Do you believe?

“So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” (John 11:3)

"Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."

Put yourself in their shoes. “You and your brothers and sisters know Jesus really well – He comes over to stay at your house whenever He is in town. And now one of your brothers is sick. What would you be thinking?”

“Jesus should know, He should be here. We shouldn’t have to tell Him about this! Where is He?”

If something bad was happening to your brothers or sisters, to your children, how far would you go in order to make that problem go away? Would you put yourself in harm’s way? Would you die in order to save them?

You would do anything it took, wouldn’t you? Why? Because you love them!

When Mary and Martha sent the message to Jesus, they didn’t say, “Our brother Lazarus is sick”. Why did they phrase their message as they did? - it’s almost like that when they sent someone to tell Jesus they wanted to know what Jesus was thinking, as if to ask,

“You do love him right? And yet, he is sick – you could make him better with a touch, with one little command, and yet the one you love is still sick, almost to the point of death!”

We see this thought expressed by both Martha and Mary in verse 21 and 32 – after Lazarus had died when Jesus goes to meet them in Bethany.

Saying, “"Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

These words are so full of emotion – so full of grief ! Jesus, if only You were there – it would not have happened like this! Where were You?? You said that it would not end in death – but my brother is dead!!

When something bad happens to you – what is your first reaction? What is my first reaction? Are we not like Mary and Martha – “Lord, You love me – why is this happening? Are you aware of what is going on here? Can’t you see that I am in pain!?”

But we see that the reaction of Jesus to the news that Lazarus was sick is quite different than the way we would react.

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.”

(John 11:5-6)

That doesn’t make sense – “Jesus loved them, and so He waited two days before going to them.”

Why did Jesus wait? – why did He wait two full days before going to see Mary and Martha? Why did He wait, when He could have prevented all of this?

Did He do it without purpose – did He put them through this pain and suffering for no apparent reason? No!

He did not go to them because He loved them.

To us it does not make sense.

We hate suffering, and will do anything to prevent it and protect those we love from it.

And yet to Jesus, it makes perfect sense.

He says to His disciples, right before they start the journey to see, the now dead Lazarus:

“I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe;”
(John 11:15)

As I was thinking and meditating over this passage – how far I am from the perspective that Jesus has! Have I ever been glad that something painful occurred, in the midst of that painful experience? Here Jesus is, one of His closest friends has died, and the sisters, who are very close to Him are broken with grief over the death of their brother – and yet He says, “I am glad, for your sakes”

When the winds of trials and the storms of suffering are upon me,

am I glad? Can I truthfully say, “I am glad”?

“When I’m carrying Tia into SOS, blood all over, and scared that he might not make it to see tomorrow – do I say, “I am glad”?”

“When I’m in the bathroom barfing my guts out, wishing I would pass out so I could have some peace, do I say, “I’m glad”?”

I don’t want us to miss this – Right after Jesus arrived in Bethany, and He speaks to Martha, He said something to her – let’s read it starting in verse 21:

“Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."

(John 11:21-27)

This I believe shows us something beautiful – this shows us why Jesus was glad that He was not there to heal Lazarus. It was not because He wished his friends to be sad – or because He wanted them to suffer. Rather it was for this – it was for the answer to this question:

“Do you believe?”

In life or death – there is only ONE that has any worth. If I live or if I die, I do not care – only do not take this ONE from me. As the psalmist says:

“Certainly spending just one day in your temple courts is better than spending a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather stand at the entrance to the temple of my God than live in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is our sovereign protector.
The LORD bestows favor and honor; he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. O LORD who rules over all, how blessed are those who trust in you!”

(Psalms 84:10-12)

“Do you believe?”

This is the love of Christ. Not that everything will be perfect in our lives.

Being loved by Christ doesn’t mean you get some certificate of exemption from ever being sick ever again or some guarantee that you will never have another problem in this life!

Rather – if Christ loves you – it means that He will do all things so that you will believe. He will cause the sun to stand still, He will part the sea, He will cause a shadow to go backwards ten steps – He will do everything it takes – He will allow you to get sick – He will allow someone close to you to fall – He will allow someone you love to die – He will make you wander in the wilderness for 40 years, He will allow you to deny Him – He will do it – He will do it for His own name-sake – that you would believe.

This is His love – that He will do all – whatever it takes - with the final result – that you say with Martha, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."

But what kind of love is this? It seems so harsh. But is it really? What is true love – a thing that allows you to do whatever you want – or a person who guides you, knowing what is best for you, and making sure that whatever is best comes about – even though in the process pain and suffering come – this love looks to the outcome and wills the suffering and the pain, so that the one it loves can be perfect and pure.

