Discernment Must No Longer Be a Spiritual Gift

I have decided to jump on the cessationist band wagon, and before you call me a heretic or write my blog off, just hear me out. I am now thinking of lumping discernment and wisdom in the category of gifts which have ceased. I know the Bible calls discernment a spiritual gift, for example, “⁸For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit…¹⁰to another discerning of spirits…” (1 Cor. 12:8, 10; KJV). I would argue the gift of wisdom, is synonymous with discernment, but if that is not enough, Paul tells us God also gifts us with the ability to discern spirits, aka discernment of what is from God and what is not. Note that James also tells us that God gives wisdom to all who ask, without fault (Jas. 1:5).

In fact wisdom and discernment are not just gifts, but are a big fruit of the Spirit in the Bible, just like prophecy and tongues and healing, which are seen happening left right and centre in the Bible. But as my cessationist friends have spoken up and shared that prophecy, tongues, and healing are no longer gifts for today largely because of how we see them misused and abused, I am now about ready to declare alongside of them that discernment/wisdom is no longer a gift or even a fruit of the Spirit, because I see very little evidence to support its existence at all in the church at large today.

Wow that is an extreme view Matthew, where is this coming from? It comes from a sad but true observation: I see less and less Christians who are able to discern truth from error, heretics and Bible twisters are becoming the norm for evangelical preachers across Australia and the USA, and many people are lapping it up like puppies lap up their water; naively and without even a shred of discerning whether it is good or not.

Let me give you some examples: in today’s church truth has been made a very distant second place to love. If even a hint of harshness or ‘judgementalism’ is felt in speaking against that which is heresy, the instant backlash is, ‘Ah you are harsh and critical, a judgemental Pharisee that cares only about the truth but not people…” etc., etc. goes the cry. I am sure many people have copped this one, it is closely followed by the unrepentant sinners’ motto, “You cannot judge me”, they say as they continue in their sin as if it is ok. Our Christian culture has thrown out the baby with the bathwater, sure people can at times speak the truth in a way which is harmful (I immediately have come to mind certain churches in the USA which picket homosexual funerals, that in my view is a little far guys), I am sure we can all think of some examples of this, and there are times when we have likely all have been judgemental, because no one is perfect.

But the truth is that ‘love’ or ‘grace’ are now the catchcries our politically correct, weak willed Christian culture, uses to bash down anyone who speaks up and says, “Excuse me, that is downright wrong, twisted and yes heretical.” It is now unloving to call someone ignorant because they twist the Bible, and arrogant because they refuse to acknowledge it, because ‘love’ must rule all we do; ‘love’ in the sense of never speaking a harsh word, or being forthright, or calling someone else wrong, or down right dismissing their view because it is dangerous and can lead people astray; this is the kind of love you must now display to be a loving person. You see what I mean? It is now much more Christian to be nice to the person twisting the Bible, than it is to the person pointing out the Bible twisting, this is seen as graciousness, and love, and downright ‘good’ Christian behaviour. It appears to me that discernment has left the church like a drunken sailor runs from the police, quickly and without looking back.

Don’t misunderstand me, I believe love should temper all we do, but hang on a second there, love does not mean you are always nice, sometimes love is mean (read Mal. 2:3-4, or Isa. 3:16-4:1); love does not mean you are never harsh, sometimes love is abrasive (Matt. 3:7-8, Gal. 5:12); love does not mean you cannot call someone ignorant, because sometimes love must snap us back to reality (Isa. 56:10, KJV]), and more importantly than all these things mentioned, love is not to rule the truth, or be over the truth, because “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). Truth does not rule over love, and love does not rule over truth, because truth and love are bedfellows, for the simple fact among other things, that God is love (1 John 4:8), and he is the truth (John 14:6). Truth and love, love and truth, walk hand in hand together because they are interconnected, lies are never loving, we must deal with each other, not with love overriding everything we do, but with a true love, a love that rejoices in truth and rejects evil, like the vile thing it truly is. The love we should display is a love that is willing to say a hard truth for the benefit of another’s soul when necessary, but is just as willing to receive the same hard truth when it is spoken to us. 

Christ beautifully exemplifies this, as we know being God, he is love and truth, which means both these attributes are in everything he does. This is why he comes to the broken and humble woman of John 4 and his words are full of gentle instruction, and clear grace, he is kind with her and patient and leads her to himself, the living water, because he is truth and love. Because Jesus is love and truth in Matthew 23 he is insulting (calling people snakes and whitewashed walls), brash (as in confronting), rude (call’s them children of hell and mocks their giving methods), harsh, gives no quarter and flails the leaders of Israel, because their falsehoods are making people into twice the children of hell they are, because he is love and truth he won’t stand for such behaviour, but confronts it. It takes discernment to see that if you place love over truth you get error, the same as if you place truth over love – then you get a different kind of error. Rather they must walk hand in hand, because we see this in Jesus.

