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Saturday May 14, 2022
Saturday May 14, 2022
BEAR WITH ONE ANOTHER
Paul was not quite done with his conversation about accepting one another, in spite of different convictions about non-essentials. So far, he has told us not to judge one another in our cultural standards. Do not judge, do not quarrel, do not treat with contempt, and accept one another. Strong words to guide our relationships and affirm our differences.
But he has one more angle on this matter before he leaves the topic. You see, it’s not just about Christians learning to be polite over differing opinions. Paul writes,
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
Paul referenced the concept of someone’s faith being stronger or weaker in the previous chapter, but he didn’t spend much time explaining what it means for each person to be strong or weak in faith. So let’s start there.
The context of this conversation is God providing a righteousness that is not of the law. Remember how in the book of Acts the matter of Gentiles had come up multiple times in the early days of the church? And the first sticking point had been circumcision. It just seemed like an unfair shortcut to let Gentiles into the Kingdom without first going through the door of becoming Jewish. I mean, the Jews had been “the” chosen people for all these generations, called out to separate themselves from the rest of the world and to be holy unto the Lord. Eventually, God made his plans clear, and Gentiles were allowed in with a free pass—except to “abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. (Because Moses was known in every city.)” Acts 15:20 NIV
Let’s say that some years later in a distant city, some new Gentile believer was going through the markets, looking to buy enough meat to feed himself and some traveling stranger who was staying with him. He sees some meat that is on sale. It turns out, this was meat from an animal that had been sacrificed to an idol. The believer buys the meat, thanks God, feeds his guest, and doesn’t think much about it.
That’s when some Jewish believer in that same church hears about it. Offended that this Gentile would be so cavalier about God’s standards, the Jewish believer brings it before the church elders. At this moment in church history, who would have the stronger faith—the one who believed that Gentiles could enter the kingdom while still eating meat that was on sale because it had been sacrificed to an idol?
That’s right. The weaker faith says I have to contribute my part to meet the Lord as He is coming to save me. It takes a stronger faith to trust that God accepts me into the kingdom without doing some works along the way
Keep in mind, however, that the strength of a person’s faith is not the same as the spiritual disciplines of that person’s life. As a person matures in Christ, they may come to higher standards of giving, of serving or prayer. They may dedicate another aspect of their daily lives to the lordship of Christ and lay aside some of the things that were getting in their way. Now we are using the “strong” and “weak” terms, but applying them to disciplines, not to the strength of a person’s faith itself.
Is that confusing enough? The point is that we are called to live at peace with one another, and nothing short of that will do. As Paul goes on to say,
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:1-2, 7 NIV
At this point, in a sense it doesn’t matter how we define terms. What matters is that we respect and affirm one another for whatever choices they are making in response to the Holy Spirit in their heart.
It is harder than we think. Maybe it is impossible, without supernatural love to guide us. The other guys are damaging the reputation of Christ on the earth, and endangering their own souls for eternity. Or it feels that way sometimes.
Each person must stand—alone—before the judgment seat of God and answer for their deeds done while in the body. At that moment, the questions will dissolve before those penetrating eyes, and there will be only one answer that counts. AMEN.
Monday May 16, 2022
Monday May 16, 2022
THIS IS THE PLACE
(Ellen, Ted Troxell and I wrote this a couple of decades ago, and yet I just made this rough recording to be able to share it. I really like the message, and included it with the sermon today. So here it is.)
Is there a place for starting over?
Is there a place for trading old for new?
A place where we can be servants who are free?
Can we dare to live unselfishly?
Is there such a place?
Is there a place to learn to trust again?
A place where human hands just help and hold and heal?
A place where we can belong?
That's a place that I've been longing for
For a long long long time
I know a place where love is
It is a place where Jesus lives
It is a place for learning how to love and to forgive
It is a place for sharing
It is a place for people caring
This is the place
This is the family of God
So let's learn to serve like the Master
And let's follow in His footsteps all the way
Oh, if we could only be blind enough we'd see
that we can help this world survive
When we show Your body is alive!
