Spirituality Column #724

September 29, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Everyone Who Believes, Part 4

By Bob Walters

“I am obligated both to the Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.  I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes …” – Paul, Romans 1:14-16

We’ll go long and finish this series today by discussing why everyone who believes should neither be ashamed of nor embarrassed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Quick recap – I don’t think shame of our personal past is productive for the mindset of anyone with hope in their future thanks to belief in Jesus.  Focus forward. However – “not being ashamed” – i.e., being courageous and open about our faith – is critical not only for our witness to others but also our joy in loving and knowing God.

Shame is one of the words you have to be careful how you use.

And no, I’m not embarrassed if people think I’m a little (or a lot) weird for viewing Christian faith as the ultimate, bedrock, settled science and philosophical true north.  Yes, I actually believe that stuff about Jesus and the resurrection.  You want to know why?  Not so much because of forgiveness, salvation, heaven, eternity – all nice features with many aspects beyond my earthly comprehension – but because in Jesus I perceive and attach to the enormity of all God is and does, and I can use it right now.

Here’s a list of daily, always-there things that give me confidence in Jesus Christ.

Truth – Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life,” but anyone could write those words, and there is no shortage today in the broken marketplace of ideas of narratives that claim secular, temporal, convenient truths with no eternal merit.  The witness of Jesus’s death and resurrection is this: objective truth exists in the person of God.  Christians, in this life, can depend on the existence of a permanent, eternal truth.

Reality – With bedrock truth comes bedrock reality.  We confuse ourselves with the philosophy and science of what we can see and not see, what we can explain and not explain, and reduce “spirit” to spooky myth.  It is with and through the Holy Spirit – sent by Jesus – that we see the deepest, clearest reality God permits.  It’s not ghosts.

Purpose – Jesus shows us, by His example, our ultimate human purpose in this life: to glorify God.  That’s it.  Anyone can do it, but only through the sin-covering and righteousness of Christ.  A Christian wakes up every day understanding that by their belief, God is glorified.  In our actions resides not salvation, but the joy of that purpose.

Inspiration – God is infinitely creative and gives inspiration to His Creation freely.  I sit here and write, inspired by His Spirit.  Lots and lots of creative stuff happens everywhere with everybody – with credit often usurped by humans thinking they must be quite something to do this or that.  Satan wants us to deny God’s creativity and take credit ourselves.  Jesus is the creative force of God (“authority over all things”).  Use it, be inspired, have a little humility. God’s depth and breadth are magnificent to behold.

Relationship – God Himself is a loving, mysterious relationship of the Father, Son, and Spirit: not three Gods, but one caring, interconnected love.  The Trinity defies scientific explanation but is the model for every great relationship we as humans – God’s “very good” Creation – can form.  Self-sacrifice, non-jealousy, putting others first, obedience, and awareness of the needs of others are typical of great marriage, family, and civic relationships that make this life so rich when we are able to form them.  Satan hates that because his aim is to break our God-glorifying relationship with Jesus. With faith in Jesus, we find the strange and ethereal joy of knowing relationship with God.

Peace – Yes, I’ve noticed the world is not perfect, people aren’t perfect, and I am not perfect.  Does any of that upset me?  Yes.  And I’m not sure which I hate worse – the fallen world or my personal fallenness that on occasion hinders the full-tilt joy of my relationship with Jesus.  But I have learned to always, always, endeavor to direct my angst and fears upon the presence of Jesus.  “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  Peace is always possible when I’m thinking about Jesus.

Power – There is power in the name of Jesus, really.  Try it sometime.  Mean it.

Freedom – Have you noticed that there can be no true freedom without love?  My love wants you to be free, God’s love wants us to be free, Jesus’s sacrifice “sets us free,” and divine love is the ultimate arbiter of freedom because it defines and requires care for God, care for God’s Creation, and care for each other.  We raise our children for a season with the intent to set them free, filled with love, hope, and – I hope – faith.  We have to work together – you and me, both of us, all of us, all sides – in order to have that freedom-buoyed-by-love in this life.  Satan works harder against nothing else.

Authority – Who’s in charge around here, anyway?  False gods and fearful self-centeredness create no shortage of weak “authority” in our daily lives.  As do truth and reality, God’s authority resides in Jesus.  That is so helpful.  Trust yourself?  Sure … as long as your trust is first centered in abiding faith in Jesus.  Trust Him.  You’ll be fine.

Identity – “Who am I?”  Philosophers great and dim have been wrestling with that one for all of humanity.  “I” want to have an identity.  In Jesus, we have one, and importantly it is an identity that glorifies God.  I’m less worried about my identity in the world’s view because my view focuses – with occasional bumps – on God’s Kingdom.

Suffering – I’m not happy about suffering but its virtue is its opportunity to expose not just the world’s fallenness but the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  People are broken; Christianity and other religions are mocked and attacked.  Wars, disease, treachery abound on all sides.  I see them and it makes me ask: How can I glorify God even in this cesspool?  It is helpful to know suffering is something Jesus understands.

Thankfulness – Even if you’re not sure who to thank, thankfulness is the front door of joy.  Before God, it just might be the front door to His Kingdom.  Learn to thank Jesus and to look for an opportunity to glorify God in all situations.  Let God shine into the world through you in your strength, courage, grace, generosity, responsibility, obedience, trustworthiness … and love.  Be obligated, eager, and not ashamed.

Everyone else who believes – and surprisingly, many who don’t – will notice.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes: Jesus exists in the here and now; be sure to take advantage of Him – you get joy, God gets glory, and Satan gets a headache. Christianity is so much bigger than forgiveness of sin; we should play the big game.

