Convenient Store Theology and Easy-Serve Gospel

A friend of mine (and co-worker at the time) once said to me, after I had just finished lamenting how hard my job was, “did you think it was going to be easy?” It was a poignant question. Of course on the spot, I said, “no, of course I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.” The more I thought about the situation however, the more I realized that in my heart of hearts that is exactly what I thought. My thinking was, however subtle, all I have to do is show up, teach, disciple, and invest in the people and all will be well. That may be the experience for some in ministry, but for the most part, that is simply not how it works. Many times since that day when I have lamented to myself or to God how hard my job is, I always go back to that conversation and realize that there is still much of that type of thinking in my approach to ministry. I still think often that because I am called, gifted, and actively doing the work of the gospel, it should be easy. I don’t think I am alone in this line of thinking however, as I look at the church in America, I see a Christianity that follows much of that same philosophy.

As thankful as I am to have grown up in the age of technological expansion, I must confess that I think it has clouded the thinking of my generation, including those after it and even those beyond it. Most everything is set up to be convenient these days. You don’t want to walk all the way into the gas station to pay for your gas? Simple, pay at the pump. You don’t want to get out of your car to go all the way into the hamburger place? Simple, go through the fast-n-easy (and we all know that it is typically neither fast nor easy) drive thru. Don’t feel like fighting the crowds for shopping? Shop online. Don’t feel like getting out to get groceries? Shop online and have them delivered. Don’t want to leave your home for college? Go to college online. Of course we could go on and on, but you get the point. I am not saying that these are necessarily bad things. In fact I personally have greatly benefited from many of these advances. The real issue here is not the advances themselves, but rather how we have responded to them, and how we have let them shape the rest of our thinking. Let me explain...

Much of the Christian life and/or gospel ministry is not convenient, and not much of it is fast-n-easy. In fact, I would say that the great majority of the Christian life and/or gospel ministry is inconvenient to us personally, and meticulously slow and hard. Often times we pray for strength, renewal, revival, etc...and we assume that it is supposed to appear right when we ask. When it doesn’t however, we become frustrated with God or we become discouraged that perhaps God is not hearing us. Despair will often times set in, and we lose sight all together and we become blinded by disappointment or disillusionment, or both. It seems to me, we have forgotten to consider much of what the Bible has to say to this very issue. Pick anyone of the Old Testament saints; lets pick Joseph. God gave Joseph dreams of being a great leader. The only problem was, Joseph was the 11th of 12 brothers. He was hated by his brothers. We know the story, he was sold as a slave, falsely accused and imprisoned, and made to live a life in absolute servitude and slavery for almost 15 years. It was neither convenient for Joseph nor fast-n-easy, but God not only made Joseph a great leader, God also saved 2 nations through His servant.

Certainly, we could mention Abraham, Moses, and David. None of those men had an ‘easy’ or convenient call or walk, yet God persevered through them to do something great. Love is often not convenient or easy, yet God set His love upon His people and even cursed Himself under the penalty of sin and pain of death to make us His beloved. Paul describes the transformation that takes place as a metamorphosis i.e. it takes a while for the change that Christ has wrought in us to be worked out. The gospel is not a “have it your way” gospel. It is not built around the mentality that “we are good so you don’t have to be.” The gospel is the hope of redemption and transformation, but it is redemption and transformation on God’s terms. If we let convenience and ease drive our theology, we will eventually turn away from Christ. Do a search in your Bible and see how many times we are told to wait on the Lord, or to be patient. So as we pray for transformation, or even revival itself, I think we must be careful not to assume that because it is taking a long time, or it is seemingly impossible, our cries have fallen on deaf ears. Paul reminds us that when we have done everything to stand, we must stand some more. Transformation is taking place, the question is, are we willing to wait through all the hardships and inconveniences to see its fruit?

A Nugget Worth Mining

There is a lot of baggage with the term "Calvinism". It actually pains me at times to hear what people are calling Calvinism. The more I grow as a Christian, and the more I grow as a reformed thinker, one thing is quite clear. Many of the people who claim "Calvinism" as their label, really have no idea exactly what Calvin stood for. The scope of Calvin's theology is not summed up in the doctrine of predestination, it is much broader and bigger than that. I am no expert on Calvin, but I have studied him quite a bit, and I think we really see Calvin's heart in his sermons, and in his systematic theology, "Institutes of the Christian Religion". Today I came across a quote that I wanted to share:

"Our Savior having shown, in the parable of the Samaritan, that the term neighbor comprehends the most remote stranger, there is no reason for limiting the precept of love to our own connections. I deny not that the closer our relation the more frequent our offices of kindness should be. For the condition of humanity requires that there be more duties in common between those who are more nearly connected by the ties of relationship, or friendship, or neighborhood. And this is done without any offense to God, by whose providence we are in a manner impelled to do it. But I say that the whole human race without exception are to be embraced with one feeling of charity: that here there is no distinction of Greek or barbarian, worthy or unworthy, friend or foe, since all are to viewed not in themselves, but in God. If we turn aside from this view, there is no wonder that we entangle ourselves in error. Wherefore, if we would hold the true course in love, our first step must be to turn our eyes not to man, the sight of whom might more often produce hatred than love, but to God, who requires that the love which we bear to him be diffused among all mankind so that our fundamental principle must ever be, let a man be what he may, he is still to be loved because God is loved."

