment.”

A case in point would be Voltaire, who of Christ said, “Curse the wretch!” He also once boasted “In twenty years Christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear.” Ironically, shortly after his death, the very house in which he printed his literature became the depot for the Geneva Bible Society. The nurse who attended him said, “For all the wealth in Europe I would not see another infidel die.” And his physician, Trochim, who waited with him at his death, said he cried out most desperately, “I am abandoned by God and man! I will give you half of what I’m worth if you will give me but six months’ life. Then shall I go to hell and you will go with me.”

Or consider Thomas Paine, the renowned American author [who wrote, ironically, Common Sense] and enemy of Christianity who exerted considerable influence against belief in God and the Scriptures. He came to his last hour in 1809, a disillusioned and unhappy man. During his final moments on earth he said: “I would give worlds, if I had them, that Age of Reason had not been published. O Lord, help me! Christ, help me! O God what have I done to suffer so much? But there is no God! But if there should be, what will become of me hereafter? Stay with me, for God’s sake! Send even a child to stay with me, for it is hell to be alone. If ever the devil had an agent, I have been that one.”

“And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” – Matthew 12:31, 32

To reject the gracious work of the Spirit of grace renders one irremediably lost. What frightening terrors lie behind apostasy: rejection of Christ’s person, rejection of Christ’s work, and rejection of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Understanding this, the question of verse 29 explodes: “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished … ?” One thing is sure – there will be no mercy shown for the hardened apostate, just as there was no mercy shown to those who willfully transgressed the Law. But the greater severity is that breaking the Old Covenant brought physical death, while rejecting Christ brings spiritual death.

Some today reject this idea by employing a one-sided view of Christ. They say that Jesus’ emblem was a lamb, that Jesus took little children in His arms and blessed them, that He sighed over the deaf and dumb and wept over Jerusalem. But they forget that the Lamb of God will come with wrath – in judgment [Revelation 6:16], that He told all who cause any one of His little ones to sin that it would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around their neck, and that the same Jesus who wept over Jerusalem judged it. You cannot have the Jesus of the Scriptures without the doctrines of judgment and Hell. It was Charles Spurgeon who said it best, “Think lightly of hell, and you will think lightly of the cross.” Our lives hang by a mere thread. Eternity gapes before us.

The Law as a Shadow, Yet Powerless Over Sin

“The Law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once and for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. … we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. …” Hebrews 10:1-18

As a “shadow,” the Law is only a pale reflection, a mere outline or silhouette, and is thus unsubstantial. The Ten Commandments, the Book of the Covenant, and the Tabernacle only foreshadow the reality of Christ. And as a shadow, the Law had substantial imperfections, “But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Of course, the author of Hebrews is not the first to understand that animal blood would not atone for sins. The writers of Scripture had been alert to this for centuries. David’s repentant words head the list: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” [Psalm 51:16, 17].

Or consider also Samuel’s words to King Saul: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams” [1 Samuel 15:22].

The Lord spoke to Isaiah: “The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me? I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings!” [Isaiah 1:11-13].

God said through Hosea, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” [Hosea 6:6]. And Amos shared God’s thoughts about wrong-hearted sacrifices: "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring me choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" [Amos 5:21-24].

Lastly, we can conclude with the words of Micah: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” [Micah 6:6-8].

It is a fact that at the time of Christ many pious Jews honored the sacrificial system and even offered sacrifices, but realized that those sacrifices could not remove sin. This is why, when the Temple was destroyed some thirty years after Jesus’ death, the people so easily adapted. They understood that animal sacrifice was insufficient to obtain forgiveness.

Because the old system could not take away their sin, it produced a second imperfection – a guilty conscience. The result was, as v. 3 points out, that the sacrifices remained as “an annual reminder of sins.” As a matter of fact, the Day of Atonement increased the burden of those with sensitive hearts. The Day’s well-defined ritual was constructed to aggravate one’s conscience. The shadow of the Old Covenant Law and sacrifice inflamed the unrequited need for forgiveness and a clear conscience. The photograph, so to speak, pictured what could be and activated an ache for the reality. The Old Covenant simply could not “make perfect those who draw near to worship” [v. 1]. It was good, as far as it went. But it was frustratingly inadequate.

Of course, the Godhead was not unaware of this, and beginning in v. 5 we have a brief synopsis of the conversation that took place when Jesus elected to come into the world as a man. It is interesting to note that our pre-incarnate Savior quotes Psalm 40 as being prophetic of His thoughts at His human birth. David had spoken it 1000 years earlier, but Christ in Heaven took it and reapplied it, so as to describe His own inner thinking and dialogue with the Father when He came into the world saying in essence: “My Father, the Old Testament sacrifices have proven unsatisfactory, so you have prepared a body for Me, that I might become a pleasing sacrifice.” The fact was that though God had instituted blood animal sacrifices [Exodus 24], He had never been pleased with them and did not see them as ends in themselves. He had established them as object lessons to instruct His people about the sinfulness of their hearts, His hatred of sin, the fact that sin leads to death, the need of an atonement, and His delight in those whose hearts were clean and obedient and faithful. But there was nothing appealing to Him in the sight of a dying animal. God had no pleasure in the moans and death-throes of lambs or bulls. What He did find pleasure in was those who offered a sacrifice with a contrite, obedient heart.

Having verbalized what the Father wanted – Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death – our Lord now states His joyous resolve: “Then I said, ‘Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do Your will, O God” [v. 7]. The great emphasis here is Christ’s exuberant determination and eagerness to obey the Father. He did not obey grudgingly or under duress but with joy! Just two chapters later, the writer tells us that Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before Him” [12:2]. What is the application for us? Jesus’ joyous resolve to obediently do God’s will is the essence of the true sacrifice and worship that God desires. Jesus does what God desired from every worshipper under the Old Covenant. God did not want animal sacrifices. What He wanted and still wants is obedience! That is the only sacrifice that is acceptable to God.

An Anchor for the Soul

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19, 20

We understand that the great Abrahamic Covenant [God’s promise to Abram when he departed Haran, as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3, that he would make a great nation from Abram and bless all the peoples on earth] was made to a man who had no physical offspring. We also understand that the reiterations of the covenant promise were also made when he still had no children [Genesis 13:14-17]. Another ten years in the land go by and Abram still had no children, when one fateful day while suffering from post-battle fatigue incurred from defending the land from four kings [Genesis 14], he drifted off to sleep. Suddenly God spoke: “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward” [Genesis 15:1]. Despite these rallying words, Abram, still discouraged, voiced his fear that because he was childless his estate would go to his servant. At this low point, God spoke to him, “‘A son coming from your own body will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them’ Then He said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be’” [15:4,5]. Abram’s response sealed his fate as the father of our faith: “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness” [15:6]. The aged patriarch rested everything on God’s Word. As a result, he was declared righteous apart from works, fourteen years before circumcision [Genesis 17] and hundreds of years before the Law!