Is it harsh – it is love? Is love “glad” when we suffer?

“Well,” you might say, “Jesus knew what was going to happen, that’s why He was glad – He wasn’t sad – because He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.”

After Jesus arrives in Bethany – something amazing happens.

Let’s look back at the text:

· Jesus waits two days until He goes to Bethany, knowing that Lazarus has died

· His disciples question Him – reminding Him that the Jews had just tried to stone Him in Jerusalem, and now He was going back again?

· Then Jesus arrives in Bethany when Lazarus has been in the grave for four days.

What happens next is something that I cannot comprehend.

Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was [129] troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. (John 11:32-35)

Jesus – who knows all things, who knew the outcome of this event – who knew that Lazarus would rise from the dead – wept.

He wept.

He did not call them foolish. He did not call them faithless. He did not say, “Cheer up, it’s going to be alright! Didn’t you hear what I said? I’m going to raise Lazarus from the dead!”

Jesus did not rebuke them.

Jesus cried softly. He wept.

He was intensely moved – groaning in spirit. Seeing the trouble of His friends. Mary, Martha – feeling their loss – seeing how sin had corrupted the world, filling the world with unbelief. For Jesus loved them – and it pained Him to see them in this state and yet, He was glad that it was this way – for it would result in the salvation of those He loved, it would result in belief.

His tears and His groaning expressed how much He loved the ones who were suffering because of Lazarus’s death.

What love is this – that The Savior of the world would cry, because the ones He loves are hurting.

“Your love oh Lord reaches to the heavens

Your faithfulness stretches to the sky

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountain

And Your justice flows like the oceans tides”

Our redeemer is not far away – He is here with us, and He knows our pain.

If you have ever wondered if Christ loves you – look around – where are you? What has occurred in your life – how is it that you came to be sitting in your chair listening to His Word this morning? How is that possible? There are millions who have never heard – and yet you, you this morning you are here. Do you still wonder if He loves you?

When the people watching saw Jesus cry they said, “See how He loved him!”
(John 11:36)

Just with that one small act, Jesus caught the attention of everyone around Him – He cried a few tears and they said, “Wow, Jesus must have really loved Lazarus.”

But I tell you, Jesus does not only weep for those He loves. There is no greater love than this – that a man lay down his life for his friends. He did not just shed a tear for those He loves, but He shed His blood – the ultimate price, He paid, for those He loved.

THERE IS ONLY ONE QUESTION THAT SUMS UP ALL OF

THESE THINGS: DO YOU BELIEVE?

DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE?

When things are going right, do you believe? Sure, that is easy.

But what about when everything is going wrong, do you believe?

When you enter into the fiery trial – do not be afraid – for the One who loves you could put out the flames in an instant – He could send more than twelve legions of angels to rescue you. But what is this – are you still burning in the flames? Are you not protected from the heat?

Have you cried out to Him, “Lord! The one whom you love is suffering!”

And yet the only reply is a soft, “This suffering will not lead to death, but to God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

And so then, in your pain and suffering – you quietly pray, “Lord, I believe”

And a peace that passes all understanding will be with you – for though you still suffer, yet, you know He is there, and He loves you.

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Violent Faith

I'm reading Under the Banner of Heaven, finally. I really wish that I could have been involved in the discussion for this one. It is making me think a lot about faith and knowledge and etc. Jon Krakauer, and probably 90% of non-evangelical intellectuals, would probably lump us in the same category, in the end, as the FLDS ... in fact he basically says so at several points; he's using this story to talk about fundamentalism in general.

What is his definition, really? It seems like: relying on a combination of "spiritual intuition" and literal intepretation of "holy texts" over and above common sense (or rather, the prevailing attitude of the society at large) and the laws and norms of the government.

How do we know what we know? What separates us from the FLDS's and Islams of the world?

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Interesting Article on Bible Translation

Here's an interesting article from a blog I read


http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2006/04/neither-hand-nor-foot.html

I posted some thoughts which you can check out on the comments section of the page.

-Nathan

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"Only the Father Knows..."

Another "what I'm reading" excerpt:

"Christ had to submit to knowing dependently and to knowing partially. He had to learn to boey without knowing all the facts and to believe without being in possession of full information. He had to forego the comfort which omniscience would sometimes have brought. This, surely, was a potent factor in the dereliction (Mk 15:34). The assurance of the Father's love, the sense of his own sonship and the certainty of his victory were all eclipsed, and he had to complete his obedience as the one who walked in darkness, knowing only that he was sin and that he was banished to the outer darkness. He suffers as the one who does not have all the answers and who in his extremity has to ask, Why? The ignorance is not mere appearing. It is reality."

