My 5 Exes (part 2)

Moving forward now to the final three 'ex-' statements that provide direction and clarity to the question, 'What is the purpose of my life? What is my goal?' The first two are Express God's character and Extend God's love. These are the Who and the What that the remaining three Hows rest upon. Jesus as the 'exact representation of [God's] being' (Hebrews 1) living in me, and His mission of God's outreaching love and salvation for the world accomplished through His cross and carried forward through our lives today. So, 3-5......


3) Explain God's Word - '...that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.' (Ephesians 6); 'the gospel...is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...' (Romans 1); 'faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.' (Romans 10). If we want a picture of what this looks like, we can turn to the account of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8. The Ethipoian is reading a passage f scripture from Isaiah when Philip is prompted by the Holy Spirit to strike up a conversation with him. The key exchange happens here:


Philip: "Do you understand what you are reading?"

Ethiopian: "How can I unless someone explains it to me?"


Like Philip, we must be available and obedient in order to be a resource to those around us at the proper time. This is the way almost every person in history comes to understand the gospel. But often we shy away from conversation believing that we don't know enough. We shouldn't feel inadequate if we lack a PhD in Biblical Languages. We each have a testimony and we each have the understanding of the Word of God taught to us by the Holy Spirit. Remember the theme here - this is all about God. Not you. Not me. The voice and the life experience and the words of explanation He has placed in the person that will best suit His glory and purposes will be the one He will use. Be available. Be obedient. I'll add this though, be ready. Paul exhorts Timothy to 'correctly handle the word of truth.' (2 Timothy 2). Peter says to 'always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.' (1 Peter 3). Be in the Word. Daily. Significantly. Memorize it. Meditate upon it. Ask for understanding and seek knowledge. However, we don't just need to be better learners of the Word, we must also practice it. Be 'doers of the Word'. Do one thing deliberately according to the Word of God today. 'Train yourself to be godly.' (1 Timothy 4). The more we practice what we know, the better we understand, and the better we can explain it to others (we may not have to use words at all!) We can all attest to the truth that one's actions speak louder than one's words, and if you want to know what someone really believes (and understands) watch what he/she does. What we say and do can and will explain to a dying world what the Gospel is all about.


4) Expand God's Kingdom - 'to preach the gospel where Christ [is] not known...' (Romans 15). What I have in mind here is perhaps a bit different from what the imperialistic tone of those words may conjure up. Certainly there is a geographic element to this (as will be seen in #5), but think with me in a more abstract way as well. Take the knowledge of Christ into an arena where He has not been considered before (either by those who are native to that place or perhaps by you in your own thinking). This can mean seeing work or recreation or socializing from a different perspective. Any area that you can see or imagine, take the gospel there. Any part of your inner life that has been a bit too sensitive to let Christ touch, let the great message of the gospel abide there. We can all think of areas of our self or our life or our world where 'Christ is not known'. Those are the places where the gospel must be taken and where the expansion of God's Kingdom can take place. No need to feel unqualified or unable to face these challenges (within and without) because we know we are not left to our own devices. This continues to be about God and what HE is doing in the world, our generation, and our hearts. The Bible says that this gospel, the amazing news of Jesus Christ, is 'bearing fruit and growing' all over the world (Colossians 1). Jesus said that 'the Kingdom of heaven [is] forcefully advancing' and He is building His unconquerable church (Matthew 11, 16). Our role is to yield our barren places within to Him, and to boldly take His Name into all the barren places of the world.

5) Explore God's World - 'Go into all the world...' (Mark 16). I love to read adventure biographies and accounts. Jim Eliot's journal. Thor Heyerdahl building a primitive raft and sailing it from South America to the South Pacific islands. A team of people going source to sea down the Amazon river in kayaks and rafts. When I get lost in these stories I catch myself realizing how amazingly diverse and large this world really is. And how new the experience of God can be simply because the setting is in a different place. One huge mistake we can often make, whether knowingly or not, is to believe that God's character can be totally expressed by one culture or country. Romans 1 talks about the qualities of God being 'understood from what has been made'. And the last time I checked the same God that made the U.S.A. is the same God that made the Amazon jungle and the Sahara desert and Antarctica. Also, think with me beyond just the geographical places to the almost immeasurable diversity of cultures and peoples in the world. It borders on sinful arrogance to believe that God can be fully known without having a totally global perspective. God is amazingly local - no doubt. He knows and loves my little cul-de-sac more than I can ever fathom. But please don't miss the bigger picture. He is the exact same way with every street in Shanghai and Belarus and Johannesburg. Let us let go of having (needing?) a small enough God that can be contained by our borders, and let us behold The LORD - Creator, Savior, and God of 'every nation, tribe, people and language' that are contained on this globe called Earth. Here's my encouragement, take a trip. Go on an adventure. That will mean different things to different people, but whatever it means - do it. Go. There are a thousand reasons we can't, but nothing will correct a myopic Christianity more effectively than getting on a plane and being foreign for a while. Beware, this may involve some discomfort (the best trips always do!). But that's okay. It'll do us some good. A closing line from one of my favorite books, 'Running the Amazon' by Joe Kane, reads this way and I think it's pointedly appropriate: 'Without a doubt running the Amazon was one of the looniest things I've ever done. ...I felt relieved when we were finished and was happy to get home. ...I like books, movies, good food, cold beer. In short, I enjoy the distractions of modern life, and I'm thankful to be in a culture that readily provides them. But the Amazon taught something about the true cost of such comfort: Basically, it's insulation. Direct experience is our best teacher, but it's exactly what we are most bent on obliterating because it's so often painful. We grow more comfortable at the price of knowing the world, and therefore ourselves.' And I would add: and knowing God.

God, You have expressed Yourself in infinite ways. Lead us into those places and situations where all eyes will be opened to see You more purely. I pray we would speak and exhibit Your words to those around us. Be pleased to expand Your kingdom through and throughout our lives. Thank you for the expansive creation You have blessed us with. You have truly amazed us and we are truly Yours forever. Amen!