Category: Hump Day Hope

The pundits are parsing the State of the Union address this morning. My friend Ed Underwood wrote a wonderful piece on the topic of power versus influence. Today I yield my space to the gentleman from California.

(Reposted from EdUnderwood.com.)

Every time Jesus’ first disciples dreamed of position and power, He warned them that His measure of greatness was serving (Mark 9:33-37; 10:35-45). When we ignore His warning dreams of position and power sidetrack us.

Books and sermons on a Christian’s relationship to government often fail to distinguish between political power and cultural influence. The primary passages—Matthew 5:13-16, Romans 13:1-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-4, 1 Peter 2:13-16—clearly teach us that our role is to use whatever position we have to influence society toward righteousness and justice as we submit to governmental authority.

Biblically, influence and power are not the same. The influence is ours, but the power is God’s. Historically, when Christians confuse the two, we lose both—today and forever.

Confusing influence and power diverts our energies from the only true hope for any society—the transforming power of new life in Christ. The Bible says we’re new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) endowed with power from on high (Acts 1:8) to live a life only explained by God’s presence in us (John 14:20).

Where we choose to invest our time and resources depends largely on where we think the solution lies. As more and more of us decide that the solution is political power, it changes our priorities.

We know Christ commands us to influence our culture. And we know that one of the primary ways we do this as Americans is by voting. But, these are the questions that bother me most when I think of all the time and energy Christians have poured into the pursuit of political power in the decades since the 60s:

• America hasn’t become more righteous and just; it’s more decadent and unfair. What would have happened if we had devoted more effort equipping Christians to live out the gospel of Christ and less to telling Christians how to vote?
• Families aren’t getting healthier; they’re falling apart. How do you think the families of our country would be different if we had been more passionate about transforming families in the way Christ values—through the hard work of disciplemaking in the context of authentic spiritual communities and less obsessive about entrenching the family value message in Washington D. C.?
• The church doesn’t have more impact; its influence is almost negligible. What if Christians had spent more time studying their Bibles and praying for their neighborhoods, communities, states and nation, and less time glued to conservative talk radio and cable news while worrying about exit polls and economic trends?

Confusing influence and power also deflects our focus from the state and final destination of human beings—either living in His love and power now looking forward to being with Jesus forever in a place called heaven or estranged from God in brokenness now and careening toward a forever in a place called hell. The Bible says we’re ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) representing Him as strangers and pilgrims (Hebrews 11:13). Our earthly citizenship is only temporary because we’re citizens of a better, heavenly country (Hebrews 11:16). Our true identity is in Christ and our true citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

A song by James Taylor called “You’ve Got a Friend”  has been on my heart this week. Life can be really hard. Good friends are a big part of making it to the finish line successfully. Taylor’s lyrics resonated with me after returning from seeing friends in California.

Ain’t it good to know you’ve got a friend.

Ain’t it? Real friends are a treasure. We spend so much time acquiring stuff. We spend so much time acquiring titles and power. We often spend far too little developing real friends. When the world comes crashing in what you really need is a not a Ferrari. You need a friend.

True friends fill your bucket with affirmation and love. True friends tell you the truth about yourself in a way that you can stand to hear it.

This past weekend Joni and I were incredibly blessed to spend the weekend with friends like that. We go back a long way with Ed and Judy Underwood. Ed is now a pastor at Church of the Open Door in Glendora, California. If you live in that area and don’t have a church home please check them out.

Ed has written a wonderful book called The Trail.

It is an allegory about finding God’s will based solidly on Biblical principles and told through an engaging story. If you are anything like me you have wrestled with how to find and/or remain in God’s will for your life. The Trail cleared up a lot of the misconceptions I had held on this vital topic.

I used to sing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” in my little hometown church. Jesus is indeed a friend that will never desert me. Jesus also knew that we needed earthly friends to help navigate this often difficult journey. This journey needs to be live in community.

I love the New Testament story of the man who was paralyzed and his friends were trying to get him in front of Jesus. They cared. When they couldn’t get in the door they cut a hole in the roof and lowered him down to Jesus. The Lord was moved by the man’s faith (and the faith of his friends) and He had mercy on him. What strikes me is how Jesus addressed the man.

He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  (Luke 5, NASB)

Jesus still calls men friend when they simply humble themselves in faith.  James Taylor summarizes the importance of friends on earth and in Higher Places.

Hey, ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend?
People can be so cold.
They’ll hurt you and desert you.
Well they’ll take your soul if you let them.
Oh yeah, but don’t you let them.

Satan would like nothing more than to use the hurts and difficult people in life to take our very soul. Don’t you let them. Lean on Jesus. Pray for friends. Most importantly, be a friend. You will likely be disappointed and even hurt along the way. But finding that small number of real friends is worth it. All friends are a blessing. Real friends are a treasure. I will wrap this up with a quote from one of my sentimental favorites, the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.

This weekend Joni and I felt like we were very successful indeed. And blessed beyond measure.

One of my favorite speakers/authors is Steve Brown. He speaks from his heart and with an honesty that only comes from a man who knows how desperately he needs Jesus to cover his considerable sins (his words). I recently started his new book “When Being Good Isn’t Good Enough” and I am loving it.

He correctly states that all of us on this journey with Jesus desire to be holy and righteous. How to get there is where so many of us get derailed. Steve Brown says that we are killing ourselves to achieve what we already have. That holiness and righteousness have already been achieved for us by Christ at the Cross. Here is a snippet of Steve Brown’s book.

“That is a cold hard fact; you don’t have to try so much anymore to be holy and righteous. You are now free to fail and, more importantly, free to allow Him to love you and to love Him back. You enter a relationship, not between a criminal and a policeman, but between a loving Father and His child. When you enjoy that relationship something wonderful happens: you find holiness and righteous come tagging along behind. You find that you, almost without knowing it, are in a process that makes you increasingly more holy and righteous.

This is the message. Obedience doesn’t lead to freedom. Freedom leads to obedience. If that is backwards you lose both your freedom and your obedience.”

It is not about me. It is all about Jesus and He wants us to be free.

“If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”(John 8:36)

I hope you feel that freedom in 2015. I recommend Steve Brown’s books and podcasts. He will make you laugh and think. That is a pretty good combo plate to get you through the week.