The Servant Leader: A Radical Concept

This post is part of the November Synchroblog.  

John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 

The radical idea of the servant leader.  I have brought this subject up many times.  The true role of leader in the Bible is that of the humble servant.  People have said that kind of limited view of leadership is "dangerous."  I disagree.  The biblical view of leadership is most certainly humble service.  Listen to what Jesus had to say regarding leadership:

Matthew 20:25-28 (ESV) But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  

That seems pretty clear to me.  Also have a look at the way Luke recorded it:

Luke 22:24-27 (ESV) A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. 

Also, have a look at the example Jesus left for us in his actions in John 13:

John 13:12-15 (ESV) When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  

The role of the leader is the servant of his entire congregation, his organization, or missionary group.  In the United States often the pastor or leader looks more like an Oil Tycoon or CEO.  Rick Warren comes to mind.  Or in the case of Mark Driscoll, when the pastor plays King on the mountain, and staff members get bullied as a result.  Power, prestige, influence has often been the role of the pastor in the United States.  Such things invariably lead to corruption.  Dare I even mention the Pope or Bishops across Europe who have so often wielded such immense power, leading to such intense corruption in the papal ranks?  

I really don't think I'm wrong about this one.  You'd be hard pressed to find scripture to back up a Pastor as a wielder of influence and power.  Historically we've seen time and again that when too much power is wielded by religious leaders that power is abused and the cause of Christ in the world is damaged.  To me, that seems much more dangerous than the servant leader.  

It's important to understand that while I am referring to a humble servant leader, that is greatly different than a servile weak leader.  

Let's look at 1 Timothy 3:

1 Timothy 3:1-7 (ESV)
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? 

The servant leader is a radical concept.  Self controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.  Gentle, but firm, able to lead but not lording it over his people.  It takes careful balance.

In conclusion, how would Jesus lead?  He led by serving.  He set the ultimate example of putting others before himself.  In the end his servant attitude meant he died for his friends.  That is the ultimate picture of a leader, yesterday, today, and always.    

Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  

Christian Bloggers on the topic of Leadership for November:

• Justin Steckbauer – The Servant Leader: A Radical Concept
• Mary – Can I Get A Doctor?
• Glenn Hager – The Man Of God Myth
• Lisa – Forgive
• Jeremy Myers – Reconciling Mark Driscoll
• Peggy Brown – Abi and November’s Synchroblog: Spiritual Abuse and Redemption
  
• Edwin Pastor FedEx Aldrich – Shooting Stars: Of Scandal, Abuse, Restoration, and Systematic Failures
• Tara – Forgive Us Our Sins As We Forgive Those…
• Liz Dyer – Sorry

 

What is love?

What is this mystical idea called love? 

Love is the greatest ideal.  It's the greatest value.  Everyone loves love.  Whether it's an atheist dreamer, a New Ager, Universalist, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew or Agnostic Marxist, it's all about love.  Love, love, love.  Love is the answer, right? 

The Bible says "God is love."  1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

But what is love exactly?  Let's check the English dictionary first, just so we know where we're starting from:

According to dictionary.com and it's entry for "love" love is:

1.a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

2.a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

3.sexual passion or desire.

Interesting.  Simple enough, words like "affection" and "profoundly tender passion."  And what about the Bible?  What does it say about the L word?

Well, according to Strong's Concordance, New Testament Lexicon the word used in 1 John 4:8 for love is transliterated from Greek "Agape."  

The definition/semantic range for "agape" is "

1. brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence
2. love feasts

If God is love, then he must in fact, love us. It could be said about God that his most defining attribute would be his capacity for affection (love) toward his children.  That's you.  

In addition to God loving us, his children, he also came as Immanuel, Jesus Christ, and gave two supreme commands, both of them in direct regard to love.  Remember?

Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus replied: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”(bold added for emphasis)

God loves us, and he asks us to love him in response.  In addition, he says to love others (including ourselves).  One could say that Christianity itself is believing in Jesus Christ and his work, and loving God and people.  It's really that simple.  

But loving is sometimes difficult, isn't it?  

I remember when I was young I had a lot of love to give.  It seems to me that when we are young we have a very high capacity for love.  Maybe as life goes on that supply, that treasure trove of love is depleted.  Sometimes our parents neglect us, or abuse us.  Sometimes tragedies happen early on in life.  The girl we got the crush on tells us to get lost in no uncertain terms.  Friends leave us.  Parents fight.

