I was listening to my friends the other night talk about their grandmothers who were in declining health. They told us that one of these women, who all her life had been a strong Christian, was suddenly swearing like a sailor and using language that was vulgar and even racist. A comment was made that it seemed as if "her filter had been turned off."
This caused me to think about what it really means to be "saved." I have begun to develop a higher view of salvation than I have had in the past because I want to believe that it's more than simply a "filter." I want to believe that something radical happens - that you do become a "new creation" and are truly "born again." I want to believe that an actual change has taken place.
The odd thing about these types of stories, when the elderly lose their filter, is that it almost always ends up with the person becoming meaner, not nicer. They resort to using odd language, not sweet language. It's as if the "default setting" of man is extremely low, and that once the guards in our life have been taken away - this is the place we go.
Is salvation a true change or simply a strong defense system?
I think of things like pacifism, purity, kindness, serving the poor, gathering together in community, etc. Do we have to force these things upon ourselves? Do we have to convince ourselves that they are the right way then do everything within our power to live within the confines of this decision, this way of life? I would rather that I begin to naturally think this way, and that offering an enemy a hand isn't fighting every instinct in my being - it IS the instinct of my being.
Christ didn't fight Himself to offer forgiveness to His killers as He hung on the cross. It poured out of who He was. I want that.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Slumdog Savior
John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."
I believe that in the opening scenes of "Slumdog Millionaire" we get one of the best pictures of Christmas. It's a pretty graphic scene, in which the boy wants to see one of his heroes, so he jumps into an ocean of human waste. As he climbs out you can barely see him through the filth, and most people watching get sick to their stomach. But that's just what Jesus did - He climbed into the mess with us, the mess that we created. He covered Himself in our waste. "The dear Christ entered in."
As I get older I become more and more amazed at what Christ did, because as I get older I become more and more frustrated with this body of flesh that I reside in. I want to get rid of it . . . . and He willingly took it upon Himself.
Not only that, but after covering Himself in human waste, He allows Himself to die in it. If that's where His story ended it would be pathetic. Valiant - but pathetic. However this is not the end - He rises . . . . clean. He blows off all the filth in the most powerful display of God's love and power in human history: the Resurrection.
He rises clean - and if we are crucified with Him we will rise clean as well and no longer be under the control of the flesh. What a beautiful picture - the God of all Creation entering into the human waste of man's own making, immersing Himself in it, dying in it, but then blowing it all off in one final act of victory.
I believe that in the opening scenes of "Slumdog Millionaire" we get one of the best pictures of Christmas. It's a pretty graphic scene, in which the boy wants to see one of his heroes, so he jumps into an ocean of human waste. As he climbs out you can barely see him through the filth, and most people watching get sick to their stomach. But that's just what Jesus did - He climbed into the mess with us, the mess that we created. He covered Himself in our waste. "The dear Christ entered in."
As I get older I become more and more amazed at what Christ did, because as I get older I become more and more frustrated with this body of flesh that I reside in. I want to get rid of it . . . . and He willingly took it upon Himself.
Not only that, but after covering Himself in human waste, He allows Himself to die in it. If that's where His story ended it would be pathetic. Valiant - but pathetic. However this is not the end - He rises . . . . clean. He blows off all the filth in the most powerful display of God's love and power in human history: the Resurrection.
He rises clean - and if we are crucified with Him we will rise clean as well and no longer be under the control of the flesh. What a beautiful picture - the God of all Creation entering into the human waste of man's own making, immersing Himself in it, dying in it, but then blowing it all off in one final act of victory.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
In Pursuit of Our Brothers
II Samuel 2:26 Abner called out to Joab: "Must the sword devour forever? Don't you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?"
2:27 Joab answered: "As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued the pursuit of their brothers until morning."
For any cycle to stop, someone has to take the final blow, the last hit. In this story in II Samuel, civil war has broken out in Israel. The men are going to fight to the death. Finally Abner has enough and confronts the obvious: until one of us simply stops, this will never end until we're all dead.
For a cycle of unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred, division to end, someone has to take the last hit. They have to allow the last hit to rest upon them without seeking revenge and continuing it all over again. This is obviously a difficult thing to do.
The past few days the big news story in our town has been about a case of road rage that ended with the cars pulling over, one man getting out and confronting the other driver, and then getting shot in the stomach. This is how unchecked violence will end. We kill our "brothers." Abner knew this and pleaded for it to stop.
