I hate the phrase “It’s the journey, not the destination”

Some things sound really nice – until you stop and think about them.

“Listen to your heart” and “You do you” are common mantras of our day…but, they are flawed thinking.  If we’re honest, we can’t fully trust our heart because it has lied to us before, and always selfishly doing what I want leads to a dead end called “loneliness”.  As much as these two phrases cause me to roll my eyes whenever I hear them, there is another one that feels more like a cheese grater underneath my skin:

It’s the journey, not the destination.

It sounds nice, and people who say it mean well.  They want to emphasize the growth and praise the development a person experiences in life, as opposed to looking at all the big things they haven’t accomplished despite their hard work and life lessons learned.  Celebrating smaller steps can often give us the courage to take the next step – and I get that.  However, the real problem is that we’re not dealing with an either/or proposition here.

To minimize, or even ignore, the destination leaves us wandering around in life, bouncing from one feel-good moment to the next.  Left to our own devices, humans will not choose a harder path – unless there is a clear benefit to doing so.  Not only does that benefit become our “destination”, but the destination also guides the path to reach the benefit. 

If you want to go to Maui, Hawaii, there are many paths that can get you there – and each one has its own journey-lessons available – but, there is only one Maui, Hawaii.  Either you get there, or you don’t.  Even if you decide along the way that your “new destination” is Denver, and you apply all your “Maui journey lessons” to your new life in Denver – you’ll never get to enjoy the beauty of Maui and the opportunities that awaited you there.

The same “it’s the journey, not the destination” thinking can muddy up how we live our lives as Christians.  It is too easy, as believers, to think that just because we’ve believed in Jesus for eternal life and He’s promised us that we’re going to heaven…then God’s good with whatever we do, right?  Wrong.

Jesus repeatedly warned His disciples that how they lived their lives would matter in eternity.  He told them to “store up for yourselves treasure in heaven” (Matthew 6:20), which logically means that the “treasures” aren’t heaven, it must be something else.  Something that they earn now and has value for them later in eternity.

Jesus’ longest recorded sermon (aka “The Sermon on the Mount”) focuses entirely on how to live with His Kingdom in mind and how to earn those treasures in heaven.  You can read it in Matthew 5:1 – 7:29.  He ends the sermon with an application challenge – for those who listened to Him to choose: either put His teachings to use and be like a wise man who builds his house upon a rock solid foundation or ignore what He taught and be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.  While this parable has its own fascinating teaching, I want to focus on something He said just before this, which has a similar intention:

Matthew 7:13-14
Enter through the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.  How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

Many have assumed that the destruction destination represents hell, and that the life destination represents heaven.  They say that “unsaved people” walk the broad road, and “saved people” walk the narrow road.  Reading these verses in isolation, I can see how you could come to these conclusions – however, Jesus did not speak them in isolation.  This mini-parable is part of the same closing statements as the builders parable, which closes out The Sermon on the Mount.

The correct understanding is to recognize (based on the context) that all the travelers in the parable are believers.  The Greek word for destruction is apoleia, which can also be translated as “ruin”, is the destination of those who take the wide, easy road.  Only those who choose the difficult road of being a disciple will find the full quality of life that Jesus desires for us to live. 

We can choose to be a lazy child of God or we can choose to put His Sermon on the Mount teachings into practice.  The easy road will take us to a place of ruin and destruction – a life of wasted opportunity.  The difficult road leads to a full life now, with rewards and opportunities in eternity future.

Each day, we can choose which road to walk.  But be mindful of the destination when making that choice.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

An outcast of outcasts

We saw last time that Jesus purposely spent a lot of time with those who found themselves on the fringes of society.  These people were outcasts due to disease, physical brokenness, demonic influences, scandalous choices, or society’s prejudices and attitudes.  And yet, Jesus still connected with them, regardless of whether their situation arose due to their own choices or if their condition was due to circumstances outside of their control. 

