What Are You Seeking?

As I was reading through the Sermon on the Mount this week, I noted Matthew 6:33 in particular: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (ESV). While we often hear sermons about seeking the kingdom first, I don’t recall ever hearing anyone explain what it means to seek His righteousness. The first Scripture that came to mind when I asked myself that question was Philippians 3:8b-9: “in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

It’s probably natural that when we hear an instruction to “pursue righteousness,” our first thought is how to avoid sin and be a better person. I can attest to the fact that that can only take us so far. We might clean up a few obvious sins, but that doesn’t really change who we are. The Apostle Paul points out that the righteousness that comes from obedience to the law doesn’t really save us. The righteousness that we need is Christ’s perfect righteousness, which is only received by faith. Paul reinforces Jesus’s statement that it is God’s righteousness we are to be seeking, not our own self-righteousness.

Looking at the context of both the Sermon on the Mount and Philippians 3, there are other notable parallels between Jesus’s words and Paul’s words. Jesus says:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matthew 6:19-21, 31-32).

Paul then elaborates:

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11).

It seems that Paul took Jesus’s teachings quite literally. He not only gave up his possessions and status, but he counted them as rubbish. He didn’t spend time worrying about where his next meal was coming from (and indeed went hungry at times), but he willingly walked into dangerous situations in his pursuit of the kingdom. He suffered for Christ and died knowing that it was worth every minute of pain (see 1 Corinthians 11:24-28 and Philippians 1:21).

It’s tempting to take Matthew 6 out of context and say, “Okay, I’m going to try really hard not to be anxious but to seek God first in my life.” But that’s a pretty anemic response to the greater context of Scripture. Just a few verses later in Matthew 7 Jesus warns that many so-called Christians will be told in the end, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (7:23). Then in Matthew 10 Jesus says that persecution will come and “whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (10:38). Paul’s life is a pretty good example of the commitment that’s required. (The A.D. television series has at the very least been a good reminder of what opposition really looks like.)

Christianity in 21^st century America may seem far removed from the experience of the early church, but I think we’re beginning to get a sense of the danger that could be in store for us when governments are actively promoting non-Christian values, when terrorists seek out Christian targets, and nominal Christians are leaving the church in droves. Those who remain faithful to the end will learn what it means to “seek first His kingdom” and “share in His sufferings.” Some day in the not-so-distant future, it won’t be about choosing not to worry about the fashion trends or saving for retirement, but about choosing to follow Jesus against every logical argument for taking the easy way out. It’s happened before and it will happen again.

“Choose this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Solid Promises

There is a verse that comes to mind frequently and it happened to be in my Bible reading this week: “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands” (Psalm 138:8 ESV and a similar verse in Psalm 57:2). This is both comforting and challenging at the same time. It’s comforting because:

• God will fulfill His purpose. It all depends on God, not me.
• His purpose is directly tied to His steadfast love, which never changes.
• It is His work and He will complete it. He will provide and enable all that is necessary for His purpose to be fulfilled.

But it’s challenging because God’s purpose is not always the same as my purpose. I don’t always know or trust what His purposes are. If my purpose doesn’t line up with His, I will keep being frustrated when it gets blocked or derailed. And when I don’t understand His purpose, it’s hard to make sense of the difficulties that come along.

One of the challenges I have is that I’m very much a black and white thinker. And while that serves me well as an accountant, it doesn’t work out so well in the rest of my world. Most situations have numerous shades of grey that depend on what other people are thinking, how they perceive a situation, and how things are communicated (among other things). So when any of those things don’t line up with my way of thinking, I get confused, frustrated, angry, and hurt, and it takes a long time to work it out and get over it. Many different decisions may be good options without being clearly the best.

I’m thankful that much of Scripture is black and white. (The only grey areas I can think of are directly related to modern interpretations of the original writers’ intentions.) The Old Testament Law says “Do this; don’t do that.” The New Testament says, “This road leads to life and blessing; that road leads to death.” And throughout Scripture are God’s ironclad promises: “I will never leave you or forsake you; I will fulfill My purposes; The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; In returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust shall be your strength; I will come again and take you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also.”

While there is much in life that is disappointing, depressing, and discouraging, God’s plans, purposes, and promises can be counted on. Some things never change.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:50).

Speak No Evil

A couple items I’ve encountered recently have focused my attention on how we use social media. The first was this cautionary article by Thom Rainer: http://thomrainer.com/2014/08/04/seven-warnings-church-leaders-use-social-media/ and the second was last Sunday’s sermon on church unity from 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. It’s made me reconsider some of the things I see on Facebook and particularly whether I should respond to someone else’s post or not. Here are some of the difficulties that I see:

Christians are by no means united in their beliefs, not just about basic theology, but about politics and all kinds of social issues. Is Facebook the best place to “discuss” such issues, by which I mean, is it the best place to state your personal opinion on a controversial issue and seek popular approval?

In addition, non-Christians (and many Christians) often don’t have a solid grasp of the differences between churches, denominations, parachurch organizations, or heretical teachers. As a result, a wide variety of people get lumped together. For some Franklin Graham may appear to be in the same boat with Creflo Dollar. Whether you agree with a nationally known person or not, taking sides either way may give false impressions to those who don’t understand the differences. A brief comment on social media is not adequate to clarify the underlying issues.

It’s tempting at times to share some celebrity’s public comment and criticize them for being too judgmental, but it appears to me that doing so only increases the judgmentalism being passed around. For example, you may not like their stance on homosexuality, but is it necessary to be publicly critical of them in order to state your own opinion? Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35 ESV). Is it a good witness to publicly criticize fellow believers whether you agree with them or not?

Paul wrote:

• “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6).
• “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
• “‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24).

