The Adventure of Discipleship

I don’t think of a desert without remembering the old, yet popular, Western song “Cool Water.”  I must not be alone since it is #3 of the Top 100 Western songs ever.  It is about a thirsty man and his mule traveling a wasteland, tormented by mirages.

All day I’ve faced a barren waste, Without the taste of water, cool water, Old Dan and I, with throats burned dry And souls that cry for water.

I imagine a dirty, bearded, weary prospector and his mule drudging along in the blistering heat of a barren, dry landscape, squinting into the sun, hoping that what has always been a mirage in the past will finally turn out to be water.

The wasteland of the desert is hot, dry, barren, and silent.  The most critical need when traveling in a desert is water.  Lack of water results in “throats burned dry, and souls that cry for water.”  In that condition, it is hard to swallow, lips become cracked, and it is hard to think about anything else but water.  Thirst is a gift that drives us to search for “cool, clear water.”

Spiritual thirst is also a gift because it drives us to pursue the essential ingredient for soul life:  Living Water.  In the spiritual desert, our souls can feel dry and passive; there is little or no joy or fire in our souls.  Our prayers may seem like words bouncing off the ceiling.  We have no hunger for the Word; Scripture seems like just words on a page.  Worship services that used to be inspiring are now boring.   The Christian life feels dull.  God seems silent, distant, or absent and our hearts long for God’s presence, but we do not see him. 

Many spiritual pilgrims testify to “dry” times when their souls cried for water.  Their desert may have existed even during spiritual activities and busy ministry.   People may have surrounded them and yet they felt isolated. 

When God takes us to the desert, it is an opportunity to identify what we are thirsty for.  Perhaps we have been living on spiritual fruit punch and sodas instead of the “cool water” that truly satisfies us.  Maybe we are in danger of unintentional dehydration, and God wants to renew our thirst mechanism that has become faulty. 

God rebuked the children of Israel for substituting their own, inadequate cisterns for springs of living water.   “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

Spiritual thirst moves us to seek the Water of Life, found only by a faith encounter with Christ and the gospel.  Water in Scripture can refer to the Word, salvation, the Holy Spirit, or God himself.   In general, spiritual thirst is the recognition of feeling distant regarding our relationship with God.  David expressed it this way.  “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.  I thirst for God, the living God” (Psalm 42:1).

Spiritual thirst leads us to faith in Christ (remember the John 4 account of the woman at the well) and also leads us deeper in our journey of discipleship.  A desert experience may be required to renew a spiritual thirst for God and help us put all other pursuits into perspective. 

David wrote his version of “Cool Water” in Psalm 63, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.  My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” Reading through this Psalm of David’s spiritual desert, we discover a pattern of how to respond when in our desert. 

• He remembers the past and how God showed up in power and glory.
• He anticipates the future when he will again praise God in joy.
• In the meantime, he focuses on the God who is his helper, shade, and strong right hand.

Instead of resenting the desert or rushing to get out of it, we should consider it a gift:  an opportunity to experience God in ways only the desert can provide.

The desert can:

1.   Heighten our desire for God alone.

2.   Revive our thirst for the clear water of the Word.

3.   Clear the clutter and simplify our lives.

4.   Purify our souls.

The following is a list of ideas I and others have found helpful in a desert landscape.

1.  Be authentic about the condition of your soul. 

• Are you physically tired or weary?  Have you just come off an emotional high or a major victory?  Do you need to rest and eat?  (Think of Elijah in 1 Kings 19).
• Are there “sins” or “weights” draining your soul?  (Hebrews 12:1-2)
• Are you drinking from sources other than the spring of Living Water?

2.  Consider the desert a time to wait on the Lord (Isaiah 40:29-31).

Waiting is not a posture of apathy or inactivity. Instead, it is a “leaning into” God and his promises, remembering that while we are waiting, God is working (Isaiah 64:4 NLT).

3.  Take the time to remember and review.

•  Remember the names of God and how he has shown up in the past.  “God is my …….” 

•  Review your identity in Christ.  “In Christ I am……”

4.   Hang around life-giving people.   Spend time with deeply spiritual people who will not condemn or expect you to snap out of it but allow you to walk in their wake without expectations.

5.  Do not hurry the process.  Allow the discomfort to draw you to God alone.  Look for his fingerprint in your desert.

6.  Enjoy places where God can touch your emotions.  Take walks in your favorite park.  Listen to music that helps you focus on the unseen reality.

7.  Spend time in the Word, even if it feels emotionally flat.  God’s Spirit lives in His Word, and his Spirit is where the living water comes from (John 7).  Listen for God’s quiet voice without expecting an earthquake, fire, or storm.  Think of Elijah in 1 Kings 19.  Take the advice of Eli to Samuel and say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” 

The shadows sway and seem to say, “Tonight, we pray for water, cool water.” And way up there, He’ll hear our prayer, And show us where there’s water-cool, clear water.

For Reflection

1.  Can you describe a time when you were especially thirsty for God?

2.  What would you suggest to prevent spiritual dehydration?

We would not typically visit a cemetery on a sunny afternoon.  However, as much as we would like to avoid it, the cemetery is a landscape we will visit sometime along our journey.  The critical question is will we discover God’s fingerprint while there?