This came from the pen of Calvin as he was commenting on the Moral Law (Ten Commandments). Contrary to popular thought, Calvin taught the universal nature of love as the clearest expression of man abiding by divine law. In other words, Christians don't get to pick and chose who they will love based on who is in the Body of Christ. We have clear instruction to love all because all are made in the image of God. And in so doing, we live faithfully to God's law.

Morality is NOT holiness!

This morning, while sitting on my couch doing some devotional reading, I had one of those Eureka! moments. For some reason my mind drifted while I was reading (sadly, a very common occurrence) to the New Testament, to two men in particular. I began thinking about the rich young ruler and Zacchaeus of all things. If you know those stories, and you see the title of the post, you can probably guess where I am going, but bear with me, making this connection was good (at least for me).

If you think about it, Zacchaeus is the antithesis of the rich young ruler. They are both notably wealthy as each respective story indicates. Zacchaeus is named however and the rich young ruler is left anonymous. The rich young ruler has a certain sense of nobility about him, Zacchaeus is a scoundrel. Both of the men have encounters with Jesus, yet these encounters end very differently. The interaction of both of these men with Jesus is very different. The rich young ruler asks what appears to be a very pious question, "Lord, what must I do to be saved?" We can all speculate why he asked, but any answer would be only that, speculation. Jesus answers the young ruler by telling him, keep the law. Now, the young ruler responds with, I have kept the law. That is a very bold claim! But Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the young man's heart. Jesus instructs him to sell all his goods, give it to the poor, and follow Him. Of course we all know the ending of that story, he went away sad because he had great wealth. Can you see what Jesus did? In the face of the claim that this man had kept the law, Jesus challenged him on the sum of the law, namely loving the Lord with our whole being and our neighbor as ourself. The man would not sell all and give it to the poor i.e. he was not willing to love his neighbor. The man would not sell all and follow Jesus i.e. he was not willing to love God with his whole being. Essentially his morality was a facade, a thin veneer that covered a heart of idolatry.

Now let's consider Zacchaeus. We all know his story, he was a short, tax collector in Israel. He was one of the most despised persons of his day because he worked with the Roman government and extorted money from his fellow Israelites. Zacchaeus was rich off cheating his brethren. But his story is very different than that of the rich young ruler. Jesus doesn't prompt Zacchaeus concerning his wealth, as Zacchaeus stands in the presence of Christ, he becomes convicted and vows to give up to half of all he owns to the poor, but he doesn't stop there. He promises to pay back those he has cheated up to 4 times the amount. So Zacchaeus ends with rejoicing because rather than hang on to money, he gives it away because he has found a treasure that is greater than money. Zacchaeus had no facade of morality and yet, he is held out as a man of true virtue.

As I began this post I said that Zacchaeus is the antithesis to the rich young ruler. The rich young ruler embodied a man that was succesful, moral, and together. He probably looked like what many people would consider a good church leader. Often times we associate morality with holiness I think. As long as the outside looks good, we tend to make "exceptions" with the heart. The rich young man lived by the letter and missed the heart. Zacchaeus on the other hand is the man that we avoid if we can. Yet, he is the one whose name we have, he is the one who finds joy in Christ, and he is the one who is pronounced saved by Christ Himself. The key thing in Zacchaeus' life that makes him stand out is repentance. He was willing to turn from his life of greed to a life of giving. Morality is not the mark of a holy life, repentant living is. Morality is not bad however, it is just not all there is. The upright man is not necessarily the one who keeps the letter of the law, the upright man is the one who beats his chest and says have mercy on me, a sinner. These 2 men stand out to me and the one we are encouraged to remember is the sinner who came to Jesus.

If you weren't so...I wouldn't be...

Sound familiar? How many times have you said that to someone whom you were in a relationship with? It always sounds so fitting in the context of the argument, but if you do any honest reflection whatsoever, you (hopefully) are convicted at the arrogance of the statement. Upon reflection, perhaps you consider the amount times you say that or something similar and then it hits you, you are essentially saying that the only time you do offensive things is because the other person has incited it. It is a clever way of totally removing any responsibility from yourself and making the other bear the burden all alone. Of course that is not only wrong, it is extremely arrogant. It is saying that the relationship would be perfect if it weren't for the other person. Now that there is a clear picture, lets take something a little less evident, yet seems to me to be something of a similar (not in every way of course) issue.

