The Great Divide: Perspective

If you frequent the international travel scene, without doubt, you have witnessed the plethora of mesmerizing and thought-provoking ad campaigns HSBC has pushed over the past couple years. Plastering the jet ways of terminals globally, their images and words are engraved into our mind provoking contemplation. Subtle, yet stimulating. Gently passive, yet provocative. In the end, they encapsulate one concept.

Perspective.

HSBC’s slogan, “The World’s Local Bank” seeks to identify their recognition of various cultures, traditions, religions, identities, and ultimately, values. On these billboards read, “The more you look at the world, the more you recognize that people value the same things but in different ways.” Brilliantly illustrated, these ads contain one word accompanied by a few pictures depicting that word OR vice-versa with one picture identifying a few words describing the same image. My personal favorite depicts the word, “courage.” Three powerful images. A solitary microphone, a young man bungee jumping, and a woman in her garb of mourning. Distinctly different. Strikingly similar. Unquestionably linked.

Courage.

Our lives tell a story. The attributes we display are no random occurrence, but a product of time and decisions. How easy to label others a villain or hero, a terrorist or saint, a failure or success...yet is our urgency of branding others a fear of change in our own lives? Are so entrenched in our perspective that we fail to see truth or opportunity? 

A few years ago, I had the privilege spending an evening with a wonderful group of Palestinian refugees from a camp outside Beirut (Lebanon). Over a cup of coffee we discussed our life’s dreams, hopes, and visions. That evening, the voice of one young man caught my attention. He shared his passion. To one day be a suicide bomber. Be assured of this. He did not wake up one morning and identify himself as an extremist, fundamentalist, or terrorist. Rather, the pain, hopelessness, turmoil and hatred of life changed his value system.

How easy for us to allow our pride or politics to fill us with animosity and judgment blinding our eyes from seeing a soul in need of love and hope. Perspective. Courage. A step in their shoes. A taste of their pain. A tearfor their loss. A prayer on their behalf. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."

I believe it is our perspective that prevents and limits our lives from the pursuit of excellence. One writer put it, "God has called you to see the invisible and do the impossible.” We live in a fabricated box of limitations and settle into a life of mediocrity. We accept the boundaries, social norms, and expectations of others. We live to avoid failure, disappointment, or loss. William MacDonald said, “With faith, if impossible is the only objection, then it can be done.” 

In the Torah, a beautiful illustration of perspective in revealed. Moses sends twelve spies into Canaan to scout out the land God had promised to give His people. He tells them to “Be courageous!” (Numbers 13:20) [See here for the full spy report] As the spies returned to Moses, the reports were conflicting. Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, proclaimed, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it!” (13:30) while the remaining ten declared, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we…we saw the giants…and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight.” (13:31-33)

Twelve men. Two perspectives.

What was the difference? Caleb and Joshua looked to the promises of God as reality (remember God had ALREADY promised the land to Moses and His people) while the remaining spies saw only the impediments and threats of man. The ten hid behind excuses and belittled themselves in the process while Caleb and Joshua amplified God and prepared to go forward. Does the lens of fear magnify every obstacle or do we trust a loving Heavenly Father who says, “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)  

A fresh perspective is born, not through meager self-will, but rather through a fresh gaze on Jesus Christ. Like Caleb and Joshua, we are not called to understand the answer to the question “Why?” but rather, to trust the One leading. If we know Him, love Him, and trust Him, then we will obey His commands. (John 14:21-24) We will choose to love when staring hate in the face, we will choose to forgive when retaliation seems more fulfilling, we will choose to give when to take is more satisfying, we will choose to sacrifice when selfishness is more appealing, and we will choose to listen when pride is more alluring. 

True perspective is when we can lift our eyes from fog of this world’s chaos and declare, “the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18) The journey of truly trusting God starts in knowing the One who said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know and the way you know. I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:1-4,6)

My eternal hope is not bound in this world. We can focus on the superficial symptoms of suicide bombers, nuclear weapons, economic crises, or broken relationships, or we can look at His provision and promises.

