That’s what we used to ask back in the day.
Yeah, I know that was a hundred years ago, before the era of
shacking up and then the era of hooking up, and today’s era of everything’s up.
Bear with me: I’m old.
Well, old-er. I’m not giving up my happy delusions of youth
just yet. And I’m not so old that I can’t remember what it felt like to ask a
girl out. Oh, yes: it was misery … the obligatory lump in the throat and
sweaty palms, the tension in the air and the vertiginous moment when she made
up her mind … and then … the answer.
That moment of asking wasn’t actually the end of the
suffering. We didn’t really know each other. The question was supposed to let
us get to do that, a sort of permission to get past the gate of distant familiarity
and to make a foray into the guarded and possibly hostile territory of intimacy.
It was gonna hurt. But without it, nothing good was going to happen.
So we “went out”.
Afraid to Go Out
We don’t really go out anymore.
I’m not talking about dating now: I’m talking about
Christians. We don’t reach out to our neighbors and colleagues, or participate
as Christians in any number of public
situations. Sure, we stay cordial with everybody and engaged with a select
group, but we’re not much for stepping out into the cold winds of public opinion.
And let’s face it: life’s not too hard right now. We’re
pretty much able to carry on as regular members of our society. Sure, we may
not participate in all of its excesses, but we still get to work, play,
entertain ourselves and generally circulate unimpeded. And apart from some
selectivity in these things, we pretty much look like everyone else.
We know we’re Christians. We’ll even maybe tell people if
they happen to ask. Some of us may go further, and consciously look for times
to identify ourselves or witness a bit, but most of us don’t push that very
hard. We don’t want to upset the environment at our schools, workplaces or
neighborhoods, and we sure don’t want to create much of a political stir. And
though we see a fair amount of scorn heaped on Christians in the media, and
though we read stories about some putatively dangerous “religious right” of
which we’re supposed to be part, and though we hear people make all kinds of
nasty quips about “fundamentalists” and “religious loonies”, really, we aren’t
much of a problem for the world around us.
Sure, we may not vote their way, and we may chirp
a bit when they legislate something we don’t like, but at the end of the day,
we’re pretty manageable. We’re quiet, cooperative, generally good citizens, predictable
voters, uncontentious neighbors, reliable consumers — in other words,
generally unobtrusive and inoffensive to our society.
And so we don’t suffer much. Yes, we do get a bit of
slander, we do find the moral climate a bit difficult and we do experience a
sort of mild, legislative persecution in which our values are slowly expunged
from public life, but it’s really pretty tame stuff … at least at
the moment.
Because honestly, we don’t put ourselves “out there” much.
Uh-oh
And then we read about “the reproach of Christ”. We read that we ought to expect the world to have issues with us. We read that the life of faith is that of a pilgrim and alien, and that
persecution automatically comes to the faithful, and that
a comfortable position in this world is
a sign of unfaithfulness and it makes us a bit uneasy.
I wonder if we should think about that.
How is it that we aren’t a problem? Do you ever wonder if we
should be bearing more reproach for Christ?
Bad Reproach
The biblical answer to this turns out to be, “What do you
mean by ‘reproach’?”
If we mean should we make trouble for ourselves, the answer is no. If we mean should suffer as meddlers, hypocrites and evildoers, the answer is also no. We should do all we can to stay on good terms with everyone.
But all that’s quite different from what the Bible calls,
“the reproach of Christ”. That’s the reproach you get for being genuine, for
sticking to principle, for standing for the truth, and for doing the right
thing. It’s nothing you actually deserve to get, but it’s the kind of thing
you’re sure to get if you’re the real deal.
Let’s take a look at what the word of God says about the good
kind of reproach.
Right Reproach
Firstly, “the reproach of Christ” is going to be based on a
slander you just do not deserve. Take the case of Elizabeth, for example. You
remember her? The wife of Zacharias? The mother of John the Baptist,
eventually? Nice lady. But before all that, she had a pretty tough time.
You see, the common belief in Judaism was that there was
some automatic relationship between being law-abiding, on the one hand, and
prosperity, on the other, and between being a sinner and having bad things
happen. And what could be a more important signal of prosperity for a woman
than fecundity of the womb?
For Elizabeth, as for Hannah earlier, the suspicion would have been that she was childless because she had some secret sin, something she
was not admitting, and hence God was judging her and exposing her dishonesty. When
she speaks of this, she calls it her “reproach”. That is, that there was an
accusation hanging over her head.
