Wrong riches

Before I get into this entry I want to say a few words about the inconsistency with which I've updated. I want everyone to know this won't continue. I've been dealing with dial up lately, and it is difficult to access this site, facebook, and twitter on dial up. That will change. I will have regular acess to high speed soon. Just be patient with me until that happens. Anyway...

A couple of months ago a child came to the school I taught at in Korea with a few stickers. They looked like they probably cost about $1. She had no interest in showing this off to the other students. She was actually upset when they showed any interest at all because she was afraid they might try to take what she had. She was so determined to keep these cheap stickers all to herself that she actually hid under a table so no one else could get her precious stickers. She was willing to isolate herself and be alone to protect the worthless thing she considered valuable.

People don’t change that much when they get older. How many grown people acquire a small sum of money or some sort of material thing and do everything they can to guard that possession? Many have chosen to be alone so they could protect their wealth, and keep others from wanting it. The joke about relatives you never knew you had appearing when you become famous is often true, and we get afraid people only show an interest in what we have because they might try to take it from us. We feel we must protect our money or new car, ipod, ring, antique, or other material possession from others. We get garages, safes, safety deposit boxes, or whatever we need to protect our treasure from others.

This is a sign of screwed up priorities. We should be laying up treasures in heaven for ourselves, and not holding tightly to the useless things of this earth. Our clinging to material things shows the idiocy of spending all our effort trying to protect our things here on earth. No matter what we do they will eventually get damaged, lost, destroyed, or taken. We can’t keep them forever. The treasures we can keep forever, however, are those we set up in heaven. Those can be acquired simply enough, and are of much more value.

When we witness to the transforming power of Jesus Christ we lay up such treasures for ourselves. When we sing out to the Lord, study His word, pray to Him, and walk in His footsteps we are doing just that. The pursuit of this real lasting treasure doesn’t create isolation, but actually encourages fellowship with those around us. The soul of a lost person is of much more value than anything made with the hands of man.

We can have material possession and be saved. We can be wealthy and be saved. Things and wealth, however, must not be our treasure. We should own our things. They should not own us. We do not owe it to our PS3 to play it at least once a day, or to our HDTV to spend money on channels that really show it off. We owe our possessions nothing. They belong to us. We belong to God. One of the great things about Him is He never changes. He doesn’t constantly come out with new versions of Himself the media insist we just have to have to be a real functioning human being. He is unchanging. The treasures we lay up in service to Him never lose their value, and never need to be updated or replaced. These treasures are what we should always pursue.

Not what it meant

Sometimes the Lord allows you to have certain encounters so that he can cause you to consider something you hadn’t before. This happened to me as me and Ashley as we were walking home from work one day in Korea.

As we crossed the bridge that meant we were close to our apartment a Korean man carrying a briefcase approached us. He spoke a little English, and asked us if we were saved. I said yes, and was at first hopeful he might tell us about a good church in the area. That was before the conversation took an odd turn.

Pretty soon he started mentioning this heavenly mother. I thought he meant Mary. He corrected me, and showed me Revelation 21:10-11:

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.”

In his broken English he tried to explain that Jerusalem was the heavenly mother, and the bride of Christ. He showed me a picture of a Korean woman who he said was this heavenly mother come back to earth, and later a picture of a Korean guy who he said was Jesus returned to earth. I made an attempt to explain that Jerusalem is a city in Israel, but he was insistent. My Korean wasn’t good enough for me to really explain the truth. I tried, but I couldn’t get through to him.

I later asked others about this, and they told me that guy is from a pretty large cult in Korea. They believe Jesus is this Korean guy who is now sitting in a Korean prison because he’s used this literal and terrible interpretation of scripture to convince people they need to let their daughters sleep with him (a common teaching of cult leaders). I was pretty surprised by all this, but also learned something.

Those of us who know how to interpret the Bible properly have allowed such things to happen. If we knew little of geography or history, and took all the figurative language in the Bible as literal we might believe something very similar. I never imagined the scriptures could be twisted in such a way, but I should have. Just look at a lot of things Isaiah says, or much of Revelation. There’s a lot that can easily be misinterpreted.

Does this mean those without a seminary education shouldn’t be allowed to read the Bible because they might not understand its words? Absolutely not. What I believe it means is that it shows the importance of witnessing. The Holy Spirit resides within us so we can speak the truth to others. Not just so we can hand them Bibles, and hope they figure it out for themselves. Cults are what can result from that. There are people who need someone to explain the meaning of scriptures for them. Americans were raised in a society where we are very aware of the geography of the Middle East, and Jewish people live all around us. The Middle East is rarely ever discussed in Korea. There are only very small Jewish and Arab populations. This lack of knowledge can be used to twist people.

