The New Bereans

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…”

–Romans 12:6

Something has been churning around in my gut for the past couple of weeks and it just won’t go away.  So I concluded I ought to put it down on paper.  It all centers on the word gift, and the difference between a gift I give to another person, (for Christmas or whatever) and the gifts God gives to human beings.  Although the same word is used in both instances the meanings are vastly different.

If I were to give you a gift for your birthday, say a toaster, after you opened it you may do what you want with it;  you could use it to toast bread, or as a paperweight, you could give it away, or even sell it to someone who needs a toaster.  As the giver I hope you would use it and enjoy it forever, but after you’ve taken possession of it…my say in the matter is over.  In our culture we resent those who try to give with strings attached, or even worse try to reclaim their gift.

Now when God gives someone a gift it is never meant to be hoarded, but invested in the way he sees fit, the parables of Jesus bear this out repeatedly.  The master gives a gift then checks up on the receiver to see what he has done with what he has been given.  A gift from him is never some bobble to play with, rather, it is a battle to fight, a mission to fulfill, or a quest to undertake.  In the verse before us relating to spiritual gifts one could even say that God is not really giving gifts to individuals, he is giving gifts through individuals for the benefit of the body, and the lost.

What I’m getting at could really be summed up in one word, responsibility.  We will be held accountable not only for every great deed, but every single word.  We must never forget that the things he has given us are not ours to play with, but his to faithfully use for his own benefit.

Artwork: The Nation Makers by Howard Pyle

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1:6

The way of the ungodly is likely one of the most misunderstood concepts in all of scripture, at least it was for me.  When I read the phrase “the way of the ungodly” I instantly pictured a bunch of satanists and serial killers, people completely debased and voluntarily given over to Satan.  But I now conclude that I was mistaken.  Are satanists and serial killers ungodly? Absolutely, but their is a whole spectrum of ungodliness and they are at the extreme end.  To be ungodly is to be unlike God to have a style of life which is not conformed to his, to resist him.  On this spectrum one side has the completely debased, and the other has a group of moral yet ungodly people, with an infinite amount of gray in the middle.

Now the moral yet ungodly people can be hard to notice, they are respectable, hardworking, and often religious.  They are charitable,  and friendly yet they are refusing to conform to the way’s of God, and are doing things their own way.  They may seem to have it all together and even publicly proclaim their faith, yet in their heart they are not submitted to Christ.  I think that is why Jesus used a broad path to describe the way the multitudes traveled hellward.  Marylin Manson, and Warren Buffet could be headed down the exact same road but be so far apart width wise that one cannot see the other.

The question we must all answer is this . . . “How do I know which path I am on?”  The answer is quite simple really, it doesn’t take a whole book, a whole page, a whole paragraph, or even a whole sentence to answer; one word divides the 2 pathways “Lord”.  If Jesus Christ is your Lord and master you are headed in the right direction, if not, then no matter how impressive your good deeds may seem you are headed for judgment.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 111:10

“The fear of man bringeth a snare.” Proverbs 29:25

Though we may deny it every one of us is, at any given point living in fear.  The question is not, “Are you afraid?”  The question is rather, “Who do you fear?”  Scripture addresses these two fears, the one that is default, and the one that is supernatural.  “The fear of the Lord,” we are repeatedly told, is the origination point of all wisdom.  Anything claiming to be wisdom which sets itself against God and the fear of him is actually the antithesis of what it claims to be.  The fear of the Lord is the one fear we need to embrace!

In opposition to this is another type of fear altogether, “The fear of man” which we are told “bringeth a snare.”  This type of fear trips you up unexpectedly and then imprisons you forcefully, something none of us would want; but here’s the amazing thing, we frequently choose to live in this type of fear while rejecting the fear of the Lord at the very same time.

Scripture is saturated with tales of the fear of man ensnaring and imprisoning men under its iron fisted tyranny.  From Aaron’s beloved golden calf to Pontius Pilate knowingly condemning the only innocent man who ever lived; Gideon’s Ephod, Peter’s denial of Christ, Paul’s imprisonment…the list goes on and on.  Can any one of us examine our own lives and find good fruit from this twisted tree?

The fear of the Lord will always lead to good and the fear of man will always lead to sin.  We need to realize the fear of man isn’t a bad habit we need to cut back on, it is a sin we must repent of if we ever want to live an abundant life. For the man who trembles before God will never grovel before men!

Painting is, “The Fowlers Snare” by Melody Hogan

Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death.  Matthew 26:59

This verse is one of many which, by being familiar, we fail to notice the extraordinary content therein.  What do I mean?  Just this, the Sanhedrin needed somebody to falsely testify against Jesus in order to put him to death.  Well…you may ask, what’s the big deal about that?  Of course they would need someone to lie about him in order to get him killed.

