for everything there is a season: flesh, scandal, season

Though it is Old Testament, over the last month I have repeatedly savored Ecclesiastes 3, and realized how well (precisely?) it ties in to the New Testament, God's wisdom and being led by the Holy Spirit:

"To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,
A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,
A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,
A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."
(Ecclesiaste 3: 1-8, Amplified)

(Note: the aim of this is to prick the thinking of followers of Jesus. This is not a how-to, nor is it an I've-got-the-answer work. Nor is it meant to be "I've got a revelation" stuff. Lord forbid. It is just some thinking out loud, based on my experiences and mistakes as a follower, measuring this with some verses, and hoping there's a nugget somewhere among the chaff.)


• Witnessing - it's not just for Christian Fleshers anymore

Let's think back to the times we've witnessed fo the Lord and despite our intentions on the Lord's behalf and our Scripture quoting, there was an awkwardness during and at the completion of our conversation with someone. We sensed this fly-in-the-ointment feeling as we witnessed, but we continued. The conversation did not result in their salvation, and ended essentially in a standstill with an indiscernably weird flavor hanging in the background. We were doing the Lord's work, but what is that twang I sense?

We walked away, let's be honest, torn: partially with a "silver lining" attitude (some kind of warm fuzzy that we'd witnessed for the Lord), and part of us wondering why the conversation didn't end more fruitfully.

It's clear how we commonly look at these situations, but can we take our blinders off for a minute and look at the fruit? After all, Jesus said we will be known by our fruit (Matthew 7).

The common cliches following a Follower's experience in a situation like this may include:

"their heart just wasn't ready"
"Satan is blinding them to the Truth"
"I sowed some seeds, and I pray the Lord will water them!"
(insert any other cliche you've ever heard or expressed here)

Honestly, frankly, haven't these phrases or their close cousins flowed from our mouths before? My devil's advocate questions to this are:

• why wasn't there more fruitful fruit from our interaction with them?

• how loosely do we sling around the term "sowing seeds"? (bear with me meat-eaters, just keep reading)

• was it really and truly 100% them and 0% us in that resulting awkwardness?


Jesus and witnessing:

Jesus talks about witnessing. Check it out in Luke 10. He talks about going into a town and seeking "a man of peace". He goes on to say that if a man of peace is there the Followers' peace will rest on the man. If not, the Followers' peace will return to the Followers.

Jesus then says that IF we are welcomed (caps mine) in that town we are to eat what is set before us, to heal the sick in the town and tell those in the town the Kingdom of God is at hand.

If we are NOT welcomed in the town, Jesus says to go into the streets and say, "'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near."

Do we note Jesus' points about peace and welcome (or lack thereof) when witnessing? Are we to bullrush everyone we come across, turn some (most?) off to the Lord by our headstrong insistence despite their unwelcome demeanor and "sow seeds" come hell or high water, all in the name of Jesus?


Philip's witnessing:

Acts 8 gives a beautiful illustration of Philip witnessing and leading someone to Jesus. I don't think it a coincidence that God made sure in this illustration of witnessing that Phillip's encounter with this man was unequivocally led by the Holy Spirit.

"Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza" (v.26). Philip's taking this path was instructed by a messenger of the Lord. Philip had no intention of leaving Jerusalem to go toward Gaza. Yet he was prompted to do so. It wasn't something he just decided of his own doing.

Leading, part II. As Philip heads toward Gaza, he sees a man in a chariot. The Holy Spirit tells Philip "Go to that chariot and stay near it" (v.29). Again, God makes sure to note in this story, Philip is instructed by the Lord (in this case the Holy Spirit) to do something.

Isn't it interesting how the Lord shows the man's heart was ready? He had been to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was reading from Isaiah. After being led by an angel and the Holy Spirit on faith, Philip recognized he was in the right spot and there was a fertile heart, a man of peace, who welcomed Philip to share with him (v. 31, 34).

