Jesus can bring out the worst in us

One of my favorite messages from social media this year said, “I’m not adding this year 2020 to my age. I did not use it.” 

I heard another of my favorite messages last week on a Christian radio station. The host said, “If something or someone brings out the worst in you, then recognize the worst that is in you, and do something about it.”

Independence Day 2020 

Last March, when we first began dealing with all these germs, did you picture yourself wearing a mask in July? 

We probably should have, but, generally speaking, we didn’t expect this to last so long. However, to be blunt, the Santa at the mall this Christmas will probably be wearing a mask. Entrepreneurs: get those Christmas 2020 shirts ready. 

Never mind, we won’t want to wear them! 

There won’t be huge family picnics this July 4th or baseball games with fireworks, even though we could really use some happy reminders to celebrate America this year. The truth is, we are blessed to live in this country, even during its worst days.  

We need to celebrate Independence Day, but maybe with an expanded focus. 

We need to celebrate our most significant freedom. 

Jesus came to offend people 

People will always have differences this side of heaven. We know that, but we should also expect that. 

One of Satan’s favorite tools is comparison. If we notice the differences, we automatically begin to choose which we prefer. Those thoughts lead to what we believe is best, and then we seek to prove that what we believe is best. 

Jesus entered the world in a hostile period of history. The Jewish nation believed they were better than the Gentiles. The Romans believed they were better than almost everyone. Those emotions led to arguments, slander, prejudice, and oppression.  

Jesus chose to enter the world during political and social unrest. His ministry caused a revolution. He didn’t take anyone’s “side,” and his preaching was offensive to almost everyone. 

Jesus taught everyone that no one was “right” and everyone was wrong—except him. It is easy to understand why most people were offended by his teaching and considered him dangerous. 

Imagine if Jesus preached that message today! 

Jesus was offensive for a good reason 

Early in his ministry, he was speaking at the temple to a group of Pharisees and other Jewish men. He told them, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). 

They questioned his words, saying, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” (v. 33). 

The Jewish people were offended by Jesus’ suggestion that they were not “free.” They were Abraham’s descendants, which, in their minds, meant they were superior to anyone who wasn’t. 

Jesus then taught the Jewish people one of the most significant truths in Scripture: “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (vv. 34–36). 

Jewish people believed they were right because they were part of Abraham’s bloodline. Romans believed they were right because they were more powerful, more educated, and often wealthy. Gentiles believed in whatever felt right to them personally. 

Jesus taught that no one was right unless they were righteous. Then he taught them how to be righteous. Jesus needed to offend everyone so everyone could understand their offenses. It is that humility that taught people they needed salvation. 

Let Jesus bring out the worst in you

Jesus wants to cleanse our lives from the sins that enslave us to the world’s standards, the world’s thoughts, and our reactions to the things of this world. If the sinful things aren’t part of our lives, then the world’s moments can’t bring those things out of us.  

The goal is to be holy; it always has been. Throughout the Bible, God’s word to his people has always been, “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). 

Jesus said, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34), and Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

Everyone needs Jesus to bring out the worst in us. If Jesus brings the worst out in us, then it won’t be there for someone or something else to draw out. 

July 2020 

This is a good month to consider our freedoms and be grateful. But a lot of Americans only think they are free. The important questions are why do we believe we are free, and what does that freedom require of us? 

Henry David Thoreau said, “That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”  

Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). 

The question for Independence Day 2020 is: What freedoms are we able to celebrate? 

We live in a democracy where people are free to speak, act, and choose. But we aren’t really free without self-discipline. We are free to make this country a better place, and, sadly, we are free to do the opposite. 

No one can be truly free apart from freedom in Christ. 2020 has been a powerful illustration for the truth of God’s word. The world has brought out the worst in many of us. The good news is that we know the worst is always hidden in us—unless Jesus brings it out first. 

Biblical independence 

Do you want Jesus to bring out the worst in you? 

Scripture teaches us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). 

It isn’t hard to get rid of the worst in ourselves. The challenge is to maintain our independence.  

We can take the trash out today, but there will be more tomorrow. The good news is that it will always get picked up and hauled away. We don’t have to keep it around. 

Some people will not want to think about 2020 because they didn’t “use it.” For others, it may become one of the best years of their lives. It just depends on what 2020 brings out of us. 

May we pray for and achieve the independence Jesus came to give.

Truly Free

My husband, Jim, opened his most recent sermon with a poem by Kenneth Kaufman entitled Three Tame Ducks. I asked him to send me the text so I could share it with all of you. 

This week we celebrate the freedom most days we are free to take for granted. It’s good to be reminded of and honor those for whom “freedom wasn’t and isn’t free.” A lot of people have sacrificed their lives for this country so the rest of us could “rest” each night, safe and fairly certain of what tomorrow will bring. 

