psychic debt

Just when we think that our cultural obsession with looks can't get any worse, a terribly sad and tragic story like this comes along:

Florida high school senior Stephanie Kuleba had everything going for her -- she was the well-liked captain of her varsity cheerleading team at West Boca High School, and she had been accepted to the University of Florida, where she hoped to study medicine. The 18-year-old's promising life was cut short Saturday after she suffered what doctors believe was a fatal reaction to anesthesia during breast augmentation surgery.

I know what your probably thinking right now, "Oh no, another one of those pontifications about the shallowness of American culture and how beauty is only skin deep..."

Well... yes and no.

Yes, this is what that is in the sense that we should all pause after stories like this and take our eyes and minds off of the pixelled, sculpted and airbrushed images on our blue tubes and flat screens, pray for the family of this girl and ask ourselves, "What is real?" Or how about this question, "Why are we like this?"

And then no, this isn't going to be a simple pontification of how we have veered tragically and horribly from our moral bearings because I just want to make one simple point today that is related to this subject- and that is that the beauty we think we are looking for is not the beauty we think it is. At least, what most people think it is.

To the question of "what is real", the answer is that there is the reality that people create in their minds and hearts and then there is the reality of the creation and the creator. The former is the one that comes out of a heart of idolotry and sin and the latter, according to the Bible, is the true essence of life (See Romans 1:20-27). The meaning of life is the result of overcoming the one in favor of the other. The above story is just the latest tragic example of the manifestation of this truth.

To the question of "why are we like this?", the answer is that we seek something deep within ourselves that has been encoded into our very being. It is a part of our essence to the degree that it is nearly impossible to detect without some one or some thing pointing us to it. And that is that we all have an intense desire to "matter". The English word "matter" carries with it the connotation of "weight" or "significance". We want to know that our lives have substance and weightiness or to use another old English word, "worth".

To test this theory, isn't it true of you that you will only look at yourself in the mirror when you know you are at a certain angle, or when it is safe to look? Do you ever catch yourself off guard and wonder who that person is looking back at you? Isn't it true that you quickly discard the bad pictures of yourself? Or maybe it isn't so much the way you look, maybe it is the way you are perceived by others that is important- like the way your mind is seen, or you power or importance. The simple fact is we never really look at our own weakness because we can't bear the idea of seeing ourselves any different from the way we are self-perceived.

I heard recently that the debilitating effect of leporacy is not just that it destroys nerve endings, but that the nerve endings in our body work with our brain so that we are constantly and subconsciously adjusting even the way we apply pressure to certain points of our feet so that we never really land the same way twice- thus protecting the bottom of our feet. With this mechanism destroyed, the foot quickly deteriorates and the skin and tissue in our feet rots.

I believe that in a similar way, we are constantly making adjustments to our view of self so that we don't have to face the hard truth that every face is turning to dust and every muscle is turning to mush. We protect ourselves for the purpose of holding up the powerful and innate desire for significance and eternity and worth. The adjustments are so subconscious and so automatic that we don't even really know it is happening.

And then a story like the one above comes along and we are temporarily shocked. But then it isn't long before we go back into our denial and live blissfully idolotrous wihtout ever making the connections to our own fallenness.

At the heart of the issue is worship.

When we say we "worship" we are saying we are giving "worth". When this deep seated and barely conscious desire for signficance and worth is directed in to the heart of self, the result is very destructive. And this is where the most intense spiritual battles are waged in the human heart.

Several years ago in a New York Times article entitled "Look at Me, Look at Me, PLEASE Look at Me," Guy Trebay made this observation after attending a fashion show in New York City,

Models do not think they are too skinny. Actors do not find themselves handsome. Stars claim not to know what all the fuss is about. Our crazy cultural obsession with the perfected surface has become so absolute that everybody ends up having to work off some obscure psychic debt.

And so what is the answer? The answer is that we come to understand that the Beauty we are looking for is not the one we try to find in ourselves.

We look to another Beauty.

Jesus was the ultimate glory and beauty. You and I can't look at the sun without it destroying us, and yet His beauty was trillions and trillions of times more glorious than the sun. And yet in Philippians 2 the Bible says He gave it up and humbled Himself by going to cross. He was rejected by men to the degree that men could not look at Him... He was cosmically disregarded by the Father... He was cast out and spit on and cursed... He lost everything and took the weight of our sin in the ugliness and horror of the cross so that we could be taken in. So that we could be beautiful in the sight of the Father.

