VF: 5 The Risks of Visionary Faith II

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Chapter 5 The Risks of Visionary Faith II

Table of Topics

A) Disappointment is Godly

B) Faith is More Important than Fruit

C) The Real Risk of Visionary Faith

Extras & Endnotes

Primary Points

The sovereignty of God over failure is best reflected in the “failures” He Himself has experienced.
Pursuing a visionary faith for God is not safe. We can be sure to encounter the same losses and hurts that men of God in Scripture experienced.
Jesus’ own disciples were commanded to travel days on dusty roads to places where they would bear no fruit- as they pursued even Jesus’ plan to fulfill God’s command.
After all the labor the Apostle Paul invested in the province of Asia, at the end of his life, he says something that stuns and even scares us: “Everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me” (2 Tim 1:15).
There really is no risk or failure in visionary faith. Not from God’s perspective. Success in the eyes of our Father and King is simply fighting the good fight, even if we do not win every battle. Success is finishing the race, even if we do not feel we have won it.
The real risk of visionary faith is not actually failure, but bitterness and disillusionment– Losing our trust and love for Him because of our “failures.”
Contrary to the interpretation of most, Romans 8:28 does not unconditionally promise that everything will work out for our good. The promise is for “those who love Him” even in their difficulties.

A) Disappointment is Godly

Because we are serving God and His purposes, the temptation is to think that that everything we attempt will succeed. But God Himself has a purpose in failure. In fact, God often told His servants ahead of time that they would experience failure in serving Him.

The sovereignty of God over failure is best reflected in the disappointments He Himself has experienced. Early in Genesis we read:

The LORD saw how wicked the humans on Earth had become. Their every thought and desire was only evil all the time. So the LORD was very sad that He had created humans on the Earth, and His heart was filled with pain. (Gen 6:5-6) ^[1]

OT history is not just the story of the failure of the nation of Israel. Israel was God’s nation, His people. In a very real sense, the story of Israel is the story of a painful disappointment of God. Of course it all worked out according to His perfect plan, but do not miss the pain that God Himself has experienced in His effort to use the Israelites in His plan for this world.

God loved Israel and labored for Israel. They were “His treasured possession,” whom He had chosen to represent Him on Earth and fulfill His purposes (cf. Deut 7:6-8; 2 Sam 7:23; 1 Kgs 8:53). He gave them clear instruction, sent Prophets and leaders to guide them, and protected them from enemies.

But they miserably failed to live up to their calling. Ezekiel 16 is a poignant portrayal of the Israelites’ betrayal of God. As you read the following words of God, notice how much He loved them, how much He gave them, and how little they loved Him back and hurt Him. And know that this is precisely what will happen to you as you seek to minister to and with people. It is the probability that people will fail you that is the most painful risk involved in visionary faith and it is a comfort to know that God has experienced it too. Listen to Him:

³ ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem . . . ⁴ On the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. ⁵ No one cared about you or had compassion enough to take care of you. On the day you were born, no one wanted you and you were abandoned in a field and left to die.Then I passed by and saw you struggling in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” ⁷ I made you grow like a plant in the field. You grew up and became the most beautiful of jewels.

Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of My garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you My solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. . . .

You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. ¹⁴ And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the honor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your love on anyone who passed by and your beauty became theirs. ¹⁶ You took some of your garments to make ugly high places, where you practiced your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur.

¹⁷ You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of My gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. ¹⁸ And you took your decorated clothes to put on them, and you offered My oil and incense before them. ¹⁹ Also the food I provided for you—the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before these idols. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.

And you took your sons and daughters dedicated to Me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? ²¹ You slaughtered My children and sacrificed them to the idols. ²² In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood. . . .

How weak-willed you are, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you do all these things, acting like a prostitute without shame! You adulterous wife! (Ezek 16:1-32)

When Scripture says that “love never fails” (1 Cor 13:8) it does not mean that it always succeeds. Not even God’s love. We will love and sacrifice for people in our human plans to obey God’s commands and some of those people may become our worst enemies. Jesus washed the feet of Judas too. Made him a part of His Intimate 12. And Judas betrayed Jesus.

