Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Love = Burning Coals of Fire

Romans 12 gives us a picture of practical Christianity...specifically the marks of a true Christian. We are given instruction on proper interaction with others, reflecting a radical new mindset and lifestyle in comparison to the lost world. In verse 14, Paul begins to instruct us on a new perspective regarding people who are "unlovable", people who, in our flesh, we do not naturally love. But now, with the Spirit indwelling us, we are to begin living contrary to our previous natural tendencies. Those who gives us problems, those who "persecute" us are to be given the exact opposite treatment from us. We are to esteem them, rather than curse them. We are to resist the urge to destroy them with our words in the eyes of others. Our response should never be to seek to "even the score" with someone else. Paul says we are to live peaceably with all, and as much as possible, we are to serve all people in love without partiality, the most difficult being our enemies. This is not easy. This contradicts what I, in my flesh, want to do. But this teaching cannot be applied unless the beginning of the chapter is first applied. My mind must first be renewed. I must fight the desire to be conformed to this world...conformity to this world results in seeking revenge against my enemies. I must battle the world's methods of shaping my mind and instead allow God's Word to shape the way I think, feel and act. As this happens, my response to mistreatment will gradually align with God's will for my life. I will begin to feed my enemies when they are hungry, I will begin to provide them drink as I see them thirsty...the implication being I will begin to meet their needs when I see them, as opposed to feeling vindicated when they are in need. And the most radical aspect of this teaching? By doing this, I actually accomplish what I wanted to accomplish all along. When someone wrongs me, my desire is for that not to happen again, right? And so my response is to pay them back, a.k.a. punish them for their wrong doing towards me. But the result of that action is the beginning of a back and forth war of trading blows with each other, the opposite of what I wanted to do (make them stop) and the opposite of what the Bible tells me to do (live peaceably with all men). Scripture overs a better solution. It says that by serving your enemies in love you will "heap burning coals on his head." For years I mistakenly interpreted this to mean that by doing good to my enemy I would be able to make him angry, and in some way "get revenge" without actually "attacking" him. But this concept of heaping coals has nothing to do with making your enemy angry at you. This is a reference to an ancient Egyptian custom, whereby someone would carry a pan of burning coals on his head to represent the pain, shame, guilt and remorse he felt for his actions. Do you see what this means? By serving my enemy in love, seeking to meet his needs despite his sinful action towards me, the result will be remorse and repentance by my enemy towards me. Whatever harmful action he had done towards me will now stop (what I want) and the result is a peaceful relationship between me and that person (what God wants and what ultimately I am learning to want). May God continue to transform me so that I can serve my enemies in love and help lead them to repentance for their sinful actions against me and others. 

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