New Thoughts (10/17/09-10/20/09)
One might break the study of this passage into three sections: The image chosen, the message delivered, and the application intended. The image, of course, is that of the marriage consummated, or nearly so. The message is to do with pridefulness. The application, however, is more challenging. It seems the message could be applied to the relative standing of Jesus and the Pharisees. It might also be felt to address the issue of Israel and the Gentile Church to come. In the end, though, the application must be made personal. But, let me start at the beginning.
The Image Chosen (10/17/09-10/18/09)
The image before us is that of the marriage feast. The couple for whom this feast is given have been in a state of betrothal for some time now. In almost every way, they have been married throughout that period. To break off the relationship between betrothal and marriage would still require divorce proceedings. To be unfaithful during this period would count as adultery every bit as much as it would after the marriage is wholly consummated. In short, all the legal ramifications came into effect when the betrothal announced the intentions of marriage. The marriage itself is but the day in which all is prepared and the couple can enter into the full benefits of wedded life.
For our instruction, then, let us understand that the wedding feast to which we look forward is but the entering into our joy. Legally, we are already the bride of Christ, already bound to Him in unbreakable covenant. Legally, we are already subject to the full penalty of the law should we be unfaithful to Him.
Secondly, and important to our anticipation in hope, there is that matter which delays the day of consummation. Traditionally, these betrothals may have taken place at a very early age. They were matters arranged chiefly by the parents, another point to which I shall hope to return. However, for the present, my point is this: a child, though betrothed, is hardly in a position to care for his bride in a manner worthy of her, for that matter, to provide for her much at all. He has no means of earning a living, no house of his own. Recall that the command of marriage is to separate from your parents and cleave wholly to your spouse. This could hardly be done by a child dependent upon his parents for both room and board!
This is the thing to be understood in Jesus having gone home for a period, and it is the joyous news behind His explanation that He goes to build a place for us. He is fulfilling one of the chief obligations upon the groom: to have a house ready into which the bride may be taken. He must have proven means of supporting his bride, as well as the offspring they may raise up, before the parents of the bride will accede to the wedding. He must also have the bride-price, but in the case of Jesus, that has long since been paid in full. Our period of waiting, then, is solely in order that all may be prepared for us, as we are wholly prepared for Him.
The bride, after all, has her own preparations for the wedding day, chief amongst them the purifying bath. We may think of bathing or showering as little more than daily habit, but it had much greater significance at the time. It bordered on the ritualistic, and thus, its application in baptism. The preparation of the bride might be seen as a particularly extended baptism, ensuring sufficient time in the cleansing water as to wash away every least stain, however long established and stubbornly resistant to cleaning. Time, we should understand, is given to us as a great gift, allowing us that opportunity for cleansing which could hardly be found in an instantaneous call to the feast! Time is given that both we and our Groom might prepare for the day of consummation.
Return, now, to that matter of the parents choosing. It is important to note not only that parental approval preceded any discussion of the matter with the potential bride, but also that it is the parents of the groom who initiate the proceedings. This may or may not come at the behest of the groom himself. In the case of God and His people, then, the clear point to be taken is that it is the Father Who has chosen. We may well suppose that the Son is greatly pleased in the choice Father has made, may even have requested that choice, but for us, the betrothed, it is imperative to note His initiating of the process. He chose us.
On this matter, I note a distinction made in the article from the ISBE. They declare that God elects (i.e. chooses) us, but we are free to choose Him. If one wishes to take the analogy of marriage to fullest extreme, perhaps we must accept this point. However, is that truly the way of things? Certainly, there have been periods in the development of society in which the bride had little or no say in the matter. Where marriages were made matters of power and prestige, the bride was often enough counseled to find a way to be happy in the relationship she had no choice in entering into. How much say she had in the matter, it seems, was a matter of how much say her own father opted to give her.
