Life Without a Veil

Unusually, I'm writing the day after preaching a message. Actually, unusually, I'm writing. I’d like to blog more. After all, never have so many had so little to say to so few…

I feel prompted to write today because of a nagging sense that a message I gave recently at church (November 14, 2010) missed the mark in one essential respect: clarity.

I’m writing to clarify.

In 2 Corinthians, chapters 2-3, the Apostle Paul writes one of his more compelling descriptions of Christianity, lived authentically. Borrowing from language put in play by Pastor Ray Stedman many years ago, Paul says that life in Jesus as he has come to experience it is defined by unfailing gratitude (God's blessings are weightier than my trials), unvarying success (he always participated in Jesus' triumphs), unforgettable impact (he always left behind the fragrance of Jesus), unimpeachable integrity (he never watered down the Gospel), and undeniable reality (he actually made God-centered impact in the lives of others).

Paul makes it clear in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 that the key to such a mouth-wateringly appealing life is tied to living on the basis of the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant, while glorious, was temporary and condemning. By contrast, the New Covenant is more glorious, life-giving, and permanent. Believers in Jesus are living under the New Covenant, not Moses’ Old Covenant, and for that we are ever so grateful.

In the passage in question, Paul retells the story of Moses’ veil (Exodus 34), inserting an interesting detail that the Old Testament doesn’t include. That additional detail is that Moses kept the veil on his face AFTER the glory of having been in God’s presence had faded. Paul says that he kept the veil on to keep the Israelites from seeing that the Old Covenant glory faded. He was not being “open” about what was really going on underneath the veil.

Paul mentions Moses’ lack of openness on the way to urging believers in Jesus to live openly (or “boldly" "freely” “transparently”). The image he leaves us is that we are to live with unveiled faces.

While waxing eloquent in my sermon, I believe that I lacked clarity in what I said about living without a veil.

I urged that Christians stop pretending that things are better than they really are. My comments all had something of a negative ring to them. Well, after a very helpful conversation with my very astute wife, I have come to suspect that I wrongly beat the drum of “worm theology.” This is the theology that says, “I am worthless, utterly devoid of value, a loser in every way imaginable."

I seemed to have been accusing EVERY Christian of hiding terrible sins and failures and of wearing a veil to ensure that no one ever knows how badly they are living. As you may know, it is easy to overstate a case on the way to making a point. I’ve been told a trillion times that I shouldn’t exaggerate, but the temptation is real.

So here is my mea culpa. I know that not every Christian is hiding terrible sins. Many are walking with the Lord in integrity and are involved in open, transparent relationships where real life happens.

And here is my first throat-clearing “ahem.” From my vantage point as a pastor of a small church where everything is intensely relational, I can say with a good bit of confidence that many, many Christians are hiding devastating secrets, closet sins, and terrible pain. I long to see these folks take off the veil of secret-keeping and enter into the freedom of open living. As Paul says (2 Corinthians 3:18), such living is the start of real transformation.

And here is my second “ahem.” From my perspective as a Christian and pastor, I am confident that many, many believers are not consciously depending on the truths of the New Covenant to make impact for Jesus.

On the one hand, some are depending on themselves to be a change agent for Jesus, which is astounding hubris. On the other hand, there are those who aren’t all that concerned to make much of a difference for Jesus and His Kingdom. A lack of passion for Jesus and His Kingdom represents a culpable and lamentable apathy.

In applying New Covenant truth to daily life, I believe that Paul is getting at the same idea Jesus was making in John 15 when He said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus didn’t mean that people who don’t know Him can’t tie their shoes. He didn’t even mean that believers can’t preach sermons without Him. Both are clearly possible. What is impossible is for anyone to do anything of eternal significance without a deep dependence on Him (abide).

Were I to have the chance to re-preach what I said publicly (Monday morning quarterbacking doesn’t just apply to football), I would say something like this -

“Believer in Jesus, you may need to take off the veil of hiding your problems, pain, and sin. Don’t pretend that things are OK when your life is falling apart. Get honest with God and get honest with a few choice friends.

“And you may need to take off the veil of assuming that in and of yourself you can make impact for Jesus. Raise the bar of your expectation of life in Christ to the heights of Paul’s description (see the five marks of spiritual authenticity, above). Settle for nothing less and you’ll see that you need what only He can supply. You need the Holy Spirit’s New Covenant power coursing through you. That power comes as you live veil-less, each day coming to God in the same spirit in which you began your life with Jesus - everything coming from Him; nothing coming from you.”

The power of ownership

There was a fascinating couplet of articles in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend (first weekend in June, 2010) written by two guys with competing axes to grind. One (Nicholas Carr) argues that the Internet is making people dumber; the other (Clay Shirky) thinks that the Internet is making us smarter.

The articles are getting a lot of play in a lot of places. I’ve even seen the issue debated on a fitness site I frequent (www.crossfit.com).

