Our Cry To Be Seen As Special

There is something inside of all of us that cries out like a beacon seeking to draw the attention of those around us to our particular little place in this world. Inside of all of us there is a desire to be considered special, to be loved, cherished, and cared about. This is a natural desire; God placed it in the hearts of our first parents, and every human being since the beginning. Because of this we all long to be connected in a way that counts.


There is no need to try and prove this because we all know it to be true, just look at selfies, or inane Facebook posts about the most basic situations in life from what time people woke up, to what meal they had, to people telling us all what they are doing right now, even if it is literally nothing except telling us what they are doing right now. People long to be considered special. Some people want to be loved by everybody, like Michael Scott who put it this way, “Do I need to be liked? Absolutely not! I like to be liked. I enjoy being liked. I have to be liked. But it’s not like this compulsive need to be liked. Like my need to be praised.” We can laugh at this because we all know someone like this, and if you don’t it’s likely you are that person. Then there are those people who pretend that they are ok being islands, in need of nobody, but even the Arrow has Felicity, Diggle and an ever growing bunch of people who know who he really is and even on the island he had so many friends and acquaintances it boggles the mind. My point? Everyone wants to be special to someone. This is my segway into my third part of my three part blog in reference to discernment. I said I would deal with this quote:

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 (Matthew Littlefield, Discernment Must No Longer Be A Spiritual Gift).

I now want to deal with the statement “you will hear passage after passage misquoted to be about how special we are, how sin stops us from realizing our potential.” Some of you probably thought I would never get to this one because I deviated down a different path in my last blog, but the truth is I needed time to think and pray about how to deal with this statement. Why? Well because as I said we all want to be seen as special, and it’s so easy to attack that notion as narcissistic, ego-centrism, that is plaguing our culture, and I would be partly right, considering how it is the obsession of so many in our society. But the truth is, like so many other things, this is just a natural desire that has spiralled out of control because of sin and to be helpful I want to try and bring some course correcting.

You see, God knows that we have a desire to be seen as special because he placed that desire in us. Parents know it because we see how our children look up to us with those cute little eyes seeking affirmation. But it is important to realize this: if we find our joy in self-esteem, or if we try to balance our lives by thinking about how awesome we are, then we have really placed our joy on thin ice, with cracks in it, and someone is holding a flame thrower underneath it…in other words we are looking to the wrong place for our joy.

To explore this I want us to look at Psalm 139, you know the one, it contains these famous words people often use to affirm themselves: “13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (NIV). I reckon if there was a top ten list of Bible verses likely to be found in a devotional, on a fridge magnet, or bookmark that this one would be in the top three. Why? Because people have been taught to look at this verse as an amazing affirmation of how awesome they are in God’s eyes, we are God’s masterpiece, his amazing creation. And you know what? There is some truth in the fact that we are amazing works of God.

I once asked a man what was something amazing about God. He said “Airplanes.” I was like, “What?” He replied that a God who could create people to make something like a jumbo jet fly, well that is an awesome God. What I love about this statement from this older Christian bloke was that he got what David was saying in this Psalm. You see David is not seeking to affirm himself in this Psalm by talking about what a wonderful art of creation he is; no, David’s aim in writing this Psalm was worship of the awesome God.

In the first six verses he praises God for his ability to know everything, about him, and everything else. In verse 7-12, he worships God because of his incredible ability to be everywhere at once, and to know what is happening no matter where David is. Then in verses 13-16 he writes those famous words that speak about the creation of every human being, from his own perspective, but notice that his emphasis is not on self-affirmation, but on worship still, “I praise you…” he says to God. Like my friend, David looks at this awesome creation, and at himself, and this causes him to praise God. He does not use this to build up his self-esteem.

