The filth of the world

So this morning during God time I am prayin away and decide that maybe God wants to say something, so I figured I'd shut up for a few minutes and listen. And He gives me this picture.

Maybe I should preface this a little. So I've been on a journey of learning just what it means to be surrendered to God fully, to become His true disciple, dead to self and alive only in Him. Sanctification. Purity. Yadda yadda. So this morning I'm praying for a deeper understanding of what it means to be an intimate lover of Jesus Christ (I know, kinda weird; me, a guy, intimate lover of Jesus... That's why I need a deeper understanding :) ) and just a continuing deepening of my understanding of Lordship before Jesus. So back to the vision.

I see a wall of fire, like you know, the fire of *ohhh* "sanctification". The kind that when you step out into God fully you step into, and stay for the rest of your life. Where God can burn away all impurities, all crap, all sin... the refiner's fire. And so I'm like sweet, I know God's been burning away a lot of stuff in my life that shouldn't be there, and it's been good times. "I wonder what God is showing me about this fire". Then I see myself in the picture... standing outside the fire. Oh sure, I'm close enough that the flames can reach me to do a bit of cleaning and purifying... But I've yet to jump. wow.

So my answer... To discover how to become pure, sanctified, intimate lovers of Jesus Christ, surrendered to the Lordship of Christ... We have to jump in the fire. Being close to it and still seeing progress is not good enough. We have to suck it up and jump in! Yes, it will hurt. Yes, we'll get burned. Yes, we'll die. But so will all the crap in our lives. So will the sin; the selfishness, the 'need' for comfort, the judgements, the, well, sin. And then God will bring us back from the dead... but our sin will stay dead. And THAT is discipleship. That is what God desires. That we will willingly do what it takes to follow without exception. And life isn't perfect after we've been through the fire. The fire can take a long time. We can go back in numerous times... in fact maybe we should just settle permanently in the fire. Either way, this is the life we (disciples of Jesus Christ) have chosen.

To put Jesus at such a place in our lives that by comparison we hate those on earth we love... (family, friends, etc.). To have Jesus at a place in our lives where 100% of everything we are, have and do is His. And to confidently offer the rest to those we love in life, knowing that they won't necessarily understand. (Ha! Necessarily.) The narrow road is right.

Well. Wow. So I need to get my butt going. Start doing stuff for Jesus, physically jumping in to the fire of the disciple's life. And then I open my daily dose of Oswald and !OH! lo and behold, guess what Os has to say today. The title? "Becoming the Filth of the world." Well. This sounds like a good way to get going on that whole burning thing.

What's the first thing Os says? well, after quoting 1 cor 4:13 (here's from 10, in context)

"We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye have glory, but we have dishonor. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now."

He says: These words are not an exaggeration. The only reason they may not be true of us who call ourselves ministers of the gospel is not that Paul forgot or misunderstood the exact truth of them, but that we are too cautious and concerned about our own desires to allow ourselves to become the refuse or "filth of the world."

Well Duh. Who would want to be called the "filth of the world"? Well nobody. Unless they are the radical disciples that Jesus is looking for.

Col 1:24 "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church;"

First Paul says he rejoices in His sufferings. Then, as evidence of his consecration, or separation to the gospel of Jesus, asks to be filled with the afflictions of Christ in His flesh. Well that might not mean much at first glance. But let's see what my friend Webster has to say about the word "Afflict".

Afflict: 1. To give to the body or mind pain which is continued or of some permanence; to grieve, or distress; as, one is afflicted with the gout, or with melancholy, or with losses and misfortunes.
Affliction: 1. The state of being afflicted; a state of pain, distress, or grief

SO: First, Paul rejoices in His sufferings. Then He askes for the affliction (the bodily and mind pain which is continued and permanent) of Christ in Him. Well. The pain Christ went through was excruciating. And Paul is rejoicing in sharing that with Him. Almost as if it is a necessary part of discipleship... Well that seems kind of strange, no? Well lets see what Peter has to say about strange things.

1 Peter 4:12 - 14
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Hmm... Not so strange anymore. And then Os Says:

We pay such close attention to our own interests and desires that we stay out of the mire and say, "I won't submit; I won't bow or bend." And you don't have to - you can be saved by the "skin of your teeth" if you like. You can refuse to let God count you as one who is "separated to the gospel..." Or you can say, "I don't care if I am treated like the 'filth of the world' as long as the gospel is proclaimed." A true servant of Jesus Christ is one who is willing to experience martyrdom fo the reality of the gospel of God.

Just read the beatitudes in the beginning of Matthew 5; see what Jesus tells us to be, and what the reward is. The majority of them will have us wind up as the filth of the world.

"Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" - Jesus (Lk 14:27)

Well to me it's clear. It's time to step into the fire, following radically and passionately after Jesus. It's going to hurt. We're going to get burned. We're going to die. It's not going to be fun a lot of the time.

But we'll learn to live lives of purity. We'll learn the true meaning of "affliction", "sanctification", "Intimate love with Jesus" and what it means to have Jesus as the true Lord of our lives. We will learn to share in the Joy of the Lord and be counted "separated to the gospel" by God.

I'm sick of salvation by the skin of my teeth. I'm sick of weak faith because the works are not attached. I'm sick of living a meaningless, mediocre, boring and uselessly painful existence! I want Jesus to be the center of everything, and for that to give life new meaning, and new substance. I can't wait to die in the fire, even though it's going to hurt and not be pretty. Because once I die, God can give me new life. Separated from the world. Separated to the Gospel. Separated to God.

"Jesus I want to radically follow you as you call us. It's going to hurt. I'm going to have to let go of things I love to hold on to. I'm going to have to give everything to you and keep nothing for anyone else, including myself. But it's going to be worth it. And I am ready. I'm jumping in. Do your worst. I love you."