Only the Gospel

C. S. Lewis once said something to the effect that we should read old books because the mistakes that the authors in a different age were blind to would be obvious and the nuggets of gold would shine brighter.

There are some serious errors that have been made in the past. Let us not overlook them. Many times the label conservative has been a cover for bigoted ideas or hatefulness but it is also true that certain philosophies of life such as socialism and pure Democracy have inherent fatal flaws not in purpose but in human nature. 

The young have seen our serious errors, the old have seen our fatal flaws. The left has decried some social evils while the right has opposed moral ones. And we have turned a deaf ear to one another.

But as a Christian, I am called to strive for the advancement and care of the destitute and stranger-out if my own pocket and on my own sweat. That is not "liberalism" and is is certainly not "conservative". I am called to love truth, justice and my enemy, so that my reaction to sinners is both clear in its ethics, and generous in its compassion. 

Folks we live in a day when only the gospel can bridge the gap between those who see injustice and those who see inequity. And only the gospel can allow those who seek sanctification to humbly serve those who live in iniquity.

It begins by loving our God who is holy and it ends by serving our neighbor who is not. It means we need to take personal responsibility for our neighbor's needs, that we must care for the widow and the orphan and the slave and caution the rich man  that he be rich in good works. While at the same time living out marriages that reflect Christ, no matter how others define it. It means we must uphold the authority of government while caring for the stranger and the alien among us. It means we must give our own money to nurse and care for our enemies, and honor those who stand against evil.

And only the Gospel is big enough to fit that task. Only the Gospel calls the most devoute hypocrites and the most sinful to repentance. Only the gospel does justice for the oppressed while confronting their sin and condems the rich only for their hardness of heart.

Only the Gospel does not condemn, because we are condemned already, and offers redemption strictly to the acknowledged slave of sin. Only the Gospel shine a light by which blind men can see.  

And once those truths sink a little deeper  perhaps then we can finally acknowledge that only the Gospel can save is now.

Small Changes of the heart

Probably the most basic definition of the human problem, is that our desires get fixed on the wrong things.

James says that fights and quarrels come from our desires.

And we are told several times to fix our hearts on things above not things of the earth.

This has been impressed upon me from a whole new angle recently, as we have started a new buisness.  You see it is soothing to the human spirit, and somehow feels good to give people money to help with a crisis. But what I have realized over the years is that more often than not we are actually guilty of a form of idolatry in how we help people.

We give people money, we get to play God, we get to be the hero, we get to be the rescuers. But even more than that we reduce real human beings to objects of pity, and completely disregard the image of God inherent to the human condition.

You see our God is one who works, he creats and designs and produces things. And we were created in his image at least in part to work. To create, and design and produce. And to the degree that we do for people what they are able to do for themselves, we rob them of the worship experience of being active workers in God's world.

Early on in this buisness venture I was asked if we needed financial help to get started, and in that moment I realized that in that moment, I had become the object of someone's mercy, in the wrong way.

They would like to help people, they believe that whatever are doing is a good thing, so they want to try to "rescue" us.  But this turns the theology of work on its head. I do not need your "help" I need your buisness. Put me to work don't fix my problem. 

Which leads to another realization. For people to actually change from a giving mindset to work mindset.  They will have to change their habits.  You see local goods and services are the single most important way to support work in any community.

In my case I am selling soapberries thAt are locally harvested in impoverished regions of the world. To help them develop a Biblical view of themselves and of their capacity for work, I need to encourage their local goods and services.  This means that they need to sell soapberries, and for me to buy them I need to sell them, regularly and consistently.  I don't need sponser so need customers!  

Which means that individuals will have to forego the ease of commercially manufactured soaps, and the smells and cents they have gotten used to, for the sake of helping people.  And ironically it is easier to give people $100, than it is to buy a product that forces is to change our habits. We are more likely to donate to a cause than thoughtfully change our habits to encourage others to work.

And as that boils down to our desires.  And when we fix our affections on the wrong things, it results in idolatry. The odd fixation with the smell if "summer breeze" will actually prevent people from giving others a job, because it doesn't fit our taste, or is different than we are used to.