From The Person of Christ by Donald Macleod.

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My Feet Hurt

They do. I've been standing for hours on end at work.

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The Difference Between Apostate and Apostle

In Matthew 26:17-35 we see the respective stories of Judas and Peter before Jesus' crucifixion. In v.21 Jesus prophesies that one of the twelve will betray him and "they were very sorrowful," each asking "Is it I?"

Jesus responds: "The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!" (v.24). Judas then asks if it is he, and Jesus affirms that he has spoken truly. Jesus' betrayal had been planned and predicted by God, yet Judas will be woefully guilty and "it would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

Then in v.31 we see Jesus tell the disciples that they will all fall away. Peter swears he will die before he betrays his Lord (and all the disciples said the same). We all know what happened.

I see very little intrinsic difference between Judas and Peter. Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied him at his hour of greatest need. The heart of each man was inclined to deny the one whom they had forsaken all to follow. It's a single, obvious and awful difference between the two: sovereign grace. Judas went his own way, fully culpable. But God granted that Peter would return and feed the flock of Christ.

Honestly, this terrifies me, knowing that (apart from God's gracious action) my heart would fall so quickly and deeply and fully into sin. Myself, I am Judas. Only the Lord draws me, like Peter, back to himself. Hold me there, gracious Lord!

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Get in the Game

I'm not saying that a true picture of God is not important. What I am saying is this: that being well-versed in Christian doctrine is valueless; only love for the true God (and for others) is. To the extent that doctrine assists you in loving God and others, it is valuable. But it is not valuable for its own sake.

The question is: which is highest? The system of beliefs which forms Christianity, or the God who placed them in the world to point us to Him? Understanding "justification by faith" is far less important than being justified. Understanding the nature of sanctification is far less important than being sanctified. Understanding predestination is far less important than "assuring yourself of His calling and choosing you."

Here's how I would put it: doctrine is the rules of Baseball. Not knowing the rules would make it impossible to play. Knowing the minutiae of the rules might help you to gain an edge; but God isn't looking for referees. He's looking for players. And if you are a player, studying the history and technicalities of Baseball would only be of value to you as far as it improved your game. Run as if to win.

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Something Resembling a (short) Argument

You cannot disconnect true theology and true love, and, in fact, proper theology must inform proper love and not vice versa.

Look at Deuteronomy 6:4-5: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Love is certainly more than simply correct theology; but it is certainly not less. Correct theology must inform adequate love.

See also 1 John 3:23: "And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us."

John, like Moses in the Shema above, places belief in the true Son of God, Jesus Christ, prior to love of the brothers.

Only love with truth is true love.

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My Problem with Machen

This is important, I think. I read a little bit about Machen, and I think he's saying this: "Doctrine is the message of the New Testament". As the founder of the Orthodox Presbyterian Denomenation, when he says "preaching doctrine", he probably means "Promoting strict adherence to reformed theology".

Now, the principal issues he fought for (for instance, attacking the idea that Paul basically invented a different Christianity than Jesus, based on Greek thought) are not ones I would disagree with him on. But when he says, "Doctrine is the message of the New Testament", I think he's missing the point. Yes, 1 Corinthians 13 is in the middle of a polemic. But what is the polemic saying? "We are all members of one body, and each is important." "Don't say to the foot, 'I don't need you.' " The message of 1 Corinthians 13, while itself perhaps part of a polemic, is clear: doctrine, discipline, and many other areas that feet or hands or eyes will focus on, are a means and not an end. Can speaking in tongues of men and angels aid us in loving others? Certainly. But mistaking it for more than what it is would be a grave error.

Paul answers the question, "What's most important?" right there in the passage: love. You can have all the doctrine you want, and without love you are a clanging gong or a crashing cymbal, it is utterly worthless. Jesus polemicized a great deal as well, but what was his main thrust against the Pharisees? "Come back when you have learned the meaning of this: I desire mercy and not sacrifice".

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What I'm Reading

This is from The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez. He quotes John Chrysostom, who says:
"Many who have gone from monastic retreat to the active life of the priest or the bishop are completely unable to face the difficulties of their new situation."