Finally, Abraham and Sarah were given their dream in baby Isaac – and in that little boy, soon grown to manhood, they saw the promise in full bloom. Yet there was one more test and perfection awaiting the patriarch’s faith. Abraham was well over 100 years old according to Genesis 22, when God said to him, “‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about’” [22:2]. Easily, this is the most shocking command ever given to any human being by God! We can imagine the numbing horror that must have spread over Abraham’s soul. This makes his ready obedience almost as equally shocking, because with the first glow of dawn, without a word to aged Sarah, Abraham saddled his donkey, quietly called for two servants and his son Isaac, split wood for the sacrificial pyre, and began the terrible journey [v. 3]. How could he do it? We wonder. Our text gives us the answer: “On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you’” [vv. 4,5]. Abraham was confident they would return together! This was because, as the writer of Hebrews reveals, “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death” [11:19; vv. 17-18].

Imagine the poignant exchange between father and son as they ascended Mt. Moriah – Isaac’s dawning realization that he was the sacrifice – the construction of the altar – Isaac’s voluntary submission to his father as he was bound – the sobbing, the kisses, the tears, the terrible blade in the father’s trembling hand – the nausea, the darkness – the imminent convulsions of his only son – all this shows the tip of Abraham’s emotions as he faithfully carried out God’s will. Then with the blade poised for descent, the angel of Heaven called out, “Abraham! Abraham!” and we know the rest of the story in all its tender redemptive glory. But do we remember the final pronouncement of the angel of the Lord – because it has everything to do with our text in Hebrews: “I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” [Genesis 22:16-18].

The significance of this from the perspective of the writer of Hebrews is that whereas God had repeatedly promised Abraham he would make a great nation from him, He here swore an oath to do so. Here in Hebrews 6 tells us: “When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’” God was so pleased with Abraham’s supreme act of faith that He did something He had never done before – He swore that the promise would come to pass. The pertinence of this to the little Hebrew church as it braced for the tempests ahead is expressed in the next line: “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised” [v. 15]. This is an implicit call to the church for a faith that is so firm it enables steadfastness through the uneven seas of life. Abraham’s faith saw the unseen. He saw a living God who was sovereign in all of life – he saw his sacrificed son resurrected and living on – he saw himself fathering a sea of humanity – he saw blessing for the whole earth. And because he saw this, he was gloriously long-suffering through many years.

Many wonder why the God of the universe would swear an oath when He had already given the promise repeatedly. Regarding human oaths the writer says, “Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument” [Hebrews 6:16]. This is essentially why God chose to swear by an oath. God did not have to swear by an oath, but He did so as a condescension or accommodation to human weakness. Of course, in choosing to make an oath, He could only choose to swear by Himself because there was nothing or no one higher to swear by. And why was God so premeditative about making His oath? Verse 18 answers, “God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.” This is powerful encouragement indeed because the “two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie” are His word of promise and His oath. His promise to Abraham, and to us, can do nothing but come true because God’s “Word is truth” [John 17:17] and because God “does not lie” [Titus 1:2]. He is the author of truth, the essence of truth. His oath, though unnecessary, is the double assurance that He cannot lie. Truth has sworn by truth that its truth shall truly be fulfilled. His Word is eternally sealed with the double surety of promise and oath.

Because of this, “the hope” we have fled to and take hold of is sure. We must understand that it is an objective hope, and not the subjective, sentimental optimism the world so readily embraces. It is true that optimism is certainly better than pessimism. Yet, blind, secular optimism flourishes best where the ground is shallow and without the real difficulties of life. Optimism is good for the body, but it will not save us. I have seen a number of hopeful, optimistic people die, many of whom were cancer patients. Looking at the bright side of things may seem bold and brave, but if it involves a foolish neglect of facts that suggest the opposite, it only makes the subsequent failure more bitter. Bankruptcies often visit those who insist on only looking at the bright side of their finances without considering the potential negative possibilities.

However, the hope spoken of here by the writer of Hebrews does not originate within us, but comes from the outside. New Testament scholar William Lane says categorically, “In Hebrews, the word ‘hope’ never describes a subjective attitude [i.e. ‘our hope’ or ‘hopefulness’] but always denotes the objective context of hope.” Here our hope centers on the objective promises of God, which are fleshed out for us in the ultimate blessing of the world through Jesus Christ. The “hope offered to us” comes from the fact that we are in Christ, the Son who fulfilled Abraham’s covenant – and that at the last we will be with Christ and like Christ [John 14:3, 1 John 3:2]. Jesus is the foundation and the substance of our hope.

Now, having God’s Word for it, He gives us His “anchor” – a metaphor which suggests deepest security: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” [vv. 19, 20]. To appreciate what is said here, we must remember that the curtain was a thickly woven piece of tapestry hung between the inner and outer chambers of the Tabernacle. No one could see through the curtain, and the Holy of Holies was inaccessible to all but the high priest, who passed within only once a year. It was between these two compartments of the Tabernacle – the Holy Place representing the earthly worshipping life of God’s people, and the Holy of Holies representing God’s presence – that the curtain hung. Together, these two sides of the curtain symbolize living spiritual realities – God’s presence in Heaven and the storm-tossed church worshipping below [Hebrews 9].

But then an anchor is hurled from the Church. But instead of falling to the depths, it rises through the blue skies and on up through the heavens where it passes unhindered through the curtain and anchors onto the throne of God in the heavenly Holy of Holies where Jesus is seated “at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” [Hebrews 1:3]. Our lives are accessed and anchored in Heaven! The significance of this was immediate in the ancient world because an anchor was everything to those at sea. A firm anchorage meant security. Well-anchored, the winds could blow, but the ship would not be awash or headed for the rocks. But there is something more, for there is another anchor who has pierced the veil, one who actually tore it in two – Jesus. “Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” [v. 20, Matthew 27:50, 51]. We are anchored in the Father’s presence for eternity – and Jesus at His right hand perpetually intercedes for His Church. His continual priestly prayer for us is the medium for our survival.

