It is a question I hear more than you think. As I am out doing something in the community - coaching, volunteering or just hanging out - people inevitably ask me the same question they ask everybody: "What do you do for a living?" I have to confess, I sometimes get a little nervous to come right out and say "I am a full-time pastor."
The reason I say I get nervous is not because I am the least bit ashamed about my calling. In fact, quite the opposite! However, I realize that while many folks still view the clergy in an honorable light - it can make others feel awkward. They suddenly start thinking, "Is this guy judging my every move? Is he one of those 'hellfire and brimstone' preachers? Have I ever accidentally dropped an f-bomb in front of him? Does he really like me for me or is he trying to secretly convert me?" And the list goes on.
But their question is a good one. And it makes me think from the perspective of a new guest or a person who is sincerely interested, "What kind of church DO I pastor?" Thankfully, I can say with confidence that I am privileged to pastor what I would call a "grace-saturated" community of faith in Jesus Christ. An article I read awhile back (which I have footnoted at the bottom) inspired me to write the following about the church we are....and are becoming....
At Valley, we desire to be more than just a church that talks about grace. We desire to practice God’s revolutionary grace in the way we do life and ministry together as a body of believers. The following is a summary of our aims as a grace-saturated community of faith in Christ’s finished work of redemption:
1 – We seek to teach and preach the grace message consistently. We believe that salvation is available only as a totally free gift from God – through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of humanity. This gift is to be viewed as precisely that – a gift! It is not a loan, a bribe or a conditional offer based on any good works humans might attempt in order to “earn” it on the front end or to “prove” it on the back end. We also believe that assurance of salvation is available to all who trust in the promise of the Gospel. Likewise, our subsequent spiritual growth is also based upon grace just as our initial salvation experience was and is. (John 1:12-16; Romans 3:23-24; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11-12)
2 – We seek to encourage and equip believers to grow in grace. As we begin to truly understand and experience God’s unmerited, unconditional favor through Christ, we are motivated by gratefulness in response to His grace. Grace not only nurtures spiritual growth by creating a deep-seated sense of gratefulness, but also allows for believers to make mistakes in their growth process without fear of being condemned by the self-righteous attitudes of others. Contrary to what some may assume, a grace-saturated environment does not minimize a focus on discipleship – but actually magnifies it! We do not view the Christian life in terms of “debt-repayment” as so many Christians have been manipulated to believe (in other words “God gave everything for me, therefore I need to give everything for Him). We believe that this type of thinking is a recipe for burn-out. Instead, we remember that Christ paid the debt of our sin by giving us a gift, not a loan. He is not asking for us to pay Him back as though His sacrifice were a second mortage – nor could we come close to doing so even if we tried! He is simply desiring a response of thankfulness – gratefulness – which can then bear fruit in the way we live. (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 2:20-21; Ephesians 4:1-16; Colossians 2:6-7; 1 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Peter 3:18)
3 – We seek to accept people as they are. We often remind our people that we are a church where it is “Okay to not be okay.” We welcome people to seek and explore the grace and truth of Jesus Christ no matter what background they come from, and regardless of the hurts, habits and hang-ups they bring with them. We seek to model God’s love and grace not only toward those who are in the exploration process of faith, but also after they trust Christ and enter the spiritual growth process through Him. We accept that there will be differences among us in various areas of culture, personality, opinion, giftedness, and individual preferences regarding secondary or non-essential matters of doctrine and personal conscience. (Romans 14:1-13; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
4 – We seek to allow love to guide our liberty in Christ. Because of grace, we are free to love and serve God and others. While grace frees us completely from the realm of legalism, we do not view our freedom as a license to live selfishly or sinfully. We affirm that in matters of personal conscience or questionable things, maturing believers should be mindful of how their actions may affect those who are not yet believers or are weaker in faith. Often our freedom to abstain from certain practices in specific situations for the good of others is just as important as our freedom to engage under other circumstances. By definition, grace is open to the possibility of abuse. If this were not true, grace would at that moment cease to be grace! However, those who are growing in their experience of grace do not view God’s unconditional favor as a license for sin and selfishness, but as a life-changing state of existence whereby we can truly love God and others. (Mark 7:1-23; Romans 6:1-23; 14:1-23; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 10:23-33; Galatians 5:13-15; Colossians 2:20-23; Titus 2:11-12)
5 – We seek to emphasize “being” ahead of “doing”. Simply put, we believe that maturity is the fruit of security – not vice-versa. It is very common for Christians to become busy doing religious things, believing that their busyness equates to godliness. As a grace-saturated church, we desire for our people to serve the Lord as a by-product of their security in the new-identity He has given them through Christ. We are not to view ourselves as “sinners saved by grace” trying to repay God for all He has done for us. Instead, the Bible describes New Covenant believers as “saints”, “chosen ones”, “children of God”, “dearly loved”, “brothers and sisters”, “the Bride of Christ”, “the Body of Christ”, “new creations”, and in many other wonderful ways. Never is a believer in Christ referred to in the Bible as a dirty, rotten sinner. As we grow in the security of who we are in Christ (being), the fruit of His Spirit working through us begins to take care of itself (doing). We believe there is ONE Person in the entire universe who can successfully live the Christian life, and His name is Jesus Christ. Therefore, our life as believers is not about us "trying hard" to live for Him. Rather, it is about resting in His finished work and allowing Him to live His supernatural life through us. (Luke 10:38-42; Ephesians 5:1-2; Colossians 2:6-7; 2 Peter 1:2-11)
6 – We seek to deal with sin biblically. Rather than display a condemning or critical spirit toward believers who are caught up in some form of sin, we seek to handle this through loving and prayerful confrontation with the goal of restoring any relationships that have been broken by the sin, wherever possible. We desire to nurture a healing environment of humility, honesty and restoration. (Matthew 18: 15-20; 2 Corinthians 2:6-8; Galatians 6:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15)
7 – We seek to share the message of grace with the world! We believe that the “God of all grace” wants humanity to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. In grateful response to the treasure we have been given in Christ, we desire to share that same hope with the entire world! While we seek to contextualize our approach to the diverse cultures in which we minister globally, we remain uncompromised in our presentation and demonstration of the Gospel of grace plus nothing through faith plus nothing in Christ plus nothing. (Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:18; Acts 1:8; 1 Timothy 1:12-16; 2:1-7)
So there you have it. The kind of church where I am privileged to serve as a pastor! Are we perfect in all these areas yet? YES WE ARE! (Just kidding....of course we're not!). But these are seven realities we hold dear and seek to allow Jesus to manifest in the way we do life together at Valley. If you have been wounded or disillusioned by the joy-robbing huffing and puffing of man-made religion and you're looking for something that reminds you more of the Jesus you were first attracted to, I would invite you to join us soon! I offer this invitation not because we always hit these seven marks for which we aim - but simply because we actually ARE aiming!
