Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Keller on prayer and Scripture

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IKeller on Prayern his book on prayer, Tim Keller writes this about the importance of having Scripture as the foundation of our prayer life:

“Without immersion in God’s words, our prayers may not be merely limited and shallow but also untethered from reality. We may be responding not to the real God but to what we wish God and life to be like. Indeed, if left to themselves our hearts will tend to create a God who doesn’t exist. People from Western cultures want a God who is loving and forgiving but not holy and transcendent. Studies of the spiritual lives of young adults in Western countries reveal that their prayers, therefore, are generally devoid of both repentance and of the joy of being forgiven. Without prayer that answers the God of the Bible, we will only be talking to ourselves.”

No one likes to be in a conversation where the other person is speaking but not listening. In prayer, our listening happens when we pay attention to Scripture. In the Bible, God tells us what he thinks is important for us to know.

Praying in response to what we know about God from Scripture makes prayer a conversation that incorporates both listening and speaking.

To speak without listening is rude and a waste of time.

C. S. Lewis on Christian morality

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C. S. LewisIn a collection of broadcast talks called Christian Behaviour, C. S. Lewis’ said this:

“People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, ‘If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if you don’t I’ll do the other thing.’ I don’t think that is the best way of looking at it. I’d much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven; that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.”

This is a good reminder that our moment-by-moment choices do have consequences. The Apostle Paul supports this idea when he writes:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15–16, ESV)

There are two extremes to be avoided in thinking about the choices that we make. The first is to become frozen because the understanding of the importance of each one becomes overwhelming. The second danger is to be stop caring about them because the decisions come so fast that it is difficult to process them correctly.

This is an imperfect illustration but perhaps it might help the discussion.

Assume for a moment that I have a perfect understanding of exactly what type of diet is good for me. I have a strict list of things that I know are good for me to eat. But these foods are not found in their purest form. In other words, the “healthy” foods are available but are combined with things that are not on the list. One extreme would be to not eat anything at all until I was sure that it was 100% healthy. The other extreme is to give up any hope of choosing well and eat Krispy Kreme donuts (or Dunkin’ Donuts, I am an equal opportunity donut eater).

The Christian’s desire is to choose well, but often we do not. But a proper understanding of the sovereignty of God frees us up with the understanding that even when we don’t choose well, God can use that poor choice to draw us closer to himself. We have the opportunity to repent and have our relationship restored.

A reason for boasting

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A reason for boastingFor the most part, I really don’t enjoy listening to postgame, on-field interviews of athletes. If the interviewee is on the winning side, too often the interview amounts to boasting about how he is faster, stronger or smarter than his opponent. We live in a day where self-promotion is encouraged and expected. This is an aspect of our society with which I am not comfortable. Perhaps this is why these two verses in Jeremiah jumped out at me when I read them this morning:

“Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”” (Jeremiah 9:23–24, ESV)

For believers, if we are to boast at all, let it be boasting about the God we serve. Let us boast about that God makes himself understandable to us. Let us boast that God allows us to know him and be in relationship with him.

We have a reason for boasting, but that reason is not us. Let us boast about God’s character.

If we understand God’s character and boast about it, some of that character is bound to rub off on us. Please look at the list that is given in the verses above.

  • Steadfast love
  • Justice
  • Righteousness

If ware know God and are in relationship with him, it seems to me that these traits should be increasingly operational in our lives both individually and collectively. If we are seeking hard after God, it should be these traits that define the church.

Ask yourself these questions,

  • Are visitors to my church enveloped by a sense of God’s steadfast love (lovingkindness in the NASB)?
  • Is my congregations known for pursuing justice in the local community and around the world?
  • Do I convey an accurate portrayal of true righteousness, that which is granted by God through a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Not only is this a corporate challenge for us as we gather on Sundays, this is a challenge to us as individuals. We should be in prayer to God and give him permission to work these traits into the fabric of our lives. Paul tells us:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13, ESV)

Notice that there is effort required on our part. We need to extend effort toward becoming what God wants us to be. But ultimately it is God who works these traits into us. We need to allow Scripture to shape our desires and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is a good news, bad news situation.

The bad news is that we fall short in love, justice and righteousness. The good news is that God is not done with us.

A warning to teachers

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A warning to teachers
Copyright: carmenbobo / 123RF Stock Photo

To keep the body healthy, there are times when we need to get bad news from the doctor. I would not trust any doctor who told me that I can eat whatever I want, as much as I want, and that I should not worry about any consequences. Any doctor who behaved in this way would be doing me a disservice, even though I truly wish it were possible to live on bacon cheeseburgers, carnitas burritos and pizza.

Such a doctor would be committing malpractice and should surrender his license to the authorities.

Any survey of the religious section or the self-help section of any bookstore will produce many examples of similar malpractice with regard to spiritual things. There is nothing that I can do or even want to do for which I could not find some “expert” somewhere that would tell me that it is the right thing to do, even if it is ultimately self-destructive. We might think this is a new problem, but that would be a wrong conclusion.

God said this to the Israelites through Jeremiah about two and a half millennia ago:

“An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?” (Jeremiah 5:30–31, ESV)

The prophets told the people what they wanted to hear and the priests lined their pockets by going along with it.

I don’t really want my pastor to say anything from the pulpit that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want my pastor to challenge me in areas where I struggle to obey. I would prefer that he give me a nice 20 minute pep talk that tells me how good I am and to keep going on my current trajectory.

But that is not what I need. For my pastor to do this would require that he ignore the large chunks of Scripture that say otherwise.

Church leaders, and especially those who have a teaching ministry, have the responsibility to take Scripture as it is and let it say what it really says. To do this effectively requires that teachers first let it challenge their own hearts. One cannot effectively teach what he has not learned.

Teachers must have a healthy distrust of their own hearts and an openness before God to allow correction in their own lives. Teachers must allow the prophetic voice to speak to them before they can be that voice to others.

Please don’t tell me what I want to hear, tell me what I need to hear. If you tell me only what I want to hear, you will not be setting me up to be well when I finally meet my maker.

Jeremiah asks a very important question, “What will you do when the end comes?”

The end always comes.

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