Progressing in Godliness

I couple times a month I get together with some young, emerging leaders at Delta to do some leadership development training. One of our meetings is a late night one at a local pub where we just open the scriptures and read and work through the pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy & Titus). Last night we were in 1 Timothy 4 and we began talking about godliness and how you can "track" your progress in godliness (see 1 Timothy 4:15). It was good discussion and discovery and though it would be good to share here.

First, we need to define "godliness." What does that mean? In keeping with the theme of 1 Timothy 4, I think one good simple definition of godliness is "making our doctrine visible by living like Jesus." Paul talks much about the need for Jesus-centered doctrine. To Paul, there are two types of teachers: false ones and gospel-centered ones. False ones teach lies based on their own preferences, need for control & power, and fear of man. Gospel-centered ones talk about Jesus...all the time. So when we talk about godliness, we must remember that the "goal" is Jesus Himself. We are to be holy as he is holy and as God's children, we are to become like Him. So godliness must mean that as we live our lives as Christ-followers, we must begin to respond to life (thoughts, words, actions, & attitudes) just like Jesus did.

But, how do we measure our progress in that? Just how do we watch ourselves? It can't be through the spiritual disciplines or ministry involvement. If we use those good things as "benchmarks" we've just become religion-centered and ceased to be gospel-centered. Those things need to be kept in the proper perspective as "tools" to become more like Jesus.

Here's how I think we watch & measure our progression in godliness: we think of ourselves less. I think it's all about humility. This is what the Lord requires of us in Micah 6:8. This should be our response to the work of Jesus in our lives according to Romans 11:20. This is what we are called to in becoming like Jesus in Philippians 2:3-8. Isn't this what faith requires in the first place? To put our "faith, hope, & love" in Jesus and Jesus alone, we must admit that we're not God, that our pride is not good, and we must humbly admit that we have a need for Savior to rescue us from ourselves and our sin. Sin, by definition, is pride. For when we sin, we are telling God that we can do things on our own and don't need Him or His rules or design.

So here are some practical questions to ask yourself to track your growth in godliness:

• Do I think more about Jesus today than I did a six months or a year ago?
• Am I trying to filter everything through the lens of the gospel?
• Do I enjoy serving other people more today?
• Do I cheerfully give?
• Am I more willing to be flexible with my time so I can serve others?
• Am I quicker to repent when I sin?
• Am I quicker to forgive when I'm sinned against?

Progressing in godliness is not "microwave" - you can't track it by minutes or days or weeks. Progressing in godliness is more like a "crock pot" - you need months, seasons, and years to see growth (or lack of growth). It takes time, training, intentionality, hard work, honesty, transparency, accountability, and encouragement. It's also a community project. You can't grow on your own. People must speak into your life.

Praying for you progress (and mine)...

Ryan

Delta's Upcoming Men's Retreat

On October 23-24, the Delta men are heading out of town to study the life of David and learn about being men of passion. Our men's ministry leader, John, put together a hilarious promo video to motivate guys to show up.

Cleaning Up a Jacked Up Church Preview

When we think of the early church in the first century, we usually get these warm fuzzy feelings about community, love, how they shared their stuff, how God pulled off crazy miracles, and how people came to know Jesus by the thousands.

Not Corinth. Corinth was a jacked up church.

The church in Corinth was small, maybe 50ish people. And this small community was marked by division, by being more influenced by culture than influencing culture, by being proud of their sexual sin, by chaotic worship gatherings, by drunkenness at communion, by greed, and by bringing lawsuits against each other. So, God speaks through Paul, who planted the church, to speak the gospel into the church to clean up the mess the church was in.

No matter where you’re at spiritually: a skeptic, an investigator, a new believer, or a seasoned Christ-follower, 1^st Corinthians is a book that will speak deeply into your life. Because the truth is, we’re all jacked up and need Jesus to clean us up.

Movement Recap

Yesterday we finished up our series called "Movement" which outlined the framework for the life of Delta. Here are the highlights:

• "We are the church." This was the umbrella statement for the whole series. Like 1 Peter 2:9 and Acts 2:42-47 reveal to us, "church" is an identity, not a destination.

• The "Upward" Movement. "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." This is the famous first confession of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and describes Delta's first movement: Glorifying God. John 17:1-5 shows us that glorifying God is God's main concern about Himself, and was Jesus' main concern while on earth. Everything about our lives personally and corporately must be filtered with God getting glory, and not us. This is most publically seen in our weekly Worship Gatherings.

• The "Amongst" Movement. "True community is created, defined and driven by the Gospel." This is the key phrase for Delta's second movement: gospel communities. We unpacked how Delta is in fact a "community of communities." The Community Groups of Delta are practically people's "immediate church", for in those environments is where everyday care, encouragement, connection, growth, learning, discipline, and mission happen. John 17:6-19 show us Jesus' plan for the community that He created.

• The "Outward" Movement. "Ordinary life lived with gospel intentionality." When we talk about the third movement - engaging culture - we talking about living missionally. And this mean not trying hard to be "cool" or "hip" but simply going about your regular everyday activities with purpose - to bring those outside of your gospel community inside your gospel community. Jesus clearly laid out his desire for this to happen in John 17:18-26. And this is not to be done solo, but in community - Jesus never once in his prayer in John 17 prayed for an individual, but always for community; for it is in community that mission is most strong.

To listen to the sermons from the "Movement" series, subscribe to Delta's podcast on iTunes.

Verses for the World to Read

I realize that I am probably one of only 5 people who read the Faith & Religion section of the Sunday paper. Most of the time the articles aren't worth my energy to turn the page because they are so bland, and by necessity (being the newspaper) universalistic. But the feature this last week seemed very interesting to me, but I was left extremely sad.

The feature was about local religious leaders' favorite passages of scripture. It wasn't focused on Christian leaders, for the local Muslim and Christian Science leaders were included also...and that's OK. But what I was hoping to read from the Christian ones was a brief synopsis of the gospel. I mean, come on, the newspaper is calling you and asking you for a verse that could be read by potentially thousands of people (well, at least 5)! Make it count! They were even given a couple sentences to follow up their choice. But do you know what the vast majority of the verses were about? They were the "feel good" verses about God, you know, the ones about Him never leaving us, giving us strength, love people and be unified. Now hear me, all scripture is God's Word and inspired and worth more than any human wisdom could ever muster. But my point is, when you have the opportunity, share a passage that talks about God's plan in saving us through Jesus, you know - the gospel. It made me smile that the one who hit it most on the head with the opportunity was my favorite public access pastor who plays the ukulele. He shared Acts 2:38 - that we need to Jesus to save us and we need to believe in Him - and briefly said how that verse changed his life. Well, done Pastor Hart!

In a day and age where universalism and relativism grow in strength, when we as Christ-followers get a chance to go very public with Jesus, we need to take full opportunity and do so. Much like when my friend Pastor Mark Driscoll got invited to preach at the Crystal Cathedral. You probably can't find two churches that are more different regarding certain theology, philosophy, and ecclesiology, but Mark saw it as an opportunity to preach to MILLIONS about the gospel. So he did. You can watch that here.

Paul encourages us to "make the most of our time" in Ephesians 5:16, and Peter tells us to "always be prepared to give an answer" about Jesus when asked in 1 Peter 3:15. And remember that Jesus Himself called those who follow Him a "city on a hill" in Matthew 5:14. We need to stand up and stand out, gently lighting the way for people to Jesus specifically, not just some different "religious" alternative.

You may be wondering what my favorite verse is that I'd like to share with the world, at least my wife did when I was talking with her about this. Mine would be John 19:30, which record Jesus' last words before he died on the cross: "It is finished." I want people to know that it's not their efforts or morality that make them right with God, it is only the work that Jesus has done and we just need to trust Him.

The full SJ-R feature can be found here.

Imitating Demons

First off, I am NOT advocating any type of demon of Satan worship...just so we're clear on that!

When I was on my Sabbath, I read the Gospel of Mark a number of times. One thing that jumped out to me was how most people didn't listen and obey Jesus. People that he healed and he told to not say anything went off and ran their mouths. And the disciples themselves were the thickest-headed group of guys that I've ever seen.

