Church life
Spiritual Formation is not optional - we are being formed, whether we acknowledge it or don’t. The question is will it be into the character of Jesus or something else?
Early on in the Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard writes: A carefully cultivated heart will, assisted by the grace of God, foresee, forestall, or transform most of the painful situations before which others stand like helpless children saying ‘why?’
Later at near the end of the chapter entitled ‘The Heart in the System of Human Life’ Willard writes: ‘We therefore live in “hot pursuit” of Jesus Christ. “My soul followeth hard after thee”, the psalmist called out (Ps. 63:8). And Paul’s panting cry was ‘That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death‘ in order to participate in the life of His resurrection. (Phil. 3:10-11). What are we to say of anyone who thinks they have something more important to do than that?
That is a very challenging statement. Recently, there was a study done on the level of spiritual growth one finds among regular church attending Christians. It is now necessary to differentiate those individuals who call themselves Christians, but do not attend church from those who do attend. In this study the people involved in designing it wanted to try and take a measure of whether people claiming to be Christians, and attending church were actually experiencing ’spiritual growth’. They used criteria like, regular bible reading, regular prayer, service to others etc (there were something like seven categories).
One series of responses is quite telling. Over 50 percent claimed that they had grown spiritually in the previous year, but when measured against conduct, or modest evidence of this only a little more than 3% actually could demonstrate that in any measurable manner. Now that indicates two things - apparently most Christians think they are growing, but have nothing tangible to point to which might indicate that growth.
I don’t know how you feel about this but I feel very frustrated when I think of that tiny a number of Christians being able to point to anything substantive in their lives to indicate growth in Christian maturity. It seems easy then to conjecture from that the seemingly profound impotence of Christianity must be directly related. If its really true that only 3 out of 100 Christians can point to measurable change in the past year, we are really in trouble. This is a significant part of the reason why I am so passionate about the book ‘The Renovation of the Heart.’ I really believe must raise the level of expectation we have of ourselves relative to growing as disciples of Jesus. It begins as Dallas Willard suggests with a vision of the kind of life that God desires for us. Jesus said that those who give themselves to him will receive ‘living water’, and that they will not be driven and ruled by unsatisfied desires. Paul writes that we can know the love of Christ in such a way that we will be filled with the fullness of God. Peter writes that those who love and trust Jesus ‘rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. Can it really be that only 3 out of 100 Christians have anything approaching that kind of experience of following Jesus?
We simply cannot let this be the case for Lamb of God Fellowship (we don’t want it to be true about any believing congregation), but we begin with ourselves and our own backyard. I say all of this in the hopes that somehow God, by the workings of His Holy Spirit would stir up a tremendous urgency in every single one of us to undertake a serious effort to understand how we grow as followers of Christ. My experience is that most people are unreflective concerning their lives. Only tragedy, loss, or serious illness slows most people down long enough to ask - where am I going with God, am I making progress in getting there, is there any real change going on in me?
What we are trying to do about all this?
Saturday, October 18th a group of men and women gathered together for in an effort to try and make some progress in gaining an understanding of how one ‘watches over their heart.’ I want to use the rest of this post to try and summarize as best as I can the essential things that came out of that effort. My heartfelt prayer is that we would see a stronger core of brothers and sisters who are clear headed about how one ‘puts on the character of Christ’ as well as growing in the ability to help others who want to learn how to do it for themselves.
The Basic Principal - The Heart Directs the Life.
This is the core of what the Bible teaches about growing as a disciple of Jesus is this - we live out of our hearts. “The human heart, will or spirit is the executive center of a human life. The heart is where the decisions and choices are made for the whole person.” (pg. 30) Jesus taught this very clearly - ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.’ (Matt. 12:34) In another place Jesus broadens this - Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.’
Spiritual formation has everything to do with the process which leads us to the place where we do the will of God out of our hearts. It has a lofty, but a concretely Biblical goal - ‘to love God will all the heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.’ This is what God desires, this is the end to which He is directing everything and it is what will make eternity an endless delight. But the real, and necessary process of spiritual formation says this ideal is not just for the sweet-by-and-by. God intends for his sons and daughters to ‘be prepared for and capable of responding to the situations of life in ways that are good and right’ (pg. 29).
Basic Elements of Human Life:
Willard suggests that we can think about human nature as six basic aspects. (1) Thought (2) Feeling (3) Choice (4) Body (5) Social context (6) Soul. He summarizes in the following way: ‘every human being thinks (has a thought life), feels, chooses, interacts with his or her body and its social context, and more or less integrates all of the foregoing as parts of a life.’ Later in this section Willard suggests that this isn’t mysterious (in other words, we can all understand it). Human nature has parts, these parts have properties, which in turn make possible relationships between the parts to form larger wholes and so on. We can learn how our thoughts, our feelings, our will, and so on work and how they can be formed in cooperation with the Holy Spirit working though the Word, and the various means of grace which God makes available to all Christians. In my judgment we are required by the Word of God to gain this understanding. This is certainly what is implied by a scripture like II Peter 1:15 - For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith…
One of the most helpful understandings which Dr. Willard advances is a concept he calls ‘relenting.’ “Our actions always arise out of the interplay of the universal factors of human life: spirit, mind, body, social context, and soul. Actions never come from the movement of will alone” (pg. 39). Relenting describes how these various elements(thoughts, emotions, body, social context) place pressure on our will so that our choices are principally a relenting to these pressures.
