Hiding Behind Superficiality

"I am always worried by groups that want to talk about God but do not make much effort to talk to him.  I felt that they were using dogma to defend their inner uncertainty, using a system of belief to protect them from the world around them.  The real world will always challenge our human, dogmatic claims, it will disturb our fantasies and seek to put us in touch with God.  But for rigid dogma, this is unacceptable, God must approach them through the channels they have chosen or he will be unrecognized.  We all live with the danger of a selective egotism that would censor the world, the preacher, the Church, the Bible, and even God.  We make our belief, our prayers and our God act like a sedative, preventing us from full engagement with the world.  It would be better to lose a God that we could grasp and a faith that hid us from our fears, and stand before him with whom we have to do.  At some stage we need to discover our God is a consuming fire and is not tameable by us." 

Adams, The Road of Life, 110.

How can we hide behind our notion of faith so as to protect ourselves from the true God and from true engagement in the world?  I believe there are two often traveled pathways to avoiding God.  These pathways appear to be opposites, but they spring from the same place of unbelief.  Today I will address one extreme and tomorrow I will address the other.

The first pathway is that of a shallow faith.  Folks know that they are sinners in need of grace.  Through crisis or upbringing, they affirm mentally that they are not perfect and they wish to follow Jesus.  Yet, they do not really wish to know the depth of sin nor the real character of God, which reveals the depth of our sin and need.  Such folks often gather together in churches, and they pride themselves on how they do not fight over doctrine.  They claim their faith is about relationship and not doctrine.  In the process they develop their own form of shallow doctrine.

What is the problem with this perspective?

While having a relationship with Jesus is a great starting point, it is only a starting point.  Coming to know the God of the Bible is a humbling experience!  He is holy and we are not.  He deserves all the glory, and we do not.  The way of life in Christ leads us into the path of constant repentance and then outward moving faith.  

Why do we not see this lifestyle more often?

Shallow faith without a growing knowledge of God leading to repentance and deeper dependence means leaving believers as infants in the true faith.  Unfortunately in America and the West, we are often satisfied staying in this place!  Thus the accusation hits home that "American Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep."

How do we escape this reality?

I think, hope, and pray that life itself will draw people out of their shallow experience of faith!  

How?

Many of these believers have learned shallow platitudes about how to live the Christian life.  We have been told to "let go and let God" or "fake it until you make it" or "follow these four steps to a better life."  I think for many our problems in life illustrate that these platitudes don't really match our experience.  As I often wonder after listening to a sermon filled with such advice, "How do I do that?"

Because of this difference between their actual life and what they say they believe, many professing believers affirm our cultural idea that faith is merely a private matter.  This allows them to operate in the world as one of the world, but still affirm that they believe in Jesus with all their heart.  Even with this statement, the dualism between what they think and what they feel is made complete!

Others believers become good actors.  They fake their way through church, life, and with others.  Yet, they experience such struggles with anger, lust, fear, worry, and doubt.  But how do you confess these indwelling issues if you have to act like everything is great?

Eventually, folks who do not grow in their understanding of God end up lukewarm hypocrites.  While proclaiming individual and personal faith, their lives witness to an ugly reality of unbelief.  

What can be done?  How do we escape this trap?  Tomorrow I will offer some more thoughts.

What does it mean to be a follower Jesus?

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2: 6-7

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

I have been challenged by this question many times over the years by fellow believers who make some rather strange statements about what it means to follow Jesus.  While I do not doubt these folk's sincerity, I do question there theological wisdom!  Here are some examples of what I have heard.

To be a follower of Jesus means to follow his teaching.  It means to live a moral and upright life.  It means to love others.  It means to be his agent of change in the world.

While I agree with these general statements, I have two questions.  First, what is His teaching?  Second, how do I do these things?

I am not asking these questions merely to be a pain.  I think so many people never really think about it.  They have been brought up in church or they became part of a church.  They pick up from the general belief systems of other believers and from the messages preached that they need to get out and do something in the world.  The most natural thing to do is work hard to be a better a person.  We know we should work hard to be humble, to love others, to bring light to the dark world, to etc., etc..

Is that what Jesus really taught?  

A sidebar to this discussion is a belief that says Jesus is a second chance.  He is our ticket into heaven.  Belief in him wipes the slate clean, and makes us responsible to live a godly life.

