Grace

Blaise Pascal: "To make a man a saint, grace is absolutely necessary, and whoever doubts it does not know what a saint is or what a man is."
Think about the condition of either one before the Lord, and you'll soon understand the need for God's grace.

Laying On of Hands

Reading through Numbers 8 I gained a little insight into the practice of laying hands on an individual when commissioning him to a ministry. In that passage the Levites are being set apart to God for service in His temple.
Already in chapter 3 the Levites had been chosen in exchange for the firstborn of the Israelites. The cost (to the Lord) of Israel's freedom from bondage had been the death of all the firstborn in Egypt, and since those Egyptians were created by God and therefore just as valuable and precious to God as his chosen people, Israel was required, in effect, to repay the Lord by devoting to him all their own firstborn. Firstborn animals could be redeemed with cash, but firstborn sons could be redeemed only by means of a substitute. So, rather than inflict profound family and cultural disruption upon the people, and to facilitate a more efficient priestly ministry, the Lord chose one tribe from among the Jews, the tribe of Levi, in substitution for the firstborn of the rest of the nation.
Returning now to chapter 8, we find the Levites being set apart for the temple/tabernacle ministry and in the process the people, not the priests, are told to lay their hands upon them. They were, in effect, commissioning the Levites to function in that ministry as their substitutes. Likewise had the people done to their sin offerings and likewise had they done to the scapegoat. These all functioned as substitutes for the people.
Likewise do we do today when we ordain a man to local church ministry or when we send an individual out to proclaim the gospel among the lost. We recognize that it is not possible for all Christians to to head to the distant lands, nor are we all chosen by God for particular ministries. So we appoint substitutes to serve on our behalf. This is why it is so important to appoint good substitutes and why Paul warns, in 1 Timothy 5:22, not to be hasty in the laying on of hands. Whomever you appoint is your representative, and if they are sinful, lazy, or self-seeking you share in that sin.
This has given me a new approach as a pastor/elder. From now on, when it comes to commissioning an individual to ministry I am going to have the congregation lay their hands on him. I believe this will better convey the meaning of the appointment and I hope that it will cause all involved to consider more seriously the standards and expectations they apply to those they ordain.

The folly of blessing others

''When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly...'' These are the words of the apostle Paul describing an apostle's response to mistreatment (1Cor 4:12). The mistreatment to which he refers is not only what he received from the godless people of the world but also what he was receiving from some who called themselves ''brothers.'' Why did he respond in this way? The Corinthians, to whom Paul was writing, sought personal glory and the glory they sought evaluated Paul's responses as weakness and folly unbecoming of a true leader. But this was a temporary glory, good only for the duration of a man's life. Paul, however, sought eternal glory. So, he exalted in such weakness and folly, and in suffering for Christ, and in the opportunity to imitate Christ in them because these are the qualities God will honor. These were the qualities displayed in Jesus.
This has been one of the more convicting passages I have studied lately. I, like a Corinthian, accept the standard of this age and resist being thought a fool. Yet, as I realized, there has never been a marital conflict where it does not apply; there's never been a work environment where a Christian can't put this into practice; there's never been a mistreatment toward which the believer can't embrace this foolish way of living. And there's no promise that doing so will improve the situation. This is simply our calling, just as suffering for Christ is our calling, and as Paul recognized our reward comes later. Sometimes it helps in the here and now, but mostly those who live like this will be called fools. Glory in it! Jesus did.

The Necessity of Divided Powers

Unchallenged power among sinful human beings allows for the worst expressions of tyranny and rebellion. As the old adage says, ''Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'' Sitting on the Mount of Olives, in Matthew 24, Jesus spoke of events leading up to the last days of human civilization. He said, ''You will hear wars and reports of wars; watch out, don't be alarmed. For it is necessary (ought, is proper) to be, but it is not yet the end'' (my translation). Though not the point of the passage, our Lord sees conflict between competing states as a necessary check, presumably upon tyranny, oppression, and rebellion against God.
The Lord's insistence upon divided powers stretches all the way back to the plains of Shinar, when the people assembled to become a single governed entity. Genesis 11 tells the story: ''Now the whole world had one language and a common speech...They said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'''
The Lord's reaction to this was not favorable. The attempt to reach God by their own efforts, combined with their refusal to spread throughout the earth as God had prescribed, was setting the stage for a humanly-unopposable, rebellious rule that would bode ill for people. As the Lord expressed it, ''If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their langguage so that they will not understand each other.'' In response, God established multiple, competing people groups, the corrolary of which--warfare between them--Jesus calls necessary for the preservation of human civilization. How predictable, then, that in the last days men will fall under the authority of a single, totalitarian rule.
The threat of overthrow from outside forces compels a ruler to maintain the allegiance of his people by assuring them that his continued rule is in their best interest. When that breaks down, so does a nation; when the nation breaks down, she becomes vulnerable. The founding fathers of our great nation recognized the value that such a threat poses, as explained in the Declaration of Independence. The tyranny of the ruler, not maintaining the best interests of the governed, made him vulnerable to (and deserving of) opposition, and so the United States were formed. In this same spirit they established the Second Ammendment, ensuring not only the security of the citizens from outside forces but also preserving an internal threat should the leaders insist upon governing for their own benefit. It was this worldview that also ordered our government around the separation of powers, a 'non-violent' check upon the 'tyranny' of its constituent parts.
War is not an ultimate and unqualified evil, much to the contrary of many modern liberal sensibilities. In fact, when Jesus returns it will be to make war against his enemies. I, for one, would never call one of his actions evil. Much evil may happen in war, and certainly evil on the part of at least one party makes it necessary. But without this consequence of divided powers, we'd all be far less free, and our suffering would be far greater.

Only a fool can die to himself

The cost of following Christ is often beyond the limits that my pride will accept. Let's face it...even if the world doesn't like me, I want them to respect me. I want them to think of me as articulate and intelligent even if they don't like what I have to say. The apostle Paul refutes that possibility when it comes to sincere Christian living. He says, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, ''The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,'' which means that when we proclaim that message and live accordingly, we will not be thought wise and learned; we'll be thought of as morons.
It's not that the gospel message is truly foolish. Rather, there is a conflict between genuine, godly wisdom and that which those who are perishing are willing to acknowledge. ''For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight;'' but to live a genuine Christian life means to embrace a message that the world calls idiotic--and by default makes the one who does an idiot.
This is a disconcerting thought for those who want to be highly regarded. Yet, it is consistent with everything else the Lord has taught us. He told us that we should not be surprised if the world hates us, because it hated him first (John 15:18). He also told us that if anyone wants to follow him, ''he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow'' Jesus (Matthew 16:24). That means dying to oneself. It means sacrificing the status one holds dear and accepting a label that is not so becoming--fool--if so doing is the result of faithful believing, living, and conveying of the message of the cross. More often than not, it will be, because that message is foolishness to those who are perishing.
This is a high cost, but the cost of refusing is even greater. ''Whoever wants to save his life,'' Jesus warned after calling us to take up our crosses, ''will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.'' Are you willing to take up a mantle that means laying down the rags of worldly regard? Are you willing to lose your life to find it? My pride often recoils at the costs of following Jesus. But, as Paul urges in 1 Corinthians 3, ''If anyone of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a fool so that he may become wise.''