6 Reasons Why We Need A Reformation In The Sports World

Few things are as untamed by Christians as sports. Few areas of life have the gospel unapplied to it like sports. We are desperate for thoughtful Christians to reform their approach to sports. Without wasting any more time, here are 6 reasons why:

1. Prosperity Gospel
   Much of the “Christianity” and “gospel” that is presented in the sports world is of a genie-like God (more like “god”) who wants nothing more than for you and your team to be successful. He wants you to stay safe and uninjured. He wants you to win every game and always be a good sport. And, of course, He likes your team more than He likes the other team—but, we’re still going to be nice to them.
   I’ve been around it, heard it, and still witness it. From parents to team chaplains, from players to coaches, this is rampant in the sports world. It’s amazing how evangelicals so quickly adopt a sports version of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel as soon as they step onto the field.

   When is the last time you’ve heard a pregame prayer when someone prayed: Father, do whatever it takes tonight to cause us to be less self-reliant and more dependent on you. Do whatever it takes to make an eternal impact on our souls. If we win, if we play well, don’t let it take away our love for Christ. If we lose, if we don’t play well, expose our idols and cause us to love each other even when we lose.
   Often times, not all the time, far more work is done for eternity when someone gets hurt, plays bad, or gets benched. One of the most dangerous things for someone’s heart is if they always succeed, only win, and are nothing but beloved by the fans.
   For high school sports, it’s often the parents (and even Christian parents sometimes) who can be the worst. God is always good when their children are doing well. Yes and amen when God gives us victory! But, when we lose, God isn’t talked about. If He is, it’s often in a pseudo-Christian way of thinking that God wants us to suffer a little loss first before He puts our team and career back on top. We don’t like a God who allows us to lose every game.

2. Identity Issues
   I have seen teammates who put their identity in sports react in different ways whenever sports fails them. First, they go off the deep end into alcohol, pain killers, sex, or other drugs. Second, they dig even deeper demanding that sports satisfy them. They cannot stand to think of life without sports or without succeeding in sports. Third, they fall into despair and anxiety quicker than the dew evaporates in a New Orleans summer. Fourth, they are bitter towards teammates and slander them in front of others. Fifth, they have no clue who they are whenever sports are done.
   Countless athletes and coaches put their identity in their performance (only another form of works-righteousness). I have been there numerous times too. One of the best things that God can ever do to an athlete is to strip them of their athletic identity so that they must cling to Christ. When is the last time you’ve seen a Christian coach encourage one of his players who has been struggling on the field and yet simultaneously is growing in shifting his or her identity from sports to Christ?
   When I was at Tulane, I went through a “chiseling” season in my identity. I went from being the number one receiver the year before to immediately being the number seven receiver under a new head coach. My performance was my idol. I was my performance on the field. I idolized sports. Then, God broke me.
   Why did this happen? Ultimately, because God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me, and therefore He would also send the Spirit to purge sin out of me. At one point, my prosperity gospel believing coach looked at me and said, “You’re not a Christian! I’m a Christian.”
   Safe to say, I was losing everything of a self-made identity in that season. Jesus loved me so much that He stripped it away so that I would have to learn to look away from myself and onto Him. I have seen so many other solid Christian men go through these seasons as well. Are we going to encourage this?

3. Horrendous Pre-Game Sermons
   I was beyond blessed to sit under a BCM Pastor, Corey Olivier (who was also our team chaplain at Tulane), for four years. Corey preached the gospel. And when I say Corey preached the gospel, I mean it. I also had the great opportunity to spend four months with Jack Easterby, team chaplain of the New England Patriots, in 2014. That man also preached the gospel. Week-in and week-out, these men showed us Jesus. But, here is the truth: Not everyone does this.
   I have been around other team chaplains, seen clips of, and heard from other people about the vast majority of what’s preached in sports circles. It’s an offense to God. To put it bluntly, it’s turning the gospel into a whoring mechanism after sports glory. That’s strong but that’s how bad it is.
   There are men who prostitute God’s Word for their own agenda to get “amens”, head nods, and retweets. Athletes LOVE it whenever they can take something in Scripture as a guarantee that they will win or have a successful career. These “sermons” are some of the most man-centered things I have ever heard. There have been men who twist Scripture to say what it clearly doesn’t say in order to pump up the team they preach to.
   Praise God for men like Corey and Jack! We need more of them. We need men who are saturated with the biblical gospel who proclaim a true gospel and make gospel-centered applications. We need more men who will proclaim a God who is so infinite that all of our sports must be centered around Him.

4. Horrendous Pre-Game Prayers

   When I was in High School, I was playing travel basketball for a couple of years. We had a phenomenal basketball coach. But, before each game, he did something that unfortunately is done all too often. He would lead us in the Lord’s Prayer and immediately after begin to curse and take God’s name in vain to pump us up.
   I have been in so many circles where people use the Lord’s Prayer as if it’s a cult-like chant rather than a somber and holy moment to speak to our loving and Holy Father. There are many in the sports world who quote the Lord’s Prayer as if it’s some magic incantation that will guarantee them Samson-like strength to defeat their opposition.
   Because God isn’t seen as God, many pray to a god who might manipulate the game in their favor for their glory. It’s quite the scene to see adamant unbelievers who want nothing to do with Jesus pray the prayer that He Himself modeled for us before every game. Even Christian athletes themselves use that prayer as if it’s a magic potion. These prayers are far more about us and far less about Christ.

5. Missing the Point
   Sports exist for the glory of Christ. The joy of playing sports should trace us back to a greater joy of knowing Jesus. The lessons we learn in sports are lessons that we should use for growing in the Christian life. The trials we go through and the perseverance we learn in sports should be training for persevering in Christ.
   Everything about sports is meant for us to grow in Christ. If we’re not growing in Christ while playing sports then we’re not doing sports rightly. Coaches aren’t taking advantage of what they should take advantage of. Athletes are not applying the lessons to their walk with Jesus the way they should. We’re missing the whole point of sports if there is no Christ in sports.

6. Missing Church
   I wonder how much our church attendance might go up this Fall. I wonder how many college students might actually wake up on Sunday morning. I wonder how many parents won’t have to travel to sports tournaments weekend after weekend this year. It’s amazing how we are so determined to never miss a game or be late to practice but we’re fine showing up late to church or just catching up on a podcast later. It’s amazing how zealous parents are for their child to make the baseball or cheerleading team but could care less if they go to youth group or Sunday school (it’s clearly too much to ask for Sunday evening worship). How will we ever teach our kids what it means to be a Christian if we only teach them over and over that church is optional?

   ***Parents, are you more concerned with your child’s growth in sports than you are in their growth in Christ? You can tell by how much time, money, and passion that you put in sports compared to what you put in the Christian life.***

   It’s amazing how many of us are more influenced during the week by what happens on Saturdays in the Fall than by what we hear proclaimed from God’s Word on Sunday.

   Scenario: It’s Tuesday afternoon. The coffee is wearing off. You’re almost done with a second workday in the week. Do you find yourself remembering the score of the game on Saturday? Could you summarize the game to a co-worker who didn’t see it? Can you remember the stats of how many yards your team’s quarterback threw for? Let’s try another test. Can you remember what text was the preacher preached from this past Sunday (a more recent event)? Could you summarize the sermon to a co-worker whose curious about Christianity? Can you remember what the preacher said about how that text changes the way you live on this Tuesday afternoon?
   It’s not only about physically missing church. It’s about spiritually missing church. You sat in the pews going through the motions because you’re preoccupied with reminiscing last night’s game and what it means for you and your team this week. We love to spend more time talking about church at sports than talking about Christ at church.
   And here is the thing: I am part of this problem.
   

I love sports. We should love sports. We should care deeply about sports. But, sports is not God. Every game matters. Every loss, win, injury, touchdown, timeout, roars from the crowd, boos from the fans, and joy experienced from an upset win matters. God is sovereign over every single detail of everything in the sports world. But, He is sovereign over it for His glory. He is jealous for His glory, not ours. In other words, if we’re not taking advantage of the entirety of sports for our glorifying God and knowing God’s love for us then we’re idolizing sports. We’re not using it for what it’s meant for.

How many are led away from Christ in the name of a “Christ” who cares more about their sports career or their team winning than he does with them knowing Him!

Lord Jesus, come quickly!

From the Pastor's Study

August 20, 2020

This past Sunday night's installation service was joyfully humbling for me and my family. The turnout was so encouraging (even my mom was there!), and many who weren’t able to make it have told me that they were delighted to be able to watch it online (including my father and brothers!). Before the service, I have to admit I was feeling a bit anti-climactic, since I’ve been functionally serving as Senior Pastor since the day after the installation was originally scheduled (March 22).

But then I remembered that I’m a Presbyterian not merely by pragmatic convenience, but by Biblical conviction - and an installation is not a mere formality, but rather the final step in a process of confirmation of God’s call that progressed from the recommendation of the Session as search committee, to the affirmative vote of our congregation, and to the approval of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley. In keeping with Scriptural pattern and precedent (Acts 13:3; I Timothy 4:14), the council of elders from the churches in a particular region (the Presbytery) is the body that places a man in that work to which they recognize God has called him. An installation is the formal and official acknowledgement of their approval, and the lack of that formal installation is like a diploma without a university seal. Thus I thank God that this final step in this long journey is complete.

So many thoughts have been swirling around in my head. Here are three:

I am standing on the shoulders of the three men who formally served as Senior Pastor of this flock: Bill Whitwer (1978-1986), Chuck Frost (1987-1993), and Carl Kalberkamp (1994-2020). These men paved the way for me to serve a flock that is knowledgeable of the Scriptures, passionate for the lost at home and abroad, led by faithful elders and deacons, and filled with love toward one another. What a privilege for all of us to still have Carl minister among us, and for me to have him forty feet across the hallway, for wisdom, counsel, and encouragement.

This is my fourth call as an ordained teaching elder: Solo Pastor of Columbia Presbyterian Church in Columbia, MS (2003-2007); Senior Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Cookeville, TN (2007-2014); Associate Pastor of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church (2014-2020); and now Senior Pastor here. There were also three churches/ministries I was privileged to serve even before ordination: volunteer and staff youth leader at First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge during high school and college (1993-1997); intern with Reformed University Fellowship at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN, after graduating from LSU (1998-1999); and senior high youth intern at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, MS, while in seminary at RTS (1999-2003). Each one of these previous calls has contributed toward making me the man and pastor I am today by the grace of God, equipping and preparing me in a variety of ways for this new field of service.

At each of those stops along the way, my biography has been intertwined with that of godly men and women who have left their imprint deeply upon me. One of those men prayed for Carl and me this past Sunday night: Mr. James “Bebo” Elkin. He was the Mississippi Coordinator of RUF from 1983-2011, and poured much wisdom into me through staff training during my RUF internship, in his home garage auto repair shop, on drives around Mississippi, and over the phone and lunch table on innumerable occasions. He was the first one to teach me through the Westminster Confession of Faith and to present a Biblical philosophy of ministry. He is the human reason I came to RTS-Jackson, with the simple question of how I was going to cover living costs while in seminary leading to the encouragement to consider applying for the youth internship at FPC. Throughout my journey he has been alongside me, and the truths he has taught me have by now become so ingrained I probably don’t even remember that I learned them from him. If I can be half the insightful questioner and godly exhorter that he is, I will consider myself a blessed man. Needless to say, it was a rich privilege to have him present Sunday night.

God has been undeservedly good to me and my family, not least through you the flock that I now have the privilege of pastoring. I love you, and I pray that Paul’s words to the Thessalonians will continue to set my course: “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us” (I Thessalonians 2:8). I want to share God’s truth and my life by the power of the Holy Spirit, spending and being spent so that you might be grounded in and transformed by the gospel of grace. I want Colossians 1:28-29 to be written over my ministry here, as long as God gives me the opportunity to preach and pastor: “We proclaim Christ, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

Pray with me and for me, that Jesus might be my strength in weakness, the content of all my spoken ministry, and the compassion of all my personal ministry.

The Invitation of Jesus

The Story of Invitation

God is a God of invitations. Virtually every book of the Bible could be summarized with one command in response to who He is: “Come to God.” The contents of each book either are saying it, implying it, or wanting you to come to the conclusion in light of what was written.

To be sure, when I say invitation, I don’t mean that God is a “take it or leave it” type of God. His invitation is a kingly command. It comes with the highest of authorities. It contains the most wondrous of destinations. It has the utmost aroma of love to it. To reject this invitation is a death sentence. It is an offense to His glory, to His reward, to His grace, to His love, and to Him. Rejecting God’s invitation is rejecting God. It is the epitome of foolishness and wickedness. To accept this invitation is life in the highest sense.

God created with an overflowing invitation for man to have a relationship with Him. He was the One who initiated that relationship. Even immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God quickly invited them to come to Him for covering. As we trace the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we see that it is God inviting sinners over and over to come to have fellowship with Him even as He draws near to them.

Think of the story of Moses. God initiates the invitation. He sees His people in captivity and bondage and He sends Moses to “invite” them out into the wilderness to live with Him. The story of Joshua is similar. We see a people who don’t have a home. God is still passionate about His invitation for them to come and dwell with Him not merely in a land but in a relationship.

The story of Judges and Ruth shows what inevitably happens to us when we reject such an invitation. Nevertheless, this didn’t take away God’s heart for His people. The story of David, Solomon, and the history of Israel and Judah reveals the same message. God is inviting His people into a covenant relationship with Him. Even when He removes His people from the land there is still a covenant promise in Jeremiah 31 that God has not forsaken His people. Ezra and Nehemiah, Zechariah and Malachi were all calling the people to return to God. It’s an invitation!

