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Pretentious, Self-absorbed Showiness

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 20
Meditation: Luke 20:46-47

“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’s houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”

Shift Your Focus… On a fairly regular basis, concerned believers will approach me with questions about certain nationally known religious figures—televangelists, TV preachers, well-known Christian authors. Usually the concerns center around their opulent lifestyles, their over-the-top theatrics, or the “lightweight” message they preach. And the hope behind the question is that I will side with their sense of outrage and condemn the Christian celebrity in question.

Jesus had a string of run-ins with spiritual celebrities in his day. Although their theology was not of the health and wealth variety that you see so much today—theirs was harsh, condemning, legalistic and intolerant—the outcome was much the same: Over-the-top showiness and money-grubbing.

In Jesus’ case, he didn’t go out of his way to condemn them; they were going out of their way to condemn him. But when confronted, Jesus spoke openly and honestly of the spiritual damage they were doing and of the harsh judgment that awaited them. As a result, they hated Jesus and looked for every opportunity to have him killed.

The simple authenticity of Jesus’ spirituality—his power, authority and humility—was a threat to their carefully crafted religious celebrity. That’s why there was such hatred and hostility toward Jesus. Jesus was the real deal—and they suffered by comparison in the eyes of a spiritually discerning public.

Which brings me to a point about today’s “Christian” celebrities. There is nothing wrong with having respectful debate regarding their ways, or sharing an informed opinion when asked. But the most powerful weapon against inauthentic religiosity is the simple authenticity of your own spirituality. When you walk in Christlike power, authority and humility, you won’t have to go out of your way to condemn anyone. Simply being the real deal will be enough.

I’ve been told that when U.S. treasury agents are trained to spot counterfeit money, they don’t spend their time looking at phony bills. They study the real deal. They become so familiar with the truth that the fake becomes readily apparent.

Just be the real deal—nothing more is required.

“Suspect everything that is prosperous unless it promotes piety and charity and humility.” ~Isaac Taylor 

Prayer… God, strip me of pretentious, self-absorbed showiness. Make me the real deal. Enable me to walk in authentic power, Christ’s authority, and true humility. And when I stray, do whatever it takes to bring me back.

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God’s Passion

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 19
Meditation: Luke 19:10

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Shift Your Focus… This is the first and most foundational conviction that led Jesus, the Son of God, Second Person of the Eternal Trinity, to leave his throne in glory, come to earth as a man, and die the horrific death of the cross: To seek and save the lost.

John 3:16, the most compelling of all the verses of the Bible, reminds us of this driving conviction of God’s being: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The truth of that verse is so vitally important, obviously, because you and I are the eternal beneficiaries of God’s passionate, unstoppable love for lost people. But as indescribably wonderful as that is, there is more to it. You see, since lost people matter so dearly to God, they ought to matter deeply to us as well. This is fundamentally critical because, as Jacquelyn Heasley has said, “how you believe God perceives people determines how you respond to them.”

In other words, as you go about your day today, when you look into the eyes of another human being, no matter who they are and what they are doing, you are seeing a soul so loved by God that he gave his only begotten and dearly loved Son to die for their redemption. When the “godless heathen” sitting in the cubicle next to you or stationed in the locker beside yours or living in the unkempt house across the street from you is rubbing you the wrong way, just remember that they matter to God as much as you do! When you watch the evening news and see godless communists in China, or rioting Islamists in Cairo, or murdering tribesmen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or suicide bombers in Gaza, or gang-bangers in your inner city, you are seeing the very kinds of people Jesus came to seek and save.

They matter to God. Jesus came to seek and save them just as much as he came to seek and save you. And that ought to make a big difference in how you think about them today.

Just remember, the people who drive you crazy drove Jesus to the cross.

“God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.”  ~St. Augustine

Prayer… Lord, give me your eyes, that I may see all people as you see them.

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An Uncomfortable Question

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 18
Meditation: Luke 18:8

“When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?

Shift Your Focus… When Jesus asked this question, he wasn’t talking about saving faith. He was speaking of the exercise of faith by those who have been saved.

Luke prefaced Jesus’ parable about the woman who wouldn’t give up by giving the reason for it: To teach us that we should pray and not give up.

The story is about a woman who is so persistent in hounding a very tough, uncaring judge about her case that she finally wears him down. He gives her justice simply to get her off his back and bring sanity back to his life.

Of course, Jesus isn’t comparing God to that judge. Rather, he is contrasting the two. He is saying that if an unrighteous, unfeeling judge would do that for a persistent woman, how much more would your righteous, caring Father hear your case and answer you? The answer to that question is obvious: God stands at the ready to hear your prayers and meet your needs.

If that be the case, believers, therefore ought to pray and not give up. Then comes this penetrating question: When the Lord returns, will he find any of his people exercising that kind of persistent trust and expectant faith? Or will he find that they have wimped out, too easily given up, accepted the status quo in their lives and settled for less than God’s best?

