Things that Hinder our Love

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:37-39

This much-loved and often-quoted passage of scripture assures us that no circumstance of this life or any threat we face can dissolve the bonds that keep us in the Father's love. As much as this already speaks to me by itself in terms of the Christian's relationship to God, it spoke to me differently this morning in light of another passage of scripture:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." - John 13:34 

If, as Christians, we are all children of the same Father, fixed in his affections by bonds that no circumstance can sever, and if we are commanded to love as he loves us, why are we so easily divided in our affections from one another? The love that is manifested by God toward us should rightly be manifested through the Spirit of God among us. Why, then, is this "unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" the exception in the church rather than the rule?

I believe there are two primary reasons for this:

1. Unbelief - We are not convinced of God's love for us.

Many of us have been so battered by this life and are so full of rejection and fear that virtually every day with us is a game of "He loves me; he loves me not." The consequence of not believing in his love is a continual cycle of doubt, fear, worry, and despair, resulting in double-mindedness, the inability to focus properly, and an emotional miserliness that separates us from both God and man because we're so afraid of losing what we have (or think we have) that we can't reach out to anyone else or let them reach out to us. It's rather difficult to link hands with someone when you're hands are already full. To join with others, we have to put our "stuff" down first.

2. Pride - We're too caught up in love of self.

Pride, which is really love of self above all else, can stem from rejection as a type of defense mechanism (usually manifesting in a stormy, unpredictable temperament), but often it is a separate category entirely. Pride is like fire; it consumes everything in favor of itself. Pride sees everything in terms of how it relates to self: "That's not what I like," "That's not how I would do it," "That doesn't make me happy," "That's not how I see it," "Where does that leave me?", and so forth. A person caught in a stronghold of pride practically generates their own gravity field, drawing everything to themselves. Even if they dislike and avoid you, it's usually difficult to escape their influence, as they'll find ways - even subtle ways - of conveying their disdain for you and poisoning others against you. For some people, this is almost a game.

In Proverbs 6, Solomon tells us that there are seven things that are "abominations" in the sight of God, and pride (love of self) lies at the heart of every one of them. In Job 41, he describes a fearsome creature with the characteristics of a classical dragon and calls it "king over the children of pride." These are strong testaments to what God thinks of pride.

Needless to say, pride is the mortal enemy of love. I believe these two things: unbelief and pride, are at the heart of our failure to love one another as God loves us, and together they have left the church divided, weak, and often at war with itself. Indeed, lack of love for others may be at the heart of why many of us are not growing as we would like to spiritually, as we're disobeying the commandment Jesus said lies at the heart of all true spirituality (Matthew 7:12; 22:40). If we rejoice in the Bible's declaration that nothing in this life can separate us from God's love for us, then we should take Christ's command to love one another as he loves us all the more seriously, and allow nothing to separate us from one another. The first step in that direction could be a prayer like this:

"Father, in the name of Jesus I confess my failure to love others as I ought to, as the Lord commanded us to, and ask your forgiveness. I desire to make this right in my life. I ask you to deliver me from unbelief and pride. Touch and heal me from every source of rejection that suppresses my ability to experience your love for me and hinders me in loving others. Expose every root of pride within me and grant me the strength to dig them out. Fill me with the same love for my fellow Christians that you have toward me, that I might be a blessing and a source of life and healing to all around me. I ask these things in faith, knowing that it is your will for your children to live in love, toward you as well as toward one another. You alone can make this possible. Teach me to yield to you so that you can do your works in me and through me. Amen."

* Scriptures are quoted from the NASB.

True Humility is knowing One's Identity in Christ

Some time ago I called a pastor acquaintance of mine to ask for prayer. When he picked up the phone, the first thing he said to me was, “What can I do for you, man of God?”

For an instant, I was speechless. It had never occurred to me to think of myself in those terms. Had he picked up the phone and said, “What’s up, basket case?” or “How’s it going, screw-up?” I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye; in fact, I probably would have assumed the Holy Spirit had given him a word of knowledge. But “man of God” - I wasn't prepared for that.

The Christian faith places a great deal of emphasis on humility, and for most of my life I guess I thought humility was the art of running yourself down. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Humility is an attitude of reverent awareness that what you have, and what you can do, you have and can do by the grace of God. Humility keeps one thankful toward God and merciful toward one’s fellow human beings. The alternative is arrogance, which leads to contempt for both God and man.

