why i can't be good for goodness sake

A couple of weeks ago the "American Humanist Association" started a 40,000 dollar ad campaign in Washington D.C. promoting their cause for leaving Christ out of Christmas. "Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness sake" the advertisement says.

A spokesperson for the group said, "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds."

Here's why I think that seed would never take root if we are thinking rationally or critically:

1. It is irrational to think that a person can believe there is no God and then to say he will be good "for goodness sake". That statement is as much of a faith statement as any religious assumption and does not hold up to critical scrutiny. My question to the AHA would be, "How does one define goodness?" Or maybe an even better question would be, "How does one know that there is such a thing as goodness?"

When a person makes a statement that we should be good for goodness sake he is presupposing that goodness has been defined in some way and is broadly understood and has influence and meaning. To assume goodness is to assume some kind of moral absolute- a kind of higher authority has to be in place to define that goodness. Otherwise, what makes MY assumption of goodness any better than anyone else's? Who says your definition of goodness is really good? By what standard are you defining your goodness?

For instance, what is the moral authority in Atheistic humanism? Isn't it true that Darwinian atheism would have to say that the highest good is that which advances the species? Is it not true that in nature big fish eat little fish and big cells eat small cells? Does it not stand to reason then that if your definition of goodness is "survival of the fittest" that murder and pestilence and rape and racial genocide are all as equally good and acceptable as any expression of love or kindness?

So I have no problem with the atheist who wants to advertise his world view on Washington city buses saying something like "Be good for your own sake but don't push your sense of goodness on me!" or "Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die!" and claiming to be rational and consistent in his beliefs in those expressions, but it is intellectually dishonest for him to say "Just be good for goodness sake" when the very philosophical world-view he is trying to promote assumes that "goodness" is an unprovable and even irrelevant concept.

2. A second observation I would make is that it is irrational and not critical thinking for a group that claims to be atheist and therefore does not want a holiday promoting a religious view to then want to promote their own world view. After all, are they not then guilty of the very thing they are criticizing? If a person is trying to make the argument that no truth is absolute and therefore we should live in a world without any faith assumptions, without any religions or expressions of religion (like Christmas) because after all truth is not knowable and so we should live in harmony without having all these faiths pushed upon us, then by virtue of their own argument they should not be trying to promote their view.

The humanist objection to religion is that it is "unscientific" and superstitious. The humanist believes that truth is relative and therefore religious claims on absolute truth are irrational. But to say "Truth is relative" is a statement of truth and therefore should be considered not dependable and irrational. To the person who says "There is no such thing as absolute truth", we should always ask, "Are you absolutely sure about that?" If truth is unknowable then that truth is unknowable and therefore the belief about what is not knowable is by virtue of it's own definition a faith assumption. Make no mistake about it, the American Humanist Association is a faith organization. Their expressions of non-religion are in and of themselves religious views. They are faith assumptions about the meaning of life, being and salvation. "Be good for goodness sake" is as much a religious statement as "Oh come let us adore Him".

3. It is irrational to think that if everyone in America believed like the AMA that somehow the world would be a better place. Nothing could be further from the truth (and I believe that absolutely). Imagine what it would be like if everyone of us relied upon our own version of goodness.

For thousands of years Christian culture has believed that man's sense of morality and goodness came from outside of humanity and is therefore not determined by his feelings, sensitivities or emotions. Morality has always been understood as something that has come to us. In fact, the very celebration of Christmas points to Immanuel- God has come to us. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God..." (John1:1)

The influence of humanism in our culture is increasing. This is seen in a new kind of morality that says that truth is not found in a higher authority, but is found in the personal whims and feelings within the human heart.

Think of how destructive this belief truly is.

Imagine if Western culture had continued in the Greco-Roman ethic of the first century that women were little more than property and that weak, handicapped and female newborn babies could be cast into garbage dumps and that lower castes are destined for exploitation. What if Christianity had not reversed these terrible paganisitc beliefs in the third century?

What would it have been like if Christianity had not taken hold and Western culture bought into the Humanistic idea that we can find goodness in ourselves?

Imagine what our world would be like if it had not been for great men of faith and science like Augustine, Anselm and Ambrose- who were inspired by their reading of scripture and from a desire to know His creation sewed the seeds of scientific method and philosophy.

Imagine our world without hospitals or universities, public education and health care, all the result of Christianity's influence in the Middle Ages.

