Category: Christian Living

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Christian Living

Consistently Faithful, Even In the Face of So Much Evil

I already know this to be true – you strive to be a person who is faithful. Faithful to your family, certainly. Probably most who read this strive to faithful to God. Maybe a lot of us even strive to be faithful to our employers. You strive to be a faithful person.

But in the struggle to be faithful, you have probably thought – “There sure is a lot of unfaithfulness and evil in the world today. So why am I trying so hard to remain faithful, when so many others are getting ahead by their unfaithfulness?”a sign with two opposing arrows, reminding us we have a choice to be faithful or to sin

You are right about the level of unfaithfulness around us, but before you get too upset about it, remember that things haven’t changed all that much in the past four thousand years. Joseph proves my point.

Joseph is so consistently faithful to God. And yet, a great deal of sin is constantly around him. It begins with his brothers who exhibit quite ungodly behavior:

  1. In Genesis chapter 35, Reuben has slept with one of his father’s concubines.
  2. The brothers were in some way unfaithful as shepherds of their father’s flocks, because Joseph gives a bad report about them to his father in chapter 37.
  3. And their jealousy makes them ready to kill their brother, even though they eventually decide to sell him into slavery.
  4. They make a pact to lie about this to their father.
  5. Then we have Judah’s sons who are wicked and are both killed by God due to their wickedness. (You’d have thought son #2 would have learned a lesson from the death of son #1).
  6. Judah makes a promise to his daughter-in-law, but then refuses to keep his word to her.
  7. While on a business trip, Judah sleeps with a woman he thinks is a prostitute, but who is actually his daughter-in-law who has tricked him.
  8. And with Joseph now in Egypt we learn that Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce him on multiple occasions.
  9. We also have the cupbearer who fails to keep his promise to Joseph.

This is a lot of sin and unfaithfulness within his family and in the relationships connected to him. And certainly there was the temptation to get ahead by following the same path. But Joseph maintains his integrity and character and his faith in God – living in a way that honors his Lord.sign that says "right is right even if no one is doing it" reminding us to be faithful to God

Isn’t this so very similar to our world today – a mess of sin – with people in our families and our communities and our places of work who are unfaithful to God. And so many around us would prefer that we join in with them, because doing so would help them feel less guilty about their unfaithfulness. It leads us to ask the question: “Will I give in, or will I be faithful and obedient like Joseph?”

The path of sin is easier, because it is a shortcut to something we want (at least we want it at that moment), but the actual costs are terribly high in the end.

God, help me to be faithful and obedient to You like Joseph was, even though so many around me have rejected Your guidance and tempt me to disobey Your word and Your will.

What Bible verse(s) help you defeat the temptations that come your way? Or who helps you stand strong against temptation, instead of pulling you towards it?

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Christian Living

Sanctification: a one-time gift of God? Or an on-going, life-long process?

A question came across my desk from a church member regarding the word sanctification:

In our Sunday School lesson, the author used the term “process of sanctification.” I have a problem with that phrase, because I believe we are sanctified only once – at the moment of our salvation. I believe sanctification is the initial act of God making us holy and setting us apart, but then we abide in Christ and continually grow in holiness. Can you help me understand this phrase – “process of sanctification”?

What would your answer have been to the question:

Is Sanctification a one-time gift or an on-going process?

photo of a question mark for this question on sanctificationHere is the answer I gave to my friend:

First, we need to define our terms. Because sometimes two people can be describing two different things using the same word. And other times two people find they are using two different words, but talking about the same thing. In this case, both words (holiness and sanctification) are being used to define something that occurs once and something that is a process.

You indicated holiness means both a one-time event and a life-long process. The author of the Sunday School lesson was using the word sanctification to mean the same thing. That is because the definition of sanctified is “to make holy unto God.” And so the words are tied together and carry a very similar meaning. Here is some information from a Bible Dictionary:

The word “sanctification” comes from the biblical root words that are translated as “holy,” “hallow,” “hallowed,” “holiness,” “consecrate,” “saint,” “sanctify,” and  “sanctification.”  As all these words are translations of the same root, no one of them can be treated adequately without reference to the others.

