I recently read an article online which mourned over the fact that millions of people claiming to be Christian voted for the democratic party again. How could they? The article assumed that this was an outrage and went on to blame this atrocity on the lack of biblical preaching from the pulpit. It rightly asserted that a vote is not just tying yourself to what you are against but also everything that you are for. The author goes on to lay out all the reasons, primarily the issue of abortion, that makes it impossible in his mind for a Christian to identify with and even vote for a Democratic politician.
Is he correct?
For me growing up in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, politics seemed simple. I didn’t care that much about them until perhaps my high school and college years, but what I did know was straightforward and uncomplicated. If you cared about obeying God’s word at all, you were a Republican. There could be little debate about that in the parts of the world that I inhabited. It seemed so obvious that I never really questioned that.
As I grew older in years and in my discipleship to Christ, I began to question where that assumption came from, especially since it didn’t seem to be such a no-brainer anymore.
Evangelicals and Politics
If you’ll allow me to speak in broad generalizations at this point, it would seem that this began in earnest in the 1970’s. Evangelical Christians (particularly White Evangelicals) had largely retreated from the public square and the marketplace of ideas in the 1920’s and ‘30’s and resigned Christianity to something of a personal and private faith that need not interact with the world at large. This led to what most evangelicals saw as a sharp decline in public morals that by the 1960’s had reached alarming lows.
Although there was some movement in political parties in the 1960’s for various reasons that are beyond the scope of this article, this began to change drastically in the late 1970’s as far as the evangelical movement in America was concerned. The Republican party began to speak out more and more about the problems that they saw in America that needed to be fixed. America’s real problem, they argued, was a moral one. The nation that was “under God” had drifted sharply from its moral moorings and needed restoration. Many who were associated with the Conservative Republican party began to call out America’s problems and as a collective, evangelicals got excited because what they were saying sounded an awful lot like naming sin. They spoke out against things like abortion, immorality, divorce, crime, and the decline of the family. The Bible has much to say about these issues and the sentiment developed that it was about time that some politicians cared.
Finally! Someone in power was speaking the language of the devout and they were calling “sin” as “sin.” In droves, those that identified as Christian made their way into the Republican camp. That became so normal that if you were Christian growing up in my world, it was assumed you were Republican. The term “Democrat” almost became synonymous with “pagan.”
What never made it on to the radar for most was the fact that the Republican party held to many other positions that were not biblically rooted and even went in the opposite direction. But that didn’t seem to register. They were correctly identifying the problem, in the eyes of these Christ followers, and so this was their political home, their team. And they became active and powerful in the blink of an eye as a voting bloc.
What also escaped their attention was that the solutions to these problems that were being offered were decidedly not Kingdom focused or biblically derived. They may have identified some of the very real problems in society, but their answers were often not Christ-centric but trusted in the power of the state. The point of this article is not to wade into specific positions or solutions of parties that are unbiblical but to look at general trends. For now, I will leave it to the reader to do their own research to fill in those specifics.
Before long, most evangelical Christians had been drawn in by the siren’s song of identifying the problems and they had yoked themselves together with a political movement. This was now their identity and their passionate cause. And if I’m honest, as I look back on that time, it starts to feel a bit like the Israelites going to Samuel to demand a king.
History Repeating Itself
If we fast forward to the last ten years, I see a similar phenomenon happening. This time, though, it is the liberal Democrat party that has started to call out the problems in society, and to the ears of a growing number of Christians, it sounds like the real sins that plague us. They denounce racial and gender injustice, intolerance for others, mistreatment of immigrants and the economically disadvantaged, and a host of other similar justice-related issues. The ears of many have perked up. The Bible has much to say about these issues and it’s about time some politicians care.
Finally! Someone in power is speaking the language of devoted Christ followers that love their fellow man and are calling “sin” as “sin.” History is repeating itself, as droves of Christians are now making their way into the Democrat camps and identifying with the issues that they advocate for the loudest. (If I’m being honest, I believe there are also many that will claim to be independent but, in their heart, they have clearly placed their loyalties on one political side or the other).
And while they have now emotionally and politically yoked themselves together with this philosophy and party, they have failed to notice or care that there are many other things that this party (just like its counterpart) stands for that are opposed to the word of God.
They too have been drawn in by the siren’s call as they heard a party denounce the sins that they hate the most and want to see done away with. But just as a generation before, they have failed in many respects to discern that most of the solutions are not rooted in biblical thinking or coming from a Kingdom perspective. And like previous generation, there is a real danger of intertwining passions and identity with a political party that is not rooted in the ethics and solutions of God’s Kingdom. There is a danger in trusting the power of the state to fix the problems in society rather than the Kingdom of God being the only true solution to the real problems of humanity. Even if a political party could suppress certain sins from society, if they do so through non-Kingdom means, then what has been gained?
The Threat of Division
At the end of the day, the two sides have made the same mistake and neither one has recognized it. To make matters worse it has created a sharp division in the body of Christ and even in many local congregations. A generation ago, most evangelicals (although there were certainly some exceptions) identified as conservative Republicans, so there wasn’t much controversy. That didn’t make it right, but it was at least peaceful (not that this is always a good thing). It’s still probably true that most evangelicals are on the conservative side of the aisle (although I am not certain of that), but a growing number have walked over to the other side and that has created a massive amount of tension in the local church.
“How can they call themselves a Christian and support the Democrat party?”
“How can they call themselves a Christian and support the Republican party?”
And in unison: “Well if you think that way politically, you can just go ahead and unfriend me on Facebook.”
Do you see the problems? It’s not just the tension and division. What if they’re both right? What if the Kingdom-focused disciple of Jesus can find no true home in the world of a two-party political system? And how can we preach the gospel of reconciliation and unity if we are divided ourselves over the things of the world?
The author of the article I mentioned at the beginning makes some good points. It is difficult to see how a kingdom-minded Christian could yoke themselves together with some of the things espoused by the left side of the aisle. What he missed is that the same is equally true for those that would yoke themselves to the right side of the aisle. God does care about abortion, but he also cares deeply about issues of biblical justice.
It presents a real conundrum for disciples. If both sides champion some of the biblical causes but also both embrace many things that are opposed to the principles of God’s kingdom and solutions that are quite often rooted in worldly power and not remotely kingdom solutions, then which party should I attach my loyalty to?
Good question.
When Christians begin to yoke together with one side of the political spectrum or the other, we lose the ground of being prophetic to the culture. We become just another player in the partisan games. And it becomes easy to dismiss the gospel because there is no obvious distinction between the Kingdom of God and whatever political side we have tethered ourselves to. I believe we lose the ability to have the kind of influence on specific issues that we might have had if we had not invested our identity and passion into political partisanship.
The Kingdom of God has its own agenda in the world and utilizes weapons that are not of this world (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Sometimes the Kingdom agenda will overlap with the rhetoric or concerns of one party and sometimes it will intersect with the rhetoric and concerns of the other party. Often, it will cut against both, and almost always the solutions of the Kingdom will vary greatly with the solutions of the world. Whichever party we consider, they are rarely rooted in the other-worldly approach that Christ callas us to as his followers. We can impact political issues without playing with the weapons of the world such as power over others. Wouldn’t it be just like God to impact the world through his people but to do so in a way that the world would never imagine could work?
Citizens of Heaven — Our Priority
The Kingdom of God will always be political from a certain angle. We are called to loyalty to Jesus as Lord. For the first Christians, that statement by itself was a strong political statement. It meant that Caesar was not Lord and that Jesus was the King of Kings. He held the highest authority. For the first three hundred years of Christianity they consistently and intentionally avoided yoking themselves together with politics. And even though they were roundly criticized for that position, they knew that it was their job to offer the world a true alternative to politics, not just one side of the political spectrum that agreed with them on some things. That is no true alternative at all. They knew that they were to stand up against injustice but not use the weapons, power, or politics of the world to fight that injustice. They grasped the reality that the Kingdom of God was the solution and they called people to come join them as they lived as an alternate society, guided by the values and standards of the Kingdom. They knew that the Kingdom of God, not political power, changed lives and communities.
