Good News Sense

It’s Always Good to Give Thanks

Can we be thankful when the news is so bad? I’m sure many people think not, even Christians. People are losing more money than I’ve ever had from the economic crisis, losing homes, jobs, retirement, and life savings. I’ve been following the case of a small child dealing with cancer, and the news lately hasn’t been encouraging. We still have soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan facing attack and death at any moment. Radical Muslims still seem intent on killing Americans and perhaps even launching another terror attack. Can a person be thankful under such dire circumstances?

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

They’re words from an old song, not even an especially good one, but the idea is exactly right. Some of us, by temperament, are melancholy and others upbeat. Some come out of bed, every morning, happy; others crawl out and need coffee or food to get going. However, the idea of the song is to make a choice, to see the glass half full, rather than half empty. We can be people who keep track of every negative thing, or we can choose to list the good things that God has done. If we make that choice, as the song says, “It will surprise you what the Lord hath done!”

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

You know what God has to say about thankfulness, but it isn’t just some obscure order.  It’s good psychology, too.  When we look up instead of down, we go somewhere, rather than tripping over things.

Have an upbeat, blessings-filled Thanksgiving.  To make sure, try counting them.

My aunt died, last Sunday.  She was only 68.  My Mom was to have had knee replacement surgery, this past Thursday, but she got bronchitis and had to wait a little longer.  She is 81, and we see the effects of the years.  My roommate’s mother died recently, after a fall.  Injury, illness, and death are all around us, reminding us that life and health, in this world, tend to pass quickly, as Isaiah says.  Isaiah also reminds us that some things last forever, particularly God’s Word.  As we face the unavoidable reality of our own mortality, it should inspire us to grab onto the things that last.

I can think of no greater tragedy than to lose someone we love for all eternity.  In fact, I regard the loss of anyone, however troubled in this world, as dreadfully sad.  Sin corrupts each of us, some in more open and unpleasant ways, but the cause is the same.  No one is inherently evil; every one of us is a creature made in God’s image but fallen from that high estate because of sin.  The man or woman I may despise for some earthly wrong is a sinner for the same reason as I, and it is wise for us to consider what precious soul lies beneath the burden of their sin, a preious soul that God loves, as He does each of us.

Still, I understand the person who is reluctant to offer the gift of grace to an enemy or a person who hurt them deeply.  I don’t so easily understand those who simply don’t bother, who are too busy with their own affairs, or who have too little love to care about the many lost souls arount them.  In writing that, I must confess I don’t so easily understand myself.

I think many of us avoid sharing the gospel because we feel inadequte.  People ask hard questions.  They react to our faith with scorn and skepticism.  They may even mock us.  We may have bought into the idea that “religion is a private matter,” an idea that the unreligious and unbelieving us to silence people of faith; unfortunately, it often works.  We may even conclude that those who really want to believe will find their way to Jesus without our help, except Paul tells us plainly that they need a preacher.

I have been thinking and writing about this, for some time.  In my latest posting, I discuss things that make the task difficult and suggest ways to help get the job done.  To start, we just need to do it, to recognize that is doable, and to understand that as “sheep,” it’s our job to reproduce.  Just remember, that reproducing is the most natural process in the world.  It is a matter of life producing more life, and the life of Christ in each of us is sufficient to spark new life in another.

Yes, we do need to learn.  Gaining knowledge and skills will give us more tools, increase our understanding, and enable us to answer questions more effectively.  It is regrettable that, in an “information age,” so many of us despise the skills necessary to use the abundant information available.  If someone asks a question, and if I don’t readily know the answer or have sources readily in mind, I only have to Google it, and I will often be able to access precisely the information I need.

Of course, there are those who will tell you that the wealth of information makes our job harder.  They will imply that most of the available information is contrary to our beliefs, but that isn’t true.  If you believe, as I do, that the gospel is truth, the one accurate message of reality straight from the One who created it, then no amount of information will ever overwhelm.