He is there as the one “who went before us” – literally as our prodromos, our “forerunner.” Just as forerunners were sent to explore the way for those who would follow, Christ, our prodromos, has gone ahead of us to prepare the way [see John 14:2-4]. If we are true followers of Christ, the bows of our boats will always be treading heavy seas and bucking contrary winds. The disciples found this out when they obeyed Jesus and launched out in the night for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The reason they were in stormy waters was that they were doing what Jesus said [see Matthew 14:22-32]. It has always been this way. Abraham’s ships – his camels and desert schooners – were always facing contrary winds, “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” [Hebrews 11:10]. Paul concurs when he writes, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” [2 Timothy 3:12]. But we are not flotsam on the tides. We have a hope – a hope outside ourselves – an anchor for the soul.

The Greatness of Servanthood

“Train yourself to serve God … serving God helps you in every way by bringing you blessing in this life and in the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7b-8

Servanthood is not God’s way to get us to the place where we will only be served; it is both the way and the life of the kingdom of God.

Jesus is without ambiguity when He tells us that He is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except by Him [John 14:6]. His invitation is to join an revolution. If we choose to follow Him, there will be within us a transformation of the soul. He will do nothing less than translate us from a kingdom of emptiness into His kingdom where we will begin to live in a new reality.

The way of God is the path of servanthood. This is not a test to see if we deserve better. It is God offering us the best of Himself and the best of life. God calls us to be servants because God is a servant.

God stands alone as Creator and Redeemer. He also stands there as Servant. He created us to be creative. He invites us to reconcile men to Himself. He also calls us to choose the path of servanthood. This is not about religion; it is about revolution [Galatians 5:1-6].

On this journey we discover that not only does humility lead to integrity and integrity lead to courage, that gratitude leads to wholeness, which results in generosity, but we also will discover that faithfulness develops perseverance, which grows us in wisdom. As we grow in humility, gratitude, and faithfulness, we find ourselves with the strength of character to endure the greatest hardships and overcome our greatest challenges. Our capacity to be resilient will increase as we journey deeper into these virtues. When we are resilient, we have an inexplicable capacity to recover from illness, adversity, and even depression.

As we grow in integrity, wholeness, and perseverance, we find integration in our lives. In a world filled with brokenness, the capacity to integrate all the pieces of our lives is critical for our health. This is part of God’s promise in the work of transformation. The ultimate end of character transformation is not freedom from sin, but freedom to once again be all that God designed for us to become.

As we grow in generosity, we become generative and creative in our contribution to the good of others. When we walk in the wisdom of God, we see the hidden possibilities and opportunities missed by so many others. Wisdom always finds a way. It is the foundation of intellectual creativity and innovation.

When we fear God, we find the freedom and the courage to pursue dreams far too big for ourselves, yet courage is the only hope for great dreams. It is here where the synergistic interplay of courage, wisdom and generosity make us most creative. Once again, God’s gift to us is Himself. The character of God, the beauty of His personhood, the expression of His goodness, He longs to share with us. What would the world look like, what would we look like, if we became like Him? The One who wrapped a towel around His waist and washed His disciples’ feet invites us to become like Him in His servanthood. This is the ultimate destination, to become the person God dreams of and to share those dreams with others.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” [Galatians 5:13-14].

The Divine Imagination: Wisdom, Part 2

The future is the sum total of all the choices that are made in the present and in the past. Fortunately, that sum total includes the choices made by God. A significant aspect of wisdom is having a future orientation. Wisdom gives us a perspective that always looks toward the future from the present and always looks from the future to the present.

From the vantage point of the fool, the world appears to exist in isolated units. The connection between the absentee father and the promiscuous daughter remains undetected. The relationship between bitterness toward our parents and coldness toward our children is unperceived. The repercussions of extramarital infidelity is never linked to premarital promiscuity. Debt remains unconnected to greed; violence remains unconnected to hate; the loss of hope remains unconnected from the loss of faith.

Wisdom sees everything in life as interconnected. Wisdom does not allow us to stand apart from the rest of the world. Wisdom sees all of life through relationships – our relationships to God, to others, to nature, and more. It is recognizing that our best selves can only be discovered when we consider others above ourselves.

Over the generations, wisdom has become more and more about ideas than living. Philosophy is literally the love of wisdom, but little of wisdom’s original essence is left in that discipline. It is so much easier to escape to Walden Pond and contemplate the meaning of life than it is to return from it and really live. Wisdom frees us from living disconnected lives. Wisdom frees us from superstitions that constrain us and broken relationships that cripple us.

Wisdom transforms the way we see reality. It sees no distinction between the physical and the spiritual. God created the material universe, and He declared it good. Even in a fallen world, wisdom sees the good that will come through choices made. This distinct view of reality known as wisdom is nothing less than seeing life from God’s vantage point. The epicenter of all wisdom is God Himself.

The Scriptures remind us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. Then what exactly does this mean? When we fear God, we fear nothing else. It is only in the fear of God that we find ourselves free from the fear of death, of failure, and of all the other fears that bind us.

When the fear of God is absent from our lives, we become slaves to lesser fears, and it is these fears that become the boundaries of our lives. When we fear God, we are subject only to Him. We align ourselves to love and truth. We are never afraid to love or forgive when we fear God. We are never afraid to face the truth or speak the truth when we fear God. We live with a calm assurance that in all these things God finds great pleasure.

The fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom, for only in this place are we forced to face ourselves and see ourselves for who we really are. When we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are committed to follow the truth wherever it leads us. This fear of God frees us to risk, to fail, to dream, and to attempt great things.

When we fear God, we understand that we have come to Him in a condition of sinfulness. We know God as not only a God of holiness but also a God of infinite compassion. We live with the knowledge of His grace. We bask in the promise that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of all our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" [1 John 1:9].

It is only in the fear of God that we are truly free. We see God for who He really is. We see ourselves for who we really are. We understand the condition of the world in which we live. And we are enlightened to see a world, or dare I say, a kingdom, that is to come. Wisdom understands the heart of God. The woman of wisdom, that man who is wise, such people embrace that heart and live by it. Only here are we truly free.

The Divine Imagination: Wisdom, Part 1

"Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.” -- Proverbs 1:20-23

When we fear God and nothing else, we discover the freedom to pursue great adventure.

God calls us to lives that cannot be lived without wisdom. While many of us long for God to give us a map so that we can simply follow it, He instead gives us a compass that points us to the way. What we continually ask for is to know God’s will for our lives; what God continually offers us is His wisdom for our lives. So critical is wisdom to the journey that God offers it as a gift to all who would desire it [James 1:5]. The heart of a fool is motivated by personal gain. The heart of wisdom is motivated by the good of others. While wisdom does not always guarantee a life of riches and honor, wisdom always produces a rich and honorable life.

