IN THE MIDST

IN THE MIDST:

“We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them.”

-Oswald Chambers

When we ask the wrong questions it is impossible to get the right answers. I recently watched a video series through RightNow Media titled, Helping Without Hurting. One of the authors of the series noted that if we misdiagnose problems, then it is impossible to discover correct solutions. Their curriculum specifically addresses the issue of poverty and notes that only about 10% of people interviewed globally regarding the definition of poverty had mentioned anything to do with financial or material resources. The conclusion, therefore, is that throwing money at impoverished communities typically does more harm than good.

Similarly, it seems that the current trend in North American church culture is to define success based on numerical attendance or numerical growth models. If church attendance is up 10% from last year, then a church is “killing it” by virtually every standard currently valued or measured. But what if you live in a community where the population increased by 25% in the past year? How would your church be doing then? What if there was a scandal in the megachurch down the street and droves of people flocked to this church as a result? Is that real growth? Scripture uses a very different standard of measure for authentic growth. In Ephesians 4:13-14 Paul wrote:

“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”

What if we used a different numerical value to measure growth unto unity? What if the measure of growth were something like: What percentage of your congregation tithes 10+%? What percentage of your church staff tithe 10+%? How many people actively and regularly contribute (not just show up) to a small group? What percentage serve the church joyfully on a weekly basis? How many demonstrate tangible evidence of living out the gospel of Jesus Christ (invite lost friends, look daily for opportunities to evangelize, regularly have stories about people they’ve reached with the Good News)? How many actively participate in the promotion and proclamation of the gospel to the ends of the earth through Global Missions?

Might it be that what we’ve communicated to people in our congregations (and the public at large) is that life in Christ means freedom from troubles, problems, struggles, persecution, and outright suffering, rather than steadfastness in the midst of them? Might it be that what we’re communicating is independence (financial, spiritual, physical, emotional…) from unity in Christ rather than interdependence upon Him? Might it be that we’re pitching Jesus as a type of universal snake oil that magically fixes everything rather than communicating what the Bible actually teaches… i.e. that when we become a new creation in Christ we gain a whole new perspective and outlook on life because we are born again - the dead has gone and the new has come.

That’s exactly where Paul was going when he wrote,

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When the defining purpose of our lives is utterly enmeshed with the Person, will, and mission of God, only then do we truly find conviction, purpose, fulfillment, joy, strength, and contentment. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 we find this stated explicitly when Paul writes:

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us...”

As Christ’s ambassadors, we are not unaware of the very real treachery, sufferings, persecution, opposition, and obstacles before us in this life. On the contrary, as ambassadors of the King, we realize we are currently neck-deep behind enemy lines. Consequently, armed with purpose, conviction, and intentionality - no trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, threats, demonic powers, height, depth, or anything can separate us from the love of God, which (as Genesis 12:3 tells us) is revealed as: “all the families on earth will be blessed through you.” In fact, it is how we respond in the midst of those things, which communicates Christ’s appeal through us as His authentic ambassadors and not transient religious sycophants.

The love of God is not some nebulous, ethereal, cosmic warm-fuzzy or our own private experience of spiritual endorphins or serotonin. The love of God is a tangible, intentional, and communal plan to actively reconcile depraved, hopeless, dried up, and dead people to Himself through the promotion and proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The evidence of the presence and growth God’s love in our lives can, therefore, be measured by our level of commitment to, and involvement with, His mission: “all the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

Here is where an Oswald Chambers metaphor illuminates, with amazing clarity and accuracy, the difference between the authentic Christian and mere religious posers:

“The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super-joy of going clean through it.”

When the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to pen the words, “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” He was telling us exactly that - we are MORE than mere conquerors! We’ve not only conquered death, sin, shame, guilt, and opposition in Christ Jesus, but we’ve literally become His ambassadors of grace, truth, and love! We, the Bride of Christ, have actually become the vehicle of the Good News of Jesus to the entire WORLD!

Jesus bids us all come exactly as we are, and graciously He welcomes, and radically transforms, those who are predestined by God and born again of the Holy Spirit. Are you seeking Jesus simply as a spiritual pain-killer? Are you following Him merely for personal prosperity or growth? If so, then when the storms, train wrecks, and tragedies of life come (as they come to everyone) do you expect to be a conqueror in spite of them, or in the midst of them?

In the midst is where, when, how, and why the gospel rings true, thus imploring the world, “be reconciled with God.”

Thank you for liking, sharing, and commenting.

Blessings!

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com