Saving Faith

So, what do you make of the following verse:

"But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." Hebrews 10:38

Is this just about "living" eternally with God? I have heard it preached that way. Maybe, just maybe it means something more. Maybe it has more to do with living out your faith once you have made a profession. What if this verse is less like Romans 10:9 ("If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.") and more like Philippians 2:12 ("Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling")?

Within the context of Hebrews 10, it seems pretty clear that 10:38 is about living out your faith. Please don't go too far with this and say that we earn our salvation by what we do to serve God and His Kingdom. There is way too much Scripture to indicate that is not the case, especially Ephesians 2:8-9 ("For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.") But, like James indicates in Chapter 2 of his letter, our true faith, what we truly believe about the Lord, is demonstrated in our actions.

So, how are you doing? Is your life bearing fruit of repentance? Are you living out the gospel? What do your relationships look like? Are they demonstrations of divine reconciliation? What are you living for? Have you offered yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God? Is your life characterized by love for God and people? Are you living out your calling to be an ambassador of Christ?

Look at how one family is living by faith. No, it doesn't mean that everyone has to follow their example. The principles apply, not their specific application. But, they are part of the "cloud of witnesses" and they should be an encouragement to each of us to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1). So, watch this video and let's talk...

Rio Portrait - SBC 2011 from imb connecting on Vimeo.

Theology of Thanksgiving

OK, I know that title is probably not the most exciting, but today I am feeling like I need to just deliver sound Theology straight up. Will you allow me that?

Let’s start with a brief discussion of something all of us know, Geometry. I can almost hear some of you screaming right now, but hang with me. I’ll admit that Geometry was one of my favorite classes in high school. Why? Because it was a puzzle to be unraveled, and it was done so analytically and logically. But I would like to suggest to you that we can learn a lot about giving thanks by drawing on what we remember (hopefully) from Geometry.

In America, giving thanks is treated like a point but we should think of it like a ray. Let me refresh your memories. A point has no width or length. It is different than a line which is a series of points strung together in an infinite string. See, most of us think that giving thanks is something that we do at a point in time. While time may be a line to us, thanksgiving is a point on that line, the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving Day. It’s a point where we stop doing what we normally do, gather with family or close friends, watch football, eat too much, and say that we are thankful. And then, before the day is over, a multitude of us are out glutting ourselves at vendors who gorge themselves on our consumption, but that’s another blog post…

But the Christian life is not revealed as one with occasional or even periodic thankfulness. In fact, most of our English translations do a wonderful job of expressing the continual act of giving thanks reflected in the Greek grammar of Paul’s letters. It’s almost wrong to call it a “continual act” since it’s more of a lifestyle or mode. And some people get this, but for them thankfulness is a line. They understand that we are to be characterized by thankfulness, but that line is defined by a couple of points where they expressed thanks. Remember? That’s the definition of a line. A line is a string of points drawn through two points and extends continuously in both directions. And for a lot of Americans, stringing together several points of thanksgiving is the right way to live a life of gratitude.

But I would liken biblical thanksgiving to a ray. A ray is a portion of a line; it begins with a point on the line and then continues in one direction infinitely. I say Christian thanksgiving is like a ray because it has a starting point and then a direction. If you like Physics, thankfulness is like a vector. A vector has BOTH magnitude and direction. Furthermore, it has a position relative to other points.

OK, too much Math and Science. Let’s bring it back to Theology. Gratitude is demonstrated as a continuous state of motion. Gratitude has direction. It is not something we feel, but how we act. And all of it is in reference to our starting point, that moment that we acknowledged the relevance of the death of Christ to our lives. That was the point that created new life in us. It’s not that what transpired before that point is unimportant. However, it is that point, us before the cross of Christ, and the subsequent direction, living out the Resurrection, that defines our faithfulness. And that ray is characterized by gratitude to God. Thanksgiving is How we do all that to which we are called.

