For Richer or Poorer - Taxes, Greed, and Judgment

I don't know about you but I'm tired of hearing about how the rich should be taxed rather than the middle class or the poor on the basis that rich people are nothing but greedy good-for-nothings. I really hope God's people know better than to think this way.
Why?
1. Because you do NOT have to be rich to be greedy.
I would be more prone to believe that there are more greedy poor people than greedy rich people. But the greed of poor people just looks different. It looks like covetousness and discontentment. It cries out hatred and ill-will towards rich people. Chances are if you think the rich people should be taxed more than you just because they are rich, you are greedy.
2. Because being rich does not equal being greedy.
How do you get rich? By being greedy? Sometimes. Some people have gotten rich through taking advantage of people, running them over and plastering them onto the road to success. But there are many people who got there through honest hard work. And in your embarrassing claims that the rich and greedy should be taxed more, you are also including a lot of hard working people who actually do a lot of good for those who have fewer assets.
3. Because chances are, if you were rich you'd be taking advantage of people like you too. So don't be hatin. Rather be prayin.
Why does Jesus say that rarely does a rich person enter into the Kingdom of Heaven? Because being rich is hard. Being rich AND righteous takes a lot of grace. Sure you have a lot of conveniences and securities - at least here on earth - but as far as your spiritual life is concerned, I can only imagine (as I don't exactly have experience with wealth) that a heavenly mind is harder to maintain when you are surrounded by such earthly pleasures. You wish you had them. And when you have them, you'll probably be just as blind. Being rich is a gift. More people should run away from it. Rather we all run toward it like a bunch of crazy women at 4am at Best Buy on Black Friday. Sometimes people get run over...by us...because all we can see is what we want. And unfortunately that does not generally include other people. You don't have to be rich to be self centered. Most of us are that way without riches. Just imagine what we'd be with them. When you put yourself in their shoes, maybe you will end up on your knees instead of in a picket line.
4. Because both the rich and the poor are beloved of God, who does not judge according to earthly status.
Just think about that. The fact that you are jealous of the rich, and wish they were taxed more because they are "rich and greedy" means you already judge according to earthly wealth. Why do you think that would change if they were poorer and/or you were richer? God calls us to a better perspective. And NO it's not "judge not lest ye be judged." He says "love your neighbor as yourself" without the amendments we generally add on to it - "unless they are rich and greedy," "unless they are democrats," "unless they are Barack Obama," "unless they have something I wish I had but could never have," "unless they don't agree with me," "unless I just plain don't like them." It's simple really. Just a simple little statement, but it will turn your world upside down, and it will change the way you view people. If you really followed Christs commandment, would you really wish ill upon someone because of some social status? Maybe a rich dude does have a problem. But your reaction to that problem tells you and everyone else who is watching whether you have one too or not.

Fear, Failure, and Success

I recently just read the following quote:


“In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail.”

I think that most pithy statements have their limitations, but this one is definitely a head-nodder. Our willingness to fail is going to, by some measure, determine our willingness to stretch ourselves - to do things we’ve never done - to become things that we know we need to become - to do things that must be done.

Too much of the time we settle for what is decent and good, when we could have achieved what is better and far more effective. However, our passion becomes dormant by fear. It’s not necessarily that we primarily fear that we or someone else will get hurt, or that it won’t be as effective as we might envision, or that it won’t be received well by people for what we are doing, or that it’s not a good idea overall. Rather, we fear that we will fail. We define ourselves by what we do, and if we fail, then we must be a failure, and we don’t want to come to grips with that possibility. We don’t want to feel like a failure. We don’t want to feel like less of a person than what we feel right now. Maybe we’re on a plateau. Things are going great, and we don’t want this feeling of greatness to go away. Or maybe we’re threatening to hit rock bottom and we don’t want to do anything that will take us any lower than we already are. Maybe it’s just that we are overall just an insecure person portraying our insecurity through either perfectionism or absenteeism. In any case, we are defining ourselves by what we do, and this is a huge problem. Why? Because this is why Jesus came. This kind of fear threatens the work that the Gospel is meant to do in our lives.

The passion that we express throughout our lives is a good indicator as to where our faith is at. Both what we’re putting it in and how much of it we have. Many of us have poor faith in God, and that is why we don’t stick our necks out. We don’t believe God is going to give good things to His loved ones like He promised. Many of us put our faith in ourselves, and that is why we do nothing, because we know the one we are relying on isn’t a very respectable or powerful person. What we need is a change of mind.

Not a change of mind that makes us think much of ourselves, but rather a change of mind that makes us think much of God. And thinking much of God makes us think less of ourselves, and that which we do think of ourselves is proper. We think of ourselves as God thinks of us – powerless – but chosen and loved. We are Redeemed, Forgiven, Justified, Recipients of grace, and Heirs of the Kingdom. All of which makes us think even more of God and less of ourselves. God’s saving grace saves us not only from our flesh and damnation, but also of daily discouragement and depression that is inevitable without either a Christ-life or a false (uplifted) view of self. Though it is true that we are weak, that means nothing in light of Christ in you, the hope of glory, the power to save, and the power to become the children of God and perform His will in imitating Christ and carrying a great message of redemption to our nation through word and deed.

I was just reading last night in Francis Chan’s book, “Forgotten God” about the Holy Spirit. He made a good point when he said something to the effect of “Do we really believe that the same Holy Spirit that lives in us and works through us is the same Spirit Who had the power to raise Christ from the dead?”

