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Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?

Luke 3

15Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17He is ready to separate the chaff from the grain with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, storing the grain in his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” 18John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

19John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. 20So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

21One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you.” (Luke 3:15-22, NLT)

Acts 1

1Dear Theophilus:

In my first book I told you about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2until the day he ascended to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit. 3During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. On these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

4In one of these meetings as he was eating a meal with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what he promised. Remember, I have told you about this before. 5John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:1-6, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Is baptism necessary for salvation?

Some Christians will whole-heartedly say “YES”, while many Catholics might also agree.

I’ve engaged with others over this question many times before but was recently re-introduced to this debate from an unexpected source.

You may recall that around the beginning of June (2026) there was some controversy surrounding the government and the Mormon church. I’ve shared some details about that in my blog post “Should People Take the Mormon Challenge?” but the summary is that the Department of Defense, in an effort to simplify the job of military chaplains, decided to reduce the number of codes that identify the different religious affiliations that troop members might align with from over 200 down to about 30.

These codes included a number of different “Christian” affiliations, such as “Christian-Baptist” and “Christian-Presbyterian”. However, when identifying the Mormon church, the code was listed simply as “Latter Day Saint”.

This had a number of Mormons objecting that the government did not identify the Mormon church as a subset of  Christianity.

In the ensuing online debate, I ended up engaging with a Mormon who was attempting to explain the legitimacy of the Mormon church to those who were suggesting that Mormons aren’t Christians.

One of the points this person made was that the Mormon church had re-established the priesthood, which Mormonism claims had been lost by the church for nearly 1800 years, and that this “restored” priesthood now allowed for legitimate baptisms. This is important, according to Mormons, because since baptism is necessary for salvation (in their view), the church needs a legitimate priesthood in order to administer baptisms and thus “save” people.

There’s a lot of Mormon theology that could be debated here but for this post, I want to look strictly at the assertion this Mormon made that baptism is necessary for salvation.

As luck would have it, that next day, two of the chapters in my daily Bible reading were the two chapters listed above, both of which talk about baptism.

An exhaustive discussion of whether baptism is necessary for salvation would likely take more room to unpack than just this blog post but these two passages do give us some insight into the issue.

First of all, if water baptism is necessary for salvation, one has to wonder why Jesus was baptized. Did Jesus need to be saved?

Clearly, Jesus didn’t need to be saved so there must be a different reason for His baptism. This alone tells us that baptism is not always associated with salvation. I wrote about this issue in my blog post “Why Was Jesus Baptized?”

A second observation from these passages is the fact that there are clearly different kinds of baptism mentioned.

Click here to see a A Comprehensive List of Blog Posts Based on Bible Passage Reference

Note that John the Baptist himself said that he baptized with water but someone would come after Him (Jesus) who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John makes a point to say that this person who would come after him (Jesus) was greater than he was. This implies also that the baptism of Jesus was greater, better and more important than the baptism of John.

Jesus confirms this in the Acts passage when he reminds his disciples what they had been taught before, that John would baptize with water but He (Jesus) would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus then told them that this baptism with the Holy Spirit would take place “in just a few days”.

It’s clear from Scripture that Jesus was referencing the events of Pentecost in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit descended upon these early believers and came to indwell them. It’s at this moment that the church was born.

So for the person who believes that water baptism is essential for salvation, the question they must ask is: why does Jesus emphasize His baptism of the Spirit over the water baptism that John the Baptist performed?

One thing is absolutely clear from these two passages: Jesus’ baptism is different from the baptism of John the Baptist. While John the Baptist baptized people with water, Jesus would baptize people with the Holy Spirit.

If we’re going to have any chance of resolving the question of whether baptism is necessary for salvation, we have to come to an understanding of what it means when Jesus said he would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

The problem that too many people experience when they’re faced with this issue is one of familiarity.

What I mean by that is that most people, when they hear the word “baptize”, immediately conjure up an image in their mind based on their own understanding of the word, which is primarily shaped by their own experience with baptism.

For most people, their only association with the word is that they’ve seen many people who have been baptized with water, either by sprinkling in the Catholic church and various Protestant traditions or by immersion in many evangelical traditions.

If your only exposure to the word “baptize” is seeing someone who has been baptized with water, then you naturally will assume that whenever you see the word, it must refer to being sprinkled or immersed with water.

But as these two texts above demonstrate, baptism is not always associated with water. Therefore, the idea that one must be sprinkled or immersed in water as a part of the salvation process is already in doubt. And since both John the Baptist and Jesus affirm that the baptism Jesus would bring was NOT water baptism, then there is virtually no reason to believe that being baptized with water is anything more than symbolism.

A more careful study of the word “baptize” reveals that this is exactly the case.

The more broad meaning of the word “baptize” is “to identify with.”

Hence, people who were baptized by John the Baptist were identifying with him. As a way to demonstrate publicly that they agreed with John’s preaching, they took the step to be baptized by him, thus identifying themselves with his core message of repentance. One might think of it as an initiation.

Jesus’ baptism is not one that is associated with water but the Holy Spirit. Being baptized in the Spirit means that the person now identifies with the Holy Spirit and thus is now a member of God’s family.

The apostles were all first identified with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. They were “baptized” by the Spirit and “initiated” into the body of Christ, the family of God.

The question for us is when is the believer first associated with the Holy Spirit? Is it at the moment of being baptized with water, as Mormons and some Protestants claim? If that is the case, then we can affirm that water baptism is indeed necessary for salvation.

But Scripture tells us otherwise. Most notably, Paul, in Ephesians 1:13, says that the Holy Spirit is given to the Christian as a seal at the moment of belief, NOT at the moment of being immersed in water. I wrote about this aspect of the Holy Spirit in my blog post, “The Holy Spirit as a Seal.”

So then, if water baptism is not essential for savlation, what is the purpose? Why do it?

Like a lot of things in Scripture, water baptism is a physical representation of a spiritual reality.

In Scripture, water is often a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In John 7:37-39, Jesus addresses the crowds and tells them that if anyone is thirsty, they should come to Him and drink and streams of living water would flow from within them. The text follows by explaining that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit.