In truth, the task is easier today than ever.  We have an abundance of resources to draw on.  Given the deep problems and prevalent concerns about our economy, we have a great opportunity, as well.  When things are going well, people dare to rely on their earthly wealth for security, at least until reminded of their own mortality,  When things are bad, and they don’t get much worse than terrorist threats and economic disaster, then people may be ready to look to something more basic and more reliable than this earth can provide.  In this environment, and with these plentiful sources of helpful informations, we can tell someone about Jesus.

I have been writing lately about the amazing opportunity for creativity that God has given us, his children. From the creation of Adam through the redemption of the Second Adam, he has called and equipped us to do, to act, and to accomplish creatively. He has charged us with the ministry of reconciliation, the work of evangelism, the task of missionary outreach, and the business of his church to care for orphans, widows, the needy, imprisoned, lonely, and hopeless inside and outside our congregations. He has gifted us to compose, perform, write, act, paint, sculpt, and produce all manner of art to tell his story and glorify him and his creation. He has enabled us to discover, understand, invent, and engineer to make amazing things to “subdue” the earth and make life better for everyone. He has fashioned some who can communicate, others who can empathize, and still others who can mediate to help people have better relationships. In other words, every kind of skill, ability, talent, and gift exists not merely to fulfill his purposes but to bring purpose, satisfaction, and joy to the gifted individual.

I am more convinced than ever that he has a remarkably open-ended purpose for each of us; that is, in making us in his own image, he granted us freedom to use the unique nature each of us possesses. For this to work, we cannot all be the same. Traditions, movements, denominations, and church leaders should not try to make us look or act alike. We will do our best work in the liberty that comes through Christ and, preferably, in an earthly community where people are free. Here is where a community of believers may serve to encourage the diverse contributions of its members, preferably a true community where believers are together more than just Sundays.

Two contrary attitudes may interfere. One is controlling but lacks authority because it denies any objective truth or value system. The other is domineering in the name of authority or tradition. The former is often called liberal; the latter conservative. While I refuse to accept the one’s denial of truth and agree with the other’s commitment to it, I reject all forces that stifle the individual’s freedom to be and to do what God created each to be and do. For this very reason, God plainly commanded us to love rather than to impose truth on anyone. We need truth, but its purpose is to ground each of us so that our creative efforts stand on a solid foundation. Pride is prone to focus on being right instead of loving, a subtle error perhaps, but an error nonetheless.

I have written that each of us may say, “I can,” and that none should be afraid of freedom. I have engaged folks in conversations about community and people-focused worship. I have taught for years against the more restrictive traditions and organizational loyalties that interfere with love as well as truth. In doing so, I have observed one sad thing. People easily talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk.

I was interim pastor of a new church, as such, unencumbered by history or tradition, though came from a certain denomination. I was excited to help shape a new work without those constraints, but I discovered two problems. On the one hand, people seemed intent on bringing in traditions from other places; on the other, given its freedom from tradition, many saw themselves free…to do nothing!

I observe a similar problem today. Both the church and the nation face serious problems, but I am optimistic, supremely, overwhelmingly confident, that God has given everything we need to overcome them. My hope is in God, but his tools are we, his people, not a few of us doing the work for the rest, not a selection of driven and even arrogant leaders driving the rest, but as many of us as possible, doing in freedom what he has gifted us to do.

Where does it start? It has already started with me and with a few others I know. Where does it go from here? That depends on you. It’s a geometric progression where one stimulates another who does them same, growing by 2, 4, 16, 64, and so on. This won’t happen if it is a leader driven or celebrity-dependent process; it must be people-driven, people-dependent. If a ground swell of believers begins to express their God-given abilities and speak truth in love to their friends, neighbors, co-workers, and families, things will change; they will change incredibly. It will take people like you. You can do it, but will you?

I’m not much for collectivism, and too much rhetoric recently has focused on what we can do, often meaning, I fear, we can do it for you. I believe in only one “we,” and that is we, the people of God, together the Body of Christ. I guess marriage is also a “we,” but since the “two become one flesh,” a married couple become one. We, “the people of the United States,” established the nature of our union in the Constitution, but it established an environment where the norm was to be individual freedom. It was the enablement, indeed the ennoblement, of “I” not “we.”

