The Lies That Shape Us

Overwhelmed by responsibilities you’ve taken on?  Do you desire greater significance?  Have you said, “There must be more to my faith than what I am experiencing?”

Jesus tells two parables in Matthew 13 about the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in a field.  While you are trespassing, you stumble across it and realize it is worth more than all you possess.  You promptly liquidate all your assets, purchase that field and now have more resources than you could ever have imagined. Complete freedom.  Asset rich, cash rich.

Parable #2 The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  He finds one and sells everything he has to possess it.      It sounds very similar to the first.        

~  Look again  ~

#1 The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure in a field

#2 The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking...

#1 Asset Rich ~ Cash Rich

#2 Asset Rich ~ Cash Poor

In the second parable, the Kingdom of Heaven is not about the pearl.  It is about the merchant.  Who determines the value of the pearl?  What does the pearl have to do to become valuable?

Who is the Pearl?

Who is the Merchant?

our answer will reveal how you approach life; how you approach God; how you view yourself.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

Can you believe what you are reading?

Having recently returned from a week in Haiti, I discovered that most Haitians are decedents of Africans forced into slavery. That history still leaves its mark.

Sitting with 15 leaders from a little congregation, I asked the question, “Who is the pearl?”

Stunned silence.  Two worldviews collided: Slavery vs. Pearl. “Who is the pearl?”  ~  Silence. 

“We are? We are.” One whispered

“Who is the merchant?”

They couldn’t speak it.  Slowly a young woman began to point to the ceiling. “God?”

The room felt the weight of the Spirit of God; like a heavy blanket falling on our shoulders.  Every person was literally bowed, wrapped in its revelation. 

Is it possible for a person, a culture, a people to believe a lie for centuries, never knowing the truth?  “Is it possible that we are actually pearls of great value and not defined by slavery?” 

Is it possible that every person is a pearl of great value? Is that the message of Christ? For so long we have been only sinners needing to be saved. What if we are actually pearls who have lost our true identity?  How would that truth change us? If we are all pearls, would that explain one of God’s reasons for praying for those who persecute you?  Could that be why God invites you to love your enemy?  Would that be the foundation upon which the two great commands rest?

Maybe so...

Do you know who you are?  Do you know that your value is not determined by what you do? Have you ever been told that it is God who declared you precious?  

You are not required to do anything in order for you to be declared precious. 

The consequences of not knowing how precious you are will result in years of wasted striving; years of guilt and condemnation.  

Are we sinners?  We are pearls who sin.  God’s invitation is to see ourselves defined by his definition.  Believe it. You are precious beyond measure.  When you begin to allow that truth to enter your heart and not just your mind, you will find yourself acting more like a pearl.  Your worth is a gift.  So now you are free. Those who Christ sets free are free indeed. 

You love because it’s good to love.  You love because he first loved you.  You don’t love because you have to.  You love because you are a pearl of great price.  It is in you to reflect the glory of your Creator.  If you say you love God but do not love your brother who you can see, you simply are missing the entire point.  (1 John 4:20-21)

"Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16b (NIV) 

"...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  John 10:10b (NIV)

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8 (NIV)