In If God Is Good, I share a story that John Stott tells in his book The Cross of Christ about billions of people seated on a great plain before God’s throne. Most shrank back, while some crowded to the front, raising angry voices.
“Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?” snapped one woman, ripping a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. “We endured terror... beatings... torture... death!”
Other sufferers expressed their complaints against God for the evil and suffering he had permitted. What did God know of weeping, hunger, and hatred? God leads a sheltered life in Heaven, they said.
Someone from Hiroshima, people born deformed, others murdered, each sent forward a leader. They concluded that before God could judge them, he should be sentenced to live on Earth as a man to endure the suffering they had endured. Then they pronounced a sentence:
Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Let his close friends betray him. Let him face false charges. Let a prejudiced jury try him and a cowardly judge convict him. Let him be tortured. Let him be utterly alone. Then, bloody and forsaken, let him die.
The room grew silent after the sentence against God had been pronounced. No one moved, and a weight fell on each face.
For suddenly, all knew that God already had served his sentence.
Some people can’t believe God would create a world in which people would suffer so much. Isn’t it more remarkable that God would create a world in which no one would suffer more than he?
God’s Son bore no guilt of his own; he bore ours. In his love for us, God self-imposed the sentence of death on our behalf. One thing we must never say about God—that he doesn’t understand what it means to be abandoned utterly, suffer terribly, and die miserably.
That God did this willingly, with ancient premeditation, is all the more remarkable.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Prayer is a Great Place to Begin Biblical Counseling
A great article from the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation and David Powlison:
Often I am asked, “Where should we start in bringing biblical counseling into our church?” I like to come at this question from an unusual angle—but one that builds directly on something that already happens in churches. I say, “Change the way you make prayer requests, and the way you pray for each other.” When prayer requests deal with matters of consequence, when we learn to pray for each other about the actual struggles of our souls, when prayer aligns with God’s deepest purposes, then we simultaneously are making a huge start at becoming alert, effective counselors. For example, the Bible’s prayers are rarely about health, travel mercies, finances, doing well on a test, finding a job, or the salvation of unsaved relatives. Of course, these are legitimate things to pray for, but they are a minor emphasis in Scripture. Even so, these topics typically dominate most church and small group prayer requests. They easily miss the real action of God’s dealings with his beloved people.
Often I am asked, “Where should we start in bringing biblical counseling into our church?” I like to come at this question from an unusual angle—but one that builds directly on something that already happens in churches. I say, “Change the way you make prayer requests, and the way you pray for each other.” When prayer requests deal with matters of consequence, when we learn to pray for each other about the actual struggles of our souls, when prayer aligns with God’s deepest purposes, then we simultaneously are making a huge start at becoming alert, effective counselors. For example, the Bible’s prayers are rarely about health, travel mercies, finances, doing well on a test, finding a job, or the salvation of unsaved relatives. Of course, these are legitimate things to pray for, but they are a minor emphasis in Scripture. Even so, these topics typically dominate most church and small group prayer requests. They easily miss the real action of God’s dealings with his beloved people.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
My Spouse Does Not Meet My Needs
“What if I marry someone, then I meet somebody prettier or funnier? What if they don’t fulfill me? I’m afraid I’ll become unsatisfied or discontented.”
“My husband doesn’t meet my needs. You see, I need romance and affection, and my husband just isn’t very affectionate. I need someone who can give me this.”
What’s wrong with these statements? What’s wrong is that each of these individuals has expectations that their marriage partner or future marriage partner should always and continually fulfill them.
Tim Keller, in his book The Meaning of Marriage (which I highly recommend) says,
Both men and women today see marriage not as a way of creating character and community but as a way to reach personal life goals. They are all looking for a marriage partner who will ‘fulfill their emotional, sexual, and spiritual desires.’ And that creates an extreme idealism that in turn leads to deep pessimism that you will ever find the right person to marry. This is the reason so many put off marriage and look right past great prospective spouses that simply are ‘not good enough.’
Let me repeat one phrase: “They are all looking for a marriage partner who will ‘fulfill their emotional, sexual, and spiritual desires.’”
When we have an expectation that a husband or wife fulfill us, we set ourselves up for disappointment, because no human being can satisfy another human being. To hope that another human can meet our needs is asking too much of anyone. For only Jesus can meet our needs. Only Jesus can satisfy us. Only Jesus can fulfill all our desires.
Expectations are killers.
If you come into a marriage with expectations of the other person, and then they don’t meet those expectations, you will be frustrated and unhappy. Expectations are dangerous and will always disappoint. Unless you have expectations like these – I expect:
If your spouse happens to actually appreciate, love or serve you, then praise God! It will be unexpected. The problem comes when we have expectations and then they aren’t met. Here are a few expectations you can cultivate though – of yourself:
Here’s my suggestion: Don’t look at where your spouse needs to change. Look to where you need to change. Don’t have expectations of your spouse. If you have expectations, place them on yourself.
If anyone has the right to have expectations of us it is Jesus. Ask him what he would like you to do to please your spouse. Ask him to help you and make you the biggest most cheerful servant in the house and not to worry about if anyone is serving you or not.
“My husband doesn’t meet my needs. You see, I need romance and affection, and my husband just isn’t very affectionate. I need someone who can give me this.”
What’s wrong with these statements? What’s wrong is that each of these individuals has expectations that their marriage partner or future marriage partner should always and continually fulfill them.
Tim Keller, in his book The Meaning of Marriage (which I highly recommend) says,
Both men and women today see marriage not as a way of creating character and community but as a way to reach personal life goals. They are all looking for a marriage partner who will ‘fulfill their emotional, sexual, and spiritual desires.’ And that creates an extreme idealism that in turn leads to deep pessimism that you will ever find the right person to marry. This is the reason so many put off marriage and look right past great prospective spouses that simply are ‘not good enough.’
Let me repeat one phrase: “They are all looking for a marriage partner who will ‘fulfill their emotional, sexual, and spiritual desires.’”
When we have an expectation that a husband or wife fulfill us, we set ourselves up for disappointment, because no human being can satisfy another human being. To hope that another human can meet our needs is asking too much of anyone. For only Jesus can meet our needs. Only Jesus can satisfy us. Only Jesus can fulfill all our desires.
Expectations are killers.
If you come into a marriage with expectations of the other person, and then they don’t meet those expectations, you will be frustrated and unhappy. Expectations are dangerous and will always disappoint. Unless you have expectations like these – I expect:
- That my spouse will fail in many ways.
- That my spouse will not fulfill my desires.
- That my spouse will not always try to please me.
- That my spouse may not always understand me.
- That my spouse may not always appreciate me.
- That my spouse may not love me in the way I would want.
If your spouse happens to actually appreciate, love or serve you, then praise God! It will be unexpected. The problem comes when we have expectations and then they aren’t met. Here are a few expectations you can cultivate though – of yourself:
- That I should serve my spouse and lay down my life for her/him.
- That I should seek to please my spouse.
- That I should try to listen to and understand my spouse.
- That I should seek to lay down my life for my spouse.
- That I should seek to fulfill his/her desires as best I can.
- That I should seek to love my spouse.
Here’s my suggestion: Don’t look at where your spouse needs to change. Look to where you need to change. Don’t have expectations of your spouse. If you have expectations, place them on yourself.
If anyone has the right to have expectations of us it is Jesus. Ask him what he would like you to do to please your spouse. Ask him to help you and make you the biggest most cheerful servant in the house and not to worry about if anyone is serving you or not.
Monday, March 25, 2013
The Antidote to Materialism
What is the antidote to materialism? Generosity. Easily sharing the things we have, and giving money and possessions away reminds us that they are temporal and God-given. It helps us hold them loosely and treasure Christ more than riches. Here is a list from Randy Alcorn's book on giving (Money, Possessions and Eternity). I'll just give you a snippet of his paragraphs, if you want more you'll have to find the book....
1. Give. Christians give. There are no exceptions. Not all will give the same, but all will give (2 Cor 9:7)
2. Give Generously. Love generates lavish giving.
3. Give Regularly. Unless people give systematically, they rarely give substantially.
4. Give Deliberately. We should avoid giving that is done automatically, without thought, prayer, and worship.
5. Give Voluntarily. The principle is not "give voluntarily or don't give at all," but "as your heart is moved, give voluntarily above and beyond your regular giving."
6. Give Sacrificially. Sacrificial giving is parting with what we'd rather keep.
7. Give Excellently. Like piano playing, giving is a skill. With practice, we get better.
8. Give Cheerfully. God takes delight in the believer who takes delight in giving (2 Cor 9:).
9. Give Worshipfully. Giving should be rooted in "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Cor 9:15).
10. Give Proportionately. 'In God's sight, my giving is measured not by how much I have given, but by how much I could have given and how much I had left after I made my gift.' (quoting Tozer)
11. Give Quietly. "Be careful not to let your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them" (Mt 6:1).
We need to hear this -not because the church needs more money, but because our hearts need more pruning. We don't talk much about money, but it is one of the areas we most need to be challenged to better reflect Christ's generosity and to cultivate a longing for heavenly treasure.
