Thom Rainer in a recent blog po“Happiness, Harvard Business Review, and the Church,” said something that I found arresting.[video]
Thom Rainer in a recent blog po“Happiness, Harvard Business Review, and the Church,” said something that I found arresting.
Somewhere in the span of local church history, we have turned our focus to activities, programs, and even entertainment as the unstated purposes of the church. In doing so, we have yielded our right to speak with authority about that which brings true joy. The consequence is that the church is being replaced with a new secular religion that is defining happiness for us.
It is time for our churches to get back to being churches.
Then, and only then, will people discover true gospel-centered joy.
In our attempts to entertain people into the Kingdom, we stopped doing what we were intended to do, causing us to lose our our authority to speak. Thought-provoking.
Note: This is a post from another blog that I write.
We are in an age awash in information. Our cell phones alone have computing power that would have taken rooms full of machinery a few decades ago. We can access literature and research instantly, that, only a few years ago, could only be viewed in situ. All this information at our fingertips should have made us into giants brain, walking around with Gandalf-like wisdom.
It hasn’t.
We, as Christians at least, seem to need a bit more work in the discernment department. There is a tendency for us to consume information without digesting it, not carefully and prayerfully seeing if it measures up to the ultimate yardstick of Scripture. I have this image of a whale, open-mouthed, gulping down television preachers, e-mailed chain letters, Facebook reposts and whatever “Christian diet,” five step plan to your best life now (board game and day planner sold separately) is popular this week. These things are swallowed whole, unfiltered, all treated as equally good and beneficial. They aren’t. Why do we “bite,” if you will? Maybe because they have the word Christian in the title somewhere. Maybe they have a cross incorporated on the book, package or logo. It seems as if we say, based on rather sketchy parameters, “hey, they said, ‘God,’ once, that’s good enough for me!” The problem is, some of these sources we derive our spiritual sustenance from have tried to “value add” to the original message found in our Bibles.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul brings us back to the basics:
1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
“As of first importance,” Paul says about the Gospel. That sounds important-because it is. You can’t add value to something that is already of the ultimate value! For whatever reason, though, we tend to add to the gospel, place odd emphasis to aspects of it, while ignoring other parts entirely. Problem is, this smorgasbord-like attitude toward the Gospel and Scripture causes it to fall short of being the whole counsel of God. You may have even heard about the prosperity gospel, poverty gospel, and the social gospel. Someone once said when you add a word to “gospel” it tends to cease to be the Gospel. We do need that constant reminder, as Paul and the Apostles repeatedly reminded the early church in their letters.
As they reminded, we need to remind each other. It’s continually important, as there does seem to be a definite tendency to either tend to “add to” or “drift from.”
That reminds me (sorry) of what Don Carson once said;
The way you lose the gospel is not by denying it, but by assuming it.
This is another common way we get ourselves into trouble. How do we prevent this? Well for one thing, dig around in your Bible. Ask the Lord for wisdom-He will give it to you. That particular promise is found in James 1:
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Is someone saying something that sounds “Christiany,” but you are not sure if it’s Biblically sound? Again, search the Scripture, pray for answers, “test everything,” as 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says. You aren’t being unloving by being discerning.
Tim Challies wrote here about the responsibility of the Christian in this area:
The Bereans were considered noble for hearing the teaching of Paul and Silas, receiving them with eagerness and “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). These believers tested the words of the apostles, examining the Scriptures to see if what they were being taught was consistent with what they knew of God’s revelation of Himself. In doing this they modeled the task of all believers. Christians are ultimately responsible for what they choose to believe, no matter whether or not they have been gifted with the spiritual gift of discernment.
