We just attended the North American Christian Convention. It was nice. In April, we attended the Exponential Conference. It was awesome. Between the two conferences we worshipped with more than 10,000 Christian leaders. The Music & Arts were great at both, particularly at Exponential. The preaching and teaching were great at both. People were enlightened, encouraged, and challenged.
No doubt, some considered their experiences at these conferences to be ”life-changing.” At least, that’s what I’ve heard a few people say.
But i’m skeptical. Maybe it’s just my nature. Maybe it’s just my experience. Or maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many people talk about having a “life-changing” encounter with God without making any tangible changes in their life.
Honestly, can you have a “life-changing” experience, if nothing changes in your life? You might say, “My mind changed.” But doesn’t an authentic change of mind translate into a change in actions and patterns? You might say, “My heart changed.” But doesn’t an authentic change of heart translate into an exchange of treasure? In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
At the NACC last week, pastor Wayne Smith mentioned how often people get this backward. Most people think it means: “Where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.” But that’s not what Jesus says. Jesus says: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It’s a subtle but significant nuance. It’s safe to say that one cannot have a change of “heart” without having a change of “treasure.”
It feels good, spiritually, to say “God has changed my life.” But if nothing tangible (nothing in your treasure chest, in your habits, in your lifestyle) has changed, then it’s a lie. One cannot have a change of mind and heart, without making tangible changes.
It reminds me of all the men who wanted to follow Jesus in Matthew 8:18-22. They thought they wanted to follow Jesus. The felt like they wanted to follow Jesus. The believed they wanted to follow Jesus. They might have even talked about having a ”life-changing” encounter with Jesus. But Jesus sensed otherwise. In fact, they were not willing to make tangible changes and sacrifices. Thus Jesus rejected them as followers. This might be Jesus’ thinking behind his statement in Matthew 22:14 that ”Many are called, but few are chosen.”
Before you start talking about how God has changed your life, you might start asking if your life is tangibly different than it was before. If nothing has changed in your life since you encountered God, perhaps you have not actually encountered God. It’s just a thought, but it might be worth considering.
This morning I made a casual Twitter-post about going to a bar for lunch today to spend time with “lost” people. Needless to say, I received a number of interesting (and understandable) responses. First, it sounds arrogant to presume that I am saved and have the solution for lost people. Second, it sounds judgmental to insinuate that a person in a bar is categorically lost. Finally, it sounds offensive to be labeled ”lost,” especially if your life is pretty good.
Before we delve deeper in the idea of being lost, let me respond to each of these points. First, I don’t believe that I have the solution for lost people, I believe God does however. Second, I’m not insinuating that any person who enters into a bar is lost, just as I’m not insinuating that any person who enters into a church is saved. Jesus spent a lot of his time in bar settings and was even accused of over-indulging once in a while—He was certainly not lost. Finally, I do not choose what to say based on it’s potential for offense (although I do want to be as gracious as possible).
Still, Jesus makes the potentially-offensive and politically-incorrect statement that He has come “to seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). The irony in this passage is that Jesus’ words are spoken tongue-in-cheek. He is playing on the competing worldviews of the “sinners” and the religious establishment. The “sinners” are clearly lost because they are selfish, greedy, and oppressive. But the religious establishment is just as lost because they are harsh, judgmental, and unforgiving. By judging the “sinners,” the Religious misjudge their own lostness.
More to the point: the only saved person in the Luke 19 story is the penitent Sinner. He acknowledges his lostness, follows Christ, and begins to live a life of self-sacrifice and service to others. When people marvel at this spiritual irony, Jesus explains that He lives for the lost. And if we are going to be saved (ie. become followers of Christ) then we need to live for the lost as well.
Thus my desire to get out of the church and into an atmosphere of lostness. Too many churches say “come into our building/fellowship and become like us.” Not enough churches go out into the world. Too many churches say “come join our church and help us serve one another.” Not enough churches say “let’s go out and serve people very different from us.” So what did Jesus do? John 1:14 says “the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” He didn’t just call us to heaven, He came to earth to seek and save what was lost.
So what is a lost person anyway? A lost person is sinner who is disconnected from God due to his/her own selfish desires. But a lost person is also a self-righteous, religious person who is disconnected from God due to his/her own spiritual certitude. The best thing to be is another thing altogether—a penitent sinner who acknowledges the need for Christ, and follows Him by living a life of self-sacrifice and service to others.
This week someone said to me: there is no right or wrong, you just do what’s best for your family. While I agree that we must do what is best for our families, there is right and wrong (it’s called Truth); and doing what is right is always the best thing to do. So I thought I’d share a couple application points from a recent sermon I preached called “Absolute Truth Exists, Absolutely.” It’s just a couple of notes about the problem with thinking that truth does not exist.
