Five Thoughts, And One More That Wouldn’t Have Made It If I Had An Editor

1. It has become incredibly trendy to portray Jesus primarily as a Jewish rabbi. It seems to be assumed that we can only truly understand Jesus if we dive into His culture and cultural conditioning, as His true and pure message is obscured by our Western way of thinking. While Jesus certainly did minister within a particular cultural context, He did not teach His message in such a way that only that particular culture could understand it. The gospel is transcultural. And Jesus Christ preached it that way. He, the One who has declared the end from the beginning, intentionally spoke with you and me in mind, 200+ years after He physically walked the earth. While the average man off the streets of Nazareth would be practically unable to function in our world today (without a lot of tutoring), the gospel itself is just as clear, relevant, and effective for changing lives as it ever has been. Over-Judaizing Jesus does nothing but obscure the life-giving message that the world desperately needs to hear.

2. We are meant to intensely long for heaven. There’s a young man in the youth group who has a front-row ticket to a concert by his favorite band. I know this because he mentions it almost every time I see him. He lives with great expectation that very soon he will participate in something he’s waited a long time for. Longing for heaven in like that. It’s understanding that even the greatest joy I’ve ever had on this earth is but there merest shadow of what awaits. Heaven is my home. It is my hope. And this allows me to bear much more than I could otherwise. Sickness isn’t so defeating when I see that one day, very soon I will be free of it. I can bear the constant frustrations of wrestling with entangling sin because I know that one day soon there will be no more roller coaster victory-defeat-victory-defeat pattern, the joy of triumph. Persecution, betrayal, loneliness, pain, suffering, grief–it’s not all that bad because one day, very soon it will all end. And not just be taken away. But rather replaced by joy that is so great I could never describe it.

3. It is hard to be biblical while teaching topically. It is so easy to bend texts to make them say what I want them to say; to search for translations that give the nuances I’ve already determined I want to draw out before considering what the text really has to say. It’s incredibly easy to teach an entirely biblical message and do the Bible a great injustice. To do so is to preach my own insight and wisdom, not the Word. And my insight and wisdom has no staying power, no ability to change lives. It is only the Word of God that is sharper than any two-edged sword, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. If I do anything other than bring the Word and nothing but the Word to bear on people’s lives, then I’m failing as a teacher. Illustrations, examples, humor–all is good, but only if it is used to drive home the message.

4. The Lord has been teaching me much about contentment. It is not easy to graduate from Master’s. It’s hard to leave behind the conversations in the dorms and the small groups and the close-knit friendships established by walking with one another in every aspect of life through thick and thin. It is so easy to find joy and happiness in that rather than in the Lord Himself. The church is a very different community than the college. There’s more space in between peoples’ lives. It’s harder to get to know somebody on an intimate level. And that’s hard to get used to. In some ways I don’t want to get used to it. Having seen the transforming power of God displayed through friendships I see the potential in the church for a wise, self-sacrificing, other-sanctifying culture. Because there is a lot of wisdom that exists in the church that does not exist in a college culture where everyone is between the ages of 17 and 23. The difficulty in college is finding wisdom. The difficulty in the church is tapping into that wisdom. My church has just started a men’s discipleship program, and I’m excited to see us taking the step of being intentional in our relationships. The people of God have so much to offer one another.

5. A man I really respect said this about personal devotions: “It’s one thing to give the church’s time to your walk with the Lord. It’s another to give your time to your walk with the Lord.” It is hard to come home after studying at the church and jump into the Word again, this time for myself. While I think there certainly is an overlap between personal devotions and preparation for a sermon or message, it just isn’t the same thing. In order for me to preach passionately, I must have had my heart pierced by the Word, my complacent sinfulness rubbed against the ragged-edged purity of God’s truth. And yet, it is so, so easy to professionalize brokenness and contriteness of spirit. To be in the Word only in the office is to functionally compartmentalize my life. And the heart always follows what you functionally do. If my life outside the pulpit is to be vibrant with the truth of God’s Word, I must be immersing myself within the truth of God’s Word outside the pulpit.