With the popularity of cremation, the cemetery may become an artifact of the past.  However, it is still an essential reminder of our link to history and that we are part of something much bigger than our current moment on the stage of life.  Something is engaging about a cemetery, with its headstones marking the life and death of real people.  The Vietnam Memorial honors those who gave their lives for our country.  Still, it did not have the same impact on me as visiting Arlington Cemetery in Virginia and seeing all those headstones in the ground.  

Death is a topic that makes us uncomfortable.  Substituting euphemisms for death or dying does not take away its painful reality.  None of us want to sit in the front row of chairs at a graveside service.  But eventually, we all will.

In the emergency room, we face the possibility of our mortality, but in the cemetery, we face its certainty.  A memorial service can celebrate the life of the one lost, but the cemetery is a place of sober finality.  It is a place where we do not want to linger but pass through as quickly as possible.  We may have a potluck at the church but not at the cemetery.  Cemeteries do not hide the reality of death but make it soberingly visible and memorable.  Cemeteries honor those who have died but also remind us that death is real and permanent.   

There is something uniquely important about the cemetery.  In writing the Apostle’s Creed, the early church fathers included the crucifixion and death of Christ and also his burial (think cemetery).  Death and burial are not redundant.  Paul writes, “For I handed down to you … that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 emphasis mine). 

Cemeteries remind us that death is not part of God’s original plan.  Along with grief, it carries the feeling that this is not how things should be.  Even with the hope of eternal life for those in Christ, death creates confusion, sorrow, and grief.  However, in our grief, our Good Shepherd is with us–not to explain away the why questions but to bring comfort and hope. 

The place of exchange

For the Christian, the cemetery is not a “dead end” but a place of exchange.  While it is true that the cemetery involves letting go, it also involves taking hold.  We release one thing to gain another.  It is the exchange of mortality for immortality, a physical body for a spiritual one (1 Corinthians 15:12-26).   

 Using the concept of the cemetery to illustrate our spiritual journey, Jesus described the “cemetery” as being like grains of wheat that must fall to the ground and die so they can bear much fruit (John 12:24).  Clearly when our old self dies, it is not the end but the beginning of a fruitful life.    

Paul described this same process in his letter to the Galatians.  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).  Since we exchanged the old “I” for a new “I,” let’s have a funeral and place a headstone in our “cemetery.” Then each time we visit and see our headstone, we say, “Yep, that’s the “I” that was crucified with Christ.  Thank God that “I” no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

The problem is that we sometimes hang on to the old “I” because we fear losing something important to us.  We forget what Jesus taught: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:2).  “Until we are willing to lose, we will never find what God has for us” (AW Tozer, The Crucified Life, p 164).

In Luke chapters 9 and 14, Jesus said a defining mark of his disciple is the person who takes up his cross daily and follows him.  Some things continually need to be put to death and buried.  The author of Hebrews expresses it this way.  “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). 

Repentance is a form of cemetery exchange.  Repent means to change direction or perhaps even do a complete about-face.  It includes letting go of something (burying it) in exchange for something better, such as: 

• Exchanging self-rule for Christ’s rule.
• Exchanging self-merit for Christ’s merit.

However, along our transformational journey of becoming his image-bearer, the buried old self still influences our daily walk.  Like barnacles on an ocean-going ship, we daily tend to pick up barnacles of self-rule and self-merit.  Perhaps part of what Jesus was referring to when he said we should take up our cross daily and follow him is to walk daily through the cemetery.  We must recognize the barnacles that have collected and repent of all self-rule and self-merit.  Our daily devotional time offers the perfect opportunity to do just that. 

The landscape of the cemetery is life-changing.  It will always involve letting go of something.  The pain involved relates to how tightly we have been holding on.  Corrie Ten Bloom once said, “Hold everything in your hands lightly; otherwise, it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”

God promises to show up in the cemetery.  But we need to be careful not to miss him in the grieving process.  When Jesus came to the cemetery of his friend Lazarus, he joined the grieving process with the family.  The Scripture simply says, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).  Even though Jesus knew that death was about to be abolished, he was saying that he understands that death is painful.  In the grief of the cemetery, we have a landscape in which to experience God’s multifaceted nature.  He will be there and we will see him if we look for him through the lens of faith.

For Reflection

1.  Reflect on when you had to walk through a cemetery.  How did you feel?  How did God show up?

2.  Reflect on when God took something out of your hand.  How did you respond?  Was it a loss or an exchange?  Explain.

The metanarrative of the Bible is an epic story of love, adventure, danger, heroism, romance, sacrifice, warfare between good and evil, unlikely heroes, and impossible odds.  All of which make up God’s story.  Every classic story written in history is modeled after it.  In the Bible metanarrative, Christ is the main character, and his people are the supporting cast for displaying the glory of God.  

To understand this epic drama, we must understand the stage setting.  God reveals in Scripture that the created cosmos (time and space continuum) was created good but became corrupt due to a continuing conflict between God and demonic forces.  Scripture gives little detail about the origin of this cosmic conflict, but the brief snapshots given are sufficient for now.  The Bible claims Satan is a powerful being who leads a host of spiritual powers in rebellion against God and his authority.  Satan’s goal is to set himself above God and usurp his sovereignty. 

