One More Note on the Generous Widow

This lady’s lesson concerning her scant offering, described in one scant verse, Mark 12:42, has grabbed hold of me now for a couple of weeks. We eat, and pray that the calories will not hold. But we preach, and pray that the lessons will.

The commentaries say that her offering had the value of 1/64 of a day’s wage. Using rough math, based on a 10 hour day, her offering was equivalent to what a laborer would earn for 10 minutes of work. “Here, I’ll come pull weeds in your garden for 10 minutes. How much will you pay me?”

I would not be surprised to hear you say that it would not be worth your coming. The amount of the work would hold next to no value. It’s hardly worth measuring.

And so one could have said to this widow, your offering is not worth giving. It holds so little value that you may as well keep it yourself, not that it is of much value to you either. You can scarcely pay a bill or buy a vegetable with it. Maybe just throw it on the ground.

And then I thought, how long do I pray in the morning? Ten minutes. How much time do I spend in consideration of God and His Word? 1/64th of a day? And would you be surprised if God were to say, “don’t even bother, it’s of so little use, so little value, you may as well spend that time on yourself, or just throw it on the ground.”

Trophies of Grace

Go into most schools and many churches, and you will see a trophy case. Some are getting pretty tarnished, but they denote real accomplishments, albeit from the past. Tastes differ, but I think they look kind of gaudy. I think the trophy business needs a new look.

There are better trophies out there. Trophies of grace. Lives stuck in the mud who have been rescued and redeemed. Sinners made saints. Worshippers of self turned glorifiers of God. Earthen vessels possessed by the Spirit of God, now doing the will of God in the power of God, all the while pointing to Jesus.

Trophies don’t make themselves, and they don’t testify to themselves. Children of God are made by God, to give testimony that there is a trophy enterprise that is full of grace and wonder and beauty.

What a privilege this past Sunday to hear a couple tell the story of God’s grace, and how God laid hold of poor, lost souls to create trophies of grace that “shine like lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). Praise the Lord!

Time to Re-Set?

I like words. And I like to notice when a new word becomes hot. “Re-set” is one of those words. This word may have been around for a long time, though I don’t remember it. But I hear it a lot these days, whether it has to do with the economy, or relationships with the Russians, or with Congress, or in telling a story that explains our condition. We need to re-set.

I guess it’s a word. I’m not sure it’s a true word, or, a word that has real meaning. I don’t believe suddenly being kind after being offensive results in harmony, or that suddenly telling a new version of truth after old versions have been exposed gives birth to trust - I don’t think that re-set works. The crook or sinner from five minutes ago is still a crook or sinner. Maybe he has learned a lesson, but he still may remember a number of his old lessons.

But I love “re-” words. And I love the ones that are actually a part of intelligent literature, and I especially love the “re-” words of the Bible. Let’s take a look at these three: re-pentance, re-conciliation, and re-demption.

Repentance is telling the truth about my sin, and turning away from it. It is agreeing with God about the fact of my sin even as I admit that my actions/attitudes were a lie and an offense against God’s truth. Repentance does not lead us to a vacuum, but to faith, a turning toward God even as we turn away from ourselves. It is a humble act of submission that comes about as God in His Spirit graciously breaks down the hardness of our hearts and shines His light into our darkness. Repentance is real because it is not merely a human activity initiated in order to paint over our own messes. It is initiated by God to “bring me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay” (Psalm 40:2). It is God’s rescue operation.

Reconciliation is putting back together what has torn apart. We fail to remember that most of our fractures cannot be self-healed. We desperately need outside help. My major theological illustration of this is good old Humpty Dumpty. “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put Humpty Dumpty back together again.” Neither can you, and neither can I. But God does. He goes to the root of the problem and plants a new root. He does not placate the enmity, but destroys the enmity, “by abolishing in His (Christ’s) flesh the enmity” (Ephesians 2:15), “having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). God is able to create true and deep peace where there was only fear and suspicion. I love this word. It’s a true word with real meaning.

That brings us to redemption. We are, by nature, imprisoned and enslaved people. That’s what it means to be a sinner. We don’t just make bad choices. Our whole existence is defined by bad choice. We are a bad choice. We are part of Satan’s choice to rebel against God; part of of Adam’s choice to have his own way. We are a product of bad choice, and an expression of bad choice. And then, in our own experience, we confirm bad choice time and time again, even when we don’t want to. But God, in redemption, embraces “bad choice.” “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). He embraces you. He embraces me. He pays the price to redeem you from your slavery and imprisonment into a new experience of love and forgiveness; to a new life of purity and freedom on a new path, never alone, but in constant contact with His Son, Jesus. 

What Were You Thinking?

We can get pretty puffed up with wrong notions and erroneous beliefs. In fact, we are encouraged that direction by the messages of the world in which we live. The New Testament uses a little phrase, “if anyone supposes ...” as an indicator of some of these wrong notions and beliefs. Here is a summary of them, with a few notes.

God’s wisdom and power trumps worldly wisdom and power

1Cor. 3:18   Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 

The short answer here is that Christ is my life. He is the source of true life, the meaning of true life, and the goal of true life. Therefore, any kind of worldly wisdom that denies this truth needs to be overthrown. Here are a couple of examples:

“if you have your health, you have everything”

“the key to a good life is a good education”

“the one who dies with the most toys wins”

There is no point in being opposed to health, education, or even toys. However, when they are allowed to supplant Christ as the source, meaning or goal of life, they are dangerous and damning.

