Unwindings.org

Today, March 21, 2010, is the day that our elected federal officials will attempt to vote on the passage of a national health care bill unlike any health care bill this country has ever seen. As most Americans will attest, health care has been a growing problem in America for years and desperately needs an overhaul. As this vote looms and the news outlets hover to report any movement in Washington one way or another, I cannot help but thinks of the old adage “The Devil We Know versus The Devil We Don’t”. It seems apropos right now since we know we have many problems in this great country to contend with. But the solution to exchange a chronic problem for government-owned, government-run program will render long-term results that even the most liberal progressives will eventually come to hate.

It is amazing to compare many of the characteristics of 1 Samuel 8 with what has been happening in America for the past 20 years and now has culminated in this presidency. Change, something new, something different have become the mantras so contagiously strong that we often forgo correcting what we already have as long as we just get something new. Somehow “new” has come to mean “better” but that is not always true.

1 Samuel 8:6-9 “But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

The children of Israel forgot the rich blessings of freedom that they already had been given and in discontent demanded more. The wonderful leader Samuel warned them that a king they demanded would enslave the people to his programs, he would take the land for himself and one day all would cry out for relief from this horrible bondage. But no one listened… and instead cried out in support of a king. So that is what God gave them: a human king that enslaved them.

As a nation we think our problems are Health Care, Education, Immigration, the Financial Markets, etc. but these are mere shadows of our most fundamental problem – ‘We The People’ no longer know God. He is the giver and taker of all that we have. To become independent from Him and in turn lay our hopes and trust in the promises of Washington is a destroyer to living victorious in Christ. I know many Christians are frantic about the passage of this Health Care Bill. Although I have spoken out against this Bill in favor of a more balanced plan that all Americans can understand, my hope is not wrapped up in a vote. God knew about all of this long before us and here is simply another opportunity for Christians to trust Him in spite of the outcome. Just writing that sentence brings a peace over me that I can’t fully describe.

If this bill gets passed does God’s plan become derailed or redirected? No. His wonderful plan continues unaffected but as His children we better continue to trust Him even if He gives us the imprisonment that ‘We The People’ demand.

Yesterday I was asked an interesting question, “how is it possible a person can sin with a new nature – wasn’t sin part of the old nature?” This is one of the ‘gotcha’ questions many Christians may struggle with internally. It is also a question that, if you are unprepared, is difficult to answer. Yet, under the hood it is wonderfully simply. The term “nature” must be clearly defined. In 2 Peter 1:2-4 Peter states that Christians have been given great and precious promises and that through these we are partakers of God’s divine nature. In Ephesians 2:1-3 we were described as having been dead and by nature children of wrath before receiving Christ’s very life. So as humans on this earth we either have a dead nature or a divine nature. ‘Nature’ is our true identity.

For instance, let’s say you were to attend a masquerade party dressed as the hairy Wookiee Chewbacca from Star Wars. The only recognizable part of your body would be your eyes peering through the hairy mask. Throughout the evening you could play the costume well feeling almost that you were Chewbacca but underneath it all you are still you. Who you really are under the costume is your true identity, your true nature regardless of what you may look like or act like on the outside. Now let’s say that at the same party there is another person dressed in a Chewbacca costume. Your friends know you and not that other person but with a costume on they really are not sure who is who. Why? Because your true identity is masked… it is covered up.

Prior to a person recieving Jesus Christ’s free gift of salvation their true identify, their nature is dead – dead to God. This is what died to God when Adam and Eve embraced sinful thinking in the garden of Eden. It was their spirit that died. And every human since has inherited that dead nature from Adam – that nature that alive to sin and disobedience (Romans 5:12). Once we choose to receive Christ’s gift of salvation, our dead nature (spirit) is resurrected in Christ and made alive as a divine nature. That means as Christians have a brand new identity (2 Cor.5:17).

Even so, it is possible for the person with this wonderful new nature to still wear a “costume” resembling something other than who God says they are. They can choose to sin and misbehave even though under the surface they are alive in Christ. It is only when they begin to choose to trust God is all areas of their life that God will incrementally remove that costume eventually exposing the unique and wonderful person underneath.

W.I.T. stands for What Is It and W.I.S.dom stands for What’s Its Significance

We can have a little fun here but it will require a bit of thinking and participation on your part.

Here is how this works:

1. First, the easy part –  simply identify the primary object in the picture (W.I.T.). Don’t over think it.
2. Secondly, here is the more difficult part – try to relate the picture’s significance (W.I.S.) to the Christian’s freedom in Christ. (HINT: think Biblical metaphors – it is somewhere in the Bible).
3. Lastly, leave your answers or guesses as comments to this post. I will eventually post my answer in the comments section. If you don’t want to know my answer before you guess then don’t read the comments.

In scores of churches on any given week you will find a directory or bulletin with a list of ministries that anyone can choose to join and participate in. They are often widely varied such as women’s ministry, community outreach, food delivery, audio/visual or church greeters just to name a few. You may currently be involved with one or know someone who is. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself what exactly is a ministry? In more conversations than I can count I have heard how tired or overwhelmed people feel having served in a ministry for a long period of time. I have even heard some say they are ready to retire from a ministry as if it is an occupation. Just recently a woman told me she felt pressured into serving in a particular ministry because she was told she fit the criteria. Hmm… it is almost if we are talking about an occupation here qualified by our service history, our personality, our looks or social status. Is that what a ministry is, an occupation? In one particular case I knew a person who faithfully served for years in a Sunday morning ministry during the morning sermon. Exhausted, constantly searching for strength to continue onward yet unequipped being very immature in the Truths of Scripture. This person stoically forged ahead thinking that a long track record of ministerial endeavors accomplished much for God’s Kingdom. Sadly that is not what ministry is at all.

The idea that ministry is religious activity we create and then participate in is not supported Biblically. True ministry is not started and empowered by man at all… instead it is the opportunity for an “equipped saint” to serve and function in the Spirit of Christ through a God-chosen venue. Look at what Eph.4:11,12 says – “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;“. In the last several weeks I have been studying this and other related portions of Scripture heavily. The “equipping”… the “building up”. Oh how we in this era of modern church have contorted these truths to mean something they are not and then shackled ourselves to them. There is so much freedom in this passage if we will see it. We are talking about the giftedness among Christians that the Holy Spirit has distributed. It is in this collective giftedness among Christians that Christ’s fullness becomes realized… becomes experienced.  It makes us real and authentic so we can grow together in Christ. It makes us unafraid and unencumbered to admit our personal struggles and share our victories. We accept one another and learn to trust one another because we see Christ. We learn from one another as The Teacher works among us through our gifts to grows beyond being bottle-fed to eating the filet mignon of Scripture. This process if unhindered by humans equips us to correctly handle the trials of this life. It equips us to minister… to serve but this serving or ministry is not something we will have to go looking for or are pressured into joining. Instead, we will simply find ourselves in the center of a ministry because it is God-provided.

I understand how such an approach to ministry is lost in today’s “I-want-it-now” and “I-want-it-my-way” societies. God is not in a hurry nor does He require His children to work hard for Him. He is the provider and we are the receivers. May God reveal Himself to those of you willing to see His amazing freedom in grace.