At its core then, humility is simply an acknowledgment of the truth: the truth concerning oneself in relation to God.

For this reason, running yourself down isn’t just counterproductive; it’s actually a form of self-delusion. Further, I believe it’s an affront to God. The scriptures are clear that those who belong to Christ have received the favor of God (Romans 5:1-11), even the right to be called his own children (John 1:12-13). We are to receive an inheritance along with Christ (Romans 8:16-18). Indeed, Jesus said that it is the Father’s “good pleasure” to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32). He doesn’t merely tolerate us, he delights in us (Ephesians 5:1). We are important to him, first because we are created in his image, and second because we are being conformed to the image of his son (Romans 8:29), who is ever pleasing to him. When we look down on ourselves we effectively deny these truths and thereby subtly imply that the sacrifice of Christ that was designed to bring these things about really hasn’t done so.

There is a place for conviction in our lives. The Holy Spirit brings this about in his own gentle way, but he never rubs our noses in our failures and inadequacies. Given that we are to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1), it stands to reason that we should not do these things to ourselves, either. Yes, it’s easy to become discouraged at times—especially as we reflect on the power and holiness of God, and as we compare ourselves to various famous names in the history of the faith—but as Christians we are called to be “overcomers.” A person who runs himself down is not overcoming; he is being overcome. Victory will never come to one who chooses to crown himself with defeat.

So, yes, let’s pursue humility, but let it be genuine humility—a humility that comes by way of the truth and that leads us into thankfulness and mercy, and onward to victory. Acknowledge who you are in Christ and what God has said about you in those terms. Know that, if you belong to Christ, then you are indeed a man or woman of God, no matter what you may feel like at the moment or how far you have yet to travel on the road to maturity. It isn’t easy to change a habitual pattern of thinking, as those who are prone to anxiety and depression know only too well, but it’s the essential first step and it is possible with prayerful determination. The alternative is futility, self-delusion, and insulting the father who has so graciously made us the children of his favor.

“For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that...we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.” - Hebrews 6:16-18

*Scripture is taken from the NASB.

Have You been to the Pig Pen Lately?

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." - James 4:10

The story is told of a rich man who lay stricken with illness and certain of approaching death. Although he had never before had any regard for spiritual matters in his life, when the specter of death loomed large before him he began to fear for the destiny of his soul, and summoned one of his slaves, a man whom he knew to be a devout Christian.

"I am dying and afraid that I will be lost," the rich man explained when the slave came to his room. "Please tell me what I need to do to be saved."

The slave thought for a moment and replied, "Sir, you will need to get up and go down and kneel in the pig pen, confess your sins to God, and ask His pardon."

"You can't mean that," the rich man said. "Please don't joke with me. I'm dying and I fear being lost for eternity. Tell me what I must do!"

But once again the slave replied, "I've told you, sir. You need to go down to the pig pen."

Angry and incredulous, the rich man sent the slave away that afternoon. But it wasn't long before his thoughts again turned to his eternal destiny. Sleep fled from him. Visions of damnation paraded before his mind's eye. Again he sent for the slave, only to receive the same reply: "If you want to be saved, sir, you'll need to go kneel down in the pig pen, confess your sins to God, and ask His pardon." The rich man pleaded and threatened, but the servant remained inflexible, and again the rich man sent the slave away.

Finally, when the rich man felt his strength ebbing and his anguish threatened to to overwhelm him, he summoned his slave and relented in tears. "You win," he told the slave, "help me up. If I have to go kneel down in the pig pen to be saved, I'll do it. I'll do it."

But as the rich man struggled to rise from his sick bed, the slave placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled down at him. "You don't really have to go down to the pig pen, sir. You just have to be willing to."

I first heard this story as a child, and have often reflected on it in the years since. I find it an apt illustration of why so few in our society are ready to do business with God. Oh, there is no shortage of people who dream of Heaven, and it's clear that most of them expect to make it there by virtue of some good they've done or some evil they've avoided. In the American mindset, God is always ready to play "Let's Make a Deal" with all but the very worst of us, for no other apparent reason than He is the ultimate nice guy. Our society is full of people who think this way.

