Just some thoughts about topical preaching -- that is, speaking on one verse, rather than preaching through a lengthy paragraph or an entire book of the Bible...
Topical preaching lends itself easier to application. Your focus is not so much on getting the material right, as it is on preaching it for some clearly defined pastoral goal. Often, the reason you pick the verse is because you see some are aof need or weakness in the congregation. I think you can be overly cautious as a pastor about not wanting to be too pointed in your choice of subjects. By avoiding being too pointed, it's possible to become too blunted and generic -- i.e., you preach through the Olivet Discourse or the Ten commandments even though that's not where the pains of life are pressing in most unbearably on your people. As a result, you've preached the Word, and there is always good that will come of that, but perhaps I've done it with less pastoral insight than I might have done.
Topical preaching is also expository. Spekaing on topics, or speaking based on just a verse or two, shouldn't be treated as the opposite of expository preaching. Expository preaching is not limited to a verse-by-verse explanation of lengthy passages. You can "exposit" anything, whether it be one verse out of the shortest Psalms, or preaching through the entire book of Romans. The challenge is to exposit any section of Scripture in a clear, accurate way.
Topical preaching can lend itself to a motivational emphasis more readily than long-passage exposition. There are lots of times when the congregation needs to be lifted up, or motivated in some other positive way.
It's good for a topical series to have one clear thread to hang on. By topical, I don't mean preaching like a circus performer who leaps from the back of one prancing horse to another every single week. For example, i'm now doing the fruit of the Spirit. I'm not jumping from topic to topic to topic.
Topical preaching allows you to show the congregation to breadth, harmony, and interrelatedness of the whole Bible. Where marching through a long section allows you to cover depth, the depth is just there at that point. The danger to beware is, again, jumping around a bit too much, or throwing too many Bible verses at the audience. I also need to preach at a moderate enough pace that the average listener can keep up in his mind, and not get confused.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Faith, For People Who Are Already Christians
The Grace of Faith
I began this looking at Galatians 5:22. I encountered a translation issue! The KJV says that "faith" is one of the fruit of the Spirit. All the current Bibles translate it as "faithfulness" -- NASB, NIV, NJKV, even the Catholic Bible. As often happens in message preparation, one truth leads you to another. Even though I could see that "faithfulness" is probably the preferred meaning, I wondered if faith is a work of the Spirit in the heart of a Christian, too. I began to look for examples of "faith" as a part of Christian character.
Barnabas' example tells me that faith reflects us.
I found a verse about Barnabas, Acts 11:24. Barnabas was "a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and faith." Faith was woven into the fabric of Barnabas' character. Faith wasn't just pushing a button or flipping a switch.
I think we often hear preaching like, "Faith is a decision". That's an action; something you do. I once heard the president of Walk Through The Bible compare faith to deciding whether or not to sit on a chair. But this verse says that faith in Christ is more than just deciding to sit in a chair. Faith shines out of who we are, It's how we approach life.
This tells me that we elders should aim at developing your faith, as a vital part of our total approach to Christian growth. The same way we want to develop doctrinal discernment, or their emotional self-control, we need to develop your faith in Christ. In fact, I'd say that we should develop your faith, so that any of those other things can happen. Because how can we do any of those things happen without faith?
Barnabas' example also tells me we differ in our faith.
· Luke says that Barnabas was filled with faith. So Barnabas was exceptional. His strength of faith was so pronounced that he was known for it. "Filled" is a figure of speech. It means that Barnabas' mind was controlled by faith in Christ. When, for example, a person is filled with wine, their perceptions and emotions are controlled by the wine. Barnabas was filled with the wine of his faith. Your emotions are caused by your beliefs. You interpret experience through the filter of your beliefs. So what do our emotions reveal about our true, controlling beliefs?
· Not every one of Jesus' followers was like Barnabas. Peter often had a floating faith. It floated up high or down low, depending on what he believed. When he focused on Jesus Christ, his faith would surge way up high, like when he leaped out of the boat and walked to Jesus on the water. Other times his faith would sink way down low, like when he looked down at the ocean storming and foaming all around his feet. He became terrified, and plunged down into the waves. He believed that water molecules could not be altered so that they would support his weight. At that moment Peter believed that Christ was weaker than water molecules. As a result, he fell in.
· Then you have people torn back and forth between faith and unbelief. There was a father of a demon-possessed boy who had a flip-flop faith. He cried out to Christ, "I believe, help my unbelief!" He knew he needed to trust Christ, in order for his little boy to be saved from the demon. The boy was violently thrown about by the evil spirit. But the father was also violently thrown about in his heart, torn between faith and unbelief. He begged Christ to save him from his own doubting heart!
So the Christian life is like a ice skating rink, and we can see all levels of skaters moving around on the ice. Some of us can do amazing moves. Some can skate backwards, do figure-eights, perform all kinds of cool tricks. Others of us are just poking along, in a giant circle. Some of us have our laces tied too loosely. so our ankles are twisting back and forth. We're constantly falling, and just stumbling along, clinging for dear life to the guardrail.
Why faith in Christ matters to someone who's already saved:
· Faith is how miracles happen. Galatians 3:5: "Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" God is never under our control, and He often does things unilaterally. For example, God created the world because He wanted to. Christ healed the man born blind, even when the man didn't even know who He was (John 9). But God has sovereignly chosen to hinge some of His actions on our faith. So, if we never see God's miraculous hand active and moving among us, is this not an indictment of us? Faith is how the believers of the past conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, and received back their dead by resurrection. (Hebrews 11:32-35a). Faith in Christ is how miracles happen.
