The Spirituality we all Crave (even if we do not know it)

What are people looking for today in a church?  This is a question about which everyone has an opinion based upon what they are looking for in a church.  I find even talking about it frustrating.  Why?  All to often the advice given to pastors and to churches is either too general or too personal to the presenter.  I get tired of strange stories that do not ring true to my experience in growing churches.

So what can we do to answer the question?

I think many different church formats and structures can work to attract people to Christ and the gospel.  I believe that every worship style can be attractive.  I know I have been blessed by all kind of worship practices and I have witnessed folks of every age blessed by different worship practices.  Thus, I would say that the answer is not in tips and techniques.

Instead the answer is found in the attitude of the church and individuals within the church to the presence and work of God.  Where passionate spirituality is balanced with thoughtful presentation of the truth a local body of Christ will grow deeper and outward.  People will be attracted to Jesus, there will be conversions, and the gospel will permeate the entire atmosphere of the church.

Why do we not see this more?  If in our fallenness we crave such a place, why are more churches not marked by such balance?

One error is emphasizing the truth while ignoring the heart.  Why does this happen?  To explain I will begin with a thoughtful passage written by John Piper in a new book he co-wrote with D.A. Carson called, The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor.  Piper writes,

Now, how does this relate to the pastor as scholar?  On the one hand, its first effect is to protect the church from the dangers of a scholarly bent.  Many pastors, especially those who love the glorious vision of God's being and beauty and plan of salvation, have a scholarly bent that threatens to over-intellectualize the Christian faith, which means they turn it mainly into a system to be thought about rather than a way of life to be felt and lived.  Of course, it is a system as well as a life.  But the danger is that the whole thing can be made to feel academic rather than heart-wrenchingly real.  That's what Christian hedonism helps us to avoid.

Where the faith is over-intellectualized, many ordinary, authentic saints can smell the error.  Rightly, they start drifting away, but sadly, often into the worst extremes of emotionalism.  But if Christian hedonism is alive- I have found that many starving saints make their way home to a place where head and heart are more in balance, and the reality and power of the Holy Spirit are craved and cherished.

Piper, The Pastor as Scholar, 49.

Over six months ago I received an e-mail from someone who knew me tangentially as a scholar working in a seminary.  This man would listen to the end of some of my classes.  He never took a class, but he said he always found what I had to say interesting and thought-provoking.  He often would conclude, "I should check this out."  Unfortunately, he shared that he often did not go further in his enquiries!

What I found interesting about the e-mail was he shared that he thought I was some sort of Calvinist.  He shared that he hated Calvin, Calvinism, and anything to do with this system of thought.  He had been raised in a Reformed Baptist church and now he had no use for anything to do with Calvinism.  He thought we would have some interesting debates.

Interesting debates, indeed.  I am sure the discussion would have been rich and rather sharp at points.  Yet, I wonder how could this rather anti-intellectual Christian man come to hate Calvin, Calvinism, and the entire system of thought?  In place of a biblical system of thought that is primarily God-focused and grace-centered, he had embraced a strange emotionalism that passed as authentic spirituality.  

My guess is that he rejected a balanced, biblical, and heart-transforming vision of Christian spirituality for emotionalism and Christian-lite platitudes because someone shared the glorious vision of God's being, beauty, and plan of salvation as nothing more than a system of thought.  I know for years I was totally turned off to authentic spirituality because I encountered such an arrogant, heart-less presentation of biblical truth!

True spirituality, what some people would label Reformed/Calvinism as a form of thought, is joy producing and heart changing.  It is also logical and according to reality.  The key is that it should be both!  Why would we ever wish to divorce joy from logic or heart-change/true transformation from truth grounded in creation?  To be a believer, one does not need to check either their emotions or their brains at the door!  Bring both because as Piper has written about for years, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

All of us have met people who have drifted to an extreme of being either too intellectual or too emotional.  These folks do not represent the truth in its entirety!  Keep looking for and striving for a faith that is both intellectually deep and emotionally transformative.  This is the heart of true spirituality. It is the heart of the gospel.  It is also the absolute heart of true and authentic Reformed/Calvinistic spirituality.

Consuming Anger- Deadly Sin #3

William F. May gives the name of Hatred to the sin of Anger, to emphasize that it takes hold of us "in the highest reaches of the mind," that it becomes an obsession, that once it has taken hold it endures.  The point is important, but Hatred is the wrong word.  Hatred is not the same as Anger, although it is a large component of it.  It is often one (but only one) of its motives, and is unavoidably one of its consequences.  If we are to give Anger another name, to emphasize its character, we should stick to the family of its close relatives.  We may call it Wrath, which carries the same suggestion of an obsession, of something that consumes us, not the flash of lightening, the sudden clap of thunder, but a burning in us like a banked fire.  Wrath is a fixation.  Its eyes are set on the object of its anger.  It devours itself and others.  It lays waste.  A modern symbol of it is the policy of the scorched earth in war.

We think of Anger in terms of fire: blazing, flaming, scorching, smoking, fuming, spitting, smoldering, heated, white hot, simmering, boiling, and even when it is ice-cold it will still burn.  It has been called the Devil's furnace, and other sins will fuel it.

Henry Fairlie, The Seven Dead Sins Today, 89.

I first read Fairlie's book in the early 1990s.  Since that time I have used it as a text in teaching systematic theology, and I have recommended it many times.  This book is an excellent and deep portrayal of sin in the modern world.  I am amazed how a book written in 1978 for an obviously academic audience can remain insightful.  I guess I should not be amazed since the character and effects of sin have not changed!

At different times in my life, I have been a very angry person.  For example, when my dad died I was obsessed with my loss and why it happened.  I remember clearly waking up at night from a dream with my teeth clenched and my blood pressure up.  I wish this only happened once, but it occurred several times.  Even my sub-conscience mind was angry.  

Perhaps a little background might help explain this anger.  My dad died because he had really given up the desire to live.  Because of the pain and hurt he had experience, he ate himself to death.  Now knowing some of my health issues, I believe he suffered from the same malady, which helped sap his desire to live.  At the time, I did not know this.  Instead, I ran over in my head all the ways that by dad had been hurt.  I knew I missed him greatly.  I was mad at all who had caused him pain.

Meanwhile in my own life, I was going through a very difficult period.  I was in my Ph.D. program and preparing for exams.  I had an emotionally and mentally abusive new faculty member who delighted in tearing me down.  Like most graduate students, we had extreme financial pressures.  Pressures from outside and loss weighed me down.

Through it all, I found within myself a consuming anger: fuming, smoldering, simmering, with the occasional white hot and boiling moments.

