Redemption

“And so it seems that the very word redeemed needs its own personal redemption.”- Matt Bays

As Matt Bays concludes Chapter 1 of Finding God in the Ruins, he expresses his belief that redemption has been misunderstood.  Pastor Bays offers his own personal take on how modern Christianity has defined the term:

Redemption (n).  A state of existence in which the faithful to God receive what they expect to receive out of life (and out of God), and what ails them is converted into something fresh and new (getting the desires of one’s heart).

Matt emphasizes that when redemption is defined this way, it becomes hard to approach God, unless it is in the context of getting what we want.  This then leads either to disillusionment with God or a petty and shallow faith experience.  We may feel God owes us- that because we are chosen, He should deliver.

Furthermore, we may equate the word redeemed with the removal of pain.  We envision whatever is broken in our lives getting fixed within a specified time frame.  To correctly understand redemption, Matt differentiates between the unredeemed and the redeemed.

The unredeemed

a.  those whose lives have been neither helped not healed by the usual remedies

b.  have experienced great loss and continue to experience the residual pain of despair

c.  believe their promise of redemption seems far away from the here and now

d.  think their pain isn’t going away soon- if ever

The redeemed

a.  acknowledge the harsh reality of their broken story- to the best of their ability

b.  accept that their pain does not define them

c.  have somehow managed to find God in the ruins

d.  have the capacity to be reasonably happy despite their pain and allow God to use their brokenness for good

Matt concludes:

“But redemption will always be the most powerful when we can trace God’s hand along the way. . . . Looking back to see where God’s hands have pushed the clay of brokenness into something we never thought it could become is truly redemptive.”

Today’s question: Do you currently fit in with the unredeemed or the redeemed?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “A tiny dirt road”

Redemption

Your point of disqualification

In Chapter 7 of The End of Me, Kyle Idleman concludes his discussion of five reasons we feel disqualified to be chosen, with a specific emphasis on your point of disqualification.

3. “They won’t forget.”  Pastor Idleman encourages us not to worry about how others see us.  Even if we don’t know where we stand with others, we have to move forward.  Others don’t determine our future.  God does.

Kyle stresses that God asks “for faith and obedience.  His plan and his will are all that matter, because the lesson he’s teaching almost always flips our assumptions on their head.”

4. “I dishonored my good name.”  The author states that God often renamed people for this very reason.  And whatever burden you’re carrying, God has a message for you.  When you come to the end of yourself, God can use you in the very best way.  One of God’s favorite strategies is to use the very issue you feel is holding you back.  Kyle notes: “Your disqualifier becomes God’s qualifier.”

5.  “I’m not ready.”  Even if you’ve heard the previous excuses and acknowledge God’s track record of redemption, there’s one last excuse to play- “I’m not ready.”  Kyle encourages you to jump before you’re ready to leap.  He describes what God will do:

“In what seems like the smallest of moments, in brief encounters with other people, he’ll take you and speak a life-changing word through you.  When God chooses you, he equips you.  Every time.”

Today’s question: Which of Kyle’s five reasons resonates most with you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Weak to be strong”

Your point of disqualification

The object of our faith

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.”- Matthew 17:20

“It is better to have little faith in a big God than to have big faith in a little God.”- John Ortberg

John Ortberg concludes Chapter 2 of All the Place to Go by emphasizing the words of Timothy Keller- that it’s not the quality of our faith that saves us, it’s the object of our faith.

Just as with Abraham, the only thing God needs to get our redemption project going is our trust.  God can work with simple trust- not perfection or superhuman efforts.  In The Spirituality of Imperfections, Ernest Kurtz writes that the great enemy of spiritual growth is perfectionism.   He adds that an ancient sage named Macarius pointed out that if we only made progress we would become conceited- conceit being the ultimate downfall of all

Christians.

God’s redemption project involves imperfect people.  When we answer His call and walk through the open door, we get to becomes part of the story.  As John concludes:

“He still call.  He still sends.

“And if you say yes . . .

Oh, the places you’ll go.”

Today’s question: In what areas of your life do you demand perfection?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “But wait!  There’s more.”

The object of our faith