Then, it “seemed” as if God didn’t care. Silence filled the prophetic office. The covenant appeared to be nullified. Silence vibrated through the spiritual air. Was God finally tired of inviting His people?

The Inviting God in the Flesh

Here is where we meet Matthew 11:28. Remember who Jesus is. Jesus is the God of the Old Testament in the flesh. He is not a different God. How serious was God about inviting His people into a relationship with Him? He was so serious that the Son took on flesh and was born of the virgin Mary into poverty. In other words, He invited Himself into our world.

He went from the throne to homelessness. He went from a crown of glory to a crown of thorns. He went from unapproachable glory to being spit upon while carrying His cross. In other words, He invited Himself into our world.

It’s this Jesus in Matthew 11:28 who sounds exactly like Isaiah 55:1 when He says, “Come.”

Why does a President, Governor, or Mayor invite someone to a meal or a meeting? Most of the time, it is to get business done or for their own public appearance. The invitation goes to someone who is important or to someone who can further their cause or power. Even if one of these men or women invites someone they don’t agree with, it is still for their political purpose and pursuit of peace.

When is the last time you heard or saw someone in one of these offices pull up in their limousine to a downtown gas station and invite a homeless man to come to eat an extravagant meal? When is the last time you saw someone in one of these offices go to the lowest of the low or the societal reject and ask to be their friend? If this happens once or twice, you might read some heart-warming news stories. If this happens consistently, you will probably begin to be suspicious or get worried about the competency of the person in power.

But, this is exactly what Jesus does. From the moment He started His public ministry, He was constantly inviting poor sinners to come to Him. He was tenaciously tender in His invitations to the worst of the worst. “Come” must have been one of Jesus’ favorite words.

Authoritative and Gracious

The marvelous feature of this invitation is that out of his overwhelming authority (v. 27) Jesus encourages the burdened to come to him because he is “gentle and humble in heart.”

D.A. Carson

Matthew intends to paint the picture of a Jesus who is the King of Kings and also someone who is the most approachable Person in the history of humanity. He wants to show you someone of such unrivaled authority and yet unimaginable grace. It’s this Jesus who we see go from preaching the Sermon on the Mount that leaves people astonished at his authority (7:28-29) to coming down the mountain to touch an unclean leper.

Matter of fact, the leper cautiously comes and kneels down before Jesus and takes a gamble to see if Jesus would be willing to heal him. Jesus meets this man at the location of his unbelief. “Lord, if you will (or, we could make it more clear: “if you are willing”), you can make me clean.” Jesus responds with, “I am willing; be clean.”

Jesus is pulsating with passion for poor sinners. If all you knew was the Old Testament, and you knew it well, then you would immediately identify this Jesus as being someone similar to that same God. Indeed, the Holy Spirit awakens us to show us that He is the same God.

Isn’t this what we see in Isaiah 55:1? “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The same God of Isaiah is the same God here!

Jesus vs Others

Other religions say, “Go and do.” Jesus says, “Stop doing and come.” Other worldviews say, “Do good and then come.” Jesus says, “You are not good and will never be good. Therefore, come to me for I am good.” Even Christians who forget the heart of Jesus fall back into the default works-righteousness mode. They tell themselves, “I must keep up a performance so that Jesus will still accept me.” Jesus says, “You have failed more times than you even know. That’s why you must not stay away from me any longer and come to me.”

When you play the game of Monopoly, there is a “community chest” card you can draw that says, “GO TO JAIL. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.” Jesus is saying something similar. “Come to me. Come directly to me. Do not try to deal with your sins on your own. Do not try to beat yourself up enough over your sin before coming to me. Do not try to go and do enough good deeds before coming to me. Come directly to me. Waste no time in this. Do not linger. Do not hesitate. Do not worry about my response. Come to me.”

You know you’re growing in the Christian life the quicker you run to Jesus when you’re convicted of your sin, when you’re ashamed of your mistakes, and when you’re exhausted from trying to be good enough. Go to Jesus.

He is not saying, “Just come to this worldview.” Or, “just approve these doctrines.” Or, “just be apart of this community.” Or, “just pick up some of this grace.” He is saying, “Come to me.” The destination is Him! In Him, you will find all you need. If you miss Him, you miss everything. Everything outside of Jesus is counterfeit. Jesus is the real thing.

What Makes A Christian A Christian

The reason someone is a Christian is that they have Christ. Romans 5 tells us that our fundamental problem is that we were enemies with God. We were cut off. We were estranged. We were irreconciled.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us… For if while were were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

Romans 5:6-8, 10

So weak that we could never make it to God. So ungodly that we didn’t even want God. Such sinners that we can’t be in His presence. Such enemies that the very thought of Him made us boil in anger.

This is when Jesus died for us.

But, you also see what happened because Jesus died for us, right? It’s because of Jesus’ death that He bridged the gap. This isn’t a bridge where we are able to come to God on our own power but a bridge where God comes to us! He is so eager to invite us to Him that He comes all the way to us to grab our hands to bring us home with Him.

In high school, one of the most interesting sights was during football and basketball games at half time. The home cheerleaders would almost always run across the field or court, grab the hands of the other cheerleaders and bring them over to their side to have a short time of fellowship with them. This is a picture of the invitation of God to us. He desires to be with us. He desires to bring us to Him. He won’t live without us.

This is the Jesus of Matthew 11:28. Jesus must have been overflowing with love when He said, “Come to me.” It was His most natural invitation.

The Heart of Jesus for You

This is Jesus’ heart for you. It’s an inviting heart, not a stingy heart. He doesn’t give you a spiritual stiff arm but extends His arms as wide as they were extended on the Cross. He is pleading for you to wait no longer. There are no steps before coming to Jesus. The first and only step is to come to Him! This He enables you to do.

If Jesus is truly good, if Jesus is truly wise, if Jesus is truly loving, then if He invites you to Himself He is saying that He is where you find all you need. Jesus would be sinning if He invited you anywhere else. Jesus would be the biggest fool if He told you to go to someone or something else. Jesus would be the most hateful being in all creation if He persuaded you to go to some other destination than Himself. Jesus is who you need.

Spiritual Warfare: Forgetting Our Identity and Standing in Christ

Discerning the dark lord’s tactics

The moment we remind ourselves of our identity in Christ, especially that of our righteous standing, the dark lord swoops in to say, “No you’re not.” It isn’t always that blunt. His responses can be:

• “You have to first live a holy life.”

• “Well...not quite yet. You need to do just a tad more and then you’re good.”

• “You should doubt that because of what you did in the past.”

• “You still haven’t repented or confessed enough of this sin.”

• “You forgot about this sin in your life. You need to deal with that first before you can truly embrace this identity and standing.”

• “You’re only semi-holy. Other people are truly holy. You’re on a lower level and that level isn’t sufficient.”

• “Don’t you see all your mess? Are you telling me that Jesus just decided to forget about that? You think you can really call yourself holy?”

• “If other people knew what I know about you then you would never be able to call yourself holy.”

• “You say that it only matters what Jesus says but, let’s be honest, it really matters that the super-spiritually mature people declare you holy. And, if you are not like them then I don’t know how you’ll ever be holy.”

He is skillfully subtle. You must remember that everything the dark lord does is filled with some level of truth. He never comes to you flying the flag of hell so that you clearly know it’s him. He wants to sound like the Holy Spirit. He wants to sound like Scripture. He wants to sound like your conscience that is in line with the truth.

When Jesus was tempted, why was it so difficult for Him? The dark lord was skillfully subtle. He is a professional pretender and provoker. He knows what he is doing. When you forget that, you’ll be overwhelmed. He approached Jesus the same way. He used the truth, not outright obvious lies. He sought to go after Jesus’ affections, desires, and wants. He wasn’t trying to knock down the front door. He tried to sneak through the back door quietly and friendly.

This is how the dark lord uses truth to attack you:

• He uses a truth out of context.

• He applies truth to an extreme.

• He uses a half-truth.

Notice that he is always using truth. He manipulates truth. This is what he does with us whenever we try to embrace our righteous standing in Christ. He uses beautiful truths about confession, pursuing holiness, and repentance and he just ever so slightly tweaks them. 

He often does this by taking a common Christian cliche and makes it sound so right but applies it so wrongly. Did you notice above how he whispers these lies? He is using the truth about confession, holiness, and repentance but in extreme ways, out of context ways, or half-truth ways.

He wants to do anything he can to keep you from saying, “Yes! This is who I am in Christ.” He wants to get you to default into a works-righteousness mindset. He loves to put the Ten Commandments before “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex. 20:2).

He says that you’re not doing enough. You are not enough. You haven’t dealt with this sin sufficiently. If you don’t deal with the sin to the fullest extent then you’re quenching the Spirit. Oh, you don’t want to quench the Spirit. That’s a big time sin! He is the Holy Spirit. You better be holy like Him or He might leave you. You have to make sure you deal with your past perfectly or else that righteous standing should be called into question. Did you just remember some way in which you just sinned recently? Did you just remember that one horrible sin from the past? Well, if you want to be able to say, “I am righteous before God” then you better go and make sure you deal with it to its fullest extent first.

The ways in which he attacks here are endless. He aligns his army to attack us here more than anywhere else. He knows that if we embrace Christ then he must retreat. He wants to keep us thinking that we have to earn Him. He wants to get us to go back to trying to be good enough. He wants to keep us focused on doing enough before resting in Jesus.

How to fight by faith

Why does the dark lord want to keep you from embracing your righteous standing before God? Because if you knew who you were in Christ, if you really knew, then you would assault his kingdom with more force than 10,000 angels. When we know who we are in Christ, we experience joy and not shame. Joy, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones often said, is what the world needs to see in Christians. 

The dark lord wants to keep you in shame as you see your sin. If he can keep you in shame and keep you focused more on your sin than Jesus than he knows you’ll be timid to walk in faith. He knows you’ll be scared to be bold He knows you’ll be too ashamed to share your faith. He knows that if he can keep you focused on your sin then you’ll stay in the Slough of Despond (or spiritual depression as Martyn Lloyd-Jones called it) rather than moving closer to Jesus. Knowing your identity in Christ, your righteous standing before God is what casts away the cold darkness of shame.

How do we fight? We fight with God’s Word. This is why the doctrines of inspiration, inerrancy, and sufficiency are so crucial to the Christian faith. Is the Bible God’s Word? If it is, that is our reality. Our feelings aren’t our reality. Our conscience isn’t always our reality. Our personality tests aren’t our reality. God’s Word is our reality. God makes an authoritative statement about who we are in Christ. This is not sometimes true and sometimes false. It is always true. We need Scripture to rework our thoughts and to readjust our feelings. 

This is actually what the Psalms do. The Psalms are not a book merely about learning how to express our emotions to God. Rather, the Psalms are about expressing to God what we really feel and then learning to realign our feelings, affections, emotions with God’s truth. It is a collection of the Christian’s experience of living a life of faith in a fallen world par excellence. 

If you notice in Psalms 32 and 51, the two most popular psalms about confession of sin, they both move so quickly from conviction and confession to the reality of who they are by God’s grace. They do not stay in this phase of trying to beat themselves up. They do not say, “I cannot embrace God’s grace until I deal with this sin to its fullest extent. I cannot experience God’s grace until I make things totally right. I cannot draw near to God unless I first handle this on my own.” They move towards God’s grace and their righteous standing.

Must we deal with our sins? Yes. But, the subtle danger is to think that we must do that before embracing God’s grace. It’s only when we embrace God’s grace that we are enabled to deal with sin. God’s grace is not merely for forgiveness but for our ability to walk in His ways. Anything that keeps us from coming to God is a form of works-righteousness. 

I was once told that “we will never find closure if we merely seek justice; We will only find closure if we rest in grace.” Is this hyper-grace? Is this antinomianism? No. Grace is not opposed to justice. Grace comes through justice. But, if we seek to only rely on justice then we will never be able to rest.

Why is this? If we only seek to justly deal with our sins then we will never find an ending. We are so deeply depraved, so deeply shattered, so littered and polluted with sin that we will never come to the bottom of it. If we have the mindset that we cannot rest in grace until we deal with our sins in totality then we aren’t actually acting in obedience and in faith. We’re disobeying God because we’re not running to Jesus.

Typically, the people who are afraid of being antinomian are usually those who are struggling with legalism. Those who are afraid of being legalistic are usually those who are struggling with antinomianism. Every person has a default leaning and all of us go through seasons where we struggle with each one. As Sinclair Feguson’s book The Whole Christ says, the only way to fix this problem is to embrace the whole Christ. You don’t fix legalism by embracing more antinomianism. You don’t fix antinomianism by embracing more legalism. You embrace Christ!

We have made so many mistakes. We have sinned so much. If you think that you have to go back and deal with every instance of sin then you will never rest. Every memory will cripple you with shame. Every reminder will overwhelm you with guilt. It is not quenching the Spirit to rest in grace and embrace forgiveness in Christ. It is obedience. 

As Chase Maxey, Executive Director and Counselor with BCTM Ministries, once asked me, “Who told you that you were so much stronger than the Holy Spirit?” The dark lord tempts us to think we’re quenching the Spirit at times by taking that truth from 1 Thessalonians out of context, to its extreme, or making it a half-truth.

To be sure, the dark lord can use even this truth to keep us from our holy duties before God. He can take this out of its own context or take it to its extreme or half-truth. This does not mean we ignore our sins. This does not mean we don’t repent or confess. As Paul says in Romans 6:1-2, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” It means that if we have the mindset that we have to turn over every stone and make everything right in our lives then we are no longer resting in Christ’s atonement but we are trying to atone for ourselves.