The battle between God and evil forces continues throughout the narrative of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.  The Genesis account shows how humanity was caught up in the cosmic conflict.  In the Garden of Eden, humanity chose to join Satan in the rebellion against God by deliberately disobeying God’s command and thus replacing God’s authority with self-rule.  

The enemy

The Bible describes life on earth as living in the kingdom of darkness where Satan rules but with limited freedom.  One day there will be a final battle in which Satan and his accomplices will be rounded up and cast into hell:  their final destination.  However, in the meantime, as Christians, we are engaged in this cosmic battle. 

The New Testament epistles describe our battlefield as consisting of the world, the flesh, and the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 2:2-3).  This trifecta is waging war against God’s desires and design for his people.  Since we are engaged in a war, we must know what and who we are fighting.  We may confuse our real enemy with certain people, such as a demeaning boss, grumpy neighbor, or belligerent kids.  Satan may use such people, but people are not our real enemies.   On the other hand, our world’s caricature of Satan is one of a friendly, although perhaps ghoulish, harmless fiend more appropriate for Halloween than the real world.  In either case, Satan is neither taken seriously nor effectively opposed.  

Victory over Satan requires that we understand him for who he is and not attribute more power to him than he deserves.  There are spiritual forces of wickedness we should be aware of and stand in opposition to.  However, we do not live in fear of Satan or his host of followers because Jesus has already defeated him.  The victory has been won, and one day it will be finalized.   We are on the side of victory!

The Battlefield

As God’s people, whose final home is in heaven, we live as aliens in the kingdom of darkness and will always face opposition and hard times.  For example, people get sick and die, accidents happen, businesses fail, and homes are robbed.   Hardships, misfortunes, and trials are part of living in a broken world.  However, there is also a battlefield landscape with significant spiritual attacks.  The following are some examples.

• We are overwhelmed with false accusations against the nature of God
• We find ourselves doubting the truth and relevance of the Word
• We doubt our true identity in Christ
• We face an uncommon assortment of trials and losses, such as Job experienced
• We experience resistance when we invade enemy territory with the gospel and engage in kingdom ministry.
• Emotionally we experience an overwhelming sense of darkness, sadness, fear, or anxiety.
• We struggle with confusion regarding guilt, shame, and doubt.

Another type of battlefield is called a stronghold.  A stronghold can be any harmful habit, negative thinking, or irrational feeling that leads to sinful behavior for which we are in bondage. 

(Neil Anderson’s book, The Bondage Breaker, is a helpful resource regarding this type of battlefield.)

Discovering God on the Battlefield

When David was running from King Saul, he did not have a fortified city with walls to protect him, so he retreated to desert caves like Adullam and the forest of Hereth (1 Samuel 22:1-5).  Yet it was not his surroundings that he looked to for safety; it was his God. So if we were to ask David, “How did God show up during the years you were running from Saul,” he would say,“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my savior, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2). 

Another way God shows up on the battlefield is with his armor of protection and the power to fight victoriously.  Paul, in Ephesians 6, describes the armor we are to put on to be “strong in the Lord and the power of his might.”  Each piece of armor is a description of Christ, so to put on the armor is to put on Christ (Romans 13:14).

Battlefield Strategies

Max Anders has suggested that we encounter two types of spiritual warfare.   We respond to each with different strategies.

• A battle where the enemy can be defeated.  On this battlefield, we fight, wage war, wear armor, stand firm, resist, and sometimes flee.  We actively fight with the weapons God has given for our defense.  (Ephesians 6:13; James 4:7; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Timothy 2:22; Matthew 4:1-11)

• A battle where the enemy’s attack is sustained.  On this battlefield, we experience God’s grace to endure.  Paul’s thorn in the flesh is a good example.  Paul identifies this “thorn” as harassment from Satan, but God refuses to remove it.  Instead, he directs Paul to accept it and experience his all-sufficient grace.  On this battlefield, we hide ourselves in the fortress of the character of God with prayer and praise. 

We can be confident that God will show up on the battlefields of life.  We are not victims but victors.  “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God” Psalm 20:7).

For Reflection

1.  Practically, how do we put on the armor of Ephesians 6?

2.  How do know when to fight and when to flee (a strategic withdrawal)?

Life’s experiences, or as I will call them, landscapes of life, are the places God can reveal aspects of his nature and glory.  Our landscapes can range from mountaintop miracles to slogging through the muck.  Most of the time, we experience something in between those extremes.  Paul expressed it this way: 

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself (Philippians 3:10).

Throughout Scripture, God promises to always be with us in every landscape we face.  The Psalmist writes, “Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me” (Psalm 139:7-10)

My favorite “go-to” promise for God’s presence is, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you.  He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deut. 31:8).  You probably have similar “go to” verses.  With God’s presence guaranteed, our question is not “Will God show up?” but “How will he show up?”  The point is the promise of God’s presence forms the foundation for discovering how God will show up in the various landscapes of our lives.  When we anticipate the presence of God, we can learn to be content in whatever topography we are experiencing and for however long God decides for us to be there. 

Over the following several blogs, I want to look at various landscapes we may encounter along our life journey of faith.  Each can provide a unique opportunity for God to show up, meet our needs, and reveal various aspects of his nature.  Each landscape will allow us to move from theory to experience: from God is… to God is my…  We will see his presence even in unexpected ways as we use the lens of faith and perhaps some CSI skills.