Let’s make this verse really practical: Was Jesus referring to you when he asked that question? What have you given up on in prayer? A healing? The salvation of a loved one? Deliverance from a destructive addiction? Financial abundance? Greater spiritual depth, power, authority, effectiveness?

I think one of the disappointments we will have when we get to heaven—and if disappointments are possible there, I am sure they will be only momentary—will be all the unclaimed blessings and answers to prayer specifically reserved for us that were left in God’s treasury because we gave up too soon.

Perhaps today is a good day to dust off some of those prayer requests you have given up on and begin to bring them to the Righteous Judge once again. It could be that today will be the day of breakthrough for you and God will release the answer you are seeking.

You never know. So why not pray—and whatever you do, don’t give up!

“It is not enough for the believer to begin to pray, nor to pray correctly; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray. We must patiently, believingly continue in prayer until we obtain an answer.” ~George Mueller

Prayer… Lord, teach me to pray with the same persistent, expectant, fervent, never-say-die attitude you were describing in the parable.  I don’t want one single answer reserved for me left in heaven.  I want to lay claim to all that you have for me.

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Thanks A Lot!

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 17
Meditation: Luke 17:15-17

And one of [the ten], when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.”

Shift Your Focus… Every generation of parents ask a question of their children.  It’s more of a prompting than a question.  After receiving a gift or a favor, parents ask, “What do you say?”  Of course, the expected response is, “thank you.”

My parents would ask me, “What do you say to your grandmother for her Velveeta, Spam and lima bean casserole?” Now they didn’t really want my honest opinion here—they would have gone postal if I would have said, “Grammie, what in the name of heaven were you thinking?  You shouldn’t ever be allowed to prepare meals again!”  They didn’t really care what I thought, they simply wanted a response of gratitude to show my acknowledgement of Grammie’s kindness and effort.

Even if children don’t feel gratitude, parents want them to learn to offer thanks simply because it’s the right thing to do.  Why?  Because every human being lives with a debt of gratitude to someone for something.  Of course, parents hope their kids won’t just parrot words of gratitude; they hope that the exercise of gratitude now will one day produce authentically grateful people.

And that is exactly what our Heavenly Father hopes for each of us! That is why you can’t go very far into the Bible without a reference or an admonition to be thankful, as in this story Jesus tells.

The ability to express gratitude is one of the fundamental signs of a redeemed life and a growing spirituality. To give thanks is one of the highest callings we have and one of the most self-benefiting things we can do.  It keeps us from being self-absorbed. It produces an eternal perspective.  It reminds us of how truly blessed we really are. It creates a perspective that sees that all of life is a gift.

At the end of each day G. K. Chesterton would say, “Here ends another day, during which I have had eyes, ears, hands [to experience this] great world around me.  Tomorrow begins another day.  Why am I allowed two?” That’s why Ambrose, Bishop of Milan said, “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”  It keeps you focused on God’s goodness and not on yourself.

And perhaps best of all, gratitude opens the door for more.  The great preacher Andrew Murray said,  “To be thankful for what we have received…is the surest way to receive more.”

Why not practice a little gratitude today!  You’ll be grateful you did!

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues, but the parent of all others.” ~Cicero

Prayer… Lord, you have blessed me with good things far more than I can count and far more than I deserve.  Thank you.  I owe an eternal debt of gratitude that I will happily but never fully repay.

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The Death-Grip of the Almighty Dollar

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 16
Meditation: Luke 16:11

“If you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”

Shift Your Focus… It has been said that Jesus talked more about money than about heaven or hell. Many of his parables centered around the subject, as did his other teachings. That is because Jesus fully understood the death-grip money could have on the human soul.

Whether or not there was (or is) a literal god of money, I don’t know. Some have supposed that is what Jesus referenced when he spoke of “mammon”. But for sure, the love of money leads to all sorts of problems in this world, and in our lives: Greed, materialism, selfishness, worry, just to name a few.

Worst of all, the love of money always crowds out the love of God. That is why Jesus said in verse 13, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” In other words, we are to love God and use money—not vice versa.

But as critical as what Jesus said about God and money is, there is yet another facet to this teaching that you as a Christ-follower need to understand: How you use money now will have a direct bearing on the Kingdom authority God wants to release to you in this life, and in his eternal kingdom. That is what Jesus meant when he said if you can’t be trusted with wealth in this world, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

How you are handling your wealth—your money, home, cars and possessions—is not just isolated to the here and now. It is, in reality, a test-run that will determine the extent to which God can trust you, bless you and use you in a realm much more important that the temporary one your money has enabled you to acquire—the spiritual realm.

Ask yourself this question today: Who has me? Money or God? Am I loving God and using money? Or in reality—and just take a look at your checkbook register or your Quicken summary if you are unsure what reality is—are you bowing at the altar of Mammon?

