Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24
What a revolution; to find personal fulfillment in cross-bearing; to attend to all things which are contrary to one’s old self. This cross we are to take up is neither for you, nor is it for Jesus. He bore all your sins, and He is in no need of any sin-sacrifice Himself. So for who are you to carry this cross, in which its prerequisite is self-denial and its duty is likened unto that of Jesus; “follow me” He said.
There is first in the verse a desire, a willingness, to in one sense ascend to Christ likeness but in another to descend to Christ likeness: “If any man will come after me.” It is a lofty goal of lowliness. In other word’s Christ did not just die for others, but He lived for others. And that is the point. The work of the Christian is that of carrying the faults, failings, and frailties of others through an ever-increasing life of personal subjection to the will of God in the image of Christ. That is the only true path to personal development.
Yet today, church involvement has often degraded into nothing more than self-help, self-serving, self-seeking flesh-fests, where the real work of being “others-mindedness” through a Christ-center focus has been lost in the shuffle. People come with the religious paraphernalia of “getting me a word”, “getting my praise on”, etc… They convene at the church house to be emotionally charged and intellectually stimulated, thinking this is the formula to a more pleasing walk with God. The sad reality is, it is anything but that.
And I’ve been there, confused! I thought I needed to sit and work on myself. I did not understand that serving others was the way to work on myself and persevering in the service of others will in effect be self-denial. I did not understand that loving unlovely folk was learning the love of Christ; I did not understand that enduring impossible people was gaining the patience of Christ, or that bearing with painful accusations and lies was to participate in the suffering of Christ. I did not know the work of God is people and servicing people will work you into what God wants you to be.
A more careful look at this verse reveals that the great exercise of Christianity is not building our intellect but our character and that through cross-bearing experience. The Christ-likeness formula is contained herein, the first of which is not self-service but self-denial. In fact the entire tri-fold directive may be understood as 1) forsake your desires, 2) attend to the desires of others, 3) by imitating me. Even church life can be an exercise in carnality when we don’t pay attention to Jesus’ instructions. So challenge yourself about your idea of church involvement by asking yourself, “What are you coming after?” and “How do you obtain it?” Come! Come after His will. Come after His way. Come after His work. Come after His compassion. Come after His sheep. Come after Him with a cross likened unto His.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
WORLD WAR OR CIVIL WAR
Where is the real battle?
The recent ruling to uphold the band on gay marriage in California should be a reminder of many things. This conservative victory in the most morally liberal state of the union is a reminder that the majority of the people in the U.S. do not support gay marriage; however, it is also a reminder of how irrelevant this fact is to the persistence of those pursuing the gay agenda. It is a reminder that when traditional families speak up, victory is assured, yet it is a reminder of how often those who oppose traditional moral values are willing to stand for immorality. It is a reminder that the struggle is constant, and also it is a reminder of how consistently the adversaries of Christianity strive to promote evil. While a reminder that victory is possible, the ever narrowing victory in California is also a reminder of how much more methodical the enemies of righteousness are. These facts beg the question, “where is the real battle?”
The reality is that Christians often are attempting to fight a world war, when the dominant issue is a civil war. The battle is much less against gay-marriage proponents than it is against the church’s apathy. It has been truly stated that evil prospers when good men do nothing. Many have wisely described the church as a “sleeping giant.” While pulpit after pulpit rhetorically proclaims us to be on the verge of revival, anything but revival is occurring. This is because optimism is not the answer to apathy. We may look at the proverbial glass as half full rather than half empty; however, that is futile when the water is being drained from the glass.
Among Christians who are actively fighting is the tendency to assume that the church is not fighting hard enough; however, the truth is when the church is faithful and pure in her disposition walls will come tumbling down with little human effort. The battle with the world is never our battle, it’s the Lord’s; however, our battle is to maintain our own personal and social faith and purity in the context of the church.
The church must become radically unique in her position, spiritual violent in her method, and mystically unpredictable in her response to sin. This must occur first in-house and then it will irresistibly spread abroad. We must remember the God’s thoughts and ways are not in concert with the ways of men. The church is guilty of attempting to eradicate sin from her mist with grace rather than law. She seeks to operate in sentimental wisdom that is carnal and unbiblical. This is nothing less than a misapplication of grace; actually, it is a perversion of grace, creating a license for lasciviousness. In the Old Testament the law demanded that the sinner be put to death. This was punitive, purifying, and preventative in affect. While death was literal in the Old Testament, it is symbolically accomplished in the New Testament through excommunication.