And the result is even better than if he had used such thoughts to build himself up, because instead of placing his joy in how he thinks about himself, he places his joy in how he thinks and feels about the God who created everything. Ask yourself this? Who is the person who lets you down the most in life? Yourself, maybe? We often let ourselves down. We make commitments to change and then don’t, we make commitments to lose weight then eat so much KFC and chocolate cake it takes a month to work it off, or we do some really seriously bad things that hurt people. The truth is if we place our hope for joy in seeing ourselves as special, we have placed it in the wrong place, because sooner or later we will break our own hearts. But God, he is our eternal reward, he does not let us down, because he is perfect, and in him is fullness of joy for eternity (Ps. 16:11). It’s better to look to God for our joy, not in self-affirmation. 

It’s obvious that David was feeling down in the dumps when he wrote Psalm 139, because he is obviously under attack from some bad people (verses 19-22), plus he ends with these words:  “23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” David is anxious, he is down about something. But he is also realistic, he knows that he is a sinner as well, so he asks God to search for that in him, and then lead him in the everlasting way. David does not seek to assuage his anxiety about himself by looking in the mirror and saying how awesome he is, because that is not biblical wisdom, that is late 20^th century narcissistic pop psychology designed to help people make it in the corporate world. No he turns his thoughts to worship of God, and asks God to make him a better man, one who walks in the way everlasting, being led by God. Ultimately, the way everlasting is Jesus. Remember, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In his moment of self-doubt and anxiety the righteous David turned his thoughts in worship to this awesome God who made a way for us. 

If we are down on ourselves, feeling blue and feeling deeply our cry to be seen as special, pop psychology will tell us to look to how awesome we really are, and look at all the things we can offer this world, that we are unique, and there is no one quite like us, and the world just needs us to shine. Pop Christian teachers will tell you basically the same thing, but place the biblical spin that you should meditate on how God sees you, so that you can build up your self-esteem and feel better about yourself. And you know what there are times when we need to hear God loves us and that when we believe in him he makes us his children (1 John 3:1-3) and that we are his special possession (1 Peter 2:9-10). But even in the midst of doing this, the Bible says don’t stop there, move one step further: look to the God who loves you and place your hope ultimately in him. Sing his praises, not your own. 

To fix your eyes upon Jesus (cf. Heb. 12:1-3), not on yourself, to look beyond yourself to God, this is the Christian way, and the way of joy. If we look to ourselves, we are setting up ourselves to fail, guaranteed. But if we find our joy in God, I tell you what, the need for a boost in self-esteem tends to disappear, and we move into this crazy awesome thing I call God-esteem; that is finding our joy in God, not in ourselves.

Over the course of our life, our joy will rise and fall, due to circumstances in this life, because we are human beings, fallen people, but if we press to find our joy in who God is, it will become more stable and more trustworthy, because he is not like us, he does not change, he is constantly, and always awesome beyond anyone and anything else in existence.

Let me leave you with the words of John Piper which I think are incredibly insightful:

Our Fatal error is believing that wanting to be happy means wanting to be made much of. It feels so good to be affirmed. But the good feeling is finally rooted in the worth of self, not the worth of God. This path to happiness is illusion. And there are clues. There are clues in every human heart even before conversion to Christ. One of those clues is that no one goes to the Grand Canyon or the Alps to increase his self-esteem. That is not what happens in front of massive deeps and majestic heights. But we do go there, and we go for joy. How can that be, if being made much of is the center of our health and happiness? The answer is that it is not the center. In wonderful moments of illuminations there is a witness in our hearts: soul health and great happiness come not from beholding a great self but a great splendour. (John Piper, God is the Gospel)

  May your happiness be founded in the solid rock that is Jesus.

Some Questions on Gay Marriage

I have decided to take the advice of one of the leading women in my church and seek to address some of the questions around the issue of gay marriage. This topic is a heated one, and I ask that you read through to the end before you make your judgment on what I have to say. If you are a Christian I also ask that you compare what I have to say to the Bible. Here we go:

 Question One: Is Gay Marriage Biblical?