· Faith is also how we figure out what to do. How many times in life are we left standing with our mouths hanging open, at a total loss? We cry out, "I don't know what to do!" James 1:5 gives the encouraging answer, but then 6-8 adds a warning. If you believe that God won't show you what to do, then... He won't. Think about it: what parent wants to help a child who's howling right in his face, "I know you can't help me! I know you won't help me!" Faith in Christ is how we get the divine guidance we need.
· Faith is how our "if it be Thy will" prayers get answered. There was a centurion who came to Christ, on behalf of his sick servant. Christ told him that He would come and heal the servant. The centurion humbly replied that he didn't deserve the honor of Christ entering his home, but he knew that Christ could just utter the command from that spot, and the servant would be healed. Christ was amazed by the man's faith in His power. So Christ said to the centurion, "Go, let it be done for you as you have believed." "As you have believed". What if Christ said that to us this morning: "I am right now doing for you as you believe." Would we be delighted, or depressed? Now bear in mind, Christ isn't handing us a blank check here. Some things are not His will. He already told the centurion, personally, that, yes, it was His will to heal his servant. We don't have any such personal, individualized promises like that. But what if Christ is giving us what we believe He can do? What if our family, or this church, or our nation, is the way that it is because that's what we think Christ is capable of doing?
I began this looking at Galatians 5:22. I encountered a translation issue! The KJV says that "faith" is one of the fruit of the Spirit. All the current Bibles translate it as "faithfulness" -- NASB, NIV, NJKV, even the Catholic Bible. As often happens in message preparation, one truth leads you to another. Even though I could see that "faithfulness" is probably the preferred meaning, I wondered if faith is a work of the Spirit in the heart of a Christian, too. I began to look for examples of "faith" as a part of Christian character.
Barnabas' example tells me that faith reflects us.
I found a verse about Barnabas, Acts 11:24. Barnabas was "a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and faith." Faith was woven into the fabric of Barnabas' character. Faith wasn't just pushing a button or flipping a switch.
I think we often hear preaching like, "Faith is a decision". That's an action; something you do. I once heard the president of Walk Through The Bible compare faith to deciding whether or not to sit on a chair. But this verse says that faith in Christ is more than just deciding to sit in a chair. Faith shines out of who we are, It's how we approach life.
This tells me that we elders should aim at developing your faith, as a vital part of our total approach to Christian growth. The same way we want to develop doctrinal discernment, or their emotional self-control, we need to develop your faith in Christ. In fact, I'd say that we should develop your faith, so that any of those other things can happen. Because how can we do any of those things happen without faith?
Barnabas' example also tells me we differ in our faith.
· Luke says that Barnabas was filled with faith. So Barnabas was exceptional. His strength of faith was so pronounced that he was known for it. "Filled" is a figure of speech. It means that Barnabas' mind was controlled by faith in Christ. When, for example, a person is filled with wine, their perceptions and emotions are controlled by the wine. Barnabas was filled with the wine of his faith. Your emotions are caused by your beliefs. You interpret experience through the filter of your beliefs. So what do our emotions reveal about our true, controlling beliefs?
· Not every one of Jesus' followers was like Barnabas. Peter often had a floating faith. It floated up high or down low, depending on what he believed. When he focused on Jesus Christ, his faith would surge way up high, like when he leaped out of the boat and walked to Jesus on the water. Other times his faith would sink way down low, like when he looked down at the ocean storming and foaming all around his feet. He became terrified, and plunged down into the waves. He believed that water molecules could not be altered so that they would support his weight. At that moment Peter believed that Christ was weaker than water molecules. As a result, he fell in.
· Then you have people torn back and forth between faith and unbelief. There was a father of a demon-possessed boy who had a flip-flop faith. He cried out to Christ, "I believe, help my unbelief!" He knew he needed to trust Christ, in order for his little boy to be saved from the demon. The boy was violently thrown about by the evil spirit. But the father was also violently thrown about in his heart, torn between faith and unbelief. He begged Christ to save him from his own doubting heart!
So the Christian life is like a ice skating rink, and we can see all levels of skaters moving around on the ice. Some of us can do amazing moves. Some can skate backwards, do figure-eights, perform all kinds of cool tricks. Others of us are just poking along, in a giant circle. Some of us have our laces tied too loosely. so our ankles are twisting back and forth. We're constantly falling, and just stumbling along, clinging for dear life to the guardrail.
Why faith in Christ matters to someone who's already saved:
· Faith is how miracles happen. Galatians 3:5: "Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" God is never under our control, and He often does things unilaterally. For example, God created the world because He wanted to. Christ healed the man born blind, even when the man didn't even know who He was (John 9). But God has sovereignly chosen to hinge some of His actions on our faith. So, if we never see God's miraculous hand active and moving among us, is this not an indictment of us? Faith is how the believers of the past conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, and received back their dead by resurrection. (Hebrews 11:32-35a). Faith in Christ is how miracles happen.
· Faith is also how we figure out what to do. How many times in life are we left standing with our mouths hanging open, at a total loss? We cry out, "I don't know what to do!" James 1:5 gives the encouraging answer, but then 6-8 adds a warning. If you believe that God won't show you what to do, then... He won't. Think about it: what parent wants to help a child who's howling right in his face, "I know you can't help me! I know you won't help me!" Faith in Christ is how we get the divine guidance we need.
· Faith is how our "if it be Thy will" prayers get answered. There was a centurion who came to Christ, on behalf of his sick servant. Christ told him that He would come and heal the servant. The centurion humbly replied that he didn't deserve the honor of Christ entering his home, but he knew that Christ could just utter the command from that spot, and the servant would be healed. Christ was amazed by the man's faith in His power. So Christ said to the centurion, "Go, let it be done for you as you have believed." "As you have believed". What if Christ said that to us this morning: "I am right now doing for you as you believe." Would we be delighted, or depressed? Now bear in mind, Christ isn't handing us a blank check here. Some things are not His will. He already told the centurion, personally, that, yes, it was His will to heal his servant. We don't have any such personal, individualized promises like that. But what if Christ is giving us what we believe He can do? What if our family, or this church, or our nation, is the way that it is because that's what we think Christ is capable of doing?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I've Got The Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy... (Where?)
