A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
“The devil loves ‘curing’ a small fault by giving you a great one (p. 127).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
It is easy to think that moving away from a problem is the same as moving towards something better. But this is the lie behind most of life’s devastating sins. No one runs face first into addiction. They run looking over their shoulder at a lesser problem and into the arms of addiction. Bankruptcy is what happens when you solve every problem (focal point) with your debt (blind spot).
It is easy to think that everyone who sympathizes with your problem is your friend. But this false assumption is the foundation for every scam. A drug dealer needing to make a sale will listen to your problems in order to pitch his “solution.” Sexual predators specialize in listening to hurting kids on social media to serve as an inroad to their trust.
This does not mean that all sympathy is dangerous or that progress is always a mirage. It does mean that our ability to change for the better is hampered when we focus exclusively on our struggle. When we focus on our struggle, even if we are disgusted by it, we get the false notion that different is the same as better.
When you focus on how dumb you are everyone else becomes smart. When you focus on how weak you are everyone else becomes strong. The problem is when you try to apply “their” wisdom, there is a strong probability it will fail and when you try to rely on “their” strength, it will let you down. By focusing upon faults we never gain an appreciation for what is truly wise, strong, and good.
Not only does Satan love to cure small faults with big ones (goal), he seals the deal by getting us lost in our faults (method). This is an ingenious way to blind those who can see. If Satan can get us to look for the wrong thing with great intensity, then we will miss, ignore, or reject the right thing even when we look right at it.
What do I mean? If Satan can get us so focused on our faults that we fail to look at Christ, then we are functionally blind to the wisdom, cure, strength, and hope we need. When we focus on our faults we feel dirty when we look at Christ instead of realizing He will cleanse us. When we focus on our faults we feel stupid when we look at Christ instead of realizing He offers wisdom.
It is by focusing us on our faults that Satan blinds our seeing eyes to true hope and, thereby, makes “greater faults” seem like the only “solution” available. Each time we apply Satan’s solutions we feel more stupid (retrospect proves we can see) and are more prone to use the next “desperate measure.” We feel more dirty and less apt to approach anything clean or pure.
So what do we do? We stop and look to Christ. We gaze at life itself. We marvel at life lived as God intended. We begin to live towards something instead of just away from our faults. We repent of our faults and accept that hope can only be received, not earned.
When this is done, greater faults and false compassion lose their appeal. Our vision is restored. While we may still fall many times, we fall forward towards Christ. We realize we repent instead of making “double or nothing” deals with life. We take sin more seriously but less frantically so that we resist Satan’s offer to exchange small faults with great ones.
Posted 2 weeks, 5 days ago at 2:08 pm. Add a comment
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.
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago at 12:17 pm. Add a comment
Starting Tuesday January 17, The Summit Church will launch it’s EQUIP Leadership Forum (ELF; one of my favorite Summit acronyms). I am personally excited about this initiative for several reasons. First, as the Pastor of Counseling, I am glad to see us approach training our leaders in a way that better cares for our leaders. By consolidating our various leadership training efforts, this is an important way to protect our member’s personal and family lives while seek to see our community and world changed with the power of the gospel.
Second, as the counseling ministry prepares to launch several major initiatives, the timing for the ELF is an immense blessing. In the coming months we will be seeking to equip new leaders and offer enrichment training for our marriage mentoring ministry, recovery group ministries, and graduate counseling intern program.
The first half of these monthly meetings (6:30 to 7:30) will be teaching by our lead pastor, J.D. Greear, on the churches core values and ministry principles. In the second half (7:30 to 8:30), we will break our into ministry cohorts for specialized training. At the first counseling cohort all the counseling ministry leaders (and interested leaders) will meet together.
My goal on this first evening will be to cast the vision for how the various pieces of the counseling ministry are intended to work together and work with the larger church. This will be a time when we consider the opportunities and challenges that a counseling ministry presents and look at how the unique resources of the Summit Church can be harnessed. The kinds of subject we will be considering will be:
- Ripe Fields of Harvest: Major life challenges and transitions are when people are open to receive (conversion) and apply (discipleship) the gospel. So how will counseling become a front door to our church and a more integral part of our small group life?
- Church Full of Relationships: We have a church full of caring, hurting people who know many hurting people looking for hope, purpose, and direction. So how will the counseling ministry equip our members to steward their friendships by being able to bridge from everyday life struggles to meaningful conversations about the gospel?