Love trumps knowledge

1Cor. 8:2 If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know;  3 but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

It is said that “knowledge is power.” I’ve seen this happen among believers. But God, who gave us our brains and our minds as gifts to be used for Him expects that all knowledge will be pressed into the service of love. Knowledge is not a leveraging tool. It is an instrument by which we express love.

Participation in Christ trumps association with Christians

1Cor. 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

“Hanging out” is the new Christian activity. We aren’t going to teach or learn. We’re just going to hang out. We’re not going to pray or evangelize. We’re just going to hang out. Well, in the Old Testament history that Paul recites at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 10, there were a lot of people hanging out with God’s people who will not be hanging out in heaven. Having Christians around you is not of much use if you do not have Christ in you.

God’s Word trumps human reasoning

1Cor. 11:16 But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.

I’ll be honest, the first half of 1 Corinthians 11 is tough. But what is clear is that God has a design, even if it does not always make sense to us. We may not understand the cultural significance of head coverings, but we understand that God has established a principle of male headship in the home and in the church. So while it may be true that women are smarter and better listeners and thus better corporate officers and organizers (WSJ this week), it does not change God’s design. We just need to take God at His Word.

God’s Word trumps subjective expressions of prophecy or spirituality

1Cor. 14:37   If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. 

Our notions and feelings need to be checked by God’s Word. There are many people with powerful personalities and winning charisma that can be at odds with God’s agenda, whether because of some malicious motivation or being unwittingly used by the enemy. What does God’s Word say?

The Spirit of God and Glory of Christ trump human accomplishments

Phil. 3:4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

God delights to use the weak to demonstrate His power; to take something ugly to create something beautiful. So why do we always gravitate to the best and the brightest. The company of believers in heaven will be trophies, not of human genius and greatness, but of grace. 

Self-control trumps self-expression

James 1:26   If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

Is anyone more practical than James? Ouch, ouch, and ouch. You think you’ve got it together? What do you say when you’re mad? What do you say under your breath, and inside your head? As we fail in this area, we take our minds and hearts back to God over and over again, asking for forgiveness, cleansing, and the construction of a deep and real holiness in our hearts.

Super-Sacramentalism

Baptists are not sacramental people. Some could argue that we are actually anti-sacramental, or sans-sacramental. We reject a doctrine that seeks to mutate the doctrine of God’s grace flowing through Christ “like a river glorious” into some kind of chunky ‘dose of grace’ concept that says we are better off for having chewed on a wafer or swallowed a thimble-full of juice. And yet, we observe Communion, and strive to keep the emphasis, not on the elements, but on the Person. The sappy-sacramentalists in several camps will have a field day with all of this. Stupid Baptists.

But maybe we have all missed the point. Jesus has not merely injected heavenly meaning into a very few material elements. He has transformed the meaning of life, in all of life. John 6 is the material that is poking at me, and Jesus was abusing the brains of people who are trying to work with the old definitions. Did he really say “Eat my flesh; Drink my blood”? No, Jesus, don’t say such a thing. It’s beyond the pale of reason and good taste.

Our shared case in missing the point may be somewhat like what has happened to our experience of the Spirit. We are critical of the exaggerations of the charismatics, so much so that we are almost afraid of any kind of spiritual experience or expression. We are so afraid of any form of transubstantiation, we spend our time in Communion saying more what it doesn’t mean than what it does. But what if we blow the ends off the coffin, and apply Jesus to all of life?

Can you imagine a believer so taken with Christ that he is drawn to think of Christ every single time he eats or drinks? Breakfast: I can’t afford to start my day without ... Jesus. Bedtime snack: Just a little more of Jesus. I can’t live without my coffee, and much more profoundly and deeply, without Jesus. Let’s dive into baptism. Can you imagine a believer so taken with Christ that every time he washes his hands, every day when he takes a shower, he is deeply aware of the cleansing that we have received and of which we stand in need by Jesus’ blood and God’s forgiveness? 

Let me call this the Super-Sacramental life. It stands in contrast to the sans-sacramentalism of the Baptists, and the sappy-sacramental approach of those who find the eucharist in every reference to bread, blood or water in the Bible. Jesus has not injected himself into all of life - He is our LIfe in such a way that we see him everywhere, in all that we do, in every arena, in the smallest things and the grandest things. 

We observe gathered Communion/Lord’s Table regularly. There is a distinctive character to it. Here we eat and drink in fellowship with God’s people and in fellowship with our Lord. It anticipates the heavenly fellowship that we will one day enjoy, face to face and unhindered by distance and death. Frankly, we need gathered communion because we fail to see Jesus everywhere else. But, truthfully, our Communion cannot be limited to these occasions, because we are invited by Jesus to live Super-Sacramental lives, feeding on him and drinking him in, enjoying that flow of grace, every moment of every single day.

Joy in Judgment

“Don’t judge!” That’s the correction given over and over in our day. And there is much truth in it - but not absolute truth. Because joy comes in judgment.

Psalm 21 talks in terms of two teams, of two sides. There is joy when your team wins. Their is dismay when you lose. Joy is tied to the judgment of the other side. Psalm 21 describes no silly game. This is not merely an annual contest to be played all over again next year. This is the eternal struggle between God and His enemies, and we are caught in the middle. Those who have been caught up by God’s grace are now passionate for the victory of God and for the vindication of God’s people as we often take our lumps, or worse, in this world that has set itself against God. And our joy is ultimately linked to God’s victory over and judgment of His enemies.

Psalm 21 begins and ends with a reference to God’s strength. We have a strong team, anchored in the strength of our God. We exult in our God, and we want to see Him exalted, by all. There is none like Him.

