Christians Leap for Joy!

Jesus said that Christians are blessed when we are hated and insulted for our beliefs. In fact, Jesus makes a bold statement about the attitude we are to have toward being persecuted for our faith:

"Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven" (Luke 6:23).

Leaping for joy when we are persecuted, huh? Wow, how is that possible? It seems Jesus is going overboard...or is he?

Too many people let their happiness be dependant upon exterior circumstances. Jesus instructs that Christians are not to be this way. If I am able to detach myself from material things and physical circumstances, my happiness is no longer dependant upon those things. The Biblical teaching of self-denial is learning to find joy in God, not in situations and things.

C.S. Lewis gives a helpful analysis of how Christians can "leap for joy" even when difficult days come:

"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot image what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses. 1965).

The inner peace and joy that God offers pales in comparison to any joy that can be found in the externals of this life. Let us look for the "holiday at sea" that God offers us and stop finding joy in "mud pies."

Growing Churches or Growing Disciples?

For the last several years there has been a contagious spiritual epidemic plaguing church leaders--its called the "church growth movement."

Everyone wants their church to grow, and certainly this is God's desire (1 Cor. 3:7). But there is a difference between fast numerical growth of church-attendees and the slow steady growth of individuals into true disciples of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, our desire should not be congregational church growth so much as the increase of Heaven's population. Gimmicks and church programs may quickly attract large numbers to fill the pews, but only the patience and instruction in discipleship will grow the Lord's kingdom. Unfortunately, in our fast past society most of us are unwilling to put in the time it takes to "make disciples" (Matt. 28:18), we had rather grow churches.

As it turns out, not only is it more Biblical to grow disciples rather than churches, it is more effective. The recent "church growth" movement has been led by "mega-churches" like Willow Creek and the Saddleback Church. Recently, Bill Hybels of the Willow Creek Church made this revealing confession:

"We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."

As it turns out, elaborate church programs, involvement groups, and church-growth gimmicks may quickly grow a forest full of little trees, but there is no depth of soil and no roots and so the trees cannot stand. No quick-fix method of church growth can replace the tried and true disciplines of personal Bible study, prayer, and genuine relationships with fellow Christians.

Talking About Grace, Living By Law?

While discussing his religious upbringing, Philip Yancey makes an eye-opening statement about his early church experience. He says, "They talked about Grace but lived by Law; they spoke of love but showed signs of hate" (Church: Why Bother page 19).

Sometimes I wonder if I have been guilty of "talking about Grace but living by Law." We have had to fight many battles against the error of Calvinism and the concept of "the impossibility of apostasy." Clearly the Bible teaches that it is possible to be a genuine Christian and then turn your back on the faith, and thus loose your salvation (Heb. 6:4-6; 2 Peter 3:20-22; et. al.). But in our constant warnings that it is possible to "fall from grace," I wonder if we have left the average person thinking they have to constantly "work" to keep themselves saved. This too is grievous error. We are not saved by works, but by grace (Eph. 2:8-10). If we attempt to return to a "works-system" of salvation, ironically, it is then that we really fall from grace (Gal. 5:3-4). In our hurry to sound a warning that Christians "not fall from grace," we may have inadvertently caused them to actually fall from grace by trying to be saved by perfect law keeping.

"They talked about Grace but lived by Law; they spoke of love but showed signs of hate." --Philip Yancey

We are saved by grace, period. But we must remain under the protection of God's grace, just as we must "keep ourselves in the love of God" (Jude 21). As long as we have a genuine relationship with Christ and are on the pathway of light, grace continually covers us (1 John 1:9). If we ever venture away from Christ and into the darkness, we do not have the protection of grace (1 John 1:6). But we are saved by being "in Christ" and "in his grace" not by our own works or attempts at perfect law keeping.

When you live by a "Law-system mindset," spirituality becomes a burden and following God feels like slavery (Rom. 8:14-15). But Christ came to set us free from such a mindset (Gal. 5:1). When we stop living by Law and start living by grace, it is liberating. Suddenly following God does not feel like a burden but a joy. Working for God is no longer a "fear of doing enough to get to heaven." Rather, serving the Lord is a celebration of thanksgiving for the gift of his grace. Keeping Christ's commandments become a simple expression of loving Him (John 14:15).

Let us all not just talk about grace, but live by it!

Faithful as the First Century Christians?

Recently, I came across a very thought provoking quotation that made me stop and examine my own Christianity. I found this quote in the writings of C.S. Lewis, but later discovered that it originally came from William Law. He asked the question:

"If you will here stop and ask yourselves why you are not as pious as the primitive Christian were, your own heart will tell you, that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but purely because you have never thoroughly
intended it."

Have you ever asked yourself this question? Today, if the electricity goes off at the church building, worship services are cancelled. Some Christians think they are "providentially hindered" from going to worship if an unexpected rain shower comes. Compare that with the dedication of the first century saints. With the threat of being imprisoned, beaten and even killed, they continued to be dedicated to the cause "rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41).

This quote really challenges me. If I really examine why I don't have the same level of intense faith that the first century Christians had, my heart will reveal the real reason. It is not because I don't know how to be, it is not because I am unable to be, it is simply because I have not made the decision to be.

Craving Light (Understanding)

I'm only five classes away from finishing a second Master's Degree. People often ask me, "why do you keep going back to school?" It seems that some that ask me this question have an natural aversion to education. Maybe they had bad experiences in school.

