The Disciples were drained…

Having spent the entire day absorbing doctrinal lessons on an empty stomach (Mk.6:31-34) would have left them mentally exhausted. When the teachings were finally finished there was still plenty more to do. Though the day was already “far spent”, the Disciples (at Christ’s command), served 5,000 men (+ women & children) the best all-you-can-eat buffet in the history of mankind, which would have left them physically taxed to say the least. Compounding the difficulty of an already challenging day was the fact that it all began with the tragic news of John the Baptists recent murder (Mt.14:12-13). In considering those few details, it goes without saying that these Disciples were maxed out; mentally, physically, and emotionally. They had been with Jesus all day long, obeying His every command from morning till night…and it wasn’t even over yet.

After they had finished cleaning up the mess, Jesus “immediately made His Disciples get into a boat and go before Him to the other side of the lake” (Matthew 14:22 says the same thing: Jesus “made” them do it). This wasn’t an option, this was an order. They weren’t given a choice. It was time now for more obedience. This is a remarkable situation: It’s already late, they’re absolutely drained, they’ve had no rest and nothing to eat, they’re still bearing the emotional weight of the loss of a spiritual brother, and yet, the commands just keep coming. It’s almost as if Jesus is pushing His men into a place where they will fail. Does He even want them to get to the other side of the lake?

Four miles in to an eight mile journey, the boys were met with trouble. The wind had shifted and was now against them, kicking up waves and preventing them from paddling any further. They were stopped in their tracks; stuck in the middle of the sea. “Straining at rowing” (Mk.6:48) was all they could do to keep from going backwards, and with little energy left, the situation was hopeless. Failure to obey Christ’s command to meet Him on the other side was now inevitable. They had already reached their mental, emotional, & physical limits, but now, with disobedience just around the corner, they were about to experience spiritual incompetence as well.

Most of us would rather hear about our need for forgiveness & mercy in a book or Bible study than to be shown our need through personal failure.

Failure was on the horizon for them, and even if they couldn’t see their need for help yet, Jesus could. He wasn’t satisfied to simply tell them about their need for His mercy, He decided to show them. Is it any accident that the wind came against them when it did? After all, Jesus had only recently demonstrated His ability to control the forces of nature (Mt.8/Mk.4). The process by which God made His Disciples aware of their need for mercy was complex & lengthy, but it got the job done because, just like He does for all of His disciples, He needed to create a situation where they’d see it for themselves. God always finds a way to remind His people of their need for His help. He will even supernaturally arrange your failure if He has to. Most of us would rather hear about our need for forgiveness & mercy in a book or Bible study than to be shown our need through personal failure. But hand’s-on experience is always preferable to God. It may be a painfully frightening ordeal, but it’s good for you.

The reason so many people want God to eliminate sin from their life with the quick snap of a finger instead of through the long, hard road of repentance is because they don’t want to need the Lord’s mercy. We sometimes see mercy as a favor from God that we’ll have to eventually return. Our logic tells us that if we could just convince God to make our sin go away overnight, we could wake up in the morning with no further need of Him, which is exactly what some of us want…to reach a level of spiritual competence by which we’re able to live independently of God. It’s the same evil desire some Christians have always had, even in their former days of sinful self-governance and unbridled lust. Their craving for independence is greater than their longing for God Himself. They don’t have a problem serving Him all the time (they’ll even exhaust themselves doing it), but needing Him at all makes them quite uncomfortable. It makes them feel indebted to God, and they don’t like that. They’d rather feel as if God is indebted to them. Self-satisfaction takes priority over God’s being satisfied. So they pursue a certain degree of piety & perfection, rather than spiritual contrition and a heart that’s broken over its own sin. You see, receiving God’s mercy has a natural humbling effect, which is why, in our pride, we can easily turn church into a place where we silently compete against one another to see who needs it least.

