Honest to Goodness

I think Christians are some of the most dishonest people in the world. No, I don't believe we mean to be. I think we've bought into the world's myth that we're to be perfect.

For some, this dishonesty gives birth to hypocrisy. They put on a mask to protect themselves. Disguising their true self. 

They're convinced that to follow Christ means one does everything one should in every way, all the time. When that Christian sees where he/she is failing, it must be hidden. This effort to cover up, eventually is exposed and, for those watching, Christianity as a whole is thrown out with the baptismal water.

Other Christians trust humans to be kind. But God? He's perfect, right? He can't know that I harbour hatred or bitterness. He mustn't know that I feel lust or envy. We must spare Him at all costs.

Oh, I know. We don't think of it in such black-and-white terms. It's the little preacher inside our heads. The one that when emotion stirs, says: "You know that isn't right." Yes, we know. Instead of bringing it to God, however, we quickly say a half-hearted "sorry" and change the subject.

Because we have this problem concealing our own sins, we dare not excuse a fellow believer who is honest. Are you kidding?

Someone comes forward saying he's into pornography—She's had an affair. We hold out our weapon to stab first. We quote Scripture at them. We tell them what dirty-rotten-sinners they are. Do they know what bad examples they are to the youth?

We kick them while they're down.

In case you suspect this is an exaggeration, when Southern Gospel singer Kirk Talley confessed his struggle with homosexuality, he received so many condemning e-mails from angry Christians, he had to close down his website.

What should we do then—with ourselves and with other people? Do we turn a blind eye to our sin? Do we accept it as part of life in this fallen world and give up trying to fight? Do we tell everyone every struggle we ever face?

No. No. No.

We must first deal with ourselves. In the case of sin, it is important to put ourselves first. If you realize an area in which you are struggling or have given in, tell God. Confess every detail.

Have you ever noticed how cringingly honest David and the other Psalm writers were? Psalms such as 137 make us cringe with their blatant hatred and seeming cruelty. Habakkuk provides a less ugly example. But all these men pour out sincere feelings to the Lord. Instead of acting in cruelty, they bring their cruel thoughts or, like Habakkuk, their concerns about the horrors of unpunished sin. In the latter's case, we have a written answer from Yahweh explaining His plans.

Multitudes of passages interwoven throughout Scripture prove, plead, and provide reasons for humans to confess everything. Yahweh can handle it.

In Psalm 50 Yahweh declares the opposite scenario to be the problem. Those who go through the rituals of worship, but hide their sins—those are the lives He detests. Those are the lives that anger Him.

Instead, what does He prefer?

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

Even if you don't feel contrite, confessing your sins openly before God gives Him entrance into your conscience and heart. Praying, even if it's wrestling in prayer, plugs you into the source for power, for freedom. It allows you to aim your weapons at your real opponent, within and without.

And your fellow Christian?

Interestingly, just below the passage in Matthew 18 where Jesus explains what to do with a brother who has wronged you is the parable of the unjust servant. The master forgave a great debt of the servant's. But, when a fellow servant asked that servant to forgive a lesser debt, the former had him thrown into prison. The master heard about it and in anger demanded full payment from the unjust one.

When someone admits guilt, that one is vulnerable. He or she has exposed an ugly truth. The world publishes these disclosures in Star, People, the latest talk shows and blogs.

But how should the Christian respond?

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:16, 19-20)

It is the job of the family of Christ to bring love and healing to each other.

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Encouragement is the preventative. Love and prayer are the healing. If your brother or sister has sinned and has confessed it, in love with encouragement and prayer, build up (champion, defend, guard, support, go to battle for, back) your neighbor against the enemy inside and outside.

As God forgives and frees us from our sins, may we actively fight for and not against our brothers and sisters.

Pursue God and advocate the spiritual success of others, and God will give you victory in your battles.

A Mist

Have you ever wanted to know someone, but the interest isn't returned? I'm not thinking romantically, although it's applicable; I'm thinking of one in your family (maybe an older sibling you respect or an absent parent), a co-worker, or an acquaintance.

We've all lived on both sides of the situation: being liked to a degree we can't return and giving interest we don't receive back.

The hurt we feel from this "rejection" is sharp. But why do we feel it? If we indeed have not returned all affection given to us, why should we feel other's condescension so undeserved?

In some cases, as in an abusive childhood, there are wounds that must be healed.

In most situations, however, (and I'm speaking very much for myself), we take ourselves much too seriously.

Paul says as much in Romans 12:3: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you."

We become so tuned into our own acceptance or rejection, our own feelings, that the sun and planets begin to revolve around us. If it were not so, why should one person's dismissal of our importance devastate us so?

Maybe God gives us these rejections in part to remind us that life isn't about us. We are a "mist that appears for a little while and than vanishes" (James 4:14).

