September 28, 1993
Nearly every school has one or more students hobbling the halls on crutches because sport programs starting in September, after a summer without them, usually mean injuries. Some sprain their ankles or break bones; others tear ligaments or dislocate a knee joint. At first, many injured don’t mind the attention their injury receives; however, the novelty of being a cripple wears off quickly. No one likes using crutches for more than a day or two.
Perhaps that illustrates why those who disdain faith in God sometimes call it a “crutch.” No doubt they remember times when life’s problems loomed large and they were helpless. At those times, they may have cried out to God for help, such as when the tornado ripped through an industrial building in Edmonton a few years ago. One survivor told me workers clutched to whatever seemed solid and everyone was praying aloud. Even though most had not prayed before (at least publicly), they desperately grabbed for some “crutches” as the building came down around them.
Who can fault them? No one. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging to God our utter helplessness and crying out to Him. They did it, at least for that moment. But their memory of a time when faith was needed reminds them of their own weakness, and who wants to think about that, hence faith is only a crutch.
This temporary faith is relatively common. The first time I grabbed that crutch was when my favorite childhood pet went missing. After a tearful but unproductive search, I prayed God would help me find it. I even promised to believe in Him if the kitten showed up. It was a clear case of a temporary “limp” because I didn’t keep my promise, at least not at the time.
In contrast, the Bible tells us we are to “pray without ceasing” because we trust Him without ceasing. That means we call on Him daily, crisis or not, and even implies we need crutches a lot more than we think we do.
From this, I see faith has at least two dimensions. There is trust in God for the crisis situations only, which I have already called “temporary faith” and trust that is more permanent. It could be called “eternal faith.”
Eternal faith could be further defined as a trust that understands we have a permanent limp. (Those who accuse us of needing a crutch are right but not exactly.) Eternal faith realizes there is a crisis not directly related to falling down under the trials of this life. It is a large problem that looms ahead and all are helpless to solve it. This unseen calamity requires more from us than a now-and-then cry for help when we feel weak.
This unmanageable crisis is rooted in the past to another kind of Fall, unlike those that merely break bones and scrape knees. Romans 3 says it like this: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Because of that Fall, we are without strength to meet the inevitable, the crisis of God’s judgment.
Those with eternal faith know we limp. We cannot walk like we ought — the standard of measurement is Christ — and we cannot make our way into eternity with God after we die. Heaven is a place of perfection and we are spiritual cripples; heaven’s door slams shuts in our faces. But He opens it for a faith that goes beyond an occasional plea for help.
Our choice is simple, but not easy: do we limp on — with or without a sense of having fallen? Do we cry out only when we feel weak and ignore Him when we feel strong? Or do we step into a walk with Him — happy that He offered us a crutch?
Showing posts with label needs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label needs. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2016
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Wise Giving ............. Parables 388
September 21, 1993
Siamese twins shared vital organs so one of them had to die that the other might possibly live. Not a happy situation. Aside from the moral and ethical difficulties of the decision made by their parents and the doctors who did the surgery, the father of these twins created another ethical dilemma.
Apparently, money donated by concerned people to pay medical expenses was used for purposes that had little to do with the needs for which they were given. The twin’s father spent some of those funds on drugs to supply a personal addiction. In this case, would those who raised the money have done more good by giving it directly to the hospital?
Granted, anyone under the stresses he no doubt experienced could be expected to make some irrational decisions. We can hope he has found help to overcome his problems. However, this situation raises a question that those who give to charity often have to answer: does giving, in the true sense of the word, mean the recipients can do whatever they please with the gift?
Imagine buying a box of chocolates for another person, only to see them deliberately destroy it. Even if we told them the gift was theirs to do with as they pleased, we might feel a sense of outrage or at least disappointment. However, if the other person had an extreme allergy to chocolate, we would think twice about giving that kind of gift. True giving wants to benefit the receiver, not harm them.
This parallels some questions I’ve had to work through when asked for handouts. We used to live in a former manse next to a large church near a railway yard. At least once a week, people came to my door with one of several questions. If they asked for food, I gave them something to eat out on the large front veranda. If they asked for the pastor (whom I had never met), I gave them a small booklet about the love of God, with the pastor’s home address on the back.
But, if they asked for money, usually making it clear they “needed” it for alcohol, I refused. In that case, I thought my charity would hurt more than help them. Sometimes I would offer a meal instead, but they usually refused my offer. They were not interested in food.