What if Western cultures had just relied on their own sense of goodness and not begun the exploration of a created universe as a way of better understanding the glory of God?

Imagine if their had been no Luther who held up Scripture and pointed to the injustices of a bloated institution that was operating more out of it's own need for power than it was an understanding of the sacred text.

What if 18th century England had not mandated the end of slavery because of their biblical understanding of the value of all human life?

Imagine if their had been no Puritan movement that dreamed of a society based on the Biblical concepts of community and righteousness and so acted on that belief by sailing to a new world and risking everything to establish the American colonies.

Imagine how terrible the outcome if Atheists and Humanist world views promoted by men like Hitler, Marx, Stalin, Lennon, Mao and Pol Pot had prevailed in the early 20th centuries .

Imagine an America without the Great Awakenings in which social movements, inspired by spiritual renewal and the teaching of scripture such as the abolition of slavery, child labor laws, property rights, and women's right to vote had never been enacted.

Imagine if there had been no Martin Luther King who led a movement across the south for racial equality based on his view that there was a higher moral law that superseded the laws and "feelings" of man.

The AHA is neither rational nor thinking critically in their advertisement and I hope their ideas do not prevail. But they have every right to promote their beliefs and to do what they can to convince others to believe in their religion.

But they only have that right because they are beneficiaries of a society that was established on the biblical concept of soul competency and freedom of the conscience of belief promoted by theologians like Roger Williams, the 17th century Baptist minister who founded Rhode Island and whose beliefs, rooted in scripture, were formalized into law and became the precursor to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

To say that we can simply rely on the goodness of the human heart is not just irrational, it is also terribly naive. If there is no God, there is no moral absolute that defines the meaning of goodness. The lessons of history very clearly teach that man is incapable of finding his own goodness.

That is why I can't be good for goodness sake.

And it is the reason that this is the time of the year we so vigorously celebrate His incarnation by singing songs like "Joy to the World" that have words like this:

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

giving thanks in all circumstances

I was thinking this morning that Thanksgiving could not have come at a better time this year- a person is hard pressed to find much good news these days (unless of course you are a Sooner fan and your team obliterated the number 2 team in the nation last week!).

Providentially, our text and memory verse this week is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-18)

I will never forget my New Testament professor at Southwestern Seminary, Dr. J.W. McGorman lecturing on this verse one day in class. He said to us in his thick Nova Scotian accent,

"Give thanks IN all circumstances, not FOR all circumstances. One never gives thanks for those things that break the heart of God. But one can always find reason to be thankful."

C.S. Lewis has famously said he believes the first words we will say in heaven are the words, "Ah hah, now I understand..."

I think of a classic example of this in the story of Corrie Ten Boom, the committed Dutch believer whose family provided refuge for Jews during the German holocaust of World War 2.

She and her other family members were caught and as a result were thrown into several prison camps before eventually ending up at the infamous Ravensbruk concentration camp in Germany. She tells the story in her autobiography, The Hiding Place, of complaining to her sister Betsie about the horrible filth surrounding her bunk in that prison- and especially the flies. Her sister reminded her of this very passage- give thanks IN all circumstances. The two women sat on Corries bed and Betsie led them in a prayer of thanks for the flies.

Corrie commented that she could be thankful for just about everything in her life- except for those blasted flies.

It wasn't until years later after Corrie had been liberated from the prison that she had a conversation with one of the men who had been a prison guard at the camp that she learned the reason she and Betsie were provided relative freedom in their rooms- and thus were able to keep Bibles and to hold Bible studies and to develop somewhat of a Christian community in that horrible place-

The reason was that the guards couldn't stand the flies.

We may not always know why we are giving thanks IN the circumstances- but God does.

This Thanksgiving in between watching football and cooking meals and catching up with family-why not spend some time thanking God for those blessings you can see all around you- and then devote some time thanking Him even for the things you don't understand right now-

but one day will.

new day at imb

This past week I have been in Houston Texas for the latest installment of the International Mission Board. Here are the highlights:

1. The Board has definitely changed. I am truly amazed at how quickly the complexion and dynamics have changed over the past year. We are no longer bogged down in meaningless controversy over senseless minutia. There is a strong sense that what we are dealing with matters and that we are putting our energies into those things the convention has assigned us to- reaching the nations for Christ.