The Apostle Paul’s statement is remarkable: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It provides a stunning contrast to the alternative we have heard so much about recently. It truly is the spirit of Christ versus the spirit of anti-Christ. The one enables the individual through divine power while the other scorns the divine in favor of human power harnessed by the state. Animals yoked together have a certain brute strength, but they have no liberty; they must work under the whip of the one driving them. What is accomplished serves the interests of the master and the interests of those yoked creatures as the master chooses; he may be benevolent or harsh, but the choices are his.

That’s why Jesus says that “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We do not serve at his will but by our choice. He in turn frees us to choose our own way, express our own creative gifts, and fulfill the unique purpose each of us has as an individual. He is our master, yet he says we are no longer servants but friends; he is our elder brother, and we have been adopted into his family. This is the finest form of dignity and liberty, and our country functions best when our dignity and liberty mirror that, as much as possible (In my opinion, humans as the very children of God made in his image have a far greater worth and dignity than highly evolved lumps of protoplasm, akin to monkeys and dolphins and slime molds).

Collectivists and industrialists and oppressive governments prefer sameness and limits to freedom. They don’t always recognize their own proclivities, saying one thing while doing another, without necessarily seeing the inconsistency. People even think they want to be harnessed and yoked because then they don’t have to think about what to do or where to go; someone else does their thinking for them. I find the peculiar dichotomy between allowing children to grow into undisciplined young people who rebel against all control, even parental, and the stifling cultural environment into which they ultimately must function where the government is assuming more and more control over every aspect of our lives.

By contrast, a believer has access to the very power of God in the freedom of Christ.  People will say we need government to provide for us because life is tough, but life wasn’t always easy for Paul: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  I would rather be free and live in the ups and downs of life than lose my freedom for a guarantee of meager provision, which is the best that a centralized system can offer.  The lesson of contentment is better than the bitter pill of fear and resentment.

Contentment alone is a great blessing, a wonderful promise from God.  Life in this fallen world is uncertain and will remain so until the Lord returns and establishes his eternal kingdom.  Yet, I am convinced we have the opportunity to do more than wait; I believe we have a commission, given before the fall and never withdrawn, to “be fruitful.”  As the Parable of the Talents makes clear, the Lord expects to invest our gifts productively until he returns…No Excuses!  We have a job to do, and he has gifted us to do it.  I believe that great accomplishments still remain to astound the world and please our Lord, but only if we accept the simple truth, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and you can, too!

In whose hands lies the future? Most Christians would say God holds the future in his hands, but do they really believe it? Do I really believe it? The question of Man’s responsibility related to God’s providence is not easy to reconcile or even comprehend. The Bible says some remarkably strong things about God’s control over everything; after all, he is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. The only way we can conclude that God is not in control is if, for some reason, He chooses not to be.

Yet, He does hold us accountable for our choices, our irresponsibility, and our sin. He says we “reap what we sow.” He will forgive us of the judgment we deserve, and we will free us from the bondage to our sin. Yet, he permits us to endure the consequences of our choices. To further complicate our understanding, we live in a world where we suffer the effects of the sins of other people and the corruption of the creation itself because of sin, starting with Adam. It is plain, the Jesus wasn’t kidding when he said, “In this world you will have troubles,” or when he said, “Take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

Over against that rather gloomy prospect are numerous promises—a Holy Spirit to guide us, the privilege of prayer to seek God’s intervention, and the assurance of blessings in a variety of situations. “All things work together for good for those who love God” sound pretty positive until we take into account that what is good for us may not be enjoyable (as most of us learned when we were children). It’s great to know that we can “cast all our cares on Him, because He cares for us,” yet we often wish caring meant blocking the unpleasant things we have to endure.

That brings us to the election or to any election, for that matter. In this event lie all the varied and confusing principles that puzzle and trouble us. We have choices, but God is sovereign over all. Christians vote as citizens, but a majority of voters are most likely not believers. God seems to have had a plan and purpose for these United States of America, but that destiny seems to have ended or, at least, been interrupted. We pray, some of us anyway, and yet things don’t go as we assume they should if God is listening.

