Articles by Rob Woodfin at Heartlight

The Least I Can Do?

rob@woodfinprinting.com (Rob Woodfin) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0600

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:25-37 TNIV).

Have you noticed how cavalierly the name of God is invoked when those He created disagree with one another over issues of moral import? How is it, I wonder, that anyone could muster up the courage to sneak into Heaven and swipe Jehovah's signature stamp?

Having never obtained a passport, I rely on my intuition that Americans have become the world champs at this stratagem. It underlines our foreign policy debates and permeates our domestic politics as well. Both political parties have learned how to play this game. But, I believe the Lord deserves a position of honor a little higher than our bumpers.

Yes, there are critical issues at stake in most elections. And once again our airwaves and email were replete with affirmations that the choices were simple. But let's look beyond easy answers for a moment and consider the principle objectives.

Why not start with probably the toughest one: abortion. The epilogue to this epidemic would seem to be electing candidates who will work to repeal Roe v. Wade and then the problem is solved. Seems easy enough, but it probably ain't so. Christian ethicist Shaun Casey points out that the day after such a Supreme Court ruling, 15 states would immediately exercise their prerogative to legalize it under their state jurisdiction and another 20 would at least consider it before passing legislation one way or the other. And even if all 50 states outlawed abortion, the problem does not go away. If that were so, there would have been no need for legislation or lawsuits in the first place.

The solution to this or any of our pivotal moral issues is not found on buttons and banners. Nor is it realized by what we feel is righteous indignation, but is too often perceived as religious bullying and bigotry. And when have you ever truly breathed a sigh of relief when government came to the rescue? "The Great Society" didn't fix poverty any more than "No Child Left Behind" fixed education. While we may want to see our laws changed, such a change would not quickly fix the moral confusion that plagues our culture.

Whenever we take an "all or nothing" approach to a problem, it sure seems as if "nothing" wins 99% of the time. The reason we often fail to consider the incremental alternatives is because they require that each of us put forth a personally involved effort. We have and will prevent the abortion of far more babies by offering a safety net for mothers-to-be than we ever will by winning legal or political battles. So, do you and does your church support such ministry? That kind of ministry rarely gets done over coffee and caustic conversation -- whether that partisan conversation is angry or gloating.

Here's another example. The challenges faced in our schools are innumerable. That was true before the Department of Education was created in 1979, and has continued to be the case even afterwards. Schools achieving the most success are quite often not the ones receiving the most money. They all need and receive funding, but the ones meeting challenges most effectively sure appear to be the ones where parents and the community are most involved. Ask most school principals which they would prefer, a government full of officials from their own political party or a strong PTO with community support and involvement; I think the latter would win by a landslide.

Voting for the ideal is a well-intentioned, but often fanciful notion that can divide friends, churches, and communities. And if all we do to address any given issue is campaign and vote for a candidate, have we really solved anything even if "we win"? Rather than merely electing someone to take care of sordid situations while we dispassionately "pass by on the other side," shouldn't we consider the divine strategy of reaching out to our neighbors with our own hands? Radical!

Maybe our slogan might be, "It's the least we can do."

Editor's Note:
We believe in the sanctity of life from conception. Any country that allows infanticide -- through abortion or abuse -- or geriatricide or any kind of selective murder wounds its soul. The point in this article, however, is that we need to resist the temptation of abdicating our discipleship to politicians and spend more time and effort personally ministering to the lost and broken around us.

Rob Woodfin is a printer and former community newspaper editor. Visit Rob's blog, Peculiar Perspective."He is an elder at the Church of Christ in Kimball, Tennessee. You can email rob at rob@woodfinprinting.com

Website: Peculiar Perspective

More Than Everything

rob@woodfinprinting.com (Rob Woodfin) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500

In the early days of computers, there was a phenomenon called "caught in a loop." It meant a system had been given a problem it was incapable of solving -- such as dividing a number by zero. It would churn indefinitely. Today, if you key such a question into a calculator, it doesn't get stuck, it just returns "0E" or a similar response, meaning "Can't do it."

You've probably heard in Sunday School an illustration in answer to the question, "How long is eternity?" While found in various forms, the illustration goes this way. A bird picks up pebbles and flies them to the moon till the whole earth has been relocated; but even then, eternity is still just beginning.

How did you feel when you first considered that? It scared me! Not because I thought I might grow tired of living with God. The fear was from being unable to comprehend the magnitude; thinking about something my mind couldn't begin to encompass.

Our brains are like every other part of us: they are finite. There are limits to what we can figure out and understand. Our Creator is the one person who can actually calculate infinity ... because He is infinite.

Here's another brain buster you may not have considered. When Jesus lived among us, we know He felt our pain, shared our grief, and struggled with temptations. But, have you ever ruminated on the outcome if He had succumbed to sin? Then there would have been no forgiveness because there would have been no perfect sacrifice. Not only would He have died the same hopeless death as all the rest of us, but God would have become less than God, because that part of Him would have been forever lost. Talk about a Boolean nightmare!

We become anxious when we are challenged to our limits and beyond. Sometimes we may even experience anxiety attacks ... during a test, speaking to a crowd, or trying to decide what to do when we reach the end of our money before the end of the month. Yet the Bible tells us not to be anxious. That test may wreck your GPA or curtail your college choices. That audience may ridicule you or lose respect for you. You may not have running water to boil the last bag of pintos for supper tonight if you don't pay the bills.