So the act of being baptized with water is simply an act whereby the believer is attesting to the fact that they now identify with Jesus and are a part of His family. The qualifying characteristic of being a part of the family of Jesus is that you must have the Holy Spirit. The believer, in being baptized with water, is making a declaration of faith – that they now have placed their trust in Christ and as a result, they have received the promised Holy Spirit and have been placed into the family of God.

So let’s circle back to our original question: “Is baptism necessary for salvation?” The answer is that it depends on what you’re referring to when you talk about baptism.

If you are asking whether a person needs to be baptized with water in order to be saved, the answer from Scripture is clearly NO.

But if you understand baptism to be an identification and union with the Holy Spirit, then the answer is YES, you absolutely must be SPIRITUALLY baptized in order to be saved, for one cannot be saved unless they become a member of the family of God and the prerequisite to becoming a member of the family of God IS receiving the Holy Spirit, which, according to Scripture, occurs the moment a person puts their faith in Jesus.

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

What has been your experience with baptism? What comes to your mind when you hear the word “baptize”?

What do you think is the purpose of baptism? If you have been baptized, how did you interpret that experience in terms of its meaning?

Would you agree that Jesus’ baptism is greater than and more important than John’s baptism? 

If Jesus’ baptism is more important that John’s baptism, then they must be different in some way. What do you think are the differences between these two kinds of baptism?

If the purpose of water baptism is to save people, then why do you think Jesus was baptized by John? Clearly Jesus didn’t need to be saved.

 

Photo by Paul Ndayambaje: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-in-a-blue-dress-is-in-the-water-28181227/

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What is the Significance of the “Sign of Jonah?”

Luke 11

29As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “These are evil times, and this evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 30What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to me will be a sign that God has sent me, the Son of Man, to these people.

31“The queen of Sheba will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And now someone greater than Solomon is here—and you refuse to listen to him. 32The people of Nineveh, too, will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now someone greater than Jonah is here—and you refuse to repent. (Luke 11:29-32, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is responding to “others” from Luke 11:16 who were trying to test Jesus by asking “for a miraculous sign from heaven to see if he was from God.”

A similar incident occurs in Matthew 16, which I wrote about here. The summary in that passage as in this passage, is that Jesus says that those who demand a sign are evil. This is because all of the evidence needed to determine that Jesus is from God has already been given. I unpack this more in my blog post “When Someone DEMANDS Evidence!”

What’s interesting to me about this passage in Luke is what Jesus says about Jonah that is not in the Matthew passage.

Jesus says that “What happened to him [Jonah] was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him.”

I’ve read this statement from Jesus hundreds of times without realizing the significance of what Jesus is saying here.

So what’s he saying? Why is this significant?

Coincidentally, my men’s group just recently went through a short Bible study on the book of Jonah, which is only 4 chapters long with a total of 48 verses.

Click here to see a A Comprehensive List of Blog Posts Based on Bible Passage Reference

The summary of Jonah is as follows:

God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, and announce God’s judgment against the city.

Jonah rebels against God’s directive and flees by getting on a ship that is headed in the opposite direction from Nineveh.

God gets Jonah’s attention by causing a great storm that threatens the safety of those on the ship and Jonah gets thrown overboard by the other passengers as a way to quell the storm and save themselves.

As a result of the storm abating, these passengers, who all worshiped pagan gods, end up worshipping Yahweh and making vows to Him.

Jonah gets saved from drowning by being swallowed by a big fish. He’s in the belly of the fish for 3 days before being spit up on some unknown beach.

Some time after this (we don’t know how long exactly), God tells Jonah once again to go to Nineveh and announce God’s judgment against the city.

This time Jonah complies.

When he gets to Nineveh, Jonah once again announces God’s judgment with a very brief message.

The text of Jonah 3 says that the whole city repented, including the king. I’ve always thought their response was interesting and out of character given the haughty and braggadocious attitude of the Assyrians. At the time, the Assyrians were the biggest baddest dudes on the block and were  not afraid of any foreign deities or any other regional powers.

2 Kings 18 gives the account of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, in which Sennacherib’s representative said:

“Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria! 29This is what the king says: Don’t let King Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you from my power. 30Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us! This city will never be handed over to the Assyrian king.’

. . . .

“Don’t listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us!’ 33Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? 34What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria from my power? 35What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? Name just one! So what makes you think that the LORD can rescue Jerusalem?” (2 Kings 18:28-30, 32-35, NLT)

The Assyrians were certainly NOT afraid of the God of Israel. To them, Yahweh was as weak as every other regional deity.

So how is it that in the account of Jonah, the Assyrians are so quick to repent?

Jesus’ words in Luke 11 give us additional insight as Jesus says that what happened to Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him.

Did you catch that?

The Assyrians had already heard of what happened to Jonah by the time he arrives with his message of impending doom. Somehow, the ordeal on the boat, in which Jonah’s God, Yahweh, had immediately calmed the storm, got back to the Assyrians. It seems most likely that the other passengers on that boat, the ones who ended up worshipping Yahweh and making vows to Him, told their story and the word quickly spread.

This scenario reminds me of the Israelite’s deliverance from slavery to the Egyptians, in which God not only demonstrated His power and sovereignty through the various plagues, but who also delivered the Israelites by parting the Red Sea while destroying the Egyptian army who attempted to follow.

When the Israelites finally arrived at the edge of the promised land, the multiple nations they would eventually displace had all heard of God’s great acts of deliverance, causing the Israelites to be greatly feared.

Tha Assyrians had gotten word about this powerful God, so much so that when Jonah finally arrives on the scene, he needs no introduction and barely has to say a word to convince the Assyrians that God means business.

The result is that this world empire that had seen themselves as invincible, were now on their knees begging the God of the universe not to bring impending disaster upon them.

Jonah’s rebellion led to a divine encounter for a group of pagan seafarers, whose story got back to the very nation Jonah was supposed to warn. So when Jonah finally gets to the destination to which God had sent him, the people are amazingly ready to respond.

