The Process of Forgiveness with Betrayal

Life is full of betrayal.  No matter who you are, you will be betrayed in some way by someone close to you.  Why?  Well, we live in a fallen world.  Self-interest always lurks close beneath the surface of each of us.  In addition, someone has to be close to us or it would not be betrayal.  It might be intentional harm, but it is not betrayal.

In ministry I have had several instances of radical and intense betrayal.  All of them have hurt like hell itself.  Friendships have been lost.  Respect is gone.  All that is left is pain and a hole where a relationship once stood.

Virtually everyone I know in ministry has experienced betrayal.  Why?  We lay our hearts our for people through our teaching and our life.  When someone turns against us, it almost always becomes personal.

This is nothing new!  Notice the following Psalms:

"Even my close friend, 

in whom I trusted, 

Who ate my bread, 

Has lifted up his heel against me." 

Ps. 41:9

"Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;

all day long an attacker oppresses me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many attack me proudly. 

When I am afraid,

I put my trust in you. ...

You have kept count of my tossings;

put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your book?"

Ps. 56: 1-3, 8

The Psalms are refreshing because they are honest.  In Psalm 41, David is writing about a betrayal from a friend.  It begins with a prayer of thanks to God that He has not forsaken him.  David clings to the promises of God and claims God as his deliverer, his protector, the one who blesses him, his sustainer, and the one who restores health.  Then David confesses the realities of his enemies.  They seek to harm David by speaking evil of him.  Even a close friend has betrayed him.

Why do we believe that people will not behave selfishly?  All the evidence of history and scripture declare that we should not be surprised when people behave to protect their self interest.  History and scripture also declare that just because someone becomes a believer does not mean that they cease to be selfish and self-consumed.

In fact, some of the most selfish and hurtful things I have ever seen have been completed by "believers" who cause church splits, church conflicts, petty "turf wars" in ministries, and personal attacks on others.

Why?

Obviously, selfishness and self-centeredness never fully leave us!  In a fallen world, it is the stain of the flesh that mars our soul.  We have to be constantly on our guard against it in ourselves, and we should never be surprised when we see it in others.  When it happens, we, like David, should repent and believe God's promises.  Then we should push for others to repent.  

The problem is that often the betrayer does not repent, and they do not understand nor care about the pain they have caused.  Why?  Because they are radically self-centered (just like us!).  Most of us demand grace for ourselves, but we figure everyone else "gets what they deserve." We are called to forgive them, but that does not necessarily mean that we trust them again.  Some people through betrayal illustrate their character's weaknesses, and we should not put ourselves, unless we are very careful and led by God, back in an abusive situation.  Still, we are called and commanded to forgive others as we have been forgiven.  

Does this mean, "Forgive and forget?"

In some situations, I think not.  First, it is impossible apart from God's grace.  We just cannot forget; and in many cases, it is a defense mechanism put in place by God to protect us from further harm.  Still, we can daily ask for grace to forgive.  We can declare our forgiveness.  We can ask God to be our deliverer, our protector, our sustainer, and our grace.  In other words, we believe the gospel and claim its promises.

What I have discovered is that forgiveness is a process.  It is like peeling an onion.  When confronted with our friend/enemy fresh pain arrives.  We must forgive and ask for grace to forgive.  Just when think we are getting better, then another layer of the onion comes off.  It could be anything that brings up the memory.  Fresh pain and tears.  We must forgive and ask for grace to forgive.  I know this sounds hard, but what is the other option?  Bitterness.  Anger.  Hardness of heart.  None of these sound good!

Who do you need to forgive today?  What pain has someone caused you?  Turn to Psalm 41 and take an honest look at your pain and God's faithfulness.  Begin the process of being restored.  Repent, believe, and walk in grace.

A Listening Ambassador

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, 

as though God were making his appeal through us."

2 Corinthians 5:20

What an interesting month!  I am sure in the future I will be able to see that God was working in wonderful ways in my heart and life this month.  Right now, I do not know what God is doing.

For the first time in years, I have not written much new.  I have not felt compelled to read and write.  Instead I have felt certain that I should wait, listen, reflect, and gain a different perspective.  My only problem is that I lack knowledge of what I am to wait for, what I should be hearing, what I need to be reflecting about, and where exactly the high ground will be that will give me new perspective.

Interesting, but odd.

If I am to be an ambassador for the Great King, I need to stop doing long enough to hear what He wants done.  I know His general will, but His specific will can change.

Thus, I wait.  I listen.  I reflect.

I also have been led to a much deeper repentance concerning my goals, my life, and my desires.  I am not even sure I am ready yet to talk about or even if I understand exactly what I am seeing/experiencing.  I just know that Jesus loves me incredibly and He is at work.

So, I apologize for not writing much that is original this month.  Perhaps next month will be better!  Perhaps it won't.  Please pray for me and I thank you for reading!  Glad to gain readers each month for all over the world.

Gospel-Centered Memorial Day

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; 

therefore keep standing firm and
do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." 

Gal. 5:1

Memorial Day in America is a time to remember.  We remember the men and women who sacrificed their lives so that we can have freedom here in America.  At least that it what it is supposed to be about!  I do fear that for most Americans, Memorial Day is just the three day weekend that kicks off summer.  Many of us do not take the time to think about the cost of freedom.  I guess if you are not directly impacted through the loss of a loved one, the cost of freedom is taken for granted.

Unfortunately, I think the same condition applies to many as they live the Christian life.  Christ died to set us free.  Yet for many of us, we are "not directly impacted" by this work.  Some have not experienced the life-changing grace of the Lord that brings new birth.  Others experienced it years ago, but now "live lives of quiet desperation" with little thought of applying Christ's death to today.  For many of us, Christ's death, like that of our soldiers, is a quickly passing thought before the real life of planting gardens, planning barbecues, or playing in our favorite recreational activity.

