Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (I Corinthians 6:19,20 NIV).

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (I Timothy 4:8 NIV).

Walking with Purpose

I am a diabetic.  I was diagnosed with diabetes almost ten years ago but I did nothing about it.  I tried to diet once or twice and did a bit of exercise but nothing too serious.  If twenty pounds over your ideal weight makes you obese, then I was that too.  Not that anyone really noticed since I am tall and can hide my weight pretty well.  Besides a lot of people my age have a pot belly.  I had all the excuses ready at hand, as you can imagine.

The problem with diabetes is that it is a silent killer.  All seems fine until one day….  Most diabetics die of a heart attack and, apparently, that was my likely future as well.  But I didn’t take it seriously enough to really do anything about it.

Two years ago, my Pastor mentioned the ketogenic diet to me.  He was on the Banting diet version from South Africa and it was going well.  I decided to look into it and discovered Dr. Atkins and his book and all of the material on the ketogenic diet.  I started to educate myself, organize myself and to get started on this new diet.  It was hit and miss for the first year, which is pretty normal.  I was just getting my feet under me.  But one thing was clear.  This diet worked and this lifestyle of dieting, exercising and eating supplements was good for me.

Still I had one problem.  Motivation and discipline.  Sure the diet isn’t really a diet.  It is more of a lifestyle change.  It doesn’t have an end date.  It is simply eating healthy for the rest of my life.  Reducing carbs and “eating like a farmer” is just good sense.  The modern diet with all the junk food, sugars and unhealthy carbs has to go and healthy meals need to be the norm.

But that’s just it.  I realized that I was addicted to sugar (and unhealthy carbs).  I was a junk food addict.  I had bad habits.  I was lazy.  I didn’t take it seriously.  When I tried to make a change, my body fought me at every turn.

In my mind, I wanted to do the right things, but my body didn’t want to play ball.  I would fall to temptation quickly.  I would abandon my goals as soon as I made them.  I would do what I did not want to do and not do what I wanted to do.  What a wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Sound familiar?

Yes, the process is the same.  We live our lives thoughtlessly not realizing that the wages of our “diet” sin is death.  Since we are eating what we want and when we want, we don’t think of it as an addiction until someone comes along and tells us that there is a better way, a healthier way to live.  With that new information, hope is born in us and we start to ask questions and do our homework.  So far so good.  But what we don’t realize is that we have entered into a struggle.

There is now dissonance in our lives.  There is a new standard, a new expectation, a new hope for a better future.  We now look at our lives and recognize the sin addiction that is there (in this case in the form of a bad lifestyle and diet) and we no longer want to live that way.  We want to change.  We want to be transformed.  It starts in our mind with new information, new goals, new expectations.  But now, we must deal with the body, with the addiction, with the temptation.  We have entered into the struggle.  And the struggle is not fun, but it is necessary.

Of course you have reasons why you want to accomplish this goal.  You want to live longer to see your children grow up and get married and have children of their own.  You want to make sure that they are financially and spiritually taken care of when you are gone.  You want to be there in your retirement years with your wife (or husband) enjoying each other and helping each other through the aches and pains of your later years.  You may have projects that you want to do yet.  Maybe a ministry you want to develop, books you want to write, even movies you would like to see made.  This is not a good time for a heart attack or a debilitating disease.

So because you have goals, and because you have hope that this direction will get you to your goals, you embark on the journey, taking the struggle, the storms, the failures in stride and moving forward one way or the other every day.  You get yourself organized.  You make a pact with your family to support you.  You get rid of the bad food from your cupboards and start to educate the entire family on healthy eating and lifestyle.  Sometimes they are helpful and sometimes they are not (often depending on whether or not they also have a sugar addiction and whether they have hope to overcome it).  In either case, you are moving in this direction come hell or high water.  You have made a decision.

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions.  I believe in New Directions for the New Year.  In the real world things don’t always go as planned and I expect setbacks and failures.  I will fall to temptation on occassion.  I will not be motivated sometimes.  There are birthdays to think about, and special occassions at church, and our anniversary dinner in a nice restaurant.  There is the issue of my favorite food, my comfort food, my daily food.  I need to get organized. Life will happen.  But I am determined to go in this direction and to enter into the struggle and work my way through it.  Without condemnation.  Without guilt.  Without perfectionism.

In Argentina there is very little help when it comes to the ketogenic diet.  My doctor, who is a specialist in diabetes, never heard of it.  There are no low carb foods (other than natural foods).  There are no Atkins bars.  There is no alternative flour to make pizzas or breads or cookies. I can walk into an organic or natural foods store and come out with nothing to buy.  They understand the need for “sugar free” products but not “low carb” products.

It was amazing for me to find out that all of the things that are not good for us, can be made with other ingredients that make them good for us.  What a world we live in.  What levels of sin and disobedience there is in the very structures of our society where we are happy to make products that people want to buy even though they are bad for them.  There are enough good sugar substitutes that everything from chocolate bars to pizza to donuts can be made (and taste just as good) and be healthy for people rather than slowly killing them with sugar and carbs.

Yes, I am a bit of an evangelist when it comes to these things.  It’s important.  I have learnt to live with discipline and focus and intention when it comes to what I eat and how I do my exercise and take my supplements.  I know a lot about it and people ask me questions all the time.

In the last three months, I have lost twenty five kilos (almost 60 lbs) and everyone has noticed.  The questions come from all sides and I tell them about the benefits of the ketogenic diet.  I have studied it in depth and I know what I am talking about.  Some people may not agree but my body transformation is proof that it works.  But that wasn’t automatic.  It was a lifestyle change based on new information that showed me a better way to live.  I am still losing weight and have about ten kilos to go to get to my ideal weight range.  But this diet will never stop.  It is a lifestyle of eating healthy, exercising and taking supplements.

Can you feel the passion?

Do you see the correlation with our walk with God?

Where is God in all of this talk about dieting and lifestyle change?  First of all, let me point out that people who are not Christians can also make these changes and reap the benefits of a lifestyle change.  You don’t necessarily need Jesus in your life to accomplish these goals.

Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:8, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Even Paul recognizes the value of physical training but it doesn’t compare with the benefits and value of spiritual training which has benefits for both this life and the life to come.  The implication is that there is some correlation between the process of physical training and spiritual training (which produces godliness).

We have been talking about all of these elements throughout our fifty days together Walking the Roman Road.  First comes a new relationship with God and the gift of faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit.  That is essential when dealing with sin addiction (which is a relational disease).  Then comes the process of sanctification.  Without condemnation.  Without guilt.  Without perfectionism.  But also with discipline, with effort, with self-denial, with a process of putting to death the sinful nature through confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

On the one hand, I make my physical well-being a part of my sanctification which I am responsible to God for.  Paul tells us in I Corinthians 6:19, 20 NIV, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.“ Paul was talking about sexual immorality but most people believe that this verse also refers to any kind of sin against your own body.  For me, that includes my diet, exercise and supplements.  It is part of my walk with God and therefore I can access all of the power of the Holy Spirit within, by faith, to do the will of God.  It is God’s will that I treat my body with respect.  It is God’s will that I overcome the temptation to eat junk food.  It is God’s will that I win the battle against my diabetes.  Whether I live longer or not is up to Him, but so long as I live, I will live well, and promote healthy habits in my life and in the life of my family.

But the process is the same for our spiritual walk with God.  That is the “other hand” that I want to point out.  Non-Christians can go on a diet, obviously, and they can even be religious (and do all of the same things that Christians do for the most part).  But they cannot overcome sin addiction.  They don’t even want to.  Sin addiction is a very particular, relational problem that is at the core of our psyche and needs to be dealt with by the Holy Spirit, through faith, in a lifestyle of discipline, self-denial and putting to death the “old man/woman” which is our sinful nature.  Jonathan Edwards, the great 17th century pastor and theologian, said that the only thing that the Devil cannot counterfeit is the true humility that comes from confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.  That is precisely how we put to death the old man/woman and deal with our sin addiction.  That is not possible unless we are true Christians walking in the Spirit by faith.

You get the point.

But do you?

Most of us live life from one day to the next, thoughtless of the implications of our actions, heedless of the consequences of a passive, go-with-the-flow mentality that so characterizes Christians (especially in the West).  Affluence has made us soft.  Discipline is a dirty word.  We have lost our horizon, our hope, our motivation.  Most of us are not even in the struggle.  We are not even at the level of the demons who believe in God and tremble (because they know they are in trouble).  Most of us take our walk with God for granted.  Most of us don’t even accept that our mission in life is Kingdom Evangelism (although the Bible is abundantly clear about it).  Most of us don’t “make every effort” to live a Kingdom lifestyle of stewardship, evangelism and discipleship.  We poke a stick at it sometimes to see if it is still alive, but discipline, self-denial, and putting to death our old way of life?  Very few.  A remnant.

That should worry us.  Deeply.

Of course, if it does worry us then we are probably true Christians who are about to embark on a transformed way of life in the power of the Holy Spirit by faith.  So I hope you are worried, and stirred by this discussion.  But now it is time to get to work.  Without condemnation.  Without guilt.  Without perfectionism.  Think in terms of continuous improvement.  Real life will get in the way.  But you are not your own.  You have been bought with a price.  Therefore, spiritual discipline, new habits, new intentions and expectations are normal.  Learning how to live this way is called discipleship.  Now that you know the truth, blessed is he who walks in it.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, I want to be a true disciple.  Discipline scares me a little bit and self-denial and putting to death my old man is just downright terrifying.  I don’t think I can do it alone.  And I know I don’t have to.  I believe in your promise to give me strength to do you will, Lord.  And I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is your will.  I want to overcome my old man and walk in newness of life.  I want to count myself dead to sin and alive to you.  Because that is the truth.  Help me to walk this roman road with purpose, with intention, with hope.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away……One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  It shone with the glory of God….I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp…..On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there….”(Revelations 21:1-4, 9-11a, 22,23,25 NIV).

