Every Saint Has a Past and Every Sinner Has a Future

In his novel, Father Elijah, author Michael O’Brien puts these words into the mouth of his lead character, “First of all, you let yourself be drawn away from prayer. You weren’t distracted by evil things, for the enemy knows that you have been converted from them. He drew you away by legitimate pleasures… The second temptation is of a more sinister nature. The temptation to hate yourself because you have not lived up to your ideal. That is pride, and it is very dangerous. It opens the door to much worse things.”

That quote could take this column in two directions.  The first would be a monologue about how easily it is to be drawn away from prayer by “legitimate pleasures.”  With the Christmas season approaching there would be plenty of examples I could use from my life or yours.

But it is the second part of the quote that I would like to focus on because as we move into the new year we are probably already looking back on this year and despairing of how little we accomplished or bemoaning the changes we were going to make, but didn’t. This is one of those tensions that must be held by Christians if we are going to be faithful to what God has revealed about what it means to walk with Him.

We are not what we should be.  We are not what we were.  Peter writes, “So you must live as God’s obedient children.  Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires.  You didn’t know any better then.  But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy” (1 Peter 1:14-15 NLT).  John writes, “If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves.  A claim like that is errant nonsense” (1 John 1:8 The Message).  Paul writes, “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT)  Eliphaz, in the book of Job asks, “Do you think it’s possible for any mere mortal to be sinless in God’s sight, for anyone born of a human mother to get it all together?” (Job 15:14 The Message)

While we cannot give ourselves permission to sin, neither can we hate ourselves because we have failed to live up to either to God or our own ideals.  As Chuck Leckie used to say (and maybe still does) we need to have our noses pointed in the right direction.  Paul said something similar in his letter to the Christians at Philippi: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection.  But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:12-14 NLT)

Oscar Wilde was right when he wrote, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.”  In Christ, that past is forgiven and that future is secure.  So, like the apostle Paul, let us forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead, pressing on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Sweet Spot

A pastor recently mentioned working in his "sweet spot."  This got me thinking again about this concept in American business (and therefore the American church, but, as usual, about 5 years later).  I agree that I don't want my auto mechanic doing brain surgery because he feels that's his "sweet spot."  There is something to be said for functioning in areas where you have training and experience.  What is usually meant in these conversations among pastors and church staff is that they are working in ministry areas they enjoy.  The measure is not "Am I working in ministry for which I am equipped?"  The measure is, "Do I enjoy working in this aspect of ministry and can I avoid the aspects of ministry that I don't like?"  If you don't believe me, ask yourself about the rise of "teaching pastors".  I know I'm painting with a broad brush, but has anyone else noticed that most of these teaching pastors are guys who have reached middle age and don't want to deal with the messiness of shepherding a congregation.  They want to preach and run.  O.K., I'm exaggerating a bit, but it strikes me as suspicious that a "sweet spot" is often used as the rationale for not doing things that we don't enjoy doing.

(By the way, I just double-checked using my WordSearch 9 software and there is not a single verse using the phrase "sweet spot."  I found verses with the word sweet and some with the word spot, but none of them had to do with using gifts, abilities or talents in ministry.  I should probably provide this caveat:  I only searched the ESV.  I did not search The Message or New Living Translation, so maybe I narrowed my focus too much.  I know the word Trinity doesn't appear in the concordance either, but I can't even find the concept of "sweet spot" in Scripture while I can point to passages that indicate the existence of the Trinity.)

Consider, if you will, the ministry of some of the people whose lives are mentioned in Scripture.  Noah obviously worked in his sweet spot.  He spent over 100 years building a boat and preaching.  I'm sure that brought him great joy.  It might have been a downer that he only had 8 converts, but at least he was working in his sweet spot.  Then there's Isaiah who obviously had a naked fetish since God asked him to walk around naked for three years.  I'm sure he was glad God called him into his sweet spot.  Or Elijah's call to confront Ahab and Jezebel.  Who wouldn't feel like that was the best use of their gifts and abilities?  And what about Jonah?  If God only calls us to our sweet spot, then what was Jonah's problem anyway?  Why wouldn't he want to go preach to those living in Nineveh? Just because they might repent and avoid the judgement Jonah wanted God to execute on them.  Or how about Hosea who God told to marry a wife who God knew would be sexually unfaithful to Hosea and would bear children Hosea wasn't even sure were his?  That's some sweet spot.

Maybe sweet spot is a New Testament concept.  The apostle Paul certainly lists the results of being in his sweet spot in his second letter to the Corinthians.  Being in his sweet spot resulted in "far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death."  Paul goes on to list his other "sweet spot" experiences.  ^"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches." (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)  So much for Paul taking a position as a teaching pastor.

And then there's Jesus.  You remember his sweet spot prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.  "Father, this ministry has been great fun.  I'm really looking forward to what comes next.   In fact, it's so much fun, I'm thinking maybe I don't deserve to participate, so if you want to do this some other way, I'm open to that."

Maybe our problem is in our definition of sweet spot.  I do think there is a biblical concept of sweet spot, but it is that spot where God's will and my obedience come together.  Noah builds a boat. Isaiah walks naked. Elijah says what needs to be said to Ahab. Jonah goes to Nineveh, however reluctantly.  Hosea marries Gomer.  Paul preaches the good news.  Jesus goes to the cross.  Sometimes our sweet spot may be the place where our strengths, passions and enjoyment come together.  But not always.  In fact, looking at Scripture, maybe not often.