This kind of discernment is as rare in the Christian church as are tanned people in Ireland, simply because many Christians have been corrupted by a false, hippyish, politically correct, imposter ideology called by many love, that means if you say a harsh word you cannot be loving, but must be judgemental. You cannot point out that some beloved and popular teachers may not actually be preaching the Bible, because this is not gracious. The worst thing is that these people will tolerate the false teaching and false ideas to boot. I have heard them actually say this, one person I was discussing with said they would rather be friends with someone who looked up to someone who had abused people, than with someone who criticized them for it. I have heard others say that we should never allow truth be the way we approach people, because truth must be subservient to love, and, love is too nice to point out error, even if it is great error.

This is not loving, because love rejoices in the truth, not evil, but many Christians today don’t want a bar of the truth because they see it as divisive and mean. Love must come before theology they say, not realizing that that is a theological statement itself. Really? Love must come before theology? Where do you get that idea? Is that idea based on your reading of the Bible because then it is theology, poor theology, but theology all the same. Better to say, “A radical biblical love that is kind when appropriate and harsh when appropriate, but never rejoices in error, should be the guide of our extended theology of what it means to be a Christian and act like one.”

There are other examples of this lack of discernment. For example, if your church has awesome, world influencing music, it appears that you can teach no wrong, because your worshipful heart is so evident by your music. There are many different examples of this, and look I am all for good Christian music, but we should always hold any ministry accountable for all they teach, not just the good passionate music they produce. And if reaching a lot of people was the measure of a successful ministry, than Oprah should be our Christian standard bearer in every way (scarily for some Christians I think she probably was at one point), note: we also have to measure what we are reaching a lot of people with.  

I would like to discuss this more, but I don’t want to go on forever. Let me conclude with some references about discernment from God’s words and a brief comment on each:   

Philippians 1:9-10 “⁹And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…”

Notice that for love to be true Christian love it must abound more and more with knowledge and discernment. Therefore, you cannot separate true Christian love from truth, because true love is discerning, it does not overlook error in teaching, but lovingly seeks to see if what is being taught is correct, so that you may approve what is excellent, and then be pure and blameless for the day of Jesus’ return. Love, knowledge and discernment all grow together in the wise Christian.

Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

Here is where the angle I began my blog comes in again; in reality I do believe that discernment is a spiritual gift, but it is not one which comes at salvation necessarily. Though the gift of speaking a word of wisdom, or discerning a spirit may come at the point of salvation (or at some other point as the Spirit wills), true Christian practical discernment, (being able to discern between good and evil, what is true teaching and false teaching, what is correct teaching and what is slightly to the left of good teaching), comes from maturity in the Christian faith, from a solid diet of good Christian teaching, book by book, from careful study, and putting that study into practice in everyday life.

So is discernment no longer a spiritual gift? Well, actually it is, but the lack of it in the church says one of two things: either one, there are much less people who are saved and have the Holy Spirit’s wisdom than we have been led to believe (I hope this is not true, only God can judge this though), or two, and I believe this to be more often the case, many Christians are just immature in their faith and lack the discernment that comes from a diet of solid teaching, and practice, and of this we should not be surprised.

If you listen to some of the most influential teachers in the world, (of the seeker-driven, evangelical and charismatic variety), across denominations, rather than hearing the word of God opened, and our sinfulness and need for the atonement of Jesus expounded and the clear teaching of each text explained clearly; you will hear passage after passage misquoted to be about how special we are, how sin stops us from realizing our potential, how all we need is a clear purpose and we can make a difference in this world; and the scary thing is, most people don’t have an issue with this, they see this as solid Bible teaching.

So we can conclude discernment is still a spiritual gift (by the way I am not a cessationist), is still something God works in his mature believers, but it is very lacking in our church today, considering what passes for truthful, biblical Christianity in today’s church. This is a sad reality, but a reality none-the-less.

What Do Celebrities and Apes Have in Common?

The Answer: People listen to both Celebrities and Apes. Right now you are thinking something like, “What the? What are you going on about Matt?” Well let me explain.

If you watch news programs like Sunrise and whatever Channel Nines version is called or follow left wing news websites like Huffingtonpost.com, or follow many celebrities, you will see that gay marriage is a big issue on many people’s minds. Or at least it appears that way. In reality it is a big issue because celebrity power is driving it to be such. This quote from Howard Bragman, a media expert and vice chairmen of Reputation.com, is telling, “Hollywood gets this is the civil rights issue of our time. They're some of the people who helped make it that way” (in Elber 2014). To be accurate he said this in relation to gay rights in general, but the point still stands, as gay marriage comes under the umbrella of gay rights. Gay rights and gay marriage are only a big issues because celebrities of many forms keep pushing these issues out there (at the encouragement of the gay community of course).  

