An Unexpected Idol

Humans have the propensity to turn good things God gives us into idols.  The common examples used as illustrations to me when I was a kid were things like money, cars, music, and self.  I believe it is possible the current isolation restrictions preventing churches from gathering in person might expose one I never could have believed possible:  church attendance.  Gathering at a local church with believers to worship God, study the Bible, and serve one another is a very good thing and the scripture exhorts us not to forsake assembling.  Nearly all the "one another" commands put forth in the New Testament require a degree of personal involvement together.  Going to church is a vital part of growing in faith and edifying one another in obedience to Jesus.

At the same time there might not be a greater metric relied upon for "how we are doing spiritually" than church attendance.  Yet like the shopkeeper who bows before a shrine and image for good fortune, or a person who drives their car with a saintly image for protection, church attendance and serving at church may be a similar practice for Christians.  Going to church ticks a lot of boxes for people which is not always the glory of God.  I remember my surprise when a visitor informed me they came to church for the air conditioning.  Maybe some people come to church for coffee and a doughnut or to please their spouse.  Anyhow, as Corrie Ten Boom was fond of saying, a mouse nesting in a biscuit tin does not make it a biscuit:  attending services every night, singing worship songs, and reading through the Bible does not mean you know or are walking with Jesus.

Here's a question for you:  since you stopped regularly attending church in person, stopped teaching that Bible study or Sunday School, have you been praying or in the Word more or less?  Again, the spiritual disciplines of praying and reading the Bible are only some of the measurable aspects of the Christian walk and can be useful indicators of where our the affections and desires of our hearts lie.  Racing through a chapter or reading for hours will have little effect without faith and obedience.  I have no desire to lay a guilt trip for anyone, but it is always profitable to take stock of our hearts and honestly assess our pursuit of God without the weekly or daily prop of church attendance.  I am so grateful for the technology which allows us to follow God's will in gathering electronically and that prayer and communion with God does not require WiFi and apps!

I love going to church and I miss meeting up with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  When we gather together again I pray there will not be any spiritually gaunt or haggard among us, wasting away from lack of spiritual vitality when we have a God who loves us, speaks to us, and provides for us refreshing streams of water and green pastures of rest in His presence.  Enter in, believer, for a closed church building does not hinder God from drawing near to us or us to Him.  And when those doors open again I exhort you to be there often and early, praising and thanking God with gratitude for His faithfulness with joy.

Increase and Abound in Love

"Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

This is one of many prayers Paul spoke according to the will of God for the Thessalonian church.  I appreciated the connection Paul made between walking in love to one another and holiness.  Holiness is not obtained by attending church services, wearing sacred vestments, offering sacrifices or tithes, but is demonstrated by love for God and one another.  Jesus gave His disciples the new command to love one another as He loved them, and this would distinguish them as children of God having been born again by the Holy Spirit.

Another truth which stood out to me is Paul prayed for the LORD to make them "increase and abound in love to one another and to all."  This implies there is room for an increased capacity to receive God's love as well as better expressing it.  Those who trust in Jesus Christ are born again, sanctified unto God for good works.  We are also being sanctified, growing and maturing in faith.  It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming we are loving or we are not; we are right or wrong.  This false dichotomy is at best an oversimplification and at worst a deceitful lie.  The reality is much more complex, messy, and personally confronting.  At the same time it is from God the promise of growth and maturity beyond where we are now, the certain expectation of changing more into who God desires we be.

No matter how much God has transformed you until now, there is room for you to increase and abound in love to one another and to all.  The only way this would be impossible is if you are already as infinitely loving like Jesus Christ is.  Would you admit that at your best you recognise inconsistency, contradictions, even hypocrisy in yourself?  We may say the "right" thing but later realise our motive or timing for saying was selfish and impatient.  Our love flourishes for certain people but the same affection is withheld from others.  God never intended following Jesus to be easy or to become easier over time as we are further sanctified.  I believe the opposite is true, for if it ever became easier to always walk in love towards all there would be less need to consciously seek the LORD in faith and fall upon His mercy--and God's love is not of us.

Our need to increase and abound in love makes us feel like failures and to give up, but the Spirit of God prompts us to look to Jesus with thanksgiving, knowing we are beloved by Him.  Rather than being mired in our past failures which seem to haunt us, we are called to forget the things that are behind (having repented of sin and received forgiveness) and to labour in our pursuit of Christ.  The presence of our loving, merciful, and powerful Saviour Jesus Christ washes clean all sin which seems permanently etched into our past.  Considering how far we have come leads to pride, and obsessing over how far we still need to go can be depressing.  It is far better to praise Jesus we have been granted today in God's presence, that He will help us to press on, and He will never leave or forsake us as HE makes us increase and abound in love to one another and all.

