Going Up to Lay It Down

By Brenda Black

In case you haven't noticed, there's a lot of talk of God these days: Debate over His existence, creative license with His infallible Word, curiosity over His home in heaven. There are people irate about losing their God-given rights and folks who would hatefully blaspheme the Holy One without another thought. Why so divided, why so volatile? Quite frankly, the reason is because there is nothing new under the sun.

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When Christ walked the earth, the battles were the same. Power, prestige, tradition, land, money, and a man's reputation. The Pharisees rebuked Jesus for speaking the truth and fulfilling the prophesies they held most sacred because they were blinded by their self-importance. The Romans got nervous over crowds of commoners who might cause an uprising and challenge their dominance. At stake for both was control of the people.

Look at the subject matter of a thought-provoking movie “God's Not Dead” currently creating a stir. A professor of philosophy demands his humanistic authority and declares himself god of the classroom. Then search the news for updates from way out West and down South

, where landowners are in a showdown with the government over the right to free speech, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! Ponder the following thoughts extracted from a pompous online post: “Secularism is advancing, despite your attempts to stop it. The world is becoming safer, more peaceful, better educated, and kinder, despite your attempts to stop this advance.”

Wow! What kind of a rock does a person live under who thinks the world is “safer, more peaceful, better educated and kinder”?

People have not changed. The powerful wield their way over the perceived powerless. The arrogant demand their superiority...until the down-trodden have had enough. Then there is an uprising.

And that is precisely why Jesus came – to create an UPrising.

"Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life' (Matthew 20:17-19)!"

He knew what lay ahead and yet He went up...up to Jerusalem, up to criticism, up to humiliation, up to crucifixion...and laid His body down for our sin. This sacrificial act flung open the door for division.

“'I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed (Luke 12:49-50)!'” Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit fire that cannot come until He departs and He symbolically speaks of His death as a “baptism” of sorts. The Christ already knows what His act of great love will do. It will make possible the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men. It will also force each one to make a choice, to take a stand.

“'Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division (vs. 51).'”

Of course, the message of the gospel is God's love and mercy. But not everyone receives this good news that would bind us all together in blissful unity. There are many who will not receive it; moreover oppose it vehemently. The division Jesus speaks about is the result of their free will, not His causing havoc.

Still, He went up. He Laid His life down for those who would believe and those who would plot for His cruel elimination. Then He conquered death and hate and injustice by throwing off the grave's chains and living again!

Good Friday is a day to remember the beginning of an eternal UPrising. It's a time to decide whether you're willing to lay it down and stand up. And Resurrection Sunday...well it's just that. A day to look UP and believe in the One Who laid it down and then rose UP!

Ego Gone Amuck

By Brenda Black


“We are the first society to be living in a world where we don't worship anything besides ourselves,” says Alain de Botton, Swiss/British writer, philosopher, television presenter and entrepreneur. “Our heros are human heros. This is a very new situation. Most other societies have had right at their center the worship of something transcendent – a god, a spirit, a natural force, the universe. Whatever it is, something else is being worshipped. We've lost the habit of doing that.”

Earlier in his TEDtalks presentation on success and failure, Botton quotes St. Augustine: “It's a sin to judge any many by his post.” He then goes on to explain Augustine's perspective with his own creative edits. Botton says, “Only God can really put people in their place and he's going to do that on the day of judgment with angels and trumpets and the skies will open. Insane idea if you are a secularist person like me. But something very valuable in that idea, nevertheless. In other words, hold your horses when you're coming to judge people. You don't really know what someone's true value is.”

How can a secularist see the problem with such an egocentric society who has forsaken worship and sets itself up as judge, yet condemns the omnipotence of a the one true God who is worthy? How can one who appears to respect the grace and justice of God, discount His power over the affairs of man?
First Botton clarifies the vacuum in which humans exist apart from God. “We've lost the habit of [worship] which is why I think we are particularly drawn to nature. Not for the sake of health, thought it is often presented that way, but because it is an escape from the human ant hill...We like to feel in contact with something that is non-human and that is so deeply important to us.” Then, on the heels of pointing out the error of humanism, Botton falls prey to it, concluding his “inspirational” message with, “Make sure we are the authors of our own ambitions. Focus in...”

Whip lash reasoning at its best! Just because a person refuses to acknowledge God, doesn't make God disappear. Choosing to deny deity doesn't elevate humanity. It only makes our ant-like status more miniscule. For in refusing to believe in God and substituting worship of Him for worship in ourselves, we become less powerful, more ignorant, less capable and more desperate.

Ironically, this same talk began with Botton defining snobbery. A snob is anybody who takes a small part of you and uses that to come to a complete view of who you are,” he says. “The opposite of a snob is the ideal mother – someone who doesn't care about your achievements.”

So just who is the snob? Is it the secularist who takes God and puts Him in a box and tells Him He doesn't exist or shall have no participation in life on earth? Or is it the Christ who doesn't care about your achievements, He just loves you to death, even death on a cross?

I think I'll keep God at the center of my universe where I'll gladly worship Him. I'd rather feel more like a child of the King than an ant in the dirt. And with the Lord on the throne where He rightly belongs, success is guaranteed.


 “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:17-18)