Martyrdom of Fools

David Sitton talked quite a bit tonight about being willing to die for the name of Christ. He quoted one of my favorite passages: Acts 5:40-42. In that passage, we read of the apostles being seized by the high priest and the Sadducees. After some deliberation, we are told: "[W]hen they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." This text has always given me such a great example of "counting it all joy" when suffering in a trial. I'm coming to appreciate it all the more as I hear from David this week, recounting his and others' tales of suffering while trying to reach the lost around the world.

One example was his retelling of the story of John G. Patton, missionary to the Hebrides Islands beginning in 1858. Prior to Patton's departure, a man warned him not to go as the cannibals would kill him and eat his body. Patton's legendary response goes something like this: "You're an old man and will die soon. Thereafter, the worms shall eat your body. If I get to serve Jesus to the end, I don't much care if my body is eaten by cannibals or by worms."

Though David didn't mention it, when I think of martyrs, I always think of the startling vision of Revelation 6:9-11: "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne; they cried out with loud voice, 'O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before Thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?' And they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been."

• Would I react to suffering dishonor for the name of Jesus with rejoicing because I was counted worthy?
• Does how my life will end frighten me from serving Christ?
• Could I be one of the Revelation 6 martyrs' fellow servants and brothers who is to be killed as they have been?

Paul tells me in Romans 12 that if I want to die, I need my mind to be renewed. May God help me to live Romans 12:1-3:

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."

The thought that is haunting me is that I simply value myself too much to truly die for Jesus. I see my talents as too important to the local church for me to go and die somewhere across the sea. The gospel teaches me to see myself as nothing (not more highly than I ought) and God as everything. My real value is in dying for Him (presenting my body as a living sacrifice). Only then am I usable. And if I am willing to, it may be that He will use me to soften the harvest field with my humiliation among those that know me or with my blood in a dangerous unreached place. The problem is that I can't seem to make my mind take me to that spiritual place. This is hard thinking, supernatural stuff. God must do it. Oh, how I pray that God will re-orient my thinking and incline my heart to die.

Redeeming Diversity

My church is in the middle of its Annual Missions Conference. What a blessing from my Father! David Sitton is the featured speaker and my Heavenly Father has already reminded me of several things, taught me several things, and of course convicted me about several things. One small gemstone that I spotted along the way came tonight during David's message. He asked the question, "What language will be spoken in Heaven?" I have heard this question asked jokingly in the past. But he was quite serious. David then quickly followed up with, "What culture will be seen in Heaven?" I was starting to see his point. All languages and all cultures would be represented. My mind has been exploding with gospel implications since. Immediately upon hearing these questions, I impatiently asked my wife for something to write with and on. I had arrived late from teaching and didn't have anything with me. Three implications occurred to me from meditating on the multitudes of tribes and tongues that will be represented.

First, our sinful ethnocentricity is wiped out by this view of Heaven. The idea of our country being the ultimate society is revealed as bankrupt. In our prideful patriotism we await a Redeemer. The gospel redeems all societies, all cultures, all tribes. This means that peoples without military supremacy, mass production, technological advancement, higher education, elaborate art, and complex languages are just as valuable in displaying the worth of Jesus through worship as our "great" nation. A corollary to this is that the chorus of all people praising the Lamb will include those who speak prior versions of the languages we hear today. For example, there will be songs of English speakers from hundreds of years ago being lifted up in Heaven along with those with voices from this generation of Americans.

Second, man's quest for a great nation in their own power is seen as folly in light of this view of Heaven. At the Tower of Babel, men tried to make themselves into a people based upon their own fame. In Genesis 11:4 we learn of their intentions, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Ironically, God judges them by giving them what they feared: being scattered across the whole earth. He also "confused their language." In their confusion, they await a Redeemer. It is only in the transforming gospel that these countless people groups are brought back together and the cacophony of their confusing voices are perfectly reunited into a symphony of praise to the Savior as they surround His throne in Heaven.

