By Martin Carey
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer 29:11).
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most treasured texts in all of Scripture, where God promises His people happiness and prosperity. The greater story around this text is much richer than just a promise for prosperity, and to find the “welfare” God intends for us, we need the bigger story.
The year was 586 BC when in one bloody night, Jerusalem, the city of peace, became a catastrophe. The two year siege of widespread starvation and death abruptly ended when Nebuchadnezzar’s invading army broke through the walls and overran the city. When King Zedekiah heard the wall was breached, he gathered his army and deserted his city and its people, and fled through a gap in the wall. Nebuchadnezzar’s sentries sounded the alarm, and they hotly pursued. The Judean army was caught a few miles away on the Plains of Jericho where many more died, and the rest scattered like rabbits.
Zedekiah was captured and brought before the Babylonian king (2 Kings 25:1-7). Nebuchadnezzar knew Zedekiah well, for when he conquered Judah in 597 BC, he had placed Zedekiah on the throne to cooperate with Babylon. When Zedekiah rebelled and made a pact with Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar returned to punish his unruly vassal nation. The sentence was heavy: Zedekiah was forced to watch while his young sons were killed. Then his eyes were put out, and he was dragged off to Babylon in chains. Thousands of Israelites had already been marched off to Babylon, and many more followed. Five years later, Nebuchadnezzar’s captain returned to Jerusalem, killed the priesthood, burned the temple, and tore down the city’s walls. Judah as a nation was no more (2 Kings 25:8-12; 18-21).
God had warned Jerusalem of Nebuchadnezzar’s final invasion and told them they would be captives in Babylon for 70 years. The people rejected that message and listened to a popular false prophet. Hananiah was very reassuring—God would bring them back from Babylon after two years and temple services would be restored. This was a false hope, and God spoke again through Jeremiah: Nebuchadnezzar was given dominion over the world, and they would serve his city for the full duration of time (Jer. 28).
With their nation destroyed, the Jewish exiles must have felt that God had rejected them and all hope was lost. But there was hope. Before that final and awful siege, Jeremiah had written a letter that was carried to Babylon for the thousands of exiles there. Their time in Babylon was not in vain:
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer. 29:4-7).
“Can any blessings come to us in Babylon?” the exiles must have wondered. After all, Israel was their homeland, their place of peace, prosperity, and blessing, and not in that cursed heathen land. But they were not doomed, God told them He sent them there, and He was still with them.
There are no ugly, evil places anywhere on earth where God’s power to bless is weaker. Nebuchadnezzar’s world domination and Israel’s captivity were both under divine control. We are reminded of Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill: God had allotted the times and places for all the nations, that they might seek Him (Acts 17:25, 26).
Seek the city’s welfare
Now God told the exiles to “seek the welfare of the city.” The Hebrew word here is shalom—peace and prosperity. They were to seek the city’s peace and pray on their behalf, for this is how they would find their own shalom. The welfare of Israel and Babylon were linked together by God. This would have been confusing to the ancient Jews, ever surrounded by enemies. How can perpetually helpless victims seek the peace of their enemies?
Centuries before, Moses warned Israel not to help the Ammonites and Moabites, nations who had treated them badly: “You shall not seek their peace or prosperity all your days forever” (Deut. 23:6). And now they were to work and pray for their worst enemies, the Babylonians. It’s hard to hate people you are praying for. Six hundred years later, someone said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:43-45).
As Christians we are also strangers and exiles on earth (Heb. 11:13; 1Pet. 1:17). Speaking of the ancient believers, Hebrews 11 tells us,
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
Now, in 2018, how can Christians describe themselves? Tim Keller suggests that Christians consider themselves “resident aliens” to describe their dual residencies. These are “foreign national(s) living on an official basis in a country of which they are not a citizen.”1 Christian identity has meanings beyond our birth country or genealogy. We are not native to this world as permanent residents. On the other hand, we are not merely tourists who are passing through without getting involved. We immerse ourselves as citizens, living in local communities to help them flourish.