“One verse in every six in the first three Gospels relates either directly or indirectly to money. Sixteen of our Lords forty-four parables deal with the use of misuse of money. A loving, joyful, liberal giving to the Lord’s work is an acid test of a spiritual heart, pleasing to God.” ~William Allen

Prayer… Lord, help me to use my money, to the very last cent, to be pleasing to you. When I stand before you some day, may you say of me that I loved you and used money to store up wealth in the eternal kingdom.

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God’s Highest Priority

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 15
Meditation: Luke 15:7

“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

Shift Your Focus… The message of this chapter is unmistakable: Lost people matter to God!

Jesus tells three parables that make up the entirety of chapter 15: The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Each story features something lost—something of such value—that no expense and no effort are spared to see to their return.

At the end of each of these three stories Jesus uses a line to speak of the unmitigated joy expressed in their recovery:

“There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Verse 7)

“Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Verse 10)

“It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.” (Verse 32)

Again, the message is clear: God’s highest priority is the reclamation of lost people. They matter to God. And all of heaven celebrates their return.

Likewise, there is a clear application of utmost importance here for you and me: Since lost people matter to God, they ought to matter to us as well. No expense and no effort should be spared to aid in their recovery. And we ought also to celebrate what heaven celebrates—the return of even one sinner to God.

But with these stories comes a clear warning: Watch out for we might call the Elder Brother Syndrome (see verses 25-30). EBS resents the attention and effort made in the recovery and repentance of the sinner, and it is so easy to slip into it. It grows out of self-righteousness. It questions the authenticity of the sinner’s repentance. It refuses to rejoice at what heaven celebrates. And it couldn’t be further from what is at the very the heart of heaven, and our Father who resides there.

The call of chapter 15 must be our calling, too! What God prioritizes we must make our priority! If heaven celebrates repentant sinners, we ought to throw a party when one finds salvation. Lost people matter to God; they must matter to us as well!

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”  ~Charles Spurgeon

Prayer… Lord, use me today to lead some lost person to faith in you!

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Forget About Yourself

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 14
Meditation: Luke 14:11

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Shift Your Focus… If you were clothed in your own humility, would you be scantily clad?

Humility doesn’t mean thinking less of yourself than others; nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts, abilities and station in life.  It simply means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all.

Dallas Willard, one of the great Christian thinkers of our time, said one of the signs of spiritual maturity is all the thoughts that no longer occur to you.  That would include all the thoughts in your head that keep you at the center of your universe.  God does that for you, so you don’t have to.

Some time ago, I was with my spiritual mentor, the late Dr. Charles Blair, who had brilliantly pastored his church in Denver, Colorado for fifty-one years.  We were with a small group of Christian leaders in Florida.  Among them were Jack Hayford, R.C. Sproul, Reinhard Bonnke, and other well known authors, media personalities, pastors and denominational leaders in the charismatic and evangelical world.

At one point, Dr. Hayford, our moderator, singled out and paid tribute to Charles in the presence of these other great leaders as the greatest example of pastoral perseverance and ministerial integrity in the last half century.  I could see the high esteem in which these Who’s Who type leaders held Dr. Blair.

Yet at the beginning of the conference, when we were asked to introduce ourselves, Dr. Blair simply stood and said, “I’m Charles, from Denver.”

What humility!  Unfortunately for me, I had just introduced myself right before Dr. Blair’s turn, and I hadn’t been quite that humble:  “Yes, I’m the Right Reverend Ray Noah, Senior Pastor…Presbyter…President of the Blair Foundation…blah, blah, blah.” I reminded myself of the pastor who was so humble that one Sunday his church presented him with a solid gold lapel pin that said “World’s Most Humble Pastor.”  When he wore the pin on his suit again the next Sunday, they took it away from him!

To truly enter into the kind of authentic humility that Jesus described, you’ve got to start thinking less of yourself.

I recently came across a little parable about man who was talking with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I’d like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”

The Lord led him to two doors.  The Lord opened one of the doors and the man looked in.  In the middle of the room was a large round table.  In the middle of the table was a large pot of mouthwatering stew. But the people sitting at the table were thin and sickly; they appeared famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles, and each found it possible to reach into the pot and take a spoonful, but impossible to get the spoons back to their mouths. The handle was longer than their arms.  As the man shuddered at the sight of their misery, the Lord said,  “You have just seen Hell.”

They went to the next room and found the same large round table with a large pot of mouthwatering stew in the middle.  These people had the same long-handled spoons, but unlike the first room, these were well-nourished and joyful people.  The man said, “Lord, I don’t understand.” The Lord replied, “It is simple—it takes one skill:  They’ve learned to feed each other, while the miserable think only of themselves.”

Let me give you a challenge this week: Forget about yourself!  Try it.  Practice being absent minded when it comes to you.  Get you out of your thoughts, and replace them with prayers of blessings and plans for serving for other people in your life.

And see what happens.  I suspect that if you allow the Lord to change your attitude, the simple joy of just belonging to him will be the result.

“Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less.”  ~Mike Show

Prayer… Lord, you perfectly modeled authentic humility.  Teach me to be just like you!