2. Paul Chitwood is proving to be an excellent chairman. He is professional, concise and fair. I appreciate how he handles our meetings. He is well informed on the issues and anticipates problems before they come to the public meetings. He is well liked and seems to have a great relationsihp with staff.

3. The Board is setting a course for radical change within the IMB. The details have not yet been hammered out, but to summarize we are moving from a strategy that is regionally based to a strategy that is more oriented to people groups and will seek to more concisely partner with local churches to reach clusters of people groups around the planet. Although there are still many questions, I am excited about what these changes may mean for the future of misisonal strategies for churches like ours. The hope of the board is that we will be ahead of the curve in implementing this strategy as missional philosophy changes in the coming years from a more institutional centric approach to a more local church sending approach.

4. There is more harmony and synergy on the Board than at any time in my five years. We are finally working together WITH staff to accomplish objectives. The divisiveness, power plays and suspiciousness of the past has given way to a dedicated commitment to accomplish a big and meaningful objective. The controversies of the past have practically evaporated. Trust levels are high and the spirit is positive. We all seem to be driven the same agenda.

5. We commissioned one of our largest groups of missionaries in the history of the Board this week. I continue to be blown away by the quality of new missionaries coming in. The young men and women coming on the field are the absolute cream of the crop! There is no question about it- the best thing we do as Southern Baptists is world missions.

In a day of great skepticism regarding convention politics and power plays, at least from my little corner of the world within the IMB Trustee Board, I will tell you I am increasingly optimistic that though we are not perfect by any stretch, we finally seem to be spending more time focusing on the mountains than we do the molehills.

For that I give God the glory!

why so downcast?

Have you noticed that there is more than a little paranoia going around today? What is our response as believers?

I have always found it interesting that Psalm 42:5, 42:11 and 43:5 all say the same thing.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

The implication of this passage is that if I look on the inside and see that I am downcast, it can only mean that I have been investing my emotions in the wrong stock.

My "downcastness" tells me some things about myself. Worry is an indicator of a spiritual condition- it is a sure sign of lack of faith.

All of this is a good reminder for us that as Christians we have a view of history that is unique in all the world. When the Psalmist says "Why so downcast Oh my soul?" he is not just soul searching, he is making the point that the way we believe about our faith (trust in the Lord) will impact the way we see our future.

So how are we as Christians to see history and our future? Here are a few things to keep in mind while living in times of uncertainty:

1. To understand the meaning of the future is to understand the meaning of history.

The reason so many are paranoid about the future is because they don't have a proper understanding of history. Hedrikus Berkof observes:

"Our generation is strangled by fear: fear for man, for his future, and for the direction in which we are driven against our will and desire. And out of this comes a cry of illumination concerning the meaning of he existence of mankind, and concerning the goal to which we are directed. It is a cry for an answer to the age old question of the meaning of history."

He goes on to say that the church should provide the answer to this question since we have it in the Bible. We have in scripture all we need for a complete theology of history. But because we don't have it and don't contemplate it, we are struck down by our fears and fail to live in the full light of the Christian interpretation of history.

He continues:

The twentieth century Church is spiritually unable to stand against the rapid changes that take place around her because she has not learned to view history from the perspective of the reign of Christ. For that reason, she thinks of the events of her own time in entirely secular terms. She is overcome with fear in a worldly manner, and in a worldly manner she tries to free herself from fear. In this process (her view of) God functions no more than a stop-gap."

So it is good for us to have a clear understanding of history. The Bible teaches us plainly and effectively that all of history has a beginning, a middle and a glorious ending. This is unique in all world philosophies and religions. Only Christianity sees history and the future as a linear plane from beginning to end.

Ancient Greek philosophy and Eastern religions saw history as cyclical- nature and creation are constantly reincarnating and reinventing itself. Things occur in endlessly repeated cycles so that what is happening today will somehow be repeated in the future. This is the common world view of most Eastern religions today. In this perspective of life, the individual is devalued and life cannot be seen as moving toward any significant end. Time and history are not on a linear plane, therefore the only relief from the bondage of time is to somehow be released from it. In other words, in this view life is something to be escaped from- there is no sense of destiny or hope or future glory. This is the predominant view of most of the world's population.

Another view of history is the atheist view that we are all here by chance. The atheist sees no purpose for history or the future and believes that life has no meaning whatsoever. This is the existentialist view that says "get all you can out of life, can all you get, and then sit on the can!" Life has no meaning in other words, history is just a chance conglomeration of events that have no significant meaning or course.

