GIVING OURSELVES TO OTHERS
Norman Cousins, having spent considerable time with Albert Schweitzer at his little hospital at Lambarene in French Equatorial Africa, wrote of those days long after they had passed.
The biggest impression I had in leaving Lambarene was of the enormous reach of a single human being. Yet such a life was not without punishment of fatigue. Albert Schweitzer was supposed to be severe in his demands on the people who worked with him. Yet any demands he made on others were as nothing compared to the demands he made on himself.
History is willing to overlook almost anything-errors, paradoxes, personal weaknesses or faults-if only a man will give enough of himself to others.
--Norman Cousins, Albert Schweitzer's mission
THE PROMISES OF GOD
Who Needs a Mediator? 1 Timothy 2:5
Stop John or Jane Doe on the street of any town in the world and ask this question: "What is the biggest conflict in your life that needs resolving?" And then hope your tape recorder doesn't run out of batteries. While a multitude of conflicts will be described, one that will likely not be mentioned is conflict with God-and for understandable reasons. Those persons who are already believers in Christ no longer have a conflict with God, and it probably hasn't occurred to those who aren't believers that they and God are in conflict!
But biblical truth be told, the initial identity of every human being who has ever lived is "Person In Conflict With God." Just as the major news networks flash a logo on the screen-"Crisis In (Name that Country)"-so there could be a non-stop logo flashing across televisions that say, "Crisis Between Heaven and Earth." Outside of Jesus Christ, we are persons in conflict. While this may sound like bad news, it is simply that part of the gospel message that makes the good news good. (A new village fire truck is news. It becomes good news-great news-when a house is burning.) And the good news in our case is that God has provided a mediator for our conflict.
When companies and labor unions are in conflict, a judge sends a mediator to stand between the parties and work out a solution. The mediator has to provide a solution which satisfies both parties in the conflict and reestablishes the broken relationship. That is what happened when God sent Jesus Christ to be the mediator between himself and sinners. God was satisfied (the penalty for sin was paid through Christ's death) and mankind was satisfied (we were granted access to God's kingdom).
If you are a Christian, at some point you recognized you were in conflict with God because of sin. If you are not yet a Christian, perhaps seeing Christ as a mediator, a bridge, between you and God will help you see the conflict-and how to resolve it.
God's Promise to You: "The only one who can bring you and me together is my Son."
RELATIONAL SPIRITUALITY - PART 3
Loving God Completely
Last month I referred to this prayer by St. Richard of Chichester (1197-1253):
Thanks be to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which Thou hast given us; for all the pains and insults which Thou hast borne for us. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may we know Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, and follow Thee more nearly; for Thine own sake.
We looked at "May we know Thee more clearly", and the second and third components move from knowing Him to loving Him to following Him.
. . . Love Thee More Dearly . . .
To know God is to love Him, because the more we grasp-not merely in our minds but in our experience-who He is and what He has done for us, the more our hearts will respond in love and gratitude. "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). When we discover that the personal author of time, space, matter, and energy has, for some incomprehensible reason, chosen to love us to the point of infinite sacrifice, we begin to embrace the unconditional security we longed for all our lives. God's love for us is spontaneous, free, uncaused, and undeserved; He did not set His love on us because we were lovable, beautiful, or clever, because in our sin we were unlovable, ugly, and foolish. He loved us because He chose to love us. As we expand our vision of our acceptance and security in Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us, we begin to realize that God is not the enemy of our joy but the source of our joy. It is when we respond to this love that we become the people He has called us to be. By God's grace we need to grow in love with Him in our thoughts, in our emotions, and in our actions.
. . . Follow Thee More Nearly . . .
