Men of Faith—Hearing the wisdom of those before us

Today at the Rethink Conference I have had the privilege of listening to several men of faith. Men whose faith journeys began 30, 40, 50 years ago or more. Men who have lived lives of integrity in obscurity and much adversity, and later, in the critical glass bowl and fickle tightrope of global Christian leadership.

Because my background has been with grassroots church plants ministering to college students and young adults, and I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, I haven’t had much exposure to some of the giants of Christianity who have mentored many of the influential leaders in church today. Now as I reflect on the day, Hebrews 12:1-3 comes to mind—

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

The Message

What I was struck by as these veterans got up and threw a room full of church leaders the heart and soul of their life’s message, their life’s understanding of what’s important for us to hear, is the repearted motif of regularly getting back to the basics.

One man, a “pastor to pastors”, reminded us of Paul’s plea with Timothy to flee danger, temptation, idols, immorality, and materialism. This speaker ached for us to maintain our intimacy with God, and not to lose that intimacy in the busy-ness of ministering.

Another man inspired us with a reminder of the transformative power of Christ in a person’s life. Of being more interested in making disciples who are transformed by the message of good news than to count how many faceless crowds we’ve told about Christ. He shared how when we share the truth of the gospel, it’s message is understood by the human heart, it is the only spiritual message where a personal God breaks through to our world and brings us redemption and therefore, hope for eternity.

A counselor told us about a downward spiral towards addiction and idolatry we are vulnerable to when we are in times of pain. He concluded with the idea that our freedom is found in coming once more to a place of powerlessness in ourselves to make things better, and falling back into the love of God. He ended quoting Galations 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

One of the first things this morning, one of the men who has had tremendous influence in America and beyond, who recently passed into his 80’s, said how much he’s enjoying his 80’s. How his understanding of the gospel is continuing to deepen and mellow, not becoming liberal, but more laced through with grace.

I pray that we, surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses as these and those who’ve gone before them and are in heaven, can see our roots grow deep into His love, deep into His grace, deep into His truth, and live boldly for Him in our confusing, sticky, painful, wonder-filled days on earth. I pray that we can find encouragement from others who have gone before us, that we can somehow accept their wisdom and not have to learn every hard lesson personally. I pray especially that your heart and mine can absorb the amazing “yes” of Christ:

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22

or as this same passage says in The Message:

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

I pray we can rest in God’s promise to bring us to completion.