Following Jesus is a challenging pursuit, but it is so worthwhile.
I am convinced it is one that was never designed to be taken as a solo journey.
Think about it.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
What Makes For Peace
A few years ago we were studying the Beatitudes.
One my favourites remains the one that goes blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.
I was sitting listening to a conversation take place, and that very verse came to mind.
In relationships, in times of contention, what do we do that works towards peace?
Experience has taught me – and continues to teach me – that often that which makes for peace is hugely costly. In fact what often appears to be the right way – to leave it, ignore it, move away from it – actually does not make for peace. On the contrary – it makes for ever reason to maintain the hostility. It allows the status quo to be reinforced.
What makes for peace at times requires tricky steps of self-awareness, humility, forgiveness, bearing with wrong, intentionally building the blocks that allow for right relationships to flourish. What makes for peace is about what can be done to get us re-integrated. Integrated. Into each other. Not just present with each other. Not just engaging each other. Into each other. So that together we can build the whole and not just be parts loosely fitting in an awkward formation.
That is tough work. That is no overnight job. That is misunderstanding, rejection, anger, hurt and time to let those things heal – properly and live with each other in the process. If we allow to heal, we do become stronger for it. If we love each other in the process, we do come out richer for it. That does not come, however, without those seemingly negative feelings and experiences. For we are not faultless, mature, whole people in Christ – yet.
Indeed – it is these very hard relational experiences that builds Christ-like maturity. For it is these very occasions that the fruit of the Sprit emerge.
Tough, however, to still search for a be peacemakers.
That’s why they’re so blessed.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Crushed By The Simplicity Of Trusting Jesus
My friend had told me his greatest times of intimacy with Christ was when he learnt to live by trusting and resting in Him.
When I heard my friend say it, the words had such a big impact on me. I remember telling my wife, and raving on about it for days and weeks. Until another phrase became a flavour of the season.
Recently, howeer, the same words came back to provoke me.
Having delivered a session I felt at my wits’ end. I didn’t think I’d made any impact with the material. The reactions felt hollow and superficial. Their attention was elsewhere and I left it feeling deflated. I wondered what I did wrong.
It was at that time, that I was reassured again, that in simply trusting Jesus, all I had to do was deliver. The results were not my responsibility. Acting on what I knew to do was sufficient.
Down to simply trusting Jesus again.
What made it come home all the more forcefully was an episode earlier on in the day. Walking with my 6 year old daughter. Though she can be fierce, stubborn and independent, she still has a knack of catching me at my most vulnerable and expressing simple trusting love for her Dad.
I told her to do something that I knew she wouldn’t like, but rather than acting up, she simply looked at me and said “OK Daddy” and went about doing what I asked her to do. She did the best she could, with no wish for a reward or any response. I saw her efforts and thanked her, she simply hugged me in response.
As I reflected on that I was crushed by the lesson being taught to me again about simply trusting Jesus. It is that kind of direct relationship. He leads, I follow. He directs, I act. He does the rest. That is it. That is all. If it meets with rapturous responses or with apathetic silence, neither changes the call and the One who has called me.
I thank God that He keeps teaching these lessons in the most wonderful and profound ways. I trust that I will live in the light of the lessons for the benefit of others and the glory of God.
Simply trusting and resting in Him is sufficient.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Anger, Hatred and Grace
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him
How I proved Him, o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus
Oh for grace to trust Him more (Words by Louisa M. R. Stead)
Back Then
I thought I knew what hatred was.
My passion back then was football and as a Liverpool fan the enemy were Manchester United. So I hated them. I referred to them as scum. I would only grudgingly acknowledge anything good they did. It never got too personal or enter anything violent, but it was an expression of my support for Liverpool to hate Man Utd.
As I grew a little older and other things became more pressing, so my ‘hatred’ ebbed.
The Turnaround
The real turning point, however was on the birth of my firstborn. She was born in late December 2004. Funnily enough it was later in May 2005 – when Liverpool won the Champions League – that I remember holding my precious firstborn in my arms and recognising a new sensation. Whatever ‘hatred’ I had of United was absolutely nothing in comparison to feelings of protection towards this fragile and vulnerable bundle of life.
I quite clearly remember looking at her and the thought passing my mind that if anyone was to seriously hurt, violate or molest her then I would take responsibility for a number of violent acts I would render to those who did such to this my precious daughter.
