This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon on Jonah 4 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday January 28-29, 2012.
When you have gotten to know someone decently well you begin to know what pushes their buttons, gets under their skin, and their pet peeves. Rarely can we hide from others what really makes us tick for long. It shows up as our agitation, anxiety, awkward silence, drive, outspokenness, sensitivities, and quirks.
The things that stir our souls reveal important things about us. When people show us emotion, their beliefs, values, and hopes are on display (Luke 6:45). These are precious and powerful moments. These are moments when friendships are forged and lives are changed. Seeing Jesus’ relevance in these moments in the gospel is most relevant.
Unfortunately, these are also the times when there is a strong tendency to back away from people. We find these moments intimidating, uncomfortable, or “personal.” While nothing of significance should be approached cavalierly, neither should moments of such influence be ignored.
The question is, “How do we engage these moments with the honor they deserve while seeking to maximize the potential they hold?” I will offer some suggestions on how to approach these moments to engage gospel conversations.
Ask a good question. It can be as simple as an observation, “That was really important to you.” Maybe you ask, “What did you like/dislike most about that?” Just don’t let the question get in the way. Make it short and an acknowledgement that you’re interested in what is significant to them.
Honor push back. Interest is one door to winning trust; honor is another. If the other person is uncomfortable, let the question rest. We model Christ’s compassion when we do not force our concern upon them and are not offended if they are not open to the conversation.
Show genuine interest. Evangelism should never be a “technique.” Nobody wants an unsolicited counselor. If you cut quickly to what you really wanted to talk about (i.e., Jesus), you risk insulting the person you are seeking to reach.
Don’t try to complete the journey in one conversation. This is relational evangelism. If you are able to put their concern/passion into words and they say, “Thank you! Finally somebody gets it,” that is a huge win. You are an ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20). Ambassadors know the value of trust and learning culture (emotions are “personal culture”) for delivering an impactful message.
Listen for sin and suffering. When we seek to share the gospel through the window of emotion we must know how the gospel speaks to sin and suffering. We need to be able to offer God’s forgiveness and comfort. The “idols of our hearts” are sought for both pleasure and refuge. For on how the gospel speaks to sin and suffering, see these two videos.
Listen for how you’re like them. Testimony is uniquely important in these kinds of gospel conversations. You may not have the same “driving desires” (idols) linked to the same historical influences with the same emotional response. But chances are you can relate to the pattern – heart set on [blank overgrown desire] that is important to you because [historical reason] so you [emotional response]. People are not as different as we like to think we are.
As a Christian, you should be able to talk about how the gospel has changed the way you respond to those moments – how Christ’s Lordship put overgrown good desires back in proportion, is transforming the way you understand shaping events, and is creating stability in your emotions (for an example of this applied to anger/conflict click here). You just shared the gospel. Now all you need to do is to ask if they are interested in a similar relationship with Christ.
Continue having “normal” conversations. The freedom of the gospel is expressed (in part) by the fact that while Christ comes to us in our weakest moments we are not defined by those moments. Be God’s ambassador in this way as well. You are inviting them to be a part of God’s family (where people are defined by their relationships), not God’s recovery group (where people are defined by their struggle). This is someone you know them well enough that they allowed you to see their soul; honor that by showing concern for their whole life.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon on Jonah 3 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday January 21-22, 2012.
Jonah’s hesitancy to share the gospel with Nineveh had nothing to do with self-doubt or God-doubt. Actually, it was just the opposite. Jonah feared that if he called Nineveh to repent that they would repent and God would forgive (4:1-3). Jonah simply wanted Nineveh to receive justice rather than mercy so he resisted introducing them to the God he knew.
While there are some Christians who allow laziness or animosity to prevent them from sharing the good news they found in God, that is not the only reason Christians fail to share the gospel. I’ll leave it up to the reader to guess at what percentage of Christian failure to share the gospel results from laziness ( _____% ), animosity ( _____% ), self-doubt ( _____%), and God-doubt ( _____%).
