Foolishness Without God

Yesterday I read a meme which contained a quote I have seen attributed to the stoic Seneca:  "The wise man is neither raised up by prosperity nor cast down by adversity; for always he has striven to rely predominantly on himself, and to derive all joy from himself."  What was intended to be a "mic-drop" quote fell flat with a whimper, for this reeks of the wisdom of man which is foolishness with God.  Words are not true or insightful because they were recorded from ancient times but because they agree with God who is our Wisdom and words God has spoken.  This empty philosophy is completely without footing, a humanist ideal which fails entirely because it depends upon the strength of mortal, flawed men.

A careful read of this statement reveals it to be self-defeating and contradictory.  Because men are continually raised up by prosperity and cast down by adversity it could be truly said there is not a wise man among us.  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom," said wise King Solomon in Proverbs 9:10.  According to Seneca, the wise always strives to rely predominately on himself.  Though a man may strive he cannot always be successful to achieve his aims.  It is amusing a man relies "predominantly" on himself which shows reliance upon others is a necessary admission.  Men are not born but are raised, and there is not a male infant from birth who did not completely rely upon others for his survival to grow to be a man.  In total contrast to the claim of Seneca, the Bible teaches the wise wholly rely on the LORD in faith, hearing the words of Jesus and doing them.  A man who strives to rely upon himself is a pitiful substitute for the living God who created him.

Seneca says the wise always strives to "derive all joy from himself."  The massive problem with this approach is man is not capable of producing genuine joy which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  Feelings of happiness often depend on what happens, not because our hearts are themselves a natural spring of joy for us to tap into.  Positive may our personalities be, but this is a thin veneer over immeasurable emptiness within our souls.  Physically man is a finite creature of limitations:  our lifespan is measured by years, height by millimetres, and weight by kilograms.  What can be measured has an end.  We can have every need met yet remain devoid of the joy we seek.  Even if joy was to be derived from us, it would have a sure end.  Nehemiah told people sorrowing for sin to celebrate their understanding of God's law because "...The joy of the LORD is your strength." (Neh. 8:10)  People who felt sharp pangs of guilt were able to rejoice because in faith they trusted and obeyed God who strengthened them to do so.  Joy has everything to do with the goodness of God who does not change when we know He knows and loves us.  Joy is not derived from self but a gift from God.

There is no doubt Seneca was a very intelligent man, yet the most learned are not necessarily wise.  God is the only One qualified to define and determine this.  Paul was a contemporary of Seneca who conversed with philosophers often.  In contrast to the claim of Seneca, Paul wrote inspired by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 3:18-23, "Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness"; ²⁰ and again, "The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." ²¹ Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come--all are yours. ²³ And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."  A philosophy which accounts for man's efforts but not for the one true God is most empty and futile indeed.

Love Trumps Social Justice

God's ways are higher and better than man's ways.  All God made is good, but men lose the plot by going their own way.  It seems like these days the push for "social justice" and "equality" has been frenetic.  Many people feel their "rights" are being trampled through government overreach and a lack of representation.  There appears to be an overweening sense of entitlement among people which is being expressed through protests, rallies, and proposed legislation (and pushing back against said legislation).

I saw a sign the other day which read, "Equality is a right."  I cannot agree with this statement wholesale (as catchy and popular as it might be), because the truth of it depends upon the context.  First of all, this view can only be sustained by acknowledging God's existence and rule as the United States "Declaration of Independence" states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  Based on scripture I believe the chief unalienable rights of people God has created are the knowledge of God and eternal life through Jesus Christ.  Life, liberty, and happiness are only realised through being born again and experiencing spiritual regeneration.  Things which used to be "self-evident" have today been overthrown in a sea of subjectivity.  Maybe there was a day when people believed they had a Creator, but most today do not acknowledge or live in light of this biblical truth.

