Keep On Keeping On

This last week in my Sunday school class we began the book of Daniel.  I love the book of Daniel because, bottom line, Daniel is awesome.  He is cool, calm, and collected; he's wiser than any other wise man; and, like Joseph, this man can interpret dreams and visions.  But how did he become so amazing?  Did he wake up one day and God said, "Today's the day for you to become somebody!" and, bang, Daniel suddenly became the great man we read about.  Sounds silly when we say it like that, but I think it's easy for us to think that people are either great or they aren't.  It's harder to see that greatness is more of a process.  Let's take a closer look at Daniel to see how it really works.

In Daniel 1, we open with the the Babylonians conquering Judah and taking away the best and the brightest.  As part of the process of assimilation, the Babylonians would take the smart, the noble, the good-looking and train them to serve in their governments.  Daniel was one of these individuals.  So Daniel, and three of his friends, were taken from their homes and families and taken to their enemy's homeland to be trained to be servants.  Daniel was probably about 16 years old.  I can't imagine how horrifying it must have been to see your home destroyed and then taken captive to serve your enemies.  In my Sunday school class, I asked my class to imagine how we would feel if Muslim terrorists overthrew America then took some of us back with them to train us to serve them.  It would be bad enough to be conquered but taken away from friends and family and home to be a slave?  It can't get much worse than that.  

So when we encounter Daniel in chapter 1 verse 8, we'd expect to find a bitter Daniel.  A Daniel who would think that his God had failed him and that He either couldn't help or, even worse, wouldn't help.  That's not a God he'd be worried about pleasing, would he?  However, this isn't Daniel's attitude at all; in verse 8, we read, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."  Daniel, in the midst of the worst situation possible, decides to keep obeying the last thing he was told to do and continue to follow the dietary laws of the Jewish faith.  And, living in a pagan country where meat and wine were often offered as sacrifices to idols and then consumed, this means that Daniel is very limited in his options.  Daniel and his friends had been chosen to be trained for three years for service to the king.  Everything about their lives was being decided by other people.  They didn't choose when they woke up, what they wore, and, certainly, not what they ate.  How could he possibly honor God in this?  

However, God was not as absent as it might have seemed He was.  "Now God brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of eunuchs [the man in charge of Daniel and his friends]." (1:9)  Because God had already softened the heart of the chief eunuch, Daniel's request for a different diet for himself and his friends was not immediately rejected.  In fact, Daniel is able to convince the chief eunuch to give them a trial run and to see if, after ten days, Daniel and his friends looked healthy after eating a diet of just water and vegetables in comparison with the rich diet that the other men would be eating.  And here we have what I believe is another intervening hand of God.  Ten days of water and vegetables would have left Daniel and his friends healthy but probably not hardy.  However, verse 15 says, "And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies."

So what's the point here?  Do we really think God was overly concerned with their diet? Why was He choosing to intervene in a seemingly irrelevant decision?  The point is God was pleased with their faithfulness.  They had little control over their lives at that moment, but they were determined to be faithful.  They decided to obey even though their worlds had fallen apart and nothing made sense anymore.  In the midst of chaos, they didn't lose their bearings.  They kept on keeping on.  

"His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'" (Matthew 25:21).  

This seemingly insignificant event shows that Daniel and his friends were ready to be faithful in whatever God asked of them, and He would ask a lot.  These men men faced fiery furnaces and dens of lions and never wavered.  Where did they get that faith?  By walking faithfully with God through the small things and trusting Him to show up in the little details of their lives.  We might not be able to relate to huge steps of faith they took when standing against a pagan world bent on destroying them and their faith, but we can follow in their baby steps of faithfulness in the way we live our day-to-day lives.  

"Oh! it irradiates all our days with lofty beauty, and it makes them all hallowed and divine, when we feel that not the apparent greatness, not the prominence nor noise with which it is done, nor the external consequences which flow from it, but the motive from which it flowed, determines the worth of our deed in God's eyes. Faithfulness is faithfulness, on whatsoever scale it be set forth."  --Alexander MacLaren

The Parable of the Stupid Lizard

The other day Tracy and I noticed a white lizard in our bathroom.  Tracy tried for several minutes to catch it so that we could take it outside, but it was very hard to catch and ended up getting underneath the bathroom cabinet at which point Tracy gave up.  For several days we didn't see the lizard, so I kind of forgot about it until yesterday when he made his appearance again this time behind my laundry basket of clean clothes that I hadn't put away yet.  Aha! I thought.  This time I will get him and put him outside before he dies.  So I tried to catch him using a fly swatter because it's usually easy to get it underneath the lizard and then carry him outside.  No matter what I did to try and coax him onto the fly swatter, he would have none of it.  So I went and got a cup and thought I could use the fly swatter to push him into the cup.  I chased that stinking lizard all over my bedroom for a good half an hour before he got behind the TV stand.  It really made me mad.  All I could think was I'm trying to help you, you stupid lizard!  I'm not the bad guy.  If you keep running from me, you'll die! 

So last night I told Tracy about seeing the lizard again and we both lamented that I will probably find a dead lizard sooner or later.  Then it kind of hit me.  We are so like the dumb lizard.  You see that lizard really wanted his freedom, but he just couldn't see that I was trying to give him real freedom by releasing him outside.  His freedom will only lead to death.  
"There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12

We imitate the same struggle because we run from God so afraid that He will take away our freedom, our individuality even.  The truth is that in God we actually find true freedom.  It's a paradox that in finally being captured, being a slave even, we find liberty.  However crazy that sounds this kind of reasoning is consistent with God.  He likes to do the unexpected.  

