The World of Make-Believe

I was playing with my kids last night in the yard. My son and I were "fighting." He was Pirate Jason and I was Captain Daddy. My "sword" was actually a padded kids' bat, while his weapon of choice was a "fireball" (i.e. a cushioned Cincinnati Reds baseball). Meanwhile, two of my daughters kept climbing up the slide and then crossing over to the top of the Little Tykes playhouse where they'd proceed to cry out, "Captain Daddy, save us from the tower before the dragon (Jason) gets us." 

Normally, I do wrestle with my kids, but it's not often that I enter the world of make-believe, at least not to this extent. And honestly, one of the reason is that playing make-believe with children is always kind of annoying because (and bear with me) not only do they insist on being the good guys every single time (thus making me the villian), but they always win. It doesn't matter how many times you slash them with your wiffle-bat or shoot them with your lightning rod or pelt them with cushioned balls, I mean...er, fireballs - they never die or suffer defeat, and yet they expect you to "wince in pain" and fall down dead at even the most elementary combo attack. I mean...what's up with that? Doesn't it ever occur to them that I might want to be the good guy, or that I might want to win sometimes? Seriously, wouldn't you think that they...

Oh. Sorry. I got a little carried away. Where was I going with that? Oh, yeah...

Last night, after we put the kids to bed, I was reflecting on our stint in the world of make-believe, and it occurred to me that the two aforementioned qualities are actually really good qualities with spiritual implications that hopefully they'll carry with them through life.

First of all, it's great that they are naturally drawn to the good side. They don't want to be the villian or antagonist; they want to be the brave warriors that fend off evil. And they actually fight over who gets to be the good guy and who has to be the bad guy. And secondly, even though we sometimes suffer defeat in life (and yes, we ought to teach our children how to respond to defeat with grace and dignity), it is admirable that they are developing a desire for victory - the good guy wins!

Here's the ultimate point, folks: we need to teach our children (and ourselves) that both of these objectives are achieved in Christ. When we obey the gospel and put on Christ in baptism, we are joining the army of the Lord; we're the good guys fighting against the forces of evil, and yes, we will attain victory in Christ!

"You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim. 2:3).

"Fight the good fight of faith..." (1 Tim. 6:12).

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4-5).

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Eph. 6:13).

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Tim. 4:8).

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31).

"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith" (1 John 5:4).

So as much as I might despise always being the villian, and as annoying as it sometimes is to be a weak villian fighting against seemingly invincible heroes, I guess I'll encourage these traits in my children with the hope that they'll apply them on a spiritual level as they one day put on Christ, grow in Christ, and attain the ultimate victory in Christ.

Sanctify...Be Ready!

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15).

We generally use this verse to encourage fellow Christians (and ourselves) to study the Bible so that we can have an answer ready for any religious questions that those of the world might pose to us, and certainly, that is an appropriate application of this verse. However, Peter is not instructing us to prepare for these questions ritualistically as we might prepare for a college exam; there is something much deeper here that we often miss in our understanding of this verse.

Peter tells us to sanctify the Lord in our hearts. To sanctify is to set apart, and the question that naturally flows from this point is: what does it mean to set the Lord apart in our hearts? Well, it seems to me that we as people are easily distracted, and perhaps more easily overwhelmed by the barrage of influences in our lives. Our thoughts and feelings about work, family, politics, sports, entertainment, and even Jesus, blend together to form a kind of stew, rather than an organized 5-course meal. It becomes difficult to separate one from the other. Our thoughts are all jumbled together. And yet this shouldn't be the case! Jesus is to be sanctified in our hearts. That is, He's to hold such a special place in our hearts that we are able at any moment to focus our minds on Him.

By sanctifying Him in our hearts, we will be ready at any moment to articulate our faith - to give a defense for the reasons we have for being who we are spiritually. To put it another way, to effectively articulate your faith, don't try to memorize a bunch of answers - instead, exalt Jesus and His will in your own heart; lose yourself in Him; make Him the focus of your life. In so doing, you won't have to search your mind for an answer, and then work up the courage to voice that answer. When you've sanctified Him in your heart, you will be ready at all times to eagerly share your testimony.