I have heard this line of thought from many different denominations and I have heard the general message preached and proclaimed from many pulpits.  Yet, is this what Jesus taught?

He said, "Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches."  John 15: 4-5

How do we abide?  By our works or by faith?  Are these mutually exclusive categories or do they somehow work together in the process of transformation?

I think the often missing ingredient in our spirituality is the concept of repentant faith.  How did we receive Jesus Christ as Lord (to clarify the quote from Paul that I started with)?  We receive him by repenting of our sins and by embracing Jesus by faith.  This same process is how we are to be built up and established in Jesus by faith.  

In other words, faith is not merely our ticket into a relationship with Jesus, but it is the means of growth.  Without a growing faith, we will not be able to live a moral life, love others, or be an agent of change in the world.

With all of this in mind, what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

A follower of Jesus Christ is in a growing relationship of dependence upon Jesus.  This dependence is evidenced by a growing understanding of our sinfulness, which drives us to repentance and a clinging to Jesus as our only hope.  Such repentance and faith then works out in our life as a growing humility and a deeper ability to love and serve others.  

Faithful Living

The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone. ... Indeed, the menial housework of a manservant or maidservant is often more acceptable to God than all the fasting and other works of a monk or priest, because the monk or priest lacks faith.

Martin Luther, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520.

Luther's critique of Medieval monastic life was radical and transforming.  He wrote as an Augustinian monk himself.  In other words, he was an insider, offering an insider's critique of a movement that began as a renewal movement, but that had slowly transformed into a movement that promoted false spirituality throughout the culture.

What was so revolutionary about Luther's critique?  He reintroduced the idea that all of our life must be lived before the face of a Living God.  How often we forget!  We often believe our job is what we do to make money, while church and other spiritual activities are when we seek God.  Luther calls such a dualism false, treacherous, and dangerous for true spirituality.  I believe such dualism is also why Christians make so little impact on our culture.

As Os Guinness writes,

If all that a believer does grows out of faith and is done for the glory of God, then all dualistic distinctions are demolished.  There is no higher/lower, sacred/secular, perfect/permitted, contemplative/active, or first class/second class.  Calling is the premise of Christian existence itself.  Calling means that everyone, everywhere, and in everything fulfills his or her (secondary) callings in response to God's (primary) calling.  For Luther, the peasant and the merchant- for us, the business person, the teacher, the factory worker, and the television anchor- can do God's work (or fail to do it) just as much as the minister and the missionary.

The Call, 34.

I do wish I could convince so many business people, teachers, factory workers, television anchors, ministers and missionaries that this is true.

How you do your work determines the ultimate value of the work.  Any occupation that does not directly contradict the revealed will of God as demonstrated in the Word of God is a holy occupation.  

What does this mean?  

First, there should not be two sets of rules for how you live your life at work and at "holy activities."  The same integrity and changed heart that illustrates living in light of God's presence should adorn all of life.

As a student, we should not cheat so we pass and then we can do "God's work."  As a business person, we do not cheat others through misleading statements and half truths before we go to our prayer meeting.  As a teacher, we do not teach our subjects like God does not exist and then head off to Bible study.  As a pastor, we do not run a business that peddles religious truth on the weekends, but treats our employees and our parishioners badly.

Second, we should not neglect nor diminish whatever work we find ourselves doing.  If you are a janitor, clean to the best of your ability for Jesus is right beside you.  If you are a teacher, do not look forward to retirement when you can really do something worthwhile, but teach each day before the presence of God. If you are a homemaker, rejoice that God has allowed you to clean clothes, wipe bottoms, as well as cook and clean.  What you are doing is God's work- at least when you do it in faith!

No job is beneath us and every job/occupation has honor.  

What can you do to bring the presence of God more into your labor?  Perhaps your workplace does not allow "outward expressions of faith."  So what?  How can you do your job to illustrate the grace, mercy, and presence of God?  How does your heart have to change to make this happen?  

Praying like our life depends upon it...

"Don't pray hard.  Pray as if your life depends upon it."

Moses Chung, Director of CRC Home Missions

Today is our monthly day of prayer at First CRC of Seattle.  We began this emphasis on prayer four or five months ago, though it has been a continual theme of my ministry since I arrived.  Prayer is not important, it is vital.

