Francis Schaeffer: The Ugliest Thing in the World

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. James 4:17

“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.”

Francis Schaeffer as recounted by Michael A. Milton in Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2007) 16.

The photo above which I snapped of the Nile River in Egypt links to the Christmas story. Remember Egypt is the place where Mary and Joseph took Jesus to avoid Herod who wanted to take His life.

When I was growing up, I recall vividly a series of videos by Francis Schaeffer. They shaped my thinking and my living. They were entitled, “How Should We Then Live?”. Perhaps you have seen them?

Schaeffer cared deeply that our minds were aligned with Christian truth and that mindset shaped our daily practices. Good thinking alone is not only insufficient, it is ugly, really ugly.

Are you this kind of ugly? I think I am too often. So, what should we do? How should we then live in a broken world if we embrace biblical orthodoxy? 

We must not stop at Christian thinking. We must combine it with generous compassion because it is how Christ treated us. He saw our need and ministered to it.

The GTP regional campaign for the Caribbean is lagging. That’s a poor region that needs our help. It is only at $147 toward the goal of $1,000.

Click here to make a gift to help the Caribbean today with 4 days to go to meet the match.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things. Mark 6:34

“Christ literally walked in our shoes and entered into our affliction. Those who will not help others until they are destitute reveal that Christ’s love has not yet turned them into the sympathetic persons that the gospel should make them.”

Timothy Keller in Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just (New York: Penguin, 2012) 69-70.

As 2020 draws to a close, I realize I still have a lot to learn about my word for the year: compassion. One thing I have found is that Christ is the model for us.

He walked in our shoes, entered into our affliction, and loved us so much He did not leave us without direction. He gave us the teaching we needed to find the way to life.

As you think about your year-end giving, support the ones that help you become a sympathetic person. Give to those who help you identify with the hurting and who empower the needy with the teaching they need.

Support a portfolio of ministries that reflect the things Christ cares about. Start with your local church, include ministries in your region, and global organizations like GTP.

James, [Peter] and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. Galatians 2:9-10

“If you are a North American Christian, the reality of our society’s vast wealth presents you with an enormous responsibility, for throughout the Scriptures God’s people are commanded to show compassion to the poor. In fact, doing so is simply part of our job description as followers of Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:31–46). While the biblical call to care for the poor transcends time and place, passages such as 1 John 3:17 should weigh particularly heavy on the minds and hearts of North American Christians: ‘If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?’

Of course, there is no “one-size-fits-all” recipe for how each Christian should respond to this biblical mandate. Some are called to pursue poverty alleviation as a career, while others are called to do so as volunteers. Some are called to engage in hands-on, relational ministry, while others are better suited to support frontline workers through financial donations, prayer, and other types of support. Each Christian has a unique set of gifts, callings, and responsibilities that influence the scope and manner in which to fulfill the biblical mandate to help the poor.”

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert in When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself (Chicago: Moody, 2014) 13-14.

Back on 24 August 2016, I wrote a blog entitled “Help That Never Hurts” on the CLA blog. It came to mind when I was reflecting on today’s Scripture this morning. In that blog I cited this quote by Corbett and Fikkert. My point in that piece was that the help that never hurts is remembering or showing compassion to the poor. With Corbett and Fikkert, I acknowledge that it looks different for each person as it links to our giftedness, resources, and situations.

People often ask me: how can I make sure to show love and compassion in my giving?

Here is a way to connect giving financially and showing compassion: make sure your giving builds disciples rather than creating ongoing dependencies. How can you tell the difference? Follow this rule: If I make this gift, will it just be a transaction that helps them to keep going another day or week. Or will it accomplish transformation, changing the person and empowering the organization to move to another level and to grow to bless others.

Many ministries focus on meeting needs and forget about building up people. On this note, Corbett and Fikkert say:

“Churches and ministries using a needs-based approach are often quick to provide food, clothes, shelter, and money to meet the perceived, immediate needs of low-income people…Pouring in outside resources is not sustainable only exacerbates the feelings of helplessness and inferiority that limits low-income people from begin better stewards of their God given talents and resources. When the church or ministry stops the flow of resources, it can leave behind individuals and communities that are more disempowered than before” (120).

