Tuesday 10/13/2015 4:31 AM
To me, one of the most interesting chapters of the Bible is
Hebrews 11. It describes the heroes of the faith who accomplished great things
for God. The surprising part is that toward the end of the chapter it also
describes those who had been tortured, flogged, jeered, stoned, sawn in two,
destitute, persecuted, mistreated, and imprisoned. These too are included in
the list of those commended for their faith.
I tend to gauge the level of my faith and my usefulness to
God by how stress-free my life is. If I am healthy, employed, getting along
well with others, etc., then I consider myself blessed and in right
relationship with God. If my health fails, I pray for healing. If my
relationship with someone is strained, I pray for restoration. If I become
unemployed, I pray for a new job. In general, if my life isn’t sailing along on
smooth waters I assume my relationship with God is suspect and I wonder what I
am doing wrong.
I do not think I am alone in this kind of thinking. Some
who have become disenchanted with the church wonder how a loving God could
allow evil to be so prevalent in the world. If they allow for the possibility
of a God, he is seen as a divine Santa Claus doling out presents for those who
are good and lumps of coal for those who are bad, as an impotent old man unable
to change anything, or a disinterested sadist who places his creatures in a
random, chaotic creation and leaves them to fend for themselves.
In their book Companions
in Christ, Reuben Job and Marjorie Thompson describe the true nature of
God. “To imagine that God is here simply to console, affirm, heal, and love us
is to deny the holiness of a God who requires righteousness, who challenges our
illusions, who confronts our idolatries. When we are being ‘disillusioned’ from
false perspectives, the spiritual journey feels arduous – more like climbing a
steep mountain than like driving the great plains. Indeed, at times it feels
like going over the edge of a cliff on nothing but the thin rope of faith.
Sometimes we are called to endure in hope when we can see nothing positive on
the horizon at all.”
It is easy to focus on the loving, nurturing nature of God
but not so easy to accommodate God’s call to live a holy, righteous, selfless
life. This is especially true living in our narcissistic, what’s-in-it-for me
culture. Any attempt to seek justice for the economically oppressed in the
world by suggesting that the world belongs to God and we are to live in harmony
as a human community sharing the resources God has provided brings accusations
of being a socialist or a communist, both terms of derision in our culture that
idolizes capitalism and private property. If I suggest abortion is murdering an
image bearer of God I am accused of being a misogynist who seeks to oppress a
woman’s rights. The list could go on.
I pray that I will have the wisdom to recognize the genuineness
of my faith is not dependent upon the circumstances of my life. I want to live
my life trusting that God will use all the circumstances I encounter, both the
good and bad, to mold me into someone who better reflects both the loving and
the righteous image of God made visible through the life of Christ.
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