It is obedience to rest in grace. It is obedience to stop trying to fix and start resting. When God wants you to deal with something in your life, He will give you the opportunity and the power to do so. Look how patient He was towards Jonah. Look how He took His time to work in Jonah’s heart. He will do it with you too. What you must do is rest in your righteous standing. You must hold onto this righteousness in Christ. You must let that determine your reality.

Every time we repent of something, at some point we must stop confessing and saying “sorry”. If we think we must continue to confess our past over and over then we aren’t trusting that God is faith and just to forgive and cleanse us (1 Jn. 1:9). Jesus never said, “Go and fix your past.” Rather, He often said in one way or another, “Go and sin no more” (Mk. 5:34; Lk. 7:50; 17:19; 18:13-14; 18:42; Jn. 5:14; 8:11). He knows that fixing our past isn’t the answer. He knows we can’t re-live or re-write our pasts. He knows we must move forward living differently.

We seek holiness because we are holy. We seek to progressively grow in holiness because we are already positionally holy (Rom. 1:7; Eph. 1:1; 5:3; Col. 1:2,12; 3:12; Heb. 2:11; Jude 3; Rev. 13:7). We don’t receive the position of holiness because we worked hard to become holy. God graciously brought us into the definitive position and that compels us to go and live in light of who we are.

We fight by getting the gospel logic straight in our heads. We fight by embracing God’s grace. We fight by dismantling the attacks of the dark lord and his minions. We fight by resting in Christ.

From the Pastor's Study

August 13, 2020

The first week of school is almost over, and I’m happy to report that old habits have thankfully not been too hard to break. After homeschooling for many years, we have had our children the last two years at St. Augustine, a university-model school which in the elementary years meets only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One of the advantages of homeschooling or hybrid schooling for this particular pastor’s family has been the flexibility it has afforded over the years to fit the variable schedule that ministry brings. Beginning this year, however, while our older three remain at St. Augustine, Caroline (5th grade) and Ezra (2nd grade) are attending Christ Covenant School. It’s our first foray into a five-day school, and we’re excited to be a part of our church’s largest ministry with its emphasis upon a Biblical worldview and Christ-centered education. But drop off starts at 7:30 a.m. - so the old habit of a flexible wake up time depending on the previous night’s activities has been broken by necessity and by force.

Habits and customs are strange and powerful things. They can be easy to form (sometimes without our realizing that’s happening), but hard to break. Or they can be difficult to form (even when we’re trying our best to do so), but easy to break. Either way, habits are important to us, both as humans, and as Christians. Indeed, our Lord and Savior was a man of habit and custom. 

• It was His habit/custom to teach the crowds that gathered around Him (Mark 10:1).

• It was His habit/custom in Jerusalem to spend the night on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39; see Luke 21:37).

• It was His habit/custom to go to the synagogue to worship on the Sabbath Day (Luke 4:16).

We all have good habits and bad habits. The Bible teaches us that it should be our good habit to gather for corporate worship on the Sabbath Day, which since the resurrection of Jesus is the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:3; Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2). Unfortunately, even since the days of the early church, some Christians have had the bad habit of neglecting the gathering together of the saints with God for worship and fellowship. The command is clear: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). 

The pandemic in which we are living has had a profound impact on Christian habits with regard to corporate worship.

• Some habitually gathered with the saints on the Lord’s Day, but have had to become shut-ins due to a proper concern about the risk of catching a virus that would very probably  take their life. Rather than putting the Lord to the test by throwing themselves off the top of tall buildings (see Luke 4:9-12), they have decided it is wisest to watch church services online. Their habit of faithful church attendance has been constrained by a frowning providence.

• Others were in the habit of coming to worship on the Lord’s Day, and though they are not at high risk of dying of the coronavirus, they are caring for or are frequently in close proximity to someone who is - so they too have chosen to quarantine themselves for the sake of protecting life.

• Some had the custom of being in corporate worship, like Jesus, but COVID-19 has filled them, not with proper concern, but with sinful fear - they refuse to come to worship even though there is a low risk that they would die from this disease, and even a low risk they would catch it if they took appropriate precautions of masking and distancing - which they very likely do every day at work, the grocery store, restaurants, the school, etc. 

• For others, the good habit of actively attending the means of grace on the Lord’s day has been broken by the comfort and convenience of watching church in pajamas in the living room, so that a new bad habit of active neglect of the fellowship has been formed. Their sin is not fear, but apathy.

• Some, unfortunately, didn’t have good habits in the first place when it came to gathering for corporate worship - and so the past five months have been just the excuse they needed to forsake all the more the gathering together with the saints. 

These are just five situations that God’s people who are absent from worship may find themselves during this pandemic, and surely there are combinations and permutations of these and more. There are a variety of reasons why someone must be or chooses to be absent from corporate worship. God sees the heart, which man can never see (I Samuel 16:7). He knows our thoughts, intentions, and desires (Matthew 9:4; Hebrews 4:12). He sees why we do what we do. In all five scenarios above, however, whether from godly motives or sinful motives, the fact remains that many Christians are absent from the assembly of God’s people for worship, and so are missing out on the holy and joyful reverence that a physical gathering of the saints together in a particular place for corporate worship evokes (see I Corinthians 14:24-25; Hebrews 12:18-29), the physical presence and encouragement of the saints, and (when we resume it in September, Lord willing) the physical sign and seal of our communion with Jesus in the Lord’s Supper.

From the beginning of this pandemic we have encouraged the sick and those with underlying health conditions that put them in a high risk category to join us via our live stream, and not to feel shame or guilt in doing so. Clearly, though, it is right to feel sorrow at the loss of the great privilege and delight of worship! My heart aches to think of a scenario in which a vaccine is longer in coming than we hope, or not as effective as we hope, so that many who in all other respects would be able and willing to gather are prevented from doing so for an ever-increasing length of time. We are  live streaming our morning worship service in the gym so that those who are appropriately concerned but are willing at some point to take a small degree of risk can come gather with the saints, yet at a large distance in a wide open space with masks on (we’ve been averaging around 10 people recently in the 8:30 gym service, so this is a great place to start if you are hesitant but at some point do want to come back to corporate worship). May those of us who are able to be present in worship not allow these absent brothers and sisters to fall off our radars, even though we don’t see them at church on Sundays. Whether by phone, by letter/email/text, by video chat, or social distanced driveway visit, let us seek to pursue those who are shut out from the blessings they enjoyed before mid-March, but wish with all their hearts they could be present with us.

But to those who read these words and hear their conscience say that their habitual neglecting to meet together with the saints and with the Lord is sinful, I exhort you to return to corporate worship. I want to stir you up to love and good deeds - and what deed is better than corporate worship? The ordinances of Christ are present on the Lord’s Day - the preaching of the word, the sacraments, and prayer. They are the outward and ordinary means by which the Lord communicates to His people the benefits of redemption (Westminster Shorter Catechism #88). Pray that the Lord would break your few-months old bad habits and give you renewed habits as this new school year gets started. Certainly this virus reminds us even more clearly that the Day of the Lord, the day of judgment, is nearer and nearer. So let us commit by his grace to join in worshiping our Savior King with His body - especially this coming Lord’s Day…

From the Pastor's Study

August 6, 2020

Our trip to western North Carolina last week was wonderful - thank you for your prayers. Usually spotty cell phone signal is a decided negative, but on a vacation it can be a feature rather than a bug. It was nice to unplug and disconnect, read some Agatha Christie novels, put together a puzzle, take in the vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains, play in waterfalls, and enjoy the rest and refreshment of cool evenings and ice-cold water. 

But down the mountain, back on the flatland, school starts in less than a week. Which means the temptation to grumble and complain has reared its ugly head in our family’s hearts (and probably yours?) in spades - especially during a pandemic-induced mask mandate and new health protocols everywhere you go. Complaining is a “respectable sin” - everybody’s doing it, and you can commit it without anyone knowing, with a smile on your face and a bitter scowl in your heart - though eventually it seeps out in our words and attitudes. 

God is not unclear regarding His thoughts on complaining: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing . . .” (Philippians 2:14). So how does a Christian put to death the sin of complaining? There is no magic bullet - but by remembering these three truths, God by His Spirit enables us to strangle the life out of this enemy of our soul.

1. Remember the evangelistic impact of an uncomplaining spirit. Paul goes on to write in Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” When we refuse to complain, particularly during a time like the one in which we live, Paul says we stick out like a star in the night sky. A quiet spirit is provocative – it provokes attention, it provokes questions, so that in the words of I Peter 3:15, we are able to share the reason for the hope that is within us with boldness and gentleness.

2. Remember that your complaining is always against God. If you know the history of Israel, its Exodus and wilderness wanderings, then you know that complaining and grumbling was one of the besetting sins of God’s people of old. In Exodus 16, when Israel complains for its lack of food, Moses tells them something vitally important: “. . . the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him – what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord” (Exodus 16:8). To kill complaining, you have to see it as ultimately against the Lord. 

   — It impugns the love of God. If you really loved me, God, you wouldn’t make me go through such hard circumstances! That’s what Israel said when refusing to enter the Promised Land: “Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (Deuteronomy 1:27). 

   — It assails the power of God. In Numbers 11, when Israel complained about not having meat, God tells Moses that He will provide meat for a month. And Moses talks back to God: “The people among whom I am number 600,000 on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them?’” God answers, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not” (11:21-23). Complaining accuses God of being powerless to change our situation.

   — It questions the wisdom of God. In Numbers 21, Israel spoke against God, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” There was food – but they were sick and tired of it. God’s wise provision for them wasn’t good enough for them. His ways were stupid, only leading to death.

   — It attacks the justice of God. Israel forgot that the reason they were wandering in the wilderness was due to their own sinful rebellion. They thought they deserved far better, when in actuality they deserved far worse. “Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39).

   We must strive to see the sinfulness of our sin, so that we will hate it enough to kill it. 

3. Remember that Jesus died for your complaining. In Mark 14:36, we read this: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus affirms the love of God His Father, the power of God who is able to change His circumstances, and the wisdom of God whose will is always right. He submits to the God who is able to change His circumstances, but who sometimes isn’t willing. He was the spotless, sinless Lamb of God. Yet notice what Jesus wanted removed from Him: a cup - the cup of God’s wrath. Jesus knew that God was completely just – and that He was about to have the sin of His sheep reckoned to His account, imputed to Him, and then God was going to punish Him as His people’s substitute. He was about to bear the sins of His people in His body on the cross. It’s as we remember that Jesus died to forgive our complaining and grumbling and to free us increasingly from a complaining and grumbling spirit that we are enabled more and more to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, and so refuse to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies, to obey its lusts and passions.

It will be easy to find things to complain about in these coming days, weeks, and months. But remember the words of the great Puritan John Owen in his classic The Mortification of Sin: “Make [killing sin] your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Let the poetry of Henry Francis Lyte fill your heart: “Soul, then know thy full salvation, Rise o’er sin and fear and care. Joy to find in every station, Something still to do or bear. Think what Spirit dwells within thee, Think what Fathers smiles are thine, Think that Jesus died to win thee, Child of heaven, canst thou repine?”

Race, Justice, and the Christian (Part 2)

August 6, 2020

In early June, Pastor Caleb and I attempted to answer several questions which were submitted to us by members of the congregation. Those questions and the forum we held in order to answer them were directly related to the race relations issues that continue to be the subject of many of our conversations. Because our videotaped forum was limited with respect to time, we were not able to answer all the questions that were given to us. In light of that fact, we will be providing answers to some of the remaining questions via a series of online blog posts. The following answers do not necessarily represent the views of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church. They represent my thoughts and opinions concerning the submitted questions.

Member: I have many concerns about the “protesters” demanding others to “take a knee.” Often they are demanding this posture to show subservience and to apologize for “white privilege.” Sometimes they couch it with showing solidarity to the “social justice warriors.” I would take a knee to pray with others, but should Christians be “taking a knee” to anyone other than our Lord?

Dean: In some contexts, the individuals (Sheriffs, other law enforcement individuals, white Americans…)  have been/were voluntarily kneeling in order to communicate their agreement with the “concept” of Black Lives Matter. They were in no way bowing, or knowingly genuflecting, to the underlying agenda held by those with ties to organizations such as Black Lives Matter, Inc. It is always wrong to worship, whether through symbolism or any other form, anything or anyone other than our Lord. Guided by this principle or understanding, I would fight for the right of others to kneel, but I personally will not be engaging in any such behavior, especially as it relates to our American Flag. I would personally prefer that no one kneels during the playing of our national anthem, in any and all forums/venues.

Member: After days of riots and violence in the country and specifically violence in DC when the church across the street from the White House was set on fire, the President announced if the mayors and governors didn’t call up the guard to regain control, he would nationalize the guard if necessary. He then walked across the street to that church and held up a Bible. I viewed it as a perfectly appropriate show of strength as the leader of the free world that burning buildings and churches would not be tolerated and that we are still a nation built on Christian principles. Franklin Graham thanked the President for holding up the Bible saying “God and His word are the only hope for our nation.” I agree with Franklin Graham. However, not only did the liberals criticize the President, some pastors, including some in our denomination, questioned the use of that church and a Bible as a publicity stunt. Should we join liberals in criticizing our President for holding up a Bible?

