The Search

I have often found myself reflecting on the tension between the role of human choice and the need to simply submit to God's choice. While these two seem to be contradictory, both are needed in our walk with God. In theology, the classic debate is between Augustine and Pelagius or between Calvin and Arminius. To this day, it's seems much easier to simply retain the debate (and throw stones at the other side) than it is to try to see the need for both emphases. For example, Calvin clearly taught that God's choice to save us is prior to our choice, that we would have no choice if God did not choose first. Some then took his teaching to an extreme and concluded that human beings are merely passive recipients of God's grace. Arminius objected and tried to define (withine the context of Dutch Calvinism) a role for faith as the human response to God's choice. For those who love to debate (and prove how smart they are), it still seems unlikely that these two positions can be reconciled. I contend that, in light of Scripture, both positions are right.

There's no question that "the search" begins with God seeking us. God promised through the prophet that he would take the initiative to search for his lost sheep (Ezekiel 34:11). Jesus defined his mission as "seeking" and "saving" the "lost" (Luke 19:10). There would be no plan to redeem and restore humankind apart from God's initiative. Those who claim that humans can initiate their own salvaton with an act of will do not see the clear pattern of Scripture - God has sought us out and as a result, we have been given the opportunity to respond to his initiative in our lives. 

In fact, I'm struck by the fact that God highly values our "search." Somehow we not only have the opportunity to respond to God, the extent to which we respond with passion and diligence is important. We are not only to respond in some passive, "hopeful" way, but with all our hearts, a search that reflects a profoundly deep hunger and thirst for God and his righteous rule. (Pascal's "Wager" is not enough.)

In the early days of God's relationship with Israel God promised, "if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you see him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29). It's not that God is playing some kind of "hide and go seek" game with his people; God just wants to see the heart of the human seeking after God. Are they just being superficially religious, or do they really want to know God? 

David, a man after God's own heart, clearly proclaimed his passion. "You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you" (Psalm 63:1). On the other hand, some are not truly dedicated to the search. "In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all this thoughts there is no room for God" (Psalm 10:4). The wisdom of Solomon provides important life lessons for those who truly want to know God. Concerning a desire for wisdom we read, "If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:3-5). Later words are put in the mouth of wisdom personified: "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me" (Proverbs 8:17).

I'm fascinated by another statement made by Solomon: "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings" (Proverbs 25:2). While God is not hiding himself or truth from us, God chooses to reveal himself in a way that calls for a search. A polite but passive hearing will not lead to a discovery of God's truth. In fact, God has designed human beings to want to, and be able to "search out a matter." It is their glory! (That's why there should be no real conflict between faith and the scientific method of inquiry.)

The prophets continued to preach among the people God's desire for an earnest, heart-felt search. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Unfortunately, the people being addressed by the prophets were not always deeply sincere and passionate about the need to turn and submit to God. Their religious responses were superficial and short-term. The prophet Hosea put it this way: "Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the Lord his God or search for him" (Hosea 7:10). When Hosea called the people to repentance, he proclaimed, "Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you" (Hosea 10:12). I love how the prophet Amos put it in clear and simple terms: "This is what the Lord says to Israel: 'Seek me and live'" (Amos 5:4).

Jesus came with a renewed call to repentance, announcing the Good News of God's Kingdom. He was clear in exposing the deficiency of external religion as well as the life centered on temporal values. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). The follower of Jesus must "seek" certain things, must diligently search for certain things. Those things are sumarized by anything and everything that might be implied by God's righteous rule in every area of life. The search for God's and a sincere submission to God's authority is the essence of what it means to follow Jesus.

Later in the New Testament the life of faith is defined for us in clear terms: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Our belief in God is not a matter of philosophical precept but values and decisions founded on a clear convinction that our God is a certain kind of God: A god who "rewards" those who "earnestly seek him." God is not looking for shallow commitment but rather a passionate heart that searches for God at every point in life, a passionate love relationship with the Father Creator and with the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

So those who conclude that Jesus followers are just passive recipients of God's grace, while reflecting an important truth, are missing the mark. A passive response is exactly what God is not looking for. God is looking for sons and daughters who so hunger and thirst for him that they will dedicate their lives to the Search. 