A gospel- and grace-centered life begins with constant reflection upon the gospel.  As we taste and see the beauty of Christ's love and mercy to us, we are transformed.  We reject the idols that held us fast as false, shallow, and unsatisfying.  Instead, we embrace the love, care, and presence of Christ, by and through the power the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, so that we regain a renewed and growing relationship with the Father.

Such reflection is impossible unless we realize how much we need renewed and growing relationship with God.  Without knowing our need, we will never fully trust in the cure.  Thus, the law of God is important because it battles our pride that leads to self-righteousness, and it casts us before Christ alone for mercy and grace.  As we repent of our self-effort and our other sins, we find joy, grace, and power to live a life of freedom.

Some people say this message is too negative.  I have heard it said often that the message of the gospel is not encouraging since it focuses too much upon our sin and need of God.  I am always amazed at this objection.  It is so short-sighted!  

In reality, ignoring the real gospel message means we replace it with something false.  Instead of learning to rest in the solid rock that is Christ, we prefer to trust in ourself.  Consequently, we give up our freedom and joy found in Christ for bondage found in trying to keep ourself satisfied while maintaing our undeserved reputation.  

In scriptural language, we reject the spring of living water for broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jer. 2:13).  Is it negative to speak the truth?  Each of us need God's love and mercy daily!  We so quickly give up our freedom in Christ for bondage to self.  Confess, repent, and believe.

In the same way, our freedom here in America came by God's blessing, but it also came through the blood and service of those in our military.  America is a social experiment in personal liberty and freedom being granted to each individual.  This liberty gave each person the freedom and encouragement to pursue their own good, as well as the responsibility of working toward that end.  The result has been the greatest civilization the world has ever known (though the Chinese and other civilizations would disagree!).  

It is amazing how we as Americans take this for granted.  We give up our freedom for "peace" and "security."  At least that these are the code words we use.  What we really want instead of freedom is comfort and ease.  Friends, all of these words are not synonyms for the same concepts!

Freedom always comes with a price, and it is maintained by diligence.  

As Americans, I fear we have become too self-absorbed to keep up the fight for liberty, opportunity, and freedom.  We give lip service to freedom, but we prefer bondage with "security" to freedom with responsibility.

Truly the fallen human condition forgets the blood that set it free!  As individuals and as nations we constantly drift toward comfort and security from society instead of finding our rest in Christ alone.  May the price paid by Christ be the center of our reflections as we remember Memorial Day.

An Entirely Biblical Worldview

"The first step in forming a Christian worldview is to overcome this sharp divide between "heart" and "brain."  We have to reject the division of life into a sacred realm, limited to things like worship and personal morality, over against a secular realm that includes science, politics, economics, and the rest of the public arena.  This dichotomy in our own minds is the greatest barrier to liberating the power of the gospel across the whole of culture today."  

Nancy Pearsey, Total Truth, 20.

One of the marks of authentic spirituality is a quest for truth and its application in every area of life.  Notice I said quest.  It is a life-long pursuit and a trajectory of constant searching and hopefully Spirit-lead growth.  None of us have perfectly apprehended the truth about the world.  

One of the effects of sin is to warp our minds so they are preoccupied with self-concern and self-deceit.  The proper response to understanding this reality should be authentic humility that seeks to learn from God through His word, others, and creation.

So why is authentic humility so lacking in the Christian world?  Why are so many Christians marked by an arrogance that is appalling?  It never ceases to amaze me how a person rescued by God's grace from complete darkness can change in a year into a person who judges and looks down upon others still in darkness!  Why does this happen?  

I think it is primarily because we have not learned how to develop a authentic Christian mind.  We have not been taught even the basics of how to understand and live in this world.

The first basic we should know is that all things were created good.  If we look honestly, the ringing cry of Genesis 1 is God's declaration that what He made is good.  Over and over again, God creates and declares it good.  The final summation of the chapter concludes, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." (vs. 31)  

What does this mean?  All things were created with an inherent goodness.  This includes humanity that is created in the image of God (vs. 26).  Not just individually but also corporately since male and female together reflect the full image of God.  This means that human interaction and culture was created to be good and to reflect the character of the God who created it.

The second basic we should know is that all things were infected and effected by the fall.  Genesis 3 details how Adam and Eve turned away from listening to God to listen to their own desires, prompted by the Evil One, to eat of the so called knowledge of the good and evil.  The result is alienation from God (3:10), alienation from others (3:12), alienation from self (3:13), and alienation from all creation (3:16-19).  

These various forms of alienation from the way we were created cause us great pain.  The more we move away from our created good the more pain, suffering, and alienation we experience and feel.  The closer we are to our created good, the more harmony, peace, and joy we will experience.  The final hope of the Biblical understanding of the universe is that one day we will be set free from the power of sin and death so that we can once again reflect the created good perfectly.  This will be achieved when we die or Christ returns!

Now the tie to our opening quote can be made.  In our fallen state, the reality of our condition is often felt, but not really understood.  We are special because we are created by God to reflect His glory and character.  Yet, all of us are fallen beings struggling to put off the gravitational pull of our sin tendencies. This pull drives us away from trusting in God and instead moves us toward trusting in self: our strength, our judgment, our resources.  The problem is that we forget that our strength, our judgment, and our resources are all infected with the consequences of the fall!  These consequences do not end when someone becomes a believer.  They continue until death or Christ returns!

Many Christians have bought into the dichotomy borrowed from the Enlightenment, which argues that there is a divide between sacred and secular realms.  We have been taught that Church, Bible, and personal faith are good.  We have also been taught that "secular humanism" and all worldly pursuits (anything not related to Church, Bible, and personal faith) are bad.  Hopefully you can see that this is wrong on many sides!  This will be our topic for the next few days as we investigate the implications of our false worldview.