Prayer is the life-blood of any gospel- and grace-centered ministry.  It empowers and drives every dimension of life and ministry.  It is the vehicle through which God moves.  An individual's and church's spirituality can be directly measured by the extent and passion for prayer.

So what?

I think most of us as individuals, and most churches as a reflection of the individuals within them, struggle with prayer.  When we hear the call to prayer, we try to be more faithful.  We use our will power, and we work hard to be more faithful in prayer.  The results are often mixed even in the short-term.  This is why Moses encourages folks not to "pray hard."

Why?

Because our will-power does not change our heart.  To pray hard means we do it.  We use prayer as a means of manipulating God to do what we want.  Of course that is not our stated goal!  Yet, it is the focus of our short-term prayer.

How do we pray as if our life depends upon it?

This is a spiritual question that gets to the heart of a gospel-centered life.  Because of our deep-seated unbelief that manifests in outward sins of the flesh and inward sins of the flesh such as self righteousness, we desperately need God's grace!  We cannot walk in faith without it.

Why is this not part of every church's teaching and life?

Answer: Because it is so God- and Christ-centered that it brings us to true
humility, which is not an American (or fallen human) virtue.

Yet, this is the gospel.

When we come to know it, we will live it.  How?  We will pray like our life depends upon it.

Misplaced Trust

Reacting against rationalistic arrogance, our age is drifting into irrational skepticism disguising as humility.  Chesterton spoke of the "dislocation of humility" in modern thought and it works as well as a description of what many people are calling postmodern:

"By asking for pleasure, he lost the chief pleasure; for the chief pleasure is surprise.  Hence it became evident that if a man would make his world large, he must be always making himself small. ... But what we suffer from to-day is humility in the wrong place.  Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition.  Modesty has settled on the organ of conviction, where it was never meant to be.  A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.  Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert- himself."

(Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 157-158)

Today what we doubt is not ourselves but God's Word.  

Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Chesterton was writing over 100 years ago about the fruit of modernism as captured by Nietzsche and his followers.  I have often argued that today's postmodern culture is nothing new.  It is just a maturing fruit of modernism.  

I say maturing because my guess is that the end of modernism still has not appeared.  In the end, with a trust in self and a denial of all truth, (post) modernism will end in anarchy against all transcendent truth.  In the end, we humans cannot live without some notion of transcendency.  Thus, someone or some group will come to power who provide us with a version of transcendent truth focusing on the individual.  Ironically, in their system the individual will be absorbed by the collective, but they will promote their agenda in the name of "fairness" "justice" and "equality."  In the end, we will have war on all who disagree.

In other words, such a misplacement of modesty will lead to a new tower of Babel, where humanity rejects God and sets itself up as God.  The first one did not end up well, so I doubt God will be mocked in such a manner!

My question is why the Church that knows the truth rejects and dismisses this truth so as to match a culture marching to its own destruction?  This is utter foolishness.

Yet, time and time again, particularly for the past three hundred years, the Church first drifts and then runs away from God's Word to trust changing cultural values.  This tendency must be resisted. 

Why?

When we follow this path, we lose our message, we lose our power by the Holy Spirit, and we lose our soul.  All that is left are empty church buildings, a nostalgia of past glory, and lost individuals.

The Riddle of our Experience

It is commonly the loose and latitudinarian (adjective

allowing latitude, esp. in religion; showing no preference among varying creeds and forms of worship.)  Christians who pay quite indefensible compliments to Christianity.  They talk as if there had never been any piety until Christianity came, a point on which any medieval would have been eager to correct them.  The represent that the remarkable thing about Christianity was that it was the first to preach simplicity or self-restraint, or inwardness and sincerity.  They will think me very narrow (whatever that means) if I say that the remarkable thing about Christianity was that it was the first to preach Christianity.  Its peculiarity was that it was peculiar, and simplicity and sincerity are not peculiar, but obvious ideals for all mankind.  Christianity was the answer to a riddle, not the last truism uttered after a long walk.

G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith, 75.

I grew up in a mainline Protestant denomination.  I finished my education in a very secular institution where I studied various expressions of faith.  In both of these places, Christianity is reduced to morality.  In fact, I think in both places Christianity is reduced to left-leaning political morality.

Chesterton is completely correct that such a reduction of Christianity is not promoting its "highest" virtues.  In fact, to do so makes Christianity no longer Christianity.  Such reduction makes it common.  It obliterates the prophetic notion of Christianity.