The illustration finishes with the man's conversion, baptism and a miracle (Phillip being beam-me-up-Scotty'd 20 miles away to another town (v. 34-40) as they came up out of the water at the man's baptism).

Let me share about my witnessing briefly if I could. When I'm about to go into a public place, I turn on what I refer to as the Holy Spirit radar. Before I go in I pray "Lord, if there is someone you wish me to talk to, make it clear. Make them stand out, Lord". I then go through the store, doing my business, but keeping the HS radar up: looking at the others in the store, seeing if the Spirit witnesses anything to my spirit about anyone or anything. Yes, even when I go to WalMart. :-)

Now, there's never a shortage of people at WalMart, and there's no way we can walk the aisles of that place and think everyone in there is a Follower (especially at Christmas when fights break out over toys, etc). This being true, and with my HS radar up and operable, the Lord has only had me talk to someone one time in a WalMart, and that was upon their approaching me. Nonetheless, I let the Lord know I'm ready to do his bidding if He so chooses.

I don't give this illustration to say I am a perfect witnesser, cause I'm not. I miss opportunities regularly, wrangling sometimes with the Lord's prompting for an extra confirmation, letting my own flesh (mind) think to the contrary, being preoccupied with some situation, etc. I simply mention it to affirm that even when open/eager to speak for the Lord He does not lead to an interaction always.

I don't doubt Him nor myself when nothing comes on the HS radar. It means the Lord didn't have anything to happen at that time.

The Lord knows every person's heart and their readiness about Him. We don't. It is not our charge nor our calling to impose our guesses about people's hearts, based on appearance or any other sense outside of the Holy Spirit, in a poke-it-with-a-stick or throw-enough-mud-up-against-the-wall kind of way.

That's not what Jesus teaches. It's also not the benchmark exampled to us in the Word.


Stephen's witness:

Let's look at another example of testifying about Jesus in Stephen. Begins at Acts 6:8 and goes through the end of Acts 7.

First, let's note, and God does it purposely so there will be no mistake. Five times in a very short timeframe, in Acts 6, the Lord makes sure we know Stephen had God's Spirit and Hand upon him.

"Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom." (v. 3)

"They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip..." (v. 5)

"Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. " (v. 8)

"These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke." (v. 9-10)

"All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." (v. 15)

Pretty clear that Stephen is in tune with the Spirit.

What happens next? Stephen lights up the Sanhedrin. He calls their hearts out on the spot. Akins them to their forefathers who rejected Moses and refused to obey his message from the Lord (7:39). They turned their hearts to idols, and God turned away and gave them over to their idolatry (7:42).

But wait, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, witnesses even further:

"You stubborn and stiff-necked people, still heathen and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit! As your forefathers [were], so you [are and so you do]! Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? And they slew those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, Whom you now have betrayed and murdered--You who received the Law as it was ordained and set in order and delivered by angels, and [yet] you did not obey it!" (7:51-53, Amplified Bible)

Is this a warm, positive, peach-fuzz-Jesus testimony by Stephen, a man full of faith, grace and controlled by God's Holy Spirit (7:55)? No. It is not.

How on earth, some ask, could words like this come out of a Christian's mouth?

Ecclesiastes. There's a time to love and a time to hate. Jesus scathed the falsely religious, calling them pretenders, whitewashed tombs full of empty bones, and a brood of vipers. My opinion is Jesus hated this look-down-the-nose posture because "You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Matt 23)

It is abundantly clear that Stephen is full of and led by the Spirit. Yet his testimony is not friendly, positive, loving and sweet Savior Jesus testimony. Why not? Ecclesiastes 3. In this instance, the Holy Spirit led Stephen that this was a time to tear, not a time to mend. It was a time to scatter, not a time to gather. A time to rend, not a time to sew.

Are we, then, to be a Dirty Harry type witness for Jesus in all circumstances? By no means, but honestly isn't the brunt (all?) of testifying for Jesus today extremely lopsided on the lovey, dovey, nice, cream-puff side of things?