Credit: Ken Sturm

The missionary C.T. Studd summarized our position:

Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice

Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;

Each with its days I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

We may still feel a sting when rejected. Instead of dwelling on it, maybe we can ponder the amazement that, although insignificant in our brother's eyes, the Creator of the world loves us.

Come On and Rescue Me

Life is lonely. We don't like to think of it that way, but at our core we are all alone.

Nine months in the womb is the closest we ever get to being constantly near someone. As we get older, we make friends and often marry. For a while, that one or two fill an emptiness, bring laughter, share tears. Often memories create a feeling of satisfaction greater than the reality of the relationship or event.

Eventually, each one lets us down.We'll feel a sense of rejection or betrayal. That is when we realize, we are, in a sense, a floating island occasionally running alongside another shore.

This may sound depressing, but if you've read this far, you have felt it in yourself. It's reality. But, it's not all negative. There is something good about this ache.

When people fail us, there are many other ways we try to fill this void: pets, work, money, possessions, thrills, alcohol, travel, pornography, parties, and even constant church or charitable activity. The purpose is to keep from thinking, keep from feeling the emptiness.

In essence, we are trying to flee from ourselves.

What's the good news?

That loneliness means something. It is evidence that we were made for something that satisfies. Something that not only sooths an ache, but quenches a thirst.

SomeOne made us to not be random and temporary. SomeOne wants a relationship. SomeOne who is above creation, above circumstances, never to reject our cry to Him for help.

Through Jesus, Yahweh made a way for Him to have a relationship with fallen humans. Though He does not need us, He knows we were designed to need Him.

How great is His compassion to reach our need and ignore our fist.

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7-8)

Now is the day of salvation. When you are aching, when you feel the loneliness, remember and reach out for the hand of God.

Only fellowship with God touches lonely hearts with peace.

Travelling Without Luggage

Have you ever wondered what you'd feel if you were told you have months or week's left to live?

Death is the mysterious journey. No carry-on or luggage allowed. Your favourite books must stay on the shelf. Your comfortable travel clothes won't be with to unpack. Nothing you've seen down here or called your own will go with you.

I think we often believe it's the risky things, the daring adventures that we'll look back on with satisfaction as a life well-lived. It's throwing our inhibitions to the wind and tasting all there is of life.

Yet I can't help but believe, as you are struggling for your last breath, you won't be reliving your skydiving jump or the sensual pleasures you experimented with or the money that you made through all your work. If there is last minute business you'll wish you'd done, it will be making things right with God and with those you love.

Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them"...

Remember Him—before the silver cord is severed...
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:1,6-7

Even for the Christian, dying is a strange phenomenon. We are leaving all we've known. What we know of our true Home is sketchy tales. We believe the promises that heaven will far surpass all that is here. Yet, the only true way to be ready to leave is to lay all our treasure up there.
If we've invested in the souls of family and friends, our parting is only temporary. If we've sent our treasure ahead of us, we don't leave anything of value behind.
Now is the only moment you have. 
 
Now is the time you can repent and follow God.
 
This is the time you can call someone and tell them you love them, affirm their worth and your appreciation, tell them your sorry. At their death or yours, many "big" things will seem so small in importance.
 
"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins" (James 4:17)

Crushed Grapes

If you want a good time in this world, do not become a disciple of Jesus.

~Oswald Chambers

More and more Christians seem to aim to make the gospel attractive or at least make their church attractive to unbelievers. Entertainment increases while deep study of the Bible is minimized.

I do not mean to judge a church's motives by their programs, but I am concerned that we are passing on a new gospel and not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One pastor I heard recently said he believes the reason so many youth leave the church after graduation is that what they are taught in church does not match with the reality of life. We have promised them happy lives. Then why aren't they happy? Why did someone betray them? Why did they lose someone they loved? Why are they experiencing doubts?

By offering our hearers a sweetness-and-light gospel and promising every taker a place on the sunny side of the brae, we not only cruelly deceive them, we guarantee also a high casualty rate among the converts on such terms.

We tell them that if they will accept Christ He will give them peace of mind, solve their problems, protect their families and keep them happy all day long. They believe us and come, and the first cold wind sends them shivering to some counselor to find out what has gone wrong; and that is the last we hear of many of them! ~A. W. Tozer

Because suffering is such a negative topic, we tend to weed it out of our teaching. Maybe we believe if we ignore it, it truly will go away. But it doesn't. Not only is suffering a part of life, Jesus warned his disciples there would be an even a greater portion for any who follow Him.

