Christianity – Page 43 – LOVE | ACCEPT

Gideon Pursues the Enemy

The story of Gideon is a tale of faith, or the lack of faith. God pursued him to fulfill his purpose in restoring the relationship between Yahweh and Israel. Now, as Gideon pursues the enemy across the border territory of the Jordan. Exhausted but driven, the warriors of Israel pursue the enemy without stop. Needing sustenance to carry on the mission, Gideon asks the men of Succoth for bread to carry them further.

A lack of faith stops them cold.

A church leader faces this all the time. God will implant a vision and a call to the leader for a particular church to accomplish and yet, when the vision is presented to congregation, the naysayers raise the heads and begin to find reasons why that could not possibly be God’s call on that body. In one light, their hesitation is justified. It will cost too much money, it will damage the reputation of the church, it will never work, the carpet will get dirty. The moment of truth arrives for the leader; will they act in faith to God and his strength or give in to the church in fear for their position. Too often, we fall into the latter.

Gideon faced both the fear of the loss of reputation (Ephraim) and the concern for safety (Succoth) but kept his eyes focused on the purpose to which he was called. Did he wonder how Yahweh would ever redeem this people?

Kairos

We as Americans are at a tipping point in our history. Our nation is roughly divided into two ideological camps; one leans toward the notions of individual responsibility with minimal interference from the a central governing authority and the other finds its identity in a large, caretaker governing authority and abdication of individual responsibility to that authority. Christians find themselves on both sides of this division with a decision to make as to whom the next leader will be. Unlike many other elections in the past with little other than the cacophony of partisan slogans and frenzied lowing to differentiate the ideologies, this event is different. It is kairos.

Some in the Christian community will insist that a call to action is misguided and unnecessary; God will place the man or woman that He ordains into this position of authority without human involvement. While miraculous intervention is always a possibility, this ‘sit back and observe’ attitude shows a profound misunderstanding of how God interacts with His world. Even a cursory review of the biblical record demonstrates that God works through His human agents, imbuing them with appropriately formed hearts and the ability to act on what is right. In a country in which we practice representative self-rule, our responsibility is to exercise our franchise based upon the ethics and morality of Christ.

This moment in the history of the United States is kairos. For those unfamiliar with the Greek term, it is a decisive point in a place, situation, or time where the divinely ordained purpose must be grasped boldly by moral agents. It is an opportune time in which human decision is crucial to the fulfillment of divine purpose. Those whose wills are attuned to divine purpose will recognize kairos, those who only hear their internal drummer will not.

Will you act decisively for life in this moment? The next president will be filling positions in the Supreme Court in the coming terms. Will those appointments be men and women who ‘find’ legislation in the Constitution or those who interpret it according to the intention of its authors? Your vote will decide the direction.

Will you act decisively for individual liberty in this moment? The corollary of liberty is individual responsibility guided by your Spirit-driven ethics and morals. The next president will lead the country from either the perspective that you are able to exercise this liberty and be responsible for yourself or that you are unable to be responsible for yourself and that a large government presence and intervention are necessary for your good. Your vote will determine that direction.

Will you act decisively to reverse deepening corruption of the culture? It becomes more difficult each day to see the imago dei in our fellow citizens. The humanity that we each posses is challenged with debasement by a pornified, violent, crass culture that is supported by an underlying attitude of moral equivalency. Cultural insistence that you or I are not to apply our moral or ethical standards to someone else, thus judging their ethics is at the root of the continued and quickening downward cultural spiral. The next president will either lead by an example of honor and principled service to others or from a position in which no morals or ethics are to be judged superior to any other system and that each should seek out whatever they feel is right. Your vote will determine that direction.

If you decide that this is not a kairos moment that needs your action that certainly is your privilege. I urge Christian readers though to review Christ’s insistence that we not retreat into fortresses but that we carry His message of the restoration of humanity and justice in both orthodoxy in the Church and orthopraxy in the world. The Kingdom exists as a here and now concept as well as a yet to come idea. In the here and now, your purpose is to be an influence in the culture, to spread your Christlikeness like yeast throughout your sphere of influence. As a citizen, your responsibility is to apply your values and ethics to selecting the fellow citizen who will lead us into a strange and new future.