6. I’m outside on my back porch and coyotes just began howling. I hate being alone outside in the dark. And I hate coyotes. I’m now inside where it’s nice and bright and they can’t get me, unless these particular coyotes descended from those half-crazed The Day After Tomorrow wolves.

If You Will Fear One Thing, You Will Fear Nothing

“No Fear” was as cool as it got for much of my early teenage years. No Fear decals and bumper stickers emblazoned the rear windows of large, manly trucks. Scores of people would wear “No Fear” t-shirts. I thought cool people wore No Fear gear. In retrospect, “No Fear” has got to be one of the dumbest pop slogans in recent memory. People without fear get eaten by tigers after hopping over fences in zoos.

Fear is something that can be good or bad. It is good to fear things that can harm you. There is something wrong with a pedestrian who does not have the healthy fear of getting run over that motivates him to look both ways before crossing the street. It is bad to fear things that we ought not fear–things like the dark, small insects that cannot harm you, or mayonnaise. (I asked the youth group what are bad things to fear and that was their first response: mayonnaise. I’m tempted to say it is something that should be feared, but that’s another topic.)

Because fear can be either good or bad, it’s really important to define what we mean by “The fear of the Lord.” The Fear of the Lord is reverence and awe of God fueled by the reality that God is both a righteously angry judge and a tenderly loving Savior. The fear of the Lord is not only negative (fear of wrath), but also wonder at His incredible mercy and grace.

Proverbs is a book based around cause and effect. “If you do (x), you will get (y). Consequently, we need to look elsewhere in Scripture in order to see our motivations for fearing the Lord. First, we’ll look at 3 motivations to fear God, and then we’ll look at 5 results of fearing God.

3 Motivations for Fearing God

1. Fear God because He can destroy both body and soul in Hell (Matt 10:28)

Have you ever wondered why God tells us about heaven and hell? There are many reasons, but a large one is so that we can live with the judgment seat in mind. There exists, right now as you read this, a king on a throne. And every second people like you and me die and appear before Him. And he’s exceedingly angry at most of them. We cannot see this scene, so it’s very easy to forget. But it is absolutely real, and soon it will be you and me before that throne. In Matthew 10:28 God says, ‘Man can do you a lot of harm. They can hurt you and kill you in very painful ways. But I can do worse than that. So fear me.’

2. Fear God Because He is an All-Seeing Judge. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Every once in a while, a story will flash across CNN about another convicted murderer being proved innocent by new evidence. Why do juries sentence innocent men to death? They do so because they lack perfect information. God is a judge and jury that infallibly remembers every single thing you have ever done. He can recite for you every word you have spoken, every thought you have conceived, every action you have ever done. He can tell you what you had for breakfast on January 19,2002, which grocery store you purchased it from, who the truck driver was that delivered it to the store, the name of the farmer who raised the crops to receive the money to buy his breakfast the same morning. And God can tell you where that farmer bought His breakfast, and which truck driver delivered that food…

God’s omniscience should be a cause of great fear and great hope. God certainly remembers the evil that you do. But He also remembers the good you do in His name. And that comes attached with a promised reward. So fear God that you might not sin, but fear God that you might also be rewarded.

3. Fear God because Christ shed His blood for you.(1 Peter 1:7-19)

The Cross is personal. The blood of Christ is not a mist which sprinkles all of humanity, but rather a fountain directed specifically by the Father to drench only those whom He has specifically called into a relationship with Him. Be amazed that God Himself died for you. And that kind of love and dive to save you should make you a little bit nervous about the Lord. That kind of love is crazy; it’s not something you can control or manipulate. Rather that kind of love is to be obeyed in fear and trembling.