As we grow to know and love God, we learn that we can trust His character, promises, and precepts. Whenever He asks us to avoid something, it is not because He is a cosmic killjoy, but because He knows that it is not in our best interests. And whenever He asks us to do something, it is always because it will lead to a greater good. If we are committed to following hard after God, we must do the things He tells us to do. But the risk of obedience is that it will often make no sense to us at the time. It is countercultural to obey the things the Holy Spirit reveals to us in the Scriptures. Radical obedience sometimes flies in the face of human logic, but it is in these times that our loving Father tests and reveals the quality of our trust and dependence on Him. If we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15); in fact, He taught us that obedience to His commands is the way we test and express our abiding relationship with Him (John 15:10). Our great task in the spiritual life is to will to do His will, to love the things He loves, and to choose the things He sets before us for our good.
Loving Ourselves Correctly
The Issue of Identity
A story is told about the American playwright Arthur Miller that illustrates the issue of personal identity. Sitting alone in a bar, Miller was approached by a well-tailored, slightly tipsy fellow who addressed him thus:
"Aren't you Arthur Miller?"
"Why, yes, I am."
"Don't you remember me?"
"Well . . . your face seems familiar."
"Why, Art, I'm your old buddy Sam! We went to high school together! We went out on double dates!"
"I'm afraid I-"
"I guess you can see I've done all right. Department stores. What do you do, Art?"
"Well, I . . . write."
"Whaddya write?"
"Plays, mostly."
"Ever get any produced?"
"Yes, some."
"Would I know any?"
"Well . . . perhaps you've heard of Death of a Salesman?"
Sam's jaw dropped; his face went white. For a moment he was speechless. Then he cried out, "Why, you're ARTHUR MILLER!"
(Willard R. Espy, Another Almanac of Words at Play)
Sam recognized his high school friend Arthur Miller, and he was familiar with the dramatist Arthur Miller, but he didn't realize the two were one and the same. There is a sense in which this happens in our own experience as believers in Christ-we know ourselves and each other in a superficial way, but we do not really grasp who we are at the core of our being. Like the stories about the man who has forgotten his name, we can wander about the streets of life without knowing our true identity.
Who Defines You?
We are constantly in danger of letting the world define us instead of God, because it is so easy to do. It is only natural to shape our self-image by the attitudes and opinions of our parents, our peer groups, and our society. None of us are immune to the distorting effects of performance-based acceptance, and we can falsely conclude that we are worthless or that we must try to earn God's acceptance. It is only when we define ourselves by the truths of the Word rather than the thinking and experiences of the world that we can discover our deepest identity.
All of us have encountered a good deal of "psychobabble" about self-love, including the call to look within ourselves to discover the answers to our problems. But the Scriptures exhort us to look to Christ, and not to self, for the solutions we so greatly need. I have come to define the biblical view of self-love in this way: loving ourselves correctly means seeing ourselves as God sees us. This will never happen automatically, because the Scriptural vision of human depravity and dignity is countercultural. To genuinely believe and embrace the reality of who we have become as a result of our faith in Christ requires consistent discipline and exposure to the Word of God. It also requires a context of fellowship and encouragement in a community of like-minded believers. Without these, the visible will overcome the invisible, and our understanding of this truth will gradually slip through our fingers.
The Inside Gatefold
WHEN GRACE IS TAKEN FOR GRANTED
There is an imaginative story told of a day when the sun did not rise. Six o'clock came and there was no sign of dawn. At seven o'clock, there was still no ray of light. At noon, it was as black as midnight. No birds sang and only the hoot of an owl broke the silence. Then came the long black hours of the afternoon. Finally evening arrived but no one slept that night. Some wept, some wrung their hands in anguish. Every church was thronged with people on their knees. Thus they remained the whole night through. After that long night of terror and agony, millions of eager, tear-streaked faces were turned toward the east. When the sky began to grow red and the sun rose, there was a loud shout of joy. Millions of people thanked God because the sun had risen after one day of darkness.
The very consistency of God's blessings sometimes seems to dull our gratitude. The wonderful thing about the mercies of God is that they are fresh every morning and new every evening. Let us remember to be constantly thankful to our gracious God.