She’s spot on. Over and over again, I see people making bad choices — repeatedly, carelessly, and intentionally. The results vary, from causing a small problem to ruining an entire life.
My good friend, Rev. Bernie Knefley, writes a regular column that he emails to some of us. I appreciate his perspective and try to tell him so each time. This time, however, I really connected with what he said. I post it here with his permission…. and no further comment.
Choices
by Pastor B.J. Knefley
A lot can be said about choices. They’re happening all the time. Some are good, and some are not. Many affect not just the person who’s making them, but others as well. We don’t often think about how our choices affect the life of others, but they do.
Taking responsibility for choices is another thing. Many don’t want to do that. Instead they blame others for what’s happening rather than taking responsibility for their choices. Consequences are the result of choices and sometimes they’re not pleasant. They’re normal things that happen when we make choices. Consequences teach us to make better choices. Have you ever noticed how selfish people can be in their choices? Like they’re the only people that matter?
I got up this morning and told my wife I wanted to take today as a vacation day. I know, how can a retired person take a vacation day, isn’t everyday a vacation? Well no, not really. There are always things to do, places to go and people to see. I have at least two appointments in my schedule today that, although not unpleasant appointments, obligations none the less. I guess my wife didn’t hear me or take me seriously as she’s gone into town to shop. So I decided to write. I guess the vacation day is out the window, at least for now.
Maybe you’re wondering why I’m writing about choices. Simply because I’m tired this morning, tired of having to deal emotionally, physically, and spiritually with the choices of others. Choices that I have no control over, yet affect me anyway. And in these, more than I would like. To make matters worse, they don’t seem to want to take responsibility and accept the consequences that come with their choices. It’s almost as if they think that their choice was no big deal. Sadly, if they don’t get a handle on things they’ll probably make the same poor choices again.
For me, and you if you’re in the same place, [the solution] is to seek solitude and comfort in his presence. Hence my reason for a vacation day. Sometimes we just need to quiet our surroundings. Think about it.
One sunny morning a child was walking a beach littered with starfish, left behind by the tide. As she walked among the thousands of starfish, she began to pick them up, one by one, and toss them into the sea.
Within a few minutes an adult walked by and inquired, “What are you doing?”
I’m tossing these starfish back into the sea before they dry out and die.
You’ve got to be kidding. There are thousands of starfish drying out on this beach. You can’t save them all; what does it matter?
The little girl picked up a starfish, looked at it, and said, “It matters to this one,” and tossed it into the sea.
Curwensville Alliance is watching — more than watching — participating with J&J in their adoption of one little girl from an Eastern European country. They were among the first to make many of us aware that there are 144 million orphaned children in our world.
144,000,000 oprhans. And they are adopting one. What difference could it make?
When I was in sixth grade we studied Ancient Egypt. Our teachers were great, and we loved the stories of mummies, chariots, and pyramids. You know what the Egyptian Ankh is, right? It’s a hieroglyphic symbol that is found, sometimes being carried by the people in the pictures from Ancient Egypt. It’s a cross with a loop on the top. One of my classmates said to the teacher, “Why did they have crosses centuries before Jesus was even born?” I’ll never forget the teacher’s reply: “Wow – I don’t know!” It was a teacher-stumper!
It’s not that hard a question, if you think about it. Asking why the Egyptian language had a cross with a loop at the top is like asking why the English alphabet has a cross at the beginning of words like Timothy and tomato. It just does.
A better question than, “Why did the Egyptians have a cross-shaped letter in their language?” might be, “Why do people of 2015 wear crosses?” Whether it’s a pastor in the season of Lent wearing one or a pop star like Rihanna, people adorn themselves with crosses. What’s with our society’s fascination with the cross? I can’t answer the question for any pop stars. But I can tell you why I love the cross.
I love the cross because I understand its necessity.
Did you catch that line? I understand that the cross is essential – necessary.
