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.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
My pastor was talking last night about Christ washing His disciples feet. I never really saw the symbol of Christ’s substitutionary atonement in it before. Usually when it’s preached, all I hear about is service, but God impressed the atonement on my heart yesterday. I mean, what did Christ mean when He told Peter “you don’t know what I’m doing now, but you will hereafter”? How do you preach that as simply service when it’s obvious that “later” refers to His sacrifice on the cross? Sure, Christ’s example here could be applied to every-day service, but only, in context, through the example of Christ taking upon Himself the form of a servant, and taking our place on the cross, becoming sin for man that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The foot-washing was not just gross. It was lowly. Just like His going to the cross for us. He took our lowly state upon Himself. If Christ does not wash our feet, we have no part in Him. In that sense, Christ tells Peter “if you don’t know what I’m doing here, then you don’t know me.” And Peter understood many more things after Christ ascended. Namely, that Christ took our shame upon Himself that He might nail it to the cross, and we bare it no more. One only needs his feet washed, that is, his shame. His filth. Christ took responsibility for our sin as our head; He took our responsibility as His own. We are no longer bound to the wages of our sin! Tullian Tchividjian said, “The Gospel frees you from the pressure of having to make something of yourself.” Truly, we are all we need to be in Christ. Our shame was already substituted. If you don’t believe this, you might as well believe in purgatory or some other means of after-the-fact purification. If you don’t believe in something like this, then why suffer guilt and shame? Even the law given to Levi to minister to the people of Israel was a law of peace. How much more then is the law of Christ a covenant of peace? Look to Jesus, not your shame or lowly estate! That which makes us lowly has been substituted with the righteousness of Christ! Take heart, buck up, and move on in your glorious estate.
Monday, March 07, 2011
This post is the product of something I've been thinking heavily on for the past few days. I'm going to try to articulate my feelings, which is not always easy. This has to do with being a husband and a father, both of which I am a novice at. First I will deal with being a father:
Malachi 4:4-6: "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rule that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
Many would take this reference to fatherhood and have it stand alone, preach a whole message on how fatheres should have a special bond with their kids and leave it at that. And fathers should have this special bond. But I think that, in context with the rest of what Malachi was just talking about, there is far more to this reference to fatherhood. If I remember right, this is the only reference to fatherhood in the book of Malachi. Why does He bring it up now at the end? Conclusions are usually summaries of the previous message. So what is Malachi summarizing? The big picture of Malachi is, in my opinion, "proper and holy adherence to the people's covenant relationship with God." So why does Malachi include fatherhood when summarizing this message? I will put this in terms of the Church, the bearers of the new covenant: because Fathers are foundational to the spiritual upbringing of their children, and therefore the Church. The way a father rears his children is symbolic of the health of the Church. When fathers take responsibility for their children, edifying them in a relationship with God, loving them, and providing for ALL their needs, they and the church flourish. This is not to say that children don't make their own choices, however many times children make those choices because the atmosphere that the fathers create in their home is not a Christ-centered one. Nor do the fathers take proper responsibily for their children. They put that on the church. The very church that rests on the fathers and husbands to be godly influences. It is not a godly influence to transfer your God-given responsibility to the church. You make up the church. You take responsibility. You, father, train your child up in a relationship with Christ. You have the sex talks with your sons and daughters. You confront them of sin and guide them in a way as to flush out sin with a deeper love for Christ. You teach them how to choose and develope good friendships. This is not the job of the sunday school teacher or the youth pastor. You are their dad. You take responsibility. When you don't, the church dies, dad by dad, child by child. Our covenant with Christ becomes a side-thought and a mockery. Legalism, dictatorships, and abuse are used to control families to make them what the father deems acceptable.
Perhaps a godly father will look like this, though I do not present prerequisites to fatherhood 101: he will read the bible aloud with his children. He will chat with them about practical applications of biblical truth. He will talk to them about life’s hard issues including sex, drugs, and relationships because he knows that if they are hard for him, they are impossible for his children. He will get involved in their lives, so that when they talk to him it is not like they are talking to a foreign dignitary who only drops in on their lives when there is a crisis or need for punishment. He will express God’s mercy and grace where necessary, and also express His chastisement where necessary. He will accept them as they are, but seek to help them mature and change, understanding that they, as well as he, are accountable to the same God. He will make his expectations known, but not be overbearing or unreasonable in them. In all things he will love his children from the inside out.
