Thoughts from the Grist

The past 8 or 9 years have found me in a significant period of transition regarding my understanding of the Scriptures. Although theological transitions will hopefully continue throughout my life, the current transition has radically altered my thinking regarding the Scriptures.

Perhaps it is best if I review my past thinking, teaching, and preaching. My perspective of the Scriptures was based on a very legalistic, moralistic approach where the proclamation was primarily focused on how God told us to live. The result was that I and my listeners would come away understanding what God expected of us but would know little regarding God the Father and Jesus Christ. This was most pronounced in my studies of the Old Testament although would regularly be evidenced in the New Testament studies as well.

My transition began when I was studying the Gospels and came to Jesus on the road to Emmaus. There Jesus declared that people were fools if they did not believe all that the prophets had spoken. All my life I thought I believed all the prophets had spoken. However, this time I saw what the Scriptures said next. Jesus proceeded to show them how all the Old Testament talked about Him. I shuddered to a stop and asked myself if I really believed that and if I could actually look at the various passages in the OT and see Christ. I know the classic prophetic passages that point to Him but what about Samson, Cain and Able, the Proverbs, etc.? I was not so sure.

So, the past years have been one of new exploration. How is Christ seen in all the Scriptures? And when I began to look I also noticed that I had settled far to short of Christ. I was satisfied with moralisms and legalisms. I was satisfied merely with knowing what I should be and do and did not understand that those things I was doing and being were not for God’s glory but mine.

That is bad enough but I was also teaching, preaching, and counseling these same perspectives. I was not focusing on Christ but on getting people to “look” more Christian. In effect I was helping people to be able to stand before God and say “but did we not do all these things in your name” only to hear Him say “depart from me, I never knew you.”

Ultimately, who really cares is I preach, teach, and counsel how to do better and be better (read, live more consistent with the Scriptures) if the result is that the listeners do not know and love Jesus more. Jesus came seeking worshippers, not merely people who do the right thing and act the right way.

It is because of this that I want to repent of how I have ministered to many of you over the years. My prayer for you is that, in spite of my failures, the Holy Spirit captured your hearts for God and caused you to love Jesus more than you love anyone and caused you to know Jesus more than you know anyone.

Let us not be fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken.

“A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to Him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession!’ Jesus did not answer her a word!” Matthew 15:22

We are apt to forget that the aim of God with us, is . . .
not to flood us with tenderness all the time,
not to keep our path always strewn with flowers,
not to continually give us everything we want,
not to save us from all manner of suffering.

No! God’s aim with us, is . . .
to make something of us,
to build up strong and noble character in us,
to mature qualities of grace and beauty in us,
to make us more like Christ!
To do this–He must ofttimes deny us what we ask for, and must seem indifferent to our cries. “Jesus did not answer her a word!“

There are ’sentimental ideas of God’ prevalent, which are dishonoring to Him. There are those who imagine that God’s love means tenderness that cannot cause pain. They think that He cannot look a moment on suffering, without relieving it; that He must instantly hear and answer every cry for the removal of trouble.

Not such a God–is the God of the Bible! When suffering is the best thing for us–He is not too sympathetic to let us suffer–until the work of suffering is accomplished in us. He is not too kind to be silent to our prayers–when it is better that He should be silent for a time, to allow . . .
faith to grow strong,
self-confidence to be swept away, and
the evil in us–to be burned out in the furnace of pain!

There is a danger with all of us–our tenderness lacks strength. We cannot tolerate to see people suffer, and so we hasten to give relief–before the ministry of suffering is accomplished. We think of our mission to others, as being only ‘to make life easier for them’. We are continually lifting away burdens, which it were better to have left resting longer on our friend’s shoulder! We are eager to make life easy for our children–when it were better if it had been left hard.

We must learn that God does not deal with us in this ’sentimental’ way. He is not too tender to see us suffer–if more suffering is needed to work in us the discipline that will make us like Christ!

Here we have the key of many of the ‘mysteries of Providence‘. Life is not easy for us–and God does not intend it to be easy!

Suppose for a moment, that God immediately gave us everything we ask for–and immediately removed every little pain, trouble, difficulty, and hardness that we seek to have removed; what would be the result on us? How selfish it would make us! We would become weak, unable to endure suffering, to bear trial, to carry burdens, or to struggle. We would be only children always–and would never rise into manly strength. God’s over-kindness to us–would pamper in us all the worst elements of our nature, and would make us only poor driveling creatures!

On the other hand, however, God’s wise and firm treatment of us, teaches us the great lessons which make us strong with the strength of Christ Himself.
He teaches us to yield our own will to Him.
He develops in us–patience, faith, love, hope and peace.
He trains us to endure hardness–that we may grow heroic, courageous and strong.

It is well for us to make careful note of this–that in all God’s delays when we pray–His aim is some good in us.

Perhaps we are willful, asking only for our own way–and must learn to say, “May Your will be done.”

Perhaps we are weak, unable to bear pain or to endure adversity or loss–and we must be trained and disciplined into strength.

Perhaps our desires are only for earthly good, not for heavenly blessings–and we must be taught the transitory character of all worldly things, and led to desire things which are eternal.

Perhaps we are impatient–and must be taught to wait for God. We are like children in our eager restlessness–and need to learn self-restraint.

At the least, we may always know that silence is not refusal–that God hears and cares, and that when our faith has learned its lessons–He will answer in blessing!

“The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:6

“God disciplines us for our good–that we may share in His holiness.” Hebrews 12:10

 J. R. Miller

We love our own little kingdom. In fact, I am convinced that we often place our own little kingdom in such a position that we don’t even have a view of the kingdom of God. The strange thing is that we talk as if we really believe in the beauty and glory of God’s kingdom but, if our lives were ever biblically examined, it would quickly become obvious that our prayer often looks more like “my kingdom come, my will be done, on earth as it ought to be in heaven.”

This is what troubles so many unsaved people as they consider the claims of Christ. They can’t get past the “followers” of Christ and their little kingdoms on earth. This is exactly what Gandi was referring to when he said the following:

“I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Mahatma Gandhi