Church jottings 2022-10-02

 

 Today's sermon from WSFC: living in step with the Gospel

Galatians 2:11–16 

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (ESV)

•  Cyndi opened service this morning, and I really appreciate how she spoken about the Lord's Table as the "best meal" in our lives. In other traditions it's called the Eucharist, which comes from the word "to celebrate", and that seems very fitting. Should there be some somber reflection on the death of our Lord? Yes, but moreover it is right that we rejoice in such love as we proclaim his sacrifice for us.
  

•  I'm thankful the heaven won't be overly repetitive, but that we have so many myriad ways now and forever to worship and enjoy our God. He created (and allows us to use as tools in worship) multi-part musical harmony, and physical symbols like the Lord's supper, and poetic use of words in lyrics and oratory to convey beauty and power, and bodily movement like dancing and upraised hands and weeping, and...
  

•  The sermon continues Galatians and the point that we are set free from the law to live in grace, yet that doesn't mean that our actions don't matter. We cannot be saved by our actions or morality (Trent did a great job of defining "works of the law"), but our lives should be in step with the Gospel. Not only should we not deny the Gospel in word or deed, but we should live in such a way that positively affirms it.
• As an aside, the division of the OT law into ceremonial/civil/moral is, in my opinion, forced onto the Bible from an outside thought and not something we see anywhere related in the Scriptures themselves. We don't have to obey any sort of law, even the "moral" ones, to be right with God. Rather, if God has made us new and given us hearts to love him, etc., we do these things because that's how we love our Father and walk with Him, not because of any legal obligation whatsoever. I think I have an older post about that, or I'll write one in the future; comment if interested.
  

• The opening of this text shows both the need for loving confrontation and the grounds for it. 
• We should work things out, even sometimes heatedly, with our brothers and sisters (cf. Matt 18), wherever possible. The prohibition on gossip is good, if sadly and infuriatingly abused by some who call gossip what is not. I have a whole essay on this I'll share another time; comment if interested.
  
• On the other side, Paul isn't eagerly seeking confrontation over trivialities. He addresses Peter's problem "because he stood condemned." And if I stand condemned, is it not loving (to me and to those affected by me) to point that out and call me back to the Way?
  
  
•   One of Trent's, and Paul's, main points is how ethnocentrism has no place in Gospel community. As I mentioned last week, this should really be gutted out of any American by the simple fact that as Paul is writing, we are the Gentiles, the outsiders, the ἔθνη (ethne), those far distant in culture and time and geography.
• I also appreciate how Trent mentioned the importance of sharing a meal. This wasn't some obscure or ancillary "who cares who you choose to eat with" thing. Think about it: what does it mean for you to take time to share a meal with someone? Who do you generally eat with? It's a source and sign of community, and fracturing the community by segregating our meal-mates is a huge problem if the Gospel bigger than these distinctions.
   
• The "road map" of tracing the Biblical themes of marriage and ethnicity and how they magnify the power and grace of God throughout redemptive history was glorious; go back to that part and listen to it, because a summary won't do it justice. A brief highlight or two:
• Marriage showing God's nature as unity in diversity is not something wholly new, but they way Trent articulated it hit me afresh.
• I wish time had permitted a bit more, especially because a (probably unintentional) gloss was made that seemed to imply that the "Christ as husband, Church as bride" was new to the NT. That imagery of marriage between God and His people (especially Israel as an unfaithful wife) is throughout the OT, too.
• The point about how at Pentecost, God didn't make everyone understand one language, but allowed everyone to hear in their own as an endorsement of diversity, was new to me and a point very well made.
  
  
• I mentioned last week about how "God shows no partiality" is both immensely important and really good news. Referencing 1 Tim. 5:21, Trent mentioned how prejudging and partiality are linked. The most clear-cut way of putting it for me is that partiality and prejudice have at their root a problem with assuming from a generality ("all X people are Y, and you're part of X, therefore you're Y") and of including irrelevancies (what difference does your nationality make about baking, or your gender about coding, or your ethnicity about the Gospel?).
• That last bit is I think where many of us can go astray. We make distinctions between people all the time, and their ought to be in many ways. I don't want a neurosurgeon who knows nothing of plumbing to install my sink, or a farmer to teach theoretical physics, or an atheist to help my marriage better reflect Christ and the church. But we should only include those things that are relevant, that directly impact the matter at hand, to be part of any decision-making and judgment.
  