I am aware that this raises many other questions such as how should Christians vote? Should we be Independents? Should we vote for the lesser evil or is that an entirely flawed way of thinking? How can a Christian fight for justice in this world? For now, I will leave those questions waiting with the hopes of considering a Kingdom approach to such important issues in my book-in-progress, “
Crossing the Line: Politics, Nationalism and Kingdom.” The primary focus of this article is whether Christians should give their loyalties to any political party and trust in the solutions of that party. This is not about voting or not. It is bigger than that. It is about allegiance.
What would it look like if we understood our true identity to be citizens of the Kingdom and operated as a collective force, utilizing the resources and solutions of the Kingdom rather than tying ourselves to the two-party political fray and its weapons of choice? What if we were a true alternative to anything the world has to offer?
The early Christians resisted the temptations of latching themselves to a political philosophy for solutions. They stood up and spoke prophetically against any solutions or identification of problems that were not rooted in the new and otherworldly reality of the Kingdom. At the same time, they were working to bring the light of the new world of the Kingdom into every dark corner. Some might counter that our early brothers and sisters didn’t have the opportunity to take sides or engage in politics in the Roman Empire but that’s simply not accurate. They did and consistently chose not to for hundreds of years.
And they radically changed their world. The question is, will we change ours?
*Michael Burns is the author of
Crossing the Line: Culture, Race, and Kingdom, and
Crossing the Line: Politics, Nationalism, and Kingdom, which is scheduled for a 2019 release.
Can You Come Out and Play? — Spiritual Friendships
When I was in the 6th grade my best friends were Mike McFadden and Mike Doherty. We were all patrol boys at our elementary school; I was the Captain, Mike M. was the Lieutenant, and Mike D. was the Sargent at Arms. Together we would get to school early, raise the flag, and then Mike M. and I would get on our banana-seat bikes and visit all the crossing sites near the school. At the end of the school day, we would visit all the crossing sites again, and then lower and fold the flag. Not only were we hot shots, we were friends.
During the summer before 6th grade (in 1970), the three of us were hanging buddies, though usually one on one. On any given day, after finishing chores at home (which we all had) one of us would get on our bike, ride the 5-10 minutes to our friend’s house, and knock on the front door. A parent usually answered the door, and then came the question: “Can Mike come out and play?”.
We were friends. We wanted to spend time together. When our work was done, we wanted to do things together. We never called ahead. We did not plan the day before. We would connect and then begin an adventure that usually involved our bikes, sports, playing war, or pushing the boundaries of our parents’ guidelines around where we could go.
We knew all about each other, we liked each other, and we wanted to spend time together. We were friends.
This background, repeated in later years of my youth, has framed my mental model of what it means to have a spiritual friendship, or a discipling relationship. Fortunately, much of my experience over the last 40 years as a disciple has confirmed this. I had prayer partners in college with whom I learned to read and study my Bible, pray, and share my faith. As a single man, young married, and young father, I had discipleship partners who were committed to helping me grow. Additionally, as a father of older children, teens, and young adults, I have had spiritual friends who have helped me to navigate the vast unknown territories of life. I have been quite fortunate and am grateful.
Currently, however, I feel and observe a gap. Something is not quite right, and I am therefore writing about it.
- Friendship
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made know to you”.” – John 15:13-15
This passage is rich, and I am not going to do it justice. Suffice it to say, that after three years of spending a lot of time together, Jesus relationship with his disciples matured from a teacher-student or master-servant relationship to a friendship. Because of time spent, they knew each other and had lots of shared experiences. They were friends. Jesus had just washed the feet of his friends, and he was about to make the ultimate sacrifice, showing his love for them.
I love the paradigm of friendship.
James, while describing Abraham’s faith and closeness to God, states that Abraham was God’s friend:
“And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.” – James 2:23.
Abraham knew God, trusted him, loved him, and wanted to spend time with him.
During some shared years in the southern part of Boston, I enjoyed a friendship with John McGuirk. John is especially good at being a friend – so I was drawn to him. He would often talk about spiritual friendships when describing discipling or evangelism, and John has proven to be quite gifted at both. John’s premise is that the ability to influence, teach, persuade, love, serve, or resolve conflict with another disciple or disciple-in-the-making is rooted in friendship.
I think that the strength or weakness of our discipling relationships is often rooted in the strength or weakness of our spiritual friendships. Just being friends is not enough, and just being spiritual is not enough. Put them together, however, and something magical happens: we feel loved, encouraged, inspired, and emboldened. God’s holy spirit flows between us and through us. Look out world!
- Time
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” – Acts 2:46-47
Wow. We have become good at explaining this away. They lived close together, walked everywhere, etc.; translation: it was easy for them to meet daily.
Was it?
Life was hard. The basics of life required six days of hard work – just to eat, drink, and have clothing and shelter. Some of life’s chores that take us an hour may have taken them a day or more.
I get that we have busy lives. But are we busy doing the right things? Are our priorities God’s priorities? Do we make the time to have spiritual friendships, not just with each other, but with new friends who have not yet fallen in love with our God?
I believe that the pattern of spiritual friendships, or discipling, is set by those who have the most influence. If the pattern for a leader’s discipling relationship is to meet once a month for a couple of hours then that will be normative for the church, and most people will be lucky to get together nine or ten times a year – for a grand total of 20 hours.
20 hours in a year? Think about how much of life happens in a year: how much sin to confess, encouragement to be given and received, life difficulties to discuss, opportunities to grow and mature. This pattern is a pattern of appointments, not friendship. We can have some relationships like this, but this simply does not work for a primary discipling relationship. A meaningful and impactful spiritual friendship requires time and commitment. Lacking that, disciples will weaken in their faith, and evangelism will be anemic.
- Love
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:35
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.” – 1 Peter 1:22
Not only is it important that we love each other deeply, but that we feel loved. When we feel loved, it will come out our pores: how we talk, our body language, our facial expressions. And if people will know of our faith and discipleship by our love for one another, they will need to be able to hear it and see it!
For me, it takes a commitment of time and friendship of another person for me to feel loved. Beyond the scope of this article, but useful, is the construct of Gary Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages”. We are all different, but my love languages are quality time and words of affirmation. If you spend quality time with me and are encouraging, I feel loved, and think of you as my friend.
I propose that when we feel loved our faith will grow. When we feel loved, we will then love.
“We love because he first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19
When we understand God’s love for us, we will love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we feel loved by a spiritual friend, we will not only reciprocate in that love, but we will have a greater capacity to love our neighbor as ourselves: to love our brothers and sisters, to love those who are poor and needy, to love those who are harassed by sin and are helpless.
If you add together spiritual friendship with time spent and a deep love you have powerful, life-changing relationships. We help each other be God’s friends and to know and share his love. We help each other to show the world Jesus by the way we love each other. And we are more effective sharing the good news with others when they know not just what we know but how much we care.
It takes friendship. It takes time. It takes love.
How will we then live to have spiritual friendships or discipling relationship that honor our God and enable us to fulfill his purposes for our lives? What do we need to change? What will we change?
Can you come out and play?
Special Note: This material once comprised a chapter in my book entitled Discipling (1997). This longer book was condensed into a shorter version called The Power of Discipling – now in its second (slightly longer) edition. A number of chapters from the original book were omitted in the shorter one. I added back two of these chapters in a condensed combination (about group discipling and family discipling) in the second edition of the shorter version. Another chapter omitted in the original is this one, now published in a standalone article. It is in some ways “deeper” than the material in other chapters of the book, being more theological in nature. Newer disciples may find it more difficult to understand, but along with more mature disciples, all will find it highly stimulating and challenging if read carefully. In re-reading it now, over twenty years after I wrote it originally, it is hard to believe how relevant it is right now compared to its earlier setting. Our churches and our members need it – badly!
God is a God of order and harmony. The various aspects of his revelation to us fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. He does not arbitrarily tell us that something is good for us or that he wants a kind of behavior from us when it does not in fact fit beautifully with other realities. What is good for us always grows out of who God is, who we are, and what it takes to live together in love and harmony. So it is with discipling.
