The Greater Good

John 3:26, 29b-30 - And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “This joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Can you celebrate with another who wins at your expense? This is a very un-American thing to do. Our socio-economic system is built on competition. Individuals pursue winning, however it may be defined. Sometimes we team together we others, but it is because we want to be on the winning team. “No time for losers,” it is often said.

In many games there is only one winner. In the case of tennis, there is one loser for every winner. In a race – running, cars, bikes, horses, or motorcycles – there can be dozens of non-winners for every winner. Only the winner is celebrated. Only the winner takes home the trophy. So, we strive to win – win for ourselves and maybe our team.

Yet, what if someone else winning is better for the overall good? John the Baptist closes out his time in John’s Gospel with some very un-capitalistic words: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John had been the big hero. In Chapter One, all the crowds were coming to see him. He had the megachurch and the front page headlines. Everyone wanted to invest in his stock.

By Chapter Three, it was a different story. A new hero had emerged and all were “going out to him.” I imagine most of us would have been discouraged. Perhaps we would have wanted to throw in the towel on our efforts. We might have felt like failures. It is especially hard to lose when you have only ever known victory.

Something greater was at stake, and John knew it. Jesus, the Savior of the world, had come. He must become greater. John was willing to take a back seat.

Most of us who are Christians would say we would gladly take a back seat to Jesus, but what about another who can more effectively accomplish what we once did? Can we celebrate with them? Are we willing to hand over the reins to another whose time has come? Can we do it with the joy that John expresses?

I have met many who have this attitude. After seeing great personal success, they willingly step out of the way to give others the chance to lead.  They celebrate when an ostensible competitor outdoes them because they know, in the end, we are all on the same team. Having John’s commitment to the greater good, even at personal expense, is tough. It is certainly un-capitalistic, it may even be un-American, in a sense, yet it is the best way to be.

Getting Good

John 3:19-21 - And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Do you have any bad habits? Is there anything you do you know you should stop? If so, you are not alone. Here at the end of one of the most famous conversations in history, Jesus gives some insight into why many people do bad things and what it takes do good.

During a night visit in Jerusalem with the Jewish leader Nicodemus, Jesus explained that we must be “born again” by water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. He also uttered those powerful and often repeated words of verse 16 expressing God’s love for the world in offering his only begotten Son so that “whoever believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus did not come to the world to condemn the world but to save it (vs 17). So, salvation is available because of Jesus. Everyone who believes in him is assured of not going to Hell but spending eternity with God in Heaven. So why doesn’t everyone do this?

The answer is in verse 19: People love the darkness. Their deeds are evil, and they know it, but they do not want to stop. If they come to the light of Jesus, they know they will need to change. It isn’t that God can’t or won’t forgive them. Jesus already explained he came to save us from our sin, and believing in him is all we need to do.

Some of us may see the destructiveness in our evil behavior yet still be unwilling to surrender. Like the alcoholic who lost his driver’s license, then his job, then his family who is still not willing to get help to stop drinking, it may be tempting to stay hiding in the darkness with our evil deeds and outcome, but is that really want we want?

Jesus wraps it up in verse 21 with words of incredible hope. Those who come to the light can do what is true and good because they do it “in God.” This means what we cannot do by ourselves, we can accomplish as we allow God to work through us. Life controlling addictions lose their power. Despair becomes hope. Uncontrolled rage becomes joyful love. This all happens when we come to Jesus in faith and willingly let go of our hidden junk. Let him work in you. It is much better in the light.

Born Again

John 3:3 - Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus had a lot to lose. He was in a position of great influence in the Jewish society. He knew that publicly endorsing Jesus might cost him his social standing. Yet, he also knew there was something different about Jesus. He had seen Jesus work miracles he knew could not happen apart from God, so he came to him at night to try to determine who Jesus really was and what that meant for him.

Jesus immediately shocked Nicodemus with what he took to be an outlandish statement: “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The Greek word translated again in most of our bibles has a range of meanings. While it literally means “from above,” it can convey that idea literally, temporally, or spatially. It can also identify a connection with or a separation from the source or compared item. What that means here is that Jesus could be focusing on a second birth in time contrasted to the first birth or a birth from above contrasted with that from below. It seems like Nicodemus is focused on the first meaning while Jesus is stressing the second.

