There is Grace in the Warning

  There is a waterfall in Arkansas that Chris and I have visited more times than I can count. The views are breathtaking, and no matter how many times I go, I can’t help but wonder at God’s amazing creative design. I also am reminded of something more somber. 

The first time we ever tried to visit this particular waterfall, we had hiked about halfway down into the valley when we began to notice an increasing crowd of people hiking back up the opposite direction. We didn’t get much farther before an official looking person stopped us and told us we had to turn around and go back up because they were closing the valley floor. Filled with questions as to why they would suddenly be closing the hiking trail on such a beautiful day, we followed instructions. At some point we noticed a group of distraught young people also being led back up out of the valley. 

When we got to the top, there were rescue crews everywhere. It didn’t take long for word to get to us that a group of kids had been playing beyond the barriers at the top of the waterfall when one young man slipped and fell ninety-five feet onto the rock below. It also didn’t take long for us to hear that the rescue mission would end in a recovery mission instead. 

The lesson that I’m sure those kids will forever have burned into their minds and we should have burned into ours?

1.  There is grace in the warning. 

I’ve heard so many people say they turn away from the teaching of the Bible because they feel restricted by the “rules.” Others want to change what it says because they don’t like the boundaries God’s Holy Word provides, but there is grace in the warning. There is love in the boundaries. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” God knows where the edges are that we are likely to fall off of. God knows what is going to draw us over and pull us away from Him and His purpose for our lives. It’s all in there, given to us in His Word. The warnings are there to protect us from the harm that awaits us if we step outside of them. It is in His great love that God provides warnings of how we should and shouldn’t live our lives. 

2. We must heed the warning.

Psalm 119:11-16  “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!  With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.  In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.  I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.  I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your Word.”  There are some loved ones out there, family, friends, who desperately wish that young man would have read, and heeded the warning signs on the mountain that day.

 We are a part of a great war for the souls of people. Our weapon to defend ourselves and win the hearts of others for Jesus is the Truth of God’s word. We must read it and obey it. The only way to heed the warnings, is to first read the warnings. Then, it is to respect and trust the giver of those warnings enough to obey them, even when we don’t understand, even if we might disagree. We must realize that He sees what we don’t. He loves us enough to give us boundaries, but it is our responsibility to know them and abide by them. 

That waterfall in Arkansas is beautiful, but it is also dangerous. Life is that way. Life is precious and full of beauty, but it is also dangerous. Whenever I am tempted to resent the boundaries God has given me, I often remember back to that waterfall. I never met the young man who fell, but I saw his friends. I saw the pain in their eyes that living outside those boundaries caused. Living outside of God’s boundaries is just as painful, for us and those who love us. When we are tempted to crawl over them, ignore them, or just be ignorant of them, we must remember: 1. There is grace in the warning. 2. We must heed the warning. 

Psalm 119:10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

Photo by Greg Disch

Photo by Tim Reed

How should the church respond when faced with people’s sin?

“Controversial issues,” our culture is inundated with them. I don’t have to name any here because you probably read 5-6 headlines about them before even getting to this post, and debating those topics is not what this post is about. There isn’t a lot we can agree on in our culture other than there are a lot of things we disagree on. They did in the days of the early church as well. The religious leaders even attempted to try and trap Jesus in the middle of this controversy, forcing Him to respond to a person caught on the wrong side of what scripture declared as sin. 

We as a church are put in this same position daily, and as a general rule the church has failed to respond well. That’s what I want to discuss in this post. How should the church respond when faced with people’s sin? There are many scriptures we could look at to get insight on what Jesus would have us to do, but we will focus on John 8:2-11 specifically here.

[Jhn 8:2-11 ESV] 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]]

1. Bring people to Jesus.

The religious leaders unknowingly gave this broken woman the greatest gift anyone could have possibly given her. They brought her to Jesus. Jesus is the only one with the power to redeem our shattered souls. John 3:17-18 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”  Jesus told the woman in John 8 that He did not condemn her. We learned in John 3:18 that it is our own sin that condemns us. Jesus is the one that saves us. It is Him and Him alone that has the power to save. 

Our first step when confronted with people, all people, is always, to bring them to Jesus. All have fallen short of the glory of God. All need the healing power of redemption that only His grace through faith can provide. As a church, we should constantly and consistently be about bringing people to Jesus. Tell them who He is. Tell them what He has done. Tell them how much He wants to save them. 

2. Do not throw stones. 

“Let Him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” That’s not me, and friend, that’s not you either.  It is easy to sit in the blindness of our own stories and chunk rocks at other people. I admit I am convicted of “throwing stones at people” daily. My words and thoughts about how people “should or shouldn’t” have made choices, are often not said/thought in love but in condemnation. In my arrogant mind I believe I would have done better, because “I am better.” God often reminds me, “No Love, if you made a different choice it would have only been because I (Jesus in you) led you better. Not because you are better, so STOP THROWING STONES.” 

The church has got to stop throwing stones at broken people. Have we ever seen our hateful condescending words bring healing? When my kids were little, I would often ask them if a choice they made was helpful or hurtful. The church needs to ask ourselves the same question. Are the words/actions we are blasting at people helpful or hurtful? Throwing stones isn’t helpful. It only brings more hurt. Jesus was the only one qualified to throw stones that day, and He chose grace. Shouldn’t we?