We treat Christianity like it's a PR campaign for Jesus.

Let me not offend. Let me walk on eggshells. Let me be a nice person. In order to win someone to Jesus I must be a positive, warm person who attracts people to me. Then I'll be a "living witness" and can share Jesus with them when I've won their trust. (I heard a pastor recently say that being a living witness is "the only way to win souls to Jesus".) The Body is LARGELY lopsided that our testimony is to only and always be "God is love".

Explain then Stephen, full of and led by the Holy Spirit.

The admonition here is that we go before the Lord and be led by Him in life. Not doing our own thing. Not saying what we think is appropriate. Not saying what we think God wants us to say. Not saying what we think God is saying. Not blindly regurgitating Christian catch-phrases we've heard. Not going into a situation deadset toward one approach (love) or the other (rebuke).

The New Testament lines up beautifully with Ecclesiastes. Let's note Jude 22-23:

"be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear" (NIV)

This is awesome. Here's a paraphrase: With the doubters be merciful. Others need a strong word to be saved from the jaws of hell. With others, they need a mixture of mercy and fear.

God's ultimate goal is for mankind to come to Him. Some come by love and some come by fear. Just like Ecclesiastes says. There's an appropriate time to speak one way, and an appropriate time to speak another. People are different. God knows this, but how often do we as the Body use the SAME approach to everyone we speak with, whether it be witnessing, counseling or sharing?

Ecclesiastes says there is a Way for each situation. We shouldn't gather when it's time to scatter. We shouldn't scatter when it's time to gather.

How, then, can we know what the Way is for any given situation? Seek Him, and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. Some situations allow time to ponder and seek the Lord. Some situations only allow a quick breath to think "Guide me, Lord." Whatever the case may be, seeking the Spirit's lead is the Way. It's what Philip did. It's what Stephen did.

Stephen's outcome was vastly different from Philip's...in an earthly sense. Yet it is clear that God's hand, His leading and His power permeated both situations. One led to a baptism and a miracle. The other led to a stoning and the death of a Spirit-anointed follower.

What a clear example that following the leading of the Spirit is NOT always going to result in positive, prosperous earthly results. Clearly, in both instances, the Lord did lead what transpired, and through both God was glorified mightily.


Distinguishing Stephen's witness from today's unreceptive unbelievers:

Some might compare Stephen's witness before the cunning Sanhedrin with the unwelcome scorn of an unbeliever whom we might engage today in the 21st century.

Let's look at Stephen's situation, versus Jesus saying "shake the dust off your feet if they don't welcome you". Is this a contradiction? Absolutely not.

In Stephen's situation, these people sought to hear him. They gave Stephen an audience. They inquired of him what was the nature of these charges brought against him. (Let's not confuse the fact they killed him with the fact that they welcomed him to speak.)

This is quite different from us in our own flesh randomly selecting someone to witness to, soon discovering they are unwelcome to discussing Jesus, then engaging in verbal banter with them anyway that goes nowhere and at best irritates them toward hearing the gospel.

There was never a welcoming by them for us to be heard. We invited ourselves, and perhaps forced our way further after getting an unwelcome vibe during the conversation.

How merciful God is and how conceited we are: Stephen was invited to testify and got killed. We are uninvited to testify and don't get killed. Anyway...

So, is calling this self-induced witnessing "sowing seeds" a cheap veil to excuse our not following the Lord's leading?

"Of course it's sowing seeds!" some would say, "there's that verse that says 'My Word will not return void'".

Glad you brought that up. Can we look at that verse?

"so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11, NIV)

Wow. If the Lord sends out His Word it will not return void. If HE sends it.

If I go shove His Word in the wrong place at the wrong time (not at the Lord's bidding), that's not the Lord sending out His Word, is it? No, it's not. That's me in my own Christian Flesh doing it.

