Labor Day Weekend 2003, our family visited New York City. As a native New Yorker, I've come to take the spectacular sites in "the City" for granted. On this occasion, though, we made a conscious choice for our then eleven year old son, Little Eric, and then seven year old daughter, Kendall - "native Washingtonians" - to enjoy some of the tourist attractions. The Empire State Building, Ellis Island and Liberty Island were among the landmarks we visited on this trip. Unexpectedly, Little Eric's "experience" at Liberty Island planted the seed for this article.
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For those not familiar with the City, the Statue of Liberty sits on Liberty Island, a small island in New York Bay. The National Park Service operates a concession store and a large outdoor café at the base of the Statue. As we walked through the café to the store, I noticed the throngs of diners seated outside along with the flocks of birds in and around the immediate dining area. With all the crumbs and other food inevitably falling from the lunch tables, the sea gulls and other birds enjoyed a continuous feast!
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At that point, Little Eric began to fret about the birds overhead "pooping" on him. I told him not to worry. After all, hundreds of people were outside enjoying their food unmolested by the birds. I assured him that the prospect of a bird "bombing" him seemed quite remote. However, these assurances did not mollify Eric. He persisted in openly worrying about the birds getting him.
Well, you guessed it! Within a moment or two of his last "confession," a bird did, in fact, "dump" on him. Mind you, we'd been in the café area for less than 30 seconds. By contrast, the birds did not seem to "attack" any of the diners who were leisurely enjoying their food. Indeed, the only person who appeared to be hit was the person giving voice to his fear of being hit. (It is worth noting "Little Eric" is now 6'3"! More importantly, he has developed into a wonderful young Christian man. As discussed later, Eric, like Elijah, has learned a better appreciation of the importance of our own words.)
After helping him clean up at Liberty Island, I realized that Eric's reaction to the birds mirrored how certain sports fans appear to root for their favorite teams. For instance, there are no more passionate baseball fans than those of the Boston Red Sox. Ironically, however, while Red Sox fans have traditionally cheered for their team with ardent fervor, many, if not most of them, also embraced "the Curse of the Bambino" as the rationale for the Sox's failure to win a World Series for 86 years.
After winning the 1918 World Series, the Red Sox traded the Bambino, Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees. Subsequently, Ruth established himself as the best baseball player of the next two decades, and the Yankees won twenty-six championships in the 20th Century, more than any other American professional team.
While the Yankees developed into a sports dynasty over the course of winning these championships, the Red Sox simultaneously floundered. (Inside baseball tidbit: Notwithstanding the team's eventual 2004 and 2007 championships, you still do not want to mention the name "Bucky Dent" or "Mookie Wilson" to a Red Sox fan unless you want to hear a torrent of expletives in response.) Apparently without recognition of the inconsistency, Red Sox fans passionately dreamt for an end of the team's nine decade championship drought while simultaneously believing trading Ruth doomed their prospects.
I then realized that these curious natural reactions reflect a profound spiritual reality. Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) explains, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, [a]nd those who love it will eat its fruit." As Christians, we do have the authority to speak death or life into our lives. With our words, we should consistently root for God's Team, not Satan's.
In the Holy Bible, the lives of Elijah, Elisha, and Jairus illustrate how words can either help or hinder the speaker's cause. For example, immediately after leading both the miraculous victory over the Prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel and end of the water drought in Israel, I Kings 18:20-46, Elijah was threatened by the very wicked Queen Jezebel. In response to his spearheading the execution of the Baal prophets, Jezebel publicly swore an oath pledging to murder Elijah.
When Elijah heard about her oath, he hastily left Mount Carmel, abandoned his servant in Beersheba and traveled into the wilderness. Alone in the wilderness, Elijah contemplated suicide: "And he prayed that he might die, and said 'It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.'" I Kings 19:1-4 (NKJV).
Unquestionably, Elijah knew that the Lord Jehovah was far greater than "the gods" relied upon by Jezebel. Remember, just before receiving her threat Elijah had relied on God Almighty to consume the Mount Carmel sacrifice with fire from the sky, led the Israelites to execute the 450 Baal Prophets, and end the drought. I Kings 18:37, 40-46. Indeed, Elijah had just mocked these Baal Prophets as they spent fruitless hours calling on Jezebel's gods (demons actually) at Mount Carmel. I Kings 18:25-27. Moreover, Elijah had faithfully called on the power of God to perform several other notable miracles. I Kings 17:1-24.
However, Elijah's knowledge of the true God alone was not enough. As soon as he'd internalized this threat from Jezebel he fled the country, abandoned his servant, and thought about committing suicide. Think about it! If not for God's compassion and grace in sending angels to sustain him supernaturally (undoubtedly prompted in part by Elijah's past faithfulness), he might have killed himself. I Kings 19:5-18 (NKJV).
How did Elijah find himself in the predicament? God did not change. Elijah changed! He still possessed the same supernatural anointing which sparked the destruction of Baalism and a spiritual revival in Israel. However, after being threatened by Jezebel, he became despondent and panicked, speaking death into his own life.
In this disillusioned state, we do not find records of God performing miracles through Elijah. Only when he resumed operating in faith and speaking God's Word do we observe Elijah returning to greatness. Indeed, it is the triumphant Elijah who subsequently went up by a whirlwind into heaven and may very well prophesy the Gospel of Jesus Christ along with Enoch during the Great Tribulation. Genesis 5:24; II Kings 2:11-12; Revelation 11:1-2.
Elijah's momentary lapse of faith and positive confession contrasts with his successor's response to the siege by the Aramean Army. Elisha had prophetically advised the king of Israel of the Arameans' war plans. II Kings 6:8-9. Because he heeded Elisha's advice, the king of Israel repeatedly thwarted those plans. II Kings 6:10. Upon learning that the "intelligence" provided by Elisha contributed to his army's defeats, the king of Aram sent a "strong force" of chariots at night to surround Elisha's hometown and to capture him. II Kings 6:12-14.