But guess who ALWAYS respected and immediately obeyed Jesus 100% of the time? Yup, demons.

Here are the accounts in Mark of Jesus casting out demons from people: Mark 1:21-28; 1:39; 3:11-12; 5:1-20; and 9:14-29. We commonly see demons recognizing Jesus for who he is (for remember, Jesus created them as angels before they fell from heaven) and falling down before him and begging for mercy (interesting that they know he is merciful!) because they understand that Jesus is God and has complete authority. And when Jesus commands them, they obey. Without question.

So, what can we learn from demons? We can learn that we need to honor and respect the authority of Jesus. We can learn that when Jesus gives us a command (to love, to be his witnesses, to serve the poor, etc) we need to obey it, that there's really no option not to.

May we all honor Jesus more and obey him fully!

You need to stop talking so much

I've just returned from a week-long sabbath. I left "really important" things like my laptop and iPhone at home, and headed west toward the mountains armed with not much more than my bible and a journal. One of the biggest things that God showed me through the silence that I dove into was that I use too many words in general and too many words that promote me rather than promote him.

Jesus said in John 14 that the words he spoke came from the Father. Psalm 19 humbly asks that the words of our mouths be acceptable in the sight of God. After being silent for a week, I realized that too often that I use my words to promote myself in some way (sounding smart, wise, funny, etc.) and not often enough do I use my words to encourage people to God.

I think that the only way to allow God's words to fill our hearts so that when we speak, we speak words that he wants us to, is to certainly fill up on his word, but also intentionally refrain from using words as flippantly as we do. This includes speaking for sure, but also includes things like Facebook, Twitter, and basic idle chatter. Not that there's anything wrong with a conversation about sports or a movie, or updating your status or sending out a tweet. But we need to ask ourselves what the purpose of our words are. Are we promoting ourselves or promoting God?

We all need to stop talking so much and start listening to God and others more.

Living a Gospel Life

What is it about a person who is really living out the gospel? What is it about them that's so different? It can't be things like knowledge or behavior, for those things just reek of pride and moralism. In Galatians 6:1-10, Paul describes for us what a gospel life looks like. And what Paul does for us is to show us that if the gospel is indeed alive and growing in us, it will be most evident in how we relate to people.

In verses 1-5 of Galatians 6, we are shown what gospel community looks like. Those who are mature in the gospel help guide those who are not and restore those ensnared in sin in a loving and gentle way. We are to help each other in practical ways when life brings us a season that is harder than usual. And, we are to live humbly as we fulfill those responsibilities that are ours alone, and encourage and empower others to do the same.

In verses 6-10, Paul continues his instructions on living out the gospel (still under the umbrella of community). He particularly points out the relationship between teachers & students to be a reciprocal relationship of generosity both relationally and financially (the term "good things" is most certainly a euphemism for giving). Paul then "lays down the gauntlet" and says that if you really want to reap the blessings that God has to offer, you must sow the things that God has ordained (think fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23). To not "sow" intentionally what God has ordained yet still expect his blessings is lying to yourself and mocking God. We can't live however we want in our relationships, with our money, or in any other way and still enjoy heaven. It's God's way or no way - it's either Spirit or flesh. Paul then encourages us that we need to be patient. Reaping the things of God doesn't happen overnight...but as we remain faithful and strong in Jesus, we are promised that "in due season we will reap."

Paul ends this great passage with one last encouragement, kind of like a coach in the locker room before the players hit the field. We are to "do good" (in all ways: relationally, financially, serving, etc.) to everyone, and in particular to those who are Christians (especially those in your own church or community group). Why emphasize the "household of faith"? Because of what Jesus Himself said: "They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another" (John 13:35).

This "gospel life" is be lived at every opportunity! Not just when we have time or can squeeze it in. The time to love someone in need is when there is someone in need. It's that simple. We just need to intentionally order our lives so we have the room to love people. Just like Jesus.

The Fight of Your Life

Have you ever felt like you do the very opposite of the thing you want to do most? Kinda like George Kastanza in "Seinfeld" when he did the opposite of what his natural instincts were, and life went great for him! But for us in the real world, things usually don't go so well. For example, my heart's desire is to be patient with my kids. But all it takes is for my 1 year old to climb up and stand on the coffee table (for the 6th time) and patience is no where to be found in me.

Paul says this about himself in Romans 7:15-19. In one of the most honest sections of scripture, Paul describes that he does the very thing that he hates. Now if this is true of the author of about half of our New Testament scripture and arguable the most influential person in history aside from Jesus Himself, what does it say about us?

Paul really unpacks this in Galatians 5:16-25. Right off the bat, he says that there's a war going on inside of us...the "over-desires" of our flesh versus the "over-desires" of the Spirit. The parts of us that really love our sin slug it out against the parts of us that really love Jesus. And when we "lead" ourselves, so to speak, what we find in ourselves and coming out of ourselves is the terrible list in verses 19-21. But when we surrender to the leading of the Spirit inside of us, the unified, godly character of the fruit of the Spirit in verses 22-23 grows.

So how do you fight this battle? What do you practically need to do to defeat the over-desires of the flesh? Paul gives us 2 "training" tips in verses 24-25.

First, according to verse 24, we need to constantly remind ourselves of the gospel. We need to remember that Jesus has already won this war, and that the power of sin & the flesh was crucified on the cross! We then live daily in the power by daily living in the rhythm of confessing our sin and repenting of our sin and claiming the gospel promise of what Jesus has done for us. The over-desires of the Spirit are no match for the flesh!

Second, according to verse 25, we need to practically order our lives by the Spirit. This is the idea of "walking" - and looking back at Galatians 2:14, we get a clear picture that for our steps to be in line, we need to have a plan. There are 2 biggest parts of this plan: the rhythm of spiritual disciplines and gospel community. Spiritual disciplines are daily rhythms that we build into our lives to help us intentionally connect with God. These include things like scripture meditation, prayer, Sabbath, serving, giving, etc. Gospel community means that we purposefully open ourselves up to other Christ-followers and be transparent and honest with our struggles so we can receive love, support, encouragement, accountability, confrontation, and prayer.

This fight is gruelling. It is the biggest fight of your life. But take heart! The victory is secured because of Jesus. And he continues to fight with us and for each and every day.

Freedom

According to Mel Gibson, this was the last word uttered by William Wallace. Who knows? But it does expose our cultures common understanding of what freedom is: the removal of outside authorities telling us what to do (most commonly in a political sense). But is this what the bible really means when it talks about freedom? Not really.

Tim Keller I think appropriately defines freedom: being able to do what you most want to do. But then the question lies in: what do I most want to do? To answer that, you have to take a look at the condition of your heart.

The bible puts everybody on the planet into two camps: those with a regenerated heart and those with an unregenerated heart. The unregenerate are those who do not love Jesus and haven't been given a new heart by him. So the natural result is that their hearts are self-protective and self-interested. The regenerated heart is a heart that's made new by Jesus according to the New Covenant promise from passages like Jeremiah 31:33, 32:39-40 and Ezekiel 36:26-27. The regenerated heart's deepest desire is to please and obey God, who is the One who created the heart in the first place! You can think of it this way: a baseball bat will find it's truly enjoyable freedom when it is particularly used to hit a baseball, and not as a paperweight or doorstop; for that is what it's creator purposed it for.

This is point that Paul expounds in Galatians 5:1-15. Our true freedom is found only when our hearts are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and we are authentic Christ-followers (5:1-6). This freedom we have then needs to be protected because their are "wolves" out there who don't like the freedom that the cross provides us (5:7-12). And lastly our freedom is truly lived out not as we simply do whatever we want, but as we seek put other's before us and serve with a motivation of love (5:13-15).

So be free! Be understand that true freedom is only found in loving and following Jesus.

Living Gospel Dependence

The previous two posts contrasted two ways to live: slave or free. But how do you move from a life of slavery to a life of freedom in Jesus? We find out in Galatians 4:28-5:1.

1. Cast off your slavish tendencies. Galatians 4:30

Confess your sin...specifically your ability to depend on yourself and repent of it. Ask yourself, how am I depending on my own ability to find comfort, approval, power, or control apart from Jesus? Cling to Hebrews 12:1 and "lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely."

