The Parable of the Ten Virgins

The parable of the ten virgins is a story told by Jesus to His disciples, in response to a question they posed, reported to us in Matthew 24: ³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”  Jesus responds first by describing what those times will be like, and admonishing His followers that, as you see the fig leaves begin to bud out, you know that summer is coming, so you can know when the end times are upon us based on seeing what He described as the “birth pains” of those times.  He begins this section of His response to their question by saying, “At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like…”.  This sets the stage for our understanding of this parable. 

Throughout Scripture, prophesy operates simultaneously on at least three different levels.  The most obvious level is relating something that is happening or will happen in the time of the prophesy (an example includes Isaiah prophesying the taking of Israel into captivity by the Babylonians).  In this case, in Matthew 24:34-35, Jesus tells His followers: “³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”  In other words, the disciples (then apostles) had their own experiences of being hated because of Jesus, of being persecuted and turned over to death, of hearing of wars and rumors of wars, of having false prophets claiming to be the Christ and false teachers misleading many – and as He said, all of those things happened before that very generation passed away.  Still, it was not the “end.”

The second level of prophesy speaks to an ultimate culminating event in a future time (using the example of Isaiah again, he spoke of Messiah coming to release Israel from captivity, which happened ultimately with the coming of Jesus Christ to release us all from captivity to sin).  In Matthew 24, Jesus is responding to that question as well: what it will ultimately be like at the end of all time, when He returns: “as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”  According to Jesus and foretold in other Scripture, there will be an ultimate end, where He returns and gathers His children to Him, separating them as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  In the mean time, as we wait for that ultimate end, we each experience our own “gathering to Him” at our death, which is our personal “end time” – which leads to the description of the third level of prophesy.  Prophesy is applicable on a personal, individual level, and describes in the macrocosm what takes place within our hearts (in the microcosm).  Going back to our Isaiah example, we each have our own personal “Babylon” to face, our own captivity from which we need Jesus to be set free, and our own personal release from prison (to sin) through Christ. 

Having set the stage in Matthew 24, Jesus begins by describing what the kingdom of heaven is like “at that time” – meaning at the time the disciples would experience after His death and resurrection, at the end of all time, and at our time of personal trial.  Since I don’t believe we can separate the last two, as we experience both, I will speak about that “time” as now.  The parable goes as follows:

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

In this parable, the “oil for their lamps” refers to the presence of God’s Spirit, providing light in times of darkness.  The wedding banquet refers to the Kingdom of Heaven (which is within us now, is where we will enter at our death, and is the coming Kingdom when He returns bringing Heaven to Earth).  The five wise virgins were prepared.  They brought the Spirit of the Living God with them to fill their lamps (to light their way through the darkness or time of trial).  They had already developed that strength of relationship, by focusing on their relationship with God as the thing of primary importance – they had invested their resources wisely into that relationship, instead of spending their time, energy, and resources on other things (whatever worldly things might try to distract from the relationship with God and His presence within our hearts).  They were ready when the time of deepest darkness came, and Jesus (the Bridegroom) showed up.  The five foolish virgins, however, brought their lamps (in other words, they knew the Bridegroom was coming – they knew about Jesus) but failed to invest in the oil for their lamp (the intimate presence of the Holy Spirit). 

The Bridegroom took a long time to come, and although five were prepared and five were not, they “all” dozed off.  (This reminds me of the three disciples who could not stay awake with Jesus at His time of trial – no matter how deeply we love Jesus, we still succumb to the weakness of the flesh, and can “fall asleep” when things seem to be going along fine in our lives).  Then suddenly, the Bridegroom is approaching and the alarm is sounding – and the five foolish virgins become aware they are not prepared.  Notice that the preparation of the five wise virgins is not going to be enough to cover the five foolish virgins, it can only provide oil enough for their own lamps – their “oil” (relationship with Jesus) cannot sustain the others during that time of trial, or during the end times.  Jesus is giving us an important warning here: prepare by investing in your relationship with Me as of first importance, for when the time of trial comes (or the end time comes), you will not be able to stand in the light without that preparation to sustain you, and you cannot rely on the relationship of others with Jesus to sustain you.  I know from personal experience that, when a time of trial came (Cody’s death), if I did not already have the depth of relationship with Jesus that both Cody and I had through investment of our hearts, our focus, and our time and energy, I would not have made it through that time intact.  And that is just the trial of losing a child to death.  The trials of the end times, according to Jesus, are unequaled:  Matthew 24:^21 “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. ²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”  If at the time of great trial, or in the end times, I go out seeking to purchase “oil for my lamp”, because of the nature of the times, the strong and prevailing presence of the enemy in those times, and the distractions of my emotions and the pain of those times, I will have difficulty “making it back in time” to be with the Bridegroom in His kingdom.  The warning from Jesus is clear:  you will not “make it back”, so the door will already be closed and the way blocked, and Jesus will say “I don’t know you.”

