A Calling Purified by Grace

"These narratives pointed me to the fact that pastoral ministry is a life, not a technology.  How to books treat pastoral ministry like a technology  That's fine on one level- pastoral ministry does require certain skills, and I need all the advice I can get.  But my life as a pastor is far more than the sum of the tasks I carry out.  It is a call from God that involves my whole life.  The stories I read helped me to understand my life, comprehensively.  My life, too, is a story, and it is the narrative quality of my life that makes my ministry happen.  Others see and participate in the story as it is told.  I have discovered that when I follow Jesus in my everyday life as a pastor, people meet Jesus through my life."

David Hansen, The Art of Pastoring: Ministry without all the answers

I do wish I could have met David Hansen.  I believe he came to understand and articulate so much that is missing in modern pastoral ministry.  In this book, Hansen describes his growing understanding of life as a pastor as reflected in his ministry in Montana.  I so appreciate the introduction's main point: being a pastor is so much more than the sum of the tasks I carry out!  It is a calling, a life, a living parable of God's grace.  

What do I mean?  I think Paul states it well:

For consider your calling, brothers, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

1 Cor. 1: 26-29

All to often pastors and leaders, especially young pastors and leaders, try to act like they have all the answers; like they are the experts.  Well technically they are.  They have the training and how-tos to do ministry that others are lacking.  They often have biblical and theological training that far exceeds that of those in the pews.

Unfortunately, what they are missing is the grace of God that comes through life.  This grace helps us understand who we are, to whom we are ministering, and to what God would have us to do and be in this situation.  Such grace comes not from knowing the "how to" but from learning to listen to God.

How do we teach this?  I do not think we can.  Only God's grace can do this work!

I am afraid that some never get it.  They are part of that 10% who graduate from seminary, work in the church for a year, and then never go back.  Others continue in the church because they have nothing else to do.  They often leave behind broken churches, live a life of heartache, and they look forward to early retirement.

Others have all kind of issues and difficulties because of their arrogance and foolishness.  Yet, by His grace, God knocks off the sharp edges and molds them into a "foolish" pastor.  I believe and hope that this has been the case with me!

Finally, some have the grace of God evident in their life resulting in true humility that comes from living a life before God and others marked by repentance and faith.  Such repentance and faith come from the heart and not merely the head.  These folks trust in Christ alone to be "to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Cor. 1:30)

These folks are a gem.  They are willing to be honest and transparent, not because it will grow their church, but because they know Jesus.  These folks are naturally attractive to true believers and those who are lost.  Thankfully, such traits are not just for pastors!  As all of us grow into them, we will also be naturally attractive to those in need of grace.  The issue is that often those being led do not get to this point unless they have someone to show them the way.  This is the crazy calling of a pastor!

Honestly, such brokenness and humility is foolishness in the world's eyes.  Who cares!  The world is wrong about almost everything.  I would rather be a living parable of God's grace than a worldly successful poser.  How about you?

Why is there poverty?

"Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.  For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

John 12: 7-8

Why in the world would Jesus say such a thing?  Is not the work of the Kingdom to eliminate suffering, to bring justice, to promote freedom to the captives?  Is not our work in the Kingdom to promote such things?

This week I have the privilege of preaching on the topic of Biblical economics out of Acts 4:32-5:11.  It should be fun.  Why?  Because most people have made economics a matter of faith.  I do not mean that they allow their faith in influence their understanding of economics.  Instead, our rival political parties have made their economic platforms the civic religion of the West.  

In other words, no matter what I say, I will tick off someone who thinks I am too political.  At the heart of it, their aggravation will illustrate their "economic religion" more than it will reveal their well thought out biblical rational for their beliefs.  

I grew up in a mainline denomination where the primary focus of teaching was about eliminating suffering by promoting government programs to help the poor.  These religious leaders and folks walked in lock step with the Democrat party.

After I came to faith, I became part of the bible church movement, which often promoted hard work as the key to success.  These folks believed that government intervention eliminated initiative from those "less fortunate."  (Their words not mine.)  Thus, these religious leaders and folks walked in lock step with the Republican party.

To both of these entrenched camps, I caution about the need to think Biblically about their positions.

Why?

The question of societal economics is much deeper and more nuanced than either side would care to admit.  Both side's simple declarations indicate their civic religion perspective more than a well informed biblical perspective.

In other words, why would Jesus say that we will always have the poor with us?

Answer: Because we live in a fallen world.  This world system is broken.  In its brokenness, injustice occurs.  This means that people are not equal in ability, reward does not always come to the deserving, folks will individually and collectively manipulate and abuse others for personal gain, and in the process economic inequality will occur.  This means that some will have more and others will have less.  

Furthermore, trying to fix the problem by force, which is the nature of the state, will not fix the problem because those with the power are also fallen and corrupt.  In fact, power draws corruption to itself.  This is why the process of politics rarely solves one problem without creating at least two more.  This is why politicians "change" when they are in power for any length of time.  

