WISHFUL THINKING OR FAITH-FILLED HOPE

BY STEVE DUNN

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for ... These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,  since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. - Hebrews 11.1-2, 39-40

A lot of us live by wishful thinking.  We say and do things that reflect a basic denial of reality.  I cannot tell you how many times as a pastor I heard someone say,"I know what you're saying, but my experience is different.  I am an exception to that rule."  Usually what they were saying was, "I want to do what I want to do, but don't want to be held accountable for my choices.

Before someone accuses me of being a hypocrite or Pharisee,I need to confess something.  Diabetes runs in my family.  Almost 20 years ago my doctors dropped the adjective "borderline" from their diagnosis.  They told me how to combat it, particularly the importance of diet.

I really didn't make that many changes, except to slow down on regular soft-drinks. I would eat carefully for a few days and then in times of boredom or at buffets, I would abandon all boundaries.  Now hundreds of milk shakes later, I find myself taking drastic measures to get that diabetes under control.

Wishful thinking can be very dangerous, especially when God has made it clear that only His way works.  There are no exceptions to his rules.

But one of his rules is "with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  In our faith life some of us are so grounded in being practical or realistic that we think that only the things man controls are to be pursued.  Comfort zones are where we choose to live.  Walking on water is for Jesus and foolish humans. After all, look what happened to Peter.

The problem with that is that God Who always keeps His promises feels no need to provide instant gratification and whose rewards which are eternal start closer to eternity than the present moment.

Be careful of wishful thinking.  If it is contrary to God's word or way of acting - it is foolishness, often tragically so.

But when God says let go, look beyond, follow me - the foolishness is in our comfort-zone, control-obsessed response.

© 2016 by Stephen L. Dunn.  You have permission to reprint this provided it is unchanged, proper authorship is cited, it is in a publication not for sale, and a link is provided to this site or to www.drstevedunn.com. For all other uses, contact Steve at sdunnpastor@gmail.com 

INTO THE WILDERNESS

BY STEVE DUNN

“At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” – Mark 1:13-14


Following the very high profile baptism of Jesus by John, the text says that the Spirit “at once” sent Jesus into the wilderness.  From a place among the crowds, with a ready platform to begin his public ministry; Jesus is sent into the lonely isolation of the wilderness.

To the modern mind with its posses, press secretaries and promoters; it seems to be squandering a big moment and its motivation. As always, in human terms, God seems to operate counter-intuitively in His approach.

So why the wilderness?

Between the center of Judaea and the Dead Sea lies one of the most terrible deserts in the world. It is a limestone desert; it looks warped and twisted; it shimmers in the haze of the heat; the rock is hot and blistering and sounds hollow to the feet as if there was some vast furnace underneath; it moves out to the Dead Sea and then descends in dreadful and unscalable precipices down to the shore. In the Old Testament it is sometimes called Jeshimmon, which means The Devastation. (From Gracepoint Devotions)

It was a place of solitude and desolation.  It was a perfect place to hear the voice of God.
Jesus had spent 30 years in Nazareth, among its citizens, his family; very probably carrying out the trade of his earthly father, Joseph. No doubt busy with the business of life–squeezing in his time with God, hearing many voices seeking to shape him and influence him.  We know from the Gospel of Luke and from this chapter in Mark that Jesus was a student of the Old Testament, filling his mind with the thoughts of His Heavenly Father.

The wilderness becomes a place of “sorting out.”  It is a place of reflecting, focusing.
It is also a place of dependence.  No food, no human companionship, no self-reliance.
It is a place of resolution.  Of asking nagging questions.  Of being clear about the answers.
And as we see, it is a place of testing. Forty appears in the Bible as a number tied to testing.  Think of the children of Israel wandering in the desert before they are finally prepared to enter the Promised Land.  Jesus “passes” the test and emerges from it to take on the work that He has been sent to do.


Too often we are too proud to be of use to the Lord.  Humble obedience is not in our menu of choices.
Too often we are too independent to be of use to the Lord.  Self-reliance takes us completely away from the arena where God provides.
Too often we are too busy to be of use to the Lord.  We do not take the time to take measure of our lives and its values.
Too often we are too connected to be of use to the Lord.  Solitude is the place where God’s voice is heard most clearly.

Perhaps we all need some time in the wilderness to restore our effectiveness for the Lord.

This post originally appeared in one of my classroom teaching blogs NEW TESTAMENT EXPLORER 2.0  on September 10, 2013

© 2015 by Stephen L Dunn

Permission is given to reprint this post as long as it is not included in material that is for sale, that it is reproduced in its entirety including the copyright notice, and that a link is provided to this blog.

ULTIMATELY, FAITH WORKS

ULTIMATELY, FAITH … WORKS

 

Reading: James 2:18

Two kinds of Christians undermine the witness of the Body of Christ.  The first are people who believe that faith is defined by believing in a set of doctrinal propositions and focusing on that belief as their “ticket to heaven.”  A right set of beliefs is more important than actions that reflect those beliefs.

The second is the group of Christians who still embrace the world’s evaluative standard of “what’s in it for me?”  They are often looking for a method or program that will make them happy. And they want to find such a solution that costs them as little as possible.

“Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” – James 2:18, New Living Translation

Ultimately faith works. By that I don’t mean faith is simply effective for coping with living. I mean faith, if it is true faith, works.

The world is concerned with tangible benefits. But tangible almost always has to do with material things.  A place in my Father’s House in the future is a tangible thing, and rightly so. But if it makes me so heavenly minded that I stop worrying about those who are poor and oppressed on this planet, or those whose lives are a shambles on this side of eternity, then I have lost the true meaning of Jesus’ words, “I am my Father are one.”

If all faith is to me is a means to make life easier on this planet, then I will be loath to put those tangible benefits at risk to share my faith or to lay down my life for a friend.  I will never choose the way of sacrificial servanthood.

Ultimately faith works.  It takes what it believes and daily applies it to the utmost to do what Jesus came to earth to do and commissioned us to do until he returns.  Truth faith is neither a set of beliefs or a set of tools. True faith is a lifestyle that reflects what Jesus would have us to do.

(C) 2011 by Stephen L. Dunn

This was originally posted on one of my other blogs EYES WIDE OPEN on February 10, 2011

THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS

I have long been a fan of Bill Watterson and his comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. His is not as overtly theological as was Charles Schulz in Peanuts, but every once in a while (I suspect inadvertently) Calvin makes a profound statement that triggers a scriptural truth. Here are two that I find in this particular strip.

The first is from James 4:17: "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." New International Version

Then Galatians 5:6." The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." New Living Translation.

An authentic disciple understands that omission can be every bit as significant as commission when it comes to sin. Too many of us have changed the focus from loving our neighbor as ourselves to love myself and then give my neighbor the leftovers. Or be careful of loving my neighbor too much lest I not have enough for me. Or this one - love myself spontaneously but be sure and schedule how much I will do for my neighbor in need.

Maybe we need to walk through life with eyes wide open to opportunities to be a blessing to others, praying that our love will find greater expression than merely intellectual assent or carefully orchestrated projects.