The problem with anger is that it poisons the well to all relationships and all of life.  Anger casts out love, diminishes faith, and colors every area of life with the very flames of hell.

No wonder anger has been called the Devil's furnace!

Honestly, I do not know if I have ever gotten over it even though people do not tell me anymore "You are really an angry person."  Anger mars the soul.

How did I deal with it?  

First, I had to recognize it.  I could not see it.  I believed my anger was "justified," not only over my dad, but in all areas of my life.  As such, I was displaying "righteous" anger.  Can you see how my pride got involved!  

The Holy Spirit had to use life, others, and His still small voice to confirm my problem with anger.  I was so angry when He did this!  Then as the consequences became more apparent, I was appalled, ashamed, and at the end of my rope.  I had no power to change.

So, I cried out for mercy.  I repented of my sin and confessed my inability to change my angry heart.  I found I truly needed a savior.  I am so thankful that Jesus answered my prayers by lavishing His love upon me.  

Slowly He quieted the fire.  I wish I could testify that I was transformed instantly, but it took time to find healing.  In fact, now that I know what anger looks and feels like, I find it is something I have to constantly repent of and seek Jesus' help to deal with.

In some Christian circles this would illustrate weakness.  I think it illustrates maturity and growth.  Like a "recovering" alcoholic I have many days of anger sobriety, but I now know this tendency is always within me.  All of my other sin tendencies can feed it and bring it back into flame.  As a result, I need to keep close to Jesus and have Him tend my soul!

So what about you?  I have met many believers who are marked by anger.  Mentioning it to them brings denial and "righteous" anger toward your presumption.  Is that you?  Is this your mark?

We live in a fallen world.  It is not fair.  It is often cruel.  It is filled with pain and abuse.  The key is to allow Jesus to transform you so you do not promote unfairness, cruelty, and more pain and abuse.  If you do not deal with the Devil's furnace, it is more than likely that you are passing on more fallenness than grace, no matter what you claim to believe.

Repent of your very real sin and believe in Jesus Christ as your only hope.  Ask Him to love the anger right out of you.  Ask Him to watch over those places within you where anger can come back to life.  He will do so.  He loves you so much.

The Consuming Sin of Pride

"One's pride will bring him low,

but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor."

Prov. 29: 23

"Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,

but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered."

Prov. 28: 26

In the past 24 hours, I have been asked twice to define "pride."  What does this look like?  How could you say I am proud?  Since I can see my sin, is it possible for me to remain proud?

Then, today's Proverbs concerning pride jumped off the page.  Pride is the topic for today.  I know this topic well, since I am an exceedingly prideful man.  I am so prideful, that even the last sentence sounds like pride.

So what is pride?  Is its opposite "a lowly spirit" as it says in the Proverbs?  Does this mean I must walk around depressed and moaning about my inability all the time?  I am not sure I want to do that.  So, what is pride?

Let me again quote from Henry Fairlie's The Seven Deadly Sins Today, 39-41.

"But a reasonable and justified self-esteem is not what is meant by the sin of Pride.  The first definition of pride in the dictionaries is of something unfitting.  'An inordinate self-esteem,' says Webster's, as also does the Oxford English Dictionary: 'an unreasonable conceit of superiority... an overweening opinion of one's own qualities.'  Its synonyms or near-synonyms are not attractive: vanity, vainglory, conceit, arrogance, egotism, boastfulness, self-glorification, selfishness, and many more, all of which we use as terms of reproach.  There is some cunning in the question, "Should we not be proud of ourselves?"  Even as it is so innocently put, there is already a note of vanity and self-satisfaction in it, and one feels that the Devil is there, alert as ever, making an opening for the real sin of Pride to enter.  

'Being proud of oneself' is often equated today with 'feeling good about oneself'; and feeling good about oneself is an altogether laudable ambition, but again only as long as one has adequate reasons for feeling good. ...

Pride is camel-nosed, as Angus Wilson has said.  It is also high-blown, puffed up, stuck-up, stiff-necked.  All of these are epithets, not only of superiority, but of aloofness.  The proud man sets himself up and, in doing so, sets himself apart."

Pride can have two distinct forms.  It can be the arrogant jerk who always has to tell you about herself.  It can be the selfish business man who makes all of life about himself.  It can be the person who refuses to listen to advice.  All of these folks may walk securely, feeling good about themselves, and being confident in their abilities.  This is not the point.  Their real sin is not competence, but their self-satisfaction and self-righteousness.  The center of their world is themselves.

Why is this important to recognize?  Because pride can also be depressed, self-loathing, and full of self-pity.  While people marked by these traits are not self-confident nor do they feel good about themselves, they are extremely self-centered and self-consumed.  Instead of talking about their achievements, they talk about their failures and struggles.  The center of their world is themselves.

As I see it, our greatest problem is that we do not recognize this sin within ourself.  We see it clearly within others, and it drives us crazy, but we have a hard to recognizing our own self-centered pride.

How do we escape the trap of self-concern and self-righteousness?  We must look for our validation and our righteousness from somewhere else.  It is found through confession of our sin against God and faith in Christ as our only hope.  

Augustine and the Roman Catholic tradition maintained that pride was the heart of all our sin and fallenness.  Martin Luther agreed, but he said the primary sin in our pride is that of unbelief.  Because we do not believe in Christ as our righteousness and life, we fill the void with something else.  Most of the time we do it with ourself.  Instead of claiming and living Christ's righteousness as ours, we trust in our self-righteousness.  Such misplaced trust leads to pride, which contaminates all of our life.

What about the depressed, self-loathing, self-pitying individual?  How do they trust themselves?

The key is that such a person does not trust or believe Christ's righteousness is for them.  They refuse to believe that Christ is enough.  In the name of supposed humility and recognition of their limitations, they pridefully dismiss that God loves them in Christ and that His power can transform them.

At its heart, all pride flows from our unbelief.  It is always ugly in the presence of a Holy God because His holiness reveals the folly of our unbelief and its resulting pride.

What can be done?  Repent of our unbelief, confess our misplaced pride, and believe in Christ as our righteousness, our transforming power, and our only hope.  Allow His grace to change our unbelieving hearts!  

The Ugly Sin of Envy

"It has been said that Envy is the one deadly sin to which no one readily confesses.  It seems to be the nastiest, the most grim, the meanest.  Sneering, sly, vicious.  The face of Envy is never lovely.  It is never even faintly pleasant.  Its expression crosses our faces in a split second.  'Few are able to suppress in themselves a secret satisfaction at the misfortune of their friends,' said La Rochefoucauld, and few of us are able to suppress a secret envy at someone else's good fortune, or even at someone else's good joke.  If we confessed each day how often we had been envious during it, we would be on our knees longer than for any other sin.

