Ponderings that came out of the morning:
People come to Christ but are sometimes sidetracked shortly thereafter in their inexperience. “I am now a Christian, so I have to seek the help of the world to know how to be a man.” And they’re encouraged to go this way sometimes by those in the church who build men’s ministries that too closely model the world. Chopping wood. Feats of strength. Bacon. That kind of stuff. It’s not helped either by the immaturity of those who claim Christ but religiously support infantile buffoons in politics (don’t get me wrong though — the alternatives to infantile buffoons are simply the same kind of crook without as much buffoonery). But even in that context, they’re off base. The Bible makes it simple for us. We are to “seek first [my emphasis] the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” and all those necessities of life about which we worry will be taken care of.
So here’s a novel thought. Instead of working so hard chasing the world to find our places when faced with the its challenges, turn first to the gospel. Seek first the gospel and let good marriages follow. Seek first the gospel and let your finances come into line. Seek first the gospel and let the Christ in whom you are growing inform how you are to act as a man.
Sadly, we would much rather chase off after whatever works for the influencer who appeals to us most at the moment. Paul should certainly include them when he tells Timothy: “ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Live a gospel life? That’s too hard. Let’s just go with our ideal of what we think that would look when in fact it would do us much better to just soak in the Bible and let what we read in it seep into our lives.
We in the church become so enraptured in the ways of the world — even if they look “Christiany” — that we lose sight of the true way. We look for solutions in the way the world does it when we would do better just to be immersed in Christ. This is why daily Bible reading is so important. You grow from the source, and if you are not reading daily — and more than just a “devotional” paragraph or two — you’re more than likely not growing as well as you could. So much of everything else, while helpful at times for insight or perspectives, is beyond what you need. If you’re going “beyond” in anything without first being immersed in the original, where you end up could be fraught with shallow and erroneous application.
That’s not to say there is no use in anything “beyond.” Of course not. As long as we hold what we read elsewhere up to the light of the Bible, the beyond can be quite useful. For example, JC Ryle’s book, Holiness, is a fantastic resource for the Christian walk. Why? Because it points clearly to scripture to back up (no…as the foundation of) what it’s saying. It walks you right through the realities of life from a perspective that doesn’t tend toward scratching any itches. Chapter one: “Sin.” Not something a lot of us are keen on hearing the truth about. Then the rest of the table of contents gives even more: “Sanctification.” “Holiness.” “The Fight.” “The Cost.” “Growth.” “Assurance.” And it goes on with specific examples from scripture.
James writes in his letter to the Church:
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
We live in the world, and we should follow Paul’s advice from his letter to the Roman church when he says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” On top of that, we should (in his advice to Timothy) “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” And “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.” We can do all that without compromising our Christian witness, but only if we stand on the truth of the Bible; not being belligerent, but honoring Christ the Lord as holy and “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in [us],” but with gentleness and respect.
Those words were from Peter’s first letter to the Church, where he goes deeper, saying you do this “having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
A wild thought for sure. Be not just “Christian,” but so like Christ that people are ashamed of themselves when they mock you. We should all pray to succeed in this, then go out and live that way.