Celebrities, and Hollywood in general, have been pushing the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) agenda for some time now. Remember shows like Will and Grace, and Dawson’s Creek, both these shows pushed the agenda of homosexuals in their own way. For Will and Grace, it was simply a matter of poking fun at all different kinds of relationships in a light hearted way, indeed for the show homosexuality was just accepted as part of this world, something normal and right. In Dawson’s Creek we had the very handsome and tough letter-jacket-wearing footballer Jack Mcphee come out as gay,, to everyone's surprise. And then we got to watch his family and his friends, and indeed his girlfriend at the time Joey Potter (played by Katie Holmes) all wrestle with the reality that Jack was gay, just deal with it, and move on with life. This was the message: being gay is just the way some people are, accept it and we will have a better world. Oh there are earlier versions of this message being pushed too, the loveable cross-dressing character Klinger from M.A.S.H. comes to mind here. But as I recall, it was really in the nineties that this agenda started getting pushed aggressively. Now it seems every second show that comes out, either has a gay main character or someone has a gay friend, and every celebrity is taking their turn in the sun to either come out as gay or to support the LGTB community, and gay marriage (cf. http://www.glamour.com/weddings/blogs/save-the-date/2013/06/39-more-celebs-who-are-super-p.html, for example). Hollywood have created a civil rights issue out of the lifestyle of a small percentage of humanity, and many of you did not even realize that a big part of the reason you think homosexuality is normal and gay marriage is ok, is because Hollywood and other media has convinced you that this is so.  

I know this offends some of you, you may be furious at me right now for questioning the right of homosexuals to get married, or for implying that homosexuality is not good, or right, but I don’t care. I am not writing this post to attack gay people, or even the idea of gay marriage, there are far bigger issues facing the world than these; one being the rate of divorce amongst western marriages today. I do not think legalizing gay marriage will destroy society, I already think society is in trouble from the breakdown of traditional families. I don’t support gay marriage and will always vote against it, but I don’t hate gay people either. No, the reason I am writing this blog is to figuratively grab you by the collar and lovingly slap you in the face and make you wake up to the foolishness of listening to celebrities on social issues. I am not saying that they should not have a voice, I am just challenging the status quo: what gives celebrities the authority to make any comments on marriage or relationships in general and be taken seriously? I mean come on people, wake up, celebrities are notorious for sucking at relationships, and it’s no wonder, when their whole existence circles around themselves and how much people love them. We should not be surprised that they suck at the very thing which matters most: healthy, selfless relationships.

Look at some of the names of celebrities who speak out on behalf of homosexuality and gay marriage:

Rhianna…Seriously. People. I wouldn’t take relationship advice from her if there was no one else left on earth to ask. Would you take advice on how to fix your car from a person who has trashed more cars than a party house full of drunk teenagers? The mere fact that your social and relationship views are in line with Rhianna should cause you to seriously evaluate your ability to think rationally.

Madonna. We are not getting any better here people.

Lady Gaga. Hahaha, seriously? If I want any advice from Lady Gaga it will be on how to keep a straight po-po-poker face.

Russel Brand. If his marriage to Katy Perry is an example of his relational fortitude, again why would anyone listen to him? I am not surprised that he supports gay marriage, I would be shocked to find out he didn’t.  

I could go on with an endless list, but here is my point: just because someone is famous does not mean their opinion on marriage is valid or worth hearing. None of these people mentioned has set any good examples of how to stay in a healthy committed long term marriage. And this is true for most celebrities who speak out. You have to rack your brain for ages to even think of a celebrity who has been in a lifelong, healthy marriage – the closest one which comes to mind for me is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 25 year marriage to Maria Shriver, and even that one came to an end recently, sadly. I am not surprised celebrities support gay marriage, because marriage means nothing to most of them, this is evidenced by all the celebrity divorces we hear about in the tabloids. These people are not credible witnesses to the sanctity of marriage; they just don't hold it in high regard.

Now I know there are probably some celebs out there that have good, stable, long term relationships. Fair enough, but my point still stands. Being famous does not make your position on who can get married more significant, I want to hear from people who live normal lives, have been married for years, raised their children successfully, and done the hard yards. I don't want to hear another celebrities view on marriage of any kind. Celebrities are only generally good at building up their own image, making themselves appear good for camera, and promoting themselves. You don’t ask a hairdresser advice on how to structure complex economic systems. Why would we ask a person whose life revolves around themselves what is good for society, it make no sense.

Now Apes, how Matt, do people listen to apes? Well sadly in the same way many people go to celebrities for insight into what is right for humans to do, they also go to apes, specifically the Bonobos ape. Don’t believe me? Here is a quote from Nigel Barber (2009) on the Psychology Today Blog, “Apart from ‘gay genes’ in humans, the main evidence that homosexuality is naturally selected is the fact that gay animals are so common.” He also states, “Bonobo antics provide a fairly compelling argument against anyone who holds that homosexual behavior is ‘against nature.’” To be fair, this argument is made for all kinds of sexual behaviour, not just homosexuality.

