I’m a big fan of excellence (as opposed to those of you who are big fans of awfulness). When we do things with excellence it is a reflection of God, who does all things with excellence. I firmly believe that we should strive for excellence in every area of the church. I’m so grateful for our talented worship team, outstanding children’s ministry team, fantastic sound crew, creative youth team, and all the other folks in my church who work so hard for the glory of God. Coming to church should be a “most excellent adventure” (See Bill & Ted).

But, problems arise when we place our confidence in our excellence rather than in the mighty power of God. God absolutely does not need our excellent performance. He doesn’t need my kicking worship team. He doesn’t need my well-crafted sermon. He doesn’t need my zany, delightful  children’s ministry, which could also double as a Chuck E. Cheese. If I have these things, wonderful. But the truth is, God often does his most powerful work through those who are weak and unimpressive.

John Flavel says:

How the weak have been used for the good of the church! Christ did not choose eloquent orators, or men of authority in the courts of kings and emperors, but twelve poor labourers, and fishermen. This is the most ridiculous course that can be imagined, in appearance, for such a design. And yet, in how short a time was the gospel spread in all the kingdoms of the world. (Voices From the Past, 140)

Jesus established his kingdom on the shoulders of fishermen, tax collectors, and prostitutes. He chose Peter to lead the charge out of Jerusalem. Peter, the guy who denied Jesus three times. Peter, the guy who gave up gospel ground to the Judaizers. Peter, the guy whose mouth seemed to always run ahead of his brain.

Jesus could have chosen the most articulate orators as his spokesman. He could have chosen great war heroes, or political superstars. He could have built a campaign of shock and awe and power. Instead he chose fisherman. Guys with cracked hands, plain speech, minimal learning, and the constant aroma of raw fish.  The disciples were not power players in the Roman world.

God will not allow us to receive any of the glory, so he builds his kingdom through and in spite of our weakness. If your worship team is mediocre, don’t freak out. Instead, work toward excellence and trust that God will use your weak, halting efforts for his glory. If you stutter and stammer when sharing the gospel, don’t get discouraged! Seek to improve your gospel communication, but more importantly, trust God to use your stutters and stammers to bring salvation to the lost. If your sermons feel like duds, don’t sink into despair. Improve your sermons and improve your confidence in God. If you feel like a constant parenting trainwreck, seek to grow in your parenting and trust God to use your trainwreck efforts to work in your children.

God doesn’t need us. He’s managed to achieve quite a bit without our help, thankyou very much. In his kindness he allows us to participate in his mission. Let’s strive for excellence. But more importantly, let’s place our confidence in the God who does great things through weakness.

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These days it’s cool to have doubts. To question everything. To challenge every assumption and pushback against every given. To rant and rave and rail against the status quo. To maintain a stance of perpetual acidic cynicism. Doubt is real man, it’s real. It’s authentic. It’s true. Questioning everything shows that I am a free spirit, an independent thinker who won’t let “the man” (whoever that may be) control my brain. I think different. I wave my freak flag. If you doubt enough things you can usually get a book deal out of it.

When it comes to my Christian faith, there is an appropriate place for doubts and questions. It can be good and helpful to ask questions like, “How do we know the Bible truly is the word of God?”, and, “Is there really evidence for Jesus’ resurrection?” We shouldn’t be afraid of these kinds of questions, and we should do all we can to answer them, both for ourselves and for others.

But when it comes to my daily, step by step (Why one set of footprints?) walk with Jesus, he does not think my perpetual doubting is cool. He doesn’t endorse my faithlessness. He thinks it stinks. In Matthew 18:3-4 Jesus says:

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Entering Jesus’ kingdom and walking daily with Jesus requires me to have a humble, trusting, loving, believing faith in Christ. Jesus calls me to have a simple, genuine faith in his character and his promises. When I tell my children that something is true, they believe me. They know that I love them, and therefore they simply trust me. They don’t demand proof, they simply trust. In the same way, I know that Jesus loves me and always has my best interests in mind, therefore I am called to simple faith in him.

