John's View of Fellowship

In his opening to his first letter to the churches, the Apostle John writes:

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—² that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—³ what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

We church people have always talked a lot about fellowship. We like to hang out, bring (too much) food for a potluck, arrange activities or entertainment to enjoy together. Maybe we fellowship at our church facilities (we have a special room for it), or gather in a home, or even a restaurant or hip coffee shop. And this is appropriate, especially when our hang-outs are centered around gospel conversations and ministry.

But I think that understanding of fellowship is much smaller than John’s – and that of Jesus. John here (and the other apostles) declared the Eternal Son as the source for life. Why? So that OTHERS would by faith in the Son come into fellowship with God and his church. John states that bringing others into this fellowship is what brings joy to the church. And of course, the Son came to bring people into that fellowship. He not only made it possible, but he left those first believers with the mandate to CONTINUE to bring others into it (Mt 28:18-20).

Does your fellowship extend only to your favorite Christian friends? Is it mostly limited to Sundays, and maybe some potlucks? When do we ever move outside our walls – literal and figurative ones – and take joy in drawing new people into fellowship with God and his church? This is the mission with which Christ left us, to continually compel newcomers to the party (Mt 22:1-14, esp. v.9).

Until Christ returns, fellowship is as much about those not yet included as it is about us. Whom can you invite in today?

Promises and God's Goodness

Listening to Christian radio this morning, I heard back-to-back songs with God’s promises as the theme. The lyrics encouraged the listener to hold on to God’s promises, even - or especially - when they seem slow in coming. One line says, “Jesus is alive, so hold on tight; hold on to the promises.”

It occurred to me that one of the most common defeaters to faith, usually referred to as “the problem of evil in the world,” is actually one of the greatest invitations to Christian faith. The supposed problem is the existence of evil (meaning not only malicious personal activity but also just general calamity) in the world, in spite of the claim that God is both absolutely sovereign (powerful) and absolutely good. The Christian apologist knows that many people conclude that a perfectly good and sovereign God must not actually be at least one of those things since a lot of bad stuff happens in the world.

But let us turn that around. Since there is no doubt that evil exists and bad things happen, where can one turn for hope? Oneself? No. We all learn soon enough that we don’t have real power to hold off the chaos of life. Other people? No. We too learn that they are no more powerful nor trustworthy than ourselves. Even collective forces, like social movements or governments all will fail us. No surprise, since they are composed of humans. Many turn to impersonal spiritual forces of mysticism or the multiplicity of deities in other religions. But where is the hope in an impersonal everything or force? Evil still happens. Where is the logic in counting multiple beings as gods, when “god” by definition is the greatest conceivable being (and more, cf. Is 55:9; Job 38-41; Rm 11:33; Col 1:15-17)?

There is only one answer to the desperate need of every human - Jesus Christ. Paul, in Col 1 above establishes that Christ is God, the ultimate creative power who holds everything together. Evil and calamity exist only because God has decreed to allow free will and its consequences - for a time, and somehow for good purposes. There is no other hope but to trust in the all-powerful God, to trust in his goodness and his timing when our suffering seems undeserved. When he seems too passive, or too slow to act - this is when our trust has meaning. He has always proven trustworthy, and we do not have the information he does, no perspective to justify questioning his goodness (see Job’s story, and his response to God in ch.42).

And here’s the kicker. Jesus is not only the all-powerful, perfectly good and trustworthy God. He is also the Son of Man, who himself had to trust God in light of the worst evil of all. No one can teach Jesus a thing or two about abuse or injustice - he took the worst of both. No one has a one-upper story of betrayal on Jesus - he was betrayed by one of his closest, hand-picked friends. He was rejected by his people, his supposed friends, even his own family. No one has ever carried more suffering, or more shame - he carried the shame of ALL mankind’s sin’s, as well as the weight of the wrath of God himself. In all this, he made the simple choice for which he was born into humanity - he trusted God his Father, even to the point of the cross.

And now because of his perfect obedience he is exalted and victorious over all kinds of evil. And this is our hope. If we trust in him, identify with him in death and resurrected life (Rm 6:1-14; 8:1-30), we take on his indestructible life (Heb 7:16; 1 Pt 1:23-25). This is the true hope in the promise of a real future in the hands of the Almighty God.

Jesus is alive, so hold on tight. Hold on to the promises of God for those who love him and are called according to his purposes (Rm 5:8).