If I go out and attempt to get in depth about Jesus with someone who isn't receptive, or to someone who the Spirit did not light up the radar to talk with, guess what? The Word can return void.

Thus the awkwardness and lack of fruit from witnessing conversations when I've done this. Red flag of the Lord going up in our spirit about what we're doing. And we keep talkin'?

I am really convicted right now. I think back to a girl I used to engage years ago in discussions about the Lord. We shared a class together, and I used to proactively engage her regularly. It was always civil, and those around us couldn't help but listen too. There was no chest beating back then, that I was doing any purposed work of the Lord in engaging her, but as I reflect back on that now in light of this study, I can see where I was missing the mark...yet thinking I was being a soldier of the Lord.


Aligned with God?

What it boils down to is this. Are we on the same page as God is? Is our witness and movement in sync with what He is doing? Or are we instead going out in the name of Jesus, doing our own witnessing, our own ministering, our own praying with others, etc.? I call this the Christian Flesh. Doing Christian things and Christian activities in the name of the Lord, but the truth is it is either: just Christian activity or busy-ness; unfruitful; lacks the impact, power or God's distinctive imprint on it, etc.

One of the saddest things about this is: folks are often blind to the fact their Christian acts are not of God. Blindness to this is rampant, and unfortunate. I'm nice in using the word unfortunate. Jesus warns very soberly and strongly about this (Matthew 7:21-23).

Let me give an example. Last spring I was in the beginning stages of an extremely difficult trial in my life. I was driving a several hour drive back home one day. I had the radio off and was just engaged in a combination of praying/thinking about the situation before the Lord. Doing some serious pondering. The situation was extremely difficult, but intercoursing with the Lord about it ministered to me. There was no quick fix to the situation. What was the Lord doing? Just listening, with compassion. He offered no Christian cliches, no Christian one-liners, no platitudes. The sense of His compassion was strong, though He just was listening.

Then my phone rang. It was the senior pastor of the fellowship I attended at the time. He said I'd been on his mind and wanted to call. Told him I was heading back from out of town, he invited me to come by and visit. So, upon getting back into town I did. Stopped by, went in, shared with him what was going on, and he offered his counsel.

His counsel grated against my spirit. I'm sure when I left he got a smile on his face and a "man, I'm glad I got to share with him and encourage him" thought going through his head.

What about me, the counselee? I left feeling worse about the situation than when I'd gone in to speak with him. It made me wish I had not stopped by. The Lord's ministering to me didn't stop the pain of the situation I was facing, but His ministering was putting salve on my wounds. The pastor's ministering agitated. It missed the mark of where I was about the situation.

Had the pastor been on the same page with the Holy Spirit, then his counsel would have been in line with the Spirit, and it thus would have ministered to me. I was getting ministry from the Spirit for three hours before I went in his office. That salve from the Lord screeched to a stop during my conversation with the pastor.

The Lord put me on his mind that afternoon. Yet per the outcome of our talking together, I believe he was to have lifted me up in prayer, not called me to swing by so he could offer his (not the Lord's) counsel. This is an extremely frequent occurrence, the Body acting in the Christian Flesh.

I was speaking with another Believer this week about a situation, and they blabbed out a verse of Scripture. (Hey, it's Scripture! Won't return void, right?)

The Scripture they stated grated against my spirit regarding the situation being faced. The good thing is, I have an open relationship with this believer, and took the liberty to say "So-n-so, that is NOT where I am with this." Again, a well-meaning, Jesus loving follower. But what they said, though scriptural, missed the mark.

Very important point here. The awareness of Followers living in the Christian Flesh is not something that has led to ill-will, judgment, etc. toward any brother or sister I've experienced it with, and it never should. The frequency of Christian Flesh is so pervasive, at least in my experience, if time was spent telling other believers that they are missing the mark, that would take up a surprising portion of conversation with other Followers.

