At some point in the year 2020, if you haven't already, you'll eventually enter into a stage of desperate curiosity. When you look at everything going on in our country and around the world, you might ask, "Why, Father? Why would You let this happen? Where are You?" I mean, who can blame you? It's a crazy time to be alive. As disciples of Jesus, the stage of desperate curiosity is a really important one. Moments of curiosity are signs of deep spiritual growth and understanding. If we believe that God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him, then we shouldn't take anything for granted. Our discipleship is being challenged on a daily basis, and it's time to talk about it and make sure we are standing firm in the faith.
Let it be known – desperate curiosity isn't a bad thing. No one has all the answers. Some may say it shows doubt and lack of faith, but it's actually a sign of righteousness. Desperate curioisty is often the road that leads to a greater understanding of and deeper relationship with God. After all, Jesus says in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." We just have to look and be comfortable asking questions. If we never ask questions or search for what we do not know, we'll never grow or gain understanding. Admit your ignorance so that God can step in and show You more of His grace and truth.
As we search for answers, we'll find plenty of thoughts on how "unprecedented" this season is and how difficult it is, but there's not as much talk about how the church is changing, growing, and standing firm by putting in effort to meet people where they are. Good things are happening despite all the evil you see. The enemy works to distract us from God's goodness, and he's doing a good job of it, but he doesn't have the authority to keep doing it. Take a moment to reflect on God's good work and His faithfulness even during the difficult seasons of your life. God hasn't gone anywhere or lost any authority over evil. He is still victorious over death, and He is still pursuing You. Don't lose sight of how loved you are and how much God cares for you just because life got a little harder. Continue to seek His face, and He will give you peace in the middle of the storm...whew, that message will preach, but we got more to talk about.
In this emotionally heightened season, you've probably watched people close to you fight and tear each other down on social media. I'm sure you've seen video clips and news stories that make your heart sink under the weight of sadness and pure evil. You've most likely felt confused and frustrated at something someone said, at the decisions poeple have made, or maybe at the cumulation of everything going around you. Between a world pandemic, constantly changing guidelines of how to live, race riots, violent displays between civilians and police, economic instability, one of the most divisive presidential elections in history, and a constant arguing about wearing masks – you're bound to become exhausted. It's in our weakest moments, however, that God's hand can show up in a big way. That's just how He works. It's okay to be tired of the coronavirus, it's okay to be sad, and it's okay that you've felt intense emotion at something in the last few months. Let's admit how weak we are so that we can see more of God's strength and provision in our lives. It's our weakness that leads to desperate curiosity which leads to Jesus.
So let's ask the despertely curious question: why? What's the meaning of the season? Let's try to see a bigger picture amidst all the chaos, putting any bittnerness and stubbornness aside for a second. Why would God let so many evil things happen? Is He trying to teach me something? Is He trying to teach the church something? I've heard that God is still working even when I don't see it, but what about right now?
Understanding the problem of evil is more difficult than it sounds. After thousands of years of theology and Biblical study, there is still disagreement among Christians regarding how evil came into the world in the first place. It requires a lot of faith and a lot of research to face this topic. Why does God let so many bad things happen? While there are many answers and passages of Scripture that can be referenced in this discussion, I really want to approach the question from one angle and one angle only: God is a Redeemer.
God's role as Redeemer establishes His tendency to redeem the brokenness and evil in our lives as oppose to preventing it from happening at all. God demonstrates His role as Redeemer throughout the entire Bible narrative. God saw Adam and Eve sin against Him, and it led to years and years of slavery, exile, war, and pain for God's people, Israel. There was a promise through it all, however, and His name was Jesus. The promised Messiah came and redeemed the world through His blood. The act of Jesus dying on the cross is the redemption God's people were waiting for. God allowed Adam and Eve to sin that day in the garden, but His plan wasn't to just walk away and abandon His people. His plan was to redeem them. God hasn't changed, and He's isn't "allowing" bad things to happen to us. He's redeeming them as they happen, with the promise that His Spirit is in us and giving us the strength to persevere.
