Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Obedience, trembling and embracing

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obedienceThis morning I was reading through the Sermon on the Mount and a phrase from the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) came to mind. In response to Scripture, the WCF speaks of

“. . . yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life, and that which is to come.”

The reason this phrase came to mind is that I was struck by how poorly I put into practice what Jesus commands in his sermon. I’m not very good at turning the other cheek. I balk at going the second mile. I grumble about, rather than pray for, my enemies. These are just a few of the ways I fall short of living out the commands of Scripture.

The bad news is that I will never be able to live out the commands of the Sermon on the Mount. This would be overwhelming if it wasn’t for the good news.

The good news (the literal meaning of the word “gospel”) is that God has made a provision for me to get past my inability.

In Christ I am forgiven. In Christ I am not condemned. My inability to live the Christian life has been taking into account and a fix has been implemented.

In Christ, I have the opportunity to obey the commands, tremble at the threatenings and embrace the promises. I can do so, not with the intention of earning merit with God. Rather, I can do so like a child seeking to emulate a loving father. Love is a much better motivation.

The irony of this is that by giving up the desire to put myself in a better standing with God, I then actually am in a better standing. I move from acting from duty or self-interest to acting from love. While God does not love me any more or any less as a result of my behavior, obedience, trembling and embracing align my thinking and behavior with God’s desire.

I find that increased obedience brings increased peace to my soul.

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.

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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