Thought For The Day

"No matter how fast I run, I can never seem to get away from me."

                                                                             Author Unknown

An Observation from Paul's Letter to the Romans

"The old nature knows no law; the new nature needs no law."

                                                            Pastor Andrew Straubel, Windsor Chapel

God's HR Department

The management of human resources has become an increasingly important concept in our culture and society.  Although human resource departments are a secular development, they represent an implicit recognition of Biblical truth: people and the relationships among them are vitally important, and sin creates personal and relational havoc wherever people live and interact.  In business, human resource departments deal with the struggles that emerge when sinful human beings work together, and policies are established to promote a constructive relational environment in which to work and also to limit the damage when sin takes it toll on that environment.

God has a lot to say about the importance of people and about the way He would like them to interact with one another.  Man was created in His image, the image of a relational three-in-one Triune God, to love Him and one another.  Not only was man created from good “stock,” but he was created to manage his Maker’s creation (Genesis 1:28) and to do those good works that He specially and specifically designed him for (Eph. 2:10).  He calls His people—the church—to manifest His claim on us by loving one another (John 13:35).  And we are taught that as the Lord does His work in us, we will be fitted together into His temple (Eph. 2:21).  It is beyond my scope here to discuss the Bible’s comprehensive treatment of Godly relationship, but I would like to offer a “shortcut” summary that I have found helpful in maintaining a Godly relational perspective.

We all associate “HR” with human resources.  I would like to take this acronym and use it as a reminder of two critically important attitudes in relationship: Humility and Respect. 

Humility is, in essence, an acceptance of who we are as creatures of the Lord of the universe, image-bearers of Christ, without attempting to artificially add to that value by self-focused efforts at performance and self-righteousness.  It is the recognition that we are sinners in need of a Savior.  Humility is not about thinking of ourselves as low, unworthy, or worthless.  It is rather about thinking correctly about ourselves.  We are God’s glorious creatures, marred by sin and selfishness, and redeemed by the blood of Christ.  There is nothing we can add to Christ’s work on our behalf.  We have no grounds to boast in ourselves.  Bond-servants of Christ have nothing to earn and nothing to prove.  I very much appreciate C.S. Lewis’s perspective on humility.  In Mere Christianity, Lewis suggests that the helpful way to avoid pride and maintain humility is to not think much about ourselves at all.  And indeed, if we are keeping our eyes on our Master, we will not have the time or inclination to focus on ourselves.

Respect is, at least in some sense, a fruit of humility.  As we bask in who we are as image-bearers of Christ and heirs of heaven, and as we accept that we cannot add to what Christ has done for us, we have no need to compare ourselves to or compete with others.  We can accept them as fellow image-bearers of Christ, we can appreciate their God-given gifts, and we can love them for who they are.  We have no need to approach from a superior or inferior position.  Instead, we can offer genuine respect that enables and encourages relationship.

Christ is our model as well as our Lord.  The Apostle Paul teaches us that Jesus emptied Himself and humbled Himself in becoming man and dying for us (Philippians 2:5-8).  And Jesus’s approach to even the lowliest and most sinful members of society manifests an incredible respect.  So as we follow our Lord and Master and internalize His humility and respect, we become wonderful administrators of God’s HR department.

The Cost and Power of Free Will

“God created things which had free will.  That means creatures which can go wrong or right.  Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can't.  If a thing is free to be good it's also free to be bad.  And free will is what has made evil possible.  Why, then, did God give them free will?  Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.  A world of automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating.  The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water.  And for that they've got to be free.

Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk….  If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will—that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings—then we may take it it is worth paying.”

                                                               C.S. Lewis

                                                               The Case For Christianity

Our Lord and Vision

I have recently been introduced to a new song, a song that expresses trust when the Lord is painfully silent:

                        “When You don’t move the mountains

                        I’m needing you to move

                        When You don’t part the waters

                        I wish I could walk through

                        When you don’t give the answers

                        As I cry out to You

                        I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in you”

                                                  (Lauren Daigle, MIchale Farren, Paul Mabury)

The last verse of an old traditional hymn, “Be Thou My Vision,” has the singer ask this of God:

                        “Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

                        Be Thou my vision, O, Ruler of all”

                                                            (Author Unknown)

These words imply the importance of depending on the Lord, by faith, even when difficult times befall.

Suffering and trials are helpful reminders that we are fallen people in a fallen world, much in the need of rescue.  They are also opportunities to trust our Lord to redeem—work good out of—even the most difficult of times.  This is a good thing.  But these songs also expose another facet of a life of faith.

What do we do when the Lord does move mountains, parts waters, smooths our paths?  After the initial (and appropriate) expression of praise, do we maintain our Lord as our Vision?  Or do we play what I like to call the Garden Game and begin to live life on our own?  It is easy to say/think/behave in such a way as to express, “Thanks, God!  I can take it from here!”

The truth is that it is as crucial to exercise faith and trust in Christ in easy times as it is in difficult circumstances.  When Jesus exhorted His disciples to abide in Him (John 15), He did not attach a “but only in the hard times” caveat.  If we are to deepen our relationship with our Lord and bear fruit for His kingdom and His glory, then we need to attend to our life of faith.  As God is good all the time, so we walk in faith all the time.

Yes, yes, yes, we must trust the Lord as our Vision during difficult times.  And, yes, yes, yes, we must trust the Lord as our Vision in easier times.  May the Lord be our Vision whatever befalls, even—and perhaps especially—in the easy times.

Thought For the Day

"Grandma says of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important."

                                                                                                         Family Circus

Thought For the Day

"God uses weak, wounding, needy, hurting, hurtful people like you and me for his purpose in small and great ways because he doesn't have any other kind!"
                                                                                            Dr. Sandra D. Wilson
                                                                                            Hurt People Hurt People