Then on into adult life, and other things happen.  Time and again things happen, and life starts to feel like a drudgery.  Bitterness takes the place of love and openness.  Pain replaces forgiveness with anger.  We lash out at those closest to us when they hurt us, in a desperate attempt to protect what little love and self esteem we have left.  

It's a tragedy, of course it is.  I know every single person reading this can relate in some way to enduring pain, and being drained of their ability to love.  I know for certain I'm not alone in that one.  It's difficult.  It's very difficult.  But if we are to be Christian brothers and sisters, we must relearn how to give love and receive love.  

The following is a letter a dad wrote to his daughter while she was young, regarding the impact the world might have on her in the future.  I think it illustrates very well the love we have when we're young and how can sometimes lose it:

Dear Daughter,

I hope you never notice the magazine rack at the supermarket.

I hope you never see the billboards on the highway or the ads on the side of the city bus.

I hope you never learn about Hollywood and the fashion industry.

I hope you never listen to pop music.

I hope you never walk down the makeup aisle.

I hope you never hate your own appearance.

I hope you never pick up the habit of putting yourself down whenever someone compliments you.

I hope you never feel the pressure to physically conform to the perverse standards of a disordered world.

I hope you always stay exactly as you are right now. Innocent, carefree, unencumbered, pure.

But these could only be the hopes of a foolish idealist like your Dad. I can rub the genie lamp and make a thousand stupid wishes, but you will grow. You will start to learn about the culture that surrounds you. You will form opinions about yourself. Your vivacious, bubbly happiness will give way to more complex emotions. You will develop new dimensions.

In these times, here in your very early life, you only cry because you're hungry or tired or you want me to hold you. One day, though, your tears will come from a deeper place.

And, when that day comes, I want you to remember one thing: you are beautiful.

 (Read the rest of the letter - click here.)


Love binds everything in the Christian faith together in perfect harmony (Col 3:14).   Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV) says "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

The only reason you and I are capable of loving anyone today is because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).  God loves you very much.  For some, some lucky few that is very easy to understand.  For me, that is very difficult to understand.  But it's true.  Even if at times I can't feel it, more and more, that love sneaks in through the cracks.  At times I can feel his loving presence in my heart, surrounding me, in the trees, the wind, in the sky above.  It's the love of God that is the replenishing power to refill your drained love reserves.  He's got love to fill in all the broken areas within you.

We can put the disciplines into practice too.  Colossians 3:12-14 lists compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience as the clothing of the Christian people.  Those are wonderful personality traits!  Cultivate them!  It's not too hard.  Sometimes when I'm at work I remind myself in my head, go strike up a conversation with a resident, ask them about how they're doing and encourage them to keep going.  Or I remind myself to compliment someone about their progress forward.  When I'm in line at the store I try to remind myself to smile, and look the person at the cash register in the eyes so they know I consider them to be a real person of value.  Here's a good one, when I'm rushing around in traffic on the way to work, I remind myself, patience, as my angry emotions are building up!  That's a tough one.  

What I'm trying to say here is that it's a duel approach.  The front tire is prayer and alone time with God.  I pray for those attributes, I pray for more capacity for love in my heart and in my life actions.  But prayer isn't enough.  I can pray all I want, but that won't change much unless I also take actions.  The back tire is making a valiant effort to practice the principles of love, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience in my everyday life.  How can I put it into practice?  How can I slow down just a bit more, and show some extra care and love for those around me?  

Very simply, over time with prayer and practice the qualities I'm attempting to emulate slowly become core parts of my character and I just naturally do them.  

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

There are so many scriptures I could pull regarding love, because love is the entire message of the Old Testament and New Testament.  It all comes together in love.  All the endless laws of the Old Testament were all guidelines to let people know that people who love one another "don't do this, don't do that" (Gal 5:14).  

An entire book could be written about 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, and it would've even have to be about loveless rejects arguing cessation vs. continuation (that's another story).  I remember this scripture being plastered all over my parents house when I was growing up.  Love is this, love is that.  Sometimes it's easier to read than to put into practice though.  Oh well.  

