Puritan Musings: Declaring His Works for His Honor

I am currently reading through Michael A.G. Haykin's book "To honour God: The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell" for one of my classes at seminary. Each week throughout the semester, I am supposed to read a portion of this book, which is a collection of Cromwell's writings, and have a small reflection upon something that he says. Therefore, I have decided to share these "Puritan Musings" with you. They won't be very long, but I hope that perhaps someone may get something from them.
 

I am currently in Timothy Beougher’s Personal Evangelism class at Southern Baptist Seminary, and in that class, we talk about our motivations for the spreading of the Gospel, among other things related to evangelism. After all, the entire class is about sharing the Gospel with those who need it. Today, as I read Oliver Cromwell’s letter to his cousin Mrs. St. John, I was struck by a phrase: “Yet, to honour my God by declaring what he hath done for my soul, in this I am confident, and I will be so” (pg. 47). 

How often do we ponder on how we may honor God? How often do we view evangelism, or conversation in general, or anything we do in our day-to-day lives as being for His honor and glory? That is our primary focus, as Cromwell was right in stating, so why are we not more confident in doing so? Why I am not? What more motivation do I need to share the truth (or you could say “declare!”) than to do so for His honor? What a noble task the Christian has! It is our job to proclaim and declare the glory of the God of the universe, our Lord and Savior!

My hope is that I may grow in this manner. I pray that I become more confident in my purpose of bringing Him glory and honor, and that an out-pouring of that is that I would boldly declare His name whenever He prompts. I pray that I might tell of what He has done for my soul.

Jesus Believed in Hell

"And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire!" -Matthew 18:9, HCSB

I chose the picture above for a reason. So often, when people think about Jesus, they picture happy Jesus. Soft Jesus. Lovey-dovey, gentle Jesus. And He certainly is loving and happy and gentle, do not hear me wrong. I'm simply stating that He wasn't like that at all times.

A common claim against Christians who are "hardcore" or "fire and brimstone" is that they are not loving. If you preach a gospel that includes a literal Hell for the person outside of Christ, you will be considered unloving by many. After all, it isn't loving to tell people they are headed to Hell, right?

Jesus did. In fact, Jesus spoke of Hell more than any other person in the New Testament. Not that He wanted people to go to Hell; Matthew 18:14 clearly states that God does not want any to enter Hell's gates. Instead, Jesus preached a literal Hell because He actually believed in it.

Jesus actually believed that if someone were to sin and never repent, that person would be in Hell upon death. He believed in a literal, fire and brimstone Hell. This belief, this knowledge of the very real punishment of sins, is something that propelled Him to preach repentance of sins and salvation in Himself. This compelled Him to look upon crowds with compassion, knowing their status before God and thus their eternal fate if nothing changes.

And we don't ever mention Hell.

We have become so afraid of talking about the punishment of sins that we won't hardly mention the fires of Hell. We don't want to seem mean or old-fashioned or weird, so we just leave that part off. We don't ever discuss the extent of punishment for sins, that Hell is a place of eternal darkness and flames (not sure how that works, but it sounds horrifying), a place of gnashing of teeth. Sometimes, people will make Hell into a place of temporary punishment, like time-out for a toddler.

We've lost our belief in Hell. If we actually believed in this Hell, a literal place of eternal suffering and punishment, then we would do something with that belief. We would not sit by, afraid to saying something to the person outside of Christ. We would preach the gospel to all we could, fueled by the desire to see people escape the punishment.

Our indifference towards Hell and those headed there is at best unloving and lazy, and more likely hateful and damning. We quite literally hold the gospel of Christ in our hands, the way out of eternal punishment, and we never preach it. Our silence will be paid for by our friends for eternity, as they cry out our names, wondering why we didn't care enough to share the gospel with them.

Jesus believed in Hell, and did something about it. Do we?

Our Silence Makes No Sense

"Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'Let it be done for you according to your faith!' And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, 'Be sure that no one finds out!' But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area." -Matthew 9:29-31, HCSB

So, one day Jesus was walking around when a pair of blind guys walk up to Him, wanting to be healed. They had heard, no doubt, of His healing abilities. Perhaps they even heard that He had healed other blind people. Regardless, they walked up behind Him and yelled for Jesus to have mercy on them.

His response? "Do you believe that I can do this?"

Their answer: "yes."

A repeating theme in the Gospels is faith. Almost anytime that Jesus healed someone, it was a result of their having faith in Him to do what they believed He could do. And really, the same should be true for Christians.

We were once blind when Jesus, by grace through faith, opened our eyes to Him and our salvation in Him. When we are awakened from our sin-induced death and brought into the new birth in Christ, we are healed by Him, like the blind men here, "according to our faith." With that, our eyes are opened.