Jesus’ message to those who want a sign is this: the Assyrians heard about Jonah so that when Jonah showed up, they knew he had been sent by God.

In the same way, what happened to Jesus would be THE sign that Jesus was sent by God.

What was it that happened to Jesus?

He was crucified and dramatically rose from the dead.

If the resurrection is not enough evidence for someone who demands a sign to know if Jesus really was sent by God, then no amount of evidence will do.

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

Are you a person who needs evidence, or a sign that Jesus is God? If so, what evidence would convince you?

Why do you think Jesus says that people who require a sign are part of “this evil generation?”

Many people have a hard time believing the story of Jonah, particularly the part where he is swallowed by a great fish. How does Jesus mentioning Jonah in this Luke passage add credibility to the story of Jonah?

Jesus says that He is greater than Jonah and yet people refuse to listen to Him. Why do you think people refuse to listen to Jesus? What steps can you take to ensure that you don’t stop listening to Jesus?

 

Photo by Francesco Ungaro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/majestic-whale-tail-above-ocean-waters-34392859/

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Should People Take the Mormon “Challenge”?

Galatians 1

6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way 7that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.

8Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed. 9I will say it again: If anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God’s curse fall upon that person.

10Obviously, I’m not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant. (Galatians 1:6-10, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

If you haven’t noticed, Mormonism has been a huge topic on social media the last few days. The main topic of discussion and debate has been centered around the question of whether or not Mormons are Christians.

For context, the Department of Defense recently posted a memo regarding new abbreviated codes to identify the many different religious backgrounds that might be represented among the troops.

According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the previous list of religious options was out of control, with over 200 different options. The goal was to simplify the number of codes and options, making it easier for chaplains to do their job of ministering to the troops.

The problem was that the new list had a number of different Christian denominations listed, such as “Christian-Baptist” and “Christian-Presbyterian” but the Mormon Church was not listed as Christian. Instead, it was listed simply as “Latter Day Saint.”

This set off a firestorm among many Mormon influencers and regular Mormon Joes who were offended that the U.S. government apparently didn’t consider Mormons to be Christian.

Chief among those speaking out online were Utah Senator Mike Lee (@basedMikeLee on X), who took every opportunity to post his thoughts and objections to this “egregious error” inflicted on Latter Day Saints.

This incident sparked a lot of online conversations about whether or not Mormons are Christians.

Mormons, of course, believe they ARE Christians, while evangelicals have argued that Mormons are NOT Christians because, despite the fact that Jesus Christ is in their name, they do not hold to the traditional Christian doctrinal views on Jesus, God, the Church, salvation, or the Scriptures.

The online discussion afforded many Mormons, including Senator Lee, the opportunity to inform and proselytize others regarding the Mormon faith.

In one of his posts, Senator Lee offered up what I’m calling the “Mormon challenge”:

This is the Mormon “trump” card so to speak. “Just read the Book of Mormon in it’s entirety”, they say, “and ask God humbly and with sincerity if it’s true.” This challenge is often offered as a gauntlet that is laid down for those who portend to be truth-seekers.

“What do you have to lose”, Mormons ask. The sentiment is, “Don’t be a chicken!”

Millions of Mormons attest that Mormonism is indeed true based on this challenge.

Should Christians accept this challenge?

The answer is a resounding NO.

There are two reasons why Christians should not take this challenge and neither of them have to do with being scared of the outcome.

The first reason you should not take this challenge is because it’s not falsifiable. The challenge is actually like the old “heads I win, tails you lose” proposition, which means that the challenge is designed to “prove” Mormonism is true regardless of the results of your humble and sincere prayer.

Think about it: if you pray and you say that you felt nothing or you didn’t get any firm and obvious confirmation from your prayer, the Mormon can just say that you were obviously not sincere enough, or humble enough or something similar.

Yet if you say that you DID feel something, that emotional response, regardless of how small or incomprehensible, is offered as proof that Mormonism is true.

In other words, the challenge simply appeals to an emotional response as evidence of veracity.

This leads to the second reason one should NOT take this challenge, which is that it’s unbiblical.

Nowhere in Scripture are people encouraged to evaluate truth claims by appealing to an emotional response.

Instead, we are exhorted to test a message against the clear revelation that has already been given by God.

Acts 17 is a good example of this. I have written about this passage in another blog post, “Fact-Checking and Misinformation in the New Testament” in which the Bereans were commended for testing Paul’s message against the Scriptures.

A second clear example of testing a message is in the Galatians passage listed above, in which Paul tells his audience that any “gospel” message that is not in alignment or in agreement with the gospel message he had already preached to them was to be rejected. Paul tells the Galatians that the person giving this false message is to be cursed.

We know exactly what the message was that Paul originally preached to the Galatians because he writes his letter to the Galatians to reinforce the original message and to correct their subsequent misunderstanding brought about by false teachers. The gospel message Paul preached was a message of justification by faith in Christ alone, apart from any works.

Since we already know that the Mormon message is different than Paul’s message on many different levels doctrinally, there is no need to “pray on it.” In fact, reading the Book of Mormon and praying on it could be considered disobedience to Paul’s admonition to outright reject so-called gospel messages that are different from what he taught the Galatians.

The debate about whether Mormons are Christian or not, while interesting, is in many ways irrelevant. The truth is that anyone can identify themselves as a Christian. Yet, it’s not as important what you call yourself as what you believe.

Mormons say they are Christians because they follow Jesus Christ. But so do Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Liberal Christians and even Progressive Christians. Even Muslims will tell you that they respect and revere Jesus as a prophet.

All these groups, along with Latter Day Saints, have wildly different theological views on God, Jesus, salvation and the nature of the church, and yet, they all consider themselves “Christian”.

Are they Christian? The only way we can really know is to evaluate their beliefs in relation to what the Bible teaches.

With that in mind, I propose an alternate challenge to those who consider themselves Mormons…a challenge that is actually biblical. The challenge is to read the Bible cover to cover. Then compare the teachings of Mormonism with the teachings of the Bible, and specifically, compare the Mormon message with the gospel message taught by Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament.

