Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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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 mediation on Psalm 1

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The book of Psalm opens with these words:

Psalm 1 (ESV)

  1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
  2. but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
  3. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
  4. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
  5. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
  6. for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

SheepI have read this psalm many times, but this morning I came away with a different impression than I have ever had before.

In my past readings, I could sum up what I read by the phrase, “don’t act like the wicked, but be righteous.” As I read it, this psalm was an encouragement toward avoiding wicked influences and an encouragement to read the Bible and do what it says. It also implies that the righteous look on the wicked with disdain at worst or condescension at best.

But I missed one crucial point in my previous readings.

I am not righteous by what I do; I am declared righteous by being in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). But what I do will be heavily influenced by the fact that I am declared righteous. As a result of being in Christ, I have been given a heart of flesh to replace my heart of stone.

While I agree that I am in the camp of the righteous, I cannot look at anyone else with disdain or condescension. I am not in the camp of the righteous because of anything that I have done for myself. It has all be done for me by Jesus Christ.

With the change of heart, it is then possible for all the things to that are listed in verses 2 and 3 to be true. My new heart allows me to delight in the law of the LORD. Where I previously only saw condemnation, I now see love and blessing. Where I previously saw only duty and burden, I now see opportunity and freedom.

The Psalmist tells us that The LORD knows the way of the righteous. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

I am not righteous because of what I do, but what I do is heavily influenced by the fact that I am declared righteous.

I am one of his sheep and he knows me.

More righteous than the Pharisees?

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More RighteousI have written on this verse before but have some thoughts to add. In verse 20 of Matthew 5, Jesus makes a curious statement about being righteous:

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, ESV)

Let’s set the Way Back Machine to approximately 30 AD when Jesus made this statement in an attempt to understand how his listeners would have reacted to it.

The Pharisees were the group that sought to reclaim the religion of Israel and drive it back to it’s Biblical roots. They were the fundamentalists of their day. They sought to follow the law of God in every particular. They were obsessive about being righteous according to the law of what we call the Old Testament.

A few hundred years earlier, the Pharisees began as a group in reaction to the general disregard of the law of God. They sought revival of correct belief and practice. Therefore the Pharisees were the ones who were pushing the nation of Israel toward following the Old Testament law. They also lead by example and practiced what they preached. The Pharisees were the poster boys for righteousness according to the law.

When Jesus made this statement in the sermon, his hearers would have understood how radical it is. How can one be more righteous than a Pharisee? They display ultimate obedience to the law. This would be like telling me to be a better basketball player than LeBron James. No amount of effort could make me better than LeBron.

We, like Jesus’ first listeners, have a tendency to hear this statement in terms of what we do (or perhaps this is only me). Too often we take it as an encouragement to try harder, to work at being righteous. But if it is impossible to be more strict in our observance than the Pharisees, then what could Jesus mean by this statement?

Habakkuk 2:4 tells us that the righteous must live by faith. Abraham was declared righteous because of this faith, not because of his perfect obedience as the Apostle Paul demonstrates in Romans 4. It is belief and not practice that allows us to be declared righteous. By the exercise of faith, we can be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees.

But faith is only effective if the object of the faith is effective. As Christians our hope is in Christ alone. Paul follows up his discussion of the faith of Abraham with these words:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1–2, ESV)

We are justified (declared righteous) by having faith in Jesus Christ. What many of the Pharisees (ancient and modern) miss is that the path to true righteousness is through faith in the one who trades our mess for his righteousness (1 Cor. 5:21).

It is this trade that allows our righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

This post is #18 in the Sermon on the Mount Series

Righteousness, self control and the judgment to come

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JudgmentPerhaps it is true that the church has been out of balance in the preaching of “hellfire and judgment” to an unhealthy degree. There may still be some churches that struggle with this but I think that more have swung the pendulum the other way and do not talk about Hell at all. They do this because talk of judgment and damnation are not attractive to those who might be visiting or only nominally attend. They prefer to emphasize the love of God.

I have not read the book Love Wins, by Rob Bell. But from the reactions to the book, I gather that Mr. Bell has softened the teaching on Hell to the point where many have accused Mr. Bell of being a universalist, one who believes that all people go to Heaven.

The problem with avoiding or negating teaching about Hell and punishment is that we then become negligent in our duty as Christians to make disciples. Right discipleship is to be based on truth and should include all the truth of Scripture. So while we need to use wisdom in how we present the reality of Hell and judgment, we cannot negate or avoid the clear teaching of Scripture on the subject.

The Apostle Paul does not seem to have been reluctant to mention the idea of judgment. When he was presenting the case for Christ before Felix, Paul spoke about “righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come.” (Acts 24:25) Paul was clear that there is a consequence to not accepting the provision of Jesus Christ to deal with our sin.

The author of Hebrews writes:

“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:26–31, NASB)

The reality of judgment should motivate us to be more open about what we believe. It should be a motivation for the spread of the Gospel. Walk into any public place in America and stop and realize that many (perhaps a majority) of those who are around you are likely to face that judgment if someone does not intervene in their lives. This should be a sobering realization and should spur us to action.

As Paul reminds us in Romans 10:17, “faith comes by hearing.” But for someone to hear, it is necessary for someone like you and I to speak the words of Christ.

May we resolve to be bolder in our witness for Jesus Christ in 2013?

There are consequences if we do not. If what the Bible teaches about our final destiny is true, Jesus Christ is not a nice-to-have, like a bigger television. Jesus Christ is a need-to-have like air, water and food.

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