Wisdom Personified

Frank Sinatra used to sing an old song, asking for Luck to "be a lady tonight." But way before songwriter Frank Loesser personified luck as a lady, the OT book of Proverbs had introduced us to Lady Wisdom. In this wisdom collection from King Solomon, Lady Wisdom calls out to all: "listen to me" (1:33),  and "respond to my warning" (v.23). A loving father encourages his son that if he listens to wisdom, searches for it like a hidden treasure, he will "understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God" (2:1-5).

I am amazed this morning how evident here in the Proverbs are Christ and the gospel. Biblical theology allows us to make the step from wisdom personified as a lady to wisdom personified in Jesus, the Incarnate Son.

For those who "fear the Lord" (1:7) the response is repentance (1:23, "turn at my reproof" in the ESV). As a result, Wisdom pours out her spirit on the repentant, and teaches them. We in the church age understand this and a related prophecy by Joel were fulfilled by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:4). The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Wisdom that now fills and teaches the believer.

In OT Hebrew listening includes taking action, so the one who listens to wisdom is the one who responds rightly to it. This person "will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger" (1:33). The Christian lives securely in Christ - what would we fear, we who are sheltered from the wrath of God (Rm 8:31-39)?

The Fall is present here, and its reiteration in every rebellious heart ever since: "Because they hated knowledge, didn't choose to fear the Lord, were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction, they will eat the fruit of their way, and be glutted with their own schemes" (1:29-31). Lady Wisdom offers no "hopeful universalism" - there IS at some point an end to Wisdom's appeals: "Then they will call me, but I won't answer; they will search for me, but won't find me" (v.28).

But if the Fall is here, so is the rescue. The Lord who gives wisdom is himself a "shield for those who walk in integrity," who "guard[s] the path of justice and protect[s] the way of his faithful followers" (2:6-8). For those who "trust in the Lord with all [their] heart" and "in all [their] ways know him" he will "make [their] paths straight," bring "healing...and strengthening" (3:5-8). These are all ways we understand that Christ rescues and ultimately restores us through his own righteousness and eternal life.

Wisdom is a "tree of life" (v.18) that points to the Source of life in Christ for the believer. The Apostle John sums up the benefit of the wisdom that is personified in Christ: "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."

The Gospel in Job

I’ve always been intrigued with Job’s story in the Bible, and it is so pertinent for today. Job’s struggle epitomizes man’s struggle with the calamities of a fallen world. It’s one thing to make sense out of bad things happening to bad people, but many people stumble over the reality that bad stuff happens to innocent people.

Job’s friends don’t help much, for they – like Job – are trying to cram God into a closed system where everything goes the way we expect. Those who work hard and follow a godly ethic succeed, showered by nothing but blessings, right? And those who hate and cheat and serve only themselves are frustrated and cursed. But it often does not work that way.

In our most troubled times, we – like Job – tend to come face to face with the ultimate question of trust. Is God really good? Can I really trust him when nothing is going as it seems it should?

Job exposes the reality of our angst. And shows us that God honors our honesty before him. He did not rebuke Job for expressing his frustration or for questioning, but rather for his failure to acknowledge his ignorance (38:1-3). It is for this Job repents (42:1-6). Sooner or later we all recognize our powerlessness. But do we realize our ignorance? God doesn’t answer Job’s “why” questions. He only reminds him of his own absolute power and goodness. That is either enough, or it isn’t. Same for us. In spite of our questions, God is either worthy of our trust, or he isn’t. Only he has all the information. Will we trust him with the parts we cannot know?

And this is where the gospel comes in. When a person comes to realize the need to trust in God, there is still an insurmountable gap. Job lays it out perfectly in ch.9. “[God] destroys both the blameless and the wicked” (v.22). (This takes a human perspective on “blameless”). Of course, we understand none of us is truly blameless (Is 53:6; Rm 3:23). We cannot ignore our condemned state; God will not acquit us, and our attempts to clean ourselves up are futile (Job 9:27-31). Job hits the crux of the matter in vv.32-35: we need an Advocate, an Arbiter, a Mediator, someone who can reconcile us to God. This mediator must be qualified to stand between God and man, to “lay his hand on [both parties].” The NT reveals this Mediator to be Jesus.

Jesus Christ alone is perfectly qualified to stand between God and man, for he himself is fully perfect God and fully perfect man. He is the Person who turns blind, desperate hope into the personal trust placed in someone we can know. Even now, in the Church Age, we know Jesus intimately through his Spirit (Rm 8:9; 1 Cor 2:11-15).

Job squares his answer about trust in 13:15, “Even if he kills me, I will hope in him.” While Job’s ancient theology does not yet fully understand the Christ, he does realize that his mediation must come from God himself, for he says in 16:19, “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.” And in 19:25-6, he says, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.”

