by RobertCummins | Mar 18, 2016 | 11. Listening To God
But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along with me]! Luke 10:40 AMP
Would the pastor of the typical local church prefer that their congregations be filled with Marthas or Marys? If they were filled with Martha’s no volunteer slot would ever go unfilled. However, with the Martha’s, there might be a bit of quibbling here and there (and everywhere?), but at least the show could go on. When I read Jesus’ response to Martha’s complaint, it caused me to tremble a bit for her and the things built upon her labors.
Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; there is need of only one (or but a few) things. Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage], which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:41-42 AMP
I was still “attending” church while the Mary in me was growing and I began saying no to various responsibilities. While I still kind of wanted one, I can promise you that just sitting around at the feet of Jesus and listening did not earn a gold sticker from my local 501(c)(3)(church).
A confession is necessary here. I know Martha because I have been Martha. There may still be some Martha in me, but I am choosing the better part (Christ over performance) more frequently. As I watched my local 501(c)(3) using and often wearing out good people, I started asking myself questions, the largest one was, “Is this really church?” That led to another, “What is church?” I didn’t know it initially, but with that question I had become an alien and a stranger (even a threatening enemy) to my local 501(c)(3). Institutional church culture permits you to ask yourself these questions but insists that you do not ask them publicly. Note: if you do, prepare to be unfriended.
When I found myself being censored, I knew my decision to leave the institutional church was being made for me. Most members of local churches have been conditioned to be more respectful of religious cultural strictures and to back up before they get near the boundary I’d inadvertently crossed. Some have learned to thrive (even make a living wage) in the context of traditional Christianity. And some are dying in this same context. Are those dying in the local church rebels, or are they Martha’s God is rescuing from guilt-driven, performance-based religion?
The gulf between the obedient traditionalists and myself continued to grow as I tried to reconcile my experience inside the traditional model of church with the New Testament. It shocked me at how little resemblance there was in either—both in structure and outcome. My research and study was like Watergate. As the Deep Throats continued to feed me incriminating information on the current administration, I was slowly realizing that the cover up went all the way to the top.
If you are happy and believe that you see the congruency of what you are experiencing in your local church with the New Testament, by all means, do not read any of the following Deep Throat Documents; Revolution by George Barna, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church and Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola, The Pastor Has No Clothes by Jon Zens and Neil Cole, So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore by Wayne Jacobson, An Army of Ordinary People by Felicity Dale. On the other hand, if you feel stifled, censored, hungry or thirsty, these informants might save your life. I can also refer you to dozens of others if you are so inclined.
Oh yes, regardless of whether you are a gold sticker Christian or are persona non grata with the local church, by all means, read He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobson. This book reveals the cure for MS (Martha Syndrome), another RTD (Religiously Transmitted Disease). (Note: a brief mention of another RTD, RHSCD, which like MS, impairs hearing, was exposed in Monday’s MwM offering. You can access that at middlewithmystery.com. Past posts are all archived there.)
Once again, a big “thank you” to JLB for the Blue Book. It has been a powerful encouragement to the Marys in many of us—that thing that desired to, and was destined to, know Christ intimately and contribute to the expansion of his Kingdom. (Unfortunately, the Blue Book is out of print. However, its author tells me it may be published later this year. May it be so.)
Father, help us to put on the breaks and ask ourselves those few, simple questions we’ve managed to evade. Help us to slow down and be caught up into the slip-stream of your Spirit where we may cease to labor, where we may simply enjoy you and bearing more fruit than we even thought possible. May you assemble your army from those who have chosen the better part and have armed themselves with the superior advantage of knowing you intimately. May we see your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook explores seven stages (or mansions as he call them) of spiritual growth. Here is a related excerpt from Chapter 6:
“By the time we come to make our home in the third mansion, we have developed a relatively balanced life of discipleship. Regular church attendance and ministry, consistent prayer, a concerted effort to live the Christian life and a genuine desire to please and honor God are all present, evidencing spiritual growth…It is worth observing that the third of the seven mansions is about as far as most churches go in their teaching about spiritual life. It’s an important phase of our growth, and many of us get stuck here. But we will see that there is more, much more… You may feel stuck there now. You may even feel that your church has locked you within its walls, even if you’re its pastor. But the truth is that Jesus, in His love for you, has allowed you to taste more and want more.”
