One of my favorite passages in the bible is 1 John 1. I don't know how many times I've taught and preached out of it, because it's such thick stuff! Basically, it's about fakers - and being real with God.
I don't know about you, but I can be a faker. I can pretend nothing is wrong. I don't mean "nothing is bothering me", I mean "I didn't do anything wrong, my heart is in the right place." When I read this passage in 1 John, it basically tells me "you liar! God Himself knows whats in your heart! He's the one that MADE your heart, and He's the one that has watched your heart stray drastically away from Him and chase after other ambitions! You've been trying to be your own God since day one!"
Seems I need to hear this message often. Seems most Christians I know need to hear this message often. A life of freedom and joy is a life that is walking in honesty about who we are. First of all, that we are truly hypocrites all, filled with pride. As we confess that on a constant basis, and deal with it honestly, on that same constant basis, God is cleansing our hearts, showing us forgiveness and grace for our pride and arrogance, and lead us further into the light of His glory. This is joy!
Cynisism and pessimism in people is just evidence that they are still trying to be their own God and cast judgment on this world as if though they can change it for the better, when in reality, they are the ones who need changing. Seeing evil as "someone else's problem" is to totally neglect our own sin.
It also doesn't do any good when we casually, haphazardly glance at our own hearts from afar and say "yeah, I guess I have some sin, but who doesn't?" And then leave it at that, calling it "honesty." That's not honesty. That's bull... (End that expletive however you wish). It's worthless confession to God when we are unwilling to dig deep and unearth the real stuff, not just the surface stuff.
But we have this promise: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I am convinced that to humble yourself before God, to truly let Him break your heart because of the evil that dwells there - the evil you are lying about, refusing to admit - that He will change that heart and make you the kind of person that can actually amount to something to God. He is just that kind and compassionate. "God's kindness leads you toward repentance" (Rom. 2:4)
Sometimes our own personal sin runs so deep we don't even see where it comes from. I've learned from personal experience that it's the most frustrating thing to be laying awake at night, wanting to cry out and agony because you can't fix yourself. Part of the problem is that it feels so dark inside that you can't see to the bottom.
That's when you call for a flashlight.
The first step to getting honest about who you are is to ask the maker of your heart to reveal to you the evil that is inside it. David prayed Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
This is what it is to walk in the light. To purposely and sincerely ask God to reveal your heart to you, and show you the depth of the evil that dwells there. Why? So you can see it, acknowledge it, confess it, and ask God to cleanse your heart of it. It's exactly what He's in the business of doing. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26)
Good religion is not keeping your nose clean, appearing as holy as possible, keeping the bad under wraps. Good religion is getting down into the nitty gritty and actively SEARCHING for the bad, exposing it, and laying it out before God, dirty, filthy, and rotton with that sin that has been coagulating in the depths of your heart.
You might not realize this: God does not judge people on how GOOD they THINK they are, but on how BAD they KNOW they are, and are willing to confess it, and submit it to God for some REAL change. God isn't in the business of roaming the earth, seeing who can put on their best Jesus impersonation, and who has earned the most heaven points by minding their manners and not cussing in front of the preacher. That's shallow religion, and having grown up in church, I've seen enough of it to fill me up for the rest of my life. Ugh, gag me!
I can see why a lot of people walk away from churches, and in part, I don't blame them. "If they won't get serious with their sin, why should I?" They might ask.
Don't worry about other people. Worry about you. You want your life to count? You want to make a difference? You want to be better? Don't start with other people. Start with your own heart. "THEN you will be able to see clearly, to pull the speck out of your brother's eye." - Matthew 7:5
Don't offer God worthless confession that only touches the surface. Go deep. Stop being a liar. Stop calling God a liar by telling Him that He doesn't know what He's talking about... that it's not your problem, but everyone else's.
Liar, liar, pants on fire: you were born with a dark and evil heart like everyone else, and it's time to get real with God.
By the way, I don't care how religious you think you're NOT.... this is for you, too. To not extend this message of God's kindness and compassion for our wicked hearts, would be to say "I hate you too much to tell you the truth! You can go to hell for all I care."
But I love you too much not to tell the truth.
Hear some truth from God's word...