Third, our desire to have everyone think as we do, dress as we do, serve as we do, pray as we do, sing as we do, worship as we do is revealed as self-centered in the light of this view of Heaven. Picture the different clothing, emotional outbursts, demonstrations of worship, instruments played, and songs lifted to Jesus! In light of this vision, we should be celebrating and uniting in our diversity within the church. Statements such as, "I don't like those slow hymns" or "I can't stand the beat of the drums" shouldn't be uttered. We should be rejoicing at the diverse songs as if we were offering a bouquet of various flowers up to God as worship. Even in "disputable matters," the church should be merciful to each other as saints working out their salvation in fear of their Lord. Diverse styles will be redeemed in Heaven by the supernatural gospel. We should seek unity in our churches to reflect the diversity of the choir of the redeemed in Heaven.

Ranking Noble Tasks

My friend, Ray, asked me to evaluate the following quote: "Man has no nobler function than to defend the truth." What do I think of it? Do I agree or disagree with it? And why? Here goes...

“No nobler function”…hmmm. Sounds like a “What’s the chief end of man” kind of question. I’ll follow the Westminster Confession of Faith and say that that noblest function of a man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Now defending the truth is certainly a sub-category of that. We can indeed glorify God and enjoy Him through apologetics. And we certainly have Scriptural admonitions for us to defend the truth--e.g., Titus 1:9 “be able to…rebuke those who contradict [sound doctrine]”; 1 Peter 3:15 "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” However, you could defend your faith in an arrogant, mean-spirited way. A way that was not "with gentleness and respect." You be puffed up in your spiritual discernment, condescending to unbelievers, acting as if your spiritual life and knowledge was not given to you. That would not be glorifying God. But if the quote means: "Man has no nobler function than to defend the truth in the right spirit," it's still a difficult question.

Of course, there is no question that defending the truth is a noble endeavor. We stand today with the truth that we have because of legions of persecuted saints, and even martyrs, who defended the truth. But is defending the truth nobler than other Christian duties? Is it nobler than prayer? Is it nobler than worship? Is it nobler than sacrificial giving? Is it nobler than extending mercy to the helpless? I don’t think that it is. In fact, it may be a 500-way tie for first. What I mean is that we are to be glorifying God in all we do: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col 3:17, compare also v. 23-24). So, I guess my answer is that I don't think it is the noblest function of man, but rather one of many, many functions of man that are of the highest nobility.

What do you think?

Gospel Fruit

In Paul's letter to the Colossian believers (who he has never met), he thanks God for the report of their faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that they have for the saints (1:3-4). Was he buttering up these believers he had never met, so that they'd hear what he was going to write thereafter? I don't believe that to be true, though my friend, Teren, makes a good point in this regard: that the Apostle giving thanks for this little-known church's faith and love would have been a great encouragement to them. Notwithstanding that wonderful benefit, his focus is on God in this prayer of thanksgiving. Even Paul's greeting--"Grace to you and peace" (v.2b)--is originates in "God our Father." "Grace and peace from God" is actually a short-hand way of referring to the gospel. It seems to be said with a two-fold purpose. It's as if he is both commending them to live in light of God's gospel of grace and peace, and at the same time asking God to shower them with those gospel realities: "Brothers, live in grace and peace that comes from God....God, grant these brothers grace and peace." What follows is a thanksgiving to God for their faith and love, which are the proper responses to and fruits growing out of the gospel.

How I pray for gospel fruits in my life! Rotten sin fruit seems to lay at my feet more often than not. How many times I fail to place my faith in Christ. How many times I trust in my own abilities or in approval from others. And, oh, how often I fail to live in sacrifice for others. If only I could have this question ready on my lips: "How can I best serve my brother?". . . and then be willing to put the anwer into action.