 For both us and the blind men, Jesus made a command and that command was/is disobeyed. And that's when the similarities disappear.

In the case of the blind men, Jesus told them not tell anyone of what He had done for them, as the time had not come for His awesomeness to be revealed. Yet, overcome with gratefulness and excitement, these men could not keep the news of their Healer to themselves. They felt an overpowering compulsion to share about Jesus with everyone that they came in contact with.

Inversely, Jesus has commanded us to "go, therefore, and make disciples," telling them all about Him and what He has done for us. Yet, we respond in the exact opposite fashion of the blind men. We hold in the news of Christ to ourselves.

Imagine if the blind men were healed, and then ran to an entire group of blind men and women. Upon their arrival at the group, they then proceed to act as though they are blind and refrain from telling anyone how they gained their sight. They have the same mannerisms, actions, words and everything that they had when they were blind. It wouldn't make sense!

And yet, this is us. We are healed of our spiritual blindness, and yet continue on in our lives as though we are still blind, keeping the news of our healing to ourselves.

It must not be this way. We must run to any and all the people that we know, proclaiming the name of Jesus! He has healed us; are we not filled with joy at this truth?! Are we content with our healing so much so that we ignore the blindness of others?!

We have had our eyes opened. It is now our job to do the same with our mouths.

Leave Your Life Behind

"If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world?" -Colossians 2:20, HCSB

Solid question, right? Why do we act as though we aren't in Christ?

I'm not even talking about living a "sinner's lifestyle;" many of us jump immediately to that. We think,

"Well, I'm not living as if I belong to the world! I don't cuss, I attend church most weeks, I lead a bible study, and I don't smoke. I'm doing what I am supposed to do."

But, are you really living a life of Christ? Are you really doing what your salvation saved you to do? I mean, what did Jesus say upon His ascension?

"Go, therefore, and do not smoke weed. Attend church regularly, read Max Lucado books and stay away from alcohol in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

What?! That isn't what He said?! Oh my. Well, what did Jesus command?

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you." -Matthew 28:19-20, HCSB

Are we making disciples, teaching and baptizing, or are we living the same kind of "personal religion" that the rest of the world prescribes to? Most of the United States, whether they admit it, have a self-centered religion.

The reason people go to church/mosque or not is based on their spirituality. What makes your spiritual life complete is what you should go for, says the world. Pray to whomever you please. If you're into burning sage, go for it. If you're into worshipping a cactus blossom, great. Whatever pleases you. Just make sure not to try to get anyone else to do it. I mean, we don't want to be pushy and force our religion on others!

I'm not insinuating that Christians should be annoying, leaving a tract instead of a tip at restaurants or anything like that. I'm asking seriously: are you following Christ in a worldly, self-glorifying way that is built around you and your feelings of "religiousness," or are you striving for a walk with Christ that is founded on Him and His greatness?

We are to stay pure, yes. It is a good thing if you don't cuss or smoke pot. However, if you are doing nothing with your salvation beyond yourself, if you aren't sharing the life-changing truth that has been revealed to you, what good is it? We aren't saved for ourselves; we're saved for the glory of God!

We are to live lives that reject the philosophies and such of this world, and follow only after Christ. This means that we will have to go against the grain of culture and step out of our religious box. We must leave the temple behind and be the church, living lives for the advancement of the Kingdom. That's what it means to be dead to the world. We leave behind all trace of life from the old way of doing it and follow after Him.

Are we willing to pick up our cross and die to a life of personal religion? Are we willing to go against the grain and spread the gospel to those around us? Are we truly dead to the ways of this world and culture, willing to go wherever God sends us? These are questions we all must ask.

Let's Just Worship

A worship guide for the new year (and the rest of our lives):

"Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary."

- Psalm 96:1-6, NIV

 

Isn't this a great passage? It has a lot to it, and I really just wanted to share this with you all today. Let's break it down, and I hope you follow each section, worshipping Him:

 

"Sing to the LORD a new song, sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise His name...": Oh, sing to the Lord! Sing with all your heart. May the whole planet, nay, the entire universe sing to Him who is seated above all! He is worth of all praise and glory and honor, forever and ever and ever! Praise His great name, the Name that is above all names!

 

"Proclaim his salvation day after day, declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples...": The natural result of, or perhaps better called the continuation of, worshipping our Lord is the declaration of His splendor and majesty and power to the nations for all to hear. If we truly worship Him, it will spill over onto into a flowing river of praise from our lips, taking His name to the ends of the earth.

