Just As He Is

Mike Leake

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Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

When Just As I Am plays I immediately feel as if I’m at a church service and some pastor is giving an altar call. Many churches will skip a verse or two when singing a hymn. This baby seemed to get all six verses and sometimes on repeat.

We love the concept of God accepting us just as we are. We don’t have to clean up. We don’t have to start spiritual disciplines, join a church, or really do anything to make ourselves worthy to come to Christ. We can’t. We just come as we are. Period.

And the Lord Jesus accepts us. Warts and all.

A Strange Detail

I stumbled upon an interesting verse today. It’s a strange little detail. I don’t want to make more out of it than is there but it sticks out like a sore thumb. Mark 4:36.

36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.”

Now, I think what Mark is telling us is that Jesus didn’t make any special preparations for the trip across the lake. Nor did he take a nap before he went. He was physically exhausted.

“Just as he was.”

Mark is the busiest gospel. And here we see the toll it has taken on our Lord. He falls asleep on the stern of a tiny boat in the midst of a crazy thunderstorm. He got into the boat (or stayed in the same boat if you read it that way) just as he was. 

Why does Mark tell us this? Why tell us that he went “just as he was”?

Just As He Was

In part, I think Mark is showing us the humanity of Jesus. Because it’s the humanity of Jesus that is a real stumbling block to the disciples in the midst of this storm. They need God in the boat. They need the One who could part the sea.

But what they are confronted with is a sleeping Savior—the Suffering Servant. They wanted mighty, powerful, dead-man raising, demon-casting Son of God. But in this moment that’s not what they got. They get peacefully asleep Jesus. Tranquil in the face of their terror.

“Just as He was.”

That’s why we are in this mess. Tired Jesus. No preparation. No planning ahead. Not waiting until morning. Not letting us get a good night of sleep. He just sent us out onto this lake and then fell asleep.

Ever feel like that?

Ever get mad at Jesus because He’s not doing what you want or being who you think he ought to be?

The disciples took Jesus onto the boat “just as He was” but they didn’t rest there. They attempted to rouse Jesus to becoming who they thought He should be. And this is why he says, “Have you still no faith?”

Because at this moment they have a “Just as I am” faith. Terrified. Anxious. Frightened. Overwhelmed. Angry. Questioning. Wondering if God really cares. They come to Jesus—just as they are. And He does what He does—he rescues them. Because this is who He is.

It is necessary that we learn to come to God just as we are. But that’s not where faith stops. It grows. Eventually it comes to the place of “just as He was”. Where we come to accept the Lord for who He is and not who we want Him to be. Where we learn to trust in His timing and not our own. Where we relish Christ however He appears.

Samuel Rutherford said it this way:

It is your part now to believe, and suffer, and hope, and wait on; for I protest, in the presence of that all-discerning eye, who knoweth what I write and what I think, that I would not want the sweet experience of the consolations of God for all the bitterness of affliction. Nay, whether God come to His children with a rod or a crown, if He come Himself with it, it is well. Welcome, welcome, Jesus, what way soever Thou come, if we can get a sight of Thee! And sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bedside and draw by the curtains, and say, ‘Courage, I am thy salvation’, than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong, and never to be visited of God. (Samuel Rutherford, Letters of Samuel Rutherford, p18-19)

Just as He is.

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Photo source: here

Will AI Help or Harm Content Creation?

Mike Leake

possessed-photography-U3sOwViXhkY-unsplashI’ll tell you at the beginning that I don’t know the answer to that question. But I do know that as with every tool, the wise and the foolish will use it differently. Therefore, whether it helps or harms content creation will be determined by which path we take. Will we take the path of fools or the path of the wise?

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“Write a popular level article on the impact of artificial intelligence on content creation”. I gave this prompt to ChatGPT. It wrote a solid article with a compelling introduction, six succinct points, and this solid conclusion:

The impact of artificial intelligence on content creation cannot be overstated. AI algorithms empower creators and businesses to streamline their workflows, unlock new creative possibilities, and deliver highly personalized content experiences. From automating mundane tasks to enhancing the overall quality of content, AI has revolutionized the way we create, consume, and engage with information. As technology continues to evolve, we can expect AI to play an even greater role in shaping the future of content creation, enabling creators to push boundaries and captivate audiences in unprecedented ways.