5 Results of Fearing God

1. Fearing God makes you happy! (Proverbs 28:14)

“Blessed” and “happy” are synonyms in Hebrew. To be blessed means to be happy, and to be happy means to be blessed. Now go back and read that sentence and think about Stephen who was stoned to death by a zealous mob of Pharisees. Or maybe the believers in Hebrews 11 who were torn apart by wild beasts.

Happiness and circumstances are not connected in the Scriptures. Paul learned to be content in all circumstances–which means that the circumstances were immaterial to his happiness and contentment. Jeremiah Burroughs wrote in The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment,

A gracious heart…is contented not by having his on desires satisfied, but by melting his will and desires into God’s will. So that, in one sense, he cones to have his desires satisfied though he does not obtain the thing that he desired before; still he cones to be satisfied with this, because he makes his will to be at one with God’s will.

2. Fearing God means you’ll understand. (Proverbs 9:10)

This is a repeat from last week. The Bible simply is not generous in its estimation of your ability to figure life out. Since you a broken blend of righteousness and sinfulness, you need something else to measure everything else by. Without the ear f the Lord, you can never be truly wise or understanding because you’ve missed the point of your existence: glorifying God. Wisdom ultimately is a relationship not facts to memorize off a page.

3. Fearing God means you’ll live righteously. (Proverbs 8:13, 14:2)

If you are a Christian, you will turn away from evil. A Christian who lives in an unrepentant pattern of sin is not a Christian. Your hands prove what occupies your heart and mind.

4. Fearing God gives you a refuge. (Proverbs 14:26)

Fearing God and trusting God are inseparable. We do not fear and trust a vengeful God, but rather a God who loves His people. He is a trustworthy God, for He loves us as a father loves his children. Romans 8:28 has sadly been hijacked into becoming some kind of cliche. But this verse isn’t meant to be paired with a low-budget picture of a field of tulips on the front of some greeting card. It’s a tough-as-nails verse to hang onto when nothing else is going to cut it. At the end of the day when nothing else makes sense, we must trust and rest in God’s promises of His sovereignty and His goodness.

5. Fearing God means you won’t fear anything else. (Psalm 56:11, 118:6)

With a sovereign God who has promised that everything is in His control and for your good, what is there to fear? John Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides. The first two missionaries to land on this island chain were clubbed to death and eaten on the beach within 15 minutes of landing. Paton sailed about twenty years after these two men to evangelize a still-unreached cannibalistic tribe in the chain. He was threatened with death almost every day, spent a night in the top of a tree while every islander combed the earth for him with their machetes, and had dozens of partners killed while he survived. Paton lived his motto: “I am invincible until Christ calls me home.”

If you fear God, not even death can touch you without His permission. And then it is not a messenger of darkness but rather a call from a Father to come home. It’s hard to be afraid when the worst man can do turns out to be the best possible thing for you.

This is the second post in a series on the book of Proverbs based on a message series entitled “Gracious Wreaths of Godly Wisdom.” Here are the links to previous posts:

How to Be a Fool (Part 1) – Proverbs 2:3-19                                                                      

How to Be a Fool (Part 2) – Proverbs 2:3-19 (cont.)

Letter to Christopher Love

During my trip cross-country, I passed the time listening to a sermon series on “righteousness, relationships, and romance” preached by Rick Holland in 1999. The 13 part series is broken down essentially into three parts: biblical masculinity, biblical femininity, and biblical relationships. I highly recommend these sermons to anyone in or near college – single, dating, or married. (click here to download - scroll down to 9/5/1999)

In one of the sermons, Rick read a letter from Puritan preacher Christopher Love’s wife to her husband on the eve of his execution by the English government. This letter has perhaps stuck with me more than anything from the series. Mary Love’s perspective is truly phenomenal. It is a testament to the mind-transforming power of the Holy Spirit. I trust it will be a blessing to you.