Elisha was not crushed by those seemingly impossible circumstances. Instead, he immediately consoled his servant, called for him to gain the spiritual vision to see the angels ("horses and chariots of fire") protecting them, and prayed for the surrounding, advancing Arameans to be struck with blindness. II Kings 6:15-18. Elisha responded and spoke in faith! In sum, his speech corresponded with his belief in God's Word.
When faced with adversity, we may need to hold our tongues in order to strengthen our faith. We see a great example of this in Jairus, an esteemed synagogue leader. In Capernaum, Jarius fell down before Jesus and begged for him to come to his home to heal his dying 12 year old daughter. Jesus agreed to go. However, as they traveled to Jarius' house, the multitudes thronged Jesus. Additionally, the "Woman with the Issue of Blood" encountered Jesus along the way, further delaying them. At that point, someone from Jarius' house met them en route, informed them his daughter was dead and recommended he no longer trouble "the Teacher" with this matter. Luke 8:41-42, 49. "But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying 'Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.'" Luke 8: 50.
When they ultimately arrived at Jarius' home, Jesus directed Jarius to put all of the non-believing, "mourning" relatives and friends out of the house. With only Jarius, his wife, James, John and Peter remaining with him inside the home, Jesus called for the daughter to come back to life. Luke 8:52-55 (NKJV).
Jairus clearly jeopardized his social and political standing as a ruler in the synagogue, if not his life or liberty, by openly asking Jesus to heal his twelve year old daughter. (Many, if not most, of the synagogue rulers vehemently opposed Jesus and His Ministry.) Surprisingly, after agreeing to go to Jairus' house, Jesus proceeded at a relatively slow pace. In addition to being deterred by the crowd, Jesus took time to heal a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Surely Jairus wanted to rebuke this woman and the rest of the crowd. Cf. Mark 10:13-16, 46-52. His dying daughter needed immediate healing. Cf. John 4:46-50. Wouldn't any father whose daughter was near death think that these people could and should wait? However, Jairus held his tongue, walked in faith, and waited patiently on Jesus to do His work.
When he heard of his daughter's demise, Jairus probably thought, "Lord, if you had been [there], my [daughter] would not have died." Cf. John 11:21 (NKJV). In addition to hearing the tragic news, Jairus was ridiculed for his faith by his "grieving" friends and relatives. He demonstrated faith in the Teacher by throwing all of them out of his house. (Imagine for a moment throwing out your mother-in-law under such circumstances.) Yet after Jesus encouraged him, Jairus remained steadfast. He did not utter one word that could potentially hider or undermine his prayer for his daughter's healing.
So how does all of this relate to us today? On one level, it certainly seems amusing to hear about rational people believing in the curse associated with a long dead baseball player. How amusing, though, is if for believers to voice "foreign" beliefs with far more deleterious consequences than who wins or won the World Series? How many "ticket punched/going to Heaven" Christians have you heard routinely say something along these lines: "I'm broke;" "My feet are killing me;" "My grandfather had arthritis, my mother had arthritis, and I will have arthritis too;" "I'm afraid I will never get a husband;" "I will never get ahead at my job;" "My son won't stop using drugs;" "My wife keeps messing around;" "He makes me sick;" and/or "I'm dead." Not very funny, is it?
To my knowledge, there is no Biblical account of anyone verbally renouncing or contravening their faith while at the same time experiencing God's life-changing, overcoming anointing. Compare I Kings 6:24-29, 7:1-2, 10-20 with II Kings 4:8:37. Because the Scriptures serve as our "Owner's Manual," we cannot expect to live victorious Christian lives when we consistently contradict God's Word by speaking words of doubt and unbelief.
Blessedly, the converse is also true. We should expect to experience victory in Christ when we persist in speaking faithful confessions grounded in the Word. Even when, like Jairus, we encounter negative reports from "reliable" sources we must stand on the eternal Word of God and not on the temporal circumstances. For example, a respected physician may report that your daughter, family member, friend or even you are dead or dying. Or a trusted adviser may counsel you that your business, career or education is doomed. Or your loved ones or valued possessions may be subject to demonic attack. Will you respond like Jarius?
Jairus had the wisdom to "fear not [and] believe only," to faithfully follow Jesus, and to line up his words and actions with God's promises. Luke 8:50 (NKJV). As a result, his faithful response served as a conduit for his daughter's miraculous resurrection. As children of God under the New Covenant, should we do or anticipate anything less when we receive a "death" report?
With all due respect to Red Sox fans who embraced the Curse of the Bambino, true sports fans never concede defeat while the game is still on! True fans faithfully cheer for their heroes, knowing that their team can overcome great odds. They rattle off numerous instances of "miracles" experienced by teams (e.g., 1969 New York Mets; 1970 New York Jets; 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team). More fundamentally, beyond any mere sports fan, people of faith have a much stronger, eternal basis for hopeful assurance.
In conclusion, we don't need to depend upon purported sports-related miracles for encouragement in our lives. God's clear promises in His (Logos and Rhema) Word constitute the foundation of our faith. Like Elisha and Jairus, we need to make positive confessions aligned with our Bible-based faith. Sometimes, like Elijah and Little Eric, when faced with adversity we may temporarily veer off course. Through God's mercy, though, we can quickly get back on track. When we consistently remain on Jesus' team by believing God's Word and making positive Bible-centric confessions, our Heavenly Father remains well able and inclined to cause His promises and our blessing to manifest and overflow in our lives.
Root for the Right Team: With Our Words, We Should Consistently Root for God's Team
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Nov 13, 2011 16:12:26
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