3. Don’t throw parties either.

Let’s be perfectly clear. Jesus did not throw stones at the woman. He also did not throw her a party. He did not condemn her with hate. However, He did call her sin, sin, and He told her to stop. Sin is rebellion against God and His design. Sin is destructive, not only to the sinner, but its devastation ripples out onto everything and everyone it touches. Hateful condescending words do not bring healing, but neither do excuses, blame, rationalization, validation, or celebration. Pretending a sin isn’t wrong may help to alleviate the feelings of guilt for a time, but the end result is even more disastrous. How will we know to turn around in repentance if we are not told we are going the wrong way? Is it really showing love to people to embrace their sin, knowing that sin is going to destroy them, or is love letting them know that there is hope and healing waiting for them at the cross of Jesus?

Which brings us back to the beginning. The church has done a pitiful job in a lot of ways of trying to deal with the world's sin on our own. We have thrown stones. We have thrown parties. We have yelled words of hate. We have embraced and celebrated destructive decisions. Neither have worked. Both have caused chaos and hurt. Another of my favorite stories in the gospel is in Mark chapter 9. A father brings his demon possessed son to the disciples. The disciples and religious leaders argue about how to heal the boy, but they can't manage it. Then, Jesus shows up, and Jesus says, “Bring him to me.” 

We live in a world teeming with broken people. We waste so much time arguing over what to do about their brokenness, while they lay dying. Jesus says, “Bring them to me.” All the controversial issues, all the alternative lifestyles, and destructive choices are devastating the lives of people. We, as a church, can stand around arguing about how to respond, but it won’t help. Throwing stones of condemnation won’t help. Throwing parties of celebration won’t help. People need Jesus. They must meet the Savior, and He will deal with their sin, just as He deals with our own. 

Church, we must pray. We must speak the truth of scripture (not our own preferences or opinions). We must do so in love, with the goal of bringing people to the Savior. That’s the example Jesus gave as He responded to the sin of people. We would do well to follow it.

Let Go- A Brief Look at the Life of Job

Remember that game “Red Rover, Red Rover?” Gosh, I hated that game. I was always so terrible at it. I wasn’t strong enough to win, so I came up with a new strategy. Whenever someone came charging at my tiny birdlike arms that were far too weak to hold on, I simply let go. I “lost” according to the rules of the irrational game, but looking back, not getting my arms broken was a far greater victory.

[Job 1:20-22 ESV] 

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

In scripture we read of a man named Job who was not playing a foolish game. He was living in a foolish world, the same world we still live in today. The loss and pain that he faced was not a joke. We are given insight to the spiritual warfare that was going on in the shadows and even then I still don’t fully comprehend how such suffering wouldn’t crush a person. I think a lot of why Job wasn’t crushed is found here in his response. As we read on in the book of Job, we find it took even Job’s heart time to truly process and implement his own words, yet this is how he managed to remain faithful and continue breathing. 

So what did Job do in response to his whole world LITERALLY falling apart? He simply let go. He surrendered to the Lordship of God. 

I often wonder if even in our Christian culture we have over emphasized the idea of winning. We sing songs about always obtaining victory. We write about it, and wear it on our clothes and jewelry. But is that really what scripture says, that “we” will always win or, does it say that God will always win? Does it say that the victory is “ours” or does it say that the victory is “His?” We want to win, and so we  often view the idea of surrender as a bad thing, but what if surrender is the only true way to survive suffering? 

I know we can “churchify” Job’s story and say that “Job” won the victory in the end. But, I challenge you to find any person in the world who has ever lived through losing a child (let alone all of their children) who will say that time and having more children somehow turned their loss into a victory for them.  Did “Job” see victory in the way we look at victory or did Job see God win victory over Satan? I would put forth the idea that Job’s “victory” was surrendering himself to God’s victory. He only let go, and let God decide the outcome, no matter how painful, because God is GOD. 

I believe we see this same response from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before they walked into the fiery furnace. We all know they walked back out again, but they didn’t know they would. 

[Dan 3:16-18 ESV] 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

Are we damaging our own faith by always “expecting WE WIN the victory?” Does it cause us greater frustration, stress, and disillusionment when God doesn’t cause “us” to “win” the way we envision winning? Are we then left wondering if God is still good, or if God is there at all? Are we still those kids on the playground playing a dangerous game of “Red Rover” holding on so tightly to the concept of always “winning” the way we see “winning” when in reality what we really need to do is LET GO?

Let go. Breathe that in. Yes, it is terrifying for a brief moment to realize that you are letting go of every ounce of control and handing it over to Jesus. Of course, it is only terrifying until we realize that we never really had any control in the first place. Our clinging to the idea of control only leaves us battered and broken. It was never ours to have. We are too weak. As God teaches Job, we don’t see what God sees. We don’t know what God knows. We can’t even remotely begin to do what God can do. 

Let go. Breathe out. Realish in the FREEDOM that comes in fully trusting in the sovereignty of the Mighty Creator God. The God who literally speaks life into existence. Let Go. Oh, friend, are you as weary as I am? Let go. Give it all to the Savior who knows you, sees you, died for you, loves you, holds you, walks with you and beside you and carries you. Let go. 

Yes, He may take it away. I won’t pretend that He won’t. Yes, it may hurt so badly you feel like you can’t breathe. The reality is the world we live in is broken. Somedays the brokenness burns us. Somedays the brokenness comes charging at us with full force and we can't hide from it, no matter how hard we try. Let go. It may not be the victory you wanted, but it will give you the freedom you need. And someday, Oh some, PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS DAY, those of us who truly do let go and give our lives to the One who made us and gave His life for us, we WILL GET TO GO HOME. We will see His greater victory. We will let go one final time and spend the rest of all eternity at the most lavish victory party life has ever known.  

[2Ti 1:8-12 ESV] 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.