Gideon the Diplomat

WordPress.com Tags: Gideon, Judges, Church, Fear, Ephraim

Fresh from living out his purpose in routing the warriors of Midian, Gideon is thrust into the position of diplomat. An intertribal argument awaits him before he has even rested:

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have your treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” (Judges 8:1)

The Ephraimites are upset at missing an opportunity to increase their personal glory, indicating perhaps that the troubles that had separated Israel from God in the first place were still in need of attention in this Judges cycle. They had not only lost their perceived glory but a portion of the spoils of war as well. Sharp criticism draws a diplomatic response from Gideon. He placates their anger by alluding to their superior status in the tribal standings. They accept this as an apology and are quieted. We expect the familiar construct “and the land had peace for x years” but God is not finished yet.

Do people who look in on the internecine battles within God’s church see a similar situation? Does denomination A proclaim their superiority over church B, not in God’s glory but in their body count or the size of their fortress? Has God’s hand been forgotten in all things?

Church Management Software

My lengthy examination of CMS (Church Management Software) is in this month’s Your Church magazine. This software segment has evolved in numerous ways and the packages go way beyond maintaining the membership roles. Some of the vendors are on the verge of creating church based replacements for social networking offerings. It should be interesting to watch.

Read it here.

Gideon Sounds the Horns

Gideon does the only appropriate thing upon receiving the revelation and assurance of his victory over the Midianites from the mouth of a frightened Midian soldier,

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped God. (Judges 7:15)

This easily overlooked vignette reminds us of our proper priorities. How often we put off the worship of the Father in response to his revelation or leading. Instead, we are only too eager to jump to action now that we are confident of His assurance of our success but there is a good reason for pausing to worship. You see, if we act immediately we are susceptible to taking the credit for any coming success rather than placing it in the proper perspective. Worship first humbles us, helping us to recognize that the assurance comes from God.

The small force that surrounds Gideon serves a similar purpose. He is humbled as his army is reduced and reduced through the methods that Yahweh pronounces until Gideon must be totally reliant on God’s power for any victory. Yahweh’s power is displayed through the small army; the strategy that Gideon employs makes his force look much, much larger than it really is. In a panic, the Midianites turn upon themselves and flee in fear.

We look to the Bible for life lessons and sometimes, they are more subtle than we would like. Its easy here to lose the truths in the action but there are profound ideals that we can apply. First, as we diminish our own power in trust to God’s power we can count on His strength making itself known in ways we cannot imagine. The second truth that the Midianites learned the hard way is that battling or opposing this power is self-destructive, a guaranteed loser. Are we cautious enough not to step into the shoes of the Midianites?

Gideon and the Tumbling Bread

In the weakened state of an army of 300, Gideon is prepared to move on the Midianites. Israel will be redeemed and freed from the oppression allowed by God to draw them back to Him. We are prepared for a horn to blow, walls to fall, and the Lord to lead Gideon in a route of the opposing forces but He (and we) knows Gideon well, and offers him a moment of assurance.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying.” (Judges 7:8b-11a)

Gideon afraid? Banish the thought! Of course Gideon is frightened; it seems to be his default state. Frightened, hesitant, willing to seek out every chance to avoid the responsibility of his calling. This is the Gideon we know, but God knows differently. He wants him to know the assurance of His presence and the power that this brings to purpose that he calls him to accomplish.

Sending Gideon to the camp is a reinforcement that stands opposite the diminishment of forces that God has visited on Israel. Gideon and his servant approach the camp under the cover of night to find the true measure of the enemy arrayed against him. They peer over the camp and find the Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the Eastern peoples preparing for battle, camels more numerous than the sands on the seashore. Gideon approaches a little closer in order to overhear a lowly soldier sharing his own fears with his tent mate. His dream showed them a load of barley bread tumbling down the hill above the camp and crushing the Midianites. He rightly comprehends that this is a sign that Gideon and his army are the arm of God himself and that their days are numbered.

We see the assurance of God in this vignette but there is another joy that we can derive from this experience. It is easy to be convinced that all heroes of God are mighty men and women of confidence and strength, leaders of their people that are unafraid of anything and always, always supremely assured of their mission as coming from God. Here Yahweh utilized not only the hesitant Gideon but the lowly private in the Midianite army, another man filled with fear. Do we question whether or not we are suitable for God’s use? Probably, but take heart. God will utilize any vessel available to him so long as our trust is put in the right place. Where is your trust?

Gideon Grows Weaker Still

Gideon was surely puzzled at God’s move to weaken his army, the band of men who were going to save Israel. Yahweh instructed Gideon to diminish his force by sending all those who were trembling in fear to go home, leaving the army twenty-two thousand men lighter. As he watched the men file away, Gideon surely thought that God would be satisfied until the word came from Yahweh, “There are still too many men.”

