Author: Wes White

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Bella

On a Saturday morning, I was in the middle of the longest run of my life: 9+ miles. I was running up Veteran’s Boulevard in Pigeon Forge, TN back to my home in Sevierville. I had completed about half of the run when I realized I had to go to the bathroom. So, I stopped at one of the very few places where I could do that: the Burger King across from Dollywood. As I left Burger King, I started running and saw a man, presumably a tourist, taking a little dog out a minivan. Apparently, the dog thought it was a good place to use the restroom, too. This made me ask myself something I’ve often pondered. Why in the world would people want to have to take care of a little dog on their vacation? It just seems so inconvenient. Then, I had a realization that made me have a change of heart.

That change of heart began about a year ago. A young man gave my 2nd daughter a gift: a beta fish. This was the first pet that our family had ever had. My wife and I have seven children. That’s enough. We’ve always thought. We don’t need to add any pets to to this mix. Feeding seven kids is expensive enough. This decision was not based solely on costs in time and money. My wife is allergic to cats, and my oldest daughter is allergic to dogs. This provided a very effective excuse for not purchasing a pet.

But what about a fish? No one was allergic to a beta fish, as far as we knew. Even if they were, they would probably be OK, as long they didn’t eat him. In fact, it all turned out fine. Draco was a quiet resident of our house, and I don’t think I gave him another thought until December of last year.

Over Christmas break, my wife and kids traveled to Michigan to visit her family. I stayed home to work. For the first time, my daughter asked me if I would take care of her fish. She would put him upstairs, and all I had to do was feed him twice a day. I hesitated to make such a week-long commitment, but I love my daughter and so agreed.

The first couple times I fed Draco, I didn’t linger very long. Then, I started to observe him. He was a beautiful fish. I found it interesting that he seemed to know I was feeding him and came to the top to get the food. I was surprised at how much pleasure I got out of watching this fish.

Unfortunately, a month later, Draco died. I hope it wasn’t the way I fed him. Nobody knows for sure. I was sad to see him go.

This might have concluded the pet chapter in our family’s story, but the passion of my oldest and third daughters for mammalian pets had hatched a scheme to bring them into our home. They made preparations. They purchased a cage. They saved their money. They bought supplies. Then, the day came: two tiny guinea pigs! Ginny and Bella.

Here were two pets that you could hold, interact with, and actually pet. The kids loved them. I had to admit, they were cute.

Five of our kids inhabit the four bedrooms in our basement. They placed the guinea pigs’ cage in a large hallway that connects the rooms. So, when you came down the stairs, you would encounter the guinea pigs. The location of the guinea pigs meant that I would pass by them every time I descended the stairs to talk to one of my children.

At first, Bella and Ginny were startled every time someone came down. They would scurry into their tiny “house” and wait for you to depart or the light to switch off. Eventually, they grew a little bolder. They would carefully watch you, but with the slightest move toward them, they would scamper back into the house or behind it.

Then, we discovered how to make friends with them, which is basically the same way you make friends with humans. Food! I would offer them hay, and they would slowly approach me and eat it out of my hands. It gave me great pleasure to interact with these cute little furballs. I enjoy them both, but Bella is particularly beautiful. It’s OK to have favorites with guinea pigs, right?

Back to my realization. As I saw that little dog at Burger King, I thought of Bella. I thought of how much I enjoyed her, and I understood a little bit of why someone would take that little dog on a long trip and stop to walk them around and let them go potty. You get attached to these creatures. I even thought, one day, hopefully many years from now, Bella will die, and I’m sure I will shed tears.

All that went through my head as I ran past that man and his dog. That man and me, the two of us, fellow pet owners, comrades in the world of pets. But . . . there’s still no way I’m getting a little dog.

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The Exodus of Moses

When I read a novel, I often begin at the very beginning and find myself reading the acknowledgements section. The author thanks people and recounts the late nights she spent writing and editing. Then, there is the preface which gives us some background that is helpful but not always necessary. About halfway through these sections, I often think: I want to get into the story! Enough of this! Then, I move to chapter 1.

It would be easy to read the story of Moses that way. It is a sort of preface to the real story and action of the exodus of the people of God out of Egypt. This week, I’ve been reading Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption Through Scripture by Alastair J. Roberts and Andrew Wilson. In this book, they explain that the story of Moses is not just introductory material. It is Moses’ own exodus story. Moses’ exodus introduces all the themes that will occur in the exodus of the nation.

Consider. Moses’ name means “Drawn out.” If we read his name that way, then we immediately begin to see the parallels with Israel being “drawn out” of Egypt and later the Red Sea. Here’s a passage from Exodus chosen at random with “Drawn Out” in the place of “Moses”:

Drawn Out saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Drawn Out thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Drawn Out! Drawn Out!”