We need to hear this -not because the church needs more money, but because our hearts need more pruning. We don't talk much about money, but it is one of the areas we most need to be challenged to better reflect Christ's generosity and to cultivate a longing for heavenly treasure.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Gun Control or Heart Change?
Gun Control or Heart Change…Which is Really Needed?
Though people have analyzed the issue of the Sandy Hook tragedy from a multitude of aspects–socially, psychologically, etc.–we can NOT consider these murders, merely an act of physical violence. Man consists of body and soul—physical and spiritual. We were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and were made living souls (Genesis 2:7).
In the beginning, in the Garden of Eden there was no death. Death was introduced to mankind as a result of sin and disobedience against God’s command (Genesis 2:15-17).
The Apostle James diagnoses the root cause for all strife, arguments, and wars: one person doesn’t get what he wants, so he’s willing to do anything to get it, even if that means committing murder (James 4:1-2).
That was the issue in the first murder recorded in the Bible. You know the story. Cain was angry with his brother Abel (Genesis 4:5); God confronted him on his anger (Genesis 4:6); and rather than deal with his heart of anger, Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4:8). He didn’t have access to a gun (that implement wouldn’t be created until many years later) but Cain’s selfish, sinful heart compelled him to rise up against his brother. You can take man’s gun, but if he is intent on killing you, he will use a knife or his bare hands.
It is the wicked heart of man that must be dealt with. The prophet Jeremiah tells us the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). That includes you and me. There are none who are righteous, and no one naturally seeks after God (Romans 3:10-11). We are not inherently good. In fact we are all born as sinners who break God’s law. Therefore, our hearts must be changed by Jesus, Who gives us a new nature and a desire to love Him and others (Matthew 22:37-39). In fact, the Gospel empowers a Christian to love not only the “nice” guy down the street, but also those who are His enemy (Matthew 5:43-47). Man, who loves his sin, must hate his sin and turn from his wicked way in repentance and place his faith in Christ, Who atoned for sin on the cross (Isaiah 55:7).
Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that murder begins in the heart (Matthew 5:21-26). Murder finds root in hateful thoughts toward others. Jesus Christ teaches in this passage that mankind is guilty of breaking God’s law not only when they commit the external act of murder, but also even when they harbor anger in their hearts. The ability to commit the act of murder resides within the human heart, were it not for God’s grace giving us a greater desire to please Him than ourselves. It doesn’t matter how moral a person appears outwardly. If man isn’t changed from within by God, there is no limit to his displays of wickedness.
Many people have responded to the Sandy Hook tragedy with loud cries for gun reform. Gun laws and external restraints placed upon man will not curb shootings and other similar violence. Behavior modification will always fall short. Unless man’s heart is changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and given a greater love for God, others, and what is right, we will not see the kind of change in society that brings peace.
There’s much more to be said, but I will leave it here, unless you have further questions. God has not been silent, but has written the Bible with all the answers to life. I’m happy to take any and every opportunity to try to clarify to others what He means by what He has said.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
A Weaker Evangelicalism
A prophetic word:
When [William] Booth [1829–1912] was asked by an American newspaper what he regarded as the chief dangers ahead for the twentieth century, he replied tersely: “Religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God and heaven without hell.” Such a decline in the biblical message has indeed taken place and a weaker evangelicalism has been unable to stem the tide.
When [William] Booth [1829–1912] was asked by an American newspaper what he regarded as the chief dangers ahead for the twentieth century, he replied tersely: “Religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God and heaven without hell.” Such a decline in the biblical message has indeed taken place and a weaker evangelicalism has been unable to stem the tide.
Friday, March 22, 2013
I Would Like about Three Dollars Worth of the Gospel, Please
D. A. Carson, Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians (Baker, 1996):
I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please.
Not too much—just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted.
I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust.
I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture.
I want ecstasy, not repentance; I want transcendence, not transformation.
I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those from different races—especially if they smell.
I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged.
I would like about three dollars worth of the gospel, please. (pp. 12-13)
I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please.
Not too much—just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted.
I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust.
I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture.
I want ecstasy, not repentance; I want transcendence, not transformation.
I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those from different races—especially if they smell.
I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged.
I would like about three dollars worth of the gospel, please. (pp. 12-13)
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Edification
From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
It’s important to have the right priorities, especially as a shepherd. Distractions put your flock in danger, and a shepherd who is around only part of the time can’t properly care for or protect his sheep.
Pastors and church leaders have been charged with one duty—the spiritual training and protection of God’s people. The lives under our care are to be our first priority. It’s similar to a parental role (1 Thessalonians 2:7-12) in the lives the Lord has entrusted to us.
And it’s easy to spot a shepherd who has lost sight of that priority. He’s the one always out on the road, selling his latest book, speaking at the biggest conferences, and taking every opportunity to raise his profile and increase his influence. It often seems like his weekly pulpit ministry is a distraction from everything else he’d rather do.
An excellent shepherd won’t exhibit that kind of attitude. His first priority is the edification of his people.
The spiritual well-being of the lives under his care was the apostle Paul’s primary concern—he made that clear in 2 Corinthians. Rather than look out for his own reputation against the claims of the false apostles, Paul’s self-defense was written for the benefit of the Corinthian believers. “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved” (2 Corinthians 12:19).
Paul’s goal in everything he did in relation to the Corinthian church, both in ministering to them and defending himself, was their edification. That was also the goal of the Lord Jesus Christ, who promised, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).
The question naturally arises, since God was Paul’s Judge (as we discussed last time), why should he bother to defend himself? He did so because if he were discredited the Corinthians would not listen to him; if they did not listen to him, they would not hear the truth of the Word of God that he taught. And if they did not hear the Word of God, they could not grow spiritually.
Paul suffered through the anguish and humiliation of his self-defense for the sake of the men and women to whom he was defending himself. His priority was not protecting his own reputation, but making sure God’s people didn’t inadvertently cut themselves off from His Word. He fought the lies of the false apostles to make sure the Corinthian believers had access to God’s truth, and so that the truth would be active in their lives.
Remember, there were a limited number of teachers for the New Testament church, and the Lord was still revealing His truth through the inspired writings of the apostles. Severing the relationship between Paul and the Corinthian church would have cut them off from the truth of Scripture and turned them over to the lies and corruption of the false apostles.
Paul needed to convince the Corinthians that he was the true spokesman of God, not so they could sit in judgment on his life, but so they could listen to his teaching. They weren’t his judges; they were his spiritual responsibility, and he couldn’t let them suffer the consequences of their own naiveté.
He could have reacted much differently; he could have angrily blasted the Corinthians for their disloyalty. But that would have been an abuse of his authority, which he previously said, “the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you” (2 Corinthians 10:8). In fact, he defended himself so vigorously so that when he next visited Corinth, he wouldn’t need to be severe with them (13:10).
Pastors today can and should learn a lot from how Paul reacted under pressure and opposition. Rather than lash out defensively, he put the spiritual needs of the people under his care ahead of his own reputation and happiness. We ought to pay close attention to the heart of this excellent shepherd, and reflect in our own ministries his emphasis on faithfulness, selflessness, integrity, reverence, and edification.
It’s important to have the right priorities, especially as a shepherd. Distractions put your flock in danger, and a shepherd who is around only part of the time can’t properly care for or protect his sheep.
Pastors and church leaders have been charged with one duty—the spiritual training and protection of God’s people. The lives under our care are to be our first priority. It’s similar to a parental role (1 Thessalonians 2:7-12) in the lives the Lord has entrusted to us.
And it’s easy to spot a shepherd who has lost sight of that priority. He’s the one always out on the road, selling his latest book, speaking at the biggest conferences, and taking every opportunity to raise his profile and increase his influence. It often seems like his weekly pulpit ministry is a distraction from everything else he’d rather do.
An excellent shepherd won’t exhibit that kind of attitude. His first priority is the edification of his people.
The spiritual well-being of the lives under his care was the apostle Paul’s primary concern—he made that clear in 2 Corinthians. Rather than look out for his own reputation against the claims of the false apostles, Paul’s self-defense was written for the benefit of the Corinthian believers. “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved” (2 Corinthians 12:19).
Paul’s goal in everything he did in relation to the Corinthian church, both in ministering to them and defending himself, was their edification. That was also the goal of the Lord Jesus Christ, who promised, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).
The question naturally arises, since God was Paul’s Judge (as we discussed last time), why should he bother to defend himself? He did so because if he were discredited the Corinthians would not listen to him; if they did not listen to him, they would not hear the truth of the Word of God that he taught. And if they did not hear the Word of God, they could not grow spiritually.
Paul suffered through the anguish and humiliation of his self-defense for the sake of the men and women to whom he was defending himself. His priority was not protecting his own reputation, but making sure God’s people didn’t inadvertently cut themselves off from His Word. He fought the lies of the false apostles to make sure the Corinthian believers had access to God’s truth, and so that the truth would be active in their lives.