The question of God’s choice is no question at all! Had He not chosen to obtain us as bride to His Son, we should have no cause to expect any such relationship for ourselves. May as well be a lowly shepherdess expecting to find herself made queen because she was determined to marry the prince. It just doesn’t work that way. As to our capacity to freely choose Him when once the matter has been broached, I think the case is more difficult to make. Perhaps we do, but it is the free choice of a matter in which we can clearly see that all joyful advantage and benefit lies in one option, and nothing but pain is in the offing should we choose the other. True, we could freely choose the pain and suffering, but it’s hardly likely that a sane being would do so without hope of some particularly great reward at the end. So, fine. Let us suppose we are free to choose, yet with so minimal a possibility of choosing against God’s choice as to make the matter moot. If it makes you feel better to suppose you chose Him freely, let it rest. For my own part, I am rather glad that the choice was taken from my hands, for my record in matters of choice is hardly stellar. If it is an arranged marriage into which I am pledged, then I could hardly hope for better anyway. How am I hurt if my choice is limited to choosing to rejoice in it?
Another point that is worth noting in the traditions of marriage lies in the fact that the groom was exempted from military service for one year subsequent to his marriage. Does this not fit with what unfolds in the Revelation? The bride is taken up for a time, before she returns at her Warrior Husband’s side to settle the rule of His kingdom once and for all. Given the way the imagery of marriage permeates the Scriptures, as regards God and man in relationship, it is certainly interesting to see how even such details as these fit the picture given.
Lastly, we should certainly note the characteristics of marriage as God has ordained it. Chief among these characteristics is permanence. Marriage is permanent. It is not a matter of convenience. It is not some light association like friendship that may be terminated by either party for whatever cause. Of course, among fallen man, we find this ideal is often not attained in experience. But, in God, we have the Ideal. What He has proclaimed wed, particularly to Himself in the person of His Son, is certainly permanent, for the power of divorce lies in His hands alone, and He is not about to exercise it in breach of His own Law!
This is yet another cause for confidence in the believer. You, who have been betrothed to God by the choice of God, are already established in the legal relationship of marriage to Him. By that legal power, He alone has the right of divorce, but He is the very One who has declared that none shall put asunder those whom He has joined in the marriage covenant. As such, He is surely not going to initiate such proceedings! Oh, don’t be so foolish as to find license to chase after every sinful pleasure in this confidence He gives! To do so would only make plain that the covenant you think is yours is but a fever dream on your part. But, for those to whom that betrothal has truly been made, it is confidence indeed! It is part and parcel with His assurance that where we have shown repentance, He will show forgiveness. He will not dispossess us at our first mistake, or even our thousandth. Rather, He will demonstrate in full the second major characteristic of the marriage relationship.
That second characteristic is the characteristic of love. The love between husband and wife should exceed all other personal relationships. That is not the ideal of the married state. It is the standard. It is the commandment of God that this should be so. “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Ge 2:24). Prior to marriage, the love of family is, or ought to be, the most devoted love we have experienced. Yet, God says to set this aside in taking a wife. Leave behind that love you have known in order to be more fully committed to this new love. We are never so close to family as to be one flesh. But, with our spouse, we wrong our partner if we are not that close.
The intimacy of this relationship is most immediately understood in those acts which are reserved to the married state. But, this physical intimacy which is a physical manifestation of that one flesh relationship, is but a physical manifestation of what is to be a spiritual reality as well. Good sex does not define good marriage. The unity of marriage must go further, deeper. It must be a unity of spirit. Over the course of years, one sees this transformation in the married couple. They may have started out with very different characteristics and viewpoints. But, over time, each takes on certain behaviors of the other until they are, so far as is possible, truly of one mind. No, I don’t know that this is ever perfectly realized, nor that it should be. But, the unity that comes to those who persist in their efforts at marriage is truly wonderful.
