Where is your hope?

Hope. Hope and change. Hope of progress, “a better tomorrow.” “Make America Great Again!” Hope is constantly used in politics to convince us to give our votes and support. Why? Because at some point, politicians realized that hope is what makes humans wake up in the morning. Unlike other living creatures on earth, humans don’t wake up to live for today; they wake up to live for tomorrow. We might enjoy today, but always in the back of our minds, we are imagining an even better tomorrow.

We are hard wired to hope in something. Some people hope in themselves. They “look out for #1.” They encourage one another, saying, “Believe in yourself!” Others hope in humanity as a whole. They preach that everyone is a good person at heart and that society corrupts people, not the other way around. A small minority find hope outside themselves, in a god or higher power.

If you find your hope within yourself, watch out. You will eventually fail. You’ll make a mistake bad enough that you can’t rationalize it or make it okay after, and your world will crumble. I cannot place my hope in myself.

In the same way, I cannot place my hope in humanity. Human “goodness” is too capricious a god to serve. How can I place my hope in humans based on their merits? A human ordered the killing of 11 million other humans not 100 years ago, with the approval of an entire nation. Our politicians secure their success by sacrificing the innocent lives of the unborn. A world movement, led by ISIS and those who agree, is growing that seeks to eliminate or utterly humiliate and dominate any non-Muslims (this is according to ISIS in their magazine, not me). While people argue over what defines a girl or a boy, little girls and little boys are being sexually abused and starved in foster care. 

Where is your hope? Is it anchored in the shifting sands of human progress? Or is it tied to your perception of your own success? I would offer that both those things will only provide you misery. Put your hope in Jesus. He is the ultimate treasure and the most secure hope. He will never fail you. 

Born Again

Nicodemus asked Jesus boldly, “What does it mean to be saved?” Jesus responded, “You must be born again.” How is it, with all that has been said and done in the name of Jesus, that we are still wrestling with that question? Does being saved mean that you believe enough of the right things? What is non-negotiable in salvation? These questions lead us to bigger questions – questions that are important in terms of church leadership and doctrine. If someone believes homosexuality is not a sin, even though that doctrine is taught in both the Old and New Testaments, can they possibly be guided by the Holy Spirit?

Nicodemus didn’t have a good response to Jesus’s statement. “How can a man go back into his mother’s womb?”he asked incredulously. Jesus responded: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (Jn. 3:5) Jesus went on to allude to the death He would die on the Cross for salvation. 

This new birth that Jesus told Nicodemus about has three parts: the water, the blood, and the Spirit. When a baby is born, it is born out of water and blood from its mother’s womb, but Scripture teaches us that we are spiritually dead even at birth. The new birth mirrors that event. Jesus died on the Cross, shedding blood to pay for our sin, and when he died, both blood and water poured from his side. That is why Christians are baptized, as a symbol of the cleansing water, and why Christians take Communion, as a symbol of the flesh and blood. When we trust in Jesus as our hope and salvation, we die to ourselves. Our flesh and blood becomes Christ’s flesh and blood, causing us to share in His family inheritance. Our dead spirits are brought to life. 

John the Apostle wrote about the new birth in his letter to the Church, saying:

“This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”(‭‭1 John‬ ‭5:6-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

Being born again means forfeiting any affection or entitlement to live in your old life. It means turning over all your thoughts and emotions to Christ and letting Him conform them to His will. So, what does it mean to be saved? And is there any doctrine that is negotiable in salvation? If we define salvation as entirely giving yourself to Jesus, there are no negotiables. This means that, whatever your opinion may be, you must surrender control of that opinion to God. It can never take precedence over the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life.

What does this mean for specific issues of contention in the Church? No Christian has all the answers, and even our language and communications are imperfect and fallen. There are some issues that we do not have a clear sign on and will have different interpretations about. In those areas, we are called to walk by faith and not by sight. However, I would be reluctant to trust anyone who lets an opinion about sexuality or anything else cause him not to take Scripture literally. The issue is more than whatever particular belief that person expresses; the central issue is the reality that the person would rather hold on to that opinion than fully surrender to Jesus. To me, that is a sign of only partial surrender, and partial surrender is no surrender.