2. Remember who you are in Jesus. Galatians 4:28, 31

Because of your faith in Jesus, you are a fully loved, accepted, free child of God with all of the privileges that go along with it!

3. Stand firm in your freedom. Galatians 5:1

Because of your freedom, people will criticize you, tear you down, not know what to do with you, be angry with you, turn their backs on you, basically persecute you. In order to stand firm, it has got to be like a redwood forest. Redwoods are incredibly tall trees, but have pretty shallow roots. But their strength is that their root system interconnect. You must surround yourself in gospel community!

4. Cast of slavish tendencies. Galatians 5:1

Didn't I say this already? Yup, but Paul repeats it because as John Calvin has said, the human heart is a "factory of idols." Martin Luther's first of his 95 Theses stated the the entire life of a believer is one of repentance. Our natural bent is to make good things ultimate things, thus sinning by idolatry. We need to simply embrace the life of repentance.

May you truly live free.

Two Ways to Live, part 2

Sorry this has taken awhile; my old laptop finally died and I've been trying to get my new one up to speed.

The last post showed what a life of slavery looked like, as illustrated by Paul in Galatians 4:21-29 with Hagar and Ishmael. We now see the free way to live in this same passage, illustrated by Sarah and Isaac.

1. Live by God's promise, desire, and ability (Galatians 4:23).

It took much faith to conceive Isaac, for Sarah was old and barren! Only God could make that happen. Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1 here, which is a beautiful illustration of the gospel. Childbearing was so important in this time because it equated political, financial, and social success for not just the family, but for the entire community and nation! So how was a barren woman to rejoice? The only way for the barren - or the poor, marginalized, needy, or anybody deemed less than worthy by society - to rejoice is to have their hearts completely restructured by the gospel and all they need for their worth in Jesus and his ability to do great things.

2. Unburdened, loved, & accepted (Galatians 4:24, 26)

As Hagar symbolically represented the Mosaic Covenant, Sarah represents the New Covenant in Jesus. Jesus himself said in Matthew 11:28-30 that following him resulted in a light & easy load. Looking to the law for justification is fully removed, for we are justified by faith in Jesus.

3. Vertically focused (Galatians 4:26)

Paul sets our eyes upward on the perfect, heavenly city of Jerusalem that God will one day institute here. We look upward for our source of life, love and acceptance, living the life of a worshipper who is focused on pleasing God and not man (Galatians 1:10).

4. Persecuted (Galatians 4:29)

Christ-followers are certainly promised persecution in their lives! Sadly, much of the persecution comes not from "the world" but from those who actually claim to follow Jesus (or are religious in general). Freedom is seen as a threat, and insecure religious people always want to remove the threat.

Are these "markers for freedom" true in your life? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the areas that you are still living as a slave so you can begin to turn toward freedom.

2 Ways to Live, part 1

"On whom we depend determines if you live a life of slavery or freedom."

This was my pre-worship gathering tweet yesterday morning. Jumping into Galatians 4:21-5:1, we see Paul allegorically comparing Abraham's two sons, Ishmael (mother: Hagar, a slave-bond servant) and Isaac (mother: Sarah, wife). Using this historical illustration, Paul shows us that there are two ways to live, slave or free. But it has nothing to do with anything political, rather, it has everything to do with your heart and whom you depend on to live each and every day.

The first way to live is by depending on self. This is the life that leads to slavery. Hagar and Ishmael represent this way to live.

1: Live by own desire and ability (4:23)

It took no faith to conceive Ishmael; Hagar was young and fertile.

There’s a lot we can do on our own that doesn’t require faith; and while it may produce immediate results, they may not be God’s desired results.

2: Burdened by law (4:24-25)

Paul is symbolically portraying Hagar as the Mosaic Covenant, which was given on Mt. Sinai.

The law is good as it shows us our sin and need for Jesus as our savior; the law is bad as it is looked to for righteousness, for we consistently break it and are burdened by guilt, shame, and bitterness.

3: Horizontally focused (4:25)

When Paul says “Present Jerusalem” he means to be relying on law and focused on behaviors and expectations from man. Being horizontally focused puts us in the position of God, because while there are always those we compare ourselves to that are “better”, we can always find others who are worse off so we feel better about ourselves. Either way, it is an idolatrous way to live, not a worshipful way to live; for fear of man replaces fear of God.

4: Persecutor (4:29)

Ishmael and his descendants (starting with his mom Hagar) have always been in conflict with Isaac and his descendants; Jews trace their ancestry through Isaac, Arabic peoples trace theirs through Ishmael…Middle Eastern conflict began because of Abraham living by his own ability!

But the greater principle here is that law is always in conflict with gospel…Jesus’ biggest “enemies” were the religious, legalistic, fundamentalists of his day Why? Because their systems of acceptance, control, and power are threatened. They are insecure. Irreligious people aren’t threatened at all.

One way to tell if you find you justification based on works is that you persecute (hateful & hostile) those who are different from you, whether it's racial, social, religious, geographic, gender, or ideological differences.

Do the markers of the "slave life" apply to you? If so, you need to check your heart for legalism and dependence on yourself verses true dependence on God.

We'll be back with part 2 tomorrow!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

The family and I just got back from an 8-day excursion that took us from Springfield to Hot Springs, Arkansas to Lake of the Ozarks. Here's a few things I learned:

• U.S. 67 is a boring and slow way to travel through Missouri into Arkansas. I'll stick to I-55 next time.
• I'm pretty sure there's a Wal-Mart in every town in Arkansas.
• Of all the hub-bub influential cities get, the amount of rural America is immense.
• Speaking of rural America, you've got to love names like Knob Lick, MO and Toad Suck Park in Arkansas. I'm being very serious.
• Flying a plane is fun.
• The amount of food you're offered at Lambert's (where they throw the rolls at you) should be illegal.
• Watching a lightning/thunderstorm roll in at midnight over Lake of the Ozarks is a very spiritual experience.

One last thing: I've gained some deeper appreciation for gospel community and gospel hospitality. Here's what I mean: my family of SEVEN travelled about 1000 miles, stayed in two cities, and while I haven't added up all the receipts just yet, my estimations is that this trip only cost us about $400! How is this possible? It's possible only because of the gospel.

We visited and stayed with some dear friends in Hot Springs, which is a beautiful area of the country and boasts a very unique National Park. These are the type of friends where Dawn and I are "Aunt & Uncle" to their kids, and they are the same to our kids. The community we have because of the gospel is what really makes this friendship so deep and true community. When we're together, everything is shared and it really feels like family (in the best way!).

For our Lake of the Ozark leg of the trip, we were given an amazing condo to stay in. For free. By people we've never met. Talk about hospitality! The hearts of these dear people is for their condo (which is right on the Lake; which they've named "Still Waters") is for people to connect with Jesus and find some rest for their souls. Just take care of the place and clean up when you're done. They understand that it really isn't "their" condo, but it's God's, and it's to be used for His glory.

May we all truly live out Gospel Community and Gospel Hospitality.

Gospelizing Your Idols

We are an idolatrous people. Not that this is anything new, but it's more prevalent than you'd think. Culturally, it is quite easy to see our current "temples" of our "gods", namely: shopping malls, restaurants, sports stadiums, strip clubs, and even technology centers in California and the Pacific Northwest (had to include this since I really can't say that the Internet is a "place"). Everyone on the planet falls into either one of two categories: worshipper or idolater. A worshipper is a gospel-centered Christ-follower who understands and strives to live out Romans 11:36 "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever." An idolater is then anybody who is not a Christ-follower OR a Christ-follower who has gotten their eyes off of Jesus. This is what Paul has been confronting the Galatians on. The issues beneath their issue of legalism is that of idolatry. This is exactly what he confronts them on in Galatians 4:8-11. He makes a direct comparison of their legalism to their former life of pagan idolatry.

So how do we figure out what our personal "idols of the heart" are? What do we do with them? Tim Keller gives us some great counsel regarding this.

