Dare to be Different for Your God

I feel utterly inadequate and unworthy to share any Biblical truth with anyone, because how can a law breaker like me promote the same law he breaks? I am no less of a hypocrite than anyone else ever lived. But if every Christian stops sharing Biblical truths because he or she is not perfect then the gospel will not be preached anymore.

 

Joseph Reassures His Brothers - Genesis 50

 

15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.

19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

 

I doubt any human will condemn Joseph if he had held a grudge against his brothers or even if had taken revenge against them. This story reminds me of once as I was reading the Bible at break time at work a lady who was new in Canada asked to read what I was reading. She was shocked by our Lord’s words in Matthew 5:44:

 

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

 

She said in her broken English, “No, I think he wrong. Love family friends ok, good. No love enemies, bad!” How else could she feel about those words? Her reaction was completely natural—human-like. But not Joseph. Joseph didn’t have a Bible, he didn’t have the gift of the Holy Spirit, he didn’t have godly parents to guide and protect him or, he didn’t have access to Christian counsellors, he didn’t even have accountability partners. But he had a heart of flesh and not of stone, a heart bent toward God—Joseph was a man who truly knew how to love God and esteem Him. He dared to be different for His God. Even though all he knew about this God was probably what he heard from his father Jacob.

 

David Spares Saul's Life - 1 Samuel 24

 

1 After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, "David is in the Desert of En Gedi." 2 So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.' "Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD." 7 With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

 

Most natural people reading this will think that David was either a coward or simple minded. No law on earth can condemn David for killing Saul—this was the best scenario for self-defence in an era where murder could go unnoticed. But David did not live by the laws of an era, a culture, or a certain kingdom; David lived by the laws of his God and held himself accountable to God and God alone. Even when, many years later, he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, after he was convicted of his sins he said, “Against you[God], you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,” (Psalm 51:4) David realized he sinned against God before anyone else, after all it was God who said, “You shall not murder”, and “You shall not commit adultery.” To David God was as real as a human judge.

 

What laws did David follow in sparing—twice--king Saul’s life? He didn’t have the Sermon of the Mount. What he had was “an eye for an eye”, yet David showed a deep knowledge of God that can only be gained through a personal relationship with God strengthened by daily walk with Him.

 

This morning I was talking to a lady who attends church at least twice a week (and not just any church: this is a pretty committed church to following our Lord) and she opened the topic about how Christian women should dress and told me that she can’t understand what is so sinful about wearing tight jeans and that she can’t stop wearing them. I knew exactly what her problem was, so I asked her, “Where in the New Testament does the Bible mention how Christian women should dress?” She replied, “It doesn’t! It is not mentioned anywere!” I told her, “You see, there are at least two places that talk directly about this issue. Not to mention dressing in church, and the numerous verses that deal with causing someone to sin.” Her problem is that she has no faith. She doesn’t believe that God’s Word is worth reading nor that God’s laws are extremely important to follow. Otherwise, she would never say that she can’t obey them. How is she going to dare be different for Her God when she doesn’t believe that He knows best?

 

We have the illusion that going to church, giving to the poor, and singing Christian song build our faith—they don’t. Our Lord did not build His faith when He healed or preached. He build His faith when He woke up early in the morning and spend time talking and listening to His heavenly Father and obeying Him. When He healed and preached He was simply expressing His faith.

 

David did not build his faith when he became a king; rather he became a king because he had faith. He built his faith when as a young shepherd he spent countless hours by himself knowing His God and attending sheep. When he wrote the Psalms he was simply expressing his faith. Yet, when we read the Psalms we think that our faith is going to be built just by reading them.

 

Do you dare to be different for your God? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who loved you so much that He sent His beloved, perfect, and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die a gruesome, painful, and humiliating death on the cross just so that you would love Him and spend eternity in heaven with Him. Start being different in the little things because God will not trusted you with greater things without you showing trustworthiness in the little things.

 

Let me tell you a little story: about a week ago I saw my mid-term grade and it was substantially above the class average. I knew something was wrong because I had not done so well on the mid-term. I told my close classmates that there must be something wrong with the way my paper was marked. Sure enough when I received it I was given 14% extra by mistake. So I submitted my test paper back to the TA for my mark to be fixed, namely lowered 14%. My classmates thought I was either the craziest man ever lived, or the most simple minded, or the most idealistic. But I am none of those things. I simply asked myself this question: does God know about it, and what would He want me to do?

 

One classmate had a long discussion with me because of this and he made the remark, “Fadi, you are living your life backward!” I told him, “Exactly! That’s exactly how I know I am heading in the right way! Because most people—naturally living by their human nature—do not follow God. So when I do something that’s different then I know that I am walking in the right way. Human thinking says, ‘Good! Free marks!’ But God says, ‘That’s cheating. That’s being dishonest. That’s stealing.’” Another classmate said, “Have you ever thought that may be God wants to help you by giving you those free marks?” I answered him, “God doesn’t sin—He doesn’t cheat. He doesn’t cause people to sin, but He does test our faith.” Why do we feel that we have to know every trivial thing, except when it comes to God we start guessing who He is and how He operates?

 

My mom sometimes comes from church and tells me, “Fadi, I saw this beautiful and wonderful single lady at church and I thought…” And that’s when I stop her. Sometimes she keeps going, and I have to insist she stops. She says, “How will you ever get married if you don’t even build relationships with girls?” I cannon justify my position except that God is working, at least in me that I know for sure, and He hasn’t done His work yet. And I won’t do anything before I hear from Him and know His will. Actually, He has given me specific promises about the topic of marriage, and I cannot go out and do my things and ruin everything He is doing. Can you imagine how rude it is when, let’s say, a close friend of yours asked you to photograph their wedding, and you spend all this time preparing your photography equipments and cleaning them, and charging the batteries, and backing everything, and making sure you haven’t forgotten anything, and bought extra accessories such as a flash diffuser, and even went as far as taking photography lessons or reading about wedding photography…only to find out that your friends has already arranged someone else to photograph the wedding? Yet, we do this all the time with God.

 

My question for you is this: Do you dare to be different for your God and Saviour? By “…for your God and Saviour”, I don’t mean to impress the world by your obedience and try to change people. What I mean is: do things because they please His heart, regardless of what the outcomes will be.

 

PS: I want to give special thanks to my co-worker Chungsoon, for teaching me how to tip the Pepsi can like this without it falling. All you have to do is leave just the right amount of Pepsi for the can to balance on its edge.

 

(Toronto, ON; fall 2008.)

 

Done