 

"For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens...": There is nothing on this planet or beyond this planet that is worthy of the praise that our God is due. Why? Because He made it all. He made light and dark and land and water and stars and moons and planets. He made birds and fish and plants and mammals and invertebrates and reptiles and amphibians. He made wood and metal and oil and combustion and paper and jewels. He made relationships and power and love and sex and passion and happiness. Everything you could ever make into an idol, anything that you could put over Him (idols don't have to be objects; they are ANYTHING we put over God) was made by Him or forbidden by Him. In fact, the very act of idolatry is sin.

 

Instead we should fear Him. A writer called the fear of God, "the convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love, and yes, fear." All of that is what our reaction toward God should be. Anything less isn't up to par.

 

"Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary...": This is why we fear Him. Splendor and majesty and strength and glory surround Him; I don't think I have to expand. I don't even know if I can. Our Lord is so majestic and wonderful and powerful and glorious and beautiful and amazing that words simply do not do Him justice.

 

Just sing a song and worship. Just bow and lift up His name. That is the only fitting response.

You And Your Slavery

"For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land." -Ezekiel 36:24, HCSB

In this verse, God is speaking to the Israelites, telling them that He will bring them back to their homeland. But why aren't they there already?

Israel, for the uninitiated, was a hot mess during biblical times. They were a constant roller coaster of spirituality: some years they were on fire for God, and other years they were worshipping idols and hosting child sacrifices.

Due to their foolishness of turning away from worshipping God, they got taken captive by the Babylonian empire and were enslaved in a foreign land. Idiots, right? Don't speak too soon.

We're very much the same. We are often foolish. Just think with me: how often do you have a reason that you don't worship and chase after God?

"I'd read my Bible more, but I'm really busy..."

"I'd pray more, but I don't really know how..."

"I'd go to church on Sunday mornings, but I had this thing on Saturday night..."

You may not have had one of those exact excuses, but I promise you've had at least something similar at some point in your walk with God. Probably in the past few days, honestly. We all have.

These foolish excuses do two things: they pretend that our relationship with God doesn't need priority over everything else (and He is worth infinitely more than anything else in our lives, I promise), and it lowers our defense against evil.

You see, God is our Shield. He says that all over the book of Psalms. When we stop pursing Him and put other things over that pursuit, then we lower our Shield in the middle of battle. Lowering a shield in battle is NOT a good idea.

The forces of darkness are always looking for one of His followers to lower their shield and become vulnerable for an attack. They will strike, and without a tried and true relationship with God, we will fall. We'll become enslaved to a sin, incapable of freeing ourselves.

Israel couldn't save themselves from captivity, and neither can we. Both groups of people need God. Fortunately, Ezekiel 36 continues.

"I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and all of your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances." -Ezekiel 36:25-27, HCSB

Beautiful. Not even beautiful; this is beyond words. We foolishly turn from God, which leads to our enslavement to darkness. And yet, God is a God of freedom. Not just literal freedom of the flesh, but freedom of the heart. He wants His people to be saved and to have new hearts. He wants His people to be clean. He wants to give us His Spirit to free us to follow Him, and to kick sin to the curb.

Is this the year that you allow God to give you a new heart? Maybe you still have a heart of stone, and are turned away from Him. Maybe you're already a Christian, and just need to be reminded that our God has saved you from sin, so quit re-enslaving yourself. Regardless of your situation, run to Him. Run to our God and turn from foolish ways of ignoring Him. Make 2013 a year where you are dedicated to following Him.

We were dead, and now we are alive. We were enslaved and foolish, but now we are free. Remember that. Embrace that. Live your life based off of that.

-Inspired by Louie Giglio's talk "Main Session 1-Passion 2013"

Have a Heart

So, the world didn't end on December 21, 2012. Shocker. While I would have loved to have been able to go see Jesus, I'm not upset that the world didn't end. After all, "to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21)." Life is a good thing. In fact, it's a great gift of God.
The truth is, though, that the world as we know it will end. Some unknown day (Mark 13:32), the world will end. With that end of the world will come a judgment day.
Every person will be judged on their deeds. Since we are all sinners that have rebelled against our great God, the verdict for every single one of us, left to ourselves, will be guilty. Some, however, have received the gift of salvation in this life, and will be declared "not guilty" before God on judgment day (courtesy of the blood and death of Jesus Christ).
Unfortunately, not everyone will come to Christ. There will be lots of people who will die between now and judgment day, and those people will not have received grace. They will not have let Jesus' blood cover their sins and they will not have believed in Jesus as Lord. They will die, be judged guilty before the holy God of the universe, and will be sentenced to an eternity in Hell. That's a never-ending future in a literal Hell.
And you and I know what can keep them from this. You and I, fellow Christ follower, know the great gospel of Christ. You and I know the truth of Jesus. You and I know the sweet goodness of our Lord and Savior. Yet, like a kindergartner on the playground, we want to keep it to ourselves and fail to share the greatest gift we could ever receive.
Oh, that we would have a heart for the damned and doomed like is described in Ezekiel 21! Read with me please:
"Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming.'" -Ezekiel 21:6-7a, NIV