Let's make a place where love is
Let's make a place where Jesus lives
Let's make a place for learning how to love and to forgive
Let's make a place for sharing
Let's make a place for people caring
This is the place
This is the family of God
Monday May 16, 2022
Monday May 16, 2022
KNOWING GOOD AND NOT KNOWING EVIL
Today we see Paul close his letter to the Romans with one of the simplest and most practical statements with regard to living a holy life that pleases God. In fact, the verse ends with a promise that we would all like to see fulfilled: “And the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet.”
I don’t know about you, but I’d love to have it happen that God would crush Satan underneath my feet. Sounds powerful. Sounds resolved. Sounds a lot like “It is finished” to me. To see my greatest enemy being utterly defeated beneath my feet would be awesome! All it takes is two simple things to live by. Ready for them?
1 BE WISE ABOUT WHAT IS GOOD. That’s right. Fill your mind with what is good. Let goodness saturate your thought life. Be excellent at what is good. Become an expert in goodness. Think on these things. Meditate day and night upon them.
To be more specific, we are told: “Whatever things are true. Whatever things are honest. Whatever things are just. Whatever things are pure. Whatever things are lovely. Whatever things are of good report. If there is any virtue. If there is any praise. Think on these things.”
We are told how blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night.
We are told to pray without ceasing. Can you imagine having prayer continually running in the background of your mind? Lord, bless that person who just cut me off in traffic. He must be going through something and I plead the blood of Jesus to bring him peace. I hear an ambulance, and I pray for the situation that has brought that about. I pray during conversations and meals and movies and in every aspect of my life I am rehearsing words like “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy.”
We are told to take every thought captive to make it obedient to the gospel of Christ. We capture every thought and transform it from selfishness to being a captive of the Holy One. This, and more, is what it means to be WISE ABOUT WHAT IS GOOD.
Then Paul gives the other side of that coin, which is equally important: BE INNOCENT ABOUT WHAT IS EVIL.
Be innocent, like a baby who has no idea about such things. Live in ignorance about the dark ways of the tempter. Live as if you had a total disinterest in such things. Eschew even thinking about it. Flee from youthful lusts, and thus resist the devil.
It is hard to maintain this innocence. It is impossible without the Holy Spirit’s help to accomplish this blissful ignorance.
My flesh says, “But I want to be aware of the enemy's strategy, so I sort of go underground as a spiritual spy, you might say.” Oh, really? You think that you can outsmart the demons? You think that being more experienced in SIN will make you a better spiritual warrior? Think about that again.
So I reply, “But it’s just curiosity, to see how the other half lives. Once I see it, I’ll just put that little thing back in its box and pretend that I still have spiritual power over the devil and his ways.
“Right,” I say. “But really, I want to be able to witness to my neighbor, so I am learning his language in order to remove any cultural barriers.” Did we learn nothing from our ancestors Adam and Eve? The fruit was pleasing to the eye. It was good for food, And it would give them the knowledge of good and evil (especially the evil!). Curiosity is an excuse. But the day I eat of it, I will no longer be curious. Instead, I’ll be guilty. And I’ll sneak back in to revisit the forbidden thrill. And it will become a habit. And then an addiction, as it will take more and more of my life. And addiction leads to death. Simply don’t go there.
“Just give me a second. In a few minutes I’ll stop. Tomorrow I will give it up forever. After I establish myself, then I’ll change. This is just for a season, and then I’ll take on a more innocent voice. Maybe when I retire I’ll have time to focus on holiness; until then, I sort of need this to cope.” You know how it goes. Don’t you?
No. God says to be innocent about what is evil. He doesn’t say to change later, he says that today is the day of salvation. Be innocent about evil.
Which leads to the question, what is evil? What does Paul mean by it? In light of the rest of the letter, it would be fair to guess that WRONG DOCTRINE would be one of the ways of evil. We teach or believe things that are contrary to sound doctrines.
