The frontier of our dignity

God is always calling His people to cross 'frontiers'. For Israel the frontiers were often physical ones - the Red Sea, the wilderness, the Jordan river and so on. These are highly symbolic aswell. The first frontier we cross is to 'become' God's children. Before this we are His creation, but we are not actually His redeemed 'children'(God's Word is emphatic on this). This only happens as we are 'born from on high', allowing the cross to grant us what we could never earn or deserve in our own strength. We receive this by faith, drowning men taking the hand of God to pull us into the 'boat' where He brings us to Himself....thats the first frontier....its often our apparent reputation or dignity that could keep us from Christ but once we realise we are drowning His hand becomes more than an optional accessory! What then of other frontiers? The Jordan river stood as the boundary between Israel and her promised inheritance - Canaan...they could not cross the monsoonal river in their own strength or ingenuity, a whole nation crossed in a day because of a supernatural miracle of God that came following steps of obedience by Levites whose wet feet stand as a symbol of our destiny claiming faith....I want to share with you one other frontier that I personally have to deal with again and again. I believe it is also a frontier that many in the 'Western church' struggle to navigate, so often turning back as the price of 'crossing over' shifts from the conceptual to the transactional! In other words when we the cost kicks in!Its called 'DIGNITY'. Its about reputation, and other people's perceptions. Its about whether or not we appear 'successful' and the degree of validation we take or otherwise from given situations. Do you ever struggle with following through by faith with a situation because of a challenge to your 'dignity'. I know that if we look more closely at this, we are going to find our old 'friend' pride lurking down there, seeking to be stroked and validated.

Today I am challenged with this thought: as believers in the West one of the last great frontiers we must cross is to deal with this false sense of dignity we hold on to that is actually pride. In my own strength I don't really think I know how to subdue this insidious enemy of true pilgrimage with God. What I do know though is that when I remember Christ's utter humiliation for us, stripped naked, whipped, spat upon, mocked, beard torn out, flayed til unrecognisable and pierced for our transgressions....then somehow it makes each step away from self-preservation that bit easier

, a recognition that these trials really are light and momentary compared to what He suffered and bore our disgrace for. JS