Barney Wiget's Blog, page 3

“Establish the work of our hands…”

Allow me one final word on Moses’ one and only Psalm (90). It’s all about our aging and dying versus God’s eternal agelessness. While our beauty wanes, his retains and maybe even increases in glory. Moses seems to have written the poem just before he hiked up Nebo and died, a ripe 120 years old. He ends it with a request to God to “establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.” He’d lived a long, momentous life (wouldn’t you say?) and simply wanted what he’d done to last long after he’d be gone.

Isn’t that what all of us want? To know that what little good we’ve done (way little compared to Moses) to have permanence. We want to make a difference not only in this life, but beyond our brief lifetimes. But let’s not limit the effect of our good works to just as many years as we can imagine. If he planned them in eternity (Ephesians 2:10) then might we suppose their value would outlive all humankind and into the fusion of the new heavens and new earth?

You’d think that at the end of his amazing life, Moses wouldn’t worry about the long-lasting effects of his work. But don’t forget, he didn’t get to experience the result of it as he was kept from leading them all the way into the promised land. He only saw it from a distance, which, if you think about it, that’s what we have now. We have an oblique vision of the kingdom in its final form in the words of Jesus, John, Daniel, Isaiah and the rest from a distance. Therefore, our prayer is the same as the great Moses, “establish the work of our hands,” which is the same as our request for his kingdom to come, and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven!

Whatever external beauty we might once have had in our youth isn’t important now. What our hands were once able to do, to build, is now in decline. So, we want to know if our works actually meant anything in the grand scheme of things. Will they somehow last beyond us and into eternity?

Like Moses, we’re living now on the precipice of a land of promise. We observe it in the distance. It inspires hope and massages patience into our souls as we put our hands to the work of the kingdom. We will, as did Moses, eventually enter the perfected land. But for now, we experience many of its benefits, while the rest is left to our collective imagination.

What did Moses do? Only just liberated the nation from 400 years of back-breaking slavery, for 40 years led their trek through the wilderness, and gave them the God’s Law. All of which was preserved in the nation for the next 1300 years. But don’t you know that his efforts last longer than that, all the way through to this very day and on into the new heavens and earth? His prayer and ours is that what we do now will have eternal value and build for the kingdom.

I confess that I’ve only recently given up on the idea of leaving a “legacy” here in this world. I used to think that maybe people would remember my name a hundred years from now if I wrote a book that they would read long after I’m dead. Maybe I could start a church that would last till Jesus comes again or lead someone to Jesus that would be the next Billy Graham. All that would be fine, but if it’s not an eternal vision, it’s short-sighted. My idea of leaving a legacy has been taken over by something I can only see in my sanctified imagination of heaven and earth renewed and rejoined.

It’s the new world that is in my sights now. What matters to me know is not a name for myself but knowing that my name is written in the log of the new world. Now I pray that he will give permanence to the work of my hands, more permanent than what may last to the next generation or two. I want, and I want you, to plant seeds that will eventually become the tree of life on each side of the river, bearing fruit that heals nations.

I fear that with all the things we now have at our finger tips, we’ve lost the long view. We don’t see far enough. We want the work of our hands to bear fruit before we get the seeds covered with soil, let alone waiting for it to come to fruition after human history has run its course and the knowledge of God fills the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Let us lean into the day when heaven meets earth and God’s beauty is unconcealable and unavoidable. Then we’ll see that he did “establish the work of our hands,” and he’s brought all we’ve done into his eternal kingdom.

In John’s vision, the names of the apostles were written on the 12 foundations of the walls of the New Jerusalem. Maybe as we explore the great garden city, we’ll run across small plaques with our names on them that represent what we’ve contributed to it!

In the meantime, whether you’re old(er) or young(er), there’s no telling how near you are to your personal finish line. So, what are you doing with what you’ve been given in this place that will inevitably affect what you will experience in the better place? Is there even a tiny part of this world that is better for your having been here for as long as you have? Have you gained any wisdom all these many years (or few)? Have you lived or merely survived?

May God establish the work of your hands––yes, establish the work of your hands.