I need to daily repent of my lack of faith and lack of love, and then ask Jesus to change my heart and give me the right inclinations. Only He can cause me to be satisfied in my relationship with Him when other relationships are crumbling. Only He can shatter the self-serving shield around my heart so I can consider serving others. Trusting my Savior and loving my brother are gospel fruits that I must pray for. I need to preach the gospel to myself: Grace to me and peace to me from God my Father . . . so I can bear gospel fruit.

The Relationship Restorer

How often we have disagreements with our brothers in Christ. We feel they didn't handle something properly. Or that they must have had an evil motive. Isn't it easy? It's as if we feel supernaturally gifted to spot the spiritual deficiencies in others. My wife would call it being the Self-Appointed, Assistant Holy Spirit.

It's so often quoted in the context of wedding ceremonies that it perhaps doesn't get the universal treatment it should, but consider the Great Love Chapter with regard to our recreational motive judging that we like to engage in: “[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:6-7: We have to get to the point where we begin with an assumption that our brothers in Christ do not have a bad motive underlying their actions (or inactions). We have to believe and hope that our brother is trying to work out his salvation in light of his fear of the Lord. We have to bear with him when he falls or says a sharp word.

When that desire wells up within us to judge our brother's motives or when get to the place where we don't want to be around that brother, we need to start by suspecting that something is, in fact, wrong...but that the wrong is in us. Are we really in the place where we can judge other's motives? We need to be suspicious of our own sinful hearts and give the benefit of the doubt to our brother. Paul doesn't say that he and his companions are the chief of sinners, but that he is. We need to assume the problem is with our hear, and love our brother in spite of his failures. Whether those failures be motives or deeds. Isn't that how Jesus treats us?

If we learn nothing from the cross, we learn that His blood has made us--who used to have nothing to do with one another--into a community, a family. Family loves one another, hopes and believes the best of one another, and tries to fix what's wrong with ourselves for the benefit of another. The sacrifice of Jesus not only restores our relationship with God, but gives us the basis for restoring our relationships with our brothers. How I pray that He will change my attitude to be, as C. J. Mahaney put it, more that I am "depraved than deprived."

She's Dating Me Again

My wife. The love of my life. My best friend. Yet another gift from God that is full of wonder and beauty and one that I did not deserve. We've been married 9 years and a few weeks. When I married her she was 21 and I was 30 (That's a whole other miracle of God that I won't take the time to describe here--i.e., the supernatural blinding of her judgment). We dated from September of 1997 until we married in August of 1998...and we started dating again a little more than a week ago. I don't mean we've been separated or uninterested in each other, because we have always enjoyed each other immensely. But, I'm so giddy these past days that I almost want to ask her Dad if I can marry her again. It's like our interest in talking late into the night and discovering more about each other has been set on fire again. We are talking about profound spiritual things.

Here's the really mind-blowing thing. We are going to begin pre-marital counseling of this terrific young couple tomorrow night. We love them and are very excited and honored to be part of their marriage preparation. We started looking over the counseling material and reading a great book by Dave Harvey entitled When Sinners Say, "I Do." It caused us to talk the other night at perhaps the greatest level of transparency about our sin that we have done to date. We talked about sinful desires and failures...and do you know what happened? The heightened understanding of our sin (after talking about it) and the resultant disgust of it caused us to revel in our Savior! Harvey quotes some old pastor (whose name I can't recall at the moment) as saying something like, "Only when you're sin becomes bitter, does the Savior become sweet." He really had something there! Oh, how I pray that we continue to learn that we are (in our respective eyes) the chief of sinners, so that we look to Christ more and more, and in so doing see that our marriage is sweeter still because of our merciful Savior.

So she's dating me again...and we're both falling in love with Jesus.