Spirituality Column #723

September 22, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Everyone Who Believes, Part 3

“I am obligated both to the Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.  I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes …” – Paul, Romans 1:14-16

The Apostle Paul here declares that he was obligated, eager, and not ashamed of the Gospel; he would bravely tell anyone, anywhere the truth of Christ Jesus. 

Even Caesar in Rome, the temple mob in Jerusalem, or heretics in Corinth.

Often, I wish I had Paul’s chutzpah.  In Athens at the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34), Paul was shrewd and convincing telling of “the unknown God” who was greater than all others.  His message – perhaps his fullest and most dramatic speech in the Bible – was effective and showed that Paul could fit Christ’s truth to any audience.  Quite a talent.

Most Christians – “everyone who believes” – “get” that, and we try.  We know we are joyously tasked to share the Good Word with all, but probably fall somewhere short of Paul’s resolve.  We generally love to tell others about our faith and are joyous when our witness bears fruit (i.e., folks listen and believe), but we hate rejection and know we are not Paul.  Yet in all personal seriousness, over these past couple of decades encompassing my own Christian journey, I never recall being ashamed or hiding from openly declaring my faith, “Yes, I am a Christian.  Yes, I believe in Jesus.”  Easy as that.

And from theological, doctrinal, mission, testimony, and action standpoints, “everyone who believes,” in my observation, tends to gather on the same general page: not ashamed. We may wonder what to do with Jesus, but we know we found Him.

(Folks ask, “How do I know I am a Christian?”  A good indication is if you publicly, sincerely, and without hesitation profess it without being ashamed.  Even if you can’t tell others, be sure to talk it over with God.  Jesus and the Holy Spirit already understand.)

This whole line of “shame” reflection started a few weeks back when my long-time, Christian-raised but largely unchurched buddy Bo – a great guy – asked, innocently enough, if I was ever “embarrassed” about being a Christian.

I had thought about shame, courage, and perseverance, but not “embarrassed.” 

Surprised, I reflexively but kindly said, “No,” adding, approximately, that “Christian” expresses deeply and truly who I am so it would never occur to me to be “embarrassed” by it, at least not in the worldly, outside-the-flock way Bo meant it.  But I could also see his point; we Christians often do look a little weird to those standing around the corral and not quite understanding what the herd on the inside is all about.

From my own experience, I will say that being among the herd is a great comfort and multiplies my personal strength and faith knowing I’m around other believers. That chases the weirdness and “embarrassment” away, but it’s not something I could have ever seen from outside the fence.  Weirdness is replaced by joy; that’s the inside job.

We’ll wrap this series up next week with a half-dozen or so features of Christian faith that say nothing, really, of salvation, sin, forgiveness, or eternity, but features that dramatically enrich the lives we live now; lives that were created in love to glorify God.

Needless to say, I’m not the least bit embarrassed to share them with you.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) was drawn to Christians, not repulsed by them. 

Spirituality Column #722

September 15, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Everyone Who Believes, Part 2

By Bob Walters

“I am obligated both to the Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.  I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes …” – Paul, Romans 1:14-16

“Are you ever embarrassed being a Christian?” my old friend asked me.

In the context of our conversation, I have no doubt that my great college pal Bo – with whom my wife Pam and I had a great but rare visit one afternoon a couple of weeks ago in western Indiana – meant it as no accusation.  Rather, he was seriously wondering how I came to deep Christian faith.  His encounters with church over his lifetime, I surmised, had been something short of deeply, grippingly, satisfying.

I can’t think of the last time a simple question has led me on such a joyous continuum of contemplation and prayer.  The Bible indeed offers Paul’s powerful words about not being ashamed of the Gospel; that the Gospel was and is the single great truth among all life and all humans of all stations and whatever worldly power they might hold.  For Paul in Rome at that time, his declaration amounted to capital heresy against the “god” Caesar.  “I will tell this truth to anyone,” Paul was saying.

“If you’re ashamed of me [in life], I’ll be ashamed of you [at judgment]” Jesus asserts in Mark 8:38 and Luke 9:26.  To me, that is the scariest threat in the Bible.

But Bo wasn’t asking about shame or final cosmic divine judgment.  He was simply asking about me, personally, being “embarrassed” (see 2 Corinthians 7:14 NIV; different word and tense but same Greek root as “shame”).  Bo wasn’t referring to the behavior, pomposity, or hypocrisy of certain Christians, nor to recent church scandals, nor to the academic fraud of postmodern, post-Christian invective levied generally against sincere faith at almost every university in the world (all my words, not Bo’s).

I gathered that Bo was just wondering if, on a solely personal level, I ever felt the same weirdness he perceives upon encountering Christian faith (“believing without seeing” kind of faith), Christian witness (revealing one’s testimony in public), or Christian practice (worship, prayer, lingo, or maybe saying grace in public).  Yes, I had.

Fact is, I knew exactly what Bo was asking because 20 years ago and my entire adult life before that, I felt exactly the same way.  I vividly remember cringing the first time I was in a restaurant and my Christian lunch partner actually said grace, low but out loud, in public!  My eyes looked around – embarrassed – to see who was watching.

Another fact is, I don’t think I know a Christian who is embarrassed about being a Christian. The consuming depth of faith, hope, love, the Bible, church, fellowship and Jesus in Christian life is so huge, obvious, and self-evident that, as Chesterton wrote, the greater the truth in one’s life, the harder it is to explain it to others.  You just know it.

So, I understood Bo’s question; it was neither complaint nor put-down.  My knee-jerk response – now – was what felt like a calm, compassionate, non-condescending, and confident, “No.”  But it was a question, upon further review, I pray I had been better prepared to answer.  Everyone who believes?  Give it some thought.  More next week.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) last saw Bo (before this visit) in 1992.  BTW … that praying, Christian lunch partner Bob mentioned – September 2001 – was Russ Blowers.