Now the husband is the head of his wife. And the quality of this headship is the discussion here. This is where I personally am the most involved. My daughter is 10 months old. She isn’t struggling with issues of sex, drugs, or relationships. She doesn’t even know English. Her biggest struggle right now is whether or not applesauce is right for her. Though I still need to be there for her and provide for her, most of my life’s communication will impact my wife. And here is where I have suffered the most conviction as of late.
I caught myself in a dangerous position. I have adopted the American mindset that a husband and wife are co-heads. We are a team that shares all responsibility. And those who know me and my wife know that my wife has a stronger and more expressive personality than I do. This is not bad, however it presents a struggle for me as far as my headship is concerned. So the struggle looks like this: When an issue arises where the outcome will steer our family in one direction or another, I generally concede. When I don’t have much of an opinion about something, the decision goes to her. I fear responsibility, not because I don’t want to do anything, but because I don’t want to take the fall, because if we are all honest, we know that whoever takes the most responsibility will take the most fall when things go bad. So I don’t want to take the blame for failure. And I know my wife doesn’t fail, so to me the answer is simple. But the answer neglects my God-given duty, whether taking on this duty is immediately efficient or not. The fact is, God made man the head of the woman. The man is to relate to his wife as Christ relates to the church. Christ did not sin, but He put Himself in a place of responsibility for our sin. He died for us. So we as husbands are responsible to selflessly care for our wives, whether we feel it is fair or not to take the burden of provision. And this provision goes far beyond going to work and bringing home bacon, and even some bread. This includes spiritual, emotional, physical, relational, and financial provision. This is a heavy list of terms, but this is the responsibility of husbands as heads of their households. This is why those who cannot rule their own households well should not be in ministry. Ministry will tear your family apart if you first have not gotten a hold of your responsibility as the head of your household. Remember, Christ will build His Church. He doesn’t need you. You can wait. Christ’s first calling on your life is your family, especially your wife. How can you communicate God’s covenant with the Church to your kids (or your church) if you can’t live it out with your wife? I am convinced that there are many in this world who entered ministry prematurely, and therefore have an “ok” ministry. Maybe they are expressive and have all the exuberance of a caffeinated chimpanzee, but God’s covenant has not truly been rooted in and grown up in their hearts because they neglect their own families for the sake of the ministry.
A father and a husband of all people is not his own. He is God’s vessel for communicating His covenant to mankind, primarily his own household. If the men in our churches bore Christ’s headship to his family first, I think we would see an unusual fire kindled therein.
Malachi 4:4-6: "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rule that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
Many would take this reference to fatherhood and have it stand alone, preach a whole message on how fatheres should have a special bond with their kids and leave it at that. And fathers should have this special bond. But I think that, in context with the rest of what Malachi was just talking about, there is far more to this reference to fatherhood. If I remember right, this is the only reference to fatherhood in the book of Malachi. Why does He bring it up now at the end? Conclusions are usually summaries of the previous message. So what is Malachi summarizing? The big picture of Malachi is, in my opinion, "proper and holy adherence to the people's covenant relationship with God." So why does Malachi include fatherhood when summarizing this message? I will put this in terms of the Church, the bearers of the new covenant: because Fathers are foundational to the spiritual upbringing of their children, and therefore the Church. The way a father rears his children is symbolic of the health of the Church. When fathers take responsibility for their children, edifying them in a relationship with God, loving them, and providing for ALL their needs, they and the church flourish. This is not to say that children don't make their own choices, however many times children make those choices because the atmosphere that the fathers create in their home is not a Christ-centered one. Nor do the fathers take proper responsibily for their children. They put that on the church. The very church that rests on the fathers and husbands to be godly influences. It is not a godly influence to transfer your God-given responsibility to the church. You make up the church. You take responsibility. You, father, train your child up in a relationship with Christ. You have the sex talks with your sons and daughters. You confront them of sin and guide them in a way as to flush out sin with a deeper love for Christ. You teach them how to choose and develope good friendships. This is not the job of the sunday school teacher or the youth pastor. You are their dad. You take responsibility. When you don't, the church dies, dad by dad, child by child. Our covenant with Christ becomes a side-thought and a mockery. Legalism, dictatorships, and abuse are used to control families to make them what the father deems acceptable.
