Category Archives: John

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The Divine Leverage of Willful Unbelief

Being With Jesus:
John 12:40

“God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that they can neither see nor understand nor turn to me to heal them.”

John 12 is a pivot point in this Gospel that marks Jesus’ last public movements before his arrest, crucifixion and post-resurrection appearances. It is one of the most stunning accounts you will find in Scripture because of the unbelief of the characters in this chapter.

Jesus has just performed the greatest miracle you could ever hope for: the raising of Lazarus from the tomb four days after he had died. Yet the reaction of Judas, the priests and the Pharisees, respectively, to this outstanding miracle is flat-out rejection of Jesus’ deity, if not blind hatred. This unbelief is stunning, given the fact that the now-resurrected Lazarus is standing before their very eyes.

Fortunately, this story is more than the sad history of the Jewish establishment’s reject of Jesus. As is always the case with Scripture, there are some valuable lessons we can learn from this about the willful unbelief of man and the unstoppable purposes of God.

The first lesson we learn is that miracles alone will never lead people to the full surrender of their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. People often demand a miracle before they will place faith in Christ, but the record of the Gospels indicates that miracles alone won’t wash away willful unbelief. They should—but they don’t. Time and again, Jesus performed a miracle, only to have people turn around and in the very next moment demand not another sign, but a sign—as if the one he had just given hadn’t been given at all. Such is the utter blindness of illogical unbelief. Beware, the next time you find yourself insisting that God grant you your miracle.

The second lesson we learn is that the motives of sinful man will always irreconcilably conflict with the purposes of a holy God. When man’s agenda collides with God’s agenda—and it always does, sooner or later—something’s gotta give. The Jewish leaders were more interested in protecting their religious and political way of life than in discovering the life of abundance that the Messiah had come to reveal, and in this case, unbelievably, man killed his Creator! Keep in mind that early and often in your voyage of faith you will be called to untether from the shores of comfort.

But the third lesson we learn here is that even the inflexible unbelief of man always gets leveraged for the irrepressible glory of God. That is why Jesus quotes Isaiah in John 12:40, “God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts—so they can’t see, can’t understand, can’t turn to me and have me heal them.”

Now this is one of the Bible’s hard sayings that seems to say God destines some people to unbelief. But understand that Isaiah’s complaint springs from the broken heart of a prophet who is bewildered that his message, his calls to repentance, made men worse, not better. Yet in their painful and willful rejection of the word of the Lord, Isaiah knew that even this could not take place outside God’s purpose nor thwart his unstoppable plan. Nothing can—which means we best get on board with God’s agenda. So in that sense, even when men rejected Isaiah’s message, their unbelief was still contained within God’s purpose.

That is not to say that man’s unbelief is God’s purpose; rather, it is to say that God sovereignly uses even man’s unbelief for his sovereign purpose. For instance, in Romans 11 the Apostle Paul said that God used the unbelief of the Jews for the conversion of the Gentiles. God didn’t predestine certain people to unbelief, but he used their unbelief to further his agenda. In John 12, the Jews’ unbelief isn’t God’s fault; it’s the Jews’ fault. Yet even then, God is so great that not even this sin of stunning unbelief is outside his power, so he leverages it to bring about the cross and the redemption of all who believe.

Now if all this is theologically true, what does it mean for you practically? Simply this: God will leverage man’s unbelief for his ultimate glory—even yours. But you have a choice. You can either stubbornly hold on to your unbelief—that is, where your agenda conflicts with God’s—or you can surrender it to Jesus so that you can get on board with God’s glorious plan.

What is your area of unbelief; the place where you are holding on to your agenda? Have you ever withheld money from missional work because it was dedicated to something that you “needed” to do?

Have you ever held back from an appeal to serve in your spiritual community because you felt unqualified or too busy or frankly just didn’t want to make the commitment? Have you ever criticized change in the church the pastor felt necessary to reach more outsiders because it conflicted with your comfort and your preferred style of worship. There are a hundred ways we hold on to our unbelief—with spiritual justification—but here’s what Jesus said in John 12:24-25 about letting go of your agenda for God’s:

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it’s never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it’s buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is, destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”

unbeliefIf you hold on to what you want, you’ll kill any chance of what God wants for you! To experience the resurrected life—not just in eternity, but now—you have to die to your unbelief.

