Category — Formation

We make choices and are responsible for how we choose.  And yet, we have a tendency to blame others for bad, irresponsible, unwise, and unguarded choices.  Blame is the game, expressed in a number of ways:

“He made me angry.” 
“I can’t help myself, I am just that way.”
“I can’t get out of debt.”
“I ran out of time, so I could not get my work done.”
“I could do better, if only….” 

And yet, no one makes us angry.  We choose to be angry.  We are not just victims.  In many cases, what has happened to us is a result of our decisions, and decisions can be taken to change our lives.  We can get out of debt, but it will require spending and lifestyle choices.  Quite possibly we ran out of time, because we chose to squander it on the telephone, computer, or television.  The truth is that we make excuses for ourselves, blame others and life circumstances in order to escape responsibility.  On the other hand, responsible living means we embrace the fact that we are accountable for our choices.

I choose what I eat, how fast I drive, what I say, what clothes I buy, what I read, whether I wash the dishes, make the bed, take exercise, do my work, love my neighbor, sleep until noon, buy on credit, love my wife, care for my health, hate my brother, look at a woman with lust, tell the truth, slander another person, etc. etc. etc.  I choose.  I bear the weight of my choices.  For example, fried, fatty, sugary, cholesterol saturated foods do not cause poor health or a heart attack.  I choose poor health, and I give myself a heart attack when I decide to eat such foods.  I cannot blame McDonald’s, mom, the lack of choice, a busy schedule, hunger pains, or ignorance.  I select from the menu, speak the words of choice, pick up the fork and spoon, open my mouth, and swallow.  The decision is mine - the consequences are mine.

Yes, there are factors and circumstances beyond our control, genes passed from our parents, and mean people who do us harm.  But I am afraid we put too much stock in the extent to which these control us, rather than on the choices we have.  And the truth is, we have a choice as to how we will respond to circumstances, genes, and mean people. 

Because I am a choosing individual (rather than a determined one), my actions are real and make a difference for me and those around me.  This makes my choosing important - supremely and eternally important.  This is scary, because left to myself, I dodge responsibility.  Left to my own discernment, I choose self-interest, ease, pleasure, and destruction.  But thankfully I am not left to myself, unless I so choose.  Friends, family, and teachers with much experience and wisdom are around me, if I choose to listen to them and heed their counsel.  The Spirit lives within me and guides my choices through the reading of scripture and theological reflection, if I choose to read and reflect.  As I contemplate choices, I am to seek the counsel of those around me.  As I make choices, I am to seek the Spirit’s wisdom, listen to his promptings, and recall his instruction.

A new year is just a few days away!  I resolve in the year ahead to live by choices that give life to those around me, give witness to God’s transformation in my life, and give glory to God.  I choose to hope that active, purposeful choosing makes the difference.

People will lie to us, cheat us, treat us badly, and disappoint us.  It is not if, but when.  And when they do, how are we to react? 

One response that I am continually tempted to make and one that I must guard against is what might be called ’holy license’.  In this response, the bad actions or attitudes of the other gives me license to come down on him or her in holy indignation and wrath.  If he cheats me, then he deserves to be robbed of reputation.  If she mistreats me, then I have license to mistreat her verbally or emotionally.  If he does not meet my standards of morality and behavior, then I have permission to reject or to trash him in public.  I confess that as a religious person my tendency is toward holy license.

The problem with holy license is twofold.  First, Jesus, of all people, could have acted with holy indignation and wrath toward cheats, scoundrels, prostitutes, and thieves, and yet, he responded with overwhelming grace and love.  The cheat and swindler Zaccheus, the thief on the cross, and the prostitute Mary Magdalene received grace and love from Jesus, and as a result, redemption and transformation took root in their lives.  On the other hand, Jesus judged the Scribes and Pharisees for their self-righteous condemnation of these people.  Jesus’ response to the marginalized, non-religious, sinners jolted and confronted the religous types with an entirely new way of treating men and women. 

Second, license is predicated on the assumption that I am above cheating, lying, or moral failure.  The truth is that I am not!  I am a cheat and a liar.  I can be a jealous, coveting, unfaithful, and selfish person.  Oh, I am being transformed by God’s grace and love, but this transformation is by God’s grace and not because of my innate or natural goodness.  I am the tax cheat in the tree, the thief on the cross, and the petty person passing judgment on others.  The only difference is that I am on the way to being changed by Jesus’ response and, in like manner, called to live by the same response.

