THE POWER PRINCIPLE: IT MATTERS !
In numerous conversations (with Ukraine and believers around the world) this last week (and for many months), the same theme has repeatedly occurred. Fatigue and lassitude has been the common experience of all who expend their lives on the purposes of God in a broken and groaning world, peppered by war, poverty, and natural disasters.
Life is hard for so many on our planet, and even immeasurably harder for those who follow the path of obedience in the context of a world hostile to God. Grace driven people are taken to places without food or electricity, social unrest, political chaos, depravity, poor housing, no transport, street crime, war, social displacement, mass casualties, corruption, many children without parents or those with parents left as virtual orphans.
Maybe life is harder for you in some way at this moment. You and I are wise however to see our troubles in the bigger context of our broken world, and this is part of the prompt for this extended consideration. Please consider then what true hardship is before grumbling. A broken TV, a blown down fence or slightly higher bills which disrupt "normal life" are of course painful in some degree, but are relative and insignificant when placed in the context of the heat of the eternal spiritual battle which rages. We live in a world which prioritises the physical and immediate, but our greatest battles are spiritual, emotional and relational. Relational trauma and spiritual confrontation are part of the Christian life. The battle between Christ and his enemies has been ultimately won for all time at the cross (Col 2:15, Eph 3:10) , but we live awaiting the day of withdrawal, and skirmishes continue in the aftermath on a catastrophic and cosmic scale, therefore crossfire is a daily experience. For many across the planet this means real hardship and true challenge.
Eph 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
At this moment an especially tiresome season seems to be upon those who take the gospel to the most unreached, or persevere with transformational generational ministry wherever the Spirit has directed. Contrary to the way much our proud western media and age thinks, we are not the first generation to ever find life hard, this is nothing new in the history of the planet, and in reality we are amongst the most blessed and privileged on the planet. Life in a fallen world has always been hard, and for those who follow Christ, take up their cross and follow him, hard living with habitual sacrifice is guaranteed, and sometimes in growing measure. Whatever our eschatology however, there is no denying that there is an increasingly climatic feel to our world as the gospel and kingdom of Christ boundaries reach into places which are new frontiers. What are the resources available for such a time, and do you habitually have them ?
PLEASE STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF FOR SOME "ME TIME"
Extraordinary perseverance will undoubtedly be the necessary Christian experience and reality for even basic living in the hardest of missional situations. Whilst some may try to excuse themselves from overseas service, or from hard sacrificial living (right where they are) by saying that this frontline missional experience is not their calling in life, I want to suggest that this is not what the bible says. Yes we are all called to different places and equipped with different gifts, but the basic biblical view of all those created by God is that we are made for his purposes alone and not to serve ourselves, regardless of which epoch or situation we are born into by his goodness. Loving God with all our hearts (Matt 22:37) is the default priority, not loving ourselves. We are bought with a price, by the saviour of the world, and therefore beautifully owned for the glorious global mission of God. This is an undeserved privilege not a chore. We have been bought by love to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ, and in this treasured position, in all of life, in redemption, sanctification and daily need we lack nothing. As reminded in Eph 6:12, our real battles are not in the physical realm of capitalism, materialism, (new cars, mortgages and broken washing machines), but in the spiritual realm of obedience to Christ and perseverance in obedience.
Rather than thinking of those who live out total reliance on Christ in hard places as something extraordinary then, distanced from us, we should learn from their helpful example and illustration of how to live better, more focussed if we live in a more comfortable territory today. Obedience in the context of all ordinary christian living is base camp. Obedience is the appropriate expression if we love Jesus Christ. (John 14:15-24). We should take expertise from those obedient at the frontline nexus of the battle line, and prepare ourselves with it.
If we live in a country of relative missional freedom, how much more should be attuned to making the most of every opportunity? (Eph 5:15-16). Being a foot soldier or orderly for Christ doesn't mean that we can't learn from those in special forces, it just means we have even greater opportunity to learn in greater safety and privilege where the consequences of being negligent and making mistakes have been even more forgiving. Having said this, we are aware however that if frontier mission is going to generationally advance further we will need more of those who lead in obedience and perseverance, not just more of those who follow.
Has familiarity bred contempt for those who live in comfort, distanced from suffering?
