If Only Nicodemus Had eBay
March 21st, 2008
(By Jesse Johnson)
From the world’s perspective, Ian Usher had the perfect life. He had a relaxing job, a beautiful wife, exhilarating hobbies, and a trendy house outside of Perth, Australia. If there is such a thing as an English expatriate in Australia having achieved the American Dream, Ian was it.
His website has videos of him sky-diving, jet skiing, surfing, and snowboarding. His house has a flat-screen TV, a spa, and room for all of his toys. He has a loyal dog, and close friends.
But a few years ago this down-under dream fell apart. He and his wife divorced, and try as he might, Ian could not put his life back together again. Enter: one of the most novel ideas for dealing with disenchantment that I have ever heard of. Instead of a yard sale, Ian is having a life sale.
What could not sustain Ian is now up for bidding. Ian is going to auction off his life to the highest bidder. His house, his job, his toys, his TV’s, his computers, and his spa. The winner will get his clothes and his car, his dresser and his dog. Everything.
Even his friends, who are apparently more trusting than his employer—the employer is offering a three-month trial period for their new hire. Ian says that after this auction he will walk away with his passport and the clothes on his back, and take the next flight with an open seat on it, to start his life over.
In John chapter 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that for a man to have any hope of even seeing the kingdom of God, he had to be born again. Nicodemus asked how a person could possibly climb back inside of the womb again. It is a mistake to think Nicodemus thought Jesus was being literal (“if only I could find my mother, then how could I fit…”).
Nicodemus was not jaded by John 3:16 bumper-stickers and Billy Graham Crusades. He had not heard the term “born again” before, and was probably taking it in a way similar to Ian’s strategy. His question then is one of, “how can a man start his life over when he is old? Where do you even begin?” Nicodemus lived before the advent of e-bay, which will be Ian’s venue of choice.
Jesus’ response is good for us to consider. “Flesh produces flesh,” he said. Eric Alexander said, “What Jesus means is that starting over will not help Nicodemus. A thousand new beginnings will only produce a thousand of the same sad tales of woe.”
My best guess is that Ian’s life is worth about $500,000 Australian dollars, or $450,000 in the US. After he sells it all and boards his plane, he will be doing his best to answer Nicodemus’s question. He will be trying to start over, vainly thinking that this time it will turn out differently.
I hope someone is able to warn him that he does not need a new start, but he needs a new heart.
John 10:17
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.”
John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
1 John 3:16
“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
John 11:25
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
Philippians 1:21
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Matthew 16:24
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Mark 8:35
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
I hope and pray that you will find your life through the ressurection power that is fiound Exclusively in Messiah Jesus. I have chosen to lay down my life in order that I may receive eternal life in Him, and my life has been transformed into a pure and wonderful experience amidst my own struggles.
I have found the above Bible Scriptures to be true. That when I gave up my old ways of live and turned away from my old evils and selfish ways, He gave me a new deire and heart for serving others and loving Him.
Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
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This was posted to his website
Let us pray for his soul.
Hopefully someone will tell Ian what Jesus told Nicodemus to wrap up their conversation,
“…whoever believes in him (Jesus) will not perish but have everlasting life.”
May Ian’s new life include believing this promise.
Happy Substitutionary Atonement day folks!!
Looking forward to Resurrection Day here in North Georgia on Sunday.
God bless you all!!
Beautiful, William. Thank you.
I went to Ian’s web site and left him the link to this article.
I’m pretty certain most people have had this notion for a split second when times were tough but this is a first, from what I can tell.
I have a friend who once reminded me that our Joy rests in Christ no matter what happens thats where we find true peace. What a blessing to reflect on this when the world let’s us down which it always will.
Much of what currently passes for “biblical counseling” is nothing more than self-oriented psychotherapy with some Scripture interspersed in a futile attempt to integrate the two concepts. As a psychotherapy patient for many years, there was a time when I believed integration was possible until the Holy Spirit recently convicted me of the selfishness and pride inherent in any attempt to use His Word to either supplement or rationalize a man-made, self-centered approach to solving spiritual problems.
That said, however, I am still struggling to break free from the bondage of psychotherapy. It is a trap that has a stronghold on many, many people because it is a form of indoctrination based on our love of self, so we are naturally inclined to eagerly accept that doctrine and live our lives accordingly, worshiping the god of self instead of the one true and Holy God. It then becomes very difficult to break free, and I don’t believe we can do it without His mercy and grace.
I have been psychologized and self-esteemed to death over the years but I will never know real freedom, healing, and spiritual growth until I give this part of my life over to God completely. The Holy Spirit convicted me awhile ago that my problems stem from sin and not from a “disorder due to trauma and unmet needs” and I am very thankful and grateful that He has opened my eyes to the truth. But I will never be able to convince my therapist of that. In fact, his response has been to interpret my refusal to see this his way as yet another symptom of my disorder! But I still find it difficult to end this dependent but very artificial relationship with him because he is predictable and reliable. However, I also know that God is always predictable and reliable for He is unchanging… yet somehow I still seem to have more faith in a man than in Him, because I have a false belief that I know my therapist better than I know God. But I know this is deceptive, because I really know nothing about him at all, other than what he portrays himself to be as my therapist. “Better the devil you THINK you know” might be an almost chillingly true statement.
By studying Scripture and turning toward God, however, I have learned that there is true freedom in recognizing our sinful nature, and that is something I would never learn in psychotherapy. If we have a proper understanding of “self” according to the Bible, we will not suffer from either “low self-esteem” or sinful excessive pride. The reason I believe this is because in God’s eyes we are ALL sinners, and not one of us is a “better” or “worse” person than anyone else. Our sins may be more or fewer, and some sins may be more heinous than others in the secular world, but as fallen human beings we are all in the same boat, and our only hope is salvation through Jesus Christ.
As Christians, some of us may be more mature spiritually, some may be more discerning than others, and some may seem to struggle less with individual sin in our lives, but that does not mean we are “better” Christians. What it means is that the Holy Spirit is working to sanctify us and we are becoming more obedient and submissive to His leading. It is not of our own doing as much as it is the result of becoming more obedient in our walk with God, which runs counter to the highly prized secular values of self-sufficiency and self-pleasure.
Psychotherapy, or any kind of biblical counseling that relies on a combination of psychological principles and Scripture, can never give us this freedom to recognize our place before God and before each other because it reduces our sin to excuses and it always assumes an imbalance in power and in psychological health between the counselor and client. The counselor is in some way superior or “healthier” and the client is inferior or “disordered”, which is in sharp contrast to the true biblical model which begins with the presupposition that only Christ is superior. A true biblical counselor will not judge himself to be greater than his client, and a client who strives to be obedient to God will respond to the counselor’s godly wisdom with respect and humility because both parties will recognize their rightful standing before God. There is no “power imbalance” when both parties interact in a way that honors and glorifies God because the power and authority of the counselor, as well as the power of the client to change, come only from God.