I think he is on to something. Do we really believe that the Holy Spirit has the power that the Bible tells us He does? Do we really believe that He is part of our daily life like the Bible tells us He is? If the answer to both these questions is “yes,” then we have nothing to fear. We have no reason to hold back because we have no power. Why? Because we are confident in the power that God works so willingly in and through us. If the Holy Spirit can raise the dead, heal the sick, and bring souls, even atheists, to the saving knowledge of Christ, and bring a bunch of nobodies like Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, Peter, and Saul (Paul) to be some of the most influential personages in the history of Christianity, He can certainly help us be the people we know we should be and do the things we know we should do. We can proclaim God’s redemption with boldness. We can do our work in our workplace with confidence that it is worth something to God and He can make it bare whatever fruit He wants it to. We can build the Christ-like character that we know God wants us to have. We can be the mother, father, husband, or wife that God wants us to be. We can go out and serve our community knowing that our works are not in vain, though we are but a speck. The Spirit works effectually in and through us, and we need not hold back in fear that we will just be wasting our time and efforts because of our frailty and impotence. Doesn’t God choose the weak to lead the strong? We don’t have to expect that we have to change the world. God will. And He will use us however He chooses, and He will make our efforts come together for good to those who love Him, and who are the called, according to His purposes. Stop being so self-absorbed and believe that God is who He says He is and that He really does know you and use you. If you’re going to succeed, you have to be willing to be a failure, and then get up and move on to more grace-driven, Christ-magnifying effort.

Let Him Be Accursed!


Galatians 1:8-9 presents a very powerful message of separation – a message that, through a great lack of down-to-earthedness, can be used to preach the message of complete separation from anyone who might believe and teach a gospel contrary to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that over-earthed preacher would then go to tell you about people groups and religions that you should have no communication with ever.

However, I believe that this interpretation also is a false application of a true Gospel. And here is why.

First, this passage must be taken into consideration in the context of the whole book. It seems that Paul has one central message in this book. Any doctrine that he might be expounding comes down to one focus: what is the true, undefiled Gospel? The Galatians had been saved out of idolatry, and had, since their salvation, been infiltrated by what seems to be Judaism, that is, salvation and acceptance into God's covenant community cannot be had apart from the law. It is this heresy that has caused Paul to get hot-tempered with the Galatians.

I do not have the time to expound upon the entire book of Galatians. It is important to know that this church had apparently become overcome by the heresy of commandment or works-related salvation, and were not trusting in the satisfaction that Christ achieved for them in His death and resurrection, and His fulfillment of the law. And that was their fault for which Paul rebukes them. Do you know anyone who theologically or practically believes that we must adhere to certain commandments in order to be saved? Do you know anyone who believes, theologically or practically, that one cannot really get to know God unless he walks according to certain guidelines, traditions, or standards? If you really take Galatians 1:8-9 to its utmost extreme, you could certainly justify shunning these people. But what we’d be doing is shunning basically the entire world. Even many who attend our own churches.

So how are we supposed to apply these verses? When it comes to my real-life encounters, how do I walk in line with Paul’s serious claims against works-centered believers and messengers?

First, we must understand the perspective of Paul. He had put much effort into this church. He had taught them the Gospel and probably viewed them as his spiritual children, much like the Corinthian church, which had also been saved out of idolatry and struggled with flesh-centered spirituality. With both the Galatians and the Corinthians, Paul dealt very harshly because of their acceptance of practical and theological heresies. Paul deals harshly with the Galatians here to emphasize the error of their ways and their immediate need to reject the false teaching that had so quickly crept into their assembly. They had to get serious about their faith in Christ, and get serious now. It wasn’t that he was teaching the universal doctrine of relational separation from anyone who is not redeemed by grace through faith. Rather, the Galatians needed an extra dose of urgency about them concerning their faith. Chances are, there were still teachers of Judaism among them that the Galatians were treating as one of their own, and their spiritual leaders. The Galatians had to remove them from their place of influence and return to pure Gospel as a church community. Those who would not return from Judaism would need to be rejected from the community as well. The leaven had to be purged.

Does this mean that we are Biblically obligated to be separatists from any sign of theological impurity?

The second point addresses this. The first point can be illustrated thus: The Galatians had a bad case of a plague. The only way they were going to get better was to remove themselves from any means by which they could get any sicker. They were put on bed rest and needed to be extra-conscious about their surroundings so they could get better ASAP. And some of us need a similar prescription. But that’s not my point. We don’t always need bed rest, and to have our attention stuck on what kind of teaching we are getting, though we should always aware, walking “circumspectly,” continually aware of our surroundings. But our awareness does not have to always be pin-pointed on who we need to separate from. Countless passages have the bulls-eye on unity. In many passages, the focus is not who to separate from, but who to love and accept. But this was not the message the Galatians needed to hear at the moment. They were having an internal crisis, and Paul needed to address this crisis. So the second point is this: Typically, if someone is coming to you to teach you the “truth” that they know you need to hear, but is not the truth of the Gospel, they will typically be one who is unable to be convinced otherwise. Many people are scorners. A couple days ago while I was at work, a couple men came to our house and attempted to convince my wife of the “newly revealed doctrine” of some sort of “holy mother, the bride of Christ,” and Kristin needed to come to a bible study to be given the forgotten truth of this "holy mother" (all expletives aside). The first thing that came to my mind was “Oh boy. Just what we need. Another cult.” Generally, cult leaders are not convincible. They have become scorners to the truth. The Judaizers knew the Gospel that the Galatians had been taught and were attempting to convince them otherwise. It was not uncommon for Judaizers to follow Paul on his journeys and attempt to deceive the cities Paul was teaching at during and after Paul was there. These Judaizers would have been scorners. Proverbs gives us some wisdom about scorners:

9:7 – “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse.”

19:25 – “Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence.”

21:11 – “When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.”

Solomon knew a thing or two about scorners. They are hard and unreachable. And the best way to handle them is to deal harshly with them, so, if not for their own good, others might benefit from the severe handling of these people and be brought to wisdom. The Galatians were fresh in the faith. They were “simple,” and were able to become wise unto the Gospel. The Judaizers had heard the Gospel, rejected it, and taught otherwise (cf. Psalm 1).

So I think we can conclude that the harshness of Paul’s tone was for 2 reasons: 1. to give the Galatians a sense of urgency in expelling the false teachers from their midst, and 2. to bring them back to the spiritual wisdom of the Gospel, rather than the fleshly wisdom being preached to them.

