Wisdom From the Word – Page 2

The Paradox of Christian Greatness

The paradox of Christian greatness is a thing to ponder. There is no room for pride when one can be the greatest and the least at the same time.

Jesus said of John, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Luke 7:28

If we try to visualize this idea, it turns into an Escher drawing. People appear to be ascending to new heights, but reaching the top of the circular staircase they find they are behind those only beginning their ascent.

This destroys all motivation for competitiveness and selfish ambition and conceit since greatness is connected to humility and not to accomplishment.

This is a badly needed word in the structures of power in Christianity today. Churches are filled with worldly “corporate-ladder” thinking, with people trying to make their way to the “top” of the organization.

And yet to really reach the “top” is not to live more and more like a king, but to live more and more like a servant.

May our churches be filled with people who seek greatness by way of humility and not accomplishment.

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Michael Krahn is the Lead Pastor of the EMMC church in Aylmer, Ontario, where he has served for the last 13 years. He has been married to Anne Marie for almost 27 years and together they have three daughters (19,18,15). You can find more of Michael’s writing at www.michaelkrahn.com or connect on social media at @Michael_G_Krahn (Twitter), pastor.michael.krahn (IG), and Michael.George.Krahn (Fb)

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For Those Who Work Hard Every Day

The results of our efforts are in God’s hands.

“And when he had finished speaking, Jesus said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.” (Luke 5:4-6)

We might fish for days and days and catch nothing, and then at his command, we might have more than we can take in.

We may be tempted to only fish on the days we think we’ll get results, but it is the daily discipline of fishing that puts us into the position to reap a harvest when the time is right.

Apply this truth to whatever good it is that you do.

If you have found your place in God’s kingdom, be it as a missionary, a factory worker, an accountant, a pastor, or a truck driver – if this is God’s assignment for you at this time, labour diligently.

You won’t see magnificent results from your efforts every day – no one does. But if you remain faithful in applying yourself to his calling, a harvest is in store. God always blesses efforts made according to his will.

So go once more to your assignment today and work hard.

Perhaps this is the day you will lower your nets and be unable to raise them again due to the abundance of the catch.

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Looking For Approval in All the Right Places

Have you ever done something in order to be liked? It is a truly wonderful feeling to be accepted and admired, but chasing that feeling can lead to much trouble. There is a select group of people who seem to like being hated, but this is rare; our default is to seek affirmation and approval.

That’s not a bad default, but those desires must be turned in the right direction.

Listen to the words of Jesus in Luke 6:22-23,26:

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets… Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

Jesus says that we are blessed if people hate us, exclude us, angrily insult us and reject us with disdain, calling us evil – IF they do all these things on account of our commitment to follow him. Not only are we to accept this, we are to rejoice when this happens – to the point of leaping for joy!

We will be the recipients of great rewards, BUT these rewards come later, and we are not good at waiting.

Knowing this, Jesus offers a warning: there is no blessing in seeking the approval of the masses, even though there may be some pretty sweet instant rewards.

When we are hated for the sake of Christ, we are blessed, but if we continually forsake Christ in order to gain widespread approval, we will be eternally cursed.

Where are you seeking approval and affirmation today?

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Repentance is the Daily Substance of Christianity

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Luke 15:7

Repentance results in joy in the realms of heaven. When someone turns away from sin and toward God, heavenly rejoicing follows. When what was lost is found, when a wanderer returns home, there is rejoicing in heaven.

When you picture the repentance that leads to heavenly joy, what do you see? Do you see the hardened lifelong sinner, crushed by the weight of guilt, in need of the Saviour? Or do you see yourself, already a child of God, but prone to wander, prone to walk in the opposite direction of the God you love? We should see both.

We may believe the joy in heaven applies only to that initial repentance when a person who was a slave of sin becomes a slave of righteousness. That indeed is a glorious thing, but this rejoicing in heaven applies to all our repenting, not just our initial repentance.

“Turning from sin and trusting in the good news that Jesus saves sinners aren’t merely a one-time inaugural experience but the daily substance of Christianity. The gospel is for every day and every moment. Repentance is to be the Christian’s continual posture.”
David Mathis

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Our Lives as a Home Renovation Show

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”
Deuteronomy 8:2

If we look for parallels between those “forty years” and the past twenty-four months (and counting) we might understand the last two years a little better.

