What Difference Have I Made?

The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?  For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him."  And the LORD said, "The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.  I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know."  Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD.  Abraham came near and said, "Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?  Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?"  So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account."  And Abraham replied, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.  "Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?" And He said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."  He spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose forty are found there?" And He said, "I will not do it on account of the forty."  Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?" And He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."  And he said, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the twenty."  Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the ten."  As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place. (Genesis 18:17-33 NASB)

After discussing the coming child, as Abraham is sending his important guests on their way, they stop along the way '...down toward Sodom' (v.16).  Now the Maker of all matter in the universe asks (I still don't know who) if He should tell Abraham what's about to happen.  Obviously a rhetorical question, but it presents an opportunity to, once again, cover the covenant promise.  It seems that Yahweh has heard the outcry of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah.  It is so bad that their sin cries out to Yahweh.  It's so sinful, sin doesn't approve any more.  Yet He never says He will destroy the place, Abraham has an idea of what He will find (okay, already knows, but there's a "game afoot" here), and connects the dots.

So, as the two "artillery spotters" leave, Abraham sidles up to Yahweh and begins to negotiate with the Ruler of the universe.  What if there are 50 righteous in the two cities?  Can the Righteous Judge treat the wicked and the righteous the same?  How about 45, 40, 30, 20, and finally, 10.  What is Abraham up to?  I'm not alone is supposing he is trying to save his nephew, Lot.  Lot moved to the valley, right next to Sodom with his entire "household".  Surely, out of such a large household, 50 of them would still be righteous.  But you would think at least 10.  Prior to the next chapter, Lot is never described as being married nor of having daughters old enough to be married.  Much has been added to Lot's household, so surely now, with a wife and daughters, there should be 10 righteous, at least.

In the preceding chapters, we're never told how much contact Abraham had with Lot after the battle of the four Kings of the East.  In fact, we're not told what sort of communication they had.  It might be assumed that there was some sort of contact, but we're never given any indication.  Clearly Abraham cared enough to go to war for his nephew.  Here he is willing to haggle with the Omniscient One, which is tough because He already knows everything you might say.  How do you provide Him "additional" information?  What Abraham is banking on, hoping for, and counting on is that Lot has maintained some sort of influence for righteousness in that place.  Whether he has or not is answered in the next chapter.

So, I'm left with the question for myself, "what sort of influence have I had?"  I don't live in one of Satan's cities (that's 8 hours south of here), but if my Master did want to destroy my town, would I have had enough of an influence for ten righteous to be found here?  This is really a rhetorical question since we already have more than that, and did before I got here.  My point has to do with my level of influence among the people I live near.  How much influence for righteousness have I had?

Now, I can say that I've only been here less than a year.  I can point out that I don't interact much because I work all day in my "inescapable" office, a slave to my IP phone.  I can complain that I'm still getting to know my neighbors.  I can say all that, but the question still remains, because none of these questions excuses me from the responsibility to be an influence for my Master.

In my accountability group, we have a great question, "Did you accomplish things of eternal significance each day?"  Wow!  I have to answer "no" most of the time.  I deal with customers all across the US, and in some foreign countries, and don't really know what sort of "eternal significance" the interactions might have.  But, what about with my family?  What about with my wife?  What about with my daughter?  My church family?  My neighbors?  I have plenty of opportunity to accomplish something of eternal significance, but do I take it?  If someone had to negotiate with the Master of the universe for this city, would I have had enough influence here that my Master would spare it?

Well, now that I've beaten myself up with such demands and challenges, I suppose I should get after it.  I'm burning daylight, and have things of eternal significance to pursue.  Maybe today I will accomplish one or more of them.  Do they carry over to the next day?  I suspect not.

Soul-Winning 101: I Can’t So Don’t

June 1st, and summer is in full swing already.  It is already hot, but the wind blows, keeping it bearable.  How often had the wind been in the mind of the writers of the Scripture?  It cools making the unbearable bearable, and sometimes it destroys.  In many languages, spirit and wind are either related or the same.  It seems it is a great illustration for my Master to use to make His ways among us clearer.

Chambers uses probably the most familiar text in Ezekiel, the valley of dry bones in chapter 37 (every preacher wants to preach this text, the irony is just too rich).  In verse 3, my Master has shown the prophet the valley and now asks, “Can these bones live?”  Chambers points out that there is no deliberation on the point by the prophet, he simply says, “You know, Lord Yahweh.”  The point Chambers makes is that we should be that way.  I like his reasons why.  To say, “yes,” is to put ourselves in the picture of their living and only the image of my Master belongs there.

I have been asked in interviews for ministry whether or not I am “evangelistic,” and I really dislike the question.  What I need to do when asked that is to then ask them to define their term.  Because invariably it seems they want to know if I will be witnessing to folks to lead them to faith in Jesus.  In other words, will I be the “salesperson” for the church directly, for my Master obliquely?  I usually answer no.  Because I hate sales.  Sales implies that I have some sort of control over the process; as if I can “bring them in”, and can keep a tally of all those I have won to my Master, “another notch in my pistol” and all that.  Hogwash!  Am I the God of Creation that I can save anyone?  I can’t even save myself!

The best I can hope for, and I do hope for, is to be an influence in the lives of others to the power and glory of my Master.  When I point to His existence, point to His inspired Scripture, then attempt to stay out of the way of His Spirit, I am that influence.  Too much of me will spoil the soup, that is a guarantee.  I am the broken pot which He has chosen, an example of His radical acceptance and healing power.  I am the lost one without hope of saving myself, an example of the Great Shepherd and Super Hero’s desire and compassion for such empty husks of humanity.

I have had people mention to me that they do not witness because they do not know enough of Scripture.  I have studied on a scholastic level for over 10 years, and I don’t either.  I already know that it doesn’t matter how much I know, I don’t know enough to save someone or convince them they need Jesus.  But I know the One who does.

It is the glory of my Master to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to search out a matter.  Since my Master and my King are one and the same, I leave the searching out to Him, since He hid it.  What I mean by that is I cannot know the heart and life of another, even when they reveal part of it to me.  Only my Master knows all that.  So, it cannot be up to me connect the good news of my Master’s desire for someone to their life.  But I can be sensitive to the Spirit of my Master and follow His lead, allowing Him to make the connection. 

I haven’t prayed with many, leading them in a prayer of salvation.  Most of those with whom I have prayed were during my ministry either in Texas or Idaho.  I don’t even remember most of their names.  That may sound bad, but the impact I had on them was minor compared with the impact of my Master.  I don’t want to be remembered, not really.  I want the experience to be remembered and I want the experience to stick.  But mostly I want my Master to be remembered, how they were saved by my Master.  They may have prayed with some pastor, but they were saved by the Master of the Universe.

I hope I have had some sort of positive effect in the place I work now, among my co-workers.  Yet, I know that my mistakes have not been without witnesses.  So, what I am a witness to and an influence in is the radical forgiveness and acceptance of my Master.  Since so many need that, I hope my Master uses such a witness and influence.

Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest": June 1st.