Jesus says, “you have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on the your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”  However, religious culture says just the opposite.  From every direction, I hear that I am above or better than certain kinds of people (e.g., homosexuals or the homeless).  Or I am told that I should expect certain people and institutions to protect my Christian rights or my Christian way of life over against the rights and lifeways of the non-religious or Muslims.  I am allowed to live within a legal and social bubble that protects me from encounters with ‘illegal aliens’.  I am told to construct and maintain walls that insulate me and my family from the ‘moral degenerates’ or ’social misfits’.  I have permission to slander and verbally abuse a ‘liberal democrat’, because of his or her stance on social and moral issues.  I am encouraged to use whatever powers necessary to establish a conservative, Christian culture in school, the mall, courthouse, media, and government.  Religious culture grants me license to react, defend, correct, insulate … even insult.  If love is prescribed, in most cases it is easy, cheap love or demeaning pity.

To the contrary - following Jesus means that I forfeit holy license and righteous indignation, my religious and cultural rights.  When the world strikes me on the cheek because of my confession of Jesus, my moral choices, or my stance on abortion, I am to turn the other cheek toward them for another blow.  The Jesus way means that I do not hit back or push away but reach toward and embrace in grace and love. 

When I was a young man living in Sri Lanka, an elderly Christian man living in a village in the north visibly demonstrated for me the Jesus way.  Because he was the only Christian in a predominately Buddhist village, he was treated poorly.  In fact, he was cheated, ridiculed, and ostricized.  One day after arriving back to his home from a trip to the market, he noticed that the man at the place where he bought his vegetables had given him too much money in return.  My friend put down his goods and walked the mile plus back to the seller and return the excess money.  The man exclaimed - “everyone here tries to cheat me out of money and you bring money back to me.  Why didn’t you keep it, I would have never known.”  My friend replied - “I have a master who counts my money, and he would have known.”

A friend has disappointed me.  A brother is lying to me.  A colleague is saying things about me that are not true.  Do I live to get back at these people, or do I hope that they know my Master through my love and embrace?  License or love - Jesus has liberated me to choose love; the world is liberated through my choice of love.

A young seminarian directed me to these words by Søren Kierkegaard …

Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God.  Yes, it is dreadful to even be alone with the New Testament.

We often talk of the Jesus Way as if it is the ‘best life ever’ or a glorious and happy everafter.  When in fact the call of God is a call to take up a cross and follow him to death and the words of Scriptures are instructions in how to live according to a different kingdom.  The Jesus Way is a dreadful way, because it runs counter to my hopes of success, self-gratification, consumption, and advancement.  And yet, if this dread is only theoretical talk or for the radical fringe, then Christianity is truly just another religious way with teachings and a moral code.  Rather, my expereince is that when I fall into the hands of the living God and seek to live according to his kingdom, I mourn the death of my hopes and my ways, but I also rise to a new hope and new ways.  Dread is prelude to becoming a transformed person with new and true hope. 

By acknowledging this and writing these words, I do not escape the harsh reality of what falling into the hands of the living God will do to my appetites, habits, attitudes, comfortable lifestyle, and pet sins.  The way in which Jesus calls me to walk demands that I do more than understand it or write about it.  I must personally know and walk in its dreadfulness, if I am to live in its hope.

The majority of my teachers are dead.  They lived, wrote, and died  - long before I ever lived.  As I handle the pieces of their lives that remain in words, stories, and actions, I learn how I might speak, think, and act.  It is a privilege to listen to and observe the acts of Robert de Nobili, Matteo Ricci, John Amos Comenius, Adonirum Judson, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu, Sophi Scholls, David Bosch, et. al. 

Outstanding among these teachers is Lilias Trotter.

Lilias Trotter left a legacy of a life lived in service to her Saviour and the people of North Africa.  Born July 14, 1853 in London, England into a well-to-do family, she dared to take a path different than what society might expect.  She was blessed to have financial means, and thus opportunity.  On top of this she had exceptional talent.  And yet, means, opportunity, and talent do not distinguish her life.

When Lilias was 23 years of age, she and her mother traveled to Venice.  There, she was noticed by John Ruskin, a leading artist of her day.  He was so impressed with her talent and unique style that he took her as a student and begin promoting her work.  After some time with Ruskin, she decided that this was not to be her path.  She later wrote: “I see as clear as daylight now I cannot give myself to painting in the way he (John Ruskin) means and continue still ‘to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness’.” 

