All -around Guy

 

Have you ever considered that the rich young ruler, spoken of in Mark 10:17-22,  would probably be voted chairman of the deacons in most evangelical churches today? 

His self-defined "relationship with God" would be accepted at face value and applauded by most church leaders. He would be head of the finance committee, a youth sponsor, and considered an all-around pillar of the religious community. He could discuss theology with anyone, and talk about Jesus with warmth and affection. Many would look up to him as the epitome of both worldly and spiritual success...

But he was not born again. And only Jesus had the courage and love to tell him so. Who is telling his protégés today?

Disordered Desires

In our age of information overload, sin in its varied forms is paraded continually before us. It is tempting to latch onto a particular manifestation of evil and make it the logo for things we abhor. However, scripture rarely does this. In fact, the only evil consistently railed against by God Himself is idolatry, a sin of which we are all guilty.

The primary foundation of all sin 
is God-given desire turned upside down. 

The very first sin in the Garden of Eden was one of disordered desires. God planted desires within the human heart. They are not evil in themselves. However, what God creates, Satan manipulates. Satan hijacked a good desire within Eve---to be like God. The desire was good, but the way she chose to achieve it was not.

At the root of most manifestations of evil are disordered desires. Idolatry starts with the innate longing to worship someone or something greater than ourselves. Rather than look to the Creator who planted that desire within us, we substitute lesser objects in His place. Greed, covetousness, and envy start with healthy desires to provide for ourselves and our loved ones. But that desire turns evil when it becomes disordered by the lack of contentment. Homosexuality, immorality, sensuality, and promiscuity are rooted in the God-given desire for sexual intimacy. But they go awry when sinful man chooses his own ways to fulfill them.

When we see the atrocities of our world, it is easy to become frustrated and even prideful, imagining ourselves beyond such things. But when we recognize our own disordered desires and how they manifest in our lives in ungodly ways, we can respond to this disordered world with more compassion and humility. That person shrieking his or her foul agenda has the same problem I do: desires gone dark. Only a face-to-face encounter with Jesus can bring order to our desires. Only then does He promise to give us the desires of our hearts. (Ps. 37:4)

Is God Disappointed With Me?

I  talk with a number of people who fear that God is disappointed with them. 

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"I let God down," they say and the mountain of shame threatens to crush them. These are people who know they have trusted Christ for salvation, they have been made new by the power of God, but they messed up way back there. Or they fear they messed up. Or they struggle with a vague uneasiness that somehow they aren't all God had in mind when He saved them. They have shied away from looking him full in the face because they cannot imagine that He's smiling.
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This whole outlook is based on a false premise. To be disappointed means that we believed one thing was going to happen and instead got something less. That only works for humans. In order for the Lord God Almighty to be disappointed, He would have had to have an expectation that did not come true. He thought we were going to do A, but we shocked Him by doing B.
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However, this scenario is not possible just as it is not possible for red to be green or up to be down. God is omniscient, which means He already knows everything. We can't surprise Him or catch Him off guard. He is grieved at our sin, sorrowful over our suffering, and will discipline us when we need it. But He's never disappointed. He already knew we were going to mess up before we did it. That's why He sent Jesus. It is the righteousness of Jesus that makes us right with God. That's why He can be so eager to forgive. He has already planned it out so we can be right with Him again. He is more eager to restore the relationship than we are.
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The idea that we've disappointed God is a fabrication of our enemy to keep us from racing back to our Father when we mess up. Satan knows the transforming power of God's full pardon and does what he can to keep us from knowing it too. When we turn from our sin and accept the cleansing of Jesus, it's as if it never happened. Jesus bought for us us the smile of God. The only one we've disappointed is Satan.


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Paul's To-Do List

Second Thessalonians 5 has another list from Paul. This one I call "Paul's To-Do List."

Starting with verse 12, Paul leaps into active voice with a string of action verbs. I don't think his words are limited to the church as Thessalonica. Notice how many commands come in quick succession. We would do well to apply them all.

Paul's To-Do List:
1. Appreciate your ministers
2. Encourage each other
3. Build each other up
4. Esteem your leaders
5. Live in peace
6. Admonish the undisciplined
7. Encourage the fainthearted
8. Help the weak
9. Be patient with everyone
10. Seek whatever is good
11. Pray all the time
12. Rejoice all the time
13. Give thanks
14. Examine everything carefully
15. Hold tight to what is good
16. Stay away from every form of evil

Two don'ts:
1. Don't quench the Holy Spirit
2. Don't despise prophecies

Just imagine what our lives and our churches would be like if we all took this to-do list seriously!
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Paul's Recipe for Successful Ministry

Sometimes patterns in the Bible leap off the page. 1 Thessalonians 2 did that this week. In it, Paul lays out an infallible pattern for ministry: pitfalls to avoid and patterns to follow. If you are involved in or aspire to any type of spiritual ministry, here is a simple list of patterns and pitfalls straight from the apostle Paul.