• Trent mentioned the trap of "the fear of man" and well described it. 
• Because the Gospel is chiefly about the glory of God in the salvation of His people, we can't try to save people from sin by giving into ungodly opinions and beliefs.
• Trent's practical note seemed profound and wise: to get over people-pleasing, the best method may be disappointing someone for Jesus's sake (not for your own), surviving the damaged relationship, and realizing that you're still OK because Christ is with you.
  
• I prefer the old-school term vanity, and could (have?) written about the distinction between vanity and pride and true humility; comment if interested.
  
  
•  In dealing with hypocrisy (which iirc the Greek word is rooted/used for actors on a stage), the Gospel frees us from play-acting by separating our acceptance from our actions. If I don't have to act like I have it all together for God to accept me, then I can live in authenticity, neither hiding my struggles nor trapped by them.
•  God is glorified in our goodness and the transformation He brings in our lives toward righteous: this is absolutely true. But Christ is also glorified in our honest admission of our not-yet-fully-sanctified selves, our dependence on His grace for our remaining sins, and His abundant provision of mercy and help for us. We are out of step with the Gospel when we act like we have it all together, even if we attribute that to the Lord. We need not be afraid of showing our faults, because He is glorified in our weakness. We affirm the Gospel by living a life of constant returning to the cross and receiving the forgiveness and the new life that was bought costly and provided freely by our Savior, and doing so publicly.
  
  
•  During communion, I have a habit of taking the piece of bread I receive and breaking it, because its purpose is to remind me of the broken body of Christ. The bread breaks, never to be made whole, outside my power to fix, and only further to be broken as I eat of it. This is what Christ chose to do, to save even me. What struck me today was how, even though Jesus is fully capable of having a healed body, He chooses to maintain the ignoble scars of His crucifixion even unto eternity. When I consider the scars I have and those I've inflicted, I often shudder at the inescapable permanence of my sins, even beyond the power of forgiveness to completely wipe from the face of history and reality. But if the Son of God chooses to keep His scars for His greater glory and joy as my Savior, then perhaps He likewise plans the indelible mistakes of my story to bring a fuller weight of glory that surpasses the shame and reproach of them. Soli Deo gloria!
  

Church jottings 2022-09-25

 Today's sermon from WSFC: the Gospel must be preserved

Galatians 2:1–10
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (ESV)

• At the beginning of service, Pastor Ian mentioned about missions. The best argument for missions is God's own character and missional activity; Jesus says "as God sent me, so I send you". The most empathic reason for someone in the U.S. to care about missions is that we are "the ends of the earth" when you stand near Jerusalem. We only know the gospel, hundreds of years and thousands of miles away, because faithful brothers and sisters brought the good news to our distant shores. Let's not let that end with us.
  
  
• God's Word is timeless, but we need to be careful not to separate texts from their historic background and purpose. The Holy Spirit certainly intended for us to find meaning in Galatians for ourselves, but Paul wasn't writing to us, he was writing to a particular people and context and problem. Much of that is relevant for us today (e.g. how do we know Paul preached the one true gospel), but it wasn't to our mindset and questions that he directly wrote. Let's not be egotistical.
  
  
• Pastor Trent emphasized that Paul had to wait and be prepared in Arabia for three years, and that we too often need prepared. This point, about waiting and not being overly anxious to get on with the work, hits home for me.
   
•  It's important not to conflate the good things we should do with what we must do to be with God (i.e. be saved). There are things we should do, not to earn love but because we are loved.
• Christians make lots of mistakes, and our standing before God, His love for us, does not rise and fall with those mistakes. Repentance is measured and known because of a baseline impulse to recognize sin as sin, confess, apologize, and try again. It is not measured by success at doing better and not needing to do the above all over again.
• I need to repent to my kids about not showing this well, and I need to find ways to communicate this to them. We want to strive for better, but messing up again doesn't ruin everything.
•  Doing good and loving things (e.g. caring for the poor in v.10) is not adding to the Gospel; it is the life that flows out of it. It's not "you have to do this, or you're not saved." It is "my heart is new and wants to love people and honor God... how do I do that?" (This has frequently come up in regards to evangelism. We don't need to be told yet again to do it, we need training on how.)
  