Remember, there were a limited number of teachers for the New Testament church, and the Lord was still revealing His truth through the inspired writings of the apostles. Severing the relationship between Paul and the Corinthian church would have cut them off from the truth of Scripture and turned them over to the lies and corruption of the false apostles.
Paul needed to convince the Corinthians that he was the true spokesman of God, not so they could sit in judgment on his life, but so they could listen to his teaching. They weren’t his judges; they were his spiritual responsibility, and he couldn’t let them suffer the consequences of their own naiveté.
He could have reacted much differently; he could have angrily blasted the Corinthians for their disloyalty. But that would have been an abuse of his authority, which he previously said, “the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you” (2 Corinthians 10:8). In fact, he defended himself so vigorously so that when he next visited Corinth, he wouldn’t need to be severe with them (13:10).
Pastors today can and should learn a lot from how Paul reacted under pressure and opposition. Rather than lash out defensively, he put the spiritual needs of the people under his care ahead of his own reputation and happiness. We ought to pay close attention to the heart of this excellent shepherd, and reflect in our own ministries his emphasis on faithfulness, selflessness, integrity, reverence, and edification.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Reverence
From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
Writing in the early 1960s, A.W. Tozer rightly identified the dire lack of reverence in the church. In the opening paragraphs of The Knowledge of the Holy, he wrote, “The words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century.” It’s been more than fifty years since Tozer’s words were first published, and the problem he identified has only gotten worse.
In many churches today, there is no hint of the fear of the Lord—no reverence for His Person, His work, or His Word. Too many congregations are given over to trivial matters, and they deal with Scripture in a flippant, irreverent way. For them, God’s Word matters only inasmuch as it tells them what they want to hear and affirms the lifestyles they want to lead.
This modern lack of reverence for the Lord and His Word starts with the poor example of many pastors and church leaders—their lack of reverence for the Lord and shallow approach to His truth trickle down to their flocks, exponentially increasing the problem.
It should go without saying, but the pastor isn’t called to be a CEO, a standup comedian, or a rock star. He’s called to shepherd the people of God, strengthening their knowledge and love for the Lord and encouraging their spiritual growth. The job is to protect and guide, not entertain.
Even in the midst of touting his apostolic credentials in his own self-defense, the apostle Paul was a model of reverence for the Lord. After answering the accusations of the false teachers who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul paused to clarify what he’d written, saying, “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ” (2 Corinthians 12:19).
Paul did not want the Corinthians to misinterpret his lengthy defense of his apostleship and integrity. He was not on trial before them, and they were not his judges. Ultimately, Paul knew he stood before a divine tribunal, and as a faithful preacher of the Word, God was the only audience he was concerned about.
He had already made that very point abundantly clear in his first epistle to the Corinthians:
But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)
Throughout his life, Paul was acutely aware of the Lord and His final judgment. Popular opinion was unimportant to him—he answered only to God. And he encouraged his followers to imitate that same attitude. To Timothy he wrote:
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
Later in the same chapter, Paul reminded Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (v. 8).
Paul did not get caught up in the trivialities of his day. He wasn’t concerned with tapping into the felt needs of his community and endearing himself to his followers. As a shepherd, he was called to serve the sheep, but those sheep would not render the final judgment on the job he did. Whether or not they liked him wouldn’t matter when he stood before the Lord, and his reverence for God prompted him to stay faithful and focused to the end.
Here’s how Tozer described it:
In olden days men of faith were said to “walk in the fear of God” and to “serve the Lord with fear.” However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a nonrational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty.
Paul’s life and ministry reflected the reverent heart of an excellent shepherd. He’d been entrusted with the work of God’s kingdom, and he knew that God alone would render the final verdict on his life—and that verdict would be, “Well done, good and faithful slave. . . . Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).
Writing in the early 1960s, A.W. Tozer rightly identified the dire lack of reverence in the church. In the opening paragraphs of The Knowledge of the Holy, he wrote, “The words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century.” It’s been more than fifty years since Tozer’s words were first published, and the problem he identified has only gotten worse.
In many churches today, there is no hint of the fear of the Lord—no reverence for His Person, His work, or His Word. Too many congregations are given over to trivial matters, and they deal with Scripture in a flippant, irreverent way. For them, God’s Word matters only inasmuch as it tells them what they want to hear and affirms the lifestyles they want to lead.
This modern lack of reverence for the Lord and His Word starts with the poor example of many pastors and church leaders—their lack of reverence for the Lord and shallow approach to His truth trickle down to their flocks, exponentially increasing the problem.
It should go without saying, but the pastor isn’t called to be a CEO, a standup comedian, or a rock star. He’s called to shepherd the people of God, strengthening their knowledge and love for the Lord and encouraging their spiritual growth. The job is to protect and guide, not entertain.
Even in the midst of touting his apostolic credentials in his own self-defense, the apostle Paul was a model of reverence for the Lord. After answering the accusations of the false teachers who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul paused to clarify what he’d written, saying, “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ” (2 Corinthians 12:19).
Paul did not want the Corinthians to misinterpret his lengthy defense of his apostleship and integrity. He was not on trial before them, and they were not his judges. Ultimately, Paul knew he stood before a divine tribunal, and as a faithful preacher of the Word, God was the only audience he was concerned about.
He had already made that very point abundantly clear in his first epistle to the Corinthians:
But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)
Throughout his life, Paul was acutely aware of the Lord and His final judgment. Popular opinion was unimportant to him—he answered only to God. And he encouraged his followers to imitate that same attitude. To Timothy he wrote:
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
Later in the same chapter, Paul reminded Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (v. 8).
Paul did not get caught up in the trivialities of his day. He wasn’t concerned with tapping into the felt needs of his community and endearing himself to his followers. As a shepherd, he was called to serve the sheep, but those sheep would not render the final judgment on the job he did. Whether or not they liked him wouldn’t matter when he stood before the Lord, and his reverence for God prompted him to stay faithful and focused to the end.
Here’s how Tozer described it:
In olden days men of faith were said to “walk in the fear of God” and to “serve the Lord with fear.” However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a nonrational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty.
Paul’s life and ministry reflected the reverent heart of an excellent shepherd. He’d been entrusted with the work of God’s kingdom, and he knew that God alone would render the final verdict on his life—and that verdict would be, “Well done, good and faithful slave. . . . Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Integrity
From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
Integrity is a nonnegotiable characteristic of a true shepherd of the flock of God. If he is going to lead biblically, he must do so without dishonesty, deception, or duplicity. His character must be consistent, his motivations pure, and his conscience clear.
The apostle Paul understood that integrity is vital for godly shepherds and he repeatedly testified to his own honesty, often confirmed by his clear conscience. To the Romans he wrote, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1). He assured the Galatians, “(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying)” (Galatians 1:20). To Timothy he wrote, “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2:7).
When his character was under attack from false apostles who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul did not shy away from defending himself, declaring, “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you” (2 Corinthians 1:12). The Corinthian believers knew Paul, and they had no good reason to doubt his integrity.
Not only did the claims of the false apostles contradict Paul’s character, they simply didn’t make any sense. If Paul was plotting to defraud the Corinthians, as the false teachers charged, the point of his plot was not immediately obvious. As we’ve already noted previously in this series, he took nothing from them. The idea that he would run a scam that netted him nothing was absurd, and Paul rebuked the Corinthians once again for their naiveté, writing sarcastically, “Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit” (2 Corinthians 12:16). That was, no doubt, what the false apostles were saying about him.
There wasn’t a hint of corruption in Paul’s ministry—no troubling dots to connect, and no lingering questions that demanded answers. The utter absence of the seeds of scandal in Paul’s character further testifies to his integrity. The conspiracy theory the false apostles concocted rested heavily on the Corinthians’ gullibility and lack of discernment because there wasn’t anything in Paul’s ministry to support their claims.
To get around the glaringly obvious difficulty that Paul had not taken any money from the Corinthians, the false teachers insisted that he had not yet sprung his trap. Paul had already described in detail the collection he was taking for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8 and 9). That, according to the false apostles, was the point of Paul’s scheme; the money that was collected at Corinth would never reach Jerusalem. Instead, they claimed, it would go to line Paul’s pockets.
After all, that is what they would have done if they were in his place. The false apostles projected their own greedy attitude onto Paul and assumed that he was acting as they would have. They inadvertently exposed the corruption of their own hearts, exemplifying the truth that “to the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled” (Titus 1:15).
In his own defense, Paul needed only to remind the Corinthians of the facts—that other brothers, whose godly character the Corinthians knew well, had also helped with the collection for the Jerusalem church, and they would have had to be complicit in the deception as well (2 Corinthians 8:16-24). Their godly reputations confirmed Paul’s integrity and condemned the false apostles as liars.
