Needs and Idolatry: An Interesting Quote

From When People Are Big and God Is Small by Ed T. Welch:

“To look to Christ to meet our perceived psychological needs is to Christianize our lusts.  We are asking God to give us what we want, so we can feel better about ourselves, or so we can have happiness, not holiness, in our lives.”

Keeping Focus

I’ve been reading through Matthew recently.  One thing that is impressive about Jesus is that He never lost focus on His purpose.  He came for the purpose of going to the cross, and He kept that focus.  So often organizations and individuals lose their focus on their purpose.  We can get distracted by doing good things that have no connection to the overarching objective that we want to accomplish.  As I read those chapters from Matthew, I asked, “Am I focused on God’s purpose for me?  Is the team I work with focused on its purpose?”  I think that those are healthy questions that I need to ask often.

Conversation with a three-year-old

Yesterday, I was helping our three-year-old daughter in the bathroom. She pointed to the lavatory and asked, “What is in there?”

I said, “I don’t know.”

Amazed at my ignorance, she said, “Ants.” We have had an ant problem. She then said, “I can’t see ants. What are the ants doing?”

Once again, I displayed my ignorance, “I don’t know.”

She covered her eyes with her tiny hands and said, “They’re doing this. One-two-three.”

I said, “Oh, they’re playing hide and seek.”

Emphatically, she replied with an emphasis on anunciation, “NO! They’re playing hide in SINK!”

A great reminder on Independence Day…

…a declaration of dependence.

Transparency before God

A few weeks ago I was reading in Hebrews and came across this passage:

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Heb 4:12-16 NASB)

Normally, I have heard these verses taught separately in sermons or Bible studies. It was interesting to see them together as I read. The word of God lays us open. Every part of us can be seen. The normal reaction is to hide. We don’t want God to see us like that.  But the writer of Hebrews points out that because of Jesus, we can boldly enter God’s presence.  Because of grace, we need not fear being open before God nor shy away from His presence.  Yes, God’s word exposes our sin, but it also reveals God’s grace.  Grace gives us boldness to enter His presence and receive forgiveness.

On Preaching and Teaching

Monologue vs. Conversation

Living overseas, I go to church in homes with other ex-pats living here. Having done a great deal of reading about non-traditional churches, I am familiar with the debate mentioned in the link above. I have often been concerned by the blanket dismissal of ‘monologue’ because I do not see biblical examples of Paul or anyone else reading an Old Testament passage and asking a group of lost people what they think about it. At the same time, I think we learn a great deal from God through each other by having conversations about what the Scripture says. When I teach in our church I tend to be monologue until the end. What would be the ‘invitation time’ in some churches becomes the conversation time. Sometimes people point out things that struck them in the message or things in the Scripture passage that impressed them that I may have passed over. Other times they state some sort of commitment they are making as a result of the passage or ask questions about things that are not clear. Sometimes we share how God has worked in our lives to make the truths that we have just studied impact us in a personal way.

Another man in the church typically teaches in a more inductive, interactive manner. I can always tell that he has studied the passage and that he is guiding the church to the truth found there. We have an open discussion in that anyone can share, but it is not open in the sense that we are forming our opinions apart from study of the text. As this writer whom I found through this blog puts it, “First, the discussion is open-ended in the sense that I do not know where it will go. But it is not open-ended in the sense that anything goes or any opinion is valid. This is one of the great fears people have of discussion - that it will descend into a postmodern, relativistic, mush of opinion. We have a clear sense that the text means some things and not other things. Wrong interpretations are challenged and people are (gently) encouraged to see what the text is not saying as well as what it is saying.”

As I see it, both styles have a place; however, I think in the more traditional context of church in the US that a interactive, inductive style would be difficult outside of small group settings.  I think both types of teaching are needed.  Someone standing up and speaking truth directly is not “pagan Christianity” unless Paul was a pagan.  At the same, it is not a given that interactive teaching will lead to blatant heresy. In our context, we find ourselves meshing the two together.

New Blog Advocating for Persecuted Believers

ICC has started Crossing the Bridge. Please check it out and encourage others to do so as well.