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Quote for thought - J. Gresham Machen

"Men tell us that our preaching should be positive and not negative, that we can preach the truth without attacking error. But if we follow that advice we shall have to close our Bible and desert its teachings. The New Testament is a polemic book almost from beginning to end. Some years ago I was in a company of teachers of the Bible in the colleges and other educational institutions of America. One of the most eminent theological professors in the country made an address. In it he admitted that there are unfortunate controversies about doctrine in the Epistles of Paul; but, said he in effect, the real essence of Paul's teaching is found in the hymn to Christian love in the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians; and we can avoid controversy today, if we will only devote the chief attention to that inspiring hymn. In reply, I am bound to say that the example was singularly ill-chosen. That hymn to Christian love is in the midst of a great polemic passage; it would never have been written if Paul had been opposed to controversy with error in the Church. It was because his soul was stirred within him by a wrong use of the spiritual gifts that he was able to write that glorious hymn. So it is always in the Church. Every really great Christian utterance, it may almost be said, is born in controversy. It is when men have felt compelled to take a stand against error that they have risen to the really great heights in the celebration of truth."

- J. Gresham Machen, "Christian Scholarship and the Defense of the Faith"

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Better Khmer Bibles Blog

Just FYI - I started up a blog for Khmer Bible translation issues.

You kinda need to know Khmer, but you can check it out ;)

Better Khmer Bibles Blog: The Purpose

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Church vs. Para-church

Not exactly what I've been reading, but I've been taking a missions class and this week was all about why we should have a 'para-church'. I'm always a little skeptical of anything so self-serving (the organization that puts on the class is itself a para-church organization, etc.) but I figured I might as well outline what they said.

The premise is that throughout the history of the church, and even prior to that in the context of Judaism, there have been nurturing structures and mobilizing structures. Some examples: synagogue/"khevra" (apparently the Pharisees were a "khevra", an organization that went about promoting their brand of purity to Jews in the diaspora), church of Antioch/Paul and company, Parish/Monastic orders, etc.

One big thing I hadn't really thought about that they brought up had to do with the history of mission in the Protestant church. Now, Luther thought the whole idea of an elective "second tier" of the church was a bad idea. He hated the monastic orders and was probably the origin of the modern idea that "the church ought to do all the work". He believed in reaching peoples outside of Christianity but felt that it was a job for the church. Calvin apparently felt similarly.

The result was that between 1521 and 1792 there were no Protestant missions. The only exception to this was the work of the Moravian group, which was essentially a para-church organization. During this time the Catholic church expanded around the globe, and we can still see the result of their work.

I'm not sure why they don't count the missionary endeavors of John Eliot and David Brainerd, because they talked about them in other sections. Maybe they are speaking primarily of European efforts.

In any case, the official beginning of Protestant Missions was in 1792 ... in which year William Carey started a para-church organization to help him go to India.

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What have you been reading?

I thought it would be nice for each of us to post a quote from a book we are currently reading. And as we change books or come across something that impacted us, we can post it for everyone to read.

I posted one below from John Owen.

-Nathan

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Quote for Thought - John Owen

"The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin...Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world." - John Owen from "Temptation and Sin"

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Too Much Information

You know that verse, Jeremaiah 29:11? "I know the plans, etc." Have you ever read that verse in context? I did, today. The context is a lot of prophecy and condemnation related to the recently-exiled Jewish nation. My question is: who stumbled along this passage and decided that it was more important than the entire rest of the book? The Bible contains a lot of information. Way too much to digest in a single reading. Way too much to really understand in a lifetime. Many people will take a scientific approach to the Bible: with the right tools, the right processes, it is impossible to fail, you will discern the truth.

The problem is, somebody somewhere has to come along and say, "this is important and this is not." This pins our formerly scientific process on a person. A fallible person. Every shattered piece of the Church Universal has a few verses or concepts that it latches onto and a few which (if they were honest) undermine the conclusion they've come to.

Here's what I want to know! What's important to God.

STOP. I don't want to know what you think is important to God. Look at Jesus! Jesus is the revelation of God's character. He is the way we understand God. What was important to Him? Do we even pay attention?

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sbbic.org

I just opened a new web site
http://www.sbbic.org

There is nothing really there right now, and really isn't all that useful unless you know Khmer, but I thought I would put it up here anyway. I put up a Khmer Unicode dictionary, which so far as I know doesn't exist anywhere else. It is a pretty small dictionary, only about 500 words and phrases though - and most of the terms are Christian terms, being as they were taken from some of my translation work on various Christian books (mostly just for my own learning, since I am not at the level of producing something that is really useable). But it is a start.