Don’t leave people worse off than you found them. Give in a way that builds them up. Compassionate giving that transforms takes the form of a hand up rather than a just hand out. Or as the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” As I reflect on the needs of this world in that light, giving that shows compassion is multiplying the ranks of fishing guides (or faithful stewards). That’s a description of what the work of GTP is all about. Please include us in your year-end giving. Make a gift here to multiply faithful stewards.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Luke 2:10

The early church didn’t say, “Look what the world is coming to!” They said, “Look what has come into the world.”

Carl F. H. Henry as recounted by Brian Fikkert & Kelly M. Kapic in Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty isn’t the American Dream (Chicago: Moody, 2019) 193.

Our pastor, James Hoxworth, opened the Christmas Eve service with this quote. He proceeded to remind us that Jesus came with three objectives.

Firstly, He came eating and drinking (Luke 7:34). He met ordinary people where they were at and enjoyed table fellowship with them. Don’t we all miss that during COVID.

Secondly, He came not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28). In so doing, He modeled the way of generous living, giving, serving, and loving for us.

Thirdly, He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). That includes everyone apart from Christ because our sins separate us from God.

So if you are saying because of COVID, “Look what the world is coming to!” Perhaps change your tune. Celebrate “Look what has come into the world” because in Him we have fellowship, life, and, salvation.

All praise be to our generous God! Look what has come into the world. Happy Christmas everyone!

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

“There is a picture that hangs up over my fireplace, it says “Simplify Christmas – Celebrate Christ.” Those words are what I choose to remember each year – this year even more so… This year, I want to enjoy and appreciate…the season and all it represents. That God so loved you and I that He gave His very best gift. He gave us Jesus! That is reason enough to celebrate.

This year God is leading me to do some things different. To give more. And to give more gifts from the heart… These days, it seems everywhere we turn there are needs. But God is faithful and He always makes the way for the needs to be met…if we are willing to be that vessel…I have learned this; the more I seek God, the closer I get to Him, the more I want to give to others.

That is what Jesus Christ is all about. God loves us so much He gave… We should love God and His people enough that when He tells us to bless others, we don’t question it, we simply obey. We obey with joy and excitement at what the gift will mean to the recipient. Simplify Christmas – celebrate Christ. Bring Him glory this month! And let all you do be done in love. For after all…He is love.”

Kim Potter in “Simplify Christmas” blog post on 21 December 2020 by A New Thing Ministries. Thanks to my friend, Pat Warbington, who forwarded this post to me.

Our Christmas took a turn. In a way everything is more complicated, but in a way it is also more simplified. Our son was diagnosed with COVID. Our plans for getting together were cancelled. It has led me to focus on Christ.

I can identify with the feeling of helplessness that many talk about linked to COVID. So, to all those who are well, let us pray for, give generously to, and aid those who suffer. And let us all give thanks for Jesus, who is with us and loves us.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:38

“When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, he told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” And she answered, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” It was in this submission, this surrender and obedience, that Christ was conceived. And it is the laying down of power that is revealed in his birth.…

He was born in a stable, at the mercy of Herod and the stark elements of cold and dirt. This pattern of complete abandonment of human strength in total surrender to God’s will is of vital importance for us. It was in the surrender of herself to God that Mary became the mother of Christ.

It was in her acceptance of Gabriel’s message that the great decisive event of history took place. And in our own lives, in our efforts to do right, what is decisive is that we accept and live by and surrender ourselves to a strength which is not our own, to the piercing white light of God’s love.”

Philip Britts in Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (Walden: Plough, 2001) 109. Special thanks to Daily Meditations reader, Bill Crowe, for sharing this with me.

Think about what Mary surrendered. She gave up her body, her reputation, her entire future in saying “Yes” to the angel, Gabriel. And consider the generosity unleashed as a result.

Though we may not be visited by an angel, what might God be asking us to surrender the Christmas so that generous blessing can flow from our humble obedience?

But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Galatians 4:4-5

“Big and glossy and loud and fast—that’s how this bent-up world turns. But God, when He comes—He shows up in this fetal ball. He who carved the edges of the cosmos curved Himself into a fetal ball in the dark, tethered Himself to the uterine wall of a virgin, and lets His cells divide, light splitting all white. He gave up the heavens that were not even large enough to contain Him and lets Himself be held in a hand. The mystery so large becomes the Baby so small, and infinite God becomes infant. The Giver becomes the Gift, this quiet offering.”

