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 he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” –Matthew 5:45b

While it is patently obvious this passage is in scripture to emphasize true Godly love, I want to meditate for a while about a fish named Elijah.  My daughter gave this Beta-Fish that name when we first hung him in a sconce on our wall.  It turns out that his name seems to fit his fiery personality.

Almost every night when I feed Elijah, he flares his gills out at me as if I were an enemy to intimidate, rather than a hand that feeds.  No matter how much care my wife or I give him, whether that be feeding him or cleaning his water, he responds with the same fear every time.  He has failed to recognize that we are his line to life, without our nurture and care he would cease to be.  Yet in spite of all his spite, I feed him anyway…

Every single human being is a recipient of the love of God in some fashion, while Christians alone are uniquely capable of appropriating and maximizing this love, many people are just like little Elijah.  With every blessing He pours down upon them, they return his love with a sneer, a cynical attitude, an excuse to deny his goodness.  They see him as an invasion, and a threat to their personal hegemony.

I guess the only way (supposing there was a way a fish could understand like a man) I could get Elijah to not see me as a threat, would to be born into his world…wash his fins as he slaughtered me for invading his aquatic domicile, and forgive him as he did it.  Still there would be the risk that he would feel vindicated for killing me in spite of all the food, cleansing, humility, kindness, servitude, and even the promise of resurrection I offered him.

“For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more, being reconciled we shall be saved by his life.” –Romans 5:10

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.

Situational ethics, modernism, and pluralism have infiltrated the mindsets of many who call themselves believers in Jesus Christ.  These mentalities are massive roadblocks to true biblical discernment.  If we approach the word of God predetermined to these mentalities, we will never pass through the gates of truth.  Ever they will elude us, and ever we will meander down dank pathways.

One of these pathways is paved with the word, “Massive Multiplayer Online Gaming (MMOG.)”  For years I had an addiction to this false reality, and for two years I have been praying about why it is that I am supposed to take a stand against it, and expose this darkness to the light of God’s word.

I was kept in darkness for years about this issue because I did not come to God’s word with an honest heart about it.  I placed my hands over my ears and eyes by claiming that since the Bible does not explicitly talk about entertainment like MMOG’s that I was vindicated from biblical accountability.  (As a word to the wise, you will never find any light or truth in the word of God about yourself and your circumstances if you have a prideful heart like I did.)

After fellowshipping with a dear brother in Christ today I knew it was time I finally get this off my chest and onto my hard drive.  MMOG’s operate on probably the single most cunning principle, which keeps young men (and even increasingly young women) by the droves, coming back day after day, week after week, ad infinitum to an unreal world.

This singular principle governs probably every single MMOG on the market.  I am sure I would be challenged to find even one that does not, whether it is Eve Online, World of Warcraft, or Guild Wars…or any number of others has, in the kernel of their design, a central hub of operation known as covetousness.

How is this so?  Every single decision you make within these false realities is dictated by how it will benefit you or your “avatar,” or your brood/collective of avatar friends.  Each one of these people shed whom they are in the flesh to take upon themselves a digital alter-ego, and run a nearly galactic rat race to get ahead of all competition through gaining 1.) unreal money which allows for the purchase of character modifications, and 2.) unreal character attribute upgrades.  Both of these principles of covetousness are governed by two other principles, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  Each upgrade or modification (mod) is more attractive to the eyes than the last was, and every attribute upgrade which applies to the avatar itself appeals to the pride of life, as the false character becomes increasingly more powerful.

So covetousness works through the lust of the eyes and the pride of life; however, these are just foundational concepts, not necessarily the fruit reaped.  Rather, it is with raging frequency that one will find ensconced within the social structure of MMOG’s an endless trail of enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, (believe it or not you can actually get your avatar drunk in many games) sexual immorality, impurity and sensuality, and if it were possible, orgies, (often imitated through raucous gesticulating) and certainly last but particularly most common…sorceries.  These happen to be listed in Galatians 5:20 as the “works of the flesh,” which Paul warns that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  So the game itself subjects you to the principalities of the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…and those two principles manifest themselves through each person’s avatar toward every other avatar as the lust of the flesh.

James 4:6 says that “He (God) giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.”  Pride is the one element which grace cannot penetrate.  One must become humble to see the application of this truth from the word of God.  On bended knee admit your digital sin; confess that Christ Jesus the son came to deliver you from your sin, to set you free from your unreal captivity (Luke 4:18.)  If we do not repent of this we may just find ourselves gaining an unreal world, yet losing a very real soul. Do not let the principality of pluralism tell you that these things are OK because it is a gray area in scripture, or that you have the “liberty.”  Though on the outset MMORG’s may seem innocuous, I would remind you that the whole of creation was subjected to its current tyranny and slavery to sin through the fear of death, (Hebrews 2:15) by one simple bite of a seemingly innocuous piece of fruit…fruit that tasted like godhood!

It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, . . . But ye shall receive power . . . and ye shall be witnesses . . .  Acts 1:7-8

At the induction of the church age Christ clearly instructs the disciples that it is not for them to know the times and the seasons (Eschatology) but their job is to be his witnesses, to spread the gospel.  In light of this knowledge is it not ironic that the church completely disobeys His command?  We are addicted to prophesy and fascinated by the signs of the times, but apathetic concerning the gospel.

Why do we behave this way?  We flagrantly disregard our commission while simultaneously obsessing about things that are not for us to know.  Why do we love knowledge so much?  Do we so easily forget which tree was behind our first parents fall?

There seems to be some strange mix of sloth and curiosity at work in the church today.  We do not want to spread a message of hope to a dieing world, no, we would rather spend years reading mainly Daniel and Revelation, then sifting through news clippings trying to deduce the identity of the Antichrist.  We really need to heed Jesus’ warning.  Don’t obsess over prophesy at the expense of everything else, study it yes, but devote your life to the gospel.