Nicodemus asks, “How can a man… enter his mother’s womb a second time?” (vs 4) He is focused on the “again” without realizing the “different” that Jesus intended by the birth “from above.” It takes both the normal human birth of the infant accompanied with lots of water for the first, but the second, new birth that makes us spiritually alive is completely different from that physical birth:

1) It is spiritual, not physical (vs 6)

2) It is mysterious and not fully understood (vs 8)

3) It leads to life eternal (vv. 15-16)

4) It sets us free from the judgment we deserve (vv 17-20)

5) It leads to a dramatic life change that is obvious to all (vs 21)

Charles Colson was President Nixon’s hatchet man, willing by his own admission to “run over his grandmother to get the president reelected.” He sabotaged the careers of many to make himself and his president look good but found himself caught in the Watergate Scandal. Although not directly involved in Watergate himself, he was placed on trial and convicted to serve time in federal prisons. Before those trials began, though, he was introduced to a friend who told him about Jesus Christ. Colson made a commitment of faith that radically changed his life. He shared that faith with many who were in prison with him, and he saw the miraculous life changing power Jesus promised. As a result, he founded Prison Fellowship and many other ministries, impacting millions around the world. He wrote an autobiography just after his release from prison and named it after this passage: Born Again.

What Colson experienced, what Nicodemus experienced, what I have experienced, and what hundreds of millions of others have experienced is best described by these two words: born again. Life can be new. Life can better. Life can be eternal. The key to this new birth is believing in Jesus (John 3:16). He invites you to experience this new life today. 

It’s Friday. What’s So Good About It?

John 19:17-18, 30 (NAS) They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between… Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. (NAS) 

It used to baffle me that this day is called Good Friday. It celebrates an innocent man condemned to be executed by one of the cruelest forms of torture ever developed. How can it be good that one who did no wrong was killed to preserve the security of corrupt officials and an unfair system? When is such seemingly needless cruelty and violence ever good?

Yet, Good Friday was and is good. It is good because we have no hope without it. Every one of us is corrupt ourselves. In spite of all of humanity’s technological advances, we have not found a way to eliminate selfishness, greed, abuse, lying, lust, or a hundred other wrongs that characterize our species. We each have done wrong, and we each have to pay the price for these wrongs unless one who did no wrong was willing to take our place.

Good Friday is good because Jesus Christ, who is the only one worthy to pay for all mistakes, was willing to suffer a violent death so you and I would not have to.

Good Friday is good because when Jesus said, “It is finished,” the work of paying for the sins of mankind was, once and for all, finished.

Good Friday is good because any of us, no matter how evil and corrupt we have been, can, like the thief on the cross next to Jesus, be forgiven and assured of our place in heaven when we truly repent.

Good Friday is good because it demonstrates God’s unfailing love for us, even when we do not deserve it.

Good Friday is good because there is no other way we can have our sin removed than receiving the gift of forgiveness that came Jesus’ death on the cross.

Good Friday is good, indeed. Very good. May it be good for you.

In Whom Do You Trust?

John 2:23-25 (ESV) Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Many people claim to be unbelievers. Not only would they would say they do not believe in God, but many would claim not to believe in anything. The reality is, though, that we all believe in something. Every time we take a breath we believe the air around us will provide necessary oxygen to our lungs. Every time we take a drink we believe the water or coffee will provide necessary hydration. Ultimately, we all believe in more than just physical necessities. If you get engaged to be married, in a real sense, you are believing that your fiancée will reciprocate your love and commitment. If you take a new job, you believe your employer will pay you in exchange for your labor.

The sad reality is that although we have to believe in others to one extent or another to survive on this planet, not everyone is worth believing in. Ask any jilted lover. Ask one on the receiving end of a breached contract. There are real problems in a lot of people. Jesus knew this.

John 2:23-25 presents a contrast that is not immediately obvious in most English translations, including the ESV above. Verse 23 shows many people believing in Jesus because of the miraculous “signs” he performed. These were inexplicable healings and other miracles like turning water into wine earlier in the chapter that gave solid evidence Jesus was not an ordinary man. In verse 24, though, John uses the same Greek verb (his favorite) episteuen to explain that Jesus did not himself believe in them. The ESV and others use the phrase “entrusted himself to them” to try to convey this concept of trusting without supernatural belief, but it is easy to miss John’s point because of this.

Who do you trust most? In whom do you believe above others? Jesus did not “believe” in people because “he knew what was in them.” He knew, ultimately, we are not all trustworthy. We make mistakes. Many of us tend to selfishly use others for our advantage. Many of us do not keep our promises and commitments. (Just ask your friendly neighborhood collections bureau.) John’s point is that in contrast to the frail, imperfect, sinful people of this world, Jesus is worth believing in. He is good for it. He keeps his promises.

It may not be realistic or even wise to live without trusting other people at all, but ultimately trusting in Jesus is the safest and best way to go.