When I think in terms of the church, either universal or the one I pastor, I think, we need revival. Anyone with any heart for Jesus would surely agree with me. It seems to me that we are not getting revival for a number of reasons which I will not enter into here, but I was struck by something the other morning. As a pastor I constantly pray for God to bring revival to my church. But I have found a subtle arrogance to that. Until just a few mornings ago, I could not remember the last time I prayed for personal revival. I have always assumed it to be a noble thing to pray for revival to sweep through a church (and I am not saying it is not), but I noticed something about the prayer. It was always a, "God you need to revive these people so that our church will be transformed." Do you heard the subtle danger in that prayer? God fix them, they need to be transformed. That is in fact NOT how the psalms lead us to pray. The focus of the psalms that speak of reviving are very personal. The summation of Psalm 143 is David pleading with God to deliver him and revive him. For David, revival started with self and it involved a few key things.

First, David says that he will remember the days of old. This is not merely a cognitive thing, it is remembering with a view to living in the reality that God is covenant Lord. It is active obedience. Second, David says that he will meditate upon and ponder the works of God. He is committing to ingesting the word of God and letting that weigh upon his own heart and soul that it might redirect his living. Third, David says that he will stretch out his hands to God. The culmination of living for God and filling his heart with God was worship. David didn't look at the covenant community and say bring revival, he said, revive me! In other words, if we want revival, I think it starts with praying for ourselves to be revived. Of course it is always easier to pray for "them". When we ask God to revive us however, we are aware of the change that is going to have to take place and frankly, I think that scares us.

I want God to revive His church, but I am convinced that I must be praying primarily for my personal revival. I am not going to quit praying for corporate revival, I am simply making my prayers more personal. It is not easy because now I have to face those idols that have lay hidden in my heart for so long. I am praying with David for God to deliver me from my enemy. I am praying for the fire of God to sweep through my own heart. I am no longer saying revive them, I am praying with intense passion for God to revive me, to revive us.

Burdens...

A common form of torture in medieval times (and perhaps some time after that) was taking a person that one sought a confession from and laying him on his back. Blocks of varying weight would then be placed upon the chest causing the person to feel the great weight and lose their ability to adequately breathe. The design of the torture was to make the victim feel the horrible desire to want to breathe, enough that they would confess to almost anything. Sounds horrible, especially to one that is claustrophobic.

Its hard to imagine that type of pressure and pain...or is it? I have often wondered what went through the minds of some of those victims as they lay there in immense pain, trying to figure out why they were being victimized. In many cases they were being forced to recant religious positions, did they lay there thinking, why me? Did they lay there thinking, God after all I have done for You, this is how you repay me? Did they perhaps lay there in silent meditation seeking God's grace to get through one final trial? Its impossible to know what they thought, but my guess is that while they may have panicked on the outset, eventually they resigned themselves to death and committed their lives into the hand of God. Maybe, just maybe that is the point of burdens after all...

As I write this, I am burdened about a great many things. Inwardly (and outwardly I suppose) I complain about these burdens. "God why do I have so much to read and write about", "God why is my family of 4 small kids so stressful", "God, why is your church here in America so dull", and the list goes on and on. And all the while, another block is piled on and I feel my own helplessness. I feel the painful burden of often times being supremely unworthy to do the task to which I have been called. That is the point I think. It seems so sadistic from a human perspective. Why put people in positions to constantly be confronted with their own failures and shortcomings? The answer is simple really...that we might cry out for mercy.

Its never really about how much weight we can stand up under, it is about getting to a point where we confess that we need mercy under the great weight of the burden. The practice of torture was designed to make people give up, and the design of burdens in life is much the same. Burdens come that we might realize just how much we need something outside our selves. We were never designed to be as individualistic as we desire to be, hence burdens are in our lives that we might embrace the community that God designed us to live in. Essentially we are called not only to cast our cares upon the Lord, but also to bear one anther's burdens. That is, we are called to community and humility. we are called upon to admit that we need help with our burdens. So, why the burdens of life? So that we might realize that there is more to life than just self. The more weight that is put on, the more I cry out for mercy and the more I cry out for mercy, the more I walk in dependence upon Christ. Burdens are heavy, they are supposed to be, but we don't have carry them alone, indeed, I don't think we are meant to.

