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Can Marriage Make You Holy?
I was reading a book called Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. He asked the question, "What if God intended marriage to make you holy?"
It was the first time that I had ever considered the possibility and I think he is on to something. I was having a conversation with someone recently when I began thinking about this again. You see, I think there is a danger in this that we need to be aware of. Nothing against Gray Thomas at all for what I am about to say because his thinking on the subject is very solid. I only mention him as a reference for stating where I got this idea.
The danger is that some people think that marriage will fix their issues. I have talked to guys before who go into relationships, even though it is clear to everyone around them that they should not, thinking the relationship will make them a better man. They miss the point that you have to be a man first (Genesis 2:15) in order to be a better one.
As Christian men we are to be continually striving to be conformed into the image of Christ as we live out the essence of what it means to be a Christian, namely, loving God and others (Matthew 22:34-40). Being a Christian means that serving others is the chief aim of what we are about in this world. No matter what it is we are doing, we are most like Christ when we serve others.
This is just as important for relationships as it is for anything else in life. We all have baggage. But it makes a lot of sense that there are certain types of baggage that would not be wise to take into a dating/courtship relationship or even a marriage such as drug addictions, sex addictions, co-dependency, financial instability, or just having it together. It’s hard to serve others when you are consumed with trying to get your life together. It is far easier to serve someone when you are not having to struggle with you own issues. Marriage is about serving the other.
If you have not figured out what it means to be a man or a lady for that matter, it’s probably not a wise thing to start a relationship. What normally happens is that we go into relationships to make us better. In some sense marriage is designed to make you holy in the same way community is designed to make you holy, and marriage is subset of community.
I once had a guy tell me, “I need to be in this relationship because it is forcing me to learn how to be a man and be responsible.” That may sound right and honorable on the surface but think about that statement for a second. When a man does not have vision, when a man does not have a sense of purpose, when a man does not have his life together and ordered, how is it sensible for God to introduce a woman? Before Eve, Adam was actively engaged in fulfilling the call of God on his life (Genesis 2:15, 19).
I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for a woman to be involved with a man who has no clear direction, cannot support her financially, and is not actively engaged in living out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). In the same way, as a man, it is frustrating to be with a woman who does not know what she wants in life. What’s worse is to be with a woman who was just waiting for a man to come along and give her a sense of purpose. God created every woman with a purpose in the same way that he created every man. Adam and Eve were given the same purpose (Genesis 1:28) and he had the same purpose in mind for Eve that he had for Adam before he brought her to him (Genesis 2:18).
My point is this: Ladies, if you do not know what God wants you to do with your life you are not ready for God to introduce you to the man. Therefore, don’t sit and wait for a man to come along and give you a sense of purpose. In other words, some women think their life does not really begin until they meet a guy and, “Then we will decide what God wants to do for us.”
You ski fans will know that a double black diamond is one of the most difficult ski slopes out there. If you are learning to ski, does it make sense that you would start by practicing on a double black diamond? No. In the same way, you do not go into marriage to learn how to be a man or woman.
What do you think? Do you think that it is okay for people to go into marriage or even a relationship when they do not have the basics of life together? Let me know in the comments section below.
The Superhero Syndrome
Admit it. Almost everyone loves a good superhero story. Marvel comics have made millions over the past few years just because audiences enjoy watching someone with superhuman powers save mankind.
Almost everyone wants to be or at least know a superhero. For women, if we can’t be a superhero then we might as well marry one.
The Superhero Syndrome, as I like to call it is when a woman expects a man to be her Savior or hero. She expects him to rescue her from whatever might afflict her and ride off into the sunset. Many women miss the joy of knowing Jesus because they are too busy trying to find their superhero.
You’ve heard the stories before. A woman walks up to you and says, “I’ve met the man of my dreams!” If you were me you would say, “Oh really, what’s he like?” Again if you were me you would often hear the phrase, “Well, I haven’t actually met him yet but, he is an amazing man of God.” At this point I usually begin to get a little nervous as I listen to her tell me all about what she thinks he must be like and what other people have told her about him. Keep in mind she has never actually met the man, but she thinks he may contain superhero-like qualities.
Before you begin to chuckle and label this girl “crazy”, you should know that she did not get to this point by herself. If she has grown up in the church, then she has had years of dating talks and dating books that have all contributed to her desire to find her superhero and be rescued.