We cannot serve two masters.  We cannot have two “gods.”  Jesus said, as reported in Matthew 6:24, “Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”  We cannot stand with one foot in the Kingdom and the other in the world, nor can we focus on our relationship with Jesus as the thing of primary importance – our first priority – while focusing on things of the worldly view as equally (or even more) important to us.  Our circumstances cannot take precedence over our relationship with Jesus.  Whatever the foolish virgins were doing with their resources, they were not investing in that connection with Jesus (the presence of the Holy Spirit within us to give us light and truth).  They were counting on what they had in the lamp already to see them through to the end.  It will not be enough.

I personally believe that we are in those end times described by Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25; I see evidence in the increasingly strong presence of evil influencing the actions of mankind, in the engulfing fear that grips the world in so many ways and determines the direction of our leaders (as well as many of us individually), in the realities of global annihilation at the fingertips of those who have no restraint from creating destruction and who are willing and even eager to do so, in the pain and suffering of children and those who are weaker at the hands of those in power, in the burgeoning upheaval in the natural realm, and in the rise of attitudes contrary to those taught by God and demonstrated by Jesus such as taking the easy path, looking out for self, and rejecting any absolute truth.  However, and I want to stress this point, even if we are NOT in those end times, the truth of this parable is still relevant to our individual experience and the warning still holds true.  For each of us, the trial will come.  If we do not have that connected presence of Jesus to hold us fast, we will lose our grip on the Kingdom and we will fall. 

What are you invested in?

Battle ground!

Psalm 35
1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up shield and buckler;
arise and come to my aid.
3 Brandish spear and block the way
against those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
"I am your salvation."
Psalm 35 seems to be a discourse on revenge, asking God to destroy those who were against David. This does not seem to be a very Christian concept – on the surface. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you does not appear to match David’s prayer here. But we do need to remember that we are in a spiritual battle, and that is indeed a Christian concept. Paul is clear that we are to “stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6 states: 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Those who “contend against” us are the minions of our enemy. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but it is against evil. If we do not take a stand, we are abandoning those we love into the enemy’s influence and deceptions. David is also clear, as Psalm 35 continues, that those who are against him are spreading lies and making false claims. Who is the father of lies? To call God to action side by side with us, to ask Him to take up the spear and shield on our behalf, is a perfectly appropriate prayer. Somewhere along the way, Christians have adopted an attitude of passivity as if that is the meaning of love and grace. We have bought into the false idea that confronting evil is tantamount to judging others, and that we will be held accountable for making those judgments. No! Jesus was anything but passive! Check out His confrontations of the religious leaders, and His stand against all hypocrisy, and then see if your picture of a passive Jesus is accurate. Ask, seek and knock are action verbs, and so is taking a stand. We are called to action, not passivity. We are partners with God in the battle. Stand on the truth of God and stand firmly against the enemy’s schemes. Let us as Christians never forget that we are in an all-out war.

Reconciling God in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament

Imagine for a minute that you are a parent (if you are not – if you are then just think about being a parent). If your child is two years old and you are going to explain to him or her about not running into the road, you would probably point and say a firm “No!” while holding their hands. There is not a whole lot of need to go into all the whys of you might die, etc., because the two year old would not understand the concept of death anyway. At four, you might say, “Honey, don’t run into the road.” A four year old has more language and hopefully by that point has learned to trust your direction. You still would not need to explain the concept of death. It is too abstract for a four year old to comprehend. They might say, “If I died when would I wake up?” or “Could I come home in time for bed?” But you can see how they would not grasp the concept and would misrepresent what you said if you tried to explain it to them.