There are many Christians today who are practical atheists. That is to say they profess Christianity but they live like atheists. In other words they live as if man is at the center of history. They live as if life has no meaning or direction. They live as if they are the center of the universe and "if it is to be it is up to me!" They live as if they are the captain of their own ship and the master of their own soul.

That is the atheist view of history.

But it is not the Christian view.

a. First of all, the Christian sees that everything in life is working out for the good.

This is what we call "sacred history". That is to say the redemptive plan of God is working all throughout history from the time of the Old Testament to it's fulfillment in the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ. All of history points to that central event. The Christian perspective since that time understands that we have entered a "new age" in which the purposes of God will finally culminate in full fruition at the final redemption at the end of the age in the second coming of Christ.

b. God is the Lord of history.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, happens in this life without the knowledge and direction of God. He turns the heart of the king wherever he wishes (Proverbs 21:1), He accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will (Ephesians 1:11), and he has set the times and determined the direction of nations (Acts 17:26) and all things work together for the good of those who know Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Because He is in control, history has direction and meaning and purpose.

c. Christ is at the center of history.

Have you ever wondered why we live during a time that is called 2008? The reason is that we mark our calendar by the time of Christ. All of history is marked by B.C. and A.D.- "Before Christ" and "After His Dominion". This illustrates an important biblical understanding of history- that the central event of human history was the coming of Christ. The central truth of our lives is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for payment for our sins and the redemption of mankind.

d. The new age has therefore already been ushered in.

The Christian in the early church believed he was living in the last days and in a new age. Every believer since that time has seen that he or she was living in a new day that was ushered in by the coming of Christ. "The Kingdom of God is among you" Jesus told the disciples. When Jesus said of John the Baptist in Luke 7:28, "Among those born of women none is greater than John, and yet he who is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John" He is making an important point about the Kingdom ushered in by Christ. He is making the point that John the Baptist is the last of an old age- he is an Old Testament prophet pointing to Christ. But that those who become a part of Christ's kingdom will begin to live in a new aeon- characterized by the work of His Spirit and the formation of the Church. We are living in a new age brought about the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ.

But just because Christ rules in our heart and has begun a new age, it does not mean that there are not other forces at play. We are in the "already not yet" time of the Kingdom. The wheat continues to contend with the tares. The kingdom of man exists alongside the Kingdom of God. There will come a day when the Kingdom is experienced in full fruition after the coming of Christ, but until that time we still deal with "this present darkness". In other words, just because Christ has won the victory, it doesn't mean that all of creation has figured it out yet. I can see that in those times when my soul is downcast it is likely because the enemy has done a good job of convincing me that I can be my own salvation. John Marsh illustrates this point well:

Hitler had occupied Norway, but in 1945 it was liberated. Suppose that up in the almost inaccessible north, some small village with a Nazi overlord failed to hear the news of the liberation for some weeks. During that time, we might put it, the inhabitants of that village were living in the "old" time of Nazi occupation instead of the "new" time of Norwegian liberation. Any person who now lives in a world that has been liberated from the tyranny of evil powers either in ignorance of, or in indifference to, what Christ has done, is precisely in the position of those Norwegians t o whom the good news of deliverance has failed to penetrate. In other words, it is quite easy for us to see that men can live in B.C. in A.D.

e. All history is moving toward the ultimate goal of the new heavens and the new earth.

The Bible sees all of history moving toward a divinely appointed goal. Every line, paragraph and page of scripture points us to the centerpiece of history in the coming of Christ and moves us forward toward the ultimate day of His second coming when all of creation will be healed once and for all.

This leads to the second important point about understanding history:

2. The Christian view of history is overwhelmingly optimistic

The cosmic dimensions of history are clearly taught in scripture in glorious passages like Ephesians and Colossians 1 and Romans 8. Scripture is replete with enthusiastic passages that are incredibly optimistic in their scope and future outlook. All of scripture is escatological in nature. That is to say scripture is continually pointing us to the future. Christianity, therefore, by it's very nature is optimistically futuristic.

We will live today exactly the way we believe about the future. If you have hope for a glorious future, it will impact your present.