I can surely attest to that in my own case. When first married, we two had very little in common one with another. Our life experiences up to that point had been almost entirely opposite to one another. Our tastes differed. Our sense of humor differed. Our beliefs differed. Asked what it was that had drawn us together, both of us tended to be at a loss to explain it. We just were.
Now, truth be told, all of those differences remain, but not in the same degree. Our tastes still differ, yet we each have an appreciation of the other’s tastes. Our sense of humor still differs, but we can each tickle the other’s funny bone, and do so quite naturally, not with strained efforts. Our approach to faith is still different, and yet each of us has learned from the other, and the end result is a more solid faith for both of us. We are becoming one. We remain ourselves, and yet we are combined to be something that transcends either party. The thing that has empowered this transformation, this transcendence, is love.
Is it any wonder, then, that God had chosen this marriage relationship to model His own relationship to us? The love we experience in marriage is powerful beyond all expectation. Yet, it pales in comparison to the love God has for us, which love we are called to have for Him as well. Were it shown to be necessary, that love between God and myself would require the same willingness to sever the bonds of marriage, even as marriage requires severing the bonds of family.
That sounds terrible, doesn’t it? But, we know from marriage that when we sever the bonds of family, it is not an end of that love. It is setting that love in proper relationship to this new, higher love. So it is with marriage and faith. The love we are called to share with God is a higher love than any other, even that of marriage. God, of course, teaches that even if we are bound to an unbeliever in marriage at that time we come to know Him, we are to remain in that marriage, to model this new love of God to our spouse. Where this is not the case, where our faith precedes marriage, we are counseled to choose a spouse who shares our faith. This is to our benefit, for it avoids a stress that will prove most challenging. But, that stress, if it be present, is not in itself cause to break covenant.
Still, our love for God must necessarily supersede our love even for our spouse. How terrible that I sometimes find myself becoming jealous of God because He has more of my wife’s time than I do! Oh, to be sure, there must be a balance to this. But, really, it is right that it should be so. He is the greater love. To Him goes the greater devotion. Her love for me is not lessened by this fact, nor mine for her. The love we share in marriage was intended to train us up in this love for God in the first place. Marriage is the model. The relationship between God and the believer is the thing modeled.
Let me, then, return to that reality, that thing modeled. What is it that spousal love is supposed to teach us about this greater reality? It is this: God’s love for us is permanent as marriage is to be permanent. As I noted earlier, the power of divorce lies solely in His hands, and He will not exercise it, for to do so is anathema to His own nature. We are assured of His love. Throughout the Scriptures we see this truth played out. Though Israel His bride has been unfaithful repeatedly, yet He still calls her His bride. Yet, He takes her back. Further, we see that there is nothing He will not do for the sake of His bride. Her security, her wellbeing, her comfort; these are matters of great import to Him, and He will see to it that they are provided for. This is wonderful, to be sure. Yet, it’s only the surface matter of what is modeled.
Think about that business of being one flesh. If marriage is the model of faith, then we are being called to have just such a one flesh intimacy with God Himself! We are called the bride of Christ. We are told repeatedly that God has wed Himself to the Church of true believers. He wants that intimacy with us that we rightfully expect to share with our spouses. He wants that exclusivity as well. “You shall have no other.” But, it’s because of intimacy that He requires exclusivity. True intimacy requires it.
True intimacy requires established and maintained trust. We must be certain, absolutely certain, that we can count on the other party to speak nothing of what passes between us, to reveal nothing of what we might reveal. The communications of intimacy are for two alone, and they will not come about if either one of those two is in the habit of sharing with others what is communicated in the privacy of the intimate.
As concerns the God / man relationship, the ‘other lover’ in competition with God is the world of the Fall. As such, it is the prince of the air, if you will, the fallen Lucifer. In the end, in whatever disguise we may find things, it is one or the other of these two to which we give ourselves. Neither is really inclined to share us with the other, for marriage is by nature jealous of its rights, as it should be. But, we must choose. Oh, we may think to get away with it for a while, dallying with one for a time and then the other. But, the truth is that we do not get away with it. We but try the patience of our true Husband, and abuse His good nature.