First, if truth does not exist, then Might makes Right. If there is no such thing as truth, then whoever is the most powerful gets to determine what is right. The top of the food chain gets to decide what is right and moral. If they determine that they need your land, they get to confiscate it. If they determine they need your money, they get to tax it. If they determine they need your service, they get to enslave you. If there’s no absolute truth then there are no inalienable human rights. Right and wrong are relative to whoever is making the decisions. The people with the most power decide what is right because there’s no truth to contradict, to contain, or to expose them. If there is no truth then there is only tyranny.
Second, if truth does not exist, then everyday living is impossible. Think about it: If you can’t know anything for sure then you can’t do anything for sure. Francis Schaeffer “cites the famous example of the composer John Cage, whose commitment to pure chance was so strong that he believed that no one musical note or sequence or combination of notes is better than any other. Thus he chose his notes by pure chance. However, as a mushroom connoisseur, he knew he might die if he picked and ate mushrooms at random, regardless of their shape, size, or color. Hence, when he gathered mushrooms, he went strictly by the book, in contradiction to his asserted relativism.”[1]
Relativism simply doesn’t work. Think about it like this: If you can’t know anything for sure then you dare not get inside your car because you can’t know if it’s going to blow up when you turn the ignition, or just start the engine. Nor can you know if it will stop when you hit the brakes if you can’t know truth. Every single time we get out of bed we do so with a set of assumptions and truths that we live by! If truth does not exist then everyday living is impossible.
Third, if truth does exist, then we need to abide by it. If truth does exist, and if we can know truth, then we need to abide by it. At previous times we’ve established the fact that truth does exist. And we’ve asserted that truth is knowable and that it’s most reliable source is the Scriptures. Therefore we have a responsibility to abide by the teachings of Scripture.
Most people reject the idea of truth, not because they don’t believe in truth per se, but because they don’t want to abide by God’s truths. They’d rather have it their own way. And rather than acknowledging their contempt for God’s ways they simply disallow the idea of truth altogether. Even the Bible says: “Where there is no law there is no transgression.”[2] In other words, if we can’t know the truth then we can’t be held accountable for our sin. But if we can know the truth then we are not only accountable for our sin, but we are responsible for following the truth.
[These ideas are adapted from Jack Cottrell's book Faith's Fundamentals: Seven Essentials of the Christian Faith.]
[1]Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There (Inter-Varsity Press, 1968), p. 72-74.
I mostly enjoy Mondays. Traditionally, I spend the morning at a coffee shop reading my Bible, doing some journaling, reflecting on the week that past, and planning for the week that is. At least one Monday a month I work with Ignite Church Planting, Chicagoland and that always gets me excited.
Except for today. Today I’ve got the Melancholy-Monday Syndrome.
Maybe it’s because its dark and dreary outside. Maybe it’s because I slept terribly and had crazy dreams last night; or maybe it’s because I haven’t slept well at all since the Exponential Conference in April. Maybe it’s because there’s an emotional letdown after a very busy Sunday. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked all day, every day, for 8 of the past 9 days (I’m not complaining, I prefer it that way). Maybe it’s because my oldest son still has a week-and-half of school left before Summer vacation (unbelievable!). Maybe it’s because of the 220+ people who died this morning on an Air France flight. Maybe it’s because the notorious late-term abortion doctor, George Tiller, was slain in a church yesterday (I’m not shedding any tears for Tiller but neither am I rejoicing; in fact I’m rather conflicted spiritually about this).
For whatever reason, or maybe for all these reasons, I’m experiencing a very melancholy Monday. But Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the Day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I’m going to rejoice in this day, but I may need a little inspiration.
This morning I read Genesis 26 in my quiet time with God and this chapter is all about Legacy. It’s about Abraham’s financial legacy of wealth, and spiritual legacy of blessing, being passed onto his son Isaac. Sadly, its also about Abraham’s legacy of sin being passed to his son Isaac and his grandson Esau—specifically, his track-record with women. Both Isaac and Esau commit the same sexual blunders as Abraham.
I think the point is that we as parents pass our success, as well as our failures, onto our children. They will succeed in some of the areas we have succeeded. But they will also fail in many of the areas where we have failed. In many cases, our habits will become their habits and our addictions will become theirs. Therefore we have a responsibility, not only as people not to harbor and hold onto bad habits, but as parents to ensure that the legacy passed onto our children is honorable and godly.
As I listen to Kris Allen, winner of American Idol, sing my new favorite song “God of this City,” I am drawn to the three passages of Scripture in the Gospel of John where Jesus utters the phrase and promises “greater things.” The first is in John 1:50 where a man named Nathaniel is willing to become a Christ-follower simply because of Jesus’ perception and discernment. Jesus appreciates Nathaniel’s sentiment but promises, “You shall see greater things than that.”
The second time is in John 5:20 where Jesus heals a lame man and is questioned by the religious leaders who think Jesus is unorthodox for helping/healing someone on the Sabbath. Almost tongue-in-cheek, Jesus says to His opposition: That’s nothing! I will show you “even greater things than these…,” insinuating that he has not even begun to challenge their traditions yet, and predicting His death and resurrection.
