Outside The Camp - Part 2

"Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore." - Hebrews 13:13

Jesus suffered in a way that we cannot. That is a fact. But this scripture calls us to "bear the disgrace he bore." It calls us to go to him outside the camp.

For the original recipients of this letter, this meant a departure from the old Jewish order of their upbringing. They were called to identify themselves with Christ and his cross. This was no easy task for them. It was probably easier and more respectable "inside the camp."

It is like that for us today. Very few of us are willing to leave the camp. We don't want to go outside the borders of safety and comfort. We don't want to think about the fact that there are other sheep outside of our fold. We don't like to think about the fact that outside of the camp is suffering. We know to leave the camp would mean sacrifice and possibly some sort of suffering.

But the fact remains that there are places, people, and nations that need to be told about Jesus. It is costly to go to them. But Jesus gave us an example to follow of bearing abuse so that all can be saved.

Outside The Camp – Part 1

Hebrews 13:12-14 has impacted my way of thinking. My fear is that I will not do a good job explaining to you why I feel that this scripture is so important. I fear that I will write my observations here in this blog and you, as the reader, will think something like, “Are you just NOW figuring this out?!”

I admit that I might not come up with the most earth shattering revelations about these verses. But, I hope that my thoughts will in some way open your eyes to what is really important in this world, or at least to why I do the things I do and choose the paths that I am currently choosing.

This one small section of scripture holds within it a lot of information. In fact, I find it hard to wrap my head around all of its possible implications. Therefore, throughout the life of this blog (or at least throughout the beginning of this blog’s life), I will write about Hebrews 13:12-14 in parts. Prepare for Part 1…

The original recipients of this text would probably not have needed a refresher course on Old Testament Law. Those of us reading it today, on the other hand, might not understand the significance of burning carcasses outside the camp that have recently been slaughtered at the alter. Actually, the thought of that makes me kind of sick. It’s like an episode of Dirty Jobs.

Without going into an in-depth study of OT History, let me just make the simple point that outside of the camp was unholy ground, and inside the camp was holy ground. I know that is super over simplified. But, that is one of the main things to remember at this point. We must understand this one main thing because the author of Hebrews makes a point in saying that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross happened “outside the city gate.” It happened on unholy ground…not on the holy ground where sacrifices usually took place. Once again, to us maybe that is not so shocking, but that is only because we don’t understand the significance of this concept. Hughes writes, “The location of Calvary was one of defilement, not sanctification. But the presence of God’s Holy One made holy what was previously unholy…by suffering outside the gate; moreover, Jesus identifies himself with the world in its unholiness. While we are unable to draw near to God because of our sin, God draws near to us in the person of his Holy One…”

My point in “Part 1” is simply this…I love the fact that Jesus was willing to go outside the camp for me. He did it first of all by coming to walk among us as man, and he did it by dying on the cross. I believe Jesus’ example of total self-sacrifice is one that we should follow. In future posts on this topic, I hope to write more about following Christ outside the camp.

Did I just demonstrate bad blogging etiquette by writing an extremely long blog?

"Let Us Go To Him Outside The Camp"

As I read that heading in chapter 3 of John Piper’s book, Let The Nations Be Glad, I admit that I had no idea what was coming next. In my years of study, I guess I have somehow missed this short section of the book of Hebrews. But, after I read the conclusions that Piper drew from this scripture, I quickly began to try to dig a little bit deeper into the meaning of that phrase.

You’ll read more on that later. But first, let me start off by saying…

I have been thinking about starting a blog for awhile now. But, I have also been reluctant to do so. Partly because I often times find blogs annoying and I don’t want to add to the immense amount of irritating material in the blogosphere. In fact, that word is really annoying and I promise to never use it again. Anyway, I have noticed, on the other hand, that there are a few blogs out there that I actually find useful, informative, and even entertaining. I would like this to be one of those. That’s where it gets tricky, though. You see, I don’t want to have an annoying blog, I want to have a great blog…but doesn’t everybody? Does anybody start off their blogging career by saying, “I am going to create the most useless, dull, boring, and annoying blog ever?” Of course not, because we all think we have something to contribute. I think I have something to contribute. But, do I? Who knows?

The one thing I do know is that the blogs that I find to be great are the blogs that have a purpose. They are the blogs that are informing their readers about events that are important for one reason or another. They are blogs that are keeping concerned people up to date about topics that mean something. They are blogs that are honest – sometimes funny and sometimes serious – but always honest. They are blogs that are telling a story of some kind. They are following a journey. These are the blogs that I think are contributing positively to the…um…place where blogs are posted and float around.

So, that’s what I hope this blog will be. I would like to promise to you, the reader, exciting stories, humorous anecdotes, spirit lifting tales, and impeccable grammar. Actually, I can’t really promise any of those things on a consistent basis. I do hope that you enjoy visiting here, though. And, if you get completely annoyed with this blog, please move on to something better. I would if I were you. And, I will even give you links to blogs that aren’t annoying. How considerate of me!