July 14, 1651

Before I write a word further, I beseech thee to think not that it is thy wife but a friend now that writes to thee. I hope thou hast freely given up thy wife and children to God, who hath said in Jeremiah 49:11, “Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widow trust in me.” Thy Maker will be my husband, and a Father to thy children. O that the Lord would keep thee from having one troubled thought for thy relations. I desire freely to give thee up into thy Father’s hands, and not only look upon it as a crown of glory for thee to die for Christ, but as an honor to me that I should have a husband to leave for Christ.

I dare not speak to thee, nor have a thought within my own heart of my own unspeakable loss, but wholly keep my eye fixed upon thy inexpressible and inconceivable gain. Thou leavest but a sinful, mortal wife to be everlastingly married to the Lord of glory. Thou leavest but children, brothers, and sisters to go to the Lord Jesus, thy eldest Brother. Thou leavest friends on earth to go to the enjoyment of saints and angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect in glory. Thou dost but leave earth for heaven and changest a prison for a palace. And if natural affections should begin to arise, I hope that the spirit of grace that is within thee will quell them, knowing that all things here below are but dung and dross in comparison of those things that are above. I know thou keepest thine eye fixed on the hope of glory, which makes thy feet trample on the loss of earth.

My dear, I know God hath not only prepared glory for thee, and thee for it, but I am persuaded that He will sweeten the way for thee to come to the enjoyment of it. When thou art putting thy clothes on that morning, O think, “I am now putting on my wedding garments to go to be married to my everlasting Redeemer.”

When the messenger of death comes to thee, let him not seem dreadful to thee, but look on him as a messenger that brings thee tidings of eternal life. When thou goest up the scaffold, think (as thou saidst to me) that it is but thy fiery chariot to carry thee up to thy Father’s house.

And when thy layest thy precious head down to recieve thy Father’s stroke, remember what thou saidst to me: Though thy head was severed from thy body, yet in a moment thy soul should be united to thy Head, the Lord Jesus, in heaven. And though it may seem something bitter, that by the hands of men we are parted a little sooner than otherwise we might have been, yet let us consider that it is the decree and will of our Father, and it will not be long ere we shall enjoy one another in heaven again.

Let us comfort one another with these sayings. Be comforted, my dear heart. It is but a little stroke and thou shalt be there where the weary shall be at rest and the wicked shall cease from troubling. Remember that thou mayest eat thy dinner with bitter herbs, yet thou shalt have a sweet supper with Christ that night. My dear, by what I write unto thee, I do not hereby undertake to teach thee; for these comforts I have received from the Lord by thee. I will write no more, nor trouble thee any further, but commit thee into the arms of God with whom ere long thee and I shall be.

Farewell, my dear. I shall never see thy face more till we both behold the face of the Lord Jesus at that great day.

~Mary Love

 

from A Spectacle Unto God

(c) Soli Deo Gloria Publishing

Don Kistler, author

Piper on Doctrinal Controversy

I’ve started digging into my backlog of books that I bought while at school but didn’t have time to read. I’m in the middle of Contending for Our All by John Piper, which was given away at a Don’t Waste Your Life conference I attended last year in San Luis Obispo. This is the fourth book in Piper’s The Swans Are Not Silent series. Focusing on Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen, Piper explores the seemingly ever-present reality of doctrinal controversy.

This is a somewhat lengthy quote, but I think Piper draws out a point very relevant in light of the emergent, post-evangelical mood of today’s church:

There are more immediately crucial tasks than controversy about the truth and meaning of the gospel. For example, it is more immediately crucial that we believe the gospel, and proclaim it to the unreached and pray for power to attend the preaching of the gospel. But this is like saying that flying food to starving people is more immediately crucial than the science of aeronautics. True. But the food will not be flown to the needy if someone is not doing aeronautics. It is like saying that giving penicillin shots to children dying of fever is more immediately crucial than the work of biology and chemistry. True. But there would be no penicillin without such work.