• Jesus + nothing = everything (not original to me). Jesus + something means you're a slave to whatever that something is (law/works/etc.). Jesus + nothing means I'm only a slave to Jesus, and He's a much better Master than anything else, including me.
  
  
• Something to wrestle with: Is targeting our ministries at times/places where it's easiest for people to change (e.g. college ministry) a mark of doubting the power of God to change people at less-than-opportune times? Not knocking college ministry (I've been amazingly helped by them), but where's my heart when I think through this?
  
  
• Justification is only part of / one analogy of salvation and what we are saved to. The resurrection is as important as the cross: epistemology, relationship, hope, all derive from a risen Savior and King.
  
  
• "God shows no partiality" is part of the good news, too. It doesn't matter where or to whom I was born, etc. God shows grace regardless of all those things that divide humanity.
• This is a good part of our country (at least it's ideals). Someone had a book about American history, "Boston Revolts!", and I wrestle a lot with how political revolution could fit in a Christian worldview. Our history (and everyone's) is full of the good, the bad, and the complicated. More on that some other time.
   
• Evangelism isn't my responsibility to save everyone I can by my own means/power. It is God using me to proclaim the Gospel to all, then He will save His own.
  
  
• I want to keep working on my side project essay collection/book on forgiveness. I've been thinking a lot about the part on when is forgiveness complete and what really defines it, and particularly the role of repentance in that and reconciliation. Need to remember Acts 11:18, that God gives "repentance that leads to life", so repentance is an important and necessary part of how God forgives and reconciles. 
  
  
• I need to check out a timeline of the NT and how various events fit together (e.g. Paul's time in Tarsus, Barnabas's initial visit to Antioch, their famine relief effort and collection, the Jerusalem council, etc.). Inspired by the timing of the events described in today's text.
  

 

Rebooting

Every week after church, I find my sermon notes sheet filled with stuff. Some of it relates directly to the sermon; some spins off indirectly from there. Some ideas are inspired by song lyrics, and others are seemingly at random. But there they are, myriad ideas that lay on a page, most of which will collect dust until they finally end up in a trash bin.

It's been quite a long time since I posted anything here. I've often let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and the work of a well-refined essay has daunted me, obstructing me from posting anything at all. I'd like to get to the really good, but I have to start somewhere, and I've been told that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly (at least to get started). 

So for now, I'm going to be posting these jottings, and maybe expand on one or two in long-form if I feel up to it. Maybe they'll help someone else reading here, if anyone notices. But at least this'll be a step in the right direction for me, and maybe in time, by God's grace, some good will come from it. Either way, here we go...

Beginning with the End in Mind

The following is the manuscript from my sermon this morning at Camp Hill Church of God.
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Good morning, family, and happy new year!  It is the beginning of a new day, the start of a new year.  Some of you will remember, the first time I was up here to read Scripture, and Pastor Shover had to get a stool so you could see me over the lectern.  Now I’m going through seminary, and I stand before you where he so often stood.  His recent passing, and of other loved ones this past year, make us gaze toward eternity and our reunion with the brothers and sisters who have gone before.  We can grieve, yet we do so with hope, as the Apostle Paul encourages.  We are pained by the loss we feel, and we miss them.  And yet in Christ, we rejoice not only in the gift that they have been to us, but that there is a sure and true hope of life everlasting beyond the grave.  They have gone before to be with Christ, and we long to follow after.

               So I think it appropriate this Sunday, this first day of a new year, to begin with the end in mind.  It’s a principle I learned in my engineering classes, and you see it in books on leadership and parenting and do-it-yourself projects, that it’s important to know where you’re going, so that you don’t just barge ahead aimlessly.  It’s good to begin with the end in mind.

               And so today we have read together just a few of the many passages that speak to us of the end of all things, which is really just the beginning of eternity.  As Craig read, God declares that He will make all things new, new heavens and a new earth.  No more of the evils with which we are beset in this life.  No more pain, no more sorrow, because God has made all things new.  And there’s something even better than that: God Himself will dwell among His people.  As Tim read, there won’t be any more temples or church buildings, because Christ Himself will be our meeting place with God.  The glory of the Lord will shine so brightly that it says we won’t need a sun or moon anymore!

