Making Decisions in a Conflicted World-Understanding Worldviews.

 

"Which way do I turn to get to my destination? When should I take the next turnoff? There's so much traffic on the road, I can't see the signposts!"

Thanks to our smartphones, such questions aren't so common nowadays.

Many decisions have no easy answer. I am writing about complex decisions facing Christians in today's world. In this blog post, I outline five basic world views that confronted the early disciples. These worldviews still are with us. 

In later blog posts, I'll elaborate a bit more on these, and then, as we get into the summer, I'll begin to tackle some of the decisions we face in the light of Scripture. 

Everyone in the time of Jesus expected, no, demanded: Change! We want justice!

My intention is to help us see that Jesus' teaching of the Kingdom of God brings light and love to all the complex realities of modern life. I am thrilled to examine the ways a specific incident could be understood from so many different angles. So, let's summarize five basic approaches to life as we turn the pages of the Gospels.

On the far right were the Essenes, those who opted out of society. The world was so evil! Redemption was not possible. One could only withdraw completely, live within the walls of a limited, trusted community. Days were spent studying, praying, meditating, and writing. Traditions had been broken by everyone else in society.  And justice and righteousness: how they wanted these! Things would only change if and when the Messiah came.

The Second worldview emphasized several values: God, tradition, country, laws, honor, community with like-minded, sharing, being visible for the whole world to see, and providing for their own. In New Testament days, Pharisees and their sharp arguments jump off the pages. Each time Jesus did a miracle, someone was there to criticize him for breaking the Sabbath law. Jesus ate with ordinary people, and once again, Pharisees were down his throat. Things would only change if everyone obeyed the Law the way they saw it. Then, justice and righteousness would arrive.

The third approach was seen in the lives of the Sadducees. Their position in society did not hinge upon tradition. No, honor, position, wealth, success, power, and providing for one's future depended upon cooperating with the powerful, the high, and the mighty. In the time of Jesus, the Empire kept everyone under Rome's strong thumb, so "success" depended upon keeping the approval of those who held power. Change in society meant keeping other worldviews from gaining power. Then justice and righteousness would come. Reverting to traditional values was highly undesirable. Talk about angels, the resurrection, the afterlife, and miracles made no sense. What was important was the immediacy of one's comfort in society. "Serve me this way..." was often heard.

Fourthly, Zealots brought the wrath of Rome upon Judea. A small active group demanded immediate change. That meant removing occupying forces. Only a few people sought societal change this way, but these warriors were powerful, mean, and ruthless. Justice and Righteousness had to come. Thus violent means were approved of. That was the way to bring about change.

Acting against all four worldviews was Jesus' teaching of the Kingdom of God. What were his values? Self-sacrifice, not self-interest. Service for others, not expecting service from others. Kindness, compassion, tenderness, lifting up the broken-hearted, joy, service, thinking of others, taking time with the poor, preaching, bringing hope, and forgiveness are at the core of this new Kingdom. The inner life of the spirit led to the forgiveness of sin and one forgiving one's brother. Furthermore, love included your enemy, not just your friends. This was something new indeed!

Jesus taught his followers to live with a new understanding of love. Love God and love your neighbor; these were the fundamental laws governing every other law. 

Change was to be expected. Just as a small seed grew into a big tree, so this Kingdom would grow everywhere. Much of what society expected was going to be turned upside down. The grain of wheat that died in the ground brought forth new life, and so the disciple who follows Jesus must be willing to take up his cross daily. Jesus didn't utter long speeches about political situations. He illustrated his values by how he spent his time, with whom he sat down for a meal, and how he brought completely diverse points of view together in his core group of followers. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

"Keeping on the Path" (Part Three in a series on Christians in the Modern World)

 

"Father, I want to walk on your paths, to follow the road you have laid out for us. Your promise states, 'Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.' (Isaiah 30:21) How wonderful!

"But walking on your paths in daily life is not easy. If it was simply a matter of staying on course through a canal, there would be no challenge. However, our days are full of twists and turns. 

