Friday, August 21, 2009

The Gospel

While reading an article by Matt Chandler entitled, "The Good Fight" on the process of sanctification and the war against sin, I came across this statement:

"I had been fed a gospel that said; Do you want a better life? Do you want to be happy? Then come to Jesus. But when my struggles with sin didn't immediately go away, I felt I had been lied to. I felt I had been duped. No one told me how much deeper sin was, or how ruthless Jesus was going to be once he took over my heart."

That statement spoke to me in so many ways. What is the Gospel message that I am feeding? what are people hearing me say God wants to do in them and for them? And then after that, what is the ongoing message people hear when they choose to do life with me as their pastor?

Those are hard questions to answer because our feelings and religious posterity get in the way. Maybe, like me, your first response was to defend your approach and how you lay-out and teach the gospel message. Did you, like me, focus all your attention on what you do and how you do it, your doctrinal viewpoints and your theological stances? If so, you have to move beyond all that, the issue is not about you or your doctrine, it's about them and what they are becoming. Can you step back and view what your preaching and teaching is producing in the lives of the people that follow you? Can you objectively allow God to speak to you about how you are passing on His message?

That's the goal in writing this article. I don't want to get into a debate or challenge what you teach, although that may be needed. I want to encourage you to look at the long term results of what your gospel message is producing in the hearts and minds of those you influence.

Maybe for you it's not that you preach a soft, wimpy gospel, maybe you preach a mean, harsh one. And what people come away with is a feeling that they never measure up. Maybe you are right theologically and doctrinally but your attitude and approach is offensive.

The point is this - the way you and I preach and model the gospel of Jesus Christ is producing in people a perspective on what God expects and wants to do in their lives. We are painting a picture of what it means to "live for God". And that is a huge responsibility. I want to be able, like the Apostle Paul, to stand up at the end of my life and say, like He did:

(Act 20:26) Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
(Act 20:27) For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

Now before you just write this whole thing off. And pat yourself on the back, because you're doctrine is right or your theology is perfect. Notice Paul didn't point to his doctrine or theology as proof for his confidence. Paul pointed to his lifestyle and sacrifice. Paul points to a decision that he had made early on in his ministry in regards to the way he would financially fund the call of God on his life. He points to a personal choice that he made to not take any money from the people or churches that he lead to Christ or built.

(Act 20:32) And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
(Act 20:33) I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
(Act 20:34) Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
(Act 20:35) I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

And then Paul brings the responsibility of leading people home to all of us.

(Act 20:28) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.


So what about it? Do you, like me, see any aspects of your leadership as a spiritual leader that needs to be addressed? Can you evaluate yourself, like Paul, at a deeper level than just your doctrine or religion? Yes those things matter, and yes they matter on the front end. But what about all the other area’s that come with being a follower of Jesus Christ. I think Paul’s admonition and wisdom that he gave to the believers at Corinth hit this issue right on the head

(1Co 10:31) Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
(1Co 10:32) Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
(1Co 10:33) Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

What is a Christian?

Over time, some words loose their meaning or they evolve into mere faint shadows of their original definitions.

The most recent example of this has been the debate across our country over the definition of the word "marriage". Is marriage, as it has always been; the union between one man and one woman. Or, is it the more recent definition; the celebration of love between two adults? That debate is raging as as I write right now.

Over the last decade, there has been a great re-defining of the word "truth" - It used to simply mean; that which is true, a fact. And it was commonly understood that there could only be one truth. But, now days many people would assert that "truth" in relative and not absolute. And it's meaning, while still the same, must be understood in this context - Truth is that which is true to you. So there can be two totally different and even opposing truths at the same time and both are valid and equal.

This slight drift in meanings has invaded the church dictionary as well and created within our circles a muddied, watered down version of who we are as believers. The term that has become the identifying description of us in our day is the word "Christian". And then after identifying our religious affiliation we add in the flavor of Christianity that we follow. i.e. I'm a pentecostal, apostolic, baptist or catholic Christian, I'm a Spirit-filled, non-denominational, evangelical or orthodox Christian. And don't miss-understand me, I like the word christian - it basically means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. What I don't like, is the fact that many people view the word as a destination and not a continual journey. To be a "Christian" is to be a FOLLOWER of Jesus Christ, not someone who has ARRIVED at a belief structure. As if, when you become a Christian you arrive at some spiritual level and then everything after that is optional and based on your preferences.