An essential goal for any spiritual leader is to gain people’s trust through genuine integrity. Just as with Paul, a leader’s conduct must be trustworthy and consistent with his words. But once a leader proves to be hypocritical in any area of ministry, no matter how seemingly insignificant, he loses everything he has labored for in ministry and sees his credibility destroyed.
But integrity isn’t just vital for shepherds. In a world that’s eagerly looking to call into question and destroy the credibility of God’s Word, as believers we need to diligently guard our own reputations. We need to lead faithful, consistent lives, knowing that our conduct is a testimony to the truth of Scripture—often far stronger than any verbal testimony we can offer. How we live and behave shapes the reputation of the Lord and His truth in the eyes of the world. What does your character say about the transforming work of the Lord in your life?
We need to commit ourselves to living lives marked by integrity and honesty, and join Paul in renouncing “the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2).
Integrity is a nonnegotiable characteristic of a true shepherd of the flock of God. If he is going to lead biblically, he must do so without dishonesty, deception, or duplicity. His character must be consistent, his motivations pure, and his conscience clear.
The apostle Paul understood that integrity is vital for godly shepherds and he repeatedly testified to his own honesty, often confirmed by his clear conscience. To the Romans he wrote, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1). He assured the Galatians, “(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying)” (Galatians 1:20). To Timothy he wrote, “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2:7).
When his character was under attack from false apostles who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul did not shy away from defending himself, declaring, “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you” (2 Corinthians 1:12). The Corinthian believers knew Paul, and they had no good reason to doubt his integrity.
Not only did the claims of the false apostles contradict Paul’s character, they simply didn’t make any sense. If Paul was plotting to defraud the Corinthians, as the false teachers charged, the point of his plot was not immediately obvious. As we’ve already noted previously in this series, he took nothing from them. The idea that he would run a scam that netted him nothing was absurd, and Paul rebuked the Corinthians once again for their naiveté, writing sarcastically, “Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit” (2 Corinthians 12:16). That was, no doubt, what the false apostles were saying about him.
There wasn’t a hint of corruption in Paul’s ministry—no troubling dots to connect, and no lingering questions that demanded answers. The utter absence of the seeds of scandal in Paul’s character further testifies to his integrity. The conspiracy theory the false apostles concocted rested heavily on the Corinthians’ gullibility and lack of discernment because there wasn’t anything in Paul’s ministry to support their claims.
To get around the glaringly obvious difficulty that Paul had not taken any money from the Corinthians, the false teachers insisted that he had not yet sprung his trap. Paul had already described in detail the collection he was taking for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8 and 9). That, according to the false apostles, was the point of Paul’s scheme; the money that was collected at Corinth would never reach Jerusalem. Instead, they claimed, it would go to line Paul’s pockets.
After all, that is what they would have done if they were in his place. The false apostles projected their own greedy attitude onto Paul and assumed that he was acting as they would have. They inadvertently exposed the corruption of their own hearts, exemplifying the truth that “to the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled” (Titus 1:15).
In his own defense, Paul needed only to remind the Corinthians of the facts—that other brothers, whose godly character the Corinthians knew well, had also helped with the collection for the Jerusalem church, and they would have had to be complicit in the deception as well (2 Corinthians 8:16-24). Their godly reputations confirmed Paul’s integrity and condemned the false apostles as liars.
An essential goal for any spiritual leader is to gain people’s trust through genuine integrity. Just as with Paul, a leader’s conduct must be trustworthy and consistent with his words. But once a leader proves to be hypocritical in any area of ministry, no matter how seemingly insignificant, he loses everything he has labored for in ministry and sees his credibility destroyed.
But integrity isn’t just vital for shepherds. In a world that’s eagerly looking to call into question and destroy the credibility of God’s Word, as believers we need to diligently guard our own reputations. We need to lead faithful, consistent lives, knowing that our conduct is a testimony to the truth of Scripture—often far stronger than any verbal testimony we can offer. How we live and behave shapes the reputation of the Lord and His truth in the eyes of the world. What does your character say about the transforming work of the Lord in your life?
We need to commit ourselves to living lives marked by integrity and honesty, and join Paul in renouncing “the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2).
Monday, March 18, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Selflessness
From John MacArthur's series on Marks of an Excellent Shepherd:
False teachers take advantage of people. They manipulate and intimidate their followers, hoping to strip them of anything and everything they can. Their selfishness drives them to always pursue a higher profile, broader influence, and all the material perks that come from fame. Micah 3:2-3, 5 graphically depicts false teachers as greedy, grasping, and self-centered:
You who hate good and love evil,
Who tear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,
Who eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones
And chop them up as for the pot
And as meat in a kettle. . . .
When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They cry, “Peace,”
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy war.
True men of God are the opposite; they are selfless and sacrificial. Instead of looking for what they can obtain, they look for ways to expend themselves for the benefit and blessing of God’s people.
One of the many slanderous accusations the false apostles made against Paul was that his treatment of the Corinthians had been selfishly substandard. And it’s in the midst of Paul’s self-defense against those lies (2 Corinthians 12:12-19) that he reveals another mark of an excellent shepherd: selflessness.
In 12:13, Paul rhetorically asks the Corinthians, “In what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches?” As he previously indicated in verse 12, Paul had ministered in the same way in Corinth that he had in other churches.
The only way the Corinthians were treated differently was that Paul “did not become a burden to” them (v. 13); the only thing they did not get from him was a bill. Although he had a right to their support (1 Corinthians 9:1-18), Paul chose not to accept it, preferring to distance himself from the money-loving false apostles.
They, of course, took everything they could get from the Corinthians and hated Paul for making them look bad. To salvage their reputations, they attempted to put a negative spin on Paul’s selflessness. They argued first that he refused to take money from the Corinthians because he knew his ministry was worthless. A second and more sinister allegation was that Paul did not want the Corinthians’ money because he did not love them and thus did not want to be obligated to them. But as Paul has already shown, those allegations were completely false. In 2 Corinthians 11:7-9 he wrote:
Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
Resorting again to sarcasm (cf. 11:19-21; 1 Corinthians 4:8-10) to bring the Corinthians to their senses, Paul exclaimed in verse 13, “Forgive me this wrong!” The false apostles’ claim that he had mistreated the Corinthians by not taking money from them was ludicrous. The only thing they had been deprived of was the burden of supporting Paul and his companions.
On Paul’s first visit to Corinth he founded the church (Acts 18); his second was the painful disciplinary visit described in 2 Corinthians 2:1 (cf. 13:2). When he visited Corinth for the third time he would still refuse to be a burden to the church. Paul’s selfless pastoral love for the Corinthians meant that he did not seek what was theirs, but sought them. He did not want their money; he wanted their hearts. He wanted their lives for the kingdom of God, and for them to live in righteous obedience to the Word for the glory of God.
Paul illustrated his point in using the analogy of parents caring for their children, pointing out the axiomatic truth that “children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children” (12:14). The Corinthians were, of course, Paul’s spiritual children (1 Corinthians 4:15), and he willingly sacrificed himself for them. He would, he wrote, “most gladly spend and be expended for” their spiritual well-being (2 Corinthians 12:15).
Paul was not reluctant or hesitant to sacrifice for the Corinthians; he was thrilled and overjoyed at being able to give himself for their benefit. He was willing to expend himself for his people until he had nothing left to give. To the Philippians he wrote, “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all” (Philippians 2:17, cf. Colossians 1:24). He followed the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said of Himself, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
The excellent shepherd isn’t interested in what he can get from his flock, but what he can give them. He’s happy, even eager, to be poured out for the sake of his people. He knows he’s not the focus of the ministry—he’s a vessel for it, as the Lord works through him in the lives of his congregation.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Faithfulness
From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
Based on the enormous volume of available material, pastoral ministry would seem to be very complicated. Pastors face a bewildering number of choices as they seek to lead their people. They read books, attend seminars, follow programs promoted by church-growth gurus, and pattern their leadership style after successful pastors. But all too often, the programs, methods, and gimmicks fail to achieve spiritual results, cheating both pastors and congregations of the true blessings of God.
In actuality, however, pastoral work is confoundingly simple. The principles and directions for successful ministry that are laid out in Scripture are sufficient to fully equip the man of God (2 Corinthians 3:5-6, cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Instead of studying demographics and marketing techniques, or searching for cultural hot buttons to push, church leaders need to understand and obey biblical truth. Methods and trends come and go, and today’s sensational new programs will be tomorrow’s failed experiments. But the principles of godly truth and virtue that characterize an effective minister are timeless. Power and effectiveness in the ministry come from a heart that is right before God and passionately concerned about His plan and His people.
Nowhere is there a better model of a godly spiritual leader than the apostle Paul. His success in the ministry was the overflow of his godly life. He was a man who was focused on the right goals, driven by the right passions, and motivated by the right desires.
In the face of assaults on the Corinthian church by false apostles, Paul was forced to defend himself by presenting his apostolic credentials. And in the midst of his passionate and humble self-defense (2 Corinthians 12:12-19) we see the true marks of an excellent pastor—each one in contrast to the characteristics of false teachers.
