Whose Side Are You On?

Whose side are you on?

Our country has become so completely partisan that it seems nothing positive will ever get accomplished.  The recent discussions about the fiscal cliff and the difficulty that our elected congress has had in getting it resolved is just one in a long line of examples of our divisiveness and separation one from another.  Whether it is Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, black vs. white, haves vs. have nots, or simply “tom(aye)to” vs. “tom(ah)to” we tend to find more and more ridiculous ways of compartmentalizing and dividing ourselves.  And so we need to know: Whose side are you on?  Are you with me… or are you against me…

It reminds me so much of one of the neatest stories in the Old Testament.  It is found in Joshua chapter 5.  Joshua had just taken over leadership from the recently deceased Moses and crossed the Jordan River.  The nation of Israel was on the brink of war.  Every king in Canaan was on guard, fearful of this new nation whose God, Yahweh, had dried up the Jordan river while it was at flood stage so they could cross over and take possession of their land.  Tensions were obviously high.

One morning as Joshua was walking along the bank of the Jordan, he sees a man.  The man is standing in Joshua’s path and he is carrying a drawn sword.  What would you think?  I would probably think the same thing Joshua did and probably ask the same question: “Are you for us; or for our enemies?”  When things are on the brink, it is an understandable question.  Which side are you on?  Friend or Foe?  Ally or Enemy?

But the man responded with a very surprising answer.  When asked “Are you for us; or for our enemies,” his answer was “No”.   It wasn’t a yes-no question.  It was an either-or question.  Joshua wanted the man to pick sides.  Joshua had to be reminded, however, that sometimes it is not about “my side” or “your side” but about “God’s side”.  The man went on to say that he was the commander of the Yahweh’s army and that he had come.  In other words, it’s not whether or not I am on your side, Joshua, it is whether or not you are on my side.  I am the commander, not you.  Joshua immediately fell at his feet and worshipped him.

Most scholars agree that this man was a pre-incarnate Jesus and that, like Moses, Joshua was speaking directly to God.  Joshua may have been given the mantle of leadership over God’s people, but it was God who was in charge, not Joshua.  Joshua may have viewed the situation as Us vs. Them; but in reality the situation has always been about those who stood with God and those who stood against God.

This story is a great reminder to all of us that our petty differences and our partisan thinking is contrary to God’s design – especially for those who claim to be believers in God and followers of Jesus.  We are part of one body of Christ (Rom 12:5, 1 Cor 12:12).  In Christ, there is neither black nor white, slave nor free, male or female, republican, democrat, or any other division (Gal 3:28).  In fact, we are all supposed to be of the same spirit, having the same mind and striving for the same end-game – the advancement of the kingdom of God (Phil 1:27).

Why do we insist on such divisions?  Why must we create teams that separate us?  The answer lies at the very heart of the human condition... our sinfulness.   We all were created for the purpose of relationship to belong to and relate to God.  However, although our sin has separated us from God, we still have that longing within us to belong to something greater than ourselves.  And so we create great causes to belong to.  We use such grand-sounding terms as patriotism and the greater good.  We find something to rally behind so that we can be a part of something important and can relate to others who are like-minded to us.  All the while, though, the most important thing we could be a part of - the thing we were created to be a part of - escapes our attention altogether.

At the end of the day, it is not about your side or my side.  At the end of the day, it only matters whether we are on God’s side.  It only matters whether or not we are one with His Spirit, working to accomplish His purposes, and striving to advance His kingdom.  In Christ, we can relate to and be family with those who might otherwise be completely opposite to us.  In Christ, we can come together in unison with people all over the world and work side-by-side to accomplish one purpose - the purpose of spreading the gospel.  All we have to do is remember whose side we are on.

So here’s the question we all need to answer for ourselves…

Whose side are you on?

Comments are welcome and encouraged.

Blog copyright © 2012 Joel J. Dison

Tis the Season to be... Discontent?

Oh my goodness, it’s finally here.  It’s Christmas time; my absolute favorite time of the year.  The family is all together, sipping cider or hot chocolate or coffee.   I and the missus are snuggled together in our warm sweaters and stockings.  Garland and tinsel are on the tree and chestnuts are roasting on the open fire while the stockings hang from the mantle. As I look out the window, I see the snow drifting down softly. Then, as if on cue, I see my neighbor walking by with his dog leash in one hand and holding his young daughter’s hand with the other.  I raise my cup of chocolate as he passes by in a gesture of greeting.  He responds with a slight tip of his hat while his daughter waves eagerly… (Insert screeching tire followed by a crashing car wreck sound effects)  

Right, whose reality is that other than Norman Rockwell or Clement Clark Moore? Have you been to WalMart or Target lately?   Have you seen the horrific look on people’s faces in the ungodly traffic?  Have you even seen your neighbor walk his dog lately?  And around here if snow is falling outside, the world is probably coming to an end.  Is there a more hectic – or stressful - time of the year than Christmas?  Plus it seems like this year everyone is hell-bent on killing each other...literally.  What on earth is the point of all this absolute insanity?

It wasn’t always like that, you know.  Normal Rockwell was inspired by something real that actually existed in our culture at one point.  There was a time when Christmas was about spending time with family and creating lifelong memories. There was a time when Christmas was first and foremost about the birth of Christ and only secondarily about all the other stuff. That just does not exist anymore.  Now Christmas is about the lights, the parties, and the shopping.

