Resolve

Humans long for resolve. In chaos it’s natural for us to work towards order. We were created in the image of God, and in Him there is no chaos. Mankind has fallen however, and until we are in Heaven with the Father we will live in the tension of desiring order in a chaotic world. This grows tiresome, and apart from the peace and understanding of God this can cause us to become despondent as we try to bring order through our own strength. The United States is an example of frustrated people who are seeking happiness through their own strength by looking for quick resolutions to our longings. Songs, clothes, electronics, and material goods can be ordered and received overnight. Gratification, affirmation and self-serving solutions are mere clicks away. We’re rarely asked to wait for anything. The downside of this luxury of quickly receiving what we want when we want it affirms our belief that we have the power to make ourselves happy. In addition, we’re not often in a place where we have to deal with our longing, because solutions come so quickly. This denies us having to stop and listen to God for an answer – an unwelcome discipline in a world of instant gratification.

In The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz recounts being captured and shipped to a prison camp in Siberia, the horrors of imprisonment, his escape and trek across 4,000 miles of frozen tundra, the Gobi desert and the Himalayan mountains. What moved me was the mental and emotional demands of such a horrible experience. For Rawicz and millions of others throughout history and across the world, arriving at a place of rest, comfort, and resolve is not a reality. Faced with such turmoil, most Westerners would die not due to the physical toil but because the majority of us live in a world where resolve is seen as a right. Take away our rights, and we would slip into deep hopelessness. Not only are we insulated from so much of the sharp reality of suffering, but we’ve had it that way so long that now we believe we’re entitled to a life of ease and comfort. That’s why it’s so moving to read stories like what Slavomir Rawicz went through – we are jarred out of our lives filled with easy resolution when we are faced with the suffering of another human being. I’m writing today not to scold myself or others, but to illuminate the danger of complacency, which runs contrary to the biblical calling of a disciple of Christ.

“And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” – Luke 9:58

Jesus Christ was homeless for the majority of his ministry, and only on the cross did He speak the words “It is finished.” Upon being commissioned the disciples spent the remainder of their lives spreading the Good News in the face of severe opposition. The history of the Church is filled with people who saw that their lives were no longer their own but Jesus’, and only in Heaven would they find resolution once and for all. In the West today, the reality of living in a chaotic, fallen world has been overshadowed by entitlement and pride. Nowhere is this more evident than on Sunday mornings, when Christians gather. Here our main concerns deal with the music, aesthetics, preaching, kid’s ministry, parking, temperature, chairs, programs, etc. At the heart of most people is not a desire to glorify God or represent Him, but an opinion based on their own desire and comfort. Most people enter with a thought of “getting fed” or receiving instead of gathering to glorify God and encourage one another. There is great dissatisfaction in the Western Church today as we cling to promises Jesus never made – that we would live comfortable, suburban lives. Our self-serving nature is left unsatisfied, as the Holy Spirit does not respond to our beck and call to satisfy our whims and desires, telling us how wonderful we are. In dealing with most of life we’re able to bring resolution on our own strength, achieve happiness through satisfying our own desires, but in following Christ we find ourselves outside of the center of the universe and our selfish desires are not the primary concern.

We cannot desire God’s will without our hearts being transformed by the Gospel. Without the Holy Spirit’s movement, we’ll remain at the center of our own little universe, and Christianity will become increasingly frustrating. 2010 has been a challenging year at @V21Church for people’s individualized versions of Christianity, which in essence isn’t Christianity at all. As we study the words of Scripture and call people to become a disciple of Christ, our selfishness has no place and we’re left with a choice: Will we continue to harden our hearts against the work of the Holy Spirit, or will we be people of soft hearts who are being sanctified, or made holy, by the Spirit?