Ctrl+Z: Whatever happened, happened

*image courtesy of thesaint at stock.xchng

I was thinking today about mistakes.  I hate mistakes, especially the ones you just can’t fix.  For example, I was in downtown Richmond this afternoon and unwittingly parked illegally.  It was a “No Parking Zone,” but only from 4-6pm.  I saw the sign, thought I was out of the tow zone, and even backed up one parking meter to get further away from that scowling white sign with its slashy circle of scorn.  Alas, I was apparently in the tow zone, and it was 4:15.

Of course.

Now, there’s no going back.  I have no defense.  There’s no wiggle room, there’s no making up for it, there’s no making it all go away.  Instead, sixty of my hard-earned dollars will be painting a bench somewhere downtown or helping to pay some civil servants salary, probably the one who wrote my ticket.

Thankfully, we have the universal reset button: Ctrl+Z.

Yes, the “undo” feature started as a handy ability on word processing that has now spread to nearly every program I encounter.  Accidentally delete a paragraph?  Undo!  Accidentally delete the pictures of your kid’s first birthday?  Ctrl+Z!  It’s truly an amazing function, and has become so ubiquitous that sometimes it’s hard to remember that it only works on computers.

I’ve often wished that life had an undo function.  I’ve wished that I could simply stroke a few keys and find myself five minutes in the past, or maybe a whole day, with the chance to do it all over again.  Like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, I’d know how I failed the try before, and could do it again and again until I got things juuust right.

Until Google/Apple/Facebook/Skynet/Big Brother finds a way to implement an actual undo button for life, or we all find ourselves sucked into/uploaded into the cloud, we have to live with our analog mistakes.  Now, this is a biblical blog (biblog? no, sorry, that’s dumb), so you might think this is where I pull out the Jesus card like this…

Jesus is the Eternal Undo Button!

But, you’d be wrong.  And that’s ok, because you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and darn it people like you.

No, that’s not the point I’m going to make.  Ok, that’s half true.  Jesus does take away your guilty standing as a rebel against the King of the Universe, don’t get me wrong.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean a cosmic “undo” for all those who believe.  Sometimes, there are long-lasting effects of sin in your life that simply won’t go away.  (Note I used “won’t” not “can’t.”)

It goes like this…

When you put your faith and trust in Jesus, a few things could happen: God could remove all traces of a particular sin in your life, including guilty standing, temptation to repeat, and negative consequences. Or, God could remove the guilt of your sin but not the consequences of your sin.  You see, the guilt part is integral to salvation.  In fact, it’s what you’re believing when you put your trust in Jesus: that He can and will forgive you of your sins and restore your right standing before God if you will believe.

The other stuff, is not as sure.  I’m sure you know or have heard of someone who came to Jesus and immediately put down their drugs, promiscuity, Disney movies, and all other forms of evil in their lives without ever looking back.  They experienced no withdraw symptoms, never had a second thought, and could march right back into the bar/strip club/theme park without fear of relapse.  Praise God, He is still at work and does mighty things for the glory of His Name!

However, sometimes God chooses, for reasons we don’t know, to not deliver someone as radically and instantaneously.  I would argue that this is the norm.  God gives us the words of Paul to put off the old self and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-23).  Therefore, we are urged to work together with God through the power of the Holy Spirit to strive towards obedience in this particular area.

Also, sometimes the consequences of our sin will not be removed.  God has built into the fabric of the universe a cause and effect system that goes beyond physics.  What we plant is what we will harvest (Galatians 6:7-9).  This is the biblical counter to “what goes around comes around” or karma.  The difference is that God can override this, and it doesn’t apply to our eternal state if we are in Christ.  What it does apply to is our life in the here and now.

Lead a promiscuous life and you might end up with a disease.  God can heal you of that, but it’s neither a guarantee nor the norm.  God may bless you with a wonderful marriage down the road with a pure and holy sex life, but you may not ever get certain images out of your head.  Murder someone, and God can and will forgive you for your sin.  That doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t go to jail.  Lie through all your B.C. years, and people might have a hard time believing you when get all truthful on them.

Just because we’re Christians doesn’t mean that we’re somehow exempt from the real world.  There are still consequences to our actions.  God may choose to supernaturally override the norm, but don’t count on it in every case.  We don’t have an “undo” button for life, and this is the only shot we get on this earth.  We will be judged for what we do here, and there will be no going back.

Whatever happened, happened.