Hence, the advice from Cara Santa Maria, in her article, Bonobo Love: Valentine's Advice From Christopher Ryan, on how we can learn from “these magnificent creatures”. So what’s her advice? Well first she argues, more sex equals less conflict. I agree with her in the context an exclusive marriage, more sex is great, relieves tension and is a blessing. Only she does not mean in the context of an exclusive marriage, she is referring to the Bonobos apes’ propensity to sexually give themselves to whomever, whenever in their little societies; free sex in the truly hippy sense. Only we know what actually resulted from the hippie revolution: sexually transmitted infections in never before seen numbers, and a mass breakdown in marriages. Wow, thanks for the great advice Cara.

Also she says, “Jealousy isn't romantic. While Bonobos no-doubt experience unique feelings for one another, they don't seem to worry much about controlling one another's sex lives. Nor do Bonobos seem to gossip much...” I can tell you this for a fact, if I even joked about being with someone other than my wife, this would kill the romance of our marriage. Jealousy isn’t romantic? You tell me girls out there: how many of you want your man to focus on you and you alone? This is called positive jealousy. How many of you find this exclusivity to be the height of romance? Cara were you drunk when writing these words?

Here’s another little nugget of Cara’s ‘wisdom’: “There's promise in promiscuity. All the casual sex among Bonobos is arguably a big part of what has made them among the smartest of all primates.” In my experience it is the dumbest of people who are promiscuous. We have all seen what results from this kind of behaviour. But sure why not... let’s encourage all of our teenagers and uni-students to engage in promiscuity. Oh wait, society already does encourage that and it causes heart break after heart break: pre-mature pregnancies, STI transmissions in ever increasing numbers (cf. ABS statistics). Even just the heartbreak young people, and older people, go through when sexual relationships breakdown should be enough to tell us that this statement is crazy. There's promise in promiscuity? You are drunk, right Cara, please tell me you are, because nothing else explains the insanity of your statements.

It’s insane to even consider basing our sexual behaviour, or social policy on the behaviour of apes. What you don’t believe me that animal behaviour is consulted to inform social policy? Well, “already, cases of animal homosexuality have been cited in successful court cases brought against states like Texas, where gay sex was, until recently, illegal” (Owen, 2004). The same author thankfully presents a note of caution that animals do engage in behaviour humans find reprehensible. But the point still stands, people go to apes, and other animals, notably a couple of gay penguins in New York (Barber, 2009) for sexual advice and to see what is normal and natural. This is crazy, ‘I saw an animal do it therefore it is ok,’ is not how we should live our lives.

I know for some people that this blog will seem to come from left field, but the fact that a society as influential as the United States has rejected God and his Word as an authority and turned to celebrities and Bonobos apes instead, is sad and mind boggling. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, gay or straight, everyone is, and it is my informed opinion that listening to celebrities and Bonobos apes on sexual behaviour is crazy, especially in relation to marriage, as neither celebrities nor Bonobos apes have shown us that they have anything of value to offer in this category. Wake up people, please wake up, hear this challenge from God’s Word and realize that he already told us how the world thinks and what this leads to:

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (Rom. 1:21-25, NIV).

References:

1. ABS Statistics: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Jun+2012.     
2. Elber, Lynn 2014, Russia's Gay Rights Debate Suddenly Lacking Star Quality, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/17/russia-gay-rights-debate-celebs_n_4803259.html
3. Fusaro, Kim 2013, 39 More Celebs Who Are Super-Psyched About Marriage Equality. Brace Yourselves: There's a LOT of Awesome Up In Here, http://www.glamour.com/weddings/blogs/save-the-date/2013/06/39-more-celebs-who-are-super-p.html.
4. Barber, Nigel 2009, The Human Beast: Why we do what we do, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/200906/gay-animals.
5. Maria, Cara Santa 2012, Bonobo Love: Valentine's Advice From Christopher Ryan, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/bonobo-love_n_1275381.html.
6. Owen, James 2004, Homosexual Activity Among Animals Stirs Debate, http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal_2.html.

The Bible Was Not Written To Give You a Word For Today, Every day

The Bible is an incredible book and can be a very beautiful. The Psalms, the Prophecies of Isaiah, the Parables of Jesus, the last few chapters of Revelation and many other parts of the Bible are beautiful and striking in their imagery, power for the imagination, and just beautiful in what they say to us. But let’s face it the Bible can also at times be very difficult.