So, by all means, gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving Day. If you’re so inclined, go ahead and watch the Packers beat the Lions, the Cowboys beat the Dolphins, and the Niners beat the Crows. And gather around a bountiful table, but don’t overindulge since gluttony is the antithesis of gratitude. But reflect deeply on the blessings that the Lord has given to you. Do you know that every instance I found of Paul giving thanks was in reference to the people whom God had brought into his life, and that his admonitions to live thankful lives are buried in the midst of instructions concerning living in Christian community?

My pastor taught me that we are blessed to be a blessing. I like that perspective. It helps me keep my faith about more than me. So look for opportunities to train yourself to be other-focused. Look for places where you can apply the blessings that the Lord has given to you. And apply blessings in relational ways, inviting others to participate with you.

If you find that you just can’t come up with a tangible way to express Christian gratitude this season, consider joining a growing movement to bless the homeless in our area. Go to www.simplysocks.info for more information.

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. Psalm 106:1-5

Building Religion

Evangelicals are very fond of talking about the difference between “religion” and “faith.” Of course, they are quick to point out that we have a faith, and not religion. Religion is something that man creates while faith is something that God creates in you. Religion is generally a bunch of rules, while faith is about entering into a relationship with the Living God. Yada, yada, yada…

But how is it that we, as Christians, create religion? Sure, you want to point to people who think that, if there really is a God, He grades on a curve, looking at how the population in general is behaving toward one another and then giving the A of salvation to the highest achievers. But how about people who understand that salvation is an undeserved gift, a grace from God? How do people who start out right end up in dead religion?

My reflections this week have been on “form” and “substance.” You see, Christians are very good at getting the two confused. They fall into the enemy’s trap of believing that following the forms of the faith is the same as participation in the life of faith. What does it look like? “Do you attend church regularly?” “Do you give 10% to the church?” “Do you serve in a ministry?” “Do you attend a small group or Sunday School class?” “If you answer ‘Yes’ to all of these, then you’re living the life of faith!”

And there’s also a list of things you shouldn’t do. “Don’t drink, smoke, have sex, use profanities, cheat, steal, lie (wow, we could talk about this one!), and don’t ever associate with someone who does these things. If you don’t do these things, and a few others, then you’re surely living the life of faith!”

All (actually, most) of this is the “form” of Christian faith. But faith is a relationship with God! The form is intended to make time and place for the relationship to be nurtured by and thru the Holy Spirit. Apart from His activity in all of this, you have dead religion. And falling back on the safety net of professing that you are saved by grace alone through faith alone is trap of your enemy. He’s a liar!

Now, before you get all self-righteous because you attend a “Spirit-filled” congregation, know that the Spirit of God tends to be the shy, anonymous person of the Trinity, not the flamboyant, ostentatious “power-on-display” of some congregations. Yes, He is our source of all things needed for our growing up into the full stature of Christ, including spiritual power. However, when we dictate that a certain demonstration of supernatural power must be on display in order for His presence to be known, we are stepping way beyond the Spirit as He is described in Scripture. And, again, we are looking at dead, though maybe very active, religion.

The reason I have been dwelling on this subject is because the small group that I participate in is planning an amazing outreach to the homeless in our vicinity. That’s a good form! And we are inviting others to participate with us. That is closer to substance, but still just useful form. My fear is that we would not slow down and create the space and time for the Spirit to participate with us. I believe wholeheartedly that the Spirit led our group to this outreach opportunity. And it is certainly well within the will of God that His people would reach out in this manner. But I also know that He is not a reluctant, but a meek God. He wants to be invited to participate. And He wants to be trusted to provide all that is needed to reach whatever goals He has determined would be achieved thru this form.

Because I am convinced that the purpose of this outreach (and church attendance, service, tithing, study, fellowship, holiness, etc.) is to bring glory to Him by participating in being His church. And in that form, filled with the substance of a right relationship with Him, we are being fitted together to rise up to be a holy temple as we are being brought to maturity, attaining to the full measure of Christ.