Hell is full of people who thought that way.

The truth of the matter is that God is terrifyingly holy. His justice is real. His wrath is not just something we read about in quaint Old Testament stories; it is a real thing, and for those outside of His grace, an inevitable thing (Revelation 20:11-15). When He says, "The soul that sins, it shall die," (Ezekiel 18:20) you can be sure that He means it. Play games with the Almighty, my friend, and you will lose - certainly and eternally (Matthew 25:46). Yes, God is full of mercy, patience and compassion (Psalm 86:15) - a thousand times, yes! In fact, the Bible tells us that His compassions do not fail, that they are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23), and for this we praise Him. But it is equally true that He will not put up with anyone who tries to make a mockery of Him (Galatians 6:7), and one way in which we mock Him most often is by coming to Him with a heart full of pride. I've actually heard people say that when they stand before God, they'll "tell Him how it is."

Really? Scripture makes it clear that no one who gets a glimpse of God can stand before Him in arrogance:

- Exodus chapters 19-20 recount how God descended upon Mount Sinai "in fire," and with the sound of trumpet blast, causing the mountain to shake. This so frightened the Hebrews that they backed away from the mountain and begged Moses to go up and talk to God for them, "but let not God speak with us, lest we die." (20:19).

- In Isaiah 6:1-5, the prophet Isaiah tells us of the following vision he had of God:

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!' And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: 'Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.'"

- In Revelation, chapter 1, the apostle John records a vision of the glorified Jesus Christ, remarking that, "when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead."

- In Revelation 6:14-17, at the breaking of the sixth seal, John records the following:

"Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'"

These are but a few glimpses of the One whom some flippantly call "the Old Man Upstairs," the One whose name they defile as a curse word, the One before whom they think they'll strut and smart-off, the same One before whose face the Bible says, "the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them." (Revelation 20:11)

Friends, as the slave in the story of the dying rich man understood, if we are to come to God, we must do so in utmost humility. We must recognize our sinfulness and unworthiness, and cast ourselves upon His mercy. Until we're ready to kneel in the pig pen before Him, as it were, we are not ready to know Him and receive anything from Him. Indeed, in God's sight, we're already in the pig pen and covered with its grime. In Isaiah 64:6, the Bible tells us that: "We are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away."

The Word of God is clear: everything we consider best about ourselves, all of which we would brag about before God, is, in His sight, filth; and until we see this, we are in no position to receive His mercy.

We live in what is perhaps one of the most arrogant generations in human history. As a civilization, we have come to trust in our technology, our self-perceived cleverness and sophistication. We think of ourselves as something special, perhaps as the Christians in the ancient city of Laodicea once saw themselves. And yet, what did God think of them?

Revelation 3:17 - "You say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—"

In spite of this, however, the Lord stands ready to forgive. He tells us how we appear in His sight and how we compare with Him, not to trample us under His feet but to bring us to the place where He can wash us and raise us up:

Revelation 3:18-21 - "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."

James 4:8-10 - "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

Psalm 34:18 - "The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit."

Psalm 51:17 - "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise."

Proverbs 3:34 - "Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble."

And so the question I would ask is this: have you ever been to the pig pen? Do you expect God to receive you because of who you are? Because of something you've done of which you're especially proud? Because others view you as such a good person? Because of social status? Because you haven't "done anything all that bad"? Because you deserve Heaven somehow?

If so, you are on dangerous ground, my friend. God is no respecter of persons. He stands ready, even eager, to save you; but before He can do so you must first admit your sinfulness before Him and your inability to save yourself. Accept the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on your behalf as the only means by which you can be declared "not-guilty" before God:

II Corinthians 5:21 - "He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

But the pig pen is not only for those who have never come to the Savior, as even those of us who know Him can sometimes be found strutting vainly through life like the Laodicean believers, confident in our own self-sufficiency, forgetting the lowly state in which He found us - mired in sin, condemned to eternal punishment, without hope but for the mercy extended to us by the grace of the Lord Jesus, and helpless to please Him even now without His power working through us (John 15:5). May we pray that God will examine our hearts and, if there is such pride there, that He will make it evident to us and cause us to repent, that we might be rich in His sight and clothed in the white garments that only He can give.