Although all the deadly sins are morbid and self-destroying, Angus Wilson has said, most of the others provide at least some gratification in their early stages.  But there in no gratification for Envy, nothing it can ever enjoy.  Its appetite never ceases, yet its only satisfaction is endless self-torment.  'It has the ugliness of a trapped rat that has gnawed its own feet in its efforts to escape.'"

Henry Fairlie, The Seven Deadly Sins for Today, 61.

Yesterday I began my sermon on 1 Corinthians 12: 14-31 with an explanation of envy.  I believe we need to explain it well, because it is so much part of our culture that we do not recognize it.  I think historians will tell that this cultural time period was marked by envy.  It could very well be our undoing as a culture.

So what does envy look like today?

In our culture it takes the form of rampant consumerism.  We are so marketed to that we do not know anything different.  While this marketing promotes other deadly sins such as gluttony and lust, it appeals to our base nature desire more.  Remember these slogans:

"You deserve a break today."  "Be all you can be."  "Because you are worth it."  "When you only deserve the best."

These just come off the top of my head.  How many more are out there?!  At its heart, each slogan appeals to our most base nature.  We do deserve better.  It is particularly clear we deserve better when we see others enjoying, flaunting, having that which we want.  Not so secretly, the thought crosses our minds that those who have what we want do not deserve it.

Envy now rules.

Has not our entire political discussion engaged and promoted envy?  President Obama won reelection in large part by pounding this theme.  The rich do not deserve what they have.  They only got what they have by taking it from the poor.  The subtle and unstated claim here is that they should be punished and you should be rewarded because you deserve more.  Is this not how to make a strong middle class?

Envy is our cultural marker.

Why can we not be happy with someone else's success?  Is it not possible for everyone to succeed, even though some do so to greater measure than others?  Do not those who succeed in greater measure employ those of us who need jobs?

When envy rules, these questions do not matter.  All that matters is a growing dislike of those with what we want and "deserve" and a gnawing desire for something that will satisfy our soul.  This path will not breed a happy and strong lower class, middle class, or upper class.  It breeds anger, resentment, and ever deepening sin.

These observations have obvious implications for the Christian life.  We must recognize our envy so we can repent and find our rest in relationship with God!  Yet, the fingers of sin go deeper than mere individual sin.

Our churches are often marked by an incredible spirit of envy.  We want the gifts and talents of others.  We want to be recognized like they are.  We are just as smart, just as spiritual, just as talented as others. Why do people not recognize us?

How do we deal with this?  It depends if we are an aggressive person or a passive person.

If we are aggressive, we try to move and manipulate within the church so people recognize us.  We tear down those we envy.  It might not be a direct attack, but we withhold encouragement and affirmation.  We master being a fault finder instead of being an encourager.

If we are passive, we give up trying.  We know we do not have the talent of others, though we wish we did, so we refuse to use the gifts we do have to the full measure possible.  As a result, we do not grow.  Like a stunted plant, we lack health and vitality because the Spirit does not flow through the gifts we do have and we should use to benefit others.  (See the passage in 1 Corinthians 12 for how Paul describes this condition)

Just like our culture at large, envy rules.  "Its appetite never ceases, yet its only satisfaction is endless self-torment."

The only way off this carousel of sin is repentance and faith.  We were created to have our satisfaction and joy from our relationship with Jesus.  Ask the Spirit to point out where envy rules in your life and in the church.  Ask for grace to repent and find satisfaction in Jesus' love for you.  Meet with other gospel-centered believers for encouragement as you seek to lessen the rule of envy in your life.  Most importantly, when the Spirit points out your envy for things, power, or gifts, repent and believe the gospel!

Dying Civility and the Rise of Wickedness

As we head into another weekend, I am bringing back a post from last spring.  This is a reflection upon two articles in the Wall Street Journal concerning our changing culture in the West.  I think there is much that we should ponder as we reflect upon the changing shape of our culture. 

How do we present the unchanging, holy truth of God in this rapidly changing world?  The first step is to hold both to unchanging truth as well as to a growing understanding of our changing world.  Denying change is not helpful!

Yesterday I opened the WSJ app on my iPhone to discover two opinion pieces that fit well together.  The first was by Peggy Noonan entitled, "America's Crisis of Character." (April 20, 2012)  The second was by Theodore Dalrymple entitled, "The Ugly Brutishness of Modern Britain." (April 19, 2012)  Both articles got me thinking.  ( I do apologize for the formatting.  It is not you, it is me!)

Before I begin, please understand that I am not some right-wing nut job whose purpose is some political agenda.  While I do agree with Winston Churchill's assessment, "If you are not a liberal at 20 you have no heart, and if you are not a conservative at 40 you have no brain," this is not meant to be a political rant.

Most strong cultures fall not because of outside military intervention.  Instead, they fall because their insides rot out from internal decay.  Then, when faced with a military or economic threat that they would have easily defeated before, they crumble and fall.  Please understand this is not a political warning, but what I take to be a fact of history.  I know that their are many "causes" that lead to any eventual event.  Yet painting with broad brush strokes, I believe internal moral and structural weakness is always one of the biggest "causes" of major cultural collapse.

I will begin with some observations from Noonan.  As she perceptively writes, 

"Now I'd go a step beyond that (Worries about economic issues). I think more and more people are worried about the American character—who we are and what kind of adults we are raising.  Every story that has broken through the past few weeks has been about who we are as a people. And they are all disturbing.

A tourist is beaten in Baltimore. Young people surround him and laugh. He's pummeled, stripped and robbed. No one helps. They're too busy taping it on their smartphones. That's how we heard their laughter. The video is on YouTube along with the latest McDonald's beat-down and the latest store surveillance tapes of flash mobs. Groups of teenagers swarm into stores, rob everything they can, and run out. The phenomenon is on the rise across the country. Police now have a nickname for it: "flash robs."That's just the young, you say. Juvenile delinquency is as old as history.

Let's turn to adults.

Also starring on YouTube this week was the sobbing woman. She's the poor traveler who began to cry great heaving sobs when a Transportation Security Administration agent at the Madison, Wis., airport either patted her down or felt her up, depending on your viewpoint and experience. Jim Hoft of TheGatewayPundit.com recorded it, and like all the rest of the videos it hurts to watch. When the TSA agent—an adult, a middle aged woman—was done, she just walked away, leaving the passenger alone and uncomforted, like a tourist in Baltimore.

In isolation, these stories may sound like the usual sins and scandals, but in the aggregate they seem like something more disturbing, more laden with implication, don't they? And again, these are only from the past week.