               I love in chapter 22, verse 4, it says we will see God’s face.  You might remember, back in Exodus, chapter 33, where Moses begs to see God’s glory.  And God says that Moses can only see God’s back as He passes by, because no sinful man could see God’s face and live.  But we will get something more than Moses did; we, as those who have been redeemed by Christ’s blood and made holy by faith, will see the face of God forever.  That is a marvelous thing to think about.

               God will walk with us as He did with Adam and Eve in the garden, with an intimacy we can’t begin to comprehend.  The Bible calls us (as God’s people) the Bride of Christ, and just before our reading it speaks of the wedding supper of the Lamb of God, where we are joined with Christ.  Now is like being engaged, and I remember oh so well how I longed for that engagement to end and for marriage to begin.  We will be with God and know Him more deeply than ever, the very purpose for which we exist, and the highest joy we could ever experience.

               John’s Revelation, the last book in our Bible, is but one place that we can catch a glimpse of what God has in store for His people, those who trust in Him.  We read another together, from 1 Corinthians 15, about the hope of our resurrection.  Just a quick side note, but you know we won’t be on clouds with harps for all eternity?  God creates a new physical earth, and we get new physical bodies, to live in a new creation as it was before sin ever entered the world, and even better.  Adam started in a garden, but we will dwell in the city of God.  Adam started alone, but we will forever live and worship with all God’s people, from every ethnicity, every language, every area of this present earth, together and united by our Lord.  Adam could rejoice in his creation, but we get to praise God for not only creating us but also for redeeming us, re-creating us, through Christ’s work on the cross.

               So this is indeed something to look forward to.  But is that all that God intended when He wrote these passages?  Surely we are to be awed by the glory before us, and it is certainly right to long for that day.  Indeed, the book ends with cries of “come, Lord Jesus!”  But is there more for us in these passages?  How should our day-to-day be affected by what we learn of the destiny of all things?

               Part of this is laid out directly in these texts.  Rev. 21:6 says that Jesus is one to give life, “from the spring of the water of life without payment.”  He alone gives true life, so if you are thirsty for meaning, for significance, for something more than the trinkets the world has to offer, come to Him.  If you are after more than chasing the corporate ladder, keeping up with the Joneses, and a comfortable retirement, come to Christ.  If you are weary, beaten-down, feeling the weight of a broken world, come to Jesus.  He is worth living for, and He gives us true life.

               Verses 7 and 8 contrast the two groups of people that matter in the end.  The latter group are those who are faithless, who do evil unrepentantly and constantly reject God, and their end is rightful judgment, getting exactly what they have earned.  And don’t be fooled, that is everyone who does not put their full trust in Christ.  The Spirit includes liars and cowards with the sexual immoral and murderers.  There is no big and small distinction in sin there.  There is repentant and unrepentant; those who trust themselves and those who trust Christ. 

And on the other hand are those who conquer, who persevere through the trials of this world. I’ve heard that several members of the persecuted church, who had been ostracized and threatened and beaten and imprisoned for their faith – they were asked what their favorite books of the Bible were.  To a man they said Daniel and Revelation, the books that most deal with end times.  Their reason?  Because they call for and give hope for enduring hardship.  They show that in this world Christians will have trouble, but Jesus wins in the end.  I was in Ecuador teaching New Testament to several pastors down there who can’t get away for seminary, and my fellow teacher explained that if you really want to get the point of Revelation, it’s two words: Jesus wins.  That enables us to press on no matter what circumstances befall us now.  No matter what the world has to offer to entice us, no matter what it throws against us, Jesus wins, so we stay faithful.  That’s why Paul could say things like, “this light and momentary affliction is not worth comparing for the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

We see this same call to perseverance again in 22:7, “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”  Jesus wins, God will make all things new, so we obey now.  We see it in 1 John 3, where the Apostle says, “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”  When we have the hope of eternity in Christ, we live differently in this present age.  We live with a citizenship in heaven, as what Peter calls “elect exiles.”  Hebrews chapter 11 says that all the people in the Old Testament who had faith in God turned to Him and away from worldly pursuits, away from building up their own little kingdoms. They “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Why? Because “they desired a better country, that is a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”  That city we just read about in Revelation 21-22, God prepared it for those who live as though earth is not our home.