So what is Jesus saying?  He is stating reality.  In our fallen world, we will always have the poor with us.

The presence of the poor provides us with the opportunity to show love and compassion.  In fact, we have a calling to encourage and help the poor, the needy, and those with limited ability.  As we do, we show the compassion of God.

Yet, there is so much more to biblical teaching than the mere illustration of compassion and love.  There is a proclamation of the truth.  What truth?  We are struggling personally and collectively under and in our world system because of sin.  Sin has real and negative effects.  It is not only collective, but also personal.  It is not only personal, but also collective.  When we see it in any form, we need to call for repentance and faith in the One True King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, those religious "liberals" need to add proclamation of truth and the notion of sin to their acts of intentional kindness to the poor.  Those religious "conservatives" need to add acts of intentional kindness to the poor to their proclamation of truth and sin.  (Notice the equation of political parties with our religious traditions)

Why?  Because in our fallen world we will always have the poor with us.  I thank God that Jesus is coming again to end this world system and to restore that which was lost in the fall.  Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Sin, Struggle, and Hebrews 6 and 10

Over the course of a week, I often get very interesting questions.  Here is a great question that deserves a thoughtful response.

And if we stumble, sin intentionally, how is our relationship restored with Christ?

When I sin intentionally, my conscience tells me I don’t have a relationship with Christ, and I quickly spiral from there. This results from the knowledge of me breaking a rule or better said, command.

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

I often sin willfully, so that verse concerns me. Yet, there is this:

 1John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

Does my restoration come when I confess my sins? What about my guilty conscience?

How would you respond?

Here are my thoughts.  First and foremost, it is important to identify the different questions posed here.  First, how do I restore my relationship with Christ when I sin?  Second, how do I square my sinning with the "clear" command in Hebrews 10?  Third, how do I square passages that warn against sin with passages that affirm security in Christ?  Fourth, what about my guilty conscience?  How do I deal with it?

All of these are great questions, and I think many folks struggle with them.  There is nothing to fear from questions and struggling with apparent contradictions is a good thing.  I will begin by affirming that I believe there are clear answers to each of these questions, though my answers will not satisfy every branch of Christianity.  That being said, here are my thoughts:

1.) Because of the fall, we will struggle with sin our entire life.  Even mature believers struggle with sin.  Why?  The root cause of sin is our lack of faith/trust in God.  This lack of complete dependence causes us to walk independently of Jesus, and it leads to a variety of outward sins.  As 1 John tells us, "It we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

So, how do we deal with sin?  Confess it.  Declare the truth.  Repent of it and ask God to forgive and purify us from our unrighteousness.  Second, believe that Christ really does love you.  This grace is real for you.  His mercy is for you.  Even when you do not feel it, even when you feel filthy in your sin, ask for grace to believe!  In fact, confess that your unbelief is so deep that you doubt He could love you.  Ask for mercy and grace.

2.) I do not think the passage in Hebrews is as clear against the sin of believers as the NIV lets on.  This passage and the book of Hebrews is rather difficult to interpret and translate.  The word/phrase is "after we have received the knowledge of the truth."  When do we receive knowledge of the truth?  What does this mean?  I think this passage is directly related to another very difficult passage found in Hebrews 6: 4-6.

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because of their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Like I said, a tough passage!  What does this mean?  How are we enlightened?  Is this for those who are believers who fall away?  Does this mean that we can lose our salvation?

I think both of these passages are warnings to make sure that you really believe in Jesus.  As the old saying goes, "Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger."

This is a warning for those who attend church, who taste of the goodness of the Spirit in worship and fellowship with others, who witness the wonderful power of God; and yet, who do not really trust in Jesus for life and salvation.  Such a state can lead to incredible hardness of heart that is antithetical to repentance.  They have seen and experienced the truth, but they have not trusted it.  To these folks, beware!  Make you salvation secure by repenting of your hard-heartedness and trust in Jesus for salvation.

3.) How do we square the passages that affirm our need to pursue faith with those that stress security in Christ's love?  Both are true.  Both are necessary.  In fact, I think many who profess faith in Christ should ask themselves if Christ is the only hope and the basis for their life.  Are you trusting in Him or in yourself and your morality?  People go to church for many reasons.  Is your reason because you know that Jesus is the only true Lord and that you need Him and want to see His Kingdom grow?

That being said, if you know that Christ is your only hope and you trust in Him for salvation and life, if your life is marked by knowledge of sin which leads you to repentance and despair of self-effort and self-righteousness, then know that God loves you.  Preach this gospel truth to yourself.  Ask for grace to believe it.  

When the Spirit points out your sin, repent/confess the reality of your unbelief and ask Jesus to change your heart.  Cling to the promises like 1 John 2:1.  Remember there is "no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)  Ask for grace to believe what God declare to be truth.  Join with others in worship and fellowship to remind you of this truth.