When we can come to place in our lives where we see that when God sees us, He sees us as His beauty and glory because of what Jesus did on the cross, it changes everything.

And then and only then, has the psychic debt been paid.

the cross and the snake

On this Good Friday, I am thinking of Nebo.

When one approaches the top of Mount Nebo on the edge of the Dead Sea on the Jordan side, the predominant figure that rises above the horizon is the outline of a cross. It seems like an odd symbol for the place that Moses once stood to look into the promised land.

What is the meaning of this?

After all, this is the place that Moses led his people to the edge of Canaan, it is not the place of calvary. It was not the place of the cross, instead it this was the place that Moses was able to look, but not cross. It was the place that God took him, but no further. Moses had disobeyed God and therefore was not able to cross into the land of promise. Nebo is where it all ended for him. It represents both the place where he finally saw the land of promise and the place where his journey ended.

So why a cross?

As one gets closer to the figure, it becomes obvious that although the outline of the symbol is indeed a cross, there is another important and obvious meaning. At close observation, you can see that the figure that has been erected above Nebo is not just a cross, but a snake winding around the figure of a staff made in the shape of a cross.

The church that resides on top of the famous place of Moses' view of Canaan has chosen as it's predominant symbol both the snake that Moses raised in the wilderness to save the people of Israel from the venomous curse of snake bite (Numbers 21), and the cross on which Jesus was raised to save us from the poison of our sin.

Upon reflection, I can't think of a better symbol for the life of Moses. After all, Moses, who represents the law, pointed us to Christ just as the law reminds us that all that follow the law are under the curse (Galatians 3:1-16) - for the law does not save us, it only reminds us that we have broken His covenant and fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23). Moses pointed to a better day as the law points us to a better way. Moses, just as the law has done, has taken us to the edge of the promise but no further.

In the words of Jesus, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:15).

There are some very important lessons here:

1. The people of Israel did not DO anything to find salvation from the poison of the snake bite, other than LOOK at the symbol of the snake. They did not have to walk to it, climb it or touch it- they only had to look. In the same way, our salvation only comes from LOOKING to the cross and taking it in. It is not because of our righteousness or our good works- it is not because of anything we DO, but because of what He has done.

2. Just as the people of Israel were saved from the poison of death by looking at the snake, so too are we saved from the poison of our sin by looking to Christ. The poison of sin that first entered the bloodstream of Adam has infected our hearts and has blinded us. The essence of our sin is that we put ourselves in the place of God. The essence of our salvation is that God has put Himself in the place of man.

3. Just as the people of Israel had to look at the snake, the very thing that poisoned them, so too Christ BECAME our sin- He became the covenant curse so that we could become the covenant blessing. As the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Christ is not just our example, He is our substitute.

No one says it better than John R.W. Stott in his book, "The Cross of Christ":

"The concept of substitution is then to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. This is the essence of the Christian religion. The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be, God sacrifices Himself and puts Himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God only, and God accepts penalties which belong to man only."

So this Easter weekend I am not just thinking of the cross as a symbol of my salvation- I am also thinking of the snake raised in the wilderness as a symbol of my substitution.

i ran today where Jesus walked

I wouldn't recommend anyone see Israel the way we saw it. The friends who came with us on this trip did not assume that we were on a tour of the Holy Land. They were more interested in giving us a feel for the Christian movement that is taking place among the Jews, Druze, Bedouin and Arab Muslim.

It was quite an education.

As I reflect back on the past 13 days in which we traveled from one end of the Middle East to the other, motoring to 15 different cities by plane, taxi, bus, train, van or whatever else we could get our hands on, here are 20 things I have learned:

1. The North African culture is much different to other Middle Eastern cultures- although they are Muslim and have many things in common, their European influence makes them distinct and uinque.

2. We have much to learn from the historical collapse of Christianity in the early centuries in the Middle East North Africa regions. For starters, it is incumbent upon us to pass on our Biblical faith to the next generation in compelling and effective ways. Also, we must alway proclaim the gospel in the heart language to the people.

3. Just because a restaurant is a McDonald's, it doesn't mean they will get the Big Mac right.

4. When your crossing the border into Israel, it's better not to be with a group of guys who have Morocco, Dar fur, Dubai, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Sudan stamps in their passports. This is a good way to get stuck for over 5 hours. Israel is VERY picky about who they let in their country.

