No Translation Needed

My favorite and only uncle is dying in San Francisco. He and my mom (his "big sister") have had a 75-year dialogue about God. My uncle heard so much silliness and ugliness on the subject when he was growing up that he opted to throw out any hope of God's existence. My mom has a deep, abiding faith in the power, glory, love and wisdom of God.

I can sympathize with my uncle. Often, when I view my own behavior as a believer, I can understand why the world is angered by my appeal to them to "accept Christ." Why do those outside Christ's church often seem more loving, more balanced, more godly than those inside the church?

There's several things going on here:

1) Often, those who come to Christ are those who have completely ship-wrecked. When they finally recognize God, they are feeling (or really are) completely and utterly helpless: not a trace of success, not a hint of dignity, not a whisper of hope that anything will ever become of them. You know the ones, the Mary Magdalenes, without any self-restraint. And then there are others who have everything heart could wish for, but instead, they wish themselves dead. (This might be the case with multiple millions who look like they are really together, when viewed by outsiders.) There are also the ones who are just "eating ice cream," because it is the only comfort in life.

All three types screw up their lives, and end up in a gutter, either literally, or the gutter of the "respectable status quo," where they finally hear "a still small voice" saying to them, "Hey, you there, this is your Father. I'm here for you." And so they believe. They have all these bad habits, and there they are in the church. And the world sees them and says, "Ick, if that's Christianity, I don't want anything to do with it."

But only the Father knows how they are doing with the light He is giving them. We don't suddenly become a Paul, (who said he never sinned against his conscience), when we've been sinning against our conscience all our lives. Being a Christian is a process, it's a "growing up" into a child of God. Man cannot judge these things rightly.

2) Sometimes, those who are really workers for God are besieged by the enemy of souls. They get no rest day or night, because they are warring against His Demonic Majesty. They make mistakes; (the devil makes sure of that); the devil brings powerful forces of evil to rail against them and sometimes they buckle and the world laughs and says, "Where is your God?" Just take a look at the story of Job if you want a "for instance" of how the devil tempted that righteous man.

3) Then there's the fact that the Devil already has the ones who aren't surrendered to God. His Satanic Majesty doesn't have to bother with them. They are already his. If we aren't on Christ's side, (no matter how bizarre or hypocritical it might look to non-believers), then we belong to Satan.

4) Often, those "in the church," are not really "in Christ." To be "in Him" is perfect peace, it is victory, hope, love. To be truly "in Christ," is to live the victorious life, no matter how many times one falls. To be truly "in Christ," is to have and reflect His love, to understand and do His will. It takes time for the providences and miracles of God to work themselves out in our lives. Are we having that experience?

I sent an email to my niece, to accompany the red roses for my dear uncle, with the quote, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Psalm 103:13. She replied: "I must say, I have a hard time understanding the verses you sent. I'm sure the thoughts are kind and meant to be soothing, but it's as if I'm reading Greek...No need for translation though, I have my own beliefs. I hope your beliefs are soothing to you at this time."

Dear Reader, I hope your beliefs are soothing to you. But we need to be more than soothed. We need to be saved.