3.7.2020 - week 45
on the upside and downside of fear(s)
i am afraid of getting bitter
i am afraid of the corona virus
i am afraid of not coming through on my commitment at this job.
i am afraid of what happens if my (old white guy) candidate doesn’t win this fall?
these are all statements i heard this week. i don’t think i need to prove to you that we have a world filled with anxiety and worry. but, the biblical teaching on fear requires a little nuancing to understand properly.
god doesn’t want us to be fearless.
he wants us to fear the right thing:
him.
the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction
proverbs 1:7
there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love
1 john 4:18
old-school church loved the first verse / new-school church loves the second one.
the distinction is between reverence and torment. or respect and control.
to fear god in healthy way is to:
anticipate consequences to sinful choices
assume that his plans and understanding is better than yours
speak with care about him, knowing his ultimate authority
to fear god in an unhealthy way:
believe he is out to get you or hoping for your failure
resent his authority by trying to control things yourself
hide from relationship from an over developed deference
to say it differently, the cues we take from unhealthy earthly authorities, poison our healthy respectful fear of stepping out of line in our relationship with god. but when we properly fear him, nothing else is worth our worry. fear god. don’t let anything else bug you. that’s the perfect love that casts out all other kinds of fear.
like the old song says
he’s got the whole world in his hands.
god doesn’t want us to be fearless.
he wants us to fear the right thing:
him.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
We were sitting at a high top table at Tokio Pub across from friends we had seen just a few times in the last five years on a hot Chicago day. They had just finished five years abroad as missionaries and were on furlough seeking the Lord for what was next. Their journey had been anything but conventional but it certainly defines living by faith more than sight. We met them when we were both ‘youth pastoring’ in different local churches within the Chicagoland area. Ten years later we have both walked through trials and blessings and in the big picture you can see God’s faithfulness marked throughout both of our stories even though they are drastically different.
About halfway into lunch the husband started talking about living by faith and obedience and telling the story of Joshua 3:13,
“And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”
If you aren’t familiar with this story it’s really quite amazing. Joshua has been told by the Lord that he is going to get to take Israel into the promised land. After all of their time in the wilderness it has come to pass that he can lead them across the Jordan River and into the long awaited blessing. God has promised his presence and that He will push the water into a heap so that the people can cross the river without getting wet but the priests are to go first with ark of the covenant and at that point the water will stand back and make a path for them. It’s the “big step” of not just saying they trusted God but literally putting their feet wholly in God’s hands. It was when the soles of their feet touched the Jordan that God came through.
At that moment we were maybe two weeks shy of leaving all we knew on a new journey, where we knew that God had opened all the doors to get to but it was a path full of a lot of unknown. Part of me wanted to find a closet and cringe in fear and never come out and part of me wanted to push the trip up and leave right then because the joy in choosing obedience when you know God has something for you is truly beautiful.
Not to mention that when you’re sitting across the table from a couple who sold most of their stuff, fundraised for support, moved to a country where they didn’t know the language while having four kids because they felt like God had called them to be missionaries, well… moving to California didn’t look like that big of a step of obedience. But comparison rarely leads to obedience. Obedience is about taking the next step in the path God had each of us on.
Often the enemy uses confusion and fear to delay our obedience, if that’s you, ask the Lord to clearly show you those areas. The truth is that your path might sound crazy to everyone else but that’s not their call or path, it’s yours. (Wise counsel is important- not discounting that!) What if stepping into what God has for you is scary but he is providing the next step; will you allow fear to stop you? What if the blessings coming from going out on that limb and trusting God enough even if you do look ‘crazy’ bring blessings that far surpass your fear?
cup of leadership
so often we:
worry about it / blame god about it / complain about it / share about it / post about it / gossip about it / journal about it / ask for prayer for it / discuss needing to pray about it / write it on a list to pray about it / dream about it / cry about it / panic about it
instead of actually opening our mouths and asking god to help with it.
prayer adjacent activities often take the place of the power and privilege of communicating with the king. don’t fall into the trap. prayer-ish-ness isn’t going to make a difference.
book review
i liked this book by ronan farrow about his investigations into harvey weinstein.
shows how easily moral compasses can get skewed by corporate concerns and/or personal relationships.
i appreciated the way the author did the work of examining his own motives and how the personal elements of his own backstory (his sisters public accusations against woody allen) influenced his work. interesting to note how people start turning on someone of influence when it becomes more expedient than benefitting from them. also refreshing to see the degree to which farrow relied on incontrovertible facts in his reporting, not jaded hearsay. this book will bum you out, but also is an extraordinary story and insightful read.
content this week
my favorite ‘welcome to the war’ pod .. in this one bishop ulmer tells the story of how faithful central bought one of the most famous sports arenas in the world. incredible incredible story.
landon and i did a subpar pod for your weekend enjoyment, i think it will help you pass the time.
the mac pack wack world of sports has a fun episode (#3), called ‘my favorite right now’.
no new messages this week - but catch up on older messages in the sermon series, just do it.
verse of the week
behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. you have heard of the steadfastness of job, and you have seen the purpose of the lord, how the lord is compassionate and merciful.
james 5:11
2 pieces of good news I saw this week
1. my friend jon guerra has a new song out with a powerful prophetic vibe to it, check this video out.
2. this sermon has made a big impact on my life, listened to it 3 times. it’s about our words and the power we have, from jon tyson .. 1000% sure this will help you