My college pastor’s wife, who I absolutely adore, gave a dating talk a few years ago where she told us that we were the prize and that men needed to pursue us like they pursue a prize. As I think about that message now, I know her intentions were to make us feel valuable and encourage men to take risks. But that image doesn’t help the situation. In fact it only make us feel even more worthy of waiting for and wanting a superhero. We wait and hope for someone who will save the day and win the ultimate prize, us. But, what does this do to all the guys out there who know they are not superheroes? They begin to try to become a superhero.
You’ve seen it in the movies. One person has powers and the other doesn’t. Next thing you know the one without the powers is taking a dose of some sort of serum that will give him superhero like qualities. Well, just like girls have swallowed the pill that says they need a superhero, men have swallowed the pill that says they need to be a superhero.
The Superhero Syndrome causes us to place unhealthy expectations and undue stress on one another because we are expecting to get something that the other person cannot give us. Women tend to expect their superhero to be able to do anything. He is immune to the trials of the world, he never gets laid off, and he doesn’t get angry. In fact, many of us expect him to be like Jesus. Subconsciously we think that if men are to treat women the way Jesus treated the church then he had better be a lot like Jesus. Which means we are waiting for Mr. Right or Mr. Perfect and this side of Heaven we will never find a man that fits this description. Women who are looking for their superheroes are often disappointed when they date or marry a man and find out that he possesses no superhuman like abilities. He is not like Jesus and just like the rest of us; he struggles with sin and life. A Woman finds out pretty quickly that the only thing her superhero may possess is a desire to love and honor her. The sad thing is that God has given men many qualities that give them the ability to love their wives like no other man on earth can yet, women looking for superheroes are often left unsatisfied.
Men also find out the hard way that the woman they are trying so desperately to “save” cannot be saved by them. Men will go to extreme lengths to provide for and take care of the women they love, often working long hours to give them the house they think they need or the life they think they want. Sadly, some men view women as less capable individuals who need to be treated like children because they cannot handle the big, bad world. They take on the view that they must be like Jesus and translate that into being responsible for their wife or girlfriend’s spiritual condition. The woman is responsible for nothing and is incapable of really handling anything, whether it is the bills or the raising of children. A man’s superhero goal causes him to seek only to protect and never to love or get to know the woman he is with. Women are capable of knowing God just as intimately as men and can offer a unique perspective when seeking God together.
Both parties need to look to the only man that ever exhibited superhuman qualities. They need to look to Jesus. Scripture tells us exactly how Jesus came to save both women and men in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Can a man become a superhero? The answer is no, but he can become everything that he was meant to be through the power given him by the Holy Spirit. Does a woman need saving? Yes, but she can only be saved by the one man that has the power to do so, Jesus Christ.
About The Author
Camille Goodman Holland is passionate about helping young women understand the importance of theology. She has spent the last few years of her life devoted to this endeavor and have developed several in-depth theology-based studies for women. She blogs at Finely Twisted Linen. You can read her previous articles by going here.
Our Love is Distorted
Our American society has distorted God’s view of love and have turned love into “making much of me” when God says it is about “making much of Him and our neighbors”. We live our lives searching and yearning for people to love us and give us attention.
The romance culture has fueled these desires so much so that marriage, dating, and romance have become the new American idols and the church is not doing a good job of defending itself against these faith-destroying mentalities. Understanding love as us making much of him and our neighbors is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. Jesus said this in Matthew 22:34-40 when he was talking to the Pharisees who were trying to trick him into answering a question wrong so that they could discredit him. One of them who was a lawyer asked him what he thought was the greatest commandment, to which Jesus responded,
"‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
There are a couple of important observations we need to make about this passage.
What Kind of Love?
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, love is everywhere. You cannot avoid it in the stores, and you certainly cannot avoid it on television. The kind of love Jesus is speaking about here is not the kind that is typically associated with Valentine’s Day. Jesus is talking about agape love. Agape love is very different from the type of love associated with Valentine’s which is erotic love (eros).
Agape love is other-focused. In other words, it is a love that is focused on others whereas erotic love essentially is all about self. Agape love is self-sacrificing while erotic love is self-pleasing. Agape love is the love that God has for us and is the kind of love God expects us to first and foremost have for our neighbor.
