The Depth of God’s Love

If we were to throw a net over the essence of Christianity, the only word that would fit would be love.  Love is a relationship word; it is the tap root of relationship.  An intimate relationship cannot survive or thrive if love is not the core motivator.  Without love, Christianity would be reduced to nothing more than a legal action designed to force conformity and to establish another religion.  With love, Christianity brings God into our lives in an intensely personal way.  One does not have to look far in the Scriptures to confirm this sentiment. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 

The most captivating quality of this divine love was not its abstraction, but its humanness.  God didn’t love us as though we were pieces in an expensive art collection, or a classical music composition being showcased by a maestro.  The Pauline epistles injects a human perspective into God’s love, grabbing the raw reality of Calvary and pulling it into the palpable realm where we all live.  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11. 

God’s love transcended words.  It was not merely philosophical, as expressed in Henry David Thoreau’s classical essay on Love.   

“All transcendent goodness is one, though appreciated in different ways, or by different senses. In beauty we see it, in music we hear it, in fragrance we scent it, in the palatable the pure palate tastes it, and in rare health the whole body feels it. The variety is in the surface or manifestation; but the radical identity we fail to express. The lover sees in the glance of his beloved the same beauty that in the sunset paints the western skies.

It is the same daimon, here lurking under a human eyelid, and there under the closing eyelids of the day. Here, in small compass, is the ancient and natural beauty of evening and morning. What loving astronomer has ever fathomed the ethereal depths of the eye?

The maiden conceals a fairer flower and sweeter fruit than any calyx in the field; and, if she goes with averted face, confiding in her purity and high resolves, she will make the heavens retrospective, and all nature humbly confess its queen. Under the influence of this sentiment, man is a string of an Aeolian harp, which vibrates with the zephyrs of the eternal morning.”

As beautiful as these flowery words may be, they come across as shallow and silly in the light of Calvary’s cross.  Put all the Shakespeares, Lord Byrons, Tennysons, Brownings, Bacons and Marlowes together and you will still not dive to the depths of God’s love for mankind.  God’s choice of blood, of agonizing pain, of unthinkable condescension, of humiliation and sacrifice told the story of love that poets could never match.  His insistence on the ignominious saga of Golgotha cemented His desire for a poignant relationship.  Indeed, by the simple invitation to Thomas to put his fingers in the nail prints and thrust his hand into His riven side, He drew us all into an intimate relationship with Himself.  Who could deny the depth of God’s love for us after that?  Yet, there was more.

Some Thoughts on the Transgender Access to Restrooms Issue

These thoughts are not well rehearsed, but I am just putting them out there, if for no other reason than to start, or add to, the discussion.  I have two major reasons why I am against granting permission for persons to use a particular public restroom based on their sexual identity, an orientation which may change from time to time, depending on very subjective criteria.  One reason is that it is an assault on our constitutional rights.  Second, it is going to have many unexpected ramifications.   

Proponents of the transgender restroom access claim that the issue is civil rights.  No person, they say, should be subjected to discrimination, and denial of a transgendered person’s right to use the restroom of his or her choice should be illegal.  All things being equal, this argument may have merit.  All things, however, are not equal.   Three major obstacles stand squarely in the way:  the right to equal protection under the law, the right to privacy and the freedom to exercise one’s religion.  Let me explain. 

First, the old axiom, that the right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins, is analogous to this issue.  The assumed right to use a gender-restricted restroom ends where my actual right (based on DNA) begins.  I have a right to be protected against a threat to my person, to my reputation, to my sensibilities.  If I do not have this right, then there is no reason for laws against stalking, against slander, against libel, against sexual harassment, or against any other tort.  If a girl or a woman exercises due diligence by lawfully using a restroom according to her gender, she should not be subjected to any potential threat.  For a male (a person with male DNA) to enter that same restroom (or locker, shower, robing room), it is not unreasonable for a girl or woman to perceive it as a threat.  By its very nature, restroom use puts people in an extremely vulnerable position.  Also, age restrictions don’t apply.  Minors and adults both use the same facilities, making it that much more dangerous for a little girl to be in the same room as an adult male.  The law should protect her against such situations.

Second, the right to privacy stands as the very reason for public restrooms in the first place.  If not, then why not have toilets out on a street corner in full view of the public? (I know—hygiene.  That can be easily accounted for.  Besides, I’ve been in some restrooms that were more hygienically-challenged than a street corner!)  We have segregated public restroom on the basis of gender because it strikes the vast majority of people as the common sense thing to do.  To expose one’s body is considered a very private and sensitive act.  Privacy rights are heavily enforced in records keeping, especially medical records, legal records of minors, and many other areas as well.  Ironically, if the right to privacy does not exist, then the right to abortion should be vacated because that was the primary reason for Roe v. Wade. 

