Out On A Limb

As fallen people, we tend to live a large portion of our lives "out on a limb." We hang there, clinging to the only thing that keeps us from falling into the abyss we fear most - death. It's the limb of our desired identities. It is the person we must be in order to stay alive, and not die, in this fallen world.

And so we hold on so tightly, straining to be what we desperately believe we must be; defending and climbing away from any indictment or circumstance that makes us what we must not be.

The limb looks like a sentence. 

"I must be ________ in order not to die."  OR  "If I am ________ I will die."

Most men fill in the blanks this way: I must be strong, dependable, trustworthy, handsome, a leader in my home, church, or job, as well as a provider for my family. I must not be weak, puny, perverted, ugly, small, or insufficient. If I am not the former, or, if I am the latter, I will die. People will laugh at me, detest me, cast me into the dungeon of social shame, and reject me forever. 

Most women (I tend to think) fill them in this way: I must be beautiful, desirable, and sexy. I need to be a good, loving, and caring mother, wife, and friend. I must be a good home-maker and parent, keeping things in order. My children must behave well. I must not be ugly, gross, or lazy. I must have things in control in my relationships, home, and family. If I am not the former, and if I am the latter, I will die. My social life will spiral out of control, people will think bad thoughts about me, and I will be rejected forever. 

Navigating the limb is tough. It is exhausting, constantly strategic, and filled with anxiety, fear, and unrest. One wrong move, slip of concentration, or even a small nap and down we go. Unbearable shame, scorn, chaos, rejection, and ridicule are soon to follow. 

Therefore, other people are dangerous. If they were to reveal one of our inadequacies, that'd be like pealing a finger away from the limb. If they find us out, we'd surely fall. They may even be so clumsy as to cast their burdens upon us. We'd become heavier. Our limb would flex. Our grip would surely fail. So we become angry, anxious, and judgmental. By becoming safer from others, we become unsafe to others. 

Not only is this life dangerous, it is completely unnecessary. 

Because we are so focused on ourselves (the person we must or must not be) we fail to realize the safe foundation just below our feet. His name is Christ Jesus the Lord. When we let go of the limb, when we "lose our lives", we can live in the safe pasture of our Good Shepherd. There we can run because we are ransomed. We can hear criticism because he has been crucified (Gal 2:20). 

Letting go means coming to terms with, and confessing the truth about, ourselves. When indictments about our looks, character, and/or abilities come, we can resist the temptation to cling to the limb of our own over-desired identities. By the power of the Spirit, we can humbly consider the possibility of truth in their words. 

Most of the time people are right about us, regardless of their motives or reasons for confronting us. If they call us a jerk, we can say, "You know what, you're right. I am a jerk. I'm sorry." "If they say we are irresponsible or inadequate, we can say, "You are right, I am those things. Can you help me?"

What if they are wrong about us? This just means they aren't seeing us clearly. They need help - Gospel help. Rather then worrying about ourselves and our identity, we are free to love even those who [wrongly] accuse us.

This is letting go of the limb. 

The Good News of the Gospel is that "letting go" is completely safe if our foundation is Christ. Because he died, we won't die. He is just below our feet. It makes no sense holding on. We must daily fall upon the One who is perfect in character and ability, who is completely sufficient, responsible, and good. He is sufficient for us. As we rest in him, his identity is freely ours by God's wonderful grace. 

It Makes No Sense Whatsoever to Confess Sins

If the threat of punishment looms around every corner, ready to execute after every morally wrong move or motive, then it makes no sense whatsoever to confess sins. If eternal damnation lurks to condemn us perfectly for our culpable imperfections, then it makes all the sense in the world to hide, blame, and defend ourselves.

We should be tireless in our efforts to divert the critical eye away from our shortcomings, while drawing the celebratory attention of others toward our accomplishments. We should be openly critical of others, and overly zealous to proclaim our achievements to the world.

This is human survival.

Death that feels like emptiness, being rejected and unaccepted by other significant beings. Death that feels like hopelessness, having someone else in control of our destiny after we have squandered it away. And death that feels like darkness, having no good, comforting, or safe authority to speak over and direct us.

The threat of this death keeps us bound. The bible uses words like "dominion" and "slavery" to describe that which controls our lives. Diversion is our feeble attempt to delay the death we know we deserve. Because we know it is rightly approaching, anxiety and fear become close [unwanted] relatives.

If we are found guilty, then we are dead. And so we become enslaved to the sins stated above - lying, blame-shifting, and hiding.

But what if the looming condemnation were to be judicially lifted? What if the death deserved was rightly diverted? What if the cup of God's just wrath was poured out completely upon another, upon someone else? What if our death stung another? What if his life saved sinners like you and me?

Then it would make all the sense in the world to confess and not defend. It would make sense to live honestly without hiding. It would be reasonable to take the blame rather than cast it. It would be natural to draw attention to the strengths of others.

Imagine the marriages! Imagine the relational glory!

Suddenly, our old way of doing things becomes wholly unreasonable. If someone were to confront and expose our sins, we should no longer feel the need to defend and divert. The fear of death has been removed. Life has been promised to repentant sinners.

So we admit our guilt. We show our hand. We expose our faults (saving others the stressful trouble!). And we humbly proclaim that we are the freed men and women of Christ - our substitute. We trust him so much that we are fearless to open our lives up in vulnerability to others. We trust him enough to confess, repent, and believe. We love him enough to love others.

We cling to him so tightly that our confessional actions make no sense whatsoever to a watching world.