Before you finish this post, I would implore you to determine that your agenda, your unbelief, will no longer control you.

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“Disobedience is the root of unbelief. Unbelief is the mother of further disobedience. Faith is voluntary submission within a person’s own power. If faith is not exercised, the true cause lies deeper than all intellectual reasons. It lies in the moral aversion of human will and in the pride of independence, which says, ‘who is Lord over us? Why should we have to depend on Jesus Christ?’ As faith is obedience and submission, so faith breeds obedience, but unbelief leads on to higher-handed rebellion. With dreadful reciprocity of influence, the less one trusts, the more he disobeys; the more he disobeys, the less he trusts.” (Alexander Maclaren)

 

Getting To Know Jesus: Where are you stubbornly holding on to your own spiritual agenda—and thus, expressing willful unbelief? Ask God to reveal to you where you need to surrender your preferences to his ways. Then be ready to ruthlessly obey him.

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I Surrender All—Really?

Being With Jesus:
John 11:4

But when Jesus heard about [Lazarus’ deathly illness] he said, “The purpose of his illness is not death, but for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will recleive glory from this situation.”

When I was a kid, there was a Gospel chorus that my little country church regularly sang. In fact, to my recollection, we sang that song most every time we gathered for a service—Sunday morning, Sunday night and for Wednesday evening Bible study. It was called, “I Surrender All.” I can still hear the melody and feel the emotions that went with it as we belted out our commitment to the Lord.

Though it is currently not used too much, once in a while it gets dusted off and sung in churches today when attenders are being urged to some sort of higher commitment. The words go like this:

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

I surrender all,
I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

I surrender all! Really? Here’s the question I have for you: How committed are you that God’s glory would be displayed in your life through by whatever means, even unpleasant events? How surrendered are you—not willing to be surrendered, but actually are surrendered—to God’s purpose being worked out through all of your circumstances, especially the painfull ones? I’m not sure how you will answer that, but I know that when I honestly consider the implications of total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in my life—not in theory, but right now, in the gritty reality of my current world—I have to nervously gulp a little bit.

You see, to be truthful, although I say I am surrendered to God’s glory and totally committed to his divine plan for me, I have some expectations about how I want him to work that out. I have some investments I’ve made, some relationships I cherish, some possessions I like, and some plans that I want him to protect and prosper. I want unchallenged, guaranteed wins in my life. No bumps in the road, please!

Of course, you and I realize that God doesn’t operate that way. Sometimes he allows challenges, losses and bumps; sometimes even the death of an investment, a dream or even a loved one. Don’t like my theology on that? Just talk to Mary and Martha; they’ll set you straight. They discovered here in John 11 when their brother was on his deathbed that Jesus doesn’t always operate according to our timeline. He can’t be rushed, coerced, manipulated or diverted down our preferred path when he knows there is a better road leading to the glory of God that we must trod.

The truth of the matter is, Jesus is committed to the glory of God—period. And he knows that the greatest glory comes to God when people place total trust in him through unconditional belief. Furthermore, he knows that the greatest and strongest trust is developed in the toughest trials of life. That is why he told his disciples that he was going to let Lazarus’ illness end in death so that he could raise him up so that they could believe in him so that God would be glorified:

“Our friend Lazarus has gone to sleep, but now I will go and waken him!” The disciples, thinking Jesus meant Lazarus was having a good night’s rest, said, “That means he is getting better!” But Jesus meant Lazarus had died. Then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sake, I am glad I wasn’t there, for this will give you another opportunity to believe in me.” (John 11:11-15)

In his book, Place of Immunity, Francis Frangipane wrote that God made the Old Testament Joseph fruitful in the very things that afflicted him. He goes on to say that “in the land of your affliction, in your battle, is the place where God will make you fruitful. Consider, even now, the area of greatest affliction in your life. In that area, God will make you fruitful in such a way that your heart will be fully satisfied, and God’s heart fully glorified. God has not promised to keep us from valleys and sufferings, but to make us fruitful in them.”

