Not Really a Christian?

Man: Ma'am. Ma'am? Excuse me, Ma'am. Is that your child, over there in the blue t-shirt?

Woman: Why do you want to know?

Man: Well, he's being rather difficult. He pushed a girl off the swing and took it from her, he's throwing sticks at the children going down the slide, and he's not respecting any of the adults who are trying to correct his behavior.

Woman: Well, then he's not my child. In our home, we teach our children to share with other children and to respect their elders.

Man: Uh-huh. ............ Well, the other parents I asked said that he was your son. So if you're the one responsible for him, would you please exercise that responsibility now?

Woman: I'll admit that he somewhat resembles my son -- may even have the same name, birth-date, social security number, and all that. But if he's behaving that way, then he's not really my son.

Man: Well, then who's going to discipline him?

Woman: Oh, I think God will sort it all out in the end.

Man: But didn't God give you that job?

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Narrator: The woman's name? Well, her initials are M.E.C. I think it stands for "modern evangelical church."

New Testament References Old Testament

How many times does the New Testament quote, refer to, or allude to the Old Testament? For a quick look at some introductory answers to this question, click on any of the following links:

Quotations in New Testament Order

Table of Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament, in English

The Relationship of the Testaments: the NT View of the OT

Now, some questions: From looking at and thinking about such content (found at the above links), ...
1) What does this say of the modern views of the Old and New
... Testaments?
2) What does this say of the NT writers' views of the OT?
3) Most importantly, what does this say about knowing the Messiah?
... (Is He only to be found in the NT? Is He only occasionally found in
.... the OT?)
4) What then is the big difference between the OT and the NT?
5) How often does your pastor preach Christ from the OT?

Spiritual or Physical?

They say that bad is already resident within. It is important to not take in anything upon which the bad will feed, grow, and further weaken us. Rather, we should adapt to a lifestyle of purging the bad by faithfully inputting the good. It is never acceptable to pay no attention to what we are putting into ourselves. Of course, a person can become so accustomed to junk that something wholesome seems almost foreign. Compared to the wholesome, the junk is preferred. At which point, a person must be taught, retrained, and disciplined – taught the truth about what is good and bad, retrained to appreciate the wholesome and despise the junk, and disciplined to faithfully follow and mature within this teaching and retraining process.

At this point, someone might ask, “Are you talking about the spiritual life? Or are you talking about the physical body?” To which I could answer, “Yes. I’m talking about them both.” In how many other areas of life may we make a comparison between the two? Of course, this is not an accident or a coincidence since the same God is Creator of both, of all. God created this world such that muzzled oxen teach us about compensating our ministry leaders, our bodies teach us about church relationships, and marriage teaches us about Christ and the Church. Or is it the other way around? Yes, it is. Actually we can and should often look at it from both ends.

So what does our theology teach us about taking care of our physical bodies? I think this is one area where the pulpit has been negligent in its instruction and exemplification. One can understand, to some degree, the preachers’ hesitation. Just look at them.

Another frustration likely stems from the discovery that what was killing us ten years ago is now good for us, and vice versa. So many sources, so much contradiction, – how can anyone say anything about health with any sense of assurance or self-confidence? But this is no excuse for not seeking knowledge and wisdom as for hid treasure. These same challenges exist in the philosophical and theological realm.

Sure, God’s grace allows us to enjoy what He “has created to be received with thanksgiving” (I Timothy 4:3); but that doesn’t mean that we should eat plastic, drink poison, and be blissful in our ignorance. When post-millennial, stake-claiming Christians are suffering and dying from the same diseases as everyone else in the world, where’s the dominion in that?

Smoky Mirrors

James 1:23-24 states, “If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” The implication seems to be a man with apparent blemishes looks in a mirror, has no problem with what he sees, and thus contentedly walks away with no intention of addressing the blemishes. How can he be so comfortable with himself looking like that?