Now move ahead to your eight year old. To them, explaining the same danger, you would likely say, “You know we live on a curve, and cars are coming around that curve all the time. See how fast they are going around the curve? If you were in the road when one of those cars was racing around that curve, they would not be able to stop in time. They might not even see you before they hit you. And you would be seriously hurt, or even killed. Stay out of the road when you are playing in the yard. Do not chase your ball in the road!” Now you have the ability to explain more about the dangers, offer details and specifics, and even give an explanation of the possible consequences. But at eight, you still would not offer a lot in the way of choices for how to go into the road. For example, since you live on a curve without a line of sight, you would not say, “look both ways” like you would at an intersection. Fast forward to your twelve year old. At that age, you could say, “If you are going to walk in the road, walk down to the stop sign on the corner first. Then look for cars and cross the road there. That way, a car coming around the curve has time to slow down and stop before they hit you.” Now you can offer more choices, and even an option for how to walk safely where they want to go. And at sixteen, you start talking about being the driver on the road, and being sure to go slowly around the curve watching for children playing near the road.

The point of this analogy is this: all along the foundational truth remains the same, and your words are spoken out of love and care. See, though, how the words themselves appear to change based on the needs of your child? God, our Father, responds to us in the same way.

Early in the “life” of God’s people, they were like two year olds. When God explained His creation to them, they wrote it down as best as they could understand it, and He used words and images they would comprehend. The Law was given as do’s and don’ts, and as Paul described it, the Law was given to reveal sin, meaning it was given so His people would know what was safe and what was dangerous. But they did not grasp the deeper meanings of the Law as revealed to us by Jesus. This explains Jesus’ statement that He was not abolishing the Law but fulfilling it, and He added the depth of the heart to the Law when He explained to us that those who hate in their hearts commit murder in their hearts. He revealed through exposing the Pharisees’ hypocrisy the part of comprehension that was missing from the “four year old’s” understanding of the teaching given. The truth did not change, only the depth of the explanation.

How does this impact our reconciliation of the OT with the Jesus we know? On two levels: we can see how God would by necessity use relevant terms and understandable concepts, sometimes appearing strict or controlling to the eyes of a two year old, sometimes appearing to not explain His reasons to the four year old, etc.; we can also see how the two and four and eight year olds, when writing down what God said, could present His words in a confused manner (reference back to the four year old trying to explain death). This does not mean the words are not true, or that the truth of God (or His nature) has changed, any more than it meant that the parent above loved the sixteen year old more than he loved the two year old!

I believe we reconcile and understand all Scripture now through the eyes of Jesus, and that Scripture is “written on our hearts” by the Holy Spirit Who leads us into all truth. Jesus came, in part, to show us through experience Who God is. Now we are given the Holy Spirit, Who can also reveal God’s nature to us, and Who can teach us those things that are not specifically outlined in the Bible, as Jesus told us would happen in John’s gospel. So here is the truth about us: we may be somewhat older children than the children of God in the OT, but we are children still. We are in need of a Father and a Teacher, and that Teacher is Jesus and Jesus alone. If we approach reading the OT from a basic truth of understanding that everything written there is meant to point to Jesus – for example, Noah’s ark points ahead to the cross that will carry us over the water of chaos and sin into a new life, and the ark of the covenant parting the waters before the people into the Promised Land represents the same truth; the story of Abraham and Isaac points to God Himself providing the sacrifice, and the story of Passover points to Jesus Who will be the Lamb whose blood covers us from being taken by death (I could keep going and going but I think you get the point) – then we can “get over” ourselves worrying about the way the writers presented their understanding of God through the eyes of a two year old, leaving an impression of an arbitrary or controlling God. Instead, we can see through better equipped eyes and discern the love behind the actions of God in the OT, all the way through dying on the cross for our sakes.

But let’s don’t ever forget that we are also children, and we “see through a glass darkly.” We need the Holy Spirit’s presence to truly understand the truth that God has revealed to us. So do not try to reconcile OT Scripture with NT Scripture on your own. Ask Jesus to help explain it and receive through God’s Spirit within you the truth that makes the Bible a whole story about One God whose every action is coming from a heart of love for His children. The entire Bible is the story of God’s pursuit of His children to reconcile with them because He loves them so much. For this reason, the whole story points to and centers on Jesus.

Problem resolution: Walking in the way of love

Jesus provides us a roadmap for problem resolution – if we will simply look to Him for guidance and choose to follow His lead. Instead, however, many individuals choose to set out on their own path to solve their own problems. Usually, that path looks like focusing on the problem instead of the cause, seeking through self-protection or self-service to deflect, avoid or divert responsibility off of themselves, and choosing the easiest solution even if that solution ultimately leads to destruction.

