Reflections on Hardship 6.4

If we should have faith in Jesus Christ in everything, including every illness, then why should we do things like medical research and invent things like chemotherapy and antibody treatment for cancer? Doesn't a reliance on God, through faith in Christ, make us complacent about the problems of this life because we can just sit and wait for Him to solve them for us either through prayer in this life or in the New Creation in the future? What motivation do we have in this life to work to make things better if we are convinced that God will take away every problem for ever in the next life?

I guess there have been religious people, some calling themselves Christians, who have taken a kind of ultra-spiritual attitude and shunned technology. They adopt a kind of monastic lifestyle, make only enough food to keep them alive each day, don't take drugs if they're ill, hate cars and mobile phones, etc. It's the kind of attitude that says, "If God had meant us to fly He would have given us wings!"

And, whilst I do genuinely hate this expression, they are the kind of people of whom they say, "they are so heavenly minded they are no earthly use." So I suppose there is a sense in which it's true. And they would have no objection to the saying being applied to them, because they have no interest at all in being of any earthly use.

Before I move on I'd better say that I'm treating this as a final part in my reflections on the way we consider statistics or chances of success as Christians. I've been arguing that, whilst assessing risks and chances of success is not wrong, and planning is not wrong, we can guard against complacency (when we think the odds are good and we rely solely on ourselves and human means) on one hand, and despondency (when we think the odds are hopeless and give up) on the other. We can do that by trusting God, who is powerful and can do anything, and, through Christ, is on our side. And not only that, but he has also already assured us of victory over every hardship, including death itself, in the New Heavens and the New Earth that will be our home after the future Judgment Day for ever, because of what Jesus has done.

This essay is a bit of a balancing statement, because someone said to me after reading the first part that they were left wondering why we should bother with medical science and technology as Christians if we should look at everything from the perspective of faith in Christ.

I hope that my previous essays will have shown (mainly) how we can plan our actions based on risk assessments that show bad odds (humanly speaking), but without becoming despondent and giving up. That's basically because our risk assessment should always include the spiritual realities of God and the future he has assured us of in Christ.

This time, on the other hand, I want to show that we can and should take action in science and technology (and any other field of knowledge, design or construction) to improve the odds in our risk assessments (humanly speaking), but without becoming proud and complacent and trusting only in our own abilities and those of other human beings.

And I guess the main summary of this balancing statement is to say that this life matters! The error of the ultra-spiritual monastic people I described above is either to so look forward to the next life that they treat this life as a kind of waiting room before the next life; or to wait for God to intervene and do everything for them. They abdicate responsibility for anything to do with this life. So that's what I want to highlight this time: that we have responsibilities as human beings, things we should be doing in this life if we want to live in the next life.

First, we continue to have the responsibility that was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden - to be fruitful and fill and subdue the earth. Immediately after Adam and Eve were created, Genesis records, "God blessed them and said to them, 'Be faithful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'" (Genesis 1:28)

God created a world in which all the raw materials exist to carry out the mandate that he gave to mankind. Our creation in the "image of God" (Genesis 1:27) means that we have within us a reflection of the same ingenuity, intellect, wisdom, power, understanding and creative urge that God used to create the universe. He has made a universe for us to investigate and discover. And he wants us to use those advances in knowledge and understanding, and the ingenuity, intellect, wisdom, power, etc, he has given us, to fulfil a responsibility.

And that responsibility is basically to be his deputies in the world, ruling over the creation. We are to be faithful, increase in number, fill the earth, subdue the earth, rule over every living creature in the world.

When Adam and Eve ignored God's one restriction on their freedom and turned against him, he did not strip humanity of the responsibility of deputies. I take it that this means that that responsibility is inherent in what human beings were created for. Instead the punishments that God gave out for their sin were to put natural barriers in the way of fulfilling their responsibilities. Increasing in number would become painful - "To the woman he said, 'I will greatly increase you pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.'" (Genesis 3:16) Subduing the earth would become toilsome - "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life… By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…" (Genesis 3:17-18) Death and suffering in this life are part of God's punishment of mankind's rejection of his rule.

But we can see later on in Genesis that mankind makes progress in subduing the earth through technology and science - Cain and Abel were farmers (Genesis 4:2), Jubal was a musician (Genesis 4:21), Tubal-Cain invented tools (Genesis 4:22). By the time we get to Genesis 11, we find that human beings had made such technological advances that they were able to build a city and a "tower that reaches to the heavens" (Genesis 11:4). (The problem with that plan was the attitude with which the plan was made, rejecting God's command to "fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28) and instead attempting, "to make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4))

Subduing the earth (exploring, controlling, using, creating, building) was always, from the beginning, part of our responsibilities as human beings. From the fall it became a much harder job. And now the job involves overcoming suffering, disease, toil, sweat, difficulty, hardship, confusion, language barriers, conflict, environmental and geological problems.