So how do we respond to this passage?

Well, first, we interpret it in its own context and do not draw out application that was never intended to be drawn out. Applying something in a way that was not the intent typically leads toward unnecessary quarrelling, hurt, separation, and works-centered sanctification at some point. The intent of the Scripture is all we need. We do not need to add our opinions to it to make it more complete or applicable. Second, we allow ourselves to be influenced by Paul’s sense of urgency toward the need for a pure, deliberate Gospel. Third, we need to understand that Paul is not calling all men everywhere to flee any person or group of people who does not believe what we believe. How are we to fulfill the great commission? How are we to edify believers? How are we to get involved in our communities? We need to convince people of the Gospel, both Christians and non-Christians. You don’t do this by separating from everyone relationally. There is a place for rejecting individuals, but this isn’t the focus. Throughout Scripture, we see God acting as the redeemer. We see God acting as the Great Puritan of His creation. And He uses His Church, the Body of Christ, to do this. When we see ourselves primarily as separatists, we see ourselves as segmented from the character and intent of God. He cannot look upon evil, but yet he invites sinners to enter into His kingdom. He cannot fellowship with evil, yet Christ ate with sinners. He is a just judge who rightfully condemns some, but also rightfully redeems others, all of which are sinners. God is not a one-sided judge, and we should not be either. If the person is reachable, then reach them. Build a relationship with them. Do not reject someone who you have not known. How can you judge them to be a scoffer if you do not know them? Get it through your head – people are fleshly! People are going to be wrong! So toil and sweat to bring them to the truth. It’s a sticky situation when you encounter the sinners of the world like yourself, and have to decide who to build a relationship with and who to reject. We must trust in the Spirit to give us wisdom. There are people we need to reject and keep away from, and advise others to keep away from them, but we should not do so easily. It should be a tough decision. Very few personal decisions are easy. If you tend toward easy-rejectism, you should check yourself. See yourself more a “reacher” than a “rejecter.” After all, isn’t that what God is to you? And He has every reason in His world to reject you.

God’s Judgment.


We hear its immanency preached. We read about it in Scripture. The message of the coming judgment of God hits us with an almost exclusively negative and undesirable punch to the gut. But should it? When we hear the words “judgment” and “God” in the same conversation, is it right to then immediately picture a huge 2x4 with nails sticking out of it swinging in our direction?

Let’s take a walk through a bit of how the Bible talks about judgment.

There are plenty of passages in Scripture that carry the tone of Matthew here: “But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for the land of Sodom than for you,” and “I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” And these types of passages do teach us a great message about the purity that God demands and the seriousness of sin. This is a severe problem in American culture, and any God-fearing individual should give this message its proper place in his/her life. However, a Biblical survey of the doctrine of judgment does not stop at this message. This message leads us to fear God and plead for His mercy. And truly God is a God who deserves to be feared, and we can ask for nothing but mercy. But the Bible does not just tell us that God is a God Who is to be feared. He is also a God Who is to be loved, and a Father who can rightfully be called Abba.

See these passages below:

John 5: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

John 9: “Jesus said, ‘for judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’”

Romans 5: “And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.”

1 John 4: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

From these passages we can make the following conclusions about God’s judgment:

1. God’s judgment works in two directions – to death and to life. Without God’s judgment, we would never know life.

2. God’s judgment gives sight to the lowly minded and blindness to the high-minded. Without God’s judgment, we could never be enlightened to truth in Christ.

3. God’s judgment brings both condemnation and justification. Without God’s judgment, we would never be justified.

4. God’s judgment gives grace its potency. God judges sin, and our sin makes us unworthy of God’s acceptance. But God gave us a Redeemer who God has judged to be acceptable, on whose behalf we are made acceptable through the justification of faith. Without God’s judgment, we could never know grace.

5. God’s judgment is based on our association with Christ. If He is not our Savior, then we should fear the judgment. If He is our Savior, we have no need to fear the judgment, as the Father sees us as He sees Christ. We are guilty or guilt-free based on our association with Christ, rather than our association with our deeds. Without God’s judgment, we would never be free from our guilt, and we would never know sanctification in the love of God.

We CANNOT preach judgment properly without preaching the grace of God in judgment. Judgment for the believer is actually a very glorious and exciting time! Will anything really be better than the moment when God judges us and says “well done my good and faithful servant”? Without God’s judgment, we would never hear these intimate words of acceptance.

How then shall we live?

We must never forget that judgment is a two-way street. When we remember this, it impacts our walk with God, our view of Scriptures, and our interaction with the world around us.

1. We develop confidence in Christ’s propitiation. Therefore, we develop stability in our daily efforts to please Him, knowing that these works are not what makes us acceptable. We can love Him unconditionally because of His absolute faithfulness to us in spite of our daily failures. He has already passed judgment on us in Christ. We need not strive to gain His love. Rather, we work to please Him because of the grace He has shed upon us. When we falter, it is because we have taken His judgment for granted.

2. When we read the Word, we see our justification everywhere. A page is not turned where we do not see God’s justifying grace spelled out for us. Therefore, we are constantly encouraged in our faith to keep up the good fight for the one who has loved us, even though He didn’t have to, nor did He have to provide a Substitute and Atonement for our sins. If judgment were only to be feared, we would take no pleasure in His Gospel. But we can take pleasure in Him because His judgment is good, and teaches of a life and hope that we do not deserve.

3. When we become tuned into God’s gracious judgment, we too become gracious in our judgment of others. Not that we do not judge. We are meant to judge. But our judgment is discernment between good and evil. We praise and promote what is good, and we condemn and lead people away from what is evil, in agreement with God’s judgment. We are not critical of all men everywhere. We are quick to praise, but also quick to defend God’s stated truth, and promote sanctification in our churches, and salvation in our communities, because we have responded to God’s judgment of us and wish for others to share in our glorious judgment. We walk humbly among men, knowing that we too are in need of God’s grace. We for whom Christ died. Nothing makes us more acceptable to God, as we are all looked upon by the same Father who has given us the same Christ and works through us by the same Spirit. We judge ourselves when we find ourselves more acceptable and someone else less acceptable based on the merit of personal decorum. In a world where good judgment was practiced by all men, no church would die. No church would split. No family would shatter. There would be no reviling comments on blogs. There WOULD still be arguments, disagreements, and differences. However these would not lead to segmentation, but rather true love, as our weaker love is practiced through confrontation so that it becomes strong.