So how about you? Have you exalted Jesus in your heart...far above everything else? Has His will infiltrated your mind and by extention influenced every aspect of your life? If someone came to you right now and asked, "Why are you a Christian?"  or, "How can you believe that there is a God?" would you have a defense ready?

Or would you reply with, "Ummmm..."

Straight & Narrow

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

I'm sure you've read this passage before, or you've at least heard it quoted in sermons, or by others on Facebook, so needless to say, there is no need to devote pages and pages of text to explain every detail of this passage. However, I would like to emphasize two things...

1. There is a contrast between "many" and "few." According to Jesus, hell will be filled with "many" and heaven will be filled with "few." So...the majority of people are living in such a way that their "life after death" will be characterized by destruction and fire. Are you one of the few who will experience heaven or one of the many who will experience hell? Do you fit in with the majority? Do you feel comfortable in the world? Is your life much like the lives of your friends, coworkers and neighbors? If you do not feel isolated and/or peculiar in this world, then perhaps you need to reexamine your spiritual condition.
2. There is another contrast between "wide/broad" and "difficult." The path to eternal destruction is said to be wide, meaning it is easy. Conversely, the path to heaven is narrow and difficult. Imagine the ease of driving down a four-lane interstate compared to the difficulty of navigating a narrow, winding mountain road...at night...in the snow. Christianity, in other words, isn't easy. And yet there are so many people who wear the name "Christian" who are just cruising down the interstate of life, seemingly comfortable, complacent and having a grand ol' time. Do you find it easy to be a Christian, or is every day a challenge? Does your faith consume a lot of your time, resources and energy, or do you feel relaxed and comfortable? If it's easy for you to be a Christian, and if you're expending little effort in spiritual matters, you are most likely not on the straight and narrow path that leads to heaven!

How do you measure up?

Flawed Fellowship

"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:5-7).

The word fellowship in the Bible denotes a spiritual partnership or relationship. According to this text, those who are walking in the light, according to the commandments of God, have a relationship with God. John goes on to say in verse 7 that if one has fellowship with God, they also have fellowship with all others who have fellowship with God. So Christians are necessarily bound together in fellowship - saints are partners together in the kingdom of God.

However, while our fellowship with one another is automatic based upon each saint's fellowship with God, we have to make judgments regarding fellowship in this life. In fact, the book of 1 John was partly written to assist the saints in knowing who did have and who didn't have fellowship with God; they were expected to apply these principles; if someone was truly walking in the light, they were to acknowledge fellowship, but if someone was not walking in the light, they were to refuse fellowship. A simple reading of the book will prove that this was indeed one of the primary purposes of 1 John.

Of course, we ought not extend fellowship to those in the world. That is a given. We cannot embrace as spiritual kinsmen those who are of the world and carnal (2 Cor. 6:14-18). However, even among those who profess to be Christians, we must make determinations regarding fellowship even though our judgments may be flawed.

In Acts 9:26, Paul tried to join the Jerusalem church, but the church was "afraid of him," for they knew that he had just recently been making efforts to persecute the church. I would suggest to you that their hesitation and doubt was justified. They could not flippantly extend fellowship to someone whose sincerity and claims they doubted. Thankfully, Barnabas was there to vouch for Paul; based on Barnabas' testimony, they did finally embrace Paul as a member of the church. Their initial perception was obviously flawed, but they were right in being hesitant until Paul's claims could be proven.

While the church in Jerusalem was exercising caution in refusing Paul at first, there is an example where sound brethren were refused on more sinister grounds. In 3 John 9-10, we read of a man named Diotrephes who refused to accept sound brethren, even "putting them out of the church." Diotrephes was not merely being cautious. One cannot argue that this man, despite his flawed judgment, was at least sincere. As the context bears out, Diotrephes was a malicious, prideful, arrogant man who only wanted to control the church.

The opposite is also true...