The value of a mirror is simply in showing us what we look like; it does not at all show us what we should look like. The value of a model, pattern, or standard, on the other hand, is to show us what something should look like (which is why the term “supermodel” is a lie); but a model does not show us what we actually look like. Scriptural preaching should involve both.

The evangelical preacher should hold up the standard for the church to see. Good exegesis should help Christ’s Bride to see precisely what the Groom desires regarding the Bride’s physical appearance, wedding gown style, jewelry, health, manner, disposition, and lifestyle. The preacher should hold up a mirror almost simultaneously, very graciously pointing out the areas which are inconsistent with the standard. In practical terms, the preacher should combine exposition of what God’s law has required for thousands of years with a competent understanding of the church’s state and condition today, especially as distinguished from contemporary culture.

Many preachers can be found who do a bit of one or the other, but less common are those who do both simultaneously and do it well. Some complain about how bad things are and give us many statistics from George Barna’s polling research, but they provide us with poor instruction as to what we should effectively do about it. Others love to openly share their perspectives in a Bible study, where “what it means to you is good for you. Just don’t try to tell me what to do.” No wonder a hearer of the Word can go away and easily forget what he looks like. Perhaps no one has told him what he should look like.

God Gives the Increase

Deuteronomy 28:4-5 – “Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.”

Deuteronomy 28:38-42 – “Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.”

So what makes the difference? How do we ensure the blessings and avoid the curses? Is it the amount of sweat put into the sowing, planting, and begetting? Is it the number of waking hours devoted to such tasks? Is it the magnitude of sacrifice or self-suffering that we offer? No. It’s obedience. It’s faith in God’s commandments. It’s faith in God’s promises. He promises blessings for obedience (to the commandments); He promises curses for disobedience.

It’s not the stone that kills the giant. It’s not the loud horns and shouting, the shattering pitchers, and the bright torches around the camp that cause the enemies to destroy themselves. It’s not the harmonic frequency of marching feet that makes thick walls fall down. It’s obedience. Faith-full obedience.

So do we then just lie back and refrain from idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, and dishonesty? Is that the only obedience required for the blessings to come rolling in? No. Because It also says, “Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work” (Deut. 5:13), and “If any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thes. 3:10).

But again, Men, Pastors, Elders, Deacons, & Ministers in training, successful ministry does not depend on your spending 14 out of 18 waking hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, serving the church. It’s not your sweating, it’s not your planting, it’s not your watering, it’s not your fertilizing, it’s not even your “passion and heart” for those many sowing and harvesting ministries to which “so few others seem committed” that pulls the tree out of the acorn. God calls you to be obedient. Your wife, your children, your family need you to be obedient. Your church needs you to be obedient. Your community, your culture needs you to be obedient.

“So then neither is he that plants any thing, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase.” – 1 Corinthians 3:7

The Reformation of the Home

This is it! – what I believe the church has needed to hear for a long while now. This is a single summary paragraph from a book by Douglas Wilson entitled Standing on the Promises.* I hope every Christian pastor in America (and beyond) will soon grasp this truth and practice corresponding faithfulness in Christ. (Notice the italicized portions are my emphases.)

“The first place where this reformation must come is in the area of the requirements the church places upon her elders and deacons. The Scripture requires that church officers manage their homes well, and requires that the children of church officers be believers. The officers of the church are placed by God in a position to be examples to the congregation. The members of the church are commanded to imitate them, carefully considering the outcome of their way of life. This way of life includes the very important matter of how they bring up their children. There will be no reformation and no revival until those pastors who do not meet the child-rearing qualifications of their office step down, in repentance, from their office. Men who have a household in disarray are just as unqualified for church office as a lesbian is. It is way past time for conservative Christians to cease being outraged with the disobedience of others. Why do we remove the beam from their radical eye when we have a telephone pole in our own conservative eye? If the church permitted polygamy among the elders, then the households of the membership would be in shambles as well. Such disobedience cannot produce good fruit. We are guilty of such disobedience, and we must not be astonished at the results. There are, of course, other areas of childrearing which must be addressed as well. But unless this happens within the leadership of the church, all other efforts are futile. And when it happens, as it will, all other reforms will follow.”