4. God’s judgment allows true hospitality to exist in all believers’ houses. Since God has judged us all to be sinners, but has then provided a redeemer for all men, we are all judged on the merit of the same standard: Christ’s atonement, which God has judged to be acceptable, thereby judging us to be acceptable due to the justification of faith in the Redeemer. Seeing that we have a common foundation for God’s love, we have a common foundation for brotherly love and missional involvement. If God has redeemed that man, he is your brother, and is worthy of your acceptance. If that person is not redeemed, then that person is still your equal, as you are no better due to your merit. And he has a great need that you are able to provide. And you have a true joy, given by Christ, that reveals the quality of your redemption. Let it shine in the darkness! True Christian hospitality is hard when we are not consumed with Christ. Some have a special gift for hospitality, and profitable communion just seems natural to them. But we are all given grace, which is the basis for deep relationship. What we need is not more dinners or conversation pieces. What we need is more of Jesus and more involvement in people’s lives on a spiritual level. Christian brotherhood does not exist to give more substance to our conversations about the weather, but to give more substance, abundance, and guidance to our walks with God. We can, because of God’s judgment, fellowship with people on a deeper, more personal level than we do now. We are all part of the fallen world that God is in the business of redeeming. We all naturally have something in common, and this is often the hard part of being hospitable-finding something in common to commune about. Like I said, we need to be consumed with Christ. Then we will see how we cannot so easily run out of things to talk about. And we musn't forget that hospitality is not all about talking. It's about serving. It's about others. Hospitality is essentially practical Christianity. It is where theology hits our hands. It's about opening up our livelihood to others, resembling God opening up His Kingdom for us. We make a place for others where they can feel accepted and at home, as God does for us. But in order to do that, we must agree with God's judgment. In order to really feel like that are worthy partakers of our livelihood, we must see others as God sees them. No more lost than we were, and no less acceptable than we are. Loved, cherished, and sought out. God loves us not because we are lovable, but because it is His character to love. And He passes that character on to us as we are progressively sanctified.

I hope this brief perspective on judgment is helpful. It’s part of the Gospel. The Gospel cannot be preached apart from judgment. It is involved in any profitable and Biblical discussion of our sin and our Savior, both of which should be as much of a center piece in our lives as the TV is in our living rooms (ok, that was a little sarcastic). Truth be told, we cannot really live without having a proper understanding of judgment.

I feel that I have been deceived concerning grace. I read blogs and articles and listen to messages that all talk about grace, yet grace is rarely defined per the applications that they draw from it. I recently tweeted the following statement (@DavePCochran):


“Responsive grace doesn't produce weak expectations and say it's all good in the hood. It relates as a fellow sinner without superiority.”

I must admit that the statement was a bit hypocritical. I’m a bit ticked off that I have been lead astray, and part of me wants to blame those who have influenced me. And not that any of the preachers that have produced the messages that I’ve been influenced by were really being deceitful. It’s just what I got out of it due to a severe lack of definition. So I feel it is necessary for my own sake, and to perhaps even edify any who would read this post, to give a bit of definition of grace as it would pertain to our interaction with other people.

In my tweet, I mentioned “responsive grace.” By this I mean the grace that we are to have to other men because of the grace shed so freely to us by Christ. Many may have said “because of the grace shed so freely to us on the cross,” but I don’t believe that was the only time grace was propelled toward us. I believe it is given every day. “For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.” The standard is set high. So high than no man or woman has ever reached it. And truly it is spoken that God’s grace abounded in Christ’s death for us: “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” But God’s grace continues: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”

And this grace produces a type of life within us. This is what I call “responsive grace.” It is the grace that produces abundant life through us that affects how we live and how we see ourselves and how we see and interact with other people. Consider the following passages that illustrate this:

“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.”

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith…”

“But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God”

“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God”

“But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also.” (“this act” being giving)

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

This list could go on and on. But I think we can conclude from these passages that when we are saved by grace, it is not just our eternity that is redeemed, but also our life. This is daily, responsive grace. We live our life in response to the grace that was shed upon us on the cross, and the grace that is continually shed upon us as the living Christ mediates on our behalf before the Father and works in and through us by the Spirit by the will and work of the Father (likewise we are baptized into Christ at salvation).

Much of what I’ve heard about grace has lead towards a great deceit among Christians. Not because it leads us toward sin, but because it leads us towards accepting sin in others as just another way that Christ’s grace allows us to differ. We allow ourselves to live as though we don’t have to focus on purity in ourselves or others. Christ has covered all sins, so we don’t have to cover it in our edification towards others. We can just boast in Christ’s freeing grace and not deal with seeing people live purely in this world. We boast in that we are acceptable because of Christ’s redemption, and not because of works, which is true, but we then go to conclude through our lack of proper edification that the way we live our lives is only between us and our God, and we need not presume upon others that they have improper motives or have set the bar too low for themselves. I’m not saying that we all need to repent of our CCM. I personally think that some standards do not need to be had by all people. But we should not keep our relationships so shallow so as to never be able to talk to a person about their motives, and just leave it between them and God. God has, by His grace, left us with a great Church to edify itself and bring itself up in the grace of God. He has left us to be our brothers’ keepers. So we must, according to the grace of God, keep our brothers in check before God, in our actions, attitudes, and motives. Especially the latter two, as those are the things that bring about our actions.