The misinterpretation of scriptures has been used to manipulate people for generations. This should be fought. Those of us who know the truth should witness to the truth. We should do so in an effort to keep others who witness to a lie from gaining any power. The truth saves. These lies manipulate, abuse, and condemn. Witnessing to the truth helps take away the power of the liars. We cannot simply hand out a Bible, and walk away. This can save many, but confuses a few. It’s our responsibility to make sure the truth is understood.

Faith in the Vision

Sometimes God gives you a vision no one else can see. You have strong faith in this vision, but someone can rock that faith by showing their doubt in you, and in the vision. This concern is why many keep the things they feel called to do to themselves. We know others may doubt us, and we keep our vision to ourselves so others can’t hurt our faith. This can be healthy for a time, but also a problem when we keep it to ourselves too long. If we hide it forever it never does any good.

It hurts when others doubt the vision God has given us. It does. It especially hurts when it’s those close to us who we expect to have faith in us. Sometimes this makes us doubt the vision, but it shouldn’t. Our faith should not be in others because the vision was not from others. The vision was from God. The dream that motivates us comes from God. If He gave us such a vision it’s because He knows we’re capable of pulling it off. He has faith in us. If God believes in us we should believe in ourselves. Our faith should be in Him. He will never doubt us, and we can count on Him when others fail us.

It can be hard for other people to understand because it is not their vision. Paul dealt with this. He saw Jesus on the road to Gethsemane, but no one wanted to hear that. They remembered who he was, and what he’d done. The disciples doubted him. That didn’t stop Paul. He knew he had a vision, and that vision drove him to use his whole life to spread the truth of Jesus throughout the world. He didn’t give up because of the doubt of others. He kept the faith because he knew Jesus had faith in him.

We should follow Paul’s example. There will always be doubters. There will always be people who only see us as the sinners we used to be. There will always be those who are jaded because of the world, and refuse to have faith in the things not seen. Such people can be very close to us. Do not worry. God trust you. God has faith in. Our God is for us, and no one can stand against us. If he gave you a vision then it doesn’t matter if others doubt it. Have faith in Him, and faith in yourself. Know that you can accomplish what you were made to accomplish.

Waiting

In the opening of this blog I wrote a lot about mistakes, how to see through them, and how to overcome them. It was a topic fresh in my mind because I had just overcome my own mistakes. As I am now a couple months from overcoming them, but still some time from being able to attend seminary I have another lesson that comes from personal experience.

The time between realizing the right thing to do and being able to do the right thing can be infuriating. Anyone who’s been accepted to college, and had to agonizingly wait for the first day of college knows what this is like to a degree. It’s always worse when it’s a major commitment. That time can be tiring, and Satan can smell it when you’re tired of waiting. He’ll come to you, and use your frustration with the waiting to make you doubt yourself.

He is always committed to getting you off the right path, and he will bring you down however he can. If you’re engaged to the person you love he can use the time between getting engaged and getting married to drive a wedge between you and the person who is right for you. If you’ve decided to become a minister he can use the time you’re waiting to go to school to make you back out.

The annoying thing about this is it’s never ending. In many situations there’s always a chance to back out. You can always drop out of med school a semester before graduation, or duck out of that mission trip the day before you go. Even if you’ve already been a minister for 15 years you’ve still got time to second guess yourself, and decide you’d rather be an accountant. Another thing that makes this infuriating is sometimes backing out of your current commitment is the right thing to do because it keeps you from what God wants for you. Don’t consider this too much, however, for by doing so many have twisted their thoughts, and simply used God as an excuse to drop out of something. Never let yourself do that.

Don’t step off the path because of impatience. Keep your eyes on the Lord, and let Him continue to guide your steps. If you’ve truly handed yourself over to Him then do not doubt yourself. This doubting is just Satan’s attempt to make you ineffective. He wants you to flounder around forever with no purpose. He wants to take you off the path. Do not listen to his voice. Don’t listen to your own voice that arises out of your insecurities, and your fear of commitment. Leave it to God. He knows what to do, and He can give you the patience you need to get where He wants you.

Do not get jumpy. Do not be afraid. Wait. Be patient. Trust in the faith the Lord gave you. Stay on the path.

The Call of Peter: Astonishing Salvation

There is more to the story than just Jesus revealing the location of all those fish to Peter. The story is much like the story of any of us, for the effectiveness of what Christ did is largely impacted by our reaction to it. Sometimes we shrug it off when Jesus does something great for us, and never really appreciate it. Other times we recognize it, and it changes our lives. This is much like the choice between accepting salvation, or denying it. Peter had that choice before him in this passage. His reaction, and the reaction of those with him (two men who also became great disciples), is recounted in Luke 5:8-11:

“When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.’ So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.”

