Posts Tagged ‘Gospel’

May
03
2012

God’s Favor Versus God’s Love

I think the current “gospel-centered” movement is one of the best things to happen to the church in a long time. The push for more expository preaching that grounds every imperative in the indicatives of the gospel–this is important. For too long the Church has preached a gospel of moralism, of legalism, of do-it-yourself lite Christianity.

However, if there is one concern I have with the movement, I might say that there is a danger of a pendulum swing. As a reactive measure against the idea that you must work really hard to earn God’s love (a frustrating and often false gospel), it seems we are saying that obedience has no connection to your day-to-day walk with God. I’m not sure this is either helpful for biblical. Let me explain.

I was recently listening to a message by J.D. Greear, lead pastor of Summit Church and author of several books including, Gospel. I love J.D.’s preaching, his clarity and his love for God and the gospel and missions. I’ve listened to several of his sermons that have really challenged and convicted me.

I was listening to a sermon he gave to the Southern Seminary Chapel entitled, “How Real Spiritual Growth Happens.” It’s a terrific message that I highly commend. But I left with a few questions. Particularly I wondered if we are not being clear enough about the distinction between God’s love and God’s favor.

J.D. was right in saying that humans are oriented toward works righteousness, that our default thinking is, “I’m messed up my life. God hates me now.” Or “I’ve had a really good week with the Lord. He loves me this week.” And so we guilt ourselves into what we are supposed to do for God rather than grounding our obedience in what God is, the radiance of His glory, and the radical nature of his sacrifice on our behalf. I agree with this.

What puzzled me a bit was J.D. talking about worship experience in church. There are Sundays, he says, when you walk into church and you’ve had a great week–you were faithful in your Bible reading, you were fervent in prayer, you shared Christ with others–and so you feel God’s love and glory wash over you. Then there are Sundays when you walk into church and you’ve had a rough week, you’ve had an argument with your spouse, you’re boss yelled at you for messing up the reports, you kicked the dog, etc. And you, while worshipping, start making promises to God, “I’ll get this right. I’ll do better.” You feel a bit of a disconnect from God. I’ve had these experiences all of my Christian life. J.D. says that this is the result of a faulty view of God’s love. We think he loves us more when we’ve had a great week and He’s mad at us when we’ve had a bad week.

This is often true, but I wonder if we’ve skipped over another reason for a bit of distance in our connection with God. Could it be that we enter worship with unconfessed sin? And the dissonance we experience is the result of a break in our relationship? Psalm 68:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” The Apostle John urges us in 1 John 1:8-10 to not ignore unconfessed sin, to rush to the Lord, prevail upon His grace, and find renewal in our relationship.

Sin breaks the relationship we have with God. It doesn’t negate God’s love. It doesn’t lessen God’s love. But it does cloud our view of God’s love and make us feel as if God loves us less even though He doesn’t. I think this is the difference between the love of God and the favor of God.

There is nothing you can do to earn the love of God. Obeying God faithfully for your whole life doesn’t earn you one more ounce of His love. He loves you and accepts you because of Christ. He has accepted the perfection and sacrifice of Christ for you and so you have nothing left to prove.

However, God does extend favor, I believe, to those who obey Him. All through the Scriptures you see the reward of God toward those who follow his precepts (Psalm 5:12; Psalm 90:17; Genesis 6:8; Proverbs 18:22). That doesn’t mean obedience helps you avoid trials and suffering–those too are often good gifts of God to shape our character. But you can safely and biblically say that those who obey the Lord will experience more blessing and favor than those who don’t.

I’m guessing J.D. Greear would agree with this and perhaps it was just his emphasis on law in that particular message. But I do think the gospel-centered movement would do well to further explain the purpose of the law, the need for obedience, and the importance of holiness. It doesn’t affect the way God loves us, but it does affect the way we view God’s love. Another way of stating this might be to say that when we sin, we have lost sight of the gospel and God’s glory and have chosen other idols to worship. Therefore we get the sense that God loves us less and we feel disconnected from Him because our view is clouded by the sin of idolatry.

Apr
26
2012

Chuck Colson and Hope for the Next Generation

In January, Russell Moore wrote a provocative column entitled, “The Next Billy Graham Might Be Drunk Right Now.” It was a terrific column pushing back against some of the handwringing among evangelicals about the lack of good leadership for the future. His premise was simple: God may be in the process of raising a leader who is currently lost and enslaved to sin.

