Joshua 10:40-43; 11:21-23 – Rumble in the Jungle
Chuck Swindoll wrote a book some time ago called Three Steps Forward Two Steps Back. In it he described what he called the 4 Spiritual Flaws. These are 4 common misconceptions about the faith and about growing up into mature Christians. They may be widely believed, but they are wrong.
The 1st Spiritual Flaw is: 1) Because you are a Christian, all your problems are solved. No, the truth is: Sometimes problems increase and the road gets rougher.
The 2nd Spiritual Flaw is: 2) All the problems you will ever have are addressed in the Bible. The truth is, they’re not. There are many times when we don’t find an explicit clear answer in the Bible for our problems.
The 3rd Spiritual Flaw is: 3) If you are having problems, you are un-spiritual. No, the truth is, having a problem makes you human, but no less a Christian.
And the 4th Spiritual Flaw is: 4) Being exposed to sound Bible teaching automatically solves problems. Good Bible teaching does not guarantee that our problems will be removed. Just because you see from the Bible what good life you’d like to have doesn’t make it easy to get there.
No, the reality of life is that sometimes it’s hard. We’ve been lulled into thinking that living in modern-day North America means the easy life. That never was true. The flooding down in the southern states proves that much.
Joshua and his people never expected life to be easy. He knew that conquering the Promised Land would be difficult. Let’s read some selected passages in ch.10 and 11. 40-43; 11:21-23.
This passage, which I only plucked verses from, summarizes the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan. There were wars. There were battles. There were enemies that needed to be beaten. Conquering Canaan was no walk in the park. This was a challenge. But they kept fighting until there was rest from the wars. They fought until they didn’t need to fight anymore. They persevered until the end. And I believe there’s something there for us, too. I believe we can gather strength for the journey as we look to the Israelites’ example of perseverance.
I’ve already said I don’t think Canaan is a good example of heaven. I don’t think that Canaan, or the Promised Land, reflects heaven very well. And I don’t think that crossing the Jordan River in ch.4 is a good description of death. The reason is simple: crossing the Jordan wasn’t the end of the Israelites’ battles. Canaan was not the end of their problems and fightings and wars. Rather, it was really the beginning.
No, I believe that God gave them the victory. I believe that God was on their side, or rather they were on his side, fighting the fight He wanted them to win. But I don’t believe that their lives got any easier. Which is why it’s not a good description of heaven. In heaven, there will be no sorrow or pain or sin or struggles. That’s why I believe, though, that conquering Canaan is a good description of living the Christian life. In particular, the life given over to God.
Call it sanctified or consecrated or holy or Spirit-filled or the second work of grace or whatever. I don’t use those phrases much because then you have to describe what they mean. Here’s what they mean, as shown by Joshua. They mean that even though life is still hard, God is with you. They mean that victory is yours for the taking. They mean that God will help you defeat your foes, now that you have determined to obey Him no matter what. They mean that even when you stumble or mess up, God forgives you and gives you the power to press on.
To me, that’s what it means to be sanctified. It means really wanting to do what God wants you to do. It means getting up again. It means not settling for 90% obedience. It means trusting God for the strength to live a fully devoted life to Him.
It doesn’t mean having all the answers. It doesn’t mean never doubting. It doesn’t mean having a perfect track record. It means more than hanging on at the end of your rope. It means continuing to climb.
That, I believe, is perseverance. Keeping on doing God’s will, no matter the challenges, until God gives you a break. That’s what Joshua did. Don’t stop fighting until the battle’s over! That’s what we are called to do, too.
But the problem is, we tend to fall into 2 categories with this balance. The 1st ditch we fall into is: Some quit the fight. Joshua could have stopped fighting before God told him to. He could have said, “That’s enough. I’m done!” But he didn’t. And neither should you.
There are dozens of reasons why some quit the fight. Some figure that the hassles make this faith not worth doing anymore. They count the cost and aren’t willing to pay it. Some look at others’ lives and reason that if so-and-so calls himself a Christian, then they don’t want to be Christians. They get hung up on an issue God wants to deal with, and throw out the whole thing. They grow bitter over an issue in the church, and figure that staying home is more godly than loving others. They get too busy for the important stuff, and when they do try to come back, they feel too guilty to do it. They long desperately for God to answer a certain prayer, like a healing, and they blow up at God when it doesn’t happen. They look at things like the December 2004 tsunami or the recent devastation in the Gulf States and figure there’s no God in charge of it all. They simply give up the fight.