The first mark is faithfulness. Unlike the false teachers in Corinth, who sought wealth, fame, and power, Paul’s goal was to be faithful to the Lord. Because he was determined to be loyal to God’s will no matter the cost, he performed the work of an apostle “with all perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Despite all the hostility, opposition, and persecution from the world he faced throughout his ministry, Paul remained faithful.
Paul ministered faithfully in the midst of constant duress and relentless persecution. As he wrote in his first inspired letter to the Corinthians, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). He lived every day knowing it could be his last; the mob in the next town he preached in might take his life, or one of the numerous Jewish plots against his life (Acts 20:19) might finally succeed.
God’s spokesmen have always faced opposition and hostility. He warned Jeremiah, “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. . . . They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:17, 19).
The Lord charged Ezekiel, “And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 2:6). John the Baptist was the greatest man who had lived up to his time (Matthew 11:11), yet he suffered imprisonment (14:3) and martyrdom (14:10).
And while most pastors and church leaders today won’t ever face physical persecution or the threat of death, they still endure opposition. To begin with, they’re facing off against a sinful culture bent in defiance of God’s Word. The world hates those who bear the message of truth and light because they hate the Truth and Light (John 3:20).
On top of that, biblical shepherds are charged with leading and protecting flocks full of sinners—each one with his or her own sinful habits and patterns to break and spiritual growth to nurture and stimulate. It’s a joy and privilege to shepherd God’s people, but it’s also difficult, sometimes discouraging work. And from the world’s perspective, there’s little reward for faithful shepherds’ labor.
The truth is the world has nothing of lasting value to offer them. Instead, God’s true servants seek an eternal reward. Jesus told His followers, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:11-12). At the end of his life, Paul triumphantly wrote to Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
False teachers work for earthly rewards; true preachers work faithfully for a heavenly reward. Paul was determined to remain loyal to his calling despite the hostility from the world, knowing that “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Excellent servants of the Lord aren’t hindered, swayed, or overwhelmed by difficult circumstances—they faithfully press on with their focus fixed on their heavenly reward.
Based on the enormous volume of available material, pastoral ministry would seem to be very complicated. Pastors face a bewildering number of choices as they seek to lead their people. They read books, attend seminars, follow programs promoted by church-growth gurus, and pattern their leadership style after successful pastors. But all too often, the programs, methods, and gimmicks fail to achieve spiritual results, cheating both pastors and congregations of the true blessings of God.
In actuality, however, pastoral work is confoundingly simple. The principles and directions for successful ministry that are laid out in Scripture are sufficient to fully equip the man of God (2 Corinthians 3:5-6, cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Instead of studying demographics and marketing techniques, or searching for cultural hot buttons to push, church leaders need to understand and obey biblical truth. Methods and trends come and go, and today’s sensational new programs will be tomorrow’s failed experiments. But the principles of godly truth and virtue that characterize an effective minister are timeless. Power and effectiveness in the ministry come from a heart that is right before God and passionately concerned about His plan and His people.
Nowhere is there a better model of a godly spiritual leader than the apostle Paul. His success in the ministry was the overflow of his godly life. He was a man who was focused on the right goals, driven by the right passions, and motivated by the right desires.
In the face of assaults on the Corinthian church by false apostles, Paul was forced to defend himself by presenting his apostolic credentials. And in the midst of his passionate and humble self-defense (2 Corinthians 12:12-19) we see the true marks of an excellent pastor—each one in contrast to the characteristics of false teachers.
The first mark is faithfulness. Unlike the false teachers in Corinth, who sought wealth, fame, and power, Paul’s goal was to be faithful to the Lord. Because he was determined to be loyal to God’s will no matter the cost, he performed the work of an apostle “with all perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Despite all the hostility, opposition, and persecution from the world he faced throughout his ministry, Paul remained faithful.
Paul ministered faithfully in the midst of constant duress and relentless persecution. As he wrote in his first inspired letter to the Corinthians, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). He lived every day knowing it could be his last; the mob in the next town he preached in might take his life, or one of the numerous Jewish plots against his life (Acts 20:19) might finally succeed.
God’s spokesmen have always faced opposition and hostility. He warned Jeremiah, “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. . . . They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:17, 19).
The Lord charged Ezekiel, “And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 2:6). John the Baptist was the greatest man who had lived up to his time (Matthew 11:11), yet he suffered imprisonment (14:3) and martyrdom (14:10).
And while most pastors and church leaders today won’t ever face physical persecution or the threat of death, they still endure opposition. To begin with, they’re facing off against a sinful culture bent in defiance of God’s Word. The world hates those who bear the message of truth and light because they hate the Truth and Light (John 3:20).
On top of that, biblical shepherds are charged with leading and protecting flocks full of sinners—each one with his or her own sinful habits and patterns to break and spiritual growth to nurture and stimulate. It’s a joy and privilege to shepherd God’s people, but it’s also difficult, sometimes discouraging work. And from the world’s perspective, there’s little reward for faithful shepherds’ labor.
The truth is the world has nothing of lasting value to offer them. Instead, God’s true servants seek an eternal reward. Jesus told His followers, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:11-12). At the end of his life, Paul triumphantly wrote to Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
False teachers work for earthly rewards; true preachers work faithfully for a heavenly reward. Paul was determined to remain loyal to his calling despite the hostility from the world, knowing that “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Excellent servants of the Lord aren’t hindered, swayed, or overwhelmed by difficult circumstances—they faithfully press on with their focus fixed on their heavenly reward.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Every Pastor's Job Description
From John MacArthur:
Many of my favorite people are pastors. I grew up the son of a pastor and the grandson of a pastor. And after more than four decades of my own pastoral ministry, and many years of training young men for their own, I think I have a good understanding of a pastor’s heart—both his joys and his struggles.
These days, my heart aches for pastors.
It aches because today their job is as difficult as it has ever been. We live in an anti-authority culture—one that has lost all respect for people in positions of authority and influence. The modern mindset is to tear down everybody and everything. It’s a destructive culture, driven by fierce pride and runaway self-esteem. It seems very few pastors are run out of their churches over bad sermons or ineffective ministry—usually, they’re run out by a person or a group contending for power and authority.
That difficulty is compounded by the intimidation of massive media ministries and celebrity preachers on TV, the Internet, and in flat-screen churches all over the country. Pastors today are told they need to embody an entrepreneurial spirit—that they need to grow their churches the way you would grow a business. They hear a lot about needing to impact the culture and engage the community, and they get all kinds of pragmatic advice on how to accomplish that. They’re told they need to reach beyond the church and revolutionize society. In fact, it seems much of the modern pastor’s work is supposed to take place outside the church.
That’s a discouraging, disheartening message for men who love the church and have given their lives in service to God’s people. It’s also unbiblical. Pastors have one job. They’re not called to be cultural evangelists, entrepreneurs, or revolutionaries. They’re called to faithfully feed the flock of God. They’re called to be shepherds.
Consider the apostle Peter’s instruction to church leaders in 1 Peter 5:1-2.
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness.
The solemn duty of every pastor is to feed God’s sheep. And as a pastor, the day you let your eyes move beyond the people sitting in your church is the day you’ve lost your purpose.
The focus of pastoral ministry is not the people outside the church, and it’s not drawing unbelievers to the church. The focus is on the people inside the church—the flock the Lord has sovereignly drawn together and entrusted into the care of a shepherd. The pastor has been set apart, as the apostle Paul put it, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).
Pastors are not called to the culture, and we’re not called to the unconverted. We have been mandated to feed our flocks so they can grow spiritually. We’re called to serve the redeemed people of God as an agent of sanctification and protection. The measure of a man’s effectiveness in ministry is not the number of people in his congregation every week—it’s the Christlikeness of his congregation.
Over the next few days we’re going to take a closer look at what Scripture says about the marks of an excellent pastor.
...
Regardless of your role in your local congregation, I know the next several days will provide you with rich insight into God’s Word and lasting spiritual encouragement.
Many of my favorite people are pastors. I grew up the son of a pastor and the grandson of a pastor. And after more than four decades of my own pastoral ministry, and many years of training young men for their own, I think I have a good understanding of a pastor’s heart—both his joys and his struggles.
These days, my heart aches for pastors.
It aches because today their job is as difficult as it has ever been. We live in an anti-authority culture—one that has lost all respect for people in positions of authority and influence. The modern mindset is to tear down everybody and everything. It’s a destructive culture, driven by fierce pride and runaway self-esteem. It seems very few pastors are run out of their churches over bad sermons or ineffective ministry—usually, they’re run out by a person or a group contending for power and authority.
That difficulty is compounded by the intimidation of massive media ministries and celebrity preachers on TV, the Internet, and in flat-screen churches all over the country. Pastors today are told they need to embody an entrepreneurial spirit—that they need to grow their churches the way you would grow a business. They hear a lot about needing to impact the culture and engage the community, and they get all kinds of pragmatic advice on how to accomplish that. They’re told they need to reach beyond the church and revolutionize society. In fact, it seems much of the modern pastor’s work is supposed to take place outside the church.