So my first point is that scientific research and technological advancement are part of what God fundamentally requires of us as human beings. And that now involves medical research because of the effects of the fall.

Second, we are to love our neighbours as ourselves. If subduing the earth is what our role is, then God's Law shows us how we are to carry that out. We are to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and we are to love our neighbours as ourselves (Luke 10:27).

Loving God sets the context for all our endeavour. We are to do everything to bring him glory. So in everything we do we recognize that he is the Creator and we are the creature, and he sets the limits of our responsibilities, our abilities and our actions.

Loving our neighbour also puts limits on some of our actions, but also gives a motivation for some of the choices that we make.

So when we see human beings suffering with disease, pain, bereavement, unemployment, depression, injury, and misfortunate, we are called to love them. And love involves finding ways to alleviate suffering, heal disease, prevent death, and put right things that are wrong.

God's punishment of mankind's fall into sin has made the world a somewhat harsh place to live. And yet he has also hidden within the world the knowledge and the resources to combat that harshness, and given us the intellect and wisdom to use that knowledge and those resources for the good of our fellow humans.

So my second point is that science and technology can be used rightly to do good to human beings, and researching ways to cure diseases is part of doing good and showing love.

Finally, through the spread of the gospel on this earth God is bringing in a taste of the New Creation before the Old Creation is destroyed. So just as suffering negatively points to the regeneration of creation as a contrast (and a need), so the alleviation of suffering and toil positively points to the even greater victory over suffering and toil promised in the future. Romans 8 shows that the groaning of creation (with hardship and suffering and decay) is linked to the longing of Christians to be renewed and escape their own suffering and decay. God has so ordered things that just as Christians are themselves called a "New Creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) while still living in their old bodies and battling with their old sinful nature, we should aim towards the perfection of this world so that we may start to taste the future New Heavens and New Earth before it fully comes.

So the advancement of technology, science, medicine, surgical techniques, etc has always been something that Christians have been motivated to be in the forefront of. We are seeking to "think God's thoughts after him", seeking to be obedient in loving our neighbour, and seeking to give the world a diluted taste of the perfect world order promised to all who trust in Christ.

So in conclusion, faith in Christ, far from giving us an excuse to abdicate any responsibility for the world, gives us more motivation to use scientific research and technology to help with the problems of the world. This life matters! But, to come back to where I started, it's a life to be lived with the confidence and assurance that God is with us, is for us, and gives us a truly amazing victory to look forward to through faith in Jesus Christ.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen." (Romans 11:33-36)

Reflections on Hardship 6.3

I was arguing in the last two posts that statistics should not make us despondent or complacent, because our God is above the statistics and has, in any case, assured His people a future victory over every adversity through Jesus Christ.

However, that raises a couple of practical questions which need to be addressed so that we have at least an outline sketch of the full picture.

One of those questions is, if faith in our great God guards against complacency if (from human experience) the odds are good on one hand, and despondency if the odds are bad on the other, does this mean that statistics and odds should not affect us at all? In my case, am I saying that my actions should be completely unaffected by the doctor's prognosis?

Well of course I'm not saying that. That would obviously be untrue. If that were true, then I would be back at work now.

So I wasn't in any way suggesting that medical experience, such as treatment success rates, should not be a factor in my decision making and planning. Neither was I saying we shouldn't weigh the odds relating to various potential outcomes in our decision making and planning in general.

We all have responsibilities in the way we live our lives under God. And even when you're ill you have to provide for those as best you can. And since different things take different amounts of time and energy, with different levels of urgency and importance, we have to make plans. And since we don't know everything we have to base plans on "risk assessments". And risk assessments involve odds, judgments about probabilities of various outcomes, often based on statistics from past experience.

Really we cannot help planning and risk assessments. They are part of what make us human. "Risk assessments" (can't you tell I'm an accountant?!) simply highlight what the potential risks are in the things that we don't know about a course of action. If those risks are considered too high, we seek more information until we are comfortable with the risk, or we dismiss the course of action as too risky. "Risk assessments" also help us to develop contingency plans, things we can do if things go wrong to put things back on track. On that basis we make plans.