I say all of this because "the gospel" is not an expression of our need to go love our neighbor.  Nor is it an expression of our need to promote "justice".  In fact, without the core of Christianity, Protestant liberalism in all its forms lacks any real power to transform us so we can love our neighbor.  Such expressions of religion,

"have the appearance of godliness, but deny it power." 2 Tim. 3:5

As Paul states, we should avoid such people!  Yet, so many are attracted to this reduction of the gospel.  It appeals to the side of our fallen nature that seeks to justify itself apart from Christ through religious self-effort.  It feels right and it sounds reasonable.  Yet, in the end it leads to death.

Christianity is the answer to the riddle.  What riddle?  We know we were created for goodness, love, acceptance, joy and love.  We know we were created for perfection.  The problem is that somehow everything got messed up!  We have our own issues, but human society has our issues multiplied by 1000.  

What can be done about this problem?

Religious self-effort says, work it out.  Love each other.  Pass laws to make us love each other.  Pass laws that ban evil.  We can do it!

History and our own experience tells us that these answers do not work.  Yet, we keep trying.  We do everything we can to work this angle.  We try new strategies.  We enact new means of control.  We learn new methods of self and societal control.  Still, the problem remains.

Here is where "the gospel" or good news comes in!  Into this problem, God sent an answer.  Thankfully it is not an answer that depends upon us.  In fact, the more "us" we add to God's answer, the further we get away from the power that can really change lives and our culture!

The answer is the complete, total, and finished work of Christ.  Jesus has done it all.  He has secured the only means for restoration with God!  All we need to do is repent of our self-effort and believe in the finished work of Christ as our means of restoration.  The miracle is that even our faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Even as I wrote the last paragraph, I am convinced that many will say, "Those notions are outdated!  We need a more relevant message."

Really?  There is no other message that answers the riddle of our experience.  There is no other answer but Christ.

Guarding our Life and Doctrine Closely

Yesterday we celebrated as a community as two young women who grew up at First CRC made a profession of faith.  I love such family celebrations!  God is good and He keeps His covenantal promises.  It is wonderful to publicly join the Church, which is Christ's bride!

Yet, even as we celebrated, I wished to warn these young ladies that in this world the local church will often let them down.  Folks in the church, even perhaps these young ladies in the future, must not underestimate their own capacity for sin.  Even among believers in this world, disagreements will surface do to our sinful pride, our hard-hearts and our lack of compassion.

Furthermore, the local church also has folks within it who are "members" yet who do not believe.  In this fallen world, the local church body is a mixed bunch, composed of true believers and who profess faith at some point in time, but do not believe. (Matt 13:24 ff).  The true heart of these "members" is proven by their errant life and/or their false doctrine.

Thus, Paul warns even pastors to "watch/guard closely your life and doctrine." (1 Tim. 4:16)  

In this world, the local church will always be a mixed group.  Do not despair because of it, but work hard to promote the peace and purity of the church/Church!

Let me give a Biblical example to illustrate this point.  In Acts 20:28-30, Paul is speaking his farewell to the Ephesian Elders.  He is giving his final encouragement and instruction.  He states, 

"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, 

among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, 

to shepherd the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, 

not sparing the flock;

and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them."

What does this mean?  The Ephesian church leaders had among themselves those who would lead the church astray.  How is this possible?  Did not Paul train them and help install them?  Yes.  Did they not later in the chapter kneel down and pray with Paul?  Yes they did.  "By their fruits you will recognize them." Matt 7:20.  What matters is how you run the race and how you finish.

The Christian life is meant to be a life marked by dependent faith in Christ.  It is marked by authentic humility expressed in repentance and faith.  Have you noticed how often church leadership is not marked by these traits?  In particular, leadership that goes wrong is not marked by these traits!

Living in a fallen world means that we must always be on guard against the schemes of the evil one.  He is a liar, a murderer (the root of all anger, jealousy, lack of love), and a pretender to authentic grace.  His schemes include placing false assurance into the hearts of some in hope that they will later wreck the mission and testimony of the church through their pride.

Again I ask, what does this mean?  Should we not join a church since it might be a mixed crew?  No!  It is important to join a church.  