Wisdom creates and produces good. Wisdom not only sees the good that must be done now, but it also catalyzes such events that result in good fortune. Wherever wisdom flows, good follows. Not everything that happens to those of us who live wisely is good, but everything that happens from those of us who live wisely is good. This doesn’t mean that walking in wisdom is painless, no far from it, but the ultimate results that flow from wisdom are health, freedom and creativity.

We can be highly educated and also be wise, but it is certainly not a given. We can be uneducated from a conventional standard and still be people of great wisdom. The converse is also true. We can accomplish great things in the academic world and live lives of foolishness.

Wisdom always finds a way through the messes we make of our lives. It doesn’t always find the easiest way, but the way marked by the footprints of God. Wisdom is the product of sacred imagination. Wisdom knows the way to true freedom. Where there is wisdom there is always hope! Wisdom simplifies. Wisdom clarifies. Wisdom untangles. Wisdom unshackles. Wisdom illuminates. Wisdom liberates. In the end, wisdom enlightens us to live lives of nobility.

Wisdom is more than simply being able to see beyond ourselves, but perhaps even more profoundly, to see within ourselves. Wisdom is the ability to cut to the core of complex issues. Wisdom not only allows us to move beyond living senseless lives; it helps us begin to make sense of our lives. The fool acts without reflection; the wise man reflects on his actions.

Wisdom becomes the ability to see choice as cause and consequence and benefit as effect. When we see our circumstances as isolated from our actions, we abdicate personal responsibility for our lives. Taken to an extreme, we hold God accountable for the consequences of our actions and can easily become embittered toward Him. It is as if we want the freedom to make choices but expect God to make certain that we do not have live with the consequences of our choices. At other times we would rather believe in luck than in responsibility, but superstition is nothing more than an improper connection between cause and effect. When we disconnect our circumstances from our choices, we choose to live powerless lives. When we embrace the interconnection between our present decisions and our future opportunities, we regain the power to set our course and to shape our journey. A proper view of cause and effect grows us in wisdom and brings greater freedom to our lives.

Wisdom refuses to surrender the freedom of the future for a temporary indulgence. Wisdom recognizes that while some opportunities are captivating, beneath the surface they are ready to take us captive. Wisdom recognizes that the inseparable relationship between cause and effect are more than a natural phenomenon, it is a spiritual reality.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” – Galatians 6:7-10

Whether the language is sowing and reaping, cause and effect, a contemporary understanding of good and bad karma, or simply understanding that what goes around comes around, wisdom begins at connecting the dots between the quality of our decisions and the quality of our lives.

-- To be continued --

The Generative Spirit: Generosity

“But since you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7

Generosity is love in action, and love is measured in giving, not taking.

Life is most enjoyed when we give ourselves away. Generous people give more than their things; they genuinely give themselves. In the most marvelous of ways, those who give most freely live most freely.

Generosity is the overflow of love. Love not only expands our heart, but it increases our capacity to give of ourselves. Jesus reminds us, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” [John 15:13]. The apex of generosity is sacrifice. Generosity isn’t about how much we give but how much it costs us. Generosity isn’t about counting what you’ve given in comparison to someone else. Generosity is about being free. The generous are free from the things of this world. While they own possessions, their possessions don’t own them. Their agenda is to contribute. They are investors, not consumers.

Generosity flows in so many directions. Few investments are as important as our time, and we can never overestimate the importance of being generous with praise. Generosity creates an environment for emotional health. The Scriptures remind us that the greedy stir up dissension [Proverbs 28:25], while the generous foster wholeness. Generosity is motivated by love, but greed is fueled by lust. Greed is narcissistic; generosity is Christ-like. Greed is a product of self-love; generosity is the product of selfless love. The greatest application of generosity is not financial but relational. Do we treat people as objects to be used or as gifts to be treasured?

Jesus was history’s true incurable romantic. His life and death are the standard by which all romance should be measured. His was an act of unconditional love; His life, the greatest love story ever told. To want to take is not romantic; to long to give, that’s romance. Every writer whose retelling found its way into the pages of Scripture tells the story of Jesus as God’s ultimate act of love. With love as God’s motive, it should not surprise us that the events of Jesus’ life culminated in His ultimate sacrifice. It also should not surprise us that God, who is love, acts with such immeasurable generosity.

Even one wasted life is a tragedy to God. God’s intention is to move us out of the paralysis of existence and bring us into a life that is productive and meaningful. We receive God’s grace because He is gracious. All who enter the kingdom of heaven must be certain of one thing: Admission is a gift. When you understand the generosity of God, you know that God finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but in fact finds pleasure when they turn from their ways and live [Ezekiel 18:23; 2 Peter 3:9]. We can choose to hold God’s generosity against Him, or we can receive the abundance of the life He offers.

God loves to pour His gifts upon His children. The Scriptures are resplendent with promises of blessing from God to His people [2 Peter 1:17]. When we live in a proper relationship with God, it has a dramatic effect on every area of our lives. The Scriptures tell us that God desires to bless our relationships, our marriages, our children, our work, our finances and our very lives.

The more good we do, the more good we are able to do. Generosity increases our capacity to bless others. When generosity is unleashed, it flows to every area of our lives. We become generous not only with our money but also with our time, effort, gifts, talents, passions, every part of us. When we choose to live generously, we can know that we “will be made rich in every way so that [we] can be generous on every occasion” [2 Corinthians 9:11].

There’s nothing wrong with having wealth. God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy our lives. He finds pleasure in our pleasure. Jesus did not call His disciples to reject a life of affluence and embrace a life of poverty. He simply called them to follow Him, to reject a life of greed and embrace a life of generosity. God will hold us accountable not just for the gifts we use, but also for those we neglect. When we embrace prosperity as a gift from God entrusted to us for the good of many, we are laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven, not born out of greed, but born out of the very heart of God.

The generous see themselves as stewards of God’s treasures. They are not cautious in giving themselves away, for God Himself is their source of replenishment. They understand everything to be the Lord’s and thus are free to give without reservation. It is not that they give carelessly or without thoughtfulness, nor is it that they give without consideration of need. They are the contributors of life. They are the true investors in the human spirit. Wherever they are, there is more. They never leave a place or relationship having taken more than they have given. Yet somehow they never leave empty. In giving, they find themselves enriched. They are anomalies in the human economy.