It is not always easy to refuse money to someone who wears rags for clothes and looks as if they have not eaten properly for years. Some may feel it is “unloving” to deny their request; however, I’ve learned to take my cues from God. He “loves us with an everlasting love” yet never grants us that which will bring us harm or destruction.
God is such an excellent Giver because He does love us, but also because He intimately knows us and our needs. If our intentions or plans are unhealthy, He says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
This implies two things about giving. Love must be behind the giving, but knowing the recipient and their real needs is part of the process too. For me, it was easy to assess that those asking for booze-money DID NOT need it, but aside from knowing they needed good food and a lot of care, had I opportunity, I would have discovered far deeper needs than those visible on the surface.
Because getting to know needy people is not easy, most of us give through agencies, hoping they understand whether our gifts will be misused, abused, or inappropriate. But face-to-face giving is far better. When we understand hurts and know weaknesses, we realize a gift of several thousand dollars is just too large a temptation for a person with a drug habit.
Siamese twins shared vital organs so one of them had to die that the other might possibly live. Not a happy situation. Aside from the moral and ethical difficulties of the decision made by their parents and the doctors who did the surgery, the father of these twins created another ethical dilemma.
Apparently, money donated by concerned people to pay medical expenses was used for purposes that had little to do with the needs for which they were given. The twin’s father spent some of those funds on drugs to supply a personal addiction. In this case, would those who raised the money have done more good by giving it directly to the hospital?
Granted, anyone under the stresses he no doubt experienced could be expected to make some irrational decisions. We can hope he has found help to overcome his problems. However, this situation raises a question that those who give to charity often have to answer: does giving, in the true sense of the word, mean the recipients can do whatever they please with the gift?
Imagine buying a box of chocolates for another person, only to see them deliberately destroy it. Even if we told them the gift was theirs to do with as they pleased, we might feel a sense of outrage or at least disappointment. However, if the other person had an extreme allergy to chocolate, we would think twice about giving that kind of gift. True giving wants to benefit the receiver, not harm them.
This parallels some questions I’ve had to work through when asked for handouts. We used to live in a former manse next to a large church near a railway yard. At least once a week, people came to my door with one of several questions. If they asked for food, I gave them something to eat out on the large front veranda. If they asked for the pastor (whom I had never met), I gave them a small booklet about the love of God, with the pastor’s home address on the back.
But, if they asked for money, usually making it clear they “needed” it for alcohol, I refused. In that case, I thought my charity would hurt more than help them. Sometimes I would offer a meal instead, but they usually refused my offer. They were not interested in food.
It is not always easy to refuse money to someone who wears rags for clothes and looks as if they have not eaten properly for years. Some may feel it is “unloving” to deny their request; however, I’ve learned to take my cues from God. He “loves us with an everlasting love” yet never grants us that which will bring us harm or destruction.
God is such an excellent Giver because He does love us, but also because He intimately knows us and our needs. If our intentions or plans are unhealthy, He says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
This implies two things about giving. Love must be behind the giving, but knowing the recipient and their real needs is part of the process too. For me, it was easy to assess that those asking for booze-money DID NOT need it, but aside from knowing they needed good food and a lot of care, had I opportunity, I would have discovered far deeper needs than those visible on the surface.
Because getting to know needy people is not easy, most of us give through agencies, hoping they understand whether our gifts will be misused, abused, or inappropriate. But face-to-face giving is far better. When we understand hurts and know weaknesses, we realize a gift of several thousand dollars is just too large a temptation for a person with a drug habit.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Are you needy? ............. Parables 376/377
June 29, 1993 (repeated on July 6, 1993)
A psychologist named Maslow once defined human needs using a pyramid-shaped diagram. Teachers, social workers and other people-helpers use his “hierarchy of needs” to simplify a rather complex topic. At the base of the diagram, Maslow placed basic physiological requirements, such as food and shelter. While these are important for survival, after they are taken care of, Maslow believed people find life more fulfilling if other needs are also met. Further up his list he added important emotional and social needs: a sense of security and the need to be loved and to belong.
The final, most important needs are for self esteem, significance and self-actualization or “to live up to one’s fullest and unique potential.”
