Suffering Builds Character

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When the zombie apocalypse comes Michiganders will be fine.  While the world goes into panic mode and civilization ends, we'll continue to produce cars, cereal, and muffin mix as though nothing changed. This is not because of our active para-military organizations, well armed gangsters, or our fondness for roughing it. No, it takes more than weapons and knowledge to weather a zombie apocalypse; it takes grit, something we've developed in large supply. We've learned how to push forward when we feel there's no reason to hope. Economic trials and countless bitter winters have ingrained this virtue in our bones so that in the bleakest of circumstances we will not give up. We have been conditioned to suspect that we may lose everything at a moment's notice, to hope we won't, and go on with life anyway.

Paul writes about being content regardless of his circumstances (Philippians 4:12), and to some extent I think you have to face serious hardships in order to learn this attitude. James and Paul both promises us that suffering produces character, perseverance, and hope (Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4). These verses do not always feel encouraging.  They feel like something Calvin's dad would say, but they're true. I know remarkable men and women of character, hope, and perseverance, and I've no doubt in my mind that it was their struggles that tempered them into the remarkable people that they are.

If you've read The Return of The King you remember how awesome the scourging of the Shire was. The Scourging of the Shire was a book-only adventure in which the hobbits returned to the Shire to find it overrun and enslaved. Merry and Pippin lead a revolt so swift and sudden that it barely occupied an afternoon. They wrecked their enemies in an instant, because after what they've been through there was nothing in the world that could have plausibly stood against them. This is what our hardships do to us, they build our character and turn us into warrior hobbits.

Challenge:

2 Corinthians 1 says that our suffering enables us to comfort others when they have trouble. Take a moment to consider that this is true for you and your own hardships. What trials are you facing today? How will God use those trials to produce character and hope? Know that God sees you in the midst of your hardship and is working it out for your benefit and his glory (Romans 8:28). Praise God for life's difficulties today; God loves you enough to turn you into a hero.

Re: American Gods

If you’ve not read any Neil Gaiman, you’re missing out.  He tells stories delightfully, blending whimsical fantasy with honest portraits of injured and incomplete human beings.  American Gods follows the story of Shadow, who having been recently released from prison is quickly recruited by a con-man.  Despite his apparent criminality Shadow is an easy character to sympathize with.  Shadow helps American Gods to feel more like a thriller than a fantasy novel.  As Shadow meets gods we meet them too and I was grateful to be introduced to Gaiman’s strange world through a protagonist who started off knowing no more than I did.

At the beginning of the book I had favorite gods, and the idea of these myths walking in real life was exciting.  Gaiman shattered my modern ideas of the old gods by depicting them as they were first imagined: powerful and petty.  The ancient gods of Rome, Ireland, and Africa are human, and as such they are messed up.  They are as likely to be helpful as they are to be cruel; they are caricatures of the humanity, afflicted with the human condition.

American Gods also paints a startling portrait of culture in the United States. Just as old world gods are real in Gaiman’s novel, the new gods of convenience and technology are real as well.  They look silly next to the old gods, but ultimately are not different.  They are no more or less corrupt or corrupting.  They hit closer to home.  I know no one who has ever sacrificed a child to an old god.  We all know of friendships that have been sacrificed to ambition, lust, or selfishness.  These modern gods are real.  In Gaiman’s world, and also in ours, anything that a person worships with time, attention, and energy is a god.

I do want to say that American Gods is for adult audiences; there were points in the novel which vividly depicted monstrous gods of sexuality and of death exacting sacrifice.  Their sacrifice is disturbing.  These scenes were not many, and I they serve the novel's purpose of portraying how we can loose ourselves in devotion to our gods.  I mention it so that you do not read anything you cannot unread.  Overall the book was excellent, but that sort of thing is not for everyone.