Then tell me – does Mormonism line up with the already revealed and accepted teachings of Jesus and the apostles?

So Mike Lee (and other Mormons)….will you accept the challenge?

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

What is your definition of a Christian? According to the Bible and the gospel, how does one become a Christian?

What was the essence of the salvation message taught by Jesus and His disciples? What is the essence of the Mormon message regarding how a person is saved?

What is the traditional Christian teaching on the nature of Jesus? How do Mormons view the nature of Jesus? Are these two views the same? How do they differ?

Do you think it matters what a person believes about Jesus in order to be saved? Or is it simply enough to say you believe in Jesus? 

 

photo by Dave Lowe

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Checking Off a Bucket List Item

What are the items on your bucket list?

If you don’t know what a bucket list is, it’s a list of things you hope to do or accomplish in your life-time.

The term “bucket list” was popularized by the 2007 movie “The Bucket List” which starred movie icons Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

In the movie, Nicholson, who is the wealthy owner of a chain of hospitals, ends up sick, sharing a room with cancer patient Morgan Freeman. They develop a friendship as they both endure lengthy medical treatment protocols.

With death looming, Freeman scrawls out a list of things he hopes to experience before he dies, such as “laugh until I cry” and “drive a Shelby Mustang”.

He quickly dismisses his notion as foolish and tosses his crumpled up list in the room’s garbage can.

Nicholson notices the list and retrieves it from the circular file and proposes that he and Freeman take a road trip to accomplish the things on the “Bucket List.”

The movie is funny and heart-warming as it urges its audience to reflect on what is really important in life.

Dave & Jen at Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. I crossed this venue off my bucket list on what turned out to be “Yacht Rock Night”. Hence, the unconventional looking Sox hats.

For me, one of my bucket list items is to visit the home ball park of every major league baseball team. Jen has accompanied me to many “friendly confines” on this life-long endeavor in which I now have crossed off 20 of the 30 venues on my list.

Recently, Jen was able to cross off one of her bucket list items by obtaining her Masters Degree.

Checking off this bucket list item has been years in the making for Jen.

Jen actually started a graduate program quite a few years ago when our boys were still in elementary school, but quickly realized that the program she was in was not right for her.

Jen (right) with Grace, a fellow student in the Spiritual Formation program

Later, life circumstances, mostly health-related, prevented her from continuing her pursuit of this bucket list item.

About 5 years ago, Jen started thinking again about developing herself theologically and spiritually through a graduate seminary program.

After much contemplation and research, she determined that Talbot’s Masters of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care was the program that best fit her personality, temperament and ministry interests.

So for the past 4 years, Jen has been taking classes part-time, slowly and steadily progressing toward her goal.

In early May, Jen finally crossed that bucket list item off her list as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma.

Jen walks across the stage to receive her diploma from Talbot School of Theology – May 2026

I could not be more proud of her. I saw Jen start the program cautiously,  wondering if she could handle the rigors of graduate level academia.

With time and mustard-seed faith, Jen’s perseverance has paid off, opening up new avenues of growth spiritually as well as new ministry skills to become even more effective in her ministry to young adults.

Thank you for your prayers and your partnership, which has helped Jen check off a life-long bucket list item!

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How Can Other “Christians” be Enemies?

Ezra 4

1The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the LORD, the God of Israel. 2So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do. We have sacrificed to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here.”

3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel replied, “You may have no part in this work, for we have nothing in common. We alone will build the Temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”

4Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. 5They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their aims. This went on during the entire reign of King Cyrus of Persia and lasted until King Darius of Persia took the throne. (Ezra 4:1-5, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

This passage in Ezra 4 describes an interesting scenario. Some locals who claim to worship the same God as the Israelites do come to the leaders in charge of rebuilding the temple and offer to help. Yet the first verse describes them as “enemies” of Judah and Benjamin.

What in the world is going on?

Can’t we all just get along?

For the sake of unity and harmony, shouldn’t we agree to partner with those who claim allegiance to the same God we do?

On the surface, it makes logical sense to affirm those who invoke the name of Jesus or who claim that they worship the same God we do.

The problem though is that invoking the name of Jesus or saying that we affirm the same God doesn’t mean that our beliefs are in alignment. In fact, it’s possible, even likely, that they aren’t.

In this passage, we learn that the Jewish exiles were in the process of rebuilding the Temple.

To understand what is really happening, let’s take a moment to review how the Israelites got to this particular moment in time.

The Israelites had been warned by God over and over again that disobedience to Him and continued idolatry would incur severe consequences in the form of being conquered by rival nations.

God made due on His promise as the Israelites, the Northern Kingdom, were conquered and subdued by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Likewise, Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was conquered and exiled by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

What happened when a nation like Israel was conquered was a systematic process of acculturation. Large numbers of the conquered nations’ citizens were typically transported to the conqueror’s country, where they were dispersed and expected to assimilate into the dominant culture of the conquering nation. In this case, large numbers of Jews were transported to Assyria, where they became exiles living in a foreign land.

At the same time, citizens of the conquering nation were encouraged to relocate into the land of the conquered nation, thus bringing that culture into the new province of the conquering nation. In this scenario, Assyrian citizens were relocated to Israel, where they brought their customs and their religious beliefs.

The net result was the slow erasure of the conquered nation’s culture in favor of the conquering nation’s culture.

So when Israelite exiles were finally allowed to return to their homeland, they find it populated with Assyrians who had moved there to occupy the land. These Assyrians were not worshipers of Yahweh, at least not exclusively.

So when Ezra references, “the enemies of Judah and Benjamin”, he’s talking about these Assyrian transplants who have been living in the land but who are not native to the area, and who do not reflect Jewish culture.

But don’t these Assyrians worship Yahweh now? After all, don’t they “worship your God just as you do”?

This is the claim, right? They claim that they worship Yahweh and that they also sacrifice to Him. Doesn’t that make them fellow God-fearers? What would be the harm then in partnering with them to rebuild the temple? Shouldn’t we work with those who share our interests?

Notice that in the first verse, these Assyrians are described as “enemies of Judah and Benjamin”.

