Deadly Entitlement

"Choose life...Love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life." Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV)

I, along with 7999 women from 27 countries and all fifty states of the U.S., gathered this week in Indianapolis for the biannual Gospel Coalition Women's Conference (TGCW18). 89% of the attendees were under 50 years old and the plenary sessions were translated into four different languages. As we gathered for corporate worship, I got just a glimpse of what heaven will be like: every tribe, language, people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

This year's conference theme was "Listen and Live." Our text for the three-day conference was the book of Deuteronomy, the story of Israel's history as recorded by Moses. Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Pentateuch, records the three final sermons of Moses prior to the great prophet's death. Moses' final words review the history of the nation of Israel from the time of their exodus from slavery in Egypt, through their forty years of wanderings in the wilderness, until their arrival just outside the Promised Land of Canaan on the plains of Moab. Throughout the book, Moses challenges the Israelites to remember who God is and what He has done for them. Moses reviews the nation's history, repeats and expands the laws God had given them at Mount Sinai, and lists the promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Moses' admonition to "listen and live" is a sacred echo throughout the 34 chapters of Deuteronomy.

I was excited about learning more from Deuteronomy. Next to Isaiah and Nehemiah, Deuteronomy is my favorite Old Testament book. New Testament writers quote more words from Deuteronomy and Psalms than any other Old Testament books. Jesus himself uses only the words from Deuteronomy 6-8 in responding to Satan's wilderness temptations. I wasn't particularly excited, however, about attending the conference pre- sessions, Loving the Most Vulnerable.  That theme centered around the question, "How does the gospel shape our response to the most vulnerable ones around us: refugees, orphans, and widows?” Throughout the book of Deuteronomy God calls the Israelites to care for the aliens among them, remembering that they themselves were once sojourners in the land of Egypt. Honestly as I attended the opening session, perhaps because of the divided and often heated current political rhetoric surrounding immigration, I dreaded what I felt certain would be a call to social justice and activism. Reluctantly and definitely skeptical, I sat back to listen with a guarded, if not hardened, heart.

But God knows where we are, what we need, and when we need it. Jeremiah reminds us that God searches our hearts (Jeremiah 17:10). And God knows how I love a good story. Afshin Ziafat, an American Muslim, shared his life story. Born in Houston to an Iranian family, Afshin's parents returned to their native Iran when Afshin was two years old. When the Iranian Revolution broke out, the Ziafats returned to America and settled once again in Texas. It was a difficult move. Tensions were high as Iran held American hostages for 444 days. Afshin recalled having bricks through the Ziafat's Texas home. He and his older brother were bullied;his Muslim parents tires were often slashed. To make life more difficult, 6 year old Afshin began attending public school but only spoke Farsi. His parents hired an English tutor to help Afshin learn English. Unbeknownst to the Ziafats, the English tutor was a Christian. She came each afternoon to read Afshin books in English.   One day when Afshin was in second grade, his tutor gave him a New Testament Bible. She told him that it was the most important book in the world, that he wouldn't understand it now, but that he should hang on to it and read it for himself one day. Afshin hid the book in the back of his closet and eventually forgot about it. Fast forward ten years later to his senior year in high school. Afshin remembered the New Testament Bible and his kind English teacher. He began having questions about Christ, remembered and read his teacher's book, and eventually became a Christian himself.  Afshin said if any other American had given him a Bible, he would have thrown it in the garbage. His teacher, however, had earned the right to be heard, not just with her words, but with her kindness and compassion. Today Afshin is a Baptist pastor in Frisco, Texas and frequently travels to the Middles East to train Iranian pastors.

Afshin's story reminded me of a little girl in my granddaughter Julia's VHEE kindergarten class. The girl's parents, a radiologist and orthodontist, are refugees from Syria trying to rebuild their lives after fleeing their home, families, jobs and country at the hands of ISIS. Afshin's story suddenly felt close to home. 

But it wasn't just his personal story that nailed me. It was also his illustration and challenge. In closing, Afshin asked how many of us had ever flown Southwest Airlines. A lot of hands went up all over the auditorium. All of my flights to the conference were booked with Southwest. "Where in the world was he going with this?" I wondered. I didn't have to wonder very long. God used Afshin and his Word to convict me of my own selfishness and self-centeredness.

Southwest is the only airline that doesn't reserve seats, but instead uses an open seating system. All passengers are assigned a letter and number on flight check in. Boarding is determined by one's number and letter assignment. A 1-30 lines up and boards followed by A 31-60, B 1-30, and B 31-60. Any passenger beyond that is assigned a C number. To get an A number assigned, you have to do something and earn it. You pay extra money, check in super early, or fly business select. Once boarded, passengers are free to pick any seat on the airplane. Not surprisingly, A passengers usually sit toward the front of the plane in aisle or window seats in order to be the first ones to store their stuff or de-board the airplane. Afshin paused his Southwest airlines illustration and took us to Philippians 2 reminding us that Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but humbled himself and became obedient to death. In other words, Jesus didn't hold onto his own rights. He put God and others ahead of his own. Afshin returned to his Southwest Airlines illustration saying, "You know what never happens? No A passenger, boarding the plane, surveys the entire airplane and rushes to take the middle seat on the last row of the plane. Apart from Christ, none of us will ever put the interests of others ahead of our own. We will all rush to grab the best available seat."

And with that I was nailed. It was true. With both my flights to Indy I was grateful for an aisle or window seat. Not only that, I was grateful that no one ever came and sat in the middle seat of my row. That left more room for me and gave me no one to talk to. And to bring the "apart from Christ we always put our interests ahead of others," Afshin concluded his message with these words, "When we forget the grace and mercy shown to us, entitlement sets in. When we keep our eyes on the gospel, we have fuel to go out to those who are cut off from God: the least, the last and the lost." He closed his remarks by encouraging us to embrace the opportunity to engage sojourners and immigrants with the gospel, hospitality, kindness, and compassion. 

The Israelites weren't the only ones that suffered memory lapses and needed to be reminded of God's mercy, kindness and compassion toward them. I quickly confessed my own sense of entitlement, my desire to pull in and remain safe from the fray, to protect and preserve my own comfort, security, resources, and even preferences. God did indeed know what I needed: a good dose of repentance for a hard heart and a short memory of His kindness and compassion to me. 

May we all listen and live, choosing life, loving God, and holding fast to Him.