Close relationships in general and discipling relationships in particular fit perfectly with what we know about God and about man. These relationships first of all find their basis in the nature of God himself. The vital need for these relationships is further seen by looking at the nature of man. Then finally we can look at the nature of the church that God dreamed to establish, and we can see how essential these relationships are to that church. If we properly understand God, man and the church, there is nothing surprising about our need for the kind of relationships we are describing.
The Nature of God
What do we know about God that would lead us to anticipate that discipling relationships would be a part of his plan for us? Several of these “theological” foundations come to mind.
First, God himself is all about relationships. Even though we intellectually limited creatures cannot really comprehend the Person of God, we do know that he has revealed himself as a Father, Son and Spirit. This one God is thus wholly relational by definition. Of course, the concept of the trinity is beyond our understanding, but this insight from Lanier will perhaps help to clarify.
“We do not affirm that one God is three Gods; we affirm that there is but one infinite Spirit Being, but within that one Spirit essence there are three personal distinctions, each of which may be, and is, called God; each capable of loving and being loved by the others; each having a distinct, but not separate, part to play in the creation of the universe, and in the creation and salvation of man.”[i]
Since God is somehow “Three within One,” then our capacity for relationships grows out of the very essence of his nature. This fact provides the ground zero basis of theology behind all spiritual relationships. The biblical definition of Deity is the very foundation of relationships. And if our relationships are to be patterned after who he is, do we need comment about the required closeness of spiritual relationships? Yet, where are the relationships within religious groups that can be accurately described as “deep” and “close”¾patterned after the nature of God? It would certainly be challenging to find such relationships in the average church that meets on Main Street, USA!
I don’t doubt that exceptions to this sad rule exist, but when they do, it will be in spite of the nature of the church group involved, not because of it (if my experiences in other churches is any indication). Deep, close relationships cannot be developed in large-group settings, on which most churches totally rely. The more intimate the setting (the fewer people), the more intimate the relationship can become¾but only if the parties involved are committed to such development. Otherwise, our closest friendships will be no closer than a good “golfing buddy” relationship.
Second, God in his very nature has a heart that moves toward relationships. John simply wrote, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The Old Testament abounds with passages which show that the heart of God is full of love. Psalm 32:10 is typical: “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.” His love is variously described as faithful, unshakable, unfailing and steadfast. God’s heart is full of divine, agape, unconditional love, and love always has to do with relationships. What is found in God clearly shows us what needs to be found in us.
I may have thought I “fell” in love with my wife Theresa, but I can assure you that we did not build our relationship on some euphoric feelings which caused our hearts to soar and even skip a few beats when we were at close quarters! It took time together, sharing our hearts, doing things as a team and working through all kinds of differences to establish a true agape relationship. Agape is the Greek word used most often for “love” in the NT which means “a commitment to another person at all costs for their good, not our own.” My relationship with Theresa was not simply doing “what comes naturally.” Who could claim that the qualities described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 are “natural” or accidental? “Falling in love” can only refer to the eros type of love, which has to do with physical attraction or perhaps the phileo type, the warm affection of a friendship. In a marriage developing an agape relationship takes intent, a plan, self-denial, sacrifice, time and just plain old hard work.
Did it not take all of those things for God to build that kind of relationship with us? Now he wants us to have this kind of relationship with each other. But what settings most naturally “grow” such closeness? While you will find it difficult to build such close relationships with hundreds, you can do it with the smaller numbers. You cannot learn to love everyone without first learning to love someone. As we are helped to learn how to build one such relationship, we will be able to duplicate it with others as time goes by (just like a baby begins with the parents and branches out to others in the family). With whom in the church do you share this type of relationship? Without the plan and intent, it will not happen, which is the logical reason that discipling relationships are so vital. The more we learn to love, the more we will become like God; and the more we are like him, the more people we can love more deeply.
Third, God’s nature of rewarding certain qualities logically makes discipling relationships the object of his graciousness. Two of the qualities he rewards most are faith and humility. He is less patient with pride and unbelief than with many other sins, and conversely, he takes special delight in those of his creatures who possess faith and humility. But what does this have to do with discipling relationships? A great deal, to be sure.
Faith and Humility
Allowing someone to disciple you requires faith. Our prideful and independent natures say, like some two-year-olds, “I can do it all by myself.” We have confidence that we know best and that we do not need input or guidance. We naturally distrust others who would get too involved in our lives. We fear that if we are not independent and self-preserving that our lives will not end up in a good place. But God says something different. He says we will be much better off getting counsel, advice, guidance and even rebukes from others. To let that happen, you must show more faith in God’s plan than in your own knowledge and intuition.
But do you remember the admonition given to Christian wives in 1 Peter 3:1-6? They were to trust God to work through even their non-Christian husbands to lead them. And the model for their submission was given in the previous chapter where Jesus trusted God to work even though the Herods and Pilates of the world (1 Peter 2:21-23). The idea that God cannot work through a well-intentioned brother or sister who disciples us is a faithless idea indeed. And without faith, we can neither please God (Hebrews 11:6) nor be blessed by him (James 1:6-8).
What about the quality of humility and discipleship? To place ourselves in the hands of an older brother or sister in the family requires a great deal of humility. And the nearer we are to that older sibling in age and maturity level, the greater the challenge. Think of the situations in physical families where the older kids baby-sit the younger. The less the age difference, the greater the challenge. How humble are you in the family of God?
When we first moved to Boston in January of 1988, Theresa and I were asked to disciple Tom and Sheila Jones (long-time editors of Discipleship Publications International). After several months, Tom expressed appreciation for the discipling relationship and made some nice comments about how much I had helped him. His humility humbled me, for we are near the same age (I know I’m a few years older, Tom, but not very many!) with much the same experiences in ministry. In fact, he had been more in touch for a much longer time with many of the principles of discipleship than I had. Yet, in humility he was happy to be discipled by me. A truth dawned on me that day. I expressed it to him in terms similar to this: “Tom, I think I understand why discipleship works so well. It is not because all of the advice and direction given is the very best available; it is because to be discipled by another demands humility, and God blesses humility. It wouldn’t matter in our case whether I discipled you or you discipled me¾what really matters is the level of humility which determines how much God is able to bless.” (Of course Tom provided me with much helpful discipling, and still does!)
On March 16 of that year, after many talks and prayers, I advised Tom to step out of the ministry position he was in because of the physical and emotional effects of having multiple sclerosis. I wasn’t sure what he would be able to do, but I had become convinced of what he could not do any longer. His immediate response was one of humility. He started working in the church office, and after several years, God raised him up to be the editor of a fast-growing and widely influential publishing company. His influence far exceeds what it did in earlier years, and only eternity itself will reveal the extent of that influence. How did all of that happen? Great discipling? I would like to say “yes” since I was in a “one another” relationship with him in those day, but we now know better, don’t we? It was Tom’s humility that caused God to abundantly bless him.
You see, the material in this book is not some dry, dusty theory written by a theologian wearing a clerical collar. It is written by a disciple who disciples others and is himself discipled by others, and who has discovered that the answers in the Bible do work in the laboratory of life. Because God is God, discipleship works, and because his Word is irrevocable, we cannot receive the quantities of the blessings which he longs to shower on us until and unless we practice what he has preached!
The Nature of Man
What about man’s nature makes discipling relationships essential? Of course, the Bible teaches that we are to have them, which makes them essential. But God as our Designer and Creator prescribed in his Word everything which exactly corresponds to our nature and its needs. Why then, did he prescribe discipleship?
Two Potentials to Develop
First, since he is made in God’s image, man has tremendous potential for relationships. Just as Deity is three in one and one in three (in some totally inexplicable way!), man is designed to be bound to others like himself in the closest of bonds. Our nature will always be crying out for incredibly deep relationships with other humans, whether or not we are aware of it. And usually we are not aware of it, are we? At the earliest stages of life, these inherent longings are stifled and redirected (or worse), with the result being that most adults are not remotely aware of their relationship needs or potentials.