Her resolve set her on a path that led first into the nightlife of London where she sought to help women trapped in prostitution and provide shelter to young ladies in trouble.  This path eventually led her at age 35 to move to North Africa to work among Muslims of Algeria.  During her 38 years there, she cared for widows and children, created booklets of stories and parables in traditional style and pictures for illiterate women and children, championed a place of women in leadership roles, and founded the Algiers Mission Band, which later became Arab World Ministries. 

From Lilias Trotter, I have learned …

• faithfulness to one’s calling no matter the cost
• courage to live contrary to the expectations of others
• power of persistent prayer in the face of insurmountable odds

And yet, above these lessons, I am struck with the power of God in the helplessness of this saint.  For her, real power was to be realized only in her weakness not in strength or talent.  Of helplessness, she wrote

[God] needs that helplessness as truly as the negative pole is needed to complete the electric circuit & set free the power. And so when one can only lie like sort of a log, unable to even frame the prayers one would like to pray, His Spirit will find the way through that lowest point which He so strangely needs, & lift them up to the Throne (Diary, 21 May 1923, cited in Rockness, A Passion for the Impossible, 298).

She saw failing health, conflicts, sadness, and challenges as openings for God’s power and the possibility of God’s mysterious work.  This was her supreme hope, especially during the final three years of life, when she was confined to her room because of a heart condition.  During this period, she wrote The Way of the Seven-fold Secret, a book for Sufi Muslims, probably the most important work of her life.  And during this period, she prayed fervently for the expansion of the gospel among the Kabyle Berbers.  What seemed to be impossible then is occuring today among the Kabyle Berbers. 

Often in my desire to serve God, I rely almost exclusively on my own competency and resources.  I do not seek the place of helplessness before God, nor do I wish to model this before others, because the last thing I really desire is to be seen as weak, helpless, and dependent.  I want to serve God from a position of power and self-resource … not helplessness.  Oh, I may mouth the words of dependency and weakness, but the reality of my life and service demonstrate an unwillingness to go there.  Thus, I serve God but only in my power, mental capacity, and resources.  If my health were to fail, my reputation became spoiled, or if I suffered mental anguish or distress, I would see my service as being over or severely limited.  And yet, while this might be the end of my work, it could be the beginning of God’s work.

Lilias anticipated more than what her competency and resources might produce.  So, she challenged those around her-

Let us dare to test God’s resources …. Let us ask Him to kindle in us and keep aflame that passion for the impossible that shall make us delight in it with Him, till the day when we shall see it transformed into a fact.

Lilias Trotter lived beyond her means, opportunity and talents and toward the impossible.  May you and I seek true helplessness and thus find God’s power and possibility. 

Among the books written by Lilias Trotter, see Parables of the Cross, Parables of the Christ-life, and The Way of the Seven-fold Secret.  For books about Lilias Trotter, see I, Lilias Trotter (A. F. Pigott, 1929), Until the Day Breaks (Patricia St. John, 1990), and A Passion for the Impossible-The Life of Lilias Trotter (Miriam Huffman Rockness, 2003).

I performed a wedding this past weekend for two dear friends.  When I asked what scripture passage they wanted to use in the service, their response was Psalm 126.  At first I thought ‘how strange and different’, but given who this couple is and their unusual commitment to live in service to God’s mission, Psalm 126 is perfect.  Below is the text of what I said.

Psalm 126
This is the end of the beginning - a beginning that is more than just the two of you meeting, the trip to Indonesia, and your proposal.  This beginning has been the years of love, care, and prayers of family, teachers, friends, and mentors.  All of us who have been part of this beginning are gathered to witness and launch you into this next half of the journey.

The Psalm you have chosen is about people on a journey - its a pilgrim Psalm.  It was read or recited as Israelites ascended to Jerusalem and the temple.  Its purpose was to remind them of certain things along the way.  In it we hear lament, as they recall the hardship of captivity.  But it is also a Psalm of great joy - their mouths filled with laughter, and with joyful shouting.  As they journeyed, they wanted to remember both the lament and joy.

This is not the normal wedding passage.  Usually we hear about love, or how wonderful life will be together.  But then, you are not the normal couple, are you?  By choosing this passage, I believe you want to say some particular things about who you are and what you want your marriage to be.  You are making three choices:

You choose to be like those who Dream.
In the Psalm, the children of Israel were returning from 70 years of captivity in Babylon.  They were returning to ruined homes and empty fields.  They were living with the reality of loss of power, possessions, and status.  But they were also dreaming of what could be.

