Atheists Tomorrow is the national holiday of the Atheist. I say that because, as you know, it is April Fool’s Day. The scripture says that the fool says in his heart that there is no God (Psalm 14:1). While this is a bit of a playful jab at the incoherence of a godless worldview, we must also remember that these are fools because of their willful rejection of the light of God seen in the general revelation of nature and the special revelation of Scripture. I point this out because we could be tempted to look at that position sympathetically but instead we ought to see it for the rebellion that it is. This is not only true when we see it in others but also true when we remember that this was us. We must guard against regressing into faithless actions that are based in unbelief. Clowns Just this last week, an internet influencer named JP Sears professed his faith in God (video). This gentleman has for some time been a harsh critic of the draconian policies that have been used the past few years in our country and around the world. He was somewhat famous among those on the right for criticizing the left, while he was probably a rather liberal person himself. As Christians, I think we should desire to affirm and trust every profession of faith even if we are seen to be gullible by the world. However, I must admit that as hopeful as I am that this man has truly been converted, his comedic history does give me some pause to make sure that Lucy isn’t about to pull the football on us as the metaphorical Charlie Brown. So what should we do when we hear about someone with a high profile or celebrated platform converting to Christ? I would like to suggest 3 appropriate responses. First, we ought to pray for the person. It is never a bad thing to pray for people, and we, of course, want to celebrate the great miracle of regeneration and the advance of Christ’s kingdom. Second, we should also praise God because in His sovereignty and providence He is bringing glory, not to this person, but to Himself. Third, we ought to remember that God doesn’t need the wealthy wise or worldly to grant legitimacy to His kingdom. Instead, He has chosen the weak, winsome, and wholesome of this world to show His power (1 Corinthians 1:26-30). Fools I want to point out that the Apostle Paul uses the term “fool” in another way in 1 Corinthians 4:10. In this passage, he is using the word sarcastically to refer to the way that some others have wrongly judged he and the other apostles to be weak and lowly. Paul’s point is that he doesn’t care if he is seen in their eyes, or even in the estimation of the whole world, as a fool, if through that Christ is proclaimed and God glorified. The point we must understand is that the only evaluation of our lives that matters is God’s. We must also remember that our existence is for His glory and not simply our gratification. If we are to magnify Christ with our loves then we must lose all concern with magnifying ourselves. All the glory, honor, and praise be to our glorious God, sovereign King, and holy Counselor!
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Show me I guess it's award season in Hollywood. I'm not really sure, I don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. Actually, I believe that most people don’t. I heard a proverbial phrase the other day that in your 20’s you care a lot what other people think, by your 40’s you care much less what others think, and by your 60’s you realize people didn’t think much about you at all. I don't know if that is true, but I do think that we often think of ourselves more highly than we ought. This is especially true in reference to our so-called accomplishments. I say “so called” not because they are not real or because we didn’t truly work for them, but because humans are prone to not give credit where it is really due. We live in a narcissistic culture in which we are encouraged to evaluate our life, value, and success by how many likes, clicks, views, follows, or shares we can amass from other people. At the root, so much of what drives our culture is pride. The arrogance of constructing a view of ourselves that is all about us. However, if God is the center and focus of all things, then this should destroy our boasting. For everything is about Him and not us! Show Off In 2 Kings 20:12-21, we read that after God healed King Hezekiah of a deadly illness the king of Babylon sent messengers to comfort Hezekiah, because they heard that he was sick. (That seems kind of suspicious to me.) But Hezekiah, possibly still full of euphoria because of his healing, welcomed these men into his palace and proceeded to give them an exhaustive tour of his kingdom, wealth, and military provisions. Hezekiah clearly desired to show off all that he had. He proudly desired the admiration, not only of these men, but of the king of Babylon. Whether Hezekiah thought that this was a strategic way to flex on the Babylonians or simply the foolish arrogance of materialism, Hezekiah was clearly all about himself and his own power and prosperity. The question we must ask ourselves is: Did Hezekiah really have anything to boast about? Of course, the wealth and weapons were really there but were they really his? In the passage Isaiah goes on to tell Hezekiah of the punishment of God that will befall his house, his children, and his nation because of this foolish and reckless action. Of course, God was going to judge Judah with the 70 years of exile for far more reasons than just this but while Hezekiah was gloating over all that he had he failed to attribute this all to God. I think that a big part of Hezekiah’s sin was not only the strategic foolishness of helping his enemies to case the joint but also in not remembering that Hezekiah was only a steward and manager of the nation that belonged to God. Hezekiah is so oblivious to his pride and selfishness that even after Isaiah proclaims the judgment, he is content because the disaster will not happen until after his death. Even in this Hezekiah’s concern is not for his nation, his family, or his God. Show Out So, how do we guard ourselves against becoming like Hezekiah? I think it starts with an understanding that everything belongs not to us but to our great God (Psalm 24:1-2). Hezekiah had lost sight of the reality that every blessing and good thing that he had was from God (James 1:16-18). In this we need to remember that it is not wrong to publish the news of all the things that God has done. We should be readily and regularly testifying to what God has done in our lives (Psalm 34:1-3) but the necessary emphasis must remain on the fact that God has done this and not us. One practical way that