5. If you have an urge to peak in the windows of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv after dark- submerge the urge. Those Israeli security guys have no sense of humor- and they come out of nowhere.

6. Don't ever laugh at a Syrian border guard.

7. Leave your typical American sensibilities about space and manners at home. You will get pushed, you will get honked at, and even when people use their normal voice, it sounds like their yelling at you. It isn't because they don't like you, it's just their way of communicating.

8. Don't try to sneak into the cave of the Nativity when the Greek Orthodox priest is holding services.

9. Don't ever try to jump onto a camel. They are quicker than they look.

10. In the Middle East, it is considered a terrible insult to show the bottom of your foot. Crossed legs can get you stopped by the police and kicked out of Syrian Orthodox churches.

11. Eat whatever is offered you for the glory of God, but pack a lot of Tums.

12. Most of the Christians in the Middle East are Palestinian. Most of them don't think American Evangelicals are rooting for them.

13. The Arabic word for "eat" is "kuhl" and the word for "worms" is "duhd". "Cool, dude" doesn't translate well. This fact is emblematic of the challenge of cross-cultural ministry.

14. Everyone should go on a mission trip! It is a great way to expand your global vision and see what God is doing around the world. The church needs more believers who think globally.

15. Every bit of the support and prayer we provide for our missionaries is worth it. We need to pray and give more.

16. Most of our stereotypes about people in Muslim countries are completely wrong. And most of their stereotypes about Americans are also completely wrong. This is why it is wonderful when we get together.

17. Some of the most effective missionaries are missionaries kids.

18. Most of the world does not live the way we do or even remotely relate to our lifestyle. Parents should work hard to expose their children to a variety of cultures.

19. It is obvious when you travel to places like India, Morocco, Dubai, Jordan and Israel, that God loves diversity- both in his creation and in His creatures.

20. Christianity will continue to spread throughout South America, Africa, China and South Asia and will one day penetrate the Middle East. I believe that will complete the circle of the spread of the gospel from West to East and will be the fulfillment of the Lord's Great Commission.

appluase of heaven

"Rami was just a few days short of his 29th birthday," his pastor in the Gaza strip told us. Our new friend had had come to Bethlehem, in the West Bank, to meet our group and to pray and fellowship with us. He speaks with good English, obviously very well educated and polished.

"He had talked to one of our church members just minutes before they kidnapped him. He called his family about an hour afterward and told them, 'I will be with this group for a couple of hours. If I am not back after that, I will not see you for a long, long time.'"

Rami Ayyad was beheaded about 5 hours later. "The group gave him a choice- deny his Christian faith and convert to Islam and live- or deny Islam, and die."

The pastor takes some time now to regain his composure.

"For him the choice was already made. The saddest part of all is that his little boy George at 4 years old still doesn't understand what happened to his daddy. Every time he sees his picture on the computer screen, he goes to the screen and hugs the computer."

Although no one claimed responsibility for Rami's death, it is widely believed it was carried out by the "Righteous Army of God", a radical Muslim group that just a few weeks before had blown up Rami's book store. Rami was a very popular and dynamic young Christian leader.

We sit in silence for awhile.

"It is very hard" He says.

As our conversation unfolds it is very clear to me that I am in the presence of a different kind of Christian. Here is a man who studied in the states, receiving a doctor's degree, and yet chose to return to Gaza. He pastors a church of about 150 believers who are living out their faith in possibly the most hostile environment on the planet.

"We are having to learn forgiveness all over again", he says.

Our group gathers around him and lay hands on him and pray. It is very moving. I am standing behind this man with my hand on his shoulder crying out to God for His continued work and strength in his life while his 2 year old daughter rests in his arms.

And yet I know that tomorrow I am going home to a very comfortable existence, and this man is going back into a place that is plagued by hatred and despair, poverty and starvation.

Here is a man who gives to people who have nothing to give back. He is not in it for acclaim, for applause, for material gain. He silently and lovingly pours his life out for others.

His is the applause of heaven.

The church in Gaza is gathering children out of the slum and putting them in school and taking care of their physical and emotional needs. They give them clothes and blankets and textbooks. They show them to unconditional love of Christ.

But the church is not just proclaiming the gospel, it reaching out to the terrible physical needs and with the help of Christians from the states, meeting those needs when they can.

"When the Christians give, they give without condition", one of the Gazan church members tells us a little later, "but when Hamas gives, there are always strings attached. It makes a big difference in the way Christians are perceived."

