So often the media use Christians and the Church as its "whipping boy", but the following story is an example of how this recently backfired mainly because of the integrity and reputation of those leading the ministry of Youth for Christ in the Ukraine. The story comes from Tyoma Kondrashov (who is YFC Ukraine's Sports Ministry Coordinator) and refers to the Christian Soccer League Awards ceremony in Ukraine at the start of this month, attended by about 1,500 people and many famous names in Ukraine:
Awarding Ceremony of the Christian Football League had a great resonance in the mass media in Ukraine. More than 100 publications printed good feedbacks on the event, all of them admitted the positive role of the church and Christians in a social life. All… except one TV channel, which showed a scandalous shot. This ‘BallFoot’ program had the video from "Dinamo Kiev” TV but put totally different sound: comments and story, combined with a few videos where people were howling and crawling on the floor. So they showed us as a crazy sect and called poor Dinamo Kiev football player who came for the first time at the Ceremony a member of sect and participant of in the ceremony. And then it all began...
But the scandal turned good for us! God stood up for His children. Can you imagine that other secular media got very angry on this ‘BallFoot’ and worried about us and our reputation! Many secular media people called me and said kind words of support and assured that they would not leave it as it was. Their righteous anger went so far that this ‘BallFoot’ program was close to shutting down. The editor-in-chief of this program called me, apologized and offered financial compensation. But we refused and instead asked him to make official apology to Dinamo Kiev team and the Church in his next program. And thank God they agreed! The best in this situation is that huge numbers of unbelievers interceded for believers! Just think how nice it was to hear the calls of support from the chief editor of “Football” magazine (circulation 100,000), from a journalist whose web-site has tens of thousands of visits a day etc.
This story reminds of the verse in 1 Peter 2:12 - Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
2011-12-22
2011-10-05
Entrusting Others to Jesus
Our ultimate desire for those who are touched by the Kingdom should be that they become all that God designed them to be; that through a relationship with Jesus, and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, they will take up their unique role in God’s Kingdom and become more and more like Jesus every day.
I think one of the biggest challenges for those of us who have been part of the Church for some time is trusting God with the transformation of new believers. Our tendency is to map out the development of novice followers of Jesus, projecting onto them what we think they should be, and setting agendas for their compliance with our understanding of the principles and expectations of the Kingdom. It is easy in this context to get ahead of God and start to meddle in the development of a new believer, missing what God is already doing in their life, and overriding his agenda for their spiritual development.
What we often overlook is that behaviors are generated from the heart. The Bible tells us that out of the heart come all kinds of bad behavior. But only God can change the state of the heart; so when we try to address behaviors alone, we are only treating symptoms and not the cause. Symptomatic treatment of a heart condition will never bring about permanent healing and change.
Our calling is to love people, no matter what their behaviors, and share with them the principles and values of the Kingdom; and then leave it up to God to bring about heart and behavioral change.
Jesus was unpredictable and unconventional in his approach to those he encountered, often focusing on issues in a person’s life that didn’t at first appear to be the main issue that needed to be addressed. However, in his interaction with individuals or groups, Jesus consistently honed in on the very thing that was the key to their transformation, exposing through seemingly superficial conversation the core of a person’s worldview, and revealing to them the radical change that was necessary for them to follow him.
If we truly believe in the transformational power of Jesus, then we should be able to confidently hand people over to his care and trust him to mold and change them into who he wants them to be, following his timeline and sanctifying agenda. I believe that the best we can do for fellow followers of Jesus—particularly new believers—is to nurture their relationship with Jesus, walking the journey with them rather than directing their spiritual development, spending time with them in prayer, talking to them about Jesus and his work in our own life and in the world, studying scripture with them and sharing what we are personally learning from God’s Word.
We need to steer away from the temptation to recreate people in our own image and let God have free reign in their lives; to recreate others into what he has designed them to be—unique and authentic representatives of Jesus.