The takers of this world always need more. They are always hungry, always craving. The givers are inexplicably full. Those who refuse to believe in God’s economy never understand the endless flow of their resources. The takers are always looking for happiness, convinced somehow that the next thing they grab will somehow be their source of joy.

The giver is always open-handed, yet never empty-handed. The generous have found the secret to happiness. They have found the joy of living through serving others. When we become generous, we become like God. Every creative act of God is created not out of selfishness or self-indulgence, but out of His generosity. We demean the nature of our God-given creativity when we use it for anything beneath His character. Creativity and generosity are to be identical sisters, always expressing and resulting in a work of beauty. Greed and ungratefulness caustically make nothing out of something; generosity and gratitude creatively make something out of nothing [see Ephesians 4:28].

Grace is never less than the law. Grace is not freedom to live beneath the law, but to live beyond the law.

The Warrior's Heart: Courage

“God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid, but a spirit of power and love and self-control” [2 Timothy 1:7].

To follow Jesus Christ is to choose to live in His adventure. How in the world could we ever imagine of life of faith that does not require risk? Faith and risk are inseparable. It should come as no surprise to us then that a life of faith is a life of courage. While faith as a noun may be about belief, having faith is all about action. We cannot walk by faith and live in fear.

The history of God’s people is not a record of God searching for courageous men and women who could handle the tasks, but of God transforming the hearts of cowards and calling them to live courageous lives. Adam and Eve hid; Abraham lied; Jacob deceived; Moses ran; Esther wavered; Elijah contemplated suicide; John the Baptist doubted; Peter denied; Judas betrayed. And those are just some of the leading characters.

The Hebrew word “ruach,” which is normally translated “spirit,” “wind,” or “breath,” can also be translated “courage.” When God breathes His Spirit into us, He not only gives us His power but, more importantly, His courage. When we read Paul’s admonition to “be filled with the Spirit” [Ephesians 5:18], we often translate it to mean “be filled with God’s power.” It would have been far more accurate to understand it as “be filled with God’s courage.” What is the point of having God’s power if we lack the courage to actually use it? Only when we embrace God’s calling on our lives will we need God-inspired courage. We often ask for God’s power to accomplish our small dreams; instead we should cry out for God’s courage to step out on His bold adventures.

Without courage we cannot live the life we choose – instead we choose to relinquish life. We conform to the path of least resistance and abdicate our freedom. So in the end, a life without courage is a life without virtue!

Even Joshua needed a push to be bold. It was only after the death of Moses that God spoke to Joshua [Joshua 1:1-9]. God made Joshua a bold, all-encompassing promise: "I will give you every place where you set your foot." The second promise Joshua received was just as revealing as it may have been inspiring: "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life." A promise of conquest, yes, but not a promise of tranquility. Joshua's enemies would not be able to stand against him, but they would try. There would be two sides to the fulfillment of this challenge: God's part, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," and Joshua's part, "Be strong and courageous." This command was given to Joshua three times in the same discourse.

It was God's promise, but it was Joshua's responsibility to bring it to pass. The people of Israel saw no dichotomy between the sacred work of God and the significant role of men and women to do that work. It was both God and Moses. It would be both God and Joshua. God would lead Joshua, but Joshua would lead Israel.

There's something God wants us to do -- not to sit back and watch Him do it or to passively wait for Him to do it, but a calling that God waits for us to embrace, pursue and fulfill. God chooses to entrust His most sacred work to people just like us.

God expected more from Joshua and His people than for them to passively wait for Him to secure the land for them. God would go with them, but He would not go for them. The quest would require Joshua to be both a desperate follower of God and an extraordinary leader of men. It is not incidental that God exhorted him to be both strong and courageous; Joshua would have to lead the way both in conquest and in character.

There is a difference between momentary courage and moral courage. The first energizes us to rush into a burning building and save a child trapped in a fire. The second empowers us to live lives worthy of being emulated. Both kinds of courage are important.

Whether leading multitudes or just living life, we will find ourselves challenged to sacrifice what is right for what is expedient. To be strong is to be rooted and defined by what is true. God called Joshua to build his life on what He had already said. “Be careful to obey all the law My servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” [Joshua 1:7-8]. Joshua’s success would first and foremost depend on the trueness of his moral compass.

How many times have we pointed to not knowing God’s will for our lives as the reason we are paralyzed from doing it? Yet, as with Joshua, there is enough truth in the Scriptures to fill our entire lives. The problem is not that we don’t know what to do, but that we don’t do what we know. The key to the future is not revelation, but obedience. When we submit our lives to what God has made known, the future becomes clearer to us. When we neglect to do what we know, we begin to live as if we were walking through a fog. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves condemning God for being silent, when in fact, we have condemned ourselves for refusing to listen.

God calls us to live from the inside out. When we live by truth, we establish our integrity. Each “be strong” that God spoke to Joshua was followed by a call to “be courageous.” God was ordering Joshua not only to hold on to the good but also to pursue it with passion. He was to move with urgency and purpose.

Our courage directly affects the speed at which the future unfolds. God loves to do His work through ordinary people like us. Even cosmic battles will be won through the dust and breath of our everyday lives [Romans 16:20]. When we walk in truth, we accelerate the process and literally fast-forward the future. When we remove disobedience from our lives, we are able to respond without hesitation when the moment calls for courage. Crises rarely afford us the luxury of contemplation. When courage is fueled by integrity and formed out of humility, it allows us to act without hesitation when the moment requires it. There is a direct relationship between courage and our ability to respond quickly.

When God speaks, it requires our immediate attention. If we respond to God's call, we will be tested to the very cores of our beings. God will not always save us from the fire but will, in fact, often throw us into it. The promise that He will be with us and never forsake us is both a promise and a warning. A divine journey cannot be completed without divine intervention.

Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the absence of self. Courage is the highest expression of humility. Courage moves us to risk ourselves for others or for a higher cause. Courage frees us from the fears that would rob us of life itself. It is here that courage and creativity come together. Without courage we become conformists. With courage we once again become the creative beings God designed us to be. The fear of God is not only the beginning of all wisdom but the place of freedom from fear. When we are free from fear, we are finally free to live.

"To live is Christ and to die is gain" [Philippians 1:21]. God invites us to join Him on the quest for honor, to live lives of genuine courage. The way is clear: if we would just die, we can begin to live. This path is one where only dead men can go. Cowards are more than welcome, but we should know up front that how we begin the journey is not how we will finish it. Who we will become will surprise even us.