In the same way, you have decided that you will not live with what is, or what others might define as normal or expected, or with the fears you might put on yourselves.  Instead, you choose to live like those who dream.  The fact is - God has already done something beyond your wildest dreams.  So, why not believe him for even greater things? - his promises, his best, his purposes!

As witnesses to your union, we want to say - Dream!  Dream of what God could do in your lives and through your lives.  My guess is that it is beyond your wildest dreams.

You choose to Laugh.
The Israelites knew they were returning to a mess - walls needed to be re-built, fields prepared and replanted, homes re-established.  They knew this was going to be hard and difficult work, but they also knew there would be joy in the end.  So, with the mess in front of them, they laughed.  The Psalm says “their mouths are full of laughter and their tongues with joyful shouting.”

You have already said … we want to walk off the beaten path, in far away places, and we know it will be tough.  In fact, I think you are saying we want it to be tough because we want to reap a great harvest.  And knowing this … your mouths are full of laughter and you are shouting for joy!  You are saying we want to live contrary to a mindset that hoards and protects.  You want to give much, so that you will see much fruit and joy.

Jesus says the same thing in John 12:24:
‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’

As those who know your commitment to the difficult places and hurting people in this world, we say go with confident to those places, give yourselves completely so that you may be full of joy.  As you journey to these places and endure the hard sowing, anticipate the joy.

You choose to be Witnesses.
The Israelites were aware that as they returned, the nations were looking on, wanting to see how the Israelites would live and what their God would do for them.  In the Psalm, they are saying - we hope the nations take note of how our God carries us in the midst of ruin and destruction, and say ‘The Lord has done great things for them’. 

Ashley and Jayson, your ultimate hope is not marital bliss, a two-storied house with a white picked fence, or even old age.  Your hope is that in your marriage, in your work, and in your bodies, that the power and glory of God might be made visible and clear.  Your hope is that friends and family, Burmese and Indonesians will take note that Ashley and Jayson’s God has done great things.  Your hope is that God is glorified through your lives.

I charge you, from this first day of your married life to the end of your days - be dreamers, joyfully hope in God’s power, and give witness to his glory.

We assume that the manner in which we do faith and theology is the gold standard for Christians around the world.  Theology in Africa is contextual, while what we do in seminaries and churches in America is ‘the truth’.  The manner in which believers in Kenya act out their faith is ‘indigenous’, while the way we do faith in America is Christianity.  While we would never admit to such a condescending attitude, our language gives us away.  Contextualization and indigenization are terms we use to refer to foreign beliefs and practices but never to our own.  Could it be that the same terms should be applied to our beliefs and practices?  Isn’t all faith contextualized and every church indigenous to its locale? 

David W. Smith points to the contextual nature of theology and faith and explains why it is difficult to transmit the same throughout the world:

For the past few centuries the churches of Europe found themselves responding to the impact of new ideas in philosophy and science, with the inevitable result that theology in the West became highly contextual.  As they endeavored to translate Christian beliefs into Enlightenment categories, Western theologians accepted the existence of a clear distinction between the realms of sacred and the secular, and they granted a privileged place to rational thought and investigation as the path to knowledge.  Theology involved the systematic articulation of belief, biblical interpretation and preaching was to be logical, and truth itself came to be understood in terms of propositions requiring mental assent.  As we have seen, it was long assumed that this form of Christianity was capable of meeting the spiritual needs of peoples everywhere, so that missions become the means by which a more or less secularized form of faith was transmitted to the rest of the world.  What is now clear is that a theology that exalted the cerebral above the instinctual, gave priority to the individual over the communal, and accepted the matters of faith and ethics were private concerns, contributed to the loss of faith in what was once known as ‘Christendom’, even as it was being rejected as inadequate to the real needs of growing churches in the new heartlands of Christianity(Against the Stream: Christianity and Mission in an Age of Globalization, 2003, p. 21).

Smith’s words evoke a number of questions, but I want to address one - Given the fact that my theology and faith are “highly contextualized” should I engage in efforts to transmit the gospel across cultures?  My answer is - Absolutely yes!  Because the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed my life and brings meaning to my existence, I share it as the best hope for the troubles, hurts, bondage, rage, greed, conflict, and hate that plagues my near and distant neighbors.  It must be shared.

However, this urgency to share does not give me license to export wholesale my brand of Christianity.  I must see the gospel not as the intellectual property of my group or culture to be downloaded across language, ethnicity, tribe, or social status.  Rather, the gospel is like a virus that possesses its host and mutates into a multitude of strains resistant to uniformity.  Thus, I cross into another culture and boldly share my hope because of a confidence in the power of the gospel to transcend my limitations and to reproduce meaning and life within that context.  Potency is not in the carrier but in the virus.

