Plotting a course

Imagine a person in a small boat plotting a course. Ultimately, their desired destination is across the great ocean, which would involve navigating by charts and the stars, and risking unpredictable weather and currents. They may decide this is too daunting, and decide instead to follow the coastline, staying within reach of the familiar coves should storms arise.

Which course to plot?

We each plot a course for our lives, making choices between felt safety and reaching our destination on the other side.

If we plot a safe course, we can take 'day excursions' which offer a taste of the ocean but never leave the sight of land. In this way we can steer from one familiar harbour to the next and so may gradually, one step at a time, travel some distance.

But the ultimate destination can never be reached except by setting sail across the deep ocean, relying on the charts, a compass and the stars, accepting that this also involves a greater sense of danger.

So, which course do we plot in life? Do we keep to the shallows and the familiar landmarks, assuming that this keeps us safe? Or do we set sail across the great oceans, trusting our charts and risking the storms, and so head for a destination that can never be reached by any other course?

In my experience, it is only by trusting the ‘chart’ that is the Bible, and trusting ourselves into the hands of Jesus to protect us when the inevitable storms come, that we can find the one truly safe haven on the other side.

Fiery arrows

In a previous post (The devil's top 10) I listed some of the more common deceits of the devil. These would apply to Christians as much as anyone else, of course, but this post lists some of the common strategies the devil employs particularly aimed at Christians. Again, they are filled with subtle or not-so-subtle half-truths, and at first sight may seem quite reasonable; but there is a deception at the core of each one.

You are not good enough to be a Christian
The devil says: "Christians, such as Mother Theresa, are such remarkable and saintly people! They have given their whole lives over to the service of others in disease-ridden slums. Whereas you are a very ordinary person, often confused and not at all special, not even particularly good; you are certainly not good enough to call yourself a Christian!"
Rationale: Putting Christians on a pedestal puts them out of reach, and makes them unlike normal human beings - admirable, but not real.
But the Bible says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11 v28

Christians should be busy
The devil says: "There are so many needs in the world, there's so much work to be done - church services and mid-week meetings; reading Christian books; and that's not to mention the poverty and material needs across the world. God gives you every minute - aren't you wasting that time?"
Rationale: Keep Christians very busy doing good things, in fact doing anything except reading the Bible and praying.
But the Bible says: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you", John 15v7, and "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength", Isaiah 30 v15.

Work in your own strength
The devil says: "God has given you that intelligence and ability; don't you think you should get on and use it? Don't you remember God told his people to be mature, so do you really think that he wants you to run to him every two seconds about every decision? No, get on and decide for yourself."
Rationale: Get Christians to step out and take the initiative from God rather than relying on and following him.
But Jesus said: "I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me." John 14 v31

Be very religious
The devil says: "Congratulations for trying so hard; with just a little more effort you could be a very good Christian indeed. Now, if you just got up 15 minutes earlier and knelt down while praying, then you'd do much better."
Rationale: This sounds wonderfully Christian, but it is just 'works', and it will put off most people, who can see this is just empty ritual. Moreover, you will be discouraged when you don't keep it up.
But the Bible says: "the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought" 1 Chronicles 28 v9

It's all about feelings
The devil says: "You know you don't feel as close to God as you used to. You should go to a good worship session, turn the volume up and wave you hands in the air; get into the spirit, and then it will all feel more real."
Rationale: Make truth subjective and personal, rather than based on what God has said.
But the Bible says: "‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14 v6

It's all about head-knowledge
The devil says: "How can you expect to be a good Christian if you don't know your Bible? You need to study it in order to understand some theology."
Rationale: Get Christians studying and discussing the Bible in order to check and debate their understanding. Discussing it is fine, just so long as they don't do what it says. Treat it as a academic exercise so they are relying on their own understanding, rather than the power of the Spirit.
But the Bible says: "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2 v17

Use the Bible to back up your arguments
The devil says: "It's important, if you are a Christian, to make sure that you have God's backing. So, when arguing your case, make sure to include plenty of Bible verses to show that you are right."
Rationale: Having Christians using the Bible to back up their own views means that they are not seeing themselves as subject to the Bible; it also passes their opinions off as God's views.
But the Bible says: "If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them" Galatians 1 v9 (You would be wise to check this 'reference' for yourself!)

A verse for every occasion
The devil says: "God has given people the Bible; that's where the power lies. So what you need to do is to be able to quote the appropriate verse from it for each and every situation."
Rationale: Encourage people to give trite answers from the Bible, preferably out of context or mis-applied. Then people will come to see the Bible as a source of annoyance, of simplistic advice, and will miss the costliness of loving.
But the Bible says: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." John 15 v13&14

You are a very successful Christian
The devil says: "You are such an excellent role-model as a Christian: active in church, insightful, holy, wise and knowledgeable. If only all the others in church were like you and followed your example!"
Rationale: pride, pride, pride...
But the Bible says: "These are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word." Isaiah 66 v2

It's more important for Christians to be right than to be united
The devil says: "Defending the Gospel is such an important task that it is vital that you let no heresy gain ground. So be on your guard and ready to condemn Christians who make the slightest error; keep your distance from such sinful people."
Rationale: Where there is disunity amongst Christians their witness is neutered and they end up fighting on the devil's side!
But the Bible says: "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4 v2-3

Ahhh! The devil's strategies are endless ...
... but the Bible says: "take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" Ephesians 6 v16

The problem of authority

One of the wisest pieces of advice I recall receiving as a young man was along the lines of "before you can handle being in authority, you first have to learn to be under authority". This also seems to be a Christian principle, for until we submit to Christ's authority, he will certainly not entrust us with having any small authority under him.