The Lord has continued to lead us in ways that encourage our humility, but are we any more humble than we were two years ago?

The Lord has tested us to see what is in our hearts. What has been revealed?

To be honest, there is a whole lot in my own heart that I wish had remained concealed. And this seems, broadly, to be the case.

The evidence of an increase in the fruits of the Spirit seems far less than the evidence of the increase of anger, slander, selfish ambition, deceit, deception, rebellion, and conceit.

If our lives over the last two years were a home renovation show, “the reveal,” in many cases, has been a serious disappointment. We were quite capable in the demo phase, but the debris of our demolitions still lies scattered about, and any hope of reconstruction seems hopelessly delayed. Where reconstruction was possible, instead we’ve seen further demolition.

Many people’s lives and our society at large seem to be in ruins and heading for more of the same. It doesn’t look like this renovation show will end with the usual awestruck celebration.

And yet, somehow, for those who are in Christ, it will.

The timeline will be a little longer and certainly less tidy and predictable than the tightly scripted thirty-minute renovation shows, but regardless of how much destruction we bring on ourselves, each other, and the world, all that we see before us will be made new...

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’
And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” (Rev. 21:3-5)

This future reality is no excuse to be careless, flippant, or detached from the present. It is an encouragement for the embedded people of God as they live carefully and seriously in a volatile and hostile world.

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Make Jesus Your Master, Not Your Mascot

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
Luke 6:46

These are among the most cutting words uttered by Jesus that we have on record. When we call him our Lord and Master but ignore his commands, we are every bit as hypocritical as the Pharisees.

Broadly

I can see this broadly:

On one branch of Evangelical Christianity, there is a Jesus who is little more than a mascot for personal and political goals. God’s word is not taken seriously but small portions of it are presented forcefully as justifications for ungodly pursuits. This Jesus is all about contention, confrontation, and the harsh condemnation of those who refuse to get in line.

This is a portrayal of Jesus that many choose to reject, and this is not entirely wrong. But when I hear stories of people leaving the church and deconverting from this kind of Christianity, my heart still fills with sadness and grieving. It is not real Christianity that they are turning away from but in the process, they often turn from the real Jesus.

On another branch of Evangelical Christianity, there is a Jesus who never contends, confronts or condemns anyone. This Jesus never asks anyone to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. God’s word is not taken seriously here, either. Passages about sin, for example, are ignored, explained or reinterpreted to make a better fit with the world at the moment.

The Jesus of the Gospels contended when necessary, but he was not contentious. He could be confrontational, but he was wise in choosing his battles. He condemned those who knowingly worked against the purposes of God while offering grace to those who struggled to obey.

Personally

But I can see this more narrowly as well, more personally:

Why do I sometimes fail to do what Jesus clearly tells me to do?

Why do I set up my own lesser and easier standards when the standard is already set by the one who knows all and laid down his life for me?

Why do I repeatedly seek to set up my own kingdom as an impenetrable fortress when I already belong to a Kingdom in which I am infinitely loved and eternally secure?

Why do I call him “Lord, Lord,” and not do what he tells me?

In one word: selfishness.

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Impatience is a Deadly Sin

“Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit and so its opposite, impatience, is a deadly sin.”

“And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.’”
Numbers 21:4-5

Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and so its opposite, impatience, is a deadly sin, as we see in Numbers 21.

A Deadly Sin

Have you ever thought of impatience this way? What God has promised, he will accomplish. If we lose confidence in his ability or second-guess his timing, we reveal a lack of faith that will lead to other sins. Impatience is one of those sins.

Israel had a promise from God and God was moving them forward in his plan. The problem is that while God’s plan is moving forward we often perceive it to be going backwards, sideways, or no place at all!

We too have promises from God that are yet to be fulfilled but surely will be fulfilled, yet we struggle just as much as Israel did. We get impatient, we grumble against God, we tear down our leaders and our fellow Christians. And what we need is repentance.

Wicked Ways

Impatience, grumbling, and tearing down are all components of the “wicked ways” God mentions in 2 Chron. 7:14. When we perceive these sins in our lives, we need to humble ourselves, pray and seek God’s face.

I struggle with impatience often, but not as much as I once did. It took a few hard experiences to help me learn that God works in ways I would never consider working.

He can do everything that I cannot. He sees every person, action and thought in every circumstance in which I am involved, and I do not.