One implication before we end.  There is not a sacred/secular dichotomy in scripture made along the lines we have borrowed from the Enlightenment.  All of us and every area of culture and creation are created good yet fallen.  This includes the Church and all Christian institutions.  It includes all "worldly" activities and enterprises.  The real task of authentic spirituality is to take this truth and apply it to every area of human experience.  We must seek to integrate this Biblical worldview into action.  It must inform all of life.  It creates vision on how we should live and how culture should function.  Yet, our fallenness should create humility and a willingness to grow and learn as we seek to apply these truths into a fallen world by fallen people.

Any observations and comments are welcome!  Let's grow together as we look at this area of authentic spirituality!

Fruit 30, 60, 100 Times what was sown...

"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Matthew 13: 23

This week I am preparing a message for First Seattle concerning a vision for the future.  Like many churches, First has lived through a period of decline.  Like many churches, we have attempted to arrest this decline through a variety of methods, but none have produced growth.  

I believe the simple question we must ask is why?  Why do we find ourselves here?

There are always many reasons for any action.  A long-term trend has even more reasons.  As I talk with people, I can focus on three or four major issues that have helped bring about the decline in membership at First.  I believe most churches can point to at least this many reasons for their plateau or decline over the past couple of decades.

The problem is that we cannot go back and fix the past.  Poor decisions were made.  Poor execution of decisions occurred.  So what?  

Early in my ministry a wise church revitalizer/church planter encouraged me to focus 90% of my time on bringing new people into the church and 10% of my time worrying about the people who left.  This is sound advice!  I might actually practice a 95/5 split, but the idea is the same.

Have apologies been made to those who were hurt by poor decisions and poor execution of decisions?  In our case, the answer is by and large yes.  What else can be done?  Nothing.  It is time to move on.  Unfortunately, many church and many individuals cannot move on.  They prefer to "work on their issues" and stay where they are.

Jesus made the Christian life simple.  We make it difficult and convoluted.  

Seed placed in good soil will produce fruit.  It will bear fruit that results in a good harvest.  Seed on good soil produces a return that is multiplied by what is sown.  It does not merely replicate itself, but produced 30, 60, or 100 times what is sown.

Why have we reduced this instruction to something merely personal, individual, and at best additional instead of multiplicational?  

What do I mean?  We have made the individual Christian life virtually the entire work of salvation.  We make church survival (in terms of maintaining numbers and ministries) our vision.

This vision is too small.  Such a vision sells short what the Holy Spirit can do within the life of an individual and a church.  When the gospel falls upon good soil, it produces a harvest that multiplies the planting.  It will produce 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.

Do you see this multiplying growth in your life or the life of the church?  Perhaps it is not from lack of effort, but lack of focus on what is truly important.  

In this parable, the issue is not the amount of work/effort, but the quality of the soil.  Good soil produces good return.  Poor soil produces little if any return.  

Are you and is your church good soil for the gospel?  If not, pray for Holy Spirit fertilizer.  Pray the Lord removes the rocks and thorns from your harvest patch.  Repent and believe the promises.  Ask that the Lord will transform the soil.  Individually and corporately, do not be satisfied until the harvest is counted by multiplication.

God is not through building His Kingdom.  He wishes to use you.  He wishes to use your church.  May we be good soil!

Self-Improvement, Holiness, and Repentance

“Woe is me!  I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, 

and I live among a people of unclean lips,

 and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!” 

Isa. 6:5

How can a prophet and man of God have such a reaction before the Living God?  Did not God call Isaiah through the vision into His presence?  Why would God allow Isaiah to feel this way and to have such an experience?

We have such a tendency to make our understanding of God and faith centered upon us and our experiences and needs.  We are often like small children going through the grocery store with our parents.  Seeing the food around us, we realize we are hungry and we demand our needs be met immediately.  We do not care that we are on our way home to eat a nutritious meal.  We do not care that our bodies need healthy food.  We want the candy bar that is within reach at the checkout line.  

In other words, what we want and what we really need are often two very different things.

We want to be accepted just as we are.  We wish that God would affirm us, give us some candy, and always have a smile for us.  These are our greatest wants and desires.  In fact, these are our greatest needs!  

The problem is that we insist that God gives us the candy bar without feeding us the healthy meal.  We want God to change so we do not have to.

Ultimately, our greatest problem in life is our lack of self-awareness concerning our true condition before God, others, creation and ourselves.  Here is where this passage in Isaiah can help give us some perspective.

In Isaiah 6, we see the prophet encountering the Holy God.  He is undone before Him.  He has seen God and he knows he needs grace!  Fortunately in the next verse, a seraph took a live coal from the alter and touched Isaiah’s mouth declaring, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (vs. 8)  As Isaiah met God, he became aware of his need, and he called out for grace.  God answered his need by sending grace.

In my experience, such experiences of grace cannot come often enough.  They often lead to rapid advances in Christian maturity and understanding that work out in increased love for God and others.  Such life-changing times of growth often occur at conversion, but they should also continue at different times throughout our Christian life.  Why?  As we grow to know the Holy God better, we should see our need for grace more since we see our sin more.  This is also the prime mark of authentic revival!

So why do we not see this often as a mark of Christian faith and practice?  Why do we lack such awakenings, which lead to true revival?

There are many factors.  First, we have not been taught this form of spirituality as the norm.  An emphasis on humility and brokenness runs counter to the American spirit of individualism and self-effort. 