4.) As I see the biblical teaching, a true believer's relationship with God is secure in Christ.  Yet, our fellowship with God is broken when we walk in willful sin.  Fellowship is found as we walk in repentance and faith.  The Holy Spirit constantly works to bring us to this place, and He will pursue you through a guilty conscience when we sin.  Sin is harmful to us, and God loves us so much He desires for our health, not our death.  Thus, He points out sin to bring us to repentance and faith in Christ alone so as to cleanse us from our sin and its effects.  Sometimes He quickly transforms our hearts and desires.  Sometimes He walks with us as we struggle with deep-seated sin patterns.  Just know that He still loves us!

In other words, when we sin, we need to repent and then believe the promises are true for us.  Jesus does love us and He offers help.  Ask Him to help you believe.  As Thomas said, "I believe Lord, help my unbelief!"

One item I must address before I quit for the day from the original questions.  The writer stated, "When I sin intentionally, my conscience tells me I do not have a relationship with Christ, and I quickly spiral from there."  Do you hate your sin and know that Christ is your only hope for salvation?  Do you believe He could and does love you?  If you do, then it is not your conscience, but a lie from the evil one what says the opposite of what scripture declares.  Reject the lie outright.  You have a secure relationship with Christ and as you repent of your sin, the Holy Spirit restores your fellowship with Jesus.  Ask for grace and mercy to believe the truth. 

This post is getting very long, so I will stop for now.  I do hope this helps clarify what can be seen as a difficult balance!

Peer-Pressure, The Law, and Depression/Anxiety

On this Monday, I want to focus our thoughts on Galatians 3:15-22.  In this passage, Paul insists that the Law is always secondary to grace.  Why and How?  Paul tells us that the Law was 1.) added because of transgressions (because it has a restraining feature); 2.) holds us prisoner until the coming of Christ; and 3.) is a tutor or guardian that leads us to Christ by pointing out our failings.  

What does this mean?  I often argue that there is a way that seems right to us as fallen beings.  We believe that if we know the rules and if we follow the rules, life will go well.  This patterns is how we live.  It is our reality.

Yet, does this pattern that we know and live really give us life?  I would argue from Paul a firm no!

Why?

Because the Law does not impart life.  In fact, the Law, and even our made up laws, bring death.

Let me give an example that all of us know and feel; peer-pressure.  It is not merely a teenage thing.  It happens at work, at home, from our parents, from our peers, for ourselves.  Every time we feel peer-pressure, we are feeling the effects of the law.  Why?  Because peer-pressure is a cultural law that all of us feel, but from which none of us truly gain life.  Instead, peer-pressure makes us miserable by proving us to be "not quite with it" or miserable because we are self-righteous bullies who look down on those who do not make the grade.

How does Paul understand this application of the law?  He argues that "if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law." (Gal. 3:21)  I think one reason why depression and anxiety are such an epidemic today is because our cultural standards produce and induce death with us.  We feel the "peer-pressure" and we know we do not make the grade.

Paul Zahn makes the same point, and I will use his words as an illustration.  As he states,

The commandment of God that we honor our father and mother is no different in impact, for example, than the commandment of fashion that a woman be beautiful or the commandment of culture that a man be boldly decisive and at the same time utterly tender.

Take the idea that a man should be decisive as well as outwardly expressive of his feelings, or that he should lead and be the passive sidekick for a strong woman.  You may be thinking that this trivializes law by equating it with ever-changing, culturally conditioned "laws."  But I am saying that they are the same thing.

How is this possible?  How can Sinai law, with its ennobling demand for personal and social rectitude, be equated with the world of fashion or the world of psycho-sexual politics?  But that is my point: they function exactly the same way in human experience.  Men become bowed down and paralyzed in fact by demands from the other half of the human race, and women are utterly freighted by the conflicting demands to be a perfect professional and the mother of dazzling children.  The weight of these laws is the same as the weight of the sublime moral law.  Law, whether biblical and universally stated or contextual and contemporarily phrased, operates in one way.  Law reduces its object, the human person, to despair.

This theology of everyday life makes no distinction between the law of God and the laws of human interaction individually felt and socially expressed.  Law and laws constitute a unity in their effect!

Why is this idea resisted?  It is resisted because it brings the faith of Christians too close to home.  If the demand of God has to do directly with the subduing and depressing demands of one's faith or mother, or the guilt one feels in relation to one's siblings, or the high pressures of a job or a boss, then this Christianity might actually touch somebody.  It might actually relate to people.  Someone near me commented about a devout evangelical Christian in her family: "She is wholly sold out to the gospel just so long as it doesn't come anywhere near her real life." 

Grace in Practice, 29

How do we escape the despair of the law or Law?  Most try to ignore it, or they try to make themselves out to be better than they really are.  I firmly believe such efforts are fallen human foolishness!  All these attempts do is make us psychologically fractured, self-righteous, and self-deluded.  It is time we get off this false treadmill!

How?

Believe the gospel.  Armed with God's grace, confess that you have sinned against God by violating the Law.  Confess to God, yourself and others that you cannot keep the laws of "proper" society.  Repent and believe!