Before we can have any other type of love for our neighbor, in particular a romantic interest, Jesus says we need to have agape love. Agape love is the foundation upon which erotic love is built. That may sound like a quaint little statement, but we will soon find out, it is not that easy to live out.
The Order
The second observation about this statement from Jesus we need to take special notice of is the order in which the command is structured. I remember when CD players first came out. My mother would buy CD’s and we never owned a player! It wasn’t until a few years later that she finally bought a CD player! Order is important in life.
Notice who Jesus says we are to love first: God. Before we can love anyone else in the way God intended for them to be loved, we need to love him. Our example of agape love is God himself and he is to be loved with the totality of our being (heart, mind, and soul).
Something is Missing
The third observation has to do with what Jesus does not say. He does not say that you have to love yourself first. For some reason a lot of people have the idea that you have to love yourself in order to love others. Maybe you think that. However, I am not sure that is necessarily the case. If it was so important that we love ourselves before love others, wouldn’t Jesus have mentioned that?
He doesn’t. And I think it is because loving ourselves is not as important or is not a prerequisite to following his command to be focused on the two most important people in our lives: God and our neighbor. Don’t get me wrong. I do believe that it is important to love the person God created us to be. But not at the expense of obeying Jesus’ command here. And this is precisely why I think the statement does not appear.
Due to sin, we are spring loaded to love ourselves. We make sure we have clothing, food and a roof over our heads. We also make sure we have love in our life. We do a lot to ensure our safety, and comfort. We even go to extreme measures like going into debt. Whatever it takes to make sure our basic needs and wants are met, we do it, which brings me to my final observation.
AS
Had Jesus simply told the Pharisees to love God and love their neighbor, everything would have been fine. But he didn’t. He went further and said that they need to love their neighbor as themselves. The word “as” is critical. In saying this word, he cuts to heart of their problem. They are more concerned with themselves than they are with their neighbor.
What Jesus is telling them to do is this: in the same way and to the same degree that they are about making sure their own needs are met, they should be about making sure the needs of their neighbor is met. Ouch. Think about that.
To the same degree that I am about making sure that I have food in my stomach I need to make sure my neighbor has food.
The Question on the Table
So the question on the table is this: Do you love your neighbor? Do you love your neighbor in the same way that you love yourself? The implications of this question are staggering when considered in the context of romantic relationships. So here are some points for you to ponder as you think through the implications of this question. Some of the questions below are repeated and asked differently on purpose.
- Do you love your neighbor enough to fold his/her laundry even though you have had a hard day yourself and you are ready for rest instead of dumping their stuff on the bed and putting your own clothes in the dryer?
- Do you love your neighbor enough to remember that they are going through a tough time and to give them a little extra attention and love and comfort?
- Do you love your neighbor enough to confront them about their sin even if it means you will lose your friendship/relationship with them?
- Do you love your neighbor enough to be the first one to say, “I’m sorry?”
- Do you love your neighbor enough to break up with them because they need to work through some life issues (sexual sin, growing up, addictions, etc.)? Loving your neighbor with regard to relationships means that sometimes you have to break things off if that person has baggage that requires some extra counseling and you know deep down inside you should not be romantically involved with them. Even if it means you suffer in the end you have to ask yourself whether or not you love that person enough to let God heal them without you distracting them because you want to hold on to a the relationship.
- Do you love your neighbor enough to be up front and honest with them about your personal struggles? If you are a man, do you love your sister in Christ enough to break things off because of your struggle with sexual sin? Do you love your sister in Christ enough to tell her the truth about your struggle with sin even if it means that you will lose her? If you don’t check your heart. You may be holding on to something you have no right to hold on to.
- Do you love your neighbor enough to not even think about getting involved with someone because you know you yourself are not right with God?
- Do you love your neighbor enough to not even think about getting involved with someone because you know you have not grown into manhood/womanhood?
- Do you love God enough to forego dating relationships for a season until you get your life together? Until you cultivate the land and get your land ready for harvest?
- Do you love your neighbor enough to set boundaries in that relationship to protect your purity? Do you love your neighbor enough to not provoke him/her to go against their boundaries?
- Do you love your neighbor enough to not hold so tightly to a relationship that they cannot get healing from their sins?
- Do you love your neighbor enough to not defraud them into thinking you are something you really are not?
- Do you love your neighbor as yourself?