In the Bible, Babylon is a symbol of the corrupt city of man that has set itself against God with false religions (Rev. 18:1-3). How then can Christians seek its peace and prosperity?
Firstly, we live what we are, as sent into world by God’s gracious design. Jesus said we are not of this world, but prayed for us as He sends us into the world (Jn.17). Naturally, we want to stay safe, and this has often meant separating from the world and living in a separate Christian society. Historically, isolated Christian communities have had many moral and social problems, demonstrating that our greatest moral problems lie within us. Nevertheless, Christians have tended to gather into political and ethnic fortresses, places where tribes can feel comfortable while looking other tribes with suspicion.
Christians can also fall into the Jonah Syndrome. We have been called to carry a gospel of grace with hands of mercy into the pagan city, and we hold back. It is more comfortable to sit outside and hope for God’s well-deserved judgment to fall.
Of course, it’s easy to mock Jonah. In his book, he makes quite a fool of himself, and growing up hearing his story, or watching the Veggie Tales version, Jonah is not a serious story. However, when we understand his perspective, the story comes close to home.
Jonah grew up in northern Galilee, 5 miles from Nazareth. His village, Gath-Hepher, was repeatedly raided by the Assyrian army, famous for their brutality. Burning and pillaging were not enough for them. They would also torture their captives, cut off body parts and stack them like wood, and hang their living victims up on tall sharp poles for all to see. Jonah had likely seen such atrocities and had ample reason to wish God’s wrath on the Assyrians and their capital city, Nineveh.
We may want God’s judgment (or bombs) to fall on deserving cities, and we are tempted to sit aloof in our own angry little Jonah booths. Like in Jonah’s time, God is still gracious and wants to spare the city so His grace can reach them. His grace may also appoint a little worm to destroy our booths of judgment and remind us that we don’t do well to be angry!
As resident exiles in Babylon, what can we do to help them flourish? Here in the United States, our social, political, and familial systems are failing. Community spirit is disappearing, public trust is crumbling. Citizens are dividing into angry tribes. Our cities need gracious, Spirit-led people to serve the neighborhoods full of lonely, broken, despairing people. Instead of looking for a bigger political sledge hammer, we can look more for ways to build up communities and institutions, wherever we are. Resident aliens of Christ do politics differently. We know America is not our Promised Land, even though we strive to protect and celebrate our country. Sadly, America will fall at God’s appointed time, just like the other nations. We seek a city whose founder and builder is God (Heb. 11:10).
A Christians psychologist’s observation
My own work as a school psychologist in Moreno Valley can illustrate. Our office offers solutions for the most troubled students in the district. I work with at team of social workers, therapists, and educators, and very diverse in their beliefs and values. A few profess Christ.
State and federal laws demand that we provide an education for every child, no matter what their problems are. This can become very expensive for the most disturbed and unruly kids. We try less restrictive solution first, then if needed, big interventions that cost $120,000 per year. This could mean placing them in a locked facility out of state. Admittedly, those placements are not always successful for our kids. My job is to provide a thorough assessment of the child’s educational, medical, and family history to find what is needed. We then meet with the parents and school and write a contract called an IEP.
How severe are these student’s problems? When a 14-year-old girl refuses to attend school, is violently defiant when her mom tries to set limits, uses sharp objects to cut herself, advertises herself on social media to strange men, and runs away for days at a time, someone needs to step in to take control. We may not succeed in saving her, but we must try.
Who failed these kids? Your answers are probably on the mark—chaotic abusive families, abandonment, drugs and alcohol, bad neighborhoods, etc. These families do not have real community support, such as church, and are very isolated from those who can help. We can seek the welfare of the city by battling that isolation, and that includes inviting to church. However, help is often secular involving public institutions, as ineffective as they are. They are our neighbors, too.
Paul told us that we are to submit to the secular authorities, pay honor and taxes, and live peaceable lives. We are not asked to build a safe and separate Christian society. We were taught, dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone and heed God’s command. Daniel was brave, but he also became the chief of the Magi. He did his job so well, his enemies could find no fault with him. Being a Daniel was much more than avoiding unclean food. That required him to obey their rules and work within their system.