The leveling or deterioration of public behavior has got to be worrying people who have enough years on them to judge with some perspective.

Something seems to be going terribly wrong.

Maybe we have to stop and think about this."

Indeed, we should stop and think about these things.  Why are we seeing nuns now packing concealed weapons in Bangor, Maine?  Why are we no longer shocked by outrageous behavior?

Here is where the second article is so helpful.  Theodore Dalrymple is the pen name of a physician named Anthony Daniels.  He is discussing the growing lack of civility in modern Britain.  His concern is that British society is increasingly dominated by the aggressive and wicked.  He notices that there is no longer any cultural "stomach" for confronting evil and malicious people.  As he begins with a true story of a 13 year old fellow rider on a bus who throws food at a friend making a mess.  When Daniels confronts him and asks him to pick up the mess, the young teen snarls for him to "Shut the f--- up!"  As Daniels observed,

"Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, in England, come- obscenities.  No one at the bus stop dared say, much less do, anything.  For increasingly, the English are a people who know neither inner nor outer restraint.  They turn to aggression, if not to violence, the moment they are thwarted, even in trifles.  And those who are neither aggressive nor violent are by no means sure that the law will take their side in the event of a fracas.  It is better, or easier, for them to pretend not to notice anything, even if it means living in constant fear."

Wow.  Is that not where we are heading in America?  Is that not where we are in many inner cities?  What has happened?  How did we get to this place?  Daniels maintains, and I almost completely agree with him,

"In other words, practically no behavior is now beyond the pale for the British state.  Sadly, the freedom to behave badly is almost the only freedom valued by, or left to, young Britons.

What has caused this collapse of civility in Britain, which was, within living memory, a civil country?  In my view, it is a demotic version of egalitarianism, allied with multiculturalism.

Even middle-class people now behave in an increasingly uncouth and rough fashion in Britain because they think that by doing so they are expressing their solidarity with the lower reaches of their society.  Imitation, they think, is the highest form of sympathy.  This, of course, is an implicit insult to many of the poor, for poverty and unmannerliness are by no means the same thing.

Multiculturalism is damaging because it denies that, when it comes to culture, there is a better and a worse, a higher and a lower- only a difference.  The word culture is used here in its anthropological sense, that is to mean the totality of behavior that is not directly biological.

Hence any conduct- lying scantily clad in a pool of vomit, for example- is part of a culture, and since all cultures, ex hypothesis, are of equal worth, no one has the moral right to criticize, much less forbid, any kind of behavior.  And if I have to accept your culture, you have to accept mine.  If you don't like it- tough.  Unfortunately, the lowest level of culture is the easiest to reach and, again ex hypothesis, there is no reason to aim higher.

Incivility in Britain thus has a militant or ideological edge to it.  The uncivil British are not uncivilized by default- they actively hate and repudiate civilization."

Again, here is something to actively ponder!  In America we are not quite to this point- at least not in most of our culture.  Yet, is this not what we are teaching our young?  Is this not what we have learned with the recent you-tube sensations that Noonan mentions?  Is this not what is being taught in the "best  colleges" that refuse to teach Western Civilization?

I, for one, am tired of giving into this race to the bottom of culture.  What can we do to change this cultural tide?

Listening for the Voice of God

'Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, 'Here I am!' and he ran to Eli. ...Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him."

1 Samuel 3: 4, 7.

"And he said, 'Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.'  And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke to pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire the sound of a low whisper."

1 Kings 19: 11-12

"By wise guidance you can wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory."

Proverbs 24: 6

I am a better doer than a listener.

I like to keep busy.  

I have a strange, but very human tendency to think that what I do is incredibly important. 

I love to goal set and labor toward my goals.  Life without a to do list lacks direction and purpose.

That being said, I have taken almost the last month to stop doing and to listen.  At first, I found it incredibly hard.  I think I am made for speed, and downshifting feels awkward.  Then it felt peaceful as my mind slowed down.  Then I got "glutened" and spent over 10 days with a sore stomach, headache, brain fog, and not ideas to process.  Was this also from the Lord?

How do we hear the "still small voice?"  How do we recognize when God is speaking and leading us? How do we differentiate God's leading voice from our own whims, preferences, and wants?

In our fallen world and with our fallen condition, I wish I had a concrete answer.  I wish for certainty, but all to often I am left with walking by faith and not sight.

How about you?

God speaks in a still small voice.  He often speaks through people.  They say the strangest and most pointed things.  As they speak, my conscience practically yells, "Pay attention!"  Then, another person will affirm the same idea.  I pray and ask God about it.  I get an idea in my head that I cannot let go.

At this point, I ask some friends and folks who know me to think about and give me their wisdom on what I am thinking.  Sometimes they give me wisdom, and sometimes they seem to point in opposite directions.  

Lord, what are you saying?

Most often, very slowly I come to a place of peace and decision.  I come to believe I have heard the voice of the Lord.

Now for the faith to act upon it!

Spiritual Warfare: The Nature of Temptation

For the past two weeks, I have been discussing the nature of temptation during our teaching evening service at First Seattle (www.seattlecrc.org).  How does temptation work?  How do we recognize it and defeat it?

I think the parallel temptation narratives of Genesis 3 and the beginning of Matthew 4 shed some light on these questions.  In these narratives, we see Adam and Eve giving into temptation and Jesus defeating temptation.

The following is a post from two Decembers ago concerning temptation.  I have gone into much more detail in my sermons, but this post should begin the discussion concerning the nature of temptation.

"Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" 

Gen. 3:1

"The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'" 

Matt. 4:3

As I write today, I do so with a heavy heart.  My wife and I were traveling this weekend, and we had a chance to proclaim the gospel.  On Sunday afternoon, I received an e-mail that a prominent pastor/religious leader in my area had died.  I had worked with this man in a variety of setting for the past seven years, so I thought I would need to attend the funeral when I get back.  When I returned, I found out that he had died by suicide by jumping off a bridge; and as of last Thursday, we was under investigation for child sexual abuse.  The reports state that he began a sexual affair with a young man in the 1970s and it continued to today.

As you can see, this is a bit to process!  I have already had two or three discussions with folks in the community who ask my take on this sordid affair.  Overall the question keeps coming up, "How could this happen?"  

In today's blog, I wish to give a short answer to this question.  Each case of full-blown sin is different, but they all spring from a similar source.  To help us understand this source, we will look at the fall of humanity in Genesis 3 and Jesus' temptation in Matt. 4.

In both of these passages, Satan's first move is to call into question the character of God.  

"Did God really say...." "If you are the Son of God...."  