Mopping Up the Bloody Mess

Every sin, no matter how small, creates a chasm between us and the other that we are not able to cross. Every transgression makes a mess that we are ill-equipped to clean up. Sin is something so easy to do, but it is impossible to repair. With our actions we fracture other people so badly that even the best of our actions would never restore the relationship to what it once was.

When we sin, we are like a child who just burned down our home - completely guilty and completely helpless. A small action by small fingers, lights a match that burns a big house down.

We don't really believe this though do we? Some sins, like adultery or murder are obviously "that bad." But other sins like lying or lusting are, well, not "that bad." Most of the time we don't notice how bad they are until we are found out by another individual. We see the damage in the tears or expressions of the person against whom we have transgressed.

Because we don't believe the devastating nature of sin, we leave the mess unaddressed - like a husband who expects his wife to be okay after he lets her know he doesn't plan on committing adultery any more; like a wife who simply disciplines herself out of the habit of gossip; and like a college student who reads a book on procrastination in an effort to break the cycle.

We have fooled ourselves into thinking if we stop the behavior the mess will go away. Our right actions will mop the bloody floor. We actually think that we can make the [burned] house come back by saying, "I won't play with fire ever again."

Once more, all of these actions fail to recognize the personal nature of sin - that, though we are in control to commit the sin, we surrender our control (by that very action) to repair it. Once the deed is done, we are completely at the mercy of the other to make things right. Nothing we do will do - no matter how good that doing may be.

Sin makes us, for all practical purposes, dead - and desperate. The life we need must come from the person we have deeply offended. It is their blood on the floor. Our bloody mop has only spread it around. Only their clean mop will do.

And that is why the gospel is so good. Christ, in his great mercy, mops up our mess. He repairs the breech and crosses the chasm. His cleanness takes away our dirtiness. His death brings us life. He personally restores things beyond what they once were. He makes us new.

Changing behavior will never work. Only honest repentance and full reliance upon the person and work of Christ can cure the curse of sin. This is why a change in countenance tends to bring about forgiveness more than change in behavior. This is why we can be both sinner and saint. Humble repentance and faith is the way of life. Christ is the good news we all must hear, love, and proclaim.

Christ in the Old Testament

I am preaching a series this summer on Christ in the Old Testament. This is a seven-part series in which I am preaching Christ from the different Old Testament genres - Law, History, Poets, Wisdom Literature, and Prophets.

The purpose of the series is to show how the Lord has been faithful to accomplish his redemptive purposes for his people, through Christ, throughout human history.

You can access the sermons here on Grace Community Church's website.

To Do Lists and Christ's Second Greatest Commandment

Contrary to popular opinion, the second greatest commandment is sufficient (in the context of the first greatest commandment) to guide us through the Christian life. Too often, its generality is mistaken for impracticality. We don't believe Christ to be precise enough.  He doesn't tell us where to go, who to approach, what to say or give to them, and so on. As a pastor, I get the plaguing question many times in a given month - "What am I supposed to do with my life?" When I answer, "Love your neighbor as yourself," I get odd looks. The answer just isn't precise or practical enough.

The second greatest commandment is not as precise as we would like for at least two (related) reasons.

First, the commandment keeps us from being lord of our own lives. It lovingly and authoritatively keeps us in our created position as servants of our King. The general commandment to love helps us to see that life is not about accomplishing tasks for the sake of accomplishing tasks. The purpose of any commandment is love, and love demands intimate and continual relationship with both our Lord and others. The generality of the commandment keeps us connected to Christ. It reminds us we need him every moment.

The Lord may certainly [particularly] call someone to, say, build their house in the hood; but this is only after that person has followed the commandment (by grace) to love his or her neighbor who lives in the hood. In order to love, he or she must live where the object(s) of that love live(s). The precise command to build serves only as a means to meet the greater command to love. And this must always be the case.

With that said, the other reason for the imprecise nature of the second commandment is that it establishes Christ as Lord. It dethrones other masters. If you think about it, other masters (including ourselves) are extremely precise in their commands. Those who are "mastered" by their to-do lists know this truth well. These masters fill our lives with so many tasks that we cannot possibly have time to love others. In some ways we like these masters more than the Lord. Their particular instructions are manageable and controllable. I can build a house. It is a concrete, doable command.

It's a whole lot more convenient than loving the Mexican immigrant I pass by as I walk into Lowe's to buy light fixtures. Buying the fixture for the house is controllable. But the immigrant may ask me for work, money, food, time or whatever. If I stop to "love" him, I must relinquish all control of my life. If I follow the command to love, I don't call the shots. Someone else, whom I cannot control, does.

But, if I stop to "love" him, I will soon hear the particular ways in which this person needs to be loved. Ironically, if I love him, my to-do list soon fills up.

The general command to love, if we trust our Lord in following it, soon fills our particular list. The best list is the one written by someone else's needs and desires. The best to-dos are those that ultimately end in loving others. The particular commands, however, that end in filling our own selfish desires, will keep us from Christ's greatest commandments. They will ultimately keep us from Christ himself.

From Bored to Blown Away

My wife and I are going through a mentored "program" called Sonship, given through World Harvest Mission. The basic goal of the course is to help individuals and couples understand their proper relationship to the Lord - as sons and daughters and not orphans. They do this by applying the glorious truths of the bible to the "nitty gritty" situations of every day life.

The course is far from easy. As they like to put it, head theology is pretty simple to intellectually understand and know. But, for me, making the transition from head theology to heart theology feels nothing short of impossible.

