Overcoming Humiliation

 

The Humiliation Tour is a tale of runners from two distant generations. Jeffrey tells the story of two young men who love to run and who run well, but who have the most bizarre misfortunes befall them. Their stories turn out to be connected, although one lives almost a hundred years earlier. Their lives revolve around running, family, love, public humiliation, and a shared yearning for redemption. As someone who has trained for and finished a 26.2 miles marathon, I understand how stories evolve from running. Each young man makes bad decisions that hinder his progress.  But each has a love for his family and for running that keeps him going. If you live to run, read this book. If you think that no one has ever dreamed of having the kind of bad luck that you have had, you may want to read it, too. But their bad luck is not the end of their stories. Neither, in the end, allows their misfortune or family history to determine their destiny.  Each one keeps running towards their common goal and both will be remembered as heroes. 

Traumatic experiences threaten to drown hopes and dreams. We may suspect that the demons who conquered an ancestor are threatening to overwhelm us. We can surrender to the trauma or we can seek healing. We can sit down and give up on life or we can adjust to our new circumstances, set goals, and live in such a way that we can reach those goals. When we do that, we follow in the example of the apostle Paul, who wrote first of his setbacks, then of his determination to overcome

"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked" (2 Corinthians 11:24-27).

"I want to know Christ, yes to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...But one thing I do Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:10-14).

The two young men in the novel survive their own bad decisions, attacks from competitors, abysmally bad advice from advisors, and exposure to obstacles and experiences that threaten to kill them. Yet each keeps pressing forward, training for their common goal, encouraged by love, and transforming into a hero along the way.

Even if physical abuse, betrayal by a family member or trusted friend, or unexpected losses have rocked your world and shattered your dreams, I encourage you to persist in loving, dreaming, and hoping. I urge you to identify and to train to reach healthy goals. Especially, I suggest that you adopt Paul's goal - to know Christ and to become like him. Keep pressing forward toward hope. End your own humiliation tour and never, never give up!

The Way of the Cross for Families

 

Russell Moore writes in his book The Storm Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home with humble self-disclosure from experience in ministry and as a member of family, both physical and spiritual. He mixes both bittersweet and humorous anecdotes with serious reflections on the meaning of life and scripture. Family carries varying shadows and supports for each of us. Moore reveals how burdens of family responsibility may bring blessing and how tragedy may bear the seeds for hope. He has an aversion to baptism that he never really explains, but otherwise I found this book moving and helpful. I recommend it to you.

The theme of the cross reshaping the storm-tossed family struck a chord with me.  The pressures that culture, peers, and extended family exert upon our choices threaten the influence of religious beliefs in our decision-making processes.  The letter of 1 Peter in the New Testament discusses at length how Christians are to follow the example of Jesus, specifically in suffering. Most of us would prefer to avoid suffering, I suspect, but achieving success in furthering significant causes may demand it.  Serving as a soldier exposes one to potential maiming or loss of life.  Military service and sports participation often require placing personal preferences second to what is best for the team.  This too is true for the Christian as member of a family whether that family is his spouse and children or the church.  We submit our desires to the needs of other family members.  Love sometimes requires difficult, seemingly impossible decisions.  When repeated abuse and habitual, unrepentant betrayal mar the home atmosphere, the Christian's choice will be one that benefits the family as a whole. Separation or divorce may be necessary to protect not only personal safety, but to ensure the welfare of children, and to motivate the offender toward reform or seeking healing of what causes the violence or addictive behavior. Patience, commitment (keeping promises), and love prompt the Christian to seek what will be best.  That may not always be easy to discern. One of my children had health problems that other family members sometimes dismissed as minor or even attention-seeking devices.  That child died in his twenties; his health problem had caused lethal damage despite our attempts to seek treatment that would heal him.  

Seek the salvation of your family, but seek to improve their physical and emotional health as well. Pursue a lifestyle that improves health and affirms the value of life. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He is the author and perfecter of our faith, and his way is the path to salvation for you and those whom you love. If your family is rocked by conflict, betrayal, or harmful impact from personal choices,  seek help from strong, trustworthy advisors who will affirm your faith in Christ while protecting your safety.  The way of the cross is not easy, but is the way to love.

A Secure Path

While we live, even though the world is in the power of the evil one, we have hope God who gives life and can empower us to overcome. We have a firm foundation and we have an anchor that will secure no matter how intense the storms of life may be. We can sing: “We have an anchor..” “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols”(1 John 5:20-21). At Rock City Gardens near Chattanooga, Tennessee, a swinging bridge provides a path across a deep chasm between two bluffs. As I followed my children across the bridge, my daughter froze. She wanted a firm foundation; she sensed no security. Only my presence and coaching gave her the confidence to trust the bridge and reach the other side. We crave safety and predictability in our relationships. We don’t want a swinging bridge. We don’t want to navigate the swamps of depression and fear. We want firm ground, preferably concrete pavement, underneath our feet in our relationship with family, with friends, and with God. Though the cables strain, they are secured by the Savior’s hand. He coaches us and he guides toward safety; he demonstrates concrete love. Will you keep yourselves from idols? Will you trust the true God and eternal life? Will you say yes to the concrete love of Christ?

The Personal Impact of the Resurrection

When I was about six years old, my father would take me with him when he would study the Bible with people who wanted to know more about becoming a Christian. He frequently used Jule Miller’s Bible filmstrips for those studies. That series uses paintings of biblical events to describe what happened. One of the paintings that impressed me most as a child was one in which a triumphant Christ emerges from the tomb. The stone has been rolled aside and the guards are shielding their eyes from brilliant light that is coming from Jesus’ body. The painting vividly communicates Christ’s victory over death. While the painting is an artist’s concept of the impact of the resurrection event, John 20:15-17 describes how the resurrection affected one woman. A distressed Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty and is convinced that the body of Jesus has been stolen. Then she turns and meets a very much alive Jesus, whose voice confirms his identity to her. Jesus says to her, Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. '" Verse 17 indicates one of the privileges that disciples of Jesus would gain through the resurrection. They could be adopted into the family of God and could call God “my Father.” They could now be sons or daughters of God. As their fellow disciples, Christians today share that privilege. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is more than a dusty historical fact that we must believe as Christians. It definitely is not an April Fool’s Day joke. Because of his resurrection, Christians may address the Creator of the universe as our Father. We have been adopted into what the Bible calls the family of God, the Body of Christ, the Church of Christ. Because of the resurrection, we have reason to hope, to believe, and love. We too can win the victory over death.