Where do we find the antidote for anxiousness? We read the command, "Do not be anxious about anything ..." (Philippians 4:6 TNIV). We figure we must be too weak to be a good Christian because we do get scared and we do get frustrated and we make ourselves anxious about not being anxious. And how come we don't have the same absolute certainty about every ordinance, every issue, every aspect of obedience that some claim to have? We must not be good enough, which leads us to be more anxious.

Let's take a closer look at that passage. When Paul was encouraging the Christians at Philippi, he was rhetorically putting his arm around them and saying, "I know you're afraid sometimes, but you don't have to stay afraid. Go to your Father in prayer, and His peace, which is greater than any peace you've ever known, will be with you."

How can we trust this is true? Come to the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus (Mark 14:32-50). Listen to Jesus the night before Calvary. Can you hear His voice breaking as He asks about His alternatives? Can you see the sweat on His lip and on His forehead -- like great drops of blood? (Luke 22:44) What else could you call that but the highest anxiety imaginable! I believe He was scared -- the words Jesus used are "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" (Mark 14:34). But He didn't remain scared once He turned the situation over to His Father. He was risking everything. His failure wouldn't just lead to a few disappointed disciples, it would have rocked Heaven. But, He found the strength to take on a problem no other being -- human or spiritual -- could pretend to touch. Jesus shared the burdens of His heart with His Abba Father, and then said, "[E]verything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will" (Mark 14:36).

We are right in assuming we're not good enough. Neither is anyone else -- no, not one. And no one has perfect understanding. And we all get scared of some things ... no matter how it looks or what we may claim.

So what is the solution? Where do we find this Pi, without which we can't find our way around a simple circle? It is the greatest gift God ever gave us: grace in Jesus. It fills in the blanks. It makes up for our error. It reconciles us to our Maker. It shows us God's love.

We cry to God, "I have this problem." He gives us the answer, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Jesus took on our greatest dilemmas, solved the unsolvable, and brought us God's grace.

Thanks be to God. Forever and ever!

Website: Peculiar Perspective

Expectations

rob@woodfinprinting.com (Rob Woodfin) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Morgan Freeman was injured in a traffic accident the other day. Evidently he will be ok, which I was glad to hear. He is one of my favorite actors. Someone said about him once, "I think I could sit and listen to him read the dictionary. He is just that engaging."

In a recent issue of "21st Century Christian", there was an article by a fellow named Silas Shotwell. His thought was about praying for people by name. I almost skipped over it. I'm glad I didn't.

Too often, I think, we allow our prayer to be one of a handful of memorized poems we recite based on the occasion; mealtime, bedtime, even (and maybe especially) when we are offering public prayers. Sure, we insert the names from "the sick list" in our recitations, but often this can be more formality than true intercession.

What do I mean by that? And how dare I suggest that we can be an intercessor? Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are our intercessors!

The fact is, an intercessor is simply anyone who speaks on behalf of someone else. And any of us can do that for anyone else, at least when it comes to our conversation with God. But intercession is a personal appeal, not a generic petition.

Shotwell talked about praying with his family for a host of individuals. Frequently these were people they didn't know personally, but they prayed for them specifically. One time they prayed for each person in the United States Senate ... by name. On this occasion they also took the time to drop notes in the mail to each one letting them know someone was praying for them personally. They received several thank you notes ... personal thank you notes.

A few days later the phone rang. The voice on the other end said, "Mr. Shotwell? This is Senator John Glenn. I just wanted to call and thank your family for praying for me. I need your prayers. I've been in combat and I've been in space, but those are child's play compared to being in the Senate. I need God's help daily."

Just because we don't know someone doesn't mean we can't pray for them personally. Maybe we hesitate to pray for people in the "other" party, or for people we don't consider to be in our fellowship. Do we really want God to bless someone we don't agree with, or do we just wish the Lord would "straighten them out?"

What are our expectations of prayer? Morgan Freeman was portraying God in a movie a few months ago. "Evan Almighty" is a spoof about a modern-day Noah, played by Steve Carell. As the movie opens, the wife in this story prays that in the midst of everything going on in their lives, God might help their family become closer. Later as her husband is being transformed into this barge-building animal lover, she fears he has gone insane. Then a stranger (Freeman/God) strikes up a conversation with her and asks how she thinks God answers prayer:

Do you think when someone asks for patience He just gives them patience, or does He create an opportunity for them to develop patience? When someone asks for courage, does He simply give it to them, or does He provide a chance for them to become courageous? When someone asks for their family to be closer together, does He fill them with a warm fuzzy feeling, or does He give them opportunities to love each other.

At that moment, sitting in the theater with my sons, I found myself choking up. I certainly didn't expect to find such a wonderful lesson on prayer in that venue. I was being reminded by someone pretending to be God that oftentimes I am really just pretending to pray, reciting a script rather than conversing with my Father about the really important things going on around me.

We enjoy personal attention. We expect personal service. We are flattered when someone outside our social circle remembers our name. Shouldn't our prayer life be at least as personal?

Thank you, God, for knowing my name. Thank you, Lord, for listening to my prayers. Oh, and thank you God for checking in on Morgan Freeman. He needs a healing hand at the moment, and some folks think he just happens to resemble you a little!

Website: Peculiar Perspective