And He treats His people so well. What we want, He gives, in keeping with His victory. We ask for life. He defeats death. We ask for more and many days. He removes the curse and every barrier to eternal life. We want to be close to Him, and He gives “the joy of your presence” (v.6). Our God is better than we deserve, and greater than we know.

The most striking metaphor in Psalm 21 is in v.9: “as a blazing oven.” You have to connect this with Nebuchadnezzar’s oven into which he tossed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3. God thwarted His enemy’s victory that day, and will establish His own victory in terrible judgment, which will result in the joy of God’s people.

God is the judge, not me. But let’s not be so afraid of judgment that we remove it from our conception of our God, and thus lose our joy.

Basic Temptations

2. The first day that you enter into Christ's congregation, watch out for the temptations.

Bunyan, John (2011-11-22). Prayer (Kindle Locations 371-372). GLH Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

One would think that when we come to Christ and enter into His church, we are safe at last. And in a sense, we are right, for there is no more dangerous place to be than outside of Christ. There I am under the lordship of the devil, and in constant peril of being confirmed and confined to eternal punishment. Now, in Christ, we are saved - safe in Him.

And yet, there are temptations for those who enter the fold - temptations that would draw you away from the purity of the Gospel; temptations that would fix your eyes on men with powerful personalities rather than relying on the power of the Spirit; temptations to attempt or expect short-cuts to glory, bypassing the pains and shames of suffering. 

The Apostle Paul has written letters on each of these subjects (and more). He wrote to the Galatians: “I am amazed that you are so quickly turned from the Gospel,” returning to a kind of “approval-by-lawfulness.” He wrote 1 Corinthians to warn people to not be so enamored with gifted men who have been called to be but servants of Jesus who alone is Lord. In addition, Peter wrote his first letter to warn fellow Christians that they “should not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you.”

All of these temptations result from losing sight of the glories of heaven, substituting instead a lesser vision framed by earthly and man-sized perspectives. We trade away approval with God, secured by Christ, for approval in the eyes of men, earned through our own efforts. Our worship slides askew from “faith-in-God-who-cannot-be-seen” to physical or psychological attractions toward mere men. We begin to think that we were saved primarily for our own convenience and comfort rather than for the glory of God, and thus  find rejection and suffering impossible to comprehend and to endure.

But Christian, remember that we are strangers and sojourners. We are not yet what we will be, and we do not yet bask in our Savior’s presence. That is ahead, up the road. Let’s keep going, in the purity of the Gospel, relying on the strength that God’s Spirit gives, enduring suffering as good soldiers of Christ.

Wives, Submit to your Husbands

The subject of a wife’s submission to her husband gives rise to tensions. If you have been part of such discussions, it is likely that you will have heard more about what submission is not than what it is. “I don’t know what submission means, but it certainly cannot meant that!” Let me ask a different question that may help with the context.

Why do people resist coming to Christ?

I suppose that several reasons could be given. If we rule out the problems of the many who have not heard and understood the Gospel, we can say that many people resist on intellectual grounds. They just don’t accept that Jesus is more than a man, that he rose from the dead, and that he is appointed as Judge of all the earth. And they would have a lot of company.

But further, why do so many adopt that position? Well, it is popular. But why is it so popular? I believe that at least a large segment of these objectors do so, not because of the force of their arguments, but because they do not want to come to Christ. I believe that many of us, with reference to many different subjects, tend to adopt the position that we want, and then secondarily marshall arguments that support our position. I suppose that many who resist Christ say that Christians have done exactly that - choose Christ, and then find arguments to support the position.

But my point then exposes what I believe is the largest group of people who resist coming to Christ: they resist him, because they don’t want to submit to his authority. They do not want to accept the yoke of being a Christ-follower. This is not intellectual resistance; it is willful resistance. I simply don’t want to.

If you found yourself under the domination of a cruel taskmaster, you might quickly flee to a kinder master. If you saw yourself in slavery, you would gladly welcome deliverance into a better relationship. But if you view your life as being your own, and that you are the master of your own world, the invitation to turn away from such independence and self-sufficiency is hard. It’s like, well, dying to self. And who is so suspicious of self, that they actually trust someone else more? The common condition of men and women in our culture is that know one knows and cares what is best for me than my own self, and thus we remain willfully independent. And so many - most - resist Christ.

Except we are not truly independent. The Gospel shows that we are enslaved to our passions, and that those passions are actually structured and inflamed by spiritual powers that have the upper hand. We are not free. We are slaves of sin.

Those who would be Christians give up resistance to Christ when they recognize their sin and see their need of a Savior. They bow to his authority, confessing the mess they have made of things on their own, and recognizing that they do not possess the wisdom or the strength to rightly govern their lives. They have come to understand that their lives are not their own (1 Corinthians 6), but that life is a gift, and they act as stewards, so that they are accountable for significant decisions and actions, not to their own selves, but rather to God. We believe that we find our lives when we lose them (Mark 8).

Now, submission doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Submission is admittedly a dirty word when sounded out in the context of American individualism. But against the backdrop of redemption, submission is sweet. God is good, and He is gracious, and, in Christ, He rescues us from sin and from ourselves. For saints individually and for the church collectively, our submission to Christ is illustrated by a wife’s submission to her husband.

Then why is this so difficult? Because, as saints, we are still sinners. And the earliest chapters of the Bible make plain that there is rebellion bred deep into us in the effects of sin. God speaks to Eve, the first woman, in the after-effects of the first sin, and he tells her that “her desire will be against her husband, and he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). There will be a contest of wills - willful resistance. And so the Christian bride makes a conscious decision that she will act toward her husband as she acts toward Christ. She will submit, even when it does not come naturally.