The short answer is no. But why? Well because in the Bible, marriage between a man and a woman, is a representation of the relationship God has with his people. This is developed throughout the word of God. It begins in Genesis, where it says God created male and female in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28), the relational nature of human beings is a living picture of our God who himself lives in eternal relationship (which is also developed throughout the Bible). Then, in Genesis 2:24-25 the Bible says this, “24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” God created marriage, initiated marriage, and blesses marriage between a man and woman. This is then picked up again throughout the Bible and expanded. For example, we see God representing Israel as his bride in Ezekiel 16, and 23, and then as his wife in the book of Hosea. We also read various laws in Deuteronomy and Exodus about how married couples should treat each other. Even a few of the Ten Commandments relate to marriage; children are to honour their father and mother (Ex. 20:12), adultery is forbidden for God’s people (Ex. 20:14), and you should not covet your neighbour’s wife (Ex. 20:17). All these commands assume marriage between a man and a woman. Enshrined in these ancient words is the fact that God considers marriage between man and woman to be awesome, and good. In fact “he who finds a wife, finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord” (Pro. 18:22). Marriage is a blessing, a great blessing.  

But what about polygamy Matthew? The Bible permits polygamy, we have got you there mate! Maybe, but consider this, while the Bible does not explicitly forbid polygamy, it does regulate it, and it teaches that it is not the ideal, or God’s preferred intention for marriage. The Kings of Israel, who set the tone for the nation were not supposed to take many wives (Deuteronomy 17:17) a commandment many of them broke. The most memorable King who did this was Solomon who had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3)...which means he must have been a tired man for so many reasons. But even more importantly, especially for Christians who live under the New Testament, not the Old, Jesus re-enforced the original ideal:

“4 ‘Haven’t you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator “made them male and female,” 5 and said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh”?  6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’” Matthew 19:4-6  (NIV)

In this famous passage Jesus declared what marriage is, and therefore we know what it is not. God created us male and female, for this reason, marriage is between one man and one woman, and this union should not be broken, except in the case of adultery (cf. Matt 19:7-9) or a non-believing spouse leaving the believing one (1 Cor. 7:15-16). So by Jesus' own words, a union between a man and man, or a woman and a woman cannot be a marriage, and polygamy is also implicitly forbidden. 

Of equal significance is the fact the apostle Paul said a leader in the church must be the husband of one wife (1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:6). This teaching is found throughout the New Testament, especially in Paul’s letters where over and over again he acknowledges the husband/wife relationship as fundamental to marriage (cf. Eph. 5:22-6:4; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Tim 3:2, 5:1-16; Tit. 1:6). So this is why Christians have never practiced polygamy, even though people in the Old Testament did. From the passages we have looked at, the Christian position is clear, marriage is between one man and one woman, and note I have not even mentioned every passage regarding marriage in the New Testament.

Question Two: Is Homosexuality A Sin?

The fact that the Bible teaches sex outside of marriage is a sin, and that marriage between a man and a woman is what marriage is, in reality means we do not need one text which says homosexuality is a sin because it is already logically excluded based on these facts alone. But our awesome God gives us not just what we need in his word, but goes above and beyond that. Homosexuality is a sin, this is seen clearly in the Old Testament in Leviticus 18:22, 20:13. Also, Genesis 19, and Judges 19 both show that God does not look favourably on homosexual behaviour. It must be stated that while the Old Testament is God’s word, Christians live under the New Testament, therefore we are not bound to enact the punishments that the ancient Israelites were commanded to practice on those who broke the Jewish law. We now live under the law of Christ, and the way Christians are commanded to treat people is very different to the way Old Testament Israelites were. 

But the sinfulness of homosexuality is also seen clearly in the New Testament, I want to focus on 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, in particular: It says,  

“9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Without going into too much detail, where it says “nor men who have sex with men”, they have translated a couple of Greek words which refer to both the passive and active partners in male homosexual sex. Therefore, the very act of homosexuality is, biblically, a sin. But notice this, especially all you Christians who have some kind of bone to pick with homosexuals; sexual immorality, idolatry, greediness, theft, drunkenness, are all mentioned in this same passage. In other words homosexuals are not some special class of people we should pick on. The way some Christians have treated homosexuals in the past is down right wrong. In reality, from the Christian perspective, homosexuality is just another form of sexual sin like sex before marriage, or adultery.