Dean: First, the narrative that led to the question acknowledges that there were also conservative voices who were in disagreement with the President’s action (some of the reasons extended beyond just holding up a Bible). Secondly, there are quite a few Christians who identify as liberal (I’m not one of them). So, it might be more instructive for us to ask the question, “Should Christians criticize our President for holding up a Bible?” My answer to that particular question would be “Absolutely not!” My reason for that position is this: even if I don’t agree with the actions or speech of a person, I would rather have them subscribe to an objective source (Scripture) that could enable us to reach a God honoring consensus, than have them subscribe to some secularist or existentialist source or platform which absolutely contradicts Scripture, and therefore, leaves no place to achieve a good, right, and proper, God honoring consensus which can then be reflected in that person’s policies or decision making.

Member: Should we generally say: blacks, people of color, or African American?

Dean:  The question begs for a generality where one may not exist. I suggest the best way to approach this is through the context of your relationship with a particular individual or group. Some understand “black” to be a polarizing label, initially established to create a societal status gap between blacks and whites, whites being superior and deserving of privilege, while blacks were labeled as lower class, and even property, not worthy of much, except the opportunity to serve the interest of whites.  Some have embraced “black” as a proud marker which connects them to “their” people. Some are concerned about the well-being of people of all ethnic persuasions, and therefore prefer to use the moniker “people of color”. Finally, there are some who are proud Americans who also embrace their African heritage, and therefore prefer to be called African Americans.  So, my counsel here would be to use that which is consistently utilized by those in your sphere of influence. And please don’t allow yourself to live with trepidation over the use of one or the other.

Member: It is so hard to find truth in such a sea of information. A Christian friend posts pictures of black children killed by police. The descriptions are horrifying; are they true? Are they spin? Another friend talks to a black friend who is frequently stopped and questioned by police just for driving through white neighborhoods. A black Christian friend writes a book dedicated to her young son, mourning that some will fear him, just because he is black, as he grows to be a man. Others like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson list published statistics that clearly illustrate that police killings of blacks are rare, less common than police killings of whites. We read and hear drastically different perspectives on Black Lives Matter from trusted Christian friends. We want to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. But how can we promote justice without truth? How do we recognize truth among so many voices? How do we know whom to believe?

Dean: A common illustration is aptly applied here. It’s the illustration concerning the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Counterfeit Bill Recognition Training. The investigators are initially limited to only viewing authentic U. S. currency (bills). They become so well trained in recognizing that which is authentic, that when they get exposed to that which is false, they’re immediately able to recognize that fact. Now let’s take a look at two particular verses found in Scripture:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16).

What do we have here? In summary, just as the FBI agents are trained in that which is truth (authentic) and nothing else, Christians are called to first and foremost know God’s Word, the ultimate source of truth and authenticity, and how it applies to every situation, circumstance, ideological framework. We are to engage everything else with a firm grasp on that which is God’s truth. That truth should serve as our guide as we negotiate the marketplace of ideas. It is by the power and enabling of God’s Spirit that we are able to discern agendas and ideologies which do not conform to God’s Word. That’s one of the reasons Jesus could say, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

Your alignment with other individuals/organizations (Owens, Carlson, news networks…) should also be guided by the same principle. The degree to which what they’re saying or doing is conformed to our rule of faith and practice, is the degree to which you can embrace or act upon it. As always, the ability to act in this manner requires a commitment to Scripture (Psalm 1:1-6).

James communicates one of the greatest principles to be mindful of when engaging the marketplace of ideas, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” People today, without employing any level of the above-mentioned discernment, are often immediately and emotionally steered towards supporting agendas that might very well be antithetical to Scripture. In other cases, we should get engaged, but are emotionally turned off by what we see and hear.

The Reason Why Your Personal Ministry Is Pivotal For The People

Matthew gave an incredible view of Jesus’ own ministry. He shows us the preaching ministry of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He shows us the teaching ministry of Jesus in such places as Matthew 21-22 where Jesus speaks about the Temple, his authority, and different parables. He shows us the healing ministry of Jesus in chapters 8-9 where Jesus heals ten times in only two chapters. What we see is that Jesus’ ministry is one of preaching, teaching, and healing.

Jesus’ Ministry Through The Disciples

In Matthew 10:1-15 (particularly in verses 1 and 7), we see Jesus send the disciples out on mission. They were to go about to minister to the people as well. But, whose ministry would this be? Was it their own ministry? No. The ministry is not theirs but rather it is Jesus’ ministry through them.

When Jesus sends them, he sends them out to proclaim the same gospel and to heal the same broken people. Jesus sends us out to do His ministry as well. No, this is not only ministry work for paid church staff or really committed volunteers. All Christians are sent out to do ministry (Mt. 28:16-20; Eph. 4:12). If you are a Christian, you have a ministry. But, here is the thing. It’s not your ministry. It’s Jesus’ ministry through you.

The reason Jesus gives you the gifts that He gives you and the reason Jesus has you living in the place where you are living is that He seeks to minister to the people around you. It’s His ministry, not yours. He desires to reach those people much more than you ever will. Do you have the gift of teaching? Do you have the gift of service? Do you have the gift of compassion? What gifts do you have? He wants to use your gifts, the gifts He has given you, to bring those people to Him.

The Ministry of Jesus Through You

You might be thinking, “I don’t have any supernatural gifts but only natural gifts.” You need to remember that these gifts have been given to you by God our Creator. We are to do all things for the glory of God and the mission of Christ. Are you a doctor? Are you a lawyer? Are you a stay at home parent? Are you great at administration? Are you passionate about hosting others at your home? Do you have finances that you can wisely give to the ministries that need your help? What are your gifts?

These gifts are for the ministry of Jesus. It is not your ministry; it’s Jesus’ ministry through you! This means that you can have complete confidence that where you are and who surrounds you that Jesus is there and He is at work. You can have the boldness to go out into your work, neighborhood, school, and community because you know you have been equipped by the Holy Spirit. You can get excited because no one is more passionate about the ministry than God Himself! Your ministry is not yours. It’s Jesus’ ministry.

The Church Needs YOU

That’s what makes your personal ministry pivotal for the people. Jesus has equipped you with the gifts He wants you to have so that He can minister in that way through you. Here is why that’s encouraging. No gift is small or insignificant. The world may say that there are more important gifts than others but that’s not true. As Francis Schaeffer says, “There are no small people.”

In our celebrity culture, we are lead astray by thinking that only the “up-front” gifts are what builds the church. God loves working in the small and humble gifts. He loves working in the ordinary day-to-day acts. He does more in the “small acts of kindness and love” than some do with their more public gifts. We need people like Martha who find their primary calling in serving others. Not everyone is called to speak, write, and lead. Everyone is called to something. Jesus doesn’t need celebrities. He uses you.

What if you having people over for a nice dinner and godly conversation is one of the ways in which God builds His kingdom through you? What if Jesus wants to minister to others through you by your giving a Christian book to someone? What if Jesus desires to change someone’s life simply through your godly character and counsel as a school teacher? Don’t underestimate Him.

How might this encourage you? How does this make you bold? How does this motivate you to use your gifts? Ministry is not about us. It’s about Him. It’s about Jesus showing His glory through the gifts He has given us. Jesus wants to minister through you. That’s the reason why ministry, the ministry of Jesus through you, is pivotal for the people.

What Jesus' Earthly Father Teaches Us About "Cancel Culture"

No one is safe. No one can hide their past forever. If you have messed up, everyone will eventually know about it. Whatever you do you better make sure you don’t get on anyone’s bad side so that they don’t dig up your dirt. That’s what our world is telling us right now.

I remember seeing a comment on social media after Alabama Wide Receiver Henry Ruggs ran a stunningly fast 40 yard dash (4.27 seconds!!!). Ruggs had dominated at the NFL Combine to establish himself as a sure top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. When the news of Ruggs’ time was released, there was one person who posted on social media (very sarcastically I would add) a statement like this:

Well, now it’s time to go back through his entire Twitter history to see what dirt we can pull up on him so that we can make him look like he has questionable character.

This is “Cancel Culture” and this guy nailed it with that summary. Cancel Culture is unraveling society right now. It is highly destructive. In actuality, it is really just a power play by others to get what they want by hanging people’s faults over their heads. This is what Cancel Culture does:

• If someone disagrees with you just go and dig up their dirt and show it to the world.

• If someone has done something wrong make sure you show them no mercy.

• If someone has messed up in the past make sure they live in fear that you might blackmail them.

• If someone has sinned in a way that isn’t socially acceptable make sure they go to the bottom of our society and never influence anyone ever.

• No matter if someone has changed and confessed, destroy them for the one instance they slipped up.

What Happens In Response To A Cancel Culture

It’s no wonder then that iGen is the generation with the most anxiety and depression that we have seen in a long time. It’s no wonder that shame is the most crippling and debilitating sensation in our culture today. It’s no wonder that millions live in fear of “being found out” or being misrepresented. Youth are living in a mental hell every day hoping that their shameful past might not revisit them.

We are at a point in history where we are pulling out our spiritual mircoscopes to find the specks in others eyes and proclaiming them to be unforgivable sins. We are throwing out the proverbial baby with the bath water. If our culture had a self-given name it might be the name from Hosea 1:6 “No Mercy”. It’s not the name of us not receiving mercy from God but rather the name we bestow on ourselves as we relate to each other.

If a forefather was an ardent follower of Christ and yet still had slaves (even if he did treat them well for the most part in that system), we must refuse to let him teach us anything today. If a politician messed up sexually in the past then we must “out” him and tear down his entire life (even if he has confessed and sought forgiveness). If a coach, teacher, pastor, businessman, doctor, writer, celebrity, or whoever has done anything, said anything, or failed to support something then we must start an outrage to ruin their lives. It doesn’t matter what good things they have done. It doesn’t matter what benefits they have brought to our society. If they are not perfect in our eyes then we must shatter them into thousands of irrepairable pieces. Oh, and let’s make sure we get their friends and families and anyone who associates with them as well. We demand perfect. Even in the Church, we demand that our forefathers and foremothers in the faith be more perfect than Jesus Himself (as if that is possible!) or else we will seek to destroy anything they stand for.

It’s not unbelievers alone who do this. Plenty of Christians do this. We do this with politics, sports, denominations, and friendships. We post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in hopes that we might add to the destruction of another. Do we realize that God Almighty will judge us for everything we post, repost, and like on social media? His judgment will be even more strict than our culture.

Safe No More

No one is safe. No one is secure. The Internet is your worst enemy. If you messed up in college, you better watch out. If you said something racially insensitive, sexually discriminating, or politically incorrect then you’re essential done for in this society. It doesn’t matter if you’re genuinely sorry. It doesn’t matter if it was 45 years ago. It doesn’t matter if you have repented and changed. It doesn’t matter if the other person has forgiven you. Once you’ve sinned in this country, you’re damned for eternity. Get ready to experience social hell.

If we had a choice, we would create our own pits of despair and round all those people up so that we don’t have to live amongst them or be influenced by them. We would punish them. We would shame them. We would make them look out into our world with jealousy. We would want them to never bring their disease into our culture ever again. Oh wait, that’s what we’re already doing on social media.

No wonder there is a lot of suicide today.

This is what Cancel Culture feels like. Once again, if we’re not careful, we’ll shame ourselves into our very own self-destruction. No one can stand for long under this. This is where an evolutionary worldview has brought us. We should have evolved by now. We should be better. We should be past this. This is 2020 people!

No one wants to remember the fact that we are sinners living in a sinful world. Matter of fact, the only sin is to say that there is such thing as sin.

What Does 1st Century Jerusalem Have To Do With 21st Century America?

What does the Bible have to do with this? Everything.

I heard something phenomenal the other day from RTS professor Miles Van Pelt (I mean, who hasn’t heard something phenomenal from him?). He said something that rocked my world.

You’ll never find closure if you only seek justice. You’ll only find closure if you rest in grace.

If I had a Twitter still, I would tweet that. It’s almost worth it to create a Twitter and just tweet that one thing right now. Did you read that? He said, “You’ll never find closure if you only seek justice. You’ll only find closure if you rest in grace.”

Right now, our culture has gotten rid of all grace and mercy. There is only justice and wrath.

Listen. Justice is crucial. Let’s make no mistake about that. Justice is central to a society and it’s central to Christianity. Justice is an attribute of God. God would not be God if He were not just. But, justice is not the only thing we receive. Justice is not the only attribute of God. Grace is what we receive. Grace is what we need.

Can I just say something? What our country needs most is the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are fools if we think our country is Christian. We are fools if we think our churches know enough of the gospel (let alone our country). What our churches and country needs most is the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t need less gospel; we need more gospel.

So, where do we see this grace in the Bible that might apply to the Cancel Culture?

Jesus’ Earthly Father

In Matthew 1:19, we find something absolutely stunning. I’ve read over this portion of Scripture hundreds of times. I’ve never seen what I just saw. Thanks to Roy Ciampa in Devotions on the Greek New Testament: 52 Reflections to Inspire & Instruct, I saw the light in a dark world.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Matthew 1:19

This verse is not necessarily a verse you tell your kids to memorize. It’s not the verse you might post as your “Verse of the Day” post. It’s not the verse you would get framed or put on your Christmas cards. It’s probably not the choice text for you if you had to teach a Bible study. Let me tell you something. There is more light in this one verse than there is in 10,000 Suns. Let me show you.

Joseph thought Mary had broken their engagement by sinning sexually. We now know that she obviously didn’t and Joseph would soon realize that too. But, there was a point when he looked at her pregnant belly and was heart broken that she had an affair. After all, virgin births are not a natural event! It required a miracle for the Son of God to come into this world! If she was pregnant and he wasn’t the one who slept with her then it must’ve been another man.

Joseph was torn over this. He was heart broken, ashamed, anxious, and in despair. Some of you might know this pain. But, here is the thing about Joseph. He was a just man (lit. “being righteous”). So, what would a righteous man (who obviously cares deeply about justice) do in the face of someone committing great sin against him?

