Sunday, May 12, 2013

Fired Up or Spewed Out?

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.  So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth" (Revelation 3:15-16)

Tepid.  Now there is a word you don't hear in normal everyday conversation!  Try using that one in a sentence, grammar-fans!  Actually, tepid is a very descriptive but at the same time disgusting word.  Case in point:  Have you ever poured for yourself a steaming cup of coffee, only to be distracted and set it down in order to go and take care of whatever it was that drew your attention away?  Who hasn't?  Some time later you remember that patiently waiting cup of coffee and go looking for it.  When you find it, what happens?  You put the cup to your lips hesitantly and take a swig.  EWWWWW!  Tepid!  The coffee is no longer hot but neither is it yet cold.  It is instead lukewarm.  Revolting!  So you pour it out in disgust.

It is bad enough when coffee that should be steaming and delicious is lukewarm and disgusting, beloved.  But when it happens to those who profess to be Christians, it is a spiritual tragedy.  Jesus described the degree of such a condition in His words to John that were meant for the Asian church in the city of Laodicea.  And in His statement we discover a wonderful challenge for our own living today.

Note that Jesus accused the professing believers in Laodicea of being "neither hot nor cold."  To be "hot" spiritually, a translation of the Greek word zestos, is to be filled with the Spirit of God and to be ablaze with love for and commitment to Jesus Christ.  We like to use the term "on fire" to describe such believers today.  On the other hand, to be "cold" spiritually, a translation of the Greek word psuchros, is to go beyond mere disbelief.  It is to take a stand as strongly against the gospel of Jesus Christ as being "hot" is to stand for it.  That Jesus was sending this warning to a local church speaks volumes of what can and does happen today even among those professing faith in Christ and part of an organized visible body.

Perhaps what is most surprising here, however, is Jesus' stated preference concerning those in Laodicea professing to be His followers, that they be either "hot" or "cold" rather than "lukewarm."  The preference for them to be spiritually "hot" we can certainly understand.  But "cold"?  Perhaps the answer lies in a closer look at the word "lukewarm."  The Greek word chliaros describes a spiritual state in which one professes to be a true follower of Christ, yet in whose life the evidence of the life of God does not exist.  This is the one who has substituted "religiosity" for saving faith and "heated religious activities" for genuine service to the Lord.  Jesus' preference is understood, then, because to be "cold" or an outright denier and rejecter of the gospel tells us what the need is and how to go about meeting it.  But of the one who has all the outward signs of being a Christian yet whose heart Christ does not occupy becomes the worst of all stumbling blocks.  He presents himself to the world to be something he in actuality is not!  And in condemning and rejecting such a person, the world will often do so with a wide stroke of the brush and will reject Christianity altogether.

Jesus declared His preference that we be either "hot" or "cold" instead of choosing to be "lukewarm."  But do not assume for a moment that He would actually have any one to reject the gospel message!  The challenge laid before us here through His words to the Laodiceans is that we need to be on fire every moment of every day for the Lord Jesus Christ!  Anything less is simply unacceptable.  It is already to Him because He said so and it should be as unacceptable to us as well.

Ron     

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

It's the Gospel!

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  And a man's enemies will be the members of his household" (Matthew 10:34-36)

 It is absolutely a fact of Scripture, beloved, that Jesus made a number of "hard" statements that many are loath to face and understand and accept today!  Such is the declaration that faces us in these verses.  Jesus had been giving to His disciples a discourse on the cost of discipleship.  It seems to be rather weakly understood today that a "disciple" is not just a student of Christ or a worshiper of Christ, but in actuality an active follower of Christ.  Being a disciple, then, is much more about obedience  than it is simply about knowledge and religious ceremony.

Such obedience as marks a true disciple of Christ is further proven in the arena of everyday living in a world that is lost in the darkness of sin.  Today the media would have everyone believe that we who are part of the "religious right" are fraught with all manner of social and moral and cultural shortcomings.  We are bigoted and narrow-minded, homophobic and even racist, or so says the modern media anyway.  And many of the followers of Christ have made the mistake of following such accusers right into their own trap.  We face them and try to defend ourselves upon moral and social and cultural grounds.  And that is where, I truly believe, we are making our most serious mistake.

You see, beloved, the hatred that abounds today for the "religious right" - those followers of Jesus Christ who are committed to the inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures, those who are persuaded that if God says it, that settles it, is not politically based at all.  The division between the "liberal left" and the "religious right" is not at heart a moral or social or cultural or especially a political problem, beloved.  It is at heart what it has always been, a spiritual problem!  You see, it is not at all political ideologies that divide us.  It is not socio-economic differences, suburban versus urban living.  It is not even one's per capita income or the lack thereof.  It is very simply the gospel of Jesus Christ!

If you want to find out what is at the heart of the hatred that liberal-thinking people have for us as Christians, all you have to do is button-hole one of them and tell that God says that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life. (Pause here for sound of huge explosion!)  Jesus prophesied Himself that His sacrifice on the cross would divide brother from brother, sister from sister, children from parents, and even spouses from each other.  Nor would such divisions occur along ideological lines but rather because some family members become believers, those who follow Jesus Christ, and others do not.

So what do we do?  We do the only thing that we can do, beloved.  We keep on telling men and women and boys and girls that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life.  Political differences will rise and wane and cultural differences will fluctuate with each new generation.  Only the gospel of Jesus Christ is unchanging and never-ending.  So let's quit falling for that old trap of arguing with people along political or moral or cultural lines.  Let's determine instead to use our energies to so live out the reality that is Jesus Christ that the Spirit of God may use us to draw the lost to Himself.