Our society has degraded into one of valuing individual gain at the expense of others, employing denial of accountability, and refusing to look deeper into the motivations of the heart. Avoidance is touted as the behavior of choice. We tend to embrace short term gain even if it means long term pain. We have become a culture of don’ts: Don’t make waves, don’t upset anyone no matter what is right or true, don’t challenge anyone on anything, don’t stand up for the truth, don’t even believe there is a truth to stand up for…I could continue but I believe you get the idea. Whatever you do, don’t. Shame and fear are the bases for this “don’t” position – we are afraid and embarrassed to take a risk. However, as a result, problems are not solved; problems are simply reframed, denied or avoided. This is not the stance of Jesus, Who faced His issues with others head-on. He was surely willing to confront others, to challenge others, and to stand for the truth – look at His confrontation of the Pharisees – at the cost of His life. He did not choose self-preservation or self-protection. Instead, He chose love as the reason for everything He did. He was also focused on the root causes of issues, rather than each specific problem. He looked squarely at the motivations of the hearts of those around Him, identifying the motivation of lust as causing the problem of adultery and the motivation of hate as causing the problem of murder. Finally, Jesus did not choose the easiest path, or the simplest solution, which in His case would have been to have each of us pay for our own sins. He chose, once again motivated by His great love for us, to take responsibility onto Himself rather than to deflect it off onto others. He chose the hard road for Himself, the road of short term pain and long term gain.

Ephesians 5:1-2 says: 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

What does it mean to “walk in the way of love”? If we are to follow Christ’s example, several components need to be in place. First and foremost, we are not able to walk in the way of love without His help and presence. He is love. Without Him, there is no love. So, we need Jesus as our partner. Second, we cannot walk in the way of love if we don’t know what love is. So, we need the truth from Jesus about love in order to see clearly what path we are to take. We need to be able to ask Him to show us what the loving thing to do is, in every instance and every choice we make. Even more globally, we need a source of all truth – the presence of Jesus within us, listening to His voice and the leading of His Spirit – or we will be easily deceived into falling back into our self-serving actions. Third, we need to seek the reasons for our choices – in other words, we need to understand the motivations of our hearts that inform our choices, and that cause our problems. Problems are rarely what they appear to be on the surface. Solutions are rarely what we first think they should be. We can see evidence of that throughout Scripture, where God’s answers to problem situations for His people are often counterintuitive or appear contraindicated. Finally, we need to align the motivations of our hearts with the truth we hear, see and know from Jesus. Simply put, we need to know the truth so that the truth can set us free.

Walking in the way of love is therefore more difficult. It takes time and energy and effort. It requires insight and self-examination. It means spending time with Jesus in quiet listening and reflection. But as the example set by Jesus shows us, the long term benefits greatly outweigh the short term costs. Spend time speaking with Jesus about each of these ideas presented here. Listen to His leading, and experience what great good comes from following His example.

Turn Life Inside-Out

The difference between living inside-out and living outside-in is one of the most important truths taught by Christ, and one that is immeasurable in its value to us and impact on our lives.  Before you start thinking I am talking about turning your clothing so that the tags show and the seams are ragged, let me explain what I mean.

                                                     

To live outside-in means to allow those things of the “world” – whether it be circumstances, the actions or words of other people, or the enemy – to flow into you and determine your choices and your feelings.  Most people live outside-in.  They are preoccupied with what others think of them – approval-junkies – or with what circumstances are doing “to” them – viewing themselves as victims.  Their choices and feelings are “tossed to and fro by every wave that comes along.”  They do not stand on solid ground.  Things other than God in their hearts have power over them.  As a result, they live in fear – fear of what others are thinking of them or doing to them, fear of what unknown circumstances and what those circumstances might do to them, and fear of making their own choices for fear of choosing poorly.  Outside-in living is a very unhealthy, empty, hopeless, and powerless way to live.

Visualize yourself standing beside the sea holding a fishing net.  You toss your net out into the “sea” (the symbol for the worldly view throughout Scripture) and haul in what you believe will be good things – perhaps you are seeking to bring in trout or salmon, something you can “eat” (receive in your heart) that will fill you up.  But as you try to bring in the good fish, you also collect up seaweed, jellyfish, and maybe even a shark, eel, or stingray.  Suddenly, the unexpected “catch” begins to fill you with nastiness, to sting you, or even to consume you.  This is a picture of outside-in living.  Whatever is in the world comes in with your net when you bring the external world into your heart. 

