Peter Witkowski Discipleship

True Faith = Love Your Enemies

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The scores of civilians who had been sneaking through dark now poured into the streets the Rome with glee as they celebrated the arrival of the British, American, and French troops. While the bells rang out and the colorful flags waved, one of the greatest defenders of the allied cause in Rome, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty sat on his knees praying, knowing the greatest test of his faith stood before him.

When the Nazi occupation began nine months early, O’Flaherty had helped raise the two million pound ransom that was supposed to secure his Jewish neighbor’s freedom. Then to O’Flaherty horror, the Nazi’s reneged on their promise and rounded up the Jews like animals. The Monsignor concluded, “the Nazis are no better than beast themselves, and the sooner they are defeated the better.”

For the next several months, O’Flaherty waged one of the most effective sleuth wars against the Nazis, saving thousands of Jews and POW’s. But the Nazi commander, Colonel Kappler, was not to be outdone. His ruthlessness and the cruelty of his Italian subordinate Pietro Koch matched O’Flaherty’s ingenuity. While the Monsignor managed to hide people by dressing them up as priests, nuns, and Swiss Guards, Kappler and Koch murdered hundreds of innocent men and women with bullets, flame throwers, and rocks. On several occasions, Kappler ordered his men to assassinate O’Flaherty, but O’Flaherty managed to stay a step ahead of the Nazis.

With the arrival of the allied armies in June 1944, the tables turned. The prisons that once held O’Flaherty’s friends, now held Kappler. Fearing that the allied sympathizers could murder his family, Koch pleaded with O’Flaherty to save his family.  The man who days earlier had to sneak in and out of the Vatican, now held power over Kappler and Koch. 

What should he do? How should he treat his enemies?

His answer to that question; and, our answer to that question reveals much about whether or not we love Jesus.

The normal reaction to such a question would be no; let the family die. David initially responded this way in 1 Samuel 24. David and his men were hiding form Saul. Then, Saul by divine providence wonders into the very cave where David and his men are hiding. Verse four reports, “And the Men of David said to him, “Here is the day which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold I will give your enemy into your hand, you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.” They encouraged David to kill Saul. David snuck up to Saul, but then something happened as David cuts off a tassel from Saul’s clothing. The text says, “David’s heart struck him.” He repented.

As he cut of the part of Saul’s clothing designed by God for, “you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after,” David remembered that what matters is not vengeance but obedience (Num. 15:38-39). Later in the passage David says, “May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you (12).” David recalled that he had no reason to fear Saul for God reigned. God’s plan directed David’s life. And faithfulness to God would be David’s surest means to finding life and happiness. The greatest hope and the most profound source of peace would be derived from going to God with a clean conscience. David knew he could only boldly claim God if he obeyed God. David refused the pleas of his men for he knew the sins of others did not validate his own sin. Paul reminds us in Romans 12:21: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  What mattered more to David than Saul’s ability to kill him was David’s relationship with God.

Though the unregenerate, natural man would happily destroy his enemy, the believer extends love. The follower of God confounded the wisdom of the world and loves his or her enemies. He saves those who would kill him. Jesus said,

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The Christian loves those who persecute, abuse, and harm him or her. The Christian loves the wayward child who misses every holiday, sending them Christmas presents and attending their wedding. The Christian loves the neighbor who continually plays loud music, taking them to the ER when they are sick. The Christian forgives the student who mocks him or her everyday and offers to help him with his studies. The Christian who possesses real life-changing faith loves the Saul’s that torment his or her souls.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds us,

That is the test of a Christian; he cannot be explained apart form the Jesus Christ and thereby glorifies him.

Friend do you love your enemies so well that the stop and take notice of your savior. Can those who hate you say like Saul said of David, ““You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.”

So what was O’Flaherty answers? He reached out to the family of the torturer of Rome and offered to facilitate their escape. And then, he befriended Kappler, visiting the war criminal every month and advocating for his release.

He loved his enemies.

Does your faith defy explanation? Do you love your enemies? What is your answer?

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Bad Thinking, The Lottery, and Why Christians Fail At Life

Lottery-blog.jpgNo one wakes up intending to ruin his or her life. People do not start affairs, embezzle money, or chug a bottle of vodka, hoping to destroy their marriages, their families, and their careers. Yet, Christians regularly invited disaster into their lives, seemingly torpedoing the very ship of joy they are sailing upon.

Why do they do this?  We do Christians self-destruct some days?

They stop meditating on the promises and character of the God.