But why is this so hard? Another layer of reason is that your husband is not Christ. While Christ is perfect in wisdom and love, your husband is not. And yet, you are to trust him with your life more than you trust yourself. I wonder, if brides really understood this, would there be fewer brides?

The whole history of the human race as described in the Bible could fall under a search for a Deliverer, and a search for a Leader, a Ruler. Every worldly ruler seems to think first of himself, and is often guided by a dangerous combination of foolishness and ruthlessness. Our disappointments with rulers are many, and they give us little reason to trust anyone else. But Ephesians 5 is clear: the husband is the head of the wife. Genesis 3 is clear: the husband will rule the wife. 

If David, the best king ever, were your king, you should still yearn for a better King. And if prince charming is your husband, there are enough chinks in his armor that you will still yearn for a Ruler who will lead and love perfectly. I think that is what wives know and accept - as good as your husband is, there is still something better. There must be. Marriage is not the ultimate experience. You are being prepared for something greater, even as God can and often does bring plentiful blessings in the present.

So, what does it mean to submit? It means to willingly place yourself under a God-ordained order (hupo-tassw). Since God has designed the home to be a place where the husband is to lead and love his wife as her head, then the wife submits to that order. There are other orders to which we submit, whether in society with its laws and government (Romans 13), or in church to the Word and to designated leadership (Hebrews 13).

Submission is akin to obedience. The word-picture in my brain for obedience is standing underneath a reverse umbrella, where, when you stand in its shelter, you are watered with God’s word, and you stay under the direction of that word, not venturing out into the dryness to do your own thing according to your own senses. Obeying means to abide under the direction of God’s word. Submission means staying within God’s order - staying in line as when marching in parade - keeping in step even when the rest of the world runs helter-skelter. The husband/wife relationship is part of that order. And while obedience infers an understanding gained from God, submission infers that you abide in that order whether you understand and agree, or not. Submission is harder than obedience.

Spiritual Advice

A man named Jerry has been a special blessing to me for the past year and a half. He’s an interesting fellow, born and raised in Detroit, and since transplanted. He has faced, and continues to face, several hardships. His wife does not have a strong heart. By God’s grace, she has endured longer than doctors would have hoped, and there is something special about a person who knows that each day they live, it is because of God’s favor. Jerry himself is not what I would call healthy. He looks great - good-looking and strong. But he lost the use of a lung during a heart surgery, and he makes frequent trips to the hospital because of breathing deficiency. He and his wife have welcomed a daughter and her two children back into the home as she seeks to re-train to support her family on her own. He has spent considerable time with an aging mother-in-law. And yet Jerry faces each twist and turn with a smile and a sense of humor.

Jerry does not claim to be perfect. He knows that he’s got a quick temper, and that he can take quick offense. He has not always walked close with the Lord. But he does now. God has placed his claim on Jerry, and Jerry has placed a claim on God. They are bound together, and it shows.

There were days this past summer when I was pretty darn discouraged. Jerry, more than once, came and prayed with me at the start of a day, asking for God’s help. It changes your perspective! We saw God answer prayer in pretty amazing ways, and we were able to thank the Lord together for his surprising provision. Jerry also pointed out, in father-like fashion, some mistakes that I was making, and he wanted to make sure that I could see them. It was a little painful - a dose of humiliation - but it was what I needed. He was a friend, telling me the truth.

Jerry has also been exceedingly kind and generous. He has been generous with his time and energy; with his house and pool; with sharing and with gifts. He has been an open book, an epistle written by the Spirit of grace, and I have benefited from the experience.

I talked with Jerry on the phone a couple of times this past week. In our short conversations, he turned to spiritual themes two or three times - not forced; not preachy - just real and practical. He was right. He was stating the obvious - obvious, that is, to someone who walks with the Lord and is being guided by the Spirit.

One of the clear, first lessons that I have noticed in “the wisdom project,” our reading of a chapter of Proverbs each day through 2013, is that we need to listen to wise counsel. We need to hear spiritual advice. We need the blessing of someone who will speak the truth in the context of the difficulties of life, pointing the way to Christ in the light of the Spirit. I am blessed to have been the beneficiary of this ministry, and I pray that I might learn to do the same for others.

Hero Worship

We have a desire for heroes - for those that we can count on; for those with unusual courage; for those that are better than us. Sometimes, we anoint those as heroes who are very like us.

Last week, we saw how both Moses and Elijah were considered by  Peter as heroes along with Jesus. Perhaps because only Peter, James and John were invited along to be a part of this spectacle, they were to be considered “heroes-in-training.” But alas, we will find that there was only one hero in the group.

For all of Moses’ wonderful humble-servant qualities, he was not perfect. He was not hero caliber. Those who are humble servants will struggle with times of feeling taken-for-granted. While they love to serve, they can also feel used. These people are easy to walk on, and it gets tiring. And so, one day, when God instructed Moses to serve once again by merely speaking a word, he instead took to swinging a stick. And it cost him passage to the Promised Land. Thankfully, it did not cost him fellowship with Jesus, and so we see him on the Mt. of Transfiguration - not a hero, but a sinner, beholding the glory of the One and Only Hero.

Elijah’s job was to be strong and clear in the face of an evil king and queen. His role required great courage since it entailed great risk. Once you risk your skin a few times, it is easy to conclude that you deserve a few perks from God. It is easy to feel important in God’s plan, essential, indispensable. It seems that Elijah felt that he was more zealous for God than God was zealous for Elijah. And he had to be put in his place. He had to be removed from the scene.

