The 180 Church Podcast with Dr. Sammy and Friends

Forty days of giving up an area of sinful reliance in Lent can save us our forty years in the desert. In Matthew 4, the Spirit leading Jesus into the wilderness to be tested is the same test that the Israelites faced in their 40 years wandering the desert. Hebrews 3 reinforces this idea—Lent is to show the areas of resistance in our lives to God’s leadership. As Christians, we’re meant to live a transcending purpose beyond a story of being stuck and turned away from the Promised Land like the Israelites. The Israelites failed by incessantly questioning God’s leadership; not even raining down manna, running water from rocks, or sending quail convinced them out of their own way. Jesus, in contrast, submitted to God’s sovereignty by fasting even in the face of temptation, and even at the height of his plight without a clear sight out. Lent is meant to accentuate and shorten our resistance with God, so what areas of our lives are we still resisting God’s leadership?

Throughout scripture, fasting is prevalently mentioned as a response to God’s call. Whether it is revelatory by nature, a call towards repentance, or a season of lament, we are often called to a time of fasting and prayer to declare our human frailty and express our dependence on God. The discipline of fasting is an invitation for the Father to move in our lives, to lay down our default modes and to submit our whole selves to God’s call.

Fasting is a spiritual practice of temporarily giving something up to reconnect with God, following Jesus' example of sacrificing earthly pleasures to prioritize God's presence. Though fasting is challenging, the focus is not denying oneself but deepening reliance on God by replacing mundane activities with spiritual disciplines. Even our failures in fasting can draw us closer to Christ, as we remember His sacrificial suffering and our continual need for Him as the author and perfector of faith. The ultimate goal of fasting is not avoiding bad things but feasting on the goodness of God's presence.

Integrity is a lost value in today’s age of corruption. Our trust in authority and institutions are at an all-time low, with a growing suspicion of what truth really is. This doesn’t only occur in politics but in our daily lives. The Gospel is crucial, even refreshing, in a time where the standards of truth appear distorted. The Word tells us to own, confess, and turn from our sins and mistakes as this is repentance. King David in Psalm 51 exemplifies this process of repentance integral to our integrity as followers of Christ. The truth that comes from God does not change even if the truth spoken by the spirit of each age does. How do we live a life of integrity: a complete and honest life? James 5 tells us to confess our sins and to pray for each other, and to acknowledge the lows—our valleys—but to also celebrate and embrace the highs—our hills—as one community.

Holiness, which means “set apart,” takes on deeper meaning as we progress over the experiences of various prophets throughout Scripture and ultimately through Jesus. In Exodus, Moses encounters a burning bush and experiences holiness as close proximity to God. Later, a vision of the seraphim given to Isaiah sets up the idea that God can transfer purity to man. This is then reinforced when Ezekiel has a vision of water flowing out from God's temple and bringing life to the land of death. Finally, the meaning of holiness reaches its pinnacle in Jesus, who performed miracles as a manifestation of transformative holiness - as an expression of love. Jesus showed us social holiness, that there is no holiness without centering our lives around God and loving our communities because He loves us.

Our culture emphasizes self-reliance which leads to unrealistic expectations and an unhealthy focus on perfection. The pressure to present an illusion of perfection is alleviated by the gospel, offering a safe space for human imperfection. Jesus encourages people who are weary from always presenting themselves at their best to find rest and embrace their humanity within a supportive community, emphasizing the innate human need for connection and vulnerability. The idea that self-sufficiency is expected contributes to shame, while the gospel teaches the importance of sharing struggles and seeking help as a fundamental aspect of being human.

Loss, coupled with trauma that we've experienced in our lives, can be a force powerful enough to unravel us. It’s in these periods when we feel lost and at a loss for words that we fall more readily into isolation, are broken by grief, and need community most - though it may not be what we want in the moment. The good news of the gospel is that even when we’re lost and unglued, God sends his community after us in our isolation and unraveling. When we recognize that the Father sends his people to us, we recognize a greater love that expels our fears and restores us into the community of God and his people.

While nostalgia is a natural byproduct of doing life with the people we love, it can hold us captive to the past and make us reluctant to adapt to changing circumstances. In our faith, longing too much for how things used to be can cause us to miss out on new opportunities to welcome others into God's community. In an inevitably and perpetually changing world, what remains constant is God and His call for us to follow Him. True discipleship means learning to accept change and allowing God to grow us into people who participate in His kingdom, no matter the circumstances.

In Jesus's encounter with the Samaritan woman, he influenced her so much that she did a complete 180, turning from her brokenness and proclaiming Jesus's message to everyone she subsequently met. We may similarly desire such profound life change, but we cannot engender such change alone; God must be the one to create the change. We can, however, pave the way for God, and equally important, create a community around God. By doing so, we can not only provide healing for those who are broken, but also accountability for those who become so proud as to forget their God-given values. By doing so, we can become part of God's plan in creating 180 change.