SurrenderThat is a great truth, my friend. In the place of your affliction, not only will God make you fruitful—and I would add, he can’t make you fruitful apart from the painful pruning that takes place there—and not only will he fully satisfy your heart, but he will fully glorify God’s heart. And for our sake, I am glad that is what he does!

That is why you and I should willingly and joyfully say, “I surrender all—really!”

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“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” (Elton Trueblood)

 

Getting To Know Jesus: As an affirmation of your complete trust in Jesus’ Lordship over you, sing the chorus, “I Surrender All.” If you don’t know it, find it on the Internet and listen to it. Then ask the Lord to give you the grace, courage and resolve to live like you believe it.

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Making Jesus Famous

Being With Jesus:
John 10:16

“I lay down my life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them [in] also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will one flock and one shepherd.”

The more I learn about Jesus, the more intensely missionary I become. That’s because Jesus was intensely missionary. He was a missionary Messiah!

You cannot read too far into the Gospels without discovering that Jesus fervently cared for the things his Father cared for—his sheep, especially sheep that were not yet eternally secure in the Father’s fold. In John 10:1-15, using very tender pastoral language, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd who cares for the sheep of his flock—leading, protecting, feeding and loving them. Really, what Jesus is describing is the ministry of the local church.

But in verse 16, he speaks of sheep not in this fold: “I lay down my life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them [in] also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will one flock and one shepherd.”

Clearly, Jesus is speaking of those yet to come into the flock of God. He is referring to what we have come to call the ministry of global missions—reaching those who have not yet heard of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  Throughout the Gospels, there is a constant sense of Jesus’ intensely missionary heart for these “pre-believing” sheep. And if for no other reason, because of the Good Shepherd’s passionate love for his sheep and his relentless pursuit to bring them into the safety of the fold—especially those yet reached, we, too, must become intensely missionary.

Theologian John Stott reminds us that, “Missions is the central feature of God’s historical purpose.” It’s true. That’s why Jesus was born…that’s why he died…that’s why he’s coming again! That’s why missions must be our central focus too! If you and I are to truly follow Christ as a devoted disciple, become like him, thinking as he thought, acting as he acted, then we must embrace this foundational conviction: Lost people must matter to us because they matter to God. Matthew 18:12-14 reminds us that this conviction is at the very core of God’s being:

“If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one wanders off, won’t he leave the ninety-nine and go look for the one that’s lost? And if he finds it, he’s happier over the one than the ninety-nine that didn’t wander off. So also your Heavenly Father is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”

If lost people matter that deeply to God, shouldn’t they matter that deeply to us too? You can never look into the eyes of a lost person without seeing an eternal soul so loved by God that he gave his only Son for their redemption. It doesn’t matter who they are, where they live, what they have done; they matter to God!

In light of that, here is another inescapable conviction that we must embrace if we are to be fully devoted disciples of Jesus: reaching unreached people, both near but especially far—not just geographically, but theologically—must be a driving passion. Why do I say that? Because you can’t read the Bible without sensing “stay and share” must quickly morph into “go and tell.”

What I mean by that is that it is simply counter to God’s heart that there remain those who have never even heard the Gospel once when we pour so much into those who hear it over and over yet continue to reject it. Do you realize there is a disproportionate amount of resources, financial and human, that is poured into reaching those who have already heard the Gospel while there are still thousands of people groups—Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animists—without access to a gospel-preaching witness in their culture. That must sadden the Father’s heart.

Jesus commanded us in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” In Acts 1:8 he promised the Holy Spirit would enable our witnesses, “to the uttermost parts of earth.” In Matthew 24:14, he said, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Why I Exist“I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.” (Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf)

It’s clear that God puts the highest premium on taking the Gospel to people who’ve never heard. In Isaiah 66:19, God promised to send messengers to “…lands beyond the sea that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.” That’s why the church exists; that is the purpose of every believer. Romans 9:17 says, “I raised you up for this very purpose: to display my power in you so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” David prayed in Psalm 67:2, “Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind.”(LB)

Are you seeing what I am seeing? God’s chief concern is that his name be known and praised by all the peoples of the earth. That’s why Isaiah 12:4 says we’re to, “make known his deeds among the peoples and proclaim that his name is exalted.” When we proclaim his fame, we delight the heart of God. And when we do, God delights to satisfy our hearts.