To be sure, I am not saying that Mary wasn’t a virgin. I am not saying that Mary slept with someone else. We are only looking at this through the experience of Joseph before he received word from the angel (v20-25) that Mary was going to be the virgin who would fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.

Responding To Sin With Righteous Compassion

How would righteous Joseph respond in the face of such heinous sin? I know what our culture would do. Our culture would put on a shame show. They would parade her sin and guilt on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook. Late night talk show hosts would include her in their jokes. She would turn into a “meme” of shame. Some Christians would unfortunately wag their heads at her as if she weren’t a Christian at all. “If she was really a Christian then she would’ve never put herself in that situation.”

If Mary lived in the U.S. today and eventually decided to run for a political office, her childhood friends who didn’t agree with her political views would find her medical records and show them off to the world like she is the worst human walking since Adolf Hitler.

How was righteous Joseph going to respond? Well, we can see more clearly how he might when we look at the next phrase. Joseph was righteous and unwilling to put her to shame. Joseph didn’t have two opposing qualities in himself that were fighting over what to do in this situation. There wasn’t the “good angel and bad angel” or the “righteous angel and the compassionate angel” on either shoulder whispering to him what he should do. “Should I do what would be culturally acceptable during these times and make it publicly known to the proper Jewish and Romans authorities? Should I write her off and start a campaign to have her removed from the Temple? Should I expose what she has done to everyone I know so that all might shame her with me? Or, should I have mercy on her? Should I keep it quiet? Should I not divulge that information?”

Joseph was not playing the either/or game. Actually, what this text is saying is that because Joseph was righteous he was also unwilling to put her to shame. It’s not about whether to show justice or compassion but rather to show justice and compassion.

To say it another way, Joseph shows his righteousness as he shows compassion for her.

The present participle (“being a just man”) indicates not that he had been righteous but (now) thought of acting unrighteously in this instance, but rather he was righteous even as he decided on his plan of action.

-Roy Ciampa

***With my emphasis to make the wording a little more clear.***

What is Ciampa saying? He is saying that the Bible is saying that because Joseph was righteous he was also compassionate. And look at the context. Joseph thought that Mary had sinned greatly! And what did this righteous man decide to do in the face of great sin? He decided not to put her to shame but rather to show her compassion.

The Gospel of Justice and Grace

My friends, this is the gospel. This is what Jesus does to us. In the face of such horrendous sin and betrayal against the King of Glory, He came to earth and died in our place out of compassion. Jesus didn’t “cancel” us. He came to us. He had compassion on us.

The gospel of Matthew seeks to transform our understanding of the true nature of righteousness in light of its redefinition by Jesus and by Matthew’s telling of his story. In this gospel it becomes clear that for Jesus (and Matthew), mercy and compassion are not at odds with righteousness, but are crucial marks of righteousness, just as they are in the Old Testament. Jesus demands not the same righteousness as the scribes and Pharisees but a greater righteousness (5:20), one that will lead his disciples to show mercy to the least of his brothers (25:34-40). Jesus emphasized the theme of Hosea 6:6 [that] God prefers mercy over sacrifice (Matt. 9:13; 12:7), and he demonstrated what that preference looks like by befriending tax collectors and sinners. His sacrifice on the cross is about extending mercy to us sinners rather than leaving us to our own destruction.

-Roy Ciampa

This is what Joseph is doing. In the face of great sin, he is acting righteously! He is pressing into righteous living. He is living out what Jesus would live out. He is imaging God the Redeemer. That is why he decided to treat her with dignity, love, compassion, and grace. He cared about justice and grace and he realized that justice and grace are not rivals but best friends.

How This Could Change Our Culture

People are dying for hope. Everyone has sinned. Everyone has baggage. Everyone has said horrible things. Everyone has treated someone in unspeakable ways. No one is exempt. Was Paul not clear enough about this in Romans 3:10-12 when he said:

None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.

The people who do the most shaming tend to have a lot of shame. The people who point out the specks in others eyes tend to have logs in their own. We’re all truly depraved and soaked in sin. When we forget that we get into these spiritual shame shows so that we can make ourselves feel better.

Here is where the gospel comes in. The gospel says that we are worse than we could ever dare admit and yet more loved than we could ever imagine. This gospel is a gospel of grace and righteousness. Jesus didn’t sacrifice justice in order to give us grace. He gave us grace through justice. He went to the Cross to absorb the wrath we deserved for our sins so that we might receive grace and compassion. That is how we can have spiritual closure.

Repentant Sinners In Heaven

Our country, believers and unbelievers, are holding their breaths hoping that maybe they can just make it to the end of their lives without their worst mistakes being exposed. We mentally and emotionally murder others a thousand times over whenever we hold their sin over their heads. We destroy them time and time again whenever we don’t accept someone’s confession or genuine repentance. We sever all hopes of change whenever we fail to celebrate the work of change that the Holy Spirit has done in us.

Did we forget that former sinners will be in heaven? Jesus came for the sick sinners and not for the healthy self-righteous ones. There will be former racists and rapists in heaven. There will be former sexual abusers and drug abusers in heaven. There will be former slave traders in heaven. There will be former Nazis and Neo-Nazis in heaven. There will be former murderers, drunks, hookers, atheists, homosexuals, liars, cheaters, swindlers, and anarchists who will be in heaven. There are scores of people who once lived this way who have now found life and grace in Jesus Christ. He took their wrath. He dealt with their sin. Who in the world are we to shame them with what they repent from?

They are not only being sanctified right now but they will be so glorified that even those in heaven who were victims of their sinful lifestyle on earth will see so much beauty in them because of the work of the Holy Spirit within. The bond of joy and friendship between former enemies will be stronger than any friendship on this earth. This is what Jesus does to saved sinners.

We need Christians who proclaim this gospel. This country is DYING for hope. Don’t believe me? Just any youth you know who have been through or have had friends go through these social shame fests whenever they fail in the smallest way. Just go into our schools and ask middle and high schools students what their biggest fears are. Just read literature of youth culture and see the staggering stats and interviews that talk about this issue.

We can learn a lot from Joseph here. We need to learn a lot. Only grace can transform us. Only Jesus can make us new by the power of the Spirit.

What Paul Might Say To Christians About Wearing Masks

It is very disheartening to hear what people have been saying. It is very discouraging to see what people have posted. Have we lost sight of who we are as believers? Have we lost sight of what Scripture says? Have we lost sight of how Jesus treated others? Why does it seem like sheep are hurting other sheep so much in the church over this issue of wearing masks?

What Paul Says About Christian Freedom

Romans 14 is the fundamental chapter in the Bible about Christian freedom and winsome love towards fellow Christians even when (especially when!) they disagree with you. Paul was writing to a group of people who were divided over non-essential issues. He was writing to a group of people who were dividing over things that could tear the church apart if they were not careful.

How does this affect us today with mask-wearing? There are some who think that masks represent political views. There are some who think that masks represents your view towards science. Others think that masks is about asserting your right. So…what might Paul say about this issue if he was pastoring our churches today?

What follows is a word for word reprint of the ESV translation of Romans 14 but phrases such as “eating”, “observing days”, and “drinking” are replaced with “mask-wearing”.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions (such as whether to wear masks or not). One person believes he may not wear a mask, while the other person only wears the mask. Let not the one who does not wear masks despise the one who wears masks, and let not the one who wears masks pass judgment on the one who does not wear masks, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems wearing masks as better than not wearing masks, while another esteems not wearing masks as legitimate. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who wears masks, wears it in honor of the Lord. The one who does not wear a mask, should go about it in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who wears masks, should wear it in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother for wearing a mask? Or you, why do you despise your brother for not wearing a mask? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that neither view is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by you not wearing a mask, you are no longer walking in love. By you not wearing a mask, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of wearing masks or not wearing masks but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Do not, for the sake of wearing or not wearing masks, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what how he views wearing masks. It is good to wear a mask so that your brother does not stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he does not wear a mask, because the not wearing a mask is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Key Verses

Listen to these key verses again:

v1 “but not to quarrel over opinions”

v4 “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?”

v10 “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?”

v12 “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

v13 “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”

v15 “For if your brother is grieved [by your view of masks] you are no longer walking in love.”

v19 “So let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

The Problem

How many of us have seen Christians assert their right to not wear a mask in such a way that it hurts other Christians? How many of us have heard others make comments about those who do not wear masks as if they may not be Christian at all? We are using our freedom to beat people over the head. We are using our convictions to shame others who don’t agree. Brothers and sisters, this should not be!

If we are not careful, we will see this build-up into strife and division. Where are the servants in the church? Where are those who want to use their Christian freedom to build others up? Where are those who won’t impose their beliefs on someone else? Where is the grace-hunting? Where is the encouragement? Where is Jesus being seen through us?

The Solution

The only way to come together as the body of Christ is to press further into the gospel. We don’t need less gospel; we need more gospel. We can’t assume the gospel or even just throw the word gospel around. We need the explicit gospel. We need to know that the Son of God humbled Himself to voluntarily take on human flesh to be thrown into the thick of temptation, sin, and sinful culture. We need to know that He remained sinless and perfectly loving and compassionate while pursuing utmost holiness. We need to know that He went to the rugged cross where He absorbed an eternity’s worth of hell for a countless yet definite number of people on their behalf. We need to know that He died a death’s death and when He died He put death to death. We need to know that He rose from the dead and crushed the head of the Serpent with His first step of resurrected life. We need to know that He ascended into Heaven where He reigns and rules with utmost love, sovereignty, compassion, power, justice, and grace. We need to know that we can be saved by grace through faith in Christ alone according to what the Scriptures alone declare to God’s glory. We need to know that He is coming again to judge the righteous and the wicked and that an eternity’s worth of hell or heaven awaits all people who have ever lived.

Do we really know this gospel? Or, do we just assume it? Are we ok with having a short and quick definition of the gospel or is it the very life we live by? Are we ok with hearing sermons that merely mention the word “gospel” or do we long to see the ins and outs of the “heavenly dynamite” (Rom. 1:16) that God has given to us? Is the gospel merely what we embrace to be converted or do we see that it is God’s plan for the entirety of our salvation and the main theme of an eternity’s worth of heaven? Do we just throw the word “gospel” around like it’s a filler word in our Christian sentences or do we cherish the thought of the fact that Jesus is now ours and we are His?

What Now?

Our rivalry over this issue shows that there is a gap between head and heart for the Church (not merely POPC). This is not something that non-PCA churches only need to think about. This is about us. This is about all who call themselves Christians and walk in our doors each week. This is about everyone who looks at what we post and hear what we say.

Brothers and sisters, we must be thoughtful with our posts on social media. We must be compassionate and gracious with our words towards each other. We must stop asserting our rights at the expense of loving another person.

You might ask:

• At what point do we assert our right?

• At what point do we stand for our viewpoint?

• At what point do we stop “giving in”?

• When will it ever end?

• What’s going to be the next burdensome step we’ll have to take?

• Isn’t this just a government issue?

There are thousands of ways to come to the conclusion of those questions but there is one question that weighs more.

The most important question is this: What do you think about Jesus?

That’s it.

To be clear, thoughtful Christians will have different opinions about this issue. And you know what? That’s fine if stays in the realm of a non-essential non-divisive conversation. We should have these conversations.

We will disagree with each other but that should never sever our love for each other.

That’s the most important question. Is Jesus so lovely to you that you would do anything to show Him to others? Where are the Hudson Taylors who wanted to love the people in China so much that he laid down his own “rights”. Where are the John Patons who went to minister to cannibals in the New Hebrides rather than forcing them to become Scottish just like him? Where are those who feel so strongly over a non-essential issue and yet (even if it bugs them internally) will take an act of love for those who might not feel the same?

Yes, there is a point where we must stand in our Christian freedom. Yes, there is a time when we should not let people determine how we live. But my friends, we are a long way from there. There are churches in China who are doing all that they can to merely meet together to worship without being arrested and we are over here arguing with each other about our view of mask wearing.

“But this is a bigger issue than just wearing masks. This is about [science, politics, the future of our country, the health of others, etc.].” There are holy men and women who take both sides to this. Let us not let this non-essential matter divide us. If wearing a mask is better for your more sensitive neighbor then wear a mask. If not wearing a mask (in a more private setting) around someone who is absolutely against wearing masks is more advantageous (and yes, you can keep yourself and others you come in contact with safe) then maybe it’s better to not wear a mask. Whatever we do, let’s do it out of intelligent love.

What we are really seeing right now is what our idols are.

***IF I CAN TAKE A BRIEF PAUSE. THIS IS WHY WE ARE DOING A SUNDAY NIGHT SERIES ON THE IDOLS OF THE HEART. WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SHOW US OUR IDOLS SO THAT WE CAN GROW VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY. FOR THE SERMONS, CLICK HERE.***

Who Needs To Respond?

It doesn’t matter if you’re more conservative or liberal politically. It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. It doesn’t matter if you’re in medicine or if you’re not. It doesn’t matter if you think this is a hoax or if this is the next Black Plague. What matters is this: What do you think about Jesus?

Paul rooted this doctrine of Christian freedom in the gospel. Jesus didn’t assert His right. He gave it up. He wanted to love us in the way we needed to be loved (be very careful with saying that your “not wearing a mask” stance is the way in which you are loving people in the way they need to be loved). The fundamental issue is showing Christlike love.

If we are not careful, we will see people grow bitter towards others because of what some post and say.

Dear Christian, what do you think about Jesus?