Joy is a spiritual personality attribute. Galatians 5:22
It is not a natural attribute with which some people are born. It's not psyching ourselves into an upbeat mood through positive thinking. There are people born with naturally energetic, cheerful dispositions. There are others prone to melancholy. But the Scriptures that tell us to be joyful aren't limited to the upbeat folks. They're aimed at all of us, regardless of our natural tendencies. Because joy is a spiritual personality attribute...
o That means joy is a moral obligation. The Lord tells us, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!" Philippians 4:4. Joy is as much a part of the Christian life as being loving or maritally faithful. It is a sin not to rejoice.
o That means our natural traits can change. You might say, "But I'm just a mopey, morose person by nature! I'm depressed, and happy to be that way!" So what? The Spirit is more powerful than our traits. He has the supernatural power to counteract our grouchy, depressive tendencies.
What causes joylessness?
1. Not being Spirit-filled. Eph. 5:18-20. A lot of Christians want to use the Holy Spirit as if He was electricity (either to fix their personality problems, force someone else to become a Christian, or maybe to work signs-and-wonders), but they don't want to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
2. Unrepented sin. Specifically...
a. Anger. Ephesians 4:26-27. Anger is like a handle to your mind onto which Satan grips. Sometimes the anger is toward God. This type of anger is a form of unbelief toward the Gospel. We can be sure that if we are angry at God, then it's always we who are off-base.
b. Unforgiveness. Matt. 18:32-35. Christ in this parable singles out unforgiveness for special reprobation. There are Christians dragging through life in emotional misery, because of all the bitterness they carry around in their hearts.
3. Failure to draw upon the Lord. Isa. 40:31. Since "the joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehemiah 8:10), then drawing upon the Lord through daily Bible reading and prayer renews joy, and the strength that comes from it. What would you think of a professional athlete who only drank water occasionally, and only occasionally ate nutritious food when he or she was in the mood?
4. Unbelief in heaven and your future place there. 1 Peter 1:3-8 Notice that the joy here results from faith in your living hope in your imperishable, undefiled, and unfading future inheritance in heaven.
5. Unwillingness to bow to God's will. Luke 10:21. This is also a form of unbelief. We're always happy when we get what we want. But are we also happy that God gets what He wants? For example, Christ thanked His heavenly Father that He had blinded the eyes of the wise, and instead opened the eyes of the humble. But instead of feeling miserable over those who rejected His message, Christ rejoiced, and said these words: "Let it be so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."
Solutions to the problem.
1. Pray every day to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not be used by you. He's not here for you. You're here for Him. He's not your partner. He's your Master. But He's not going to grab control of you, or distort you, like Satan does. He wants to guide you, fill you, and heal you. He gives joy as He gives Himself, but first you have to fully surrender yourself to Him.
2. Apply yourself to becoming a non-angry person. What do you need to do, to change from an angry person into a happy person? This might mean ending some of your friendships, as well as some of your viewing and listening habits. If you're depressed, and if it's not being caused by biological causes, then you are either sad, or angry, or both. Whatever the past event was that is still making you angry might merit disapproval. Ceasing from anger doesn't mean calling a bad thing good. But you will only be joyful when you learn not to go through life getting angry all the time.
3. Forgive everyone you believe owes you a moral debt. This mean that you, in the sight of God, give up any right to revenge or repayment. It also means you're going to let God handle, all by Himself, any score-settling that needs doing. God forgave us your billions of sins that we committed against Him. Now it's time for us to forgive the dozens of sins that have been committed against us.
4. Are you an unbelieving believer? Do you have a poster of Doubting Thomas up on your wall? What do you need to do to overcome your addiction to spiritual skepticism? Do you need to reconsider the evidences of the Bible's divine inspiration? Do you need to re-examine Christ's claims to be the Son of God? Should you read some good Christian apologetical material, to remind yourself why we believe that Jesus rose from the dead? When John the Baptist was in prison facing execution, and began to doubt Christ, Christ didn't chide him, but pointed him to proof (in that case, the proof of His miracles). When the anguished father cried out, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!", Jesus didn't chastise him. So what proofs of your faith do you need to go back and reconsider?
5. Joy will come when you submit to the way God wants things to be. You can't be happy as a Christian, and be constantly aggravated and chafing against what God either is or isn't doing. "A hope long deferred makes the heart sick", Solomon said, so the answer is to stop pining away for whatever it is. There is godless, hopeless fatalism that just throws up its hands to the all-powerful forces of nature. That's not what I'm counseling here. But there is a humble resignation of the situation and one's role in it over into God's sovereign hands, that is a precursor to joy.
It is not a natural attribute with which some people are born. It's not psyching ourselves into an upbeat mood through positive thinking. There are people born with naturally energetic, cheerful dispositions. There are others prone to melancholy. But the Scriptures that tell us to be joyful aren't limited to the upbeat folks. They're aimed at all of us, regardless of our natural tendencies. Because joy is a spiritual personality attribute...
o That means joy is a moral obligation. The Lord tells us, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!" Philippians 4:4. Joy is as much a part of the Christian life as being loving or maritally faithful. It is a sin not to rejoice.
o That means our natural traits can change. You might say, "But I'm just a mopey, morose person by nature! I'm depressed, and happy to be that way!" So what? The Spirit is more powerful than our traits. He has the supernatural power to counteract our grouchy, depressive tendencies.
What causes joylessness?