The truths of the gospel are so simple and basic that at every moment, I am tempted to either twirl my thumbs in boredom or be profoundly effected as those truths trickle into my stubborn heart. I know that I am righteous in Christ, but do I feel it? I know that I am a son, but why do I act like an orphan so much? I know that my wife is a daughter of God, but why do I treat her otherwise at times?

Sure, we can always dive the depths of systematic theologies. But diving and dwelling where most don't swim, has been an escape mechanism to get away from people. It has been my attempt to keep from facing the reality that I just don't love people well.

A few weeks ago I was up to my orphan ways, and consequently without the company of my wife. I called our mentor an hour before we were supposed to meet to let him know what was going on. After listening to me and asking a few questions here and there, he began to point out to me the parts of my life that were less than holy. Like a surgeon, he skillfully peeled back the layers of my life and exposed what was really wrong with me.

And then he told me that this course is not designed to fix me. That it was probable we would get to the end and I would continue to act the way I was acting. As my heart sunk, I kept listening. He said that the purpose of the course was to expose our need for Christ. It was to show why we do not deserve his presence and acceptance; why we should be orphans and not sons and daughters.

After an hour of conversing, he told me to stand in awe, that in light of all of my sin and selfishness, the Lord delights in me because of Christ.

I broke. My cold heart bled a bit. My dry eyes wept a bit.

You will have to excuse the personal tone of this post, as well as many others as of late. I am going through a transition. For too long I have trusted that learning a new theological fact was the same as leaning upon Christ the foundation. I have confused knowledge with faith, learning with love. I have made every religious attempt to exempt myself from the very category that Jesus came to save - sinners who are sick and needy (Luke 5:31-32).

I am reminded now of the glorious truth that we don't have to be well to come to Jesus. We don't have to be right to be righteous. And we don't have to be perfect to be perfectly accepted. Christ did it all and gives it all. And because he does, as the old hymn so gloriously confesses, "We need him every hour."

When the Lord Hides Where Do We Turn?

Whatever the Psalmist's trouble (Psalm 77), it was such that his soul refused to be comforted (v.2). It was night and not day - dark and not light. Remembering God brought moaning rather than laughing, fainting rather than dancing (v.3). It was as if the Lord had forgotten his promises. The God who had always assured his people of his covenant presence was seemingly absent and nonexistent.

His present situation was bleak and was unlike the past when he was comforted, energized and encouraged by the presence of the Lord. This day of trouble could not be pacified and his pain could not be satisfied with any earthly thing. This person was staring the theological reality straight in the face, that the Lord is the only true satisfaction in life. If the Lord is either absent or nonexistent, the people of God might as well die. Their life is the most miserable in all the earth.

It is all to common to have experiential back-up plans. If the Lord is not positively stirring us, we have other places to turn. We have other comforts in this life. This is my testimony at least.

When I don't want to pray; when I feel empty, tired, and sick of evaluating every moment as if it had eternal significance; when I feel unaccepted by others, rejected, unworthy, and ontologically inferior because of my special, but wicked, vises; and when I just don't feel as if God is real, beneficial, or there; I immediately run to dozens of other saviors like my phone, work, coffee, sleep, Facebook, a friend's company, a book, my kids or even my wife.

If the Lord hides, I go elsewhere. I have very little patience for emptiness. I have little tolerance for someone else's will.

This moment in the Psalmists life is probably very similar, except he had no comforts at all. There were not dozens of saviors. There was only one or none; either the Lord or death; only the Light of the World or darkness. He did not run elsewhere, but waited. While he moaned, he meditated. And while he wept, he remembered.

I am not so sure I have the strength for this. The Lord is gracious to help me see my sickness and weakness in this area. I thought that once I kicked porn, I would be done with sin. But he has shown me more of my wickedness in my unwillingness to wait submissively and patiently for his bidding. I have loved him on my terms and not his own. Consequently I have "loved" others on my own selfish terms as well.

This sin is worse than lust. Selfishness gives birth to that which I thought most evil. I am noticing it in everything I do. I am therefore, at a place where all I know is to trust the passive righteousness of Christ while I pray for his power to work and rescue. I am sick of books. I am tired of lectures. I have been reduced to seeking the Lord alone, and he seems at the moment, silent.

This morning, however, I am encouraged to wait patiently for the Lord while I remember his marvelous works. If he has been faithful for thousands of years, and if his steadfast love has been witnessed by tens of thousands of believers, I trust that he will accomplish his good purposes for me. I trust, because of his Word, that while I am empty now, he will fill me. I trust that while my soul refuses to be comforted, and as he empowers me to loose my hands from all worldly comforts, he will visit me, save me, love me, redeem me, and one day glorify me.

And after I reread this post to check for errors, I noticed that he is not far at all. He has loved me behind me. He has embraced me from an angle I was not expecting. He has loved me on his terms. And for this I am grateful.

Walking Off of the Edge

I'd love change to happen at a quiet table, with a good book, while in deep thought. I can't tell you how much I desire for my heart to follow the orders of my mind as I sit back in my chair and reflect on some profound quotation. It would be so nice if my life would fall perfectly in line with the waves of information that I shove into my head.

As it turns out, however, things don't quite work that way. While I would never discount or discontinue study, reflection, and learning, I am becoming more and more convinced that most significant life change comes from further experiential situations. A person may very well learn to trust a rope by studying, reading about and reflecting upon the nature and right use of a rope. But he will never cling to that rope until he leans over the edge of the cliff - until he rests his entire life upon the rope.