In every age there is a kind of person who tries to minimize the importance of truth-defining and truth-defending controversy by saying that prayer, worship, evangelism, missions, and dependence on the Holy Spirit are more important. Who has not heard such rejoinders to controversy: “Let’s stop arguing about the gospel and get out there and share it with a dying world?” Or: “Prayer is more powerful than argument.” Or: “We should rely on the Holy Spirit and not on our reasoning.” Or: “God wants to be worshiped, not discussed.”

I love the passion for faith and prayer and evangelism and worship behind those statements. But when they are used to belittle gospel-defining, gospel-defending controversy they bite the hand that feeds them. Christ-exalting prayer will not survive in an atmosphere where the preservation and explanation and vindication of the Bible about the prayer-hearing God are devalued. Evangelism and world missions must feed on the solid food of well-grounded, unambiguous, rich gospel truth in order to sustain courage and confidence in the face of afflictions and false religions. And corporate worship will be diluted with cultural substitutes where the deep, clear, biblical contours of God’s glory are not seen and guarded from ever-encroaching error. (pg 18-19)

Complex Verbage

I was required for class to read a chapter entitled “A Socio-Theological Typology.” That title is a microcosm of my main complaint about the book. Based on the title, what is the chapter about? I fear that couching clear, penetrating truth from God’s Word in technical jargon makes the reader unable to access the life-giving, soul-refreshing information about God found in the book! The author of this book has some good things to say. Unfortunately, it is so often obscured by intelligent-sounding language that the knife-edge of truth is dulled.

I confess it is tempting to write in academia-influenced languages for my papers as well. It’s easy to come across as godly by using big words or complex phrases. Use “noetic effects” instead of “sin nature” or “typological manifestation” instead of “example.” Here’s some quotes from the book and my reworkings in italics underneath:

“The church has an ontological foundation that is invisible. But it also has a sociological matrix that is visible.”

The church is not a building or a visible organization, but rather is composed of redeemed children of God. However, it is also marked by action as well as belief.”

“He is keenly aware of the way in which a church gives permanence and identity to a social ethos, but he is profoundly alert to the way in which a church is used by the ruling powers to justify their favored position in society and silence all dissent.”

The church influences the morality and stability of a culture for the better; however, it can also be controlled by governments for the sake of their own gain and injury of those they rule.

“I think it wiser to begin with the holy catholic church, the invisible fellowship of faith, and assess the social manifestations of religion in the light of this transcultural and transindividual criterion.”

It is wiser evaluate the effects of the universal church on culture, rather than on a culture-by-culture basis.

I’m not trying to diminish the value of this particular book or impugning the motives of the author. However, I hope that we as Christians write in a way which communicates the clarity of the gospel which has been implanted in our hearts.

A sample from my two favorite Christmas presents, If by Amy Carmichael and a Canon digital camera:

 

IF the praise of man elates me and his blame depresses me;

if I cannot rest under misunderstanding without defending myself;

if I love to be loved more than to love, to be served more than to serve,

then I know nothing of Calvary love. 

If you haven’t read Carmichael’s book, you really ought to. It’s only $5 through christianbook.com, and is one of those refreshingly painful books to read.

 

 

Radical Discipleship

Looking through the book of 2 Timothy, I am amazed at the number of times Paul called Timothy to serve and suffer with him. Do not be ashamed of me (1:8). Preach the Word I taught you (1:13). Suffer hardship with me (2:3). You followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and suffering (3:10). Come be with me (4:9).