Father, may you convert the lost to believers and the believers into children. Let it be.
by RobertCummins | Mar 17, 2016 | 11. Listening To God
There is value in seeing the difference in a believer’s approach to God in the Old Testament and the New. Let’s contrast words of wisdom from the Old with words of life from the New:
“Guard your steps as you go to the house of God.” Ecclesiastes 5:1NAS
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NAS
Hear a difference? Let’s continue our comparison between the spirit of the old and the new covenant.
“…And draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 NAS
“…Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NAS
“There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him…bothering him, wearing him out.” From the Parable of the Importunate Widow – Matthew 18:1-8 NAS
If I’m really listening when I read the scriptures, I hear a different spirit in the Old than I do in the New Testament. For example, when I read this passage, I hear truth, but it is a more rigid truth. It resembles the spirit of those authoritative words I grew up with, to which my ear eventually grew dull. I ultimately questioned that voice’s true interest in me and I grew increasingly certain I would never measure up to it’s standards.
The spirit of this passage seems like that of master to servant as opposed to father to son. The words ring true, but cold at the same time. They feel restrictive and formulaic. I have lived the Christian life with this voice in my head and it made me feel as though I were walking a religious tight rope: If I say too much too quickly, if I apply the truth and fail, if I second guess myself… “Oh no, I’ve angered God”…Whack! “You fool, you didn’t pay your vow! You’ve blown it again.” I’m thinking, “Oh no! All I have done is for naught. I should have feared God!” This is the inner dialogue of a spirit in bondage. This tone of voice produces religion. I believe the Lord continually invites us to break free.
Why is it that we gravitate toward a God who is so quick with the rod of reproof? I hear it all the time, “I deserve that rod. I know what a wretch I am. But, I am so grateful. After all, I am just a sinner saved by grace.” When I hear this spirit, the shame typically outweighs the gratitude. It did for me. Being saved and tolerated may be a truth, but it is a debilitating one in its incompleteness.
Is it possible that our consciences, which are not fully converted, seek equilibrium, in which they feel more comfortable in their insecurity with an angry God (who we think sees us as we see ourselves—fallen and unworthy) than we do with a God who simply loves us as we are? (We need to keep in mind that he died for us while we were yet sinners.) While it is a scandal, it is nonetheless, the higher and essential truth that we must make our own if we are to go free.
I made a pretty good religious showing for years in my devotion to brokenness; “Oh Lord, my sins are ever before me!” Few people were as passionate as I was. If I could only repent a bit deeper, if I could only grasp a fuller sense of my depravity, then perhaps I would finally be honest with God and myself, and I would finally discover the abundant life I’ve heard about but rarely tasted. This is the tightrope I mentioned.
Religion prods from behind, saying, “Get back up on that tight rope and try harder! If you would just do what I say, you wouldn’t spend all your time on the ground licking your wounds!” Jesus, on the other hand, invites us, face to face, to come follow him along the narrow path. Yes we will fall but the process of falling and getting up is essential if we are to walk with Christ.
Because I’ve recently emerged from a decades-long prison sentence of performance, I am more diligent to keep my heart swept of this religious spirit, which robs, kills and destroys our birthright as God’s children. I do it frequently by simply telling my story—giving an account of this specific hope that is within me, pointing to the scriptures and prophetic words that have awakened and animated his Life within me.
Satan is a master liar. Master liars major on minor truths. The biggest one the Church has swallowed is that we are just poor, depraved sinners destined, mostly to withstand the onslaught of evil until Jesus comes back. Consequently our battle cry is: “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”
To believe that we are just sinners is a distortion of who we truly are in Christ. I believe the Father continually invites those of us who believe we are, by virtue of our sinful natures, destined to stray, to reread the New Testament and lay claim to the new hearts and new natures that are ours in Christ now—not just in the sweet by and by.