And Paul had his Demas of whom we have written elsewhere:

We are astonished as well by the Gospel preaching, sacrificial ministry, and holy life, that Demas no doubt lived as a close companion of the Apostle Paul. What kind of commitment to Christ would you have to display for someone like the Apostle Paul to refer to you as “my fellow worker” with “Luke” (Phlm 1:24; cf. Col 4:14). As John MacArthur puts it, Demas was, “one of the apostle’s closest associates.” ^[2] And not for just a few months, but for years. The Apostle referred to Demas in this way in the late 50’s to early 60’s.

But in 67-68 A.D., writing to Timothy, Paul says, “Demas has deserted me because he loved the evil things of this world,” (2 Tim 4:10). Therefore, there was at least a period of 5-10 years in which Demas labored in the Gospel with Paul. And yet, in the end, abandoned his faith, suggesting he never had the saving kind. The Apostle’s description of Demas leaves little doubt that he was not saved, as the Apostle John points out elsewhere that, “If anyone loves the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in them” (1 John 2:15).

Notice the Apostle did not even say Demas had deserted Christ, but that he “deserted me.” This one hurt. And it was all a part of the territory of living out a calling to please God and fulfill His purposes.

Evidently, David experienced the same. He wrote of someone:

If an enemy were attacking me, I could handle it. If a foe was opposing me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we worshipped together at the house of God. (Ps 55:12-14)

Pursuing a visionary faith for God is not safe. We can be sure to encounter the same losses and hurts that these men of God experienced. Indeed, there are some risks to visionary faith—and risks that even God wants us to take. Godly men experience a great deal of failure in their lives. Are we willing to? Do we love and trust God enough to risk such things?

C) Faith is More Important than Fruit

It is intriguing to notice Jesus’ instruction to His own missionaries:

Jesus told His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field. ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴ Do not take a purse or bag or sandals. . . .

¹⁰ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Be sure of this: The Kingdom of God is near.’ ¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. (Luke 10:1-3, 10-12)

Notice several things. First, the need for “workers” in God’s “harvest” is great. Secondly, He gifts, calls, and sends “workers” into His “field.” Thirdly, He does not promise complete safety from all harm, but rather, warns that He is “sending [them] out like lambs among wolves.” Fourthly, working for Him requires faith in His provision because they were not to “take a purse or bag or sandals.”

But our main point here is that Jesus told them they would experience failure. He specifically told them there would be places that their mission and message would “not” be “welcomed.” Why wouldn’t Jesus simply tell them ahead of time which towns would be successful? Why have the disciples waste the time and energy going to places where their plans would fail? Because Jesus expected them to live within their human limits. Not everything even done for Jesus will produce the success we desire. And, of course, God works even such failures out for His own purposes, in this case, bringing judgment.

But do not miss the fact that Jesus’ own disciples were commanded to travel days on dusty roads to places where they would bear no fruit- as they pursued even Jesus’ plan to fulfill God’s command.

God is indeed pleased with our human plans to obey His commands, but He is especially pleased with our faith, not our fruit. The fruit of our endeavors, especially in spiritual matters, depend largely on Him, and we usually have relatively little control of that. But our faith is our decision. What will we trust God for and try for God? This is why He is more pleased with our faith than our fruit.

How many people did Noah save after a hundred years of hard work building a boat by faith? As we noted elsewhere, it is estimated that there were at least 10 billion people living on Earth at the time of the Flood. ^[3] How many did Noah save? Eight. That is not very “successful.”

After being chosen to form a new nation under God, and decades of living by faith, how many sons did Abraham have to continue this new nation God had promised? One. That’s a pretty slow start.

Who served God more sacrificially and exercised more faith for centuries on this planet than the OT Prophets. Yet God’s own commentary on the fruit of their ministry was: “Even though the LORD has repeatedly sent His servants the Prophets to you Israel, you have not listened or paid any attention” (Jer 25:4). God even told Ezekiel:

The people I am sending you to are hard-hearted and stubborn. Regardless of whether they listen or not, say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says’. (Ezek 2:4-5)

How would you like to have that for your life’s calling? Especially when, in fact, they did not listen.

What did Jesus have to show for His ministry at the end of His life? Even after His resurrection? Luke records that in all of Jerusalem, “the believers” who gathered with the Eleven Apostles were “a group numbering about a hundred and twenty” (Acts 1:15). A relatively small church by our American standards.