The most famous scripture out of the Bible is regarding love:  John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Bible describes the ultimate expression of love like this:

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 

You'll notice that a lot of the verses I'm pulling from the Bible are either from the book of John or 1 John.  The Gospel of John is really the passionate love gospel.  It's all about love in John, and John is my favorite gospel.  1 John, written by John himself, of course talks a lot about love as well.  He was the love writer of the love gospel.  And I love it!

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  

In closing, the world will know who Jesus is, by our example of love.  Love is much more important than blasting sinners.  Let the Holy Spirit handle that work.  Love people and give them grace.  Be a picture of Jesus to them.  Bless people that talk smack behind your back.  Bless people who stab you in the back.  Bless people who have hurt you in the past.  That's the tough part of love.  We don't get to hold grudges as Christians.  Not allowed to.  We get to love people.  Think about it.  Have you ever seen an angry street preacher arguing with people, or a pastor condemning a certain people group?  Imagine how turned away people feel!  Very often we can work so hard to win an argument, but really all we've done is lost the person.  How can we love?  How can we listen?  How can we identify with their point of view?  Those are the questions that must be asked of the modern Christian.  Contend for sound doctrine, Biblical authority, share the apologetics arguments, but do so all in love.  The perfect way to say it I think is this: "Speak the truth, in love" (Eph 4:15).  

Related Posts:

1. What is Salvation?
2. What is God Like?
3. No Evidence for God? 
4. Dare I send you to Church? 
5. Doctrine?

 

The Awe of Dreams & the Surreal

Have you ever woken up in a dream and realized that you're still asleep?  Have you ever been convinced that you were awake only to find that were still in a dream?  Have you dreamt of a future that never existed?  What about about a past that never happened?  

Last night I looked up at the moon in the dark night sky and I was utterly shocked when it came into my mind that I'm on a floating ball in space being circled by a moon that I can see only from the light of the sun reflecting off of it.  Maybe we don't look up enough?  

Sometimes I need to be reminded just how massive this whole thing is.  When I'm scrambling to get to work, driving along, or paying for a soda at the gas station I can often get stuck into my own little tunnel vision life.  Do this, do that.  Insert laundry, repeat.  Buy food, cook food, let the dog out.  It's so monotonous at times. 

We feel our way through life, don't you think?  We collect conceptions, perceptions, relations, and emotional reactions.  Sometimes ugly things happen and we get crusted burnt edges on the emotions and opinions.  I've got lots of burnt edges.  That's what happens when you live for a season on the edge of the darkness, toeing the edge, toying with the nightmare.  You get a few burnt edges.  Reminds me of Zechariah 3:1-4 (NIV):

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan^[a] standing at his right side to accuse him. ² The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”

I was just that burning stick, snatched from the fire.  Burnt edges and all.  Who is awake and who is asleep today?  Can I see through the lies, the illusions of this world, this society?  Can you?

And are you expecting to wake up, in another place?  Is this life the dream?  If so, it is a beautiful dream indeed.  Who else but the Divine Architect could paint such beautiful pictures along the skyline day and night, and have so many children barely able to catch a glimpse?  

I live in the wilderness of northern Wisconsin.  The lands are flat from the glaciers, and the forests are endless.  It is truly wondrous, and beautiful.  The winters are awe inspiring.  The sky during the winter months at night is often a blackness offset with shades of orange.  The beauty and isolation is simply stunning.  I recall frequently walking on the nights, allowing the sense of beauty, cold, and isolation overcome my very soul.  Such a mystery.  Such an enchanting feeling.  

Is this world the dream?  Perhaps in it's present state.  But if so, it is indeed a beautiful dream.  A few times I've tried to wake up, and found myself still awake in another dream.  

I have not lost the wonder.  I almost did though.  Once by the reigns of addiction.  And again by renouncement of joy.  

I sought to enhance my wonder and joy with chemicals.  It certainly did enhance and distort the feelings.  When I took walks I could feel like I was in a different realm.  I could see things in my mind.  And it was fascinating, for a time.  Then the merry path down the yellow brick road turned dark.  The things I saw became more demented, more shades of grays and reds.  I started to feel destruction.  I started to get the sense of dark spirits.

Then the second time, after the gift of Jesus Christ had been received in my heart... I found myself in an interesting civilization indeed, what they call "evangelicalism."  And oh my, oh my.  I thought I had to renounce my wonder and my joy.  No fun allowed, right?  For a season I became fearful of what I might say.  The desperate fear of making a theologically incorrect statement.  It's similar to the liberal "politically correct" stuff.  You can say this, you can't say that or we will punish you.  Theologically correct bullies you might call them.  But I have refused to be intimidated by these bullies, while at the same time remaining Biblically dedicated.  There's middle roads somewhere around here.

