God Will Meet Anyone

I know a man, who was once a pretty bad person. He drank to excess. He did drugs. He sold drugs. He tells a story about planning to rob another drug dealer, and maybe, even, killing that drug dealer. (Neither actually took place.)

One day, someone gave him a book that describes what the Bible says about the future, and the final days before Jesus' return. While reading the book, he saw a connection between the Bible, and current events. And he had an epiphany. If what the Bible says about current events is true, maybe what it says about everything is true!

He became very conscious of his sin. And he became very conscious of his Saviour. He gave his allegiance to Jesus. He changed the way he lived to follow God's way.

I know another man, who, when he was nine years old, became aware there was a God. He was real. He was true. He was the Creator. He was the King. Which meant he was the Final Authority. Which meant for life to be real, meaningful, and in agreement with the Truth, he need to be on God's side. He need to get in line with who God was, and what God said.

If you would have asked him if he did wrong things, he would have said yes. But, at nine years old, he was not conscious of sin. But, he was conscious of God. So, he gave his allegiance to Jesus. And he chose to follow God's way.

And then, there was Paul. Paul was a Pharisee. Pharisees seemed to be hyper-religious Jews. In the Scriptures, God tells Israel that if they did not obey his commands, one of the results would be getting conquered by foreign powers. And they had been conquered by Assyria, Babylon, and, currently, Rome. So, God must not be happy with them, because they were not obeying him. So, they came up with a system, that if they kept it, they were confidant they would please God.

The system had 614 laws. Some were laws written in Scripture. Some were clarifications of God's law. For example, God commanded the people keep the Sabbath holy. Part of keeping the Sabbath holy was not working on the Sabbath. So, if you were a farmer, do you feed your cows on the Sabbath? If you have to go somewhere, how far can you walk, before it comes work? (Apparently, it's 2000 cubits. Or 3500 feet. Or 1070 meters.)

And Paul kept the system. Paul writes of himself, that he was "righteous according to the Law." Until Jesus rocked Paul's life on the road to Damascus, he viewed himself as being right with God, as keeping the Law. He would probably say that he was not perfect. But when he failed, he followed God's procedure, and so, was right with God.

But he did get flatttened by Jesus. He saw God, and God's expectations, in a totally new light. He gave his allegiance to Jesus. He changed the way he lived to follow God's way.

In my three stories, we have three different responses to sin, right, and wrong. We have three different, initial responses to God, and God's expectations. We have three different ways these men connected to Jesus. But all three chose to give allegiance to Jesus. All three chose to walk in a way that followed God's way.

All three walked different paths, but God is flexible enough, and capable enough, to meet anyone, anywhere they are, and to reveal his presence, and his love, to them. And he can lead anyone on their unique path of following him, and filling their place in his family.

The Kingdom (2)

God created the world, and was Lord over all creation. The enemy deceived the first people, and they brought rebellion, and enmity, into their relationship with God. And the enemy, momentarily, ruled creation. But, when Jesus came, he defeated the enemy.He nailed sin onto the cross. Lordship over creation was restored to the King.

During World War II, the US army invaded Iwo Jima. If the Japanese army could have repelled the Americans, and keep them off the beaches, they would win the battle. But they could not. Once, the US army secured a foothold on Iwo Jima, the results of the battle were a forgone conclusion. But knowing the conclusion did not mean the Japanese would surrender. They fought fiercely, and stubbornly, for every inch of that small island.

This is the position the enemy is in. Defeated, but refusing to surrender. Determined to fight to the bitter end. Take as many as he can with him. Make as much misery as he can.

God's family, as his agents, have the role of the marines on Iwo Jima. Remove the enemy. Establish God's rule over all the land. God's family does not stand alone, because their Father stands with them.

But the question is: how does God's family establish God's rule over the land? The marines used guns, and bullets, to secure Iwo Jima. With do God's people use? What are their tools, and weapons? This war has different goals, and different objectives. So, the weapons are different.

Of course, the Kingdom's greatest weapon is Jesus. The cross has defeated the enemy. His power — death — has been broken.

Another weapon is a life given in allegiance to Jesus. When a person gives his allegiance to Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes his home in the person's heart. New spiritual DNA is injected. The sure transformation, into a life that God's designed, begins.

The life is so different, and so contrary to what is expected, it seems to some people like a brand new life. And Paul does describe it as new. Indeed, some people compare the old life, of someone they know, with their new life. And the difference between the two is enough to motivate them to give their allegiance to Jesus.