This means that good intentions are not enough, and that there is a ‘rigorous consistency in the human self and its actions.” This single sentence may be worth the price of the book: “Actions are not impositions on who we are, but are expressions of who we are. The come out of our heart and the inner realities it supervises and interacts with” (pg. 39).
Trying to make this personal
Let me make that very personal, and I will use myself as the example. From about the 8th grade in school until I graduated college I was a fairly well disciplined athlete. Not a gym rat by any means, but pretty faithful to staying in shape. After college I began to slowly allow myself to ‘coast’ on past effort. It takes a fair amount of time to undo years of weight training and conditioning, but I am living proof that it can be undone. Over time I became a lazy person in so far as it relates to taking good care of myself, health wise. About 7 years ago I was diagnosed as a diabetic and this caused me to make some changes in my life including a fairly radical change to diet and to begin exercising once again. After about a year of conditioning and weight loss I began to see improvement. As most everyone who knows me knows five years ago I fell and suffered a serious break in my leg, one which resulted in surgery and the insertion of a 14 inch steel rod into my leg. Unfortunately, I used this excuse to drift back into inactivity and began to slump back into poor physical condition. In January of 2007 I promised myself and the Lord that this would change, and praise God I have been able to sustain nearly 11 straight months of consistent conditioning.
But I would like to make several observations about myself. I wasn’t someone who had ’slipped’ into a lifestyle of physical inactivity, I was in fact a lazy person who occasionally sustained physical activity. My use of the physical injury as a rational for inactivity wasn’t a slip, it was a pattern. Until I faced up to the condition of my heart - one which treated physical conditioning as unimportant, or as an optional matter of good stewardship I could never change. I wasn’t an occasional ’slug’, I was in fact a committed slob. Only the words of my family physician working in concert with my pastor Ray and the prompting of the Holy Spirit could get through my rationalizations for further inactivity. I had to face a truth which Dr. Willard makes plain - ‘whatever my action is comes out of my whole person’ (pg. 40). I now consider myself in recovery. Sustaining change, with all its concomitant elements (thoughts, emotions, body, etc) takes time and it would be a prideful mistake to think I have licked the problem.
However, the Lord taught me a good deal about change in the past 11 months. But I can do no better in describing that learning that to refer to Dr. Willard’s description of the nature of spiritual change in chapter five of the Renovation of the Heart. First, this past 11 months has reminded me that change is possible. I am 54, and like many folks my age I am set in my ways. But developing a lifestyle of physical conditioning has taught me again that you can teach an old dog a new trick. And although physical exercise is not the same as spiritual formation it is in many ways parallel. Listen to Dr. Willard: “Without the gentle though rigorous process of inner transformation by the graceful presence of God in our world and in our soul, the change of personality and life clearly announced and spelled out in the Bible, and explained and illustrated throughout Christian history, is impossible. We not only admit it, but also insist upon it” (pg. 79)
Lamb of God brothers and sisters get this! “Without the rigorous process of inner transformation… the change of personality and life… is impossible.” As Willard observes - “the result of the effort to change our behavior without inner transformation is precisely what we see in the current shallowness of Western Christianity.” Even revival alone will not change this. I am praying for, and believing God will bring revival, however, we cannot bypass this truth so eloquently stated by Dr. Willard.
V.I.M. - A Pattern of Change
The acronym which Dr. Willard develops for this pattern of change is simple: V.I.M., Vision, Intention, and Means. If we are to be spiritually formed in Christ, we must have and must implement the appropriate vision, intention and means (pg. 85) Dr. Willard wisely points out if we are concerned about our spiritual formation then we must have a vision of life under God, in His kingdom that is compelling. This requires me to know deeply what it is that God is making available to me in Christ and for me to embrace it with my whole heart. But as Willard says it is a vision that has to be given to us, one which we don’t naturally see on our own. But, thanks be to God, that vision is given to us in the Word of God. It is a vision of a new kind of life, life lived in the range of God’s effective will being done. It is a vision of life which can be discovered, meditated upon, and in cooperation with the Holy Spirit worked into our lives until it becomes an overwhelmingly compelling desire of our hearts.