Encountering Jesus Christ, for me, was much like waking up from a long nightmare.  That feeling of relief, knowing that it's finally over is a gift I will cherish for all time.  

Lately I dream of walking through mysterious forests.  Not like the pine woods of Wisconsin, but lush green woods.  Sometimes I'm jogging through dark woods, but I'm not afraid.  I seem to run faster, and faster, and I'm filled with joy, overwhelmed with the eclipsing power of the journey.  The beauty is incredible.  Other times I'm walking across lakes, or swimming through bogs.  Still other times I'm searching through old, mysterious churches, exploring the victorian passages, creaking open ancient doors, enraptured by the designs, the fixtures, the massive ballrooms, and steeple steps.  And there are darker dreams as well, scarier things that I see.  But I see no reason to explore those images at this moment.

I firmly believe God communicates to us through our dreams.  But maybe not in the way you might be thinking.  I don't mean by the seeing of visions of the future (though prophecy is biblical), or by him trying to tell us specific things to do or see (though he does communicate His will in special ways at times).  But maybe in a more mysterious way, God is simply nudging us, reminding us of the mystery of his character.  Maybe he is reminding us of the hidden spiritual realities sometimes lost in the dull drive to work, picking up the kids, processing claims, taking someones order, filing paperwork, and paying bills.  Perhaps in our dreams, God reminds us that our lives are about more than the physical world; money, sex, time management, work, retirement savings; perhaps through the window of our dreams God awakens our hearts to ideas like wonder, beauty, awe, emotion, forgiveness, love, and the overarching themes of His view of reality. 

I'll close this piece with a poem I wrote in 2011, before I became a Christian while I was in the throws of my own spiritual journey:


Like a snap back blow to the back of the head
It reeled me in and took me somewhere
I'd been forgetting for years maybe
Maybe I've never known at all.

Woke up in some strange society
Raised in the ashes of those behind me
So many places I knew places but what are places
People all these people but what are people who are people

A blue sky above like some quiet mystery
Picked up a thought and started building on a theory
Lost rebuilt and caught up in times that seemed to fly by like twisting leaves
It fell to the waste side somewhere, a quiet corner somewhere

A place that could remember itself and I'd remember
Years on and on learning lessons and burning bridges
 Quiet farries tossing passengers overboard in the rivers of the life

Making quiet twisting pools of rainbow colors meshing into the fabric,
The fabric of our multidimensional existence
That we could never quite understand

We did try, I did try 
It took us places we'd never thought we'd go
Dark and stranger than anyone knew
But the darkness taught us things that made us smile bright

“How could it be?” We would shout and ask.
 This strange mystery, twisting in our hands.
 We know not where it comes from or where it goes.

 No frame of reference to refer, 
 No place or time that could be defined as real,
 But that's ok, we did love it so,

The real truth came to us in dreams we had in our sleep
 Of parallels and passages and labrinths that lead
 To underground caverns where the messiah did dwell
 The circles of existence came and went and manifested in physical form

So the most true seekers of us all, could, in our dreams see the faces of our makers
And the roots of all the complex twists that make up the fabric of destiny 
The origins backwards flowing forward through our minds like magic 
That put smiles on our faces as we sleep at night, and quiet looks of contemplation 
As we seek through the endless synchronized spellbinding days. 

Always in awe.

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Spiritual Journey | Dreams, Darkness, False Light, a journey in Ideas
Can you still wonder?

Big Picture: The Solution to all the Problems of Earth

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The first verse of the Bible says in the beginning God created.  And the last verse of the Bible says:

Revelation 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

From the very beginning of time, space, reality itself in which we exist God the designer, the grand architect of energy and matter foresaw all that would happen.  He knew before his voice called the stars and planets into existence that a redeemer would be needed for a wayward mankind.

Does that mean that God forced man into sin so he would need a redeemer?  Most certainly not.  God paradoxically gave 100% free will, yet could also foreknow every decision that would be made.  Foreknowledge doesn't take away choice, why would it?  Just because my architect knows the choices I'll freely choose to make, doesn't mean that I'm any less free to make them.  