That’s a discouraging, disheartening message for men who love the church and have given their lives in service to God’s people. It’s also unbiblical. Pastors have one job. They’re not called to be cultural evangelists, entrepreneurs, or revolutionaries. They’re called to faithfully feed the flock of God. They’re called to be shepherds.
Consider the apostle Peter’s instruction to church leaders in 1 Peter 5:1-2.
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness.
The solemn duty of every pastor is to feed God’s sheep. And as a pastor, the day you let your eyes move beyond the people sitting in your church is the day you’ve lost your purpose.
The focus of pastoral ministry is not the people outside the church, and it’s not drawing unbelievers to the church. The focus is on the people inside the church—the flock the Lord has sovereignly drawn together and entrusted into the care of a shepherd. The pastor has been set apart, as the apostle Paul put it, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).
Pastors are not called to the culture, and we’re not called to the unconverted. We have been mandated to feed our flocks so they can grow spiritually. We’re called to serve the redeemed people of God as an agent of sanctification and protection. The measure of a man’s effectiveness in ministry is not the number of people in his congregation every week—it’s the Christlikeness of his congregation.
Over the next few days we’re going to take a closer look at what Scripture says about the marks of an excellent pastor.
...
Regardless of your role in your local congregation, I know the next several days will provide you with rich insight into God’s Word and lasting spiritual encouragement.
Friday, March 15, 2013
A New Reformation
From Steven Lawson’s new book, The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther
It has been nearly five hundred years since Martin Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation, that pivotal movement that brought about God-exalting change in the church. A half millennium removed, the church today finds itself at a similar critical juncture. The darkness of this age calls for a new reformation.
If such a spiritual awakening is to come, there must be a new generation of heralds, men like Martin Luther, who are bold and biblical in their pulpit proclamation. They must have a high view of Scripture, a high view of God, and a high view of the pulpit. Each of these fundamental commitments is indispensable.
1. A high view of Scripture.
The needed reformation will not occur in the church until Scripture is returned to its preeminent place. The Word of God must be restored to its rightful position, governing the entire life of the church. Preachers must again rightly understand the supremacy of the Bible, not only its verbal inerrancy, but also its primary authority and absolute sufficiency. There must be a decisive and radical return to the Reformation principle of sola Scriptura.
2. A high view of God.
There also must be the proper recognition of God’s holy, transcendent character. A new reformation will come only when the people of God regain a lofty vision of Him as the sovereign Ruler of all. The unhealthy state of the church at this time is due in large part to a low view of God. This, in turn, has led to a high view of man. Not until there is the restoration of an elevated view of God will the church be restored to her former glory and have an effect upon the world again.
3. A high view of the pulpit.
There is likewise a great need for a reformation of the evangelical pulpit. To reform the pulpit is to reform the church. What is needed is not simply more preaching, but God-enthralled, Christ-magnifying, Spirit-empowered preaching. If this is to occur, the church must regain a high view of the pulpit. As was prevalent during the Reformation, the preaching of the Word must be central in the worship of the church in this generation.
Never has the need been greater for such a reformation. Our Word-starved pulpits beg for stalwarts of the faith to bring the Book to their congregations. However, only God can give such men to the church. Writing more than one hundred years ago, Charles H. Spurgeon stated:
A Reformation is as much needed now as in Luther’s day, and by God’s grace we shall have it, if we trust in Him and publish His truth. The cry is, “Overturn, overturn, overturn, till He shall come whose right it is.”
But, mark ye this, if the grace of God be once more restored to the church in all its fullness, and the Spirit of God be poured out from on high, in all His sanctifying energy, there will come such a shaking as has never been seen in our days. We want such an one as Martin Luther to rise from his tomb. If Martin Luther were now to visit our so-called reformed churches, he would say with all his holy boldness, “I was not half a reformer when I was alive before, now I will make a thorough work of it.”
In this critical hour of church history, pastors must recapture the glory of biblical preaching, as in the days of the Reformation. Preachers must return to true exposition that is Word-driven, God-glorifying, and Christ-exalting. May the Lord of the church raise up a new generation of expositors, men armed with the sword of the Spirit, to once again preach the Word. The plea of Spurgeon, who witnessed the decline of dynamic preaching in his lifetime, must be heard and answered in this day:
We want again Luthers, Calvins, Bunyans, Whitefields, men fit to mark eras, whose names breathe terror in our foemen’s ears. We have dire need of such. Whence will they come to us? They are the gifts of Jesus Christ to the Church, and will come in due time. He has power to give us back again a golden age of preachers, and when the good old truth is once more preached by men whose lips are touched as with a live coal from off the altar, this shall be the instrument in the hand of the Spirit for bringing about a great and thorough revival of religion in the land… . I do not look for any other means of converting men beyond the simple preaching of the gospel and the opening of men’s ears to hear it. The moment the Church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her. It has been through the ministry that the Lord has always been pleased to revive and bless His Churches.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The "Gospel" According to Rome
With a new pope elected, the eyes of the world are on the Roman Catholic Church. No doubt many evangelicals find themselves confused as to the critical differences between the biblical gospel and the gospel according to Rome. Hence today’s post:
In Romans 11:6, Paul says of salvation, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.”
By contrast, Roman Catholicism finds itself in the impossible position of advocating a gospel in which salvation is offered by grace plus works. The Catholic church promotes a synergistic sacramental soteriology in which human good works, along with God’s grace, contribute to the sinner’s justification.
This is in distinct contrast to the evangelical understanding of the gospel, in which salvation is received by grace through faith alone.
Despite the eccumenical efforts of some, the difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestant Evangelicalism is one of substance not merely semantics.
Today’s post is intended as a summary of Roman Catholic teaching with regard to the essence of the gospel (in order to demonstrate how it strays from the biblical message of salvation). Catholic sources are included under each of the following points.
Keep Reading...
Is the Reformation Over?
Rick Warren tweeted this earlier this week:
"If Rick Warren were a convinced Protestant he would be saying something like, “Join me in fasting and praying that God will reveal His gospel to the millions of Roman Catholics trapped in a false system, running on the treadmill of human religion, deprived of a finished and perfect work of Christ, under the authority of unbiblical ‘priests’ and prelates.’” But that would take more than 140 characters, and it would take a commitment to the idea that “theology matters.”
- Rich Pierce and Dr. James White
Friday, March 8, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Why One Sin Condemns
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. James 2:10
“One failure, and total guilt crashes down on me? Kind of an overreaction, isn’t it? Hmmm. So that’s what God is really like. Figures.”
Let’s admit it. That turn of mind is inside us all. But is it just?
Every American knows the name Benedict Arnold. He was a traitor. He betrayed the American cause in the Revolutionary War. The memory of Benedict Arnold conjures up one thought: treason.
What we also need to know is that Arnold had served energetically and effectively on the American side. As a general in our Continental Army, he bravely fought and won at Fort Ticonderoga. But he was passed over for promotion, he ran up some personal debts, he came under criticism by political competitors, so he switched sides. He got himself assigned to the command of West Point, in order to hand it over to the British. But his plot was discovered.
I wonder what he was thinking. I wonder if he weighed all the good he had done for the Americans against the bad he was receiving from the Americans, and he justified himself, he told himself it was okay. But that isn’t how the moral calculus works. Doing good does not offset doing evil. Doing evil offsets doing good. That is why the good record of Benedict Arnold will forever be overshadowed in the American consciousness by his one act of betrayal. His treachery revealed the true state of his heart. He had not been serving America sincerely but for ulterior motives. And when he was not served to his own satisfaction, he turned. If he had been served to his satisfaction, he doubtless would have stayed true. But even then, his loyalty would have been deeply false. Undiscovered, but false.
Our obedience to God doesn’t necessarily mean a thing. It might not be obedience at all. It might be coincidence. It might be that what the Bible says and what we wanted to do anyway just happen to line up. What reveals our hearts is our disobedience. This is why one violation of the law condemns us. Our sin exposes the fraudulence of our righteousness, not the other way around.
Christ died for us, his betrayers. Now he offers us his royal amnesty on terms of grace, received with the empty hands of faith, which we are finally able to hold out before him when we admit what we really are inside.
“One failure, and total guilt crashes down on me? Kind of an overreaction, isn’t it? Hmmm. So that’s what God is really like. Figures.”
Let’s admit it. That turn of mind is inside us all. But is it just?
Every American knows the name Benedict Arnold. He was a traitor. He betrayed the American cause in the Revolutionary War. The memory of Benedict Arnold conjures up one thought: treason.
What we also need to know is that Arnold had served energetically and effectively on the American side. As a general in our Continental Army, he bravely fought and won at Fort Ticonderoga. But he was passed over for promotion, he ran up some personal debts, he came under criticism by political competitors, so he switched sides. He got himself assigned to the command of West Point, in order to hand it over to the British. But his plot was discovered.