What’s This About the “Beauty of God”? (Psalm 90:17)

I mentioned in previous posts that having turned seventy this year I’m feeling every pain and taking all the pills to prove it. We septuagenarians and beyond may whine and complain, but one thing we can be thankful for is the diminishing struggle against peer pressure! In my case, seventy is the new eighty and somedays it’s how I imagine what it feels like to be a hundred! Thanks for listening. I feel better now, but I should get on with it before I feel the need to whine again.

Anyway, it’s the last verse of Psalm 90 that’s my favorite: “May the beauty of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.”

So, what’s the connection between this Psalm’s old age theme and the beauty of God? Not sure, but my guess is that when Moses looked in the mirror at the wrinkly face looking back at him, he mused about the contrast between what he saw and the glory he’d observed in the flaming bush, the pillar of fire and cloud in the wilderness, and the Shekinah that hovered over the Tabernacle.

Solomon observed that human beauty is “fleeting.” Maybe that’s why, as he aged, he kept marrying younger wives. (Sorry. Bad joke.) But God’s beauty is forever. Ours is in decline, said Captain Obvious. If it weren’t, you’d see ninety-year olds on the cover of Cosmopolitan and GQ. Our beauty, if we have any at all, is skin deep and his? Deeper than the depth of the universe.

We see his beauty reflected in what he created. Everyone has their own favorite expressions of it. For me it’s in my granddaughters, the redwoods and the ocean near me, and music of most kinds (except opera. My apologies to the memory of Pavarotti.) Yours may be the heavens, the paintings of O’Keeffe or Picasso, or your grandchildren that you mistakenly believe are as beautiful as mine.

Wherever you see beauty, know that it took a beautiful Creator to put it there. But no matter what we experience in this temporary sphere, when heaven meets earth and the New Jerusalem descends, his beauty will be unavoidable and grander than anything we’ve imagined. Of course, he’ll be the epicenter of it all, emanating through it all, making everything and everyone beautiful.

Oceans, stars, and sunsets are at best an opaque refection of his beauty. They are secondary to him, as he alone is the ultimate beauty. “Perfect in beauty, God shines forth.” (Psalm 50:2)

There’s a difference between being aware of something beautiful and appreciating it for its beauty. 

I took an Art Appreciation class in college. Don’t know why they call it that. I didn’t appreciate it any more than before I took the class. I studied the works of great painters, potters, and sculptors in order to get a good grade and achieve a degree so I could ultimately have a career. A lot of good that did for me as a pastor! But at least I passed the class. I really didn’t appreciate much of any of it as a form of beauty. I passed the class by knowing the difference between a Van Goh and a Monet, but my “appreciation” was purely utilitarian.

Now I go out of my way to spend time and money at art galleries. At least it’s cheaper than buying the paintings themselves. It’s a whole different experience than being forced to learn stuff about which I saw no value. Now I truly appreciate the form of beauty the world’s best artists provide. And until we appreciate God in that way, for the pure pleasure of it, we miss out on what it really means to know him as he is. His beauty attracts us to him. We don’t just need it to get something. We love it. We don’t just find his beauty useful but compelling.

I fear that many people use God more than love him. Their faith is self-centered—utilitarian rather than appreciation. They use him to get stuff from him (security, peace, prosperity), rather than serve God to get God. Tim Keller said, “God’s beauty isn’t one of his attributes, it’s the sum total of them all!” (Speaking of Keller, I can’t more highly recommend his great message based on Psalm 27 on God’s beauty.)

Have you noticed how that every time we see something beautiful, we whip out the cameras we’re tethered to, take fifteen photos of it, and post them on Facebook before we’ve actually paused to actually enjoy it! Is this how we relate to the God of beauty? Is our knowledge and experience of him just useful as a social media meme?

David said all he wanted to do was dwell in the temple and “gaze on the beauty of the Lord.” (Psalm 27:4) You gaze at something you can’t stop looking at. You stare at it and can’t get enough of it. He’s worthy of our gaze. More than worthy? He’s beautiful.

There was a time when Jesus temporarily set aside his beauty. He intentionally “emptied himself” of his “majesty” (Philippians 2; Isaiah 53). Further than that, he became “disfigured” as he was beaten and nailed to a cross. He became unbeautiful on purpose in order to replace our ugly sinfulness for his beauty. His beauty may be reflected in creation, but revealed and received in redemption.