But why is submitting to authority so difficult? Of course, it's only difficult when we disagree with those in authority over us; where we are in agreement, all is straightforward.  

Let's think of an example in order to help us make the issue more real. (I'm not interested here in the issue itself, but rather in how we respond to authority in this example.) The Church of England is painfully divided over the issue of women Bishops.  Whichever side of the issue we are on, if we disagree with the church leadership, will we submit to their authority?  Now this is no longer a theoretical matter - it feels a whole lot harder!

There are several possible ways of responding to this conundrum.

1. If we believe the church leadership is wrong, then we will disobey and do what we see to be right

This clearly places ourselves above the leadership; we do not accept their authority. We retain authority in ourselves and do not submit to their leadership.

2. They are the leaders, our job is to follow

At the other end of the spectrum, this response accepts that, even if we disagree with the leaders, they are nonetheless in authority and shoulder the responsibility for the decision; our job is to submit to their leadership.

Actually there are two ways in which we may take this stance:

• We may do this in an attitude of humility, submitting to the authority of the church leaders in the pattern of Acts 15. It also respects the responsibility they hold, even if we do not personally agree with their decision over these particular matters.
• But we can take this stance as a way to shirk our own responsibility: "it's not my fault; I just do what I'm told". This isn't so much a humble submission to authority, as a denial of our own responsibility in choosing to follow.

So far we have just considered the authority of other men or women.  But in Christian circles we cannot ignore God (actually, we cannot ignore God in any area of life!). Suddenly the issue of authority gets harder. While Christians will probably agree that Jesus has the ultimate authority, we may well disagree over how to understand and interpret his will! Here we are inclined to bring out our most invincible of all weapons: "God says so: it's in the Bible".

3. So long as it doesn't contradict God's word in the Bible, I'll submit to their authority

So we come to a commonly held position amongst Christians: 'So long as the leadership doesn't ask us to disobey God's command, we'll obey; but we won't go against God's command'. At first sight there is a lot to commend this stance; there is even a Biblical precedent (Acts 5 v29).

But this is often not as clear-cut as it might sound! There are some very clear foundational truths in the Christian faith. The ancient creeds were written by the apostles and early church leaders to set these down as inviolable; there can be no submission over matters which undermine the foundations of the Christian faith. But our sample issue of women bishops is not addressed by the creeds, and people on both sides of the argument point to scripture to back their cause. So the difficult issue of authority hits us full force, especially if we disagree with the position of the church leadership.

We need to proceed very humbly in asserting the authority of the Bible. Are we really bowing to the authority of the Bible, or are we merely holding to 'my interpretation of the Bible'? The latter actually puts myself back in charge as the ultimate authority, not the Bible. And we are right back to the difficult authority question...

We are sinful human beings, inevitably seeing things our own way and prone to putting ourselves - rather than Jesus - centre-stage. So we need to look beyond ourselves to other Christians, and together humbly and openly seek God's leading and a right application of Scripture. 

But if we are to look beyond ourselves for a shared Christian understanding of an issue, then why are we not submitting to the view of the church leadership? Are we wriggling and wanting to choose a 'panel of Christian experts who will agree with us'? This is nothing but jury rigging!

The trouble is that we tend to herd together with other like-minded Christians in order to reassure ourselves that we are right after all. So we first form cliques, and then go further to create power blocs in order to promote our particular view. If this is what we are doing, we are certainly not openly and humbly seeking God's will. Moreover, such behaviour is condemned in the Bible. We read Titus 3 v10 and point the finger at the other side but miss God's warning to us. We like verses such as Acts 5 v29 (which is about the limits to submission to worldly authorities, but need to be read in the context Rom 13 v1-7 and 1 Pet 2 v13f) but we skirt around Acts 16 v4 and Heb 13 v17, which are about submission to church authorities. Jesus' own example was ultimately one of choosing to submit to a worldly authority which was patently ungodly!

I sometimes wonder whether God may be less interested in the actual issue, but in how we conduct ourselves in seeking his will over the issue.  If we are 'right' but have spent our time using worldly and underhand means, dressed up with a few handy Bible verses, to assert our personally preferred outcome, what Christian merit is there in that? And what a shameful witness! Jesus' prayer was for unity amongst Christians; there was no prayer that the 'rights' of each individual or faction should be recognised and allowed for!

Perhaps it is time we reminded ourselves of the starting point: Before you can handle being in authority, you first have to learn to be under authority (even when you believe the leaders are wrong).

[In case you wonder about my personal motives in writing this piece, I am one who leans toward disagreeing with the church leadership on this particular issue, but I acknowledge that I am subject to their authority under Christ.]