You Can Let Go of Worry in this Landscape if You Are Secure in the Invisible Landscape

Is it a contradiction to be concerned about food security and not worry about having enough food at the same time?

Last Sunday I sent out a post about how God feeds the birds and how Jesus said if we trust him, we don’t need to worry about food either. On Thursday I realized some of you may have thought that was an odd post coming from a guy who is obviously concerned enough about food security to write about attempts to remove ruminants from our diet, how a giant shift to renewable diesel will undermine our food supply, and how the Ukraine conflict will put many people in the world in danger of famine.

Is concern over situations that result in people experiencing poverty and starvation a contradiction to faith that God provides for those who are trusting in him? When Jesus promised that people who prioritize his kingdom don’t need to worry about food and clothes, was he being realistic? Especially in a world with war and uneven distribution of resources - sometimes purposely misallocated resources? Did Jesus know what he was talking about, or was he naïve, or maybe he was just nuts? And if I’m secure in my food each day because he has my back, why do I care about people on other continents (or on the other side of town)?

I’ve been mulling these things over for a long time and I don’t believe it is a contradiction at all. I want to share some of my mullings with you if you are interested. These are legitimate questions for us to ask, and they require some deep answers. I cannot begin to tackle all of this in one post. I think it will take a series of posts to scratch the surface of such an enormous inquiry.

I believe we have to start with an understanding that there are two landscapes. The apostle Paul refers to these in a couple of his letters:

Colossians 3:2 (ESV): Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV): . . . as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

The fact that there is a spiritual landscape, besides the physical landscape that we all see, changes everything once we are able to “see” it.

Recently departed Dallas Willard put it this way, “You are an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God’s great universe.” Wow. If life is more than just what we can accumulate and accomplish before our physical body stops functioning, that changes everything!

In next weekend’s post, I want to explore what Jesus is offering to us and how he says we can receive it. Life in his kingdom with him now. We don’t have to wait until we die to live with him in the kingdom of the heavens.

If you sincerely doubt there is a spiritual landscape or perhaps think that even if it does exist, you have serious misgivings about Christianity, you might check out Confronting Christianity, 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion, by Rebecca McLaughlin (Cambridge: 1998-01 B.-Eng. Lit.; 2002-05 PhD-Eng. Lit.) Crossway, 2019.Link