One that note, Friends, I’ll leave you with an encouraging word from A.W. Tozer:
Many tender-minded Christians fear to sin against love by daring to inquire into anything that comes wearing the cloak of Christianity and breathing the name of Jesus. They dare not examine the credentials of the latest prophet to hit their town lest they be guilty of rejecting something which may be of God. They timidly remember how the Pharisees refused to accept Christ when He came, and they do not want to be caught in the same snare, so they either reserve judgment or shut their eyes and accept everything without question. This is supposed to indicate a high degree of spirituality. But in sober fact it indicates no such thing. It may indeed be evidence of the absence of the Holy Spirit. Gullibility is not synonymous with spirituality. Faith is not a mental habit leading its possessor to open his mouth and swallow everything that has about it the color of the supernatural. Faith keeps its heart open to whatever is of God, and rejects everything that is not of God, however wonderful it may be. Try the spirits is a command of the Holy Spirit to the Church. We may sin as certainly by approving the spurious as by rejecting the genuine. And the current habit of refusing to take sides is not the way to avoid the question. To appraise things with a heart of love and then to act on the results is an obligation resting upon every Christian in the world. And the more as we see the day approaching.
Picture from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.
“The disciples in the New Testament often followed their Lord expecting unplanned change. We, on the other hand, like to manage our lives in order to eliminate unplanned change.” —
-Jonathan Dodson
An incident from my childhood helps to graphically illustrate the difference between mothers and grandmothers. After spending the weekend at grandma’s house, I asked for some Cool Whip (weird emphasis on the “h”) boldly claiming that grandma let me eat it right out of the tub. My mother calmly said, “This isn’t grandma’s house.”
Personally, I think it’s a good difference. It’s a difference that shows that our moms care and compassion is holistic. Like God, moms are less concerned about our happiness and more concerned for our joy-there is a difference (thank you, Matt Chandler).
I’ve been blessed with an amazing mother. She has been my biggest encourager and supporter on my odd and eccentric journey. She has helped me to keep my eyes focused on the path the Lord has laid out for me whenever that vision starts to dim. Her example in my life, and the lives of others, reminds me of a rather interesting passage in Luke 8. We hear so much about the apostles, we forget about the women who were vital supporters of Christ’s ministry. They were impacted personally which caused them to become personally invested.
Luke 8:
1 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
Of course, being my mother’s son gives her a strong motivation to invest in my life, but, over the years, I have become convinced that it is something more than that-it’s her Christlikeness that I am seeing. I am very proud to be able to point to her as an example of what a mother should be and thank the Lord for her.
I love you mom and am so proud, and yet humbled, to be your son.
There is a great little book by the Puritan author Thomas Brooks, called, “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices,” that is quickly becoming a new favorite. No, it’s not some weird book on how to best kindle a fire under a witch, while humming Rob Zombie’s Dragula, but rather, very practical encouragement on fighting the subtle-and not so subtle-attacks on us, the discouragements, the doubts, that we, like those who have come before us, have experienced. First published in 1652, it is far from dated.
You can buy it at places like Amazon or read it online for free, here. I’ve included an excerpt from it, below.
DEVICE 6. By suggesting to the soul, that surely his estate is not good, because he cannot joy and rejoice in Christ as once he could; because he has lost that comfort and joy that once was in his spirit.Says Satan, You know the time was when your heart was much carried out to joying and rejoicing in Christ; you do not forget the time when your heart used to be full of joy and comfort; but now, how are you fallen in your joys and comforts! Therefore, your estate is not good; you do but deceive yourself to think that ever it was good, for surely if it was, your joy and comfort would have continued. And hereupon the soul is apt to take part with Satan, and say—It is even so; I see all is nothing, and I have but deceived my own soul.
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That the loss of comfort is a separable adjunct from grace. The soul may be full of holy affections, when it is empty of divine consolations. There may be, and often is, true grace, yes, much grace, where there is not a drop of comfort, nor dram of joy. Comfort is not of the being—but of the well-being, of a Christian. God has not so linked these two choice lovers together—but that they may be put asunder. That wisdom which is from above will never work a man to reason thus: I have no comfort, therefore I have no grace; I have lost that joy that once I had, therefore my condition is not good, and was never good. But it will enable a man to reason thus: Though my comfort is gone, yet the God of my comfort abides; though my joy is lost, yet the seeds of grace remain. The best men’s joys are as fragile as glass, bright and brittle, and evermore in danger of breaking. Spiritual joy is a sun that is often clouded. It is like a precious flower—subject to fade and wither. (Psalm 63:1, 2, 8; Is. 50:10; Micah 7:8, 9; Psalm 42:5.)
