Christ is not merely after people who aren't anxious. He's after people who aren't anxious because of how they trust so surely in Him as their Rock.
He is not after merely humble or devout people. He's after people who are humble and devout because they know the sweetness of knowing Him.
He is not after merely pure and holy people. He's after people who are pure and holy because they know the pleasure to be had from sin doesn't hold a candle to the pleasure to be had in seeing and knowing and following Him.
There are no shortcuts in the Christian life. Jesus gets no glory when we try to staple fruit to the tree. He gets glory when obedience is compelled by His own delightfulness, beauty, and pleasantness. When that happens, then the Holy Spirit -- and not we ourselves in our flesh -- is producing His fruit in us.
Showing posts with label Greatest Commandment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greatest Commandment. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Loving God with All Your Mind
Worship Requires a Commiment to Thinking Deeply and Studying Diligently
It is not surprising that the pursuit of truly knowing and thus rightly worshiping God requires a resolved commitment to thinking deeply and studying diligently (2 Tim 2:15). Indeed, the greatest commandment in the Law is that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Mt 22:37). Yet in this age of “evangelical pragmatism…pietistic anti-intellectualism…[and] journalistic bite-sizing” (Piper, Think, 17), it is common that such a call to rigorous study be met with scoffing from those both inside and outside of the church. Many look upon the desire for doctrinal precision as academic snobbery, as they are content to “worship God in their own way.” “As long as one is sincere in their devotion,” contemporary wisdom proffers, “ignorance of truth is to be excused. After all what is truth anyway?”
However, at the well at Sychar the Lord Jesus proclaimed a view of both worship and truth that flies in the face of the relativistic doctrinal apathy that plagues our postmodern culture. “You worship what you do not know” (Jn 4:22), He scolds the Samaritan woman, and thus teaches His people that, as Kevin Vanhoozer notes, “sincerity alone is an insufficient condition of right worship” (Worship at the Well, 8). A true worshiper, as He soon tells her, worships in spirit and truth. It is certainly right for one to be zealous for God and passionately committed to Him. But if that zeal is not according to knowledge, that person is not a true worshiper of the true God, even if he thinks he is (Rom 10:2).
See, it is possible to live our lives intending to worship and glorify God as He has prescribed while worshiping Him defectively (and therefore not truly worshiping Him at all) because of a lack of knowledge. John Calvin underscores the dangers of such an enterprise: “For unless there is knowledge present, it is not God that we worship but a specter or ghost.” Vanhoozer comments, “All of our pious intentions are struck by this thunderbolt, by this thought that we cannot help but worship falsely unless we are guided by God’s Word” (8).
This is precisely why the Christian must commit himself to doing theology, for it is the true Christian’s desire, not to worship in his own way, but to ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name in the way He Himself has prescribed. The stakes are indeed high, especially for those surrounded by a culture such as ours. Bruce Ware admonishes the pietistic anti-intellectualists: “If we are to escape the cult of self and find, instead, the true meaning of life and the path of true satisfaction, if we are to give God the glory rightly and exclusively owed to him…we must behold God for who he is” (God’s Greater Glory, 9).
And so a Christian must diligently apply himself to the discipline of theology, showing himself to be a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. For otherwise he will not worship God for who He is, but who he has imagined Him to be.
And there’s where the pastor’s role comes sharply into focus. This stuff certainly affects the Sunday gathering for corporate worship. Vanhoozer calls us to consider:
With the stakes so high, both the undershepherd and the sheep must make war against every speculation and lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5).
Series Outline
Light and Heat: Introduction
1.1 - In Pursuit of Light: We Worship What We Know
1.2 - Systematics and Doctrine Matter
1.3 - Loving God with All Your Mind
2. In Pursuit of Heat: We Worship What We Know
3. Conclusion: Light and Heat, Spirit and Truth
It is not surprising that the pursuit of truly knowing and thus rightly worshiping God requires a resolved commitment to thinking deeply and studying diligently (2 Tim 2:15). Indeed, the greatest commandment in the Law is that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Mt 22:37). Yet in this age of “evangelical pragmatism…pietistic anti-intellectualism…[and] journalistic bite-sizing” (Piper, Think, 17), it is common that such a call to rigorous study be met with scoffing from those both inside and outside of the church. Many look upon the desire for doctrinal precision as academic snobbery, as they are content to “worship God in their own way.” “As long as one is sincere in their devotion,” contemporary wisdom proffers, “ignorance of truth is to be excused. After all what is truth anyway?”
However, at the well at Sychar the Lord Jesus proclaimed a view of both worship and truth that flies in the face of the relativistic doctrinal apathy that plagues our postmodern culture. “You worship what you do not know” (Jn 4:22), He scolds the Samaritan woman, and thus teaches His people that, as Kevin Vanhoozer notes, “sincerity alone is an insufficient condition of right worship” (Worship at the Well, 8). A true worshiper, as He soon tells her, worships in spirit and truth. It is certainly right for one to be zealous for God and passionately committed to Him. But if that zeal is not according to knowledge, that person is not a true worshiper of the true God, even if he thinks he is (Rom 10:2).
See, it is possible to live our lives intending to worship and glorify God as He has prescribed while worshiping Him defectively (and therefore not truly worshiping Him at all) because of a lack of knowledge. John Calvin underscores the dangers of such an enterprise: “For unless there is knowledge present, it is not God that we worship but a specter or ghost.” Vanhoozer comments, “All of our pious intentions are struck by this thunderbolt, by this thought that we cannot help but worship falsely unless we are guided by God’s Word” (8).
This is precisely why the Christian must commit himself to doing theology, for it is the true Christian’s desire, not to worship in his own way, but to ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name in the way He Himself has prescribed. The stakes are indeed high, especially for those surrounded by a culture such as ours. Bruce Ware admonishes the pietistic anti-intellectualists: “If we are to escape the cult of self and find, instead, the true meaning of life and the path of true satisfaction, if we are to give God the glory rightly and exclusively owed to him…we must behold God for who he is” (God’s Greater Glory, 9).
And so a Christian must diligently apply himself to the discipline of theology, showing himself to be a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. For otherwise he will not worship God for who He is, but who he has imagined Him to be.
And there’s where the pastor’s role comes sharply into focus. This stuff certainly affects the Sunday gathering for corporate worship. Vanhoozer calls us to consider:
What do we do when we worship? We acknowledge and celebrate God’s worth. In worship we come together to remember and to respond to who God is and to what God has done for us. In short, we come together to do theology, though in a form that is more informal, participatory, and musical than it is systematic. (4)The congregation gathers to remember and respond to who God is and what He has done for us. Yet, by failing to rightly interpret Scripture (comprehensively, holistically, and accurately) the pastor risks leading his people to remember and respond to a god who simply does not exist, a god of the congregation’s own imagination. The severity of such an infraction is arresting, especially in light of Jesus’ statement that eternal life consists in the knowledge of God (Jn 17:3) As we consider such things, I cannot help but hear the terrifying echo of Matthew 7:21-23: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
With the stakes so high, both the undershepherd and the sheep must make war against every speculation and lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5).
Series Outline
Light and Heat: Introduction
1.1 - In Pursuit of Light: We Worship What We Know
1.2 - Systematics and Doctrine Matter
1.3 - Loving God with All Your Mind
2. In Pursuit of Heat: We Worship What We Know
3. Conclusion: Light and Heat, Spirit and Truth
Friday, October 29, 2010
If One Member Suffers, All the Members Suffer With It
As I mentioned some time ago, I want to take a look at how Jeremiah responded to the suffering of Judah at the time of the Babylonian exile, in the hope that we can glean some principles or lessons on how we can righteously respond to suffering. I mentioned that in the coming posts I'd like to explore five lessons that Jeremiah can teach us on how to suffer well. We'll consider the first of those today: Jeremiah identifies with, and suffers alongside, his people.
What is immediately identifiable at the opening of Jeremiah’s lamentations is that he himself laments and mourns over the destruction of his people. He shares in Israel’s pain, by identifying himself with her. He even personifies Israel and speaks for her in the first person. Notice, in 1:2 he says, “She weeps bitterly in the night and her tears are on her cheeks…” But then he switches to the first person: “For these things I weep; my eyes run down with water; because far from me is a comforter,” and so on (Lam 1:16, 18, 20-21). Later he identifies himself with Israel by referring to them and himself collectively in the first person plural (Lam 3:40-47). He also speaks as himself and tells of his own tears and trouble (Lam 2:11; 3:48-50), his own affliction and brokenness (Lam 3:1-4), and his own shame and despair (Lam 3:14-18). Though he has spent forty years telling them that this destruction would come unless they repented, he did not celebrate their destruction in spiteful vengeance, as if to say, “I told you so!” Rather, their misery moves him to compassion and to prayer.
In a similar way, this godly compassion and love-for-God’s-people-because-they're-His ought to cause in us the same sentiment. We are to identify with the sufferings of our brothers and sisters, suffer with them, weep with them (Rom 12:15), and comfort each other out of that genuine compassion.
This principle is carried through into the New Covenant ministry of the Church. 1 Corinthians 12 says that the Church collectively is Christ’s body, and that those who make up the body are its individual members. And so, Paul reasons, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it (1Cor 12:27, 26). Because we belong to the Lord, not one of us lives or dies to ourselves (Rom 14:7), for we are united to Him as His body (Rom 6:3-7). And if we are united to Him, we are united to one another (1Cor 12:12-14).