One modern attitude to the Bible increases this difficulty in an unnecessary way. Many, if not most, western believers have been taught to read the Bible in such a way as to just get their practical word for today, every day, rather than to read it for what it is. Sure, I believe God wants to speak to all of us, that is why he has given us his Word, and yes, most of the Bible is practical and speaks to everyday living, but not all of it. In fact, much of the Bible, at first glance, will cause many people to think something like this: ‘How does this relate to my life?’ Or, ‘This is quite useless for helping me deal with what I am facing today, thanks for nothing.’ This sort of thing comes about because many Christians have been taught wrongly how to handle and read God’s word. I think two things have contributed to this appalling way of handling God’s word: 1) An over use of devotionals, and 2) Churches which place too much weight on the practice of topical preaching.

Firstly, devotionals. Many of you who read this will hate me for saying this, but the truth is devotionals are just spiritual junk food. They are a quick Bible fix, for those who are too lazy (or say they are too busy), or don’t care enough to really dig into God’s word; hence spiritual junk food. We often turn to junk food because it’s convenient or we couldn’t be bothered cooking a real meal, or it just tastes so good that we can’t resist its siren call. Devotionals are exactly this but with God’s word. They are easy to read, often being only a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs, they are often very inspirational, but here is the catch: if over relied upon, they will corrupt your spiritual health in the same way that too much junk food corrupts your physical health.

Those of you who read devotionals more than you read your Bible, let me ask you this: when you do pick up your Bible and read it, instead of your devotional, do you find it hard to be inspired by your daily readings of God’s word? Do you find that you struggle to see how much of God’s word speaks to your everyday life? If so, you are probably suffering from an overdose of spiritual junk food. The Bible, in one way, is just like a food, sometimes you need to put in a bit of effort before you can prepare a nourishing meal, in the case of food for your body, in the case of God’s word, for your soul. We have more Bible study resources at our fingertips than ever before in the history of the world, and yet still I know many Christians who do not take the time and effort needed to understand their Bible’s better. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of effort to apply a passage to your life, and sometimes it takes a bit of background knowledge of the Bible.  

Secondly, topical sermons. Let me just say, I am not against topical sermons in and of themselves. I have preached them, and I have heard some brilliant topical sermons from other preachers, so as a method it is not wrong to preach topically, but as a practice it is dangerous. If you attend or have attended a church where they only ever preach through the Bible topically you may have observed a few things. 1) Seemingly every passage in the Bible which is preached on just jumps out as a teaching with instant practical application to one of the problems, or challenges, or even hopes, you are facing in life, or will face. This may be helpful in the short term, but it skews our view of the Bible in the long term. 2) You will notice if you attend these churches long enough that they cycle through a certain amount of topics, and suddenly you have this picture that the Bible is a guide book for how to do marriage, run a business, perform at work, enjoy sex, succeed at sport, handle finances, have a purposeful life etc., etc.. Sure the Bible speaks to all of these things, and is helpful in so many ways, but the Bible is more than just a handbook for life to go to for a little inspiration and propping up. In reality the Bible is about Christ, and how we live in him.  

It’s likely because of this over-saturation of shallow devotionals and shallow teaching in our Christian culture, and as a preacher feeling the pressure to fit into that stream, that I came to my passage for Sunday nights sermon, and immediately thought, ‘How am I going to make this one practical to everyday living?’ Here’s the passage:

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. (1 Peter 1:10-12).

You can summarize this passage in one sentence: The prophets of old sought to understand when and how the things they said about salvation would come about, as did angels, however, they were serving not themselves but Christians. ‘Ok’, you may think, ‘that is great to know, but how does this help me with my struggling business in this difficult climate?’, ‘How does that make me a better husband?’ ‘How does it help me deal with bullies at my school?’ ‘How does this practically relate to my everyday walk?’ See what’s happened? The average devotional imbibing, topical sermon listening, Christian will come to this passage and immediately want to move on, because it does not say much about their life in today’s world. It is speaking about something from the past, which may be great, but it is not that practical. Now, if you read the verses before and after this passage you will see that they are full of useful practical gospel teaching, but what are we to do with the three verses quoted above?

As a preacher, and especially as a youth pastor, I am always concerned that people get practical biblical advice on how to live the Christian life, so it is tempting to try and turn this passage inside out looking for that little bit of insight to 21^st century living. I understand why many preachers avoid preaching through books of the Bible, I really do get it; sometimes it can be hard. The truth is that many Christians do not have a deep love for God’s word and what it says, because they have been fed a deficient diet, with teaching whittled down to a few snack meals, instead of real solid life-giving teaching. Really getting into the Bible tests us, all of us, preachers and listeners alike, and sometimes it is not easy, but it is always worth it. I don’t want to leave you here though, let’s go a little further and seek a biblical application for our passage.

