For those believers who have committed themselves to the visions of their local congregations, there are often demands that are inconvenient, requests that are expensive, calls to duty that are seemingly unpleasant. When next you hear the call to arms for a prayer meeting, outreach or mission and you are tempted to give it a miss, you may want to bear in mind the lessons contained in this following allegory.
AN ALLEGORY
The army of darkness gathered on the field of battle flushed with confidence as they surveyed their swelling ranks. The putrid smell of arrogance wafted over the plain towards the battalion of light gathered on the other side.
Along the lines of light, the brave shuffled uneasily as they noted the gaps in their ranks. Each one looked nervously over their shoulder to see the empty space they hoped would not be there.
The mocking chants of the self-assured carried to the army of light on an ill-wind threatening the death and destruction of dreams.
Time moved on, whittling away at the vain hope of more soldiers joining the lines of light. The fell ranks of darkness howled derision that added to the despair of the waiting.
Tension mounted, the clock ticked louder but the battle was not to be joined by others. The horror of war gathered as a cloud over the gap-toothed ranks of light. Tonight one would fight for three.
The question “Why?” arose in the resigned throats of light. “Why could they not come and make this field of death a harvest of life?”
The resounding tramp of ten thousand feet marching in unison across the land seized the attention of the thin line of light. Each soldier grasped his shield of faith and sword of the spirit and waited, each one trying to fill the place of three.
The self-assured marching feet bore down on certain victory over so few. This few would have been many had their comrades-in-arms not been held willingly captive by the new, the “It was only this once”, the transient.
As the clash of arms resounded through heaven and earth, the absent heard the amplified question “Why? Why are you not with us, beloved? Why do you not want to stand with us who die for you tonight?” Each of the missing replied with a clarity that denied the clash of steel its voice, “I am weary”; “I want to see what will happen in another field – just this once, I promise.”
The missing justified their words with reasonings of “It’s only once, how can it hurt? Tomorrow I will return.” Heaven shook with the resonance of truth, “What do you know of tomorrow?”
On the field the valiant few fought with fury, driving back the nightmares of hell with thrusts, parries and strikes. Soldiers fought for themselves and for the missing – one sword doing the work of three. Each became triple tired, thrice fatigued in the battle to save the missing.
Suddenly, silence.
The crawling mist of battle began to part across the bloody field. The small line of light still stands, though bloodied, worn and tired. The small battalion still stands…for now. Will they last another fight when wielding the sword for the willingly missing?
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The army of the grace-led gathered with Christ against the armies of religion. As they surveyed those who inflict guilt and shame upon the unsuspecting and the untaught, they cried, “Come out from among them, my friends, for you have been set free!”. The captives replied, “No, no, we must continue working to please our Master until the day we die. He wants us to serve Him slavishly for otherwise we will perish in our sins”, and so they struggled on, not knowing whether they were doing enough ‘good works’ to satisfy the demands of their task-masters.
ReplyDeleteThe grace-aware soon realized that they were vastly out-numbered by their opponents and so they pleaded again, “You are no longer under law but under grace. There is nothing more that you can do to please your Master”. The down-trodden responded, “No, no, our leaders tell us that if we miss the prayer meeting, we are not real soldiers; we will be letting down our comrades and their prayers will not be as effective without us”. The reply came quickly, “Where does Christ, the Word, say such things? You are in bondage to man”, but they struggled on, preferring not to listen to their Commander-in-Chief.
Again, the grace-washed tried to combat the misinformed, saying, “We know that it is easier to live under man’s laws than it is to accept God’s grace but the two cannot be mixed” to which the burdened replied, “No, no, we don’t want grace; we want to do things ourselves to make our Master happy”, and so they struggled on, not knowing the liberty in Christ which had been freely bought for them.
Noticing that the dark forces of legalism were gaining ground, the grace-loved sent a final volley, “You are complete in Christ and, indeed, Christ lives in you and is your life. He wants you to pray and tell others about Him because you love Him, not because you will be disappointing your companions if you don’t” but the hostages said, “No, no, if we don’t attend all the briefings that our leader arranges, he won’t have an army”, and they struggled on, hoping to add something to Christ’s finished work.
Alan, I'm confused by the intention of your response.
ReplyDeleteThe original story arc contains a holistic view of each member of the body being needed to ensure the “fullness” of the ranks... your answer seems to somehow imply that grace (which is only one factor of Christianity) now releases you from participation?
Instead of drawing a supporting line you seem to be driving one of contradiction.
Without people to share its message grace has no arm with which to reach into the community... however, without grace, the people will have nothing real to offer those to whom they're reaching out.
Commitment and Grace are two sides of the same coin... each without value unless the other is also present.
A fundamental consequence of grace was included in the last paragraph of my comment, namely, “Christ wants you to pray and tell others about Him because you love Him, not because you will be disappointing your companions if you don’t do these things”. If I have to be told by a third party to spend ‘quality’ time with my wife and tell people about her, it is fairly likely that I don’t love her very much. If I have to be made to feel guilty and ashamed before I will attend a prayer meeting or talk to others about my Lord, is it not fairly likely that I don’t love Him very much? As we become more aware of God’s grace, there will be no need for anyone to say, “Why could they not come and make this field of death a harvest of life” because the “the love of Christ will compel us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). Rather than being “only one factor”, grace, properly understood, becomes, not a “release from participation”, but the sole Biblical basis for it, every other reason being man-initiated works. Therefore, it is a question of motive, or of our hearts – is our commitment borne of a sense of duty to our pastor and church members (as per the allegory) or of overwhelming gratitude for what Christ has freely given to us? If the latter, a battle-ground challenge becomes superfluous and God has what He has always wanted – those who love Him for Who He is, but the two choices do indeed contradict and may confuse those used to ‘law religion’. How does love for God grow and develop? By learning to apply His grace to our lives.
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