Confident? In What?

Lately the news has not been too encouraging, especially if you are only living for this life. Wall Street has been riding a roller-coaster down some pretty precipitous slopes. If you are not buckled in...well, you just might fall out. Governmental leaders are now talking about a bail out of the failed banking system using figures that I can't get my hands around. Can you comprehend $700 billion? I don't understand what $1 million is like, let along nearly one million million dollars. Where is that money coming from? I guess you and I will be coughing it up someday. There seems to be a long line in Washington these days, all of them with their hands open looking for hand outs. And I thought the management of a local church's Deacon Fund was difficult (I had those responsibilities back in the early 80's during my days in Chicago). Confident of Wall Street...shaky at best.

And the political electioneering continues at a feverish pace. Although both candidates purport to be agents bringing change to Washington, I am highly skeptical that either will do that. It has been so long since the Washington establishment has even considered making changes...and I doubt they will reconsider any time soon. Yet we will continue selecting new faces who promise us change...and soon they become just like the old faces who have been there almost forever. Confident of Washington...certainly not where I want to stake my hope.

These week we have heard the nearly endless cycle of speeches being given by the world's leaders before the General Assembly of the United Nations. Some, with saber in hand, come spouting fiery contempt for the Western world, especially aiming barbs at Israel. Others reveal a profound sense of apathy toward what is happening in their world. Can the United Nations bring real peace to a world seemingly bent on tearing itself apart? Well it has had over 50 years...and its track record is most pitiful. Confident of the United Nations to bring about a secure peace anywhere in the world...it will never happen.

And what about the Church, you ask? Can a person find security there? Do you want me to be brutally honest? I believe the Church to be as confused as is the world. We argue over worship styles...you know, to drum or not to drum...ah, is that even a question worthy of being asked? We divide over how to "repackage" our faith to reach our culture. But often in our "repackaging" we forget what we are to package, leaving us presenting a message that is without any foundation. I believe if Jesus were here He would heave great sighs of despair. We have forgotten the heart and soul of His Gospel. So, confident of the Church...not really.

So where am I to find any confidence? I am being continually drawn back to the Scriptures themselves. Not to any historical understanding of the Scriptures, although I do find referring to ancient writers and their examinations of the Word to be interesting. But I want to hear from the Word itself. I want to wrestle with those texts that I don't understand - and there are many of those. And I want to savor those texts that are meaningful to me. I want them to simmer in my heart and soul like a good soup upon a slow stove. I want all the flavors to come through. I want my life to be permeated by them. Confident of the Word...absolutely, without a doubt or hesitation. I echo the song writer: My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;...On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.