TILL HE COMES Blog

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 1:5-7.

Do you ever feel that God has passed you by? Forgotten about you? Failed in His promises? Given you great plans and then left you out to dry?

Do you ever feel like your prayers never get past the roof? That most of the time when you pray, if answers come at all, they are exactly the opposite of what you prayed?

It may surprise you to learn that this is NORMAL. It seems most preachers and Christians are saying the exact opposite. We often hear others say, “You want to see God at work in your life? Just pray! You want to get a job, have a better marriage, get healed, see all your problems go away? Just become a Christian, start praying, and watch the blessings fall like rain!”

Yeah…not for most of us. Not for most people in Scripture either. Randomly read a Psalm or a Prophet to see what I mean.

And some of these teachers will say, “It’s because of a lack of faith, or sin in your life!” To this, I say…Maybe…but probably not. Take every person in the Hall of Faith (Heb 11) who waited, and prayed, and DID NOT receive what was looked for.

And take Zacharias and Elizabeth in Luke 1:5-7. The text is adamantly clear that they were blameless before God. They walked in all His commandments and ordinances (v. 6). And yet, it seemed that they were under God’s curse. They had no children. In Jewish culture, that meant God had cursed them. Imagine the rumors that must have been spread about some “secret sin” in Elizabeth’s youth.

And now, though they had doubtless served God and prayed to him for decades, they were at the age where having a child was impossible (v. 7).

But God had something in store for them. Something greater than they had ever imagined. Something beyond their wildest dreams and boldest prayers.

I think sometimes that is what God has for each of us. We pray, and God says “No.” Why? Because to get what we were praying for is to settle for second best.

So are you praying for something, desperately waiting for God to act? By all means, keep praying. But be open to the possibility that God is waiting until the answer to your prayer is shattered at your feet, so that He can give you something better than you ever imagined.

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I read this on the Glocalnet blog today:

Hooray for Leadership Journal in their most recent issue!!!! Rock on Marshal Shelley!!!! They have an article entitled “Ministry Lessons from a Muslim – His Unexpected Message to Church Leaders: fully embrace your Christian Identity.” This is the most “progressive” journal for Ministers in existence. I both read it and have been in it, yet two things stand out to me in the title. First, “a Muslim” – not Eboo. This is probably the first time there has been an article about “a Muslim” and what he would say to Christian leaders. Being the best magazine there is on “pastoring” in America, what does that say about our understanding the world, other religions, and our ability to communicate with one another? The second thing is “embrace your Christian Identity” – as radical as that might sound – I hear that a lot around the world from my friends who are Muslim. They believe that following Jesus as prescribed in the New Testament would be incredible.

Eboo talks about four responses to our world of faith:

First, there are those who live in the bubble – they want only to be around people of their own religion and to communicate to each other. The problem is, the bubble sooner or later always burst and people are left with no where to go.

Second, there are those who are barriers – they view religion as us against them and it’s all out competition. This is why I talk about planting the seed of the Gospel and how it grows, and we don’t have to force it. Any religion that has to be forced upon someone, through coercion or guns is destined to die sooner or later. Truth doesn’t emanate from force, but thought.

Third, there are those who would bomb. Terrorism and/or war is the way to move your religion forward and demolish others.

Fourth, there are those who would build a bridge. The bridge would allow us to work, talk, communicate, and understand one another. This is the hope of the future. This is what Eboo is doing.

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Reinventing church requires looking at all that we are and all that we do and asking ourselves, “Is this biblical? Is this the best way of accomplishing what the church is supposed to be and do? Is there a better way?” One key area that such questions need to be asked is in the area of Outreach and Evangelism. (You’ll see by the way I’ve worded some of the questions below that I feel very strongly about this issue.)

What if Outreach, Evangelism and Missions were different?

What if the pastor was not seen as the one who does the evangelism through his sermon?

What if evangelism wasn’t often defined simply as “inviting someone to church for a special event or to hear a special speaker”?

What if the people in church viewed themselves first and foremost as missionaries? How could pastors help them develop this paradigm shift?

What if we viewed supporting missionaries as more important than building a new building or upgrading our existing one?

