Tipping Sacred Cow

Some Cows Need Tipping

Clowns Yearning to Play Hamlet

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A Message Beyond Our Abilities

Have you ever felt you were a party to something you had no right or business participating in?  I am referring to those times in your life when you were invited to take part in something so truly significant and awe inspiring you were left feeling unfit, ill-equipped, and ultimately overwhelmed.  I know I am well acquainted with this feeling.  In fact I am faced with this sentiment on a weekly, if not daily basis.  Truth be told, every Christian is likely familiar with this gnawing sensation.  You know the one.  The one that hints that we are participating in something so much bigger than ourselves, and that more responsibility has been placed upon us than we would really feel comfortable shouldering.  Obviously I am speaking of the fact we are participators in, and heralders of, the glorious gospel of Christ.

Most assuredly, the message that has been entrusted to us is far beyond our capabilities to communicate.  How can our mere words and actions do justice in expressing the full weight of the our sin problem, or the extravagance of God’s love and grace shown toward us (Eph 2:1-10)?  The responsibility and the momentousness of it all is quite overwhelming.  I can only imagine one might experience the same range of emotions Bozo the clown would feel if he were tapped to play the lead in Hamlet – tremendous joy, followed by a healthy dose of fear and trepidation.

 Just as every clown secretly yearns to play Hamlet, true believers long to share the beautiful reality of their hope and salvation in Jesus Christ.  However, although this desire exists, I have observed that most Christians tend to avoid proclaiming the gospel to their friends, family, and neighbors.  I am sure the reasons for this are as varied as they are personal, but one common thread I continue to encounter is the issue of fear; Fear of man; Fear of failure; Fear of rejection.  However, as of late the fear I have been encountering more often than not is the fear of inadequacy.  We are Bozo, this is Broadway, and we have been asked to play Hamlet.

Obviously we shouldn’t allow the magnitude of our responsibility to result in PTS (Paralyzed Tongue Syndrome). Unfortunately a good many of us do. It isn’t uncommon for well meaning believers to fret over what to say, or how to say it, to the point they don’t say anything at all. It isn’t that they are ashamed of the gospel, but rather they are anxious about what to say when given the opportunity. These are gospel believing Christian who would love to share their living hope with others, only they stumble under the weight of their own insecurity. Bozo forgot his lines because he is suffering from stage fright.

So what is the cure for our paralyzed tongues? The cure can be found in Acts 4. Starting in verse one we can read the account of when Peter and John were taken before the Jerusalem Council. If anyone had an opportunity to allow their insecurities to reign it would have been these guys, and especially at that moment. Put yourself in their sandals; standing before the men of highest education and status in the community, only to be asked to defend your faith. However, if you read the account (verses 1-13) you discover they indeed ended up sharing their faith with boldness. Two verses in particular stand out in our search for a cure.

8a. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…

13. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

The only reason Peter and John were able to share their faith with such bravery was because of their relationship with Jesus Christ, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. It is these same two agents which help all believers share the gospel with courage. Our relationship with the Lord produces in us both a living hope, leading to boldness (2 Cor 3:12), and the desire to share that hope with others. Motivated by this hope our job is simply to open our mouths and trust that the Holy Spirit will both empower and assist us (Phil 2:13, Luke 12:11-12). In the end we are merely the vessels God choses to use to spread his gospel.

Just as every clown yearns to play Hamlet, we long to share the hope of our salvation in Christ. However, unlike the untrained clown, God has given us every thing we need to take the stage. We may doubt ourselves, but therein is the heart of our problem. Our trust should never be founded in our abilities, but rather in the author and finisher of our faith. We are simply faithful to proclaim, he alone saves. We are Bozo, this is Broadway, and we have been asked to play Hamlet. Break a leg.

 

Addendum:  My lovely wife felt I might be offending some clowns out there.  In her words “I believe those who are clowns take their jobs seriously, no matter what we believe to be a higher ranking job. They may be very happy being clowns….it could be a fun job.”  I totally agree.  To clarify, it wasn’t my intention to insinuate that being a Shakespearian actor was more desirable, or a position of higher standing.  I was simply alluding to the different training/skill sets involved in each theatrical discipline, and how awkward it would be to step outside of your training.  In any case, it is common knowledge every Shakespearian actor wishes he could make balloon animals.

 

Death Where Is Your Sting?

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When I started Tipping Sacred Cow I did so with the intent of occasionally pointing out the strange things we believers do.  Today, I was reminded of one such custom; one that I must admit drives me a little nuts.  I am referring to the way we tend to use 1 Corinthians 15:55 out of context, and at less then opportune of times.

 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Cor 15:55

I am sure you have heard this verse before.  It is a rather popular passage, one which you are likely to hear quoted at a funeral.  Now, it is more than understandable why this verse might be used at a funeral.  It speaks to our life after death, one where the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal takes on immortality.  This is an encouraging verse for all of us who are looking forward to the promise of our eternal life with Christ.  However, is it really appropriate to use it when consoling those who may be in the process of grieving?

I don’t know about you, but when someone, in an attempt to console a mourner, proceeds to say, “Death where is your sting?” I want to jump up and say, “This is it right here.”  In context 1 Cor 15:55 is speaking of the day when we receive our glorified bodies, and death is no longer an issue.  Definitely a day we can all look forward to with great expectation.  However, this verse really does not speak to the loss we feel when someone we love and cherish passes on.  A loss that is very real, and one we most assuredly experience.