If you're starving for uncompromised grace, come check out the community here at Valley Church. We meet Sundays at 8:30am, 10:00am and 11:30am with great modern music and relevant Bible teaching that you can understand and apply to real life. We also offer a Traditional Venue service which meets in our Student Center simultaneously to our 8:30 service - where you will hear the same message live via video but can worship in a more traditional format with older hymns, etc.
(Many of the concepts in this document were inspired by the article "Characteristics of a Grace-Oriented Church" by Dr. Charles Bing. Permission to use the original document as a guide has been granted by the author).
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
If It's May 22, 2011, Read This!
Greetings! If you are reading this post on May 22, 2011 or later - you have either missed the Rapture, or the Rapture did not occur on May 21 as Bible teacher Harold Kamping and his adoring followers have been predicting. I realize this news must be extremely disappointing for you by any measure.
On the one hand, if the Rapture has occurred and you missed out, it means that crap's about to hit the fan BIG TIME and you were not really saved in the first place. Bummer! On the other hand, if the Rapture did NOT in fact occur on May 21 as your guru predicted - then you have to admit to the fact that you've been following a false prophet for all this time. Another bummer!
Of course, false prophecy is nothing new to the history of Harold Kamping, who predicted Jesus was going to return in 1994. When He did not, Kamping simply apologized for getting a few calculations wrong, but assured his trusting flock that he WOULD eventually come up with the correct figure. Conveniently, that re-calculation is scheduled for this coming May!
If it sounds as though I am being sarcastic or condescending, you got me! The fact is that Kamping is just one of an endless list of cultic personalities who have miscalculated the time frame for the end of the world. In just about every case, these self-proclaimed teachers of the Bible have blamed their miscalculations on any number of things in order to save face. As for me, I'm just crazy enough to believe that their calculations were wrong for another reason. On what grounds, you ask? Oh, merely that pesky little teaching Jesus gave in Matthew 24:36 when He was speaking about His return: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Call me a party-pooper, but I'm betting that if Jesus Himself said that nobody knows the day or hour of His return, then Jesus is most likely telling the truth. I spent about 45 minutes dialoguing with a group of four men this evening who were holding signs in the city where I live which read: "Jesus is Coming on May 21, 2011."
I asked them a few questions that I've been wanting to ask these Kamping-followers if I ever had the fortune of meeting one in person. First I asked "What if you are wrong about this? If you wake up on May 22 and you are still here, aren't you going to feel a little silly for following this guy's teachings?" Their answer verbatim: "We are not wrong about this. The Rapture WILL happen on May 21, 2011. If I am still here on May 22, it means I am not saved and I have missed the Rapture, because it WILL happen no matter what." Uh......okay...
So I moved on to the next logical question: "How do you answer critics like me who would say that Kamping is a proven false-teacher because of the fact that he's already made this same prediction once and got it wrong?" Their answer (I kid you not): "Doctors and scientists don't always get their vaccinations correct on the first attempt. Sometimes it takes numerous tries before they get it right. We wouldn't call someone a bad scientist just because their calculations were wrong on the first attempt." Yes, you read that answer correctly and I am not making this up.
After a number of other caveats in the discussion, including them telling me that God hates many individuals on this planet, that He did NOT die for the sins of the whole world and that He hates the nation of Israel - I decided to ask one final question. I said, "If you're so sure of this, why don't you write me a check for the entire balance of your bank account, post-date it for May 22, and if you're not here you won't have anything to worry about. If it turns out you ARE here, I'll cash the check and give the money to charity."
Without answering my question, one of the fellows said, "Well now you're mocking me." Ya' think? Perhaps as Jesus mocked the Pharisees for placing heavy religious burdens on peoples' backs and misrepresenting the truth of God's unconditional love? Perhaps as Paul mocked the legalists at Galatia for turning the Gospel of grace into a religious code of circumcision, referring to them as the "mutilation" sect?
The great thing about paying careful attention to what the Bible actually DOES say rather than inventing calculations about the return of Jesus is that I get to live the ACTUAL Christian life rather than a neurotic, fear-based roller-coaster ride of manipulation. Because I actually believe Jesus words, I am free to live each and every day with the expectation that He could return for His beautiful, interdenominational Bride at any time. I am also free to proclaim and demonstrate a Gospel of love, grace and truth rather than arm-twisting, shouting and religious fear-tactics.
So if you're a follower of the teachings of Harold Kamping and you are reading this on May 22, 2011 or later - don't fear! You've believed a lie, but you don't have to despair. Christians who actually love people really DO exist - and God has not let you down simply because the false-teachings of a mere man have deceived you. Jesus loves you so much that He would rather die than live without you for eternity. That's the God revealed in the Bible. That's the God we worship at Valley Church along with so many brothers and sisters interdenominationally throughout our city and around the globe. You are welcome here. Don't let your disappointment in a man turn you away from God... :)
On the one hand, if the Rapture has occurred and you missed out, it means that crap's about to hit the fan BIG TIME and you were not really saved in the first place. Bummer! On the other hand, if the Rapture did NOT in fact occur on May 21 as your guru predicted - then you have to admit to the fact that you've been following a false prophet for all this time. Another bummer!
Of course, false prophecy is nothing new to the history of Harold Kamping, who predicted Jesus was going to return in 1994. When He did not, Kamping simply apologized for getting a few calculations wrong, but assured his trusting flock that he WOULD eventually come up with the correct figure. Conveniently, that re-calculation is scheduled for this coming May!
If it sounds as though I am being sarcastic or condescending, you got me! The fact is that Kamping is just one of an endless list of cultic personalities who have miscalculated the time frame for the end of the world. In just about every case, these self-proclaimed teachers of the Bible have blamed their miscalculations on any number of things in order to save face. As for me, I'm just crazy enough to believe that their calculations were wrong for another reason. On what grounds, you ask? Oh, merely that pesky little teaching Jesus gave in Matthew 24:36 when He was speaking about His return: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Call me a party-pooper, but I'm betting that if Jesus Himself said that nobody knows the day or hour of His return, then Jesus is most likely telling the truth. I spent about 45 minutes dialoguing with a group of four men this evening who were holding signs in the city where I live which read: "Jesus is Coming on May 21, 2011."
I asked them a few questions that I've been wanting to ask these Kamping-followers if I ever had the fortune of meeting one in person. First I asked "What if you are wrong about this? If you wake up on May 22 and you are still here, aren't you going to feel a little silly for following this guy's teachings?" Their answer verbatim: "We are not wrong about this. The Rapture WILL happen on May 21, 2011. If I am still here on May 22, it means I am not saved and I have missed the Rapture, because it WILL happen no matter what." Uh......okay...