The Storm

First, I want to consider discovering God in the storm.  Nature’s storms, whether hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, dust storms, or just plain old rain storms, are a common part of life.  When it comes to storms, we know they will come, and we cannot control them.

Storms are those events in life where circumstances seem overwhelming.  Adversity, conflict, pressure, and disappointment can come in a wave that disrupts our calm, comfortable, ordinary everyday routine.  We may feel like our life is under attack in our finances, health, or relationships.  What makes it feel like a storm is that we cannot control it when it comes.

Storms affect

Since life’s storms are out of our control, we find them physically and emotionally threatening.   When the wind and waves of the storm toss around our “boat,” we can feel vulnerable, overwhelmed, helpless, exposed, and defenseless. 

The twelve disciples faced storms as they were following Jesus.  On one occasion, he told them to get in their boat and said, “Let us go to the other side.”  Their destination was the area of the Garasenes along the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee. 

When a sudden storm comes up, fear takes over, and when the disciples find Jesus asleep, they panic.  They cry, “Jesus don’t you care?” (Mark 4:35-41).  There have been times when I have had a similar response.  More than once, when a storm hit my life, I initially wondered if Jesus was “asleep.” 

After Jesus wakes up and calms the storm, he asks several penetrating questions.  “Why are you afraid?  How is it that you have no faith?”  Jesus was looking for a different response to the storm than he got.  The disciple’s faith response could have been based on two things.   One was his promise when he said, “Let us go to the other side.”  He did not say, “Let’s go out on the Sea and drown.”  Secondly, they had his presence.  Similarly, when we feel vulnerable in a storm, we can put our faith in the promises of God and his character.  

Fanny Crosby is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time, having written over 8,000 songs and hymns.  They include hymns like Blessed Assurance, Pass Me Not O Blessed Savior, To God be the Glory, and He Hideth My Soul.  She accomplished all this despite becoming blind when she was only six weeks old. 

Later in her life, she wrote, “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank Him for the dispensation.  If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it.  I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”

Fanny accepted this lifelong “storm” as a blessing because she discovered God’s touch through it.  She has encouraged believers for over a millennium by putting that knowledge into songs.  The storm provides a place to discover God as our anchor, harbor, and shelter. 

Storm prep

Since we cannot eliminate storms from our life, we would be wise to prepare for them.  Jesus told of two houses that faced the inevitable storms of life (Matthew 7: 24-27).  The stability of the house depended on the foundation.  The solid foundation in the parable was built upon hearing and doing his word.  Nothing fancy or complex … just daily listening to what God says through his word and acting on it.  Little by little, brick by brick, the foundation is laid in the secret place of our hearts.  Then when the inevitable storms come, our house will stand.  But unfortunately, it is too late to start laying the foundation once the storms hit.

When King Nebuchadnezzar put the three Hebrew men into his fiery furnace, they demonstrated their foundation through their response.  This was not their “first rodeo,” as the saying goes.  Captured, their homes destroyed, taken into exile, and forced into the king’s service, they found that every storm along the way was an opportunity to see the hand of God.  Now, in the furnace, they could say with complete peace, “God is able to deliver, but if not…”  Their response to the king was that their God could just as easily deliver them out of the fire or through it.  Either way, they had learned that God would show up. 

Storm Benefits

God uses storms to show us various aspects of his nature and complete the work of transforming us into his image-bearers.  Here are four ways God can use a storm to move us from God is … to God is my……

• Focus our lives (God is my Anchor)

Storms have a way of forcing us to simplify our lives, focusing on the essentials of life while stripping away the clutter and distractions.  Years ago, an unexpected storm came up while crossing a large lake on a fishing trip with my dad in Canada’s boundary waters.  The sky went from an azure blue to a menacing gray/black.  The lake went from glass-like smooth to whitecaps in just a few minutes.  Alone on the lake in our 17-foot aluminum canoe, life got simple.  We were not thinking about our plans for next week, not even what we were cooking for dinner that night.  We had only two thoughts: keep the canoe’s bow pointed into the waves and paddle like crazy!  All my complex life issues (family, work, relational challenges, and long-range plans) shrunk to a few things: Dad, me, and an aluminum boat.

Life storms can help us refocus on what is ultimately important … ultimately essential.  Even forward progress is eliminated.  A sailing ship in a storm takes down its sails and puts out the sea anchor.  Progress to its destination is put on hold until the storm passes. 

•  Test our faith (God is my Proctor)

Each storm we face tests our faith in our confidence in the promises and character of God.  They can serve as an exam in our course of faith.  The disciples got a D on their exam in the story above.  Not surprisingly, this was early in their training.   They would do better later…well, not always!  Our faith tests are also faith builders.  Each storm in which we discover the touch of God increases our faith.  That is why in a storm, Scripture tells us to remember how God has shown up in the past.

Storms strip away our self-confidence and the illusion that we are in control.  When our security and safety are threatened, we are forced to seek God as our refuge, our cleft in the rock.  No matter how many storms we weather, each new one tests, deepens, and strengthens our faith – if we let it.

•  Guide our journey (God is my Guide)

Jonah needed a course correction as he fled from God’s presence to avoid his mission to the Ninevites.  Headed in the wrong direction, God used a storm (and a fish) to turn him around.  God can use storms to guide and correct us, especially when we are not paying attention.