I have spoken of the permanence of His love for us, in spite of this. It is true, and yet… And yet, we may see Israel having been served her divorce papers. How can this be? Does this not require God to have gone completely against His own nature in response to sin? It certainly seems that way to me. Yet, we have certain assurances that in time, Israel will indeed return to Him. In time, there will be those of His favorite people who accept the Messiah Who Was and Is and Is to come.
Fausset would have us to understand that Israel will be relegated to the role of earthly bride, while the Church takes the mantle of the heavenly bride. But, this does not ring true to me. We are made one flock. There is no cause to look for ‘degrees of bride’. There is nothing to suggest such a model. No. It is with Israel as it is with the nations, even with the Church. There is always that remnant. The Church as she may be known in visible membership is not 100% bridal. She may not even be 10% bridal. Just as in Israel, there were but few who accepted the Christ when He came, so in the Church today, it is but few who truly hold to faith. So it shall be in Israel and Church, that a remnant shall stand up as the bride in that final day, but they shall stand as one.
While I cannot accept Fausset’s statement on the final status of Israel, I can accept this point: “When the church sins with the world, the world the instrument of her sin shall be the instrument of her punishment.” It is precisely because the Church is His bride, and the current ruler of this world His nemesis, that He cannot accept any dalliance between Church and world. In the end, the Church cannot be the world’s spouse. She is already spoken for. The world, recognizing this, acts in spite. In truth, the world never had any love for the Church, only used her, only sought to shame her.
In large part, we are fools to complain of the world acting in worldly fashion. We are greater fools to hope to find in the world’s actions an excuse for our own worldliness. There is no excuse! So, think about what that comment said: The world, which has been the instrument of the church’s sin, will be made the instrument of her punishment. Don’t we see that playing out in the news repeatedly?
We certainly read enough about this church leader or that espousing worldly ways as become acceptable in God’s house. We cringe to read it, but the world rejoices to speak it. It is not that the world is thrilled to find itself welcome in that place. They could care less. They weren’t going there anyway. They just want to see God’s house brought low, and as such, they are thrilled to find fools in the pulpit that will help them in that effort. But, once the house is destroyed, they will in turn destroy the ones who helped them in the effort.
The world is not upset to read about all these sexual failings in the priesthood. Honestly, they love to hear it, for it discredits the priesthood. But, they will still destroy the priest. For, if they fail to display offense at the crime, they cannot punish it, and if they will not punish it, then the destruction will not come. Compare and contrast, if you will, the response to revelations about sexual misconduct in the Church with revelations of identical misconduct in the entertainment industry. The crimes are the same, but the response is very different. The world has no interest in destroying the entertainment industry. It owns that industry. The world has very great interest in destroying the Church, though, for the Church threatens the world and ever shall.
Sin cannot reign entire while there remains a remnant, a bride in the house of God.
The Message Delivered (10/19/09)
The message that Jesus delivers by means of this parable is simple, and clearly stated at the end: If you exalt yourself, you will be humbled. But, if you humble yourself, you will be exalted (verse 11). This is not some new message that Jesus is proclaiming. Indeed, Jesus is not in the habit of teaching anything new. He is kept busy enough correctly teaching what has been true all along. His messages on the meaning of the Law, for instance, did not raise the bar on what the Law required. They only set the bar back in its proper place after years of its having been left laying on the ground.
In this case, it is not the Law we are returned to, but the Wisdom writings. Most directly paralleling the conclusion Jesus has given is Proverbs 29:23, which declares that man’s pride brings him low, whereas a man’s humble spirit brings him honor. But, there is another passage from which one could see the whole of Jesus’ message deriving. “Don’t claim honor for yourself in the presence of the king. Don’t stand in the place reserved for great men. Better that he should say to you, “come up here,” than that he should require you to be moved to a lower place in his presence” (Pr 25:6-7). Proverbs chooses the setting of the royal court, whereas Jesus has chosen the more homely imagery of the wedding feast. But, the point is clearly the same, as is the issue addressed.