When Lazarus had died, and Jesus had finally arrived at Bethany, Mary was so grieved that she didn’t even leave the house as Jesus was approaching (Jn 11:20). When she did get up to meet Jesus, those around her thought that she was simply going to weep further at Lazarus’ tomb (Jn 11:31). Then, in her grief, she falls at Jesus’ feet and almost blames Him for her brother’s death. You can almost see her incredulous, tear-filled gaze at Jesus as she says through the sobs, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (Jn 11:32). She was heartbroken.
Then the text says, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled” (Jn 11:33), and then in verse 35: “Jesus wept.” Though the Jews interpreted His weeping as love for Lazarus – which of course had something to do with it – notice that the text says that it was Mary’s weeping in grief that moved Jesus in spirit. Jesus is grieved not only out of compassion for Lazarus (whom, by the way, Jesus knew He was going to raise from the dead within minutes), but because He identified with the suffering of Mary, who was dealing with the pain of losing her brother.
In the same way, then, friends, if the love of Christ is in us, the compassion of Christ must be in us. This compassion was in Jeremiah for Jerusalem at the time of the exile. And the man who wept with them for 40 years, warning them of the coming judgment that had now taken place – the only man who did not deserve the punishment brought upon Israel – did not stand self-righteously aloof with his arms folded and a smirk on his face, saying, “I bet you wish you would have listened to me!” Nothing could have been further from the truth. Instead, he identified with his people and suffered along with them.
And so should we.
What is immediately identifiable at the opening of Jeremiah’s lamentations is that he himself laments and mourns over the destruction of his people. He shares in Israel’s pain, by identifying himself with her. He even personifies Israel and speaks for her in the first person. Notice, in 1:2 he says, “She weeps bitterly in the night and her tears are on her cheeks…” But then he switches to the first person: “For these things I weep; my eyes run down with water; because far from me is a comforter,” and so on (Lam 1:16, 18, 20-21). Later he identifies himself with Israel by referring to them and himself collectively in the first person plural (Lam 3:40-47). He also speaks as himself and tells of his own tears and trouble (Lam 2:11; 3:48-50), his own affliction and brokenness (Lam 3:1-4), and his own shame and despair (Lam 3:14-18). Though he has spent forty years telling them that this destruction would come unless they repented, he did not celebrate their destruction in spiteful vengeance, as if to say, “I told you so!” Rather, their misery moves him to compassion and to prayer.
In a similar way, this godly compassion and love-for-God’s-people-because-they're-His ought to cause in us the same sentiment. We are to identify with the sufferings of our brothers and sisters, suffer with them, weep with them (Rom 12:15), and comfort each other out of that genuine compassion.
This principle is carried through into the New Covenant ministry of the Church. 1 Corinthians 12 says that the Church collectively is Christ’s body, and that those who make up the body are its individual members. And so, Paul reasons, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it (1Cor 12:27, 26). Because we belong to the Lord, not one of us lives or dies to ourselves (Rom 14:7), for we are united to Him as His body (Rom 6:3-7). And if we are united to Him, we are united to one another (1Cor 12:12-14).
When Lazarus had died, and Jesus had finally arrived at Bethany, Mary was so grieved that she didn’t even leave the house as Jesus was approaching (Jn 11:20). When she did get up to meet Jesus, those around her thought that she was simply going to weep further at Lazarus’ tomb (Jn 11:31). Then, in her grief, she falls at Jesus’ feet and almost blames Him for her brother’s death. You can almost see her incredulous, tear-filled gaze at Jesus as she says through the sobs, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (Jn 11:32). She was heartbroken.
Then the text says, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled” (Jn 11:33), and then in verse 35: “Jesus wept.” Though the Jews interpreted His weeping as love for Lazarus – which of course had something to do with it – notice that the text says that it was Mary’s weeping in grief that moved Jesus in spirit. Jesus is grieved not only out of compassion for Lazarus (whom, by the way, Jesus knew He was going to raise from the dead within minutes), but because He identified with the suffering of Mary, who was dealing with the pain of losing her brother.
In the same way, then, friends, if the love of Christ is in us, the compassion of Christ must be in us. This compassion was in Jeremiah for Jerusalem at the time of the exile. And the man who wept with them for 40 years, warning them of the coming judgment that had now taken place – the only man who did not deserve the punishment brought upon Israel – did not stand self-righteously aloof with his arms folded and a smirk on his face, saying, “I bet you wish you would have listened to me!” Nothing could have been further from the truth. Instead, he identified with his people and suffered along with them.
And so should we.
My eyes fail because of tears,
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is poured out on the earth
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Lamentations 2:11 -
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is poured out on the earth
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Lamentations 2:11 -
Jeremiah's Five Lessons
- He identifies with, and suffers alongside, his people.
- He acknowledges that sin is at the root of suffering (even though not all suffering is a direct result of personal sin).
- He acknowledges God’s absolute sovereignty in his suffering.
- He recognizes that although God is sovereign, He is not the enemy.
- He sets his hope entirely on, and rests in, God’s character.
Friday, September 17, 2010
What Love for God Is and Isn't
I was listening to a sermon by John Piper on Romans 8:28 this week (as I've been listening through his Romans series, chapters 6 through 8) called "All Things for Good." And I was just overwhelmed with delight to come to this point in his sermon. He was discussing the "those who love God" part of Romans 8:28, and thus discussing what it means for us to love God. In order to do that, he also spent some time discussing what love for God is not.
I've spent some time (with Piper's help) trying to unfold this doctrine of love for God in my own thinking here and here, along with the posts under the "Love of God" tag that can be found on the sidebar. Yet what Piper said in this sermon is exactly what I want to say, and exactly what my soul resonates with.
This topic -- what it means to love God -- is what the universe is about. And so when I hear these things, everything I experience of reality is that much more real. When I'm contemplating the purpose for which I was created, I am more alive than at any other time. I am made to worship more greatly and more purely, which is to say, I enjoy God more at this time than at any other time. I pray that the same be true for you.
If you'd like, you can listen to the sermon as well here. The stream loads pretty quickly, and the section that the below edited transcript is taken from starts at either "-27:00" or "-22:10." For whatever reason it seems like two different versions might load. So you can just let it load for a minute and then click over to -27:00 or -22:10 and listen along. (I always recommend listening to Piper along with reading him when possible.)
Anyway, he says:
What the Love of God Is Not
So what does it mean to love God? How can you know if you are in this number? The best way I can think to make the answer clear is to say three things that love for God is not. At least the essence of love for God is not these three things.
Loving God is not meeting his needs. The way we love man is different from the way we love God. In Acts 17:25 Paul said, "He [is not] served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." God is radically different from us. He is the source of all things and has no needs. He cannot be helped or improved. There are no defects to reverse or deficiencies to supply. We cannot love him by supplying his needs. He has none. Therefore the essence of our love for him must be an experience of receiving. (And I do regard joy as essentially receiving pleasure from the object of our delight.)
That leads to the second thing that love for God is not. Loving God is not, in its essence, love for his gifts – gifts like forgiveness, justification, escape from hell, resurrection to a pain-free life, etc. Indeed if we love God, we will cherish these gifts and be thankful for them, because we would not have God without them. But loving God is treasuring God himself revealed in his gifts and treasuring God himself beyond his gifts. His gifts are precious to the degree that they bring us to God and show us more of God. When you love God, God is central in your affections, not his gifts.
This word "affections" leads us to the third thing that love for God is not. The essence of loving God is not the things that love for God prompts you to do. Love for God may prompt you to leave mother and father and forsake all that to declare his glory among the nations. But leaving mother and father and forsaking all are not the essence of love – they are the fruit of love. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." This does not mean keeping his commandments is love. It means love is the kind of heart that prompts you to keep commandments.
In John 21:15-17 Jesus illustrates this connection when he asks Simon Peter three times, "Do you love me?" When Peter says, "Yes," Jesus does not say, "Good, that must mean you are obeying my commandments, because obeying my commandments is love." No, he said, "Feed my sheep." In other words, if you love me, act like it. Love my flock and feed them. Feeding sheep is the fruit of loving Jesus.
In other words, what I am saying is that love for God is a matter of the heart’s esteem for God before it produces anything else. It is something internal and involves spiritual emotions. It is not, in essence, a deliberated choice or a deed. It is more like a reflex of the heart to the perfections of God revealed especially in Christ. If you equate the deeds of love with the essence of love you will produce hypocrites – people who imitate the deeds and claim to love God when their hearts are far from him. If you equate love for God with love for his gifts, you produce hypocrites – people who are very glad to feel forgiven and declared righteous and delivered from hell and heaven-bound, but have no pleasure in God himself. They don’t love God. They just don’t want to have bad guilt feelings or go to hell.
What the Love of God Is
Therefore I think it is absolutely crucial that we clarify what the essence of love for God is. Let me grasp for the kinds of words that I think will help us know if we love God. Loving God is desiring God himself beyond his gifts. Loving God is treasuring God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is delighting in God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is being satisfied in God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is cherishing God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is savoring God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is valuing God and prizing God and revering God and admiring God beyond his gifts. All these words are grasping for that essential response of the heart to the revelation of the glory of God, especially in Christ through the gospel. It is a glad reflex of the heart to all that God is for us in Christ.
I've spent some time (with Piper's help) trying to unfold this doctrine of love for God in my own thinking here and here, along with the posts under the "Love of God" tag that can be found on the sidebar. Yet what Piper said in this sermon is exactly what I want to say, and exactly what my soul resonates with.
This topic -- what it means to love God -- is what the universe is about. And so when I hear these things, everything I experience of reality is that much more real. When I'm contemplating the purpose for which I was created, I am more alive than at any other time. I am made to worship more greatly and more purely, which is to say, I enjoy God more at this time than at any other time. I pray that the same be true for you.