Compared to what he knows, I know almost nothing, and so I must pursue straightforward obedience and trust the promise of Romans 8:28 that despite what my eyes and heart perceive, he is working all things together for his glory and my good.

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Jesus is Sovereign Over Every Storm – An Encouragement For Troubled Days

“He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great fear…”
Mark 4:40-41

Asleep in the storm, the disciples accuse Jesus of not caring that they are about to die. Despite this accusation, Jesus rebukes the cause of distress rather than rebuking those in distress. He is sovereign over the weather; they should know this by now.

He then asks them why they are so afraid and immediately diagnoses the source of their fear: they still lack faith. After all that they have seen him do, after what he has just done, these obvious miracles before their eyes, they still lack faith! And even after this miracle and a direct challenge from Jesus, it says they were immediately filled with great fear.

Why Are We So Afraid?

We may wonder or even chuckle at the thick-headedness of the disciples, but aren’t we the same? We have seen God’s repeated interventions on our behalf yet we constantly wonder how and if he will come through for us again.

Christian brother or sister, Jesus is going to rebuke the storm that threatens you! Even if the storm continues to rage it will not rage forever, and he may even use the storm to transport you to your eternal home.

Either way, he is with you and he is for you. He is sovereign over every storm, literal and metaphorical, and we can place our faith in that!

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You Can’t Forgive Yourself But You Can Be Forgiven

(*this is a continuation of a previous post. You might want to read that one first.)

In Genesis 50:15-21, we see that after Joseph expresses his forgiveness to his brothers, they still find it hard to accept and trust him. Believing it was their father’s presence that ensured their safety, they concoct a story shortly after his passing to deceive Joseph into treating them well. This deception is unnecessary since Joseph was completely sincere in his earlier expressions of forgiveness – as we saw in Genesis 45:5,15.

“I Can’t Forgive Myself!”

Not only did they find it difficult to accept his forgiveness, in terms of a phrase commonly used today, it also seems they weren’t able to “forgive themselves” for what they did to Joseph and were assuming that he would eventually take revenge on them. But can we “forgive ourselves” for sins committed against others?

In Scripture, we see forgiveness granted to us by God and by others whom we’ve sinned against, but we don’t see anyone “forgive himself.” (For further reading on this idea, see the article “Say No to the Gospel of Self-Forgiveness”) The truth is that not only do we find it difficult to forgive, but we also find it difficult to accept forgiveness. And both of these are manifestations of a lack of faith.

Jesus on Forgiveness…

Jesus was unwavering in his pronouncements about forgiveness: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:14-15)

When we refuse to forgive, we withhold what God has freely granted both to us and to others. We see that Joseph understands this when he says, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?” (50:19)

Accepting Forgiveness

Saying “I can’t forgive myself” is really an admission that we are refusing to accept what God has freely granted to us. There may be many complex reasons for this, but for those who are stuck in the loop of repeating this phrase, faith in God’s forgiveness must steadily chip away at our reluctance to accept it.

We contradict God if we claim that what we’ve done is unforgivable, for who are we to withhold from ourselves what God has freely given to us for his glory and our benefit?

You can’t forgive yourself but you can be forgiven completely. God freely offers forgiveness for any sin you have committed. You don’t need anything more than that.

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Overcoming the Hurdles of Forgiveness

“We should never minimize our own trauma or that of others, and what we’ve experienced may take many years and conversations and much prayer to overcome, but we are not created to live as slaves to our past hurts.”

In the dramatic story of Joseph and his brothers, Joseph finally reveals himself to them and then says:

“‘And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life…’ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.”
Genesis 45:5,15

How many of us would find the hurdle of forgiveness easier to overcome if we took Joseph’s perspective as our own? This may not have been his outlook immediately after being sold into slavery by his brothers, and it may have taken some time for him to forgive them, but his trust in the ultimate goodness of God’s plan is something we should seek to emulate.

Too often people spend many painful years in bitterness and unforgiveness. Some even believe they need to “forgive God” for what he allowed to happen to them. But we find no such perspective affirmed in the pages of scripture. We find faithful servants (who are no doubt touched by the trauma of their experiences) proclaiming by faith that God is good and that he is sovereign over all things.

We should never minimize our own trauma or that of others, and what we’ve experienced may take many years and conversations and much prayer to overcome, but we are not created to live as slaves to our past hurts. Joseph was able to live a fulfilling and productive life because he was not bound to the hurts of his past. We can do the same.

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