No, it’s not a new NPR show.
Part of the joys of this blog has been to encourage people and, sometimes, I suspect, to encourage myself primarily! Spurgeon is always good for encouragement, and this little sermonette (below) on waiting is a good example. Now, honestly, I have not seen many examples, personally, of people waiting well. What I see (in myself, too) is hearing a surprisingly clear, “wait,” from the Lord, but all the while straining ahead, “rushing forward in presumption,” as Mr. Spurgeon would say. Or waiting and planning the next move before we even have the answer. I may not be the brightest bulb, but that doesn’t seem like waiting-it seems more like triangulating. If you think about it, if you had the answer, you wouldn’t be waiting in the first place.
Personally, I think it is the whole, “Not my will but Thy will be done,” thing. We get the “Thys” and “mys” mixed up. The Lord is in control, He knows what is best, and He doesn’t to half a job. I wonder if that is what we are afraid of-that we don’t fully trust the Lord to come through-for us (see-“not my will but Thy will”). Reminds me of the story in Numbers 11 when the Lord asked Moses if he thought His arm was too short, when the latter was having a meltdown while trying to figure out how he was going to accomplish what the Lord already said He would do. Can you see the problems with that last sentence? I’m thinking if the Lord says wait, we should probably do that. Hard to do, yep. Should we do it, yep. Again, always good to preach to myself-or better yet, have the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, do it for me.
“Wait on the Lord.” -Psalms 27:14
It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God’s warriors than standing still. There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption? No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God, and spread the case before him; tell him your difficulty, and plead his promise of aid. In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be humble as a child, and wait with simplicity of soul upon the Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly, and are heartily willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in him; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting, is but an insult to the Lord. Believe that if he keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet he will come at the right time; the vision shall come and shall not tarry. Wait in quiet patience, not rebelling because you are under the affliction, but blessing your God for it. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish you could go back to the world again, but accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, “Now, Lord, not my will, but thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities, but I will wait until thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for thee in the full conviction that thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower.”
-Charles Spurgeon
Image from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.
[video]
[video]
Ran across a letter in a book, “Memoirs of the life of the Rev. Charles Simeon,” by Charles Simeon and William Carus. The letter was by Charles, an Anglican Calvinist, to his good friend, J.J. Gurney, a Quaker Wesleyan Arminan. Gurney was one of the men who strongly influenced the Evangelical Friends denomination-putting the evangelical into Quakerism, if you will.
Despite being friends, they, nevertheless, held very different views on a number of theological topics. They agreed on the centrality of the Gospel, but were not afraid to vigorously, respectfully, lovingly, disagree on the tangential issues. I like that. Unity does not come from conflict avoidance, despite that technique being demonstrated repeatedly, and failing just as often.
Here is an short excerpt from one of the Reverend Charles’s letters to his friend Gurney. You’ll get a better idea of what I am talking about:
He goes on to do just that, but in a similarly, painfully polite, yet firm, manner. I love to see conversations like this, which promote understanding over winning at all costs. I make a point of this being something worth remarking on because Calvinists and Quakers have not, historically, got along well. There is a book called, “The Naked Quaker, True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England,” by Diane Rapaport, which derives its title from an incident involving “a Quaker woman who walked into Puritan Sunday meeting and dropped her dress in front of the gathering, to protest actions of the colonial authorities.” I think that reflects less poorly on the woman than the Puritan authorities, truth be told. To quote Grandpa Gustafson from the movie, Grumpier Old Men, “I just like that story.” The old days were certainly…colorful.
With a deep understanding of the Gospel firmly at their core, men like Simeon and Gurney were able to model what debate and disagreement could look like between brothers in Christ.