"Early in the morning, I turn on the TV. Oh no! Another mass shooting. Nine persons were killed. It's terribly upsetting. And this year, there have already been 232 mass killings in the USA, leaving aside those killings of three persons or less. Have we become numb to such evil? Will there ever be a day without a needless death?

"And now, here in Canada, is reason to feel national pride? People say, 'We don't have those kinds of deaths.' Now, I learn of 215 children dead and buried at a residential school in BC between 1890 and 1970. Those children, educated under the protection of the Roman Catholic church, were supposed to be safe. What brought about the deaths of so many Aboriginal children? Who caused their deaths? What is going to happen as this First Nation seeks justice? 

"It seems as if endless violence surrounds us. I know this is not really the full picture, for much good is done every day. Thank you, Lord, for the thousands of persons helping on the front lines against the Covid-19 virus in hospitals, labs, clinics, and pharmacies. Thank you for scientists, surgeons, engineers, educators, and people in all kinds of professions.

"One way to avoid the pain of modern life, Lord, would be to simply turn off the TV and radio. If I lived as a hermit, things such as covered-up, hidden graves would not cut into my conscience. One way to leave the path of righteousness would be to close my mind to it. Let it all stay "out there." That might be like turning to the right.

"Another way would be to scream in rage, lashing out on social media, implicating innocent people before the normal course of justice has its day in court. That might be turning away from your path and going to the left. Hatred is easy to foster. Encouraging the love of our neighbor seems impossible.

"Perhaps at moments like these, the way to walk in your path is to cry out with words found in Scripture, quotations from many psalms. Back then, godly men and women called for justice and righteousness. Were people that much different in millennia-long gone? 'Your tongue plots destruction. It is like a sharpened razor you who practice deceit. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!" (Psalm 52:3,4)  Surely, the powerful sentiments passing through my heart because of great injustice are not new to you.

"Heavenly Father, I fall down at your feet. Help me to walk in your paths! Enable us as your people in this day and age to discern what words accurately echo your Word. In this world, there is much falsehood, much evil, multiplied violence, and great ignorance of your path. 

"So, loving Savior, I come to you in humility, for I know you want us, like the earliest Christians, to be joyful, living abundant lives, displaying your kindness through good works. May we, as your people, honor you this day. I want to be known as People of the Way." Amen. 

Foundations for living in a Conflicted Society. (Part two on Christians in the modern world)

Few would disagree with this statement: “We are living through challenging times. Conflicts in society are growing, tearing us apart.” This is the second in a series of blog posts looking at how Christians may make the most of our present opportunities.

First Building Block. We need to know our starting point. The temptation is to start with the never-ending news, which is coming at us like a tidal wave. Suppose we begin a conversation by commenting on the latest happenings and not basing our thoughts on something permanent. we will like the people Paul talked about in Ephesians 4:14 “…infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitfulness.” Many texts in the New Testament describe our present unsettled, conflicted, sinful, and harming society. Godlessness will abound in the Last Days. 1Timothy 3:1-9

Instead of being taken captive by captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which “depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” Col 2:8, we need to be mature in the faith. We grow up “by speaking the truth in love, we grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

Second building Block. We cannot do this on our own. North American life is primarily built on the preferences brought about by individualism. The quest for freedom has brought significant advances. Still, when taken to an extreme, we are tempted to live our Christian life apart from the Body of Christ. Hundreds of interpretations are available on every topic, it seems.

Yet, the Christian is bound to others. Our lives are joined in the Body of Christ. “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.” The emphasis throughout the New Testament is this: Christ calls us to live in him. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to interpret our thoughts and actions in the light of Christ’s righteousness.

Third building Block. Beware of judgmentalism. It is easy for us as Christians to look at the world and impose our values upon other people. Each one of us, everyone, comes short of the glory of God. Only through Christ are we given the grace to be saved from the wrath of God. We cannot begin to live in the world, making decisions about society, from the point of self-righteousness.