This and only this is how his beauty can “rest upon us” as Moses prayed.

Habeas Corpus: What is it and Does Anyone Care?

It doesn’t really inspire much confidence in the Trump inner circle when the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, doesn’t even know what “Habeas Corpus” is, let alone how it directly applies to the legality of the admin’s random and illegal deportations of immigrants (many of whom have a legal right to be here).

White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, told reporters recently that the Trump administration was considering suspending habeas corpus. So… Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire quized Noem point blank: “Secretary Noem, what is habeas corpus?”

Noem answered: “Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country…”

Whoa! Noem, who has an undergrad degree in Political Science must’ve missed class that day. It’s actually the diametric opposite of the due process right established in the Constitution.

I’m no legal wiz myself, so I asked my friend, Tamra Mezera, attorney and former Judicial Law Clerk at State of Tennessee 21st Judicial District about habeas corpus. She told me, “It allows us to come before a judge to discover what crime we are charged with and the right to defend against when action is taken against us to infringe on our freedom or our property.”

In other words, you can’t just decide to jail or deport someone without their day in court, which is what the Trump administration has been doing for months now by detaining, deporting, and sending alleged criminals from other countries to El Salvador’s mega-prison.

Tamra said, “It’s in Article One of the Constitution. It was that important to the founding fathers. The Bill of Rights in the Amendments safeguard us further in the fifth and fourteenth amendments.”

Yes, it can be circumvented under enemy invasion. (Could this be the reason behind the president’s constant use of the word “invasion” to describe the people seeking asylum at our borders?) Anyway, it’s not war time or an enemy “invasion,” and as Tamra said, “SCOTUS isn’t buying the use of the Alien Enemies Act” that the president uses as his excuse to get rid of anyone he finds objectionable.

Could he someday determine you or me or someone you love qualified to be in that category?

“So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.” (Isaiah 59:14-15)

Is Elon Musk’s 5-year Old Son an Evangelist?

Someone posted a fake video of Elon Musk’s 5-year old son talking about Jesus. What AI had him say was basically true. So, does that make it good that the “truth” got out there even though propagated by a lie that he words came from a five year old?

Here’s my take. While it said true things about Jesus, it was a lie that pretended it was real. If I were an unbeliever I would think, those crazy Christians are lying on top of the lie that Jesus is the only way. It just makes us look bad and damages our testimony, which is something we can ill afford these days especially. 

If those who posted the video had made it clear with a disclaimer that it wasn’t intended to be seen as true (like the satirical publication called the Babylon Bee that says up front: “Fake News that You Can Trust”), I guess it would be a little different. But it seems they posted it as if it were genuine. It’s the definition of “disingenuous,” which doesn’t really constitute what you would call a good testimony.

“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways;” said Paul, “we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2)

Could it have been an antichristian sceptic that posted this to make us look even worse than we already do? More likely it was someone who believes in Jesus thinking it would get the message out there no matter the medium. Back in the day a Canadian philosopher named Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase: “The medium is the message.” In other words, the medium through which information is transmitted influences how the information is perceived and interpreted. Since the medium in this case is a lie, how can that be a conduit through which we expect the Sprit to do his work of conveying the good news?

Just my opinion. What’s yours?

What of Old Age and the Beauty of God (Part 2)

“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures.” (Psalm 90:10)

I was in a restaurant with a few of my much younger friends when the five-year old boy sitting next to me in the booth reached up, took a pinch of my sagging neck skin, and said, “Why are you old?” I paused and replied, “I’m not sure. I guess it’s because I was born a long time before you.”

If you read Part 1 (which I recommend), you’ll know that I turned that ominous seventy-year milestone (or millstone?). Since then, while nearing my expiration date, I’ve been increasingly reflective if not nostalgic about my time on earth and contemplating my mortality, being careful not to forget my morality. Oliver Wendell Holmes said that a lot of people “die with all their music in them.”

Wrinkles and worry lines are a daily reminder to keep the finish line in view and not leave the race before it’s over. Parker Palmer said, “Old is just another word for nothing left to lose, a time of life to take bigger risks on behalf of the common good.”

Question: What do you give a person who has everything?

Answer: Penicillin.