Seeking Jerusalem

When my daughter was 12 years old, she was full of curiosity.  And she would ask very good questions too.  But she didn’t always like the answers.

“Why is God hiding?” she would ask.  “Why doesn’t he protect me from hurting myself.  Doesn´t he love me?”  “If God loves the whole world, why doesn’t he just get rid of hell and let everyone go to heaven?”  Those were the hard questions.

But she had other questions as well.  “Who was Cain’s wife?”  “Who created God?” and “What is heaven like?”  Obviously, we had a lot of talks together coming home from school, walking in the park, sitting in my office.

Everyone knows that by age seven or so, kids become able to make moral distinctions between right and wrong, good and bad.  By age eleven or twelve, they are full of curiosity about their world (and spiritual things).  By eighteen, society deems them to be responsible for their own actions but it is still an open question when real maturity sets it.  For women it seems to happen earlier than with men but in both cases it appears to have to do with relationships.  Marriage for women and a firstborn child for men.

The curiosity of a twelve year old is part of the natural order of things.  They are curious about everything.  There is nothing all that strange in it.  It is more of an innocent curiosity directed toward a multitude of subjects.  If you are a spiritual family, it will naturally evoke a lot of spiritual questions.  That doesn’t indicate spiritual maturity necessarily, just spiritual curiousity.  Which is great!

The truth is that when an adult is curious about spiritual things, even hungry to understand the things of God, we would consider that NOT to be normal for an adult and therefore it may be an indication of a holy curiousity, perhaps even evidence of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit within.  But whether twelve or twenty, the answers can still be frustrating.

Why is God hiding?  Well, he is and he isn’t….

Why doesn’t He protect me?  Well, he does and he doesn’t…..

Why am I not perfect?  Well, you are but you aren’t…..

A lot of answers are like that in the spiritual realm because of the disconnect between the way we see the world and the way God sees the world.  We think the world is normal.  God thinks the world is deeply and horribly abnormal.  We judge things by what we can see.  God judges things by what is unseen.  We think in terms of the temporal.  God thinks in terms of the eternal.  And this difference makes all the difference in the world.

Yes, by all rights, if the Bible is true, if the resurrection has already happened, if Jesus has triumphed over the grave, then things should be different.  But they aren’t.  And yet they are.  Certain things are already true but they have not yet been revealed as true.  It isn’t obvious to the entire world that God exists, that Jesus is king, and that the Devil is defeated.  The book of Revelations talks about war, and people dying, and great disasters happening before the end will come.  There is still a purpose, a job to do, a war to be won in the hearts and minds of people, and churches, and nations.

We live in an in-between time, a purgatory of sorts, that defines our worldview.  This is the time of the already but not yet,  here but coming, true but not yet revealed.  Nothing makes sense if you don’t understand this one truth.  This existence is abnormal and strange.  It is a truce of sorts between God and a world in rebellion.  God stays His hand in judgment so that He might turn His face toward us in grace.  All of this is made possible by the cross.  We are at war.  We are working for the King behind enemy lines.

Our union with Christ is our identity. Participating in his great rescue attempt is our purpose.  Our role and testimony is crucial in the process and that is our significance.  This identity, purpose and significance is what brings meaning to our lives.

Yet, most people are living their own lives with their own purposes, usually focused on business and family success as defined by the world.  There may be a religious veneer to give it a better shine but, at heart, their stewardship is not on behalf of the king but on behalf of their own lives and projects.  They are hedging their bets, doing enough in the church to calm their own consciousness but not enough to upset the apple cart of their own worldly ambitions.  I am just as guilty as they are.

Somedays I just give up on seeking Jerusalem.  I no longer have the energy or the will to continue to fight for something that nobody else wants.  The book of Revelations describes the new Jerusalem in absolutely wonderful terms, glowing with gems and gold, perfect in dimension, like a bride beautifully adorned for her bridegroom, Jesus.  All of those things are metaphors of course.  John makes it clear that we are the bridegroom of the King, the true church, all believers from every tribe and nation, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.  It sounds wonderful and it will be when we are in glory.  But what about now.

We are already now the bride of Christ.  Yes, I know that we live in the already but not yet but the already is already here.  We are the bride of Christ.  Our unity in Christ, our spiritual unity in following the way of the cross, in confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation is already here.  It is what marks us as Christians, that we love one another as Christ has loved us.  It is our calling card, our testimony, our holiness as people set apart for his use as vessels of mercy and clay pots filled with the treasure of a new relationship with God through Christ.

And in that spiritual unity we receive the anointing of God to be and do what He has called us to be and do.  A holy nation.  A called-out people.  A light in the darkness.  The new Jerusalem where God dwells among men not just as individuals having the Holy Spirit within but as a community where the Holy Spirit is evident in the relationships between those same people.

It sounds good but where is it to be found?  Can anyone name a place?

I had a taste of it in Bible College (even more than Seminary).  They say that the L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland was that kind of place.  Many parachurch organizations (especially among the youth) have achieved some real spiritual unity.  The evangelical revivals in sub-sahara africa seem to bear the marks of this kind of fellowship.  Individual churches such as the Brooklyn Tabernacle in NY or Rey de Reyes in Buenos Aires have accomplished it to some degree. Perhaps there are even more places that I am not aware of right now.  Certainly in many small group ministries this kind of fellowship is achieved at least for a while depending on the leader. And there are many instances where one person will reconcile with another regardless of what is going on in their church.  God always has his remnant who follow Him.

And yet, my point still stands.  Why is it that so many churches do not exhibit the marks of a true church, a true spiritual fellowship living under the anointing of God?  I think there are a number of reasons.

Wheat and Tares

1.  Jesus told us that there would be both wheat and tares (weeds) in the church and that we should not try to tear them up but rather leave them until the final judgment and let God separate the sheep from the goats.  The only problem is that I think Jesus was assuming that the wheat would be in charge of the church and not the weeds.  Or perhaps Jesus simply doesn’t care much about the institutional church and believed that the wheat is always the wheat and the weeds would always need to be ministered to, evangelized and transformed before the final day comes.  Of course it doesn’t always happen that way.

Leadership Positions

2.  Even so, the institutional church still has a role to play and we should hope and pray that the leadership of the visible church, local or national or international, would still be wheat and not tares.  That is not always true.  In my own church, it is amazing to point out that over the years, anyone and everyone has been invited into leadership whether they were Christians or not, spiritually mature or not, good leaders or not.   It was a question of bodies and getting positions filled.  If we are so foolish as to give up our positions of leadership to people who are weeds (by their own confession) or even wheat but immature and not yet ready for leadership, then we are just asking for trouble.

The Spirituality of the Pastor

3.  Even when we have a group of leaders who are Christians with varying levels of maturity, a lot depends on the Pastor and his or her spiritual life.  In worldly terms, we say that the leader determines the culture of the organization.  The same is true spiritually.  If the Pastor does not practice the way of the cross and prioritizes the spiritual unity  of the leaders (at the very least) in order to get the anointing of God on all of their efforts, then nothing much will actually happen.  It is amazing to me how few Pastors even accept this focus as their major purpose in ministry.  The local church has great potential and can be used by God to change lives but only if the leadership is truly spiritual and not merely charismatic or “nice” (political).  As we often say, its nice to be nice but being spiritual will probably get you into trouble with the Board.  What the Pastor has to do is decide to lead spiritually and deal with the consequences in the power of the Holy Spirit by faith.  Lives are at stake.

The Spirituality of the Board

4.  When it comes time to choose a Pastor, the Board needs to be clear about what kind of Pastor they are seeking.  But if the Board members themselves are not seeking Jerusalem (spiritual unity that brings the anointing of God) then they will not choose a Pastor who is seeking Jerusalem.

Jim Collins, in his book Good To Great, describes companies that make the leap from being a good company to being a great company  The key element seems to be that the Board chooses what he calls a Level Five leader.  Most of the time the Board did it by accident but, once it was done, the Level Five leader would create an executive team of up and coming Level Five leaders as well as encourage and transform the Board into a group of Level Five leaders.  That is his main work so that he can leave behind him an organization deeply rooted in the culture of  Level Five leadership which knows how to transform themselves into a great company on an ongoing basis.

That same idea is necessary for the church.  It all starts at the leadership level.  Without true spiritual leadership focused on spiritual unity and the anointing of God, the church will wallow in mediocrity and a lack of transforming power.  Evangelism will not happen and the church will be ineffective in its mission.  Excuses and rationalizations, distractions and justifications will abound and nothing will get done that actually matters.

Spiritual Conversations

5.  That doesn’t mean that the spiritual leadership doesn’t have a lot of work to do in the congregation as a whole (which is full of wheat and weeds).  It does.  Their focus is, of course, in ministering to the weeds, bringing even more weeds into the church and ministering to them as well.  The leadership will become adept at Spiritual Conversations in terms of salvation as well as discipleship.  They will encourage people to accept the cross and to walk in the way of the cross.  Every elder (as well as every other spiritual leaders) will have a small group to work with but also be trained and expected to engage in spiritual conversations whenever and whereever possible.  Each one of them has a Life Ministry in which they share their walk with God, their faith, their hunger and thirst for righteousness, answering questions, giving comfort, and lighting up the darkness with the truth of the word of God.  If they aren’t able to do this kind of work, why are they elders?  The administration of the church can be done by a small executive council of three people who can take care of the mundane issues in the church.  Any strategic issues can be brought to the Board once a month.  The idea is to stay focused on the real work of an elder.