Last, the separation of the sexes and the conviction that physical exposure of the body has moral and religious implications must not be cavalierly dismissed.  The constitution is clear against the government prohibiting the free exercise of religion.  For the government to provide access to restrooms by anyone who simply feels like going into a certain facility is to uphold a non-existent law and trample on an existing law. 

I would like to make a prediction here.  As a result of this executive order, there will no longer be a barrier to public nudity, public breast-feeding, public urination, public sexual acts, or anything that was formerly called indecent exposure.  Anyone who has traveled in Europe sees nudity on billboards as a common sight.  That’s where this nation is headed.  The next step will be the dropping of restrictions against pornography and unrestrained expression of explicit content in magazines, books, TV programs, shows and movies.  The FTC prohibition against certain words or acts will end.  Anything and everything will be permitted and there will be few places one can go to avoid it all. 

There you have it.  Someone has said that the Statue of Liberty will be crying.  If she does, we won’t be able to see it.  She will be hiding her face.

Evisceration by Labeling

“A phobia is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that poses little real danger but provokes anxiety and avoidance.”  -Mayo Clinic.  “A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation the affected person will go to great lengths to avoid, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed.”  -Wikipedia.

Labeling: “But it’s important to recognize that the people we label as “black,” “white,” “rich,” poor,” smart,” and “simple,” seem blacker, whiter, richer, poorer, smarter, and simpler merely because we’ve labeled them so.” -Adam Alter, Psychology Today.

Given the above definitions, I have to ask why people use the terms “homophobia” and, now, “transphobia” (as a pejorative label for those who are categorized as disliking transgendered persons)?  If I may, I will answer my own question.  People resort to labeling as a convenient way to avoid complicated scenarios.  Rather than ask why someone holds opposing views of homosexual behavior or of transgenderism, it is much easier to simply call them haters, or announce that they have unreasonable fears.  It is far too messy to actually hold a civil and respectful discussion with a dissenter.  Such a dialogue would give the appearance of legitimizing his or her arguments. 

Claustrophobia, arachnophobia, acrophobia, agoraphobia and all the other conventional phobias meet with a general attitude of tolerance, and even sympathy.  Not so with “homophobes” or “transphobes.”  Not only must such people be denied legitimacy, they must be silenced altogether.  Some even believe they must be imprisoned.  They have no leg to stand on—not freedom of expression, not opinion, not preference, not religious conviction—nothing!  They must not be given a voice in the public square.

The truth is that in every camp, there are those who spout off bigoted and prejudicial diatribes against their opponents.  But it is also true that people in those same camps have reasonable and sound arguments that deserve respect.  If my position can be defeated in a logical debate, then that, it seems to me, should be the forum in which the discussion should take place in a democracy.  I should not be burned at the proverbial stake simply because my views differ from the “anointed” establishment. 

I find it interesting and ironic that those who clamored for the right to oppose the establishment in the 1960’s are the very ones—or at least of the same ilk—as the same reactionary and intransigent authorities they used to curse.  As long as they can define diversity, they’re all for it.  When aberrant strains of diversity show up, they lose their open-minded and charitable demeanor.  They can be as shrill and vicious as their former antagonists.  The irony becomes even more delicious when the reason for their intolerance turns out to be power, control and money!  Why, imagine that!  The very sins they accused the establishment for committing fifty years ago they now are guilty of themselves—and in the proudest way possible! 

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

[Special Message to the Congress on the Internal Security of the United States, August 8, 1950]”
― Harry Truman

Living the Relationship-Driven Life

That I may know him. Philippians 3:10-11

Graduations and marriages celebrate the month of June.  Relationships end and begin as spring ends and summer begins, closing out old influences and promising new horizons of happiness.  But every believer must understand that all relationships work the same, regardless of the setting, including the most important relationship, intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Life revolves around relationships.  Whether one views the world from an astrophysical, sociopolitical, psycho-cultural or any other prism, this holds true.  Secularists have tried to convince us that the universe is a massive collection of random objects and events with no transcendent purpose.  Such a hypothesis strips the world of its intrinsic beauty and essence of meaning.  But, when one pauses, steps back and drinks in all of life’s vast and complex interconnectivity, awe happens.

