| Weekly Comment, 11 August 2002 |
| All You Need Is....? There is something about human nature that causes us to be constantly looking for easy answers to life's problems. And that, of course, makes us very vulnerable to every latest "quickfix" remedy. Every time I turn on the television or radio I seem to be bombarded with some advertisement offering me the latest potion, posture or program to fix a myriad of my complaints. Unfortunately, my experience over the years is that none of these "wonder cures" offer more than temporary relief, and most do nothing more than lighten my pocket. It is unfortunate that this "quick-fix" mentality is often found also in Christian circles. I have received an amount of mail, and e-mails lately from a group that are doing a great work encouraging young people to share their faith. The slogan of this organisation is "Jesus and the Gospel - what more do you need?" When I first read this it sounded attractive. But then I began to think of the many people to whom I have ministered over the years who had responded to the gospel and had a living faith in Jesus, but were struggling with deep problems in their lives. I thought, too, of my own experience for many years as a committed Christian, involved in active ministry, yet not experiencing the kind of freedom and power in my life that the Bible talks about. There is another simple remedy that has been around for a long time that was expressed in the Beatles' song "All you Need is Love". While the Beatles were not coming from a Christian perspective, their message has a solid Christian ring to it. The heart of the Christian gospel is the message of God's love for the world and His supreme act of love in the sacrifice of His Son. Probably the best known passage in the whole Bible is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Not only does the Bible proclaim God's love, it also tells us that love is the greatest of all virtues. The two commandments that Jesus taught were to love God and love one's neighbour. St Paul taught that above the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, forbearance and forgiveness we are to "put on love, which binds all together in perfect unity." (Col. 3:14) However, there are a considerable number of Christians who read these words with despair, rather than hope. Their own well of love has been drained dry as they have given out to others around them, but they do not feel any flow of God's love towards them. While they know the theory of God's love, they do not seem to be able to experience anything of its reality. Jesus and the Gospel message of God's love is NOT enough for many sincere believing Christians. And it was never meant to be! Jesus himself promised His disciples that He would send them a "better helper", who would be in them, not just alongside them. Jesus was reffering, of course, to the Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell in every Christian and transforms them from within. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to love, by pouring God's love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to live a godly life by transforming our hearts and our minds and releasing God's power. However, the Holy Spirit will not do His work in us unless we allow Him. Just as a doctor cannot perform a healing operation on us unless we surrender control of our bodies, neither can the Holy Spirit change us unless we let Him. This surrender of control is the sticking point for many people, especially those who have not received the love and affirmation the needed as a child. In order to cope with life, such people build walls of protection around their hearts. They construct a defensive castle over which they retain control. And in that castle they store up the pains and hurts of life. Unfortunately, those walls that are built to protect them from hurt also shut out love. Such people often have great difficulty receiving love from others and receiving love from God. One of the greatest joys of my ministry has come from seeing the wonderful change and freedom that comes when such folk allow the love of God to trickle through the castle walls, and set them free. We need Jesus and the Gospel, and we also need the love of God poured into us through the Holy Spirit, but, above all, we need the willingness to let Him come into our personal space and set us free. John Davies |