"Sin" is a taboo word, of course.  It conjures pictures of angry religious people condemning homosexuals to the hell fires.  But what is "sin"?  What does it mean?  Sin, the word, in it's simplest form would be a choice that hurts someone or something, instead of helping or being a neutral action.  A father raping his daughter would be a sin.  The girl will be traumatized for the rest of her life.  The "sin" will most likely have long term effects on that girl as she grows up.  She may become a prostitute or stripper, subconsciously concluding that her worth is found only and entirely in her sexual ability.  She may become a shadow of a person, lapse into depression and later commit suicide.  She might become a drug addict and overdose at age 37 in a crack house.  And as the Bible says, the sins of the father are passed on to the son.  People misinterpret that to think that a mean, cruel God punishes children for their parents mistakes.  Of course that's not the case.  What that verse does mean, is that when a father sins, very often his son will pick up on that behavior, start to duplicate it.  Consider the example of cigarette smoking.  Children of smoking parents are extremely likely to smoke later in life.  Thus it's passed on, generation to generation.  In the example of the girl raped by her father, she may in turn pass on that abuse to her children, and her children may then pass it on to their children.  Do you see how destructive "sin" is?

So then, if we're to be frank and honest and let the emotion behind the word "sin" wash away, we can start to see that our planet, our home of 7 billion people or so has a serious problem that can be summed up in one word: sin.  

Sin is doing the wrong thing when we know the right thing to do.  We're all guilty, every single one of us are guilty of adding to the problems of our home rather than helping.  Sometimes we do try to help.  But more often we've hurt people.  We've hurt family, friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, and ourselves.  It's frank, it's bare, it's not a fun truth, but I never said it would be easy.  But it is the truth.  
The media, the companies, foundations, organizations, political parties are always in such a frenzied search: Why is our world so troubled?  How can we solve it?  What's the problem?  Who is the enemy?  How do we deal with this financial crisis?  How do we deal with militants in the middle east?  How do we end such institutional corruption?  What about poverty?  How can we stop AIDS?  Is everything really getting better despite the evidence?

How often do we stop to see not the problems surrounding us, but the problems within us?  Forgive me for so many questions.  But often questions help us open up within our own assumptions.  

In the history of Earth found in Genesis we see the beginning of the problem in the temptation and fall of the first humans.  From there we can look to the historical texts of the Old Testament or to the written history of the world outside the Bible for evidence of the problem.  Oppressive power structures a plenty, wars and genocides.  One might expect these tragedies would become less and less frequent over the years, but as humanity began to gather into larger tribes and nations the wars only became that much more violent and brutal.  

The problem was clear.  Even under God's guidance and laws, the nation of Israel was unable to sustain a healthy love for truth and mercy.  One generation would return to the Lord, another would depart.  One can read through the histories of Chronicles, Kings, Samuel and see the problem very clearly.  One generation follows the laws, another generation does a 180 and worships idols.  Reminds me of 2 Chronicles 34:14-21:

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan.
¹⁶ Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him: “Your officials are doing everything that has been committed to them. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. ²⁰ He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah,^[a] Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: ²¹ “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.”

The previous generation had gone so far from God that they had lost even the writings inspired by God!  When Josiah became King his men had to search for it and found it in the rubble!  This was God's nation on Earth, Israel, to be an example to the nations!  Incredible, truly incredible.

To understand the big picture of the Bible, the Book, the multifaceted message of Christianity one must first understand the need for redemption.  

God made man perfect.  Man chose a path of self-deification.  Man wanted to play god.  Today, 2014, is the resulting culmination of that disastrous choice.  The sin pile built up slowly from 6000 years ago, and now it's at it's height.  

The Bible beginning in Genesis describes God introducing man to the problem: trying to live outside of god.  

Early in the book of Job, the story of a man's suffering, Job prophetically spoke these words: "I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth" (Job 19:25). 


During the story, the Old Testament God raised up his nation, Israel among the other nations to be his people.  If they would trust in him, have faith in him, and live by his laws, all would be well.  Israel could not do that however.  God foreknew that as well.  


We see the theme running through every book of the OT, of the need for a savior, a redeemer.  In books like Isaiah and Joel the coming savior was prophesized as coming to redeem Israel.  And he did.


The name of that savior is Jesus Christ.  In the New Testament are the four gospels, the eye witness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of God himself, Jesus Christ, come to redeem his people.