Spiritual Warfare: When Satan Tempts You That There Is Sin Left Undone

Discerning the dark lord’s tactics

The dark lord is relentless in his attacking the saints. He has you right where he wants you if you think that you’re not going to be attacked by him. One of the ways in which he moves under the radar and sneaks in the shadows of our conscience is by tempting us to think that there is sin left unrepented of or left unconfessed in our lives. 

He knows that the gospel compels us to repent and have faith (Mt. 4:17). He knows that Romans 6:1-2 says, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” He knows that Psalm 32:1-3 says, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, who sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.” Let’s be clear: the dark lord knows more of the content of Scripture than we do and he seeks to use it against us.

The dark lord loves to take Scripture out of context or to its unbiblical extremes (see the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11). He knows that we would not fret if he came to us with wildly contrasting temptations that clearly aren’t biblical. He likes to take that which is good and distort it. One of the ways in which he does so is by taking the command of our Lord to repent and uses it to torment us with the thought that we have some sin left unrepented of.

Now, to be sure, there really might be some sin left unrepented of. We need to discern what is conviction versus what is condemnation. Condemnation has no hope. Condemnation only points out the bad and never gives you grace. There is always work to do. There is never any rest, joy, and peace in Christ. You are always under the Law. You are always to be ashamed. The Holy Spirit is always pointing out where you have failed. This is not how our gracious Lord and His Spirit acts towards us. As the hymn writer says, “When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there who made an end to all my sin.”

The Extremes He Takes Us To

One of the extremes in which the dark lord does this is by hounding us with the thought that we have not repented enough. There is something in our past that we haven’t confessed. There is something that we have only halfway repented of. Or, there is some element of something that we have not confessed in its absolute fullness.

It sounds awfully close to the truth doesn’t it? Of course we must repent and live a life of constant repenting! Of course we must confess our sins and seek to hide nothing from the Lord (1 John 1:8-10)! He will take this good and life-giving truth and use it to condemn and drain the life out of us. He will take God-centered proclamations of the gospel and turn them into man-centered efforts to make ourselves clean. This, as Paul says to the Galatians, is not the gospel!

As long as he can convince you that you cannot rest in Christ until this particular sin is drained completely dry then he has you where he wants you. He will continue to hold the law over you time after time and keep showing you that there is more to do. He knows that the law never quits condemning sinners. There is always confession that falls short. There is always repentance, even in the best saints, that falls short. There has never been anyone anywhere who has ever fully and completely repented or confessed the depths of their sin. 

Take Martin Luther for example. He would confess his sins for hours upon hours a day because the law was ever before his face. The dark lord sought to convince him that there was more to do and that he couldn’t rest in the grace of Christ until he had dealt with it exhaustively.

He wants you to think that until you express absolutely every feeling, every emotion, every detail, and every instance of such sin that you are under God’s wrath. When he hounds a saint with this, he causes the saint to fret and worry about whether they have done enough. They can’t rest because if they do then they must be quenching the Spirit who must be giving them this thought.

How to fight by faith

You will forever have duties left undone if you think Jesus won’t accept you until you have dealt with everything fully and perfectly. The antidote is first and foremost to soak in the finality of the Cross. In John 19:30 Jesus cries, “It is finished.” This one Greek word, tetelestai, has a lifetime of meaning in it. Think about it. Jesus did not have to say this right before He died. Why would He exert this final portion of His physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual energy to say this one word before dying? He did it to confirm to us of His work on our behalf. As they say, “Last words are lasting words.”

When Jesus says it is finished He means it. Robert Mounce says, 

“This one word summary of Jesus’ life and death is perhaps the single most important statement in all of Scripture. The word means ‘to complete,’ ‘to bring to perfection.’ Jesus had fully done the work God the Father sent him to do… But the tense of the verb, the ‘perfect’ tense, brings out even more of what Jesus was saying. The perfect describes an action that was fully completed and has consequences at the time of speaking… Because Jesus fully completed his task, the ongoing effects are that you and I are offered the free gift of salvation so that we can be with him forever.”

What does Mounce mean by this? He means that there is nothing left undone in the work of Jesus. There is nothing that we need to go and do first in order to be saved. There will never be enough confession. There will never be enough repentance. You will absolutely never feel as sorry and convicted as you should about your sin. You cannot rest in your work. You must rest and trust in the finality of the atonement of Christ for all your sin (past, present, and future). 

Knowing What The Truth Really Is

We must have a robust doctrine and understanding of repentance and confession so that when someone tells us something differently we can spot it out. There is the common story that you might have heard about how the FBI detects counterfeit currency. They spend so much time looking at the real thing that when they see the counterfeit they know it immediately. We too must spend much time looking at Christ and looking at the reality of what the Bible says about repentance and confession so that when the dark lord tempts us to go back into slavery we can detect it.

Paul dealt with something similar to this with the Galatians. He knew that any subtle change to the gospel made it no gospel at all. The addition of anything to Christ and the gospel made Him no Savior and the gospel no good news. There is nothing but faith in Christ that saves us. It is out of that faith that we overflow into repentance. Indeed, faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. That is why Jesus would say “repent and believe” and not “repent and then believe”. The dark lord will draw too much of a division between repentance and faith. He wants you to think that you must repent enough before you can have saving faith and free forgiveness (which would not be free at all!). It is another form of works-righteousness.

What Does It Mean To Confess?

In 1 John, the apostle John is writing to people who have been infiltrated by false teachers. He seeks to show them what it means to be truly saved. It’s only true Christians that admit and confess their sin. Christians do not think they are without sin. They are to declare, acknowledge, and to say the same thing about their sin as God says about their sin. They are to confess their sin not merely for confession sake but to express their need for Jesus on their behalf. This is the ongoing lifestyle of the believer. It is not a one time thing. This tells us that there is always something to confess and repent of. We are deceiving ourselves and being deceived if we think we have confessed and dealt with everything.

Like a sound apologetic argument, we can actually use the dark lord’s attacks on us against him. He says that we must always be confessing our sins and we can agree. He says that there is sin left undone and we can agree. It’s the very fact that we can’t confess everything that we must rest in Christ on our behalf. It’s the very fact that we can’t repent of everything to the fullest extent that we must look to Jesus to find peace of mind.

Now, to be sure, we must not use this as a biblical excuse to not confess or to shirk our Christian duty before God. Trust me, the dark lord will use this also to deceive you. We must deal with sin but we also must know when we simply cannot do enough and we must lay down and rest at the Cross. 

The Holy Spirit knows our frame. He knows that this is a lifestyle that lasts a lifetime. He doesn’t put believers on a “doomsday” countdown clock which tells us that if we don’t deal with everything exhaustively then we are inevitably going to fall under God’s displeasure and harsh discipline.

How God Looks Out For Us

Think about how God speaks about this in the Old Testament. Leviticus 4 is a chapter that is all about sacrifices for sinners who sin unintentionally. There are those who may not even realize that their actions or thoughts were actually sin and yet God provides a sacrifice for them. Wouldn’t it be horrible if we were only forgiven for the sins we knew of? Calvin talks about these sacrifices as follows:

Moses does not refer to those transgressions into which we are ensnared, when we are led astray by the appearance of rectitude, so as to think ourselves without blame; but to those of which we take no heed, and whereby our minds are not pricked; or to those sudden falls, wherein the infirmity of the flesh so stifles the reason and the judgment as to blind the sinner.

And isn’t Christ the ultimate fulfillment of Leviticus 4? Isn’t He the true sacrifice? Isn’t He of so much more worth and value as a substitute on your behalf? Doesn’t He give you a positive righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21)? Oh, Christ is capable of covering all your sins! He is enough for you! He has ended the war. He has taken away your guilt and shame. He no longer points the finger at you but welcomes you with open arms.

Why does this matter to you in the midst of such a daunting and exhausting fight? Because God knows your frame. He knows that there is always sin that we leave undone. He knows there is a grand difference between our actively running away from Him (like Jonah) and our negligence, ignorance, or just flat out spiritual exhaustion. Our Lord knows that we can’t bear to see all of our sin all at once. He knows we can’t repent of everything at once. He knows that repentance itself is not our restitution or atonement. He knows that we cannot merely focus on the faults and the failures in our lives. Where would be the good news in that? Besides, we are built up in faith when we take our eyes off of ourselves and place them about the righteousness we have in Christ. 

The Path of the Gospel

This is where the dark lord attacks. He tries to do anything to take your eyes off of Christ. In Psalm 73, he almost had the psalmist forsake God and the covenant community by taking his eyes off Yahweh and placing them upon his circumstances and the world. It was when the psalmist returned to the temple that his sight of reality was restored. The same is true of us in our spiritual warfare. When we take our eyes long enough off God and place them upon us there is a temptation to do away with the gospel. Satan doesn’t want us to see the grace we have in Jesus. He doesn’t want us to realize that our sins are dealt with in Christ. He doesn’t want us to realize that Jesus is enough for us. He wants us to either do nothing with our sin or try to do everything with our sin. That is no salvation at all!

As always, the path of the gospel is a narrow path with ditches on either side. The dark lord lassos us from either side trying to pull us down into either extreme. He will either make us hound ourselves with condemnation until every aspect of the totality of our guilt is dealt with (as if that were somehow possible) or he will tempt us to ignore it all and continue to live as if we have no sin. Do not let the dark lord hire you to be his own co-accuser against you.

He will dress himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) and make it sound as if he is the Holy Spirit. After all, he knows the Spirit will convict us concerning sin (Jn. 16:8). He wants to sound like the Spirit so that we fear the thought of saying “no” to the Spirit if we seek to stop and rest in Christ. He will tempt us to think that we are quenching the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19; Eph. 4:30). But think about this, would Jesus invite us into a salvation of Sabbath rest (Mt. 11:28-30) and simultaneously say that we must always be on the sin-hunt in our lives? No, my friend. He wants you to rest. Trust Him. He will bring you to conviction in His timing and He will help you to confess and repent. You can rest in Him.

Spiritual Warfare: When Satan Wants Your To Re-Live Your Past

One of the most common ways in which the dark lord attacks sinners in Christ is by making them re-live their past mistakes. He does this by bringing up memories (which we will discuss how he does so later) and tempts them to be entrapped by these memories like a caged animal. His tactics are to bring up an event or memory in which the saint-sinner is reminded of some particular sin that they have committed or even that which has been committed against them.

In the case of those who have sinned, the dark lord will tempt you to re-live the event as if you are on trial. He recruits you to be his co-prosecutor against your own soul. He paints God in such a picture as if He is a ruthless judge who is not yet quite finished with you and your past. If you have done something wrong, he will plague you with some thoughts of:

1. No hope for grace

2. Guilt for presuming upon God’s forgiveness

3. Others finding out and wanting to publicly deal with you so as to shame you

4. God’s discipline hanging over your head to strike at you when you least expect it; this discipline doesn’t look like loving fatherly discipline (Heb. 12:7-11), it looks like condemnation.

5. That you have committed an unforgivable sin. It may not be the unforgivable sin but he will paint it in such a way that it seems like no man could recover a relationship with God after such an act.

6. Your past makes you unusable to God in the Great Commission

7. You should never feel at ease until you have paid your penalty

By re-living your past, the dark lord wants to keep you from forgetting what lies behind (Phil. 3:13-14). He wants to keep you from remembering what your current identity is in Christ (Rom. 6). He wants to keep you from living by faith (Gal. 2:20). He wants to keep you from rising up from the depths of despair to go out in the peace of knowing your faith has saved you (Lk. 7:50). 

What Re-Living the Past Does

He wants you to be trapped by the past. He wants you to dwell on your sin. Dwelling on sin causes you to skip out on seeing your Savior. He knows that the longer you dwell upon the glory of Jesus Christ that you will become more like Him (2 Cor. 3:18) and, therefore, more able to tear down his armies and thwart his tactics. You must remember that this is war! There is no neutral ground. There is never any “no man’s land”. As long as you are on this earth, the dark lord and his forces will seek you out. 

He will pull up a specific memory from your past and until you defeat him there he will continue to hound you with that thought. “Am I innocent? Did I really do that? If this went public, what would people think? Is God going to ‘get me back’ for this? Have I really dealt with this sin as I should?” But be sure, once you have fought off that one memory, he will bring up another.

When you realize that you have sinned (however greatly but especially in those times of great sin), the dark lord will show you more of your depravity than you have ever realized before. He will make you feel as if you are the epitome of sin. He will make you feel as if no one has a more evil, darkened, and hardened heart like you. You are an abnormal sinner. You are a hopeless sinner. You are a graceless sinner. 

He will tempt you to think that no other Christians have sinned this way in the past and even if they did they dealt with it far better than you have. Before they went to heaven (if they were going to get to heaven), they went back and fixed everything! The dark lord will tell you “You have depended too much on the free forgiveness of Jesus and haven’t quite turned over every stone to truly repent of this. What you need to do”, the dark lord wants you to think, “is to go back and split every hair to make sure you get the justice you deserve. Your repentance from such acts and thoughts are not enough. Your seeking others for help is not enough. No matter how small, you must announce it to the world so that they can put you on trial because the courtroom of Christ is only a heavenly reality. God will never set you free until you go through the earthly courtroom.”

When Satan Pinpoints the Memory

When you look back on such an event and you realize that you have not sinned in such a way, the dark lord will tempt you to think that your thoughts of the past aren’t accurate. He will try to take things out of context and blow them out of proportion. “You forgot about this part of it. You forgot how it hurt the other person greatly. You forgot how much it offended the glory of Christ.” He will make you ask plenty of “what if” questions. Here is the thing about this, no matter how many of those “what if” questions you answer accurately and honestly there will always be more “what if” questions to come. Often times, the dark lord will only use the knowledge that you have against you for the next “what if”. What is required here is to see that this is not of God. We must call this for what it is. This is a satanic attack!