The pursuit of independence from God is as wicked & as dangerous as any other transgression, and He knows it. In order to protect us from the harmful effects of such an unhealthy craving, the Lord Himself “consigns everyone to disobedience, so that He may have mercy on everybody” (Romans 11:32). That statement should be as shocking as it is comforting. It’s shocking, because one would think it beneath God to make use of sin like that. The meaning of the term “consign” here, is that God “delivers you up to the power of sin so that you’re completely shut in by it without means of escape”. His “consigning” us to disobedience then, has an eerie ring to it, wouldn’t you say? And yet, the Scriptures reveal that consigning us to disobedience is a regular practice of His, with no concern for what it might do to His reputation by admitting it. He sees to it that everyone will sin whether they want to or not. Again, did Jesus even want His Disciples to get to the other side of that lake?

God isn’t bothered when we cry to Him for rescue… 

… He specializes in it.

The fact that God “delivers us up to the power of sin” is not only shocking, but also strangely comforting. Comforting because it says that my sin doesn’t surprise Him. Comforting because it reminds me that my coming to Him for mercy is all part of His plan; it’s ok that we need Him. He doesn’t mind it when we ask Him for forgiveness. He welcomes it. He isn’t bothered when we cry to Him for rescue. He specializes in it. We might have a problem with appearing needy to Him, but He doesn’t. Not at all.

Now this shouldn’t lead us to mistakenly believe that we can freely disobey God because He seems to be pushing us in that direction anyway. We all know what the Apostle Paul would say to that (Ro.6:1-2)! It simply is not true. After all, the Disciples never quit rowing, did they? They strained at it. It’s not our job to give up, it’s our job to obey, all the while knowing that even the best of our obedience will still fall short. Again, this is no excuse for sin, rather, this is a strong incentive to follow Christ with the joy of knowing that when we do sin, there’s mercy for us.

Any reasonable Christian knows how impossible it is to bypass their continual need for God’s mercy. No matter what the situation, mercy is the answer. We need it more than we know, but God knows how much we need it, and He will show you just how deep that need is. When He reveals to you just how badly you’ve failed, and just how desperately you need His mercy, don’t look away. Don’t pretend to not notice it. Perceive it, freely confess it, and accept the mercy that is yours in Christ. Knowing your need for mercy is a sign of hope; humbly asking for it is a sign of spiritual maturity; and gladly receiving it is true salvation.

So, did Jesus really want His Disciples to get to the other side of that lake? Or rather, does Jesus want you to obey His directives and live an obedient life? Yes, of course He does. But not without Him. You’ll never get to the other side on your own. It’s the one who fails to realize this who spends their time stuck in the middle of that proverbial sea “straining at rowing”…impressing themselves with how little of God’s help they need…going nowhere.

Is that you? Jesus wants to be the one who brings you across the lake we call “life”, and if you’re trying to get there without His help, He’d be glad to show you just how much you actually need it. So, is there room enough in your boat for Him, or do you prefer your independence?

Superman

It takes Clark Kent 3 seconds in a revolving door or a phone booth to go from average to awesome. It’s impressive to say the least. He’s really the first of his kind to figure out how to do it. One moment he’s a run-of-the-mill, blue-collar civilian, but before you know it, he becomes Superman; flying everywhere and saving everyone. It’s thrilling, and inspiring, and never disappointing. He’s handsome, and brave, and always courteous. The things he’s accomplished with that red cape on his back makes his life worth watching, as millions of people all over the world would attest.

 

First introduced in 1938, Superman has captured the attention of children everywhere ever since. And it seems that, perhaps, he’s left many of them with the impression that, as adults, sanctification would happen faster than it does. But the world needs to know something: Mr. Kent might be able to achieve perfection in less than 60 seconds, but you can’t. And neither can I. If there was a short-cut to absolute generosity and self-sacrificial service like he had, someone would’ve found it by now. But unfortunately, there is no fast-tracking your development. Even worse, there is no secret phone booth for the Christian. There’s no corner of the city where you can privately undergo a profound spiritual makeover and then emerge as an otherworldly superhero. The transformation of a Christian might be radical, but it certainly isn’t confidential. The process of growth that takes place in the believer happens slowly, publicly, and oftentimes, embarrassingly. When Clark Kent goes from average to awesome, no one sees it happen, but when disciples of Christ do it, the whole world watches.