But yeah, hopefully it will take off, and be used by those wanting to provide better books in Cambodia and in the process create a large, and usable two-way dictionary.

:)

- Special thanks to Todd Kastle for hosting yet another site -

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"Take heed to yourselves"

Regurgitating some of Richard Baxtor:

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

Some think that when someone exhorts another, they become their ruler. Some think that because Paul said these things to the elders at the city of Ephesus, that he was ruling strongly over them. But I hope as I exhort you now, that you will not think me your ruler, for there is only One Lord – Jesus Christ – rather know that I am the same as you, as you are the same as those you lead, or will be leading. We all deal with the same sin, we all need to grow closer to Christ by His grace. But we are to be leaders – you have been called out to lead others as I have been called. In a few months, if you are not already, you will be leading others. And as leaders we have greater work to do they those under us, we have greater difficulties to overcome, and therefore we have need to be warned and awakened, as well as instructed as much or more so than those we lead. I would desire that we could meet more than just the few times that we will be meeting, for there is a need – and we learn of this need from what Paul said to the Ephesian elders, a short sermon, but one that we have difficulty putting into practice.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

I want to focus on one thing in this verse and that is this: what is it to pay careful attention to ourselves?

It means to make sure that the work of saving grace is really in your souls. Pay careful attention to yourselves, lest you find that you are lacking that saving grace of God which you offer to others; lest while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Savior, in your own heart you ignore Him and neglect the Salvation that He brings. Pay careful attention to yourselves, lest you die in your sin, at the same time you are calling others to be saved from their sin; lest you starve, while you prepare food for others. Many have warned others of hell while they were on their way to that terrible place of suffering. Many preachers are in hell, who have called on their people to follow Jesus and escape it. Can anyone truly think that God will save someone just because they share the Gospel with other people, while they themselves refuse that Gospel? Or that God will save someone for telling truths that they themselves ignore and abuse?

Many people who make clothes wear rags while they are making really expensive clothes for other people. Many cooks do not take a taste of the delicious and expensive food that they have made for other people. Believe this: God never saved any man for being a church leader – God never saved any man even for being an talented leader – but God saves men who are justified, sanctified and therefore faithful to their Master’s work. Pay careful attention to yourselves first, that what you are what you are telling your people to be, and that you believe what you are telling your people to believe. That you believe with all your heart in the Savior that you offer to your people.

When Christ commanded you to love your neighbor as yourself He implied that you should love yourselves, and not hate and destroy yourself and them.

It is a fearful thing to be an unsaved person – but even more, an unsaved Christian leader. Does it make you tremble when you open your Bible, lest you should read a sentence of your own condemnation? When you speak against sin, you are aggravating your own! When you tell your people of the greatness of Christ and His riches and His grace, you are telling of your own sin in rejecting Him and your own unhappiness because you lack Him. What can you do in calling men to follow Christ, in taking them from the world and into a life of faith and holiness. If you speak of hell, you are speaking of your own inheritance – if you describe the joys of heaven you are speaking of your own sadness, for you will never see heaven. What can you really say that is not against your own soul? What a miserable life – that you should study and preach against yourself and spend your time in condemning yourself! A graceless church leader is one of the most unhappy people on earth! And yet it seems such a person does not know of his unhappiness. For he thinks he has the gold of saving grace, Christian jewels and thinks he is rich, when in fact he is poor. He thinks he needs nothing, when actually he is poor, miserable, blind and naked. He knows the Bible, he knows how to lead in the church, he doesn’t commit openly evil sins, he tells other people when they are wrong, he worships God and sings with a loud voice, and teaches others of God and how wonderful God is – oh how miserable thing this is – to die of starvation when the Bread of Life is in our hands, while we offer the bread to others and call them to eat! If such a person would listen to me, and look to his heart, if He think God will hear his prayer if he “is comfortable with evil in his heart” – or if there is any benefit on the last day to say, “Lord, Lord, we have prophesied in your name,” for that man will then here these terrible words, “Depart from me, I do not know you!” What benefit will it be to Judas on the judgment day, to remember that he preached with the other apostles, or that he sat with Christ, and was called “Friend” by Christ? Do not wait, if you are not yet saved – make a full and free confession of your sin and cry out to God that He would have mercy on your soul and believe in Him, the only one who can truly save.