We are apt to think that Jesus Christ took all the bitterness and we get all the blessing. It is true that we get the blessing, but we must never forget that the wine of life is made out of crushed grapes; to follow Jesus will involve bruising in the lives of the disciples as the purpose of God did in His own life. ~Oswald Chambers

In the 1930s and 40s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer saw this cheapening of grace amongst the Christians he knew in Germany and other parts of the world. In The Cost of Discipleship, he warned us what was at stake. "Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."

Then what is the grace of which the biblical writers told us? What is the grace earned by Jesus and too costly for us to earn by our good efforts? Bonhoeffer goes on to explain this costly grace:

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs us our life, and it is grace because it gives us the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of God's Son: "you were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.

As the apostle Paul explains repeatedly, we have not been saved by works: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But this is where many Christians stop. Yet Paul goes on—"For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (v 10; cf James 2:14-26).

Suffering and pain, doubts and uncertainty will come. Yet as we draw close to the heart of Jesus, as we live out our faith through works He has prepared for us to do, as we remain faithful even to death, we will begin to grasp true life, both here and in the life to come.

As those who have died to the flesh and been made alive in Christ, Jesus calls us to pick up our cross daily and follow Him. Obedience is the fruit of salvation.

James—The Big Picture

James is one of my favourite books of the New Testament. I have been working for some time to memorize all five chapters. One thing that helps is to understand how each section flows logically into the next.

Have you noticed how easy it is to isolate a verse? It's like handling a piece of a puzzle. Oh, I know. We go back to check context with the chapter and surrounding passages, but to get the BIG picture...

Well, for myself, I wanted to look at the big picture of the book of James. I thought I'd share it with you in case it is helpful.

James, though a brother of Jesus, sees himself only as a servant of God and Jesus. He writes to Christian Jews scattered and persecuted in various nations.

James begins and ends his letter by encouraging the believers to persevere in spite of the suffering, because it is the means to maturity and completeness in their faith. The good that is promised is worth the struggle and the waiting. (James 1:2-4, 12; 5:7-11)

When believers find they lack wisdom (are incomplete), James admonishes them to ask God. Since wisdom is God's will for His children, doubting He will give it is a sign that a man is "double minded" in his walk.

Temptation is not from God. Good gifts are from God. If we are led astray by "gifts" of temptation, we are deceived and will miss God's perfect gifts. God "does not change like shifting shadows."

We need to repent of the sins of tongue and life that we've committed. The cure to avoid future temptation is to study and apply God's Word. Our relationship with God will be evident by our care of the helpless and our purity from worldliness.

Wealth is often in the hand of the oppressor (James 2 & 5). Yet even in the hand of a believer, it should never lead to special treatment by other believers. The rich should be humbled knowing their riches will not last and are not what is ultimately important (2:1-5; 1:9-11).

All people should be loved as we love ourselves. No favouritism allowed. Showing favouritism is breaking a the law of God. Breaking one law makes us guilty of breaking the law of God. Instead, we should show mercy to all, and God will judge us mercifully.

Is it possible to be saved by faith and not show it in how we live? NO! Faith that is not accompanied by action is dead...not really faith at all. Even the demons believe in God.

Watch your tongue. Nothing destroys or leads someone astray easier than the wagging tongue. It is inconceivable that a mouth that truly praises God can also slander other humans who God made.

Envy and selfish ambition are of the devil, signs of disorder, and seeds for evil practice. God's wisdom will show by a life that's "pure, peaceloving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

When we pursue selfish ends, God will not answer our prayer. Fights and quarrels amongst God's family are signs of selfish ambition. We need to repent and seek God. If we resist the devil, he will flee from us as we submit and humble ourselves before God. If we continue to slander and judge each other, we should fear God's judgment.

If God tells us to give or to do something, we should not put it off. Don't say that after you accomplish X,Y, & Z, you'll have what you need to obey God. Putting off what He asks of us is sin.

God's judgment will come on oppressors. Be sure to be waiting for God and not oppressing your brothers and sisters in the faith. Instead, pray for yourself, praise God, and pray for others.

Rather than condemning brothers and sisters for their weaknesses, we should confide in one another about our struggles (be a "safe place" for other believers to be honest about theirs), so that we can pray for one another. If we do this, we will be healed from sin's strongholds. What could be greater than rescuing a fellow Christian from the deadly spiral of sin!

In summary, watch your tongue and watch your life; don't trust in riches (your own or somebody else's); do not slander or condemn a believer in your thoughts or conversation, but show mercy as you desire God to be merciful to you; depend on God for all you need and let His life flow through you producing godly works.

And finally, never give up living the truth! Christ is coming soon!

Catching Up

I've been woefully neglectful of my duties here. If you're new to reading this blog, however, here are a few posts on which I'd love to read your comments:

• What Is Death?
• Listening: a thread or an iceberg
• How the Blood Works
• Into Thin Air
• How Important Are We Really?
• What In the World Am I Doing Here?
• Come Back to Life