After all the labor the Apostle Paul invested in the province of Asia, at the end of his life, he says something that stuns and even scares us: “Everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me” (2 Tim 1:15). Again, Paul says not only had they abandoned Christ, but “me.” This was personal. This hurt. This was his perspective on the earthly fruit of all of his labor in the primary place he had devoted his ministry.

Note that the city of Ephesus was in Asia where the Apostle “had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus . . . for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:9-10; c. A. D. 51-53). Some 14 years later (c. A. D. 67), as he probably awaited execution in a Roman prison, he says, “Everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me” (2 Tim 1:15).

Of course, Paul did not mean this literally. In the very next verse he speaks of the Asian Christian “Onesiphorus” who proved to be very loyal to him (cf. vs. 16-18). And even in the later 90’s A. D. we know from Revelation that several churches in Asia, including the one in Ephesus, were still serving Christ. What we have here is, as J. N. D. Kelly put it in his commentary on this statement: “the exaggeration of depression.” ^[4]

It is a reminder that the great Apostle was merely human. The old man (at least into his sixties) was in prison again for simply pursuing human plans to obey God’s commands. Evidently there was widespread defections in Asia from both the Apostle and his Gospel. Much of Paul’s life’s work seemed to be a waste. If “everyone in the province of Asia” had not literally “deserted” the Apostle, it sure felt like it. And this was the legacy he died with. This was his final commentary on the earthly fruit of much of his life’s work.

It is safe to say that the greatest missionary who ever lived did not end his life with a deep satisfaction of what he had accomplished. No doubt, he had hoped for more. A lot more.

But while “Everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me” was Paul’s final commentary on the earthly fruit of his visionary faith, he reminds us that it is our empowering faith in the sure promises and commands of God that really matter. What we endeavor to do in our visionary faith is risky and can even fail. But the objects of empowering faith are never risky and never fail. While Paul had to admit at the end of his life that “Everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me,” and he realized that “I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure” he could also claim:

The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight . . . and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me- the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return. (2 Tim 4:6-8).

In other words, there really is no risk or failure in visionary faith. Not from God’s perspective. Success in the eyes of our Father and King is simply fighting the good fight, even if we do not win every battle. Success is finishing the race, even if we do not feel we have won it. God’s command is to “seek first His Kingdom” (Matt 6:33) on this Earth, but how much of it will be actually realized through your life is in His hands.

The metaphorical Prophet depicted in Isaiah said something similar:

God said to me, “You Israel are My servant and through you I will reveal My glory.”

But I replied, “My labor seems useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. But my reward is in the LORD’S hand, and I will trust Him with it.” (Isa 49:3-4)

Likewise, we are reminded of the commentary on men of faith in Hebrews:

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things God had promised them. They only saw and welcomed these promises from a distance. (Heb 11:13)

Before you begin your endeavor of visionary faith, your human plans to fulfill God’s commands, you need to have God’s definition of success rather than the world’s. God is more pleased with faith than fruit.

C) The Real Risk of Visionary Faith

The real risk of visionary faith is not actually failure, but bitterness and disillusionment. We’ll say it again. Just because you are doing something for God doesn’t mean you will have the results you want. It certainly doesn’t mean it will be easy or without great difficulties. Think again about the many examples spoken of above. But in all of that we can still please God and be successful in His eyes.

So what is real failure in God’s sight? Losing our trust and love for Him because of our “failures.” In the previous chapter we discussed the failure that Joshua experienced at Ai and the response to it. “Because of the defeat the people were overwhelmed with fear and lost all their courage” (Josh 7:5). Even Joshua asks, “Sovereign LORD, why did You bring us across the Jordan River just to have us destroyed by the Amorites?” (v. 7).

Do you sense the disillusionment with God, and even the potential bitterness toward God, because of the failure Joshua experienced in his endeavor to serve God? Joshua is not only questioning God’s commands (crossing the Jordan River) but His character and concern. Joshua is even entertaining the idea that God orchestrated the whole thing to “destroy” His people rather than deliver and bless them.