We all know that there are many passages in the Old Testament that speak about the coming of Christ and the salvation which is found in him, which is the topic of our passage. So this could prove a fruitful avenue to go down in seeking to apply this passage to us today. We could go in many different directions to explore some of the passages these ancient prophets ‘searched intently and with the greatest care’, I have chosen to go in the direction of the Servant Songs of Isaiah. There are four servant songs, let me quote just one of them for you, from Isaiah 50:4-9,

⁴ The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
    to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
⁵ The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
    I have not been rebellious,
    I have not turned away.
⁶ I offered my back to those who beat me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.
⁷ Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
    and I know I will not be put to shame.
⁸ He who vindicates me is near.
    Who then will bring charges against me?
    Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
    Who will condemn me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
    the moths will eat them up.

This incredible passage in Isaiah predicts that God’s servant, whom we know is Jesus will be perfect, ‘I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away’, it predicts his harsh beating, his being mocked and that he will be spat on (cf. Mark 14:64-65). What’s incredible is this passages was written over 800 years before it happened (even if you go with the later date of the second half of Isaiah, as some do, it was still written several hundred years beforehand). Wow, isn’t God’s word awesome! No wonder these prophets searched it intently to see when salvation would come. Also, look how accurate it is, God did vindicate his servant, Jesus rose and is no longer in the grave, but all his opponents have worn out, they are dead, but he is risen, and the amazing thing is that the Bible is full of these accurate predictions of Christ, and other things. This is exciting, this means that we can fully trust God’s word, and isn’t that a powerful teaching for all of us who live in the world which is hostile to God?

So, this passage does speak powerfully for us today, all it took was a bit of work, and a bit of back ground knowledge of the Bible, and after digging around we can now see how even this passage applies to us: We are the ones whom the prophets spoke about, when they said stuff like, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.” Are you weary, are you tired? Well because God fulfilled his prophecy to bring salvation through Jesus, you can know that he will keep his promise to bring you rest, even if it is not till heaven, but this is still a sure and perfect promise. The fact that the prophecies of old were fulfilled shows us that like these ancient prophets we can search God’s word intently and read about what is to come and know that it will happen, even if we don’t know when, or exactly how, we still know we can trust God’s word, because it was inspired by God. That’s awesome, and boy was it worth the extra effort.    

The Only One We Should Look Too

This Sunday night I am going to be introducing our 1 Peter series for our night services. I am really looking forward to opening up the book of 1 Peter and seeing how God is going to speak through this little book into the lives of all of us in those services. What is fascinating though to me, is how Peter begins his letter to these ‘chosen exiles’.

You see in the 1st century paper or writing platforms were really expensive and hard to come by, especially compared to our day, so when an itinerant preacher like Pete, who probably didn’t have a fixed income decided to write to people he really cared about, we can know that what he is writing is important, really important.

Notice what he does not do, he does not start his letter by telling people how awesome they are, he does not begin by pumping them up with false compliments, he does not begin by telling them that he has five keys to success and prosperity. He especially does not begin by pointing people to themselves and telling them that the Bible is about them and how they can unlock the potential in their lives. No Peter does not do any of this. This would be  really confusing for many people today especially if you listen to many (but not all) modern evangelical preachers because that is exactly what they do. They often begin by talking about themselves or their awesome audience, and then they precede to try and show their congregations that the Bible is just a key to unlocking each individuals potential and awesomeness. I can see how many Christians could come to 1 Peter and read the first few verses and say something like, ‘There is nothing in this for me, because it does not speak about me and my potential’ or something like that. I can see that this would happen because many preachers today are not on the same page as Peter, this is sad but vividly real truth about the church today.

Notice what Peter actually does, he points people to the God who chose them, to the God who died for them, and the God who will sanctify them, in other words he begins with an incredible signpost pointing to the God who exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the God who has achieved their salvation and the God who will complete their salvation according to his pre-worked out plan. In other words, Peter knows that he may not get another chance anytime soon to speak to this same group of people, so he begins with that which is of first importance: the gospel.

For the people of God, that which saves us, and that which sustains, guides and blesses us in this life, is the gospel of God, the message of salvation. Therefore Peter is pointing these people away from themselves to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of their faith. He is the one we need to look to, not ourselves.

If we think we can sustain our Christian walk in this life by unlocking in ourselves some hidden potential for greatness, or influence or something like this, we will be disappointed, because we cannot save ourselves, and no matter how hard we try we cannot change this world apart from the miraculous power of Christ. Sure God does unlock potential and greatness in his people, Peter is a prime example himself, fisherman turned world-changing fisher of people, but we cannot look to ourselves, we cannot look to our own effort, we can and we should look to Jesus.

Whether you have already trusted in Jesus as saviour or if you have never placed your trust in him, the message is still the same: Jesus died for you, rose again for you, and salvation is only found by trusting in him, and it is only lived out by trusting in him. This is the central message of the Christian church, and this is what Peter wants to remind these people of with his one bit of parchment: look to God, specifically the God who called them, died for them, and by his own Spirit will make them into his holy people.  