Jesus said the Cross was necessary. Matthew 16:21 says…
Matthew 16:21 (NIV) From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Jesus saw the cross as something that could not be avoided. I must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders… and be killed…. The cross is something Jesus had to endure.
One reason I know the cross is unavoidable is because I see my inexhaustible capacity to sin. If you’re honest, you see your own, as well. And you agree with Romans 7 where Paul comments…
Romans 7:21-24 (NLT) I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
Does that sound familiar? I get that. I see a powerful fire – not just within myself, but within every person I’ve ever met – that burns toward sin. The cross is essential because of our inexhaustible capacity to sin.
I see the need for the cross when I see my undeniable inability to fix myself. I can try. I can make New Years’ Resolutions. I can get a self-help book. But I can’t fix my brokenness.
The Bible says we’re powerless to fix ourselves. You hear it in words like All have sinned, and There is no one righteous, no not one and All our righteousness is as filthy rags. The cross is essential, because I can’t fix myself. As it speaks of this, Romans 5:6 says…
Romans 5:6 (NIV) You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
We are powerless. That’s the perfect word. We have no power. That is why the cross is essential.
The cross is essential because we are all marked by guilt. The cross is essential because we have no power to save ourselves. And I know the cross is essential because I see my own demand for justice.
All of us demand justice. Whether it’s regarding something we see on the news – when someone hurts a child, for example — or even if it’s the bad guy in a movie getting what’s coming to him, we all want justice. That feeling – that indignant demand for justice – shows me the need for the cross. Even I know that sin must be atoned for. Justice must be satisfied. And at the cross, God’s justice is satisfied. It’s satisfied by Jesus’ death on our behalf. I love the cross because I see its necessity.
But there’s more than that.
I love the cross because I understand its value.
When Laurel and I were dating, she wanted a cross to hang on a necklace. I remember the great pains I went to in order to get just the right one. And, as a university student, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend. So I went to a place in Pittsburgh – David Weis, it was called – and bought her the best one I could afford. I probably paid about $20 for it. She still has it. Its value is not in what it’s made of. Or its size. Or the craftsmanship. Its value is in its history. It was given her by one who loved her.
The cross of Christ is like that. Its value is not in the wood or the nails; Its value is in the One who used it.
Generally speaking, the cross is not something we would look to, right? If Jesus had never died on the cross, we would not be wearing them or adoring buildings with them or getting tattoos of them. Crosses have no lasting value apart from Jesus. But the fact that Jesus used a cross – willingly laying down his life on one – makes me love it.
Notice, I said Jesus used the cross. He wasn’t a victim. Jesus was very intentional as he chose the cross. He set his face like flint and headed to Jerusalem – to the cross.
Jesus gives the cross its value. I look to the cross because I know its value.
And I love the cross because I see its outcome.
Trusting in Christ’s work on the cross gives a life of freedom from guilt and shame. I don’t know about you, but I know I’ve done bad things. OK – I do know about you. You’ve done bad things too. And generally we manage our guilt poorly. We sweep it under the carpet, and then it becomes a bulge beneath the surface. Or we try to rationalize the bad things we’ve done, and then everyone else sees it, but we don’t. Or we compare ourselves to others, in a desperate way to distract ourselves from our guilt. We manage our guilt poorly.
The cross, on the other hand, is where Jesus took ownership of our guilt. And because of the cross, when we place our trust in him, we can be free from guilt. Peter says it well…
1 Peter 2:24 (NIV) “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
Jesus carried our guilt and shame on the cross.
Bono, the front man for the rock group U2 sings to Jesus, You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains Carried the cross And all my shame. When we trust Jesus, the outcome of the cross is the removal of our guilt. I look to the cross because I see its outcome.
And at the cross, I see a promise of eternal life.
What is the most important holiday in the Christian’s life? Christmas? Good Friday? Easter Sunday? They are all important, right? But the one I like the most is Easter Sunday – when we celebrate the resurrection. Why? Why is that such an important time? I can think of a couple of reasons.
