Though it’s been several years ago now, I still remember one of the more exciting trips to St. Jude Hospital with my son during his battle with childhood leukemia. Back in those days we lived in Mobile, Alabama, requiring us to fly for weekly chemotherapy in Memphis. Over a three-year period, we made 128 consecutive trips in order to jumpstart and protect my son’s remission from cancer.
While passing through security on our return trip, a Ziploc bag containing a bottle of medication tested positive for a small amount of glycerin, which can be used to make explosives. Quickly, TSA workers surrounded us with a bomb sniffing dog. They pulled us aside and began a battery of tests. Thankfully, our faces were familiar and employees recognized us. My son’s glistening, bald head gave away our recent trip to the hospital.
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Still, it was only after several minutes of awkward suspicion and investigation that we were allowed to pass through the security checkpoint. Turns out it was a false positive caused by a melting icepack that was cooling the medication. The whole ordeal got me to thinking about the misleading consequences of false impressions, which can leave us happy or scared depending on what they report.
For example, you might be overjoyed initially only to be disappointed later if a pregnancy test falsely reveals that the child you’ve prayed for is on the way. Or, you might be immediately frightened when airport security suspects foul play as you travel, even if you are able to laugh about it afterward. The problem, though, is that neither reaction is trustworthy. False positives are dangerous because they invite us to live outside of reality based upon something that is not true.
Unfortunately, American Christianity has its share of false positives.
Many Bible teachers are anxious to assure their listeners that God’s primary goal is our personal happiness. Others insist that hell cannot be real because a loving God would never allow anyone to go there. Notions of remaining in sin while following Jesus is the most damning false positive of all. These untruthful assertions are usually received with enthusiasm, but they create a false narrative about WHO Jesus is and WHAT He came to do.
The historical reality that God would sacrifice His Son to deal with our sin problem is insulting to some and downright barbaric to others. Retired Methodist theologian, William Willimon, fairly critiqued, “If you listen to much of our preaching, you get the impression that Jesus was some sort of itinerant therapist who, for free, traveled about helping people feel better.”
Focusing on the real need
Thankfully, Jesus had a way of turning our temporal ambitions on their head in order to focus on what we really need. Take, for example, the familiar story of Jesus healing the paralytic (Matt. 9:1-8). Without question, this man’s burdens were significant. He could not walk, eat, or bathe without the help of others and, by consequence, he was an outcast in society. We can hardly blame his friends for attempting to help him.
Rather than heal the man immediately, though, Jesus said to him, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven (Matt. 9:2).” By doing so, Jesus reminded us that our temporal burdens are merely symptoms of our greatest needs. He is not a Savior who came to improve the quality of our lives (though He often does), but who came to forgive our sins. Yet, popular false positives deceive us into believing that God solving our earthly problems is more important than His addressing our eternal condition.
Because the scribes accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matt. 9:3), He immediately exposed their blindness with a piercing question. Is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up, and walk (Matt. 9:5)?” Amazingly, Jesus chose to heal the paralytic in order to demonstrate His authority to forgive sins, not distract from it (Matt. 9:6). The real goal was much bigger than the man’s physical healing. In fact, had Jesus only forgiven the paralytic’s transgressions it would not have solved his greatest threat.
I am not suggesting that we should not seek God’s intervention when trials come. During my son’s fight against cancer, I repeatedly begged the Lord to heal him. Yet, we often equate our present comforts as an indicator of our eternal health. Our desperation for temporary relief from earthly troubles often far exceeds our concern about spiritual matters. Even worse, we sometimes reduce God’s faithfulness to His meeting our immediate needs:
God, show me a miracle and prove you’re real.
God, answer this prayer and prove you’re real.
God, give me what I want and prove you’re real.
God, heal me and prove you’re real.
God, open this door and prove you’re real.
Tragically, expressions of temporary grace often grip us more than eternal realities. Our need for forgiveness, though, is so urgent that we ought to be willing to lose this life entirely in order to receive it from Christ (Matt. 16:24-27). Nothing is more necessary, and nothing is more remarkable than the glorious truth that Jesus would come to seek and to save the lost!
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Adam Dooley, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee, and author of Hope When Life Unravels.