And this isn’t just kids getting out of high school into the so-called real world, which I don’t think is any more or less real than high school. This is adults, people who have walked with the Lord for years, giving up under the weight of pressure. It’s why Jesus told the each of the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 that He will reward those who endure to the end. It’s because life is hard, and the Christian life is too. Maybe harder, maybe easier, depending on how you look at it.
So I tell you: don’t quit the fight. Don’t stop letting God deal with you. Don’t grow bitter. Don’t stop loving. I know that you don’t always get what you want: welcome to life. But that doesn’t excuse selfishness done in the name of Christ: “Well, my way is more godly and I’m right and they’re wrong, so if I don’t get my way, I’m outta here.” Grow up. And grow up in the Lord, too.
Well, the 2nd ditch we fall into when it comes to perseverance is this: 2) Some fight the wrong battles. Well, what does that mean? To fight the wrong battles? What I mean is, sometimes in our fight for what’s right, we end up fighting other people. But you know, fighting for God does not necessarily mean fighting others. In our zeal for the things of the Lord, we end up battling each other.
I’m not sure why, but it’s obvious: well-meaning, God-fearing people come to completely different conclusions about things. The churchy issue of speaking on tongues – people who love the Lord on either side of the issue, but things can get really nasty over it. Eternal security is another. How many useless arguments have we had that just ended up as “I’m more spiritual than you because it’s obvious what the truth is”? There’s evolution. Christians have come to different conclusions about it vs. creation. We just chalk it up to liberal churches vs. conservative churches, forgetting that at the time Jesus was likely considered a liberal in most things.
Of course there are the so-called worship wars: hymns vs. choruses. What that boils down to is what I like vs. what someone else likes. It’s a matter of preferences, not biblical truth. You know, there’s even the homosexuality thing. Some good Christians, who love the Lord, do not think that it can be solved simply by quoting a verse or 2. And you know, the way our culture is today, this is a test of someone’s spirituality: If you don’t agree with me on this, then you clearly aren’t a dedicated believer
Please understand: I’m not saying we should embrace homosexuality or evolution. What I’m saying is, these things divide, but should they? Are these things worth drawing a line in the sand for? Are these battles that we fight over? Should we die over our belief that gays should not marry? Is that the battleground you want to die on? Is that about faith in God, or refusal to change your mind over a principle?
The phrase “soldier of the cross” has come to mean defending things connected to church. We try to keep morality in the culture, and I’m not saying I like how the world is becoming, but I’m not sure that being good makes a nation godly. But the problem is: in the process, we fight against things that Jesus didn’t. Jesus didn’t fight homosexuality. Not once do you see Him fighting that battle.
For that matter, Paul didn’t fight that battle either. I believe he mentioned homosexuality as a sin, yes, but he didn’t stop the world from doing it. He said the church shouldn’t. But he didn’t complain that the world practiced it. To tell you the truth, what mattered to Paul more than doctrinal conformity was love. He preached doctrine, yes, but both Jesus and Paul said that love was more important than agreeing on everything. That’s why they stressed love so much.
But the church today does not really have a reputation of love. We more have a reputation of being nasty to those who disagree with us. It seems that we don’t always do a good job loving others with different opinions. It’s because we’ve fought battles that didn’t matter.
You know, you have to pick your fights – you can’t fight everything. And since you can’t change the world, start with yourself. And I’m not saying not to fight. I’m not saying stop fighting. I’m saying, stop fighting for your own way and your own preferences. Take what you have and make it better. The message from our text today is, Don’t stop fighting till the battle’s over. Don’t quit the fight, and don’t fight the wrong fights. Make sure that what you do is what Jesus would do.
I leave you with an excerpt from John Wesley’s diary…
Sunday, A.M., May 5 - Preached in St. Anne’s. Was asked not to come back anymore.
Sunday, P.M., May 5 - Preached in St. John’s. Deacons said “Get out and stay out.”
Sunday, A.M., May 12 - Preached in St. Jude’s. Can’t go back there, either.
Sunday, A.M., May 19 - Preached in St. Somebody Else’s. Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
Sunday, P.M., May 19 - Preached on street. Kicked off street.
Sunday, A.M., May 26 - Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as bull was turned loose during service.
Sunday, A.M., June 2 - Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway.
Sunday, P.M., June 2 - Afternoon, preached in a pasture. Ten thousand people came out to hear me.
That’s perseverance. That’s fighting the right fight.