So I moved on to the next logical question: "How do you answer critics like me who would say that Kamping is a proven false-teacher because of the fact that he's already made this same prediction once and got it wrong?" Their answer (I kid you not): "Doctors and scientists don't always get their vaccinations correct on the first attempt. Sometimes it takes numerous tries before they get it right. We wouldn't call someone a bad scientist just because their calculations were wrong on the first attempt." Yes, you read that answer correctly and I am not making this up.
After a number of other caveats in the discussion, including them telling me that God hates many individuals on this planet, that He did NOT die for the sins of the whole world and that He hates the nation of Israel - I decided to ask one final question. I said, "If you're so sure of this, why don't you write me a check for the entire balance of your bank account, post-date it for May 22, and if you're not here you won't have anything to worry about. If it turns out you ARE here, I'll cash the check and give the money to charity."
Without answering my question, one of the fellows said, "Well now you're mocking me." Ya' think? Perhaps as Jesus mocked the Pharisees for placing heavy religious burdens on peoples' backs and misrepresenting the truth of God's unconditional love? Perhaps as Paul mocked the legalists at Galatia for turning the Gospel of grace into a religious code of circumcision, referring to them as the "mutilation" sect?
The great thing about paying careful attention to what the Bible actually DOES say rather than inventing calculations about the return of Jesus is that I get to live the ACTUAL Christian life rather than a neurotic, fear-based roller-coaster ride of manipulation. Because I actually believe Jesus words, I am free to live each and every day with the expectation that He could return for His beautiful, interdenominational Bride at any time. I am also free to proclaim and demonstrate a Gospel of love, grace and truth rather than arm-twisting, shouting and religious fear-tactics.
So if you're a follower of the teachings of Harold Kamping and you are reading this on May 22, 2011 or later - don't fear! You've believed a lie, but you don't have to despair. Christians who actually love people really DO exist - and God has not let you down simply because the false-teachings of a mere man have deceived you. Jesus loves you so much that He would rather die than live without you for eternity. That's the God revealed in the Bible. That's the God we worship at Valley Church along with so many brothers and sisters interdenominationally throughout our city and around the globe. You are welcome here. Don't let your disappointment in a man turn you away from God... :)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
History Repeats Itself...
As I was studying in preparation for teaching the Bible this coming weekend, I was reading Judges 2 - about how Joshua the great Hebrew general led the children of Israel to repent of their idol-worship and turn to the Lord. Then it says they took possession of their various plots of land and began to prosper. These were really great times for Israel - as it finally looked as though the people would begin to fulfill God's plan for them to become a prosperous and righteous light to the nations, pointing humanity to the worship and knowledge of the one true God.
But as the story continues, it says that after Joshua and his generation died, the next generation "forsook the Lord" and didn't know Him, nor what He had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt. Imagine that. In only ONE generation, the people had completely drifted away from their knowledge of God. As I read on, I noticed three specific parallels to the generation God has called me to reach out to with the grace and truth of Jesus.
First, they were born into excessive PROSPERITY. Because of the hard work of their parents, those of the younger generation were handed a very prosperous nation as their inheritance. The prosperity itself was not the problem. In fact, it was a blessing from the Lord. But rather than using the prosperity to serve the Lord, they became greedy and distracted. Sound familiar?
Secondly, they were blinded by esoteric SPIRITUALITY. The whole "Yahweh is the only Way" system seemed much too narrow and intolerant for them. So they began to worship idols and the false gods of power (Ba'al) and pleasure (Ashtoreth). Much like today, spirituality was en vogue. But nobody wanted to be trapped into that narrow-minded claim that there was only ONE true God - so they opted for the smorgas-board approach.
Finally, they were burdened with educational DEFICIENCY. Despite the command of Deuteronomy 6:7 in which their parents were to pass the truth of their faith along to their kids as a matter of first priority - the ball was dropped and this generation had no understanding of the miraculous ways in which God blessed them. Rather than carrying the faith of their fathers into the next generation and beyond, they allowed the false promises of the broken culture around them to convince them to leave their first Love.
Yes, they were living under a completely different Covenant. And yes, God was gracious (just as He is with His New Covenant community) to never leave them or forsake them even though they failed miserably to obey Him. But can you see the relevance here? The modern American church is often addicted to material prosperity, all too willing to blend mystic spirituality with their faith in Christ, and severely lacking in basic knowledge of the Gospel of grace.
We will explore these issues more deeply this weekend at Valley. As always, we'll be celebrating the Good News of God's unrelenting grace toward us in Christ - and we'll be asking the Holy Spirit to further illuminate to us His life-changing power to be IN the world but not OF the world. Hope you can make it...
But as the story continues, it says that after Joshua and his generation died, the next generation "forsook the Lord" and didn't know Him, nor what He had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt. Imagine that. In only ONE generation, the people had completely drifted away from their knowledge of God. As I read on, I noticed three specific parallels to the generation God has called me to reach out to with the grace and truth of Jesus.
First, they were born into excessive PROSPERITY. Because of the hard work of their parents, those of the younger generation were handed a very prosperous nation as their inheritance. The prosperity itself was not the problem. In fact, it was a blessing from the Lord. But rather than using the prosperity to serve the Lord, they became greedy and distracted. Sound familiar?
Secondly, they were blinded by esoteric SPIRITUALITY. The whole "Yahweh is the only Way" system seemed much too narrow and intolerant for them. So they began to worship idols and the false gods of power (Ba'al) and pleasure (Ashtoreth). Much like today, spirituality was en vogue. But nobody wanted to be trapped into that narrow-minded claim that there was only ONE true God - so they opted for the smorgas-board approach.
Finally, they were burdened with educational DEFICIENCY. Despite the command of Deuteronomy 6:7 in which their parents were to pass the truth of their faith along to their kids as a matter of first priority - the ball was dropped and this generation had no understanding of the miraculous ways in which God blessed them. Rather than carrying the faith of their fathers into the next generation and beyond, they allowed the false promises of the broken culture around them to convince them to leave their first Love.
Yes, they were living under a completely different Covenant. And yes, God was gracious (just as He is with His New Covenant community) to never leave them or forsake them even though they failed miserably to obey Him. But can you see the relevance here? The modern American church is often addicted to material prosperity, all too willing to blend mystic spirituality with their faith in Christ, and severely lacking in basic knowledge of the Gospel of grace.
We will explore these issues more deeply this weekend at Valley. As always, we'll be celebrating the Good News of God's unrelenting grace toward us in Christ - and we'll be asking the Holy Spirit to further illuminate to us His life-changing power to be IN the world but not OF the world. Hope you can make it...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Jesus Paid It All (No, REALLY!)
