we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8
Many readers are familiar with the phrase stand and fight, perhaps because of James Taylor’s song, the popularity and adoption as an NRA phrase, or likely the multiple times in history the phrase has been used as a rally anthem. As I have never been very political, over the years I have become friends with and have grown to greatly love and respect the Johnson family. Mostly Barry, but also his brother, the Wisconsin Senator, Ron Johnson. I sent Barry a box with some expedition 44 gear in it and he returned the gift of grace reciprocally by sending me a box with some things in it. One of the gifts was a “stand and fight” hat signed by Ron with the message handwritten to me, “stay in the fight”. You might remember this hat as I wore it in the expedition 44 video episode 11 in the church series with Dr. Matt Mouzakis and Dr. Steve Cassell where I switched hats back and forth as we discussed nationalism in contrast with citizenship in the kingdom of God. Part of my DNA (right or wrong) has always been that there is a time to stand and fight and there is a time or season to simply be quiet and be at peace, very much in the spirit of Ecclesiastes 3.
Unfortunately, many of the times in life we find ourselves fighting, it is often with the ones we love the most. Mr. Rogers once said, 1.
“It’s the people we love the most who can make us feel the gladdest … and the maddest! Love and anger are such a puzzle!”
It has always been sad to me how many people simply part ways because they can’t work through something, yet at the same time I think we can all relate. I dream of a community in Jesus where that isn’t the case.
We have all loved something that wasn’t easy and had to decide whether to fight or walk away, to most this is perhaps the ongoing struggle of life. I have never been the slightest bit suicidal but earlier this year something took place in our close family circle that made me start devoting thought and prayer to this illness of the world. I took on very much a mentality of prayerful “intercessory fighting” against the spirits of this stronghold as I “stood in the gap.” In 2020 Christian artist, TobyMac wrote a song titled “21 Years” to honor Truett Foster McKeehan, his 21-year-old. In an Interview with People Magazine he said,
“Writing this song felt like an honest confession of the questions, pain, anger, doubt, mercy and promise that describes the journey I’m probably only beginning. One thing I know is that I am not alone. God didn’t promise us a life of no pain or even tragic death, but He did promise He would never leave us or forsake us. And I’m holding dearly to that promise for my son as well as myself.”
2. https://people.com/music/tobymac-pays-tribute-to-late-son-in-heartbreaking-song-music-video/
I love the transparency Toby has in this song (as a father of 4 boys it is very difficult for me to listen to though), but I have found that being utterly transparent with people is unfortunately often met with a lack of people’s desire to understand the true intentions of your heart and meet you with a spirit of edification seeing your desire to move towards a greater love. When we fail as the body of Christ in this way it leaves a feeling of emptiness and desire to want to escape rather than invest.
Definition of Absent – 3. “The fantasy of escape from the struggle of existence must be deeply addressed if one is to find the vital center of one’s being.”
This year, perhaps for the first time in life, I “understood” why someone might make such a tragic decision as suicide. I don’t agree with it or think it is what God wants in any way, but I understood the conviction. You often hear things like, “I just want it to be over,” or “I’m so tired.” These words convey the idea of deep exhaustion. That dreadful feeling of running out of options, or simply longing to end the never-ending fight.
As you likely know, I have learned a great deal studying Ancient Near East (ANE) culture and specifically Hebraic life and thought. In Hebrew one of the words for walk is “halak” (connected to the primary root of being created to praise which is halal) and has become metaphoric or idiomatic for walking with the Lord. One of my best friends has this tattoo on his arm which embodies the idiom of taking every step, heart, mind, and intellect in devotion to the Lord. In traditional Judaism, -4 “halakhic man prefers the real world to a transcendental existence because here, in this world, man is given the opportunity to create, act, accomplish, while there, in the world to come, he is powerless to change anything at all.”
Escapism has never been my thing. I don’t see Christ coming back in a grand disappearing act of rapture, and I believe most of scripture was primarily written in application to people to live out the here and now. Of course, there may be a secondary message in some texts with an “already not yet” sense to it, but the primary message to the original audience that can in most cases be somewhat adapted for us (as a recipient of reading the narrative) should be theologically considered a mere aspect of hope eschatologically. We were created first and foremost for this life. To be honest, the great majority of unbiased theologians and I can’t for sure say what the eschatological recreated Heaven and Earth will look like. We just weren’t given those cards in the playbook we have, just mere glimpses of what it could be.
However, I do know one thing. The Exodus motif is strong in the story. We are all on, or at least should be on a road of great redemption. Our hope, or trust, or driving force should be one of freedom, healing, and peace on our personal path of sanctification. God desires that we walk as redeemed sons and daughters in Joy. How do you know when to hang on and when to just simply let go?
Remember the famous line from M. Scott Peck, “Life is difficult,” perhaps he was just quoting John 16:33. If we are walking well, we are guaranteed tribulation, but also joy. Sometimes we wonder if we will ever get to the joy part. What does God have for me? Am I living my best life, or did I miss that bus? What has gotten in the way, perhaps pride, the world, intentions not recognized, a lack of edification of the body, or just simply the enemy seeking to destroy.
There is no doubt if you are doing it well, you are an alien to and in the situation you are in. Sometimes this is in the company of those you thought were “your people.” In Hebrew there is a phrase, that says our role is to bring about tikkun ‘olam, healing here—little by little, that become ripples across the galaxy, perhaps a spec of sand on a beach. Maybe before the Lord we shouldn’t have expectations for any more than this. And my friend Skip would say, “when heaven arrives on earth, we’ll still be here, enjoying the reality of the ideal, having never left to find peace someplace else.”
There may be a time to stand and fight, I haven’t got the answer for you on that one. But I do know that Jesus embodied peace, self-sacrifice, grace, and reconciliation of all things taking on the power under not over. It’s an upside down kingdom.
How do we walk well before and with the Lord?
– 1. Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
– 2. https://people.com/music/tobymac-pays-tribute-to-late-son-in-heartbreaking-song-music-video/
– 3. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Hidden Order of Intimacy: Reflections on the Book of Leviticus
EXPEDITION 44 