- Ministry of Multiplication: Counseling-related interactions tend to be very time cumbersome and our pastoral/counseling staff will never meet this need. So how will the counseling ministry multiply itself effectively so that most of the pastoral care happens in real (not “professional”) relationships?
- Ministry in/of the Church: Unless our counseling ministry is moving people into the life of the church we are doing little of eternal significance. So how will the counseling ministry seek to ensure that every person who comes in contact with one of our resources sees the relevance of Christian community for their particular life struggle?
- Gospel & Bible Based Ministry: How do we maintain our gospel-centered and Bible-based values when the secular counseling and even the “Christian” counseling literature does not have this as its primary emphasis?
- Army of Volunteers: We have a large number of church members and graduate counseling students eager to participate. So what are the various ways that people can get involved in the counseling ministry?
- Sustainability & Big Picture Structure: The more things we launch the more we have to announce, perpetuate, cultivate / grow leaders, supervise and resource. So how will we structure the counseling ministry in order to make it easily understood by our congregation, provide involvement for various levels of desired expertise, and ensure adequate supervision for everyone involved?
- Grass Roots Structure: How will the individual ministries within the counseling ministry need to operate in order to take advantage of these ministries structures?
- Time Feasibility: Each ministry has to be conducive to the volunteer’s life schedule and the church’s event schedule. So how can we attempt something with this many pieces without exhausting our leaders and consuming the church schedule?
The EQUIP Leadership Forum is going to serve an immense need at Summit. Every ministry in the church will be raising up new leaders, enriching existing leaders, and casting the vision for how each ministry fits within the mission of the church. The counseling ministry is excited about this new initiative and is praying the whole church will take advantage of this opportunity.
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago at 10:39 am. Add a comment
A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
“[Pride] is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly. For the same reason, Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices. Teachers, in fact, often appeal to a boy’s Pride, or, as they call it, his self-respect, to make him behave decently: many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper, by learning to think that they are beneath his dignity—that is, by Pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride. (p. 125).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
I think this quote boils down to trying to understand with what’s so wrong with thinking that sin is “beneath me”? If someone is “pro-pride,” they probably aren’t reading this reflection. Few people have a problem with acknowledging that Satan would love to see us lay down a less destruction sin for a more destructive one.
So the point that makes this quote uncomfortable is that Lewis depicts it as Satan’s ultimate setup to get me to view sin as “beneath me.” I find myself internally torn on this one. My gut doesn’t automatically go where Lewis goes, but I agree with the point he’s making. I have given myself the “you’re better than that” pep talk to avoid sin.
As I wrestle with Lewis’ warning about pride, I realize there is a better pep talk to give (and receive). It is the “that is not who you are” talk. The first pep talk was focused on rank and status – better than. The latter is based on identity.
The difference, as I think Lewis would affirm, is that Jesus did not come to make much of me (rank and status) but to reside in me and adopt me (change my identity and name). When I get this I realize sin is not “beneath me” it is “outside of me.” I was born “in sin” and now I am “in Christ.”
The reason that sin is resisted has less to do with my dignity and everything to do with His. If I begin to think about my dignity, Satan has half the battle won. I am comparing sin to me. Sin does not appear nearly as sinful when I compare it with my nature.
The more I marvel at my nature, the dingier my nature becomes and the less I am looking to Christ as my righteousness. Disdain for every sin that is not actively relying upon Christ is the epitome of being a Pharisee—loving the laws that make me look good, because they make me look good and give me status.
If I were to summarize Lewis’s point and application, it would be: If Satan cannot get us to love self by sinning, then he is content to get us to love self by feeling superior to sin. God calls us to find life by denying self and, thereby, experiencing the freedom God intended.
An example might be helpful. Lewis says we can overcome cowardice by pride and this would be a bad thing. The problem would be that you would have to convince yourself you are “above” what you fear. If you fear rejection, then “it wouldn’t matter what people say.” This has the strong potential of giving us deaf ears to important messages of critique.
However, if what people say matters but does not define who I am, then I can be steadfast without the deafening influence of pride. I could face my fear as real, learning from my fear and the words of critique, without having to condemn myself or those who raise questions. That is the freedom of humility.
Posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago at 11:29 am. Add a comment
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.
