Life can be funny sometimes. One day we are on top of the world. People make sense, our job makes sense, we have what we need and we think, "Now, this isn't so bad." And literally the next day our world comes crashing down. No one is happy with us, or so it seems. Come to think of it we're not even happy with ourselves. We can find little to rejoice in and much to be anxious about. The debt that has slowly crept up, the project is due any day now; the first payment on the "zero payment for nine months" is due next month"
Most of the time we figure a way out of these kinds of scenarios. Through our innovative methods of getting ourselves out of jams, we live to fight another day. But the day comes when we're finally out of miracles. We've called in our last favor and our ninth life is hanging by a thread. We know that if we are to find fulfillment in life like we had always hoped, it's time to start looking for answers.
In the first devotion of our first week for this new study, we're going to call this realization, "The day the light comes on." It's the day when we finally come to the end of our self-reliance and the hope we hold onto that we can redeem our self. This day may come after we've tried most, if not all, of the self-help advice imaginable. Or it may come as a total surprise and we're not quite sure what brought on this sense of helplessness.
Either way, the quicker we realize that this sense of helplessness is from God the better. Does that sound strange to hear? Why would God do such a thing? Why would God desire for someone He so desperately loves to feel so vulnerable?
God certainly doesn't wish that we remain helpless, but He does require us to begin this way. As long as we hold on to the hope that we can somehow grit our teeth and fight our way into being a better Christian, we will never make any progress in the Christian life. So God employs the only means He has for keeping us on the right road: need.
This need comes to different people in all kinds of different ways. For some it comes after years of trying to be good on their own and then one day they realize that all the righteousness we try to do for God "is like rubbish" compared to knowing Christ. For others it comes after a crisis event brings them to a state of humility helping them to realize that they are not invincible after all. Every Christian will experience the disgrace of failure, the pain of rejection, the sting of condemnation, the cynicism towards the ability to change and epidemic of self-centeredness. As a result, we inevitable develop a world-view with tightly held beliefs ingrained from experience such as:
These beliefs, and more, are all products of being in an environment unsupportive of God's truth–we usually call this the world. What are we to do when we find ourselves being influenced more by the world's truth than God's? That's what this study is about. This study is for people who have realized that not only are we unable to earn our way to heaven, but we also cannot will our way to growth. No matter which part you focus upon in the Christian life, getting saved or growing in our faith, it's all about God!
If there was one thing I hated as a kid, it was to be left all alone. I especially didn't like it when I wasn't familiar with my surroundings. We can probably all remember one of the first times we were lost in a large store. I remember getting lost one time and having a pit in my stomach because of the frantic feeling of not knowing what to do next. I didn't have the perspective to understand that the clerk could simply call my parents name over the intercom if I only asked. I didn't think to stay in the same place until my parents came and found me. I wasn't even so sure that my parents weren't going to leave me there to fend for myself and go find another little boy to take home. How ridiculous this scenario seems today, but it did feel all too real then.
Perhaps it will help us to know that in our periodic feelings of hopelessness we are not alone either. Everyone who has ever walked the Christian faith has experienced a sense of hopelessness at some point, even after they came to know Christ. In fact, the Bible is full of such people. Consider King David, who the Bible describes as "a man after God's own heart." [1] David was angry at times [2] , in despair, [3] confused, [4] and even sinful. [5] Even if we are familiar with the facts of David's life, at times we fail to connect his real feelings and our real feelings. We somehow believe it to be a noble thing to keep things all bottled up and maintain a cool appearance of control.
Even more helpful is to know that Christ is near and therefore we are not alone at all. Our sin and unfaithfulness has not driven Him away. [6] As a matter of fact, He is waiting for us to allow Him to work with even our failures for His own good purpose. But first we have to acknowledge His truth. This will be apparent in our study together in three major ways:
Today is a day for us to express our desire that the joy of our salvation be renewed. [7] Try to use the remainder of this time with God in order to express this. It may help to use the passage outlined below in the section called, "Making it Personal."