Joining the church means willingly submitting to the order and authority of the local church.  It does not mean that you will agree with every decision made by the church, but that you will work to maintain the peace and purity of the church through healthy discussion, quick repentance when you wrong someone, and quick forgiveness when wronged.  It means that you willingly allow the Elders to speak the gospel into your life.  Most importantly, it also means that you are willingly ingrafted into the a local expression of the body of Christ.  It was an assumed condition for the Jews of Jesus' time.  It is important!

Yet, we should not be surprised or shocked when the behavior of others turns ugly.  We live in a fallen world!  We should not allow ugly behavior to continue in the name of being nice.  If we do so, we are encouraging and allowing evil.  We should lovingly confront and encourage repentance and faith.  Often the response will be repentance.  It might take time, but it will be so.  

Other times the response will be a striking out at you for mentioning their sin.  Does this surprise you?  Remember we live in a fallen world.  By their fruits you will recognize them.  One who refuses to repent from obvious sin should be treated as an unbeliever.  In other words, they need to hear the gospel.  Repentance, faith, trust in Christ, confession of sin, and walking in grace and truth should be lovingly proclaimed and announced.

Again, more can be said and probably should be said.  This post is getting long, so I will stop for today.  Comments and discussion are always welcome!

Marriage and Family Stats

Incredible stuff on an economics blog called Zero Hedge.  These folks are not coming from a "Christian Worldview" but I do not think that James Dobson could have said it better.  Amazing stats that call for real revival.  Only changed hearts can change these trends!

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

The family is one of the fundamental building blocks of society.  If you do not have strong families, you are not going to have a strong society.  Unfortunately, the state of the family in America continues to deteriorate.  The marriage rate has fallen to an all-time low, we lead the world in divorce, and about a third of all children live in a home without a father. 

Our young people have been taught that getting married and having a family is not a priority, and many of those that would like to get married and have children are not able to get the kinds of jobs that they need to support a family.  The statistics that you are about to see should absolutely shock you. 

American families have never been this weak, and this is an incredibly troubling sign for the future of our nation.  What will future generations of Americans be like if they do not have stable homes to grow up in?  Will they be even more messed up than we are right now?  That is a frightening thought.  

The following are 27 facts that prove that the family in America is in the worst shape ever...

#1 The marriage rate in the United States has fallen to an all-time low.  Right now it is sitting at a yearly rate of 6.8 marriages per 1000 people.

#2 Today, an all-time low 44.2 percent of Americans in the 25 to 34 year old age bracket are married.

#3 According to the Pew Research Center, only 51 percent of all adults in the United States are currently married.  Back in 1960, 72 percentof all adults in the United States were married.

#4 Back in 1950, 78 percent of all households in the United States contained a married couple.  Today, that number has declined to 48 percent.

#5 100 years ago, 4.52 were living in the average U.S. household, but now the average U.S. household only consists of 2.59 people.

#6 The United States has the highest percentage of one person households on the entire planet.

#7 In the United States today, more than half of all couples "move in together" before they get married.

#8 The divorce rate for couples that live together first is significantly higher than for those that do not.

#9 For women under the age of 30 in the United States, more than half of all babies are being born out of wedlock.

#10 In 1970, the average woman had her first child when she was 21.4 years old.  Now the average woman has her first child when she is25.6 years old.

#11 According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 69.3 births per 1,000 women in the 15 to 44 year old age bracket in 2007. Now the rate has fallen to 63.2 births per 1,000 women.

#12 The birth rate for American women in the 20 to 24 year old age bracket has fallen to 85.3 births per 1,000 women.  That is a new all-time record low.

#13 The United States has the highest divorce rate in the entire world.

#14 At this point, approximately one out of every three children in the United States lives in a home without a father.

#15 Without a father around, many single mothers in this country are really struggling to survive.  Sadly, approximately 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States are on food stamps.

#16 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point before they reach the age of 18.

#17 Today, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless.  This is the first time that has ever happened in our history.

#18 The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the entire world.  In fact, the United States has a teen pregnancy rate that is more than twice as high as Canada, more than three times as high as France and more than seven times as high as Japan.

#19 In the United States today, approximately 47 percent of all high school students have had sex.

#20 Approximately one out of every four teen girls in the United States has at least one sexually transmitted disease.

#21 According to one survey, 24 percent of all U.S. teens that have at least one sexually transmitted disease say that they still have unprotected sex.