Perhaps a godly father will look like this, though I do not present prerequisites to fatherhood 101: he will read the bible aloud with his children. He will chat with them about practical applications of biblical truth. He will talk to them about life’s hard issues including sex, drugs, and relationships because he knows that if they are hard for him, they are impossible for his children. He will get involved in their lives, so that when they talk to him it is not like they are talking to a foreign dignitary who only drops in on their lives when there is a crisis or need for punishment. He will express God’s mercy and grace where necessary, and also express His chastisement where necessary. He will accept them as they are, but seek to help them mature and change, understanding that they, as well as he, are accountable to the same God. He will make his expectations known, but not be overbearing or unreasonable in them. In all things he will love his children from the inside out.
Now the husband is the head of his wife. And the quality of this headship is the discussion here. This is where I personally am the most involved. My daughter is 10 months old. She isn’t struggling with issues of sex, drugs, or relationships. She doesn’t even know English. Her biggest struggle right now is whether or not applesauce is right for her. Though I still need to be there for her and provide for her, most of my life’s communication will impact my wife. And here is where I have suffered the most conviction as of late.
I caught myself in a dangerous position. I have adopted the American mindset that a husband and wife are co-heads. We are a team that shares all responsibility. And those who know me and my wife know that my wife has a stronger and more expressive personality than I do. This is not bad, however it presents a struggle for me as far as my headship is concerned. So the struggle looks like this: When an issue arises where the outcome will steer our family in one direction or another, I generally concede. When I don’t have much of an opinion about something, the decision goes to her. I fear responsibility, not because I don’t want to do anything, but because I don’t want to take the fall, because if we are all honest, we know that whoever takes the most responsibility will take the most fall when things go bad. So I don’t want to take the blame for failure. And I know my wife doesn’t fail, so to me the answer is simple. But the answer neglects my God-given duty, whether taking on this duty is immediately efficient or not. The fact is, God made man the head of the woman. The man is to relate to his wife as Christ relates to the church. Christ did not sin, but He put Himself in a place of responsibility for our sin. He died for us. So we as husbands are responsible to selflessly care for our wives, whether we feel it is fair or not to take the burden of provision. And this provision goes far beyond going to work and bringing home bacon, and even some bread. This includes spiritual, emotional, physical, relational, and financial provision. This is a heavy list of terms, but this is the responsibility of husbands as heads of their households. This is why those who cannot rule their own households well should not be in ministry. Ministry will tear your family apart if you first have not gotten a hold of your responsibility as the head of your household. Remember, Christ will build His Church. He doesn’t need you. You can wait. Christ’s first calling on your life is your family, especially your wife. How can you communicate God’s covenant with the Church to your kids (or your church) if you can’t live it out with your wife? I am convinced that there are many in this world who entered ministry prematurely, and therefore have an “ok” ministry. Maybe they are expressive and have all the exuberance of a caffeinated chimpanzee, but God’s covenant has not truly been rooted in and grown up in their hearts because they neglect their own families for the sake of the ministry.
A father and a husband of all people is not his own. He is God’s vessel for communicating His covenant to mankind, primarily his own household. If the men in our churches bore Christ’s headship to his family first, I think we would see an unusual fire kindled therein.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
“Shall I sin that grace may abound?”
This attitude seeks to bind God, or trap Him in His words. “Whoops! You promised to take me to heaven if I believed in Jesus. Guess you’re trapped in your words no matter what I do!”
Taking advantage of God’s grace is more than just “utilizing” a gift of God. It is an act of deceitful betrayal. Underneath the act is an attempt to catch God with His own promises. Finding a loophole, if you would, in the covenant contract. Did God not write sufficiently enough that we want more specific fine print? Does a real Christian NEED fine print?
So the real question is, does this attitude comes from someone who really entered into a relationship with Christ? If God did provide more fine print, would this person be any better? Or would he be a Pharisee? Full of religious works but empty of the Spirit?