Have you ever asked the question: What were they thinking? Perhaps you've even asked yourself: What was I thinking? Maybe you've been driving in traffic and shouted, "What's your problem buddy?" I've often heard football fans shout at the referee, "Are you blind?"
The answer to all of these questions (or more accurately, statements) is the same. The person in question by their accuser is clearly not thinking, has problems and is blind" at least compared to the perspective of the plaintiff. The simple truth is that we are all blind in multiple ways to many of the realities of the world around us because of our position. I am blind to the pain of a family living in an AIDS-infested community in Africa because I am living quite healthily in America. I also would have many problems performing a routine surgery like removing tonsils. I am constantly not thinking when it comes to poverty, illiteracy and violence. In the most literal sense, I don't know what I don't know.
But God does. In fact, He knows everything we don't know and has chosen to reveal the most important things we need to know. THE most important FACTS He has shown to those who are open enough to see read as follows:
What's so important about pointing this out at this juncture? We must point this out now because the lack of attention that these two facts get holds the very secret to "getting our act together." Put more simply, until we learn to agree with God about our identity in Christ, we don't have a chance. We can try and try hard. We can even try harder than the Christians we see failing around us. But it will be to no avail if we ignore the very fundamental truths that God has spoken into reality when we were saved.
The Apostle Paul was the leader God put in charge of keeping the first century church focused on Christ alone. When His letters to the churches are read on the whole, a very clear formula for growth emerges. First we are born again as we are saved from our sins because Christ died for us, [8] –this is always the starting point. But next, we become all that which Christ recreated us to become when we focus on the fact that our old identity was crucified with Christ so that His identity could live through us. [9]
How does this change my daily reality? Let's ask it this way: How could KNOWING that I'm a new creation and not a sinner not change my habits of depression? How could KNOWING that the power that is at work within me from God is the same one that was behind the resurrection not alter my cynicism? How could KNOWING that instead of being disappointed in me that God is thrilled with who I am not cause me to overflow with life?
Growing up I was exposed to many creeds. In grade school each morning we stood and saluted the American flag and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. At Vacation Bible School (a summer youth church program), we all stood and recited a pledge to the Christian flag and the Bible as well. I also memorized hundreds of Bible verses as a youth, partly because my Mom encouraged it but mostly because we got candy from the church for every verse put to memory
As people, especially as Americans in this culture, we are exposed to thousands of slogans, creeds, claims, mottos, vision statements and sales pitches on a weekly basis. This is no exaggeration. Consider how many things we are exposed to that are designed to send messages to influence us as consumers. There is the television, radio, internet, bill boards, magazines, telemarketers and newspapers that the average person in the United States encounters daily. We have become so accustomed to this environment that we no longer think about the messages we may or may not be filtering through our belief system.
If we are just casual about the messages in our world and let them shape us over time, this can literally kill out most of the opportunity we have to grow in Christ. So whether we realize it or not, there is much at stake. Let's do an exercise together. Put a check by each statement that you think you really believe in each of the two groups:
It's interesting to compare how many beliefs we truly hold in our heart that are contrary to what God says are true and how many we have that are actually in alignment with God's view. It's not that we are never to be exposed to the messages of the world; it is that we have to understand the truth so strongly that we recognize false beliefs for what they are.
This is not an easy idea to accept in our culture. Recently, Oprah Winfrey did a show entitled: What do you really believe? [10] At first, it caught my attention because I thought, "Well, maybe Oprah is onto something." I was disappointed, however, to learn that the message being sent was that we should figure out what we really believe in our hearts so that we can learn to honor those beliefs and live by them. That's a great idea if our beliefs were already in line with God's truth. But the simple fact is that they aren't and therefore instead of honoring our real beliefs we must challenge them.
