If I Ruled the World

1 Corinthians 6: 1-3

1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?

2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?

3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

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The Corinthians had a hard time settling their own disputes with one another in the church. They'd been going to court with each other over trivial matters. I can understand this because I get easily angered over small things and can freely speak my mind. It's easy to be entangled in the blame game, so convinced that I'm right and someone else is wrong, but Paul points to a shocking truth to put this in perspective.

He says that in the end, the saints - those who have been bought by Jesus and have trusted him in faith to live by following him - these men and women will judge the entire world. What does he mean by this?

I don't think it means that we will all be courthouse judges in heaven, that just doesn't fit right with any description of eternal life with God. To understand what Paul means by this, it's necessary to go back to what man was created for in the first place.

Genesis 1:26

November 9, 2011 8:40 AM Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

This is important because God had a clear purpose for making people. It's not an accident, or a coincidence that we are the way we are. There's a reason we have our cognitive abilities, our physical attributes, our soulful yearnings; there is a design to all of that. And things are designed for a purpose, not just haphazardly.

God created Adam to be someone who had rulership and authority over the entire creation (this is what it means to "have dominion"). Eve was created to be a helper and equal partner in this task. Man was made to rule the world. But not in a militaristic and corrupt sense. He was made to rule as a steward (or "house servant") under God's supreme kingship. When Paul says that the saints are to be judges of the world, he has to be pointing back to man's original design and purpose: to have dominion over the world; to judge the world under God's supreme rulership.

And so, if this is our ultimate destination, Paul's comment makes sense. We're not just going to get to heaven and do nothing all day for eternity but sing songs to God. There's no indication in all of Scripture that God has some other purpose for man after sin entered the world. The created purpose remained the same throughout history, we just haven't been able to fulfill it. But we sure are still trying.

With all the APEC business going on today, it's clear that people are involved in ruling and governing and stewarding the world. Everyone has their political opinions, even if they don't have a political stance. People talk about it at lunch, at Starbucks, on Twitter, on blogs, on YouTube, at work, in their dreams - we all have a sense that our ideas could make the world a better place; that shows a glimpse of our divine purpose, to be judges of the world.

And so Paul points this out because if we are unable to settle minor disputes among each other within the church, how will we expect to be prepared to judge the world when our time comes?

Of course, when Jesus returns, it's all going to work out - but only because Jesus is going to put everyone in their place, according to how they've lived their lives in this one lifetime. To those who have been faithful, he will put them over much in his kingdom (Matthew 25:21).

For me, this passage in 1 Corinthians is a huge wake-up call. If I am not able to settle minor disputes in my life, what does that say about the focus of my life? If my focus is on eternal things, and what my life will be like when this life is over, I should be working towards something. I should be pushing myself to prepare for a life much better than this one. This extends beyond just how I settle disputes. If my life in God's kingdom is to be one of rulership and stewardship, how do I rule and steward the areas of my life that I am responsible for?

How do I manage my money? How do I lead my wife and children? How do I perform my job? How do I manage the ministries I am involved in? How am I a part of my church? How do I steward my relationships with family and friends? What do I do to help the needy? How do I stand up for injustice? How do I deal with temptation? What is my response when I sin? What values do I live by? How faithful am I to my promises and commitments?

All these areas and more reflect what kind of steward I expect to be after I die and then live forever in God's kingdom. How am I measuring up?

The Simply Complicated Truth

1 Corinthians 1:10
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

v.26-29: For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
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In this letter to a young church, Paul begins by addressing the report he has heard of disunity within the church. People have had leadership arguments, that they are followers of Paul, or Peter, or Apollos, or Jesus. Paul sets the record straight that Jesus Christ is the one Shepherd to follow, and he points back to the cross to illustrate why we follow Christ alone.

What unifies a church is that everyone agrees on who Jesus Christ is, and that there is no disagreement or disunity on that. Paul then talks about the power of the gospel message, and the wisdom in it’s truth. And then Paul asks the church to remind themselves that not many of them were of any significant stature before their activity in the church. The reason for this is similar to the cross, that God wants to use what is low and simple to show the world how wonderful he is.