Here’s the important point: just because someone says they worship the same God as you doesn’t mean that their views are in alignment with yours. Additionally, it doesn’t mean that their intentions and their ultimate allegiance is the same as yours.

This is extremely relevant in our own culture, where the label “Christian” gets thrown around so much that it’s almost cliche.

Just because someone says they are a Christian doesn’t mean that their understanding of what it means to be a Christian is biblical. Furthermore, just because a person says they believe, or “respect” Jesus, doesn’t mean that their view of Jesus is biblical and in alignment with what the Christian church has traditionally believed and taught.

We are seeing this play out first hand in Texas, where a young congressman, James Talarico, is running for U.S. Senate. Talarico claims to be a Christian but when you evaluate his theological positions, it’s clear that his version of Christianity is progressive, not orthodox.

What that means is that even though he identifies as Christian, and he says that he follows the teachings of Jesus, it’s clear that his understanding of Christianity and Jesus is not in alignment with traditional, biblical teachings.

Talarico has made a number of statements that demonstrate that his version of Christianity is actually not Christian at all. Foremost is his belief that Jesus is not the only way to salvation and that other religions are equally valid representations of God.

I don’t mean to pick on Talarico. He is just a prominent example of a growing strain of Christianity that is not actually Christian. This ideology has hijacked the name and terms of Christianity to promote its own evil, anti-biblical views in an effort to mainstream them within the culture.

Progressive Christianity is just one example of an ideology that uses the names and terms of Christianity in ways that aren’t actually Christian.

So when someone says they are a Christian, or they say that they like Jesus or even that they follow Jesus, that doesn’t automatically mean they believe what the Bible teaches on these matters. It could simply mean that they have adopted the culture’s views of Jesus and Christianity.

We would be wise to explore their views further before aligning ourselves with those who are actually opposed to the work of God. We might find, just as Ezra did, that when it comes to the work of God, “we have nothing in common.”

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

What clues from this passage affirm the fact that these Assyrians truly were “enemies of Judah and Benjamin”?

If these Assyrians living in Jerusalem truly did worship and sacrifice to Yahweh, why do you think they would try to frustrate the building of the Temple?

What are some examples in your own experience where someone claims to have the same views and values as you regarding Jesus, the Bible and Christianity, but it becomes clear from their actions that they are actually “enemies of God.”

Are there any circumstances where we as Christians might align ourselves and partner with those who are not Christians? What guidelines or principles might help you determine when and when not to partner with those who don’t share your faith?

 

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Why Can’t We Be More Like the New Testament Church?

Acts 6

1But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. Those who spoke Greek complained against those who spoke Hebrew, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers.

“We apostles should spend our time preaching and teaching the word of God, not administering a food program,” they said. 3“Now look around among yourselves, brothers, and select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We will put them in charge of this business. 4Then we can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word.”

5This idea pleased the whole group, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (a Gentile convert to the Jewish faith, who had now become a Christian). 6These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.

7God’s message was preached in ever-widening circles. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too. (Acts 6:1-7, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

The Christian church is a mess. At least that’s what we’re to believe if we look at social media and various news outlets.

Everywhere you look and every time you turn around there’s a church scandal involving a high profile pastor or some popular Christian artist has decided to deconstruct their faith. Sexual immorality, greed, back-stabbing, gossip and slander seemingly abound within the church walls.

So why can’t we be more like the New Testament church?

That’s a question that I hear people say all the time. It’s a question borne out of ignorance and a naive desire for a return to some kind of utopian church state that NEVER existed.

The truth is that the church has ALWAYS had problems and it will CONTINUE to have problems, as long as it is being led by imperfect, corruptible humans.

The pollyannaish view that the New Testament church had it all together while the modern church is full of problems is simply revisionist history.

The early church was full of problems, starting with the issue outlined here in Acts 6.

It’s true that the first few chapters of Acts outline a spiritually robust church that was generous, giving, met often for prayer and was full of faith. However, in Acts 6, we start to see some of the flaws and problems that invaded this early community.

According to the text, an issue arose between two different ethnic communities. Those who spoke Greek complained against those who spoke Hebrew. Their complaint was that their widows were being discriminated against.

Apparently, there was a food distribution program that was being run by the church and those who were non-Jewish culturally were not receiving the same attention and consideration as those who were culturally Jewish.

In other words, there was discrimination and preferential treatment toward one ethic group over another. There was racism in the early church.

It’s not surprising that this issue would exist. After all, for centuries Jews followed the Law of Moses, which taught them that Gentiles were unclean.

This does not mean that the Law taught that Gentiles were not equal to Jews or that somehow God saw them as less than. But over the years, the Jewish view of the Gentile devolved into a state of anti-Gentilism.

This view was not isolated. It is repeated throughout the book of Acts. Jews did not like Gentiles and generally saw them as inferior.

In this passage, there is no indication of what the apostles did to address this false view, In actuality, Peter, in Acts 10, needed a vision from the Lord to break him out of his anti-Gentile trance.

The apostles dealt with the problem as indicated but their solution did not fix the racism that existed within the early church.

What are we to make of this?

It’s clear that many of the great evils and ills that infect our modern church were present in the New Testament church. And yet, God was able to use those feeble, flawed individuals just the same. This means that He can use us as well.

I want to be clear that I’m not saying that we shouldn’t call out sin in the church when we see it. We should. And leaders in the New Testament church did as well. It seems that many of the New Testament epistles were written to point out sin and correct bad theology and wrong orthopraxy.

But we shouldn’t be naive to think that the modern church is any worse than the church has been at any other time.

The modern church is not perfect. It can’t be; it’s being led by and is filled with imperfect and corruptible people. But God is in the business of using broken vessels to fulfill His purposes.

So when someone asks, “why can’t we be more like the New Testament church” my response is: brother, we already are!

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

What has been your view of the New Testament church compared to the modern evangelical church? How have you tended to compare and contrast them and evaluate them?

What are some of the reasons why people tend to yearn for a New Testament version of the church?

What do you think it is about the New Testament church that causes people to long for a return to that era?