Ann Voskamp in The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas (Nashville: Tyndale, 2013) vii.

As we draw near to Christmas, let us ponder and adore our Savior. Let us learn from Him and how He arrived, how the Giver became the Gift. He was a quiet offering.

It’s the opposite of how things work in this crazy and noisy world. He came in humility and quietness. What if we came that way in our giving?

Here’s how it might appear. We’d stand back, watch, ask questions discern needs, and meet them quietly and richly. That’s what God did on that first silent night, holy night.

I think it would also be otherworldly. There is a glorious divinity linked to the nativity. What would it look like for our giving to proclaim glory to God in the highest?

Let’s give our first and best this Christmas, so that our generosity is both a quiet offering and touches people and needs in a manner that brings the most glory to God.

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Matthew 21:28-32

“Regardless of our station in life, God calls all of us as believers to give our best to the Master as compassionate, loving leaders. A brilliant and famous young medical doctor one day grappled with this important decision. During his rise to fame, an urgent call came for him to travel to a village in Korea for a critical operation. At first he refused.

“God, my schedule is booked solid for many weeks. How can I go?” But, like the man in the New Testament who said he wouldn’t go but did, this surgeon became he chief physician in a Korean missionary hospital. Some years later, during the visit of a friend, the surgeon asked, “Would you like to see an operation this afternoon?”

“Yes,” said his friend, “I would.” For most of that afternoon the visitor watched from a balcony overlooking the operating table around which the circle of Korean medical students watched intently. As the sun beat upon the tin roof overhead, the surgeon pressed on until five hours had passed and the procedure was complete.

As the surgeon retired from the room, his friend asked, “Is every day like this?” The surgeon only smiled as he wiped the perspiration from his forehead. “How much will you receive for this?” his friend asked. The doctor studied the poor Korean woman being wheeled away with only a copper coin in her hand, and then looked back at his friend with tears welling up in his eyes. “Well, sir, fir this one I get her gratitude and my Master’s smile. But that is worth more than all the profit this world can give.”

The Master calls us to be compassionate and giving, to realistically assess our natural and spiritual gifts and to begin investing them in something worth “more than all the profit this world can give.”

Ted W. Engstrom and Paul A. Cedar in Compassionate Leadership: Rediscovering Jesus’ Radical Leadership Style (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006) 26.

As I sit in self-quarantine and reflect on 2020 and my word for the year, compassion, my mind went to this biblical text. It matters not how I started but how I finish. The same is true for each of us. Regardless of how 2020 began, what matters is how we finish it.

For Jesus to say that “tax collectors and prostitutes” were “entering the kingdom of God ahead of” the disciples. This is not an expression of preferential treatment but a proclamation that “they got it. They grasped “the way of righteousness” and yet the disciples had not figured it out yet.

So, for all those of us who are a little slow to the uptake, join me in this prayer.

Father in heaven, in your mercy forgive us our sins. We confess that we said we would do many things and we have not followed through. Empower us by your Spirit to do the good work you want us to do for gratitude and your smile. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24-25

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself? Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have—and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.”

Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet (Project Gutenburg, 2019) 23.

On the way home from Egypt I looked through the pictures on my phone. This awesome shot from Abu Simbel celebrates the greatness of the Egyptian kingdom. But it did not last.

The Christ of Christmas is King of an everlasting kingdom. His greatness exceeds Egypt.

As I sit in self-quarantine, I am catching up on emails and loved this article by a dear friend and GTP supporter, Jeff Haanen, “Why Give? Kahlil Gibran on Generosity.” Check it out. It drove me to go read Gibran on giving.

It also led me to meditate on today’s Scripture, two of my favorite verses in Proverbs. It reminds me to empty myself and the resources that I have in service to God trusting Him to refill my coffer.

It’s been a new experience as a CEO because I am now praying for God to fill the coffer for a team that is emptying itself in service around the world. Could you pray with me for God fill the GTP coffer? I will pray the same for you.

God, please supply our needs as we fearless give ourselves and possessions. May we not bury bones in fear but demonstrate our belief through generosity. Care for us by your Spirit we pray in Jesus name. Amen.