Jesus Christ is the substitutionary atonement for sinners like us.  He came to fulfill the Law and law (Matthew 5:17), and He did so perfectly.  In the process, by His grace, we have fulfilled the Law and laws!  "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?  By no means!  On the contrary, we uphold the law." (Romans 3:31)

If believers in Christ would just believe this truth!  Our feelings of guilt are real because we are law breakers everyday.  How should we handle these feelings?  Repent and believe!  Cling all the more to Jesus.  Our "trying harder" or our insisting on living in guilt leaves us disconnected from the power source of the Christian life- the Holy Spirit who comes in response to our repentance and faith.

May the Lord bless us with joy as you reflect upon Christ's love for us and His work for us in fulfilling the Law.  May despair, guilt, and self-effort/self-righteousness fall away as the Lord leads us to repentance and faith.

Seeking God's hand or face?

"If you seek God's hand, you will miss His face.  If you seek His face, you will get His hand also."

I hate it when I cannot remember where I read or heard something.  I was thinking of this turn of a phrase yesterday.  Today I did a google search to find the author, thinking it was an Early Church Father.  It does sound like something they would say!  All that came up is a recent book by Daniel Henderson on prayer.  I confess I never read the book or even heard of Daniel Henderson, but I wish to give credit where it is due, so assume I got it from him.

I have been a pastor for over 20 years.  I have attended many prayer meetings.  I have to say that this quotation hits the nail on the head as to why so many folks are not effective in their prayer life.

They seek God's blessing on their work and life without seeking God's searching, purifying, and transforming grace.  

I know I have lived this way all too often.  I have prayed me directed prayers for too much of my life.  Instead of abandoning myself to God and His will, I abandon God's presence and will for my wishes and desires.

Yet, when you gaze into the beauty of God's holiness and grace mixed in Christ, He meets our desires. Why?  Because our greatest desire/need is God's immediate presence, love, and care.  Such loving protection and mercy is what we were created to enjoy.

How do we seek His face?

Come to Him on His terms.  Humble repentance from all the broken cisterns we dig (Jeremiah 2:13), and humble faith in Christ as our only hope.  Such prayers seek the face of God on God's terms.

May the Lord lead us to Himself, on His terms this weekend!

Heart Re-ignition

Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

Ps. 46:10

This has been a week of firsts for me.  On Monday my oldest son graduated from high school.  This would not be a big deal for me personally if I would have had my first child at 12, but alas this is not the case!  How did I get so old!

I have had time to reflect upon this question and many others as one of the chaperones for my son's Senior trip.  It has been great to watch the kids interact and enjoy each other's company.  I do not think my senior class would have done the same!  We are only one year at this school, so I do not know the kids like other chaperones.  The good news is that this leaves me with more time to reflect, be silent, and pray.  I was also praying for three good spiritual direction conversations on the trip, and the Lord has blessed me with these conversations.

I so enjoy having time to be silent!  I truly talk too much.  It is part of my job.  It is my reality with six children.  To hear the waves against the shore and be silent, this is golden.

I have said it before, but I will repeat.  The desert fathers often spoke about how when we open our mouth, the flame of the Spirit escapes.  Their suggestion was to shut your mouth, be still before God, and allow the Spirit to re-ignite the flame.

This is so hard in our 24//7/365 world.  We are never further than our phone away from the busyness and noise of our world.  Unfortunately, most of us prefer the noise to dealing with our inner reality.

How is the flame of the Spirit in your life?  Do you have a flame or merely smoldering embers?  Do you wonder if even the embers have any life?

Ask the Spirit to re-ignite the flame within!  Your responsibility with this re-ignition (or first ignition) is to be still before the living God.  Be honest.  Be repentant.  Look upon Jesus in faith and see His mercy and love.

Tend to the inner fire.

Make a plan this week to have a day, a morning, an hour where you consciously talk less and listen more.  May the Lord fill this time so as to re-ignite the flame of true life!

Lord have mercy upon us and show us Your beauty so our hearts will be captured by You.  May our trust and rest flow from a deep-seated knowledge that "You are God!"

Why Christian Community Matters...

We need community to be healthy and whole.  Without community we become inward-focused, whichleads to either self-righteous pride or great despair.  Yet as I meet people in my post-Christian city, I find many who profess belief in God and Christ, but they don't want anything to do with the church.  

Is this tendency healthy?  Does it promote wholeness?

As I ask these questions, I think of a recent discussion I had with a fellow about the importance of life in community.  He shared that he did not need community to grow in his relationship with God.  He was fine without others because he had his own opinions.

Unfortunately, the opinions he expressed were often strangely unorthodox in their understanding of God, Jesus, scripture, sin, love, life, and eternal life.  He also obviously lacked solid self-understanding.  