In concert with the vision of life in the Kingdom of God is the necessity of our actual intention to do it. This is an extraordinary quality of being a human. We can decide. I can choose to make this vision of life in the kingdom a reality that I actually pursue. That means, even if my resolve is weak, I can decide that no excuse will any longer be accepted (even if I struggle and fail to always follow through). Intention moves us beyond our rationalizations, our denial, our blame-shifting to a place where we accept that the decision to do what ever is necessary to grow as a disciple of Jesus belongs to me. I must decide, and that intention is mine to follow through on. God will not magically make me do this. If I am to change, it is my decision to pursue the things that bring change. One of the observations which Dr. Willard makes which really stings is this: “Perhaps the hardest thing for sincere Christians to come to grips with is the level or real unbelief in their own life: the unformulated skepticism about Jesus that permeates all dimensions of their being and undermines what efforts they do make toward Christlikeness” (Pg. 88) Intention means I can no longer accommodate this unbelief as acceptable.
Finally, vision and intention must be combined with means: how will we go about replacing the inner character of ‘lostness’ with the inner character of Jesus? Thankfully we are not left to make this up on our own. But let me use Willard’s own summary: “We must start by discovering, by identifying, the thoughts, feelings, habits of will, social relations and bodily inclinations that prevent us from growing in the character of Christ. God has given us many ‘means’ of grace to enable this process to actually get somewhere. Richard Foster’s classic ‘The Celebration of Discipline’ is an excellent resource. Dallas Willard’s own ‘The Spirit and the Disciplines’ is also incredibly helpful. The is no lack of carefully explained material to help each one of us to become fully engaged apprentices of Jesus. The problem is not lack of information.
As Dr. Willard says: “The problem of spiritual transformation among those who identify themselves as Christians today is not that it is impossible or that effectual means are not available. The problem is that it is not intended. People do not see it and its value and decide to carry through with it. They do not decide to do the things Jesus did and said” (pg. 91)
This truth of this must be faced: I must not allow my harried life, or my state in life, or any other vicissitude to stand in the way of the blessed life of being apprenticed to Jesus. He paid an extraordinary price to open a doorway to make it possible. He gives amazing resources to sustain any who seek it and it is not idealistic to hold forth the expectation that what Jesus calls us to is in fact possible.
Posted by Scott on October 21st, 2008 in Church life, Lamb of God | No Comments »
Spiritual transformation is not the result of compelling the will to do what is right. Instead it is a process of partnership with God, where by use of a variety of means we engage in spiritual formation. It is not a passive undertaking. Dallas Willard points out that the conquest of the promise land by Israel is a good analogy. At the beginning God caused the walls of Jericho to fall down. But this happened only one time. The rest of the conquest involved intense hand to hand conquest. Such is the case with our growth in godliness. We are surrounded by grace, and God’s promise of more of His divine energies to assist us. But we must actively engage these things.
However, in order to stay the course we must have a good understanding of the process of spiritual formation. How do I change? How do I break certain besetting patterns of sin? How do I overcome relational difficulties, conflicts and misunderstandings? How do I learn to become a more peaceful, gentle and kind person? How do I have good order in my finances? How do I keep from wasting time, and manage my life in ways that allow me to do all the things God wants me to do? Dallas Willard states (and I paraphrase) ‘much of what Christians do to effect spiritual formation makes no sense at all.’ And I must say in my years of experience in the church this is resoundingly true. I think most Christians would agree that becoming more like Jesus is a good thing, but if you ask them how they plan to do that many would have either a befuddled look on their face or make reference to ‘praying more or reading the bible more.’ There has to be more to it than that. Paul says that the knowing Christ is the most important undertaking of our lives (Phil. 3), and this knowledge is intended to make us holy, and yet is seems so many Christians have no clear idea how that transaction actually takes place.
I wonder Lamb of God how many of us out there are frustrated with chronic sins, personality defects, and other bad habits that just don’t seem to change? Can this really be all there is to living as a Christian? Ben’s question on Sunday, take from Paul’s letter to the Galatians is one way to sum this whole matter up - ‘what has happen to all your joy?’ Isn’t the Christian life meant to be lived with zeal, and vibrancy? The answer to that is yes - Jesus said that the kind of life he was offering was intended to become a well-spring of life flowing up from with in us. That is figurative language which speaks of refreshment, and abundance. Yet, so many of us do not in fact live this way.
This is, in part a strong reason why we have chosen to study Dallas Willard’s ‘The Renovation of the Heart.’ I have spent 25 years seeking an understanding of how God changes us, and how it is we cooperate in this process - and other than the Bible, I have found no book that rivals this work by Dallas Willard. It is challenging reading, and it takes time to digest it. However, I can’t say enough about how important I think this book is - for each of us personally, for any of us with children, and for any who have the desire to be effective in helping others to grow in Christ. I know I may sound a bit like a broken record, but I believe that we as a body need to take it up a notch in terms of our commitment to learn and grow in the things of the Kingdom. I was over joyed by the response to the first book “The Faith” and I believe that this will bear fruit in the lives of everyone who made the time to work their way through the book.
