Posted on by intentional4christ

Monuments

For the past few weeks, I have been thinking about something I read about in the story of the Israelites as they crossed the Jordan into Jericho. Let’s read the scripture together:

So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.” Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down. Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

Joshua 4: 4-9 BSB

Joshua, Israel’s new leader loved to erect monuments as reminders to Israelites. He erected two monuments, one in the Jordan River and one in their camp site after they crossed the Jordan River, as memorials of God’s faithfulness in keeping a longstanding promise to the Israelites. Later on we see that when Achan sinned against God, Joshua erected monument of stones over his grave to remind the Israelites to fear and obey God (Joshua 6). Whether as reminders of God’s faithfulness or His holiness, these monuments were important to Joshua. And every time he erected them, they were meant to point people back to God.

Now fast forward to the New Testament in Mark 13 and we see one of Jesus’ disciples describe the temple of Jerusalem. He said “Teacher, look at the magnificent stones and buildings!”  (vs. 1). But Jesus’ response was rather astonishing: “Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (vs. 2).

The temple of that day was a magnificent edifice, a monument, that had become significant to the Israelites. Unfortunately, the majesty that was accorded to the temple far surpassed that which was accorded to the God who inhabited the temple. Jesus pointed out to the disciple and anyone else who was listening that the manmade magnificent monument was going to come crashing down.

Let’s backtrack to Gen 11 where the early human race decided to erect a monument, a tower that reached up to the heavens.

“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

Gen 11:4 BSB

Their aim for erecting a monument could not have been more different from Joshua’s. The purpose of Tower of Babel was to make a name for themselves. As we go about our lives on a daily basis, our accomplishments and achievement become monuments and memorials that signal that we walked this earth and left a mark. Monuments are very important because they remind us of how far we have come (1 Samuel 7: 12). Monuments only become problematic when they do not point us and others towards God. When we begin to ascribe more majesty and glory to ourselves than the God who inhabits the temple of our bodies, then we are setting ourselves up for a great fall, where not one stone will be left on another!

Almost a year ago, one of our pastors in church preached a sermon from Gen 11 and she asked us to consider two important questions:

  1. What have I built in my own strength for my own fame that needs to be deconstructed?
  2. What towers have I built that shine a spotlight on my self instead of God?

Today, as you go about your life’s activities and work towards leaving a legacy behind, I ask you to consider these two questions above. If the stones of remembrance that you are erecting do not point you or others to God, then I encourage you to reorient your accomplishments back to the Source and Giver of good gifts. Jesus encouraged us that our works, our accomplishments, our fame, should always be for the glory of our Great God.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 BSB

This word is timely for me and hopefully for you as well. I leave you with the lyrics of this song:

All the glory must be to the Lord, Only He is worthy of our praise;

No one on earth should claim glory for Himself;

The glory must be to the Lord.

Yours Truly

Posted on by intentional4christ · 1 Comment

Identity- Our Sense of Self

My drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre. That is always pushing me. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being but then I feel I am still mediocre and uninteresting unless i do something else. Because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended and I guess it will never end.

Madonna

I recently came across this quote from Madonna and how truly apt it is for many of us. Even without all the fame and acclaim like Madonna has, our sense of self, self-worth and desire to be “somebody” are insatiable. Towards the end of last year, I faced a lot of turmoil and upheaval at my place of work which led me to an identity crisis. Everything that I had come to believe about who I was and my motivations in life no longer made any sense. As I have searched for answers in scripture, reassuring words of loved ones, counselling, among others, one question has stood out for me: what have I based my identity on?

We go through life looking for the ultimate verdict that we are important and valuable and we look for that ultimate verdict in situations and people around us. Our identities become rooted in our accomplishments or in our failures. There is an invisible standard set for us either by ourselves or by others and we strive to live up to these standards each day. Our self-esteem is driven by whether or not we are able to meet the standards. So we fluctuate between high and low self-esteem because every minute our lives are on trial- some days we feel we are winning and other days we feel we are losing the trial. We judge ourselves and we allow the judgment of others to condemn or acquit us each day. But the truth is that trying to find self-esteem and build an identity by living up to a set of standards is a trap. I recently read a book by Timothy Keller, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness- The Path to Christian Joy, that shed light on a way to be free from the entrapment of this skewed view of self-identity. Using the example of Paul from 1st Corinthians 3:21- 4:7, Keller states:

When [Paul] says he will not let the Corinthians judge him nor will he judge himself, he is saying that he knows about his sins but does not connect them to himself and his identity. His sins and his identity are not connected. He refused to play that game. He does not see a sin and let it destroy his sense of identity. He will not make a connection. Neither does he see an accomplishment and congratulate himself. He sees all kinds of sin in himself- and all kinds of accomplishments too- but he refuses to connect them with himself or his identity.

All too often, we allow our accomplishments, achievements, shortcomings, or failures to be what defines us. If our accomplishments define us and something threatens that or we receive negative criticisms then we feel undone. If someone has been defined their whole life by a certain profession and then due to unforeseen circumstances like an illness, they can no longer practice in that field, their whole life falls apart. They ask questions like, “who am I if I am not a ________!” Similarly if someone has been defined by their material possessions and wealth and through a bad investment, an economic downturn, or fraud, they lose their wealth, it is game over. Today I offer a reassurance: THE ULTIMATE VERDICT IS IN.

Here is the ultimate verdict- the trial is over. There is no more condemnation for you if you are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). God does not care about who you are (accomplished or not) or what you have done (good or bad). Your performance does not lead to a verdict. The moment you chose to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, His righteousness was imputed to you. You do not have to perform to gain your identity. You have an identity as a child of the King of Kings and based on this identity, what you do will flow out of who you are. As my pastor shared in his sermon last week, Jesus loves you and accepts you for one reason and one reason only: You are His! Just as God once said of Jesus, He says of you: You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased. You do not have to impress yourself or anyone for that matter. You are already achieved! You are a son or daughter of the Most High King. You are loved beyond measure! You can go about your life doing the things you do, not to build up a resume or to look good. You are a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, a street vendor, a cashier, carpenter, plumber, [insert what you do] not to feel better about yourself or to feel accomplished or to feel like “somebody”. You can strive for a better paid job or for higher education not because you derive your identity from that. You can let go of the anxieties, the disappointments of life, and the guilt because you do not find your identity in your accomplishments or failures. This is the blessedness of being redeemed.

Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.

Psalm 107: 2 NLT/ BSB

Yours Truly

Resources: https://www.backtothebible.ca/product/the-freedom-of-self-forgetfulness/