written by Stephan Joubert
There’s nothing wrong with ambition, progress, technology and the creation of wealth as such, but when personal ambition is pursued at the expense of others, it’s very wrong – end of story! It happens far too often. South Africa is a country where the First World and the Third World meet (and clash!) every day; a country where you have two parallel universes living in tension (and harmony!) next to each other. I realize how important it is to sensitize people to the circumstances of those who suffer extreme poverty. For too many people, daily life is a struggle just to survive. To them survival is definitely not a reality program watched by millions of others in the luxury and comfort of their living rooms. The winner in the real African struggle of survival does not walk away with the first prize of a million rand. No, these ‘winners’ merely live on to ‘play’ the survival game one more day.
A few years ago I read a shocking report on the state of poverty in South Africa. One story in this report that still haunts me was that of a single, jobless mother with a house full of children. One day she couldn’t stand the never-ending struggle for survival any longer. She decided to buy poison to put an end to her family’s misery. But when she got to the shop to buy the poison, she couldn’t afford it! She didn’t have enough money even for poison. What a tragic irony! This poor woman couldn’t afford to live, but neither could she afford to die. What a sad world we live in. Many of the rich just keep on getting richer and more selfish by the day, while the poor keep on getting poorer.
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written by Stephan Joubert
God dreams and He dreams big. He dreams about a new world, one where his will prevails. He dreams about a society where hate comes second, and injustice loses. He dreams about poor people having enough food to eat and about the lonely ones being cared for. He dreams about people who live together safely and in love for one another. He dreams about his kingdom spreading across the earth like a runaway bushfire, and billions of people bowing before Jesus. He dreams of people who discover this treasure in a field, like Jesus tells in Matthew 13, and leave everything to get their hands on it.
God dreams new dreams. And the good news — you have a place in God’s dreams. He noticed you when He dreamed big about people and his creation. He wants to use you to make his dreams reality. You should report for duty at once. He’ll take care of the rest. The Lord will use you by causing streams of living water to flow through you. He’ll use you to touch the lives of those around you. He will give his dreams wings in your life. So, what are you waiting for?
written by Stephan Joubert
You cannot see faith, but you can see the footprints of the faithful. We must leave behind ‘faithful footprints’ for others to follow — Dennis Anderson.
Yep, God created us in his image. The Greek word eikon that the New Testament uses for the term image is probably familiar to some of us. At least we know about icons on our computer screens and about icons in those impressive Orthodox Churches, but the original meaning of eikon is captured beautifully by Scott McKnight:
“When God made humans, he gave them hearts, souls, minds, bodies and wills to make them individuals; God gave them other individuals just like themselves so they could live in community; and He gave them a world in which to live. Into this world God set Adam and Eve to be Eikons, to be visible bodies that reflect the glory of God.” (2005, Embracing Grace, A Gospel for All of Us, SPCK, p. 17)
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written by Stephan Joubert
God pronounced something as not good, there in the garden of Eden of all places. That was when man didn’t stand in a relationship with someone like himself. Adam was alone and relationship-hungry! We’re not made to be alone.
All those Rambo figures that take on this world alone may be Hollywood’s idea of success, but it’s false. No human is an island. We’re built for relationships. We long for God and other people. We want to cherish and love. Our hearts remain restless until we find rest in the arms of God, but also in the closeness of others. From his side, God also yearns for a living relationship with everyone bearing his signature. We are his artworks, his personal property. We are the highlight of his creation. That’s why He sent his Son to come look for us when we got lost. When we wandered the furthest from Him, Jesus came, caught us, and turned is back to the Garden. By the way, there’s still some space left in Paradise Street. Move back there immediately, back into that relationship where you belong!
written by Stephan Joubert
In the film Black Hawk Down an officer looks at a vehicle filled with wounded soldiers. Then he spots a private named Othic and orders him to drive. Othic responds: “But, I’m shot, Colonel!” Then the colonel reacts with an amazing truth: “Everybody’s shot! Drive!” What a metaphor for our own lives.
We all get wounded sometimes. Everybody’s shot, actually! But we can still drive, because God’s gracious and forgiving. He’s not like us. When He forgives us we stay forgiven. God doesn’t have the time or the energy to keep on reminding us of the wrongs of yesterday or the day before. No, He already pushed them out of the way because Jesus keeps on clearing our records.