The Next Generation

Last night at our church's Men's Ministry's monthly meeting (wow that's a lot of m's) my friend Jeff spoke on the topic of why the men of our church need to be involved in the lives of our youth. Not just our own children, but other people's children. Other teens. Jeff spoke a lot about the formal youth group in our church and the need for leaders in it, but there is also the informal ministry to the youth by just acknowledging them, talking with them, praying with them, going to their baseball game...setting the context for the gospel, so that they might approach us when they need advice. Jeff rightly pointed out that some parents don't do a good job discipling their kids, and sometimes they just want to talk to someone who has demonstrated that they care about them and isn't a blood relative.

He did a great job and pointed to the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in how we might minister to these young people. This is just one example of the type of a ministry where men don't think they can be useful. I can hear them (and me) saying: "I can't do that. That ministry is for someone with more training than me...for someone with more energy than me...for someone that can relate to the youth better than me...maybe a younger guy."

I'm not saying that training, study, and spiritual disciplines aren't essential for effective ministry in any area. But in praying with Jeff, before the meeting began, the Lord reminded me of a passage I hadn't looked at in quite a while. In thinking about different ministries that men might feel ill-equipped for, especially reaching out to younger people who don't think they're cool any more, consider 2 Corinthians 4:5,

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

These kids need Jesus, believing kids and unbelieving kids alike. The unbelieving kids need to hear and see the gospel in the lives of older men. The believing kids need the same thing. For the sake of Jesus, we are to proclaim Jesus to them. That's something the men of our church (including myself) are able to do, and we know from past experience that when we do point people to Jesus, it's the thing we enjoy the most doing and is the only thing of value we have to offer to them...and it isn't dependent on how "hip" we are or how good of a teacher we are.

The next generation needs to hear us tell them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it means to us. They need to see us live in the light of it. That's the "with ourselves as your servants" part of the verse above. They won't learn biblical masculinity any where else. I pray God will move in our hearts to be obedient to the opportunity before us.

A Different Way to Make Peace

I like to think of myself as a peace-maker. I, like most, do not like confrontation. I am generally quick to resolve personal disputes and try to help others come together to settle their disputes. Often times I try to do it too quickly, when others need some time to meditate on their actions.

Even professionally, whether serving as an attorney or a real estate broker, a regular part of what I do includes helping people reach agreement (e.g., settling a contract dispute, negotiating the sale of a house, etc.). Of course, attempting to bring "peace" to personal or business hostilities has a lot of hurdles to overcome: personalities, hurt feelings, distrust, etc. In bringing people together, we need to think of the best possible solutions, we need to present them in a non-offensive way and at the most appropriate time. My attempts sometimes even exacerbate the problem. It's a fragile thing...trying to bring peace.

Reading and meditating through Colossians caused me to see the weakness of human efforts at peace-making. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive at it, but there is no guaranty that it will deal with all the nooks and crannies of the problem and there is not guaranty that it will be permanent. I mean how many times have resolutions proven to be ineffective because forgiveness was not truly given, hurts were not forgotten, and just simply sinful people rip open old wounds. This weakness of our trying to resolve differences is not because Colossians says as much, but rather because it presents the model of perfect peace-making.

Consider Colossians 1:19-22: "For in him all the fullness of god was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him."

Jesus is shown as bringing about peace in a different way. He doesn't resolve hostilities by sitting the opponents down and talking through their problems in order to reach a compromise, like in a legal mediation. The opponents are God and His creatures. God is perfectly holy and men are perfectly sinful. Look at the description of men's sin: "alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds."Jesus doesn't broker an agreement for men to be semi-sinful and God to be okay with that. Instead, Jesus takes matters into His own hands and resolves the hostility Himself. In effecting this reconciliation, Jesus performed a monumental peace-achieving event: He had men slay His sinless body (i.e., with its fullness of Deity) in order to bring about supernatural reconciliation. The offenders' sins are recognized as such and paid for. God's holiness is respected and appeased.

My way of bringing about peace: "How can I bring about compromise?"

Jesus' way of bringing about peace: "Men will never change, so I'll buy them with my death."