After we finish with the ‘Renovation of the Heart‘ we will turn our attention to a classic book on Biblical hermeneutics ‘How to read the bible for all its worth‘ by Dr. Gordon Fee and Dr. Douglas Stuart. This is an important text on understanding the bible as literature. This volume guides readers in understanding the literary dimensions of the Bible by incorporating techniques for interpreting Scripture, while it also maintains faithfulness to literary genres. This is critically important to how we understand, and make the best use of the Bible.
I am a strong believer that each of us need to know how to go to the Word of God and seek and find truth from its pages for ourselves. The airwaves and Christian bookstores are filled with all manner of ‘teaching’ and there is no shortage of strange and even heretical ways of understanding the Bible.
Following the book by Fee and Stuart we will turn our attention to marriage and parenting. Two really wonderful books on family life, one by Gary Thomas, called ‘Sacred Marriage‘ and one by Ted Tripp called ‘Shepherding a Child’s Heart.’
‘Sacred Marriage’ begins with a provocative subtitle - What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy? The editorial review reads - Your marriage is more than a sacred covenant with another person. It is a spiritual discipline designed to help you know God better, trust him more fully, and love him more deeply. Scores of books have been written that offer guidance for building the marriage of your dreams. But what if God’s primary intent for your marriage isn’t to make you happy . . . but holy? And what if your relationship isn’t as much about you and your spouse as it is about you and God? Everything about your marriage–everything–is filled with prophetic potential, with the capacity for discovering and revealing Christ’s character. The respect you accord your partner; the forgiveness you humbly seek and graciously extend; the ecstasy, awe, and sheer fun of lovemaking; the history you and your spouse build with one another–in these and other facets of your marriage, Sacred Marriage uncovers the mystery of God’s overarching purpose. This book may very well alter profoundly the contours of your marriage. It will most certainly change you. Because whether it is delightful or difficult, your marriage can become a doorway to a closer walk with God, and to a spiritual integrity that, like salt, seasons the world around you with the savor of Christ. Oh, yea one more thing - Patti Polyniak says this is her favorite book on marriage.
We are a church with lots of young families and young children. What could be more timely or important than to give series attention to a classic on raising children? Shepherding a Child’s Heart is a classic on Biblical principals of raising children.
One reviewer writes - This book is a marvelous resource for child training. Tripp is to be commended for not succumbing to the modern psychobabble that permeates most child training manuals today. For instance, he has the audacity to defend the use of that much maligned and abused implement, the rod. Why does he defend such an archaic and unscientific practice, you ask? Because of his commitment to the Bible! Instead of looking to the wisdom of man, Tripp attempts to build his house upon the sure Word. He explicitly states that the Bible is sufficient for parenting:
[The Bible] presents an accurate and comprehensive picture of children, parents, family life, values, training, nurturing, discipline—all you need to be equipped for the task of parenting (pg. 13).
This book can be divided into two main categories. First, Tripp deals with the goals of child rearing: What is the purpose of training our children? What should we expect them to look like as adults? Second, Tripp deals with methods: How do I discipline? How do I communicate with my children? What should repentance look like?
Tripp believes that child training cannot be reduced to a mere formula. Because we live in a fast food culture, an impatient society, a world that expects quick and enormous dividends on small investments, we tend to want a paint-by-number approach to child training. “Give me the three step formula or the twelve point program, and I’ll be on my way.” But raising children demands much more. It takes time, wisdom, patience, and sweat. Training the next generation is not for the weak of heart.
Tripp also warns against the idea of training the “well-behaved child.” If we do everything “right” and our kids function well in society—they are stable, well educated and highly paid—and yet we do not impart to them a love for Jesus Christ, we have failed abominably. He writes:
Teaching your children to live for the glory of God must be your over-arching objective. You must teach your children that for them, as for all mankind, life is found in knowing and serving the true and living God. The only worthy goal for life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (pp. 76-77).
Child training must be Christ centred. We admonish our children because we want them to serve Jesus Christ as Lord. We punish our children because we want them to have a picture of the horrific consequences of sin. We want our children to repent and flee to the Saviour. We nurture our children in the faith because outside of Christ they are damned and have no hope at all.
Growth in the things of the Kingdom of Jesus require full on engagement with God’s truth and dependence upon the work of the Holy Spirit to transform us. Anything less produces weak change, or no change at all. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God. I believe that it is God’s will for us to live in the joyful abundance of the Kingdom of God. The great apostle Peter writes: (3)His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (4)Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (5) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; (7) and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. (8)For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Posted by Scott on October 6th, 2008 in Church life | No Comments »
Several things: First, I thought I had better say something about the possibility of LOG moving. The possibility is significant enough that everyone at Lamb needs to know it is out there. This is a very difficult, even agonizing decision with which the elders are wrestling. There are several reasons why it is difficult. One is that we initially prayed about staying and felt strongly that we had leading of the Spirit, confirmed by a sizable drop in the rent. This seemed clear to us.