Of course, the lordship of Jesus is not just from the neck up. He also would have us to correct our behavior. So watch out for WRONG BEHAVIOR just as much as wrong doctrine.
John tells us of three kinds of sin: The Lust of the flesh. (Food. Sex. Possessions. Any desire/passion). Lust of the eyes. (Greed, envy, covetousness, house, car), And the Pride of life. (Jealousy, ambition, accomplishment, respect, admiration.)
Give it up! Do you hear me? Give it up. Do not give the devil a foothold. Be innocent of evil. Innocent. You don’t gotta know nothin.
THE GOD OF PEACE WILL SOON CRUSH SATAN UNDERNEATH YOUR FEET. Jesus already has. Your confession at the judgment seat will crush him for good. Our unity as a church will destroy his hold on the city in our lifetime.
Let’s get ready by being excellent at what is good. And let’s give up knowing anything at all about evil. What do you say? Is TODAY the day of salvation for you?
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
UNITY AND DIVERSITY
So many things are in the opening chapter of 1 Corinthians. But let’s talk about a theme that will arise once again later in the book: It is the matter of unity and how a church is supposed to look.
You may recall that Paul and the others first visited Corinth during his second missionary journey, when he had the call to come to Macedonia. There were Paul and Silas and Timothy and Luke, and he first met Aquila and Priscilla there, where he stayed and worked with them. Apollos also came there from Ephesus as an evangelist who knew about Jesus and was learning about the Holy Spirit.
It was in Corinth that Jewish opposition became so heated that Paul shook out his clothes and told the Jews their blood was on their own head, but that he was going to the Gentiles. He was a year and a half in Corinth. And he writes to the church there while he is in his second-generation of having trained leaders there. When he writes his first letter to Corinth, Paul is living in Ephesus. Some of the same themes for this book are found in Ephesus. Paul was planning at this point to visit the believers in Corinth a second time.
Let’s get into the book, shall we?
“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
If you recall, the church in Corinth was established with riots and revolutions all around. The believers there were strong in those miraculous gifts of the Spirit we sometimes refer to as “sign gifts.” We are going to see the topic of speaking “in tongues” come up a couple of times, and the unique aspect of tongues in Corinth seems to be that it was not an understandable language, as had happened at Pentecost, but is more of a private prayer language. The phenomenon is sometimes referred to as Neo-Corinthian tongues.
So as Paul begins his prayers in other letters, so here he starts with thanks to God for the people. He thanks God that they are not lacking in any spiritual gift. However, all of that diversity is tested by a lack of unity.
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
1 Corinthians 1:7, 10 NIV
Diversity with love is the will of God, and serves as a model of heaven on earth. But diversity without love leads to mistrust and judgmental attitudes. Spiritual pedigrees, based on who first led you to Jesus. Spiritual gifts, comparing and adding a hierarchy to differing gifts. Cultural practice, arising from a cosmopolitan city, leading to assumptions about spiritual maturity. Keep all these themes in mind, because they will come up later in the book.
“Perfectly united in mind and thought.” Impossible? Yes. God’s will? Of course. And the Holy Spirit will guide toward that end, always.
May he bring us all to be perfectly united in mind and spirit. Amen.
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
HAVING THE MIND OF CHRIST
Apparently, after Paul left Corinth (where he had spent a year and a half), some other eloquent speakers came and wowed the crowd. Maybe Apollos was that guy. And now, here is the church, some months later, saying, “I am of Paul” and “I am of Apollos.”
Paul defends his approach to public speaking, and it’s interesting to see, though a challenge to fully imagine. But here is what I picture: Paul, who is speaking every day with someone, in small groups, house church meetings, prayer gatherings, at the market, to individuals, and more.
In doing all that speaking, he has three options: 1) repeat himself a lot, and preach from the barrel, as we used to say, reusing stories and messages that have worked in the past. 2) Spend less time among people and more time studying and preparing and rehearsing, refining and polishing to get it just right, speaking with power and entertaining education. Or educational entertainment. You get the point. Or 3) Pray without ceasing, speak spontaneously, trusting the Holy Spirit to give the words and provide the power. It’s pretty clear from this chapter which of the three Paul tended to use.
