My fascination with this word consists mainly in the implications of seeing life as one big thlipsis. If we pray that Christ would increase, and we would decrease, it naturally follows that in answering this prayer God would put us through tight spots to help the process. He reduces us so that Christ can increase.

Some of us God might even have to put through a big, final thlipsis at the judgment if he finds us still too full of ourselves to wedge through the pearly gates. I think I’d prefer the narrow road beforehand to that eternal embarrassment.

Dennis Kinlaw says it best: “When you come across an opportunity to sacrifice yourself, to lay down your own life,  you ought not run.” What most resembles death and pain to us just may be the birth pangs of new life, the Life.

-From Culture Making by Andy Crouch.

This is from Crouches chapter on the vary small arenas where cultural creation is possible.  His numbers are 3:12:120.  While I think he is spot on with this observation, I think he could have done more to argue why this is the case rather than simply assert that it is the case is many situations.

Humans are shockingly limited in the scope of their relational capacity yet wonderfully limitless in depth.  Interestingly, I found this same observation from an unlikely source as I studied for Political Science class: “The Founders were profoundly suspicious of popular leadership as a means of soliciting power and sought to establish a forum of leadership that depended on character rather than personality. This is, of course, entirely dependent on a polity that is small enough to allow an individual’s character to be well known.” (From American Government by Matthew Kerbel.)

Whichever it is, the clear call from God is that I must devote all my attention to him. Only when I am “all ears” will I have the ears to hear.

From The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, by Lesslie Newbigin.

I have always felt a certain discomfort when I am part of some theological conversations.  It is as though all the people in these discussions are talking about God is great detail as though he were not in the room.  Imagine a whole family sitting around the dinner table, talking for hours about exactly what kind of food their father would like to eat, all the while ignoring the father sitting quietly by at the head of the table.

If I study Latin, soon I find myself needing motivation.  To accomplish a task, like learning another language thoroughly, one needs to commit himself to often boring labor over a period of years.  Motivation is needed to commence study every morning.  The form that this motivation takes can become a sort of idol.  Although I began my study of Latin because Father told me to, I study it every day because I am driven by the fantasy of my own intellectualism.

If this is my heart, I have not truly obeyed.  Father does ask for obedience in action, but he goes further and also asks for obedience in motivation.  Why should I study Latin today?  Because it makes my Father smile.

I’ve always wondered a little about this passage. Paul claims to know a secret; a secret that enables him to live in perfect contentment. If the world knew this secret, all of humanity’s agony would cease. And yet, Paul neglects to let us in on this little mystery. He doesn’t tell us where to find the buried treasure or the fountain of youth. He doesn’t give us a 12 step program or a self-actualization pep-talk. Sure he tells us that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him in the very next verse, but it seems to me that if the secret were as simple as Christ doing the strengthening, there wouldn’t be so many Christians complaining.

On the other hand, Christ himself could be Paul’s secret. Furthermore, perhaps we complain because we don’t know Christ, and we aren’t content because we won’t let him be our strength.

Contentment has to do with unfulfilled desire. If all we desire is for Jesus Christ to Be, then the peace of the Lord is ours. John tells us not to hold dear the things of the world. I John 2:16 tells us “all that is in the world, the excessive desire of the flesh, the excessive desire of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, is not out of the Father, but out of the world.” Our discontentment stems from our flesh. We are children who desire toys that will harm us. We are addicts who crave that which makes us crave. We are filled with unfulfilled longing, because we do not long to be filled with Him.

Paul didn’t have to state explicitly what he meant by the secret of his contentment, because all of his writings, all of his preaching and every aspect of his life was the explicit explanation of this principle. He had seen the living God on the road to Damascus, and from that point on he considered everything but the knowledge of Jesus Christ to be a liability. He turned away from the worship of the creation which held him in bondage to the desires of the flesh toward the worship of the creator who set him free.