I think it comes down to this: God did give the fine print, and oh it is fine. It is grace and love. It is a relationship with our Sovereign. Relationships include a bond between two people. And I’m talking about a relational bond – a bond of love. Not necessarily a bond of regulatory requirements. If a person has truly become a Christian, he has entered into this relationship. And don’t get me wrong, relationships grow. Our relationship with God is no different. We will grow from day one in our relationship with God into deeper love with God. But if this love-bond was never there, can you really say you are a Christian? If the details above match the details of your heart I would seriously consider this question. I am no judge, but I think this requires some serious, sober thought.
This attitude seeks to bind God, or trap Him in His words. “Whoops! You promised to take me to heaven if I believed in Jesus. Guess you’re trapped in your words no matter what I do!”
Taking advantage of God’s grace is more than just “utilizing” a gift of God. It is an act of deceitful betrayal. Underneath the act is an attempt to catch God with His own promises. Finding a loophole, if you would, in the covenant contract. Did God not write sufficiently enough that we want more specific fine print? Does a real Christian NEED fine print?
So the real question is, does this attitude comes from someone who really entered into a relationship with Christ? If God did provide more fine print, would this person be any better? Or would he be a Pharisee? Full of religious works but empty of the Spirit?
I think it comes down to this: God did give the fine print, and oh it is fine. It is grace and love. It is a relationship with our Sovereign. Relationships include a bond between two people. And I’m talking about a relational bond – a bond of love. Not necessarily a bond of regulatory requirements. If a person has truly become a Christian, he has entered into this relationship. And don’t get me wrong, relationships grow. Our relationship with God is no different. We will grow from day one in our relationship with God into deeper love with God. But if this love-bond was never there, can you really say you are a Christian? If the details above match the details of your heart I would seriously consider this question. I am no judge, but I think this requires some serious, sober thought.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Titus 2
11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
The grace of God, when it takes root in our life, teaches us to renounce ungodliness. In other words, it integrates the word "NO" into our lives as it pertains to our worldly passions. I think that counselors do well to try to help people find ways to change, however we cannot lose sight of the focus of this passage. And no, the focus is not a person saying "no" to sin. Saying "no" is a biproduct of the focus. The focus is the grace of God. And this, I believe, references Christ. Specifically according to the perspective that Christ came to establish God's people - the Church...the chosen people whom God's grace has reconciled, established a relationship, and called to holiness. God's grace teaches us the points in this passage. And this grace is personal. The Biblical counselor's first priority is the aid in a the counselee's relationship with God. The Spirit is real. He really does work in people. We don't have to take His place in order to make things work. But we can help people grow in grace. Sometimes this edification comes in the form of helping people establish disciplines in their life. But we cannot do so in a way that would replace grace with guilt. I.e., a person cannot discipline himself to the point where his religion is formed around the idea that if he touches the unclean thing God no longer accepts him. He IS reconciled. Therefore BE reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). "Be who you are" rather than "try to attain something that you should be." Spiritual disciplines are initiated by grace unto godliness, they do not attain grace by godliness. I believe it is easy and typical for counselors to blur the lines between these two thoughts. The old has gone, the new is here! Offer hope upon grace, rather than a burden upon burdens.
11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
The grace of God, when it takes root in our life, teaches us to renounce ungodliness. In other words, it integrates the word "NO" into our lives as it pertains to our worldly passions. I think that counselors do well to try to help people find ways to change, however we cannot lose sight of the focus of this passage. And no, the focus is not a person saying "no" to sin. Saying "no" is a biproduct of the focus. The focus is the grace of God. And this, I believe, references Christ. Specifically according to the perspective that Christ came to establish God's people - the Church...the chosen people whom God's grace has reconciled, established a relationship, and called to holiness. God's grace teaches us the points in this passage. And this grace is personal. The Biblical counselor's first priority is the aid in a the counselee's relationship with God. The Spirit is real. He really does work in people. We don't have to take His place in order to make things work. But we can help people grow in grace. Sometimes this edification comes in the form of helping people establish disciplines in their life. But we cannot do so in a way that would replace grace with guilt. I.e., a person cannot discipline himself to the point where his religion is formed around the idea that if he touches the unclean thing God no longer accepts him. He IS reconciled. Therefore BE reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). "Be who you are" rather than "try to attain something that you should be." Spiritual disciplines are initiated by grace unto godliness, they do not attain grace by godliness. I believe it is easy and typical for counselors to blur the lines between these two thoughts. The old has gone, the new is here! Offer hope upon grace, rather than a burden upon burdens.
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