Monday, October 26, 2009

Last Words


He did not cry easily, but the sight of his friends—more like brothers—gathering around him in prayer for the last time was enough to bring Paul to tears. For three years they had fought side by side proclaiming the gospel to the stubborn city of Ephesus. Together the band of brothers had shouldered the threat of beatings, imprisonment and even death from those hostile to their message.

With each brother he had developed a strong bond. Paul distinctly remembered nights in which he remained awake into the early morning hours, kneeling in prayer on behalf of every one of the men. Now, he was leaving them. He was making the journey to Jerusalem alone.

In his spirit, Paul knew. This was the last he would see of them in this lifetime.

From a Roman prison some time later, Paul wrote his last words to these Ephesians. His final message to them is interesting. Naturally, it would contain his heart's cry—what truth he wanted most for the church to cling to:

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God…” (Acts 20:24)

The point that Paul so desperately wanted to convey to these dear friends was not that God loved them. They knew the gospel. They recognized God's supreme love in sending His Son; but what they needed to hear most from Paul was this final challenge: Don't value yourself.

Paul's goal was not to lift their self-esteem. ‘But I do not account my life of any value…’ Rather, he hoped to lift their eyes to Christ.

The key words spoken by Paul were not meant only for the ears of his Ephesian buddies. God means those words for us too. We aren't supposed to draw security from belonging to Christ and have it end there.

Once I’m set free from constantly trying to mimic the clothes and behavior and body types of everyone else, I’m really, really free! It makes me want to dance around with a permanent marker and paint moustaches on all the little images I’ve had stored in my mind of what I “should” measure up to. No longer must I try to appease these images to be loved, because my Maker loves me as I am!

But that’s not all. In fact, if learning about God’s love ended at bringing up my self-esteem, I'd only be worshipping myself. Christ would still be missed. My focus would be only self-love, not really the love of God at all. As one man said, “If God’s love made us central and focused on our value, it would distract us from what is most precious; namely, Himself.”[i]

God's love for us should not drive us to higher self-esteem, but instead to a higher value of His opinion. Ditching the world's measurements ought to be the shove that pushes us into knowing Christ deeply. Our reaction should be something like, “So God loves me and created me with a reason; but what was that reason? How can I know more of Him?" And, "How can I draw more attention to His greatness, so that others can see how awesome He is?"

The answer to our questions should only lead us to the Answer of all questions-- which is, I think, what Paul wanted.

[i] Piper, John. Pierced by the Word, Multnomah Books 2003, page 13.