This different way of reconciliation deals with every hidden corner in a man and deals with it in a permanent way. After Jesus reconciles a man, they are presented "holy and blameless and above reproach." Praise Jesus, the unique and perfect Peace-Maker.

Ponderings on Colossians

Good intentions...covered in dust. That's what this blog has become. It was a good idea: Use this blog as a way to learn, practice and cultivate a cross-empowered way of thinking and living. Then my actual effort was required, and it falls on its face. This, unfortunately, is a common theme in my life. I daresay it is a common theme to all men's lives. So, how can I hope to take "good intentions" and turn them into good practices?

It turns out that Paul speaks to the Colossians about this very thing. (Providentially, I begin a Sunday School Series going through Colossians this weekend and spent a good deal of time in that book). Consider Colossians 1:5b-6 as it relates to 1:10-11. Here is the entire context (1:3-14) in which those verses are found:

3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

I am focusing on three things that Paul is saying to his brothers (and to me) here:

• First, the gospel bears fruit all over the world, but specifically in your lives since your conversion (vv.5b-6).
• Second, pleasing God by living rightly is the kind of fruit that the gospel produces (v.10)
• Third, sustained periods of right living (e.g., patience, endurance) is accomplished as we are strengthened with God's own power. (vv.11).

These truths are simple, yet awe-inspiring. The gospel in me results in God empowering me for significant, lasting periods of righteous living. This is applicable to every "good intention" I have as a Christian. I needn't live in defeat and despair. When I hear, "Be holy for I am holy," I know that holy fruit is possible through the power of God's gospel. When I hear, "sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints," I know that such purity is gospel fruit that is obtainable through His might.

As encouraging as this is, there is a criticism to this constant gospel-centered approach to things. It runs like this: "Waiting for God to do things for you is being spiritually lazy. You can't just keep sinning, because you don't have the power for spiritual success within you." It's an argument that needs answered. The objection is based on a wrong premise. The objection--which is much the same as the objection to God's sovereign control over all things--is based upon the belief that gospel-powered living is, at its core, fatalism. Gospel-powered living, however, doesn't say, "I hope God saves me from my evil desires. If not, it's His fault." That's not what Paul is teaching about being strengthened with God's glorious might. The basic question, then, that needs to be answered is: How does a believer avail himself of God's might (and thus have spiritual success)?

Before I even attempt an answer, I have to first acknowledge that the Scriptures proclaim that we can avail ourselves of His supernatural power. In talking to my friend, Dan, about this he reminded me of the great promise of 2 Peter 1:3 ("His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence"). So, whether I understand perfectly how it works or not, it is a foregone conclusion that this power is, in fact, available to God's people!

But, let me try to provide at least the beginning of an answer. It's important to note this passage is in the context of Paul telling his brothers that he prays for them to bear fruit through God's power. This can't be overlooked. James 4:2-3 tells us that we continue battling out of our own sinful desires because we don't ask God to help us. So, the first action item for the believer is to ask God to grant you his power to succeed. We should be bold and ask God to help us. (Incidentally, have you ever wonder why we need to be constantly reminded of this simple action item?)

Second, is to have faith. Set your heart on Christ! Look to Him as your Savior for this trial rather than to yourself. Hope in His rescue, His provision, His might.

How do we avail ourselves of everything we need for life and godliness? How can I hope to be faithful in things like meditating on the Word and posting those meditations here? Pray and hope in the gospel.

Being Saved

Isn't it incredible how the Holy Spirit graciously illuminates the Word at different points in our lives. In our own power, we can read and re-read a passage of Scripture and never see anything new, then one day the Spirit leads us into some new profound truth. Praise God for teaching us. On our own, the Scriptures would contain nothing but foolishness to us. A year or two ago, the Spirit impressed upon me this idea of Christians "being saved." In other words, as a matter of legal position, a born-again believer has been saved (i.e., in the past at the moment of his conversion). But as a matter of practical experience, the Scriptures are plain that we are also in a process of being saved. I don't say this in the Roman Catholic sense of earning or maintaining salvation with my works throughout life, but in the sense that God is keeping me saved from conversion until heaven and shaping and sanctifying us along the way. It's amazing how once God shows you a truth, you then see it exemplified all over the place in the Bible. Take, for example, 1 Corinthians 15:1-2:

"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain."