Therefore, you are right when you say that the word Holy carries two meanings:

  1. We are Made Holy to God by Jesus’s sacrifice on the Cross, AND
  2. We are abiding in Christ as we strive to walk in a Holy manner.

And theologians use the exact same argument for the word Sanctification:

  1. We are Sanctified (made Holy) to God by Jesus on the Cross, AND
  2. We are in the process of Sanctification (becoming more holy) as we abide in Him.

From the Bible Dictionary again:

Sanctification is the matter of a life and not of a moment. A life may be consecrated (or sanctified) in a moment, providing the right relation to God with the person now in saving fellowship with Him. The life is thus made holy in principle. But the real making holy will occur over the whole life of the person. It is nothing less than the constant transformation by the Spirit of Christ until we, “speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head” (Ephes. 4:15).

photo of walking a path as a symbol of sanctification being a life-long processSo, to sum up – Your understanding of the way the word Holy should be seen in two different senses is the same way that Sanctification typically is seen, because the two words are tied together in meaning.

This is why it is important that we define our terms when speaking! As we talk these things out, we often find we are in close agreement. Unfortunately, many people become adversarial over such issues and break fellowship with other, damaging their relationship. Had they taken the time to patiently talk it out, they may have found out that they agreed on the issue after all!photo of two people angry with each other - symbol of us arguing over words like sanctification

Thus ends my response to my friend. But here is my question for us now:

  • Have you been Sanctified (Made Holy) by Jesus’ Death on the Cross?
  • Are you being Sanctified (growing in Holiness) by abiding in Christ now?
  • And in our adversarial society, will you commit to patiently talk to people before jumping to conclusions about what you think they mean, so as to maintain good relationships with others? (Part of our God-given role as Ambassadors of Reconciliation!)

As you go out today into the wide world full of the unholy, live as a person sanctified and set apart by God for His kingdom purposes. Be an ambassador of light and love for Him!

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Christian Living

I am not the center of everything. And . . . neither are you.

We all want to understand what life is all about. We want to know what to focus on. But when we think of ourselves as the center of the universe, and want everything and everyone to revolve around us, we elevate the wrong “center” and find ourselves frustrated and ultimately unsatisfied.

a question mark in the center of a maze to ask "what should be placed at the center?"
So what should be in the center?

The reason for this frustration is that when we put too much emphasis on the wrong center, we are expecting fulfillment from something that can’t provide it. It’s like climbing a ladder to the top of a building, only to discover you placed the ladder on the wrong building. Only when we learn what (or Who) should be properly placed in the center of life will we begin to experience true fulfillment and satisfaction. And spoiler alert – the only correct center… is God.

Now some may say, I don’t believe in God. I don’t like the idea of an ultimate Being that has created all things and guides all of life and history. But just because a person doesn’t like an idea, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

C.S. Lewis points out: “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”

This quote is a reminder that I am not the center of all things. God is. But it’s hard to remember. It is so easy to make everything about me.

Here is an excerpt from the book Awe by Paul David Tripp that explains it well:

We quickly replace awe of God with awe of self.

This means that no story will be more important to me than my story. I will ask no bigger question than the question of how I am doing. I will have no bigger concern than my satisfaction and comfort. I will ask life to serve me, to submit to my interests, and to deliver whatever I demand. This viewpoint will guarantee me a life of huge disappointment.

The Bible calls the person who lives this way a fool (see Psalm 14). The problem is that all sinners replace God with something else. It is as natural and intuitive to us as breathing. Putting ourselves in the center of our awe is the DNA of sin.

We need our awe changed over to God… So that we will not only live in awe of God but will pass that awe down to the generation that follows.

