Saved!...From What?

          Over the past year or so, I’ve become increasingly burdened by the fact that I have a Biblical mandate to be the spiritual leader of my household and the primary faith teacher to my children.  I have also been challenged by leaders in my church and other sources to not only feel convicted about these duties, but to actually take steps to carry out my obligations.  In accordance with all of this, and with Easter rapidly approaching, I decided to have a theological discussion with my son.

          Will is all of three years old, and having any conversation with him, much less a spiritual one, is challenging to say the least.  But, it is never too early to start talking to your children about God.  Will loves for me to wrestle with him, and it is during these bouts that I feel I have his undivided attention.  In between rounds, while we were resting, I thought this might be a great time for some “God moments”.  During our conversation I said, “Did you know that Jesus came to save and rescue us?  Will’s reply, “Was he a fireman, or a Power Ranger?”

          That question may make you giggle, but I think it involves an evangelical angle we must consider.  I believe that Will, at age three, has not yet reached the age of accountability.  He does not understand the concept of sinning against a Holy God.  When he thinks about being “rescued” or “saved”, in his mind it must be from burning buildings or evil Ngylock warriors.

          Why is this relevant?  Well, I think many times we get become entrenched in using “Christianeese”.  That is terminology that Christians know and understand, but that unbelievers might be unfamiliar with.  During the “big” religious holidays of Christmas and Easter someone might ask why we celebrate.  Our response might be, “Because Jesus came to save us.”  Their appropriate question then might be, “From what?”

          The logical response then is, “From our sins.”  There it is…the “S” word.  (I know.  I know.  This is supposed to be a family publication, right?)  It’s not the first time you’ve seen that word, is it?  I mean it only appears in the Bible about 500 times!  (That’s not an exaggeration for emphasis.  I looked it up!)  But more important than the number of times it appears, is the depth and breadth to which human history has been impacted by that little three letter word.

          Think about it.  Hypothetically, if Eve had never been tempted, then the one fruit fiasco would never have occurred, this plague upon mankind would never have been perpetuated, and we would all still be living in the paradise of Eden.  But she was, and it did, and it is, and we’re not!  I know it’s not popular to talk about, but it is our sin that separates us from Holy God.

          But talk about it we must!  It is essential to salvation, to evangelism, to the faith.  Think about it.  If you tell someone to wear a life-preserver because it will make them feel good, or help them with their finances, or their relationships, they will be reluctant to put it on, and fast to remove it if there are not immediate positive results.  But explain to them that they are about to drown, and then a certain urgency takes hold.

          This, by the way, is the difference between Christianity and every other major world religion.  Every other faith group says, “Follow us, and we will teach you how to swim.”  The Bible on the contrary says in Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

          We all stand in need of rescue.  Not by a fireman.  Not by a Power Ranger.  But by the Lord, Jesus Christ.  No wonder they call Him the Savior!

Dear Abby....

Just wrapped up a one week Mini-Term of Macroeconomics.  8AM 'til 4:30PM for 5 days of Econ! Sounds exciting right?  Anyway, just when you're starting to wonder if you're having an impact on student's lives...you get an e-mail like this.  Hope it touches you as it did me.  Thanks, Miss Abby!

Mr. Fisher,
I just wanted to let you know how much of an encouragement you were to me over
this past week. My father passed away when I was 18 (in March of 2008), he
battled bone cancer when he was in his 20’s and the Dr’s had to amputate his
left leg at the hip. He only had a 10% chance of living through the surgery
(since they didn’t have the medical technology they have today) and said if he
made it and was fitted for a prosthetic leg, it would be 200 times harder for
him to walk than a “regular” healthy human. He made it through all of that and
met my mom a few years later and got married and had all 4 of us kids and even
though he was disabled he never let that hider him from doing all that he could
do. He worked as a project manager for IBM up until about a year before he
passed away. The cancer came back when I was about 16 years old. All of that to
say… he was a better man, husband to his wife, and father to his children in his
short life even with his disability than most of my friend’s fathers were and
still are. His faith in the Lord kept him strong and made our family stronger.
The first day of your class would have been his 58th birthday, and when you
wheeled into the classroom and started telling us a little bit about your life I
sat up there in the front row holding back my tears because you reminded me so
much of my dad. I really respect and appreciate the way you talk about your
family, I know they mean so much to you and it reminds me of the good times (and
some of the same struggles…. Gas station stops, daily chores, etc.) that my
family had. The way you are living your life will benefit your children so much
as they grow up, knowing that life is so precious and to never take things for
granted, and that even though some people may look different than we do, we are
all the same in the eyes of Christ.
I appreciate your love for teaching and I truly believe that God is using you
to change the lives of many young college students. You are a very gifted
teacher… trust me there aren’t very many people who can lecture about
macroeconomics for 8 hours a day and still make it interesting! And your
testimony is certainly moving, I am thankful for you sharing some of that with
us.  I thank you for having the strength to turn your disability into a gift. I
came home every day after class telling my mom the different stories you had
told us in class about your family, and we both laughed and cried as it reminded
us of the bittersweet memories of my dad.
Thank you for all of your encouragement, my family and I will continue to pray
for you and your family and that God will continue to use your story to lead
others to Him.
         In Christ,
                 Abby Richburg

The Virtues of ... Soccer?