I’m imagining what this experience must have been like for Paul. Come with me and let’s imagine it together:
Paul is sitting with the congregation while someone is speaking. The person says something about someone having great potential and so forth, and the word “potential” reminds Paul of a story he heard once, about Sally and Her Potential. Inwardly, Paul smiles, remembering how influential that story had been to him. Should he share it? No. That’s not what they need to hear right now. “Lord, what would you have these people hear from You today?” He continues to pray for each person, and for the moment as a whole, not knowing what or even IF he is to be one of those who speak today.
The man speaking is growing louder and more animated. He says, “…and THAT is the reason that Jesus Christ had to die that day more than twenty years ago now, as some of you can testify.” Suddenly, the brother sits down. He has said his piece, and the Spirit is ready to use another voice. It comes to Paul in a flash, as an image more than a series of words, and Paul knows without a doubt that someone needs to hear what he is being prompted to say right now.
“I see a hand reaching down from heaven. A hand, not palm up to receive from us, and not palm down to stifle us, but sideways, reaching out in an embrace. The Lord is welcoming us into fellowship with him through the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ. Concerning Christ, I was there that day when he was crucified. I was among the crowd that day early in the morning, throwing stones, calling down curses, hating that this man claimed to know God and call God his Father, and yet he was always seeming to criticize Pharisees. . . .” And on Paul speaks, with Scriptures coming to mind, occasionally with a direct word to an individual. “God says this to you…” He encourages, he rebukes, he corrects, he instructs, at the leading of the Spirit. Paul is simply going with the flow.
One of these times was late at night, around midnight. A young man was sitting in the open window of this upstairs room. And…
“Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.
Just goes to show, doesn’t it? Better get a good night’s sleep before listening to Paul talk on and on. Paul was babbling on about Babylon, or was that baboons named John, baptizing their young, and on . . .
…and the next thing he knew, Eutychus is outside on the ground, with Paul’s arms around him.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.”
Not always eloquent. But with power and in the Spirit. Not using clever stories and well-practiced illustrations, but going with the flow of what God seems to want people to hear. It is not the mind of an orator.
“But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16 NIV
Given a choice, I would rather walk in the Spirit. How does that sound to you?
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
TESTING EACH PERSON’S WORK
Back to the matter of Paul and the preacher who followed him, Apollos. Flattering as it may seem, when Paul hears that some in the church are saying, “I am of Paul,” and another says, “I am of Apollos,” what Paul hears is a bunch of immature groupies, regardless of whose group they are in. Do they not see? It is Christ whom they should be following. He’s the one who brings life. Paul very clearly sees it, and calls it out. The church is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, not of any human.
That’s when Paul uses an illustration that I really like. Each worker builds with some material—gold, silver, gems, wood, hay, straw. Then he says,
“their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.”
Each person’s work will go through fire. Every one. Through fire. I always imagined “the Day” to be the coming Day of Judgment, when God will show with what material each person’s work was built. And I still believe that to be true. But actually, I think the testing by fire comes much sooner.
Having been in ministry for some decades now, I see the fire coming to each person’s work. You can be flashy and make a great first impression on your town, but what is left of your work when you are gone?
- Your work is tested when you have left. Is your legacy found in some fond memories? Or have you helped to place a burning love for Jesus in the hearts of those whom you reached?
- Your work is tested when the next minister comes. Do people show earthly devotion to you, and align against those who gladly follow the new person? This is the very case that Paul is describing with Apollos here.
- Your work is tested when the next generation takes over. When your spiritual children have their own spiritual children. Are they notably zealous, mature, reproducing Christ in yet others? What’s left of your spiritual legacy in two generations?
- Your work is tested when the culture shifts. The techniques or programs you used will not work in the next generation. That is one of the only sure things in the fickle business of ministry. So, was your work built around a program that is no longer effective? Or was it built on Christ alone?
