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Peace the Guardian (Part 1 of 3: Anxiety)
Man, it’s been cold! (Even my Canadian half agrees.) Yesterday afternoon, the windchill dipped to -32° F in Lafayette. At times like these, I’m super grateful for my winter coat. I feel like I just stepped into an Abrams tank when I wear it—it’s big, bulky, and warm like a toaster oven. I’m even able to wear a t-shirt underneath it and not be cold. Actually, as I’m writing this, I’m squashed into the backseat of a car behind my two brothers as we drive through the state of Pennsylvania on the way to spending Christmas at my parents’ house in New Jersey. You know it’s been cold out when you stop at a gas station along the Pennsylvania turnpike, the windchill is 4° F, and it feels positively tropical.
Even before this cold snap, icy weather has been on my mind. It all began about a month ago when we were studying the book of Philippians in our Greek class at seminary. As we were going through the fourth chapter, God reminded me again of how fresh and unique his Word is. In verses 6-7, Paul writes:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Roman empire was a rougher place than you and I are used to here in the modern West. Robbers were a real danger for someone traveling between cities (2 Corinthians 11:26). Happily, the citizens of Philippi were safe from harm because their town was protected by a garrison of Roman soldiers. They understood the comfort and assurance of being under guard.
As I try to recast that imagery of peril and protection into contemporary terms, I keep coming back to the concept of a frozen wasteland. That’s what the Indiana countryside is at this time of year. You wouldn’t want to get caught outside overnight; rescuers would find you frozen to the ground the next morning! We’re very careful to stay indoors in this sort of weather.
What we’re not so careful about is avoiding another sort of wasteland. Paul identifies this wasteland when he tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything”—or even more accurately, “Stop being anxious about anything!” People struggled with anxiety two thousand years ago just as much as they do now. The Philippians had plenty of reasons to be anxious; they faced frightening opponents to their faith ( 1:28 ) and needed Paul’s reassurance that God would provide for their financial needs (4:19).
However, Paul extended his command beyond just these particular dangers. “Stop being anxious about anything,” he wrote them. Paul understood that anxiety does not come from our circumstances. We fool ourselves into thinking that. If only I could find a job, or if only I could find a spouse, or if only I could pass this test, then I would be worry-free. This verse exposes the lies which we tell ourselves; the fact is, anxiety emerges from our attitude, not our circumstances. This is why two people, facing very similar challenges, can respond in such different ways. One may fret about what the future holds, while the other may confidently rest in God’s sovereignty and goodness. The difference is not circumstances but attitude; a person who clings to an anxious attitude will always find something to be anxious about.
So what’s your attitude like? Do you insist on remaining out in the winter wasteland of anxiety? Do you insist on trying to bear all the burdens of an unknown future on your own shoulders? Remember that anxiety is not merely a bad habit but a sin. It means you don’t trust the Lord to take care of your needs (Matthew 6:25-34). Moreover, it’s a manifestation of pride. In 1 Peter 5:6-7, we are told that humbling ourselves means casting our anxieties on God because he cares for us. How long will you insist that you are perfectly fine out in the cold, hunkered down to hide from the biting wind? Do you find yourself trying to block out the pain and trouble with the narcotic of TV, video games, music, excessive Internet usage, endless socializing, or (my favorite escape) daydreaming? Do you borrow a page from Hindu religious practice and turn to yoga as a false cure? Do you throw yourself into exercise and sports as a way to release the tension? Do you indulge in “comfort food” to boost your spirits?
We’re so good (sorta) at coping with anxiety, worry, and stress, but God is so good at curing us of them. Don’t stay out in the cold. You’re miserable out there. Humble yourself and come on in where it’s warm. More on that tomorrow.
