We can be heroes, says Pride.
And the daydreams begin: I am better than the other.
Achieving glory (but not too much).
Romance (on my own terms?).
Don’t forget to take me along, adds Violence.
Let’s get justice, and take it by force.
Society, life itself, requires me,
My will, my baton, my voice announced by gunfire.
To do nothing is too great a risk.
I will lay my life down,
But not before I tear down as many of our enemies
As I can.
My hunger is satisfied with green things
Flee the false home
The prison of normality
The richness unneeded, burdensome
Let me taste the flavor deep, lively
A daily fermentation
Slime breeds an abundance
From the sludge, the platonic vegetable
A paper-thin wall of fear
Stands between where I stand
And where I think to be
Every evening the light of dusk
Shines through small slits
Calling me to pursue the sunset
I don’t know what’s beyond this wall
Perhaps the edge of the world
And so I sit, imagining
How great the fall
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
Revelation 3:19 ESV
Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
Revelation 3:20 NLT
There is, in life, a temptation towards isolation. Some of us live a fairly comfortable life on our own: a job that pays the bills, a family to care for, a house to maintain, entertainment that keeps our minds occupied with fanciful things. Within that bubble, whether it be our home, our church, or the safety of our own thoughts, there is calm. There is safety: a controllable reality. There is perhaps, using the words of Jesus in Revelation chapter 3, an atmosphere not unlike the temperature of lukewarm water.
Jesus gives us a solution to this lukewarmness. He commands us to be zealous and repent. Repentance is simply changing our minds about things, and this of course leads to the changing of our ways. Zeal is an unquenchable fire, or an ice bath that never loses its chill. There is an extreme call to change within the words of Jesus; that is clear. But what does this repentance look like? In this case, He asks us to look at Him, hear His voice and open the door.
I have heard that this passage describes the spiritual transaction that happens when we accept Jesus’ salvation gift that he payed for on the cross, when we repent of our sins, say the sinner’s prayer and believe in the redeeming grace of God. I think that is certainly part of it, but in the context of the passage, Jesus is admonishing a group of people that were already a part of the Church. They had entered into fellowship and received grace long before. This leads me to believe that this passage is talking primarily about an openness for which we must be zealous, continually. There is a temptation to isolate ourselves, to be content with the way things are (as long as the way things are feels safe in the moment). But Jesus says remain open, and remain open with ferocity. His work, His friendship, has not ended and will never end.
When Jesus refers to “opening the door,” I believe that He is talking about, to put it simply, hospitality. And there are a few dimensions to that hospitality. There are three invitations that I see the people of God extending to the realms outside our walls: inviting Jesus in, inviting the Holy Spirit in, and inviting people in.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
John 15:4 ESV
Friendship is a two-way street. Jesus has given us the invitation of friendship, and this long before we were even born. As much as we desire a relationship with God, He desires it all the more. Jesus made a way for relationship where there was no way, through the cross. Our responsibility in this relationship is to abide, or remain connected to Him, continually. We can do that through obedience (Jesus’ direction in John 15), worship and prayer. Listening is key here. We should know His voice well enough to respond to Him when He speaks.
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:31 ESV
No matter how strong we may think we are, we always need strength from a friend. We are not self-sufficient, self-made creatures. If we are to walk with God, we need to lean on the strength that comes from our Creator God Himself. We must be filled with the Spirit, and in order for the Holy Spirit to fill us, we need to open our hearts and invite Him in. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Helper,” and if you’re like me, you may have a hard time asking for help. Our challenge is to be humble enough to admit our needs and welcome His strength and presence.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:2 ESV
When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
Romans 12:13 NLT
Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
Matthew 25:37-40 NLT
Love for people is intrinsically connected to our love for Jesus. In the call to abide in John 15, the way that Jesus prescribes, the way to abide in Him, is to obey His commands. And He tells us His command: love one another. When we let fear, hatred, complacency or disinterest get in the way of caring for the people around us in loving friendship, we are also denying the way to abide in Jesus.
When we shut people out, who are we really keeping out? We are excluding Jesus, who is standing at the door, knocking. This is a very challenging truth for me. I have lived many years in relative isolation, insulated from the neighbors surrounding me. It’s easy to get into simple patterns of complacency and slip into a closed life.
My question is this: what are we afraid of? What do we really think is on the other side of our closed door? Are we afraid that an apocalypse waits for us outside our walls? It is not a terror outside, but Jesus Himself. Beauty waits for us there. If we are to encounter that beauty, the beauty of Christ, we must open the door to our neighbors. It is time to rise up, take up a zeal for repentance and open the door to friendship.
Every conflict is both a test of our character and a chance to grow.
No doubt, it’s easier just to leave relationships behind.
It’s much simpler to exclusively interact with the people who believe exactly what you do; there is no conflict in that.
But division doesn’t build love.
The truth is, we’re supposed to be a family: fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.
It’s not cheesy to call ourselves siblings in Christ.