Second, this spirituality runs counter to the workings of our fallen soul.  It does not sound nearly as good to us as “self-improvement” through works on the one hand or free and easy grace and forgiveness that doesn’t involve brokenness and humility on the other.  The truth is that many of us would rather keep a holy God at arms length.  Unfortunately, there are always religious peddlers who will wittingly or unwittingly give us what our hearts want by minimizing God’s holiness and our need. 

The result is a watered-down spirituality that lacks vitality.  Thus, we do not have true awakening and revival.  This is particularly true among those profess Christ for years.  New believers often have a glimpse of their need and God’s grace; but as they continue in the Christian faith, they lose their vitality.

Why?  Instead of growing in their understanding of God's holiness, which would lead to deeper repentance and an understanding of our need for Christ, many believers never grow from their initial understanding of God's holiness and their need.  In His mercy, God allows us through life to see our need, but we cover it up with denial or blaming others.  The result is shallowness and fakery!  Instead, we should embrace a deeper repentance, live a life of authentic confession, and find God's incredible mercy in Christ is increasing real for us.

Where are you today?  Do you have a spirit of revival and awakening in your life?  Do you have a vital, living faith?  Do you want such a life?  If so, come before the Holy God and pray for mercy to see both your need for Christ and Christ’s love for you!  True revival awaits.

The Inward-focused Yeast of Religious Folks (that ruins the whole batch)

"It is possible for both individuals and churches to become devoted mainly to personal spiritual culture and forget outreach, especially if the process of reaching out involves touching those who may contaminate us. Thus many Protestant churches have in effect become closed systems for the nurture and servicing of the inheritors of a denominational tradition." 

Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life.

Today I wish to explore this quote from Richard Lovelace.  Lovelace was one of my professors in seminary.  He was quite old and losing his mind when I had him as a student.  Yet, when talking with him, I could see glimpses of his brilliant mind.  This book was written in 1979, but its message still applies today.  In fact, I would say this book is one of the best books ever written that almost no one reads!  If you get a chance buy the book and read it.

In this passage, Lovelace is discussing the Mission of the Church.  He lists an emphasis on mission as a mark of authentic spirituality.  In this short paragraph, he also discusses an issue that directly impacts the direction of a church or a denomination.  

In the past several years, I have had many discussions with individuals and denominational officials about how their church is dying and losing members.  This is the general tenor of the comments.  "This younger generation just does not care about church.  Our church community is growing older and there are few children.  We were once such a vibrant church, but now there are so few of us.  Our culture is destroying the church.  There is nothing we can do."  I believe Lovelace's comments address all of these laments.

How?  Well first, our cultural embrace of personal piety and religion as the essence of religion is very destructive to the mission of God.  It comes from an assumed plank of Enlightenment thought that all religion is personal and private.  It has been argued for over 200 years that religion is something that helps the individual to cope, but it is not true truth that can be rationally debated and discussed.  When we do not combat this incorrect assumption, we have already lost the battle for the souls of those who are not yet believers.  

If Jesus is the Son of God, this truth is much more important, lasting, and transformative than my personal thoughts, or even worse feelings, about who Jesus is.  It is an historical fact that changes everything.  Like what?  It means that there is a personal and caring God in this universe.  It means that sin is real and universal.  It means that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are building their Kingdom by dealing with sin and its effects.  People need to hear this great news!  Mission means taking this message of redemption into every area of life and to every corner of the world.  It is beyond being merely personal.  It makes the difference for the entire world and how we relate with the world.

Second, when we think of those in our culture as "contaminating us" we misunderstand the nature of Jesus and His ministry.  Jesus associated with all types of people, and we are a continuation of Jesus' ministry as we minister in His name (Acts 2:33 and 26:23).  He met with a woman of ill-repute (John 4), tax-collectors (Mark 2), and other sinners (Luke 7).  In summarizing his ministry by saying, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17)  

In fact, the only people Jesus appeared to have problems with were the religious folks!  He warned people about "the yeast" of religious folks working through the entire batch causing its demise (Matt. 16).  In other words, Jesus warned that religious folks could corrupt one so they do not trust God.  The Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious folks in Jesus' day, promoted their traditions and purity as promoting and illustrating God's favor.  They refused to follow the example of Jesus' ministry, and they actually sneered and looked down upon sinners as beneath them.  Is this not exactly what Lovelace was talking about when he discussed those who "forget outreach, especially if the process of reaching our involves touching those who may contaminate us."

Where does this rejection of Jesus' ministry style leave us?  As Lovelace states, "Many Protestant churches have in effect become closed systems for the nurture and servicing of the inheritors of a denominational tradition."  The result is a slow, prolonged death.  

The death of a church or denomination begins with it claiming a desire to reach out to the lost, but the actions of its leadership and members declare to all visitors, "You are not welcome unless you are just like us."  This ministry style then gets institutionalized by allocation of funds and ministry focus on church members.  Now the ministries of the church promote the message, "You must be like us to be welcome here."  

As time goes on, most of the young people leave such an inward focused church.  They are raised in this church, but they leave to go somewhere else or drop out all together because they are looking for authentic community or a place with less hypocrites.  After years of this process, the church is a beautiful building almost empty of people.

Have you this progression?  Have you experienced the seductive but deadly allure of an inward focused church?  Thankfully there is hope.  It is found in the gospel being believed and lived out.  This message and belief is both nurturing and highly evangelistic.  It is the answer to the mission death spiral!

May God ignite our hearts for the gospel and for the lost.

Hearing God

"Prepare plans by consultation,

and make war by wise guidance" 

Proverbs 20:19

How do we hear the voice of God?  In this week's evening discussion at First, we investigated briefly this important question.  I have found some of the discussions afterward extremely interesting.