What is “mission” anyway? Who are “the missionaries”?

What if all our people knew how to share the message of eternal life?

What if there was more to evangelism than simply sharing the message of eternal life (or the four spiritual laws, the Romans Road, or whatever)?

What if we don’t have “evangelism events” but instead trained people to simply love others?

What if we didn’t have “revivals” but instead focused on 1-to-1 discipleship?

What if we stopped praying for revivals and the “evangelization of the lost” and actually went across the street and served somebody?

What if we stopped trying to plan and program our own “serve the community” events, and just joined in the events which the community was already doing? (For ideas, go look at the bulletin board in the Town Hall or the Supermarket. Call the Courthouse, the Fire Department, or the Police. Contact your mayor for a list of events.)

What if evangelism took place in people’s homes as we invite them over to our houses, and us to theirs?

What if we showed as much grace toward believers and unbelievers as God shows toward us?

What if evangelism was just as much about right living as it is about right believing?

Would more people want to become followers of Jesus if we lived life with more joy, laughter, love, patience, kindness, and gentleness?

What if we didn’t care about people using profanity in our presence, or if they smelled of alcohol and cigarettes?

What if, rather than trying to impress our views upon other people, we tried to learn about their views instead, and asked them what they believed?

What if, rather than trying to get people to act like us, talk like us, look like us as soon as they “get saved” we let the Holy Spirit work in them at their (and His) own pace?

What if we stopped saying “Praise God” and “God Bless You” at the end of every sentence?

What if we stopped telling people “I’ll pray for you” and tried to help them instead?

What if, instead of practicing “apologetic evangelism” where we are always trying to defend the faith against the heresies of the heathen, we loved people and served people? 

What if we let people get involved in church who weren’t sure yet what they believed about Jesus or God?

What if evangelism and discipleship were the same thing?

What if we didn’t focus so much on evangelism, but on discipleship?

What if the gospel was more than just a set of doctrines, but an all-encompassing claim on life?

What if nearly everything in life could be redeemed for discipleship?

What if we stopped using Christian music, Christian movies, Christian literature and started watching and reading the same things that our neighbors and coworkers are?

What if, instead of starting Christian Coffee Houses, Christian Work-Out Centers, and Christian Bridge Clubs, we started just going to these places that were already in our community and meeting the people who go there?

What if we stopped “having church” in our Christian buildings, and instead went down to the local beach, or the local restaurant, or the local bar?

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Feel free to provide your own questions in the comment section below.

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Let’s say you just arrived on planet earth, and were trying to pick a religion to follow. You didn’t know much about any of them, and so decided to interview various members of each particular faith, and ask them why you should join their religion, and more importantly, why they believed their particular religion was true.

In a previous post, I stated that in general, Christians would give four different answers:

1. I’ve experienced God and so I know it’s true.
2. Following Christianity results in more substantial life change than other faiths. In other words, Christians live better lives, so it must be true.  
3. The Bible, which Christianity is based on, doesn’t have the errors and contradictions that are present in the “Holy books” of other faiths. It doesn’t contradict itself, nor does it contradict the facts of history and science (considering evolution is a theory). Therefore, the Bible can be trusted as true revelation from God.
4. God answers prayer and provides signs and wonders, which proves Christianity is true. This includes things like prophecy and healing.

There may be a few others that Christians would use, but these are the four most common.

But did you know that people of other religions would use almost the exact same reasons for why they believetheir religion is true? Let me give examples of the four explanations. 

1. If you have ever talked with a Mormon, you know that most of them believe Mormonism is true because they had an experience with God such as an inner warming of the heart or a vision, proving to them that Mormonism is true. Nearly all religions have similar experiences.
2. I don’t care which religion you pick, if you talk to someone of that religion, they will say that in general, their adherents are more obedient than people of other religions. This is true of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus…possibly even Satanists. (If you saw my post on Satanism a few weeks ago, in the comments, a Satanist informed me that while Satanists don’t practice mercy, their teachings ”prohibit all illegal activity.”) When it comes to morality, Christians would be hard pressed to prove that we are morally superior to those who practice other religions.
3. Did you know that every religion practices apologetics? We Christians are not the only ones who try to explain the supposed factual, historical, and scientific “problems” in our Scriptures. All religions do this, and many of the arguments are quite sophisticated and compelling. For example, I am currently reading a book called What Jesus Really Said which is a book in which the author tries to prove that Jesus actually taught the Muslim faith! It is a book of Muslim apologetics.
4. People of nearly all religions pray for healing (and see frequent healing as a result – See the recent TIME magazine article on this), receive visions, have ecstatic experiences, speak prophetic words (and see them come true), and observe signs, wonders, and miracles performed through the power of their god(s). Some groups even speak in tongues.