That is why I wanted to share Three Tame Ducks with all of you. I don’t really know what Jim spoke about, right after he shared it with us. My mind instantly headed down a different road, one I think I am supposed to write about this week.

Three Tame Ducks

There are three tame ducks in our backyard

Dabbling in mud and trying hard

Of the overflowing barnyard store.

To get their share and maybe more

Satisfied with the task they’re at

Of eating and sleeping and getting fat

But whenever the free wild ducks go by

In a long line streaming down the sky,

They cock a quizzical puzzled eye

And flap their wings and try to fly.

I think my soul is a tame old duck

Dabbling around in barnyard muck,

Fat and lazy with useless wings.

But sometimes when the north wind sings

And the wild ones hurtle overhead,

It remembers something lost and dead,

And cocks a wary, bewildered eye

And makes a feeble attempt to fly.

It’s fairly content with the state it’s in,

But it isn’t the duck it might have been.

God made us soar.

I was looking out of the windows at the beautiful view behind our chapel, right after Jim had read this poem to our chapel crowd. I saw a huge hawk flying, actually floating, on the wind. It barely had to flap its huge wings because the strong breeze was keeping it aloft. 

That bird knew the only thing necessary was to face the right direction and it would be carried along. I compared that bird to those ducks in the barnyard I had just heard about. 

They’d spent the day scratching on the ground for as much as they could find while that hawk barely flapped its wings, satisfied it had enough.

Are we satisfied?

I couldn’t help but wonder if Christians today are satisfied to “stay in their barnyards” even though they know God has called them to fly. Are we using our freedom of choice to choose complacency? 

If you are like me, it’s just easier to scratch the ground with the other ducks than try to fly. 

My thoughts went to the often quoted verse from the prophet Isaiah that says, “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). 

We see that verse on cards, plaques, and beautiful pictures to hang on our walls. It is meaningful as a “standalone” but so much more impactful when read as a conclusion to a crucial chapter of Isaiah. 

Isaiah wrote to bring comfort to the Jews still held in captive in Babylon. He told them Israel’s sin had been paid for; that a voice was calling in the wilderness to prepare a way for the Lord; that the glory of the Lord would be revealed; that people are like grass that withers and fades, but the word of God endures forever. He told the people to lift up their voices and proclaim the Sovereign Lord’s power, and then he described the Savior that Jesus would one day be and the omnipotent God who has no equal.

Are we using our freedom well?

Isaiah 40 concludes with the words that crossed my mind after I’d heard the poem. I was watching that hawk soar and comparing it to the tame ducks described in the poem. I had been considering this blog post earlier that day and thinking about what I would say for the week of July Fourth.

We celebrate our freedom. But the same freedom that gives me the right to worship and write this blog post is the same freedom that “Gay Pride” parades were afforded. The same freedom that allowed me to sing praise to God on Sunday morning allowed for their speeches. The same freedoms God has afforded us allow each person the freedom to reject the One who created the concept.

The question I had to ask myself is the question I offer each of you: As a Christian, am I sharing my message as freely and as boldly as those who march in rainbow-colored outfits? Am I as passionate about my “cause” as they are theirs? 

Isaiah wrote, “Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom” (Isaiah 40:27–28).

We do grow tired, but he gives strength.

Did you find yourself complaining about the news this past weekend? 

I did. 

But I realize now that they are free to march, free to speak, free to rally, and free to sin. God gave them the freedom to choose, even if it meant they would misuse their freedom. 

To complain is to be held captive by their sin instead of using our freedom for a better purpose. But don’t you just feel tired of the fight? Especially now that it seems we have lost the battle? 

Isaiah says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall” (40:29–30). 

It’s okay to admit you are tired of trying; it’s just not okay to stop trying. 

Why? 

Because “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (40:31). 

If our hope is in God, we need to choose his strength for the journey. It’s the only way we will be strong enough to fly.

Our hope is our freedom.

God never promised we would win. He did, however, promise he would. 

To complain is to be like the Israelites in captivity: living with the promise of freedom, unable to enjoy its benefits. It’s like watching the birds that fly overhead but choosing to scratch that barnyard mud. 

To use our freedom—to share our gospel message—with a holy passion is to give up the barnyard fight and decide to fly instead. Our job isn’t to win. That is God’s job—and we already know how the fight turns out.

Live proudly.

We are free to live with pride as well. We just have to quit scratching in the mud for the victories this world has to offer. 

We have better, higher ways to use our energies. Look up and speak up. And don’t grow weary. We are free to live above the barnyard, and he gives us the strength to fly above the mess. 

Just remember, he also gives us the freedom to make that choice. 

How will you use your freedom today?