Straight Talk about What Matters

WORD FROM THE CENTER:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Welcome to “Word from The Center” MONDAY, a devotional word from the Center of our faith, Jesus Christ, with reflections on His Word. I’m Gregory Seltz. Today’s verses are Hebrews 9:27-28, where the Bible says,   

 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Straight Talk about What Matters

Brutal facts. We all have some brutal facts to face in life, facts that must be overcome for our own well-being and freedom. Such facts might be the troubles (even the elections) of the day. They might be the obstacles we face in life, whether those are under our control or out of our control. But this Bible verse goes further, telling us about the ultimate “brutal fact” of life. Because of our sin, all people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment. That’s a sobering thought for sure. But that final fact, if faced in Christ, can change your life both then, as well as here and now.

His name was James Stockdale. He was the highest-ranking Naval officer ever to be held in captivity. Worse, he was held in the “Hanoi Hilton” during the Viet Nam War and the facts of that captivity were completely brutal. He was shackled in a 3x9 foot solitary confinement cell with a single light bulb shining both day and night. By the time he was released in 1973, his shoulders had been pulled from their sockets by torture, his legs had been shattered, and his back had been broken. These were the brutal facts of the price he paid fighting for our freedom. But these were also facts to be overcome for his freedom.

When asked how anyone could survive seven years of such torture, he recounted what is today known as the “Stockdale Paradox.” It was his undying faith in the “end of the story of his life,” rather than the issues of the moment. He said,

I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also, that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.

And that wasn’t merely wishful thinking or the power of positive thinking. No. When Stockdale was then asked to describe who those were that didn’t make it through the ordeal of captivity, he replied,

Oh, that's easy, the optimists. They were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.

Stockdale emphasized another crucial point:

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

As powerful as the “Stockdale Paradox” might be, there is an even greater power for you today. I call it the “Cross of Christ Paradox.” Faith in the future, in the “good end of the story,” gives power to live today. Such faith must be rooted in something (or, really, someone) that’s real, that faces the brutal facts of reality, and that also gives life and salvation in the midst of it all. The writer of Hebrews says that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ did just that! In His death the God/Man Jesus faced the brutal realities of this sinful world in their fullest form so that His gift of life might be your certain future no matter what you face today. That’s the powerful paradox of life and salvation that come through the cross of Jesus.

It’s amazing to think of the power of the “Stockdale Paradox” today and how that might bless your life. But I encourage you not to stop there. Also trust in the “Cross of Christ Paradox,” God at work in this world to overcome all that is against you. May that powerful paradox truly bless your life now and forever.

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for Your willingness to leave heaven and enter our sinful world, to die once and for all in our place so that we might be saved. Give me faith to trust in that powerful, paradoxical reality as I seek to live boldly in Your Name today, for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. AMEN

[1] http://www.isharelight.com/the-stockdale-paradox/

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Jack Phillips