1. Not being Spirit-filled. Eph. 5:18-20. A lot of Christians want to use the Holy Spirit as if He was electricity (either to fix their personality problems, force someone else to become a Christian, or maybe to work signs-and-wonders), but they don't want to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
2. Unrepented sin. Specifically...
a. Anger. Ephesians 4:26-27. Anger is like a handle to your mind onto which Satan grips. Sometimes the anger is toward God. This type of anger is a form of unbelief toward the Gospel. We can be sure that if we are angry at God, then it's always we who are off-base.
b. Unforgiveness. Matt. 18:32-35. Christ in this parable singles out unforgiveness for special reprobation. There are Christians dragging through life in emotional misery, because of all the bitterness they carry around in their hearts.
3. Failure to draw upon the Lord. Isa. 40:31. Since "the joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehemiah 8:10), then drawing upon the Lord through daily Bible reading and prayer renews joy, and the strength that comes from it. What would you think of a professional athlete who only drank water occasionally, and only occasionally ate nutritious food when he or she was in the mood?
4. Unbelief in heaven and your future place there. 1 Peter 1:3-8 Notice that the joy here results from faith in your living hope in your imperishable, undefiled, and unfading future inheritance in heaven.
5. Unwillingness to bow to God's will. Luke 10:21. This is also a form of unbelief. We're always happy when we get what we want. But are we also happy that God gets what He wants? For example, Christ thanked His heavenly Father that He had blinded the eyes of the wise, and instead opened the eyes of the humble. But instead of feeling miserable over those who rejected His message, Christ rejoiced, and said these words: "Let it be so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."
Solutions to the problem.
1. Pray every day to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not be used by you. He's not here for you. You're here for Him. He's not your partner. He's your Master. But He's not going to grab control of you, or distort you, like Satan does. He wants to guide you, fill you, and heal you. He gives joy as He gives Himself, but first you have to fully surrender yourself to Him.
2. Apply yourself to becoming a non-angry person. What do you need to do, to change from an angry person into a happy person? This might mean ending some of your friendships, as well as some of your viewing and listening habits. If you're depressed, and if it's not being caused by biological causes, then you are either sad, or angry, or both. Whatever the past event was that is still making you angry might merit disapproval. Ceasing from anger doesn't mean calling a bad thing good. But you will only be joyful when you learn not to go through life getting angry all the time.
3. Forgive everyone you believe owes you a moral debt. This mean that you, in the sight of God, give up any right to revenge or repayment. It also means you're going to let God handle, all by Himself, any score-settling that needs doing. God forgave us your billions of sins that we committed against Him. Now it's time for us to forgive the dozens of sins that have been committed against us.
4. Are you an unbelieving believer? Do you have a poster of Doubting Thomas up on your wall? What do you need to do to overcome your addiction to spiritual skepticism? Do you need to reconsider the evidences of the Bible's divine inspiration? Do you need to re-examine Christ's claims to be the Son of God? Should you read some good Christian apologetical material, to remind yourself why we believe that Jesus rose from the dead? When John the Baptist was in prison facing execution, and began to doubt Christ, Christ didn't chide him, but pointed him to proof (in that case, the proof of His miracles). When the anguished father cried out, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!", Jesus didn't chastise him. So what proofs of your faith do you need to go back and reconsider?
5. Joy will come when you submit to the way God wants things to be. You can't be happy as a Christian, and be constantly aggravated and chafing against what God either is or isn't doing. "A hope long deferred makes the heart sick", Solomon said, so the answer is to stop pining away for whatever it is. There is godless, hopeless fatalism that just throws up its hands to the all-powerful forces of nature. That's not what I'm counseling here. But there is a humble resignation of the situation and one's role in it over into God's sovereign hands, that is a precursor to joy.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Jesus' Radical View of Goodness
Jesus made two radical statement about goodness -- Mt. 19:16-17
"There is only one who is good".
o God is unique in His goodness. The Greek word for "one" carries with it the idea of "one distinctly", which is why some Bibles translate it as "No one" (NKJV) or "only one" (NIV). Jesus taught that God is the only Person in the entire universe who is good. I don't think even we Christians believe this. We have fairly wishy-washy ideas about goodness. We call people "good" if we enjoy their company, or if they do something we like. But Christ said that God alone is good. God is unique in His goodness.
o If Jesus is right, then all real goodness comes from God somehow. The holy angels are good. But their goodness comes from God. We know good Christians. Their goodness comes from God. There are even unbelievers who are devout and God-fearing. This reflects the hidden work of God in their hearts, too.
o The flip side is that human beings are not good! This is the part no one wants to hear. Not even Christians like to hear it. The psalmist said, "There is none who are righteous, no, not one; there is none who does good, no, not one" (Psalm 14, quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10, 12). What we call goodness is really only comparative -- some people outwardly act better than others. It is better to help the needy than to rob them; but if we do it to be admired by others, we have no praise from God. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. What looks like goodness to our eyes might look quite intentions.
The second teaching Jesus gave about goodness was: "Keep the commandments, if you want to live forever" -- 19:17.
o Jesus gives goodness a clear, hard edge. "Goodness" isn't just some fuzzy-wuzzy geniality. Goodness means: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not lie. Honor your parents. Love your fellow man just as you love yourself. Elsewhere, Christ makes it clear that goodness includes the imagination. It's not enough not to commit adultery. We're required not to even imagine immoral acts. It's not enough not to murder. We're required not to hate. That is goodness.
o Jesus sharpens the edge of goodness as sharp as He can make it, in verse 21. Christ's standard of goodness is perfection. We're required to be perfectly good. If we break one commandment, then we've broken them all. If we break a small section of a single pane of glass, we've broken the whole pane of glass. This is God's Law. Break one of the laws, you've broken all of them. If I can keep all of God's commandments, all the time, then I have the right to consider myself a truly good person. Otherwise, I'm just comparatively better than some people in some ways, sometimes.
o Then Christ attaches high stakes to goodness. He says that eternal life hinges on us being good, that is, keeping the commandments. This means that (a) everyone isn't going to Heaven, and (b) we have to deserve to go there! Jesus Christ was no liberal! He was no Unitarian!