Oh Church, may we groan! May we groan before the lost with broken heart and bitter grief. We know that bad news is coming! Let us actually care! Oh Lord, please help us to have this heart for those who are hurtling toward destruction! Please let us legitimately have broken hearts, weeping for those who don't know Christ. Please let us bitterly wail into the night for those that do not know our Lord. Pray that we feel this way! We have the truth of Christ, let us want to share it and prevent this impending doom!

Milk Jug Evangelism

"And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, 'you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" -Acts 1:4-5, ESV

Here we have a scene at the beginning of Acts, where Christ is speaking to His disciples just prior to His ascension back into heaven with the Father. He directly tells them not to go out and tell people of His gospel, but to "wait for the promise of the Father...the Holy Spirit."

He did not want them to tell people the good news without the Holy Spirit being with them. Why would that be? It's actually pretty straight forward. How does one come to faith in Christ? It is by the grace of God, through faith. The Spirit is the Being behind all that grace and faith, working over hearts like Ty Pennington on a messed-up house.

It is by the Spirit's working that we are saved, and it is by the Spirit's power that we are able to share this great gospel with others, and it is by the Spirit that these people may come to faith in said gospel. If I haven't made it clear enough, it is the Spirit that does the work in evangelism; we are merely a vessel for Him to do His work through.

If you had an empty milk jug, how much good would that do for a bowl of dry cereal? Not much; nothing is going to come out of that milk jug, and no change is going to occur to that bowl of Fruit Loops. Yet, if that jug has milk in it, then that milk can pour into the bowl and change everything about the cereal: taste, consistency, protein levels, etc. It is not the jug, but the milk inside that does the changing. Similarly, it is not the Christian, but the Spirit inside that does the work.

Oh, and by the way, we don't have to wait like the early disciples did. If you are a Christ follower, then you have already been baptized by the Spirit and now have the power of God inside of you. Spreading the gospel is now something you can do, because you already have the Spirit! Rely on His power to save lives, not your own! You and I cannot save anyone, but the Spirit inside of us can! Be encouraged, as all you are is a vessel.

As long as a milk jug holds milk and pours it when it is supposed to, it is doing the job it was made for. As long as we hold the Spirit (which we do) and pour it out when we are supposed to (which should be a lot), then we are doing our job. Be a milk jug, and leave the rest to the Spirit. That's part of why we have Him.

Ya Scared, Homie?

"And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." -Matthew 22:39, ESV

How often do you want to do something nice, but back out due to fear? Here's an embarrassing story from a few weeks ago...

I was riding the bus, en route to one of my classes. I was sitting near the back of the bus, wearing a flat-billed trucker hat. A girl was sitting behind me. Now, as I was sitting in my seat, I realized that a yellow jacket was buzzing around the window that our two seats shared. It kept going back and forth between her seat and my own. She was obviously frightened of the stinging insect. So, what did I, manly man of God, do in this scenario?

I backed away from the window, also scared. Yep, that was my move. Kids, don't follow that example.

You see, I had a hat on that was more than capable of killing the wasp, all without putting myself in considerable danger. Alas, I was too afraid over potential danger to pull the trigger and do the heroic (and loving) thing to do.

Loving people often goes like this. We think about saying something nice, or sharing the gospel, or offering to help, and then we hold back. We think, "what if they reject my offer?" or "what if they get offended by a compliment?" or "what if they think I'm being pushy with my religion?" To compare it to my yellow jacket story, we are too afraid of being stung to act on our "love."

Yet, 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." We have a spirit of love and power, not fear. We must remember that when we go through life, or the adversary will keep us afraid of as many loving acts as he can.

Fishing: A Weirdly Fitting Verb

"Follow Me," He told them, "and I will make you fishers of people!" -Matthew 4:19, HCSB

Jesus called the first disciples to be fishers of men, and the same calling exists for today's followers of Christ. Has anyone ever felt like this is kind of a strange thing to say?

I mean, we all take it for granted, since Jesus was talking to fishermen, but think about the statement. He is essentially saying, "hey, you people. Come follow me, and I'll make you into people that throw nets at people and bring them into the boat." Is that not weird?

Yet, when you think about it, fishing is the perfect verb for going out in the manner that the Great Commission requires. Let's look at this...