This is just one of the many remarkable stories we have heard in the past few days in Israel and the West Bank. There are so many I would want to tell you.

Like the story of the Arab pastor in Haifa who leads a Messianic Jewish congregation. His church is growing rapidly with several worship services and home groups. "The Messianic movement in Israel is just now taking off" my friend in Haifa tells me. The church is made up of Jews and Russians and Ethiopians, who each have a worship in their own language.

Or like the story of the 25 year old Israeli Army officer I met who is a former Druze and is now a dynamic follower of Jesus. He is right now in the middle of an intensive 3 month discipleship course in which he will actually travel to the different places where Jesus taught and learn about His teaching in a very intense way. He is very bold in his witness. One of the ways he trained younger Israeli soldiers in his unit was to teach them about Christ.

Or the story of the Palestinian husband and wife who are committed to ministry in the West Bank. They are providing blankets and food and clothing and are meeting the physical needs of the impoverished people of the West Bank and Gaza. They risk their lives every day to show the love of Christ to the people around them.

After lunch with them and the drive back across the line and through the huge concrete walls that now separate Israel and the West Bank, I think of my new friends. One a dynamic and focused believer an Israeli Army officer who has fought for his country in Gaza. The others are Gazan believers whose lives have been so devastated by the affects of that same war. They are worlds apart. And yet they are one.

There is also the story of the American family that lives here who are committed believers and who work for a Christian ministry. A few years ago their oldest daughter was killed by a suicide bomber. Her grief stricken parents and 4 sisters made the decision to not leave Israel- but to honor her memory by investing the rest of their lives here. Recently a high school student in Israel made a film about this family- about their love for Israel and their love for Christ. Each one in the family was interviewed for the film. They shared their joy and their desire to serve the Israeli people, both Jew and Arab. The final scenes showed pictures of their daughter who was killed and details of the bombing.

When the film was over, the entire school- parents, teachers and students stood to their feet in thunderous applause.

I can't help but think that it is nothing compared to the applause of heaven.

church rising

It is hard to believe Christianity has been in Amman for 2000 years. It was one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, known then as “Philadelphia”. The city is almost completely dominated by Islam today- with Mosques and minarets in almost every sector of the city. The night is filled with the sounds of the Imams calling people to prayer over the loud speakers. The city of seven hills has Muslim prayers echoing throughout the valleys. It is ironic to me that in His charge to the people of Philadelphia, the Lord referred to the new Jerusalem that would come down in the last days, as this city is undoubtedly tied to the Holy City. For starters, it is made up of 70% Palestinian. Although ruled by a Hashemite Jordanian King, the city is essentially of inhabitants who look to Jerusalem as their centerpiece for existence. They still refer to the other side of the river as “Palestine”. The harsh reality to them that is Israel they still try to suppress.

But there is a vibrant church here.

There are Muslims coming to Christ. Many of them have come to Him as a result of dreams and visions. My friends in Amman hear their stories regularly.

One of my Christian friends here is a former Mullah from the West Bank. He is a giant of a man who once guarded Yassar Arrafat. He came to Christ about 7 years ago as a result of a dream. He is now passionate in his witness and very bold.

Although it is against the law here to spread the gospel, he tells everyone he knows about Christ. I have watched him boldly proclaim the gospel with great enthusiasm in some very hard-core places in Jordan. I am reminded of what one of my mentors once said about a friend we had in common, “He will make heaven some day if he doesn’t overshoot it!”

That is a good description of my former Muslim friend.

He is indicative of the church here in many ways. His family has disowned him and it is difficult for him to make an existence in a culture that ostracizes Christians. Especially the former Muslim variety.

The Christians I have met here have an infectious and unpretentious joy. I suppose if you give up everything to follow Christ it has a kind of cleansing affect on your faith. We have a lot to learn from them in the states.

In our two days in Jordan we have seen the work of Christ in the urban center of Amman, we have traveled north and seen the work of committed believers in the Palestinian refugee camps. There they are working hard to help people find the training they need so that they can get good jobs. We have seen the work that is going on in schools and rural communities.

