I once had someone tell me, “It says in the Bible, that God helps those who help themselves.” So I asked, “Where does it say that?” The guy answered, “I don’t know! Somewhere in the back!”
Somewhere in the back, indeed! You won’t find the verse in the Bible because
it’s not there. It’s actually a
heretical statement when it comes to our salvation.
I bring this up because people sometimes will talk about
Jesus in a similar way as the famous non-verse above. They talk about what their Jesus would or wouldn’t do.
They talk about political stances, philosophical ideas, and pragmatic
notions in ways that say, in effect, “Jesus agrees with me.”
This kind of co-opting of God and His Word makes me think of
Joshua’s experience before the Battle of Jericho. The Bible says: Now
when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of
him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are
you for us or for our enemies?" 14
"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground
in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his
servant?" (Jos 5:13-14 NIV)
God’s Word is God’s Word.
In a sense it is neither for (on our side) us or against us. In another sense it is both for us and
against us.
In the first sense, the commander of the army of the LORD’s words put forth the
thought that God does not conform Himself to our thoughts and desires. He’s on His own side. His agenda is what matters. His Word tells us where we should be and
delivers salvation to us.
In the second sense, God’s Word always speaks in Law and
Gospel. The Law is always against us,
condemning us for our sin and telling us where we fall short of the glory of
God. The Gospel is always for us
proclaiming God’s love and forgiveness for us through the Cross of Christ.
This is very important as we talk about the Missio Dei @
Gloria Dei. As we discuss God’s mission,
there is a danger that our sinful hearts will take the good works that He gives
us to do and twist them to our own desires.
All of us know that caring for the poor, helping the needy, and feeding
the hungry are good things. In Christian
love we are called to care for our neighbors.
But if caring, helping and feeding become our definition of God’s
mission, we have put words in His mouth.
We have missed what He says for Himself.
We always want to listen to what God says, and bind
ourselves to His Word. In terms of His mission,
we pay close attention to Jesus’ words regarding preaching the good news,
seeking and saving the lost, and proclaiming how to know God through Him. If we fall short of that we miss the point
that Jesus came to win people for God, and we are here so that by any means we
might save some from Hell as the Holy Spirit makes faith in them so they can go
to Heaven.
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