I have a 90-day supply of antibiotics on hand. Must be a sign I have pretty much everything these days. As a frequent flyer to the pharmacy, I’ve been given an honorary membership in their bonus savings plan. If I keep this up, they’ll have to start paying me to come and take product off their hands.

Psalm 90, the oldest of all of the Psalms, most likely written by the oldest writer of them all, is all about getting older and hopefully wiser. Moses sounds like he published his only Psalm while in his last days, the very last of which didn’t happen until he died at 120!

Most people don’t live that long nowadays. Definitely longer than I want to be wheezing and complaining myself. Moses, of course, was a special case. He had a special job to do, and as soon as he finished it some time before his 121st birthday, though still in pretty good health, God bade him to the mountain, put him to sleep, and buried him on the spot. No sad songs, twenty-one-gun salutes, or moving eulogies. Don’t look for his grave. It’s a secret, along with Noah’s ark. But you can read about it in Deuteronomy 32 and 34.

I can only speculate that his 70-or-80-years comment was a kind of natural course of things, typical longevity for most people. (About what it is for Americans these days. But again, Moses was “most people.”)

Moses was 40 when he killed his first Egyptian. Then he fled to the desert until God met him at the blazing bush when he was 80. He then wandered in the wilderness with his fellow Israelites and died at 120. (I don’t want to live that long myself.) I’ve always wondered if all of the spies had returned with a better report, if they would’ve entered the promised land when Moses was still a youthful lad of 80. But they didn’t and he wasn’t. He did, however, look back at some point and write this Psalm about the passage of time and the aging process.

Whether you’re an age-mate of mine or not, this Psalm has something for everyone. Everyone who is terminal that is. In light of such a disparity between God who is eternal (“everlasting to everlasting”) and us who are not, he prays: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Notice wisdom is more in the heart than the head.His point is, we don’t have much time here, so we should get on with spending it in the best way we can.

Spurgeon cites an old preacher who said: “He that longs to look back with satisfaction upon past years, must learn to know the value of single minutes, and endeavor to let no particle of time fall useless to the ground.” In other words, what a pity it is that many people don’t realize the reason they were born until they’re ready to die.

Speaking of a pity, we still haven’t gotten to my favorite part of the Psalm about how all this relates to “the beauty of God.” Please stay tuned for one more piece on that. Maybe two…

What of Old Age and the Beauty of God (Part 1)

I used to make fun of old people, who, when they got together, all they talked about were their aches, pains, and latest medical procedures. Now I are one of them! And so are my old friends. We sit around and compare medications and their milligrams as a conversation piece like it it’s a hobby. We were talking about arthritis the other day, and somebody said it’s just the early onset of rigor mortis. Old age just sorta creeps up on you like mold in the shower.

Just today I got back to back feel-better-about-myself comments. Both of which came from people most likely with serious vision issues. The first, while waiting in line at the pharmacy. I’m there so often they just leave my prescriptions near the cash register so as to save time when they see me coming. Like Parker Palmer said, “I used to bore my doctors, but have now become a ‘person of interest’ to several kinds of specialists.”

Anyway, I was wearing shorts, and the woman behind me said to me something I can honestly say I’ve never heard said to me before: “You have nice legs!” Nicest thing (if not the most forward), I’ve heard in a long time. She was standing next to a man, so I resisted the temptation to ask her out!

I went from there to the grocery store next door. While standing in that line, a guy of about 40 recognized me from twenty-five years back when he was a teenager. Our church used to hand out slices of pizza at lunch time to the high schoolers coming through our property. Relationships and gospelling the kids was our goal, but serendipitously it cut down on graffiti and pot smoking. (Theirs, not ours.) I wanted to ask him what he thought of my legs, but thought better of it.

Anyway, the fact that he recognized the forty-five old me in my wrinkly seventy-year old face blew my mind! The Lord must be trying to tell me something like “You have a few more laps to run, so don’t leave the race just yet.” Frankly, I have had visions of hanging up my running shoes.

There is an upside to standing in line. I think I’ll do it more often and wait for compliments!

A not-well-known biblical character asked King David a series of rhetorical questions: “I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between what is enjoyable and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of male and female singers?” (2 Samuel 19:35) I’m not eighty yet, but I can relate.