But I think the more important question is not weighing the percentages of the Christian population, but dividing the motives of our individual hearts. What percentage of your failure to share the gospel results from laziness ( _____% ), animosity ( _____% ), self-doubt ( _____%), and God-doubt ( _____%).
This post wants to reflect on the two forms of discouragement that come when we share our faith and people do not respond. Did I fail (self-doubt)? Or, did God fail (God-doubt)? It is a natural question. When I try do something and it doesn’t work, I want to know, “What went wrong? Who/what failed?”
Some Christians, usually in a legitimate attempt to be humble, begin to think they were the problem. “I didn’t say the right thing, know the right verse, pray enough before, tell a funny enough story, or read my Bible enough. Or, I spoke too soon or wasn’t cool enough to win their respect.” Whatever rational is created, the bottom line in self-doubt is: I am the reason that person is still going to Hell.
In the end, self-doubt always exaggerates the role of the witness in evangelism. After all, Jonah’s message wasn’t that impressive (3:4) – eight words in English, only 5 words in Hebrew, and his heart wasn’t in it. He simple spoke the truth about God to people who needed to hear it. Evangelism that is “done” by an impressive speaker or argument will be “undone” by a more impressive speaker or argument.
Further, self-doubt focuses our attention on self rather than the person we’re talking to and the God we’re talking about. Self-doubt reduces our genuine interest in the person we’re talking to (fear always causes preoccupation) and our passion for the God we’re talking about. That is probably the best possible recipe for making something simple seem difficult.
Other Christians, begin to doubt God when their evangelism is ineffective. “Maybe God doesn’t like me and doesn’t want to bless what I’m doing. God likes other people better so He gives more fruit to their ministry. Maybe God isn’t as good as I thought He was if He didn’t do what I expected Him to do.” The thinking process can take many forms, but it boils down to either God doesn’t like me or God can’t be trusted.
Either way, the result is that we stop praying (especially for specific lost people that we are burdened to share Christ with) and stop sharing. The activity that should drive us to God and His Word—evangelism—begins to be the reason to avoid God and His Word, or at least intellectualize and privatize our faith.
The worst part of God-doubt is not the lack of evangelism; that is only the bitter fruit. The worst part is the functional belief in a sterile, distant God who becomes a moral score keeper instead of tender Father making an appeal to His lost children through His children who have returned. We begin to live as if God accepted us as His hired labor (Luke 15:18-19) instead of interrupting our repentance with lavish love and affection (Luke 15:20-24). We believe the lie we feared before we knew the truth.
Self-doubt and God-doubt both forget who we were before God saved us (people who resisted the truth), what God has done to make salvation possible (bearing the penalty of our sin and offering us Christ’s righteousness by grace), and how simple the message really is (Jesus in my place). We quit sharing the gospel with others regularly because we quit reminding ourselves of the gospel daily. If you struggle with self-doubt or God-doubt, then remind yourself daily of who you were, what God did, and how powerfully simple the gospel is.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon on Jonah 2 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday January 14-15, 2012.
What a sad description of people; even sadder because it is true. “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love (Jonah 2:8).” From the belly of a great fish Jonah is reflecting on what led to his demise. It was “vain idols” that caused him to drift from trust in God’s love.
The scary part is that Jonah was a prophet who was still used by God as this drift occurred. It is doubtful that the disdain for Nineveh that caused him to put country and personal offense ahead of God started the moment “the word of the Lord came to Jonah (1:1).” How Jonah was responding to atrocities of Nineveh was likely source of the “vain” (empty, useless, without comparative worth) idol that caused him to forsake God’s steadfast love – “to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord (1:3).”
Jonah’s “great sin” of active rebellion fleeing in the opposite direction of God’s call began with a bad response to suffering (Nineveh’s violently oppressive actions against Israel and surrounding nations). Seeing depravity at it most vile made Jonah forget his own desperate need for God’s grace. When God wanted to extend the same grace Jonah received to Nineveh, Jonah balked and forsook the hope of God’s steadfast love.