What are some reasons that wishing for a return to the New Testament church era would ultimately be futile.

How should we as Christians approach the fact that there are many problems that afflict the modern church? What do you think are appropriate solutions or courses of action for individuals and for the church as a whole?

 

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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A Warning to the Wealthy

Proverbs 19

1It is better to be poor and honest than to be a fool and dishonest.

2Zeal without knowledge is not good; a person who moves too quickly may go the wrong way.

3People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.

4Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them away.

5A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.

6Many beg favors from a prince; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts! (Proverbs 19:1-6, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Some time ago, I heard a person call into the Dave Ramsey show asking for advice on when and how to tell their kids that they were rich.

Apparently, the caller had pooled some money with some co-workers for their states’ PowerBall lottery and, as luck would have it, they won. BIG. His share of the winnings was significant and made his family extremely wealthy. Yet, even though they now had a windfall of money, they hadn’t told anyone. Not their kids. Not their friends. And not their parents or other relatives.

The caller was asking for advice on when and how to tell their kids who were now getting older and moving into adulthood. He wondered when his kids might be mature enough to hear this information without blabbing it to the world.

One might ask why someone who is wealthy would not want others to know about it. Why not advertise it to the world? After all, isn’t it a sign of success and achievement? Wouldn’t it garner the respect and admiration of others? Isn’t half the fun of winning the lottery letting people know that you “beat” the system?

The reality is that extreme wealth has a parasitic effect, and Solomon, who, according to the Scriptures, was the wisest man to ever live, speaks about that in this section of his Proverbs.

Verse four, in particular, says that:

wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them away.

You’ll notice that in the NLT, the word “friends” is in quotes. It’s not in quotes in the original language or in most other translations. The quotes have been placed there by the translator to convey the meaning of the verse, which is that wealth brings many so-called “friends” but they’re not really your friends. They’re only your friends because you have money. If, and when the money disappears (poverty) so does their friendship. Obviously, that’s not REAL friendship.

Verse 6 expounds on this idea. It’s amazing how many friends and distant relatives you’ll learn you have as soon as the word gets around that you now have money. People you haven’t seen in years, and even people you’ve never met will suddenly show up on your doorstep, acting friendly toward you and pretending to care about you, while in reality they just want to help you spend your money.

The Bible is clear that wealth is not evil (though greed is) and it’s not sinful or immoral to be wealthy.

At the same time, the Bible warns about the dangers of extreme wealth. Besides the fact that wealth can, and often does turn into greed, wealth can also bring unwanted people into your life. People who are not particularly interested in you as a person will seek to wriggle their way into your life in order to ingratiate themselves to your good nature, hoping that you will reward them with a handout.

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

When have you experienced so-called “friends” only being nice to you because they wanted something from you?

Have you ever had a rich relative or friend? What was your attitude toward them? Did you find yourself acting differently in hopes of being “taken care of”?

What do you think are some ways you can safeguard yourself from falling into the trap of greed and wanting money? How can you avoid treating others differently because of their money or lack of money?

How can you cultivate contentment in your life?

 

Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash

 

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What Does it Mean to Bear Fruit that Lasts?

John 15

16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit]—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:16-17, NIV)

The Daily DAVEotional

Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what makes a ministry effective – what it means to bear fruit.

Within our own ministry with Cru and certainly within the church where we’re involved, there’s a lot of ministry activity. Meetings, events, campaigns and lots of talk of growth and numbers. Statistics. Charts.

It’s all good stuff. I’m not complaining. I know that for every number, there’s a person whose life has been impacted. It’s good and appropriate to celebrate success and all that the Lord has done.

However, I sometimes wonder if Jesus’ own ministry might be considered an abject failure when evaluated by modern church growth strategies and metrics.

After all, though Jesus preached to the masses, he had a relatively small following of just over 100 men (and some women too), with only 12 men in his inner circle.

One of those 12 men betrayed Jesus, leading to His arrest and crucifixion, while the rest of His disciples ALL deserted Him when He was in His darkest hour.

I’m not sure Jesus’ ministry looked “fruitful” to the modern evangelical church.

However, in John 15:16, Jesus said to his disciples,

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.”

It seems that “fruit” is evaluated not by its immediate result, but its lasting impact.

A few months back, I took a trip to Northern California to visit friends and ministry partners, many of whom are former students from our many years of campus ministry.

One of my first meet-ups was with Eric and Lane, two friends and former students from our early years at San Jose State.

Lane (left) and Eric (center) were a part of small groups I led way back in my early years with Cru at San Jose State University.

Eric was one of the first students I ever met when I arrived at San Jose State University as a new Campus Crusdae for Christ staff member. He wasn’t a believer but soon placed his faith in Christ and, like Lane, has been on a trajectory of growth for the last 37 years. Both of these men are exhibiting enduring faith, walking with Christ even in the midst of unbelievably challenging life circumstances.

Mike got involved with Cru at UC Davis when we were just starting out and maybe had 5 students.He was a gifted leader and an amazing guitar player who had a heart for worship.

Mike was one of the first few students to get involved with Cru when we started the ministry at UC Davis nearly 30 years ago

Mike had a crazy vision to put a worship band together when we had only 15 students. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, but we went with it and that act of faith was highly “instrumental” (do you see what I did there?) in our ability to attract students and expose them to our vision.

That launched us on a growth trajectory that helped us grow our ministry from those original 5 students to over 300 in a decade. The fruit from those years is still having an impact today.

Now, almost 30 years later, Mike is still walking with Christ and leading worship at his church while exhibiting enduring faith.

At the close of my trip, I met with Sean, another one of those early students at UC Davis when we were just starting out.

Sean was one of our first students involved with Cru at UC Davis when we started the ministry there. After graduating, he spent 20+ years as a missionary in the Middle East before returning recently to the states with his family.

Sean was one of the first students from our ministry to heed the call to missionary service, spending 20+ years as a missionary to the Middle East before recently being called to return home with his family.

Sean, like these other men, is an example of the lasting fruit that Jesus referenced in John 15:16.