1) Diagnose yourself to begin to identify the areas of idolatry in your life. Ask yourself these telling questions:

• Am I anxious? Am I prone to be fearful and worried?
• Am I angry? Am I prone toward bitterness and guilt?
• Am I empty? Am I prone to boredom, feeling despondent, or having a negative view of myself?
• Has my thinking been clouded, distorted, full of assumptions, and not rooted in reality?
• Do I struggle with intense over-desires or inordinate longings?

2) Identify what your primary idol may be.

• Comfort. A comfort idol has "dialects" of seeking salvation in things that bring you pleasure, always seeking new experiences (or the flip side, never taking risks), a high need for independence, or materialism.
• Approval. An approval idol has the dialects of a high need of being loved or respected by other people, overly-conscious of your image, having others dependent upon you, and an unhealthy perspective on being in relationships (finding Mr. or Mrs. "Right", being included in a certain "inner ring" of people, putting all of your hopes in one friend/family member).
• Power. A power idol has the dialects of needing to be influential, always achieving more, having your particular ideology in the majority (ie, Republican or Democrat), or positioning yourself so people always need you to accomplish whatever they're needing to do.
• Control. A control idol has the dialects of a meticulously maintained schedule, a predictable work environment, or a rule/tradition-laden religious expression.

3) Heal from your idols.

• Reject moralizing. Don't simply think all you need to do is repent and practice behavior modification. It just doesn't go deep enough.
• Reject psychologizing. Don't simply think you need to embrace and rejoice in that God loves you as you are. This goes a little deeper in addressing feelings, but it's still not deep enough.
• Embrace "gospelizing". You need to realize that you are looking to something or someone apart from Jesus for happiness and meaning (this is called a "functional savior"). And you need to : Remember Jesus' work on the cross and your identity in Him; Repent of your idolatrous attitudes, thoughts, & behaviors; and Rejoice that God does indeed love you as you are, but loves you enough to continue to pursue you so you don't stay that way!

The only way to truly find healing and victory over sin in your life is to identify the idol underneath it and root it out! This begins with being "known by God" (Galatians 4:9)...that it's His work in you and that according to 2 Peter 1:3-4, we have everything we need for life in the gospel. It then continues by living in community where you have gospel-leadership to submit to and have gospel-friendships where you can be transparent and have others love you and encourage you. This is called "discipleship"...but maybe more more appropriate to refer to it as "gospelizing" one another.

How to Gospelize

I'm a pastor, in particular a church planter.  And given the three perspectives of pastoring (as seen in Jesus - prophet, priest, and king), I'm foremost a prophet - but not in a Nostradamus-end-of-the-world type of way.  It's more like a "I love you, so I'm going to yell at you from the bible for 45 minutes every week."  Things like truth, confronting sin, and right doctrine are important to me.  But, if that's all I did all the time, I would be a terrible pastor, because people also need priests (who love and care for people) and kings (who organize, administrate, and strategize for ministry).  This is why it's so important to have a plurality of eldership in the local church to the lead the church, and why the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is important as well.  The bottom line is that although God does specifically call some into vocational ministry (or lay ministry, like elders who don't get paid), the truth is that we all are called to minister to each other, which is what Ephesians 4:11-16 is all about.

But back the pastoring thing.  You just can't yell at people all the time.  Yes, truth must be stood up for and sin confronted (in a spirit of sincere love), but you have to put your arm around somebody's shoulders and gently communicate your heart for them.  This is what Paul does in Galatians 4:8-20.  He's been hammering them for three chapters, calling them "foolish" and "bewitched."  But now in this section his tone is completely different and uses terms like "brothers and sisters" and "little children."  Paul really loved them like family and that's why he had been so firm with them up to this point.  He now talks to them like a priestly-pastor.

It's important to note that as you seek to minister to people (or as I'm beginning to like to say "gospelize" people), two elements are pretty important.  First, is having a sincere emotional investment with others.  We see this in 4:12-16.  Paul recalls their time together, how they cared for him, and experiences they shared.  Relationships take time to develop.  There has to be significant time invested in others so they deeply know you desire nothing but Jesus' best for them.  The second element is the goal of ministry, which is Christ.  This is what Paul brings out in 4:17-20.  He didn't want to reproduce clones of himself; he wanted the Galatians to be formed into the image of Jesus.  Because now, Jesus is the only one who really has disciples.  If any church or church leader calls you to anything or anyone other than Jesus as the goal for the Christian life, knock the dust off your boots and get out of there!

So what does "gospelizing" really involve?  On it's most basic level, it is helping people to move from being an idolater to a worshipper.  Every person on the planet will "proclaim worth" to something - a tree, the ocean, a relationship, a bank account, a pro sports team.  But if the object is anything other than Jesus, that is by definition idolatry.  And idolatry is something that Christ-followers can be guilty of as well.  Remember, in Galatians Paul has not questioned their salvation.  In 3:27, he affirmed them being baptized into and clothed with Christ; but they've gotten distracted.  They have begun to seek to "please man" rather than pleasing God (Galatians 1:10).  What Paul has really been doing the whole letter is not just confront their legalism, he has been confronting their idolatry (see how he tied idolatry to legalism in 4:8-10).

This post is getting a tad long, so I'm going to hit the "pause" button and finish it up tomorrow.  The next post will be on how to diagnose, identify, and heal from our idols.  Peace out.

How the Gospel Transforms Us

People don't like instability.  When we have breakdowns relationally, vocationally, financially, or any other way, it just tends to freak us out.  Why?  Sure, it's uncomfortable, but is there a deeper reason?  I think there is.  I think instability exposes our fear...but fear of what?  My answer is fear of not being in control.  And when our control issues are exposed, what comes to the surface then is really an issue of where our identity lies and what we put our hope in.  So, if my identity and hope for happiness lies in my spouse, but then we get in a fight, my life feels out of control and unstable which causes me to live in fear.

The good news is that the gospel is designed to go all the way down to these deep levels of our hearts.  The gospel isn't limited to being the elementary truths of being a Christ-follower, it's also designed to carry us through our PhD work, if you will. Tim Keller has often said that the gospel is not just the A-B-C's of Christianity, it's the A-Z.

In Galatians 3:25-4:7 we get a picture of this.  We see how large the scope is of the transforming power of the gospel.  The gospel changes us in the very core of our being, and in doing so provides a stability in life that everything else pales in comparison to.  It is in fact the "perfect love" that John writes about in 1 John 4:18, which "casts out fear."  So, what we find is three areas in which the gospel transforms us.

1) Our identity is transformed to that of a son of God (3:26, 4:1-5). This is not a chauvinistic or sexist idea.  In this culture (and in many places today) it was the firstborn son that had full rights to everything of the father's.  This was called primogeniture.  Paul is saying that both men and women alike, through faith in Jesus, are given the legal status of "son of God."  God in his love and mercy looked out on those who were created to be in relationship with Him and redeemed (bought out of slavery to sin; bought back what was His in the first place) and adopted (chose to be his children and given full rights as sons) them.  What are the benefits of this sonship?

• You are free from the control of sin and are controlled by love.
• You are a full recipient (heir) of every blessing available from God the Father.
• You are not bound to live by the pattern of the world, but by faith.
• You are fully loved by the Father and enjoy intimacy with Him and his protecting authority.
• When you fail (sin), condemnation doesn't drive you away, but the love of the Father draws you back.
• You are secure in your status of a son which will never change.