But this is not to say that we are to be critical of all works of men. Truly at some point we cannot know the ins and outs of everyone’s relationship with God. We cannot expect to have all answers for all men. We cannot, according to grace, believe that we have it all figured out, and that the standards that we walk according to are the universal standards that all men have to live by. We have to understand that we too are weak. We need our own barriers to keep us from the sins that easily beset us. Yet our besetting sins are not the same as someone else’s. Are you drawn into the self-sufficient rebellion of the rock culture? Then stay away from certain types of CCM. But not all people are likewise drawn, and do not need the same barrier that you need. Understand that you are weak. Understand that they are weak. Understand that, since you are weak, you have an understanding of the world around you that has holes in it. While you are redeemed by Christ’s blood, your walk and worldview are still being redeemed! It’s only natural to be wrong. And we must boast in our weaknesses, for in them is the grace of God most clearly displayed. But we focus too much on being strong…on being right…on being whole…as if God’s grace needs us to work for it. No, rather, humble yourself under God’s grace. Boast in your weaknesses because of God’s strength, yet strive with all men to live justly in this life, and to seek more and more daily grace and peace with our God. We cannot sacrifice purity for grace. Nor can we sacrifice grace for purity. They serve each other. And we serve men. It is a glorious existence when you understand that God’s will does not depend on you, and that you are merely a speck in this world. Because then you really see the glory of God’s work, and it becomes less about you and more about Him. Some are depressed by the fact that they never be anything more than a speck, but only because they want to be great. Rather, be consumed by God’s greatness and boast in His grace toward you. While you do this, edify all men to live holy and upright lives before their God. Get intimate with the Church so that you might edify their souls, and not just their actions. Do not judge as though you see all things in black and white. You only deceive yourself. Rather, see to it that in your edification you and God are in agreement concerning truth. Speak nothing as “thus saith the Lord” if the Lord did not thus say, yet what the Lord has spoken, speak to all men for their salvation and edification in a holy fear of God, knowing that one day you will give account for the things that you have and have not said. Often it is the things that we do not say “in the name of grace, peace, and humility” that are the most hurtful.

Responsive grace changes your life. Responsive grace seeks to change other people’s lives. Do not “leave it up to God.” Realize that, while it is all up to God, He has, according to His sovereignty, purposefully set up the Church to edify itself through the grace that He gives it. Leaving it up to God means acknowledging that He has given us as a means of edification to the Church. So get off your lazy, scared rump and get out there and speak the bold truth…in grace.

I heard recently that the most frequent command in the Bible is “fear not.” I know Jesus said it. I know it was repeated over and over in the Old Testament. I did a quick search and found “Do not fear,” “Do not be afraid,” and “Fear not” are stated 102 times. The Father said it, Jesus said it, prophets said it, and angels said it – all under the authority of God. Why such an emphasis on fear?

While one cannot base the importance of a subject entirely upon how often it is brought up vs. something else that perhaps isn’t brought up quite as much, I think that this should make us think, and acknowledge that it is at very least worth our meditation. As I try to soak in this apparent priority of Scripture, I cannot help but think that, when we fear, we are saying something about God.

One of these days I will go through Scripture and do a systematic, biblical, and practical theology study of fatherhood, but right now I’m just putting down some quick thoughts.

Think about this. Perhaps this will resonate within you deeper if you are a father. As a father, one of our key responsibilities is to protect our children, be there for them, commit yourself to their well-being and provide them with an atmosphere within which they can thrive, which involves training, teaching, and practical application. God is not bound to the “how to be a good dad” books. But where do these foundational father qualities come from? My guess is – the first Father. Now, when a young child is fearful, where do they run? You…at least when you’re around. Why? Because you can do something about it. Once they are in your arms, their fears are quenched.

God says to us, “Fear not, for I am with you” in a multitude of different ways.

When we fear, we tell God either 1. No, you’re not with me, 2. You can’t do anything about it, or 3. You’re not going to do anything about it. Ultimately, when we fear, we allow a false doctrine of God to enter our lives. Either that 1. He’s absent from our lives and we are on our own, 2. He has no control over our situation, or 3. He doesn’t care.

I think that most of the time, whether we say it ver batim or not, we fall to #1 practically. We are consumed with our own lives, with buying and selling, with eating, drinking, and making merry, that we don’t really walk with God or acclimate ourselves to His daily presence. Since we have become so accustom to running our own lives, tragedy sends us running back into our own arms, only to find an impotent mess. One really is the loneliest number at those times. Most other times we love it, because being one means you get to make your own decisions and control your own little world. But being one is also the place where we find our deepest regret and fears. Fear comes from unremitting oneness.

“I am with you” should thread our days together. When we cut that thread, our lives will unravel. And when we walk with God, He does not just make our world to involve 2 (or 4, however you count it), but He comes with an entire Church, which He has established to represent His Body! We can never be alone when God is really near. And with an incomprehensible peace that comes from an intimate knowledge of His presence and power, how can we fear?

No wonder fear is taken so seriously in Scripture.