The Folly of Discontent

Every good gift comes from God (James 1:17).  The LORD who causes the sun to rise and the rain to fall supplies our every need, and the capacity to enjoy anything about life on this planet is also a gift from Him.  Because of our selfish and greedy nature, we can begin to worship self or the creature more than the Creator, the gift rather than the Giver.  When we make stuff, fame, money, or anything that is passing away our desire rather than God, we are not grateful for what we do have.  The one thing we don't have that we want can sour the very things we enjoy.

A perfect example of the folly of discontentment is seen in wicked Haman, enemy of the Jews.  He found favour in the eyes of King Ahasuerus and was promoted to a high station.  He was given privileged access to the king and everyone on the street bowed before Haman in reverence.  However, there was one man named Mordecai who refused to bow.  When Haman discovered Mordecai would not pay homage to him due to his Jewish faith, Haman schemed to destroy all Jews.  The king was not privy to all the details of Haman's intentionally vague plan but was guaranteed to be rid of a trouble-making people while enriching the treasury.  The date of the destruction of the Jews was publicised and moved Mordecai and many others to mourn and cry out to God for deliverance.

After Haman attended a private banquet of wine with the king and queen, consider Haman's perspective in Esther 5:9-13:  "So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹ Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king. ¹² Moreover Haman said, "Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. ¹³ Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." (bold emphasis mine)

Isn't this astounding?  Haman boasted over his accomplishments and privilege, but when one man refused to bow before him in acknowledgement his view was, "All this avails me nothing."  Haman's seething selfishness, pride, and greed expressed itself in anger and hatred.  Seeing one person sitting and not kowtowing ruined all the good he should have been grateful for.  This is like the person who has a closet full of clothes but with nothing to wear; a person depressed over the shape of their nose that functions perfectly well.  It is fury over a scratch or dent in a car instead of being glad to have a quality vehicle for transportation.  A person who is having a "bad hair day" should be glad they have it.  We complain over how the meat isn't as tender as it was last time when there are people who haven't been able to afford steak for years.  Do you see what I mean?  All the great things provided by God's grace can instantly evaporate in the flames of our selfishness and greed.  Killing Mordecai or all the Jews would never have satisfied Haman because his wickedness was insatiable.

Child of God, may contentment, thanksgiving, and gratefulness for our God and His goodness towards us mark our lives rather than the folly of discontent.  In stark contrast to Haman, let us heed the exhortation of Colossians 3:12-15:  "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."  Our circumstances should never take the shine off the fact we are chosen, made holy, and beloved by God.  As His children the peace of God is to rule our hearts, and we ought to be thankful to be called in one body the Church.  If we fall into idolatry Haman shows us nothing will ever be enough.  When we bow the knee to God in worship and thanksgiving, we can choose gratitude over discontentment.

Jesus and Assurance

This morning I was impressed by Paul's praying for the Thessalonian believer who had been born again through faith in Jesus Christ.  Their response to the Gospel was not an emotive response but reflected marked personal transformation as real as Jesus rising from the dead.  Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5:  "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, ³ remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. ⁵ For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake."

Paul addressed followers of Jesus he called brethren because their changed conduct provided evidence they were indeed elect of God.  This assurance came not through willpower or because of good works but because of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who came upon them in power.  The preaching of the Gospel moved these Gentiles from the worship of idols to serve the Living God and to look expectantly to Jesus Christ (verses 9-10).  Their manner of life was described as a work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope in the LORD Jesus.  The condition of their hearts was not like the soil in the Parable of the Sower that the seed sprang up quickly and withered under the blazing rays of the sun, nor was it choked by the cares of the world and rendered unfruitful.  The good Word heard by their ears and received into their hearts by faith in Christ was bearing fruit all could witness.

The testimony of a transformed life reveals the power of the Gospel no amount of church attendance, seminars, conferences, books, or checklists can produce.  We can make the mistake of justifying ourselves as acceptable before God because our efforts and what we have done rather than simply trusting in Christ and His promises in the scripture.  Genuine faith will be expressed in living according to God's will, but the works we do are never the basis of our acceptance before God nor proof we are saved:  the proof is in our risen Saviour Jesus Christ!  As a Lamb of God without blemish His life was laid down as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world, and all who have been called can now come to Him for forgiveness and eternal life.  Knowing we are loved, knowing we are undeserving yet chosen by God spurns us on to desire to humbly please Him.  The praise for a transformed life goes all to Jesus, for by His grace our life is now hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).