Proclaiming his fame, especially to those who have never heard—that is our assignment. You might say that the greatest use of your redeemed life is making Jesus famous. Are you?

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“The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.” (Henry Martyn)

 

Getting To Know Jesus: God is most glorified in us when we’re most satisfied in him—and we’re most satisfied in him when we’re proclaiming his glory and his fame. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he’ll give you the desires of your heart.” We can have it all—success, significance, and most of all, satisfaction—if we will get addicted to making Jesus famous among the unreached. What can you do today to make Jesus famous?

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Making Hay While The Sun Shines

Being With Jesus:
John 9:4

Jesus said, “All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end.”

Do you live with a sense of urgency as it relates to God’s timetable? Our grandparents and generations before them seemed to understand that life came with an expiration date. We don’t! Probably because life was hard, opportunities weren’t dished out on silver platters, life expectancy was significantly less than it is today, they approached life with a great deal more seriousness than we do today.

Our generation seems to fit the profile of the people Jesus described who will be living in the last days:

“The world will be at ease—banquets and parties and weddings—just as it was in Noah’s time before the sudden coming of the Flood; people wouldn’t believe what was going to happen until the Flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be.”

In this John 9 story, Jesus heals a man born blind on the Sabbath—a real no-no in first century Jewish religious culture. As Jesus performs this miracle, serious questions are thrown his way from both the crowd of astounded onlookers as well as the angry Jewish spiritual leaders. The crowd peppers Jesus with a “stump the messiah” question: Why was this man born blind; was it his parents’ sin or his? The religious leaders’ interrogative was more dastardly: How could you do this on our holy day, the Sabbath? Never mind that a flesh and blood miracle was standing in living color before their very eyes, they wanted to know who he thought he was to “work” on a day no work was to take place.

Work, For The Night ComethThen in the midst of all these questions, Jesus makes this statement about carrying out the task assigned by God before time expires. It seems a bit out of the blue and disconnected until you consider the context. On the one hand, since the man had been born blind, it would have been perfectly acceptable to allow things to remain as they were. The fates had determined this man’s condition; no need to rock his boat. On the other hand, Jesus knew that performing this miracle on this day—the Sabbath—would invoke the ire of the religious rule keepers and even seal their blind hatred for him. So it would have been easier for Jesus not to do this, or to delay doing it.

But Jesus was not one to avoid conflict or to take an easy path. And in this statement, he was sending both a message and a warning. The message was that the work of God must take priority over everything else in life—religious rules, man’s time, cultural mores, people’s feelings. And the warning was that there was a limited amount of time and opportunity to carry out the work of God. Tomorrow may not come; night is falling; if we are to do the work of God, we must act as if this is our window of opportunity, because that divine window is closing.

Now that truth applied to not only Jesus, but it applies to you and me as well. Notice that Jesus said “‘we’ must do the work of the One who sent me.” As God-followers, we have been given the same two things Jesus had been given: a divine assignment and a limited amount of time. So stop underestimating the brevity of your life and the time you have to make your days count; look up and see that eternity is in view.

James 4:14-16 tells us, “You don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.”

James says that it is foolish and downright sinful to assume that we’ve got tomorrow. Why? Because life is unpredictable: “you don’t even know”. None of us know what is going to happen tonight much less next year: a war could start, the economy could collapse, your friends could leave you. That is not meant to frighten you, but to cause you to be more dependent on God and more serious about doing his will while you keep an eye on eternity.

