Exodus: What's in your heart?

As the Egyptian army bore down on Israel pushing them towards the sea, the people were terrified. All they could see was sure death. Yet Moses saw something else and calmly spoke of the Lord's deliverance. Two groups looked at the same situation but did not see the same thing. All saw the chariots and spears but only one saw an opportunity for God. Most were ruled by the "concerns of men" while one was ruled by the "concerns of God."

Jesus rebuked Peter for mixing up his concerns. When Peter didn't want Jesus to die, Jesus rebuked him saying, "You don't have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns."

So today, when a city floods, do I see loss of buildings, money, materials? Or do I see how this might shape the soul and spirit of a people? When my car is hit, do I see financial loss, time spent on paperwork and tremendous inconvenience? Or do I see a window of opportunity to enter into the personal story of others that I would otherwise never meet? When I am sick, do I moan and make everyone else as miserable as me? Or do I rest in the opportunity to spend time refocusing my life?

Concerns of God versus concerns of men. Which one rules my heart? Which one sets my worldview?

John 7:1-24; Superficial Judgments

"Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” How hard this is in so many areas of life. Often, I fear we don't even realize how superficial are our judgments.

On our campus many students struggle with faith and community. What I most commonly hear is a rejection of what is deemed conservativism; actually I think it is a rejection of whatever one grew up with. Among the middle-age crowd I hear the search for "the best" taking over when in reality "the best" is often another word for "what I enjoy the most".

Is it proper judgment to condemn a group for expressing themselves in a way that is respectful of their heritage and consistent with their understanding of scripture? Is it correct judgment to ignore history in order to find a more exciting experience? Conversely, is it correct judgment to turn a deaf ear to social trends and generational differences in order to simply avoid making a hard decision?

Probably most of us are like the average Jew in this reading, i.e., we do nothing because of our fear. Sometimes it is fear of offending someone or fear of a loss of being accepted, but in many cases we let fear rather than good judgment direct our lives. Ironically we think that not making waves is "the Christian thing to do". So why is it that Jesus was labeled a trouble-maker rather than a peace-maker? And why did he call all of us to make proper judgments if his highest value was simply keeping the status quo?

Acts 5; Fear

Fear seems to tie these stories together. Ananias and Sapphira did not fear God and paid dearly for it. The end result of their lives demonstrated that a healthy fear of God is a good thing. In fact, it is what all the people had after they heard the news about the couple. A healthy fear (respect, awe) seized everyone. It permitted the church to meet unmolested and elevated the respect given the apostles by the people.

The Jewish leaders, however, did not fear the uneducated apostles. They only feared the crowds and the loss of their prestige. It took an old sage among them to introduce the idea that perhaps the apostles were working for God. Even after that, the Sanhedrin still did not fear God in their hearts or they would not have beaten the apostles. Yet it was enough to convince their heads and win the freedom of the apostles.

So summing it all up, I think this means that without a healthy fear of God we tend to be selfish and fear people. With a healthy fear of God, we tend to be courageous and respected. Surely all of us want the latter more than the former but are we willing to change our view of God to get there? Are we willing to let God be the God of the Old Testament who punished people, wiped out nations and released death at times? Are we willing to let him be the God of Revelation from whom the four horsemen ride out? Honestly are we even willing to let Jesus be the guy who kicked over tables, drove people out of the temple, refused to heal a woman till she begged and condemned leaders? Are we willing to follow a Holy Spirit that killed Ananias and Sapphira? If not, I guess that means we end up on the side of the Sanhedrin.

Mark 11:27-12:12; Fear Led

Both of these stories climax with fear of the crowd. The Jewish leaders could not answer Jesus clearly because of that fear and then later would not speak out against him due to that same fear. As an observer outside the story, it is easy to snub one's nose at the leaders. After all, how can one lead if one fears the followers?

Then I look at our normal daily life. Does Washington ever make or not make policy due to fear of the crowd? Do politicians make or not make promises based upon public opinion? Do church leaders ever sit silently due to fear of congregational reaction? Do I fail to live for Christ or take a stand out of fear of the opinions of others?

This fear of the crowd led the leaders. It escorted them down a dark path that culminated in the death of Jesus. It is valid to ask "where is it leading me?"