The author of Ecclesiastes used metaphors to describe the changes and challenges of old age. He compared his waning sight to the sun going down, his loss of teeth to “grinders” that stop grinding, his whitened hair to almond blooms, and his weakened state to the difficulty of carrying something the weight of a grasshopper. (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7) Again, I can relate.

On this topic of aging, the ninetieth Psalm has captured my attention lately. It all started when I turned 70 this year and I remembered that the poem’s author, Moses said, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures.” I don’t believe this is a death sentence for septuagenarians, the Bible’s rule for mortality. But still it knocked me for a loop on my birthday. Not that I’m afraid to die. In fact, I quite look forward to being with Jesus. It just seems like 70 is older than I thought it would be before actually arriving here.

Though we haven’t gotten to the part about the “beauty of God” or the Psalm that refers to it (the 90th), stay with me for another couple of posts. In the meantime, whether you’re young or old, read Psalm 90 and look for something that will help you set your sights on living while you’re alive.

Who said this?

“You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American. …

“This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people — our strength — from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

Do you know who said this?

Is Empathy a Weakness?

Did you see that the richest man in the world, and President Trump’s trusted advisor, Elon Musk said to Joe Rogan, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy”?

Wait! Empathy is a “weakness”? Jesus preached it’s the “meek” who inherit the world, not the powerful and potent. To Musk, Rogan, and maybe even President Trump, meekness is weakness. I’ve often said if you think meekness is weakness, trying being meek for a week! Even with the God of the universe living inside me, I can’t manage it for a day.

To me, it’s no mystery that Musk and his counterparts get along so well. I’m no psychiatrist but isn’t it a classic sign of narcissism if not sociopathy if you consider empathy as a “weakness”? Was it weakness when Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus or over obstinate Jerusalem? Was he being weak when he had compassion on the crowds when he saw them as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”? How about his fiery little half-brother James when he wrote, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy”? Was that being weak? And what about Jesus’ chief Apostle, Paul, who told us to “clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”?

That’s the Jesus way!

I don’t expect Musk to think or act like a Christian. But it grieves me, and I believe it grieves the Lord that because he’s highly intelligent and so filthy rich that millions of people take their cues from a guy who seems to take his cues from people like nineteenth century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He’s the guy who coined, “God is dead” and claimed that “only decadents call compassion a virtue.” Nietzsche viewed empathy as potentially detrimental, especially when it leads to “self-denial.” Wait! Self-denial is bad too? I think I read someplace that we’re to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus!

It grieves me that our president called Musk “a great patriot,” someone who has “opened a lot of eyes.” Maybe both things are true in a way. Maybe he cares about our country, though I have serious doubts about that. And he has opened a lot of people’s eyes, but to what? What has the world’s wealthiest entrepreneur shown us that we needed to know, besides how to make cars and take other rich people into space?

Have you heard this term: “Psychopathy”? According to psychologists it’s a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy, remorse, and guilt. Apparently, people with this condition display manipulative behaviors and a tendency towards antisocial behavior. Sound at all familiar?

Musk went on to say on Rogan’s show almost dismissively, “I believe in empathy, like, I think you should care about other people.” That’s like saying, “I believe in relationships. Everyone should have a pet.”

He went on to say that empathy can lead to something he called “civilizational suicide.” In other words, don’t care too much about others, because you might ruin the world! Concern yourself primarily about yourself and everyone wins! Well, not everyone. Maybe you might win, but at what expense to the world, not to mention to you?

“They’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization,” he says, “which is the empathy response. So, I think, you know, empathy is good, but you need to think it through and not just be programmed like a robot.”

I assume he means by a “bug,” the kind that messes up your computer. So too much empathy will ultimately crash the world? Does any of this sound remotely true or in any way parallel to the life and teaching of Jesus? And does Jesus program us like robots? Does he control us or is it more accurate to say that kneads his nature into those of us who soften our hearts toward him?

The most popular definition of empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It’s being willing to try to “walk in someone else’s shoes,” which is something that few people in the billionaire class seem to be able to do very well. Even if they’re otherwise good people, just by nature of the socioeconomic chasm between them and the common person, let alone the 700 million people in the world who live on less than $2.15 a day, it must be hard to even find the shoes of others, let alone walk in them.