Posted 4 weeks, 1 day ago at 12:20 pm. Add a comment
I was recently reminded of how when you talk to someone, it affects the effectiveness of what you are trying to say. When you try to talk to someone who is discouraged after trying to do “the right thing” and failing, anything instructional is often hard for them to receive. They feel like, “Great, here is something else I won’t be able to do.”
Other times you might talk to someone who is desperate after trying to do “the right thing” and failing. They can be like a sponge wanting to know another way. However, their desperation can lead them to quickly dismiss instruction if the results are not as prompt as their emotions demand.
There are many other dispositions with which you might talk to someone who failed and equally as many dispositions after someone succeeds. But the point is, what has just happened “before” affects how they listen. If you pay attention, that can be a real advantage to building trust as a counselor.
For the first person mentioned above, acknowledging how hard it would be to hear “one more thing” you “should have done” would be very encouraging. They would at least know that whatever guidance they receive next would be from a person who understood them.
The second person would benefit from having someone speak to the “pace” of their desperation before speaking to the content of their struggle. Unless this happened the wisest counsel would get lost in the intensity of their “try anything” to “fix it now” mindset which is retention-light and even weaker on perseverance.
I think this is a dynamic we have to be particularly aware of for those believers who sincerely try to please God and are facing a significant struggle of suffering (an intense struggle not caused by their personal sin). At this point, sin has the advantage of talking second.
Sin (here used as a personification that might be negative influencing friend or an escapist habit) can listen to the hurts of the believer and express compassion for their plight. All of the questions raised are questions against (even if only from confusion) the Christian faith.
Sin can respond with the momentum of these questions at its back. It has the advantage of swimming with our emotional current. The thoughts and emotions of the suffering believer are set us to receive what sin has to say and offer.
This is why we must be able to not only give answers but respond to a person. In cases like these, the response will be more soul-winning (used in terms of discipleship more than evangelism) that the content of our answers.
I think this dynamic is equally relevant when we are talking to broken unbelievers. In these cases, all of the previously discussed advantages of sin are working for the Christian faith. The broken unbeliever is asking questions that are against the old life (looking for a new life).
We can now respond and listen to their hurts and express compassion for their plight. We have the momentum of sin’s broken promises at our back. Their thoughts and emotions are looking for something more solid that what they’ve known.
In many ways, the principle is simple – and therefore easy to forget. We must listen and not lose the person in the topic of the conversation. A conversation happens between two points in a person’s life. We must read the momentum if we are going to effectively influence the direction of the ship.
Posted 1 month ago at 12:21 pm. Add a comment
A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
“Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone (p. 122).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
My first fear as I read this quote is, “Could I keep my level of motivation if I lost the drive of competition?” For as long as I can remember I have used competition in order to spur me on. I see people who do great things (athletically, academically, or spiritually) and I am challenged to be where they are; energy grows within me as I see someone ahead of me.
As I listen to myself I am taken to Hebrews 10:24, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Have I misused competition as a sinful application of this verse? Or, have I rightly applied this verse and just used a bad word to describe what was happening?
Competition as Sinful Application
I think the answer is both. There are times when I have wanted to overtake (get ahead of) the one I perceive to be in front of me. The tone of my heart is, “They must decrease (at least by one spot) to make room for me, so I can increase.”
In these cases I want to win. Pride is crouching at my door (Gen. 4:7) and I am welcoming it into my living room so I can use it as a spiritual-steroid. Just like in the Olympics, I become a disqualified contestant in God’s race of faith because I am using the performance-enhancing drug of sin (1 Cor. 9:24).
In these cases even my effectiveness only accelerates my soul rot. I begin to see pride as my “friend” because it helped me “win” and am able to justify it because it was “for God” (such an oxymoron when it comes to sin of pride). Next time I am prone to call my “friend” pride to come help, instead of competitive pride having to crouch at the door and ask to be let in.
Right Action; Wrong Word
There are other times when I think what I am calling competition is merely swept up in the current of another person’s example of excellence. Instead of crying out, “They must decrease so I can increase,” my heart says, “I love where they’re going and want to go there with them.”
In this case I think I am following the relational dynamic recommended by Paul in I Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” The key word that changes everything is “with” instead of “ahead.”
One is built upon a pure desire for mutual progress (with) which is enthused for the example to charge ahead to blaze the trail for me and others. The other is built upon rank (ahead) which wants to see the example fade and treats “others” who may rise up as only “new competition.”
