Behind Enemy Lines

In American church culture we have a doctrine that many of us hold on to. In some churches it's an unspoken doctrine, but in some it's actually a core doctrine that is lifted up as the ideal. There are different ways to state it, but it's basically this: "The safest place in the world is in the middle of God's will." In some contexts that means that if you follow God faithfully, He will bless you with all sorts of stuff because God's primary concern is making you happy. In other contexts we don't state it that way but we basically peddle a version of Christianity that makes Jesus into a cure all & will fix all your problems as long as you follow Him.

There's a lot of problems with this philosophy, but here's the biggest: it has no basis in God's Word. I'm sure the person who coined that phrase had good intentions & was probably speaking in very spiritual terms. Yes, ultimately if you're in the middle of God's will, you are safe because He will be with you & He will see you through whatever comes at you, but that's not how it's usually packaged or received. So what does Scripture tell us about being in God's will? Scripture tells us the exact opposite. Scripture reminds us over & over again that being in God's will invites opposition & can be downright dangerous. Need I run the list? Job, Joseph, Elijah, Nehemiah, David, Jesus, Peter, James, Paul, & on & on it goes. These were all men who were seeking to live a life submitted to God's will & it was anything but safe. At one point or another, every one of these guys had a reason to fear for his life. Some of them actually paid for their faithfulness with their lives. So yes, while God will be with you through the struggle & through the suffering, being in God's will is anything but safe.

"What If Being In The Middle Of God's Will
Is The Most Dangerous Place You Could Be?"

Here's why being in the middle of God's will is a dangerous place to be: we live in the middle of enemy territory. Let's face it we live every moment of our lives in a world where Satan & sin get to run pretty wild. Paul even describes Satan as the prince of this world. We don't live in a world or culture that shares our desire to honor Christ & do God's will. In fact, we live in a world that is pretty much completely opposed to Christ & His will. So why do we think being in God's will is going to be safe? If you buy into this deception that God's will is safe, you will be tempted to judge both your faithfulness & God's faithfulness solely on your circumstances & feelings, both of which are temporary. Instead we need to judge our faithfulness by what God's word says about God's people, & we need to base our view on who God is on what God has revealed to us in His word. If you think being in God's will is safe, you'll doubt God's goodness & faithfulness when hard times come, & you'll miss the blessing of knowing that God is walking with you through the hard times.

Now here's where it gets tricky. Do we really want to pursue God's will? Do we really want to live so radically devoted to Christ that it might cost us something? Do we really want to be so ridiculously faithful to Jesus that it might get us in trouble? Or do we want a faith that simply sneaks us into Heaven through the backdoor but doesn't attract any negative attention from the enemy in this world? That may be our real issue. Do we really want to be in the middle of God's will? After all, that could get complicated, that might cost us something, that might even get a little dangerous. Here's one final word for Christians. Non-Christians are not our enemy. No, instead we have a common enemy. Satan is the enemy. Sin is the enemy. Non-Christians are still simply enslaved to the same thing that once held us. Therefore, we don't attack non-Christians; we invite them to reject sin & embrace The Gospel, to embrace Jesus. We attack the enemy, & we attack the enemy with the truth about him, the truth about sin, & the love, grace, & hope of the Gospel.

It's time for the Church to rise up & recognize we live on a battleground. It's time for the church to recognize we have an enemy, & we have people we're called to rescue with the message of the Gospel. But to do that we have to embrace God's will in our lives, no matter the cost. After all, when we consider the price that Jesus paid to show His faithfulness to us, no price is too high so that we might show our faithfulness to Him.

Where Do You Draw The Line?

People are funny, & by funny, I mean strange. We all would say that we would like detailed information or instructions when making a big life decision. In fact, those of us who are Christ followers are perhaps more likely to say that. We want God to give us clear guidance, maybe even step by step instructions to follow in order to not only make a good decision but a decision that is in God's will. This is where the funny/strange part kicks in. My life & my work with other people tell me that as badly as we want detailed instructions from God, we are still prone to end up doing what we want in the end.

1st Samuel 15 gives us a painful insight into this truth about humanity. Though we would read this passage & point our fingers at King Saul, if we're honest, Saul is an empathetic character. We know what it feels like to be Saul. We've been there; we've done it. We've decided to pick & choose which part of God's word we'll follow & which parts we'll ignore or reject. We, like Saul, give reasons/excuses as to why we don't do what God has shown us in His word, but the result is the same: When we reject doing God's word, God rejects using us. We need to understand a powerful spiritual truth at play when it comes to our faith, love, & obedience to God.

"The Line Where Our Obedience To Christ Ends 

Is The Same Line Where Our Love For Christ Ends."

Jesus makes it very clear when He said, "If you love me, you'll keep my commands." What's Jesus mean here? It's pretty simple. If you love Jesus, you'll trust Jesus. If you trust Jesus, you'll obey Jesus. Simply put, your obedience to Christ & His word is a reflection of your faith in & love for Christ. This is an uncomfortable truth. We don't like to acknowledge that our love for Jesus has its limits. We somehow think we love Jesus the way He loves us: eternally & unconditionally. Well, I hate to break it to us all, but we don't love Jesus like He loves us. Wherever we choose to disobey is a place where we're choosing not to love Jesus. You see, Scripture doesn't present an emotional view of love. Instead, love is presented as an act of someone's will. Therefore, you can choose to love even when you don't feel it, which also means you can choose not to love even if you claim to "feel" it. 

Where is that line in your life? Where is the line where your love for Christ ends? We all have that place, & we owe it to ourselves to identify where that place really is. After all, we need to be aware of just how far we have left to grow, & we also need to recognize that place where we don't yet trust or love Jesus because that's exactly the place where God is going to press into us, stretch us, & challenge us to greater depths of faith & love. So where do you draw the line?