We always have reasons for doing what we do. This is true whether we think consciously about those reasons or not. In fact, most of the time we just “feel” our reasons, acting intuitively and without deliberation. In other words, our motives often fly under the radar of our minds while moving us to action.
Now, if our motives were always and only good, maybe this wouldn’t be a problem. After all, allies flying under our radar pose no threat. But what if our enemies were flying under our radar? What if those enemies were our own sinful motives, like self-advancement or self-justification? What if those motives were really good at concealing themselves from our awareness? What if those motives effectively took out our radar, enabling a whole host of evil motives to operate in stealth? Or, worse still, what if those motives scrambled our signals, convincing us that they were our allies to be welcomed instead of our enemies to be repelled?
That could be bad.
Read the rest of this entry »
Let me begin by saying that your definition of “Accountability Groups” (from here on, AGs) may differ from what I’m talking about here, and that’s okay. I’m just going to examine a particular aspect of AGs, one which much personal experience has led me to believe is pervasive in Evangelicalism today. But it may not be a part of your experience of AGs. So bear with me.
I used to meet weekly with a small group of men from our church who struggle with issues common to men. When I was introducing a new quarter, which saw the addition of a few fellows to the group, these were some comments I made:
I am not interested in fighting one sin by using another sin. What good is it to strengthen our pride in order to overpower our lust? Why would we want to use guilt or the fear of man to make progress in freedom and holiness? Will feeding the flesh in one area to starve it in another really bring us closer to God and godliness? These methods are not The Gospel Method, and if we preached them to each other, we are not servants of Christ (Gal. 1:8-10).
Read the rest of this entry »
Why live boldly as a Christian? Why speak and act in a way that offends people who don’t want to be confronted with God’s truth? Most of us are to some degree “people-pleasers,” avoiding confrontation, flattering and cajoling, generally speaking and acting in a way that gets us ahead in life by not offending others, by saying things they want to hear. Self-preservation and self-advancement make us slaves to the ears of others. They won’t kill you if they like you. You might get a raise, romance, or respect if you keep telling them what they want to hear. But if you tell them they need to be forgiven for their sins, otherwise God’s wrath abides on them… you might not get very far in life.
Some don’t really care what others think, and speak their minds freely. Usually they are just obnoxious, not wanting to be bothered with concern for others. But how can we escape “people-pleasism” (the fear of men), yet still care about others? How can we be bold to proclaim that which people hate to hear, yet do it out of love?
We start by believing that our true preservation and true advancement come from God through the Gospel. People might leave us poor and abandoned and dead on the side of the road because they don’t like our message. But in Christ we are rich and alive, in sweet communion with God for eternity. His kingdom and reign are over all the earth (and beyond), and we inherit all things through Christ. When we see that everything truly precious to us does not depend on what others think of us, but is hidden with Christ in God, untouchable, unassailable, and guaranteed to us forever on his blood… then we can find freedom from the fear of men. When we believe that the Gospel is the best thing that ever happened to us, and that no threat can separate us from God’s love through Christ, we can fearlessly and boldly—with gentleness and affection—proclaim that same Gospel to others in need, whether they like to hear it or not.
One could think of “suffering” as the experience of pain without hope. Such pain is hard (impossible?) to bear. However, with hope, the experience of pain becomes endurance—waiting it out, holding fast. If one has a reason to endure the pain (whatever it is), then perhaps the pain itself becomes more bearable.
Lack of control seems essential to pain, which is unendurable if one has no hope of Another in control, a light at the end of the tunnel. Prayer is a giving up of the need for control, which is not to make the pain go away, but to acknowledge it more truly. Prayer made in light of sure hope is the best way to endure pain. Such hopeful prayer is the vehicle of trust in, intimacy with, and gratitude toward the One who gently superintends all our pain.
