I remember a few years ago listening to a podcast by Bill Johnson (bjm.org) where he talked about “ending well”. The idea was that we can follow God all of our lives, yet we don’t always end up in a good place. Bills focus is to end well. King Solomon (read in 1 Kings) was an example. It made me think…
The wisest man that ever lived
God had given Solomon everything, riches, fame, power, yet his heart was “turned away from the Lord” 1 Kings 11:9-11. I think what amazes me the most is that King Solomon had been given wisdom and discernment directly from God, in fact God said that there was none like Solomon, and would never be someone like him. How can it be that the wisest man that ever lived could still make mistakes such as associating with foreign women? How could he be so wise and discerning, yet his heart not be full on for God? Now, Solomon ends Ecclesiastes (12:13-14) by stating “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep his commandments”, so we don’t know exactly how he finished… but the point remains, how can such a man not walk completely with God?
To me this is a sobering lesson that we watch and be aware. One thing I like to do is always look back at the basics, what are the basics of what I believe? Who is God, in the most simplest description? What is the main thing He wants from me?
The Far Place
In day we live we have contact with millions of people (potentially). We hear and see everything on the web, it’s kind of like Solomon’s wives, we can be led away from the basics of who God is. Our hearts can be tweaked. Just look at the current political climate in my home country. In my 58 years I’ve never seen such vitriolic comments as we find in social media. Everyone seems to be against everyone, we all think we are “right”. What amazes me is that I see it between Christians as much as anywhere else. I call it the “far place”, where our hearts are not as close to Him as we need to be. When I see that I have to go back to what Jesus said, I go back to the basics. When I read 1 Corinthians 13 how can I stay in the “far place”? This is magnificent:
13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of [c]prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I [d]became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror [e]dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the [f]greatest of these is love.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+corinthians+13&version=NASB>
Put the scripture above next to your latest tweet or post, how does it match up?
I believe that there are unseen consequences of allowing our heart to be in the far place… what about our intimacy with God? How does our heart affect our hearing/seeing in the Spirit? Can we trust what is coming out of us in that place (and can others trust it)? I’ve watched online influencers as they appear to get “tweaked” in their heart and the message of Jesus get mixed with other things. I’ve watched politics, religion, relationships all get jumbled into a message and it’s no longer a pure word from God.
This isn’t meant to be Carl railing against other Christians. I don’t know many who haven’t been “tweaked” by something…that little thing, or desire, that slips into our hearts and minds that taints things. I want to keep the focus more on me… I want to walk it strong first, to worry about my influence first and foremost.
How to stay on the path
How do I stay out of the far place? My first clue that something is tweaking me is if I see some news or a report on something I believe I’m right about and I get that “yeah, get ’em, that’ll teach them”, or the feeling of “how dumb can that person be, can’t they see the truth?”. It’s the place where your hear beats faster, your blood pressure rises a bit. How about this one… when you see someone or hear their name and it immediately gives you that negative vibe. That’s when I step back and see if I’m operating out of a place I need to be operating out of. Love, humility, and God’s perspective.
For me, my base foundation points to 1 Cor 13… it’s love. What genius God has to know the complexities we add to life, the multitude of opinions and view points that we see from all of us, yet his answer is simple and deep… love.
P.S. Does “love” mean we are always nice and passive? Is there a time we act decisively and with authority? I’m working on another post on that subject. Stay tuned.