And Drawn Out said, “Here I am.”

“Drawn Out” will be God’s instrument to draw out the Isrealites from Egypt!

When we consider Moses’ life, the parallels are even more striking. As a baby, he goes down into the water and is brought out to salvation like the Israelites at the Red Sea. 40 years later, Moses seeks to liberate the Israelites. He then has his own exodus where he escapes from Pharaoh and flees into the wilderness.

In the wilderness, God provides Moses with water. Moses then fights off the shepherds to defend the daughters of Jethro. He gets aid from Jethro. All these themes are present in Israel’s experience in the wilderness in Exodus 16–18.

Finally, Moses meets God’s fiery presence in the burning bush. We must remember that this takes place at Sinai. After Israel crosses the wilderness, they meet God’s fiery presence at Sinai just like Moses did.

Why is paying attention to these themes so significant? Roberts and Wilson suggest that we should read Scripture in a musical way. Music repeats various themes and creates tension and then resolutions or more tension in a variety of ways. Reading Scripture this way can help us see what God is drawing our attention to.

In addition, metaphors are powerful. Roberts and Wilson remind us that politicians have often used martial terminology to explain political actions such as a “War on Poverty.” They ask, what if other terms were used?

Say we talked about the frayed edges of society and recovering the stitches we once dropped. Say we lamented the unraveling of communities, addressed the knotty tangles of social problems, and aruged that belonging to close-knit families was a crucial thread in the fabric of society. (23)

The authors note that this would help us think of our problems less in terms of enemies and more “in terms of our interconnectedness and the importance of maintaining the integrity of society’s relationships” (ibid.). All that would have changed was the metaphor, but it would make a significant difference.

So in our reading of Scripture. The metaphor makes a difference. The narrative and its emphases makes a differences. Roberts and Wilson provide some helpful ways to think about how God develops the themes of the Exodus throughout the Bible. The story of Moses is just one part of it. I would certainly recommend this book for anyone who wants to “hear” themes of Exodus in the musical score God wrote in the Bible and is writing in your own life.

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The God of the Exodus

What is the most significant event in the Old Testament? It is the exodus. It is an event where God looked down on his helpless, enslaved people and came down to rescue them from a tyrant. God led them out of Egypt to freedom.

It is important for us to remember that this story was the prominent story in the minds of the writers of the Bible. They thought in terms of the exodus.

This may be hard for Christians to see because we think in terms of the death and resurrection of Christ. But how did Christ think of His own death and resurrection? I remember when I first studied Greek and began using it to study the New Testament text in order to prepare my sermons. One sermon I prepared was on the transfiguration of Jesus in Luke 9. I remember this sermon very distinctly because I preached it in Jordan Station, Ontario, Canada. When I started talking about the cloud, it got very dark. We heard the sound of thunder and saw the lightning. It was a memorable preaching experience!

The other reason I remember the sermon is because this was one of those times when the Greek just jumped out at me. When Moses and Elijah appeared in glory with Jesus, what did they talk about? In English it says that they talked about his “departure.” However, in the Greek, it says, they talked about his exodus. Jesus thought of His death and resurrection as an exodus! We can, too.

In 2 Peter 1, Peter refers back to the transfiguration, “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (1:16). In the previous verses, he says that he was going to remind them of these things while he was in the “tent of this body” (a reference to the wilderness and the Exodus, by the way!). Then, he says that he was going to make sure that people were there to remind them of these things after his departure.. Same Greek word as in Luke 9, an exodus. Death is Peter’s “exodus,” freed from the dominion of sin, he would now be free from the presence of sin!

I could go on and on. The biblical writers were saturated with thoughts about the exodus. It is how they thought about God, humans, the world, and themselves.

So, why does the exodus event matter to us in the 21st century? First, it can help us understand the Bible. The Bible speaks from beginning to end of the God of the Exodus, the God who delivers his people from a narrow place where they are stuck and brings them into a place of openness and abundance.

Second, it can help encourage us in our struggles. How often do we find ourselves stuck in addictions, sins, emotional issues, dead ends, bad relationships, or organizational lethargy? It’s easy to look at these situations and see ourselves as helpless and hopeless. If we could think of God as the God of the Exodus who leads His people out of the bondage, we could have a lot of hope. We could stop looking at these seemingly helpless situations and start looking up at the God who sees our suffering and can and will, in His due time, provide an exodus for us.

