Running and Coffee

I was almost at the two mile mark of my run (which, if you know me, is definitely the end). I realized at that moment that my relationship to running really reminds me of my relationship to coffee. Let me describe coffee first.

I broke down and started drinking coffee a couple weeks ago. Ever since then, I've been trying to figure it out. When I consider drinking coffee, it always sounds like a good idea. Immediately after I'm done drinking it, there's a strange sense of relief...or even accomplishment. Most of all I like it's affects on me. It gives me energy and life. But all of these positive things seem to stand against the bitter taste of the coffee which I can rarely say I enjoy. There are moments when I enjoy a good brew, but those are few and far between.

I also started running last week. Whenever I consider running, it seems like a good plan. Immediately after I'm done, there's that strange sense of relief and accomplishment. I've come to realize that I most of all appreciate the affect running has on me. It helps me know I'm alive. It gives me greater confidence and somewhat strangely helps bring me out of introverted seasons. It gives me time with God and helps me feel good about myself. Once again, all of these positive things seem to stand against the horrible feeling I get with a cramping stomach or imploding lungs. There are moments when I enjoy a good run...but it's rare for me not to feel like I'm dying.

Sometimes it's not the activity itself that you enjoy, but the results of sticking it through. It's no coincidence that the Christian faith is compared to running a race. Sometimes it's a bitter experiences that help you know you're alive and that make you appreciate the sweet things in life. For the Christian, no pain is arbitrary. It may have a strange (apparently random) cause, but the result is what God has in mind. Just push through and God will bless your faith. (and yes, my analogy just put suffering in the same category as coffee and running; no remorse). May God help us to see the benefits of suffering for his sake. Amen.

Patience vs Complacence

I've come to realize that there's a fine line between patience and complacence. It's an inner difference, and one not readily noticeable by those watching. Because it's such a subtle difference, many people mistake a complacent person for a patient one.

Here's an example: Three people have been working out in the heat all day and are now waiting for dinner. As it cooks on the stove, they can all smell the sweet aroma of an incredible meal. 

The first man sees the food cooking and continues to grumble and complain that it's not finished now. It's easy to see that this man's attitude is wrong. 

The second man, however, is more difficult. In an attempt to be content while waiting for dinner, he decides to ignore the food for a while. By suppressing his desire for what's coming, time begins to slip by almost unwittingly. From the outside, this man appears to be patient. But deep down he just doesn't care anymore. Complacence guises itself as patience. He no longer longs for the blessing ahead, but tries to forget about it until it comes. 

The third man exercises true patience. Seeing something good that is about to come, this man does not suppress the thought of it in his mind. Allowing full desire for the supper to remain, the third man affirms that it is worth waiting for. Because his hopes are held high, the waiting is really difficult and can be described as suffering...or even longsuffering. 

The second man avoids suffering, but his desire for dinner is inadvertently diminished. Not only does he enjoy dinner less than the third man when it finally comes, but a lack of future expectations may undermine his current actions. While it may seem crazy for someone to stop cooking dinner because they no longer desire dinner as much, we can imagine a Christian who stops bearing their cross because they don't desire heaven enough. 

We ought to be like the third man, embracing our present circumstances as God's will while fully desiring the blessing to come. When we look at the fallen world, and the depth of human hurt, and the effects of the curse, there ought to rise in us a deep discontent for the present state of things and yearning for God's renewal. These longings place value on what we long for and help us to endure. For how can we claim to prize something we are trying to ignore? 

(Romans 8:18-25) 

Fire and Brush

A father and his son went out one day to cut a path through the forest. After working a while, they started a fire to burn the brush they had already cleared. The father lit a match and, starting small, added more and more brush to the fire. Then they went back into the woods. When they returned with another load, the fire was almost completely out, just a few flickers and some hot coals. To the son's surprise, the father threw an entire bundle of brush onto the fire at once. Surely what was meant to be fuel for the fire would put it out completely! The boy was wrong, however, and the father knew exactly what he was doing. If he understood anything, he understood fire. In his wisdom, the father would never put too much brush on it. What's more, the fire that began small was larger this time...and even larger the next!

Sometimes it may seem that God has put too many trials and sufferings on the hearts and lives of his children. Surely the suffering he has allotted to us with quench our faith. And if not, what's the purpose anyway? I'd like to remind you of two things. First, the loving father who struck up your flicker of faith will never let it burn out. There will be times when the brush lays heavy. When you can't see a flame. When all there seems to be is some hot coals. But God will not allow your faith to burn out. The second thing is this: God intends to strengthen your faith under the brush. When this trial is through (or even in it's midst) it will burn brighter than you ever have before. True faith, when tested by trials, always burns through.

Learning from Unbelievers

Although much about how the world is makes sense through a biblical lens, I've come to realize the value of hearing things from an unbelievers perspective. It can be tempting to write off most of what they say because we think it's 'not true.' But just because they don't have the same picture of the Creator and his creation that we do, doesn't mean they don't have genuine experiences or know true things about this world. 

