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.

Nancey Pearcey on Worldviews as Idols

Posted on March 18, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

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“The Bible defines idolatry as the human tendency to elevate something in creation to the status of God. In Romans 1:25, the apostle Paul writes, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” Humans are inherently religious, and when they deny the Creator, they will fasten on to something within creation and elevate it to an object of worship. In practical life, people who reject God will seek some substitute emotional fulfillment: power, profit, or pleasure. In intellectual life, they will seek some substitute to play the role of the divine in their thinking – the ultimate reality, the source of everything else. Worldviews are idols of the heart (Ezekiel 14:3).”

Nancy Pearcey in Saving Leonardo

On the need for a heart transplant

Posted on September 3, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

The heart of stone

It would seem to me that the depravity of man should not be in question given our track record for violence, greed, selfishness and prejudice.

The problem is that as a result of the rebellion in the garden, we have been damaged. This damage affects our thoughts and emotions. As a result, we cannot respond to God properly without his grace being poured out to change us.

If you acknowledge this as true, then the functional question then becomes “what can be done about it?”

In two places in the prophetic book that bears his name, Ezekiel diagnoses our problem by telling the nation of Israel that they had hearts of stone:

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” (Ezekiel 11:19, NASB)

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26, NASB)

If we are honest, we will admit that apart from the work of God in our lives, we possess hearts of stone that cannot respond properly to God or to others.

Behavior modification doesn’t work

Too much of the preaching I have heard over the years boils down to behavior modification, pray more, read more, give more, complain less . . . etc. To tell someone what to do without giving them the tools to do it is foolishness.

Real change cannot take place without the Grace of God working in us to transform our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. Apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ being operative in my life, I have little hope for real, sustained change.

Preaching to the heart

This is why it is imperative to proclaim the gospel at every available teaching opportunity. Without the transformation that results from a relationship with Jesus Christ, change can only be external, superficial and perhaps temporary. Therefore preaching that does not first proclaim that transformation will only result in external change.

Paul tells us that we require transformation by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). From birth, our thoughts and emotions are tainted by the rebellion in the Garden. Our minds and heart (thinking and emotions) are in need of realignment.

The call to repentance

Therefore, the beginning place of preaching needs to be a call to repentance. The call to daily repentance can be seen in Jesus’ command for us to daily take up our cross (Luke 9:23). It is only after we correctly identify the source of our struggle that we can begin to apply correction. Jesus, when he began his earthly ministry, began by saying

Until we come face-to-face with our sin and have it dealt with at the Cross, we cannot truly begin to have a heart of flesh and deepen our relationship with God.

Oh, to have a heart of flesh that is in constant communion with God. One day . . .