Preaching the Cross

6.  Pastors need to preach about the way of the cross.  When was the last time you heard a sermon on sin in your church?  Or confession?  Or repentance?  We always hear about forgiveness but not about reconciliation.  Many Pastors have lost their edge (or they never had it in the first place).  The Devil works hard to keep us confused about the heart of the gospel.  He doesn’t care about moralistic sermons or twenty minute talks about something in the Bible that everyone has heard a hundred times before.  It makes no difference.  It doesn’t change any hearts.  The Devil laughs in the back row.  How many times I have seen the Pastor (or a preaching elder) preach on a topic one moment and right after church do the exact opposite.  One elder preached on mercy but in a meeting right after church with a young woman who needed some help and asked for some mercy, he denied it, even getting mad at her for having the gall to try to hold him to the very thing that he just preached about.  How dare you?  Pastors need to live the way of the cross but they also must preach it.  Paul said that he preached Christ, and him crucified.  Nothing else.  We would do well to do the same.

The Priority of Prayer

7.  Finally we need to talk about Prayer.  The whole point of God giving us an impossible job to do is to remind us that we cannot do it alone.  It must be done in dependence on the Holy Spirit in prayer.  Without individual and corporate prayer focused on our purpose and rooted in our unity in Christ where we take hold of the will of God and the promises of God by faith and apply them to our daily situations, we have no resurrection power to get the job done. Resurrection power is within in the presence of the Holy Spirit but it can only be accessed through ongoing reconciliation with others and full surrender to God.  In prayer, the anointing falls.  In prayer, the solutions come.  In prayer, our focus sharpens.  In prayer, God acts.  In prayer, we are transformed.  Nothing happens without prayer in spiritual unity.

The Religious Spirit

8.  Let me try to be clear.  What point is there in going to church on a Sunday morning if you are not willing to get right with God in full surrender or reconcile with your brother or sister before you come before God?  That is the whole point after all.  How difficult it is to go to church knowing that your Pastor doesn’t know, like or trust you.  How hard it is to see him or her preaching their heart out and yet knowing that this guy over there and that woman over here have hearts that are not open to anything he has to say because he hurt them so deeply.  Whether in high church tradition or low church informality, whether the Pastor weeps as he preaches or calls everyone to literally fall to their knees in worship as we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  It means nothing, it transforms noone because there is sin in the camp.  I’m not saying that God, in his mercy, cannot still minister through a Pastor like that, because he can.  But Jesus also said to those who claimed that they cast demons out in his name, that he never knew them (Matthew 7;21-23).  Ministry effectiveness is no excuse for spiritual deadness and disobedience.  This is the religious spirit and we are all prone to its deception.  Having the form of religion but denying its power.

Seeking Jerusalem is a question of seeking the spiritual unity that brings the anointing of God upon his people for effective ministry.  Seeking Jerusalem is about seeking the presence of God as a body of believers (or at least as a group of leaders).  Seeking Jerusalem is about walking in the Spirit together as a body.  The problem with mankind is broken relationships between us and God and between us and others.  The solution is the cross.  Jesus came to die on the cross to heal relationships.  Healed relationships are the highest priority in the church.  It is already true that we are reconciled to each other but it is also not yet complete.  It is in that focus, that struggle, that priority that we will discover the resurrection power of God within us as a group of believers that will transform our world and empower our ministry.

The Desert Warrior

P.S. Let’s talk to God……

Lord, the truth is that I don’t love you enough to do things your way.  Help me to have that focus, that priority and help me to fight for it everyday.  Of course my sinful habits draw me away from that unity to my individual life and concerns.  Obviously, my lack of love makes me selfish about my own issues and desires.  I need your help to overcome.  Seeking Jerusalem is the struggle but it is a struggle already won even though it has not yet revealed itself fully.  Help me to stay focused and to work hard towards that spiritual unity.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16 NIV).

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9,10 NIV).

Kingdom Evangelism

One of my all time favorite Pastors and authors is Rick Warren.  I have read his book The Purpose Driven Life (and The Purpose Driven Church) multiple times.  But I am still confused by something he says.  He seems to indicate that there are different churches with different gifts and a different focus.  No doubt that is true.  But then he says that some churches are focused on Evangelism and others are not and that’s ok.  Really?  That doesn’t seem ok to me at all.

I think Jesus made himself abundantly clear that we were to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) by baptizing people and teaching them.  Sounds like evangelism and discipleship go hand in hand and, even more, that the purpose of discipleship is that new believers would also learn to do evangelism.

A lot of people seem to get confused about these things.

If you tell them that they should do evangelism, they say something about it not being their gift.  But Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-32 that God made some to be teachers, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and so on.  So people say that they were not given the gift of evangelism.  But that isn’t what it says at all.  The rest of the verse goes on to say that God gave these gifts to the church “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service” (vs. 12a).  The reason Jesus gave these gifts to the church was not so that the gifted ones would do the work but so that they could teach the rest of us to do the work.  Everybody needs to pray, but God gifted some people with intercessory prayer so that they could teach the rest of us to pray.  Everybody needs to do evangelist, but God gifted some people with the ability to do evangelism so that they could teach the rest of us how to do it.  And so on. 

So there is no excuse.  The focus of the Kingdom of God is on Evangelism.  Not moral living.  Not feeding the poor.  Not works of service.  They are all fine but they are not the focus.  Kingdom Evangelism is the focus.  That’s why we have been studying the book of Romans in the context of the Roman Road of Salvation.  We aren’t interested in doctrine for doctrine’s sake.  We want to know how to talk to modern people about things that affect all of us.  Sin, Wrath, Justification, Peace with God, Sanctification, Suffering, Glory.  The trick is to try and understand it well enough that we can find the right words to use when we are talking to people on the street, in the coffeeshops, online.

Let’s take another look at the Roman Road of Salvation.

It normally has five parts to it though they could be clustered together a bit.  The first two belong together and summarize what the problem is.  The third one is the solution.  The fourth and fifth one has to do with how we become saved and what it means for us.  Let’s take a look.

The Roman Road of Salvation

1.  Romans 3:23  “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

2.  Romans 6:23a  “for the wages of sin is death.”

3.  Romans 6:23b  “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (also Romans 5:8  “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”)

4.  Romans 10:9  “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  (also Romans 10:13  “for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””)

5.  Romans 5:1  “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (also Romans 8:1 and 8:38-39  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…..for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”)

There it is in a nutshell.  The Way of Salvation using the Book of Romans.  It is beautifully simple but, at the same time, deceptively deep.  And it doesn’t always make much sense to the modern ear.  It needs to be used more like an outline, or a skeleton, on which meat and bones are meant to be added.  And that is the purpose of these blog posts.

I spent a lot of time talking about sin in these posts because I believe that it is a neglected topic and it is impossible to understand the good news without first believing the bad news.  The truth is that we cannot change the human heart.  If we are going to do evangelism, we had better learn how to pray for the people we are talking to.  From start to finish it is the work of the Holy Spirit.  As we have said, our testimony and witness is essential in the process of evangelism and building a relationship with people is necessary.  But still, at some point, we have to “preach the gospel.”  We have to tell them the truth about their situation before God as a godless and wicked person.  Only the Holy Spirit can convince them of the truth of that perspective.

Most people would readily agree that they are godless.  They might claim that they believe in God but all you have to do is point out that believing isn’t the only issue, following God is the key.  Even the demons believe…..

People have a bigger problem with the concept of wickedness.  You can use the Humpty Dumpty Principle on them and see if that helps.  Or you can talk about the incredible evil in the world and try to explore whether or not they consider themselves evil and wicked or not.  Some people have been humbled by their own sin, doing something that they themselves know was wrong or that society has condemned them for.  That is why we often say that convicted criminals and prisoners are often closer to the Kingdom of God than middle class families are.

In any event, unless there is conviction of the Holy Spirit about their sin, there isn’t much more to talk about.  You can tell them the good news that peace with God is possible through Christ but if they don’t believe that there is much of a problem, they won’t be motivated to search for a solution in Christ (or anywhere else).

Another reason that people often come to church that has nothing to do with their own personal battle with sin, is what is often referred to as their “felt needs.”  Whether that is loneliness, or poverty, or sickness, or trauma, people come to the Lord for a lot of reasons.  Some of them stay long enough to get a good dose of knowledge about what the real problem is.  These people are always welcome.  Jesus had people come to him for healing, for the benefits, not just because they believed in who he was.  They hoped for a cure, a solution to their immediate needs and that was enough.  The rest would come later.

Yes, we can help people with a variety of needs both miraculously as well as through therapy and other secondary means.  I remember working with a couple who were not Christians but came to me to work on their marriage.  They were about to get divorced but wanted to give it one more chance.  I told them that I could help them or, more specifically, God could help them.  His advice was usually dead on, since He created us and knew how we “ticked.”  They always laugh politely at that.  But I also told them it would be a tough road and that they would need all the help they could get.  They would need help from the community of believers to work with them long term but they would, especially, need help from God through the Holy Spirit which they could only get if they commit themselves to becoming disciples of Him.  If they were open to that, I would add a couple of sessions to talk specifically about the deeper issues of sin, godlessness and wickedness in both of them which was affecting their marriage.

So even if people come for other reasons, kingdom evangelism can still happen.  It’s a matter of looking for evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives and asking a few pertinent questions.

Even when the sick came to Jesus and he healed them, it didn’t mean that they would necessarily be saved.  He healed ten lepers but only one came back to thank him.  Physical healing and temporal solutions are not the most important things in life.  They are just a gateway to a deeper healing, a more important discussion, a far more powerful transformation of the human heart.

But after dealing with sin and the consequences of sin (including death), you will have to go on to the solution.  Somehow you need to be able to explain why Jesus is the answer.  To do so, you need to know what the question is.  In other words, if you are unclear on the problem, you will be less than helpful with the solution.  Think in terms of sin to start with and add a good discussion about what true justice is all about and people will start to see the hopelessness of the situation.  Then introduce the concept of Jesus as our substitute.  He becomes the sinner and we become the saint.  The price is discipleship.  It isn’t just a “get out of hell free” card.  It is a new realtionship with God.  If the problem is godlessness, the solution must be to become godly.  Only Jesus can provide the way.