The book of Proverbs is also full of wisdom about how we should use our words. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is disturbed by the frequency with which we publicly tear people down rather than building them up and seeking their good. This isn’t anything new, but social media has made it a lot more visible to a lot more people. But on the plus side, we also have a lot more opportunities to encourage one another, pray for one another, share the Good News, and spur one another on to love and good deeds.

I would suggest that believers should endeavor to maximize the benefits of social media rather than contributing to the divisive issues that are becoming our “trademark” in the world. May the world say of us, “See how they love one another!”

One Thing

I’m reading a book that quotes part of a day’s reading from the One Year Bible. Out of that reading, the following verses caught my attention:

• Deuteronomy 10:9 – “That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.”
• Luke 8:18 – “Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
• Psalm 69:32 – “The poor will see and be glad—you who seek God, may your hearts live!”

The thought occurred to me that we should live more like the Levites with an awareness that the Lord is the only inheritance we need. Jesus said the same thing about the rich man who stored up more and more grain: “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20-21 ESV).

In some ways, those of us who live in the affluent western world are handicapped when it comes to trusting God and valuing Him as our greatest gift. We have so many other resources at hand that we don’t often need to trust Him very much. Why pray for daily bread when you have a piece of plastic that will buy all you need? Why seek Him for healing when there’s a doctor’s office on every street? Most of us expect to receive at least some inheritance from our parents, and families are often divided by fights over who gets what. The Apostle Paul frequently reminded his readers that we are heirs—“heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). That is the only inheritance we really should be seeking. Yet we get caught up in materialism, commercialism, and self-sufficiency. It’s all about me.

How can we even begin to understand Jesus’ words in the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12): “Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… the merciful… the pure in heart… the peacemakers… those who are persecuted…”? Those traits are often the very things we try to avoid if at all possible, and even if we aren’t trying to avoid them, we aren’t actively seeking them out. (When was the last time you sought a reason to mourn?) In the parallel passage in Luke 6, Jesus is even more blunt: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and week. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” That should make some of us a bit nervous! Anything that comes before God in our priorities is destined to cause us grief later.

John Piper shares this observation in Don’t Waste Your Life:

“Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest, which tells about a couple who ‘took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.’ At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: ‘Look, Lord. See my shells.’ That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.”

As Curly in the movie City Slickers points out, we need to dedicate our lives to one thing and one thing only. He said everyone has to figure out that one thing for themselves, but Jesus said that for the believer that one thing has to be God. If we get that priority right, everything else will fall into its correct place (Matthew 6:33). He is our source of life today and our inheritance forever.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).

Holy Messes

Recently I’ve been doing some study on autism spectrum disorder. (Psychology has long been an interest to me.) One thing that has stood out is that no one can really define what is “normal” and what is not. Is something a disorder if it doesn’t bother the person who has it? I came to the conclusion that whether you’re talking about mental health, physical health, or spiritual health, all of humanity is on one long continuum of brokenness. Some people may appear healthier than others; some may be better able to cope with the complexities of life, and some may seem more mature. But aside from Jesus Christ none of us are perfect in any way, no matter what Mary Poppins may claim for herself.

In Good News for Those Trying Harder, Alan Kraft discusses the beatitudes in Matthew 5 and particularly “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (5:3 ESV). He writes:

“Now most every Christian would agree this is where the spiritual life begins, but that is not what Jesus is saying. A quick read through the rest of these values reveals that these are not onetime events but are to be constantly experienced—mercy, peacemaking, humility, and brokenness. Jesus is inviting us to live every moment in a conscious awareness of how spiritually needy we are. He invites us to continually embrace and experience the melody of brokenness” (39).

His introduction clarifies:

“When we define spiritual growth as us becoming more like Christ, as us becoming less and less sinful, what we are actually pursuing is a spiritual growth path in which we need Jesus less and less. I need Him less today than yesterday, because the power of sin is not as strong in my life” (33).

He includes this quote from Thomas Moore: “Our depressions, jealousies, narcissism, and failures are not at odds with the spiritual life. Indeed, they are essential to it. When tended, they prevent the spirit from zooming off into the ozone of perfectionism and pride.”

The point is that God didn’t save us in order to wean us off our dependence on Him. Spiritual growth and maturity actually comes from relying on Him more fully over time. Although we have been saved from the power of sin, that freedom is realized as we learn to lean on God when the temptations come rather than trying to exercise our own willpower to get us through. We are all broken, sinners, weak and needy, and we will be until the return of Christ. When we start thinking we’ve got it all together, we run the risk of tripping over our own pride and self-sufficiency. As Paul said, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). That verse comes just before the reminder that God is the one who provides the way of escape from temptation and enables us to endure.

Like many (perhaps most) people I’ve sometimes wondered, “Why doesn’t God just fix this?” Whether it is a broken body, broken mind, or broken spirit, God certainly has the power to make it right. But in His perspective, there are things that are far more important than being “normal.” I’m convinced that He allows brokenness to remain in our lives to keep reminding us of how much we need Him.

We’re all messed up, but we don’t all recognize it. And even if we do recognize that we are broken, that knowledge can either drive us toward God or away from Him. We can either learn to depend on Him or we can get angry that He isn’t fixing the problem. It can also drive toward people or away from them. We can choose to be gracious toward those who are different from us (either “better” or “worse”), or we can be envious or arrogant. Obviously God’s desire is for us to love and trust Him and to extend the same love and grace to others. It’s pretty hard to do that if our definition of “normal” excludes people. The fact is we’re all abnormally normal.

I think when we do reach eternity we’ll be astounded to see what perfection actually looks like. Our earthly standards are so far off that we can’t begin to imagine. We judge Hitler for his conception of a master race, but our ideas of normalcy are only marginally better. When compared to God’s perfection, none of us has any claim to superiority.

“God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:28-29).