          My three year old son, Will, plays soccer in our city league.  (I will pause immediately here to say that, while I never was and probably never will be a true soccer fan, I do not think that it is part of some covert Communist plot to overthrow America.)  Will loves playing soccer, but, bless his heart, he’s got some challenges to overcome.

          First of all, because of when his birthday falls, he is often the youngest player on the field.  Secondly, he is genetically disadvantaged.  Kelly and I both are in the five foot-five inch range; so he’s vertically challenged, and he gets it honestly.  Not only is he the youngest and the smallest, he’s also quite distracted at times with some other things he’s got going on in his mind.

          Will wants to be superhero when he grows up.  So for practice, he pretends to be one virtually every waking moment of his life right now.  Usually, first thing in the morning, he announces who he’s going to “be” for the day.  The current list of usual suspects would include:  Superman, Spiderman, The Hulk, Wolverine, a Power Ranger, Captain America and maybe the occasional Ninja Turtle.  You’ve heard of an actor “becoming the part”?  Well, let’s just say that Will takes his “roles” very seriously.   And don’t you dare think he’s above wearing a full costume to church or the store or wherever we happen to be headed!
 

          Now the parents and coaches at soccer practice are more than willing to play along with Will’s adopted persona.  In fact, their first question upon his arrival is not “How are you today?”, but “Who are you today?”  And of course Will smiles, and tells them, and then that’s what everyone calls him for the rest of his time on the field that day.  But telling a three year old, who wants to be a superhero, “Good work today, Batman”, is like pouring gasoline on a fire!

          As much as Will loves the attention, this is, as I mentioned, a distraction if the intended result while on the field is to actually be playing soccer!  Trying to turn this into an advantage, I told Will before one game, “Hey, Wolverine.  Pretend the soccer ball is the bad guys, and the goal is the jail.  Then you can kick those evil doers all the way to the gray bar motel!”  Do you think he was fired up?  Man, yeah!  Unfortunately, he spent most of the game talking on his pretend wrist-mounted communication device calling for back-up!
 

          Kelly and I were frustrated.  On the one hand, he’s only three years old, and if the intent of this whole experience is to have fun, then Will has certainly excelled in that effort.  On the other hand, we paid good money for soccer balls, jerseys, shin guards and cleats.  Not to mention the registration fee for the league.  If all he wants to do is be a superhero, he can do that in the backyard…for free!  So you don’t want to be “that parent” that expects way too much of their child at such a young age, but you don’t want to raise a child that never takes anything seriously either.

          After both and Kelly and I attempted repeated efforts of briefly mentioning our disapproval with his performance, both during and after games and practices, I decided Will and I needed to have a talk.  We were unloading from the mini-van before practice.  I helped him out of his car seat and was trying to explain what we expected, and he was obviously not paying attention.  I gave him a little pop on the bottom.  (Calm down.  Calm down!  I didn’t break his pelvis or anything.  But I did make sure he knew this was a serious conversation.)  Guess what.  It only took one more of those “conversations” for Will’s soccer experience to change drastically.

          In fact, he took on a whole new persona.  At the next game, when someone asked him who he was, he said, “Will Fisher…soccer player!”  And he played like it!  He ran to the ball, he kicked the ball, no “flying” in circles, no calling for back-up.  He even scored his first goal!  I could not have been prouder if he had been playing football for Mississippi State University and they had just won the national championship!  (“Yeah, right!  Like that’s ever gonna happen!”  Hey, if you’d seen Will’s first six weeks of Spring soccer, you would have said the odds of either happening were pretty much identical!)

            Hebrews 12:7-11 reveals what I feel are some important points on this topic.  “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?  If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

          My discipline of Will did not change Will physically.  He’s still “genetically disadvantaged”.  But it changed his attitude.  And, don’t get me wrong, his change of attitude didn’t make him magically run circles around the other players.  But he kept trying, and kept trying.  And he was in the right place, at the right time, and he scored!  I think God calls us to a similar life; accept discipline, keep plodding, ...score.   

Hey, maybe soccer’s not so bad after all.