The people around us inevitably come to these issues of powerlessness and trust. When we come across someone going through a rough patch like Job, when they sense their need, to what or whom will they reach? Church, we have the only answer for them. They need Jesus. Are we listening for the opportunity? As Peter challenges us in 1 Pt 3:15, will we be prepared to give them the answer of hope?

Doing Good

It's funny how such a famous and practical verse as Micah 6:8 gets completely ignored in our culture, and far too often in our own lives:

Micah 6:8 (ESV)

⁸   He has told you, O man, what is good; 

and what does the Lord require of you 

but to do justice, and to love kindness, 

and to walk humbly with your God?

Pretty simple. You want to do good? (Doing well is another matter.) God has shown us what good looks like. Carry out justice, love kindness (or "mercy" or "loyal love"), and walk humbly with God.

Injustice and abuse are not new. And they are rampant. What is our call? We can't control the systemic abuses of humanity, can we?

It is notable that "you" and "man" are collective singulars in this verse. The call is to mankind ("adam") as a whole. You and I do not act for all mankind - only as individual parts of it - but we do share some responsibility for the actions of our human community. We should be grieved when injustice, meanness, and pride permeate our society, and we should exercise any power God grants us to work against these evil activities.

But isn't it far easier to curse the system, and the frustrating inability to "move the needle" toward good, than it is to carry out justice, kindness, and humility on a PERSONAL level? Do we scream about the evils of our government, our courts, and our society and then personally mistreat our fellow man? Where is our justice, kindness, and humility when we stand opposite a poorly trained barista, a forgetful waiter, or a pre-occupied driver? Or our fellow church member? Or our spouse? Our child? Are we frustrated with an inability to move our own personal needle toward good?

If we acknowledge our shortcomings and remember the gospel, surely we will be better disposed to doing good. For we can only do justice because it was already carried out in Christ, we can only love kindness because it was first poured out on us through Christ, and we can only walk humbly with God through our union with Christ, our Lord. When we fail to do good, let's confess our sin and do good with our next opportunity.

By the way, Micah's call here is the prescribed offering we are to bring in order to worship God. Of all the possible offerings to qualify us for worship, the only acceptable one is v.8. And again, we only have this to offer through Christ. This agrees with Paul's call in Rm 12:1-2. We are to discern "what is good, acceptable and perfect," and then to sacrificially offer ourselves to act on it. That doesn't just prepare us for worship, Paul says it IS worship!

We must respond to this call to do good in gospel order. An old hymn may help us here. It is NOT, "It is well with my soul because I do good." It is rather, "Since it is well with my soul, I will do good." Christ only does good. We are in Christ, and so we should (and can) do good.

Will you?

When the Shoe Fits

I have been frustrated for several years by some trends in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and American pop Christian culture, and now I have put my finger on why. Timing. And discernment. It's not a matter of IF the shoe fits, but rather WHEN the shoe fits.

God has revealed to us everything we need to live godly lives and to honor him faithfully (2 Tm 3:16-17; 2 Pt 1:3). Any Christian would readily affirm that. But do we realize the importance of applying the right truth at the right time, of discerning the situation?

Christian radio stations are filled with songs telling the listener they are loved, they are beautiful, that God wants to prosper them. All true, but these are not always the right messages at the right time. I am aware that these messages are expressed by individuals, or small collaborative groups, who have been inspired to minster to the downcast and abused. Perfectly appropriate. For the downcast and abused.

But when a culture at large feasts on these themes, it throws gasoline on the fire of entitlement, ego, and the prosperity theology. These songs rightly should and do minister to individuals in desperate situations who need encouragement - for them they are much-needed salve in open wounds. But when they are also consumed by people who - especially compared to most other people in the world, and throughout history - are excessively prosperous, lacking no basic needs, and largely self-absorbed, the message transforms from medicine to recreational drug.

We act as though our big problem is that we have it so rough. Really? Is that our big problem?

I am afraid we have gravitated toward the types of messages given through the OT prophets to reassure the broken-down remnant of God's people, or those of the NT epistles meant to encourage the persecuted church of the 1st century. But we are more like the church of Laodicea : "[we] say, 'I'm rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,' and [we] don't realize that [we] are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked'" (Rv 3:17). There are many individuals who truly do need positive, encouraging truth, but maybe as a culture we are the spoiled child who needs the message of rebuke and correction that leads to repentance.

The difficulty of the situation is that promoters are motivated to push content that is positive and uplifting because, frankly, that is what sells. But the impetus is on the consumer to discern whether and how to apply the messages to their own lives. Many do not. And since there is little balance - to include themes of confession of sin and repentance, of dependance upon God, of idolatry, of service  - the indiscriminate often become adherents to false gospels.