Do we see ourselves as helpless “grasshoppers” (Numbers 13:33) or have we lifted our gaze to God’s eternal promises? Are we living for more than the eye can see, or are we trapped in the reality of the present?

It takes courage. One word: Perspective.

René Frédéric Faye

It was one of those moments. A day forever etched in my memory. Seems as though it was yesterday…despite the fact today marks fifteen years since we received the call.

 It had been a long day. Easter Sunday, in fact. Many guests had been in our home that day and as dusk was falling, the final guests were departing. Then the phone rang. I remember my dad summoning the family together. That became the day I heard René Frédéric Faye had been ushered into eternity.

Far more than a friend, he was my big brother. Before my first moments of life were engrained into memory, René and his twin brother Germain were in my life. From hours of watching African Cup drama, to football matches in Saint Louis’ sandy streets, to educating my brother and I in the finer points of “l’élevage” (animal husbandry), these two were family. More importantly, Germain and René gave my young life living examples of the verse, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)

But death first divided our family in 1994 when God called Germain home at the age of twenty-four. Stricken with a brain tumor, having lost his eyesight, hearing, taste, and smell, Germain lay in his death bed praising God for His love and the hope to come. Finally, on April 7, 1994, my brother Ger was freed from his pain-wracked body. René, having entered the Senegalese military the year prior (the two were to have entered together, but Ger’s brain tumor prevented him from enlisting) was summoned off to Rwanda as a UN peacekeeper following the Rwandan Genocide between the Tutsis and Hutus. As I bid my dear friend "au revoir", never did I expect the next time I would see his face would be in a wooden coffin in our living room.

But God had other plans. On April 15, 1995, a transport truck carrying fifty people through a mountain pass lost grip, causing one wheel to slip from the mountain, nearly sending the entire truck over the precipice to the probable death of all passengers. René, however, jumped out the back and attempted to stabilize the truck. In the process, he fell under its weight acting as a wheel stop, which consequently crushed René’s body but stopped the truck and spared the lives of all therein. As Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this. That he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

A fitting death for a life lived sacrificing on behalf of others. 
Yet the words of Jesus echo loudly, "Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is, destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal.” (John 12:24-26) Fifteen years later, these words have only picked up momentum.

René lived his life for eternity, not merely for time. Through his death, others saw his real “treasure.” Not life, but rather, His relationship with Jesus Christ. René’s life demonstrated the reality of “For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) His life was a tool to show this world God’s love, forgiveness, and grace. René’s death demonstrated his hope.

The days which followed remain a blur. Our home was turned into a house of mourning, our living room---the morgue, our courtyard---the chapel, and a constant bustle of bodies, military personnel, and UN officials moved about. Amidst the chaos, two of my brother’s possessions were slipped to me. Two articles signifying the reality of death, yet the hope of eternal life. The first token was the Air Afrique luggage tag attached to René’s body bag as they shipped his corpse back to Senegal one last time. The second was René’s New Testament which he was carrying as he passed into the presence of His God. Two symbols. Symbols to remind me that "It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) Life is uncertain. Death is sure. 

Still today, I pick up that French New Testament, and flipping through its worn pages, my eyes fall on one of Ger and René’s favorite verses, and appropriately, the verse etched on their gravestone. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

Fifteen years later, his testimony of love lives on. As said of Abel, I can say of René, "though he is dead, he still speaks." (Hebrews 11:4)

I love you brother!

(Dedicated to my bro, Luke McIntosh)

My Declaration of Independence

Freedom. The very word conveys hope, joy, and excitement to the hearts of humankind. Our hearts long for liberty. Liberty from oppression, compulsion, fear, and abuse. Freedom to live life to the fullest.
 