“Your future is bright,” says our robot overlords. It’s not entirely wrong. AI can be used to accelerate content creation. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?

For that, I turn to Proverbs. In Proverbs 21:5 we read:

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

The word here for “hasty” is one that give us the picture of a person running swiftly to nowhere. You don’t know where you are going but you’re making great time. This is juxtaposed by the person who diligently plans out their steps. One leads to abundance, the other leads to poverty.

What does this proverb have to do with AI and content creation? Quite a bit.

AI and Time-Saving

First, we’ll likely begin with the notion that AI will save us time. But in reality it will only help us accelerate content. The “time” we save using AI will only accelerate the expectations upon us. There will be a hasty way to use AI.

But the wise will view the acceleration of content differently. There will be a diligent way in which this powerful tool is wielded. I think here of the wise words of Tony Crabbe. He gives us a picture of the opposite of busy:

“The opposite of busy in today’s world is sustained, focused attention. It is deep engagement in activities that really matter to us, or in conversations with those we care about. It is taking the time to think, to amble and to plunge into the moment. It is to be found in the way we use our attention, not time; in how we think, not produce; and in how we engage, not acquire. (Tony Crabbe, Busy, xxiii)

Sustained, focused attention is the goal. Or to use the language of the proverb, “The plans of the diligent lead to abundance”. How so?

AI and Wisdom

Secondly, whether AI leads to poverty or abundance will be directly proportional to what we feed the machine.

We are already over-saturated with content, drowning in information. But we are starved for wisdom. If we use AI to help us churn out hasty product, it will ultimately harm us and we will experience poverty of meaningful and helpful content.

But if we diligently plan and feed wisdom into the machine, then it will be a helpful tool. AI can’t make you wise. But it can enhance the impact of those who are wise. Yes, AI can help you cut corners. But this, according to the proverb, will only lead to poverty.

Conclusion

Whether or not AI helps or harms content creation is largely up to us. Will we be people of wisdom? Or will we be people of haste? AI will be whatever we feed it.

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Photo source: here

When Did Jesus Fight?

Mike Leake

jesus-templWithin moments of perusing your social media feed you’ll be attuned to the outrage of the day. We live in a world of strife. And yet Proverbs 20:3 tells us:

      It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
       but every fool will be quarreling.

The word which is translated “keep aloof” is a word that either means to “sit” or “cease”. It either means don’t start the fight in the first place or if you’re in a quarrel walk away from the fight. To “keep aloof” is to stand still.

For those of us who hate confrontation, this is a phenomenal verse to misuse. If I’ve created strife in a relationship this is a good verse to hide behind so as not to deal with the issues which I’ve caused. And if the other person brings it up, I can clobber them with this passage.

It’s also a great verse to encourage passivity in the face of the suffering of others. I can combine this one with Proverbs 26:17 and convince myself that entering into a quarrel not my own is the height of foolishness.

For those reasons I absolutely love this proverb for keeping me out of taking responsibility for confronting the strife I ought to be fixing. But this isn’t a favorite verse for those times when my own honor is besmirched. Now that is a quarrel that is my own and one which I ought to enter in to—and try to reign victorious.

When I encounter Jesus in the New Testament it seems that he uses Proverbs 20:3 almost the exact opposite as I do. He doesn’t seem to ever be fighting for His own honor. Sure, he’ll clear up misconceptions. But his table flipping adventures seem to be reserved for defending others.

Because, you see, while it might appear that defending the vulnerable is “entering into a quarrel that is not your own” it’s actually quite the opposite. We are called to fight for the vulnerable.