Both of these statements point to a flaw in God's character that Satan believes everyone should see.  Of course there is no flaw in God's character!  Nevertheless, Eve takes the bait and she begins the process of the fall.  Meanwhile, Jesus knew that He is the Son of God, so he does not have to prove anything.  He completely sidesteps the temptation by quoting and living the truth, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4)

Why did Eve fall?  What was her underlying sin?  I think ultimately the crack in her armor was that of lacking faith and trust in God.  

In discussing the consequences of the fall, John Calvin observes that many vestiges of the Image of God remain in us.  Thus, the fall does not mean that we are as evil as possible, because we still have the ability to express love.  Love remains a vestige of our created good.  Yet, he claims, and I agree with him, that the attribute of faith was completely lost in the fall.  

Eve lacks faith in God's character and the fall begins.  She begins to reason to herself and explain away what God has said.  Eventually, she does exactly the opposite of God's will and expressed command.  On the other hand, Jesus maintains His trust in God's character, and He resists the temptation to handle his hunger on his own.  He lives in faith and trust in God to provide.

Satan's primary temptation is to get us to trust ourselves and our strength instead of relying upon God.  When faced with a decision, if we do not look to God for answers through His word and wise counsel, we are falling right into Satan's primary temptation.

I believe one reason we do not see much outright demonization in America is that Satan's primary temptation matches perfectly with our vision of the World and the Flesh.  In other words, in the West Satan does not have to tempt or drive to fear from direct attack because believers and unbelievers are marked by self-effort, self-righteousness, and a lack of real day to day faith in the Living God.  

Everything about our culture tells us to "trust our hearts" and to "follow our own path."  The World works in perfect tandem with the temptations of Satan.  Our biggest problem is that this temptation also works perfectly with our fallen fleshly nature that loves this message!  We would like nothing more than to be the captain of our own ship and the master of our own soul.  On Satan's side, why risk exposure by being out in the open when the World and Flesh are already keeping believers and unbelievers unfruitful and lacking God's power that comes by faith?

So, how does this shed light on this week's events in Maine?  Our greatest strengths can be used mightily to build the kingdom of God.  They can also be used mightily to keep us away from trusting God.  Who needs God when I can do it on my own?  We must be aware that our fallen human nature will always move us to trust in ourself, our efforts, and our flesh.  

According to many, this pastor had a great ability to care for others.  I must admit that I never thought of him in this way!  Still, a care-giver must protect themselves from using their strengths in an inappropriate manner.  One does not begin the descent of sin with sexual contact and abuse.  It takes time to develop.  Like a cancer, sin turns us away from trusting in the Living God, and instead it always demands that we take matters into our own hands.  Instead of finding joy and strength in God, we find it in any variety of sin tendencies.  As we nurture of sin, it grows in severity and perversion.

It looks like this man took time to develop his sin tendencies!  The act of suicide was a final action expressing these tendencies to trust self.  I sure hope I am wrong on this, but I am afraid I am right.

The direct opposite of self-effort and self-righteousness is faith and trust in God for our life, joy and righteousness.  Similar to the descend of sin, faith and trust is something that must be nurtured and built.  It is given by divine grace, but it does not come naturally to our fallen nature.  We must cultivate it!

The ascent of grace grows as we walk in repentance and faith.  As we confess our tendencies to trust in self, others, and created things for our life, joy and righteousness, we find release from bondage.  As we trust in Jesus for life, joy, and righteousness we experience authentic joy and life-transforming power. 

How about some practical steps to make the transition from the descent of sin into the ascent of grace?  

First, start by how you organize your day.  Take time to listen to God's Word and to meet with Him in prayer.  Ask Him for wisdom with the decisions you need to make.  At work and home begin to involve God in decisions that you usually just make out of habit or your strengths.  

Second, begin the process of walking by faith.  Be particularly vigilant when you feel fear.  Fear prompts us to make choices without faith.  We do not consult God or His Word.  We just react.  How can we have faith and fear at the same time?  (1 John 4:18)  Be aware that in our very spiritual world, Satan and his forces are lurking tempting us to work in our own strength without reference to God.  If you have lived in this manner, repent and believe the gospel!  

In the face of such sordid actions both locally and nationally, may we all be drawn to a deeper  faith and trust in the only True God!

Spiritual Warfare: The Nature of the evil one pt. 2

In my last post, I began a discussion concerning the nature of the evil one.  Today I continue that theme by looking at Satan's primary characteristic.  He is an accuser.

"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of his Christ.

For the accuser of our brothers,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down."  Rev. 12:10

In the last post, we discussed the book of Job as a good backdrop for understanding the topic of spiritual warfare.  Job is perhaps the oldest OT book, and it reveals a worldview that acknowledges and affirms the reality of a diverse spiritual universe.  In particular, we discussed Satan's ability to come before the throne of God as a tempter from both Job 1 and other OT passages.  These observations illustrate that the concept of dualism- that there are eternal forces of good and evil fighting in the universe with the outcome unclear- is utterly false.  There is only one True God.   

Today we pick up another key concept concerning the evil one and spiritual warfare that can  be drawn from Job 1.  In particular, we see Satan's role as an accuser of believers.  

God draws Satan's attention to Job and praises Job.  To this Satan replies, "Does Job fear God for nothing?  Hast Thou not made a hedge about him, and his house and all that he has, on every side?  Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land.  But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face." (Job 1: 9-11)

Satan's first, favorite, and primary method of attack is to accuse.  "Job is only faithful because he is blessed.  Take it away, and he will be like every other man!"  This trait is one of the names of Satan.  He is the accuser of the brethren.  

As we see in the above passage in Revelation, Christ's victory cast Satan out of heaven.  I am honestly not clear if this was his victory while still on earth (Luke 10: 18) or at the end of time.  I am inclined to think that Satan no longer is before the throne of God, but is now relegated to earth until Christ comes to finish the judgment of Satan at the end of time.  We do know that now Satan is at war against those who obey God's commandments and who hold to their testimony of Jesus (Rev. 12:17).  One thing I do believe is that Satan's nature has not changed.  He is still the accuser!

Now back to Job, for an unknown reason, God then allows Satan to take away Job's earthly blessings.  Job loses his riches and his children in several great tragedies.  Yet through it all, he does not curse God.  How could this be?

In the next chapter, the accuser claims that the only reason Job did not curse God was because he was still healthy.  "However, put forth Thy hand, now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse Thee to Thy face." (2: 5)  God also allows this request with one limitation, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life." (2:6)  Job is then struck with boils from head to toe so he is in great pain.  Still through it all, he does not curse God.