The Truth about Realism

You have heard and you have said it haven't you, the little phrase, be realistic! That is a favorite phrase among culture. We must be aware of the nuances of the thought. When we tell someone to be realistic, sometimes we are telling them to give us a little grace. We are acknowledging that whatever the bar is, we cannot reach it and so need a little mercy or grace to get there. Sometimes we use that phrase as an insult. We make the charge to be realistic, but what we really mean is, you don't know what you are talking about. It is an underhanded attack on a person's ability to grasp and understand the situations of the moment. On another front, we will use the charge to be realistic as a way to control fanaticism or exuberance. If a person shows to much excitement in a particular area, we will often times tell them that they must be realistic. I am sure there are other examples that one could think of, but I think you see the point. Before I give any further thought, I need to clarify. There are times when we all need to be charged to be realistic, so I am not seeking to pooh pooh the charge entirely.

What reality is and what we perceive it to be is often not congruent. In other words, we take this common phrase and use it as a means to evading responsibility and in some cases action all together. As a pastor I not only see this in the people I shepherd both now and in the past, I see this in my own life. It is an easy card to play because the person to whom we utter that phrase immediately feels the indictment we have just made. We are in some sense telling them that they suffer from misperception. The concept of reality puts the accuser in the superior position because he/she is claiming to have something that the accused does not.

In all candor, we often times use the phrase "be realistic" as means to excusing ourselves from sin or any type of positive action. The person who sits in the pew will say, "I believe in God and I go to church, but I can't be a fanatic (out spoken, visibly committed to Jesus) about religion, I have to be realistic." The person caught in sin will say, "it is not as if what I am doing effects every body, and my actions are my business, we must be realistic and realize that we are not all perfect." In essence, the charge of realism becomes a means to excusing ourselves from being committed to God.

As I said a moment ago, what reality is and what we perceive it to be is often different. The reality is, we are in a bad way apart from Christ. The reality is, we try to rectify that feeling of separation with a great many things. The reality is, we are desperately thirsty for something real, yet many continue to drink from fountains of falsehood that keep them thirsty. The reality is, Jesus told us in the gospel of John that men are thirsty, and He gave us a remedy for it, Himself. The reality is, we try any number of things to quench a thirst that only Jesus can fill. Reality is the gospel and our deep need for it.

So, the challenge for us is clear...are we using the charge to be realistic as means to subverting the work of the gospel, or are we seeking to draw others to the fount of Christ?

I will be happy when....

Of course you have said it, "I will be happy when this circumstance pans out". The question is not if we say and think that, but how often we do. What is life designed to do, make us happy? Is our real purpose to be "happy"? So often we live as if the goal of life, that is, the reason for our existence is nothing more than to be happy. Now, I like being happy and I like convenience, but I have to ask, is that really why I exist? If happiness is the purpose of existence, we are in for a miserable, empty life.

The philosophical principle that drives most Americans is simple, happiness is the highest good and my circumstances must always be easy and without hardship. The hardest lesson for people to learn is that we were born to experience trials and affliction. In fact, from birth we are created to experience pain, grief, hardship, and affliction. I am sure that as you read this, you think I am crazy because we have been lulled to sleep with the subtle lie that happiness is what is most important. But consider with me for moment a few things that may show you the evidence of the matter.

Happiness, the most prominent reason for divorce in our country is irreconcilable differences. Now, I am no lawyer, but I have witnessed divorce, and I can tell you that irreconcilable difference is another way of saying, "I am not happy any more with this particular person." Is the chief end of marriage happiness, because I always thought that marriage was about love and sacrifice. I thought marriage was about laying yourself down for the good of another. As a married man, I am happy with my wife, but even when I am not, that never changes the fact that I love her.

Happiness, our children are taught from day one, that they exist to be made happy. In an age where self esteem rules the day and we are more worried about our children's temporal happiness rather than the eternal state of their heart, we are seeing the dividends of such a philosophy. As a man who has worked with teens for almost 10 years, I see first hand what this "happiness" principle is doing to our children. We are raising children who are apathetic, rebellious, and convinced that the world exists to benefit them. I see a generation of young people are disillusioned and indifferent, primarily because they see that happiness is such a fleeting thing and yet they have been programed to live with happiness as the highest good. It is enough to make one cry out and say, "who shall deliver us from this..."

So, life goes on to the tune of, "I will be happy if...", "I will be happy when..." And so I ask you, when does it really stop? In Psalm 17, we find a very curious detail. David says in the final verse, "...when I awake, I will be satisfied with your likeness." Happiness or the lack thereof is really about being satisfied. Being satisfied however is deeper than being happy, it is being joyful and content. It is being at peace with circumstance and life. One can be content and not be happy; one can experience joy in the midst of pain. Joy and contentment flow from one place, God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. David speaks truly when he says that the essence of satisfaction is being an imitator of God. God created us to reflect His image to the world, not to be happy in the humanistic sense. When was the last time that we prayed for God's grace to go one more mile rather than deliverance from pain? When was the last time we prayed for peace rather than prosperity?

Happiness is not the chief end of man, holiness is! We all seek happiness, when was the last time that we genuinely prayed for God to make us holy?