Now I want you to notice a few things that are not in these passages about eternity.  There are lots of things that stop being terribly important when you have an eternal mindset.  A lot of our preferences fall by the wayside, because we realize that what we’ve valued so highly won’t last.  My wife and I just bought a new car, and we wanted to make sure we got one that would be reliable and safe to drive Abigail around in.  But our hearts aren’t set on that car, because sooner or later it’ll end up in a junkyard.  We spend our time and money and care on all sorts of things that will one day be in a yardsale or a garbage dump.  Now don’t get me wrong, we should see things as blessings for which we should be grateful and that God has given us to enjoy now.  But it is so easy to be like that third kind of ground in Jesus’s parable of the sower, where the cares of this world choke out the Word of God in our lives, so that we look just like the unbelievers around us and don’t live for Christ.

There are other things of the world that call out for our attention and divert us from Christ, things that you won’t see or care about on the other side of eternity.  There are no factions in these texts.  All rivalries, as big as they seem now, are petty in comparison to allegiance to our Lord and King. One day there won’t be denominational lines, because Jesus will rule over all His people.  We won’t be waving the banner of a particular church or nation or any such thing.  And in the end, so many things we fight about are more due to personal preferences than substantial difference, which end up hindering us from following our Lord Jesus and loving other people and telling them about Him.  Jesus called us to die to ourselves and our little causes and to live for Him and His Kingdom.

Another thing missing: there are no political parties.  There were those who delighted in the results of the election last year, who felt pride and vindication.  There were those who felt defeated and despaired at the prospect of years to come.  And there were, of course, many in between.  But we must let these truths put all of that in perspective: regardless of how you reacted to the news, we will not get truly good government until the day King Jesus comes back to take His throne.  Our hope will never be fulfilled or dashed with any earthly government.  And whomever we support now, let be careful that our hope is not too entangled with the things of this world.  In the end, there will be no Republicans or Democrats or anything else.  There will be those who pledge allegiance to the Lord, and those that don’t.  Let us take care that we walk now, in this time, in such a way as to beg the question, what is this other-worldly hope that you have?  Then we obey Peter’s command to be ready to answer for the hope that is within us.

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, that someone is so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.  I’m here to tell you this morning that there is nothing further from the truth.  The one who is heavenly minded, who is focused on God’s kingdom and not their own, will not be an escapist. Instead, when we set our minds on things above, as the Scriptures call us to do, we will work harder than any here and now while the harvest may still be gathered.  Because that’s one thing you can’t do in heaven: evangelize.  We will care more about people, because as C.S. Lewis said “Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”  We will “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” as the prophet Micah commends.

We saw these same things at the end of our responsive reading this morning, from 1 Corinthians.  Why is the hope of the resurrection so important?  What does it matter now that death shall one day lose its sting?  And just a side note, the sting of death is here now.  We’ve felt when we’ve lost someone close to us, because we are left behind and miss them dearly.  But one day that sting will be no more.  So as Billy Graham’s friend Francis Sheaffer used to ask, how then shall we live?  Paul answers in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”  In other words, be faithful to Christ and His Kingdom, working until the end, so when the Master returns or calls you home, He will find you working faithfully.

The first song we sang this morning, "Another year is dawning," I had never heard before.  It has some great lyrics, of both working for and resting in Christ.  Perhaps swap out "another year" for “another day” and sing a verse every morning as a reminder of our commitment to Christ and our hope in God.  Because they go together.  We are not just called to work and press on and obey without reason.  God Himself is our reason.  We press on to know Him more, to see more of His glory, to have more people with us to praise Him for eternity, to watch Him at work in and through and all around us.  Jesus is the true author of joy, and even as He went to the cross, Hebrews says He was motivated “by the joy set before Him.”

Let me summarize in closing.  Scripture's pictures show glorious final new day in paradise, a renewed creation where all is made right.  We long for this, and we should.  These passages also call us to persevere, to work, to keep in the faith, to "seek first the Kingdom", as we just sang.  That work is motivated by our hope, by the worthiness of our Lord and the joy that can only be found in Him.