Early this morning on my drive to church, I was blasting one of my favorite Christian songs on the freeway – “Jesus Paid it All”. It’s an old hymn that has been re-vamped for modern worship. I absolutely LOVE the song…except for one word in it. There is a particular line that goes…
“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
Beautiful. And so true.
Almost.
If you are a believer in Christ, perhaps you can guess which word I’m talking about. It is the word “owe.” Is it true that as believers we owe Jesus everything? Do we owe Him anything at all? What are we actually saying when we sing that line?
Oh, think I understand what we MEAN when we sing it. What we mean is that God has been so good by bringing us the gift of salvation, we naturally feel indebted to Him for such amazing love. We subconsciously tell ourselves things like “Jesus gave His life for me, and I owe Him my life in return.”
There is only one tiny problem with this idea. According to the Scriptures, it is nowhere to be found in the framework of the New Covenant way of life. Throughout the New Testament Epistles, we are reassured over and over that the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ is a GIFT. And yet as clear as this is – many believers live the bulk of their Christian existence relating to God in terms of debt-repayment.
Make no mistake about it – before we received the gift of salvation, we were indeed debtors to God because of our sin. But Jesus didn’t come to give us a loan. His life, death and resurrection were not presented as a second mortgage in order to pay off the first. Jesus is our Savior – not a creditor. When He paid the debt of our sin, He did so as a free gift – the gift of forgiveness and new life both eternal and abundant.
How often do we mistakenly relate to God as cosmic bill collector more so than a Savior? Sure, we tell ourselves we understand the fact that we will never be able to “literally” pay God back for His grace – but so many of us live as though we believe He expects us to die trying.
Ask yourself this crucial question: What makes a gift a gift? What makes something a gift is when it is totally free. A gift actually ceases to be a gift the very moment there is even a HINT of the expectation of repayment attached to it. The New Testament Epistles never encourage us to see ourselves as debtors. Yet what we ARE repeatedly told is that we WERE debtors who are now “dearly loved children”, “saints”, “members of God’s family”, etc.
If I could change that song, I would only change one letter. I would add the letter “d” to the word “owe”. My debt to God is now in the past. I owe him nothing in the true sense of the word. Do I FEEL indebted to Him? I once would have told you “yes”. But the more I understand grace, the more I realize that God isn’t asking me to relate to Him in terms of debt-repayment. The greater response is simply thankfulness.
Dozens of times in the New Testament letters, thankfulness is described as being at the core of our response to God’s grace – not guilt or a sense of “owing” anything. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).
When we operate as free sons and daughters of God – motivated by a sense of deep thankfulness and gratitude – we are more aligned with God’s heart for us. A holy life becomes less about us “living for God” and more about Him “living through us.” Religion wants us to be operating from the mind-set of a debtor. Jesus wants us operating from the mind-set of His irreversibly beloved children.
If you know the tune, then sing the revised version with me…
“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owed.
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
Isn’t the truth good?
“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
Beautiful. And so true.
Almost.
If you are a believer in Christ, perhaps you can guess which word I’m talking about. It is the word “owe.” Is it true that as believers we owe Jesus everything? Do we owe Him anything at all? What are we actually saying when we sing that line?
Oh, think I understand what we MEAN when we sing it. What we mean is that God has been so good by bringing us the gift of salvation, we naturally feel indebted to Him for such amazing love. We subconsciously tell ourselves things like “Jesus gave His life for me, and I owe Him my life in return.”
There is only one tiny problem with this idea. According to the Scriptures, it is nowhere to be found in the framework of the New Covenant way of life. Throughout the New Testament Epistles, we are reassured over and over that the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ is a GIFT. And yet as clear as this is – many believers live the bulk of their Christian existence relating to God in terms of debt-repayment.
Make no mistake about it – before we received the gift of salvation, we were indeed debtors to God because of our sin. But Jesus didn’t come to give us a loan. His life, death and resurrection were not presented as a second mortgage in order to pay off the first. Jesus is our Savior – not a creditor. When He paid the debt of our sin, He did so as a free gift – the gift of forgiveness and new life both eternal and abundant.
How often do we mistakenly relate to God as cosmic bill collector more so than a Savior? Sure, we tell ourselves we understand the fact that we will never be able to “literally” pay God back for His grace – but so many of us live as though we believe He expects us to die trying.
Ask yourself this crucial question: What makes a gift a gift? What makes something a gift is when it is totally free. A gift actually ceases to be a gift the very moment there is even a HINT of the expectation of repayment attached to it. The New Testament Epistles never encourage us to see ourselves as debtors. Yet what we ARE repeatedly told is that we WERE debtors who are now “dearly loved children”, “saints”, “members of God’s family”, etc.
If I could change that song, I would only change one letter. I would add the letter “d” to the word “owe”. My debt to God is now in the past. I owe him nothing in the true sense of the word. Do I FEEL indebted to Him? I once would have told you “yes”. But the more I understand grace, the more I realize that God isn’t asking me to relate to Him in terms of debt-repayment. The greater response is simply thankfulness.
Dozens of times in the New Testament letters, thankfulness is described as being at the core of our response to God’s grace – not guilt or a sense of “owing” anything. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).
When we operate as free sons and daughters of God – motivated by a sense of deep thankfulness and gratitude – we are more aligned with God’s heart for us. A holy life becomes less about us “living for God” and more about Him “living through us.” Religion wants us to be operating from the mind-set of a debtor. Jesus wants us operating from the mind-set of His irreversibly beloved children.
If you know the tune, then sing the revised version with me…
“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owed.
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
Isn’t the truth good?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Is Rob Bell a Heretic? (Some Thoughts about "Love Wins")
Several weeks ago I began receiving messages and emails related to what I think about Rob Bell’s controversial new book “Love Wins”. Frankly, I tried to steer as clear as possible from reading or watching too much of the hubbub so that I could stay as “untainted” as possible prior to actually reading the book myself (a general practice I’ve tried to develop before making judgments about a book that hasn’t even been released yet).
Of course, in spite of my attempts to minimize any premature conditioning regarding my opinion of the book, there were viral videos and emails and social network messages that made that a difficult quest. One of the most frequently recurring was related to a tweet allegedly sent out by John Piper, pastor of the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. The tweet simply read, “Farewell Rob Bell.”
Granted, Bell and his publishers intentionally stirred the pot with a host of preliminary articles, videos and interviews (much the way Mel Gibson fed off of the allegations of “anti-semitism” he received prior to the release of 2004’s The Passion of the Christ). If Gibson made an extra half-billion dollars in revenue from curious Jews and skeptics who saw his movie simply to find out what all the commotion was about, I’m sure Rob Bell and Harper Collins will experience something similar on a lesser scale. I know they made an extra $10.99 from my Kindle download.