If you'd like, you can listen to the sermon as well here. The stream loads pretty quickly, and the section that the below edited transcript is taken from starts at either "-27:00" or "-22:10." For whatever reason it seems like two different versions might load. So you can just let it load for a minute and then click over to -27:00 or -22:10 and listen along. (I always recommend listening to Piper along with reading him when possible.)
Anyway, he says:
What the Love of God Is Not
So what does it mean to love God? How can you know if you are in this number? The best way I can think to make the answer clear is to say three things that love for God is not. At least the essence of love for God is not these three things.
Loving God is not meeting his needs. The way we love man is different from the way we love God. In Acts 17:25 Paul said, "He [is not] served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." God is radically different from us. He is the source of all things and has no needs. He cannot be helped or improved. There are no defects to reverse or deficiencies to supply. We cannot love him by supplying his needs. He has none. Therefore the essence of our love for him must be an experience of receiving. (And I do regard joy as essentially receiving pleasure from the object of our delight.)
That leads to the second thing that love for God is not. Loving God is not, in its essence, love for his gifts – gifts like forgiveness, justification, escape from hell, resurrection to a pain-free life, etc. Indeed if we love God, we will cherish these gifts and be thankful for them, because we would not have God without them. But loving God is treasuring God himself revealed in his gifts and treasuring God himself beyond his gifts. His gifts are precious to the degree that they bring us to God and show us more of God. When you love God, God is central in your affections, not his gifts.
This word "affections" leads us to the third thing that love for God is not. The essence of loving God is not the things that love for God prompts you to do. Love for God may prompt you to leave mother and father and forsake all that to declare his glory among the nations. But leaving mother and father and forsaking all are not the essence of love – they are the fruit of love. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." This does not mean keeping his commandments is love. It means love is the kind of heart that prompts you to keep commandments.
In John 21:15-17 Jesus illustrates this connection when he asks Simon Peter three times, "Do you love me?" When Peter says, "Yes," Jesus does not say, "Good, that must mean you are obeying my commandments, because obeying my commandments is love." No, he said, "Feed my sheep." In other words, if you love me, act like it. Love my flock and feed them. Feeding sheep is the fruit of loving Jesus.
In other words, what I am saying is that love for God is a matter of the heart’s esteem for God before it produces anything else. It is something internal and involves spiritual emotions. It is not, in essence, a deliberated choice or a deed. It is more like a reflex of the heart to the perfections of God revealed especially in Christ. If you equate the deeds of love with the essence of love you will produce hypocrites – people who imitate the deeds and claim to love God when their hearts are far from him. If you equate love for God with love for his gifts, you produce hypocrites – people who are very glad to feel forgiven and declared righteous and delivered from hell and heaven-bound, but have no pleasure in God himself. They don’t love God. They just don’t want to have bad guilt feelings or go to hell.
What the Love of God Is
Therefore I think it is absolutely crucial that we clarify what the essence of love for God is. Let me grasp for the kinds of words that I think will help us know if we love God. Loving God is desiring God himself beyond his gifts. Loving God is treasuring God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is delighting in God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is being satisfied in God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is cherishing God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is savoring God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is valuing God and prizing God and revering God and admiring God beyond his gifts. All these words are grasping for that essential response of the heart to the revelation of the glory of God, especially in Christ through the gospel. It is a glad reflex of the heart to all that God is for us in Christ.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
That We Might Share in His Holiness, and Thus Be Fit to See Him
I've spent the last two posts opening up what the Bible says about the believer's responsibility to give and receive rebuke in their relationships with fellow Christians. I mentioned that if we believe that we have fellowship with each other, but fail to serve each other by lovingly and gently confronting each other when we see sin in our lives, we do little more than "play church" under the banner of the name of Jesus Christ, which is blasphemous.
We took a look at how important this ministry of confrontation, of rebuke, was to the Apostle Paul in his own ministry. He was no stranger to this, because he knew of the benefit it would be to his brothers and sisters. We also spent some time last time looking at three aspects of the ministry of rebuke among Christians: we saw (1) the need to responsibly and lovingly give rebuke when it will benefit our brothers and sisters; (2) the need to humbly and wisely receive rebuke ourselves; and (3) the need to even pursue correction and rebuke from our brothers and sisters, as they may see sin in our lives that we don’t clearly see.
Then I asked, "Why?" What's the point for all of this rebuke? What's the purpose, the end goal, the result, the motivation to admonish each other?
The answer is: We get to see God.
That We Might Share in His Holiness
In Hebrews 12, the author is picking up on some Old Testament Proverbs in order to show the Jewish Christians, who were under the chastening of God at the time, that the Lord's discipline is a mark of grace, because He disciplines those whom He loves. Sons get discipline. The author of Hebrews writes: "But [God] disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness" (Heb 12:10b).
Does that hit you? God disciplines His children for our benefit, for our good. And what is our good according to this verse? It is that we might share in God's holiness. The discipline that comes from God, which admittedly is not always pleasant at the time (Heb 12:11), comes to refine us, to purify us, so that we might become increasingly holy, increasingly like Him, conformed more to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29; 2Cor 3:18). Our good is to share His holiness, and so He disciplines us to make us holy.
This must be the motive of Christians' rebuke of each other. We also must be motivated by the desire to benefit our brothers and sisters by causing them to share in God's holiness. And how do we do that? Well, when we see sin in each other's lives, which causes us to be cut off from God's holiness, we should point it out to each other. That is the admonishing that Paul talks about throughout his ministry. That is why the Sage and the Psalmist are so intent on receiving rebuke. They want to be rid of sin! They want to share in God's holiness!
That We Might Be Fit to See the Lord
But it's important to recognize that holiness is not an end in itself. We don't want to be holy just for the sake of being holy. If that's all that this ministry of admonition got us, it wouldn't be a worthy task. Holiness for the sake of holiness is Pharisaism. The writer of Hebrews tells us why we should be concerned about sharing in God's holiness when he tells us to "pursue…the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord (Heb12:14).
Does that land on you?
We are commanded to pursue sanctification -- to pursue holiness -- precisely because if we don't have it, we won't see God! That is what all this striving after holiness is about: seeing God! Beholding the most beautiful and satisfying thing there is to see: the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Paul says this himself in Colossians 1:28-2:3: "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. ... attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
The tireless discipline of admonishing every man is for the result of a true knowledge of all the treasures laid up in Christ Himself! Discipline, rebuke, reproof, correction, admonition… as they are founded upon the Word of God, they participate in our sanctification, without which we will not see God!
And so if it is eternity that’s at stake – if it’s seeing Christ that’s at stake here, Paul is going to celebrate the Romans' competence to admonish each other (cf. Rom 15:14, here), and he’s not going to hesitate to boldly admonish believers to remind them of these things.
Application
And neither should we. If we learn that one of our brothers and sisters is involved in something that is spiritually harmful – whether that be engaging in sinful actions, harboring sinful thoughts, or even believing false things about Scripture, false doctrine – we need to let them know. And we need to do so because we know that seeing Christ rightly – and therefore worshiping Christ rightly – is what is at stake.
But as I say that, let me quickly return to Romans 15:14 to show you that there are qualifications, of sort, for this kind of ministry to one another. Paul says, "And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another."
"Full of goodness," means that you are going to admonish that person for their benefit, and not for your own sinful, prideful desire to look superior or super-spiritual. This means that before you go to them you have thought about it, you have prayed about it, you have reminded yourself of the objective reality of fellowship that you have with this person, that they are a child of God. And you go to them out of a desire to see them benefited by Christ. And you believe what you have to say will serve that end.
And "filled with all knowledge," means that the correction you will be giving will be Biblical, both content and form. By content I mean, obviously, that before you go and tell somebody they're doing something wrong, you better be sure it's actually wrong according to the Scriptures. Be prepared to share passages from Scripture that shed light on the issue. After all, you're not the authority. God’s Word is. And you wouldn't want to give any other impression.
And by form I mean that you’re following the principles laid out for us in Matthew 18:15-17. Matthew 18:15: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private."
Conclusion
So the take-away from all these posts is: don't shy away from admonishing your brothers and sisters according to the Truth. Don't hate them by hiding instruction from them. Don't sabotage the health of the Church by letting sin go unchecked.
And if someone has the courage to admonish you, receive it graciously and gratefully. Don't hate discipline and instruction and earn the name of a Fool. Instead, seek it out. Desire it. Invite rebuke and reproof and correction, for they are oil upon the head that refreshes and sweetens (Ps 141:5).
Hate sin enough – and love Christ enough – to expose sin (Eph5:11 ).
And hate sin enough – and love Christ enough –to seek out ways of having it exposed in your own life.
Don't hate discipline. Pursue holiness. The holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Because that's what all of the Christian life is about: seeing the Lord Jesus clearly and rightly.
We took a look at how important this ministry of confrontation, of rebuke, was to the Apostle Paul in his own ministry. He was no stranger to this, because he knew of the benefit it would be to his brothers and sisters. We also spent some time last time looking at three aspects of the ministry of rebuke among Christians: we saw (1) the need to responsibly and lovingly give rebuke when it will benefit our brothers and sisters; (2) the need to humbly and wisely receive rebuke ourselves; and (3) the need to even pursue correction and rebuke from our brothers and sisters, as they may see sin in our lives that we don’t clearly see.
Then I asked, "Why?" What's the point for all of this rebuke? What's the purpose, the end goal, the result, the motivation to admonish each other?
The answer is: We get to see God.