When you volunteer for discipleship, you’re volunteering for humiliation.

The Original

In the days before revolving doors and phone booths, Jesus recruited run-of-the-mill, blue-collar civilians, and turned them in to disciples through a challengingly slow, highly visible process. Every scene of their character renovation was raw and real. They walked on water, but they also sank. Casting out demons one day, but then failed the next. They were commended by Jesus, but they were also rebuked by Jesus. The final cut includes some of their biggest failures for an audience larger than Superman could ever fathom. Discipleship, unlike Hollywood, offers no makeup or costumes, no editing, no scripts, and certainly no retakes. When you volunteer yourself for discipleship, you’re volunteering yourself for humiliation.

 

Could you imagine how arduous & disappointing feature films would be if all the raw footage were left in there? Consider the innumerable out-takes of a film like Superman, and how they would diminish his glorious persona if we all watched him forget his lines and trip over his own stupid cape. The Man of Steel suddenly becomes the man-of-real, and nobody’s even impressed by him anymore. It shouldn’t take too long before you realize that your life in Christ is going to be very unlike the Adventures of Superman. The ugly garments of your old self don’t come off as easily as they do for fictional characters. No one gets to hide them in a phone booth and simply walk away; not you, not I, not even Apostles got to do that. So if you’re the kind of person who’s prone to making unsanctioned edits to their own footage just to keep from being embarrassed, the kind who always needs to be seen as a superhero by the audience whose applause you love, quit it. You’re mocking the Director and you’re ruining the show. If the Movie-Maker would have you look like a fool, and if He wants to include just as many bad parts as He does good ones, then humble yourself and join the cast. If you’re not careful, you might be writing yourself out of the film altogether.

 

But why? Why does it take so long? Why can’t it happen faster? And why does it hurt so much? Why do I have to feel like an idiot all the time? And why doesn’t He let me do this in private where no one has to see how un-spiritual I actually am? Why can’t I just play pretend like Christopher Reeves?

 

Well, the reason He chooses weaklings like us, and the reason He chose fools like Andrew & Philip & Paul, is because He wants to save your glorification until later. Remember, you are not in the glorification stage, you are in the sanctification stage. Big difference. Glorification will come, but not now. Until it does (and it may be a while yet), there will be frustration, slow progress, humiliation, and pain. It might not be normal for guys like Superman, but it most certainly is for the disciples of Christ. It always has been. And it will be until this flick is finally over.

Today

Twenty centuries later, Jesus is still up to the same thing: Recruiting run-of-the-mill, blue-collar civilians, and then turning them in to disciples: “Not many wise, not many powerful, not many noble are called. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important” (I Cor.1:26-29). It’s still a painfully slow procedure, pockmarked by failure & embarrassment, but it’s the process He’s ordained for us to go through in order to become a little more ‘super’ and a bit more ‘heroic’.

Sarah Churman makes a lot of people cry. Not because she’s intentionally cruel or violent, and not because of anything she says or does, but because she can hear. That’s all. People cry because Mrs. Churman can hear. Millions of people have watched her listen to stuff, and a lot of them have cried because of it. They just can’t help themselves. It’s overwhelming.

In case you’re not one of the 27M who’ve seen the video, Sarah was born deaf (as the story goes), and at age 29 received a cochlear implant that allowed her to hear clearly for the first time. That moment was captured on film and uploaded to YouTube for the whole world to watch. And when they did, many of them, like Sarah herself, couldn’t help but to cry.