Whether we can relate to Jonah’s overt, opposite-direction rebellion against God that resulted in “bottoming out” in a living submarine in the depth of sea, we can definitely relate to Jonah’s subtle, shocked-at-evil step into idolatry. We all know who “the really bad” people are and we’re not them. We hear about them on the news. We’re not rapists, terrorists, or pedophiles.
If we thought being a recipient of God’s grace put us in that category and called us to share the gospel with someone who raped our child or blew up our brother, we (at least I) would be very tempted to “forsake my hope of God’s steadfast love.” Bringing Jonah’s assignment into my world makes me want to look for the ship to Tarshish. I am Jonah! I might take a suicidal leap from a ship in the middle of the ocean before I would carry my Bible into that maximum security prison.
I would resent sharing the same grace. I would resent “sharing” in terms of being washed in the same Savior’s blood much less “sharing” in the form of being God’s ambassador of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:20). As this resentment built, I could see how forsaking the hope of God’s steadfast love and looking for something else to base my life on (“vain idols”) would be so tempting. I am Jonah! Guilty as charged!
Yet even from the belly of the great fish Jonah came to his senses and said, “Yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God (2:6).” Jonah was humbled. He realized he could not escape the evil he was trying to avoid traveling away from the presence of the Lord (1:3). Jonah brought the evil of allowing people to die based on his preferences with him, in his own heart, as he fled taking God’s message to Nineveh.
Jonah realized he must share (verbally communicated) God’s grace with Nineveh because he realized he shared (drank from the same fountain of life) God’s grace with Nineveh. By the end of the book it appears that while Jonah accepted this reality he had a hard time with it (4:11). Jonah could preach it as true, but he couldn’t sing it as joy.
I believe this impairs my ability to embrace and willingness to proclaim the gospel. The point is not whether I could muster the love to share the gospel with my brother’s murderer who posted a celebratory video on the internet before going “hunting.” The question can be as simple as, “Do I love my neighbor as myself?” Am I willing to share my hope because I see myself as sharing their predicament? Am I as desperate for them as I am grateful that God was desperate for me?
Or have I become numb by the constant atrocities I see on the news and the hateful banter that permeates the media to a point that I see myself as “different” from real, hateful sinners as Jonah saw himself as “different “ from Nineveh? As soon as I think in “degrees of bad” instead of simply “need for grace” I fall into Jonah’s trap of forsaking the hope of God’s steadfast love.
If we use this reflection to remind ourselves to look at people as sharing our need for God’s grace, then it will become much more natural to share the message of God’s grace with those we see as being “like us.” Jonah’s vision was corrected by a crisis after overt rebellion and bottoming out. May God use Jonah to correct our vision where we are now.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon on Jonah 1 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday January 7-8, 2012.
Jonah really didn’t have a peace about going to Nineveh. Even as he prayed about it and had a rather clear prompting from God to go to this violent, Jew-hating (which just happened to be Jonah’s nationality) people Jonah could not settle his Spirit on the matter.
Now I admit I am now beginning to read a little into the story. But it appears that Jonah went down to the dock to see if God might “close the door” to Nineveh and “open a door” to any where else. What did Jonah find? A ship ready to sail for Tarshish (the opposite direction of Nineveh) with room for at least one more passenger at a rate he could afford (1:3). What could be clearer? How could God make His will more known (never mind 1:1-2)?
Why do I talk in this tone of satire? Because, as a counselor, I hear so many people try to validate their disobedience to God in the same way I have described Jonah. Even when God’s Word was clear, they gave greater weight to the fact that their heart was unsettled and used highly subjective (usually common) circumstances as “evidence” that the hand of God was trumping the Word of God in their situation.
Let us simply admit that Jonah was wrong in what he did and how he did it. But this model of decision making does not always lead to outright sin. There are times when it is merely foolish (moral, but silly). There are also times when reading circumstances and inner feelings leads us to good decisions.