That We Might Share in His Holiness
In Hebrews 12, the author is picking up on some Old Testament Proverbs in order to show the Jewish Christians, who were under the chastening of God at the time, that the Lord's discipline is a mark of grace, because He disciplines those whom He loves. Sons get discipline. The author of Hebrews writes: "But [God] disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness" (Heb 12:10b).
Does that hit you? God disciplines His children for our benefit, for our good. And what is our good according to this verse? It is that we might share in God's holiness. The discipline that comes from God, which admittedly is not always pleasant at the time (Heb 12:11), comes to refine us, to purify us, so that we might become increasingly holy, increasingly like Him, conformed more to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29; 2Cor 3:18). Our good is to share His holiness, and so He disciplines us to make us holy.
This must be the motive of Christians' rebuke of each other. We also must be motivated by the desire to benefit our brothers and sisters by causing them to share in God's holiness. And how do we do that? Well, when we see sin in each other's lives, which causes us to be cut off from God's holiness, we should point it out to each other. That is the admonishing that Paul talks about throughout his ministry. That is why the Sage and the Psalmist are so intent on receiving rebuke. They want to be rid of sin! They want to share in God's holiness!
That We Might Be Fit to See the Lord
But it's important to recognize that holiness is not an end in itself. We don't want to be holy just for the sake of being holy. If that's all that this ministry of admonition got us, it wouldn't be a worthy task. Holiness for the sake of holiness is Pharisaism. The writer of Hebrews tells us why we should be concerned about sharing in God's holiness when he tells us to "pursue…the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord (Heb
Does that land on you?
We are commanded to pursue sanctification -- to pursue holiness -- precisely because if we don't have it, we won't see God! That is what all this striving after holiness is about: seeing God! Beholding the most beautiful and satisfying thing there is to see: the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Paul says this himself in Colossians 1:28-2:3: "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. ... attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
The tireless discipline of admonishing every man is for the result of a true knowledge of all the treasures laid up in Christ Himself! Discipline, rebuke, reproof, correction, admonition… as they are founded upon the Word of God, they participate in our sanctification, without which we will not see God!
And so if it is eternity that’s at stake – if it’s seeing Christ that’s at stake here, Paul is going to celebrate the Romans' competence to admonish each other (cf. Rom 15:14, here), and he’s not going to hesitate to boldly admonish believers to remind them of these things.
Application
And neither should we. If we learn that one of our brothers and sisters is involved in something that is spiritually harmful – whether that be engaging in sinful actions, harboring sinful thoughts, or even believing false things about Scripture, false doctrine – we need to let them know. And we need to do so because we know that seeing Christ rightly – and therefore worshiping Christ rightly – is what is at stake.
But as I say that, let me quickly return to Romans 15:14 to show you that there are qualifications, of sort, for this kind of ministry to one another. Paul says, "And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another."
"Full of goodness," means that you are going to admonish that person for their benefit, and not for your own sinful, prideful desire to look superior or super-spiritual. This means that before you go to them you have thought about it, you have prayed about it, you have reminded yourself of the objective reality of fellowship that you have with this person, that they are a child of God. And you go to them out of a desire to see them benefited by Christ. And you believe what you have to say will serve that end.
And "filled with all knowledge," means that the correction you will be giving will be Biblical, both content and form. By content I mean, obviously, that before you go and tell somebody they're doing something wrong, you better be sure it's actually wrong according to the Scriptures. Be prepared to share passages from Scripture that shed light on the issue. After all, you're not the authority. God’s Word is. And you wouldn't want to give any other impression.
And by form I mean that you’re following the principles laid out for us in Matthew 18:15-17. Matthew 18:15: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private."
- First, if your brother sins, go. Don’t talk. Don’t gossip about it with other people. Go.
- Second, if your brother sins, go and show him his fault. This hits on the previous point: show him from Scripture where he’s wrong. Don’t simply assert that he’s wrong; show him he’s wrong from the Bible, which is our sole authority.
- And finally, if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private. At this stage, this is a one-on-one encounter. It's not a public matter. If the sin is public, go to him in private, and if he agrees that he was wrong, urge him to repent of the sin publicly. But go to him in private first. Remember, love covers sin (1Cor 13:7; 1Pet 4:8), it does not flaunt sin. You are to do everything you can to honor your brothers and sisters, not shame them.
Conclusion
So the take-away from all these posts is: don't shy away from admonishing your brothers and sisters according to the Truth. Don't hate them by hiding instruction from them. Don't sabotage the health of the Church by letting sin go unchecked.
And if someone has the courage to admonish you, receive it graciously and gratefully. Don't hate discipline and instruction and earn the name of a Fool. Instead, seek it out. Desire it. Invite rebuke and reproof and correction, for they are oil upon the head that refreshes and sweetens (Ps 141:5).
Hate sin enough – and love Christ enough – to expose sin (Eph
And hate sin enough – and love Christ enough –to seek out ways of having it exposed in your own life.
Don't hate discipline. Pursue holiness. The holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Because that's what all of the Christian life is about: seeing the Lord Jesus clearly and rightly.
But He disciplines us for our good,
so that we may share His holiness. ...
Pursue...the sanctification without which
no one will see the Lord.
- Hebrews 12:10, 14 -
so that we may share His holiness. ...
Pursue...the sanctification without which
no one will see the Lord.
- Hebrews 12:10, 14 -
Friday, September 3, 2010
The Ministry of Rebuke: Giving, Receiving, and Inviting
In Tuesday's post, I introduced a second necessary component of true Christian fellowship by taking a glimpse at the ministry of the Apostle Paul (here's the first). We looked fairly closely at Romans 15:14-16 and a bit more cursorily at Acts 20:17-38, and discovered that Paul considered the ministry of admonition, or confrontation of sin, to be a vital one in the lives of believers and in the health of the church. I want to consider this matter again today, and build on the thought from Tuesday's post. (I originally thought I'd wrap up the thought today, but I decided to take one more post.)
Having seen the value and worth with which the Apostle esteems the ministry of rebuke, I want to both underscore that lesson from other Scriptures and then apply it to our lives. As an outline, we'll look at (1) the necessity of giving rebuke, (2) the necessity of receiving rebuke, and (3) the benefit of even desiring and inviting rebuke. On Tuesday, we'll look finally at (4) the reason - or motivation - for rebuke.
Giving Rebuke
When it comes to lovingly coming along side our brothers and making them aware of some sin that we've perceived in them, many Christians are timid and hesitant. Some of us just don't want to come off arrogantly, like we've got everything together when there really is a plank in our own eye. Some fear that it won't come off to the person as loving, and we think they'll take it the wrong way. So we rationalize not saying anything and call it love "covering" a multitude of sins. Others are simply afraid of the person's response, fearing that they will be hostile, and that the confrontation of sin might result in damage to the friendship. But the Scriptures tell us that we must be faithful in our ministry to our brothers and sisters by giving rebuke.
Paul tells us in 2 Timothy3:16 that we are given Scripture for this very purpose: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." And he follows that up with the charge to Timothy to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction" (2Tim 4:2).
To the Ephesians, Paul commands them not to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather to expose them (Eph 5:11). Similarly, in 1 Timothy 5:20, he commands Timothy concerning those who continue in sin, "rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning." The exposing of sin not only seeks to restore the sinner, but also serves as a help to others who are tempted to sin.
As we've seen even above and especially last time, Paul was no stranger to this ministry of rebuke, but considered it profitable for the sake of his brothers and for the sake of the Gospel. Neither was he a stranger to public rebuke, as he reported in Galatians 2:11-14: "Antioch
This really is a striking passage of Scripture. I mean, Paul's not going after small potatoes here. This is the Apostle Peter we're talking about. And not just overzealous, quick-to-speak, foot-in-mouth Peter that we got used to during Jesus' earthly ministry. This is post-Pentecost Peter (indeed, over 15 years later!), after the amazing sermons recorded in Acts, the miracles of healing, the boldness before the Sanhedrin, and the abundant fruitfulness of his ministry.
And neither is Paul going after an enemy. This is his dear friend and brother in the Lord! This is someone he has deep affection for and loves as a brother. And yet he feels no hesitation about rebuking him sharply (I opposed him to his face) and publicly (in the presence of all), accusing him of perverting the Gospel. That is no small charge!
But this is not Paul being overly sensitive to sin and overly harsh with his fellow believers. This is love stretching to very uncomfortable and unpleasant actions to serve the one in concern. If anything, this interaction should teach us that as Christians, we have a responsibility -- even a stewardship -- to confront and correct our brother when we see him sinning, and thus cutting himself off from the blessings of God that flow from obedience.
Receiving Rebuke
And yet we are also commanded to receive rebuke well. As I mentioned above, one of the reasons it is so difficult to be faithful in giving needed rebuke is that those on the receiving end receive it so poorly. This should not be us. We should not by our attitudes put stumbling blocks in the way of our own correction. We want to be corrected when we are wrong, and so we must seek to remove any bad attitudes that would hinder a brother confronting us with our sin in love. Consider what the Scriptures say about those who receive rebuke well.
If you refuse to receive rebuke, you will go astray, know nothing but strife, effectively despise your own self, and are a stupid fool. Strong language from Solomon, and from God. And yet, there it is: clear, inescapable, and gracious revelation from our God.
Desiring and Inviting Rebuke
In fact, Scripture takes it further than receiving rebuke well. We see godly men going out of their way to invite rebuke and correction if they should go astray.