Are you willing to bring healing to our "civil" wars by allowing the last hit to fall upon you? It screams against every natural desire, which is to avenge ourselves for even the slightest slight. If we are courageous and humble enough to do this, we can begin to end the cycles that are destroying our families.
The cross is the final resting place for revenge. That’s why it’s such a violent scene, because all of the violence of revenge comes to a screaming halt upon it. The ‘hits’ end there and the cycle is broken. Christ takes the final blow and does not retaliate. The last hit rests upon His broken and bloodied body. And by taking the final blow, He disarms Satan, who lives off violence and revenge.
This frees us and allows us to take the ‘hit’ from the brother and end the cycle of violence on earth. We do not have to return blow for blow. We can turn the other cheek and walk the second mile - and to make it even more amazing, we can do this with pure intentions: the redemption of our enemy.
I do not have to return the blow. I can become a resting place.
2:27 Joab answered: "As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued the pursuit of their brothers until morning."
For any cycle to stop, someone has to take the final blow, the last hit. In this story in II Samuel, civil war has broken out in Israel. The men are going to fight to the death. Finally Abner has enough and confronts the obvious: until one of us simply stops, this will never end until we're all dead.
For a cycle of unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred, division to end, someone has to take the last hit. They have to allow the last hit to rest upon them without seeking revenge and continuing it all over again. This is obviously a difficult thing to do.
The past few days the big news story in our town has been about a case of road rage that ended with the cars pulling over, one man getting out and confronting the other driver, and then getting shot in the stomach. This is how unchecked violence will end. We kill our "brothers." Abner knew this and pleaded for it to stop.
Are you willing to bring healing to our "civil" wars by allowing the last hit to fall upon you? It screams against every natural desire, which is to avenge ourselves for even the slightest slight. If we are courageous and humble enough to do this, we can begin to end the cycles that are destroying our families.
The cross is the final resting place for revenge. That’s why it’s such a violent scene, because all of the violence of revenge comes to a screaming halt upon it. The ‘hits’ end there and the cycle is broken. Christ takes the final blow and does not retaliate. The last hit rests upon His broken and bloodied body. And by taking the final blow, He disarms Satan, who lives off violence and revenge.
This frees us and allows us to take the ‘hit’ from the brother and end the cycle of violence on earth. We do not have to return blow for blow. We can turn the other cheek and walk the second mile - and to make it even more amazing, we can do this with pure intentions: the redemption of our enemy.
I do not have to return the blow. I can become a resting place.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Count Him Out
According to one count, the Gospels record 132 contacts that Jesus had with people. Six were in the Temple, four in the synagogue, and 122 were with people out in the mainstream of life.
I know what you're thinking: "Get out of here!"
I'm thinking the same thing.
I know what you're thinking: "Get out of here!"
I'm thinking the same thing.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The End of Man's Way
I hate Children's Hospital. Not the people there and the wonderful work that they do, but the very fact that it must exist. I went in there the other night to visit with a boy who was in CCU and I felt a flood of all of the other visits to all my other "children" overwhelm me. Students and youth group kids. Nephews and cousins. All there for one reason - they were dying. I thought about all the times I held their hands or prayed over them, about the times I held their parents hands. I remembered the time that I came in with my young son Luke to visit one of my basketball players - a 12-year old boy - and watched as Luke threw up upon entering the room. My thoughts exactly, son.
As I walked past room after room of children lying in these beds, I asked God, "Is this really the plan? This is Your way?" I was sad. I was angry. I was confused.
Then I felt His anger return upon me. No - this is not My way. This is the end of man's way. What should I expect after years and years of decisions that were contrary to His commands? Man has systematically removed God from every sphere of life: education, science, medicine, government . . . . even religion. Did I think that the end result of this would be beautiful? Without God it's ugly and messy. Romans 1 gives the perfect picture of life spent in man's way. Three times He says that He (reluctantly) gave men over to their own desires. And how does Romans 1 end? In a cesspool. The entire chapter is a downward spiral into this, what I like to call "The Cesspool at the end of the Slide:
Romans 1: 28 - 32: "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decrees that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
Children's Hospital is man's desperate (and well-intentioned) attempt to fix the most grotesque part of this cesspool: dying children. I commend these doctors and nurses. They're awesome. I just hate that they are necessary, that man has made them necessary. These children are caught up in man's way and they are dying as a result.