Then you can talk about the simplicity of faith and the sincerity of belief.  If the whole discussion is about relationships, everyone knows that love must be sincere and that true sincerity of heart is a pre-requisite for any relationship.  God is no different (other than the fact that you can’t fool him).  He knows your heart.  Confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart needs to be sincere.

Then you can talk about this new relationship, this new walking with God, this new creation life that the Bible is always going on about.  That is a fascinating discussion full of twists and turns but the trick is to keep it real.  There will be struggle.  That is to be expected.  The question is how to handle the struggle, how to understand the struggle, what to do about it.  How to get your mind right, transforming it with the truth of the Word of God.  Don’t fall into a works righteousness in sanctification now.  We live with no condemnation but that does not give us license to do whatever we want.  It is an invitation to love God by obeying him and trusting him with your life.

Yes, it is serious business but it is also glorious business.  We get to live forever.  Sickness and suffering, pain and death no longer have the final say.  We are redeemed and will live an eternity with God.  That is worth celebrating.

I remember a friend of mine who once told me, “Evangelism is hard.”  He was a good Christian man and a wonderful husband and father.  But he thought evangelism was hard.  I disagreed.  I think that it is the easiest thing in the world.  It should be a natural discussion if it is an integral part of your life.  I can talk about my wife and family with no problem.  I can talk about my job or my favorite sports team.  I can talk about politics until the cows come home.  I’m interested in those subjects.  I study them.  I read up on them.

The same is true about God, my walk with Jesus and evangelism.  Because I’m interested, I learn and I study and practice and I try.  Because it matters.

My significance is tied up with my purpose which is an overflow of my identity in Christ.  The quality of my kingdom evangelism is a direct reflection of the quality of my walk with God.  Nothing less.  And I know it.

But that’s not why I do it.  I do it because it flows out of me.  It is a necessary release to share the gospel with everyone and anyone who gives me an opening.  How can it be any other way?  Kingdom Evangelism is a natural way of life for those who follow Jesus.  I hope this blog has helped you to formulate your answers for the hope that is within you (I Peter 3:15).  I know it has helped me.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, I want to learn to share the greatest story ever told.  I want to learn it and live it and share it with others.  You have the very words of life.  They can save people and transform them.  Kingdom Evangelism is my purpose in life and I pray that you would teach me all of the ways that I can bring your truth into someone’s life.  It takes practice but I want to learn.  Teach me, O Lord.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“So I find this law at work.  When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21-25a NIV).

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).

Resurrection Maturity

Resurrection is about life and death but it is important to remember that the context is war.  Jesus was crucified, mocked, spit upon, reviled.  The Devil was having his moment.  Death seemed to be wining.  Then the veil in the Temple tore from top to bottom.  There was an earthquake.  Darkness covered the earth but the demons were busy with their evil work and paid little attention to the signs that God was at work.  Then there was silence in heaven and upon the earth.  Three days later, God spoke, the tombs were opened and resurrection became life.  Resurrection Maturity means that we understand that resurrection only comes AFTER suffering and death.  Even for us.  We are a world at war.

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Listen to these wise words….

Until we come to terms with war as the context of our days, we will not understand life. We will misinterpret ninety percent of what is happening around us and to us. It will be very hard to believe that God’s intentions toward us are life abundant; it will be even harder not to feel that somehow we are just blowing it. Worse, we will begin to accept some really awful things about God. That four-year-old little girl being molested by her daddy—that is “God’s will “? That ugly divorce that tore your family apart—God wanted that to happen, too? And that plane crash that took the lives of so many—that was ordained by God?

Most people get stuck at some point because God appears to have abandoned them. He is not coming through. Speaking about her life with a mixture of disappointment and cynicism, a young woman recently said to me, “God is rather silent right now.” Yes, it’s been awful. I don’t discount that for a moment. She is unloved; she is unemployed; she is under a lot. But her attitude strikes me as deeply naive, on the level of someone caught in a cross fire who asks, rather shocked and with a sense of betrayal, “God, why won’t you make them stop firing at me?” I’m sorry, but that’s not where we are right now. It’s not where we are in the Story. That day is coming, later, when the lion shall lie down with the lamb and we’ll beat swords into plowshares. For now, it’s bloody battle.

It sure explains a whole heckuva lot.

You won’t understand your life, you won’t see clearly what has happened to you or how to live forward from here, unless you see it as battle. A war against your heart.

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These are the words of John Eldredge, founder of Ransomed Heart Ministries, and he is dead-on.  He is one of my favorite writers and authors.  I republish his blog posts almost on a daily basis.  We can learn a lot from his perspective on the Christian life.  This blog post was called, You Must Fight For Your Life and helps us to see life as a battlefield for our hearts and souls.  Good stuff.

In his book, Awaken the Dead, John Eldredge talks about three truths that we, as Christians, must accept.  First, that there is a spiritual dimension to life.  Second, that we are a world at war and third, that we have a crucial role to play.  All three elements are found in the blog post above as well.  And it’s true, isn’t it.  Scary maybe, but also true.  And we have to come to terms with it.  Of the three enemies of our soul, the Devil is probably the scariest but, funny enough, perhaps not the deadliest.  We also have our flesh and the world to fight against.  And, of the three, it is probably our flesh that is the most dangerous to the abundant life that we all desire.

We have been talking about the Sanctification Gap, that chasm between the holiness and perfect love of God as seen in His justice and mercy on the one hand, and the depths of our sin, our selfishness, our inability to love ourselves, much less God or anyone else on the other.  That Sanctification Gap continues even after we have been justified by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ.  In fact, precisely because it is a substitution, that it isn’t our righteousness, the gap exists because we are not made immediately perfect in love.  Our Sanctification is progressive.  But that gap between our Justification and our Sanctification also creates a credibility gap, both in our own eyes as well as in the eyes of other people.  And so it should.  It is a necessary part of our situation as Christians.

Why?  Why is it a necessary part of our situation as Christians?  I don’t get it.  It makes me feel terrible.  The more I know about God and his holy, perfect love for me, the more I recognize the sin that is in me.  And it isn’t just specific sins, it’s like I’m polluted with ego and selfishness and self-interest.  My commitment to my own authority is incredibly strong.  I find idols and other lovers, other priorities, other interests than my relationship with God distracting me and pushing me off the path on the road to Jerusalem.  It’s miserable.  I’m almost convinced that ignorace was bliss, but now I am no longer ignorant and I see myself as I truly am and it sickens me.  Good.  It’s supposed to.

Paul didn’t like it much either.  What a wretched man I am! he declared.  Who can save me from this body of sin?  But he also declared something else.  Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Paul’s struggle did not drive him to spiritual despair or to spiritual pride (if you ignore sin and the holiness of God) but rather it drove him back to the cross, over and over again.  There is only one solution and that is the cross of Christ.  In the next chapter of Romans, Paul goes on to talk about the supernatural, resurrection power of Christ that sets us free from law of sin and death.  We can’t forget that truth.  It is also part of the cross.  Jesus didn’t just die, he also was risen from the dead by God through the power of the Holy Spirit.  That is worth talking about.  In a lot greater detail.  Which we will.  But for now, let’s just stay with this concept of  “the struggle” a bit longer.

Some people think that the solution to our dilemma is that, as Christians, Jesus frees us from the struggle.  We are free in resurrection power to live righteous lives and, from now on, sin has no more hold on us and therefore a good Christian doesn’t sin any longer. 

Well, some of that is true and some of that is just plain false.  Let’s look at this in some more detail.  Paul seems to make it quite clear throughout his writings that the struggle with sin will permeate our lives until we are “delivered” into eternity.  There isn’t much doubt about that.  But he also makes it quite clear that we have resurrection power through our “umbilical cord” connection to Christ that we must access through faith which will help us in our struggle against sin.  Both things are true. 

What is not true is the conclusion that says since we don’t have to sin any longer, then anyone who continues to sin or struggle with sin is automatically an immature Christian or even worse, not a Christian at all.  Not true.

Let me make this clear.  The key to the dilemma is the presence of the Holy Spirit within.  No doubt.  He is the one who regenerates us.  But the key is not our ability to harness the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit which is available to us.  That puts the key in our own hands and we will always fail.  The key is in the hands of God, in the very presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The question we must ask is twofold.  On the one hand, is there evidence of the Holy Spirit and regeneration in my life?  And secondly, how do I access that Holy Spirit resurrection power?  The answer to both questions is the same but different.

The answer is faith.  Faith is both a gift and a skill that we must master.  We need to look for evidence of faith and we need to learn how to harness the power of that faith that we find within.  The Bible is clear that faith is a gift and that believing in Christ and recognizing our sin are the works of the Holy Spirit.  When you have the Holy Spirit within, you are convicted of the guilt of your sin.  That is evidence that non-believers just don’t have.  The very fact that you are worried about it, that you question it, that you are looking for evidence can only be so because the Holy Spirit is stirring you up to ask the question.  Looking for evidence of the Holy Spirit is evidence of the Holy Spirit. 

But it goes even further.  When you have the Holy Spirit within you, you also have hope.  Hope for the future, hope for salvation but most of all “the hope of righteousness.”  We look forward to the time when the struggle is over and we are at peace with ourselves and the gap is closed with actual righteousness which we will receive together with white robes at the Feast of the Lamb on that last day.  We have the righteousness of Christ but we also hope for the time when we are presented without spot or blemish before the throne of God.  Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.  He is our hope and to him we give our gratitude and love (what little we have).