But I’m glad that Elijah is included in the scene in Mark 9, not because he is a hero, but because the One and Only Hero, Jesus, forgives sinners, just as he did Moses, and Elijah, and Peter, and me.

Is your Soul a Muscle?

I’ve heard there are different kinds of muscle, and different types have different characteristics. Skeletal muscles can be built up, and they can regenerate. So if we have an injury or a surgery, muscles that have been cut or damaged can often be restored to their former condition. Or, if you want to build muscle, you can engage in a weight training program in which muscle tissue is ‘torn,’ but then mends and heals larger and/or stronger. 

If the soul is this kind of muscle, then it might seem as though God will ‘grow’ our souls through difficulty and adversity. The tearing of our souls will result in a larger and stronger faith. And if that is the case, then we can give thanks for trials - something Scripture tells us explicitly that we should do.

On the other hand, what if our souls are more like heart muscle? My understanding is that this particular muscle is damaged in a heart attack, and that the remnants of this heart damage are detected in the bloodstream. But the heart muscle does not degenerate. It does not come back larger and stronger. What you lose in a heart attack is lost for life.

If the soul is this kind of muscle, then our study of Mark 8:34-38 this past Sunday makes a lot of sense. Our ‘deals with the devil’ result in lost ground, lost opportunities, lost capacities. 

Now, our souls are not muscles at all. They are immaterial and spiritual. And yet, how will we care for these souls of ours, in which our faith finds its space to exercise and work? To at least borrow from the images above, we submit to God in love and trust, even in times of unpleasantness; and we flee from sin and the devil, knowing that he is the enemy of our souls.

Brain Bath, or, Renewing Your Mind

Some days I know I need a brain bath. The stains of wrong-headedness; the grime of worldly perspectives; the migraine of bad attitudes; the filth of knuckle-headed desires - these all need to be washed away. But how? Jesus served the disciples with foot-washing. Would he also serve us with mind-washing? Yes, by the renewing of our minds. It is not something that we do to or for ourselves. But it does involve our willing participation (see Peter’s sparring with Jesus on foot-washing in John 13). 

Being renewed in our minds has much to do with the truth. Ephesians 4:20,21 (in anticipation of the invitation to “be renewed” in v. 23) mentions learning, hearing, being taught, and the truth. Colossians 3:2 (in anticipation of the promise of renewal in v.10) says to “set your mind on things above, where Christ is.” I think we could even argue that the “Therefore” in Romans 12:1 (anticipating “the renewing of your mind” in v.2) harks back to the arguments of what we should “know” and “consider” or “reckon” in Romans 6. This truth has everything to do with Jesus, and our union and participation in the reality that came to light and life in his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension, and in the preaching of the Gospel ever since. Our past, and the release from condemnation, and the expunging of the record of our sins, is bound up with Jesus. Our hope and expectation that this is not all there is; that this world will be released from the grip of sin and death - is wrapped up in the victory of Jesus. Our recognition that we live by Him and for Him comes from the truth that there is a throne that we cannot see, upon whom sits the One whom we love, and under whose feet are all enemies.

Somehow, this truth of Jesus has to be more real and more obvious to us than any other earthly/worldly truths. Whether we have a burning interest in the standings of our favorite teams, or the latest poll concerning the next election, or the fluttering of the stock market like a flag in a fan factory, we must have our eyes and minds first fixed on Jesus. It is our convictions about and impressions of Him that must control our mood and confidence. Romans 6:3 gives us the image of baptism for this identification with Christ. We are to be drenched with him. He is the shower that we take every morning, washing our bodies and clearing our minds from the fog of sleep and confusion. We are not prepared for the day without being clothed in Christ. This is so important, that I risk foolishness to press the point. He is the Alarm clock that rouses us every morning; the constant Companion in the car; the Time clock that records our arrivals and departures; the Desk that reads every one of our reports, and the first One to greet us at the door of our homes. It is this truth of Jesus that insulates us from the lies and deceits of the world.

In addition to being cloaked with the truth of Christ, it is commanded that we take action by “laying aside the old man” (Eph 4:22; Col 3:8,9). It is as simple as saying no (Titus 2:12), and it is as difficult as dying (Mark 8:34,35). But that is what we are to do: to say no to ourselves as we are inclined to follow the ways of the world, and to submit to a crucifixion of self for the sake of the new, post-crucified life.

There is the constant temptation to begin to assume that we “renew our minds” on our own. With regard to the earlier point, it is not so much that we master the truth, as that we are mastered by it. And on this point, we don’t so much crucify ourselves, as submit to crucifixion. Think literally for a moment. If you wanted to crucify yourself, you might nail both your feet first, and then one hand to the cross. But who nails the other hand? There is no hand for the hammer. You can’t do it. It is done to you. And so this art of dying daily to sin; of saying no to the self, is not a case where we drum up enough determination to take ourselves in hand and master ourselves. No, it is more dragging ourselves to God, handing over to Him and His Spirit each one of those things that grips us and pulls us away from Christ. And even as we “present” these things, they cling to us, tearing at our flesh. We don’t want to give them away, or to lay them aside. But we do, for the sake of the renewing of our minds. 

This must not be mere theory. Test yourself. To what have you said “no” today? Not sure? Then you stand in need of the renewing of your mind. I am bold to say this because of the absolute fact of daily dirt. In Bible times, the need for foot washing was a given, as is the assumed need of hand washing today. If every shopping cart and stair railing is riddled with germs, then there is certainly no way for you to maneuver your way through your day without being contaminated by sin. And a man or woman who is unaware and unconcerned about his/her own sin simply cannot experience renewal of mind. Do not be so foolish as to think that the Holy Spirit will agree to drop “Holy” from his name for the sake of your unaddressed or closely held sin. So instead, we ask God, by His Spirit to inspect our lives for every trace of sin, to bring it to our attention, so that we might present it for crucifixion. And frankly, many of our sins are more like elephants in the room than some invisible, hidden cell. Whom are we trying to fool?