- Your work is tested when persecution comes. Anyone’s faith is truly tested when it is no longer safe to believe. It creates a winnowing that truly seems like fire. You might say that our nation experienced a winnowing the last couple of years with the pandemic. Church attendance was no longer an option, and many never came back.
- Your work is tested when you are gone. You are experiencing your eternal reward, but what is left of your memory on earth when you are no longer a part of anyone’s current experience? In a hundred years, your life will be remembered in less than a sentence by even your own family members. What will that sentence be?
This is the test of fire that everyone’s work will go through. May your life’s work stand the test, and Jesus be the final word of all you do. Amen.
Thursday May 19, 2022
Thursday May 19, 2022
FIND US FAITHFUL
My dad had a trust fund that he set up a few years ago, naming my older sister as executor. It takes a lot of trust in a person to entrust them with a trust fund. You have to trust that they will carry out your wishes when you are gone, that they will serve as a trusty trustee who benefits the beneficiaries in fairness. As Paul says in verse 2, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
So, has God himself ever entrusted you with something? You know, like a million dollars or something of great value like that. Something like, a calling to share the mysteries God has revealed? Or something like a spiritual gift, or a talent, or life itself? You didn’t think that you generated those things on your own, did you? Paul opens this chapter clarifying his own calling: “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.”
The Bible is not just another ancient book, filled with opinions and strange happenings, you know. And your own gifting and calling are not by chance, either. All of what you and I have is simply a gift entrusted to us to manage until we meet again.
My education, my vocabulary, my upbringing, my body, my brain, my stomach, my mouth, my ears, my eyes—they were all created for this moment, right now, when I can declare the things of God. I simply must be faithful. Faithful to the calling. A faithful steward of the gifts. A servant who carries out the wishes of his master. So I repeat: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
When you are given a trust, it is not your responsibility to be clever, or to manipulate or change the trust. You simply must carry out whatever the benefactor wants you to do. Your motives might be wrong. Others may not like what you do. You might have an opinion, so that you would change the way it is handled if you could. But that is not your duty. Your duty is only one thing: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
I might try to advise you differently. I might judge you as unworthy to manage what you were given. I might think you are doing a poor job. None of that matters a bit. The only thing that matters is whether you carry out the will of the benefactor. And that will only be known when you complete your work of being a trustee of that trust. Paul says in verse 5, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”
I suppose you are getting his point by now. Being an apostle is not a chosen career for Paul. There is no ladder of success that he is climbing. Watch the money, and you’ll see that it is not flowing from the masses to Paul. He writes, “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.”
So, how about you and me? Are we willing to go to the lengths that Paul followed to advance his Lord’s good news? If so, we will receive the same reward as he has been receiving for these many years. Is it worth it? Just ask Paul! Amen.
Friday May 20, 2022
Friday May 20, 2022
AND YOU ARE PROUD
“And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning…?
What has caused such a moment that a church would be proud of something that should have caused them to go into mourning?
What’s that you say? A man in the congregation sleeping with his father’s wife? How could that be? What would cause a church to actually take pride in such an immoral thing? Is it not clear from both Old and New Testaments that any case of incest is sinful and forbidden?
We have to read between the lines to pick up on this upside-down response, but I think it is pretty clear. The church in Corinth was largely Gentile, and they had not grown up with the law of Moses being recited and memorized since childhood. In fact, in several of the idol temples around the city, there were official temple prostitutes. It doesn’t take much imagination to guess how these people “worshiped” their god. They would eat and drink, vomit so they could eat and drink more, and then go and worship the goddess of love and fertility, and all that such worship implies.
Since coming to Christ, these Gentiles were new to learning what “worship” really means. But both Jews and Gentiles in the church were very aware of the natural tension between Jews and Gentiles. Jews judged Gentiles, largely because Gentiles were idolaters who lacked any morals. Gentiles generally hated Jews, so Jewish people were pretty regularly slaughtered or enslaved every several years. It has been estimated that perhaps 20% of the Roman Empire was Jewish, so most Gentiles at least knew some Jews, enough to have those opinions, but not enough to call upon their God.