In motivational terms, we call that intrinsic motivation.  There is something within us that is different, that wants something more, that struggles, that fails and then struggles again, something which cannot just “curse God and die,” something which continues on in the worst of all circumstances, that “wrestles with God,” that won’t let go until we are blessed.  Not because we are such great “strugglers” but simply because he stirs us up to do battle once again after every defeat, every failure, ever feeble effort at the mortification of our flesh.  For some strange, divine reason we have intrinsic motivation to struggle on in our walk with God.

Yes, there is some extrinsic motivation mixed in there as well.  We want to live forever.  We want God’s blessings.  We want the benefits of the relationship.  Perhaps we want to look good in front of the others at church.  Perhaps we want people to think we are good people.  Perhaps we are scared of hell.  Some of the extrinsic motivations are rooted in the Spirit and some are rooted in the Flesh.  Our job is to root out the flesh.

For some reason there is a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, some desire to close the gap, some effort at pleasing God.  Why?  Why bother?  Because you have the Holy Spirit within.  That is also evidence.  You want a relationship with God.  Why?  What’s the point?

You are willing to humble yourself in confession, put your reputation at risk, perhaps be taken advantage of, be persecuted by people (even in Church) when they get ahold of that confessional information.

You are willing to make every effort to repent, to make things right, to spend money and time in restitution and reconciliation.

You are willing to forgive, to accept the cross as sufficient payment for the sins against you, even if they do not confess or repent.

You are willing to extend spiritual trust and take the risk of being hurt again.  Why do you bother with all of this? Just forget it.  Let it go.  

You are willing to root out everything and anything that is getting in the way of your spiritual unity with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

You hunger for the holiness and power of the abundant life and the anointing that it brings.

You want to find your meaning in the significance of joint work with the Holy Spirit in joint ministry, you find your purpose in the great rescue operation that Jesus has launched in this world, you find your identity in Christ and in him alone.

Amazing.  What in the world is wrong with you?  Do you think for a moment that other people think this way, or even want to.  You are stark raving mad.  You have the Holy Spirit within.

The evidence of the Holy Spirit is not a sinless life, it is a spirit-filled life.  The evidence of the Holy Spirit is not about certain legalistic actions or words or religious efforts that you make every Sunday and Wednesday night, it is relational.

The question is whether or not you have a relationship with him and what is the evidence of that relationship.  Just because you go to church and you call yourself a Christian doesn’t mean diddlysquat if you don’t have the evidence of the relationship with the Holy Spirit.  In the same way that many people get married for many different reasons, the ones who are truly in love have evidence.  And most of the time they aren’t even looking for the evidence.  They just know.  That is what faith is.  Knowing the other and trusting that relationship.

The thing to remember is that God is in the business of creating a certain type of person and the way that he does it is to bring to the surface the sins and habits and problems of our life so that we are faced with our own demons and are taught how to overcome them.

When we sin, we need to ask ourselves some tough questions about our walk in the Spirit and our committment to Christ.  Yes, of course.  But then we go back to the cross and acknowledge that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  You must accept and affirm that you are in union with Christ now and that this sin is not appropriate for a child of God.  You do not belong to yourself, you cannot decide for yourself what sins you will or will not indulge in.

If you are justified, there will be a corresponding desire (however small) to respect such a great salvation, to give honor to God, to live up to the life that he calls us into.  Paul says it over and over again.  Live out the relationship you have within.

If you know and believe that you have the resurrection power within you to overcome this particular sin, then what is going on?  The truth is that it isn’t about being too weak (since we have resurrection level power within us to deal with sin), it isn’t about not having a way out of the temptation (God promises that there is always a way out), the truth is simply that we wanted to sin.  We wanted to commit this particular sin.  Why? 

Now we are getting down to brass tacks.  We can ask these questions precisely because there is no condemnation.  What idols, what bad habits, what stress-relief strategies are we committed to instead of God?  The process is painful but it is God’s way of uncovering sin so that we can deal with it through confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.  We need to go further, probe deeper, uncover the filth and deal with it and that can only happen in the context and culture of grace.

We are too quick to judge one another when we sin, perhaps because it scares us too.  We need to learn how to help and encourage one another to take our failures in righteousness to heart and learn from them and then give the Holy Spirit permission to tear the idols down and root them out of our lives.  We get help if necessary.  We get educated if necessary.  We fight for the abundant life.  There is a battle going on and I’ll be damned if I let the Devil win the day.  I am a child of God and I have power within me to transform my life and the lives of the people around me, the people that I love.  The Devil will not win the day.  The world (the flesh of others) will not win the day.  The flesh (my flesh) will not win the day.

I am like a Hollywood hero that cannot be defeated.  My story is already assured.  Yes, it can hurt.  Yes, I will still bleed.  I can get wounded, persecuted, thrown out of church, misunderstood, even die.  But I will live forever.  I cannot be defeated and my life is in God’s hands.  I can afford to take some risks, make some moves, take a leap of faith.  I can afford to follow God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength because he will take care of me eternally.  Yes, there is a struggle.  But I cannot be defeated.  I can only whimp out, quit, hide in the bushes, get distracted, lose interest, not care anymore.  I can give up on the relationship, at least for a while, but if I truly have the Holy Spirit, he is just going to stir me up and get me back in the fight so I might as well learn the tricks of the trade, take the training to be a desert warrior, fight the good fight and in the process, perhaps be used by God to save and transform another life.  Perhaps one of my own children.  Or a friend.  Or a complete stranger.  In any event, the price is worth it.  Isn’t it?

It is the quality of our fight that matters, not how many victories we have.  It is the quality of our relationship that matters not that we do everything right.  But the message for today is that the abundant life, the pleasure of God’s anointing, must be fought for.  There is a battle going on and real people are depending on you to get your act together, get your armour on, and go to war.  Life is spiritual warfare and lives are at stake and you and I have a crucial role to play.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God…..

Lord, I didn’t really realize that I have a crucial role to play in your plan of redemption.  You decided that you needed real witnesses, people transformed by the cross to give witness to the truth of the gospel.  It’s one thing to have the Word, and another to have the Spirit but, you also decided that you needed the testimony of your saints, real, transformed lives to give credeence to your offer of salvation.  Thank you for choosing me.  I’m a bit scared of the battle but I know that I cannot be defeated.  Others (including the church) may misunderstand me and mistreat me but you know my ways, my feeble efforts, my desire to please you.  Teach me to look for the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the relationship not in acts of righteousness.  Thank you for that freedom in Christ.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1,2 NIV).

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1,2 NIV).

The Secret

Do you remember the book, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne that they also made into a movie?  It was really popular for a while and promoted what they called The Law of Attraction which claims that thinking positively about something can make it appear in your life.  A dubious idea at best.  It was clothed with some religious language (ask, believe, and receive) and fits well into the Prosperity Gospel that has swept through the American churches in recent years.  It sold 20 million copies at least and was translated into more than 50 languages.  Rhonda Byrne certainly attracted a lot of money and fame into her life.  Maybe it does work!

Well, I have a better alternative for you to read.  It is called The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith and was first published in 1870.  It’s a classic on the spiritual life and well worth reading.  It sold only 2 million copies but was also translated into multiple languages.  Hannah Whitall Smith was born in Philadelphia from a long line of prominent Quakers.  She and her husband were lay speakers for the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life Movement in England.  They were the forerunners of the Keswick Conferences and the Deeper Life Movement that have been a blessing to millions.

Hannah didn’t have a perfect life by a long shot.  She had seven children but only three lived into adulthood, one marrying the famous philosopher Bertrand Russell.  She was quite active in the women’s rights and suffrage movements and her views on the role of women were quite progressive for the times.  But her later years were rocked with scandal because of the sexual misconduct of her husband, Robert, and his ongoing temptation with adultery.  Hannah died in England in 1911.  She lived a modest life and some would say that she ended her life in disgrace.

And yet….

Sure, she was influenced by Wesley’s view of sanctification and bordered on some dubious Christian mysticism.  She even became a Universalist in her later years believing that everyone will ultimately be saved and no one will go to hell.  Obviously, there are some things here that we should take with a grain of salt.  Many people criticize her view of sanctification by calling it the “Let go and let God” theology of holiness.  Just relax and let God do it all.  But this is a truly unfair caricature of what she taught.  The later Keswick Conferences and the Deeper Life Movement corrected some of the imbalances in her theology and are now considered to be one of the most influential spiritual movements of our time.   It is easy to miss the message of her book and that would be a real shame because she got one thing absolutely right.  She had found The Secret (and, no, it wasn’t the Law of Attraction).

It really isn’t a secret, I suppose, since the Bible certainly teaches it over and over again, but she put it so well and stayed focused on the one thing that mattered most.  We have to recognize that she, indeed, deserves her place as one of the great spiritual writers of the previous generation.  She found the Secret and I want to share it with you.

Once you understand what the secret is you will see it everywhere in the gospels as the background to all of the apostolic writings, the disciples efforts, the encouragements, the admonitions, the rebukes.  Once you see it, you will recognize it as the heart of the gospel, the focus of the cross, the one experience of the new testament church that makes sense of everything they went through.

It is only a secret to those who are still dallying with sin, still half-hearted in their walk with God, still confused about the Bible’s teaching on holiness as a life set apart to God in full surrender and consecration to his work and purposes.