The reason is simple: when humans chase after wisdom they complicate the truth.

As people, we are always in search of more. We are convinced that there is always something more, that there is a need to go beyond. This was the mission laid out in Star Trek (although, I’m by no means a Trekkie, or even a fan, so I may not know what I’m talking about. If that’s the case, I’m okay with it, because at least I’m not a Trekkie); the mission to push the frontier, to discover new worlds and create a better humanity through diversity.

I think there’s something noble to be said of this goal, but there’s also a great danger. Because God, who is ultimate truth, has ordained the simplest, weakest, even foolish things in the world to be the wisest things in the world. Specifically, Paul is speaking of the cross, but surely this applies on a larger scale as well.

It’s not necessarily that God chose this method for no reason. It’s because of sin and fallen humanity. In our fallen nature, it’s within us to depart from God and continue to move away from him throughout life. The beauty of God’s grace is that he has set simple things to bring us back to him. We don’t need to go out and seek and acquire loads of knowledge to arrive back at God’s feet. That’s what religion does.

But God has made it so that everyone and anyone can come back to him. It’s almost too simple and too good to be true; but would you really want it to be more complicated than that?

And so today I realize that this truth needs to be embraced in all areas of my life. I can be convinced that there’s more to God I need to know and seek out more “advanced” knowledge and education. This is good and healthy, but my sinful nature will eventually lead me to go beyond what is necessary. There are some core, simple truths God wants me to know about him and make them a central part of my life. When I go beyond that, things get complicated and I get confused and frustrated, and it’s not God’s fault; I stepped past the simplicity of what he wanted me to grasp.

I can do this in all areas of my life. I can overcomplicate my schedule, my priorities, my work, my responsibilities as a husband and father, my finances, my relationships with family and friends, my Facebook profile, etc.

In all these areas, there are things to learn and areas to grow in, but I won’t ever arrive at perfection. There are some core, simple truths that will help all these areas of my life thrive, and if I go beyond them, it was because I was somehow convinced that I had to.

The temptation is always to move away from God. The solution is to find the truth in simplicity and look to Christ. This isn’t to say that there’s hard work and serious thinking that needs to go into life. It is, in fact, hard work to arrive at this viewpoint. I’ve spent over 29 years figuring this out, and I’m still learning a ton. Somehow, even simplicity has become complicated in my world today. But I must find all truth in Jesus, for only in him are all the complex mysteries of God made fully manifest, coherent, and simple enough for a guy like me to understand.

Fully Trained

Mark 9:28-29

And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer."

Mark 9:38-40

John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."

But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us.

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It's so easy to read the gospels and put all the focus on Jesus (which of course, we should do), but I've been trying lately to really dig into the viewpoints of the supporting characters. It stands out to me today that the disciples have already had a lot of experience in ministering with Jesus. Back in chapter 6, they've been sent out in pairs to heal the sick and cast out demons. In the same chapter, they played a part in feeding 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. The same thing happens in chapter 8 with 4,000 people. They've all seen Jesus walk on water, and they saw Peter walk on water briefly. Peter, James, and John have just seen Jesus transfigured on a mountain, and they've even seen Moses and Elijah!

When they come down from the mountain a big crowd is there, along with some scribes who are arguing with the disciples. It doesn't say what they're arguing about, but it must have something to do with casting out demons, as the disciples have been trying to cast out a demon from a young boy, but they haven't been successful. "What's wrong?" they must be wondering. "We've done this before, without Jesus helping us, why can't we do it now? Did we lose our authority?" Jesus walks into this picture and heals the boy. The disciples want to know why they couldn't do it. Jesus cites a lack of faith, not only on the disciples part, but also on the father's part, even the crowd and the scribes (v.19); but then he says that certain spirits cannot be cast out by anything but prayer. But what kind of prayer? Surely as the disciples were trying to cast out the demon they must have been praying. And when Jesus casts out the demon he doesn't pray; he just commands it to come out.