My wife and I enjoy many things in life. One of those things is Starbucks Coffee. Of course, it's not always the "coffee" in particular that we enjoy. I personally enjoy a nice cafe mocha from time to time. One of the things that Kristin sometimes picks on me about is my tendency to never savor my drink. Between the time the drive through attendant hands me my drink and the time we exit the parking lot, about half my drink is already gone. I have to force myself not to down the entire thing in a matter of just a few minutes. And even then, by the time I'm finished with my drink, Kristin has almost finished her third sip. She says to me "you know, if you slowed down and savored your drink, you might actually remember it enough to say you enjoyed it!" And she's right.
People do tend to enjoy things more when they savor them. And in the present fast-paced culture, people don't stop to smell the roses very often. We have been wired to run rather than sit. If we do sit, it has to be a deliberate attempt that sometimes seems awkward and out of place with the rest of life. And unfortunately our pocket books reap the harvest of sorrows, planted and watered by our non-stop, something-always-needs-done, always-need-something-new-in-my-life ambitions. We could go on for days talking about things we could stop and savor. But I want to talk about spending.
Matt Chandler says it well: "New stuff is nice. It’s almost intoxicating, isn’t it? There is an emotive response to trinkets and toys. People can almost get a high from new stuff. In this day and age, what’s new becomes old very, very quickly. Therefore, the high of what is new rarely even wears off before it is replaced with something newer." You can read the full article here.
For some of us, spending is to money what my consumption is to Starbucks. Quick, insatiable, and not fully appreciated. Our quality of life depreciates when we forget to stop and appreciate what we already have. If you want an absolutely free and 100% successful way to increase your quality of life, sit and savor the life that God has already provided for you, any day, any time. If you want an expensive way that has varying degrees of success that generally end up on Craigslist after a while, go and buy some more stuff.
We have much, and we still want much. We spend much, but love little. We continually chase after what could be without even appreciating what currently is. And our pocket books feel it. Some of us are like financial gluttons. Always taking in. Remember that gluttons are not always fat. You don't have to have a ton of stuff to be financially irresponsible and immoderate. You don't have to be in debt. You just have to be dissatisfied and unappreciative and always minding MORE. The appreciative person does not make himself appreciative by getting things he thinks he will appreciate. The appreciative person is appreciative because of who he is.
For many of us, we wonder "how do I become appreciative?" and we ask with the same mindset that is always trying to get more and get better...fast. It's like the person who "gets saved," not because he's been impressed upon by the Spirit who causes us to love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but because any person who loves himself and has any flicker of common sense will do whatever it takes in his power to flee eternal pain and torture. That's not genuine. We want the switch or the pill that will make it all better so we can live our best life now and then move on to the next thing that will help us live an even better life now, free from worry and full of comfort. We have no intention of appreciating anything. It's just one more loose end that is added to our list of necessary improvements that we must attain in order to be happy.
So how do you genuinely learn to appreciate life? First, know that It Takes Time! Second, understand that the answer is directly related to the Gospel. You must cease from works. You must cling to Christ. You must be saturated with the truth that tells us that in Christ we have all that is necessary for LIFE and GODLINESS, and that we do not have to add anything to the pot. For some of us, this means we need a new definition for "necessary." But in any case, it takes a lot of hard, deliberate effort to first just sit down and try to appreciate things and to just cease from works. It's oxymoronic how we complain about having too much to do, but we still refuse to just sit. It's like we trap ourselves in a downward spiral of complaining and too much work and dissatisfaction by merely refusing to savor the life we do have. People easily miss the hand of God in creation. We too often miss the hand of God in our lives. Stop, take a look around, and cease from your works - from your gaining and adding and calculating and striving and stressing. The Gospel life really does provide rest for weary souls. It's surprising how much of an impact it will have on your finances too!

I was perusing website the other day, compliments of a like-minded friend of mine, and came across a number of articles that set me off. This one in particular caught my attention because of the subtlety of its deceit. Most people can spot blatant falsehood, and therefore I find a great necessity to speak out concerning falsehood that is not so blatant. What makes this hard is that due to the less obvious nature of the falsehood, I run the risk of tossing grace to the side and saying “thus saith the Lord” when the Lord has not said thus. But in this case, I feel I am justified in this written form of my anger. For reference, you can read the article for yourself HERE.


My first point is not especially critical to me, however it is something that annoys me from time to time when people say it. The writer says “Sunday is a very important day. It is the Lord’s Day and is when so much spiritual work is accomplished in the lives of God’s people as well as the unconverted.” I hate this. Not that God does work in people’s lives on Sundays, but that Sunday is so often set apart as “God’s day” as if God doesn’t really work as much throughout the other days of the week. Sure, it’s the day when Pastor preaches. Sure it’s the day when we all congregate. These are great things. But 1. The church should be congregating on their own in brotherly love, biblically, any and every day of the week. And 2. The day the Word is preached is no better than the days that the Word is lived out or experienced on a more personal level through the reading of the individuals. In short, Sunday is NOT set apart as the Lord’s day. Every day is set apart the Lord’s day.

Second, he blames Sunday ill spirits on the devil: “Satan wants to affect my attitude so as to affect the preaching of the Word of God.” The devil is not ultimately responsible. Too many people attribute their sins to the devil, when in reality it’s just their own immoderate, unchecked flesh. And this flesh continues to go unchecked as long as you think it’s the devil pushing you over the edge. Does the devil go throughout the earth seeking to devour? Yes. But I really believe that most of our sins are not due to his involvement. They are due to our own futility. Isn’t it the heart of man that is deceitful and desperately wicked? So stop blaming the devil.

This is just from the introduction. And granted, I think the author has good intentions for writing this article. Doubtless he wants pastors to be the best they can be when they are preaching the Word. But my problem is with his foundations. One of these foundations is the level of involvement the devil has on our attitudes. I think he is over the top. Like I said above, I believe that our own heart has a far greater affect on our attitudes than the devil does.

That said, you can see where the rest of this is coming from.

The author suggests several points throughout the article that emphasize running from any external influence that might aggravate your spirit. But is it not better to have the kind of spirit that is not so easily aggravated in the first place? Are you seriously angered to the point that you can’t properly minister the Word because you can’t find your belt or shoes? Then you’ve got problems! The author is right that “Preparation brings confidence.” But sometimes things happen that are beyond the control of our preparations. These times are “tea bag” times. They are the hot waters that reveal what’s inside of us. If that is ugly, then you are the one with the problem, not Satan. And this I believe is the overwhelming false premise of this article. Reactions come from within, initiated by things that are without. They are not initially caused by what is outside of us. Reference my previous blog about immaturity and moderation for more on this. Most of the points this author makes are actually pretty good points…if you’re living according to the flesh. They are good external restraints. But they are external restraints that overlook the power of the flesh and the need for a deeper spiritual walk.