As an example, think of two people who both have the same boring and difficult job. Imagine that they both work 10 hours a day doing the same laborious task over and over again- but one of them believes that at the end of the year he will make 10,000 dollars while the other one believes he will make 10,000,000 dollars. Do you think they would see their work differently?

Of course they would! The one who believes he is only making 10,000 dollars at the end of the year will probably quit after a few days while the other one who believes he is making millions will see his work as joy.

The way you believe about your future will absolutely impact the way you live today. So when the Psalmist asks, "Why so downcast?", he is making the point that when we have our trust directed at those things that really matter and really count, it will impact the way we see life to the degree that we are not overwhelmed by life's circumstances. This is why we say a proper theology of history will help us to see current events no matter how daunting or discouraging, in a realistically optimistic light.

light and darkness in india

As a follow-up to last weeks post- here are the reflections of one of our lead pastors, Todd Tamura, who traveled with our team on the mission trip to the orphanage we are helping to build in Motipur India:

India is an all-out assault on the senses. From the moment we hit the ground in Delhi, we were bombarded by the sights, sounds and smells of the city. People are everywhere and packed into tight spaces – over 18 million in this city alone. Smoke and fumes from countless fires and motor vehicles hang heavy in the air. Traffic is a symphony of chaos. The sound of honking horns is constant as cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws, pedestrians and animals all vie for the road. It is impossible to venture anywhere on foot without being accosted by beggars. Images of Hindu gods adorn vehicles, homes and places of business. Temples and mosques are woven into the city’s grid at frequent and regular intervals. Everywhere there is filth, abject poverty, hopelessness and despair.

Yet in the midst of this dark landscape, we visited one of the Christian “slum schools” run by Global Action on the south side of Delhi. The children greeted us with beautiful smiles and sang joyfully of Christ. Some blessed us with Scripture they had memorized, and we prayed for them. When school was dismissed, many of the children escorted us to our vehicles, waved goodbye and then disappeared into the neighborhood. God is at work here.

Later that evening, we attended a Glomas graduation ceremony for over 100 graduates of Global Action’s 10-month training program for pastors. Sundar Singh Moses, who preached at Council Road this past February, has left his pastorate to become the National Director for Glomas training in India. Reverend Moses gave the graduation address and exhorted the graduates to remember the Lord’s call on their lives as children of the Father, ambassadors of the King, servants of the Master and shepherds of God’s flock. The atmosphere was exciting and celebratory. We enjoyed worship with these Indian brothers and sisters. Some of the songs we knew, some we didn’t, but it didn’t matter because the Spirit was the same. And I am reminded of one of the great designations of the church as the “communion of saints,” a phrase dating back to The Apostles’ Creed regarding the communion of all Christians that is rooted in Jesus.

Our constant escort and companion from this point on was Abhishek Subhan. Abhishek’s father, Daniel, is the Director of the India Hope Center, the primary focus of our trip. “Abhi,” as we call him, is Chief of Operations for the center which includes the orphanage, school and church. An overnight train ride brought us to Lucknow, another bustling city of over 11 million. We met Ahbi’s wife, Jessie, at their home. They are expecting their first child in January.

The five-hour drive from Lucknow to the India Hope Center in Motipur defies description. We share the road with thousands of motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, and an assortment of animals including cows, water buffaloes, goats, dogs and monkeys. There is no concept of “your lane” as we know it in the U.S., and nose position determines right of way. The result is that you end up playing a constant game of “chicken” with oncoming and merging traffic. Not that you ever become accustomed to it, but eventually you realize that no matter which way you lean in the backseat, it has no effect on your driver. Never before have I seen people so reckless with their lives. Abhi tells us that in India there is not the same value placed on human life: “They think, if I die, I die, and I no longer have to struggle.”

On the edge of the north Indian jungle, not more than 15 miles from the Nepali border, stands a small collection of buildings called the India Hope Center. Fifty-three boys and girls have been rescued from unimaginable circumstances and call this place home. The children sing of Jesus with all their hearts, and their smiles tell you all you need to know. They are genuinely happy in this place!

They have so little here compared to what we are used to in Oklahoma. But they have a bed to sleep in, a roof over their heads, three meals each day and foster parents who love them. They go to school and worship together. They help each other and relate to each other as brothers and sisters. And somehow it is enough.