2) Your primary community is transformed to one with other sons of God (3:27-29). When a marriage happens, the women takes the husbands name, placing her into his family.  That is a picture of what Galatians 3:27 is meaning.  We are baptized and clothed with Christ, becoming fully identified in Him, much like the message a surname communicates.  This is important to note, because it sets up a very misinterpreted verse 28.  Galatians 3:28 is not about the dissolution of race, class, or gender - for there are obvious distinctions and roles within those - but it is about the primary community you belong to.  As a Christ-follower, you have infinitely more in common with other Christ-followers than you do of those who share your race, class, or gender but who aren't Christ-followers.  This shows us the communal aspect of the gospel.  While our faith is personal, it is not private, for God has made for himself, according to 1 Peter 2:9-10 a plural "people, race, priesthood, and nation."  The benefits of this community transformation are:

• You are intimately connected to the first and primary community of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit
• Your local Christian community is irreplaceable and even mandatory for your growth
• You are connected to a history of people - people of faith dating thousands of years back to Abraham
• You are accepted in community as a fellow saint and sinner
• You are never, ever alone

3) Your experience is transformed by the Spirit (Galatians 4:6-7).  Christianity is not simply something we understand and agree with, it is something we experience.  This is one reason we are given the Spirit - so that we experience through our sonship & community the love of the Father, enabling us to cry out to Him in both need and satisfaction.  Being a Christian is about being madly in love with God not in a weird-romantic sense, but in a  passionate, consuming, joyful, satisfying Father-child relationship deeper than any systematic theology or apologetic reasoning.  A child who spontaneously gets picked up, hugged, and kissed by his father has an experience of his love that  a simple knowledge of love doesn't communicate.  So this experiential transformation means:

• We have passion for God
• We have an intimate prayer life - beyond the "niceties" of a meal time prayer, but springing up from our very souls
• We have a deep sense of assurance for our Father's love is unconditional and His love fuels our obedience

What must we do to fully live out this transformation?  It starts with fully surrendering to Jesus. We also must meditate on His Word; not in a way to simply study and learn, but to soak in it and having it become a part of us. We have to walk with others in community by encouraging each other, praying for each other, confessing to each other, serving together, and living together. And we must cry out to God the Father in unscripted ways; the more we spontaneously cry out, the more we are reminded of the Spirit's active presence with us.

Guarded for the Gospel

First, this is a landmark post...it's number 100!  Woo-hoo!  So what...let's get moving.

One of the more curious things to figure out about Christianity, specifically about the Bible, is what we're supposed to do with the Old Testament, particularly what's referred to "the law."  Being on this side of the cross, how are we supposed to read it?  Is it outdated like an old rotary phone?  Why use it when we have the "iPhone" of the New Testament?  Seriously, are we really supposed to follow the rules about not eating shellfish and not wearing mixed-fiber clothing?  How can David write the longest chapter (119) in the longest book (Psalms) and it's all about how he "loves" the law?  We hear the word "law" and we all grimace and feel disdain.

This is what Paul addresses in Galatians 3:15-25.  In the previous section, he talked about the negative effects of the law.  In this section, he talks about the positive effects of the law - and why we continue to need it, even on this side of the cross.  So let's establish a framework from this passage:

First, we need to understand what Paul meant by "covenant."  God always has made covenants, which are basically "promises."  The most common usage of this word in Paul's day was in context of a last will and testament, the most unalterable of all human contracts (this was verified by Dave Edwards, a lawyer and one of Delta's deacons). So basically Paul is saying that when God makes a promise (that He initiates, set up the parameters, and ratifies) that promise will never change and will be fulfilled.

Second, we need to understand the relationship between the covenant and the law.  First, they are exclusive of each other - they are different.  In verse 18, the teaching is basically this: if you are given something based on a promise, it's NOT because of your performance, and conversely, if you get something because of what you have done (ie, a paycheck), it's not because of a promise.  But in versese 21-22, we see that the covenant and law are in agreement.  The law was never expected to grant salvation (because keeping it fully was impossible); if it could, the Jesus never would have had to come (Galatians 3:17)!  So basically, the law shows us our need for salvation by faith through grace - the law points to the promise.  Everything in scripture is either looking forward to the cross, or looking back at the cross.

Third, we need to understand where Jesus fits into all of this.  According to verse 16, Jesus was the true fulfillment of the "offspring" promised to Abraham.  Additionally, Jesus was the only person to keep the law 100% in deed and in spirit (Matthew 5:17).  Jesus fulfills BOTH the promise AND the law!

Fourth, what purpose does the law truly serve?  Verse 23 says that the law "imprisoned" us like a jailer.  The law kept people in bondage until the fullness of time when Jesus would come (Galatians 4:4).  The law kept us "locked up" to protect us from our great propencity to sin.  But then in verses 24-25, we see this word "guardian" which is better translated "tutor."  In this, we see the ultimate end of the law was to instruct us for maturity, namely faith in Jesus - that we would be obedient not becaus we have to, but because we want to.  So, while we are no longer under a guardian, we still have great need for a guardian.  Paul wrote in Romans 7:7 that if it wasn't for the law, he would not know what his sin was.  John Stott beautifully wrote, "It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgement that the gospel shines forth."

So with those points as our framework, we know can make these three conclusions:

1) We know how to read the Old Testament.  When reading through the lens of the gospel, we see it all pointing to Jesus.

2) We have a different starting point for obedience.  Fear and guilt are transformed into love and grantitude.

3) We are released to attempt great things for God.  We now have the FREEDOM to fail!  Our acceptance & relationship with God is not on the line, we do not live in performance-based Christianity.

The law exposes our need to be connected to God and provided a limited pathway for that.  Jesus has come completely fulfilling everything that God requires on our behalf so we can be vitally connected to God in the fullest sense.

There is a reality of law and sin.  But there is a greater reality of faith, grace, love, and mercy.

Commitment vs. Surrender

Everyone on the planet knows and feels that something is missing from their lives.  They don't know quite what it is, but the search to have the void filled and find completion is seemingly never ending.  People look for completion is things like vocational, educational, recreational, spiritual, relational, possessional (is that a word?), or moral achievement.  Basically, the thought is this: if I can just make the right commitments to get what I want, then I'll be happy and complete and this empty feeling will go away.  But the problem is that people suck at keeping commitments.  Whatever rules we have imposed on us or that we impose upon ourselves will be broken.  We just can't keep our commitments.

This is what Paul confronts the Galatians with in Galatians 3:1-14.  As Paul instructed them previously that it was their faith in Jesus that justified them (positionally made them right with God), it was that same faith that sanctifies them (grows them to be more like Jesus).  To think that you get "in" by faith, but then have to "work" to stay in and grow is the equivalent to being a fool and allowing someone to bewitch or deceive you.  It would be like starting a road trip by fueling up with gas, but halfway through believing someone who tells you that you should use root beer to fuel your car.  Totally foolish! As a car is built and designed to run on gas, Christ-followers are built and designed to run on faith.

To prove his point, Paul takes the Galatians back on a journey with Abraham, who is the father of the Jewish nation.  His point is that God called a pagan idolater named Abram to follow him, and it wasn't because of anything that Abram did to earn this relationship with God (Genesis 12:1-3, Joshua 24:2).  Then, even after his call, Abram still wasn't the poster child of a worshipper of the One True God, for he was a liar, a coward, pimped out his wife, made bad real estate decisions, and simply didn't lead like God called him to (see Genesis 12-14). Still, God initiated a covenant with Abram and only God ratified the covenant, because he knew that Abram would be unable to (Genesis 15:5-18).  The only thing that was credited as righteousness to Abram was his faith.  Why is all this Abraham talk important?  Because it showed the Galatians that it is clearly not keeping law that justifies or sanctifies you, as illustrated from the very beginning with Abraham; and it shows us that when God makes a promise to bless everybody (including you and me), he always keeps his promises.  We are "children of Abraham" because of our faith, not our good works, achievements, or commitments.

Paul goes on to show that when we impose law or have law imposed upon ourselves, the very law we live by is the very law that will kill us because of our inability to keep it.  We are, in effect, "cursed".  A loose paraphrase of the Leviticus 18:5 that Paul quotes in 3:12 would be "if you live by the sword, you'll die by the sword."  And mostly keeping the law, mostly keeping our commitments doesn't but it, either.  James 2:10 clearly says that breaking even the smallest of the law is worthy of the punishment for breaking all of the law.  

So what are we to do?  How are we to live for God? Well, Paul is clear: we are to live by faith.  Ok, so what does that look like?  Aren't there still expectation to live up to?  Yes, there are.  But we don't do anything.  Jesus does it for us.

