The Battle of the Tenses

Reference Passage:

Philipians 3:7-21 (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Read the whole passage here

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For an average Indian, cricket is more than a game. It's status in India gives the impression that, together with haemoglobin, cricket is an essential component of Indian blood. Even children dream of stepping into the boots of Sachin Tendulkar, and flaying the bowling attack all across the outfield. Team India, led by  skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captured the World Cup this year and quenched the thirst of a nation running high for years since the last triumph in 1983. Yet, a recent tour of England brought our Galacticos crashing to planet Earth, playing a string of matches that have been labelled 'forgettable'. The reason is obvious: failure is a bitter pill. Nobody wishes to dwell too long on the memories of past losses.

The question before us is : is God asking us to ignore the past, so that we can feel comfortable enough to pursue the promises of tomorrow? The issue is a significant one, because it influences the presentation of the Gospel, and the knowledge of God's will for fallen man. The believer is being assailed on all sides with ideas that are potentially liberating by appearance. These days, it is commonplace to coax newbies into thinking that God would eagerly wink at our past, and welcome us into His house with open arms. After all, isn't He the one with the ultimate 'I-don't-care' attitude? Wrong.

History is bound to be repeated by those who neglect it. Every imperfect human being has a past record of failures and losses, that must be examined responsibly if any lasting difference is to be made. We must acknowledge that sin is not the mere result of someone's biological blood flowing through our veins, as many have come to believe. Nor does believing in Christ do anything to our vertebrate heart made of cardiac muscle. It is the absence of God's life-giving Spirit from our lives and the world system to which we belong, that keeps us detached from spiritual reality and drains us of every likeliness to God's image with which we were created. There's a throne in our lives that ought to have been rightfully yielded to the King of kings. Our reluctance to do this has repeatedly allowed history to block our progress.

On the other hand, what we really need to shake off is the complacent cobwebs of past success. Growing experience of success pulls the brakes on our momentum because we are so busy celebrating our yesteryears and foreseeing the next anniversary. We fail to humbly see the challenges of the future. Don't we act like we have 'seen-it-all' and there are going to be no more surprises in our spiritual experience?  Knowledge is quite different from understanding, although they sound like synonyms. Reading the Bible cover-to-cover or learning at a theological seminary may help absorb vast amounts of factual information. Nevertheless, realizing the purpose of God's call upon our lives and tuning ourselves to fit that role, is something else. When learning is supported by conviction, the student has entered the realm of understanding.

For example, heaven, at best, sounds like a distant dream to us but we're hardly bothered. Salvation has been reduced to a set of procedures, and no one is surprised. Our weekly church services are more akin to club meetings, featuring the local talents live. What a far cry from being the Body of Christ where members complement each other, feel each other's pain, and serve a single objective! It sounds great to talk about the revival of the 50s and the passionate 70s. In fact, we use this to question the status quo and long for the 'good old days' to return. Yet, there remain doubts surrounding the 'freshness' of the questioner's own experience. Do we have something new from the Lord today, when we point our fingers at someone else? You see, there is no point advertising a product that's unavailable in stock.
All this, and much more, tells us that the Christian Church, leaders and followers alike, are cushioned in the chambers of knowledge while conviction and understanding is largely lacking.

There's also something else to look out for. At times, the conflicts of the present compel us to stop. If our faith has led to today's troubles, we think to ourselves, why should we struggle endlessly? Suddenly, we give up all the grand plans, and our enthusiasm fades away. The disciples in the rough sea had already given up hope, which is why even Jesus in the distance, looked like a ghost to them. It becomes a mammoth struggle to row against the wind, and every pull of the oar is heavier than the previous one. Nevertheless, our Lord doesn't fail to show up, if necessary, even in the fourth watch of the night, His calm voice and authoritative presence bringing swift deliverance. Which is how we managed to suvive the last time! Surely, He won't fail us this time either.

The Christian's upward call is a continuing process of learning and practising the nature of Christ. There remain lots of unexplored territory in our quest, and we must not allow our past or present, whether failure or victory, to drag us down. To forget where we belong, and to divert our focus onto earthly things will be the biggest shame of all. The glory of our future lies in the undying love of the Saviour who called us to Himself, and His power will bear us all the way to the finish line and beyond. 