When we live in a society that is marked by “sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like” (Gal5:19-21) we need to beware of the danger of judging others. Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye!” (Mat 7:3)

(To be continued)

Protests and the Drive for Social Justice

Portia White: A great Canadian Opera Singer; 

One of the most difficult decisions for a Christian is living in a complex modern society. Yes, we want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. His words continue to stir our hearts. We love to worship our Triune God. Sharing the Gospel is a privilege, something that we wish to do more often. 

After leaving a marvelous, heart-warming hour or two with the congregation, we head back to our homes. The TV gets turned on, and the events from the wider world flood into our consciousness. It seems that over the past decade, there have been no shortages of "causes" or motivations for protest. 

There is a common element throughout these marches. "We want justice!" people cry out.

In Canada, the most recent concerns concern accusations of sexual impropriety among the top leaders of our military. There is a steady drip of discouraging news from our nation's highest officials, men, and women. One person was recently heard to say, "How can we trust anyone anymore?" It seems only a few years ago that cities across North America were flooded with millions of women protesting the "Me Too" movement.

The causes cross national borders: racial inequality, racist attacks against persons of Asian heritage, and Anti-Semitism. Right now, voices are raised for and against the great divide between Israel and Hamas. Violence in large urban areas in the USA came after countless Black men were killed by police. Ongoing court cases do nothing to diminish the fervor of protests, largely motived with the phrase "Black Lives Matter." Endless hours of TV bring the lives of previously unknown people into our minds, so we talk more about a deceased person a thousand miles away than about our neighbor next door, whom we barely greet, and about whom we know nothing.

As Christians, how do we respond to these daily events? Should we shut our eyes, saying in the quiet of our homes, "I wish all this would just go away!" Should we look at things generically: "Lord, we pray for world peace." Or, are there other ways to understand these happenings and other ways to respond?

Portia White overcame incredible obstacles.

What is the basis for our response? Should we, as followers of the Lord Jesus, avoid talking about these events? Should we get involved in any way? 

In the following blogs, I want to address some of the issues of living in a fallen world. For a start, I want to quote the words of Jesus Christ on the night before he was killed on a cross. "I have told you these things so that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

A good story for those who have ever felt discouraged ...

 THOSE WHO SOW IN TEARS...

In 1921 David and Svea Flood went with their two-year-old son from Sweden to the heart of Africa, to what was then called the Belgian Congo. This missionary couple met up with the Ericksons, another young Scandinavian couple, and the four of them sought God for direction. In those days of much devotion and sacrifice, they felt led by the Lord to set out from the main mission station to take the gospel to the village of N’dolera, a remote area.

This was a huge step of faith.

There, they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his town for fear of alienating the local gods. The two couples opted to build their own mud huts half a mile up the slope.

They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but there was none. Their only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week.

Svea Flood—a tiny woman only four feet, eight inches tall—decided that if this was the only African she could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Jesus. And she succeeded!

Meanwhile, malaria struck one member of the little missionary band after another. In time, the Ericksons decided they had had enough suffering and left to return to the central mission station.

David and Svea Flood remained near N’dolera to carry on alone.

Then, Svea found herself pregnant in the middle of the primitive wilderness. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief softened enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl was born, whom they named Aina. The delivery was exhausting. Svea Flood was already weak from bouts of malaria, so the birthing process was a heavy blow to her stamina. She died only 17 days after Aina was born.

Something snapped Inside David Flood at that moment. He dug a crude grave, buried his 27-year-old wife, and then went back down the mountain with his children to the mission station.

Giving baby Aina to the Ericksons, he snarled, “I’m going back to Sweden. I’ve lost my wife, and I obviously can’t take care of this baby. God has ruined my life!”

With that, he headed for the port, rejecting not only his calling but God Himself.

Within eight months, both the Ericksons were stricken with a mysterious malady and died within days of each other. Baby Aina was then turned over to another American missionary family who changed her Swedish name to “Aggie.” Eventually, they took her back to the United States at age three.

This family loved Aggie. Afraid that if they tried to return to Africa, some legal obstacle might separate her from them, they decided to stay in their home country and switch from missionary work to pastoral ministry. That is how Aggie grew up in South Dakota.