The issue is pride, self-aggrandizement. The issue is that our attention is more upon what others may think of us than upon what God thinks of us. The issue is that we become expert in our understanding of His Word without so much as exerting the least effort in becoming expert in applying His Word.
Consider who it is that Jesus has delivered this message to. This is the same dinner party He joined at the beginning of the chapter, held in the house of a leader among the Pharisees (Lk 14:1), and attended by many ‘lawyers and Pharisees’ (Lk 14:3). In other words, the room was crowded with folks who both thought themselves experts in the Law, and nigh unto perfect practitioners of that Law.
I have occasionally noted that text I had read on the Parables which suggested that these lessons were wielded by Jesus as a weapon against His enemies. In other words, that viewpoint is that He sought not so much to teach as to wound with these parables. However, given the clear lineage of His message in this case, this perspective does not well fit. If His intention were to attack, He could simply have noted their behavior and then noted, “It is written…”, quoting these lines from Proverbs to them. This would have been in keeping with His actions at the cleansing of the temple, so not out of character for Him.
Instead, He has changed the imagery, offered a fresh take on the old lesson, to allow these men the opportunity to follow its dictates and humble themselves, rather than be humiliated by Him. He has not pointed out their actions, only observed them for Himself. His comment does not include a rebuke, as it has on other occasions. He is giving these men every opportunity to repent, even as He did with the healing He had just accomplished. The rebuke is there, to be sure, but it is delivered in such fashion as need not induce the stiff resistance of embarrassment and wounded pride. Each man is given both cause and time to assess himself in light of the message. And, the message Jesus has delivered, with the imagery He has chosen, is designed to remind these experts of the underlying basis found in Proverbs. If they are truly the expert lawyers they purport to be, His message cannot but remind them of that other, and they can reach their own conclusions as to the propriety of their behavior.
All that having been said, this is a parable that Jesus has spoken. While it has its immediate application to the scene before His eyes, that is not its primary application. Indeed, it is not truly the application at all, but the source material from which the lesson is drawn. The intended application must be recognized as something on a much higher plain.
The Application Intended (10/20/09)
I can see several potential applications that might be counted amongst Jesus’ intentions with this lesson. I am not certain there is a need to choose one from that list. Quite possibly, all are intended.
On a most immediate level, historically, I can see this message applying to the arbiters of religion, those being the Pharisees and lawyers on one hand, and Jesus on the other. Surely, Jesus came in this incarnation, as the humble servant. He lowered Himself, emptied Himself of His heavenly prerogatives to abide as a man, and as a man of no privilege. He was, in the flesh, an uneducated country boy. There was nothing about Him to recommend Him as an expert on matters of faith, except for His teaching. He was humble, humiliated even, when all was said and done. And yet, He it is Who is exalted.
Over against this, we have the example of these others at the dinner, who are busily striving to get the most honored position available. Were it possible, one can easily imagine the whole crowd of them attempting to sit jointly in that one, most honorable place at the table. There is no least thought in them of giving place to another unless forced to. It’s all competition, and that competition is fueled wholly by pride.
What we see of them in this dinner setting is the reality of what we see of them as they seek to display their righteousness. It’s all competition, trying to look better than the next guy. As we saw with the matter of healing which began this dinner, though, all of their posturing at righteousness masks a near total disinterest on God’s priorities. There is no compassion, no concern for their fellow man. There is only concern for personal appearance. There is only pride. Such as these, Jesus says, in spite of all their pompous display, will be brought low in the end.