Third, it gives us a positive orientation to the future. We can think of ourselves as those who need an exodus and will one day experience one. Thinking bigger, we can think of the whole world as stuck and in need of an exodus. That’s how Paul thought of the creation. He thought of the creation as being in “bondage” (Rom. 8:21) like the children of Israel: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (8:22). The creation is groaning like the enslaved Israelites groaned in Egypt! But there is good news! “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). The whole world is eagerly awaiting an exodus!

Knowing the God of the Bible as the God of the Exodus means knowing God as the God of all hope. However hopeless or difficult or stuck a situation may seem, there is always hope in the God who comes down and delivers His people out of bondage into glorious freedom! The God of the Exodus is still in the exodus business.

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Doing All the Good We Can

Why did God put us on this green earth? To do all the good that we can possibly do.

What else could our purpose be? What else would we want to do? Get as much wealth as possible? Travel as many places as possible? Make it to retirement? Reproduce? Play as many video games as possible?

To me, it seems self-evident that we are here to do as much good as we can possibly do. So, why don’t we live that way? Because fulfilling our potential to do good takes time and effort, and a lot of our body and brain chemistry tells us to enjoy the thing that is most pleasurable in the moment. The emotion of what we should do in the moment often contradicts our long-term purpose.

So, how do we overcome the sluggishness of our body and brain and get out of the ruts that would keep us from fulfilling our potential?

We need to start by getting clarity on the fact that we want to do as much good as possible. This is not our default. We have to get a vision for it. We have to take it in deeply.

Once we do, we have a direction. But then, how do we do the most good we can possibly do?

Here’s my suggestion for doing as much good as possible: focus on yourself, focus on others, focus on a bigger vision, and recognize it takes time. This list is not necessarily chronological. They can and should overlap, but all four need to be present in order for us to do all the good that we can possibly do.

First, Focus on Yourself
It’s somewhat ironic that you have to focus on yourself in order to do as much good as possible, but it’s true. Why? Because whatever you do, you have to use your self as the tool. If that tool is not in good condition, you won’t be able to do much effectively.

Certainly, there are wrong ways to focus on yourself. It is wrong to focus on yourself if it means fulfilling whatever desires you have in the moment, making yourself as comfortable as possible in the moment, and reacting to whatever anyone does in the moment. In this sense, we have to die to ourselves in order to live.

The right way to focus on ourselves is seeking to become the human being that God made us to be: to become as healthy, strong, virtuous, and skilled as we can be.

Focusing on ourselves means attending to our relationship with God. Christianity offers to us unparalleled and often unused resources to ground our sense of self in a God who loves us and cares for us. The death and resurrection of Christ provide a way to put the guilt of the past in the past and empower us for the new life of the future. Without these resources, we will look for love, acceptance, security, and power in all the wrong places. Our relationship with God comes first. The more we are rooted in God’s love and grace, the more we have to give to the world around us.

Second, we become more loving people. We stop reacting to what everyone around us does and learn to relate to others with the virtues of patience, kindness, compassion, and wisdom. The more loving we are, the more good we have to give to the people around us.

Third, we develop our ability to work and serve. This includes health and physical exercise, the development of our gifts, time management, knowledge, etc. The more of these abilities we have, the more we have to give for the good of the world around us.

Fourth, we embrace enjoying God’s creation. We learn to experience the good things around us. This means more than just going outside and looking around (though that’s a good idea!). It also means developing our capacity for enjoyment of creation and culture. For example, you can only experience the joy of what your body can do in exercise by exercising it. You can only enjoy the potential of music by training you ear or hands to experience it better. The more we can really enjoy the world God has created, the more we have to give for the good of the world around us.

Focus on Others
The next aspect of doing good is to focus on others. We don’t want to just do good for ourselves. We want to do good to all people, especially the household of faith (Gal. 6:10).

This means we start to think about bringing those things we have developed in ourselves to other people. We think about how to promote a relationship with God to those around us. We reach out to those who need to experience a loving touch. We start to use our skills to the benefit of others. We take our enjoyment of the world and share it with others.

Think about an ability to cook and plan a good meal. You can do this for yourself and get joy out of it. You can also do it to throw a party for your friends. Then, you are doing good to others as well as to yourself. When you go further to throw a party for those who are lonely or who need connection, then you are doing more good. That is what it means to focus on others.

Focus on a Bigger Vision
But don’t just get caught up in the day to day doing of good. Think long-term. Think of what you could really accomplish if you worked at it over a long period of time (I owe some of my clarity on this to Jordan Peterson, as you can read in my article here).