The Sustaining Power of Becoming: Perseverance, Part 2

God longs to give us wisdom, and it is born out of perseverance. Only the testing of our faith develops the perseverance that we need. God desires to do some things in our lives that can come no other way except by our walking the path of perseverance. To become like Christ, this ordeal must be faced. We can be filled with joy even in the midst of suffering when we pursue character and not comfort. We can consider trials as the perfect environment for indescribable joy when we embrace our circumstances as God’s incubator to form us in His image.

God allows and at times causes us to go through circumstances that strip away all falsehood and leave us with our real selves. God’s ultimate intent is not to leave us faithless, but to leave us faith-full. God wants us to have no doubt of the work He has done within us, to know that we have what it takes to walk through fire.

God also knows our needs, even though at times we can be oblivious to our need for God. Trials have unique abilities to realign us with reality and position us for divine encounters. Perseverance is critical so that we don’t turn to other sources of provision. The place of our greatest vulnerability is the vacuum created between our need and God’s provision. Satan knows God fully intends to supply our every need, so he tempts us to choose another way before God meets us in the middle of the test. He tried to convince Jesus to turn stones into bread [Matthew 4:1-11]. The human condition begins to make sense when we realize that most of us are eating rocks instead of waiting on God to bring us His bread. We keep trying to meet the deepest longings of our souls apart from the God who intimately created us.

When God tests our faith, the evil one attempts to destroy our faith. While God sends us tests to draw us toward Him, Satan tempts us to draw us away from Him. We cannot be tested without being tempted. How many of us have been told that we’re going through trials or facing temptations because we are out of God’s will? Trials and temptations are not the punishment of God, but rather the process of God. Yes, sometimes our lives are in ruin and we suffer needlessly as a result of our own foolishness. But we must not assume this is always the case.

Jesus chose to wait on God, His provider. However long He must wait, He would persevere. He would rather be hungry waiting on His Father’s timing than to be found eating rocks when the bread came. Hardship does not require a famine of joy or enjoyment. It is in the crucible that we not only discover who we are, but more profoundly, who Christ is within us [Philippians 4:11-13].

The Sustaining Power of Becoming: Perseverance, Part 1

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” [2 Corinthians 3:18].

Often we miss the undeniable work of God because we give up too soon. Perseverance is often the only thing that separates failure from success. Life is a gauntlet that requires determination. Yes, I am finally going to tackle the subject that has caused so many “discussions” [for lack of a better term] between my wife and I … my old standby references to MTXE … that old acronym that used to adorn the sidelines of the Wichita State University Shockers’ basketball court in the 1980s meaning ‘Mental Toughness Xtra Effort,' exhorting the team to never ever give up and to persevere to the bitter end … over the thirty years of our relationship. This is something she sees as decidedly unspiritual and residing squarely in the flesh, and something that, while I’ll acknowledge her concern theoretically, I see as distinctly spiritual and as a matter of ultimate faith. So we’ll see over the next two blogs whether or not I can make my case.

Perseverance is more than just waiting. It is about how and why we wait. It is the ability to stand and thrive under pressure.

Sometimes we should close the chapter on an enterprise, but some things we must never quit. Projects can be dispensed with; virtues are indispensable. If we treat who we are as being of the same quality as what we do, we are structured for failure. It is easier to replace a lost wallet, and sadly, I have some experience with this, than it is to regain our integrity.

The wisdom of God comes like a gift, yet it is a gift born out of the womb of perseverance. Wisdom is nurtured and formed in the context of trials and temptations. For wisdom to be forged properly in our hearts, it requires us to stand the pressure cooker of life. God will give wisdom generously to all who ask, but that promise is preceded by a description of the journey we all must take [James 1:2-5]. Thus, perseverance becomes the necessary link to wisdom.

Perseverance has multiple dimensions. In the Scriptures the same word can be translated as “endurance” or even “patience.” When we hold out for the good our perseverance is expressed as patience. When we hold on to the good, our perseverance is expressed as endurance.

To persevere requires wisdom in the process, and it also grows us in wisdom through the process. When we do not persevere, we do not grow in wisdom. Whenever God places us in circumstances where perseverance is critical, He is trying to birth wisdom in us. When we circumvent the process, it is a miscarriage of wisdom.

Patience ensures that we do not move faster than God. Waiting on God requires that we continue to do what is right even when our situation does not change. Patience holds out for the good [2 Peter 3:8-9]. Suffering must not be used as an excuse for impatience [James 5:10-11]. Endurance ensures that we do not lose our strength before the task is done. Endurance holds on to the good.

Great suffering can accompany a life entirely given to God. Perseverance is both the resolve to be patient and the commitment to endure. Perseverance finds the good in the worst of circumstances. Joy and suffering are bound together in the Scriptures. Suffering is not a virtue; it is a reality. We are not to pursue suffering; suffering will certainly pursue us. And while suffering is not the source of our joy, it is not to be a joyless setting. Trials are not the source of joy, but trials are where we can find our greatest opportunities for joy. When we belong to God, trials become both a reminder of our need for God and a promise that God will meet us in the midst of them. If God is our greatest pleasure, then trials can become our greatest joys. The key to experiencing this ultimate joy becomes perseverance. Jesus gives us the best insight into the relationship between suffering and joy. It was not for the joy of the cross that Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified, it was for the joy He could see through the cross [Hebrews 12:2].

Followers of Christ suffer just like everyone else [Romans 5:1-5]. The pain is just as real, the disappointment just as deep, the tears just as profound. Yet it is how we face suffering that is quite different. God allows us to see through the suffering. We rejoice through the suffering knowing that our pain is not without meaning. We persevere with the confidence that we ourselves are being transformed. Perseverance produces character and character, hope. And hope is the ultimate gift gained in wisdom.

-- To be continued --

The Healing Power of Belonging: Love, Part 2

Divine love always leads to wholeness. Only the love of God is free from all self-serving motivation. Only His love comes without reservation or condition. We find in Jesus Christ the only love that makes us truly whole. This is why ultimately wholeness cannot be defined by our ability to experience love but by our ability to exercise love.

The most basic definition of wholeness in my mind is simply a minimum of 51 percent; where we give more than we take. What if in every situation we face that we made a commitment to to make a greater contribution than withdrawal -- whether financial, relational, emotional, or the investment of our time? Jesus is our best example [since He is 100 percent] of a person whose entire life was given to giving. Jesus always gave more than He took. He still does. Everyone who genuinely engages Christ in a relationship receives far more than they ever give.

