Archive March 2008
Your Words and Mine
The wheels of the little regional jet touched down about 12:30pm EDT. Landing in Philadelphia, I rented a car for the hour-and-a-half trip to Reading and a Christar board meeting, but not before I made a quick and immediate trip across the river to Pat’s in south Phily for a “cheese steak with”. Enough of such trivial and personal talk for the moment. I want to talk about words — yours and mine. Let me set some background.
Looking down on snowy fields, I was meditating on today’s Bible reading from Exodus 24 where Moses has just related Jehovah’s words to the people of Israel. God had just led his people out of slavery in Egypt where they had suffered mercilessly at the hand of Pharaoh. They were persecuted, abused, and treated as animals.
Interestingly enough, when God met with Moses to discuss where they were to go from here, there was no talk of reparations, affirmative actions or public apologies on the part of the Egyptian government, much less any hint of vengeance. God was offering something much better. He was offering to enter into a formal covenant relationship with the Israeli people. He was offering to make them a people specially set apart for him alone.
In the ancient Middle East, empires were built through suzerainty covenants. Suzerain was a word for a great and powerful king who ruled over vast territories that often included many lesser kings who had subjected themselves to him. Resist the suzerain and be reduced to ruble; submit to him and he might graciously allow you to enter into a suzerainty covenant that would be of mutual benefit. In other words, the suzerain would say, “You agree to be my vassals and serve me, and here is what I agree to do for you …” There was no negotiation, give or take, or hammering things out. The greater power was extending grace to the lesser and offering a formal covenant of mutual benefit. There is really no parallel in the modern world.
The generation of Israel under Moses knew of no greater power on earth than Pharaoh. Against what seemed to be impossible odds, Jehovah God had supernaturally delivered them from Pharaoh’s cruel slavery through a series of supernatural plagues, miraculously split open the Red Sea for their exit and just as miraculously caused the same waters to come crashing down upon Pharaoh and his army resulting in their destruction.
Jehovah was not a theological concept to Israel or a topic for discussion at a Sunday worship service. He was the greatest Suzerain imaginable! He had humbled and killed the leader of the world’s greatest superpower. Could anyone doubt him or his power? Surely no one could dare challenge him or question him.
God had called Moses to come up alone on the mount. There, he gave him an amazing moral code that continues to mold many segments of world society to this day. We call that code the Ten Commandments. Next, Moses reported God’s words and the conditions of the suzerainty covenant to Israel. Here is their response.
And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. Exodus 24:3
Sadly, before 40 days had passed, these same people who had unanimously proclaimed their allegiance to God and obedience to his precepts had melted their gold to make an idol in direct violation of the first three commandments.
Have you ever wondered how they could be so stupid, so fickle, so loose, so rebellious and so hardened?
Here’s a simple question for you and for me. When was the last time you or I went 40 days without willfully violating God’s truth?
What are our words worth? Can people really believe us? Can others truly count on what we say? Can God count on what we say?
Another Stupid Human Game
Inspired by yesterday’s thoughts on the “what if game,” I stumbled across another dumb game we play as I was reading in 2 Corinthians this morning. This game is the “comparison game,”and it is an obsession in our society. Many people are passionately competitive and measure their own meaning and significance by how they compare to others. They find success in having more, doing better, or knowing more than the next person.
Paul makes it crystal clear that the problem is the standard of measurement, the ruler one chooses to use.
For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. 2 Corinthians 10:12-13
This is a tough passage, but the basic idea is the foolishness of measuring ourselves by our own standards. God measures us by his own standard.
Even Christian leaders like pastors and missionaries struggle with this game people play. A pastor wants to have the biggest church in town, or a missionary finds significance in the number of souls won or churches planted.
Dr. Francis Schaeffer was a great Christian thinker of the last century. Dr. Schaeffer taught that there are four basic ideas from the Bible that affect the way we view the world and the way we live:
- Who is God
- Who is man
- The existence of absolute and accessible truth
- Our responsibility to live according to God’s truth
The way to avoid the dangerous comparison game is to know who God is, who you are, and to measure your life by the way you live according to his revealed truth in the Bible, not by comparing yourself to others. Measuring yourself in comparison to others promotes divisiveness, pride, insecurity, envy and a host of other ills. Measuring up to God’s standards results in humble self-confidence, significance and meaning.