However, since that time the Episcopal Diocese has been pretty unresponsive to the maintenance issues at the building. One case in point - there is a serious leak in the roof and its is nearly 6000 dollars to repair. We don’t believe this should be our responsibility to repair a building we don’t own. Think about it relative to a house or apartment rental - would you want to be held responsible for repairing serious maintenance issues related to the house or apartment you were living in? (more…)
Posted by Scott on September 6th, 2008 in Church life, Lamb of God | 2 Comments »
This handsome old gentlemen is a great treasure of the Christian Church. J.I. Packer has taught, preached and written marvelously on Christianity for nearly 50 years. Packer has written classics like ‘Knowing God’, ‘Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God’, ‘Keeping in Step with the Spirit’, ‘Growing in Christ’, ‘Knowing and Doing the Will of God’ not to mention dozens of other popular and scholarly works on Christianity.
I had the great pleasure of hearing Dr. Packer many years ago at a conference arranged by Sword of the Spirit. He was spellbinding, full of warmth and a great gentlemen who treated his audience with great respect and affection.
It is possible to soak in the great J.I. Packer thanks to the technology of the internet and the wonderfully free I-Tunes software. If you don’t have it - go and download it on your computer, it won’t bite you! It is quite easy to do, and more than likely most who will read these words already have it and use it. Now listen carefully. Here is how you get the absolutely stirring 17 part series on the Puritans available through Reformed Theological Seminary’s virtual program.
1. Go to I-Tunes (through I-tunes, i.e. Open the program it will take you there)
2. On the left column of I-tunes click on the link “I tunes store” (relax, its free)
3. Under the heading I-tunes store click on the link ‘I-tunes U’
4. At the top of the page you will see a blank box (its a search engine) Type in the following - ‘Reformed Theological Seminary’
5. When you get the results you will see on the left of the screen a link for Reformed Theological Seminary, click it and it will take you to their specific site inside I-tunes. On the RTS Catalog on I-Tunes U heading click on the third link down, which is Church History. This will take you to a series of different lectures - Click on the one which reads - History and Theology of the Puritans. Click on it and it will give you the option of down loading on the lectures. They are totally free!
I am just about through the series and I have throughly enjoyed ever lecture. They are not for the faint hearted, but take your time and listen and I promise you that you will be edified. Some of the theology may not be your cup of tea, but the history lesson, the beautiful example of the puritan’s commitment to Christ, and to the Word will inspire you. Oh, one more thing. Here is the Puritan prayer for worship I promised. (From Sunday’s messsage)
It is the flame of my life to worship You,
the crown and glory of my soul
to adore You,
heavenly pleasure to approach You.
Give me power by thy Spirit to help me worship now,
that I might forget the world,
be brought into fullness of life,
be refreshed, comforted, blessed.
Give me knowledge of Your goodness
that I might not be
over-awed by Your greatness,
Give me Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God,
that I might not be terrified,
but be drawn near
with filial love;
with holy boldness;
He is my mediator, brother, interpreter,
branch, daysman,(arbitrator) Lamb;
Him I glorify, in Him I am set on high.
Crowns to give I have none,
but what You have given I return,
content to feel that everything is mine
when it is Yours,
and the more fully mine
when I have yielded it to You.
Let me live wholly to my Savior,
free from distractions,
from carking (distressing) care,
from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way.
I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus -
give me a new sense of it,
continue to pardon me by it,
may I come every day to the fountain,
and every day be washed anew,
that I may worship thee always in spirit and truth.
Posted by Scott on August 26th, 2008 in Church life, Lamb of God, Revival | No Comments »
I thought it worthwhile to return one last time to some reflections about the so-called ‘Lakeland Revival’ in Florida and the ministry of Todd Bentley.
I posted my only written public comment on this matter on May 15th., entitled ‘Why the ‘alleged’ revival in Lakeland, Florida should invoke caution.’ My final comment if I might quote myself was - “Take this as the warning of your pastor, who loves LOG with a father’s heart - Todd Bentley, Paul Cain and the situation in Lakeland is to be treated with great caution, and prayerful word-centered consideration. I believe that if you wait and listen you will see this ‘alleged’ revival prove to be something with little or no value to the church.”
First, let me say very clearly I care nothing about my view of this situation being vindicated with what has finally been admitted about Todd Bentley and this ‘Lakeland Revival.’ No Christian should ever under any circumstances take delight in or derive any sense of self importance from the moral failings of another. This should be cause for mourning and great soberness. (more…)
Posted by Scott on August 26th, 2008 in Church life, cultural relevance, lakeland revival, todd bentley | 2 Comments »
I will have some pictures up here soon. We had one day to rest up and the conference in Belo Horizonte began. Today (Wednesday) was the first complete day for us at the ARC conference in Belo Horizonte.