Relationships consist of complementary parts; of each individual part adapting to something or someone that completes it; of the bold and subtle, the light and dark, the loud and soft, and the large and small.  Indeed, when God finished His work, symmetry and balance could be seen perfectly woven into His entire creation; the sun and moon, the evening and morning, the male and female, plants and animals, and the mountains and streams.  Each element finds completion in its polar opposite, forever establishing the harmony that happens only in the bonds of relationship.

Relationship dynamics define the essential Christ life.  If we are to understand scriptural terms of fellowship, communion, walking with God, following after God, living in the Spirit, discipleship, friend, working together and Christ in you, our new life must be seen in the context of relationship.  It cannot work in isolation, unilateral functioning, independent-mindedness, avoidance or non-conformity.  While the structure of the relationship places Christ as principal and us as subservient, the mechanics of the relationship work the same as any other arrangement.  What one lacks, the other supplies.  The highs of one needs the lows of the other.  In the contemplation of God, divinity incorporated humanity to fully appreciate divinity. 

God could have remained in a solitary state; He chose not to.  One might speculate that God did not need to create man, and that is true in the strictest sense of the word.  It begs the question, however, of man’s existence.  If God didn’t need us, why are we here?  He had the angels.  The seraphim and cherubim recognized His divinity and praised him continuously.  But they could do nothing else; they were created for this singular purpose.  He created man differently.  He made us free moral agents with the ability to assess, judge and decide who or what we would worship.  He designed us to praise him cognitively, with understanding and appreciation, and with the power to determine the force, direction and quality of our worship.  God did not have that in the angels. 

This concept came home to me through two great mentors, J. L. Hall, long time Editor-in-Chief for the United Pentecostal Church, International, and Assistant General Superintendent, Jesse Williams.  We were serving on a subcommittee that found the three of us alone in a conference room at World Evangelism Center, our organization’s headquarters in Hazelwood, Missouri.  Since they were my elders, I took advantage of the situation to put a deep, probing question to both of them.  I asked, “What do you think is the most important aspect of your ministry?  What has kept you going in spite of every obstacle that you have faced over the years?”  Without hesitation, each of them said, “My personal relationship with Jesus Christ is, by far, the most important thing in my life.”  I recall that J. L. Hall said further, “I guard my relationship with Christ with everything I have.  I will never let it be jeopardized by any circumstance or person.” There you have it.  No greater secret will ever be found to spell success in living for Christ.  It is all in the principle of relationship.

Thus, the need for a relationship-driven life with God becomes an inescapable conclusion in discerning mankind’s presence in the world.  As we seek God, as we enter into a relationship with Him, as we define ourselves by His existence, we find fulfillment and significance.  It is this revelation that bridges the divide between temporal and eternal, between randomness and purposefulness, between nihilistic void and rich meaning.  Our entire purpose in life is to find—and refine—our relationship with God.

The Relationship under the New Covenant

It is impossible to overstate the profound impact of the advent of Jesus Christ.  He lifted the gates of empires and tossed them aside.  Through Him, every strata of society underwent a fundamental shift. His pervasive influence ran through, seeped into and encompassed the whole of culture.  Pundits and historians all agreed that Jesus is the central sun in the human solar system.

 “Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.” Philip Schaff.  H. G. Wells said, “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”

The above quotations represent a minute portion of written commentaries about Jesus.  Perhaps no one in history has occupied the attention of writers more than He.  It is no wonder, then, that believers who have invested their lives into Jesus Christ have found that this one relationship has eclipsed all others, indeed has altered all other relationships.  This now becomes our primary pursuit, because Jesus is the key to a meaningful life.  Since we have looked at our relationship with God prior to and under the Old Covenant, let’s now get a feel for this relationship under the New Covenant.  The launching pad for our pursuit is the same as the one for the Old Covenant:  who is Jesus, what did He do, and how does He change our lives?

Who Is Jesus?

First, we must deal with the prevailing opinions of Jesus Christ.  A major flaw in the conventional view of Jesus is that it is far too superficial.  We must see Him as more than the only begotten Son of God.  We must see him as more than the second person of a contrived trinity.  He is more than the Messiah or the Savior.  We most certainly need to see Him as more than a good teacher or the founder of a religion.  In order for us to truly know Him, we must understand Him as the human manifestation of the invisible God.  Admittedly, this seems strange to those who have embraced the “orthodox” doctrine of Christ.  To many, it may seem like we are “splitting hairs.”  But as we progress in our study of our relationship with Him, we will find that a shift in the identity of Jesus Christ makes a huge difference in how we interact and commune with Him. 

Several passages of Scripture form the basis of the original, Apostolic view of Jesus.