On his way to Rome, Paul took a detour via Malta when his ship hit a storm.  Shipwrecked and left floating on various debris from the ship, the Bible gives a typical understatement, “and so it happened they were all brought safely to land.”  For the next three months, Paul had a ministry on the island that was not in his original plan.  Storms take us to places we would not have chosen to go, but we have unexpected opportunities to live out the gospel once we are there.

•  Develop fruitfulness (God is my Gardner)

In January 2005, an ice storm hit Kansas City, the costliest in Kansas history.  During the several days of constant rain and ice, branches broke off our trees with the crack of rifle shots.  When it was over, tree limbs were in piles across our yard.  Our favorite maple tree looked devastated.  But amazingly, after a few years, it recovered, filled in, and looked better than ever. 

Jesus said we are like the branches of a grapevine that need pruning occasionally.  Sometimes, our heavenly Father uses the storms of life to prune us for greater fruitfulness (John 15).

We need to remember that God delights in being discovered.  Life storms allow him to show up in new ways if we look through the lens of faith.

For Reflection:

1.  Think back to a stormy period of your life.  What were your questions?  How did God show up?

2.  In what ways are you preparing for the storms yet to come?

If God is to reveal his glory to us experientially, he needs a context in which to do it.  Our life journey with its various landscapes is that setting.  But, before we consider this topic, let’s review some principles already discussed regarding God’s glory.

• God is serious about his glory.
• His glory is the revelation of his attributes.
• God wants each of us to know his glory in a personal/experiential way.
• His glory can only be experienced through a variety of different circumstances.
• It takes faith to see the fingerprint of God’s glory in our lives.

A key question we need to ask ourselves is, “Do we want to know God and his glory, or are we content to just use him?”  Several years ago, I was discipling an executive vice president of a large aerospace company.  We met weekly at a Denny’s near the company headquarters.  It was not a restaurant where he usually ate breakfast.  After a few months of meeting, he said, “Do you know why I like meeting with you?”  I initially thought of the wisdom I was passing on.  But he said, “It is because you relate to me for who I am rather than what I can do for you.  Almost everyone in my life is trying to use me.”

If we are to know God, we must be willing to travel through various landscapes to see his multifaceted nature.  As a young boy living in Iowa, the farthest we traveled from home was our annual weekly fishing vacation in Minnesota, which looked much like Iowa except for the lakes.  Then, one year in the late 1950s, we broke family tradition with a venturesome road trip to San Diego, CA.  Up to that time, my only knowledge of our planet’s various landscapes was from looking through a National Geographic magazine.  But pictures, good as they were in the magazine, were the result of someone else’s experience, not my own.

The interstate system in the 1950s was just being built, so we traveled much of the way on old Route 66.  Each state we went through offered a new vista of unique beauty.  Without the aid of smartphones, video games, and DVD movies, the only thing we had for travel entertainment was admiring the countryside.  Without the aid of air conditioning, keeping the windows down was necessary for survival, but it also allowed us to smell, feel, and taste what each landscape had to offer.

To my parent’s credit, the purpose of our cross-country trip was not simply to get to our intended destination but to experience the wonders of the American western landscape.  Unfortunately, with today’s interstate highway system, we usually trade travel expedience for experience. 

One of the purposes of the Bible narrative is to record the story of God and his people as they travel over life’s various landscapes.  Cultures and lifestyles change over time, but the landscapes remain the same, save for the addition of technology.  So, while reading the Bible stories and learning how God showed up in history can be motivating, it can be like reading National Geographic.   But are we substituting historical pictures for personal experience?

Over the following few blogs, I want to look at eight common landscapes we travel through on our faith journey.  Since each person’s journey is unique, the amount of time we spend in each setting will vary, as will the order.  But over our lifetime, it is safe to say we will all spend some time in each of these life landscapes.  Most of them cannot be experienced from the interstate.  We will need to get off the freeway and onto some two-lane, even dirt roads if we are to experience them first-hand.

Some of the landscapes are by divine appointment; we wouldn’t choose to go there.  If we were honest, some of them we would rather avoid.  Yet because God is serious about his glory, he will take us there by his sovereign hand.  He takes us there to show us something of his glory, not to make life hard.

However, some of the landscapes we travel through result from our rebellion, foolishness, and folly.  Yet even then, we have the promise that God can turn guck into glory (Romans 8:28-29).  No experience needs to be wasted if we are committed to knowing God in all his glory.

As we explore each landscape, we will examine them through the grid of:

• Typography
• Effect
• God’s fingerprint
• Observations
• Response

The classic Christian allegory, Pilgrims Progress, published in 1684, is built on a similar theme of a journey through various landscapes.  The story follows “Christian” a pilgrim on his journey to the Celestial City.  Along the way, he encounters various landscapes that challenge and strengthen his faith:  Delectable Mountain, Doubting Castle, Palace Beautiful, Valley of Humiliation, and Slough of Despair.

Like “Christian”, our journey towards the Celestial City will take us over various landscapes.  Each one presents opportunities to learn lessons, take pictures, and tell stories.  But the critical issue will be what we see of God as we encounter each one:  How does God show up?  What we discover about God along this journey becomes our “life song” – Psalm (see TAD Blog 90).