The reason a situation like that can be so emotional is because we all know that people were meant to hear, so we’re sad when they can’t. Deafness is hugely problematic in many ways. It so severely impedes communication with the hearing population that the deaf oftentimes form their own communities and develop their own culture with their own set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, & values that are influenced by their handicap. Deafness also endangers, because wherever warnings are made audibly (as they often are; sirens, alarms, screaming, etc.), such warnings will be missed; undetected by the unhearing ear. Moreover, deafness stifles wonder, because so much of our world is enjoyed through the ears: Instrumentation & song, the chirping of birds, a reassuring voice. Deafness, in many ways, is tragic.

No one as far as I’m aware wishes they were deaf. And I would imagine that the deaf would gladly choose to hear if given the choice. That’s why the response to one gaining the ability to hear, especially after having lived so long without, is so universally emotional & joyous.

Spiritual Deafness

Peter had already been busy in the discipleship community for a couple of years by the time he made the “Great Confession” in Matthew 16:16. He had taught bible studies, served at tables, participated in missions…all common activities for the average disciple of Christ. He was submissive to his leader Jesus, he was keeping pace with his peers, and he was learning plenty along the way. But something was still amiss…Peter couldn’t hear.

Sheer obedience, by itself, isn’t enough to impress Jesus

The “Rock” (as he was called) needed a personal translator in life issues, and so Jesus quickly became his Linguist. As long as he had someone around to tell him exactly what to do and how to do it, Peter was ok. If Jesus sent him into the mission field, he’d go (Mt.10). When Jesus told him what to do out there, he did it (v.5-6). If he was assigned to preach, he would preach, if to heal, he’d heal (v.7-8). He would bring everything that was on the ‘packing list’ and nothing more (v.9-10). Peter was like some people in the modern church who literally won’t move a muscle unless they’re prompted by their spiritual leader…and once they’re given the ‘green light’, nothing is going to stop them. They’ll risk their very life if they have to (see Mt.14:28-30 for a very vivid display of this kind of attitude). Needless to say, Peter’s obedience was remarkable, a thing to be envied by fellow disciples, and perhaps something he prided himself on. But sheer obedience, by itself, wasn’t enough to impress or to please Jesus. Quite the opposite in fact (see Mt.14:31). Without his Interpreter, Peter was sunk, and Jesus was unnerved by that reality.

From Silence to Sound

What Jesus was looking for in Peter was a “change-over” of sorts. A conversion from spiritual immaturity to adulthood whereby he no longer needed someone else to dictate his beliefs and make his decisions for him. A transition from blind confidence in his earthly Instructor, to full trust in a Heavenly Father. And this was one lesson that Jesus wasn’t allowed to teach. For Peter’s own good, this one had to come from God Himself. Some conclusions are meant to be made on your own, between you and God alone, so to let someone else do all your thinking for you on important decisions like these is extremely dangerous. Jesus wouldn’t even do that for the Apostle. As much as He loved him, Jesus refused to hold Peter’s hand and tell him, step by step, what to believe, for that would have been to enable him further in the very habit He was hoping to break him from. He wouldn’t do it for Peter…He won’t do it for you.

Some conclusions are meant to be made on your own, between you and God alone

When Peter’s deafness finally ended and he uttered his first words as a hearing man (Mt.16:16), Jesus responded emphatically: “How blessed you are Simon!” (v.17). Jesus wasn’t merely excited because Peter gave the correct answer, but because he was finally being directed by God more than he was being influenced by what others were telling him: “This truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven” (GNT). It excites Jesus to see His disciples graduate from their dependence upon man to a reliance upon God. Jesus had never explicitly told His disciples that He was the Son of God. He couldn’t. It wouldn’t have been good for them. Yet, by God’s grace, & according to His perfect plan, Peter eventually came to that understanding without the help of anybody else except God. It might’ve taken a while, but Peter could finally hear. Good for him.