Ron    

Monday, March 18, 2013

You Are Not Forgotten

"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done" (Revelation 22:12)

One of those very special heart-touching moments happened to me recently, beloved.  A military retiree came up to me and handed me a small clear plastic envelope containing a business-sized card and a white embroidered star clearly cut from an American flag.  The card explained that the star came from a flag that had flown over someone's home until worn and tattered and in need of replacement.  A local veterans organization had rescued the flag among others and had separated the stars into keepsake bags to hand out to veterans like me.  The card's message concluded with these words:

"Please carry me as a reminder that you are not forgotten.  Thank you for your service."

You can be sure that I will keep and treasure this memento, beloved!  I am as honored to carry a star from Old Glory as I am to have served my country over which she waved.

As a follower of Jesus Christ I have His assurance as well that those who serve Him faithfully are not forgotten.  He has promised that one day He will return for us and that He will have with Him heaven's reward for faithful service.  Even now you and I through faithful obedience are "laying up treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20).  Every life that we touch in His name, every act of service in meeting a need, every encouraging word prompted by His Spirit within, all are being noted by Him and will be rewarded.

So take heart, fellow pastor!  Cheer up, stalwart youth worker!  Stay strong, child of God!  You are not forgotten!  I am so thankful for that scrap of flag that was given to me.  And I am eternally grateful for the assurance we all have from our Lord that in our service for His name's sake we are not forgotten.

Ron      

Friday, March 8, 2013

Grooving My Swing

"On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness"  (1 Timothy 4:7b)

I know.  I know.  Already you are thinking: "Not another one of his golf analogies!"  Yep.  I am afraid so.  But I hope that you won't let that stop you from reading through to the end.  Hidden in this unusual-sounding term - "grooving my swing" - I believe to be a very sound and practical spiritual truth for living as Christians today.

To "groove your swing" as a golfer is to practice your basic golf swing over and over until it becomes something consistent, something dependable, something in which you feel confident.  Oh, to be sure you will adapt it slightly from situation to situation depending on the lie of the ball and the distance you need to cover.  But the swing itself must become the picture of consistency and sameness, something dependable and trustworthy.  Are you beginning to see the rays of a light of Bible truth breaking through?

In his letter to a young pastor named Timothy, the Apostle Paul urged him to "discipline" himself in personal godliness.  I love the King James Version's use of the word "exercise," a translation of the Greek verb gumnazo from which we get our word "gymnastics" or "gymnasium."  It is a wonderful picture of "working out" spiritually.  That is what a truly dedicated golfer will do in seeking to "groove his swing" and that is what every true follower of Jesus Christ needs to do in "grooving" his walk.

You see, beloved, I am convinced of one thing that is amply confirmed in Scripture, that is that people are not nearly so interested in what we know as Christians as in how we've been transformed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Show people what Jesus can do for them by showing them what He has done for you!  And in order to do that, you must as Paul advised Timothy "discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness."  It takes practice to be a single-digit handicapper in golf, beloved, and it takes practice to be a godly Christian.  Sitting in a church pew on Sunday or in a small group on Thursday won't get the job done!  You are going to have to vigorously and faithfully apply the principles of Scripture to every detail of your daily living.  That will be to "groove your swing," to "exercise yourself for the purpose of godliness"!

My golf game still needs a lot of "grooving," beloved, and I'll keep at it in my spare time.  But my lifestyle needs a lot of "grooving" as well and that one need must become the priority of my life.  Golf is just a game that is forgotten as soon as we turn our attention to something else.  But living for Jesus Christ is the passion of our existence, the focal point of our living.  Let me urge you, then, to make it your highest priority to "groove" your lifestyle, to bring it into line with the glorious standard laid down in the principles of God's Word.

I need to go and practice!  Want to join me?

Ron     

Friday, February 22, 2013

What's It All About, Alfie?

"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)

The most well-known of the 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Catechism is surely:

"What is the chief end of man?  Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever."

This singular truth from God's Word was brought home to me again this week, believe it or not, by a movie from 1966 entitled "Alfie."  A young Britisher named Alfie Elkins lives a totally self-seeking life, using everyone in his path as a means to his own selfish end.  At the end of the movie, however, circumstances in his life cause him to realize that if you don't have peace of mind then you don't have anything at all.  In the closing scene as the title character walks slowly into the twilight, the theme song is sung, a portion of which includes the words:

What's it all about, Alfie? 
Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about, when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give?

Clearly from God's perspective we are not meant to take instead of give.  In fact, all that we do is intended to bring glory to God.  This question and answer from the Westminster Catechism is not just for Presbyterian believers!  It is to be the lifeblood of every follower of Jesus Christ.  Nothing is more foundational to any human being than eating and drinking.  Paul's point, then, is that seeking the glory of God is to be as foundational to our living as are eating and drinking.  We should view every circumstance of life through the prism of God's glory.  We should actively seek for ways in which to bring glory to God no matter what we are doing.  Seeking God's glory is not a switch that we can turn on and off, beloved!

We may not ourselves be as self-seeking and self-serving as was Alfie Elkins, but the question we need to continually ask ourselves as we walk through this life is: "Will this glorify God?"  A later line in the theme song for the movie states: "As sure as I believe there's a heaven above, Alfie."  Well, there is a heaven above and the dictate of heaven is that we should live this life in full, relentless, and joyful pursuit of the glory of God.  And that is what "it" is all about!

Ron