In a culture where so many are deconstructing their faith, leaving the church, or inventing a “new and enlightened” path wrapped in a thin Christian veneer, enduring faith is a faith that keeps going year after year, trial after trial, faithfully serving, trusting, staying true to the gospel and impacting others in small and often unnoticed ways.

This is fruit that lasts!

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

The post takes the position that “fruit that lasts” is enduring faith. Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not? If you disagree, how would you define or describe “fruit that lasts”?

What are some examples in your own life of “fruit that lasts”?

If Jesus has appointed us to bear fruit that lasts, which is likened to faith that endures trials, struggles and the demands of life over time, what practical implications does that have for the way we do ministry and the way we evaluate fruitfulness?

What do you think the church (people) should do or could do in order to ensure that we are bearing fruit that lasts? In other words, if we’re called to bear fruit that lasts, how do you think we (the church) do that? 

 

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What Does it Mean to Carry the Burdens of Others but Not Their Loads?

Galatians 6

1Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5for each one should carry his own load. 6Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.(Galatians 6:1-6, NIV)

The Daily DAVEotional

In Galatians 6, Paul begins wrapping up his letter to these new believers who had been deceived into following a distorted gospel that included the addition of Jewish legal requirements to belief in Jesus as the Messiah.

In the previous section, Paul contrasted the “deeds of the flesh” against the “fruit of the Spirit.”

Following one’s fleshly desires leads to wicked, sinful living, while following the Spirit leads to godly character and righteous living depicted by the “fruit of the Spirit”.

But what does it look like to demonstrate “fruit of the Spirit” in the context of community?

In this first section of chapter 6, which is merely an extension of the reasoning of chapter 5, Paul gives three different examples of Spirit-led living within the context of community.

The first example is in how we treat others who sin. Paul says that those who are “spiritual”, that is, those who are Spirit-led, should seek to restore the other person with gentleness.

What Paul is saying is that the Spirit-led person understands that they themselves have sinned and are prone to sin. So we come to those who are trapped by their sin with gentleness and understanding.

This does not mean we condone, excuse or overlook sinful behavior. What it means is that we approach those who have sinned with an attitude of love and understanding instead of judgment. The goal is to restore the person, not punish them.

Secondly, Paul says that Spirit-led living means that we “carry each other’s burdens”, fulfilling the law of Christ. What does it mean to “fulfill the law of Christ”? It means that we demonstrate the love of Christ to others. Thus, Paul is saying that we demonstrate love to others when we carry their burdens.

But what does that mean?

Our understanding of this command is complicated by the seemingly contradictory command of verse 5, in which Paul states that “each one should carry his own load.”

So which one is it? Are we to carry each other’s burdens or not? It seems as if we’re being told in one verse that we’re supposed to help one another while in a following verse, we’re told each person is supposed to help themselves.

Is this where the popular adage “God helps those who help themselves” comes from?

Hardly.

So then, what does it mean? What is Paul saying?

To understand what Paul is saying in this passage, we need to understand the difference between the two different words used: burden and load.

Henry Cloud, in his book “Boundaries” explains that “the Greek word for burden means “excess burdens,” or burdens that are so heavy that they weigh us down. These burdens are like boulders. They can crush us.”

By contrast, ‘the Greek word for load means “cargo,” or “the burden of daily toil.” ‘ Henry Cloud gives the example of a knapsack or backpack that is normal for people to carry around.

The idea here is that a burden is not a normal situation. It’s when life brings an extreme trial or unusual struggle that is difficult to manage on your own.

An example might be the death of a loved one that dramatically alters the family dynamic or the unexpected loss of a job that plunges a person into financial turmoil. These are the kinds of life-impacting events that require more than normal love and support from others, whether they be close friends or extended family.

On the other hand, we all have normal, routine responsibilities that we must learn to manage.

Henry Cloud says that “problems arise when people act as if their “boulders” are daily loads and refuse help, or as if their “daily loads” are boulders they shouldn’t have to carry. The results of these two instances are either perpetual pain or irresponsibility.”

Dr. Cloud highlights two extremes that are becoming more common today. One issue is when people don’t take personal responsibility for normal, routine issues in their lives, but expect others to do for them what they should be able to do for themselves. We call those who participate in this behavior enablers.

We all have heard extreme examples of this: the 30 year old young man who is still living at home and spends most of his time holed up in his room playing video games. He has no meaningful job and no pathway to get a job that would allow him to be self-supporting. Meanwhile, mom still cooks all his meals and does his laundry while dad buys gas for his car so he can get around and hang out with his friends. The parents think they are “loving” him by not saying anything to him that would be mean or make him upset. They are treating him like he’s still in high school instead of treating him like a grown adult.

Paul says that each person should carry his own load, which means we should not treat our adult kids like they are still dependent on us and incapable of taking care of themselves. This is not actually loving.

The other extreme to this is to treat those who have experienced genuine trauma and upheaval in their lives as if they just need to suck it up and deal with it. This also is not loving.

Paul says that the loving approach to those who have heavy burdens thrust upon them is to support them by helping them to carry those burdens, while the loving approach to those who are not experiencing extreme trials is to not enable them. In other words, it’s loving to expect people to grow up and be responsible adults.

So a second way we demonstrate Spirit-led living in the context of community is by supporting others who are experiencing burdens in life that extend beyond the normal expected responsibilities that we all must manage.

A third way of expressing Spirit-led living is by supporting those who are impacting and influencing us spiritually. In verse 6, Paul says that those who are being instructed spiritually by others should share with those who are instructing them. In short, Paul is advocating for the support of those who are spiritual leaders by those whom they are leading.

Paul’s message is that we fulfill the law of Christ by demonstrating love to others. We love others when we gently help restore them to genuine fellowship with Christ, when we support those who are experiencing genuine trials and trauma in their lives and when we financially support those who are investing in our own spiritual growth and well-being.

Paul gives two warnings in this passage that can trip people up: when helping others with their sin issues be careful not to fall into that sin with them AND be careful not to enable those who may take advantage of your good nature by seeking your help for things they should be responsible for themselves.