The book of Revelation tells us that the landscapes on the other side of the Celestial City are unlike those on this side.   “Eternal life” (John 17:3) is where we will continue to discover new aspects of his glory, glory that can only be experienced in our new, resurrected bodies. 

Since our future home will not include pain, suffering, or evil, there are aspects of God’s glory we can only experience in our current, fallen world.  One way God turns cosmic rebellion into victory is by showing us his multifaceted nature in our broken world.  For example, we can only experience God’s forgiveness of sin and comfort in pain in a broken world. 

If God wanted us just to know his nature only cognitively, he would have given us a doctrinal encyclopedia with a list and explanation.  He tells us through the lives of his people in the biblical narrative and he shows us in the context of our own personal “Route 66.”

Those who have gone before us, having experienced the glory of God, are cheering us on not just to finish, but to experience Christ in all his glory along the way.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith… let us run with endurance the race God has set before us fixing our eyes on Jesus… (Hebrews 12:1-2).

For Reflection

1. What other aspects of God’s nature are highlighted by a broken world?

•  What is your favorite “National Geographic” picture in the Old Testament?  What does it reveal about God?

The word pardon has both a social and a legal use in our culture.  “Pardon me for the interruption” is an everyday social use that means excuse me.  The legal use of the word is not as common, but it is a powerful tool in our legal and justice system. 

In America, a pardon is an official act of the President.  Our current constitutional model of a pardon comes from our English heritage.  The power to pardon was modeled after English monarchs and given to presidents – not the judicial system.  Although the constitution does not describe a pardon, the legal system generally accepts that a president can give a pardon for any reason at any time in the legal process.  Thus, a pardon can be given before the conviction, while serving a sentence, or after completing the sentence.  Although a pardon releases one from future punishment, it does not clear the record.

A pardon does not address the issue of guilt or innocence.  A pardoned person may or may not be guilty of the accused crime.  The pardon only terminates the judgment.  Pardons are given for various reasons, but no explanation is required to issue the pardon.  A pardon may be merited or unmerited since guilt is irrelevant to a pardon.  There have been cases where a person refused a pardon in favor of a new trial to prove their innocence.

Forgiveness and pardon are often incorrectly used interchangeably.  Although the two terms have some commonalities, they are critically different.  A pardon is a legal construct, while forgiveness is a relational one.  In Scripture, God’s forgiveness is a significant thread that involves the removal of future punishment (a pardon), purging the record of our offense (sin), substituting Christ’s merit for our sin, and reconciliation with God. 

God, however, does not offer us a pardon but forgiveness.  At the final judgment, there will be neither a pardon nor forgiveness.  The Bible does not support the idea that, in the end, God will pardon everyone (universal salvation).  The book “Love Wins Out” promotes this erroneous idea as though one of God’s traits trumps all the others.  God is an integrated whole, not made up of parts, where all his attributes perfectly blend all the time.

Although God does not offer us a pardon, we have the power of the pardon in our relationship with others.  In Christ’s teaching on kingdom living, he said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned” (Luke 6:37, NASB, my emphasis). 

In this passage, the word pardon comes from the Greek word apoluo.  It is different from the Greek word aphiemi, which is most often translated as forgiveness in Scripture.  Pardon (apoluo) means to dismiss, set free, release, or send away.  In the story of Christ’s trial, Luke tells us that “Pilate, wanting to release [apoluo] Jesus, addressed them again” (Luke 23:20).  Pilate wanted to pardon Jesus and set him free without a judgment of his guilt or innocence.  But, caving into the people’s demands, Pilate pardoned Barabbas rather than Jesus.  Barabbas’s pardon released him from future punishment regardless of his guilt or innocence.

Kingdom living requires both forgiveness and pardons.  Forgiveness involves fractured relationships and requires both repentance and forgiveness for reconciliation.  Pardons, on the other hand, do not require forgiveness or reconciliation.  Instead, pardons only involve termination of judgment, punishment, and retribution.  

The Scripture has a lot to say about avoiding or letting go of bitterness, anger, and revenge.  One example is in the book of Romans. 

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.  Respect what is right in the sight of all men.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord (Romans 12:17-19).

In the Luke 6:37 passage, we are told not to be judgmental or condemning but rather pardon.  Rather than judging and passing a guilty sentence on others, we are to pardon or release them from our judgment and retribution.  Our condemning others usually shows up in anger, bitterness, and relational retribution.

Jesus gives us an alternative:  Let it go – pardon.  A pardon frees us from an internal emotional battle and allows us to respond in love.  A pardon is a way to express agape love.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;

love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly;

it does not seek its own, is not provoked,

does not take into account a wrong suffered,

does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

The phrase “does not take into account a wrong suffered” is to offer a pardon.  It means I will not put the person on trial (usually in our minds) to prove their guilt.  I don’t have to confront them and demand an apology.  I don’t need to bring it up and prove I am right.  Instead, I choose to release them from any form of my punishment or retribution.  Since I probably don’t have all the facts in the case, letting go of my sense of justice is probably the wiser course of action.  A pardon is an act of love that chooses to let it go. 

In 1974, President Ford pardoned the recently resigned President Nixon.  Nixon’s offenses were many and obvious.  Ford realized that a lengthy Nixon trial would further divide the country and distract it from the more pressing issues, the Viet Nam war being one of them.  For the country’s sake, President Ford made an unpopular decision to issue Nixon a pardon before he even went to trial. 

