Understanding Boasting in the Context of Faith

Posted on by korgrocker

“I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.”
2 Corinthians 9:1-2 NLT

I’ve written about boasting before, but from a different angle to Paul’s words today, where Paul is boasting about the Corinthians’ willingness to send an offering to Jerusalem. The believers in Jerusalem were in dire straits, recovering from a severe famine a year or two before. The problem with famines amongst people who rely on crops they produce to stay alive is that they end up having to eat the very seeds needed for next year’s crop. So the impact of a famine lasts for years unless they receive assistance. It was essential that believers suffering in another part of the world were helped by believers elsewhere, those who had survived the famine and who had the means to help them. The situation in Judea must have been difficult, because the news of the situation had spread to the Macedonian churches as well. But such was the bond of love between the believers everywhere that there was a general willingness across the churches to help, and this was what Paul was boasting about.

In 1 Corinthians 9:15, Paul was boasting about his willingness to preach the Good News without charge. He wrote, “Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge”. In 1 Corinthians 1:31, Paul, quoting Jeremiah, wrote, “Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord””. Jeremiah recorded an important message from the Lord, which reads, “This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). In the light of this Scripture, was Paul’s boasting about the Corinthians ability to give a bit misplaced? I think not, because the offering for the believers in Judea was all part of the mission of the early church, as it put into action the words of Jesus, “love your neighbour as yourself”. To back up Jeremiah’s prophecy we find Psalm 20:7, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God”. The name of the Lord is an ultimate source of authority, because anything done in His name will happen. 

“Some nations boast of their chariots and horses,
but we boast in the name of the Lord our God”

Towards the end of Romans, Paul was boasting again. He wrote, “Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them” (Romans 15:18). Regardless of all his achievements, his privations, his ministries, the miles he had travelled, the number of churches he had established and so on, Paul was only prepared to boast about what Christ had “done through [him], bringing the Gentiles to God”. It wasn’t through his efforts, he said, but through the power of the Gospel, the message he preached. 

Boasting is a very worldly characteristic, because it is associated with the braggart with a new car, or a family with a new house. Perhaps they have booked a holiday somewhere expensive, or they have met someone they, and the society around them, feel is important, like the King or a well-known actor. Boasting is associated with people who, by their own efforts (and usually a huge bank loan), feel they have the right to brag about their achievements and their possessions. But none of it will find them a path into Heaven, and one day they will face into the reality that the life after the grave has no need for a Porsche or expensive jewellery. 

Do we pilgrims have anything to boast about? Somehow, it’s not possible to boast about our faith, and not just because those worldly people around us perceive it to be a weakness. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means”. So why would we want to boast about such a thing, because most of our hearers would consider it foolishness? We can do nothing to earn our salvation. Through faith in Jesus, we accept the free gift of God, His salvation. The very essence of our faith is God. It’s all about Him and what He has done for us, and not about us at all. In Philippians 2:3 we read, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves”. Humility is the way forward for Christians. We have an inner strength that comes from knowing that God loves us personally and individually. And because of that we don’t have to puff ourselves up in front of our peers. We don’t have to make inflated claims about our worth, to try and make those around us look up to us. The Lord Himself will lift us up at the right time. We read in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honour”.

Living in God’s Kingdom is a counter-cultural way of life. The world’s values don’t exist in God’s Kingdom, and worldly boasting is one of them. But we can boast about the virtues of God’s Kingdom, and especially about all that Jesus has done for us. If that involved working for God, as with the offering being collected, then we will boast about it, because in the process, all the glory and all the praise and all the honour go to God Himself. 

Dear Father God. We humbly give You our thanks for all the things You have done for us. Our efforts have been and will be an apt response to Your presence in our lives and the lives of fellow believers. Thank You. Amen.

The Third Seal

Posted on by korgrocker

“When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”“
Revelation‬ ‭6:5-6‬ ‭NLT

This time the third living being shouts out “Come!” And a black horse with a rider carrying a pair of scales appears. And he heads off into the world to introduce famine wherever he goes. His message is stark – people will have to work all day and will only be able to buy a small amount of food with their pay. 

Here in the affluent West, famine is almost unheard of, though I know we have people struggling to make ends meet, as inflationary pressures reduce spending power and introduce difficult decisions that need to be made in low income households. And we are currently hearing doomsday messages of famine, particularly in third world countries, because of shortages of grain caused by the war in Ukraine. But the third horseman has a message of food shortages unheard of up until now. So this period of tribulation may be yet to come.

Pilgrims on earth today are God’s representatives. We carry on regardless doing what God has asked us to do, without deviating from our mission. We look out for those around us, but also for ourselves and our loved ones. We must tailor our approach to those in need, bearing in mind what James said in his epistle, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” (‭‭James‬ ‭2:14-17‬). Here in the UK we have “food banks”, where needy people are referred to when they have no money to buy food. And local authorities and charities are available to help those in need. But there are other ways in which we can help the less fortunate members of our societies. 

One way is through our local churches and fellowships, where we can offer practical help to others, and particularly the widows and orphans there that James wrote about (James 1:27). We spent time with others, listening and counselling, using our faith-filled gifts and talents to help how and when we can. My parents were part of the “make do and mend” generation that employed their practical skills to help themselves and others extend the life of everyday items. My mother was a genius as needlework and I can remember she spent long hours darning socks or knitting squares, using recovered or recycled wool, to make blankets. We need to “think outside the box” for ways in which we can practically help those around us. And in that way we are extending the Gospel into people’s lives, people who would otherwise be resistant to words on their own.

The famine introduced by the third horseman of the Apocalypse may not yet have been unleashed, but it will be one day. We hope we won’t be around at such a time but who knows? Regardless, though, we need to leave a legacy so that subsequent generations will be able to carry the Gospel torch, ready to hand it on in the generational relay race, the finishing tape of which is eternity.

Dear Father God. We thank You for Your presence in our lives. Without You we would be a sad and lost people. Instead we have a spiritually rich and loving family, of which You are the Head. We’re so grateful. Amen.