I like to fish on occasion, but my brother absolutely loves it. When it isn't hunting season, he is typically at the pond or lake "rippin' lips" (or as the average human calls it, fishing). Two distinct aspects of this match up with making disciples of all nations:

1. My brother doesn't fish at home. Sure, there's a X Box game that he plays from time to time, but if he wants to literally catch a fish, it ain't happening in his room. Instead, he has to go to where the fish live. He must leave the house and go to the pond. In the same way, we must escape this Churchianity approach to fishing that involves us sitting in a sanctuary or bible study and assuming that a nonbeliever will stumble in. Sure, this happens more often in this scenario than in literal fishing; I'm pretty sure a fish has never flopped through my front door. Yet, if we really wanted to fish for men, we must get out of our comfort zones, get out of our little Christian bubbles and get in the world. Sure, the pond is dirtier than the house; that's just something we'll have to get over. If our Savior left Heaven for Earth, we can get out there and get in the world.

2. Fishing is an action. Not only must my brother go to a pond to catch fish, but he must physically do something. He has to cast his line, select baits, avoid sticks when reeling, and set the hook when he gets a bite. Similarly, simply being in the world doesn't equate to fishing; you're just enjoying an afternoon at the pond. A great deal of work must be done in order to be a true fisher of men. You must be willing to tell the gospel to any that hear it (like casting a bait), and you must disciple once that person is a believer (reel them in toward a closer relationship with God). Sure, your lines will get tangled. Fishing isn't always easy (in my experience, it can be hot, laborious work that often leaves you out of bait and no fish in the bucket). Your Savior will prepare you to this work, though. His Spirit is inside of you, Christian, and you are more than capable of fishing. So get out there and get fishin'. You never know when your last day at the pond will come.

The Gospel

[This is the script from my October 8, 2012 speech in Communications 287-003 at the University of Kentucky. The assignment was to give a 4-5 minute informational speech with no persuasive element.]

Do you fear death? How do you cope with that fear?

That's a loaded question, isn't it? According to Hanson's 2005 article entitled "Fear of death and muddled thinking- it is so much worse than you think," the average American spends 15% of their total life wealth on medicines to make them live longer. That's an awful lot of money, all in order to push the limits of one's life span.

Fear of death, at least to some degree, is fairly common. It is also common to find ways to cope with fears, including this one. Many people trust in different things to deal with the impending end of life.

Today, I want to describe how Christians deal with their future death. I do not aim to convince you or persuade you; I want a good grade, and this is an informative project. Honestly, I'll probably still get some bad peer reviews for this.

Regardless, I'm here today to inform you on what Christians call "the gospel," which is their belief on how to deal with death. Specifically, we will look at why people are going to die, and what God does about that.

I will stating the rest as if it were fact, simply to save time from having to say "Christians believe" before every sentence. You can be the judge of the view; I'm just telling you what Christians believe.

In the beginning of time, humans were in a good relationship with God. All was good. God was running everything, and people were OK with that. Then, these people felt the need to go against what God had said. This feeling that people know better than God is called sin. More specifically, Wayne Grudem, in his 1994 book Systematic Theology calls sin "any failure to conform to the law of God in act, attitude, or nature."

Christians believe that God is the great King of the universe, ruling over literally everything. Trip Lee, in his 2012 book The Good Life, states that "there is no small sin against a great God." You see, Christians believe that not only is God the King and Ruler of all, but to go against His rule is to directly rebel against Him, which is sin. Just like an earthly government has punishment for rebellion and law-breaking, the eternal God has eternal punishment for people's sin and rebellion.

That punishment is called Hell, and every person that has ever done anything wrong in their life, no matter how big or small we may think it is, is headed directly for an eternal punishment. We are all, thanks to our rebellion, destined to die and go to a literal Hell. Fortunately, God wasn't cool with that.

Jesus came to earth, as Trip Lee says, "on a death mission." The entire point of Jesus, God's Son, coming to earth was, as 1 Timothy 1:15 says, "to save sinners." The entire point of His 30 years of sinless, rebellion-lacking life on this planet was so that He would qualify before God as a substitute for sinners. He died and took the punishment that sinners deserve before the Judge of the universe.

If the Son of God stayed dead, though, this ain't good news, is it? Instead, 3 days later, Jesus overcame the clutches of death and rose to life. Not like a zombie; I'm talking full. Normal. Life. And with that defeat of death, Jesus gives the same defeat to everyone who trusts and believes in Him.

I personally am convinced that I was a hopelessly doomed rebel, hurtling toward Hell. Then Jesus, my Savior, gave me a new life in Him, and I no longer fear death. Instead, I look death in the face and rejoice in my God that saved me.