Of course, there are attitudes and actions that I can adopt to foster credible transmission.  As a transmitter of the Jesus Virus, I need to … 

• examine my faith and concede that it is shaped by a context.
• recognize and confess that I am only a man, and thus, give witness to eternal truth via my limited language, symbols, and culture.
• trust the power of the Holy Spirit and the Bible in the life of a man or woman whose way of thinking, acting, and believing is completely different than my own.
• live a transformed, hopeful life.

The Jesus Way has become pandemic; it has spread to Brazil, Beijing, Swaziland, Dublin, Hico - to the ends of the earth.  No one group of people from any particular locale controls or manages this Virus.  Credible carriers of Christ infect others, who then carry this life-changing hope across borders, into prisons, via obscure languages, in spite of racial hatred, cultural bias, and impure motives.  For you see, it truly is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Myopia is a condition that the dictionary describes as both physical and mental.  Physically it is a defect in the eye’s retina that causes distance objects to be blurred.  Mentally it is a deficiency of foresight, discernment, or perspective that causes one’s perception of reality to be skewed or distorted.  In both cases, it is dangerous.  If physical vision is blurred, we may not see the truck in our lane as we top the hill.  If mental perspective is distorted, we may live with a less than true discernment of reality and thus unable to respond to the challenges rounding the corner.  Both can be deadly.

The cause of mental myopia is a singleness of focus on and uncritical commitment to a particular version of reality.  In other words, the manner in which we have been taught to see life is deemed as absolute or superior, and any other way is inferior and possibly a threat.  This condition manifests itself with the following symptoms -

• a fear of perspectives that might challenge our way of thinking
• a need to constantly reinforce or defend a particular perspective
• a tendency to state a certain perspective in dogmatic, black and white terms
• an attitude that is arrogant or dismissive toward other perspectives

Those with mental myopia are not always malicious or intentionally arrogant.  Many are infected with the condition and not even aware of it.  Since the way in which we view the world isthe only reality we have ever known, our perspective rules.  If all I have ever known is flat, dry, desert conditions, then there is no way to even conceive of a tropical place that is lush, green, and humid.  If I have grown up hearing the gospel propositionally reasoned as something I only believe as an intellectual experience, then I may not realize that for many the gospel is about liberation from evil spirits or release from mental and physical bondage.  Myopia limits vision of the wider reality.

The cure for both physical and mental myopia is corrective lenses.  We increase the possibility of seeing the world as it really is, in all its possibilities, as we put on other perspectives.  We do this as we stop talking about and promoting our way of life and actions.  Rather, we learn to ask questions and to listen with empathy and love.

Basic to my cure is the admission that I am a fallible, culturally-conditioned man.  I confess that I need to overcome a myopic view of Christian faith and the church.  My view is who I am - white, suburban, conservative, North American, wealthy, and powerful.  While it is a perspective that offers many positives, it is not the only perspective nor is it superior.  In fact, in terms of world Christianity, it is the minority perspective.  I desperately need to see what power, privilege, poverty, immigration, spirits, disease, family, church, prayer, worship, discipleship, witness, and faith look and feel like from the viewpoint of believers in Africa, India, Asia, south Texas, and 15th Street in Waco; from lives and traditions that are radically different from my own.  It is not so that I become who they are.  Rather, it is so that my view and experience of reality is made more complete and appreciates the richness of others. 

Latin American historian Justo Gonzalez challenges me with the following words:

The fact is that the gospel is making headway among the many tribes, peoples and languages - that it is indeed making more headway among them than it is among the dominant cultures of North Atlantic.  The question is not whether there will be a multicultural church.  Rather, the question is whether those who have become accustomed to seeing the gospel expressed only or primarily in terms of those dominant cultures will be able to participate in the life of the multicultural church that is already a reality. (For the Healing of the Nations, 1999, p. 91).

The North American variety of Christianity which dominates my understanding of God and faith needs the enrichment and instruction that can come only through living among and listening to the dominant, multicultural church around the world.  To think for a moment that my perspective is the ultimate reality is short-sighted, myopic folly.

In a meeting this week, a man gave a group of us a nugget of profound wisdom - ‘A dog does not bark to be a dog, but barks because he is a dog.’  In a folksy way, he was simply saying that being and doing belong together; one is not separate from the other.  Dogs bark because that is what dogs do.  They are not trying to be dogs by barking, but barking is part of what it means to be a dog.