The fascinating thing about this situation is not what they needed (false witnesses), rather it is that not one of them was willing to do it.  They wanted him dead more than anything, but none of them was willing to lie about him.  Why?  As community pillars their word would have been accepted.  So why wouldn’t one of them step up to the plate?  The answer may shock you, none of them would testify against him because they were unwilling to sin.

They had to dig up some false witnesses against him in order to avoid breaking the law.  The third commandment clearly states, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”  Ex. 20:16 They refused to bear false witness because it was sinful.  Their theology forbade them from lying but did allow them to hire someone to lie for them; forbade them from putting blood money into the treasury but allowed them to pay blood money to Judas; forbade them from going into Pilate’s Palace before the Sabbath but allowed them to conspire and carry out Christ’s murder at the very same location.  The false dichotomy they created was rather stupendous.

In other words, bad theology has consequences.  If it allows us to sin in certain prescribed ways but forbids us from sinning in other ways, our theology has to go.  We must not find ways to explain away the clear teaching of scripture when it stops us from sinning as we wish.  When we tailor our theology to allow us to do whatever we want, and forbid only the things we didn’t want to do anyway, we have created an idol, one which will only crucify the Son of God afresh.

Artwork: N. C. Wyeth, The Parable of the Fig Tree

“I’ve heard that before,” or “I already know that,” are frequent complaints directed to young preachers, if interpreted wrongly, such laments have the potential to damage him greatly. These erroneous comments imply that preaching is a form of mere entertainment designed to keep the hearers attention through freshness and relevance. But if the preacher and “church” are only scant entertainment, then the point of preaching has been utterly missed. In Paul’s exhortation to young pastor Timothy he reveals what the true purpose of preaching is

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

II Timothy 4:1-4

The job of the preacher is to preach the word! Not his own thoughts, ideas, opinions nor the latest avant garde heresy. He is not there to entertain, he is there to confront and correct. A much better picture is to view the preacher as a fitness instructor and the people as his class, they all have varied degrees of physical fitness but they all benefit from the exercise. So too with the preaching of the word (provided the preacher is not some godless heretic) every Christian can benefit from hearing the foundational truth’s of scripture addressed repetitiously.

Now, let us consider the critical comments at the beginning from our new point of reference…the Word. Who, in an exercise class, would be likely to object: “I’ve heard about a jumping jack before”, or “I already know about push-ups, they’re boring?” You would likely hear these objections from the pasty overweight gentleman in the back, who lives in his mother’s basement and invests most of his free time into his level 72 death troll on World of Warcraft.

There is much that physical and spiritual fitness have in common. Just as those who desire to be physically fit do not despise the lowly push-up; those who desire to be spiritually fit do not despise repetitive sermons regarding fundamental Christian truths. Here is the hinge on which the entire argument turns; such complaints do not reveal a problem in the preacher, but a  problem in the recipient . . . a hard and calloused heart.  Itching ears which desire to be scratched by the latest thing or newest “truth” do not indicate great spirituality but great carnality.

“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. Luke 7:24-26

I find an irony in Christ’s description of John the Baptist, reminding me so much of our day. People desperately need a fresh word from the Lord, desperately need a prophet, yet they often reject them, because unlike the shaking reed they are insensitive, and unlike the nicely dressed, cultured, refined men of the court, they are uncouth or plainly dressed. People want a sensitive, tolerant, refined prophet of the Lord, but they will never find one for such a creature does not exist.

What does desiring this flavor of prophet say about us, and why won’t we find him? The question is valid. Why do we want Oprah friendly prophets? We want them because we don’t want to offend anyone. Being closed-minded is nearly equivalent to murder, and intolerance to child molestation. We want divine guidance and exhortation to do things which even the hedonists, feminists, and communists will applaud. We want our prophets to injure, “Thus saith the Lord . . . be nice.” or “Thus saith the Lord . . . Recycle.”

But this friendly prophet mentality completely misses the point of the prophet’s job. The prophets’ job is not to attach God’s name to whatever is culturally acceptable, the prophet’s job is to confront society’s accepted sins and anger nearly everyone in the process. According to no less than Jesus Christ a false prophet is one whom “all men speak well of” A politically correct prophet of God will not exist because a politically correct prophet of God cannot exist! The Prophet is an emissary from a perfect and perfectly immovable God who enforces laws so righteous that no one else can possibly keep them. The only refuge from his wrath is to commit yourself to His son, be bathed in His blood, and cry out for His mercy. Any emissary for this God will declare a message guaranteed to bring hatred, slander, and often death upon himself.  After all the greatest prophet whom ever lived said to his unconverted brothers that, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” This prophet’s name was Jesus…

Now do you see why we don’t accept this type of prophet? Here’s the dilemma, we want a prophet but godly prophets make us look narrow minded and un-cool. What are we to do? The frequent solution to this dilemma is what truly frightens me. Knowing that a true prophet will hurt our reputation but wanting a prophet nonetheless we accept a different sort of prophet altogether, one who will never offend, never challenge, and always affirm. In other words . . . a false prophet.