It is easy for me to consider these things and become discouraged. It is easy to look at my life and see the places where my heart is not entirely pure; the places where I am tugged and pulled down by the weights of this life that would so easily entangle me. I want to resolve completely in my mind to desire only Christ who is my life, yet my will is incomplete and I lack the strength to wrestle my flesh to the ground and tread upon its corpse. However, I realize that in the life of Paul it was not he who conquered his flesh, but only Jesus, the crucified, who could nail it to the cross. It was only the mighty arm of the Father that reached down and raised him up out of the pit in resurrection. And it was only the Holy Spirit dwelling in him that kept him on the path of life and prevented his feet from slipping.

Let us therefore cry out to the Father, knowing that he longs to give us what we ask. Let us pray for a pure heart that desires only him. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit that would fill that desire. Only by his hand can we be content.

I thought I would share with everyone a hymn that I wrote about a year ago. I wrote it during a family studies class while I was thinking about how many modern worship songs have left meaningful words in favor of a catchy repeatable chorus. I return to it now, because I was thinking about some of the same issues again. I’d love comments and if anyone wants to actually write music to go with the words, that would be great.

Praise to the Father King, my lover and my judge.
What wrath He ought to owe; how great His mercy shown.
But oh what joy and sorrow, to see Him hanging there.
The Prince of Glory’s blood paid what I could not bear.

By His law I am condemned. By His grace I’m saved.
Oh His spirit I have hungered. Oh His life I’ve craved.
Now in His resurrection, I find my soul fulfilled.
To see my sins forgiven is to watch my lover killed.

Oh He rules in perfect justice. How He’s shown his perfect love.
Who deserves to be His child? Who has earned their crown above?
But a cry is in the desert; joy is found in tearful eye.
For God has seen the lowly, and sent His lamb to die.

His pain was not to please us, but to draw us unto Him.
His death was not to hinder, but to do away with sin.
Oh you wretched generation, that would greet this grace with pride.
Come to Him low and humble, come to the cross and die.

I would like to discuss two stories in the gospels that illustrate some important points about Christ’s forgiveness. The first is in John 8:3-11:

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’”

This is a pretty powerful story, and I can identify with the woman in the passage. Just like her, I have been caught in adultery by Christ. Because we, as the Church, are the bride of Christ, whenever we give ourselves to loving something other than him, we commit adultery against him. All sin is this way; at some level all sin is idolatry. We have betrayed him and served ourselves. By all rights, we should be killed. By the law which God established, anyone who sins must die. However, the kind of king that we serve is such that he dies himself in our place.

Now, there is one aspect of the story where I can’t really identify with this woman. In my case, no one was throwing stones. Most of my life I’ve been a ‘good kid’. I have gotten away with being acceptable to the society and fitting in all my life. I think this is very similar to the people standing around the woman ready to throw those stones. They clearly had dirt inside, otherwise they would not have left. However, they were self-righteous enough and acceptable enough to everyone else to drag a naked woman through the streets shouting ‘whore.’ Let’s be careful when no one is throwing stones at us. The world hated Him, how does it get along so well with us?

Now there is one last part to this story that always stands out in my mind. Jesus tells the woman, “neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” It is important that he does not simply accept her, he also tells her to change her lifestyle. Jesus forgives the woman, but he does not condone more sin. If such a perfect lover has forgiven us, let us forsake all that might offend him and abandon ourselves to his control. How can we continue with our other loves when he has taken us back, ready to care for us?

The second story comes from Luke 7:36-50:

“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ‘Say it, Teacher.’

‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this, who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”

This is a very touching story, and there is a much that can be learned from all the details. However, the primary point that I would like to draw out of this story is the part where Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” This is an important concept that is echoed in other parables throughout the gospels. The idea that we love because he first loved us. I do not think that Jesus is setting up a ‘cost of forgiveness’ principle here. In other words, I don’t think he is saying that we must first love a lot before we can be forgiven from all our sins. Quite the other way around, he is declaring that when people are forgiven all their sins, their natural response is to pour that kind of love into other people.