What does this mean for us?
o The teaching that I need to do good works in order gain eternal life some day, or to keep eternal life once God gives it to me, is impossible:
§ It waters down God's standard of holiness. God isn't asking for "our best". He isn't asking for "a good-faith effort." He requires moral and spiritual perfection. Our best isn't good enough. God's goodness doesn't bend. His requirement is perfection.
§ That teaching is an insult to Christ's death on the cross. It's like saying that my cartoon scribbling needs to be added to the Mona Lisa. Jesus Christ was the perfect Man. His death on the cross for sin was the perfect payment. His intercession on His people's behalf in Heaven right now is the perfect priesthood. For us to think that there's anything we could do that would add value to anything He did for us is totally wrong-headed.
o Jesus' teaching about goodness also means that it's possible to measure goodness. Christ defined goodness in the form of commandments. Goodness is definable. Committing adultery is bad. Loyalty to your spouse is good. Dishonoring our parents is bad. Respecting them is good. Goodness does not lie in the eye of the beholder. When the Lord's commandment speaks, there are no gray areas. This is an important principle, if we intend to make disciples. Christian disciples should be good people. The commandments tell us what is good.
o Goodness of heart is the antidote to temptation. Goodness comes from the Holy Spirit kneading God's goodness into the dough of our hearts. Remember, only God is good. We have no more natural power to be good after we trust in Christ than we had before. This is why Galatians calls goodness a fruit of the Spirit. We can't work it up.
The Holy Spirit is a tree-keeper -- an arborist. He is in the business of turning dead trees back into living trees, and then, once they're alive, curing them of the blight. We're like trees infected with blight. The Holy Spirit's ministry is to steadily cure us of our blight, from the inside. As He transmits God's unique goodness into us, the fruit of our lives automatically changes over from sour to sweet. Christian men will stop feeling drawn to pornography, because a good heart loves purity. Christian people will not be easily drawn into idolatry, because a good heart loves the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we pray for the Spirit to make us good people -- because only the Holy Spirit can re-shape us back into God's image.
"There is only one who is good".
o God is unique in His goodness. The Greek word for "one" carries with it the idea of "one distinctly", which is why some Bibles translate it as "No one" (NKJV) or "only one" (NIV). Jesus taught that God is the only Person in the entire universe who is good. I don't think even we Christians believe this. We have fairly wishy-washy ideas about goodness. We call people "good" if we enjoy their company, or if they do something we like. But Christ said that God alone is good. God is unique in His goodness.
o If Jesus is right, then all real goodness comes from God somehow. The holy angels are good. But their goodness comes from God. We know good Christians. Their goodness comes from God. There are even unbelievers who are devout and God-fearing. This reflects the hidden work of God in their hearts, too.
o The flip side is that human beings are not good! This is the part no one wants to hear. Not even Christians like to hear it. The psalmist said, "There is none who are righteous, no, not one; there is none who does good, no, not one" (Psalm 14, quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10, 12). What we call goodness is really only comparative -- some people outwardly act better than others. It is better to help the needy than to rob them; but if we do it to be admired by others, we have no praise from God. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. What looks like goodness to our eyes might look quite intentions.
The second teaching Jesus gave about goodness was: "Keep the commandments, if you want to live forever" -- 19:17.
o Jesus gives goodness a clear, hard edge. "Goodness" isn't just some fuzzy-wuzzy geniality. Goodness means: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not lie. Honor your parents. Love your fellow man just as you love yourself. Elsewhere, Christ makes it clear that goodness includes the imagination. It's not enough not to commit adultery. We're required not to even imagine immoral acts. It's not enough not to murder. We're required not to hate. That is goodness.
o Jesus sharpens the edge of goodness as sharp as He can make it, in verse 21. Christ's standard of goodness is perfection. We're required to be perfectly good. If we break one commandment, then we've broken them all. If we break a small section of a single pane of glass, we've broken the whole pane of glass. This is God's Law. Break one of the laws, you've broken all of them. If I can keep all of God's commandments, all the time, then I have the right to consider myself a truly good person. Otherwise, I'm just comparatively better than some people in some ways, sometimes.
o Then Christ attaches high stakes to goodness. He says that eternal life hinges on us being good, that is, keeping the commandments. This means that (a) everyone isn't going to Heaven, and (b) we have to deserve to go there! Jesus Christ was no liberal! He was no Unitarian!
What does this mean for us?
o The teaching that I need to do good works in order gain eternal life some day, or to keep eternal life once God gives it to me, is impossible:
§ It waters down God's standard of holiness. God isn't asking for "our best". He isn't asking for "a good-faith effort." He requires moral and spiritual perfection. Our best isn't good enough. God's goodness doesn't bend. His requirement is perfection.
§ That teaching is an insult to Christ's death on the cross. It's like saying that my cartoon scribbling needs to be added to the Mona Lisa. Jesus Christ was the perfect Man. His death on the cross for sin was the perfect payment. His intercession on His people's behalf in Heaven right now is the perfect priesthood. For us to think that there's anything we could do that would add value to anything He did for us is totally wrong-headed.
o Jesus' teaching about goodness also means that it's possible to measure goodness. Christ defined goodness in the form of commandments. Goodness is definable. Committing adultery is bad. Loyalty to your spouse is good. Dishonoring our parents is bad. Respecting them is good. Goodness does not lie in the eye of the beholder. When the Lord's commandment speaks, there are no gray areas. This is an important principle, if we intend to make disciples. Christian disciples should be good people. The commandments tell us what is good.
o Goodness of heart is the antidote to temptation. Goodness comes from the Holy Spirit kneading God's goodness into the dough of our hearts. Remember, only God is good. We have no more natural power to be good after we trust in Christ than we had before. This is why Galatians calls goodness a fruit of the Spirit. We can't work it up.