Jesus responds in mighty, even mind-boggling ways to my simple faith. When Jesus saw the simple faith of the Roman centurion (Matt. 8) he healed the centurion’s servant and he marveled at the faith of the centurion. Jesus didn’t do a whole lot of marveling in his life. The centurion simply trusted in the character and ability of Jesus, and that caused Jesus to marvel! In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says that if we have faith like a mustard seed we will move mountains. Mountains! I can have doubts the size of New Jersey and not a single mountain will be moved. I can have tiny, simplistic faith in Christ and his word and whole mountains will shift! When the paralytic was lowered through the roof, Jesus saw his faith and forgave his sins.

Jesus does mighty, breathtaking things in response to my wholehearted simple faith. He does miracles in response to faith. He intervenes in response to faith. He conquers in response to faith. He protects in response to faith. To doubt Jesus isn’t cool, it’s sinful.

Do I have a firm, childlike confidence in Jesus:

• For all the ups and downs of my marriage?
• For all the complexities and perplexities of parenting?
• For a strapped budget?
• When I don’t understand God’s plan for me?
• When it seems like everything I do results in failure?

Today I have two options. I can hinder Jesus from working in my life by allowing my doubts and questions to crowd out Jesus. Or I can walk in humble, childlike faith, trusting Jesus to care for me. I’ll take option number two.

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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6

There is a progression in the beatitudes. We acknowledge our spiritual poverty before God which leads us to mourn our sin which produces humility of heart. Then we begin to hunger and thirst for a righteousness outside ourselves – the very righteousness of God.

Righteousness has to do with relationship. God, in his relationship to us always does everything perfectly right: he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. PS 9:8

We’re not righteous in our relationship to God: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12. We may think we aren’t that bad, but in God’s sight, We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment… Isaiah 64:6

When we compare ourselves with others, we don’t seem that bad, but when we get a glimpse of God’s holiness we’re laid low like Isaiah: And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Isaiah 6:6

One Halloween when I was a teenager, my neighbor answered the door in her costume wearing white pancake makeup. I’d always thought her teeth were white, but when she smiled, compared to the white makeup, her teeth were three shades of yellow! When we compare our righteousness to God’s, ours is filthy.

HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Hunger and thirst are intense desires. When the Holy Spirit begins to work in us he causes us to hate sin and long to be pure in God’s sight. Years ago I went three days without food or drink. All I could think about was my thirst. I was consumed by it.  It was the most intense desire I’d ever had.

THEY SHALL BE SATISFIED

We receive God’s righteousness as a gift when we trust in Jesus, who lived his entire life perfectly obeying his Father. He never committed a single sin in thought, word, or deed, but on the cross, God clothed Jesus in our filthy rags of unrighteousness then crushed him so that when we turn to Jesus, God places his shining robes of righteousness on us. Not because of our work but as a gift!

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness Romans 4:4-5

What joy! What satisfaction! What rest! Like when you’re starving and you eat a great meal and you’re just stuffed. Satisfied!

ONGOING HUNGER AND THIRST

Yet there’s an ongoing hunger. Jesus didn’t say “Blessed are those who at one time hungered and thirsted,” He said blessed are those who hunger and thirst – present tense.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Ps 42:1-2

The Christian life is a rhythm of being filled with the Spirit, then longing for more. Feasting on joy then asking for more. Drinking in God’s love, then waking the next morning thirsting for more. God will continue to satisfy us throughout our lives till drink in the sight of his glory in heaven.

Anybody thirsty?

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My generation is the ‘authentic’ generation. We like our peanut butter organic, our meat free-range, our coffee fair-trade, our bands obscure, and our pictures “vintage”. We used to like Coldplay when no one else knew about them, but now they’re too mainstream. We don’t like big, soul-crushing corporations such as Wal-Mart or Costco. We want realness and authenticity and soul. We want self-expression. We want openness, honesty, and transparency.

This desire for realness and authenticity is what leads so many young men and women to conclude that the church is for losers. After all, the church is full of self-righteous, legalistic, hoity-toity hypocrites. There is no vibrant community, there is no deep faith, there is no openness about sin. There is no transparency of life. Everyone is doing just fine, thank you. Nothing to see here, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for, move along. Which, of course, we “authentic” Christians know is not the true state of affairs.