There is one interaction I want to focus on, but in order to get a clear picture of why this individual would be considered an “outcast of outcasts”…we need a little history lesson:

The Assyrians brought about the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC.  They deported around 30,000 people from the Northern Kingdom/Samaria and replaced them with captives from abroad (2 Kings 17:24-34).  Intermarriage occurred between the northerners who remained and the imported refugees, and a pluralistic culture of sorts developed.  Some of those refugees embraced a number of articles within Judaism, although they still mixed in their old religions, and in time came to regard themselves as Jews (Ezra 4:1-2).  However, their bid for membership in the Jewish community was rejected by post-exilic Jews (Ezra 4:3-5).  This event set into motion a religious animosity between the Jews and Samaritans that persisted throughout the remainder of the biblical period (Luke 9:51-56, John 4:9 and 8:48).

Samaritans claimed lineage through Joseph’s children.  When the tribes of Israel came to the Promised Land, half were instructed to stand on Mt. Gerizim and the other half were to stand on Mt. Ebal.  The half on Mt. Gerizim received the pronouncement of blessing from God – representing what would happen to the entire nation if they chose to follow God (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) and the other half, standing on Mt. Ebal, received the pronouncement of cursing from God – representing what would happen to the entire nation if they chose to not follow God (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).  Joseph’s tribes were among the those who stood on Mt. Gerizim and heard the blessing (Deuteronomy 27:12-13); however, the Jews would have viewed the Samaritans as being among the cursed.  Roughly 400 years prior to Jesus’ time, the Samaritans had built an alter to God on Mt. Gerizim, but it was later destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC.

A significant piece to understanding the Jewish-Samaritan tension is that the Samaritans only accepted the Moses-authored, books as their bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).  The Samaritans acknowledged no prophet after Moses other than the one spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:18, and that is who they regarded as the future Messiah.  The Samaritans rejected all other Jewish writings of the Old Testament, containing history, wisdom literature, and the words of the Jewish prophets.  As such, while the Jews and Samaritans agreed in the expectation of the Messiah and His kingdom, by Jesus’ day, they were looking for different types.  The Jews expected a conquering king, who would clean up the world’s mess and establish Jerusalem as the center of His rule.  The Samaritans were looking forward to a teacher/restorer, who would set things right.

Because of the region’s mixed race history, pure-blooded Jews wanted little to do with Samaritans.  It was insulting to them that half-breeds would make equal-footing claim to their Jewish ancestors.  However, from a political perspective, Samaria was part of the Roman province of Judea in Jesus’ day.  Nevertheless, the ancient cultural barriers created a sharp divide between the residents of Samaria and the Jews who lived in Galilee (which was north of Samaria) and the Jews who lived in Judea (which was south of Samaria).

With this background, we are now ready to step into an amazingly unexpected encounter that Jesus had with an outcast from those who were regarded as outcasts:

John 4:1-7
When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea and went again to Galilee.  He had to travel through Samaria; so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph.  Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well.  It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

Societal ranking of the day looked like this:
Jewish man
Jewish woman
Samaritan man
Samaritan woman

Collecting water was a woman’s task, and they would typically go in groups to draw water during the cooler parts of the day – either early or late.  It is very telling that this woman of Samaria came alone, when the day’s heat was at its peak.  Later on, we’ll find out other aspects of her life that would have made her an outcast, even among her own people.

Despite all the historical animosity and racial tension between the Jews and the Samaritans, Jesus saw her as someone worth His time, His effort, and His offer of Eternal Life.

Whom do we see as a modern-day Samaritan?  Whom do you shun because you see them as an outcast?

If we want to be Jesus’ disciples, we’re going to need look at the outcasts like Jesus did…and then meet them where they are.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite - What's pursuing you?

What’s pursuing you?
originally posted on May 18, 2017

Ever feel as if something is chasing you?  We can have lingering thoughts, feelings, or memories that just won’t let go.  Their pursuit of us is constant, even though it can take different forms.  Sometimes, it’s over-bearing, always-present.  Other times, we’re able to shove it out of our minds, only to have it resurface again later (and usually when we’re drifting off to sleep, right?).