So, to close, I ask again: do you fear death?

Discipleship and Church Strategy: What Is Your Focus?

"Then Jesus came near and said to them, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." -Matthew 28:18-20, HCSB

This is the famous Great Commission passage, which happens to be the exact passage I opened up with my recent post, Discipleship: An Introduction, with. On Tuesday, I continued this series on discipleship, which is at the core of everything the Christian should be doing. Our primary concern should be to make disciples. It is the command Christ gave us to accomplish while waiting for His return (the end of the age).

This also applies to the Church as a whole. The mission of the Church should be discipleship. Not huddle groups and bible classes; discipleship is the job of every believer, not just a few "teachers." Every single Christian is to "go."

I've noticed an interesting thing, though. We almost always leave verse 18 off when we are talking about the Great Commission. If the last command of Christ is so important, why not include all of it? Sure, verse 18 isn't directly a command. However, it may be even more important, as it gives Christ's reasoning for verses 19-20.

The entire reason that Christians share the gospel, lead people to Christ and assist in the convert's journey into discipleship is because Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the supreme Lord and King over all. Everything we do is to glorify this King. He runs the show, and we lift Him up the whole way.

We can disciple and strategize and teach all day, and never accomplish the Great Commission. You see, if we forget that the entire reason for discipleship and church growth is the glory of our Lord, we are nothing more than a group of pagan idol worshippers, recruiting people to worship ourselves and our ideas.

We keep God and His Word at the center of everything we do, and we especially keep the very focus of God's Word (the gospel) at the forefront of what we are doing. If we remove the bright torch that is the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from our focus, we will be left to be devoured by wolves and trip over our own feet in the darkness of this world.

The gospel, and the glory it brings God, is why we disciple. Without the gospel, you are simply leading people down a path of which even you cannot see. If you are leading people without a focus on their salvation in Christ and the glory of God in that, then you are leading people for an eternity away from God. That, my friends, is not a good direction to be headed.

How to Be Made Right (And Others, Too)

This week, we're taking a break from Matthew to look briefly at a passage that has just been great to read this week as I woke up: Romans 10. Romans 10 is a beautiful chapter, and among my favorites that I have read and studied. Let's read it:

"1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." -Romans 10:1-17, ESV

I know, that was a lot of Scripture for one blog post. I probably should have broken this down and gone over each part in my next series. Maybe I will, I don't know. But just look at these passages with me! Verses 1-3 talks about how Israel didn't put their faith in God, but instead in their good works. That's not good! Paul says he is concerned for their salvation! That means that your good deeds, your religious acts, none of that will save you. Not a bit of it.

Then Paul, in verses 4-5, says that Christ is the end of righteous from rules. What does that mean? Check out verse 6-8: no matter how dramatic we are and how hard we work, there is nothing we do. Instead, we hold the true message, the message of righteousness found by faith, which is in verses 9-13.

AHH! YES! The key to salvation is CHRIST! Putting your faith in Him is the only way! Confess that He is your Lord, and you won't be put to shame! How beautiful and easy is that?! There's no distinction between Jew and Greek, meaning that every single person, no matter their ethnicity or past, can be turned down for salvation. Everyone who calls on His name will be saved! I beg you call on His name, right now if you don't know Him! Yell out "Jesus is Lord!"

But that isn't all. Verses 14-17 asks how people will hear of this if we don't tell them. Guess what: they won't. You see, if you have this amazing truth and you can tell the world of the way to salvation, you MUST share it! I know this is hard at times. It's hard for me, too. But we are their way! It's on US to spread the good news!

So, my question is: will you spread this news? Will you tell people about your Lord? Or will you let their ears remain silent?

At the Bottom of Your Receipt

I work at Kroger, as I may have mentioned on here before. It can be a joyful experience at times; others, it's a nightmare. The public can drive a man to madness, it's true. And as a member of the retail business, I am assigned a number of seemingly meaningless tasks that I must perform when bagging groceries, running a cash register, or working the customer service desk. One such task is the pushing of the Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard.

This card is a credit card offered to Kroger Plus members after they have shopped at their friendly Kroger store a certain, and unknown, number of times. A prompt will pop up on the screen of the cashier's keyboard, reminding the cashier to prompt the customer about this offer. Information about the card is on the bottom of the customer's receipt. There are two ways to present this information:

-Option A: Excited. Passionate. On fire. "By the way, customer, you happen to qualify for a new Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard. In addition to having your Kroger card on the back, this card will help you out with your shopping. It allows for an additional five cents off of each gallon when filling up at our Kroger fuel station, which we all need now that gas prices are going up and up, huh? Also, in addition to your normal savings, you can save even more money at Kroger. After accumulating a certain number of points, you will be sent cash voucher checks with rebates of five, ten, even twenty dollars to use in store. After you collect a few of these, which takes very little time, you can bring them into the store and use them to save money on your groceries. Any more information is available at the bottom of your receipt, including how to easily sign up for this card. Thank you for shopping with us here at Kroger, and we hope to see you again."