And so we’ve seen (1) the need to responsibly and lovingly give rebuke when it will benefit our brothers and sisters; (2) the need to humbly and wisely receive rebuke ourselves; and (3) the need to even pursue correction and rebuke from our brothers and sisters, as they may see sin in our lives that we don’t clearly see.
But what is the end of this all this rebuke? All this admonishing that Scripture is calling the body of Christ to do… what’s the purpose? What’s the end goal here?
I'll answer that question next Tuesday.
Having seen the value and worth with which the Apostle esteems the ministry of rebuke, I want to both underscore that lesson from other Scriptures and then apply it to our lives. As an outline, we'll look at (1) the necessity of giving rebuke, (2) the necessity of receiving rebuke, and (3) the benefit of even desiring and inviting rebuke. On Tuesday, we'll look finally at (4) the reason - or motivation - for rebuke.
Giving Rebuke
When it comes to lovingly coming along side our brothers and making them aware of some sin that we've perceived in them, many Christians are timid and hesitant. Some of us just don't want to come off arrogantly, like we've got everything together when there really is a plank in our own eye. Some fear that it won't come off to the person as loving, and we think they'll take it the wrong way. So we rationalize not saying anything and call it love "covering" a multitude of sins. Others are simply afraid of the person's response, fearing that they will be hostile, and that the confrontation of sin might result in damage to the friendship. But the Scriptures tell us that we must be faithful in our ministry to our brothers and sisters by giving rebuke.
- Proverbs 27:5-6 – Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of the enemy.
- Proverbs 28:23 – He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue.
Paul tells us in 2 Timothy
To the Ephesians, Paul commands them not to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather to expose them (Eph 5:11). Similarly, in 1 Timothy 5:20, he commands Timothy concerning those who continue in sin, "rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning." The exposing of sin not only seeks to restore the sinner, but also serves as a help to others who are tempted to sin.
As we've seen even above and especially last time, Paul was no stranger to this ministry of rebuke, but considered it profitable for the sake of his brothers and for the sake of the Gospel. Neither was he a stranger to public rebuke, as he reported in Galatians 2:11-14: "
This really is a striking passage of Scripture. I mean, Paul's not going after small potatoes here. This is the Apostle Peter we're talking about. And not just overzealous, quick-to-speak, foot-in-mouth Peter that we got used to during Jesus' earthly ministry. This is post-Pentecost Peter (indeed, over 15 years later!), after the amazing sermons recorded in Acts, the miracles of healing, the boldness before the Sanhedrin, and the abundant fruitfulness of his ministry.
And neither is Paul going after an enemy. This is his dear friend and brother in the Lord! This is someone he has deep affection for and loves as a brother. And yet he feels no hesitation about rebuking him sharply (I opposed him to his face) and publicly (in the presence of all), accusing him of perverting the Gospel. That is no small charge!
But this is not Paul being overly sensitive to sin and overly harsh with his fellow believers. This is love stretching to very uncomfortable and unpleasant actions to serve the one in concern. If anything, this interaction should teach us that as Christians, we have a responsibility -- even a stewardship -- to confront and correct our brother when we see him sinning, and thus cutting himself off from the blessings of God that flow from obedience.
Receiving Rebuke
And yet we are also commanded to receive rebuke well. As I mentioned above, one of the reasons it is so difficult to be faithful in giving needed rebuke is that those on the receiving end receive it so poorly. This should not be us. We should not by our attitudes put stumbling blocks in the way of our own correction. We want to be corrected when we are wrong, and so we must seek to remove any bad attitudes that would hinder a brother confronting us with our sin in love. Consider what the Scriptures say about those who receive rebuke well.
- Proverbs 9:8b – Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
- Proverbs 10:17
- Proverbs 12:1 – Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
- Proverbs 13:10
- Proverbs 15:31-32 – He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.
- Proverbs 17:10
If you refuse to receive rebuke, you will go astray, know nothing but strife, effectively despise your own self, and are a stupid fool. Strong language from Solomon, and from God. And yet, there it is: clear, inescapable, and gracious revelation from our God.
Desiring and Inviting Rebuke
In fact, Scripture takes it further than receiving rebuke well. We see godly men going out of their way to invite rebuke and correction if they should go astray.
- Psalm 141:5 – Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is oil upon the head; Do not let my head refuse it. Commenting on this verse, Spurgeon wrote: "As oil refreshes and perfumes, so does reproof when fitly taken sweeten and renew the heart."
- Psalm 94:12-14 – Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Yahweh, And whom You teach out of Your law; That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity, Until a pit is dug for the wicked. For Yahweh will not abandon His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
And so we’ve seen (1) the need to responsibly and lovingly give rebuke when it will benefit our brothers and sisters; (2) the need to humbly and wisely receive rebuke ourselves; and (3) the need to even pursue correction and rebuke from our brothers and sisters, as they may see sin in our lives that we don’t clearly see.
But what is the end of this all this rebuke? All this admonishing that Scripture is calling the body of Christ to do… what’s the purpose? What’s the end goal here?
I'll answer that question next Tuesday.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Paul, Confrontation of Sin, and Fellowship
In last Tuesday’s post, the take-away application point was that we ought to improve our everyday, relaxed, natural conversation, especially with other believers. And this was in the service of grounding our subjective experience of fellowship in the objective reality of fellowship (the Gospel) first by speaking to one another about the things of Christ.
A second way that we can work towards having true fellowship with one another that is honoring before God is the subject of today’s post (which was originally going to be one long post but will now be two shorter ones). I really believe this to be an important, essential, and even foundational element to our relationships with each other as we live the Christian life together. If Christians don’t have this element, we do little more than play church, and have a social club under the banner of the Word of God and the name of Jesus Christ – which is blasphemous.
Here's a little fill-in-the-blank test to get us started:
“And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to ________ one another.” – The Apostle Paul
What do you think goes in the blank? What do you think many professing Christians think goes in the blank? Would you guess things like: “love,” “encourage,” “affirm,” “serve,” “teach,” and “agree with”?
The text is Romans 15:14, and the word that fills in the blank correctly is admonish.
This is that second component that is absolutely foundational to living the Christian life together. We could call the first component that we talked about last Tuesday conversation. And we can call this second component confrontation. (We could also call it admonition, rebuke, or reproof, but they don’t start with con- like conversation and confrontation.
And so Paul praises the Roman church for being competent to admonish one another. And Paul himself exemplified this nouthetéō in his own ministry. Indeed, even in this text we see his positive evaluation of the believer who, in goodness and according to knowledge, confronts his brother regarding sin.
And by today's standards, you'd think that Paul wouldn't be very liked among this group. I mean, night and day for three years? I can hear the Tone Police™ of contemporary evangelicalism now: "Come on, Paul? Isn't that overkill? It's quite arrogant of you to do so much admonishing! Nobody's perfect! Have you taken the plank out of your eye?"
But we don't see that arrogant, ungrateful attitude among these brothers. The result of Paul's tireless ministry among them – in which he wasn’t afraid to say hard things to them and admonish them for their unbiblical actions and beliefs – was true, loving fellowship.
Next time, we'll look into how we can apply these lessons in our own lives as we live the Christian life with our brothers and sisters.
A second way that we can work towards having true fellowship with one another that is honoring before God is the subject of today’s post (which was originally going to be one long post but will now be two shorter ones). I really believe this to be an important, essential, and even foundational element to our relationships with each other as we live the Christian life together. If Christians don’t have this element, we do little more than play church, and have a social club under the banner of the Word of God and the name of Jesus Christ – which is blasphemous.
Here's a little fill-in-the-blank test to get us started:
“And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to ________ one another.” – The Apostle Paul
What do you think goes in the blank? What do you think many professing Christians think goes in the blank? Would you guess things like: “love,” “encourage,” “affirm,” “serve,” “teach,” and “agree with”?
The text is Romans 15:14, and the word that fills in the blank correctly is admonish.
This is that second component that is absolutely foundational to living the Christian life together. We could call the first component that we talked about last Tuesday conversation. And we can call this second component confrontation. (We could also call it admonition, rebuke, or reproof, but they don’t start with con- like conversation and confrontation.
And so Paul praises the Roman church for being competent to admonish one another. And Paul himself exemplified this nouthetéō in his own ministry. Indeed, even in this text we see his positive evaluation of the believer who, in goodness and according to knowledge, confronts his brother regarding sin.
- Romans 15:15-16 – But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
And we know that Paul didn’t just talk about it. He lived it out in His own ministry. In Acts chapter 20, Paul is giving his farewell address to the Ephesian elders, among whom he labored for three years, and whom he loved very dearly. In it, he says:
- v. 20 - You yourselves know...how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house.
- vv. 26-27 - Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
- v. 31 - ...remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
And by today's standards, you'd think that Paul wouldn't be very liked among this group. I mean, night and day for three years? I can hear the Tone Police™ of contemporary evangelicalism now: "Come on, Paul? Isn't that overkill? It's quite arrogant of you to do so much admonishing! Nobody's perfect! Have you taken the plank out of your eye?"
But we don't see that arrogant, ungrateful attitude among these brothers. The result of Paul's tireless ministry among them – in which he wasn’t afraid to say hard things to them and admonish them for their unbiblical actions and beliefs – was true, loving fellowship.
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again And they were accompanying him to the ship.Such affection is heartwarming. These brothers knew that Paul was benefiting them by presenting Christ to them, even and especially in his admonitions, rebukes, confrontations, and warnings. And his love, plainly manifested in his ministry of night-and-day admonition, produced in them great and overwhelming love for him.
Next time, we'll look into how we can apply these lessons in our own lives as we live the Christian life with our brothers and sisters.
We proclaim Him,
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.
- Colossians 1:28-29 -
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.
