Prophesy of The Grey Town

I have seen that grey town on the way to hell that C.S. Lewis wrote of years ago. His description so accurately mirrors the current social communication landscape that it appears prophetic—a correlation he never could have known about when he was here.

Knowledge is power, and what would we expect to happen if limitless knowledge was at our fingertips? Communication has never been more prioritized in history. Never have we had tools for communication as advanced and powerful as we do now. We can shoot a quick text, rant on facebook, goof around on youtube, spout off on twitter, take care of business on email, set the record straight on blogs and catch up on video chat. There are tools for making public and tools for keeping “private,” tools to amplify, simplify, beautify, and clarify. We have the power to present ourselves any way we want, and we feel justified to spew fire on our neighbor in the name of honesty, but we approve of being offended by the lightest slight. We can effectively create our own reality. We isolate ourselves in the middle of the crowd. We build walls and distance ourselves from others for smaller and smaller reasons.

And what would we expect to see from a world like ours? a fallen world, a hurting world, a Godless world? Nobody trusts anyone. Why should they? There are so many examples of people who held positions of influence and power who have let us down. Do I need to list names of pastors who have been found guilty of sexual abuse and misconduct, misuse of power, misuse of money? What about senators, judges, police officers, presidents, doctors, hospitals, big organizations, big businesses, big churches, fathers, mothers, and your neighbor?

Large rocks fall down a mountain. See the landslide they cause, the destruction they leave behind. They do not stop until they have fallen to the lowest places. Then how can we trust in one who never ends? But hasn’t he himself warned us that the fate of all who trust in men is to be cursed? Yet our world is coming to ruin without trust; without hope the end is already here.

There is one way forward, and it is Jesus. To know him is to know both love and power. Jesus has called us to love, and love hopes. Love moves forward.  We move forward in love for our neighbor, not because our neighbor is trustworthy but because Jesus has called us to move forward in relationships. Even if the relationship fails Christ’s purpose won’t. What man has offered his body in payment for fools? What man has offered up his body to be split open, spit on, and cursed to save his enemy? When we move forward displaying trust in each other we place our hope and trust in the one who can save us, in one who has withheld nothing, who gave up everything, who is worthy of our trust.

—reh

1Cor 13:7

Love...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Jeremiah 17:5

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.

Psalm 118:8-9

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

Isaiah 2:22

Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Genesis 6:5

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1Cor 12:21

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

1Cor 6:7

To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? [cheated]

John 14:1“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a]for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 10:9-11 (9)because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

First Fruits

We worry about every measurement of intelligence and success in our children; we push them, sign them up, compare them, and weigh them. Then, when they are old enough to work, we push them to get good experiences that will help them make an excellent income, name, and life for themselves. We tell them to save as much money as they can as soon as possible. “Be a good steward of what you have,” we say. We do all of this so they will have options. “If you care about people you should work to become successful so you can help them better later rather than squandering your time or money now.” “Invest in yourself first, then you can invest in others.” “Save now so you can retire early, then think how well you’ll be able to serve God.” “Time is of the essence so you can’t start working toward retirement soon enough!”

When the Lord asked his people to offer him their first fruits was it an easy request to satisfy? It depends on one’s perspective. If anyone understands that, “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” for that person there is no cost at all. For what cost is there if out of all that God gives we offer up the first and the best as a sacrifice of thanksgiving back to him?  There are no promises in farming. The farmers in Israel did not have crop insurance. The first fruits were the first of any harvest, and any sane thinking person would set this aside as seed for the next year. From this point forward, even if his fruited fields are destroyed by wind, water, fire, locust or war, he can count on the very first portion of the harvest to seed his fields next year. But this only bit of earthly assurance was given back to God as recognition that it came from him in the first place. Farmers might not have had treasury bonds, but they understood investment and multiplication. And faithful Israelites understood that God was the source of their life and well-being—even more their purpose and meaning on this earth.

Perhaps our children should spend a year or two in meaningful service to the church or the poor. When they are intrigued by ministry do we encourage it? Do we tell them that God might be calling them into ministry? And do we consider ministry a legitimate pursuit? Do we allow them the option of forgoing college for a few years? Or do we tend to push them into the worldly model? What if we encouraged them to do anything radical? The word radical is often used in the context of terrorists, but it is also one of the best words to describe the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. His life was radical. From the start of his public ministry, at age thirty, we see a man with no place to live and nothing to his name except the clothes he wore. Though he had power he didn’t use any of it for his own advantage, comfort or to establish an earthly kingdom. He didn’t even manifest a pillow for his head, but he fed five-thousand people real food who came to hear what he was saying. He healed those blind and lame from birth. He calmed the storm. His power was in perfect check with his father’s will. He knew the cost of the cross; there was no way to bargain for a better price. And to his followers he stated this clearly, Luke 14:33 “So therefore, anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

What about missions in your career? Maybe being a missionary is a little intimidating. Maybe living in the jungle is a little more than you’re ready to handle. But are career missions easier? More palatable? Can you carry your cross for a bargain there? If that is what you have found perhaps you have forgone career missions for a career. Consider the idea that Christians don’t get to opt out of the great commision. You are a missionary. If it is easier to be a missionary in some setting then it’s probably in a setting that has the least to offer you personally. The setting that offers you the most gain is the setting in which you will constantly have to deny yourself because the very indulgence you desire is there for the taking. Let me be clear; I do not consider myself qualified to be a successful career missionary because I am weak on the mission part in that setting. I’m not good enough. Am I alone? Who are you? What is the life you were called to? Where is your home? Where is your country? Who is your King? Where is your treasure? Where is your heart?

—reh