All men are created equal by God, but all would agree not everyone's station in this life are equal.  God has given authority to kings and governments to make and enforce laws their subjects are to submit to, the roles of a husband and wife are distinguished by God who ordained marriage, and children are responsible before God to honour their father and mother.  When God no longer has the right to command and rule, men have nothing besides natural law which ultimately degrades into lawlessness and anarchy where all do what is right in their own eyes.  If "equality" is a right provided at random by the cosmos, there is nothing which distinguishes the nature of a monkey from a man or the authority of a child from the Prime Minister.  The great leveller of mankind is the ultimate judgment of God when all people will stand before Him and give an account for their lives.  Naked we are born, and naked we go to our graves.  People will be separated by God even as a shepherd distinguishes sheep from goats.  Even then there will be varying degrees of responsibility people have based upon their knowledge.  The punishment of the wicked will have levels of severity, even as only some of those deemed righteous through faith will receive a full reward.  No one has the right to eternal life, but God gives freely to those who meet His conditions.

Here is the point of this rambling:  social justice and human rights ought not to be the battle cry or aim of the church, but our lives should proclaim grace and love for all.  Social justice focuses on the marginalised people, those viewed as the minority, and the poor.  The Bible says we ought to help the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger.  Our motivation for doing so is not their intrinsic human rights, but because we have freely received life and love and extend it to others in joyful obedience to God.  It is all of grace, not of perceived worthiness.  Jesus did not come to earth to save us because we lacked social justice - if God gave us justice we would rightly be destroyed forever!  Jesus came as a revelation of God's love for us which does not depend upon our ethnicity, sex, age, or "good" performance.  He died unjustly on a cross so God's justice would be satisfied and we could receive the free gift of salvation when we repent and trust in Him.  The Gospel has been freely offered to all by God's grace, and we too ought to show love, compassion, mercy, grace to all people, regardless of their social status.

When we are born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, and are obedient to God's leading, our good relationship with God will affect others in this world positively.  We can experience life, liberty, and joy through knowledge and obedience to Christ we can share with others.  Free from the shackles of humanism we can meet practical needs without strings attached, sharing God's love from a pure heart.  The world's concepts of love and justice are broken, but we who have been made whole have been set apart by God as His ambassadors so all might taste and see God is good.  

The Good Old Way

I've enjoyed reading through G.K. Chesterton's What's Wrong with the World, and because the nature of humanity has not changed he remains insightful and strangely prophetic.  Chesterton was able, with eloquence and humorous poise, to point out inconsistent folly in his day which has continued unabated until now.  I see no reason why these observations will not remain relevant for another hundred years - or until we start actually learning from our mistakes.

One of the paragraphs I have turned back to a couple of times concerns a modern approach to education, one that was on display during the life of Chesterton and I have also observed myself.  There is a push in an effort to "save the children" to inject new and virtually unproved methods and programs to benefit students.  Recent examples of this are "Common Core" curriculum pushed through in the United States and the ridiculous "Safe Schools" program in Australia.  It seems many schools and governments which fund them have a different vision from the educational system which produced their minds.  It seems like philosophies concerning education can overrule practical reading, writing, and arithmetic, even as the Chairman's "Great Leap Forward" was a self-inflicted catastrophe.  What students write about and how they express themselves seems more important these days than actually knowing how to write and communicate effectively.  The ever-elusive lure of using compulsory education to shape the minds of others into one agreeable with our own is as strong as ever.

Consider the musings of Chesterton on the subject:

"Now most modern freedom is at root fear.  It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.  And Mr. Shaw and such people are especially shrinking from that awful and ancestral responsibility to which our fathers committed us when they took the wild step of becoming men.  I mean the responsibility of affirming the truth of our human tradition and handing it on with a voice of authority, an unshaken voice.  That is the one eternal education; to be sure enough that something is truth that you dare to tell it to a child.  From this high audacious duty the moderns are fleeing on every side; and the only excuse for them is, (of course,) that their modern philosophies are so half-baked and hypothetical that they cannot convince themselves enough to convince even a newborn babe.  This, of course, is connected with the decay of democracy; and is somewhat  of a separate subject...The trouble in too many of our modern schools is that the State, being controlled so specially by the few, allows cranks and experiments to go straight to the schoolroom when they have never passed through the Parliament, the public house, the private house, the church, or the marketplace.  Obviously, it ought to be the oldest things that are taught to the youngest people; the assured and experienced truths that are put first to the baby.  But in a school today the baby has to submit to a system that is younger than himself.  The flopping infant of four actually has more experience, and has weathered the world longer, than the dogma to which he is made to submit...Today we all use Popular Education as meaning education of the people.  I wish I could use it as meaning education by the people."  (Chesterton, G. K. What's Wrong With The World. 1st ed. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1910. Print.)