Let’s close with some review and clarification. This subject of the renewal of our minds is not merely or primarily a human activity. The Gospel teaches us that we must not put confidence in ourselves, but rather in Christ. Just as we do not raise ourselves from the dead (whether physically, or spiritually), so we do not renew our own minds. Galatians 5 helps us here. Remember that there are two lists in this chapter. One is “the works of the flesh.” The other is “the fruit of the Spirit.” On our own, we can do all kinds of dreadful things. But we are not a good-works factory (manufactured behavior). If we try on our own to produce good works, we instead produce only “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Instead, the text changes the imagery from a factory to that of a fruit-bearing branch (Galatians 5). The branch (or, you and I) is not the active force in the production of fruit, though it is involved. We are a channel, a territory, in which the Spirit works. And for this to happen, God has planned for the renewing of our minds. But don’t make the mistake. We are not here merely trading self-expression for self-discipline. We are instead rejecting the self-principle in favor of the Spirit-principle. 

As the front-door of faith is repentance, the needful activity for being clothed in Christ is to shed the snakeskin of our sins. The needful activity for the renewal of the mind is to submit to the Spirit who, as Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, will bless us with a brain bath.

True Religion

"Religion" has gotten a bad name. What is being advocated is "relationship" over "religion." A relationship is personal and dynamic. A religion, it is said, is formal and dead. I'm not sure that James, and the Holy Spirit, would agree. Here is his Biblical text, in an outline form:

James 1:26   If anyone thinks himself to be religious, 

and yet does not bridle his tongue 

but deceives his own heart, 

this man’s religion is worthless. 

27 Pure and undefiled religion 

in the sight of our God and Father is this: 

to visit orphans and widows in their distress, 

and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

In the center, out-dented section of the outline, we can see that James contrasts worthless religion with pure and undefiled religion. He is not throwing out all religion, though he admits that there is indeed a false and useless type of religion. As we work out from this center, we will observe how he contrasts the two different types.

Worthless religion is internal. It is a discussion with oneself, whereby we evaluate ourselves and our life based on the intuitions of our own mental/emotional world. This is patently unreliable and will certainly steer us astray. On the other hand, pure and undefiled religion is defined and evaluated from outside ourselves. God is the King; not me. God is sovereign; not us. Popular opinion and personal opinions matter little. It is what God thinks and says that matters. We must look to Him for definition and direction.

In light of this first point, then, we find that much of both "religion" or "relationship" in our culture are subjective, and thus, worthless. If there would be a recovery of what is pure and undefiled, we must return to the objective standard of God's Word, in repentance, and start again, working out our religion, not in self-sufficiency, but in conscious, intentional submission and in the fear of the Lord.

In the next set of contrasts that are spaced in parallel in the outline, we see that worthless religion is primarily an exercise of the tongue, but that pure and undefiled religion demands also the exercise of one's feet in "visit(ing) orphans and widows." James is famous for his insistence on faith and works, or, a faith that works. A real vital faith will express and exercise itself in obedience.

Here again we can easily see that much of what goes on is worthless religion. When we talk more about prayer than actually bend the knee in actual prayer, we are participating in worthless religion. When our doctrine is not properly attached to life, we are involved in worthless religion. When we do not practice what we preach, we are giving witness to a worthless religion. Again, this requires obedience, a dying to self, a stripping off of the old man, and seeking the renewal that Word and Spirit alone can accomplish.

Finally, the outline contrasts how we like to think of ourselves, with radical actions taken in the light of reality. This point borrows from the two previous points. It is not how I feel about myself that makes a lick of difference. It is how I am viewed by God. The doctrine of justification by faith is essential here. We are clothed in Christ's righteousness, and that is good news that I need to preach to myself every single day. But the companion idea is that I am a sinner who is "prone to wander." The world has an allure that must be battled. Worthless religion may be able to buddy up to the world, but I cannot afford to place myself in that magnetic field. True religion desires personal purity. An essential part of my mission, whatever else it may involve, is to walk with Christ in integrity. And as I stumble, I am to confess that sin and forsake it, as thoroughly and quickly as possible. Any religion (or relationship with Jesus) that does not include a hatred of sin is worthless. We need a religion that proclaims and reinforces that theme.

Only God can create a pure and undefiled religion. He does so through a relationship with His Son, Jesus. This religion will be centered in God, touching all areas of life and conduct, emanating from a heart that has been re-placed and is being re-formed by God's grace.

Clothed in Christ's Righteousness

Rarely heard: “I like what you are wearing.” 

Reply: “Oh, I didn’t realize I was wearing anything.” 

We may not always be conscious of our clothes, but we are generally confident that we are indeed clothed; that we are not unclothed. And if we were in fact naked, I think of that we would be quite aware.

Christians are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. But we are prone to compartmentalized thinking, of separating our Sunday conversations from our weekday lifestyles. We are clothed in Christ’s righteousness every single minute. Of course we have many things to think about and many things to do. And we cannot be fixated on our clothes, whether material of spiritual, all of the time. But there is a settled confidence in knowing that we are properly and fitly clothed. We never get far from the clothes that we are wearing. 