First, the empty tomb proves to me that the work of redemption is complete. God’s justice has been satisfied.
Second, the empty tomb serves as a kind of first-fruits of what is to come. That all who have trusted in Jesus will rise from the grave as well. I like Easter Sunday better than Good Friday.
But hear this – without the cross, there would be no Easter Sunday. And there would be no hope of eternal life. Our sins would remain unresolved. Justice would still be waiting to be satisfied. And we would be the ones carrying the guilt and shame into eternity, separate from God. But because of the cross – trusting Jesus gives us eternal life.
Some time ago, some of us attended a Catalyst One Day event where Andy Stanley noted that if church leaders don’t know what is making their ministry work well, they won’t know how to fix it when it’s broken. I think this was his way of saying, “Don’t expect that the good things you are seeing will continue to happen automatically. There are God-given ideas that have produced the fruit you’ve experienced. You need to know what is making that happen if you expect to see it in the future.”
As I pondered that idea, I adjusted his thought in my own mind: If we don’t know how we arrived at the place we are; we might not know how to proceed forward from this place.
So what brought us here?
What have we learned and implemented over the years at Curwensville Alliance? I think the three remainders – Faith, Hope, and Love – mentioned at the conclusion of the Love Chapter make a good framework on which to hang our recollection of the past and a runway toward the future. I’ll talk about them here, but not in the order we generally see them.
Hope
Years ago a group of people hoped that an Alliance Church could be planted in Curwensville. They dared hope, and the church was established. Decades later, people of that congregation hoped that God would empower and direct them to relocate from the house they were in to a better location. They hoped and God made it happen. A dozen years ago, we hoped that God would give us some property to expand that facility for needs we didn’t yet have, but we hoped we’d have those needs. And God came through once more. Then we hoped that through looking at ways to connect with younger men and women, we’d be able to grow in number. And once more, God honored our hopes and has made it happen. Hope. It’s a great thing.
Looking ahead, I wonder, what are we hoping for in the future? Are we satisfied with where we are? Have we found the best parking space where we can just sit and enjoy the view? Or are we hoping for more of the same? We can have higher hopes than that, right? It’s my hope that we can see God do greater things than we have seen in the past. I hope for multiplication of ministry. Multiplication of leadership. And I have a couple specific hopes.
I hope for freedom. When I was a young Christian, freedom was a frightening concept. It seemed that the thinking was, If we allow people to be free, what will they do?! So, as a younger pastor, I bought into a lot of what the established church had taught – that Christian life means slavery to a lifestyle that no one would ever want. As I’ve grown, I see that Christ brings a different kind of freedom. He brings freedom from things like guilt, sorrow, depression, slavery, shame, and self. Christ breaks our bondage with the gospel – so that you are free to live from a foundation of being loved deeply by a God who has set you free. I hope we, as a church and as individuals can grow in that kind of freedom.
I hope for innovation. That Curwensville Alliance will be a place where people can try new things to express their worship and to live out their joy of being made new. It’s great to remember the past; it’s productive to innovate for the future.
Hope brought us to the place we are. I look to the years ahead with hope.
Love
Love is attractive. And, it’s the greatest of the three items we’re thinking about.
I love Curwensville Alliance. And when I say that, I am not saying I love the building, although I do. I am not saying I love the music, although I do. I am not saying I love the programming, although I do. When I say I love Curwensville Alliance, I am saying I love the people. The people here are working to shed the human tendency to hide and be real and genuine with God and with one another. They are working to honestly admit their struggles in this real life in a world marked by challenges. And they are constantly seeking the presence of the real God Who is speaking to and through them.
I love walking with people who pursue and embrace these things so boldly.
I love the grace that has come to exist at Curwensville Alliance – that when you mess up, no one is nodding their heads as if to say, “Yeah – I saw that coming.” Instead, when you fail at Curwensville Alliance, there is someone nearby to help you up, extending a hand. Grace is a powerful expression of love. Love, expressed in grace, is transformative.