He must be talking about a consistent prayer; a life of prayer. He's just come down from the mountain, where he took his inner three disciples with him to pray. I assume this because it was his custom to go to mountains and pray (Mark 6:46). The disciples thought they were fully trained, that they knew all they needed to be exorcists. But here they learn a lesson, they don't know everything yet.

I feel that ring so true for myself today. Even though I might assume that I'm more trained in ministry than some people, I'm still growing, and by no means do I know everything about being a minister or teacher or worshiper or leader or team builder, etc. Like the disciples, I can often find myself in situations where things aren't working like they have in the past and wonder, "What's wrong? I'm doing everything I normally do. I do all the things I've been taught. Why am I failing? Why isn't it working the way I expected?"

Just a few verses after this event, again the disciples display this attitude. They say that they saw a man casting out demons in Jesus' name, and he wasn't a disciple, he wasn't part of their group. So they tried to stop him, thinking it the right thing to do. After all, this guy wasn't trained by Jesus. He wasn't commissioned by Jesus. He wasn't an apostle. He didn't spend time with Jesus. And yet Jesus tells them they did the wrong thing by discouraging this man.

Not only do the disciples feel they're fully trained warriors, they feel like they're the only ones who have this privilege. Jesus shows them that they're not yet fully trained, and also that they're not the only ones fighting the fight.

Why is it so easy to have this mentality the disciples had? Even though there are hundreds of churches on Oahu, why does it sometimes feel like it's all up to us at New Hope Windward? That attitude basically says that the other churches aren't worthy to share the same task as me. And why do I walk into situations feeling like I'm fully prepared to handle anything?

(I definitely think I should walk into situations confident that the Lord is with me and that whatever happens, I'm ready for it as long as my trust is set on him; but the difference is that subconscious tendency to feel like I can handle it on my own)

I'm reminded today that I'm a drop in the bucket. It's so important for the followers of Jesus to know that we're all in the same boat, we're all in it together. I am part of a global family; one body to bring the restoration of God's will on earth, as it is in heaven. I need to play my part humbly, with teamwork. I must always know that I am still in need of lots of learning, and that there are others who labor with me. It doesn't matter whether they work at a church or at Starbucks; there is only one body, one Lord, one Spirit, one Gospel, one reason to live.

I am a work in progress, dependent on others, who also need me. It's the greatest way to live this life.

What's Wrong With Doing Nothing? Everything.

Mark 3:1-6

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

        

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The Scribes and Pharisees have set their minds to destroy Jesus. On a few occasions, they are there watching him on Sabbath days to see if he is going to break the Mosaic Law by “working” on a day that God commands rest. While this is expressed in the fourth commandment (Exodus 20), Jesus intentionally poses this question to the group of legalists: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” The question invokes an obvious response; it is part of God’s law to love your neighbor, and to do good on all days. But rather than giving any answer, they remain silent, because they don’t want to admit he’s right. They want their ways and manmade laws to be correct (after all, they are educated, elite spiritual men; they can’t be wrong).

But this silence, invokes anger and grief in Jesus. It hurts God when people know what they need to do, yet choose to do nothing or say nothing. In Hawaii, this business of ‘saying nothing’ is a deep part of our culture. We’re not very confrontational people. We tend to keep our noses out of other people’s business. If something harsh needs to be said, we don’t want to be the ones to say it. There’s a time and a place for this, but more often than not this cultural practice tip-toes the line of grieving God, even angering him.

Specifically, Jesus’ opponents have hardened hearts. They seek to be upright, religious men, but they neglect the very heart of God’s Law: to be gracious and loving. They took the easy way of religion and kept all the outer layers of righteousness, but denied the core of what it means to be God’s people. To them, they weren’t doing anything wrong, it was Jesus who was doing all the wrongdoing. I notice that it’s always easier to point out from the sidelines what others are doing wrong. When I have that critical eye, I somehow remove myself from the equation as I focus all the wrongdoing and error on others. Too much of this, without keeping it in check, hardens my heart because it makes me feel like I’m somehow more right than others.

