Kingdom Courses

My nephew graduated college this past weekend and we are all very proud of him because we know how hard he worked to receive his Physics degree. To learn Physics he had to successfully complete many laboratory experiments as well as the course work. He couldn’t just learn the material. He had to demonstrate that he knew the material. I was reminded of the process of receiving Faith.  It too is a learning process. Faith as spiritual knowledge is important. Faith as a living, breathing Kingdom Life skill is vital.

The first chapter of The Epistle of James tells us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials. James 1: 2 & 3 NLT says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” The accurate definition of the Greek word translated ‘trials’ here means experiment, attempt, or proving.  The letter goes on to tell us that the testing of our faith produces patience.  The Greek word translated ‘patience’ is actually steadfastness, constancy, or endurance.

The Hungry Disciple Translation of James’ advice is, “So friends, just chalk- up those attempts to live in faith as pure happiness whether you succeed or fail, because those faith experiments provide you with the strength to know and trust Jesus Christ more deeply every single time.”

The Holy Spirit is the most awesome Professor in The Universe. He is a genius, divinely creative, has perfect communication skills and has never-ending patience with slow learners. God had also provided us with an unparalleled textbook and a Perfect Example for Kingdom Living.

As His disciples, we are all enrolled in independent study, learning directly from Him.  When we “get it”, our hearts soar in anticipation of the abundant life His wisdom imparts…………then, comes the lab; the opportunity we are given to actually attempt to live the wisdom that has been revealed to us. He has empowered us with knowledge. Only eventually, we have to put what we’ve learned to practical use.  Our faith has to be proved because the goal is for us to learn to live in The Kingdom of God.

Let’s say we are taking a course in basic automotive skills and we are learning how to change a tire.  Our instructor’s proficiency has made everything seem simple.  His explanations were absolutely complete.  He has provided us a step by step diagram and illustrations of the process.  Why, he even provided us a tire changing kit and pocket guide to carry with us wherever we go.  We are prepared. We can recite the procedure backwards and forwards.  We can draw the diagrams in our sleep; name the parts and the tools. We could pass the oral and written exams with flying colors. We are pretty sure we can change a tire. 

But do we know we can change a tire?  No.

The day comes when we are in bumper to bumper traffic, late for something important, in our dress clothes, or perhaps we’re alone on a dark road at night, far from a service station. Not until we feel that you’re-about-to-lose-control wobble; hear that gut-dropping thwack, thwack, thump, thump, of our tire going flat, do we have the opportunity to discover if we have learned to change a flat tire.

In the emotions of the moment, our knowledge flies from our heads, and those diagrams we’ve memorized don’t enter our minds. The traffic whipping by is so terrifying we don’t even want to get out of the car. The fears of the night are paralyzing. Perhaps we think we know what we have to do. We make it to the trunk and haul out the tools only to discover we can’t even get the lug nuts off!  

Changing that flat tire may be a total failure, or we could master it easily. Point is, we won’t know whether we can change a tire in the real world until we get a flat.  A flat tire is a picture of what James calls a trial. For most of us it is difficult to call these opportunities a joy.  However, our Professor considers them a joy because He doesn’t think the way we think. Our trials are not given for God to find out what we do and do not know. Our trials are given so we will find out what we do and do not know.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t want us to be able to recite answers from The Book. He has a copy of The Book.  He doesn’t want us satisfied with hearing His personal guidance.  He doesn’t want our confidence to be in our spiritual tool kit, and He certainly isn’t looking for us to memorize the process.  He looks forward to those labs.  He sees that the lab assignments are exactly what we need. When we get frustrated or fearful He will give us more one-on-one tutoring. He will encourage and comfort us, and eventually the lab will be presented to us again.

Disciples of Jesus must develop faith that affects our world with principles of The Kingdom of God, but Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you The Kingdom.”  We can’t fail the course.  Our Lord takes every trial, each experiment, and delights in bringing us into greater confidence in the principles of His Kingdom.  His goal is to reveal mysteries, and our success lies more in resting than performing; more in trusting than trying. 

He knows that with each opportunity our courage will be greater and our trust in Him will come easier. He knows the day will come when we will consider the opportunities themselves a pleasure, a joy, because we understand they provide us deeper intimacy with The Master and more revelation about ourselves.

James is asking disciples to be hungry for the labs of the Christian life; to look forward to them. He is counseling us to convince ourselves, that every faith-lab is an opportunity for gladness, because it is through those labs we come to know much more than information.  We come to know Him, the Source of steadfastness, constancy, and endurance in this life.

It is the labs that make us Jesus experts. He is the One who sees that we are equipped to accomplish what The Kingdom requires of us. He wants us to know the faithfulness of His Power and Presence in our lives. He wants us fearless when that tire wobbles!  He wants us to one day be driving through this life in a Motorist Assistance vehicle!