The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Month: April, 2014

April 3, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 21

Job 21 (click here)
[The wicked] spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol. 14 They say to God, “Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?” (Job 21:13-15)

Reflection
Job is once again rebuking his friends and pointing out holes in their tight knit theodicy. Again and again he claims that the wicked do not always experience punishment for their sins, but are often prosperous in this life. Do we not see this played even today?

All around us, people prosper through lying, cheating, oppressing, etc. Dishonesty has become considered necessary if one wants to succeed in gaining power or wealth. Even more than that, how often have you seen someone be successful who has no regard for God… or perhaps they even mock him! Yet, their success seems to have no end.

Without meaning to do so, Job is actually highlighting for us another tactic of Satan to keep people from worshipping the Lord, namely, prosperity. Throughout this book, we have watched Satan use pain to try and get Job to curse God, but I think Satan actually uses prosperity for this purpose even more so than pain.

Perhaps the entire reason he brought pain into Job’s life was that Job was not distracted from worship of the Lord amidst all his original prosperity! Job points out to us that many people who are prosperous see no need for God. There is no purpose in serving him or praying to him, for they have everything they want and couldn’t imagine any more benefit from serving some deity.

This is what happens when we view our relationship with God as a means to some other end. If we only want God so that he will do “x” for us or give us “y” then if we already have it… we don’t need him… and if it is withheld or taken away… we curse him. Pleasure or pain brings our “relationship” with God to ruin when the foundation of that relationship is anything other than joy in God himself!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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April 2, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 20

Job 20 (click here)
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: 2 “Therefore my thoughts answer me, because of my haste within me. 3 I hear censure that insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me. (Job 20:1-3)

Reflection
Zophar doesn’t have much new to say. He pretty much will tell Job that God judges the wicked quickly and, therefore, Job should see his situation as a clear indication that he is being judged by God for some unconfessed sin in his life. Yet, before Zophar repeats everything we’ve heard so far… he says something interesting…

He claims that Job has insulted him.

Now, I’m not saying that Job hasn’t taken a pot-shot or two at his friends, but Zophar seems to especially have taken things personally. He cannot believe that Job won’t listen as he impugns Job’s honor… but the moment Job questions Zophar… well now he has just crossed a line! This is quite the double-standard!

Zophar has made Job’s situation all about himself! This is about Zophar being right, this is about him being honored, this is about how he feels when he is insulted. No longer is Zophar interested in helping Job (if he ever was), but merely in maintaining his own reputation and dignity.

We must be careful as we seek to minister to others that our “ministering” is really about their needs and not our own. I can twist nearly any situation to be about me… what can I say… I’m naturally selfish… we all are. When we attempt to help someone who is hurting, it can be common for them to lash out at us… we must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

May our chief concern in ministry not be our own honor and reputation, but pointing others toward holiness and reconciliation in Christ.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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April 1, 2014

We’re Having the Wrong Conversation About Noah

I love the Bible.

I love movies.

However, I’ll be the first to admit that when movies and the Bible come together, the combination is, most often, less than stellar. Whether it is due to being produced with a ridiculously low-budget or the narrative being altered beyond the point of recognition… things just never seem to go well when the greatest story ever written attempts to become the greatest story on the silver-screen.

MV5BMjAzMzg0MDA3OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTMzOTYwMTE@._V1_SY317_CR0,0,214,317_So, by this point, you are expecting me to denounce Hollywood’s latest attempt at a Bible to film adaptation… Noah. Yet, if that is your expectation, I’m afraid you are reading the wrong blog.

Now, perhaps you think I’m going to defend the film and decry the “overly conservative” people who have been in an uproar all over every form of social media. Again… you’d be wrong.

For several days now I have been watching the back and forth between those who are so upset over the inaccuracies in the film that they literally want to burn the master copy… and those who think that is not only an over reaction, but detrimental to the reputation of the Church. The battle between both sides has left the blog-o-sphere battle ground quite bloody… and this whole time I’ve been constantly thinking…

…we are having the wrong conversation about Noah.

Let’s be honest, do we actually think that Hollywood (or even independent Christian film-makers) will ever translate a story from text to screen in a manner that satisfies every critic? Will they ever be able to get all the details right? No. They couldn’t even if they tried. Further still, we should expect by now that the more mainstream a film, the more it will depart from the Biblical narrative. We should know the Bible is going to viewed as inspiration for a film loosely based on it’s account, instead of being looked at as a screenplay in and of itself. These facts should not shock us.

Also, we know that we cannot stop Hollywood from making films like Noah. No amount of protests, angry blogs, or boycotts will bring the money making movie machine to a halt. In fact, bad press will ultimately only help the box office numbers as no one wants to be left out of seeing this year’s “most controversial film.”

In light of this, I wonder why we pour all of our conversational energy into things we know will not change. Why do we fixate on how inaccurate a film is or how we should boycott it? The primary problem with these conversations is they do not have the power to change anything. I’m interested in conversations that transform and I think that is exactly the boat we are missing as the Noah film sets sail in our theaters (all puns intended).

The beauty (and yes, I meant to use that adjective) of all Bible based films, no matter their inaccuracies, is that they open doors to conversations to which people are typically closed off.

That neighbor who thinks your faith is wack, your family member who avoids everything except surface level conversations, the co-worker who will never accept your invitation to worship with you… all of them are willing to talk about movies they’ve seen. People who would never look at a Bible or listen to anything you have to say after you mention the name Jesus, will sit and discuss Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Noah over lunch. How are we missing the opportunity to have these conversations?

We are so preoccupied with bashing these kind of films that we cannot see the opportunities they create for us. Take Noah for instance… it would not be difficult within a conversation about this movie to begin talking about the nature of good, evil, and justice. You could easily talk about judgment and salvation… and in no time flat you arrive at the cross and the gospel! That is a conversation that has the potential to transform!

I’m not endorsing the movie (or any movie)… I’m not denouncing the movie. I’m not asking you to see the movie (I will, so that I’m equipped to talk about it). I’m asking all of us to see the opportunity to talk about more than a movie. We have the opportunity to talk about the gospel!

Anytime Hollywood and the Bible collide, I don’t see it as a chance for us to proclaim the bad news of the box office… I see it as a opportunity to proclaim the good news of the Bible… the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

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