Just as we can refuse fellowship to those whom we ought to fellowship, so also can we extend felowship to those whom we ought to reject. We see this in 1 Corinthians 5. There was a man in the church who was living in sin, and yet the church had not removed this man from among them (vs. 1-2). In response, Paul told them to "deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh" (vs. 5). In other words, they were to make it known that this man no longer was part of their fellowship, but instead, was living in fellowship with Satan. We see a similar situation in 2 Thessalonians 3, and in Revelation 2:20, we learn that the church in Thyatira had tolerated a woman among them whom they should have rejected!

So there are dangers both ways. It is possible to extend fellowship to those we ought to reject, and it is possible to reject those with whom we ought to have fellowship. Again, based on 1 John 1, all of us who are walking in the light necessarily have fellowship with one another on the basis that we each have fellowship with God. Yet here on this earth, we must make determinations regarding fellowship, and sometimes our fellowship is flawed; that is, our judgments and decisions regarding fellowship maysometimes be incorrect.

So what are we to do?

Dear reader, we can only do the best we can based on the evidence before us and how the actions of the individual match up with the teachings of the word of God. Sometimes, this is very easy. Sometimes, it is not. Therefore, we must constantly be studying God's word, praying for wisdom, for clarity, and yes, for God's mercy and forgiveness if and when our judgments are misguided or mistaken.

Decoding Revelation

The most popular book of the Bible may very well be Revelation. It is also the most controversial and the most abused! The general consensus is that it foretells events that are yet future, but this interpretation is incorrect. In this brief article, I’d like to share with you 3 rules to “decoding” the message of Revelation.

First of all, “the revelation of Jesus Christ” was “sent and signified” (Rev. 1:1). This means that the book is written in signs, or symbols. To interpret the details of this book literally is to ignore the very nature of the book.

Also, the events of Revelation would “shortly take place” (1:1). Since the book was written in the 1^st century, we can say with certainty that John was not prophesying events that would occur more than 2,000 years later. Having said that, "there is nothing new under the sun" (Eccl. 1:9), and as these same kinds of events occur, God's response will be the same: those who persecute His saints may get away with it for a little while, but they will face God's wrath and Christ will be victorious over His enemies!!!

To be more specific, Revelation was addressed to “the seven churches in Asia” (1:4) to comfort them as they endured a period of tribulation (1:9). It may be that the judgments in this book were against Jerusalem (AD 70), or possibly Rome which persecuted the church in the 1^st century. It would be cruel to address Christians in the first century who were experiencing hardship and persecution by promising a divine response (judgment) that would be applied to a latter-day period of tribulation, not to their own.

There are other things that could be discussed, and the 3 rules mentioned above could obviously be fleshed out. Perhaps the simplicity and brevity of this article will encourage deeper study. Please contact me or comment below if you have any questions or disagreements.

Ah-Ha Moment in 2 John 9

There are certain verses that I've quoted so much that I've memorized them from the repetition. In battling such a lackadaisical attitude towards God's authority, 2 John 9 is one of those verses.

"Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son."

Despite the 100s-1000s of times I've cited this verse, I had an ah-ha moment this morning as I worked to prepare class material on 2-3 John. As I reread this verse, I noticed something that I have never noticed before and let me tell you, this revelation is revolutionary!!!

Obviously, this verse consists of two contrasting clauses. The first clause is stated in the negative while the second clause is stated in the positive. The negative: If you fail to abide in the doctrine of Christ, the consequence of your disobedience is a loss of fellowship with the Father. The positive: If you are obedient to the teachings of Christ, you have fellowship with the Father but also with the Son.  The addition of "the Son" is added to the positive clause in 2 John 9. I had noticed this before, but this morning, as I restudied this verse, something clicked and I reached a revolutionary conclusion...