God Has No Grandchildren

I've often wondered why one child grows up in a very toxic, dysfunctional family environment and becomes a highly sane, balanced, fruitful, godly adult, while another child grows up in a very wholesome, loving, healthy family and grows up to be a very unstable, unbalanced, addicted, crisis-prone adult. In fact, how is it possible for two children to grow up in the same godly family receiving the same nurturing, loving, consistent parenting, and then develop into radically different adults, one finding a life of fruitfulness and fulfillment, the other a life of frsutration and failure? The obvious answer is that each person is a unique individual who goes through life making unique choices, all of which have profound consequences. But from the perspective of godly parents committed to providing the very best opportunity for their children to be all they can be and do all they can do under God, what are other important factors that need to be taken into consideration? And what are the general implications for our children and young people in our local congregations? Here are a couple of ideas (and observations):

It's All Grace! No one is able to connect heart-to-heart with God apart from God's grace. No human being can initiate their own salvation; faith is always our human response to God's initiative in our lives. (And even faith is a gift.) No amount of consistent parenting or pastoring can replace the need for God's grace in a person's life. I know a young man who as a child was a real rascal. He was always misbehaving, angry, disobedient, moody. And then at age 12 he had a personal encounter with Jesus who personally took him through a healing experience - and it transformed his life. Apart from God's grace working in his experience there's no telling where he might be today.

The condition of the human heart must be prepared to receive God's grace. The human heart is the place where we connect personally with God. All of us find our hearts changing from time to time - growing hard, becoming corrupted, getting soft - due to a variety of factors. It brings to mind the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23). The focus of this parable is not on the sower or on the seed but rather on the condition of the soil receiving the seed. In every case, the sower is Jesus and the seed is his word. However, not every soil is ready to receive the seed. The soil is simply an image of the human heart. Some soil is hard - the seed simply sits on the surface until a bird comes and eats it. Some soil is shallow, ready to receive the seed but not deep enough for a root structure to develop. Some soil has so many thorn bushes already growing in it, the roots already present choke out the seed. But some soil is soft and moist (good), ready not only to receive the seed but also put roots down and ultimately bear good fruit. The good news is that God can provide a life-plow that may come along and turn the soil over, giving it a fresh start.

Every person needs their own encounter with God. Faith is not just believing the right things about God. Those who grow up in the church can fall in love with the idea of God and never actually fall in love with God. Faith is personal, relational, and experiential. Everyone needs to "see" God for themselves. I had a great love for Jesus as a child and grew up in a wonderful Christian home. And yet as a young adult I realized my faith needed something more. As a university student I grew desperate - not for more answers to more questions, but to really know God for myself. One night I grabbed a blanket and went into a small chapel in our dorm and told the Lord I was not going to leave until he met with me. I was not testing God - I really wanted to know. The Lord met me that night, and my life has never been the same.

It's possible to grow up in a godly home, to spend every weekend in Sunday School and church, to keep most of the rules, but never really have a personal connection with God. The good seed of the word can fall on a heart week after week but it never take root and never bear fruit. More than a religious commitment is needed.

In 1980 we had the privilege of hosting David duPlessis in our home in Springfield, Missouri. "Uncle David" was an important figure in the charismatic renewal and he had come to Springfield to restore his relationship with the Assemblies of God. One of the many things he shared has stuck with me: "God has no grandchildren." God only has children. Every church runs the risk of lasting only one generation, because every generation needs its own revival - its own encounter with God. So you see, this spiritual reality applies to more than individual lives - it applies to local congregations and even to generations. While we need to continue doing our best parenting, training and pastoring, ultimately the most profound thing we can do is to faithfully and persistently intercede - for God to open the eyes of those he has placed in our lives and to visit them in a personal way. Indeed, our prayer is for God to visit a new generation of young people who need to see his glory and to put all their hope, trust and confidence in Jesus - to fall in love with Jesus in a profoundly personal, transformational way!

"None"

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life regularly surveys the "religious affiliation" of Americans. One of the options available is "none." As it turns out, that option represents the fastest growing religious demographic, a fact causing considerable conern if not alarm in the American church. In 2005, 15% of respondents identified themselves as "nones." By 2010, that had increased to 20% (32% of those under the age of 30). However, this growing group of Americans are not simply atheists: 68% say they believe in God, 37% say they are "spiritual but not religious," and 21% say they pray every day.

It very much reminds me of the time when many members of my generation were deciding to follow Jesus in the late '60s. We were very clear in saying that our decision reflected a commitment to "relationship" with God through Christ and not to "religion." I wonder if a lot of us might not have answered "none" to the Pew questionnaire for that reason.

Living in the very relgious American southeast I have once again been reflecting on the difference between religion and a dynamic, transformational relation with God. When you live in a place where Christianity (in fact, evangelical, revivalistic Christianity) is part of the cultural DNA, it affords a significant opportunity to observe how deeply faith goes in determining people's perspectivs, values, attitudes, and life choices. No matter where you live, the difference between religion and relationship with God can be easily seen.