So imagine the eldership of such a church! We’ll estimate them as evenly split between Jews and Gentiles, perhaps a dozen men who are spiritually qualified for their position, but who are still trying to overcome the natural mistrust of the other group. They hear the challenge to love one another unconditionally, not to judge one another, and to find their unity in Christ. The Jews have largely memorized the Old Testament, and could chant any of the psalms by heart. The Gentiles, on the other hand, did not grow up knowing the Scriptures or the nuances of the laws of Moses. As these godly men seek to be of one heart and mind, they lay aside cultural differences and find common ground at the foot of the cross. And these dozen men learn to love one another and to accept one another in spite of their very different cultures.
They focus every day on love and acceptance, in spite of very different cultures. And they pursue the challenge of hearing from the Holy Spirit to bring them guidance and to bring them to unity in Christ.
Now imagine that into this setting there is a man who comes to Christ. He accepts Jesus into his life, and he is accepted with open arms. All is well, so far.
But before long, some of the man’s lifestyle habits begin to become known. He regularly eats meat that had been sacrificed to idols, he doesn’t do any ceremonial washings that the Jews are accustomed to, and he doesn’t know the prayers. All of that bothers some of the elders, but he is new to the faith and none of those determine a person’s salvation. He drinks, he hangs out with some of his old friends, and sometimes he curses. Some of the elders are uncomfortable with each of these matters, but together they do not all agree on which are truly sins.
Then comes this unfamiliar practice that slowly surfaces: the man shares in a sexual relationship with his mother. The Jewish elders know this to be forbidden and clearly lined out in the Scriptures. But to some of the Gentile shepherds, this practice is not unheard of. It is seen as a sign of love between a father and his son. So maybe this is one of those cultural differences between Jews and Gentiles, and they should live in peace together. They write a letter to Paul, using this as an example of how they have overcome their natural cultural differences and are fully accepting one another. “See how we love? We are open and accepting. We are affirming and non-judgmental. We have come a long way in the last year, wouldn’t you agree, Paul?
All this provides the possible backstory for this church and Paul’s written response to them.
He writes, “And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?”
Surprise! Didn’t Paul tell them to bear with one another, for the weak and the strong to accept one another and stop judging? Didn’t Paul write “Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things?” Isn’t this thing, a “thing” and a part of “all things?”
There is a difference between accepting someone’s cultural practice and ignoring their moral conduct. Amen.
Saturday May 21, 2022
Saturday May 21, 2022
WHY SEXUAL SIN
It seems to be one of the most universal temptations, and very few people make the passage from childhood to adulthood without a fall in this arena. And as we fall, we make excuses, or we reason our way around it, or we keep the focus on other areas. But there is only one answer, and we would do well to give attention to it today.
I remember the first time I saw a “dirty picture.” I suppose I was 9 or 10 years old. Another boy had gotten hold of one of his older brother’s magazines. He brought it out and invited me to join him in looking at some of the forbidden pictures in it. I wavered between saying no and being accused of being a goody-goody two-shoes (whatever that meant). Even so, I was curious. Then I hung somewhere between the innocence of childhood and the guilt of adolescence. We looked at the pictures, and all I knew for certain was that it was somehow adult material, and I was seeing something I was not supposed to see, but at the time, I wasn’t quite sure what was supposed to be happening in me. Just a few months later, no one had to tell me about it. It was too late. I was filled with hormones and excuses, both of which continued to affect me, even after my baptism into Christ at the age of twelve. By then, the cognitive dissonance between conscience and practice was strong. So, I did what any adolescent would do. I tried to argue with my conscience, my Bible and my youth minister.
“I have the right to do anything,” I said.
“But not everything is beneficial,” he answered.
(I paused. Am I only allowed to do what is beneficial? What, exactly, does that mean?”
I repeat: “I have the right to do anything” (Brilliant strategy, isn’t it?)
He answers, “but I will not be mastered by anything.”