Our Search for Ancient Paths

So, I promised you last week that I would tell you how my small group was seeking to “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it” (Jeremiah 6:16). So this is what we have been doing…

We started with a study of Jesus in the Gospels. Specifically, our group has been going through the Gospel of Mark. And the rule is that all of the “skubalon” (Greek term, look it up!) has to be thrown out the window (or flushed down the drain). Only what is “vintage faith” is what can remain. And this is no purely academic effort. Every study has a huge what-does-this-mean-for-us discussion. Down the drain go all of the trite Sunday School answers. We usually hear the question, “And did you get that from this text or somewhere else?” There’s a lot of discomfort in that. And you can almost hear the moaning as the sacred cows are butchered. But I’ll also say that this group is going “deeper” than it ever has, maybe deeper than any group I have ever participated in.

And then, there’s action. Because God made Himself known to us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth as found in an ancient book we call the Bible, we are seeking to be His faithful followers. This God we serve did not give us an academic faith. He gave us an example! And He said that, even as He lived that example in tangible ways in the world, He expects that we would do likewise. All that He was and is was “incarnated” in this man, Jesus. And we are to incarnate our understanding of Him. We don’t avoid doing “bad” things because He might punish us. Rather, we realize that people looking upon us are seeing what we believe about our God. So, we try to represent Him in all we do. It’s NOT easy because we are so different from Him in our humanness.

And this Fall, we are seeking to serve the “least” among us. The group came up with an outreach they called “Simply Socks.” You see, the homeless generally have only one pair of socks and those are wretched! But there are already clinics and missions that interact with these folks; we don’t have to create the opportunity. Instead, what we can do is call others to join us. So we’re collecting new cotton socks to donate to ministries in the city. And we’re advertizing this effort within our spheres of influence. Two teachers in the group have taken it to their schools. I’m sharing through this blog. There is a website: Simply Socks (https://sites.google.com/site/simplysocks2011/). And I’m hopeful that others will want to join in on the mission of the church, even if they don’t believe. After all, can anyone look upon a broken, desperate person and not be moved to an emotional response? The emotion you feel might show how close to God you really are.

So, where are you and your group? What emotion do you feel when you look upon the homeless? Or do you even look? The Lord does. He sees. He knows. And He acts, through His people! Join us on our search for the ancient paths!

"We Will Not Listen!"

So, how did the church in America get into the mess that it finds itself in now? Is that a premature question? If you think so, perhaps you are new to this blog. The fact is that churches today resemble corporations more than they do the Bride of Christ. The business world has infiltrated the church. It’s not a hostile takeover; business principles were invited in. Then came business men to run the church. And then, the prophetic voice, the voice of God thru His chosen vessel, was cast out of the church. Why? Because what was being built was more important than what God wanted. After all, didn’t God place these business men into these positions of authority? And aren’t they expected to serve Him out of their SHAPE, which includes decades of surviving, even thriving in the world? And isn’t the prophetic voice really just a trouble-maker, maybe even someone who wants to steal the power of the Leaders?

Now, for better or for worse, this is not a new story. The tragedy is that this is the story of humanity. This is what we do, tell God that we don’t really need His input because we have it all figured out. This is why we deserve His judgment. Paul wrote, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). And please don’t try to explain this away by saying that Paul is talking about people who practice homosexuality. That is a Pharisaical understanding of this passage, which uses a specific example to illustrate a problem that is common to all of us! And also don’t think that you can hide in anonymity either. Paul is quite clear in saying this is a collective problem (Romans 1:32). The judgment of God falls on Leaders and the people alike. There’s no deflection allowed.

But there’s good news! Because this is a common condition, we have the biblical example to fall back on. Go figure! God actually provides for us in the Bible with a positive teaching in the midst of a negative example. “Oh, God, Your story is so dark in the Old Testament. It’s such a downer. It really bums us out when we read it!” But I offer to you that it is in contrast to darkness that light can truly be appreciated. Scripture tells us that the darkness blinds us, numbs us to the depth of our depravity, so that we think we are doing good when we are practicing wickedness. But God provides light, if we have eyes to see or ears to hear.

So, look at the story of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was the “bad” part of Israel, setting up an alternate temple where idolatry was practiced. And for the people in the South, they must have felt pretty smug as they watched God judge their northern cousins by the hand of the Assyrians. But, fast-forward the story about 100 years and you hear the voice of the prophet raised up once again, this time against Judah.

“Flee for safety, people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem... For disaster looms out of the north, even terrible destruction. I will destroy the Daughter of Zion, so beautiful and delicate. Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents around her, each tending his own portion.” “Prepare for battle against her! Arise, let us attack at noon! But, alas, the daylight is fading, and the shadows of evening grow long. So arise, let us attack at night and destroy her fortresses!” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Cut down the trees and build siege ramps against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; it is filled with oppression. As a well pours out its water, so she pours out her wickedness. Violence and destruction resound in her; her sickness and wounds are ever before me. Take warning, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so no one can live in it.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine; pass your hand over the branches again, like one gathering grapes.” To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. But I am full of the wrath of the LORD, and I cannot hold it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together; both husband and wife will be caught in it, and the old, those weighed down with years. Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,” declares the LORD. “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD. Jeremiah 6:1-15

Pretty graphic, terrible stuff, right? But then, this glimmer of light before a return to darkness:

This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’” Jeremiah 6:16-17

Part of God’s perfect provision for the church is the prophetic voice, watchmen. In the midst of the darkness that we call light comes the voice of God calling us back into the light of His redemption. And that revelation? “Ask for the ancient paths!” In other words, “Repent, turn from your futile ways, ways that you have constructed for yourself, and do it My way” declares the Lord.

So, what is the “ancient path”? Do we even remember? Or, have there been too many voices added to the conversation? I’m not saying that everything that the business world has offered the church is evil. I am saying that it was wrong to adopt their ways and label them “God’s way” and worse still to silence the prophet. Next week, I’ll share with you what my small group is doing to rediscover the ancient path and restore righteousness to at least one small part of Christ’s church…

Building on the Right Foundation

So, how do you create an environment where God is glorified and people are not ground into pulp? Well, a better question might be, “How can you claim that you are honoring God if you are abusing people?” And for those who think that I’m belaboring an inconsequential point, let’s take a look at what Jesus taught as the Greatest Commandment:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39

Notice He said that the second greatest commandment is “like” the first. This is not “similarity,” but rather “sameness.” He hits you with the command to love people in the same breath that He tells you to love God. And if that doesn’t lend enough weight to the issue, He follows it up with this outrageous statement:

“All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (v.40)

Folks, “all the Law and the Prophets” basically means “all of Scripture” to His audience. What Jesus is saying is that you cannot pursue ANYTHING of God if you do it outside of the context of loving God and people.

So, now, back to the question of how you make sure that you don’t build an abomination rather than a church where “the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 3:10)? Well, for nearly 2,000 years, the people of God have followed a simple instruction from the Lord which has seared this command into their inner-being. It’s not building modern temples, not collecting offerings to administer programs, not establishing dictatorial positions of power. It’s more pure than that. It’s reflective of the essence of the church. It’s simple, yet amazingly profound. It’s the Lord’s Supper, the Communion of the Bread and Cup.

How often does your church share in Communion? It has been my experience in this area that most who are outside Mainline denominations do it rarely if at all. If we’re honest, we believe that a tortured Savior dying on a tree is something reserved for the eyes of those who need to “accept” Him. And I’m not sure that I would argue against that, only offer to reframe it. Because, even those who have been following Him for decades need to learn to “accept” Him more profoundly.

It’s in the cross – not shiny and clean and vacant, but rough-sawn, soiled, and occupied – where all that is foundational to our existence comes into focus. In the cross, our “minor offenses” are revealed for their significance. In the cross, we come as close as we dare to the holy righteousness of a God who is an all-consuming fire, a God who is pouring out His wrath as the just penalty for dishonor.

And it’s in the cross that we see the perfect picture of love poured out for the sake of others. We see arms stretched out wide, as a sin offering but also as a sign of openness to receive the worst of sinners. Because, the man on the cross is no mere man, but God Himself.

And in the Communion of the Bread and the Cup, we remember the cross, and the image is seared into our inner-being and our collective identity, so that it might become impossible to treat any person dishonorably.

So, break and eat the bread. And drink the fruit of the vine. And do it in a worthy manner, lest you eat and drink judgment upon yourself (1 Corinthians 11:28-32).