In fact, it was the key issue between Jesus and the Pharisees in the New Testament. I have always been impressed with the reason why Jesus chose his disciples. "He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons" (Mark 3:14-15). Jesus had three goals for his followers: (1) To be with him, to be his companions, for relationship; (2) to preach, to announce the Good News of the Kingdom that had come with the coming of Jesus; and (3) to have authority, to share with Jesus in the authoritative work of the Kingdom. Notice that the first reason was all about relationship. In fact, it can be said (in the light of Genesis 1-3) that God's first reason for creating human beings was to have a creation that could freely respond to, return, and share his love. 

With the rapid increase in "nones" maybe it's time we took another look at this issue.

Moralism v. Grace. It was C. S. Lewis who opined that "grace" was the most distinctive idea in Christian faith. "Moralism" is a more logical view of life. It claims that there are clear moral scales in the universe, a moral order with moral consequences. With "evil" on one side and "good" on the other, the scales tip based on a simple system of behavior and rewards. Too much "bad" behavior will always result in a negative consequence. Just the right amount of "good" behavior guarantees a good result. Job's "comforters" were arguing based on this traditional view of life. In fact, I think moralism is hard-wired into the human psyche. "Grace" begins with the understanding that all humans are "bad" and that only God is "good." Therefore, the only possibility of a good reward is God's unmerited favor. The Good News declares that God's favor has been made available to all human beings as a result of the coming and work of Jesus. Therefore, it is only a right relationship with God through Christ that can result in God's favor and blessing. No amount of positive human accomplishment can ever "earn" God's favor. God is not impressed! And there are no "brownie points." And the power of God's grace is the power to transform us from the inside out, to make us more like Jesus.

Exclusion vs. Inclusion. A system of moralism logically leads to a system of comparison, seeking to show that some are better or superior to others. Those who are worse or inferior are to be rejected and excluded. In fact, if we are members of the "in crowd," having established our superiority, excluding the "other" serves to reinforce our sense of special designation and destiny. As my old teacher Kevin Conner used to say, we want to feel we are "the select of the elect" (said with an Australian accent). It's only natural that those on the inside conclude that God is also about excluding those who are not good enough, those who are "outside." In fact, some have concluded that God is looking for reasons to exclude as many as possible from his family. On the other hand, Jesus came to invite everyone to his banquet hall, to heal the sick, to serve and not to be served, to specifically include those society had excluded. The irony was that Jesus saw everyone as sick and blind; but only those who fully understood their blindness and their need for God's enlightenment were candidates for a kingdom cure. In fact, I get the impression from Jesus that the Father is looking for reasons to include folks in his eternal family. You can reject God, but God will not reject you. A church that preaches (and practices) a gospel of superiority and rejection, of exclusion, is representing human-based religion and not a passion to walk in a relationship with God through Christ. It's also true that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. A consistent, conscious decision to reject relationship with God, to decide to not make a home with God, is a decision we will eventaully regret.

Enclave vs. Embassy. I have spent all of my adult life and ministry reflecting on the nature of the church Jesus is building. Cultural Christianity is seen most clearly in our Sunday morning gatherings. To be honest, for most people a local church is a religious social club, a place where we can feel safe "with others like you." However, Jesus has called his followers to be his royal ambassadores, his official representatives in the world. The difference between an "enclave" and an "embassy" comes to mind. An "enclave" is "a country or district surrounded by the territory of another country; an isolated territory." The verb simply means "to isolate or enclose." An enclave builds walls around it to protect and keep its citizens save and untarnished by the outside world. On the other hand, an "embassy" is "a diplomatic mission; a group of people from one organization being represented in another; an ambassador and his/her entourage." An embassy exists to represent the rule of another in a foreign land. It seeks to be an influence and to build bridges of relationship to the surrounding citizens. As Christ's ambassadors, we are called to send embassys, not build enclaves. Unfortunately, the vast majority of American local churches are enclaves, competing with other enclaves for its citizens while protecting themselves from the world. I contend that this vision of the church has nothing to do with the church as defined in the New Testament. It is not the church Jesus is building.

Unfortunately, so many of our "nones," including those who are clearly committed Jesus followers, have so given up on the institution of the American church that they have ceased any participation in Jesus' kingdom community. They have completely given up on the vision that committed, connected followers of Jesus can be agents of redemption and transformation in the world. At the same time, some of our youngest "Jesus freaks" are exploring new expressions of Jesus's community, and are once again serving as salt, light and leaven in our world. Dropping out is not our only alterantive. It is still possible to join with Jesus and his community in a realization of his "kingdom coming" and his "will being done...on earth as it is in heaven." It's still possible that the best is yet to come!