For example: I've heard the cry of an unbelieving heart against the injustice that runs rampant in this cruel, sin stricken world. I've seen the hurt of an unbelieving heart over the betrayal of a friend. I've heard the helplessness of an unbelieving soul apart from the sustaining life and guiding hand of God Almighty. I've watched unbelievers offer up true thanksgiving, though they do not know who to thank for their life, their food, their family. 

Don't tell me that they see no truth
Their broken hearts still work
While they may not have answers yet
True questions still do lurk

I believe we have much to learn from our fellow humans. A good friend told me the other day that we are all born with a natural bend toward good. After some original sin red flags shot up, I realized that she was right. People do seek to do good. Yes, sin is always present, and all are guilty before God. But that doesn't negate the fact that people are born knowing good and evil, and that they ought to practice the good. Now that's grace. 

Prayer

Matthew 21:22 says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Verses like these which are meant to encourage genuine faith often leads into a vert dangerous way of thinking. When our prayers seem ineffective, we begin to question whether we had ‘enough’ faith. This leads us to think that if we just work up a little more faith, then God would answer our prayers. The fundamental problem here is that we shift our attention from God, who is the object of faith, to faith itself. We turn faith into a work, thinking that prayer will only be effective if we know how the system works. We can’t create faith for ourselves; it’s is a gift of God. However, our faith will be strengthened by setting our eyes on God himself. We must see God as a loving Father, and we must trust him to give us the faith we need to pray rightly. We must have a bigger view of God than someone who will only work for us if we get things right. He’s the one working in us and enabling us to get things right. And even if we don’t have the proper faith, God is not bound. Nothing prohibits him from answering the prayers of selfish and doubting saints. He often does exactly this with me in order to show me his love, power, and freedom. Prayer is not the key to a machine to get what you want, it’s the key to a loving relationship where God where we can freely come to God and freely be blessed by him.

How We Love God

The main question I want to answer is this: How do we love God? If the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we ought to have a really clear idea of what loving God looks like. I believe this is where having fellow humans (especially brothers and sisters in Christ) becomes more essential than we often think.

In Matthew's depiction of the final judgment, the reason believers receive salvation is because of their love and service toward the saints, which Christ equates to loving and serving himself (Matt 25:31-40). I believe that truly loving fellow humans is at the heart of loving God and growing in a love for God.

1 John 1:12 poses a dilemma. "No one has ever seen God." While it's not impossible to find ways to love a God whom you've never seen (e.g. prayer, Bible reading, meditation), it's not at all easy. This is why God gives us family and friends. Loving one another is like a crutch, or a significant handicap, aiding us in our love and devotion to God and allowing us to live more faithfully. In other words, I believe the first and greatest commandment is largely fulfilled by faithfulness to the second commandment. While solitary devotion to God through prayer and reading the word are essential, the act of loving other people is also a huge means by which we love God. For this reason John says, "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12). It's through the love we share with other humans that God abides in us and perfects his love in us.

So don't undermine the value of human relationships. If you want to express your love to God and expand your love for God, your interactions with other people are essential. After all, you aren't truly loving God if your spending all of your time being a jerk toward other people. "Whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1 John 4:21).

Also, God uses your family, friends, classmates, roommates, and fellow church members not just to express your love to him, but to expand your love for him. I've spent hours reading, studying, and memorizing the book of 1 John. But the moment I was moved to tears by realizing God's love for me was when I was holding a 6 week old baby. All I could think about was how much I would do to keep that baby safe from harm and make sure he had everything he needed. When the realization came that God loves me even more than I cared for that child, I hit the breaking point. The love we feel toward others teaches us about the love that God has for us. When we allow ourselves to grow closer to others, to feel more deeply toward them, and to care for them in a more significant way, we are not separating ourselves from God by drawing closer to another. Rather we are drawing closer to God by expanding our hearts for him and for others.

Resurrection

When thinking about the resurrection from the dead, we need to strike a balance between what we can know and what we can't.

Many theologians who teach the resurrection from the dead rightly emphasize the fact that we will have bodies in the new heavens and the new earth. We will not be floaty spirits which are finally set free from the material world. Material things are not inherently bad, and so our body is just waiting for the physical (and the spiritual) to be redeemed and re-made.

Although we can affirm that we will have bodies, we will eat, work, and do other physical things, there are still many things we don't know about our future resurrection. What indeed will we be? Will we be just like we are now with a few modifications and a remission of our defects? Paul actually answers people who come to him with this very question (cf 1 Cor 15:35). He describes our bodies as a seed that is sown. We must die (be buried) and be raised. The difference between the seed that is sown (your body) and the plant that it grows into (your resurrected body) is extraordinary. Paul says, "And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel" (1 Cor 15:37). In some regards, what we will be in the resurrection is completely different. It's not perishable, dishonorable, or mortal, rather it's imperishable, glorious, and immortal. But there's only so much we can know, for as John says, "what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn 3:2).

While continuing to affirm what we do know (we'll have imperishable bodies, not just spirits), we can continue to wonder and marvel at what our resurrected bodies might be like. Indeed, the difference between a seed and the tree it grows into is very great. Be ready for an incredible future. Be prepared to be raised in power and glory. Be ready to see Christ as he is and to become as he is.

Here's the main point: Although your resurrected body will not be the same as the body you have now, it will still be yours and it will still be a body.