The Holy Spirit is a tree-keeper -- an arborist. He is in the business of turning dead trees back into living trees, and then, once they're alive, curing them of the blight. We're like trees infected with blight. The Holy Spirit's ministry is to steadily cure us of our blight, from the inside. As He transmits God's unique goodness into us, the fruit of our lives automatically changes over from sour to sweet. Christian men will stop feeling drawn to pornography, because a good heart loves purity. Christian people will not be easily drawn into idolatry, because a good heart loves the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we pray for the Spirit to make us good people -- because only the Holy Spirit can re-shape us back into God's image.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Male-Female Relationships
If we had a clear vision of what true manhood and womanhood should be, both of ourselves as we ought to be, and of other people (whether our own sex, or the opposite sex) as they ought to be, we would not sink down so easily to the level of society around us in our tastes and expectations. Is this idealistic? Christian idealism is good, when it guards us against settling for the junkiness of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
I think we men need not only to reform our concept of ourselves, so that it comes into alignment with God's plan for manhood, we also need to steadily reform our view of women. This can be hard to do if you were raised surrounded by vixens, hysterics, and shrews. But, if that is the case, then it becomes even more important. So Christian men shouldn't excuse themselves from sitting in on teaching-series like "God's Plan For Womanhood", on the ground that it's a women's topic. It's the man who inherited a confused or horrible view of women who most needs to learn about women from God's Word.
There are people in terrible relationships who suffer from those relationships, but they have no real idea what a God-made relationship could be or should be, so they accept behavior that should be unacceptable.
Even we who have been Christians for some time are still only drawing closer to a full understanding of what a normal, God-formed male-female friendship should look like (such as between a brother and a sister), or a God-formed girlfriend-boyfriend relationship, or a God-formed marriage. We underestimate how much our expectations and tastes have been poisoned by sin and the world. If we could see with perfect clarity of insight what a normal human relationship looked like, according to God's design, we would desire it, since our hearts have been regenerated by the Spirit of God to like the right things.
Men and women, because of our lack of faith and knowledge, look to each other to fulfill needs in ourselves that God alone can ever meet. The need might be loneliness, or the need to feel like we matter, or that we're valued, or the fear that we could be abandoned, or that there's someone in the world who understands and sympathizes with us. Likes us. Other people become frustrated with us because they can never -- never -- satisfy those God-given needs, and we are not satisfying those needs in them, and we never will. So we all become infuriated or depressed by each other, unless we lift up our eyes to the hills of Heaven, from whence our help comes. Children look to their parents, for example, to be their rock of stability and compass of moral orientation. How disillusioned children must be when they realize that even the best parents can only approximate what they, the children, need. But then how comforting it can be to realize that , behind the wavering and inconsistent parent, is an unchanging and rock-steady God. Only this faith can mend the heartache and confusion caused by divorce.
Satan deceives us to confuse bad qualities with good, then cuts us with the jagged edge of the false. We mistake sarcasm for wholesome wit, a rebellious spirit for objective strength of will, contrariness for independence of judgment, seductiveness for modest beauty, parasitic neediness for the normal interdependence that any human being should has for another, or cold detachment for a healthy sense of balanced composure. If we could grow in discernment, we would recognize (applying discernment first to ourselves) that many of our personality qualities that we think are good, or at least benign, are not as innocent as we think they are. We would also begin to appreciate people that perhaps we did not appreciate before as much as we should.
I pray that the Lord would continue to give me the eyes to see what is truly good, in myself and other people.
I think we men need not only to reform our concept of ourselves, so that it comes into alignment with God's plan for manhood, we also need to steadily reform our view of women. This can be hard to do if you were raised surrounded by vixens, hysterics, and shrews. But, if that is the case, then it becomes even more important. So Christian men shouldn't excuse themselves from sitting in on teaching-series like "God's Plan For Womanhood", on the ground that it's a women's topic. It's the man who inherited a confused or horrible view of women who most needs to learn about women from God's Word.
There are people in terrible relationships who suffer from those relationships, but they have no real idea what a God-made relationship could be or should be, so they accept behavior that should be unacceptable.
Even we who have been Christians for some time are still only drawing closer to a full understanding of what a normal, God-formed male-female friendship should look like (such as between a brother and a sister), or a God-formed girlfriend-boyfriend relationship, or a God-formed marriage. We underestimate how much our expectations and tastes have been poisoned by sin and the world. If we could see with perfect clarity of insight what a normal human relationship looked like, according to God's design, we would desire it, since our hearts have been regenerated by the Spirit of God to like the right things.
Men and women, because of our lack of faith and knowledge, look to each other to fulfill needs in ourselves that God alone can ever meet. The need might be loneliness, or the need to feel like we matter, or that we're valued, or the fear that we could be abandoned, or that there's someone in the world who understands and sympathizes with us. Likes us. Other people become frustrated with us because they can never -- never -- satisfy those God-given needs, and we are not satisfying those needs in them, and we never will. So we all become infuriated or depressed by each other, unless we lift up our eyes to the hills of Heaven, from whence our help comes. Children look to their parents, for example, to be their rock of stability and compass of moral orientation. How disillusioned children must be when they realize that even the best parents can only approximate what they, the children, need. But then how comforting it can be to realize that , behind the wavering and inconsistent parent, is an unchanging and rock-steady God. Only this faith can mend the heartache and confusion caused by divorce.