* - Standing on the Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing, by Douglas Wilson. (Canon Press, PO Box 8741, Moscow, Idaho 83843, USA; copyright, 1997 by Douglas Wilson; pg. 167.)

Honor Your Mother

In our egalitarian culture, how is it that many in the church still do not recognize a mother’s authority that they verbally acknowledge as belonging to the father?

I know a man who is very faithful to his family. He loves his wife sacrificially. He is a very generous provider and a rather zealous protector. He knows how to be perfectly balanced in disciplining his children, which brings us to our story.

One day, while the man was out, one of the children began to become restless. The mother quietly cautioned the child about the direction into which his behavior seemed to be heading. This apparently had no effect as the child quickly crossed the line into disobedience. After waiting a couple moments to see if the boy would correct his own misbehavior and settle down, his mother again offered a mild reprimand. She was also just beginning to explain that the other children were also becoming offended, when suddenly the disobedient child put his fingers in his ears, stuck out his tongue, turned around and walked away, all the while yelling, “La-la-la-la-la…!” After fifteen minutes or so of this, the child finally tired of yelling but still continued to antagonize those around him in not-so-subtle ways.

A half hour later, the husband and father walked through the front door, unnoticed by the rebellious child. The father quickly observed that all was not right and wasted no time chastising his son with a firm spanking and a clear reminder as to the respect and honor that the son must exercise toward his mother and the type of home that must be maintained. Immediately after this father corrected the chaos that had been growing, he called his wife aside into a private place. He then reminded her of the oneness between them in marriage, of the authority which he held, of the expectations that she exercise much of that same authority including the authority to maintain discipline, with firmness when necessary, and of the promise he’d made to be ever-present in his support of her maintaining a Godly home.

Actually, I believe his words were “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:18-20).

Change Change

“It’s all about change.” “A church that refuses to change is a church that refuses to grow;” at least, that’s what we have been told by many minister’s in the national Christian community today. “You’d better jump on the bandwagon of Change if you expect your church to go anywhere.” Well, here I go …. I certainly don’t want to be one who hinders the church from going where God wants it to go.

I’m all for change. There are some significant changes that are in order if many churches are going to get back to being the “city that is set on an hill [which] cannot be hid. … [Letting our] light so shine before men, that they may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14b & 16)

I agree that the decline in church attendance is unacceptable. I think that we should not hold onto every tradition passed down to us without a first or second thought about it. I agree that children and young people ought to be permitted opportunity to participate in regular, corporate worship. Hell’s Angels, prostitutes, drug dealers, dead-beat dads, alcoholics, and smokers should be invited to church and into the kingdom of Christ.

Yep, I’m all for change, except that I’d like to use a more Biblical term, if you don’t mind (or even if you do). Jesus preached about “change.” John the Baptist did, too; and so did Peter. … except they all called it something else – repentance!

“If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and” would just learn how to change … er, I mean, … “turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” – II Chronicles 7:14


(See? I do want change. We could maybe start with replacing our Dictionary of Popular Culture with one known as the Holy Bible. But this would simply be a change back to the way things were meant to be from the beginning. And, of course, this is just a side-note, so please don’t get distracted from the main principle mentioned above, of which this is just one application.)

If You Won't Baptize Babies, Then Stop Having Church

Not too long ago, I heard a Bible teacher basically say that one of the arguments against baptizing babies (and thus, why the church where he serves does not teach or practice it as Biblical faithfulness) is that people have relied upon that one act as their ticket to Heaven; those same people, otherwise, are unfaithful to Christ and His Bride. – Granted: such a perspective of infant baptism is unacceptable within the church of God. But please, let’s be consistent!