Conclusion
As in all cases of questions asked of the human heart, I find my motives to be neither all bad nor all good. I cannot justify myself even in my “best” (especially in terms of “rank”) actions (Isa. 64:6). But as I see my heart more clearly by the light of God grace, I am freed from the sin of competitive pride, because I realize the prize I was striving for is received, not won.
Posted 1 month ago at 12:12 pm. 2 comments
“Eyes” of the Counseling Ministry – The presentation will cover two subjects. (1) The core values of the counseling ministry: Bible-based, Gospel-centered, differentiating sin and suffering, not one-size-fits-all, embedded within the church, and transitioning into the general small group ministry. Leaders need to understand how these values are embedded throughout the counseling materials. (2) How to avoid a struggle-based identity when using a struggle-specific curriculum.
“Our deepest problem is that we seek to find our identity outside the story of redemption (p. 27)… In fact, the longer we struggle with a problem, the more likely we are to define ourselves by that problem (divorced, addicted, depressed, co-dependent, ADD). We come to believe that our problem is who we are. But while these labels may describe particular ways we struggle as sinners [or sufferers] in a fallen world, they are not our identity! If we allow them to define us, we will live trapped within their boundaries. This is no way for a child of God to live (p. 260)!” Paul Tripp in Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hand
Session 1.
“What Is a Freedom Group?”
Purpose and Vision of Freedom Groups
Freedom Groups Training – Session 1 from The Summit Church on Vimeo.
Session 2
“What a Freedom Group is Not”
How to Avoid a Struggle-Based Identity
Freedom Groups Training – Session 2 from The Summit Church on Vimeo.
Handout for Night One, Session Two: WHO I AM IN CHRIST_KELLEMEN
Night Two (Process): “Heart” of the Counseling Ministry – The big question on this night is, “How does the Gospel relate to sin and suffering differently?” The struggles of life fit into one of these two categories: sin or suffering. The Gospel speaks to and is powerful to redeem/restore both experiences. But unless we understand the difference, our efforts to help will often come across cliché or simplistic. On this evening we will walk through the two nine step process models that will undergird the seminars that will comprise the mentoring and Freedom Group curriculum. Our goal for each of the nine step processes is that they merely represent “the Gospel in slow motion.”
Session 3.
“When the Problem is Me”
The 9 Steps for Freedom Groups (Sin)
Freedom Groups Training – Session 3 from The Summit Church on Vimeo.
Session 4.
“When the Problem is Not Me”
The 9 Steps for Freedom Groups (Suffering)
Freedom Groups Training – Session 4 from The Summit Church on Vimeo.
Night Three (Logistics): “Hands” of Freedom Groups – This evening will be focused more exclusively upon Freedom Group leaders, although all leaders are welcome to attend to learn more about how the seminars and curriculum can be utilized. We will examine what the journey of Freedom Groups will look like from the visitor’s first day through the meeting schedule and individuals’ responsibilities to the launch of new groups.
Freedom Group Training – Session 5 from The Summit Church on Vimeo.
RESOURCES: Nigh Three, Hour One
Freedom Groups Training – Session 6 from The Summit Church on Vimeo.
RESOURCES: Night Three, Hour Two
Posted 1 month ago at 1:01 pm. Add a comment
Can I admit that I have never really “gotten” the Lord’s Supper the way I think I should? I see the picture of the Gospel, but the experience itself, never seemed to move me, encourage me, or sustain me the way it should. I have wrestled with it for a while; praying that God would help me get out of this practice more of what He put into it. The reflection below has helped me and I pray it will help you.
A Picture of Sin
When training for being stranded at sea military personnel are told repeatedly, “Do not drink the water.” If you are stranded at sea in the beating sun and thirsty, the sound of lapping water and the feel of wetness on your skin has to be tempting.
But if you drink the water, it provides initial relief followed by a more intense, salt-induced thirst. This leads to more salt water consumption. As you drink, the sodium level in your body increases making for a quicker and more painful death experience.
Often we come to sin seeking some relief from legitimate suffering. We get sinfully angry to try to correct a way we have really been wronged. We look at pornography to escape from a truly stressful day. We cheat financially because we are struggling to provide for our family. Yet in every case after the initial relief, sin intensifies the shame and isolation process that makes for a more intense experience of spiritual death.