But I would still say that this approach to decision making is unadvisable, because even when it leads to a good decision it fails to mature the decision maker and reinforces the idea that his approach can be mastered as a way to find God’s will. Even the good choice walks the decision maker closer to danger.
I think the book of Jonah gives us more than an allegory for decision making. The message of Jonah is, “We are Jonah.” We treat God like Jonah treats God, and we treat “different” people like Jonah treats “different” people. Jonah is a prophetic contrast between the heart of man and the heart of God.
What is the ultimate goal of decision making? To shape our heart to be more like God’s. This is the larger purpose than arriving at a healthy, wise decision. If we become more like God in our decision making, then our choices will be healthy and wise. However, the opposite is only sometimes true.
Observe Jonah again. Who did Jonah become more like in chapter one? Jonah became more like Jonah. Jonah lacked love for the people of Nineveh. Eventually, he was willing to put the life of the entire boat crew at danger until he realized he would inevitably die. Even then he chose suicide over obedience. It took three days of marinating in God’s tough grace to tenderize his hard heart.
The point is subjectively interpreting circumstances will reveal more of our character than it produces of God’s character in us. After all, Jonah was a good prophet who was used greatly by God and resided over a season of God’s favor for the children of Israel (2 Kings 14:25). Do we really think our “batting average” will be better than Jonah’s? Do we think that we will be more “objective” in our moments of difficult obedience?
This all begs a question that I will only be able to address briefly. How do we make decisions about things not clearly defined in the Bible? There are many of these. I would say the key word in the question is “not.” When questions are not answered by God, then we are free to choose based upon our God-given personality and preference within the bounds of wisdom.
God made us to do what He willed for us to do (Eph 2:8-10). When it comes to decisions outside of God’s revealed will, then we do not need to read signs or inner feelings. We are free to choose based upon how God made us, within the bounds of wisdom, and in the direction of God’s kingdom.
When we approach it this way I believe three things happen (1) we enjoy life as God intends for His children, (2) we make healthy wise decisions, and (3) our character conforms more into God’s image as our affection for him increases. Decision making is less fearful and more enjoyable. If you are interested in studying this further, I would recommend James Petty’s book Step by Step.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from our campus pastors’ sermons on I Peter 5:6-11 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday December 17-18, 2011.
Peter is writing to Christians who have chosen to leave their homes and homeland over renouncing their faith. Living in another country as foreigners has resulted in many forms of suffering: persecution from authority figures (2:13-25), marriages in shambles (3:1-7), doubt about whether the sacrifice was worth it (3:8-22), and many temptations to sin as form of self-medicating / mentally escaping their suffering (4:1-5).
As Peter concludes his letter, he knows these dear friends must be afraid and multiplying their fear would be a creeping, growing doubt of God’s love (5:7). Whenever we face fear and doubt rooted in suffering, one of our most basic instincts is to turn to self-reliance. We think (sometimes not out loud), “Life isn’t playing by the rules. Bad things are happening to me for reasons I have not caused. God must have failed. I’m going to have to figure this out on my own.”
Peter sees this subtle, desperate pride that suffering causes to seem so “logical.” He has just encouraged these Christian to entrust themselves to God even when they suffer unjustly (4:12-19) and he knows what it will take fulfill this instruction – humility (5:6).
Notice how Peter speaks to the suffering-based anxiety of his readers (we should remember that both the message and tone of Scripture is divinely inspired). Peter calls them to humility with a promise of God’s blessing (“so at the proper time he may exalt you”), a timely application (“casting all your anxieties upon him”), and reminder of God’s love (“because he cares for you”).
Peter’s tone with suffering-based anxiety is different than Paul’s tone with sin-based anxiety (Phil. 4:1-9). In this context Paul is rebuking two ladies (Euodia and Syntyche) who are feuding. Based upon the flow of the passage their feud is causing a disgruntled fear and a persistent focus on what is wrong, bad, incomplete, unjust, or not according to their preference.