When you look back on such an event and you realize that you have sinned greatly, he will pester you. He will pinpoint his full attack upon this one spot. It is the one crack in the armor that he will keep throwing his forces at. He is like a boxer who finds the one weak spot on his opponent and he will beat you into submission by hammering that one spot. He will darken your view of the cross. He will cause you to lose all sight of forgiveness. He will make your sin much bigger than your Savior. He will grip your thought life with such force it feels as if you can never escape. It will feel more real than the very moment in which you are living. Anything that reminds you of anything remotely similar to that memory will feel like spiritual PTSD. He will fire a thousand arrows at that area of your hurt conscience. If He cannot take away your salvation, He will certainly try to take away your experience of it.

How To Fight By Faith

When you read the Bible, especially when Jesus deals with such horrible sinners with such terrible pasts, do you see our Lord (the One who hates sin more than anyone!) treating people this way? Do you hear Him giving the command for His little lambs to turn over every stone in their past until all their sin is acknowledged to the full and dealt with on this earth? Do you hear Him say, “Fix this in your past first and then you may experience my grace”? Does He who is gentle and lowly in heart (Mt. 11:28-30) seem like the type of Savior who would hound such tender souls who are overloaded by the crushing yoke of their past? Would He really be the summun bonum (Latin for “the highest good”) if He tortured His saints with their past? Why would anyone want to go from living a life where they do everything to forget their past sins to go to a “savior” who would hound them for the rest of their lives on this earth with their past? Is this freedom? Is this love? Is this forgiveness?

We must not let the dark lord determine our Christology. We must remember the study that B.B. Warfield undertook when he sought to determine the emotion that was most attached to Christ in the Scriptures. “The emotion which we should naturally expect of finding most frequently attributed to that Jesus whose whole life was a mission of mercy, and whose ministry was so marked by deeds of beneficence that it was summed up in the memory of his followers as a going through the land ‘doing good’ (Acts. xi. 38), is no doubt ‘compassion.’ In point of fact, this is the emotion which is most frequently attributed to him.” 

Does this mean that Christ doesn’t deal with our past that needs to be dealt with? No. Does this mean that Christ doesn’t call us to repent of all sin? No. It means that when He deals with our past and when He calls us to repent that He is first and foremost compassionate when He goes about it. He is not harsh, rough, and domineering. He desires us to leave our past in the past so that we might live by faith in the present. He knows that the past can entrap us in a dungeon of despair (similar to what Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress was entrapped in). He wants to boost our faith. 

How Does Christ Treat Us?

Listen, when Christ convicts us, not condemns us, we will know it. It is of a much more pure way. See how He approach Peter after He had risen from the dead (Jn. 21:15-19). Notice how He approached all the disciples after they all betrayed Him (Jn. 20:19-29). If He really wants you to deal with something, He will enable you to deal with it. He will not rub your nose in it. He will show you the grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness that you have in Him the entire time. He has dealt with our sins. You must fight to remember that this involves all of your past. 

When Christ died on the cross and rose for your justification, He meant it. In other words, He did not neglect anything. He knows it all and it’s for the past event, that past event, that He died. He wants to forgive. He desires to cleanse you. 

Are there some things from our past that we must deal with if they are left undone? Yes, but when He deals with you it is much more pastoral than the dark lord. There are many times in which things are too far gone and He desires for us to move on. It would be an act of unbelief were we to tell Jesus, “Just wait right here for a second so that I can go back and do something. Then I will follow you.” 

He places your eyes upon Him more than your past. But, once He deals with our past, He does not make us keep re-hashing it. God is not “historical” with us in that He brings up our past time and time again. Matter of fact, He bids us time and time again to go on an live in light of our full forgiveness in Christ:

1. Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

2. Mark 5:34 "Daughter," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free of your affliction."

3. Luke 17:19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

4. Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead

Biblical Reflection and Application

Was David supposed to re-live his memory of sleeping with Bathsheba and killing Uriah over and over even after he heard of God’s forgiveness from Nathan? Did Jesus come to Peter after He had risen from the dead and did He rub Peter’s nose in his denying Jesus three times? Was Paul to always dwell on the fact that he endorsed the stoning of Stephen? Was Jacob to keep thinking about the countless lies he told in the past? Was Sarah to remind Abraham over and over about the two times that he told others that she was his sister? Was Moses to be haunted by the Egyptian he killed or of his striking the rock? What kind of salvation would this be?

 We must remember that it is more of an act of faith and more honoring to our Lord when we forget what lies behind and press forward in faith. We need to realize that this is a great danger to our souls if we think we cannot rest in the blood of Christ but rather need to seek atonement another way. After all, when we seek to re-live our past we are hoping that we are either guiltless or we try to figure out how we can atone for our sins. Either way, that is avoiding the Cross.

Now, to be sure, there are some who can use these truths to their own sinister advantage to run away from their sin. They can use it as a “get out of jail free” card. Those souls must deal with the Lord and He will be sure to deal with them. But, these truths are for those who aren’t running away from Jesus. They want Him. They want to be free from their sins.

God Of Our Future

God promises us a future (Jer. 29:11). One piece of the fruit of the Spirit is peace, not torment (Gal. 5:22). The Christian is at peace with God (Rom. 5:1). Sin no longer has dominion over us (Rom. 6:14). There is no more condemnation for us in Christ (Rom. 8:1). The Spirit bears witness in us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:12-17). He doesn’t torture us with regret and shame from the past. For freedom Christ set us free; we must stand firm and never again take upon us the yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1). 

Jesus always approaches people seeing their potential future in Him (Jn. 1:42, 47; Mt. 4:20). Even when He does remind someone of their past (such as the Samaritan woman in John 4), He always does so in order to quickly bring them to the source of grace. Do you really think sinners and tax collectors would flock to be with Him (Matt. 9:10; Luke 15:1) if He only reminded them time and time again of their constant failures and gave them no hope?

Jesus is far greater than we can ever imagine! Do not let those attacks from the dark lord change the reality of the heart of Christ (Mt. 11:28-30). Do not assume the worst or most harsh motives of Christ. The dark lord always tries to make himself look more gentle, loving, gracious, and approachable than Jesus. He wants to paint Jesus in rough colors. He wants you to say to yourself, “Why would I continue with Jesus if this is what life with Him is like?”

Good News, Bad News

May 15, 2020

John Kwasny

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
(I Peter 1:22-25)

I don’t know about you, but one thing I could do without during this Covid-19 pandemic is the 24-hour news cycle.  We are pummeled by way too much news all day, every day.  As an old guy, I find myself longing for the good old days of basically only having the nightly news to report the “highlights” of the day.  But those days are long gone.  Now, we are treated to a seemingly never-ending stream of news that’s really more opinion and conjecture than true news.  And worse than that, it is almost solely bad news, isn’t it?  Every time I read one article or column with some good news, there comes flooding in dozens of stories reminding me, “No, it’s really not that good at all—it’s much worse than you think!”  It seems so much easier to be the bearer of bad news than a bringer of good tidings in our world today.

We really shouldn’t be surprised that the world as a whole is more attuned to bad news than good news.  Without Christ, there is only bad news.  If God doesn’t exist, and human beings (or viruses) are in charge of the world, then there is only doom and gloom ahead.  Christians alone know, believe, and rely on the truth that there is good news available.  That good news is not found on the nightly news, the scientific reports, or anywhere else--except in God’s Word.  As Peter says, “this WORD is the good news that was preached to you.”  When we read or hear God’s Word preached and taught, we imbibe the good news of salvation in Christ alone.

But there is also the reality that there is plenty of bad news for all of humanity—and it has little to do with a novel coronavirus.  Before Peter reminds his readers of the good news, he presents the truly bad news.  First, he says that we are all born into this world as “perishable” seed.  All human beings will die—whether it is by Covid-19 or something else.  We are all perishable, like the items left out for weeks in your fruit bowl.  He compares us to grass and the flowers of the grass: the grass withers, and the flowers fall.  Again, we will grow for a little while, become as glorious as a flower for a time, and then it all comes to an end.  The bad news is that, because we are sinners living in a fallen world, death comes to us all.  There is no way to permanently lockout death, or quarantine ourselves in order to live forever.

Amidst this true doom and gloom, as well as the overhyped end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it news of today, Christians alone have good news for the world.  It’s much better news than a vaccine or effective medical treatments.  It is even more glorious news than when a governor says you are free to move around, get your hair done, and actually sit in your favorite restaurant.  As Peter puts it, “You have been born again of imperishable seed” and “the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.”  God’s Word is the good news for the entire world.  And when that Word is planted as an imperishable seed in our hearts by the Spirit, we enjoy eternal life in Christ.  This is the only good news to be celebrated—much, much better than any news that the virus will be eliminated.  Sin and death have been defeated already in Jesus Christ!  Rejoice in that good news today, and share it with those who are lost in all the bad news this world has to offer.  That is the best way for us to love one another!  

Love and Unity

Dean Williams

May 14, 2020

Question: What do the following verses have in common?

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11).

“We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng” (Psalm 55:14)

“Love one another with brotherly affection” (Romans 12:10).

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

Answer: Among other things, they provide pictures of a call for, or a recognition of people who are physically walking in, love and unity. That is who we were before the pandemic, and that is who we long to be again. We have been loving each other from a distance, but perfect love has a proximity element to it. This notion can be readily seen in Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17. Jesus prayed, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Jesus prayed that we might be united as He and the Father were. And how were they united? Among other things, they were united in perfect love, which again, includes an element of proximity. In fact, one of the greatest evidences for the Trinity is the presence of love and proximity in the Godhead. You see, in order for there to be love, there must be an object of that love. So, for it to be said that God “is” love, perfect love, there must be an infinite and eternal object of His love. The Father has infinitely and eternally loved the Son and the Spirit, the Spirit has infinitely and eternally loved the Father and the Son, and the Son has infinitely and eternally loved the Father and the Spirit, and all three are “one.” We are called to reflect this glorious fellowship, and so for many, our spirits yearn to be physically reunited with the rest of our body (I Corinthians 12). 

As we reflect on these wondrous truths; we have been united in Christ, we have been made to reflect the love and unity of the godhead, and thus our spirit and souls yearn to be reunited, let us do so prayerfully, asking our Lord to bring us to that day when we are all physically united for the purpose of glorifying His name and loving one another.

Some Thoughts on Returning to Public Worship

This blog post probably isn’t what you were thinking it would be. I’m not going to give any opinion here about when churches should return to gathered corporate worship, or what health measures we should take. (Although I will note that our elders at POPC are meeting this week to discuss when they want to open wide the church doors again for the saints here, and we covet your prayers.) Rather, I want to share with you a few sentences about public worship that I came across in the 1884 Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the USA (scroll down the page and you’ll see the link to this large book) . These points were succinct, encouraging, and I believe will be important for us all to meditate on as we prepare to return to gathered corporate worship, whenever that might be. How will we return? Will it be with a proper understanding of the importance of gathering together with the saints, and in a proper approach to our triune God?

Public worship is of great utility.

1. It gives Christians an opportunity of openly professing their faith in and love to Christ.

2. It preserves a sense of religion in the mind, without which society could not well exist.

3. It enlivens devotion and promotes zeal.

4. It is the means of receiving instruction and consolation.

God is eminently honored by the social worship of his people, and he delights to honor the ordinances of his public worship by making them means of grace. Most commonly it is by means of these ordinances that sinners are awakened and converted, and that saints are edified and comforted.

Public worship should be:

1. Solemn, not light and trifling (Psalm 89:7; Hebrews 12:28-29);

2. Simple, not pompous and ceremonial (Isaiah 29:13; 62:2);

3. Cheerful, and not with forbidding aspect (Psalm 100);

4. Sincere, and not hypocritical (Isaiah 1:12 ; Matthew 23:13 ; John 4:24);

5. Scripturally pure, and not superstitious (Isaiah 57:15).

— “Public Worship” in the Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the USA

As we continue to remain apart, may the Lord keep creating within our hearts the longing and hunger for His courts; and may we return with a spiritual frame of heart, in reverent joy, with simplicity and sincerity!

The Shortest But Most Encouraging Blog You'll Read This Week

God told Adam and Eve to get up and leave the land they were in to get out of the Garden of Eden. Years later (and 9 chapters later in Genesis 12), God tells someone else to get up and leave the land they were in. This time, it was a call for Abram to leave his life of idolatry and come to God.

Why does this matter?

Every time the minister gets up in public worship and reads the “Call to Worship”, he is preaching the gospel. Do not take the “Call to Worship” as if it is merely someone reading Scripture or just making an opening statement. You are graciously being called to return back to God! Jesus is calling you to bring the entirety of your life to Him. No matter where you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve gone through, you can come to God this Sunday!

Now, that right there will warm our hearts when we hear the “Call to Worship”!

Wisdom: From Above or Below?

May 8, 2020

John Kwasny

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18)

In a recent sermon, I compared and contrasted two seemingly similar terms: A wise man and a wise guy.  While being called a “wise man” is quite the compliment, being referred to as a “wise guy”—not so much.  The wise guy acts like he has superior intelligence, but it’s only a façade.  A wise man understands the truth and applies it accurately and precisely.  In this ongoing pandemic, we need many more wise men (and women) and far fewer wise guys.  More importantly, Christians are called to be the “wise and understanding” among us, in a world of fools and wise guys.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James has a far superior way of comparing the two types of wisdom claims: True wisdom comes “from above” and false wisdom is “earthly, unspiritual—and even demonic.”  Wisdom from above has particular characteristics according to this passage:  It is meek (vs. 13), pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, merciful, impartial, and sincere (vs. 17).  On the other hand, wisdom from below is marked by jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and every vile practice (vs. 16).  What a dramatic difference!  But, more importantly, this contrast directs us to look for the fruit in the person’s life who claims to be wise, rather than simply evaluate the content of the wisdom itself.  In other words, true wisdom is simply part of the godly life—a life that displays the fruit of the Spirit.  That should make sense, right?  Why would the Spirit give a person wisdom--but not love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.?  Wisdom is fully connected to a life of walking in the Spirit, keeping in step with Him.