I am always amazed by Christians who harbor bitterness or some sort of grudge. It is as if they do not understand what they have done to Christ. When I look back at times in my life when I was angry with someone, I realize in hindsight that I did not really know how deeply I had hurt Christ myself. I have always had an intellectual understanding of it all. I have always known that unless I ask Jesus into my heart in a little paragraph prayer in the back of my Bible, I will go to hell because I, and everyone else, have done bad things. However, it is something totally different to come to the heartfelt realization that you have betrayed him who loves you most.

There is much more that I could say about forgiveness, because it is something I need to ask for a lot. However, this post is long as it is. I pray that you are able to walk in the forgiveness that he has given you and devote yourself totally to him.

I run across a lot of people who think that they will escape the judgment of Christ. They think that only the non-Christians will be judged. Somehow those of us who go to a good church will take a shortcut out and not face Christ enthroned. However, I think this is a grave mistake. We don’t buy a ‘get out of jail free’ card when we sign on with Jesus. It grieves me deeply to see people use some sort of nominal allegiance to Jesus as an excuse to do whatever they want against him. Don’t get me wrong. I wholeheartedly trust in the forgiveness that we find in the sacrifice of Jesus. However, the Bible is pretty clear that all will be judged. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 is a good passage to meditate on when thinking about this subject.

We also seem to be a little confused about God’s criteria for judgment. A lot of people think that the requirement that must be met in order to go to heaven is some kind of adherence to Christian doctrine. I was in a conversation with a guy who refused to believe in God, because he thought God was incredibly unjust for creating hell. He told me, “how could God condemn most of the world’s population simply because they don’t believe in a few points of Christian belief.” Of course God would not condemn the world for that; it would be absolutely absurd. For the truth, lets take a look at Revelation 20,

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire… And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

There is a key phrase in there that is repeated twice: “according to what they had done.” This is the missing piece in a many people’s understanding of Christianity. God is righteous and just. He does not judge based upon some intellectual belief or whether you pay tithes to a particular denomination or whether you have the right friends. He judges people based on what they have done in their life. Jeremiah 17:10 says, “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” In one sense, this is a relief because it means that we don’t have some childish God who requires people to mumble some creed that they don’t really understand every Sunday. However, it is also incredibly frightening, because by this standard we all fall woefully short. The standard does not consist of having a few more good deeds than bad, the standard is perfect holiness, and if you have ever looked at yourself with any degree of honesty, you know that you come nowhere close. By this standard we are all judged and condemned by a perfect God.

Left to our own devices, there is no way that we could be justified before God. This is not, as many people think, because the bar is too high. If you read the Bible, the standard is simple and not unreasonable. The things that God wants from us are not out of our reach and are generally things we agree are good anyways. Like not murdering people, not hating one another, not stealing someone else’s wife, etc. John tells us that his commands are not burdensome. It is not as if God is commanding us to jump over a 20 foot wall or hold our breath for an hour underwater. The reason that we do not live up to the righteous standard of God is not because we are unable to. It is because we are evil.

This is where Jesus comes in. He tells us, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This gives me incredible hope. Many Christians use this passage as a way to tell people of other religions that they need to believe in the Apostle’s Creed in order to go to heaven. I don’t think that is quite what Jesus is getting at here. He is saying, “Look. You guys cannot live up to the standard that God has set on your own. Left to your own devices, you have no hope. I am the only way you can be purified and come to know him. Follow me.” Now, of course, the first step in following Jesus is to at least believe intellectually that he exists and is the Son of God, etc., etc. However, too many people stop there with an intellectual believe and never take up their cross to really follow him. Doing that is the only way that we can ever be justified and sanctified. Another way to say that very churchy sentence I just spilled out is to say that Jesus is the only way our past deeds can be forgiven and our future deeds can be different.

Now, I want to talk more about forgiveness and sanctification in another article tomorrow, so stay tuned.