"And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."  John 8:32

Many people think that being a Christian is about following a bunch of rules concerning what we are and aren't allowed to do.  Yes, God sets perimeters for our safety, but this isn't what defines our faith.  For the first time ever, as believers, we are released from the standard of culture that defines us and we are even released from our own flesh that is never, ever satisfied.  When those incessant voices finally stop in the presence of God, we can hear like we've never heard before, see like we've never seen before, and think like we've never thought before.  We suddenly see the world from another perspective and we begin to understand our role in this big, big world in which we are not the center.  That truth brings freedom on a scale that we can't imagine.  

And I believe that like most things God gives us this freedom one step at a time.  As we walk with Him He continually works in us to give us freedom from our flesh and world.  Sometimes it really hurts.  Sometimes it makes us uncomfortable.  Sometimes we cannot see how in the world this can end up for good and we have to just trust.  But when we do trust, we eventually see how God is transforming us from glory to glory.  

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18

Looking back over my life, I can see how I've gained freedom in areas of my life mainly from struggling.  I have a good friend with whom I regularly discuss this.  When we are confronted with a trying experience that really targets one of our weaknesses (like fear), we comfort one another by repeating the truth, "This is for freedom's sake."   I have to ask myself:  Am I willing to let God do what is necessary to bring me there?  What about you?

To Judge or Not To Judge

There are two sides to a very complicated dilemma that have been plaguing our faith from its inception, so much so that even Jesus spoke on it.  "Judge not, that you not be judged,"Jesus said in Matthew 7:1.  There is probably no other verse that has caused so much confusion than this verse right here.  For the sake of understanding the whole picture, let's include the following few verses:
"Judge not, that you not be judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye' and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5

I've had people quote the first verse to me as an accusation against Christians.  The Bible says you cannot judge--you are a hypocrite! You cannot tell people what you think is right or wrong.  The truth is that we cannot function in this world unless we have some standard of right and wrong and that we evaluate the world by this.  Everyone does this, so there's no point calling a person a hypocrite about it.  The fact that anyone calls someone a hypocrite is proof itself, since they are calling upon a standard of right and wrong.  So whether or not we should "judge" is hardly the issue.  The issue of how we judge, or in what capacity, is another story altogether.    And this is what Jesus is talking about.

Because of the drama related to this topic, many Christians end up swinging between extremes--being harsh and judgmental and evaluating others according to the standards they stand firm on or being so full of grace that they have no standards whatsoever.  As my husband likes to term it, he says we are either pharisees or pagans.  Pharisees have taken it upon themselves to determine what is right in every circumstance and then hold everyone to that standard.  Pagans avoid confrontation even if it unintentionally allows others to fall into lifestyles that are dangerous and sinful.  As you can imagine, neither of these models is biblical.  What stands in the middle of these two extremes is the model given to us by Christ:  grace-filled correction.  And it starts with this passage of Scripture we just read.

The word judge mentioned before can also be translated condemn.  That has a much stronger, and I believe more accurate, connotation.  Condemn not, that you not be condemned.  Looking up the word in a Bible dictionary, in this case, it is a person who has assumed the office of a judge.  This is key.  A person who has assumed the office of a judge is in essence saying "I have the authority to judge this person.  I know all of the facts in this situation, and I am unbiased enough to decide the fate of this person."  In truth, there is only one person in all creation who has the authority, the knowledge, and the objectiveness to truly judge a person's heart and that is God.  There is no other.  He alone can decide the fate of a person.  However, that doesn't mean we are to take the stance of the pagan!

This passage actually presents a stance where we are still called to evaluate our brother's actions, but with two things in mind:
1) We are motivated by actual concern for the individual. Note that Jesus refers to the person being corrected as his brother.  There is a relationship there.  There is a connection, and, therefore, a responsibility to look out for the well-being of this person. 
2) We have first checked our own hearts, intents, and actions.  Before you can lovingly correct someone, you better make sure you aren't guilty yourself.   

In order to truly be salt in this world, there are times when we will need to call someone out on some things, and there will be times when we ourselves will need to be called out on  some things also.  This is called relationship and accountability.  No one can stand aloof and say that they can do this on their own.  We have blind spots to our own sin that will ruin us if we don't have help.  And, on the flip side, we have a responsibility to help our brothers and sisters if we see them making decisions that are dangerous for them.  And, sometimes, we have a responsibility to remove ourselves from people who continue to make decisions that are not in line with Scripture.  Not because we are better than them.  Not because we no longer care.  But because in the long run, it is better for them to just reap the consequences of their decisions and come to the conclusion that Christ's way is better on their own.  But this is always with the understanding in mind that it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).

With this in mind, the Bible has a message to both the pharisee and the pagan:

Pharisee--you are not always right.  Your strong stances can lead to an unforgiving spirit which will not be tolerated.  You will be judged the way you are now judging (Matthew 18:21-35).  Remember the compassion and grace of God.  Let His own mercy towards you compel you to love others in the same way (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).  Be motivated to help people where they are right now allowing them to travel along the path God has intended for them in His own timing bathing them in prayer (Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Ephesians 6:18).

Pagan--you are not always right.  What you think is love is really fear of confrontation.  You think by not taking a stand, that you are imitating grace.  Your grace is a cheap grace and has no value at all.  God's grace cost Him His only Son.  This grace is the grace that saves, that never gives up, that pursues with complete dedication with the hope that not one will be lost (1 Corinthian 13).   If you really believe in love, then sacrifice yourself for others by telling them the truth they must hear in order to be saved (Romans 10:17).  

We will be both of these people at different times in our lives, and, hopefully, we will also be like the Christ-figure:  where mercy and truth meet and bring true peace!

"Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed."  

Psalm 85:10

"Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, 

Write them on the tablet of your heart"  

Proverbs 3:3
"In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil."
Proverbs 16:6