And there may be some truth to that argument. At times our churches can be overly superficial, and smiley, and “turn that frown upside down because God is good!” At times we dispense scripture verses like vitamins rather than the living word of God. At times we resort to speaking in trite, Hallmark-ish cliches. But, the reality is, every church is full of hypocrites (and yes, that includes you and me).

A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and then acts in a contrary manner. A man who preaches against sexual immorality and then sleeps with his mistress is a hypocrite. A woman who espouses the beauty of a quiet spirit and then physically abuses her children is a hypocrite. But so is a man who wholeheartedly affirms the sovereignty of God and then regularly sins in worry (that would be me). So is a man who preaches about being a servant and then sins in selfishness at home (me again!) So is a man who tells others to pray passionately and then finds himself praying distracted, half-hearted prayers (strike three). So is a man who tells his children to be patient, then sins in impatience (I could keep going). All of us are hypocrites in one form or another.

The great battle of the Christian life is to close the gap between what we believe and how we live. Every Christian is a slowly healing hypocrite. Every Christian is slowly learning to live in light of their true identity in Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as a hypocrite free church. Every true church is composed of hypocrites who trust not in their own authenticity, but who trust in the completely authentic, sin-free, God-man Jesus Christ.

Should we strive to be humble, transparent, and open about our struggles? Sure. God always gives grace to the humble. But more than that, let’s be open and transparent about our absolute confidence in Jesus Christ, the One who saves hypocrites like you and me. Being authentic and open about our struggles with sin is not inherently valuable. Opening up our lives is not inherently more holy. Our openness is only valuable if it ultimately points us to Jesus Christ, the one who rescues us from our sins. Our transparency is only valuable if it forces us to lean more heavily on Christ, the Solid Rock.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to eat some Velveeta cheese while listening to Nickleback.

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Every so often I like to give away some of my writing for free. Today is one of those days! I’m giving away my novel The Last Superhero and my dystopian novella The Chip. Simply click on the links below to go the Amazon page and download the free book!

The Last Superhero: “WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE GODFATHER MET THE INCREDIBLES?

The Wagners are a superhero family dynasty who have always protected the city of Coreopolis. The grandpa, John Utticus Wagner, is revered in the superhero community. He’s consistently invited to speak at superhero symposiums, has dined with the President, and has a sterling reputation as a model superhero. Every young superhero wants to be like John Utticus Wagner.

Unfortunately, John’s son, Orville Wagner, is not the man his father is. He’s a terrible klutz who always manages to create disasters, like derailing subway trains and accidentally injuring innocent bystanders. Orville is mocked in the superhero community, and the family’s once sterling reputation is tarnished. They no longer are seen as the protectors of Coreopolis. They are the laughingstock of the city.

When a new super villian starts terrorizing Coreopolis, it’s up to John, Orville, and Orville’s son, John II, to stop the villain and restore the family’s honor. The question is, can an old man, a klutz, and boy stop a maniacal super villain?”

The Chip: “On July 4th, 2017, the worst terrorist attack in United States history took place. Seven planes hit buildings in five highly populated cities. As the country is reeling, Elise McCoy steps forward as the voice of the American people. She authors the most viral White House petition in history, calling for radical changes in national security measures.

However, as Elise leads the charge for increased security measures, her husband Cal fears that she is going too far. As tensions mount between Cal and Elise, Elise is unknowingly placing herself in greater and greater danger. As the danger increases, it becomes apparent that only Cal can save his wife from her own cause.”

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This is strangely mesmerizing. I find myself watching it over and over and over. This Internet thing really boosts my productivity:

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Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

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Are you ever tempted to play Superman?

I don’t mean dressing up in blue tights and a cape. (If you do that, I’d prefer not to know about it.) No, I’m talking about playing Superman in ministry and care for other people. It looks like this.

You have a tender heart that loves and cares for people and wants to extend the love of Christ to them. The needs of others weigh heavily on your heart, and you are moved to help. So you fix the meals, you loan the money, you listen to the stories – in short, you try very hard to love your neighbor as yourself. But – and this is key – it’s always you doing the caring. It’s your cell phone on this person’s speed dial, your shoulder that gets cried on, your wallet that becomes a revolving line of credit. And, intentionally or not, you end up carrying people’s woes, worries, and wants. Strap on your cape, friend, because you’ve become Super-Christian.