Paul is more direct (“do not be anxious”) and emphatic (“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice”). Yet even in confronting this sin-based anxiety, Paul still holds out the promises of God (“the peace of God… will guard your hearts and your minds”) and affirms God’s love (“the God of peace will be with you”).
We see in this that the solution for anxiety is the same – trust in the faithful promises of God accompanied by a belief that God truly cares for you – but that the tone of conversation that leads into these conversations changes based upon whether the anxiety emanates from a source of sin or suffering. For sin-based anxiety, the call is to repent and believe. For suffering-based anxiety the call is to trust and believe.
I think Paul would agree with this distinction and even wrote about this difference in tone in I Thessalonians 5:14, “And we urge you brothers, admonish the idle [disorderly or undisciplined], encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” Different heart-dispositions call for different pastoral/counseling tones—if we only ask, “What does the Bible say about [blank]?” we miss, or at least forget to look for, this.
I think Peter would say that whether anxiety is suffering-based or sin-based that Satan intends to use it for the same purpose—namely to devour our lives. Satan does not care what he uses to destroy our lives: the selfishness of sin or the despair of suffering. As long as he gets our eyes off of Christ and causes a doubt in God that causes us to turn in on ourselves, Satan is delighted.
What is the point? Why does this matter? When we see the situation-specific ways that God spoke to similar life struggles it allows us to see Him as more wise and more caring. The call to trust God as compassionate, which is at the core for both Paul and Peter, becomes more believable.
When we see God this way, it changes the way that we speak to one another on God’s behalf. We ask more questions and learn how to speak the gospel to the same issue (in this case anxiety) in different circumstances (both sin and suffering). We become more complete and accurate ambassadors of God’s heart for His children and the world.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon on I Peter 4:1-11 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday December 10-11, 2011.
In these few verses Peter takes a long journey through human experience and redemption. Unless we take this journey with Peter and his readers, I do not think we will make appropriate application of the well known verse “love covers a multitude of sins” or appreciate its impact beyond a sentimental level.
Peter is writing to Christian friends who were forced to leave their homes for their faith (1 Pet. 1:1). He has spoken to them at great length about suffering (1 Pet. 1-3). This passage is a continuation of his encouragement and instruction to them.
At this point in his letter Peter warns these exiles of the intense temptation that comes with intense suffering (v. 3-4). When it feels like God has failed, it is easy to seek comfort or escape. When it is hard to believe you can “cast your anxieties on [God] because he cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7),” we will often settle for a bottle, a lover, or rebelling against anything that represents the “order” that failed us.
Recognizing the powerful draw of this cynicism during suffering, Peter calls on these believers to be “self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers (v. 7).” When we suffer intensely there is a strong tendency to “run from” something (i.e., the pain, the oppressor, or reality itself). Self-control is the opposite. It is “running to” something intentionally because you still believe in hope. Without this kind of self-control, they would not pray.
When we suffer intensely our thoughts ride the wave of our circumstances and we take on a pattern of thinking, bracing against worst-case scenarios. Sober-mindedness is different. It refuses to take God out of the equation. When we lose sober-mindedness we are no longer a child praying to our Father. We are the prophet of the unknown or unreal god making repeated predictions of continued doom.
It is out of this flow of thought that Peter says, “Above all, keep loving one another, since love covers a multitude of sins (v. 8).” His primary example of this love gives us a clearer picture of what he has in mind—show hospitality (v. 9). When are homeless exiles most tempted to extravagant sin? When it’s time to eat and there is no food, and when its time to sleep but there is no shelter.
Hospitality covers these sins. Those Christian exiles who were able to secure lodging and food were to share with those who did not in order to protect their souls.
What is another major temptation time for an exile? Being alone with their own thoughts and thinking they have nothing to help themselves or anyone else. What was Peter’s second example? Serving and encouraging one another with whatever God has given you (v. 10-11) even if it’s not lodging or food.
This kind of mutual care was soul-nourishing for both the giver and recipient. It covered a multitude of sins that would have been present in its absence.
What questions should we ask in light of this passage?