Perhaps even more amazing is the number of outright commands Paul gives to Timothy. Kindle afresh the gift that is in you (1:6). Do not be ashamed of the Gospel (1:8). Retain the standard of sound words (1:13). Guard the treasure (1:14). Be strong in grace (2:1). Teach others as I have taught you (2:2). Consider what I say (2:7). Remember Jesus Christ (2:8). Solemnly charge people to be direct about the truth (2:14). Handle the Word of God rightly so you will have no shame (2:15). Avoid worldly chatter (2:16). Flee youthful lusts (2:22). Pursue godliness (2:22). Be wise in speech (2:23). Avoid lovers of pleasure (3:5). Continue in the truth (3:14). Preach the Word, regardless of the consequences (4:2). Be serious, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your calling. (4:5)

Paul was a hardcore discipler. Timothy was taught by the most radical man on the face of the earth, and that man told Timothy to imitate him. Radical discipleship as presented in Scripture is a dangerous call to follow. In 2 Corinthians 11:21-33 Paul describes what his passionate pursuit of Christ cost: whippings, beatings, being stoned, shipwrecks, dangers from robbers, Jews, Gentiles, exposure, hunger, thirst, stress, plots on his life. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul told the Corinthians “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” Imitating Paul had a heavy price tag on it.

We don’t live in a society as threatening as what Paul, Timothy, and the Corinthians faced. But the call to radical living and radical discipleship is no less urgent or extreme in the eyes of the world and the half-hearted American church.

Society tells us that we are entitled to privacy and this has become ingrained in the church (and people in the church like me). Confession of sin to others has almost disappeared, drowned in an appearance-based society. Here at TMC, we have a saying: “You’re just as jacked-up as everybody else. Stop trying to hide it.” The bedrock of authentic discipleship relationships is brutal honesty about sins and impure motives.

Think of the person who God is using at this moment to take you where you don’t want to go in order to produce in you what you could not attain otherwise. Paul rattled Timothy’s cage. Radical discipleship relationships are built upon this model. People who love and care about you biblically are not comfortable to be around. They provide a strong call to think of the horror of Christ hanging on the cross and the impact His blood has on every decision. They don’t offer lame sympathy of dealing with struggles, they stand up and drive you to be holy like God is holy. They understand that leniency and grace are polar opposites.

Everyone has “that guy” in his life who faithfully called him to something better and drove him out of his comfort zone into greater Christlikeness. But I don’t think anyone ever feels like “that guy.” I know I never do. It takes a lot of courage to go hard and go deep into a relationship with someone. It is consistently terrifying to ask that question which cuts like a dagger but has to be asked. As Gunner puts it, there is the constant fear that you’re “charging the hill with no one behind you.” A man who does what is right when nobody else is usually looks like an idiot to everyone else and gets himself hurt.

Radical discipleship is normal discipleship as defined by God. He stepped down out of heaven, ruthlessly pushed twelve men to be like Him, and commanded them to do likewise. “Go. Make disciples just as I did you. Push them just as hard and just as uncompromisingly as I pushed you, understanding that some will reject you like Judas did me, but that’s the cost. I charged the hill with Judas and he didn’t follow.” Jesus never promised results in the Great Commission, but He showed them just how radical they ought to be in discipleship.

Paul’s pursuit of Timothy. Christ’s pursuit of the twelve. These are to be our models in discipleship. In both circumstances, the discipler lost his life. While we probably won’t lose our lives, we’ll most likely lose the esteem of some people. Discipleship is costly, but the benefits are worth it all. Paul said it best to Timothy,

 …The time of my departure has come 

I have fought the good fight

I have finished the course

I have kept the faith

In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness

Which the Lord

The righteous Judge

Will award to me on that day

And not only to me

But also to all who have loved His appearing

(2 Timothy 4:6-8)

 

Humility (I)

This semester I’m taking the class Pastoral Ministries, taught by Rick Holland (college pastor at Grace Community Church). One of the books for the class is Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. I’ve read this book before, and God has used it to radically transform my thinking over the last year.  Ordinarily, I wouldn’t post just a long string of quotes, but this book is worth taking the time both for me to post and for you to read. The theme of this book is simple: No matter our station in life, pride is our greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend. Nothing will divide churches, friendships, marriages, and ministries faster than pride. Pride is the ultimate offense to God, and is nothing more than me telling God, “I deserve the glory for everything You have done.” I’m about halfway through the 175 page book, and here are the highlights thus far.