Now let me pause here to clarify: it’s a good thing to care for the needs of others, and to be willing to sacrificially give of your time and resources! In fact, most of us need a bit more of this willingness to lay down our lives. If God has given you this kind of tender heart, which Romans 12:8 calls the gift of mercy, I don’t want anything I say in this post to make you feel condemned. Let me say it one more time: the willingness to sacrificially serve reflects the very heart of God, and it is a beautiful thing.

But here’s the catch: you and I are not God. And God, in his wisdom, did not give a scattered collection of superheroes to minister to the world. He gave the church, created by the work of Christ and filled with the power of His Spirit. Because of that, no one individual can meet all the needs of any other person. Needy people don’t need you (or me); they need the church. (And incidentally, we’re all needy people.) Listen to how Paul describes the church in Colossian 2:19: “the whole body [of Christ], nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, [which] grows with a growth that is from God.”

Here’s what this means for the tender-hearted among us: if you want to see the deepest change and the greatest growth in the people you care for, enfold them into the community of faith. A body needs all of its joints and ligaments, and needy people need all of the gifts of the body of Christ. So yes, take the homeless person on your street into your home if God gives you faith for that. But ask others to cook some of the meals, connect him with a man in the church who can help him find work, and get a group of people praying for him. Use your gifts, but also use those of the whole church. When the children of your single parent neighbor need babysitting, don’t say “yes” over and over until you’re burnt out and can’t continue.  Ask if you can introduce them to some trusted friends from church who can share the load with you. This isn’t merely practical wisdom to keep your sanity; this is living out the reality of the doctrine of the church.

Until Jesus comes back, the church is the visible expression of his ministry on earth. No one Christian can possibly fulfill that whole ministry, even though every single Christian is a part of that ministry. This means there are no Super-Christians – just the ordinary and supernatural church. So use your gifts of mercy and love, but see yourself as part of a larger community, the body of Christ, the place where God through every joint and ligament mends broken people by the gospel.

And please, take the cape back to Goodwill.

Image by Loresjoberg.

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Interpreting the Bible literally can be a good thing. It probably means that you want to know exactly what God says and obey his words. It means you don’t want to play Bible roulette with which verses you obey. It means you’re willing to obey all the commands of the Bible, even the painful ones.

But, interpreting the Bible literally can also get you into a lot of trouble. Harold Camping thought he was interpreting the Bible literally, which in turn led him to mispredict the end of the world…twice. Pinstripe wearing prosperity preachers think they are interpreting the Bible literally, which leads them to teach that God never wills illness. Heck, the hellfire, hate-throwing folks at Westboro Baptist Church probably think they are interpreting the Bible literally.

So what does it mean to truly interpet the Bible literally? How can we be sure that our “literal” interpretation of the Bible isn’t actually a theological hack job? Here are some simple questions to help you truly interpret the Bible literally.

What did the original author intend to convey to the original audience? 

The first question to ask when reading the Bible should not be, “What does this mean to me?” The first question always must be, “What was the original author trying to say to the original audience?” Ask questions like:

• Was the author seeking to encourage the exiled people of Israel?
• Was the author seeking to convince the Jewish people that Jesus was the Messiah?
• Was the author seeking to correct theological error in the church?
• Was the author seeking to encourage Christians in the midst of persecution?

Understanding the original intent of the passage guards us from reading a modern meaning back into scripture. Does it take work and study and thinking to wrestle the original meaning from the text? You bet. But it’s valuable, necessary work.

What writing style is used for this section of scripture?

The Psalms are primarily poetry, which means we should expect word pictures, similes, and metaphors. The epistles of Paul are letters, which means we should expect a relatively straightforward, logical progression. The gospels are narratives, which means we should expect all the elements of an eyewitness story to be in place. Revelation is apocalyptic in nature, which means we should expect highly symbolic language. We can’t interpret the Psalms in the same way we interpret the espistles of Paul. We can’t interpret the gospels in the same way we interpret Proverbs. Each scripture must interpreted in light of its literary genre. We get into trouble when we start mixing up our genres.