Pitfalls to avoid:
1. Men pleasing
2. Flattery
3. Greed
4. Glory seeking
5. Opportunities to abuse spiritual authority

Patterns to copy: 
A minister must be...
1. Gentle
2. Full of fond affection
3. Devout
4. Upright
5. Blameless
6. An exhorter
7. An encourager
8. ...Imploring those entrusted to him as a father would his children.

The result of such ministry is found in verse 12: "So that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory."

We can also use this model as a test for those under whose spiritual nurture we place ourselves or our children. Can your spiritual leaders pass this test?
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Can We Make a Deal?

One question we hear a lot today is, "Can I be Christian and ________?" Can I be Christian and gay? Can I be Christian and party? Can I be Christian and sleep with whoever I want? The questions go on, filled with most of the items on Paul's "NO" list found in Galatians 5:19-21. 

Unfortunately, many well-meaning Christians don't know how to answer. We try to tip the scales in favor  of Grace and forget that there's another side called Truth--a combination Jesus always held in perfect balance. He already gave us the answer to these questions when He included the account of the rich young ruler in three of the four Gospels.

An all-around decent guy came to Jesus with the same question: "Can I be Christian and keep my old identity?"  This guy was a believer. He had no doubt that Jesus was who He said He was, and he wanted in on it. But He wanted to make a deal. He wanted what Jesus offered without giving up His old life. Jesus said no. And He let the guy walk away. Then He added the chilling clencher, "How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!" 

I don't think Jesus has changed His answer, and we don't have the authority to change it either.

One Vote Away From...

As the news of the Hobby Lobby decision spreads, I am increasingly disturbed at the reactions of those--especially the young--who are hysterically barking at a mirage. It is clear many have been completely duped by the leftist portrayal of the issues at stake. The idea that this is a "blow to women" or a "women's rights" issue is a smokescreen, and it concerns me that so many cannot see it for what it is.

 This decision has nothing to do with women's rights, and those who craftily packaged it as such know that.  Women have the "right" to do anything they wish, including destroying their unborn children, often with government funding and blessing. It has little to do with healthcare, either. At stake is freedom of religion, a guaranteed First Amendment right for every American. The real question, of which Hobby Lobby was only a poster child, was this: Does the U.S. government have the right to force the owners of a privately-owned company to participate in an act that they have consistently demonstrated they believe to be morally wrong? Whether a Catholic school, Muslim deli, or Christian-owned Mardel's, people's devoutly-held religious convictions don't cease simply because they create a profitable business and hire people to help run it.
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American's used to know that. We used to defend that. The "greatest generation" championed and died for this freedom along with free press and the right to vote. But not any more. Thankfully, there were more Supreme Court justices who still believe that than those who don't. Thankfully, they voted on the real issue rather than the smokescreen. This time.
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But what of future votes. As this deeply-deceived generation of new voters rises to take its place as leaders, we must recognize the foundation from which they are forming decisions. This is the entitlement generation, nurtured on the illusion that "everybody is a winner." They learned that to be offended is the greatest moral evil and someone must pay. Self-esteem was their favorite subject in school and their bookcases are littered with "trophies" for participation. A low grade or police record was a reason to blame someone: the teacher, principal, bus route, parent, inadequate free lunch, or lack of popularity. Blatant disobedience was attributed to ADHD and little league teams were sued for not allowing Janie to bat as often as Johnny. They demanded cell phones at 8, dating at 12, and a car at 16. And many parents scrambled to obey. They saw friends having sex at 13, abortions at 14, or a baby at 15 because it came with a welfare check. And they decided that's how the world works. 

And now when they are told that some Big Bad Christian Company has said "No" to government demands that it pay for someone else's immoral choice, they are indignant. Unaware of the carefully re-packaged deception they are buying, this new generation--and many of its parents-- are proudly redefining what it means to be the "land of the free and the home of the brave." America is becoming "land of the politically correct and home of the entitled masses." And those who are ushering it in couldn't be happier about it. They will shake their fists and champion what they call "equal rights" right up until the moment the iron bars of socialism slam shut behind them. Only then will they understand. And it will be too late.