Because of this, it is worth considering, even among the Body, we should use discretion in who we share what with. Jesus says "don't give what is sacred to the dogs". Though Followers' hearts mean well, and they love the Lord, if we get a consistent pattern that their advice to us is wrought with Christian Flesh, God grant us wisdom how much we share and counsel with these folks.

Thinking of the Christian Flesh, in the context of Matthew 7:21-23, gives me a new sense of conviction about Jesus saying "men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken" (Matthew 12:36). I have always associated the Matthew 12 verse only with "bad" words (?) or making fun of people. Might it go deeper than that? Is Christianese babble and self-composed counsel/advice/ministry/words NOT given by the Lord careless?

• The Great Scandal of Christianity - verse locking, scriptural cookie cutting

We've already touched on some of this above, in the "my Word won't return void" discussion. One of the extremely common vices within the Body (at least in America) is verse locking, or scriptural cookie cutting.

This happens when a Follower develops their view of something based on one Scripture or a group of Scriptures. On a small scale, this verse locking could show itself in how they react or minister to one particular circumstance in life. On a large scale, verse locking is so widespread it impacts a Follower's (or group of Followers') entire paradigm and view of Christianity. Impacts it by narrowing it down, to the point the Believer recluses into a small subset of verses and there sets up their Christian belief shop. And buddy, this often grows into a fortress instead than a shop.

Case in point: the Prosperity Gospel paradigm, the Love paradigm, the Dominion paradigm, the Name It Claim It paradigm, the Peace/Harmony paradigm, the Positive/PMA paradigm, the Turn The Other Cheek paradigm, the Blessing paradigm, the Family paradigm, etc... Can you think of others?

Followers who have established (limited?) their entire perspective of God and their faith around a restricted set of verses are verse locking at its highest level. This is a very powerful stronghold, because it is Scripture based.

Additionally, when you share openly (in the freedom of the Holy Spirit) about this not being the only way to look at God or Christianity, commonly their feet are concreted into the paradigm they embrace. They have found a comfort and security with looking at God and/or life this way, and that's the way it is because Scripture backs them up.

This is scriptual cookie cutting, folks. Taking a smorgasborg of the Word, then picking and choosing select verses to justify or defend a particular stance or position on life, on circumstances, on family, etc.

To not engage any of these paradigms doesn't translate to an unstable or varying walk with the Lord. Quite the opposite, it leads to a free, full relationship with the Lord.

If we're not locked into a paradigm or movement, we understand that sometimes God is/does A and sometimes He is/does B. We are open to Him working however He wants. We don't restrict Him nor limit Him to work in a certain acceptable way. If we stay open to all that God is, we are free.

"You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men." (1 Corinthians 7:23) Jesus paid a brutal and horrifying price for our freedom. Staying out of cliques/movements/paradigms, either within a local fellowship or within the Body, perpetuates our freedom in Jesus.

God has demonstrated flexibility through the ages. The first instance of this was resorting to Plan B regarding mankind when Adam & Eve messed up Plan A. The Lord is maleable in many ways, as should we be. Verse locking and scriptural cookie cutting have no place in the Body. Those who leave these enslaving traps behind become free--giving God the freedom to move as He wills. Our notions no longer limit Him.


• For Everything There IS a Season

God's variance is evident in His sharing with us the verses in Ecclesiastes. In these verses, God clearly shows He is not stagnant or repetitive. On the contrary, He is unpredictable.

This reminds me of an awesome story a brother shared with me some months ago. He faced a strong situation with another brother, one which had left gaps of sizable differences betwen them.

They had agreed to meet to discuss things. My friend told me he had pondered the situation over and over, and had a sense of his approach toward their meeting. He did his homework and was armed with a wealth of verses to show this other brother his stance. God based, Scripture based. The works.

So he goes before the Lord and lays out his Scripture-based blueprint for the meeting. What was the Lord's response to him?

"Yeah, I know you've prepared all that, but scrap it. Here's what I want you to do instead..." and surprises my brother with a totally different Way. He did follow the Way he was instead told, even though his blueprint was wrought with Scriptures and ready to go.