- Colossians 1:28-29 -
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
A Caveat and Some Applications
I'm taking a break from the regularly scheduled Repentance series this Tuesday to tack a few extra thoughts onto Friday's post on pursuing First Things first. My point there was that as we consider how to love our neighbor as ourselves, and so fulfill the Law (Mt 7:12; Mt 22:40; Rom 13:8; Gal 5:14; Jas 2:8), it leads us into the discovery that we fulfill the Second Greatest commandment by pursuing the First: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Because "by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments" (1Jn 5:2). The way we love people is by loving God.
That is, when we are so consumed with the glory of Jesus Christ, when He becomes our All in all, and when our hearts are captured to just seek Him first, in our satisfaction we proclaim Him, and our lives tell the truth about His sweetness. We manifest the glory of God, because our lives are a product of seeing Him. And we prefer Him more than we prefer the deceptive satisfaction-substitute that comes from sin. That is loving the world. Because the greatest good that can be done to the world is to see Jesus Christ. And when we esteem Him rightly and prefer Him, we present Him to everyone around us as He is: as supremely desirable, supremely beautiful, supremely attractive, supremely compelling, supremely preferable.
A Caveat
A couple of months ago, my wife and I took a road trip up the California coast from Santa Monica up to San Francisco via the beloved Pacific Coast Highway. That highway is exhibit A of how we can be sure that the west coast was populated after the east coast. Somebody thought enough to put a highway right next to the ocean. I mean what a beautiful drive it was. Now, our 8-hour drive was chock full of sighs, and wows, and calls from one to the other to "Look at that!" You'd think that we'd get tired of being so impressed! But that wasn't the case. The beauty of God's creation in the ocean, in the mountains, in the grass, in the rocks, in the trees, in the flowers, and in the clouds was absolutely stunning. And we couldn't help but talk about it! What we learned from that drive is that true beauty compels praise. When you look at something that is glorious, the delight it produces in you wells up into expression.
In the same way, when you behold the glory of Christ, the affections that are created in you from such satisfaction and such beauty necessarily find expression in your life. By definition, you don’t look at something that is beautiful and remain unaffected. Beauty compels action. Whether you’re proclaiming to people how beautiful and satisfying God is, or whether the glory of God motivates you to go out and serve people, it’s going to compel you to be a practical benefit to people. So don't think I'm trying to give myself and others a free pass to not serving people, to not loving our neighbor as ourselves. I don't mean that at all. My point is simply that it’s got to be in the proper order; we must pursue first things first, otherwise we’re idolaters. Our love for people must be God-centered.
Applications
So with that in mind, I want to make some applications of this First-Things-First principle. Here are some things you can do to love your neighbor as yourself by presenting to them their greatest benefit: God in Christ Himself.
Read the Word of God daily, because it’s in the Word that you behold the beauty of Christ. Show people that He is so satisfying, that He delightfully compels you to seek Him out in His Word.
Pray daily, because it’s in prayer that you have communion and fellowship with God, and it’s in prayer that that relationship thrives. Show people that He is so beautiful and satisfying that He makes it a joy for you to give up an hour of your busy schedule to pray.
Be in church on Sunday, because it’s in the fellowship of the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day that gives particular expression to the glory of God as it manifests the work of God’s grace in these people’s lives, and is the pinnacle of the worship of God, which is the most satisfying thing we can do. Show people that He is so satisfying that He makes it a pleasant thing to get up at6:30 on a Sunday morning.
Meet with each other, because it’s an opportunity for believers to present that glory of Christ to each other, by speaking the Word to each other and even rebuking each other when we see that it will benefit each other.
And open your mouth and preach the Gospel to those who don’t know Christ, because (1) as you speak His message you savor the Person and the work of Christ that saved you, and (2) the preaching of the Gospel is how other people get saved, and how more people come to worship God as He deserves. Show people that He is so satisfying that it’s a joyful honor to risk being thought of as weird or a religious nut in order to preach this message both to strangers and to people we’ve known for years. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And out of that love, love your neighbor as yourself.
That is, when we are so consumed with the glory of Jesus Christ, when He becomes our All in all, and when our hearts are captured to just seek Him first, in our satisfaction we proclaim Him, and our lives tell the truth about His sweetness. We manifest the glory of God, because our lives are a product of seeing Him. And we prefer Him more than we prefer the deceptive satisfaction-substitute that comes from sin. That is loving the world. Because the greatest good that can be done to the world is to see Jesus Christ. And when we esteem Him rightly and prefer Him, we present Him to everyone around us as He is: as supremely desirable, supremely beautiful, supremely attractive, supremely compelling, supremely preferable.
To be satisfied in Christ, then, is to love the world; because we present to them what gives them most joy and what is most satisfying. When we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, in that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Love for people overflows from love for God. And if it doesn’t start there, we have become idolaters, and therefore cannot benefit them. If your love for people starts with them, you have failed to love them, because you have failed to love Him. Just as Lewis said:
And so we need to have this complex, brain-bending, deep-into-the-soil-of-Scripture theology undergirding our love for people. If we American pragmatists ignore this First-Things-First lesson, and tell people to just go out and love people and perform acts of service because that’s 'what Jesus would do,' we totally blow it. We pursue secondary things first, and lose both the first and secondary things.When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.
A Caveat
A couple of months ago, my wife and I took a road trip up the California coast from Santa Monica up to San Francisco via the beloved Pacific Coast Highway. That highway is exhibit A of how we can be sure that the west coast was populated after the east coast. Somebody thought enough to put a highway right next to the ocean. I mean what a beautiful drive it was. Now, our 8-hour drive was chock full of sighs, and wows, and calls from one to the other to "Look at that!" You'd think that we'd get tired of being so impressed! But that wasn't the case. The beauty of God's creation in the ocean, in the mountains, in the grass, in the rocks, in the trees, in the flowers, and in the clouds was absolutely stunning. And we couldn't help but talk about it! What we learned from that drive is that true beauty compels praise. When you look at something that is glorious, the delight it produces in you wells up into expression.
In the same way, when you behold the glory of Christ, the affections that are created in you from such satisfaction and such beauty necessarily find expression in your life. By definition, you don’t look at something that is beautiful and remain unaffected. Beauty compels action. Whether you’re proclaiming to people how beautiful and satisfying God is, or whether the glory of God motivates you to go out and serve people, it’s going to compel you to be a practical benefit to people. So don't think I'm trying to give myself and others a free pass to not serving people, to not loving our neighbor as ourselves. I don't mean that at all. My point is simply that it’s got to be in the proper order; we must pursue first things first, otherwise we’re idolaters. Our love for people must be God-centered.
Applications
So with that in mind, I want to make some applications of this First-Things-First principle. Here are some things you can do to love your neighbor as yourself by presenting to them their greatest benefit: God in Christ Himself.
Read the Word of God daily, because it’s in the Word that you behold the beauty of Christ. Show people that He is so satisfying, that He delightfully compels you to seek Him out in His Word.
Pray daily, because it’s in prayer that you have communion and fellowship with God, and it’s in prayer that that relationship thrives. Show people that He is so beautiful and satisfying that He makes it a joy for you to give up an hour of your busy schedule to pray.
Be in church on Sunday, because it’s in the fellowship of the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day that gives particular expression to the glory of God as it manifests the work of God’s grace in these people’s lives, and is the pinnacle of the worship of God, which is the most satisfying thing we can do. Show people that He is so satisfying that He makes it a pleasant thing to get up at
Meet with each other, because it’s an opportunity for believers to present that glory of Christ to each other, by speaking the Word to each other and even rebuking each other when we see that it will benefit each other.
And open your mouth and preach the Gospel to those who don’t know Christ, because (1) as you speak His message you savor the Person and the work of Christ that saved you, and (2) the preaching of the Gospel is how other people get saved, and how more people come to worship God as He deserves. Show people that He is so satisfying that it’s a joyful honor to risk being thought of as weird or a religious nut in order to preach this message both to strangers and to people we’ve known for years. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And out of that love, love your neighbor as yourself.
Friday, July 23, 2010
First Things First
As some of you know, it was my study of the Greatest and Second Greatest commandments (as laid out by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40), that spurred me on to start this blog. If you haven't read those two original posts (first, and second), I'd encourage you to do so. For this post, it will be particularly helpful to read the second, as it's in that context that the following quotes from C. S. Lewis make sense.
But just in case you don't want to click over, I'll reproduce a relevant portion of that post here. In studying how it is that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, I looked at how the nature of (1) The Father's love, (2) the love Jesus showed while He was on earth, and (3) the love believers are commanded to show are all summed up in the concept of benefit. The Father loves by benefiting (Rom 5:8), Jesus loved by benefiting (Mt 9:18-35, Mk 6:30-34, Lk 22:49, etc.), and we are commanded to love by benefiting (Lk 6:27-31; Jas 2:14-17; 1Jn 3:17-18).
But when I asked how it is that I am to benefit my neighbor, I kept running up against this concept in the Bible that I fulfill the Second Greatest Commandment by pursuing -- not it -- but the First. How do I love my neighbor as myself? I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Principally, I get that from 1 John 5:2: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
But this principle of "You get Secondary Things by pursuing First Things first" is confirmed in many other passages of Scripture as well. From that post, slightly modified:
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
We are to set our minds on the things above, and not on the things on earth, because that is where Christ is. And our life is in Him. Do you want to love people? Good! Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you will love your neighbor as yourself. Pursue First Things first, and the Secondary Things will be "added unto you."