#22 Instead of being raised by parents, an increasing number of children in America are being raised by movies, television and video games.  For example, the average young American will spend 10,000 hours playing video games before the age of 21.

#23 Americans are tied with the British for the highest average number of hours spent watching television each week.

#24 There are more than 3 million reports of child abuse in the United States every single year.

#25 The United States actually has the highest child abuse death rate in the developed world.

#26 Approximately 20 percent of all child sexual abuse victims in the United States are under the age of 8.

#27 It is estimated that one out of every four girls will be sexually abused before they become adults.

Unfortunately, this is a problem that is not going to be fixed overnight.  Getting the "right politicians" into office will not solve our problems and neither will spending a bunch of money.

The change that we need is a change of the heart.  We need to change how we treat one another and we need to get our priorities straight.

Our families are really messed up, and this is hurting our kids the most.  There is no way that this country is going to have any hope for a bright future unless our families start getting stronger.

Or could it be possible that I am overreacting?

What do you think?

Experiencing and Knowing God's Presence

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure, 

making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb,

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward,

Who can discern his errors?

Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;

let them not have dominion over me!

Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

Ps. 19: 7-13

This morning I had the privilege of meeting with the Lord for a great time of uninterrupted and quiet prayer.  Thankfully, I was brought to think about and meditate upon this passage of scripture.  The Lord is so good, gentle, and loving toward me.  

But, what does this mean?

The Lord is found and enjoyed when we have that great experience of joy and love found in His presence.  I will affirm that this experience is wonderful!  The beauty of enjoying the Lord's loving presence is beyond words.  It is more to be desired than much fine gold.  It is sweeter than honey.

Aw, but here is where the difficulty in description comes in.  How can you explain the sweetness of honey unless you have experienced it?  Jonathan Edwards used this terminology and description to describe the beauty of Christ found in the gospel.  He affirmed that the only way to truly know the sweetness of honey is to take it and eat it.  In short, words cannot describe the sensation adequately.

So how is the Lord to be found?  Most likely He is found, felt, and tasted as we come in repentance and faith.  As we come acknowledging our lack of resources and our great need, He comes to meet that need. This is why we often find His presence and peace at times of first faith and at times of trouble.  At those times we bring nothing to the table but our lack and brokenness.  God responds with His presence and peace.

So what does that mean for the rest of life?

Here is where the Law comes into play.  Not only is the Law the revealed Word of God, it is also very humbling.  It revives the soul, gives wisdom, brings rejoicing and enlightenment, not because it somehow teaches us so we can just "do it."  It performs these tasks by humbling us so we can see our need for Christ.  In other words, the real love of Christ is found often mere seconds and minutes after He humbles us with convicting words and thoughts.  Please do not short-circuit tasting grace by refusing to be convicted of sin and need!

Does this mean that we do not grow in holiness?  By no means!  We will find that as we walk in repentance and faith, we do obey more and more of the Law.  Increasing obedience happens through inner transformation in response to repentance and faith.  As a result of tasting the sweetness found in Christ's love and forgiveness, we see beauty in the Law instead of condemnation.  Truly the Law is the path of true life!  In keeping the Law there is great reward.

Yet, notice where the Psalmist goes after praising the Lord.  He follows it up with humble repentance.  

"Lord who can discern his errors?"  In other words, Lord, have mercy upon me!

What errors?  Both our hidden and our presumptuous sins.  Lord, forgive and keep me from them!  In his final phrase, the Psalmist proclaims that he will then "be innocent of great transgression."  

Is he not mature?  Of course the Psalmist is a mature believer!  Maturity means coming to see how deep our sin problem really goes.  It means allowing the grace of God to search deep within us to point out how much we really need grace.  In fact, maturity means we know, we feel, we profess, we live out our need for grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

How many of us actually "feel" this is true of us?  My guess is few who actively profess Christ.  We have not been taught that repentance is the mark of true spirituality.  We replace the joy of the Lord's presence in daily life with becoming "thrill seekers" who are always looking for the right worship experience to bring those feeling back.

Friends, the real presence is found in humility as expressed in repentance and faith.  The Law, when used properly, will draw us to repentance and faith.  Christ's love, mercy, and presence can be experienced and known even today.  May this day be marked by active repentance and faith for each of us!

