Authentic Christianity

Today I was reminded of a humorous situation years ago.  I met with a lovely family in Australia who was very keen to try some "authentic" American chili.  And when I say "chili" I do not mean capsicum or a type of chili like habanero, but the American dish which is made with chili powder, beef, and beans.  They had never eaten chili before and wanted to see what it tasted like.  I am a bit of a chili enthusiast so I was only too happy to oblige.

After I supplied a recipe, we hit upon a few snags.  Some of the ingredients were not on hand and there was no time to go to the shops.  Beans were omitted because it was not a favourite, and the amount of chili powder was reduced because they weren't "into" spice.  When we tucked into the finished product, I was asked how the dish measured up.  My response was something to the effect of, "It's very delicious, but it's just not chili!"  The chef seemed disappointed, but it should not have been a surprise.  It is pretty much impossible to make "chili" without chili.  Because ingredients people weren't fond of were removed, the dish bore no resemblance whatsoever to the real thing.  It might have been better to make another dish everyone liked rather than alter the dish while hoping for authenticity.

This approach to making chili could be compared to authentic Christianity.  If we want our Christianity to be authentic, then we need to do things God's way according to His recipe - carefully following the conditions Jesus set forth in His Word for His disciples.  We cannot pick and choose according to our tastes, desiring forgiveness from God but at the same time refusing to forgive others.  We cannot substitute sacrifice for obedience when it suits us.  If Jesus has called us to follow Him and we respond with, "LORD, let me first..." we are left with a poor imitation of the real thing:  something we have fashioned according to our preferences which is without Gospel flavour, powerless, and devoid of life.

Luke 9:23-24 plainly states the requirements to answer the call of Christ:  "Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."  Authentic Christianity is one of self-sacrifice and obedience to God.  We must deny ourselves and daily choose to take up our cross in following Jesus who was obedient to the will and commands of the Father.  Everyone wants blessings from God, but are we willing to do what is required to receive and appropriate them?  People are fine with God to change their circumstances for the better, but it doesn't mean they actually want a relationship with Him.  Many people were healed and fed by Jesus who didn't care to follow Him daily.  Being healed, delivered from demons, or being touched by Jesus never made a single person a Christian, for being born again is an inner work of grace through faith in Jesus and the surrender of a life to His complete control.

Many in this world are sour on Christ because of their interactions with professing Christians devoid of love or grace who left a bad impression.  It would have been a terrible shame for my Aussie mates around the table to have been told they were eating authentic chili because it potentially could have put them off the real thing.  If real chili had been offered in the future they might have said,  "Oh, I've already tried that and it was awful.  I know I don't like it."  It's true everyone does like not chili, and everyone does not care for Jesus.  But if we will be Christians, then we need to live authentic Christians lives without apology:  loving and forgiving fully, generously giving, sacrificially helping others, exhibiting gentleness and meekness, and speaking the truth so people will repent and discover new life in Jesus through faith.  The only Christianity which transforms lives and saves souls is the authentic kind according to the Bible and the example of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Consider the Source!

Elijah was a faithful prophet of God.  After Elijah proclaimed before King Ahab it would not rain until he said so, the Bible says in 1 Kings 17:2-6:  "Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ³ "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁴ And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." ⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook."

It is amazing God would use ravens to be His chosen means of sustaining Elijah with bread and meat, for under the Law they were deemed an unclean animal (Deut. 14:14).  The lack of rain led to famine in the land, and for a season God fed Elijah with the assistance of ravens.  Elijah did not refuse to receive the bread and meat from the ravens because he considered the food tainted.  He ate gladly, realising it was God who miraculously supplied his physical needs through a most unorthodox fashion.  Elijah received the food delivered from ravens who were obedient to God's command, unclean though they were.  It was God - not scavenging birds - who was primarily responsible for his provision.

God was able to use ravens to feed Elijah physically, and God is able to use flawed human beings to hold forth the truth of God's Word as spiritual food to nourish our souls.  We should not despise pastors or teachers because of their flaws and refuse the Bible itself as tainted.  There is no license provided by God for ministers to sin without consequence, but not one Christian is perfect.  It grieves me when I see people refuse the truth of God's Word because they take issue with His chosen messenger.  Elijah wasn't offended to eat food brought to him by ravens.  The people of Israel were glad to drink of the water from the rock even when Moses was overly harsh with them.  Many people waste away spiritually with hunger and thirst because they cannot find a messenger worthy of their flawless standard.