I often feel like I’m running around in this life trying to prove myself to someone. I want to be the smartest, funniest, most likable person that you know. If you tell me about someone else being smart, funny, or likable, I’ll probably get jealous and try to think of ways to tell you that in fact I am smart, funny, and likable. And you don’t want to see me when we’re talking about spirituality.
I’ll do almost anything to avoid bearing the brunt of jokes, insults, or accusations: even if they’re true. If something I say or do gets me into trouble, I’ll try to spin it so that someone else ends up looking worse. If you tell me it looks like I’ve been gaining weight, I’ll quickly inform you that in fact I have been working out recently, and it’s probably muscle you’re noticing in those chins.
It could be that I’m trying to protect myself against losing something important to me. Or it could well be that I’ve lost that something, and I’m trying to get it back. Or maybe it’s that I’m trying to get something I never had in the first place.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Bible teaches that we should do good things rather than bad things, and that we should do them from good motives like loving God or loving other people. The Bible condemns bad motives (selfish pride, envy, lust, etc.) along with bad actions (boasting, murder, adultery, etc.).
But good motives and bad motives frequently produce the same good actions. Selfish pride can produce upright behavior; envy can help you provide well for your family; lust can produce chivalry. These actions are all condoned by the Bible, but the motives behind them are strongly condemned.
So what do you do when you are aware of both good and bad motives at work in you to produce the same good action? This is a real dilemma, because it happens most of the time a Christian does anything at all. You truly love your wife and want to treat her to a special evening, and you really want others to see this trophy on your arm at the most expensive restaurant in town… so do you still take her there? If you do, your ego is fed, which is bad. But your wife feels loved, which is good.
Help??
Read the rest of this entry »
Christian Giving Is Worship
God made us, sustains us, and lavishes us with good gifts. He loves us and gave his only Son for us. Our response of praise can and should be expressed through giving. The supreme reason to give away our money and possessions—the motive that permeates all other motives—is to worship God. Like a precious cut gem gleaming in the sunlight, every facet of Christian giving should reflect the glory of God’s grace. The immediate beneficiaries of Christian giving are earthly, but the One who receives honor from each gift is in Heaven. It is nothing to hoard, to indulge, to beautify ourselves. It is divine to lay down all that we are and all that we have as a tribute at the feet of the King of kings.
Read the rest of this entry »
Preach to Glorify God
The ultimate goal of Christian preaching—as with all other things—is the glory of the Triune God. When the minister proclaims God’s true and beautiful Word, he honors the Persons, attributes, and works of God. But the glory really radiates when the Spirit uses his Word to change lives. If someone is convicted, saved, comforted, inspired, redeemed by the preached Word, God was at work, showing himself to be good, sovereign, gracious, and altogether glorious.
Read the rest of this entry »
Christian Obedience Is Relational
This may seem obvious, but obedience requires two parties: the one obeying, and the one obeyed. The Christian obeys God. Christian obedience is not some sort of purity detached from relationship to God. We do not pursue a self-contained morality, as if virtue in itself meant something. “Getting better” at obedience (a.k.a. sanctification) is becoming submissive to God. Either we are righteous for God’s sake, or righteous for the sake of self (self-righteous, which is to say unrighteous).
Read the rest of this entry »
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” Luke 7:36ff
“I know of them, but I don’t associate with their kind.” I don’t know if you’ve said these words, but I know I have (and do). In fact, whether you’ve said similar words or not, you have probably at least thought or felt this way about someone. The instinct is to retract from the person, like he’s dirty or poisonous (even if he’s not in the room). You don’t want other people to think you’re like her, because that would be like getting grease on your sport car finish, it would mess up your shine. If you’re a Christian, you would die if others thought he was also a Christian, and you’d have to let them know that you’re a different kind of Christian. You’re a born-again Christian, a real Christian, and this other fellow can’t possibly be (just look at how he dresses!).
It’s really too bad that this attitude emanates directly from the core of Pharisaism, because I quite like feeling this way!
Read the rest of this entry »