I think one of the biggest challenges for those of us who have been part of the Church for some time is trusting God with the transformation of new believers. Our tendency is to map out the development of novice followers of Jesus, projecting onto them what we think they should be, and setting agendas for their compliance with our understanding of the principles and expectations of the Kingdom. It is easy in this context to get ahead of God and start to meddle in the development of a new believer, missing what God is already doing in their life, and overriding his agenda for their spiritual development.
What we often overlook is that behaviors are generated from the heart. The Bible tells us that out of the heart come all kinds of bad behavior. But only God can change the state of the heart; so when we try to address behaviors alone, we are only treating symptoms and not the cause. Symptomatic treatment of a heart condition will never bring about permanent healing and change.
Our calling is to love people, no matter what their behaviors, and share with them the principles and values of the Kingdom; and then leave it up to God to bring about heart and behavioral change.
Jesus was unpredictable and unconventional in his approach to those he encountered, often focusing on issues in a person’s life that didn’t at first appear to be the main issue that needed to be addressed. However, in his interaction with individuals or groups, Jesus consistently honed in on the very thing that was the key to their transformation, exposing through seemingly superficial conversation the core of a person’s worldview, and revealing to them the radical change that was necessary for them to follow him.
If we truly believe in the transformational power of Jesus, then we should be able to confidently hand people over to his care and trust him to mold and change them into who he wants them to be, following his timeline and sanctifying agenda. I believe that the best we can do for fellow followers of Jesus—particularly new believers—is to nurture their relationship with Jesus, walking the journey with them rather than directing their spiritual development, spending time with them in prayer, talking to them about Jesus and his work in our own life and in the world, studying scripture with them and sharing what we are personally learning from God’s Word.
We need to steer away from the temptation to recreate people in our own image and let God have free reign in their lives; to recreate others into what he has designed them to be—unique and authentic representatives of Jesus.
2011-09-11
Religion vs Relationship
Jesus doesn’t call his followers to seek “converts” to Christianity. He calls us to introduce others to him—to offer people the opportunity to be his disciples. Our task, our calling, is simply to introduce people to Jesus.
Conversion is a religious concept. Following Jesus is all about relationship, not religion. Jesus didn’t come to this earth to create a new religion; he didn’t ask people to convert to a religious ideology; he simply asked people to “follow” him; he invited them into relationship with him. (Matthew 2:14; 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21)
The early disciples of Jesus declared themselves to be “followers of the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22), rather than identifying themselves as members of a new religion or sect. Jesus was “The Way” and his disciples simply committed themselves to following “the way of Jesus”. They didn’t ask people to “become Christians”; they just “lived” Jesus and provided opportunity for others to meet, believe in, and follow him.
In many cases Jesus’ followers still retained their cultural and religious identity. There were Jewish followers of Jesus, Greek followers of Jesus, Arab followers of Jesus, Cretan followers of Jesus. The problems came when the members of one of the cultures imposed their religious practice on others.
If Jesus and the early disciples didn’t ask people to convert to a religion or ideology, then neither should we. Becoming citizens of God’s Kingdom has little to do with accepting a catalogue of rules or aligning with a religion—it is all about a relationship with Jesus. The mandate of the gospel is to provide people with an opportunity to be followers (disciples) of Jesus.
As citizens of the Kingdom of God our primary task is to introduce people to Jesus, not to try to get them to commit to a religious system called Christianity.
Conversion is a religious concept. Following Jesus is all about relationship, not religion. Jesus didn’t come to this earth to create a new religion; he didn’t ask people to convert to a religious ideology; he simply asked people to “follow” him; he invited them into relationship with him. (Matthew 2:14; 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21)
The early disciples of Jesus declared themselves to be “followers of the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22), rather than identifying themselves as members of a new religion or sect. Jesus was “The Way” and his disciples simply committed themselves to following “the way of Jesus”. They didn’t ask people to “become Christians”; they just “lived” Jesus and provided opportunity for others to meet, believe in, and follow him.
In many cases Jesus’ followers still retained their cultural and religious identity. There were Jewish followers of Jesus, Greek followers of Jesus, Arab followers of Jesus, Cretan followers of Jesus. The problems came when the members of one of the cultures imposed their religious practice on others.