I am not trying to be judgmental!  Please understand I am a true libertarian at heart.  I give plenty of room for each of us to believe and live as we see fit.  One reason why those outside the Christian faith like me so much is they know and experience this tendency within me.  Yet, by any measurement and even generous judgment of life and thought from a historic Christian perspective, this man's ideas did not match with or even come close to the mainstream.  As I reflect, it was a sad discussion!

I have found that those who refuse community, for whatever reason, often end up depressed and unorthodox in their thought.  I think this man was greatly disappointed with the Church because of a bad experience or a series of bad experiences.  Such experience are numerous in our society!  In fact, you might have had some of the same hurts by people within the Church.

I know in my life, I have had some horrible experiences with folks in the church.  The question I ask concerning these experiences was different than this man.  I asked, "Is this the church's problem or those people's problems?"  

Every time the answer has been individuals and not the glorious, universal Church!  Even if one local body goes strange and anti-Christian, this does not eliminate the importance of the Church and community.  I know I need others and the Church to experience true life.  Celebration needs community to be lasting, real, and life-changing.  I will end with a quote from David Adam.

"I have often found more joy and celebration among monks and nuns than I have among young people.  Maybe the religious have already struggled with their lives and come to terms with some of their own limitations and failings.  They have the benefit of affirming the love and presence of God each day within their community.  The lack of community for many of our young people, in not all of us, can make modern living very lonely.  In our journeying through life we need companions.  I often think upon some words from St John of the Cross: 'The soul that is alone is like a burning coal that is alone.  It will grow colder rather than hotter.'  To maintain enthusiasm, joy and love we need to be able to express them and share them in community.  To celebrate life we need to be with other 'burning coals'." David Adam, The Road of Life, 129.

May each of us seek out and find other burning coals that help us to grow deeper in repentance and faith!  May we find out way into true gospel- and grace-centered community.

Generational/Experiential Differences that Hinder Outreach

I am blessed to have four or even five vibrant generations in my church.  Each of these generations are well represented and each has different needs and questions.  Unfortunately, it is so easy for all of us to look at the world through our own experience and perspective.  It is hard to realize that others have different questions, different thought-processes, and they come to different answers.

As I am working through a series on evangelism, I am finding it increasingly difficult to communicate through these difficulties.  Why?  I do not believe it is for lack of effort or because the hearers have hard hearts.  No.  I think it is due to the difficult nature of attempting to view reality through the eyes of someone very different than you: folks with different experiences, different world views, and ways of thinking.  

In order to catch a glimpse of the perspective of others, we must know what we believe, be willing to suspend our quick judgment of other ideas based on what we believe, and instead be willing and able to listen and think as the other person.  No one said this would be easy!

I believe there are three primary means of thinking within my church and within most established churches.  In order to help us know what we believe, I will attempt to briefly share the primary characteristics of these three ways of thinking.  I find that all three ways of thinking are found among those within each generation in the church.  Yet, certain generations are marked in deeper ways by one thought process than the others.

Again, please understand that these basic characteristics of thinking are not shared by all within each generation.  In fact, life circumstances can just as easily cause these viewpoints as generational placement!  I realize they are generalizations.  Yet, where else can we begin?

Of course, everyone knows that!

The first way of thinking represented was brought up in the church.  They know their bibles, their catechism, and their prayers.  They are saturated with the life the faith because it is the air they breathe and have breathed since childhood.  They know God exists, they believe in Jesus, and they see sin as willful disobedience to the call of God to faith.

For this way of thinking, truth is obvious, knowable, and found through faith in Christ.  They recognize that many will reject this truth, but that is their issue.  Their role is to be faithful witnesses to what God has done in Christ.

This way of thinking sees the decay of society, and those who have it bemoan the lack of vibrant witness to the lost.  The problem is that they understand this witness as doing what they know and what is meaningful to them with greater intensity.  After all, it worked for them to bring them to faith, it can work for those who are lost.

This way of thinking believes, and they struggle to understand why others don't.  This line of thinking has a decent outreach to those who grew up in the church, but left it because of rebellion.

Prove it!

A second way of thinking represented within the church might have been brought up in the church, but not necessarily.  They know their bibles, their catechism, and their prayers.  These folks are very knowledgable concerning the Christian faith, and they have studied apologetics so as to answer the "questions of the day."  They know God exists, they believe in Jesus, and they see sin as willful disobedience to the call of God to faith.  They recognize that some of the biggest obstacles to faith are intellectual questions.  They have a heart to answer these questions.

For this within this way of thinking, truth is obvious, knowable, and found through faith in Christ.  They recognize that many will reject this truth because they have not been adequately presented with the truth in Christ.  They seek to eliminate and answer the intellectual difficulties that faith might engender.  They see their role as being faithful witnesses to what God has done in Christ.  

This way of thinking sees the decay of society, and those who have it bemoan the lack of vibrant witness to the lost.  They seek to be faithful witnesses by working their faith through the areas of doubt common within our culture.  They are often thoughtful students of scripture and open to new interpretations and understandings of how to present the truth in Christ.  Their primary means of outreach is intellectual, respectful, and professional.