The scripture tells of no crown awaiting the man who correctly interprets Daniel’s 70 weeks, but plenteous rewards for the man who wins souls.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  I Corinthians 5:17-18

It is not from the depths of the grave
Underneath deaths deep black wave
Nor is it from Golgotha’s bleak skull hill
Where the Lord our King directs his Father’s will

Neither between ancient olive trees
Where he does dispense the Spirits breeze
It is not with sweat, blood and why’s
Knees wet, knees bent, with agonizing cries…

It is not from the temple mount
Whip in hand with his furious shouts
Tables turned, he drew a very thick line
Where He challenged religions thieving paradigm

Nor is it from the churning ocean
Where a disciple expressed such shocking devotion
Where the storm did rage and shook his faith
As eyes turned down to an ebon aqueous fate

His voice does no longer on Tiberius resound
Where waylaid sheep once lost were soon found
Where the same man who had sunk before
Now plunged in and made for the shore

Having halted the hands of a tax taking man
He called him surely and asserted His plans
What greater glory and what greater grace
Those hands would later record what took place

He was buried down deep in the dark of the earth
After the death he died to display all God’s worth
Taking the wrath of His Father Jehovah
A lamb beneath the righteous super-nova

Rather He reigns from the place that is best
Where he resides is within His deserved rest
Having won and having crushed, the power of sin and death
He bequeaths to us His Holy Spirit breath

Now he can make the earth His footstool
To deny Him his due, is to be a ripe fool
A branch dead shriveled plucked as a brand
To be cast into the fire, by His very hand.

We don’t have a King whom hasn’t been tempted
By this we know that we are not exempted
To labor for that which you might have guessed
Labor therefore to enter His rest…

-Jeremiah Dusenberry

I have come to the conclusion that we have the concept of success all wrong.  Which could be defined as the ability to reach a said goal.  In the West we may  understand the definition of success, but not the measure of it.  Though we may have the concept right, we have the goal wrong.  In America our goals are things like home ownership, retirement, or attaining happiness.  But our time-line is far too short, and our perspective is far too close, to know what our goals really ought to be, or where true success really lies.

Since it is before God that we will be judged we need to measure ourselves by His standards.  His value system is far different form ours because He is far different from us, “For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” 1 God is all good, all powerful, and all knowing.  He measures us by our faith, which is seen in how closely we’ve followed his commands.  Jesus told us the greatest commandment is  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 2 These should be our two primary success gauges; how we respond to God, and how we treat people.  If we are failing in these area’s we are failures no matter how much money we have or how high we’ve climbed our career ladder.  So we ought to calibrate our gauges well.

Are we loving God with all our heart, or with lip-service?  Are we loving him with all our soul, our favorite activities and pastimes focused on him?  Are we loving him with all our mind; is our thought life focused on sports, sex, or God?  Do we love him with all our strength?  How much effort are we putting into establishing His kingdom.

Do we value our spouse and treating them as God commands?  Are we raising up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?  Are we being faithful employees?  Are we helping others practically, and not just saying “God bless you”?  These are the standards by which our “success” will be judged, and we ignore them at our own peril.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”  Joshua 1:8

1. Isaiah 55:9

2. Luke 10:27

His life was a tumultuous tapestry woven with the warp and woof of spiritual low-lights and physical high-lights.  His exploits can disgust us, and at the same time, offer hope of eternal salvation.  He was a man who sinned hard, but to the degree that he did so…I think he repented even harder.   For some reason, this passionate king was given probably more insight toward the hope of resurrection than anyone before him.  If he was not given more insight, he certainly saw it with profound clarity.

Post Nathan’s parable to David, we see that God tells David that the son of his sin with Bathsheba will not live. _{(II Samuel 12 & 13)} The depths of David’s sins with Bathsheba then become eclipsed by the gravity of his repentance.  For seven days he fasted, roaring on the ground, held down to the earth making mud with his tears, sapping his body of moisture until it was as the drought of summer (Psalm 32:4.)  This…is repentance.  It was not a show, it was not monastic piety, evidently this man understood the earthy roots of repentance.

When David’s attendants asked why he stopped mourning as soon as the child was announced dead, David responds almost cryptically, “…But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast?  Can I bring him back again?  I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”  _{(II Samuel 12:23)}

Is it a coincidence that David gets a glimpse of the idea of resurrection right after a prolonged period of deep repentance?  Is it possible that God revealed this to him during all of his roaring?  I am not sure it was during this occasion, but David wrote another Psalm where he most certainly saw prophetically the clearest Old Testament prophecy concerning the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” _{(Psalm 16:8-11)}

It is here that David is given the knowledge that he will not stay in hell after he dies, and neither will the Holy One see corruption.  This is an obvious reference to Jesus being raised from the dead, and is quoted by Paul in Acts 13:35, and confirmed as a prophecy fulfilled by the Christ.

What is the point?  The resurrection was clearly prophesied, yet the prophecy is veiled in a Psalm that I imagine would have been difficult to decipher its meaning prior to the Messiah actually accomplishing it.  Secondly, there is a synergy between repentance and resurrection.  For the moment I am making a tentative connection between resurrection and repentance, we will lock this idea down with steel jaws later on.  But just as prophecy is tentative, until the fulfillment of the prophecy locks down the impact of its prediction, so also we will soon begin gleaning the locked down measure of the fullness of Christ’s resurrection power.

A few other passages where David sees Resurrection is:

Psalm 17:15, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, (more than likely from the grave) with thy likeness.”

Psalm 49:15, “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: (hades) for he shall receive me.”