When a person seeks after something and ends up dissatisfied when he finds it, chances are he was seeking for something else.
For example, if a person seeks for and attains wealth with little satisfaction, he probably wasn't seeking wealth. He was probably pursuing the contentment and happiness promised to him by his perception of wealth and the lifestyle that is promised to come with wealth.
Generally our pursuits are much simpler than the thing we are seeking. When we seek a nice car, we are rather seeking the happiness we feel it will bring us. We perceive a status that comes with the nice car, and want to rise to that status because we feel it would make us feel good about ourselves. It would help us feel content.
I feel Pastors have a similar temptation. Instead of a nice car, they want a nice sized congregation. Instead of a nice paycheck, they want a structure that they feel rises above the rest. If they don't get what they want, they are dissatisfied with their church, or at least the position their church is in. There's a difference between this and being dissapointed because of sin. What I'm talking about is the fact that our specific desires come from a much simpler passion. Do we who are pastors or are seeking to be pastors have our ideal picture of what we want our church to be like, and will be dissatisfied if reality does not match our desire within an unspecified amount of time? Our purpose is the shepherd the flock of God and to help people grow to be God-resemblers and glorifiers. This is all progressive. There is no end to this task. If we have an ideal "spot" or "vision" in which we feel we can be satisfied in reaching, is this no different than the man who fills his storehouses and then tells himself to eat, drink, and be merry? Isn't this a pastors version of materialism? Where are our pursuits? Is our basic pursuit the pleasure of God or the pleasure of ourselves? If we are dissatisfied with anything besides what we envision for our church, chances are our real, basic desires are something unrelated to real ministry. It is not our vision that matters. It is God's.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
I've been kind of following the comments on The Gospel Coalition 2011 conference going on right now via Facebook and Twitter. I have to say, the conglomeration of what I'm reading is kind of troublesome. And the problem is neither that anyone is saying anything heretical, nor criticizing what is going on there.
I think that the thing that gets me is that most of the comments are rooted in the raw fact that these people are at the conference where the big name preachers are, theoretically moshing in the conference room chairs. Whether you're a fundamentalist or emergent or whatever, whenever a conference rolls around, the only thing a lot of people care about is that they are able to take part in something that popular preachers took part in. It's like the association makes them feel more important and trendy. Has the Gospel become a trend? I fear it has for many blog enthusiasts and new-release aficionados. The Gospel is bound up in the faith of Christ, not John Piper or Mark Dever. Why is it that we cannot speak of Christ apart from speaking of or quoting these men? Instead of the Book of Mormon, we have adopted the Book of Famous Prophets. I do not doubt that their influence is great, and that Christ is truly magnified by their work. The blame is not theirs. The blame is upon those who react to these men. Let us, rather react to Christ. Let us expose ourselves to Him, not just via second-hand exposure. Let us know Him first hand. Let us develope a personal relationship with Him. By all means we ought to take advantage of the resources that these famous preachers provide for the benefit of our spiritual walk. But let's not make the Gospel trendy. When it becomes trendy, it then becomes amiable and theoretical. One would do well to consciously guard himself from seeing the Gospel through the eyes of theory, and see it through the eyes of true, personal relationship. Christ is not an idea. He is a person. How are you getting to know Him?
I think that the thing that gets me is that most of the comments are rooted in the raw fact that these people are at the conference where the big name preachers are, theoretically moshing in the conference room chairs. Whether you're a fundamentalist or emergent or whatever, whenever a conference rolls around, the only thing a lot of people care about is that they are able to take part in something that popular preachers took part in. It's like the association makes them feel more important and trendy. Has the Gospel become a trend? I fear it has for many blog enthusiasts and new-release aficionados. The Gospel is bound up in the faith of Christ, not John Piper or Mark Dever. Why is it that we cannot speak of Christ apart from speaking of or quoting these men? Instead of the Book of Mormon, we have adopted the Book of Famous Prophets. I do not doubt that their influence is great, and that Christ is truly magnified by their work. The blame is not theirs. The blame is upon those who react to these men. Let us, rather react to Christ. Let us expose ourselves to Him, not just via second-hand exposure. Let us know Him first hand. Let us develope a personal relationship with Him. By all means we ought to take advantage of the resources that these famous preachers provide for the benefit of our spiritual walk. But let's not make the Gospel trendy. When it becomes trendy, it then becomes amiable and theoretical. One would do well to consciously guard himself from seeing the Gospel through the eyes of theory, and see it through the eyes of true, personal relationship. Christ is not an idea. He is a person. How are you getting to know Him?