So my previous essays were not in any way detracting from that. In fact I wasn't really saying anything about planning. I was really just guarding against the emotional responses that omit from the risk assessment the most important factors in looking at the future - God and His grace.

I'll come back to my own practical example at the end. But first let's take a look at what the Bible says about these things. The Bible is full of planning, and we are never criticized for planning per se. "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed." That was the advice in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 15:22).

Paul made plans: "… I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now)…" (Romans 1:13) "When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner…" (2 Corinthians 1:17)

So planning is not wrong, but the Bible also encourages us to make risk assessments as well. That's, I take it, why the proverb says that it's best to have "many advisors". Jesus also appeals to our natural inclination to assess risk when we make decisions or make plans when he advises us to count the cost of being a disciple before committing ourselves to him: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace." (Luke 14:28-32)

There are also right and wrong attitudes towards planning. James says this in his letter:

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:13-14)

If we left the quote out of context, finishing it at that point, we might think that James is just criticizing over-confidence. Perhaps he would prefer it if we just said, "Well hopefully if everything goes well, and nothing goes wrong - because of course I don't know the future - then I intend, if possible, to do this or that." That sounds a little more in keeping with the humility of being a "mist that appears… and then vanishes." But he doesn't say that. He says this:

"Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil." (James 4:15-16)

The challenge to the tiny sphere of knowledge about our decision making and planning is not just from the bigger machine of the universe, and the whole course of time, which contains many more variables than we can compute. It is from the One who controls that whole machine - universe and time. Why else would James say that we must humbly acknowledge "the Lord's will" when we make plans with our own will?

The Psalmist makes effectively the same point, arguing from God's creating power:

"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
"He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.
"Let the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him.
"For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
"The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
"But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalm 33:6-11)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails," it says in Proverbs 19:21.

So for me, knowing the medical experience of success in treating my kind of cancer is useful information. It helps me to plan the things I should be prioritizing in the short term and long term. Different success rates lead to different predictions, and therefore result in different priorities and contingency plans. But when I make those plans and decide on those priorities I do it with humility, recognising that I don't have all the information, and that God is the one whose purpose is really going to prevail. So I say, "If it is the Lord's will, I will do this and that or go here or there…"

Therefore, whilst it is right to plan, and to assess the risks (including recognizing the odds/chances of success), we must do so with humility, acknowledging that the Lord's purpose will prevail over ours and we accept that. And the reasons we accept it without grumbling are the ones we looked at the previous two articles - we know God is powerful, He is good, He is on our side in Jesus Christ, His Son, and His purpose includes rolling everything towards a great future that will include rest, peace and joy for His people for eternity.

Reflection on Hardship 6.2

Last time I wrote I was reflecting on how cancer treatment statistics could affect my approach and attitude to life. I concluded that only faith in Jesus Christ could provide an antidote to the complacency that trusts doctors and medicine more than God, and to the despondency that thinks there is no hope.

As I write this - so you know, when you read it weeks or months later - it is still only just less than two weeks since receiving the news of my cancer. And my chemotherapy treatment is due to start in the next few days. I am apprehensive. I don't know how I will react. I don't like feeling ill and tired, and yet all I can see ahead is months of that. So even though my writing can sometimes be a little theological, I assure you I write (especially about hardship) with trembling. I know these things to be true. I taste them. And one of my greatest fears is ever letting go of these truths, forgetting them or taking them for granted.

Neither do I want to be accused of not living in reality. I'm not sure whether you felt this at the end of my last essay, but there is a problem that still hangs over my explanation of the Christian's antidote to reacting to statistics. And that is that Christians still suffer. Faithful Christians still go through hardship. Christians who are prayed for very specifically by the church still die of cancer. Surely if God were on our side, through faith in Jesus, then He would use His infinite creative power on our behalf to heal and rescue us when we need healing and rescuing?

I've already quoted Paul in Romans 8:31-32, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" All things, right?!

I realized as I was writing the last essay that I was picking up quotations from Paul's letter to the church at Rome in a rather systematic way, almost like I was subconsciously presenting a similar argument. Be that as it may, the main reason I am still left with this problem is that I skipped a few steps in the argument.

A definite shift occurs as Paul progresses through his exposition of God's grace in Romans. That shift occurs in chapter 8, around verse 17, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

We are heirs. There's a future focus now that has not been particularly prevalent up to that point in the letter. We look forward to receiving an inheritance, to sharing in "his glory".

And Paul then makes a contrast. "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18) He admits that our present sufferings will continue, and that the full realization of what God achieved for us in Christ is still to be revealed in the future. But the comparison between the two is not worth making.