The fearful, hesitant Gideon is faced again with the challenge to trust Yahweh in his weakness. He is far from the bold warrior of legend, being dragged against his will into this leadership, God has diminished the force that has followed him and now, Yahweh demands further attrition from his forces. While thoughts of turning and running back to Ophrah must have coursed through his mind, the Judge follows the Lord’s lead and invites his men to the spring for a drink. It is here that Yahweh will sift them out for him.

Yahweh will sort out the fighters based on the way they drink; some like dogs, plunging their face into the water and others, lifting the water to their vigilant faces and drinking from their cupped hands. Does God favor one method over the other? Contrary to many who have interpreted the scriptures through the centuries, the text does not give us this option. Yahweh’s method and choice of the warriors is purely his arbitrary choice and we must respect it. Certainly, Gideon does. In the arbitrary nature of the decision is the secret that God wants to convey; the 300 are not a sign of Israel’s strength, they are a sign of her weakness in the face of Yahweh, the one who can truly save.

This episode in the Gideon cycle explains so much in our own lives. How many times have we followed the leading of God only to find Him putting up barriers in our way, weakening us? Probably more than we would like. In some cases, we find that after we have accepted one barrier or humbling we find another one put in our way. We question whether or not we are truly following the proper leading. Perhaps the question should be, are we thoroughly dependent on God? Are we still hoarding some of the glory for ourselves?

Gideon Grows Weaker

Finally, the account of Gideon’s judgeship reaches the point of action in its mission to save Israel.

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. (Judges 7:1)

His fearful, sputtering start is behind him now. God has shown patience with His Judge; the questions of God’s covenant integrity, the self-centered sacrifice, the undercover operations against Baal, and the hesitant deal making. Gideon and his army are now camped opposite the enemies of Israel, preparing for the battle of redemption. And, at first light, they…

…stopped to count noses!

Well, God did. When we read the account in English we can lose some of the wordplay that paints a truer picture, one that we have come to expect with Gideon at the center. Gideon and his army are camped at Harod which means trembling in Hebrew. His opposite number is camped near Moreh, a close cognate to mora’ or ‘fearful.’ So we envision ‘trembling’ Israel facing down the ‘fearful’ Midianites. As He overlooks this impending confrontation, God does something that we can all probably relate to, he makes Gideon even weaker.

To ensure that the glory for the victory and the subsequent worship are appropriately assigned, Yahweh tells Gideon that his army is far too large. The temptation will be to claim the victory of their own hands rather than to God so Yahweh reduces the force. Anyone trembling with fear at the coming war is excused and we witness 22,000 soldiers turning and accepting the reprieve. Did this decrease the trembling factor of the remaining army? We are not told but we can place ourselves in Gideon’s position. We are called to fulfill a purpose of God and yet, at every turn, the Lord weakens us such that our only hope is further dependence on Him. Do we have sufficient faith to take the next step?

Gideon’s Double Fleecing

Gideon gained a prescient new title, Jerub-Baal, as the Israelites wisely decided to allow the false god Baal to fight on his own behalf after the destruction of his sacramental objects. This gave the people the opportunity to reexamine their allegiance to this idol and their true relationship with Yahweh without having to stake the position of disowning Baal. We are witness to the difficulty that people have in extracting themselves from sin, it is nearly impossible without the divine intervention.

And God provides. The Holy Spirit comes upon Gideon and with Him the holy wisdom and courage to blow the war horn to summon Israel against their gathering enemies. The tribes recognized that this was a Holy calling and, without a second thought, they came to Gideon to begin the arduous process of reclaiming Israel in the name of Yahweh. The momentum is building, the Spirit is ready to lead, Gideon is empowered and…

He stops!

We are tempted at this point in the Scriptures to marvel at Gideon’s lack of faith as we read the twin accounts of laying out a fleece to determine God’s true intent. This idea of the weakness of faith is magnified by the preceding appearance of Yahweh which we expect would be sufficient for anyone. Our temptation usually stems from weaknesses and soft spots in our own faith. The Holy Spirit gives us a clear direction for our lives and we hesitate, looking to the heavens for a Theophanic indicator, a sign that assures us that this call is from God. When we perceive that a sign is not forthcoming, our hesitation is justified and we sit.

We join Gideon in our imperfections. In order to fulfill his purpose in the kingdom, Gideon must not rely on his human confidence but rely completely on God. The Lord is patient in bringing him to this point, just as he will be patient with our doubts. Only when we are completely reliant will he move us forward to achieve His ends.