Loyalty or Obedience: The “Joab Factor”

by | Feb 8, 2015 | Obedience, Warriors of the Way

Can you have loyalty without obedience, or obedience without loyalty?

Imagine a situation where a dedicated high-ranking military officer is loyal to his commander in chief, but disobeys his orders,  or he obeys orders, but is nevertheless disloyal. It may be hard to imagine, but it can happen – and such was the career of King David’s leading general, Joab (2 Samuel 8:16, 20:23; 1 Chronicles 11:6, 18:15, 27:34).

Joab served David well, following every order much of the time and showing loyalty to David much of the time – as when his son Absalom rebelled (2 Samuel 18:1-33). But Joab also repeatedly disobeyed David in killing his rivals, Abner  (2 Samuel 2:13-32, 3:27) and Amasa (2 Samuel 20:8-13, 1 Kings 2:5), and was also disloyal in following David’s rebellious younger son Adonijah (1 Kings 1:1-27).

The strange truth is that Joab was both loyal and obedient, just not always at the same time. I call this the “Joab Factor,” but it doesn’t just apply to that ancient soldier – it can apply to all of us. We too can be loyal but not obedient or the other way around. For example, at the most basic level, we can be loyal in faithfully going to church, but not obedient in keeping God’s commandments. Or on the other hand we can be outwardly keeping His commandments, but not really being loyal in putting God first in our lives.  There are many more subtle ways in which we can exhibit the Joab Factor, but we must look to our own lives to determine where that might be.

The main thing is to understand that it really is possible to be loyal but not obedient, or obedient and not loyal – and to keep in mind what God shows us: that from His perspective, if we are only one or the other – loyal or obedient – like Joab, we really aren’t either.

We may not think about it this way, but God exhibits both these traits toward us if we exhibit them both toward Him. He not only commands us to be lovingly loyal to Him and to faithfully keep His covenant, but He also honors these principles Himself:  “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).  Those Old Testament words seem to foreshadow the final instructions of the resurrected Christ to his disciples: “ … obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

God loves us and  keeps His covenant with us, and we are to love Him and keep our covenant with Him. If Joab had followed that same principle in his service to David, he would have been not only a skilled general, but also a perfect servant.
Opening the Eyes, Opening the Mind

Opening the Eyes, Opening the Mind

by | Feb 4, 2015 | Knowledge & Wisdom

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You may have known people who got offended at the concept Christians teach – that an individual’s mind must be “opened” to see the truth. To many it sounds almost insulting that they would not be “intelligent enough” to fully understand Christian belief. Nevertheless, the Bible does teach that no matter how intelligent we may be, we cannot understand spiritual things unless God “opens our mind.” 

The ancient biblical writers did not talk about opening the “mind,” of course, as that is a modern concept. Instead, writers in both the Old Testament and New Testament used the expression to “open the eyes,” meaning the same thing. In fact, antiquated as it might seem, the concept works well because our eyes are already open and yet need to be “opened” – just as people’s minds can be functional, yet may need to be opened spiritually, too. That is why Jesus said: “I praise you, Father… because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25; see also Matthew 13:13-14). 

That is why the work of the coming messiah was foretold in just these terms by the prophet Isaiah: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped” (Isaiah 35:5); “… to open eyes that are blind … to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:7).  When Christ commissioned Saul – the apostle Paul – it was to do the same work: “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17-19).

So the opening of the human mind to fully perceive and understand spiritual things requires God’s help. We may know this, but the understanding calls for the use of wisdom in several areas of the Christian life. First, in sharing our faith we cannot expect people to understand the truth of God’s word unless God is opening their minds to see it. That is something to be kept in mind at all times. Trying to “help” or force people to understand spiritual realities cannot work unless God is already calling. 

Second, we should remember that people’s eyes are not usually “opened” all the way at one moment in time. God is gracious in revealing to us what we can handle before helping us to move to the next level of understanding and responsibility. We should always remember to have the same patience with those we aspire to help in the knowledge of the truth.