Being saved is a thousand times bigger than just being forgiven and some day going to heaven. This line of thinking leaves out everything from Jesus’ advent to his ascension. He lived a life between those points in time. He was demonstrating the kingdom that he came to initiate. I believe he is waiting for us to dive back into the middle of the Gospels and discover our kingdom birthrights as sons and friends and shed our old servant wineskins. He has new wine, and he’s ready to pour it.
Father, crush performance-religion beneath your foot. Cut off all of our familiar pathways back into religious bondage. Help us to become more interested in the work of your hands than that of ours. Convert us from our stuffy elder brother hearts to hearts of innocent children who are weaned from works; who have responded to the invitation onto your lap. Thank you Lord that we are your inheritance. We love you.
Note: I have not thrown out the entirety of the Old Testament as irrelevant or uninspired. I am only wary where the spirit of the Old Testament’s words inspires the illusion that any kind of righteousness, blessing, or favor with God can be secured by our labors. Our Life is purely a gift in Christ. Attempts at compliance (done consciously or not) undermine grace and inevitably stunt Life.
by RobertCummins | Mar 16, 2016 | 10. Prayer
Zacharias’ Prophecy (over his son, John the Baptist)
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant – as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old – salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:67-79 NAS
These are beautiful words aren’t they? The Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace?” So be it Lord! These were the words Zacharias used to break his angelic-imposed silence. It did not make print but I deeply suspect Zacharias might add, “And never, never, never, ask an angel to prove his point.”
“A Zachariah’s Heart” was the title of a sermon I preached in 2009. (Titles were required for the bulletin. I’m having a flashback, “Here is your bulletin, now find your seat so you can begin to worship.” The word “bulletin” sounds odd today.)
In my 15 years as an elder of Grace World Outreach this message got the most feedback. (For the record, I only spoke a few dozen times.) It was essentially about bitterness – a malady of the heart that can quietly decimate a Christian and those around him (or her). It may have had some additional punch since, my teaching was not just exposition; it were exposé. I was able to offer some insight, from personal experience, as to where a human might get the chutzpah to challenge an angel.
They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. Luke 1:6-7
In the presence of Levitical qualification, a blameless life and, no doubt, petition upon unanswered petition, Elizabeth remained barren. What had Zacharias done with his dissapointment over the years? I believe, he asked, “Why God? Why us Lord? Have we not served you blamelessly?” Perhaps he did not quite voice this in his prayers, but he may have added, in his heart, “And ‘this’ (barrenness) is the thanks we get?!”
Yes, I’m speculating, but not from a total vacuum. I too have asked, “Why?” But, I didn’t bother with Gabriel; I knew with whom I had to do and it was God; “God, why in the prime of my life (with my handicap at 10 and shrinking) did you permit my back to go out? Have I not been zealous for your ways?” “Why are you permitting so much pain into my life? Did I not fast and pray for 40 days? Did I not prayer walk around my city in your behalf?” I finally discovered, through some severe mercy, what I had been doing with my disappointment and I speculated that Zacharias had done the same.
There is an energy in being offended. It can attach itself to the heart like a battery charged with bad current. The silly flesh is powered up with a cause, proclaiming with false dignity, “I have been wronged!” In the Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis speaks of a grumbler becoming a grumble. Zacharias’ chutzpah can best be explained by a complainer having become a complaint. The offense is not necessarily voiced, instead it is nursed. Sadly, one can go about the discharging of their religious duties, with this out-of-phase current, operating in the heart, at least until the circuit blows.
Think of the elder brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. He was going about his chores, powered by this same bad current. He once had a seemingly innocent question; “What does father think about me?” The fallen heart has a genius all its own in incorrectly answering this big question. In its Eden-born insecurity, it replies, “To my father, I am but a laborer. He may call me a son, but I’m really just like the hired hands.” He further reasons, “Perhaps if I do my chores without a flaw, his feelings toward me might change.” This approach to his father is doomed. When the hired hands reported that the younger brother had returned and received the favor he had craved, it exposed what was in his heart – a massive distortion of everything around him. Zacharias, the elder brother and I, had all mismanaged our hearts, allowing a question to leaven and become a cancer to our souls and to our communities.
Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. Hebrews 12:14-15
Bitterness has a subtle and potentially fatal effect on the expression of God’s life in us. It is the baseless continuation of our futile revolt. It is the exact opposite fruit of what God is endeavoring to grow in our hearts. If you have ever wondered why Jesus told Peter he must forgive 70 x 7 times, it was because of His love for Peter and the Church which Peter would be entrusted with. When these questions about justice and fairness arise in our hearts, we must put them in their place – at the foot of the cross. We are stewards of a precious space, where the kingdom of God has been planted. Forgiveness is life to that new soil. We are the stewards of this field and God anticipates a great harvest.
And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear. Matthew 13:8 NASB
Having allowed this tare to grow in my own heart, I am a big advocate of proactive stewardship of our hearts. The weed of bitterness will rob essential nutrients from our heart-soil. Bitterness is a thistle. It may have a pretty flower but its fruit is toxic. It may look impressive but the plant is covered with thorns and will reproduce 700 x 7. How big of deal is the stewardship of our hearts? A reread, better yet a saturation in Matthew 5 will underscore the answer. Solomon also knew of this spiritual reality…
Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23
A dear friend made an astute comment to me this past week and it has been resonating within me. He said, “All sin, at its root, is a violation of Love.” When we are bitter, we are withholding the good will and peace on earth that Jesus came to bring. We are sinning against Love. This is counter to our new natures in Christ. Bitterness is a bane to the kingdom of God. Nursing it will estrange our hearts from Father and wreak havoc upon our communities.
Father, may Your tender mercies prevail. May we see the visitation of the Sunrise from on high. Shine upon those who sit in darkness, seeing only the shadows of death. Guide our feet into the way of peace. For Your name’s sake. Amen,
by RobertCummins | Mar 16, 2016 | Uncategorized
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Genesis 32:24-31
Who challenged who is uncertain, but Jacob and a Man wrestled until dawn. Jacob concluded that his opponent was God himself. The average wrestling match lasts less than 10 minutes. This match must have gone on for hours. Wrestling drains all a man’s strength. Living life in opposition to God does so as well.
While high school wrestling has three periods, our sessions with God are innumerable. Some of them go on for years. The prolonged duration of many of our sessions is due to our forgetting that it is always God with whom we are wrestling.
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 12:13
We strive with our bosses, our families and our circumstances, accumulating frustration, discouragement and resentment. These inner-strivings left unresolved can metastasize and lead to emotional and even mental illness, tearing our selves and our families to shreds. In a world where an all-knowing, all-caring, all-wise God reigns, where all things work together for good, where we are called to be thankful for all things, is it not clear that it is with God with whom we are actually striving? How many times have we groused, protesting the very thing God is trying to use to deliver us from our self-lives (which he knows lead to death) and in the process, fail to realize his presence and intimate involvement? (For a dramatic audio-visual depiction of our heart-wrestling match with God, Google the one minute segment of “Captain Dan and the Storm” from Forest Gump.)
About this match with God: He knows all our moves before we make them. We know that he can end the match at any moment yet he chooses to wrestle until dawn. It makes me think that even if it’s a tussle, he likes living in close quarters with us, face to face, even getting soiled with our dirt and sweat. How shocked we will be when we discover that we were staring God in the face all along in those moments of protest and complaint!
While God may seem like an opponent, it is only because we don’t acknowledge his sovereignty and goodness in our affairs. Isn’t it the lie that we can live life on our own terms, in our natural wisdom and strength that God is really opposing? Isn’t he really challenging our right to rule our own kingdom? If God is to build his kingdom, he must have the beachhead of our hearts.