And Jesus calls us in Matthew 5:23-24 to enter into the strife of broken relationships before we even go into worship. Proverbs 20:3 doesn’t give me an out when I’m the one who caused the strife. Rather Proverbs 20:3 tells me to be slow to fighting for my own honor and reputation. This includes fighting for my tribe.

Being absolutely dedicated to defending our own honor has a tendency to diminish it in the eyes of others. We do far better to fight for the honor of others and leave our own up to the Lord. Walking away from a fight, especially a fight that you could win, is the path to honor.

This is the proper use of Proverbs 20:3.

Do People "Just Not Value the Word Anymore"?

Mike Leake

14957378-9933-b__9811“These people just don’t value the Word!”

The previous Sunday he had given a 50 minute exposition on an obscure text in 1 Kings. It was accurate, scholarly, and the point of his sermon was indeed the point of the text. It was, as we Reformed-ish people like to say, “solid”.

It also fell flat.

Sure, he got several of those typical “good sermon preacher” messages in the foyer after church. But he saw the glazed over look on their face. And some of the comments afterwards weren’t as encouraging.

“I had a hard time following that one.”

“That was deep stuff. Over my head!”

How, then, does he assess this? He was faithful to the text, God’s Word doesn’t come back void, and yet the people didn’t seem to value the Word enough to dig deeper. They weren’t willing to go into the depths, where the pastor was.

Maybe they just don’t value the Word…

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“These people just don’t care about the Word of God anymore.”

The pastor had been at this particular church for almost a decade. When he first started the people were engaged and eating up his Bible studies. They were hungry for the Word, and he was happy to feed them.

But somewhere around year three, they didn’t seem to be nearly as engaged. He was preaching about the same message he had been preaching at the beginning. Simple and engaging talks that came out of the Bible. They were relevant and preached at a level that new believers would easily follow along.

But now people seemed bored. They weren’t getting fed anymore, it seemed. If you asked the people in the congregation they’d tell you that every message seemed about the same. They were helpful when he first came, but one can only remain engaged in the same message for so long.

What’s the pastor to conclude, then? Have they gotten “bored with the gospel”? Do they not value the Word anymore?

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With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. –Mark 4:33

That little phrase at the end has massive implications for preachers. It also helps to solve the conundrum of both the pastors mentioned above.

Mark 4 is all about the importance of hearing and responding to the message of Jesus. It’s filled with parables that serve as little windows into the kingdom of God. But these parables also serve as an invitation into discipleship. Will it catch their attention? Will they follow the parable into its deeper meaning?

Jesus not only met people where they were, he also stayed a step or two ahead of them. And that is what is missing for the pastors in the above scenarios. For the one pastor he is so far ahead of his congregation that they don’t even know how to get to him. He’s not even speaking the same language. For the other pastor he’s not taking them anywhere. He’s got them, he’s fed them, but now he needs to lead them into greener pastures.

Parables are little stories that engage and reach someone where they are. And they also conceal a deeper meaning which invites the hearer into discipleship and further questions.

We would do well to follow Jesus in this. We don’t overwhelm with information and dump everything we know. But we also give enough to invite our hearers into receiving more. When they have a glazed over look we don’t assume they don’t value the Word—we assume we went a bit too far into the weeds. And when they seem bored, we don’t assume that the gospel doesn’t cut it for them—we assume that we’re not giving them next steps of discipleship.

It’s really a beautiful thing that Jesus is doing here. It shows us how dynamic faith actually is. It’s not stale and static. It’s more like a dance than a scientific exam. I appreciate these words of Ronald Kernaghan:

Faith for Mark is more like an adventure whose terms unfold as we pursue it. It cannot be understood from a distance, and we are never in control of what happens. Our part is to listen and act, and then listen and act again and again. That alone is an unnerving thought for people living in a postmodern world. In our thoughts and dreams the self is invariably at the center of things, but in this adventure the self has been dislodged. There is something or someone else at the center of things whom we can neither define nor control. We are invited to follow along when we have only an inkling of where we are going. (Kernaghan, 100)

We pastors do well to learn this dance.