Ben is really enjoying being back in Brazil after having been unable to come the past four years. He is entering into the whole scene here like a native. In fact he speaks pretty decent portuguese. Anyway, Josh Cheatham is here with us as well and he seems to really be enjoying himself.
James and Flans, April and Judson, Jenny and Arnaldo, Tom and Kathy, as well as many others with whom we have a relationship all send their love to Lamb of God. Rick and Joanne Widner are also here and its great to seem them in this environment.
We are meeting new friends as well - One brother from the South of Brazil is doing amazing work among the poor and the drug addicted in his city. I was really impressed with the tenderness of his heart toward the needy.
This morning I preached two of the four messages I will be bringing here at the ARC conference in Belo Horizonte. The theme of the conference is ‘re-discovering the foundations’. My talks all center on the Cross, and are similar to messages I preached at Lamb in the past month. This morning was very encouraging - As I concluded the second of my talks weeping began to break out all over the room. James Padley, my translator was so overcome with emotion he was nearly unable to continue his translation. The Holy Spirit moved in a sweet way, touching many in the room with reminders of the gospel, taking them back to the basic truth of their own conversions and how precious the Lord is to those who know Him.
I am back at Tom and Kathy’s for the rest of the day - I’m kind of beat, sort of a combination of late nights, jet lag and the excitement of being back here again. I praise God for the generosity of the people of Lamb of God. It is that generosity that allows me to go and be a part of what is taking place in Brazil.
Thank you dear friends for the support you give to the work here in Brazil. I wish all of you could see how God has multiplied your graciousness to the Brazilian people. I will write soon with pictures and more.
peace - Scott
Posted by Scott on July 24th, 2008 in Church life, Lamb of God | 2 Comments »
Over the last 3-4 weeks I have been focusing on the foundational role which the Cross has in helping us to think properly about ourselves, relate well to one another and to worship.
We who follow Christ have a most unique identity. We are sinners who have been redeemed and beloved sons and daughters of God. These two idea must be ‘experientially’ true, and not merely precepts. Together they make the possibility of contentment a reality. When they are believed they make possible honesty regarding my sins, weakness and immaturity’s. When they are held weakly I increase the chances that I will be quick to make excuse, rationalize and otherwise avoid responsibility for my own shortcomings.
If both of these biblical ideas are held close we can also walk together as a body with greater success. As I have been saying conflict is an inevitable outcome of getting human beings together. That conflict is unavoidable as long as we sin, and until Christ returns and we receive the fullness of the promises of redemption we will have this proclivity. Sober estimates of myself (Romans 12:3) play an important role in helping me to maintain peaceful, edifying and encouraging relationships with my brothers and sisters.
In my last post I spoke at length about the hinderances which defensiveness, rationalizations and sinful anger play in making Christian community difficult. If you haven’t read my last post, consider doing it. I think there are some useful ideas about how we must not let defensiveness or anger keep the body from unity. The Cross of Jesus provides both the motivation and the power to enable us to be sanctified by the vicissitudes of human relationships. Today I want to focus on several positive exhortations found in the epistles. This material, sometimes referred to as ‘didache’ (or practical teaching) very often follows a doctrinal section of an epistle. The reason for this is that Paul, under the power of the Spirit’s inspiration would often follow ‘doctrinal’ material with the practical outworking of that theological truth.
For example Ephesians chapter 4 begins with some very exalted language about the church - (4) There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— (5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism, (6) one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (7) But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. (8) Therefore it says,”When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (9) In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? (10) He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) (11) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, (12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (15) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
What does this mean, and how does it relate to building Christian Community?
First, Paul states a series of things which are expressed as simply the ‘way things are.’ (1) There is only one body (what the Nicene Creed calls ‘one holy catholic and apostolic Church.‘) This means that no matter what we see in the multitude of denominations, there is in fact only one church. (2) There is only one Spirit. The promised gift sent by the Father can be found wherever the people of God are found. The same Holy Spirit can be found among Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals, Orthodox, Catholic and the many other groups who claim Jesus as there Lord and Savior. (3) God has given leadership to the Body for the purpose of equipping the people of God so that they can build up the Body of Christ into increasing maturity. Paul calls this ‘the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ (Ephesians 4:13) Paul describes the healthy body of Christians as people committed to the truth, but spoken in love for the purpose of helping us grow up into Christ. Paul sees this being accomplished not by some elite body of leaders, but by the contribution of every believer, doing whatever God has given them to do so that the body might build itself up in love. That is an exalted theology of the supremacy of Christ, and how the body of Christ increasingly matures in glorifying Jesus.
Then in verses 17-19 Paul brings back a reminder of what the old life apart from Christ is like. Darkened thinking, isolation, and addiction to only those things that are of the senses. It is a sober and stark reminder of what we are capable of in our sinful nature. And I love the way he transitions into his positive exhortation - ‘But that is not the way you learned Christ!’ We who have trusted Christ have experienced a radical discontinuity with our old life, and we are now capable of a whole new range of choices. We can ‘put of’ the old self and be renewed in the spirit of our minds’ (more about this in a moment). We can also ‘put on the new self’ which has been created in the image and likeness of God himself.