  

I can’t help but think that the guy who really had it all figured out and saw this madness coming was Charlie Brown.  A Charlie Brown Christmas has always been one of my favorite Christmas shows, but not necessarily because Charlie Brown was lamenting the commercialization of Christmas.  It's just a good, wholesome Christmas story.  As a child, though, Charlie Brown was the odd one out.  As a child, I always related more to snoopy and the rest of the gang, wanting Christmas to be bigger and better.  Well, now it is.  The irony is that even while Charlie Brown longed for a simpler Christmas, the Peanuts Christmas is still far closer to the Normal Rockwell vision than the Christmas I see today.  Hey, even in A Charley Brown Christmas they were still doing Christmas plays and going Christmas caroling.  If only…

Christmas today is more like Jingle All the Way than it is A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been Arnold Schwarzenegger (not that I am built like he is or anything – only in my Christmas dreams - but I have been the guy going all over town looking for THE gift).  We all have at some point.  I just wonder what good old Charlie Brown would say about Christmas in 2012.  Have you watched the commercials this year?  I cannot even put into words the pressure being put on us by the commercial machine to spend more and more of our money.  Half the commercials are preying on our greed and materialism.  The other half are preying on the guilt that comes with the obligation of gift giving – cheerfully and happily (read that manipulatively) encouraging us to be the better gifter. And all of them are preying on that unexplainable instinct to get the best possible deal.  For pity’s sake, Black Friday started on Thanksgiving evening this year!  Now that is just plain WRONG.  A few places even had Black Friday specials before Thanksgiving!  The worst part to me is the trend this year for the big chain stores to hijack our Christmas Carols and rewrite them as their own personal commercial jingle.  Have you heard these (shake head back in forth demonstrating shameful disdain).  

And then there is all of the going and doing.  I was so busy the first weekend in December that I literally had difficulty going to work on Monday morning because I was too exhausted and worn out.  There are parties, and band concerts, and church functions, and family gatherings, and work gatherings.  Plus, in our new found culture of altruistic thinking (because, after all, it is not about us), we all have to try and squeeze in some volunteer time at the non-profit flavor of the day.  It’s no wonder we are all so discontent.   I can’t wait for New Years, so I can get some rest and life can get back to normal!  Am I the only one that is exhausted already?  Like the gang in A Charlie Brown Christmas, we have lost sight of what Christmas is really about.

Here’s where I could be the legalistic, fundamental, self-righteous Christian.  Here’s where I could say “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  Or the latest mantra – It’s “Merry CHRISTmas, not Happy Holidays!”  Let’s all just put Christ back in Christmas, right?  The question is – who would care?  Who would listen?  I can’t brow beat you into my expectation for a Jesus-oriented Merry Christmas mood. At best it would make you feel guilty.  At worst, it would turn you off.  Of course, Jesus is the reason for the season, but that is not going to fix our discontentment or make our Christmas any less hectic.

I don’t want to make you feel guilty.  Instead, I think I would like to remind you of something a bit more basic. I would just like to take a moment and tell you a little bit about the JOY that is this thing we call Christmas.  I want to try and offer some JOY for your life – to encourage you to seek that JOY - and hope you find enough  of that JOY to help you through this insanity that we have created called the Holiday Season.

“Behold, I bring you good of great JOY that will be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

“JOY to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king.”

“When [the wise men] saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great JOY.”

Lest we forget, Christmas is all about JOY.  Yes it is about the birth of Christ; and no, Jesus was not really born on December 25.  However, this is the day we have set aside to especially remember his advent and it is supposed to bring us JOY.  Why?  Aren’t we supposed to remember his advent every other day?  Absolutely.  But on the day Jesus was born, angels declared JOY TO THE WORLD.  The coming of Jesus was to bring us gladness.  The coming of Jesus was to bring us JOY.  Jesus himself said that his teachings were so that “my JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be complete.”  I look around my house and I see at least 3 sets of JOY figurines.  Christmas is all about the JOY of the Lord.

Listen… nothing I can say can make you have JOY this Christmas.  In fact, if you do not know this Jesus and have not placed your faith in him, there is a good chance you cannot have JOY this Christmas.  Even for the rest of us, celebrating his birth will not bring JOY because the JOY is not in the birth itself, but in what he did after he was born.  It was his life and, yes, it was his death.  More importantly, it was his resurrection from the dead and what that means for us – none of which would have been possible without his birth, of course.  So we celebrate his birth with gladness and JOY - or at least that was the idea.

All I am asking is that you take a moment to STOP.  Somewhere in this busy, hectic, discontented season, let’s all just STOP - if for a moment.  Don’t get me wrong.  The Commercial Christmas is here to stay.  We are still going to be bombarded with a department-store redefinition of the holidays.  We are still going to have more to do than we can handle.  I get that.  I’m no different… I’m even trying to sell my book as a last-minute Christmas present (enter shameless plug: www.tinyurl.com/faithbeyondbelief).  All I am saying is that we take a step back, take a deep breath, and then take a moment of silence and peace to just think about the JOY of our salvation.  As it says in Habakkuk 3:18 (not your normal Christmas passage):

“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take JOY in the God of my salvation.”

And another, Psalm 46:10 (also not your normal Christmas passage):

“Be still, and know that I am God.”  Stillness would be nice right about now...

Merry Christmas.

Comments are welcome.