Something to Think About...

Was challenged by an African pastor this past week (not deliberately on his part, but merely by the testimony of his life) that in American Christianity we cannot hope to be preaching the entire Gospel if we do not make clear that demons and Satan are real enemies that are quite cunning in their actions toward humanity.


Of course I knew this, or at least I thought I did, until I encountered this man's stunning and robust theology and practical experience in this field.  Now I'm leaning toward the mindset that we are more darkened in our understanding than I previously thought.

It is my conviction that we should always move toward preaching "the whole counsel of God" and I think perhaps I have shied away from this topic more than I should have-especially when I consider that there was a significant portion of Jesus' ministry dedicated to deliverance.  To be clear: I have preached on this topic and even testified about it, but it has perhaps been too rare a thing for me, especially in a society that is arguably more demonized than it's ever been before.

I am not saying I'm ready to start focusing on this topic (I think any distraction from Jesus as THE POINT of it all would be a BAD idea) or that I'm going to be the guy who says there's a demon lurking under every bush.

I am saying that I am going to have to think and pray into this topic some more because I need a more well rounded theology here and a more striking/penetrating way to communicate this topic while avoiding the pitfalls of ignoring it and of sensationalizing it.  We (us Americans) are about as bad in this area (or worse) than we are in our understanding of the judgments of God.

Our Rest a Stone

"Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep." -Genesis 28:11

Jacob's Dream, by Gustav Dore

Jacob was traveling to a land he'd never been to before and stopped to get a wink of sleep.  What followed was him getting a stone to rest his head on and a terrific encounter with God (in a dream) that changed his life for the next 20 plus years.  (Note: Jacob didn't convert here, he just began a greater faith journey.  Read this post for more on that story).

That stone of course, was a type (or symbol) that prefigured (i.e foreshadowed) the coming Messiah.  (We know this because Christ is referred to as "the Stone" in other prophetic pictures, and Messiah means "Anointed One."  Jacob literally anoints his "sleep stone" after he has the dream; see v. 18).

Anywho, here's the point: As we sojourn through this world, God calls us to rest on that offensive stumbling Stone known as Christ (Isaiah 8:14, 1 Peter 2:8, Romans 9:32).  And He is terribly offensive!  He will create custom-tailored offenses, just for you, in order to offend out of you everything that does not belong to Himself.  The offense is so great that many people often choose to stop following Him after awhile simply because they cannot bear to deal with Him.  Only those who are sober to the reality that there's nowhere else to go stick around (see John 6:66-68).

To rest on Him, therefore, will be most uncomfortable, as it would for anyone sleeping on a rock, and yet, it will be the only rest that is actually life-giving.  Whatever the fitful repose we have on that Stone now, things will be different for us as we learn to cease striving in our own ways, our own comforts and strengths, etc.  Our rest in Christ will eventually be sweeter, truer and better than the kind of sleep we became accustomed to when going our own way.  That kind of sleep actually puts us into a sleep of stupor-of terrible spiritual dullness where we are unaware of Him and what is real, what is moral, what is just and what is Truth.  Pilate was in such a sleep when he looked Christ who is the Truth (John 14:6) in the face and asked Him "What is truth?" (John 18:38).

It has been said that the best night of sleep Jacob ever got was the night that he slept on that Stone.  So rest on the Stone, but just as the old hymn, Nearer My God to Thee says, "My rest a Stone" remember that your rest is a Stone!!!   Do not expect to be comfortable, for He will press you to the breaking point till you no longer rely on yourself but on Him (2 Cor 1:9).  Expect to be alive and have rich encounters with Him that changes not only your own life, but the lives of those all around you for generations to come as a result of your trusting in Him.