And this is the Christian call. This is Christ's call, is it not? We must love Christ fully and cling to him tightly as he calls us to step off of the "love-your-neighbor-as-yourself" cliff. Clinging to Christ saves us, but if we never step off of the edge in obedience, we soon find it easy to loosen our grip, or even set him down while we pay attention to other things. This may be a reason why Paul, in Romans, refers more to the second commandment than the first.

Sure, while we sit, we may discover things about the rope which are quite interesting and beautiful. We may tell people all about how strong it is and how it can hold a certain weight without breaking. But if we will not love others, we will never cling to Christ (our rope) completely. And if we do not cling to him completely, we will never change convincingly.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good education. But I am not convinced that our current methods of educating are the best. The more Christ breaks me apart, I am realizing that one biblical, experiential situation of love - especially when loving doesn't make "self-preserving" sense - is worth a few hundred books or blogs that I have read. I fear the demand for thousands of Christian books to flood our marketplace is due to the fact that we, as a church, simply refuse to change any other way.

That's why we're all so tired. And that could also be why many are tired of us. We're trying to change ourselves with education, rather than trusting in the Holy Spirit to change us as we walk by faith in love.

We are conveniently convinced that reading is more economic and obedient than loving. That change comes from reason more than revelation. And that revelation is best experienced in quiet places where we are most in control. I simply cannot believe this any more. Christ doesn't work this way. Following him demands entering situations where he alone is our survival, vitality and strength. When we follow him, our experience will simply not allow us to let him go. This is the essence of faith, experienced best in obedience.

All I am saying is the Christian life is so much more than Christian education (though Christian education is an important part of that life). All knowledge, without the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit working in love, by faith alone, is nothing more than a pharisaic pacifier we use to make us feel good about our lack of true obedience to our Lord's commands. Again, I would like nothing more than to sit and learn in a classroom or coffee shop for the rest of my earthly life; but, according to the Scriptures, this would be less than clinging to Christ, and that is a price I am unwilling to pay. He is a treasure to valuable to let go.

Why We Won't Love

In our efforts to become more practical, we tend to neglect the most profound. In thinking through who and how to love, we tend to neglect the profound (and simple) commandment to love in the first place. One of our greatest mistakes is making our love dependent upon the actions of the object of our love. Before taking that first step in their direction, certain stipulations have to be met. We must run their countenance, culture, behavior and character through our filtered "biblical" filter. If they pass, we love. If they don't, we keep our safe distance - and justifiably so!

But Jesus makes his commandment inconveniently simple - not dependent upon the object of love, but upon the God who is love itself. Jesus frees us from the slavery and complexity of other people by making us his slaves. We may not use another person's actions as an excuse as to why we should not follow his command to love them. He gives it independently of them. This is what makes love so glorious. It is also what makes love so impossible.

Too often our filters are based not on what the other needs, but on what we refuse to give. We don't like the surrender involved. We don't like not knowing what may be required. We don't like pouring our lives out for someone who could care less about us. And we are seemingly allergic to placing our schedules in the hands of irresponsible people. This is precisely the rub. Those Christ calls us to love - orphans, widows, foreigners, and the poor - are not particularly as "tidy" as we are. That's our definition of irresponsible right? - not as "tidy" as we are.

The poor don't base their life around iCal. Orphans don't typically have a gym membership, Netflix, or plans to go on vacation. And widows are typically too broken to be addicted to Starbucks. These people have probably never even thought of the top ten things we place on our most important list. Therefore, to love them would mean to forfeit those things. And this is why we won't love.

Paul Miller said it so well in his book Love Walked Among Us. "It is one thing to notice a blind man; it is quite another to stop and talk with him - that gets scary. He might ask for money or interrupt our schedule. It's as if we are afraid that his blindness might affect us. This fear is not irrational - when we pause to have compassion, something of the other person's problems comes on us. Some of his pain touches us. At the very least, slowing down and noticing someone takes time...Compassion affects us. Maybe that's why we judge so quickly - it keeps us from being infected by other people's problems. Passing judgment is just so efficient."

Love has become far too simple for me. Simplicity, however, should not be considered synonymous with easy. It is the simplicity of Christ's command that makes love so impossible. When we try to love, we are immediately confronted with our inability to do so. Temptations flood our minds to cover love up with practicality - with strategies on how to "help" others without surrendering ourselves. We want to cure without taking up a cross. We want to show mercy without becoming messy. This is my life anyway. And Jesus is jacking me up.

Our union with Christ is the only rescue. The gospel is our only hope. In order to love we must know what love is. To know what love is, we must look nowhere but Christ - the love who walked among us. And as we cling to him in faith, we are empowered by his Spirit to feel, surrender, repent and love. In union with him we trust that surrender is eternally safe, and that because of Christ, our enemy is not excluded from the category of those we are called to love.

Love is far from convenient. It is not, however, more inconvenient than that filter that we have been carrying around to see if others are convenient enough to love or not. Christ's words are true - he who loses his life will save it.

We've Got It All Backwards

The gospel is strange. It is not normal. The Word of God always begins with statements of truth (indicatives) before giving statements of command (imperatives). It tells us who we are and who Jesus is before it tells us how we ought to respond, or how we are to act.

This is completely contrary to how we are inclined to relate to others, especially when dealing with conflict. When people sin against us, our first instinct is to tell them how they should and should not act. We typically like changed behavior over changed hearts. It's seems easier that way. It gives us the results that most convenience us. And it gives those results a lot quicker.

