It is worth doing badly

Posted on June 14, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 11 Comments

Recently, a coworker informed me that he discovered this blog and gave me some positive feedback about it. I am grateful for the compliment, but then a little bit of panic set in because there is a gap between what I say and what I actually do. I don’t live out what I know to be right and true. This guy has seen how far short of ideal I really fall.

But then the thought struck me; any activity in life that is worth doing, is worth doing badly. Let me explain.

When a new endeavor is taken up, the first attempts almost always fall short of the desired goal. Hence, the phrase “practice makes perfect” comes into play. With the exception of Harry Potter flying a broom, I can think of no activity which is begun with perfect results. Whether it be a sport, craft or an intellectual pursuit, the initial results are less than satisfactory. The fact that an activity is not done well is not an indication that that activity is not worth doing.

Many pursuits are never done perfectly. Take golf for instance. Even the best golfers have a shot or two in each round that they would love to take back and do over. The same is true for the Christian life.

In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul laments his inability to live out his faith completely:

“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19, ESV)

But Paul, like the rest of us, is not stuck there. He offers hope just a few verses later:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1, ESV)

I like the words that I have heard ascribed to John Newton:

“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”

Christians are not the only ones who struggle with living out what they know to be true. This is the universal condition. Even Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. In other words, everyone has to compare how they are actually living with how they would like to live and work to bridge the gap. To one extent or another, we are all hypocrites, we don’t live up to our own standard.

The good news for the Christian is that we do not have to rely on our own power to keep the growth process moving along. We have Jesus beside us along the way (Matthew 28:20) and we have the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth (John 16:13).

The fact that I sometimes do the Christian life badly does not diminish the truth of who Jesus is and what he came to accomplish. The Christian life is worth living, even if I fall short of where I think I ought to be in my level of spiritual maturity.

Living in dependence upon God

Posted on May 17, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 9 Comments

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

The quote above is the last sentence of Jehoshaphat’s prayer of deliverance and is found in 2 Chronicles 20:12.

In a majority of the churches in which I have grown up and attended, this level of dependence upon God was not modeled. Too often the church leaders thought they did know what to do and seeking God was not part of the process. Denominations had formulas and the formulas had to be followed. Too often, God had nothing to do with how church life was arranged. Even “non conformist” churches can fall into the rut of their non conformity.

Do you suppose that if every church business meeting and every leadership team meeting began with such an acknowledgement of dependence upon God, our church lives might be more dynamic and satisfying?

Jehoshaphat prayed his prayer because a horde of enemy soldiers was ascending to Jerusalem to wipe out what was left of the Nation of Israel. Without help from God, the outlook was rather bleak as Jehoshaphat and the people looked out over the advancing army. They had but one real option and that was to turn to the God who put Israel on the map in the first place.

I’ve never lived in a place where Christians are persecuted for their faith. I can imagine Christians in Islamic countries praying such a prayer because their very existence is tenuous. The same is true for believers who exist in totalitarian states. In both cases, the Christians have had the illusion of control and security stripped away by their government and culture.

Too often in our churches, we are more concerned about following the denominational model then following God. We are often more concerned about following tradition than being used by God to impact the world around us. I have no quantifiable data on this, but my guess is that the majority of the complaints that pastors get in their in-box are over trivialities. For many congregations, a change in the order of service would be tantamount to ecclesiastical treason.

To a certain extent, I get this. To do things in the expected way brings a measure of comfort and stability. Some of us are uncomfortable with change, and for some of us, change brings a reaction close to panic. We like things to be comfortable and change brings discomfort.

Yet, we serve a God who specializes in doing the unexpected. He hid the King of the Universe in a manger in a backwater town. He used a stuttering fugitive to lead a nation out of bondage. He used a boy who was sold into slavery by his brothers to save all the people in the region from an upcoming drought. He used some teens from a conquered nation to stand up to, and ultimately change the heart of King Nebuchadnezzar. The list of unexpected events is a long one.

Why then do we lean so heavily on formulas and traditions?

In business, we often quote the proverb, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” We should listen to the truth in that. We are unsatisfied with the impact that the church is having on the surrounding culture, but we are reluctant to make any changes. We keep doing the same thing over and over.

The truth is that we really don’t know what to do. Let’s stop pretending that we do and acknowledge our dependence upon God. Let’s engender a church culture that listens for the voice of God and responds to it.

We need this as individuals and as congregations.

Go and sin boldly

Posted on March 27, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 6 Comments

Recently I Tweeted this out:

“If Easter is not history, we must become cynics.” – Brennan Manning

This quote was taken from Brennan’s book, Ruthless Trust. As I recall (I don’t have the book with me right now), the point is that if the resurrection did not happen there is no hope for humanity.