What if a 50-year-old woman began relying upon that single act alone for her salvation? What if she trusted in the sign and not in the thing signified? What if some think that simple church attendance will save them? Will that teacher then discourage people from coming? … because “we don’t want you to mistake your attendance for an automatic transfer through the pearly gates.” What if some rely upon their financial giving? Should we then preach against any further giving and receiving of offerings? What if some weirdo thought that drinking water would get him into Heaven? Would all Christians be condemned for drinking water then? Of course, you can begin to see that this sort of thinking could not only put the preacher out of a job, but it could also become quite fatal, literally.

The problem is not with the baptism, just as it is not with the church attendance, the offering, or the drinking water. The problem is with the perspective. Does God only require you to be baptized as an infant but then expects nothing further by way of faithfulness to the covenant into which you’ve been baptized? Of course, this is not the case. But let’s not “throw the baby out with the [baptismal] water.” Perhaps we should not even throw out the baptismal water. – What is the right perspective on all this? Well, I’m glad I asked. Let’s discuss this further …. (to be continued ... maybe)

How To Be a Christian and Still Do What You Want

1) Ignore all how-to’s (including this one), especially those within the Holy Scriptures.

2) Teach that God cares more about the why than He does the what, and don’t even mention the how. That is, God cares more about why we do what we do than He does about what we do or how we do it.

Another way of saying this is that the attitude of the heart is more important than the action of the hands. God cares more about your motivation than He does about your effectiveness. Regardless of how pathetic the results of your beliefs and behaviors, “the intentions of your heart were good, and that’s what really matters.”

You might even throw in a quote from someone like Ravi Zacharias (I think) who said, “Intent is prior to content.” Of course, in all this, there is some obvious truth; you just want to avoid pointing out that it’s twisted. (I.e., you don’t want to say, “Notice that Ravi says, ‘is prior to’ rather than ‘is more important than.’ It would be better to say that the locomotive engine comes before the boxcar and not to say that the engine is more important than the boxcar. What good is an engine going back and forth on the track with only empty freight cars? Or how desirable would it be to have passengers loaded up with no power to get them to their destination? Both are important, and generally the engine comes ahead of the freight cars.” – But remember: don’t say that.)

3) Since this next one is so difficult (impossible really) to prove, you should likely be practicing it before stating it directly (if ever). – Establish the following presupposition: “God cares about the ends, not the means. The end justifies the means.” Of course, you must also avoid any and all arguments like the following:
a. If God just wants billions of people to praise Him for eternity, then why all this mess with the universe: creation, crucifixion, stuff like that? Why not just create people who will praise You all the time?
b. Why did God spend 6 days creating, when He could have done it all in an instant?
c. Why did He wait 4,000 years before bringing Christ to center-stage? Why another 2,000 years, at least, before the final judgment day?
d. Why all the cruelty leading up to and including the crucifixion? Why not just have the Christ die in His sleep?
You might say (although it wouldn’t be wise to do so) that “God would not make the best movie-maker. You’ve seen the kind … where there’s a lot of action, close calls, suspense, a long building up of the plot, a cliff-hanging climax, and then all of a sudden, something quite unpredictable occurs, which solves all the problems within a matter of 5 minutes or so, and the hero and his girl drive off into the sunset to live happily ever after. As if the movie-makers were running out of time, so they threw some far-fetched factor into the story to bring it to a satisfactory end for the viewer. God is the same way. – He has a particular end in mind. So no matter how messy things may look now, He will bring it all to a satisfactory end; … no need to worry about how.”