We tend to identify wrongdoing with actions. The thought goes something like this, “as long as I don’t do anything, I’m not doing anything wrong.” But sometimes, doing nothing or saying nothing is the worst thing to do, because when we choose to do nothing, we’re not choosing what God would choose. God is one of action, and one of gracious and good action. Today, I’m challenged to fight against my natural upbringing and cultural surroundings and be a person who acts and speaks for righteousness at all times.

Following Christ: Stoms, Snakes, and You Might Die

Acts 27:23-25

“This very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.”

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Paul is on the sea as a prisoner, headed to Rome to appeal his case before Caesar, caught in a very bad storm with 275 other people.

I was thinking how bold of a statement it is to say that not a single person will lose their lives. In the middle of a storm, with no idea where they are, any number of people could have passed out and fallen off board, or decided to kill themselves rather than endure, yet Paul says to a few hundred people that God has spoken and made sure that no one will lose their lives.

The primary reason for this is that Paul must appear before Caesar as a witness to the kingdom of God. God wanted people along the way to know that Paul was a man sent by him. He wanted sailors, soldiers, prisoners, and native islanders (on Malta) to know that God is real and that he speaks and acts through men.

Paul also proclaims to have faith in God that he will stand before Caesar, and nothing will hinder this mission. What he doesn’t know (although I’m sure he is not unaware of) is that it will eventually be a Roman Caesar (Nero) who will falsely accuse Christians and Paul for a fire in Rome and put him to death.

Even though Paul is sent to Caesar, it doesn’t mean that Caesar will accept the gospel or turn to God (although, that does happen later with Constantine). Too often, we say God has a good plan for each of our lives, but we wouldn’t consider false accusation and death a “good plan.” Yet, that was God’s will for Paul, and nearly all of the apostles. In Acts 1:8, the thematic statement for the entire book of Acts, Jesus says that his disciples will be “witnesses” in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. The literal word for “witness” is the Greek word “martures” where we get the word “martyr.”

The book of Acts begins with the kingdom of God exploding with power in Jerusalem, then the book tells how it expands to the surrounding areas of Judea and Samaria, and even further. The book closes with Paul taking the message of the kingdom to Rome, to the very ends of the earth and the heart of the Roman empire. Just as Jesus had said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that begins small but grows into the largest of garden plants, it went from the small city of Jerusalem and invaded the entire Roman kingdom. And that didn’t happen without men and women sacrificing and losing their lives. They didn’t live comfortably or happily-ever-after; they gave their lives fully for Jesus and his kingdom.

And that’s what we’re called to do as well. We’re called to be witnesses, martyrs even, for Jesus Christ. We can’t just be people who believe in God and try to make this life the most convenient and comfortable for ourselves as we possibly can. When Paul and the other 275 people run ashore on the island of Malta, the native islanders greet them and start a fire for them. Paul helps out and gathers firewood, and it says this:

“When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.’ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.” (Acts 28:3-6)

These people knew nothing about Paul or his God. To them, he was a despised person because they believed him to have done something that deserved divine justice. After the snake bite had no effect on him, it says that the people “changed their minds.” That’s what our lives should look like too. Not that we should expect people to think that we’re gods, but for people to have this drastic change in their thinking.

After this event, Paul heals many people of sickness and disease. No doubt he makes it clear that the healing comes from God and lets them know that the kingdom of God has come near to them. So even though they thought he was a god, Paul most definitely made it clear that he was no god, but served the One true God.

Father, just as you spoke to me yesterday to not shy away from talking about the resurrection, it’s clear today that part of your good will for my life may include my persecution and unjust death. Give me a heart to not expect anything greater; to not live with a sense that I am somehow exempt and entitled to a different life. Create in me a clean and bold heart, that I may be found faithful in your sight.

Don't Not Talk About Jesus

Acts 24: 24-26

24 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

25 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, "Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you."

26 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.

Acts 25:18-19

18 When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.

19 Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

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There's no doubt about it; Paul is the man.

Acts, chapters 24-26 retell Paul's trials before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, before he is sent off to Rome to appeal to Caesar. While Paul's words during his trials are full of boldness and clear truth, I'm drawn to his words and actions outside of his trials today.