Without a functioning conscience or the compassionate God living inside him, (neither of which seem likely in his case), Musk can’t possibly understand the challenges of those not wearing his “Cybertruck shoes.” Yes that’s a thing.

This is the world’s richest man espousing that empathy is a problem, a “bug.” The one that shuttered the department that feeds the hungry and cares for the sick around the world. The one who slashed funding for cancer research, that gutted the National Weather Service, putting the planet in even greater danger from climate change, and intends to cut funding from the VA.

This is a man who doesn’t just lack empathy, he thinks it’s a problem, like a bug in the software of Western civilization. It’s not only his inability to comprehend the suffering of others, but his will to dehumanize them that makes him and others like him dangerous to us all.

“The measure of a country’s greatness is its ability to retain compassion in times of crisis.” (Thurgood Marshall)

That’s the Jesus way!

Opening to New Experiences (Avoiding Superficial Spirituality Part 9)

[I’m reposting this piece from 2017. Seemed necessary somehow. If it resonates with you, you might look at some of the others in this series that are linked.]

“Do not measure yourself by how much road you have covered thus far; rather measure with your eyes set on how much more there is in front of you.” (Jeanne Guyon wrote this to her cousin François Fénelon)

For the last few weeks we’ve been talking about things that influence our spiritual depth: a sense of wonder, widening the parameters of what we believe, letting go of the familiar, assessing the actual “spiritual” nature of our faith as opposed to “soulish,” etc. Here I’d like to propose that…

To go deeper in God we have to be open to new experiences with God.

Fear is not a good reason to stay in the shallow end of your faith. Remember how you feared to even try the water at first? Thank God you overcame your fear and took the risk. Now I encourage you to venture out into deeper water and let the Spirit teach you how to swim.

Another reason we fail to dive deeper into God is we don’t have categories for what we might find there, no experiences to attach it to. Let me offer a few examples of what I mean.

What I might call “social justice” passages in the Bible were invisible to me for the first 35 years of some pretty avid study of the Scriptures. As a white middle class American male, I’ve experienced nothing that could be remotely considered prejudice or exploitation. Consequently, I inadvertently read past the thousands of justice-theme passages. Assuming they had little more than a remote relevance to my life, my eyes simply skimmed over them as I read. It wasn’t until I started spending lots of time with marginalized and poor folks that these passages began to come alive to me. My experiences helped me connect with a deeper understanding of God and his Word.

Something similar happened to me during my own “dark night of the soul” regarding Scriptural truth on suffering. As a pastor, I did my best to console hundreds of suffering church members over the years, but had very little to work with on a personal level. Yet when the lights temporarily went out in my life, the suffering theme in Scripture was highlighted as never before. It forced me to think through what I believe about God’s providence and sovereignty, about faith, and about what really matters in the short span of time we call life. A deeper revelation occurred when I had something personal to attach it to.

Here’s another example of what I’m talking about. A non-charismatic theologian heard a charismatic pastor friend of mine quote 1 Corinthians 14, “I speak in tongues more than you all.” Shockingly, he asked my friend, “Is that in the Bible?” Here was a man who could talk Scripture circles around the less-scholarly pastor, but because he hadn’t experienced “spiritual language” for himself he didn’t have a category for that verse that he had undoubtedly read past many times. If he were to experience it for himself all those passages where “tongues” is mentioned would undoubtedly come alive to him.

I have a young friend who had been warned all her life against those crazy charismatics and their so-called “gifts of the Spirit.” One day when she was praying with a friend the Spirit gave her a very specific mental image (you might call it a vision), that when she shared it he was dumfounded by its accuracy and relevance. Though she’d grown up in the church and knew the Bible quite well, she had no idea what this was. When she asked me about it we turned to the Word and concluded it was much more common than she realized.

In each case, the experience, whether sought or involuntarily imposed, came before understanding the Scripture on the topic.

I’m fully aware of the danger of interpreting the Word through our experiences. While, as a general rule of thumb hermeneutical principle has merit, it’s not necessarily always the best way to proceed. Sometimes we don’t have any context for an interpretation of Scripture until we have an experience to attach it to. You can read about salvation, for instance, but until you’re converted, you will have little-to-no understanding of it.