John 10:24-30 (NKJV)  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.”

The Jewish reaction to this statement shows that they understood what Jesus was saying and they were outraged. 

John 10:31-33 (NKJV) Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”  The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

Later, Jesus reiterated this revelation in response to the questions of his disciples. 

John 14:8-14 (NKJV)  Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.  “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

The Apostle Paul, articulates this position in an archetypal verse to the Colossians.

Colossians 2:6-10 (NKJV) As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.  Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Many other passages or references to this plenary view of Jesus Christ may be seen throughout the Scriptures.  He is called the Creator, the Lamb, the Arm of the Lord, the Forgiver of Sins, the One and Only Potentate, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, just to name a few.  These appellations alone should serve as an introduction to the majestic personage of Jesus. 

Modern Apostolic theologians have written extensively about the divinity of Christ.  Dr. David Bernard, General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church, International and President of Urshan Graduate School of Theology says, “The doctrine known as Oneness can be stated in two affirmations: (1) There is one God with no distinction of persons; (2) Jesus Christ is all the fullness of the Godhead incarnate.”¹  He further points out, “One of the clearest themes of Scripture is an uncompromising monotheism.  Simply stated, God is absolutely and indivisibly one.  There are no essential distinctions in His eternal nature.  All names and titles of the Deity—such as Elohim, Yahweh, Lord, Father, Word, and Holy Spirit—refer to one and the same being.  Any plurality associated with God merely relates to attributes, titles, roles, manifestations, modes of activity, relationships to humanity, or aspects of God’s self-revelation.”²

Dr. David Norris, Professor of Biblical Theology, Urshan Graduate School of Theology writes of the response of another oneness theologian to this question, “How would I be better off; what difference would it make if I believed as you do?”  This question goes to the heart of the theme of these pages: the overarching value of the God-relationship.  This was the answer given.  “If I had to reduce it down to one thing, I would have to say that what this kind of understanding of Jesus Christ means to me, as opposed to any other, is that it’s not just about ontological distinctions … making incarnational sense of the flesh and Spirit.  What it comes down to is this; I love God incredibly because He did not send another; He came Himself.  He felt my pain, He knows my grief, and He paid the ultimate price for my sin.  And when I think about that, then, well, all I can say is that I love Him for it.”³

While the flesh of Jesus Christ became our mediator to atone for our sins, our subsequent relationship with him goes beyond that act—indeed, it builds upon that redemptive act—to lead us into the purpose of God in atoning for our sins in the first place.  Calvary was God’s means to restore our original relationship with Him.  It is the same as the relationship of a wedding to a marriage.  Just as a wedding is the vestibule to marriage, so also does the remission of sins and the new birth qualify us to begin a beautiful, satisfying relationship with the Bridegroom!  The revelation of Jesus Christ’s full identity only begins at salvation.  It is so much more.

¹ Bernard, David K. Th.D.; The Oneness View of Jesus Christ; Word Aflame Press, 1994

² Bernard, David K. Th.D.; The Oneness View of Jesus Christ; Word Aflame Press, 1994

³ Norris, David S., PhD.; I Am: A Oneness Pentecostal Theology, Word Aflame Press Academic, 2009

The Relationship under the Old Covenant

The nation of Israel came of age when Moses descended from Mt. Sinai with the law.  He had just come from a terrifying meeting with God, complete with thunder, lightning and earthquakes.  Rejoining the people, he presented a completely new governmental system in the form of another covenant.  This covenant, called the Mosaic or the Sinaitic Covenant, became Israel’s code of governance that resonates all the way to the present day.  Thus, God’s dealings with His chosen people graduated from personal interactions with select individuals into a formalized and structured relationship with a nation.   

Briefly, the new government provided for a system of sacrifices to atone for sins, a priesthood to administer the atonements, and a tabernacle with furniture and utensils to house the ceremonies.  In addition, God mandated the Israelites to keep the Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue, along with an entire set of laws that controlled every aspect of their lives.  This code mandated the food they could and could not eat, the clothes they were to wear, how they were to treat their animals and servants, the personal behaviors that were and were not permitted, the holidays they were to observe and the doctrines of faith they were to embrace.  Israel went from a loosely imposed system based on respect and loyalty to an exhaustive and exacting constitution based on the letter of the law. 

