Fear and Faith: Part I, "God on Mt. Sinai"

Flashes of lightning, the blast of a trumpet, and the looming Mount Sinai covered in smoke caused the people of Israel to tremble in fear and distance themselves from God. Terrified of God and afraid for their very lives, the people of Israel said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die" (Ex. 20:19). Moses responded, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you..." (Ex. 20:20). What?!? Are the people of Israel suppose to fear God or not? Why does Moses say "do not fear" and in the same breath say "that the fear of him may be before you"?

We do need to fear God, but that fear can either cause us to run away from him in terror or to run toward him in faith. But what does it mean to fear the Lord? This is a difficult question. Scripture teaches much about this topic, and I'm looking forward to sharing a few insights on the relationship between fear and faith in the Gospel of Mark. 

So please join me in observing more closely some of the pieces of God's life here on earth. Jesus exercises power to calm storms, cast out demons, heal the sick and diseased, feed five thousand, and to walk on water. When encountered with the cosmological power of Christ, the proper response is not to be driven away in fear, but to be driven toward him in faith and love. I hope these next few posts will help inspire you to a proper awe of God, a purer worship of him, and a deeper love for King Jesus.

Christian Giving

A few passages about Christian giving to pray through. It would be good to think about what these promises are, what they mean, if you truly believe them, and how they may impact your giving.

"One gives freely, yet grows all the richer, another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." - Proverbs 11:24, 25

"It is well with the man who deals generously and lends." - Psalm 112:5a

"[The righteous man] has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor." - Psalm 112:9

"Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." - 2 Corinthians 9:6

"He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way." - 2 Corinthians 9:10, 11

Transforming Love

I walked into Jeremy's room at 11:15pm, wondering whether he was going to be compliant or not. Every night the overnight staff encourages him to use the restroom so that he doesn't wake up wet. After about 5 min. of prompting him to use the restroom, trying to get him out of bed, Jeremy reluctantly moved his stack of blankets off. As soon as he got up I could see a small wet spot on his sheets. They needed to be cleaned. As he went to the bathroom, I changed his sheets. That didn't make him very happy though. He wanted his other one's and argued that they were not dirty. He told me several times that I had no right to wash his laundry and that it was his responsibility. Our debate grew more heated and about 10 min. had gone by since he got back in bed. I couldn't get him to put his cpap mask back on to go to bed. He argues about every little thing. As he got more irritated, I gave him several warnings, threatening to physically restrain him if he didn't stop yelling at staff. He told me that I had no right to "pin him on the floor" and that only his parents could do that. Then he mentioned something off-hand about going somewhere with his mom tomorrow.

At this point, my strategy changed. I shifted my demeanor from an assertive staff to a loving friend. I asked him about his trip with his mom and asked if he was going to have a good day tomorrow. With a little kindness, I was able to convince him that going to bed would enable him to have a good day tomorrow. He finally agreed. In fact, his change in demeanor was almost as fast as mine.

I guess it goes to show that a little love and genuine care can go a lot farther than the most assertive and logical arguments. I hope that being a loving friend is more important to me than being right.

Love Does not Envy or Boast

"Love does not envy or boast" -1 Corinthians 13:4.

These two words, envy and boast, are an interesting couple. At first they appear to be very different in nature. Envy is that man in the corner who is bitter because everyone else got a peanut butter bar. Boasting is that man who is proud because he is the only one to have received a peanut butter bar. Complete opposites, right?


Although they take on very different faces, envy and boasting are both rooted in a false sense of ownership, either over what someone else has (envy) or what you yourself have (boasting). 

- Envy is falsely assuming that something outside of your possession is rightfully yours and thereby wrongly desiring it.

- Boasting is falsely assuming that something inside your possession is rightfully yours and thereby falsely taking pride in it.

- Righteous jealousy, on the other hand, is rightly assuming that something outside your possession is rightfully yours and thereby rightly desiring it. 
- Finally, righteous boasting is rightly assuming that something inside your possession is rightfully yours and thereby taking pride in it.

I take these definitions to be self-evident and will not attempt to defend them here. 

As fallen humans, we deserve nothing and therefore have no room to boast. As Christians, we have been given the right to be called children of God (John 1:12) and therefore are able to make our boast in Christ who gives us that right. Only in Christ do you deserve what you own. Therefore, only in Christ can you boast in what you own. Apart from Christ boasting is both wrong and unloving. 

“Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14)

Wounds of Love

What does love look like? You may think that love is simply helping someone out and making them feel good. However, this is not always true. Sometimes true love hurts, even wounds the person you care for the most. You see, love is not just what makes people feel good right now; it's more than that. Love does what's ultimately best for that person, regardless of how it makes them feel right now. As a man-pleaser by nature and I struggle with this. Although I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, I should realize that there are times in life where the most loving thing I can do for someone may very well hurt their feelings.