we can cultivate this kind of genuine humility is by fixing our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) and His accomplishment on the cross for us. If we are to boast, let it be in the cross (Galatians 6:14) and the resurrection of Christ our Lord. Let us glorify our Father in heaven through the Spirit whom He has given to us! (1 John 3:24) Engagement Do you remember Mrs. Kravitz from the show ‘Bewitched’? She was always being nosy and came off looking crazy when she could not prove the incredible things that she had seen. A hilarious trope that is used very often in sitcoms to make fun of the person who just can’t seem to mind their own business. However, in our day the internet, social media, and the 24/7 news cycle has turned most of us into our own virtual version of Mrs. Kravitz, just without the rollers in our hair. Part of the problem stems from having so much information. Historically, most news that had traveled for some distance was so old and remote that it was completely unactionable. On the other hand if something happens near you in time and space then it was probably reasonable for you to respond appropriately. But today we are bombarded by so much information that seems actionable, but is actually completely outside of our control. Online platforms have given us the appearance of influence. So often we assume that even if our opinion isn’t wanted it is needed. The essential problem that we are dealing with is that in our desire to not feel helpless with the onslaught of issues we respond to everything that we perceive to be a problem happening around us. I am not arguing that we should not be proactive in dealing with real problems in our genuine sphere of influence. Nor am I meaning that we should be unwilling to call out sin and false teaching when necessary. But most of us could use a healthy dose of faith filled optimism and a reorientation of our priorities. Wealth Everyday there will be someone that has something wrong on the internet. If we let ourselves become the all time truth police, we will always be denouncing something that has happened culturally or that has been proclaimed doctrinally. Of the abundance of problems there is no end. Never before has there been an opportunity for us to be so well informed about things that have nothing to do with us. We are much like the Athenians in the first century because we spend all of our time listening for something new (Acts 17:21). They were gluttonous in their appetite for the fleshly stimulation of philosophy and controversy. As extreme as Luke makes their cultural circumstance sound, I cannot imagine that ours is not many times worse given the technological advances that not only allow us access to this intoxicating feast but also the addictive nature of our devices. This is especially a problem when believers exhibit this kind of behavior because we ought to be so fulfilled in Christ, so joyful in the Spirit, and so reverent of our Father that we should not be constantly drawn away by these lesser things. Instead of being pessimistic naysayers, why aren’t we the happy proclaimers of the good news that can actually save and transform the world and culture? Of course, the proclamation of the gospel includes the bad news and I, in no way, mean to say that we should sweeten or soften the message but we must proclaim Christ with either tearfilled eyes or happy smiles, but not angry and bitter growls. Mind Set So, you may be saying that I am a hypocrite. After all, aren’t I doing the very thing that I am warning against just by warning you against something? Maybe. So let me shift to give you some practical things that we can do to be more optimistic and hopeful. First, we ought to heed the warning from scripture to not be busybodies. The Apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians that they must watch out for idleness because it breeds this kind of fruitless curiosity. We must keep active and busy in seeking to glorify the Lord. Paul also instructs them to not get tired in doing the good things that God has given them to do (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). I am sure that there are plenty of opportunities around my life and family to keep me busy and out of the business of other folks (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10). Paul also tells Timothy to warn those who have fallen into the serious sin of gossip and have become the stereotypical busybody (1 Timothy 5:11-13). Second, we must set our minds on better things. Those things which accompany salvation and that adorn the gospel. We ought to be focusing our minds on the grace and beauty of our great God and His awesome salvation. Our minds should be set on the things above where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1-4). Brothers and Sisters isn’t it better to let our minds linger on those things which are pure, lovely, honorable, true, just, commendable, and excellent (Philippians 4:8-9). Paul says that with this focus comes the very promise of the peace of God. Finally, I would encourage all of us to turn attention off of the things happen in exotic places (i.e. Kentucky) and the people we don’t even know and instead focus on loving and edifying the brothers and sisters in our local church. We need to be seeking to share Christ with the lost people in our own communities. We must be not only content but happy to serve God where He has planted us and among whom He has placed us! Good Clothes Last week, I began dealing with the issue of how we should dress in the gathering of the church on the Lord’s day. In this post, I want to go through a few passages that deal with this specifically. There are actually many more that we could consider about how concerned we ought to be about clothing in general in passages such as Matthew 6:25-33 and Luke 12:22-48, but here I want to deal with what the Apostles had to say about our clothing in the New Covenant Church meeting. The New Testament Principles Many will contend that we are instructed to offer our bodies in worship to the Lord (Romans 12:1). This is absolutely true, however, in this text Paul is not making a case for the attire they should wear in worship. Instead, from this point in the book of Romans through chapter 15, Paul is imploring us to act and behave consistently with the theology he has explained in the first eleven chapters. Romans 12:1 simply doesn’t have anything to do with the discussion of how to dress for the church meeting. Some may also point out that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that we should glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Again, I would agree wholeheartedly. The