This story is a poignant example of the power of a pardon.  A pardon does not deny that there has been an offense, either real or perceived.  Instead, the power of the pardon allows us to let it go without a trial.  Guilt or innocence is irrelevant since we release the offender from our judgment and punishment.  When we learn to pardon others, we can get on with more important issues rather than be locked in a no-win battle of bitterness and retribution.  As disciples, we need to learn to pardon others quickly and frequently.

For Reflection

1.  What are other ways a pardon is different from forgiveness?

2.  Can you think of a time when you could have used the power of a pardon?

In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed “A Theory of Human Motivation,” which has dominated the field of psychology ever since.  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory of motivation in which five categories of human needs dictate an individual’s behavior.  Those needs include physical needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.  Maslow’s theory presents his hierarchy of needs in a pyramid shape, with basic needs at the bottom and more high-level, intangible needs at the top.

Maslow reasoned that once our basic needs were met, we could move on to the higher need of self-actualization.  At a layman’s level, self-actualization is a lot like being happy.  For most of us, pursuing happiness involves gaining power, prestige, and prosperity.  We reason that if we had those things in sufficient amounts, we would be happy, but in reality, they are elusive and temporary.

Our goals or pursuits affect how we deal with the world we live in and interpret the events we face daily.  Of particular concern are the obstacles and barriers threatening our life pursuits.  Most of these barriers are placed in our path by others.  Some are self-induced. 

Regardless of how the obstacles get there, we understand them to be enemies to be avoided or defeated–maybe just blown up.  Volumes have been written on turning life’s bumps into things we climb on.  Most heroes of history are women and men who have overcome the bumps in their lives to achieve their goals.  However, most of us want them removed as quickly as possible. 

As people of faith, we often think of Christ as an added resource when reaching our life pursuits.  We reason that the truth of Scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit give us a leg up in attaining our self-actualization.  Consequently, the Christian faith becomes an add-on to our default life pursuits, and God becomes the Cosmic Genie.  We now have the privilege (maybe right) to tap into our spiritual resources and use them to achieve our pursuits.

Our view of life obstacles is much the same as our secular neighbor, except we can use spiritual power to remove, overcome, or blow-up unwanted barriers.  When that fails, we conclude that God has let us down or we have failed our faith test.

The 24-week SEAL training, called BUD/S, illustrates the pursuit of self-actualization.  When a SEAL candidate volunteers to become a SEAL, he must exchange his old view of self-actualization (happiness and comfort) for another (to be an elite SEAL).   Without this exchange, the trainee will likely “ring the bell” or “tap out” of the process.  For the SEAL candidate, the goal initially is usually survival; make it through the 24 weeks, one meal at a time, without quitting or getting kicked out.  For the instructors, however, the hardship and pain have a purpose: to develop qualified SEALs.  It is often hard for the BUD/S trainee to appreciate what is happening in him due to what is happening to him. 

Twenty-four-week SEAL training is intense, but many people face similar or greater hardships for longer than six months.  Holding their breath until it’s over doesn’t work.  Even when we add God’s resources to the pursuit of our view of self-actualization, the barriers and hardships remain an inconvenience at best and an enemy at worst. 

When our first child, Bryan, was born “with severe complications,” my wife and I thought we could hold on until we could get some good news.  Eventually, we learned that there was no treatment, cure, or possibility of normalcy for Bryan and us; no more holding our breath.   Now what?

We discovered two crucial truths along our journey.  One was from 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is perfected in weakness.”  We discovered we didn’t have to hold on because God’s grace was there to hold on to us.  We didn’t have to hold our breath; God’s strength would sustain us.  God’s grace was sufficient for the moment we were in: for today, not yesterday or tomorrow.  Living one day at a time, we experienced increasing shades of victory as his all-sufficient grace became a reality.

The second truth that altered our perspective was to look at our obstacles as God’s opportunity to achieve his purposes.  Instead of viewing our obstacles as something to get through, would we embrace them as God’s construction zone for our good and his glory?  Embracing God’s view of good is a big “ask” when we are in pain!

God’s promise in Romans 8:28 is that he can take any event along our pathway (including those caused by our foolishness) and use it for our good.  The word for good in this passage means profitable rather than comfortable.  But then notice the two conditions:  a relational commitment (love for God) and a directional commitment (living according to his purpose). 

With a new set of life pursuits (knowing, reflecting, and sharing Christ), obstacles take on a different meaning.  Instead of asking how quickly we can get through a particular difficulty, we ask how God wants to use it for our “good.”  Does he want us to discover some aspect of his nature that will bring him glory?  Does he want to transform our character to make us authentic image-bearers?  Or does he want us to be ambassadors who draw others to Christ?

“Don’t waste the pain” is a common slogan regarding life’s obstacles.  That doesn’t mean we intentionally induce pain as some monastic fathers did.  Instead, when pain does come, we can learn to welcome it as a friend rather than an enemy because of our changed life pursuits.  Now the old life goals are renewed:  power becomes service, prestige becomes influence, and prosperity becomes contribution.  I think this is at least part of what Jesus promised in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these (prior pursuits) will be added to you (in a transformed way).”