Christians absoutely love the storyline of God redeeming the world through His only Son, Jesus, until it becomes personal. "Oh shoot, God wants to redeem me and transform my life and my heart." That's not an easy process. The Bible uses the image of fire for the way God wants to change us. American author and preacher, Tommy Tenny, once said, "Fire doesn't fall on empty alters. There has to be a sacrifice on the alter for the fire to fall. If you want the fire of God, you must become the fuel of God." The process of purification and sanctification is not an evening walk on the beach, it's a brutal walk through fire. Paul warns us in 1 Peter 1:7, "So that the tested genuineness of your faith –more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Life is going to test us, and if we are going to be any sort of temple worthy of carrying the Spirit of God inside us, we need to be refined by a holy fire. Our faith needs to become the fuel with which God can burn away old, sinful things in us and replace them with Jesus' pure, golden righteousness. Life is hard right now, but God's a redeemer, so don't lose hope.
In the year 2020, God has done so much redeeming and revealing of sin. It's clear where most Christians are placing their priority, and it's not in their relationship with Jesus. It sounds harsh, but as a pastor with several church and ministry friends on social media, my timeline feed has not looked encouraging or hopeful. I see anger, resentment, brutality, hatred, and all sorts of sin in the way people are treating each other. People are forgetting their faith to argue about less important and less eternal things. I'm not saying talking about masks, supporting black lives matter, and firguring out how to quarantine well isn't important, but when it causes us to disobey God, we need to regroup and refocus.
I know Jesus is in Heaven saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Jesus gave us one great commandment to love God and to love our neighbors, and now that life looks different, so many Jesus followers have forsaken that command. We need to repent and repent some more for losing our trust that God's got everything under control and for forgetting to love people even when we disagree. Jesus never promised it would be easy, but it's what He would do. As Jesus followers, we need to stop standing up for ourselves and our political beliefs and just love people like Jesus would. The world needs Jesus, and that involves you by the grace of God working through a broken vessel. The world doesn't need you by yourself, it needs you to be the hands and feet of Jesus. People will know Who you follow by the way you love them.
God is revealing where we are falling short, but He's also redeeming His church and changing how minsitry is done. As a new pastor, it's been chaotic, but God's showing us how to be the church and make disciples like never before. At my church, for example, we've learned that church isn't confined to a building, rather it's being refined in and through God's people. See what God is doing? He is refining you by the fire of trial and tribulation to be able to become the church. God redeems a broken and chaotic time so that He can equip His people to go and make disciples. There's a virus causing a world pandemic? No problem, God is going redeem it and not only show the church how to continue doing ministry, but to make her ministry more effective in reaching lost people. Moving our church online for a season and building a stronger online ministry presence has brought the good news of Jesus to people who would have never heard it otherwise. That's just the fact of the matter. You are the church, and everything you think, say, and do either brings people closer to Jesus or leads them away. Are you lifting people up? Are you pointing people to Jesus? Once again, the world doesn't need you by yourself. It needs you to be part of a bigger team called the church – a church not confined to a building or a certain time of the week. God's church lives in you, and it always has, we just have failed to realize it until now.
What else have we failed to realize? Are we seeing God's fingerprint in our lives? There's so much God wants to teach us, but we have to keep our eyes on Him. We can't get distracted or bogged down by things of this world, no matter how bad it gets. The expanding vision of the church is just one area in which God is working and refining. There are several other things God is doing, so look for His hand in your life and ask Him what He's trying to teach you. Saint Augustine once wrote, "To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement." As followers of Jesus, we are all on an adventure to know God, and finding Him is the greatest achievement we could ever boast of. It's worth the search. All you have to do is look, and God's promise is that you will find Him. Don't let present darkness discourage you from even trying because God always meets us where we are and gives us grace for the journey. He brings light and life to those who need it, and let's be real, we all desperately need it in the year 2020.
To wrap up, I want to put a discalimer out there: I am repenting myself. I have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and God is refining my heart too. It's okay to see your sin and feel bad about it. By the grace of God, that doesn't have to be the end of the story, and in fact, it isn't. God wants to redeem you and make you holy, which isn't an easy process, but it starts with confessing your sin, turning away from it completely, and starting a new journey with God as your guide. God is redeeming every broken thing our country is experiencing, and you may not see it yet, but Jesus followers walk by faith and not by sight. Let faith guide you to hope. Let faith guide you to peace. Don't be discouraged by the evil you see, but be encouraged that God is refining and purifying His church through these difficult times. God never stops working because He is a Redeemer. He takes what the enemy meant for evil and He turns it for good, so look for it and talk to God about it. If you're desperately curious, pick up a Gospel and read how the story ends. SPOILER ALERT: God is a Redeeming Father.
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