It is the normal danger and disaster of the Church that so many become leaders before they are Christians – who are given a mark of approval by men before they are given the mark of approval by God. We must therefore pay careful attention to ourselves – are you truly saved? “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
(Philippians 2:12b-13 ESV)

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

Again, what does it mean to pay careful attention to yourselves? Do not be content with only being a Christian, only barely escaping the wrath of God, but make sure and keep your spiritual body healthy. When you teach others, first teach yourself. Even if you did this for your own sake, it would be valuable, but actually this is for the sake of those under you, for the sake of the Church, for when your minds are cleaned and focused on heavenly things, those who are listening to you will listen and desire the things that they hear you talk about. And I admit I must speak from my own experience, that when I let my heart grow cold, my preaching is cold. When my heart is confused, my preaching is confused. And I also observe in those listening when I am cold in my spirit, they start becoming cold also. We are the nurses of Christ’s little children. If we feed on spiritually unwholesome food, either with errors or useless controversies, our hearers will become spiritually weak and sickly. But, when our hearts are overflowing with love, with joy – when we are full of faith and enthusiasm – how much good it does those who are under our care! Therefore pay careful attention to yourselves, pay careful attention to your hearts and keep them warm with much secret prayer, and with meditation on the Word of God. Watch yourselves, for your sake, and also for the sake of others.

Pay very careful attention to yourselves, lest your example contradict your teaching, lest you destroy what you say by the way you live. What value is there if you build up your people for an hour one day a week with your words, but then the rest of the time, spend in tearing whatever you said down, because your life does not follow your words. This is how men come to believe that the Word of God is a useless thing, and that Christians are only full of Words that they themselves do not believe. When you call your people to be humble, do you think that they will humble themselves more than you? If you call your people to spend their time well, do you think they will spend it more wisely than you? When you tell them to flee from sin, do you think that they will flee it more than you? You must first learn what you are going to teach, if you value the success of your position. If you value the souls that God has placed in your charge, you will pay very careful attention to yourselves and live according to the things you teach.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

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Not Only Kind

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(1 John 4:16 ESV)

I think many times when suffering comes our way, we scream out to God, “WHY?! What did I do?” But we forget – I forget that God is not just kind. For it is through suffering that we learn that God is not only kind to us. Yes, God is not only kind, rather He is love. For a god that is only kind would give drugs to a drug addict because it would make the addict happy in the moment, not willing to bring the suffering and pain required to remove the addiction from the addict in order to give him a life free from drugs. Kindness is unwilling to go all the way, unwilling to do that which is required to bring ultimate good to the recipient. But God is a God that loves us and so sometimes He wills us to go through difficulties and suffering not for the sake of suffering but for our own sake, as one withholding drugs from an addict, causing momentary suffering in order that the addict might be free from the addiction and live a full and free life. And so it is with us, we are addicted to this world, a world that in the end leads to death, and so God, our Father works to wean us off this world, causing us momentary affliction, that we might, in the end, have a life that is full, wholly satisfied and pure, not bound in slavery to sin, but filled with love for the One who loved us enough to cause our suffering for our ultimate good – everlasting life in the presence of the source of all good, God Himself. He is truly love.

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What is wrong?

John ch.3 describes two kinds of people. Those who live in darkness because they don't want their deeds exposed, and those who come into the light to show that they are God's people. Hence we use the phrase "in the light". Often this phrase denotes a kind of openness that can be very freeing but requires great risk and often results in humiliation.

Here's what happens:

We make a contract with the state of affairs. This is: narrowing the path excludes almost everyone. Some of whom aren't really that bad. A lot of people will feel uncomfortable, at least at first. Uncomfortable = smaller churches. Smaller churches = appearance of failure. So, we know that the narrow path is where we ought to be headed, but we make a pact with reality. "I'll just do what works". Everyone retreats a little bit. Church is a little less threatening; and if it is threatening, it's the kind of "intellectual threat" that doesn't require you to talk about yourself, just your beliefs. Slowly you give up on drawing people into the light, and accept the darkness.

Why? Because it's not your job. Your job is to provide a service. People join your church, and donate to it, and pay your salary because they want a service. In most cases you have no other reason to be in the community you're in, except to provide that service. Maybe you move your family to a new city and church, because it's a better job. They don't bring you in to shepherd God's people. They bring you in to do a job. Your responsibility is not to draw people into the light, closer to God; it's to grow the church. Or ... to teach. Or ... to be "successful". The darkness closes in.

Because indoctrination is easier than transformation. Because small talk is safer than friendship. Because systematic theology is more interesting than "Love God with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."

You betray the ones you claim to be helping. Because it's your job. So, the question is, who do you work for?

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