Christians are by no means exempt from grief.  Sometimes I wonder if it is a prevailing belief among contemporary believers that this shouldn’t be the case.  Many times I have heard 1 Cor 15:55 quoted in such a way as to say, “Hey, you don’t need to greave.  Don’t you know death has lost it’s sting?”  In such circumstances I have actually seen it make individuals feel awkward, or worse yet convicted for experiencing a sense of loss and grief for their loved one.

In truth the issue isn’t whether Christians should grieve, but how they should grieve.  The Bible informs us that as children of God we have a hope in Christ which causes us to approach the grieving process differently than those who do not possess this same hope (1 Thes 4:13-18).  When we do grieve, we must do so with the cross in sight.  This means the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection has to inform our understanding of our present, as well as our future (1 Peter 1:3-5).  We will still experience a sense of loss, knowing that this side of eternity we will not see our loved one again.  However, because of the price Christ paid on the cross, and the fact he rose again from the dead, we are comforted knowing we shall join them with Christ some day.

Therefore, when it comes to helping brothers and sisters in Christ dealing with a loss of a loved one, you must be sure to keep the cross upfront and visible.  We may mourn, but we will mourn with the cross in sight.  1 Corinthians 15:55 alone will not console the grieving soul.  Only when we first have a shared hope, founded in Christ’s death and resurrection, will the prospect of death’s defeat truly have significance.

 

Note:  This post ties in nicely with this podcast.

 

 

The Ever Mysterious Single Shoe

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Have you by any chance contemplated the ever mysterious single shoe?  You know the one I am taking about.  This would be the solitary shoe that you inevitably see in the gutter as you drive to work, or maybe, for those so inclined, as you go on your daily constitutional.  I am sure every community has at least one of these shoes kicking around their streets.  You encounter this lone piece of footwear days on end, when all of a sudden it disappears.  However, you know it is not truly gone.  Inevitably in the course of time it either returns for round two, or it is supplanted by its brother from a different mother.  This is the phenomena of The Ever Mysterious Single Shoe.

Every time I encounter one of these curious shoes I am struck with the question of its origin.  Seriously, where do these things come from?  It’s not like someone went for a walk and arrived at their destination one shoe short of a pair.  I don’t care how lost you are in your own little world you would likely notice.  Does it belong to some one-footed man, who in a fit of rage, throws his lone shoe out the car window in protest of someone’s ill timed lane change?  Are there really that many one-footed men (or women, I don’t want to be sexist) who have the propensity of losing their shoes living amongst us?   My money is on fact that this is the dastardly work of the secret shoe society named Aglet.  Whatever the origin of these lone shoes, their continued existence is quite odd.

I would hazard a guess that almost everyone that has encountered one of these ever mysterious single shoes pondered the reason for it being there.  It is rather odd that we would be so interested in the backstory of an inanimate object, but we are.  Ultimately our curiosity is derived from our understanding that shoes in their natural state come in pairs.  A shoe on its own, well something is wrong with that picture.  Shoes were never meant to be alone (and all the women readers said “Amen”).  In the same way Christians in their natural state were never meant to walk out their own salvation alone.

I have noticed a disturbing trend, one in which individuals professing salvation through Jesus Christ are going it alone.  What I am trying to say is they place little to no priority on the assembly of the saints.  Just like the mysterious lone shoe, they too stand in contrast to their very nature.  They live as if being in Christ and church attendance are mutually exclusive.  From a soteriological standpoint this is absolutely true.  Our salvation is not dependent on anything other than God’s grace (Eph 2:8).  However, when it comes to maturing spiritually and progressing in sanctification the two by design go hand in hand (Prov 27:17, Heb 10:24-25).

What should not be overlooked is the fact that once we are placed in Christ we are also immediately engrafted into one united spiritual body, the Universal Church, the Bride of Christ.  The two are conjoined and can not be separated.  This is where most people who attempt to go it alone hang their hats.  They assume all they need is God and their Bible because they are already part of the Church Universal.  However,  the Bible also shows us that we will find the practical expression of this one universal body in the formation and continuation of local assemblies (Acts 2:42-47, Rev 2-3).  The local church is the vehicle through which Christ equips his saints for the work of the ministry through instruction of the Word, discipleship, fellowship, discipline, and mutual accountability (Eph 4:4-16).  When we willingly disregard God’s appointed vehicle arriving at his chosen destination becomes problematic.

Those who propose a “style” of Christianity that sidesteps commitment to a body of local believers is proposing something that is neither historical nor biblical.  The truth is we were never designed to walk out this new life and salvation on our own.  In God’s infinite wisdom he chose to join us together and assemble us in local congregations in order to both glorify himself and to help progressively conform us to the image of his Son.  Together we are in our natural state, separated from the body we become just like that ever mysterious lone shoe.

Thank God It’s Friday

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It is Friday, and as an added bonus it just so happens to be beautiful outside.  If you threw in a well mixed Tim Horton’s Iced Capp and an impromptu leave of absence from work the day would be absolutely perfect.  On a day like today I just can’t help but have Psalm 118:24 running through my head and over my lips.

 

Psalm 118:24

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

 

Today is indeed a day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and give him the glory in it.  However, the same can also be said of the days which lack well mixed Ice Capp’s and boast of inclement weather.  I will rejoice in those days too.  How can someone rejoice in the less than stellar days?  The answer can be found in the first four verses of the selfsame chapter; “His steadfast love endures forever.”

Four times in four verses it states that God’s love endures forever.  It is pretty clear to me that the author wants to get the point across that God’s love will survive any situation, any circumstance, and outlast time itself.  Therefore, in good days or bad, whether I am feeling “it” or not, I will rejoice in the day he has made because I know his love endures.  Please go and do the same.