Why is it that we feel and say things at times of tragedy (the death of a loved one, for example) that we aren’t normally aware of and certainly don’t express? Where do those amazingly deep feelings come from¾sentimentality gone awry? Absolutely not. The emotions and expressions at such times are quite genuine, but until something breaks through our shells, we just don’t let them surface. In fact, we most likely don’t even know they are there. Especially is this true of unreal men (real men are that very small minority who are real¾vulnerable and honest about who they are!).
As a young man, I knew I needed a wife, but I didn’t have much of a clue about how much I needed real relationships with other guys. Honestly, I am not often in touch emotionally with those needs even now, except when something pierces the protective coating (of fear and selfishness, I think) around my heart. However, intellectually I know what I really need, and I am trying to become more like God in developing deeper relationships. You male readers are going to have to think about this one for a while to really get it, but keep trying—your wife or girlfriend or co-leader or sister friends will be grateful to you if you do get it, to say nothing of how God will feel when you start functioning more like he designed you to function! Without question, discipling relationships with brothers have helped me far more than any other types of relationships to grow in being a deeper, more loving man.
Second, another potential we have as those made in God’s image is our creative ability. We have the capacity and the inner drive to create. We may exercise this drive in careers, hobbies or other avenues, but our inner prompting toward creativity is actually aimed at reproducing ourselves in the lives of other people. Why is it that even in our self-focused society the large majority of us want to have children? Simply because they are so cute and cuddly when they are little? Hardly. The most naïve person has figured out that babies eventually become teenagers. And the thought of raising teens in our dangerous world scares responsible parents and potential parents enough to make them soberly count the cost before embarking on the trail of family development. Why then, do we still have such a deep-seated desire to reproduce? Because we have an inborn drive to create something that will outlast us!
Discipling fulfills this need more than anything else with the exception of parenting. Did not Jesus say to go “make disciples” and then train them to become like him (Matthew 28:19-20)? To pour our lives into others is to expend our creative “juices” in the most rewarding way possible, reproducing our lives in the lives of those who will make a real difference in time and in eternity. What kind of legacy will you leave behind when you die? Most people will leave very little that really matters, and the most successful in the eyes of the world will leave some business with their name on it! What a horrible waste of creativity. Just imagine someone who knows you describing you a week after you die. “Well, he made lots of money, lived in this fine house, drove this expensive car, and founded a multi-million dollar business.” SO WHAT? WHO CARES? What a hollow reason for existing on this planet! Never give up your life for anything that death can take away!
On the other hand, what if you were a disciple making disciples: How would you then be described? “He loved God with all his heart and he taught his family, friends and scores of others to do the same. On the Day of Judgment, only God will be able to show all the influence exerted on many lives by this dear brother.” This disciple understood the basic spiritual value system, but unlike many religious people, he also understood the true purpose of discipleship—reproducing Christ-like qualities and values in others.
What does Scripture have to say about such desire to create or reproduce? Paul wrote: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). “Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15). Many similar passages could be noted, but these are sufficient to make the point. By sharing Christ and by pouring his life into new disciples, Paul was bearing spiritual children. God has stamped on our hearts the need to create, the need to make a difference and leave a legacy. Discipling fits our need: It allows us live a life where our influence outlives us in the most significant way. Without it, our potential for creativity will be squandered on something transitory and valueless.
Two Weaknesses to Offset
Our potential makes discipling vital but so do our human weaknesses. For one thing, we tend toward blindness about ourselves. Without looking in a mirror or appealing to another person’s view, we can’t tell if we have egg on our face or not. This is true both physically and spiritually. God’s word is one type of mirror (James 1:22-25) and close spiritual friends are yet another, functioning as our “eyes” to help us see ourselves as we actually appear. At the risk of sounding a bit blasphemous, the Word alone will not provide us with the complete picture of ourselves. There is nothing wrong with Scripture, mind you. It is just that we read it sometimes through our distorted lenses. We need help seeing ourselves—honestly.
When I moved to Boston many years ago, my view of myself was distorted. But thankfully, for the very first time, I was being discipled by other men. I will never forget a leader’s discipleship group of men at the home of one of my disciplers, Wyndham Shaw. In that group I was given input regarding my critical edge. Of course I knew that I was very outspoken and direct, but I thought that only demonstrated my amazing honesty and ability to see people clearly! I actually told them something like that, but they didn’t buy it. When asked for the evidence behind their evaluation, they had only to repeat some of the statements I had made that night in the group. Those same statements coming out of their mouths sounded sharp, abrasive and unloving. Their loving input cut to the innermost part of my being and hurt terribly. But the pain was like that inflicted by spiritual surgeons performing a life-saving operation, whose scalpel was the sharp sword of the Spirit (Hebrews 4:12).
My picture of myself wasn’t yet quite clear. I had lived with my sinful nature for a long time, and my image of myself was still out of focus. Shortly after the discipleship group described above, I had a discipling time with another person while walking in his neighborhood talking about the ministry and related items. Somewhere in the course of the conversation, he said something that reminded me of my recent spiritual critique. His statement was little more than a passing comment, but now my antennas were up. I was becoming more aware of my weaknesses, so I asked what he meant by the brief comment. He seemed quite willing to elaborate! A few minutes prior, he had asked me about an evangelism seminar I had just attended, and I tried to give him a full description of both its strong and weak points. He explained that he had just received a similar evaluation from another brother who had attended, and although both of us mentioned both the positives and the negatives, he was left with two different impressions of the overall quality of the seminar. From the other brother’s description, he thought that it must have been great, but from mine, that it had been pretty mediocre.
Wow! The scalpel was out again and my self-image was bleeding again. By that night I thought I was about to have a heart attack—weak, dizzy, chest pains. This physical distress gave way to spending three days in bed with the flu. Was I really sick? Well, yes, with the flu, but thankfully not with a heart problem (physically). Why was I hit with the psychosomatic heart problem and the actual illness of influenza? Because of the major emotional hit of seeing myself more clearly than I had ever seen myself. How did I feel at that time? Devastated. How do I feel about it now? Unbelievably grateful for disciples who were willing to be honest with me!
Most people in the world never experience being discipled, and they simply do not change once their adult character is developed. When I visit old friends who are not involved in discipleship (though they may be religious), I know exactly what to expect of them. They remain the same year after year, with the same character sins and personality quirks. On the other hand, I have changed remarkably because of discipling. My blindness has given way to sight, and with the help of others, the man God designed me to be has emerged more and more (and the work on me continues).
After the discipling described above, I came to the rather obvious conclusion that I did not see myself as I really was, and I decided to take the challenging and narrow road of humility. I asked those brothers who had given me the godly critiques (along with many others in my life) to point out quickly and clearly all such ungodly qualities as they saw them appear. They did (and do), gently and lovingly, and my life has soared with eagles as a result. We need to be discipled—badly.
A Spiritual Second Law of Thermodynamics
A second weakness of our nature with which we need help is our strong tendency to turn away from the spiritual to the worldly. Something much like the second law of thermodynamics is evident in our personal lives: Order gives way to disorder; spiritual strength to weakness; resolve to doubt; conviction to sentimentality; righteousness to sin. Surely we don’t need much proof of this one, do we? We can look at David, Solomon, Moses, Peter, or just at ourselves in the mirror. The Hebrew writer quoted these words from Psalm 95: “Their hearts are always going astray” (Hebrews 3:10). In the original context, the Psalmist was describing the faithlessness of those who wandered in the wilderness for forty years. However, note how the Hebrew writer applies it to Christians:
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:12-13).
What was the antidote for this strong tendency toward going astray? Discipleship of the daily variety. Now who in the church is going to encourage you daily, if not someone specifically responsible for doing so? We will have more to say about the whole process of discipling relationships, but I have personally never seen this one passage obeyed by a majority in any church I have ever been a part of before coming to a discipling ministry. And now I am not seeing it much anymore here, to be totally frank!
