Friday, December 4, 2015

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken," end with this famous line: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."  The imagery is clear that deciding against taking the path that most everyone else is choosing became a defining moment.  Everything unique in his life, everything worthy of note came to be because he did not follow the crowd.

His poem resonates truth to us because it reflects the truth revealed by God in Scripture.  Jesus himself said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Mt 7:13-14).

The road with the most foot traffic, though easy enogh to travel, does not pay off in the end, it falls short of reaching the goal of life.  The road most traveled instead insures life is not reached, it destroys the possibliity by thriving on banality and mediocrity.  It is not challenging and does not require we step out in faith or stretch to reach something better.

The road with the most foot traffic facilitates one aspiring to less, reaching out for less, having to settle for less.  And, in the end, having missed the opportunity for real life - the life God aspires for you.  And yet, knowing that he crowd always takes the path of least resistance and therefore of least value, the many still choose it.

We begin early on in life whinning back at our parents when they deny us something saying, "But everybody else is dong it!"  Sound familiar?  We eat at chain restaraunts and frequent the same fast food joints even knowing they are sub par.  It seems clear that we have a herd mentality even while we applaud the individualist and fantasize breaking away from the norm.

Why?  Because, contrary to the calling of God to "live by faith and not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7), we tend to want evidence before we move and seeing all the traffic going one way, we are convinced it is the safest and less difficult path.

The truth is that learning comes through the rigors of study, production comes from hard work and achievement of something great requires risking stepping away from the herd and taking the road less traveled.  Jus' Say'n.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

All In

My wife and I attended a leadership class last night at our church.  The jist of the class seemed to be to present the direction the new pastor wanted to go and to get buy in from the lay leaders.  To me, the call of the pastor was for all of us to be "all in" as we set in motion the new direction.

Butt what does it mean to be "all in?"  And, can a group of 20 or so people really be expected to be all in at once?  Well, let me say first what "all in" is not.  It is not all in perfect agreement on everything.  I doubt any two people could be in  total agreement on everything.  Are you and your spouse in total agreement on everything?  Not!  But are you "all in" your relationship together?

When you married, did you not vow to live life as a couple, to be "all in" together as you approached life?  And, even though you know that you don't see eye-to-eye on everything, does that mean that you are not all in?  I can tell you that my wife and I are all in as a couple for life.  But I can equally assure you that we do not always see or agree on everything.  We are both intelligent, driven individuals with strong opinions that do not necessarily align.  But we are in it together regardless.

We choose to walk the same path because we love each other and we love the Lord.  Even when we don't see eye-to-eye, we walk hand-in-hand.  Our being all in is a commitment to muddle through life together, whether we are in full agreement or not.  It isn't always easy and it doesn't always look pretty, but it is a beautiful thing we have together because we are both "all in."

Not every marriage lasts.  Not because the couple couldn't agree on everything, but because there was a lack of commitment on one or both's part.  Someone or perhaps both were no longer, if ever, all in.  Do you remember your wedding vows?  Were they "until debt do we part" or "until disagreement" or "until dis-ease"?  No, you promised "in good times and bad...until death do we part."  That's being all in: commitment.

Our group, last night, was not being asked to commit until death but for the next six months.  At that time we can reevaluate and decide if we need to alter the direction or, indeed, can some even continue in the walk together.  The question is, "Can we agree to be all in for six months?"  If not, can we really continue the journey together?  Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" (Amos 3:3).

I can't say I agree with everything I heard.  But, I can say I will try to be "all in" for the next six months.  The fact that I have some misgivings is not the determining factor on whether it is the right direction, "...for a tree is recognized by its fruit." (Mt 12:33).

In six months, we can check the fruit.  It may not be fully ripe and ready to be picked, but we should be able to tell if it's good fruit or bad.  Jus' Say'n.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Show Me Faith

I originally come from the state of Missouri, the "Show Me State" - a state where the early disciples, like Thomas, would have been right at home: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (Jn 20:25).  They would have to show him before he would believe them.

Of course, Thomas, known as "doubting Thomas," was not really an anomoly among the disciples, his "show me faith" was the rule, not the exception: "Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen" (Mk 16:14).

Their faith, in the beginning, was really not much different than the unbelievers of their day: "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you" (Mt 12:38).  This weak, "I need visible proof," kind of faith prompted Jesus to rebuke his own disciples saying, "you have so little faith" (Mt 17:20).

He went on to tell them in that passage, that they could do wondrous things if only they "had faith the size of a mustard seed."  Their, the unbelievers and often our "show me faith" is too enemic to accomplish much.  If we have to have a sign, confirming that we will be successful in fulfilling a word from God, we will never begin or finish much - if indeed anything of value.

Faith, the biblical faith God calls us to, does not require a visual confirmation.  As the writer of Hebrews insists, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (11:1).  Likewise, Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (Jn 20:29).

The point is that we have God's Word in the Bible, we have the prompting of the Spirit within and we have the testimony of righteous who have gone before us - can we not believe and have faith to move forward in service and ministry to God without some kind of visible proof?  And if God must show me, is that not knowledge more than faith?  Is it not written, "For we live by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7)?  Jus' Ask'n.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

What is Truth?

Ironically, Governor Pilate asked the rhetoric question, "What is truth?"(Jn 18:38), to the one person who actually knew: Jesus Christ.  But Pilate, like so many people today, didn't believe or want to believe in a one, objective truth.

Truth, to many, is a rather flexible thing, more akin to opinion than fact.  It is more popular to say that truth is relative to one's experience and training.  People insist that "perception is reality" and truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.  The idea Pilate alluded to and so many today seem to live by is that everyone has his/her own truth.

Yeah, no that simply isn't factual.  Truth is that which, in fact, is reality.  Reality exists regardless of one's perception or acceptance - truth is not a sliding scale but rather the gold standard.  Truth exists, with or without our input or acceptance.  1+1= 2 whether you understand arithmetic or not, whether you agree or not - this truth is not open to negotiation.

We can debate what we believe to be true.  We can debate what we accept as truth.  We can debate how much we think truth matters.  But truth is static, it comes to us from an unchanging and unchangeable Source: "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth" (Jn 17:17).  Truth comes from God, man has not the right or the power to change it - try as he may.

The Supreme Court can determine that a baby in the womb has no personhood and therefore not a life to be protected but that does not make it truth.  The Bible is clear in saying of John the Baptist "the baby leaped for joy in his mother's womb" (Jn 1:17) when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, approached.

The Supreme Court can determine that same-sex unions constitute marriage but that does not alter the truth Jesus revealed in saying, “Haven't you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?'" (Mt 19:4-5).

While we can form opinions and decide what we want to or will accept as truth, we don't get to create or alter truth.  Truth is what God determines it is.  Our need is not to determine truth but to discover it in the revelation of God as found in His Word whether in the printed pages of the Bible or shouted to us in His creation.

The Lord's challenge is not just for you to decide what you believe to be true.  Instead, you are called on  to "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).  Jus' Say'n.