So in four of the ways that Christians believe their religion is better than others, it really is not. At least, not to an outside observer who is only doing surface-depth investigation.

So why hold to Christianity? Why should people believe in Jesus and follow Him? More personally, why do I? I’ll tell you my primary reason in the next post.

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In this post, I wanted to address the four common responses I get from Christians when they are asked why Christianity is true and other faiths are wrong.  I will have to save that for my next post.

Why?

I blame my good friend Stephen Hammond and what he pointed out in the comments of the previous post. Thank you for the insight, Stephen! You always make me think.

Before we can ask “Is Christianity true?” we have to ask “What is Christianity?” There are so many different versions of Christianity, it is impossible to pick one as “true Christianity” or to lump them all together as one unified “Christianity.” As we are all aware, it is certainly not unified. And so, since not all of these versions can be completely right, some of them must be false, or at least partially false.

Let me take it a bit further. There is no version of Christianity which is completely true. That’s right. You and your church do not have a corner on the truth market. Nor do I. We all believe and practice some error. Yes, there is some heresy in you too. (The trick is finding it.)

Furthermore, when we talk about Christianity being true, and other religions being false, just as we cannot say that all of Christianity is true, we also cannot say that all aspects of all other faiths are untrue. To the contrary, there is a lot of truth in every religion in the world. Let me go so far as to say that certain religions probably have more truth than some versions of Christianity!

So in the following posts, when I continue to ask “Is Christianity true?” what I really mean is, “Why do you believe and practice what you do? How do you know that it is true?” 

Even this question is too vague, but I’ll have to leave it at that…

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Today is the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Purim celebrates the events found in the biblical book of Esther, and specifically, the victory of the Israelites against the wicked plot of Haman to destroy the people of Israel.

I love the story of Esther for many reasons. Let me share a few.

First, it’s a great story. It is full of twists, turns, and ironic reversals. Eventually, I will get around to posting my commentary on Esther at www.gracecommentary.com. Until then, read the story for yourself to see how masterfully the story is told. I’m glad they made a movie of the story (One Night with the King) but the movie does not capture the story as well as the biblical narrative. The book is much better than the movie.

The second thing I love about the book of Esther is that God is never mentioned. Jewish tradition does reveal a few “hints” of God…such as in 5;4, where the first letter of  the Hebrew words for “let the King and Haman come today”  spell the divine name YHWH (7:3 also contains a possible reference. But God is never explicitly referred to. For this reason (and for other reasons), some have argued that the book does not belong in the Bible. But I think exactly the opposite. A careful reading of the story shows that although God is not explicitly mentioned, He is everywhere in the story. I believe that God does not have to be mentioned or talked about for a story to reveal God. This is also the approach I take to music, movies, and art. For the person who is looking, God can be found anywhere and in anything. I love “secular” music, movies, and art because I think they often reveal more about God and the human condition than “Christian” music, movies, and art. God doesn’t have to be mentioned for something to be spiritual. Sometimes, as with the story of Esther, bringing God up can just get in the way of what God is trying to reveal.

Finally, it is valuable and important for every follower of Jesus to go through times in their life when they feel that God has abandoned them. We can be certain that many of the Israelites who went through the events in the story of Esther were asking “Where is God? Why isn’t He acting? Has He forgotten us? Is He punishing us? Is he neglecting us? Has He abandoned us? Why isn’t He being a better Father? I am a better parent to my children than God is to me!” It is only by going through events that cause us to ask these sorts of questions that God can do in us what He wants to do, and get us to where He wants us to be.