Now, believe it or not, that was a radically new sensation for me. I’m not prone to violence. In fact most acts of physical exertion are kept to a minimum if I can help it. I prefer engaging in mental and verbal sparring, and even that has to be relaxed with casualties avoided at all costs.
Yet there surged in me that gut-feeling of defending my precious child.
It gave me a greater appreciation for those feelings of anger and hatred that others had for similar personal atrocities, especially if justice didn’t appear to be done. I can appreciate more now how those feelings of anger, betrayal and bitterness can become deeply embedded in the system.
Where Grace Comes In
Appreciating and understanding it more now, makes the concept of grace all that much harder to grasp.
For in grace we see God look at His creation who not only turned their backs on him, but have proceeded to violate, molest, abuse, contaminate and degrade his creation.
They – we – have done that in the environment and worse still they’ve done that – we have done that – in our relations with each other. Whether in overt acts or by omission. Blatantly or subtly, actively or subconsciously – our very inclination towards selfish and greedy pursuits hurts us and exclaims such disregard to the Creator as to regard Him as of being of no worth at all.
God sees that, acknowledges it happening on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day, life-by-life basis – and His response to that is Jesus Christ. Crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended as Lord and offering redemption to all of those who have defiled and defamed Him.
That’s the response of God. That’s the initiative of God.
Where I would promise dark retribution and seek the worse possible physical repercussions – God offers Jesus, takes it on Himself, and builds a bridge of reconciliation.
Grace and Me
This is not to suggest that God is not one to judge and hold to account. It is not suggest that He turns a blind eye to the evil in the world. Yet His capacity to be ‘slow to anger’ is just as much a mercy to me as it is to any of the worse kind of people in the world that commit the dreadful acts to which I refer.
It is a mercy to me, because even in my anger and promise of revenge, I take it upon myself to act like God. I think I’m able to dispense justice in a manner pleasing to me, as if I’m the judge, jury and executioner. Such a high-handed, arrogant call in itself disregards the right the Author of Life has to judge in the affairs of man.
So He expresses His compassion to me. He loves me by His grace. He informs me of what that grace should mean to me. He then goes onto live in me and show me how that grace should impact other relationships. How that grace is to be expressed especially when I want to hold a grudge or feel I have the right to be bitter for being hurt and betrayed.
That is tough. That is why it is a matter of Him living in me that gets the job done, rather than anything else.
Grace, Anger and Hatred Together
That is not to say there’s no place for anger or hatred in the life of a believer. I am convinced there is. Hatred for sin and its effects. Anger at the ungodliness that pervades society. Hatred at the elements Yet those feelings and emotions are channelled through Christ to have its proper expression.
That amazing expression offers mercy, hope and a bridge to love even to those whose actions would deserve the complete opposite.
Oh for grace to trust Him more.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Discipleship – Learning To Live The Love Life
Relationships are interesting.
Nothing beats a good relationship.
There are different elements to relationships, and I believe there are different stages of relationships, based on me brief time on the earth.
While I was working through some personal issues in the transition from Bletchley to Derby, I started thinking about stages of relationships. A few months ago I was asked to lead some discipleship studies, and it was a good time to begin noting down some of the connections between the stages and what it is to follow Jesus together.
A verse that continues to challenge me is found in Jesus’ final instructions to His disciples before His crucifixion.
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34, 35
I read those words and think again about the activities and services and the such like that is done to ‘win’ souls, when the actual element Jesus identifies as the means by which we identify ourselves as His is missing.
Looking at the words I check the phrase – as I have loved you – this marks out exactly the type of love Jesus is looking for His disciples to replicate.
My contention is that the type of love with which Jesus loved His disciples is such a profound intimate serving love, and evident whether in washing the disciples’ feet or sharing the life in the Kingdom with them. This type of intimate love is not just about what we do – though it certainly involves that – it is a deliberate, intentional involvement in our lives with a basis of commitment to each other that is far more important than any disagreements and disappointments.
Although I have had a number of those disagreements and disappointments, I can testify to benefits in seeking to develop those relationships that go beyond presence, contact and engagement but go towards something at could be the intimate type that Jesus refers to in His instruction.