There are four couples who act as foster parents, as well as teachers. They are devoted followers of Christ and called to this sacred work. They must be. This is an up at dawn, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year call to a very arduous life with very few comforts and no luxuries. The heat and humidity must be unbearable during the summer months. The commitment as a foster parent at the center is a minimum of 10 years.

What a joy and privilege to play with the children and help teach in their school. They are so bright and love to learn. I taught fifth grade math. We multiplied and divided fractions. The children kept asking me for more problems. We also helped the contractor pour concrete for the footings of new family units that are under construction.

One week in India is really not enough to be of much practical help. The real benefit of a short term mission trip like this is mutual encouragement in the faith and the changes that take place in one’s own heart. We came to India hoping and praying that we would be of some blessing and benefit to our hosts. Instead, those of us who went were the ones who were overwhelmingly blessed. Despite the darkness of this country, God is rescuing children from the brink of disaster, and we have seen it with our own eyes. What long arms of grace our God has! He is raising up leaders from among His people to minister to this land in spite of persecution and great spiritual resistance. Clearly, those of us who went on this trip have a responsibility to be advocates for our brothers and sisters in India.

Pray for Abishek Subhan and his wife, Jessie. Pray for the pregnancy and the health of mother and child. What great respect and admiration I have for Abhi. He is so gifted. He could be and do anything, but he has answered his call to the India Hope Center. In addition to the day-to-day operations of the center, Abhi also oversees the construction of six new family units. These units are fully funded in large part because of the fund-raising efforts of those in our church and in our local business community. Future plans include a dairy farm, medical clinic and vocational training center. As if this were not enough, Abhi also has a heart for the surrounding community. The local town is Muslim, but secularized and practical in their thinking. The people are very curious about the center, and they see the improvements that are being made to the property. We were able to host games for the local children, and our men even played cricket with men from town. The mayor hosted our entire team for dinner one evening. Some of the town children joined us for Sunday night worship where the gospel was shared. Pray that the India Hope Center would be salt and light to this Muslim community.

Pray that God would raise up more foster parents to staff the center. With the six new family units scheduled for completion in six months, the limiting factor for expanding the center’s operation and taking on more orphans is the identification of more foster parents. Pray for Global Action’s slum schools. Pray for the young pastors who are graduating from Glomas training and are returning to their cities and villages to minister in the face of persecution. Pray for Sheeba Subhan, Abhi’s sister, and Director of Global Action Projects in India. These projects include Glomas training for pastors, the slum schools, the India Hope Center, and blanket distribution. Pray for Lars Dunberg as he directs Global Action on an international level. Pray for a great outpouring of God’s Spirit across the land of India.

When our pastor returned from India last year he said, “I think I have seen genuine Christianity for the first time.” I understand now what he meant. The Christian leaders God is raising up in India are completely sold out to Christ. They have forsaken all that this world has to offer for the sake of the cross. Here in America we are so tied to our comforts. We consider them “necessities.” We want all the spiritual blessings in Christ, but we hedge, not wanting to miss out on anything this life and this world has to offer. We want it all, and I include myself in the indictment. But what we saw in India were believers who embrace the sufferings of Christ just as readily as they look forward to sharing in His glory.

We have seen great darkness, and we have seen a bright light, and the light has a name.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 NIV

putting worry in context

Our team that has traveled to Motipur India to help with the orphanage we are helping to build there is making their way back to the states as I am writing this. We just got a note from one of our lead pastors, Todd Tamura, who is on his first trip to the orphanage and who, as a former fighter pilot with the United States Air Force (insert your favorite F-150 joke here) has seen a lot of the world and has had his share of adventure. He wrote in part:

It's around midnight Wed night/Thurs morning. We just drove 5 hrs from
Motipur. There are no words to describe how dangerous the roads are
around here: thousands of people walking on and along the road, cows,
monkeys, dogs, water buffalo, trucks, buses, cars, bicycles, rickshaws.
They drive on the left side of the road around here, but really noone
owns any lane. My pics will never do justice to the head-on games of
chicken that they play around here.

The Hope Center and the children were absolutely awesome. Over fifty
children who have been rescued from unimaginable circumstances. Now in
school, in a Christian environment, with food to eat and people that
love them. It's amazing what God is doing there. It gives you a sense of
how big our God is and His love for all people. The children have such
joy even though they have so little. The foster parents have 10-15
children each and they are the limiting factor in terms of expanding the
operation. It's a 10 year commitment and huge because of the remoteness
of the location and the austere conditions.