For the most part folks appeared to have a deep concern for falling into religious emotionalism (read Pentecostalism), which is full of folks who constantly "hear the voice of God."  By and large, our folks at First have grown up and experienced a religious life marked by consistency and solid doctrine.  This is to be praised!  Furthermore, many have experienced folks marked by religious emotionalism.  These folks are far from stable, and what they claim to hear from God is often strange and sometime actually opposed to the clear teaching of scripture.  Folks who have experienced the extremes of this movement do not want to be marked by these traits because they have seen the dangers and pitfalls of "God told me."  Perhaps because of these concerns, they have also never been taught to experience how God speaks to His people.

I think what most of us really want, what most of us really need, is to experience and hear God speak into our lives.  Not in a weird sort of way.  Not in a heretical manner.  But clearly and lovingly.

How do we do hear God's still small voice?  

First and foremost, we need to saturate our life in the Word of God and prayer.  The Word of God is His revealed will for us.  It contains His perfect guidance on life and practice in this world.  If we do not know it, we will often stumble through life like blind men without any guidance.  

Notice I added prayer as part of the first step to gaining wisdom.  Why?  Prayer is a learned discipline.  It is learning how to communicate with God.  Notice I said communicate!  It is not just us bringing a laundry list of requests.  It is also listening.  How do we do this?  I find it is best to talk with God with His Word open in my lap so as I read, God can impress upon my spirit what I need to know or remember.  

How does this work?  Well, sometimes I am dealing with a particular issue- let's say someone who is hard to deal with.  Let's say they were just plain ornery to me!  I cannot understand why they are difficult.  As I am praying about the situation and reading in the Psalms, I will run into a passage on the "wrath of my enemies."  It is like a light coming on!  The Lord impresses upon my spirit that this person is angry.  I pray for them.  As I pray the Lord guides me to pray for their work situation.  As I talk with the person over the next few weeks, I ask, "How's it going at work?"  They tell me about the unfair treatment they are receiving from their boss.  See, the issue wasn't that they were mad at me.  They were struggling.  If I had not taken time to pray about it with the Word of God open, I might have handled it in a totally different manner!

It seems to me that we rarely have the same situation twice.  Yet, we have God's principles and Word that are eternal.  Taking what we know, or what we should know, and applying it is the heart of wisdom.  

What happens when we mess things us?  Please understand that such times need to be times of learning, not times to merely beat ourselves up for being stupid!  Repent, talk with God about with the scriptures open, reflect on what went wrong, and ask for wisdom on living the truth better next time.  There is also no reason to hide from God or to think we need to do some form of "penance" before we can be right with God again.  Repent quickly, believe the gospel, and move on!

A second way to gain wisdom is to find wise people to ask for advice.  In fact, I often hear the voice of the Lord through the mouthpiece of others.  Sometimes, God's wisdom even comes from and through those who are not so wise!  

How?  What I do is try to listen.  Boy is this hard for those of us who like to talk.  It has taken years for me to learn how to do this.  As I listen, I pray for wisdom and the person I am listening to.  I often find that people will say something that brings to mind my thoughts from earlier in the day or week.  They might clarify what I was reading and thinking about from God's word.  Yet, when I hear it, I just seem to know it is the Spirit of God speaking through these folks.

One word of caution, though I could give many.  All to often, listening to wise people is a step which we in the West have particular struggles.  We are so individualistic that we shy away from asking for advice, particularly from people that are wise!  Even if we get it, some of us are so prideful that we will not take it because we did not come up with it ourselves.  In the past few years, I have heard this reasoning more times than I care to mention.  Remember, if the Lord can speak through a donkey, He can use anyone to speak His will! (Numbers 22:28)

We need to know that God has granted some people a special degree of wisdom.  They can cut to the heart of the matter and help us see what we need to do.  As individuals and churches, we need to locate and encourage these people for leadership!  We should search them out and inquire of their opinions.  Make sure they can explain what they are advising as coming from Biblical principles.  Then listen and try to implement what they recommend.  If we do, even the unreflective among us can walk in wisdom (if we will just listen!).

May the Lord help us to grow in grace and wisdom!

Actively Passive in the Presence of God

I wish I could say that I have been too busy to write more.  It would not be true.  We always have time to do what we really want to do.  I have not been too busy, but to preoccupied.  I have had plenty of time to think, pray, and be silent.

What have I learned?

I still do not know!  I am working on a variety of thoughts and projects.  I feel like I am preparing the ground.  For what?  Here is the question!  This has been a time of active passivity.  I do not yet know the fruit of the time.

What has been my life and time recently.  The following is a thoughtful quote from Francis Schaeffer. 

"Thus I am to live now by faith, rooted in the things which have been, such as Christ's death and resurrection; what is, such as the second stream of reality in the unseen now; and what will be such as my coming bodily resurrection and return with Christ.  And this is not sheer passivity, as we have seen. God will deal with me in the circle in which he made me; that is, in his image- as a man, not as a stick or stone.  There are unbiblical forms of "spirituality" which put their emphasis almost entirely upon some sort of "resignation."  The Bible rejects this.  You are not just a beast in the field.  It is not just a case of accepting, there is to be an activeness in our passivity.  We have to be creatures because that is what we are- creatures.  But in Christ we are presented with an opportunity, a calling, to be a creature by choice, to be creatures glorified.  Through an active passivity, we are creatures, not of necessity but by choice, here in this present space-time, historic world.  When I come to this point, no matter how many times I preach or write it, it still takes my breath away."

Francis Schaeffer,  True Spirituality, 82.

What is he saying?  First, all of us are living in two-world existence.  We are living in the here and now temporal framework of this universe, and we also are living in a very real spiritual realm that is marked by eternity.  What we do here touches on the eternal realm.  What Christ did in the eternal realm can and should impact our everyday experience in the here and now.  Schaeffer argues that living by faith means acknowledging and living as a citizen of both realms.

How does this look in real life?

