Deeper Than Deep

Rich Mullins once recorded a song entitled “If I Stand” (on his album entitled Stuff of Earth), which included these words:
“There’s more that dances on the prairie than the wind
And more that pulses in the oceans than the tide.
There’s a love that is fiercer than the love between friends,
More gentle than a mother’s, when a baby’s at her side.
There’s a loyalty that’s deeper than mere sentiment
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing.
The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance
That I owe only to the Giver of all good things.”

We work and sweat to get lots of money; but what we really want is security. We pursue pleasures; but what we really want is joy. We become activists; but what we really want is purpose. We pop in a CD, sit cross-legged on the floor in a room surrounded by large windows, close our eyes, inhale deeply, and find ourselves in some enchanted sunny, flowery meadow where birds sing sweetly and butterflies smile at us; but what we really want is peace. We strategize and entice for intimacy; but what we really want is love.

Thus, we begin to understand the love and grace of the Holy Spirit when He teaches us in Philippians 4:6-7 to “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Notice that when you “let your requests be made known unto God,” He does not promise here to grant your every request; but He does promise a peace, “which passes all understanding.”

“Be not ye therefore like unto [the heathen]: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matthew 6:8); and “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). So take comfort, because “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Exercise Faith, & You Won't Believe Your Eyes!

The Holy Spirit tells us, in Hebrews 11:27, that “by faith, [Moses] … endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible.” Now how do you see Someone Who is invisible?

The preceding verses imply that Moses could have had “pleasures” and “treasures” – those things which appeal to the lust of the eyes and flesh – but instead he chose affliction and reproach. He chose rather to exercise faith in Someone Whom he could not see Who promised to lead him to a land he had not seen.

Could Abraham not see his wrinkled, gray-haired wife? Did Moses not understand the strength of Pharaoh’s horses and chariots? Did Joshua not see that big wall surrounding Jericho? Didn’t David hear King Saul say that that 9.5-foot tall giant out there, who’s carrying over 140 pounds of armor and weapons, has been “a man of war from his youth” (I Samuel 17:33)? Didn’t the 3 Hebrew boys realize that King Nebuchadnezzar could demand the fire be made much hotter? Did Daniel not know how big and hungry the lions were? Of course, they saw the challenge before them. But they also saw “Him Who is invisible,” with His mighty hand and outstretched arm (Deut. 26:8) poised to crush any who would dare to touch His anointed.

Yet the enemy, from the beginning, tempts us to trust our physical eyes. He wants us to put our faith in that which we can observe, handle, and experience. He showed Eve “that the tree [of the knowledge of good and evil] was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). He showed Christ the stones which could “be made bread” and then showed “Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (Matthew 4:3, 8). Then Satan shows us the harlot (as mentioned in Revelation). – Our eyes see the “gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, … and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;” our skin feels the “fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet;” our noses smell the “cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense;” our tongues taste the “wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep;” and our ears hear “the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, … and the sound of a millstone … and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride ….” – He tempts us through all of our senses toward “the fruits that [our] soul[s] lusted after …, and all things which were dainty and goodly …” (Revelation 18:12-14, 22-23).

But “faith is … the evidence of things not seen,” without which “it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:1, 6). Therefore, exercise faith in God and His Word, and you will not believe your eyes!

Attack Lust with the Sword of the Spirit

Before I present today’s challenge, let me first remind you that one of the primary goals to which God’s people are always being called is to believe God and His Word. Adam and Eve were presented with this test, and they failed. The people of Israel failed it many times as well. Finally, the Second Adam, the True Israel, our Example passed the test, showing us the power of the written Word of God, our “Sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17).

Men, are you greatly tempted and perhaps even often defeated by the lust of the eyes? Then I would like to encourage you to pick up your Sword, and accept this challenge with me:

“As of this ____ day of the ____ month in the year of our Lord ____, by the grace of God and the power of His Holy Spirit, I hereby declare that,
– since I am not my own, but I have been bought with a price and therefore must glorify God in my body and in my spirit which belong to God (I Cor. 6:20), I will henceforth love God with all of my being, including my mind (Mark 12:30), and
– since my body also belongs to my wife (I Cor. 7:4), I will love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it (Eph. 5:25), and
– since I am not to lust after a woman’s beauty in my heart (Prov. 6:25) but rather to abstain from fornication (I Thess. 4:3), I will mortify my members on the earth, including lust and fornication (Col. 3:5), and
– since Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2), I will walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4) and in step with the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25), and
– since I have made a covenant with my eyes (Job 31:1), I will henceforth set no wicked thing before my eyes (Psalm 101:3). Amen.”

Godly Guardrails & Freedom Fences

Have you ever heard someone speak of God’s law as freeing? The Holy Spirit Himself, through James’ epistle, speaks of “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25). Or perhaps someone would say something like, “A home or society without law is a home or society of slavery. But one built upon Biblical principles is one that’s free.” – What in the world does that mean? How do laws make one free?