From this passage in Job we learn several important facts.  First, Satan's primary weapon is accusation.  This is his nature, and it is what he does best.  Second, his power is completely limited by God.  God may allow Satan to work and to bring harm, but Satan is not free to do as he wishes.  God is God and there is no other.  Satan and his attacks are subject to God's power.

So what does this mean for today?  Have you ever been engaged in some form of ministry, and then you wake up one day with a feeling that you just do not have what it takes?  You feel convinced at an emotional level that you are a failure.  I have seen people engaged in active ministry almost physically shrivel through doubt and fear concerning their weakness.  It might be because they "did not have a good day" the day before, but it also might be for no real reason at all.  I am convinced that most of the time these thoughts are the accusation of the evil one!  We need to claim not our own competency, but the great competency and victory of Christ.  We need to be grounded in the gospel.

As Paul tells us in Romans 8:33-34, "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?  God is the one who justifies.  Who is the one who condemns?  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised to life, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us."  When we believe the gospel, Jesus transforms us into an adopted child of God.  From that moment, we are completely justified, throughly loved, and empowered and in dwelt by the Holy Spirit.  When we feel accusation of our failings, we need to repent of our real sin of unbelief that often lead us to a variety of sinful actions.  We also must by faith reject the accusations about our incompetence as a lie of the evil one!

"Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:7  Our method of resisting is to claim and live in the full and complete victory of Christ.  He is our savior, and He has won the victory!

In ministry, I often combat these self-accusations with Paul's claim in 2 Cor. 3:5 and 4:7.  2 Cor. 3:5 states, "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy if from God."  4:7 claims, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves."  

I know that I often do not say what I should say.  I often struggle with my lack of clarity and my lack of love for others.  I am an earthen pot, slightly cracked, and in need of abundant grace.  Yet, God works through me.  His awesome power courses through my frail words.  Why?  Because He is gracious.  If He can work through me, He can work through anyone!  In need to believe the gospel, resist the devil, and he will flee.

I will end this post with a word of admonition.  I believe that many sincere believers have bought into the accusations of the evil one.  They have gotten out of fruitful ministries, and they do not listen to the Lord's leading because they fear their own weakness.  Lord willing, tomorrow we will talk about fear.  Today, I challenge you to reject the accusations of the evil one and believe the gospel.  God works through cracked pots like you and I!  He loves us in Christ with an unending love!

Spiritual Warfare: The Nature of the evil one pt 1

Today I return to a topic I should have been writing about throughout the holiday season.  I took a break from discussing spiritual warfare because I get tired of dealing with the evil one's attacks.  In today's day and age in the West, the evil one's goal is to remain underground, out of sight, and ignored. 

Why?  Our world system is so corrupt that Satan and his demons do not need to be upfront and out in the open.  In fact, if they display their wickedness, it might drive people to the truth!

Here is the rub.  Someone needs to display their wickedness and their intend desire to thwart the advance of the Church.  Yet, I get tired of doing so.  I also read much that either sensationalizes Satan's work or ignores it.  It is time to get back on topic.

Who is our enemy in this world?  He is a fallen spirit being who works evil in the world.  He is not independent from God; and since there is only One True God, he is not really a god.  Instead, he is a being God permits to work.  As it has been said, the evil one is kept on a lease held by the Living God.

What does this mean?  How am I justified in making these claims?  

Today will begin a two part post on the nature of Satan.  It will seek to illuminate his character, his relationship to God, his relationship to this world system, and how he works to bring destruction to individuals and system.  

How do we understand the nature of the evil one?

I could begin in Genesis, but I will instead begin with what many believe to be the oldest book in the bible, the book of Job.  This book portrays an active understanding of the spiritual realm.  It also gives an early glimpse into the OT teaching concerning spiritual warfare.

Job begins with an introduction of a godly and blessed man.  Job is the most respected man in the East.  He has 10 children (7 boys and 3 girls), and great amounts of livestock and riches.  He does all he can to nurture his relationship with God, and he understands his covenantal responsibilities by sacrificing offerings for his children, just in case they have sinned (Job 1:1-5).  In other words, Job is the most righteous man on earth at this time!

Now the story gets interesting.  "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them." (vs. 6)  The Hebrew reads, "sons of God" instead of angels.  From this, we know that Satan is in the same category of creation as the angels.  He is not human nor God, but a spirit being.  Furthermore, the Lord talks with Satan, "Where have you come from."  Satan replies, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."  A couple of points can be drawn from this brief passage.  

First, Satan was and perhaps is allowed into the presence of God.  As a created spirit being, God still uses Satan and his demons to do His will.  I honestly cannot understand this, but I take it as true since we find it in scripture.  Second, Satan is allowed by God to roam the earth.  In fact Jesus calls him The prince of this world" in John 12:31.

So as to illustrate these observations are not isolated to the book of Job, an interesting parallel to these ideas can be found in both 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chr. 18.  Here, the prophet Micaiah comes before the King Ahab with the command to give a good report about Ahab going off to war.  Ahab does not want him to make the report because Micaiah never says anything good about him.  Yet, Micaiah is brought forth and he tells of an interesting vision.

He proclaims that he saw into the throne room of heaven.  There he witnessed the Lord asking, "Who will entice Ahab into attacking Romoth Gilead and going to his death there?" (1 Kings 22: 20; 2 Chr. 18: 20)  In reply the spirits answered, "One suggested this, and another that.  Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, "I will entice him."  "By what means?" said the Lord.  "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets," he said.  "You will succeed in enticing him," said the Lord.  "Go and do it." The rest, as they say, is history.  Ahab goes off to war, and he is killed.  We never hear what happened to Micaiah.  

In this vision, the spirit that promises to be a lying spirit is not a good angel.  God does not lie, but Satan is declared by Jesus to be the Father of lies (John 8:44).  This spirit was an evil spirit, known as a demon, that the Lord uses to do His will, which is to lead Ahab to his death.  

So what does this mean?  First, Satan and demons are used by God to bring about His will.  Second, Satan and his demons manifest in lies and in false religious movements and teachings (2 Cor. 11:14 states that Satan masquerades as an angel of light).  I would suggest that these teachings will always appeal to our fallen human nature.  Thus, they will often match exactly what we want to hear!  The purpose of these lies from the evil one's perspective is always the destruction of the individual or people, while God uses it to bring about His purposes.  

We live in a day and age where there is no tolerance nor interest in knowing Truth.  In fact, our entire world system proclaims that we cannot know true Truth, as Francis Schaeffer used to call it.  This fallen system proclaims that each of us as individuals must discover and make our own truth since all truth is relative.  This is exactly the type of lie Satan spins.  It diminishes the glory of God by elevating the self.  It leads to individual and corporate destruction.