Schaeffer argues that we must actively, by choice, live as creatures now glorified.  Honestly, I do not know exactly what he means here.  Let me follow up with another quote from later in the book that might clarify what he said.

"So we must believe God's promises at this one moment in which we are.  Consequently, in believing God's promises, we apply them- the present meaning of the work of Christ for the Christian- for and in this one moment.  If you only can see that, everything changes.  As we believe God for this moment, the Holy Spirit is not quenched.  And through his agency, the risen and glorified Christ, as the bridegroom of the bride, the vine, brings forth his fruit through us, at this moment.  This is the practice of active passivity.  And it is the only way anybody can live; there is no other way to live but moment by moment."

Francis Schaeffer,  True Spirituality, 86.

My life of late has felt like freeing labor.  It is hard ease.  It has been thoughtful letting go.  It has felt like active passivity.

In other words, I have felt and lived the tension of living out the gospel by faith.  I have been reflecting upon and believing the promises in my life.  I have been training/preparing/opening my ears so that I can hear what God is saying about my living in His presence now.

It has been rewarding and humbling.  It has been easy but hard.  It has also meant talking less so I can hear more.  In the case of this blog, this means writing less also!

May this week be marked by faith.  May we walk in light of Christ's finished work that makes all the difference in eternity and in every day, moment by moment, life.  

Humility and the Gospel

C.S. Lewis concludes about humility: "Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody.  Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.  If you dislike him, it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily.  He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all."

The proud person is terribly self-aware.  Continual working, then, on forgetting myself and remaining quietly in my present place, until God makes a change, has been and still remains my biggest assignment."

Miles Finch "Surprised by Pride" Leadership (Spring 2007), 49.

Humility.  I would say humility is the forgotten Christian virtue.  True humility is also the mark of a person who has experienced and continues to experience the touch of God in their life.  Without humility, we will not see God nor know Him well.

Why do we despise humility?  Our culture is all about self-promotion.  We are individualistic.  We are consumers who insist the market meets our demands.  Where in our Western culture does humility fit?  Nowhere.

Yet, God opposes the proud but He gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5 and many places in scripture).  Is it possible that we do not know God as we wish and do not experience revival as we hope because we refuse to deal with our judgmental pride?

How do we become humble people?  I believe it is the result of experiencing God's grace that leads us to repentance and then rest through faith.  What do we need to repent of?  Our great sin is unbelief that constantly pushes us to trust ourselves- our efforts, our thoughts, our judgments, our feelings, our experiences as ultimate reality.

Last evening in my discipleship course we looked at our lack of humility.  As we gazed upon the Law, we were humbled.  At least I was!  My heart loves to trust anything but God.

Yet, I was created, you were created, we all were created to trust in, know deeply, and experience thoroughly the presence of God.  When we find our satisfaction in God alone, we find joy, peace, and life-transforming power!

In other words, living in light of God's presence, love and sovereignty is the beginning and end of authentic humility.  When life is lived in the presence of the King, we know we are not the King.  We value others because they are in the same boat as we are.  We are all children of the King, created in His image but fallen from our state of perfection.  We all long for restoration in Christ.  We enjoy our life and enjoy hearing about God's work in others. 

Living under the King and in His presence is right living.  It has the mark of authenticity.  In such a condition we:

Humble ourselves, under God's mighty hand so that at the proper time he may exult us, we cast all our anxieties upon him, because he cares for us.  We are sober minded and watchful knowing that the enemy of our souls is seeking to devour someone.  We resist him, standing firm in faith, knowing that our brothers and sister in faith are experiencing the same kinds of trials and sufferings.

1 Peter 5: 6-9

Gospel-Centered Outreach

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

profuse are the kisses of an enemy."

Prov. 27:6

"Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day.  However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect.  The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones.  We tend to draw conservative. buttoned-down, moralistic people.  The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church.  That can only mean one thing.  If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.  If our churches aren't appealing to younger brothers, they must be more full of elder brothers than we'd like to think."  

Tim Keller, The Prodigal God, 15-16.

I often have discussions with folks about how to reach out into our postmodern world.  Some of these discussions are pleasant and encouraging.  Others are perplexing and discouraging.  In fact, just this past weekend I had several discussions concerning outreach, conversion, and how that works in today's world.  I found these discussions so perplexing that I have given them much thought.  I do not know if I have figured everything out, but I will share some thoughts.

How does God work in today's world?

I heard tale from a pastor that people are not converted like they used to be.  I could not agree more!  Today, people often belong to the church before they believe the message of the gospel.  I have seen this happen again and again.

Yet, he went further and offered an excuse that he has not seen "conversions" because the process on average takes 7 years.  Others offered the same theme.

While I hear the basis for their thoughts, I think they might wish to look at their understanding of the gospel.  The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.  It transforms hearts and then minds.  I brings forth the fruit of righteousness.  If we are not seeing conversions and transformation, we should ask ourselves if we understand and proclaim the good news of the gospel.  (please take this as a wound from a friend and not a wound from an enemy!)

I find that people are very hungry for the true gospel of God's grace.  They thirst for His righteousness to transform their hearts.  In fact, I would say the fields are ready for harvest!  We just need the tools to enter into the harvest field.  The greatest tool of all is the gospel of grace.  Unfortunately, this gospel and living in light of it often do not mark believers in Christ.

Most believers have been told or somehow have assumed that the way to reach out is to live such a good life before non-believers that they will naturally ask why you are so different.  As I have talked with believers in different parts of the country, it has been confessed that this method of evangelism  does not work.  I could not agree more!

Why?  I believe most non-believers are very skeptical of anyone who comes from an overtly religious position.  If an individual or church desires to reach out to others in this culture, you need to learn new strategies.

