brianrushing.com

There are many difficult societal issues that Christians must confront and find a way to navigate through. And we need strong family values to help our family members walk through the “minefield” without significant damage. But our families and our society needs more from us:

The issues that confront Christians in a secular society must be faced and addressed and legislated, and a democracy gives Christians every right to express themselves. But we dare not invest so much in the kingdom of this world that we neglect our main task of introducing people to a different kind of kingdom, one based solely on God’s grace and forgiveness. Passing laws to enforce morality serves a necessary function, to dam up evil, but it never solves human problems. If a century from now all that historians can say about evangelicals of the 1990s is that they stood for family values, then we will have failed the mission Jesus gave us to accomplish: to communicate God’s reconciling love to sinners.
–Philip Yancey

May we not fail in the mission He gave us!
May we go beyond politics and laws and family values… into the world with the message of the love of Jesus.

I said to the man at the Gate of the Year: “Give me a light that I may walk safely into the unknown.”
He said to me: “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand in the hand of God, and it shall be to you better than the light, and safer than the known.”
— Minnie Louise Haskins

Amen.
I love this quote!
May we place our hands in the mighty hands of God and allow Him to guide us wherever He wants us to go.

(And for those of you who worked in our FBC VBS this year – it sounds a bit like our theme, doesn’t it: Journey off the Map: Though the way is unknown to us; It is known to Him! His voice will be behind us telling us the way to go – and that will be better than any other light and safer than any other way!)

Power, no matter how well-intentioned, tends to cause suffering.
Love, being vulnerable, absorbs it.
In a point of convergence on a hill called Calvary, God renounced the one for the sake of the other.
–Philip Yancey

If Jesus saw the necessity of “emptying Himself” and renouncing power to show His vulnerable love that absorbs our suffering, then I should attempt to do the same.

But it sure is hard to do.

“Father, help me to be vulnerable and loving towards others, so that I can work to absorb suffering, rather than inflict it through any use of power.”

Christian love sees the fellowman under the cross and therefore sees with clarity. If when we judged others, our real motive was to destroy evil, we should look for evil where it is certain to be found, and that is in our own hearts. But if we are on the lookout for evil in others, our real motive is obviously to justify ourselves, for we are seeking to escape punishment for our own sins by passing judgement on others, and are assuming by implication that the Word of God applies to ourselves in one way, and to others in another. All this is highly dangerous and misleading. We are trying to claim for ourselves a special privilege which we deny to others.
–Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Oh how many times I fail at this one.
To judge others is much more enjoyable than looking for evil within myself.
I much prefer to justify myself by passing judgment on others.
I definitely like to think of how a sermon applies to someone else than it does to me… “God, I sure hope _______ is listening this morning.” Or “God, I wish ______ was here to hear this one.” Instead of “God, I see where I fail at applying this message, help me to be more faithful to You and Your Word.”

If I could develop the compassionate eyes of Christ, then I would see my fellowman as someone deserving my love and help rather than my judgment.

You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim wherever you may be, and you shall have no rest until you are wholly united with Christ. Why do you look about here when this is not the place of your repose? Dwell rather upon heaven and give but a passing glance to all earthly things. They all pass away, and you together with them. Take care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be entrapped and perish. Fix your mind on the Most High, and pray unceasingly to Christ.
–Thomas à Kempis

I know these words are the truth.
I know my eternity lies elsewhere – in heaven with Jesus.
I know that I should hold loosely to the things that are here in this temporary pit stop.

And yet, I often fail to do so.
Instead, I cling tightly to things that will soon pass away

Father, help me to hold on more tightly to the things of Your kingdom and character and to hold loosely to the things of this world. Help me not cling to material goods, nor to a desire for popularity, or fame, or power. All that I need is in Your hands. Help me to trust that You will give me those things You hold in Your hands at just the right time.