On the day of its national release, I went into our local Christian Bookstore asking for “Love Wins”. I was told that they would “not be carrying” the book – something I considered a little surprising given the wasteland of crappy material they actually DO carry. I then bolted over to Borders, which did not have the book in stock yet. That evening, I downloaded it on my Kindle and quickly read through it over the next couple of days.
Having just finished the book, I am very alert to a number of strengths and weaknesses I observed. If I were a reviewer I would begin with strengths, pointing out that Bell quickly and rightly draws our attention to the fact that many Christians have been trained to think of God’s redemptive purposes as being almost totally futuristic (i.e. about “going to heaven when we die”) rather than at least equally focused on living as agents of change in the here and now, bringing the values and qualities of God’s Kingdom into the broken spheres of THIS life. Point well taken.
Another strength was that in spite of Bell’s frequent appeals to human logic and emotion in raising his questions about the goodness of God, he goes much deeper in his use of Scripture than some of the “Christian universalists” I have read on a popular level. I commend Bell for trying to pay attention to some of the passages of Scripture which seem to contradict or at least challenge certain traditional assumptions about God.
In addition, it is hard not to be moved by Bell’s passion for keeping the good news focused on good news. His enduring commitment to present Jesus in light of the most expansive picture of beauty, love and grace possible is admirable in my opinion. It has long been my belief that one of the major reasons people reject Jesus at any given point in time is because the version of Jesus they have been presented with is less than the glorious Jesus of the Bible. Of course, some Christians would rather simplify this phenomenon by insisting that those who reject Christ simply aren’t elect – and therefore, who cares?
Now for a few weaknesses. In my opinion the Achilles' heel of this book is simple. While Bell indeed appeals to a vast array of Scripture verses to support his views, therein lies the problem. Rather than lengthen the book so as to present a sound exegetical defense of his views passage by passage, he cherry-picks from many often-unrelated Biblical texts, using verses, phrases and sound-bites to proof-text his opinions. While this analysis cannot in and of itself “prove” that Bell is wrong – I am simply pointing out that he spends very little time interacting with the opposing, sometimes “traditional” viewpoints he is either questioning or deconstructing.
In similar fashion, many sects and religious groups attempt to bolster their views about the Bible with sound-bite theologies designed to make the Bible say what they desire for it to say. I have no way of knowing whether Rob Bell has in fact dealt contextually and extensively with the dozens of verses he pulls from in support of his opinions – but if he has, then by excluding that documentation he’s simply telling the reader “just trust me” as he’s painting the traditional views on heaven and hell in the most negative light possible.
Therein lies another weakness of the book – namely, its brevity. I read the it cover to cover in just a few hours, and I’m a pathetically slow reader. I understand that Bell and his publishers are trying to reach a popular core audience by keeping his books succinct. But other than some extended comments about the “Prodigal Son” narrative, Bell does not spend any time contextually approaching or exegeting any of the passages from which he pulls his dozens of sound-bites. Again, I’m all for reaching a mass audience by “keeping it simple, stupid.” But could we have had just ONE – or TWO – or THREE extended treatments of a few of the most crucial passages?
By eisegeting (reading into the text) his “New Exodus”, restorationist theology, he is ignoring a number of other sound interpretive approaches to understanding the Storyline of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In essence, I’m not interested THAT Bell thinks a Biblical author means something by a particular verse or phrase if I cannot also know WHY (contextually) he thinks the author meant it that way. To Bell’s credit, he does give a list of further suggested reading at the end of the book, but my guess is that very few of his fans will actually take the time to read those weightier writings and really think through the issues. Sadly, most will in fact simply “take Rob’s word” for it that he’s done his homework.
So in getting to the questions everyone began asking a few weeks ago – “Do you think Rob Bell is a universalist?” – having read his book cover to cover I can unequivocally say that Rob Bell himself tells us the answer is yes. Which raises another question. Is Rob Bell a heretic? Well, I guess that depends.
There is much disagreement among Christians about what is and is not within the pale of orthodox Christian beliefs and practices. A few years ago, the renowned Evangelical theologian John Stott shocked Christendom with his revelation that he now holds to the view of “annihilationism” – or the belief that hell is eternal in duration only, but not in consequence. In other words, unbelievers indeed are separated from God and confined to a placed called hell – but they will be eventually annihilated (put out of existence) and the conscious experience of the punishment will not last forever.
Did that startling revelation make John Stott a heretic? I remember reading the opinion of some who stated it does. My response was “really”? Are we sure of that? Has John Stott denied the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Did he stop believing that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to the Father? Did he deny that salvation is received only by grace through faith in Christ? Not that I am aware of.
Some would argue that Rob Bell’s views take things a giant step further – and that suggesting all of creation will eventually be reconciled to God in an eternal state of bliss is way out of bounds. I can see their point. Based upon my understanding of the Scriptures, I disagree with both Stott and Rob Bell in their beliefs about hell. But throughout “Love Wins”, Bell confirms again and again in various ways his belief that Jesus Christ is indeed the exclusive way to the Father. In the book he doesn’t say much about issues like the atonement or the Deity of Christ, so it is hard for me to comment on those issues.
Because I am a full-time pastor and not a scholar with the time on my hands to expound on every issue raised in Bell’s little book, having read it personally I am now at least prepared to more critically examine, review and participate in the plethora of theological dialogue – both for and against – that will inevitably surface in the days to come regarding “Love Wins.” This is not the first piece of work I’ve read on Christian Universalism, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. In any case, one reason I love Christ’s Church is precisely because it IS inter-denominational. While many see the different Christian sects, denominations and factions as a negative thing, I their existence is a positive thing. This actually strengthens the church against heresy because it encourages – rather than suppresses – robust dialogue.
The discussion of the eternality of hell is important. Does it rise to the level of determining Heresy with a capital “H”? Some say yes and some say no. What do YOU think?
Of course, in spite of my attempts to minimize any premature conditioning regarding my opinion of the book, there were viral videos and emails and social network messages that made that a difficult quest. One of the most frequently recurring was related to a tweet allegedly sent out by John Piper, pastor of the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. The tweet simply read, “Farewell Rob Bell.”
Granted, Bell and his publishers intentionally stirred the pot with a host of preliminary articles, videos and interviews (much the way Mel Gibson fed off of the allegations of “anti-semitism” he received prior to the release of 2004’s The Passion of the Christ). If Gibson made an extra half-billion dollars in revenue from curious Jews and skeptics who saw his movie simply to find out what all the commotion was about, I’m sure Rob Bell and Harper Collins will experience something similar on a lesser scale. I know they made an extra $10.99 from my Kindle download.