All of this to say that Keller's opening quote should provide us with a basis to think of these new strategies.  The point of his book is that the real gospel provides a basis to reach out to those with no religious background or inclination.  It also provides a basis for reaching out to the confused and moralistic religious folks.  

The Prodigal God is about the parable of the two sons, which some mistakenly call the parable of the prodigal son.  He points out that the parable is really about three scandalous people: the younger son, the eldest son, and the Father.  We only focus on the younger son because so many of us are eldest brother types whose lives are marked by doing the right thing and hard work.  Unfortunately, the elder brother also is marked not by his love for the Father (God in this case), but his desire to work for the Father so he can get something back in return.

As Keller argues, true or authentic faith is marked by repentance from both our outright sin and our religious self-effort.  In other words, we must repent of the evil we do and the good we do.  What a scandalous message!  I would recommend reading the brief book.  I have heard Keller preach on the topic, and it was life-changing.  His book carries on that life-changing message.

Overall, I was struck and affirmed by his opening quote.  I know as a young pastor, I was very good at attracting the "conservative, buttoned-down, type."  I preached the Bible, thought I was building people up in their faith, and felt pretty good about myself.  Unfortunately, I saw no one come to faith outside the mold of conservative, buttoned-down types or those repenting of a brief foray into sin from their conservative, button-down type upbringing.  In other words, I had a great ministry to Pharisees!

The problem is that Jesus did not have a good ministry to Pharisees, but he had a great ministry to everyone else.  In my life, I encountered the grace of God through a series of bad decisions and failures.  I was a strong man who had not failed.  All of that quickly changed when I experienced failure in life and ministry.  This failure shook me to my core.

From it and by the grace of God, I learned that success in ministry does not depend upon me.  I learned personally that I was, and probably still am, a Pharisee.  As I repented of my sin, I tied into the grace of the Lord Jesus.  I found unmerited love.  This is the same Love that the Father gives freely to both the younger and eldest son in the parable of the two sons.  As I did, I found that my ministry changed as did my message.

How?  Well, first of all I was attractive to the broken-hearted, downtrodden, and out-right sinners.  They liked me.  We talked about Jesus.  They felt comfortable.  Many came to faith or at least began a faith journey that I pray and trust will lead to faith.  I also became much more comfortable in my own skin, and I believe I became more authentic as a person.  I have even seen a few eldest brother types come to faith, though the going on that front has been slow.  Yes, the opening quote encourages me that I was doing something right!

Yet, my ministry also changed with the eldest brother types.  While I was once their darling, now I am an outcast.  I have found that the religious types just do not understand me.  They might like me, but they do not trust me.  I have found that religious types judge me and find me wanting.  I  have seen their sideways glances at their friends, and I know I have been judged not good enough.  Often these folks come to church or a class I teach and then walk away unchanged by the grace of God.

At first this reaction of the eldest brother types was very dismaying.  It even made me angry (a true mark of my eldest brother tendencies!).  Could they not see the grace of God?  Did they not want it?  I judged them.

Notice the Father in the parable.  He offered grace and restoration for the eldest brother.  We do not know if he took the offer since as an excellent story-teller, Jesus left that response untold.  Yet, the Father had an open heart.  I think in the past few years I have learned to a greater degree to leave my heart open to the eldest brother types, and to leave the grace of God wide-open for them.  I do not find myself judging them as much, and I repent when I do.  Still, the eldest brother types are the hardest to win to the gospel of grace.  They are so right that they do not need Jesus.

May all of us this day be amazed at the awesome grace of God.  May this grace shatter our younger brother and eldest brother tendencies to bring us to repentance and rest.

Marriage, Growing Love, and the Church

Yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 21st anniversary.  I cannot believe it has been that many!  Time flies when you are having fun.  

Yesterday I was amazed at how clear my memories were from 21 years ago.  I remember our friends, the celebration, the pomp and procession.  Many anniversaries have come and gone without such thoughts.  I am glad the Lord allowed me such memories.  I look forward to the next 21 years!

Today and for the weekend, I wish to share some thoughts regarding marriage, love, and how it relates to the Church, which is called with reason "the bride of Christ."

In order for a marriage to not only survive but also thrive, love has to grow.  I often share with couples coming for pre-marital counseling that the intensity of desire may wane, but if they do it right, their love will grow through the years.  How is this possible?

I have witnesses such growing love, and I have lived it.  My grandfather was married for 60 years to my grandmother.  The last ten years of her life were pain and agony as she struggled with cancer and ill health.  As the stomach cancer took root, my grandfather made taking care of her his full-time job.

He told me that as he spent so much time with her, he came to see how he had often taken her for granted.  You see, throughout their life they were basic sustenance farmers.  He worked hard outside and she worked hard inside.  They raised a family, raised their food, worked hard, and fell into a habit of life.  Their intense labors kept them from learning about each other.  In the midst of these labors, grandpa had lost his eye for looking at and marveling at the wonderful person to which he was married.

All of this changed when he left his outside pursuits to take care of my grandma.  As they talked, worshipped and prayed together, they re-built a love affair.  My Grandpa confessed to me that taking care of my Grandma caused his love for her to grow.  In these last years together, he confessed his love for her and how often he had taken her for granted.  She confessed the same.  I watched as a mature, deep-seated love grew between this aging couple.  Honestly, I could not understand it as I witnessed it, and I struggle to find words to describe it.

Yet, I want this love in my life!  I have witnessed it so occasionally.  I know it is possible and it is beautiful beyond description.  I have a small taste of it after 21 years of marriage, and I want to nourish it so it grows.  I pray that I do not lose my eye for looking at and marveling at the wonderful person God has given me to be my bride.