Let me put it another way, to break it down for you: no one has ever got into heaven because they are heterosexual (I believe I got that from Timothy Keller). What gets people into heaven is repenting from sin, placing our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, and receiving his Holy Spirit who renews us and makes us children of God. Whatever one’s past sins are, there is always time to trust in Jesus. There is no special class of sexual sin which excludes people from trusting in Christ. Even Paul points out that some of the Corinthians were homosexuals before they became believers, but because they had been made righteous, they should no longer live that way (1 Cor. 6:11). So yes homosexuality is a sin, but it is one among many, and Christians should definitely not persecute homosexuals.  

Question Three: Should This Biblical Teaching Influence Political Policy?

The answer: yes, and no! What the Matthew? How can it be yes and no? Well in a Christian society, where the Christians are the clear majority, the church is the primary influence behind society’s laws, and the Bible is the basis of the countries morality, then it is only natural that we would not legalize same sex marriage. After all we have seen above what the Bible teaches. Christian societies in the past even had laws against homosexuality, some of which went way too far in my view and often denied the humanity of those the laws persecuted, which in my view is un-Christian. But we do not live in that society any more. Christians need to realize that Christendom is long gone. Sadly, so many Christians are still living in the hang-over from Christendom, when Christianity, at least in name, if not deeds, influenced the major powers of the world. But that time is as dead and buried as the Brisbane Lions hopes of winning a grand final. Do you want to hear the honest truth, my brothers and sisters? The truth is that a lot of the secular culture does not care what we think on morality. But remember neither did much of the the ancient pagan world care what the Christians thought as well. Just as the early church eventually changed their minds, so can we today if we approach this issue in the right way. So how do we do it?

Well, society will only care about how much we know God, when we show them how much we care about people in society. This is how Christianity changed the world in the past, from the bottom up, not the top down. The ancient Christians took the gospel to a hostile world, many were killed for their beliefs, yet still they brought the gospel, and the good works of love that came with it, to all people. As a result by the 4^th century even Roman emperors wanted to listen to them. They won people over by following the example of Jesus and the Apostle's and taking the message of the gospel to all people, and by loving them with their deeds as they did this. 

The hard truth, many Christians don’t want to hear, is that we should not be trying to force our morality on the people of this world. We can't force non-believers to live by the commands of a God they do not believe in, because they do not hold those commands in the same regard as us. To put it another way, the kingdom of God is not advanced when we force non-believers to act like Christians, the kingdom of God advances when non-believers come to faith in Jesus, are made new by the Holy Spirit, are adopted as children of God, and join a church and start the Christian journey. That is the ONLY way the kingdom of God advances, because Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, he said that himself (John 18:36). The truth is that we bring people into the kingdom with the gospel, and that gospel should be accompanied with good works of love (cf. 1 Peter 2:11-12).

Have you ever noticed that the Apostles never tried to enforce their morality on the Roman/Greek cities of the Roman Empire? This should really make us think? Rather was they did was was prepare Christians for life in a pagan context where Christian morality was despised. Peter warns us that the pagans, the unbelievers, will be shocked that we do not do the things they do (1 Peter 4:4), he also told us to submit to the governing authorities even in a pagan land where they would have pagan laws (1 Peter 2:13-17). Sure we should obey God’s laws first because his law is the highest law, and the governments law is second, but we cannot try to force the government to do what we want. In fact Peter's words almost feel like they were written to prepare us for life in a hostile society, because they were.  

I hear you cry out, “But we live in a democracy Matthew, therefore we can challenge the government.” Fine, I will grant you that the Roman government system is different to the Australian system, but I would point out that a majority of people in this country are not believers. Therefore, should we enforce our view of morality on them? No, never, God would not have us do that! I state again, never did anyone in the New Testament seek to tell the governing authorities what laws they should pass. The early church stayed out of such issues completely. If there is a passage in the New Testament which says otherwise, then please show it to me. So what should we do?