There, I’ve said it.  It just slipped out. It is a secret that the Devil will work hard to keep from your eyes and from your mind but if you let the Holy Spirit show it to you, it can transform your life and your walk with God.  Hannah puts it this way.  What she means by the secret is “an entire surrender of the whole being to God – spirit, soul, and body placed under His absolute control, for Him to do with us just what He pleases.  We mean that the language of our hearts, under all circumstances and in view of every act, is to be “Thy will be done.”  We mean the giving up of all liberty of choice.  We mean a life of inevitable obedience” (p. 48).  Just like Jesus in his Temptation on the Way to the Cross in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Yes, I know.  It isn’t really a secret.  We sing songs about it in church (I surrender all) and we hear sermons that call us to repentance as a form of surrender of our wills to the will of God.  And yet so few people do it or live in that kind of surrender on an ongoing basis.  For Hannah, it was a way of life.  It was a place of rest.  She could decide once and for all (and then renew that commitment as many times as necessary) that she belonged body and soul to her Lord Jesus Christ and that meant nothing less than absolute obedience to His will.  It meant searching her heart to root out any area of secrecy or rebellion or self-will.  It meant training in righteousness for the moment of temptation and resorting to the way of the cross when she sinned.  But she got back on the path as quickly as she could and she dealt with sin ruthlessly and efficiently.  It didn’t all happen at once but the first step still could put you entirely into the abundant life even though you might have to learn and train yourself to deal with your wayward emotions, mind and will.

This is the abundant life.  It was a focus on the relationship first of all.  Hannah made a big point (and that is the secret) of focusing on the relationship first and in that context deal with the issue of sin and temptation and failings and difficulties.  Without prioritizing the relationship first, all of your efforts at holiness are bound to fail since they are rooted in the flesh and not in the Spirit.

We often try to deal with sin and temptation without first making a pledge, a commitment to one hundred percent surrender.  That is what Paul meant by trying to obey God in the power of the flesh.  Jesus isn’t interested.  It doesn’t work.  Our walk in holiness is not meant to be our work but rather Christ’s work in us.  Our job is to stay in a right relationship with him (and others) through the way of the cross by confessing our sins and then making a pledge, a commitment to a lifestyle of repentance and obedience.  We deal with the specific sin, of course, by changing our ways and getting whatever help we need to deal with it but we also need to make a commitment to the overall lifestyle/relationship that we will follow.  Just like marriage.  We cannot let sin discourage us from this posture of surrender, of loving obedience as a way of life.  We cannot let our weaknesses distract us from the relationship that is ours through faith both in terms of justification as well as holiness.

Full surrender and consecration to his purposes and will is the focus and attitude of our hearts in our relationship with God made possible through the cross.  Sin cannot stop us from entering into that abundant life.  We may commit ourselves one moment and then find ourselves sinning the next.  As soon as we are aware of it, we need to act on it.  Confess it.  Ask for God to help us with it.  Deal with it.  As one Pastor has so aptly put it, “Sin is the easiest thing to deal with if you take it to the cross.”  There are many pitfalls that we must learn to avoid and that is part of the training in righteosness.

Let me give you one example.  Sometimes our propensity to sin can discourage us and we think that this is “a righteous grief and disgust at ourselves that such things could be any temptation to us” (p. 125).  Hannah goes on to explain, “we are discouraged because we have expected something from ourselves, and have been sorely disappointed not to find that something there” (p.125).  But this is nothing but wounded self-love.  “True humility can bear to see its own utter weakness and foolishness revealed, because it never expected anything from itself, and knows that its only hope and expectation must be in God” (p. 125).

This kind of training in righteousness will keep our relationship with God right and mortify our flesh so that it cannot interfere with the abundant life.  Does that mean that we will never sin?  No.  It means that we can grow in righteousness.  It means that we can become more mature in the relationship (just like human relationships).  It means that we can certainly learn how to stay focused and not get distracted from the one thing that matters – staying connected to Jesus so that His life can flow in us and through us.

So what did Hannah mean by “letting go and letting God.”  Well, remember that that is a caricature of what she actually meant.  Yes, some of her language isn’t as precise as it should be.  She was a layperson not a theologian but what she lacked in clarity she made up for in passion.  When you look at the work it takes to stay in right relationship with God and the strength of will it needs, the determination it takes, you wonder what part God has to play in all of this.  What Hannah believed is that our wills would be strengthened by God and that our determination to follow Him with our whole hearts would be supported by the Holy Spirit but we have to take the step of faith.

We have to believe in faith that the resurrection power of God is there waiting for us to access it and that it is free for whoever wants it badly enough to commit their lives into the hands of God.  That full surrender and consecration to his purposes and will is the secret that unlocks the power of the abundant life and brings peace and joy and love beyond measure.

The idea is to let go of our own self-will and to take hold of God by fully committing ourselves to His will for our lives.  When we take this step of faith, God will respond and will give us access to that resurrection power that can transform lives.  There are literally thousands of testimonies that it happens exactly like that.  Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith but we must take hold of him by faith through a complete (not partial) surrender of our wills.  If you love me, Jesus said, you will obey my commandments.  Period.  You can argue all you want that your will isn’t strong enough for that (even if we are only talking about conscious sins) but that is the whole point.  Your will (and mine) most certainly isn’t strong enough to maintain that commitment or to keep our promises.  We are entirely dependent on Him to give us the power to continue and He has promised that power to us.  We need to grab ahold of it by faith.

There is a lot more to say about this secret of the Happy Christian life, not the least of which is that this happiness is really the true joy that comes from surrendering all things into his hands and then seeing his power come alive in you.  Are we always able to hold on to this power without falling?  Of course not.  That’s not the point.  Let’s not get all perfectionistic all of a sudden.  It isn’t about being perfect in our obedience at every moment of every day but rather it is about fighting to stay in constant contact, in right relationship, in the peace of His presence as much as possible.

And every time we are knocked off the path, we scramble right back up without remorse or shame because He loves us and wants us back in his arms absolutely as fast as possible.  That’s why He died on the cross to make it possible for us to sin and repent and sin and repent not seven times but seventy times seven. That means that our desire to get right back on the path, to struggle to stay in that sweet spot, to keep coming back to him without shame is a sign and evidence of our faith in his salvation.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Of course we belong back on the path in his arms.  We are one with him.  Where else would we be, where else could we go?  This is the secret of the abundant life.  Walk in it.

The Desert Warrior

P.S. Let’s talk to God…..

Lord, I want to surrender my life to you fully and completely.  I consecrate my life, my resources, my family, my reputation to your work and purposes and will.  Please train me in righteousness so that I can deal with sin and rebellion and failure quickly and efficiently through the way of the cross.  Help me to live in the joy of the abundant life.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.  Bless those who persecute you: bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.  Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written:  “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the conrtrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him: if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12: 9-21 NIV).

Love Must Be Sincere

“So, what are you planning to do for the Easter long weekend?” John asked.  He and Sofi were over for an asado at our house at noon on Good Friday.  Vero was taking care of all the extras but I was in charge of cooking the chorizos on the parrilla.  Potatoe salad and wine usually accompanied the traditional meal in Argentina and we were having a good time.

“Well,” I said.  “Tonight our church family is getting together at 7pm to watch The Passion of the Christ.  You know, the film that Mel Gibson made.”

“I’ve seen it,” Sofi said.  “A bit gruesome.”

“I think that was supposed to be the idea,” my wife said.  “The Romans were pretty cruel people and crucifiction is probably the worst way to die.”

“Do you think it’s a realistic view of what actually happened?” John asked me.

“I think so,” I said.  “But the thing to remember is that it wasn’t the physical suffering that Jesus was upset about in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It was the rejection he was getting from his Father that bothered him most.”

“He suffered the wrath of God on all sins, you said in your blog,” Sofi commented.

We all turned to look at her.

“Are you reading my blog,” I asked her, a bit surprised.

She just nodded her head and kept eating her food.  There was more to her than met the eye.  We knew that John had given his heart to the Lord but we weren’t sure where Sofi was at yet.  This was a good sign.

“Well, good,” I said.  “That’s right.  Let’s call it spiritual suffering but without thinking for a minute that it didn’t hurt plenty.  Jesus was so concerned that he sweated large drops of blood in his temptation to avoid the cross.”

“Jesus wanted to avoid the cross?” John asked.

“He wanted to avoid the wrath of God,” I clarified.  “And, of course he would want to.  He loved God with all his heart.  Why would he want to suffer his wrath.”

“He did it because he loved us,” Sofi offered.

“Actually, he did it because he loved God,” I said.  “The Bible says that God so loved the world that He gave his son.  But Jesus did it because he loved his Father and made the decision to trust him and obey him even if he was asked to do something that he hated so much.”

“That is the best way to love God,” my wife ventured.  “Doing things his way even when we don’t want to.  Trusting him even with our lives.”

“Exactly.”

Everyone was silent for a long moment.  John seemed a bit perplexed and I was wondering what was bothering him.  So I asked him what was wrong.

“Well,” John said.  “This Easter stuff is really getting to me.  That and your blog.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s all getting a bit too serious for me.”

He was quiet.  I let him think it out for a moment.

“This all started out as something to do to keep Sofi’s parents happy,” he said.  “They wanted me to become Catholic but I chose to come to your Alpha Course instead.”  He paused.  “I wanted to  honor my parent’s protestant roots or something.  I don’t know.”

“And?”

“Well, it isn’t just about religion anymore.”  He looked at me sharply.  “You kind of raised the stakes a bit, a lot.  Now it’s about suffering and dying and becoming living sacrifices.”

“You read my blog from yesterday?”

“Yes, and it bothered me a lot.”

“Go on.”

“I’m not sure that I signed up for all this.”  His eyes looked haunted.  “Can’t I just be a good guy and marry Sofi and have children and live life like everyone else?”

“No,” I said.  “No, you can’t.”  My wife looked at me sharply.  I just ignored her.

John sat there thinking.  Sofi didn’t say a word.  Finally John spoke.

“Well, I guess I can’t back out now.”

“Why not?”  I asked.

He looked up at me sheepishly.  “I told the Pastor that I wanted to be baptized on Resurrection Sunday.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand,” I said.

John looked down at his plate.  After a moment I noticed tears falling on his unfinished food.  I reached over and put my hand on his shoulder.  He lifted his head, unashamed of his tears.

“I just don’t know if I can do all this stuff,” he said.  “It’s a bit much.”