Not only is life unpredictable, but James is also saying that life is brief. “You are a mist”, he says. Mist comes from the Greek word, “atmos”, which is where we get our word “atmosphere”. Your life is like fog; it rolls in at night but it burns off by noon. Who knows how long you are going to live? None of us do. I’m only one heartbeat away from eternity. Life is short; you go from highchair to wheelchair, from diapers to decay in a millisecond. As Chris Matakas said, “We rise to meet each day because there will come a time when the day will rise without us”

The point is, there are no guarantees, so don’t presume on tomorrow. For sure, plan for the future, but live like today is the last. Moses prayed, “Lord teach us to number our days aright, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) Wisdom would teach you to live today as if you knew tomorrow you would stand before God. And that is a great way to live.

The early Christians lived that way. They were pretty urgent about the time. They learned to order their lives by seriously seeking and then immediately living out the Lord’s. They came up with a Latin watchword to remind each other of the importance of actively keeping the Lord’s will in mind. It was Deo Volente: “If God wills.” In fact, in some periods of history, the believers would end their letters with “D.V.”, Deo Volente. Then they would respond to, “If God wills” with another phrase, “Carpe Diem: Seize the day!” What a great philosophy for living to live like Jesus lived: “If the Lord wills, I will seize the day!”

Our time is shorter than we think, so as they say, let’s “make hay while the sun shines!”

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“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
(Leonardo da Vinci)

 

Getting To Know Jesus: What is it that God is calling you to do that you have been putting off? Telling someone that you love them or asking for their forgiveness? Volunteering to lead a ministry? Going on a missions trip? Getting counseling for an addiction? Having a difficult conversation with a loved one? Witnessing to someone you care about? Carl F.H. Henry said, “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.” Jesus says to you, “now is the time, night is at hand, so do the work my Father has assigned to you.” Today is the day!

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Grace!

Being With Jesus:
John 8:2-5

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

In one of my favorite books, What’s So Amazing About Grace, Philip Yancey writes,

“Grace means there’s nothing we can do to make God love us more—no amount of spiritual calisthenics and renunciations, no amount of knowledge gained from seminaries, no amount of crusading on behalf of righteous causes. And grace means there’s nothing we can do to make God love us less—no amount of racism, pride, pornography, adultery or even murder. Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love.”

That’s why I love this story of the adulterous woman’s life-transforming encounter with Jesus; it just exudes grace! And it reminds me of how God looks right into what Lewis Smedes called this, “glob of unworthiness that is me and offers to accept me, own me, hold me, affirm me, and never let go of me even if he’s not too impressed with what he has on his hands.”

A glob of unworthiness—that’s me…you, too! And that’s God—loving us, without limit—because of his incredibly great grace! King David, who knew a lot about personal failure and unworthiness, wrote in Psalm 103:8-14,

Grace Greater Than My Sin“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love…he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we’re formed, he remembers that we’re dust.”

That theology of unconditional love, undeserved mercy and unlimited grace is what’s fleshed out here in this story in John 8. And it’s not only the message Jesus wrote with his finger as he stooped to scribble in the dirt, he wrote it with his blood as it dripped to the dirt from the cross. Grace is his life-message! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound! It’s the one thing that’ll touch your core need today; it’s the only thing that’ll transform our lost world.

In 1988, a concert was held in London’s Wembley Stadium, and throughout the day, bands blasted the crowd high on booze and drugs with their ear-splitting music. But for some reason, the promoters scheduled an opera singer as the closing act, Jessye Norman. At the finale, she walked out with no band or singers —unknown to the crowd, which was shouting for more Guns ‘n Roses. Jessye began to sing, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me!” And remark-ably, 70,000 fans got quiet.

By the second verse, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved”, they were putty; by the third verse they were digging into their memories to sing along, “and grace will lead me home”. As she sang, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun; We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun” a transcendent reverence had enveloped the stadium.

What on earth wields that kind of power over a beleaguered psalmist, or an adulterous woman, or a stadium full of drug-addled rock-n-rollers? Grace!

Now don’t miss the point of this story: The adulterous woman reminds us that every sinner has a future, but every saint has a past. We’re all born broken, and we become whole only by the mending of grace, God’s glue. And no matter how bad, how unworthy, how disqualified you think you are, you are not beyond the renewing reach of God’s grace. That’s why prostitutes, publicans, and other sinners responded to Jesus so readily—still do. They knew their sin; that’s why forgiveness was so appealing.