Many folks balk at this notion. One application in particular that I'd like to make, though, is to those who call themselves "missional," and sound the call for the Church's role in achieving social justice. They call attention to the fact that the eternal state will be enjoyed here on a renewed earth by Christians with glorified physical bodies -- that Heaven won't be our disembodied spirits in a ghost world. And based on this they conclude that God is concerned not only about the spiritual but the physical. And so we should be concerned not just about the spiritual, but the physical. As such, the preservation of the environment, social structures, and fallen human culture is erroneously thrust to the forefront of the Church's mission.
Well, it’s true that He is coming to redeem this earth. But if we follow that line of reasoning, we will be seeking to achieve secondary goals -- some of them great, Biblical, necessary goals, but secondary goals -- by pursuing them first, rather than by pursuing First Things first and seeing the second things "thrown in," as Lewis says. We'll never save society as long as society is our main object." And as Paul says, our 'setting-our-mind' energy is to be focused entirely on Christ. When He’s here, then we can set our minds on the things that are on earth because He will be on earth. But until then, we set our minds on things above because that’s where He is. Oh we most certainly run this race, but we fix our eyes on Jesus as we run this race (Heb 12:2)!
It’s exactly as Lewis, following the Apostle Paul, following Jesus, says it: the first thing is Christ. Seek Him first, and all these things will be added to you.
But just in case you don't want to click over, I'll reproduce a relevant portion of that post here. In studying how it is that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, I looked at how the nature of (1) The Father's love, (2) the love Jesus showed while He was on earth, and (3) the love believers are commanded to show are all summed up in the concept of benefit. The Father loves by benefiting (Rom 5:8), Jesus loved by benefiting (Mt 9:18-35, Mk 6:30-34, Lk 22:49, etc.), and we are commanded to love by benefiting (Lk 6:27-31; Jas 2:14-17; 1Jn 3:17-18).
But when I asked how it is that I am to benefit my neighbor, I kept running up against this concept in the Bible that I fulfill the Second Greatest Commandment by pursuing -- not it -- but the First. How do I love my neighbor as myself? I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Principally, I get that from 1 John 5:2: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
But this principle of "You get Secondary Things by pursuing First Things first" is confirmed in many other passages of Scripture as well. From that post, slightly modified:
- Matthew 6:33 - Considering the Greatest Commandments as commandments required to be obeyed, Jesus says just to seek first the kingdom and His righteousness. Be consumed with loving God with all that you are. And all other things – which are all summed up in “Love your neighbor as yourself” – will be added unto as you just seek Him first.
- Leviticus 19:14, 32; 25:43 - As a grounding for commands to practically benefit their neighbor, God continually says to
- Luke 10:38-42 - Martha is worried about many secondary things. Only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, as she's chosen to pursue First Things first.
- Colossians 3:1-4 - Here we are commanded to be so consumed with heavenly things because that is where Christ is. And if you look at the context, it is this command to seek First Things first that is the ground for all of the practical directives on how to love each other from
- Psalm 27:4 - When David declares that the beauty of God is the one thing in his life that demands his affection and allegiance, I am benefited -- I am loved -- by David’s singularity of focus. I see his all-consuming desire to just behold the beauty of God, and I am thereby helped to see God more clearly, treasure Him more fully, and enjoy Him more fully. And that is my greatest benefit! To know God! So it can properly be said that David loves me by displaying to me his love for God. He accomplishes love for his neighbor, a Secondary Thing, by pursuing First Things first.
From a 1952 letter: “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”He's saying precisely what Paul says in Colossians 3:1-4:
From God in the Dock, pp. 278-281: “The longer I looked into it the more I came to suspect that I was perceiving a universal law...the woman who makes a dog the center of her life loses, in the end, not only her human usefulness and dignity but even the proper pleasure of dog-keeping. The man who makes alcohol his chief good loses not only his job but his palate and all his power of enjoying the earlier (and only pleasurable) levels of intoxication. It is a glorious thing to feel for a moment or two that the whole meaning of the universe is summed up in one woman – glorious so long as other duties and pleasures keep tearing you away from her. But clear the decks and so arrange your life (it is sometimes feasible) that you will have nothing to do but contemplate her, and what happens? [Implied: You are disappointed.] Of course this law has been discovered before, but it will stand re-discovery. It may be stated as follows: every preference of a small good [instead of] a great, or a partial good [instead of] a total good, involves the loss of the small or partial good for which the sacrifice was made.
Apparently the world is made that way... You can’t get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first. From which it would follow that the question, What things are first? is of concern not only to philosophers but to everyone... if we do not know, then the first and only truly practical thing is to set about finding out.”
From Mere Christianity, pp.134-135: “Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.
It seems a strange rule, but something like it can be seen at work in other matters. Health is a great blessing, but the moment you make health one of your main, direct objects you start becoming a crank and imagining there is something wrong with you. You are only likely to get health provided you want other things more – food, games, work, fun, open air. In the same way, we shall never save civilization [love our neighbor, care for the least of these] as long as civilization is our main object. We must learn to want something else even more.”
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
We are to set our minds on the things above, and not on the things on earth, because that is where Christ is. And our life is in Him. Do you want to love people? Good! Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you will love your neighbor as yourself. Pursue First Things first, and the Secondary Things will be "added unto you."
Many folks balk at this notion. One application in particular that I'd like to make, though, is to those who call themselves "missional," and sound the call for the Church's role in achieving social justice. They call attention to the fact that the eternal state will be enjoyed here on a renewed earth by Christians with glorified physical bodies -- that Heaven won't be our disembodied spirits in a ghost world. And based on this they conclude that God is concerned not only about the spiritual but the physical. And so we should be concerned not just about the spiritual, but the physical. As such, the preservation of the environment, social structures, and fallen human culture is erroneously thrust to the forefront of the Church's mission.
Well, it’s true that He is coming to redeem this earth. But if we follow that line of reasoning, we will be seeking to achieve secondary goals -- some of them great, Biblical, necessary goals, but secondary goals -- by pursuing them first, rather than by pursuing First Things first and seeing the second things "thrown in," as Lewis says. We'll never save society as long as society is our main object." And as Paul says, our 'setting-our-mind' energy is to be focused entirely on Christ. When He’s here, then we can set our minds on the things that are on earth because He will be on earth. But until then, we set our minds on things above because that’s where He is. Oh we most certainly run this race, but we fix our eyes on Jesus as we run this race (Heb 12:2)!
It’s exactly as Lewis, following the Apostle Paul, following Jesus, says it: the first thing is Christ. Seek Him first, and all these things will be added to you.
By this we know that we love the children of God,
when we love God
and observe His commandments.
- 1 John 5:2 -
when we love God
and observe His commandments.
- 1 John 5:2 -
(Click here for a follow-up post.)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
A Biblical View of the Affections
In my Pastoral Counseling class, we answered the questions in the exam for the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors as a class assignment. The following is an adapted answer from that assignment, which asked us to define affections Biblically and how they are changed Biblically. Please do mouse over and read the Scripture references as they come up.
In the Scriptures, the God of the universe has revealed that His ultimate purpose in all that He does is to bring glory to Himself (Is 42:8; 43:7, 25; 48:11; Ezek 36:22-23; Eph 1:11-12). That is, God’s will is to be worshiped by all of His creation. To that end, He created human beings to be worshiping creatures so that they might “honor Him as God [and] give thanks” (Rom 1:21). Therefore, all of life – especially the Christian life – is about worship. Progress in sanctification comes when our worship of God increases and matures. Sin is made manifest when we worship anything other than God (cf. Rom 1:20-25).
In the Scriptures, the God of the universe has revealed that His ultimate purpose in all that He does is to bring glory to Himself (Is 42:8; 43:7, 25; 48:11; Ezek 36:22-23; Eph 1:11-12). That is, God’s will is to be worshiped by all of His creation. To that end, He created human beings to be worshiping creatures so that they might “honor Him as God [and] give thanks” (Rom 1:21). Therefore, all of life – especially the Christian life – is about worship. Progress in sanctification comes when our worship of God increases and matures. Sin is made manifest when we worship anything other than God (cf. Rom 1:20-25).
Having understood that life is about worship, we begin to see the importance of affections in living the Christian life. As worship is at the heart of life, so the affections are at the heart of worship. We worship what we desire, what we love, what we delight in. And that worship shapes our actions. “Our words and actions are shaped by our pursuit of the things our hearts crave. … What we worship determines our responses to all our experiences” (Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, p. 67). Jesus testifies to this reality when He simply says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21; Lk 12:34). You will serve with all your being that which you treasure. When your treasure is not God, you commit idolatry (cf. Ezek 14:1-5), and it is idolatry of the heart – the worship of the creature rather than the Creator – that is the core of all sin (Rom 1:25; cf. Deut 29:2-4; 30:6; Jer 31:33; Ezek 6:9; 36:26).
Therefore, when a Biblical counselor (or any Christian) seeks to aid in another’s sanctification and mortification of sin, the battle must be fought at the level of the affections, or the desires. For example, if a counselee’s sin problem is greed, it is because his desire for money rules his heart rather than the desire to know Christ. Or if his sin problem is lust or sexual immorality, it is because he believes that mental or physical sexual stimulation will satisfy his desires more than will the glory of God in Christ.
