This week's post is certainly coming later in the week compared to other recent posts. I am feeling the specter of school lurking over me... saying things like, "its almost over.... your flexible days are almost over... and then once again you will belong to meeeee... and you will have to work to get a paycheck like everyone else in the world...." You have to kind of imagine all of that being spoken in kind of a soft eerie voice or it just loses all dramatic value.
I do have just a couple of things that are still floating around in my mind from Sunday. In case you were not able to be there, the quick bullet is this- we covered most of 2 Corinthians 5 and talked about a couple of things. One was that Paul does what he can in verses 1-10 to help us develop a proper balance toward our time on this earth. We know that we would rather be "at home with the Lord", as Paul put it, but we also know that we do not know when that will happen. Paul's words in 1-10 help us strike that proper balance between that forward looking desire to be with Jesus and living in the here and now.
We also discussed the concept of what it is to "fear the Lord." In 11-19, Paul writes about how his life is different because he knows what it means to fear the Lord. A proper and healthy "fear" of the Lord should make a difference in our lives as well. In Paul's case, he even says, "If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you." (v. 13) Our final bit of discussion on Sunday centered around the idea that any true enthusiast- about anything- will look a little crazy to the "lukewarm". That is certainly the case with Jesus Christ. People who are sold out to Christ look crazy to those who are lukewarm. But Paul explains that it is Christ's love that compels him. Now there is something for me to work on- getting to the point where I am so immersed in thinking about Christ's love for others that it compels me to action. This is another great word choice- I wish I knew the original language on this one. "Compels" says to me that there is no choice- that Paul was so immersed in the love of God that he cannot act apart from it.
Later in verses 18-20, Paul speaks of the ministry we have been given. (Remember back a couple of chapters- our confidence comes from God who has made us competent ministers of the new covenant.) Now Paul reminds us that the ministry we have been given is a ministry of reconciliation. Here is the text:
(verse 19)
"...that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."
The thing that I thought of when I read this is that a great deal of the problems that arise in conjunction with our faith and the church and "Christianity" occur because people get this very concept backwards. Here is what I mean.
The scripture says that this ministry is about reconciling man to God. It is all about bringing sinful man back into a restored relationship with the Creator. Many people, organizations, churches, and sometimes, (gasp!), even I, get it backwards. We get the idea that what we have to do is reconcile God to man- that is "adjust" who God is so man can handle it. Sadly there are churches that do just that! Rather than approach the gap between man and God with the idea that man is the one who must change his ways, they try to create an environment where man is "just fine how he is", and it is God who must adapt.
This is not new. It is just another manifestation of man living a man-centered life. The man-centered mind says, "What can God do for me?" The Christ-centered mind says, "What can I do for God?" (Starting to sound a little "John F. Kennedy" here...)
The other thought that remains in my mind from this chapter is the role we play as ambassadors. Paul finishes the chapter like this:
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
When I read that I got to thinking about what if must be like to be an ambassador. I think it would be a very challenging thing. You certainly represent your home country, but in doing so, you would have great responsibility, (...resisting the obvious movie reference here...) As a representative of your home government you would have to be very well versed in the policies of your country. You would have to know policy inside and out and be ready to discuss it at the drop of a hat. You would have to be able to use good judgement in the conversations and negotiations in which you engaged- the things you say would have to represent the official position of your country and you cannot just go off on a tangent and make things up. Your job would be to "liaise" (another word I always wanted to use in a sentence), between your home country and those with whom you were talking. You would have to find ways to bridge communication gaps and cultural gaps without compromising the values and policies of your home country. As an official representative of the home country, you would be under constant scrutiny and your actions would reflect on the character and nature of your country.
Is this starting to sound an awful lot like our role here on earth? Oh my goodness! This is exactly what we are called to do for God! We have to know the "policy". We have to be prepared to discuss it. We dare not wander away from the official position of the "home country". We have to bridge gaps and find ways to gain trust without compromising the values of the one who sent us!
It is easy to get overwhelmed when we read scriptures like this one. But we are promised the assistance of the Holy Spirit. And we have the confidence we have already discussed. We are up to the task. We are competent. And Christ's love compels us.
Just Keep Swimming...
Jon
No comments:
Post a Comment