Digging deep for Eternity

Reference Passage:

Luke 6:49 (NKJV)

"He who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. 

And the ruin of that house was great." 

Read the whole parable here

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"I am the power that lifts the world's head proudly skywards, surpassing limits and expectations. I am Burj Khalifa." 

So runs a proclamation on the walls of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai. Towering over Dubai's landscape at a height of 828m, built at a cost of USD 1.5 billion and shattering several world records in one go, we would be compelled to think likewise. However, the Burj's completion co-occured with the financial crisis, that took the wind out of the sails of Dubai's sky-high dreams. As lavishly ornate office and residence spaces remain unoccupied, I wonder which - an inward look or a skyward one -  would be more appropriate. My thoughts turn to the construction of an edifice that the Lord Christ envisioned in the parable of the two builders.

The wise man's wisdom may not have been obvious when he commenced his task. His engineering design focussed on reaching deep into the earth for a solid foundation. The cons of such an approach aren't too difficult to spot. If time is money, going deep would cost a fortune. This is why the pursuit of spirituality fails to appear in our time-tables. Why should one waste time reading God's Word, when the mall's winter sale ends tomorrow? Although preparing for the exams hardly bothered us when the schedule was announced, there's always the eleventh hour, even if this means missing Church meetings to study.

At times, our protagonist finds himself lonely because digging deep into matters of faith is now culturally unpopular. Others fail to understand why he's so hyped up about following an unseen Nobody, whose role seems to have been successfully substituted by the twenty first century technologist. His questions on life after death, are comically plastered on advertisements for life insurance – "What would they do if you died tonight?" All of this, still can't shake his core belief that God has much more to do with the foundations of the human civilisation, than any other manmade substitute.

Nature has its unique quality control mechanisms to test how well we build ourselves. The floods came crashing and screaming, its hands pushing the house with great strength. Those were dark days for the wise man, as pain and doubt attempted to crush his labour of faith in a moment. However, with every passing minute, the strength of his Rock foundation was shining ever brighter. Ultimately, the torrent gave up; in the dawn of peace, the house was still standing for the Rock of Ages had once again proved He was simply unbeatable.

Another man began his own construction project, although in different taste and spirit. Not that he didn't want to build, but he had a peculiar habit of hearing God's advise, yet doing nothing about it. In this context, most of us aren't very different in our approach to God's Word. It barely takes moments for the latest sermon to vanish from memory, more so because we feel there's no accountability involved – pastors dont conduct surprise tests anyway. The consequence is a shallow spiritual experience that appears like a better structure, at a lower price. Its a shame that we delude ourselves in the sunshine, that those days of darkness would never visit our soul, in spite of the certainity that our Teacher has pointed out.

The unforgiving floods came knocking one day, and the knees of the foolish man followed suit. His design was clearly unready for such difficulty levels. This house could not match the assault, and soon began to crumble under the crushing blows of the tempest. The hidden weaknesses of the structure gradually emerged. Worse still, the storm was taking away even the little that remained, and leaving behind a desolate ruin – completely exposed and vulnerable. The material loss was only a part of the toll; the ensuing shame and dishonour was a far greater casualty. Take an example - over and over again, Christian grandstanding on love has been rich in expression, while practical meaning in the fundamentals of human relationships go unheeded. The strain is already showing in our family lives and Church associations. Does it ever bother us that our sacrifices in the name of religion, might actually come to nothing if our 'house' fails to stand up to the tests of life?

Both builders had something in common – the desire to live progressively. Both of them had major losses at different stages in life, the distinctive difference being the nature of loss – one lost the temporary to gain the Eternal, while the other grabbed the temporary, and missed the Eternal. Furthermore, their fiery trials revealed vastly different results – the unapparent strength of the wise, and the hidden weakness of the foolish.

Each day, our faults prompt us to dig even deeper into the Rock for potency to conquer all. When the silence of loneliness bothers us in the depths, may the thoughts of the Cross soothe our soul – for there, lay the rejected Saviour who saved many, yet the One whom none would save. Indeed, He is the Rock of Ages, cleft to hide sinners from the violent storm of Divine judgement and the sure foundation of His Church, their eternal hope of glory in a world tottering on the brink of self-destruction.