4) Once the presupposition of point #3 has been established, it becomes a rather simple task to preach that “the end which most concerns God is that of evangelism, the fulfillment of the Great Commission.” Evangelism for the modern church and its individualistic Christians is the wonderful justifier of all our compromises. It’s the perfect skin-color-matching cover-up for all our blemishes, the cure-all drug for all our symptomatic side-effects of some serious illness. For some examples, consider the following: A heart for evangelism means …
a. a Christian man can go into a strip-club and witness to the performers,
b. a Christian man can, in order to better communicate in the language of his culture, purchase a subscription to Rolling Stones magazine (including that one with a topless Britney Spears on the front cover),
c. a Christian man can grow long hair and get a tattoo because a Hell’s Angel will more likely be converted by someone who looks like him (the same reason that Jesus removed His clothes, cut Himself with stones, and lived in a tomb so that He might better witness to Legion),
d. a Christian can marry a non-Christian,
e. Christian parents can send their children to public schools,
f. Christians can skip church to be with the unsaved, especially if those unsaved are relatives,
g. Christian churches can determine their own style of worship,
h. a Christian can recommend any version of the Bible that might appeal to the (especially unsaved) reader,
i. a Christian can come up with his own interpretation of a Scriptural passage,
j. a Christian can come up with his own definition of God (“That’s the kind of God I serve.” – Isn’t that what used to be called “making an idol”?).
To summarize, you want to cultivate a mindset that God does not care about the process, that He is not a God of the means. This will aid the seering (er, did I say that? I meant the relieving) of the consciences of pastors and churches who want to circumvent messy disciplinary issues, Christian men who want to replace their spiritual provision in the home (via family worship) with material provisions (via consistent overtime work), Christian women who want to play masculine roles (working outside the home, teaching and leading in the church, etc.), and Christian people who want to divorce with other than Biblical support.

Ever Heard These?

"There's no such thing as a stupid question."
"What did you say?"
"I said, 'There's no such thing as a stupid question.'"
"What did you say?"
"There's no such thing as a stupid question!"
"What did you say?"

******************************************************

"God answers every prayer."

"... the LORD will not hear you in that day." -- I Samuel 8:18
"Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it." -- Job 35:13
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." -- Psalm 66:18
"And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: ...." -- Isaiah 1:15
"Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee." -- Jeremiah 7:16
See also Isaiah 59:2; Jeremiah 11:14, 14:12; Amos 5:23; Micah 3:4; & Proverbs 1:28.

Christian Maturity

Reading the history of God’s people throughout the Scriptures should naturally tend toward a question something like the following, “Why in the world is it so seemingly common that men like David, Solomon, and Hezekiah, who have exercised wisdom and great faith and who have received wonderful blessings, later make such foolish decisions?” How did they misplace their wisdom? Is this what Christians must anticipate as they grow older in Christ? I should hope not. Thank the LORD for other examples like Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and, of course, Christ Himself.

But what of Paul? What was it that he said? “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) While much could likely be said about what it means to “keep the faith,” I desire to mention what is likely one of the simplest definitions.

One dark, wet night some years back, my family and I were traveling an unfamiliar route several hours from home. We damaged the front of our car by hitting a large animal in the middle of the road, and consequently, found ourselves continuing our journey on unfamiliar, wet, unlit, country roads with only one bright headlight. We soon rediscovered the value of reflectors spaced at close regular intervals down the middle of the road, by which safer navigation is made less stressful. The absence of those reflectors made us more grateful for their occasional reappearance.

Psalm 119:105 states that “[God’s] Word … a Light to [our] path.” God’s Word is our metaphorical reflectors. Christian maturity is not becoming so confident in our own driving skills that we assume we can safely navigate any typical route with only an occasional glance at the road, as much as it is developing the consistency of humbly gauging and correcting our position relative to the Reflectors in all matters of life, truth, and holiness.

Always, always, always check the Scriptures. “Keep sound wisdom and discretion: … Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.” (Proverbs 3:21b,23)

Bringing Back Backsliders

The New International Version of the Holy Bible records Christ’s words in Matthew 28:18-20 as follows: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Recently, I have wondered why my children, who are foremost the children of God, are able to sin and yet not confess that sin without some prompting from us, their parents. If they are truly Christians, young enough for their consciences to not have yet been totally seered and hardened against sensing the Holy Spirit’s grief, then shouldn’t they come running, crying, and confessing their sin? Is not the Holy Spirit powerful enough to convince and convict them of their sin and make them penitent? But then, why not leave Him with the entire task of also chastising and correcting our children? With the great responsibility of rearing children, why should it be left to those us who are yet imperfect and whose entire sanctification has not yet been realized?