I wonder what he was thinking. I wonder if he weighed all the good he had done for the Americans against the bad he was receiving from the Americans, and he justified himself, he told himself it was okay. But that isn’t how the moral calculus works. Doing good does not offset doing evil. Doing evil offsets doing good. That is why the good record of Benedict Arnold will forever be overshadowed in the American consciousness by his one act of betrayal. His treachery revealed the true state of his heart. He had not been serving America sincerely but for ulterior motives. And when he was not served to his own satisfaction, he turned. If he had been served to his satisfaction, he doubtless would have stayed true. But even then, his loyalty would have been deeply false. Undiscovered, but false.
Our obedience to God doesn’t necessarily mean a thing. It might not be obedience at all. It might be coincidence. It might be that what the Bible says and what we wanted to do anyway just happen to line up. What reveals our hearts is our disobedience. This is why one violation of the law condemns us. Our sin exposes the fraudulence of our righteousness, not the other way around.
Christ died for us, his betrayers. Now he offers us his royal amnesty on terms of grace, received with the empty hands of faith, which we are finally able to hold out before him when we admit what we really are inside.
Quote of the Day
"The church used to be a lightning bolt, now it's a cruise ship. We are not marching to Zion – we are sailing there with ease. In the apostolic church it says they were all amazed – and now in our churches everybody wants to be amused. The church began in the upper room with a bunch of men agonizing, and it's ending in the supper room with a bunch of people organizing. We mistake rattle for revival, and commotion for creation, and action for unction."
- Leonard Ravenhill
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Precious Are Their Souls
“Precious, no doubt, are these little ones in your eyes; but if you truly love them, then often think about their souls. Nothing should concern you as greatly as their eternal destiny. No part of them should be so dear to you as that part which will never die.
“This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all that you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, ‘How will this affect their souls?’
“A true Christian must not be a slave to what’s currently ‘in-fashion,’ if he wants to train his child for heaven. He must not be content to teach them and instruct them in certain ways, merely because it is customary, or to allow them to read books of a questionable sort, merely because everybody else reads them, or to let them form bad habits, merely because they are the habits of the day. He must train with an eye to his children’s souls. He must not be ashamed to hear his training called odd and strange. What if it is? The time is short—the customs of this world are passing away. He that has trained his children for heaven, rather than for the earth—for God, rather than for man—he is the parent that will be called wise in the end.”
- JC Ryle
Quote of the Day
Stand over this volume [the Bible], and admire its authority. This is no common book. It is not the sayings of the sages of Greece; here are not the utterances of philosophers of past ages. If these words were written by a man, we might reject them; but O let me think the solemn thought, that this book is God’s handwriting– that these words are God’s! Let me look at its date; it is dated from the hills of heaven. Let me look at its letters; they flash glory on my eye. Let me read the chapters; they are big with meaning and mysteries unknown. Let me turn over the prophecies; they are pregnant with unthought- of wonders. Oh, book of books! And wast thou written by my God? Then will I bow before thee. Thou book of vast authority! thou art a proclamation from the Emperor of Heaven; far be it from me to exercise my reason in contradicting thee. Reason, thy place is to stand and find out what this volume means, not to tell what this book ought to say.
Come thou, my reason, my intellect, sit thou down and listen, for these words are the words of God. I do not know how to enlarge on this thought. Oh! if you could ever remember that this Bible was actually and really written by God. Oh! if ye had been let into the secret chambers of heaven, if ye had beheld God grasping his pen and writing down these letters– then surely ye would respect them; but they are just as much God’s handwriting as if you had seen God write them. This Bible is a book of authority; it is an authorized book, for God has written it. Oh! tremble, lest any of you despise it; mark its authority, for it is the Word of God.
- C. H. Spurgeon
Come thou, my reason, my intellect, sit thou down and listen, for these words are the words of God. I do not know how to enlarge on this thought. Oh! if you could ever remember that this Bible was actually and really written by God. Oh! if ye had been let into the secret chambers of heaven, if ye had beheld God grasping his pen and writing down these letters– then surely ye would respect them; but they are just as much God’s handwriting as if you had seen God write them. This Bible is a book of authority; it is an authorized book, for God has written it. Oh! tremble, lest any of you despise it; mark its authority, for it is the Word of God.
- C. H. Spurgeon
Monday, March 4, 2013
Unchurched or Unsaved? What Our Vocabulary Reveals About Our Beliefs
In 1914, Ernest Henry Shackleton led an expedition to cross the entire continent of Antarctica, but wound up shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. To rescue his team, Shackleton sailed a tiny boat across 850 miles of rough seas to South Georgia Island. Despite the choppy waters and gray skies, Shackleton was able to safely navigate the boat to their destination. If his coordinates had been off by even one half of one degree, his team would have missed their destination by hundreds of miles and perished.
Ship captains, airplane pilots, and astronauts will be the first to tell you that the tiniest navigational error can have disastrous consequences. The same is true for those of us who have been commissioned to lead our churches. A seemingly insignificant shift in direction can have major implications.
In recent years, leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention have bemoaned the falling number of baptisms. Pastors, missionaries, professors, and analysts have all offered a variety of reasons for why our numbers are declining, along with advice for how we might get back on track.
But I wonder if one of the main reasons for the dwindling number of baptisms is represented by a subtle shift in vocabulary – so subtle that we might overlook it.
There was a time when we spoke of unsaved people as “lost and dying and on their way to hell” – a phrase that painted a vivid picture of the stakes of being outside of Christ. We spoke of unsaved people in this way for so long that such terminology became something of a cliché.
Today, it seems that many pastors and church members tend to shy away from terms like “lost,” “unsaved,” and “unbeliever.” Instead, we speak of the people we are trying to reach as “unchurched.”
I believe that this change in terminology betrays two mistaken beliefs:
1. First, it indicates that our people believe the goal of the church is to grow the church.
Evangelism becomes less about reaching the unsaved in order to see them get saved, and more about reaching unchurched people in order to get them churched (or even worse, reaching other-churched people in order to get them to our church). Outreach becomes little more than an attempt to sell people on the benefits of coming to church.
Church-focused outreach is easier than Christ-focused outreach. In many places in the South, church attendance is still woven into the fabric of the culture. Many unchurched people already assume that they should go to church. So our outreach merely reinforces the cultural assumption that church attendance is important.
Furthermore, we are more comfortable reaching out to people with a Christian background than we are witnessing to Muslims and Hindus. In our increasingly multi-cultural world, it is much easier to reach the nominally “Christian” who already share our assumptions than the foreigners who are moving into our neighborhoods.
2. Secondly, our shift in vocabulary indicates a lessening of the eternal stakes of salvation.
I am thankful for the Conservative Resurgence in our denomination that has brought a renewed emphasis on orthodox theology. But I wonder how much of that orthodox theology is truly believed by the people in our churches.
Do we truly believe that Jesus is the only way to God?
Do we truly believe that people outside of faith in Christ will perish eternally in hell?
Do we truly believe that people who claim to be Christians and yet show no fruits of repentance have a false assurance of salvation?
Do we truly believe that people of other faiths are “lost and dying and on their way to hell”?
If so, why do we lessen the stakes of evangelism by speaking in a way that emphasizes church attendance over salvation in Christ?
Of course, evangelism includes inviting people into our churches. But inviting people to church is not the goal; it is only one means whereby God may accomplish his mission of seeking and saving the lost.
So yes… we believe that people need what the church has to offer. But we are not called to sell others on the greatness of our church, but to proclaim the greatness of our Savior.
In the choppy waters of our postmodern, increasingly post-Christian society, staying on course is no easy task. Jesus told us the way is narrow. God commanded the Israelites: “You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”
If we need a course correction, let’s do it now. Let’s remind our people of the Christ-centeredness of the Great Commission. Let’s plead with lost people to flee to Jesus and escape the wrath to come. Let’s make evangelism and outreach about Jesus again. Maybe then, we will see lost people be found, unsaved people get saved, condemned people be pardoned, and then (and only then) – unchurched people be churched.
Quote of the Day
The deepest passion of the heart of Jesus was not the saving of men, but the glory of God; and then the saving of men, because that is for the glory of God.
– G. Campbell Morgan
Sunday, March 3, 2013
The Most Offensive Verse in the Bible
From Dan Phillips:
In the Sunday School class at CBC we're doing a series called Marriage, the Bible and You. In the second lesson of the series, I brought up the subject of secular talk shows and how they like to try to beat up on Christians of any size, shape, and significance about whatever topic they think is most embarrassing and controversial. Of course, at the moment it's "gay" "marriage," or the topic of homosexuality at all.
In the course of the lesson, I remarked that I think — from the comfortable quiet safety of my study — that I'd take a different approach.
When Piers or Larry or Tavis or Rosie or Ellen or The View or whoever tried probing me about homosexuality, or wifely submission, or any other area where God has spoken (to the world's consternation), I think I'd decline the worm altogether. I think instead, I'd say something like,
"You know, TaPierRosEllRy, when you ask me about X, you're obviously picking a topic that is deeply offensive to non-Christians — but it's far from the most offensive thing I believe. You're just nibbling at the edge of one of the relatively minor leaves on the Tree of Offense. Let me do you a favor, and just take you right down to the root. Let me take you to the most offensive thing I believe.