Parents, you are called by God to inspire worshipful awe in your children. You have been called to something that is profoundly deeper than being a lawgiver, a law-enforcer, and a punishment-deliverer. You are to exercise your authority in such a way that it gives your children eyes to see the awesome presence, power, authority, and grace of God.

When our children are blown away by the glory of God, they will be more likely to reach out for his grace and submit to his will.

May we help our children, our spouses, and ourselves put our awe in the right place. Standing in awe of God, placing Him in the center, is the only way to true joy and life. quote from c. s. lewis - "I was made for another world."

(And on another note – Thank you for the encouragement earlier this week when I began posting again. My plan is to post here a couple of times a week. On a few other days a week, I’ll also post some smaller snippets, quotes, or thoughts on Facebook.)

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Is there hope for reconciliation in our polarized situation?

“What’s on your mind?”
The image above shows you the default question that I see before I start typing a new post. And due to the polarized discussions that are taking place these last few weeks, my answer to that question is “too much!” It seems that my mind is swimming through ideas; my thoughts are racing in so many directions. I know there are some things I want to say, I believe there are some things I need to say, but I’m not really sure how to say them. Maybe you find yourself with similar feelings.

The death of George Floyd is terrible. It grieves my heart that a man was killed in such a horrendous manner. It is a great tragedy that has once again brought out the fact that injustice is still very real in our nation, specifically for our fellow black and brown citizens.

The rioting that has followed has also been tragic. While the peaceful protests have shown that people can shine the light on injustice in a helpful way, the violence committed by others on people and property is terrible. These specific tragedies point out truths we already knew – that…

  • Our nation contains injustice.
  • Our nation contains prejudice.
  • Our nation contains violence.
  • Our nation contains sin.

But our nation also has within it an amazing resource for healing and reconciliation… Jesus and the people who follow Him. And those of us who are followers of His are called upon by our Lord to be salt and light in these difficult days. Don’t miss this truth that as Lord, Jesus is our Commanding King. And as such, He has called us to serve as His ambassadors – sharing His message of peace and grace with others.

But many of us have felt trapped on how to proceed as His ambassadors. We know that we are in a watershed moment. We know that we need to speak up for the ones who are facing injustice (the Bible tells us to). We know that we need to speak out against the evil of prejudice and racism that is still so prevalent in our nation today (the Bible tells us to).

And yet, as we watch and listen to so many others, we struggle to know what we should say, how we should say it, and when we should say it. The Bible tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. It seems that we are seeing too much of the opposite taking place – people who are quick to shout their opinions without doing the hard work of listening to those who are distraught.

The Bible tells us that Jesus, through His work on the cross, has torn down the dividing walls – removing the barriers. Yet we find that we often put them right back up. As His followers, we are to be ministers of reconciliation. And therefore, I’m wondering why the conversations that are being sparked from these tragic situations have to be as ugly as what I am seeing. For example:

  • I have seen family members attack one another on social media over the issues that are being discussed.
  • I have seen church members post comments on social media that are inconsiderate and polarizing.
  • I have even seen posts and messages from pastors that are inappropriate and unhealthy in seeking to bring any type of reconciliation.

These things also grieve my heart.

Brothers and sisters, we must do better.
In fact, because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we can do better.

It grieves my heart that so many who are supposed to be ministers of reconciliation are not listening, but instead are adding fuel to the fire. I wish more of us would pause before speaking (or posting) to reflect on the truth that “just because I have an opinion, doesn’t mean I need to share it.”

Christian brother or sister, before you share anything on social media, please ask yourself, “How will what I am sharing bring reconciliation and healing?” Follower of Christ, before you say anything to a neighbor or friend, you need to ask, “How are my words going to show that I love all people, just as Jesus commanded me to do?”