Putting off and putting on?
I can draw an analogy which can help us understand this. In January I made the decision that I was going to stop using my injured leg as an excuse for not exercising (I managed to milk that for 4 years). I had begun to see a decline in my health, and I knew I needed to make a choice to take better care of myself. So I began with something simple - walking daily to improve my health. I started out in January with roughly 30 - 40 minutes a day (about 2.5 miles a day). I hated it at first. Little by little I improved in stamina. About a month ago I was able to increase my exercise substantially. Strangely now it seems like something I can’t do with out. Strenuous exercise now seems like a norm to me.
Sanctification is a process analogous to my experience with walking. Putting off has to do with breaking old sinful habits, patterns and things which ’seem’ automatic to our sinful nature. It is accomplished by ‘putting on’ a who new set of godly ideas, attitudes, perspectives, and conduct. It happens with daily reliance on Christ through prayer, scripture meditation, scripture study, worship, fasting, times of silence/solitude, service to others and the sacraments. Old ideas of bearing grudges give way to forgiveness and reconciliation. Old ideas of lustfully relating to our sexuality give way to purity and valuing the opposite sex as beautiful, beloved of God and fellow heirs of the gospel. Old ideas of greed, hoarding and consumption give way to generosity and investment in the Kingdom of God. It takes time, and it takes getting up when we fall and pressing on by confession and repentance. But over time the Holy Spirit yields results in our character, producing in us the likeness of Jesus.
Notice then how extraordinarily practical are exhortations of Ephesians 4:25-32. Each of these clauses is worthy of consideration:
(25) Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Remember that Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is deceitful above all else and desperately wicked. The prophet describes the fallen heart of man with amazingly succinct accuracy. But now we are in Christ, with new natures and we must be all about ‘putting away falsehood.’ Obviously this refers to lying, or misrepresenting the truth in any way. But it also has subtler implications. All of us will from time to time be inclined to be swept away by some deception that gets the best of us. It will often be wrong conclusions we draw about some conflict we are having with another person. We crystalize our point of view and believe we are seeing the whole picture. We then proceed to see only what supports this point of view. This is one reason I believe so completely in the plurality of elders. I need my fellow elders to be able to find wisdom when difficult matters come before me. I need to make sure I am not acting in anger, or being driven by some exaggerated point of view. From time to time I as a pastor, along with my fellow elders have to judge a matter that requires sober judgment. I have learned not to trust myself without consulting my brother elders.
Here in Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians he begins with this simple idea. Christian community depends in part on a shared consensus to love the truth and to be willing to speak it to one another (remember that in another place he says we are to do this in love). Why? We are members of one another. What does that mean? The word translated ‘member’ can actually refer to a part of the human body, like an arm or a leg. In the context of this passage Paul is trying to say something about the interdependency of Christians - it is as though we are physiologically joined together with one another. Why do we lay aside falsehood and speak the truth to one another? Because we are a part of each other, in as real a way as the various physical parts of a human body. Could you imagine the transformation to Christianity if people actually believed this to be the truth. People leave churches, move from one to another and very often leave behind people hurt by their abruptness or seeming capriciousness regarding their decision to leave. It is virtually unheard of for people to process decisions like this - they just leave. The worst examples are those who leave and then hurl back a few bombs as they go, feeling no responsibility for the collateral damages.
Can you hear Paul - You are members of one another. (26) Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, (27) and give no opportunity to the devil. Will we get ticked at one another? Of course, it really cannot be avoided. But, as members of one another do not sin in that anger, and make sure you work it out as quickly as possible, trying your best to be at peace before the sun goes down on the conflict. It is fomenting anger which lies the ground work for what the writer of Hebrews calls the ‘bitter root.’ Hebrews 12: (15) See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled… Defilement is a word which the bible tends to associate with the corrupting influence of coming into contact with those things which make one ‘unfit’ to be in the presence of holiness. Anger that isn’t dealt with properly, and gets nursed (rumination is the precise term I’m thinking of) ends up causing trouble (because angry people typically can’t help but talk to others about their anger) and by that they end up making themselves and potentially others ‘unfit’ to be in the presence of God. In a word they defile themselves and others who join them in their sin. Paul in his exhortation states ‘give no opportunity to the devil.’ Angry people are like cars that are speeding down the road with no driver. Satan is perfectly willing to take the wheel and cause as severe an collision as he possible can.
(28) Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. There is of course the obvious sense in which Paul means this. If someone was converted from a life of criminal behavior, he must not return to that behavior. We have experienced this on a number of occasions in reaching out to people who alleged that they want to ‘change’ from a criminal past and straighten themselves out, only to later steal from us with pretty abysmal results.