Here at home, we obsess over elections and stock markets and who will win the next football game.

It is a good reminder that in most of the rest of the world, the part of the world where transportation likely means a donkey or moped and the burning question of the day is not where I will eat lunch today but IF I will eat lunch today- that part of the world where (as it is in Motipur) the nearest medical clinic may be 60 miles away and you and your loved ones have no way of getting there- the rest of the world where 18,000 children die every single day of starvation- and where 2.67 billion people have never heard the gospel or own a Bible...

...people in the rest of the world don't have the luxury of worrying about the kinds of things that give us stress.

I have a feeling that when our team comes back, we will notice that something about them has changed- and I am not just talking about their renewed enthusiasm for American cheeseburgers- I have a strong sense that "worry" will have a different context.

reasons i'm not worried

Someone asked me last week if I thought the latest financial crisis was a sign of the second coming?

I gave him all the reasons I believe the Bible seems to speak more to the advancement of the gospel around the world as something to look for than it does to any particular socio-economic or political event when it comes to the coming Parousia.

The last few sands in the hour glass will not be shifted as much by these kinds of crises as they will by the darkest corners of the planet being reached by the light of Christ and every nation language and tongue having access to the message of Christ. I believe that is what we are to look for more than anything that happens on Wall Street or the White House or on some foreign battlefield or inner workings of an earthly kingdom.

So, in short, I didn't think what were experiencing last week was more than a blip on the radar screen in the total scope of human history. It feels unsettling and is definitely a troubling and dynamic financial crisis- but I certainly don't see it as having much escatological significance.

Of course, that was before Texas beat OU and OSU beat Missouri in the same weekend.

That aside, the current political and economic upheaval does raise some important theological questions I would like to briefly address. How do we as Christians respond when the foundations begin to shake?

We need to keep in mind these three key promises of scripture:

1. For the Christian, the worst things that happen to us in this life are used for good.

All things work together for the good of those who love Christ and are called according to HIS purpose (Romans 8:28).

Those of us who have been around more than three decades would attest to the truth that the bad things that happen to us in this life God has used effectively to grow and shape our character in Christ. It is helpful to remember that God is more interested in our character than He is interested in our circumstances.

2. For the Christian, the truly good things in this life can never be taken away.

Scripture teaches that there are really only certain things in our life that are truly good. By that I mean there are some things that are good to the core and many things that seem good but are only a mirage. There are only certain things for instance that will last forever and consequently will truly matter to you a hundred years from now.

Everything else is just chaff in the wind.

The Bible teaches that the truly good things you possess in this life- God's love, His joy, His peace, His salvation - can never be taken away.

When the Bible speaks of the "glory of Christ", it is using a very important and specific word in defining the lasting nature of what is truly good. The word "glory" means literally "weight". It is where we get the English word "matter". The only things in this life that really have weight, that really matter, are those things that last.

When you drop paper in a stream it floats with the current, but when you drop a stone in the current, it sustains it's position despite the water flowing over it.

In the same way, the truly substantive things in this life that are promised us by Christ can never be taken away.

It is important to remember in times of change and turmoil, that there are things in our life that have enough substance to withstand whatever is thrown our way.

That is what we mean by the glory of Christ.

3. For the Christian, the very best things in this life are yet to come.

Christianity is the only religion that is truly escatological and futuristic. Every other religion either looks backward to a law and tradition or spins the adherent in endless cycles or reincarnation and reinvention.

Only Christianity sets the future on a linear plane and points to a glorious conclusion.

Christianity teaches that our future will be so glorious and complete, in fact, that whatever we go through in this life cannot even be compared to is as far as it's value and importance.

We all know that when a person has lost only one of his senses, his life is changed dramatically. Imagine having thousands of senses! Imagine seeing millions of colors and having your taste sensation multiplied exponentially! The Bible seems to imply that this is what we will experience in our future.

I think of the words of C.S. Lewis as he reflects on what all of us will one day be:

Remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet if at all only in a nightmare. (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory).

Think of it like this- our future glory will be so overwhelming that comparing our present self to our future self is a little like comparing a tomato or squash to our present self.

The apostle Paul put it like this in Romans 8:18:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

These are the important Biblical truths that every Christian has access to- the worst things in this life Christ will use for good- the truly good things can never be taken away- and the very best in this life is yet to come!