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Pulling Down Strongholds – Part II

 

We are now in the early phase of a medical and economic disruption unmatched in most of our lifetimes. It has crashed economies, broken health-care systems, filled hospitals, emptied public spaces, separated people from their workplaces and their friends. This fast-spreading virus is prompting some economists to even predict a U.S. recession. This current need for social distancing is high-stakes and non-negotiable. Social Distancing, a term that epidemiologists are using to refer to a conscious effort to reduce close contact between people and hopefully stymie community transmission of the virus. We are in a grey area now with much contemplation on how we go about daily life. We’re all participants in the world’s largest natural experiment in behavior change.

 

Psychologists sometimes describe the barrier to behavior change as the conflict between wants and should. This can be described as strongholds. We know we should choose the side salad, but we want the basket of fries. We know we should shelter in place but we’re bored and want to get out. We know the Bible instructs us that we should love our neighbor, but we want to think of ourselves as different than them. When we consider our susceptibility, we fall victim to the illusion of invulnerability.

 

I’m reminded of the rich ruler in Mark 10:17 – 27 who thought he was doing everything right but was so consumed with his money that Heaven had became a distant dream. One of his problems was that he considered himself to be faultless concerning the Law. Stronghold! With surgical precision, Jesus simply touched on the one issue that exposed the greed the ruler did not even suspect he had. He should have listened to Jesus but he wanted to keep his money. He was not willing to make the change and follow the Lord if that meant he must share his wealth with others. He broke two commandments – he did not love his neighbor as himself, and he did not love the Lord with all his heart. He had made an idol of his wealth, and he loved it more than God. Stronghold! The rich ruler needed the Savior, and the financial fears the world is showing today demonstrates so do we.

 

Allow me to ponder with you that maybe. . . just maybe God is trying to show us that our dependence needs to be on him and not on our finances. I’m not saying God sent Covid-19 but maybe. . . just maybe since our finances have become our strongholds, He’s allowing us to see that finances can’t save us. Freewill individualism, the belief that people are expected to survive on their own. Maybe. . . just maybe the coronavirus outbreak will shock us into understanding just how much damage financial strongholds have inflicted upon American society. In Deuteronomy 15. God says, if you followed the Law, as you claim to do, there wouldn’t be any needy people among you. But there are, because of your unfaithfulness. In other words, Jesus makes it plain that we can (should) solve this problem at any time we want.

 

I read a post that gives us something to think about, “In three short months, just like He did with the plagues of Egypt, God has taken away everything we worship. God said you want to worship athletes; I will shut down the stadiums. You want to worship musicians; I will shut down Civic Centers.  You want to worship actors; I will shut down theaters. You want to worship money; I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You don’t want to go to church and worship Me, I will make it where you can’t go to church. “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Maybe we don’t need a vaccine. Maybe we need to take this time of isolation from the distractions of the world and have a personal revival where we focus on the ONLY thing in the world that really matters. JESUS!” 

 

The future is uncertain, the economy is in turmoil, but God is still on the throne breaking strongholds. As we approach Easter, maybe . . . just maybe we reflect on the greatest “should” ever, the uncommon love of the Cross.

 

God, we come to you with our lamentations, our worries and our fears. Wrap them in the mantle of your love. Fill us with peace so that we may share it with the world. Let us exult daily in your glory as we look forward to the resurrection.

 

In Jesus name we pray. Amen
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Pulling Down Strongholds – Part I

Dr. I. David Byrd,  March 15, 2020

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And 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 have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. . . ”                    1 Cor 13:1-13
The perniciousness of this world renders too many Christians invisible in our society. There is an assumption that only certain groups are “true” followers of Christ and represent the moral compass. This fatal flaw weakens our witness and causes nonbelievers to look at religion, in the vernacular of the young people, “side eyed“. Differences in doctrine causes Christians to treat each other in ways that cause the unbeliever to think – why would I want to be part of that? We often forget that every human and every human system is corrupted by sin. Sin causes us to place hope in earthly leaders and political parties in which no final hope exists. Moral or immoral has been replaced by winning arguments through political agendas that are creating a divided Church. We have forgotten the fact that Jesus came to win hearts, not arguments!
Please welcome our first guest writer, Robert L. Deffinbaugh who teaches us that,
“While all Christians now share in the “unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3), we do not all share in the “unity of the faith” (Ephesians4:13). We Christians disagree, in part at least, because as 1 Corinthians 13: 9-12 tells us, our knowledge is partial and incomplete. We tend to disagree over those things we do not fully know, even though we may believe we do know. Love is the means God provided for us to live in harmony and unity, even though there is a diversity of doctrine in matters which are not fundamental. Paul’s instruction on love then becomes absolutely vital to our Christian walk and to our Christian unity. If we want to discover what that difference is, we shall find it less in a distinctive semantic range of a particular word group than in the descriptions and characteristics of love given in the Scriptures.
Paul’s approach to teaching us about love is very different. He does not instruct us about the importance of distinguishing between Greek words for love. He begins in verses 1-3 by showing that spiritual gifts have only minimal value, unless they are exercised in love. In verses 4-7, Paul does not attempt to give us a very technical definition of love; instead, he describes love in a way which makes it very clear what biblical love looks like. And his description makes it glaringly evident that the Corinthians had indeed lost their first love.”
We see this today, as some Christians have adopted a self-fulfilling kind of love instead of the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. Here is what I mean:
  • Love is patient vs.  jumping to social media to pronounce it’s discontent.
  • Love is kind vs. allowing attacks and sarcasm to infiltrate our language.
  • Love does not envy vs. disguising our envy with spiritual criticism of other Jesus’ followers.
  • Love is not proud vs. a failure to show compassionate servant leadership.
  • Love does not dishonor others vs. falling into the trap of throwing shade at another person’s success to put in question how valid their excellence truly is.
  • Love involves unselfish service to others vs. a focus on every person for themselves.
Sin causes us to think more highly of our selves than we ought. And our desires become our idols; strongholds! To assume “we” are right and “they” are wrong; Strongholds! To assume “we” know better what someone needs to do than “they” do; Strongholds! To believe “we” can win souls to Christ by controlling “them”; Strongholds!
These examples aren’t for just anyone. It’s the plea of an early church leader to Jesus’ followers. His plea? That those who follow Jesus may be extremely odd because of their care and concern for all people – which is only possible as we walk in the power of Jesus.
Jesus, please help me in these areas today. I sometimes get caught up and lose sight of the fact that our identity in and loyalty to you transcends political allegiance and personal agendas. Help me to love as you love. Our love for one another should be a shining example to the world.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.