Modern psychiatry is the study of human dysfunction. Its expertise is in identifying, describing and defining human brokenness [though I do think they are also simultaneously 'defining deviancy down' with each new edition of the DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ... the Bible of psychiatry]. But the path to wholeness cannot be discovered by concentrating on the signs of fragmentation. This is why Jesus is our best and only hope. Jesus was the only truly whole person to ever live. He is the purest expression of what it means to be a healthy human being. While we can learn about God by studying His divinity, we equally can learn about man by studying his humanity. In Jesus we unlock the mystery of wholeness. And we find that wholeness is a promise for all of us. God fully intends to make disciples out of broken people. His love unleashed in us is our only hope for the process of wholeness to find its completion.

Love in its purest expression is not something that is received but something that is given. God is not love because He is most loved but because He is most loving. To properly pursue love, we must strive to give it away rather than simply to find it.

When we consume things, we are materialists. When we consume people, we are cannibals. In the most dysfunctional of human relationships, we see people existing for our benefit. We can be so longing for love that every time someone comes close to us, we devour them, oblivious to our selfishness. We can become emotional leeches. After we've sucked someone dry, we then detach and seek our next victim. Yet genuine love is never self-motivated [1 Corinthians 13:5]. When we open ourselves to love, we open ourselves for love. We are most whole when we are most free to give. Holiness and wholeness are inseparable.

Jesus answered, "The most important command is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these" [Mark 12:29-31].

Jesus clearly says that our relationships are more important to God than anything else. We are never closer to the kingdom of God than when relationships are our priority. First is our relationship to God, and inseparable from this relationship with our Creator are our relationships to others. This is not sequential. It is not love God, then love ourselves, then love others; it is love God and love others as we love ourselves.

The more of ourselves that we give away, the more whole we become. The more completely we love, the more complete love makes us.

When Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17, He prayed for wholeness [unity]. There is no fragmentation in God; love is always the motivation, the intent and the outcome of the Godhead. Everything about God is good, and everything flows from God. He is the eternal giver, the source of every good and perfect gift. We were designed to live this way. We were created to be expressions of the goodness and wholeness of God.

The Healing Power of Belonging: Love, Part 1

"Love and truth belong to God's people; goodness and peace will be theirs." -- Psalm 85:10

In the midst of our growing fragmentation, we have never been more focused on the individual than we are today. This focus plays itself out in unbridled consumerism. Consumerism's primary product in our culture is narcissism. Even the language of pop psychology betrays us. "You can't love anyone else until you love yourself," is the mantra we are expected to embrace. We are given professional permission to put ourselves above everyone and everything else. "You've got to take what you need before you can give."

When we are disjointed, there is never enough. When we are emotionally fragmented, we leak. No matter how much we consume, how much we take for ourselves, we always find ourselves empty in the end. This in turn leaves us only more frustrated and embittered. Our desperate search for wholeness requires us to let go of what we so long to take hold of, and instead, to set forth on a pilgrimage that leads us along an entirely different path. Wholeness is not found through receiving, but through giving. Wholeness and generosity are inseparably linked.

While it is true that we cannot give what we do not have, it is also difficult to give what we have not experienced. We may find it challenging to serve if we feel we have never been served. We may find it arduous to forgive if we feel we have never been forgiven. We may find it daunting to express compassion if we find that mercy is foreign to us. Yet the reality is that God is the one who always initiates these experiences in our lives ... Jesus said that he "came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many" [Matthew 28:20]. He also first forgives us and then expects us to forgive others [Matthew 6:12-14]. And lastly, we see that "because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions -- it is by grace that we have been saved" [Ephesians 2:4-5]. So we see that our only reasonable response to God's generosity to us is for us to be willing to give to others.

Generosity in its primal essence is love. When we are fragmented, we become emotional black holes. No matter how much is poured into us, its light is absorbed and never finds its way back out. When we are whole, we are nurtured by what is invested in us, and at the same time we freely give of ourselves to others. When we are whole, we see love as limitless. We become what God designed us to be, conduits of love. The overarching problem with mankind is that we have become disconnected from the Source of love. We love because God first loved us [I John 4:19] and love is so central to who God is, that it is a primary test of our relationship to the Creator [I John 4:7-8].

The Scriptures also describe us as being perfect and complete in this life [1 John 4:16-18; Ephesians 4:13]. The best parallel word would probably be "wholeness." The promise of God is not that we will be flawless in this world, but that we can be whole in this life. We have wasted too much effort trying to become perfect in our actions and invested too little energy in becoming healthy in our spirits. To become truly generous and genuinely whole, we must become generative. God intended us literally to generate love .

"May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you" [1 Thessalonians 3:12].

"This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God" [Philippians 1:9-11].

"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].

This is the ultimate secret of moving toward wholeness: we love.

The Unifying Power of Believing: Integrity, Part 3

Integrity, or the lack of it, has everything to do with how we use power. The familiar adage "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" is wrong. The only one who has ever known absolute power is God, and He is also the only one who has never abused His power. The end result of absolute power motivated by undiluted love is servanthood. Jesus' first act after knowing that all power had been placed under His authority was to wrap a towel around His waist and wash His disciples' feet [John 13:1-17]. Absolute power does not corrupt; it reveals. Jesus is our proof of this.

Corruption is not an issue of power; it is an issue of passion. Power allows us to unleash our passions. Character is the mark that defines who we really are when we get to the core. When our character is defined by integrity, we can be trusted with power. Power does not become a corrosive agent but a creative energy. When we lack integrity, we use power to control. When we lead with integrity, we use power to bless.

How Jesus used His authority was an extension of His use of power. With His power He served; in His place of authority He chose not to hold power but to release it. After declaring His authority in Heaven and on earth, He commissioned His disciples to act in His name [Matthew 28:18-20]. Instead of hoarding His power, Jesus unleashed His power. For Him, neither love nor power was/is a limited commodity. Just like love, the nature of power expands when it is given away.

Power is a tool. It allows us the freedom to be who we truly are. This is why it is critical to pursue integrity rather than power. When we are promoted based on our abilities without regard to the contents of our characters, it does a disservice to both our subordinates and to us. We do no one a favor when we put ability [or talent] over integrity.

Integrity cannot be gained by either power or authority. Integrity must be gained long before these have been placed in our hands. Jesus lived an obscure life for thirty years preparing for a public ministry that lasted for only three. Integrity requires that we decide what kind of people we want to become. Integrity not only harnesses our passions but focuses our intentions. Our course is guided by an internal compass of our convictions fueled by our passions.

