Some Stories From Russia

Weighed down by guilt……

Recently I (Dan) sat down with an old friend to catch up on life etc.... After a while the conversation took an unexpected turn. My friend began to talk about how guilt has shaped him as a person.

“I feel weighed down by Guilt. Sometimes it feels as if all my life I have had this incredible burden that presses down on me,” he said.

When I asked how this effected his life he responded. “It makes me doubt myself in all kinds of situations. My culture, my parents, my in-laws, everyone seems to criticize me on a regular basis. I don’t know what to do about it. It is not just me by the way, many of my friends feel the same way. It feels as if guilt is a big chain weighing everyone down.”

This man had been a Christian for well over 10 years, so I was surprised to hear this. I inquired about forgiveness from God and the freedom from guilt that Jesus brings into our lives, but he just looked at me dejectedly and said “forgiveness and freedom- those are just words to me.”

Based on this conversation I incorporated some teachings on guilt and freedom in Christ into one of my sermons this past week, repeating some of what my friend had said. Afterwards several other people come up to me and said that they could easily identify with those feelings - they feel the same way.

Talking to people about guilt and its influence is something that seems to keep popping up in my conversations. One thing I have learned is that I can never assume just because someone goes to church, reads their Bible, and prays along side of me, that they have experienced the freedom that comes with knowing Jesus. My friend is a mature Christian, yet he feels trapped. The Biblical truths that I shared with him had no magical effect, they did not free him immediately from the trappings of guilt. I am not sure exactly why. I am sure that the reasons are complex. One thing that he did emphasize is that these feelings began as a child, and have been reinforced over and over again all throughout his life, via most of the key relationships he has ever had.

Drunken Interruptions…

As Lucy mentioned earlier, last week I was preaching in church on spiritual warfare when a drunk man started to interrupt me by shouting out various questions. When, after being politely asked to stop he kept shouting out his questions, he was forcefully removed from the sanctuary. To be honest, I am not used to being heckled during one of my sermons. I was rattled by the scene and had a difficult time concentrating further as my thought kept going back to the man. This proved to be a good object lesson as to the creative ways that the devil wants to distract us from what God calls us to do. This was not a random person that wandered into the congregation. This is a man whose wife and children are church members and who were present. I felt for her and the shame that she endured throughout the rest of the service. The church was well aware of her situation, many had confronted this man in the past on how he treated/abused his family. At the end of the service the Pastor Ilya got up and said “I am not sure that we handled this the right way today. But I want you to know (and he turned to the wife) that we are your family, that we want to support you. We also want to love [this man] as Christ loves him. I do not know how we do that, but part of it has to do with what Dan spoke about today when he said that our battle is not against flesh and blood.” This was an example to us about how a congregation faces the struggles and pain that confront them, not sure how to go forward, but acknowledging that they must do it together rather than as individuals. It was also a vivid reminder that alcoholism is a real force for evil and destruction in this country.

Remaining hopeful…..

Lucy and I recently had a long conversation with Ilya and Anya over dinner that stretched into the evening. After discussing for quite awhile about the mistakes the church makes, Lucy asked us “So how do we remain hopeful about the church?” My first response was “Our hope is not in ourselves or the church, it is in Christ. He has a plan and we need to trust that it (his plan) is moving forward. Even if the Christian institutions that we help to form fail or disappear, that will never change the fact that lives were changed, people were saved by what Christ has already done through us.” This lead Ilya to comment on how recently he has noticed and felt deeply the brokenness and suffering around him; he has prayed “God why have you shown me all this brokenness if I can’t seem to do anything about it?” He felt the response he got from God was this: “I have called you to be a Pastor; to teach, equip, and train people to be Christian doctors, artists, musicians, school teachers, factory workers and business managers. So that my light can shine through them and I can heal the brokenness in the world.” Ilya went onto comment how God had helped to deepen his love for his congregation, these particular people who are the people God has chosen for him to shepherd and lead (regardless of whether he would have chosen them!).

Here are some ways you can join in on these conversations and pray:

• Pray that our friends will experience the freedom from guilt that Christ offers. Pray that God’s truth will overcome all of the false ideas that have been ingrained in their identities.
  
• Pray for the man who interrupted the sermon and for his family. Pray that God will invade this man’s life and free him from his addiction. Pray that his actions will not isolate this women and her children from the congregation but rather they would find the help and encouragement they need in this community. Pray that God will help the whole church understand how they can be a family for this women and her kids. Pray for healing and protection for this family - and for Russia - from the effects of alcoholism.
  
• Pray that God will strengthen Ilya and Anya to be shepherd’s for the people God has given them. Pray that God will use this small group of believers to have a huge healing effect on the city of Chelyabinsk.

Dan