But I also think this has a much broader application, as a statement calling for reciprocity in the body of Christ. Allowing the bulk of the work of a church community to fall on just a few is a form of stealing. Early Paul exhorts us to work together in such a way that ‘the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly.’ The body of Christ is meant to be a cooperative, with everyone looking for ways to serve one another. The church is to function like a family, and in healthy families everyone contributes to build that family. What we call ‘dysfunction’ is really just a fancy way of saying that the family isn’t working together. It is a dysfunctional church in which ‘professionals’ do most of the work and the constituency sits back and is ’served’. Paul reminds us - each part supplies something vital.
(29) Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (30) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Faithful adherence to verse 29 would forever change Christian community into a paradise here on earth. Can you imagine a community where a premium was placed on edifying speech and we really and truly tried to speak well of one another? I believe it can be done, because Paul exhorts us to it, and Christ always enables what he commands. We really can, by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit build community by words of encouragement, and blessing.
Prov. 10:19 - When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
Pro. 12: 6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright will deliver them.
Prov. 16:24 - Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Prov. 17:27 - He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Note verse 30. Just how much of this passage can be applied to the admonition ‘not to grieve the Holy Spirit’ isn’t clear. But it is a fairly safe bet to assume that at the very least this warning against ‘grieving the Spirit’ at least applies the verse which comes right before it (29). The Spirit is certainly grieved when Christians wound each other with unkind words, carelessly thrown around.
(31) Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. (32) Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Here Paul concludes Ephesians 4 with a laundry list of things he exhorts the church to ‘put away.’ Nearly all of them are related to uncontrolled anger. Please note that very carefully. And I believe this passage of practical Christian teaching reaches it’s only reasonable finale in verse 32 with a return to the Cross and what Christ has accomplished for us. What is that which stands as our inspiration and our empowerment to do as we are inspired by the Word - Christ. Kindness, tenderness and forgiveness is possible for one reason and one reason only - because God in Christ has done all these things for us. He has been kind when we deserved judgment. And now his kindness can empower our kindness to one another. He has been tender when we deserved the ‘roughest’ treatment. And that tenderness can propel our hearts to be tender toward one another. He gave forgiveness when I deserved condemnation. And that spiritual truth can set me free to extend forgiveness again and again to my brothers and sisters.
Brothers and sisters this entire next year will have a renew focus on building Christian community. We will have a pattern of regular community meetings and meals to help give us a pattern which encourages us to be together. But a pattern is only a strategy - in the end it is the choices we make to actively engage the Lord by consistently engaging one another. May God bless each one of the body here at Lamb as we endeavor to deeply the bonds of love.
Posted by Scott on July 19th, 2008 in Church life, Lamb of God | No Comments »
The premise of the past few weeks messages have centered on the Cross of Christ, and the significance of the work of Christ in shaping how we think of ourselves, how we relate to one another and how His work shapes our worship.
Paul spoke of a life centered on this truth in the simplest terms - For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor. 2:2) This is an extraordinary statement for a rabbi trained in complex principals of Biblical jurisprudence. You can be certain that Paul had the capacity to tear apart arguments, and postulate well reasoned Biblically based logic. But so radical was his experience on the Damascus Road that he had resolved to ‘know nothing…except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’
This then forms the center of the life which God calls us to live out together. No other glue can hold us together except Jesus Christ, and in particular His work in demolishing the hold which sin has over the human heart. Once again Paul’s understanding of this is crystal - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. (Romans 6:22) (more…)
Posted by Scott on July 11th, 2008 in Church life | 1 Comment »
Scripture is filled with concern for peace. Romans 12:18 - If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. That sets before us a weighty responsibility to seek and maintain peace with one another. This begins with family life. Husbands and wives are required to ‘as far as it depends’ on themselves to live at peace with one another. This exhortation extends to the church community. We are too, ‘as much as it depends’ on our actions to seek to live at peace with one another. That is formidable, but it is the word of God and it is possible to be obedient to that word. (more…)
Posted by Scott on July 8th, 2008 in Church life, Lamb of God, spiritual warfare | No Comments »
Okay, first off I realize this picture is a little over the top. But it’s kind of cool, sort of Lon M. like in appearance. But I thought it might grab your attention.
I recognize that some may have found my message of 2.24.08 a bit ponderous. As I prepared it I thought to myself - “this don’t preach to good” (Pardon my grammar). Yet, I believe that I needed to take the time to carefully talk about the discontinuity between O.T. prophets and the way in which prophecy functions in the N.T. I believe a great deal of confusion makes its way into the church over simply not understanding the difference between O.T. prophets and the way the gift of prophecy is meant to work in the church. The weight of responsibility which lay on the shoulders of O.T. prophets was enormous. They could not be wrong. They were chosen and set apart by God to deliver the very words of God to the people. (more…)
Posted by Scott on February 29th, 2008 in Church life | 1 Comment »