Where does this section of scripture fall in light of salvation history?

All of scripture must be interpreted through the lens of God’s plan of salvation. When reading the Old Testament, ask yourself, “How do these stories, commands, or prophecies point to Jesus, and how are they fulfilled by Jesus?” After all, Jesus said that all of the law and the prophets spoke about him. We get into theological trouble when we start applying Old Testament commands, stories, and prophecies without first looking at them through the lens of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return.

What is God’s intended outcome for this section of scripture?

In other words, how does God want me to respond to this command, promise, warning, or rebuke? Should I worship? Should I repent? Should I take courage? Should I marvel? God’s word is not meant to be read and dissected like a chemistry textbook. It is living and active. God speaks to us when we read his word. He wants us to respond to his word, to obey his word, to live by his word. We are to be doers of the word, not hearers only.

How does this passage line up with the rest of the Bible?

A general rule of thumb for Bible interpretation is that clear passages always interpret unclear passages. So, when James says that we are justified by our works, we interpret that passage in light of all the Bible says about justification by faith. When Paul says that women must stay silent in church, we interpret that in light of Paul’s teaching that both men and women can publicly prophecy in church. We get into trouble when we isolate passages of scriptures.

Massive books have been written on the subject of scripture interpretation. Obviously I can’t cover all my bases in one short blog post. These are general rules of thumb, and need to be applied with wisdom. If you’re looking for a good book on the subject, I recommend How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth by Gordon Fee.

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“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Mt 5:4

What does Jesus mean? Why is someone blessed when they grieve? Why mourn just to be comforted? Why not skip both? 

Jesus isn’t talking about grieving over a tragic event, but mourning over our sins.

“They shall be comforted.” By these words Christ refers primarily to the removal of the guilt that burdens the conscience. This is accomplished by the Spirit’s application of the Gospel of God’s grace to one whom He has convicted of his dire need of a Savior. The result is a sense of free and full forgiveness through the merits of the atoning blood of Christ. –A.W Pink 

Paul describes this mourning in 2 Corinthians 7:

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

There are 2 kinds of grief: godly and worldly. Worldly grief is feeling bad because you got caught or things went wrong after you sinned. It’s regret because you look bad in others’ eyes or you messed up your life. But worldly grief doesn’t cause us to repent or turn to God. Years ago, a couple of us repeatedly appealed to a woman committing adultery. Her sin devastated her marriage and children. She was grieved – she wept and wailed but refused to break off the relationship. She shed tears but was unwilling to change.

The Corinthians’ grief led to repentance. “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.” This kind of mourning results in blessing – when our grief over sin leads us to repent it yields the incredible comfort of salvation.

Godly sorrow regrets hurting God and we want to change, not to improve our lives or escape shame, but to please God. And when we mourn in this way, we’re comforted – with God’s assurance our sins are forgiven.

Godly mourning is a sign we’ve been born again. Unbelievers may grieve because their sins make them miserable, but not because they offend God. For believers, while grieving over our sins isn’t pleasant, it should encourage us that we do this because God’s Spirit dwells in us.

There are many other weaknesses and failures believers mourn over: our spiritual coldness and ongoing struggles with sin, our distracted worship and lack of desire for God’s Word and prayer. We wished we loved the saints more, had more compassion. These too show we’re born again. We wouldn’t care if God hadn’t changed us. The fact that we wish we were better servants pleases God.

The comfort of God

Jesus doesn’t want us to mourn over our sins just so we feel bad but desires us to know his comfort, God’s full, free forgiveness and cleansing from sin.

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” RO 4:7-8

The rhythm  of grief and comfort

We grieve when loved ones reject Jesus, then are comforted when he saves them. We mourn when brothers and sisters sin against us, but are comforted when we forgive them and are restored. We mourn when we endure various trials, but we’re comforted when we see Christ formed in us. We grieve when a brother or sister goes home to be with the Lord, but are comforted knowing they rejoice in God’s presence. We grieve over our weakness and lack of desire for the Lord, but we are comforted knowing that God sees us as righteous in Christ.

We are “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” 2 Corinthians 6:10. And we look forward to that day of ultimate comfort when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

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