I thought of Moore’s column as I contemplated the death of Chuck Colson. Here was a man who was not originally on a trajectory to a be a spiritual leader in his generation. He was a political animal. He was lost in his sins. Like Paul, he was not a friend of Christians. And yet God did a work in his life and transformed him into someone whose ministry led millions of the incarcerated to Christ.

I imagine sometime in the 1970′s, evangelical leaders wrang their hands at the state of the culture, at the burgeoning crime problem and the filling up of America’s prisons. I’m guessing there were books written, conferences held, articles and journals written about the problem. And yet, God did His own work in allowing the horrible circumstances of Watergate, the brokeness of one political hatchet man to bring out a story so incredible in Chuck Colson’s life that it can only be explained by the grace and power of God.

This is why a continual, morose, cynical introspection on the future of the Church is really pointless. Because the future of the Church is not in our hands, but in God’s hands. Yes, we should examine the methods and practices and ideologies of our institutions. We should work hard to raise up the next generation of Christian leaders in our homes and schools and churches. But we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that tomorrow’s great Christian voice has to come from our carefully drawn plans. Because I suspect, somewhere out there, perhaps drunk, perhaps high, perhaps gay, perhaps abusive is a soul God is about to radically save. God is still in the business of meeting the lost on their road to Damascus. And He’s not in Heaven wringing His hands about the next generation.

Feb
22
2012

5 Ways to Pray for Your Community

Last week Dan commented on my post:

Nice post. Good points. But one that needs to be added is that church members pray to be burdened for the lost. That is the one thing I have found most lacking in the 2 established churches where I have served.
Dan is right on the money. I presume Dan is a pastor and so he, like most pastors, see the need for churches to continually stoke the fire of evangelism. Dan’s post inspired another set of “fives”: Five Ways to Pray for Your Community:
1) Pray for the Holy Spirit to convict the hearts of men of their need for Christ. 

In our community, something like 85% of people are unchurched. That means they don’t attend a Bible-believing church at all. This is a staggering number. Which is why churches, instead of fighting over the 15% must go after the 85%. The churches in a given community must work hard to bring the gospel message to the community, but more importantly, it means the 15% should be on it’s knees in prayer before the Lord, praying for an outpouring of His Spirit.

2) Pray that the Church in the community will be faithful to present the gospel message, clearly, creatively, and faithfully. 

Pray for your own local expression of the Church and pray for the larger body of Christ in your community. Pray that the Church will boldly present Christ to the community, even as the gospel becomes more controversial in the broader culture. Pray also for unity around this purpose within your local church and among Bible-preaching churches in the community. Your church can’t read every soul, it will take all believers to faithfully share Christ. Pray also for creativity in faithfully presenting Christ in a context that reaches people where they are.

3) Pray that your church and all local churches will become burdened about the lost in your community. 

I once had lunch with a pastor in our community. He is the one who shared those statistics about the unchurched. Then he said to me, “85% of the people in our community may be going to a Christless eternity. Are we okay with that?” Evangelism begins with a burden, it begins with a God-directed passion to love the lost into the Kingdom. It is God who does the work of salvation and it is God who draws men, not our clever programs. But God uses people.

4) Pray that your church would be biblically faithful in it’s evangelistic approach. 

Evangelism is at the heart of God’s mission, it’s our purpose as ambassadors for Christ. But God cares as much how we win the lost with that we do it. So pray that your church doesn’t becomes so enslaved to the God of pragmatism that you lose the heart of the gospel itself, that you’re ministry becomes so much about what the wider culture thinks about you than glorifying God. Where this line is may be different for every church, but mostly pray that your church keeps at the core if its mission the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

5) Pray that YOU will be the one God sends. 

We pray, we talk, we train, we preach, then we rinse, lather and repeat. What we fail to do is actually go out and share Christ with the lost. Pray that you, not your neighbor or the choir director or the youth pastor would be the one sent by God on mission. That you would have such a fire and passion in your heart for those who don’t know Jesus that it would motivate you to be a missionary in your community. And pray that God will expose you to potential relationships with unsaved people, where you can assemble the building blocks of fruitful, gospel-transferring relationships.

Nov
18
2011

Russell Moore on Forgiveness:

When we forgive, we are confessing that vengeance is God’s (Rom. 12:19). We don’t need to exact justice from a fellow believer because justice has already fallen at the cross. We don’t need to exact vengeance from an unbeliever because we know the sin against us will be judged in hell or, more hopefully, when the offender unites himself to the One who is “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2).