Unfortunately, we tend to consider someone to be “wise” if he or she speaks intelligently, shows forth knowledge, has lots of education and the right degrees, and wears some sort of scholarly title.  But does that automatically make one wise?  Not if the conduct of his or her life says otherwise.  Sure, he or she can be very smart and well-educated, but that should not lead us to assume he or she is actually wise.  And, if wisdom is defined as the right application of knowledge, then we should value wisdom far more than simple intelligence.  God’s Word clearly places the gaining of “wisdom from above” as the highest of pursuits.

So, let’s make this practical in our current worldwide pandemic.  We have been told repeatedly for months that we must follow the “science,” the “data,” the “research,” wherever it leads us.  To go against any of these “facts”--this educated knowledge--is to be selfish, foolish, rebellious, and unloving.  Yet, bare data does not necessarily connect to wisdom from above.  For example, the “science” may say that there’s a greater risk of contracting Covid-19 if you leave your house and gather in a group over ten people.  But does that information give you any wisdom whether or not you should leave your house?  Very little.  We must all seek Godly wisdom from above to determine how we should live in these perilous times.  While it is always tempting to seek the “intelligent” people to tell us what to do when it comes to things like health and safety, we need to be looking for wisdom that is from above.

Now, please don’t hear that I am somehow a man against science or data or research—I have spent my life pursuing knowledge and truth.  And, I am not saying we Christians should be ignorant to the facts and simply follow what we think God is telling us.  No, we are to seek wisdom wherever it is found—but only wisdom from above, not below.  That’s an extremely difficult task in a time of disinformation, fear, and political agendas.  But, in another sense, it is extremely simple: We can find wisdom only in Christ, seeking the Spirit’s help, and praying without ceasing.  We must trust that God will give us wisdom if we ask for it.  Ultimately, wisdom from above will bring the PEACE and understanding that we need in these anxious times!     

Coronavirus and Missions

May 7, 2020

During a recent midday Devotional, I spoke about Elisha’s interaction with his servant, who at the time was distressed by the presence of the Syrian army that had completely surrounded them, and were under instructions to seek their demise.  Elijah calmly shared his perspective with his servant saying, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” He then prayed that his servant would have his eyes opened so that he could see things from God’s perspective and not his own. After sharing that story, I encouraged us to be like Elisha and pray for God’s perspective to be revealed to us. Well guess what? When you pray, God, in His providence, can answer in several different ways. Below is what I consider to be one answer to prayer, a kingdom perspective in the area of missions. It’s an excerpt from John Piper’s latest book, Coronavirus and Christ (yes, books addressing this issue are already being written and published 😊). May God bless us as we reflect on this perspective:

Loosening Roots to Reach the Nations

In the coronavirus God is loosening the roots of settled Christians, all over the world, to make them free for something new and radical and to send them with the gospel of Christ to the unreached peoples of the world.

CONNECTING THE CORONAVIRUS with missions may seem like a strange idea, because in the short run, the coronavirus is shutting down travel and migration and missionary advance. But I am not thinking short term. God has used the suffering and upheaval of history to move his church to places it needs to go. I am suggesting that he will do that again as part of the long-term impact of the coronavirus.

Persecution as Missionary Strategy

Consider, for example, how God moved his people out of Jerusalem, on mission, into Judea and Samaria. Jesus had instructed his disciples to take the gospel to all the world, including “Jerusalem and . . . all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). But by the time of Acts 8, it seems the mission was stalled in Jerusalem.

What would it take to move the church into mission? It took the death of Stephen and a consequent persecution. As soon as Stephen was martyred (Acts 7:60), a persecution broke out:

 There arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. . . . Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. (Acts 8:1–4)

That’s how God got his people moving—with martyrdom and persecution. At last, “Judea and Samaria” were hearing the gospel. God’s ways are not our ways. But his mission is sure. Jesus said so. And his word cannot fail. “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matt. 24:14). Not “may be proclaimed.” But “will be proclaimed.” 

Setbacks as Strategic Advance

We may think the coronavirus outbreak is a setback for world missions. I doubt it. God’s ways often include apparent setbacks that result in great advances.

On January 9, 1985, Pastor Hristo Kulichev, a Congregational pastor in Bulgaria, was arrested and put in prison. His crime was that he preached in his church even though the state had appointed another man as pastor whom the congregation did not elect. His trial was a mockery of justice. And he was sentenced to eight months in prison. During his time in prison, he made Christ known in every way he could.

When he got out, he wrote, “Both prisoners and jailers asked many questions, and it turned out that we had a more fruitful ministry there than we could have expected in church. God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free.”

This is often God’s way. The global scope and seriousness of the coronavirus is too great for God to waste. It will serve his invincible global purpose of world evangelization. Christ has not shed his blood in vain. And Revelation 5:9 says that by that blood he ransomed “people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” He will have the reward of his suffering. And even pandemics will serve to complete the Great Commission.

Seeing Christ's Heart In Action

More Questions and Answers from Sunday, 5/3/20

5/4/20

Wilson received more questions yesterday than we were able to cover in the 15-20 minutes Q&A period after our morning worship service, so I wanted to give brief answers to them here on our blog. I’m not exactly sure yet if we’ll be able to continue this Q&A in the same way once we resume gathering for corporate worship, whenever that occurs. But it’s been well received, so I hope to figure out some way to continue interacting with you in this manner.

Here are questions that we didn’t get to answer yesterday:

1. Connecting last week’s sermon and this weeks [on I Peter 1:3-5 and I Peter 1:6-9], are our responses to trials meant to be a gift of assurance to the believer? Conversely, are the way that people respond to fiery trials meant to show if we are in God or if the trials of this world choke us out?

This is a great insight. The parable of the sower in Matthew 13/Mark 4/Luke 8 makes this very point. The seed that falls on the rocky ground is “the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matthew 13:20-21). In Luke 8:13, the language of “a time of testing” is used in the place of “tribulation or persecution.” It’s clear that trials and tribulations are a test of the reality and genuineness of a person’s faith. In the child of God, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4; see also James 1:2-4). In the false professor, trials are very often the occasion of abandoning a profession of faith that did not flow from a true conversion. I’m reminded of Pliable in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, who followed along with Christian at the beginning of his journey, but at the Slough of Despond he turned back in disgust and discouragement. Of course, just because we respond poorly to a trial is not a reason that we ought to conclude we are not genuinely converted - as I mentioned in my sermon yesterday, Peter failed the test and denied Jesus three times. Yet he repented, he turned back in sorrow and new obedience, and strengthened the church through his writings. As God grants endurance, and repentance where endurance is flagging, we see the fruit that should lead us to be assured that we are in a state of grace as opposed to a state of sin.

2. Why does God have to use suffering to strengthen our faith? Why couldn’t He just make our faith perfect?

This question is indeed a mystery, along the same lines of “Why didn’t Jesus establish His kingdom immediately at His first coming?” or “Why doesn’t God take me home to glory immediately upon saving me?” God knows the answers to those question, though He hasn’t chosen to reveal them to us in their fullness. What He has revealed is that “it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering…[B]ecause he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:10, 18). If Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8), then we His people, still living on this side of glory, should not expect to learn obedience in any other way (especially since Jesus’ learning obedience did not entail any movement from disobedience to obedience, but only deeper experience of what obedience actually meant). We are being conformed to our Savior, who endured the cross before He enjoyed the crown. And just like in the case of Jesus, God uses our suffering to comfort and strengthen others who are suffering. One reason God doesn’t take us home immediately after saving us is because He has work for us to do in bringing other sons and daughters into His family - in the same way, when we suffer and are comforted by God, we “are able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (II Corinthians 1:4). Could God make our faith perfect without suffering? Certainly He could. But He has chosen not to do so, for wise reasons. And so we trust Him and obey.

3. When Peter says, “if necessary” [about our trials], I know he uses that to strengthen us but does Peter imply that God uses that as a tool for Christians who are in sin? We know God tempts no one (James 1).

The Bible is clear that trials can come as discipline for our sin, as well as for training for future righteousness. As I mentioned yesterday, a coach might make his team run sprints because they have been lazy or disruptive in practice, or even if they have been model athletes, he may make them run sprints in order to be in shape to last an entire game. In the same way, God disciplines those He loves, whether in response to our sin (to draw our hearts back to Himself) or irrespective of any particular sin (so that we might yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness, as Hebrews 12:11 puts it). I don’t think Peter only had in mind Christians who were acting sinfully, since later in his letter he will mention suffering for doing good (2:20; 4:16). But trials do come as a tool of God’s sanctifying grace, and so as the Puritans were apt to say, let us “kiss the rod” that smites us, and trust that God’s discipline is always for our good.

4. Why does God need to see if our faith is real if He already knows all things?

It is true, God already knows all things from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10 - "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’”). He knows those who are His, whom He has chosen from before the foundation of the world (II Timothy 2:19). Yet in Genesis 22:12, after Abraham shows himself willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, God says, “[N]ow I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Some commentators say that this text proves that there are some things God doesn’t know, and must learn through experience. This is a dangerous and heretical view of God. But why do the Scriptures speak in this way? I think John Calvin answers this question well: “Truly, by condescending to the manner of men, God here says that what he has proved by experiment, is now made known to himself. And he speaks thus with us, not according to his own infinite wisdom, but according to our infirmity. Moses, however, simply means that Abraham, by this very act, testified how reverently he feared God.” Another way to put it is that the trial of our faith reveals to ourselves and to others that our faith is genuine. It’s not that God needs to see if we really have faith, but trials demonstrate the reality of faith for all the world to see. And on the last day, as we saw from I Peter 1:7, we will be glorified and openly acknowledged before God and all creation.

5. How does this text help us to help others in their suffering?

I think this is a powerful text to use as you counsel and encourage those who are suffering. Use my three points as you speak to them: God recognizes your suffering - He sees it and sympathizes with you. God reassures you that He has ordained suffering just for a little while if necessary. God has reasons for your suffering - in this life and in the life to come. These truths are a healing balm to the wounded soul, and I hope that all God’s people will apply them to their own hearts and use them to help others. And as I mentioned above, II Corinthians 1:4 shows us that another reason God ordains suffering is so that we can enjoy His comfort in the midst of it, and thus be able to give that comfort to others. Sometimes God’s primary reason for bringing you through a trial is so that you might be able to minister to someone else walking through a trial. Has not every believer seen that at some point in our life?

6. If God does not punish believers because of their sins because of Christ, what are we to make of the Old Testament when God seems to be doing this to His people?

The saints of the Old Testament were definitely judged for their sins. Just to take two examples, the Israelites in the wilderness were excluded from the Promised Land because of their refusal to believe God and go into the Promised Land; and Israel and Judah were sent into exile to Assyria and Babylon, respectively, for their idolatry and sinfulness. But it is absolutely imperative to realize that, like the church today, Israel was a mixed multitude of unbelievers and genuine believers. So to use Paul’s language in I Corinthians 11:32, God’s judgment on Israel was condemnation/punishment for the unbelievers, but discipline for the believers. The word “judgment” refers to the suffering and affliction endured, but in itself it does not carry the negative connotation of condemnation (see also I Peter 4:17 in this regard). Jesus bore the punishment of all His elect people on the cross, including the Old Testament saints. Yet in both covenants, old and new, true believers have suffered God’s judgments as discipline. As Proverbs 3:11-12 tells us, God disciplines and reproves those He loves. That verse, which applies first to Old Testament saints, is picked up in Hebrews 12 to apply to New Testament saints. The principle of I Corinthians 11:32 is operative throughout the whole Bible.

7. Can we ever see the precise reason for our suffering in this life?

I believe that using the Scriptures as our guide, we can discern many reasons for our suffering. But even as we scan those reasons, we may not know the precise reason why God has ordained a particular trial come into our life. Providence is best read backward, as someone once put it. We see after the fact what God was doing through our suffering. I love the illustration of a tapestry, that underneath looks like a tangled mess of thread, yet when you turn it over you see the most exquisite design. In the same way, in the moment it is difficult to makes sense of suffering. Yet even in this life, God pulls back the curtain to some degree to show us His purposes. Of course, some suffering may go unexplained or un-understood all our life. And I’m not even convinced that we will know comprehensively all of God’s purposes in our suffering in the life to come - since we will be finite rather than infinite in a glorified state. But I trust that God will show us what He has been up to in our lives to such a large degree that we will be able to glorify Him perfectly in glory - that we will be able to affirm like never before that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

8. How can we direct those caught in a “health, wealth and prosperity gospel” using a proper understanding of suffering?

There are entire books written on this subject (see this website, for example), so I will be very brief. Show those caught in the prosperity gospel, that Jesus suffered and calls His people to take up their cross as well (Matthew 16:24; I Peter 2:21). Show them that Paul says “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Show them that he writes that “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (II Timothy 3:12). Show them that God has granted us suffering along with faith (Philippians 1:29). Show them that we are called to rejoice in our sufferings, and that sufferings are to be expected in the normal Christian life (Romans 5:1-5; 8:17; Philippians 3:10; James 1:2-4; etc.).