Nothing in this world is truly new unless God makes it so.  It is not a new way that is needed, but the true way - a hotly debated topic in a subjective society when anyone is bold enough to step near to it.  I have observed this in churches as well as in the education sector, that a fresh approach is needed to reach a new generation.  I am all for freshness as far as fruit and vegetables go, but let us call them what they are.  New wine should be placed in new wineskins, and it should be called new wine.  The modern approach to freshness is to avoid talk of man's sin, judgment, hell, man's need for repentance for salvation, and the blood of Jesus which cleanses us through faith.  This is not fresh; this is folly.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  If we do not believe in the truth of the Bible ourselves, it does no good for us to offer it as one option among many.  There is the saving Gospel, and there is everything else. Jeremiah 6:16 says, "Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'"  It is the ancient way which is the good, right way.  You will see many different gaits and a variety of people joyfully travelling this road, and there are few who find it.

When Liberty Kills

Information and knowledge becomes more widespread and easily accessible with each passing moment.  For those who think the ills of mankind reside in ignorance, this is an indictment against them.  Though information is readily available, people still face the same problems which have plagued them from the beginning.  Man knows the truth but lives in conscious opposition to it, convinced that the truth does not apply in his unique case.  He lives in denial of God's existence, embraces subjective relativism to avoid guilt, and lives as if he is a god.  Generation after generation impales itself upon lust, greed, power, and pleasure, always learning but never receiving the truth of the Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ.  There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death.

This tragic saga is not only perpetuated by those who reject God and His righteous commands.  Through the prophet Hosea God lamented, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." (Hosea 4:6)  Even though God had provided His Law and priests, Levites, and prophets to instruct His people in how to keep it, the people remained without knowledge.  The people excelled at keeping ordinances and the minutiae of the oral commands made by men, but they missed the main point.  The Law was intended to reveal the righteous character of God and display man's inability to be holy through external means.  Paul explains in the New Testament that the Law is a schoolmaster which leads us to Christ.  Galatians 3:24-25 says, "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."  Faith in Christ brings forgiveness and freedom from sin.  We are freed from keeping the letter of the Mosaic Law because we are now governed by the law of liberty through the leading of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.  We are free from the penalty of breaking the Law because Jesus has met the righteous requirements through His sacrifice.

The Mosaic Law governed a man's external actions, but now the Holy Spirit holds us to God's holy standard from within.  Through Him we have both the will and ability to live a life fully pleasing unto God not according to the letter, but according to the Spirit.  In the book written to the Galatians, Paul marveled how the people received Christ by faith but quickly went back under the Law.  They fell into the trap of thinking a man is righteous by what he does, not by who he is in relation to Jesus Christ through faith.  The opposite error Paul sought to correct in his letters to the churches in Rome and Corinth.  People were using the grace and forgiveness of God as an excuse to pursue sin.  People rejoiced in the "liberty" they had in Christ, misunderstanding what this "liberty" actually means.  Liberty is both what God has saved us from and what He has saved us for:  He has liberated us from the oppressive bondage of sin and death, and has liberated us to serve and glorify Him forever.

This misunderstanding of what liberty is and what it is not remains a massive issue in the church today.  How many Christians have been shipwrecked through the exercise of what they thought or claimed as liberty, but in reality was a retreat back into bondage!  Liberty is not freedom to placate and satisfy the flesh, but the opportunity to honour God through godly action.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:9, "But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak."  It is understood that Christians ought to also beware that this liberty of ours can be a stumbling block to ourselves - because we too are weak!  It is only through God we are strong.  God did not grant us liberty so we can justify ourselves from the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, having graciously pulled us like helpless sheep from the teeth of Satan, sin, and Hell.  How foolish and ridiculous it would seem if us sheep, having been spared a horrible end and given exceedingly great and precious promises through Christ by faith, used our remaining time on earth to flee from the Shepherd and seek shelter in a dark pit - perhaps the same dark pit we used to frequent before we were saved.  What kind of liberty is this?  The mind is of such a one is still enslaved in old ways of thinking.  Proverbs 26:11 reads,  "As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."  Foolishness in the Bible is directly related to wickedness.  It is the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God." (Ps. 14:1)  To atheists and Christians alike Solomon says in Proverbs 1:22:  "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge."  Fools hate knowledge, and it is because of the lack of knowledge God's people perish.