But there is more. As God's family live as designed (read: obey God's word) the change the spiritual atmosphere of their society and culture. There is a supernatural aspect of this. There is a natural aspect of this.

The supernatural aspect consists of an invitation to the Holy Spirit to live in our midst. The lives of God's family invite God's presence; and they do not live in ways that repel God's presence. And God's presence affects anything that it touches.

The natural aspect consists of more, and more, people living according to God's word. God's primary commands are to love God, and love people. If God's family is living according to love, it would revolutionize society. Just driving on I-95 would be calmer, and more peaceful, because drivers would be patient, and kind.

God's children are perhaps his greatest asset, as they invite the Spirit into circumstances, and conduct themselves by his standards, values, and commands.

The Kingdom

When Jesus began his ministry, he proclaimed that the Kingdom onf God was near.

God took a family, multiplied them, and established them as a nation. God told the family, if they followed him, he would bless them, Then, they would take what he blessed them with, and pass it onto the world. The world would receive God's blessing through them.

Then, the world would learn what it is like to choose allegiance to the God of Israel. Then, the world would give him their allegiance too.

Israel gave allegiance to God in words. And there were times they followed him in deeds, and practice, also. But, overall, they chose to follow something other than the God of the universe.

So, God chose another way to inject his Kingdom into the world. He became a man, a part of Israel, and began the process of building a family … a spiritual family.

When, a person gives his allegiance to Jesus, God's spirit makes his home in the inner core of that person. God's family is not linked by a common physical DNA. It is linked by a common spiritual DNA.

And God will use his family to expand his Kingdom.

A kingdom is anything the king reigns over. In human terms, it is a territory that a human king controls. In God's Kingdom, it is the people, who give him their allegiance.

To look at it another way, God is the Lord, the Master, the King, of all life. He is not just Lord of Sunday morning. He is not just the Master of the church. He is the King of all. All people, all plants and animals, are in his Kingdom. All countries, all peoples, and all institutions, are in his domain.

Sometimes, it does not look like he has dominion. Probably, every living person is disturbed by the lack of love, peace, and order — both as individuals, and internationally. But I think the reason for God's restraint is multi-layered. Meaning, there is no single "this is why."

One layer is: God has decided, it is better for people to choose their allegiances. He wants us to give our allegiance to him. But he wants it to be voluntary, wholehearted, and fully aware.

Another layer is: There are many now, and many yet to be born, who have not given their allegiance to the Lord of the universe, but who will. So, he is patient with everyone, to provide a chance for everyone, and an opportunity for some. And he has given his family the opportunity to demonstrate to the world, that he is the Lord of life, what that means, and how that works.

Many of God's children have drawn a box around what that means. Some act as though God is only Lord of Sunday morning, inside a special building. Some act as though God's only concern is individual salvation, and personal morals. Some act as though God only reveals himself through particular supernatural acts, and practices.

The Kingdom of God should look more like William Carey.

Carey left England, for India, in 1792. He shared the gospel, and saw thousands come to Christ. He taught himself Greek, Hebrew, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Hindi, Bengali, and Sanskrit. He translated the Scriptures into several Indian languages. And he translated several works of Indian literature in English. He built schools, hospitals, and at least, one university. He combated many cruel social practices. and saw the death of some of them. He engaged life on almost every front, and left it better for his engagement.

Not bad for a guy, whose only formal training was in the manufacture, and repair, of shoes.

Disciple The Nations

The last thing Jesus told his disciples to do, was "to disciple the nations." How do we do that?

First, we baptize them. Baptism has always been a symbol of washing away an old life, and moving into a new life. John's baptism was, specifically, a baptism of repentance. "To repent" means to "change one's mind." So, baptism is a symbolic declaration of choosing a new path in life. And if you are being baptized in Jesus' name,  you are choosing his path as you path.

So, part of making disciples is assisting in the mind-changing, new path choosing, process. There are a number of methods, plans and schemes, to accomplish this. Often, surrounding a campaign, or a celebrity. And I don't want to give the impression that these are necessarily wrong. They are pursued by people with good motives, good intentions, and right desires. I will remind us that we are all God's priests, God's ambassadors, and God's family. We all represent God to the world, and the world to God. Each child of God should have the ability to explain Christ's message, to facilitate a decision of repentance, a decision to follow Christ, and the public declaration of baptism. It should not necessarily be a campaign. It should be part of the lifestyle.

Part of making disciples is facilitating a change in the spiritual atmosphere. There is a war going on. The ultimate goal for God's family in the war is the proclamation, and demonstration, of God's glory. The demonstration has a number of parts — increasing the size of God's family is an important part — none of which the enemy wants to happens. So, the enemy lays siege to the family of God. He attacks, assaults, spies on, sabotages, disrupts supplies, and communications, harasses, and, in any way possible, works to prevent the proclamation of God's glory.