“Well, let me assure you that you absolutely cannot do all this stuff,” I said, smiling.  “You will need help.  Help from God, help from us and the church.  You can’t do it on your own and you’re not expected to.”

“That helps a bit, I guess.”

“Let me ask you a question,” I said.  I didn’t wait for him to answer.  “Are you willing to die for Sofi?”

Sofi looked up at me and then over at John.

“Of course,” John said, without hesitation.  “But I don’t really expect it to happen.”

“But if a situation comes up, would you be willing?”  I insisted.

“Yes, of course.”

“And I would die for him,” Sofi added.  Then she grabbed his hand on top of the table and held on for dear life.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” I said.  “You’re in love, after all, and that is the nature of love.  Right?”

“Yeah,” John said.  “What’s your point?”

“My point is that your attitude, even if it doesn’t actually or literally happen, will affect all aspects of your relationship with each other.”

Both Sofi and John just looked at me.

“Let me put it another way,” I said.  “When you stand up in front of everyone in the church on your wedding day, you will exchange vows.  You will promise to love and cherish each other for riches or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part.”

Sofi and John looked at each other and smiled.

“Well, that’s what love does and that’s what love says.  It’s the nature of love to be constant no matter what life throws at you.  Sometimes you have money.  Sometimes you don’t.  Sometimes you are healthy, sometimes you get sick.”

I looked at both of them and decided to go even deeper.

“Look, John, let me ask you some hard questions,” I said.  “Do you think your love for Sofi is sincere?”

“Of course it is.”

“How do you know?”

John looked a bit bewildered.  “I don’t know,” he said.  “I just know.”

“More than fifty percent of people get divorced these days, even in the church,” I said.  “Of the remaining amount, most people stay together for the sake of their kids or from social pressure but they drift apart when they retire or when the kids leave the house.”

“That’s not going to happen to us,” Sofi said fervently.

“Maybe not,” I said.  “But it does happen to most people.  That’s a fact.  Very few people make it to old age with the person they first married.”

“Sofi and I are planning to grow old together,” John said.  “I don’t even remotely doubt it.”

“I believe you,” I said.  “Most people feel the same way when they first get married.”

“But?” my wife said.  Even she didn’t know where I was going with this.  Maybe she wanted to know if we were going to make it through to old age.  Although we were practically there already.

“But, the truth is that most people don’t last.  Most people don’t make it.  And do you know why?”

“Tell us already,” John said.  He was getting frustrated with this line of questioning.  Good.  That was the idea.

“Because most people don’t know what you two already know,” I said.  “They don’t realize that they are godless people and that wickedness is within them.  They don’t realize that love and marriage vows will be eroded by the sinful nature that they have and that they will eventually destroy their own love for each other.”

John’s eyes were wide and his thoughts were racing.  I could see it on his face.  I kept going.

“Yes, John.  This is serious business.  The world is full of evil and hurt and divorce and pain.  Children are scarred for life when they go through a divorce.  Husbands and wives are deeply hurt.  The Bible says that God hates divorce and when you’ve gone through one, like I have, you will definitely agree with Him.”

Everyone was quiet.  No one said a word.  I didn’t want to bring up Sofi’s almost abortion.  That was serious business too.  But I was sure John knew that.

“Of course this is serious business,”  I said.  “Do you really want to go through your life like everyone else?  Do you really want to be fighting with Sofi and perhaps with your children, sick and tired of the relationship, wanting out, all because you refuse to deal with the sin within you?  Do you really think that poverty cannot touch you, or sickness, or evil?  Do you really want to get to the end of your days and face death, and sickness and suffering alone?  Do you really want to take the chance that your kids are killed in a drunk driving accident and you do not have the support and care of God in your life?  Do you really want to be just like everyone else?  Numb to the realities of life, living a fantasy that everything is fine when we are a world at war with ourselves and God?”  I was breathing heavy.  “Not me,” I said with finality.  “But you have to make up your own mind.”

“Not me, either,” John said quietly.

“Normal life is overrated,” my wife said smiling.  She was trying to get things back to normal.  “I wouldn’t trade our life together or with God for anything in the world.”

“I guess if it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be worth doing,” Sofi said.

“Exactly,” I said.  “If love is sincere, then it has to be willing to pay the price.  Unfortunately in this life, the price for love is high.  Maybe that’s a good thing.”

“Why?” John said.

“Because if the price for love is high, it will make us get serious about things,” I said.  “All the best things in life are free…”

“But they cost you everything,” John finished, smiling.

“Right.”

“Aren’t you going to write a blog post tonight about that passage in Romans where it says that love must be sincere?” my wife asked.

“Yes, I am,” I said.  “Paul goes through a whole list of things to explain what he means about love being sincere.  He talks about relationships mostly and about how serious they are.  In fact, he gets downright radical at one point.”

“What do you mean?”

“Paul says things like, don’t repay evil with evil.  Sounds good but not very practical.  We tend to get mad at people who hurt us and a bit of “tit for tat” is our normal way of thinking.  Especially in marriage.”

“What else?”

“Paul says that we need to bless those who persecute us and not curse them.  Another thing that is impossible to do without God’s help.  People who treat us badly, much less persecute us, are not generally people we want to bless.”

“Doesn’t it say something about giving food to our enemies?” my wife asked.

“It sure does.  If your enemy is hungry, feed him: if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  Another impossibility.  Paul summarizes the whole idea of sincere love from the heart with his final phrase where he says, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

“I’m not sure that I can do that always,” John said.  “Even with God’s help.”

“Well,” I said, “If you can’t, your marriage will probably not last.”

“Come on,” my wife said.  “That can’t be true.”

I didn’t say anything.  I just let them stew on it a bit.  Finally John spoke up.

“So what you’re saying is that my love for Sofi must be radically sincere for our marriage to work,” John said.

“And it needs to last a lifetime,” Sofi added, thoughtfully.

“And it needs to be able to handle sickness and poverty and even sin and evil which is in both of you, as well as everything else that life can throw at you,” I added.  “Yes, exactly.”

“A normal marriage doesn’t last because sincere love that is strong enough to deal with the real world, doesn’t last,” John said slowly.

“I wish it was different.  Everybody believes that their love will last.  That they will beat the odds.  But they are wrong,” I said.

“So what’s the solution?” John asked.

“To get serious about the problem,” I said.

“And about the solution,” my wife added.  She now understood where I was going with this.

“The problem of sin and evil within us which is always at war with love and the solution of the Holy Spirit to change us which is our only defense,” John said.  “Ok, I get it.”

“There are people who get to old age with their spouses who are not Christians and there are Christians who don’t even get to first base in their relationships, so it is more than just about being a Christian,” I said.  “It is about making your initial, wonderful love into a more mature, sincere love that is able to weather any storm, any problem the world can throw at you.”

“But you can’t do that alone,” my wife added.  “You will need God’s help and help from the church.”

“But only if you want to get serious about your relationship with Sofi,” I said. “And with God.”

“Ok, ok, I get the point,” John said, his hands in the air to defend himself.  “The first thing we’re going to do is come see this serious movie tonight at the church.  What time does it start?”

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, I want to get serious about my relationship with you as well.  Sometimes all of this talk about pain and suffering scares me, but, like marriage, I know that I want this relationship with you and I will just trust that you will help me through the rough spots.  Teach me how to have a mature, sincere love that can handle anything that life can throw at it.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12: 1,2 NIV).

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39 NIV).

Living Sacrifices

One of the greatest periods of spiritual power in the history of the church was in the early church, in the first 400 years especially, when the church went from a persecuted minority to becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire.  This was accomplished really because of one thing and one thing only.  Many ordinary Christians took this verse in Romans 12:1,2 seriously.  They were willing to become living sacrifices and pay the ultimate price for following their Lord and Saviour.

From the night parties of Nero who burnt Christians at the stake for entertainment and illumination to the systematic persecution by the State just before the final, reluctant, capitulation of Rome in the face of the barbarian invasions on the one hand and the persistent witness of Christians on the other hand that demonstrated that their faith made a real difference in their lives.  There is transforming power in a life lived as a living sacrifice.

The Book of Revelations is particularly revealing about this strategy that God is using to overcome evil in the world.  The issue is bigger than just ourselves or our own comfort and security.  There are eternal issues at stake.  Entire peoples are in danger.

The Book of Revelations gives us a view of the cosmic battle from God’s point of view and our place in it.  John makes it clear that the secret weapon that God uses to defeat Evil is the living martyrs in his army of believers who were willing to sacrifice their lives daily in self-denial and sometimes, literally, in death.

Christians were killed outright.  Some were thrown to the lions for the sport and entertainment of the crowd.  Their faith and steadfast assurance was a testimony to the crowds that their God was worth dying for.  Some were beheaded.  Some were given the opportunity to recant, to turn back from their folly and join Roman society once again.  And some did.  But many, many did not.

And that was not only true of those who lived under Roman rule in the early years.  It has been true throughout the history of the church.  Even today.  In some parts of the Middle East and Africa, Christians are still persecuted and killed for their faith.  Their witness will not be forgotten.

I remember one story that came out of the communist persecution of Christians in China.  Apparently a number of people were lined up ready to be shot for their decision not to recant their commitment to follow Christ.  The man in charge of the firing squad gave them one last chance to step out of line, reject Christ, and walk away scot free.  One man did just that but before the colonel could order the rest to be shot, someone from the crowd walked over and took his place.  The colonel asked him what he was doing and the man replied.  “I saw someone throw down his crown and I decided to pick it up for myself.”  The colonel just shook his head and ordered them all to be shot on the spot.

Yes, there is a special crown for those who are martyred for their faith.  It is a particularly beautiful idea that God so values the death of his saints that he has a special reward for those who would not hold on to this life at the expense of their eternal home with God.