The reason that I keep going back to school is the same reason I keep buying and reading books. I crave to know. When commander Richard Byrd wrote about his six-month long journey to the South Pole, he wrote, "I find that I crave light as a thirsting man craves water." After weeks of seeming perpetual darkness, Byrd literally craved light. That is how I feel about gaining understanding and education about this world and the world to come.

The Bible directs us to seek out understanding and knowledge. The Proverbs declare, "Buy truth, and do not sell it get wisdom and instruction and understanding" (23:23). We must never be satisfied with our level of understanding. We are instructed to continually grow in knowledge (2 Peter 1:5). Christians never stop going to school. We must never stop learning.

May we all continue to sit at the feet of inspired writers as we daily pour over the words of inspired writ. May we all listen and watch attentively as God teaches us through the experiences of life. May we all crave light, like a thirsting man craves water. After all, Jesus came to give us light (John 1:4).

One Nation Under God

If you believe that our nation should be "one nation under God" you have got to hear Red Skelton's explanation of the pledge of allegiance. Click on the link below and turn up your speakers:

http://patriotfiles.org/Pledge.htm

Worship is an Encounter with God

Today I came across an article that appeared in the Christian Chronicle (a magazine about churches of Christ) some time ago. Although, I do not agree with everything that this author says in the article, I do think he makes some great points about what worship is really all about. Read carefully what the author says:

"True worship must be more than simply an intellectual or ceremonial exercise. Much of what passes for worship is little more than the practice of ritual obligations. Without thinking, worship can be reduced to little more than "five acts" that must be satisfied in order to appease a God who is checking off his list of rules to make sure we followed the prescription correctly. With this approach to worship, the main concern becomes, "Did we do it right?" rather than "Were our hearts in tune with the Father?"Many of us grew up with a legalistic theology that emphasized the need to "be right." I heard a lot about "doing things correctly," but until my college years I heard nothing about a relationship with Christ. Religion was a list of rules to be kept, a lifestyle to be adopted. It was primarily based on a rational approach to God; emotions were disparaged and viewed suspiciously. Even if we felt emotions welling up inside, most of us understood we needed to sit on our hands and choke down those feelings. Obviously, we need a strong theology based on truth. We must engage our minds to the fullest. Worship based primarily on emotion is both dangerous and shallow. But theologically correct worship lacking emotion is cold, lifeless, and powerless. Such worship employs the head, but cuts the heart out of it. A genuine encounter with God in worship requires both our mind and our emotions. Admittedly, we do not always feel like worship. It is at those times that worship is more a decision of our will than the desire of our heart. However, worship that is regularly void of passion is unlike the worship I read about in Scripture.There is a part of us that needs to be filled up, to be comforted, to be overwhelmed with wonder, and to be lifted up in the exhilaration of praise. It might be possible for a husband and wife to approach their relationship from a purely rational perspective, to analyze it and diagram it intellectually. However, if that is as deep as the relationship ever goes, which of us would want it? A relationship based primarily on feelings is immature and shallow. Certainly, a healthy relationship is grounded in knowledge and truth and good judgment. But it also needs some passion —- an extravagant love, a heart-felt emotion that yearns to be near that person and to enjoy the intimacy of their companionship (Ps 42:1-2; 63:1-5; Phil. 1:21-26).The worship found in many congregations is lifeless and without the kind of passion that touches our heart and soul. The clinical style of worship that reduces the assembly to "three songs and a prayer" did not come from Scripture. Biblical examples of worship run counter to the way worship is done in many of our congregations. Examples of worship in Scripture are often filled with excitement, vivacious enthusiasm and animated activity."

I'm afraid that too often our worship is merely designed to go through the same ritual week after week to fulfill our "requirement." Worship, as taught in the New Testament, is to be an encounter with God, where we fall down before Him in praise. Worship involves mind, heart and soul. It should involve all of our minds and all of our hearts (John 4:24). May God speed the day when we start organizing our worship services to be a stirring mental and emotional experience where we feel we have come into the presence of God (see 1 Cor. 14:25).

Pass Your Faith On!

Recently I was reading the writings of Gus Nichols on the issue of the Holy Spirit. In his discussion of "The Unity of the Spirit" he made a great observation about how families must pass their faith down to the next generation. Here is brother Nichols' wise instruction:

"One hindrance to the unity of the Spirit is that we are living in a secular age. We see everything through the spectacles of 'dollar-marks.' We are materialistic, we think of values in terms of money, and houses, and lands, and things of that sort. We forget that one little child to be reared and trained for the Lord, can rear and train others, and they others, and they others (Ps. 78:5-6), until in a thousand years there may be thousands of souls in heaven--all because we took time to train one. Or, it may be the other way: if we fail, it may be that this one will fail, others under like influence will fail, and others still under those influences will fail--and there may be thousands of souls burning and suffering in hell forever, a billion years from now, all because we put money, and other things, ahead of the spiritual--because we failed to train a child, failed to put the kingdom first (Matt. 6:33)."

(Source: Gus Nichols Lectures on the Holy Spirit page 210. Nichols Bros. Publishing, 1967).

Why is God Not Answering My Prayer?

Do you ever feel like God is not answering your prayers? I have yet to meet a Christian who thought they prayed enough. It seems that we often struggle with our daily conversations with God. I have really been challenged with week as I have considered Jesus practice and teaching on prayer for an upcoming sermon. I found this quotation from Bill Hybles about prayer that you might find helpful:

If the request is wrong, God says, "No."

If the timing is wrong, God says, "Slow."

If you are wrong, God says, "Grow."

But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, "Go!"

(Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not To Pray, IVP, p. 74).