I suspect that the biggest problem is that too many of us say we trust God then proceed to place our trust somewhere else—in the government, in our investments, in ourselves. The Proverbs say, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” The promises are clear, but the conditions are just as clear…not easy, but clear!

Psalm 37 is just as clear: “He will give you the desires of your heart.” The righteous will endure and prevail, and the wicked will be gone. Again, there are conditions: “Commit your way to the Lord;” “Trust in the Lord and do good.” Perhaps the biggest danger for believers today is compromise; we want the blessings and yet to hang on the “the sin that so easily entangles.” Thus the advice is to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

In other words, no matter how bad things look (and even more when times seem good) no matter if evil seems to have the upper hand, hang in there. This isn’t sanctimonious drivel; it is God’s honest truth, a commodity in rare supply in these times. Trust God, do good, don’t give up, and you will “inherit the land.”

How big is God’s love? How big is your love for His people and in His name? How big is your love for your neighbor? The overriding consideration as we deal with people is to be love, just as God’s overarching attitude is love. “God demonstrates his own love for us in that Christ died on our behalf while we were yet sinners!” His love couldn’t be any clearer or deeper. “As I have loved you, so you should love one another” (John 13:34). “If a person cannot love his brother, whom he can see, how can he say he loves God whom he cannot see: (I John 4:20).

Recently I have heard two young people share frustrations that came from how people treated them. In one case, Christian friends reacted negatively to questions and opinions that my young friend was sharing. In the second, sincere Christian people were suggesting that my young friend’s personality needed to change. In both cases, Christian people reacted negatively to fellow Christians who were doing nothing wrong. Neither person was sinning or expressing unbelief. Both are fairly strong, committed believers who are striving to live for Jesus.

Paul said, in Romans 12:2, “Don’t be conformed to this world.” This world and our natural, fallen instincts try to get people to be alike and to think alike. Now, of course, we are all to be holy as Christ is holy, but holiness does not require identical personalities or mind control. Holiness is living separate from this world’s values, from our own inclination to sin, and from the devil’s twisted purposes. Otherwise, we are free to be ourselves and use our gifts freely. We serve a big God who has a far greater scope of purpose than our systems of belief and custom can accommodate, but we still manage to think we figured it all out.

The longer I live and study the more I realize I don’t know and cannot understand. I do know this; it’s not my job to tell other people how to think or act. I may share Biblical guidelines and make suggestions that help people follow Jesus and become better disciples. Even then, it’s not my responsibility to disapprove if they don’t agree with me or act like I act. God has not given me the right to look down on a brother or sister, regardless of their age or situation, because they prefer to dress other than I do, talk differently than I do, or have ideas unlike mine.

A pastor friend of mine taught me, many years ago, to be “shock proof.” At the most extreme, he was suggesting that I be ready to hear surprising secrets from people, things that could be serious problems, and that, when someone confided in me, I be able to hear and respond without horror or dismay or disapproval, but only with love and forbearance. A person who believes they have the worst problem or the deepest, most terrible secret needs, more than anything, love and understanding, when they dare to reveal their fear to a caring friend. I have given much effort to becoming shock proof; I probably haven’t “heard it all,” but I have heard a lot.

Quite often, however, the revelations weren’t terrible. They were nothing more than the fears of ordinary folks who thought they had an extraordinary problem. My two young friends could be like that, although I don’t believe their situations go even that far. My point, though, is that we should be “shock proof” even in matters such as these. Being shock proof is being loving and kind regardless of what people do, what people say, what people ask, how people look, where people come from, what friends people have, and what mistakes people have made. No matter what we may think, we should be accepting and encouraging, not judgmental, dismissive, or condescending.

The good news is that is exactly how God sees us. If you doubt it, read a few of David’s Psalms. In them, he expresses his doubts, anger, frustration, and disappointment…with GOD! Yet David remained a “man after God’s own heart.” If God can be so tolerant and accepting, dare we do any less? If God’s holy heart is big enough to accept us when we were so very unworthy, then surely our hearts can be big enough to accept differences among us His children.