The counselor must seek, then, to transform the counselee’s heart, his affections. He must be shown that the desires and the affections that he seeks to satisfy with sin are actually most fully satisfied by knowing Jesus Christ. This is how Jesus Himself instructs us to battle covetousness. He commands that we “make [ourselves] money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven” (Lk 12:33). He does not simply command us to stop desiring possessions; He redirects our desire to something greater, to something that will fully satisfy us, to treasure in heaven, to Himself. The Apostle Paul is strengthened to press on in the Christian life in this very same way. He counts all idols – all substitute pleasures – as loss that He may gain Christ and know Him (Phil 3:7-11). David’s righteousness came from his singularity of focus; that is, he desired and sought one thing: to behold the beauty of Yahweh and to meditate in His temple (Ps 27:4). Moses fled from the idolatry of
Therefore, emotions and affections (and thus actions) are changed Biblically when the worthiness and delightfulness of the beauty of Christ is exalted in the heart of the Christian. Affections are changed when the eyes of our hearts are enlightened to know the riches of the glory of the inheritance of God (Eph 1:18). When that happens, the promise of pleasure from sin looks so paltry in comparison to the treasure chest of holy joy found in Christ. Affections are set right, God is worshiped in Christ, and that life of worship controls all we do (Mk 7:18-23) and say (Lk 6:44-45).
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Obedient Disobedience, Part 4
One last post on obedient disobedience (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
Our detractor responds, "You're making this too complicated. God is our Father. We are His children. We just need to obey Him. It's like me and my son. He just needs to do what I say. Because he's my son, and I'm his dad. I tell him, 'Please clean up your room.' Then he needs to do it. If he doesn't, he's disobeying. Period."
And again, I agree as before. I'm not saying at all that if we simply don't feel like obeying God that that's any excuse for our disobedience. I'm actually upping the ante. I'm saying that we can do what God says, in one sense, and still be disobeying Him. I'm saying that we can "obey" on the outside and hate it. And I'm saying that that's not how the Bible presents Christ or the Christian life under the New Covenant to us. I'm saying that the New Testament authors speak to us like this: "You're His son; He's your Dad. You know Him! You've tasted His goodness! You know He's worthy to be loved with all your heart! Based on that relationship, obey joyfully!"
I agree that if you tell your son to clean his room and he doesn't do it, he's disobeyed. And nothing like, "Well, I didn't feel like it" excuses him. 100% agreed.
But here's the question: If he cleans his room -- and does all his other chores -- every time you ask him, but as he does them is grumbling, and thinking to himself about how you're such a slave driver, and how it's really annoying how you ask him to do things he doesn't wanna do all the time, and the only way to avoid trouble is to do what you ask... is he obeying then? Is it obedience for him to drag himself off the couch away from his TV, or computer, or X-Box, and to clean his room while thinking about how much he'd rather be doing something else?
I would say, "No way. He's not obeying at all."
And if even you would say he is obeying (after all, the room is getting cleaned up), can you honestly say, dear detractor, that as his father, you are honored by such "obedience"?
I'd have a hard time believing you'd say yes. And that's my point. God doesn't say yes either. He proclaims that He is more worthy and more satisfying, and more pleasant, and more beautiful than to be forced upon someone begrudgingly. "Obeying" God as if His commandments are burdensome is to disobey "obediently." Obeying God joyfully is actually finding Him to be as delightful as He is.
May God grant you and me a heart to delight in Him.
Our detractor responds, "You're making this too complicated. God is our Father. We are His children. We just need to obey Him. It's like me and my son. He just needs to do what I say. Because he's my son, and I'm his dad. I tell him, 'Please clean up your room.' Then he needs to do it. If he doesn't, he's disobeying. Period."
And again, I agree as before. I'm not saying at all that if we simply don't feel like obeying God that that's any excuse for our disobedience. I'm actually upping the ante. I'm saying that we can do what God says, in one sense, and still be disobeying Him. I'm saying that we can "obey" on the outside and hate it. And I'm saying that that's not how the Bible presents Christ or the Christian life under the New Covenant to us. I'm saying that the New Testament authors speak to us like this: "You're His son; He's your Dad. You know Him! You've tasted His goodness! You know He's worthy to be loved with all your heart! Based on that relationship, obey joyfully!"
I agree that if you tell your son to clean his room and he doesn't do it, he's disobeyed. And nothing like, "Well, I didn't feel like it" excuses him. 100% agreed.
But here's the question: If he cleans his room -- and does all his other chores -- every time you ask him, but as he does them is grumbling, and thinking to himself about how you're such a slave driver, and how it's really annoying how you ask him to do things he doesn't wanna do all the time, and the only way to avoid trouble is to do what you ask... is he obeying then? Is it obedience for him to drag himself off the couch away from his TV, or computer, or X-Box, and to clean his room while thinking about how much he'd rather be doing something else?
I would say, "No way. He's not obeying at all."
And if even you would say he is obeying (after all, the room is getting cleaned up), can you honestly say, dear detractor, that as his father, you are honored by such "obedience"?
I'd have a hard time believing you'd say yes. And that's my point. God doesn't say yes either. He proclaims that He is more worthy and more satisfying, and more pleasant, and more beautiful than to be forced upon someone begrudgingly. "Obeying" God as if His commandments are burdensome is to disobey "obediently." Obeying God joyfully is actually finding Him to be as delightful as He is.
May God grant you and me a heart to delight in Him.
This people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.
- Isaiah 29:13 -
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.
- Psalm 40:8 -
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- John 4:34 -
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.
- Isaiah 29:13 -
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.
- Psalm 40:8 -
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- John 4:34 -
Friday, February 5, 2010
Piper on What to Do with Obedient Disobedience
Obedient Disobedience, Part 3
UPDATE: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4
So after writing the two previous posts (Part 1, Part 2), I opened John Piper's Taste and See devotional, as I've been going through it semi-regularly. The chapter I was on was entitled, "When Your 'Want To' Doesn't Match Your 'Ought To'." This is Piper's take on what to do about obedient disobedience.
This is where the world is. This is the kind of thing that goes on (mostly) outside the church. Though this is a problem, this hasn't been my focus.If your "want to" does not conform to God's "ought to," what can you do to have peace? I see at least five possible strategies.
1. You can avoid thinking about the "ought to." This is the most common strategy in the world. Most people simply do not devote energy to pondering what they should be doing that they are not doing. It's easier to just keep the radio on.
2. You can reinterpret the "ought to" so that it sounds just like your "want to." This is a little more sophisticated and so not as common. It usually takes a college education to do this with credibility, and a seminary degree to do it with finesse. (And I believe strongly in both college and seminary!)This also is a common worldly strategy, and it's usually employed by those who do not have a high view of Scripture but want to pat themselves on the back for being 'obedient' to God. Again, though this issue is important, it hasn't been my biggest concern.
3. You can muster the willpower to do a form of the "ought to" even though you don't have the heart of the "want to." This generally looks pretty good, and is often mistaken as virtue, even by those who do it. In fact, there is a whole worldview that says doing "ought to's" without "want to" is the essence of virtue. The problem with this is that Paul said, "God loves a cheerful giver," which puts the merely "ought-to givers" in a precarious position.This is where those who practice 'obedient disobedience' live most of the time. This strategy is employed by born again, orthodox, conservative evangelical brothers and sisters who love God's Word and have a real desire to see God glorified. But they've been taught, "You just obey your Lord. It doesn't matter how you feel." And Piper's right. That does sound virtuous. Self-denial, doing hard things. It certainly takes a person of... well... strong will... to do that. But this is not Biblical obedience. This is the focus of my previous two posts. A lot of believers -- sound in nearly every other area of doctrine -- find themselves in this category. Examine yourself. Are you in this category? (I was.)
4. You can feel proper remorse that the "want to" is very small and weak - like a mustard seed - and then, if it lies within you, do the "ought to" by the exertion of will, while repenting that the "want to" is weak, and praying that the "want to" will soon be restored. Perhaps it will even be restored in doing the "ought to." This is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy hides one of the two contradictory impulses. Virtue confesses them both in the hope of grace.This is what I suggested in Part 2. Not having the "want to" doesn't change the "ought to." Yet even as we do the "ought to" we must repent of our sin: that is, that the "want to" isn't there for us.
5. You can seek, by the means of grace, to have God give the "want to" so that when the time comes to do the "ought to," you will "want to." Ultimately, the "want to" is a gift of God. "The mind of the flesh is hostile to God . . . it is not able to submit to the law of God" (Romans 8:7). "The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God . . . because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Corinthians 2:14). "Perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:25).
Amen. This is what we need to be doing. And we need to be seeking this gift of God as we practice strategy #4. We obey, confessing as sin our slowness of heart to believe that Jesus is as delightful as He says He is, while pleading with God to give us the gift of a clear vision of Him so that we will "want to."
Piper's conclusion is extremely helpful:
May God incline our hearts to Him.The Biblical doctrine of original sin boils down to this (to borrow from St. Augustine): We are free to do what we like, but we are not free to like what we ought to like. "Through the one man's disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners" (Romans 5:19). This is who we are. And yet we know from our own soul and from the Bible that we are accountable for the corruption of our bad "want to's." Indeed, the better you become, the more you feel ashamed of being bad and not just doing bad. As N.P. Williams said, "The ordinary man may feel ashamed of doing wrong: but the saint, endowed with a superior refinement of moral sensibility, and keener powers of introspection, is ashamed of being the kind of man who is liable to do wrong" (First Things, #87, Nov. 1998, p. 24).
God's free and sovereign heart-changing work is our only hope. Therefore we must pray for a new heart. We must pray for the "want to" - "Incline my heart to Your testimonies" (Psalm 119:36). "Make glad the soul of your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul" (Psalm 86:4). He has promised to do it: "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes" (Ezekiel 36:27). This is the new covenant bought by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 8:8-13; 9:15). "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help [us want to do what we ought to do] in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
UPDATE: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4
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