The Bible frequently describes humans as being like sheep—usually sheep who have gone astray. There’s a good reason for that comparison: Sheep are notoriously dumb. They wander off and do stupid things which endanger their lives. So do we, and therefore we need all of the help we can get! We simply cannot afford to look at passages such as Hebrews 3:12-13 as containing optional commands. Discipleship, as described quite plainly in this passage, cannot be ignored if God is to be pleased and our spiritual lives protected!
The Nature of the Church
If you were to describe the nature of the church, what would you say? How do you think most religious people would describe it? Picture a woman going to the most popular type of church in the area in which I lived at the time (Boston). I chose to describe a woman for two reasons. One, they seem to be more naturally attuned to the spiritual side of life; and two, most traditional types of churches have far more women members than men. This average church attendee arrives only a few minutes before the service is scheduled to begin. As she comes into the sanctuary foyer, she might or might not greet other worshipers. She thinks that it’s nice to be friendly, and should she meet anyone she knows, she would exchange pleasantries for a minute or two.
But now she must hurry into the sanctuary and find her pew. As she awaits the clergymen’s entry, she mediates quietly yet intently. You can almost picture a vertical shaft of light connecting her to heaven. After the fairly brief service, she quietly leaves the sanctuary, goes to her car and drives home. Perhaps she exchanged a greeting or two leaving the building, but she has done what she came to do—spend time focused on God in the midst of her busy life. Therefore, she leaves feeling much better for having come. She has been raised to view church attendance as a spiritual duty, a moral responsibility, and after having fulfilled this spiritual obligation, she returns to her mostly “secular” world. But she feels spiritually cleansed, for she has done what she believes to be right before God.
Now, I’m not trying to be critical here; I’m just trying to describe the religious reality of most of our modern society. Several observations from the illustration are in order. First, religion is seen as a very important part of life, but really only a small part. It is a slim slice of the pie, in terms of time spent, while the other “slices” (job, family, entertainment) may be much larger. Spirituality is a segment of life, but it is an isolated segment. Second, religion is mainly vertical in nature, an experience with the Divine, and other people are an incidental part of it.
Many faithful churchgoers have virtually no relationships in their congregation, and they certainly have no relationships which remotely resemble those we are calling discipling relationships. Third, the atmosphere of a religious assembly is very quiet and “reverent.” I have attended funerals at some of these kinds of churches, and occasionally arrived early enough to stand in the back of the building to observe the last part of the regular church service. I honestly could tell little difference in the atmosphere of the regular service and the funeral service.
Is that what the Bible teaches about the nature of the church? Folks, we are talking different planets or galaxies here. The church described in the New Testament does not remotely resemble what has become the norm for churches in our day. Let’s just consider the three observations mentioned above in light of the Bible’s description of church. First, religion is not simply a part of life—it is life. It is not a slice of one’s weekly pie—it’s the whole pie. Consider just this one passage:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).
Our lives are everyday sacrifices to God, and that living sacrifice is described as “spiritual worship.” The purpose of attending a church service is not simply a coming together “to worship;” we come to worship together. In other words, we don’t worship only at a church service; we worship every day, for our whole lives are worship, biblically understood. And one key reason our lives can continue to be worship is because of the spiritual relationships we must develop and maintain every day with people in and out of the church.
Second, religion was never intended to be vertical only, or even mostly vertical (man and God). It is quite horizontal at the same time, uniting us with others in the church. Even a casual reading of the account of the beginning of the church will provide proof positive that the church was a family (Acts 2:36-47). If I am a son of God, then other sons and daughters of God are by definition my brothers and sisters. A one sentence greeting in a church foyer doesn’t quite equate with family relationships! Because we are a part of the body of Christ, “each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:5) and “its parts should have equal concern for each other” (1 Corinthians 12:25).
The New Testament is replete with “one another” and “each other” responsibilities (mentioned in these phrases scores of times and in other words scores more). If we are family, we must function as family. In a church setting, where members may be quite scattered geographically, there must be some kind of plan for the organization and function of the group, and because of the preeminence of love in Christ’s group (John 13:34-35), the organization and function reflect a focus on relationships as described in the Bible. The family nature of the church demands discipleship as an integral part of its life. (For those who resist organization and structure in God’s spiritual family, do you also resist in your physical family? If so, your children are going to face a rough future.)
Third, the atmosphere in the church should be like that found in a family. Acts 4:32 gives us an intimate glimpse of the early church: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” Certainly this sounds like family, and family metaphors used in connection with the church abound in the New Testament. No less than five NT letters talk about disciples greeting each other with a holy kiss or a kiss of love. Church assemblies should be much more like family reunions than funeral services.
Discipling relationships fit with the biblical church like a hand in a glove. Everything about the relationships we are describing enrich the church and help her to be all God planned her to be. Such one another relationships are not contrived by man, nor are they optional. Just as biblical morality finds its basis in the nature of God and the needs of man, so the close spiritual relationships found in discipleship grow out of God’s triune nature and man’s need. Without discipleship, church members become lukewarm, churches stagnate and entire societies die. In America, we are in that downward spiral and picking up speed. The only thing that can turn the tide is a return to biblical discipleship, which alone can produce disciples radical enough to be the leaven, light and salt of God—and to once again be used by him to turn the world upside down in a good sense! (Acts 17:6, King James Version).
[i] The Timeless Trinity by Roy Lanier, page 46.
Revelation 2:1-7
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
In this first letter to the seven churches in Asia, John penned a very sobering challenge to the church at Ephesus. It is also a very puzzling letter, in that many more commendations are given them than criticisms, and yet the one criticism given is obviously a salvation issue. Forsaking our “first love” marks a very far fall from where we once were with God. Just what does it mean to forsake our first love? I’m convinced that our normal explanation isn’t close to what John had in mind.
Good Deeds Abound!
First, note how many positive things are found in this end-of-the-century church.
- Good deeds
- Hard work
- Perseverance
- Refusal to tolerate wicked people
- Tested leaders and called the false ones out for what they were – false teachers
- Endured hardships
- Have not grown weary
- Hate the practices of the Nicolaitans (as God hates them – we cannot love what God loves without hating what he hates)
Wow – all in all, you have to admire a church like this one, do you not? It is almost shocking that only one negative thing could offset all else on that list of commendations. Whatever constitutes losing one’s first love, it must be a very, very serious matter in the eyes of God. We must therefore give special attention to discovering what it is in the context of this otherwise highly commended church.
An Explanation That Falls Short
The normal explanation given for this serious spiritual malady is often stated in the form of a question like this one. “Do you still feel the love for Jesus that you felt when you came out of the baptistery?” Of course, we can look back to the excitement we felt after being baptized, knowing (and feeling) that all of our sins were now forgiven in the blood of Christ. I am thankful for that realization and euphoric feeling. But do you have that same feeling today, perhaps decades after your acceptance of Christ? If not, have you lost your first love and thus possibly your salvation? That very thought can bring a stone-cold feeling of dread into our hearts, can’t it?
Happy Anniversary!
Perhaps you might be wondering just why this passage is on my mind today. It isn’t because I’m worried about being lost, not at all. It came to mind as our 53rd wedding anniversary approached, and today is that day, taking my thoughts back to January 30, 1965 on a sunny day in Shreveport, Louisiana. Four years prior to that, Theresa and I had started falling in love when we were seniors in high school. I do remember those almost overwhelming euphoric feelings of early infatuation. Whatever chemical reactions in our bodies takes place during that period of time, they were quite strong ones for both of us.
Rather scientific studies have been conducted about this infatuation period – what causes the proven chemical reactions and how long it typically lasts. The one thing shown by such studies is that this period doesn’t last indefinitely. It is a combination of two kinds of love, which can be defined well by Greek words. One is phileo, meaning a friendship type of love – you are attracted to another’s personality and character, and really enjoy being in their presence. The other is eros, the word for physical or sexual attraction. This combination constitutes romantic love, what the world generally calls “falling in love.”