Until that full realization occurs we feel a tension. There is something we desperately long for and look forward to - a glory, a rest, a freedom - but we have to wait for it. Here is how Paul describes it:

"The creation waits with eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration… in hope that the creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8:19-25)

Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Paul says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Likewise Peter says in his first letter, "In [God's] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5) That's one of the longest, most convoluted sentences I think I've seen even in an English translation of the Bible! But you can't really miss the things to focus on. They are:

• the hope;
• the imperishable, unspoilable, unfading inheritance;
• our shielding by God's power through faith;
• the coming of our salvation in the future.

The point is this. If I focus on my cancer, and what God may be doing with it, whether it will be cured or not, I am fixing my eyes on what is seen. And what is seen is temporary. The temporary things remain temporary and are fading away, groaning, waiting for something better. In fact, illness is one of the things that points to the fact that there is something better.

God has healed people miraculously at various times, when Jesus and His disciples were on Earth 2000 years ago, and since. But we must also reflect on the fact that most sick people that came into contact with even Jesus did not get healed supernaturally. These miracles were/are signs, pointing to the redemption of the world that Jesus achieved by dying on the cross in our place. But the full redemption and the full glory of that kingdom is still in the future.

We cut ourselves off from such joy, and such comfort, if we restrict our view of God's work in our lives through Jesus to the here and now - the forgiveness we have now for our past sins, the joy we have now in our forgiveness, the peace we feel now in our trials, the prayers that are answered now. This is almost nothing! God has promised us a whole new world, an "eternal glory", an "inheritance", the fullness of salvation - in the future - all because of what Jesus has done for us.

This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:50-57:

"I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, now does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep [i.e. die], but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'
"'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

This brings us full circle, back to Romans chapter 8:37-39:

"…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

We are "more than conquerors" in "all these things", because our future victory is assured, no matter what happens in this life. We are assured a bodily resurrection, where our imperfect bodies will be changed and become perfect. We will live in a "new creation". "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4)

So I will not trust in statistics, or get depressed by statistics, telling me how likely I am to be cured. In reality, taking the very long view, I am 100% likely to be more than cured - because of what God has done for me in Christ! No comparison really! Praise God!

But I have one more circle back left to do. And that is to Hebrews 12, which is where I started this series (I didn't realize it would be a series back then!).

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3)

We are following in our Saviour's ways if we look to him, fix our eyes on him, imitate him. He endured the worst thing ever on the cross - the punishment, the hell, the separation from God, the shame, the wrath, that we deserved - because he looked forward to the "joy set before him". He looked forward to His resurrection and His vindication and exaltation to the right hand of the throne of God. And we too can look forward to that kind of glory, if we are in Christ.

That's why it's so important to "fix our eyes on Jesus."

Reflections on Hardship 6.1

Where do I put my trust?

This is being written while I am still in hospital (although I will publish it some time later), now more than a week after being told about my lymphoma. Sometimes the days are long and the mind decides to play games to fill the time! I've tried to fill a lot of time with reading, writing on the blog, and talking to friends and family when they visit. But sometimes the nature of being ill is that you don't have enough energy to read, talk or even watch TV. And then what does my brain do? It starts to go over all the possible outcomes for all the things that I don't know yet, focusing great attention on the scariest!

I won't try to mislead you. There is so much information to take in. I don't understand a lot of what the doctors say at the moment, but they expect that. They reiterate and take time. There is a specialist nurse who is there to get alongside and explain. But they can't hide the fact that this is very complex disease with a very complex treatment (which divides into a multitude of different types of the disease, each with different treatments). They haven't even concluded on which exact type of lymphoma I have, even though they want to start the chemotherapy soon. They also, however much they try, cannot get away from the statistics that show that not everyone gets 100% cured.

My doctor's approach, whilst pussyfooting around the percentage cure rates, was to say that talking about statistics is not really relevant when you are discussing an individual case. In other words, if he said 90% of people are cured (he didn't!), that would be no real ultimate comfort to someone who was in the unfortunate 10%. And they wouldn't know they were in that 10% at the beginning of treatment anyway! So why bother talking about it?

The other thing with statistics is that it's not like I've got a decision to make. I'm not really taking a bet, where I want to know the odds of winning. I have to take the treatment, because it's definitely more effective than doing nothing! So knowing the cure rates should not affect the way that I approach the disease. Would I take the chemotherapy any differently or live my life any differently if I knew that the percentage of people making a total recovery (which, by the way, is defined by being clear of the disease for ten consecutive years) was 30%, 50%, 70% or 90%?