The Road to Serfdom Reflections

"It is necessary now to state the unpalatable truth that it is Germany whose fate we are in some danger of repeating.  The danger is not immediate, it is true, and condition in England and the United States are still so remote from those witnessed in recent years in Germany as to make it difficult to believe that we are moving in the same direction.  Yet, though the road be long, it is one on which it becomes more difficult to turn back as one advances.  If in the long run we are the makers of our own fate, in the short run we are the captives of the ideas we have created.  Only if we recognize the danger in time can we hope to avert it."

F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, 58.

This weekend, as we celebrated Independence Day, I had the privilege of reading Hayek's work, The Road to Serfdom.  All I can say is, Wow!  The man was incredibly insightful concerning the lessons of history and what they tell us about the future.  He wrote the book in 1944.  Thus, in the above quotation, Hayek is arguing that England and the United States are falling into the same thought forms that brought about Nazi Germany.

Ouch!

What is he talking about?

First, I so appreciate his insight that ideas have consequences.  Even though it is out of favor in academia, I chose to study the history of ideas because I believe our thoughts result in actions.  Our ideas have very real consequences.  This is true of all sorts of ideas- religious, political, or philosophical.  What we think directly influences what we do.

Hayek argues in The Road to Serfdom that the accepted notion of government planning will lead to Fascism.  I am concerned that so many of us throw around terms but we do not define them.  So what is Fascism?  Here is a definition from my computer dictionary.

The term Fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Mussolini in Italy (1922–43), and the regimes of the Nazis in Germany and Franco in Spain were also fascist. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.

In particular Hayek argues the emphasis on central planning in Germany gave rise to Hitler by encouraging the idea that government has the right and responsibility to promote "the public good."  Such thought within Germany limited individual freedom while promoting central planning.  As the democratic process bogged down in promoting "the public good" because of differing viewpoints as to what that good should be, it allowed for a "strong" leader to take initiative and power through "the will of the people."

Hayek is quick to point out that such strong leadership can come from either a fascist or a communist.  In other words, neither the political right nor left is immune from this problem!

What does this have to do with the United States and world affairs?  

As individuals we often give up our freedom for security and peace.  It is hardwired into our fallen nature!  Freedom is often messy.  We like neat and tidy.  Tell us what to do, give us some comfort, and we will support you.

How does this work out on a national scale?  Well, that is why Hayek's book is more than merely the above paragraph.  It takes time.  It works through many channels.  Yet, as one gets closer to a totalitarian regime, the process moves quicker.  As Hayek argues, the closer we get to totalitarianism, the harder it is to reverse course.

I will share some more quotes and thoughts as the weeks go by.  What do you think of Hayek's observation about ideas and how they work?

Independence, Freedom, and the Gospel

"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

Happy Independence Day America!  Today we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  It is a national holiday full of summer fun, fireworks, and barbecues.  I would like to ask us to celebrate by thinking about the meaning of freedom and independence.  

Most of us like to think we are truly free people.  Yet, there are so many constraints on all of our lives.  We have work, family, and other social responsibilities.  We have physical, mental, and emotional limitations.  We also have so much fear and doubt that clouds are ability to choose a different path.

This is what makes the first 4th of July so incredible.  Even with their limitations and their fears caused by an occupying army, these men pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor."  Such bravery is amazing.  To face the fear of the unknown, but to hope in a better future is inspirational!

I wish to offer that walking with Jesus in a full and engaging faith has many similarities to the bravery needed to sign a Declaration of Independence.  Faith means that we reject the known and safe for something better.  In this case, 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.

So many times people have argued that faith in God is a crutch for the weak.  They argue that strong people like them do not need a far off God to "prop up" their life.  They are willing to make their own meaning and live with the consequences.

To such thought, I say, "Good luck with that."  Deep within I know they sense a need for freedom from their selfish pride.  They know they fall short of their own ideals.  They sense a break in their relationships that they cannot explain.  Yet, they are too afraid of losing “control” so they reject the one sure cure for their unease: faith in Jesus Christ.

You see, all of our feeling of being bound should help us 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 ourselves.  Consequently, we give up our freedom and joy found in Christ for bondage found in trying to keep ourselves satisfied while maintaining 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 and those who came before us.  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 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.

What a parallel to the individual spiritual condition!  May we live and believe as free people this independence day!