Unfortunately, the Church has adopted many of these same ideas.  There is little interest in most bible believing churches in studying true Truth.  We want a salvation message and something to lift us through the week, but we do not like the hard work of forming a Christian worldview.  Many of us lack even the skills to learn how to think critically and carefully through scripture.  We also lack the desire to learn these skills.  In other words, we are ripe for a fall into our individual and corporate destruction through believing good sounding religious lies.

This post is getting rather long, so I will conclude here with several questions.  Does what you believe promote fear of the future?  If it does, then it is not of God.  Does what you believe promote the attitude that Truth and the study of God's word is really not that important?  If it does, it may not be corrupt yet, but this view will lead to corruption, evil, and separation from the body of Christ.  Finally, what are you doing to promote a deeper understanding of God and His word?  How are you developing the skills to understand God's word as well as a prayer life to grow you in intimacy with the Father?

Heaven and Hell

Julio de Mantua

Hypocrisy, Christians, and The Gospel

What began as a few days off from writing has become a new habit.  I have found that my creativity and ability to think has been lessened with the New Year.  I also have been using my creative energies on music.  Perhaps I am in need of some time off to recharge!  Until I get that, I will limp through.  I will also try to keep writing as much as possible.

This post was originally from June of last year.  It contains a question about believers I often hear.  Actually, it is not a question, but an accusation.  "Why are Christians such hypocrites!?"  I think the answer all depends upon what you mean by hypocrite.  Please read on.

"Take the case of a sour old maid, who is a Christian, but cantankerous.  On the other hand, take some pleasant and popular fellow, but who has never been to Church.  Who knows how much more cantankerous the old maid might be if she were not a Christian, and how much more likable the nice fellow might be if he were a Christian?  You can't judge Christianity simply by comparing the product in these two people; you would need to know what kind of raw material Christ was working on in both cases."

C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock.

Not long ago, I had the privilege of talking to a man who is either a new Christian or is someone who for the first time in his life has understood the implications of the gospel.  He was sharing how God is changing him from an angry man into someone much more patient and kind.  Yet, he was concerned because he "still had his moments."  He also was worried because he so often did a good deed merely because of his concern for how it made him look.

After our time together, I was thinking of this quote from C.S. Lewis.  I am glad I was able to find it!  I think this man's concerns are natural questions.  They should be questions all believers have and wrestle with often.  Why?  Each of us is such a messed up mix of redeemed "saint" and fallen, sinful child of Adam.  How do we understand and balance these two competing tendencies?  

Let me begin by looking at the life and actions of a typical believer like you or me.  How do we understand our actions in light of the gospel?  Is it not true that there are so many moving parts and factors that shape how each of us respond to any given circumstance. 

I know I respond to difficulties in life and even the small inconveniences so differently when I am sick or really tired than when I am healthy and have had a good night's sleep.  If someone sees me respond on a bad day they might see something different than my actions on a good day.  Should I despair of this known fact?  Should I deny it is true?

Furthermore, I became a believer at age 18.  There were some really rough spots within my formed character when I became a believer.  God was and is so merciful to me, but I am still surprised by the thoughts that flow out of my heart and often pass through my mouth.  Why does the Lord not just zap me and change my heart so I think and say "darn" instead of "damn" when I do something wrong?  I honestly do not think about such words and thoughts, they just come out.  

How about you?  In what areas do you struggle?  How are you often surprised and humiliated by the evil that still dwells within?

Now let me give you the other side of God's story in my life.  The man I spoke with shared that I "said exactly the right thing the first time we talked.  If you said more or less, it might have ruined it."  How did I do that?  I also find that increasingly I just do the right thing without thinking about it.  I show love and grace to people without having to think about what would be loving or gracious.  Most importantly, I am a much better listener than I used to be even as I realize I still need so much improvement.  I find that I am always looking for what God is doing in the hearts and lives of others.

I must confess that none of these occurrences are natural to me.  I praise God that it is His work!  Still, I am haunted by my shortcomings.  I am humiliated by what often flows out of my heart.

Like the cantankerous, sour old maid, I am in need of grace!  I must wonder, what would I be like if Christ did not bring me to Himself all those years ago?  I know that the raw material God had to work with was greatly defaced and misshaped by sin and death before I even came to Jesus.  Those tendencies remain even today!  Yes I am still a sinner.  If you catch me on a bad day, I am sure I do not look like a saint.  In fact, if you are looking for hypocrisy and defining it as not always doing right, I am a hypocrite.

According to the definition of hypocrite as one who always does right, there is only one truly righteous person ever born, Jesus Christ.  I am a mere fallen follower of this great man!  I do not have it all together and I look to Him for grace and forgiveness daily.  

So, if you catch me in some sin, I hope I will be willing to confess my sin and need for this grace.  When I am disappointed and humiliated by my sinful heart, I look to Jesus as my only hope.  

Let me assure you, such thoughts are not natural to me!  My natural inclination is to deny my sin or to try to pass it off as less than what it is.  My natural inclination is to maintain my reputation instead of confessing my need.

For those of us who are not Jesus, I would define hypocrisy differently than always doing right.  I think true hypocrisy is not confessing and living the truth that I am a sinner in desperate need of grace.  Hypocrisy is not merely doing wrong when I should know better.  At times, all of us fail to do the good we know we should do!  No, hypocrisy is knowing I have such wrong tendencies (what the bible calls sin) that flow out of my heart and yet I do not address or confess them.

Are you living in active repentance and dependent faith?  Does confession and repentance come easy to you?  Can you see where you need grace and do you ask God for grace to transform these areas?

If the answers to these three questions are all yes, I think God is doing a great work in your life.  Cling to Christ and grow in grace!  Always point yourself and others to Jesus.

If your answers are no to any of these three questions, you are most likely a self-deluded hypocrite (wow that sounds harsh!  Please know I have lived much of my life in this state.).  Repent and believe.  Ask for grace to see your need.  Cling to Jesus as your only hope.

Growth comes as we reorient our life around Jesus Christ.  Such reorientation is a life-long process.  It is hard work because it goes against our fallen natural tendencies.  May each of us repent and believe in deeper ways this day and this week!

The Gospel Cure for Sin

"The remedy for our sin, whether scandalous or acceptable, is the gospel in its widest scope.  The gospel is actually a message: here I am using the word gospel as a shorthand expression for the entire work of Christ in His historic life, death, and resurrection for us, and His present work in us through the Holy Spirit.  When I say the gospel in its widest scope, I am referring to the fact that Christ, in His work for us and in us, saves us not only from the penalty of sin, but also from its dominion or reigning power in our lives.  This twofold aspect of Christ's great work is beautifully captured in Augustus Toplady's great hymn "Rock of Ages," with the words,

Let the water and the blood,

From thy riven side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Cleanse me from its guilt and power."

Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 33.

What a wonderful summary of the Gospel's content and action.  Bridges has been writing on this theme for almost thirty years.  In Respectable Sins, he is dealing with those sins that we as Christians often live with as acceptable and normal.  What sins might these be?  He argues that they are the modern expressions of those sins mentioned in scripture such as anxiety and frustration, discontent, unthankfulness, impatience and irritability, judgmentalism, and a lack of self-control.  I have not finished the book, but it has been good so far!

What particularly strikes me today is how the gospel is Christ-centered and Christ-focused.  The gospel is secure and powerful because Christ's work was finished and perfected with His resurrection.  There is absolutely nothing we can do to add to His finished work!  

Yet, how many of us live our Christian life as if His finished work is not enough?  In our mind, we affirm He is the answer, but in our real life, we labor to fix ourselves and our circumstances.  Somehow we have not learned how to appropriate His finished work into our life.

I know some will argue that our labor to fix ourselves and our circumstances flows from "His present work in us through the Holy Spirit."  If we are walking in active repentance and faith, I would agree.  If we constantly remind ourselves of Christ's finished work and claim it as our own, I completely agree.  I just wonder how many of us really live in such dependence?  Why is it so hard to find someone whose life is so marked by such a lifestyle and its resulting grace?

I know all too often my life is marked more by worry and anxiety than repentance, rest, quietness and trust (Isaiah 30:15).  How can I tell?  My inner dialogue runs through my concerns, questions, fears, and doubts more than it turns to constant reflection upon the beauty and grace of Christ.  The irony is that people often tell me that I am marked less with worry and anxiety than most!  Am I just good at hiding it or is this an epidemic among modern folks?

As I begin a new week after a glorious holiday weekend, I know what I must do.  Even with the busyness of packing and preparing to move, even with my fear and concern that no one has purchased my home, even with my constant wondering about the health of my coming child, I must repent and believe the gospel.  My worry and concern will not change a thing.  Yet, I know the One who can change all things.  I know the One who loves me and who is working for my good.  I know the source of all power and might.

Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner.  Have mercy on us a people who are often marked more by unbelief than by repentance and rest!

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,

"In repentance and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."

Isaiah 30:15

Pastor as Physician of the Soul

"There is such a thing as spiritual depression.  Relationships or a marriage can collapse.  Children can disappoint you.  The business can go bankrupt.  Grief or trauma produce states of mind and emotion that call for spiritual counsel.  Because we're to live to the glory of God, all our moods have to be brought into relation to God, his love, his work, and the ongoing process of sanctification.

The sanctifying of troubles is a prominent NT theme.  Troubles are to be expected, but God can sanctify them.  The pastor, in the Puritan understanding is there to be God's agent, God's lightning rod, the transforming link between the distress of the Christian and the love and power of God."

J.I. Packer, quoted in "Broader Pastures, More Breeds," Leadership (Fall 2000), 34.

One of the roles of a pastor is to be a physician of the soul.

This idea comes from the Puritan tradition.  It was a hallmark of their understanding of the role of a pastor.  I also believe that this idea, though not the term "physician of the soul" can be found as a dominate theme describing the role of pastors in the early church.

Why?

Our greatest need is spiritual.  Our greatest problem is at its heart a spiritual problem.  We are people composed of a delicate interaction between body, mind, and heart (or spirit).  Each of these elements of human experience play a part in our overall health.

In the earliest church, perhaps the greatest threat to Christianity was a movement called gnosticism.  Gnosticism emphasized the spiritual element of an individual.  It denied the importance of the physical and it believed that the mental and spiritual were almost one and the same.  In the ancient near eastern and Greco-Roman culture. these ideas struck a chord and in many places the gnostic church arose to combat the orthodox church.

Some of the late writings of the NT illustrate the nature and problems with such teaching.  For example, 1 John was written to address the claims of gnosticism.  It presents a vision of a person as a united whole of body, mind, and soul.  It emphasizes that each element is important, that each element needs to be sanctified by repentance and faith, and that each play a role in how we understand and worship God in Christ.

Today we are not gnostics.  We do not emphasize the spiritual and de-emphasize the flesh.  No, we are materialists.  We magnify, emphasize, stress, and worship the physical while ignoring the spiritual.

We do so to our own peril!

Why do our bodies decay?  Why is there illness and death?  While the cause is often not direct, all of these deviations from the created goodness and perfection of creation arise from a spiritual problem.  Sin has entered the world and now things are not as they should be.  Thankful Jesus is coming back to make things aright again!  Come quickly Lord Jesus.

Furthermore, why do some people have such crazy and dumb ideas?  Why are some entire people groups led astray to patently false ideas?  Even as I write, some people will say, "Who are you to judge the ideas of others?  Each of us get to determine what is good and proper for ourselves."  This is exactly the type of thinking I am calling crazy!  Even if it matches the dominate thought of today!

As individuals and as people groups, we can be lead astray in our thinking.  We can be caught up in false ideas about right and wrong, about power, about truth because of our fallenness.  In other words, Nazi Germany did not occur because of one evil man or a small group of evil folks.  It occurred because in our fallen world, our thoughts can get twisted and warped.  All that is needed is for people who know the truth to be silent or to be forced to silence.  Within a generation, evil can dominate!

Why?  

At its heart, all evil found in the world comes from the spiritual problem of the fallenness of creation.  We cannot ultimately fix the physical problems of this world nor can we fix the evil thought patterns if we do not understand and deal with our spiritual need.

Deep in the center of all our cultural issues are spiritual problems!

Into this great and ignored need should step the pastor.  Our job is to remind people of their spiritual need.  Our job is to encourage people that in Christ God has brought the cure to all of our spiritual needs!

We are not called to be merely therapists who deal with the physical.  We are not called to be merely self help advocates who encourage people to be all they can be.  We are not caretakers of institutions.  We are physicians of the soul who point constantly to Jesus as found in the gospel as the answer to our greatest need.

The tools that we use may be honed by experts in the physical or mental realms, but ultimately our tool box must be filled with ideas and answers that inform the spiritual.  If we do not do it, who in our culture will bring the truth to bear on our spiritual needs?

The answer is no one.  False answers and false gods will be brought to bear on our spiritual needs.  People and cultures will go from lost and struggling to blind and completely evil.

We need more pastors and more believers to understand the often forgotten pastoral role as a "physician of the soul."  The exploding individual and cultural needs demand a return to this difficult but important work!