In this insightful interview on the 700 Club today, Mousab Yousef shares his story of Hamas member turned Shinbet agent. Mousab began to question Islam and those questions ultimately led him to Christ. After this, he spent 10 years as an informant, working with Shinbet, Israel’s security service, to help foil suicide attacks. He has now written about the experience in his book, “Son of Hamas.”
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This morning, Pastor Frank preached on this passage, talking about our need for personal cleansing. As I was reflecting on this story, I realized we often try to cleanse ourselves the wrong way, as Naaman wanted to do, and complain there is no change in our lives. Naaman was from the kingdom of Syria, or Aram. As the commander of its army, his loyalty was to his own nation. This is why he was offended when Elisha told him to wash himself in the Jordan river, in Israel, for cleansing. He was used to raiding Israel, and taking its children as slaves, not coming to its rivers for healing, as though his own kingdom could not solve such problems. This story isn’t just about rivers and washing. It’s also about two kingdoms. We demonstrate Naaman’s attitude when we come to the kingdom of God seeking blessing, then opt for the rivers of Aram anyway, because we like them better. Funny how we know they don’t work, but we’d rather return to the rivers of psychiatry, philosophy, entertainment, materialism, good works, and denial time and again. When he humbled himself, Naaman experienced something in the rivers of the kingdom of God that he had never found in all the rivers of Aram. What else could make a proud Syrian patriot proclaim that there is no god in any other nation than in Israel?
Have you sought cleansing, and been left feeling as though you still were not clean? Even after all these years, there is STILL power in the blood of Christ. Only He can wash away guilt, shame and regret, and truly cleanse us on the inside, where we need it most. Dr. David Burns has identified 10 thinking distortions that get us in trouble. One of them, he calls “all or nothing thinking.” When I was younger, I used to do this all the time, but I learned over time to let it go. Maybe you’ve done this before, too:
My guess is, you’ve already blown it this year. But one or two failures doesn’t diminish your other successes. So give yourself a break, and don’t let anyone steal your initiative. Don’t be an all or nothing person. Be a do-what-you-can’er, and you’ll be surprised at how much more you accomplish. And with a lot less stress. The other day I was approached by a young, able bodied stranger who caught me outside the church as I was picking up my daughter from a music practice. We had a strange conversation, but unfortunately it was not an unusual one. He asked me for some money, and told me he attends the church. Funny, I had never seen him there before. When I didn’t give him what he wanted, he presumed it was because I had money on me at that moment and refused to give it to him. I asked him why he actually seemed to expect me to give him money. “Well you’re like a brother to me,” he said. Hmmm. “But I’ve never met you before. How can we be like brothers?” He then became quite sarcastic, saying he wasn’t going to come to the church anymore “now that he knew what we’re all about.” He went from appearing extremely polite and humble, even feigning kinship, to becoming presumptuous, rude, judgmental and insulting. All because I didn’t give him a couple bucks. I guess my hunch was right all along…..I wasn’t “like a brother” to him at all. Have we as a society taught people like this that they somehow deserve a handout from others, that it is their inalienable right? Our Young Adults at OCC just started a new blog. Check it out! |
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