I hope these questions really help you to think about how your Christian character plays out in romantic relationships. Our lives as Christians are first about extending agape love towards God and then our neighbor. Agape love is not easy. It’s hard. Perhaps it’s time we start practicing doing the hard things instead of taking the easy way out.
God bless you.
Is Inner Peace Confirmation?
A lot of people believe that inner peace is confirmation from God about a particular decision they need to make. In other words, when tormented with a decision for which they are asking God to guide or speak to them, inner peace is typically understood as God giving confirmation. I used to believe this was the case until I was doing some research for my thesis when I was in seminary.
It was then that I discovered that the passages that people use to support the idea that God gives peace in decision-making situations do not really speak to this idea.
I know this is going to be a tough pill for some to swallow. It was for me. But I need to ask you to bear with me. Hang with me for a few minutes and I will do my best to explain to you why I believe this idea is not taught in the Bible, at least in the passages people normally use to support this idea.
If you are still reading, I want you to understand that I am not trying to be a pompous know-it-all jerk-butt-a-hole. I am trying to approach this subject as delicately as possible because I know this breaches an area where many of us have some very deep seated attachments. So I hope you will hear me out. And I hope you will forgive me if at some point I come across as the final authority on this subject because that is not my intent.
Also, you may come to the end of this article and say, “But I still feel that God gives inner peace as confirmation of my decisions.” My question to you would be what are you basing this on? What Scriptural evidence can you provide? It is quite possible that if you feel this way, you are basing your view on your feelings. When you do this, in essence you are elevating your feelings above Scripture. So please, let’s not do that.
The Truth About Inner Impressions
Inner impressions are feelings. There are two things that are important to bear in mind about feelings/emotions. The first is that our emotions can be greatly influenced by health, upbringing, fatigue, medication, weather, diet, hormonal imbalance, world events, and anything that influences our perception of reality. Our emotions can also be heavily influenced by the Enemy.
The second thing we need to keep in mind about emotions is that they can function as initiators or responders. As initiators our feelings determine reality for us. Our inward impulses are only as reliable as our emotional state. Emotions can also function as responders. In this way our feelings are designed to express our response to objective reality. One of the problems with subjectivity is that when inward impressions alone govern our lives our experiences are only as reliable as our emotions. I know that was a little heady but here’s the point: While impressions are real, they are often misinterpreted as “the still small voice” of God when in reality they are the emotional “voice” of the person himself or worse perhaps, the Enemy.
Gary Friesen, who wrote Decision-making and the Will of God, said “people interpret the peace of God to be his stamp of approval or red flag of warning (pp. 140-41). Phrases like, “I know God wants me to do this, because I have peace about it” are the kind of phrases that convey this idea. Peace becomes the assurance that an impression is from God. The problem with this is that it is not the way the Bible uses the word peace. This idea is based primarily on Col 3:15 which says, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . .” In Philippians 4:7 we see a similar statement. So let’s take a quick look at both of these passages since they are the only two places where these statements occur.
Philippians 4:7
In Phil 4:7, peace has to do with the absence of anxiety or despair. Paul encouraged the Philippians to pray about the conflict within their community (Phil 2:1-4; 4:2). This conflict was causing anxiety among various members. Paul instructs them to cast off their anxiety through prayer (Phil 4:6) and they will receive peace from God. This peace will guard their hearts and minds as they live righteously (Phil 4:8).
Peace comes because God can be trusted, and prayer is an expression of trust. This passage is similar to the passage in Col 3:12-17 in that there is conflict within the community. But the striking difference in these passages has to do with how Paul talks about peace. Paul does not express peace as something he commands them to do (as in Col 3:12) but as something that is the response of a practice, closely related to trusting God in prayer.
In other words, the peace that will “guard their hearts” is the same peace in Col 3:15 which would rule their hearts as they live out the character of Christ in their lives (Philippians 4:4,5,8).
Conclusion
In both contexts, peace appears in relation to community unrest. Therefore, it seems to me (and I hope to you too) that Paul is not teaching believers that peace is confirmation that their impressions are from God.
Does a lack of peace normally indicate the guidance of the Spirit? Friesen argues that there are several potential disturbers of peace: conscience, insomnia, illness, concern for a loved one, occupational stress, an approaching deadline, nagging uncertainties, timidity, and a new experience. Sometimes people experience a lack of peace because of immaturity. Inner anxiety of the heart can be accounted for in a variety of ways and there does not appear to be any criteria in Scripture by which we can distinguish the negative leading of the Spirit from other disquieting influences. The presence or absence of peace in the life of a believer should not be construed as a sign of God’s leading in matters to which Scripture does not speak.