Don’t play the comparison game.
The Dangerous “What if Game”
Sitting around a table sipping good coffee or tea with friends, it is sometimes fun and stimulating to play the “what if game. “What if Pharaoh would have given permission for the Hebrews to leave Egypt? What if Adam and Eve never sinned and ate from the the Tree of Life? What if the Jewish leaders would have recognized Jesus as the Messiah? Would he have to have died on the cross? What it Noah would have disobeyed and not built the ark?
Well, you get the idea. There are an unlimited number of hypothetical questions that can be asked. Have you ever really had your life transformed or even enriched by trying to answer a hypothetical question? How’s THAT for a question! This reminds me of some of Paul’s comments to Timothy. Notably:
Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. 1 Timothy 1:4
Or,
He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings. 1 Timothy 6:4
I thought of the “what if game” this morning as I was reading in Luke. We are approaching Easter, and I was looking carefully at Luke’s account of the crucifixion. What if Jesus didn’t have to die? Feel the force of Jesus’ words in the context of Luke’s account of the Great Commission.
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47
For those who need a refresher course in the Queen’s English, the phrase and thus it behoved Christ to suffer does not mean that it was convenient for him to suffer. The phrase means it was absolutely necessary for him to suffer the crucifixion and to rise again on the third day. The word behoove comes from a source meaning to have need, and this perfectly fits with the meaning of the Greek work employed here. There was no way around it. Remember the struggle Jesus himself had with this in the Garden the night before? There’s no what if about it. It was written in the scriptures and it was therefore necessary for it to happen.
Playing the “what if game” with friends late at night, while a time waster, is usually harmless. However, the “what if game” can become deadly dangerous under other circumstances. Someone close to you has died under tragic circumstances — a traffic accident, an illness, a suicide or met with foul play. It is only natural for the human mind and emotions to gear up for the “what if game.” What if I would have done, said, been there, gone there, did not go there, did not say – ??? While these questions naturally arise, this form of the “what if game” needs to be shut down as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Anyone can always look back at a relationship, event or circumstance and see things that could have or should have been done better. That’s legitimate. We need to learn from our flaws, shortcomings and sins and move forward. To morbidly dwell on what could have or should have been is to fail to learn the lesson, and can put your entire life in a fatal tailspin.
Our responsibility is to accept what is, learn from it and grow deeper and stronger. The “what if game” is a dead end.
Caught in the “what if game?” Do this:
- Make a list of what you or others could have or should have done and the lessons you learn from that exercise.
- If necessary, make apologies, ask forgiveness, or reconcile with others involved. Or, maybe you need to do some forgiving. Maybe you need to forgive yourself. Maybe you need to forgive God for doubting him or being angry at him.
- Take the lessons you learn and try to tag them to biblical principles with application steps to implement them in your daily life.
- Stop the “what ifs” and move forward, stronger and deeper.
The question is not “what if, ” but what? What happened? What can I learn? What can I do to make a difference in my life and others by what I have learned? What can I do to accept what happened, learn from it and grow deeper and stronger?
Thoughts on Leadership
My last post consisted of some thoughts on the advice Moses received from his father-in-law Jethro and how God often speaks to us, guides us, or encourages us from unlikely sources. Today, my friend Tina commented on how she uses the Moses and Jethro story in supervision classes. You can look at my previous post and Tina’s comment, but let me just put it here for all to see:
I use the Jethro story in my supervision classes, as the first recorded example of a chain of command. I have PowerPoint slides with a couple of artists renderings of the scenario. I love the part he says at the last, “They will make your burden lighter, because they will share it with you.” I have that one the last slide and always challenge the participants to make their boss’s burden lighter rather than heavier. I feel just like Jr. Jeff when I’m going through it! T.
Tina is a legendary trainer in law enforcement and also does training and speaking in the private and governmental sectors. You can read about my connection with her here, and I highly recommended you check out her blog here. She has some fascinating things to say that I am sure you would find of interest. Look around her blog for a bit.
This evening began with the installation of deacons for the next two year term. Then, I taught my Shepherd School of Ministry course on leadership using the book of Ezra as a model. So, when I came home and discovered Tina’s comments, that started me thinking about leading and following. Here are a few bullet points that come to my mind sparked by Tina’s comments and my own comments to the deacons and to my class.