Who is suffering that you know?
What are the unique aspects and times of their suffering?
How has God provided or gifted you with the means to care for them and “cover a multitude of sins”?
This is not a passage about us serving as one another’s saviors. It is a passage about the power and responsibility of life in Christian community to conquer sin, even sin rooted in the most intense suffering. These questions proposed are not as hard to answer as they are scary to ask. Why? Because the presence of suffering reminds us the world is not a safe place, so we want to self-insure.
Let us pray for the same courage and faith to serve those who are suffering as it takes for them to remain self-controlled and sober-minded enough to pray.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon “Despair” preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday August 6-7, 2011.
“Can medication help me overcome a struggle with despair? Is taking medication a sign that I don’t trust God in the midst of my suffering? How would I know if my despair was biologically caused or if I were only taking medication to seek relief from the intensity of my despair?”
These questions (and the large number of related question) are big questions that touch many areas of life. There is a great deal of debate about these questions in both secular and Christian circles.
Let’s start by listening to two counselors our church trusts (David Powlison and Ed Welch) seek to answer several related questions: How does Biblical Counseling view psychiatric drugs? Can my body make me sin?
From this we can conclude that medication for despair (or other forms of physical and emotional suffering) is not a matter of right and wrong, but wise or unwise; good fit or bad fit based upon our personal struggle. That means that there is no universal answer for every reader of this blog.
There will be times when medication is the wise, good fit because a struggle has biological origins. There will be times when medication is the wise, good fit because it tames situational emotions to the point that biblical wisdom can be more effectively applied. There will be times when medication is unwise because it is used to numb life without asking questions that penetrate to the core of our lack of hope.
So that raises another question, “What would reasonable expectations be if I chose to take medication?” A simple answer (which is all blog posts allow) is that medication can reduce suffering, but it cannot give hope. Medication can alleviate pain, but it cannot produce joy. When we use medication to produce joy, that is called a drug high, and that is an unhealthy form of pharmacological escape.
Hope requires that life has meaning, purpose, and significance. We might even say that despair is simply the absence of hope. While medication may diminish the pain created by a hope void, it cannot fill the void. Only Christ can do that. So even if we decide it is wise and a good fit to take medication, we must continue to pursue the questions David Powlison alluded to in his video or we will merely move from feeling pain to feeling nothing. While this is progress, it is not a destination that will satisfy the human soul.
A short post like this can never answer the breadth of questions this subject raises, so I will conclude by offering two resources by Ed Welch for your continued reflection. The first is an article “Hope for the Depressed” which further examines what it means to seek hope and answers to the larger questions in the midst of depression.
The second is the book Blame It on the Brain? Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience. This book examines the mind-body relationships (how does that little immaterial voice in my head relate to my physical brain organ?) and then provides guidance on dividing life struggles into three categories: the brain did it (examples: Alzheimer’s and dementias); maybe the brain did it (examples: depression and attention deficit disorder); and the brain didn’t do it (homosexuality and alcoholism).
Based upon the subjects that Dr. Welch addresses, you can see that he does not attempt to tackle the full breadth of struggles for which the question of medication may arise. You can also see that there are some struggles (like the subject of this post: depression and despair) which he concludes may or may not have biological cause base depending on each individual who struggles.
What you will find in this book is a theologically-robust, clinically informed, readable treatment of the subject when medication is a wise path for Christians to take. You will also find guidance on how to ask the larger questions of relating to God in the midst of your struggle regardless of what you decide about medication.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon “Fear: Homewreckers #3” preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday June 18-19, 2011.
There are many people who deny that their life is marked by fear, but for whom fear is one of their primary motivators. The problem is not necessarily some form of denial or defensiveness. Instead, they don’t recognize their fear as fear because it registers in their thoughts and speech under a different term – enough.
Often this change of language is because the fear does not (at least yet) paralyze them, but merely motivates them (for better or worse). In this way, fear is very similar to stress. Certain levels of stress are healthy and cause us to “perform better” in life. We refer to this when we say, “Competition can bring the best out of people.” However, there comes a point where stress (or fear) is detrimental.