The cure for sin, for the woes of planet Earth is Jesus Christ.  Why?


John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

On an individual, one on one basis, Jesus Christ redeems man.  Let's say Joe Trouble, our exibit A reads my blog and decides he wants to accept Jesus Christ as savior.  He's lived a normal human life, hurt some people, helped a few, but now he's found himself in a bit of a mess because life seems meaningless.  He welcomes Jesus Christ into his heart, his life, and as a result he is born again.  Assuming this is a legitimate conversion experience, at the moment he truly trusts and believes in Jesus he receives the Holy Spirit within and declared "sinless" in the eyes of God the Father.  He has his ticket in hand.  Regeneration is triggered by the presence of the Spirit and he begins to experience and embrace new motivations.  The Spirit works in his heart to begin the process of sanctification and he begins to be a blessing to the same world he was once a curse to.  

Joe now regularly donates to charity.  Joe helps his neighbor lady take out her garbage and recyclables.  Joe starts encouraging his coworkers.  Joe starts calling his mother once a week to see how shes doing.  

Do you see how one by one, person by person, the world changes through the transforming power of Jesus Christ?  No other religion can offer that.  All the others, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism are all about pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps "just try harder" mentality.  "You've got to outweigh your bad deeds with good deeds" kind of life.  We've seen how well that works.  It simply doesn't.  

It is solely in Christ that the world is made better.  Of course the world doesn't want to hear that.  They can't hear that.  To be told "you are a sinner" is something no one wants to hear, no one.  Who can love the truth when it is so difficult?  It's a hard question to answer.  But God won't force anyone into his loving embrace.  He loves us too much.  He gives us the choice.  The gift of choice is so profound, so expansive, that there is no way we can understand it, because there is no way to comprehend not having a choice.  Without choice, one might as well be a computer, a calculator, or a bologna sandwich.  Even my dog has choices!  Though sometimes I wish he didn't.  

Do you understand?  Can you comprehend?  

I know I couldn't.  My ears closed at the word "sin" or "Jesus."  I could not face the truth.  I couldn't come to Jesus until I had nowhere else to go.  So be it.  The only thing that matters to me is that I came.  But only to Jesus.  No one other name answered.  

In the word of John Calvin: "We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ (Acts 4:12). We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else. It we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is "of him" (1 Cor. 1:30). If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his annointing... if purity in his conception; if gentleness, it appears in his birth... if newness of life, in his resurrection... In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other." 

The message of the Bible is first, the need for redemption from an internal brokeness, emptiness, lostness, and yes, sinfulness.  The message of the Bible is second, and most importantly, the free gift of justification, regeneration, sanctification offered in the perfect life, perfect death, and perfect resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.  

The answer to sin is not an idea, or a concept, but a person named Jesus Christ.  The key to completion is Jesus Christ.  The key to the endless problems of planet Earth is none other than Jesus Christ himself.  Because the key to solving the problems on Earth is not a problem outside ourselves, but a problem within ourselves.  The problem within is solved by Jesus Christ eternally, and the Holy Spirit presently.  The problem of the physical world, the environment, the political and economic chaos is found in the renewing of the universe itself by God the Father described in the last book of the Bible called Revelation (Rev. 22:1-5).  It is described like this:

Revelation 22:1-5 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Now this is not conceptual, or allegorical, but real.  It's actual, and it will physically, actually take place.  That is the great hope.  That is the great reality.  But God will not force anyone to take part in the renewing of our planet.  Those who through their lives choose to ignore and reject God's offer of community with him, will then be disconnected from God.  Admit it, it's the same thing you would do.  If you had a friend living in your house for 90 years, constantly mocking you, ignoring you, telling you that they don't need you or want you, disobeying all your house rules, hurting your kids, your wife, your husband, the other people in the house, that person would be gone way before 90 years was up.  I'd throw that person outside into the dark after about a week, probably less!  It's not so "mean spirited and judgmental" when we think about it from his perspective, is it?

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible helps us identify the problem with ourselves, the illness, and then provides the free gift of the cure, the cure being Jesus Christ and his work.  If you don't know him, please begin to seek him out.  Pray to him, ask him to reveal himself.  If you do know him, congratulations!  That is a wonderful thing.  Choose happiness, despite the troubles you see around you.  Because you are greatly blessed and awaiting the renewal of all things in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

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Pray for the World 
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