God gives us some easy-to-understand commands about dealing with other people. And though they are easy-to-understand, they are not always easy to live out:

  • Love your neighbor as yourself.
  • In humility, consider others as more important than yourself.
  • Look not to your own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
  • As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

These aren’t my ideas; these are quotes from the Bible. They are the King’s commands to His followers. How well are you following? Let’s use these as our guides. If we will allow these words of God to be our guides, remembering to listen more than we speak, then we will find that we have a much better chance at being the peace-makers and the ministers of reconciliation He has commanded us to be.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peace-makers.” How are you working to bring peace to a hurting nation right now? How are you working to bring peace to your hurting neighbors right now? One of Paige’s favorite verses states: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.” How about we try following that command for a change? I believe that if we obey God’s Word, then God will be faithful to honor our obedience to Him and give us opportunities we never had before to foster healing in the midst of such division.

Today, instead of worrying about what group or symbol or idea you need to defend because someone said or posted something you didn’t like, how about we worry more about how to serve Jesus by bringing words of peace, healing, and reconciliation to the table as He has commanded us?

two hands grasping one another with words like serve, unite, and assist - showing that we are better together and need reconciliation
Better Together

I believe that because of Jesus – His work on the cross and His work in the lives of His followers – that there is hope for reconciliation in the midst of our polarized situation. I pray that we will have patience with each other as we work through what to say with each other with grace, compassion, and empathy. And I do know that for me…

I am going to ask God to help me continue to listen, continue to understand, and continue to grow in my compassion and empathy. I am going to ask Him to help me only use words that will bring healing and reconciliation. I am going to ask Him to help me stand up for and care about those around me who continue to face injustice and who live in fear. I am going to ask Him to help me be a peace-maker.

Maybe you could too?

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Christian Living

Is Your Heart Big or Small? Is it Growing or Shrinking?

C. S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors. His book, The Abolition of Man, talks about the failure of society in making a “good man” due to fact that we aren’t developing men with “heart.”

(As we are entering the Christmas season, let me point out that The Grinch was said to have a heart two sizes too small!)
a picture of The Grinch showing his heart was two sizes too small

It is interesting that Lewis is talking about this 75 years ago, and yet we still have the same problem today. And perhaps it’s even gotten worse.

Lewis indicates that [The heart of man is between one’s mind and one’s gut] “…between cerebral man and visceral man.” And that “by his intellect he is mere spirit and by his appetite mere animal.” And so we need men with “heart.”
I agree. We need men with a passion for God and a passion for people.
We need people with hearts of love for their fellow man.

His critique is that the way society educates people is by only dealing with their intellect. By doing so, we produce “what may be called Men without Chests.” Men without heart.

Again, I agree. We are not producing people with heart and passion. One of the clearest examples that I regularly encounter is when I hear people speaking about the disappearance of patriotism. I hear people discussing the fact that people used to love this country and volunteer to go off to war because of their heart for this nation. Certainly there are many reasons why this has changed, but it is clearly true that we don’t have the same “heart” and “passion” for this nation as was once found among the people.

We are still teaching math, but we no longer do much teaching in regard to character. We don’t seem to be teaching a love for God nor a love for people.

Lewis indicates that our problem is “not excess of thought but defect of fertile and generous emotion.” While it seems to us that their brains are very big which provide them with what seems to us as large heads, in reality, “Their heads are no bigger than the ordinary: it is the atrophy of the chest beneath that makes them seem so.”

Ha Ha! He is so good with words — pointing out that the reason their heads look so big to us is simply that their chests (their hearts) are so small.

But here is what I think is most important and so very true for us today:
       “The tragi-comedy of our situation is that we continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible.” Wow. That’s exactly what we were dealing with today. We have comedic movies and TV shows about men who treat women poorly, and then we are surprised when we find Hollywood filled with men who abuse women. We haven’t helped people develop the right heart.

“In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect them to have virtue and enterprise. We laugh at the idea of honor and then we are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”

When we remove God from our midst, when we tell people that character and heart isn’t needed, then we enter a losing battle regarding morality. We have educated people who do not know why they should live in a moral manner.

How well are you developing your heart? What are you doing to improve the size of your emotion, your heart, your chest? My next post will post a bit of instruction on the need for the awe of God to expand our hearts and chests.

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