The People of One God

The Mosaic covenant centered around three essential tenets of faith paramount to the Hebrew nation.  First, God established absolute monotheism that was to be of profound relationship significance in the plan of God for His people.  Deuteronomy 6:4, known as the “Sh’ma.” (Sh’ma Yisra’eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.) “Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”  It remains the supreme belief of the Jewish people to this day.  This belief cast the Hebrew identity in stark contrast to the polytheistic cultures of the world, especially in Egypt where gods for nearly everything under the sun—including the Sun—were worshipped.  The confession that there was only one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, speaks directly to the exclusive relationship that God desired with the Israelites.  He would share His glory with no one. 

God wove the ideas of love and family into this relationship construct to make His intent clear and pervasive.  “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:   And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:5-9.  God was to be at the very center of their lives, not just their religion, but their social, family and thought life, filling their daily routines.  

God established faithfulness in the marriage relationship because it was analogous to His relationship to Israel.  “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” Jeremiah 3:14. Spiritual adultery is the reason why judgment came against Israel.  “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.” Ezekiel 6:9 (NKJV). 

The jealousy of God for the unadulterated love of His people carries over to the relationship He designs for the church.  He refuses to be a player in the pantheon of gods. For New Testament believers, the proscription against an affair with the world derives its meaning from this relationship that God had with Israel.  “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV).

The Sin Offering

While the connotation of relationship is easily seen in the Sh’ma, the second tenet of faith, the absolution of sin, may not seem as obvious.  Sin is an affront to God’s holy nature; in fact, it precludes any possible relationship with man.  The offering for sin was based on the integral holiness of God which could not be compromised in any way.    The sin question had to be answered before God could possibly have any dealings with his crowning creation.   He designed us, He created us and He loved us, but He couldn’t accept us unless our sin was eradicated from us.  When we contemplate this dissonance between God’s love and His holiness, we begin to get a feel for the awesomeness of Calvary.  His holiness repelled us from Him, but His love drove Him relentlessly to us.

Yet, we must understand that sin kills the relationship a person has with God.  “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2 (NKJV) No more egregious teaching has contaminated the church than the idea that God pays no attention to sin, or that His grace gives license to sinful behavior.  Paul addressed this issue in the book of Romans.  “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” Romans 6:15-16 (NKJV).  As one preacher said, “God saves us from our sins, not in our sins!” 

Moreover, our view of sin is intrinsic to our view of God.  Once we start thinking that God is ambivalent toward, or even tolerant of sin, we mischaracterize the divine nature.  No less than 611 times do we find the word holy in the scriptures.  That frequency should be a gigantic clue as to the importance God attaches to holiness.  And, the hint is not subtle.  “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 (KJV). 

God’s position against sin is moral, not just ceremonial.  That means that we must be filled with His Spirit so that we may live in holiness. “This I say then, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.’”  Galatians 5:16 (KJV) This way of life shaped the culture of the early church, and, by extension, the entire church age.  This underscores the contention that the toleration of sin in a believer’s life negates the God-relationship.  “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:11-14 (KJV)

An apt illustration to clarify this tension between law and grace involves the training wheels on a toddler’s bicycle.  The training wheels are the only way the child can ride the bike and stay upright.  When the parent removes the training wheels, however, it doesn’t mean that it’s now okay for the child to fall over.  It means that he or she can now ride upright without the training wheels!  Grace supersedes the law in that it allows us to keep the morality—or the purpose—of the law without being propped up by ceremony of the law.  The balance is based on an internal instead of an external condition.  As our relationship with God deepens, the more conformed to His nature we become.  That, in fact, accounts for our overall goal in life.  “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Philippians 3:8-10 (NKJV)

The Lifestyle

The third principle of the Mosaic covenant enacted by the law was a regimented way of life for the people.  Exodus, Numbers and Leviticus contain the skeletal framework of this view, the book of Deuteronomy offers a full exposition of it.  In the vein of the Federalist Papers which expounded on the U. S. Constitution, this fifth book of Moses expands on all the ramifications of the Ten Commandments.  While it may sound like pure minutiae for the uninitiated, it shows the depth of God’s interest in a right relationship with Israel.  The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia analyzes Deuteronomy in the following way.  “The old Israel had become unique through the covenant which Yahweh made with them at Horeb, creating out of them “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). The new Israel who had been born in the desert were to inherit the blessings vouchsafed to their fathers, through the covenant just now being made in Moab. By means of it they became the heirs of all the promises given unto their fathers the patriarchs; they too became holy and peculiar, and especially beloved of Yahweh, disciplined, indeed, but for their own good, to be established as a people, as Yahweh’s peculiar lot and inheritance.”  Other commentators agree that God sought to fashion Israel into a strong and healthy theocracy, capable of survival, whether against foreign enemies or internal dereliction.