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
1 John 1
Keeping it old school: Check out these lyrics from a song called "In the Light" by DC Talk, from their Jesus Freak Album.
"In the Light"
I keep trying to find a life
On my own, apart from You
I am the king of excuses
I've got one for every selfish thing I do
What's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behaviour
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Saviour
CHORUS:
I wanna be in the Light
As You are in the Light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, Lord be my Light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the Light
All I want is to be in the Light
The disease of self runs through my blood
It's a cancer fatal to my soul
Every attempt on my behalf has failed
To bring this sickness under control
Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behaviour
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Saviour
(CHORUS)
Honesty becomes me
[There's nothing left to lose]
The secrets that did run me
[In Your presence are defused]
Pride has no position
[And riches have no worth]
The fame that once did cover me
[Has been sentenced to this Earth]
Has been sentenced to this Earth
Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behaviour
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Saviour
(CHORUS)
[There's no other place that I want to be]
[No other place that I can see]
[A place to be that's just right]
[Someday I'm gonna be in the Light]
[You are in the Light]
[That's where I need to be]
[That's right where I need to be]
Showing posts with label gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gospel. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Musings from a Youth Pastor to no one in particular
Monday, March 30, 2009
I am thinking that the gospel is an “all-in” proposition, a little bit of a bizarre, radical message that is hard to swallow. The reason it is so hard to swallow is because it is very upfront about all of it’s assumptions and claims about what is really true about the universe. To reject the gospel because it is hard to accept – i.e. it sounds ridiculous as an explanation of God and reality – is to assume that there is a more logical approach to reality.
I only wonder if many of those teenagers who see Christ as a crutch, or old-fashioned, irrelevant, and not applicable to their lives – if they have actually considered the alternative. If Jesus Christ is not really the Son of God, and the bible is a load of nonsense, then what IS true about the universe? Is IT real? Am I real? If not, then what is this thing that I am living, called life? What does it mean? What is it’s purpose? Where did I come from, if not from a creator God? Is the claim that the universe was produced from a gigantic cosmic explosion really enough of an explanation to satisfy my question as to why I feel such things as love, fear, anger, hate, pride, and loneliness? Does the thought of being evolved from a puddle of single-celled organisms really lead up to a satisfying explanation as to why I have the ability to feel very real emotion? And if everything is merely by chance, then how do I explain this gnawing sense that some things are right, and others are wrong? And how could I say that a loving God would not allow evil if there is really no such thing as love or evil? Where do I even GET these ideas?
The message of Christ is hard to accept, because it asks teenagers, especially, to begin to think clearly, critically, sharply about what they believe, in a world where thinking and believing are based so much on self-preferences and emotions that may or may not have anything to do with reality. Christ challenges people to rethink their idea of justice, when someone wrongs us. And it happens a lot. Are we really justified to judge, or are we not just as guilty of some other, similar action? He challenges teens to rethink who is really boss around here. Most teenagers I know – myself included, when I was in high school – have the desire to break out of their parents “bondage” and to be their own person, because the people who seem to be running their life apparently know nothing. The idea is basically to choose your own destiny and path in life. Jesus comes down strong with a message that says “who is God here?”
The gospel is hard to accept, because it forces teenagers to think, who previously weren’t really thinking at all, but were letting the rest of the world do the thinking for them. They just go with the flow, enjoy what they like, hate what they don’t like, and give no thought as to where this joy and hate came from.
The alternative to the gospel - that being, independence from God - is really an alternative that doesn't give you all of the facts right up front.Every philosophy of life has, at it's very core, a presupposition that you have to look at.
For example, when someone says "be what you want to be", what is at the core of what they are saying? They are saying you have the choice, because there is no God to determine your direction in life.
When someone says "I'm not religious", all they are really saying is that they just kind of make up their own truth because they really don't prefer to believe in something that doesn't let them be their own god.
I remember when the Fredericktown Football team put out tee-shirts that said "be a part of something larger than yourself." What is that, but the very core of religion? And what IS that "something" that is "larger than yourself?" Football? Family? Friends? Really? What happens when all of these things - all these people - are gone and you are still standing there? NOW what are you living for?