Those within this way of thinking have a thoughtful faith, and they are constantly seeking to prove what they believe to themselves and others.  This means of thinking has a decent outreach to engineers, some physicians, accountants, scientists, and others who operate professionally along these analytical lines.

Whatever!  Who cares?

The third way of thinking is also found within my church and within all churches.  It is also the dominate thought form of those under age 40.  Many of our friends and neighbors hold, at least loosely, to this way of thinking.  Many within the church hold to this way of thinking while also believing in scripture as the Word of God and Jesus as the Son of God who is the way, the truth, and the life.  

In many ways this way of thinking is opposed to the first two understandings of truth.  Within this way of thinking, truth is personal, often changing, and it might be found through faith in Christ.  Yet, it also might be found through many other beliefs and causes.  This group sees differences, but they embrace these differences are part of the human experience.  As such, differences are good, and they should be embraced.

This way of thinking may see the decay in our society, but they do not have one answer what can help.  In fact, they probably embrace many avenues to help strengthen society.  These folks believe in many causes, and they even recognize that sometimes these causes appear at odds.  They can live with this tension.

While it might not be directly stated, this way of thinking affirms "to each their own."  It is very pragmatic and the key question often involves, "Does it work?"  In particular, "Does it work for me."  While this sounds individualistic, this way of thinking also affirms the importance of community and being part of community.  Questions of truth and meaning are worked out in community while holding to the tensions of competing individual preferences.

Believers and churches who emphasize this way of thinking often have trouble growing deep in faith and there is a constant struggle to maintain commitment.  People who lack faith but who are marked by this way of thinking often view Christianity with suspicion and they will tell those who witness to them, "I am glad that works for you."  They view this as a way of affirming your experience, but in return they wish for you to affirm their experience and beliefs.

So what?

This post is getting long, so I hope to pick up on answering "so what?" in the near future.  Until then, I offer a few questions.

What differences do you think these ways of understanding make in the life of faith?  What problems do these differences make for how a church operates and reaches out into today's world?  Which thought process marks your life?  Do you find you have a mix of several?

What really drives us?

"Educators often refer to a concept called the hidden curriculum.  This concept suggests that in a classroom, there is a formal curriculum that includes things like math problems, writing assignments, or science experiments.  But there's also the hidden curriculum, which involves issues like who wants to sit next to whom, and who does the teacher look at, and who does the teacher tend to call on?

The hidden curriculum teaches students who matters and who does not, who's bright and who's left out.

If there is an inconsistency between the hidden curriculum and the formal curriculum, research shows that students always believe the hidden curriculum."

John Ortberg, "Speaking from my Holy of Holies," Leadership (Spring 2007), 40.

God's common grace means that the world is ordered according to His wisdom and plan.  When we have eyes to see this plan/structure, we can get a glimpse of how reality functions.  We can also get a glimpse into how God made the world to operate and how we as people have messed up God's good order.

What does this mean?  It means that thinking believers should mine deeply in a variety of disciples because good scholarship reveals reality.  Whether it is the field of theology, psychology, physics, economics, or chemistry, good scholarship reveals the mind of God by revealing the structure of the world.

Unfortunately, so much of what passes for scholarship has a hidden agenda! In other words, our preconceived thoughts dictate what we see and how we view the information.  For example, in theology if we believe the bible is not true, we approach every section of scripture with eyes to prove we are correct.  Amazingly enough, no matter what the information, we find evidence to back up our hidden assumptions.

The same is true in every scholarly pursuit.  For example in the "hard sciences" we have a raging debate concerning man made global warming.  While the side arguing for man made global warming composes the majority of scholars, the doubters are taking the same information and coming to a different conclusion.  What can we make of it?  I don't know for sure.  I do know that each sides hidden curriculum/preconceived thoughts taint/mark their research!  

The consequence of everyone's hidden curriculum, particularly in scholarly pursuits, is that some people write off all scholarship as human vanity and pride.  What a mistake!  In fact, in their ignorant pride, they write off everyone else's thoughts as prideful.  There must be a better way!

I would suggest, the better way to be a practicing believer is to be a thinking believer.  We should allow the truth of who God is, the reality of fall of creation, and the amazing transformation through redemption in Christ to permeate all our thoughts.  If we did, we could look at scholarship without fear.  We would know what we believe and why.  We would then be in position to glean from all sources of scholarship what is true while identifying and then rejecting what is false.  

In other words, we would have theological integration that would help us understand the fallen world in which we live!

The opening quote is an example of good scholarship.  There is often a hidden curriculum behind the formal curriculum in education.  This observation has implications in every avenue of life.  It means that the hidden curriculum or thought behind what we say is vitally important.  People instinctively know these hidden curriculums even if we cannot recognize them.  People will believe our hidden curriculum more than what we officially say.

What is the application?  There are many.  What I would like to focus our thought upon is a simple statement.  

Much of what passes for "ministry" is marked by a hidden agenda.