While there are many sections of the book that express this principle, one of the clearest passages is found in Deuteronomy 4:3-6 (KJV) “Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”  As Moses explains, the secret of their success was cleaving unto Jehovah.  Cleaving is a relationship word, also used to describe the marriage union. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”  Genesis 2:24 (KJV).  God wanted them to understand that keeping the statutes and judgments was not to be merely academic or a rote exercise, but it was to grow out of a relationship with Him.  Whenever the nations of the world commended Israel as a “wise and understanding people,” it was received as a form of praise for the God Israel served. 

For New Testament believers, one of the most popular criticisms against living a holy life separated from the world is legalism.  Any attempt to impose discipline on one’s life is labeled by some as a throwback to the legalistic practices of the Hebrews.  The problem with this criticism is that it is a shallow and immature appraisal of God’s intent in giving the law.  Of course, many of the regulatory details that the Israelites were to keep were significant in the context of their surroundings and the era in which they live, but have lost their meaning today.  Other regulations had typology connotations and are fulfilled in Christ.  But the idea of discipline holds true today and to observe these details, or standards, brings important benefits to modern Christians.  For example, the use of tobacco, to imbibe alcoholic drinks or to abuse narcotics has negative and destructive effects on the body.  Hence, to forbid the use of these substances is not legalism, but a deep and abiding respect for our relationship with God. 

Israel’s relationship with God emerged out of these foci and provides even deeper insight into the divine nature.  We need to get a feel for the context of this development to understand the significance of the new relationship.  As it happens in human relationships, the circumstances in which the Israelites were held captive contributed to and shaped the outcome in the wilderness trek.  The relationship that developed under the old covenant, however, was still lacking in a key aspect.  God wanted more than a rigid adherence to statutes.  Something better was coming.  

Are You Antisocial at Heart?

At the risk of oversimplification and stereotyping, I want to profile the social tendencies of the typical preacher and the average church member. 

• You are basically shy and self-sufficient.
• Given the choice, you would rather be alone than with a group of people you don’t know.
• You can be sociable with everyone if necessary, but you gravitate to certain people.
• You can be polite, but inwardly you tend to be judgmental.
• You like to be recognized and appreciated.
• You do the obligatory handshaking and waving, and then you are out of there.
• At a function, your greatest fear is to be stuck in a boring conversation.
• You like crowds—from a distance, from the platform or from the balcony.

Okay, so I’ve oversimplified and stereotyped.  Sorry.  Some of you are much more successful at masking the characteristics described above.  I should have given you more credit.  But seriously, there is an overwhelming need for us to learn more of the mechanics of mingling, networking and interacting with people.  Some may say that a goal like this is too superficial, and even carnal.  The fact is, however, our culture has tied baggage on us that work against our life’s mission.  We may not even recognize the traits that keep us from being who we are called to be.  Even worse, we may be unwittingly replicating these tendencies in the congregations we serve. 

Here are a few steps we need to take to combat our antisocial ways:

Teach yourself to love people.  This should be a no-brainer, but we usually only love certain people, the people who are close to us or have real meaning in our lives.  That’s not good enough.  Your first emotion, your leading approach to all people must be one of love.  That has nothing to do with them; it has everything to do with us and our inner selves.  The overworked verse, “For God so loved the world…” still has to inform our initial reaction to the people we meet. 

Train yourself to show your love.  You may love people, but if you don’t show it, it doesn’t count.  How do you show love?  Go to people.  Smile when you see them.  Be interested in them.  Spend time with them.  Quit making excuses about why you don’t have time when the real reason is you don’t value their relationship as much as you do others.  Remember, “… that He gave His only begotten Son …”  God did not have academic love or love in theory.  He expressed his love in real time, in real and measurable actions. 

Go to functions.  You’re important.  You’re busy.  I get that.  But start looking at invitations to parties, reunions, graduations, weddings and other ceremonies as opportunities to fulfill your mission, not as time-wasters.  Anytime you have a chance to meet and interact with people, take it.  You cannot reach people by always retreating to your office, alone.  Get out there and show yourself friendly! 

Put yourself at risk.  Too embarrassed to talk to strangers?  Afraid they will think you are too forward?  I know.  It is not a comfortable feeling to be rejected.  But guess what?  They are probably more willing to meet you than you are to meet them!  Go ahead and take the risk.  Walk up to someone or to a group of people and say, “Pardon me for interrupting, but I just wanted to meet you!”  Chances are that you will not be seen as forward or intrusive.  You will come across as sincerely interested in them.  I have personally always been happy—or even honored—to meet someone who wanted to meet me at a function. 