If You Use a Sword Wrong You Might Cut Off Your Own Hand

This might sound like a strange title for a blog post, but I think you will see that it is very apt as you read on. You see Paul called the Bible, God’s Word, a sword, more literally the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Now I don’t know how much you know about swords, and I will admit that I am not an expert on sword fighting, but I know this; you need training to use a sword, and if you use it wrong you could cut off your own hand, or maybe some other part of your body. Why be this so? Because swords are powerful and therefore dangerous; this is also true of God’s word, which is dangerous if used wrong.

I will be talking about this on Sunday night this week, but I want to give a little snippet of my sermon now, because I know that not everyone will be there on Sunday night. Many Christians use the sword of God wrong, often with great intentions, but still wrong, and this is dangerous, you could hurt yourself or someone else if you do this. The most common way people do this is by ripping passages out of context and then making them a verse for their day, or week, or life.

Let me give you a very popular verse as an example: Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (NIV). A wonderful verse right? Sure, a great verse, and truth be told there is a lot in this verse and its surrounding context which Christians can learn from, but here is the real kicker: This is not a promise for Christians. God has never once promised Christians that he will prosper them, or make them rise to the top of their game in whatever career he places them. This is just not a promise for Christians, and though there is much truth in this verse which is consistent with Christianity, God has a plan for our lives (see Rom. 8:29), and we have a great future and hope (see 1 John 3:1-3), we have never been promised prosperity, but the opposite (see Acts 14:22, Phil. 1:29-30).

So are you saying we cannot apply this inspired word from God through his prophet to Christians, Matt? No, I am not, I am saying we should apply it properly, and to do that we must understand its context. This verse was one sentence in a whole letter written to the exiles in Babylon (Jer. 29:1), and it was written to encourage them and challenge them to seek God and live according to his way while in exile and then God would prosper them, not just spiritually, but literally. He promises to restore their fortunes, aka make them financially better off and bring them back from exile, aka restore them to their homeland (Jer. 29:14). In other words this was a specific promise from God about a specific way he was going to look after the Israelites in exile, so that he could fulfil his promise to bring them out of captivity. He was going to make them rich (prosper them), and he was going to do this so that he could bring them through and out the other end safely. AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DID!

Read Ezra, Esther, Daniel, or Nehemiah and you will see that God did fulfil this promise to the full to those who sought the Lord with all their hearts, see how he raises up Daniel to be number two in Babylon, which brings money and power, see how he raises up Esther to be Queen and Mordecai gets all the honour that was Haman’s, see how he blesses Ezra and Nehemiah, and all the Israelites whom he watched over and prospered so that they can come out of exile safely and rebuild their home city of Jerusalem. And herein is the application for Christians: God fulfils his promises. He fulfilled his promises in Jeremiah 29, and all throughout the Old Testament, therefore he will fulfil the promises he gives to Christians. This is the proper way to apply this verse today.

How many Christians have had their faith shipwrecked because some false teachers told them God would prosper them, make them wealthy and succeed in their career because of Jeremiah 29:11? A promise never meant for Christians, but for the Israelites in exile in Babylon. Use a sword wrong and you may cut of your own hand, or the hand of an innocent, use it right and you can bring power to bear in your life and the lives of others.

God’s word is a sword and as such we should respect it and use it correctly, not just rip verses out of context and say they apply in a way they do not. When we use God’s word correctly we unleash his power to transform our lives. I want to worship and serve and trust in God who fulfils all of his promises, don’t you? Our God is great, so let’s use his word in a respectful and careful way.   

A Weigh in on same sex marriage

One of the shows I enjoy watching is the Colbert Report; the way he makes fun of American politics and news, through the perspective of a democrat, acting as a Republican, is clever, witty, and I just enjoy it…most of the time.

One thing I do not enjoy is that in almost every episode lately (by lately I mean all year) he has taken an opportunity to make fun of those who stand against same-sex marriage, whether they be politicians, pastors, or whoever. He is entitled to his views and it is his show, so his material is all up to him, but I must say it gets to me at times.

Yet, his show gives us an insight into our post-modern world. You see Steven Colbert’s main audience is young people, and there is something more and more young people in the United States have in common: they are growing up with less and less Christian influence in their lives, and therefore less and less respect for and adherence to Christian views and teaching. Hence Colbert has a primed and ready audience for his liberal views. This is even more the case in Australia, which although it has had throughout its history a strong Christian influence, it arguably has never been a Christian nation, and certainly never has been to the degree the United States was/is. Therefore we have many younger, and indeed older people, for whom considering what the church thinks is not even on their radar.