Bible in 90, Day 11: Power, Provision, and Promises

Numbers 9-21

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 68: Tithe if you love Jesus, anyone can honk!

Malachi 1 – Matthew 4

image courtesy of svilen001 at stock.xchng

Have you ever gotten one of these types of emails?

“If you don’t forward this message to 1,000 people, you don’t really love Jesus.”

or

“Not many will forward this because they are ashamed of Jesus.  He said, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)

or seen a Honk if you love Jesus bumper sticker?

Let me say this – it takes absolutely no commitment to click forward on an email, and says nothing about one’s faith and trust in Jesus to honk a horn.  I saw a sign outside a church the other day that said, “Tithe if you love Jesus, anyone can honk!”

The whole book of Malachi is about Israel’s offerings and the desecration of the temple because of defiled/lame offerings. God accused the Israelites of stealing from God by bringing him unacceptable offerings.  He warns the priests that they are guilty for accepting such sacrifices.  The people had decided that serving God and bringing the sacrifices He commanded was pointless (3:14).  They only paid lip-service to God with their sacrifices.  They went through the motions, but their sacrifices had become pitiful.

God reminded the people of the blessings He promised for their obedience.  He reminded them that they can never outgive God.  God would provide for them, so long as they’re obedient.  I don’t believe this is a call to give to God so that we will prosper.

As Christians, the command to tithe (that is, to give 10% of one’s earnings to God) has taken on new meaning.  In the new covenant, we understand that all we have belongs to God.  We are merely managers of the resources God has put into our care.  I believe that using 10% as a starting point is a good rule of thumb, but not a legalistic necessity.  We do not give a particular percentage so that we can meet some religious obligation.  Rather, out of the gratitude in our hearts for all that God gives us, and out of a desire to help accomplish the mission He has given us, we give gladly.

Let’s not give lip-service to being committed to Christ.  Let’s not click forward and think we’ve done anything for the Kingdom of God.  Let’s put our money where our mouths are, and give from a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7).  Let’s be intentional in our giving, whether it be to our church, to support the needy overseas, or to help our next door neighbor. Let’s set aside a portion of what God has entrusted to us to serve His purposes and glorify Him.

originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 57: Safe amid the danger

Jeremiah 34-47

*image courtesy of firehawk77 at stock.xchng

God had warned the people through Jeremiah’s preaching (as well as many other prophets) that if they did not repent and turn from their evil ways, He would destroy Jerusalem.  They saw this happen already to the northern kingdom of Israel, and yet they did not believe.  They refused to turn from evil, and so God brought destruction through the Babylonians.

At this point (Jeremiah 41-43), the people asked Jeremiah to find out where God wanted them to go because they feared the Babylonians.  God specifically told them not to go to Egypt, but to stay in the land and obey the Babylonians.  If they would do this, Jeremiah prophesied, God would protect them.  The people did not believe Jeremiah’s words.  In fact, they called him a liar, and rebelled against the word of God and went into Egypt.  Just as God told them ahead of time, they found death there instead of safety.

The difficulty for the people was that God was telling them to stay in the place that seemed most dangerous in order to be safe.  The land had been plagued by war and conflict for years, and it didn’t seem that it was stopping anytime soon.  The safe place seemed to be Egypt, far from the fighting of Babylon.  But God insisted that He would watch over them and protect them in the dangerous place, and that they would die in the place of safety.

It’s all flipped.

It doesn’t seem to make any sense.  Why would God ask them to stay in the midst of the battle zone in order to be safe?  Doesn’t it stand to reason that fleeing would be the safest course of action?  What reason is there to stay?  Jeremiah’s words don’t seem to logical.

Not much has changed.

In the New Testament, we’re told things like, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” “many who are first will be last,” and “whoever loses his life… will find it” (Luke 6:27, Matthew 19:30, 16:25).  Sometimes God’s standards or commands don’t make sense to us.  That’s a good thing!  If everything God did made total sense to us, then we would totally understand God, and would be God.  We are not God, and so it shouldn’t surprise us when His logic is different than ours.

Despite the seeming illogical nature of some of the things we read in the Bible, we must still follow His commands.  The people in today’s passage didn’t think it wise to stay in Israel, but God had promised to protect them.  It may not seem right to us to pray for those who mistreat us, but God has promised to deal with them in His own way, perhaps even by saving them.

Let’s not make the mistake of the remnant who rejected Jeremiah’s words.  Let’s not assume to know better than the King of the Universe.  Let’s follow God’s clearly revealed truth in the Bible, even when it goes against the norms of society.  Let’s trust the One who made us, and know that He is faithful to His promises, no matter how illogical they may seem to us.

*originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 48: The conclusion of the matter

Ecclesiastes 3 – Song of Solomon 8

*image courtesy of gnmills at stock.xchng

I MET a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.   Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley at http://www.bartleby.com/106/246.html

I hope the first half of today’s reading didn’t get you too depressed.  It sounds like Solomon is saying that all of life is useless, a pointless, endless cycle of give and take. If you leave out the last few verses of the book, you’re left with nothing but a hopeless look at the grave.  Better eat, drink, and be merry, cuz you gon’ die!  However, we’re missing something if we stop here:

The conclusion of the matter.

The whole book is Solomon’s reflection on his experiment to find life’s meaning.  Every good experiment has some failed attempts, right?  If we don’t read Solomon’s conclusion, we don’t get the point of his experiment.  We don’t benefit from his research and findings.  So, what does he conclude?

“Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (12:13)

Without God, life is vain and meaningless.  If this life is all there is, then I can see where Solomon’s desperate tone in the rest of the book comes from.  The best results of my hardest work will be passed on to other people I might not even know, maybe last a little while after I’m forgotten, and then crumble.

But those of us who are in Christ have a greater hope.  We know that everything we do has an eternal impact, whether for good or bad.  Unlike Ozymandias, our deeds will not crumble into the sands of time, but will precede us into eternity, and last there with us forever.

Let’s live lives that reflect this knowledge.  Let’s do all things as unto our Lord (1 Corinthians 10:31), knowing that there is more life after this one, and that this life will impact the one to come.  Let’s not despair, but put our hope in Christ!

*originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 36: … and other four letter words

Esther 1 – Job 7

*image courtesy of ugaldew at www.sxc.hu

In Esther, we see a woman who is constantly having to decide whether she will do her own thing, or obey the authority God has placed over her.  Mordecai tells her not to reveal her heritage as a Jew (Esther 2:10).  He has done this, most likely for her protection.  Rather than being a brash young person, she obeys the wisdom of her elder.  Later in the story, this proves to be a key element in the salvation of the Jews.  It is her hidden ethnicity that ruins Haman.

When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king, she had a choice to make.  Each girl was allowed to take whatever she wished with her.  Esther chose to follow the advice of Hegai, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed in charge of her (2:15-16).  Who would know the king better, one of his long-time servants, or a young girl who had just entered the palace a year ago (2:12)?  She submitted herself to the authority placed over her, even preferring his wisdom to her own.

Later in the story (chapter 4), Mordecai urges Esther to intercede before the king on behalf of the Jewish people.  In this interchange, we see her recognizing and submitting to two authorities.  First, she recognizes the penalty for breaking the king’s law about approaching his throne un-summoned.  But, dangerous as this is, she submits to the authority of Mordecai and agrees to try.  There is, or course, the element of self-sacrifice that is always celebrated in this story.  But don’t forget that part of this is the continuation of the habit of being under authority and submitting to and obeying it.

As Christians, we should have the highest standards of integrity, and the best reputations as those who obey authority.

This is so counter-cultural.

It’s almost un-American.  We are a country founded on rebellion.  I may catch some flack for this, but the fundamental principle of our nation’s government is one of revolt against authority.  Originally, this was a revolt against authority that was seen as being tyrannical, but it has morphed into so much more.  It has been perverted to the point where anytime we disagree with authority, we feel we are not only permitted, but almost duty bound to rise up and throw off the shackles of oppression.  I’m not downing our country, I’m trying to expose a satanic tendency and mindset in our culture that says “No!” to authority whenever it can justify it.

Christians are called to submit to authority.  Whether this be federal, state, or local government, our boss, our parents, our pastors, our committee chairperson, our coach, our spouse, and even the brotherhood.  Peter tells us to love the brotherhood of believers (the church), fear God, and honor the king (the government).  Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-4 that we are to consider others (specifically in the church) as better than ourselves and look to their needs first.  Ephesians 5:21 tells us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

If I view myself through the lens of Scripture, I will see that I don’t have it all figured out and I am not perfect.  I may find that, perhaps, I’m not as smart as I think I am, and that I could stand to listen a little more and talk a little less.  I might just submit myself to those God has placed in authority, and not assume that I’m right and they’re wrong.

originally at Words of Reason

P.S. if this sounds familiar, it’s because I posted it back on Sept. 12, 2009 before I began the 90 Day Challenge