There comes a point at which we must choose to believe the evidence we have. It is no good putting off the decision until there is no choice but to believe. God does not work that way. Believe me, I often wish he did work that way. It would be so much easier if we just had detailed instructions like a standard operating procedure to step us through the process.

One of the by-products of growing up in a legalistic system is that one can get frozen into inaction because the “right” thing to do is not obvious. When you live by rules, there is discomfort in any situation for which no rule has been established.

For those of us who claim belief in Jesus, times come when our claim to belief is tested. If the resurrection of Jesus is true, then I can allow myself to trust that God will work things out in the end. I can step out in faith that no matter the outcome, God is working things out for his good purpose.

If Easter is history, then even when I mess up (a regular occurrence), the resurrection shows me that my mess is not the final word. If God can take the travesty of the crucifixion and turn it into the means of our salvation, he can take my mistakes and use them for his glory.

The resurrection should free me from the bondage to rules and legalism. If I am seeking to please God by living in harmony with his command to love God and love others, then I am not likely to go far off track and even when I do, God can turn the situation (and me) around and provide a means of recovery.

I believe it was Martin Luther who said, “go and sin boldly.” The point is not that we are to intentionally sin, but that we cannot allow fear of sin to inhibit us from living life. Life remains a messy business and we will make mistakes and the brokenness inside of us will manifest itself. But the resurrection is evidence that all this will be conquered.

If the resurrection is history, the power of fear has been broken.

Foolish and slow of heart

Posted on March 22, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Two guys were walking along a road, talking about the events leading up to the crucifixion of the one they thought would restore the nation of Israel. The theme of their discussion is that things did not work out the way they expected them to. Along comes a stranger that they later figure out was Jesus himself. Luke 24:18 records the question they asked Jesus before they knew who he was:

“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

How ironic is this question! They are questioning the knowledge of the one person who most completely knew what had happened and how the events fit exactly into God’s plan. Jesus also knew the impact that those events would have on world history moving forward.

We should not be too hard on the two men on the road. In our ignorance of what God is trying to accomplish, we often try to limit God by our own preconceived ideas and misunderstandings.

They should not have been surprised by the crucifixion. Jesus told his disciples that they were to daily embrace their own cross. Jesus predicted and then showed us that the path to glory requires a cross.

Yet, I find that though I am aware of the command in Luke 9:23, I seek to avoid my own crucifixion. And, when events force me to die to myself, I bitterly complain (sometimes out loud) about the unfairness of it all.

I am not alone in this. The beam in my own eye does not prevent me from seeing the specks in the eyes of those around me. I have observed in others who claim spiritual maturity but struggle, and often fail, to get their flesh on that cross. I see others around me allow their fears to get the better of them just as I often do.

In our ignorance we get angry or disappointed with God when he fails to arrange things according to our wisdom. The disciples on the road, had they really understood their situation, should have been elated at the events of the previous days, but instead were feeling abandoned and defeated. We have ample evidence to point us toward faith in a faithful God yet we get unraveled when events are contrary to our plans.

To increase our struggle, we have preachers that tell us that if we are living right, if we have enough faith, if we are spiritually mature and have the inside knowledge, then God will make us prosperous and relieve us from all suffering and pain. Like Job’s friends, these preachers tell us that any discomfort in our lives is our own fault and that God would bless is if we only had the right understanding (which, of course, they will provide if you buy the latest book with the smiling face on the cover).

Look, however, at Jesus’ response:

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26, ESV)

Then Jesus took them through the Old Testament and showed them that it was God’s plan from the beginning to send Jesus to die as a means of recovering what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Rather than thwarting God’s plan, the crucifixion was the culmination of it. Our difficulties are not thwarting God’s plan, they are a part of it.

Perhaps my reader cannot relate to this, but I often feel that I am foolish and slow of heart to believe. In fact, I know that I am. Like those travelers to Emmaus, I sometimes feel that God’s plan has been derailed and I sometimes think that I am the villain that derailed it. It is difficult to look past my failures to see God.

Yet, God remains in control and as long as I am not actively resisting God, I know that I will not walk outside of his providential control and protection. Paul assures me that God remains in control and is working out a plan that is far better than anything I can imagine (Romans 8:28).

I need to remind myself and others that those foolish ones with the slow hearts were used by God to turn the world upside down. The Ceasars could not defeat those first believers. No emperor, despot or dictator has yet managed to defeat the church. God will work out his plan and use us, foolish and slow as we are, to accomplish it.

It is worth doing badly

Living in dependence upon God

Go and sin boldly

Foolish and slow of heart

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