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Accountability: while it may be good for many people in many cases, I believe that in many other cases for many other people it is spiritually paralyzing.
The good: When someone has been involved in habitual sin, or addictive sin, it is good to have a source of accountability who is continually providing focused edification in the arena of a person’s specific sin. Because let’s all be honest – we aren’t meant to live self-sufficiently. We as Christians are meant for community. We are meant to edify and be edified by each other toward righteousness. And I don’t think it is a stretch to say this is good “especially” for those who have developed a strong tendency toward a specific area of transgression, whether internally or externally.
However, I think accountability is often used as a type of crutch upon which one places their dependence in order to change. They replace personal motivation and intentionality with their accountability partners efforts. Proverbs tells us to “rule over your own spirit.” But many times we give that rule over to someone else, or just plain forfeit it because it’s not easy to rule over our spirit. It’s easier to just let our deceitful heart run its course, and let our accountability partner manage and/or clean up the mess.
Not completely segmented from the above, having an accountability partner also leads one to shift their focus. Their motivation can easily become pleasing their accountability partner rather than pleasing Christ. They want to be able to tell that partner that they went the whole week without ___. Their motivation becomes keeping to a system of ethics rather than growing in their relationship with Christ. Is this not the beginning stages of legalism? Often legalism and true religion look the same on the outside, but the intentions of the heart are very different.
The point is, you are responsible. Perhaps you are irresponsible with your responsibilities, but you are still responsible for yourself. You cannot expect others to change you. You cannot depend on a system or program or person to give you Christ. You are RESPONSIBLE. The question is, will you take responsibility for yourself? Will you choose to rule over your own spirit? Will you say no to the impulses of your emotive heart? Will you consciously choose to think thoughts that differ from what is easy to think? Your husband, wife, pastor, friend, etc. is not responsible for your walk with God. You are. Take responsibility. Own it. Rule over yourself.
The good: When someone has been involved in habitual sin, or addictive sin, it is good to have a source of accountability who is continually providing focused edification in the arena of a person’s specific sin. Because let’s all be honest – we aren’t meant to live self-sufficiently. We as Christians are meant for community. We are meant to edify and be edified by each other toward righteousness. And I don’t think it is a stretch to say this is good “especially” for those who have developed a strong tendency toward a specific area of transgression, whether internally or externally.
However, I think accountability is often used as a type of crutch upon which one places their dependence in order to change. They replace personal motivation and intentionality with their accountability partners efforts. Proverbs tells us to “rule over your own spirit.” But many times we give that rule over to someone else, or just plain forfeit it because it’s not easy to rule over our spirit. It’s easier to just let our deceitful heart run its course, and let our accountability partner manage and/or clean up the mess.
Not completely segmented from the above, having an accountability partner also leads one to shift their focus. Their motivation can easily become pleasing their accountability partner rather than pleasing Christ. They want to be able to tell that partner that they went the whole week without ___. Their motivation becomes keeping to a system of ethics rather than growing in their relationship with Christ. Is this not the beginning stages of legalism? Often legalism and true religion look the same on the outside, but the intentions of the heart are very different.
The point is, you are responsible. Perhaps you are irresponsible with your responsibilities, but you are still responsible for yourself. You cannot expect others to change you. You cannot depend on a system or program or person to give you Christ. You are RESPONSIBLE. The question is, will you take responsibility for yourself? Will you choose to rule over your own spirit? Will you say no to the impulses of your emotive heart? Will you consciously choose to think thoughts that differ from what is easy to think? Your husband, wife, pastor, friend, etc. is not responsible for your walk with God. You are. Take responsibility. Own it. Rule over yourself.
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