Learn the art of small talk.  You may feel tongue-tied when you talk to people you don’t know.  You may also rather talk about major issues or important topics than the weather or someone else’s kids or grandkids.  There are antidotes to these feelings.  Many books and DVD’s are on the market to show you how to overcome barriers like aversion to crowds or strangers.  If you are serious about reaching people, you will soak up all you can learn about how to do it. 

Read, read, read and read some more.   The more you know about what is going on in the world, the more you will have to talk about.  When you are perceived as an informed person, your stock immediately goes up in the eyes of others.  A key word, a knowing phrase, a demonstration that you know about a situation is a surefire way to keep a conversation going.  Sometimes all you need to know is just enough to ask an intelligent question.  Reading will put you in the game.

It’s not time for negatives.  Bite your tongue when you are tempted to argue with someone.  There is a time for everything, and a party or function is not the time for debate.  If you must say something, say “Well, that’s interesting,” or “I’d like to talk with you a little more about that sometime.”  Everyone will get the hint that you’re not on board with the statements, but you maintain the decorum of the moment. 

Listen, listen and listen some more.  We live in an out-of-control talking generation.  Listening is becoming a lost art.  Learn to actively listen.  Listen to what people are actually saying, not what you surmise they’re saying.  Repeat back to people what you just heard them say.  This clarifies their words and gives you a better chance to process them.  Remember, sometimes the best thing you can say is nothing.

Always tie your social opportunities to your mission.  When it comes to your daily, weekly or monthly choices as to how you will spend your time, make sure much of it is reaching people.  Your rationale for attending different get-togethers must be seen as the pursuit of your mission.  You will meet new people, you will form relationships, you will learn new things and it will be recognized that you are a caring, loving person. 

Charlie Brown once said, “I love humanity; it’s people I can’t stand!”  Unfortunately, the irony is way too true in many cases.  Guard against standoffishness, aloofness and aversion to crowds.  If you are an antisocial person, your ways are sabotaging your mission.  Don’t be indifferent to the habits that have matured to full-grown status in your life.  Redefine yourself if necessary.  Do it for the sake of the kingdom.  Jesus was all about seeking and saving.  Let us not be about avoiding and condemning.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Recommended reading: 

• How to Work a Room, Susan RoAne. 
• The Social Skills Guidebook, Chris McCleod
• Emergentics, Geil Browning

Abraham

If we can visualize Enoch, Noah and Nimrod as a widening tunnel leading to a relationship with God, then the passageway bursts into an epiphany of sound and light with the advent of Abraham.  This Bedouin sheep farmer from Ur of the Chaldees demonstrates that the complexion of God’s relationship with man changed drastically in every way, in voice, intimacy, interaction and appearance.  We now witness an aspect of divinity that had been hidden from view in all previous dealings with man. 

The first eleven chapters of Genesis cover an enormous amount of time and deal with a range of events and personages with relatively minimal detail.  The next thirteen chapters focus on the life of one man, replete with detail, and are especially enlightening about the relationship between God and Abraham.  This disparity between these segments of history could not be more distinct.  It is a fascinating account that not only establishes Abraham as the patriarch who was called the “Father of the Faithful,” and—even more appropriate to our theme, “the Friend of God”—it delivers exciting and invaluable insight into discovering a fulfilling relationship with God today. 

Abraham’s Call: Faith

Exploring the complete life of Abraham chronologically would be both instructive and inspiring, but such histories have been written in abundance.  Rather, let us look at specific events in his life that will help us to understand his intimate relationship with God.  We cannot repeat Abraham’s unique experiences, but we can reflect on the kind of attitude and heart he possessed that gave him such closeness to God.  Three major incidents in Abraham’s career showcase relationship qualities:  his call, his encounter with Lot and the sacrifice of Isaac. 

Before Abraham, God had entered into two covenants with man.  The Edenic Covenant specified that Adam and Eve were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or else they would die.  The Noahic Covenant promised that the earth would not be destroyed by a flood again.   Neither of these covenants, though, carried the personal interaction of God with man as did His covenant with Abraham.  “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3. 

God’s call of Abraham was conveyed in the framework of a covenant.  This covenant speaks to His expanded relationship with Abraham in a number of critical ways.  Like the other covenants, it was spoken through direct communication, but the personal nature of the command goes beyond anything experienced by Adam or Noah.  First, God gives Abraham definite traveling and relocation instructions and takes care to reference his native land, his fellow citizens and his relatives, all of which signal God’s concern with Abraham’s relationships.  Then, He lets him know that He has designated a country where Abraham should go, a directive that implies more revelations to come.  A promise of further revelations foreshadows a continuing and developing relationship between God and Abraham.  These features enable us to see thematic overtones of relationship in God’s involvement with those who trust Him.