The real measure of our power is the freedom and opportunity we create for others. Men and women who are marked by integrity point the way to freedom for those around them. Perhaps the most amazing thing about integrity is when we still choose what is right when we're all alone, when no one will see us, when no one will know what we do. It's wonderful when we can look inside our hearts and like what we see.

Corollary to Integrity, Part 2

In 403 A.D. John Chrysostom was brought before the Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius whose wife, Aelia Eudoxia, was offended by Chrysostom's teachings against extravagance in feminine dress [this entire situation seems strikingly similar to King Herod in the days of Christ with a wife, Herodias, who wielded undue influence and which ultimately cost John the Baptist his head] and was demanded to renounce his Christian faith. If he remained a Christian he would be banished.

Chrysostom replied, "You can not banish me for this world is my Father's house."

The Emperor replied, "But I will slay you."

Chrysostom then said, "No, you can not, for my life is hid with Christ in God."

The Emperor then threatened, "I will take away your treasures."

But Chrysostom answered, "No, but you can not for my treasure is in heaven and my heart is there as well."

Enraged the Emperor declared, "But I will drive you away from man and you shall have no friend left."

Finally Chrysostom replied, "No, you can not, for I have a friend in heaven from who you can not separate me. I defy you, for there is nothing you can do to hurt me."

An amazing response from a man who truly was "a foreigner and a stranger on this earth ... looking for a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God" [Hebrews 11:10, 13]. This leader of Christ's church had a long history of both faithfulness and persecution. He had previously been banished from Antioch in 397 A.D. by Emperor Theodosius 1 which ultimately brought him to Constantinople where he served as bishop. Ultimately he ruffled the feathers of both Eudoxia and a priest named Theophilus there which led to the above confrontation and resulted in his banishment to Caucasus [Armenia]. Nevertheless, he continued to write letters that were read throughout the churches in Constantinople and continued to carry great influence there, and as a result, he was further banished to Pitiunt [Georgia] in 407 A.D. He never made it to Pitiunt as he died in transit, his last words being "Glory to God for all things." I think we can all learn a lot from his life.

The Unifying Power of Believing: Integrity, Part 2

God created everything to be in proper relationship with Himself. Integrity is born out of relationship with God and flows into our relationships with others. Integrity is the personification of truth.

Jesus had only one face. When we lack integrity, we find ourselves with several faces, being several people, depending on the circumstances. We become personality salesmen rather than people of substance. But Jesus was always the same person [Mark 12:14], and this is exactly what God both desires and expects of us. This same type of integrity is to be formed in us to shape our lives. As with Jesus, integrity is best showcased in the context of opposition or even persecution. When we face a moment of truth, our integrity is tested and proven either genuine or not. In Jesus’ three years of ministry, His environment progressively grew in hostility, and every decision of integrity increased its volatility. That Jesus walked in integrity at all times, even when it cost Him His life, was the ultimate proof of who He was.

When we are defined by integrity, we respond with moral courage. Courage is the ultimate expression of integrity. Integrity gives us the courage to walk in truth even when it means walking straight into the mouth of the dragon. Yet, when we lack integrity, we live in fear [Proverbs 10:9, 28:1]. We’re afraid of getting caught, of someone knowing who we really are, when we walk in righteousness and love what is right we have nothing to fear at all.

As we grow in integrity, we grow in the courage to live lives of conviction. The only actions we consider are those that reflect the character of God. Integrity increases our capacity to live and act in a genuinely heroic way. When Saul questioned whether David was up to the challenge of Goliath, David’s response was a summary of his resume as a shepherd [1 Samuel 17:34-37]. His response was not a moment of inspiration, but a pattern of integrity. The courage to face lions, bears, and giants was the outflow of the integrity of his heart. The seriousness with which David took his responsibility as a shepherd was the best indicator of how he would respond if entrusted with responsibility over God’s people [Psalm 78:70-72].

When we fear God, we fear nothing else. We are free from all the fears that haunt our hearts apart from God. The fear of God aligns us with all that is true and good, and it transforms the core motivation of our hearts to become love.

The Unifying Power of Believing: Integrity, Part 1

You can't say two different things at the same time and expect to be trusted. A person of integrity cannot say one thing and do another. In my opinion, this has been the greatest problem in American politics over the past twenty to twenty-five years. And subsequently, it has filtered both down and through our society. Integrity is the context from which courage is formed. Integrity, like wholeness, is a byproduct of our spiritual integration. "Integrity" comes from the root word "integer," which means to be complete, indivisible -- in other words, to be whole.

In our culture we have put an increasing value on authenticity and a decreasing focus on integrity. We have disdain for the pretentious and we long for anything that is real. But we must not romanticize authenticity. When calling for authenticity, we need to take seriously the corruption of the human heart. If we are not careful, authentic can be the new word for arrogance. As long as we are true to ourselves, how can anyone fault us? Right? Authenticity then can establish a self-righteousness that justifies abuse.

If we are committed to being the genuine article, first we had better look closely at what we are made of. Authenticity without integrity can be both dangerous and even lethal. To be authentic when our hearts are dark is equivalent to opening Pandora's box. As much as we disdain the external constraints of society, humanity's best solution without God is to establish laws that restrain the evil that lurks within all of us.

To be authentic means literally that we are not false or copied, that we reflect the original. Our separation from God has made us into imitations, no longer reflections of the Creator. Although we are born of a template designed in the image of the Creator God, that template is broken and the reproduction flawed. We are classic counterfeits. We may pass as the real thing. We may even fool ourselves. Yet the evidence of our inauthenticity can be seen in our departure from the character of God. The first and most important step to becoming genuinely authentic is once again to be authenticated by the original designer. God longs to place within each of us a new heart, that reflects Him in both action and desire [Ezekiel 36:26]. The divine transformation that God seeks to bring is nothing less and nothing more than making us fully human.

While religion works to restrain our actions from the outside in, God always works from the inside out. Only this kind of change will last. It is in this state that we can become people of integrity. It is more than "what you see is what you get." Integrity is not just about who we are, but who we seek to become. Integrity is not about being flawless, but about being "falseless." Everything that God creates has integrity.

With integrity comes integration. We align what others see with who we really are becoming. And more importantly, we align who we really are with who God is. When Jesus prayed for His disciples to become one as He and the Father are one [John 17], the focus of His prayer was unity. Only in oneness with God do we find wholeness and integration.