Eternity On Our Hearts

Nothing is more often misdiagnosed than our homesickness for Heaven. We think that what we want is sex, drugs, alcohol, a new job, a raise, a doctorate, a spouse, a large-screen television, a new car, a cabin in the woods, a condo in Hawaii. What we really want is the person we were made for, Jesus, and the place we were made for, Heaven. Nothing less can satisfy.

~Randy Alcorn~

Persevering Under Persecution

This year I am reading D. A. Carson’s “For the Love of God” (Volume 1) along with my daily Bible readings. I wanted to share a quote from the January 10 commentary, which focused on Matthew 10 and the persecution Jesus spoke of after commissioning His disciples to go forth with the gospel. From the stoning of Stephen to the martyrdom of all the apostles except for John, to the imperial persecution under Nero to the “Great Persecution” under Diocletian, to the countless nameless heroes who continue dying for the proclamation of the gospel each day, the church has been built by the blood of martyrs.

I have felt from very early on in my Christian journey that one day I would suffer considerable persecution for my faith. And because I have always had that inkling, I have always wanted to “suffer well.” With the hintings toward persecution came fervent prayers for preparation. Some of you (e.g. my dear A.O.) walked with me through a tremendously difficult and dark time, when the persecution of my parents brought me into severe depression and to the seeming brink of my faith. But in peering down the annals of church history all the way through to the present, I know that I have barely tasted persecution. What I’ve endured is nothing; yet my heart and my flesh completely failed. But in that the Lord has strengthened me. Through that season of persecution my faith became so much more strong and resilient and anchored in Christ. 

I believe that season of testing was preparing me for greater testing to come. I believe that I could very well endure much harsher, physical persecution in the future. I feel a tremendous burden for and a possible calling to unreached people groups. Physical persecution and martyrdom are stark realities in those places. Whether it’s in American where Satan mascarades as an angel of light and persecution is mental and emotional, or in the 10/40 Window where Satan is present as a roaring lion and the blood of the saints herald the gospel, I want to rejoice and count it a privilege when I suffer for His name. And here is where Carson sheds great light:

What will stabilize us in such times? This chapter mentions several precious supports: the recognition that Jesus our Master was hated before us (10:24-25); assurance that in the end justice will be done and will be seen to be done (10:26-27); recognition that a proper fear of God reduces fear of human beings (10:28); quiet confidence in the sovereignty of God, even in these circumstances (10:29-31); encouraging recognition that those who do receive us receive Christ, and therefore receive God (10:40); Christ’s own promise that the rewards of eternity cannot fail (10:41-42).   

 

The Least I Can Do

I feel like I’m the only person in the blogosphere who has not yet written about the Haitian quake. I guess I haven’t written about it because I cannot find the words to describe the devastation or the grief and frustration in my heart. I grieve with the suffering in Haiti; and I am so frustrated because there is so little I can do.

But God is sovereign over all; even the winds and the sea obey Him (Mark 4:41). And God is also good; He is love. And hence we come to the age-old problem of theodicy that gets revived every time there is a large-scale calamity. We can’t fathom how there can be evil and calamity if God is all sovereign and all good; but why are we surprised at this inability? As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). We don’t understand His ways, but we can rest in His sovereignty and His goodness. We can be confident that the Judge of all the earth always does right; that earthquakes and tsunamis are not beyond His sovereign control, but rather, fulfill His sovereign good purposes.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” What a loud and terrifying shout an earthquake is; may it awaken many from their slumber. May it bring many to repentance and saving faith in Him. May this shout reap a mighty harvest of souls in Haiti.

I’ve been so frustrated because there isn’t really anything I can do. As a broke college student, I envy those with extravagant funds to give. As one tied down to my current location, I envy all those who are going to Haiti to provide relief, care, and spiritual counsel. But in these days of helplessness in the natural, I am realizing how incredible it is that God has given us the means of moving heaven and earth through prayer. I am gripped by Daniel chapter 9, which records the archangel Gabriel being sent in response to Daniel’s prayer and fasting. I may not be able to go to Haiti, but angels could be sent in response to my prayers. It is an obvious understatement to say that angels can do far more than me! The very least I could do is pray; but more can be done through my prayers than I could possibly imagine.

Let us not cease in interceding for Haiti; for the relief efforts, but much more importantly, for the gospel to go forth with power. A devastating number of lives have been lost; but may many, many come to eternal life through this tragedy.