We are like evangelists who passionately deliver well-rehearsed speeches without ever asking one question of the hearer; like doctors who prescribe without doing any examination or acquiring a list of symptoms; like judges who make pronouncements without hearing any testimonies of the facts.

And here is the crux of the problem. Truth is to be spoken in love (Eph 4:15). That requires a conversation, a dialogue. We don't do enough of that anymore. We offer flip-flops to the ranch hand, high heels to the nurse, designer dress shoes to the courier - the shoes don't fit.

For the truly abused and downcast, by all means we must deliver the message of hope and life in Christ. But for those who think "abuse" is getting the wrong coffee from the barista, or a property tax increase on a half-million-dollar home, or a rate hike on a credit card - for those of us perhaps a different truth is more timely. Perhaps the shoe of contentment, or of stewardship, or of serving others. Perhaps we need to try the shoe of "redeeming the time."

For myself, somedays I really DO need to hear "you are loved, you have value, God wants to bless you." But most days I need different shoes, like "to whom much is given, much is required."

And for our culture AT LARGE, I am afraid we are often peddling the wrong shoes. I suppose this makes it that much more important that we, the church, and as individuals engage in real conversations with people, so we can draw from the whole counsel of God and offer people shoes that fit.

(By the way, shoes that fit perfectly can be uncomfortable until they are broken in.)

Truths from a Tracker

We changed insurance companies recently, and, naturally, we want to pay the cheapest rates possible. So, we enrolled in a 90-day evaluation where we installed devices in our vehicles to track our driving habits. Good habits = rate reduction (up to 30%!). Bad habits…well, we get 5% off just for participating.

A few weeks in, I have realized two truths about these devices, and they say a lot about our need for a personal Savior.

First, I can’t wait for the 90 days to be over so that if I feel like mashing my accelerator there will be no penalty (well, if I’m careful). This is the “law” of the device revealing my depravity (okay, that is an overstatement, but you get the drift). If I am prone to the dangerous – or in some cases illegal – habits of “lighting it up” or “power braking” or the like, then the device will reveal that activity, and that tendency. This is pretty much Paul’s point in Romans 7:7-25. God’s law was given to function like my truck’s tracking device – it tells it like it is, comparing my behaviors and exposing my desires in relation to a set standard.

God’s law is more demanding and more effective, though. If I have too many “hits” on my truck’s tracker, I will lose deductions on my insurance – but I will still have my insurance. But when I get one “hit” on God’s tracker, I am disqualified altogether: James 2:10 (ESV) “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

So, my first tracker truth is this: the law is only going to condemn me.

Well, to give myself some credit, I HAVE thus far managed to resist the temptation to drive recklessly. And I’m pretty confident I can make it through the 90 days without giving in to my impulses – I want that discount!

But that doesn’t mean we haven’t been flagged with any hits – we have. And this has shown me the other truth. Last we checked, we had 3 hits for hard braking. Well, okay those are all on ME – my wife hasn’t had ANY so far. But, I am being unjustly accused of recklessness! In all 3 cases my hard braking was because of traffic lights turning yellow just before I reached the intersection. I stand to be penalized for my efforts to OBEY the law, because the tracker simply records limited data. It only knows that I braked hard, but it does not understand the circumstances, nor can it make any judgment about whether my actions were justified. I would need a person for that. If our agent was in the car with me in those 3 events, he would be able to say, “Oh, don’t worry about that flag. I know you weren’t being reckless, but were actually doing the right thing.”

So, too, when it comes to my eternal destiny, I need something GREATER than a law that can only condemn. I need a Person who can save. Someone who has ALL the information, who is always in the car with me. Someone who is just, but also Someone who is gracious. The law does what it is supposed to, but I need something more. I need a Person.

And that is my second tracker truth: I need a Person to save me.

Of course, the analogy falls short here. For God’s righteousness does not allow him to explain away my hits – not even one “flag.” He knows what is right, and he knows everything, and it turns out that all of my failures in life are legitimately wrongdoing on my part. But in his perfect love and abounding grace, he has replaced my “data” with his own: the perfect record of his Son, Jesus Christ. I stand qualified. This is Paul’s point in Romans 8:1-11. Now, THAT’S insurance! We usually call it “eternal security.”

And if you understand I am looking forward to the end of this 90-day evaluation, imagine how great it will be when I come to the end of this life and see my Savior face-to-face! The law will help you realize who you really are, but make sure you have something greater, that you have a personal Savior.