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written by Stephan Joubert
Can stones talk? For sure. How? Well, when humanity starts silencing God’s voice. That’s what Jesus says when the religious leaders try to silence the children who are festively welcoming Him to Jerusalem. Maybe we should start listening to the stones around us. Stones can speak when necessary.
Humanity is trying to kill off God’s voice by silencing it, shouting louder than it, or living straight past it. No wonder that we are currently experiencing what prof. Johan Heyns once called: A God-eclipse! With our technologically advanced fire-extinguishers, we think we can extinguish God’s burning bush. With our clever theories about the Bible we mean we have the power and authority to do a so-called post-mortem on the Scriptures.
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written by Stephan Joubert
I often think of a co-minister who once told me that God works when he — the minister — gets out of the way. That’s why he spends his time on practices on how to get out of God’s way. Wise words! I know that I sometimes stand squarely in the way of the Lord’s work. I often speak without being asked for my opinion. At other times, there’s no brakes to my eagerness to work. Mistake!
It seems like the best way to get out of the way is to discover and fall in with God’s heavenly rhythms. Sometimes He’s in a hurry. Then we don’t have the luxury of sitting still and waiting, like when Lot and his family had to flee to escape the destruction of Sodom. At other times, God has years of patience. Just ask Abraham. At the age of 75 years God asks him and his wife to move. But God only fulfills his promise of a child 25 years later (Genesis 12-17). The required art for Lot and Abraham, and their families, was to know at what speed they were journeying with God. However, they failed. Lot’s wife looked back and paid a dear price. Sarah and Abraham laughed at the Lord. Then they were reminded of that mistake for the rest of their lives through the name of their boy, Isaac (“he laughed”).
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written by Stephan Joubert
In Ephesians 2:11-22 Paul makes the point that a new form of humanity, a new Christian race took shape at the cross. In his death Christ united both Jews and non-Jews, in Him. In Ephesians 2:16 Paul makes the forceful statement that Christ, rather than God, reconciles people to one another and to God. Obviously Paul is not contradicting himself in this regard, inasmuch as it is still God who acts in love through the Messiah, which he has appointed. Christ is the peacemaker between people from different cultures and groups. The same God who brings peace between God and mankind (2:16-16), also brings peace between man and fellow man (2:14-15).
The blood of Christ is the sacrifice which has made Jews and non-Jews into one new person. He has brought those who are far and those who are near into a new body, a new humanity, a single new person! How did Jesus unite people of different backgrounds who lived in constant opposition to each other? Paul provides the answer in Ephesians 2:14. Here he states that Christ has broken down the wall, literally: the division-wall of the fence, between Jews and non-Jews. The specific tense of the Greek words in this verse makes it clear that Paul wants to address the factual, completed destruction of the obstacle between people who previously lived in animosity.
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written by Stephan Joubert
Stones aren’t dead. They have ears, as Joshua will tell you when he delivers his last sermon to the people of Israel (Joshua 24). Stones can even cry out, as Jesus will tell you when he enters Jerusalem just before his crucifixion. So how do you then teach stones to talk? Perhaps the following quote from Annie Dillard (Teaching a Stone to Talk, NY, Harper-Perennial, 1992, p. 87-89) shows the way. [read more…]
written by Stephan Joubert
- Once, I did not have role models saturated by grace in my life. No longer. Now I am a full-time student of God’s grace, and my examples are ordinary people who model God’s grace in their daily lives.
- Once my mentors were public personas with impressive CV’s that I admired from a distance. Now, I’m a student of God’s grace and I’m inspired by real life followers of Jesus in my circle of friends.
- Once, my life was rational and carefully planned. Now, as student of God’s grace, life’s a daily novelty in the loving arms of a gracious God.
- Once I talked and wrote mostly about God. No longer. As a student of God’s grace, I try to listen more to God. Silence has become a precious new discovery on the road of my spiritual formation.
- Once, I had to know as much as possible. No longer. As a student of God’s grace, I don’t need to know nearly as much as I thought I did.
- Once I was in control, or at least, I thought I was. No longer. As a student of God’s amazing grace I try to really live one day at a time. Now every day is a new adventure and every person I meet a would-be blessing in human form, or a new follower of Jesus.
