When an infraction is committed, its severity is not always measured by the infraction itself, but often by the esteem or position of the one who suffered from it.

Imagine a homeless man has a shopping cart full of his possessions. Among them is something old and unassuming. Perhaps its a family heirloom. The object is very important to this man. It is also worth a great deal of money. One day, someone confronts the homeless man with force and steals this object. The thief, for this infraction, will probably never find himself in hand-cuffs

Now imagine the same story, but replace the homeless man with the CEO of a very prominent business in a very lucrative industry. Or the Don of a Mafia family. Or the president of the United States. All of a sudden, the seriousness of that thief’s infraction has gone soaring.

John Piper writes in his book Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die:

“Therefore sin is not small, because it is not against a small sovereign.”

It’s not uncommon to hear thoughts like, “why would God even concern himself with this or that… why would God care if I do such and such?” But that thought denies this fairly basic principle: Even small insults become huge ones when the offended party is of great authority or esteem.

God cares. God really cares. So much so that he himself came in Jesus Christ to absorb the wrath we would inevitably have suffered for those ‘little’ things.

I use the English Standard Version of the Bible for my daily reading. Before that, I used the New American Standard Bible. They are closely related and most of the time their translations are just about the same. But occasionally they differ more dramatically.

Today, as I read Philippians, I came across one of those instances.

Philippians 2:3-4 from the ESV:

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Other translations call us to consider others ‘better’ than ourselves and to look to others ‘good’ above our own. The ESV, on the other hand, calls us to consider others ‘more significant’ and to look to others ‘interestes’.

Now, I don’t know if this is the best way to translate this verse, but I love the sentiment which we know is good from reading the rest of scripture. Especially the concept of ‘interests’ rather than just ‘good’.

As Christians, it’s good for us to place ourselves in the shoes of our brothers and sisters in Christ. To take the things they enjoy and the things that are important to them and care about them ourselves as well. In any relationship, this is a way big that we show love to one another. By taking notice and care for other people’s interests and passions.

When I was new Christian, I often wondered at the seeming lack of dramatic miraculous happenings. Healings. Exorcisms. Resurrections. They are talked about so much in the New Testament and often in the Old Testament that it appeared to be a major disconnect. And today, I still regularly hear people wonder at this very same thing.

And sure, there are still places and situations where these miraculous things take place. But they are far from the norm and though I’ve heard the arguments that it’s our national church’s deficiency to blame, I’m very much unconvinced.

What to me, is more surprising is that most of us miss the truly incredible, totally wild, thing that happens every day: the forgiveness of God’s enemies and their immediate resurrection from spiritual death into spiritual life. Then, their subsequent ascent into submission to Christ.

In Luke 5:20-24 Jesus is in a crowded room teaching. A paralyzed man is unable to reach him for healing, so some friends lower him through the roof. Most of us know the story. When the man finally reaches Jesus, this is what the scripture says:

And when he saw their faith, he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the man who was paralyzed—"I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home."

Now, the statement Jesus makes is not primarily that forgiving sins is greater than healing of the physical body. It’s more about his own supremacy. But the point comes across anyway.

We are apt to look around and feel a lack of legitimacy when we don’t see miraculous happenings around us. But I think that if Jesus would respond to this right now, he would marvel at how quickly we overlook what is truly impressive. I think he would say something like, “You want to see miracles, but you’ve missed the greatest miracle I’ve performed. Your very own salvation.”

Thomas Watson, one of my favorite Puritans, writes this simple yet inspiring thought:

Read the scripture, not only as a history, but as a love-letter sent to you from God.

Some read the word solely as a means to understand and develop theology. Others, as a means to know what they should and shouldn’t do. Others, only to know what has happened in the past, according to Christian and Jewish tradition.

The intention of the Word isn’t less than these, but it is also a great deal more.

We should approach it, as Watson says, like a ‘love letter’. Not necessarily in the literal sense, but in spirit. What we read, was not only an intellectual work to be studied—a textbook. But it was intended for us so that we would be deeply affected and moved in the most sensitive regions of our soul. If we accept it as anything less than it really is, we miss more than we are gaining.

Puritan Henry Smith writes:

All are not saved by Christ’s death, but all which are saved are saved by Christ’s death; His death is sufficient to save all, as the sun is sufficient to lighten; but if any man wink, the sun will not give him light.

The sufficiency of Christ’s death is what is key, not necessarily the intention.

Like the sun’s illumination, Christ’s death bathes all mankind in the opportunity to see, and understand and believe and be saved. Even though there are a huge number of people who will walk though life with their eyes tightly shut, there are still many who will not.

During prayer last night a friend prayed for someone that they would be able to “continue their relationship with God.” The phrase is apt. We most certainly must have a relationship with God. There’s no question about it.

But what struck me was how that phrasing may have, over time, diluted the real concept behind it.

Now, as the friends I was praying with said, you may think that I’m simply nitpicking an arbitrary thing the church uses in its regular vernacular. But I still think that it’s a bit more significant than that. Although well within the grey area.

See, every other thing in our lives which we would describe as having a ‘relationship with’, pales in comparison to what is expected of our relationship with God. I have a relationship with my Dog. I have a relationship with my friends. I have a relationship with my family. Perhaps the closest we come is our relationship with our wife or husband. But even that, at least in today’s culture, is really not even close.

Our relationship with God is actually to encompass absolutely every aspect of our lives. Our thoughts, feelings, actions, decisions. Not a single one is to be outside that relationship with God. Even in marriage, there are some things that remain personal, albeit nowhere near as many as any other relationship. But with God, there isn’t even a single one. If anything, it shouldn’t be, “Do you have a relationship with Christ”, but “Do you have the relationship with Christ”.

But, I think it may be that the word ‘relationship’ simply isn’t strong enough. The term is too broad. And, to use it so consistently to describe what it is between us and God may actually help to numb things that ought to be sensitive.

I submit that a better word may be ‘servitude’ or even ‘slavery’. In scripture, we are repeatedly called to be ‘slaves of Christ’. This is difficult for some people to swallow since those words hold a lot of weight for other reasons. But it’s clearly a powerful metaphor and one that may serve us as a church better than what we currently employ.

But regardless of what words we use to describe it, we have to remember the point is total submission to, trust in, and love for Jesus Christ.

People have a lot of different ideas about God and Jesus and the Christian life. Many of them may not necessarily be right, but people can still have a fruitful walk while believing and adhering to them. The rightness or wrongness of our theology isn’t what makes us Christians. God makes us Christians through our faith in his redeeming power.

But I think there is at least one disposition that is a kind of prerequisite. Whether it’s understood with this language, or in a less concrete or intellectual sense.

It’s from the end of Job where God is rebuking Job and his friends for their presumptuous attitudes.

“Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
    Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine”

Christians must believe that God is all and that we have no claim that we can stake before him. We cannot believe that God owes us something. This would be contrary to grace, which is the only ground our salvation stands on.