The second great fallacy of this article is very emphasis of a few of his points. He’s basically saying “stay away from people.” Really? In order to handle the Word effectively I have to stay away from people because they might exacerbate my attitude? Put on your man pants (or, gird up your loins). Stop being so delicate, because it’s ruining your cross-centered ministry. And if I’m not mistaken, the same Word tells us to be intimately involved with people. The same Word emphasizes personal exhortation, not proper pulpit pounding. Being personally involved with people, pointing them towards Christ, is your first priority. Not the pulpit. The pulpit is great, and we need to hear a properly divided Word. But this cannot be separated from being personal! Referencing point 6, no conversation is “unnecessary.” Even the casual ones are necessary. Every conversation is a chance to edify, even the ones that start out about yesterday’s game or the weather. Your tactic is not to flee conversations that might distract you from God’s Word, but to be the kind of person who reflects God’s Word even during these conversations.

So, in conclusion, tend to your relationship with Christ rather than cover up your personal failures with these boundaries.

Moderation.


I think that a sign of maturity is an increased tendency to show moderation. I think of college kids who consistently drink their hearts out, run up their credit card bills with incessant expenditures, and drown out homework with their insatiable thirst for video games. Not to mention social interaction (which varies in degrees of morality). Why is this problem with moderation such a popular problem in college? Because college, for many, is a place where immaturity goes mostly unchecked and their lifestyles are moderated by nothing better than the wind.

But college students are not my primary focus. I use them as an example of moderation being a soul mate of maturity. Moderation is an issue from birth until death. My one-and-a-half year old daughter does not know when to stop eating snacks, and neither do many adults. They simply will not moderate themselves. The ability to say “no” to one’s self is a sure sign of some sort of maturity. On the flip side, the inability to say “no” is a sure sign of some sort of immaturity. And this moderation is not just something that deals with food and drink, but a plethora of life issues. Take anger for example. Some people cannot moderate their anger. Is this related to a chemical imbalance? Maybe it is sometimes, but probably not in your case. I believe it is mostly a sign of immaturity. You may be good at business, a great pastor, extremely intelligent, or awesome working with people. But if you cannot moderate your emotions, you yet have immaturity to deal with. If you always take things personally, you struggle moderating your emotions. You allow your emotions to convince you of whatever they say.

I would here define immaturity as it pertains to this lack of moderation as the inability to react to your surroundings in any way other than what comes naturally according to the flesh. 1 Corinthians 2:6-7 shows that maturity is something that surpasses the natural man: “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” Paul paints a beautiful picture of maturity in Philippians 3:12-21. He speaks of “pressing on” and an “upward call.” He calls the “mature” to do the same, rather than minding earthly things like those who make their belly to be their god. Who is this person? The person who follows natural passions. This same person is the person whose end is destruction. But we have a higher calling. Maturity is not just a social attainment. It is not graduating to the adult table at thanksgiving gatherings. It is not earning a master’s degree in something awesome, getting married and having kids, or being voted in as an elder by the laying on of hands. Maturity, as defined by Hebrews 5:14, is trained discernment which distinguishes between good and evil, aka being “skilled in the word of righteousness.” It separates between the natural and the spiritual and chooses what is spiritual. Now this “skillfulness” is not a skillfulness that is attained through college Bible degrees or becoming efficient in the arena of blogs, commentaries, Bible versions, Greek, Hebrew, public speaking, management, or any other element attainable by any human whether lead by the Spirit or not. This skillfulness is not known by the things of the flesh. It is only known by those in a thriving walk in the Spirit.

Paul uses his own personal example as an illustration of moderation in 1 Corinthians 9. In Verses 25-27 he tells us that he practices self-control in all things. He does everything he does deliberately. He does not just let himself “be Paul” and follow every feeling and desire. He says this would disqualify him. And perhaps this disqualification would not necessarily be because of one thing in particular that he did that got him “kicked out of the race.” But just like any athlete, if your lifestyle is not conducive to a victorious run, you will never be the type of person who is going to do well. You will never accomplish anything worthwhile, at least not to the extent that you are intended to had you lived in the Spirit and mastered your flesh. While accomplishment does not bring a Spirit filled life, a Spirit filled life will undoubtedly bring accomplishment of some sort. And I believe a lot of Christians are living mediocre lives because they simply are not mature due to following what is natural for them to feel and do.

“Be yourself” is certainly a trendy saying these days. The saying has even made it into a 7up slogan: “Be refreshing. Be yourself. Be 7up.” While there is truth that can be applied to “be yourself,” ironically enough, I’m sure the saying, inhibited by the flesh, has also kept many from coming to know Jesus. I’m not talking about people are not accepting Christ because of the philosophy. I’m talking about Christians not winning other people to Christ because they are more into “being themselves” (natural) than being the redeemed (spiritual). Don’t get me wrong…I believe you should express yourself in the way God made you. You should let your personality shine. But I believe that the only goodness found in this is if you are walking in the Spirit Who makes all things new, Who redeems the fallen and sanctifies the chosen. There is nothing good about your personality if its fruits are bitter, rotten, and useless. But this is what our expressionistic culture is emphasizing. Even if you are immoral and evil or even just an average floater who just wants to get by, as long as you stay true to who you are and accept yourself, you’re good to go. And Christians are adopting this philosophy.

The truth is this: Christ takes you in. Christ loves you. If you are born again, then Christ has redeemed you and set you free to be you without reproach. You once were lost and condemned buy now you are found and received. Nothing will separate you from the great love of God. But Christ’s intent is to renew you day in and day out! You cannot glory in your immaturity (fleshliness) and say you are an active disciple of Christ at the same time. But yet we justify our emotional instability or our gluttony (of food and of all other immoderate indulgences). These are the very things that are keeping us from maturing in Christ. These are the very things that are keeping us from knowing fullness in Christ.

So examine your steps – do you find yourself lacking moderation in various areas of your life? TV? Internet (not just the cites, but the frequency)? Food? Cell phone? Other types of addictions? Well, there really is one answer. Follow Paul as he follows Christ. Say no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit. Practice this day in and day out. Simply put, but seemingly impossible to do! But that’s where consistency joins the battle. No athlete ever won because he woke up early one day, did his 50 push-ups and sit-ups, jogged around the block, and then went out and took a Marathon by storm. Spiritual maturity is found in being unnatural. In other words, being who you are in Christ. Claiming your new identity and forgetting those things which are behind you. That is, the things of the flesh.