Let us not be foolish, but wise concerning what liberty actually is.  If my exercise of liberty is not bringing honour to God or is a justification from the Holy Spirit's conviction, I willingly return to bondage.  Psalm 10:4 states, "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts."  I find this verse very convicting.  The righteous must seek God, and God should be in all my thoughts.  I confess to you that I am righteous only through faith in Christ, for in my flesh no good thing dwells.  It is my hearts desire that God would be in all my thoughts, and I have much room to grow!  Let us follow the command of Christ:  seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto us.  I find I am not able to do this, but God has liberated my heart, mind, and body to both will and do His good pleasure by His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit.  Praise Him!

Failing God

God never fails!  What He establishes will stand, for His Word endures forever.  The only way I can fail God is if He fails me, for any good in me springs from Him! Though man is feeble, frail, and makes mistakes in abundance, a Christian is not to view himself as a failure.  A dead man cannot fail because a dead man cannot do.  It is God who works in us both to will and do according to His good pleasure.  A man sees himself as a failure when he believes God depends on him in some way, or that he is able to help God in his own strength.  The reality is God has raised me from death to life in Him.  If we are disappointed in ourselves it shows we have trusted in our own strength.  God is the one who makes the dead rise alive for eternity, and it is in Him we live, breathe, and have our being.  What He has cleansed, redeemed, empowered, and indwelt we should not call a failure.

Praise God He does not condemn us as sinners after He has paid our debts through His shed blood!  Church ought to be a place not where sinning is promoted, but where sinners are welcome.  God does not fault us for being ourselves, yet He does not free us from the responsibility to live in holiness:  "Be holy, for I am holy."  He whom Christ sets free He sets free indeed - not only from sin and death, but from guilt and shame.  Let us follow Jesus confident in Him as we humbly trust!  Can we fail if it is He who does the work?

Good or god Doctrine?

No one will deny that man's understanding is limited.  We are limited by our experience, exposure, our prejudices, and the filters of perspective.  Solomon affirms our human limitations in Ecclesiastes 3:11:  "He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."  People remain ignorant without teaching.  Because God desires that men know Him through personal experience He has given us the Bible, His Word.  Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we learn of God's impeccable character.  We marvel at His wisdom, learn we are gross sinners through His laws, and remain awed by His love and grace toward us.  Just like we can never know God's works from beginning to end (not to mention His operation for eternity!), we will at best wade in the oceans of His wisdom revealed in His Word.  His knowledge and wisdom go to a depth no man can plumb, and has love so expansive it reaches galaxies beyond our sight.

As we mature and grow in faith, a danger exists that we would grow in knowledge unchecked by humility.  The second part of 1 Corinthians 8:1 teaches us, "...Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."   As people we struggle to keep everything in balance.  Think about in terms of eating and exercise; we likely eat too much and exercise too little.  The same can be true about our study of biblical doctrine.  It is possible we have a personal affinity for certain scriptural teachings.  Understanding doctrine is not the end:  doctrine exists that we might know God and experience Him in a personal, continual relationship.  Because none of our understanding is complete, there is a distinct danger that we would unconsciously confine God within our knowledge of a doctrine.  By doing so we limit our faith and no longer allow God to be God.

How terrible it would be if God was confined by our own ideas of Him!  Lately I have been studying promises and examples of divine healing in the Bible.  I have learned much concerning God's operation to heal men in body and soul, but I freely admit I do not know all.  God did not develop the doctrine of healing and is then forced to abide by His own rules.  On the contrary:  the revelation of divine healing through God's Word proves to us the character and will of God to heal.  But God can still do whatever He wants whenever He wants.  I either can make a god of my limited doctrine that God must bow to, or I allow God to be God.  Romans 9:20-21 exhorts, "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" ²¹ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?"  Instead of taking God at His Word, we can allow a single apparent exception from our experience to derail the whole of God's promises and His clearly declared will.  What we classify as exceptions according to our limited view God consecrates otherwise.

May we never make a god out of our limited understanding to which the Almighty must yield!  When we run into difficulties, let us retreat back to the truth which God has clearly revealed.  Good doctrine always is a reflection of truth, not boundaries we set to which God must conform.  Thank God nothing He does is arbitrary, but according to His good purposes!