For Reflection

1.  How have you seen God change your life pursuits? 

2.  Reflect on an unwanted barrier in your life journey that became a pathway for “good.”

The good life has been the pursuit of mankind throughout history.  Greek philosophers like Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle wrestled (and wrote about) what made a good life good, and not surprisingly, their conclusions revolved around contemplation, learning, and moral virtues. 

“Good” is one of those words we use often and in various ways without stopping to explain what we mean by good.  We just assume a common definition.  Here are a few of the more common uses:

• “Have a good day.” 
• “You did a good job.” 
• “I am doing this for your good.” 
• “I am in pursuit of the good life.”
• “We should seek the good of our country.”

Since the term is used in so many different ways, the question is who determines its definition and use?  Is it subjective or objective?  Is something good only if I say it is or is there a higher authority or moral framework for making something good?  Are happiness, fulfillment, and a sense of purpose and meaning essential to the good life?

A current definition of the good life by Merriam-Webster

1.  The kind of life that people with a lot of money are able to have

2.  A happy and enjoyable life

The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurious said that what makes life worth living is that we can experience pleasure.  His view of the good life is known as hedonism.  Although none of us would want to identify with Epicurious, there is no doubt that our western culture is significantly hedonistic.  Our Christian culture has certainly bought into the view of good to mean whatever makes me feel happy under the banner of the “abundant life.” 

So, what does good mean in Scripture?  The Bible uses good a lot.  Jesus said, “Only God is good.”  We are told to engage in good works and bring forth good fruits from a good tree in the good ground.  Then we have the good news as well as good and faithful servants.  We have good salt, good teachers, and good health.  That’s a lot of good.

One of the most well-known claims of good is found in Romans 8:28 where God promises us the “good life”. 

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

In a Christian culture that tends to be narcissistic and myopic, good applies to whatever makes us happy.  We tend to think that God wants us to live the good life and promises his help to do it.  Who could turn that down?  All we need to do is fill in our definition of good and hold God to it.  Often our presentation of the good news of the gospel can sound a bit like a promotional for the “good life.”  “Bring your hang-ups, hurts, and habits to God and he will deliver you and make you happy.”  God is presented as a gentle Genie who loves nothing more than to grant our wishes.

While the English language has one word for good, the Greek has several, each with a different focus.  A quick look at three of the most often used forms of good in the New Testament can help us understand God’s perspective regarding good and our journey of faith.

Agathos is the most common word translated as good in our New Testament.  Vines New Testament Dictionary defines agathos (good) as “that which, being “good” in its character or constitution, is beneficial in its effect.”  It also means that it is “morally honorable, pleasing to God, and therefore beneficial.”

A second Greek word for good is kalos which Vines says denotes “that which is intrinsically “good,” and so, “goodly, fair, beautiful,” as of that which is well adapted to its circumstances or ends, of that which is ethically good, right, noble, honorable.”

A third Greek word for good is Chrestos.  This word is only used a few times in the New Testament while agathos and kalos are used over 145 and 85 times respectively.  Vines defines chrestos (good) as “things which are pleasant.”

Although there is some overlap, each word has a distinctive focus. 

• Agathos = Beneficial, profitable
• Kalos = Beautiful, well adapted to its ends
• Chrestos = Pleasant, comfortable

In John 10, Jesus refers to himself as the good Shepherd.  Here the word kalos means beautiful, well adapted to its ends.  However, Romans 8:28 uses the word agathos,  not kalos or chrestos.  When we continue to read verse 29, the meaning of verse 28 is clear.  God works through our life experiences to grow our love relationship with him and to conform us to the image of Christ.  In other words, God works an agathos/good which is beneficial because it is transformational.             

The agathos kind of good can also be beautiful and pleasant, but that is not its focus.  If we want to understand and experience God’s sovereign work in our lives, we need to accept and even celebrate the agathos meaning of good because agathos develops a deeper relationship with God and transforms us into the image of Christ.

With this in mind, we can understand why Paul changed his view of good regarding his suffering as told in 2 Corinthians 12.  He begins by asking God to remove his “thorn in the flesh” since it did not line up with Paul’s view of good.  Whatever the issue was, Paul’s preference was to be free from it.  I’m sure it was uncomfortable, inconvenient, perhaps embarrassing, and maybe painful.  I would think Paul reasoned that if he were free from this thorn, he would be more effective in his kingdom mission. 

But when Paul reviews his “that I may know him” priority and God reminds him that weakness is an opportunity to experience the grace-filled presence of God more deeply, he changes his perspective regarding good.  Now rather than seeking deliverance from it, he seeks to experience God in it.

In future blogs, we will consider various landscapes of life that God allows us to go through.  In this journey, we need to keep in mind his purposes and his definition of good.  If not, we will want to escape what could be profitable in search of what is pleasant.  We need to remember that our life journey landscapes are opportunities to experience the glory of God in its various dimensions.  Essentially, we need to ask God to retune our good meters.  Our natural desires and cultural pull seek that which is pleasant rather than beneficial.  The more we embrace and develop our relationship with Christ, becoming more like him, the more we will discover the true meaning of agathos/good. 

For Reflection

1.  Think of a time in your life when you wrestled with your view of good vs. God’s view.

2.  What can help us recalibrate our vision of good?