As we live life, in the unseen reality of God’s economy, where redemption and reconciliation and healing are hidden in every circumstance, we need to know what hold we should use with God in our ongoing and inevitable matches. In light of who our opponent is and his intentions, I believe the best hold we can put on God is not a Full-Nelson, but a full surrender – a dispositional hold that really consists of an acknowledgment of our desperate need for him to become our life. We perceive God as many things—from the repairer of the moral breach to the provider of blessing (and a hundred others secondary things), while he intends to simply become our life, which is something infinitely more.
I see the kingdom of God as that seen and yet-to-be-seen domain of God where we are not just submitting to his rule by living according to his precepts. Our full surrenders make new space into which the kingdom can expand. In these spaces, which we vacate as lords of our own lives, Jesus begins to reign and to put things in order. Christ’s very own life begins finding expression in our deeds and even in our countenance.
God’s righteousness, peace, joy and liberty get birthed into the world via the womb of the human heart. We, his kingdom children, are animated once again (as we once were in un-fallen Adam), courtesy of (once again) the breath of God. It is the second Adam, Christ in us, who is the hope of all kingdom glory. Our full surrenders facilitate Christ becoming our all in all, which is the thing that an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God uses to restore things (especially us) to his original intention in Christ. Truly, in our losing, we win.
Father, may we lose consecutive matches with you, sufficient in number to acquire our own limps—those keen reminders of the futility of human strength. May we soon become exhausted in our attempts at living the Christian life in our own strength. We pray that as we realize that you live in us and that, in our circumstances, we are actually seeing you face-to-face, that we may cross the rivers before us with our new identities in Christ, joyfully living out our destinies, expanding your kingdom as we go about our lives with you and with one another. May our eyes see the sun rise on a new season of kingdom expansion. Truly, Lord, we are blessed that you know our names and that we know yours. May your will be done on earth, in our hearts, as it is in heaven. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Mar 6, 2016 | 09. God's Voice
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:&-10 NASB
How many of us, I wonder, would opt (or have opted) out of the opportunity to be conduits for the perfected power of Christ on the earth because to do so would necessarily entail suffering and weakness. Let’s be honest. The idea of suffering as a child of God just does not preach well. When was the last time you heard a speaker identify the sufferings of Job or Paul as unavoidable features of the victorious Christian Life? When they dare to be so biblically honest, attenders recoil;
“Messengers from Satan? No, no, no! We are covenant people; therefore, we are to be a blessed, not a cursed people. Insults, distresses, persecutions and difficulties? No, sir. Our lips will not confess these. We are called to be the head and not the tail. Get thee behind me, thou confessor of negativity!”
Were Job and Paul anomalies, exceptions that we can just sweep under the rug? Or, do their stories reveal truths (perhaps badly needed ones) that western Christianity, in our prosperity and independence, simply cannot swallow? Does a kingdom that requires one to take up his cross daily dovetail neatly with a national psyche that lauds the individual’s right to pursue personal happiness? Or, is the Spirit of Jesus Christ at cross-purposes with the spirit of this age? Is it possible, as the apostles and prophets slept, that the father of lies, fashioned a gospel without the inconvenience of a cross and sold it to western culture?
I recently read Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. It is a superb account of the rise to prominence of Adolph Hitler, a megalomaniac, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a saint. It is not only fascinating history, it is has a sobering subplot involving the church. Germany was the birthplace of the protestant reformation. The church and Germany were tied at the hip. If ever there ever was a “Christian” nation, Germany was it. Yet where was the church as the Nazis harassed, persecuted and ultimately destroyed the weak, the undesirable, and the non-Aryan citizens of their own country? The church as a whole was silent with the exception of a very few voices crying in the wilderness—Dietrich Bonhoeffer being one.