I encourage you to consider this:  if God can use a noisy, squawking raven to sustain Elijah with bread and meat, He can use a flawed person to hold forth biblical truth for your benefit.  This is not to say ministers of the Gospel need not be held to a high standard of righteous behaviour or to justify sin without rebuke or repentance.  But do not let offence keep you from listening to what God could be saying to you even through a sinner saved by grace.  Don't reject a message of truth because it wasn't said in a gentle or loving manner.  Don't refuse to heed God's rebuke through a person who you find offensive or confronting.  Love thinks no evil and rejoices in the truth.  Psalm 119:165 comes to mind:  "Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble."   God is the source of all wisdom, truth, and righteousness, and all we need is found in Him!  God may use a raven or a frustrated man who hit a rock with a stick, yet God is our source and sufficiency.  We can rejoice in the vessels God uses, for in so doing we rejoice God also has ordained work He wants to accomplish through us!

Blessings or Curses

I've been reading a book with keen interest, as it presents a biblical view on a subject I had not previously given great thought.  This recent recommendation for me is titled, "Blessing or Curse:  You Can Choose" by Derek Prince.  I am about halfway through the book, and it presents a compelling picture of the reality both of divine blessings and curses.  Admittedly I have given much greater focus on the blessings rather than curses.  But since blessings and curses are often stated in the Bible as opposites of one another, it stands to reason if we will have blessings from God room must be provided for the influence of a curse.  If we desire a blessing we should do what God promises to bless and avoid what brings a curse.  Reading this book has caused me to consider my own life and confess sin before the LORD.  I rejoice that Jesus has become a curse for me He can break the power over every single one.

It's a funny thing, that Christians believe God "blesses" people but when we speak of "curses" it starts sounding hokey or bizarre.  Yet both the Old and New Testaments are consistent in saying blessings from God accompany faith and obedience to Him, and curses accompany sinful choices and behaviour.  Sin is never committed in isolation in a person's life, but the darkness begins to affect all areas of a person.  Bitterness and hatred are like poisons which impact our thoughts, words, and deeds.  And even more sinister is the impact our sin can potentially have on people around us - even future generations!  The book also emphasises the power and importance of our words in speaking to people, when we speak of ourselves, and words uttered to God in prayer.

Proverbs 26:2 is one of the many verses explained in the book:  "Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight."  It is a fair point:  every curse has a cause, and they will impact specific areas of our lives.  Sometimes we may not realise we are under a curse, but if there is sin from which we have not repented there is great cause.  Here is a small sampling of warnings God issued His beloved, chosen people in Deuteronomy 28:15-19, "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: ¹⁶ Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. ¹⁷ Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ¹⁸ Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. ¹⁹ Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out."

There is no middle ground between blessings and curses from God.  Which side of that line would you like to be on?  God promises great blessings for those who obey Him, and Deuteronomy 28:13 holds forth a memorable one:  "And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them."  Do you feel like a "tail" sometimes, like you are at the mercy of your circumstances, being dragged along without a choice?  In the book Prince remarked we often say things like, "I'm ok - under the circumstances."  He asked, "But whatever are you doing under the circumstances?"  He challenged the reader to answer these questions of self-evaluation:  "Am I living like a head or a tail?  Am I living under my circumstances, or above them?  The answers we give will help us to see how much of God's blessing we are actually enjoying." (Prince, Derek. Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose! Old Tappan, NJ: Chosen, 1990. 50. Print.)

Praise God Jesus Christ is able to set us free from generational and self-imposed curses in a moment when we confess with our lips, repent in our hearts, and renounce the evil, replacing a curse with a blessing.  There are no magic words or formulas to follow, but a heart regenerated by Jesus through faith and the willingness to trust and obey.  The ones Jesus sets free are free indeed!

Give Thanks to the LORD

"Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. ²  Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. ³  Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever..."

Psalm 136:1-3

It is good to give thanks to the LORD for all He has done, to show gratitude by remembrance for all He has provided.  In our giving of thanks let us not forget God is worthy of thanks and praise at all times, in all seasons of life.  The psalmist exhorts us to give thanks to the LORD because of His character, because of who He is.  He is the LORD, He is good, the God of gods, the Lord of lords, and His mercy endures forever.

Consider the rather lengthy definition of "mercy" by Webster in his 1828 Dictionary:  "That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant.  In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy.  That which comes nearest to it is grace.  It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders.  Mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being."  It is within God's power and right to immediately and severely punish all offenders, but His mercy endures forever.  He is gracious and slow to anger, and as a sinner I am most thankful.

I am also thankful God's mercy is extended to those who do not know God or are even in rebellion against Him.  I am glad He is patient and longsuffering, willing to endure decades and centuries of disobedience so people might repent and be saved.  Let us not make the error of mistaking God's mercy for approval of sin or that we will not be required to answer to Him for our lack of mercy towards others.  Having received such mercy from God, let us be thankful when we are divinely helped to extend it to others.  Thank God for being such a benevolent God, the One worthy of all praise and trust.  His mercy endures forever, and by His grace Christians will live as beneficiaries of Him forever!