The trouble is that it does make a difference if I'm being honest. Good odds can lead to complacency. Bad odds can lead to despondency. But both are examples of sinful unbelief.

If I am told that treatment for this particular type of cancer has a 90% success rate, then I could relax a bit and assume that I simply have to go through the treatment and expect to be healed. However, that simple assumption is really putting my trust in human doctors and in medicine. I am not putting my trust in God, and that is displeasing to God.

On the other hand, if I am told that treatment for this type of cancer is worth having but it has only demonstrated a 30% success rate, then I could become despondent. I could start to live as if I am going to die, thinking negatively, living negatively. However, that is not putting my trust in God's faithfulness and love towards His children. That also is displeasing to God.

True faith looks to and delights in the God who shows in the creation of the universe an unparalleled power, a supreme intelligence, infinite wisdom, and a heart-swelling and awe-inspiring capacity for beauty, diversity, magnificence, love and joy. The tiniest atomic particle to the biggest, hottest star or supernova; the smallest ant to the biggest dinosaur; the beating of my heart; the swell of love; the breathlessness of joy - all brought about, and held in being, by God. God is the only one we can turn to with complete confidence to know the solution for our healing, and have the power to bring it about.

However, we can't stop there. How can we be sure that this great God is on our side?

At this point we start to realize that throughout our lives we've ignored God, and acted as if He didn't exist. We've enjoyed all that He has created, but we have never acknowledged the Creator. We've known right from wrong many times, and chosen to do wrong, even by the standards of our own conscience. What right have we got to assume that our Creator will be on our side? We have turned our backs on Him. He should be angry with us.

And He is indeed angry. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:18-20)

The trouble is that this applies to all of us too. We are all involved in this. And God's anger is justified. In fact (this might take some pondering for a few minutes!) - God's anger is necessary, if beauty is to be truly beautiful, if love is to be truly lovely, if joy is to be truly joyful, and if perfection is to be truly perfect. God, who in His very essence has all these things, cannot ignore our offense against them if He is to maintain the integrity and unchangeableness that are also part of His character.

So what are we to do? Can God ever be for us? How can we ever call on Him to help us?

The answer is wonderful. It is the core of Christianity. God does punish sin, but He punishes it by pouring His wrath out on His only Son on the cross. That's why Jesus came. That's why Jesus had to die. It was all part of God's plan. God's Son, Jesus Christ, born without sin and having lived a sinless life, absorbed and extinguished the wrath of God for all who believe in Him. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is how Paul describes that transaction in Romans 3:21-26:

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who faith in Jesus."

Mind-blowing! God had a way of both satisfying His justice and maintaining His love to sinners who deserve His righteous anger and wrath. And that way is Jesus, faith in Him.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… 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, when 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)

So, this is the point. And I admit that it will be ever so comforting for believers, but terrifying for unbelievers.

God is the only one who can be appealed to for help with perfect confidence, BUT only through faith in Jesus Christ. That was the way that God gave to satisfy His justice and provide for our eternal salvation. And we dishonour Him even more if we fail to recognize that.

Vague prayers begging for mercy will not be heard. Realising that we have offended God is not enough, saying sorry is not enough, regretting the past is not enough. Only trusting, believing, resting, delighting in Jesus Christ will give access to God's mercy and blessing.

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)

So with God's help I aim to avoid the complacency that trusts in doctors and medicine more than the God who created them all, and to avoid despondency, knowing that God the Almighty is on my side, because I trust in Jesus Christ. I pray that I may have that faith, no matter what the statistics say about my cancer treatment.

I could quite easily end there, but there are deeper things to understand. But those will have to wait until next time.

Reflections on Hardship 5

I am writing again in my hospital bed, only a week or so after I first wrote of my illness in the 3rd article in this series. It is now Sunday 31st January 2010. When I wrote that earlier article I had no idea that the illness would turn out to be as serious as it is. I knew obviously that it was serious enough to be hospitalized and be taking fluids by IV! But I thought they just needed to do a few tests, work out what was wrong and then do something quickly - either involving minor surgery or medication - and then I would be on my way home. It was a bit of an inconvenience, and a frustration, and yes, a derailment.

But 4 days ago I found out that the problem is actually caused by a lymphoma - a type of cancer. As I write, the biopsy results still have not been fully finalized so that we know exactly which sort of lymphoma it is. However, I am told that any lymphoma is treatable, and probably has the highest cure rate of any cancer. However, that does not make it a walk in the park! The cure comes at the cost of 6 months of chemotherapy (assuming it is the type they think it is) and other treatment. This is more than a derailment.