Here's where the beauty of the gospel shines brightly.  Jesus became a curse for us.  He legally took our penalty.  He took our sin, we are given his righteousness.  God's justice and mercy work in complete harmony. So, we are to "live by faith."  Meaning, every moment of every day is lived in surrender to Jesus.  When we surrender, we give up our will to the will of another.  This means that our faith in Jesus is not just what initially saves us, but also continually saves us and becomes the fuel for our everyday lives.  Jesus just didn't die for our sin nature, but for our sin.  So everyday becomes a rhythm of confession-repentance-reconciliation-rejoicing.  Our justification is secured at the moment of salvation, and then our sanctification grows.  So by daily (or hourly, or minute by minute) reminding ourselves of the gospel, we let go of all of our commitments and promises we can't keep anyway, surrender our will to Jesus, and the let the Spirit do His work in our lives.  2 Corinthians 3:18 loudly resounds this work of sanctification: we are transformed more and more into the image of Jesus NOT by our efforts, but by the work of the Spirit in us!

A life of faith is not marked by empty promises and unkept commitments that result in guilt, shame, and condemnation.  A life of faith is marked by surrendering our will to Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, which results in love, joy, serving, and missional living because you are just so thankful.

Living in Line

Think of a time that you found yourself in conflict with somebody and you had to confront or be confronted.  What was the motivation?  What was at stake?  Was it something like integrity, reputation, pride, protection, respect, or jealousy?  Those are some usual motivators for our confrontation.  We read about a confrontation between Paul and Peter in Galatians 2:11-14.  Peter was missional engaging the Gentile Christians until Jewish Christians from Jerusalem came along.  His hypocrisy even effected a rock-solid guy like Barnabas.  Paul sees this and confronts Peter, but not on the basis of any of the reasons we listed above.  According to verse 14, Paul confronted Peter because his "conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel."  The gospel was Paul's motivation.  The phrase "not in step" in Greek is literally "walking in line" (orthopodeo - like how an orthodontist straightens crooked teeth).  What this practically means is that the gospel is simply not just a truth to be believed by the non-Christian, but a truth to be infused into every area of the Christian's life.

Through the rest of chapter 2 (verses 15-21), Paul teaches the theology behind the confrontation.  In it, he communicates the "heart of the Gospel": justification through faith in Jesus.  Justification is a legal term which means "being declared righteous; a person is no longer liable to any penalty, but is entitled to all the privileges due to one who has kept the law."  Biblically, it means that you status before God is one of acceptance.  Justification fixes both problems that sin causes: alienation from God and becoming a subject of God's wrath.  Being justified means that we are brought near to God and his wrath is removed from us.

So how are we justified, that is, how are we accepted?  Is it like college where we fill out forms, send in transcripts, have interviews, and pay money?  Not at all.  Romans 8:33 is clear that it is God who justifies, not us or anything we do. Galatians 2:15-16 are clear that it is specifically faith in Jesus that justifies us.  A few interesting things from these verses: 1) "justified" is in the past tense; meaning that through faith it has already happened, not something we still seek; 2) in the Greek, the article "the" (as in 'the law') doesn't exist; so Paul is saying that it isn't just Jewish ceremonial law that he's addressing, it's any type of moralism/works that we can come up with; and 3) in verse 16, "faith in Jesus" could also be "faithfulness of Jesus", emphasizing the fact that salvation & justification is totally God-centered; where our faith is weak and small, it is Jesus' complete faithfulness that paves the way for our justification.

And by no means does this "passive righteousness" give us any licence to abuse it and sin all the more.  This is the argument that Paul addresses in verses 17-18 of Galatians 2.  Reflecting Romans 6:1-2, Paul is saying that if a person's life is continually marked by sin - selfishness, arrogance, pride, sleeping around, addiction, whatever - with no remorse or transformation, then there's really no true faith in Jesus.  This person has "proved to be a transgressor."

Remember, this is about "living in line" (v. 14) with the gospel.  That our total lives are affected by this justification.  Galatians 2:19 says that we now free from following rules to please God, for our faith in Jesus is what pleases Him; and through that faith we have new hearts that have a desire to please Him.  We now "want to" obey without feeling like we "have to".  Galatians 2:20 communicates this new life that we have.  All of our sin was put to death on the cross with Jesus and doesn't define us because Jesus does.  And even though we "live in the flesh" (with all of the struggles with sin we still face), we live by faith in Jesus which empowers us for living; fueled by Jesus' great love of his sacrifice.  And if we don't live in faith, verse 21 soberly says that what we are practically saying with our lives is that Jesus died for nothing, and we erase his grace out of our lives.

So what are the practical implications of being justified by God through faith in Jesus?  It all has to do with 4 views - 4 frameworks that we function out of:

1. God's view of us is that we are a loved and accepted child - a full member of the family - with ALL of the privileges entitled to it.
2. Our self-view becomes that we are loved and accepted, and we are marked by "humble confidence" - humbled by God's love, and confident of His work in and through us.
3. Our view of others is transformed from what people can do for us to how we can love them because of what God has done for us.
4. Other's view of us simply doesn't matter like it used to! We don't have to live in fear of man or to please man, because the God of the universe is pleased with us already because of Jesus, and we live to please him and to be his servant.

How do you identify the areas of your life that aren't "living in line" with the gospel?  Remember, this whole section of God's Word was drawn out from a conflict (between Paul and Peter).  I would then say that areas of regular conflict in your life expose the areas that aren't in line with the gospel.  And it's not about you just trying to correct your course; you can't...in fact, you've probably been trying and it keeps not working.  It's simply recognizing your inability to do so and believing in Jesus as your only hope. God then justifies you, empowers you with His Spirit, frees you from fear, and you live confident in your acceptance.

May grace be with you.

Humiliation vs. Humility

When was the last time you were humiliated?  What about the last time you were humbled?  Yes, those are two separate questions.  Humiliation and humility are not the same thing.  Humiliation is brought about by things like guilt, embarrassment, ridicule, defeat, or even abuse.  My freshman and sophomore high school football teams combining for an 0-16 record is pretty humiliating. Humility, on the other hand, comes from being overwhelmed by things like love, grace, mercy, and generosity.  When a financial need for Delta was made public the other month, some fellow church planters in our church planting network, Acts 29, brought our need to their elders and we received a number of financial gifts.  It was a very humbling experience to be the recipient of such love and generosity.

Galatians 1:13-2:10 shows us a very personal snapshot of how the gospel was working in and through Paul.  While there are many things that could be pointed out and talked about in this section, I think the one key theme that stands out is that of gospel humility.  When the gospel does it's work in and through people, humility happens, and humility begins to produce some very godly fruit.

In Galatians 1:13-23, Paul tells of his conversion and very early ministry.  In one amazing sentence, he communicates the height of his moral character and the depth of his depravity (v. 13-14).  Paul could have honestly said that he was moral enough to not need the gospel, yet depraved enough to not deserve it.  Then he unpacks the beauty of God's love and grace in verses 15-16 in that it simply pleases God to pour His grace out on people and love them.  And the result that this type of grace-induced humility brings?  A changed life, as noted in verse 23.

Now, it's so easy for people to look at the "triumphs" of others, champion the human spirit, and worship the gifts and abilities of others.  Athletes like Labron James, who come from humble beginnings yet achieve super-stardom, are caught saying very self-promoting things like "There are few people that can take over a game, and I'm blessed to be one of them."  Paul could have been accused of this type of self-promotion in telling his dramatic story.  But we have to look at the result of his story; how people responded to it.  Galatians 1:24 is clear that a truly humble result of a changed life is that God is glorified, not a person.

In the beginning of chapter 2, Paul fast-forwards his story about 14 years, and shows him and his ministry partners going to Jerusalem.  He wanted to find out if their message was to have been "in vain" (2:2).  This is a little perplexing, for according to Galatians 1, Paul is very confident in the pure gospel message.  What was at stake here was the "truth of the gospel preserved for you" (2:5).  Paul, an apostle called by Jesus himself, wanted to check off with the leaders of the church - Peter, James, and John - which was headquartered in Jerusalem.  If these "pillars" (who were still sinful, human beings) had begun to preach, like the Judaizers, that you needed to do something in addition to having faith in Jesus (in this case, adhere to Jewish ceremonial law), then the fruit of Paul's gospel message was in jeopardy.  That is the "vanity" that Paul was concerned about.  He saw a potential church split, and desperately wanted to avoid it.  But because Paul was a man humbled by the gospel, that resulted in a spirit of submission, in him going to the leaders of the church.