On another level, one which may be overly informed by our present-day perspective, this could be seen as applying to the new Christian faith which was arising as over against the old order. Religion as it was being practiced in that time must fall away because it was, like its leading men, become all about pride and none about God. Israel had come to see her God as something to jealously guard, refusing to share with any other. All other peoples were, after all, lesser beings; dogs, really. They were not worthy of Israel’s God, for the Jews, the Chosen People, were clearly superior. Pride. Pride hidden in the veil of nationalism.
Into this setting had come the new faith, the Way that would come to be known as Christianity. It was humble in the extreme. It could count no great teachers in its ranks. Those few who had any sort of prestige among the people were strongly inclined to hide their membership in the Way. Why, the very founder of this sect, after whom it was named had been hung upon the cross, crucified, suffering the most shameful and debasing form of punishment available to Rome. By all appearances, He had been shown to be a total loser. Yet, here were these few, benighted Galileans who continued to speak of Him as if He were truly something! It was absurd. They were making absolute fools of themselves and surely, everybody could see it. And yet: From such humble beginnings, such laughable beginnings, God lifted up a faith that was sweeping the nations. The humble Church was being lifted up.
One can see that scene played out repeatedly in the history of this same Church. Come the Reformation, it was a politically powerless few who stood up against the vast power of the Roman Church. Subjected to every available persecution, held up before the public as scoundrels, devils and worse; still they held to faith, and the tenets of the Reformed church swept through the nations as the Way had swept through the Empire.
Today, it seems as if the Church is again a weak and pitiable thing, all but powerless against the tide of world opinion. Atheistic scientists and pseudo-scientists raise their proud opinions as the new standard. The psychologically and politically nonsensical isms of multiculturalism, socialism, and many other such movements lift themselves up as the salvation of mankind, doing all in their power to relegate the Ancient Faith to the hinterlands. From within, the corruption of various leaders who are indistinguishable from the Pharisees in matters of pride and utter disregard for godly character do their own part in weakening the influence of the Church. But, the promise of this parable remains: What appears humble, what humbles itself (not embarrasses itself with failure, but acknowledges its lowly estate, maintaining that its only hope lies in God) God will, in His determined time, exalt. The Truth will out!
Finally, there is the most personal of applications. There is the “What does this mean for me, for my life” aspect of the message delivered. You, personally, when you go about whatever you go about, don’t show off. Don’t seek after honors, for in the end, you will only be shown unworthy of honor. Instead, accept your limitations, do nothing to make yourself out to be more than you are. In time, you will find that others have made you. You will be lifted up, but not by what you have tried to appear to be, rather for what you have been shown to be.
You know, the fleshly mind, hearing this message from Jesus, hears it all wrong. It hears something like this: “Humble yourself so that you can be exalted.” This is along the same lines as that mistaken teaching that leads people to give monetarily to God’s work on the sole basis that He is going to pay you back with interest. If I start giving to God only in hope of reaping big cash payments in return, then I doubt I have any reason to expect a reward. The instruction we have is to give with a cheerful heart, not with a greedy one. True humility cannot be achieved by hungering after that exaltation. If I am doing my humble work in order to earn greater recognition, then that work is not humble. It’s an act. By the very definition of the word, it is hypocrisy. It’s seeking to appear as though I have no interest in the only thing I am actually interested in. And, in that case, too, the Truth will out!
That’s the sum of the message. The Truth will out. If you’re all about posture and appearance, the mask will be torn away. If you’re all about rewards and nothing about God’s heart, this, too is going to be revealed. The problem with the Pharisees, in the end, was not that they failed to concern themselves with what might offend God. The problem was that they had no real understanding of Who God really is. They knew Him only as a vindictive stickler of a judge. They had completely missed Compassion and Mercy. They had nothing but the Rule and none of the Purpose.