Christ’s Hope for You

Doing what you’re told is good if you’re a child. Every parent appreciates an obedient youngster just as every pastor appreciates a compliant disciple. But as the years pass, even children are expected to function without the same coaching they received as a juvenile. And when they don’t, mom & dad start getting nervous. Hearing God is a critical part of the Christian life, and to be a well-trained member of the church, without ever maturing beyond the need for your hand to be held at every step, wasn’t what Jesus wanted for Peter, and it isn’t what He wants for you.

It’s not hard to find people in our fellowship who wish they had someone around all the time to tell them exactly what to do & say & believe, but that’s unhealthy. Sooner or later you’ll need to enter in to Christian adulthood and wean yourself from a “godly-council-only” diet. You’ll need to learn how to hear God for yourself & come to your own conclusions. I can only imagine how Peter’s life would’ve turned out had this ‘change-over’ never taken place in him. I’ve known people who, like Peter, spent years in the discipleship community, keeping pace with everyone else, setting the example of Christian obedience. But they never developed the ability to “hear from God” for themselves on important matters. And they died.

Hearing from God is a critical part of the Christian life

You may have a mentor, and you may go to your Christian kin for advice now and then. You might appreciate the wise counsel & insight of your pastors and elders, which is just fine. Truly, to negate the value of earthly help is foolish, and to reject godly advice is pride to the hilt. Surely, Jesus had something of value to offer Peter during their time together on earth. But we, like Peter, also need something that no human teacher or leader can provide us with: Ears to hear. As helpful as a godly man or woman can be in getting you through the sticky mess of this life, they are no substitute for God.

So how old are you? How many years has it been since you began your journey of discipleship? Can you hear God yet? Because that’s what Jesus is waiting for, and that’s what we’re hoping to see in you as well. Spiritual deafness is tragic. That’s why, when someone finally hears God’s voice on their own, for the very first time in their Christian life, it’s such an overwhelming joy for the rest of the family. Almost enough to make you cry.

Did you grow up in a family?

I’ll bet you did. And even if your family wasn’t “ideal”, you survived it. My family wasn’t perfect, and neither was yours, but I’ll tell you one thing: Barring any major dysfunction, you didn’t run away from them, and they didn’t run away from you. There may be some exceptions here and there, but you probably didn’t flee in the middle of the night & move in with a different family, and you probably didn’t secure a legal name change to ensure your safety, and you probably didn’t drop all contact with your folks so you could forget all of the terrible things that happened and begin the process of “healing”. Most likely, you stuck it out, kept the name, and still hug mom & dad when you see them, even though they weren’t perfect. And they probably hug you back, even though you weren’t the easiest kid to raise. Even if it sometimes hurt, you still love your family, and they still love you.

Being the member of a family is a necessary part of the human experience. We’ve got so much to learn from living in close relation to others that God decided to make it inescapable. By His design each of us was thrust into our respective families from the very moment of our birth, without exception or permission. God has determined that good character would be forged through our close involvement with other people in less-than-perfect environments, all beginning in the one we call “home”. Running away on account of its problems only delays maturity and fortifies irresponsibility. There are crucial lessons to be learned during our time at home as children that are intended to be carried with us into the world as adults, lessons that won’t be learned by avoiding each other. It’s obvious that people need family.

Social Loyalty

One of the lessons we were meant to learn by being a part of a household was Social Loyalty. In other words, spending the first 18 years of your life with the same people in the same space was enough time to give rise to occasional tension, but with nowhere else to go, you learned to remain steadfast in the face of adversity. Or at least one would hope. You weren’t always given the option of giving up and going “somewhere better”. Being in a family helped you learn how to ignore the fantasy that imagines an easier life elsewhere. It trained you to control your impulse to abscond from relationships when they became problematic. And it required you to come home at the end of the day and stay there. It forced you to endure with the people who sometimes hurt you and made you realize that the ones who love you the most sometimes treat you the worst. Among other things, being part of a family helped you to see how relationships actually work behind the public curtain, and to remain faithful even when they disappoint.