The Giver is Greater

As I watched television last night, a man climbed a platform to be recognized with an award of excellence in Australian Rules Football.  The round medal was connected to a ribbon to be worn around the neck similar to medals awarded during the Olympic games.  The recipient bowed his head as a smiling presenter carefully placed the medal.  The man slowly stood up, and raised a fist in triumph as he acknowledged the cheering crowd.  It struck me that while the athletes generally receive the glory or recognition, the game of Australian Rules Football is bigger than each individual player.  Awards given for excellence are even greater than the star players.  The man literally had to bow to receive the award from the presenter who represented the league which gives the player any credibility at all!

The Olympic games are greater than any single athlete.  That spectacle of sport is a bigger stage than any personality.  The greater the stage and the higher the stakes only magnify the glory of the participants.  In the United States at the moment the National Football League and the players are in the middle of a labour dispute.  The owners of each franchise own the rights to the NFL, but the players claim the NFL wouldn't be what it is without their talent.  Though it is a mutually beneficial relationship, I side with the owners.  Without the National Football League those players would be virtually unknowns:  no advertising campaigns, no video games, no television coverage, no multi-million dollar contracts.  The NFL is bigger than any player.  Players are drafted and retire, traded, succumb to injury or rise to stardom, but the league keeps churning on.  Every year 32 teams battle for the coveted Vince Lambardi trophy.  The game is bigger than them all.  The game honors the greatest NFL players in a Hall of Fame:  the players do not honor the game by playing, though many play honorably.

This line of thinking led me to consider of the relationship between Jesus and His followers.  Jesus has died on the cross, risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven.  Because He physically has left the earth, Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within and come upon every believer.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God has given spiritual gifts (not awards or rewards!) so we might honor Jesus Christ and edify the church.  To receive these gifts we must not only bow our heads but lay down our will to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.  In some circles today, the gifts of the Spirit almost eclipse the view of Jesus.  He is seen as our means to obtain power and this is sin.  Jesus is not a means but our ultimate all:  as Christ lay down His will before the Father, we ought to lay down our will completely before Him.

No matter how decorated a general might be, the country who granted him a career and recognition remains greater than he.  How true it is that a man of authority must be a man under authority!  While athletes are governed by rules of conduct and sportsmanship, Christians are under the authority of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit who make up the triune God as revealed in the Bible.  No man can cast a shadow upon Christ no matter how gifted or skilled he might be.  While men are recognized for their talents on gridiron or their volunteer work off of it, every gift given by God to man is received only by grace.  Is any person worthy to receive even a scrap from their Creator's table, much less to be counted fellow-heirs with Jesus Christ?  Romans 8:14-17 reads, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."

While professional football players receive glory on the field, there is also a measure of suffering they endure for their effort:  knee replacements, chronic arthritis and pain, early onset of dementia from head injuries, even paralysis or death.  Christians are called to give all glory to God despite certain suffering as we serve Him faithfully.  Consider the next verse:  Romans 8:18 says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."  For children of God it is not the promise of rewards, gifts, awards, or compensation which moves us to serve God:  it is love!  God has revealed such gracious love to us in sending His Son Jesus to die for us!  What a privilege to be permitted to serve and even suffer for His name's sake.  Every gift we receive from God's hand gives us greater appreciation and love for Him!  His gifts are greater than us, and God is greater than His gifts.  Let us bow our heads and thank Him for such indescribable gifts of salvation, forgiveness, peace, joy, grace, mercy, and love - all with infinite quantity and divine quality!

A Lasting Work

As I think back about the four-plus years I spent on staff at Calvary Chapel El Cajon, there were many building projects and repairs I performed.  Our fellowship is in the process of vacating portions of the building because we have sold it to a school.  This school plans to spend the summer doing major renovations and remodeling of the structure.  I think about the hours spend scraping and replacing floors, fixing hardware, patching and painting walls, organizing and sorting paint and supplies which will be completely rubbed out.  Walls I have patched will be torn down; cables I have run will be cut; pipes I have fixed will be removed and re-routed.  It's depressing in a way, to think of all that hard work being undone.