Read the whole thing here:  Moore to the Point – What Forgiveness Is and Isn’t.

Oct
26
2011

Your Best Testimony: Not Being a Jerk

Sometimes the best opportunity to demonstrate the gospel to those who do not know Jesus is quite simply not being a jerk when you have the opportunity. I’m talking about those times when you’ve been wronged and most people would excuse you for flipping your lid and taking your frustrations out on the next person in your path.

In the last two weeks I’ve had a few such opportunities. I want to mention one in particular. Last week I went to Sam’s Club to sign up for a church membership card so that it would be easier for us to make purchases for church events. It’s something the volunteer staff here has been bugging me about for a while. It was something I needed to get done, but kept putting off. Finally I decided to go over there. I was anticipating filling out some paperwork, getting a picture taken, and having a card within a few minutes. Since we are a nonprofit I assumed it might take a little bit longer than normal, but should be a fairly easy process in this age of technology.

I was wrong. I won’t bore you with the details, but Jay (my assistant) and I ended up standing at the counter for two hours on one day and two hours the next day while the associates at Sams attempted to get us a membership card. I was floored at how complicated it seemed. To be fair, their computer system didn’t seem to be working right. But it also seemed like the associates weren’t totally up to speed on how to process a nonprofit membership application.

So, this took four hours of time over two days–totally unexpected. It cost Jay and I precious working hours. I could have flipped out, demanded free stuff, write an angry letter. Part of me wanted to do this. But all along I kept thinking to myself, “Dan, they know you’re a church. They know you are a pastor.” I realized that it is these moments that often define our Christian testimony. Everyone expects us to fly off the handle and most people think we should. But we don’t. Why?

The reason is that we should act differently and be under control, because we know the Lord and His Spirit controls us. I’m not sure if the Sam’s associates noticed this or not, but I hope that perhaps they might see something different in me. Maybe that provokes them to ask questions about Christianity. Maybe not.

I’m not saying that this should be the sum total of our evangelism. But moments where we could get angry but don’t provide great platforms. Perhaps you’re flight is delayed and you’re the only person at the ticket counter not swearing, demanding, or being angry. Perhaps the auto shop messed up your car and unexpectedly you don’t fly into a rage and at like a jerk. Perhaps you are playing basketball and instead of reacting angrily to a hard foul you brush it off and keep going. Perhaps you won’t berate the waitress when she brings you mashed potatoes instead of curly fries.

I’m not saying you should be a wimp and should never assert yourself. I’m not saying you shouldn’t firmly demand better treatment or justice if a company or a person trampled them. But there is a difference in being firm and being a jerk. Sadly, we Christians fail this test. I know I do. I can think of situations where I was hoping someone would never find out I’m a believer, because my selfish behavior tainted the gospel. I’ve talked with customer service people I know and sadly they say Christians can be among the toughest people to deal with.

Perhaps it would be helpful for us to remember that we are Christians all the time not just at church. And every opportunity is an opportunity for the world to see what the gospel looks like in real life. And maybe, just maybe, God allows us to be wronged for the express purpose of demonstrating His love in a surprising and unexpected way, a way so shocking it causes people to ask what is different about us. 

I heard someone once say that the world won’t sit up and take notice when we say “Praise the Lord” in good times. They notice when we say “Praise the Lord” in times of distress.

Sometimes not being a jerk is the best opportunity for gospel witness.

Aug
16
2011

Christians, Fear, and the Truth about Muslims

Since 9/11, the West has been skeptical and downright fearful of the Muslim faith. And rightfully so, given the attacks on 9/11 in the name of Islam. The American Church has, at times, led the skepticism, especially conservative evangelicals like myself. You don’t have to look far to see documentaries and books and other media that serve to warn us about the growing Muslim presence in the world.

As a believer–how should a Christian respond to Islam? I’ve thought about this quite a bit in the last year. Should we cower in fear? Should we spread fear? What should we do?

Now, as a believer in the orthodox truths of the gospel, I believe Islam to be a sincere, but misguided religion, one that leads their followers away from an eternity with God in Heaven. Jesus said in John 14, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” I believe that. I also am troubled by the jihad we hear from many parts of Islam and I’m disturbed by the way in which Islamic radicals have threatened and even murdered anyone who exposes the dark parts of their religion.

However, as Christians, I think we have a responsibility to communicate the truth. And often we’ve been guilty of spreading misleading information, especially when it comes to Islam, Islamic nations, and terrorism. The truth is that Islam is a complicated religion and not all of its adherents believe in Jihad. In fact, only a tiny percentage of them believe in and subscribe to radicalism.