They are results we can control and manipulate - for a time. And when we stop to consider that the person is just not changing, we feel utterly helpless. We see that we may be able to steer behavior, but we know for certain that we cannot steer the human heart. Simply put, understanding the reality of relationships, lets us know that we are not God.

By using imperatives only as our way of navigating and managing relationships, we have neglected and even distrusted the Truth. We just don't believe the truth can set people free. We don't believe it can bring change. Even more, we are not patient or sacrificial enough to stick around to find out.

But the Lord is patient - and kind.  He is wise and powerful. Jesus is the Truth and he is the one to sets us free. He does what the Law could never do. He approaches rebels in love - giving them the truth, and, once changed, he gives them his benevolent, authoritative commands. The people of Israel were delivered before they received the law. We are given the truth of who we re in Christ before we are ever commanded to work for him.

So as we navigate relationships - yes, sinful ones - we must always do so in a gospel-centered way. You cannot stop a person from sneezing, but you can give them something that will take away their flu. If you put your hand over their mouth, you don't accomplish anything but smothering them. We must preach the gospel in love. The command comes later. If your anything like me, this sounds almost impossible.

That's also the point of the gospel. It robs us of our own strength and supplies us with his.

The Law You Are Resisting Shows What Sin Needs Killing

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 1 Jn 5:3

Every human being was created to glorify God and enjoy him forever. The writers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism thought this truth to be most important. It is the first question of the catechism. The second logically follows from the first, as it predicts the obvious question, "How do we know how to glorify God?" The answer to this (in not so many words) is his Word.

The Word of God, and more particularly, the Law of God is his gracious direction that guides us how we might glorify him; and in doing so, we find our most enjoyment. In other words, we were created to follow God's commandments. When we follow them, we are most happy. When we do not follow them, we are most miserable.

Bondage is not, therefore, having to obey the Law of God, but not being able to obey it. A person is enslaved when they cannot live how they were created to live. It's like a dog who walks around like a cat. His life is odd, and though he may wag his tail, there will always be some misery about him until he begins to bark and fetch like a dog.

How then should we understand God's Law in our lives. Often people use God's goodness, grace or forgiveness as an excuse to disregard the Law. When they focus on the commandments, they are too heavy, too burdensome. Christians shouldn't live under such burdens and so the Law must go. But this is the wrong way. This is not glorifying to God. And it is not ultimately what is most enjoyable to humanity.

When the commandments are burdensome, when there is a law that we just cannot seem to follow, the right way to respond is not by dismissing the Law, but by repenting of sin. The Law is holy, remember (Rom 7:12)? We are the problem. Burdens under God's Law are reminders to go to the Lord Christ in repentance and faith. The Law will crush those who do not find shelter in Christ, who was crucified.

Feeling the burden of the Law is a gracious thing. If ever you feel as if you don't want to follow God's Law, pray that the Spirit would search you and point out where you need correction and sanctification. The Law finds our sin, points it out to us, and goes on a rampage to have it out. Whatever Law you are resisting is a testimony of whatever sin needs killing.

But don't try and kill it yourself, or it will kill you. Go to Christ, trust in his life and death on your behalf, rely and depend upon his Spirit to kill whatever wicked way is inside.

Love Shouldn't Make Sense

The simplicity of the Christian life is too often the very reason why we just don't live it.  We want more complex strategies, morals, and plans of action.  The more complex, the more difficult.  And difficulty makes our excuses more plausible.  We can't be held accountable for such tasks.

But Christ and his commands are overwhelmingly simple.  His preaching is immensely practical and extraordinary humble.  He wanted children to understand.  This simplicity is indicative of the very love that he showed the world - a love that doesn't make any sense at all.  Luke 6 is a perfect example and its contents should strike us as inexcusably simple and inescapably direct.  They bring us immediately to the point of decision.

Do we trust his words?  Do we hope in the future that he speaks of? Will we love like he shows us?

Jesus says very clearly that our love should not make sense to those who do not love him - who do not trust or follow him.  His love and the love that he calls us to is no less than scandalous.  It makes everyone uncomfortable - those who do it, those who watch it, and those who experience it.  It is crazy and other-worldly.

The words of Christ:

"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who begs from you, and from the one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And of you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:27-36).

I am going to withhold any comments for the reasons stated above.  They are simple enough.  At some point running to a commentary is like running to another teacher.

I will only say this.  Loving in a way that doesn't make sense may just get us killed (v.22), it may present us with a very uncomfortable life (vv.20-23), and it may mean that we forfeit all that we have always wanted.  But the promise that underlies this entire passage is also very clear.  Loving this way is worth it.  We'd be fools not to risk it all (vv.23b, 35b).

Who's Voice Are You Listening To?

There is no such thing as existing in a silent, "obedient-less", "rewardless" vacuum.  We all listen to someone.  We all obey some command.  And we all experience the repercussions (good or bad) of our obedience to those commands.  This is the human way.  As image bearers of God we will always listen, obey and reap.

The mass media understands this.  The fact that some believe in a neutral existence is evidence that they have been following a voice so long that they don't even hear it anymore.  Magazine covers know all about justification.  Talk shows know all about sanctification.  And ESPN knows all about glorification.  These institutions have made billions off of the innate desire in every person to be acceptable, to remain acceptable and to be happily satisfied.

We have been listening and believing their voices for a while now.  And as a culture, we are reaping the rewards.  Contrary to popular belief, righteousness doesn't come from looking like Kim Kardashian, or making People's list of best looking guys.  Oprah knows nothing about becoming a better individual - that is, becoming more Christ-like.  And athletic championships continue to become more and more anti-climactic; while societal celebrations like Mardi Gras continue to miss the mark on what a true celebration really is.

