From Insecurity to In Security

The midterms are less than 60 days away! What will happen? That’s a question that often precedes an answer which brings insecurity.

Will the House flip back to Republican control or stay in Democratic control? Will the Senate flip to Republican control? Will it flip to Democratic control? Will Biden run again? Will Trump run again? The answer to these questions generates as much insecurity as it dispels.

We don’t know the answers yet, which produces more insecurity. Thankfully we have polling data. One of the goals of the purpose of polling data is to remove insecurity. However, even the results of the polls induce anxiety and insecurity for those potentially impacted by the change they are predicting.

Why? Because the answer to each of these questions has important implications. The answers will affect the lives of people serving and leading on the Hill. The answers will determine who our next President will be, and the answer to that question will impact the employment of thousands of appointees.

And then, there are the implications of their decisions for those living outside of Washington. In many ways, while Washington is a city that people look to for security, it also seems to create a great deal of insecurity.

On top of Washington-generated insecurity, there is insecurity about the stock market, tech stocks, the arms race, climate change, increasing violence in our cities, and the ever-changing COVID virus. Those serving and leading in Washington understand that their work often overlaps with these concerns.

Then there are the insecurities we deal with as people serving and leading in Washington. Am I going to be able to find a spouse? Am I ever going to be able to conceive? Why are my kids having such a hard time in school? How are we ever going to be able to afford a house? Is my workmate smearing me to better position herself for a promotion? Does my dad need to move into assisted living?

Complicating matters even more, what one person views as a position of security, another may see as their primary source of insecurity. We are surrounded and immersed with opportunities for insecurity. The result can lead to paralysis, fear, anger, and depression.

In my nearly 40 years of walking with Christ, I have come to believe that Jesus drives us to places of insecurity so that we can learn to trust him. However, that trust did not come easy.

What makes you feel insecure? If you are like the disciples, then your insecurity most likely arises from the same places as their insecurity. And it is in each of those places that we must learn to trust Christ.

Try to imagine the insecurity generated by this event in Acts 1,

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

The core group of disciples had spent three years in direct instruction from Jesus. He taught them everything he wanted them to know about himself, his mission, and their role in that mission. He gave them times of teaching and times of practice. But now, before their eyes, their leader had gone. And here is where they share our experience. As followers of Jesus, living without the physical presence of Jesus, we must learn to trust him amid our insecurity so that we can live in a posture of faithful presence with those around us.

Trusting Christ in the midst of our uncertainty

As he is preparing to depart, the disciples ask the question, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

In other words, they asked, “What’s next? Are we there yet?” And Jesus told them, “I am not going to tell you.” The coming kingdom was something understood by the disciples as a promise of God, so this is a legitimate question. For some of us, uncertainty about the future is a major cause of insecurity. As humans, we live in the world of not knowing how something will happen or when something will happen. Jesus tells his followers that the Father not only knows when this will happen but “has fixed the time by his own authority,” but they are not going to be privy to this information.

Today, we live in an age where we look to science to answer and remove so much of our uncertainty because removing uncertainty increases our feeling of security.

When I grew up, Denny Frary was the man who had the ability to remove uncertainty. Every night at 10:10 pm, Denny would explain what the weather would be like for the next five days. He had graphs and charts and computer models. It was awesome going to bed on Monday night, knowing Saturday would be a beautiful day for a canoe trip. The crazy thing about Denny’s computer models was that they didn’t always work out the way he had predicted. And then there was nothing to do except paddle in the rain.

I guess Denny was using the wrong polling firm.

Science is not a polling firm. But the predictions from science are not mortal locks. Science can identify tumors and reduce the likelihood of fatality. Science can predict how a baseball player will do in the major leagues, but it will not swing the bat. We rightly look to science to remove some uncertainty.

But science can only remove so much uncertainty. And the thing about uncertainty is that uncertainty can make planning difficult. You can do a lot to fill in the cloudiness of situations; you can and should do your research and get all the information possible to make an informed decision. But amid uncertainty, we can also fall victim to “analysis paralysis.” This occurs when we can’t do anything until we have all the information. The net result is that we end up doing nothing or trying to position our lives in a place where there is never uncertainty. Part of the human experience is not always knowing when something will happen or how it will happen.

What does it mean to trust Christ in the midst of uncertainty? It means that you have no way of knowing whether or not the parenting decision that you make now will work out perfectly – but Christ is in control. It means that our lives are not governed by the “Magic Eight Ball” but by our loving Father. Keep in mind that the uncertainty that you are experiencing is only yours - it is not the Father’s. Your Father, who loves you, has ordered your life in such a way that all things work together for good for the ones who love God. Stepping out of the boat of your security and into the sea of uncertainty is an opportunity to come to trust Jesus and learn that he is your redeemer of steadfast love and faithfulness.

Trusting Christ in the midst of our unease

Jesus tells his followers, “You will be my witness, in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” This was a world before cars, planes, Google maps, Wikipedia, and the National Geographic channel. So it is difficult for us to understand the amount of unease these words might have generated. First, Jesus tells them he is sending them to strange and undesirable places. Sure, they knew, and probably loved, Jerusalem and maybe even Judea. But he also said they were going to Samaria, a place where they had thought they were supposed to stay out of because it was filled with the wrong kind of people. And then there were the words, “to the ends of the earth.” They would have had only limited word-of-mouth information on any of those places. What if they didn’t like it there? What if they didn’t have the right kind of food? What if it was too cold or hot? What if they didn’t like “our kind?”