Our Witness to a Fresh Story of Grace

At First CRC of Seattle we are currently working through the process of Church renewal.  As a community of faith, we have expressed a desire to see new people come to know Christ and for our church to grow.  Many have committed to being part of this process.  

I so admire these desires! Yet, I know that nothing will change in our church or in the witnessing lives of those within the church if my folks do not grasp the present value of the gospel in their lives.

What do I mean?

In Classis last fall, a fellow pastor stood up and shared his experiences in the CRC and our outreach efforts.  He shared that since the mid-1980s, we have twice the amount of the churches we once did with the result of hundreds of thousands less on our membership roles.  He shared that we have raced after different outreach models- the Crystal Cathedral, Willow Creek, Saddleback- and still nothing changed.  Finally, he concluded that none of us know how to reach out into this culture and that evangelism is next to impossible.  Why?  All we do is shift the sheep from smaller to larger churches.

Well then.  What incredible sadness this brings me.  Yet, I believe he was stating the truth- he has no idea how to reach out and most likely his church has no idea how to reach those in our post-modern culture. He was merely stating where many Christians and where many churches find themselves as they struggle to reach out in our secular culture.

Nevertheless, this struggle does not mean outreach is impossible!  It means that we need better self-understanding and a better understanding of how our culture thinks and processes truth.  Outreach is impossible if we insist on using the same old forms and church processes that illustrate a lack of adequate self-understanding and a lack of acknowledgment that our culture has changed.

Today I wish to focus on one dimension of this problem.  I wish to help us gain some self-understanding by presenting how the gospel must be a present day issue and not a story of some long-ago past.

I was thinking today of how often believers in Christ do not present a compelling story of God's powerful work in their lives.  I know that years ago, 1988 to be exact, God entered into my life in dramatic and powerful ways.  He transformed me by His grace.  He brought me to faith, and I could not help but declare His presence and truth to all who would listen.

At that time, people could easily see God's work in my life and my story was compelling.  Many came to faith and many more were open to listening to the gospel because of my story.  I praise God for remembering these wonderful times!

Yet, as time went on my story grew more stale and less compelling.  Telling freshman in college my experience of three years ago did not have the weightiness that it did before.  Why?  I was a different person and my story of the past lost its luster.  I was sharing a history lesson instead of a present reality.

After leaving college, my personal witness for Christ remained fairly lame for years.  I did see some come to faith, but I also lost confidence in witnessing because it seemed no one really cared about my old, and growing older, story of God's work.  The incredible fruitfulness of my first love of Christ slowly died away.

How about you?  Does my story match your experience?

It took time, but I finally learned how to escape my barren witnessing.  How?  I learned that the gospel of Christ's love and grace is new every morning.  I learned that people were still interested in what God is doing even as they were skeptical and bored with that God had done decades ago.

I know that many believers in Christ have not been encouraged to think in these terms.  I offer the advice that if you wish your life and witness to count in the building of the Kingdom, you might need to change your thinking.  The gospel story of grace given to sinners applies to each of us daily!

Where in your life are you struggling with sin?  Please understand that these struggles are not about your lack of will-power.  You lack will-power because your heart or soul is not right.  In other words, your daily struggle with sin is due to your lack faith or trust in Christ to meet your needs and give you life.  Instead of resting in Christ's love, we look to other sources for life, peace, acceptance, and joy.

The prophet Jeremiah describes this very human condition well.  He declares from the Lord,

My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2:13

Friends, this is the heart of sin and rebellion from God.  It also matches the reality of all fallen humans!  It sure matches my life.  What can be done about it?  I can try to ignore the truth.  I can attempt to diminish its reality.  I can compare myself to others and assure myself I am better than they are.  I have tried all of these and they surely do not change me.  All I get from these attempts is self-delusion and self-righteousness.

I offer that there is another answer.  I should repent of my sin and believe in Jesus as my only hope.  I should ask for and receive His love and grace.  I should allow this grace to transform my heart.  This is not merely the road to conversion, but also the less taken path to transforming daily grace.

When I walk in repentance and faith, I have a new story to tell.  A new story of repentance and faith from today.  A fresh tale of God's redemptive work in my life.  A compelling story that matches the experience of all.

May the Lord lead us to repentance and faith today and this new week so we have a living and active witness to God's grace!