- Make your boss’s burden lighter rather than heavier. I begin with Tina’s contribution for the sake of completeness.
- True leadership principles are truly universal. If a principle is true in the Bible, or in the structure of the church, it is something you need to practice also at work, or your family for that matter. Tina’s comments show that the Jethro principle is immediately applicable to the workplace. Don’t be one of those “Christians” who has a great mind for Bible trivia, yet acts like a lazy, irresponsible, grouchy slob at work! Your life and walk with God should be consistent no matter where you are.
- Leaders begin as followers. Not everyone is a gifted leader, but leaders learn to lead by following, not just because they have been handed a title and position. Leaders should never ask people to do what they are unwilling to do themselves. Jesus dealt with this aspect of leadership in Matthew 20:25-28.
- Leaders represent far more than themselves. I reminded out deacons that people look up to them. When they visit someone in the hospital, attend a funeral visitation, or otherwise minister to people, they should mention in some way that they represent the entire church. At a funeral, for example, it would be appropriate to identify one’s self as a deacon and say something to the effect, “I’m sure I speak for our entire church family in saying that we love you and are praying for you and your family at this difficult time.” At work you represent your company, your bosses and your colleagues. Represent them well.
- Leaders complain upward, not laterally or downward. Tina mentioned the chain of command. In my Ezra class tonight I said that it is essential that leaders only complain upward, not complaining, whining and gripping to those beneath them in the chain of command or their peers. A leader with an issue or a legitimate question should properly and respectfully approach his or her superiors. To complain laterally or downward in the chain of command undermines leadership and is divisive.
Thanks, Tina, for the comment and for stimulating thought. Maybe someone else out there has some leadership thoughts to share.
I Can’t Win!
In the heat of defending his apostleship against detractors bent on destroying him, Paul wrote a brief sentence to the Corinthians that is pure brilliance in simplicity, truth and depth. The pureness of its principle allows us to carefully lift it from its immediate context to make application to our lives today.
The first phrase means that we can never prevail in the long run if we fight against the truth. We may frustrate God’s plan in the short term and negatively affect the lives of those around us, but we can never win. Why do we think we can get away with violating God’s truth? Why do we look for ways to get around God’s truth, or think it applies to everyone but us? Why do we continually invent excuses for why truth doesn’t apply to us right now in the present circumstances?
Here are some examples of how we play this dangerous game:
Surely you can think of other ways we subtly or not so subtly try to circumvent truth. Paul’s message is clear. You will never win any fight against truth. You can ignore it, rebel against it, or take the postmodern position that absolute truth does not exist. But, truth is always true whether one believes it or not. This is not relative truth, but what Francis Shaeffer called “true truth.” It is true because that is the nature of truth. It is the standard by which all decisions and life in general are measured.
So, why do we try? Why not stop fighting? We can never win against the truth because it is absolutely true. True truth does not bend or suffer lapses of existence. True truth is simply always there, the same as it was three millennium ago and the same as it will be when time melds into the eternal now one day in the immeasurable future.
The second half of Paul’s short statement is equally profound – but for the truth. The sense is that we we can only accomplish things working with the truth, on behalf of the truth, over the foundation of truth or in favor of truth.
We say, “If you can beat ‘em, join ‘em!” This is not far from Paul’s point. You’ll never beat the truth, so you might as well learn that the only true accomplishments are done through or on the basis of truth. Anything and everything that is real is done through truth.
Modernism has many flaws and much arrogance. We should not be surprised to see modernism under hospice care today and gasping for its final breaths. Postmodernism is not a cure-all even though it does have some redeeming characteristics, just as modernism did. When postmodernism is as hopelessly out of fashion as 80′s hair or disco suits, true truth will be true still. No matter what the philosophical flavor of the decade around us, truth will always be the same because it is true.
How much energy do we spend trying to find loopholes in truth? There are none. Never were; never will be.
Oh, stop it! Truth will never be anything less than true. You can’t win. It is hopeless.
Instead, we will find hope in truth. No matter what event or circumstance of life, truth is always applicable. Anything of lasting or eternal significance is always accomplished on the foundation of truth.
If only we could develop the habit of saying, “Now, what true truth is applicable in this situation?”
Pilate said, “What is truth?
Jesus said, “I am the truth.”
Jesus said, “God’s word is truth.”