Finally, we must constantly remind ourselves that the fact spiritual eyes are opened slowly and not all at once is something we must apply to ourselves daily. It is always easy to presume – at every stage along the way – that we know or understand “most things.”  But the truth is, the further we progress along the road of Christian growth, the more we become aware that we still have so much more to learn, so much more to understand.  That is why David prayed – as we should, too – “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18). It’s a prayer we never outgrow.

How Spies Are “Turned”

How Spies Are “Turned”

by | Jan 21, 2015 | History & the Bible, Warriors of the Way

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The “Game” of espionage is not only a dangerous one, but it is also a highly complex contest played between the minds behind the pieces “on the board.”  One of the greatest dangers of sending spies into enemy territory is that they might be “turned” to the other side. If that happens, then the spy trusted for reliable information actually becomes a source of mis-information and as such becomes a double agent serving the enemy.

The “turning” of spies is not always an obvious or entirely conscious thing, however. Sometimes spies are turned through subtle indirect influences which change the way they think. In some cases they may not even realize the degree to which their loyalty has been compromised. When Moses sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan to check out conditions there before Israel invaded the Promised Land, he sent twelve men who were hand-picked leaders from the twelve tribes (Numbers 13:1-2). We do not know much about these men, and only know the age of one of them – Caleb – who was 40 when dispatched on his mission (Joshua 14:7), but we might presume that was about average for established leaders in the tribes; but in any case, they were leaders and not young recruits. That fact makes it all the more surprising that we are told when the spies returned they had clearly been turned.

This is essentially what they reported to Moses: “We went to the land where you sent us. It really is a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit. But the people who live there are strong, and the cities have walls and are very large … We can’t attack those people! They’re too strong for us!”  (Numbers 13:27-33 paraphrased).

So the spies began to spread lies among the Israelites about the land they had explored. Only two of them – Joshua and Caleb – gave a balanced report showing that the land could be taken (Numbers 13:30, 14:30), so an incredible 10 out of 12 spies had obviously been compromised and became, in essence, assets of the enemy.  There is no indication that any of the spies had been directly subverted by the Canaanites, however. They had simply been influenced by sights and impressions and perhaps by other influences that they were unaware of (Ephesians 6:12) to such a degree that they were turned.   

Usually, this story is viewed from the perspective that the majority of the spies looked at what they saw and lacked faith regarding the help of God in overcoming the enemy – that they walked by sight and not by faith. But there is another and equally valid point to the story that we should remember.  Every time we put ourselves in a situation where we are being influenced negatively, we risk being deeply affected to our own detriment.  We risk being turned. That is why God commanded Israel to drive the Canaanites out of the land, because of the danger that Israel would be affected by their influence (Leviticus 18:29-30, etc.).  Unfortunately, many Israelites were influenced and they, like the majority of the spies, were completely turned.

This is where the story connects to us. Is there anything in our lives that is a constant influence for what is not right?  If there is, we should be careful not to presume that we are strong enough or “mature” enough to handle it – or think that we are unlikely to be turned by it.  The experiences of the twelve spies, and of the whole nation of ancient Israel, show that the odds are against us. Being careful to analyze the influences in our lives and turning from ones that are not good can help us to avoid being “turned.”

The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus

The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus

by | Jan 18, 2015 | Difficult Scriptures, The Life of Jesus

 
Scripture in Focus:  Matthew 13:55

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” (Matthew 13:55)

Mainstream Christianity is divided on the understanding of this verse and its parallel in Mark 6:3. Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, as well as some Anglicans and Lutherans, believe the brothers and sisters mentioned were in fact Jesus’ cousins, or children of Joseph by a former marriage, and that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life. The main argument for this view is that the Greek word adelphos used in this scripture can also sometimes be used in a broader sense meaning step-siblings or cousins.