The Reformers defined a true church by three signs: 1) the true gospel is preached, 2) the observation of the sacraments, and 3) church discipline. The lack of this last sign in the church today is very revealing. The Old Testament nation of Israel’s bondage was always a result of abandoning the discipline of the law.
Simply put, the church cannot be tolerant of homosexuality and expect to triumph against the world. There are clear instructions in the scripture as to how [all] sin in the camp must be dealt with in order to maintain God’s favor. When the church is ineffective in battle, it is never the world’s fault; there is sin in the camp and we have become Achan’s Army. Our leaders, like Moses, are unable to hold their arms up and the people are defeated antinomians.
It is high time that the church concentrate on the in-house war more so than the worldly distractions that Satan has used to infiltrate the church and sow tares while believers slept. Only then will we become manifestly the church over which the gates of Hell cannot prevail.
The recent ruling to uphold the band on gay marriage in California should be a reminder of many things. This conservative victory in the most morally liberal state of the union is a reminder that the majority of the people in the U.S. do not support gay marriage; however, it is also a reminder of how irrelevant this fact is to the persistence of those pursuing the gay agenda. It is a reminder that when traditional families speak up, victory is assured, yet it is a reminder of how often those who oppose traditional moral values are willing to stand for immorality. It is a reminder that the struggle is constant, and also it is a reminder of how consistently the adversaries of Christianity strive to promote evil. While a reminder that victory is possible, the ever narrowing victory in California is also a reminder of how much more methodical the enemies of righteousness are. These facts beg the question, “where is the real battle?”
The reality is that Christians often are attempting to fight a world war, when the dominant issue is a civil war. The battle is much less against gay-marriage proponents than it is against the church’s apathy. It has been truly stated that evil prospers when good men do nothing. Many have wisely described the church as a “sleeping giant.” While pulpit after pulpit rhetorically proclaims us to be on the verge of revival, anything but revival is occurring. This is because optimism is not the answer to apathy. We may look at the proverbial glass as half full rather than half empty; however, that is futile when the water is being drained from the glass.
Among Christians who are actively fighting is the tendency to assume that the church is not fighting hard enough; however, the truth is when the church is faithful and pure in her disposition walls will come tumbling down with little human effort. The battle with the world is never our battle, it’s the Lord’s; however, our battle is to maintain our own personal and social faith and purity in the context of the church.
The church must become radically unique in her position, spiritual violent in her method, and mystically unpredictable in her response to sin. This must occur first in-house and then it will irresistibly spread abroad. We must remember the God’s thoughts and ways are not in concert with the ways of men. The church is guilty of attempting to eradicate sin from her mist with grace rather than law. She seeks to operate in sentimental wisdom that is carnal and unbiblical. This is nothing less than a misapplication of grace; actually, it is a perversion of grace, creating a license for lasciviousness. In the Old Testament the law demanded that the sinner be put to death. This was punitive, purifying, and preventative in affect. While death was literal in the Old Testament, it is symbolically accomplished in the New Testament through excommunication.
The Reformers defined a true church by three signs: 1) the true gospel is preached, 2) the observation of the sacraments, and 3) church discipline. The lack of this last sign in the church today is very revealing. The Old Testament nation of Israel’s bondage was always a result of abandoning the discipline of the law.
Simply put, the church cannot be tolerant of homosexuality and expect to triumph against the world. There are clear instructions in the scripture as to how [all] sin in the camp must be dealt with in order to maintain God’s favor. When the church is ineffective in battle, it is never the world’s fault; there is sin in the camp and we have become Achan’s Army. Our leaders, like Moses, are unable to hold their arms up and the people are defeated antinomians.
It is high time that the church concentrate on the in-house war more so than the worldly distractions that Satan has used to infiltrate the church and sow tares while believers slept. Only then will we become manifestly the church over which the gates of Hell cannot prevail.
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