The problem for those not committed to Christ’s will is that when this type of love wanes (and it most certainly will), too many people assume that they have now fallen out of love and many couples start down the road that leads to divorce. God’s plan, of course, is that the romantic love has as its foundation the most vital type of love, that of agape love – a commitment love that keeps the good of the other person as one’s top priority. When this love is the foundation of the relationship, the two aspects of romantic love can be rebuilt time and time again. Our marriage is a living testimony to that fact!
We Are All Married and Some Have Two Mates
So what does this have to do with Revelation 2 and our relationship to Christ? For starters, the church is the bride of Christ, according to Ephesians 5. Comparing our relationship with our physical mate to our relationship with our spiritual Mate can teach us a lot. I think our earliest relationship to Jesus began with something like infatuation. It was indeed a euphoric time and one we would love to have kept every minute of every day for the rest of our lives. But alas, we are not designed in a way that allows that in any relationship, even the one with Christ. Hard times come and testing comes and age comes – all of which causes all relationships to have an ebb and flow in how they affect our feelings at any particular point.
As I sit in a warm room with my dearly loved bride, looking at her cuddled up in a blanket having her time with God, my heart is full and my eyes moist. Happy Anniversary to my extraordinary wife with her beautiful big brown eyes and beautiful big heart that have totally captivated me! We have spent 57 years (counting our boyfriend/girlfriend years) of ups and downs and all-arounds, governed and kept intact by God, who is agape love by definition (1 John 4:8). Do I have that infatuation type of feeling right now? Not really, but rather something far deeper and far more precious – the mixture of all types of love seasoned by nearly six decades of being immersed in it with her. She is far more important to me today than I could have imagined 53 years ago today as I watched that stunningly beautiful bride of mine walk up that church aisle to become Mrs. Ferguson.
Are You Ready For This?
In the midst of my reminiscing and rejoicing today, I still must return to the sobering passage with which I began this article. If forsaking one’s first love is not referring to losing that emotional rush that was present at our baptism, then to what does it refer? The most logical explanation I have seen is this one from “Baker’s New Testament Commentary.” Read it very carefully, please.
When Jesus says that the Ephesians have lost their first love, he does not mean to say that the Ephesians live and work without love for God or their neighbors. He stresses the adjective first. In effect a literal translation reads, “You have left your love, the first [love].” The lush green color of springtime in the congregation has disappeared, and the fading shades that characterize an early autumn are now prevalent. To put it differently, the church that Jesus addressed no longer consisted of first-generation believers but of second- and third-generation Christians. These people lacked the enthusiasm their parents and grandparents had demonstrated. They functioned not as propagators of the faith but as caretakers and custodians. There was an obvious deficiency in evangelistic outreach as a result of a status-quo mode of thought. They loved the Lord but no longer with heart, soul, and mind.
The first generation exerted extraordinary effort so that in Ephesus “the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power” (Acts 19:20). In later years Paul addressed an epistle to them and praised them for their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for fellow Christians (Eph. 1:15). The children and grandchildren of these people opposed heresy and demonstrated persistence in fulfilling the needs of the church, but they fell short of genuine enthusiasm for the Lord.
Did you get the bottom line conclusion of that quoted material? A deficiency in evangelistic outreach is equated with a failure to love the Lord with heart, soul and mind. Perhaps this helps you understand better why I have written so often about what our movement of churches used to be like and what I believe it is like now. Collectively, we are doing many good things, just as the later Ephesus church did. But one thing I miss seriously is the evangelistic zeal and overall fervor the large majority of our members once had. It is not the same now, and yet Romans 12:11 still reads the same as it did 25 years ago. “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” I think the commentary is spot on correct in defining the loss of first love for Christ. Am I still as zealous to see the Great Commission carried out as I was 25 years ago? Sadly, no. Are you? I doubt it, based on my observation of congregations and growth rates (or lack of same). Honestly, it is challenging to keep this level of zeal all by ourselves – we need others with us to build and maintain the synergistic fervor. I think we all need some serious repentance, don’t you?
I am zealous about my marriage, for sure. I keep investing in it in multiple ways. I am more in love with my wife now than ever and looking for better ways to keep showing it. I want to please her and make her happy. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to believe that being seriously dedicated to carrying out Christ’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), for which he shed his blood, would please him and make him happy? As the byline of an old publication for which I used to write said: “Let’s stop making excuses and start making disciples!” Amen – be it so, Lord!
“But when the goodness and love for man
appeared from God our Savior,
He saved us –
not by works of righteousness that we had done,
but according to His mercy,
through the washing of regeneration
and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
This Spirit He poured out on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that having been justified by His grace,
we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.” – Titus 3:4-7 HCSB
A few months ago, I wrote an article about our ongoing ICOC 3.0 initiative, focusing on spirituality and the next generation. I am aware of some inter-generational dialogue having taken place, but it is thorny, with divergent perspectives clearly in view. I am prayerful.
On another note, in my observation, there are three big topics that may get short thrift in some of our churches, and they are spiritual intangibles, things we can’t see but are powerful motivators: grace, the Holy Spirit, and heaven. If we don’t rely on our human efforts and traditions (I call it spiritual humanism), we can find deep and powerful motivation in our relationship with God – what He has done for us (initially and continually), what He is doing in and through us, and what He will do for and with us.
I trust many of my friends, Gordon Ferguson and Doug Jacoby especially, to write and teach on each of these topics. They are trained and experienced Bible teachers and leaders in other capacities. There are dozens if not hundreds of others who are well qualified to explain the deep truths of each topic. This article is about how much we focus on grace, the Holy Spirit, and heaven, individually and corporately. I studied the Bible with a friend who became a Christian about a year ago who asked me near the end of our studies, “Do you believe in heaven?’ I said, “Yes, of course!”, and then he replied, “We haven’t talked about it and I have not heard a reference from the pulpit the last several months I have been attending.” As I reflected, I realized that heaven is something I (we?) take for granted, and it is simply too wonderful not to talk and dream about.
One reason we may be a bit tentative with these topics is that there is so much false doctrine such as cheap grace, emotionalism associated with the Holy Spirit, and bizarre and/or worldly views of heaven. But maybe another reason is that we rely too much on the flesh, on human effort, and our theology reflects it.
Some of us (me, especially) are performance-oriented and hard-working by character. I have and can do a lot to give, serve, and lead in the church. But my motivation may be perfectionism and/or the approval of others. I want to do things that are good and right but am too often driven by something that is not spiritual. Spiritually intrinsic motivation will please God. I don’t think a steady diet of worldly intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation communicates to God or others how much I love them.
Grace
“You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” – 2 Timothy 2:1
“But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.” – 1 Corinthians 15:9
Grace makes confession of sin less difficult. Grace motivates compassion and evangelism more than the expectations of my leaders or friends. Grace motivates me to give – in secret. Grace gives me the fuel to be patient, to be humble, and to suffer. To be strong in grace is something intentional. It requires study, prayer, and conversation. It also deserves teaching and preaching – but not with so many qualifiers that we focus too much on our response, getting the cart before the horse. Let’s talk about grace more and find God’s motivation to live as followers of Jesus. God forgave me at baptism and His continual fountain of grace (1 John 1:7) forgives me every day. God’s grace also teaches me to be gracious towards others, providing a safety we all need. What’s not to talk about?!
The Holy Spirit
“’Repent’, Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” – Acts 2:38
“After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh?” – Galatians 3:3
God has not only forgiven us but he has put His Holy Spirit in us. Let that sink in. I/we tend to focus on the negatives such as don’t quench or grieve the Spirit, or alternatively, putting on the fruits of the Spirit through human effort. Not only did we receive the gift of forgiveness, we received the gift of the Holy Spirit. When we collectively are in step with the Spirit, amazing things can happen. Some have called Acts the Acts of the Apostles. While true, I prefer to call it the Acts of the Holy Spirit.
“As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them to.’ Then, after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.” – Acts 13:2-3
When we are spiritual and in step with His Holy Spirit, He can do amazing things through us. We find the power to live as followers of Jesus.