Here is the thing – I believe Jesus is commanding His disciples to do something they will be capable of doing by the power of His Spirit. That is to say – it’s not impossible. It certainly isn’t easy because Jesus’ love is very different to the expressions we might have experienced.
I recently asked a group of people to talk about love. One person said it was about a selfish and need based issue. They referred to their experiences of love and thought it was a rather selfish enterprise and you only tended to love for what you got out of it.
Hearing that made it all the more important for me to express – in deeds more than words – that the love life Jesus calls us to is about the giving of self rather than seeking our own benefit. Discipleship relationshuips are the ones that live out this commitment to each others’ welfare in a way that reflects that love with which Jesus loved us. People see that in action, and people can identify that as a different – and purer – love than they have experienced before.
People living that in action is the heart of what discipleship is about. Learning to live the life of Christ, is living out the love life that was in effect from before creation, and gloriously made known to the disciples in His time on earth.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
The Hardest Thing To Believe About God
I am a big believer in the power of grace.
Someone once asked me, what was the hardest thing to believe about God. My reply was God’s grace.
It’s relatively easy for me to accept God’s holiness, righteousness, creative ability, right to judge the world, His eternal nature as well as being all powerful and everywhere present.
The reason that the grace is the hardest bit for me, is because what it means about what God thinks about me and how I should then think about other people.
Grace is not about God letting me off. It is about God’s energy towards me that means He makes me right and there’s nothing I can do to earn that or in anyway repay Him for it. That force, that energy covers my failings, and continues to equip me to live right, comfort and console me in where I am and stir me to move forward.
Why it’s so hard is because of how I’ve seen myself, and a faulty view I had of God due to a number of upbringing issues. I’m still in the process of having that view renewed by constant insight into God is and how amazing His grace is for me and those who want to follow Him.
It’s hard also because it means I have to relate with people in a similar way as God relates to me. Again that’s not about smiling at stupidity or having a weak and pathetic approach to people’s wrongs with much wringing of the hands. It does however call for compassion and mercy where others seek condemnation. That’s difficult to exercise when you’ve been hurt or it’s a very touching issue to you.
Thankfully that’s why having Jesus in my life helps me to deal with this challenging but central aspect of who He is.
That’s why it might be the hardest thing to accept, but it’s also the most wonderful.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Movement and Choices
The other day I was playing squash.
Squash is my only intensive physical outlet. I have been playing for a few weeks now and can certainly feel the benefits.
I usually play in a trio, so we play winner-stays-on. The others usually consist of an older guy called Howard who is still very good and a younger guy called Jared who has learnt from us and now is at the level of the older guy. You would have gathered this makes me the regular whipping boy, but I’m not disheartened (much).
On this occasion Jared had to pull out due to illness. His place was taken by another young guy, called Jordan. He had never played the game before, so he learnt from scratch by playing Howard and I.
It was intriguing watching him learn the basics in real game settings. Obviously at first we got him into things steadily. His lively manner though soon made it clear that we couldn’t afford to patronise him. So we played at our regular levels.
Energetic though he was and accustomed though he became to the variety of shots he could play, he was always at a disadvantage because of the game knowledge his opponents had over him.
After the session I asked him what he learnt. He said he learnt that you had to think whilst playing. It wasn’t about power and speed. It was about positioning and correct shot selection based on a good understanding of your opponent and the court. That could mean you could expend minimal physical energy and be able to use it when needed and eventually overcome the opponent.
It was based on good movement and good shot selection.
I don’t think life in Christ is that different.
Following Him us about our positiong in life. Where are jobwise, where are we relationship-wise, where are we emotionally, where are we mentally? Answering those in the light of the leading of God by His Spirit makes the difference.
Once that is known then it is applying wisdom to ‘hit the right shot’. Soft word or kind act. Stern rebuke or silent reflection. A meal or a game of squash. Time with the spouse or time with the children. Listen to musuc or read a book. Nap time or a refreshing drink. As wisdom leads to the shot selection, so we can enjoy God’s type of success – namely enjoying walking in His will – that good, acceptable and perfect will.
We won’t always learn it that easily on our own, which is why it’s good to learn from others how to excel in the game and channel energy wisely rather than think it’s about the swift or the strong.
Of course Jordan is more than welcome to learn more about squash with Howard, Jared and I. As long as I don’t come last again.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