For those who do still view their unhealthy fear as a form of motivation they might refer to themselves as:
not being good enough (generally or at a specific activity)
not having enough money (for security or compared to others)
not having achieved enough (compared to a peer or for their age)
not being attractive enough (based upon size or some perceived defect)
not being social enough (funny, outgoing, compassionate, etc…)
These types of fears can go by other names than just motivations: insecurity, shyness, being driven, over-achieving, thinking ahead, being a planner, etc…
At this point, I would advise you to pause and consider two questions:
What areas of life do you use the word “enough” to signal an area of fear?
What (if not fear) do you call this struggle with fear?
You have now identified an area in your life where you have the opportunity to rely on God and live out of your identity in Christ in new ways. Don’t begin this process with a sense of condemnation. God is calling you FROM bondage (to fear) TO freedom (in Christ).
If we are not careful, we can repent INTO the same bondage we were repenting OF. It sounds like this, “Great, a reminder that now I’m not spiritual ENOUGH. Just add that to the list.” Or “I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I just can’t trust God ENOUGH.” We begin to try to apply God’s Gospel in the same system as our previous slavery.
Start your journey from fear with the truth that you are being delivered by a patient God who loves you. God loves you by grace. Grace means that “enough” is no longer a relevant category to apply to the thing that matters most in life. That is the beginning of freedom from fear.
“Enough” is a slave word. “Grace” is a free word. If I am motivated by “enough” then even my productive and worthwhile accomplishment will eventually become bondage. That is because “enough” always implies “a little better than before.” If I am motivated by “grace” then my successes are celebrations of God’s goodness and my failures are points to remember that I am a loved child still in the process of being made into the image of my Father – a Father who enjoys the process of grooming the character of His children over a life time (Heb. 10:14). This is why grace gives us BOTH comfort and motivation.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “What now?” questions that could emerge from Pastor J.D.’s sermon “Ambition” preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday June 4-5, 2011.
It is so easy to get caught in the habit of thinking that a virtue only has one opposite. What is the opposite of love? Hate. What is the opposite of peace? War. These are the natural and right answers, although incomplete.
The opposite of love is also apathy. The opposite of peace is also denial. Not caring is as alien to love as wanting to do great harm. Pretending things are okay when they are not is as foreign to peace as picking a fight.
We have a habit of only thinking of the aggressive distortions of a virtue (hate or war) and overlooking the passive distortions (apathy or denial). This may be because we were influenced by the movie Bambi more than we realized. Remember Thumper’s mother’s advice, “If you cannot say something nice do not say anything at all.” Too often we live as if God said that and applied it to every virtue of life.
This is as true of ambition as it is of any other virtue. We naturally think of the aggressive distortions of ambition – selfishness, pride, exploitation, neglecting family, etc… We call these sins (rightfully) and condemn those who practice them (too often self-righteously).
Yet we often turn a blind eye to the passive distortions of ambition – fear of failure, purposelessness, low self-esteem, laziness, lack of faith, insecurity, discontentment, etc… We call these personality flaws (mislabeling them) and treat them as if they only need to be more understood and accepted (offering false comfort; Jer. 6:14).
The aggressive and passive distortions of any virtue are equally wrong. Both 5 and -5 are equally distant from 0. Their consequences may be different. But they each equally misrepresent the character of God.
The answer for both is the same learning godly ambition through the Gospel.
Aggressive distortions of godly ambition need to die to self. These distortions serve self through consuming others for the purpose of advancing their own kingdom. Their forms of control are also aggressive as they use power, influence, and money to manipulate others to advance their agenda. They are convinced they are right or have the right to act as they do.
Passive distortions of godly ambition need to die to self. These distortions serve self through protecting self for the purpose of not risking their own kingdom. Their forms of control are passive aggressive as they use guilt, inactivity, or dependency to manipulate others to advance their agenda. They would never admit they are manipulating anyone and would continue their self-protection by how offended they feel at hearing such a suggestion.