It’s a core reality of who we are in Him.
“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”–1 Peter 3:8
Rain stopped
Never thought it would
Now the ground is cool, damp,
Soggy-fresh
And I shall venture out again
Into the muck of new life
I realize that I haven’t posted to this blog in a while, but I haven’t taken a complete break from writing. Here are two recent articles I wrote for the Hilltop House of Prayer (formerly the International House of Prayer Tallahassee) where I served as an intern nine years ago. They’ve been great friends to me over the years, so check out the rest of their blog and website if you get a chance!
How to Tell if You Are a Peacemaker or a Peacekeeper
Five Verses That Prove God Likes You
Enjoy!
I want to mature in my zeal for God. I want it to grow. Tragically, I’ve seen enthusiastic young people lose faith and drift away, turning to agnosticism or even atheism. And I’ve seen another generation, in response, claim that zeal is nothing more than emotional hype, as they themselves settle into complacency. Truly, there are more hurts and disappointments in this world than we know. There are things for which we prayed and believed that did not happen. Religion confuses, wounds and sedates. But my heart lights up when I see the elders, people like Lou Engle and Bill Johnson, the older generation that burns so much brighter now than they ever did in their 20s, 30s or 40s. Maybe there were disappointments along the way, but through every tragedy, they fought again with everything inside of them to keep their eyes open and fixed on Jesus. They know that even in times of faithlessness, He remained faithful to them. They hold tightly to their testimonies of grace.
I see my Grandpa, weeping as he listens to his grandchildren sing worship songs to Jesus. He remembers the battles of his own journey, and he knows that he’s leaving a legacy. And he knows, beyond all doubt, the beauty and faithfulness of God. I want to be such a man, knowing that he’s finishing well, not just more in love with the Lord than when he was nineteen, but more in love than yesterday!
Zeal is our calling, because true zeal is birthed from a heart of radical love. As people of God, we have tasted His beauty. We have seen His goodness. Our God is the most dazzling, radiant, loving person in the universe. How can we ever give anything less than our whole hearts?
His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”–John 2:17
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. (Psalm 85:8-10)
Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order—in short, of government. (Albert Einstein, On Peace)
Righteousness and peace are intimately connected. We see this in every dimension of society: from the upper echelons of government to every citizen’s daily challenge to contribute to the harmony of his neighborhood. Where there is order, and when people’s hearts are united within that order, peace has a fertile place to grow. Where there is disorder, peace has a very low chance of being prominent on any large scale.
As human beings created by God, our order, our government primarily stems from God himself, impressed on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The name of this government is the Kingdom:
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:7)
Our own earthly governments are just a shadow of God’s government, and while we may achieve some level of peace here in our nations, peace’s ultimate fulfillment is found in the Kingdom of God. That being said, we can do much to bring peace to the world around us if we live from God’s heart and establish justice in our earthly systems.
We must be secure in our own morality, even when society does not agree. We cannot control society or popular opinion, but we can influence. God’s ways are always going to be better than any lesser ways. Demonstrating the merit of those values and practices, practically, scientifically, psychologically and sociologically, will go a long way to promoting peace in our world.
Living our lives individually and collectively in right standing with God, bearing the fruit of self-control, love and peace in community through the gospel: it is all a witness, a vision of hope, a gift to the world around us. We demonstrate love in relationship, and forgiveness within conflict. We get to show the world that the Kingdom works, in whatever context we’ve been placed.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”–Matthew 5:9
You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. —Colossians 2:20-23 (NLT)
I never want to idolize the wilderness. At times, I’ve approached fasting and weeping as if they were ends unto themselves, gold star ultimate expressions of devotion to God. But weeping is simply a right emotional response to a tragedy, a loving response, something that God feels even deeper than we do. Fasting is simply a laying aside of distractions, a focused time of longing for God. In both, the point is to connect with God’s heart. They are precious realities, never human accomplishments of which to be proud. Without Christ as the Head, these things are meaningless.
Just having rules and systems set up against immorality does nothing to bring freedom to the ones trapped in it. For instance, from a worldly point of view, Humanism and Communism are great ideas. They’re even based in Biblical principles! Humanism attempts to follow the second great commandment, but it ignores the first. Communism is an attempt at Church and covenant community, only without God. The rules and morals may be “right,” but without Jesus as the Head, they are doomed to abuse and failure. Without faith, there is no substance.
Like Paul, we can “do all things through Christ.” No matter what the circumstance, we can rejoice, for we have the Spirit of power, love and self-control. When our minds are set in eternity, laying down our lives is a joy. We may live weak lives, chaotic, unorganized, or not. The wilderness doesn’t define our identity. Neither do disciplines and rules. Only Jesus, our Creator and Friend, can do that. We do strive for holiness, not because of guilt or pride, but because He is holy, and we love Him.
Article originally published in “Unlocked Words,” June 28, 2015 -JH
Redundancy 