YOU CAN DO IT!

YOU'RE AWESOME!

The air is thick these days with encouragement. Encouragement, in fact, seems to have subtly replaced the Gospel. New Age think-ology has so infected Christianity that to the naive and scripturally illiterate, the two are becoming synonymous .

"God is for you!"
 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 
"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."

All true. All valuable parts of scripture.

The problem with the current trend is that many presenters of modern Christianity pretty much stop the message there. Rah-Rah Christianity has overtaken what Paul calls "the whole counsel of God."  In Acts 20:26, he says, "I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."

The whole counsel of God. What a telling phrase! Encouragement is certainly a part of God's counsel, but his encouragement is reserved for those who are investing their lives in His purposes. God's encouragement has nothing to do with My dreams, My wishes, My desires, and My ideas. God's encouragement was always aimed at those who were committed to His dreams, His wishes, His desires, and His ideas.

The whole counsel of God has been pared down to pre-chewed bites of Postive Theology 

and doled out as tasty morsels 

to an entire generation who think that's all there is.

Even more interesting is that this verse is followed by a clear warning. "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock...know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them."

Notice he doesn't say false things. He calls the teaching "twisted." To twist something means we take the raw substance and maneuver it to fit our desires. To twist the Bible is to take isolated verses and apply them liberally to people and situations where they do not apply. To twist scripture is to filter it and keep only the feel-good thoughts and slogans everyone will Like on Facebook.

And he warns that these "fierce wolves" will arise "from among your own selves." It would be easy to spot a fierce wolf from the Muslim religion, a Buddhist, or an atheist.  But it can be extremely difficult to identify fierce wolves who look like, talk like, and claim to believe the same things we believe. How do we recognize them?

Paul answers that: Are they declaring the "whole counsel of God?"

A.W. Tozer said, "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply." We sure don't hear that taught much on religious television, do we? Can you imagine a NYT bestseller with that title?

Paul declares himself innocent of the blood of those who have refused his teaching based on the fact that he did "not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God."

The whole counsel includes the vast bulk of Jesus' teaching that involved giving up everything for his sake. The whole counsel lays the scriptural foundation for pleasing God--death to SELF. "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet, not I, but Christ lives in me." (Gal. 2:20)


The whole counsel refuses to encourage the carnal in their carnality and the unbelievers on their way to hell. The whole counsel is the voice of the prophets crying the unpopular truth from the mountaintops. The whole counsel tells people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

The implication is heavy. What would Paul say to those who call themselves minsters of the Gospel, but they DO shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God?

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I Have a Right to Be Entitled

They scraped and saved and did without. They wrangled deals until the day came when they could afford it. With tears of joy, they presented their beloved daughter with the gift of a lifetime.

Her face said it all as she squealed with delight. "Oh, finally! Cool! I can't wait to tell my friends!" She whirled away from her parents and raced into the house.

Mom looked at Dad. "I guess she liked it. She seemed happy."

Dad's smile wavered and his eyes followed his daughter's quick exit. "Yeah, she seemed to...Surely she'll know now how much we love her. You think...you think she does?"

Mom swallowed hard and followed his gaze. "Surely."

Through the open window came the sound of an excited voice. "It's awesome, Jill! Not the color I would have chosen, but still...I'm gonna look so cool! Everyone will be so jealous. It's about time I got it. I don't know why it took so long. You wanna go out tonight and show off with me? This'll make ol' Shelly eat her words about me. I'm gonna..."

Do you see something wrong with that scene?

If you've ever been on the parents' end of it, you see the problem right away. An ungrateful spirit and an entitlement attitude on the part of the daughter.

But have you ever been the daughter?

As I read the story in Exodus about Moses whacking the rock to bring forth water for the thirsty Israelites in the desert, I wondered: Why did God always change methods every time he did a miracle or gave a great gift? He rarely did things the same way twice. One time he had Moses whacking the rock, the next time speaking to it.

When Jesus healed someone in the New Testament, you just never knew how He was going to do it. One time he touched them, one time He merely spoke. One time He made mud out of spit and smearing it on a blind man's eyes. But why? Why alter the methods so drastically?

Because God is the parent of a bunch of ungrateful, self-centered children
with entitlement attitudes.

We beg Him to bless us, give us what we want, and we often do it with an attitude of expectation. We call it faith, but it's not. It's entitlement. As though the mere presence of a desire obligates God to give us what we want.

I believe He keeps us guessing because He wants us to want Him, not just His gifts. As soon as we think we know how God is going to work, we become complacent. We presume on God. He becomes merely the source of blessing rather than the object of our desire.

Because He kept the Israelites guessing, they never knew what was going to happen and they had to keep trusting, keep seeking, keep asking and keep their focus on Him rather than his gifts.

As long as Jesus kept switching methods, the people saw that there was nothing magic in the act itself. No hidden cameras. No sleight of hand. They could never duplicate his miracles, because the power was in Him, not his methods.

So what about you?

• Have you developed a tendency to seek God because of what He can do for you, rather than for the joy of His presence?
• Is your prayer life more like a letter to Santa?
• Has God's past provision made you complacent, rather than grateful?
• Do you assume that because He blessed you once, He is obligated to repeat it?

Is your relationship with God similar to that of the ungrateful teenager toward her parents?

All the girl had to do was run back outside and throw herself into her parents' arms, thanking them and promising to use this gift in a way that would make them proud.

Do you need to do the same thing?
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