Here, Paul indicates that his brothers in Christ that received the gospel "are being saved" through that gospel. In other words, the power of the work of our Substitute is where we go to for daily forgiveness and the grace to do what is right and live for God. Paul underscores this by sharing his value judgment of that gospel:

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas...the twelve...five hundred brothers...James...all the apostles...to me." (15:3-8)

This gospel by which I am being saved is of first importance. Do I consider the gospel as it relates to my daily Christian life? I fear that I don't most days. But God is gracious and leads me to repent when I try to stand, much less advance, in my own power. This blog is testament to His gospel power in my life. I have so often prayed for God to incline my heart to His Word and have me engage with it. When I have attempted this through brute piety and even with the assistance of accountability partners, I have failed miserably. However, when God answers my prayers and changes my heart (as he did at my conversion), it is as if I am riding on the crest of a spiritual wave. Savoring the Scriptures is no doing of my own. Praise God for this time in my life where He is making Jesus Christ altogether beautiful to me, which is why I currently have a desire to read what He has to say to me.

Last note: Chapter 15 is found in the context of men loving themselves and loving other people seeing them have great gifts rather than encouraging and building up their brothers. I pray God will guard me from such spiritual pride and work His love and grace through me as his vessel of blessing to others.

How Much Are They Worth?

In reading through 1 Corinthians I am being impressed by the fact that I need to be reminded again and again that I have no intrinsic value. Any worth that I have to the church is because of Christ. God didn't look around for the smart and talented people and choose them because He would then have a lot to work with to build His church. I know this. But my wicked, prideful heart always wanders away from this truth and tries to come up with some scheme in which I bring something to the table. My value comes from the fact that Christ bought me back from my sin. I need reminding. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." I read that and am reminded that what makes me special is that I, along with all my brothers and sisters, are part of Christ's church. And Christ church was bought with His own blood. I had nothing to do with constructing Christ's church. My individuality only is important as I serve the whole. This is said plainly: "As it is there are many parts, but one body." (12:20, see also v.12). It also makes it clear that my ability to serve is also not due to myself: "All these [gifts] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." (12:11, see also vv.4-7).

The necessity for Christ to die and buy each believer back from death puts us all on the same level. It didn't cost Christ more to buy me than my brother. The fact that the quiet introvert who loves to pray, the gregarious business man who loves to give sacrificially, and the charismatic lady who loves to teach other women all had to be redeemed by Christ, speaks to the fact that they are all of equal value. Each one cost God the same amount: His Son. Because of that fact, everyone in the church is of the same worth to God and, as such, should be of the same worth to each other. Each man is priceless to God because He spent His Son for each. That should impact the way I view my fellow believers. Each Christian is priceless to God because of Christ. This is the basis for unity in the church. That is why Paul is hammering the Corinthians (through multiple topics) to sacrifice for each other, love one another, use their gifts for one another. In so doing, they will agree with God's view of the church.

One passage that really brings this out is 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 dealing with Communion and the Corinthinans' lack of concern for one another. Paul asks this biting question: "[D]o you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?" (v.22). And later warns them: "For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged." Much could be said here, but the general principle I take from this passage is that when I fail to sacrificially love my brothers, I fail to judge correctly (i.e., that we are of the same value to God) and reveal that at some level I hate God's church. What a terrible, sinful attiude! When I put myself first, my behavior is contrary to the gospel. The death of the Savior needs to impact how I view and treat others. I reflect the love of Jesus when I die to self for the benefit of the church.