But . . . Christ has risen from this cesspool with healing in His wings. At our lowest point, neck deep in the feces, Christ came, right into our own filth, into the cesspool. He didn't just stand off to the side and say that He had a life-preserver - He entered in. He got neck deep with us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among men, declaring that this will be the end of man's way. He will reclaim His children and He will heal them. HE is the manifestation of God's way.
That's the true story of Christmas. The end of man's way. It makes me love my Savior even more than I thought was possible.
As I walked past room after room of children lying in these beds, I asked God, "Is this really the plan? This is Your way?" I was sad. I was angry. I was confused.
Then I felt His anger return upon me. No - this is not My way. This is the end of man's way. What should I expect after years and years of decisions that were contrary to His commands? Man has systematically removed God from every sphere of life: education, science, medicine, government . . . . even religion. Did I think that the end result of this would be beautiful? Without God it's ugly and messy. Romans 1 gives the perfect picture of life spent in man's way. Three times He says that He (reluctantly) gave men over to their own desires. And how does Romans 1 end? In a cesspool. The entire chapter is a downward spiral into this, what I like to call "The Cesspool at the end of the Slide:
Romans 1: 28 - 32: "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decrees that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
Children's Hospital is man's desperate (and well-intentioned) attempt to fix the most grotesque part of this cesspool: dying children. I commend these doctors and nurses. They're awesome. I just hate that they are necessary, that man has made them necessary. These children are caught up in man's way and they are dying as a result.
But . . . Christ has risen from this cesspool with healing in His wings. At our lowest point, neck deep in the feces, Christ came, right into our own filth, into the cesspool. He didn't just stand off to the side and say that He had a life-preserver - He entered in. He got neck deep with us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among men, declaring that this will be the end of man's way. He will reclaim His children and He will heal them. HE is the manifestation of God's way.
That's the true story of Christmas. The end of man's way. It makes me love my Savior even more than I thought was possible.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
"Accepting" Christ
Salvation - what is it? We had a wonderful experience in Bible Study last night where a man came and "accepted" Christ. But . . . . well, no buts, I'm thrilled. However . . . . . I have a high view of salvation. It's not simply praying a prayer or signing a card. It's entering into a deep relationship with the Creator of the universe. One of my favorite writers, A.W. Tozer, preached a sermon on it back in the 50's. I think it's still timely and worth a read:
TOZER:
"Now my relation to Jesus Christ is one of those few matters of life or death. To the average one of us who listen now it's taken for granted that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners: I take that for granted; I assume that, I know that's true, I don't in any wise question it. And then it's further taken for granted - and properly -- that we are saved by Christ alone without works. That, I also take for granted because it's declared there, I don't question it; I don't ask that somebody come and explain it: it's so! He did die for our sins according to the Scriptures, He did rise again. The Scripture does say that we are saved by Christ alone without works.
But now the big question is -- and right here is a hole in the bridge where millions fall through -- how do I come into saving relation to Christ? He alone saves without human merit or works - but he doesn't save everybody! Therefore there must be some connection made or some relation sustained; somehow or another I come into a relationship to Christ that saves me. Now, what is that? And that is a matter of life or death. You dare not assume anything. You must know. Not to be sure isn't to gamble with your soul. Not to be sure is to be dead! Just as you dare not cross the mighty ocean without a compass; to do so would be to die. So you dare not assume that you have the relationship unless you have; it's got to be there before you dare accept it as being there: to be wrong on this is to be lost!
Now if you were to ask the average man, the average preacher or the average person - the average Christian anywhere - "How do I come into saving relation to Jesus Christ?" the answer would be one of three. People would either tell you "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" -- that's Acts 16:31 or, they would say "Receive Christ as your Savior" -- that's John 1:12, or else they would give you this other answer. (And of course, those first two answers are true; they're true!) Or else they would give you this third answer, "Accept Christ as your personal Savior."
Now the word 'accept Christ' to the astonishment of a good many people does not occur in the Bible - it's not there. It's this 'accept Christ' doctrine that I want to talk a little bit about tonight. What is it to 'accept Christ'?