This last point has had personal significance for me.

Those of you who know me and have followed my blog know that I went through a period like this for about eighteen months. As a result, I am now in a place I never imagined myself being. Never. But in many ways, it is way better than any other plan I had made for myself. Yet even now, I ask myself almost every day, “Was it worth it? If I was given the choice to stay as I was or to go through what I went through personally and spiritually to get where I am now, what would I choose?”

I’m afraid to say, “Yes, it was worth it” out of fear that God will take me through another period like the one I am only now coming out of. Yet I cannot say “No” for I am certain that I am much better off  now emotionally and spiritually than where I was two years ago.  So my answer is, “Ask me again in ten or twenty years.” 

Like the story of Esther, our lives are a story as well, and we’re all still in the middle of it. And we have yet to see how the pieces of the jigsaw will fit together.

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I am approaching the one year anniversary of a particular personal crisis. While the situation still stings, I have a bit of perspective now, and am actually quite thankful about what happened.

As I was driving to work this morning, I saw a wooden power line pole that had resprouted limbs. When I saw it, I did a double take. At first I thought maybe the electrical company had just strung wires to a tree. But upon closer examination, it was clearly a power line pole. It apparently had been a tree at one point (I guess that’s where power line poles come from), had been cut down, stripped, and then used as a power line. Over the years, it has resprouted limbs. I didn’t know such a thing was even possible.  Even as I write this, I am doubting what I saw, and want to go take another look.

It seemed to me when I saw it that I was to be a picture of what has happend to my family and I during the past year.

I was like a tree that had been cut down, stripped of it’s limbs and bark, and then covered in tar and stuck in the mud to hold power lines. A year ago, we had our feet cut out from under us, and were stripped of all that we knew and held dear. I personally felt like my identity and value as a man had been stripped away from me. I felt dead and empty. All the plans, goals, and dreams I had for my life vanished in a day. I searched for new ways of gaining value, but for the most part, they were mere shadows of the dreams I held before, like a tree that had become a power line pole.

But recently, I feel like I am beginning to resprout. I see branches, buds, and roots beginning to form. New life is rising out of death and ashes. I am not sure what the future holds, but I am hopeful…

In the next week or two, I will unfurl one of these new branches, so keep posted!

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It has been said that the unexamined life is not worth living. In a similar way, I believe that the unexamined faith is not worth believing. Truth, in my opinion, can stand up to any and every question. I believe that if a person believes something, and is afraid or scared of questions which challenge that belief, and they refuse to consider such questions, they don’t really believe, but instead are brainwashed.

You see, there is a vast difference between believing something and being brainwashed, but on the outside, both look exactly the same. Both types of people hold to certain views tenaciously and use similar terminology to state their views. But someone who believes, does so because of the evidence. Someone who is brainwashed does so in spite of the evidence, and even shuts down (or should I say “shouts down”) anybody who raises questions that might challenge their convictions.

How can you tell whether you believe something or are just brainwashed? You have to ask yourself why you believe what you do, and also how you respond when someone challenges your beliefs. If you believe because “so-and-so said it” you are probably brianwashed. It doesn’t mean you are wrong, but what you have done is allowed someone else to do your thinking for you. In other words, you are allowing them to write their beliefs on your brain. This is brainwashing at the most basic level.

Also, if someone comes along and challenges your beliefs by raising questions or pointing out areas of weakness in your beliefs, and rather than admit that you don’t have answers to those questions, you ignore the questions, and scoff at the person asking them, and use ad hominem attacks and a variety of other logical fallacies to discredit what they are saying without actually dealing with what they are saying, you have an advanced case of brainwashing.

To really believe something, you not only have to know what you believe, but why you believe it. And if the “why” is “So-and-so said it” you better hope that person is completely trustworthy, reliable, and infallible.

But don’t take my word for it. Think it through on your own.

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I wrote an article for Chafer Theological Seminary Journal about three years ago, and it just now got posted online for people to read. We often hear that while works are not required for justification, they are the necessary result of justification and true saving faith. I argue that this makes works a condition of eternal life. Here is the article so you can read it:

 Are Works the Necessary Result of Justification?

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