Those striving for the promises of society listed above, are, and will continue to do just that - strive.  Kim will get wrinkles.  Oprah has retired.  Super Bowls will be forgotten.  And people will always be puking at Mardi Gras.  The voices are nothing but empty lies.  The hot sign outside of Krispy Kreme promises a delicious snack, while delivering one big bellyache.

But there is a voice that is always good.  The Word of God gives the authoritative command that is always loving, safe, and true.  Righteousness can be found only in Christ.  Pure instruction comes only from his Word, as we are empowered by his Spirit to hear, understand and obey.

And as we follow, we become more like him; knowing with certainty that our obedience to his voice will be rewarded in heaven.  The inheritance is ours in Christ - and the celebration upon receiving it fully will be one like this world has never seen or experienced.

How do we attain all of these things?  Rebels don't deserve a safe command.  Enemies of God don't deserve to freely obey God.  And people who should be punished are not supposed to be rewarded with a heavenly estate.

We attain these things, not by striving, but by trusting Christ alone by faith.  By repenting of our wayward obedience, we may have eternal life by faith in this wonderful Savior.  In so doing, we are free from the endless hustle of trying to be like whoever, to attain whatever our culture says is glorious. Instead of reaching heaven, heaven has come and rescued us.  All striving has ceased.  Christ and his glorious benefits are ours!  It is because of Christ that I can be like Christ.  It is because of Christ that I can act like Christ.  And it is because of Christ that I can enjoy Christ's Kingdom forever, and ever.

Listening to someone else simply doesn't make sense.  Who's voice are you listening to?

Absolutely Certain Proof for the Existence of God

There are many who say that if they were provided proof for the existence of God, they would believe in him. This is nothing new.  Even in Jesus' day, people were asking for a sign so that they might believe (Matt 12:38-39; Jn 3).  The trouble with this is that it presupposes something incorrect about the nature of mankind.  It asserts that the chief problem with man is that he lacks information, and, that given more learning, he will turn in the right direction.

The truth is that man is not inherently innocently ignorant, ultimately in need of more information or scientific facts. Jesus, truth itself, stood in front of a man who asked, "What is truth?" (Jn 18:38) Christ, the God-man, stood right in front of the religious who demanded a sign that would somehow be more convincing than God himself!

Even if we were to try and prove something other than theistic matters, I think most of us can agree that we have empirically seen how man, being presented with the clearest, most-resonable proof, is knuckle-headed and stubborn. How many times have we experienced in others (or even ourselves!) the direct denial of truth ultimately because untruth was simply more desirable?

As a man who sleeps with someone other than his wife ultimately knows he should do otherwise, he does not do otherwise.  He wants the other woman more than his wife, and will argue (against what he knows to be true) why he should be allowed to have her.

The fact is that man follows and argues for what he loves; and, he rejects and argues against what he does not love - even though it may be completely unreasonable to do so. Therefore, God himself could stand right in front of an atheist, and because the atheist hates God, he will deny God. Reason is pushed aside by moral hatred.

This is why we must not confuse that which is objectively valid and that which is subjectively acceptable. We could give the most objectively valid proof, and it would still be subjectively unacceptable to the unbeliever. As Van Til once wrote, "It is true that no method of argument for Christianity will be acceptable to the natural man. Moreover, it is true that the more consistently Christian our methodology, the less acceptable it will be to the natural man."

There is absolute certain proof for the existence of God. Van Til pointed this out when he said, "The existence of the God of Christian theism and the conception of his counsel as controlling all things in the universe is the only presupposition which can account for the uniformity of nature which the scientist needs.  But the best and only possible proof for the existence of such a God is that his existence is required for the uniformity of nature and for the coherence of all things in the world...Thus there is absolutely certain proof for the existence of God and the truth of Christian theism.  Even non-Christians presuppose its truth while they verbally reject it."

Every time an unbeliever opens his mouth, performs a scientific experiment, or even flushes the toilet, we can point to that as proof for the existence of God. For, in doing each one of these things he is presupposing the uniformity and coherence that only Yahweh provides. And, in denying God in this, he is allowing his hatred to triumph over his reason.

Sin In Other People

Every person is sinful.  This is theology we know and even notice in our world.  Though the media may not call it sin, they know it is; and because it is what brings the most traffic, they love it.

While we may respond to the reports of sin by giving our attention, we often fail to know how to address sin when it slaps us in the face.  Americans are really good at trying to avoid it altogether. Billions of dollars are spent on numbing activities such as sports, movies, games, and the like.  Not that these things are bad; but to deny that they can be is plain denial.

Again, every person is sinful.  Relationships will always be spotted with inevitable sinful collisions. Trying to avoid them is like kicking the proverbial can down the road. Only people are not cans. And if you kick them long enough, they become more like pit bulls.  Eventually you're gonna lose a leg, a hand, or worse.

If we are honest, the most common way we deal with sin in others is by making every attempt to have them stop sinning.  We neglect, avoid, yell at, pacify, or even abuse in order to put out the sinful flame in those around us.  No matter what, however, we can never reach sin-deep.  Instead of saving, we end up aggravating.  Why? Because if we use another means other than the gospel, we only treat sin with sin.

We do this because we don't really believe that Jesus can and does redeem us, and others, from the enslaving chains of sin.  He simply takes too long.  I want sin gone now.  But, he apparently doesn't.