This is how I believe Christians can best approach this issue. We should believe what the Bible says, and what the Bible says is very clear, same sex marriage is an oxymoron biblically. But it’s not our job to force this view on others. Therefore, as Christians, if you ask us our opinion we will say we do not agree with it, if you ask us to vote on the same sex marriage issue we will vote against it, because God would have us do this. But our hope is not in political victories in this life. At the end of the day if gay marriage is passed as federal law in Australia (and I believe it will be eventually), it is not going to rock our world, because we are not of this world, we are people of the kingdom of God and our true home lies in the new heavens and earth. It should not surprise us that the world does not agree with us, Jesus told us to expect this (John 15:18-25), and so did Paul (2 Tim. 3:1-9). He also told us to love these people and share his message with them.  

The truth is even if gay marriage was passed in law today, it would only be a very small percentage of gay Australians who would get married (but it would be a massive news story). I genuinely believe there are bigger battles to fight. There are thousands of kids being abused in all sorts of contexts in our society. There is the massive break-down in marriages because of divorce, or the break-up of thousands of defacto relationships each year which is currently effecting our culture in so many negative ways and leading to a lot of hurting people. There is increasing homeless in our nation and a lot of people are falling below the poverty line because of the increase in the cost of living. In other words there is a lot of brokenness in this world that God wants his people to speak into with his love and his grace and to introduce them to his healing power. So, there are much larger battles to be fought, and a lot of people who need to hear the gospel, both straight people, and gay people. I will never agree with gay marriage, but my world will not be rocked if it passes either. The Apostle's lived in a hostile culture, so did the church fathers and the reformers, and many of the famous missionaries of the last few centuries. The New Testament prepares us for the same kind of opposition. Let us faithfully fulfill God's mission to be his ambassadors in this culture, by sharing his gospel message, by being his living witnesses and by persevering even when the culture opposes us. 

That’s my two cents. What do you think? 

The Flip Side: Getting Purpose Right

I think it’s unfair of me to point out the lack of discernment in the church at large and leave it at that. So this blog is the flip side of my last one, in the last one I took a dig at people who are soft on Bible knowledge, who lack discernment and for the really discerning you would have noticed that I did this by showing some of the flaws in the logic of those believers who would deny that certain spiritual gifts are for today (aka cessationists). I am not a cessationist, our God is the living God, and he is still at work in power in this world, and testimonies to this power abound. My aim was to get people to think about how they handle the Bible, and what their pre-suppositions are, and more than anything: be discerning. You don’t have to agree with me, I am not right about everything, make sure your beliefs about the Bible are based on deep, careful study. I see a large lack of this in the church today, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Read the first 10 chapters of Proverbs and you will see that a godly person loves wisdom and knowledge, I want our Christian culture to rediscover a love for knowledge.   
 

In this post, I want to do something for those of you who thought something like this, “This guy is just some big meanie who doesn’t love people, who doesn’t care, all he cares about is the truth…” or something along those lines. The reason I want to do this is to show you it is possible to care about people and the truth at the same time. I know from speaking to different people that some Christians don’t believe this is true, and this is a scary thought, because in the name of love people are too scared to confront error in the modern church. So many people believe love is three orders of magnitude more important than truth, but we must remember that Jesus is truth and he is love, because he is God, and those two things find their origin in his eternally, radically, awesome character. So to help you see that we can be loving and truthful, I want to address something I said in my last post, and flesh it out a little. Ok here is what I said:

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 (Matthew Littlefield, Discernment Must No Longer Be A Spiritual Gift).

Scarily, some people may have read this paragraph and thought something like, “What’s his problem? I thought the whole Bible was about how I should fulfil my purpose in life. I thought Jesus died for me because I am special. I thought sins do stop us from reaching our potential. I thought the Christian life was all about making a difference in the world. Is this not what we are called to?” Well let’s see if I can help you discern the difference between the Bible’s versions of these things, and so many popular preachers’ versions of these things. God’s truth is beautiful and when you understand his word well, and its application for our lives, then this lifts so many burdens off our life (John 8:31-33).