The third time Jesus utters this phrase is in John 14:12, just moments before His arrest. The Disciples know that something bad is about to happen and Jesus is trying to comfort them. Knowing the end is near, He challenges them by saying, “I tell you the truth any one who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.” With these words He challenges His followers to continue His work—not just His first-century followers, but all followers throughout all time.
So what is the work we are to continue? Isaiah 61 offers insight to His work saying it is “to preach good news to the poor; to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor; and to comfort and bless those who grieve and to lift them from despair; and to display the splendor of God.” Not only does Jesus tell us to continue to do this Gospel work, but to do it on a greater scale than even He was able—and He promises to enable us accomplish the task with the help of His Spirit.
So I’ve got to wonder: Am I doing greater things in my city? What about you?
“Jesus Christ has irreparably changed the world. When preached purely, His Word exalts, frightens, shocks, and forces us to reassess our whole life. The gospel breaks our train of thought, shatters our comfortable piety, and cracks open our capsule truths. The flashing spirit of Jesus Christ breaks new paths everywhere. His sentences stand like quivering swords of flame because He did not come to bring peace, but a revolution. The gospel is not a children’s fairy tale, but rater a cutting-edge, rolling-thunder, convulsive earthquake in the world of the human spirit.”
The Furious Longing of God (David C. Cook, Colorado Springs) p. 115.
2 Corinthians 5:9 says: “Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present of absent, to be well pleasing to Him” (NKJV). Here the Apostle declares the aim (or goal) of his life: to be well pleasing to God.
What are you goals in life? To experience romance. To attain academic excellence. To have a house, 2.5 kids, and a dog named Spot. To make a million dollars. To be the best at whatever you do. To achieve fame and/or significance. What is your life’s aim—what are you shooting for?
For the Apostle it is rather simple: to please God.
What I immediately notice is the unselfishness of his goal. It’s not about getting stuff, proving something, living up to someone else, or being better than the rest. He simply hopes that his life will be pleasing to God. But he doesn’t just hope. He makes it his mission, his passion, his life’s work.
Is your goal in life to please God? Does it wake you up in the morning, lay you down at night, and govern who you are in between? What you do with your time—does it please God? What you do with your money—does it please God? What you eat and drink—does it please God? What you say to your coworkers—does it please God? How you treat your spouse—does it please God? Have you made it your aim to please God?
Sadly, most of us just try to please ourselves.
Making it our goal to please God is not easy. But three verses might be an asset in this discussion. The first is Hebrews 11:6 which says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” The second is 1 John 5:3 which says: “This is love for God: to obey His commands” (NIV).
And the third is found in John 2 in a record of the events surrounding Jesus’ first miracle. It’s during a wedding feast. Unfortunately, the wedding-planner has failed to secure enough wine for the party (a pretty big social fax paux in 1st century Israel), and Mary asks Jesus to solve the problem.
Interestingly enough, Jesus doesn’t seem real keen on doing this but yields to his mother’s request, asking the servants to fill six large vats with water. When they look at Him with confusion Mary says to the servants “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5 NIV). Enabled by their obedience, Jesus turns the water into wine.
It’s a simple statement, yet profound in our discussion. Do you want to make it your life’s goal to please God? Then do whatever He tells you.
Several weeks ago, while attending a church-planting conference, a conviction developed inside of me that I was not spending enough time with God. Not being overly mystical, I nevertheless felt that God was telling me to mark out more time for Him—time to pray, time to read Scripture devotionally, and time to journal my thoughts, prayers, and struggles. This conviction hit me when I learned of thousands of Eastern Christians in the Orient who are setting aside 3 hours a day for prayer and personal Bible study.
Therefore, I began the discipline of marking out time for God. Thinking that I should begin and end my day with God, I began to get up earlier and stay up later so that my time with Him did not take away from my time with family, friends and work. And what better way, then to start and end the day, with God?
And I must confess that it began only as a discipline. The first morning, when my alarm sounded at 5:30am, was a rough one. I hit the coffee maker before I hit the Word. But the second morning was easier. And the third easier still. Also, spending an hour in prayer and devotional study was not easy. What to pray? What to read? How to keep from falling asleep? That’s why they call it discipline, I suppose, because it’s not easy.
However, my discipline is now being transformed into desire. I’m anticipating my times with God in the morning. I’m finding the television in the evening to be monotonous. I’m looking forward to my prayer journal, and my devotional books, and maybe most, my Bible. I’m reading things that challenge me—and I like to be challenged—things that could change me. My passion for God is being renewed once again—and I find myself spending more time with Him throughout the day (and appreciating Him in my work and in my play). Discipline has become desire.
I wonder how many other areas of my life need the catalyst of discipline. It takes discipline to exercise but eventually it becomes a desire. It takes discipline to love the unlovable, but eventually the unlovable become desirable. How many areas of our lives could God transform if we were willing to accept His discipline and embrace self-discipline? I don’t know for sure, but I do know that my spiritual disciplines have become spiritual desires—and for this I rejoice.