This is an awesome illustration of not putting God in a box. Of not walking a predetermined (yet scriptural) path. He could have rattled off the laundry list of verses with the other Follower. But what'd he do? He sought the Lord, and the Lord said "That's scriptural and all, but I instead want you to do this..."

When we codify God, through culture, through denomination, through man-made religion, through verse locking, and yes, through Scripture, we miss out on the unparalleled depth of God. His power, His heart, His Way. We're missing out on Who God is, and missing His Way in situations. It raises the frequency with which we operate in the Christian Flesh. Doing, saying, bequeathing our own notions of God to others.

We are made in His image. Are we soul-less, robot, monotonous beings? No. Nor is our Creator, but something interesting about Him: God since the New Testament is often a Gentleman. He commonly reveals Himself to the level of belief that people have in or about Him.

Does belief exist about Him and His power? He shows Himself in signs and miracles. Jesus epitomizes this in reminding us the kingdom belongs to those who are as children (Matthew 19), or in some translations those who "become like children".

Does unbelief exist regarding Him? He does not show Himself, or will show Himself much less (Matthew 13). Or, even yet, if belief be absent He will bring about what He wishes to bring about through His own choosing (Matthew 3). He truly is the Supreme Being. Nothing, no one compares to the Lord.

There is no mystery in Ecclesiastes, through which God makes two things clear: (1) life is going to vary, and (2) the Way to deal with these situations and circumstances may vary. God has a Way. Sometimes it's this, sometimes it's that. There is a time to hate and a time to love, etc.

• Ecclesiastes 3 and the leading of the Holy Spirit

So, we know from Ecclesiastes there is a Way. How do we know when to do which?

When do we love? When do we hate?
When do we rend? When do we sew?
When do we gather? When do we disperse?

In answering this question, one important thing to do is not to rely on our own wisdom, our own sense of things, our own knowledge--of life, of Scripture, of God. God wasn't kidding when He said "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55).

One temptation (laziness?) as Followers is the danger of putting our responses/actions into Christian automatic pilot mode. Even knowing the Lord we should not be in a mental rut, Scripture based or otherwise, in our actions or reactions.

We should also be aware of religion, denominationalism, verse locking, paradigms, culture, our flesh, lies from satan, or any other thing squelching or warping the Way. These can be very resistant strongholds, but all are breakable through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

It would also be good to be willing to abandon self. If we are followers of Jesus, we have accepted the fact that He calls us to die to ourselves, or more literally, our soul. This is an ongoing process (otherwise He would not have said we are to die daily).

Read something today about dying completely to self:

"Jesus says, ' . . . I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. . . . Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours'." (C.S. Lewis)

When we surrender to Jesus, He calls us to die to the innocent parts of ourselves as well as to the more glaring and sinful ones. Dying, fully and completely, opens the Way for the Lord to lead us--in anything, whether His leading of us be conventional or unconventional.

• learning to distinguish the voice of the Lord. One of the most intense hungers among Followers seems to be to learn the distinction of the Holy Spirit speaking. This post is long enough, and I have a bad habit of drifting among topics, but in this moment there's clarity to not go into a long deal on learning the voice of the Lord. I feel led to only hit the highlights, in one paragraph.

Luke 11:13. Continue to ask. Lock onto this request with tenacity and pursue the Spirit. John 14:26. The Spirit will teach and guide. Ask that His voice become raised, bold-lettered, neon-distinguishable above the thoughts of the flesh and the cunning suggestions from the devil. It's trial and error. Bear in mind there may be periods of tarrying, where the Lord is silent, or is not in as big a rush as us (Matthew 15). Tarry, and keep listening for Him.

The awesome thing is, as we are led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14) we will be in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), and our walk with the Lord will transform from a faith of words into a living demonstration of His power (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).

To God, friend.

© 2006, johnthree30