Satan deceives us to confuse bad qualities with good, then cuts us with the jagged edge of the false. We mistake sarcasm for wholesome wit, a rebellious spirit for objective strength of will, contrariness for independence of judgment, seductiveness for modest beauty, parasitic neediness for the normal interdependence that any human being should has for another, or cold detachment for a healthy sense of balanced composure. If we could grow in discernment, we would recognize (applying discernment first to ourselves) that many of our personality qualities that we think are good, or at least benign, are not as innocent as we think they are. We would also begin to appreciate people that perhaps we did not appreciate before as much as we should.
I pray that the Lord would continue to give me the eyes to see what is truly good, in myself and other people.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
"My Heart Tells Me"
One reason we need to be cautious about what our hearts supposedly tell us, is because we are often astoundingly wrong. Even the apostle Paul's heart told him wrong, at least one time of which we know. in II Corinthians 1:9, he relays how he and his team felt sure they were going to die as a result of persecution in Asia. Yet -- they did not die. God rescued them, and continued to rescue them to that very day (v. 10). Paul was optimistic that God would continue to rescue them from Satan's deadly perils.
Our hearts do not send reliable signals to us about what God is doing, or will do. Their impulses could be the result of a bit of undigested beef. Scrooge wasn't wrong, at least at that point. There is more gravy than grave in many of our fears. Self-trust leads to states of great fear (see II Cor. 1:9). Our heartsa deceive us. What we expect to happen is not a divine revelation of what is in fact going to happen. A man's steps are ordered by the Lord, but the Lord nowhere says that He gives us a heads-up through our hearts. We should concentrate on what is wise to do in the situation, and what the Lord ethically requires of us, and not waste time exploring our innards for clues of the future.
Our hearts do not send reliable signals to us about what God is doing, or will do. Their impulses could be the result of a bit of undigested beef. Scrooge wasn't wrong, at least at that point. There is more gravy than grave in many of our fears. Self-trust leads to states of great fear (see II Cor. 1:9). Our heartsa deceive us. What we expect to happen is not a divine revelation of what is in fact going to happen. A man's steps are ordered by the Lord, but the Lord nowhere says that He gives us a heads-up through our hearts. We should concentrate on what is wise to do in the situation, and what the Lord ethically requires of us, and not waste time exploring our innards for clues of the future.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Quality & Popularity in Ministry
I've decided that, among the many other untrue things I was taught in Church Growth 501 class at seminary, there is almost no connection between quality of pastoral ministry and attendance figures. Here's what I mean:
The appeal of preachers varies wildly from one part of the country to another, and it has almost nothing to do with whether the preacher is any good. Chuck Swindoll was fired from his first pastorate in Waltham, Massachusetts, only stayed a short time at his second pastorate someplace in Texas (where you would have thought he would shine, him being from El Campo), and only became "Chuck Swindoll" after he arrived at Fullerton. A good friend of mine, who pastors the church where my wife and I were married, is a much sounder preacher than his predecessor, yet Sunday attendance is less than half of what it was. Using Christian doctrinal orthodoxy as a yardstick, Lakewood Church is one of the worst churches in America, and Joel Osteen does not deserve the title "shepherd". Yet Lakewood has tens of thousands of people in enthusiastic attendance.
I think this is what Jesus meant when he said, "Many who are first will be last, and the last shall be first" -- meaning, the preachers of some of the most celebrated, large, powerful, and wealthy churches in America will end up being called "unprofitable servants" by Christ, and the pastors of some of the most obscure, feeble, poor, struggling, and 'unsuccessful' churches on earth will be given ten cities to rule. MacGavran and C. Peter Wagner are wrong; there is almost no connection between quantity and popularity. Popularity is an unpredictable alchemy of personality, gift, circumstance, and setting, under the direction of the hand of God. I believe that you could take some of the most popular preachers in America, and geographically move them, and in many if not most cases they would fail. You could pluck certain faithful preachers out of the time stream, unheralded and even disliked in their time, equip them with the ability to speak with modern Americans, place them somewhere right now, and they could be world-altering successes. There is no way to predict it.
If there was a direct and reliable connection between quality and popularity, then Twinkies, Big Macs, Andy Warhol art, and rap music would all be failures. Instead, they are all fabulous market successes, despite being mediocre at best and drek at worst.
Also contrary to the quasi-Pelagian man-centeredness of MacGavran, it is the hand of the Lord that alone makes a ministry fruitful. Nehemiah successfully built Jerusalem's wall because the hand of the Lord was with him. Peter had a powerful ministry at Joppa because the hand of the Lord was with him. The real cause, the foundational cause, of ministry fruit was the hand of the Lord. Fruitfulness wasn't ultimately caused by better organization, a different style of illustrating points, better technology, or a different style of music. These methods all might be what theologians call instrumental causes of success. God works through means. One method might be wiser than another. One method might fit the situation better than another. But no method is the originating cause of fruit in church ministry, just as power drills, saws, or lathes do not produce fine pieces of furniture. The mind, skill, and energy of the carpenter builds the piece. Finney was wrong about revival, just as he was wrong about almost everything else he ever said: You can't cause revivals or conversions by the scientific application of psychological principles. Revivals happen because of the hand of the Lord.
The appeal of preachers varies wildly from one part of the country to another, and it has almost nothing to do with whether the preacher is any good. Chuck Swindoll was fired from his first pastorate in Waltham, Massachusetts, only stayed a short time at his second pastorate someplace in Texas (where you would have thought he would shine, him being from El Campo), and only became "Chuck Swindoll" after he arrived at Fullerton. A good friend of mine, who pastors the church where my wife and I were married, is a much sounder preacher than his predecessor, yet Sunday attendance is less than half of what it was. Using Christian doctrinal orthodoxy as a yardstick, Lakewood Church is one of the worst churches in America, and Joel Osteen does not deserve the title "shepherd". Yet Lakewood has tens of thousands of people in enthusiastic attendance.