If Jesus and the early disciples didn’t ask people to convert to a religion or ideology, then neither should we. Becoming citizens of God’s Kingdom has little to do with accepting a catalogue of rules or aligning with a religion—it is all about a relationship with Jesus. The mandate of the gospel is to provide people with an opportunity to be followers (disciples) of Jesus.
As citizens of the Kingdom of God our primary task is to introduce people to Jesus, not to try to get them to commit to a religious system called Christianity.
2011-05-02
OSAMA IS DEAD!
Listening to President Obama announce the death of Osama Bin Laden last night and then watching as hundreds celebrated outside the White House, I had mixed feelings. I was somewhat troubled by the expressions of jubilation.
As I sat in my office early this morning, the day after the announcement of the killing of Bin Laden, I heard someone in the reception area of the Youth for Christ building yelling out, “He’s dead, he’s dead—yea!” A little later someone stated, “at last he is dead, now he will rot in hell!” Again I was troubled, asking myself if this was how believers should react to the violent death of an “enemy”.
As followers of Jesus how should we respond to this announcement? What did you feel when you heard Bin Laden was dead? Should we celebrate?
What does God’s Word say about our enemies?
As I sat in my office early this morning, the day after the announcement of the killing of Bin Laden, I heard someone in the reception area of the Youth for Christ building yelling out, “He’s dead, he’s dead—yea!” A little later someone stated, “at last he is dead, now he will rot in hell!” Again I was troubled, asking myself if this was how believers should react to the violent death of an “enemy”.
As followers of Jesus how should we respond to this announcement? What did you feel when you heard Bin Laden was dead? Should we celebrate?
What does God’s Word say about our enemies?
“Do not gloat when your enemies fall; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.” ~Proverbs 24:17
“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” ~Ezekiel 33:11
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” ~Matthew 5:44
How many of us who follow Jesus prayed for the salvation of Osama Bin Laden? I didn’t.
HOW DO WE REACT WHEN WE ARE VICTIMS OF INJUSTICE?
Recently Jenny and I and our family have experienced injustice. We have been victimized by a system that seems to reward the most accomplished liars and supports the powerful, the influential and the oppressor. How do we react?
As Jenny and I struggled with the injustice our family has been experiencing, I asked one of my prayer intercessors to join with us in prayer. I requested that she and her prayer team pray that the truth would prevail and that justice would be done. But that didn’t happen. A hearing before a magistrate went very badly and lies and manipulation of the system won the day. Honestly, my reaction was to wish ill of the perpetrator of the injustice. It didn’t help when our family’s lawyer said, “I have never felt this way before, but I wish that person would just drop dead.” This lawyer felt powerless to do anything about a great injustice, and his response fed our desire for the demise of those who were victimizing our family.
When I reported the outcome of the hearing to our prayer intercessor she asked what I wanted her to pray for now. I didn’t know how to answer her. I knew I couldn’t tell her to pray that the one who was persecuting us would “drop dead”. So I said I didn’t know what she should prayer for. After several days she came back to me and said the only thing she felt she could pray for was the salvation of the person who was hurting our family so much. She was right; when it comes to praying about those who we consider to be our enemies, we are directed in the Bible to pray for their salvation.
God’s Word clearly instructs us to pray for our enemies—to intercede for those who seek our demise and are intent on hurting and oppressing us.
HOW DO WE REACT WHEN WE ARE VICTIMS OF INJUSTICE?
Recently Jenny and I and our family have experienced injustice. We have been victimized by a system that seems to reward the most accomplished liars and supports the powerful, the influential and the oppressor. How do we react?
As Jenny and I struggled with the injustice our family has been experiencing, I asked one of my prayer intercessors to join with us in prayer. I requested that she and her prayer team pray that the truth would prevail and that justice would be done. But that didn’t happen. A hearing before a magistrate went very badly and lies and manipulation of the system won the day. Honestly, my reaction was to wish ill of the perpetrator of the injustice. It didn’t help when our family’s lawyer said, “I have never felt this way before, but I wish that person would just drop dead.” This lawyer felt powerless to do anything about a great injustice, and his response fed our desire for the demise of those who were victimizing our family.