Most Protestants believe that because there is no indication in scripture of this former marriage, and for several other reasons,  it is better to understand sisters and brothers as literal siblings.  They argue that although adelphos can sometimes mean  “cousin,”  its normal use is “brother,” and the actual word for “cousin” in Greek  (anepsios) is never used of any of Jesus’ family members.   If the children mentioned as being with Mary in Matthew 13:55 were from a former marriage of Joseph,  those brothers and sisters are not mentioned when Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem, or to Egypt, or returned to Nazareth. 

Another argument  sometimes proposed  in this context is that in three of the Gospels, when  Jesus is told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you,” he replied: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Matthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21). This is sometimes said to show that Jesus’ brothers and sisters were just disciples, but it seems clear that these scriptures are  speaking metaphorically because the apostle John wrote that Jesus “… went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples …” (John 2:12), and here Jesus’ actual family members are clearly distinguished from his disciples.  

A final issue to consider is that Protestants believe other scriptures such as  Matthew 1:25 which says of Joseph, “ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son…” and Luke 2:7 which says of Mary: “and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son” indicate Jesus’ brothers and sisters were physical siblings. By the second century, this was the position of  some members of the early Church such as Tertullian (c. AD 160 – c. 225), whereas others believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Yet ultimately far more important than any theological or historical discussion of whether Jesus did have siblings is the fact that the Son of God now does have brothers and sisters.  The Book of Hebrews tells us that we who follow Jesus since His resurrection  become his brothers and sisters in the family of God:  “Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, ‘I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters…’” (Hebrews 2:11-12).  It is clear that those with whom we share fellowship in Christ are now His brothers and sisters, as well as ours.

Is It Really That Bad?

Is It Really That Bad?

by | Jan 14, 2015 | Positive Living

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“I have experienced many awful things – most of which didn’t happen.”  –  Anonymous

You have doubtless heard the old story about the optimist and pessimist having coffee together. When the optimist told his friend, “You always think the worst will happen and then it usually doesn’t,” his pessimist friend replied “Yes – see how well it works!”

It’s a silly story, but it makes a point. Even people of faith are often guilty of presuming the worst in everyday situations.  Has it never happened to you?  You don’t hear from someone you emailed for several weeks  so you begin to think they are angry with you, don’t like you that much anyway, or whatever – only to finally hear back from them that they have been ill for a while.  Or you find that the person you thought was a parking slob was dealing with a true emergency which denied time for proper parking.

These may be trivial examples, but if we allow it to become a pattern in our lives, presuming the worst can affect our relationships in more serious ways, especially if doing this leads to presuming negative motivation or actions on the part of those who are not guilty of them. 

A classic example of arriving at such wrong conclusions based on presuming the worst can be found in the Book of Job, in the form of Job’s three friends.  These friends doubtless loved Job and were concerned for him, yet they allowed themselves to presume the worst about Job’s character in looking at the limited facts they had available.  It’s unfortunately a human tendency – a part of human nature that can even be manifested in human relations with God Himself.  The Old Testament  gives many  examples of this among the Children of Israel as they encountered various problems before going into the Promised Land:

“You grumbled in your tents and said, ‘The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us’” (Deuteronomy 1: 27).

Many of these Israelites were obviously hard hearted and full of their own human nature, as the Bible shows; but  their attitude of presuming the worst remains a lesson to us all.  In fact, learning to assume positive intent on the part of those around us – and God Himself – is a vital part of spiritual maturity. Certainly we may be disappointed at times if we develop this attitude,  and we should always be wise in our dealings with others (it’s OK to presume the worst about a person offering to sell you the Eiffel Tower or a bridge in Brooklyn); but we shouldn’t presume the worst without some indication to justify the feeling.  Most of us have no problem in accepting the legal mantra of “innocent until proven guilty,” but sometimes we have to broaden our thinking to include that approach in our everyday lives. 

Presuming the worst can often be just a way of accepting our fears or frustrations without properly dealing with them. The old saying really has some truth in it:  “If you presume the worst of others, you  will all too often assume you are right.” We need to make a conscious decision not to presume the worst and to assume the best whenever possible.