Contrast this with inside-out living.  This type of life begins with a focus on the presence of Jesus in our hearts.  Through His presence, we can know His love for us, and we can know who He says we are.  These truths create our solid ground on which we stand.  From those truths then can flow the love of Christ from our hearts out into the world.  As a result, the opinions of others carry no weight – only the truth of Christ informs our choices.  The actions of others have no power over us because those actions or beliefs cannot change who we are in Christ.  Circumstances also carry no power to change who we are, or to undermine the truth Jesus has brought to our hearts.  Circumstances become no more than a setting in which to have our relationship with Jesus.  All power beyond the strength and power of the love of Christ is no more.  Others are no longer able to determine how you feel (about yourself or in general). No one is able to dictate your choices.  Inside-out living is living in true freedom. 

In this scenario, Jesus fills your heart.  He is the One Who feeds you, completes you, and makes you whole.  As He stated, He is the bread of life: “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  Then out of your heart flows His love, and you become a “fisher of people” instead of a taker from people. 

In Matthew 5, Jesus teaches us about our hearts when we are living inside-out.  If we live as Christ lives, doing only what we see Christ doing, the results are living beyond our limited capacity to love on our own.  Only then can we truly love our enemies; only through inside-out living are we able to surpass the Pharisees; only through oneness with Jesus, connection in our hearts with Him making us whole, can we be “complete” or “perfected” as the Father is perfect.  

Lessons from a Puppy Dog

We recently adopted a 2 year old Maltese mix from the Atlanta Humane Society – a rescue dog from a very bad situation.  Watching his responses, particularly to my husband, David, has been very educational about our attitudes toward God, and about how we create our own consequences by our choices based in fear.

For example, rather than allow David to take him out for his walk, he would cower in his kennel and wait for me to get home, causing him both physical and emotional discomfort.  This behavior was not based on anything he had experienced from David, but was instead based on past experiences with a male or males who were unkind to him.  He transferred his fear based on those past experiences onto David, whom he assumes will treat him the same way.  He hadn’t tried to get to know David, nor has he tested out his assumption.  He was reacting totally based on his own fear and his false belief about David.

This reminds me of how, not knowing God and not knowing what to expect from Him, we will self-protect and try to “hide” ourselves out of fear.  Jesus stands there offering us love, comfort, and provision, and we run and hide in our version of our “kennel” or “safety” zone, thinking we are our own provider, and our own protector.  When we do this, we cheat ourselves, just as the little dog was doing, out of what Jesus has for us – His love, His presence.  We cause ourselves our own discomfort, struggle and pain as we choose this, all the while thinking we are keeping ourselves safe somehow.  It is very self-defeating, exactly like what I witnessed the dog doing to himself.

Another striking example occurred when David was making himself lunch, and accidently dropped a piece of turkey on the kitchen floor.  The puppy dog could smell the turkey, but it was too near to where David was standing for him to be willing to “risk” going to get it.  So as a result he denied himself a special treat.  Seeing what was happening, David even moved away from the piece of turkey, hoping the dog would come and get it if he was not in the way.  Even then, the dog was too afraid; simply the fact that David HAD been there was enough to keep him from going after that delicious piece of turkey – something he would have loved to have, and something he normally would not receive (we don’t feed our dogs table scraps).  His fear and his belief denied him that special moment.

This too seemed very similar to how we cheat ourselves out of God’s good gifts by staying away from Him.  He offers to be a wonderful comfort for us.  He “drops” gifts of love and kindness and caring and support for us all the time – but we keep our distance and rob those special moments from ourselves.  We have nothing to lose, but we won’t “risk” getting close enough to Jesus to find out that He has only good for us.

David’s actions toward the dog reminded me of God’s response to us as well.  David discovered that the puppy dog really likes bacon treats, so he started carrying around bits of bacon, hoping the dog would get comfortable with him and eventually not be afraid of him.  Knowing the dog was too scared to receive the gift, David patiently dropped the pieces of bacon on the floor by the dog’s kennel.  David has done this now for several weeks, and some minor progress has been made as now the puppy will take the treat from David’s hand at times.  But I watched with some amazement as, even after several weeks and the dog having experienced the yumminess of the bacon many times, David, while standing in the kitchen, tried to give the dog his special treat, but as long as David was standing up, the puppy would not take the treat from him.  If David sat down, then and only then would the dog receive the special gift.