So what will my reaction be? Do I regret writing any of the stuff I have previously written about the reasons for Christians suffering hardship and pain? How can I see a silver lining in this? What is the good that will come of it, since I seem so sure that God has a good purpose in anything that happens to His children?

Let me first of all say that I have had no desire to retract anything. I still look at hardship and suffering in the same way. Ok, this is pretty bad, and I haven't been through the worst of it yet, but I still know that God is the same God, He loves me, He has everything in the world in the palm of His hand. He gave His Son to die for me, so why would anything else good be withheld from me?

The other thing is that I admit that I cried 3 days ago. But perhaps not for reasons you may think.

I had had a really exhausting day the day after I received the diagnosis of lymphoma. It was stressful trying to work out how to tell the kids without worrying them unnecessarily, but that went well. Unfortunately I was sick and felt sick pretty much all day as well. The first time I was sick was literally minutes before the porter arrived to take me for another CT scan. I sat in the wheelchair going down to the scan with a sick bowl in my lap! I then felt sick all afternoon and had to put on a bright and cheerful face when the kids came up to visit. After they had all gone I flopped on my bed, and the next I knew it was almost 2 hours later! I got up and was sick again!

The next day was the day I cried. Somebody was telling me how people had been helped by my recently posted blog articles. I'd also received two moving messages in particular that spoke of the impact a couple of the articles had had on people. And I just felt overwhelmed.

The reason I feel overwhelmed is that God has yet again used my situation to bring glory to Himself, to draw people closer to Himself. And it seems like the weaker I am, the more that seems to happen. The words I was trying to get out while I was too emotional were something like, "writing these articles is just about all I've been able to do while I've been in here, just lying in bed most days, and yet they seem to be have been used more by God than almost anything I've ever done."

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, the apostle Paul tells us what the Lord said to him when he was facing harsh trials and pleading for relief: "… he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" Paul's response was to react with joy. He says, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest in me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults [received], in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I guess that's how I feel now. His power has been magnified so far in my weakness. And I hope it continues that way. And I hope I am able to continue to talk of my weakness, and my tears, in order to glorify God. In fact, given the grueling months I think we have ahead of us, I don't think there is any doubt that I will be able to talk some more about my weakness!

God has a good reason for everything!

The last thing I wanted to say here is that there are some people who hate Christians, and want to make us out to be arrogant moralists or wacky airheads! But when I read the New Testament, all I seem to come across is deep forgiveness, bringing radical healing and redemption, preached through people who are in themselves unimpressive and pretty weak. True Christians delight to highlight our own weaknesses so that we can show just how much God has done, and is doing for us, and show Him as strong and glorious.

I hope I always remember to do that. At the moment I just know that in my mind cancer is big and kind of scary. But I also know that God is bigger, He knows all about cancer and He knows the purpose behind it. He also loves me and part of His purpose will involve good for me and others who love Him, even if I never personally witness the full extent of it. And as Corrie Ten Boon said from within the Nazi concentration camp, "No hell is so deep that He is not deeper still."

To Him be the glory!

Why Does God Answer Other People's Prayers and Not Mine?!

Here's something I started to learn in my last big gap between jobs. It has since been reinforced, but I think it will be many years before it finally sinks in.

I can't remember how many months I had been without paid work. It could have been three or four. I was starting to feel very anxious every day. I knew it was not right to worry so much, but the daily decisions over what to do to market myself and generate leads were starting to overwhelm me. I was worrying that the money was going to run out in a few months, and then we would have to sell the car, then sell the house, etc.

I was praying specifically at the time for myself, that the Lord would help me to trust completely in Him, that He would enable me not to worry. I prayed that I would just be able to focus on each day's requirements, and that my mind would be settled regarding the future. But the Lord denied me that peace.

In our church we have small groups, called housegroups, where we meet midweek every other week to study the Bible, pray and encourage each other. For some reason normally, even in these groups, I have found people are reticent to share things for prayer about themselves that are close to their heart. They deflect, asking for prayer for their neighbour's son who fell off his bike, or their work colleague whose wife had an affair. Sometimes these concerns are genuine, and it's certainly right to pray for them. But I know, confessing for myself, that sometimes these prayer requests are designed to deflect away from asking for anything for ourselves. I don't know why! Perhaps we don't like people getting to know us too deeply. Perhaps we like people to thing our lives are a bit more together than they really are.