A Counterfeit Lord’s Supper
With this picture in mind, let me offer a heretical liturgy. Take a glass of water and give it a strong dose of salt. Get a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips. These will be the “elements” of your counterfeit Lord’s Supper (when sin is your Master; John 8:34). On your cup of salt water tape a piece of paper with the names of the sins you retreat to for “relief.”
As you “take the cup,” say to yourself, “This is the cup of my sin. ‘Take and drink because I care for you and want to make your life better. I give you myself,’ sin says to me.” Drink the salt water.
As you “take the bread,” say to yourself, “This is my body available to you. ‘Take and eat. Lose yourself in me and I will protect you,’ sin says to me.” Eat the chips.
Try to sit for 30 minutes and “enjoy” what sin provides. If it becomes difficult (i.e., thirsty), return to “the table of sin” as many times as you like in this half hour. Experience all that sin has to offer. As you do so, look at the words on the cup and be reminded of whose care you are receiving.
The Real Lord’s Supper
After 30 minutes have another private ceremony. This time have a cup of grape juice and a loaf of bread. On the cup of grape juice tape a piece of paper with the words, “Jesus. Gospel. Grace.” Read Matthew 26:26-29 and I Corinthians 11:23-26.
As you take the cup, remind yourself of Jesus’ words, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
As you take the bread, remind yourself again of Jesus’ words, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Know that you are invited to come and partake of Christ as often as you need to find the protection and sustenance you previously sought in sin. Know that the invitation is always open and His cup never runs dry. Be comforted.
As you taste the sweetness of the juice with no thirst-provoking after-effects, reflect on the superiority of Christ to anything sin offers and read John 4:1-15. As you experience the nourishment of the bread, reflect again on the superiority of Christ and read John 6:22-59.
Join the Conversation
- How did seeing sin’s alternative meal change the way you approached what is offered at the Lord’s Supper?
- How did going through the alternative meal change the way you thought about future temptations to the same sins?
- How did this exercise help you see and run to the availability of Christ during the times you normally would have sought a counterfeit comfort?
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 2:38 pm. Add a comment
A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
“If you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, ‘How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronize me, or show off?’ The point is that each person’s pride is in competition with every one else’s pride (p. 122).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
I think it would be wrong to take from Lewis’ question that one should like being snubbed, ignored, or patronized. There is a healthy level of wanting to steward the voice, talents, and life God has given you that should make these experiences unpleasant to everyone.
Lewis’ question is based upon “how much” we dislike these experiences. Do we walk away disappointed that we did not get to serve in the ways God gifted us or do we replay the offense in our mind for the better part of a week? Do we mourn the immaturity of a companion who would patronize another, or do we internally rage that our “honor” was besmirched?
As I try to think through Lewis’ question, I believe it implies a preliminary question, “Do I have enough of a sense of God’s calling and gifting in my life that I crave to make an impact for God’s kingdom on the world around me?” If so, then I will be bothered when the sin or immaturity of others detracts from those opportunities.
However, if that sense of being bothered is “too much,” then it is a strong indication that the kingdom for which I am trying to make an impact is my own instead of God’s (i.e., pride).When I am advancing God’s kingdom, I realize that others being inconsiderate does little to stop the tides of redemptive history. Their actions are like a heckler at a NASCAR race telling the drivers they’re slow; annoying, but inconsequential in the outcome of the race.
So what should an appropriate level of “dislike” be? I think it should be in the range of disappointment—an emotion from which we learn, make minor modifications as possible, and move on. If I miss an opportunity to express God’s gifts because of the rudeness or ignorance of another, I think it is right (morally before God, not just “personal rights”) to be disappointed.
How should I respond to such a disappointment? Learn what I can about how to live more effectively in a broken world with my fellow fallen people. Exert whatever influence can still be beneficial in the original situation. Then move on expecting that God is still active and His purposes will not be thwarted by any human shenanigans.
But how do I recapture the opportunity that was lost? Answer: By responding in a way that makes God’s character known in light of the offense. Humility allows me to see that the opportunity to advance God’s kingdom was not taken away, but transformed. Pride is so committed to magnifying God in its strengths that it missed the opportunity to magnify God in its weakness.
So as I think through Lewis’ question and try to determine, “How bothered is so bothered that it is personal pride rather than godly mission?” The best answer I can create is that offense becomes pride when it distracts me from the next opportunity to serve God, especially with the one who offended me. It is pride that blinds me and humility that gives me eyes to see.
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 1:24 pm. Add a comment