From God’s perspective, Maslow’s triangle is incomplete. For starters, He would include such items as grace, mercy, forgiveness and a saving relationship with His Son. God knows these are important for peace and joy, and necessary for a life that lasts beyond this one.
God does not leave out the needs Maslow listed, however. They are important too. In fact, they are so important that He promises to make sure they are all met. He even calls Himself JEHOVAH-JIRAH, meaning “Jehovah (the self-existent One) provides.”
The apostle Paul further explains, “God shall supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” That “all” includes Maslow’s list and everything God adds to it.
Acts 17 says He gives everyone life, breath and all good things. Matthew 6 promises if we make His kingdom and His righteousness the priorities of our life, He will make sure all our physical needs are met, either through our capacity to work for a living (which He also gives us) or by other means.
While God never promises a life without trials, the Psalms are filled with promises of safety and security for those who trust Him. We are secure because He uses even the most difficult circumstances for our good. When life is over, He even uses death to usher us into eternity where we are secure and at peace with Him forever.
He meets our need for love also. Jeremiah 31:3 says: “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’”
Human love is usually conditional and not always reliable but God’s love is without strings and never fails. Furthermore, when we know His love, we have the capacity to love others beyond anything we could imagine. He produces in us love that is pure and selfless.
God meets our need for significance in an amazing way too. When we believe in His Son, He makes us His children. He declares our worth by the price He was willing to pay for us when Jesus died on the cross. Anyone loved, redeemed, and adopted by God Himself has great significance indeed.
The need to become all that we possibly can is also met by God. His goal is that we be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, He says one day that WILL happen; we will be exactly like Him (1 John 3). Who could imagine a loftier potential!
The Bible says “godliness has value for all things” because it holds a promise for both the present life and the life to come. In other words, His “hierarchy of needs” has greater scope than Maslow’s list; He adds those important to our eternal well-being. Furthermore, in love and grace, He tags to each need a promise that He will meet every one of them.
A psychologist named Maslow once defined human needs using a pyramid-shaped diagram. Teachers, social workers and other people-helpers use his “hierarchy of needs” to simplify a rather complex topic. At the base of the diagram, Maslow placed basic physiological requirements, such as food and shelter. While these are important for survival, after they are taken care of, Maslow believed people find life more fulfilling if other needs are also met. Further up his list he added important emotional and social needs: a sense of security and the need to be loved and to belong.
The final, most important needs are for self esteem, significance and self-actualization or “to live up to one’s fullest and unique potential.”
From God’s perspective, Maslow’s triangle is incomplete. For starters, He would include such items as grace, mercy, forgiveness and a saving relationship with His Son. God knows these are important for peace and joy, and necessary for a life that lasts beyond this one.
God does not leave out the needs Maslow listed, however. They are important too. In fact, they are so important that He promises to make sure they are all met. He even calls Himself JEHOVAH-JIRAH, meaning “Jehovah (the self-existent One) provides.”
The apostle Paul further explains, “God shall supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” That “all” includes Maslow’s list and everything God adds to it.
Acts 17 says He gives everyone life, breath and all good things. Matthew 6 promises if we make His kingdom and His righteousness the priorities of our life, He will make sure all our physical needs are met, either through our capacity to work for a living (which He also gives us) or by other means.
While God never promises a life without trials, the Psalms are filled with promises of safety and security for those who trust Him. We are secure because He uses even the most difficult circumstances for our good. When life is over, He even uses death to usher us into eternity where we are secure and at peace with Him forever.
He meets our need for love also. Jeremiah 31:3 says: “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’”
Human love is usually conditional and not always reliable but God’s love is without strings and never fails. Furthermore, when we know His love, we have the capacity to love others beyond anything we could imagine. He produces in us love that is pure and selfless.
God meets our need for significance in an amazing way too. When we believe in His Son, He makes us His children. He declares our worth by the price He was willing to pay for us when Jesus died on the cross. Anyone loved, redeemed, and adopted by God Himself has great significance indeed.
The need to become all that we possibly can is also met by God. His goal is that we be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, He says one day that WILL happen; we will be exactly like Him (1 John 3). Who could imagine a loftier potential!
The Bible says “godliness has value for all things” because it holds a promise for both the present life and the life to come. In other words, His “hierarchy of needs” has greater scope than Maslow’s list; He adds those important to our eternal well-being. Furthermore, in love and grace, He tags to each need a promise that He will meet every one of them.
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