But for a while the housegroup I attend we managed to buck that trend. I won't say that we all completely opened up to each other, but there has certainly been more sharing of more personal and sensitive stuff. During this time, I shared my anxiety about the job situation. I said that most of the time I cover up the fact that I am worried. I am blessed with the ability to appear calm even when I am pretty stressed! And the group prayed for me, amongst others, in the meeting, and continued to pray specifically in their own personal prayer times.

A couple of weeks later I remarked to someone that I had been blessed with a remarkable peace about my work and financial situation. Nothing else had changed. I was still out of work. There were no more prospects. I was still facing financial ruin in a matter of months. But I had been able to put the worries of the future out of mind and focus on the day's requirements each day.

And I traced this peace back to the specific prayers of the members of my housegroup. Praise God for answered prayer!... BUT…

… I had been praying the same for myself for weeks before. Why did God answer the prayers of other people for me positively, but not my own?

Some Christians would mistakenly assume that it has something to do with my faith. Perhaps I didn't pray with faith, but my friends did. I have always marveled that people jump to that conclusion so quickly. It is really quite uncharitable, and not warranted.

The conclusion I came to was that God often is pleased to use the prayers of others for us, rather than our own prayers, for several reasons. Here are two:

First, so that we don't start to think it is our prayers that are effective in getting God's action. If God answered all our own prayers for ourselves, we might start to use prayer as a kind of magic spell, under our control and for our own use. We have to realize that when we pray we are asking the Almighty God to act on our behalf. It is His power that is effective in answered prayer. Another way of putting it is to say that we should not talk about the "power of prayer", but the power of God in graciously acting in response to prayer. Prayer is not powerful. God is. (In fact, isn't it the very weakness of prayer that displays the power of God when He answers!)

Second, so that we are encouraged to bond as a community and care for each other. As we share our burdens, God uses the church community to bring us grace and help. God has arranged things so that, as Christians, we are called into a new community - the church. We relate to God directly, through Christ, as individuals, yes. But God's will is that those individuals knit together to form a new community.

The apostle Peter said, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God… Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God." (1 Peter 1:9-10)

Paul says, "you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's household." (Eph 2:19) He refers to Christians as a "building [that] is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." (Eph 2:21) In Ephesians 4, he speaks of the church as the "body of Christ" (v12), and explains how this works, "speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, 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." (vv15-16).

God works through the church, not normally through individual Christians. We need each other.

I have to say that I have never neglected going to church for any significant period of my life, although there have been times when I have contributed more in terms of service and ministry. But this experience made me realize that I had never really appreciated how much I need the church. Sometimes we Christians spend much of our time complaining about our local church, looking down on our brothers and sisters, criticizing the pastor, getting fed up with the musicians, and so on. But we need each other. God has ordained it so that we cannot grow without each other.

There is much more that can be said on this. However, I will simply refer you to a chapter in Tim Chester's book, You Can Change, that I found helpful on these points about the place of the church in our growth as Christians.

From learning these things, I have made a couple of practical changes that I thought I would share with you. First, I now try to make sure that I pray for others more than I pray for myself. And I tend to ask people more what I can pray for them. Second, I see writing these blog posts as more important, because in them I can, with God's blessing, help to build up the church. So I will continue blogging my reflections as much as I can, with the prayer that each post will do just that, for the glory and praise of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Fighting for holiness like Black Hawk Down

One of my favourite films is the Ridley Scott classic, Black Hawk Down. I don't need to describe the storyline in much detail here. The point is that it's a war film. Now, many film buffs may say that there are better war films around, perhaps like Saving Private Ryan or Platoon. But I haven't seen those. War films have never really been my thing! I only saw Black Hawk Down on TV by accident, and was gripped from the moment I started watching! I've since watched it again on DVD.

What was so striking to me, and what caught my attention, was that there was nothing really macho about it. It seemed to be straightforward and real, with characters who were all different. The soldiers were not all macho killing machines with super strength and stamina, like many of the characters played by Shwarzenegger, Stalone, Van Damme, and the like. And the story did not gloss over emotional weakness. Some of the soldiers were scared, some made mistakes in the heat of battle. Bravery did not always prevail. Some brave men were killed early. Some weak men were saved. It was portrayed the way I imagine war to be: Messy, awful, triumphant, depressing, anxious, terrifying, and just sometimes a bit random.

Readers who are real soldiers, or men of the forces, will probably smile at my naivity. From their point of view, probably even Black Hawk Down is too Hollywood and unreal. But for me it was real enough!