I have come to realize it is not the work itself which matters.  The labor of a custodian whose efforts are erased in the moment he leaves the restroom he has cleaned or masons who built cathedrals which have stood for centuries can stand on equal footing.  One work clearly outshines the other according to man's perception, but whatever is done for the glory of God will stand for eternity and be rewarded by Him, though all memory of it has faded from the earth.  The poetic adage of C.T. Studd still rings true today:  "Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last."  Everything done in the flesh for God is as chaff, fit only for the fire.  The testimony of the strength of the flesh may stand for thousands of years, but a small fleeting thing done led by the Spirit for God will last forever.  As Jesus says in Matthew 10:42:  "And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."  A cup of water is consumed and eliminated, but God remembers and rewards something even as insignificant as this when done for His glory.

It is time we stopped regarding the work as the thing to be admired:  we must worship and admire the KING of kings with our works.  It is for this purpose we have been created and redeemed.  Titus 2:11-14 states, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, [12] teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, [13] looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, [14] who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."  The man who lays the carpet, the one who vacuums the carpet, and the one who removes the carpet and replaces it with tile all have great reward if done for the glory of God.  It is not for the sake of reward that we serve, but for the sake of our great God who loves us and gave His own life for us.  Whatever we do, may it be for the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Great Omission

Churches throughout the world place emphasis on teaching of the Word of God.  Modern-day sermons are vehicles to express themes that range from "God's best for you" to "Jesus loves you and has a plan for your life."  Though often sermons are the centerpiece of a Sunday morning worship service, I am amazed how infrequent God and His attributes are the centerpiece of those sermons.  If there is a cause for the disillusionment, ignorance and faithlessness of the modern church it is largely due to the shift from God to what a man can get from God.

When was the last time you heard a message that focused on God, like His perfection, justice, mercy, immutability (the fact He does not change)?  I feel the need to define immutable because it is likely you have never heard the theological term used by Holy Spirit-fired preachers of centuries past to try to describe God:  Malachi 3:6 says, "For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob."  Take in the wonder how God does not change.  What He has said He will do, and emotions will never lead Him from His prescribed course.  He does not have opinions that waver according to His approval rating.  God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and this will never change no matter how many people blaspheme His holy name.

I love reading the words of preachers who long ago have been ushered into eternity because of the wealth of content and description found in their writings.  Over time we have seen the English language that once soared over the mountains plunge into the gutter!  Read the Declaration of Independence, if you can follow it.  Such highly wrought sentence structure today leaves us glazed-eyed and slack-jawed!  The church is the not only place we have seen this phenomena, but we see this reduction of complexity everywhere in the world.  We have grown accustomed to it.  Classic music composed for an entire symphony has been replaced by three men in a garage with electric amplification; grand paintings and portraits that took years to complete have been replaced with Photo Shop; acting in grand halls has been replaced by youtube clips; powerful speeches like the Gettysburg address have been replaced with "Married With Children" one liner cut-downs and tweets about eating lunch.  The Meaningful has been fully eclipsed by the meaningless, which is like a mirror that brings only ourselves into focus.  We become the breadth and depth of our existence, and that is a thimble half-full compared to the ocean that cannot even begin to quantify our Maker.  As you cannot quantify eternity in years, so you cannot sum up the Divine Infinitude that is GOD with a few meager words.

Could it be possible that the church has lost sight of God?  Is it conceivable we have grown apart from Him due to fads and passing winds of doctrine?  How long have we been drifting on the current of current events?  It seems the only things that fire up the church these days is an external fire when God intends we cultivate the inner fire of the Holy Spirit.  Moral issues like abortion and gay marriage, books like The Prayer of Jabez, The DaVinci Code, conspiracies like Y2K, fads like WWJD? and the constant upheaval in economics and politics stir the hearts of most churchgoers more than God Himself!  How about we turn our eyes upon Jesus?  How about we shift our view from the temporal to the face of the Eternal?  So much of our focus is the equivalent of sparking up strange fire like Nadab and Abihu.  The hearts of many would rather pay money to seek familiar spirits with King Saul than pay the price of devotion and obedience to wait for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