A glorious thing happened during this meeting, which I believe was a reference point for Paul as he wrote Ephesians 4:1-3.  Peter, James, & John "added nothing" (2:6) to Paul's message!  They agreed that faith in Jesus alone is what causes God to accept us.  This was symbolized by the "right hand of fellowship" (2:9), which saw Paul and the Jerusalem leaders bond together, and also symbolically deny the false teachers.  The humility all these men had before God and his gospel resulted in great unity.  Sadly, Paul's fears still came true, as our time is perhaps the most divided time in church history with the three main tribes of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant plus the countless denominations.  This makes the message of Galatians of utmost importance - that we lay aside meaningless traditions and distinctions that distort and reduce the gospel of Jesus.

This brings us to Galatians 2:10.  At first read, it seems a little odd - sort of out of place - even borderline "legalistic".  So what gives with the serve the poor thing?  Actually, this verse unlocks the whole theme of humility for the passage.  Serving the poor is instrinsic to gospel humility.  God has always wanted his people to care for the poor (Leviticus 23:22). Jesus said that his ministering to the poor was a fulfillment of him being the messiah (Matthew 11:1-6). Paul mandated that Christians and their churches serve the poor when he spoke with the Ephesians elders (Acts 20:35).  The early church was made up of both rich and poor, and was a great picture of how unity can be achieved amongst social classes (Acts 4:34-37).  And Jesus, in his greatest collection of teachings called the Sermon on the Mount, said that the poor in spirit are the ones who are blessed (Matthew 5:3), and serving the poor reminds us of our spiritual poverty.  Galatians 2:10 is not an "add on" at all. Serving the poor is a natural expression and result of gospel humility. 

But we get humility all wrong.  We confuse it with humiliation.  We run away from it and become self-righteous.  We over-do it and play the self-pity card.  So what are we to do?

Nothing.  God has to do it in us.  Which is exactly why Jesus came.

Philippians 2:7-11 shows us this.  He was humble because we couldn't be.  He was obedient because we wouldn't be.  He brings unity because we won't.  And he will be glorified because he alone is worthy.

That is the ultimate result of gospel humility!

Confronting Gospel Confustion, part 2

Now that the probable issue regarding the Galatians' problems have been exposed (see yesterday's post), Paul unpacks 4 truths of the gospel (and us).

Truth 1: There is only 1 true gospel, but people will distort it - Galatians 1:6-7

Jesus Himself made the biggest exclusivity claim regarding salvation in John 14:6, and that is the message that Paul preached to the Galatians.  The eye-opening thing here is that Paul uses some strong words ('deserting', meaning going completely AWOL; and 'distort', meaning a complete reversal).  Paul was saying that if you add anything to Jesus' gospel (religiosity, morality, etc.) you are in fact leaving the gospel entirely!  It's practically saying, "Jesus, you are not enough, your sacrifice was not sufficient."  So even a "distortion" of the gospel of Jesus is on the same plane as following another faith system.  Scary stuff!  James Montgomery Boice has written, "embracing legalism is rejecting God."

Truth 2: No one is exempt from the temptation to distort the gospel - Galatians 1:8-9

Paul says that the penalty for distorting the gospel is to be "accursed".  This word in original Greek is 'anethema', which means "being devoted for destruction with no hope of being redeemed." And Paul quickly points out that the Galatians should reject anybody that distorts the gospel, even himself or an angel!  No one is beyond this.  Because of our sin, we all are at risk of polluting the gospel.  We need to be honest with our depravity and weigh all voices (including our own) against the truth in scripture.

Truth 3: The gospel's biggest enemy is man - Galatians 1:10

Too often people think the opposite of God is Satan.  This is untrue on a couple levels.  First and foremost, God is Creator, and Satan was a part of creation.  Aside from possession, Satan has no ability to "make us" do anything.  All he (or one of his henchmen demons) has to do most often is just nudge us in the right direction and leave us to our sin.  CS Lewis demonstrated this beautifully is his classic work, "The Screwtape Letters." As we seek to please ourselves or another person, we cease being a servant of Jesus; for our greatest joy as servants of Jesus is to please Jesus.

Proverbs 14:12 clearly says that man's ways (our thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc) lead to DEATH.  Yet, a few verses later in Proverbs 14:27, it's clear that God's ways lead to LIFE.  There is no middle ground, as Peter said in Acts 5:29.  Pleasing man functionally makes us an idolater and no longer a worshipper of Jesus.

Truth 4: God reveals the gospel to us - Galatians 1:11-12

Paul communicates how we come to know the gospel.  He first tells us three ways we don't learn it, and the only way we do.

First, the gospel is not according to man (v. 11). Our humanistic philosophies or logic are not the gospel.

Second, the gospel is not received from man (v. 12). We don't get the gospel from human osmosis, human transmission, or just by parroting some teacher we've heard.

Third, the gospel is not taught (v. 12). A systematic presentation or apologetic argument won't get someone to believe the gospel.  It's not just a mental exercise.

Fourth, the gospel is revealed to us (v. 12). Jesus will reveal his gospel to us.  We need to experience the gospel.  It's important to note here that our experience needs to be weighed according to the Bible (1 John 4:1-3), we do not weigh scripture against our experience, for that leads to untruth and men-centeredness.

A heart (and head) knowledge of the true gospel is central to everything - for without it we have no true wisdom or discernment to judge the people and situations that enter our lives that can lead us away from Jesus.  We need to be honest with ourselves, be humble before God, and pray that God plants the truth of his gospel in our lives.

Confronting Gospel Confusion, part 1

In Galatians 1:6-12, Paul literally comes out swinging in his confrontation of the Galatians' abandonment of following the gospel of Jesus Christ and their embracing of the legalism the Judaizer's (traditional Jews who now follow Jesus, but mandate the keeping of ceremonial Jewish laws) are pressuring them with.  He uses some pretty strong language like "astonished" and "deserting" and "distort" and "accursed" (we'll unpack those tomorrow).  What I'd like to address now is what I believe to be the reason for the Galatians' turning to legalism.

Think about this: a person or situation that has entered your life and caused the very foundational beliefs of your life to be shaken.  I suppose this could be a good thing, say, like the birth of a child - makes you do a reevaluation of everything.  But typically these are stressors in your life: job change or loss, moving, relational breakdown, or some kind of financial crisis.  When one of these stressors comes into your life, where do you run?  What do you go to in order to find relief and peace?  If you run to anything other than the gospel of Jesus you are being an idolater, for you are looking to something other than Jesus to be your Savior.  Idols are what are called "functional saviors."  Another way to define them is "something you life for, and feel that you can't live without."

Tim Keller says that there are three main categories of idols: personal, religious, and cultural. Personal idols include things like: money, romance, looks, sex, self-expression, or your kids (this list could go on).  Religious idols can be truth (you love your theology so much that you forget about grace), spiritual gifts/experience, or morality (following the rules, serving, giving, avoiding sin and sinful people).  Cultural idols can be things like what family you're a part of (or not), political affiliation, ideologies, or even geography (living in a certain part of the country will bring you 'salvation' and fix your problems).   The times in our lives that idols take center stage is at times of distress - when our world gets turned upside down.

I think this is what happened to the Galatians.  Paul planted the seed of the gospel in them, and it was just beginning to take root to grow, but it was still a tender, young plant.  People (Judaizers) came into their midst and shook them up with their message of legalism (you need to add to the gospel of Jesus) and the Galatians took the bait and were running to an idol of religious moralism.  Paul hears of this and confronts their idolatry with the gospel (see Galatians 1:3-5).

So, when your life has gotten shaken up, where have you gone?  Have you run (or are you currently running) to some functional savior?  Has this crisis exposed a shallow belief in the one true gospel of Jesus?  If so, take heart, for God in his mercy has given us Pauls' letter to the Galatians to help us repent and course-correct.  What Paul unpacks through the rest of verses 6-12 are 4 truths about the gospel and people.  We'll take a look at those tomorrow.

How you change

First, I'm currently hanging out in my favorite Chicago neighborhood, Lincoln Park.  So I'm happy :-)  Secondly, I got to hang out with a church planter, Aaron Youngren, who's planting The Line Chicago, so I'm extra happy.  Thirdly, I was privileged to deliver to the Youngrens some house warming gifts that our church collected for them...much love going around; so I'm super happy.  All this has got me thinking on how people change.  What? You don't see the connection?  Let me explain.