You might ask, “You’re a school psychologist and a Christian. How can you be both? Psychology and Christianity don’t mix!” It is true, I can seldom pray with them or share Scripture with families. When I became a Christian 35 years ago, I was already a psychotherapist. I had to reevaluate everything I believed in. Many ideas had to be changed or tossed. Psychological theories have some truth, but do not acknowledge God and offer only human solutions. Psychiatric diagnoses, those found in the DSM-V, assume that psychological problems are functions of the brain, body, genetics, environment, and social influences. Moral and spiritual explanations are missing, and there is no place for God. We have souls, something psychology cannot understand.
Christians know that we have both bodies and souls. We cannot just treat mental problems as medical problems and expect health. Because we have souls that are spiritual, our problems are also moral.
Some Christians view mental problems as only moral or spiritual problems, and deny the existence of real mental illness. Does Bible describe mental illness, such as severe depression? Consider Psalm 88:
“My soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength…Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless…darkness is my only friend.”
Alone, despairing, weeping, feeling everyone is against him. This describes depression.
A devoted Christian once said: “It is all very well for those who are in robust health and full of spirits to blame those whose lives are sicklied over with the pale cast of melancholy, but the evil is as real as a gaping wound…(although) it appears to be a mere matter of fancy and diseased imagination. Reader, never ridicule the [depressed]; their pain is real. Though much of the evil lies in the imagination, it is not imaginary.”2 That was Charles Spurgeon.
Christians suffering mental afflictions should not be stigmatized as spiritually suspect or dangerous. They need our love and support.
What can a Christians do for secular clients? We see that secular therapies operate as functional atheism. They are a mixture real science, speculation, and some common grace from God. God works for suffering people even through human foolishness. For our suffering neighbor, it is always right to listen, to show concern, to give honest, loving feedback, and to look for sincere ways to help them. We can also tell them we are praying for them. Consistent love to them will draw them into deeper, more honest conversations about what is truly important.
In Job 16, the suffering man describes his advocate and friend in heaven. Glen Scrivener points out that Job’s intercessor also describes the good human comforter:
- A witness who sees us when we’re stricken;
- An advocate who defends us when we’re abandoned;
- An intercessor who prays for us when our prayers have run dry;
- A friend who hopes for us when we no longer have hope for ourselves.
This is what good friends—even professionals—can provide. Best of all, our Lord Jesus does all these things for us. 3 In Gethsemane, He said, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.”
Conclusion
In summary, here are five things I learned while serving as a Christian in the Public Schools:
God’s care is not just local and occasional. He plants us where He wants and blesses our work there, regardless of how bad things may seem. He gives us our work to do (Eph. 2:10).
We serve our earthly masters with a sincere heart, not just for “eye service”, not just to look good while I secretly despise them in my heart (Eph. 6:5-9). We are to serve “with a good will” with the grace He gives us.
Every day ask yourself, “Who is my neighbor?” It isn’t easy. Some days I look at the people across the meeting table or driving around rough parts of town, and I see people I want to exclude. Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves. Pray for that miracle.
We are resident aliens; this is not our turf, we have no territory to defend. There will be competitive colleagues, factions, and resentments. Dare to be a Daniel, but mostly we will listen carefully and submit to better wisdom. When there is conflict and our work is questioned, we stay humble and give it into our Lord’s hands.
No matter what we are asked to do or how meaningless it seems, our labor is for the Lord and is never in vain. He will give its final meaning and worth (1Cor. 15:58). Remember, for those who trust in Christ, no work is ever wasted. So for the most under-appreciated tasks in the most hostile environments, we can “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
We work for Him, so we can serve the city with a glad and true heart. †
References
1. Online Dictionary, “Resident Alien,” Google Search.
2. Charles H. Spurgeon, Quoted in “Hope in the Darkness of Mental Illness”, Glen Scrivenier, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/hope-in-the-darkness-of-mental-illness/
3.Glen Scrivener, Ibid.
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