My conviction is that many of us have become so familiar with our unchallenged missional freedoms, the comfort of living settled lives in God's grace, that we don't realise how grumpy, sanitised and totally insurgent for true sacrificial mission we have become. In the Western church we are keen to complain or even subconsciously blame God for taking away the comfort of the church which is only present because of his love and grace. We are a grumpy and accusatory lot even to those who belong to the family of grace, The so called Christian "twitterati" have made a profession out of analytical complaint. Sadly there is a lot to expose in the modern veneer of lightweight bible belt, but we are left asking if like Lady Gertrude some protest too much " ? Is our complaint actually a cover for not getting on with the mission God has given us, a window on our lacking sincerity to the mission of God and our side-stepping on the sacrificial path of Christ?
Jonah is a great illustration of our missional laziness and grumbling. Rather than praising the God of incomprehensible missional love by counting it a privilege to serve his greater purposes, we find a cozy place to grumble in small minded self obsession. There is always more to complain about in a fallen world, and the Israelites where masters of it (Exodus 16, Numbers 10). Remember though that God's word reveals this to be spiritual death / deadness (1 Cor 10:10). A visible part of the spiritual sickness of any life, nation, or church, is we become obsessed with small things...
Jonah 4:10
And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labour, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Persistent reliance on God to deal with frustrations and obstacles comes with an ordinary Christian life of faith, in a spiritual war of attrition which is constantly testing on both daily and seasonal regularity this side of heaven. The question of our perseverance in such a situation is not whether we need to train and discipline ourselves for perseverance, we all do. The question is whether our growth in spiritual muscle leads us to be even more profitable in frontline spiritual warfare each day whoever we are, wherever we live, and whatever season we are in.
This is not a question of missional office and situation, but of basic missional function for our awesome Saviour's purposes. My suspicion however is that many of us in the Uk, Europe and the USA particularly have become accustomed to our privileges, that we think the Christian life is something completely different, and revolves around a good time in a safe place. We are hunkering down in comfort as we run away from spiritual challenge, thinking we have a greater tolerance and ability for Christian living than we really do. This is an excellent foundation for spiritual unproductively, breeding a new generation of lazy, split loyalty disciples who think they can fight for both sides. This is so dangerous!
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Rather than living on the higher plane of divine resources, it seems easier for you and I to give ourselves a "get out clause" to stay on spiritual "Civvy street" whilst the eternal battle rages one black away. In that place of comfort we live a depressingly limp spiritual life as we rely and fail in self dependence. We also live oblivious to the very real fact that there is no place where the spiritual battle is not happening. It is a lie from Satan himself that says we can be a Christian without being in a spiritual battle. There is no such thing as blissful ignorance in the eternal spiritual battle, just dangerous neglect.
GOD EQUIPS US MORE THAN WE CAN COMPREHEND WHEN WE LIVE FOR HIS PURPOSES
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- Consider what keeps Daniel amidst fire (ch 3), lions (6) and godless, hostile, arrogant dictatorship.
Consider God's provision for Elijah amidst the SHOWDOWN and potential humiliation of Carmel. (1 KINGS 18).- Consider Caleb, his faith model and mentored encouragement of Joshua and what drove him (Numbers 14) to want to take the mountain in faith, even though God's enemies and his aged knees were all against him and the vast majority of God's people had no confidence in God.
- "If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us."
- God is able to keep us in the appropriate demonstration of his power (Jude 1:24-25). When our purposes submit to his, our confidence is in him alone and we are utterly transparent that he alone is the only one able to keep us and provide for us, we can be 100% confident in his safekeeping.
- When we talk with friends who live in the context of brutal spiritual warfare (maybe also physical warfare) without food, physical support, or any of the comforts we enjoy we might be tempted to be waiting for their failure. With human eyes we wonder how they could carry on ? Conversely though, those who are spent and drained by going God's way... also have a supernatural energy which seems to "kick in" the moment that every last drop of their personal tanks and reserves run out. The undeniable truth of recent days in Ukraine has reminded me and taught me to a greater extent by vivid illustration , that however great the battle is, God is greater. The question is whether you and I admit there is a battle going on right here where we are, and what are we doing to be better equipped by crying in total reliance, humility, and unreservedly on GOD ?
- Is our total trust in him today in something else?
- What are we banking on as things get worse,
- and ultimately as the day of ultimate judgement comes are we ready to give account for the resources God has entrusted us with ?
- We have been given so much in Christ, and therefore much is rightly expected. (Luke 12:22-48)
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