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

What are some examples of burdens that some people might face that would require others to come alongside them to help carry those burdens?

What do you think are examples of responsibilities that would fall into the category of “load” for the typical person? In other words, what are some examples of responsibilities that are pretty much typical for most normal people?

When have you been involved in helping to carry the burden of another?

What are some of the dangers of not expecting another person to “carry their own load?” 

What do you think are some reasons why some people carry the load of others as if those loads are actually burdens?

What do you think are some ways you can determine if a person’s struggle is really a burden or whether it’s a load?

 

Photo by Erwan Grey: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-with-a-big-bag-on-a-street-in-black-and-white-20850989/

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What is Your Greatest Wish?

2 Chronicles 1

1Solomon, the son of King David, now took firm control of the kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him very powerful. 2He called together all Israel—the generals and captains of the army, the judges, and all the political and clan leaders. 3Then Solomon led the entire assembly to the hill at Gibeon where God’s Tabernacle was located. This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the LORD’s servant, had constructed in the wilderness. 4David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the special tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem. 5But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was still at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the LORD. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the LORD. 6There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the LORD’s presence and sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings on it.

7That night God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

8Solomon replied to God, “You have been so faithful and kind to my father, David, and now you have made me king in his place. 9Now, LORD God, please keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! 10Give me wisdom and knowledge to rule them properly, for who is able to govern this great nation of yours?”

11God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for personal wealth and honor or the death of your enemies or even a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people, 12I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. And I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor such as no other king has ever had before you or will ever have again!” 13Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the hill of Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel. (2 Chronicles 1:1-13, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Imagine that you acquire an old lamp like the one from the movie Aladdin.

You rub the lamp and out pops a genie, who grants you one wish.

What would you wish for?

There’s an old Twilight Zone episode whose story follows this very premise.

A couple is barely making ends meet as the owners of a second-hand thrift shop. A woman comes in needing money, offering to sell an old wine bottle she found. Though financially strapped themselves, they buy the worthless bottle out of pity and compassion for the woman.

Wanting to recoup his money, the man attempts to clean up the bottle so he can put it on the shelf and sell it. While rubbing the bottle to clean it up, out pops a genie, who grants the couple four wishes.

The first wish is used to fix the broken glass of their main display case, thus proving the genie’s power and ability to grant wishes.

The couple decides to use their 2nd wish on money and they instantly have a million dollars in cash (valued in 1960). They promptly give thousands away to their friends and begin living the good life. But then the IRS shows up, demanding their cut. In the end, the couple has only $5 left of the million they had wished for.

The owner decides that maybe power would be a better thing to wish for, so he asks to be an all-powerful dictator who cannot be voted out of his position.

He’s instantly transformed into Hitler and it’s the final days of World War II. An officer enters the bunker where he’s hiding and offers him a vial of cyanide to commit suicide. At that moment, the shop-owner-turned-Hitler wishes for his old lifestyle back.

The man is instantly transformed back to his shop where things are pretty much exactly like they were before they met the genie, except their display cabinet glass is still intact from the first wish. A few moments later, while sweeping up in front of the display case, the broom handle accidentally hits the case and the glass breaks.

The moral of this episode is “be careful what you wish for” because what we think will bring meaning, purpose and fulfillment often has unforeseen consequences that bring trouble and pain.

It turns out that Solomon, the successor to King David, was faced with this exact scenario early in his reign.

God (not a genie) appears to Solomon in a dream and asks him “what do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you.”

Solomon isn’t given four wishes. He’s given only one wish. Having only one wish heightens the drama as it forces the person to choose from the array of things they desire. What you ultimately wish for is a reflection of your deepest desire and what is most important to you.

What would you have asked for?

If you’re like most people, you probably would have asked for riches, allowing you to quit working and ensuring that you would be financially set for life. Others might ask for fame, enabling them to be loved and adored by millions, feeding their egos and massaging their insecurities.

Still others would ask for long life or power, guaranteeing that their rule would be firmly established for many years.

But Solomon asks for none of these things.

Instead, Solomon asks God to give him wisdom so that he could rule the people under his authority properly, with fairness and justice.

God is so impressed with Solomon’s selfless request that he not only grants his wish. but he also gives him the things he didn’t ask for, namely, riches, power and fame.

Why would God give Solomon what he didn’t ask for?

God gave Solomon what he didn’t ask for because He knew he could be trusted to steward those resources for God’s purposes. Solomon could be trusted because his heart was inclined toward others and not himself.

In man’s mind, the most important commodities are money and power. We think that if we can acquire these things our lives will be better and things will go well for us.

But in God’s economy, wisdom is better than riches or fame. This truth is repeated and emphasized over and over by Solomon throughout Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

Wisdom is not just knowing things. Wisdom is knowing how to apply and implement what you know in a way that is righteous and god-honoring.

Being wise doesn’t guarantee that you’ll become rich, powerful and famous, as Solomon did. But it does greatly improve your chances at a rich and meaningful lifestyle as your choices will follow God’s pattern instead of your own selfish desires. God’s pattern for living is more likely to bring ultimate satisfaction as you avoid the pitfalls that selfish and reckless behavior so often brings.

So what do you think? If you had one wish, what would you wish for?

If you said wisdom, then congratulations are in order. The good news is that you don’t have to wish for it. You can ask for wisdom and God will give it to you. In fact, He has already provided a master-class on wisdom in His word, the Bible.

He promises that if you study this book (the Bible), your life will be on the right path and you will experience His blessings.

If your one wish is for something else, like money, fame, power or an indestructible lifestyle, then be careful what you wish for as the things we think will bring ultimate meaning, purpose and fulfillment often come with unforeseen consequences, liabilities and obligations that lead to struggle and pain.

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

When growing up and faced with the prospect of three wishes (you can’t wish for more wishes) what were the things you typically wished for?

What do you think is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?

What are some reasons why wisdom would be preferable to have instead of wealth, or fame?

What are the ways you are seeking to become a wise person? How do you think a person acquires wisdom?

 

Photo by Vika Glitter: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-posing-in-arabic-clothing-with-genie-lamp-15499799/