In the same way, followers of Jesus do certain things because that is what they do.  When a woman surrenders to Jesus, she becomes a new kind of person.  John says she is born again of the Spirit.  She performs acts of love not to become a Jesus follower; she loves because of a changed nature.   

James, the brother of Jesus, talks about this truth in terms of faith and works.  He asks, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but has no works?”  The answer is that talk of faith is useless - unless there are works.  A bit later he says, “someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works’.”  In other words, works are not imperative for faith, works are indicative of faith.

Thus far, this is straightforward and clear, and yet, there is an uneasy question - What does it mean when a dog meows?  Well, if a true dog meows, then either it has a severe psychological problem, or it is attempting to be something it is not.  Quite possibly it thinks cats are cool or more fulfilled, have a cushier life (and they certainly do) or are a superior species in the animal kingdom, and thus aspires to be a cat.  If dogs compare themselves to cats and then imitate their behavior, they do something very unnatural, even weird.  A true dog may try to meow, but its meows will be unconvincing and bizarre, because that is not what dogs do.

When followers of Jesus conform to the sounds and looks of the world, they do something that is against their nature.  Ways that were at one time second nature to them are now uncomfortable and strange.  Greed, power-grabs, consumption, hatred, jealousy, and abuse are contrary to their new nature.  If a follower of Jesus consumes and accumulates without thought of the needs of others, then he is like a dog that meows.  If this and other uncharacteristic behaviors are the instinctive and constant patterns of the Christian’s life, then possibly the dog is not a dog but just a cat desiring to be a dog but not yet a dog.  The professing Christian should have feelings of disconnect and dissonance when their behavior does not match a changed nature.  If not, then possibly they have only aspired to imitate Christianity and have not experienced re-birth. 

As a follower of Jesus, I am in a process of being transformed through God’s grace from the inside out.  And though I am far from perfect, I am a new creature.  Old things have passed away and all things have become new.  My new nature compels me to speak and live the confession that Jesus is Lord.

When I am discouraged, tired, or near despair, I look at a small photograph pinned to the wall over my desk.  In this photo, Pastor Allen Yuan Xiangchen and I are seated at a small table in his Beijing apartment.  A friend of his had taken me down backstreets and alleyways to a nondescript building and a tiny, ground floor apartment to meet him.  There was no appointment secretary, plaques of honor, pictures for sale, or adulating followers.  What I found was a rather small man and his wife - two saints. 

Pastor Yuan began his ministry right after the Japanese surrendered in 1945.  He opened a prayer room in Beijing where he baptized new believers.  Because he refused to join the state-sponsored, national church, he was arrested in 1958 and sentenced to life in prison for “counter-revolutionary crimes.”  He spent the next 22 years of his life in prison doing forced labor.  He had no Bible and no contact with his family during these years.  Upon his release in 1979, he immediately returned to what he had been doing when arrested.  People would pack his small apartment to pray and to hear Pastor Yuan teach from the Bible.  He did not conceal what he was doing nor did he consider it to be “underground.”  He said he no longer feared what the authorities might do to him.

During my visit, he asked one question after another about my faith and how he might pray for me.  He was concerned that I live as a faithful witness to Jesus in my country and among my family and acquaintances.  Toward the end of our visit, I asked him how he kept from losing hope during the years of hardship and separation from his family.  He immediately responded by quoting the opening verses of Psalms 27-

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?  When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident. 

The face of this saint glowed with confidence as he spoke these words.  In this frail body and watery eyes, I witnessed strong and vibrant hope.  Years of abuse, privation, and cold had not crushed hope.  His testimony was not that he had overcome his oppressors but that he had decided to hope in the Lord.

Pastor Yuan died on August 16, 2005 but his testimony lives.  His testimony of hope gives me hope.  His picture reminds me to choose to be confident in the One who has defeated evildoers, adversaries, enemies, and even death.

Do not succumb to the calls to fear.  From the Left and the Right, leaders of our society and managers of the economy are telling us the sky is falling and the only thing we can do is anxiously wring our hands.  This is not the time for hand wringing, rather it is the exact moment in which we are to live by faith and not just talk about faith.  If we walk by faith rather than sight, then the reign of God is the reality we live by rather than falling stocks, bank failures, and diminishing buying power.  Resist the notion that we rise and fall on the market; instead, embrace the promises of God.  It is especially in times like these that he can be believed and trusted.  This kind of rebellion against fear produces hope within us and gives witness to those in despair of the hope that is in Jesus Christ.  Resist the calls to fear.  Fear not!