And no matter how good, worthy and qualified you think you are, apart from grace, there’s no good in you. In fact, on your best day, apart from grace, Isaiah said your righteousness is as filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) That’s why, as C.S. Lewis said, “[Adulterous women] are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God; [it’s] the proud …the self-righteous [that] are in that danger.”

So wherever you fall on the continuum—from super-saint to seedy sinner—just remember: every saint has a past, but every sinner has a future. And grace is there waiting for you! Grace! It’s only by grace that the brokenness we’re born with, and live with, is mended.

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“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
(C.S. Lewis)

 

Getting To Know Jesus: Take a moment today to simply and gratefully reflect on God’s grace.

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Calling Out Sin

Being With Jesus:
John 7:7

Jesus said, “[the world] hates me because I accuse it of sin and evil.”

One of the things an authentic, fruitful, effective Christ-follower must master in life is balance. Balance isn’t listed as a virtue in New Testament theology; it is not a mark of discipleship that Jesus articulated; it is not the tenth fruit of the Spirit. Yet balance is the byproduct of Christian virtue. It demonstrate that we have a grasp on what it means to live as a true disciple and it is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s production of spiritual fruit in our lives.

If we are to live as Jesus lived and think like Jesus thought, then like Jesus, we must learn to balance truth with grace, tolerance of flawed humanity with fidelity to God’s standard of holiness, working out our salvation with resting in God’s effort, and on and on the list of needful balances will go. But balance for the Christian is neither easy to achieve, nor to maintain, because the drift of the sin nature still fighting for mastery of our lives is always toward an extreme.

Nowhere is this imbalance more apparent in our contemporary American experience of Christianity than in our posture toward sin. It is especially noticeable in our current American cultural debate on same-sex attraction where many spiritual leaders are now rejecting this idea that the believer must “love the sinner but hate the sin” as un-Christlike. Yet Jesus did exactly that. So that, too, is a balance that we must learn to achieve.

Of course, some will passionately disagree with my statement. I understand that push back. There is a legitimate discussion these days about how to approach the issue of sin in our culture. But my fear is that because the secular mindset is increasingly pressuring the church to not only condone same-sex lifestyles, but to celebrate them as perfectly healthy and appropriate, and because of our growing fear that the world will hate us if we stand in their way, many Christians—leaders and lay people alike—are going to great lengths to avoid calling out sin where sin desperately needs to be called out. A too large percentage of believers now live with a consuming phobia of being labeled—labeled a homophobe, a hate-monger, intolerant and ignorant, and worse.

But let’s remember that Jesus was hated and called names precisely because he pointed out the evil and sin in the world. Sinful man didn’t reject and ultimately crucify him because he came saying “everything is alright; go your merry way.” Jesus was murdered because he said things like, “You are slaves of sin, every one of you.” (John 8:34) Believers by the thousands have not been martyred throughout Christian history because of their tolerance of sin; they were killed because they rubbed against the grain of evil cultures.

Leave Your Life of SinNow again, balance is the key. Jesus didn’t come to condemn sinners—they were already under condemnation—but by his righteous lifestyle and message of holiness, sin was condemned. Jesus didn’t condemn the woman caught in adultery in John 8, but he wasn’t afraid to tell her to go and “sin” no more. The very first words out of Jesus mouth as he began to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom was “repent”! “From then on, Jesus began to preach, ‘Turn from sin and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’” (Matthew 4:17)

Jesus wasn’t afraid to use the “s” word. Sin is sin, and it separates from God. As C.S. Lewis said, “Jesus Christ did not say – Go into all the world and tell the world that it is quite right.” If we are to truly love people as Jesus did, then at some point their sin must be a topic of conversation. For people to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, sin must be acknowledged and repentance must be expressed. There is no other way. To point that out is truly the most loving thing a believer can do with an unbeliever.