In 1 Samuel 27:1, David fills his head with unsanctified thoughts. The man who had vanquished Goliath, who had lead God’s armies, and who had repeatedly escaped the murderous plans of Saul, believes God can no longer protect him. The Bible reports, “Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines.” David sets in motion of series of lies, murders, and rebellion because he doubted God. He concluded that Saul could not be stopped by God. He took matters into his own hands, lost his wives, and was almost stoned to death (1 Sam 30:5-6). David made a wreck of his life because he entertained thoughts of doubt about the character and power of God.

And what caused David to despair? What events informed his thinking?

David derived his thoughts from the circumstances surrounding his family. 1 Samuel 27:3 reports that David went to Philistia to protect the households of his men and his wives. David who cut off the heads of giants was conquered by a honey-do-list.

Christians often fall into grave sins because they allow normal, domesticated concerns to become the measure of their life’s success and joy. They fix college admissions programs to avoid the ridicule that comes with underperforming children. They engage in an affair because they feel like neglect by their spouse who seems to value work more than them. They become enraged when their kids leave a light on, threatening to reveal the believer’s inability to manage her money to the watching world. Concerns about education, entertainment, bills, chores, and bedtimes possess the ability to steal our eyes away from Jesus. Once we begin to look at earthly needs, we tend to forget that God is good, loving, and all powerful. We forget that God can care for kids even if they never graduate from college. We forget that God is our comfort and that God can change our spouse’s heart. We forget that God promises to provide for all our needs, loving us deeply. In short, we forget the goodness of our God; we fear that our fears about failure, loneliness, and bankruptcy will come true and so we run to the Philistines looking for help.

But as David before us, we do not find salvation. We find more fear. Where once we feared one bad letter, a few bad nights, and a bad bill, now we fear tens if not hundreds of people who can expose our lies, our evil deeds, and our lack of character. We scheme even harder to protect ourselves, teaching more lies, embracing more sin, and experiencing more corruption.

In 1997, Billy Bob Harrel believed he had found the answer to his greatest problem in the form of a little piece of paper. After being laid off from two jobs, Billy Bob found himself stocking shelves at Home Depot, working for a disagreeable boss. His wife also started back to work to makes ends meet. Billy Bob loved his wife and kids and happily attended church. But the lack of income loomed over his mind. Instead finding consolation in the promises of God, he dreamed about winning the lottery, telling all who would listen about his plans to save his family. Then on a hot, Texas summer day, his insurance policy came true. His lottery numbers were called. Billy Bob who had struggled to pay his bills now owned the rights to 31 million dollars.

At first, the money empowered Billy Bob. He helped his church; he bought multiple cars; and, he purchased homes for all of his close family members.

But the large bank account did not become the salvation Billy Bob envisioned. People badgered him and his immediate family for money, even stopping his wife in Walmart. He lost many friends. His blood pressure rose; his health declined; and, he became a regular at his local pharmacy. The girl that checked him out developed into his girlfriend. His wife left him; he entered into tangled agreements with loan sharks and found himself battling depression. His Philistia proved no better than David’s hope.

Two years after winning the lottery, Billy Bob said “It was the worse thing that ever happened to me.” A few days later, he took his own life, leaving behind a note for his wife and family that said, “I didn’t want this. I just wanted you.”

He arrived at death’s door because his thoughts had drifted. Instead of looking to God for help with his unspectacular troubles he dreamed of being a millionaire. He lost hold of his thoughts and found the ultimate destruction, death.

Readers should not fault Billy Bob for his mistakes. He possessed no special propensity for sin or evil. He had served as a pastor and appeared to walk faithfully with God before his life crumbled. As David before him, he let his thoughts wander and placed his hope in a false salvation.

If we our honest, we must admit that we too are “prone to wonder, Lord if feel it/ Prone to leave the God I love.” Friends, we must guard our hearts. We must guard our thoughts from unbiblical thinking that doubts God and elevates our powers. We must remember the teaching of Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

What are you thinking about?

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Christian: Stop Saving Yourself

Christian-StopThe apostolic Faith is founded upon the idea that Jesus saves us from our sin. 1 Peter 2:24 declares, that “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Though we delight in the idea of God saving us from our sins, we struggle to live like saved men and women.

Instead of gazing towards heaven, we focus upon our problems, our surroundings, and our circumstances. We believe today measures the quality of our life; we regularly seek to get life to where we think it should be. We seek to save ourselves. We put the overbearing mom on the PTA in her place with a gossip attack, spreading rumors with the speed of heat. We cut down our wayward brother with a steady stream of anger filled snide remarks. And, we spend the night attacking the FB page and twitter account of the company that unjustly fired us a few hours earlier. We seek to be our own salvation.