As a young woman, she attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. There she met and married Dewey Hurst.

Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed a fruitful ministry. Aggie gave birth first to a daughter, then a son. In time, her husband became president of a Christian college in the Seattle area, and Aggie was intrigued to find so much Scandinavian heritage there.

One day she found a Swedish religious magazine in their mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, and of course, she couldn’t read the words, but as she turned the pages, a photo suddenly stopped her cold.

In a primitive setting, there was a grave with a white cross—and on the cross were the words SVEA FLOOD.

Aggie got in her car and drove straight to a college faculty member she knew could translate the article.

“What does this article say?”

The teacher shared a summary of the story.

"It is about missionaries who went to N’dolera, Africa, long ago. A baby was born. The young mother died. One little African boy was led to Jesus before that. After the whites had all left, the boy, all grown up, finally persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village. He gradually won all his students to Christ, and the children led their parents to Him. Even the chief became a follower of Jesus! Today there are six hundred believers in that village, all because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood."

Aggie was elated!

For the Hursts’ 25th wedding anniversary, the college presented them with the gift of a vacation to Sweden.

Aggie sought out her birth father.

David Flood was an old man now. He had remarried, fathered four more children, and generally dissipated his life with alcohol. He had recently suffered a stroke. Still bitter, he had one rule in his family: “Never mention the name of God! God took everything from me!”

After an emotional reunion with her half-brothers and half-sister, Aggie brought up the subject of her longing to see her father. They hesitated...

“You can talk to him, but he’s very ill now. You need to know that whenever he hears the name of God, he flies into a rage.”

Aggie walked into the squalid apartment, which had liquor bottles strewn everywhere, and slowly approached her 73-year-old father lying in a rumpled bed.

“Papa,” she said tentatively.

He turned and began to cry.

“Aina!"

"I never meant to give you away!”

“It’s all right, Papa,” she replied, taking him gently in her arms.

“God took good care of me.”

Her father instantly stiffened, and his tears stopped.

“God forgot all of us. Our lives have been like this because of Him.”

He turned his face back to the wall.

Aggie stroked his face and then continued, undaunted.

“Papa, I’ve got a marvelous story to tell you!"

"You didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus! The one seed you planted in his heart kept growing and growing! Today 600 people are serving the Lord because you were faithful to the call of God in your life!"

"Papa, Jesus loves you. He has never hated you or abandoned us.”

The old father turned back to look into his daughter’s eyes. His body relaxed.

He slowly began to talk.

And by the end of the afternoon, he had come back to the God he had resented for so many years. Over the next few days, father and daughter enjoyed warm moments together. A few weeks after Aggie and her husband returned to America, David Flood died.

And a few years later...

Aggie and her husband attended an evangelism conference in London, England, when a report was given from Zaire (the former Belgian Congo).

The superintendent of the national church, representing some 110,000 baptized believers, spoke eloquently of the Gospel’s spread in his nation.

Aggie could not help asking him afterward if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood.

“Yes, madam,” the man replied in French, his words being translated into English.

“Svea Flood led me to Jesus Christ! I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day, your mother’s grave and her memory are honored by all of us.”

He embraced Aggie for a long time, sobbing.

“You must come to Zaire! Your mother is the most famous and honored person in our history.”

When Aggie and her husband went to N’dolera, they were welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. Aggie even met the man who had been hired by her father to carry her down the mountain in a hammock cradle.

Then the pastor escorted Aggie to see her mother’s tomb with a white cross bearing her name. She knelt in the soil to pray and give thanks to God.

Later that day, in the church, the boy turned pastor read...

“I tell you the truth unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24

“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” Psalm 126:5 

NOTE: Connie Smith recently posted the following story on her Facebook page, perhaps reflecting upon her life in the DRC.  It is taken from the book "One Witness" by Aggie Hurst, published in 1986. This year is the 100th Anniversary of the arrival of David and Svea Flood in the Congo.