The gospel calls us to love and trust.  We are to turn the other cheek, to return good for evil, to bless when we are cursed.  We are to give when others take - to die so that others may live.  I understand this is harder than it sounds - even impossible.  But this is the light of the gospel.  If we don't believe it, we are fools.

The Spirit gives us the faith to trust that Jesus works in the lives of others.  After all, he saved us.  I personally struggle to trust him here.  Even with those closest to me, I feel as if it is my job to save - to get the sin out.  But lately I have been so broken by this activity, I simply cannot do it anymore.  I have found that when I try to be Jesus to others, I turn out to be more a Pharisee.

And as odd as it sounds, he is using the sin in others to humble me and to sanctify me.  He is using the sinful actions of others to point out my own sin.  And he is using all of this to draw me closer to himself, in complete dependence upon his grace, to save me and those I love so much.

The Incarnation & Its Implications

I wrote an article entitled The Incarnation for Holy Culture.  In it I talk about how Christ's incarnation has and is changing my life.  Christmas was different this year.  It meant more and brought with it more weight than years past.  For that I am thankful.  Here is a snippet from the post:

Christmas is almost like a military draft, calling us, as it were, across enemy lines. The incarnation of Christ calls us to life among those who make the outside of our cup physically and emotionally dirty; all the while the One who lives in us makes the inside of our cup spiritually clean. The irony alone should shock us, and even convict us. We have stayed long enough among those who do not inconvenience us, that have the same moral idiosyncrasies as we do, and who will not demand more of us than what is socially acceptable. 


But Christ came to the world, fasted in the dessert, sat at the well, sweat blood in the garden, and shed blood on the Cross. 


Christmas brings us the gift of life through death. We are not in heaven yet. And we should cease trying to drag it down. It will be given soon enough. Becoming a Christian does not mean that we are delivered out of the world. Christian liberty is not about being free from the moral, social, emotional and physical inconveniences of those who have no moral compass, little social skills, who are on multiple psychiatric medications, and who would rather harm us than hug us. Liberty is found by losing one’s life. It is our mark to love the unlovable, to give to those who steal, and to embrace those who would rather us dead.

You can find the rest of the article here.

We Cannot Repair What We Have Done.

Imagine a child as he sneaks into the corner to play with matches.  As he lights the first match he doesn't notice that he is a bit too close to the curtains.  Before he knows it, the entire house is in flames.  The family escapes and watches their home burn to the ground.

The child, with guilt welling up inside, knowing that his disobedience was the cause of this disaster, looks up at his parents and says these words: "Don't worry Mom and Dad.  I'm going to fix this."

They look down at the child with a depressed, but frustrated face knowing good and well that their five-year-old cannot even come close to repairing what has just been lost.  Sure, he is capable of the damage.  But he is completely unable to repair it.

And that is the irony of our situation.  We have the ability to damage, but the inability to repair.  We are immensely valuable, but extremely vulnerable.  Sin is not only tragic in that it condemns us; it is even more so because it violates an image bearer.  Tragedy lies less in the one who takes and more in that which is lost.

To make matters even worse, we, like the child, move immediately from damage to reparation.  We simply try and fix that which is broken.  When we hurt, we quickly try to heal.

The idea that we can make reparations for our sin devalues the one against whom we have sinned.  We forget that, as image bearers, we carry a divine value - not that we are gods, but that we are created in the image of God.  Penalties reflect the worth of the victim.  And if we believe we can pay sin's penalty, we devalue the One who has been transgressed.  Sin against God demands a divine payment.  We simply do not have the resources to pay.

Further, the reparation idea is extremely prideful as it overvalues our abilities.  In thinking we can repair things, we become God.  Our works have divine worth and are not to be thought of as "filthy rags."  So, not only do we think less of the victim (and of God), but we think too much of ourselves.

Last, reparations can only be made by Christ - the God-Man.  As Anselm so rightly said, "It could not have been done unless man paid what was owing to God for sin. But the debt was so great that while man alone owed it, only God could pay it, so that the same person must be both man and God."

So, when we sin, we should never skim past repentance.  We should value the image of God in the other, and ultimately the God we have sinned against.  And we should recognize our utter inability to repair what our hands have done.  This is why He is the Prince of Peace.  And this is why faith in Christ is critical for every relationship in life.  The Gospel is not about what we can do, but about what He has done.

It is Not Reasonable to Live by Man's Reason Alone

While following the Lord, people often come to the end of their logical rope: Moses finds himself on the shore of the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his army pursuing; the people of Israel are led into the wilderness with no food or water; and even the multitudes along with the disciples find themselves following Christ to a remote area with only a few fish and a couple of loaves of bread to sustain them.    

If we take our Bible seriously, these are not uncommon situations.  More times than not Christ leads us to places where we are forced to ask: How do we survive now that we are here?  We then logically search all options and are left with the helpless answer: I have no idea.  When we come to the end of our logical rope, we have no other option but to look to Christ and simply trust what He says.

This is why the Word of God is so important.  In it Christ informs and instructs us through seemingly impossible situations.  He shows off that way.  We are too often confined by the limits of our own logic and reason.  Consequently, obedience becomes more difficult, and, in some cases not a "reasonable" option.

But when we listen to, and trust, the Word of the omniscient and omnipotent Lord, we finally find a Refuge where logic and reason are freed from the confines we place upon them. Christ alone has all the facts.  Therefore, our faith in Him compels and frees us to leave the limits of our own inductive processes. And when we trust Him in doing so we finally receive logical reasons to trust, love, hope, and obey.