I think this is what Jesus meant when he said, "Many who are first will be last, and the last shall be first" -- meaning, the preachers of some of the most celebrated, large, powerful, and wealthy churches in America will end up being called "unprofitable servants" by Christ, and the pastors of some of the most obscure, feeble, poor, struggling, and 'unsuccessful' churches on earth will be given ten cities to rule. MacGavran and C. Peter Wagner are wrong; there is almost no connection between quantity and popularity. Popularity is an unpredictable alchemy of personality, gift, circumstance, and setting, under the direction of the hand of God. I believe that you could take some of the most popular preachers in America, and geographically move them, and in many if not most cases they would fail. You could pluck certain faithful preachers out of the time stream, unheralded and even disliked in their time, equip them with the ability to speak with modern Americans, place them somewhere right now, and they could be world-altering successes. There is no way to predict it.
If there was a direct and reliable connection between quality and popularity, then Twinkies, Big Macs, Andy Warhol art, and rap music would all be failures. Instead, they are all fabulous market successes, despite being mediocre at best and drek at worst.
Also contrary to the quasi-Pelagian man-centeredness of MacGavran, it is the hand of the Lord that alone makes a ministry fruitful. Nehemiah successfully built Jerusalem's wall because the hand of the Lord was with him. Peter had a powerful ministry at Joppa because the hand of the Lord was with him. The real cause, the foundational cause, of ministry fruit was the hand of the Lord. Fruitfulness wasn't ultimately caused by better organization, a different style of illustrating points, better technology, or a different style of music. These methods all might be what theologians call instrumental causes of success. God works through means. One method might be wiser than another. One method might fit the situation better than another. But no method is the originating cause of fruit in church ministry, just as power drills, saws, or lathes do not produce fine pieces of furniture. The mind, skill, and energy of the carpenter builds the piece. Finney was wrong about revival, just as he was wrong about almost everything else he ever said: You can't cause revivals or conversions by the scientific application of psychological principles. Revivals happen because of the hand of the Lord.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Marks Of True Revelations From God
I am convinced that almost all claims made to divine revelations, especially by Pentecostal or Charismatic ministries, are bogus. I hold this view because of the standards of true revelations described in the Bible. Just look at the book of Acts! What are the characteristics of special revelations in Acts?
True revelations from God are uncausable: Revelations from God couldn't be caused or controlled by the recipient. God showed Peter and John while they were on their way to do something else that He wanted to heal the lame man (Acts 3). God surprised Peter with the vision that told him to go to Cornelius' house. Christ unexpectedly appeared to Ananias and told him to go pray for Paul (9:10ff). Years ago, a member of the Vineyard church tried to convince me that we all had spiritual antennae (he then put up two of his fingers to his head, like Ray Walston from My Favorite Martian), and that we could either tune in to God's revelations or tune out. But, based on the book of Acts, we must conclude that it is a false teaching that there are things we can do to cause revelations from God.
Revelations from God are infallible: Revelations from the Lord are always true. The lame man did spring to his feet healed. Ananias and Sapphira were guilty and did drop dead. The other Ananias did find Paul at Straight Street. Men from Joppa did show up at Simon the tanner's house. A famine did strike the Roman Empire during Claudius' reign (11:27-28). There is not even one case where a divine revelation failed to be objectively proven. 2 Peter 1:20-21. It is a false teaching that a real prophetic revelation can have human errors mixed into in it. This is the greatest error taught by Wayne Grudem, who is otherwise a very fine Christian theologian. What Dr. Grudem erroneously calls the gift of prophecy, in his writing son this subject, is actually just the gift of exhortation.
True revelations from God were always verbal: Revelations always came in words, never in the form of feelings or intuitions. Jeremiah 2:1, Acts 8:29, etc. It is a false teaching that inner feelings/leadings = divine revelation.
People like C. Peter Wagner claim to understand the book of Acts correctly, but what they do doesn't even match the book of Acts.
True revelations from God are uncausable: Revelations from God couldn't be caused or controlled by the recipient. God showed Peter and John while they were on their way to do something else that He wanted to heal the lame man (Acts 3). God surprised Peter with the vision that told him to go to Cornelius' house. Christ unexpectedly appeared to Ananias and told him to go pray for Paul (9:10ff). Years ago, a member of the Vineyard church tried to convince me that we all had spiritual antennae (he then put up two of his fingers to his head, like Ray Walston from My Favorite Martian), and that we could either tune in to God's revelations or tune out. But, based on the book of Acts, we must conclude that it is a false teaching that there are things we can do to cause revelations from God.
Revelations from God are infallible: Revelations from the Lord are always true. The lame man did spring to his feet healed. Ananias and Sapphira were guilty and did drop dead. The other Ananias did find Paul at Straight Street. Men from Joppa did show up at Simon the tanner's house. A famine did strike the Roman Empire during Claudius' reign (11:27-28). There is not even one case where a divine revelation failed to be objectively proven. 2 Peter 1:20-21. It is a false teaching that a real prophetic revelation can have human errors mixed into in it. This is the greatest error taught by Wayne Grudem, who is otherwise a very fine Christian theologian. What Dr. Grudem erroneously calls the gift of prophecy, in his writing son this subject, is actually just the gift of exhortation.
True revelations from God were always verbal: Revelations always came in words, never in the form of feelings or intuitions. Jeremiah 2:1, Acts 8:29, etc. It is a false teaching that inner feelings/leadings = divine revelation.
People like C. Peter Wagner claim to understand the book of Acts correctly, but what they do doesn't even match the book of Acts.
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