This part of my observation reminds me of how patient God is with us, and how willing He is to meet us where we are.  Just like David, He goes out of His way to bring His love to our very door.  He never forces Himself on us, but is always willing to give freely to us, even as we run and hide from Him.  It also reminds me so much of all of us and how we respond to God.  Jesus stands with arms open wide, offering Himself, His love, His comfort, and His good gifts to us. But we refuse those gifts based on our fear, denying ourselves what He is offering freely and lovingly, or we establish conditions for God to meet under which we will consider giving Him a chance.  As a result, we never learn that He is not Who we imagine Him to be – we remain stuck in our fear and our own imagining of Who He is based on our experiences.  And the sad thing is, those experiences come not from God, but from evil and sin in this world, which we then transfer onto God as if it belongs to Him.  Some people, even after tasting the goodness of God in some way, still hold onto their fear and deny themselves the wonderful peace and love of His presence. 

From the dog’s point of view, I guess the self-protective response makes some sort of sense – but from the broader view - from our more truth-based point of view - the dog’s behavior is sad, and we feel the loss that he is bringing upon himself, simply by his own choosing.  We feel the longing to give him the love he so desperately needs, the one thing that would heal him and his hurts.  We hurt for him as we see him cower and flee, knowing what he is denying himself by choosing to believe his own fear.  In not knowing who we are or how we will be with him, he loses – there is no gain at all – and we can see that, and hurt for his loss.

What are you choosing in your relationship with God?  Which viewpoint will you take as your own? The dog’s or the owner’s?

The Gospel of Insufficiency

Did you know that the truth of God; in other words, the “gospel” as preached by Paul (“1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” – I Cor. 15:1-4); is insufficient?

Wait…how can that be? Paul tells us that by this gospel we are saved, and is of first importance. But, is it enough?

Not according to some elements in current theology! Let’s look at some examples and really examine what the “church” is saying when these beliefs are preached:

1) Selling God
According to what is generally termed “Prosperity theology” the reason we should believe in God is that, if we do, He will prosper us. We will receive stuff in abundance – money, things we want, bigger and better houses, cars, boats, and the list goes on. This prospering concept is generally described as God “blessing” us because of our “faith.” Now, unfortunately, this type of theology is being exported to other countries as an “enticement” to bring people in poverty to belief in Jesus Christ. So we are to believe in Jesus because we get cash back bonuses at the end of the month.

2) Bullying for God
Even though Scripture teaches us “do not fear,” fear is being used as a weapon to coerce people into accepting Jesus Christ. Halloween substitutes that are designed to threaten participants with images of hell in order to scare them into salvation, yelling sign carriers on street corners and college campuses asking people if they are ready to die, hellfire and brimstone preachers finger-pointing from the pulpit about what horrible sinners all are, and other examples of manipulation through fear fail to bring people into true relationship with Jesus. We are warned that we better get it right or we are toast. Who would want to receive a sweet hug and spend their free time hanging out with this kind of “god”?

3) Redesigning God
The gospel is boring. It must compete with MTV and Facebook. Plus, the attention span of our current population is getting shorter and shorter. Obviously, it is time to give God a good makeover. Everyone loves a good reality TV show, right? “Extreme Makeover: God Edition” – the latest spectacle of the mega-church – attempts to spiff God up through entertainment to make Him more appealing to a vapid, disinterested populace. Worship services are reminiscent of vaudeville shows or rock concerts, hoping to entice people to sit still – or simply to show up. “I’ll come, but I expect to be fed,” is the attitude of the passive recipients. However, my question is: is my relationship with God really a passive endeavor? Is it all about what is in it for me?

These three examples are intended to demonstrate how the “church” in some arenas has bought into the lie belief that the truth of God is insufficient. Rather than transforming the culture in which we live, we are being transformed by the culture, mimicking it in order to be acceptable.  I wonder why we no longer believe the gospel in and of itself is “good news”?

Perhaps we have so convoluted and perverted the truth of God that we no longer “see” its wonder, majesty and glory. Maybe that is why we think God needs sprinkles added on top to make His love worth receiving.