In the end, pride has no place in the kingdom of God. The whole of the Law, Paul says, is given to us to make it perfectly clear that we have not the least little thing to boast of before our King (Ro 3:27). We cannot work ourselves into His favor, whatever form our works may take, whether works of painstaking adherence to such aspects of His Law as we can manage, or works of attempted humility. You know, if we are making an effort of our humility, we are making it just another form of pride. Pride loves to disguise itself in the garb of humility, hoping we won’t notice.
How loudly we love to announce it. Oh, I’m just a simple workman trying to do my job. Nothing special here. Don’t look at me (Oh, please, please, please! Look at me! Tell me how wrong I am to say this about myself. My ego needs stroking!) That’s the humility we tend to practice, because when we are practicing, when we are actively seeking to appear humble, pride inevitably gets in the way. We cannot help ourselves, it seems. We must compete. We must show how capable we are, how superior to those others around us. Whatever it is I’m doing, I have to convince you I’m the best at it. If I cannot, jealousy (which is but another face of pride) insists that I try and belittle you, tear you down, reduce your stature in the sight of those around us until I am again on top.
And all the while, we hear that call: If you’re going to insist on exalting yourself, you will be humbled. Pride goes before destruction (Pr 16:18). We know it. But, we still chase after it. We still want those strokes. We want to hear how much better we are than we think. But, what we’re really hearing in our minds is that finally! Somebody is acknowledging our greatness. We never think too little of ourselves. Humility just doesn’t come naturally to man.
Here is a mystery, a paradox: To consciously pursue humility is to fall into pride, for the conscious pursuit is bound to slip into pursuing the reward rather than the humility which is its own proper goal. Yet, if we are not constantly on guard, constantly aware of the goal of humility, we slide off the other side and become purely prideful again. We must be constantly attentive for all the manifold ways in which pride may rise up in us, whether in the guise of competitiveness or in the guise of showy humility. Somehow, we must become submitted to the Spirit of God, constantly cognizant of our smallness on the scale of the Holy.
We must cease to measure ourselves against our fellow men, even against our fellow believers, and measure ourselves against our Lord and Savior. Only this can keep us in a place of proper perspective. Only this can lead us to the place of a real humility, a real devotion to truly pleasing God. How do we truly please Him? Do we do it by careful observation of all the myriad rules and regulations of righteousness? No. We are wholly incapable of managing it even were we so inclined. Besides that, such a focus in the wrong focus.
Jesus has explained to us how to please Him, it is there in the twin tenets of the Great Commandment: Love God with all your heart. Love your neighbor as you do yourself. Seek the kingdom. Walk humbly before your God. Do justice. Love kindness (Mic 6:8). Manifest God. Do what you see Him doing. Don’t try to prove yourself to Him, and for all that, don’t try to prove Him to the world. Just (were it so simple!) do it! Live it! You have seen the width and breadth of His love. In so much as it is in your power to do so, and leaning wholly upon Him, let that same love flow out from you. Care! You know, that’s about 99% of the whole matter. Care. Care about that one who has no knowledge of Him. Care about that one who is suffering. God cares. The world is convinced He doesn’t, because the world sees His people as people who don’t care about anything but their own personal salvation. In too many cases, they are right. We cannot let that be our story, though.
If we are truly submitted to the headship of Christ, if we have truly come to know anything about this One Who leads us not by coercion, but by devotion, we surely must start to function as He functions, to live as He lives. “What I see the Father doing, this is what I do.” “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” The logical result is, “What you see Me doing, do.” Don’t just study it. Don’t just discuss the ramifications amongst yourselves. Do. Do, but do always in the realization that apart from Me you cannot do. This does not reflect some sort of inferiority on your part. No! You are exactly as you were designed to be in this regard. This is the reality of humility. You cannot do except in union with Christ. You are submitted in the same regard as He is the head: from a place of devotion, a place of love; mutual love One for the other. And, this is love: that we walk according to His commandments (2Jn 6). Go, then, and make disciples. Teach them by your example. Teach them by doing what you have seen Him doing, what you see God doing every day. Go, you and do likewise!