When we are finally able to recognize the patterns of the world's thinking that run contrary to God, instead of being alluring to us, these ideas will become sad and ridiculous. We will increasingly find ourselves saying with a chuckle, "Of course we can't have it our way, it's got to be God's way!" when the culture tells us otherwise. We will pause the moment we are tempted to believe the lie that "If it's to be, it's up to me" and immediately remember the pain and anxiety this belief brought to us and those close to us. We will believe it wiser to acknowledge God's control over such matters and be content to trust in Him. Then our experience will be like so many others who have learned the joy of trusting in the simple words of Christ. There's an old church hymn that reads:
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
And to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, "Thus says the Lord!"
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
'Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end. [11]
In 1992 there was a movie starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson entitled A Few Good Men. In it, Jack Nicholson plays Colonel Nathan Jessup in the US Marines. He is being required to testify in a very high-profile case which could send two privates to prison for murder. Tom Cruise plays their lawyer, Lt. Daniel Kaffee, and is interrogating Colonel Jessup. At one point in the interrogation things get pretty heated. Jessup snarls, "You want answers?"
Lt. Kaffee self-righteously replies, "I think I'm entitled to answers."
"You want answers?" Jessup repeats as his ears turn a bright red with anger.
To which the impassioned Kaffee shouts vehemently as he shakes his fist, "I WANT THE TRUTH!"
Colonel Jessup roars back, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"
Unfortunately, this is the story of many of our lives as well. We don't and won't deal with the truth because we operate under the assumption that the truth is just not something that we are able to handle especially the truth about who we really are. Oprah Winfrey did a show once entitled, "Liar, Liar" [12] (I really don't watch this show much, but the ones I do see stick out in my mind). In this episode, her audience had kept a journal for a month prior, detailing the lies they had told for that month. The results were disheartening as most people revealed that they lie on a pretty consistent basis. They lied so much that they shocked themselves. There was a "behavioral expert" on the show that reassured everyone that to lie occasionally (in moderation of course) is perfectly normal and even a healthy way to live. She clarified her statement by saying that if most people faced the truth about who they truly were on a daily basis they would be so depressed about life that they could not function properly.
Shortly after the OJ Simpson trial, Dateline NBC aired a special broadcast, supporting similar claims. [13] The question for the show was: Could OJ have murdered his wife and Ron Goldman and at the same time believe in his own heart that he didn't do it? As a psychologist explained, assuming that OJ Simpson did indeed kill Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, OJ may truly believe that he did not kill Nicole and Ron. The psychologist described that people live daily with a mere perception or image of who they are. And that perception may or may not be accurate. OJ's perception of himself, according to this expert, did not align with someone who would commit the kind of crimes he was being accused of committing. Therefore it is realistic that OJ could have killed those people just like the prosecutors said he did and simultaneously believe with sincerity that he did not because of the image he had created of himself.
The expert went on to say just what the guest on the Oprah Winfrey show had said: before you're too quick to judge OJ, just know that most of us don't face up to the true picture of who we are. We have to live a little bit of a lie to be able to cope with life itself. So we put on a mask. We create an image of ourselves that is acceptable in our minds, and basically lie to ourselves about who we truly are. So when others are in the least bit confrontational or critical of our behavior, maybe a boss or a spouse, we perpetuate the lie about ourselves by trying to justify our actions or deny them altogether. Most of the time this is done for the sake of others, yes, but more for the sake of ourselves. As Colonel Jessup said so accurately: "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH."
So let's take another look at the truth from Day 3.
While acknowledging the reality of the first fact, let's focus on the second fact for the time being. The reason for this is because it is what God focuses upon. This notion will be elaborated upon in greater detail later, but for now let's celebrate this fact. Do we really comprehend that we don't have to hide from who we are anymore? We are able to face the facts about ourselves, not because of who we've become through our effort, but because of who God has made us to be through Christ.
The transforming truth that we will be focusing upon this week is: Because I am a new creation in Christ, [14] I have great virtue apart from my performance because Christ died for me [15] and therefore imparted His life to me. [16] By the end of this six week course, we will learn to believe the results of this truth. The results are that we are deeply loved, [17] fully pleasing, [18] totally forgiven, [19] accepted [20] and complete [21] in Christ. What a wonderful truth to consider! Because of Him, we can face ourselves and we really can handle the truth.