“Amazingly, Humility sometimes attracts the world’s notice. But here’s something even more astonishing: Humility gets God’s attention.”

“This is the promise of humility. God is personally and providentially supportive of the humble. And the grace He extends to the humble is indescribably rich.”

“Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.”

“So many human ventures, so many grand designs of mankind, have been undermined because humility is lacing on the part of those involved…Our motivation for rooting out pride must go beyond a knowledge of its pitfalls and perils. Our pursuit should be driven by the amazing promise that humility holds out to us: God gives grace to the humble!”

“Pride seems to have a strange and sure way of ignoring logic altogether. Can you relate? The sad fact is that none of us are immune to the logic-defying, blinding effects of pride. Though it shows up in different forms and to differing degrees, it infects us all. The real issue here is not if pride exists in your heart; it’s where pride exists and how pride is being expressed in your life.”

“Why does God hate pride so passionately? Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him.”

“Pride takes innumerable forms but only has one end: self-glorification. That’s the motive and ultimate purpose of pride—to rob God of legitimate glory and to pursue self-glorification, contending for supremacy with Him. The proud person seeks to glorify himself and not God, thereby attempting in effect to deprive God of something only He is worthy to receive.”

“You and I hate nothing to the degree that God hates pride. His hatred for pride is pure, and His hatred is holy…God’s opposition to pride is an immediate and constant activity. The proud will not indefinitely escape discipline.”

(Speaking of Mark 10, where James and John approach Jesus and ask to be placed at positions of honor) “The prideful desires of their hearts are on full display. There’s nothing subtle about their request. They’re not asking for faith to endure His suffering. They’re not asking for the privilege of supporting Him in and through His suffering. They want to be famous, pure and simple…In their pride-dominated hearts, Jesus is just a means to their end of personal exaltation.”

“Jesus does not categorically criticize or forbid the desire and ambition to be great. Instead, He clearly redirects that ambition, redefines it, and purifies it: ‘But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.’ Mk. 10:43-44”

“In true humility, our own service to others is always both an effect of His unique sacrifice and the evidence of it. His sacrifice alone makes it possible for us to achieve and experience true greatness in God’s eyes…Ultimately our Christian service exists only to draw attention to this source—to our crucified and risen Lord who gave himself as a ransom for us all.”

“Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ. I believe this will be the most important habit and practice for you as well. To be truly serious and deliberate in mortifying pride and cultivating greatness, you must each day survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died.”

Love Alone

I’m not quite meeting my “one a day” posting hopes about Utah. While I have much of the posts already written out in a travel journal, it takes time to translate them into intelligible English. I’m in the middle of studying for a massive midterm and other school projects, so I’ll return with renewed vigor to my Utah series in a couple of days.

I’m listening to this song right now by Caedmon’s Call. It seems appropriate with all the cares and the burdens of life weighing down on me. God, regardless of circumstances I know you are there, and I am forgiven.

LOVE ALONE
LONG LINE OF LEAVERS
CAEDMON’S CALL

No one would love me
if they knew all the things I hide
My words fall to the floor
As tears drip through the telephone line

And the hands I’ve seen raised to the sky
Not waving but drowning all this time
I’ll try to build an ark that they need
To float to you upon the crystal sea

Give me your hand to hold
‘Cause I can’t stand to love alone
And love alone is not enough to hold us up
We’ve got to touch your robe
So swing your robe down low
Swing your robe down low

The prince of despair’s been beaten
But the loser still fights
Death’s on a long leash
Stealing my friends to the night

And everyone cries for the innocent
You say to love the guilty too
And I’m surrounded by suffering and sickness
So I’m working tearing back the roof