But the thing that really got to me was the ferocity of the fighting. Once the operation was underway the American soldiers were under attack constantly on almost all fronts. In part, that is what made the film so gripping. There was no rest, no time when the soldiers could put their weapons down and relax. Even when a group of soldiers found a building in which to hide to wait for help, they still had to post guards and rest nervously in shifts.

The Bible talks about life as a Christian as either a battle or a race. Consider the following passages:

'Put on the full armour of God,' says Paul, 'so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.' (Ephesians 6:11) He speaks in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 of the way that we 'wage war,' and the 'weapons we fight with.'

Peter writes, urging his readers to, 'abstain from sinful desires, which war against our souls.' (1 Peter 2:11)

'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,' is the way Paul described his life as he neared the end of it (see also 1 Timothy 1:18-19 and 6:12).

The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to, 'run with perseverance the race set before us.' (Hebrews 12:1)

If there is one thing you should take away from these passages, if not from any other, it's that Christianity does not just consist of conversion. We often talk about evangelism and becoming a Christian as if it's everything, but it's not. There is lots more to being a Christian than starting to believe and starting to come to church! It is a continuous battle, or a race, with an objective. The objective is to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ and to glorify Him. It's about the whole of your life, not just a moment in your life followed by 90 minutes every Sunday!

What Black Hawk Down made me think was that if the spiritual battle is really analogous to a real battle, such as the one depicted in the film, then I must be fighting it wrong. Real soldiers take care to choose the right weapons, and the right armour, they choose routes carefully, plan their missions purposefully, hide from danger, avoid unnecessary risks, and fight the enemy when they have to.

And the enemy in a physical war never gives you any space, never lets up in its pursuit unless it is beaten or in retreat, will fire a shower of bullets if you show so much as a toe around the corner of a building, and will never give up hunting you down and inflicting you with pain and damage until you are defeated.

That is how Black Hawk Down depicts the physical battle in Mogodishu. Gritty, relentless, well-planned, but with plans that go wrong, under attack all the time, relying on each other, using heavy weaponry and armoury, shouting at each other to warn, protect and encourage, never giving up, being alert, thinking quickly, keeping watch, calling for backup, tending the wounded… all those kind of things.

The competitors in a physical race don't give you a head start, or slow down to let you go ahead. They pump their arms and legs relentlessly as fast as they can, with no break, with the aim of leaving you far behind.

Being honest, this is not the way I live my life. And that's why the enemy catches me so often with his temptations. That's why my sin trips me up, and I get brought down by unbelief and sinful desire. And I do, let me assure you.

I live focused on the external, the journey to work, the pressure of work and family, managing the finances, what plans I have for the future, the way the children are behaving, how to fit in more service for the church, what to make for dinner tonight. And for a few minutes every day I may say an abstract prayer asking for spiritual growth, relief from temptation and the protection or conversion of friends and family.

My life, being honest, is not one that is lived with spiritual warfare constantly in mind, as the Bible urges so often. I live like the Christian life is a picnic or a fairground, not a war!

"Be self-controlled and alert." Says Peter, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

Paul says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1-3)

There is a saying of some people that they are, "so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly use." I hate that saying. I don't think I'd be ready to admit it has even a grain of truth in it. Read again Paul's words from Colossians - where are our minds to be set? "On things above"! The interesting thing to notice, too, is that not only does Paul say that, but he continues the letter with outlining ways in which this heavenly-mindedness will affect their earthly lives, how they will fight the spiritual battle:

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming… But now you must rid yourself of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:5-10)

Being heavenly-minded gives rise to practical, down-to-earth, holiness! Oh how we need more Christians to be more heavenly minded! It's only the sight of Christ on His throne, conquering for us with His death and resurrection, assuring our own victory over death, that will give us the hope that we need to overcome the spiritual warfare. Satan longs to tear us down from the road to Christ's throne by planting our feet firmly back on earth, where we get bogged down in lust, lies and evil desires.

Here’s the other thing about being heavenly-minded - our trials, sufferings and hardships will not pull us off course, but will help us in our spiritual battle. One more passage:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

In summary, let's hear the challenge of God's Word and fight for holiness with the tenacity of a real battle in the spiritual realm. But let's fight by being more heavenly-minded, setting our minds on things above. Let's remember the spiritual battle is fought with spiritual weapons and spiritual armour, so that we may fight the good fight of faith in this life, and attain a "crown of life" in the next. We can't, if we are to persevere to the end, be lazy and comfortable with the way we are. We can't live as if the holiness and sanctification that God wants to see in us is not worth fighting for, not worth sacrificing for.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:12-18)