Who's Your Rahab?

I've been thinking about giants and Rahabs and wilderness living…

In our walk with God, we yearn for the day when we reach our destination.  Our promised land.  But, yet, I see in the modern church culture the same fear of giants the Israelites experienced.

Our giants look different. 

They resemble giant corporations that spew hatred towards Christianity while promoting acceptance, love and world peace. 

It looks like the church down the street that doesn’t hold the same values as ours…sending us into avoidance, competition, slander and self-destruction.  But, boy, do we all love our Jesus.

Today’s giants are the voices that promote fear, proclaim shame and announce doom.  These voices stir Believers to an action that sends us straight back to the wilderness.

Boycott!

Turn!

Run!

And then there’s Rahab.

Yes, we know the Isrealite's future was in God's hands… but from their side of history, they only knew they had to trust that Rahab hadn't ratted them out. 

Imagine placing your life… your future… your promise from God into the hands of a harlot.

Gasp!

Instead, we refuse to dirty our hands with the least of these.  We tsk, tsk over their shameful way of life and pray our sweet Jesus will come quickly and save us from this old sinful world.

I get it.  Trust me, I get it.

I get tired of giving up my time, my resources, my comfort.  I get nervous about stepping into the land of giants.  I don’t want to hang out with Rahab.  But do we really expect people to live and love like Christ… without having Him in their life?

There’s a promised land on the horizon, and avoiding conflict sends me back to the wilderness…leaving the giants to enjoy my promise… and leaves Rahab without a Redeemer.

What does claiming Jericho look like?

It means trusting God no matter where He leads you.  It means loving the unlovable.   It means praying blessing over those who despise you…something that, admittedly, doesn’t feel good in my mouth. 

But in the end, it changes…it changes me.

Avoidance has been the name of the game too long.  My whole life this has been the Christian mantra – if a business reportedly supported something bad, BOYCOTT! 

We’ll show them!

But stop and think about it.  What are we showing them?  We’re showing them the opposite of who Jesus is.

He came to serve and to love.

He gave unselfishly – even to those who would betray Him.

Imagine shaking off the self-righteous, condescending, pious approach, and instead going inside the walls of your Jericho and finding someone to love… someone who has nothing but a messy, broken life to give in return.

Does refusing to extend love and grace really win them over in the end anyway?  Or is it more about keeping our garments unspotted from the filth of this world.

Truth is, you can live in the wilderness.  You can build a shelter, eat manna and dream of the good things you enjoyed back in Egypt.  Ahh.. the good ole days… when you were… living in bondage… yeah.. those days.

But then there’s Jericho.

The place where God has called you to.  You see, we beg God to show us His will for our lives… but at the first sign of discomfort, we cave.

Yes, there are rivers to cross, giants to face, and you may have to befriend the town harlot.  But if that’s what God uses to get us to our promised land, why would we question Him?

The world has seen what it looks like for the body of Christ to remain on the banks of the Jordan…and they’re laughing.   We’ve showed them what powerless Christianity looks like… maybe it’s time to show them a new kind of Christian. 

The kind that crosses over into the land of giants, loves the unloveable, extends peace, offers hope and lives fearless… because we know that God is ultimately in control.