The Final Word
Recently I was reminded of a term in psychology known as "reparenting." This process is about how an individual can give themselves what they did not receive from parents in childhood. For some, this process can grueling and quite introspective, and for others, it can be faster and less intensive. Either way, this is something I think every person has to do at least a little work on, no matter what kind of family system they grew up in.
However, this idea is not just rooted in contemporary neuroscience. This was a call to the early Church and I believe it still stands today.
Paul writes in Ephesians 4 about the work of those in the church who have been called to equip the saints for ministry. The end result of this would be maturity, unity, knowledge of Christ, and living in the fullness of God. He writes, "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ (Eph. 4:14-15)."
I love how straightforward Paul was to the early Church and how this word still cuts to our hearts today. The call is to grow up. In a sense, the apostle Paul is doing some reparenting of these Christians and inviting them to do the same with each other.
I'm not one of those end-times theologians or over-generalizing preachers. I'm not going to say, "Now is the time that we need to hear this more than ever," because the simple reality is that we've needed to hear the truth since the fall.
I will say that there are some things happening inside and outside of the Church that match descriptions in this passage. I see infant-like attitudes, reactions, and comments. I see people swept back and forth in the tides and waves of media, political preferences, personal biases, and overly-spiritualized slogans. This movement is charged with childish mindsets and phrases and has only led to division and pain, rather than unity and healing.
In the midst of this all, I think the Word of God in Ephesians 4 still resounds today as much as it did during their politically, racially, economically, and nationally divided times. The call remains the same, we need to grow up and follow up Jesus as Lord.
I believe this is the truth and I write this in love. I am scribing this with patience and kindness. I'm not boasting as if I've achieved this feat. I'm part of this calling just as much as anybody else. We need to become mature in Christ Jesus and we need to be reparented by the Father who keeps every promise, the Son who fulfills every promise, and the Spirit who is the guarantee of the promise.
In this season, we need to remind ourselves of the truth. I remember many times in my adolescent years having to hear the hard truth spoken in love in order to mature. I didn't know what I didn't know and couldn't see what I couldn't see until somebody pointed it out. My hope is to point us all to the truth greater than the false pretenses and half-truths we see and read about every day. My goal is to direct whoever is reading back to the only word that is the final word: Jesus.
With that said, here is a list of things that I've been chewing on and wrestling through with the Lord that I pray will impact your heart and empower you to be reminded of the firm foundation we have on the Word of God.
God is God, we are not (Job 38-42).
Our trust is not in the election, the president, the white house, or the outcomes of policies on earth. Our hope is the King of kings, the house of the Lord, and the Kingdom call to love God, love neighbor, love self, and make disciples (Ps. 20:7; Mt. 22:36-40; Mt. 28:16-20).
Our opinions about Covid-19 do not take away from our calling to be witnesses to Jesus (Titus 3:1-11).
Feelings are real and true, but not the Truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14), and the Truth calls us to be self-controlled no matter what we're feeling or thinking (Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Tim. 2:7).
Our identity is rooted in Christ's finished work, not our political party, production, earthly statuses, emotions, or striving (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:19-22).
The greatest apologetic in the world is our testimony and our journey of becoming more like Jesus (Rev. 12:11; Rev. 19:11)
God's Word is the Final Word doesn't mean we don't make decisions. It means we follow the Lamb wherever He goes and we stand upon His steadfast truth in a world filled with inconsistencies. This isn't what others have taught us or what we think/feel the Word means. It's God's Word fulfilled in Jesus and lived out through us as worshippers and witnesses (Lk. 24; Heb. 4:12-13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
I think this list could go on for quite some time, but the simple call for us is that we need to do some growing up in the truth and perfection of the Word. Below is a spoken word I recently wrote that I hope brings light to this for you. Here’s the written version.
As we move forward beyond this election, as we press on with this global pandemic, as we continue to live and move and have our being, let us not neglect the Word and our call. This is not a season for growing in political biases, preferences, or opinions, but to grow in the Lord. His Word is the Final Word and He's calling us to mature.
In the words of Paul, "7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:7-14)." Amen.