The reality is that life with God is both complicated and difficult. So having peace in a decision is not always going to happen. Consider the example that I previously wrote about of God telling Abraham to pack up his stuff and leave his country and extended family. God told Abraham to leave without actually telling him where he wanted him to go (Genesis 12:1). Without knowing where he was going he packed up his belongings and left (Genesis 12:4). It was not until he stopped at a rest stop in Canaan that God told him that the land he was standing on was where God wanted him to end up (Genesis 12:7).
Imagine yourself in that same situation. If God told you to go somewhere without actually telling you where you were going would you have peace about it? Maybe you would. I know I wouldn’t. There would be all sorts of questions running through my head. “How am I going to explain this to my friends and family?” “Where do I even begin?” “What time as I supposed to leave?” “Do have to take my kids with me?”
Abraham’s inner peace was irrelevant to God. What was most important to God was Abraham’s obedience. Remember, Abraham is not God. He is not omniscient (all-knowing). God did not expect him to be. And God does not expect you or me to be as well. My point is that, you do not have to know everything in order to make your decisions but keep in mind that God has given you everything you need to make wise and godly decisions (2 Peter 1:3).
News Flash: God Won’t Tell You Everything
What is the process that you use to go about finding the will of God when you have to make important decisions? For some, they talk to friends, read the Bible, pray and ask God to speak to them, put out a fleece and then after all of that if they feel God speaking to them, they make their decision. This is the common practice.
When it comes to making important decisions in life, it is easy to see why people want to do what God wants them to do. There is nothing wrong with that at all. However, I think there is a better approach.
Freedom to Choose
Decisions can be boiled down to two different categories: (1) left or right or (2) right or wrong. The Bible is concerned with right or wrong not left or right. Therefore Scripture contains the moral will of God. Since the moral will of God expresses His character, touches every aspect of life, is fully revealed in the Bible and is able to equip believers for every good work, we can conclude that the Bible is sufficient for all matters of life. This is expressed in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
It is God’s will that we be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4), sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:3), submissive (1 Peter 2:13-15), Spirit-filled (Ephesians 5:17-18), and that we suffer (1 Peter 4:19). As long as these aspects are true in your life, you are free to choose whatever in your decisions as long as they do not involve anything directly forbidden in Scripture.
This may sound a bit surprising since we are so accustomed to asking God for both the minor and major details of life (should I date now or later after I graduate, or should I buy a car or a house). When going to a swimming pool it is not uncommon to find a sign of posted regulations for swimming. While these restrictions are posted for our safety, each swimmer rightly assumes that they are free to do anything not posted on that list. They don’t go ask the life guard if they can do back strokes in the pool or if they can dive off the diving board. They are free to do whatever is not forbidden on the list of posted regulations. However, although they have some freedom within the posted restrictions, some things may not be wise to do: For example, (1) it may not be wise to urinate in the pool, and (2) it may not be wise to drink the water in the pool especially if someone does. So although they have freedom within the restrictions, some non restricted freedoms may not be wise.
The Freezer
Too many Christians freeze when they do not know what God wants them to do. When facing decisions, they want God to tell them everything they need to do. Does God need to tell you what to do? Will God tell you what to do? For right or wrong decisions he has made it very clear in Scripture. For right or left decisions, God is under no obligation to you what to do. Most likely, he won’t. According to King Solomon,
Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good. (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2,6 NASB95).
According to Solomon, there are some things you cannot know about what God is doing on the earth. So he says, regardless of whether or not you know, you still have to be bold and act. When God has already told you your duty (Matthew 28:19-20), there is no need for him to tell you your fortune. These words by Tommy Nelson are helpful,
Don’t turn everything into a mystical decision about what you “feel” God wants you to do. If it’s a right or left decision, pray about it and then boldly follow your heart.
God’s moral will is revealed in Scripture, but his sovereign will is not. There are many things you and I will never know. And what Solomon is trying to get us to understand is that God is not obligated to tell us which decision we need to make. And again, most likely, he won’t.