Such is the distorting dangers of failure. Through the probable mistakes and failures along the way, our faith in God can turn into a fear of failure. Both we and those following us can become disillusioned about God Himself and His intentions toward us. We think that just because we are doing something for God, we will not experience failure—and certainly not death. But we can—and all as a result of simply trying to love and serve God.

Many men and women have become bitter and disillusioned because they thought they failed in a visionary faith to do something for God. Things didn’t work out. People even got hurt. They got hurt. And the distorted conclusions multiply: “God must not have wanted me to do that.” “I must have sinned against God.” “I am not good enough for God.” “I cannot trust God.” “I’d have to admit right now I don’t even like God.”

How did we get here? Because we loved our vision more than our God. We staked our sense of significance and purpose on being a fruitful servant of God, rather than a chosen son of God. We had the wrong definition of success. We have missed how much we really did please God by just trying. We were ignorant or misinformed that nowhere in Scripture did God promise earthly fruit in everything we attempt for Him. And we have forgotten that if we will look at things carefully, not one of His real promises have failed. In fact, the failure may have been designed to produce more humility in our life so that He could even do greater things through us. But if we do not respond to difficulties with faith we may become bitter instead of better. ^[5]

Extras & Endnotes

A Devotion to Dad

Our heavenly Father, we want to be willing to do anything for you no matter what the cost. And we realize that serving You may even cost our life. But saving us cost the life of Your Son, and if losing our life to save others is Your will then we consider it a privilege.

Gauging Your Grasp

Why do we say that God is more pleased with faith than fruit. Do you agree or disagree and why?
What do we say is the real risk of visionary faith? How can it be avoided?
We claim that the interpretation of Romans 8:28 does not unconditionally promise that everything will work out for our good. Do you agree or disagree and why?

Publications & Particulars

The Hebrew in Genesis 6:5-6 can actually mean that God repented of created humankind. Accordingly, most commentators launch into an effort to explain this away in terms of the fact that God never makes mistakes. But some have some helpful comments.

Keil and Delitzsch write:

The repentance of God is an anthropomorphic expression for the pain of the divine love at the sin of man, and signifies that “God is hurt no less by the atrocious sins of men than if they pierced His heart with mortal anguish” (Calvin). (Commentary on the Old Testament, Electronic Edition STEP Files CD-ROM (Findex.com, 2000)]

Victor Hamilton comments:

God is grieved, even to the point of experiencing pain in his heart. . . . It is easy, of course, to dismiss such allusions as anthropopathisms, and to feel that they can tell us nothing about the essential nature of God. But verses like this remind us that the God of the OT is not beyond the capability of feeling pain, chagrin, and remorse. To call him the Impassable Absolute is but part of that truth. Yahweh regretted [yinnāhem] that he had made man. this point is made again in v. 7b, “I regret [‘emheh] that I made him.” . . . Here we are introduced the idea of God repenting! As a matter of fact, the Niphal of the root nhm occurs 48 times in the OT, and in 34 of these the subject (expressed or implied) is God. (The Book of Genesis, NICOT [Eerdmans, 1990], 274 ↑
MacArthur, Commentary, in loc. ↑
For calculations regarding the Earth’s population at the time of the Flood see section 6.3.A.3 and endnote there. ↑
Gordon Fee comments regarding 2 Timothy 1:15:

It means the defections that the defections in Asia have been so staggering that even his friends from whom he would have expected more—have deserted him.

[A]t least it means that they have abandoned their loyalty to Paul. Is so, then for him that would mean they have also abandoned his gospel, since that is about the only way one could desert the apostle; and that is precisely how the verb is used elsewhere in the PE (4:4; Tit 1:14; a different very is used of the personal “desertions” in 4:10) 236. (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus [Hendrickson, 1988], in loc.; contra Knight, 383). ↑
Some might be reminded here of Luke 14:25-35 and include a section here on “counting the cost” of our visionary faith. However, it is best to interpret this passage as Jesus challenging the “large crowds” (v. 25) to a commitment of saving faith, not visionary faith. A “disciple” throughout Jesus’ teachings is a committed follower in covenant with Him (cf. “Disciple,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Joel Green, Scot McKnight eds. [Intervarsity, 1992]).

Additionally, it could be said that actually counting the full cost of a visionary faith is rather impossible. We cannot know the future. We do not know what our endeavor for God will cost. And this is probably a good thing. ↑