(I’m talking about rights, not about following orders from above me!)
I say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food.” (I’m trying to say that such things are perfectly natural.)
“…and God will destroy them both.” (Exactly what is happening here? Is this supposed to be somewhat helpful?)
“What am I supposed to do, then?”
“Flee from sexual immorality.”
“Don’t you mean ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you?’”
“Flee youthful lusts. Resist the devil. Don’t give Satan a foothold.”
“But what about that verse in the Bible that says, ‘Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world?”
“And the woman looked at the fruit and saw that it was pleasing to the eye and good for food, and desirable for gaining the knowledge of good and evil.”
“But why is sexual sin so highlighted, as if it’s worse than other kinds of sin?”
“All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”
“So my body was made for something other than self-gratification?”
“So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
“And what about trying out different partners until you find one with whom you really click?”
“Let the marriage bed be undefiled and the relationship between a husband and wife be kept pure.”
“Even when I’m single?”
Be faithful to the wife you have not yet met. And do not take something from a person that can never be given back again.”
“But I just want to experiment and explore.”
“A wise man sees danger coming and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”
“You sound so, so, reserved and unloving.”
“Love is patient. Love does not demand its own way. Love bears all things, endures all things, love never fails. Consider this time of your life to be preparation for being faithful to your partner in future marriage.”
“So this is how I love my wife, whom I may not have yet met?”
“Now you are beginning to understand.”
“I would like to marry someone who has reserved herself for me.”
“Amen. Go and do likewise.”
Sunday May 22, 2022
Sunday May 22, 2022
A VERY UNROMANTIC DECISION
You know the Christian romantic ideal, don’t you? You both stayed single, while you prayed for that certain someone in your future. You knew that you were called to be married because you did more effective ministry together than you would if you remained single. You knew that God had known you since before you were conceived, and that he had the same kind of relationship with your future spouse. So you prayed and waited for “the one” to come along. Then you met, and you both felt the confirmation from the Holy Spirit that God had destined the two of you to be together forever.
What a great story. It makes a beautiful script. Sort of like Isaac and Rebekah, or like Jonah and the whale. You were meant for each other, and God had that certain someone in mind. When the both of you are in the center of God’s will for your lives, you find each other at the perfect time and you know without a doubt that God has called you to be soulmates together for eternity.
It is a beautiful story, to be sure. But it is not at all practical or logical, if you think about it. If God was such an intricate matchmaker, what happens if just one person misses their soulmate and marries the wrong person? That person has now been linked to someone else, for whom they were not destined, which means that the two intended spouses are left single for the rest of their lives. Unless they also marry, which would mean that they also married the wrong person, and now it’s really getting messy. Not only that, but any children who come from such a union were never intended to exist! Who do THEY marry now? Very quickly, the God-ordained Christian romance story falls apart.
But it’s not just logic and biology that runs counter to such a romantic theory. It’s also the Bible itself! Right here in chapter 7, Paul gives several mentions of getting married, and they don’t sound too romantic or God-destined. Here’s what Paul says:
“But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”
How do you know that you should get married? Because you cannot control yourselves! In that case, it’s better to marry than to burn. But neither one is God’s destiny for you.
See? That’s not exactly romantic, is it? Practical, but not a very strong public story as to How I Met Your Mother.
But wait! It gets even more awkward, if you’re looking to know whether or not to marry.
“Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning.They should get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.”
Did the holy apostle Paul just say “you are not sinning” if you get married? Did he just say that it is a myth that you can do more for the Lord together than you could do if you remain single? I guess it depends on how you view it, but from the angle of having undivided attention given to the kingdom of God, it makes sense that I can’t just say I’m going to quit my job and move halfway around the world in obedience to the call of God on my life. I have to consider the needs of my spouse. So, I guess it’s true that my heart is somewhat divided that way.
I love that Paul is so practical here. This is the best marriage advice we ever received, and that’s how Ellen and I knew we were destined for each other, and we moved our wedding date a few months sooner. Amen.