They were astonished by Jesus for so many reasons. This is shown initially by Peter calling Jesus Lord instead of chief or boss as he had before, and then spelled out. There was more to this then just the number of fish. That wasn’t the only reason Peter thought Christ was too good to be in his presence.

I wrote in the previous entry that catching this much fish was like winning the lottery. That was impressive to Peter, James, and John, but something about Jesus was far more impressive. Jesus didn’t care. There was something of more value to Him than riches. Riches Peter had been pursuing his entire life. Peter realized the insignificance of what he was pursuing compared to what Jesus was doing. Peter, James, and John were astonished by their riches, and astonished by Jesus’ reaction to it. They had been pursuing money, and Jesus showed them there was something far greater to pursue. He wanted them to pursue the souls of men and women. They forsook all so they could.

What they did is just as astonishing as what Jesus did. It is the same thing we should do. The truth about the grace of Jesus is astonishing. That we can be saved from the patterns of sin because a sinless man died for us is astonishing. Our response to that astonishing truth should be equally astonishing. We should never get used to it. Should never hear the truth, consider it, and think that it sure is nice. Should never pull Jesus out only in times of trouble, but still be astonished by Him in times of good.

We should not revolve our lives around getting more money, sleeping with more women, reading more books, getting more high scores on our favorite games, beating our friends at fantasy football, or anything else. These things are not astonishing. Jesus is astonishing. What Jesus has done and can do for us is astonishing. We should be like Peter. We should forsake all our evil pursuits, and follow Him.

The Call of Peter: Jesus knows best

The next verse in Luke 5 is laced with a deep meaning many never understand. Verse 5 is Peter responding to Jesus’ command to go out in the water, and cast out his nets:

“But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down my net.”

Peter addressing Jesus as Master here is usually seen as a sign of respect. There are, however, far different ways to translate the original word that was used in this passage. The word can be more accurately translated “boss” or “chief”. What this means is Simon Peter was addressing Jesus with respect, but talking down to Him at the same time. His statement is really a lot like, “Listen here, chief. I’m the fisherman who has spent my life fishing, but I’ll go out because a rabbi told me to.”

Peter was tired. He had been fishing all night because that’s when the fish come out. Peter knew this. The fish hide under rocks during the day, but Jesus was telling him to go out anyway. Peter wasn’t listening to him hoping for some miracle. He thought it was a complete waste of time. Peter was the master fisherman, and Jesus was just a rabbi. Peter simply didn’t want to be accused of disobeying the rabbi who had healed his mother-in-law. He obeyed, but begrudgingly. He had no idea Jesus was about to turn things around on him, and show him there is no one with the same expert fishing knowledge Jesus has. Jesus proves this to be true in verses 6-7:

“And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”

Peter may not have thought Jesus knew anything about fishing, put Jesus proved him wrong. He helped Peter catch the most abundant number of fish he ever had in his life. This amounted to winning the lottery, and would have changed the lives of Peter and his partners (who happened to be James and John) for the better. It was an amazing thing, and it only happened because Peter listened to Jesus.

This reflects, or can reflect, so many of our lives. Using our own human logic we can look at a situation, and decide what we think is the right thing to do. God, however, can tell us to do something totally different. When we’re tired He can tell us to keep going, or to go out once more. He may tell us to right when everything in us wants to go left. He may tell us to go when it would be easier to stay, or to stay when we want to run. He may tell us to do things that go against everything we’ve learned our entire lives.

It is normal to wonder why, but not acceptable to disobey. We can be intelligent, but God is the true expert on everything. When He tells us to do something we will always be better off if we listen. It doesn’t matter how crazy it sounds, how tired we are, or how much it clashes with what we think is true. God always knows best. What he has in store for us is always better then what we can consider or imagine for ourselves. Peter could have missed this miracle because he thought he knew better than Jesus. Don’t let yourself miss out on what Jesus has in store for you because you think you know better. You never do. Jesus always knows better.

The Call of Peter: Overcoming Peer Pressure

Another significant lesson from this very significant account comes from verse 4 of Luke 5:

“When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let your nets down for a catch.”

Simon had helped Jesus, and Jesus was about to help him. He had a purpose for telling Peter to launch out into the deep, and part of it was to isolate Peter from the crowd. This shows Jesus well understood the power of peer pressure. Many of those who would consider the truth are often held back by the idea “what will those who know me think?”

This is a significant problem to the church. People regularly hear the gospel, pray to accept Jesus, and then lose their boldness when the preacher ask someone to come to the front, raise their hand, or just check a box on a card. Many refuse to do this, and revert back to the sinful patterns of their lives just because they were terrified of accepting what publically declaring themselves as saved could mean. Their family and friends could judge them. They don’t even have to be there to influence the newly saved individual. We can feel the crushing weight of those who would judge us even when they’re not present. Society is ever present, and always ready to make us feel stupid for doing anything that opposes the world.

