Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Character, darkness and secrets revealed

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Character needs no mask
Photo by Ben Fredericson via Flickr

I’ve heard it said that character is doing the right thing when no-one is looking. A man of character does not need to defend his reputation; he does not need an image consultant. He is what he is and eventually the truth will come out. Jesus told his disciples,

“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in you ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” (Matthew 10:26-27)

The follower of Christ who does the right thing and gets persecuted or defamed as a result, need not worry about what people think if he is right before God. God will defend his reputation. What is hidden will be revealed and the truth will triumph.

Sometimes doing the right thing will be misunderstood. Sometimes doing the right thing opens you up to attack from someone who sees it as weakness. Sometimes doing the right thing opens you up to attack by one who has something that he is trying to hide. Sometimes when you do the right thing people will misunderstand or misrepresent your motives. Sometimes doing the right thing is downright difficult.

But we have no other option than to do the right thing. To do it, we must maintain an eternal perspective. Paul reminds the Galatians that there is nothing that happens that falls outside of God’s observation. He writes in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”

I am reminded of a verse in the old hymn, “Who is on the Lord’s Side?”:

Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King’s own army
None can overthrow.
Round His standard ranging
Victory is secure,
For His truth unchanging
Makes the triumph sure.

You and I are responsible for being obedient to what God has called us to do. We must do the right thing. God has taken on the responsibility for bringing about the triumph of the truth.

The outcome is sure if we stay the course.

A. W. Tozer on activity in the Church

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A. W. Tozer wrote in The Pursuit of God in 1949:

Gentle WindRight now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship and that service imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

Too often this describes churches still today. We have web-based calendars to keep track of our church activities. Our worship is louder and more rhythmic. Our preaching may be supported by the latest in multimedia technology. But better organization, louder music and flashier graphics do not mean that the Holy Spirit is operative and that the Word of God, Jesus himself is the focus.

When God revealed himself to Elijah, it was in the “gentle blowing” (NASB) or the “still small voice” (KJV).

Can we pause all the activity, take a deep breath and listen for that gentle blowing?

The scandal among us – Thoughts on Matthew 1

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Broken HearIt reads like a boring genealogy, a long list of begats. Yet in the opening verses of his Gospel, Matthew is presenting the fact that there is scandal in the line of the Messiah.

I find it interesting that Matthew not only mentions four women in the genealogy (strange in a male dominated culture), he mentions four women with sordid backgrounds. Two were gentiles. One was a prostitute. One posed as a prostitute to seduce her father-in-law. One seduced or was seduced by the King while she was married to another. Four scandalous women were used by God to continue the line from Abraham to Joseph, Jesus’ legal father.

In this genealogy, God, through the pen of Matthew, is reminding us that he takes broken people and uses them to accomplish his will. This is consistent with the character of God as revealed in Jesus.

The story of the woman at the well in John 4 is another illustration. Jesus, knowing the woman’s turmoil and need for inner peace, turns the conversation away from physical thirst to spiritual hunger. He also identifies himself as the means of bringing that inner peace. He does not condemn her for her futile attempts at satisfying the hunger through illicit sexual encounters. Instead, he offers her something so much better. Jesus offers himself as the satisfaction for her longing.

How does this apply to us in 2012?

With the rejection of the Biblical moral code, many in society have accepted and practiced behaviors which are contrary to God’s design. As a result, they come to the church (if they come at all) broken and in need of love and acceptance. Yet often the organization that is supposed to be the Body of Christ fails to accept people where they are. We, who claim to speak for Jesus, sometimes act in ways that Jesus would not approve.

God ordained these women to be in the line of the Messiah as a reminder to us that He uses unlikely people to accomplish his will. He uses people like us. We were all outsiders looking in at some point in our lives. We are all in need of the infinite love and grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ.  We all come to Jesus broken. We are not valued because of our heritage or accomplishments but because we are loved by God and accepted by Him.

We, the church, the gathering of the redeemed, have sometimes done a poor job of accepting the broken when they come to us for help. We radiate disapproval so that the “sinners” retreat. Or sometimes we try to quickly patch them up so that they appear unbroken. We persist in trying to maintain the illusion that we have it all together by attempting to force others into the same pretense.

Can we stop the pretense? Can we allow people to experience freedom instead of bondage? Can we trust God to bring people out of their brokenness without pretending that it doesn’t exist? Can we deal with the fact that we are all hypocrites in that we don’t fully live out what we believe?

The answer is yes, we can do this. God will empower us to do this if we allow Him to subdue our pride. It is pride that stands in the way of such acceptance.

Quality vs. quantity – thoughts on building the church

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Gold BarsAccording to The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), we are called to make disciples. In those churches which are concerned about making disciples, I have observed that many of them gauge their success based on numbers of people in attendance. When this happens the emphasis is on quantity and not quality of the disciples.

Do we act as if there a quality component to making disciples? What does it really mean to make a disciple? Is it enough to get them to pray a prayer, give them a Bible and get them baptized?

The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 come to mind:

10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

I notice that Paul is making reference to the quality of the construction, not the quantity. A small amount of gold is worth more than a large amount of hay. The focus is on the inherent properties of the material, not on how much building was accomplished.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:23, that the only thing of ultimate value that we build into other people is a relationship with Jesus. Furthermore, Jesus teaches us in Matthew 22:38-39 that the two great commands are to love God with our entire being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It’s all about relationships, both vertical and horizontal.

The work that equates to gold, silver and precious stones would be that work which builds in men and women the drive and the skills to fulfill these two great commands. The ability of the disciple to fulfill these two commands is the test by which good or bad workmanship is determined.

I have been in large churches where people were loving and relational. I have been in small churches that were cold and aloof. I have been in churches where a great preacher drew large crowds but there was little interaction between the people who attended the church. What makes the difference?

The difference is a leader and leadership team that works to put the two commands into practice and actively seeks to build relationships with people in the congregation. If the leadership team is functioning in fellowship and then each leader functions in fellowship with others outside the leadership team, then the fellowship radiates through the church like spokes on a wheel.

One hour of one-on-one or small group interaction over a passage of Scripture does more good than ten hours of instruction from the pulpit. In that small group or one-on-one interaction, the emphasis is on quality, on building well. In the large group setting the emphasis is on numbers, on drawing more people in.

Leaders: in your quest to build your congregations, please do not get enamored with quantity and sacrifice quality. Build relationships which facilitate growth and spiritual maturity.

Your final grade depends on it.

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