The pieces of our past can hound us in many ways.  Pain, shame, hate, anger, things we said, things we didn’t say…just to name a few.  Antagonistic people, or even those who are out-right enemies, can dominate our thinking and the thought of them can doggedly chase us down.

I’ve said many times that I love the real-ness we find in the book of Psalms.  The various psalmists explore all aspects of life, often laying out their extremely-raw emotions before God.  And we don’t see any lightning bolts striking down the psalmists for their words, either.  Instead, we find that their petitions, questions, and wrestling drive them toward God, not away. 

David is always a good example of one who openly talked with God, and in one of his psalms we find a mindset that can help us deal with the thoughts and people that pursue us.  Read Psalm 23, and pay close attention to the last stanza:

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters. 

He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.
Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff – they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

David marvels at how God has no problem with settling down for food in the presence of [David’s] enemies.  To us, that’s not the time to sit down to a nice meal.  If enemies are present, then we would think it’s time to take cover or prepare for battle…but with God on his side, David knows he is safe to camp out where God has him.

But it’s one of the lines afterward that really opens my eyes.  Despite being in the presence of [his] enemies, David isn’t chased by them forever.  Because he is with God, David recognizes that only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life.

His enemies are around, there are and will be hard situations in life…but when David looks at the bigger picture, the one from God’s perspective, he finds that only God’s goodness and faithful love have been chasing after him.

That’s the key for us, too.  When our thoughts are being overtaken by memories of old sins or difficulties in the present, we need to look at life from God’s perspective.  From His vantage point, we’ll see clearly and be able to trust Him with our present and all the days of [our]life.

A few years back, a Christian band released a great orchestra-rock song about recognizing that our past doesn’t control us anymore, even when we feel pursued by memories and feelings.  The link below is to a video of the song’s lyrics.

Disciple – Dear X, You Don’t Own Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9yIZnypqBk

Keep Pressing,
Ken

What's pursuing you?

Ever feel as if something is chasing you?  We can have lingering thoughts, feelings, or memories that just won’t let go.  Their pursuit of us is constant, even though it can take different forms.  Sometimes, it’s over-bearing, always-present.  Other times, we’re able to shove it out of our minds, only to have it resurface again later (and usually when we’re drifting off to sleep, right?).

The pieces of our past can hound us in many ways.  Pain, shame, hate, anger, things we said, things we didn’t say…just to name a few.  Antagonistic people, or even those who are out-right enemies, can dominate our thinking and the thought of them can doggedly chase us down.

I’ve said many times that I love the real-ness we find in the book of Psalms.  The various psalmists explore all aspects of life, often laying out their extremely-raw emotions before God.  And we don’t see any lightning bolts striking down the psalmists for their words, either.  Instead, we find that their petitions, questions, and wrestling drive them toward God, not away. 

David is always a good example of one who openly talked with God, and in one of his psalms we find a mindset that can help us deal with the thoughts and people that pursue us.  Read Psalm 23, and pay close attention to the last stanza:

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters. 

He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.
Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff – they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

David marvels at how God has no problem with settling down for food in the presence of [David’s] enemies.  To us, that’s not the time to sit down to a nice meal.  If enemies are present, then we would think it’s time to take cover or prepare for battle…but with God on his side, David knows he is safe to camp out where God has him.

But it’s one of the lines afterward that really opens my eyes.  Despite being in the presence of [his] enemies, David isn’t chased by them forever.  Because he is with God, David recognizes that only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life.

His enemies are around, there are and will be hard situations in life…but when David looks at the bigger picture, the one from God’s perspective, he finds that only God’s goodness and faithful love have been chasing after him.

That’s the key for us, too.  When our thoughts are being overtaken by memories of old sins or difficulties in the present, we need to look at life from God’s perspective.  From His vantage point, we’ll see clearly and be able to trust Him with our present and all the days of [our] life.

A few years back, a Christian band released a great orchestra-rock song about recognizing that our past doesn’t control us anymore, even when we feel pursued by memories and feelings.  The link below is to a video of the song’s lyrics.

Disciple – Dear X, You Don’t Own Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9yIZnypqBk

Keep Pressing,
Ken