When I reported the outcome of the hearing to our prayer intercessor she asked what I wanted her to pray for now. I didn’t know how to answer her. I knew I couldn’t tell her to pray that the one who was persecuting us would “drop dead”. So I said I didn’t know what she should prayer for. After several days she came back to me and said the only thing she felt she could pray for was the salvation of the person who was hurting our family so much. She was right; when it comes to praying about those who we consider to be our enemies, we are directed in the Bible to pray for their salvation.
God’s Word clearly instructs us to pray for our enemies—to intercede for those who seek our demise and are intent on hurting and oppressing us.
But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ~Luke 6:27, 28
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ~Romans 12:14
Jesus prayed from the cross for those who were crucifying him:
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” ~Luke 23:34
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” ~Acts 7:60
SEEK JUSTICE
In Isaiah 1:17 we are told, “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows.” And in Isaiah 58:6, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” Proverbs 31:8, 9 instructs us to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” And Proverbs 29:7 declares, ”The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” God clearly directs us in his Word to address injustice.
Defending the defenseless, championing the cause of the oppressed and protecting the vulnerable from violence are Biblical imperatives for the believer. We should never waiver in our struggle against injustice. And we should be proactive in seeking justice. There is much truth in the well known quote by Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
But when great injustice has been done should we seek vengeance? Osama Bin Laden has been the perpetrator of much violence, suffering and death in this world. Many have sought vengeance for what he has done and have been waiting years for Osama Bin Laden to be found and “get what he deserved”. But is vengeance a worthy pursuit for a believer?
God is very clear that hatred and vengeance are not valid options for those who would follow him:
In Isaiah 1:17 we are told, “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows.” And in Isaiah 58:6, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” Proverbs 31:8, 9 instructs us to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” And Proverbs 29:7 declares, ”The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” God clearly directs us in his Word to address injustice.
Defending the defenseless, championing the cause of the oppressed and protecting the vulnerable from violence are Biblical imperatives for the believer. We should never waiver in our struggle against injustice. And we should be proactive in seeking justice. There is much truth in the well known quote by Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
But when great injustice has been done should we seek vengeance? Osama Bin Laden has been the perpetrator of much violence, suffering and death in this world. Many have sought vengeance for what he has done and have been waiting years for Osama Bin Laden to be found and “get what he deserved”. But is vengeance a worthy pursuit for a believer?
God is very clear that hatred and vengeance are not valid options for those who would follow him:
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is
written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
~Romans 12:19-21
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
~Romans 12:17
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.
~Leviticus 19:18
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
~Matthew 5:43, 44
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
It seems to me that what God asks of us is that we be defenders rather than aggressors. Our role is to defend the defenseless and to proactively intervene wherever and whenever we encounter injustice. But the motivation for this should never be revenge or hatred. Our motivation should always be the cause of the victims of the injustice.
So how should we view the death of Osama Bin Laden? From many perspectives the killing was justified. But as representatives of Jesus and His Kingdom our response should not be driven by vengeance but rather the necessity to defend the defenseless. We should view this event with sadness because the life of another human being was taken to prevent the further violation, victimization and death of others.
Osama Bin Laden is dead and he can no longer hurt others. But if we delight in his death and respond with celebration and glee, rather than evil being defeated it will have triumphed once more and the enemy will have been given a further foothold in the world.
It seems to me that what God asks of us is that we be defenders rather than aggressors. Our role is to defend the defenseless and to proactively intervene wherever and whenever we encounter injustice. But the motivation for this should never be revenge or hatred. Our motivation should always be the cause of the victims of the injustice.
So how should we view the death of Osama Bin Laden? From many perspectives the killing was justified. But as representatives of Jesus and His Kingdom our response should not be driven by vengeance but rather the necessity to defend the defenseless. We should view this event with sadness because the life of another human being was taken to prevent the further violation, victimization and death of others.
Osama Bin Laden is dead and he can no longer hurt others. But if we delight in his death and respond with celebration and glee, rather than evil being defeated it will have triumphed once more and the enemy will have been given a further foothold in the world.
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