Ok let’s kick off by discussing purpose. You will rarely hear a mega-church/seeker-sensitive preacher who does not focus a large proportion of their yearly preaching time on helping you find your unique purpose in life. Among other things they will say stuff like this: “God has created you for a special mission”, “He has placed in your heart a special desire, or plan, or dreams, and you must find out what these are and then fulfil them; this is your purpose!” Then they will say things to help you find out your purpose; things like this: “What is it you really enjoy doing?” “What big dreams or goals do you have which are too big for you to do on your own?” “If your dream can only be fulfilled with God’s power than that dream is from God” (I kind of wish this were true because then my dream of being a Jedi Master might not be as ridiculous as I thought it was – man I would love a real lightsaber, I think with a green or purple blade). Really guys, really? This passes for sound teaching this day?

I really don’t want to have to burst your bubble, but nowhere in the Bible does God promise to tell us what our personal purpose is in life (aside from giving us wisdom to help us determine what to do with our lives). The Bible does teach that we are created for a purpose, a good example is Matthew 28:18-20, where all disciples are tasked with the great commission. Or you could reas 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, where we are told we are new creations and God wants to reconcile the world to himself through us, his ambassadors. A really great example is Isaiah 43:6-7 where it teaches that God’s redeemed people are created for his glory; that’s all of us who believe. But the Bible doesn’t promise we can find our unique purpose! God’s not your personal, sanctified, fortune teller, or fortune cookie. He is God!

Now you may then ask “What about Paul, or Jeremiah, or Moses or others? God told those guys their life mission.” Sure God does take some people aside in the Bible like Peter, Paul, Jeremiah, Moses and others and tells them what their life’s purpose is. I also believe he can and does still do this today for some people, as he did back then, but nowhere does he promise all of us that he will tell us our unique purpose in life and pastors who say otherwise are frankly lying to you (think of the many thousands/millions of believers in the Bible God did not do this for). These preachers are building up inside of you a false expectation of what is to come in your Christian walk. We are not all apostles, or prophets, and in the Bible God only spoke directly to a very few of those who lived, and who believed (note what it says in 1 Samuel 3:1; Amos 3:7 – God speaks through his prophets, but not everyone, or even specifically for everyone). I believe God does still speak supernaturally today, in fact the New Testament church is to be characterized as a place where God brings visions, dreams and prophecies (cf. Acts 2:16-21; 1 Cor. 14:1, 6), but nowhere does God promise that he will reveal to us our unique mission in life. The belief that you can figure out your unique destiny comes from Disney, not the Bible. If God brings that knowledge to some, that is his will, and we see it in the Bible, but he does not promise to do it for all of us.

So, just because you have a grand dream to open restaurants, or be a gun attorney, or even the world’s greatest evangelist, or really anything, it does not mean you have been given this dream by God, unless he personally comes to you in a very real and vivid way, kind of like how he did for Paul in Acts 9. If God comes to you, you will know it, because when God came to people in the Bible there never was any doubt in their minds, or debate about what he wanted them to do. Also, just because you really enjoy doing something, does not mean it is your purpose to fulfil your mission doing that. I love playing Battlefield 4, and 4wding, but it is not my divine mission to do these things. Peter the Apostle loved fishing, but God took him away from this to something much grander; to be a fisher of men. We are told to take up our crosses and deny ourselves, not fulfil our own desires and call this ‘mission’; that’s more than a little askew from the call of the discipleship if you ask me (it’s called being narcissistic actually).  

In fact not only does the Bible NOT teach that God will openly, clearly, and unequivocally, state to all of us our grand purpose/mission, it teaches the opposite. Enter here one of the most popular passages for mega-church/seeker-sensitive pastors to use to tell people to figure out their purpose; Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Talents. I want us to read verses 14-15 and note a profound insight from these verses, regarding God’s will for our lives. Jesus says, “For it (the kingdom of heaven cf. v1) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away” (ESV).