For that matter, why not leave it to Christ to appear in the flesh and personally evangelize every individual sinner in the world? Is not the Holy Spirit capable of showing truth to our hearts and minds without us needing to look at His Scriptures? And why should we listen to a human preacher on Sunday morning? Besides, the Holy Spirit could likely present us a powerful sermon in a lot less time, and we wouldn’t have to miss so much of our Sunday afternoon TV shows. Yeah, that’s a great idea!

Yet is this not what many pastors preach and practice? “I just scatter the Seed and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.” Okay, so maybe we cannot make it rain, nor can we reach into the acorn and pull out the tree. But we can work the ground, plant the seed, and even water it to some extent; we can fertilize the ground, pull weeds, and even remove dead leaves. In other words, after Christ stated that all authority had been given to Him, He then gave His Bride responsibilities.

When Nikki comes into the worship service and sits down with her live-in boyfriend, when Mom and children show up without Dad because that second job requires him to work weekends, when Martha is going through her third divorce, when James cuts out of the service early because he wants to catch the last part of his son’s little league game, it is not enough to preach the principles and leave the application to God and conscience. When Christ left the surface of the earth, He did not leave us comfortless (John 14:18); nor did He leave us without authority to remit or retain sins (John 20:23). He did not leave us without a structure for confronting and disciplining backsliders; nor did He leave us without support. It’s not all up to Him, nor is it all up to us; because after declaring His authority, then delegating authority, He promised to be “with [us] always, to the very end of the age.”

“These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judging is not good: Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent” – peoples will curse him and nations denounce him. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come upon them.
“An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” (Proverbs 24:23-26)

No Double Standard

The Holy Spirit, through Paul's letters to Timothy (I Timothy 3) and Titus (Titus 1), provides us with a couple lists of qualifications for bishops, deacons, and elders in His church. So are ministerial leaders held to a higher standard than the lay people? Please allow me to put it this way: No!

But a simple declaration rejecting a double standard is not enough. For it would seem that there are some within the church quite ready and willing to affirm that “pastors, too, are only human.” In other words, “we lay folk are not the only ones living shallow, disobedient lives of compromising God’s law; we need leaders who can relate. Jim Baker, Ted Haggard, and Parson Smith ought not be expected to live in such a way that sheds light on our own hypocrisy.” – That is exactly the opposite of what the Holy Spirit requires.

There is no double standard, because of the imitation principle set forth clearly in the writings of Paul and, of course, by Christ Himself. In The Christian Counselor’s Manual,* Jay Adams points out that Christ called the twelve apostles to be “with him” (Mark 3:14), so that they would learn how to be like He is and not just how to say what he says. Of course, Christ was successful as evidenced by the testimony of the Jews who took notice that the disciples “had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). This same principle is mentioned by Paul multiple times while directly summarized in I Corinthians 11:1, where he writes, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

So that which is required of elders is required of all men of God, at least, in principle. All of God’s people are to obey these standards, and we ministerial leaders are to show them how. We are the example-setters, the pace-cars, the under-shepherds of the Great Shepherd, or, if you will, the bellwethers of the flock, following the Great Bellwether, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

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* - The Christian Counselor's Manual, by Jay E. Adams, (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865, USA; copyright, 1973 by Jay E. Adams. First printing, November 1973; Twelfth printing, March 1982), pp. 335-336.

Worse Than an Infidel?

“If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” – I Timothy 5:8

The Smith’s are Christians. The Jones’s across the street are not. The Smith’s have had several children and adopted a number of others. The Jones’s have had quite a few kids as well.

Having watched Suzy Jones get on and off the school bus and meander the sidewalk back to her house, Mrs. Smith has often thought that Suzy would be better off living in the Smith house. Rumor has it that, while Mr. Jones seems many times to be a likable guy, he frequently blows his paycheck on internet gambling, loose women, and alcohol. He has even occasionally beat his wife and children or left them stranded out on the street.