As we traveled through the ancient Christian city of Madaba on our way to Mount Nebo, I thought of the long witness that has been in this land. Madaba has the longest continuous Christian church in the world. Early Christian pilgrims migrated here in the first century to live in the shadow of Nebo. It has long been seen as a place of healing and health. The symbol you find on top of Nebo is the raised snake staff of Moses that is today the emblem of medicine and healing. There are mosaics here that date back to the third century with Greco-Aramaic lettering. How fascinating to see the ancient forerunner of Arabic culture- and to think of the influence of ancient Greek on early Christianity. Most people don't contemplate that Palestinian Christians trace their lineage back to the early church. One Jewish Rabbi told a friend of mine in Amman, "You Palestinian Christians are more Jew than we are- your family never left Jerusalem, while our family had to flee after the Roman destruction and diaspora."

We should pray for the Arab Christians in the Middle East. They are caught between radical Muslim on the one hand, and the radical Jew on the other. Many Christian cities in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel have now lost the vast majority of their Christian populations.

My friends here are committed to bringing the witness back.

I pray for their continued work and the reemergence of the church.

Lord willing, the church here will rise again.

west to east

When you fly from Casa Blanca to Dubai you are traveling from one end of the Middle East to the other across 4 different time zones. You are also traveling from one end of the economic spectrum to the other. In Morocco, what you see is poverty- In Dubai, what you see is bold faced opulence and greed.

The overwhelming feeling you get as you fly into Dubai is that the epicenter of the world's economy is shifting from west to east. This is one of those cities that has inspired Thomas Friedman to say that America and the West are no longer the only ones on top of the heap, with the rest of the world struggling to climb up. With the tectonic shifts of modernization propelled by the internet, communications technology and transportation, places like Hong Kong, Dubai, Delhi, and Shang Hai demonstrate eye-popping economic growth and wealth.

Dubai has 40% of the worlds cranes and 20% of the world's construction. Here, most Americans are thought of as poor folks. Oil wealth has turned the dessert into an extravagant Western style oasis that makes Houston jealous and Las Vegas blush. The average Emirate is a millionaire. The BMW's and Mercedes and Porsche fly past you like rik-shaws in India. Last week an Emirate paid 14,000,000 dollars at an auction to buy the Dubai license tag that says #1.

While here we saw the world's tallest building, and they haven't stopped putting floors on it yet. We walked through a mall that has ski slope built on the inside with year round sub-zero temparature and manufactured slopes and runs. We walked through a ski shop where they were selling ski clothes to desert dwellers. We've seen skyscrapers that have popped up in just 6 months- a skyline that looks like New York City that wasn't even here 10 years ago. Imagine building the city of Houston in five years, and then putting the city of Dallas next to it the next five years, and that is what you see in Dubai. A friend here told me that he toured the city with a Billionaire from the states who traveled through this city with his mouth open the whole time. At the end of the tour, this very savvy and experienced American businessman said, "I don't understand what I am seeing."

What my friends here are seeing is lostness and darkness on a scale that is staggering. 40% of the city is Indian, another 55% are Arabs from around the Middle East, only about 5% are Emirate. While most of the lower class here lives like slaves in government housing with no transportation or hope for the future, the government pays Emirates 35,000 dollars a year just for being married and with each child they have they get a pay increase. On the day of your wedding, as an Emirate you get a brand new home and a new car free of charge.

Meanwhile, the average non-Emirate in the working class is more like an indentured servant than a citizen. We saw housing compounds with high fences and huge worn out apartments situated next to the cities massive dump. It was like a huge labor camp. The whole area was swarming with crammed busses taking the workers to construction and road crews, hotel and transportation laborers. My mind flashes back to the castles and stone walls I saw in Morocco built by slave labor with worn out slaves bodies used as mortar. The sad and worn out people in these busses are the ones who are making Dubai rise from the dessert sands.

My friends here have an amazing vision for sharing the gospel here in Dubai. They see it as a place has enormous potential for reaching the rest of the Middle East. I think of the Apostle Paul whose hearts desire was to bring the gospel to Rome, because he knew that as goes Rome, so goes the rest of the world.

One gets that same feeling here.

As I ran along the canal my final night here and watched all the party boats motoring under the mind blowing skyline just a little before mid-night (we have not really gotten rest on this trip- we just take power naps from stop to stop- my friend John wants us to see the entire Middle East in one trip!), I can't help but think that what our friends here are doing is not unlike Paul's journey to Rome. Like Paul chained to Roman soldiers who had a direct connection to the royal house and the upper chamber, our friends here must find ways to bring the gospel to the heart of wealth and power. The stakes are high.

As goes Dubai, so goes the rest of the Middle East.