Heaven
“But our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Phil 3:20
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” – I Thessalonians 4:16-18
I introduced this topic to a group of men and women, and an evangelist confessed that though he speaks regularly on grace and the Holy Spirit, he could not remember the last time he talked about heaven. Maybe we are so concerned with matters of this world that we don’t think, talk, or dream enough about heaven.
“Then I heard a loud voice from the throne:
Look! God’s dwelling is with men,
and He will live with them.
They will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will exist no longer;
grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer,
because the previous things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:3-4
It’s hard not to cry tears of hope and relief while typing these words. Life is hard. There is so much pain, sorrow, and injustice. And it won’t all be made right until the end.
No more grief, crying, and pain. He will wipe the tears from our eyes. How tender, how moving, how comforting. How motivating. He has one more gift yet to give.
Our longing for heaven gives the hope we need to live as followers of Jesus.
Conclusion
What if we talked less about performance and more about our sin and the grace of God?
What if we decided to no longer trust in the flesh but in God’s Holy Spirit? What if we spent more of our thought lives and conversation focused on being grateful for God’s gift of His Spirit? What if we were inspired more by the Holy Spirit than the latest plan or initiative?
What if we put much less hope in this life and rested completely in our hope of heaven?
Grace, the Holy Spirit, and heaven. Thinking about these and talking about these will keep us humble and give us wonderful things to talk about with each other, our families, friends, and those we will meet. Pretty good topics for evangelism, don’t you think?
Grace, the Holy Spirit, and heaven: three incredible gifts!
One of the most popular Christian writers of last century was C.S. Lewis. He wrote a book with the title that I’m using for this article. Pain is a problem. It is a problem physically to be sure, but it is a bigger problem emotionally and spiritually. It can fill up our hearts and lives. Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, was a survivor of the Holocaust. Once, after he had told his life story to a group, particularly regarding the Holocaust and the pain he endured, a woman in the audience came up to him with an understandable response. Emotionally distraught, she shared that after hearing about his suffering, she felt guilty for feeling her own pain so deeply, because it was so much less than what he had gone through.
His reply is an oft-quoted one. “To draw an analogy: a man’s suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the “size” of human suffering is absolutely relative.”
If one were to know the precise number of times they had been hurt by someone else, the number would be staggering. If that same person knew the precise number of times they had hurt others, that number would also be staggering. The human race is a fallen race, and but for the grace of God, the whole lot of us would have been annihilated long ago. The real issue is which side of that equation we focus on the most – the “victim of hurts” side, or the “perpetrator of hurts” side. By focus on, I refer to that side which occupies our minds most. It is easy enough to feel that we have been hurt by others more than we have inflicted hurt on others. So what – even if true? Do you think that erases your sins, or somehow makes you better than someone who may have sinned more than you?
Many years ago, I was involved in the cleanup phase of the aftermath left by a harsh leader in the church. As I worked with other leaders under his influence, all but one had a similar reaction. They immediately thought about how this leader had hurt them. The one exception listened to me describing the negative impact of this leader, and then he broke into tears and just wept. I asked him what he was feeling, to which he replied, “I’m afraid I’ve used the same leadership style and hurt those under my leadership.” He was a rare bird. Most folks think first of how they have been hurt rather than how they may have hurt others. Not good.
What is God’s Perspective?
The only real issue is God’s perspective on the matter, not yours or mine. Everything that comes into any of our lives comes because God either directly causes it or indirectly allows it. Nothing has happened to you that God has not at least allowed. But why does God allow pain in our lives, especially devastating pain? That’s a question that we are prone to ask very quickly, at least in our minds, when hard times strike.
I think God must feel his own pain when we ask that one so quickly and yet do not ask nearly as quickly why he allows us to hurt others. We are very aware of our pain but not nearly so aware of the pain we cause. That is why Jesus said that the first requisite of following him is to deny self. There are scores of hyphenated words in the dictionary that begin with “self” for a good reason. We humans are selfish to the core. But if the Bible is true, then the only two options available regarding our suffering are that he causes or allows it, both our pain and the pain of others.
Is God in Control or Not?
Any number of verses could be quoted to prove that point, but it is so obvious that we will only include a couple here before going further.
Isaiah 45:7 — I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
Lamentations 3:37-38 — Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?”
The most important question is why God allows pain and suffering. Agnostics and atheists often rest their case on this very question, believing that there is no logical answer. The agnostics would frame their concerns more in this manner: “If God wills evil, he is not good. If God does not will evil, but it occurs anyway, then he is not all-powerful. Therefore, since evil exists, God must be deficient either in goodness or in power.” The atheists would state their case even more strongly: “A good, all-powerful Being would eliminate evil completely. But, evil exists. Therefore, God does not exist!” Sadly, many believers struggle mightily with faith in God to the point that they never comprehend the God described in Scripture. That is indeed sad, but oh so true.
Do We Believe the Bible?
Our problem starts with a failure to accept the fact that God is in control of everything in the universe, including each of our lives. We may never figure out in this life why something we deem as bad has happened, why he has caused or allowed it, but he has nonetheless. Our problem continues with a failure to accept the very clear statements about how God wants to use suffering in our lives. We are so quick to blame other humans for our pain, not being willing to accept what God says about that pain. If we can’t get enough satisfaction blaming others, then we likely will turn to blaming God and questioning his direction in our lives. Do we really believe what the New Testament says about the purposes of God in allowing or causing our suffering? Do you believe it? Not unless you are able to work through it and surrender your heart and attitudes to him. Look at the key verses that should be determining your thoughts and attitudes when suffering:
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Hebrews 12:7-13
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Again, Do We Believe the Bible?
Do we believe the Bible regarding the purposes of suffering? A more sobering question is whether we believe what it says about being forgiven? Those who feel justified in nursing their hurts on a long term basis, rather than working through them and surrendering them to God in a reasonable time frame, may be in for a very big surprise when they meet God. Look at the following passages very, very carefully and prayerfully.
Matthew 6:12-15
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
When I was just a young minister, I heard an older minister preach a sermon based on the above passages. He essentially said that even though we may not be able to completely forgive, that God was well beyond us in his ability to forgive and would still forgive us even if we didn’t forgive others. I related that puzzling sermon to my mentor, who was older than the one who delivered that sermon, and he simply replied, “So, his God is a liar then!” Well said – you either believe all that the Bible says, or you might as well throw it out the window. At least that would be an honest response.
Have You Forgiven? Really Forgiven?
How do you know if you have forgiven or not? If you want to keep hashing and rehashing your hurts over an extended period of time, you have not forgiven. A decade ago, I went through one of the most painful times of my ministry career (which is saying quite a lot, by the way). I knew myself well enough to know that I hadn’t forgiven some of those who had dished out the most pain. I also knew that God did not want me to waste the pain, based on the Scriptures quoted above. I went to a friend’s remote lake house and spent three or four days alone, praying, reading, listening to spiritual music, and crying. I re-read the book “Exquisite Agony” by Gene Edwards. I believe the current title is “Crucified by Christians.”
Thankfully, I had forgotten the punch line of the book (and is it a powerhouse!). It had been some years prior since I had read it. When it hit me afresh, I was staggered. It took my breath away. I nearly fainted. When I then went out into the woods and cried out to God, I ended up thanking him for the intense pain he had allowed in my life and for the privilege of being crucified in pain as was my Savior. As Edwards pointed out, our “Gethsemanes” usually come after our crucifixion instead of before it like Jesus. I felt so one with Jesus and so one with the Father. Words cannot describe the joyful exultation in my heart as it soared beyond my imagination. It was truly an out-of-body experience, and it left me at peace with God and with the world, including those who had in my mind crucified me.
Am I motivated to tell the stories of those painful days before my surrender? Of course not. They are long past and God used them to bless my life, just like Romans 5, Hebrews 12 and James 1 promised. But they only work if we surrender and trust God. Of course, I retained some of the lessons learned through that time of suffering, but I don’t have any inclination to dig up the details of the experience and I don’t have any emotions connected with them now. Having our emotions aroused when thinking about past painful experiences is a dead giveaway. It shouts out, “Unfinished Business!” I surrendered and God blessed me through the whole process. Isn’t that what he calls us to do in his Word?