The most profound component of the covenant, however, has to do with God’s purposes on a much grander scale in terms of the history of man.  His goal was not just the preservation of one man or of the survival of one family, but to establish an entire nation built upon the foundation of the one, true God.  As grand as it was, however, this purpose had to begin with the faith of one man, Abraham, and proceed from there.  The success of the plan was a function of God’s relationship with this man.  On that basis, the provisions of the covenant held that it would be a great nation, that Abraham would be blessed, that his name would be great, that Abraham would give and receive blessings, that God would curse anyone who cursed Abraham, and that all the families in the earth would be blessed through Abraham.  All of these provisions indicate God’s accelerated intent to bind Himself to the fortunes—and failures—of the man he had chosen to become His representative nation on earth.

So, how did Abraham respond to this call?  He embraced it with such pure faith that it rewrote the history books.  Hundreds of years later, the annals of the New Testament recorded, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10.  This response was remarkable because prior to Genesis 12:1, nothing suggests that Abraham even knew God.  In fact, he was undoubtedly reared in a pagan culture.  But, somewhere, the revelation of the Creator God must have come to him, and the impact must have been so powerful that it produced a consummate relationship between God and Abraham. 

While we don’t often perceive faith from relationship perspective, that is precisely the case.  No one can acquire Abrahamic kind of faith apart from a close-knit relationship with the God of Abraham.  It is a mistake to isolate faith as a stand-alone attribute, as though it could exist by itself.  Spiritual commodities do not come cafeteria style.  Rather, they come bundled in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Jesus Himself issued this warning, “Without Me, you can do nothing.”  Even if we were able to make human faith work in some sort of dysfunctional way, the end result would be a dead-end street.  That’s why many attempts to reform or improve the unregenerate man are akin to rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.  We are too often so absorbed in intermediate goals that we lose sight of the ultimate goal.  It calls to mind the old saw that “the operation was a success but the patient died.”  It is not faith that causes the relationship; it is the relationship that gives birth to faith.

Abraham and Lot: Humility

The second incident that signals the depth of Abraham’s relationship with God involves his dealings with people.  Abraham and Lot each had herdsmen and servants who traveled with them.  These two groups clashed and the strife escalated to the point where coexistence was impossible.  Abraham, the uncle, asked his nephew, “Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.” Genesis 13:9. This magnanimous offer showed the spirit of Abraham, but the younger Lot should have rejected it.  The right thing would have been for him to acquiesce and insist that his uncle choose first.  Instead, he jumped at the chance to take what he perceived was the better route.    “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere … Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.” Genesis 13:10-11.

This exchange between Abraham and Lot illustrates a fundamental relationship principle: humility and deference.  Assuming that Abraham was of superior intelligence, he understood the rights of seniority and respect for elders.  He was not fooled by Lot’s impudence, yet he allowed it to happen.  The quality of Abraham’s character seen here grew out of his greater relationship with God.  Those who fight for their own way, those who put their personal welfare above that of others, those who are willing to cause others to suffer so they can gain the upper hand fail at functional relationships.  On the other hand, those who pursue a right relationship with God will reap positive relationships with others. 

God and Abraham:  Unconditional Love

Finally, other than Calvary, no more vivid example of unconditional love exists in scripture than Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah.  It strained the upper limits of the relationship because not only was Isaac Abraham’s legal son through his wife, Sarai, and Abraham was totally invested in him emotionally, but Isaac was the miraculous result of the promise of God.  For God to demand that Abraham kill Isaac created an unthinkable paradox.  It forced Abraham to choose between his natural parental feelings and his love for God.  The brutality of the choice was mitigated by the knowledge that God had already provided the ram caught in the thicket as an alternative sacrifice, but Abraham, of course did not know that.  His willingness to sacrifice his Isaac proved to God that Abraham’s love for Him superseded his natural affection for his only son.  “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”  Genesis 22:12. Even if Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac up from the dead (Hebrews 11:19), it did not lessen the trauma of killing his own son.

The fine reticulation that binds us in a relationship with God must withstand every trial, every threat, every interference and every temptation.  Before the Mosaic law, there were no guidelines to prove the strength of the relationship other than personal encounters with God.  With the law, as we shall see, came a more impersonal and vicarious system, but one wonders if the best proof of a relationship with God remains up close and personal.  David certainly thought so. 

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:1-3.