While he is being detained, Felix comes with his wife to hear Paul speak about faith in Jesus. The entire time, Felix is hoping that Paul will give him some money as a bribe, but Paul uses these opportunities to evangelize this Roman official. Paul doesn't hold back. He talks about righteousness (Felix is greedy and has unrighteous motives), self-control (the historian, Josephus, records that Drusilla was the daughter of Herod Agrippa and the sister of Agrippa II, the same Agrippa who makes his appearance at Paul's trial in Acts 25. Felix needed to hear about self-control because he had taken Drusilla as wife by crafting a divorce between her and her first husband), and the coming judgment (because he needs to know that he will answer to God for his life one day).

This goes on for two whole years and it doesn't say that Felix was converted or changed his behavior. It shows that there are some people, no matter who talks to them and no matter what is said to them, they won't accept the gospel; they won't follow Jesus. Still, Paul doesn't fall into discouragement, he presses on with his calling, just as he wrote to the Philippians in Philippians 3:13-14. Paul never wavers from speaking about faith in Christ. He specifically preaches Jesus Christ as the risen Lord.

We know that Paul always spoke about Jesus and the resurrection, because when Felix was succeeded by Festus, it was Festus who told Agrippa what Paul had been saying. Acts 25:19 shows that out of all the disputes of the Jewish religion, he knew at the very least that Paul spoke about someone named Jesus, and claimed that he was alive, though thought dead.

The resurrection was a huge part of Paul's message, as it was also central to the other apostles. Today, we speak of Jesus as one who is God and Lord and working in our lives, but it seems like we sometimes fail to mention that he actually died and rose again and is in fact, alive right now. Talking about Jesus is something that anyone can do. Even historians talk about Jesus. But saying that he died and was raised again to life, and that this was all made clear by the Law and Prophets in the Old Testament, and he ascended into heaven and sits on the throne of God and works through the universal body of the church....that changes the message quite a bit.

The resurrection is everything. Unless that's made clear by his followers, we're not talking about Christianity; we're just talking about a nice way of living and a cozy belief system.

I find myself very guilty of this. Even though I talk about God and Jesus to others, I rarely mention the resurrection.

Father, please seal this into my mind so that I may share it with others.

The One-Night Baton-Pass

Acts 12:17

But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Tell these things to James and to the brothers." Then he departed and went to another place.

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A few days ago I journaled on how the Lord had scattered the church, but called the apostles to stay in Jerusalem, despite persecution. After this, Herod kills James (John's brother) and imprisons Peter. After a miraculous escape from prison, Peter goes to Mark's mother's home by night and then leaves Jerusalem that same night to go somewhere else. Luke doesn't tell us where he went but scholars generally speculate he went to either Rome or Antioch as likely locations.

If my timeline is not off, this is about one year after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, as it says that these things took place during the Feast of Unleavened bread (a week-long feast following the Passover). In one single night, the church in Jerusalem changes leadership. Peter leaves in one night and leaves a message for James (the brother of Jesus) and the other apostles. That he mentions James first, by name, and no other apostles, gives us a glimpse of a leadership baton-passing. It happens in one night.

The next morning I imagine James finding out that Peter has been delivered from prison by an angel, and then hearing that he's left and now James is in charge. I'm sure by this point, James is already a well-respected leader in the church (it also doesn't hurt to be the half-brother of Jesus Christ), but still, Peter had been the head leader for a year and now it's James' time. There isn't any leadership preparation period, no transitionary phase, no 90-day test drive, he's up to bat.

In my experience, these types of rapid transitions still happen in the church today. Even though it may seem like it all happens so fast and without warning, God is still the one who ultimately ordains these things. I don't think that I'm going to be facing a higher leadership role anytime soon that comes suddenly, but I'm honestly still a little unsure as to why I feel led to journal on this particular event.

Maybe it's a reminder for me to have disciples that are currently raised up and ready to take on more responsibility should the situation require it on short notice. This will require much more intentionality on my part, but it is undoubtedly what God has called us to do: to make disciples of Jesus who will in turn go and make other disciples.