Sound familiar? How many times have you said that to someone whom you were in a relationship with? It always sounds so fitting in the context of the argument, but if you do any honest reflection whatsoever, you (hopefully) are convicted at the arrogance of the statement. Upon reflection, perhaps you consider the amount times you say that or something similar and then it hits you, you are essentially saying that the only time you do offensive things is because the other person has incited it. It is a clever way of totally removing any responsibility from yourself and making the other bear the burden all alone. Of course that is not only wrong, it is extremely arrogant. It is saying that the relationship would be perfect if it weren't for the other person. Now that there is a clear picture, lets take something a little less evident, yet seems to me to be something of a similar (not in every way of course) issue.
When I think in terms of the church, either universal or the one I pastor, I think, we need revival. Anyone with any heart for Jesus would surely agree with me. It seems to me that we are not getting revival for a number of reasons which I will not enter into here, but I was struck by something the other morning. As a pastor I constantly pray for God to bring revival to my church. But I have found a subtle arrogance to that. Until just a few mornings ago, I could not remember the last time I prayed for personal revival. I have always assumed it to be a noble thing to pray for revival to sweep through a church (and I am not saying it is not), but I noticed something about the prayer. It was always a, "God you need to revive these people so that our church will be transformed." Do you heard the subtle danger in that prayer? God fix them, they need to be transformed. That is in fact NOT how the psalms lead us to pray. The focus of the psalms that speak of reviving are very personal. The summation of Psalm 143 is David pleading with God to deliver him and revive him. For David, revival started with self and it involved a few key things.
First, David says that he will remember the days of old. This is not merely a cognitive thing, it is remembering with a view to living in the reality that God is covenant Lord. It is active obedience. Second, David says that he will meditate upon and ponder the works of God. He is committing to ingesting the word of God and letting that weigh upon his own heart and soul that it might redirect his living. Third, David says that he will stretch out his hands to God. The culmination of living for God and filling his heart with God was worship. David didn't look at the covenant community and say bring revival, he said, revive me! In other words, if we want revival, I think it starts with praying for ourselves to be revived. Of course it is always easier to pray for "them". When we ask God to revive us however, we are aware of the change that is going to have to take place and frankly, I think that scares us.
I want God to revive His church, but I am convinced that I must be praying primarily for my personal revival. I am not going to quit praying for corporate revival, I am simply making my prayers more personal. It is not easy because now I have to face those idols that have lay hidden in my heart for so long. I am praying with David for God to deliver me from my enemy. I am praying for the fire of God to sweep through my own heart. I am no longer saying revive them, I am praying with intense passion for God to revive me, to revive us.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Burdens...
A common form of torture in medieval times (and perhaps some time after that) was taking a person that one sought a confession from and laying him on his back. Blocks of varying weight would then be placed upon the chest causing the person to feel the great weight and lose their ability to adequately breathe. The design of the torture was to make the victim feel the horrible desire to want to breathe, enough that they would confess to almost anything. Sounds horrible, especially to one that is claustrophobic.
Its hard to imagine that type of pressure and pain...or is it? I have often wondered what went through the minds of some of those victims as they lay there in immense pain, trying to figure out why they were being victimized. In many cases they were being forced to recant religious positions, did they lay there thinking, why me? Did they lay there thinking, God after all I have done for You, this is how you repay me? Did they perhaps lay there in silent meditation seeking God's grace to get through one final trial? Its impossible to know what they thought, but my guess is that while they may have panicked on the outset, eventually they resigned themselves to death and committed their lives into the hand of God. Maybe, just maybe that is the point of burdens after all...
As I write this, I am burdened about a great many things. Inwardly (and outwardly I suppose) I complain about these burdens. "God why do I have so much to read and write about", "God why is my family of 4 small kids so stressful", "God, why is your church here in America so dull", and the list goes on and on. And all the while, another block is piled on and I feel my own helplessness. I feel the painful burden of often times being supremely unworthy to do the task to which I have been called. That is the point I think. It seems so sadistic from a human perspective. Why put people in positions to constantly be confronted with their own failures and shortcomings? The answer is simple really...that we might cry out for mercy.
Its never really about how much weight we can stand up under, it is about getting to a point where we confess that we need mercy under the great weight of the burden. The practice of torture was designed to make people give up, and the design of burdens in life is much the same. Burdens come that we might realize just how much we need something outside our selves. We were never designed to be as individualistic as we desire to be, hence burdens are in our lives that we might embrace the community that God designed us to live in. Essentially we are called not only to cast our cares upon the Lord, but also to bear one anther's burdens. That is, we are called to community and humility. we are called upon to admit that we need help with our burdens. So, why the burdens of life? So that we might realize that there is more to life than just self. The more weight that is put on, the more I cry out for mercy and the more I cry out for mercy, the more I walk in dependence upon Christ. Burdens are heavy, they are supposed to be, but we don't have carry them alone, indeed, I don't think we are meant to.
Its hard to imagine that type of pressure and pain...or is it? I have often wondered what went through the minds of some of those victims as they lay there in immense pain, trying to figure out why they were being victimized. In many cases they were being forced to recant religious positions, did they lay there thinking, why me? Did they lay there thinking, God after all I have done for You, this is how you repay me? Did they perhaps lay there in silent meditation seeking God's grace to get through one final trial? Its impossible to know what they thought, but my guess is that while they may have panicked on the outset, eventually they resigned themselves to death and committed their lives into the hand of God. Maybe, just maybe that is the point of burdens after all...
As I write this, I am burdened about a great many things. Inwardly (and outwardly I suppose) I complain about these burdens. "God why do I have so much to read and write about", "God why is my family of 4 small kids so stressful", "God, why is your church here in America so dull", and the list goes on and on. And all the while, another block is piled on and I feel my own helplessness. I feel the painful burden of often times being supremely unworthy to do the task to which I have been called. That is the point I think. It seems so sadistic from a human perspective. Why put people in positions to constantly be confronted with their own failures and shortcomings? The answer is simple really...that we might cry out for mercy.
Its never really about how much weight we can stand up under, it is about getting to a point where we confess that we need mercy under the great weight of the burden. The practice of torture was designed to make people give up, and the design of burdens in life is much the same. Burdens come that we might realize just how much we need something outside our selves. We were never designed to be as individualistic as we desire to be, hence burdens are in our lives that we might embrace the community that God designed us to live in. Essentially we are called not only to cast our cares upon the Lord, but also to bear one anther's burdens. That is, we are called to community and humility. we are called upon to admit that we need help with our burdens. So, why the burdens of life? So that we might realize that there is more to life than just self. The more weight that is put on, the more I cry out for mercy and the more I cry out for mercy, the more I walk in dependence upon Christ. Burdens are heavy, they are supposed to be, but we don't have carry them alone, indeed, I don't think we are meant to.
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