Maybe we’re supposed to extend the Kingdom more than defend the cause
By Dean Collins
Asaph asked some good questions. “O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?”
They are the kinds of questions you and I have thought about from time to time. Maybe we were even bold enough to ask God the same questions. God doesn’t appear to be bothered by our issues, even when we raise them from hearts that are wounded and angry. Honestly, when we see injustice, destruction, or unexplained catastrophe, don’t we feel sympathetic yet puzzled about why God let it happen? It’s as if God has forgotten us or, worse, is angry at us and blaming us for all the bad stuff that happens in the world. We can relate to Asaph’s questions in the opening of Psalm 74.
Show us you notice!
And like Asaph we want to see some signs God has noticed and has a plan. Where are the great prophets of old or the preachers like the late Billy Graham who give us perspective and hope that we aren’t forgotten? And wouldn’t it be great for God to send a reliable messenger who can just tell us the timeline? If we just had an end date, we could plan better or know when things finally resolve—and cope with the discomfort of waiting.
Of course, we want action-movie resolve where the good guys wreak havoc and violently get revenge. But it seems that God’s got his hands in his pockets and is just casually ignoring us. Doesn’t he see the news? Things aren’t looking so good down here according to our daily feeds.
Defend your cause!
Toward the end of his psalm, Asaph attempts to jar the Almighty’s memory just in case he has forgotten his previous comments and plans. And with the reminder, the psalmist made sure God’s vision hadn’t become impaired and was somehow not seeing what was actually happening down here. People were mocking and scoffing at both the Almighty and his servants. So please don’t let the innocent, the poor, and the down-and-out stay victims of injustice and live in shame. As the prayer intensified, Asaph pleaded for God to get up and defend his cause.
It was at this next-to-last verse, the place where the psalmist asked God to defend his own cause, that I came to two conclusions:
1) God can take care of himself. He didn’t ask us to run around trying to do his job. He did ask us to share his good news.
2) Maybe our efforts to make sure everyone knows God’s perspective on every moral issue is more about us defending ourselves and our choices than actually promoting and sharing God’s love, grace, and forgiveness.
The Gospels teach that Jesus was not particularly concerned with his rights or how people perceived him. He was relentlessly focused on loving others so that they would experience God and the fullness of his love and grace. It seems to me that focusing on Jesus will lead us to focus on his priority. Maybe we do need to rise up, but not in trying to correct every flaw in culture or to fix every moral failure. Wouldn’t God’s plan accelerate if we focused on sharing the power of the gospel to change lives more than forcefully trying to change the world ourselves?
Live like Jesus!
I’m not suggesting we give up developing a biblical worldview. But I am suggesting that we give up trying to get non-Christians to live by one. And if our worldview is correct, the best way to prove it will be to live like Jesus. Remember his revolutionary yet simple command: “Love one another the way I loved you.” And the result Jesus promised was this: “By this all the world will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”
I must have missed the verse that said we are called to correct or fix everyone or all the problems in society. For now, maybe we should just focus on extending God’s Kingdom by the method he gave us instead of defending God’s cause or plan. I think God can take care of his plan just fine.
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 74:1-23; John 13:34-35 ESV
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
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