Notice that the master, who in this parable represents Jesus, gives these men each different amounts of money (a talent was worth about a year’s wages), and then he just ups and leaves, he does not give them details, he does not tell them which way to direct the funds he gave them, he just ups and goes. Why? Well, our master, Jesus, is not one to dictate our every move, he gives us many things (which the talents represent): he gives us new life, rebirth, a clean slate, his Holy presence in our lives, not to mention all the various material things he gives to each of his people, in varying amounts. He also promises to give us wisdom so that we may know how to make good decisions, but he does not dictate to us our every move, or career choice, or calling in life, because he wants us to live by faith, not by sight; he wants us trust him, not be afraid to make a move without his clear and unequivocal direction. He has also given us his very words in Scripture to help us determine the difference between his way and the world’s way, and then in a very real sense he lets us loose on the world. He wants our minds renewed so that we can be transformed to determine what sort of action lines up with his will (Romans 12:1-2), but he is the master who goes away and leaves us to our devices. God does not leave us without witness (his Word), or comfort (his Spirit), or guidance (his fellowship of people), but he does leaves us to make wise decisions in our life in line with how we view his character (a view which should be built on the FULL word of God).

Note carefully two of the servants did not delay in seeking to increase what God had given them, and they were commended with those awesome, and in my heart longed for, famous words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But one servant, well, he copped it hard, and why? Because he was afraid; the master terrified him, and he was too weak to step out in faith without a direct revelation on what he should do with his one coin, so he buried it, and what does Jesus say about this guy: “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:30). Wow that’s harsh, yea, but it’s also God’s truth. What was the difference between these two groups of servants?

Well the first group was faithful. ‘Faithful’ can be explained in two ways: 1) They were guys who acted in a trustworthy and commendable manner; hence faithful, which is definitely in the text. 2) They were guys who trusted the master and hence acted accordingly, they were faith-filled guys; hence faithful. In reality it is both, those who are filled with faith will seek to be faithful, those who are not will likely not act faithful, it doesn’t take a mathematician to do that calculation (thank goodness because I suck at maths). This tells us that the third man had a big problem: he lacked faith in God, a fatal flaw in any one.

Let me ask you a challenging question? If you are skipping around from conference to conference, book to book, or prayer group to prayer group, waiting for a word from God before you are willing to step out and take a risk in life and invest what God has given you already: which servant in this parable do you think you resemble more closely? The third one maybe…Ah, not what you wanted to hear? Sorry to break it to you buddy, but look here is the awesome flip side of all of this: most of us get to choose our own unique direction and purpose (within God’s revealed will of course).

I think this is pretty cool, and it fits with the Bible, and the experience of most Christians. God doesn’t come to all of us in a dream and give us a divine mission. Instead, he has already delegated to us a mission: make disciples, or reconcile people to God if you prefer to say it that way. We get to decide how we will work into his divine mosaic of outreach. Look don’t get me wrong, the sovereign Lord is in control the whole time, he has your life in his hands, and he knows what you will be doing, but half the fun of life is getting to figure out for ourselves how we will use the talents God gave us, and then step out in faith, like the first two servants. That is one of the most awesome parts of our Christian life, it is an adventure, and we don’t always know the next path, or even our next step, and we will make mistakes, and choose wrong paths. But I can guarantee you that if you live this kind of faith filled life, you will always be able to look back and see how God was working in you and through you, all by his awesome power, and you won’t be able to help but give him the glory.

You could render the famous statement above, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant!” God, for some divine, unsearchable, reason, wants us to make pretty much most of our life decisions, whether it be job, career, ministry, wife, husband, country to live in etc., by ourselves, based on the wisdom he gives us in his word, and he wants to give us the chance to prove we are trustworthy, that’s pretty cool I think. So, he’s not against us having purpose, just don’t think he is going to hand it to you on a platter. This is the flip side of what I said in my last blog, we can have purpose, but it’s usually up to us to figure it out, in line with God’s written will (The Bible).   

Next we will deal with the topic of our ‘specialness’, but for that you will need to tune in next time…God bless, and may the force be with you (just had to say that to have a bit of funJ).  

  

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.