On the day of its national release, I went into our local Christian Bookstore asking for “Love Wins”. I was told that they would “not be carrying” the book – something I considered a little surprising given the wasteland of crappy material they actually DO carry. I then bolted over to Borders, which did not have the book in stock yet. That evening, I downloaded it on my Kindle and quickly read through it over the next couple of days.
Having just finished the book, I am very alert to a number of strengths and weaknesses I observed. If I were a reviewer I would begin with strengths, pointing out that Bell quickly and rightly draws our attention to the fact that many Christians have been trained to think of God’s redemptive purposes as being almost totally futuristic (i.e. about “going to heaven when we die”) rather than at least equally focused on living as agents of change in the here and now, bringing the values and qualities of God’s Kingdom into the broken spheres of THIS life. Point well taken.
Another strength was that in spite of Bell’s frequent appeals to human logic and emotion in raising his questions about the goodness of God, he goes much deeper in his use of Scripture than some of the “Christian universalists” I have read on a popular level. I commend Bell for trying to pay attention to some of the passages of Scripture which seem to contradict or at least challenge certain traditional assumptions about God.
In addition, it is hard not to be moved by Bell’s passion for keeping the good news focused on good news. His enduring commitment to present Jesus in light of the most expansive picture of beauty, love and grace possible is admirable in my opinion. It has long been my belief that one of the major reasons people reject Jesus at any given point in time is because the version of Jesus they have been presented with is less than the glorious Jesus of the Bible. Of course, some Christians would rather simplify this phenomenon by insisting that those who reject Christ simply aren’t elect – and therefore, who cares?
Now for a few weaknesses. In my opinion the Achilles' heel of this book is simple. While Bell indeed appeals to a vast array of Scripture verses to support his views, therein lies the problem. Rather than lengthen the book so as to present a sound exegetical defense of his views passage by passage, he cherry-picks from many often-unrelated Biblical texts, using verses, phrases and sound-bites to proof-text his opinions. While this analysis cannot in and of itself “prove” that Bell is wrong – I am simply pointing out that he spends very little time interacting with the opposing, sometimes “traditional” viewpoints he is either questioning or deconstructing.
In similar fashion, many sects and religious groups attempt to bolster their views about the Bible with sound-bite theologies designed to make the Bible say what they desire for it to say. I have no way of knowing whether Rob Bell has in fact dealt contextually and extensively with the dozens of verses he pulls from in support of his opinions – but if he has, then by excluding that documentation he’s simply telling the reader “just trust me” as he’s painting the traditional views on heaven and hell in the most negative light possible.
Therein lies another weakness of the book – namely, its brevity. I read the it cover to cover in just a few hours, and I’m a pathetically slow reader. I understand that Bell and his publishers are trying to reach a popular core audience by keeping his books succinct. But other than some extended comments about the “Prodigal Son” narrative, Bell does not spend any time contextually approaching or exegeting any of the passages from which he pulls his dozens of sound-bites. Again, I’m all for reaching a mass audience by “keeping it simple, stupid.” But could we have had just ONE – or TWO – or THREE extended treatments of a few of the most crucial passages?
By eisegeting (reading into the text) his “New Exodus”, restorationist theology, he is ignoring a number of other sound interpretive approaches to understanding the Storyline of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In essence, I’m not interested THAT Bell thinks a Biblical author means something by a particular verse or phrase if I cannot also know WHY (contextually) he thinks the author meant it that way. To Bell’s credit, he does give a list of further suggested reading at the end of the book, but my guess is that very few of his fans will actually take the time to read those weightier writings and really think through the issues. Sadly, most will in fact simply “take Rob’s word” for it that he’s done his homework.
So in getting to the questions everyone began asking a few weeks ago – “Do you think Rob Bell is a universalist?” – having read his book cover to cover I can unequivocally say that Rob Bell himself tells us the answer is yes. Which raises another question. Is Rob Bell a heretic? Well, I guess that depends.
There is much disagreement among Christians about what is and is not within the pale of orthodox Christian beliefs and practices. A few years ago, the renowned Evangelical theologian John Stott shocked Christendom with his revelation that he now holds to the view of “annihilationism” – or the belief that hell is eternal in duration only, but not in consequence. In other words, unbelievers indeed are separated from God and confined to a placed called hell – but they will be eventually annihilated (put out of existence) and the conscious experience of the punishment will not last forever.
Did that startling revelation make John Stott a heretic? I remember reading the opinion of some who stated it does. My response was “really”? Are we sure of that? Has John Stott denied the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Did he stop believing that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to the Father? Did he deny that salvation is received only by grace through faith in Christ? Not that I am aware of.
Some would argue that Rob Bell’s views take things a giant step further – and that suggesting all of creation will eventually be reconciled to God in an eternal state of bliss is way out of bounds. I can see their point. Based upon my understanding of the Scriptures, I disagree with both Stott and Rob Bell in their beliefs about hell. But throughout “Love Wins”, Bell confirms again and again in various ways his belief that Jesus Christ is indeed the exclusive way to the Father. In the book he doesn’t say much about issues like the atonement or the Deity of Christ, so it is hard for me to comment on those issues.
Because I am a full-time pastor and not a scholar with the time on my hands to expound on every issue raised in Bell’s little book, having read it personally I am now at least prepared to more critically examine, review and participate in the plethora of theological dialogue – both for and against – that will inevitably surface in the days to come regarding “Love Wins.” This is not the first piece of work I’ve read on Christian Universalism, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. In any case, one reason I love Christ’s Church is precisely because it IS inter-denominational. While many see the different Christian sects, denominations and factions as a negative thing, I their existence is a positive thing. This actually strengthens the church against heresy because it encourages – rather than suppresses – robust dialogue.
The discussion of the eternality of hell is important. Does it rise to the level of determining Heresy with a capital “H”? Some say yes and some say no. What do YOU think?
Monday, February 14, 2011
Stop Trying to Live for Jesus!
For quite a number of years, the idea behind the famous phrase "What Would Jesus Do?" has bothered me. I know it can seem quarrelsome to raise doubts about a beloved religious slogan that has gained such wide acceptance among Christians of all denominations, but allow me to explain...
The essence of the Christian life is not about living for Jesus. That's right. You read that correctly. The essence of the Christian life is about experiencing an exchanged life with Jesus. Because of the cross and resurrection, Jesus finished His mission to both fulfill the Law on your behalf AND provide the only payment worthy to absolve you from all the guilt of your sin. When we trust Christ as the Savior of our lives, our sin nature is exchanged for His new, righteous nature.