If a person is disobedient to the doctrine of Christ, they don't have fellowship with the Father but the inference is (based on the second clause) that they DO have fellowship with the Son. After all, why else would John add "the Father and the Son" to the second clause. The fact that the second clause contains this subtle difference must alter the meaning of the first clause, right? What this means is that if you're obedient, you gain full access to the divine fellowship - Father and Son. However, if you're disobedient, you only have a partial relationship with the so-called "Trinity," or Godhead; you lose the benefits of the Father, but you maintain the benefits of the Son (i.e. salvation). Don't you see how this must be the conclusion based on the subtle addition in the second clause?

Oh...what's that? Did you say something?

Hmmm. So we can't have a relationship with the Son without obeying the will of the Father (Mt. 7:21-23)? And we can't come to Christ without the Father's approval (Jn. 6:44-45)? And if one knows the Son, they know the Father also (Jn. 8:19; 14:7)? Oh, did you say something else? What about Jesus' prayer in John 17? We can't be one with the Son without being one with the Father, for the Son and the Father are one (Jn. 17:20-21)? Well...hmmm. And if we acknowledge Christ, we have God, too (1 Jn. 2:22-23)?

So what you're saying is that my revolutionary revelation, my "ah-ha" moment in 2 John 9, is wrong? And you're suggesting that I shouldn't pit the second clause against the first? Are you trying to tell me that the subtle addition of "and the Son" ought not be abused to formulate a theory that contradicts the rest of the scriptures? Oh...well, okay. That makes sense.

But if I am wrong in my analysis of the structure of 2 John 9, then what of the common explanation of Mark 16:16 in regards to baptism. You know the verse...

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."

Denominational folks often say that because the two clauses are different, that the second clause changes the meaning of the first. In other words, because Jesus doesn't say "but he who does not believe and is not baptized will be condemned" that Jesus is actually emphasizing faith alone as being the means of salvation and thereby contradicting the first clause which demands both faith and baptism. So if my analysis of the structure of 2 John 9 is incorrect, what about this analysis of Mark 16:16? In both verses, there are two clauses stipulating conditions along with the rewards/consequences of meeting those conditions. In both verses, there is a subtle addition or subtraction from the first clause to the second. You can see the similarities, I'm sure.

In Mark 16:16, you're saying that the second clause doesn't contradict or change the meaning of the first clause just as the second clause in 2 John 9 doesn't change the meaning of the first clause. Okay. I can see that. Then what is Jesus' point in Mark 16:16? Come again? Gotcha. Belief precedes baptism, and therefore in the absence of faith, baptism either won't happen or will be ineffective. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. After all, Jesus does say "He who believes and is baptized will be saved," which is consistent with the rest of the New Testament (John 3:5; Ac. 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 3:21).

Thanks for straightening me out on that before my ah-ha moment in 2 John 9 turned into a full-fledged doctrine that caused division in the Lord's body. Shew. That would've been bad.

Don't Settle for Good

"But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more" (1 Thess. 4:9-10).

The Christians in Thessalonica were praised by Paul more than once for their loving and benevolent spirit (see 1 Thess. 1:8; 2 Thess. 1:3-5). This was clearly one of their strengths. And yet Paul urged them not to settle for "good," or even "great." His admonition was for them to "increase more and more."

It is so tempting to settle for "good." We think we've really accomplished something when we become slightly better than average. We know more about the Bible than most. We pray more than most. We help people more than most. We think about God more than most. Our marriage is better than most. Our children are better than most. So we become complacent. We stop growing. After all, so long as we're slightly better than most, so long as we're "good" or "great," there's no need to press tirelessly onward. Right?

When we fall into this trap, we're actually working to please ourselves and other men rather than God. The status-quo becomes our standard, rather than the Lord. Notice what Paul says in another place:

"For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (2 Cor. 10:12).

As we are taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:10, we should NEVER become complacent. It doesn't matter how strong you are, there is always additional progress to be made. Stop looking at everyone else. Stop seeing how you measure up to others in the church. Instead, focus on the Lord and His word. Remain humble. Strive to not only perfect what is lacking in your faith (1 Thess. 3:10), but continue to perfect even the works and qualities that are abundant in your faith.

Don't settle for good. Don't settle for great.

Just don't settle. Ever!