"The most offensive thing I believe is Genesis 1:1, and everything it implies.
"That is, I believe in a sovereign Creator who is Lord and Definer of all. Everything in the universe — the planet, the laws of physics, the laws of morality, you, me — everything was created by Another, was designed by Another, was given value and definition by Another. God is Creator and Lord, and so He is ultimate. That means we are created and subjects, and therefore derivative and dependent.
"So we are not free to create meaning or value. We have only two options. We can discover the true value assigned by the Creator and revealed in His Word, the Bible; or we can rebel against that meaning.
"So any time you bring up questions about any of these issues, you do so from one of two stances. You either do it as someone advocating and enabling rebellion against the Creator's design, or as someone seeking submissive understanding of that design. You do it as servant or rebel. There is no third option.
"So yeah, insofar as I'm consistent with my core beliefs, everything I think about sexuality, relationships, morals, the whole nine yards, all of it is derived from what the Creator says. If I deviate from that, I'm wrong.
"To anyone involved in the doomed, damned you-shall-be-as-God project, that is the most offensive truth in the world, and it is the most offensive belief I hold.
"But if I can say one more thing, the first noun in that verse — beginning — immediately points us forward. It points to the end. And the end is all about Jesus Christ. That takes us to the topic of God's world-tilting Gospel, and that's what we really need to talk about."
I mean, why quibble about minor offenses, when we know how to take them right to the mother lode of all offense — that God is God, and we are not?
In the Sunday School class at CBC we're doing a series called Marriage, the Bible and You. In the second lesson of the series, I brought up the subject of secular talk shows and how they like to try to beat up on Christians of any size, shape, and significance about whatever topic they think is most embarrassing and controversial. Of course, at the moment it's "gay" "marriage," or the topic of homosexuality at all.
In the course of the lesson, I remarked that I think — from the comfortable quiet safety of my study — that I'd take a different approach.
When Piers or Larry or Tavis or Rosie or Ellen or The View or whoever tried probing me about homosexuality, or wifely submission, or any other area where God has spoken (to the world's consternation), I think I'd decline the worm altogether. I think instead, I'd say something like,
"You know, TaPierRosEllRy, when you ask me about X, you're obviously picking a topic that is deeply offensive to non-Christians — but it's far from the most offensive thing I believe. You're just nibbling at the edge of one of the relatively minor leaves on the Tree of Offense. Let me do you a favor, and just take you right down to the root. Let me take you to the most offensive thing I believe.
"The most offensive thing I believe is Genesis 1:1, and everything it implies.
"That is, I believe in a sovereign Creator who is Lord and Definer of all. Everything in the universe — the planet, the laws of physics, the laws of morality, you, me — everything was created by Another, was designed by Another, was given value and definition by Another. God is Creator and Lord, and so He is ultimate. That means we are created and subjects, and therefore derivative and dependent.
"So we are not free to create meaning or value. We have only two options. We can discover the true value assigned by the Creator and revealed in His Word, the Bible; or we can rebel against that meaning.
"So any time you bring up questions about any of these issues, you do so from one of two stances. You either do it as someone advocating and enabling rebellion against the Creator's design, or as someone seeking submissive understanding of that design. You do it as servant or rebel. There is no third option.
"So yeah, insofar as I'm consistent with my core beliefs, everything I think about sexuality, relationships, morals, the whole nine yards, all of it is derived from what the Creator says. If I deviate from that, I'm wrong.
"To anyone involved in the doomed, damned you-shall-be-as-God project, that is the most offensive truth in the world, and it is the most offensive belief I hold.
"But if I can say one more thing, the first noun in that verse — beginning — immediately points us forward. It points to the end. And the end is all about Jesus Christ. That takes us to the topic of God's world-tilting Gospel, and that's what we really need to talk about."
I mean, why quibble about minor offenses, when we know how to take them right to the mother lode of all offense — that God is God, and we are not?
Quote of the Day
“The ultimate key to joining together in radical obedience to Christ is found in fostering a humble view of ourselves and a high view of God in the church. [Let us] give ourselves in total abandonment for His great purpose in the world: the declaration of His gospel and the demonstration of His glory to all the peoples of the earth.”
- David Platt
Saturday, March 2, 2013
What is the Bible?
From JI Packer:
“Most people in churches nowadays have never read through the Bible even once; the older Christian habit of reading it from start to finish as a devotional discipline has virtually vanished. So in describing the Bible we start from scratch, assuming no prior knowledge.
The Bible consists of 66 separate pieces of writing, composed over something like a millennium and a half. The last 27 of them were written in a single generation: they comprise four narratives about Jesus called Gospels, an account of Christianity’s earliest days called the Acts of the Apostles, 21 pastoral letters from teachers with authority, and a final admonition to churches from the Lord Jesus himself, given partly by dictation and partly by vision. All these books speak of human life being supernaturally renovated through, in, with, under, from and for the once crucified, now glorified Son of God, who fills each writer’s horizon, receives his worship, and determines his mind-set at every point.
Through the books runs the claim that this Jesus fulfills promises, patterns and premonitions of blessings to come that are embodied in the 29 pre-Christian books. These are of three main types: history books, telling how God called and sought to educate the Jewish people, Abraham’s family, to worship, serve and enjoy him, and to be ready to welcome Jesus Christ when he appeared; prophetic books, recording oracular sermons from God conveyed by human messengers expressing threats, hopes and calls to faithfulness; and wisdom books which in response to God’s revelation show how to praise, pray, live, love, and cope with whatever may happen.
Christians name these two collections the Old and New Testament respectively. Testament means covenant commitment, and the Christian idea, learned from Paul, from the writer to the Hebrews, and from Jesus himself, is that God’s covenant commitment to his own people has had two editions. The first edition extended from Abraham to Christ; it was marked throughout by temporary features and many limitations, like a non-permanent shanty built of wood on massive concrete foundations. The second edition extends from Christ’s first coming to his return, and is the grand full-scale edifice for which the foundations were originally laid.
The writer to the Hebrews, following Jeremiah’s prophecy, calls this second superstructure the new covenant, and explains that through Christ, who is truly its heart, it provides a better priesthood, sacrifice, place of worship, range of promises and hope for the future than were known under its predecessor. Christians see Christ as the true center of reference in both Testaments, the Old always looking and pointing forward to him and the New proclaiming his past coming, his present life and ministry in and from heaven, and his future destiny at his return, and they hold that this is the key to true biblical interpretation.
Christians have maintained this since Christianity began.”
“Most people in churches nowadays have never read through the Bible even once; the older Christian habit of reading it from start to finish as a devotional discipline has virtually vanished. So in describing the Bible we start from scratch, assuming no prior knowledge.
The Bible consists of 66 separate pieces of writing, composed over something like a millennium and a half. The last 27 of them were written in a single generation: they comprise four narratives about Jesus called Gospels, an account of Christianity’s earliest days called the Acts of the Apostles, 21 pastoral letters from teachers with authority, and a final admonition to churches from the Lord Jesus himself, given partly by dictation and partly by vision. All these books speak of human life being supernaturally renovated through, in, with, under, from and for the once crucified, now glorified Son of God, who fills each writer’s horizon, receives his worship, and determines his mind-set at every point.
Through the books runs the claim that this Jesus fulfills promises, patterns and premonitions of blessings to come that are embodied in the 29 pre-Christian books. These are of three main types: history books, telling how God called and sought to educate the Jewish people, Abraham’s family, to worship, serve and enjoy him, and to be ready to welcome Jesus Christ when he appeared; prophetic books, recording oracular sermons from God conveyed by human messengers expressing threats, hopes and calls to faithfulness; and wisdom books which in response to God’s revelation show how to praise, pray, live, love, and cope with whatever may happen.
Christians name these two collections the Old and New Testament respectively. Testament means covenant commitment, and the Christian idea, learned from Paul, from the writer to the Hebrews, and from Jesus himself, is that God’s covenant commitment to his own people has had two editions. The first edition extended from Abraham to Christ; it was marked throughout by temporary features and many limitations, like a non-permanent shanty built of wood on massive concrete foundations. The second edition extends from Christ’s first coming to his return, and is the grand full-scale edifice for which the foundations were originally laid.
The writer to the Hebrews, following Jeremiah’s prophecy, calls this second superstructure the new covenant, and explains that through Christ, who is truly its heart, it provides a better priesthood, sacrifice, place of worship, range of promises and hope for the future than were known under its predecessor. Christians see Christ as the true center of reference in both Testaments, the Old always looking and pointing forward to him and the New proclaiming his past coming, his present life and ministry in and from heaven, and his future destiny at his return, and they hold that this is the key to true biblical interpretation.
Christians have maintained this since Christianity began.”
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