Got Jealousy?

I was thinking about a situation I had recently where I was jealous of a believing colleague(will call him Ron) getting 2 new clients that were people I knew. My sinful thoughts spun like this: "Those are folks that know me. I'm more experienced than Ron. I'm a better attorney than him. Why would they go to him over me? This is not fair. I should have them as clients..." Garden-variety, sinful jealousy. The problem, other than my sin, was that I didn't know how to "fix" my thinking. I knew it was wrong, but simply saying, "Jeff, stop thinking sinfully!" wasn't working. I knew the gospel should inform my thinking, but I couldn't figure it out...

God then spoke to me through 1 Corinthians 8-10. These chapters have a theme running through them which goes like this: "Discern well what your rights in Christ are, then be ready to set them aside out of love for others." Though there are many verses that speak of it (i.e., 9:12, 15, 19; 10:23-24, 28b, 31-33), consider 8:8-12 :

"Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak...And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."

The question I am trying to answer is: "How does the gospel affect how I think about my brother and how I treat my brother?" The passage reminds us that Christ died for our brother. Many implications can be seen from this. Two that help me properly view my problem is (1) Christ laid aside his rights in order to benefit others, and (2) my brother is valuable to Christ because He bought him with His blood.

My focusing on the fact that I deserved the clients' business (whether this thought is accurate or not) is akin to me saying "I have the right to eat this meat and I will not be denied that right even if a brother stumbles as a result." My focus should rather be on the benefit to my brother! I should be looking for ways to say: "I have a right to that, but I have the opportunity to benefit my brother by sacrificing that right." In doing this, I reflect in some way Christ's thinking in going to the cross.

The other implication is likewise applicable to me. Selfishly obsessing on my right to have the business over my brother reveals that I do not place a high value on him. He is not valuable enough to cause me to sacrifice my rights for his benefit. This is exactly opposite of what the gospel teaches us. God bought him with the invaluable gift of Jesus. God could not have placed more value on my brother than giving His Son to redeem him. When my thinking is in contradiction to God's valuation, I actually "sin against Christ" (v.13). It turns out that my sinful jealousy is far uglier than I thought.

Bottom line: Jealosy reveals a wrong view of myself, a wrong view of my brother, and a lack of conformity with the gospel.

He Has to Do It for Me

Galatians 3:3 is the springboard verse for this blog. Here goes. I turn Paul's question to myself: "Am I so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, am I now being perfected by the flesh?" It's a hard question to ask yourself. I mean, who wants to risk evaluating their own earnest efforts at sanctification and find that they were folly? It's a bit intimidating to look into the mirror of Scripture at this point. The alternative, however, is far worse: trying in vain to perfect myself in my own power. Unfortunately, I have found myself in that very spot too often, trying to reason myself into sanctification: "Jeff, you know that God is in sovereign control of everything. Not having peace in the middle of this trial is foolish. You're more mature than that!"

While God's attributes (e.g., His providential control over events) absolutely have the capacity to be beneficial, I cannot in my own power even meditate on them in an effective way. It's only when I come to the end of myself and my efforts and ask God to do it for me that I can even benefit from meditating on His promises. I think this is the first time I've given a lot of contemplation to the noetic effects of the fall with respect to sanctification. When I try to pull myself up by my own spiritual or intellectual bootstraps, I am living like I'm under the curse of the law. A few verses later, Paul says as much: "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse...[However], Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'--so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." (3:10, 13-14).

The gospel truth I should be meditating on is that Christ put to death my self-help efforts to manufacture peace for myself in the middle of a trial. He bought me back from the curse of thinking the answers to my problems lie within myself. Having begun by the Spirit, I must also be perfected by the Spirit. Christ has to do it for me. He has to appropriate the gospel truths by causing me to meditate properly. Just as the Holy Spirit helps me by shaping my prayers, Christ helps me by shaping my thoughts.