It's Just a Minor Task...

A couple weeks ago, I had the chance to combine a few of my favorite things - great people and making music. While on a retreat with a group of fantastic young adults, I pulled out my Mountain Dulcimer, was shortly joined by a Guitar, and pretty quickly we had a group of folks singing along.

As we were going around picking out hymns to sing, I began to question the necessity of my playing. At that point, my contribution consisted solely of playing melody lines. Additionally, it was quite possible that most of the people around couldn't really hear even this simple contribution. Later on, it struck me that life often appears this way. Most of us aren't front and center, making huge impacts on the world. Our sphere of influence is limited. We have what appears to be a simple supporting role. Think crowd extras in a movie. This fact usually leads me to the following conclusion: I've failed. After all, if I was really doing all I could, my impact would be larger. There are three false assumptions (and a lot of pride) behind this thought:

1. "I have an accurate perception of my impact" - As a finite human being, I can't fully comprehend how God is using my actions. Only God has the perspective to know the true importance of my actions.
2. "My work isn't necessary" - The fact that I'm making a minor impact on the world does not automatically mean that what I've been given to do is optional. The tasks to which God directs us are not busy work to keep us occupied. We are directed to them because they need to be accomplished.
3. "God is more pleased with others work because their impact is bigger" - Paul had some great advice about comparing ourselves to others: Don't (2 Corinthians. 10:12-18). God's pleasure is not based on how we stack up with others. Instead, God's pleasure is based on how well we used the opportunities given to us.

In order to correct these ideas moving forward, two steps are required. First, I need to place God and His glory at the center of my focus and desires. Worrying about whether my impact measures up to others' comes from wanting to glorify me and my work. Second, I need to take the advice of the author of Ecclesiastes to heart: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might..." (Ecclesiastes 9:10 ESV). The opportunities I have to glory God and expand His kingdom should be pursued to their fullest.

Most of the time, the opportunities presented to us will not be glamorous. However, when God and His glory is the focus of our desire, following Him will be more important than how our results stack up to others'. 

What current opportunities has God given you to glorify Him? What is your next step in pursuing them?

"The hands of a king are the hands of a healer"

"The hands of a king are the hands of a healer." As the last part of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series unfolds, this sentence clues us in on one of the ways that the people of Middle Earth will recognize the True King. At the same time, Tolkien's words also identify a facet of Christ's character.

Before the impact of Tolkien's words can be appreciated, there is an important fact which needs to be understood: The world around us is broken. Completely broken. And, as Schaeffer points out The God Who Is There, this brokenness creates separation. Separation from God, separation from who we are, separation from those around us, and separation from the world in which we live. Because of sin, the world is not as it should be, nor can we relate to it the way we ought.

Understanding the state of the world opens up part of what Christ's salvation means - healing. Paul expresses this in Romans 8:
"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Romans 8:19-21 ESV) As Paul unpacks for us, the whole world was caught in our fall - but it will be restored as Christ's victory is completed.

The hands of a King are the hands of a healer. Christ demonstrates His authority through the healing He brings to the world. Christ does not seek merely to subdue the rebellion against His rule, He pursues a re-creation of the world which was damaged by this rebellion. The Gospel is not just a message about the defeat of sin. It is a message about God making all things new. This has two distinct impacts on our lives right now.

First, we can trust Christ to completely heal us, eradicating sin at both its deepest and widest reaches in our lives. When Christ restores, the impact is felt in all of our relationships. Being set right with God also means being set in right relationship with the rest of God's world. It means that the death which sin brought to the core of our being and to every area of our lives has been and is being removed. Some of this healing will be an ongoing work through the rest of our lives, but we can trust Christ to provide the healing, strength, and grace to outwork this new life each day.

Second, the effect of the Gospel on our lives is a witness to others of Christ's authority. Schaeffer puts it this way in The God Who Is There: "What we are called to do, upon the basis of the finished work of Christ in the power of the Spirit through faith, is to exhibit a substantial healing, individual and then corporate, so that people may observe it. This too is a portion of the apologetic: a presentation which gives at least some demonstration that these things are not theoretical but real; not perfect, yet substantial." In other words, our witness to others is not solely that the Rightful King has returned and we can prove His credentials, but also that His rule has brought healing to our lives. The healing impact of the Gospel in and through the Church demonstrates to others that Christ is the foundation of reality.

The hands of a king are the hands of a healer. A life that is justified at the Cross will be a life characterized of substantial healing in the world around them - the result of an application of the Gospel to all of life. Not only will their life be healed, but they will then extend that healing to the world around them.

As you look back on your life, can you see areas where Christ's healing has changed you? What opportunities do you have to extend His healing to the world around you?