I will close with some more wisdom from Tommy Nelson,
The purpose of the sovereignty of God is not to cause you to lean on a shovel, praying for a hole. You know what I‘m saying? You have to venture out boldly and let the sovereignty of God be your comfort, not your excuse. Try lots of different things. You never know which ones God will choose to bless. Give yourself every chance to succeed. Are you single and want to be married? I’ll tell you what you need to do. Trust the sovereignty of God and brush your teeth. Pray, hang out where the godly people are, and let God be God. Do what you have to do and then trust God’s sovereignty.
So I am interested in hearing your thoughts in the comment section below. Do you think God speaks to us in the decision making process? Is this your approach or do you just make the decision and trust the results to God?
God’s Will – An Example
In part one I talked about how God intends for every Christian to lead people to worship him. This is the fulfillment of the Great Commission that Jesus commands in Matthew 28:19-20. So whenever we are wondering what God’s will is for our lives, we know that we are to be about the Great Commission. But the real question many have is what is their specific role? That is a fair question. Everyone (hopefully) wants to feel like they are making a difference for the Kingdom.
However, regardless of whether or not we know what our role is specifically, the command is clear: find out what God is doing and get involved.
Do you like working with kids but don’t know if that should be with small children at a daycare or as a volunteer at a church? Pick one, and it will become clear where you need to be. In case you think I am crazy to suggest this, consider the following story from Genesis 11:31—12:7.
Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran. (Genesis 11:31-32 NASB95)
Terah, Abraham’s dad, decided it was time to move his family. He set out for the land of Canaan, but never quite made it. Instead he settled for Haran and died there. I often wonder how many people set out for one goal but settle for something far less than what they originally planned in the first place? Some people set out for Harvard and settle for The University of Texas (ouch!). Or some set out for a godly mate who is the best match for them but settle for the person who accepts them the fastest. Many people settle for far less than what God gave them.
It is interesting to note that the name Terah means “delay or road block.” Typically names in the Bible reflect character. Apparently it was in his nature to settle. You know someone like that? No matter what it is they set out for, they always settle for less? It’s like it is in their nature. Are you like that?
No Matter What, Go
In Genesis 12:1 God appears to Abraham and tells him that he wants him to leave Haran.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; (Genesis 12:1 NASB95)
Besides the fact that God spoke to Abraham (which, contrary to popular belief, was not common in ancient times) what is interesting is the fact that he does not tell Abraham where to go. He tells Abraham to leave his relatives (thereby losing his relational security), and his father’s house (thereby losing his inheritance). Where is he supposed to go? The only instruction God gave him was, “Go!”
Notice what happens in verse 4:
So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. (Genesis 12:4 NASB95)
Abraham, without knowing where he was going, does exactly as God tells him and leaves. The moral of this story is this: even if the vision is not clear, we still need to go. As has been shown, God has told every Christian what they need to do. But what many do is they wait for a crystal clear signal, they wait for the entire picture to be absolutely clear before they make their first move. But the reality is that God expects us to be obedient and make the first move before he makes his mission clear.
Abraham had no idea where to go so I suppose he set out for the only place he knew of, Canaan. Recall, this was the place his dad was supposed to go but never made it. I do not think he ever intended to stay in Canaan, because the text seems to suggest that he was actually trying to pass through (Genesis 12:6). It was not until he got there, that God made it clear that Canaan was the land he was going to give him (Genesis 12:7).
So instead of waiting for God to make it all clear up front, we need to be obedient to the command of the Great Commission and move forward. The first move is on us, not God. So if you are confused about what it is you are supposed to do, start by doing what you are passionate about and then God will respond.
It’s About Others
There is one other thing we need to note about this passage. In Genesis 12:2-3 God pretty much makes it clear that the reason why he wants Abraham to take this step of faith has nothing to do with Abraham receiving any benefits but everything to do with others receiving benefits (i.e. blessings). The point is that our mission is not about us. It’s about others. Remember Jesus statement in Matthew 22:37-38 when he said that we are to love God and others? Notice he said nothing about us being loved. Why, because life as a Christian is more about God and others than it is about us.
If Abraham does not take this risk, if he does not make the first move, there is no nation of Israel and people whose number is so great that it cannot be counted will not benefit from his decision. I wonder how many people stand to benefit from your willingness to take the risk even if the vision is not clear, and make the first move to fulfill the Great Commission?