As time strikes April 4, 2010, the nation of Senegal (land of my birth) celebrates their fiftieth anniversary of their independence received from France (via transfer of power). The green, red and yellow colors of Senegal are proudly displayed throughout the land and as this historic day is fêted, a thought remains. As Senegalese, we enjoy our sovereignty as a republic and relative peace, yet the lives of many individuals remain trapped in an endless cycle of hopelessness, desperation, and futility. We celebrate an event, but do we live in the reality of freedom?
 

Even as my Senegalese compatriots commemorate this significant Sunday, my heart is drawn to a different event where my freedom was won--being remembered on this same day. The crux of my faith lies in an event which took place nearly two thousand years ago when Jesus broke the chains of hell, death, and the grave by rising again after His crucifixion, offering eternal life to those who trust in Him.

As the letter to the Corinthians noted, “If Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.” (I Corinthians 15:17,19-20)

How many of us are looking for hope in the wrong place? Like Mary Magdalene. On that first Easter morning, she went to the tomb to prepare the body of Jesus for proper burial. But an angel said to her, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke 24:5-6) How often we search for truth, hope, and purpose in the wrong places. From people, success, comfort, philanthropy, money, to popularity, we stand outside the tombs of failed promises, ventures, and pursuits. What liberty to discover life has more to offer than the eighty or so years we tread on planet earth!

How easy it is to become a captive of earthly vices. We fear the opinions and words of others, our self-perception, the loss of our material accumulations or acquaintances, the lack of necessities, change itself, and ultimately death. We may define freedom as “the condition of being free from restraints,” but is this our true pursuit? Perhaps, rather, we long for a place of peace, acceptance, love, and protection.

My faith is not about a set of rules to obey. It's about a relationship God desires with His creation--available through Jesus. We were separated from God because of sin, but God sent Jesus to earth to show us what He is like, (which is why one of Jesus’ names is “Immanuel”, meaning, “God with us.”) to die in our place for our sins, AND to rise from the dead to offer us power over the grave, which is the ultimate consequence of sin. Thus, my faith is not about me trying to earn God’s favor through a series of good works, prayers, or passion. Rather, it is an acceptance of His love and an embracing of Jesus' work of salvation for my sins. Jesus didn't come to make bad people good. He came to make the dead, (spiritually) alive.That said, if my love for others, joy for life, and compassion for the hurting is absent, you have every right to question the validity of my faith.

As James put it, “faith without works is dead” (2:20) or in the words of songwriter Rich Mullins, “faith without works… it’s about as useless as a screen-door on a submarine.”Pilate nailed it when he asked Jesus on trial, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) This is the million-dollar question. We can believe something all day long, but is it merely a hobby-horse, personal opinion, cultural perception, timeless legend, good-way of living—or is it, in fact, truth?

We live in a world that seeks to make everything subjective. We attempt to modify absolutes and dilute impositions. To believe in Jesus is a personal thing, yet on this Easter Sunday, I want to spare each reader (regardless of their ethnicity, culture, religion, or nationality) one futile pursuit. That futile pursuit is, to label and patronize Jesus as merely a moral teacher, prophet, or philosopher. One who claims to be God’s Son, conqueror over death, and the way to God cannot be branded as but a “great leader.” He must either a lunatic, liar, or Lord.

Jesus said, “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) The choice we have is to accept Him as the truth or a liar, for anything else would be a contradiction. Benedict the XVI shared with a group of young people, “Truth is not an imposition…It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in.”

My friends, I share these thoughts as my declaration of independence. That, on this Easter Sunday, you may know my joy, my heart, my hope. This same Jesus promises eternal life to those who trust Him. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25) Not a mere possibility, but a guarantee.

I’m thankful to be Senegalese and for our fifty years of autonomy. Yet how much more thankful I am for freedom from the power of the grave and the promise of eternal life. Therein lies true freedom!

Each of us must answer Pilate’s question for ourselves. “What is truth?”

Happy Easter!