I'm Forever Yours - Faithfully... Truly?

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Saw a post this morning on my Facebook news feed that resounded with this morning's Bible reading, so I'd like to share it here:

Now Ted and I go way back. Not in the "hanging out in Austin writing books and frequenting coffee shops" (how cool would THAT be?!) kind of way, but in the "I read his books and he has no idea who I am" kind of way.

Yeah, we're pretty tight.

Dekker's books make powerful connections with people, drawing allusions to scripture and the character of God that Dekker himself intends, and certainly arousing allusions from readers that are surprising to him as well. God uses his books to impact people, just as I would hope that God uses my life and messages as a pastor to impact people. In and of themselves, as I'm sure Dekker would agree, our words have some power, but God's truth holds ultimate power. After all, such Truth became flesh and lived among us, and people 2,000 years later still claim to be changed by that life. 

So, we were texting back and forth the other day and this is kinda how things went:

Ted: "Hey David, how're Rebeca and Jace?"
Me: "Good, man, thanks! How's writing? Ready for book signing in ATL on Thurs?"
Ted: "Yeah, you know me! I love hearing how God's used what I do to reach people."
Me: "And He is!"
Ted: "Gotta ? 4 u."
Me: "Shoot"
Ted: "Working on new book. How common would u say sad Xians r?"
Me: "Sad? What, like depressed?"
Ted: "No.  Xians who know the Life, but their life sucks."
Me: "O right! Living life but not connected to abundant life."
Ted: "Yeah, not like Job-sucks but just chronically unhappy."
Me: "I'm with ya. I think all of us, depending on day. If love, joy, & peace r fruits of Truth then why r so many who claim to have it so miserable? We forget a lot."
Ted: "That's what I want to try to keep people from doing."
Me: "Just keep asking the questions. Life is the struggle..."
Ted: "Gotta p, brb"

Now, I don't wanna get sued or anything, so I assure you that whole dialogue is a fabrication. Especially the "text speak," which I absolutely LOATHE! Though I - with countless others - would love to boast a personal relationship with this writing phenom, he's got his inner circle (haha, get it, Dekker fans?) and I'm not one of them. But as a fan, I get his Facebook updates and this one resounded with today's Bible reading. Since I believe the power of God is both evident in nature and powerfully communicated in the biblical text, I want to segue into something that does have power.

Our Faithful God

Dekker's post goes right along with what I read this morning in 2 Kings 17. The problem of Israel - and us - is that the people of the one true God either worshiped God AND the gods of surrounding nations, or just the gods of those nations. They were unfaithful, did evil in the sight of the Lord, and thus multiplied their sins before Him - "They went after false idols and became false" (vs 15).

Maybe the reason many of us look like poor representations of the Jesus we claim to follow is because we are poor representations of Him. We have married our opinions, attitudes, and actions to the Lamb, and that doesn't uphold abundant life, but sacrifices Truth on the altar of ease. It makes us friends with the world, but does not please God. And since what pleases God has been commanded to us so we, too, might be pleased with life, we are miserable precisely BECAUSE we believe our ways to be better than God's ways -- or at the very least, not wrong.

This is the repeated story of the whole of scripture, and yet when I studied in seminary I was amazed how many of my classmates/colleagues were shocked by the archaeological evidence proving that ancient Israel did not worship God in the way revealed through the reforms of Hezekiah (what you might call the ruling religious class' perspective on worship, 2 Kings 18->), but worshiped other gods in their own ways. How is this not a confirmation of the text? Rather than being surprised by the faithlessness of Israel of which archaeology speaks, we should be eerily reminded of the accuracy of the biblical text and our own faithlessness.

Messages of Might

Our secretary, Cheryl, just said one of her friends on Facebook had a great line, and we laughed together even as we thought about the truth it holds: "The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." Sometimes truth doesn't conform to what we already hold to be true because what we claim as true, actually isn't. And this can be painful to us. The more we have vested in some deceit, the more painful the correction becomes.


We can sing songs to the people we love - chiming in with Journey as they rock the ballad and promise, "I'm forever yours - faithfully," - but then why is divorce now commonplace in our society at large... and unfortunately, even greater in the Church?

You may contend with the last part, but consider the value that the Church puts on marriage. The divorce rate within the Church is higher because there is greater emphasis on the institution itself. "Christians" may uphold the idea of marriage being sacred more than "non-Christians," but in the end we've devalued this truth to mere opinion so it's not really a problem if we do want to divorce. We'll still talk about it as wrong (maybe), but we want to shy away from actually saying "sin," in favor of the gentler message of grace and love. Marriage is valued, it's honored, it's one man and one woman - at least until we notice an irreconcilable difference, meet someone better who treats us how we deserve to be treated, or learn that the gay people you know aren't the hunch-backed, evil trolls of personified sin that so many angry pulpit-preachers have made them out to be.

But the might in the messages of grace and love is precisely because of God's love for us in spite of our wrongs. When we deny the wrongs themselves, grace and love are cheapened. We don't need to make discussions of sin easier to take, or a footnote to grace and love, but acknowledge why talking about sin makes us uncomfortable.


And sadly, divorce is only one in a litany of examples to prove this point. Correction hurts, but ignoring the need for it because of the pain does not change what is true. I can honestly say, from my own experience, how welcome the thoughts that lambast my own wife can be in my own mind, if only it means that I get the upper hand in an argument, in the day, or just look good to others. I admit these things about myself to myself, and they hurt.

I see what I truly am and it's a weakness that makes me sick sometimes, so I'm far more gracious with others dealing with sin. Why? I know I am not without sin and am daily in need of God's grace.

What message of truth is pissing you off today? And does it mean you should run from it, or possibly toward the freedom waiting on the other side? 

********************

And yes, I also shared Dekker's post. We're having lunch later this week.

Kidding. Unless he's in San Diego sometime, wants to hit Phil's BBQ, and talk books.

Seriously. Call me, Ted.

Just kidding... unless you want to call me.