I decided to continue off one of the verses from yesterday's post:
John 20:24-28 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Note: for those of you who are familiar with the "Doubting Thomas" passage above, you probably noticed that I didn't include the next verse: [Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29, New International Version] The reason I excluded it above is that I feel like this verse often has been misused to shame others for "not having enough faith." I imagine that this misuse, and the shaming message that has accompanied it, has been enough not only to justify atheists' and agnostics' reasoning for believing that Christians are bad people (and the idea that Christianity is a B.S. religion), but it has also been enough to chase people away from the church who were going to church and hearing about Jesus. This angers me. At some point in our lives, even those us that have "the most faith" fail at some point. None of us, no matter how hard any one of us tries to appear otherwise, has perfect faith at all times. It never has happened, and it never will happen.
The thing about the "Doubting Thomas" passage is that Thomas was someone who didn't believe something simply because he heard someone say it. He's actually smart for it, as far as I'm concerned. As one can see in the passage, Jesus actually honors Thomas' doubt. Yes, you read that right: Jesus honors Thomas' doubt. First off, in the text in verse 25, Thomas speaks his truth to the other disciples, and Jesus wasn't present in the flesh at that time. A week later (see verse 26) Jesus does show up, and knew that Thomas was skeptical of His death and resurrection. How He knew, I don't know. It doesn't say. It doesn't matter. The point is, Jesus knew Thomas had doubts and met him in those doubts. In verse 27, when He says "Stop doubting and believe," He says that only after He invited Thomas to touch His wounds. It's not a shaming, hierarchical statement; it's a relational statement. Jesus knew Thomas wouldn't believe otherwise (like he had said a week earlier), and He still wanted a relationship with him. So He invited him to touch him so that his doubts would then disappear. And guess what, they did.
The God of the Bible is not, I repeat, not someone who merely towers over you and expects you to measure up and be perfect in every way. That's what Satan, the enemy of our Lord and the enemy of our world, wants you to believe. What is true is that the adults who are broken and insecure about their brokenness want to hide it. One way they hide is by powering up and looking bigger and more intimidating than they really are. And if such an adult were to come across a small child, let alone be the parent of a small child, it really would appear as if this adult were towering over the child and expecting the child to measure and be perfect in every way. I have seen and heard this story over and over again, from various different people in my life. And it is one of the most subtle ways one can damage a child's self-esteem.
The God I know is in the business of redeeming, healing, and transformation. Yes, there is a heaven and a hell, but I don't believe that God wants anyone to end up in hell. His desire is that everyone chooses a relationship with Him. But -- sin. It grieves God when we sin (regardless of whether we say yes to Him or not) because there is something tangibly painful for Him. Primarily relational. It's really no different in our relationships with one another: if I say or do something that hurts another human being (and vice versa), it affects the relationship (does it not?). And in the Bible, God has made it clear the things that hurt Him. But how we can grow from that is to say yes to relationship with Him, and in the process say yes to redemption, healing, and transformation. And in the same way, those that are hurting, that are broken, that are sick, that are poor (in spirit, in finances, whatever), can turn to Jesus and reasonably expect to receive healing and transformation. After all, over the last nine years, it has happened to me, for which I'm very grateful.
[A final note for today: Something I'm going to confess on here is that I'm not good at choosing to give to the poor. When I see a person at a red light holding a sign that is asking for money, or for help, my first instinct is to roll up my window (if it's down) and then look straight ahead. In truth, I don't know what to do. I have my own tight fist when it comes to money, even though I don't consider myself wealthy. And I battle in my mind about whether I should give some money ("something is better than nothing"), or if I should give more money ("$1 won't even buy them water"), or if I'm giving too much away ("$20?!? Are you crazy?"), or if I'm rationalizing and justifying that because I tithe to my church (and I actually do tithe) and occasionally to other ministries that I don't have to give anything to a person holding a sign at the red light I'm at. I don't really know what to do about it, except I just understand that I need to do something differently. I am blessed, and part of my blessing is to use it to bless others. It's what I believe God wants.]