So, disciple making involves waging war in the spiritual realm. It involves prayer: to disrupt the enemy's tactics, and strategy, to strengthen his family, for the Father to act to move his kingdom further, and to celebrate what God has done, and what he will do.

Walking with Christ is both practical, and mystical. The life of God's family is simultaneously in both arenas. And they need to act in both arenas.

The second part of disciple making is to teach obedience. Knowledge is important. Acting on, or practicing, the knowledge is more important.

In many parts of God's family, knowledge is raised up. Expectations of participation in God's kingdom center in only a few areas. Again, we are all God's priests, and God's ambassadors. We all ought to practice every area of God's instruction. Some will be better in some areas. Some will have more opportunity in some areas. (And we are Christ's body.) But, there is no area of God's instruction — including disciple making — that we can say we don't have to practice.

Let me be clear. Knowledge, and understanding, are important. But, if it stops there, a person is not truly following Christ. God designed us. If it were not for sin in the world, and in our lives, we would act, speak, think, and feel like Jesus. We may not be able to do that. But that is God's aspiration for us. And it should be the same for us, the people in our lives, and all the family of God. My goal in sharing this is not to induce guilt. It is to encourage each of us to take serious consideration of what we are not practicing, and how we could start.

More Than Expected

Paul was a Jew, and a Pharisee. The Jews knew they were God's people. God declared it in Scripture. He demonstrated it in their history.

The Pharisees realized God was not too pleased with the Jews. He declared it in Scripture. He demonstrated it in their history. After all, that's why there were Roman armies wandering around their countryside.

The Pharisees decided that getting back on God's good side would solve a lot of their problems. So, they developed a system hyper-religiosity, which they believed pleased God. If they could get enough of their fellow Jews to agree, everything would be OK. And Paul was in enthusiastic agreement. That's why Paul was so irritated with those pesky Christians. They did not keep the system. They did not please God. They perpetuated all that was wrong in the world.

Then, some angel whacked Paul between the eyes with a 2 by 4. (Metaphorically speaking, of course.)

Jesus spoke to him. He was blinded. He was healed. So much happened, that he went on vacation, to clear his head.

And while he was on vacation, he read his Bible … a lot! And he saw stuff in a whole new light. So much so, that he gave his allegiance to Jesus, became a disciple, and a messenger of God.

One of the things he saw differently was God's plans for the world. God's plan was for all people groups to become part of God's family. Both Jew and gentile would become part of God's family. Both would be united to Christ. Both would be God's heirs. Both would be part of the same body. Both would be used to demonstrate God's purposes, and God's character.

Realizing this, Paul was moved to pray. Prayer is a number of things. One, it is an alignment of a person's inner man with God. Two, it is an agreement with God's purposes, inviting God to bring his purposes to completion. And a few other things.

The first thing Paul prays for was inner strength. God is inviting everyone back into relationship with him, into his family, into transformation, and away from allegiance to the world, and the person's past. For some, turning away from current patterns, and current allegiances, is very difficult. It takes a certain amount of resolve to turn to something new. Especially, if the new requires a high trust component. So, Paul prays for a strengthening of resolve, to move into a trust relationship with Jesus.

And, as we trust God, give him our allegiance, we become united to Christ. Jesus makes his home in our hearts. It is Jesus' eternal presence with us, that completes our becoming united with Christ. And it is that connection that activates every other good thing that arises from knowing God. Forgiveness, justification, the expunging of our sin, and God's restoration project in our lives, all stem from Christ's sacrifice. And we receive all these benefits, because we are united to Christ. Whatever Jesus received, we receive it also, through our connection to him.

As we are united with Christ, we are like a tree, that plunges its roots into the earth, to receive water, food, and other factors of growth, and increase. But instead of the earth, our roots sink into the love of God. We are fed, refreshed, and provided for, out of the abundance of God's love. Certainly, one part of growth, and transformation, is an ever-increasing understanding of the extend of God's love. How far, how deep, will it go? How long will it pursue? If it has already borne the sins of the world, what will it not do … keeping agreement with his nature, and character?

We are united with Christ, connected to the Father's love, and are being "fed" via that connection. We are learning the extent of God's love. How big it is. How much it covers. How far it will go.

And God says we will be full. We will be restored. We will be complete. Indeed, God's power is already working in us. And it will do far more, than we ask, or think.