I’ve gotten a little off-topic. But I had to talk about the flesh. You can’t discuss moderation properly without talking about the flesh.

We could go on and on about how moderation affects the very details of our lives. Spiritual growth includes moderation. Moderation affects our money and time management, shopping experiences, parenting, marriage, emotional stability, daily activities, diet, and an abundance of other facets of our lives. So many of our problems could be bypassed if we’d only walk in the Spirit! We do not need therapy for these areas of our lives. We need the Gospel that gives us a new life in Christ and consistently reminds us of this life and enables us to live this life day by day – the Spiritual life!

But one must still ask the question: “What’s the difference between spiritual moderation and fleshly moderation?” Doubtless there are many people outside-the-camp that live moderate lives, right? Sure there are. Just like how there are unsaved individuals who love their families and neighbors. There is a part of us that can still reflect God’s nature in which we were created. But I would say the difference is this: while you can be planted and watered in the flesh, you remain fleshly until God gives the increase. If you are the redeemed, God will give a flesh-mystifying increase to your life. There will be an effectual swell in both the inner man and the outer affects of your work because God is working for you. Isn’t that amazing? God works for you, in you, and through you unto His glory. God doesn’t do this for anybody else. He gives you His increase. Justifying our immaturity is like turning down a stock that has a consistent past of high return on your investment. Of course in this case it is God which works in us both to will and to do His pleasure. Even better. He gives us the money and then gives us the world’s greatest stocks. So tell me again, why do we wallow in the defeated shame of our immature flesh?

I’ve been doing some thinking about the subject of “real life.” I’ve held many conversations with people about this subject, and generally those conversations are recollections of past situations where we felt there may have been some excessive sheltering or brainwashing going on, or in some way our surroundings were not what we preferred our life to be comprised of. We felt needlessly restricted. We felt like captives in one way or another. After a lengthy description of that life, the conversations turn the page to the chapter entitled “but then I entered REAL life.” I was thinking about the meaning of “real.” Were we incorrectly defining “real” during those conversations? Was it just a matter of semantics? I will be dealing with “dreams” and “real life” in a fairly broad sense, as I do not want to paint everyone’s picture. Make your own strokes on the canvas.
I think that I have had a bit of right and a bit of wrong in those discussions. What I am now realizing about my involvement in those conversations is that I was complaining way too much about something that was merely one season in a life that includes many seasons. Perhaps my ideals were and are correct. Perhaps the situation I was in was truly incorrectly guided by the institutions involved. But where do we find it really necessary to complain? Would I really have come to hold to what is ideal if I had not endured those seasons of life?
Bringing it back to the discussion of “real life” more specifically, I think we all have dreams about what we envision reality to look like, and a lot of those dreams generally are things that are not a part of present reality. And there is nothing wrong with dreaming. I believe God has created us to be creative - to create and develop our lives and to pursue progress. I believe that we are essentially built to build. And dreams are the first step. However, dreamers are often complainers. Complainers because their dreams are still nothing but dreams. How they think things should be is not how things are. They begin to feel that their proposed utopia is the only way where things are acceptable.
And I must say that I think I have a lot of dreams and visions for how things should be in various arenas of life. And here is where I find myself getting discouraged. I want things to be in order the way I order it. Often I find myself discouraged and discontent because what I want my life to be comprised of seems so far away. I begin to lose sight of all the good that God has already formed into my life. I complain about things of the past – a past that was handcrafted by God for my proper development. My present is where my past has brought me. And my present will take me to a future that God has already mapped out. “Real life” is the life God has already given you. You do not need to seek another reality. My wife often tells me “be fully where you are.” This is great advice. We must remember that fulfilling our dreams does not make life better. Only God is the author of our story. We need to be fully committed to whatever life God has us in right now. But do not forget that you are a creative being. Maybe our creativity will not bring us to build the second Eiffel Tower or have several pieces in the Louvre or write the next big novel series worthy of Hollywood. But our creativity, enabled and developed by God (and only trifled with by our own laziness) is just enough to be who we are meant to be in any season of life. Do you have dreams? Then press toward their fulfillment. Maybe things don’t always turn out the way we want them to. Maybe our situation isn’t ideal. But be the influence God has developed you to be in the situation He has put you in. Show the passion that everyone else is afraid to show. Say the things that everyone else probably thinks but is too afraid to say. If anything you will stir waters that need to be stirred. And sometimes that is enough. Sometimes the plan for our life is to be a water stirrer. It’s amazing what the broad, long term affects can be when waters are consistently stirred. Sure, maybe your immediate vision does not become anything. But you have done a lot more good than you think because you’ve gotten people thinking. You’ve gotten people accustomed to seeing someone show passion for something. And no matter your situation, passion is viral. It’s just a matter of time. And passion gets things done. Nobody cares what you have to say if you don’t show passion and put feet to your passion. You’ve seen it in various churches time and time again. It doesn’t matter what your pastor says. If he doesn’t seem to care that much about it, then it means very little to you. On the flip side, maybe you pastor just has one simple thing he wants to get across. It’s not studied out through hours of preparation. But it’s something he’s got a passion for. That is what you are prone to connect with. You aren’t going to connect with a message that, while perhaps put together professionally with all the historical background, exegetical enlightenment, and systematic development, still lacks genuine, unprocessed, unpracticed passion.
This is the person you should be. Spiritualize “grab life by the horns.” Put your back into it. Get serious about Christ. Get real with God. Get passionate about His kingdom. Get reconnected with your family. Get intimate with your church. Get involved in your surrounding community. Your consistency in these areas will grow over time, and as it does you will begin to realize that real life has been around you all along, and the ability to develop your dreams into reality has always been right there in front of you. It was just hiding behind all your complaining, laziness, and insecurity in your relationship with God - and His relationship with you.