And the pain of the world is a burden
And it’s my cross to bear
And I stumble under all the weight
I know you’re Simon standing there
And I know you’re standing there

Give me your hand to hold
‘Cause I can’t stand to love alone
And love alone is not enough to hold us up
We’ve got to touch your robe
So swing your robe down low
Swing your robe down low

Emotive Worship: The Spirituality of Raised Hands

I recently saw a television advertisement for the new WOW Worship 2007 album. The camera panned, capturing the singing, dancing crowds. There was one scene which burned itself in my mind. The camera zoomed past a crowd of people singing to focus on one individual with his arms raised to the sky.  It made me want to throw up. I don’t say this to be sensationalistic or overly dramatic in order to capture your attention. I fear we are selling out authentic worship for one based upon feelings and emotions. And if those feelings and emotions are not stirring us to tears, I fear we begin to believe the Spirit has abandoned us.

Scripture clearly refutes any idea that worship is tied to the emotions. 1 Corinthians 10:31 famously says, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” This verse is the heart of worship: Glorifying God. I won’t go into a discussion here about all “worship” entails, but suffice it to say that true, authentic worship is a lifestyle extending to every aspect of life, not just half an hour on Sunday mornings and in chapel when we sing praises. But, for the sake of space and time, I will only tackle singing in this post. The word “worship” will be used to encompass singing and any corresponding body motions. I know I’m talking about this like it’s a cat dissection, but I want to make sure there aren’t any misunderstandings with how I’m using the word “worship” below.

It is an idea in evangelical circles that true, authentic, passionate worship must manifest itself in physical actions. If there are no physical outpourings, there can be no true, authentic, passionate worship. Quite frankly, this is a lie. A raised hand, a bowed head, closed eyes, rhythmic motions, and tears are all poor indicators at best of the state of any heart before the Lord. Many godly Christians have never done any of these, and many apostates have routinely done them all. It is not what we do while we sing which pleases the Lord, but rather where our hearts stand before Him as we sing.

The problem with emphasizing emotive worship is in its fundamental reliance upon emotion.  Raised hands, tears, a bowed head all stem from an emotion welling up within the human spirit which manifests itself though a physical action. When these actions become an authentication of true worship as opposed to an outpouring of true worship, the focus is removed from adoration of the Most High God and transferred to the generation of emotion. As soon as a necessary ”quota” of emotion is established in worship, worship has ceased to fulfill its function: To Glorify God. 

It is because of this that the raising of hands or tears or a bowed head is an intrinsically nonspiritual action. That is to say, in and of itself, it holds no value. When applied in conjunction with worship, it can be either a worshipful action or a sinful action. If hands are raised as an outpouring of gratitude and thanks to God for what he as done in a life, it is indeed glorifying to God and pleasing in His sight. If it is done out of a spirit attempting to generateemotion, it is displeasing to God and draws attention away His wonders. Likewise, not raising hands can be glorifying to God or displeasing in His sight. If hands are not raised out of fear of man because nobody else is doing it, this is not pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. If you desire to raise your hands in reverence and praise, then nothing should deter you. However, if there is no desire to raise hands, then let it not be done. This is holy and pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

The bottom line is this: If the desire exists to raise hands, bow a head, or anything else out of a sincere heart for the purpose of praising God, then raise hands to the glory and praise of God, understanding that doing so does not make anyone more pleasing in the eyes of the Lord than he who does not raise hands. But, if there be no desire to raise hands, bow a head, or anything else, then do not do it, and praise God by not raising hands out of a desire to generate any false pretenses or out of a desire to fit in with others.

God looks at the hearts of men, not at external actions. John Hannah once said, “God saves people in all kinds of ways.  You never know.  Tears prove nothing.  Doesn’t mean they can’t happen or that they’re bad.  But they prove nothing.” Let the focus our worship upon God, and as we are lead, demonstrate our gratitude and praise of God through the means He has made us comfortable with.