-Option B: Listless. Uncaring. Forced. "Hey, there's some info about a Kroger Mastercard at the bottom of your receipt. If you're interested, and I'm sure you aren't, it's down there. Thanks."

This forked road of options is one that all cashiers must come to multiple times a shift: do we care enough about this card and this company to legitimatelly try to sell this card, or will we halfway do it? Usually, the latter option is the preferred method of attack. It's easier. It shows less devotion, but more devotion would be weird; who wants to be a Kroger freak? Unfortunately, this very attitude is often carried over to our feelings and methods of sharing God's truth with others.

Think about it: we as Christians typically will take the easy road out when it comes to sharing His Gospel with others. Sometimes that means saying as little as possible to make our conscience feel like we "shared the Gospel." Sometimes it means saying nothing. This is a troubling attitude that many, if not all, Christians must face at some point. Do we really care about His message? Are we too worried about saving face and not being a "God freak" to say anything? Not to mention, it takes work to share! We have to find a way to express our faith in a conversation, make it creative enough to resonate with the person, and find a way to not go overboard. I'm tired thinking about it. Does God really expect us to try as hard as we can to spread His good news?

After Christ drove out demons from him, a man in Luke 8 went crazy for Christ:

"And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town all that Jesus had done for him." -Luke 8:39b, HCSB

This kind of reaction was not uncommon of people who Christ touched. Often times, Christ even had to make sure they didn't tell people what He had done, just so a riot or something wouldn't begin. The disciples of Christ took things even further in Acts:

Pretty soon after Christ's death and resurrection, the local religious leaders in Jerusalem made it illegal to speak of the good news of Christ. This did not deter the disciples; it only made them go stronger. Peter and John were arrested after "provoking the people" with the word of Christ. In the time before they got arrested, many people came to know Christ (Acts 4:4). In Acts 13, we see that the disciples were facing persecution in Antioch (Ant-E-ock) and yet they still shared the Gospel until they were run out of town. So then, in chapter 14, we see them going to Iconium (have fun saying that) and getting run out of town for speaking "in such a way that a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed (Acts 14:1)."

You see, the early Christians were completely enthralled in Christ. He was their life. Everything they did revolved around him. Look at the early church as described in Acts 4:32, where it says "they held everything in common." Clearly, this isn't saying that they have literally everything in common: Peter was a fisherman redneck, and Matthew was a number-cruncher. Guarantee they didn't have the same interests in pastimes. Yet, they had everything in common because Christ was their everything. Everything in their world revolved around Christ and His mission for their lives. If everything in your life revolves around Christ, you have everything in common with another who is equalled as obsessed with Christ. This is a level of passion I desire to obtain. That's the kind of Christ follower I wish so badly to be, and I would venture to say that should be how you want to be, also.

Are you so passionate about Christ that you refuse to take the easy way out of His plan for your life? Are you willing to talk to anyone about the greatness of the Savior of the world, or will you talk about Him as if he were nothing to you? Do you genuinely care about the advancement of the Gospel, or do you genuinely care about the advancement of your coolness?

unChristian, Part Four: Sheltered

"Christians enjoy being in their own community. The more they seclude themselves, the less they can function in the real world. So many Christians are caught in the Christian 'bubble.'" -Jonathan, age 22 (from unChristian)

I normally open an unChristian post with a life experience or something, but to be honest, Jonathan summed this viewpoint up perfectly. Christians seem to be stuck in this concept that "huddling up" is the correct way to live the Christian life. They go to church a few times a week, listen to Christian music, go to lunch with their Christian friends, go to Christian schools, and all around do anything to "avoid temptation." This viewpoint is dangerous, and quite common.

The fact is that we are not called to huddle. The disciples, after Jesus ascended in the first part of Acts 1, they spent a time where they were huddled. They stayed together, not sure what to do from there. So they just stayed up together. Then, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit paid the guys a visit, and perceived craziness ensued. The disciples all of a sudden were able to speak all kinds of different languages, Peter (the guy who denied Christ, remember?) preaches a sermon, and:

"41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them." -Acts 2:41, HCSB

WHAT?! THREE THOUSAND?! Can I point out that a group of twelve huddlers, within a day, became a mission-minded mega church? Does anyone else find this to be incredibly amazing?