It all has to do with the word I just used: connection.  The only way people change - and I am meaning how people overcome sin patterns, addictions, become more holy, bear for fruit of the Spirit, and generally become more like Jesus - is through being connected.  But connected to what?  More specifically, connected to whom?

First, there is no way you can change without being connected to Jesus through the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.  You see, when we believe in Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit who lives in us, regenerates us, and basically makes us a brand new creation. Connection to God the Father, through God the Son, by the power of God the Spirit is primary when it comes to our transformation.

Secondly, there is another connection needed on more practical levels.  What I've seen personally in ministry for the last 16 years and what I see the bible teaching is that we need to be connected to other Christ-followers.  By submitting ourselves to community (spiritual leaders and spiritual friendships), we allow others to speak into our lives for encouragement, support, teaching, correction, confrontation, accountability, and disicpline.  This is where we see scripture come alive regarding Acts 2, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, Galatians 6, and Hebrews 10 and 13. God has given us the Church (other believers, who have the same Spirit in them, by the way) to sharpen us to help us grow.

My time with Aaron today, and the time I spent on the phone with another church planting friend on the phone on my way to Chicago, reminded me of the importance of being connected together, with our foundation of Jesus, in our journeys of growth.

So, are you connected?  First, to Jesus?  Second, to other Christ-followers?  It is your only hope for change.

The Amazement of Grace

With it being Holy Week, I've been thinking quite a bit about the Gospel - the good news about the Person and Work of Jesus.

I think one of the most powerful gospel statements in all of scripture came from Jesus' own lips just before he died on the cross: "It is finished", from John 19:30.  The reason I find this so powerful is because it puts to death all things that reek of religion - meaning, all these things that people feel they must do to be right with God and hopefully go to heaven some day.  When Jesus said "It is finished", He meant it. There is no more work for us to do - Jesus has done it all.

What we're talking about here is grace.  In His limitless love, God gives us grace by giving us His Son to be all that we can't, do all that we are unable, and pay for the debt we owe.  And according to passages like Romans 5 and Ephesians 2, this grace is free - it's simply offered to us.  We receive it by having faith (Romans 5:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-9).

A lot of "Christians" that I know reject God's grace, although they may not be aware that they are doing so.  How do they do this?  Here's a short list:

-They are unforgiving.

-They are judgmental.

-They serve with an underlying sense of guilt.

-They barely, or rarely, give.

-They over-emphasize tradition and ritual.

-They believe that it takes a long time to change.

-They constantly criticize others and gossip.

-They feel like they always have to pay back a kind deed done to them.

-They feel like they never read enough of their bibles, pray enough, serve enough, or attend enough bible studies or church services.

-They feel and act responsible to fix themselves or other people's problems.

That's just my short list...but I think it hits the biggies.  Part of this is a cultural thing where we "pay to play", and part of this is a human condition thing and collateral damage of our sin nature.  And honestly, grace is so amazing, so incomprehensible, so foreign that we mostly don't really believe it.  We may believe it for salvation, but we don't believe it for sanctification (our daily lives as we grow more like Christ).

What does a life marked by grace looke like?  If you really believe in God's grace to both save you and grow you, what would your life look like?  Here's another short list:

-Loving

-Forgiving

-Joyful

-Hopeful

-Generous

-Hospitable

-Transformational

-Peaceful

Quite a different list, huh? If you sit and read and think something along the lines of "I wish" or "I could never" or "That would be too hard" or "That's not reality", I would challenge you if you really believe God's grace or perhaps believe the Gospel at all.

Because here's the deal: if God hadn't designed or desired us to live in His grace, Jesus never would have come, he would have never lived the life he did, taught the things he taught, suffered the way he suffered, died the way he died, or rose from the dead.  It never would have happened.  Nothing would be finished.  The work would still be on-going.

But that's not the case.  Jesus came, lived, loved, died, and rose again.  We have a cross to reflect on this Friday and an empty tomb to celebrate on Sunday.  By faith we have a new identity as His children. We have been given a community to live in called the church. We are part of a grace-filled kingdom where Jesus reigns and is sovereign.

We have grace that is sufficient.

A Sabbath from Sabbath

Vacation is supposed to be relaxing and rejuvenating, right?  Not necessarily so.  We've been in and out over the last few weeks with multiple-day trips to both Michigan and then Wisconsin.  We piled our 5 kids (ages 9 1/2 months-11 yrs) into our van complete with cartop carrier and have spent nearly 30 hours in said vehicle, counting all the running around at our desitination places.  On top of this is lots of time and conversation (some pretty intense) with friends and family, staying up late, playing Wii, a few sleepless nights for me, getting caught in a snowstorm with only windbreakers, fast food, still preaching a couple times & counselling in the midst of all this, and finding a dead bird in our basement upon our arrival back home.

Did we have a lot of fun?  You bet we did.  It was a blast and the kids were great.

Are we dogged tired?  You bet we are.

So I've been reflecting on how to properly rest.  God is pretty clear in both commanding and exampling "Sabbath" - a time for rest, reflection, & enjoyment of His goodness and blessings in our lives.  But you either Sabbath well or poorly.

Poor Sabbath is inconsistant (or doesn't ever happen), unplanned, unprepared for, busy (vocational work is just replaced by chores & errands), and plugged in (still on voicemail, email, TXT, Twitter, Facebook, etc.).  Coming back from a poor Sabbath finds you tense, exhausted, and edgy.  I am currently guilty of poor Sabbath right now.

To Sabbath well is have a consistent weekly, quarterly, and annual times of rest.  They planned and prepared for, so surprises are minimized and responsibilities are taken care of.  While you still may enjoy hobbies (gardening, reading, cooking, hiking, etc.), you take break from your vocational work as well as regular chores.  Also, in our information-laden, technological, socially-networked culture, the importance of "unplugging" is paramount.  One of the bright spots of my vacation last week was that for most of the time I had no cell phone signal.  It was liberating.

So, now I'm back from vacation suffering the natural consequences of not Sabbathing well.  I have some repenting to do and some rest to catch up on.  Please learn on my dime and make a point to really Sabbath well.

The One True Story

Yesterday was a great worship gathering for Delta.  One thing that made it so good was that we celebrated God's Story, and how our stories graciously fit into His.

Stories are something that people need.  Stories offer us hope, allow us to dream, and they expand our world.  But there is One True Story above all other stories...the story of God and his redeeming love.  With the help of my friend James Harleman, I outlined for Delta God's One True Story and how we are a part of it.

The Continuum of God’s One True Story – 11 Acts

Act 1: Creation – “In the beginning God…” Genesis 1:1 

Acts 2: Contravention – “Did God actually say…?” Genesis 3:1

Act 3: Condemnation – “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great…” Genesis 6:5

Act 4: Compassion – “The LORD came… “Fear not…I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” – Genesis 15:1

Act 5: Coming – “For unto you is born this day…a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:11

Act 6: Crucifixion – “It is finished…and gave up his spirit.” – John 19:30

Act 7: Conversion – “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Act 8: Commission – “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ…” – 2 Corinthians 5:20

Act 9: Convergence – “…every knee should bow…every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” – Philippians 2:10-11

Act 10: Conflagration – “And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire…” – Revelation 20:10

Act 11: Conclusion – “And night will be no more…the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” – Revelation 22:5

Most people in the world are stuck somewhere in Acts 2 & 3...lost in the consequence of sin and experiencing the pain, confusion, and dysfunction that go along with it.  Acts 4-6 are a distant hope and dream for them.

Most Christians tend to get stuck on Act 7 and pray that tomorrow brings Act 11.  But the Church is called to "flex its muscles" in Acts 8 & 9, bringing God's One True Story to the culture full of lost, hurt, confused, dysfuctional, dying people.  This is exactly why Delta exists: to point people to the Hero by telling our stories of how the Hero has rescued us.

Enjoy God's One True Story.  Know that your life is a story as well, but that Jesus is the Hero & main character, not you.  See your story in His, and be sure to tell someone about it.  Someone is waiting to hear it.