I would urge you to consider the importance theologically, as a matter of stewardship, and worship, of buying from the local farmers market. Shopping in your local stores, and buying products that encourage individuals to work in their local communities.

They don't need your pity, they need your buisness.

(If you have comments, please email me at : disciplemaker24_7@me.com) 

Check out our webpage at www.soapberryharvest.com if you want to try something community sourced for your laundry.

Pray for me

3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison-

4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. - Colossians 4:3-4

The Gospel is a mystery, a thing that does not make sense untill it is proclaimed.  But for the gospel to make sense it must be spoken clearly.

I have the opportunity in the next week or so to try to speak the Gospel clearly to a young couple who woul like to join our church.  The problem I that they are not believers, but they think they are.  

The Bible is clear that the gospel is the power, not just contains the power, to transform lives. A person genuinely re-born through the power of the Gospel, will be irrevocably changed. Those changes produce real and lasting evidence, which Jesus and the Apostles described as fruit.

And this couple has no fruit. Their world is, by their own account not a place of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness or gentleness. They do not love the things of God, but they live the things of the world.

These things are no surprise, the problem is that both of them have been in churches that were not faithfull to proper proclamation of mystery of the Gospel. And the wife was actually baptized at a very young age, by a former pastor of our church. 

And they want to be members. Less than a year ago it was clear they were politely uninterested, but months of prayer and investment have built a relationship, and a friendship. Leading to the conversation we need to have in the next week or so.

And so I ask that you would lift all of us up in prayer, that God would open up the door for that Gospel conversation, and that I would proclaim the mystery of Christ as I ought. 

Good ministry, really bad evangelism!

I had the opportunity to speak with an individual in my community who grew up attending church, as an active member in their youth group, camping events and ministry outreaches.

In Jr-High and High School he was part of a touring vocal ensemble, that sang gospel music in churches.  He knows and loves the old hymns. 

He also played a leading role in Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat. He thought it was special that "it had something to do with the Bible."

He attended a church with a friend and when they asked him if he believed in Jesus he said "yes" and was immediately baptized.

All of that was 15 or 20 years ago, and he put his faith in Christ, last summer for the first time in his life.

When I asked him, if his youth leaders choir directors and pastors ever explained the Gospel to him, he said that he couldn't remember anyone ever sitting down with him and sharing how he could be saved.

Read that again, let it soak in.  

Like he said, there were probably several times when a speaker or preacher shared the gospel, but he was too busy singing it to be able to hear it.

20 years latter life is full of regrets, and only now does he have a personal faith struggling to mature.

Folks, if there is room for "ministry" surely there is time to share the messages of God's grace! Be sure you are sharing the gospel, personally purposefully, and often. 

Raging without a story.

I am no expert on culture, but I do listen and read a bit on the subject. And one thing that has been curious to me is the anger and rage that is becoming a theme in the way people are angry.  

I know anger and rage is at least as old as Cain and Able. And I am not under the illusion that somehow my generation has an extra share, what does intrigue me is that the anger is now directed not at injustice but at people we think are the problem.

Let me explain. It used to be we had categories for our hate that fit into the general notion of "right and wrong" which in turn came from a world view that believed in some way shape or form in redemptive value even in suffering.

Whether it was illness,disaster or injustice  even the most secular person had a semi-biblical understanding that good can  come from evil.  And in connection with that the belief that good triumphs over evil in the end. 

Additionally there was the understanding that there is to some degree or another a constant war against the evil inclinations in individuals and societies, and that it is inherently noble to fight figuratively and litteraly against evil.

These ideas: redemption, and fitting against evil only make sense from a biblical world view. And once we loose the story of redemption we also lose the capacity to suffer in a redemptive and noble way.

This was brought home to me in a recent viewing of the movie, Second Hand Lions. In the film, one of the characters is a bitter old man, his life has been full of adventure, but due to the death of a loved one and old age he has given up hope and now is just passing the time in vain attempts at reliving the glory days while waiting to die.  What struck me about it was that the character makes the statement that whether is it true or not we must believe that "good always triumphs over evil."  

He doesn't believe it is true. He is an angry old man, bitterly wishing that life was not so hard, he is not looking for redemption, he is not expecting any good to come if his situation. He has no hope, he doesn't have the story of redemption to anchor his ideals.