Now, the response some may have is: "Bryan, the disciples were overcome with the Holy Spirit, and they started speaking different languages." Guess what? If you are a Christian, the Spirit is within you already!

"11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you." -Romans 8:11, HCSB

But does the bringing of our mortal bodies to life through the Spirit make us speak languages? No. However, we are not without our own gifts. The Spirit equips us with ways to do amazing things for Christ.

"7 To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all. 8 For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things." -1 Corinthians 12:7-11, NET

We each get our own set of gifts, made custom to accompany our personality to make us most affective to reach people with the Truth of Christ. As we are told by Christ to go to everyone with the good news (Matthew 28:18b-20), we must stop being huddled. But the disciples aren't the best example of not being huddled.

"9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: although He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich." -2 Corinthians 8:9, HCSB

I was told that verse yesterday, and it couldn't fit better. Jesus could have stayed huddled in Heaven. He was without any temptation there, hanging out with the Father and the Spirit. Yet, instead of remaining there, He came to Earth. Why? The same reason we must refuse to huddle up and go; He came to spread the news of how to come to a saving relationship with God, and that is the message we are commissioned to take to the masses.

Are you willing to follow Christ and the disciples and take the good news of Christ to the world, or are you afraid to act? Will you be challenged to move, or remain huddled up like a coward? I know that is a really blunt way to ask that, but I really want you to think: are you scared, or will you go?

unChristian, Part Two: Conversion-Obsessed

My mom is the children and preschool minister at our church. Because of this, I have spent massive amounts of time volunteering, or being volunteered, to work with kids. One of the many lessons that I have learned is that when a kid gets something on their mind, they rarely let it go until a resolution is met. If the child wants, say, a piece of gum, they will ask for it. If they do not succeed, they will ask again and again and again and again, until they either get a piece of gum or are told (in an extremely blunt fashion) by the person they were pestering to "get lost!" This little child, irritating to try to achieve a goal until the goal is met or the child is hurt, is how the world views Christians.

Christians give off this vibe that they are on a "mission for God" to convert every human being. That is the perceived Christian goal in every friendship they have with a non-Christian, and that it's all just a game to get more followers for Jesus. As Shawn said in unChristian, "Christians are too concerned with converting people. They are insincere. All I ever hear is 'Get saved!' I tried that whole 'Jesus thing' already. It didn't work for me before, and I am not interested now." It's almost like we are seen as Veruca Salt-like: we want you saved, and we want it now!

Yes, Christians are called to spread the Word to all people, in hopes that some will accept the words of Scripture and receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord. While I am not here to dispute that, I am here to dispute how people tend to go about this. Some of the most common ideas churches have for evangelism are:

-Reaching the masses, all at once
-Having the best responses for spiritual debates
-We cannot worry about offending someone when spreading the Word

While these have some truth value, they are far from complete. In fact, they can sometimes run against the example Jesus set forth for us. Jesus didn't shoot for a mass media method of teaching; he invested in twelve guys, and then taught them how to invest and nurture their own disciples. Jesus didn't get into debates about the truth He was spreading; Jesus merely ended debates with one truth, story or teaching that showed the message He was trying to convey. And while Jesus did step on a few toes, it wasn't because He was unkind or lacking compassion; He was kind and loving to all, even those He was correcting their wrongs.

People don't want to be the pieces of our game, being tools of conversion to score us points. That isn't our goal, and that isn't attractive to people. Jesus told us to love our neighbor. He didn't say, "love your neighbor as yourself, at least until they are saved." No, Jesus instead told us just to love them. Friendships with non-Christians do not need to exist solely for their conversion; that isn't a genuine friendship. A real friend just accepts their friend, encourages them, and, in time, is able to show the truth of Jesus Christ. After sharing, it is our job as "real friends" to stay friends with the person, whether they become Christians or not. We must never become so impersonal as to see people as targets, but instead as people needing the love of a God and of a friend.

I challenge you to invest in people's lives. Really caring for someone, being involved in their life, and simply loving them unconditionally is our job; let's leave the "saving" to God. We weren't even capable of saving ourselves, much less someone else. Sharing the Gospel is one thing; harping on it is quite another.

Thought from the Retro Bible: Evangelize. There's No Excuse.

"13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." -Acts 4:13, NIV

Lots of people like to use this excuse as to why they don't tell people about Jesus: "I'm just a regular person. I don't know anything theological." Peter and John weren't theologians; they were fisherman, just your everyday blue-collar workers. That's what makes their ministry so great, as only God could have empowered them to speak, heal and minister like they did (paraphrased from Revolution: The Bible for Teen Guys).

Are you making excuses? Everybody is capable of telling the Good News of Jesus Christ. Go do it.