We might say we want to reach out to new people, but our hidden agenda says we are a closed system that really does not want new people or ideas.  We might say we love families, but our hidden curriculum says that we really love a certain type of family (intact, white, smart, having it all together, who knows what else?).  We might claim we wish our church or ministry to grow, but our hidden agenda screams, "We only want you if you agree with us!"

New people who come into our ministry will pick up upon and believe the hidden curriculum more than the "official" statement of belief and intent.

What is the hidden curriculum/thought that dominates your life?  Your ministry?  Your church?  As I stated, we often cannot see it.  How can we discover what is hidden?

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you have eyes to see.  Humbly confess that you have blind spots that you need the Spirit to reveal.  Then ask for outside eyes to see what is really happening.  Pray.  Trust what the Spirit reveals.  Repent.  Ask for grace to change the hidden curriculum.  

Psalm 139: 23-24 is a great place to start the journey of identifying our hidden curriculum.  Why not join me in praying,

Search me, of God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

See if here be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

The Practical Implications of Justification by Faith

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."

Romans 5: 1-2

In my weekly discipleship class, folks are asked to listen to a lecture, complete some rather difficult reflective questions, and occasionally complete an assignment before coming back the next week.  Perhaps the one outside assignment that causes the most difficulty asks each participant to explain the practical implications of justification by faith.  

I truly believe this assignment is fairly straight-forward.  The week before we discuss the importance of passive righteousness (the essence of justification by faith in Christ alone) as well as how such passive righteousness answers our constant struggle to justify ourselves (the practical implications for justification by faith).  

As Luther states, receiving passive righteous found in justification is like the ground soaking up the rain.  The ground brings nothing and does nothing, but it receives the rain that falls upon it.  In the same way, our soul is dry, thirsty ground that merely receives the rain of the Spirit that falls by grace!

Not only is Luther's illustration vivid, but it is also helpful.  Every time I try to make myself look better in the eyes of others by shading the truth or attempting to justify my actions, every time I get angry when I am disrespected, every time I make excuses to prove others are at fault for my failings, I am forgetting that God's grace is abundant to me and I am attempting to establish my own rightness or righteousness.  

The practical implication of justification by faith is freedom.  When properly understood and lived, freedom brings joy!

Anyway, as I start each class, I discover quickly I am completely wrong!  The vast majority of folks  who take this class think this assignment is really hard.  They struggle to find a recent example in their life where they labored to find righteousness.  They blame the way the question is asked for their failings.  They tell me how busy they were and how they could not complete this assignment.  In the end, most do not complete the assignment.

Wow!  Each of these folks prove that they have many examples where they struggled to apply the practical implications of justification by faith.  They made excuses, offered justifications, blamed me, blamed the assignment and its wording, and finally quit and did not finish the assignment.

Each of these actions are evidence of our struggle to attain and keep righteousness before others.  Each of these actions illustrate a heart that does not cling to Jesus for righteousness, but seeks to attain our own through our actions and behavior.  Such actions are a very real human condition issue.

Think about it.

I wonder how many other folks in our world make excuses, offer justification, blame everyone but themselves, and finally quit trying every day?  I wonder if your neighbors or annoying co-worker have these same struggles?  What about the crabby person how waited on you at lunch?  

It sounds to me like all of us need the grace of God!  All of us struggle to find and live in our own righteousness.  We do anything we can to maintain our reputation.  We do what we can to prove that we are in the right.  

In other words, all of us need the gospel.  All of us need to preach the gospel of unmerited grace found in Christ to ourselves daily.  This is a message for all.  It levels the ground between believer and unbeliever.  It also points to the common cure- the Lord Jesus Christ!  We need Him.  

Lord have mercy upon us and help us to believe!  We believe Lord, help our unbelief.

Balancing Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

If faith is a gift from God, than any belief I have in Him would have to come from Him, correct?

Why is it that the answer to almost all questions of importance are never just yes or no?  So much depends upon why one is asking (motives) and the context of the question (situation).  I was given this question in an e-mail this week.  On the surface, it is a simple question.  Under the surface, their is a whole host that could be going on.

First, the simple answer.  Ephesians 2: 8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."  Yes, faith is a gift of God.

But, I think there is more to it.  Let me give a possible context.

I am struggling with my faith and I am struggling to believe.  Is this God's fault?  I know I have not been the Church.  I know I have neglected my prayer life and I am no longer reading God's word daily.  In fact, I have been engaging in a variety of sexual sins and I have been reading a variety of religious works promoting teachings and thoughts contrary to what I know is in the bible.  Why is it I do not feel God's presence?

Context of the question is important!  Why is one asking this question?

Here is how I see it.  On the one hand is the ultimate truth.  God is responsible for changing my heart and bringing me to Himself.  He gives faith by his Grace.  It is not about me, but about God working.

Yet, my experience is often so different.  Here is my story.  I began to question the real meaning of life and the role my supposed faith played in determining this meaning.  I was given a bible, so I started reading it.  As I read I was amazed at who Jesus was, what He did, and what He taught.  I never had experienced or heard anything like it (including during all my years in church!).  After wrestling with the teaching of Jesus, I decided to follow Him, no matter what.