Think about promoting a relationship with God. You can do this in a very simple way with those whom you meet day by day. If this is your passion, though, you may want to develop this much further. You will want to understand the people among whom you want to promote God’s grace. You will want to understand the Bible a lot better and understand how people have reflected on the Bible through the ages. You will want to be a better communicator. You will want to learn what platform you can use to promote a relationship with God. You will want learn to be a better friend so you can connect with people because that is generally the best context for helping people connect with God. All these things take time.

To fulfill our potential to do good, it takes a lot of preparation and effort. To do that requires a bigger vision, a long-term vision, of what God and will do through us and in us.

Recognize It Takes Time
It is important to remember that doing all the good that we can do will take time. We have to develop and grow as an individuals. It will involve following some dead ends and making mistakes. It will involve hard work and often suffering.

Think of a friendship. We can’t just build a friendship in one day. It takes time to get used to each other, to walk through difficulties together, and to work through differences. At the end of a long period of time, we can have really strong friendships. These friendship are a tremendous good and service for both friends. However, it takes a lot of time to build these lasting friendships.

Like relationships, developing the skills and building the organizations to do greater good take time. However, if we keep planting seeds and keep the vision for doing good in front of us, we can, by God’s grace, make a lot of progress.

And what would be a better investment of our time? What better could we say at the end of our lives than that we have done all the good that we could do?

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The Lesson of Saint Patrick’s Day

The Roman Empire in the West was crumbling. In A.D. 383, the leaders of Rome made a strategic decision. They would give up on Britian, the homeland of Patrick, and leave them to their fate.

The results were inevitable. The poorer nations around Britain invaded and took land, treasures, and slaves. When Irish marauders landed on the beach of Western Britain, they demolished Patrick’s town, stole all they could, and took Patrick captive as a slave back to Ireland.*

There, Patrick had a terrible life. He was cold, lonely, and isolated as he watched over his master’s sheep. Patick’s parents raised him in a Christian home. He knew the faith of his fathers but had not made it his own. In captivity, he cried out to the Lord and found comfort and solace in a newfound relationship with Christ.

One day, he believed he heard a voice telling him that his ship was ready. He walked around 200 miles to the coast. There, he joined some traders headed for the European mainland.

Once Patrick returned to the Empire, he trained to be a minister of the Christian faith. Eventually, he returned to Britain. There, he made a rather remarkable decision. He would go back to Ireland to tell them about his faith and urge them to turn to the one, true God.

This was no easy task. The Irish were not asking him to come. They were a warlike people who had no qualms about pillaging towns and enslaving people. When Patrick went, he was often in danger and had to pay the Irish chieftans for safe conduct through their lands.

What would drive Patrick to do this? Somewhere along the line, Patrick had taken into his heart the command of Jesus, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20a). He believed that Jesus had commanded His followers to make disciples of every nation.

He not only believed that God wanted him to go, he also wholeheartedly trusted the promise of Matthew 28:20, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He would not go alone. This sentiment is commemorated in his famous “breastplate” or prayer: “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me; Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me; Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me . . .” This expressed his confidence and trust in the power and presence of the Triune God as he stepped forward into the uncertainty of his missionary endeavor.

Even though he did not know how it all would work out, he was optimistic that these efforts would be successful. He had in his mind the promises of the Old Testament such as, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Is. 49:6, compare this to what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 15). Patrick explains this in his “Confession,” which you can download here or read online here.

The point is that Patrick believed in a mission that was more important than his own peace, safety, or comfort. God blessed his efforts, and Patrick had tremendous success as a missionary, essentially turning the entire island of Ireland from paganism to Christianity.

He concluded his “Confession” by encouraging others to take up the same vision:

Now I have given a simple account to my brethren and fellow servants who have believed me because of what I said and still say in order to strengthen and confirm your faith. Would that you, too, would strive for greater things and do better! This will be my glory, for a wise son is the glory of his father.

His hope was that the new disciples would have the same vision for mission that he did and do even more.

Thomas Cahill in his book How the Irish Saved Civilization continued the story. The Irish sent missionaries to Scotland and the pagan conquerors of Britain. They also became the main preservers of the literature of the Roman world passing it on to future generations. This only stopped with the Viking invasions several centuries later, but, by then, other monasteries throughout Europe had taken up the work.

It all started with Saint Patrick’s vision. He believed that God could and would change the world through him and through anyone who would get that same vision. Cahill’s story tells us that many of the Irish did just that.

This also tells us what we should take away from Saint Patrick’s Day. Patrick wanted all those who read of his example to have a vision that would lead them to “strive for greater things and do better!” My hope is that the example of Patrick and the Irish will inspire you to do just that.

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*For another telling of his story, see Mary Cagney’s article Christianity Today’s Christian History magazine. You can read the article here. This article was helpful to me in preparing this article.

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