“On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt. Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the desert.” (Ezek 20:6-10 NIV)
How did we seek Him, in our dark estate? How did we give ourselves over to the pursuit of righteousness? How did we set out on an adventure to discover the Cross of Christ?
I did nothing of the sort. I was in headlong flight from God. I was steeped in idolatry and immorality, and enjoying it to boot. But God, for the sake of His great name, gave me over to deep conviction of sin, and to a discovery of Christ that was quite deliberate on His part, and nothing more than accidental on mine.
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.* Amen.” (1 Tim 1:15-17 ESV)
Truth that liberates..
I don't know why, but the picture on the right is close to the image I woke up with the other morning. I am prepared to acknowledge this was "I, not the Lord"!
Even so, this is the thought that emerged...could it be true that we are inside an AMPsuit? Can we use our talents, gifts and positions in business and the church to leverage more power and prestige than is due? Could it be that how we do church can actually put us and our followers into more AMPsuits?
The obvious examples are the rich who command respect and sychophancy just because they are rich and others want to be in their favor. Or the pretty woman who gets the guy with the Porsche. Or the sports achiever, whose physicality on the pitch now can undergird his bravado off it.
To be sure, I have no doubt God is delivering me from some AMPsuit-ishness (yes, the English is terrible, sir). I remember a few years ago getting a vision of a magnifying glass rammed into my neck (no blood please, we're British). I sensed God saying to me through it, "Do not exaggerate the size of your heart. Just be you, and speak what is true". Lying and exaggeration are probably the most-used AMPsuits of them all.
And what of the church leader, who becuase of his title and position alone can direct the troops, color up the hall, promote his friends, have a fan base, join a global network, travel at will, develop a hip blog (oops).
The trouble is, even with nice-guy leaders, AMPsuits entrench divisions and promote invisible hierarchies in the church. Jesus never intended for us to be dazzled by exteriors, but knitted on the interior. He desired and still desires a church full of Cross-centred equality without it being labelled "secular egalitarianism" by those with the biggest and shiniest AMPsuits. He exclaimed through Paul, "those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment!!" (exclamation marks added by me, sorry it's just how I read scripture, trying to sense the emotion and tone).
Why do we wonder at the low level of commitment to the boring things, to the mundane, glorious ploddy routine, when we have wooed people with our AMPsuits, and helped them climb into their own?
People rightly say that we have a righteousness apart from the law; that we are justified by grace alone apart from any works....but because we see "law" and "works" as something formalistic and staid and stolid, we fail to apprehend how much legalism passes through the net because it is shiny and colourful and backed by a smoking Fender Stratocaster. Whatever we churchgoers do that is not of faith, is sin. I might not be taking a lamb for evening sacrifice, but I might well be someone in public that I am not in private. I might well be full of faith in leading a prayer meeting, but still fighting God's dangerous dealings in my own heart. I might well be urging others to generosity, while taking big honorariums myself (now there is a loss of moral authority). Jesus hates religious hypocrisy above anything else (check out Matthew 23).
But don't take this as an attack on your bishop - I am looking at my own heart and saying, "God, divide me with your sharp sword". Are we different from the world, on the inside? Are church circumstances and position our AMPsuit in any way? Do you really think your managerial authority in the office gives you any spiritual authority in your home or church? Will you have as much influence through your faith and godly character as an immigrant in Sweden, as you do now as a preacher in a charismatic church in Sussex? I know it sounds like a series of strange questions from a strange man. But these are vital matters, before the next set of waves or series of storms.
Death to AMPsuits, life to the amplification of the Spirit, as we fellowship with Him in our minute worlds. Make the tiny grains of salt so salty, Lord.
N
Psalm 73:24-26 "You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
When I read this, I realized in a fresh way what the purpose of my life is in God’s eyes – through all His wisdom and planned days and seasons, to bring my soul to this point of Davidic exclamation; to get me to think, feel, know, believe and then finally exclaim, “Earth has nothing I desire besides you”.
We readily speak or sing these words, but when the pressure is on or the opportunity for self-construction presents itself, we so often merely slip back into our own autonomous worlds. We forge our own way; we jostle through; we plot and plan; we love those who love us and despise those who ignore or offend us. But God did not save us through the agony of Jesus merely to have us saved on the outside and imprisoned on the inside. He saved us “to know Him better”; and in knowing Him better, to be freed from our own preoccupation with 'me'. He released us from the gaol of small-mindedness and the tattooed motto of all fallen humanity, being “Earth has nothing I desire besides me”.
This is the miracle of all miracles. We were not saved by the natural way; and neither can we grow by the natural way; or the church way; or the group way; or the magnificent-moment way.
Oh God, persevere with us all; and bring us to the Davidic heart and cry of “You are my portion forever”.
N