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:27 NAS95)

Let’s dig a little deeper. We have clothes of different kinds. I laugh when my wife distinguishes between her “summer” and “winter” clothes. I suppose that I have some as well, but not so much. But the garment of Christ’s righteousness has been gifted to us. It is not so much what we laid eyes on it and just had to have it; not so much the bargain that we scored at the re-sale. Christ graciously gave us what we most needed, and we are still only beginning to understand how valuable it is.

So it is not enough to know that I am clothed. I could be clothed in “filthy rags.” It is the quality of the clothing and what the clothing says that is also important. Have you ever been at a gathering where you have been clothed inappropriately? You didn’t know that it was going to be so formal, or you got dragged into a room where you had not planned to go. Do you remember the self-consciousness of not being clothed properly?

In a world where God is always watching, you don’t want to be caught in “filthy rags.” You want the righteousness of Christ. So today, I want to be more aware of Christ’s gift of righteousness. I want to feel it’s presence on my arms and shoulders. I want to be aware, and I want to be grateful as well. And, though this is fodder for another post, I don’t want to dirty Christ’s garment from the inside.

You’ve Been Served

To certain people, these words might bring back some unpleasant memories and feelings. But I am not referring to being served with a summons. Rather, I am speaking of the fact that we have been served, royally, by God.

To be served fits alongside Jesus’ statement in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” If Jesus came to serve, then the people he came to serve have indeed been served. It’s not much about what they did for him; it is what he did for them.

But this doesn’t fit so well when pastor-types (like me) begin to rail against “consumer-Christianity” and to complain about pew-sitters who just want to be entertained. “We need more Christians to serve instead of just sit,” you might hear one of them (like me) say. I am afraid that this (convicting) emphasis dulls the sharp edge of the gospel.

We don’t join the family and fellowship of God by our service. We join the community of believers by grasping and accepting God’s service to us in Christ. we begin to understand how deeply we stand in need of this service, and that we are helpless to achieve its ends on our own. This is humbling, even crushing to realize, especially for the do-gooders of the world, and the self-sufficient.

So we have to be very careful about urging people to serve (even though they may). We must be very sure that those who are eager and willing to serve are not doing so with a dulled sense of the gospel, from which they might think they will find greater acceptance with God by virtue of their service. We do not earn points by our serving. All the points a Christian scores were scored by Christ alone, from whom alone we receive a perfect righteousness and clean record.

This potential for confusion is why service in the church should be done by believers. Unbelievers are already confused about the value of their works, often thinking that they can self-atone by doing good things or by cleaning up or by improving. I am not saying that all service should be done by members. That’s another issue. But the church is made up of believers, and its service is carried out by believers whose service is not a work deserving a wage, but a gift of gratitude in response to God’s grace. We seriously degrade our building materials (1 Corinthians 3) when the unredeemed use service in attempts to aid their own redemption.

You’ve been served, by God, who loves to serve. Yes, He is the great and awesome God who is worthy of the deepest respect and highest honor. It seems that He is the One who should be served. But He is also the King who loves to serve, even if it means washing the disciples’ feet (yes, I know that was Jesus, but the Father and Son share the same value system). Peter said, “You will never wash my feet!” (John 13:8). Jesus said, “If I don’t wash your feet, then you have no part with me.” Our fellowship with God and His Son requires that we be served; that we submit to His service.

We are honored to be served. We don’t deserve it, but we enjoy it and grown in our desire for it. We desperately need to be served by God, and it humbles us. But it also provides the believer with a warmth and intimacy that replaces short-lived and diminishing-returns comforts that the world offers. Child of God, you have been served, praise God, yesterday, today, and forever.

New Definitions

Already in James 1 we have studied how sin is generated. It all starts with temptation that lingers long enough to mix with evil desire. All of a sudden, the sin you were entertaining in your mind now masters you. You have been carried away and enticed, and sin is born. It results, in the end, in death. It is the sin-cursed life cycle, or, this fallen world’s sin-cycle.

But, thankfully, that is not the end of the story. Because God is able to produce another kind of generation; a life-cycle that ends in life, not death. “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” (James 1:18 NAS95) We are not now as we were when we were first-birth born. This second birth produces something quite different. And we need to learn to live according to the new definitions.

On the other side of this envelope, we find that God makes use of “the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21 NAS95) God has placed and is placing in us his dynamic, powerful word that continues to re-fashion us into what we are to be and become. We desperately need this word, and we receive it humbly. This is where we will learn the new way of living; the new definitions.

Inside this envelope we find the famous admonition: “be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;” (James 1:19 NAS95). We are to“put() aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness” (James 1:21 NAS95). We need to live by new definitions. We must not do what comes naturally. We must not follow our instincts. We must not imitate the crowd. We must listen up and slow down so that we can prayerfully evaluate how we act and respond in every situation. This is the Christian life, the life of discipleship. And there is precious little of it in our fast-paced, worldly world.

Ask yourself these questions. Maybe your answers will be better and more perceptive than mine. Maybe we could learn from each other.

Why don’t I listen? Because I think I already have all the answers, and because I think I’m mostly right most of the time. But, I don’t, and, I’m not. And there is so much I could learn if I would listen. Listen to other perspectives. They may be wrong, or right. Learn to listen to the Spirit. Learn the art of active listening, asking questions in prayer, that God would graciously guide.

Why do I talk so much? Because I’m proud. My talking needs heavy editing. There must be a difference between Spirit-prompted speech and self-prompted, self-promoting speech. Learn the difference. Take a (selective) vow of silence.

Why do I become angry? Because people don’t rightly regard my quick wit and lofty perspectives; because I’m not loyally listened to and heeded; because people don’t treat me with the kind of dignity that only God deserves. 