Does a dog inside his master’s fenced yard of 3 acres feel free compared to his canine neighbors inside their master’s 20 acres? Well, if the former is a single German Schnauzer and the neighbors are a couple German Shepherds, the 3 acres suddenly become quite spacious as opposed to 2 cubic feet inside of a box that is a few feet under the dirt. The fence is not keeping the good dog from getting out and being free as much as it is keeping the bad dogs from getting in and being destructive.

Another thing that laws do is provide a distinct boundary between those areas that are safe and those that are not. When driving along the road on the side of a steep mountain, I do not view the guardrail as restrictive. I am very glad it’s there. I do not fear for my life as long as I stay on the mountain-side of the guardrail. On the other side of the guardrail, driving and even living likely become much more difficult. I recently rammed into a guardrail when I lost control of my pickup truck on an icy road. The truck was somewhat damaged and a couple passengers bruised, but generally, by God’s grace, our lives and health were spared. The guardrail served its purpose.

God’s laws are meant for a similar purpose. When we are headed in the wrong direction, God’s laws smack us in the face and say, “Where do you think you’re going? There’s nothing but danger, death, and destruction outside of faith in Christ and faithfulness to His commandments.”

So God’s laws are a matter of protection from that which would harm and destroy, and they are a call back to faithfully abiding in Christ – and that is freeing! – Romans 8:2 states, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

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?"

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"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)

So you think you know the Bible, do ya?

A country preacher went looking for a job. The interviewing committee finally interviewed him. They asked him, “Do you know much about the Bible?”
The preacher said, “Oh, yeah. I know the Bible through and through.”
“What’s your favorite book?” they asked.
“My favorite book is Mark.”
“What’s your favorite part?”
“My favorite part is the parables.”
“Oh, yeah. What’s your favorite parable?”
“My favorite parable is the one about ‘The Good Samaritan.’”
“Can you tell it to the committee?”
The preacher replied, “Yep. It goes this way:
“Once there was this man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among the thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked him. And as he went on, he didn’t have any money, and he met the Queen of Sheba. She gave him a thousand talents of gold and thousand changes of raiment, and he got into a chariot and drove furiously.
“He was driving so furiously, he drove under a Juniper Tree, and his hair got caught on the limb of the tree. He hung there for many days, and the ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And he ate 5,000 loaves of bread and 2 fishes.
“Then one night, while he was hanging there asleep, his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair, and he dropped and fell on stony ground. But he got up and went on, as it began to rain. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights; so he hid himself in a cave, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
“Then he went on until he met a servant who said, ‘Come; let’s have supper together.’ But he made an excuse and said, ‘No, I won’t. I married a wife and cannot go.’ So the servant went out to the highways and the hedges and compelled him to come in.
“After supper, he went on and came down to Jericho. When he got there, he looked up and saw that old Queen Jezebel, sitting high up on the window; and she laughed at him. So he said, ‘Throw her down, out there!’ And they threw her down. Then he said, ‘Throw her down again!’ And they threw her down 70 times 7. And of the fragments that remained, they picked up 12 baskets full …, besides women and children. – They say, ‘Blessed are the PIECE-makers.’
“Now, whose wife do you think she will be on the Judgment Day?”

The original source is unknown, but we copied this from listening to a sermon delivered by Ravi Zacharias of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (http://www.rzim.org).

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)

Food & Wine for Thought

“Did Jesus turn the water into alcoholic wine?” One of the arguments, which I’ve heard throughout my life, against the drinking of wine and other alcoholic beverages is that the word which we read in our Bibles translated into English as “wine” can actually mean grape juice. I.e., “wine” does not necessarily refer to something fermented, but it can also refer to the juice which has just been created. While I have yet to study the claim of this argument or to study this word in the original language (“oίνoς”, pronounced oy’-nos, as the Greek would have it), I still have some fundamental questions even about this argument.

First of all, I assume that it can be safely said that the translators of the Holy Scriptures generally fell into one of the four following categories:
...Christian, Wine-Drinker...........Non-Christian, Wine-Drinker
...Christian, Non-Wine-Drinker.....Non-Christian, Non-Wine-Drinker

If they fell into either of the two categories on the right-side of the above array, that is, if the translators of our English Bible were not Christians, then does this not raise some very serious issues concerning our convictions about the infallibility and authority of the Scriptures? So let’s assume for now, for the sake of argument (without yet researching the translation parameters), that they were Christian.

They then were either drinkers of alcoholic wine or abstainers from such. If they were abstainers from wine, and if they were thus because of religious conviction, and if the word in the original language could have been translated as something other than wine (this is a big “if,” since it would also be helpful in this argument to know if it was common in the language and era of the translators to refer to “grape juice” as “wine”), then why did they still translate it as wine? I.e., if the context of the Scriptural passage was likely referring to non-fermented grape juice, then why didn’t the translators clarify that (unless the King James language was not referring to any fruit beverage as anything other than wine), especially if they themselves were convinced of the inappropriateness of drinking wine?

Otherwise, if they were Christians who enjoyed their liberties in Christ including the enjoyment of their wine, then it is understandable why they had no problem translating the many references to wine as they did.