Proverbs 27:5 says, "Better is open rebuke than hidden love." If someone has committed a wrong and is in need of rebuke, the loving thing to do is rebuke them. Feel free to call them out in order to help bring them to repentance. Notice that such "open rebuke" is better than "hidden love." This means that if you don't rebuke them, you're just hiding your love for them. You may genuinely love them and hope for their best, but if you do not do what's best for them (i.e. rebuke them), than your love is hidden from them. In your attempt not to hurt them, you fail to help them.

The next verse is even better. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy." You heard right, faithful friends wound each other. This is because sometimes it's necessary to hurt a friends feelings. Sometimes true love calls for that (i.e. rebuke). Our natural impulse is to affirm people and make them feel better even when they are wrong. However, "profuse are the kisses of an enemy." Don't whisper soft words into their ears or tickle them with false affirmations. That's what enemies do. When someone is someone is having cardiac arrest don't pat them on the back and tell them their doing fine, roll them over and start pounding them on the chest with harsh (but loving) compressions. Their brain needs oxygen, not affirmation.

If a father didn't discipline his son, his son may become spoiled and disobedient. If someone never rebuked his friends, they may continue in unrepentant sin. If a coach never made his players run laps, they may become a losing team. If a general never disciplined his troops, they may lose the war. If God never crucified his Son, Jesus would have never been exalted in the way that He did (cf. Phil. 2:9-11). This list goes on and may be applied to many different scenarios.

This principle of wounding love can and should be considered in every relationship. I don't want you to look for ways to hurt your friends, but I do want you to ask yourself, "What is going to be the most helpful thing to do (or not do) for this person in the long run, even if it may hurt for the time being?"

Singleness: Training Grounds for Marriage

What's the purpose of singleness? It's dangerous to think of singleness simply as a period where you can exercise your freedom and independence from family ties. Even the Bible compares getting married to sticking your head inside a yoke. So why shouldn't you enjoy being single while it lasts and leave the bondage of getting married to future attention?

This is a terrible way of thinking that does more to equip a man for marriage than eating peanut butter prunes on a plaid sofa. If marriage stresses the muscles of commitment, communication, organization, establishing priorities, and complete dependence on others, than why would you spend your singleness years relaxing those muscles in order to exercise your freedom, independence, autonomy, etc.?

Think about the fact that every married person was single before they got married. God gives us a season to lay a solid foundation upon which we and our families can stand. This is a time to exercise those muscles which will be essential for marriage. Most importantly, it is a time to grow more in love with God and to establish a greater dependence on Him. Any athlete will tell you that training is hard, but necessary. Any soldier will tell you that boot camp is painful, but equipping. If you spend your time in the boot camp of singleness eating cracker jacks and counting how many licks it takes to get to the bottom of a blow pop, you will not be prepared to enter into the warzone of marriage. You may find the person on the other side of the marriage yoke to be the only one ready to pull their weight.

Utilize this time to prepare. Do this by growing more into the image of Christ, the husband of the Church. Also, begin to seek wisdom early. The first time you think about how you'd like to raise your kids should not be when your wife is already pregnant. As Solomon says in Proverbs, "Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future" (19:20).

A Mountain of Difficulty

Imagine a 23 year old young man standing at the base of a mountain gazing up as it looms ominously over him. The journey ahead is both exciting and incredibly intimidating. Squinting his eyes as he peers upward, it is hard to imagine ever reaching the peak! He begins to grow discouraged, but then remembers something his father told him years ago.

"Son, I've been climbing now for thirty years and I want to share with you something that is essential for a successful climb. No matter how high the mountain is before you, the only way you'll ever reach the top is by taking it one step at a time. Remember the feeling of walked up what seems like a few stairs and then realizing that three stories is higher than you originally thought. So when you begin your journey, rather than being overwhelmed by the enormity of the task as a whole, focus on the little task right before your eyes. The only time you should step back and look at the entire mountain is in order to choose the smoothest coarse in which to travel. Once you've picked your route, put your head down and start climbing. It is in this way that you will avoid utter discouragement and failure."

I believe this principle applies to every difficulty you may encounter in life's long journey. In fact, as you may have already guessed, I invented this story in order to serve as a demonstration of this truth. When life gets incredibly busy and it seems like you have way too much to do, or when the task in front of you seems far too difficult, don't give up! I've seen many people freeze up because they spend too much time thinking about all that they need to do, while they fail to actually sit down and get started. Remember the old man's wisdom and just take the first step. Ask yourself, "What do I hope to do today...or even this hour?" You should only think about the plethora of items on your schedule long enough to plan the most effective route. Then get to work.

God will deliver you in His strength to the peak of your difficulties. Don't worry about the future, for "sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matt. 6:34). May God bless your journey to the peak.