The Apostle Paul wrote emphatically, "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). This reality is a world apart from the common models for "Christian growth" that we find in many churches today.
Growing as a follower of Jesus (also called Discipleship) is often centered upon that popular question: "What Would Jesus Do?" We are told - in one way or another - that in any given situation we have choices to make. While this is not entirely false, the emphasis is upon asking ourselves what we envision Jesus would do in a similar situation and then attempting to "mimic" that behavior or "measure up" to that standard. Once we've concocted a visualization of what we think Jesus would do in the situation, we are then told to try our best to copy Him. "Die to yourself", we are often told. "Take up your cross", we are frequently reminded. But is this really how we are supposed to become "more like Jesus"? The New Testament proposes another way.
Every explicit or implicit Biblical statement about the need to "die to yourself" came prior to Jesus' finished work on the cross. As Jesus made these kinds of statements, He was pointing out the high cost involved in being the kind of person God's holiness demands - pure, righteous and perfect. Ministering under the Old Covenant, Jesus was routinely seeking to point His audience toward the New. He would often elevate God's standards to a level even higher than they were commonly understood. For example, in his famous Sermon on the Mount He pointed out that to be lustful was to be guilty of adultery and to be angry is to be guilty of murder. These statements (and dozens of others) were designed to drive His audience in desperation to faith in the cross He was about to endure, for He said clearly that "Unless you righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees, you cannot enter the Kingdom..."
Knowing that we could never perfectly attain to these standards, Jesus wanted us to understand that there was only ONE Person in the universe who could actually live the Christian life - and that Person was Him. He fulfilled every requirement of God's Law by living on our behalf the perfect life we couldn't live because of our sin nature. Often in our admirable efforts to emphasize that Christ died in our place, we forget to place equal emphasis on the fact that unless He had first LIVED in our place - His dying would have been meaningless. When we place our faith in Christ and His finished work, He exchanges His perfection for our sin nature. We are counted as being crucified with Him AND resurrected into new life with Him.
When we ask ourselves "What Would Jesus Do?" as a motivation for successfully navigating the moral dilemmas of our daily lives, we completely miss the point. The REAL question is "What WILL Jesus Do" through me in any given situation? This subtle but significant shift in thinking makes all the difference in the world. My old life has been exchanged with Christ's new life in me. Accepting that I have been crucified with Him is an ongoing act of faith. I still have a "flesh" - a part of me that has been conditioned to handle life's challenges independently from God. But my spirit has been made completely new and is fully surrendered to the things of God.
The battle lies in the realm of the soul (mind, will and emotions). When, for example, I am tempted to sin - my spirit desires obedience to God while my flesh desires to satisfy that sinful craving. The solution, then is not to ask "What would Jesus do?" and then try to white-knuckle my way through the battle. The solution is to allow my mind to be transformed by the reality that when I "walk by the Spirit, I will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Paul never told us to "die to sin." That was a pre-cross message. New Covenant believers are told to "reckon yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6).
To "reckon" means to "consider" or to "accept as fact" (by faith) that something is true. I hear many pastors and leaders lamenting the fact that so many within the church continue to live their lives no differently than the world. They say that the problem is that people are not "submitted enough" to Christ's Lordship - or that people are not being taught to "die to self." Yet, those realities - in my opinion - are merely symptomatic (not causal) of the real problem. The real problem is that we've been operating from the wrong perspective.
Maturity is a fruit of security - not vice-versa. Most discipleship models contend that if you live obediently to God, He will bless your life, you'll feel closer to Him, etc. This is totally antithetical to the core of the New Testament Epistles. It is only as we become increasingly secure in the unconditional grace and blessing of God toward us in Christ (Ephesians 1-3) that real maturity can gradually emerge (Ephesians 4-6). People will rip passages like James 2:14-26 completely out of context in order to manipulate Christians into becoming so morbidly concerned with how much "fruit" they are producing that they begin to question the legitimacy of their faith and their security in Christ. Whenever the focus is placed upon our conditional performance rather than on the unconditional promises of Christ and the Gospel - we are in for a neurotic journey of legalism and frustration.
Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are wary and heavy-burdened - and I will give you rest for your souls." This does not seem to be the experience of many Christians I know. Like the Pharisees of old, many teachers are putting burdens on people's backs that Jesus has already born for us as He lived and died in our place. The pressure to perform is now OFF.
We should not be asking "What Would Jesus Do?" Instead, we can wake up every morning with a much more exciting question: "What WILL Jesus do through me today?" Christianity is not about YOU trying your best to live for Jesus. It's about Jesus living His supernatural life through you! When this becomes the restful obsession of one's life - obedience becomes a by-product of resting in His irreversibly finished work on our behalf! That's what it means, essentially, to live the Christian life: Christ in you, the hope of glory! I challenge you to stop trying to live for Him and begin resting in Him instead. Only then can you allow Him to live the Christian life through you!
The essence of the Christian life is not about living for Jesus. That's right. You read that correctly. The essence of the Christian life is about experiencing an exchanged life with Jesus. Because of the cross and resurrection, Jesus finished His mission to both fulfill the Law on your behalf AND provide the only payment worthy to absolve you from all the guilt of your sin. When we trust Christ as the Savior of our lives, our sin nature is exchanged for His new, righteous nature.
The Apostle Paul wrote emphatically, "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). This reality is a world apart from the common models for "Christian growth" that we find in many churches today.
Growing as a follower of Jesus (also called Discipleship) is often centered upon that popular question: "What Would Jesus Do?" We are told - in one way or another - that in any given situation we have choices to make. While this is not entirely false, the emphasis is upon asking ourselves what we envision Jesus would do in a similar situation and then attempting to "mimic" that behavior or "measure up" to that standard. Once we've concocted a visualization of what we think Jesus would do in the situation, we are then told to try our best to copy Him. "Die to yourself", we are often told. "Take up your cross", we are frequently reminded. But is this really how we are supposed to become "more like Jesus"? The New Testament proposes another way.
Every explicit or implicit Biblical statement about the need to "die to yourself" came prior to Jesus' finished work on the cross. As Jesus made these kinds of statements, He was pointing out the high cost involved in being the kind of person God's holiness demands - pure, righteous and perfect. Ministering under the Old Covenant, Jesus was routinely seeking to point His audience toward the New. He would often elevate God's standards to a level even higher than they were commonly understood. For example, in his famous Sermon on the Mount He pointed out that to be lustful was to be guilty of adultery and to be angry is to be guilty of murder. These statements (and dozens of others) were designed to drive His audience in desperation to faith in the cross He was about to endure, for He said clearly that "Unless you righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees, you cannot enter the Kingdom..."