Notice all the I usage!  I did this, I did that.  This was and is my experience.  Yet, ultimately, from the truth of scripture, I affirm that God was the one drawing me to Himself.  He was preparing me.  

In other words, if I understand my experience from God's perspective, I can affirm both what I felt and did as real and important and I can and must affirm that God was at work and He brought about my faith.  

How do these two truths hold together logically?  Many a book has been written to attempt to answer this question.  Read them if interested!  I think it is more helpful to affirm the reality of both our experience and God's work.  Somehow God works through our experiences and choices to bring about His sovereign will.  I praise Him for this grace.

So, what does this mean for growing in grace/faith?  Everything.  

From scripture I know it is important to guard my mind and heart.  It is important to think about good and right things (Phil. 4:8-9).  These are commands.  Why?  Well, I can tell you from experience that thinking about or fixing my mind upon ungodly things harms my spiritual life.  If I do it for too long, God gets more and more distant.  Soon, I feel completely lost.

But, if God gives faith, is this not God's fault?

Here is where we want a simple answer to a very complex question.  How does God work in our life and in the world?  Where exactly is the interaction?  If he knows the number of hairs on my head (which is constantly shrinking) does He not know and control everything?

Well, yes and no.  Somehow God works His will through us fallen and frail folks.  Somehow.  I do not know exactly how, but He does.  Why do I believe this?  Because scripture teaches it!  I don't really understand it and at times I do not even like it.  Yet, it is true.

The problem is that my experience is still my experience.  This is why scripture gives us commands and responsibilities.  I have a part to play.  I am responsible to protect my heart and mind.  When I fail to do so, I need to repent and look to Jesus to change me.  If I don't I become hard hearted toward God and my life falls from the path of life.

In the end, God calls us to pursue holiness and life.  He even uses blog posts like this one to call us to the task!  The pursuit occurs through repentance and faith.  It runs through practicing living the truth found in Jesus (Eph 4:21).  Yet, ultimately God is still at work.

Perhaps it is easiest to say that the goal of the Christian life is for our experience to match up with what God has declared.  Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

What's really wrong with our culture?

"But the challenge of forming selfless followers of Christ isn't just a seeker-church problem.  Traditional, non-seeker congregations are often oriented toward maintaining their own styles and methods, unwilling to change for the good of others.  Too often, the transformation we see within churches is from secular self-centeredness to Christian ego-centricity.  This is akin to the alcoholic who exchanges his drinking for smoking or workaholism.

Dressing up self-serving attitudes in religious garb does not sanctify them.  When "good" Christians are unwilling to give up personal preferences of worship style, dress, or preaching in order to obey the Great Commission, how much are they displaying the emptying out of Christ (Phil 2)

Have we lured people into virtual-Christian showrooms, providing misleading glimpses of what the real experience is all about?

Alan Nelson, "Redirecting the Self-seeking," Leadership Summer 2001, 48.

How do you deal with selfishness and individualism when it is the idol of our culture and society?

Last evening I was sharing some thoughts that have finally crystalized within my mind concerning outreach, church health, church growth, and their relationship to the individual.  These are some of my favorite topics, but I often feel like I am speaking a different language than my hearers.  The week before this was confirmed when I kept getting questions that lead away from my point.  I realized as a communicator I was failing because no real communication was occurring.

Why?

We lacked the categories to even discuss outreach.

When I talk of outreach, evangelism, or even ministry, I almost always think about life within the Church, the body of Christ, the community of faith.  Real outreach happens in community.

When many folks hear the words outreach, evangelism, or ministry, I think they think of their part, what they should do, what is expected of them, and how these plans/programs will impact their life.    They are reminded of their failures, their short-comings, and their fears.  While these are very real questions and issues, I think they are all secondary to how ministry is worked out in community.

Why the disconnect?

There is almost no discussion nor even categories within our Western culture and in particular our American culture that allow us to think as anything but individuals.  The notion that we are a Christian community first is hard for us to grasp.  Even when we do, we understand it in our head, but our heart has a hard time living it.

At least I know I struggle with it.  How about you?

A true idol is something that controls our behavior.  It is not a bit of metal or wood.  It is an idea, principle, or force that ultimately dictates our behavior.  As I often have presented, "An idol is anything apart from Christ that we use to get meaning, purpose, direction, and love."

In America and the West, this idol is self.  It is individualism.  It infects everything including our discussion and ideas about outreach.  It seems so natural to us that we cannot see it, but it is deadly for our soul.

Faith in Christ is about losing ourselves to gain everything.  In the process (and it is a process), we get a community of others given to the same process.  A place where love and grace flow.  Where folks are dedicated to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer (Acts 2:42).  

So why do our churches not do everything possible to be such a place and encourage such growth?  How do we move beyond ourself to think as a community?  Is this even a need or are we doing OK already?