It is only the Gospel that allows us to live for a kingdom other than self. We realize that neither the advancement nor the protection of our kingdom will ever really satisfy our souls. We were made for something bigger than self (a thought at the very core of godly ambition).
We begin to consider how our talents, abilities, relationships, possessions, education, and time can be leveraged for the advancement of God’s kingdom. Our creativity is freed from fear (the root of the passive distortions of ambition) because the most precious thing we have is the endless gift of the Gospel. There is no risk with what you cannot lose.
Our end product is freed from self-centeredness (the root of aggressive distortions of ambition) because our mission is captured in the theme “He must increase, but I decrease (John 3:30).” We realize that we were blessed in order than we might be a blessing to others (Gen 12:2).
In the end, we find the joy that can drive our souls for eternity without chewing up the things we love most (spouse and children) and blesses those that God is especially fond of (the homeless, orphans, prisoners, unwed mothers, high school drop outs, etc…, cf James 2:26-27). Now our ambition drives those we love towards God through our example and draws those God loves to Him through our service and generosity. We will, then, do great things by God’s grace as our ambition become what God intended it to be all along.
This post is meant to offer guidance to common “what now” questions that could emerge from pastor J.D.’s sermon on Luke 11 and 18 preached at The Summit Church Saturday/Sunday April 2-3, 2011.
We usually think of our prayer life as saying things “to” God (praising God, making requests, or having conversation) rather than saying something “about” God (evaluation of His character, power, or involvement). But prayer does both, and what our prayer life says “about” God often determines when, if, how, and about what we pray.
Think about it as if you were about to have a conversation with the President of a major company. What you said “to” that person would largely be shaped by what you thought “about” them. Were you a fan of their product? Did their product harm you? Did you want their financial support for a cause? Are they your spouse, parent, or sibling?
The same is true in our prayer life. In this blog post, we will look at five things our lack of prayer can say about God. These are not the only five things, but are meant to help you evaluate your own prayer life; not merely as a discipline but as the expression of a relationship.
God is powerless. Often we do not pray because we do not believe God can do anything about our struggle. We view our struggle as “outside God’s jurisdiction.” We view God as constrained by the situational variables involved like Superman is constrained by kryptonite.
God is uncaring. Other times we do not pray because we do not believe God will do anything about our struggle. We might believe we are too insignificant for His attention. We may believe we have sinned in way that removes His willingness to intervene for us. We may believe that God is just the Creator and doesn’t care about our prayer, because He just doesn’t care. Sometimes we view God as uncaring and hesitate to pray because we have reduced “caring” to “giving me what I want most” and we fear being told “no” too much to ask.
God is irrelevant. Prayer may believe that we have limited God to addressing “spiritual problems” and reduced spiritual problems to church, worship, and evangelism. We might not pray because we believe our daily concerns are not on God’s job description. In this case we don’t pray for the same reason we don’t talk to a plumber about our computer problems.
God intrudes on my independence. If we are honest, there are times when we don’t pray because we do not want to know what God might say. We are like the child who wants to “do it all by myself.” Praying would require acknowledging a level of dependence that our pride does not want to see.
God is a set of wisdom principles. Sometimes we confuse prayer with contemplation. We might think, “I already spend time trying to ‘figure out’ my struggle, isn’t that the same thing as prayer?” This misconception can often be reinforced when we ask for prayer and immediately get met with suggestions. Another form of this misconception would be, “If God has already given me the Bible, what more could He have to say?” This would be the equivalent of a teenager thinking his/her parents didn’t want to talk about peer pressure, because they had already told him/her to resist it. There is power in a good, conversational relationship that enables us to live out the principles.
The big point is this, if we do not pray, it likely reveals a wrong view of God. “Trying harder” will probably not change the belief(s) that impedes our prayer. If we want to become people of prayer, we need to examine our beliefs and get to know God for who He really is. Hopefully these reflections equip you for the self-examination.