            I want to say that Neil Gaiman was incredibly considerate towards Christians, Jews, and Muslims when he absented the Lord from his pantheon of mythical gods and goddesses.  Jesus does not appear; neither does the God of Israel, nor Allah.  A monotheistic God could have introduced problems into the world Gaiman wrote.  Besides the narrative problems God would cause, the books would have offended a lot of people if Gaiman had treated the God(s) of the world’s dominant religions like he treated his trickster gods.  That sort of offensive writing might have sold a lot of books, and I appreciate that Gaiman didn’t exploit that route.  Thanks Neil, if you're reading this.

Challenge:

Ask God to show you if you have served other gods.  Whatever your god has been it cannot satisfy the thirst of your soul.  The gods of this world only steal life.  False gods demand sacrifice, but the true God sacrificed himself.   He loved us while we were still enemies so that we could experience life to its fullest.  Read Romans 5:8-10.  Jesus death meant our forgiveness.  Jesus resurrection meant our adoption.  God is alive. God loves you.  Enjoy.

RE: Psalm 38

This is a difficult psalm to read. David is pained, ashamed and acutely aware of his insufficiencies. As disturbing and sad as it is, David's not wrong. He's not wrong about himself, and he's not wrong about us. We are messed up people.

I read on the internet that everyone deserves to be loved. This idea comes close to the truth, but comes up short. We should be loved; we were designed to love and to be loved, but we do not deserve to be loved. We embarrass ourselves daily by judging and hating our neighbours; we deserve as bad as we give. The fact is that if our hearts and secrets were laid bare to the world, we'd see that no one deserves love. If you know love, you'll know that this suits love just fine. Although we each make inexcusable mistakes, we are loved anyway.

It would be a fine thing if we deserved to be loved and God loved us. It is an abundantly greater thing that we don't deserve love, and God still loves us. The psalmist, David, the murderer and adulterer, deserves death; according to Matthew 5 so do I. We all do; however, the Bible tells us that so that it can tell us this:

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You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! -Romans 5:6-10

Dear Sinner-Saints, may you grasp the passionate and compassionate love God has for you, which can never be earned, but is available freely to all who don't deserve it.

Thanks Mr. President

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Some time ago I had a friend who liked to complain about the president, and some of the things he managed to blame on the president were incredible. Whether a friend was out of work, insurance was too expensive, or gas prices were too high, you could depend on him for a loud and sarcastic, “Thanks Mr. President!” He blamed the president for at least one problem just about every time I saw him. He made a practice of it. As you might imagine, his diligent negativity got old fast.

Whining about the president is not funny, nor is it clever. It is an annoying, fruitlessly, and patently unchristian behaviour. Please understand me, it is acceptable and even necessary to, at times, speak out against the actions of a politician who you find fault with. We do not owe any earthly leader our silent unconditional submission. Making a practice out of complaining is something outside of godly citizenship.

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Consider the effect of this man's constant interjections of “Thanks Mr. President!” They helped to feed a culture of negativity wherever he went.  He irritated folks who liked the president, and he invited more complaining from folks who shared his views. Imagine if instead of sarcastically thanking some politician at every opportunity, we made a practice of authentically thanking God. After all, it's God's will for us to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). We're even encouraged to give thanks during hardship, which scripture encourages us to endure as loving discipline from God himself (Hebrews 12:7). Paul even encouraged his readers to glory in their suffering because of the character it ultimately produced (Romans 5:3-5). Even if God didn't work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28); Christians would still be expected to respect the authorities (Romans 13:1-7), just as Paul encouraged the early Christians to show respect for the Roman Emperor, who in Paul's day was Nero.

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Challenge:

Take a moment today to thank God for someone negative who brings you down. Whether it's a boss, a co-worker, or someone closer to home, it's God's will that we give thanks in all circumstances. God is enthusiastic to forgive all sin, both yours and theirs. Since you're freely forgiven, pass that forgiveness along to the person who's been dragging you down. You don't have to tell them. It can stay between you and God, but if you don't forgive them then they'll be free to continue to discourage and infuriate you. Enjoy the freedom that forgiveness brings today.