When someone says "a loving God would not let evil to exist, and so He must not be real", they are saying that there is such a thing as love and evil, without explaining where these ideas came from, if it weren't for a Divine Creator.
So you see how the gospel of Christ is straightforward about His claims, but the alternatives that the world offers are deceptive, because they don't tell you the whole story.
If you are not a thinker, the gospel is not for you, teenager. Just go back to your video games and forget about any of this. But if you care about eternity, if you sense God turning on the light and telling you "wake up!" Perhaps it’s time to become a thinker, and think about the gospel. Jesus didn’t die for nothing. But if you’re not careful, you might.
MAN, do I ever love you!
I am thinking that the gospel is an “all-in” proposition, a little bit of a bizarre, radical message that is hard to swallow. The reason it is so hard to swallow is because it is very upfront about all of it’s assumptions and claims about what is really true about the universe. To reject the gospel because it is hard to accept – i.e. it sounds ridiculous as an explanation of God and reality – is to assume that there is a more logical approach to reality.
I only wonder if many of those teenagers who see Christ as a crutch, or old-fashioned, irrelevant, and not applicable to their lives – if they have actually considered the alternative. If Jesus Christ is not really the Son of God, and the bible is a load of nonsense, then what IS true about the universe? Is IT real? Am I real? If not, then what is this thing that I am living, called life? What does it mean? What is it’s purpose? Where did I come from, if not from a creator God? Is the claim that the universe was produced from a gigantic cosmic explosion really enough of an explanation to satisfy my question as to why I feel such things as love, fear, anger, hate, pride, and loneliness? Does the thought of being evolved from a puddle of single-celled organisms really lead up to a satisfying explanation as to why I have the ability to feel very real emotion? And if everything is merely by chance, then how do I explain this gnawing sense that some things are right, and others are wrong? And how could I say that a loving God would not allow evil if there is really no such thing as love or evil? Where do I even GET these ideas?
The message of Christ is hard to accept, because it asks teenagers, especially, to begin to think clearly, critically, sharply about what they believe, in a world where thinking and believing are based so much on self-preferences and emotions that may or may not have anything to do with reality. Christ challenges people to rethink their idea of justice, when someone wrongs us. And it happens a lot. Are we really justified to judge, or are we not just as guilty of some other, similar action? He challenges teens to rethink who is really boss around here. Most teenagers I know – myself included, when I was in high school – have the desire to break out of their parents “bondage” and to be their own person, because the people who seem to be running their life apparently know nothing. The idea is basically to choose your own destiny and path in life. Jesus comes down strong with a message that says “who is God here?”
The gospel is hard to accept, because it forces teenagers to think, who previously weren’t really thinking at all, but were letting the rest of the world do the thinking for them. They just go with the flow, enjoy what they like, hate what they don’t like, and give no thought as to where this joy and hate came from.
The alternative to the gospel - that being, independence from God - is really an alternative that doesn't give you all of the facts right up front.Every philosophy of life has, at it's very core, a presupposition that you have to look at.
For example, when someone says "be what you want to be", what is at the core of what they are saying? They are saying you have the choice, because there is no God to determine your direction in life.
When someone says "I'm not religious", all they are really saying is that they just kind of make up their own truth because they really don't prefer to believe in something that doesn't let them be their own god.
I remember when the Fredericktown Football team put out tee-shirts that said "be a part of something larger than yourself." What is that, but the very core of religion? And what IS that "something" that is "larger than yourself?" Football? Family? Friends? Really? What happens when all of these things - all these people - are gone and you are still standing there? NOW what are you living for?
When someone says "a loving God would not let evil to exist, and so He must not be real", they are saying that there is such a thing as love and evil, without explaining where these ideas came from, if it weren't for a Divine Creator.
So you see how the gospel of Christ is straightforward about His claims, but the alternatives that the world offers are deceptive, because they don't tell you the whole story.
If you are not a thinker, the gospel is not for you, teenager. Just go back to your video games and forget about any of this. But if you care about eternity, if you sense God turning on the light and telling you "wake up!" Perhaps it’s time to become a thinker, and think about the gospel. Jesus didn’t die for nothing. But if you’re not careful, you might.
MAN, do I ever love you!
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