BibleDriven

Archive for September, 2009

“I call you my brothers, and count it my privilege and joy to serve with you. And to you and this common cause in which we stand I give my life. I will go anywhere with you, and face anything, to the end of finishing the mission we’ve been given—faithfully, fully, courageously, and honorably, so help me God.”

As I listened to these words—from my Platoon Sergeant to her soldiers—I longed for them to be the words and the heart found in our churches. Alas, that it’s so rare.

Let’s commit ourselves altogether again to “walk in a manner worthy of [fitting, proper, of comparable value to]  the calling” to which we’ve been called (Ephesians 4.1).

“The culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer. Above all keep your love for one another fervent, because love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without complaining. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4.7-11, NET).

I was just on the way from the church over to my little “reserved” table at Starbucks for an afternoon of java and jotting some notes on the history of Christian thought when I noticed, on the car in front of me, this remarkable “thought”—Jesus is coming … look busy!

Aaauuugghhhhhh!! Now, if I’m not completely mistaken, that’s a quote from George Carlin—not really the best source of theological reflection, you know. And I don’t know if the little lady driving this car was a Carlin fan (if so, I would never have guessed it), or whether perhaps she thought that this “thought” had some merit, but its message is fundamentally unbiblical and the attitude behind it dismissive and dangerous.

Here’s what I mean. Jesus is coming … that’s absolutely true. God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness” by this man whom he’s appointed, and of this he has “provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17.31). The appeal that flows from that truth, though, is not “Look busy!” but “Repent!” The Judge of all the earth will not be fooled by “looks.” Oh no! “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ …” (2 Corinthians 5.10), and the word Paul uses there for “appear” is actually passive voice, and means “be made known, be revealed, be brought to light, be seen through,” i.e. for who we really are. “Looking busy” when Jesus comes won’t make any difference. What’s the hope of the hypocrite—the one who pretends to be other than what he or she is—when Jesus comes? None!

Jesus is coming! Repent! Be faithful unto death! Hold fast to our confession and to the hope set before us! Don’t grow weary in doing good! “We must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12.1-2).

But what we must not do is just try to “look busy”!

Biographies—good biographies (or perhaps I should say biographies of good people)—are always heartening, motivating, and edifying. I’ve recently been reading (slowly, for effect) Alan Jacobs’s good work entitled The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis. It’s one of those books … a page or two (sometimes a paragraph or two) and then lots to think about.

This morning I read where Owen Barfield was introduced into Jack Lewis’s life. World War I had just ended and both were back at Oxford, where they met through a common friend (Leo Baker), when each was about twenty-one years old. Owen Barfield “would become one of the most important people in Jack’s life” (90). In fact, Jacobs concludes, “it is Barfield, and Barfield alone, without whom we could not imagine C. S. Lewis as we now know him” (91).

That set me to thinking. We’ve all known some one or two or so folks like this in our own lives—life-shapers for good! I can think of, oh, maybe a handful of friends, some formal and some informal teachers, who have had a life-shaping impact on me for good. My shortcomings and failures are no reflection on them, but much of what is good in my life has some direct connections to their having been in my life. Friends like these are great mercies of God. Think a little today of those who’ve had such an impact in your own life, and thank the Father of every good and perfect gift for their faithful and fruitful friendship.

Well, this is my first try at making a WordPress theme. It’s okay, I guess, and works well enough. Just a warning to expect tweaks and twists, and maybe complete overhauls in the days to come as I keep working on BibleDriven’s look and feel. Now, it’s late and way past time for sleep!