Jesus is also sending them to strange and undesirable people. Washington D.C. is a melting pot of people from around the world. We bump up against them every day. But what is happening in the text goes beyond that.

To the Samaritans (read: other party). Really? Those are half-breed idol worshipers. Can’t you send someone else? Those are not my people! I don’t understand them. I don’t want to understand them. I just want to stay here in my favorite city, with my favorite people. Don’t make me go there.

Most of us like homogeneity but are willing to endure a certain about of diversity as long as it doesn’t push us too far out of our comfort zone. But Jesus’ words to his followers are that they should be prepared to be sent to strange and even undesirable places, to strange and even undesirable people, but also in strange and even undesirable situations – like being his witnesses. Jesus has added a new and higher calling to whatever they were doing before following him – being his witnesses!

How often do we display the same attitude? Maybe we don’t want to work on certain committees or in a particular agency, but that is where God has sent you, and he has sent you there for a reason- “to be my witnesses.” That means getting to know people you might be uncomfortable getting to know. So often, we find ourselves in the position of the child looking to hide behind whatever gives us security when we are in places, situations, or with people that make us uneasy. But, as Christians, we are called to be the ones who extend the offer of engagement.

When Jesus calls the disciples to be his witnesses, he is not ONLY indicating that they should use words. But he is also asking them to do it in their works. With the disciples as our guide to living as witnesses in a posture of faithful presence, this extends to all of life. We are witnesses in the way we date, raise our children, engage our neighbors, and the way we pursue our vocations.

What does it mean to trust Christ in our unease? We tend to think that the place that we are in is all about us! But the place we are in is always about Christ. Instead of asking ourselves, how can I get away from these people, we should ask ourselves what Christ wants us to do in the situation. Instead of figuring out a way to get out of a place we don’t like, we need to ask ourselves, why has Jesus placed me here? How can I serve him in this place and among these people? While I am here, what is good that I should encourage? What is broken that I should restore? What is missing that I should create? What is evil that I that should oppose?

Trusting Christ in our weakness

Finally, as Christians serving and leading in Washington, we are called to trust Christ in our weakness. For me, this is the toughest one of all. When the disciples ask the question, “Is now the time you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel” they are asking, “Is now the time when you are going to fix everything, all of the injustice, all of the suffering, and rule over your kingdom in a way in which we finally are free from all suffering and bondage?” They were asking because they believed that Jesus had the power to do it and because they understood they were powerless to do it. His anxiety-inducing answer is “No, and you don’t get to know when.” But he did not leave them empty-handed.

He reminds them of two things.

First, there is power outside of us. Jesus tells them there are “times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” What he makes clear to them is what we need to be reminded of – Our Father is in control because he has the authority to be in control. When Jesus promises that he has the authority to forgive sins - we can trust that he has the authority to do so. When Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church - we can trust in the Church will ultimately prevail. When the angels say that Jesus is coming again to finally restore all things – we can trust that through him, one day, everything will be made right and that justice will finally prevail. Coming to grips with the finiteness and fragility of our humanity allows us to embrace the reality of Christ’s kingship.

But there is also power within us. Jesus goes on to say, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, issuing from the Father and the Son and given to empower us to the work we have been called. The Holy Spirit empowers us to know the will of God, empowers us to understand the Scriptures, empowers us to repent for our sins, empowers us to endure the difficulties of this life, and ultimately empowers us to trust in Christ.

I do not like to feel weak. I grew up in a home where I could not stop the misery and injustice that was a part of my daily life. As a result, I have struggled my entire life with trying very hard to put myself into positions where I did not have to feel weak - because I was in charge. But yet, it is in those times where God has pushed me into situations where I was not in charge, even if I thought I was, that I have learned not only to trust in Christ but ultimately that he is worthy of that trust.

For those of us who call ourselves Christians, this begins with acknowledging that in our weakness, we are unable to save ourselves from the penalty of our sin and that we must rely on the work and authority of Christ to save us. And yet it is in acknowledging this weakness that we avail ourselves of the power of Christ.

Maybe you are in a position of weakness in your office right now. Will you withdraw? Will you lash out? Will you do it your way? Or will you hand that over to God, pray, and continue to be obedient to what he calls you to do in that situation?

Here is a place where I think many Christians feel weak and insecure. The United States no longer holds Christian ideals as foundational or even beneficial. Christianity is no longer in a place of cultural power. We need to be mindful of how we respond when this occurs. Do we lash out with unhelpful rhetoric or even hate speech? Do we try to legislate America back to the morality we Christians are called to live by? Do we withdraw and isolate ourselves from the conversation? Or do we boldly and with love step into the discussion and culture, knowing that our Father is in control of all things and that we have been empowered with the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses in these situations even if it may cost us something?

While Washington may create a great deal of insecurity through situations of uncertainty, unease, and weakness, it is in these situations that we learn the true benefits of trusting in Christ.