There are decent points made on each side, but, on reading the articles, I came away with the following: The Internet is a thing. Like all things, it must be managed. Managed poorly, it will be destructive. Managed wisely it will be a blessing.

Carr’s article is based on serious research that tells us that the brain is actually “re-mapped” through the sensory overload that comes our way through the Internet. Because of the tempting distractedness that comes with the Internet, we think differently and (Carr, asserts) more shallowly.

Shirky’s piece looks at the unimaginably rich treasure of information on the Internet and sees the blessings of increased learning. At the fingertips of anyone with access to the web is a goodly percentage of the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of mankind.

Both articles are persuasively written. But whichever one of them is correct in your case or in mine is largely dependent on the choices we make as we come to the Internet.

Yes, the Internet can make us smarter - but Shirky admits that more people visit porn sites than www.britannica.com.

Yes, the Internet can make us dumber - but a disciplined approach to the World Wide Web that refuses the temptation to be co-opted into a 90 second sound bite approach to learning will enable us to think deeply, even while online.

The issue is ownership. Personal ownership of our mental life will determine whether the Internet enhances or degrades, benefits or cheapens, adds value or takes away value.

Noticing a tremendous tendency in myself toward distraction I’m greatly limiting my own exposure to the Internet these days and am finding increased capacity for intentional reading and writing (no ‘rithmetic!) and engagement with people. This new resolve is not perfect, but I do notice that when I stick to it, the productivity results are encouraging.

Intentionality and purposefulness and ownership are critical to mental acuity, physical fitness, emotional health, relational wholeness - and, of course, spiritual vitality.

Any old excuse will do when looking for a reason to explain out-of-shapeness in any arena of life. Only when I’m willing to point the accusing finger back at myself and OWN my own behavior is there the possibility of real change.

It ain’t the Internet. It ain’t the lack of time to exercise. It’s ain’t the difficulty of the job or the difficulty of the people I live with. It’s my ownership of the challenge that will determine my forward progress.

And in the most important area of life there is, the same holds true. The vitality of my walk with God is dependent on my pursuit of the God who has proven His passionate pursuit of me by the cross of Jesus. My response to Him through:
· prayer,
· meditation on His Word and obedience to that Word, and
· engagement with others on the same journey toward spiritual health

will result in the kind of relationship with God I long to enjoy. As James promises, [4:7] Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Killer secrets

KILLLER SECRETS

Much of what the Bible has to say about secrets tells us to keep them. If a friend shares a sacred secret with others, he's not much of a friend.

As Solomon says,
[Proverbs 11:13] He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

And obviously, nobody wants to be a talebearer!

While completely affirming the wisdom of Scripture, I have other concerns on my mind about secrets. And at the risk of overstatement, I'll say it as bluntly as I know how:

Secrets kill.

Too many times I've seen the murderous power of secrets.

Of course I'll grant that there are "secrets" and then there are "SECRETS." Keeping mum about a surprise birthday party is one thing. Keeping mum about the present you've purchased for a good friend until the time is right - no problem.

But there is another kind of secret that eats at the soul of the person who holds it.

Once, on the opening spot of the old TV sitcom Cheers, Dr. Frasier Crane and Woody were talking about some stresses in Woody’s life. As we know, Dr. Crane was a psycho-therapist. He was encouraging Woody to express his anxieties and worries, to talk about them, to open up about them. That was a new thought for Woody. He responded by explaining how he dealt with his inner anxieties and the pressures he felt. “Dr. Crane, back where I come from, the way we deal with problems is we keep them all inside. See, there is this little place inside each one of us where we can stuff our problems, and we just keep on stuffing them all inside. And when that little place is all filled up we just keep stuffing our problems and worries in there.” After this little speech, Woody turns back toward the bar. Dr. Crane looks at the ever-present Norm and says, “Tick, tick, tick, tick - BOOM.”
I’m writing to destroy the “stuff-it” strategy and to urge a secret-free life.

I honestly don’t know how I would have made it this far in life if I had not been blessed with a few friends through the years who have listened as I have told them my secrets.

The freedom to unburden my own heart of secrets has been one of the greatest gifts the Holy Spirit has given me. Secret sharing has diffused internal pressure, brought relief, helped me gain perspective, breathed hope into my soul, and blown wind into my sails.

If I were the Grand Potentate of My World (or even, Yertle the Turtle like, “the ruler of all that I see”), I would mandate that every person have a friend worthy of secret-bearing.

I would further mandate that no one suffer through a devastating loss alone, that no one endure a marriage crisis alone, that no one hide a secret addition, that no one cry himself or herself to sleep, night after night, for want of someone to hear their secrets.

Alas, since I am neither the Grand Potentate of anything or Yertle, I’ll simply urge that you take another cue from the Bible. Look for the friend with whom you can share your deepest secrets.

That kind of a friend is a lifesaver.

[Proverbs 18:24] A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.