Please understand that such an eye does not mean that I will not see and notice my wife's imperfections.  I know my wife's flaws much better than I did 20 years ago.  My grandpa took care of and grew in love while my grandma struggled with the intense "stink" of stomach cancer.  The imperfections become obvious.

Love does not mean blindness.  It recognizes imperfections while moving past them to marveling at the beauty, strength, and splendor of my bride.  Love takes time; and in our fallen world, it takes repentance and faith.  Repentance and confession when I fail to walk in love and faith to nourish relationship.

Where am I going with this?

Jesus says that the Church is His bride.  Yes, He loves you as an individual, but the vast majority of the time in the bible His love is affirmed for "you all" and not just individuals.  Jesus loves the Church!

So why if scripture declares the Church as the radiant bride of Christ do we often see her as an accessory to true faith?  I know there are many reasons, but I think we can easily name a few.

First, in this world the church is a mixed group.  By that I mean that many within the church are redeemed individuals still struggling with sin.  In addition, in a healthy church there will be those who are not yet redeemed struggling with sin.  So, if we look closely we can see hypocrisy, doubt, anger, and every other sin under the sun.  For many of us, this is a complete turn-off.  How could "holy" people do such things!?

Again, I challenge us with the image of marriage.  In our fallen world, sin and death leave their mark.  The church is no exception.  Our biggest problem with the church, like so many of us with marriage, is incorrect expectations.  We want the person and the church that is perfection.  We want our needs met.  We do not want to be hurt.  All these desires are completely natural and good!  The problem is we live in a fallen world.  Our desires reflect the way things were created to be and the way things will be when Jesus sets them aright.  Our experience is often marked by fallenness more than perfection.

So, many people give up on the Church, move from church to church looking for something that meets their desires, or resign themselves to complaining and a life marked by half-hearted engagement with the church.  Does this not match the experience many have with marriage?

Jesus loves the Church.  He gave Himself up for the Church.  If we wish to follow him, we should grow to love what He loves.

Honestly, this takes both faith and discipline.  It takes faith to believe we live in a fallen world where God is at work restoring what was lost.  It takes faith to believe God's word that plainly declares God's love and work through the Church!  In a fallen world, faith also means repentance from our false views and our disillusionment with our church (and our marriage).  It takes faith to pray, "Lord help me to see Your hand at work through and in your Church."

It takes discipline to stay the course.  We have to learn how to marvel at the beauty and strength while looking past the imperfections.  Yes, we repent of those imperfections as we gather communally, but as an individual we must remind ourselves to look for the beauty.  Remember, Jesus is seeing the beauty and strength in the Church.  Let's discipline ourselves to come in faith so we can see it too!  Do not give up.  Work through your doubt and disillusionment by and with faith (This is also good advice for struggling marriages).

The Radiant Bride.  Lord, give us eyes to see our marriage and our church with eyes that look at and marvel at the beauty and strength you have placed before us.  Help change our hearts so we can love as You love.

The Heart of Effective Outreach

"Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile.  It is thrown away.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."

Luke 14: 34-15:2

On Monday I shared a long and rambling post concerning evangelism.  I thought I would share about personal and corporate evangelism in relationship to the heart of God.  I found that I shared much more about corporate evangelism.  Today, I wish to share briefly my thoughts on personal evangelism.

I have heard from many different folks over the years that they are really weary of more evangelism training.  I remember clearly hearing from an older gentleman at my church as I began a series on evangelism.  He said he had already heard it all.  He had found previous training helpful. He thought it had been good and biblical.  Yet, it did not make a long-term difference in anyone's life.  It also had not made a long-term difference in our church.

Wow.  Why is this the case?

Our biggest problem with sharing our faith in Christ is not that we do not know enough.  In fact, this assumption betrays a strong modernist bent instead of a post modern understanding of the human being!  No, our real issue is that our heart was not changed.

Let me ask you a question.  Do you really love people?  Do you love both believers and unbelievers?

I must confess that I often do not love others very well.  I become burdened and focused on my own life, my own needs, my own desires.  I have many "moving pieces" in my life, and it is easy for me to become focused on keeping these pieces moving!

How about you?  

The best way to tell is to honestly look at your prayer life and thought life.  We pray about and we think about what is truly important to us.  Is your heart focused on seeing God work in the lives of others?

For most of us, the answer is no!  I would guess this is true for more than 90% of us.  Thus, we say we want to see people come to know Christ, but our heart is not behind it.  From our hearts flow our actions.

So, what can we do?  If you wish to grow in your outreach to others, start by praying that God will give you His heart for the lost.  Take Luke 15 and reflect upon it daily for a month.  Ask for God to give you a seeking and searching heart.  Do not be surprised when He moves and changes your desires!

Next, pray a humble prayer that God would use you to bring one person to know Jesus this year.  You can always ask for more, but one is a good place to start.  Pray daily, like your life depends upon it, for God to allow you to speak the gospel into one person's life.  Pray that He will give opportunity to speak.  Pray for eyes to see and a heart ready to respond when He opens these doors.  Know that He is answering your prayers so walk and speak humbly but boldly when the opportunity arises.

Finally, remember your place in the Kingdom.  You do not have all the answers.  You are not "right" and everyone else is "wrong."  No, you are a follower of the One who is right, righteousness, love, truth, and light.  Point to Jesus as your only hope, but He is your only hope!

Truly witnessing to Jesus is not about technique or a slick presentation.  It is about the biblical reality that you are a sinner who has found grace and love in Christ and you wish to share with others what you have found.  This reality matches and works in our culture.  It does not take special training, special knowledge, or great depth.  It does not even take maturity.  

All that is required to be effective witnesses in today's world is honesty, a bit of transparency, and a love for God and for others. 

Let's pray together that all of us grow in these traits because we grow closer to Jesus through believing the gospel!