As children of God, you and I are not nothing. God has done something special, that he might create something in us and do something with us. But it is not us, apart from God, that is of any value. And so we must learn the new definitions of what it means to be a child of God, and we must learn to choose this new kind of life where “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NAS95)

Stop Trying So Hard to Pretend

“For the LORD GOD is my strength and song,” (Isaiah 12:2 NAS95)

This song of praise in Isaiah 12 follows God’s earth-defying promises of Isaiah 11. We sense that Isaiah has re-discovered the wonder of God anew. One of the phrases he sings is, “For the Lord God is my strength and song.” I wonder if it had always been that way for this prophet. It hasn’t for me.

Sadly, much of Christian life in conservative evangelicalism is shaped by “try harder” and “pretend.” Failures are met by renewed efforts, often accompanied by human strategies of mental determination and behavior modification. The key word in such action is not so much “grace” as “sweat equity.” Preachers urge their people to Just Try Harder. And that is right after the song leader urges the people to Just Sing Louder, and, by the way, Sing Like You Mean It. Understand, it doesn’t really matter if the song is a good song or a bad song, so long as the person singing is just going through the motions and playing the part and putting on an act. And so, I am afraid that this is what we get when the Lord God is not our strength and our song. 

Now what happens when a person actually and practically finds God to be his/her strength? No doubt, this discovery comes about due to the strange mercy of God - strange, because is sets itself upon strange people; and strange also because this mercy is often discovered in painful circumstances. So we can safely assume the person has been humbled and very well may have turned to God in desperation or as a last resort. Nonetheless, he/she is now convinced of one’s own weakness, and is living in regular and consistent dependence upon God. Prayers are not far spaced. Pausing for spiritual direction is the order of the day. Asking for the right thing to say, or, not to say, guides conversation. There is a sense that one is not alone in any situation, but that God’s Spirit is in the wings or on the shoulder. Waiting to see what develops is not unusual or maddening. Can you see that this is not a “try harder” religion? “The Lord God is my strength.”

Similarly, we can understand that “God is my song” in much the same way that “God is my strength.” If I am more aware of my sin than that of others, then I am also more aware of God’s perfections than I am impressed with my abilities. The pattern of God coming through characterizes life as an adventure, as an exercise of discovery, and each new experience is God-soaked, and it makes you want to - sing. “The Lord God is my song.”

We can know our theologies and study our Bibles and preach and teach, etc., but if the Lord God is not our strength and our song, then we really need to Stop Trying So Hard to Pretend.

Vivid Word Pictures in Isaiah 1

The title of this post is bland and boring compared to Isaiah’s writing. He spices up his communication with mental images that are useful for setting our brains and hearts on fire. I need to learn this communication technique.

“The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib,” (Isaiah 1:3 ESV). Today, we might think of the loyal, domesticated dog that is “man’s best friend.” But that would spoil the image. God’s people are not being contrasted with animals of high intelligence. Rather, we are on the unflattering end of contrast with a dumb ox or stubborn donkey.

“The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds;” (Isaiah 1:5–6 ESV). This is systemic illness. We are described as septic. What is wrong on the outside has penetrated to the inside, and what is wrong on the inside is spilling out in ugliness on the outside. No bandage strip is going to cover this mess. The picture describes the size of our problem.

“like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field,” (Isaiah 1:8 ESV). What was to be glorious is worse than humble - it is embarrassing. How can Jesus the Cornerstone be the foundation for something so crooked and unstable as a field shack.

“though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 ESV). The blood-soaked rag indicates that something has gone terribly wrong. The blood “cries out,” as it were. Whiteness indicates a return to a former condition, completely wiping away the transgression. In fact, it may indicate that this new cleanness is even better than the pre-sin condition. 

“like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water.” (Isaiah 1:30 ESV). This would be the tree that stands in stark contrast to the one described in Psalm 1. “Withered” and “without water” may describe a botanical problem, but they are powerful terms for a spiritual problem as well.

“And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.” (Isaiah 1:31 ESV). Burning is undeniably an eschatological, judgment activity. This kind of arrogant, worldly strength is mere kindling when God comes to judge with fire.

And so, I have most likely ruined vivid word pictures by commenting on them, kind of like explaining a good joke. But perhaps you will be encouraged to watch for word pictures, and let your imagination be fired and your spirits sensitized to Biblical truth. 

A man may believe what he pleases, provided he does not believe anything strongly enough to risk his life on it - Machen nothingnew

Don't Put Your God Under a Bushel

Jesus said, "No one puts a light under a bushel" (Mk 4:21). God is light (1 Jn 1:5), so I don't think I am stretching the point to say, "Don't go putting your God under a bushel."


Imagine a wife who purposes to speak well of her husband. That is commendable. We do not suppose that the man is perfect. But this wife will not speak in public of his imperfections. Maybe he has an anger problem. Maybe he drinks too much. Maybe he is proud and self-centered. Nonetheless, this devoted wife will not out her husbands faults.


But Christian, God is not a partner whose flaws we must cover. God is perfect in His mercy, but also in His judgments. Yet we act like devoted wives, wanting people to think well of Him, covering God's fault of judgment. Christian, God has no character defects. His judgment is glorious, whether or not we can see it or explain it. It is not something that should be kept secret.


Why should the public have any respect for a God concerning whom we act embarrassed? 

Not the one commending himself, but the one the Lord commends, 2Cor10:18

Here's how John Knox (1517) ends a letter: "The mighty Spirit of the Lord Jesus rule your hearts in the true fear of God, open your eyes to consider your duties, and give you strength to execute the same." - here's praying you have that kind of day!