Do not feel anger for someone who fears, but understanding. They are being asked to publically declare they believe in something unseen that could have a large and potentially devastating impact on their relationship with those they can see. It’s a tough choice. That’s why many preachers spend so long explaining to people sitting in their congregations who have just made the decision to follow Christ why it is so important to make such a declaration. Peer pressure is powerful, and those who consider casting out their salvation for it need to understand that the love of Jesus is a far more powerful thing.

Whenever possible do as Jesus did. Isolate the person you’re trying to reach from that peer pressure. Jesus didn’t give Peter the chance to look bold in front of the people watching on the shore. He took Peter out to sea where he could more easily change him without society trying to interfere. He made sure Peter was without excuses, and could not ignore what was about to come just because some other people were watching Him. He gave Peter the chance to realize the truth without society trying to impact his mind. We should try to do the same. Get people alone with the Gospel. When they can accept God in private they can more easily learn to declare Him in public. Give them the chance to do that if that’s what they need to be saved.

The Call of Peter: Help by being Helpless

One of the most dramatic moments of the gospels is when Jesus first called Peter in Luke 5. There are many important teachings in this account of 11 verses, and I’ll use the next entries to discuss just a few of them. The first verses I’ll discuss are Luke 5:1-3:

“So it was, as the multitude passed about Him to hear the word of God , that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake…Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.”

Easy to miss the lesson here, but it’s a significant one. Jesus came to Peter (called Simon at this time) knowing this man was capable of being one of His greatest disciples. He did not just come out and tell Peter this. He didn’t even give Peter a long lecture on the scriptures, and teach how they point to Him as the Messiah. He didn’t shout at Him through a megaphone, or threaten him with descriptions of hell. He instead did something much more productive. He asked for his help.

This is an amazing thing. Most of us who are saved are regularly thinking about how we can help others, but this is Jesus asking a simple fisherman to help Him. He wanted to preach from the boat, and needed Peter to keep it steady. Peter agreed to, and enabled Jesus to preach to multitudes.

When we want to reach others sometimes the best thing we can do is allow them to help us. A lot of those in need of saving are people with a diversity of skills, and they can help us. They can repair our cars, give us jobs, do our taxes, bag our groceries, take our trash, fix our roofs, build our websites, tutor our children, or do any number of other things. Allowing others to help us is a great way to let them know that we don’t arrogantly believe that only we can help them if we are saved, and they are not.

Do they need our help? Yes. All who are unsaved need to be saved. The best way for us to help them, however, may not be to cram that idea down their throats. The best way to help them could be to let them help us. That does a lot of good, and helps establish a relationship with them God may want us to have so that we can reach them. There are countless ways to reach someone, but no one can be reached if we don’t show respect for who they are.

Follow the example of Jesus. If you want to reach someone whose identity is largely wrapped up in what they can do then use that. Let them help you, and they may become more willing to let Jesus change them.

Made to Worship

Part of the evidence for God is how each one of us is created to worship. It’s in our nature, and is meant to motivate us to seek out the one true God so we can direct our worship toward Him. If we don’t learn to worship Him we will worship other things.

Many men and women have chosen sex as what they worship. They are fully consumed by their need to satisfy whatever is between their legs, and they will do anything to make sure they can. Many others have chosen to worship money, and spend their whole lives trying to accumulate wealth they want to keep to themselves. Some worship television, and commit their days making sure they are home at a certain time every Thursday night so they don’t miss a moment of these stories that will never positively impact their lives. Others choose video games, and would rather pretend to be someone else during every waking hour. Many parents, both in the church and out of it, choose to worship their children. A lot of people worship stuff, and can’t stop thinking about the new material thing they have to get to feel complete. Some cast off everything, but by doing so choose only to worship themselves.

Every one of these things is a pitiful substitute for God, and does us more harm than good. Worshiping sex causes us to cheapen what was meant to be a wonderful thing done between a man and a woman, and encourages us to view others as nothing more than objects that can satisfy us until we move on to someone with nicer boobs or more chiseled abs. Money is a false God that will never stop demanding we get more of it, for there will never be enough for us to feel secure. There will always be a new interesting television show to drain us, a new video game to take up all our time, or a new product that advertisements tell us our lives won’t be complete without. The problem with worshiping our children is they’ll believe us, and will always behave as if they are the center of the universe. Worshiping ourselves is perhaps the most pathetic, for it will leave us old, broken, and alone.

No false gods will ever satisfy us. The sin of worshiping them will destroy us, and the only one who can save us from their destruction is the one true God who loves us. He loves us so much He sent Jesus to die for us so we could spend all eternity with Him. Worship the One who created, and not the things He created. Sex, video games, money, children, and many others things are not bad things. They are just bad gods. We need to worship, but should not worship them. We should worship God.