The religious gatekeepers of Germany were some of the world’s most elite theologians. They recognized Bonhoeffer as brilliant, but also as one having drifted from their pack. He had begun to think of the Christian life as this all-or-nothing experiential affair with Jesus, and he began pointing to the very hard teachings of Christ as the foundational underpinnings of that relationship. As time passed, his commitment to his national German religion faded in light of his ever-deepening personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Sound familiar? “The things of earth (especially religion) grow strangely dim?” As millions were marched into labor and death camps, the German attenders of church sang…
Blest be the Lord, who foiled their threat that they could not devour us; Our souls, like birds, escaped their net, they could not overpower us. The snare is boken–we are free! Our help is ever, Lord, in Thee, Who madest earth and heaven. (from If God Had Not Been On Our Side by Martin Luther)
In his capacity as prophet, Bonhoeffer dug deep. With his (now classic) The Cost of Discipleship, he introduced the phrase cheap grace. He also coined another phrase that drew fire—religionless Christianity. He had found the bad roots of the great German religious tree that was felled without a sound by the ingenious Nazi propaganda machine. But it was too late. Bonhoeffer was executed by Hitler, who took his own life three weeks later as the war ended in Europe. But like all true prophets, his voice has continued to reverberate in the spiritual realm where our hearts operate. May those present age prophets arise, those who will steward these vibrations and sustain these notes.
The sobering aspect of this story involves the larger spiritual warfare over Germany. What lies had the dark principalities and powers sown into that nation that would allow them to be taken in by a madman? Where our American DNA is composed of independence and the personal right to pursue liberty and happiness, the Germans were driven by a wounded and offended national pride. Their tarnished national self-image was that of a noble and good people, capable of great self-sacrifice for their nation (from which Lutheranism was inseparable). This was the piper’s song. Using these national themes, Hitler duped the church into thinking he was one of them. By the time they discovered the masquerade it was too late—they had surrendered their freedoms to the wrong master and the wrong kingdom.
If Bonhoeffer had published The Cost of Discipleship earlier, before the deception—would the church have embraced the gospel he was preaching? Would they have adopted it if following Jesus would have meant grappling personally with Jesus’ harder words, such as the necessity of hating one’s mother and father and selling all? What would it have taken for the German church to have resisted “the ancient foe who sought to work them woe?” Why did they not see “the right man on their side, that man of God’s own choosing?” How did a world of devils undo Germany? Sadly, Luther’s hymn gives the answer as well: Germany, in her own (theological and national) strength did not confide in the right man, and, therefore, her striving was losing.
So, what is the difference between the church of mid-20th century Germany and the 21st Century church of America? Is it our superior theological foundation and religious résumé that has kept America’s judgment at bay? Or, is it just that we have not been backed into a national economic corner yet as Germany was, a corner in which it becomes too late to exercise the powers to choose righteousness? I am inclined to think it’s the latter.
Paul had grown content with his very un-blessed looking (at least by our standards) life, satisfied that, in light of the prize, there was literally no cost to following Jesus—only a current joy, complete with peace and infinite union with God. Paul was content to wait upon God who would one day swallow up the momentary suffering that so often accompanies the grace and mercy of God.
Many of us who think of ourselves as Christian are still busy fine-tuning our rights to comfort and blessing. Surrendering the title to his national Jewish identity and his reputation, forfeiting his right to pursue independence and personal happiness—none of these things even registered as costs to Paul in light of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ. But that was Paul. What about us? We must decide for ourselves whether Paul was an anomaly or an example.
Father, may we in the west expose the principalities and powers that, with cruel hate, manipulate the masses and even the church with customized deceit. Where mortal ills prevail and a flood of evil threatens, let grace prevail all the more. May we recall that you have willed that your truth will triumph through us. Helps us to let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also. Help us to always remember that it is You Lord, from age to age the same, and that You shall win the battle. May our hearts faithfully note that Satan’s doom is sure and that one little word shall fell him.
Help us to cede title of these mortal lives, which we so over-value, to You so that we, too, like Paul, might be messengers of revelation, we—who are becoming expressions of that one little word (Jesus) which shall fell the enemy.
Help us to become those who can say, “Your grace is sufficient for us” so that we might be those who demonstrate that Satan was never your equal. Help us to recover the Spirit and the gifts which are ours and vindicate You as our Mighty Fortress and a bulwark never failing; that your truth abides still and that your kingdom is forever. Amen