Now, I do not reflect on the words 'accept Christ' even though they're not in the Bible. It's possible to teach truth and yet not use words that are in the Bible always, because if what you say is the sum of what the Bible teaches on a subject then you're teaching truth provided the people know that that's the sum of the Bible teaching. So when you were told to accept Christ to bring us into saving relation to Him what the teacher was attempting to do is to say 'believe and receive' and 'believe' and 'receive' are Bible words though 'accept' is not a Bible word.
But accepting Christ has become the panacea all over the evangelical world and it has become fatal to millions! A whole attitude of accepting; the passive acceptance of Christ. This easy acceptance! A man will preach a tremendous sermon and then say "Now, what should you do? Accept Christ. Have you accepted Christ?" Or we go to the bedside of a dying man: "Have you accepted Christ?" And if he says he has, why, we pat his head and the next day or two we preach that he's in heaven twanging a harp. Well, now I'm awfully afraid that there are millions of people who are perishing because they are being told to accept Christ and they don't know what's meant by it.
You see, to tell a man to 'accept Christ', while it is relatively right, it yet, if not carefully explained, makes Christ to stand hat in hand waiting on my pleasure; neatly awaiting my verdict on Him. It makes Him apply to me, instead of my applying to Him. It permits me to accept Christ by an impulse of my mind or my emotions and accept Him painlessly and at no cost and no inconvenience.
Somebody suggested that the cross of Christ should not inconvenience people. Well, it is the most inconvenient thing in the world, this cross of Christ! It took a man by the name of Jesus in the height of his healthy human life and took Him out on a hillside and killed Him there - now, that's an inconvenient thing for Him! And any cross is inconvenient; it's a most inconvenient thing, this accepting Christ, if we know what we mean by it. But the accepting Christ of popular theology has no inconvenience attached to it."
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Scribblings of Man
I had a student come up to me today, frustrated with her math book. It seems that the student who used it the year before had done a lot of work in the book, and there were scribblings throughout the practice problems. She said that it wouldn't have bothered her so much if she knew that the previous student was 100% correct - all the time. She didn't know what she could trust so she couldn't trust anything. I gave her a new book.
I was talking to a man the other day who was really struggling with depression. Since I've struggled with it myself, I was able to help him a bit. I told him that one of the biggest turnarounds for me was when I took all my commentaries and devotional books and set them aside. Then I got a Bible that had no "words of man" inside and started reading. And reading. I needed to hear God's Voice. Sola Dei. Only God. One of the problems with depression is that there are too many voices speaking to you. Including your own.
I had to eliminate the scribblings of man - at least for awhile. Not because I believe fellow brothers can't help with their thoughts and interpretations, of course they can. But I was desperate, and when you're desperate you need to know the truth 100%. You can't be questioning what you can trust. Even the chapters and verses were added a thousand years after they were written - even those are the additions of well-intentioned man.
Recently I dealt with a young man who was really struggling, to the point where he felt the oppression of a personal demon. After spending time with him, sitting in his room filled with the "scribblings of man" (dream catchers, serenity rocks and other trinkets he was using to try to ease his pain) I realized what this kid needed was simply this: Pure Christ. He needed to get rid of all of these things and allow the fullness of Christ to consume him.
Strip it all away. Clear off the table. Get back to the words of Christ.
I was talking to a man the other day who was really struggling with depression. Since I've struggled with it myself, I was able to help him a bit. I told him that one of the biggest turnarounds for me was when I took all my commentaries and devotional books and set them aside. Then I got a Bible that had no "words of man" inside and started reading. And reading. I needed to hear God's Voice. Sola Dei. Only God. One of the problems with depression is that there are too many voices speaking to you. Including your own.
I had to eliminate the scribblings of man - at least for awhile. Not because I believe fellow brothers can't help with their thoughts and interpretations, of course they can. But I was desperate, and when you're desperate you need to know the truth 100%. You can't be questioning what you can trust. Even the chapters and verses were added a thousand years after they were written - even those are the additions of well-intentioned man.
Recently I dealt with a young man who was really struggling, to the point where he felt the oppression of a personal demon. After spending time with him, sitting in his room filled with the "scribblings of man" (dream catchers, serenity rocks and other trinkets he was using to try to ease his pain) I realized what this kid needed was simply this: Pure Christ. He needed to get rid of all of these things and allow the fullness of Christ to consume him.
Strip it all away. Clear off the table. Get back to the words of Christ.
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