If our church experience becomes more about people than God, it's not church.  Jesus is the Head of the body, and we live to glorify and praise Him.  God must be the center of all that we do, for it is He who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure.  I've decided that in my preaching I need to do a better job of making God the focus.  I need to emphasize who God is by magnifying His divine infinite attributes.  There is a benefit to observation, interpretation, and application, but God must be lifted up as the centerpiece of the discourse.  A sermon must be a scaffold to elevate the low mind of man to consider the holy infinite God, and  must never be seen as the building itself.  When you know what a man is like, you know how he will act.  You cannot trust in a God you do not know.  The longer we remain ignorant of our God, the weaker our faith and witness will be.  Thousands of years ago God was worthy of all glory, honor and praise.  Because He does not change He will remain worthy for thousands of years to come, from eternity to eternity.  Let us determine to know Him better!

Wilderness Experience...

I'm in a mood that is rare for me, waxing philosophical. I'm also fed up with something that I have recently come to realize. In our modern day Christian view, the wilderness experience has been classified as unwise. We are so "production" oriented that many feel that spending a day walking and talking with God is not really "doing" anything. I can hear the conversation: "Honey, what did you do at work today?" "I didn't go to the office this morning." "You didn't go to work?" "Oh, I was working alright...I walked along a trail and talked with God." This poor idiot may lose his good-night kiss over such a stunt (No offense, ladies - these actors are arbitrary).

But seriously, we can perhaps justify a day of talking to God. How about a week strictly dedicated to seeking God? No paycheck, and not on vacation time. How about a whole month? How about 40 days? Or longer? Can you imagine Jesus arguing with the Holy Spirit over the wisdom of being led out to the wilderness - not just to be alone with God, but to be tempted by the devil? "I've got disciples to call into the ministry, I have the message of salvation that will save men from the fire of hell, and you want me to fast and endure temptation for forty days?" Jesus was led by the Spirit and walked in perfect harmony with the will of God. Maybe there were people that questioned what Jesus was thinking, but Jesus didn't question the Holy Spirit. He obeyed. What a display of the wisdom and power of God over temptation from the lips of our Savior, during what some would call a "fool's errand." You can take that up with Jesus.

Elijah was another man who the Bible records as spending 40 days in the wilderness as he traveled to the mountain of God. Moses spent 40 days and nights on two occasions on Mt. Sinai as he met with God. Ah, but that is Moses and Elijah. I have three questions: is the God of Moses and Elijah around today? Yes. And who was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration? Moses and Elijah, not a coincidence. Final question: do you fear the God of Moses and Elijah? God is looking for men like Moses and Elijah that will obey Him no matter the cost. Do men like them exist today? The Spirit of God who empowered Christ empowers every single believer to serve and glorify Him. He has not lost His potency and power: it is the church who bears the weight of guilt that we have not allowed God to make us the men He can.

Instead of saying, "Where is the God of Elijah?" we should rather ask, "Where are men like Elijah?" I freely confess that I am thoroughly dissatisfied with my level of commitment to God. He is so much more worthy than any of my poor offerings. What do I have that He has not provided? The day that I am satisfied with my performance in obedience, devotion, and piety cannot occur until I am freed from this body of flesh. If the day comes when I am ever satisfied with myself as I dwell in this flesh, I pray God free me from it by death!

The wilderness experience is no more outdated than God's love. Gladys Aylward told of a story early in her ministry when she said, "We serve a God of common sense!" She later realized her error. God's sense is uncommon, because His wisdom is not a man's wisdom. When we try to make sense of God's wisdom without eyes of faith, we will stumble at His commands. We will justify and rationalize like a worm trying not to be hooked. We try dodge our purpose our calling because God should think like us! God hasn't changed. It is man who changes. We need to get back to the basics of knowing God, believing, and obeying Him. "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." (Heb. 11:8, KJV) Abraham had an earthly inheritance of vast riches in his homeland, but he forsook it in obedience to God to receive a heavenly inheritance of inestimable value.

I close with the word of Paul to the Corinthian church: "But this I say, brethren, that time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; [30] and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; [31] and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." (1 Cor. 7:29-31, KJV) Paul is not advocating a shirking of earthly duties, like providing for your family. But your family and your business are not your life: the business of a follower of Christ is to deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Jesus. Our lives pass away as a vapor. Let us use what time we have, whether we are in the wilderness or the city, whether in eating or fasting, with your family or alone, use all for the glory of God!