“Jesus Christ did not say – Go into all the world and tell the world that it is quite right.” (C.S. Lewis)

Of course, it is all in the delivery. People must know that you truly love them if the call to repentance is to be received from a loving heart. But even them, since the message of righteousness rubs against the grain of a fallen world, we must be prepared to be labeled. But remember, it won’t be the first time.

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“The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.” (Ellen G. White)

Getting To Know Jesus: Don’t ever be afraid to call sin, sin. Jesus did, so should you. But you must figure out how to do it as Jesus did—from a posture of love, grace and mercy. And one of the best ways to get into that posture is to, first, truly repent of your own sin, and secondly, humbly live in the knowledge that you are nothing more than a sinner saved by grace.

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Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff (It’s All Small Stuff)

Being With Jesus:
John 6:5-6

Jesus went up into the hills and sat down with his disciples around him. Soon he saw a great multitude of people climbing the hill, looking for him. Turning to Philip he asked, “Philip, where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” (He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.)

I’m not sure who first said it (its origin has been attributed to several different authors), but I think it offers some sage advice for people who follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Rules for living, we could rightly call them.  It simply goes like this:

Rule # 1: Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Rule #2: It’s all small stuff.

That is true! You see, with God, nothing is impossible; it’s all small stuff to him. That is not just my theology, that comes from God’s own mouth. God told a perplexed Abraham and a cynical Sarah when he announced to them that they would have a son well into their 90’s (and beyond, actually, for Abraham):

“Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” (Genesis 18:13-14)

Is anything too hard for the Lord? No—it’s all small stuff! Even giving barren, octogenarian couples their first child.

When Jeremiah the prophet was crying out to God over the devastation of Israel and the insurmountable problems the nation was facing, the Holy Spirit inspired him to prayerfully pour out this affirmation in his appeal to the Almighty for help:

“O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” (Jeremiah 32:17)

Later in that same chapter, God himself sent this word to the prophet:

“I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:26-27)

Is anything too hard for the Lord? No—it’s all small stuff! Even taking a shattered, scattered nation and reconstituting them for his glory and purpose.

Nothing Is Too Hard For GodDo you get the point? Nothing is above God’s pay grade. That’s because the created order in its entirety was conceived and perfectly engineered in the mind of God before it came into being. God created everything that exists by the breath of his mouth. God hung the stars by flicking them into space with his finger. He holds everything that we see and don’t see perfectly in place by his powerful and caring hand. There is nothing—absolutely nothing—that escapes his watchful eye.

And therefore, there is nothing—absolutely nothing—that’s too big or too hard for him. Nothing is impossible to God, and therefore, all things are possible for his people.

That’s why Jesus, who is God the Son, the agent of creation, said to Phillip, “what shall we do with this gigantic crowd of seekers? They’re hungry, and we’ve got to feed them. Where can we get that much food?” Of course, we know how the massive crowd would get miraculously fed because John clearly states that Jesus already knew what he was going to do. His question was just to test Phillip for the purpose of stretching his faith.

And Jesus will do that with us, too. Even though he already knows what he’s going to do, he doesn’t automatically do it without first stretching, tempering, testing and strengthening our faith, which is of greater value than any miraculous intervention we could hope for.

But don’t miss the whole point of this: Jesus already knows what he needs to do. And if that is true, then Rule #1 for you as his follower would be, “Don’t’ sweat the small stuff!”  Why? It is a wasted use of energy, and it’s dishonoring to the One who already knows what to do. Therefore, as his follower, Rule #2 is certainly true, too: “It’s all small stuff!”

Since that is true, why not relax a little bit today, and let God be God. Exercise your trust and let God take care of your big stuff, since it’s all small stuff to him.

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“All things are possible until they are proved impossible and even the impossible may only be so, as of now.” (Pearl S. Buck)

Getting To Know Jesus: What are you sweating today? Visualize holding it in the palms of your hands. Walk outside and lift your hands heavenward and release it to the Lord with these words, “Father, this is too big for me, but not for you. Here, you take it and do with it according to your purpose.” Then thank God that he has just given you the greatest gift: He has stretched your faith!