Do Our Attitudes Demonstrate Faith?
The proper attitudes to maintain as we face human suffering are based on the possible purposes behind the suffering. As we consider the several alternatives which God may be trying to accomplish in our lives, we learn the appropriate responses of faith. One, God may chasten his children in order to mold them, in which case we humbly submit. Two, we may suffer persecution because we are sons and daughters of God, in which case we rejoice. Three, we may not be able to understand just why we are suffering, in which case we trust. In all things, we look to the cross of Christ and see that God shared in our suffering, experienced it to the full degree and in so doing, showed us the greatest love possible. Now he calls us to follow him, trusting that our eternal rewards will far outweigh the temporary struggles. Once we are able to remove the obstacles to faith produced by the problem of pain and suffering, we are in a much better position to see God more clearly.
Two Books Worth Reading
Some of the thoughts expressed in the preceding material came from other materials I have written, whether articles, books or outlines for oral teaching and preaching. The following material comes from the last section of a chapter in one of my books – chapter 4 in Dynamic Leadership. I’ve written 15 books, starting in 1995. Many of the older ones are in the second or third editions by now, and a number of them have been translated into other languages. Dynamic Leadership is one of the newer ones, being published in 2012.
People sometimes ask which of my books is the most popular or which one I like best. The crowd favorite has been The Victory of Surrender, and it is probably my favorite as well. I would put Dynamic Leadership right up there with the book on surrender, believing these two to be the most important I have ever written in terms of the impact they have had or could have. When Wyndham Shaw was writing the Foreword to Dynamic Leadership, (a Foreword well worth reading), he told me that he thought it was the most important book I had ever written. Given the fact the he and I co-authored Golden Rule Leadership, his comments were striking.
As I close out this article, please read the following paragraphs very carefully, prayerfully and personally. Look at your own heart. Don’t think about others whom you think need the lessons contained therein. Fittingly, the following material comes in a chapter entitled “Leadership Styles.” Please continue…
Bitterness Destroys; Grace Heals and Strengthens
No matter what you’ve been through, maintaining a victim mentality will indeed destroy your righteousness. The first Bible Talk I ever attended (as an observer) was on a university campus, led by a single college student whose spirituality was most impressive to me as an older minister. He had a sincere, gentle spirit about him, but courageously laid out the biblical message in an admirable way. Experiences like that one drew me like a magnet into the discipling movement (as I called it then), although it took me a few years. After his graduation, he married a wonderful young disciple, whose spirit was just as refreshing as his. They had what seemed to be the ideal marriage. On a recent trip to their home state, I was told that they are now divorced. Hearing that news shocked and depressed me. We had started a friendship back in that campus Bible Talk that meant something special to me. His influence on me was profound, even though our times together were few and far between over the years. What happened? I don’t really know, but what I do know is that he was a frequent contributor to a certain website where bitterness was fertilized incessantly by former church members who refused to handle hard times and hurts God’s way. Bottom line, bitterness may enter our hearts through different avenues, but once inside, it is only a matter of time before it destroys our own hearts. I have watched this process over and over in the past few years. Satan must be rejoicing.
You might be thinking, “Wait just a minute, Ferguson! You don’t understand my situation. I’ve been hurt, and hurt badly!” I am moved quickly to respond to statements like that by saying, “I’m truly sorry, I really am.” But I am also moved to follow that statement up by saying, “Join the club—the human club, and then the Jesus club.” The human club is a large one indeed, because we have all experienced hurts at the hands of others, but the Jesus club is a very small club, comprised only of people who have chosen to respond as Jesus did (and does, by the way). Am I critical of the military model of leadership described in this chapter? Yes. But do I also understand the environment that produced it and the good that occurred all over the world in spite of many types of sins by the leadership? Yes. If I could redo those years, would I do things a lot differently? Yes. If I could just remove those years from my life, would I do that? Absolutely not! God has always worked his will through sinners. He has no other choice.
What does he expect of us sinners? That we do the best we know, and keep striving to learn and become better in every way; in other words, to be disciples of Jesus: followers and learners. Will we make mistakes and hurt people? Let’s get real here. The person I have hurt most in this life is the one I love most: my wife. But she will tell you that I came from a very dysfunctional home and did the best I knew in our earlier days of marriage, and that over the years I have also kept striving to learn and become better in every way. And by her grace and God’s grace in my life, I have come a long, long way. Yes, I still have a long way to go, but I’ve come a long way. As the old saying puts it: “I’m not what I ought to be, but thank the Lord I’m not what I used to be.”
Some years ago, I was walking around my basement praying. The week before had been a bad one for me (for reasons I no longer remember). As I prayed, I confessed that I had been a mess the week before, and I promised to work really hard in the new week and make up for the bad week. I remember exactly where I was in the room when I said that, because I stopped in my tracks and said aloud, “That’s really bad theology, Ferguson.” No one can make up for anything in the past. Even if that new week I was entering went really well, it still would have contained quite enough of its own sin. That’s the “reality show” that we all live in every day, every week, every month, every year, for our whole life.
What shall we do with our bad days, weeks or months? I discovered an approach to prayer that day in my basement that I think is not only practical, but also biblical. I started most of my prayer times long after that day with this approach: “Lord, here is what happened yesterday—the good and the bad. For the good, I thank you so much. For the bad, all I know to do is confess and repent and then learn from it. So, my plan for today is to learn from both the good and the bad of yesterday, shut the door on yesterday and set out on my journey with you today determined to make this the best day I can, by your grace.” If you are unable to process your past like that, you are in a heap of trouble.
Is not Paul saying basically the same thing in Philippians 3:15–16 that I said in my prayer? After describing some lofty goals in his own life, he then gets practical with these words: “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” I’m not as good a leader today as I will be next year, but it’s not next year yet. What I am today, I am, and I have to be content with living up to what I have attained at this point. And guess what? The people under my leadership are going to have to be content with that as well—it’s the best I have to offer. Can you follow that principle, for your leaders’ sake? Can you follow that same principle, for your own sake? Can you give others grace and can you give yourself grace? If not, you are cooked—no way out. If you cannot accept mercy and if you cannot give mercy, I pity you. We are all a bunch of sinners, trying to get to heaven and help each other get to heaven, and that’s going to require enormous amounts of grace from God and from one another.
Nineteen Reasons—Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones?
In this chapter, I listed nineteen evidences of our military model of leadership in the past. For you and for me, that list contains either nineteen reasons to be bitter or nineteen reasons to learn and grow spiritually and not make those same mistakes in the future. It is not what happens to us that ultimately matters; it is how we process what happens to us that matters. We need to learn from our mistakes, but what then? We will make some new ones! We are sinful human beings. This life is not heaven, nor will it ever be. The challenges of life, including all sins you commit and that others commit against you, will either be stumbling blocks or stepping stones. The old bumper sticker said, “Life is tough—and then you die.” That’s true, isn’t it? The real issue is how you handle life when it’s tough. Will it be Satan’s way or God’s way? Those are the only two choices we have, and we have to make that choice on a daily basis, usually many times a day. Jesus said that there are two paths: The narrow path is difficult in the short run, but is the only choice in the long run; the wide one seems deceptively easy in the short run, but is deadly in the long run. If we hang in with God, no matter what happens to us in this life, the long run will be unimaginably wonderful and wonderfully long.
The evolution I wrote about in the Introduction has occurred once again, hasn’t it? In talking about a bad style of leadership, we have ended up at the cross once again. It’s interesting how that will keep happening over and over, if we allow it to happen. The Latin word for cross is crux. The crux of the matter is not man’s leadership style, although I deem it important enough to write a chapter with the title. The real crux of the matter is the cross—God’s leadership style. That is the style I want to employ in my own leadership and to experience as I follow others, but no matter what people may do, God is still my leader, and yours. Whatever he causes or allows in my life, he already has my permission. Otherwise, life will make me bitter. But if God really is the architect of my life, I can handle whatever design he develops in my life. You can too—but the question is: Will we?