Being a Christian in our day seems to be something a bit different than it would have meant to be one in the days of the Bibles. The more recent definition of being a Christian is this; One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Notice the subtle word "or" that is inserted into the more recent definition. Being a Christian is as simple as professing a belief in Jesus. No action required, no change in lifestyle or thought life. Just profess a belief in Jesus and you are now considered a christian. That is a far cry from what it meant to be a christian when the first group coined the phrase. notice what acts 11:26 says the "Christians" were called before they assumed this new name

"...the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26 NKJV).

Before they were called Christians they referred to themselves as "disciples". And that word definitely does not portray as pretty a picture as the word Christian. To be a disciple sounds militaristic. It sounds like a lot of commitment and sacrifice. And for sure, in the time of the New Testament Christians to be a disciple meant all those things and a whole lot more. is the expectation any less today? sadly, the answer would have to be yes. In our day the average christian does not make you want to call them a a disciple. Those words seem to describe two different levels of Christians. But in the days of the Bible they meant the same thing.

So what has changed or what has happened?

I believe the gradual drift from the word "follower" is where the modern day christian lost his way. To be a Christian or to be a disciple means that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. It means that He is leading and guiding you into new revelations and a deeper relationship while at the same time you are following the truths and relational commitments you have already learned and made. Being a Christian means that you have convictions without being judgemental. You have a belief structure that is build upon a relationship. You are mature in your faith while at the same time ever hungry for more truth. Being a Christian means that you are a disciple. You are a follower of the one God of the Bible - Jesus

Maybe we need to go back to the original term of describing ourselves so that we can recapture the meaning of what it means to be a "follower" of Jesus Christ. Maybe we need reverse the trend that started in Acts 11:26. How does this sound...

"...the Christians were again called disciples in America" (August 13, 2009).

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Dying Daily

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must make the daily decision to pick up our cross and follow Him. Put another way, we are called to give ourselves to God as a "living sacrifice". We see this word picture used by the Apostle Paul to help the Christians at Rome better understand this concept of dying daily.

(Romans 12:1-2 NLT) And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

So, how do we truly present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice? In a nutshell, we must be willing to die daily to our desires and expectations. We must put the call of God and the mandate of the gospel above our own. This concept is wonderfully presented in this anonymous poem…

When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting or hurt with the oversight, but your heart is happy being counted worthy to suffer for Christ;

That is dying to self.

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patiently, lovingly silently;

That is dying to self.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus did;

That is dying to self.

When you are content with any food, and offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God;

That is dying to self.

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown;

That is dying to self.

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and you are in desperate circumstances;

That is dying to self.

When you can receive correction and reproof and can humbly submit, inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart;

That is dying to self.

Now before you just throw in the towel and go - "well I'm a big failure at this dying daily thing". catch the outcome of getting this concept down, of allowing God to transform the way we think.

The great reward of dying daily to ourselves, of willingly becoming a living sacrifice is seen in the last part of Romans 12:2

Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

In the end, the person who willingly offers his/her life as a living sacrifice is really the one who finds the joy and peace that is associated with living in and doing the perfect will of God.

Now let me throw this in before I close. Many people do right things for God. Some people even do sacrificial things for God. And a few may even act or look foolishly in an effort to please God. But it's not simply doing right or sacrificial or fanatical things that prove we are accomplishing the goal of becoming "living sacrifices". The result that God is trying to produce in us by asking us to "die daily" or offer our lives as a "living sacrifice" will show up in our heart. A genuine "want to" will spring up inside of us. No longer will we do things because we have to, instead we'll do them because we want to.

Is your "dying daily" decision producing the want to in you? Is your offering yourself as a "living sacrifice" producing a clear knowledge of Gods will and how good and perfect it really is in your heart?

If not, don't despair. Find someone you trust in spiritual matters and tell them about your desire to understand more about becoming a "living sacrifice". And continue to pray for the clarity that comes from living in the perfect will of God, of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.