“If you can survive family, you can survive church”

 

To put it another way, if you survived family, you can survive church. God was training you to grow up, move out, and become unflinchingly committed to a church, your church, long before you even knew it. You and I have been more than adequately prepared by God’s sovereign design, to survive the many rigors of church life regardless of the social pains and interpersonal conflicts that go with it. You’ve already proven yourself capable of doing this long before you ever came through our doors.

Commitment (or lack of)

This being true, why then do we see such a sickeningly weak commitment to the church? We all know that families come with baggage, right? Why then are we so shocked when we realize that churches have their own baggage?  Nobody lives under the silly illusion that there’s a flawless household out there somewhere, yet more and more people seem to be searching for the perfect church. They think that if they look hard enough, they’ll eventually find it, join it, and live happily ever after. But when they’re unable to find one, they get upset about it, divorce themselves from it, and live sadly ever after instead. Christians are giving up far too easily on the church. The neighborhoods of Duluth are crowded with spiritual runaways like these. And this blight isn’t unique to the Northland. It seems to be happening everywhere.

“A church without wounds is an easy sell in a world where words are cheap” -Paul Maxwell

What’s the issue?

I’m not sure what to do about it. Maybe there are some legitimate concerns. Maybe churches are doling out way more abuse than I’m aware of. But many of the runaways I meet are revoking their enrollment for suffering no greater injustice that the average Starbucks patron does…they felt slighted once or twice. Somebody cut in line and made them feel inferior. The barista didn’t treat them like a demigod. But wait, since when is coffee so much more important than fellowship is, that we’d tolerate inter-relational insults like these for the one but not the other? Maybe the problem isn’t so much the church’s treatment of its people, but its people’s perspective of the church. The simple truth is, some are expecting their church to provide them with the impossible: Insulation from everything, including each other. They want “real community” without the reality of community. They want “real relationships”, but not the reality of what a real relationship offers. With so many of God’s children moving along to the next church before they’ve even had a chance to establish themselves at the last one, God’s Kingdom is taking on a frightening resemblance to the foster care system.

Choice

Each of us has a choice, and it’s not necessarily a choice between a church that hurts us and a church that doesn’t, because the latter doesn’t exist. Your church will hurt you from time to time just like your family did. We could lie to you and tell you it won’t, but like one writer says, “A church without wounds is an easy sell in a world where words are cheap“. The real choice you have is whether you’ll remain loyal or not when you do get hurt…and it IS your choice. Rescinding on your commitment just because you feel injured simply opens you up to further injury, only by a new group of people at a different church. And if history repeats itself, you’ll leave them just like you did the last time it happened. Do you see where this goes?

Fact Remains

At any rate, I can promise you one thing: You will eventually get hurt here at this church. Every one of us will, not because we’ve failed to create a real, intimate family dynamic, but because we’ve actually succeeded in it. Being part of a family can be a painful thing, but you already know that, so don’t be surprised when you get bruised by the ones who love you, as though some strange thing were happening to you. We offer what every family does, which includes irritation, discomfort, embarrassment, and insult. Not much different from the things you’ve been dealing with since you were a baby. But being part of this church also means that we’re committed to caring for you. It means that when life deals you a blow, we’ll be there to help you shoulder it. And it means that you’ll live in community like God intended so that you won’t have to die alone like the devil would prefer. It means you’ll have the chance to forgive the sins of others while overcoming your own so that you can discover just how rewarding deep relationships like ours can be.

We might not offer you perfection, but neither do we expect you to be perfect. We will hurt you, but… you’ll also hurt us. People leave the church all the time and for various reasons, but the church never leaves her people. She hasn’t gone anywhere in 2,000 years, and she never will. If anyone is loyal, it’s her. The least we can do is return the favor.

Enjoy your stay.