So for anyone who does not know Christ, I urge you to come to Him today.  He has more for you than the world can possibly offer, and though the Christian life is not always easy, Jesus is worth it.  For those of us who feel our consciences pricked by this message, as mine has been in preparing it, let us seek Jesus for His mercy, repenting of our old ways and trusting in His grace, so that our priorities change, letting go of this world that is passing away and seeking after Christ and His Kingdom more and more.  For all of us, let us think on these wonderful truths of what is coming for all who trust in Christ and His Gospel, and may they move us to greater trust and greater desire for Him, and let us work that out in our lives this day, this year, and until He makes all things new.  Amen.

Matthew 8 and the Object of Faith

Last night in my Bible reading group (nightlybible.danielpcox.info), we read the story of Jesus healing the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8.  In thinking this morning, I realized that while the story is in part there to show a good example of faith, it is not there primarily to point to the centurion. 

Jesus indeed commends the centurion’s faith, but when you think about it, it’s not his faith that should be surprising.  Rather, the fact that Jesus had not found such faith in Israel should be surprising, though that’s not really the point either.

The point is the object of faith, namely Jesus.  He is the one who with a word heals the servant at a distance and in an instant.  The reason the centurion’s faith is commendable is not because he had willed such strong faith, but because his trust matched its Object than the lack of faith that the Jews had. 

What is surprising is that the Jews, who had the testimony of God’s trustworthiness and power from their own history, did not trust God among them as much as the outsider did.  The centurion, though a foreigner to God’s covenant people, had learned enough to know the power of God in Christ and to trust Him.

The power of faith is not in its own strength or sincerity, but that the One whom you trust is worthy of it.  Jesus is the point of the story, because He proved to be both powerful and trustworthy on the order of God Himself.  Jesus is the worthy object of our faith.  He has power over sickness, indeed over the whole of creation, equal to that of the centurion’s authority over his men, and even moreso.  And His power is united with His care for those who trust in Him, so that we may obey the exhortation humbly to “cast our cares before Him.

s.D.g.

Doubting our doubts

So I read an article recently about Justin Bieber (I know, I'd never thought I'd say those words), and his profession of faith in Christ.  I'm not a fan of his music, but I was curious, so I read the article.  This post is about how we as Christians react to such news, and why I think our reaction matters.

I'll admit, my first reaction when hearing about a celebrity declaring faith in Christ is at least a bit skeptical.  There are enough posers out there that to accept the idea without question is naïve.  Scripture itself speaks of those who fake faith, and most of the time I've heard Bieber's name mentioned, it's because of some tabloid scandal.  So the initial skepticism is certainly not without foundation or merit.

But I think it's important that my reaction not end there.  While it's wise to have some question, it seems ungracious to be full of doubt.  If Jesus could save me, wouldn't I be judgmental to think He couldn't do the same to Bieber?  Rather than stand looking down my nose and scoffing at such profession of faith, wouldn't it be better to hold out hope for this influential young man, to have cautious optimism about what God may do in his life?

I'm not saying that we should be unthinking, because we should look not only at words but at the actions that follows those words.  Men of faith should come alongside and help ensure that such a profession is genuine by the life of repentance so produced.  But I think if we jump to conclusions regarding the sincerity of such a profession of faith, then we show ourselves as the older brother of Jesus's parable in Luke 15.  If we do that, we forget that the Gospel is about saving people out of the kind of mess that has put Bieber so often in the spotlight.  Our God is the God of changed lives, of redemption and repentance and resurrection.  He gives us hope for new life, now and eternally.

So if you're like me, when we hear news like this, let's check our hearts and doubt our doubts, because Jesus came for the sinner and outcast, for the one with the stained reputation and messy past, not just the sparkling clean guy with no baggage.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

God defines good

We do not like God because He is good; we like goodness because it is Godly.  The reason that we delight in things we see as good, whether truth or love or justice or peace, is not the existence of some abstract standard of goodness to which we all ascribe.  There is not some ethereal ideal against which we measure whether something is good or loving or right or true.  All that we honor and hold dear finds its ultimate definition in the character of God.  All other things in which we rejoice are delightful only because they contain hints and shadows of multi-faceted perfection of the Lord.  If you want to know what good is, what truth is, what beauty is, or any other such thing, look deeply into the face of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen."