Happy are those who are strong in the LORD,
who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs,
where pools of blessing collect after the rains! - Psalm 84:5,6
I had originally written this on one of my other blogs. I had created that one as a placeholder to drop my thoughts and come back to edit them into something post-worthy. Then, life rushed upon me again and birthed me a girlfriend. My writings days were temporarily over. (No complaints, mind you). This is something I had written a year ago and somewhat enjoyed. I post it now with little expectation.
*edit* I just read through this again and realized I recycled a quote. in back to back entries. LAME!! This will not do. I may have to forgo posting this one until I get other entries sandwiched in between.
"As in the book of Daniel when the three young men who were put in the furnace did not smell like fire upon being delivered from it, so the Christians who have been in Communist prisons don't smell like bitterness against the communists.
A flower, if you bruise it under your feet, rewards you by giving you its perfume. Likewise Christians, tortured by Communists, rewarded their jailors by love. We brought many of our jailors to Christ. And we are dominated by one desire: to give Communists who have made us suffer the best we have, the salvation that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ."
--Richard Wurmbrand, founder of Voice of the Martyrs from Tortured for Christ
I take three things away from this passage. The first is for me right now. The second is for me and for others; an analogy to be shared. The third I have known all along, and yet fail to practice with consistency and integrity.
1) Do not become what you are immersed in. I can not be tainted or covered by something I am even intensely affected by. I must wear the coat of Christ love to repel such things, so that they do not become stuck to me. I must fan into flame the fire of Christ inside, that I may stay the same. Do not become corrupted. Be set apart. be holy.
2) When we are crushed, what does it reveal inside of us? Is it anger? is it bitterness? Is it love? Is it grace? With what do we color the foot that stomps on us? Am I the flower that perfumes the foot that stomps me? Or am I the bitter root that leaves the stink of anger and resentment?
3) Do I respond in love to the people who hurt me? Even worse, the people who intentionally hurt me? We excuse ourselves when we offend someone by saying "it was not my intent," but this is wrong on two levels.
Firstly, intentional or not, we must own our wrongs and the offenses we give. We must make reconciliation and if applicable, recompense. A man who runs over his neighbor's dog does not excuse himself by telling the boy it was unintentional. Is that much better than if it were? What consolation does this offer the boy who has lost a cherished pet and friend? The man must acknowledge the wrong he had committed and the grief he has caused.
Secondly, the person affected by a wrong must not be hung up on whether something is forgivable based on intent. Ultimately, we are called to forgive. To hold on to anger and unforgiveness hurts everyone: Christ, the offender, and the offended. I once heard that unforgiveness is like swallowing poison and waiting for the offender to die. Unforgiveness may affect the offender, but it will never harm him as much as the one who withholds forgiveness.
All of this is an aside. All offenders, intentional or not, are our enemies at the moment the offense is given. How we respond to our momentary enemy reveals our heart. Do we love this enemy? Do we see him as Christ sees him? Do we see in him the imago dei (image of God)? Do we see Christ in him, whom Christ himself suggested we should provide a drink of water? Or do we see him as an enemy. An offender. An invader of our boundaries and a destroyer of our peace? Is he an adversary whom we must steel ourselves against? Do we raise up the walls of defense? Or worse yet, are the words of the counter-assault already on our lips before we know what we are saying?
How do we react to our enemy-in-the-moment? Do we love him or hate him? Do we give him the best we have?
Whenever we talk about forgiveness, we usually talk about how it's important that we give it. How it's necessary for us to move on with our lives and to release our hearts from the pain of the past. I still remember a post from my friend Patty who said that "Unforgiveness is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die." It's so true. Holding on to anger, hatred or bitterness can only hurt ourselves. The other person, if his conscience will allow him, goes on scott-free.
We also talk about how it is necessary for reconciliation and for making peace. Sometimes forgiveness is given for the sake of the family. For the sake of friends. For the sake of children. But we never really feel compelled to give it. It's just... necessary.
The thing with forgiveness is that in many cases, it isn't really deserved. In order for us to forgive, we have to overlook our desire for justice and give reprieve to someone who hasn't earned it. Who may not actually deserve it. But we are told to forgive anyways. If we are Christians, we are called to forgive, to emulate our Lord.
Many Christians aren't very good at this.
I've talked recently about the importance of remembering who we are. Of remembering that we have all screwed up, and are screwing up still. We can't help it. We're not perfect. We hurt people whether we intend it, realize it, or work to avoid it. It doesn't matter. The only way to avoid pain and causing pain is to become reclusive. But even that is not fully true; there is a cost to those you have left behind. I simply can't think of a way in which we can avoid causing harm and making mistakes.
So if we are to remember who we are, we must then remember that we have been forgiven much. If we have been forgiven much, we then should love much.
I think of all the wrongs I have committed in my life. I remember all the hurts I have caused. And I pause to shudder at all the hurts I have caused without ever being aware of it. Over the years, I have undeservingly benefitted from the innumerable gifts of grace and forgiveness that have covered over a lifetime of my mistakes. It is my heart's desire to continue this great tradition by showing similar kindness, forgiveness and patience in all circumstances, at all times, to all peoples.
I know that there are some pretty awful people you've come across in your life. And there were also some less awful, but severely annoying/frustrating/degrading people you've had the misfortune of having to spend some time with you. It's hard, I know. It's easier to hold on to the anger because you don't think that they deserve your forgiveness. But I leave you with this: "Such were some of you," goes the saying. And continues with, "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
Forgiveness is not about giving someone something they have earned. Forgiveness is about acknowledging the person deserves justice, or anger, or a strong talking to, but you let them off the hook anyways. You let it slide.
And in doing so, you let yourself off the hook too.
Remember the kindness that was shown to you. It may have been few and far between. But it may have also been one of the best gifts you ever received in your life. And I suspect, it may be one of the best gifts you can ever give too.
Yes. It is true. The church should be serving you more, taking care of you more, being more accepting of you and loving you better. She should be teaching you, encouraging you, and boosting you up. The church body as a whole should be reaching out to the community more and helping those in need. It is all true.
When my brain gets this liquified, I turn to bulleted lists to keep my thoughts straight. I also cheat and borrow from things I said from an earlier time, when I could still string words together meaningfully. Here is a comment I received on the last post from SonnetJoy:
I think most Christians completely forget that we really *are not* somehow inherently more worthy than others, and I know I hear from many nonChristians about how Christians lord their Christianity over them, and it completely turns them off from seeking a Savior.
Response: Very true. Not only are we not inherently more worthy than others, we also aren't sinless saints once we follow Jesus. We are not without desires, temptations, and falls. When we proclaim to be sinless (or just plain better than others), we don't just crush the hearts of other believers who know their own struggles, we turn off seekers who know us, and see past our deception.
When we forget who we are, and forget that we need a savior, we hurt 3 groups of people.
1) We hurt other Christians who are struggling with the same thing. By presenting an image of perfection and "holier than thou," those who struggle become even more burdened with shame than they already have. The become plagued with questions of "what am I doing wrong? Why won't God help me with this? Does God love me like he loves [so and so]?" I think of Casting Crowns' Stained Glass Masquerade when I think of this situation; The opening line says it all: Is there anyone that fails? Is there anyone that falls? Am I the only one in church today feeling so small?
It's one of the self-perpetuating problems of the church today. In the olden days, it was called Phariseeism. In modern times, we call it being delivered from sin and temptation and never falling into sin ever again.
2) We hurt people who are not Christians but want to know about Jesus. When we pretend to be without sin, it destroys our testimony. We deliver a false gospel of attaining perfection on earth. What's worse, people see us. They see right past the deception. They know we are just like them, weak and broken, but we pretend to be otherwise. No wonder people call us delusional and misguided. It's because we cannot see the plank in our own eyes. And yet, we go around trying to tell other people how to be moral and to follow Christ. Our hypocrisy is at the worst when we go around trying to "save" people. We are not the saviors. Nor have we ever been. Nor will we ever be. We are the ones who have been saved, and will continue to be saved until the day we are called home.
3) We hurt ourselves. When we forget that we need a Saviour, we cease to call upon Him. We go about doing our own thing, living our lives, and are perpetually frustrated at a God who isn't giving us what we want. Instead of looking to a Lord to worship and love, we are looking to a Cosmic Santa to bless us every moment of our lives. And then when hardship comes, we become angry and bitter. We question why God is so harsh. We doubt His goodness. And we wonder if He is still there. Or worse yet, we believe He is there, but suspect He is toying with us.
When we forget our position before Christ, we also forget who God is. We forget who we once were, and in doing so, we unwittingly go back to being where we need to be - crying out to a Saviour to rescue us. It is a vicious cycle the need not be repeated. Maintain your position before Christ. Remain attached to the vine. And escape the cycle of disappointment. Pain will still come, but it is better endured while rooted by the stream instead of dried out in the desert.
This past Sunday, I had the privilege of visiting with New Life Fellowship again. It's a wonderful church and I love going there. I grow a little (and sometimes a lot) each time I visit. This time, the sermon was the 4th in the series on Jonah. Coincidentally, it dealt with some very similar themes of which I had been blogging about. The speaker spoke about grace amnesia, and the importance of receiving and giving grace. One of the principal quotes of the sermon was this:
"If we are to be grace extenders, we have to be grace receivers. If we are to be grace receivers, we have to realize that we are no better than anyone else."
The entirety of the sermon can be found here. Please, please, please take some time to sit down and listen to it. It's worth it. Facebook will live without you for an hour. If you can embrace what he's saying, this will change your life.
Lifetime