On My Mind...
Do you ever find yourself feeling defensive because of your faith? Feel the need to “justify” the fact that you believe? Do you ever feel “put on the spot” to defend God’s honor? A few years ago Bill Maher said that all Christians are crazy and are unenlightened because of their faith. He made those comments as a guest on MSNBC's Scarborough Country. Maher said, “We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion.” He went on to declare, “I think that religion stops people from thinking…it justifies crazies. I think that flying planes in a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder.” Maher went on to say the account of Jonah a fairy tale the same as Jack in the Beanstalk.
Such thoughts are now mainstream. They are not the ravings of the fringe – more and more they are the common wisdom of the street. This is part of why Pastor Eugene Peterson says, “I am put on the spot of being God’s defender. I am expected to explain God to his disappointed clients. I am thrust into the role of a clerk in the complaints department of humanity, asked to trace down bad service, listen sympathetically to aggrieved patrons, try to put right any mistakes I can, and apologize for the rudeness of the management.”
Have you been there? Peterson goes on to say, “if I accept any of these assignments I misunderstand my proper work, for God doesn’t need me to defend him. He doesn’t need me for a press secretary, explaining to the world that he didn’t really say what everyone thought they heard in that interview with Job, or that the quotation of his word by Paul was taken out of context and needs to be understood in its proper context.” Our proper work is that of witness not apology. We are simply to tell what we know to be true. To speak the truth of our experience of God’s grace and allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and life to those to whom we testify. We simply give voice to the kindness and grace of our God in his delivering us from the power of sin, his comforting presence in times of great heartache and struggle, his abiding presence in our darkest hour.
Psalm 124 is a wonderful testimony. The psalmist demonstrates profound gratefulness for God’s preserving, delivering grace. The psalmist begins with “what if” in verses 1–5 and goes on to “sure nuff” in verses 6 and 7. What if the Lord had not been present, delivered us, been on our side? Then, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers” (124:6-7). The psalm ends, “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Our testimony is not one of grit and determination. Ours is the testimony of a life lived by the preserving, delivering grace of God, through his sovereign presence. You are not God’s defender. You are his witness.
I hope to see you Sunday as we testify together of his sovereign grace through the Lord’s Table. I look forward to gathering with you for worship this coming Lord’s Day!
Rod
Such thoughts are now mainstream. They are not the ravings of the fringe – more and more they are the common wisdom of the street. This is part of why Pastor Eugene Peterson says, “I am put on the spot of being God’s defender. I am expected to explain God to his disappointed clients. I am thrust into the role of a clerk in the complaints department of humanity, asked to trace down bad service, listen sympathetically to aggrieved patrons, try to put right any mistakes I can, and apologize for the rudeness of the management.”
Have you been there? Peterson goes on to say, “if I accept any of these assignments I misunderstand my proper work, for God doesn’t need me to defend him. He doesn’t need me for a press secretary, explaining to the world that he didn’t really say what everyone thought they heard in that interview with Job, or that the quotation of his word by Paul was taken out of context and needs to be understood in its proper context.” Our proper work is that of witness not apology. We are simply to tell what we know to be true. To speak the truth of our experience of God’s grace and allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and life to those to whom we testify. We simply give voice to the kindness and grace of our God in his delivering us from the power of sin, his comforting presence in times of great heartache and struggle, his abiding presence in our darkest hour.
Psalm 124 is a wonderful testimony. The psalmist demonstrates profound gratefulness for God’s preserving, delivering grace. The psalmist begins with “what if” in verses 1–5 and goes on to “sure nuff” in verses 6 and 7. What if the Lord had not been present, delivered us, been on our side? Then, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers” (124:6-7). The psalm ends, “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Our testimony is not one of grit and determination. Ours is the testimony of a life lived by the preserving, delivering grace of God, through his sovereign presence. You are not God’s defender. You are his witness.
I hope to see you Sunday as we testify together of his sovereign grace through the Lord’s Table. I look forward to gathering with you for worship this coming Lord’s Day!
Rod