Grow up, Peter Pan! (Part 2 of 3)
Yesterday, I admitted to being Peter Pan, and I incriminated a whole bunch of other young men in the process. Peter Pan won’t grow up; he’d rather not take responsibility for things that grown-ups are supposed to do. Peter Pan lives in a fantasy world which substitutes for the real world and its real problems, its real imperfections, and its real responsibilities.
Now that I’ve laid out a ridiculously long laundry list of unmanly habits and ways of thinking, I’d like to examine what the root is behind this problem. Why is it so hard for us to grow up? Why do we stay so childish for so long?
Well, if you read the first post carefully, you may already have an idea where this is going to go. I made a number of comments to the effect that if we just do things that we’re comfortable with or good at, we don’t need to depend on God. I want to explore that a little more, because this is a dangerous tendency that is most pronounced in guys—because they are called as men to lead and to initiate—but affects everyone to some degree.
There’s a sentence in the Bible that I just haven’t been able to get out of my mind these last couple of weeks. It’s the second half of 2 Corinthians 2:16: “Who is sufficient for these things?” In context, of course, Paul is writing about the preaching of God’s word and its effect “among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (v. 15). However, this question certainly applies to all forms of obedience. We cannot obey the Lord without his Spirit at work within us “to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). We are not sufficient—or adequate, as some translations put it—to do what is right with motives that are pleasing to God. We are not adequate to display Christ in our actions, our attitudes, and our words.
Here’s what we are adequate for. You and I are totally adequate to sit on the couch for hours and watch TV. We are totally adequate to stay up until one in the morning surfing the Internet. We are totally adequate to lock ourselves away in our rooms and do homework. We are totally adequate not to tell our friends and family the good news of Jesus Christ. We are totally adequate to wimp out on asking out young women we like. We are totally adequate to confine ourselves to our circle of friends, people just like us, from our age group, around whom we’re comfortable. We are totally adequate to do all these things that are easy and natural.
What a tragedy of adequacy! We want to do only those things for which we are able to trust in our own strength. Take a look at what God says about this lifestyle:
Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.”
—Jeremiah 17:5-6
I have lived in that uninhabited salt land for years. Perhaps you have, too. You’re miserable, aren’t you? You haven’t seen any good come. Your life is parched; you are depressed and discouraged. Friends and movies and video games and sports can make you happy for a little while, but before long you are back in the desert. The Bible seems dead, boring, and dry; your prayers are limp and ineffective.
You have trusted in man. You have made flesh your strength. Often, we put our trust in other people—in the President or sports icons or parents or friends; they will always disappoint us. Yet a much more sinister form of trusting in man is when we trust in ourselves. That’s why we only do the things we’re adequate to do. You and I—we don’t want to do anything that would require us to trust in God. We’d rather do what we’re capable of doing on our own. It doesn’t take any faith whatsoever to watch TV or play video games or sports (if you’re athletic) or do homework (if you’re intelligent). It takes faith to actually step out and obey God.
Of course, if we were to obey God, we’d quickly realize that we can’t do it on our own strength, and then we’d have to cry out for help. That’s a blow to the ego. And you and I have invested far too much effort into polishing our pride and propping up our reputations; we certainly can’t get down on our knees, weeping, crying out for help from the God who is the only one who can help. “The arm of flesh will fail you; ye dare not trust your own.”
That’s why we’re Peter Pans. We are self-reliant. We are proud. We are arrogant. And we don’t want to have to act out of faith in God. We don’t want to depend on him.
Of course, this lifestyle doesn’t work. I know it doesn’t. But often, I’d rather be miserable and govern my own life—with God as a Tinkerbell perched on my shoulder—than recognize and submit to his Lordship and experience the joy he has to offer. More on that joy in the third and final post.
The Almighty Servant
Let me tell you a little bit about myself: I want you to think I’m a great guy. Of course, I’m not as simple as Jesus’ disciples, who repeatedly jostled for position as the greatest and argued with one another over it. No, I’m a much more sophisticated sinner. I want to subtly manipulate you into thinking I’m the greatest. You know what would be a good way to do that? It’s if I could get you to serve me and do the things I want. Then I’d feel pretty good about myself.