Now, I generally believe the media has been favorable to Islam and antagonistic to Christianity. I believe this falls in line with Jesus’ prediction and James words to the early church that followers of Christ would always be persecuted and never be popular (John 15:18).

However, that doesn’t mean we Christians should be part of spreading information that isn’t true. Nor should we be so beset by fear that we adopt attitudes that keep us from wanting to see Muslims come to faith in Christ. God has called us to love Muslims. It’s hard to love someone when you consider them your enemy.

Does that mean we should soften our anti-terrorism policy? No. Does that mean the government doesn’t have the right to pursue terrorists and put them to death? No. Clearly the Bible gives us that authority (Romans 13:4).

But, as followers of Christ, we should live in the truth, walk in love, and avoid “the spirit of fear.” We should also be discerning with all the media we consume–liberal media and conservative media. We should learn about the Middle East, rather than letting our ignorance keep us from engaging people who are different than we are. I think of Jesus’ approach with the Samaritan woman. The Samaritans were people the Jews were supposed to hate and fear. Jesus went out of his way to meet this lady so He could introduce bring her redemption, grace, and a relationship with God. He was faithful to confront her sin, her false beliefs, but Jesus didn’t have any animosity. He sidestepped the social prejudice and another soul was added to the Kingdom.

I also think of the admonition in James 1, where the brother of Jesus and leader of the early church rebukes Christians for showing favoritism, which, in the original language actually means, “lifting up the face.” Diving by race or ethnic background is against to the gospel.

I have to admit that I’ve often been guilty of this kind of stereotyping. I’ve looked at cultures and said, “Hey, all of ____ are like this.” Of this I need to repent. Because as followers of Jesus, we are called to live out the truth of the gospel, desiring all nations (Matthew 28:19) come to knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

May
20
2011

Friday Five: Jared C. Wilson

 

If you’re a fan of Twitter (as I am), you’ll know that Jared C. Wilson is one of the great “follows.” He’s alternatively funny, serious, and poignant. Jared is a prolific writer, church planter, and conference speaker. He blogs regularly at his blog, The Gospel-Driven Life and at his group blog for writers, Thinklings. He’s currently the pastor of Middletown Church in Middletown Springs, Vermont as well as the author of Your Jesus is Too Safe and Gospel Wakefulness. Jared was kind enough to stop by for today’s Friday Five:

You’re a guy from Texas pastoring a church in Vermont. You talk often about the challenges of doing ministry in what most would describe as a less-evangelized area of the country. What’s the toughest part of about ministry in New England?

The toughest part is relearning how to bring the gospel to a field that is biblically and ecclesiologically illiterate. The Bible Belt is rapidly approaching this point, and biblical illiteracy is actually a problem throughout evangelicalism in every part of the nation, but in New England there is already a generation or two that has *no* church background or exposure to the Scriptures. We have to start from scratch very often.

Just as an example of the difference: In the Bible Belt, very often Easter and Christmas are huge attendance days. People who don’t go to church the rest of the year feel compelled to attend on these holidays. They often have some church background, went as a kid, or are even members somewhere from way back. This doesn’t really exist in many parts of New England. A few people may be more inclined to accept an invitation to church near these holidays — Christmas more than Easter — but there is no huge attendance bump. There is no nostalgia factor. So we are dealing with a real mission field, where the message is a foreign concept.

On top of that we have the added difficulty that while most people have no knowledge of the gospel or the Scriptures, they have an image of evangelicals as bigoted, intolerant, unintelligent fuddy-duddies. There is no commonly accepted cultural Christianity like in the South, for instance. So the illiteracy matched with the ideological hostility is a hurdle. But the gospel shared from a loving heart is a great jumper.

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Apr
15
2011

Friday Five – Tim Sinclair

One of the ongoing conversations in the evangelical church is about marketing the gospel. There’s a tension. On the one hand, the gospel is decidedly countercultural. On the other hand, we want to contextualize the gospel to a modern world, so more people hear the message in their language and come to faith in Christ.

Tim Sinclair lives at the nexus of both marketing and ministry. He grew up in ministry as a pastor’s kid, has successfully helped businesses market their products, and is a morning radio host on WGBL in Champaign, IL. He’s recently written an interesting and perhaps provocative book, Branded, Sharing Jesus with a Consumer Culture.

Today, Tim stopped by for some thoughtful answers to my questions on ministry and culture:

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