Something is wrong with the Church today

The Emperor has no clothes

Consultants and Authors make really great pay

The Emperor has no clothes

Psychologists  many, Prophets not one

The Emperor has no clothes

Die to self?  No!  We want to have fun

The Emperor has no clothes

Our books piled up till they reach the sky

Guys in eyeliner sing  praise songs real high

But our fruit is all rotten, and no one cares why

The Emperor has no clothes

. . . You have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Matthew 15:6

Why do so many modern Christians formulate their doctrines about conversion by completely ignoring Jesus’ teachings on the subject? He said entering the Kingdom was “difficult”, we say “it’s easy”. He warned us to “count the cost,” we push, cajole and manipulate anyone with sweating palms or an increased pulse to “receive Christ,” and thereby inflate the value of the currency in the economy of heaven.  He warned that it would cost us everything; and we act like it will cost us nothing. Is a five minute long, four step message, comprised of John 3:16 and a peppering of verses from Paul’s epistles really The Gospel?

Working in a nursing home, I regularly spend time with the dead and dying. I was thoroughly converted before I began working there, yet it has had a huge impact on the way I live my life day by day. Considering ones death, can give you wisdom in life. After all, how can you know which path to take, if you don’t even know where you’re going? Living like a demon does not make one a saint, any more than swimming through sewage teaches you to fly!

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, . . . Jesus Christ . . . gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14

In the above verses we are instructed that Christ’s end in dying for us was to make us a purified, good-work performing people; and Paul exhorted us to deny our ungodly lusts so that we can live self controlled, upright, and Godly lives. And we are told that God’s will for our justification, is not to live a sinful life in order to show how good grace is, rather, it is to live a godly life, in order to show the world what God is like! Do you get it? To the thinking Christian one thing should be obvious, by commanding us to live like this; we know it is possible for us, and expected of us.  It has been said, and it bears repeating, “Gods commandments are his enablements.” 1

So where do we want to end up? Our lives don’t end at death, our bodies temporarily stop there, but our life goes on. Our time-line passes through death and turns one of two directions. Which destination do we wish to arrive at?  I am frightened for many, by their continual purposeful indulgence in the flesh, followed by a proclamation of “It’s all grace bro.” I can see no honest way of untangling Christ’s extensive teachings on the requirements of discipleship from salvation. I could be wrong, maybe God wants us to live carnal lives in order to showcase his grace: But if I’m correct and Jesus’ commands are meant to be obeyed, many will say to him on that day, “let me in” only to hear “I never knew you, depart from me.” And like the sons of Korah they will see the dark maw of hell open underneath them and consume them into the fiery darkness and blackness forever!

1. Unknown

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then haughtiness or ambivalence towards Him is nothing less than the end of wisdom; a headlong dive into the blackened well of chaos and destruction.  An attitude and lifestyle of ambivalence is to be expected in the world for sure, but it’s prevalence in “the church” today is disturbing.   We have an abundance of adultery, idolatry, and carnality throughout the body of Christ; this is not completely new, Christians have always struggled with sin, but what is disturbing, is the acceptance and defense of it from within, when anyone points to the clear teaching of scripture on such matters they are ridiculed as a legalist, a Pharisee, or a hypocrite.

Many in “the Church” do not fear the Lord.  God is imagined as some mild and tolerant Mr. Rogers-like deity, a milquetoast messiah.   He just wants people to say a short prayer, so that they can start living their best life now.  And he’s really bummed when people don’t love him back.  The idea that we are called to walk a narrow difficult path, and obey the commands of Jesus as our master, seems strange and revolting to them.

The problem is this; many “Christians” have not grasped the fear of the Lord as a concept, let alone a lifestyle.  This may be a symptom of unbelief, or the fruit of poor theology, either way it is a festering sore on the Body of Christ.  No matter what has caused this terrible cancer, the cure is the same, Faith and Repentance.   Faith: believing what Christ has declared and committing your life to him, and Repentance: turning from your sinful path and following Jesus Christ. The proper fear of the Lord will set much right in our own individual lives, and the church as a whole, but apathy and rebellion will only continue our downward spiral.