Jesus didn’t do that.
42 …You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
—Mark 10:42-45
Now this is entirely other. I don’t get it! I don’t lead like this. I don’t think this way. Aren’t leaders supposed to be ordering others around and getting others to serve them? What is it that makes a slave so great, let alone a bleeding, miserable, naked man dying on a criminal’s cross?
It is stunning to think that the Almighty, Sovereign over heaven and earth, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, would think of Himself as a servant. Even when all is said and done, and the world has been re-created, sinless and pure…even then, in the final chapter of Revelation, Jesus Christ is called “the Lamb.” Not a conquering Lion (though He is that), but the Lamb who was slain, given as a ransom for many. For all eternity, we will sing the praises of Christ, but He will be glad to come to us as a servant, stooping down and washing our feet. He can’t bear to do otherwise; it is in His nature to give, to love, to wipe away tears. He gave all that He could give, bleeding out every last drop of love, dying on a filthy, wretched cross, that we should live in the pure and rich glory of the new heaven and the new earth.
Now that is the sort of thing that thrills my soul. It’s a little scary, too, because all of a sudden, God’s righteousness doesn’t look anything like me.
Signs of pride and humility
Pride is such an insidious sin that those who suffer from it usually don’t know it. And that sucks because everyone has some problem with pride, aligning himself with the devil in his sin. For me, every day feels like a heated battle against a soundless, invisible enemy.
Pride is one of the chief sins which God condemns in the book of Zephaniah. It’s mentioned explicitly a couple of times (2:10, 3:11), and it seems to be the common thread underlying the sins of Israel and her neighbors. So I thought I’d go through the book and pick out symptoms of pride — all the better to diagnose it. In addition, I’ll look at symptoms of humility as well. (It would probably be a good idea to ask why these reflect pride and humility, but I don’t want to spend all day writing this.)
Signs of pride:
- Dividing your loyalties between God and other things which act as idols (1:4-6).
- Failing to seek the Lord (1:6) through His Word, prayer, and the counsel of other believers.
- Trying to “fit in” with the unbelieving world (1:8).
- Complacency (1:12).
- Believing God will not act and trusting in our own plans (1:12, James 4:13-17).
- Trusting in our money (1:18).
- Taunting and boasting against other Christians (2:8, 10) — taking delight in their failures and criticizing them to make ourselves look better.
- Living securely with a false sense of superiority (2:15).
- Rebelling against authority (3:1).
- Oppressing others (3:1) by misusing our power or abilities to hurt or damage them.
- Refusing to accept correction (3:2).
- Failing to trust in the Lord (3:2).
- Failing to draw near to God (3:2) by holding Him at arms’ length.
- Being fickle and treacherous (3:4) by failing to live up to what we promise or going back on our word.
- Profaning what is holy (3:4) by treating the things of God casually — the way the world treats them.
- Being eager to do corrupt deeds (3:7) — to engage in sins of the flesh.
Signs of humility:
- Seeking the Lord (2:3) — turning to the Bible, calling on God in prayer, seeking the wisdom of other believers.
- Doing what is just and seeking righteousness (2:3).
- Naturally, seeking humility (2:3).
- Fearing the Lord and thus submitting to His discipline (3:7).
- Calling on the name of the Lord for help and refuge (3:9, 12).
- Serving the Lord in one accord with other believers (3:9).
- Bringing offerings of our resources and also ourselves to the Lord (3:10).
- Telling the truth at all times (3:13).
- Being unafraid of what other people will do to us because we trust that God will save us (3:13, 15-17).
- Loudly rejoicing in the Lord’s salvation (3:14-15).
- Doing good works with strength (3:16, Galatians 6:9).
A common theme I’m seeing is that pride is a result of failing to fear the Lord, while those who are humble fear the Lord and no one else.