Yet Suzy generally appears to be a rather cheerful young woman, especially given her circumstances. One would think she hasn’t much about which to be cheerful, but I guess she’s been developing somewhat of her own hedonistic life and has also been gathering a host of party friends with whom to fritter it away. But Mrs. Smith sees through it all. She knows that Suzy can have a much more abundant life. – “Oh, if only Suzy could see the life that she’s missing.”

“Suzy!” Mrs. Smith calls out one day, just as soon as Suzy’s friends have driven away from dropping her off. “I’ve been wanting to ask you something. – Now that you’re an older teenager, and … well, … I wonder what you’d think of possibly …, um, … well, how would you like staying with us for a while. Come and see what life is like in the Smith house,” Mrs. Smith smiles widely. “Whada ya say?”

“Why?” Suzy seems to ask curtly.

“Well, I thought that, um, … well, my husband works with your dad once in a while, and so …, uh, … well, even some of the neighbors have even noticed that –”

“Well, I happen to know some of your children,” Suzy interrupts, “who used to live with you … and who haven’t come back to stay even when they’ve had opportunity. And also some of your foster children have opted out of being adopted by you. And then how ‘bout the ones who still do live with you? They seem to be sick more often than they are well!
“Why would I want to live with you? Shouldn’t you be taking care of your own before worrying about someone else?”
...

“This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning … the church”
(Ephesians 5:32).

Clogging Clergy

God said to Solomon, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14). Notice the first condition there. God’s “people, which are called by [His] name,” must “humble themselves.” Certainly this must be true as well for the leaders of God’s people. It must begin there. This is quite fitting as one of first clogs encountered in the flow of effective Christian ministry is often the pride of the ministry leader. It is understandably difficult for a pastor to acknowledge that he may have “gotten it wrong” for the past 20 years in a particular area of his belief, vision, teaching, practice, etc. But the church has had certain things wrong for centuries; so why not admit the mistakes over a few decades? We within the ministerial leadership must acknowledge the barriers in our humanity, those personal clogs in our own understanding. We must humble ourselves. Not only must there be a humbling, but it needs to be by ourselves (as the Holy Spirit gives us grace).

We must be strong enough to fall to our knees. Else such strength will be given to another who will force us to our knees. “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). “Every knee shall bow” (Isaiah 45:23). As He proved with the children of Israel at the border of Canaan, then again at the battle of Ai, then again with the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, then again with the Roman Catholic Inquisition, then again with the Christians in communist Russia, then again with the so-called Christian nation that hosted and boasted the World Trade Center, God has shown Himself quite capable of bringing “[His] people, which are called by [His] name” to their knees. So the question is, “Will we humble ourselves, or will we be humbled?”

Grow in Grace

The Holy Spirit said in 2 Peter 3:17-18, “Beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

If someone were to say, “Nothing can be known for certain,” they would be making a self-destructive statement; for if “nothing can be known for certain,” this would then include this very own declaration. In other words, it must not be certain that “nothing can be known for certain.” Anyone who makes this statement has just forfeited his right to an audience. Not too differently would be the old man who says, “The older I grow, the less I know.”

In Leviticus 19:32, God commands, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.” Then, in Proverbs 16:31, the Holy Spirit specifies that “the hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” The elderly are to be honored, but such honor is more glorious if the elderly are in the “way of righteousness.” According to the previous text from 2 Peter, the “way of righteousness” includes growing “in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord” Jesus Christ. Maturity in a Christian should include growth in the knowledge of Christ. And that additional knowledge ought not be solely the discovery that “the older I get, the fewer the things about which I am yet convinced.” Where is the hope in that for the Christian young person?

The Proverb previously mentioned about the “hoary head” is preceded by much encouragement “to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity” (Proverbs 1:2-3). We need older men (and women) in the church who can honestly say, “My son, hear the instruction of thy father,” (Proverbs 1:8) and then afterwards still have something worthwhile to say.