Love is hard to maintain, though. Ask anyone who is in the post-newly-wed stage of marriage. Reality tends to test love. Grace can wear thin over time. Love can run dry. Because of this, we need to be on our guard to keep our grace/love tank full. We know how to do that, right? Jesus told us. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. – John 15:4. If we disconnect from Jesus, we will run dry. Personal closeness to Him is essential to maintaining a heart, and an atmosphere, of love.
Love brought us here. Love is essential as we move forward. It’s the greatest of these.
Faith
I have come to believe that faith is one of the least-well understood things in Christendom. A. W. Tozer noted that his own generation saw faith as an open-sesame coin, whereby one could gain admittance to heaven, or gain whatever else one sought. Others see faith as a sort of self-blinding will-power whereby you eliminate the negative thinking and replace it with positive thoughts. Neither of these is anywhere near biblical.
In his great work, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine, Wayne Grudem makes this statement about faith:
…the word “trust” is a better word to use in contemporary culture than the word “faith” or “belief.” The reason is that we can “believe” something to be true with no personal commitment or dependence involved in it…. The word faith…is sometimes used today to refer to an almost irrational commitment to something in spite of strong evidence to the contrary, a sort of irrational decision to believe something that we are quite sure is not true!
The word trust is closer to the biblical idea, since we are familiar with trusting persons in everyday life. The more we come to know a person, and the more we see in that person a pattern of life that warrants trust, the more we find ourselves able to place trust in that person to do what he or she promises, or to act in ways that we can rely on.
So rather than to say, “I have faith that this can be done,” Grudem might encourage us to say, “I trust God to do this. But whether He does this or not, I trust Him.” Trust is based in personhood. Faith may or may not be.
I look into the future with a spirit of trust in God and in my church family.
Curwensville Alliance has arrived where we are by trusting God. And by trusting one another. Trusting that God would take care of us when we walked away from a building on Filbert Street. Trusting that God would help us as we intentionally reached out to younger adults. Trusting that God would provide for us as we took a great step of faith and built an addition that the engineers warned us we could not afford. Trusting that God will keep us together as we expand the styles of worship we offer to Him. We are where we are because we trusted God. And because we trusted one another – we trusted that God had renewed us and was working in and through us.
Trust has brought us where we are and will be essential in propelling us toward a healthy productive future.
Hope, love, and trust. We need all these things, not just as a framework onto which to hang our past accomplishments, but as a vehicle used of God to move us forward in His care.
In our New Members’ Class this week, I mentioned a story from Ravi Zacharias that showed an outcome of obeying God’s word. It’s similar to John Wilfinger’s story, as told by John Soper, but the outcome is different — even intriguing. I told the class members that if they were interested, I’d dig up that story.
Jann asked for it, so I did about 30 seconds of googling and found it here. Enjoy!
Knowing and obeying God’s Word is fundamental to all true success.
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When I was in sixth grade we studied Ancient Egypt. Our teachers were great, and we loved the stories of mummies, chariots, and pyramids. You know what the Egyptian Ankh is, right? It’s a hieroglyphic symbol that is found, sometimes being carried by the people in the pictures from Ancient Egypt. It’s a cross with a loop on the top. One of my classmates said to the teacher, “Why did they have crosses centuries before Jesus was even born?” I’ll never forget the teacher’s reply: “Wow – I don’t know!” It was a teacher-stumper!
When Laurel and I were dating, she wanted a cross to hang on a necklace. I remember the great pains I went to in order to get just the right one. And, as a university student, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend. So I went to a place in Pittsburgh – David Weis, it was called – and bought her the best one I could afford. I probably paid about $20 for it. She still has it. Its value is not in what it’s made of. Or its size. Or the craftsmanship. Its value is in its history. It was given her by one who loved her.