A Clanging Cymbal

I am a clanging cymbal, I am nothing and I have nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3). I am so convicted by the Master Surgeon’s knife. It is a devastating realization because I used to think that I was a loving person; but in reflecting on Urbana, I realized how much I lack real love. But the realization is at the same time hopeful; hopeful because I am no longer ignorant of this frailty. I am no longer blissfully self-deceived. And now, the Master Surgeon can have His way and perform this critical soul-surgery.

God spoke to me a lot about love during Urbana. But I didn’t realize how significant it would be until I came home and realized that I had been completely self-centered and self-seeking during Urbana. Overhelmed by the constant hordes of people, I frequently sought to be alone with God. Being alone with God is good, but I did it in a spirit of seeking my own interests and neglecting my chapter. Moreover, I did not even try to love people that I was not naturally inclined to love. I merely tried to tolerate them. What the Lord thinks of this is clear (Matt. 5:46-47).

As with all other Urbana attendees, I was blown away by Oscur Murio’s message. He spoke from Philippians 2:5-11, and expounded on four aspects of Christ’s incarnation: 1) from pride to humility; 2) from power to powerlessness; 3) from privilege to poverty; and 4) from the harmony and unity of heaven to the disfunction and brokenness of earth. At the time, I merely thought of these in relation to long-term cross-cultural missions.  One day I am going to “incarnate” myself in a distant land, from the pride, power, privilege and harmony of middle-class suburban America to a place of humility, powerlessness, poverty, and brokenness.

Upon reflecting after Urbana, I realized the obvious fact that I had missed: I am not loving incarnationally now. What makes me think that I will all of the sudden love like Christ somewhere down the line? Kingdom love is countercultural. It is not natural in our fallen state to love our enemy, to pray for those who persecute us, to love those who irk us, to love those who mistreat us.  It takes Christ to love like Christ. Christ in me is my only hope of loving like Christ.

On Wednesday of Urbana I went to the prayer rooms, and as I was asking the Lord to speak to me about my calling and about my next step, I heard Him say as clear as day, “Trust and love.” At first I was really disappointed at such a seemingly vague and generic response. But this statement came back to me as Oscur Murio spoke about incarnational love, and upon coming back and realizing how much I lack real love, I now fully understand why God said that to me.

If I take the famous “love verses” (1 Cor. 13:4-7) and insert my name in place of “love,” I am utterly ashamed and convicted at how false the statements become.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The Lord is taking me on a journey of learning to truly love like Him, to love the way Jesus did when He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13)

Reflections on Urbana & Resolutions for Life

Leading up to the twenty-second triennial Urbana missions conference, I was very excited about meeting with missions agencies that target unreached people groups – ethnolinguistic groups that do not have an indigenous community of Christians strong enough to evangelize its own people group. At the top of my list of organizations to visit in the Global Connexions Hall were Pioneers, Frontiers, and Christar – agencies that exist to penetrate unreached people groups with the gospel. My heart burned and my soul cried out for the 6000-some people groups who are unreached (approximately 1/4 of the world’s population!). What is even more staggering is that approximately 1600 ethnolinguistic groups are unengaged, meaning that these people groups have never had even one Christian witness. I was zealous to find out what I could do. I was tired of just weeping and groaning and feeling helpless.

Well, missions opportunities abound.  I discovered that besides the three organizations I mentioned above that exist solely to evangelize unreached people groups, many other organizations also present opportunities to serve these people. I am particularly excited about InterVarsity Link, which can link my dual passions of college ministry and unreached people groups.

As I finish my studies, I will be seeking guidance from the Lord for  my next step and discerning which organization to serve with. However, even though “going” is in my future, praying is in my present. Although I’ve been burdened for unreached people groups for a long time, I did not channel that burden into regular intercession. For that I am deeply ashamed; my walk did not match my talk. I largely neglected the one way I could make an impact in the present, and daydreamed about how I could make a difference in the future. May I not make this mistake again. As Sunder Krishnan passionately proclaimed: “History is in the hands of the intercessors.”

So I have resolved to intercede for unreached people groups every day until a) I die; or b) the gospel is proclaimed to panta ta ethne and Christ returns. I started on January 1 upon returning from Urbana, and I am using Joshua Project’s Unreached People of the Day.

In the next few days I might post about some other ways in which Urbana impacted me; however, I know that this one is the most significant. When a heart that burns to go intercedes while waiting to be sent, war is being waged against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Spiritual strongholds will be torn down in the unreached places, and the Lord of the harvest will send laborers if we persist in asking and do not lose heart. And if/when He calls us to go, we go, not counting all that we leave as sacrifice and loving not our lives, even unto death. And we count it not a sacrifice, but we do it for the joy set before us – Him.