David attempts to save himself in 1 Samuel 25. He had been watching Nabal’s 4,000 sheep and goats acting as a “wall “ to the shepherds “by night and by day.” The shepherds testify that David and his men were, “very good to us (15).” Yet when David asks Nabal to keep with tradition and feed his troops along with the rest of those who helped him during the shearing days, Nabal rudely rebuffs the future king. David responds to the insult with anger. The text says, “And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword (13).” He intends to on kill every male on Nabal’s property. Thankfully before David gets to Nabal and commits senseless murder, Abigail gets to David and reminds him of truth.

She stops David from working out his own salvation. She tells David in verse 31 that he should spare Nabal to avoid the grief and pains that come from, “working salvation himself.” David concurs saying Abigail kept him “from working salvation with my own hand!” Though the word “salvation” can be translated “avenged,” the Hebrew word niph usually means to “receive help.” This is the same word used Psalm 116:6  to convey the idea of God saving us. The verse reads: “The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.” In short, the battle for David’s heart was a battle for salvation. Would David save David? Or would God save David?

We face this exact same battle weekly, daily, and perhaps hourly. Will we trust God to save us? Will we trust God to make things right? Or will we grab our phones, our digital keyboards, and our tongues and go save ourselves?  From where does our salvation come?

The source of our salvation for life’s little problems reveals the source of our salvation for all of life. Those who cannot regularly trust God to walk them through a rough PTA meeting, a broken relationship, or a low bank account have not yet trusted Christ to save them from sin. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones notes,

[Christians] are meant to have, a joy that can face the cross, yes, and the weakness and the apparent desertion, of those whom we trusted, and on those whom we relied (Assurance of Our Salvation. 

Those who trust in Christ possess the joy of Christ and refuse to be their own salvation.

Admittedly, we all struggle at this at times as did David. In 1 Samuel 24:12, David forgives King Saul murderous plots. David boldly proclaims, “May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.” David looks to the Lord for salvation. And then we turn the page and see him taking up swords over some food.

How do we handle our hearts when the lose focus? How do we help encourage others who have fallen from the mountain of faith into the valley of anger? We follow Abigail’s lead and remind them of the salvation of God and of the consequences of sin.

When Abigail confronted David, she reminds David of God’s promises. She tells him not to workout his salvation because God had bound David in his heart. God defeats David’s enemies casting them away like a rock flying out of a sling (1 Sam 25:4).  She reminds David that he will be prince of Israel. God’s promise remains sure, regardless of David’s circumstances and regardless of whether or not people give David food. David will be king because God fights for him.

The same truth applies to us. Our hope is not our circumstances. Our hope is the promise reigning with Christ in heaven. Nothing our neighbors, family members, or employers do to us can keep us from heaven. Nothing they do can thwart, break, or destroy God’s plan for us. We will be with him in paradise. He will vindicate us. He will stand by his people.

God stands by David and Abigail. As soon as David puts his sword away, Nabal has a stroke and dies. David then marries Abigail, saving her from financial and social ruin. In short, God makes all things right. Friends do we believe God is big enough and powerful enough to defend us when other people attack us, criticize us, and insult us? Do we trust God to save us or must we always have the last word?

Next, Abigail reminds David of the consequences of sin. The shedding of innocent blood would stain David’s ascension to the throne. Though David would have forgotten the insult, the consequences of the sin would have remained. His reign would have been undermined even before it began. And when David does stumble into sin with Bathsheba, the remainder of his rule feels the consequences of sorrow and suffering that follow David’s sin.

Friends when we find ourselves viewing sin to be the means of our salvation, we too should remember that the wages of sin our death (Rom. 6:23). The sin that promises us the hope of salvation is nothing more than a nicely painted anvil tied to our neck that will take our soul to the bottom of the sea of death. And while Christ offers forgiveness from our sins, our lawless actions are accompanied by consequences that last a lifetime. God forgives divorce but our children will spend the rest of their life bouncing between two homes. God forgives greed, but we may spend the rest of our lives paying of credit card debt. God forgives our cruel words but we may never spend another holiday with our sibling. God forgives those who attempt to be their own salvation. But a life lived free from the sorrow of sin is far better than the life lived under the consequences of sin.

We should not save ourselves. We should remember that God saves and that our salvation created on the assembling line of sin leads to death. We should rest in the salvation of the Lord. Do you?