Knowing that we could never perfectly attain to these standards, Jesus wanted us to understand that there was only ONE Person in the universe who could actually live the Christian life - and that Person was Him. He fulfilled every requirement of God's Law by living on our behalf the perfect life we couldn't live because of our sin nature. Often in our admirable efforts to emphasize that Christ died in our place, we forget to place equal emphasis on the fact that unless He had first LIVED in our place - His dying would have been meaningless. When we place our faith in Christ and His finished work, He exchanges His perfection for our sin nature. We are counted as being crucified with Him AND resurrected into new life with Him.
When we ask ourselves "What Would Jesus Do?" as a motivation for successfully navigating the moral dilemmas of our daily lives, we completely miss the point. The REAL question is "What WILL Jesus Do" through me in any given situation? This subtle but significant shift in thinking makes all the difference in the world. My old life has been exchanged with Christ's new life in me. Accepting that I have been crucified with Him is an ongoing act of faith. I still have a "flesh" - a part of me that has been conditioned to handle life's challenges independently from God. But my spirit has been made completely new and is fully surrendered to the things of God.
The battle lies in the realm of the soul (mind, will and emotions). When, for example, I am tempted to sin - my spirit desires obedience to God while my flesh desires to satisfy that sinful craving. The solution, then is not to ask "What would Jesus do?" and then try to white-knuckle my way through the battle. The solution is to allow my mind to be transformed by the reality that when I "walk by the Spirit, I will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Paul never told us to "die to sin." That was a pre-cross message. New Covenant believers are told to "reckon yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6).
To "reckon" means to "consider" or to "accept as fact" (by faith) that something is true. I hear many pastors and leaders lamenting the fact that so many within the church continue to live their lives no differently than the world. They say that the problem is that people are not "submitted enough" to Christ's Lordship - or that people are not being taught to "die to self." Yet, those realities - in my opinion - are merely symptomatic (not causal) of the real problem. The real problem is that we've been operating from the wrong perspective.
Maturity is a fruit of security - not vice-versa. Most discipleship models contend that if you live obediently to God, He will bless your life, you'll feel closer to Him, etc. This is totally antithetical to the core of the New Testament Epistles. It is only as we become increasingly secure in the unconditional grace and blessing of God toward us in Christ (Ephesians 1-3) that real maturity can gradually emerge (Ephesians 4-6). People will rip passages like James 2:14-26 completely out of context in order to manipulate Christians into becoming so morbidly concerned with how much "fruit" they are producing that they begin to question the legitimacy of their faith and their security in Christ. Whenever the focus is placed upon our conditional performance rather than on the unconditional promises of Christ and the Gospel - we are in for a neurotic journey of legalism and frustration.
Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are wary and heavy-burdened - and I will give you rest for your souls." This does not seem to be the experience of many Christians I know. Like the Pharisees of old, many teachers are putting burdens on people's backs that Jesus has already born for us as He lived and died in our place. The pressure to perform is now OFF.
We should not be asking "What Would Jesus Do?" Instead, we can wake up every morning with a much more exciting question: "What WILL Jesus do through me today?" Christianity is not about YOU trying your best to live for Jesus. It's about Jesus living His supernatural life through you! When this becomes the restful obsession of one's life - obedience becomes a by-product of resting in His irreversibly finished work on our behalf! That's what it means, essentially, to live the Christian life: Christ in you, the hope of glory! I challenge you to stop trying to live for Him and begin resting in Him instead. Only then can you allow Him to live the Christian life through you!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thinking About the Tucson Tragedy...
In light of last weekend's tragic violence in Tuscon, Arizona, I have been praying for the families and churches in their efforts to comfort the grieving. Whenever such an event strikes a community, there are seldom any clear answers for the pain and suffering of those involved.
As I have been following the media coverage, I have noticed some typical trends. First, many on the political left began to insinuate or outright state that the harsh anti-government rhetoric coming from some conservatives was to blame. Then, after more information revealed that such a connection could NOT be made, conservatives struck back by pointing out that according to mounting evidence, it seemed that the shooting suspect was more in line with extreme non-conservative ideology (Communism, atheism, nihilism, etc.).
Of course, the gun-control activists immediately began to shout about the need for tougher gun laws - to which the other side reminded the public that guns cannot be blamed for killing people any more than cars can (a perspective with which I happen to agree). And in the midst of it all, there is a (probably needful) debate now raging about whether our society is addressing issues of mental illness as seriously as we should be.
I'm not able to say anything authoritatively about that last issue, but what this entire tragedy has demonstrated to me above all else is the call for the Body of Christ to be more alert to the struggles of people around us. I believe that Jared Loughner should be held responsible for his actions and punished to the full extent of the Law. At the same time, I am bothered by the increasing evidence which suggests that Tuscon might have been spared of Jared's actions had family, friends, law-enforcement and the Body of Christ taken his unusual temperament more seriously.
It causes me to do a real gut-check and ask myself - are there people in my life that I intentionally avoid because they are too "weird" or "inconvenient" for me? Are there blind-spots in my day-to-day hurriedness which cause me to miss out on opportunities to minister to those who are struggling spiritually or psychologically? I'm almost positive that the answer is at least SOMETIMES yes. What about you? Any thoughts or comments are welcome....
As I have been following the media coverage, I have noticed some typical trends. First, many on the political left began to insinuate or outright state that the harsh anti-government rhetoric coming from some conservatives was to blame. Then, after more information revealed that such a connection could NOT be made, conservatives struck back by pointing out that according to mounting evidence, it seemed that the shooting suspect was more in line with extreme non-conservative ideology (Communism, atheism, nihilism, etc.).
Of course, the gun-control activists immediately began to shout about the need for tougher gun laws - to which the other side reminded the public that guns cannot be blamed for killing people any more than cars can (a perspective with which I happen to agree). And in the midst of it all, there is a (probably needful) debate now raging about whether our society is addressing issues of mental illness as seriously as we should be.
I'm not able to say anything authoritatively about that last issue, but what this entire tragedy has demonstrated to me above all else is the call for the Body of Christ to be more alert to the struggles of people around us. I believe that Jared Loughner should be held responsible for his actions and punished to the full extent of the Law. At the same time, I am bothered by the increasing evidence which suggests that Tuscon might have been spared of Jared's actions had family, friends, law-enforcement and the Body of Christ taken his unusual temperament more seriously.
It causes me to do a real gut-check and ask myself - are there people in my life that I intentionally avoid because they are too "weird" or "inconvenient" for me? Are there blind-spots in my day-to-day hurriedness which cause me to miss out on opportunities to minister to those who are struggling spiritually or psychologically? I'm almost positive that the answer is at least SOMETIMES yes. What about you? Any thoughts or comments are welcome....
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