It wasn’t even a bit true. But it didn’t matter to the world. She was under their reproach. And the fact
that she didn’t deserve it didn’t make it hurt her any less.
Reproach just hurts. No wonder we’re inclined to avoid it if
we can.
Falling Into Reproach
Secondly, reproach is also a kind of trap. The world uses it
as (a) a reason to disregard our message, and (b) an excuse to hate and
abuse us. For that reason, we must be careful not to incur it if we can
avoid it.
The concept comes up in regard to elders shepherding the
church. When selecting, the church is to pay attention to the possibility of reproach falling on a leading person. Note that this is specifically to do with those “outside the church”. The word
here means the leader’s “witness” or “testimony”: he must be a testimony to
Christ to the external world.
Now, this is different from the word normally translated
“reputation”. The world may or may not like him — that would be
unimportant, since the reproaches of the world so often come undeserved —
but his testimony must be judged by the congregation to be right in spite of
whatever reproaches the world may or may not have.
Absent that, the potential elder would merely provide an
opportunity for the Enemy, a “snare” he could use. Who would be caught in this
snare, and how, are left unsaid: but it clearly would just not be a good thing
to give him such an opportunity.
So the impulse of Christians to get along with the world as
much as it rests with them to do so is not entirely bad; but it takes great
discernment to know when that desire to please has to end. Because sometimes
you just have to stand up.
Not Your Reproach
The reproach of Christ is pure. It comes not because of our
personal failures or human mistakes, it comes because of our association with the Lord.
In his own example as Head Human Being, the Lord modeled this for us. He
was innocent entirely. And yet he was bearing reproach. The world esteemed him
struck down by God, since he was so clearly not prospering but being judged. Earlier, they had said,
“We know this man is a sinner”, though
they knew no such thing. They
hated him without a cause.
But we see in Psalm 69:9 who was really being
reproached. It was God the Father himself. People who hated God were hating his
son: and the Son was pleasing not himself, nor serving his own interests by
bearing this reproach, but was rather bearing the reproaches that wicked men
are all too willing to heap upon the Holy One.
That’s what makes the reproach “pure”: that the real reason
people are hating us is the One who is behind us. In all of this cloudy world,
it’s not always obvious what right and wrong are. Good things sometimes get
called evil, and evil things get celebrated as if they were good. But when the
issue is Christ, the lines get perfectly crisp.
To confess his Name, and to be associated with him is pure
delight. To despise him, and therefore to reproach those who love him, is pure evil.
Worthy of Reproach
The really encouraging thing is that ending up on the right
side has nothing to do with our adequacy. We don’t need to be perfect in order
to be the bearers of the testimony of Christ. In fact, reproach and abuse from
the world is a very real possibility for anyone who loves God. Even flawed people like us can
suffer for his name.
However, something incredibly wonderful happens when we do. We
make an exchange. The reproach and hatred we experience here is translated by
God into a far better and more lasting possession when we hold confidently to
the faith. Endurance is met with an eternal reward of great value. Not only
that, but fiery trials are the refiners of the Christian person, preparing him
or her for glory; so even here we benefit from the revilement we experience
from men.
Bearing his reproach is good for us. On so many levels.
Reproach as Treasure
So our human frailty and failings are not a stop to God’s plans for us. Just as Christ bore the reproaches directed against his Father,
so too we bear a reproach not our own. Our reproach is truly his reproach.
But something amazing is said in this passage. Reproaches
are called “riches”.
Not just “riches”, they’re a “reward”.
No, more than that: they’re “a treasure” to be “esteemed”
above all the treasures of ancient Egypt.
Get that? If someone reproaches you in the name of Christ,
they are heaping the glorious rewards of heaven on your head. They are piling
up for you treasure beyond measure. You should be singing and dancing, for great is your reward in Heaven.
Cha-ching!
The Choice We Must Make
So now we must ask: how long can we live within the camp of
the unrighteous? How long can the children of light walk at pace with a world
that ultimately is headed down to death? How long can we remain manageable for
those who despise the message we have been sent to bring? How long can we keep
silent when we have been charged with the only good news? How long can we stay
acceptable to those who ultimately hate our Lord?
Outside the camp is the loss of comfort.
Outside the camp is alienation.
Outside the camp is rejection.
Outside the camp is slander.
Outside the camp is abuse.
Outside the camp are persecution and death.
Outside the camp is truth.
Outside the camp is righteousness.
Outside the camp are the faithful and true.
Outside the camp is an eternal weight of glory.
So now the question:
“Do you want to go out?”
No comments :
Post a comment