Christianity is not about leaving reason for blind faith.  Quite the contrary, it is about being united, by faith, to the One who frees reason from the limits of the fallen human mind.  In Christ, we do not know everything; but, we boast only in the fact that we know the One who knows everything.  Faith in Christ therefore, is the only rational approach to life.  Having said all of this, we can conclude (and even quote:) that man cannot live on his logic alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4).

A Few Thoughts On Judgment

The judgment of God, for many, is the proverbial fly in the Christian ointment.  Some try and remove it, while others attempt to enjoy the ointment around it.  No matter how hard one tries, however, these strategies leave their Christianity incomplete and without significant force.  Sure it may be popular; but pragmatism is no substitute for the unadulterated gospel of God's salvation through judgment.

My first thought about all of this is that it should not surprise us that the biblical doctrine of judgment is always being tampered with.  The seed of the serpent will always be whispering that sweet but deadly lie, "You will not certainly die" (Gen 3:4).

D.A. Carson, in The God Who is There, states it well: "The first doctrine to be denied, according to the Bible, is the doctrine of judgment...because if you can get rid of that one teaching, then rebellion has no adverse consequences, and so you are free to do anything."

My second thought is that the severity of the judgment is directly correlated to the worth of the offended and not the offender.  If a man kills a dog, he gets a few years.  If he kills another man, he gets life in prison (or death).  And if he attempts to kill God, he gets an eternity in hell.

I mention this because I heard Rob Bell say in an interview that he doesn't believe God would send a seventeen year old to hell for committing sin.  The idea is that it would be unfair for seventeen years of sin to be punished by an eternity in hell.  The key flaw here is that he is anchoring judgment in the worth of the offender and not in the One offended.  Our Lord is so holy and glorious that one transgression, even by a seventeen year old, is punishable by an eternity in hell.

My third and final thought is that judgment becomes unbearable when we do not focus on the Cross of Christ.  For the Cross tells us at least two things about God and His judgment.  First, until we understand the weight of the judgment we deserve, we cannot fully understand the glory of the the Savior who absorbed all of our judgment.   If what we deserve is small, our Savior is small.  But if our judgment is great, so is our Savior.

Second, when thinking of the punitive system of covenantal judgment, we must understand that God inaugurated such a system with the Cross of His Son in mind.  In other words, when God the Judge freely decided to set Hell as the final punishment for sin, He knew that the severity of Hell would be the punishment His Son would take upon Himself on the Cross for His people.

In summary, in a culture where Jesus is small, we cannot afford to leave the severity of judgment out of our preaching.  In thinking lightly of judgment, we think lightly of sin, of God's glory and of Christ Himself.  The problem of our culture is that teenage athletes are seen as stronger than the God-man.  When such idolatry is identified along with the severe judgment it deserves, then Christ the strong, wrath absorbing Savior begins to grow in our hearts.  Leaving judgment out of our gospel is dangerous, unloving and deadly.

The Overwhelming Message of the Old Testament

The Lord saves blatant transgressors (Gen 3:21)

The Lord saves drunks (Gen 9:1)

The Lord saves cowardly liars (Gen 12)

The Lord saves devious cheaters (Gen 28)

The Lord saves weak murderers (Exod 3)

The Lord saves grumbling ingrates (Exod 14)

The Lord saves sinners by placing their punishment upon Another (Gen 22; Leviticus 16)

The Lord saves freely, by grace alone (Deut 7)

The Lord saves the poor and the fatherless (Deut 10)

The Lord saves pagan foreigners (Gen 17; Deut 10, 24)

The Lord saves dirty sluts (Joshua 2)

The Lord saves wimpy doubters (Judges 6)

The Lord saves sex addicts (Judges 15)

The Lord saves and uses small, insignificant women (Ruth)

The Lord saves womanizing and murderous adulterers (2 Sam 12)

The Lord saves struggling widows with children (1 Kings 18)

The Lord saves those who grow weary serving Him (1 Kings 19)

The Lord continually saves His rebellious people from tyrannous leaders (2 Kings 22)

The Lord saves child-sacrificing, innocent-blood-sheding idolaters (2 Chron 33:10ff)

The Lord faithfully saves His people from the seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15; Esther)

The Lord saves those who humbly come to Him in faith and repentance (Psalms)

The Lord saves the stupid people like me (Proverbs)

The Lord saves the hopeless and depressed (Ecclesiastes)

The Lord saves His people through wounding and healing (Prophets)

The Lord saves horrible sinners by crushing a Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53)

The Lord saves and uses children (Jeremiah)

The Lord saves naked, bloody, cheap, whore-like communities (Ezekiel 16)

The Lord saves miraculously (Daniel 3)

The Lord saves prideful and hard-hearted rulers [Presidents] (Daniel 4)

The Lord saves those who simply seek Him by faith alone (Amos 5; Hab 2:4)

The Lord saves from His awful lionlike wrath (Amos)

The Lord saves savage nations (Jonah)

The Lord saves resentful and stubborn ministers (Jonah)

The Lord saves even though every single person deserves to die (Minor Prophets)

The Lord saves His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)

The Lord's name is Jesus (Matthew 1:21)

The message of the Old Testament (as well as the New!) is overwhelmingly clear.  Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).  Many of us have grown up thinking that the God of the Old Testament is the God of wrath, while the God of the New Testament - Jesus Christ - is the God of grace.  This could not be farther from the truth.  The glory of all of the Scriptures, especially the Old Testament, is that God relentlessly pursues sinners to save them.