Earlier, we spoke about the disciples’ dullness in relation to Jesus’ predictions of his resurrection. Since they had no category for it they had no idea what he was talking about and were afraid to ask him about it. They couldn’t believe that he was literally going to rise from the dead, so they surmised he must have meant something else. After he rose, their hindsight gave them greater insight. But it wasn’t until their experience opened them up to a greater understanding and they were able to connect the dots.

Of course, if some so-called spiritual experience directly contradicts a sane reading of the Scriptures, we’re advised to reject it as something other than legitimately “spiritual.” But what I’m saying here is that if we require a proof text before we’ll take the Jesus’ hand and dive deeper with him into divine mysteries, we will probably continue to linger in the shallow end. Insisting on waiting till we understand all the Bible says on a subject before we allow ourselves to experience it is a recipe for shallow faith.

I tend to be one of those people that prefers, before venturing out on a road trip, everything to be planned out in advance––the route, every stop, and the location of each overnight stay. I’ve found though that traveling this way I miss a lot of things along the way and places I might have otherwise visited on unplanned detours. One or more of those places that weren’t on my itinerary might surprise me as better than those places in my original plan.

Problem is, a lot of us treat our salvation like a destination instead of a journey. “For far too many, conversion is seen as a birth certificate instead of a driver’s license,” says Scot McKnight.

For my part, Jesus came into my heart before he came into my head. I knew next to nothing about him when he first overwhelmed me with his presence and power. It wasn’t until after my dramatic conversion and baptism in the Spirit that I began to unravel what the Word said about what had happened to me. For others, knowledge and understanding come before the conversion experience, but it doesn’t always have to happen in that order.

Some are so experience-oriented that a well thought out theology gets neglected. Others are so stilted in their theological presuppositions that they recoil at the mention of any new spiritual experience, especially of the more ecstatic type. I long for what the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles had––a sound theology plus a no-holes-barred experience of God. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. If anything, they feed each other.

For a deeper relationship with God I encourage you to both open your mind to a greater understanding of him in his Word and a more profound experience of him in your daily life.

Admirers, Acquaintances, or Followers?

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. (Luke 23:44-49)

A lot of people watched Jesus breathe his last––the two thieves on his either side, the soldiers who crucified him, passersby who taunted him, the religious leaders who mocked him, his mother, his aunt, another Mary, Salome, Mary Magdalene, a centurion and the Apostle John. Each with their various connections with the Man being crucified.

This passage highlights three different collections of onlookers: the admiring crowd that was there for the spectacle, those who had nothing more than an acquaintance with him, and the women who followed him all the way from Galilee. Which are you?

Are you part of the spectacle-seeking admirers? Maybe he’ll do a miracle to convince you he’s who he says he is. You’re not actually following him, doing his bidding, devoting your life to him. You’re just hanging around him hoping he’ll perform for you like a genie in a bottle.

Or are you one of his acquaintances? You know stuff about him, even lots of stuff. But is it possible you don’t actually know him. You became acquainted with him through the story or when you met someone who knows him, but you’re no friend of his per se. Maybe your acquaintance with him is a little more meaningful than that. You identify as a Christian, but nothing has changed since you had your brush with him as a child. You said a prayer, and even meant it. But that’s as far as it’s gone.

Acquaintances are made through brief encounters. We might google their name or look them up on social media to learn something about them. But encounters like these are shallow and fleeting. They can hardly be called relationships. We met, we exchanged names, career choices, and a hobby or two. But we can’t claim to “know” them. They’re an acquaintance.

Or are you more like the women who followed Jesus all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem? The 80 miles of dirt roads would take a minimum of three days on foot. It’s apparent that these women were not just along for the “ride.” They loved him enough to go with him wherever he went, whatever it cost them. They didn’t just reap the joys of travelling with him, they served his needs (Mark 15:41). Other than John, the twelve were nowhere to be found at the scene of the cross. The men had already scattered in fear, but these courageous, tenacious women stayed with him till he breathed his last.

Which are you? Are you part of the crowd that admires Jesus for the spectacle of it all? Are you merely acquainted but not enamored with him enough to wait for his beck and call and accompany him on the sometimes-arduous road? Or are you poised to follow him wherever he goes, unconcerned for how far he takes you, or how much it costs you?

“One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-26)