Jesus said it clearly in Matthew 16:25 that “whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  It seems a bit radical to most people today but this has always been the fundamental concept of Christianity.  Anything less than this attitude is simply religion and not true spiritual worship.  Look at what Jesus says.  He doesn’t say that you have to die as a martyr for the cause.  That may happen but that is not what he is saying here.  He says “whoever would save his live will lose it.”  Whoever “would” speaks of an attitude, a way of thinking, a priority.  If protecting your own life, your own interests, your own desires is your focus and attitude, you have missed what Christianity is all about.  It isn’t about you.  It’s about Christ.  It’s about following him which means that we have to deny ourselves, take up our cross (in confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation) every day and follow Him. 

At first glance this idea of Paul’s that we need to learn to become “living sacrifices” seems to be a bit contradictory.  How can you be both “living” and a “sacrifice” at the same time?  Isn’t a “sacrifice” by definition dead?  Yes, usually.  It is the same concept as a “living martyr” from the Book of Revelations.  Yes, you may actually die as a martyr in a particular situation but it isn’t just the dying that was a witness to the Romans (or the Chinese) but rather the way that these people lived who were ready to die.  That is what Jesus was talking about.  “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Yes, you will find life in the afterlife but it is also true in this life.  Many of us have experienced it first hand.

Our walk in the Spirit is marked by a certain attitude, a certain sureness, that nothing can shake, nothing can take away.  “For I am convinced,” Paul tells us in Romans 8:38,39 NIV, “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you truly believe that, you have nothing to fear.  It doesn’t happen overnight but with time you will grow into the maturity of that assurance of faith.  It is also an evidence and a gift of the Holy Spirit within.  And if you have that assurance that niether life nor death can separate you from the love of God then what are you worried about?  Your focus changes.  Your priorities change.  Your values are transformed.

The only issue is to live life with a focus on the Kingdom of God, pleasing God, being involved in the things that he is concerned about.  Finding out his good, pleasing and perfect will and doing it.  Continuing to be transformed by the renewing of your mind through the Word of God.  The focus is not on building our own kingdoms or even protecting our own lives at any cost.

How many movies and books have we watched were the principal character does everything in his power to protect his life and the life of his family.  So far, so good.  We have a responsibility to protect those we love and those we come into contact with.  The hero always makes the decision to fight for life often putting his own life in danger.  The villian always seems to take the coward’s way out and tries to protect his own life at the expense of others.  In the movies, the hero always wins the day and the villian dies anyway even after all of his selfish efforts to try to save his own life at any cost.

The problem is that real life is not a Hollywood movie.  Often the hero just dies.  Often the ones he is trying to protect also die.  Often the villian, the selfish one, lives.  That’s the way life is sometimes, often times.  Until you factor God in.  And this is the key point.  Even if you die, you live.  Even if you fail, you win.  Because the issue isn’t staying alive at any cost but living life as a living sacrifice focused on the will of God rather than on your own life.  You have given your life to God.  It has been bought with a price.  You are now protected for eternity.  Nothing can permanently harm you.  Eternal life is what matters and it frees you from the mundane concerns of a life that is often fickle and unpredictable.  You are protected eternally, even if you are in danger in this life.

The problem is that this focus, this approach to life, takes faith.  You have to believe that eternal life is yours.  You have to keep eternity in view in order to deal with the realities of this world.  That is how living martyrs, living sacrifices, look at the world.  They are willing to make sacrifices in this life because their focus, their desire, their hope is in the life to come.

You won’t have that kind of faith the first day but it will come.  It will grow as you use it.  It will become stronger as you understand more, as your mind is transformed by the truth of the Word of God.  Give it time.  But it is important to know that this is the ultimate goal.  This is your significance in God’s eyes.  Your identity as a child of God is secure.  Your purpose is clear but perhaps you didn’t understand how significant, how important you are in God’s plans.  Now you do.

In an earlier post we said that the nature of our struggle is not just against the sinful nature within but that it also has a goal which was to learn how to suffer as Jesus did.  When we join him in his suffering, we will also join him in his glory (Romans 8:17).  We do not suffer for our own sins.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  But, like Christ Jesus, we can suffer for others.  We can become living sacrifices, living witnesses of the transforming power of God in our lives, living martyrs willing to sacrifice this life and its pleasures and desires for the life to come, for a relationship with the God who loved us enough to save us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).  That is the focus of being a living sacrifice.  It isn’t just about what we give up, what we put to death, what we sacrifice in this life for the life to come.  It’s about WHY.  The WHY is key.

I often pray this verse as a prayer.  I say to God that I am willing to sacrifice anything, change anything in my life, give up whatever He wants me to give up, crucify my flesh, my sinful nature, transform my attitudes, whatever it takes if it will improve my witness to my children, my wife, my friends, my church family.  You see, our witness matters.  It matters a lot.  It is essential.  This is our significance.  We are necessary to God’s plan to overcome evil in the lives of real people, people that we know and love, so that they can be born again into newness of life.

It matters to me that my children come to the Lord.  If you think that is automatic, you are sadly mistaken.  The promises of Scripture about our kids is based on the assumption that we have a dynamic, real witness to our relationship with God.  It is not to be taken lightly.  It is a burden of glory to be a real witness to the transforming power of God in my life.  The eternal destiny of my children is at stake.

Let’s go a little deeper.

There are three parts to these verses in Romans 12:1,2.  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The first part is the main idea of living sacrifices.  In view of God’s mercy towards you, it is not too much to ask that your life becomes a ministry, a witness to others.  That is your spiritual worship.  Don’t play games with God.  It isn’t about singing hymns and raising your hands and giving an offering on Sunday morning.  Your spiritual worship is a life that is a living sacrifice, a real, authentic witness of what it means to be a living martyr who lives by faith and is therefore able to give up this world and this life to live on a differnt plane, a different level of life as a constant real witness of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit within.  That is what our spiritual worship is.

Jesus reminds us in John 4:24 that God is looking for worshippers who worship him in spirit and in truth.  Now you know what he meant.  It is impossible to get to this place of spiritual worship without walking in the Spirit on a regular basis, dealing with your sinful nature, and struggling with your old man/woman.  But as you practice living out your life as a living sacrifice, which is your spiritual worship, you will realize that it can’t be faked, it has to be real by definition.  And it can only be done as your mind is transformed by the renewing power of the Word of God.  The Spirit and the Word always go together.  So the truth of an authentic walk with God empowered by the transforming truth of the Word of God applied in your life by the Holy Spirit who brings you into this Resurrection Maturity, creates your spiritual worship.  That is how we worship in spirit and in truth.

So the first part is about real Christianity.

The second part tells you how it will be done.  Through the transforming power of the Word of God as it renews your mind.  But there is still an exhortation not to be conformed to the patterns and thinking of the world which prioritizes their own safety and life above everything else at any cost.  We must still be involved.  It isn’t automatic.  We are a key part of this sanctification process.  We need to deny ourselves, deny the world, deny the Devil his influence in our lives and be willing to be transformed by God’s way of looking at things.

The final part is clearly the consequences of the focus of our lives and the means of our transformation.  It is in that context that we will know and approve the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.  Our problem is that we don’t really like God’s agenda very much.  We realize that God may allow people to be hurt, to endure pain, to be uncomfortable, to lose money, to experience rejection, persecution and suffering.  God’s agenda in this evil and dangerous world is understandable but it goes against what our agenda usually is – which is to protect ourselves and make our lives the main priority.  That is not what it means to live by faith.

To live by faith is to give our lives over to his care, knowing that we may suffer and even die in the service of His purpose and goals in this world.  We are often uncomfortable with his agenda at first but as we mature and grow in Christ and our minds are transformed, we will begin to accept and approve of God’s will.  We will see that this is the price that needs to be paid for an effective witness to those that we love.  The stakes are too high, too important for us to play games with our witness, our sacrifice, our martyrdom.  When we accept and approve of God’s will for our lives, our transformation will become a source of power and anointing in our evangelism and witness.

It is not that God’s will is sometimes good, sometimes pleasing and sometimes perfect.  We are not evaluating God’s will according to what we think is good, pleasing and perfect (although I have heard sermons doing that very thing).  All of God’s will is always good, pleasing and perfect.  It is we who are transformed.  We who gain a new perspective.  We who realize that God’s will for us to become a living sacrifice for the sake of our children, our friends, our family is always good, and is very pleasing to us (in terms of the goal) and is absolutely perfect in all ways and at all times.  Perfect because it is rooted in love.

What that means is that everyone I come into contact with is on purpose.  There are no accidents, no coincidences.  My life and witness is important.  This significance, this life ministry, this burden of glory is the ultimate purpose of my life.  My identity is in Christ.  My purpose is to follow Him and my significance is that my witness matters.  These three things create meaning in my life.  It’s what makes it all worthwhile.  That is a transforming power that can change everything about me and make me more like Christ.  That is the glory of God’s character in me.

Everything that Jesus said about us suddenly becomes clear.  It means that I become a fountain of living water to refresh those around me.  It means that I am a light on a hill.  I am salt.  I bear fruit and that fruit is the lives of those I come in contact with.  I am a true disciple.  A follower.  A Christian.  It is real and it is powerful.  That is the normal (even if uncommon) Christian life.  And it is available to us all.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, I want to be a fountain of living water.  I want to be salt and light in the life of my family and for the sake of my kids.  I want to be a living sacrifice.  I am not sure that I am up to it.  The struggle is hard against my sinful nature but you said that you would help me.  More than that, there is no way that I can do it without you.  That is the work of the Holy Spirit.  I am still involved and I still need to deny myself and enter into the struggle.  But I know from experience that it only seems hard.  Once I start, you are always right there to help me, to empower me, to get me through the rough spots.  It’s almost as if you are just waiting to see me take the first step, to show that I am willing and then you are there in an instant to help.  Thank you for that, Lord.  In your name I pray.  Amen.