And yet he knows the truth, and the film proceeds to weave a story of redemption.  But our culture is caught. You see it used to be that you could battle injustice and still have hope. You could fight against slavery or oppression and still be content, because there was a certainty of redemption.  You could endure evil and still do what was right because there was always hope.  

But our culture does not embrace the story of redemption. They embrace the story of personal victory against the odds to be true to yourself at all costs. Not going to battle against lust because fighting evil is noble, but fighting any restrictions on lust because there is no concept of redemption. Not battling injustice while believing that people can change, but battling people because we feel that injustice is their fault, and since there is no redemption, we can't even see that there might be value in suffering

And so people are angry in a self and others destructive way. Because there is no redemption, and no real hope that good will win I  the end. So people are angry, and afraid, and without hope.

These angry people need to hear and understand a story of redemption, or their world will never make any sense. 

Pondering the role of tradition

Tradition is a word most Protestants despise. It smaks of human invention, and threatens to change the gospel from the simple truth of Christ to something, any thing, else.

Often though we are blind to our own tradition, like worshiping on Sunday, and referring to it as the Sabbath. Worship any day of the week, and Sunday in memory of the resurrection, but it is not the Sabbath, that would contradict the clear and plain meaning of the simple truths of Scripture. And yet there are thousands who do. 

Calling our churches, "The Lord's House" that would equate the building where your church gathers with the Temple in Jerusalem. Which is contradictory to Scripture and at the same time totally obscure the fact that according to the plain teaching of Scripture at this point in history it is the believer him-self who is the dwelling place of God.

These are traditions, so are all of our hymns. So are the style of clothes we consider acceptable. And the doctrinal statements we hold dear. Not all traditions are bad. Many have a very important role in our lives, they give structure and reality to Biblical injunctions, such as do not forsake gathering together. But they are still traditions.

The question of tradition has been particularly pressing on my mind as I realize more and more each day that for many who call themselves Christian, they rely more on the human traditions: songs, events, devotionals, and measures of orthodoxy, than they do on the Gospel. Talk about getting rid of Vacation Bible school, or changing Sundayschool, and people get leary.  They are afraid we will not do evangelism. When in reality the biblical definition of the Gospel, is a passing reference in our VBS, amid the traditions of crafts and games, and fun songs written last year.  Actually proclaiming the 2000 year old message of Christ Crucified, is a minuscule portion of the expense and effort of a VBS.

There are several other areas where I am thinking hard, why do we have one preacher on Sunday? Why do we do communion on the first Sunday of the month? Why is church so academic? All of these are traditions. Wine skins, perhaps?  And only worth defending, to the degree that lead us to THE tradition, Christ, crucified for our sins according to the scriptures, buried and raised the third day.

Reaching the people around us

One of my church members has a brother in the hospital with life threatening  complications of drinking far too much alcohol. He was release last week, from the hospital, and promptly went back to drinking and is now back in the hospital. His son was arrested yesterday after a four hour stand off with police, on methamphetamine related charges, and the girl who lives in the trailer where he was arrested was a childhood classmate of the mother of my son's first grade classmate.  Got that? 

3 degrees of separation means that in a small town, a friend of mine ran for mayor on an anti corruption platform, against the uncle of my other friend with whom I am trying to share the gospel.

It means that the kids I teach in school, go home to the house on the corner, a house where they sort of grunt at my greeting when I walk by- I still don't belong.  It means that the third great I taught music Friday spend the day with grandma who is my next door neighbor, while their mom and dad try to sort out a messy third divorce.

It means that the meth-head is my neighbor. That my small town is not a safe place, and that the world is ripe for the gospel.

The question is how to present the gospel in a town, where the vast majority will only set foot in a church if they are picking up a check to help pay their back rent, because they are facing eviction since they had to bail their husband out  of jail for domestic violence, and spend $60 a week on cheep cigarets. 

How do we love the down and out, and their kids? When the majority of the congregation isn't sure how to talk to them? How do we actually share the life changing power of the gospel with people who are not interested in comming to church?

Good questions.  Please pray for wisdom.