Discipleship Letters 111-112

Discipleship Letter 111                                              Nov. 07^th, 2010

Albert B. Simpson, the founder of the C & MA, had three convictions in life: “To live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands” (1 Thess. 4:11); “to please Him always” (2 Cor. 5:9); “to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard” (Rom. 15:20).

“To live a quiet life” is not to detach from a community. Rather, we work hard in our own business within the community before minding the business of others. We ought not to inherit the American way of life, saying, “It’s not my business.” Every business happened in this body is our business. But the attitude toward our business is that we should mind our own business first. People see the work that we do and how we do it. We do it quietly, for Christian workers ought not to be showy.

“To live a quiet life” is not to let others do your works in community. There is a reason why Paul said, “Working with your hands.”

A.B. Simpson composed the following lyrics for his hymn, “Himself.”

“Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;

Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me;

Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One;

Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.”

We labor with our hands for Him alone.

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Discipleship Letter 112                                              Nov. 14^th, 2010

“The theological use of the term tradition signifies the means of passing on the message of the Scriptures from generation to generation. In this sense, every theologian and every believer stand within a theological tradition” [Richard Lints, The Fabric of Theology: A Prolegomenon to Evangelical Theology (Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 1999), p. 83.].

God is concerned about passing on this tradition, which prevents the upcoming generation from degeneration. After Joshua died, it said, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.” (Judges 2:7-11) In order to break the cycle of degeneration, passing on the tradition from one generation to another is indispensable.

Judges who were raised up by God served as tradition passers. In the approximate 400 years of the Judges period, the judges helped pass on the tradition until the emergence of the Davidic lineage (Ruth 4:18-22; see Matt. 1:1-6). In the faithless age, the faithful judges led God’s people to the Faithful One. 

Paul said to Timothy, “You have heard me teach many things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others” (2 Tim. 2:2). It is our theological task to understand how to communicate the tradition and pass it on to Timothys in our time and space; Timothys, to trustworthy people; trustworthy people, to others.

From 32, 000 to 300

In Judges 7, it records Gideon’s three hundred men fighting against the Midianites. In total, Israel had 32, 000 men in the troop. Surprisingly, the Lord cut down the number of Gideon’s troops, saying “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’” (7:2) From the beginning, the narrative shows that victory does not come from Israel, but from God alone. 32, 000 men means nothing if they don’t participate in this fight with commitment and courage. God said, “‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ Then 22, 000 of the people returned, and 10, 000 remained.” (7:3) If your heart is not in it, get out of here.

Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many…” (7:4) 300 out of 10, 000 men were chosen because they didn’t kneel down to drink. Rather, they “lapped, putting their hands to their mouths” (7:5-8). We don’t need to speculate the reason why those who kneeled down to drink water did not get selected. The main point should be the number of Gideon’s troops: from 32, 000 to 300. It’s against human strategy, human will, and human scheme. Against all odds, the end result is that Gideon defeated Midian (7:19-25).

We always move forward with our limitation and inadequacy. We can only move forward with who we are. In case we are too adequate and rely too much on our own, the Lord wants us to bear with our own limitation “lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’” Gideon was filled with self-doubt. At this point, after God showed him some signs, he overcame and moved forward. It doesn’t mean that he became a different, complete person. As God said to Gideon, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant” (7:9-10). God knew his fearful heart. But at least, Gideon improved a bit in his spiritual journey.

In the period of Judges, when there was no king in the land, God raised up Gideon to save Israel. The story shows that God himself is the one who saved Israel, for victory can only come from God. However, he invited Gideon to co-work with him. In the midst of response and hesitation, Gideon hesitated and yet participated in God’s plan. As a result, Gideon was being transformed bit by bit. The progress may be slow, even not noticeable. But it is real.

We save no one. We can save no one.  God alone saves. And he saves through us in spite of our inadequacy. We are being shaped and formed when we allow God to save whatever and whoever through us.

Same Presence

In Judges 6-9, these chapters as one unit are about Gibeon. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you. O mighty man of valor.’” (6:12) Gideon questioned the calling of God based on what he saw in Israel (6:13). The Lord challenged him to save Israel (6:14). Gideon responded with what he saw in himself: “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (6:15). Then the presence of the Lord assured him once again: “The Lord said to him, ‘But I will be with you…’” (6:16)

What draws my attention is Gideon’s self doubt and the presence of God as his assurance.  God said to Moses that “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exod. 3:10). Moses replied, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (3:11). Then the Lord said, “But I will be with you…” (3:12) After the death of Moses, standing at the edge of the Jordan River, Joshua was nervous, anxious, and even frightened. The Lord said to him, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Josh. 1:5; cf. 1:9). In different epochs, there are different servants; there is only one God: same presence; different circumstances.

The calling of Gideon seems to say that when we only look at the surrounding and one’s ability, we are fearful, powerless, and emotionally paralyzed. Just as when Moses was occupied by Pharaoh and Joshua fixed his eyes on the Jordan River and the Canaanites, they questioned themselves. In other words, they questioned God’s guidance, authority, and sovereignty. From time to time, we must tune our inner lens and re-focus on the Lord and his own promises. After dividing the Land among all the tribes, including Levi, it said: “Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Josh. 21:45).

The geography of the Book of Judges occurred in the Promised Land. In the Land of Promise, people continued to question the God of Promise. The Promised Land failed to serve as a reminder to this faithful God. Rather, it was the Land in which the Israelites lived in and yet stopped living as a people of God.

Judges 5:16-17:

Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he stay with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, staying by his landings (ESV).

All these tribes were indifferent to the wider society and just stayed there motionlessly.

Do Not Know the Lord

I was reading the Book of Judges a moment ago. Judg. 2:10—“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.” I was caught by this verse. Generally speaking, the entire, new generation didn’t know the Lord. It sets a sharp contrast in comparison with the previous generation. In 2:7, it said, “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.” Under Joshua’s leadership, people knew and served the Lord. Their serving pointed out the fact that they really knew the Lord, for mere knowing doesn’t promote servanthood in one’s life.

For me, what is shocking is that the new generation didn’t know the Lord and his works at all. My immediate response is that the older generation, the elders who worked with Joshua before, didn’t teach the next generation faithfully. They failed to inform and educate their descendants. Perhaps, they lived in the Promised Land, which was filled with milk and honey. They inherited and shared the land. They finished fighting for the land. They enjoyed living in the land. They forgot the land as a gift given to them in the first place. They lived for themselves. They lacked nothing, except urgency to build up their faith and cultivate the piety of the next generation.

The older generation served the Lord because Joshua served God among them as “the servant of the Lord” (2:8) and governed them with leadership. We must give Joshua credits, for he had a group of elders working along with him. A lot of leaders died in the wilderness due to their stubbornness. As Moses’s successor, Joshua raised up many capable leaders in his era. After Joshua was gone, something went wrong.

In our era, who are willing to pass on the tradition of the Christian Faith from one generation to another?