point that Paul is making in this passage is not about our clothing but our behavior. The passage actually is dealing with abstinence from sexual immorality, not our Sunday outfit. In both of these passages one must, at best, infer some implicit not explicit ideas about the way we should dress in church. As matter of fact, if we apply these passages to our dress then it would extend far beyond the worship service, because in both texts it is our whole life that is being discussed. So, are there any New Testament texts that deal directly with our clothing and how to dress in the church gathering? Yes! Since we have looked at two passages by Paul, let's start with his instructions. In 1 Timothy 2:8-10, Paul instructs the godly women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel. Of course, we must interpret what respectable apparel means. In different times and cultures that could be different. We do not dress as they did in the first century today. But thankfully, Paul helps us out by telling us that this respectable apparel is modest and self controlled. He also specifically points out that it should not be fancy and expensive. Which is kind of the opposite of dressing up. The Apostle Peter also speaks to this topic in 1 Peter 3:1-4 where he addresses the women and pretty much says the same thing as Paul. Peter even says, “Don’t let your adorning be external.” Meaning that the clothing you wear should not be the focus. James also gives us insight in James 2:1-7 where he points out that judging one another by the clothing we wear to the church gathering is a way of committing the sin of partiality. So it seems that the case for grace toward one another in the area of church attire is far stronger than that of “dressing up” for the church meeting. Modern Practice With all of that I have said the last two weeks in mind, it seems to me that we ought to encourage people to dress appropriately, by which I mean modestly and in such a way as not to be a distraction. Much of this will depend on the culture of the particular church. I think it is possible to under dress in some cases or over dress. If the congregation's regular practice is for the men to wear a collared shirt and the ladies wear dresses and the new pastor comes in wearing a t-shirt and shorts then that would be an unnecessary distraction. However, in a small rural community where most folks maybe don’t even own anything but jeans, a pastor in a three piece suit could also be a distraction. The men should dress as men and the women should dress modestly. The goal should be on humbling ourselves and dressing in whatever way, either up or down, so as to not be a distraction from our main purpose of worshiping the Lord and fellowshipping and edifying the saints! Sunday Best I was raised with the idea that you should always wear your best clothes to the church meeting. This not only included the Lord’s day meetings on Sunday morning and evening, but also the Wednesday evening gathering. The reason was heartfelt and sincere. It just makes sense that we should be offering to God our best. We should give the Lord all our devotion in terms of reverence and attention. The idea is that God deserves our best and so we should dress to reflect that idea. I have seen it argued that we would “dress up” to meet with dignitaries or celebrities, so why not God? So, in this post I would like to discuss the biblical principles that should be on our minds when we get dressed for the Lord’s day gathering and maybe some notions that should be abandoned in light of scripture. The New Testament Pattern Whenever I think about this subject my mind always goes first to what would seem to be the example that we see in the New Testament by the Lord Jesus and His Apostles. I don't believe this is the best argument, but I can’t escape it as persuasive. My point is that Jesus and the Apostles were not wealthy and probably did not even own a change of clothes. When they went to the synagogue meeting or even to the temple during Jesus ministry they would have come in the clothes they were wearing because that's all they had. They were the ultimate minimalists! As I said, this argument is somewhat weak because we don’t know that they only had one change of clothes. As likely as it seems, I am open to correction if there is compelling evidence to the contrary. The Old Testament Paradigm Earlier I mentioned that I think there are some notions that we need to abandon. The main idea I would argue is that anyone needs to don special or specific clothing for the church gathering. My case is that I think that the church throughout the centuries adopted this practice from carrying over old covenant practices. In the Old Covenant which was a temporal, conditional agreement with the physical descendants of Abraham it makes sense that they would be given physical means of consecration and dress (Leviticus 8). The people were commanded to do various washings because of ceremonial uncleanness that we would not carry over into the New Covenant church (Leviticus 11:39-40). My point is simple: the special clothes of the priests and the special washing of the peoples' clothes belong to that covenant and should not be carried over. I am not arguing that we shouldn’t be clean for comfort and hygiene sake, just that these are not requirements and certainly are not necessarily signs of godliness or spiritual maturity. Jesus’ Dress Code Next week, we will walk through what the New Testament does and does not teach about Christian dress in the church meeting. However, I want to finish this entry with the most important thing Jesus had to say about our clothing. In Matthew 22:1-14, the Lord Jesus gives His famous parable about sending His servants out to invite everyone to the wedding feast. After the guests have come, the King comes in to look at the guests and finds one with no wedding garments. He then commands for this one to be bound and thrown out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The parable is fairly simple to interpret. The King is Christ and the only people who will be welcomed into His wedding feast will be those clothed with the imputed righteousness of Christ. The clothing that God is most concerned about is not threads on your back but the righteousness of Jesus that now clothes the regenerated heart. The fact is all our good deeds are but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and no outward apparel or sense of style is going to impress Him. All He wants to see upon us is the robes of Christ’s righteousness! (Revelation 7:9-17) |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
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