* * * * * *

– Why do the Scriptures appear to be speaking of wine?
– Why was Christ accused of being a “winebibber” (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34)? Did the “men of [Christ’s] generation” really have a problem with His drinking grape juice?
– Why have Christians in the past drunk wine, why do Christians today enjoy wine without becoming controlled by it, … especially if it is easily or feasibly arguable that Scripture should likely be referring to grape juice?

What has changed throughout church history? and why? How have these changes come about? Are they justified? – We need to know the Scriptures, and we need to know our history.

More Thoughts on Wine

Obviously, not all of the Scriptures’ uses of the word wine are necessarily in reference to grape juice. One must look at the context. Even then, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to prove that the Scriptures prohibit the use of alcoholic wine. Consider the following:

Ephesians 5:18 states, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.” Does this mean, “Be not drunk with” grape juice?

How were the Israelites to preserve the grape juice from fermentation?

Deuteronomy 14:25-26 is very interesting, where is commanded, “Then shalt thou … go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: 26And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household.”

John 2:9-10 relates, “When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, ‘Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.’” Was he speaking of the various grades of grape juice that were customarily served at wedding feasts?

In Matthew 11 and Luke 7, Christ says that John the Baptist “came neither eating nor drinking,” but then He “the Son of man came eating and drinking” (Matthew 11:18-19). Christ’s statement is likely in reference to John’s obedience to the angel’s command spoken to John’s father Zacharias in Luke 1:15, “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.” What was John prohibited from drinking? Wine and strong drink. So when Christ says that “John came neither eating nor drinking” but that He “the Son of man came eating and drinking,” what was he then drinking?

Why did Peter, at Pentecost, not rather declare, “These are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is not the custom of the Jews to drink alcoholic wine”? (Acts 2:15)

When various warnings are given throughout the Scriptures from the Holy Spirit against the drunkenness and the abuse of strong drink, is it because He saw that the Israelites might easily become addicted to grape juice?

Thanksgiving to Whom?

Thanksgiving – That time of the year when we are encouraged to “give thanks” to God for His abundance of blessings to us, the greatest of which is the opportunity to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ!!

That’s right; we “give thanks” to God, the LORD Almighty, JEHOVAH Jireh (the LORD Who provides)!!! Not to Allah because it was not the Muslims that came over on the Mayflower. Not to the Great Spirit because it was not the Native Americans who initiated this celebration. And certainly not to the turkey because, if it was up to him, he would probably do away with this holiday.

Perhaps we can and ought to give thanks for those Pilgrims who ventured here; perhaps we can and ought to give thanks for those early Indians who helped them survive; perhaps we can and ought to give thanks for those who struggled, fought, bled, and died here to preserve this land, its resources, and our freedom; and perhaps we can and ought to give thanks for those founding fathers who feared God enough to establish our government upon the principles of That Which has been guaranteed to stand forever – the Word of God. It is appropriate to give thanks for these, but to Whom do we give thanks?

We give thanks to the One Who gave those adventurers their courage; we give thanks to the One Who gave those Indians their heart for hospitality; we give thanks to the One Who gave those early Americans their determined will; we give thanks to the One Who gave those founding fathers their great wisdom. we give thanks to the One Who gave us His only begotten Son “that [we] might have life, and that [we] might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, King James Version of the Holy Bible)

Now, … have a happy Thanksgiving!

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.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

“And lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13, Luke 11:4). What does this mean? “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (James 1:13). If God does not tempt us, then why does Christ instruct us to pray that God “lead us not into temptation”?

Frankly, I must not claim that I have a clear understanding of this teaching from Jesus, and that which I may understand is highly likely incomprehensive. One suggestion that I now offer is that it may be paraphrased somewhat as follows, keeping in mind that this clause comes near the end of a model prayer that Christ is teaching His disciples: “Father in Heaven, above all these petitions I make to you now, ‘thy will be done’ and not mine, especially if the granting of my will and my petitions will probably lead me into situations where I will be tempted to disobey you.” Or in the words of the Proverb writer: “… give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain” (Proverbs 30:8-9). So “don’t answer my prayer and give me such abundance of blessings,” or in short, “please do not give me so much good … that I then become tempted to deny you.”

But then are we to pray for much evil …, that is, that evil come and attack us so that we may prove our love for and faith in God? After all, Christ Himself said, “It must needs be that offences come” (Matthew 18:7). Well, obviously then, we need not pray for it (since it already “must” come); rather, we are to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Since we know that God’s grace abounds and also that “iniquity shall abound” (Matthew 24:12), then we know that temptations will come; but “when they do, let not evil have its way with us. May our enemies fall into their own traps with which they meant to tempt and ensnare us” (Psalm 35:8, Proverbs 28:10).

We pray that we may avoid making “provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). We pray that we may avoid temptation (Luke 22:40). Yet “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed;” (James 1:14) … “but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Corinthians 10:13). We are thankful that “the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations” (II Peter 2:9) and “deliver us from evil.”

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).