The State of Leaving

"Breaking up is hard to do", says good old song. We are not breaking up, just moving, internationally. We have been living a time of changes, saying goodbyes, packing, unpacking, looking through our stuff and choosing which we want and which to be thrown away. It isn't easy, and we already hope that this period of time will be over.

Yes, it will be over. Every day is closer to the final move, and the transition is always only transition.

Leaving a place is all about inventory, whether be it material or mental garage of life. The moments of joy and sorrow, familiar buildings and surroundings, precious friends, wonderful family (also church family!), everyday meals, nominal routines... Let them be, let them be. Life will continue without us, everything will move on.

We won't, the life of now stays in our minds as a still picture, which we will treasure and zoom in to look at whenever missing home. We will enter another sphere, new rhythm and melody, our life will join the millions of other people in the busy metropolis of China.

What do we take with us? The still picture of current life, the pain of transition, and the excitement of new life.
What do we leave behind us? The possibilities we did not live out, the Finnish childhood Viivi will not have, the events in friends' and family's lives we will miss, and the steady life that would have continued.

Regrets? Life does not give opportunity to regret. There is no if, there is no but. Life goes on, the state of leaving is part of it, and we live through it.

During these times, the words of Paul comforts me:
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Paul's Letter to Philippians 1:20-21)

Let it be a transition that exalts Christ, let it be a change that glorifies Jesus. To live is Christ, He does not change.

Living by faith includes leaving by faith. No matter where we are, we long for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefor God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

In that heavenly country, we will rejoice forever. No need to transit, no need to leave.

Ja "hyvästi" -sanaa ei tunnetakaan. ("Viimeiset veneet", Lasse Heikkilä)

SLR: Christ - the Answer for All Things

The emergence of various new religious movements in Western society during the past decades have produced imminent shadows over the orthodox Christianity and especially the faith of individual Christians. Among the various new movements there are challenges from traditional religions such as Islam and Buddhism, as well as vast amount of "new" movements ranging from New Age to Theosophy, Transcendental Meditation to Unification church. Unfortunately the main stream churches are not responding to these challenges, mainly neglecting their existence or relying on active individuals to produce apologetics for Christianity.

The most challenging new movements that affect Christian individuals seem to be pseudo-Christian beliefs, for example Jehovah's Witnesses, Unity School of Christianity, and a diversity of legalistic Messianic Jewish teachings. Most of the "new" movements are not new in themselves, but reflect the ideologies from Arianism, Gnosticism, Eastern Mystics, and salvation through deeds. The answer to all these ideologies lies in the person of Jesus Christ, and the letter to Colossians is Paul's way of presenting this solution.

Paul attacks the word fullness (pleroma), which was frequently used by false teachers to present their ideologies, by presenting Christ as the fullness of God in creation (1:15-18), fullness of God in redemption (1:19-23), and fullness of God in the church (1:24-2:7). Creation is upheld by Christ and under His authority, redemption is fully accomplished by Christ and only through Him, and the church exists only because Christ is the head of it. No other ideologies or doctrines are needed, Christ is the fullness of these things and His followers should:
2:6-8 ... continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Paul then continues to present Christ as the answer to human philosophy (2:8-10), warning against Jewish legality (2:13-17), cure against oriental mysticism (2:18-19), and rebuke against carnal asceticism (2:21-3:1). It is amazing that despite the clear warnings of the Bible, moderns Christians still fall away into human philosophy, Jewish legality and New Age ideology. It looks like Christians are saying that Christ is not enough, they need something more, something better to make their lives worth living. The saddest situation is when all backsliding is done in the sincere purpose of glorifying God and seeking to find the "lost truth" that would cure all problems of church.

Paul depicts Christ as the Full Knowledge (epignosis), indicating that in His simplicity He is the true knowledge, the glorious mystery of God: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (1:27). If a Christian thinks that this is not enough, he can stray into human wisdom or Jewish legality, which provide seemingly good answers to spiritual growth and maturity, but eventually turns out to be hollow and shallow compared to the firm assurance provided by Christ. Paul exhorts us (3:15-17):

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. 
And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


For the modern people involved in new religious movements, Christ still offers the best solution to your problems of sin, frustration of continuous failures, cynical view on life, and vanity of all affairs. Compared to Hindu/Buddhist world view Christ offers hope of salvation and an active attitude to deal with life. Compared to Chinese wisdom and world view Christ offers not only high ethical standards, but the power and means to achieve and keep them. For the animists living in constant fear and uncertainty, Christ offers joy of life and freedom from all fear and bondage. For the materialistic modern man, Christ offers freedom to choose differently, real value for life, and the love that penetrates thickest doubts and criticism.


My message to you is: Christ is real, not fake. He is the resurrected Lord of all creation, and He wants to be the Lord of your life as well. Will you submit to His superiority and surrender your limited wisdom and knowledge into His use? Will you give Him a chance to manifest His great love and power into your life? Do not be tempted by the wonderful promises of new religious movements or traditional religions, they do not contain the fullness of life. 


Jesus said: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 7:37, 4:14).

Sources used:
Robertson, Irvine. 1991. What the Cults Believe. Chicago, Illinois: The Moody Bible Institute.
Stewart, James A. 1965. Christ is All - Studies in Colossians. Philadelphia, PA: Revival Literature.
Tenney, Merrill C. 1985. New Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.


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