Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Tozer: the truth about exposition –

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I received an email containing the quote from A. W. Tozer and thought it worth sharing:

Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.

via CQOD—Tozer: the truth about exposition.

What I learned about the church from a cruise ship

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Open OceanI recently returned from a cruise to Bermuda from the Baltimore harbor. It was my first experience of being on the open ocean during the day where there is a 360° view of nothing but water and an occasional ship. To be on that ship in relatively calm weather, with the blue sea all around was a pleasant experience.

There were two things that I observed on that cruise that I think relate to how the church should function.

  1. The ship is intended to traverse the ocean but not remain there.
  2. Everyone on the ship knew his purpose and contributed to the success of the voyage.

No matter how pleasant the experience of sailing on the ocean was, that ocean is not my home. Humans cannot live in the ocean, we are sojourners who are on the ocean for the purpose of getting to somewhere else. The ship is not intended to remain on the ocean indefinitely, it must continue on to its intended destination.

I observed on the ship that every one of the crew members knows what he needs to accomplish to make the trip a success. Some were focused on passenger comfort, some on passenger safety and others were busied with keeping the ship moving in the correct direction. Everyone on staff knew their purpose. They were trained and assigned to do the individual tasks that make the voyage a success.

There is an old time gospel song that says, “this world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue . . .” This captures the idea of the first point. We are designed for eternity and we must strive to remember this. We are here for a few years and are proceeding to a destination. While we may enjoy the voyage, it is important to remember that the enjoyment must be secondary to maintaining momentum and remaining on course.

We also need every person trained and assigned to do the necessary tasks to accomplish the goal. Why is it that we understand this in business, the military or on an ocean vessel, but we think that there is something wrong with providing structure in the church? If the eternal destiny of the souls that are impacted by the church are at stake, shouldn’t we be more vigilant in training workers?

Yes, I understand that the ultimate responsibility for the outcome is God’s but God gives us the privilege and responsibility to use our gifts and brains to accomplish his purpose for us. Leaders in the church have the responsibility to train the members of the church, “equipping them for the work of ministry.” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

God has given his church a mission. That mission is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Like the ship’s crew, each member of the church must contribute to the success of this mission. Each member of the church also needs to keep in mind that while we may enjoy our circumstances along the way, like the ship, we need to maintain progress and move toward our destination.

As the world around us crumbles into chaos, the church needs to stay the course to be used by God to accomplish his purpose with every member contributing the success of the journey.

You shall know them by their . . . excess?

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I am reminded of something I read about John Stott a while ago. He said that he wanted to live a lifestyle that would not cause the richest person in his congregation to feel sorry for him. Nor did he want the poorest person in his congregation to be put off by ostentation. He wanted to have a home where everyone would feel welcomed and comfortable. He wanted his home and lifestyle to be a platform for ministry.

The Apostle Paul was a good example to us in living in such a way as to make clear that his reason for ministry was only to bring the Gospel to those who desperately needed it. In 1 Corinthians 9:12, Paul tells his readers that while he had the right to expect the Corinthians to support him in his ministry, he worked to support himself lest his motive for ministry be questioned.

I have no idea what motivates the church leaders mentioned in the article. That is the problem, we don’t know. Their life style gives reason for some to question their motives, or assume that they are in ministry only for the money.

Of course, the church leaders who get it right and who work outside the church or who make do on small salaries for the privilege of sharing the Gospel do not make splashy headlines. For every church leader who participates in the abuse mentioned in the article, there are thousands or perhaps millions of men and women who serve their Lord in the church with no expectation of financial reward.

So, if you are one who is outside the church, I ask forgiveness for these abuses. I also ask you to look beyond what a few knuckleheads have done and judge the Church by her body of work through the ages. The abuse of a few does not nullify the fruitful sacrifice of the many.

The Goal of Christian Teaching – Love From a Pure Heart

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Confused About the Goal

Heart

In Matthew 22:37-39 and Mark 12:29-31, Jesus tells us that the two great commands are to love God with our entire being and love our neighbors. The concept is simple but the execution is difficult. Only two commands and if we’re honest, we admit that we cannot keep either one of them on our own.

If these are the two great commands, it seems that every time Scripture is taught, every time a sermon is delivered, every time we worship in song, it should encourage us to the fulfillment of these.

Yet, often we miss the opportunity to reinforce these commands in our expressions on a Sunday. We should come away from worship with a burning desire to love as God commands us to love.

The Goal is Love

The Apostle Paul reinforced love as the goal when he wrote to his protégé Timothy. He writes, “the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

The goal, the end game, the desired result, the proof that we have progressed is love. What is the source of that kind of love? The source is a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith. Encouraging people to this kind of love should be the goal of every teaching opportunity.

The Path Toward the Goal

From this passage in 1 Timothy, we can see that if our teaching is geared toward developing a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith, that teaching will be in support of the two great commands.

David asks a pair of rhetorical questions in Psalm 24:3, “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?” His response is found in the following verse where he writes, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” In Psalm 51:10, David cries out to God “create in me a clean heart” after confessing his sin with Bathsheba.

A clean heart, a pure heart is required to love as God wants us to love. I am reminded that in 1 John 1:9 we read, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and confession of our sin, we can have a pure heart.

Romans 5:1 tells us that we are not condemned if we are in Christ Jesus. We can have a good conscience if we are waling in the Spirit (see Galatians 5:16). To be waking in the Spirit precludes any behavior that would tarnish our conscience.

The Greek word translated sincere in this verse means literally without hypocrisy. In other words, the faith that is on display is genuine; what is on the inside matches what is on the outside. I should also point out that the value of faith is dependent upon the object of faith. As a Christian, our faith is dependent upon Christ and the reality of who he is.

Conclusion

While not every sermon should have the two great commands as their subject, every sermon should have the two great commands as their goal. Everything that is said from the pulpit should be evaluated by preacher and pew sitter alike in light of the two commands.

My guess is that if we did a better job of this, our churches and our world might be a lot different than they are.

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