So what does this have to do with same sex marriage? Well, as with the United States, Aussie Christians have long enjoyed, up until the later part of the 20^thcentury, a privileged position in determining social legislative policy. It goes without saying that it is predominantly as a result of the church being so outspoken against same sex marriage that it has not been yet accepted as a legal institution in Australia. But there is something which I think every Christian in the country needs to realize; our country cares less and less what the church has to say on this subject, and Christians should not be surprised if same sex marriage is eventually institutionalized.  

Let me just be clear here, I do not agree with same sex marriage, I do not think it is right, nor did Jesus. When Jesus was queried about divorce in Matthew 19, he went straight to Genesis and reaffirmed that God created humanity to be male and female, and concluded, “Therefore a man shall leave his mother and father and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (v5, cf. also Gen. 2:24). From the basis of Genesis 2, the Old Testament condemned homosexuality (among other sexual sins, such as fornication), and following the teaching of Genesis and Jesus, the New Testament affirms that marriage is purely an institution between a man and a woman. The New Testament even went further than the Old Testament by discouraging polygamy (cf. 1 Tim.3:2). So when Christians speak against same sex marriage they are in line with the truth of the Bible, the single most influential book in the world, and I applaud them as correct.

However, the world does not care about our views. I have heard many Christians, as well as other people say, “People do not care what you know, until they know you care.” Recently the Church in the West has not applied this principle very well, as a whole. Something we need to realize in Australia today is that we Christians have lost much of the social capital we banked on in the past. What do I mean by this?

In the past Christians worked hard to apply Jesus’ teachings to such an extent that they received, after three hundred years of existence, such respect from the Roman Empire, that Christianity became a tolerated religion, and then eventually the state religion. Through that relationship with the state, the church’s influence spread. But since the enlightenment, the church’s influence has been declining, yet many Christians think we can lobby a secular world, that has not experienced the vast social work, alongside the gospel, which made the early church such a driver of social and political change. In other words social capital is simply having the ability to speak to society because we have earned that right through caring for the society we wish to speak to.

If the church wants to continue to be listened to we need to step off our lobbying platforms and take a leaf out of Jesus and his disciples’ book and serve the society in which we live. The church has great capacity for good, and has done, and is doing much good. But our ever increasing secular society mostly only hears the condemning voice of the church speaking against gay marriage, through the media, and does not see the incredible social work the church is doing, or the extent to which this good work could be increased.

My main point? If Christians lived the simple self-less life of service Jesus lived, spoke out against religious corruption as Jesus did, and dedicated much of their time to loving their communities, as Jesus did, then the world may care what we have to say because they will know we care.

As a youth pastor, and a brother, and a friend, I have learnt that no matter how right I am, how much I shout what is true does not matter. People usually don’t listen unless they have seen us show real and genuine care for their lives. If we wish to influence our society for good, we need to be the good we wish our society to be. The church should take an internal check, work on strengthening Christian marriages to stem the tide of divorce, and dedicate itself to bring the good news of the gospel, as well as social care to people, and then don’t be surprised if the world again begins to listen.

One last word, though I disagree with gay marriage, I am not afraid of it being formally recognized, because it will not destroy our society, as some claim. May I submit to you that the destruction wrought on society by the increased breakdown of heterosexual marriages since the so called sexual revolution is a much, much, bigger issue. The traditional family is the bedrock of society, I would love to see the church increase its efforts to help solid Christian families become what we make it into the headlines for. 

First Ever Blog Post

I have never posted anything before, but have considered doing this for sometime. I would like to build my profile on the net, so as to firstly be a witness for the gospel in the most useful sharing tool ever; the internet, but also so that I may connect with like minded Christians on serious issues facing the church in Australia today. I expect to blog at least once a fortnight, but only if I have something interesting to talk about.

As the title of my blog site says, I am a young gospel minister, so for my first post I would like to explain what I mean by that:

Essentially I am a young preacher/sharer of the good news message that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day so that all who put their trust in him can be with him forever in heaven.

But even though that is the centre of the gospel message, there is so much more to gospel. It speaks into every aspect of our lives, and is relevant to how we live life in the 21st century, and for what we dedicate our lives to.

The God of the Bible is the living God and he wants us all to have the chance to know him and walk with him in this life and the next. This means that our God wants to have an impact in our lives, in our relationships and in our society, and eventually he wants us to share in his glory for ever in heaven with him.

Just in summarising where I stand on the Christian faith, for those of you who are theologically educated I hold to the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and would see myself in the line of Christianity which finds its ancestory in the Reformation, specifically among the Radical Reformers of the 16th and 17th century. The Radical Reformers were a mixed bag, but like Balthasar Hubmaier, and Menno Simons and the Anabaptists and Baptists which follwed them I believe that God has set the rule of his faith for us in his word, the Holy Bible, and that we should take this seriously, not because it is a revered book, but because through this book God still speaks into this world in power and majesty.